I Belong To You: A Kisshu And Ichigo Love Story

Chapter 7: She Still Loves Aoyama

After an hour of reading the same lines over and over again in her English textbook, Ichigo gave up on the idea of homework. She was on edge and exhausted at the same time, and conjugating verbs was not the way to relax. Closing her book, she stretched her arms over her head, flexing her fingers as if they were claws.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Kisshu and Parfait. Were they really boyfriend and girlfriend, or was she just making a big deal out of nothing? She thought it had been a pretty big give-away when Parfait said they were sharing a room, but still, the way Kisshu had looked at her felt like…like he had been happy to see her.

Well, for her part, she'd been happy to see him too. Until Parfait had stepped in. Parfait, the beautiful, aloof, disrespectful warrior. How could she compete with an elite alien like that?

Not like I am actually competing, she corrected herself quickly. There's no way we could…I mean, obviously we're…

"I'm too tired for this, nyan," she groaned. "I'm going to bed." Getting up from her desk, she quickly changed into her pink pajamas, after brushing her teeth, removing her pigtails, and turning off the lights, crawled under the covers.

School tomorrow…great. She hadn't finished her homework, but maybe she could wake up a little earlier tomorrow morning and get it done. Right now, all she wanted to do was try and sleep, without any bad dreams.

Teleporting quietly into the night sky, Kisshu appeared around the side of Ichigo's house. He glanced around. All the lights were off, and the neighborhood was quiet. Smiling a little, he floated up to Ichigo's window and peered through the glass.

His stomach gave a jolt. His smile vanished.

Ichigo was tossing around in her bed, with a terrified, awful expression on her face. It was as if she were seeing somebody die right before her eyes, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. From behind the glass window, Kisshu saw tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Immediately, Kisshu stuck his fingers under the minute crack under the window and pulled it up the rest of the way. Bracing himself against the frame, he squeezed his way inside, noting that a few years ago it would've been much easier. Once he'd straightened again, he floated over to Ichigo's bed, careful not to disturb anything.

Closer up, he felt his throat clench up. It was even worse than he'd thought. Not only was she twisting around with that pained grimace on her face, but she was mumbling in her sleep. Nothing was intelligible – it sounded more like whimpers than anything else.

He had come hoping that she was still awake and they could talk. Waiting all day had driven him insane, but he'd wanted to make sure she was alone. Apparently though, she must've been tired enough to go to bed early. Her school books were stacked on her desk, with a half-finished page of homework on top and a pencil.

Kisshu turned his attention back to Ichigo. His poor little neko-chan was still caught in the bad dream. He couldn't stand it any longer. Floating closer, he gently rested his weight on the bed and slowly, carefully, put both his arms around her and stilled her head by placing his in the crook of her neck. His mouth against the pillow and his nose in her hair, he felt her stop moving underneath him, and her whimpers ceased.

He breathed in the smell of her hair. It was sweet, like strawberries. He hoped that she wouldn't wake up…or if she did, she would miraculously let him stay, even if she made him sit on the floor…

But no. Something worse happened.

The barely conscious Ichigo felt Kisshu there, just slightly. In her sleep, she felt around his back with her hand.

Then she said it.

"…A-Aoyama…kun?"

Kisshu head flooded with rage. She was thinking about him? The human boy? Was there never a moment that she wasn't thinking about him? Would there ever be any room in her heart for Kisshu? In an instant, he leaped away from her and hurtled out the window.

It was just in time. As he wrenched away from her, Ichigo's eyes flew open at the sudden movement, but she didn't turn her head in time to catch him rushing out the window. Instead, when she sat bolt upright, all she noticed was that the window was open, blowing air inside her room.

Her head was still fuzzy. She'd been caught in the nightmare again, but something had been different this time. As she'd been crying over Aoyama-kun's body, she felt a sudden warm presence beside her…she hadn't been able to tell if it was in the dream, or in reality. Slowly, the dream had faded away, and she came to realize, in her semi-conscious state, that someone was physically there. As she'd just been staring at Aoyama-kun, that was the first thought that came to her mind. She wasn't sure if she simply thought it in her head, or said it out loud.

Then, almost violently, the warmth had been ripped away, and the suddenness of it had forced her eyes open. But she hadn't been fast enough to see who it was. As the wind played with the curtains on her window, she frowned, trying to make her disoriented brain think.

It might have been…but no, why would he come here?

"Kisshu," she said quietly. Had he been in her room just now? What had he been doing? Had he…held her? Her eyes widened.

"Maybe he was," she said quietly, "and then…when I said 'Aoyama-kun'…" She thought about it for a moment. Then, she shook her head, denying the thought.

"That's ridiculous. It was just part of the dream." She laid back down and closed her eyes.

Outside, Kisshu was long gone. Soaring over the city, his face contorted in anger, he could think of nothing else but what she'd said.

She still loves Aoyama. Does she still think about him all the time? Does she think about him as much as I think about her?

Because I never stop thinking about her. I can't. She's all I want. Of this, Kisshu was certain. But it was beginning to feel hopeless. If it had been two years since Aoyama had died and she was still have dreams about him, then clearly she hadn't spent any brainpower on Kisshu. Maybe he should just give up.

But I came here to protect her. So even if I don't have her love, I'm going to keep her safe anyway. Firm in his decision, he flew back to Café Mew Mew, where he was sure Tart was asleep and wouldn't hear him come in.