Chapter 4:
Nightmare
"IKUTO WATCH OUT!" Amu yelled as she flew towards him. Without even thinking about it she pushed Ikuto out of the way and took the hard blow to her back that sent her flying across the room.
Her head hit the wall with a deafening crack making her fall to the floor in an almost lifeless heap. Ikuto's eyes burned with fury as he looked from Amu to the security guard who had done that to her. How could she have been so stupid to try and stop that man from hitting him?
Not wasting any more time, Ikuto ran over to Amu's side and checked to see if she was alright. His hands carefully ran over the back of her head and felt the warm sticky sensation of blood on his skin. She was bleeding and bleeding fast, he had to get her to the hospital immediately. The only question was how.
There were still quite a few security guards who had managed to still be fighting even though they looked as if they would pass out at any moment. He couldn't leave Tadase to fight the guards alone so as much as it hurt him to do so, Ikuto carefully put Amu's head down and hesitantly went to fight what would hopefully be the final battle.
Heat seemed to spread throughout his whole body as he grabbed one of the security guards by the collar and threw him towards a group of guards that were disentangling themselves from the massive pile of people. A cruel and sadistic laugh escaped his lips as he watched the guards as if they were worms in a bucket. The way they wiggled and pushed one another only made hurting them that much more fun. After they hurt his Amu there was no longer any forgiveness and kindness in his eyes as he continued to pick off the guards one by one. By the time that he was finished sweat had managed to drench his clothes and he was out of breath as he went over to check on Amu.
"I see that you managed to take out all of my guards…" a cold voice said sending chills down Ikuto's spine. "…now there is only one more option I have to hopefully make you learn your lesson…"
Ikuto turned around just in time to see his step-father pull out a gun and aim it at Tadase, who was leaning up against the wall. "TADASE!" Ikuto screamed as the gun went off.
Tadase turned around just in time for the bullet to pierce his heart, making him yell out in pain and drop to the ground like a pin. His eyes were full of fear and sadness as he pressed his hands to his chest and looked into Ikuto's eyes. "I love you big brother…" Tadase mouthed as he took his last breath and quickly faded away.
xXxXx
"TADASE!" Ikuto shouted as he sat up from his sleeping position. Cold sweat clung on to every part of his body making his clothes stick to him as he rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked towards the slowly rising sun. "It was just another nightmare…" he whispered to himself as he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He could once again feel the tears well up as he once again thought of that horrendous night.
No matter how hard he tried he would always dream of the same thing every night as if it wouldn't let him forget what his bad luck has done to hurt the ones he loves. He no longer loved to sleep like he did before any of this had happened, instead he despised everything about it because he knew that no matter what he would repeat that image in his head every time. It was as if a clip of a movie was stuck on repeat and you could do nothing to stop it.
Ikuto slapped his thigh as he tried to keep the tears from spilling over. Every muscle tensed up as he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath hoping that everything would just go away so that he wouldn't have to deal with any of it anymore. Unfortunately for him everything was still the same. He tried to close his eyes so that he could clear his head but for some reason Tadase and Amu kept popping up at the forefront of his mind and there was nothing he could do about it. So every breath, every movement made him feel as if pieces of his heart were slowly breaking off and at any moment there would no longer be anymore parts to break off.
His body felt numb and cold as the once clear sky quickly started to turn dark. The dark clouds rolled over the sky and quickly covered up the first few rays of sunshine that came over the horizon once again engulfing Ikuto in darkness. His face was no longer highlighted in light, instead it was now dark and foreboding as he sat and contemplated what he was going to do with his life now. There was no way he was going to be able to go back to Amu, he couldn't continue to see her and pain and couldn't stand it knowing that he is the one that caused it.
The first few drops of rain splashed onto his face and slid down his cheek slowly making its way down his neck to his shirt. Ikuto looked up at the dark sky and had to squint as the raindrops started to fall quickly and it wasn't long until it became more consistent as he continued to sit there and look up into the sky. With the little strength he had Ikuto lifted himself up off of the ground and went to explore this new city that he was in. He didn't care if he got wet, all he would get was a little cold and he'd get over it unlike Tadase who would never be able to walk this earth again.
He sighed and ran his hand through his wet hair and continued on his way down the unfamiliar streets that seemed almost comforting in a way. Something about not knowing anyone and having no idea where he was going seemed to calm his frantic mind making him shiver with pleasure. Maybe it was best for him to have left, Amu can start her new life and he could start his. With this on his mind the burden on his back seemed to feel lighter making him almost smile with relief. Maybe it would get better after all.
Ikuto knew that he would never fully be able to get over it but just knowing that maybe things would be just a little bit better made him believe that he could do some good after all. He laughed at the thought, he would never be good, and he would only hurt more people in the long run if he had stayed. The slight smile that had found its way to his lips slowly disappeared as that thought stayed in his mind and didn't seem as if it would get off anytime soon.
