The two of us sat under a large mulberry tree in an area that people did not ever think to step foot in because the belief of large, threatening snakes infesting the place ultimately scared the wits out of them. In reality, not a single snake existed in the area and the belief that there was always confounded me. But we were nonetheless grateful to the idea because it repelled people from this vast land of mulberry trees. It was the ideal place to be when you want to be isolated with your boyfriend; Intimate moments, or even study sessions with him were never disturbed.
Unfortunately, missing another day of lessons caused us to wastefully spend our time under the mulberry tree on precalculas.
"Yep, that's right. You can find the determinant of a 2x2 matrix using this formula," Tadase says as his finger moved across the paper until it landed to the area where the formula was written.
My mind began to perform the simple math and I was left with an odd number.
"Is it 21?" I asked, hopeful.
"Exactly right. See, you're already caught up. You'll be fine," he says, stretching his lips to smile.
"Well, it's all thanks to you," I said, returning a smile. "Honestly, Ami would not leave me alone last night," I nervously say, feeling the wrenching effect of guilt weaken with every progressing lie.
"Ami, again?" he laughed. "How old is she again?"
"She's 14 and in eight grade," I reply, feeling relieved.
"Really? Wow, and she still clings on to you," he says in shock.
"Yeah, it's a bit weird," I laughed, "but I don't mind. I like it... sometimes."
"Your such a good sister, Amu," he says as his glistening smile grew.
I felt his hand reach for mine, squeezing it once before his other hand cupped my cheek.
My face flushed as he touched me. I closed my eyes.
"Amu, I love you," he said routinely and I felt the presence of his pale, delicate lips approach me.
Although the pain decreased, the guilt wrenching feeling still had a terrible effect on me. The only way I fought this sickening feeling was the kiss that Tadase granted me. Setting limits, Tadase maneuvered his lips, slowly and gingerly.
Initially, I remembered the feeling of joy that his gentleness and care caused but it has been three years since our first kiss and this delicate behavior became tedious and chronic.
Again, I stepped it up, and my tongue entered his mouth, tasting him until I felt the same joy I experienced three years ago. To my disappointment, the feeling has yet to resurfaced itself.
It took him a while to adjust his mouth movements and accept my light aggressiveness. Even through this, I could feel him limiting the power he actually possessed. Doubts of his love began to cloud my mind.
Out of breath and seemingly satisfied, he sat under the mulberry tree in silence. Resting my head on his shoulders, I took the opportunity to plot future ways to help him unlock his potential.
My contemplating was interrupted by a oscillation in one of my pockets that my green checkered skirt provided. I jumped.
Ikuto!
In an instant, my hand desperately dug into my pockets, searching for the hardness a phone could only have. I pulled it out, and as I unlocked it eagerly, my fingers opened the recent message he sent.
Another picture and no text. It was him, Ikuto. His eyes lit up mischievously as his finger rested on his lips, making him appear as if he were telling me to shush. Huh? He was in an odd background that did not resemble any of the exotic places he has been to. It was to familiar, to much like... Japan. Actually... Upon closer inspection, my eyes expanded in disbelief as I realized it was in Japan! And what is this? Pink curtains? My hands immediately curled up, landed on my eyes, and rubbed them in shock. H-he was on my balcony! Ikuto was back!
But, squirming so jubilantly only rose questions from Tadase.
"What's wrong, Amu? Do you need to go bathroom or something?"
Hairs rose behind my neck as I realized Tadase was next to me. Shoot, the message was to sudden and the timing was honestly terrible. Great skill and careful selection of words would probably be the only way out.
"Nothing at all! Why would there be anything?" I blurted out, somewhat to quickly and loudly.
"Are you sure? Something seems off," he says, observing me with an eye brow raised.
My head shook to the left and right, denying vehemently.
"I-I actually have to go. Ami needs me again," I said as my heart sank. This was defiantly the last time i was using Ami as an excuse.
Tadase's round violet eyes fell in sadness.
"Amu, what's wrong? Is something wrong with Ami? She needs you to often now a days. If there is, you know you can tell me," his eyes looked at me in genuine concern.
My stomach churned in several intricate ways as I realized I was a horrible, lying, and cheating dog.
"I-" but I prevented my mouth from revealing his arrival. Regret and horror filled me as I depicted an image of the two as rivals again. "I-I..."
"Amu, sh..." He placed his finger on my trembling lips. "It's probably to hard for you to put in words. I'll just come over and do what I can to help Ami."
Pressing his hands against the grass, he pushed himself up, then wiped his hands together, and held a hand out to me. My jaw would not ascend as I placed my hand on his palm.
Tadase's Pov
"Amu, don't be so nervous. You can trust me," I reassured her, hoping that would be sufficient.
"I'm not! Haha... Why would I be nervous?" she said, defending herself to strongly.
"Whatever you say," I sighed, wondering if something terrible happened to Ami.
"W-wait... didn't you say you had an important essay due tomorrow?" Amu asked strangely.
"No way. You're not getting me out of this. I'm going to help if I can. Plus, you've been acting different," I assured her, knowing that she would not regret my assistance.
Amu's thin slips smiled and laughed weakly. Her behavior was a sure sign something was horribly wrong, so wrong that she could not even confide in me... It honestly tore my heart to pieces knowing that our relationship was drifting apart... But I knew that insisting to help her would result in something good and maybe, the same affectionate eyes that glittered towards me would reappear again.
When we arrived at Amu's house, I could tell her posture stiffened and she began to move around in fear and anxiety.
"Amu," I reached for her tiny hands and squeezed them. She turned around with worry evidently painted across her face.
"Tadase..." she squeaked while looking absolutely frightened.
Hand held together, we walked while Amu occasionally lagged behind, but we eventually reached Ami's room. With the confidence that Amu lacked, I twisted the knob.
"A-Amu!" Ami cried in surprise as her hands quickly enclosed an elliptical object, then as if to deliberately spark my interest even further, she hid her hands behind her back. "Huh? And T-t-tadase! Why are you guys here?"
Suddenly, the glimpse of the round object clicked loudly in my head as I realized why Ami needed her sister's frequent company.
"Ami, that's amazing! Your first egg!" I said, startling her.
"W-what!?" Amu cried in what seemed like shock. "Ami! Why haven't you told me!"
Huh? Didn't she already know? Unless...
"Ah, I see... You wanted your sister's help so that's why you need her all the time... Yes, that's reasonable," I nodded and threw a smile at the two sisters.
"Hahaha... Wow, that makes a lot sense actually," Amu agreed while looking absolutely relieved.
"I'm sorry, Amu! I found her yesterday on my bed. I was planning to say something but you seemed busy with homework," Ami cried dramatically as she descended to her knees.
"It's alright, really," Amu says as she laughed. "It's just really cool you have an egg now. Tadase and I can help if you need anything."
While looking ironically ecstatic, Ami sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes.
"Thank you! Your the best sister a little sister could ever have," Ami says with a authentically happy smile. "And your the best boyfriend my sister ever had, Tadase! You two should never break up," she turned to me, equally happy and insanely innocent.
Unable to speak, I returned a smile, looking away from her gaze.
Amu's Pov
An unbelievable amount of relief rushed through my shaking body as Ami thanked us. How lucky I felt was indescribable.
A vibration buzzed through my pocket and again, my hands reached for immediately.
A large, incompressible smile formed through my lips. It was a text from Ikuto.
'Naughty girl. Tadase too?'
The smile instantly vanished as a new urge to damage something rose. N-naughty? Me? My face flushed a deep red as I realized Ikuto could be right.
Wait, wait! Ikuto right? Was I going crazy? Never. He couldn't possibly understand my situation... If he cared about his relationship with Tadase, then he would realize that this was the only thing I could do to preserve their bond.
"Amuuuu! Hello? There you go again, on your phone!" Ami huffed angrily, breaking my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, gosh... Sorry," I said as I put away my phone. Tadase somehow moved next to Ami during my trance. His violet eyes stared in concentration, examining her new orange egg. I knew ikuto could be waiting for eternity if I did not gently kick Tadase out. "Hey Tadase. Isn't it a bit late? Kiseki must be worried, right?"
"Kiseki?" He laughed. "He and Miki ran off together somewhere. He left me a note saying that they wouldn't return until the weekends."
"What?!" I cried, shocked. "That long? Su just told me that some of the guardian characters needed to return to their world for a while. She never said why but she seemed excited."
"That's odd. I hope nothing happened," he replied with a hint of worry.
"Aw, I feel so left out," Ami suddenly pitched in, "why won't my guardian come out of its egg now? This isn't fair! You two always get the most fun!"
Tadase laughs and says, "Don't be so sad, Ami. It'll be born in no time."
The way his pale hands touched Ami's shoulder caused an annoying ripple beneath my chest. For some reason, I felt bitter as I frowned at the sight.
Ikuto's Pov
Hm... So she has fallen for him... This conclusion was strongly supported by the sight of Amu's irritatingly jealous face.
But what did I expect? Being away all the time and making annual visits would drive anyone away. As much as I didn't like it, it was the harsh truth. It was up to me to make her fall for me again...
A smirk grew from my lips as I licked them. In the end, it was always worth it with Amu. My mind began to conjure delicious images of her tomato red face. Tadase was still a little boy and therefore little competition. But then again... My smile faded. He was growing and I knew that I had to acknowledge that soon.
Tired of Amu's jealous behavior, I decided to wait, although now very irritated, on her balcony.
For some reason, I grew more and more agitated as time passed by. Where was she? Honestly... After compressing my urges away for a year too... Man, I was hungry. She was going to be punished, alright. Severely punished.
Tadase's Pov
This was cruel. Yet, even if the fact was so obvious, it brought me joy to know that, through her lies, Amu stilled cared.
I withdrew my hand from Ami's shoulder and took my rightful place next to Amu, who now looked very relieved. Smiling at her, I took her hand, and kissed her cheek, hoping that reassured my loyalty and love. It worked or why else did she return a small smile that was sandwiched between two bright red cheeks.
"You two get out!" Ami abruptly cried as she pushed our backs with her hands. "I need my alone time and I'm sure you two need some to!"
In an instant, we were booted from Ami's room. For a moment, we stood outside, silent and still. Then suddenly, Amu took my hand and for a second, i thought we were heading to her room but it turns out that her destination was the living room.
This was defiantly odd compared to the recent visits to her room rather than such an open area. Whatever the case was, I did not question it nor thought about it any further. This was Amu's home afterall.
"Amu, I love you," I reminded her as we descended on to the couch.
"Really?" She says, looking up at with doubting round eyes.
I threw an arm around her and lightly laughed at her alluring face.
"Yep. Don't forget that," I said, gazing at her blushing face. My lips lowered, approaching hers in desire as i realized it was impossible to not plant a kiss with a countenance so inviting.
Lightly and oh so gently, my mouth moved in sync with the heavenly lips Amu provided. It took a great deal from further defiling her slender body but it had to be done, such lewd acts could only be done with the consent of both lovers. Sadly, Amu has not hinted to move on to the next level.
Again, Amu first broke up our kiss, and deepening the wound inflicted onto my pride, the satisfaction in her eyes was not nearly as strong as mine. But what could I do? She would not express her displeasure.
"Tadase, it's getting really dark outside," Amu said casually as she looked out the window. "It'll be dangerous walking home if you go any later. Maybe you should-"
My head naturally turned to see how dim the outdoors became. The doubts and worries suddenly dissipated from my chest. I could not help to feel a sense of love emitting from Amu.
"Stay the night?" I quickly said due to the excitement rising from my skin. "Sure, I would love to."
Her slim face looked startled and speechless but I brushed it off with a large accepting smile. She probably never experienced the
opposite gender sleeping over so when I accepted... This unexpecting reaction was defiantly plausible.
Arthur's Note- Yeah, my horrible grammar of past tenses/awkward phrasing. DX Please don't mind it.