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Amu walked ahead of him at a quick pace, practically leaving Ikuto in the dust. Normally, he'd have caught up to someone of Amu's size, but since she had decided to almost break his ribs and give him a concussion, he found himself quickly limping after her instead of walking.
"Oi, mind slowing down next time. I'm injured here, remember?"Ikuto said, finally catching up to Amu. She turned around to glare at him, almost as if she blamed him for being injured.
"Next time don't kick so hard."He thought to himself, staring back into her eyes unwaveringly.
"Suck it up, the time it takes for those baby wounds to heal is practically non-existent," Amu said, staring down at him. "By the time I'm done here, you'll probably be ready to run a mile."
"Really, it takes you that long to torture someone? You must be terrible at your job."Ikuto said, going out of his way to push her buttons. When he said that, he instantly felt a knee in his gut, causing him to double over gasping for breath. Amu grabbed him by his hair, yanking him up so that he could look into her eyes.
"Another thing about me: Don't insult my work. If I take a long time, it's because I enjoy watching them beg and plead for mercy, not because I'm terrible at my job."
"So that explains me being a punching bag."Ikuto said through gritted teeth, still clutching his stomach. Amu smirked at him, dropping his hair from her clutches and patting him on the head.
"So you do have brains in that empty skull of yours. I'm impressed,"Amu said turning towards the area they were entering. She then turned back to him, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot impatiently. "Now come on, I haven't got all day."
Ikuto stood up, still clutching his side. "Heh, impatient one aren't you?"
"Heh, stupid one aren't you?"Amu mocked, patience wearing thin. When he got close enough to her, she turned on her heel and briskly walked into the torture area, Ikuto following behind her.
"If you won't kick me in the shin or something, who's the unlucky soul dealing with you?"Ikuto asked, beginning to be able to keep pace with her. He hated to admit it, but she was right; the amount of time it was taking for his 'baby wounds' as she put it to heal was much shorter than the time on Earth.
"Name is Hotori Tadase. Age is 12, hair color is blonde, and eye color is magenta."Amu stated, stopping in front of a door. She began to dig into her messenger bag, pulling out a key ring with various keys on it.
"Sounds like a nice kid. What did he do to get locked up here?"Ikuto asked, leaning against the wall next to the door.
"He killed a friend of his, Souhma Kukkai, with the reasoning that he betrayed him."Amu said, finding the right key and inserting it into the door. Ikuto raised an eyebrow, staring at her as she turned the key.
"And the real reason?"
"He didn't want to take part in Tadase's crazy schemes for 'world domination'."Amu explained, opening the door to the room. There, chained to the wall, was a young boy, looking to be about Amu's age, wearing nothing more than a pair of plaid pants. He had the features that she had given, but really looked to be more of a princely type than a murderer type. Ikuto found it very hard to believe that this kid could actually do that.
"Hello Hinamori-san."Tadase said, giving her a smile. "I see you've been given a new charge today."
"Cut the chit-chat and let's get down to business,"Amu said, closing the door behind her and Ikuto, walking towards him. "You know there's no reason to be so pleasant with me; I know for a fact I've made you cry many times."
"You're outfit today looks quite lovely; Are these clothes your ceremonial clothes that you wear when getting a new charge?"Tadase asked, looking at what she was wearing and ignoring her statement. Ikuto was sure that he would be getting a kick to somewhere painful, but was surprised to see Amu just walk up to him and slap him across the face. The force was enough to cause his head to turn, but he still wore a smile.
"Just for your idle crap, I'm going to make your time here today worse than it would've been before. So when you're bawling your eyes out, don't be blaming me."Amu said, grabbing a knife off the table next to Tadase.
"Of course Hinamori-san. I would never think anything else."He replied the smile still on his face. Amu narrowed her eyes at him, before plunging the knife deep into his chest. He visibly winced, but the smile still remained.
"Still smiling? My, you must really have no heart Tadase-kun,"Amu mused cruelly, dragging the knife slowly down his chest. "I wonder, were you smiling when you killed Kukkai? Smiling as his blood covered your hands, your arms, your face, everything? Smiling as you washed away his blood by the river, and buried his body near the soccer field?"Amu was smirking know, blood covering her hand as the knife carved through his chest. Ikuto was almost sick as he watched her, seeing her carve a name onto his chest, seemingly Kukkai's. And yet, the entire it was happening, Tadase still wore a smile.
"I regretted it dearly afterwards Hinamori-san." Tadase said, his teeth gritted as she continued to carve. Amu turned her smirk towards him, looking up from her work.
"I'm sure you were; especially when you got caught by the police. Tell me, how was prison? Did you enjoy the gang banging, the in-mate beatings, and the unbearable amounts of labor? And how about that prison riot you tried to start? Did you enjoy watching them get all riled up, only for you to be the first one shot when the prison guards caught whiff of it? Were you smiling when all the hopes of freedom for those rioters were dashed, and they began to mangle your body in anger? Were you smiling when your body was burned because they never wanted to see your dirty rotten face again? Let me know, otherwise I'll look for myself."Amu threatened, finishing her carving of Souhma Kukkai into his chest. Blood was pouring, he must have been in excruciating pain, and yet that smile had never left his face.
"I did have a smile on my face," Tadase answered. "I had a smile on my face because I knew that I was having punishment for my sin at the time."
"Really now," Amu said, a fake thoughtful look on her face as she brought herself closer to Tadase. "Well I think I'll just look just to make sure."Amu said, and with that pressed her lips against his.
Ikuto stood there and stared. Sure, she seemed to be a complete bitch. And he highly doubted that she was doing anything to bring his memories out for all to see, so he could only figure that she was prostituting herself in the guise of her job. It was only after she pulled away and a wisp of smoke seemed to follow her lips from Tadase's mouth that Ikuto began to hope that she couldn't read minds. Amu took the wisp of smoke in her hands, pulling it and stretching it to make something visible.
"Now then, let us see the truth."Amu said, and soon the small screened smoke began to play a memory.
"Come my fellow in mates! We must band together to defeat this common enemy!"Tadase shouted, standing in front of a large crowd of orange clad men. They cheered, obviously not for the man in front of them, but for the prospect of turning free tonight. Tadase tried so hard to ignore the whispers of doubt he heard from amongst the crowd, almost as a silent worry that this would just be another failed attempt filled with hot air.
"This scrawny little thing it going to lead us?"
"Didn't we beat this guy up just last Tuesday?"
"We might as well just go back to our cell; no way we're getting out tonight."
"No! I must ignore them and rise above their petty doubts! I will be a leader in this hell hole, even if it's the last thing I do!"Tadase thought, shaking his head to free the doubts that had begun to cloud him. He then resumed his speech, taking on an authoritative tone he used so seldom and had practiced so long on for an occassion like this.
"We must rise up against them! We must take the control that is rightfully ours! Who is with me when I say, come, let us forge our freedom from this place, with me as your leader?!"
The crowd cheered before him, ready to follow him at a given notice. Tadase grinned, pleased with himself. If he could accomplish this much, then who knows where he could end up when he got out. He would shake the shackles of his past sins off, and begin life anew as a leader for all to look up to.
"I regret you not being here to experience this momentous occassion with me Kukai,"Tadase thought, a sad smile gracing his lips. "But what had to be done was done in order to get to this point. Now, my future truly unfolds and begins!"
Just as his dreams of the future began to grow before his eyes, a shot rang out in the prison, and all was suddenly black in his world.
When Tadase woke up, he found himself lying on the ground. He stood up and looked around, assessing his surroundings. "Where am I?"He asked, looking around for any sign of life.
"Welcome to Hell, Tadase-kun."A voice said behind him. Tadase's eyes widened as he whipped his head around to confirm who the voice was, only to have his eyes continued to grow to the size of dinner plates.
"A-Amu-chan?"
The smoke suddenly cleared, signaling the end of the memory. Amu stayed silent, staring straight at the wall, no emotion showing at all. Tadase, on the other hand, was staring at the ground, his bangs covering his eyes. Amu walked forward, lifting his head so that she could clearly see his face. The smile was still there, but tears were now freely running down his face.
"Torture is complete, time to leave."Amu said calmly, dropping his head and briskly walking towards the door. She opened it, and was out of there in less than a minute. Ikuto stared at her retreating form, and was about to follow her until Tadase's voice stopped him.
"Sir…I don't know who you are, but you have to save Amu-chan."
Ikuto looked at Tadase as if the words coming out of his mouth were a whole new language. "Well first, you can call me Ikuto. Second, what?"
"You saw the memory, you heard her voice. Amu-chan wasn't always like this; she used to be just like you and I. To me, to all her friends really, she was…"Tadase trailed off, not knowing if he could say it.
"She was what?"Ikuto prompted him. He was curious now, and while curiosity killed the cat, he was already dead so he didn't have to worry. "What was she?"He continued to prompt Tadase for answer.
Tadase looked up at Ikuto, the tears still in his eyes. "To everyone, she was like an angel in human form. As far as I can remember, she never did anything to deserve this fate. The only thing that happened was-"
"Oi, Tsukiyomi! Get your ass out here before I come in there and carve you like a Christmas goose!"Amu shouted, impatience practically dripping from every word she spoke. Ikuto headed to the door, getting ready to leave before looking back at Tadase.
"I'll see what I can do."Ikuto said, before closing the door and heading towards where Amu was waiting for him. Tadase leaned his head back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Tears still slowly fell from his face, but not as fast as they fell before.
"Amu-chan," He said aloud, still looking at the ceiling. "It wasn't your fault."
A/N: Er, about those doors that I just happened to notice, they lock automatically. I can't think of any examples at the moment (because that's what lack of sleep does to you) but I know there are doors like there out in the world. Also lack of sleep tends to make craptastic chapters, something I consider this to be. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Review and you'll get a Tadase plush doll! Until next time, JAA MATA!