Sparks of Love Chapter 8:

Pai's Return

Sakura had finished cleaning out the guest room, so Kisshu slept there that night. Pai wasn't due back till the next night, so Kisshu and Ichigo had time to themselves. Halfway through the day, Sakura said she was going shopping for clothes, and left to get Kisshu a bunch of human clothes and a school uniform.

To all of their surprise, Shintaro was actually being nice to Kisshu, and had apparently stopped complaining about the lack of bananas. He didn't even get worked up when Ichigo said, "Dad, Kisshu and I are going back to my room."

Shintaro just said, "Have a nice time."

Now seriously freaked out, Ichigo and Kisshu practically ran to her room. When they were in, Ichigo closed the door and said, "Jeez, he's acting different."

"I didn't expect my lecturing him last night was going to be effective on him hating me as well," Kisshu commented. "Maybe he's sick or something?"

"I didn't think of that," Ichigo said worriedly. "But I've never heard of a sickness that changes your personality, have you?"

"No, but maybe Pai has," Kisshu said. "We can ask him when he gets back. I guess we should try to enjoy it while it lasts, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Hey, wanna have a tickle war?"

"No! No tickle wars! PLEASE don't tickle me!" Kisshu shouted. He sounded scared, and Ichigo was confused.

"We don't have to have a tickle war, but why are you panicking?" Ichigo said.

"First promise you'll never tickle me," Kisshu said.

"O-okay," Ichigo said. "I won't tickle you if you don't want me to."

Kisshu sighed, and said, "I'm so sensitive to being tickled that too much can hurt me. I found out the hard way; one day when we were younger, Pai and I decided to have a tickle war, and it got out of control. Pai noticed that I couldn't breathe, and stopped tickling me, but it was another hour before my breathing went back to normal- by which point my mom had dragged Pai's dad out of work to come see what was wrong. Pai's dad is a healer, like him and his mom. He's the only reason I didn't stop breathing altogether that day, and he explained to my mom and Pai that for some reason, tickling me can cause me to stop breathing. Normally people laugh when they're being tickled; I stop breathing. I don't particularly like being tickled in the first place, so please don't tickle me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that," Ichigo said.

"With good reason; you could probably have used that in battle, in which case, I'd probably be dead," Kisshu said.

"If you're that ticklish, why do you wear a shirt that shows your stomach?" Ichigo asked. "That's usually where people are ticklish."

"I like it, and besides, I'm good at dodging attacks aimed at my stomach," Kisshu said. "I learned early, since when Taruto was still a baby, he didn't understand that it wasn't okay to tickle me. And by that point, I was living with him, Pai, and their parents."

"What happened to yours?" Ichigo asked.

"Soon after the tickling thing, they were both killed in a rockslide," Kisshu said sadly. "Pai's family took me in, since Pai and I were already like brothers, and a lot of kids were orphaned or lost a parent in that rockslide. It was one of the worst we ever had- and that's saying a lot, since rockslides were pretty common. I hope the Mew Aqua worked."

"I'm sorry," Ichigo said. "I think the Mew Aqua will work, though. There was a lot of it in that box."

"Good," Kisshu said.

Ichigo's cell phone rang, and she picked up. "Moshi moshi?" she said.

"Ichigo, it's Keiichiro," Keiichiro said. "Pai got back a bit early, can you and Kisshu come here?"

"Sure, we'll be there in a few minutes," Ichigo said.

"Thanks," Keiichiro said, and hung up.

Kisshu looked at Ichigo, who said, "Pai came back early, we need to go to the Café."

"Okay, let's get shoes on," Kisshu said. He went downstairs, followed by Ichigo, who looked into the living room on the way, and said, "Dad, we're going to the Café."

"Have a nice time," Shintaro said distractedly; he was reading some story in the paper.

Ichigo left and went to get her shoes. Kisshu was getting his boots on, and he waited for Ichigo to put on her shoes, then took her hand and teleported.

They landed in the basement, and saw everyone was there. Pai looked up as they landed, and said, "Good, that's everyone. Keiichiro told you all my message, but I've got more news. I was able to heal the planet, and due to that, I was allowed to speak with our leader. He asked if I had seen Chie, and I told him that I had received indefinite information that she might be on Earth to kill Kisshu. I also told him the circumstances of the truce and the death of Deep Blue's human host, and he decided not to exile us. Instead, he says Chie is exiled, because she went to Earth without permission. Even if she chooses not to attack, she can't go back, which means we can kill her if she attacks, which couldn't happen if she wasn't exiled."

"If you're not exiled, does that mean you're going home?" Ichigo asked a bit sadly.

"No," Pai said. "We have been ordered to stay here at least until the thing with Chie is resolved, but due to Kisshu's obsession with you, Taruto's obsession with Pudding, and my affection for Lettuce, I obtained permission to live on Earth, especially since your parents have basically adopted Kisshu, Ichigo."

"YAY! Taru-Taru is staying!" Pudding said happily.

"So Pai, you finally admitted your love for Lettuce?" Kisshu asked, smirking. "Though you're pretty obsessed too. Hey Lettuce, wanna hear something funny?"

"Um… sure," Lettuce said.

"Pai has an entire wall of his room covered in pictures of you," Kisshu said. "And he has a whole bookshelf dedicated to Finless Porpoises. And if you lost anything in the past few months, you might want to ask him if he's seen it."

Lettuce looked at Pai, who was dark red. Two seconds later, the explosion came. "KISSHU, DID YOU HAVE TO TELL HER ALL THAT!?" Pai shouted.

"Yup," Kisshu said. "You're always saying that honesty is the best policy. It wouldn't surprise me if you stole one of those Mew Lettuce plushies, either. You're completely obsessed, and I honestly think you're worse than I am."

"I AM NOT!" Pai shouted. "At least I don't stalk Lettuce!"

"Yes you do," Kisshu said. "I followed you that time you said you wanted to do research at midnight on Earth, and you were floating outside Lettuce's window, watching her sleep. If you don't stalk her, how did you know where she lives?"

"I'm going to go plot your demise," Pai said, and teleported out.

"Kisshu-oniichan, is Taru-Taru a stalker as well?" Pudding asked.

"Not exactly, but he's pretty disturbed," Kisshu said. "Come with me, I'll show you something."

Pudding came over curiously, and Kisshu took her hand and Ichigo's, and teleported to a small room with no windows, and only a small trapdoor in the floor.

The most striking thing, however, was the fact that the walls were plastered from ceiling to floor with pictures of Pudding, in both human and Mew forms. There was a small box on a pedestal, and Pudding and Ichigo went over- and saw a lock of Pudding's hair tied with a yellow ribbon. There were also a bunch of yellow candles in the room.

"Jeez, I had no idea the runt was this obsessed," Ichigo said. "I wonder how long it took to do all this."

"Pudding thinks it's a bit creepy, na no da," Pudding said. "How did Taru-Taru get a piece of Pudding's hair?"

"He came back after one of the battles looking overly pleased with himself; I imagine he cut it off when you weren't paying attention," Kisshu said. "Should I take you back?"

"Yes please," Pudding said.

Kisshu took her hand and Ichigo's again, and teleported back to the basement, where they found the other Mews and Keiichiro trying to control Taruto, who was bouncing off the walls screaming about 'giant teddy bears'.

"Jeez Taruto, are you a stress eater or something?" Kisshu asked over the noise. "I know you've been eating sugar again. Calm down, or I'll put you in a forcefield."

"YAAAH! No forcefields!" Taruto screamed.

"Are you going to calm down?" Kisshu asked.

Taruto was visibly struggling to calm down, and eventually he managed it. The others sighed. "Do you always act like this when you eat cake, Taruto?" Keiichiro asked.

"Uh… sometimes…" Taruto said.

Kisshu sighed. "To Cyniclons, too much sugar can make us act like we're on drugs," he said. "Moderate amounts are fine, but too much, and we get really hyper, really fast."

"Oh…" the others said.

"So Pudding should stop giving Taru-Taru bags of candy?" Pudding asked.

"Some is fine, but not a whole bag," Kisshu said.

"Oh, shut up, asparagus head," Taruto said.

To everyone's surprise, Kisshu took out one of his swords, then said, "Care to repeat that little statement, runt?"

Obviously the sugar hadn't quite worn off, because Taruto said, "I SAID, 'shut up, asparagus head'!"

This apparently caused Kisshu to snap, because he lunged at Taruto with both his swords as the other backed up nervously.

Before Kisshu managed to stab Taruto, though, Zakuro knocked him out from behind, then caught him and set him down as Ichigo ran over. Zakuro looked at her briefly, then said, "Pudding, Taruto, come with me. Ichigo can handle Kisshu." Then she took Pudding and Taruto by the hand, and led them upstairs.

The others looked at each other as Ichigo knelt and put Kisshu's head on her lap. "What was that about?" Mint asked softly, as she and the others watched Ichigo start stroking Kisshu's hair.

"I don't know," Keiichiro said. "Maybe he's sensitive about comments about his hair for some reason?"

"Maybe Pai would know," Lettuce suggested.

"Didn't he say he was going to plot Kisshu's demise, though?" Mint asked.

"Maybe he's cooled down," Keiichiro said, and pushed a few button on his computer. The screen went black for a minute, then Pai's face came up. "Hi Keiichiro, what's up?" he asked.

"Taruto called Kisshu an 'asparagus head', and Kisshu took out his swords," Keiichiro said. "Zakuro knocked Kisshu out before he could kill Taruto, who was on sugar high, but I was wondering why Kisshu would get that upset."

"I'll be right over," Pai said, and the screen went black again. Two minutes later, he teleported in, and noticed Kisshu, who was still unconscious. "Kisshu doesn't like comments about his hair, because he got teased a lot as a kid," Pai said quietly. "Taruto should know better; it really tore Kisshu up that everyone hated him for his skills. That was the main reason for the teasing. If my mom were here, Taruto would have been grounded for two months the minute the words 'asparagus head' left his mouth. Taruto and I were Kisshu's only friends. Where is Taruto?"

"Zakuro took him and Pudding upstairs," Lettuce said. "She didn't say much, either, so we don't know why."

"I'll go see," Pai said. "But first I'll wake up Kisshu. Ichigo, take your hand away."

Ichigo obeyed, and Pai tapped Kisshu's forehead. Kisshu slowly opened his eyes, and said, "What happened? I have a really bad headache."

"You attacked Taruto with your swords and Zakuro knocked you out," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed, and said, "Did he have to call me names?"

"I'll go have a word with him," Pai said.

"Can you do something about my headache first?" Kisshu asked.

Pai put his hand on Kisshu's forehead, and his hand started to glow. A few minutes later, the glow faded, and Pai said, "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks," Kisshu said. "Is there anything else we need to know, or can Ichigo and I go home?"

"You can go home," Pai said.

Kisshu got up, then pulled Ichigo up, and teleported them back to her room.

Okay, there's Chapter 8. Please review!