(A.N./
People seem to miss
My clever little poems
Should my haikus go?
As pointed out by a reviewer or two, the KxI fluff is getting sparse. We will have some nice, fluffy, KxI cotton-candy fluff by the end of this chapter; I promise! Also, I've noticed that we're a bit lacking in PxT fluff as well. That will be coming next chapter for sure.
Just a heads-up: this story probably has only two or three chapters left. I wasn't planning to make this story very long in the first place, and the way I've moved the plotline along doesn't give me much wiggle room without useless, boring filler chapters.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter everyone!)
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"…and then, when I got to the room, it was empty! He told me to forget it, but I really think that something suspicious is going on!"
Lettuce finished her panicked explanation with a worried sigh. Minto, who wasn't paying much attention to the story, merely scoffed,
"I'm sure you're just overreacting again."
"N-no, I'm not!" Lettuce persisted. She immediately bowed her head in shame and apologized, however, saying,
"I'm very sorry, Minto-san, I didn't mean to contradict you so harshly!" Minto pretended not to hear her and called,
"Lettuce, could I have some help with this toilet? I most certainly am not touching the toilet water…" Lettuce sighed to herself and glanced from the restroom, to the hall, and back to the restroom. She bit her lip and said, quite loudly,
"No! I'm going to help our friend!" Minto emerged from the restroom just in time to see her dash out of the room.
"Lettuce?" she called after her friend. After hearing no reply, she walked after her, calling again, "Lettuce!"
She mused at her friend's odd behavior.
That's not like her to run off on someone like that. She must really be serious.
Her pace quickened as she thought her words over, and she turned out into the hall to see…
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The parasite infecting Pudding smirked devilishly from inside her. It had found a perfect place out of sight for causing mischief - the laundry chute.
The 2.5 ft. x 2.5 ft. opening proved an excellent suicide drop; the dirty water filling the room below was swirling with furniture and household items.
"Chance of instant peril - 90%!" the parasite sang to itself, "Chance of slow and painful death - 10%!" It cackled to itself and loosened its grip on Ichigo. "Pitiful girl!" it mocked, "You've done nothing to help anyone tonight! All you did was sit around and be a burden for everyone to rescue! Even one of my masters was hurt trying to save your pathetic life! Now it's time to get rid of you, and save everyone else the trouble!"
Before it could move, however, it heard a voice from behind it,
"Chimera animal, I order you to stop!"
The surprised parasite, still clutching Ichigo's unconscious body, whirled around and scowled at Taruto, who stood before his own creation. The chimera animal hissed,
"My humblest apologies, dear master, but I'm just about to rid you of one of your greatest threats. Would you care to watch?" Taruto kept his face stern and unmoving as he said,
"No. There will be no deaths tonight. Stop at once." The parasite appeared amused as it spoke in a jeering tone,
"Excuse me, but weren't you the one who wanted to finish them off tonight? Your mission would be fulfilled, and you would be a hero."
"That still doesn't justify the fact that I'm committing murder to an innocent life."
"Innocent? Ha! These creatures of filth have taken away your people's hopes and dreams, their planet, and have dirtied it with their slime and muck!" Taruto's face twitched ever so slightly at the chimera animal's words. It continued, sensing the hesitation radiating off the young alien,
"The least you could do would be to repay them for their deeds of selfishness. Maybe by, say, killing off their defenders?" The Chimera animal suddenly shook Ichigo around harshly, calling,
"Wake up, little girl. You should be awake to see your ending!" It shook Ichigo again, and Taruto let a low growl of annoyance escape his throat. Ichigo slowly opened her eyes, and, looking around briefly, groaned,
"W-what's going…on…?"
"Pitiful, is she not?" the chimera laughed. It turned its head to Ichigo,
"I am a parasite inside your little friend. Sorry to say, but you're about to die!" Taruto took a step forward,
"I said there will be no killing!" The chimera animal raised an eyebrow ever so slightly,
"Aren't you disobeying your orders by letting her live?" Taruto hung his head and clenched his teeth. The chimera bore a mocking smirk once again. It turned back to hanging Ichigo over the chute.
"I know," it stated, "that there are perfectly good reasons why I should drop her right now, and not doing so would be disobeying my orders." Ichigo's eyes grew wider and she struggled weakly in the parasite's grip. Taruto lunged forward at the parasite, but it released Ichigo in a quick toss, sending her flying in. Taruto plunged his hand down into the chute and caught her firmly by the wrist. He groaned and grunted under her weight, pulling with all his might to keep her up. He swung his second hand into the chute for support. He groaned,
"You owe me a lot for this, old hag…" The parasite looked on with great amusement, quite pleased to have front seats to the show.
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Minto's eyes widened as he saw a streak of pale white and green flash across the room, and dive into the water. She squinted to get a better perception of the object before it vanished. She gasped,
Oh no…
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Beads of sweat dripped down Taruto's face as he struggled with Ichigo's weight, she being much taller and older than he is. He groaned once more before he gave in completely, releasing Ichigo's wrist from his grip.
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Taruto hid his face, the chimera animal grinned in delight, and Ichigo gave one last choked cry.
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The chimera animal's grin vanished from it's face almost instantly. He hissed,
"She didn't make impact." It dove forward towards the chute to try to see down it. Taruto lifted his eyes up, and before him out of the chute rose a dripping-wet Kisshu who was holding Ichigo, still alive and well. The tension in his face relaxed momentarily before he saw the obvious pain in his companion's face.
"Kisshu, you're not supposed to leave the medical treatment yet! You're not even supposed to move for a day or two!" Kisshu groaned painfully, setting the traumatized Ichigo down,
"I'm well aware…" he sat down next to Ichigo and crossed his legs, feeling his side gingerly. Taruto grimaced along with Kisshu when he saw him flinch away from the wound.
"It's a little better…," he mumbled. Ichigo stayed quiet, and, with eyes closed, rolled to one side.
The chimera animal, who had been keeping silent the entire time, suddenly roared,
"What do you think you're doing?! This is entirely against the rules of the mission! Why, I should just save the trouble and tell Deep Blue-sama about you two right now!"
Both the alien's heads shot up at this statement. The parasite, glad to see a reaction, grinned wickedly to itself.
Suddenly it ran forward towards Kisshu, outstretching Pudding's arm to him. Kisshu had a moment to react, and twisted so that the hand hit his neck instead of his side. A momentary pause, and Pudding fell to the floor, while Kisshu clutched his neck, breathing heavily. Taruto immediately knew what he had to do. He outstretched his hand to the older alien's neck and began to pull the parasite out of him. The thing struggled and fought, but Taruto fought against it, and eventually forced it out. Carefully avoiding touching it, he lowered it onto the floor. He heard Kisshu groan and said,
"Oi, Kisshu, would you do the honors?" Kisshu smirked to himself,
"Gladly." He grabbed a nearby laundry basket and slammed it onto the parasite. Gooey remnants splattered all over the room in a sorry mess. The little pieces gradually shrunk smaller and smaller until they were gone completely.
"We should do that more often…" Taruto remarked thoughtfully.
"Do what? Risk our lives, break some rules…what?" Kisshu asked suspiciously, pressing his hand to Ichigo's forehead. Taruto nodded,
"That too, but what I meant was squishing parasites. They're kind of fun to watch explode!" Kisshu grinned,
"And so the immature little kid in Taruto emerges once again…"
"You're one to talk," Taruto sarcastically, "That's coming from the one who dove right out of your medical treatment not a minute or two ago!"
"Taruto," Kisshu said dully, "Do I ever stick around for 'proper medical treatment'?" Taruto's smirk grew broader into a playful smile,
"You do have a point…" He stopped the conversation, however, when he heard Pudding groan from behind him,
"Why does my head feel weird, na do da…?" He froze stiff and shot an anxious glace to Kisshu, who wore a teasing face that plainly read, 'You know you want to'. He waved goodbye to Taruto in a mocking gesture, and teleported, Ichigo with him. Taruto knew he had done so to "give Pudding and him time alone", as his older companion would state it.
Taruto took a deep breath before turning to Pudding, who rubbed her eyes in a cute sort of way that made him blush. He put his forehead in his hand and closed his eyes, thinking to himself,
You're going to be fine…you can do this…
Somehow, he wasn't selling it to himself.
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Kisshu stumbled out of his teleporting hole and set Ichigo down on the bed in the same room that they had been in previous: Minto's second bedroom. He tentatively walked over to the other side of the bed and laid down on its fluffy, down covers.
He looked over at Ichigo, who appeared to be asleep, and called,
"Ichigo, I know you're awake." A second or two of silence passed before he tried again, "Ichigo, I heard you scream. I know you're just pretending to be asleep."
At that, Ichigo groaned and turned over to the other side of the bed, mumbling,
"So tired…" Kisshu rolled his eyes and shook her shoulder, saying,
"Don't I get any appreciation for, you know, saving your life?"
"…did you?" Ichigo muttered quietly. Kisshu frowned and sighed shortly.
"Yes," he said impatiently, "I did." Ichigo hesitated to respond before she said,
"Oh yeah…" She paused again, "…you know, the Blue Knight never asks for any thanks when he saves my life…"
Kisshu clenched his teeth and tried to subdue his rising temper. He eventually managed to mutter darkly,
"I'm not the Blue Knight."
Neither of them spoke for a few minutes after that. Ichigo's breath was the only sound in the room, the sloshing of water outside being a quiet drone in the background.
Eventually, Ichigo replied,
"I'm aware. Actually, you're the thing the Blue Knight saves me from, right?"
"I guess so," said Kisshu, "But would any other normal person want thanks after saving someone's life?"
"That's a good point," Ichigo mumbled. She shifted over to face Kisshu, her drowsy eyes searching his face, "But that still doesn't cancel out the fact that you're still my mortal enemy."
Kisshu smirked impishly,
"Come on, Koneko-chan, has anything that's gone on this night made perfect sense? I mean, here we are, sharing a bed and reminiscing about our day!"
Ichigo hissed,
"Don't push your luck, pervert." Kisshu's smirk only grew wider as he remarked,
"Ah, but that's my specialty!" His eyes shone in delight as he leant forward towards Ichigo and grabbed her chin, pulling her closer. Ichigo barely had a moment to react, saying,
"K-Kish--!" She was cut off by the swift action of his lips pressing against hers. She froze dead for a few moments, letting Kisshu have his way, before she brought a hand up to push him away. Kisshu drew back first, though, and licked his lips. He frowned,
"Sorry, Koneko-chan, but your kisses are better when you're not sick. Thanks for the repayment for saving your life, anyway." Ichigo growled fiercely,
"Well sorry that I don't meet your standards! Now leave me alone!"
"Where else would I go?" Kisshu asked mockingly, "Obviously I'm in just as bad shape as you are, and don't feel like moving. If I go back to Pai before he's had a chance to cool down, I'll be in huge trouble. If I wander around the mansion, the Blue Knight will beat me to a pulp. But if I stay here…" Ichigo groaned and turned over on her side,
"Fine. Just let me get some sleep." Kisshu, still wearing a playful smirk, twirled some of Ichigo's red hair around his thin fingers. Ichigo let out a grunt of annoyance that signaled that he should stop.
Kisshu set his wandering hand back down onto the bed covers and thought to himself,
I wonder how Romeo and his monkey girl are doing…
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