So, this is how it went; Ikuto left for America to find his father or something. I quickly became lonely. Somehow, I had managed to withstand the loneliness for a little over a year. But everyone around me, especially Tadase, noticed that I'd lost my 'spunk'; the energy I always seemed to have. My sarcasm lessened, and I stopped laughing as much.

Tadase believed it to be a sign of depression, since I'd also experienced a drop in my marks in school, and even stopped caring about my family and my well-being. He thought it would be a good idea to visit him whenever I felt...worthless and alone. Like no one loved me. Even though I knew people loved me; especially Tadase.

Yes, despite me dating Ikuto for a while, he still tended to say 'I love you', though it went from every day, to every week, to every two weeks. He probably felt that it made me awkward hearing 'I love you' from two different people (whom I both liked a lot), so he started to lessen it.

But as the days of Ikuto's leave increased, I slowly found myself marking when Tadase said 'I love you' last and counting the days until he'd say it again. One day, I accidentally blurted out a response that I'd been holding deep inside me for a long time. Which brings us a little earlier.

I was rushing back home after detention (long story). I had promised my mother I'd be back straight after school to watch Ami, but then I accidentally got myself in trouble with the teacher, who then forced me alone to stay at school and clean up the classroom. Tadase offered to help me, but I told him it was okay.

I ran into someone. I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, instead, thinking about how much trouble I'd get in for delaying my mother and father's date night. So sucked into my thoughts, I didn't think to apologize or even look at who I had ran into; it could have been an elderly person, or a pregnant person, which would have been bad.

Instead I started to say, "Hey! Watch where you're going!" but my words promptly cut themselves off when I realized who it was. I hesitated, eyes wide eyed and wild. "Oh...I-Ikuto..."

The truth was, I'd been meaning to break up with him, since nearly 6 months before his return, Tadase and I somehow...ended up dating. Yes, I'm aware that's cheating, but we didn't even do that many couple things. Where was I? Uh...Oh, right! I'd been meaning to break up with Ikuto, but I kept hesitating, not wanting to hurt his feelings. I had promised myself 100% that I'd tell Ikuto I didn't want to see him anymore after Valentine's Day, as he told me that he had something special prepared for me...but that's definitely not what happened.

"What's wrong, Amu?" Ikuto had asked, moving in for a hug, which I promptly backed away from.

"I..." I stammered slowly. And before I could even think about what I wanted to say, I blurted out. "I—I need to tell you something..." My hands moved to grip the hem of my skirt nervously.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" I could tell that he was trying to keep himself reserved after I had backed away from his attempt to embrace me. I kind of felt bad...

"W-well..." I stammered, avoiding Ikuto's gaze. I took a steady breath, too far into this to stop myself. "I-I...really don't think this is going to work out... I-I'm sorry..."

Ikuto seemed confused. He laughed awkwardly. "Hah...that's a good one, Amu! Now, be serious. What did you want to tell me?"

Suddenly, I was surged with a mixture of anger and annoyance. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I stared at him angrily. "I am being serious! You see—you never think I'm being serious! What? Do you think everything I do or say is a joke?" suddenly, I stopped, realized what I had said. I lowered my gaze again. "That's...that's why I—I...don't want to date you anymore!"

After saying all that, I turned, the completely opposite direction of my house, and ran away, trying not to cry. Why was I even crying? I vaguely heard Ikuto calling for me to wait, but I knew better than to wait; he'd say something, and I'd immediately take everything I'd said back.

Somehow, I had ended up at Tadase's place. Lord knows how or why, I just did. I knocked on his door and threw myself at him in a blubbering mess when he opened the door. Shocked, confused, and worried, he lead me inside and made some tea to calm me down.

Slowly, I explained to him what happened. He seemed both relieved and concerned at the same time, knowing I wanted to wait until after Valentine's Day to break up with Ikuto. (Though as far as he was concerned, he's probably wanted me to break up with Ikuto sooner rather than later.) I swallowed my tears away as Tadase hugged me tightly. And that was how I abruptly broke up with Ikuto.

And now, we come back to today; Valentine's Day.

Tadase and I are at his house, as he had set up a beautiful dinner for me. He keeps telling me how glad he is that I'm okay now; not like the blubbering mess I was the week prior after my accidental break up with Ikuto. My brain never knows how to reply to those comments, so I just smile and nod, thanking him.

"I'm really glad you're back to normal now, Amu-chan." he says again, yet somehow I'm not tired of hearing it. Or maybe it's just the kind smile he gives afterwards that forgives his repetition.

I blush for the umpteenth time. I try to come up with an actual response rather than just a smile and a nod. "I guess...I'm just happy now."

Tadase flashes me another one of his adorable, calming smiles. "You know, you look much cuter when you're happy. It worries me when you're sad."

I send an embarrassed smile in return as my cheeks glow brighter. "T-thanks..."

"It's my pleasure, Amu-chan." Tadase responds simply.

I notice him look out the window and follow his gaze. I tense up as I see the dark clouds looming around us. That could only mean one thing. And that one thing is the thing I'm most afraid of; thunderstorms. Tadase reaches over and grabs my hands in both of his. I try to avert my gaze from the clouds too look back at him.

"It's alright. I'm here for you, Amu-chan, there's no need to be afraid." he says softly, running his thumb across my knuckles.

I manage a nod, but a simple thunder clap that's probably miles away has me jumpy already. Tadase eyes me worriedly and stands up, moving to my side of the table. He kneels down and hugs me tightly, yet gently, probably hoping to calm my nerves. It works, as always.

"Maybe we should start heading back to your house." he suggests, sensing my tenseness disappear for now and pulling away slightly.

He stands up when I nod and offers his hand to help me up. I find myself questioning how its possible that he's so sweet. I stand up and grab the bag next to me; Tadase's gift for me for Valentine's Day.

"Ready to go?" Tadase asks.

I nod and we slowly make our way back to my house. Though in retrospect, why were we moving slowly when we were trying to escape a thunderstorm? Half way to my house, it starts to rain (which wouldn't have happened if we rushed back rather than walking leisurely.) We pick up speed, holding hands tightly. I somehow find myself giggling despite the situation we're in. (Maybe I was realizing how dumb we were for not running the entire time.)

"We're getting soaked!" I exclaimed. "We need to hurry, Tadase-kun!"

Somehow, I can tell he's smiling. "We're nearly there. I'm sorry, though, that I didn't think to bring an umbrella."

I shake my head. "No, it's okay. I don't mind being doused with rain."

We continue running (we'd already be home if we had run in the first place), but the rain only comes down harder and faster. Tadase urges us to hurry up, which is hard when you're already running at top speed and trying not to get separated. Suddenly, a loud thunderclap rumbles across the sky, and I jump, landing right in a puddle of water that was surprisingly deep.

The water splashes up on my bare legs, causing me to yelp quietly, and my face to redden in embarrassment. Tadase chuckles and pulls me out of the puddle. We continue moving forward, but end up stopping when I accidentally rub against another person walking in the opposite direction. I move to apologize, but quickly realize who I ran into and tense up slightly.

It's Ikuto. Someone who I've been avoiding ever since I broke up with him. I hesitate, unsure of what to say, if anything at all. I tell Tadase to wait for a second. He seems to realize why I tensed up so suddenly. I bite my lip, making sure to control my emotions. I can only imagine how Ikuto feels seeing me now, holding hands with Tadase, the person I'd technically been cheating on him with for over a year. It's his fault for leaving me, part of my thinks. But another part of me is thinking he couldn't help his leave just as much as I couldn't help falling for Tadase all over again.

After a pause, I say, "Oh... I'm sorry..."

That's all I can manage without breaking down. I'm unsure if it was noticeable at the time, but now that I think about it, the apology was running into him, cheating on him, and breaking up with him so abruptly.

Next to me, Tadase squeezes my hand. He must sense my emotional state. "Come on, Amu-chan. Let's get going. I think I heard another thunderclap, and I don't want you anymore scared."

As if on cue, a loud BOOM! fills the sky, causing my to almost jump into Tadase's arms. Tadase wraps his arm around me and pulls me close, which must be an insult for Ikuto, who's still just standing, staring at me and Tadase. I dismiss my slight guilt for Ikuto; it happened, and I moved on, now here I am, wrapping my arm around Tadase in return, feeling much safer in Tadase's arms.

"Let's go..." I mutter softly.

We walk away, and I try not to look back. I occupy myself in watching Tadase's free arm sway as he walks, and the rain falling on the ground into puddles. Suddenly I notice Tadase looking back, which I didn't expect from him. I dismiss it for a bit, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

"What's wrong?" I ask

Tadase looks at me, seemingly hesitating. Maybe he suddenly feels bad for Ikuto. I don't dare look back to see what was interesting enough for Tadase to keep looking back, so I guess I'll never know exactly.

"It's nothing." Tadase says after a second, offering me a smile.

Part of me wants to question him more. But the majority of me doesn't really care, so I just shrug and snuggle closer to Tadase as we walk, suddenly cold. Tadase rubs my arms and I smile at him. We'd completely forgotten about the rain, and about Tadase, quite quickly, and were in our own little world, just happy to be together.

A/N: Hi! Sorry for my lack of activity. I haven't been able to think of much for Love vs. Death

So as an apology, I decided to take a suggestion from a Guest, who thought I should make an Amu P.O.V for my story Ikuto's Lost Love, and Tadase's P.O.V for the story. (So if you haven't read those, it'd be smart if you did)

I was gonna post this on Valentine's Day, but I didn't want to wait that long because I felt bad for not posting anything or updating Love vs. Death. (ideas for the rest of that story will be accepted, so feel free to PM me suggestions.) I was trying to plan out the chapters with like Chapter 29 is mainly just friends or whatever, then 30 would be just a 1 on 1 between Tadase and Amu, 31 would be an appearance of Saaya, probably being forced to apologize, and 32 would be kinda like a time period later when Amu is fully healed and also the last chapter, but idk.

Anyways, I'm rambling about something unrelated to this story. Back to this story though, I tried to go with a theme where not everything being said is the exact same as what was said in previous parts of this, series, I guess I can call it, because if you were to ask 3 people to tell the same story, not everything will be the same, so I tried to emulate that idea. And also you get a look inside what happened when Amu started dating Tadase a year after Ikuto left for America (which I believe I stated in Tadase's P.O.V), and other emotions. So I hope you guys get an idea on Amu's motives, and I hope this isn't too OOC.

Lastly, I hope you enjoyed~ I apologize for a third time about the delay in Love vs. Death. I hope you'll continue to support me~ And I still have a poll up on my profile about what I should do after I finish Love vs. Death (I think...?) so feel free to give me opinions on that, too!

Ja ne~