She couldn't drag her eyes away from him. Dread spiked the edges of her mind as she thought, how the hell did she allow this to happen? It wasn't supposed to get to this!

Kisshu stood in front of her, as if he didn't acknowledge her presence in the least. His fingers coiled around the hilt of the sai so hard that they paled. He imbedded the tip of the blade so deep into the corpse under his knee, that it hit the ground and the vibration shook him to the core. There was tension in his shoulders, the muscles were drawn into knots, and the shaking of his body resumed in a surge of anger.

"Kish – " Ichigo took a cautious step forward. She feared that if she'd keep her distance, the man's self-control would crack and he'll attack blindly.

There was no sign that he had heard her. His slick shirt clung tightly to his back, which gave away the ragged breaths he took; his back heaved as his lungs swelled with the acrid air around them, then it descended, as if they were busting inside of him. The woman didn't need to see his face to understand the pain he felt, both physical and mental. He made a raspy sound as he exhaled. Kish almost had his windpipe crushed under the pressure of his now dead opponent.

She tried again. Just as she was about to touch him, his other weapon swirled around, catching the light of the moon, and stopped at a hair's-breadth from her throat. Ichigo froze in place, never daring to even drop her hand. She barely touched his arm. The woman almost yelped; what stopped her, though, was knowing that if she did, he'd rip her trachea out.

He encountered her with a snarl that revealed the sharp, clearly inhuman, canines.

"Don't."

Shadows laced through the dark green strands of hair that escaped from their prison and bordered his feral expression. Hatred painted over his boyish features. Beneath it, however, recognition sparked, but the blade remained still. For a few erratic heartbeats, he scanned every inch of her body for wounds. When he felt satisfied enough, he grunted. His sai dematerialized from his grip and his now free hand gripped the back of her neck and pulled her face downward.

In half a second, she caught his arm with both of hers and fought back, in a desperate attempt to straighten her back or get away from him, but one of his legs shot out and hit both of hers, sending her body straight to the ground.

Blood splattered the ground just as she was about to send her palms forward to block the fall. The weight of another dead body thundered through the night as it took its place next to her. Kish saved her.

"Get up." The words were distorted by urgency and panic that almost slipped through the iron bars of his control. Ichigo stumbled as she was forced back up and before she had the chance to take a look at the second fallen enemy, the air rippled around them and a familiar sensation of dizziness hit her.

They were suddenly back in her room. Alive.

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK, DAMN IT!"

He pushed her on the bed and his fist collided with the wall, at the same level with the place where her head previously was. It made a dent.

Ichigo flinched. She could hear his teeth pressing upon each other in a futile attempt to keep himself from lashing out physically. His muscles still spasmed from the hard fight he had won, still ready for some more. She wasn't going to give him the chance to attack her; in this state, as revved as he was, he had unleashed power, sheer force of the magnitude she never thought she'd see with her own eyes or that she would fight beside, and Ichigo didn't even want to imagine what he could do to her if the occasion arrived. He wasn't the alien she had met all those years ago, a scrawny teenager, a kiss stealer, or a sorry excuse of a fighter. He had a body of steel coated in thick ropes of muscles, his eyes glinted with fierceness and dares, and he moved silently, lethally. He was taller and wider now, mature, deadly. His stance was meant to warn others of his superiority and the glances that he took at his surroundings everywhere he went held disgust. During the years that passed, he had lost himself in training, not stopping until he broke past his own limits. She believed him when he said that he had spent many nights looking for ways to strengthen himself, to perfect the link between mind and body to such degree, that there would no longer have to be thought before action, remorse, hesitation. When he launched in battle, his body stopped only when everything around him was dead. If the cyniclons were to send him now to get the planet back, he alone could wipe the population away. He could send the world as she knew it into oblivion, without second thoughts.

Tonight, he had saved her. Tonight, he had refrained his instincts to keep her alive.

"They restrained you and that bullet was ready to take its toll, idiot..." She looked at him through blurry eyes. She was just starting to feel frightened and she realized how reckless she'd just been when she jumped into the battlefield without any kind of protection. They came for him with reinforced armory and encircled him as if he wasn't something more than an enraged animal. The image of the two men hitting him and pulling him down turned her vision red and she knew she took the decision long before this: she'd stand up against anything that threatened his well being. Now, Kisshu turned away from her and sat on his haunches, wiping the blood away from the blades. He didn't want her to see the remains of the confrontation or he refused to prove her that he indeed turned into a killer.

"You are useless, Ichigo. Without that pendant, you are NOTHING." The harsh tone made the tears finally spill. They burned her cheeks in their wake and rolled down on her chin. "You gave this no thought, so keep the insults for yourself."

"They were gonna incapacitate you and kill you."

"I knew what I was doing."

"Yeah, I knew that, too. You were getting your butt kicked, Kish. Stop being so self centered and think about those around you, dammit!" Ichigo's voice hardened.

Kisshu stood and went to the bathroom, regarding her with nothing more than his back. When he returned, he caught her upper arm and forced her to walk to the shower. There, he kicked the door close and stood against it, his hands folding across his well toned chest.

"Undress."

Ichigo gaped dumbly, she couldn't believe her ears. He was dead serious. The alien looked at her with hooded eyes, their liquid amber swirling in expectance. As if a few minutes of sheltering in her house made him forget what just happened, heat pooled into them and she woke up from the reverie just as she unbuttoned her jeans. She rarely wore pants. This time, she found her decision wise because they surely were covering more than a skirt ever could.

"Faster." His command had her hands pushing the material down over her legs. She didn't want to anger him more than he already was. He followed it downwards, leaving a trail of fire behind. It was the first time she ever really got naked in front of a guy. Ichigo couldn't feel any more insecure than this. Strangely, she wasn't frightened. She figured he only needed some kind of release, seeing that the battle didn't drain all of the energy that the adrenaline built inside his veins.

He no longer had his sais and the blood soaked rag he cleaned them with was deposited in the trash bin. She had to remember to take the trash out soon, she didn't want to give her mother a fright in case she decided to do it.

Kisshu's face was hard. His schooled expression set the impression of blankness, but his mouth was pulled back in a straight line of restraint. His irises, on the other hand, were like molten lava, scorching. The shirt he wore had a gap just above the hem. The hem, which incidentally left his corded stomach bare beneath her gaze. She couldn't help but take an intake of breath. Even through all the smears of blood, the hard muscle stood out, preparing his body for assault. The deep V of his hips duck beneath his pants and Ichigo gulped, her eyes lowering by the second.

There was tension in the room. The water from the shower hit the wall and sprayer the back of her knees. As shaky as they were, the woman had difficulty in keeping herself up and not fall in a melted heap on the floor. With a shove of her foot, she swung the clothes near the laundry basket.

Kisshu straightened and in one swift motion, he pulled the shirt up and over his head. It landed at on the cold tile soundlessly. The red liquid seeped through and coated his chest, too. It slid over his pecs, over his nipples and back to his abdomen, then even more so until they met the brim of his pants and they were greedily sucked into the cotton. He unwrapped the bands from his hair, letting it fall over his ears. It barely touched his shoulders, the tips were tickling the skin at the base of his neck, exactly the place that she wanted to kiss. As if he knew what her intention was, Kish came closer, his attention on her lips. Her teeth gently scraped them, pulling the lower one in to caress with her tongue.

Hot steam stuck on their bodies like a second skin, making Kisshu's glisten and Ichigo's shudder in ecstasy.

When finally, after a long torturous moment of waiting, his palm cupped the side of her throat, a blazing energy seeped through his fingers and into her, filing her with need. Kisshu's eyes lit up and every last bit of self control dissipated when he leaned down and took her lower lip between his own. He replaced her tongue with his own, gently caressing the skin, the contour, and nipping it ever so sweetly.

Ichigo let out a shuddering breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

His body was so close, yet it didn't touch her own, but she could feel him all from head to toe as he towered over her. His other hand snaked around her lower back, pulling her close, so close until they stood locked in a tight embrace.

If heaven exists, this is what it feels like.

Kisshu's nose touched hers as he smirked, before cupping her ass and lifting her, so that he pressed her against the shower wall. Ichigo gasped in pleasure as he pressed himself between her legs, and she knew that if her stopped touching her, she'd die. The woman locked her ankles behind him, pulling him closer into her naked body. His clad erection caused friction and her head fell backwards.

At her moan, Kisshu placed a long, scorching kiss under her chin, then his lips slid over the column of her throat, stopping at the junction between neck and shoulder. The muscle there trembled under his touch, just as her thigh trembled under his searching fingers. He went over her hip, tracing her ribs and teased the underside of her breast.

Ichigo felt every inch of her revel under his touch. She kept her eyelids closed tight over her eyes, until she saw blinding spots of white. Her nails dug into Kish's back, urging him to continue his journey across her surrendering body. He hissed when she pierced the skin of his shoulderblades and his other hand passed over the small triangle of hair between her legs. She moaned and gripped the back of his neck in anticipation, without knowing that she instinctively forced his mouth toward her chest. He licked her nipple, the nipped gently at it, rolling in between his teeth.

"So stubborn, kitten." Kisshu whispered, sending jolts of pleasure through her belly when he finally, slowly cupped her aching mound.

"Kish," she moaned, pulling him even closer, but it was impossible for her to do so, because he suddenly shot his hand out from her breast and pushed against the wall, to gain his balance and keep her at bay.

She groaned when her expectation wasn't met, but he only chuckled, the vibration turning the attention he gave to her breast into sweet torture.

She was aware of each and every finger that circled her center, none of them ever straying from their path to meet her need. He pressed down on the swollen exterior of her lips, and the pressure sent her back into vertigo. His thumb was so close to the spot she wanted so badly touched, that she wanted to scream in frustration. He toyed with her and switched to the other breast, sucking the rosy tip into the heat of his mouth.

The water trickled down on his back, but a few droplets landed on her skin, adding to the torture.

"Look at you," he said reverently, for a moment breaking the contact with her chest. He forced herself to pry her eyes open and stare back at him, and she was met with utter adoration. There was the look she knew from so many years ago, the one of sheer want. A constricted mewling sound came from between her lips and the hand that was on the wall beside her head tangled in her hair, pulling her mouth forcefully to his. His teeth bit into her flesh and she opened her mouth inadvertently, and his tongue plunged inside to meet hers just as soon as one of his fingers eased into her pussy. She submitted to his ministrations, he tasted her, he caressed her, he cradled her in his arms. One moment he was inside her, the other he pulled out, left her wanting for more. She was thrusting towards him with all her might to catch another glimpse of heaven.

He buried his finger deep inside her again, adding to her pleasure as his thumb pressed against her clit. Ichigo felt the tension in her lower belly starting to go up, and she fervently pulled at his hair with both hands.

"Faster." But he kept the slow pace. Instead, he sunk another finger inside of her pussy, stretching her a little bit further.

"Oh yeah, God yes!" He watched her face contort in pleasure and he trailed his hand down to steady her, to keep her from thrusting back. She groaned when she felt that she could no longer respond to him by moving her body, but he chased away the annoyance with a third finger, which stretched her to the point where she felt the first jolt of pain, but he immediately pressed against the nub harder than before, rubbing it. Ichigo no longer knew where she ended and where he began, she only suffered through the pain and pleasure he brought her. His hold on her was adamant and emanated control, which, in any other situation would have been distressing.

The tile behind her was cold, heightening her senses.

Kisshu relished in the tightness of her body, trying to keep himself together and not lay her on her back and bury himself in her delicious little core. It was so hard to concentrate, that he had to bit down on the inside of his cheek until he tasted the metallic liquid. Ichigo was close, he felt her, saw the way she writhed in his hold and whimpered. Damn, she was so beautiful. Her hair plastered to her face, her eyes rolled back into their orbs as she felt the incoming wave of pleasure, her hands pulled at his shoulders pleadingly. The he pressed harder on her clit and she came with a yell of his name.

Her back arched to the max and all she knew was that Kisshu had her in his arms and that he wouldn't let go of her for the sake of dear life. The convulsions of her pussy drove her to the brink of madness, but his hands held her back from jumping. She never felt this kind of intense pleasure in all her life and it was amazing, knowing that she could trust him so much to make her feel like this.

Slowly, she came back. Kish met her with a grin and held her to his chest, still shielding her from the water.

"I love you." With that, she craned her head so that he had a better access to her lips. And he kissed her again, slow and careful, as if she was made of porcelain and would break at any moment.

After all these years, he finally returned to her.