Betraying My People Chapter 17:

Kisshu's New Power

Kisshu was still sitting next to Ichigo a few hours later, watching her sleep. He was really worried, but trying to keep calm. It wasn't easy; Ichigo's fever was still pretty high. He gently put a hand on her forehead, and his eyes widened. Her fever had shot up again. Kisshu noticed Ichigo was starting to wake up, and said softly, "Ichigo?"

Ichigo turned her head and said, "Kisshu? I feel awful."

"Can you take more of the medicine?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo said.

Kisshu got the medicine and the spoon, then gave a spoonful to Ichigo, who swallowed it. She sighed and asked, "Can I go back to sleep?"

"Sure, get some rest," Kisshu said, trying to keep his voice steady.

Ichigo still noticed, and said, "You're really worried, aren't you?"

"I don't want you to die," Kisshu said. "I'm scared for you."

"I won't die," Ichigo said. "I know you'd never let me."

Kisshu looked at her. She was smiling at him, and he couldn't help but smile back, as she started to go back to sleep.

Two hours later, Kisshu was back to being scared. Ichigo's fever was back up, and she wouldn't wake up, even though she was still breathing fine. Finally Kisshu called Pai using telepathy. Pai teleported in a minute later, by which point Kisshu was starting to panic again.

Pai examined Ichigo, and finally said, "I don't think there's anything we can do. I'm sorry, Kisshu, but if the fever medicine can't bring her fever down, she has little to no chance of surviving. You got lucky; in any normal situation, you too would have died. Ichigo healing you was a stroke of luck."

Kisshu buried his face in his hands and started sobbing. "How can this be happening?" he cried. "I can't lose her, I can't!"

Pai was silent, unsure of what to say. He hadn't seen Kisshu cry like this since his parents died. Suddenly he noticed Kisshu seemed to be glowing a soft green. He didn't seem to notice, and Pai didn't say anything, in case it got Kisshu's hopes up for no reason. He simply watched as the glow got brighter, and started to flow into Ichigo. That's odd; did they somehow gain the same power? Pai thought. But how is that possible? Unless… they're so close that they're somehow gaining the same powers. Pai remained silent, thinking this over. He noticed the glow fading, but Kisshu didn't seem to. He was still crying, and hadn't seemed to notice anything.

That is, until Ichigo woke up and asked softly, "Kisshu, why are you crying?"

Kisshu's head shot up and he looked at her, tears still running down his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel a lot better, what happened?" Ichigo asked.

Pai stepped forward, and said, "Kisshu was glowing, and the glow flowed into you. I think he has the same healing power you do."

Kisshu looked at Pai, and said, "I was glowing?"

"Yeah, you were glowing this soft green color, and the glow flowed into Ichigo, like when she healed you," Pai said. "I take it you didn't notice?"

"No," Kisshu said sheepishly. "But that's great!"

"I agree," Ichigo said. "Now we've got another healer!" To Kisshu and Pai's surprise, she sat up. She noticed they both looked shocked, and said, "I don't feel weak anymore. Maybe you're more powerful than me, Kisshu."

"Or maybe you weren't as close to death as he was," Pai said. "Still, I'm surprised that Kisshu didn't even notice he was healing you."

"Well, I'm just glad it worked," Kisshu said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Ichigo."

Ichigo blushed. "I know I couldn't live without you," she said. "At least we're both alive. Thanks for saving me, Kisshu."

Kisshu smiled and sat on the bed, then regardless of the fact Pai was still there, kissed her passionately. Ichigo kissed him back, her eyes sliding shut.

About twenty seconds later, they heard Pai teleport out, and broke apart. They looked at each other- and burst out laughing. "I guess he can't take the heat," Kisshu said, still laughing. "Boy, it'll be fun to tease him later."

Ichigo giggled. "Can we get something to eat?" she asked. "I'm hungry."

"Can you stand?" Kisshu asked. "I don't want you to push yourself."

Ichigo pushed back the blankets, and stood up. She was a little shaky, and Kisshu said, "I think I should get us something, you're looking pretty shaky. What do you want?"

"I made miso soup two nights ago, can we have that?" Ichigo asked. Her legs chose that moment to give out, and Kisshu caught her, and set her back down on the bed.

"Sure, I'll go get that," Kisshu said. "You rest." He teleported out.

Ten minutes later he came back with two hot bowls of miso soup, and handed one to Ichigo on a tray. "Thanks," Ichigo said, lifting the bowl up and drinking some. Kisshu took his to the night table and set it down, blowing on it before drinking some.

A while later, they were done, and both of them were getting sleepy; it was late. "Let's go to bed," Kisshu said.

Ichigo nodded, and they curled up together on the bed. Soon they were both asleep.

The next morning: Ichigo woke up feeling fine, but immediately noticed Kisshu wasn't in the bed anymore. She sat up, and saw that he wasn't in the room at all. That's odd, she thought. He usually wakes me up when he gets up. Did something happen?

Her cat hearing picked up a noise from next door, which was the bathroom. It sounded like someone was throwing up. She got out of bed, and got dressed, then walked to the bathroom. The noise had stopped, but the door was still closed. Ichigo knocked, and heard a soft groan. "Are you okay? Who's in there?" she asked.

"Koneko-chan?" she heard Kisshu ask.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I think I ate something bad for me, my stomach feels awful," Kisshu said.

Ichigo suddenly realized she was starting to feel sick too. "Maybe the miso soup was going bad, I'm not feeling that great either," she said. "Can I come in? I don't feel good, and I don't really want to throw up on the floor."

"Go ahead," Kisshu said.

Ichigo opened the door as Kisshu flushed the toilet. She felt her stomach heave, and raced over, throwing up into the toilet. She felt Kisshu rubbing her back as she threw up basically everything she had eaten yesterday. Before she was finished, she heard Kisshu swallow, and felt him stop rubbing her back. Then she heard him open a cabinet and grab something, she assumed a bucket, and throw up again. She finally finished, and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face. Then she stood up shakily, and looked over at Kisshu. He had stopped too, and he looked back at her. "This isn't good," he said. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be another Deep Blue thing."

Ichigo was going to reply, but felt her stomach heave again, and she doubled up over the toilet. When she finished, she said, "I hope not too. Maybe we should go see Pai, he might know if the soup was bad."

As it turned out, they didn't have to go anywhere. There was a knock on the door, and Pai's voice said, "Are you two not feeling well?"

"We think the miso soup might have gone bad," Kisshu said. "We're both sick to our stomachs. Can you go see if that's the problem?"

"Sure," Pai said. "Taruto and I didn't eat any, so it might just be you two." They heard the sound of teleportation, and then Kisshu said, "I guess he went to check. Great, I'm feeling sick again." He quickly put the bucket on the counter before throwing up. Ichigo came over and rubbed his back until he stopped.

They heard a knock on the door a minute later, and Pai said, "I don't think there's anything wrong with the soup; did either of you eat anything else that might have disagreed with your stomachs?"

"No, or at least not the same thing," Ichigo said. "The only thing we both ate that might have caused this was the soup. Do you think something else is causing this?"

"Maybe," Pai said. "Can I come in? Maybe I can sense the problem."

"Sure," Kisshu said. Pai opened the door, and said, "I think if you have the same thing, I only need to examine one of you, so which one of you wants to go?"

Ichigo felt her stomach heave again, and pointed to Kisshu with a hand over her mouth. As soon as Pai nodded, she turned back to the toilet and threw up again.

When she was finished, Pai said, "I think you both got some kind of stomach bug. I'd have to do a bit more testing to figure out why. Can one of you come to the lab for a blood test? You might want to bring a bucket."

"I'll go," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, you should go back to bed."

She knew he was feeling awful when he just nodded. "I'll get the other bucket," he said, and teleported out. Ichigo emptied the one he'd been using, and followed Pai to the lab with it.

Once there, she sat down with the bucket in her lap while Pai took some of her blood. She managed not to throw up till he was done, but then felt sick again, and threw up into the bucket.

Pai waited till she was done, and said, "I'll run some tests, you should go back to bed like Kisshu."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She walked back to the bathroom, emptied the bucket, and went to Kisshu's room. He was still awake, and sitting on the bed with the bucket he had taken on his lap. "Pai's going to do some tests on my blood," she told him.

"Good, maybe he'll be able to find a cure too," Kisshu said. "I guess we should get some rest."

Ichigo nodded, and got into bed with Kisshu. She was about to lie back like Kisshu, but had to grab her bucket and throw up before lying back. Finally she finished, and laid back. Kisshu was half-asleep, and soon they were both fast asleep.

A few hours later, they were woken by someone shaking them. Unfortunately, the shaking movement really didn't help their stomachs, and both of them sat bolt upright, grabbed the buckets, and threw up at exactly the same time. When they finished, they both gave Pai identical death glares.

"Sorry, but I figured you'd want to know the results of the tests," Pai said.

"What is it?" Kisshu asked.

Pai looked grim as he said, "Deep Blue again. He probably realized that he can't kill you two, and is settling for keeping you out of commission until he's awakened. As far as I can tell, this particular illness will last about five days, which suggests to me that Deep Blue will probably be awakened sometime next week. And as far as I can tell, there's no way to stop him. Not without killing his missing human host."

"Great…" Kisshu said. "Any suggestions on what we should do?"

"You and Ichigo should rest up and focus on getting better," Pai said. "I'll go talk to Keiichiro and the Mews, and inform them of the situation. At least we know roughly when we'll be fighting."

"Okay," Ichigo said.

Kisshu was less than happy with that response. "What are we going to do if we're out of shape?" he asked Pai. "Isn't there a cure for this?"

"No," Pai said. "And you won't be out of shape. Ever since you got your teleporting ability back, you've been getting stronger. And Ichigo's the same. I know you've both been training, so I think you'll be fine. You're both very strong."

"I hope you're right, Pai," Kisshu said. "Fine. We'll focus on healing, and you and the others focus on getting ready for the battle."

"Good," Pai said, and teleported out.

Kisshu groaned. "I hate just lying in bed all day," he said.

"It's not fun, especially when your stomach feels this awful," Ichigo agreed.

Kisshu nodded, feeling his stomach heave again. He quickly grabbed the bucket and threw up into it. He felt Ichigo rubbing his back for about a minute, before he heard her get sick as well. "Pai shaking us didn't really help," he said when he was finished.

Ichigo nodded. She finished and replied, "That felt like my stomach was going to explode or something."

"It's strange that this doesn't hurt, it just feels like there's a mixer in the pit of my stomach," Kisshu said.

"I'm glad it doesn't hurt, that would make this worse," Ichigo said. "What should we do now? I'm not tired anymore."

"Play a game?" Kisshu asked. "We could play a word game, then we wouldn't have to worry about cards and stuff."

"How about Twenty Questions?" Ichigo suggested.

"That's where you pick a category and say, "I'm thinking of a…" and the other person has to guess, right?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "Want to try it?"

"Sure, can I go first?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "What's the category?"

"Animals," Kisshu said.

"Okay, is it black?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Kisshu said.

"Is it a mammal?"

"Yes."

"Is it brown?"

"Yes."

"Is it a bear?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW!?"

"I'm good at this game," Ichigo said. Her smile faded as she turned slightly green and grabbed her bucket, throwing up. When she was finished, she said, "My dad used to play with me. I'd cream him every single time, and he was such a sore loser."

Kisshu looked at her, and said, "You miss them, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really do," Ichigo said. "I even miss how totally overprotective my dad was. And my mom was the nicest person on Earth."

"Wow…" Kisshu said. "My parents died when I was about five, and I still miss them. I guess it's one of those things that never changes."

"I guess so," Ichigo said. "I never expected my parents would die before I moved out. I guess I always thought that I'd grow up, move out, and stay in touch, but they'd be there. Now they can't see me as I become an adult."

"I know," Kisshu said. "But I think both our parents would be proud of us. We're doing what we think is right, and we're trying to save two races. And I believe that we'll succeed."

"So do I," Ichigo said softly. "I just wish I could have said goodbye."

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "My parents died in a rockslide, and I wasn't allowed to see their bodies, since I was only five. Pai and Taruto's family took me in after that, but I wish I could have said goodbye."

"I guess we're alike in that respect," Ichigo said. "I just wish that I could have protected my parents. I had the power then, but I couldn't save them."

"Sometimes it's just not possible," Kisshu said. "I wish I could have stopped the rockslide that killed my parents. You wish you had been conscious before your parents got killed by Ryou. It's probably harder for you, since it was a person who killed your parents, not a natural disaster."

"I wonder if it would have made a difference," Ichigo said. "Even if I had managed to kill Ryou at the time, I'd be sent to jail. That's the reason I joined you, so I could get revenge without going to jail. It worked out well for both of us, though, since we fell in love. And I have to admit I felt a lot different about your motives after seeing my parents dead in their own house."

"I'm glad we formed a truce," Kisshu said.

"Me too," Ichigo said.

"Hey, did you notice we've been talking for this long without feeling sick?" Kisshu said.

"Yeah, I wonder why," Ichigo said. "Not that I'm not grateful, but I thought Pai said we'd be sick for five days."

"Maybe he was wrong," Kisshu said. Then he clutched his stomach, turning green. He grabbed the bucket and threw up.

"Maybe we spoke too soon," Ichigo said, rubbing his back as he got everything out. It wasn't too long before she had to throw up too. When she finished, she looked back at Kisshu.

Kisshu looked at her and said, "I guess Pai was right, and we just got a little break. It was fun while it lasted."

"Let's go back to sleep," Ichigo said. "Sometimes lying still helps a little." She laid back against the pillows, and Kisshu did the same. Soon they were both asleep.

Okay, I know you'll all hate me for this, but I wanted to see how far I could go with making both of the strongest fighters sick. First Kisshu, then Ichigo, then both. And at least I gave Kisshu a new power and didn't kill Ichigo, right? Review plz. (without flaming)