Ichigo y Sakura Part 2

Ichigo looked closer at the girl working behind the counter, “Kiyoshi?” asked Ichigo.
            “Ichigo! Hey!” Kiyoshi, a student from Ichigo’s soccer team exclaimed. She had medium length black hair with a dark skin tone and brilliant green eyes. And although she had a petite frame, she was an excellent soccer player.
            “I didn’t know that you worked here,” Ichigo asked.
            “Yeah. We have practice tomorrow by the way. Coach forgot to tell you before you left. You’re on a double date with Masaya?” she asked Ichigo, looking at her company now.
            “Indeed, we are in fact on a date,” Masaya supportively said, lightly putting his arm around Ichigo’s shoulders.
            “That’s wonderful. Good luck. Here are your tickets, see ya later!” Kiyoshi waved at their retreating figures, and turned to the next person in line.
            As soon as they were out of sight range, Masaya dropped his arm, “Sorry if I offended you by that, but she looked like she was about to either pulverize you or congradulate you,” he defended.
            “Oh, I didn’t mind at all….thank you….but that’s what happens when you go on a date with the most wanted guy in school,” Ichigo said the last bit quietly, but Masaya apparently heard it and laughed easily.
            “They seem to be having fun,” smiled Sakura talking to Kyo from behind Ichigo and Masaya.
            “Yeah, I know. Masaya seems to at ease and relaxed, it’s great to watch. They’re quite a couple, aren’t they?” Kyo asked.
            “Uh huh…..” Sakura answered.
            “You know, that blush on your cheeks merely seeks to increase how cute you look tonight,” Kyo complimented suddenly.
            “Oh….thank you kindly. That’s very kind of you to say,” Sakura blushed.
            “Anytime,” Kyo replied, then there was an awkward silence that followed them all the way into the actual movie room. They managed to snag the 4 square-in-the-middle seats, which were perfect for the movie.
            “I’ll get the snacks if we want any,” Ichigo announced, standing up to look at everyone.
            “Okay, if you insist. How about if you buy two big drinks, and one large popcorn. We’ll share one drink, and you two share the other, k?” Kyo suggested.
            “Okay, sure, sounds great. I’ll be right back with your order,” Ichigo winked, walking off.
*Meanwhile….*
            Kagura dragged poor unsuspecting Amaya into the book store and told her to sit down in a chair by the outside window while she fished for a good book to read, since she’d run out of books at home.
            Amaya pulled out “Dark Fire” and began reading it to pass the time, knowing how long it might take Kagura to find a decent amount of good books to read.
            After a few minutes, someone sat down across from Amaya, but she didn’t bother looking up, since the person was of no relevant importance. “Is that a good book?” the guy asked. Amaya looked up to, about to tell the nuisance to bug off, when she saw who it was. She gasped and almost bolted, trying to hide. Motoharu Otsuda was looking at her silently, holding a closed book in one hand.
            “Yes, actually. It’s a romance series, one of my favorites in the world. These are my aunt’s books,” she stated, actually wishing for all the world that she could have picked up a smart people’s book like ‘bioethics’ or ‘politics in today’s world’. Not that any of it would make sense, but at least she’d LOOK really smart.
            “I didn’t know that you read romance novels. I’ll admit that they are entertaining in and of themselves every now and again, and I enjoy reading them for variety in what I do read. However, I’ve never actually found any really good ones that I liked very much. May I take a look at yours?” he asked, extending a hand.
“Wah…oh, of course, here,” Amaya handed Motoharu the book, self-consciously. He was going to think she was like, into pornography or something because of all the sex scenes in the book. She wanted to die right there.
            Motoharu read the back cover, then looked at the front, “Hmmmm, truly the epitome of a romance novel it is. It most likely has sex in it, but that is tolerable if the plot is enjoyable. I suppose I COULD try it sometime,” Motoharu wondered briefly, then handed the book back to Amaya. “I’m sorry, I forgot my manners. I am Motoharu Otsuda. I believe we attend the same school?” he asked.
            “Yes, we do. My name is Amaya Shihara. In fact, we have p.e. class together,” she informed him.
            “Oh yes, now I remember you. You’re the one with a bit of a temper and attitude in class, who’s always threatening or yelling. You should know that you are quite entertaining to watch now and then in the way you interact with everyone else, besides your friends,” Motoharu speculated.
            “Really? I’m THAT noticeable?” Amaya asked, more concerned with the fact that he HAD noticed her.
            “Yes, quite.”
            “Alright Amaya, I found an awesome book!” Kagura walked up, then stared. Amaya was not sitting very near Motoharu Otsuda. She smirked when she heard his thoughts about Amaya.
            “Well, it was nice to meet you Ms. Shihara. I’ll see you in school tomorrow then,” he smiled warmly, then took his leave.
            “Hey, Amaya, can I tell you something?” Kagura sat next to Amaya, who was staring after Motoharu wistfully. “Amaya, no matter how graceful or how hot he is, I want to tell you what I learned from him. It’s vitally important,” Kagura shook Amaya.
            “What is it?” she asked, finally looking at Kagura.
            “He really likes you. He thinks you’re cute, unique, and he loves you attitude as well. Plus, he’s going to read the Dark series to see if he can learn anything about you from reading them,” Kagura gushed.
            “Are you SERIOUS??!! OH MY GOSH!!!” Amaya shrieked, receiving a glare from the librarian.
            “Yes, but I think we’d better go, so we can actually TALK about this, come on. And, we’ll have to tell the other two about what happened, in exchange for THEIR dating story. I can’t wait,” Kagura’s eyes gleamed at the thought.
*Sakura and Ichigo*
            “Well, that movie was SO cool! I mean, could you believe it?” asked Ichigo, excited, and currently distracted from acting perfect by her amazement of the movie.
            “Yes, it was very good wasn’t it?” Masaya asked.
            “Uh huh….” She regained her composure.
            “Why do you do that?” Masaya suddenly asked.
            “Do what?” Ichigo inquired, completely puzzled. What could she have POSSIBLE done wrong?
            “Well, you’re so….careful all the time, except those rare times, when you just burst out, like you did a moment ago, and then you go back to being cautious once you realize what happened,” Masaya asked, obviously not missing her sudden change.
            Ichigo blushed, “Oh? I do that? I didn’t know…..” she lamely said, trying to drop the subject. Since she didn’t feel comfortable with it, Masaya let her go…but he DID wonder.
            “Well, I thought it was good. The graphics and the whole plot in general was quite excellent. What did you think Sakura?” Kyo asked Sakura directly.
            “Oh….I enjoyed it very much. Maybe not as enthusiastically as Ichigo, but then again, I don’t usually watch action movies,” she admitted shyly.
            “Really? I didn’t know that,” Kyo muttered quietly.
            “Well, anyway, what should we do now? Go home?” Ichigo asked, curious.
            “It is late, we’ll take you home,” Masaya muttered.
            “Oh….um….you can just drop me off at Sakura’s. My mom will pick me up later,” Ichigo hedged.
            “Okay, sure,” Kyo answered, and so they walked to Sakura’s house. After the guy’s left, Sakura turned to Ichigo.
            “Ichigo…how come you didn’t tell him?” she asked.
            “What kind of freak would he think I was if he knew? If he knew that my father murdered my mother and threatens my life every day with beatings? What would he think? He’d think I was weak for not doing something about it…but I’m too scared to,” Ichigo said horrified.
            “You should leave Ichigo. You can come live with me,” Sakura urged futilely, knowing the response.
            “I can’t…..my mother tried to run away, and he hunted her down and killed her, then made sure no one found out. The police never found out. And then….if I left, he’d kill me, then you, for helping me escape. I can’t risk it at any cost. Hey, at least you know what? With my sports, I can say that’s where I keep getting hurt, or beat up. Sports CAN be brutal after all,” Ichigo smiled.
            “Well…be careful. I would do something, but, I’ve sworn to not say anything, or do anything. Hurry, he’ll be mad,” Sakura hugged Ichigo.
            “I know. Bye, see ya tomorrow,” Ichigo waved and left hurrying home as fast as possible. But it was already too late, and she knew it.
*Ichigo’s house*
            “I’m home!” Ichigo announced, opening the door of the shabby hut. Her father sat drinking beer, watching t.v.
            “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” her father turned to look at her, and then stood up.
            “I was out with my friends at a movie, and it ended later than I expected. I’m so very sorry,” Ichigo explained.
            “Whatever, go clean the dishes. And I don’t want ONE spot on them, you got that? Then clean up this wreaking house, I’m having a few friends over in two days, and I want to look clean. Get to work,” he ordered, sitting down once again.
            “Yes sir,” Ichigo bowed and walked into the little kitchen. The only thing that was even close to dirty were the dishes and the empty beer cans, for she had cleaned the kitchen yesterday.
            She dutifully washed every dish as spotless as she could get it, then also straightened up and briefly cleaned the rest of the kitchen. She moved on to the bathroom, which smelled rank. Wrapping a hankerchief over her mouth, she scrubbed every surface squeaky clean.
            “I’m done,” she finally reported to her father.
            “No, you’re not, you still have the living room to finish,” he said through a swig of beer.
            “But dad, I still have my homework to finish,” she protested, instantly regretting it. He turned dangerously to her, a hard glint in his eye.
            “You refuse to do what I tell you? Do you know what happens when you disobey me?” he menacingly stood up and walked over to where Ichigo stood straight and tall. He punched her in the face….hard, causing her to bleed. Then kicked her in the stomach, and she hit the wall hard.
            “Let that be a lesson. Now, clean the living room. I’m going to bed, and I expect it clean in the morning when I wake up. If I find one thing out of place, then when you get home, it’ll be time for another beating. Got it?” he threatened.
            “Yes sir,” Ichigo answered, bowing once again. He left the dirty living room, and hustled to his bed, where he was soon snoring. Ichigo sighed heavily, thankful that he was finally asleep. Her face burned, and her stomach was going to be sore, but she cleaned the living room spotless, out of fear, and THEN did all of her homework.
*The morning*
            Ichigo crawled out of bed at the crack of dawn and got dressed for tennis practice. Her face was red and a little bloated, but she had a cover story. At least she could still hit and run. She ran swiftly to school and got there just as practice began.
            Sakura saw her, and went over to her, “What happened?” she asked, having her suspicions.
            “This? Oh, I fell while I was walking home last night, and hit a rock hard. I’m fine, it’s just a little sore,” Ichigo smiled at her, indicating ‘I’m such a dipstick for falling.’
            “Okay girls, let’s get started…oh my Ichigo, what happened?” the coach asked. So Ichigo told her the same story.
            “Oh, well, please be more careful next time. Very well, let’s begin.”
*After practice*
           
            Ichigo ran as fast as she could, her muscles sore from the training, and her stomach and face sore from last night. She got there just as kendo training ended, breathing hard.
            “Ugh…..ouch,” she muttered, trying to jump, as she usually did.
            “Ichigo, what’s wrong? Not so energetic? Whoa, what happened to your cheek?” Amaya walked, up, then asked.
            “Oh, I was a clumsy dipstick and stumbled on my way home from the movie last night, and I hit a rock pretty hard. Luckily it didn’t cut my skin,” she grinned, letting the lie flow freely.
            “Phew, thank goodness, I was worried you’d gotten in a fight or something,” Kagura walked up, having heard the whole conversation. Amaya and Kagura didn’t know about Ichigo’s family at all.
            “You silly….WHAT??” Kagura practically shrieked, and stared in horror at Ichigo. ‘Crap! I forgot she can read minds’ thought Ichigo.
“What? What’s wrong?” Amaya asked. Kagura merely glared at Ichigo longer.
            “How come you didn’t tell us? We’re your friends,” Kagura demanded angrily.
            “What the hell is going on you two? Tell me!” Amaya shouted at Ichigo and Kagura, who were staring at each other; Ichigo cautiously, and Kagura angrily.
            “What’s going on here?” Masaya asked, suddenly appearing.
            “Oh, Masaya, good morning!” Ichigo smiled, waving, distracting Kagura momentarily.
            “Good morning. Ichigo, what happened to your cheek?” he asked, his thumb caressing it carefully. Ichigo still winced.
            “Oh, I’m was an idiot and tripped on my way home last night, and fell on a rock surface pretty hard. Luckily it didn’t cut my cheek,” she grinned.
            “Really? I thought you said your mom was going to pick you up,” Masaya inquired.
            “Oh, she had to work, so I just walked home. Don’t worry, I’ll be more careful next time, k?” she asked smiling widely.
            “Okay, as long as your careful. I wouldn’t want to lose you just as we’re becoming better and closer friends,” he said.
            “Yeah, I promise, I’ll be more careful. We’d better go to class,” she snagged the opportunity to not face Kagura, and walked with Masaya to class. Kagura was no doubt telling Amaya whatever it was she’d glimpsed in Ichigo’s head.
            When they got to class, Kagura and Amaya headed over to Sakura and got the truth out of her, and why Ichigo was keeping quiet. They were upset, but they understood, so they could no longer be upset at Ichigo for wanting to protect herself.
*After soccer practice*           
            Ichigo ran home as fast as her legs could carry her, glad that she’d gotten away with her lie again. She’d lied so many times about her injuries, she was used to it. She wanted to hurry home, in case her father had found something wrong. She almost ran through the door. “I’m home!” she shouted.
            “Ichigo…come here right now,” her father said.
            “Yes father?” she asked, walking into the living room to see him standing up holding something.
            “What is this I found in your room?” he held up a picture of Masaya that she’d hidden under her pillow.
            “What were you doing in my room?” she asked frightened. She wasn’t supposed to like anyone. Her father was very possessive of her, and she’d pay for it greatly.
            “I was going to give you your mother’s wedding ring, since you’ve been doing so well lately, besides a few incidents, but then I found this under your pillow…..I warned you about this. You’ll still get the ring, don’t worry, but you’ll also get a beating. Bring me the whip…now,” he commanded, his voice steel.
            Ichigo was almost frozen, but she got the whip and cautiously handed it to her father. “Now….let’s see some discipline,” he shouted, turning around and dropping Masaya’s picture on the ground as the whip hit her back hard. He whipped her 30 times across her back, but she never cried out.
            “Ha….you’re stronger than your mother. That’s why I killed her, she wasn’t strong enough for me. She was so weak she ran away, but you know better than to let anyone know, don’t you? Because I’ll just hunt you down the same way I did her. Get out of my site. The ring is lying on your dresser. I’ll burn the picture for you, okay?” he grinned maliciously.
            “Yes sir,” she choked out, getting up and sprinting into her room. As soon as she locked the door, she carefully laid down on her bed, wincing as her back brushed up against the covers. She buried her head in her pillow and cried until she fell asleep.
            Ichigo woke up two hours later, her face wet and heavy from the tear stains streaking it. She reached over and picked up her mother’s wedding ring from the stand. It was white gold inlaid with a diamond in the middle and two sapphires on either side. She was surprised he’d kept it, and not sold it along with everything else of her mother’s. They were actually not that poor, but her father wanted to remain down for a bit longer, before buying a nicer, bigger house.
            She fingered it familiarly. Her mother used to let her hold it, because it had always dazzled her, and now it was hers. In memory of her mother, she put the ring on, and decided to never take if off unless absolutely necessary. She pulled out her homework and finished it completely, then made sure that her father was asleep, and got ready to really sleep, taking a lot of advil to help the pain, then fell dead asleep.
*At school*
            Ichigo walked to the gym where the kendo practice was. She’d created safe guarded walls around her memory and thoughts, to keep Kagura from reading them. She’d worked on it hard all the slow way to school. She’d had to leave as early as usual, since she couldn’t run from being too worn.
            “Ichigo, good morning!” the group showed up, as usual.
            “Good morning!!” she smiled happily, mentally wincing from standing up straight, and the material against the parts of her back that weren’t completely covered by bandages. “So, am I too late to see the match?” she asked.
            “No actually, you’re early. Why don’t you jump and see yourself?” Sakura winked.
            “Sure,” Ichigo grinned, mentally hating what she was about to do. She got ready and sprung up high in the air. She saw Masaya strike and win, before she fell back to the ground, landing agilely. She bit her lip to bite back the pain that wreaked her body.
            “Wow, that’s one of the smoothest landings you’ve ever had!” Kagura cried.
            “Thank you, thank you very much,” Ichigo mocked Elvis Presley, then burst up laughing.
            “And you’re in an exceptionally good mood. What happened?” Amaya asked.
            “Oh, it’s because my dad gave me my mother’s wedding ring last night, see?” she held out her hand for them to see. A sad look came into all of their eyes as they looked at her.
            “Nothing happened?” Kagura asked low.
            “No, nothing. He was so sincere about it. I got home and he said he had a surprise for me, and then he handed it to me. It was so kind of him to give it to me, it means a lot to me,” she lied perfectly, guarding her thoughts, making it appear true.
            Apparently, it worked, “That’s great!” Sakura hugged her. She fought to not wince from the contact.
            “Come on, Kyo is up this morning. I can’t WAIT for their competition this tonight, I’m so definitely going,” Sakura cheered.
            “Oh, that’s right, I’ll try to go. My dad is expecting company tonight, and he might want me there, I’ll find out I guess. Come on, let’s go to class,” Ichigo ran off (aching the whole way) to the classroom, closely followed by her friends.
*At home*
            “Um…dad? Can I ask you something?”
            “Sure,” he absently said.
            “My friends invited me to go hang out tonight, and I was wondering if I could go, since you’re having all of your friends over, it will be more convenient if I’m out of the way, right?” she reasoned.
            “Fine. It will be better with you out of the way anyway,” he said.
            “Thanks dad. I guess I’ll leave now then, I don’t have any homework tonight, and your company will be here soon. Bye!” Ichigo went in her room and grabbed her purse with extra bandages, just in case, and a lot of pain medicine, and left, excited about the match. She bought a little charm on the way there to give to Masaya before he fought.
            Since it was across town, she decided to speed up the trip. When no one was looking, she transformed into a peregrine falcon, and flew on thermals all the way to the stadium where they were holding the match. When she reached it, she transformed back in the alley, and went inside the building with quite a few other people, and went off looking for Masaya.
            When she finally found him, he was surrounded by tons of girls wishing him luck, and all that jazz. She looked at her little keychain with a strawberry on it, and it suddenly looked small and insignificant and unimportant compared with the other girls’ gifts for him.
            She turned around to leave, but a hand stopped her. She turned to see Kyo. “Oh, Kyo, how are you today? Good luck in the tournament,” Ichigo smiled encouragingly.
            “Is that for Masaya?” Kyo asked, looking at her small keychain.
            “I was going to give it to him and wish him luck in the tournament…but he’s too busy. Besides, it’s only a simple trinket that I barely had time to buy him. Besides, look at the other girls. They all specially made their own key chains for him…..” Ichigo spewed, trusting Kyo.
            “You should give it to him anyway. I know he’ll appreciate your support. Go on through the crowd, he’ll be happy to see you.”
            Ichigo, knowing that going into that pack meant a lot of pain, decided not to. “No, it’s fine….can you give it to him for me? I’m kind of afraid of that crowd, it looks painful to walk through,” she handed him the charm.
            “Why don’t you just jump and wave to him, he’ll come over, believe me. Sometimes he gets distracted in practice from trying to watch you jump and watch him fight. It’s really funny to watch,” Kyo chuckled at a memory of some kind.
            “Great idea!” she smiled, happy that was something she could do, regardless of her back’s condition. She got ready and sprung up above the crowd. She saw Masaya and waved enthusiastically to try to get his attention. He smiled, and laughed when he saw her, then his face fell as she fell to the ground, totally disoriented. Masaya jumped above the crowd agilely (0.0) and caught Ichigo deftly, landing lightly while holding her bridal style in his arms.
            “Good evening Ichigo, it’s wonderful to see you,” he smiled amused.
“Oh….ha ha….hi! Thanks for catching me, I…” she ground her teeth at the pain that Masaya was unintentionally causing by holding her with his arms tightly against her back.
            “What’s wrong?” he asked, seeing her expression.
            “Oh, nothing, but you know, it would be smart to put me down, as everyone is staring,” Ichigo pointed out to distract him. He looked around and saw everyone staring at them.
            “Oh….I see what you mean,” he carefully set her down. She practically wanted to shout at him to be more careful, but choked it down, along with some tears.
            “Did you come to watch?” he asked.
            “Yes, I did. And, I wanted to wish you luck, that’s all,” I turned to leave, but Kyo grabbed my arm and held her there, taking the charm from her.
            “She wanted to give you this little trinket for good luck, since it’s her namesake,” he handed it to Masaya.
            “Why didn’t you give it to me?” he looked at her questioningly.
            “Well, you were so busy, and you got so many gifts, I didn’t think mine would make that much difference,” she said.
            “Of course it does, it means a lot to me, thank you so much,” he smiled sincerely, and hugged her. ‘Ouch!’ she winced.
            “What’s wrong? This is the second time you’ve winced, are you all right?” he asked.
            “Yeah, fine, I just got hurt the other day, and it still kinda hurts, that’s all,” she lied.
            “Oh, sorry,” he released her, “I thought I told you to be more careful,” he teased.         
            “Well, it’s hard!” she exclaimed.
            “Masaya, it’s time to go,” Kyo pulled him away.
            “Oh, okay. I’ll see you then, thanks!”
            “Good luck!” Ichigo shouted after him. When he was gone, she ran to the bathroom, and locked the door, glancing in the mirror. Lifting up her shirt, which was black for a reason, she noticed that some blood was oozing, and re-bandaged her back, before she went to find the others.
            “Ichigo, over here!” Sakura called excitedly, from the front row.
            “Hey Sakura! Where are the others?” she asked.
            “They were both busy, so we’re here on our own. So, let’s watch.”
            They watched as many different kendo teams competed, and finally it got down to Masaya, Kyo, and two other guys from other schools. Ichigo had noticed, during the competition, that Masaya had a little pink strawberry in the corner of one of his pockets, and that made her smile happily.
            At the end, Masaya and Kyo won. The cheering was wild, it was a great competition. Afterwards, Sakura and Ichigo made their way outside a little ways from the locker rooms to wait, even as other girls crowded the doorway to congratulate or console their school members.
            Finally, Kyo and Masaya exited, hair wet from the shower, and wearing normal clothes, and the girls just went wild. Ichigo waved them over above the crowd, and when they saw them, they hurried away, going up to the girls.
            “Play along, please,” they begged, and Kyo hugged Sakura, and Masaya hugged Ichigo.
            “You guys were amazing! I can’t believe how well you did!” Ichigo exclaimed, hugging him tightly.
            “Okay Ichigo, goodness, are you trying to kill me?” Masaya laughed.
            “Sorry,” she stepped away smiling. “So, come on, let’s go out to eat, our treat.”
            “Sure, sounds great, let’s go,” they all four walked off, leaving the crowd of girls very disappointed.
            When they got out, they all burst up laughing, “Ha ha, that was great! Did you see their faces?” Masaya had his arm around Ichigo’s lower back. “Huh?” he said, as he lifted his hand, having felt a warm liquid.
            Masaya looked at it, then gasped. “Ichigo, you’re bleeding!” he said, and pulled her toward the light.
            “Ichigo? What happened?” Sakura asked, knowing full well.
            Ichigo pulled away, nothing, really, I’m fine,” she lied, trying to hide it.
            Sakura walked over and yanked the back of her shirt up, and gasped, along with everyone else, “Ichigo…what in the world? You’re all bandaged up! Did he hurt you again? Why didn’t you tell me?”
            “Wait, what is going on?” Kyo asked, confused like Masaya.
            “I’m sorry Ichigo, but I have to tell them,” Sakura said.
            “No, you can’t, he’ll kill me,” Ichigo pleaded.
            “Ichigo…” Masaya said. “What are you hiding? Why are you hurt and bleeding? That is no ordinary wound,” he said.
            Ichigo was trapped. And what do animals do when trapped? Try to run away. So, Ichigo dropped her purse, turned into a dog in front of everyone, and ran off as fast as her legs could carry her.
            Running all the way home, she sniffed the air, and could smell alcohol, and about…three men inside her house with her father, so, she turned into a mouse, and went inside. The noise and talking sounded like rumbles, and she couldn’t understand what they were saying, but as soon as she was up in her room, she turned back into herself, and sat on the bed.
            “If Ichigo doesn’t get home in five minutes, I’ll beat her senseless for tomorrow,” she heard her father say.
            So, she went back downstairs in mouse form, outside, changed into a human, and walked into the door, “I’m home,” she announced.
            “Ichigo? I thought you were going to be with some friends tonight,” her father called out.
            “I decided it was better to come home,” she stepped into the living room, and all of the men gazed at her, except her father, drunkenly and lustily. Crap.
            “Well, go to your room, and don’t come out,” he said.
            “Yes sir,” she bowed and ran upstairs.
            “Hataki, let us have her, we could have so much fun,” one of the guys begged.
            “No, don’t even touch her, or you’ll regret it,” he warned, and for once, she was grateful of his possessiveness. She knew, somewhere, he must still love her, but it was buried and small. However, she was thankful it was at least still there.
            Sitting on the bed, she collapsed, but nothing happened. Shocked, she sat up, and looked at her back, taking off the bandages. The wounds were almost completely gone, and no longer hurt. What? Wait, maybe…Ichigo grabbed a knife she kept hidden, and raked it hard across her arm, drawing blood, then turned into a cat for a few minutes.
            After waiting impatiently, she turned back into a human, and looked at the cut, but it was completely closed, and barely visible. Rejoicing, she began regretting what she did earlier with the others.
            So, Ichigo turned into a bird, and flew out her window, to Masaya’s house. Sakura was there with Kyo as well, and she was explaining about our powers, just hers and mine though, because she didn’t want to give away the other two.
            She flew in the middle of their little group, and they stared at her. “Ichigo?” Sakura asked.
            She transformed back into a human, and stared at Masaya, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but, it’s just,” she couldn’t quite get it out.
            Masaya stood up and held her, “Ssh, it’s okay, everything’s okay now. Wait, why aren’t you flinching?” he asked, and pulled up the back of my shirt a little bit.
            “Oh my god, Diana, what, how did you heal so fast?” Ichigo asked, pressing her cool hands against my smooth back.
            “It’s apparently a side effect of my power. When I’ve been an animal for a while, my human body magically seems to regenerate and heal itself, so any wound inflicted will be healed. I just found out!” I said excitedly.
            “Ichigo, I don’t know if that’s a good thing though. You see, if your father beats you, all you have to do to hide it is to heal yourself, and none of us will be the wiser, except maybe Kagura.”