A/N: it all comes down to this. i'm listening to Blue October and ready to finish this thing. i just hope i ended it to your satisfaction, although it feels a tad weak even to me. i apologize to you if it does, but i somehow wasn't sure how else to do it.
THANK YOU SO FRIGGIN' MUCH FOR 10,000 PLUS HITS!! THAT'S INSANE! I LOVE YOU ALL! and the 35 favs and 33 alerts? FANTASTIC. thanks for all your support. it's been fun, kiddies!
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Bittersweet Strawberry Blood
Chapter 29
"Conclusive Phenomenon"
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It was a miracle, really. In all of God's green Earth, who would've thought that Ichigo could stand so strong as she watched Kisshu lay in a coma of sorts for 5 hours straight? The only thing keeping her going, it seemed, was caffeinated tea with extra sugar. And hope. Hope was definitely the other thing keeping her going.
She nodded off to sleep some time around 1:40 or so. Her mug (empty) was still in her hands as Pai came in with Lettuce to drape a blanket over her shoulders. Her parents had come and gone, being explained to about half of what they could be told. They were told that Kisshu had been in the accident and needed to undergo surgery and that Ichigo's presence could help him heal. The truth is known to you, but it's not something Ichigo's parents could ever understand. Or allow. What would her father think? Or her mother, for that matter? That this boy before them used to be a vampire, and may return to such a state if not given blood through his veins? That's most certainly not something they could wrap their minds around.
Lettuce's airy, high-pitched voice squeaked as she dared not to cry when she sat next to Ichigo. "Have you ever done this in the past, Pai-sensei?" she asks, not daring to look at him.
"Do what? A full-body blood transfusion? Or do you mean making a kyuuketsuki human again?"
"I meant the latter."
Pai blows air his mouth, his teeth licking the tips of his canine teeth briefly in a nervous manner. "No. Technically (since it has never been needed to be done before), I haven't given someone a full-body blood transfusion, either. Call me inexperienced if you wish, but being alive for as many years as I have doesn't automatically make me all-knowing. I know a lot, mainly basic facts and data, but I don't know everything. No one possibly can. And they certainly can't experience everything firsthand."
He hadn't noticed he said so much until he finished speaking. Nor had he noticed how Lettuce's hand had stayed – overly warm to him – on his forearm. He did notice, however, how delicious she smelled, and how lovely her dark blue orbs behind those round glasses looked.
Pai also didn't notice how long he had been staring at the younger girl until she blushed and glanced away, removing her hand. He suddenly missed the warmth. "Well then," she says softly, trying not to stutter (she felt very shaky). "You better check on how Kisshu-san is doing."
"Right." Pai nods, standing and walking around Lettuce and Ichigo (who began snoring lightly) to his 'brother'. The heart monitor seemed functional and normal… wait, normal? Not vampiric or dead? "He's… he's cured!"
"Nani?!" Lettuce gasps out and stands, promptly waking Ichigo with her movements.
"Eh? What's going on?" Ichigo yawns. She glances around at the shocked (Lettuce) and cheerful (Pai, for once) faces above her. Slowly, she stands. "Is… is he okay?"
Pai grins, bloody tears beginning to fall. "I think so. I really think so."
Lettuce grimaces at the crimson streaks running down Pai's face, but is happy nonetheless. "We did it, Ichigo-san; we helped save your kare's life," she murmurs softly.
Ichigo's own tears fell from her chocolate eyes, and she ran to bury her face in Kisshu's sleeping chest. She sobbed gently and listened ever-so-carefully to his rising and falling lungs, and most importantly, his steady heartbeat. The rush of his new blood in his veins after Kami knows how many hours of transplanting made her feel comforted and glad. He would live. Kisshu would live life at a human pace and with her, and everything was going to be fine, just fine. Aoyama may be dead, and school will never be the same, but it was going to beokay. And that was enough.
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As soon as they heard the news the next day, Pudding and Tart rushed to the hospital to see their friends. Even Minto and Zakuro came, albeit later in the day.
"Is Kisshu-oniichan alright?!" Pudding exclaimed. She looked over at Ichigo. "What about you, Ichigo-oneechan? Daijoubu?"
"I'm fine, Pudding," Ichigo smiles sweetly. She drags the younger blonde girl into a hug. "Everything's just fine."
"Ichigo-oneechan," Pudding whispers deviously in her ear. "Taru-Taru is a vampire!"
"I know," Ichigo whispers back. "Pai-sensei, too. And Kisshu used to be, but Pai-sensei made him human again."
"Wow! Is that really possible?" Pudding replies a bit too loudly. Ichigo merely smiles, her head nodding. "Cool!" She leans in. "Does Lettuce- and Mint- and Zakuro-nee know?"
"Only Lettuce," Ichigo informs her. "So keep it a secret, 'kay?"
"Hai, na no da!" Suddenly, the chipper blonde turns to Pai. "Thank you for healing Kisshu-nii and making Taru-Taru happy," she salutes.
The purple-haired man smiles faintly. "Anytime."
"Yeah, Pai… thanks," Taruto whispers. He refused to cry. But he will allow himself to go bug the comatose patient. "Oi, Kish, get your lazy ass up! Everyone's waiting for you!" he barks, his voice wavering. I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry…
Steadily, as if to tease, Kisshu's heart rate speeds up and his brain patterns follow. His heavy eyelids open. "Neh…?"
"Kisshu!"
"Kish!"
"Onii-san!"
"Welcome back."
"Koi…" Ichigo mutters, her voice being the sole one to really process in the green-haired boy's mind. Did she just call him 'love'? Before he had time to ask what she had really said, he feels thin, warm arms encase his body. "Oh, Kisshu, you better not scare me like that again!" his kitten cries. He feels warm wetness starting to seep into the fibers of his hospital gown.
He brings up a hand to stroke her messy raspberry locks. "I promise I won't." Suddenly, he frowns. He pushes her away far enough to look her in the face. "He kissed you." He states flatly.
She blinks once or twice. After a pause (and confused looks on everyone else's faces) she says, "Oh! You mean Aoyama! Y-yeah, he kinda did, b-but…"
"Only I can kiss you." He states, even flatter this time around (if that's possible!).
"Kish…"
He shrugs, waving it aside. "Whatever. I have you now, and that's all that matters."
"No, baka," she smiles. "I have you now, and that's all that matters." And with that, she planted a firm kiss on his lips.
Although, being the guy his is, Kisshu couldn't help but deepen the kiss by licking at her lips and worming his tongue inside.
That's when everyone else decided to take their leave, exiting via hospital ward door.
It was the first of many such occasions, and hopefully up until their wedding day. But who knows? Sometimes high school romances never last because they lose their luster. Although, with someone as passionate as Kisshu, it can be assured such a thing will never happen.
As for Pudding and Taruto? Well, they're building up the blocks to more than friendship.
Sure, in the weeks and months that followed, the high school was wrecked with grief by Aoyama's death, since he was a star athlete and such. But you know, life moves on. Like how strawberries grow to their fullest and ripest, there comes a time when they need to be picked and passed on. No mater how bittersweet the death, birth, relationship, or flavor, that's life.
And, like Lettuce and Pai, you just have to take it one step at a time.
So I suppose you could say things came together nicely…
…Despite the bittersweet, bloody circumstances.
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OWARI.