Tadase wandered throughout central park, searching tirelessly for the ideal place to sit. Whenever he raised his eyes to meet the heavy gazes of near-by onlookers, he could feel their thoughts. Why on earth is that strange boy loitering around the park? But instead of answering them, he just did what he always did; smile. While humanity dealt with its problems, they could always turn to Tadase for a steady smile and a kind deed.
He reminisced about the weekends he had spent babysitting those families who couldn't afford to pay him, or feeding the homeless at that shelter, and even organizing a fieldtrip to pick up trash. Tadase was always trying to do one act of kindness a day. Of course, people rarely recognized it. His charitable acts were often overlooked in favor of the flashy sports-car or the sexy bad boy. No one cared about reliable, decent young men anymore. Except Amu. Tadase always kept a special smile for Amu. Whenever she appeared he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. She had an abundance of qualities, yet men continued to take her for granted. But not him.
Tadase knew of three romantic emotions: Affection, love, and devotion. He felt true affection for Rima, Utau, Kukai, and his many other friends. He felt love for his family members. But these were inferior emotions in his mind. After all, how could they compare to devotion? Devotion was affection, love, and so much more. It was the crown jewel of romance. To love everything about another human being was so rare, and yet Tadase was sure he experienced it with Amu. Jumping in front of a bullet for her didn't faze him one bit. After all, she was Amu.
When Tadase next looked up, he saw Amu trotting towards him. Her hips swayed in her crimson shorts as she waved to him. That modest, elegant dress-shirt always made him pleased. It told him that she was comfortable with herself and wasn't dressing for men. Her pink hair had gotten so much lighter over the years, and longer too. She still had that young, child-like innocence about her, but it was endearing. Her tender face formed a weak smile as she held a tissue to her nose.
"I'm sorry Tadase, I have a bit of a cold." She apologized repeatedly throughout their time together, but this first time was so sweet that it was forever impressed in Tadase's memories.
Reminded of the phrase 'in sickness and health', he reached out for her dainty hand that wasn't grasping the tissue. "I know some herbs which grow around here that would be very beneficial," he said as he pulled her away from their meeting spot. Amu's face flushed with pink as Tadase's grip on her hand tightened.
"You're so considerate, Tadase. How can you be like this all the time?" She whispered anxiously. Tadase was very intelligent and good with reading people. She was terrified that he might read between the lines and know exactly what she meant. Realizing this only made Amu blush more.
"I suppose I'm just a very devoted person," he responded. And although Amu didn't exactly know what he meant, she had a sort of internal understanding. Putting herself just a slight bit closer to him, she smiled.
"You really are."
I recently saw a story about Amu's heart breaking because Tadase asked her on a first date and she caught him kissing another girl. In their meeting place. Another story involved Tadase being gay and vulgar and breaking up with her in the cruelest way. And I just about cried.
They think of Ikuto as the perfect boyfriend but they are wrong. Tadase is kind, he is considerate, he is devoted. I personally prefer to write Amuto stories but there is something to be said for Tadamu. They are more realistic. Sure, there's less built in drama, but how can any Amuto story compare to the subtle love of a timid young man? Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful Tadase-bashing-free day.