Terrified

Ichigo was walking home with Aoyama, thinking. She was starting to rethink their relationship, especially since he was kind of being a jerk lately. As they were passing an alleyway, Ichigo stopped. "Ichigo, what's wrong?" Aoyama asked.

"Aoyama-kun, I think we should end our relationship," Ichigo said. "I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but I just think it's better this way."

She got scared when Aoyama's face twisted with rage. Then he grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the alley. He threw her to the ground, and pinned her down as he said, "You're mine, and you don't have a choice about it."

Ichigo tried to scream, but Aoyama covered her mouth. This left one of her hands free, and she punched him, trying to get him to let go. "You're going to regret that," he snarled.

Ichigo started struggling, but Aoyama was too strong for her. He smirked, and started to rape her.

Kisshu was out looking for Ichigo again, and couldn't find her anywhere. Finally he decided to try to sense her, and was shocked to see that Aoyama was trying to rape her. Kisshu teleported to the alleyway, and landed, causing Aoyama to look up. Kisshu walked over, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into a wall. "You're going to pay for hurting my kitten," he snarled as he took out his swords. Then he lunged at Aoyama as he got up, and stabbed him straight through the heart. As Aoyama collapsed, Kisshu created an energy ball and incinerated him. Then he let his swords disappear, and turned to Ichigo.

Ichigo was shaking with fear as Kisshu came over. "Koneko-chan, are you okay?" he asked gently. Ichigo shook her head, still scared. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help," Kisshu said softly. He gently took her hand, and teleported to the ship.

Landing in the main room, Kisshu saw Pai was standing there, and he didn't look too thrilled to see Ichigo. "What happened this time?" he asked wearily.

"That stupid treehugger tried to rape Koneko-chan, and I killed him," Kisshu said.

Pai came over and put a hand on Ichigo's forehead. She squeaked, still scared. Pai sighed a minute later and took his hand away. "What's wrong?" Kisshu asked, worried.

"She's traumatized," Pai said. "And it looks like she'll be afraid of being touched for a while. So you really shouldn't hug or kiss her, or really touch her in any way, because she'll panic. I need to talk with you in private, so why don't you show Ichigo where your room is, and then come to my lab."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Come on, Koneko-chan."

Ichigo followed him to his room, and went in. "I have to go talk with Pai, so I'll be back soon," Kisshu told her.

"Okay," Ichigo whispered. "You're coming back, though, right?"

"Of course," Kisshu said. "I'll be back as soon as Pai's done talking, okay?"

Ichigo nodded, and Kisshu teleported to Pai's lab.

Pai was waiting, and Kisshu asked, "So what's up?"

"I sensed something besides the trauma, but I didn't want to tell you in front of Ichigo," Pai said.

"What is it?" Kisshu asked.

"The trauma is activating her cat genes," Pai said. "In other words, since she's so scared, she'll have a really hard time trusting people. As far as I can tell, the only person she'll be comfortable around right now is you, because that's who her cat genes tell her is safe. But if you abuse that, she'll completely shut down, and probably never trust anyone again, including her friends, and maybe even her parents. You're going to have to be really careful with her."

"I won't abuse her or her trust," Kisshu said.

"Good," Pai said. "I guess she'll have to stay here for a while, since you can't exactly live with her, and she might not be comfortable around her parents."

"That's fine," Kisshu said. "What do we do about the Mews, though?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Pai said. "I'm sure we'll be hearing from them soon anyways."

"Alright," Kisshu said. "I'm going back to Ichigo."

"Be careful," Pai said. Kisshu nodded and teleported back to his room.

He found Ichigo curled up on his bed, sleeping. Kisshu went to his closet and pulled out a blanket, then gently spread it over Ichigo. Then he settled down to watch her.

A few hours later, Kisshu was kind of worried. Ichigo hadn't stirred, and she looked unhappy. Just as Kisshu was about to wake her up, someone started banging on the door, and her eyes snapped open as Kisshu called, "Come in!"

Pai came in, and asked, "Are we having dinner soon?"

"THAT was all?" Kisshu asked. "Why didn't you just knock? I thought something was wrong."

"There is going to be something wrong if you don't make something soon, because Taruto's getting impatient, and you know what happens when he gets impatient for food," Pai said dryly.

Kisshu gulped and said, "I'll get right on that."

"Good," Pai said.

Kisshu looked at Ichigo, and asked, "Can I teleport you to the kitchen?"

Ichigo got up and hesitantly came over. Kisshu held out a hand, and Ichigo nervously took it. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," Kisshu said softly. Then he teleported to the kitchen.

When they landed, Kisshu asked, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Noodles?" Ichigo suggested.

"Alright," Kisshu said. "Can I cook some chicken with them?"

"You could make chicken noodle soup," Ichigo said. "I didn't know you could cook."

"Pai thinks I'm better than Cupcake Man," Kisshu said.

"Wow…." Ichigo said.

"I'll start the soup, you can sit down," Kisshu said.

Ichigo went to the table and sat down as Kisshu started cutting up some chicken and vegetables.

Half an hour later, Pai and Taruto were in the kitchen, and Kisshu was done cooking. "Come get some," he said.

Ichigo, Pai and Taruto went over as Kisshu went to sit down with his own bowl of soup, and got themselves some soup.

Ichigo went to sit next to Kisshu, as Pai and Taruto sat on the other side of the table. Then they all started eating. "What's for dessert?" Taruto asked as they were finishing. Pai and Kisshu looked at him with expressions that clearly said, "What do YOU think?"

"I take it I don't get dessert?" Taruto asked grouchily. "Jeez, you two are so uptight."

"You're turning into a drug addict," Pai said. "One sugar high per week is more than enough."

"And you might scare Koneko-chan," Kisshu added.

"And here I thought you couldn't get any more overprotective," Taruto sighed. "What is it with you?"

"If you weren't in denial about loving Pudding, you'd get it," Kisshu said. "If you love someone, you protect them. Although we all need protection when you're on sugar high. So no more sugar highs, or you'll have to go live on Earth- far away from us."

"Mmph," Taruto said grouchily. "Tickle."

Kisshu squeaked and teleported. Pai groaned. "Taruto, you just earned doing dishes all by yourself, while Ichigo and I try to coax Kisshu out from under his bed," he said. He looked at Ichigo and said, "Come on." He held out a hand, but Ichigo squeaked and backed up.

"Why don't you just show her where it is?" Taruto suggested. "You could use the exercise."

"You'll be going down later," Pai said. "Ichigo, do you want me to show you how to get to Kisshu's room?"

Ichigo nodded, and followed Pai a bit hesitantly down the hall. He stopped at a door, and tried the doorknob, which turned out to be open. They heard a squeak from under the bed as they went in, and Pai sighed. "I'm not Taruto, and if he tickles you, he'll be going down harder than he is already."

Kisshu teleported on top of the bed with a sigh. "Why are you afraid of being tickled?" Ichigo asked.

"It will cause me to stop breathing," Kisshu said. He watched Pai teleport out, then asked, "So why is Taruto going down?"

"He told Pai he needed more exercise," Ichigo said.

Kisshu laughed. "He spends all day sitting in his lab, that's probably true," he said. He noticed Ichigo was looking tired, and asked, "Tired?"

"Yeah…" Ichigo said.

"You can either sleep on the sofa or sleep with me in the bed," Kisshu said.

"I'll take the sofa," Ichigo said. "Um… do you have any stuffed animals?"

"I've got a few; Pai uses them to keep me from telling Lettuce all his dirty little secrets," Kisshu said. He got up and went to the closet, then pulled out a stuffed black cat and handed it to Ichigo.

"Kawaii!" she said. "Thanks Kisshu!"

Kisshu smiled. "You're welcome," he said.

Ichigo went over to the sofa, and Kisshu went over with a blanket. He handed it to her, and she sleepily curled up under it. Soon she was asleep, and Kisshu was about to smooth her hair back, when he remembered Pai's warning about touching Ichigo. Sighing slightly, he went over to his bed, and climbed under the covers. It took him a while, but he finally got to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up, and looked over at Ichigo. She was still asleep, and Kisshu decided it was better to let her sleep in. He quietly gathered up clean clothes, and went to take a shower.

When he got out, he got dressed and put his hairties in, then left the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door, he heard banging on the door. Sighing, he yanked it open, and saw Pai. "Let me guess, the Mews noticed Ichigo was missing, and found some way of getting here," Kisshu said.

"Yup," Pai said. "I told them I'd see if she's awake."

"Did you tell them what happened?" Kisshu asked.

"No…" Pai said.

Kisshu sighed and went over to Ichigo, who was still sleeping, and tapped her forehead gently. She woke up immediately, and looked scared. "Koneko-chan, your teammates are here, and they want to see you," Kisshu said.

"O-okay…." Ichigo said.

"I'll be there," Kisshu said softly. "Can you get up?"

Ichigo got up, and hesitantly took Kisshu's outstretched hand. He teleported her to the main room, where they saw the Mews, Ryou, and Pai waiting. Kisshu sighed, letting go of Ichigo's hand gently. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"We're here to get Ichigo back," Ryou said.

Ichigo squeaked and backed up, moving behind Kisshu. "What did you do to her?" Ryou snarled.

"The treehugger tried to rape her, and I saved her," Kisshu said. "Pai would be better at explaining the rest."

"Is that why Aoyama disappeared?" Lettuce asked.

"Yeah, I killed him for trying to rape Ichigo," Kisshu said.

"And I suppose there's some reason why Ichigo's attached to you?" Ryou asked disgruntledly.

"From what I can tell, her cat genes are telling her that Kisshu is the only person who's safe for her to be around," Pai said. "It's probably because he saved her, but I can't say that for sure. The point is, she won't be comfortable around anyone besides Kisshu for a while, and it's probably going to be even longer before she'll go near YOU."

Ryou looked like he was steaming, and Lettuce said, "Pai's right, Ryou. You spent so much time harassing her and being mean to her it's unlikely she'll EVER trust you again, even if she did before."

"What makes you say that?" Ryou asked.

"Technically your type of harassment falls under the category of sexual harassment, and I think that's enough to make her believe you might rape her too," Lettuce said. "I wouldn't put it past you, either."

Ichigo squeaked, and Lettuce sighed. "I didn't mean to scare you," she said. "We'll keep Ryou away from you guys until Ichigo's comfortable around more people than just Kisshu. Can Pudding and I visit?"

"That's a good idea," Pai said. "Then Ichigo can get used to more people than just me and Taruto."

"Koneko-chan, is that okay?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo nodded, but she looked a bit nervous. "What's wrong?" Kisshu asked.

"Blondie's glaring at us…." Ichigo said. "I don't want him around. Can he go away?"

"Pudding thinks we should put him in a box and mail him to a mental institution," Pudding said.

"Not a bad idea," Kisshu said, snickering.

"If I stay away from Ichigo, will you leave me alone?" Ryou asked.

"We'll consider it," Zakuro said. "If you don't leave her and the Cyniclons alone, we'll have problems- got it?"

"Got it," Ryou said meekly.

"Good," Zakuro said. "Let's go back. Lettuce, Pudding, are you staying?"

"Pudding has to feed her siblings, na no da," Pudding said.

"I'll stay, if it's okay," Lettuce said.

"Sure," Pai said.

Zakuro nodded, and Mint opened up another portal. Then she, Zakuro, Pudding, and Ryou left. Lettuce sighed. "I hope Zakuro-san can keep Ryou under control," she said.

Ichigo hesitantly came out from behind Kisshu, still looking nervous. "I'm not going to hurt you," Lettuce said softly. "I just want to help." She looked thoughtful, then asked, "Can I stay for a while? Maybe it'll be good for you to have another girl around, instead of all boys."

"What will you tell your parents?" Pai asked.

"That I'm staying with Ichigo to try to help her get over almost being raped," Lettuce said. "I'll tell them they should contact my cell phone if they need something. I won't even have to lie."

"Koneko-chan, is that okay?" Kisshu asked gently.

"Yes…." Ichigo said softly.

"Alright," Pai said. "Why don't you call your family, Lettuce?"

"Okay," Lettuce said. She took out her cell phone, and dialed her home number. When she got a response, she said, "Hi Mom, I'm going to be staying at Ichigo's for a while, alright?" She got another response, and said, "Aoyama nearly raped her, and I'm staying with her and the guy who saved her, since her parents are out again. I figured it's better for her to have female company. Contact my cell phone if you need me, 'kay? Great, thanks. I don't know when I'll be back. Yes, I'll call. Thanks, bye." She hung up, and said, "All set."

"Do they know?" Pai asked.

"No," Lettuce sighed. "I wish I could tell them, but I'm still not sure whether or not to do so."

"You should think about how much you trust them, and then decide," Pai said.

Lettuce smiled and said, "I'll do that."

Kisshu smirked and asked Ichigo, "Should we go back to my room?"

"I'm hungry, can we go to the kitchen instead?" Ichigo asked.

"Sure," Kisshu said. He held out a hand, and Ichigo took it a bit less hesitantly. Kisshu teleported to the kitchen, and asked, "What do you want?"

"Can we just have cereal? It's still basically morning," Ichigo said, as Pai teleported in with Lettuce.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "We don't have much besides Frosted Mini Wheats, though."

"That's my favorite," Ichigo said. "I don't like milk, though."

"That's fine," Kisshu said. He went and got the cereal, and two bowls. Then he poured some for both of them, and got out spoons. He set one in front of Ichigo, and set one down for himself. Then he said, "Pai, if you're having your usual, Lettuce has to make it. I don't want you to set the toaster on fire like the last time."

"Mmph," Pai said.

"Pai, how'd you set the toaster on fire?" Lettuce asked.

"He gave it the evil eye for not toasting fast enough, and it went up in flames," Kisshu said. "Pai's the kitchen's worst nightmare."

"Do you have a new toaster?" Lettuce asked.

"Yes, but Pai's not allowed to touch it, so I'd suggest that you both have toast, and then the smoke alarm won't go off," Kisshu said.

"Where's the bread?" Lettuce asked.

"I'll get it," Pai said. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a loaf of rye bread, then handed it to Lettuce. She put some in the toaster as Pai got out plates and butter. "We're out of jam," he said.

"Oh well," Lettuce said.

Ichigo and Kisshu were finishing breakfast as Pai and Lettuce sat down, and Kisshu asked, "Koneko-chan, what do you want to do now?"

"Cuddle with the cat you gave me," Ichigo said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kisshu asked.

"Get another cat to cuddle?" Ichigo suggested. "Or you could read something."

"I can't cuddle you?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo looked a bit nervous, and Kisshu said, "I guess not. I found a nice book yesterday; I guess I'll read that while you're cuddling the cat." He held out a hand, and Ichigo took it. He teleported to their room, and let go of Ichigo. She smiled at him and ran over to the sofa, then picked up the stuffed cat and hugged it. Kisshu closed the door, and Ichigo looked up as he locked it. Noticing this, Kisshu said, "The 'nice book' is really Pai's diary. So I have to lock him out."

Ichigo giggled. "You stole Pai's diary?" she asked. "That's funny."

"Should we read it together?" Kisshu asked.

"Okay," Ichigo said. She came over and sat down with Kisshu, and he opened up the diary.

"The first pages are pretty boring, so I'll start where I left off, 'kay?" Kisshu said.

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Are you reading aloud?"

Kisshu snapped his fingers, and said, "Now I am. I just soundproofed the room."

"Great!" Ichigo said. Kisshu smirked and started to read a page.

"Journal Entry #6," Kisshu read out. "I originally thought that Kisshu was wrong; there was no way any human could possibly be good. They've polluted Earth beyond belief, and the way they act towards others not like them sickens me. I'm still not sure why Kisshu has such strong feelings for Mew Ichigo; she may be the most powerful, but I don't really see anything else that would make Kisshu like her. But then again, I'm not Kisshu. Thank goodness for that; he's completely insane, and if it wasn't for his talent, he wouldn't be very smart either."

Here Kisshu paused, and said, "I think Pai will be going down later…"

"What did he mean by your talent?" Ichigo asked.

"My talent is heightened perception," Kisshu said. "I can tell what people are going to say almost before they know themselves. It comes in handy when I'm dealing with people I don't trust."

"Wow…." Ichigo said. "Can we keep reading?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. He turned the page and read out loud, "I know Kisshu's feelings for Mew Ichigo, and Taruto's feelings for Mew Pudding, despite the fact that Taruto's in complete denial. But I'm still confused. Every time I look at Mew Lettuce, I get this weird feeling- as if I'm in a daze or something. I've seen how compassionate she is towards others; even, in some degree, towards us. She actually asked me why we can't just get along. Could the feeling I get when I'm near her mean I have feelings for her? I'm so confused…

"That's the end of that one," Kisshu said. "The next one is hilarious."

"'Kay!" Ichigo said happily.

Kisshu smiled and started reading again. "In one of my night trips to the center of Tokyo, I discovered something called a 'toy store'. Upon going inside, I discovered that humans have a wide arrange of toys and stuffed animals. I've always had a liking for stuffed animals; not that I would admit as much. Kisshu and Taruto would never let me here the end of it. Anyways, I took some of the stuffed animals and left. I hid them in my room, but I might go back for more; they're very comforting- especially after today. I seriously don't understand why it's MY fault the toaster oven blew up; what if it was defective? But NO, Kisshu and Taruto just had to ban me from the kitchen for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! Seriously, they're lucky I had my stuffed animals, or they'd be roadkill."

By this point, Ichigo was laughing pretty hard, and after he stopped reading, Kisshu fell backwards laughing.

They didn't calm down for a while, but when they did, it was only because someone was banging on the door. Kisshu quickly hid the diary, and went to unlock the door. He found Pai outside, and said, "Hi Pai, what's up?"

"I can't find my journal," Pai said. "You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"

"No, I haven't seen it," Kisshu said innocently.

"Then what was with the maniacal laughter in here?" Pai asked.

"Damn," Kisshu muttered. "I thought I soundproofed the room!"

"Give. Me. My. Journal." Pai said icily.

"Aww… I didn't get to the page where you say, "It's official, I'm in love with Mew Lettuce," Kisshu said, smirking. "I was reading aloud to Koneko-chan."

Pai's face went the color of his hair, and he grabbed Kisshu by the throat, then teleported as Ichigo cried, "Kisshu!"

A few minutes later, Lettuce came running in. "Ichigo, what happened?" she asked worriedly.

"Pai grabbed Kisshu by the throat and teleported somewhere!" Ichigo wailed, and started crying.

"Do you want to go find them?" Lettuce asked.

"Okay…." Ichigo said sadly. She got up, and followed Lettuce out of the room.

"Let's try the training room," Lettuce said gently. Ichigo followed her down the hall.

Meanwhile, Pai was trying to catch Kisshu, without success. "Jeez, Taruto was right," Kisshu snickered. "You do need more exercise."

Pai snarled and teleported directly in front of Kisshu, causing him to have to skid to a stop. Pai used this to grab Kisshu by the throat and start strangling him.

This was about when Lettuce and Ichigo walked in, and Ichigo started crying again when she saw Pai strangling Kisshu. Lettuce sighed, went over to Pai, and pulled his hands off Kisshu's throat, saying, "Did you have to? Ichigo's never going to calm down NOW."

"Uh… sorry?" Pai said.

Kisshu, meanwhile, had gotten his breath back, and went over to Ichigo, who was crying. He was surprised when she threw herself at him, but he gently hugged her back. "I'm fine," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ichigo asked worriedly, not taking her face out of his shoulder.

"Yup," Kisshu said.

Ichigo looked at him, and he smiled at her. "Should we go back to my room while Lettuce and Pai kiss?" Kisshu asked.

"Okay," Ichigo said. Kisshu took her hand and teleported to his room. They landed on the bed, and Ichigo curled up sleepily. Kisshu noticed she was half-asleep, and gently pulled the covers over her. Then he slid in next to her. She cuddled against him, slipping her arms around his waist, and fell asleep purring softly. Kisshu smiled and closed his eyes, her purring putting him to sleep.

I hate to say this, but Arrested isn't coming along very well, so please don't expect an update in the next few days. I won't be continuing this story either, but I hope you'll all still review. I NEED reviews!