Kisshu's Return part 18

Kisshu couldn't help himself. He had to see her, even if it was for just a moment or two. So he teleported himself to her home. He took place in the tree that he practically claimed and watched her through the window. She was doing her homework. She always did her homework after dinner, so it was no surprise, really.

To anyone other than Kisshu it would be utterly boring to watch, but he thought it was quite fascinating. The way she frowned while she concentrated, the manner in which she held her pencil and how she moved it over the paper while she wrote. It were those little things that made homework time interesting. At least to Kisshu.

She did catch him by surprise though when, out of blue, she dropped her pencil and her expression changed from concentrated to an empty one as if she were in thought.

Then, for a whole while, she remained completely still. The only thing that kept changing was her facial expression. Confusion, anger, sadness, more confusion. It was mainly confusion. Kisshu was watching her closely, yet he couldn't get what was going on. It was agitating, but if he showed up now, Ichigo would surely not be very pleased. No, she wouldn't be pleased at all.

So, since he didn't have much of a choice, he stayed were he was, analysing her at the best of his ability. There was little to no result. She began shaking, her eyes wide with confusion. What the hell was going on?! 'This looks bad… Ichigo, what are you thinking?!' Worry began to invade Kisshu's mind at the speed of light.

He itched to go in and comfort her. Like he did when he visited her for the first time in a year, a little over a week ago. It seemed so unreal. So much had happened since then. He got on Ichigo's good side and then was sent back to the bad side in a matter of what? Six days? And he had yet to find out what jerk had ruined his chances at even a platonic relationship with Ichigo.

At the moment, it was the least of him worries though. Ichigo stopped shaking after a minute, an epiphany seemed to light up her face and it must have been a shocking one, because shock was written all over her face. After a moment, the feelings clearly reduced, as they slipped off her face.  And she sighed.

Kisshu sat up with a start, not expecting the sound. 'Talking about unexpected… Ichigo, you are one hell of a peculiar kitty.' he thought to himself, a small, barely noticeable smile slowly growing on his face. It was not his infamous grin though. It was one of those smiles even Kisshu himself noticed. Smiles of amusement, bitterness, or just blissful happiness. The latter being a very rare sight on it's own, noticed or not.

Meanwhile, Ichigo looked like she was growing more and more agitated every passing second. Just when Kisshu thought she might just actually explode, she deflated entirely. All expression was once again washed off her face, the only exception being the day-dreamlike stare into nothing, which she had had a few times before now. Was she just randomly daydreaming or remembering something?

From her dreamy state she turned thoughtful. It really was strange. The more Kisshu tried to understand, the less he truly understood. It was annoying. He was entirely trapped. He couldn't just kick down the door and ask her, but he didn't really get much out of his observation. So what was he to do? At times like this, Kisshu wished he could've developed some sort of mind-reading ability.

Not that he would trade any of his abilities for it. It might be a strange confession, but Kisshu was quite fond of the fact that he could fly, teleport, breath nearly everywhere, fight with weapons he could summon and create Chimera Animals, thank you very much. He wouldn't trade it for anything-well, except Ichigo. But back to the topic.

Ichigo was still there. Still sitting in the same room, the same chair. She hadn't even moved in her chair. All that gave away that she was still alive were her heartbeat, breathing and change of expressions. Had Kisshu not been able to notice these three things, he might as well have doubted whether she was still alive, for she didn't move, didn't make a sound.

After seeing Ichigo's face twist in all sorts of expressions at once, Kisshu gave up. Every moment he watched her, he got more confused. So in order to clear his mind, he sat back, leaning against the base of his tree and closed his eyes for a couple of minutes. He just had to relax, lay back and wait for her to do something that he could use to figure her out…

A few minutes later, his wait was being rewarded. She abruptly stood up, not noticing the chair that fell over, and ran out. Just like that. She yelled something at her parents and only seconds later, the front door slammed shut and she sprinted off to who knows where. 'Better safe than sorry, as they say here, I suppose..' Kisshu thought, before he followed her, using a great deal of energy to do it as inconspicuously as possible.

She stopped suddenly, gripping her sides in pain. She had been running too fast for her own good. Silly little cat. While catching her breath, she stood there for a few minutes. Her clothes were getting wet from the rain that started to fall. What was this girl up to? Why didn't she just go home, where she was supposed to be right now?

"Kisshu!" His breath got stuck in his throat. What?! "Kish! Where are you? Ki-" She halted again in the middle of her speech. Had she gone nuts? Or did it get through to her what the hell she was doing? Had she seen through him? He didn't know. She looked deep in thought once again- Hell, why was she thinking so much tonight?- before she looked around.

For an instant, Kisshu thought she had found him, but her gaze moved on from the tree that he used as cover and she looked down, at her feet, looking more let down than he had ever witnessed. The rain had thoroughly soaked the poor girl, but if she had even realised it in the first place, she didn't show it. She was silent and the silence was killing Kisshu. He didn't get it, he just didn't get it! What was going through that girl's mind?!

"Kish…" She whispered, again out of nowhere. Kisshu was getting used to it, so he remained perfectly still, because her alert stance told him that she was waiting for a sound, a sign that he was there. Luckily, the rain that was now clattering on the pavement was his protective sound wall. If he made very little sound, the girl would, even though she had a cat's hearing abilities, not be able to pick it up. Had the rain not been there, Kisshu feared that even just his breathing would have given him away.

"I believe you are innocent. Really, I do. Just... prove it to me. I'll be waiting for you, because..." He couldn't believe his ears. The rain was playing tricks on him for sure! His ears perked up and his eyes concentrated on her lips. If she truly had said what he thought she had said, she would now give him the reason for her to trust him. Was it their friendship that, regardless of how short it was, left a mark?

She licked her lips nervously. Her whole pose screamed nervousness. 'What's the matter, Ichigo? Come on, spit it out…' Worry started seeping into the forefront of his mind, but he pushed it down. He had to hear what she had to say. She would be waiting for him… No! Save it for later! Listen! Listen carefully!

"Because I love you. Though you probably understand that we can't be together…" She… No..! Yes! She loved him! This was real, right? Or was this one of his better dreams? She loved him! His heart stopped, his breath had evaporated and his mind was going mad.. She finally understood! And she loved him! Him! Kisshu pinched himself to make sure he was wide awake.

It hurt. So either he was awake and it was really happening or he had finally completely lost it. He preferred to believe the former. Then his rational mind had to spoil the moment by concentrating on the last sentence. 'Though you probably understand that we can't be together…' Sadness invaded the happy thoughts. Still… Still she couldn't be his.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted and before he had the chance to do anything, she ran off again. This time she headed towards home… She couldn't be his. It hurt. 'At least, she is sorry.' He thought with bitter sadness. "Not as sorry as I am…"

Just in case, he followed her home, but he was too busy thinking her words over, so he was not as well-concealed as he ought to be. But Ichigo was too out of it to notice it and Masha was still locked away in a drawer, so he stayed unnoticed, to most.
Once Ichigo was inside, Kisshu made himself comfortable in his tree again. He was soaked, but it didn't really bother him. The tree was a good shelter, not that it mattered much anymore, but still. As he watched Ichigo finish her homework and go to bed, he kept on repeating her words in her mind, as if it would somehow change their meaning. He knew it wouldn't.

'Don't worry, Ichigo. I'll come for you, as long as you wait for me, I'll come…'

His peace was destroyed too soon, by a presence that stayed out of his peripheral vision, but he heard nonetheless. He slowly got up, reading himself for whatever was coming. The longer he stayed, the better got his impression of his opponent. He wouldn't be able to handle whoever it was right now. He was too out of it and he was tired. No, he was in no shape to fight.

Whoever the bastard was that was after him, he was clever. This fact alone was enough for Kisshu to assume that the one on the ground below him, circling around him at a distance at that moment, silent, invisible, but noticeable, was the same person that set him up, that ruined everything. Kisshu felt like fighting him, but he knew he couldn't. He had to get out of there.

There probably was no point in leading him away from Ichigo, but not wanting to take any risk, since his knowledge of his enemy was limited and there still was a small chance that Ichigo was not as involved as she seemed, Kisshu decided not to teleport on the spot. He had to get away from her, far away. Maybe his enemy would be occupied with Kisshu's ties to the place that he would use to teleport from. That would give him some time for his own investigation.

At this point, it was all pure speculation and a hell a lot of luck that had to do it, but he barely had anything to lose anyway. As long as Ichigo, Taruto and Pai were left unharmed, he had nothing to fear. So, he began to move, putting his rash, unlikely-to-have-the-wished-effect-plan into action. He began slowly: step, pause, step, pause, step… To the end of the branch.

The enemy responded to his movement by continuing to circle around him on ground level, but gradually closing in. 'Like a game of chess..' Kisshu mused, a grin forming on his face. It was dark, so the enemy probably didn't see it. And if he did, he still remained silent, not giving his identity away. He made good use of the shadows. Even Kisshu, with his night vision, couldn't see any of his features.

All he could see flashing in and out of view was a hooded figure. It was impossible to tell what it was. It could've been a human, though a very fast one, or an alien. Hell, he wasn't even sure whether the opponent was male or female! It was becoming frustrating. Ah! He reached the end of the branch. The movements of the figure stayed the same.

So Kisshu jumped and took off at high speed. He flew high enough to not be bothered by the roofs of the homes of the many inhabitants of Tokyo. However, he stayed underneath the clouds, the rain pouring down on him, drenching him. Oh well, he was soaked anyway. The point was that whether this hooded guy was an alien or not, he would be able to follow him. Perhaps with difficulty, but he -or she- could.

Kisshu was surprised by the fact that nothing was thrown or shot at him. He had expected arrows, bullets, whatever. But he was free to move as he pleased. Knowing that the bastard probably had some information on his history, Kisshu decided that his hiding place had to be one of his former battlegrounds, which would not directly be connected to Ichigo. He made up his mind in a matter of seconds.

The television tower, with its studios which were used daily for the local news and several other shows. The place were he'd attempted to finish the wolf girl before she could join the Mews in the fight. The Mews had made their first appearance on TV that day. Anyway, it was a general place, with lots of people going in and going out, on the other side of Tokyo -far away from Ichigo-, and he was vaguely related to it. It was perfect.

He flew towards it in a straight line, not caring enough to be secretive about his destination, looking down every so often to see if his pursuer was still on the right track. Kisshu noted that this person preferred the 'normal' roads to roofs or walls. Very… human. Something to keep in mind.

He had to admit that it started to get on his nerves that he was in no way hindered by the mysterious figure metres below him. He was used to getting things thrown at him every free moment, so he suspected it any time and every second of silence and peace was annoyingly long. Maybe his pursuer was aware of it and using it against him. 'Bitch…' Kisshu thought, calming himself by taking a deep breath of air.

His concentration never faltered and he was very relieved when he finally arrived at the tower. He flew up to an open window on the fifth floor. There was no way for the hooded guy to know what he was doing now. But, not forgetting Pai's constant lectures on caution, Kisshu opened a few drawers in the office that he had entered and he silently moved into the hallway. At this time, it was deserted.

The few late night workers were elsewhere, which was good. Another good thing was that there were no surveillance camera's in this hallway and offices, making it untraceable what he was doing up here. Well, he would leave some 'clues' behind, but that was just a set-up, so that didn't really count.

After going through some random drawers and lockers in other offices on the fifth floor, Kisshu decided that he would be leaving a good deal of a mess behind. It was good enough. He had even bothered to close some drawers and such again, as if he had attempted to obscure the fact that he had 'stolen' some documents. Given, he had some papers in his hands that he would take with him, just for the good measure, but even he had to admit that this was hardly a robbery.

Not that he cared, as long as that hooded whoever-it-was fell for it and was kept busy for a while.

With that hope in mind, he teleported himself to his 'home'. Well, if you even could call it a home at all. It's were he slept and ate, that was all he could really say about it. To his big surprise, both his friends were there already.

And in all honesty… Taruto scared the shit out of Kisshu. He just sat there, cross-legged, his leg supporting his arm, his hand supporting his face, looking into the distance as if it was the most beautiful thing had ever seen in his short life.

Kisshu threw the papers he still held in his hands in the 'trash bin'. Though a small fireplace was a more fitting description. As soon as the papers touched the flames, they flared up and all the paper was gone. Wiped out of existence, really.

Getting over the shock of seeing Taruto sit there in the manner that he did, Kisshu figured that after all the serious business he had taken care of, he had the right to tease his little friend… a little. But in order to do so, he needed the midget's attention. So he waved his hand in front of the younger alien's face while calling out:

"Yo, Taruto! Whaddaya doin'? Fantasizing about your cute monkey girl, huh?" This immediately brought Taruto down to Earth's atmosphere. And he was blushing like mad barely half a second later. Once he had found his voice again he yelled back, angered by being pulled out of his… daydreams: "Whadda you think you're doin', stupid idiot?! Go bother Pai insteada me! And I wasn't fantasizing abou' Pudding, pervert! I don't need ta! We kissed already! Whadabout you and your catgirl?! Not so lucky, huh?"

Kisshu merely grinned broadly in response, not letting the last comment get to him. 'Well, this is very interesting. The little kid's growing up.' He decided to go looking for Pai. Maybe he made some 'improvement' too. "Yeah, run off again, bein' all secretive! I don't care anyway!" Taruto yelled after him and Kisshu laughed out loud before teleporting to the place where he'd probably find Pai: Pai's -not so- private laboratory.

And, as expected, there he was indeed, bowed over some soil samples. How boring. As silently as possible, Kisshu moved behind him, hoping to, for once, scare the hell out of Pai. He readied himself to grab his shoulders, when a monotone voice crushed the tension-filled silence: "Why did you come here, Kisshu?"

Kisshu lowered his hands again and pouted. "Aw , c'mon! What does a man hafta do to scare you, Pai?" Pai turned his head to look Kisshu in the eye. "I see no man." Kisshu's pout remained. Pai sighed and turned back to his work, before speaking again. "You didn't answer my question." Kisshu gave up on the pouting and started to lean against a table behind him. "I was just wondering… How's it going between you and the fish girl? What was her name again? Medoriwaka.. Midori.. Midoriuegu-"

"Retasu." "What?" Pai abandoned his work again and fully turned to Kisshu, his face stone cold. "Her name. Her name is Midorikawa Retasu. But you know that all too well. You're testing me." Kisshu only grinned. "So, you've got something with her already or not?" Pai's face turned dark and hard, harder than usual. "No." Kisshu shrugged. "Pity. You really should do something, ya know. If you wait to long, that blond guy's gonna get her."

Pai's eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying..?" Kisshu rolled his eyes at him. "Don't be a fool, Pai. Everyone knows he's got a thing for her, just like you do -stop denying it, it's obvious- and really, if you don't make your move soon, he will. And I know you're not familiar with love and such, but if you wait and he steals her away, trust me, I've been there, you're gonna feel like shit." Pai only stared at him, not looking like he wanted to say anything, so Kisshu continued, with a small smile.

"She feels it too, Pai. But even those who lay their eyes on her once can tell that she'll never make the first move. Show her some affection and do it soon. I know it's very difficult for you, but in this game it's all about feelings and you either win or lose. No compromise, no scientific solution. Just try it, Pai, I can promise you, you won't regret it."

Pai still did nothing but stare at him. They stood there for a while, staring each other down. Then, very out of character, Pai audibly sighed and in one tiny moment, Kisshu could see it there, right on his face. Desperation. Even Pai himself knew it now. He was on uncommon territory, but he had to win.

Kisshu nodded and began to walk out of the room. As he placed his hand on the door handle, he heard Pai call after him.

"Kisshu!"

Smiling a little, he turned around, his hand still on the handle. "Yeah?"
Pai looked at his feet for a moment before he looked up and with the same monotone voice as always he asked:
"Do you really think she likes me over Shirogane Ryou?"
Kisshu looked at Pai in disbelief. Never had he heard Pai express this much in confidence. Or ask such an out-of-character question. 'My, my, this Retasu really is something, isn't she?'

He looked Pai in the eye again. "I don't think so…" Shock was plastered on Pai's face. Grinning, Kisshu turned to the door again and opened it. As he walked out, he turned his head, looking over his shoulder, while stating loud and clear:

"I know it."

The door slammed shut behind him. Good. He had done his job here. It was all up to Pai now.
Smiling to himself, he walked down the corridor.

'And now, I'm gonna go to the kitchen, 'cause I'm hungry like hell!'