The green haired alien stood there, looking around shocked. He could feel a strange power that he couldn't identify slowly starting to slip away from him and float away.
As the light left so did it's abnormal foreign warmth and his body was once again consumed by the chilly air. Idly he lifted his heavy legs up, pulling his feet out of the mud that they had sunk in in that short amount of time.
Looking around the area he noticed the cat girl, covered from head to toe in mud and standing silently against a tree. Following her dismal gaze he saw a lifeless body in front of her and he started to panic.
What the fuck has happened?
Slowly he approached her, face sullen with concern. As he realised who the body belonged to, questions flooded through his mind as to why him and Ichigo would have been out in the woods together so late.
He put his hand on her shoulder but pulled it away quickly as she jumped in fright. Snapping her head behind her she saw him stood there and her eyes welled up with tears. The confused alien looked at her terrified features and pulled her into a close embrace.
"Koneko-chan? What happened? How did I get here?" She didn't reply, only started to sob hysterically into his chest. Holding her close he stroked her hair.
"Ichigo?" Trying to contain her pain she looked up and uttered her gratitude to him.
"Thank you." Feeling herself begin to crumble inside again she buried her face back into his chest and started to sob uncontrollably again.
"Tell me what's wrong." Holding her protectively he kissed her cheek and felt his lips make contact with the bloody gash. Flinching she pulled her face away.
Grabbing onto her shoulders the alien eased her back from him slightly and he examined the wound and his eyes met hers. His thumb softly trailed over the cut and he watched as she whimpered in pain.
"Who did this to you!?" He demanded angrily. "I'll fucking kill them!" The confused and angry alien exclaimed, unknowing that he had already killed the culprit, but only in a different form.
"He's already d-dead…" Stammering she looked down and more silent tears escaped her eyes. Bewildered the alien looked from Ryou and then back to her, putting the pieces together.
"Ryou? You killed him?" Her eyes shifted to Ryou's body uncertainly then back to her lover.
"No… You did." The alien scrunched his face up in deep thought, trying to remember the past events and a short distant memory flashed quickly in front of his eyes.
He could see himself holding his Sai swords, one embedded deep into the blonde's stomach. He remembered the other man's infuriated eyes quickly changing into sad and lifeless orbs as felt the piercing pain and then the realisation that he was going to die had hit him.
He remembered seeing the blood leaking from his mouth only moments after he had stabbed him and he remembered the disturbing choking noise that filled the air as Ryou began to choke on his own blood.
Feeling even more confused Kish shook his head, not wanting to believe the flashback that had just overwhelmed him.
"No I didn't… Why would I?" Ichigo gave a sad laugh, not wanting the conversation to be so serious; the air already seemed too tense.
"He tried to rape and kill me." The alien's eyes widened in disbelief.
"He did? But I didn't kill him… I can't even remember how I got here… I just heard you scream my name then everything went black." He babbled, trying to figure out a reasonable explanation.
Ichigo closed her eyes and more unintentional tears fell. She looked at him, small smile sneaking onto her face and slowly she broke the strange news to him.
"You're the new blue knight."
Blinking several times the confused young man continued to stare at her in shock. "How can that be?" She shrugged sadly.
"Masaya lives too far away… and he doesn't love me anymore. I guess the responsibility was passed onto you." Realisation kicked in and he held onto her tightly. His lips twisted into somewhat of a victorious smile and he inwardly screamed in happiness.
"I'll always protect you… Weather I'm the blue knight or not." Leaning forward slowly he pressed his lips against hers. "I love you."
"I love you too."
He leant forward, about to kiss her again but pulled back when he felt a warm glow slowly beginning to emit from his chest. A gasp escaped his lips because of the abnormal feeling.
The weird substance travelled out of him in the form of a strange blue static ball of energy and drifted slowly into his exploring hands and his eyes widened in realisation. "Why is this inside me!?"
Staring at the powerful light the cat-girl smiled, positive she already knew the correct answer.
"You're a good person… at first you came across evil… but now you've changed. Your intentions are good." He continued to look at her in question. "And now your reward is the powerful source of mew aqua that you've been searching for. It's always been inside you deep down. You just needed to find it."
A few moments passed in silence as the alien continued to stare at the static thing before him: The thing that was the key to saving his entire race. Toying with it in his hands he glanced back up at her hopefully.
"This will restore my planet?" Ichigo examined it. She had never before seen any mew aqua look this big or radiant. She was sure it would work, even though she only half wanted it to.
"Yes it will." Kish's smile broadened, extremely happy with the discovery, but then his smile descended into a concerned frown when he saw her expression.
Biting her lip she turned her head to the side, not wanting the alien to see her melancholy expression. Her eyes watered and her heart ached in an unheard agony which felt as if it was burning away her very soul.
Nails digging deep into the palms of her hands she let out a muffled sob as she understood what would have to happen next. Everything was going to change and there was nothing she could do about it.
She had been a fool for letting herself fall in love with him. She had been an idiot for thinking that they could stay together forever when the truth was that they were really worlds apart.
Why it had never had occurred to her before now was unbelievable. Feeling pathetic and stupid she raised her gaze to his face as tears spilled and rolled down her cheeks. I'm so weak…. I always cry. Using all of her self control she forced a weak smile onto her face.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… Go save your planet."
Wiping her tears away with his thumb he placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Come with me." Her jaw dropped a little and she stared at him, not knowing what to say. After his request processed in her mind she shook her head sadly.
"I can't." The alien looked back at the body a few meters away from them.
"You have to…if you don't you'll be blamed for his death because of all of the evidence… and I'm not leaving you… Please think about the consequences of staying."
"B-but…"
"Ichigo! Please!" He interrupted her. "If you come with me you'll be looked after really well, you'll never have to work, I promise… Everyone on our planet will love you for helping to save them! Please!" He begged desperately, trying to make her see sense.
Staring into his eyes she nodded silently, not wanting to lose him. "Will I ever get to see my friends again?" He thought about it carefully.
"I promise I'll try my best to bring you back for a visit." She nodded her head again.
"Promise you'll never leave me?"
"I'll never leave you… I swear on my race. I want to marry you and be with you forever."
"Is this... your way of proposing to me?" He nodded and looked at her, hoping for an answer.
She smiled at him as then now tears of happiness flowed from her eyes. Taking his free hand she squeezed it softly and watched his face. She knew she loved him and she knew she wanted to be with him no matter what.
Moving closer she placed a kiss on his lips and waited for him to teleport them to the ship to spread the good news. He held her close to him and began to teleport. As they vanished from her home planet the cat-girl uttered one last word and it echoed magically around the scene still lingering there even after they had gone.
"Yes."