The Revenge of Dark Red Chapter 10:
Lettuce's New Power
It was nice for everyone to have Shishi back; they had missed her while she was away training. They brought her up to speed on the situation, then just sat around talking. There wasn't anything else to do. No new enemies, nothing.
Emiko, Lettuce, Taruto and Pai were now alternating shifts, watching over Kisshu day and night. He was still too weak to sit up, and due to the severity of it, his shoulder wound hadn't completely healed either. Remembering what happened when Taruto tried to heal Kisshu's weakness and ended up in a coma, Emiko didn't even try to heal Kisshu any further. For now they just had to let Kisshu heal on his own.
Kisshu slept most of the time. The last time he had woken up was yesterday morning, and he had asked for something to eat. He was able to stay up a little longer and even talk some after eating the meal Lettuce made for him. After a while of talking, however, he went back to sleep, tired out again.
Five days after the defeat of Dark Red, Kisshu's condition took a turn for the worse. He developed a fever that wouldn't go down, and his cough came back. It took Emiko and Ayame together to get rid of the cough, but no matter what they did, even after Taruto joined them, they couldn't get the fever down. Emiko, Ayame and Taruto were all in Kisshu's room now. Lettuce was also there, and absolutely nothing would get her out. The others knew she was worried, so they let it go. At the moment she was racking her brains, trying to figure out a way to help Kisshu. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she said, "Emiko-san, have you checked his blood? Maybe there's still some leftover poison, and if that's the case, we may be able to counteract it."
Emiko immediately took a needle and took some of Kisshu's blood. She examined it with her powers, then sighed. "You were right, Lettuce, but I don't know how to counteract this poison; I've never seen anything like it. It's not a plant-based poison, so it must be something Dark Red created." Emiko was on the verge of tears.
Lettuce knew, just from seeing Emiko nearly crying, how serious this was. Emiko never cried. Suddenly, to her surprise, and clearly to everyone else's, she found herself transforming into Mew Lettuce. She didn't look any different- except she was holding something. Looking down at her left hand, she saw a new item. Instead of her usual castanets, she was holding an instrument that looked like a mini harp.
As she looked at it, words came to her mind, and she walked over to Kisshu. The others moved out of her way, and she placed the harp on Kisshu's chest. Then she placed her left hand on his heart, and her right hand on the harp. She began to glow a soft green as she cried, "Ribbon….. Harp Healing Technique!" The light around her flashed, and she fell to her knees as the others shielded their eyes from the flash. When the light show faded, Lettuce was sitting on the floor, and Kisshu was waking up.
Emiko, Ayame and even Taruto were speechless. Finally Emiko got up and went to Kisshu's side, helping Lettuce up on the way. She helped Lettuce into the chair next to Kisshu's bed, then put a hand on Kisshu's forehead. Her eyes widened. "Lettuce, the fever's gone. I-I think you have a new power!"
Then Kisshu opened his eyes and asked, "What's going on?"
"Kisshu, how are you feeling?" Emiko asked.
Kisshu sat up and said, "I feel fine, not even my shoulder hurts anymore. What happened?"
"I think Lettuce discovered a new power," Emiko replied. "You developed a fever that wouldn't go down; apparently I didn't get all the poison out the last time I healed you. We were getting kind of frantic, when Lettuce suddenly transformed, and instead of her castanets, she had this miniature harp thing. She's the one who healed you. I was amazed; her healing abilities rival my own. She may even be better."
"Wow, thanks Lettuce," Kisshu said. "I guess we're even now; I saved you, and you saved me."
"You're welcome, Kisshu-san," Lettuce said shyly.
Emiko smiled, and said, "Well done, Lettuce. You should get some rest now; it looks like your new ability took a lot out of you."
Lettuce smiled, but when she tried to get up, she nearly fell again. Emiko caught her, and said, "I'll help you, okay?"
"Thanks, Emiko-san," Lettuce said gratefully.
Emiko turned to Kisshu and the others, and said, "I'll be right back, okay?" They nodded, and Emiko teleported Lettuce to her room. Emiko helped her over to the bed, and touched her Mew Pendant so she could detransform. "Get some rest, you did great today. I'll make sure the others don't disturb you until you've recovered," Emiko told Lettuce. "If you need anything, just call Ichigo on her pendant, and she can tell me what you need if it's something she can't do."
"Thanks, Emiko-san," Lettuce said as she drifted off to sleep.
Emiko teleported out, and went to the room where all the others were. "Kisshu is fine now," she announced as they looked at her. "Lettuce healed him, and she's resting now. Please don't disturb her, okay guys?"
"Wait, Lettuce can heal?" Ichigo asked.
"Yes, she discovered a new power. She was really worried about Kisshu, and when I started crying, I think her emotions took over and gave her Mew Form a new ability. When she wakes up, she'll be back to normal, but please don't disturb her until then. Oh, and Ichigo, I told her to call you if she needs anything. If it's something you can't do, just call me," Emiko said.
"Of course, I'll do all that I can," Ichigo said.
"I'm going back to Kisshu now, so I'll see you later," Emiko said, and teleported off.