A/N: The pink music box that Kisshu gives Ichigo in this chapter, originally, belongs to the anime Ashita no Nadja, if you want to listen to the melody while you're reading, search on youtube for "Nadja music box" or "Omoi o tsumugu Orgel" ^^

Never forgetting you

Chapter 4 – Do you remember me?

Kisshu keep staring at Ichigo until she was out of his sight then he sighed sadly and hanged his head down.

"That ruby haired girl was staring at Kisshu" said Taruto as he looked up at Nadia and Kisshu, who was still in a deep silence.

"That was Her Tart…" murmured Nadia as she lowered down to the young alien size and whispered in his ear, Taruto's orange eyes slight widened and he whispered back:

"You mean, Kisshu's friend?"

Nadia nodded and sat up again and she looked at Kisshu, he was facing the floor, hiding the few tears that were in his eyes threatening to fall at any moment. The blue haired girl looked at him worried and tried to cheer him up.

"I think she remembered you"

"…."

"I mean, you were the first one that she looked at and she was staring at you for so long…that must mean something, don't you think? It's good that after twelve years, she does remember y-"

"She doesn't…" whispered finally Kisshu as he whipped the tears in his eyes and looked back up

"Huh?"

"She…she doesn't remember me Nadia….she doesn't…know who I am…"

"Kish she was staring at you, you were the only one that her eyes were looking at!" exclaimed Nadia, Kisshu only shook his head in sadness

"No…I have known her since she was born Nadia…if she remembered me, she wouldn't care if anyone was watching and she would have just jumped at me like she always did as a kid…"

"Kish…"

"But you were right Nadia…I won't give up, I will just start everything from the beginning, I'm going to meet her and figure out if she has forgot everything about me…if she did, then I will start from the beginning…"

Nadia kind of smiled at her friend, he was acting strong like he always did, he never liked to show weakness since his parent's death, always trying to smile and be strong even when deep inside he wasn't feeling that and she knew that he was feeling sad, she couldn't tell how important Ichigo was to Kisshu but she knew that she was special to him and she also knew that he would do everything for her, even giving his life for her.

"Well, I guess I will get going then.." said Kisshu as he walked away from the group, he first needed to clear his head before seeing her again. The green haired alien walked alone towards the river, the same place where he was before Ichigo and the others arrived, the same place where his memories of him and her playing when kids remained alive, at last for him…

But before he could get there an annoying voice interrupted his train of thoughts and blocked his path towards the river.

"Kiiiiiiisssssshhhhhuuuuu!"

It was a female voice that Kisshu knew pretty well, he closed his eyes and sighed, a pair of arms wrapped suddenly around him and weight was pressed against his back.

"Kish! Where were you sweet heart? I didn't see you around today!" said the baby blue and pink eyed female alien

"Louhi…get…off my back now…" he murmured, Louhi was Nadia's youngest sister and was crazy in love with Kisshu and he knew it but he didn't return her feelings.

"Awww why? I like being close to you, my love!"

"I said get off my back NOW!" he suddenly snapped at her, she was kind of shocked at him and let him go.

"Why are you acting so mean to me?" she said as she pouted slightly

"I'm not in the mood to talk with anyone, Louhi…"

"Awww Kish but I love you! You can tell me!"

"When are you going to understand this, I have told you so many times already! I don't return your feelings!" said the alien teen trying to remain calm as possible

"Tch, tch, tch…rejection only means that you like me Kish-kun!" she said, Kisshu only groaned and glared at her

"Look I'm not in the mood so just leave me alone!" he yelled and then teleported away, away from her, away from everything…

Meanwhile at the apartment, the new group just got there and was waiting for the owner to get them to their rooms so they could unpack and settle their things.

"Welcome to our village, we hope that you will be happy to live here. We only had this apartment left and we don't have ten rooms so you will have to slip into two and share the same room." Said the blond haired woman, she was human and it could be seen that she had the DNA of a white fox.

"That's alright, we don't mind" said the blond haired teenager

"Very well but first I need to know your names" she said

"Oh of course, we're sorry for not introducing earlier, I am Keiichiro Akasaka and this blond haired boy is my companion Ryou Shirogane" introduced the long brown haired man, Ryou took the woman's hand and kissed it making her blush, quickly recovering from it, she looked at the teenager group behind the two men, they bowed politely before introducing themselves.

"I'm Ringo Akai" said the angel girl dressed in red clothes

"Masaya Aoyama" said the dark grey dressed, angel boy, the only male from the group not counting with Ryou and Keiichiro.

"I'm Berry Shirayuki" said the half cat and half rabbit girl

"Zakuro…Zakuro Fujiwara" said the wolf girl

"I'm Pudding Fong, Na no da!" said the monkey girl

"R-Retasu M-Midoriwaka" said the green haired girl

"Minto Aizawa" said the bird girl

"And I'm Ichigo Momomiya" said the black cat girl

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I will leave you now to unpack your things and settle here" with these words said, the woman left the apartment. The group picked up their bags and went to settle in.

"Zakuro onee-sama, may I share my room with you?" asked Mint, the blue bird girl, Zakuro only nodded and the two left to their room.

"I guess we can share our room, ne Pudding-chan?" said Retasu

"Sure, Na no da!" said the monkey girl and the two also left, Ichigo picked up her bag and went to her room when Masaya approached her with his bag.

"Hey Ichigo!" She looked up at him

"Oh, Masaya"

"Shall we share our room?" he asked, she didn't know what to say, she looked at the floor and tried to answer

"U-Uh…I…"

"Sorry Masaya-kun! She is with me already!" said Berry, suddenly popping out of nowhere which startled the two teens.

"Oh well, I guess I will share my room with Ringo then" he said, sounding kind of disappointed and then he left, Ichigo let a sigh of relief escape her lips as she and Berry walked inside their room.

"Thank you so much, Berry! You saved me!" she said, Berry giggled and winked at her

"No problem!" she said, the two unpacked their things and decided which bed would be theirs, which side of the wardrobe they would take and other stuff for hours…until Ryou knocked and walked in.

"You two finished?" he asked

"She is, I'm almost done!" said Berry

"Good, Ichigo I need you"

"And what for?"

"I need you to go to the market and buy some food and paints so we can color the rooms' walls tomorrow" he said as he handed her the list and the money, she took it but then looked at him

"Alright but…just me?" asked the strawberry haired girl

"Yes since you're the only one that is done unpacking"

"Whaaaat? That's not fair Ryou! I have to wait for someone to be finished as well! I can't handle all of this on my own!"

"Sorry cat girl but we need the things now and the sun is already setting so you better hurry up and go now" said the blond teen as he walked out of the room

"Wait a second right there! I don't even know where the damn market is!" she scolded, Ryou keep walking but answered her

"Ask people for the directions, now hurry up" and with that he left the room, leaving a mad Ichigo and a giggling Berry behind.

"I HATE YOU RYOU!"

She then sighed and since she had no choice left, she left towards the market but was mumbling curses to Ryou the whole way there.

"I don't even know where the market is! Who does Ryou think I am? His slave?" she complained, she keep walking and mumbling more and more curses to the blond teen until she bumped into someone, she would have fall if the person who she had bumped into didn't catch her by holding her arm.

"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was walking!" she apologized once she regained her balance

"No, it was my fault too I wasn't looking where I was going either!" said the person, a male by the sound of the voice, Ichigo opened her eyes and noticed that the person she had just bumped into was no more than the green haired alien that she had stared at when she walked out of the car, this evening.

"It's you…" she murmured, Kisshu opened his amber eyes as well and saw Ichigo, his eyes widened at this

"Ichigo…" he whispered low but it was enough for her to hear him saying her name since she was close to him, when he said this, her face turned into a confused one.

"Hum…excuse me but…how do you know my name?" she asked and this surprised Kisshu, he wasn't excepting her to hear him whispering her name

"I…I…uh…" he didn't know what to say, should he tell her that they used to be best friends twelve years ago? That they have known each other since they were born? She probably wouldn't remember him but then…what would he gain by lying to her? What could he possibly do for her to gain her memories with him back…? He never lied to anyone in his whole life, he sighed at this…he never lied before and it wasn't now he was going to start…especially to her.

"I'm not surprised that you don't remember me, Ichigo…after all…it has been twelve years since we last saw each other, you were just a three year old girl back there…" he said as he faked a smile, trying not to sound in pain, Ichigo blinked her eyes and cocked her head to the side, still confused but curious as well

"Hum…you're right I can't remember who you are but…somehow your face…your eyes…they are familiar to me, I don't know why but…you are!" she said, Kisshu was caught off guard by this, did she just said that he was familiar to her? Maybe…maybe all the hope wasn't gone after all…

"What's your name?" she asked and he smiled

"We have known each other since we were born and we were the best of friends…you loved to tease me by calling me Kishi…but anyway my name is Kisshu"

Once he told her his name, flashbacks started coming to her one by one and she didn't know why…

"Well, well, what we have here? Did this kitty girl lost her mommy and daddy?" said a young boy as he held the doll of a young strawberry haired, cat girl

"G-Give me back my doll, please!" she said while jumping up and down trying to catch her doll but the boy and his friends just held it higher and threw it to each other making her run around one after another, they laughed at her and she was in verge of crying…

"Aww the little kitty is crying?"

"Please…please give my doll back!"

"And what if I don't?"

"If you don't, I will kick your damn ass and you will just run behind your mommy" said suddenly a new voice, they all looked to see a five year old, forest green haired and amber eyed, alien boy. He glared at them and held his hand out.

"Give me the doll…"

"Oh what we have here, a tough little guy? Well come here and make me!" said the boy that held the doll, Kisshu smirked at this and when the boy less excepted, the alien was standing behind him and holding his arms behind his back, hard.

"Gaaahh! Let go! Let go! It hurts!" whined the boy, Kisshu grinned and then snatched the doll off the boy's hands and then let him go.

"Leave now and don't ever mess with her again or next time I won't be this gentle…" he said in a cold tone, the group of boys ran off scared. Kisshu scolded and then turned to the cat girl, he handed her back the doll, she took it and then hugged him.

"Thank you, Kishi!"

"Uhhh…sure…"

~.~.~

"Not fair! You cheated! I thought you were hurt!"

"Awww you were worried about me, Kishi?" said the little girl as she jumped at the boy and hugged him but it was so strong that they both fell in the water again.

"Don't call me Kishi! I told you already its Kisshu!" complained the boy

"Alright, Ki-ssu!" said the girl as she giggled, the alien boy pouted

~.~.~

"They don't need to take care of her…I will take care of her, I promised that to her mother and I will do it…"

"She doesn't need anyone else, she has me…and if she goes, I go too…"

~.~.~

"No! Ichigo!"

"KISH! KISSHU!" yelled the strawberry haired girl as the car drove off

"ICHIGO!"

~.~.~

Ichigo's eyes widened and she gasped

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Kisshu, Ichigo looked up at him, gaping slightly and she felt her eyes water and before both of them knew, she was in his arms, hugging him around the waist and burying her head in his chest, tugging tight in his shirt…Kisshu was caught off guard by this act, he was so shocked, he had no idea that she would remember him just by him telling her his name…after twelve years…still shocked but also happy, he wrapped his arms protectively around his strawberry cat girl, he didn't want to let go, not now, not ever…he wanted to make sure that this wasn't a dream…he looked down at the girl in his arms…

"K-Kish…is this…really you…?" she asked, her cat ears dropped and her tail wrapped around their waists, small tears in the corner of her eyes, Kish smiled and lifted her chin with his hand and then with the other, wiped the tears away.

"Yes Kitten, it's me…" she smiled and buried her face in his chest again, they stayed like that for a couple of minutes before breaking apart.

"I missed you so much Kish…I'm sorry I didn't remember you but so many things happened in these past twelve years th-" she was stopped by his finger placed on her lips, she kind of blushed at this

"It's all right Koneko…I knew it would be hard for you to remember me since you were just three when you were taken…I actually didn't except you to remember me by me just telling you my name…I never forgot you Ichigo, every day, every week, every year I would think of you…"

"Kish…"

"I'm sorry…I guess I'm acting a little too emotional here" he said and she giggled

"Where were you going before we bumped into each other?"

"Oh my god! I completely forgot! I have to go to the market to buy some food and paints!" she said, Kisshu chuckled

"I suppose you don't know where the market is" he said, she blushed in embarrassment and looked down, Kisshu laughed at this and then took her hand.

"Come on, I will take you there and help you carry those things, I can see you need help…you carrying food and paints at the same, I'm sure it won't have an happy ending" he said and she pouted, then stuck her tongue out at him. Kish took her to the market and like he said, he helped her buy and carry the things, on their way back to the apartment; they decided to stop by a café and have some drinks.

"So who were those people that came with you in the car?"he asked as they sat down and drank their fresh drinks.

"Oh they are some friends"

"Who were the angels and the blond guy?" he asked

"Oh the red dressed angel is Ringo, she is very nice and sweet, the youngest male angel was Masaya and the older was Keiichiro. The blond, grey cat, boy was Ryou. And before you ask, the bird girl was Mint, the green haired was Retasu-chan, the monkey was Pudding, the wolf was Zakuro-san and the half rabbit, half cat girl was Berry, I found out that she is my half-sister!" she said, Kisshu almost choked on his drink when he heard this (A/N: Remember in the first chapter when I said that Ichigo's father had the DNA of an Andes Mountain Cat? Yep that's why!)

"Y-Your h-half-sister?"

"Yes, apparently my father was married before he met my mom and lived in another village, the woman was human and had the DNA of a rabbit so that's why Berry is half cat and half rabbit, she is one, almost two years older than me. When my dad met my mom, he had recently divorced from Berry's mom, so they moved to this village and later after they were married, I was born" she explained

"Oh I see, so…where did you met her?"

"Remember those kids that were in the car of the men that took me? She was among them, the demons also attacked her village and her mom died there too. They took her and the kids that now are my friends with them as well." She said, Kisshu kind of shivered at that

"That memory haunts me every night…" he said, Ichigo looked at him and then smiled, she placed her hand on his

"Hey, I'm here now, aren't I?" she said, Kisshu returned the smile and then kind of looked away, to hide his sudden blush on his cheeks. They finished their drinks and walked back to the apartment.

"Well, it's here. Thanks for the help, Kish" she said as both of them set the bags down on the kitchen table

"Anytime, you are going to paint your rooms' walls?" he asked, she nodded in response

"Well, if you need any help with it, just call me. I don't have anything better to do!" he offered

"That would be great! We start tomorrow in the morning then!"

"I will be right here. Oh! I almost forgot, I still have with me, something that belonged to your mother…I'm sure you would like to have it with you, now?"

"Yes…I would…" she said kind of in a sad tone as she remembered her dear parents

"I will go, get it then" he said and then teleported away, while he was gone, Ichigo arranged the things in the kitchen. After a while, Kisshu came back, in his hands was a small pink and gold box, he put it on the kitchen's table so she could look at it.

"Is this…" she started saying but said no more, after staring at the box of a while she opened it. Her eyes widened as out of the box started playing a soft melody…while listening to it, both the green haired alien and cat girl sat down in a chair, his hand of hers…

"This…this brings so many memories back…" said Ichigo, Kisshu chuckled slightly at the sudden memory that crossed his mind

"Remember when our mothers used this melody to make us go sleep, when we had that sleepover at your house?" he said, Ichigo giggled at the memory and nodded.

"Yes, we were very stubborn and didn't want to sleep…"

"But this music box was their ultimate weapon against our stubbornness, I think we fell asleep no less than five minutes after we listened to this melody" said Kisshu, Ichigo smiled and closed the music box, then both of them stood up and before he left, by teleporting away, she hugged him and buried her head in his chest once again, he blushed slightly at this but then returned the hug, one hand around her waist and the other on her head.

"Thank you, Kish…" she said

"Anytime Kitten…anytime…" he said

TBC…