Ichigo's Illness Chapter 11:

Decisions

Now that Ichigo's parents had agreed to Ichigo sleeping with Kisshu, they had to figure out how this was going to work. Sakura had suggested Kisshu live with them, and maybe go to Ichigo's school, but Pai pointed out that if Kisshu went into another trance, that might cause problems at school. Ichigo suggested that she go back to living with Kisshu, Pai and Taruto, but this went down badly with Shintaro, who almost started ranting again, and pointed out that Ichigo still needed to go to school.

Pai had the idea that Ichigo's parents could get the schoolwork from the school, and he could just teleport it to Ichigo if she was living with them. Shintaro asked what to tell the school, which stumped Pai, because saying Ichigo was sick might not work after a while.

Finally, and to everyone's surprise, Taruto said, "Well, we know that Ryou wants to kill us, right?" Everyone nodded. Taruto continued, "If you guys tell the school that Ryou is actually out to get Ichigo and you sent her away for her safety, then maybe the school wouldn't mind having to send work to you. Then we could get the work, and Ichigo could live with us."

"That's an idea," Pai said. "It would also protect all of us, since if you tell the school that Ichigo's been sent away for her own protection, the police might get involved. If Ryou goes to jail, we'll all be safe."

"But what will we tell the police, and what about the note?" Sakura asked.

"I could say that the note was left on Ryou's computer, and that I printed it out," Keiichiro suggested. "Then we could make up what he said, and the police wouldn't suspect a thing."

"What if they need to talk to Ichigo?" Shintaro asked.

"I'll have my cell phone, so they can call me," Ichigo said.

"Okay, I think we can make this work," Sakura said. "Ichigo, you should pack some clothes and things, if you're going to be living somewhere else."

"Oh, I know," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, want to come?"

"Sure!" Kisshu said. He took her hand and teleported. They landed in Ichigo's room, but Kisshu stumbled again. Ichigo steadied him, and said, "Kisshu, maybe you should sit down."

Kisshu sat on Ichigo's bed, and watched her pack her stuff while he waited for his head to stop spinning.

Soon Ichigo was done, and she closed the suitcase. Then she looked at Kisshu and said, "I'm going to call Lettuce and see if Pai's still there. I think he should come get us; you're not looking too good."

"I'll be fine," Kisshu said.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked, worried.

"Yeah," Kisshu said. Ichigo picked up her suitcase, still a bit unsure, but Kisshu took her hand and teleported before she could say anything else. They landed in the main room of Café Mew Mew- and Kisshu collapsed. Ichigo caught him as the others came over, worried.

"I'm guessing he teleported while he was still dizzy, right?" Pai said.

"I tried to tell him that he shouldn't teleport, but he teleported before I had the chance," Ichigo said.

"Well, at least you ended up where you were supposed to," Pai said. "I guess we'd better get Kisshu back to the ship. Are you all packed?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. Then she turned to her parents. "I'll see you soon," she said. Then she hugged both of them, and said, "I have to go, so this is goodbye for a while."

"We understand," Sakura said. "Bye!"

Shintaro hugged Ichigo again and said, "No funny stuff, got it?"

"Yes, Dad, I wasn't planning on it anyways," Ichigo sighed.

Pai, meanwhile, had picked up Kisshu, and now he said, "Taruto, you're teleporting Ichigo."

Taruto nodded, and took Ichigo's hand. Then they teleported out.

They arrived in the main room of the ship, and Pai said, "Ichigo, follow me. Taruto, you're free to do what you want, as long as it's not anywhere near my lab."

Ichigo giggled. Taruto looked at her strangely, so she said, "I went to Pai's lab the other day and knocked, and he thought I was you, so he started shouting at me."

Pai turned red as Taruto said, "Wow. At least he didn't blast you with his fan."

"Yeah, that's good," Ichigo said.

"I'm going to go back to Earth to see Pudding," Taruto said. "See you later!"

"Bye," Ichigo said. Then she followed Pai to Kisshu's room. Pai put Kisshu down on his bed, and Ichigo pulled a blanket over him. Then she sat down next to him as Pai teleported out.

Three hours later, Kisshu woke up. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well, you managed to teleport to Café Mew Mew, but then you blacked out," Ichigo said. "I guess you weren't really in good enough shape to teleport after all."

"I guess you were right. Sorry," Kisshu said. "I'm still pretty dizzy. I'm also kind of feeling sick."

Ichigo looked worried. "If you feel sick, maybe you should go to the bathroom," she said. "And don't teleport."

Kisshu got out of bed and went to the bathroom, which was right next door, luckily. A minute later, Ichigo heard him throw up. He left the door open, so she went in and started rubbing his back. When he was finished, he said, "I really don't feel good…"

"I can see that," Ichigo said. She put a hand on his forehead, then sighed and said, "You've got a fever. I think you're coming down with something."

Kisshu opened his mouth to say something, but started coughing instead, and turned away from Ichigo.

When he stopped coughing, Ichigo asked, "Can you get up? You should go back to bed."

"I don't really think I can get up," Kisshu said. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "I'll help you." She helped Kisshu to his feet, and helped him walk back to his room. He laid down on the bed, but said, "What are we going to do? I wouldn't ask you to sleep with me when I'm sick."

"I'll still be here," Ichigo said. "I just won't be in the same bed, that's all."

"O-okay," Kisshu said. Then he said, "My stomach doesn't feel good again. I'm still dizzy, too."

"Can you keep from throwing up for a few minutes? I saw a bucket in the bathroom," Ichigo said.

"I'll do my best," Kisshu said.

Ichigo nodded and ran to get the bucket. She came back and put it next to the bed, and Kisshu said, "Thanks, Koneko-chan…." Then he threw up again. Finally he lay back, and said, "I'm tired…."

"Go to sleep," Ichigo said. "I'm going to tell Pai that you're sick, but I'll be right back."

Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo left. She went to Pai's lab, and knocked, then shouted, "I'm not Taruto, just so you know!"

Pai came out and said, "Thanks for the clarification. What's up?"

"Kisshu's come down with something," Ichigo said. "He's got a fever, and he's so dizzy it's causing him to throw up."

"Not good," Pai said. "I'll come have a look." He followed Ichigo back to Kisshu's room, and walked over to the bed. Kisshu was asleep, but he didn't look too good. His face was flushed, and as Pai and Ichigo watched, he started coughing, which woke him up.

"Pai?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah," Pai said. "Looks like you're pretty sick."

"Yeah, I feel awful," Kisshu said. "At least my stomach doesn't feel as bad. I think it only feels bad when I move around too much."

"I guess you shouldn't be moving around too much, then," Pai said. "I see that Ichigo put a bucket next to your bed, so that's good." He turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, will you stay with Kisshu until he's better?" Pai asked.

"Of course," Ichigo said. "I can't sleep with him, but I'll stay in the room."

"Good," Pai said. "I'm going to go get some of our fever medication."

"Okay," Ichigo said, ignoring Kisshu's groan.

Pai left, then came back with the fever medicine, and gave Kisshu a spoonful. "Get some sleep, and don't push yourself," Pai advised. "Ichigo and I will be here if you need us."

"Thanks," Kisshu said, falling back to sleep.

When he was sound asleep, Pai said softly, "I'll be in and out, and you can call me if you or Kisshu need anything. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be out of the room too much. I think that you should probably eat somewhere else, in case the smell of food makes Kisshu feel worse, so tell me if you need to eat, and I'll watch Kisshu."

"Will do, Pai," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and left.

Ichigo was still sitting next to Kisshu two hours later. He hadn't stirred, but it didn't seem like he was having nightmares, either, since he wasn't screaming. Ichigo took that as a good sign, and kept watching him.

Half an hour later, Kisshu finally woke up. Ichigo noticed and said, "How are you feeling?"

"Not great," Kisshu admitted. "I have a headache." He started to sit up, but Ichigo pushed him back down gently.

"Remember what happened the last time you tried to get up?" she asked in response to Kisshu's questioning look.

"Oh… right…" Kisshu said. He settled back down. "I'm thirsty," he said.

"Pai brought a pitcher of water in here, so is water okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, water's fine, thanks," Kisshu said.

Ichigo poured him a glass of water, and helped him drink it. She put the glass aside when Kisshu was finished, and said, "Get some more rest, you need it to recover."

Kisshu looked a bit nervous, but nodded. Then he put a hand to his head. "That made my headache worse," he said. He settled down against the pillows, and was asleep soon after.

It was getting late, so Ichigo pulled the blankets over Kisshu, then got out her sleeping bag and laid it out next to Kisshu's bed. She climbed into it and was asleep soon after.

Another bad chapter ending. And I know this story is getting to be more like 'Kisshu's Illness' than 'Ichigo's Illness', but I'm trying to think up more action, while incorporating Kisshu's nightmare in somehow. So, I'm sorry Kisshu got sick again, but it's only because I couldn't think of what else to do. Plz don't flame me!