Betraying My People Chapter 36:

The Storm Hits Home

Kisshu and Ichigo landed in the main room, where Aunt Hamaya, Uncle Aran and Pai were waiting. "What was that about?" Uncle Aran asked.

"Siria-sama and Hiro-sama are missing, and there's some kind of new enemy that will most likely be here soon," Kisshu said. "We've been ordered to keep our guard up."

"Does that explain the weird storm we're having?" Pai asked.

"Maybe," Kisshu said. "The storm hasn't died down yet?"

"No, in fact it's getting worse," Pai said. "I hope the person who created it didn't lose control of the spell."

Kisshu's eyes widened. "If the creator lost control, doesn't that mean there's no way to stop the storm?" he asked. "You're always telling me how dangerous it is to mess with the weather."

Pai looked worried and said, "You're right, if the spell goes out of control, the storm will be unstoppable. I guess we'd better hope that's not the case, because if the storm keeps up like this, there'll be nothing left."

Now everyone looked worried. "We finally got the planet back to being beautiful, and now we're in danger of losing everything again," Aunt Hamaya said. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going back to my lab to see if the storm can be stopped," Pai said. "If I find something, I'll inform you and the Council."

"Alright," Uncle Aran said. "Good luck." Pai nodded and teleported out.

"I hope he can figure it out," Aunt Hamaya said.

"This is Pai we're talking about, remember?" Kisshu said. "You know he won't give up till he's found a solution."

"You're right, Kisshu," Uncle Aran said. "Let's save our worries for now."

"I'm going to go make dinner," Aunt Hamaya said. "You all have a good time." She went to the kitchen.

"I'm off to read," Uncle Aran said. "You two have fun, but don't go too far."

"Pai's already told us that five times," Kisshu said. "Don't worry, we won't."

"So Pai was acting like me while you all were on Earth?" Uncle Aran asked, chuckling.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. "Every time we told him we were going back to our room, he'd say, "Don't go too far." It got so irritating."

"Well, I'm sure he did it for your sakes," Uncle Aran said.

"That's what I said," Ichigo said.

Uncle Aran smiled, then walked off to read.

Kisshu and Ichigo walked back to their room and closed the door, then sat on the bed. "What should we do now?" Ichigo asked- just as they heard Aunt Hamaya scream.

They jumped to their feet and Kisshu teleported- or tried to. He ended up in the same spot, so he tried the door. It was locked, and there was some kind of spell on it. "We're trapped!" he told Ichigo. "What is going on around here?"

Ichigo looked scared. "I don't know," she said. "I'm guessing the new threat just took Aunt Hamaya, though."

"Transform," Kisshu said. "You might need to, even though we're currently trapped."

Ichigo nodded, and shouted her transformation. "It's a good thing I learned I don't need a pendant," she said when she was transformed. "I still have no clue what happened that night."

"Oh well, at least you can still transform," Kisshu said. Then he smirked. "Though the old outfit was cuter."

"It was also too revealing, which is probably why you liked it," Ichigo said. "Hentai."

Kisshu smirked, and was about to say more, but Ichigo held a finger to her lips and pointed to the door. Someone's coming, she said telepathically. And it's not anyone in our family. No one in our family walks that heavily.

You're pretty observant, Kisshu commented- just as the door fell in. A tall Cyniclon wearing a face mask stood there, with a sword in one hand. He obviously meant to look intimidating, but Kisshu just sighed. "Did you have to break the door down?" he asked. "I liked that door."

"Those were pretty weird last words," the Cyniclon said. Kisshu noticed the muscles in his shoulder shift, and took out his Dragon Swords, then sidestepped a thrust and as the Cyniclon stepped forward, Kisshu tripped him up. He fell, and his sword slid over to Ichigo, who picked it up.

"That was too easy," Kisshu said. "Don't you have any more than that?"

The Cyniclon got up and lifted a hand, a ball of energy forming on his palm. Kisshu slashed his hand, and the energy ball disappeared. "Who are you?" Kisshu asked. "And why are you doing this?"

The Cyniclon took off his mask, and Kisshu's eyes narrowed. "I should have guessed," he said in disgust. "You're one of two members of the Council who can control weather. Gen."

"That's right," Gen said. "I created that storm, and kidnapped Siria-sama, Hamaya and Aran."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"I want control of the Council, and with Siria out of the way, I can take over with the brainwashing machine I stole from Sanosuke before he died," Gen said. "I've already got Choji-sama and his wife on board, it won't be hard to brainwash the others."

"And why did you kidnap Hiro-sama?" Kisshu asked. "Not to mention Aunt Hamaya and Uncle Aran?"

"Hiro is so loyal to Siria that the brainwashing machine wouldn't work anyways," Gen said. "And I wanted to get you out of the way, so I got your family away so I could brainwash them after I kill you."

"You think it's going to be that easy to kill me?" Kisshu asked incredulously. Gen smirked, and suddenly Kisshu started to get a sense of foreboding. This sense was proven correct as Gen teleported directly in front of Ichigo and put a finger on her forehead. A gold spark faded into her skin, and Gen said, "There."

"What did you do to her!?" Kisshu shouted.

"Brainwashed her," Gen said calmly. Kisshu's eyes widened, and he looked at Ichigo. She shook her head, then said, "What was that? Now I've got a headache."

"Ichigo! Attack Kisshu!" Gen commanded.

Ichigo looked at him, confused. "Why? I love him," she said. Gen's eyes widened. "Damn. The brainwashing technique didn't work," he snarled.

Ichigo looked thoughtful. "Ryou couldn't brainwash me either," she said. "I wonder if I'm somehow immune to being brainwashed?"

Gen snarled and while Kisshu wasn't looking, shot a spark at him. Kisshu cried out, but then his eyes went blank. "KISSHU!" Ichigo screamed.

Gen smirked. "That worked," he said. "Can you really fight the one you love?"

Ichigo looked terrified. "Kisshu, don't you remember me?" she asked.

Instead of answering, Kisshu took out his swords and lunged at her. Ichigo dodged, but didn't take out her weapon. "Kisshu, it's me! Ichigo!" Ichigo said. "Don't let Gen take over your mind!"

Kisshu remained silent, and Ichigo kept dodging his attacks. Ichigo decided to try telepathy, but she found her connection to Kisshu was severed. Only one thing left, she thought. As Kisshu lunged again, Ichigo stood still, and as soon as Kisshu got close enough, she wrapped her arms around him, crying out as his blade pierced her stomach. Trying to ignore the pain, she then kissed Kisshu, putting all her love for him behind it. With her eyes closed, she didn't notice that Kisshu's eyes had gone from blank to horrified. She felt the blade leave her stomach, and opened her eyes, letting Kisshu go. "Do you remember me?" she asked.

"Ichigo…" Kisshu whispered as the cat girl then collapsed. "ICHIGO!"

Kisshu turned to Gen, but he was gone, strangely. Then Kisshu knelt next to Ichigo and put his hands over the wound, tears running down his face. He began to glow green, and the glow started to flow into Ichigo's wound. About five minutes later, the wound closed and the glow faded.

Kisshu waited, and was relieved to see Ichigo open her eyes. "Kisshu?" she asked.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry!" Kisshu cried. Ichigo sat up and hugged Kisshu, who immediately buried his face in her shoulder, his shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs.

"Kisshu, it's okay," Ichigo said softly. "As long as you're back to normal, it's okay."

"But I almost killed you!" Kisshu cried.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said. "You returned to normal and healed me. It's not your fault, it's Gen's."

Kisshu pulled back, and saw that Ichigo was smiling at him. "It's like our Guardian said," she said softly. "Our love will prevail."

"You're really okay?" Kisshu whispered.

"Yep," Ichigo said. "Your healing powers are great." She reached up and wiped Kisshu's tears away. She noticed he wasn't calming down, and said gently, "Kisshu, really, I'm fine. You worry too much."

Kisshu just hugged her tightly. She started stroking his hair, and eventually he fell asleep in her arms. She gently picked him up and tucked him into their bed, then sat down to watch him.

Little bit of drama there. Don't worry, Kisshu's not getting sick again. He just wore himself out worrying. Review plz!