I Belong To You: A Kisshu And Ichigo Love Story

Chapter 5: Welcome Back To Earth

Ichigo stared. She could barely believe her eyes. There he was...Kisshu. And even though he was mostly the same, there were certain things about him that made him remarkably different...even...could it be?

His greenish hair was mostly styled the same, except a little longer, and she noticed a distinctive amount of new muscle in his shoulders, his chest and...well, everywhere, for the most part. He was a little taller, his face a little older. His eyes were the same though - still clever, still laughing.

Could it be...? He looked - no, he was - remarkably, surprisingly, unbearably handsome. How had this happened?

Everyone was staring at her. But as she opened her mouth to speak, the air around Kisshu wavered, and six other aliens teleported around him. Among them, she saw Pie and Tart, who both looked older as well. Tart was especially different - he'd grown a few inches taller.

"TARU-TARU!" Pudding squealed, clasping her hands together.

"Pie," Lettuce whispered, her eyes shining.

Tart tried not to look too excited. "Pudding-san. It's been a long time-"

"TARU-TARU!" With a leap that defied gravity, Pudding soared into the air and tackled Tart.

"Gah! Hey, leggo!" Tart said, squirming in midair as Pudding clung to his neck.

"I MISSED you, Taru-Taru!" she said happily. "Did you miss me too?"

Tart struggled for a moment longer, but as Pudding's big, bright, endearing eyes stared into his, he gulped and, hanging his head a little, gave up the act and said, "Yeah. I guess so."

"Let's play, Taru-Taru!"

"Don't call me Taru-Taru," Tart muttered as he started toward the ground, with Pudding climbing around his shoulders like a monkey. The rest of the aliens followed him. Ichigo noticed that Kisshu hadn't stopped looking at her.

As they reached ground level, Kisshu started toward her, but before he could, someone reached out from behind him and grabbed his forearm.

"Wait, Kisshu-sensei. What if these aren't the real Mews?"

Kisshu looked around. Ichigo saw one of the aliens step forward. She almost gasped out loud. Standing there was an incredibly striking, beautiful female alien. Her dark hair was tied up in a long ponytail with two low tails draped over her shoulders. She wore an outfit similar to Pie's, and her liquid gold eyes were turning toward Ichigo and...

Ichigo was shocked. The girl was looking at her with nothing but full loathing. As if Ichigo was a disgusting insect she wanted to step on.

Kisshu pulled his arm away from the beautiful alien girl, and said to her, "Of course they're the real Mews, Parfait. Why wouldn't they be?"

The alien girl named Parfait said - rather sourly, in Ichigo's opinion - , "Because our enemies are skilled at body manipulation - they are probably able to disguise themselves as humans."

Kisshu said, "Believe me, these are the real Mews. I fought this same lovely kitty-cat and her friends many times before, haven't I?" With these last words, Kisshu turned his eyes onto Ichigo again, grinning.

To cover her embarrassment, she crossed her arms and scowled. "Hmph. And we kicked your butt every time too."

"That's right," Mint echoed.

Kisshu started to laugh. "Ah, but don't forget, we got what we wanted in the end - our planet has become the most coveted in the galaxy."

"It's our leaders that have kept it safe," Parfait added, glancing deliberately at Kisshu. "With them gone, we're putting our families and friends at great risk." She glared pointedly at Ichigo, as if she'd purposely called them down so that their planet would be vulnerable. Ichigo couldn't understand what the girl had against her - she hadn't even said a word to her yet.