Ichigo's Illness Chapter 13:

The Truth Revealed

Pai looked up and said, "Deep Blue somehow implanted the nightmares into Kisshu's mind, in order to make him sick, and eventually, even kill him. I've pinpointed where the nightmares are coming from, and I think I can get rid of them. It's not going to be easy, and Kisshu probably won't be feeling too great afterwards, but at least the nightmares will go away."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Ichigo asked.

"I just need you to stay with Kisshu," Pai said. "Extracting the nightmares from his mind is probably going to be painful for him."

"O-okay," Ichigo said.

Pai nodded, and went back to the machine. He started typing again, and then said, "Okay, I'm ready." He pushed a button, and the wire attached to Kisshu's forehead began to glow. Suddenly it looked like the glow was moving. Ichigo assumed that the glow was the nightmares being extracted, but she remained silent. Suddenly Kisshu screamed, and Pai said, "If he starts moving, I need you to hold him down, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded, just as Kisshu started to shake. Strangely, he didn't seem to be waking up. Ichigo grabbed his shoulders as he started thrashing around, and held him down so hard she completely immobilized him. Then Kisshu screamed again, and tears ran down his face. Ichigo kept holding him, even though by this point she was crying too. Finally, Ichigo heard a beep behind her, and Kisshu started to relax.

Pai sighed, and said, "I'm finished. Move over, I'm going to take the wire out and wake him up."

Ichigo let go of Kisshu, and moved aside. Pai took the wire off of Kisshu's forehead, and set it aside. Then he tapped Kisshu on the forehead twice.

As Ichigo and Pai watched, Kisshu opened his eyes and looked at them. "What happened?" he asked. His voice was weak and sounded like he was in pain.

"I figured out where the nightmares were coming from and extracted them from your mind," Pai said. "You shouldn't have nightmares anymore."

"That's great!" Kisshu said. "But why do I feel awful?"

"The process I used was pretty hard on your body," Pai said. "Unfortunately, that was the only way to get rid of the nightmares. You're going to need to rest for a while, until your body recovers."

Kisshu sighed, but said, "Thanks for getting rid of the nightmares, Pai."

"You're welcome, Kisshu," Pai said. "Let's get you back to your room."

"I don't think I can walk anymore," Kisshu admitted.

"That's to be expected," Pai said. "I'll carry you. Teleporting you in that condition will make things worse."

"Okay," Kisshu said. Pai picked Kisshu up and walked to his room, followed by Ichigo. Once there, Pai put Kisshu down on the bed, and pulled a blanket over him. Then he put one hand on Kisshu's forehead. "You don't have a fever, so that's good," Pai said. "You should get some sleep, it'll help."

Kisshu sighed, then turned to Ichigo and said, "Will you be here?"

"Of course, I would never leave you," Ichigo said. "Go to sleep, I'll be right here next to you."

Pai left as Kisshu settled back and went to sleep. Ichigo sat down in a chair to watch over him.

Seven hours later, Kisshu was still asleep, and Ichigo couldn't keep her eyes open, so she got into the sleeping bag she brought from home and went to sleep herself.

The next morning when she woke up, she saw that Kisshu was still asleep. Then she realized she hadn't taken a shower in about three days, and decided to take a quick one while Kisshu was asleep. She quickly grabbed some clothes, and went to the bathroom, then took a shower. Ten minutes later, she was done, so she went back to Kisshu's room. She put the clothes she had been wearing aside, and went to sit next to Kisshu again. He was sleeping much more peacefully than he had been, and Ichigo took that as a good sign.

An hour later, Kisshu started to wake up. Ichigo noticed, and when it looked like he was fully awake, she asked, "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

"Still awful," Kisshu said. "My whole body aches, and my head feels like it's been split open. My stomach doesn't feel great, either."

"Well, that bucket is still next to your bed," Ichigo said. "Don't try to get up yet, okay?"

"Yeah… I don't think I have the strength to get up anyways," Kisshu said. "I'm also feeling pretty weak."

"I'll do my best to help you get through this," Ichigo said.

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. Then he said, "I think I'm going to be sick…" He turned over, and threw up into the bucket. Ichigo rubbed his back until he finished.

Kisshu turned back over and said, "My stomach really doesn't feel good. I don't think I'll be able to eat for a while."

"Do you know if you have ginger ale in the kitchen? That can help with upset stomachs," Ichigo said.

"Maybe…." Kisshu said.

"Do you think you'll be okay on your own until I find out?" Ichigo asked.

"I think so," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smoothed her hand over his hair, and went to the kitchen. Pai was there, and he looked up as she came in. "What's up?" he asked.

"Kisshu's stomach is pretty upset, and I was wondering if you had ginger ale," Ichigo asked.

"I think there's some in the cabinet," Pai said. "It hasn't been opened yet, though."

"That's fine," Ichigo said. She went and got the ginger ale, and took it back to Kisshu's room with a glass.

Kisshu looked up as she came in, and said, "Did you find it?"

"Yep," Ichigo said. She poured a glass and said, "Don't drink too fast, or you'll get sick again."

Kisshu nodded, and slowly drank the ginger ale. Halfway through, he said, "I'm not really thirsty anymore."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She took the glass from him, and set it on the bedside table. "Maybe you should get some more sleep," Ichigo suggested.

"I'm not really tired," Kisshu said. "And my head hurts way too much for me to get any sleep. Would you mind asking Pai if he has headache medicine? I don't think I can get up."

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Just take it easy, and I'll be back soon."

"Okay," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled at him and left. She went to Pai's lab, and knocked. No one answered. She knocked louder, and still no response. Maybe he's still in the kitchen, Ichigo thought. She went to the kitchen, and instead of Pai, she found a note saying Ichigo, I went to Earth. I'll be back soon, so call my cell phone if there's a problem. Beneath the writing was a number.

Ichigo sighed. He probably went to see Lettuce, she thought. I don't want to disturb him, but maybe I should. Making up her mind, she dialed the number into her cell phone, and waited. Unfortunately, she got Pai's voicemail. When she heard the tone, she said, "Pai, this is Ichigo. Kisshu was wondering if you had headache medicine, he's got a really bad headache, and says he can't sleep because of it. Give me a call when you get this, please." She gave her phone number, and hung up. Then she went back to Kisshu.

Kisshu looked up when she came in, and said, "Did you find him?"

"No, he's apparently on Earth," Ichigo said. "I left a message on his cell phone, so hopefully we'll hear something soon. Can you manage until then?"

"I guess," Kisshu said. "I think the headache's causing me to get sick, though. I think I'm going to be sick again." He turned over, and threw up again. Ichigo rubbed his back till he was done.

"I have an idea, wait a minute," Ichigo said when Kisshu turned back to her. She got up and went to the bathroom, then took out a washcloth and soaked it in ice water, then wrung it out and went back to Kisshu's room. She went over to him and put the cloth over his forehead. Then she pulled the blankets over him more firmly.

Kisshu sighed and said, "That feels good."

Ichigo smiled and said, "I'm glad."

Kisshu yawned and said, "I'm sleepy…"

"Go to sleep, I'll be right here," Ichigo said. Kisshu settled back down and was asleep soon after.

About half an hour later, Pai teleported in, looking worried. He started to say something, but Ichigo held a finger to her lips. Pai said in a soft voice, "He's asleep?"

"Yeah, I put a cool cloth on his forehead, and it seemed to help," Ichigo said in an equally quiet voice.

"Good job," Pai said. "I'll go get the medicine for later." He teleported out, and returned a few minutes later with a small brown bottle. "Give him a spoonful of this when he wakes up," Pai told Ichigo. "I'll be in and out."

"Okay," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and left.

Two hours later, Kisshu woke up. Ichigo said, "Pai's back, and he said that I should give you a spoonful of the headache medicine."

"Good," Kisshu said. "My headache is back, and I think it's worse, though that cloth thing worked for a while."

"I'll give you the medicine, then," Ichigo said. She poured some onto a spoon, and fed it to Kisshu. He swallowed, then sighed.

"I think that stuff tastes worse than the fever stuff," he said. "I hope it's worth it."

"So do I," Ichigo said. "Aside from the headache, how are you feeling?"

"I still feel pretty weak, but the pain in the rest of my body is mainly gone," Kisshu said. "My stomach doesn't feel any better, though."

"Do you want more ginger ale?" Ichigo asked.

"Sure," Kisshu said. "It helped for a little while last time."

Ichigo picked up the half-full glass, and helped Kisshu drink it slowly. When he finished, Ichigo said, "You should sleep some more."

Kisshu settled back against the pillows, and slept. Ichigo was getting tired too, so she went to sleep as well.

The next day, Kisshu was feeling better, though he was still unable to sit up. He said his stomach felt fine, so Ichigo made some soup for him. His headache hadn't gone away yet, but it was better than yesterday.

As the days passed, Kisshu got stronger. By the end of the week, he could stand up, although he still needed help walking. Ichigo helped him whenever he needed it, and he was really grateful to her.

By the middle of the next week, Kisshu was almost back to full strength. He could fly again, but teleporting still was hard on his body. However, he got better at it every day, and soon after the second week was done, he could teleport just fine. As soon as he was back to full strength, he went back to training.

One day Ichigo asked if he would mind teaching her how to use swords, too. His reply was, "I'd love to, Koneko-chan!"

From then on, Ichigo and Kisshu started training together. Ichigo's cat reflexes came in handy with sword work, and she was a quick learner.

This was lucky, because unbeknownst to them, trouble was coming.

Boring chapter with a cliffie. I know, I'm horrible. I should have another chapter up today though. Until then, REVIEW!