Brought Together Chapter 27:
Settling In
"So what should we do now?" Ichigo asked Kisshu.
"Maybe we should go tell our families about this," Kisshu said. "I just hope you beating me doesn't become a problem."
"Well, Kuro-sama said he'd help if it did," Ichigo said. "I hope my dad doesn't start bragging, though."
"We'll tell him that he's not allowed to," Kisshu said. "I'm sure he'll understand."
"Okay," Ichigo said. "Should we go find our families?"
"Good idea," Kisshu said. He and Ichigo teleported off the ship, and went to find Ichigo's parents.
They finally asked one Cyniclon where they could find Pai and Taruto's family, since that's where Ichigo's parents were staying. She told them, and they headed off. Finally they reached the house where they were living. Kisshu knocked, and the door was opened by Pai.
"Come in," Pai said. "How did it go?"
"Well, it wasn't too great," Kisshu said. "Is everyone here? We should tell you all what happened."
"Sure," Pai said. "I'll go get them."
Soon everyone was gathered in the main room. "So what happened? You look pretty serious," Sakura asked.
"Well, I beat Kisshu, but that turned out to be a bad thing," Ichigo said.
Pai, Taruto, and their parents looked shocked. Sakura and Shintaro were confused. "Why is it a bad thing?" Shintaro said.
Pai's mother, Yuki, responded, "Kisshu has been undefeated up till now. If Ichigo beat him, it means a lot of people will be scared of her. All our people know that Kisshu has never been defeated, and that someone who could defeat him must be very powerful."
Pai's father, Hayao, continued, "We'll need to keep this as quiet as possible. I'm sure that Kuro-sama said the same. That means we shouldn't be bragging about Ichigo's skill. If we get too open about this, Ichigo might be in difficulty, because people will either act like she's too special, or avoid her altogether. I know that you are proud of her, Sakura and Shintaro, but you shouldn't mention this to others, unless you want Ichigo to be feared."
"I understand," Sakura said. "Shintaro, you need to keep this quiet as well, understand?"
"Hai," Shintaro said. "I won't say anything."
"Good," Yuki said. "You two also don't need a lot of publicity. Ichigo will get some publicity, since she looks like Kisshu's sister, but the two of you should keep a low profile."
"Kuro-sama said we would keep this as quiet as possible, but if word gets out and Ichigo starts having problems, the Elder Council will call a town meeting," Kisshu said. "We thought that was a good idea."
"I agree," Hayao said. "I must say that holding a practice battle was not one of Kuro-sama's better decisions, though."
"That's what he said," Ichigo said. "The other males looked pretty scared after I beat Kisshu."
"I hope it won't become a problem on missions," Yuki sighed.
"So do we," Ichigo said, nodding toward Kisshu.
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. Kisshu went and opened it, revealing a girl about Ichigo's age. She looked up at Kisshu, and said, "My little sister claims Ichigo came back to life. Is that true?"
Kisshu sighed. "No, it's not," he said. "Pai simply turned my girlfriend into an exact replica of Ichigo. It doesn't really help that my girlfriend's name is Ichigo, though."
"Well, well, so the great Pai can make mistakes," the girl said. Then she noticed everyone except Pai was staring at her. "Oh, sorry, I should have said hi," she said.
Kisshu said, "This is Hana, she was my sister's best friend. Hana, this is my girlfriend, Ichigo, and her parents, Sakura and Shintaro."
"It's nice to meet you," Hana said. "Wait… Sakura, Shintaro, what happened to your ears?"
"Hana, you didn't hear the news?" Taruto asked.
"What news, chibi?" Hana asked with a smirk.
"I'M NOT A CHIBI!" Taruto shouted. "I guess Pai can explain this one."
Pai sighed, and said, "Hana, Ichigo's parents are human; that's what's wrong with their ears."
"Why would humans have a Cyniclon for a daughter?" Hana asked, puzzled.
"Ichigo used to be human too, but I made a mistake and turned her into a Cyniclon," Pai said.
"Pai, it's not totally your fault," Ichigo said. "I was the one who told you to inject me with your DNA."
"Ichigo, why would you want to have Pai's DNA?" Hana asked.
"Kisshu got sick, and when Pai told me his healing abilities weren't working, I told him to inject me with his DNA so I could get the same powers," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately, he accidentally injected me with Kisshu's sister's DNA as well."
"Well, that explains why you look exactly like her," Hana said. "This won't be easy to explain to my little sister…"
"Was your little sister close with Ichigo?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah," Hana said. "Ichigo and I would babysit her while my mom was working. Emi- that's my little sister- loved Ichigo."
"Ichigo might not see much of Emi, Hana," Kisshu said. "She's been chosen for the expeditionary force, like me."
Hana's jaw dropped. "Y-you must be really good," she said. "What level are you?"
"Um… 5, I think," Ichigo said.
"That's incredible!" Hana said. "We haven't had a female warrior that good in over fifty years."
"Great… now everyone will think I'm weird," Ichigo said. "I'd prefer being average."
"If you were average, we wouldn't have met, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "I'm glad you're special."
"I think the only good thing about being special on Earth was meeting you and the other Mews," Ichigo said.
"I'm glad you think meeting me is a plus now," Kisshu said. "I just wish we had gotten together sooner."
"Me too," Ichigo said. "I'm still sorry that I didn't realize your feelings sooner."
"All that matters to me is that we're together now," Kisshu said.
They both jumped when Hana, who had listened to the whole thing, said, "Ichigo, why didn't you realize Kisshu loved you? He's usually pretty open about that kind of thing."
"He was always calling me his toy, so I didn't really believe that he loved me," Ichigo said. "I actually started to get feelings for him a while before we got together, but I didn't tell him because I thought that I was only a toy to him."
Kisshu sighed sadly. Ichigo turned and said, "Kisshu, I'm sorry if that brought back bad memories."
"Bad memories?" Hana asked.
"I wrote in my diary that I liked Kisshu, but that I didn't think he felt the same," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately, he read my diary."
"KISSHU! Why would you read her diary!? That's private!" Hana shrieked.
Kisshu just sighed again. Ichigo noticed, and went over to him. Then she hugged him. "Like you said, all that matters is that we're together, right?" she said softly. "Sorry I brought this up."
Kisshu hugged her back. "I'll leave you two alone," Hana said. "I have to go find some way of explaining to Emi that Ichigo hasn't actually come back from the dead."
"It was nice to meet you, Hana," Ichigo said.
"You too, Ichigo," Hana said. "Bye!" She left.
Well, I've got some new OCs. Yuki and Hayao probably won't play a huge part, but Hana might get a bigger part. Plz Review!
