Well, here goes another chapter.

I want to say something about the time period, first of all.

It takes place a bit in the past, before things like cell phones, digital clocks, really nice cars, and when not everyone had television. That's how I tend to imagine this story, in a setting like that. I kind of hint at it, but probably not well enough for people to pick up on, so I'm just informing you all how I see it in my mind when I'm writing it.

I love writing about the past, even though I really know very little about it. So even though I'll probably get things wrong, I just find it fun to place the setting in the past a little. So yeah, I just wanted to let you all know that. ;D

Also, about those song lyrics. They won't always intentionally have anything to do with the chapter, I just put them there because I happen to like the song :P

On with the chapter!

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Stolen

Part Four:

Uncomfortable Circumstances

What was stolen?

In an unchanging world.

What did I hear?

A colorful song.

Everything is bright...

-World End by Flow

She sat. And she sat. And still, she sat. Her back was rigid, her face fixed on the floor, her feet planted firmly on the ground as she sat.

He watched her as she sat, staring at the ground.

His expression was that of someone who was both mildly interested and lazy at the same time.

Hers was that of someone who had just witnessed a murder, or someone who was in the middle of a prison break.

The silence wrapped around them felt impenetrable; neither made a move to break the silence.

Can't he just let me go. Let me go, let me go...

Her eyes flicked up briefly to his face, where she saw that same, stupid and amused smirk she had been seeing for the past twelve minutes. The same smirk she so wanted to wipe off his face.

However, she restrained herself, remembering that she was a girl and he was a boy, and that not many girls were physically able to take on such a perverted and well-built older guy like him.

She cleared her throat, as if to speak, but then just sighed and fidgeted a little in her seat, as though she had though better of it.

This silence is killing me.

However, Amu was at a loss for words and for thoughts. All she wanted to do was just go home and sleep and sleep and sleep until a few years went by. Just this very silence alone was wearing her out even further, and the fact that she was still feverish (oh, if only she had figured this out when she had woken up, this would have saved so much strife!) left her no choice but to remain here...wherever here was.

There were so many questions on her mind that she started feeling dizzy. If it was one thing she hated more than this awkward silence, that was having questions and not being able to have them answered. Oh sure, she could ask them, but it wasn't likely he was intending to answer honestly.

She could feel her eye twitching as she glanced up again, feeling nothing but irritation in the presence of that 'holier-than-thou' smirk that seemed ever so full of mystery and confidence.

Whenever she had attempted to question him, he would either get too close for comfort, or smile that cryptic smile and say, "Well, curious are we?" Thus, she never received her answers. The temptation to try again was very strong, but she somehow resisted. How? It was beyond her, but she would have to hold her tongue until he decided to say something first.

And he was also difficult to read. Something else she had learned in this small amount of time. All he did was stretch himself out lazily across two chairs, shifting on occasion, that small smile never leaving his face.

His eyes were focused on her, something that made these circumstances even more uncomfortable.

Amu cleared her throat again; the temptation to ask another question was far too strong.

"Where is this?"

He looked directly into her raised eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement. She blushed a little, but prayed that it would not be noticeable because of her fever.

"Ah. Such an interesting question that is."

She narrowed her eyes, feeling immensely irritated with his vague and airy answers.

"This location. Where is this place located? You practically kidnapped me and now you aren't even telling me where we are."

He shrugged. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Is it so difficult to explain?"

"Perhaps."

"Argh."

She had stood up during this, her hands on the table. Realizing that he still would not answer, she flopped back down on the chair, crossing her legs and deliberately turning away.

"But...since you are here..."

She heard his chair scrape against the hard floor, hear his footsteps come up behind her.

"Why don't we enjoy ourselves a little?"

His voice was lowered to a little more than a whisper, his lips by her ear. She gave a jolt, flinching and flushing darkly.

"G-go away." She was tripping over her own words.

He chuckled breathlessly by her ear as he wrapped an arm around her chest, preventing her from moving.

"I don't think it's right of you to kick someone out of their own house, now do you?"

She blinked, momentarily surprised by this piece of information.

"Your...house?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes and releasing her, seeming disappointed that she killed the mood from a few seconds ago.

"Yes, my house. You know, a place with a roof and walls, that you live in?"

"I know what a house is!" She snapped, standing up and glaring at him directly.

"Of course, of course." He sighed and left the room, running one hand through his dark locks.

I'm in...his house?

"Oh yes, and one more thing."

She blinked as she heard him reenter the room. Before she could react, his face was but a few inches from hers.

"The ill should be in bed." He whispered, his breath tickling her nose.

With that, he exited the room again, taking long, graceful strides.

Amu stood there in surprise with her mouth slightly open, eyes wider than usual.

"That guy...I don't get him."

Shaking her head, she returned to the couch where she had previously been. Curling up under the covers, she stared at the dark curtains and walls, letting her mind wander.

He was an enigma. She hardly knew him at all. Yet, he always acted far too familiar with her. It was disconcerting.

She also didn't know how he had found her. She had collapsed in the rain near her house. Of course, he knew where her house was. But the fact that he had discovered her in time only meant one thing.

He was coming over anyway?

She shook her head and pulled the blankets up over her face, taking a few deep breaths.

Then, she remembered the smell. The whole room had smelled strangely familiar, and now she knew why.

It was his smell. That's why it was familiar. He had spent a whole night in her room that time, so she had vaguely remembered it.

But the fact that she recognized it at all...

"What am I, a lovesick schoolgirl? You're an adult now Amu, get a hold of yourself. Start thinking maturely." She said under her breath, burying her face in the pillow and willing unconsciousness to come.

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When she awoke again, she felt horribly hot. Her head spun and she felt breathless and tired. Her head pounded and sweat beaded on her forehead. She stared at the ceiling through tear filled eyes. Her fever had undoubtedly increased, and she felt awful.

She took slow, shaky breaths, shaking so violently under the covers that her teeth chattered. She moaned quietly to herself. She would have never thought she would get this sick. It had been many years since she had felt this ill.

She curled up on her side, eyes wide open as she shivered, watching the lighting's flash through the dark curtains. Amu even forgot where she was as she pressed her hot forehead to her cold hands. She tried to breathe evenly and keep her shaking to a minimum as she pulled the blanket closer to her.

She was so far gone she didn't even hear the door open, nor did she notice Ikuto walking over to her until he was right beside her and spoke to her. His expression wasn't one she recognized; the only ones she knew were his smirking face and his serious face. As this expression was neither, her hazy mind couldn't figure out what he was really feeling.

He slipped his arms around her, carefully lifting her up, making sure the blankets were securely wrapped around her. Amu could have sworn the room was swaying as he carried her.

He lay her down in what she guessed was a bed, pulling the covers up over her shivering form. She looked up at his face, but she could hardly see it. She felt a cool hand on her forehead and wanted so badly to close her eyes and just sleep, but a strange feeling of worry prevented her from doing so.

He was so close to her. One arm was draped loosely over her, and he had one hand pressed gently to her forehead. She wanted nothing more than to move closer to him; he was so warm and so comfortable.

Her thoughts were foggy, she wasn't even sure what it was she wanted to say or what it was she was even thinking, but she had to get this question out or she would not be able to fall asleep peacefully.

She lifted a trembling hand to his face, her voice shaking so badly it was difficult to speak.

"W-what's with th-that e-expression?" Her whisper was hoarse and shaky.

He did not answer; if he did, she was already drifting off to sleep, too tired and sick to keep her eyes open any longer. However, just before she fell asleep, she felt him pull her closer to him, almost hugging her. She had no objection. He was just too warm and comfortable.

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He took another drag on the cigarette as he stood in the shadows of the building, watching the rain fall. It was late at night, no one else in their right mind would be out at this hour in the rain.

He wouldn't be here either, were he not waiting for someone.

As soon as he heard footsteps, he sighed.

"Oi, took you long enough." He said with a bit of impatience, exhaling the smoke.

The other sighed. "Stop smoking. It irritates me." He had a deep, hoarse voice.

The two stood in the shadows for a few minutes in complete silence; the only sound was the rain.

"You know what's going to happen if we let this go on?" The other asked, sounded slightly angry.

The first ran one hand through his graying, chestnut hair. "I know. Don't you worry, I already told you this.

I know what I'm doing, the problem will be gotten rid of."

The other pulled his hood down lower over his face. "For the sake of your life, it had better be."

With that, he walked away.

The first sighed, put out his cigarette, and entered the building just behind him.

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When Amu awoke, she felt comfortable. Blinking, she sat up, yawning, remembering that this time, she wasn't at home.

Her head still hurt a little, but she felt a great deal better already. Rubbing her forehead, she tentatively stood up, stretched, and headed to the next room. She stopped in the doorway, frowning. Something didn't feel right. She didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. She remembered that she had been asleep on that old sofa, not in a bed.

She retraced her steps, determined to get to the bottom of this. Did she sleepwalk?

Confused, she walked back over to the sofa, sitting down on it. If I remember falling asleep on the sofa, why did I wake up in a bed? And not just any bed, but Ikuto's?

This dilemma was one that was making her head hurt worse, and she was not getting anything figured out by sitting here.

"Oh well, it's probably unimportant all the same." She stretched again. It was probably best she be heading home today.

As she stretched, she realized something. "These...aren't my clothes."

She examined what she was wearing. It was an over sized black t-shirt, and baggy, gray sweatpants. The collar of the shirt was a good deal wider than her neck, so it showed a good portion of the skin on her shoulder.

"Wait...if I didn't change myself...then..."

She did not want to think about it. However, she was thinking about it.

"IKUTO TSUKIYOMI!" Enraged, despite the fact that her head hurt, she stormed into the room they had been in yesterday, the small room that only had a table, two chairs, and a counter.

He was there, sitting casually in one of the chairs, arms behind his head.

"Yes?" He asked, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.

"Y-you...changed me. My clothes. You. Changed. Them."

He shrugged nonchalantly and then nodded. "Yeah."

She had to blink several times. Did he not understand?

"You. Saw. Me n-n-naked?" She cleared her throat after that, feeling awkward now that she had said the word.

He only shrugged again. "Yeah. Not a big deal."

She turned to him then, rage reignited.

"N-not a big DEAL? NOT a big deal?" She spluttered, mouth opening and closing, face flushed red, eyes wide. "I consider it a really big deal!"

He grinned, raising his eyebrows at her. "If you worried about what I think, you're not too bad. A little bit flat in the chest department though, so it wasn't much to look at."

Her jaw dropped again. This guy...was going to make her pop a vein at this rate. How perverted could he get? And talking about her...her...well, lack of development in the chest area so casually? Despite the embarrassment and pure rage she felt at that remark, she also felt self-conscious.

Having nothing more to say to him, she turned on her heel and walked away. "I'm leaving. I am LEAVING. I'm gone, good bye, and good bye." She threw her hands up in the air as she left, wishing there was something hard she could hit herself on the head with.

Ikuto, however, only smiled a little as he watched her throw a tantrum. "So noisy. And in the morning too."

He yawned, stretching as he stood up and sauntered over to where Amu was pacing and muttering to herself, still flushed as she tugged at her hair. She hadn't noticed him yet.

He had to admit, she was rather amusing to watch when she was talking to herself. He usually frustrated her to see her reactions, for they almost always interested and amused him. She was much different and so much more interesting than any other girl he had been around.

Groaning, she spun around again, only to come face to face with Ikuto. Her hands dropped from her hair and her eyes widened. She blushed, then made a move to walk by him. Ikuto, however, would have none of that.

He seized her around the waist, hugging her to his chest so her back was against him. Once she got over the initial shock, she began to struggle, blushing even darker as she attempted to escape from him. However, he was a good deal stronger than her, so she couldn't budge as long as he held onto her.

Realizing this, Amu gave up and dropped her arms with a sigh, the blush still on her cheeks.

"What do you want?" She asked this in an offhand way, but the way her eyes darted around the room and the way her blush darkened ever so slightly showed that she was feeling anything but offhand. She was quite good at injecting the aloof nonchalance into her voice, however.

Deciding to have a little fun, he grinned in a way that Amu (for a split second only!) thought was sexy and lowered his lips to her ear.

"You." He whispered, breath tickling her ear so that she shivered.

She weakly squirmed again, but he only held her tighter. "Now we can't have any of that." He said, still whispering seductively into her ear.

Why does this guy have to be so damn attractive in everything he does! I bet he's even attractive dressed up in nothing but a paper bag!

The thought made her blush even more darkly. Nothing but a paper bag...she really needed to cleanse her mind. Get away from all thoughts of partially naked men, no matter how sexy or attractive or cute or seductive or sexy or hot they might be.

In the name of all that is holy, I beg you God, cleanse my mind of all evil thoughts.

He only smirked. "Something wrong, Amu?"

She bit her lip, feeling her body go limp. What the hell? He had such an effect on her!

Deciding to take this a little further, Ikuto lowered his head to her ear again, and when she least suspected it, he put his lips to her earlobe and nipped it playfully.

The effect was instantaneous.

She leaped out of his arms, and he let her. She was a mess, spluttering and stuttering as she fell backwards and landed on her behind. Still spouting gibberish, she scooted away from him and ran her hands through her pink hair in frustration, messing it up.

"I-I'll be going now!" She said, in a voice that was much louder than necessary, and dashed off to the bathroom where her clothes were left to dry.

Ikuto could only shake his head, chuckling to himself. She was far too amusing for her own good.

And for a second, he had thought of her as 'cute' rather than 'interesting'.

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She shuffled her feet awkwardly as he stood not very far behind her.

"Is it necessary for you to invade my personal space like this?"

He only smirked, not answering.

She sighed as she unlocked the front door to her own house, stepping out of her boots as she came inside.

Sighing, she turned back to Ikuto. "You can come in if you want..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why invite me in so suddenly?"

She blushed. "Well, I guess...as thanks for taking care of me."

"Are you sure that it's not to finish what we started?"

He smirked as the meaning of those words sunk in. She gasped, face flooding with color. "N-no! It's not like that! I-it's not like I'd enjoy something like that, anyway." She folded her arms across her chest, obviously still embarrassed about the whole ordeal.

"My, my, so defensive." He shook his head, chuckling. "As tempting as it is to come in and do some more of this and that to you, my dear Amu, I'll have to reject the offer."

She humphed, then said, "Well it's the same to me either way. And I don't even want to know what you mean by that."

He grinned. "Well, of course I mean going a little further than last time. Like touching your--"

"NO!" Red faced she shouted, eyes wide. "Please, do not finish that sentence."

He shrugged, clearly amused. "Whatever you say, Amu."

With that, he dashed away and was gone.

Furrowing her eyebrows and holding her hands to her hot cheeks, she closed the door behind her. Lost in a daze, she returned to her room and fell down face first on her bed, enjoying the familiar smell of home, but at the same time, she knew that deep down, she was missing another.

"Ugh." She rolled over on her back, glaring at the ceiling.

She knew she was sunk now. God forbid it, she was not only a little bit attracted to him, she was developing what she thought was a tiny, tiny crush. And there was no way this could be happening to her.

She rolled back over again, stifling another groan.

"All the more reason I require the services of a therapist."

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Yay, another chapter done! I feel like rejoicing. This took a while, and I'm sincerely sorry ._.;;

Please review, I really wanna hear from you guys! The more awesome review I get from you guys, the more inspired I get to write longer and better chapters!