Amnesia Chapter 34:

Hurt Feelings

Kisshu was asleep, worn out from his emotions. But as he slept, he started dreaming….

Kisshu's dream: Kisshu and Ichigo were fighting the Kuritara together, standing back to back. Suddenly Kisshu heard Ichigo scream, and spun after kicking the one he was fighting out of the way. What he saw shocked him. Ichigo was lying on the ground, blood pooling around her body from a wound in her chest. The Kuritara who had done this was glowing, but it didn't last long before he said, "I couldn't save her. I'm sorry." Kisshu collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

Normally, after a nightmare like that, the person having it would wake up. But instead, Kisshu's mind kept replaying the moment he saw Ichigo's death.

Ichigo was getting worried. Kisshu had been sleeping for over four hours, but about ten minutes ago, she noticed he was crying in his sleep. He didn't seem to be waking up, either. She had tried to wake him up, but it wasn't working. And tears kept falling down his cheeks, despite Ichigo's attempts to calm him down by scratching his ears. Ichigo assumed he was having some kind of nightmare, but she was puzzled as to why he hadn't woken up. She was nervous about leaving the room, since Kisshu would probably panic if he woke up and she wasn't there.

About an hour later, Pai came into the room, and said, "How is he?"

"He's still asleep, but he's crying, and I can't wake him up," Ichigo said.

Pai looked worried, and came over, then put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and closed his eyes. "He's having some kind of dream that's keeping him from waking up," Pai said. "I'm guessing it has something to do with the events of the battle today."

"Is there anything you can do?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll try," Pai said, and tapped Kisshu's forehead twice, then snapped his fingers.

Kisshu started to stir, and then his eyes suddenly shot open. "Ichigo! Where are you?" he asked, sounding panicked.

"I'm right here, Kisshu," Ichigo said.

Kisshu turned his head in her direction, and seemed to calm down a bit, though not much. "I-I saw you dead, and then the image just kept repeating itself," he said.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Ichigo said soothingly. "It was just a dream."

Kisshu sighed and pushed himself up. Halfway, though, he flinched and sank back. "My arm hurts…" he said.

"You had a pretty bad slash from the fight today," Pai said. "It might take some time to heal; it wasn't just a surface wound. The muscles in your left shoulder were basically sliced open. Maya and I did our best, but you shouldn't use that arm much for a while."

Kisshu groaned. "I hate being unable to fight," he said. "I suppose this means no training for a while, right?"

"Yep," Pai said. "But if the Kuritara do form a truce, you won't have to worry about fighting. Maya and I stopped the bleeding from your injury, and closed the skin, but the muscles aren't fully healed."

"You're going to make me wear a sling, aren't you?" Kisshu asked.

"It's a good idea," Pai said.

Kisshu sighed. Ichigo noticed and said, "I'm sure your shoulder will be better soon."

Kisshu just sighed again and got out of bed. Pai went over to him and helped him put his arm in a sling. "Good," Pai said. "We should go; it's about time for dinner."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He took Ichigo's hand and teleported to the dining room, followed by Pai. The others were coming in at the same time, and they all sat down together. Haroshi-sama wasn't joining them; he had a meeting to be at. The food was already set out, so they started passing stuff around. Kisshu was having a hard time with that, since he could only use one arm. By the end of the meal, he was pretty irritated. Finally he grabbed Ichigo's hand and without a word, teleported back to their room.

They landed on the bed, and Kisshu flopped back against the pillows. "Kisshu, are you okay?" Ichigo asked.

"NO!" Kisshu said loudly, causing Ichigo's ears and tail to pop out. "I'm sick of being helpless."

"I know," Ichigo said. "And I know it's hard not to be able to move around, but-"

Kisshu interrupted, saying, "How would YOU know?"

Ichigo didn't respond, feeling hurt. Obviously, Kisshu didn't notice, because he continued, "You've never been injured to the point where you can't do all the things you like, have you?"

Instead of answering, Ichigo stood up and walked out. She didn't want Kisshu to see her crying. She started walking, letting her feet carry her wherever, and to her surprise, she eventually found that she seemed to be outside. It wasn't very dark out, so she looked around, and saw a little bench, which she went over to and sat down on. Then she buried her face in her hands, and started crying.

Kisshu, meanwhile, was both confused and worried. He didn't really realize until Ichigo walked out that he was hurting her. And now he couldn't find her anywhere. Finally he went to Pai and asked, "Have you seen Ichigo?"

"No, I thought she was with you," Pai said. "What happened?"

"I think I hurt her feelings," Kisshu said, looking down. "She walked out, and now I can't find her anywhere."

"Someone came to the mansion and informed me that they had seen Kuritara in the area," Pai said. "You need to find her, in case they couldn't form a truce."

"I've looked everywhere," Kisshu said. "What if they captured her?"

"Did you check outside?" Pai asked. "Lettuce says she likes being outdoors."

"On my way," Kisshu said, and teleported.

Back with Ichigo: Ichigo was starting to calm down when she heard a male voice say, "Are you alright?"

Without looking up, Ichigo said, "Go away, Kisshu."

The voice said softly, "I'm not Kisshu. Did he hurt you?"

Ichigo looked up, and was shocked to see one of the Kuritara standing in front of her, looking sympathetic. Noticing she looked wary, he said, "My leader sent a group to this mansion to set up peace talks, but I heard you crying, and slipped away. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Ichigo sighed. "Kisshu got mad at me, and I got sad and walked away."

"Did he hurt you?" the Kuritara asked.

"Not physically," Ichigo said. "I was just trying to cheer him up, but he's really frustrated about the injury he got earlier, and got mad at me. I guess I shouldn't get so upset, it's just that he never seems to get mad at me. Others, yes, but not me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the Kuritara said. "Hurt feelings can be worse than physical wounds."

"You're right," Ichigo said softly.

Suddenly they both heard someone call, "Ichigo! Where are you?"

Ichigo didn't respond, knowing it was probably Kisshu. She was proven correct when Kisshu came around the corner and stopped dead. He looked angry to see the Kuritara with her, but before he could do anything, the Kuritara said, "I was just trying to cheer her up, since she was crying when I came. You shouldn't hurt her." Then he vanished, and Kisshu ran to Ichigo, who still wasn't looking at him. "Ichigo, are you okay?" he asked gently.

"What do you think?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu sighed. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said, kneeling in front of her. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm just really frustrated right now. I should have realized you were just trying to make me feel better."

Ichigo looked at him, and saw sincerity and concern in his golden eyes. She sighed. "I'll forgive you," she said. "I hurt you enough times in the past not to."

"Why did you, anyways?" Kisshu asked.

"You made me feel worthless," Ichigo said. "Being called a toy repeatedly made me feel like I was worthless. That's why I was mean and rejected you so much."

Kisshu looked at her, horrified. "Ichigo, I-"

"I know you didn't realize that," Ichigo said. "And you don't call me that anymore, so I think everything's fine, right?"

"I guess," Kisshu said. "I'm sorry, Koneko-chan."

Ichigo smiled. "I forgive you, Kisshu."

Filler, but next chapter we'll see whether or not there will be a truce! Reviews Plz!