"MOMOMIYA! WHERE IS MY ESPRESSO?". "I'm coming!". Ichigo rushes through the crowd of the film set, towards her boss, with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. She bumps into one or two people, but keeps running, only screaming an apology over her shoulder. Those people only laugh and scream it's not a problem in return. They all know why she's running so hard. She has the job none of them ever wanted, but were sometimes forced to have. They're all very grateful to Ichigo from saving them from that fate and are willing to get bumped into as a repayment. Everything to not have to work under that monster. Jack Starnfield.

When Ichigo has arrived at the right part she's completely out of breath and her face is red. This job sure is good at keeping her fit, that's for sure. She's running all day and all night too when she has to work overtime. She stretches out the coffee to the fat man with the beret on his head on the high chair. Gruffly he takes it from her hands. "Finally. What took you so long?". "I'm sorry, mister Starnfield" Ichigo apologises while lowering her head. Starnfield takes a sip from the coffee and sticks up his nose arrogantly. "Well, it seems like you've finally learned how to make espresso. Maybe now you'll learn how to make good espresso". "Yes, sir". "Now go, before I fire you". "Yes, sir". Quickly Ichigo walks away from her boss. Leaving this place is always the best part of the day. God, she hates this job. And good Lord, she hates her boss. What a monster he is. Never satisfied, never a compliment, always gruff and ugly! Damn, that man is ugly. But now he shift is finally over and she can go. This job is like hell. Her own personal little hell with her own personal big fat devil. But she's very grateful that Zakuro managed to find it for her. She must have tried very hard for Ichigo to have found this job on the film set and Ichigo really needs it. That's also why she hasn't quit yet. She's in a desperate need of money and at least she earns something this way. Not that it's much, but very well, it is something. Take it or leave it, right?

She moans as she takes off her uniform and puts on her shoes. She only waves to the girl who has he next shift and then gets away from the building. The film set is situated on a large terrain specifically for filming. It's filled with film sets and terribly difficult to figure out. When she first started this job she used to get lost everyday, until someone would help her to find her way out. That was awful and so embarrassing… Yet now it doesn't take long before she's left the premises. After working here for a couple of months she's finally learned to find her way around here.

A taxi stops in front of the enormous metal gate, this place is creepily well guarded, but she ignores it and begins to walk away in Northern direction. The place she wants to get to is on the complete other side of the city, but she just doesn't have the money to go with a taxi. Well, it's that or having a good and healthy dinner every day. So she's told herself to just take a nice long walk throughout the city.

When she passes the University she quickens her pace and turns away her head, trying to hide her face behind her hair. She's lucky today, no one notices her. This street is always the worst part of her nice long walk. Relieved she turns around the corner of the street and continues to walk down the road. She's reached the centre of the city and all around her there's traffic noises and lots and lots of people. Swiftly she moves through the crowd with a little smile around her lips. She likes doing this. It makes her feel like just a random human on this Earth. Not special, not extraordinary. No. Just a girl.

Eventually, after a little less than an hour of walking, she's reached the place she was aiming for: the hospital. She stops and stares at the big white building for a moment or two. The smile has fallen of her face and her eyes are cold. Then she walks inside. The girl behind the counter greets her like usually as she walks towards the stairs. She nods in return and closes the door behind her. After that she begins to run up the stairs, not able to walk slowly anymore. That's a particular trait she's developed in the past few months. One way or another she always runs up the stairs in the hospital, as if she can't wait to get to the place she's going to. Always hoping. Always praying. When opening the door to the hallway she slows down again, though. She won't run through a hospital, that's ridiculous. No, she walks straight towards room 326 on the left side of the hallway and silently opens the door. "Mom? Are you awake?".

In the bed in the middle of the room a pale woman sits up straight to look her daughter in the eye, a little smile around her thin lips. "Ah, Ichigo… How are you today?". "I wanted to ask you the same". Ichigo walks towards the bed and sits down on the chair next to it. The room is white and clinical. There's nothing that makes this room feel even a little bit like a home. Still she's spent more time here than in her own apartment the last months. She takes her mother's hand in hers and smiles. "Are you feeling alright?". "Yes, yes, I'm fine…" her mother softly says "I've been lucky".

Yes, she's been lucky. Terribly lucky. Most people that wake from a coma aren't able to speak anymore, let alone hold a conversation with their daughter. On the other hand, she cannot move her legs anymore and she never will.

Ichigo smiles a bitter smile and squeezes her mother's hand a little. "I'm glad".

After staying with her mother for another few hours Ichigo says goodbye and walks down the stairs again, slowly this time. It always hurts to leave her mother here, in this cold place. She deserves so much more… so much better… But he can't give her that right now. She knows it's best for her mom to stay here right now. She looked very tired again… Every time Ichigo leaves she's afraid that her mom will go back to that long sleep and that this time she won't wake up again.

Ichigo sighs and greets the girl behind the counter again, after which she begins to walk down the streets again. Her face is emotionless and cold, just to not let the tears escape. Why does she always feel the urge to cry at this time of the day? She hasn't cried anymore since it happened. No, that's not true. She cried when hearing about her mother's coma and… that other time.

She stops at a block of flats where she goes inside and runs up the stairs again. This time she really can't wait to get to where she's heading for. She takes a key from her pocket and opens the door to a small apartment. There she puts down her bag and falls down on her couch. She closes her eyes and moans. She really begins to feel this daily schedule in her bones nowadays… She doesn't even have the spirit to get up to make herself some food. She's tired…

"Wow. You look like a wreck". "Wuah!". Ichigo's eyes dash open and she quickly sits up straight, falling of her couch as she does so. A shadow falls over her and she looks up to the person who's causing it while automatically reaching for her pendant, which of course isn't there. The person bows towards her with his hands on his back and smiles. "Good evening". Ichigo's hand reaches for the candlestick on the little table in front of the couch and she pulls it towards her to use as a weapon. "Who are you? How did you get in here?". The person blinks and stands up straight, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Alright, that's just insulting". "Answer me!" Ichigo demands. She's not afraid to kick this bastard in the guts when he doesn't just answer her. The burglar puts up his hands. "Wow, easy tiger. It's me!". Ichigo's eyes narrow a little further and she stares at the face of the person in front of her. "It's me…" he repeats in a soft voice, a little smile around his face.

Thanks for the kiss that time. But now I'm hungry for more…

Let's go together, Ichigo!

Ichigo's eyes widen. "You're kidding me…". "Although I love a good practical joke, I'm not kidding this time. Sorry" he smirks. Slowly Ichigo raises from the ground and puts down the candlestick. "Kish?". "Bingo! Ten points for you!". Kisshu smiles his sweet smile again and stretches out his hand to caress her face. "Hi, Koneko-chan". Ichigo grabs the hand that's caressing her cheek with both hands. "Kish! What are you doing here?". Kisshu blinks. "I'm visiting my favourite kitty, what do you think I'm doing?". "Lord, I haven't seen you in years!". Ichigo's brown eyes sparkle as she takes in her childhood friend. Or something like that. "I know…" he answers sadly "I know…". "What have you been doing all this time? Why didn't you react on our messages?". Ichigo pulls Kisshu down to sit on the couch, immediately sitting down next to him, one of his hands still in hers. Kisshu laughs softly at her excited face. "Come on, tell me!" she urges. "A little impatient, kitten?" he asks her teasingly. "O, shut up" she reacts as she keeps looking at him "What happened?".

She startles when Kisshu's smile suddenly gets bitter and he looks away from her, now staring into the distance. "Things went wrong". "What do you mean… wrong…?" she whispers, suddenly scared. "Just wrong" he answers "The authorities didn't want to accept the Mew Aqua because we killed that bastard that was once our leader, we had to run for our lives, we were hunted down like animals and eventually Pai saved us by finding a way to insert the Mew Aqua into our planet after which the authorities finally realised it was something good. Idiots". Ichigo's mouth has fallen open and she blinks. "What?". "Do you honestly want me to repeat it?". "What the fuck? That's ridiculous!". "Kitten!" Kisshu smirks "Watch your language!". "Screw language! This is insane!". He laughs softly again and takes her hands in his. "It's good to see you curse again. It's been too long". "Why didn't you ask us for help?". Ichigo sends him an angry look, on which Kisshu blinks. "Well, we didn't really have the time or means to. We were being hunted down, remember?". "But- But-". Ichigo stares at him with widened eyes. Then she calms down again and stares at their hands. "I don't understand…".

Kisshu looks at the beautiful girl in front of him, the way she's staring down at their joined hands so cutely. Her brown eyes seems to shimmer and her red hair flows down her face like a river. She's put it up, but some tresses have escaped after a day of working. He notices she's grown a little taller. She's not a girl anymore. She's a woman. Then that woman he's just met looks up to him again.

He's staring at her strangely, in a way she isn't used to anymore. The gold of his eyes is soft and wondering. Only now she sees all the changes in his appearance since the last time she saw him, six years ago. His hair has been cut just an inch shorter, his body's changed from a boy to a young man. She blinks at this realisation. It's weird. What would she look like though his eyes now? He used to think she was beautiful, does he still think that of her? She's changed quite a bit the last few years… The thing's she's been through have taken their toll on her body.

Before she knows what's happening he's moved one of his hands up and taken her face in it. "Ichigo…". Where did this tension suddenly come from? Why… can't she move…? They were talking so normally just a second ago. Why is she at a loss of words now?

She doesn't realise he's closing in on her until his lips almost touch hers. That's when she snaps out of her dreamy state and shoots backwards, falling over the armrest of her couch onto the ground. "Wuah!". "Ichigo?". Kisshu's face pops up above the armrest, his eyes worried. "Ouch…". Ichigo sits up straight and rubs over her back. Then she looks up to Kisshu again, wondering what the hell just happened. Kisshu is now smiling tenderly at her while shaking his head. "My, my, what a feisty kitten you are. I almost forgot that. I only tried to kiss you". Promptly Ichigo's face changes to a beautiful deep colour of red. "I-idiot! What did you do that for?". He only shrugs his shoulders and smirks. "I wanted to kiss you". "You pervert!". He laughs softly. "Really, is that something new?". "Maybe not" Ichigo says as she stands up and brushes the dust of her skirt. "But I didn't think you'd actually try to kiss me after not seeing each other for almost a decade". "A decade, a decade… That's a little exaggerated kitten. It was only six years!". To his surprise Ichigo remains silent for a moment and stares at the ceiling. Her eyes turn hurt. "Sometimes six years are more than a hundred".

He climbs over the armrest and cups her cheek. "Hey, Koneko-chan, what happened here while I was away?". Ichigo looks at him and smiles a sad smile. "A lot". Kisshu sighs and puts his hands in his sides. "Then I guess it can't be helped…". Faster than is possible for any human to comprehend he lifts Ichigo of the floor bridal style and begins to walk back towards the couch. "What are you-?". Kisshu only sits down and gives her a penetrating look. "Tell me. Please. What happened? Why do your work for that arsehole? Why is your mom in the hospital? Where's your dad? Why do you live here? Where's that freaking tree-hugger?". Ichigo's mouth falls open with the flow of questions she's tried to avoid for the past few years and to her surprise her vision is blurred by treacherous tears. She smiles and blinks, causing the dears to run down her cheeks beautifully. "They're gone Kish. Everyone's gone". "What do you mean gone?" he asks softly as he wipes her tears away with his thumb. He actually expected her to cry. She must have been through some very harsh things. Ichigo stares in his eyes and keeps on smiling. "Four years ago my mother, my father and I got into a car accident. My father died on the spot and my mother went into a coma for three years. She's been awake for almost a year now, but her legs are paralyzed. In the second year of her coma Masaya cheated on me with some student girl. When I found out and confronted him he broke up with me before I could dump him, which caused me to not even have the little advantage of being the strong girl who immediately dumped her cheating boyfriend, but the pitiful girl who'd been simply replaced". Behind her back Kisshu's fingers turn into fists. The gold of his eyes freezes until it's stone. He'll kill that bastard once he's done here. "If it weren't for me…". Kisshu looks at the girl in his arms, that is now talking even more softly. The tears are still flowing. "We wouldn't have taken the car… and we'd never… never…". Kisshu blinks.

He knows what that is. That's survivor's guilt.

He pulls her closer to him. Ichigo's eyes widen a little. "It's not your fault… You haven't done anything wrong. You've only been one hell of a strong kitten". Ichigo closes her eyes again. "Kish…". Her voice is twisted by tears. He only smiles over her shoulder and pulls her just an inch closer. "I'm here. It's over now". Ichigo's shoulders begin to jolt and she cries until there's no tear left. Meanwhile Kisshu makes plans to murder Aoyama. It has to be slow and painful…

But as Ichigo regains her self-control she also regains her ability to think clearly, which causes her to suddenly sit up straight, take his face between her hands and give him a stern look. "You're not doing anything to him". Kisshu blinks, surprised that she knows what he's been planning, and then starts to pout. "Why not?". Ichigo smiles. "Because that would mean that I care". He looks away. "Dammit". He didn't think of that.

Ichigo now wrenches herself from his grip completely and stands up from the couch. "Thank you". "For what?". Kisshu goes to sit in a more comfortable position. Ichigo turns around to him and smiles again. "For letting me ruin your shirt with tears". Kisshu looks down to his shirt and smirks. Then he looks up to her again mysteriously. "What?" she asks suspiciously. He lifts up his hand, which is wet from her tears, and exasperatingly slowly begins to lick them away. Ichigo shoots back towards him and takes his hand away from his mouth. "Bastard! You're harassing me!". "No, I'm not" he says innocently "Actually, you're the one harassing me on the moment". "I'm not! I'm only stopping you from being a pervert!". He sighs. "You really can't stop that, love". "Don't call me that" she murmurs. Then she lifts up his hand and dries it with her shirt. His eyes widen a little when he feels the soft skin of her belly brush over his hand. She ignores it and continues until his hand is dry. Then she lets go of him again and moves away to get a glass of water. "Do you want a drink?" she asks him over her shoulder. "No, thank you" he manages to answer while staring at his hand. She comes back with a glass of water that's already half empty. "Aren't you hungry?" he asks her. "Strangely not" she answers him. Then she smiles. "Are you?". He shakes his head. "Not at all, I'm so used to not eating". "Not eating at all?". "Yeah, we didn't have very much". "That sucks". "I'm used to it, really". "That sucks even more". "Maybe it does, but hey, whatever". "In a strange way you're really selfless, you know that?". "Me? Selfless?". "Yeah, you're right, never mind".

She sits down on the ground and drinks up her water. After she's put it down next to her they stare at each other for a moment. She doesn't know why either. But then their peaceful stare moment is interrupted by Ichigo who in the silence suddenly hears the ticking of a clock and looks on her watch to find it's already quite late. She has a tight schedule every day and he's really disturbed it. She stands up again, watched by her visitor, and crooks her head a little while looking at him. "Listen, Kish, I don't mean to be rude, but I have to get up early in the morning again, so can we continue this conversation tomorrow?". Conversation? They were staring at each other! Well, never mind. He nods understandingly and jumps up. "Yes, of course. So. Where am I sleeping?". Ichigo blinks in surprise. "Come again?". Kisshu smirks at her reaction, but makes his eyes innocent. "What, you didn't think I was leaving you, right?". As Ichigo doesn't react at all he sniggers softly. "Kitten, kitten, kitten" he says while shaking his head "I can't leave my dearest Koneko-chan all alone at night in such a nasty neighbourhood". "I live here!" Ichigo finally reacts, perplexed but also a little annoyed by his tone "You just don't have a place to sleep, do you?". Ouch, that one's true. But no way he's going to tell her that. "How can you think that?" he asks indignantly "I have plenty places to sleep! I just want to sleep here!". "Well, get over that dream already, because it's not happening". She turns away from him and crosses her arms, surprised that he doesn't react. Then she hears him sighing and all of a sudden there are hands on her shoulders that turn her around and he's looking at her with the most intense look in his golden eyes. She blinks, not able to keep up with his abnormal speed. "I said I'm not leaving you alone". In her head Ichigo is trying to reorder her thoughts. "I know you did. But this is my house and I can send you away if I want to". "But why would you want to? I could tell from the look on your face all day that you're lonely. Why reject someone who wants to keep you company?". Ichigo looks away from his face for a moment, strangely hurt, but then looks back again, a strong look in her eyes and a little teasing smile around her lips. "Because I'm afraid my guest will try something on me". "Kitten!". Too indignant to be credible he lets go of her. "I'm shocked! I'd never, ever, try anything on you!". He looks away and smirks. "Well, unless you'd ask me to, of course…". "Kisshu". He shakes his head and looks at her again, back to being indignant. "I can't believe you actually said that to me! You actually think that of me! I'm a man now, not the boy you used to know". "As if you changed even a little bit". Suddenly he's serious. "I did". Ichigo smiles. "I know. But how am I supposed to trust you?". He smirks again. "There's no how. You just have to do it". He takes her hands in his and looks at her. "Trust me". She sighs and wrenches herself from his grip. "Fine, you can sleep on the couch". He smirks again and gives her a mysterious look with a slight hint of his perverted self, causing her to narrow her eyes in suspicion. "That's not going to happen" he says to her. Then he's gone and she's alone in the room. She looks around disorientated, only to hear his voice coming form her bedroom. "I'm sleeping here!". "Kisshu!" she screams angrily while running towards her bedroom. She opens the door to find him lying comfortably on her bed with his eyes closed. For a moment she's frozen, then she walks towards him and pushes him off. "Woah!". She sits down on the bed herself. "That's what you get…" she murmurs. His head pops up above the edge of the bed. "But that's not what I want". "Then what do you want?" she asks while looking at him. He jumps up and sits down next to her. "I want to sleep here". "Well, you can't" she simply says while crossing her arms "This is my bed". He smirks again. "O, but I know that…". "Shut up". He tries a different strategy, throwing himself on her and pushing her down. "Woah!". She looks up to him angrily, ready to scold him, but then she sees him pouting like a child. "Please?" he begs "I promise to be good!". She blinks and laughs at him. Then she runs her fingers through his hair. "Silly thing. You're such a baby". He smirks. "I don't care if it works". She sighs. "You promise?". He nods seriously. "Alright then…" she answers softly "I'll trust you… But if you screw it up you're never getting in again!". "I know that". "Good. I'm going to change now, stay here". She stands up and walks away, leaving him alone in her room.

He sighs and makes himself comfortable again. There's a little smirk around his lips. The way she's looking at him, the way she's giving in so easily, the way she cries on his shoulder… This won't take long. Soon he'll finally have her.

That's when, of course, she walks in again, now in her pyjama's. A simple pink pair of pyjama's, like always. But boy, it's not like he remembers at all. Like this you can really see she's become a woman. And it looks good.

Ichigo puts her hair down, slowly turning red again. "Stop leering at me" she says over her shoulder. He blinks and smirks at her. "That's really too much for you to ask of me when you look like that. I won't try anything on you, but don't say me I can't just look either". She turns around annoyed, but the look in his eyes keeps her from saying anything. It's not only keen, there's also a deeper layer behind that. A feeling she doesn't want to name, although she's quite sure she knows it. She looks away to not have to look at it, her eyes running over his face and then his upper body until they notice something that doesn't belong there. She walks towards him, staring at it. "Kish?". "Hmmm?" he murmurs, still staring at her body. "What's that?". "What's what?". She points at his chest with a trembling finger. "That". She's certain his face pales, though it's hardly noticeable on someone who already is so pale. "That's nothing" he says, his eyes cold all of a sudden "Never mind it". "What did they do to you?" she whispers. He sits up straight and reaches out for her. She doesn't react. "Come" he says sweetly "Come here. There's nothing to be afraid of". "That's not it…" she says while taking his hand and letting him pull her towards him, onto the bed "It's not that I'm afraid…". She looks up to his face, which now is a lot closer, and then back down at his chest as he moves her hands towards it. She looks at him doubtfully. "Come on" he whispers "It's alright". So she looks back down at his chest again and moves her hand over his clothing. Her eyes widen at the relief she feels. "Scars…". "Yes" he replies "Those are scars". "What did they do to you?" she repeats, a little scared for the answer. "I'm not telling you that" he answers with a little smile around his lips. She moves her hand away from his chest and begins to simply examine him. She notices the scars, which are everywhere. On the back of his head, on his shoulders, on his hands, on his legs, feet, back, neck, everywhere! Wherever she looks, there's scars. "What did they do to you?" she asks again, a hint of panic in her voice. She's shocked. He takes her hand in his again and brings it back up. "Let's just say that half of the Mew Aqua that was meant for our planet has been used to keep me alive. I was up against some nasty bastards and they were with more than one at a time. I killed most of them, though. But well". "How…" she asks incredulously "How can you be so casual about this…? These scars… They're from injuries that must have killed you!". He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm used to it". Her mouth falls open. "My life hasn't been a fairy tale, kitty". "I know that…". She looks at him again. "But this…". She didn't expect him to have been through so much. "It's alright" he only whispers "It's alright". But tears have already found their way to her eyes and she looks up to him in despair. "I'm so sorry…" she can only utter. That's when Kisshu places her hand back on his chest, right on the spot she can feel his heart beating. She looks down their hands in surprises. "I'm still alive. I don't feel pain anymore". He smiles softly at her. "It's over". She smiles through her tears and nods. "Yes. It's over". He's here now. He's safe now.

He pulls her close to him in an embrace. She still looks up to him from this position, though she knows what that will lead to. Because she knows what that will lead to. Because she's ready. She's finally ready for him to take her away to paradise. She's finally ready to stay by his side forever. She's finally ready to name that deeper layer. "I missed you" she says clearly. He smiles and brings his face close to hers. "I love you too". She blinks and smiles back at him. "Good". He touches his lips to hers softly. She doesn't resist anymore.

7