Hey guys, it's Anya! Here we are with another chapter of Washed Away with the Tears! I almost posted this up without editing it (I hadn't realized that it was unedited until last minute) so I hope that this chapter is up to standard! Any who, I have freshman orientation next Wednesday so if the next chapter is a tad late, then I'm sorry! I just have a lot to do for the next two weeks because school is starting and all. Well thanks for listening to my ramble, and enjoy chapter two of WAWT!



Chapter Two

"Amu-chan, I know you don't want to live with me, but…" I was in the front seat of Tsumugu's car. It was Saturday, and I was on my way to Tsumugu's new home in Kawasaki. He was courteous enough to move back to town and buy a house. It felt a little better that I wouldn't have to change schools, but I still had to change homes…and guardians. "I'm happy that we can live together again."

It turns out that the past few times that Ryuu-san went "out of town," she was really going to court in Tokyo. Tsumugu had actually been trying to gain custody of me again in the past year, but until the last trial—back in July—he had practically no chance of winning. However, he seemed to prove himself worthy of gaining custody of me. The AA meetings for the past few years and anger management counseling seemed to pay off in his favor.

I didn't want to leave Ryuu-san, but I had no choice. I was only fourteen, what was I supposed to do? It's not like I could move away. If Ikuto were still here, then maybe I could move in with him, but he was all the way in Fukuoka. He had no chance of helping me now. It killed me inside to know that Ikuto couldn't be here when I needed him most. However…I needed Ikuto to be happy. If that meant having to let him go for awhile, then I would just have to cope with it.

Instead of replying to Tsumugu, I remained silent. Honestly, I had nothing to say to him. No matter what I said, I would have to go live with him. So instead of smart mouthing him I gave him the silent treatment. Nothing worse than not being able to talk to somebody you're trying to get on good terms with, right?

"I know you're angry, but you'll see that I've changed." Tsumugu continued babbling on. "In the past four years I've only had one slip up." I knew exactly what he was talking about. The last time he got drunk, he showed up at my house and scared the living crap out of me. Luckily Ikuto had found me somehow. If it weren't for Ikuto, I have no idea what would have happened to me. "I had a window of vulnerability when Midori and Ami-chan died. I know that I didn't exactly make the right choices, but I know that the choices I'm making now are the right choices."

The car drive seemed to be lasting hours. I had nothing to say to Tsumugu. If anything, he hadn't apologized nearly enough. My heart was blazing with anger. Already I could feel myself locking up again. I hoped that it would only be like this until I saw Kuukai or spoke to Ikuto. If my heart locked up again, I don't know how long it would take to get back to a good place again. I had already come so far in such a short amount of time; I didn't want Tsumugu ruining it for me. It wasn't fair.

"Amu-chan, please say something." Tsumugu begged.

I continued to stare outside the car window. Houses and trees were flashing by, along with happy families out on their small gatherings. Watching the families made me miss the times when Tsumugu, Mama, and I would go out and spend time together. If Tsumugu hadn't screwed things over after Mama died, then we could've still spent time together like we did in the past…Like I said before, I had nothing to say to Tsumugu. The only one that needed to speak was him. If he expected me to talk to him, then he really was as selfish as I thought.

Before I forget, Ikuto did contact me on my birthday. Around an hour after Tsumugu left he called me. He spoke with constant apologies after almost every sentence. Now Ikuto's apology was an apology that didn't need to be said aloud. I knew that Ikuto had work to do and I knew that he wanted to spend time with his father. I could easily forgive him. However, Tsumugu had no excuse.

Tsumugu pulled up to a small house on the corner of a street. As nice as the house was, I couldn't enjoy its beauty. It was two stories tall with olive colored paint and a very dark brown roof. The house was surrounded by a small black iron fence and was flourished with bright green grass and brightly colored flowers decorating the front yard.

"We're here." Tsumugu announced as he got out of the car.

As amazingly beautiful as the house was, I couldn't be happy about it. Even when I entered the home—Tsumugu lugging my stuff behind me—I never got that homey feeling. It felt more like a hotel, and that I would be going back to Ryuu-san's house the next day. However, I knew that that was not the case. I knew that I would have to live here until I was eighteen and could move out on my own, or at least until Ikuto came back from Fukuoka. And who knows how long that will take.

Each room was covered with hardwood floors and the walls were all painted white. A kitchen, living room, and bathroom were located on the first floor while two bedrooms were located on the second floor. It wasn't the largest house in the world, but it was definitely just enough for two people. Tsumugu did well for once, but I still didn't approve of him becoming my guardian once more.

While huffing and puffing from lugging in one of my boxes, Tsumugu explained while setting the box down, "The house is nearby the school. Down the street there's also a shopping center. It's a really good location."

Acting as though I was completely ignoring him, I walked up the stairs. I could tell that Tsumugu was disappointed that I wasn't talking to him, but that didn't really matter to me at this point. When my mother and little sister died, I was disappointed. When I got a concussion and two broken limbs, I was disappointed. When I was put into a foster home for over seven years, I was disappointed. Tsumugu deserved to be disappointed. I thought of it as his compensation for the things he did.

When I reached the top floor I saw that there were two doors. I remembered Tsumugu saying something about the window in my room facing the front yard when he was explaining the living situation to me on my birthday, so I steered to my left and opened the door there. The room was completely empty, so I assumed that it was my room.

The room seemed pretty cozy. It wasn't exactly big, but I could fit my bed and desk inside nicely. There was also a walk-in closet on the left side of the room where I could put all of my clothes. The room was nice. The man I had to live with was not nice. This was going to be a problem.

I looked over to the right side of the room where a ribbon-type object was sticking out near the top of the wall. It was just about thirty centimeters below the ceiling so I could just barely reach it. I tugged on it, and the wall popped out. I steadied it with my hand, making sure that it didn't fall on me, while I slowly walked backwards. Once it was almost all the way down I realized that it was actually a bed that was hidden inside of the wall. I suppose it was pretty…unique?

"I see that you found your new bed." Tsumugu came into my room, holding the heavier box from earlier. He put it down on the ground near my door. He told me, "I'll bring up your boxes and you can unpack them, okay?"

I didn't even look at him. I was still so angry at him for all the things that he did that I didn't think that he deserved to be forgiven easily. He might be forgiven eventually, but now was definitely not the time. Right now he completely disgusted me. He agitated every fiber of my being. I couldn't stand it. As repetitive as I may sound, it's all that I can think of right now! I just can't believe him!

"Okay, then…" Tsumugu said hopelessly as he left the room again. I think that he knew I wasn't going to speak to him for awhile. He saw how angry I was on Thursday, so I highly doubt that he would try and get on my bad side now.

Once I was sure that Tsumugu had left, I began opening the boxes that he left me. First my clothes, then my bed sheets, sooner or later he brought up my desk, and then I began unpacking all of my office supplies. I didn't have much to unpack. There was barely anything for me to do, really.

My heart almost stopped in mid-beat. My palms were sweating and my head was getting insanely dizzy. I began rummaging through every box, every clothing item, every bed sheet, every drawer in my desk, and every place I could think of. However, no matter where I looked I couldn't find it. It was nowhere to be found.

It frightened me. The fact that I could've lost it made me want to cry on the inside and outside for months and months to come. I sped down the stairs and saw Tsumugu leaning against the kitchen counter with a dark blue stuffed animal in his hands. He seemed innocent enough just sitting there, however I couldn't believe that he did this to me. My blood was boiling as I saw him staring at the stuffed animal.

"Papa! What do you think you're doing?" I yelled at him.

"Ah, Amu-chan, is this your cat?" He waved the stuffed animal at me.

"It is." I calmed myself down and put my old façade back on.

He chortled, "You shouldn't be so angry about a stuffed animal. Aren't you a little too old—"

I marched right up to him and snatched the stuffed animal out of his hands. "I swear if you touch him again I'll kill you!" His little act made me infuriated.

With a sigh he said, "Amu-chan, it doesn't matter whether or not you forgive me. It only matters that you talk to me. That's all I want."

This caught me by surprise. I never expected Tsumugu to say something like that. For the past seven years I could only think of him as a selfish, irresponsible dimwit that only cared about himself. Yet, I could see the honesty in his eyes and could even hear it in his voice. He only wanted me to talk to him; he never expected me to forgive him. According to him, having me yell and scream at him was better than having me not speaking to him at all.

"By the way," Tsumugu thought aloud, breaking my epiphany. "Did you call me 'papa' just now?"

A blush crept its way across my cheeks. I retorted, "S-shut up."

I turned around and walked away, not wanting to hear him say anything else. Once I was back in my room and by myself, I closed the door. I looked down at the stuffed animal. Overwhelmed with happiness I squeezed it as tight as I could. I never ever wanted to lose him. The stuffed animal was a present that Ikuto had gotten for me a few days before he left for Fukuoka. He had won it in one of those nearly impossible crane games. It was a small, dark blue cat with a three black stripes on top of its head and sapphire eyes. It reminded me of Ikuto, so I was glad when he won him for me. I ended up naming the stuffed animal Iku-chan, after Ikuto.

For the remainder of my day I ended up organizing all of my things and making my bed. You could say that it was a boring day, but I feel like I got a lot accomplished. By around four in the evening I finished unpacking completely. Once I had finished I lied down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Everything was so different now. Ryuu-san was no longer living with me, Tsumugu and I were now living together, and Ikuto was so far away. I liked it better when Tsumugu was out of my life, Ryuu-san and I lived together, and Ikuto was still in Kawasaki. Now, everything was totally different. I really, really didn't like the change. If anything, it was something that I could do without.

I could feel my eyelids growing heavy as I lied there. The day had just been so long and tiring that I couldn't believe that I was still even awake. My eyes slowly closed themselves, allowing my mind to be enveloped in darkness. It was not long before I drifted off into a deep slumber.


Amu has gotten settled in with her father. Now she has to deal with her father with only a stuffed animal to help her cope. What will she do? Find out next week in chapter 3 of WAWT! Until next time!

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