Escape Part 2: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
After Moe and Miwa left, Ichigo went to the kitchen to make some soup for Kisshu. She cut up a bunch of vegetables and chicken, then cooked the chicken. Then she put it all together with water, and put the soup on the stove to boil.
About half an hour later, the soup was done, and Ichigo turned the stove off, covered the pot, and went upstairs to check on Kisshu.
Kisshu was starting to stir, and Ichigo asked softly, "Kisshu?"
Kisshu opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Are they gone?" he asked.
"Yeah, Zen convinced his leader that you'd be the best person to train Moe and Miwa, so they're going to let you live, as long as you never return to Cyniclonia," Ichigo said.
"I have no intention of going back," Kisshu said. "Two years of torture was more than enough."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," Ichigo said. "I'm glad you escaped; I really missed you."
"Is that because the treehugger dumped you?" Kisshu asked.
"He didn't dump me," Ichigo said. "I dumped him. I realized after you left- without saying goodbye- that I really love you, so I dumped Aoyuck, and a week later, he started telling everyone I was a slut. Moe and Miwa have landed him in the hospital more times that I can count over the past two years. He's currently in there till late next month."
"Wow…." Kisshu said. "Hey, can I kill him?"
"Not a bad idea," Ichigo said. "How are you feeling?"
"I can barely move," Kisshu said. "It's going to be a while before I'm back to full strength. I'm sorry for putting this on you, Koneko-chan."
"I don't mind; as long as you're back, it doesn't matter," Ichigo said. "I'll do everything I can to help you get better, k?"
"Thanks," Kisshu said.
"Are you hungry? I made soup," Ichigo said.
"What kind?" Kisshu asked.
"Chicken noodle," Ichigo said.
"I'm actually pretty hungry, can I have some?" Kisshu asked.
"Sure, I'll bring it up here," Ichigo said. She went downstairs, ladled some soup into a bowl, and brought it back upstairs. She sat down next to Kisshu and said, "K, open up."
He obeyed, and she started feeding him the soup. A little over half-way through, he said, "I'm not really hungry anymore…."
Ichigo put the bowl and spoon on her desk, and asked, "Do you want to go back to sleep?"
"Can I stay up a while longer?" Kisshu asked.
"Of course," Ichigo said.
Kisshu smiled, then asked, "Where are your parents?"
"Away again," Ichigo said. "They leave me alone a lot. I guess it's better right now, though. You'll be here for a while before they get back. They'll be back next Saturday."
"What if I'm not recovered before then?" Kisshu asked.
"We'll manage," Ichigo said. "Don't worry about it. Worrying isn't good for you right now."
Kisshu sighed. "I wish Pai was here; he's a healer," he said.
"Yahiko claims you brainwashed Pai and Taruto," Ichigo commented.
"I told him that so they'd stay free," Kisshu said. "I didn't want them to have to suffer with me."
"You're amazing," Ichigo said.
"You think so?" Kisshu asked.
"Yes," Ichigo said, smiling. "I love you, Kisshu."
"I love you too, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said happily. Then he yawned, and Ichigo said, "Get some rest, it's getting late."
"Can we sleep together?" Kisshu asked sleepily.
"Are you sure?" Ichigo said. "You've got a lot of unhealed injuries; I don't want to reopen them."
Kisshu gave her puppy dog eyes, and she said, "Oh, fine…. Let me go get my pajamas on."
Kisshu's face lit up. Ichigo giggled and gathered up her pajamas, then went to change. When she came back, she carefully climbed in with Kisshu, and turned off her light. "Night," she said.
"Night," Kisshu said sleepily, and she heard his breathing even out. She was asleep soon after.
A few hours later, she was woken by Kisshu whimpering in his sleep. She noticed she was hugging him, and took her arms away. Kisshu didn't relax, though, and she wondered, Is he having a nightmare?
She reached out, gently placing a hand on his cheek, but was surprised when he grabbed her arm, his eyes opening, looking panicked. The grip on her arm hurt, and she said, "Kisshu, let go, I'm not going to hurt you."
Kisshu relaxed his death grip and asked, "Ichigo?"
"I'm here," Ichigo said. "Were you having a nightmare?"
"They were torturing me again, and it really hurt," Kisshu whispered.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ichigo asked gently.
"No…" Kisshu said. "But now I can't sleep."
Ichigo smoothed his hair back, and asked, "Would it help if I stroked your hair for a while?"
"Maybe," Kisshu said. Ichigo gently started stroking his hair, and he slowly started to relax. Soon he was sleeping again, and Ichigo went back to sleep as well, taking her hand off Kisshu's head.
Kisshu got through the rest of the night without more nightmares, and woke up at around ten the next morning. Ichigo was waking up too, and she opened her eyes to see Kisshu looking at her. "How are you feeling this morning?" Ichigo asked him.
"No better than yesterday," Kisshu sighed. "I'm hungry again, though."
"Do you want oatmeal?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm not sure milk is really that good for me…." Kisshu said.
"Do you want it with brown sugar instead of milk?" Ichigo asked.
Kisshu perked up and said, "That sounds good…"
"K," Ichigo said. Before she could go make it, though, her cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she picked up and said, "Hi Mom. What's up?"
"We're coming home tomorrow," Sakura said. "Ryou called and said you needed to discuss something with us, and that we should come back as soon as possible."
"Okay, see you then,"Ichigo said.
"Bye!" Sakura said, and hung up.
Ichigo sighed and told Kisshu, "My parents will be back tomorrow."
"What am I supposed to do?" Kisshu asked.
"I'll tell them that we need to meet in here," Ichigo said. "It'll be fine, I promise."
"K," Kisshu said.
"I'm going to make the oatmeal, just take it easy," Ichigo said. Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo left. She cooked some oatmeal in the kitchen, put brown sugar in it, and took it back to Kisshu.
He looked up at her as she came in, and said gloomily, "I still can't sit up."
"Like you said, it's going to be a while before you're back to full strength," Ichigo said. "The fact that you haven't eaten in two weeks doesn't help either. You're seriously underweight; you're going to need more than just rest to get back to full strength. I'll help you get back on your feet, k?"
"Thanks…." Kisshu said.
"Are you still hungry?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah," Kisshu said.
Ichigo sat down next to him and said, "Open up." Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo started feeding him the oatmeal. He managed to finish the whole thing this time. Ichigo noticed he looked sleepy again, and said, "Go back to sleep, I have to put this downstairs, but I'll be back, k?"
"K…" Kisshu said, closing his eyes. He fell asleep as Ichigo left the room.
Kisshu slept through the rest of the day, and woke up at about 8 that night. Ichigo was starting to get tired, and when Kisshu woke up, she asked, "Kisshu, is sleeping together really a good idea? You have pretty violent reactions to being touched in your sleep, and I don't want to scare you."
Kisshu looked sad, and said sadly, "I like sleeping with you…." Then to Ichigo's worry, he started crying.
She immediately went over and sat next to Kisshu, and said softly, "I didn't mean to make you sad. We can sleep together; I don't mind. I just won't touch you while you're sleeping, k?"
"Mmhm…." Kisshu said sadly. There were still tears running down his face, and Ichigo was really worried.
Suddenly an idea occurred to her, and she asked, "Kisshu, was what you went through on your planet really traumatic?"
"Yeah… They beat me up and/or whipped me every day," Kisshu said sadly. "And they killed my friend in front of me…."
Ichigo was horrified, but she still said, "I think you have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."
"What's that?" Kisshu asked.
"It's something that can happen to your mind after a really traumatic event," Ichigo said. "One of the most common symptoms is nightmares, and I think the reason you attack when I touch you in your sleep is that you're reliving what happened to you in jail."
"Does that mean I'm going insane?" Kisshu asked gloomily.
"No, it just means you'll be different from the person you were before they put you in jail," Ichigo said. "I'll do everything I can to help you through this, though."
"Thanks…" Kisshu said. "Can we go to sleep?"
"Sure," Ichigo said. She climbed into the bed with Kisshu, and he snuggled against her as she turned out the light.
Like the night before, however, Ichigo woke up late at night because Kisshu was whimpering again. "Kisshu? Kisshu, wake up," Ichigo said softly. She turned on the light, and the brightness woke Kisshu up. He looked panicked, and Ichigo said softly, "It's okay, it was just another nightmare."
Kisshu sighed and asked, "I'm safe here, right?"
"Yes," Ichigo said. "You're safe here." She smoothed his hair back and started stroking it again. When he started to relax, she turned the light back out, and curled up next to him.
The next morning they woke up at the same time, and Ichigo said softly, "I'm going to take a shower, k? I'll be back as soon as I can."
"K," Kisshu said.
Ichigo gathered up some clothes, and went to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, got dressed, and went back to her room to do her hair. She noticed Kisshu was watching her, and asked, "What's up?"
"Is there more of that soup?" Kisshu asked. "I'm starving."
"I'll go heat some up," Ichigo said. She went downstairs, put some soup in a bowl, and put it in the microwave. When it was done, she went back upstairs, and was surprised to see that Kisshu was sitting up. "You can sit up now?" she asked.
"Yeah," Kisshu said. "I'm not sure I can eat, though; my hands feel shaky, and so does everything else."
Ichigo nodded, and said, "Open up." Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo fed him the soup. He finished it all again, and Ichigo put the bowl aside. "My parents will be back soon," she said.
"What if they don't like me?" Kisshu asked.
"They'll deal, and I think my mom, at least, will like you," Ichigo said. "Don't worry, no matter what, you can stay here."
"Thanks…." Kisshu said.
"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm not as tired; can we play a game or something?" Kisshu asked.
"Do you like Twenty Questions?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah," Kisshu said. "I like that a lot."
"K, do you want to go first?" Ichigo asked.
Kisshu thought, then said, "I'm thinking of an animal."
They kept playing till about noon, when they heard noises at the door, and Sakura calling, "Ichigo, we're back!"
"I'm in my room, come upstairs!" Ichigo called back.
A few minutes later, they heard footsteps on the stairs, and Sakura and Shintaro came into the room- then stopped dead.
"Kisshu came back," Ichigo said.
"I take it there's more to it than that?" Sakura asked.
"Kisshu was put in jail for helping us, and he managed to escape a few days ago," Ichigo said. "He had to teleport here to get away, and that drained all his energy. I've been taking care of him since then, and since he's unable to return to his planet and doesn't want to, I told him he can live here. And Kisshu's severely allergic to bananas, so Dad's obsession will be gone for good."
Sakura looked happy, and said, "That's great! Kisshu's welcome to stay, and if Shintaro doesn't like it, I'll get the men-whacking broom."
Ichigo noticed Kisshu was looking scared again, and said, "Let's keep it to scoldings and locking him in the garage. I don't want to scare Kisshu; he says he got tortured in jail. And I think he has PTSD."
Sakura looked worried, and said, "Are you sure?"
"Not positive, but he's having nightmares, and the first time I tried to wake him up, he grabbed my arm in his sleep," Ichigo said. "I think he's afraid of being touched while he's asleep."
Sakura looked more worried, and looked at Kisshu, then asked, "Kisshu, are you having any other problems, like being depressed?"
"I haven't been happy in two years," Kisshu said. "And even now that I'm away from the torture, I'm still not happy."
"I'd say Ichigo's right, then," Sakura said. "Is there anything else?"
"Moe and Miwa are half-Cyniclon," Ichigo said. "These two guys came after Kisshu, and Moe and Miwa disarmed them, and when Miwa used one guy's weapon to scorch him with lightning, the other guy asked if they were twins, and when Moe said yes, they told us about some Cyniclonian legend. It says the greatest warriors the Cyniclons will ever see would be a pair of twin girls. That's why the two guys convinced their leader to leave Kisshu alive; he's the only one capable of training their powers."
"Wow…." Sakura said. "I knew those two were something else, but they're half Cyniclon?"
"I guess that explains why they don't have any clue who their father is," Shintaro said.
"Ichigo, what are we doing about school?" Sakura asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea to have Kisshu go to school," Ichigo said. "You KNOW what the girls there are like. It's also not a good idea to leave him home alone. I was going to ask you to stop the vacations and actually be here for me; maybe now's a good time. If you choose to continue the stupid vacations, I'll manage, but I'll also drop out of school so I can be with Kisshu."
"I thought you liked being home alone," Shintaro said.
"Well, you were dead wrong," Ichigo said. "I HATE being home alone. I also hate that you never say goodbye or anything; you just leave me a note and a bunch of money."
"I don't mind stopping the vacations; they're getting expensive anyways," Sakura said. "Alright, I'll stay with Kisshu while you're at school. Maybe I can homeschool him."
"I hate math," Kisshu said.
"I'll try to make it fun," Sakura said. "I'll call the school and explain that I'm homeschooling you, and could they send work here."
"Thanks…." Kisshu said. He sounded tired.
Ichigo noticed and asked, "Kisshu, do you want to go back to sleep?"
"Yeah… I'm getting worn out again," Kisshu said. "Can you stay?"
"Yes, of course," Ichigo said. "Which reminds me, Mom. I said I'd stay with Kisshu till he can manage on his own; when you call the school, can you make up some excuse for my absence?"
"Okay," Sakura said. "Sleep well, Kisshu."
"Thanks…" Kisshu said sleepily. Sakura and Shintaro left as Kisshu laid back. He was asleep within minutes, and Ichigo settled down to watch him.
I know I said it's a one-shot, but one of my reviewers inspired me to continue, so there might be more! Review plz!