Ichigo's Illness Chapter 23:

Dinner Party

"Your mom is amazing," Kisshu said to Ichigo.

"Yeah, she is," Ichigo said. "I'm so lucky that my mom is so nice."

"She's good at calming people down, huh?" Kisshu said.

"Yeah, before I called Pai, and before we left to go looking for you, I was worried I might never see you again," Ichigo said. "Mom was really helpful."

"You were worried you would never see me again?" Kisshu asked.

"I basically broke down after you left," Ichigo said. "If I could have teleported, I would have."

"Sorry if I worried you," Kisshu said.

"It's not your fault," Ichigo said. "I just wish my dad wasn't so overprotective of me."

Kisshu hugged her. "Well, your mom did say she'd work it out," he said.

Ichigo snuggled against him.

Suddenly Pai teleported in and said, "I took your mom home, and she said that you can have tomorrow off, but you have to come back tomorrow night. She also wants Kisshu to know that she's going to spend all day tomorrow softening up Mr. Momomiya, so you both are invited for dinner. I was surprised, she invited me and Taruto as well."

"Are you coming?" Ichigo asked.

"I would like to, but Taruto's having another sleepover with Pudding, so I told your mom it wouldn't be a good idea to invite him, since he and Pudding tend to spend all night gorging themselves on candy," Pai said.

"I like this idea," Ichigo said. "Maybe it'll help."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Let's all go."

Kisshu and Ichigo slept together again that night, and then spent the next day sitting around talking. Ichigo had to go back to school the next day, but Kisshu was going to meet her at the park after school.

Finally it was time to go to Ichigo's house for dinner, and Ichigo and Kisshu got cleaned up, then met Pai and teleported to Ichigo's front door. Kisshu rang the bell, and Sakura answered the door. "Come in," she said. "I was just about to set the table."

"Do you want me to do it?" Kisshu asked.

"Sure, that's sweet of you," Sakura said. "I'll show you where we keep everything." Kisshu followed her to the kitchen, and Pai and Ichigo stayed in the living room. Shintaro came in a few minutes later, and looked at Ichigo. He seemed a bit unsure of what to say, and it probably didn't help that Ichigo wasn't looking too happy to see him.

Pai bowed to him and said, "Konbanwa, Mr. Momomiya."

"Konbanwa," Shintaro said. "What was your name again?"

"I'm Pai," Pai said.

Then they heard Sakura call out, "Dinner's on the table!"

Ichigo led the way to the dining room, followed by her father and Pai. They found Sakura and Kisshu already there, and Sakura said, "Kisshu set the table, so let's eat!"

The others sat down. Ichigo sat next to Kisshu, and Pai sat next to her, while Sakura and Shintaro sat next to each other. Everyone was silent for a while, then Sakura asked, "Kisshu, what do you like to do for fun?"

"I like carving little figurines," Kisshu said. "I made one for Ichigo a while ago, of her in cat form."

"Cat form? You mean her Mew Form?" Sakura asked.

"No, she can turn into a cat if she gets kissed," Kisshu said.

Ichigo's parents looked at Ichigo. "It has to be a kiss from a human," Ichigo said. "So Kisshu can't do it."

"Then how do you know that you can turn into a cat?" Shintaro asked.

"Ryou used to do it to annoy me. And before you ask, I did not agree to those kisses, he'd grab me, kiss me, and make me spend half an hour as a cat before getting someone else to kiss me back to normal," Ichigo said. "Yet another reason I hated him."

"And you didn't tell anyone this because…." Shintaro said.

"If the police had found out about the Mews at that time, we'd all be screwed, and besides, I can't talk as a cat," Ichigo said.

"Good point," Shintaro said.

"Pai, do you do anything for fun?" Sakura asked.

"I like to read," Pai said.

"About Finless Porpoises, right Pai?" Kisshu asked, smirking. "That bookshelf is getting pretty full…"

"Let's not go too far with this," Ichigo said.

"'Go too far'?" Sakura asked.

"The last time Finless Porpoises were mentioned, Kisshu started reading aloud from Pai's diary to the rest of us Mews, and things got a bit out of control," Ichigo said.

"What is it about Finless Porpoises that's so important?" Shintaro asked.

"Lettuce is half Finless Porpoise, and she and Pai are together," Ichigo explained.

"Oh…." Shintaro said.

"And Pai gets really overprotective of Lettuce," Kisshu said. "It's cute, Pai never used to be this open."

"Kisshu, you think it's cute that I'm overprotective?" Pai asked.

"No, I think that you and Lettuce together is cute," Kisshu said. "I don't find overprotective to be cute, although it's a nice quality. There's a limit, though, I think. Protecting someone important to you is one thing, but limiting their freedom to 'protect' them doesn't make anyone happy."

"I think you're right, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Protecting what's important to you is a good thing, but going overboard is not."

"I agree with Ichigo," Sakura said. The others noticed her giving Shintaro a significant look.

Shintaro obviously got the message, because he then said, "Fine… I won't be too overprotective anymore…."

"Good," Sakura and Ichigo said together.

"Are you still mad at me, Ichigo?" Shintaro asked.

"I just don't like it when you hurt others because you think they're getting too close to me," Ichigo said. "I have to have someone other than my family to be with, and Kisshu truly cares about me. And besides, you guys leave me home alone so much that it doesn't really matter who I'm with anyways, does it?"

"I thought you didn't mind," Shintaro said.

Ichigo rolled her eyes. "I had to say that, or you'd continue to act like I was two years old and couldn't take care of myself," she said. "And you tend to leave at the most inopportune times, like this last trip, when I was sick. You should be glad Kisshu was around then, since he's the one who helped me get better."

"So you like having us around?" Shintaro asked.

"You're my parents, of course I do," Ichigo said. "I just wish that you were more like Mom, who understands that I'm my own person, not a little girl who needs someone to hold her hand everywhere she goes. I need to grow, and that's not going to happen if you continue to deny the fact that I'm a big girl. You're not going to lose me as a daughter just because I'm grown up. You'll always be my parents, but you need to understand, the way Mom does, that I'm not two years old and incapable of doing anything for myself."

Shintaro looked rather surprised. "How come you've never said anything before now?"

Before Ichigo could say anything, Sakura said, "She's said it several times, but you never listened. Ichigo's right, you know. We'll all be better off if you realize that she's a big girl, and that Kisshu is staying."

Shintaro sighed. He looked at Ichigo, then Kisshu, and said, "You still don't get to sleep together."

I liked that Shintaro finally realized that Ichigo is grown up. Tell me what you think!