OTDE Into The Deep Chapter 3: Betrothed

I know you're all dying to find out what's going on with Kisshu and this girl so I'm gonna just skip this intro and get to the point. Please don't be shy about reviewing! It lets me know you're enjoying the story and that I should keep putting effort into it.

Kisshu instinctively froze, his lips hard against the warm ones moving across his face. His hands were rigid at his side and his nose protested at the strong scent of her flowery perfume. Trying to be polite, he moved her away from him; turning in time to catch sight of Ichigo's stunned face in the window.

Her maroon eyes were wide, visibly holding back a barrage of tears. Her cat ears had popped out and were lying flat against her tousled red hair. Lot said something to her, reaching a hand up but she ignored him, bolting through the trees and out of sight.

"Ichigo!" He heard his voice yell. He pushed through the others in the room and to the door. Lot stood in shock, his hand still out stretched. Kish nearly knocked him down as he dashed into the foliage.

"Ichigo please!" He cried. His heart pounded, from fear rather than exertion. He couldn't lose her. She wasn't supposed to find out this way.

Kish stopped running, his sensitive ears picking up the sound of muffled sobs to his right. Turning, he pushed through the bushes to find a small clearing, barely large enough for the one person already in it, much less Kisshu's larger body.

"Go away Kisshu." Ichigo sobbed, her voice cracking. Her face was full of pain, tears streaking her face. Kish knew he could never leave her like that. He squished himself on the ground next to her, wrapping his long arms around her shaking body.

"Shhh Ichigo…" He comforted, rocking her body into himself. They sat like that, Kish mumbling comforting words and Ichigo crying into his chest, for a few minutes before Ichigo pushed him away.

"Now you want to acknowledge I'm alive?" She said, her angry spunk returning. She wrapped her arms around her knees, glaring at him accusingly.

"Ichigo I…" He started but the emotional redhead cut him off.

"Kisshu if this is about the battle in Tokyo where Amon turned me into a chimera…" She was crying again. "I understand why you would hate me for that but I really didn't know what was happening…I.. it was like I was asleep but awake…I can't…" She broke off, not knowing how to explain it. Kish looked at her gently, his eyes sorrowful and full of love.

"Oh Ichigo I could never hate you." He said quietly. Before she could say anything, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Ichigo knew she should pull away, that she should make him explain everything. But fire had erupted in her and it was consuming her, and her only thought was getting as close as possible to Kisshu. His hands cupped her face, pulling her impossibly close, while her small fingers tangled in his green hair, managing to pull him even closer.

Kisshu broke the kiss, panting for breath. They looked at each other in stunned silence for a few seconds before Ichigo was finally able to remember her anger.

"Why are you ignoring me?" She asked accusingly. "And who was that girl?"

"Jealous are we?" He smirked but quickly realized Ichigo was not in the joking mood. If looks could kill! "Sorry, sorry. The questions are kind of connected so I guess I'll explain it as best I can."

Kisshu paused, taking her hand almost unconsciously.

"When we returned here with the Mew Aqua, we were hailed as heroes. We were instantly promoted in the army, almost leading it, and we had been given a very important position in the government, seeing as we were pretty much reinventing our society. As such, the Elders wanted to make sure we were keeping the right," the Cyniclon made air quotes around the word, "company. My parents died when I was young so I'm the oldest of my family; therefore I handle all of my inheritance and the properties my family had acquired over the years. The Elders decided I was to be married off, and arranged marriages are not usual but not uncommon in our society. I'm underage and my parents aren't here to choose for me so The Elders allowed my adoptive parents, Pie, Tart, Keeka and Karma's parents, to choose for me. They knew I was opposed to the idea so they chose the best girl they could, my best friend."

Kisshu stopped speaking for a second, his face distant as he remembered.

"I've known Mikata since I was very little, we grew up together, even before my parents died. We've been best friends as long as I can remember but somewhere along the way, she grew feelings for me that I never felt. Before I left for the Earth Mission with Deep Blue, she told me her feelings. I apologized, saying I felt like she was my twin sister. She was understanding, though I think she secretly hoped that one day I would come to feel the same. And maybe I would have…" He stopped again, smiling gently at Ichigo who had been listening intently.

"If I hadn't met you." He kissed her swiftly, knowing he still had some explaining left to do.

"I didn't think it mattered to tell you at first, because you were so in love with Masaya," even now he hissed the name, "and we were supposed to be enemies. There was no way you would ever feel for me what I felt for you. Even after Deep Blue was killed, you chose Masaya and I knew I wouldn't ever see you again. So I accepted that, I hoped that someday I might learn to feel even just a small portion of that for Mikata. But even then, whenever she would say something, or laugh, or basically do anything, I compared her to you. When I closed my eyes, I prayed to dream of her but instead I dreamed only of you. I accepted the betrothal if it was to be with her. I knew it would make her happy and it was the best option I had. She began planning our wedding, though we wouldn't be wed until we were both of age, and she tried to get me to help her but I couldn't. I couldn't even think of marrying anyone but you, even though I knew full well that was never going to happen." He stopped, noticing Ichigo shifting uncomfortably next to him.

"Would you like to move? It's not the most comfortable here." He asked, smirking as she nodded and attempted to stretch her legs. He helped her up, supporting her as she tried to regain feeling in her feet. Ichigo followed him out of the bushes, not really paying attention to where they were.

When she did look around, she found them on the bridge. If not for the stress of the situation, she would have thought it terribly romantic, the exact scenario she had envisioned when she first saw the place. She stayed quiet as Kisshu started his story again.

"Then you called us from Earth and every feeling hit me again like a truck. For the few days in-between the call and our arrival on Earth, seeing you again was all I could think about. We told Mikata where we were going, her family is also very close to the Ikisatashi's and can be trusted just as much, and I think she believed I was eager to see Earth again, I don't think she realized why. I prayed, for her sake, that it would all somehow wear off. That I would get to Earth and find out you were nothing like I remembered. You weren't. You were even better. My feelings grew and I knew that no matter what happened, I couldn't not be with you, especially when I realized you had feelings for me. I wanted to tell you about Mikata, but I didn't know how without ruining the little relationship we had. Then once we got serious, I knew that you had the right to know but I just couldn't…I couldn't bring myself to risk losing you. I thought…I don't know what I thought to be honest. All I knew was that I could never feel for her a fraction of what I feel for you. And then we got here and all I could think about was how heartbroken you would be when you found out and how hurt she would be. I convinced myself I didn't deserve you, so I punished myself by not letting me talk to you. I wanted to so badly Ichigo. It was so hard for me to see you there, see you with Lot. If the scene in the dining room hadn't just happened, I would ask you if you knew how much it hurt to see someone you loved with someone else." His voice cracked, illustrating just how painful it was to him.

He turned to look at her, his face strained and tired. The redhead stared at him, her mouth a little "o" of surprise.

"Ichigo I…" he started after she had been silent for a few seconds.

"You love me?" She asked. Kish hesitated but then broke out into his signature smirk.

"Ichigo I love you. I've told you before and you didn't believe me, but I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you and stole your first kiss." He laughed, pulling her in to steal another one.

They stayed on the bridge for a while, watching the sun reflect off of the small creek that ran underneath. Ichigo wished they could stay there forever, just wrapped up in each other, but she knew that they would soon have to return to the house.

"So what about Mikata?" She asked softly. She didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, but at the same time she would probably end up punching her if she kissed Kisshu again. Kisshu smirked at bit, as if reading her thoughts, but then sighed.

"I really don't know. I don't know if the arrangement still applies when I'm technically not a part of our government anymore. Though it was an arrangement to me, I know it was very real and special to her. I've got to ask my adoptive parents about the situation before we do anything drastic." He finally said, running a hand through his green hair.

"So we keep us on the down low until we find out?" Ichigo asked, not sure how she felt about pretending they weren't together.

"At least from her." Kisshu said. "Everyone else knows we were in a relationship so we'll have to talk to them about not telling her until we can figure out what to do." Ichigo nodded in agreement and turned to head back towards the house.

"Ichigo." Kish said her name softly but it was full of passion. "I'm sorry for doing this to you. I love you." He whispered pressing their lips together once more. The Mew leader didn't think she'd ever get over hearing him say that.

"I love you too Kish." She whispered against his lips.

Sorry this chapter was a little boring and backstory-ish. Action will pick up in a bit but we've got to cover some basics before we can jump into the fighting. Hope I'm not boring you to death! Please please please review and I'll give you a cookie ok?