Escape Part 6:
Healing
When they landed in the kitchen, Kisshu and Sakura looked up. "How'd it go?" Kisshu asked.
"Very well," Pai said. "We found out something very interesting."
"Which was…." Kisshu said.
"Yahiko-sama exiling us was simply a pretense so I could heal you," Pai said. "The Council is the problem here, not Yahiko-sama."
"Can we take them down?" Miwa asked.
"There are fifty members," Pai said dryly.
"Your point?" Moe asked.
"Never mind…." Pai said wearily. "Anyways, I have to inform Ryou that he should ignore the next ship coming."
"Why is there a ship coming?" Kisshu asked suspiciously.
"Yahiko says he's capable of healing your mind," Pai said. "You remember the bloodline trait the Tsukimori family has, right?"
"Mind healing?" Kisshu asked. "But why would Yahiko-sama do that?"
"He was forced into putting you in jail, if he could have avoided it, he would have," Pai said. "I'm going to Café Mew Mew."
"Be careful of Ryou," Ichigo said.
"I will," Pai said, and teleported out.
An hour later, the others were worried. Pai wasn't back, and they hadn't heard from him, either. "I'm going to try calling him," Ichigo said. The others just nodded, and Ichigo called telepathically, Pai? Is something wrong?
Ryou tied me up, and is now yelling at me for brainwashing you, Pai said gloomily.
We're coming, Ichigo said. She felt Pai cut the connection, and said, "Ryou apparently captured Pai. Moe, Miwa, let's go."
"What about us?" Taruto asked.
"Someone needs to stay here in case Yahiko comes while we're gone," Ichigo said.
Taruto and Kisshu sighed, but didn't argue. Ichigo motioned to Moe and Miwa, and they ran out the door, headed for Café Mew Mew. Suddenly Ichigo got an idea, and called telepathically, Zakuro, are you able to hear me?
A minute later, she heard, Hai, did Ryou do something?
He captured Pai, Ichigo said. Moe, Miwa, and I are on our way, can you come too?
I'm on my way, Zakuro said, and cut the connection.
Ichigo looked at Moe and Miwa, and said, "Zakuro's coming too; she asked me to call her if Ryou did anything."
"Good, she can keep Keiichiro busy," Moe said.
As the three girls reached Café Mew Mew, Zakuro ran up from the other direction. "I should have known it would come to this," she said grimly. "Let's go in."
Ichigo, Moe, and Miwa followed her as she tried the doors, which were locked. Ichigo and Zakuro kicked them down, and ran in, followed by Moe and Miwa. They heard muffled noises in the kitchen, and ran in, only to find Keiichiro tied up. Zakuro and Ichigo untied him, and he said, "Thanks. Ryou's in the basement."
"He's going DOWN," Zakuro snarled, and transformed as Ichigo did. Then the four girls ran to the basement. Zakuro ripped the door off its hinges, then ran in, followed by Ichigo, Moe, and Miwa.
Ryou looked up, startled, and said, "What's up?"
"What's UP!?" Zakuro snarled. "You're going to DIE, that's what's up!"
"Oh, so Pai brainwashed you too?" Ryou asked.
"Pai did NOT brainwash anyone," Ichigo snarled. "You seriously think that just because I decided I'd rather not work for a slave driver, I was brainwashed? You're out of your mind."
Zakuro took out her light whip and tied Ryou up with it, then said, "Ichigo, you and your friends should get Pai out of here."
"Understood," Ichigo said. "Moe, Miwa, let's go."
"Oh fine," Miwa said. She, Moe, and Ichigo made their way around Zakuro, who was beating Ryou to a pulp, and went to Pai, then untied him. "Pai, are you injured?" Ichigo asked.
"No, he was just screaming at me," Pai said. "You guys came before he could do anything more. What's up with Zakuro?"
"I think she and Keiichiro are together, and Ryou tying Keiichiro up caused her to snap," Ichigo said.
"Let's let her be," Pai said. "We need to go."
Ichigo nodded and called, "Zakuro, we have to go."
"Have fun," Zakuro said.
Pai sighed and teleported the girls back to Ichigo's house. They landed in the kitchen, and found the others waiting. "That was fast," Taruto commented.
"Zakuro's demolishing Blondie," Ichigo said.
"Pai, are you okay?" Kisshu asked.
"I'm fine; all he did was tie me up and scream at me until the girls came," Pai said.
"Good," Kisshu said with relief.
"You sound relieved," Pai commented.
"You're my best friend; you think I don't care?" Kisshu asked, hurt.
Pai noticed he was looking sad again, and said, "I know you care, don't worry about it."
Kisshu still looked sad, and Pai went over and sat next to him, then to the others' surprise, started rubbing Kisshu's ears. They were even more surprised when Kisshu sighed happily and started to fall asleep. When he was sound asleep, Pai gently took his hands away, then picked Kisshu up and teleported upstairs.
A few minutes later, Pai came back down, and said, "He's sleeping."
"That's good, but what just happened?" Ichigo asked.
"Rubbing Kisshu's ears will make him happy and calm," Pai said. "It's a good way to help him sleep, or calm him down, or make him happy when he's sad. He's been sad so much lately I'm not sure it would have helped, but this time it did."
"Good," Ichigo said.
Pai sighed. "It's hard seeing Kisshu so depressed all the time; I really hope Yahiko-sama can fix this," he said.
They heard teleportation in the living room, and ran in. Yahiko was standing there, and Pai and Taruto bowed.
"It's good to see you all," Yahiko said. "Where is Kisshu?"
"Upstairs, sleeping," Pai said. "He was getting sad again."
Yahiko looked worried, and turned to Mrs. Yanagida. "Yume, I should go see what I can do for Kisshu; can we catch up later?" he asked.
"Of course," Mrs. Yanagida said.
Yahiko smiled, then said, "Pai, I may need some of your power, can you come with me?"
"Hai," Pai said. "I'll show you which room." He turned to Ichigo and said, "Ichigo, I'll let you know when we're done."
"Thanks, good luck," Ichigo said.
Pai and Yahiko nodded, and left. Taruto sighed and said, "We need to be quiet; that kind of healing requires extreme concentration, and distractions can cause brain damage to the one who's being healed."
"Okay," Sakura said. "How long do you think it'll take them?"
"At least an hour, if not more," Taruto said. "From what I've heard of mind healing, it's basically rearranging the person's mind. Most healers, including Pai, can't do it. Mind healing is a genetic thing that occurs in only a very few Cyniclons. It's a specialty of the Tsukimori family, and before he was chosen as our leader, Yahiko-sama was one of the top healers at the hospital. Because he learned more about peoples' minds than most, I guess the Council decided he'd be a good leader."
"Do you think he's a good leader?" Mrs. Yanagida asked.
"I do, but since Kisshu was put in jail, and I found out the truth behind it, I've begun to wonder if he listens to the Council more than he should," Taruto said. "It's not my place to say things like that, though. If I was a teenager, I would probably be executed for saying such things."
"If you were a teenager?" Moe asked.
"Our people don't reproduce as often as humans, so the killing of children is not only illegal, it warrants the death penalty, no matter who does it," Taruto said. "When the Mews were fighting us, we weren't too thrilled to see that one of them was my age. Had Pai or Kisshu killed her, they would have died regardless of Deep Blue's wishes. Our laws are extremely strict, and although Pudding was our enemy, it didn't change the fact that she was nine."
"Why were you fighting, then?" Ichigo asked.
Taruto looked a bit sheepish, and said, "I snuck onto Pai's ship as he was leaving, and he didn't notice till we reached Earth. He let me stay because I can control plants, which is an even rarer ability than mind healing. And it has to be taught early, or it can go out of control. I started learning that ability when I was four."
"That's really young," Sakura commented.
"I just heard a car, I should let Dad know he can't shout," Ichigo said, and ran out. She found Shintaro getting out of his car, and as he looked at her, she said, "We have to be quiet; Pai and Yahiko are trying to heal Kisshu's PTSD, and Taruto said distractions could harm Kisshu. You can come join the rest of us in the living room."
"Uh… okay," Shintaro said. He followed Ichigo to the living room, and looked startled to see everyone.
"You explained that he has to be quiet?" Taruto asked Ichigo.
"Yep," Ichigo said. Suddenly her cell phone rang, and she quickly picked up. "Moshi moshi?" she said.
"Ichigo, it's Zakuro," Zakuro said. "I just wanted to let you know Ryou's dead, so you don't have to worry about him."
"That's great, thanks," Ichigo said with relief.
"Keiichiro said there's another ship here; what's going on?" Zakuro asked.
"Apparently Moe and Miwa's father is the leader of the Cyniclons, and he's currently here trying to heal Kisshu's PTSD," Ichigo said.
"I'll let Keiichiro know it's nothing to worry about," Zakuro said. "Ja ne."
"Ja ne," Ichigo said, and hung up. She looked at the others, and said, "Ryou's dead."
"Good riddance," Moe said.
The others nodded, and they all settled down to wait.
About two hours later, Ichigo heard Pai say telepathically, Ichigo, come upstairs.
Hai, Ichigo said, and got up. "They want me upstairs," she said. "Wait down here."
The others nodded, and Ichigo ran upstairs. She went to her room, and knocked on the door. "Come in," Pai called.
Ichigo went in, and asked, "What's up?"
"We wanted to wait till you were here to wake Kisshu up," Yahiko said. "We need to see if the healing worked."
"Okay," Ichigo said.
Pai tapped Kisshu's forehead, and Kisshu stirred, then opened his eyes sleepily. "Kisshu, how are you feeling?" Pai asked.
"I feel fine," Kisshu said. "Actually, I feel better than I have in a long time."
Pai put a hand on his forehead, and sighed, relieved. "It worked," he said softly. "It really worked!"
"And… you thought it wouldn't?" Yahiko asked.
"Sorry…." Pai said a bit sheepishly.
Yahiko smiled. "It's fine," he said.
Kisshu sat up, looking puzzled, and asked, "Yahiko-sama?"
"Yes," Yahiko said. "I came back to Earth to heal you. I'm really sorry for letting the Council put you in jail, Kisshu."
"So the Council hates me, but you don't?" Kisshu asked.
"Right," Yahiko said.
Kisshu got up and bowed, saying, "Thank you for healing me, Yahiko-sama."
"Of course," Yahiko said. "I should go speak with Yume; I'll leave you three alone."
Kisshu, Pai, and Ichigo bowed as Yahiko left. "I think I'll leave too…." Pai said.
Kisshu smirked. "Too pink for you?" he snickered.
"Little green demon…." Pai muttered. Kisshu burst out laughing, and Pai teleported out as Kisshu fell over laughing.
Ichigo sat down on her bed, giggling as she watched Kisshu. When he calmed down, Ichigo said, "I'm glad to see you so happy, Kish."
"Thanks, Koneko- hey, did you just give me a nickname?" Kisshu asked hopefully.
"Yep," Ichigo said.
"YAY!" Kisshu said happily. "I love my nickname!"
Ichigo giggled. "I'm glad!" she said.
Horrendous chapter ending, but there might be more soon! Review plz!