Kisshu's Return part 15

After pulling herself together again, Ichigo pushed all thoughts concerning a certain alien away and started her regular morning routine. She put on her grey school uniform, combed her hair, put the red ribbons in her hair and went downstairs, as usual. She had her breakfast, before getting her schoolbag, which also went exactly the same as any other ordinary schoolday. But Ichigo was totally out of it.

The rest of the day passed like a blur. Places seemed to pass her by, people came and went, as did the conversations. To Ichigo the day was a void. It was like she woke up in the morning, had a major black-out and then somehow ended up sitting in her desktop chair, 'doing homework', when her brains seemed to restart.

That's when all kinds of thoughts concerning one person flooded her mind at once. This, of course, resulted in an out-of-proportions-size headache. Wanting it to stop, Ichigo forced herself to focus on one of the thoughts.

She focused on her first memory of him. The first time they met.

"I wanted to see the human trying to sabotage our plans, but you're pretty cute!"  "Who are you?!" she'd asked. That's when he had kissed her, before answering "My name is Kisshu, thanks for the kiss."

If there was one moment in her life that she would never forget, it was that moment. Then something occurred to her. Why? Why would she never forget his infamous entrance? Sure it had been shocking and her first kiss was taken, but Aoyama-kun kissed her so often when then went out after the Final Battle and her boyfriend turning out to be Deep Blue had by far been more shocking.

'You love him…You love that cocky alien that had the guts to kiss you back then…' Argh! The voice was back again. 'I don't love him, I don't love him, I DON'T love HIM!' Ichigo chanted, trying and failing to mute the voice.

'But you do, you do, you DO!' the voice replied in an annoying sing-a-song manner. 'Do you need prove? Tell me, what do you feel at THIS?'

Ichigo involuntary relived the second time she ran into Kisshu.

"We meet again, honey! … Hmmm? You're face changed colour.. So you liked it, my kiss? Wanna try again?" "Of course NOT!" She attempted to kick him, but he backed off in time. "Tomboyish as always, huh?"

What was this? What was that voice trying to prove? That she didn't hate him anymore, like she used to? That Kisshu is less of a bothersome, cocky ass now?
'Cute to watch, isn't it?' The voice said lightly, taking Ichigo by surprise. 'What's cute about this? He's just toying with me and I get agitated, that's it!'
'Baka, what I'm going to show you is a timeline, so you can structurally see you and him develop. This was only a fragment, but a very amusing one, nonetheless.' 'Can we move on, please?' 'Sure thing!'

A new scene was dug up out of a not so far corner in Ichigo's memories. She was Mew Ichigo now and she was standing in a classroom. A classroom filled with what looked like huge bacteria. Kisshu was just floating there, obviously rather entertained.

"I'll tear him apart limb by limb in front of you." He said. "Eh?!" "You can enjoy the sight of it, the sight of a feeble man dying a slow death." He spoke so calmly, as if talking about the weather. And that fact plus his plan was pissing her off. "Who'd let you do such a thing!" She attacked the Chimera Animal, but rather than destroying it, her attack only multiplied the whole thing! It started strangling Aoyama-kun, tying her up so she was unable to do anything. Panic gripped at her heart.
"STOP IT!" "I can stop it… on one condition." Now she was just plain confused. "What do you intend to do?" He merely smiled and patted her head playfully, while he answered: "You know, I always say it…" That's when he turned serious and grabbed her face rather harshly. "Be mine, and I'll spare him" After speaking these words, he leaned in to kiss her.

'See? While your feelings haven't changed at all, his fondness of you has grown so much that he can't stand the fact that you love another guy and seriously wants him dead.' The voice pointed out.
Ichigo wasn't so sure about what to think. What was this leading to? What was the point. She had hated him, that much was clear. He had liked her, she already knew that too. A new feeling that she wasn't expecting to be there though, was sympathy. She felt sorry for what she put him through, regardless of the fact whether he deserved it or not.
Although he was a murderer now. That's right! She shouldn't neglect that fact!
'Face it, you baka, you sympathise with him, no matter what he has done and might have done.' the voice said, interrupting Ichigo's train of thoughts. 'Next!'

She was dreaming. This was the time she was captured by Taruto and Pai. They used a sort of dream-Chimera Animal on her, which trapped the other Mews inside her dream. She was woken up by someone shouting her name.
"Ichigo! Wake up! Get up! Look at me!" She tried, but she couldn't reach it. She couldn't reach the voice. It didn't give up though.
"COME ON! Wake up and look at me! Get up! Look at me, right here!" She wanted to wake up. She tried and tried. Finally, she managed to get her eyes to open. And right there, in front of her, looking at her, was the person she least expected to see.
"Kisshu!" She snapped awake, surprise evident in her voice. "Ichigo!" he grunted in reply, keeping his teeth clenched, obviously in pain. He let her go and she fell.

At that moment it all happened so fast and the events that followed were the only ones of that day that she ever had given thought to afterwards. But remembering this particular moment, for the first time she realised… He had saved her! He saved her and the Mews. Even though he himself had been bleeding, even though he could've killed himself by undertaking action, he saved her. Not the Blue Knight, not the Mews, not even Shirogane. Kisshu.
'Surprising, don't you think?' the voice noted. Ichigo felt uncomfortable discussing this further. This proved that he in fact did really care, even back then already. For some reason, knowing this made her feel weird in her stomach. Not really looking forward to more, she barely nodded inwardly. The voice, whatever it was, got the hint though.

"You're always so aggressive." 'That stupid bothersome alien! Why did he need to show up now! I was going to see my Aoyama-kun!' "What did you come here for?!" 'Huh? What's with the sudden seriousness?' "W-What?" "I came to pick you up." 'What the…?' Kisshu's eyes lit up, literally, while he maintained his serious face. It scared her, so Ichigo ran for it.

There were some things that struck Ichigo. Things she never noticed. Like how he really looked confused at her, when he mentioned her aggression. It looked like he really tried to understand her, but couldn't. Was it possible that he had been trying for a while then?
She had shook him out of it with her words. It seemed he remembered his purpose again. Picking her up.
'But we're not done here yet…' The voice said. Ichigo could swear that she heard a smile in the tone in which it spoke.

"Too bad… Let's go, Ichigo." She had run into a dead end! "No!" She didn't want to go! "Come on already, even if you say 'no', I'm taking you. I've already decided." He scared her. What was this? He couldn't be serious! "I came all the way to pick you up, so come with me." He couldn't just go through with this! It was mad. Never in a million years would she go with HIM. Besides, she was going on a date today!
"NO! I have an important date! I don't have time for this!" When would it get through to him?! "I won't forgive you for disobeying me, I WILL take you with me." Well, apparently not now. "Come with me, Ichigo, let's go… Come on." He tried to grab her, but she managed to dodge and take a run for it. Too bad that this alien was fast. His hand found her wrist and held onto it in a way that just screamed 'You're not getting away now.'
"No!" she yelled in defeat. She tried to free herself, but his hand didn't move an inch. "Why won't you do as I say?" What kind of question is that?! She didn't want to go! And why should she even?! "Just why should I obey you?" "Why..?" He looked taken aback for a second before his face softened into a kind smile she didn't know he was capable of. "Ichigo…"
His soft voice shocked her, but he went on in the same manner. "I went through all the trouble to pick you up. Now come with me… Just the two of us, to world with nobody else, and without fighting." She barely registered his words. She couldn't fathom this guy. What was he offering her? And why?
"Huh? What? What are you talking about, Kisshu?" was all she could bring out. He merely replied: "This is the only way, the only option. Let's go, Ichigo." This didn't make sense at all! "I don't understand. I don't get what you mean." He surprised her by grabbing shoulder, effectively turning her to face him completely. He smiled sweetly and looked down on her expectantly, as if he was mentally trying to get her to understand something that she simply couldn't.
"Don't be stubborn, I know you'll understand. You'll come with me, right." She didn't understand much of the situation, but what she did understand though was that she DIDN'T want to go with him.
So she violently shook her head 'no'. His eyes screamed hurt and confusion, while his face turned into an angry grimace. "I said this much and you still don't understand?!"

Ichigo was shaking in her chair. Being reminded of these memories was extremely confusing. How could she have been so dense not to see?! He had wanted to take her away from the danger, wanted her to live safely, in peace.
With him. Because he loved her. He cared. Always, she had thought of it as nothing but a game for him. Even as he died, she didn't realise that he wasn't just over obsessive, that she wasn't just a toy to him. It was so obvious now, as she replayed his stares, his actions, his words in her mind. He had always said it, said that he loved her, but in a way that just didn't come across to her. But why?

Was he just unable to word his feelings, to show what he meant? But how could that be true when he always claimed to love her? He knew what his feelings were. He just… Just…
'Tried to find a way to show his affection in his own weird way, not understanding that you wouldn't understand if he put it that way.' the voice finished for her.

It woke Ichigo from her own reveries, effectively snapping her back into reality. She sighed, unaware that if anyone would've been in the room, it would have looked like she randomly sighed as the first sign of life in the past minutes.
'OK, so he was in love with me at the time that we were supposed to fight each other for Earth's sake. Point proven. Now what?'

'Now, I'm going to prove to you that YOU love HIM. I mean proving that he still does love you, is pretty pointless, since he declared that at the exhibition hall. And after skimming through some interesting… events, it's safe to say that he didn't lie.'
Ichigo's heart skipped a beat. 'Wh-What?! I DON'T love him! He tried to destroy everything I care about, forced himself upon me, stole my first kiss and now sent my boyfriend into despair for losing someone close to him!'

'When you're done ranting, may we proceed?' Ichigo's anger flared up badly. 'Who are you to mock me and shove unwanted realisations in my face?!' The voice replied calmly: 'I am you. You are me. You've been in an inward war for a while now. You feel that you love him, but you're too stubborn to admit it and to do something with it.'
'Am not!'
'See? There you go. Now onto your true, undeniable feelings for a certain alien. Remember this?'