Ichigo's Illness Chapter 24:

School

Ichigo had to go back to school the next day. Luckily, she had finished all the sent home work, so she was ready to go.

The next morning, she got up and got to school on time for once. She spent the morning handing back her work to all her teachers. She was surprised she hadn't seen Moe or Miwa at all that day.

At recess, she was almost immediately surrounded by girls. "Ichigo, did you hear that Masaya disappeared?" one of the girls asked.

"Miwa told me," Ichigo said. "Did they ever find him?"

"No," another girl said. "You're pretty calm about this."

"He was being a jerk, and I was planning on breaking up with him before he disappeared," Ichigo said. "I thought it would be better for both of us. I never got the chance, though."

"Do you have any idea why he disappeared?" the same girl asked.

"Not a clue," Ichigo said. "Hey, where are Moe and Miwa?"

"They got suspended," a girl said. Ichigo noticed a lot of girls glaring at a nervous-looking girl with reddish brown hair.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Tsuki was bad-mouthing you, and she got her friends to say things too," another girl said. "Moe and Miwa found out Tsuki was behind it all, and they beat her up, along with her best friend, who was also bad-mouthing you. Tsuki went to the principal and he suspended Moe and Miwa, but also gave Tsuki a month of detention for talking about you behind your back. Moe and Miwa will be back next week."

Ichigo sighed. "Those two are so overprotective," she said. "This is what, the second time they've been suspended?"

"Actually it's the third," a girl said. "You're lucky you have such good friends, Ichigo."

"I know, but I don't like it when they get in trouble," Ichigo said. "It causes problems at home."

"That's true, but if they hadn't done that, I'm sure your school life would be a lot worse," the girl said. "But while they're gone, we'll keep Tsuki under control." She laughed, and said, "We don't want to get on your friends' bad side either!"

Ichigo smiled. "Thanks," she said. Then the bell rang, and they all ran to class.

After school, Ichigo was walking out when a girl came up to her. Ichigo remembered that her name was Momo, and said, "You're Momo, right?"

"Hai," Momo said. "I heard you weren't in school because your parents got a note that someone was out to kill you. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," Ichigo said. "I worked at Café Mew Mew, and the owner wanted me to go out with him. But I didn't realize that, and told him I hated him- which was true, but he took it badly, and ran off. Two days later, his assistant found a note on his computer, saying that he'd be back for revenge on me. His assistant went to my parents and the police, and they handled it."

"Wow," Momo said. "But why did he leave the note with his assistant?"

"My dad is very overprotective," Ichigo said. "He knew that, and since my dad has a sword in the basement and a flamethrower in the garage, he didn't want to go to my house."

"Would your dad actually have killed him?" Momo asked.

"Most likely," Ichigo said. "I'm glad the police handled it, though. Otherwise, my dad would be in jail."

"Yikes," Momo said.

Ichigo looked at her watch and yelped. "Jeez, is that the time?" she asked.

Momo checked her watch and said, "If you've got 4:15, then yes. Something wrong?"

"I was supposed to meet my boyfriend at 4!" Ichigo wailed. "I have to go, can we talk another time?"

"Sure, good luck!" Momo said.

Ichigo nodded and ran off.

She was halfway to the park, where she was going to meet Kisshu, when she ran into someone. "Sorry!" she said.

"Hey, I was just about to come looking for you," the person said.

Ichigo looked up. It was Kisshu! "Sorry, I was talking to one of the girls at my school," Ichigo said. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Kisshu said. "But we have to go to the Café, Pai and Keiichiro called a meeting." He took her hand and teleported.

They landed in the basement, where everyone else was gathered, including the police. "Good, you're here," Pai said. "I finished researching whether Deep Blue could come back, and came to the conclusion that with nothing but a spirit, he won't be a problem anymore. However, he can speak to our people, and if he convinces them that we're traitors, we'll be living here."

"That's fine," Ichigo said. "But what about healing your planet?"

"I'll go back with the Mew Aqua alone," Pai said. "I've got the best chance of getting out of there in one piece."

"You're going alone?" Kisshu asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Better me than you," Pai said. "You were the leader of the mission, so our people would be more likely to attack you than me."

"What about me?" Taruto asked.

"You know perfectly well that if you went, Pudding would sneak onto the ship too," Pai said. "Stay here with her, and keep her safe."

Kisshu sighed. "Be careful, Pai," he said, serious for once. "We don't want to lose you."

"You won't," Pai said. He went to Lettuce, and kissed her. She kissed back, and when the broke apart, she said, "Please be careful, and come back safe."

"I will, Lettuce-chan," Pai said.

"I'll get the Mew Aqua," Keiichiro said. He went to a safe and typed in a code, then took out a bag. He checked to make sure it was all there, then handed the bag to Pai. "Good luck," Keiichiro told Pai.

"Thanks," Pai said. "Take care, all of you."

The others nodded, and Pai teleported off.

Will Pai be okay? Find out by reviewing! The next chapter might not get there, though.