Mirene: Okay, so I killed off the 'update every two days' thing. But I had good reasons! I am currently on vacation and have been for a while. Plus my account got locked thanks to some stingy admins, so I couldn't post anything for three days, not to mention all the drama. But here I am right now in my room, trying to type this up. Plus I have summer school and summer crushes to deal with.
Amu: No one cares about your excuses, Mirene.
Mirene: I think with the time so far I can only type up the disclaimer, so if it seems choppy—the chapter, I mean—then sorry!
Ikuto: Don't forget about the incredibly important poll on her profile! It depends on Mirene's stories' lives!
Mirene: And so, I don't own Shugo Chara! whatsoever, Peach Pit has all those rights and everything... Enjoy the chapter, okay?
Chapter 4
"Amu!" Utau yelled from door to door, panicking as she checked each room. The hospital had called her and told her that Amu was in the intense care unit where she was being treated, and they allowed visitors for a short time at night. When Utau got there, however, the doctor said there was no one named Hinamori Amu in this unit. That made Utau extremely worried and nervous.
"Amu!" she yelled as she reached a locked door that said, 'Authorized Personnel Only'. Utau rolled her eyes as she ignored the sign and pushed the doors open anyways.
"Hey!" A doctor with a strange accent said. "Personnel only ma'am, can't ya read a word on this here door?" Utau pushed her way though, but the lady doctor was persistent on getting rid of her. "Ya think ya can run away from me, but ya can't! Secuuuuuuurity!" she screeched loudly as Utau sighed and calmed down, throwing her hands up.
"Fine, fine. I'm sorry, I'm just really worried about a girl named Hinamori Amu who has been transferred to this unit, but her name is apparently not registered in the front desk. I've been looking around for ages." The doctor glared at her. "I'm really, really worried about her. She's my best friend who is living with me." Utau gave her best puppy look to the woman.
The doctor sighed and flipped back her orange red hair, sympathizing with the blonde. "Fine. The name is Dr. Nana. I'll look through the files for you. and see if I find anything related to this patient of yours." Nana began walking away into her office while Utau stood there, unsure.
"What are ya waiting for?" Nana yelled from her office, only her head being visible. "Come on, ya blondie!" Utau nodded and scuffled over to the neat office filled with posters of jewelry and fancy dressed people. "Let's see, Hinamori Amu... Amu... Aha!"
"Where is she, doctor?" Utau asked impatiently. She couldn't wait much longer before she went insane with worry, though she wasn't the type to worry. She just couldn't help but feel it was her fault for giving her the clothes... She was sure Amu was hurt because of jealousy.
"Oh, I didn't find her. I just found me some chocolate banana bars online here for 50 percent off! I am so buying that!" Utau's vein emerged from her forehead.
"WHERE. IS. A-"
Before the bomb inside the blonde blew, Nana quickly spoke. "Found her. She's not in any of the unit rooms yet because they're still fixing her up in the emergency room since her burns are pretty bad..." she said.
'Burns?' Utau thought. "What do you mean, burns?"
"Ah, she has some severe burns on her back and neck, and her hands as well. She could have possibly been scalded...which would be unfortunate...but I'm sure she'll be fine, I heard it was just a small pot of soup."
"Soup?" Utau asked, confused.
"Well, don't ya know how she ended up here, blondie?" Nana asked, bewildered. Utau shook her head slowly. "Ya'll find out soon enough darling, now let me show ya to the waiting room for emergency patients, okay?" Utau nodded.
"Okay." Nana opened the doors that Utau previously entered through. "Ya go down this way past the unit rooms, past the door through the gardens, and ya should reach the emergency unit. Go straight in and take the first and only right ya see, the waiting room will be right there waiting for ya, it's not gonna run away," she explained before kicking Utau out. "Bye darlin'!" And the doors slammed closed as Utau heard the sound of locks clashing shut.
"Well... I hope I remember those directions," Utau muttered as she headed off.
"Oh dear..." Souko said, taking a left on the freeway to exit. "We've completely passed the hospital."
"Mother... when did we pass the hospital?" Souko checked the GPS on her car screen and tapped downwards a couple times...then a couple more times...and a few more... "Mother?"
"Oh... I was so distracted with the radio music, I went past eight exits in front of the hospital one. What a mistake... we'll have to turn around and get back on the other side of the freeway... Amu will have to wait just a bit longer."
The radio stopped the commercial ads and began playing a song. "Ooh! I love this song!" Souko said as she began singing to the song with her eyes closed. Ikuto tapped his mother's shoulder and she pulled over to the side. "Yes, honey?"
"I think I should drive, mother."
"If you really want to, dear." She quickly got out of her seat and Ikuto took the driver's seat. Souko plopped onto Ikuto's seat from before and continued to hum to the song happily.
'So much for being worried about Amu,' he thought as he began driving and taking the exit. 'Wait a minute...why am I even worried about her? Well, I guess she's important to the family, and it's only right that I give my sympathy...' he excused himself.
He took the exit and began driving towards the hospital.
'It should take about, maybe... 15 minutes to get to the hospital,' he thought as he stepped on the pedal. The freeway was suddenly getting a bit crowded as people began to leave from work around this time of night. He could barely touch the gas pedal now.
'Scratch that, maybe a little longer...'
"... Ouch..." Amu murmured as she blinked and opened her eyes, struggling to rub them, but there were needles and tubes preventing her from soothing her eyes. They were red and there was a large air bubble on her finger that stung.
"Ah, ya awake now aren't ya?" A doctor said as she hopped around from out of nowhere and into Amu's view from where she laid uncomfortably. Every time she shifted on the bed, her body hurt and ached.
"W-What happened?" Amu muttered tiredly. The doctor grinned and jotted down a few notes on her clipboard, seeming very positive. "And is this the hospital?"
"It sure is, girl! What happened is that ya tripped and another chef tripped over what ya tripped in the kitchen and the chef was holding a pot of soup, ya see. And it spilled over the back side of ya, but luckily ya protected your neck with ya hands and your hair was oily enough to prevent more burns."
Amu sighed, not paying attention. "When will I be leaving?"
"That bed is your home for the next few days or so, sweetie. And then we'll see if your burns get any better before ya leave."
"Are you serious?" Amu yelled, hurting her back in the process since she tried to sit forward. "Ow, ow, ow, ow..."
"Ya, your burns are pretty serious, I'd recommend not moving so much, ya know?"
The pinkette rolled her eyes before sighing and closing her eyes. "Well, guess I'll just go back to sleep then, right?"
"Nope, don't think ya wanna do that just yet, sweetie. You have a few worried visitors," the doctor said before walking towards the door. "Here, Utau, your friend," she said, letting the worried blonde come in and rush towards Amu's bedside, quickly taking a seat.
"Thanks, Nana," Utau murmured as Nana said, "You're welcome," and left through an 'authorized personnel only' door in the opposite corner from where Utau came from.
"Amu, are you okay? Tell me what happened?" Utau asked worriedly, attempting to touch Amu's hand but the rosette smoothly moved it away from the blonde. "Amu?"
"Burns on the hand, back, and part of my neck," Amu said. "So don't touch my hands?"
"Right, sorry," Utau murmured. "Tell me. Is this my fault? It is, isn't it. I should have never bought you all those clothes! Forgive me, Amu! But seriously, it can't all be my fault right? Those damn bitches did this to you, name them and I'll whoop their asses to a world of Charas!"
Amu laughed. "What are talking about, silly. This was never your fault. I was just chilling in the kitchen in the cafe where I worked at and slipped on a can of coffee creamer... Clumsy me, right? And then I got in the way of a chef that slipped up and the pot of soup crashed down on me. I don't remember much after that. I think I blacked out," Amu said, smiling. "But I'm fine now."
"I see," Utau said. "Well, I hope you feel better." She began digging through her purse that she brought with her and took out a pair of nerdy glasses. "The whole family is coming here soon to visit you, even Ikuto, so I thought you might need these..."
"Thanks, Utau. I don't know what I would do without you."
"You'd die of misery," Utau joked as she gently placed the glasses on Amu's face. "These still don't cover much of your beauty, but I'm sure Ikuto won't be in here long enough to notice. Your hair is a mess anyways."
"Good... Wait, I thought you didn't like my glasses?"
"I like them better than the way my brother treats you now," Utau scowled. "Idiotic imbecile, only remembering looks and not personality. Guess in the past, all he liked was your cuteness. Well, don't worry, you have old, awesome Utau beside you," she grinned comfortingly before a knock sounded from the door.
"Must be them," Amu whispered nervously. She didn't want Ikuto to find out. What if all he really liked were her looks? And if he liked her again for that reason, what if she couldn't say no to him still? She always kept a special spot for him in her heart...
Utau opened the door. "Well, hello there Tsukiyomi's, but I'm afraid you aren't allowed to be here. Visiting hours are over."
"Oh Utau, stop joking around and let us in!" Souko squealed. Amu sighed when she heard a familiarly unwanted voice.
"Utau, just move so we can quickly get over thi- over to Amu." Utau snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Of course, MASTER IKUTO," she curtsied sarcastically as the two guests entered the room.
"..." Ikuto stood in the corner silently as Utau and Souko fussed over Amu. He couldn't see Amu's face very clearly since the lights were too bright—driving in darkness for a long time does that to a person. He rubbed his eyes but the slight blurriness refused to leave. He needed some sleep.
"Ikuto, come over here and talk to Amu," Souko said, gesturing for the blue haired boy to come over. He stayed glued to his spot, murmuring a quiet 'no thanks' under his breath.
"IKUTO, NOW."
He grumbled as he slowly strode towards Amu, who was looking down. He could recognize the pink, messy hair, the glasses, her unusually nice skin on her face. But it didn't register in his brain—he was too tired.
"You feeling okay?" he said, almost like a whisper. "Heard you got burned pretty, err, badly."
"Yeah," she said softly, her voice sounding like an angel's to Souko and Utau, but it simply sounded like a normal girl to Ikuto's. "I'm okay now, but I'll be staying here for a few more days I think..."
"I see," Ikuto said, standing straight but wobbling a little bit from exhaustion. It had been quite a long day. "Mother, I'm kind of tired. Can I go sleep at home? You can get home with Utau, and I have work tomorrow morning. It's Saturday tomorrow."
"Fine, fine," Souko said.
"Bye then, and get well soon," he mumbled before exiting.
"...That was awkward," Amu murmured. Souko laughed.
"That boy's reaction was hilarious. Do you think he saw Amu in a different way?"
"Maybe, mother. I hope so. He's been treating Amu by looks lately," she said. "And her classmates too, apparently."
"I said it was my fault, Utau, not the school's," Amu mumbled, slightly rubbing her reddened hands to get at an itch. "Well, like Ikuto thought, it's getting late. Maybe you guys should get some sleep too, it's a Saturday tomorrow. Don't want to waste it away with sleep."
"You're right, Amu. Good night then," Souko said. Utau smiled and picked a small music box from her purse.
"For you," she said as she set it on a small table and pulled it over for Amu. "It plays classical piano music," she opened the small, wooden box and up popped a singer with white clothing decorated with yellow diamonds. She had pink hair up in two side pigtails and was in a singing position, pointing to the stars. She spun around as Beethoven played gently. "I got it from Amulet Diamond for around one hundred dollars!"
Amu wanted to faint at the astounding price. "One hundred dollars!? It's so small though..."
"But it looks nice and I thought it looked kind of like you." She smiled. "It's your get well gift from me!"
"It's beautiful..." Amu murmured as she gazed upon the precious little spinning sculpture. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Good night," she said as she followed Souko out the door. Amu smiled as she replied good night to the empty space, since Utau had rushed out the door in search of her mother—she couldn't remember the way out.
The pinkette hummed along to the lullaby from the music box, soon falling into a gentle slumber.
Utau woke up on her frilly, lavender canopy bed in cold sweat as she stared at the alarm clock in her hands, which read 10:05 AM. She remembered scheduling a date with Kukai today, but what was the time... the time... the time... "Damn it Kukai, what was the set time?"
A buzz from her phone sounded from her night table and she quickly snatched it off the pale wooden surface. It was a text message from the same brunette. Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.
Where are you? Thought you said we would meet up at 10 AM at Tsuki Coffee Cafe?
"Fuck," Utau said as she quickly texted the boy back.
I'll be there at 12 PM. I JUST WOKE UP, LIKE, RIGHT NOW, LITERALLY. I'm so sorry!
She texted and sent the message while rushing to the bathroom to fix herself up. She would have to shower, brush her teeth, do a quick facial, touch up her nails, do her makeup, pick out some nice clothes, eat breakfast—she'd have to cook that since the butlers are off today... 'Damn, I should have set the time at 2 PM or something!'
But a text message destroyed all of that.
Never mind, let's just meet up some other time. I'm busy today after all. And for a while. I'll call you again when I'm free later on in the month. I probably won't be though. Don't keep your hopes up! Bye.
The phone screen blinked before turning off. Utau had forgotten to charge it last night, and now she couldn't reply. She sunk to her knees in the bathroom, looking up.
"I can't believe I fucked up." She whispered to herself. The month just started. Who knows how long she would be willing to wait? "How could he do that to me!"
Utau had always been calling him, texting him, face timing with him, chatting with him, playing games with him...he was her first real crush she had had in a while.
And he crushed her.
"I can't believe you just sent that to my freaking date!" Kukai shouted as he tried to snatch the phone back from Nagihiko, who had just found Kukai and played with his phone. And love life.
"Well, her fault for forgetting the time of your first date. She doesn't care and therefore she's not worth it," Nagihiko said, throwing the phone back to Kukai. "I'm the expert, so take my advice. Your phone turned off, by the way. Out of battery, apparently."
"Damn you, Nagi." Kukai cursed. "She was such a babe too! I really thought I liked her!"
"She doesn't feel the same way, so don't sweat over it bro," Nagihiko replied calmly. "Look, just chill with me today. I need your help anyways."
"You just killed off my chances with her by cancelling our first date for no reason but the fact that she woke up exactly when our date was set. Who cares?"
"She probably would have came at two instead of twelve anyways," Nagi said as he winked at the short, blonde waitress. She scowled in disgust and turned away. Nagihiko chuckled.
"What, you got a thing for that blonde?" Kukai asked curiously. Nagihiko just smiled happily. "Ah, so we both have something in common after all," the brunette spoke.
"And that is?" Nagihiko asked amusingly.
"Both our blonde crushes hate us now," Kukai announced to the purple haired boy as they both left.
"Ah, mine hated me already."
"I'm so bored," Amu murmured in her bed as she stared at the TV. Mizuki Nana was on live, singing Blue Moon. Amu was a big fan but she didn't feel like staying in a bed in a patient's robe watching TV for a few days. She would die of boredom.
"I wish I had a visitor or something," Amu muttered when all of a sudden, knocks came from the door. "W-whoa," she whispered. The doors were locked though, right? "Nana, there's someone at the door!" Amu yelled.
"Coming~" Nana said as she came from her office and opened the visitors' door for two people to come inside. "And who might you two be?"
"Friends," they replied. Amu couldn't see them since Nana blocked most of the door. All she could see were clothes, dark jeans and light jeans, a hoodie and a tee shirt. Sneakers adorned their feet. One had a beanie on and the other was a mess of brown hair.
"It can't be," Amu muttered.
Nana moved out of the way. "You guys have an hour to stay until visiting hours are finished. You can come back around 6 PM though until 8 PM, and then from that time to midnight is for family members only." She left back to her office.
"So, AMU~" Nagihiko said smiling as he took a seat next to her bed. Kukai shuffled uncomfortably as he sat down on a bench close to the corner while he stared at the TV. At least the pinkette had good taste in music. He really liked music and used to want to marry a singer when he was little, maybe four or five. But the girl he wanted to marry probably wanted to slit his throat right now. From the texts he'd been getting lately before the incident with Nagihiko, she wasn't the forgiving type.
Amu rolled her eyes. "What are you two doing here?" she asked icily. She wanted visitors, but not THESE visitors.
"Just visiting," Nagi said, smirking. Kukai sighed. Amu rolled her eyes.
"So, what happened to you?" Nagi asked. Kukai went over to Nagi.
"Yeah, might as well tell us a story while we're here," Kukai said. "Oh, and tell us how living with Ikuto is... and Utau." Amu was suspicious of the way he paused before saying Utau's name.
"Because, Amu," she said, returning to a more mature posture and manner, "I bumped into a cute brunette who really wanted my number and kept pestering me until I gave it to him," she said, squealing. "I learned that guys like the hard to get girls these days," she stated.
'It can't be,' Amu thought.
"Yeah, I'm kind of almost dating Utau right now... but Nagi made me ditch her. Do you think-"
"You're fucked," she said with a smirk. Kukai shriveled away sadly, whispering to himself while rocking in the corner, tearing up. Nagihiko looked confused.
"Is she that scary?" he asked, thinking about whether to console the boy or not. He was a flirt expert, not a get back together expert. He was like the opposite of that. Amu watched all of this with a small smile breaking out from her lips.
'Maybe today will be more amusing than I thought,' Amu thought.
Mirene: Well, there you go guys! I gave you a chapter! (: Maybe I'll go back to the two days thing, maybe not. I do hope I get a lot of reviews- even if I haven't updated in a while. And I have more stories to tend to! Dx
Amu: I'm in the hospital.
Utau: I got ditched.
Kukai: I am going to get fucked... in a bad way.
Ikuto: I... work?
Mirene: Please review, thank you!