All about KishIchigo in this chapter :) I feel like I haven't been putting enough of them and they're supposed to be the main couple in this fic. Anyway, please enjoy!
Boom.
Ichigo awoke with a start at the loud rumble of thunder. A shiver ran through her as she lay under her comforter. Rain pounded on her window and lightening flashed bright, illuminating the whole room. She looked to see if Kish had woken up, too. He was still sound asleep, his head tilted back on the beanbag chair and his chest rising and falling evenly. She didn't know why, but thunderstorms had always scared her. Something about the loud noise and electric light made her uneasy. Another flash and she froze, thinking she saw a figure outside her window. Although, it might have just been the way the branches of the tree outside were being shaped by the strong wind. She could hear it whistling through the leaves and rattling the window occasionally.
Boom.
She jumped, startled by the incredibly loud roll of thunder, and wondered how Kish could still be sleeping through this. She glanced between him and the window. It made her feel a little better that she wasn't alone, at least. It felt safer having him there. Another flash of lightening. The figure was still there, but it looked leafier now and more broken up. She bit her lip and let out a shaky sigh. Her heart was pounding a little and she knew she'd never get back to sleep. Her cat DNA made her feel a need to curl up with something warm. Once again she glance between the window and Kish. It would only be because she was scared, right? She slowly slid one foot to the floor and then slid her body off of the bed and onto her hands and knees.
Boom.
She had started crawling towards him but dropped closer to the floor when another loud roll of thunder sounded. She regained herself and continued until she was right next to Kish. She sat with her legs tucked underneath her and looked up at him. A flash of lightening illuminated the room once more and she saw his mouth was open just slightly in a thin slit.
"Kish?" She whispered. She didn't want to wake him up, but she was scared of the commotion the sky was causing outside. She lifted herself up to get closer to his ear. "Kish?" She whispered again.
Boom.
"Eep!" She squeaked and dropped back on her butt at the sudden sound. Her heart was pounding. She did not like this storm at all and her only source of comfort was a heavily sleeping alien. She wondered for a moment how her alarm clock could wake him up but not this storm. She took a quick glance at the window before deciding that she didn't care anymore. She wanted something that would let her sleep through the storm.
She carefully started lifting the blanket but paused when he sucked in a quick breath and quietly mumbled, "Tart, you're too old for this...just a bad dream...go back to bed..." Realizing he was still asleep, she crawled under the blanket and onto his lap, laying herself across his chest. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and held onto the front of his shirt with fists.
Boom.
She shifted the blanket over them so it came up to her nose.
Kish stirred a little and lifted his head slightly, his eyes remaining closed, "Tart, y- Ichigo?" He said groggily, not fully conscious, "What're you doing? I don't mind, it's just..." he sleepily rubbed one of his eyes and yawned.
"I'm scared," Ichigo said quietly.
"Oh, okay," Kish draped one arm around her shoulders, the other rested on her hip, and he sighed. "This is nice...I like this." He fell quiet and drifted back to sleep. Ichigo felt herself relax. Feeling safe, she managed to fall asleep.
"Ichigo," her ear twitched as a finger gently trailed along it. "You need to wake up now, Koneko-chan."
"Hm?" She slowly made her way to consciousness and her eyelids fluttered open, feeling heavy.
Kish chuckled lightly, "I thought this had been a dream," he said. Ichigo shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
"I don't like thunderstorms," she mumbled.
"That's okay," he brushed a lock of pink hair behind her ear and stroked her cheek. She pulled back a little to look at his face. He looked so happy to have her there, on his lap, with an arm around her.
"No perverted remarks?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
He shook his head slowly, "I don't wanna ruin this. Not yet." He looked into her eyes, still smiling, as if she were something amazing.
"How long have you been awake?" Ichigo asked. Kish shrugged and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her close to his chest.
"I've always wanted to wake up to this," he said. Ichigo was still not entirely awake from her dead sleep and let him hold her there for a few minutes. He was comfy and smelled like gingerbread.
"Why did you wake me up?" She asked, her eyes starting to slide closed again.
"You forgot to set your alarm last night and it's around the time it goes off," Kish said.
Ichigo inhaled sharply and sat up fast, clumsily trying to get to her feet. "We have to get ready for work!" She said and crawled off his lap onto the floor. She grabbed the desk to support herself as she stood up and held her head. "I slept like a rock," she moaned.
"I must be nice to sleep on, then," Kish said with a smirk, watching her. She crossed the room to her dresser and pulled out a worn pair of jeans that had rips over the knees and a black and pink striped t-shirt. She tossed it on her bed and started doing her makeup.
"You should go get ready at your um, base thing," she said to Kish.
He stood up and stretched, "yeah, probably. Will you be okay?"
"It only takes you a few minutes to change your clothes," she said, "I think I'll survive."
He smirked, "Be right back then."
Now that he was gone, Ichigo changed quickly, brushed her hair, and put it up in pigtails with black ribbons. She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when Kish returned in front of her desk. He noticed some of the pictures had been replaced and there were a few new ones. He leaned close to look at them. The one of Ichigo and Aoyama was gone. The group shot of everyone at the cafe had been changed to a newer one that included himself, Tart, Pai, and no Aoyama. There was also the picture Keiichiro took of her teaching him to swim, them playing Chicken Fight with Berry and Tasuku, Tart and Purin at an ice cream stand on the boardwalk. Ichigo and Tart yelling at each other. Kish and Tasuku grinning with an arm around the other's shoulders. Retasu and Pai reading together at a table.
"So, do you have any idea why Kehki would go after Retasu?" Ichigo asked as she walked in. "I mean, I get them going after Purin with her being friends with Tart and all. But I don't get Retasu."
"Pai has a crush on her," Kish said absentmindedly, still looking at the pictures.
"What!?" Ichigo squeaked. He straightened and looked over at her. She was grinning at him.
"Yeah, he likes her but he won't admit it," Kish said.
Ichigo giggled, "that's so cute because she totally has a crush on him, too." She grabbed her cellphone from her bedside table and shoved it in her pocket. She walked up to Kish and stared up at him.
He stared back and then smirked, "if you want a kiss, all you have to do is ask."
Ichigo rolled her eyes, "I just didn't realized how tall you had gotten until now."
Kish raised an eyebrow, "people grow."
"I know, but we were like, the same height last year," Ichigo said, "and now I only come up to your chin."
Kish smirked again, "do you like taller guys?" Although he was a bit surprised that she had even paid enough to attention to him last year to remember how tall he had been.
He expected a snappy answer or a glare but instead Ichigo simply shrugged and said, "I guess," and turned to look at her clock. "We need to head to work," she said. And then she had an idea. "Can you teleport us?"
"Sure," Kish said, "but only if I get to hold you!"
Ichigo shot him a disapproving look and put hands on her hips, "I think you did enough of that last night."
"Hey, you're the one who crawled on me," Kish said. He held a hand out, "so why is now any different?"
"Because I was scared and the only reason you're here is to make sure I don't get killed," Ichigo said bluntly. She sighed and turned towards the door. "Never mind, I'll just walk like I usually do."
Kish quickly crossed the room to follow her as she opened the door, "why are you so stubborn?"
Ichigo turned on her heel and put a hand to his chest, stopping him, "you can't follow me, my parents are downstairs."
Kish narrowed his eyes and grabbed her arm. "I like being close to you, okay? I know you don't particularly care for me, but what you did last night is kind of messing with my head."
Ichigo closed the door. "How is that messing with your head?" She asked, her eyes also narrowed. "I was scared. You were there. That's it."
"But...if you were willing to come to me because you were scared, there has to be something there, right?" He asked. His golden eyes bore into her pink ones. They were filled with need, desire, and a hint of hope. Or maybe it was desperation.
Ichigo yanked her arm out of his grip, "I...no! I still love Aoyama-kun."
She gasped when he pinned her against her door by grabbing her wrists and holding them next to her head. He glared down at her. "Why? He left you. I traveled across a galaxy just to protect you. Why does it always have to be him? Why can't you ever choose me!?" He crushed his lips against hers and pressed his body against her, pinning her in place.
"Mm! Mm mmm!" Ichigo struggled against him but she couldn't move. She knew the only thing that he wouldn't expect in this situation. She kissed back, throwing her arms around his neck. She didn't get the shocked reaction she was looking for. Instead, Kisshu stumbled back, snaking his arms around her waist and held her so tight against himself that she almost couldn't breath. The kiss was rough and passionate. Their lips moved together fluidly. Kish buried a hand in her hair and that was the moment she broke the kiss, shoving him away. They were both panting for air.
"We can never. Be together," Ichigo huffed between breaths.
"Why?!" Kisshu cried, "if that's so true, then why did you just kiss me?"
"I was trying to surprise you so you'd let me go!" Ichigo answered.
"But you kept kissing me even when I didn't!" Kish said.
"Get it through your head!" Ichigo exclaimed, "if we even tried to be in a relationship, we would have so many problems it wouldn't last a week!"
"You don't know that!" Kish shot back. "For all you know, we could have something amazing that lasts the rest of our lives."
"And what if it doesn't?" Ichigo asked, quieter now. "We both get our hearts broken. We both get hurt. We can never look at each other the same again."
Kish let out a short bitter laugh, "you already broke my heart, Ichigo. Every day that you chose Aoyama over me added another crack until it just shattered completely. I guess I was stupid to think that I might have a chance with you or that that kiss meant anything." He hung his head and his bangs covered his eyes, "I need to be away from you for a while. Tell Ryou I won't be coming in today." With a ripple of the air he was gone.
Ichigo stared with wide eyes at the spot Kisshu had been standing. Her eyes ached with threats of tears that wouldn't shed. She hadn't realized she'd hurt him that badly. She jumped and let out a small gasp when her cellphone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered it. "Hello?"
"Where are you? You're an hour late." It was Ryou.
"Oh, damn it..." Ichigo wiped her free hand over her face and sighed. "Sorry, I'll be there as soon as I can. Oh, and Kish said to tell you he won't be working today."
Kisshu was sitting in a big sakura tree in a park. It was the same one he had tried using to poison Tokyo with. It was bare of leaves but he didn't care. He just needed a quiet spot to think. He had one foot up on the branch while the other dangled below him and an arm rested on his knee. He let his head hit the trunk and closed his eyes. Why did he always screw up with her? Why was it that he could never seem to get anything right when it came to Ichigo? She was the only thing he wanted out of life but he could never have her. He curled his hands into fists, irritated with himself and how the day was turning out.
"You might," a voice said, "someday."
Kish's eyes snapped open to see Suika floating in the air a few feet in front of him. He glared and growled, "what are you doing here?"
Suika held up his hands, "relax, okay? I'm just here to talk."
"What the hell would you want to talk about?" Kish asked.
Suika's lips curled into a smirk, "Ichigo. You see, I don't just read minds and emotions. I can tell you what you're feeling in the pit of your heart. Those things you don't even let yourself know."
"What does this have to do with Ichigo?" Kish asked, holding his glare.
"There's a spark," Suika said, "nothing big. Just a spark. But it's a spark for you."
Kish's eyes widened slightly but then continued glaring. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" He asked.
Suika shrugged and his expression turned mischievous, "Let's ask our little kitty-cat, shall we?" He disappeared.
Kish teleported himself to the cafe's kitchen. Keiichiro looked up, a bit startled by the sudden guest. "Oh, Kisshu-san. Ichigo-san said you wouldn't be in-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, where is she?" Kish interrupted, talking fast, "Suika's after her."
A look of concern took over Keiichiro's face, "Ryou just sent her to look for you."
"Damn it!" Kish swore and teleported again to her bedroom. She wasn't there. He went to the park. Not there. The beach, not there. The Red Data museum, not there. The aquarium, not there. The bus station, not there. With every place he looked he grew more and more worried. He teleported to her school and started running through the building. He had no idea where he was going in the place but he had to find her if she was there. He ran down a hall, yelling, "Ichigo!" The building seemed empty and his voice echoed through the hallways.
He was about to try a different location when he spotted an open door. Inside, he could see Ichigo tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth. She was wearing her school uniform, her hair down and no shoes or socks. She was staring straight ahead at the blackboard with fear in her eyes and she was breathing slowly, deliberately, like it was the only she wanted to focus on. She glanced at him with her eyes.
"Mm mm!" She mumbled through the tape. Her eyes were pleading but Kish couldn't tell what with. For him to save her or was she trying to warn him that it was a trap? Either way, he had to protect her. He walked into the room, not taking his eyes off of her. She started mumbling again, louder, and looking even more scared. The door slammed shut behind Kish and he heard the quiet click of the lock. Despite this, he continued towards her until he dropped the ground and everything went black.
Hehe, I like ending with cliffhangers. Even if I don't do it that much, I still like the suspense of them. As always, please review!
