Hey, guys! Wow. Suddenly I have twenty reviews. Thanks, peoples! XD Um... I can't really come up with anything to say. :) So onto the story then! Since that's what you guys came here to read and not the author's note. XP

To Bear Love's Cross

Chapter 8

"How much money do we need to pull it off?"

Sanjo-san made a face like she'd really wished Amu hadn't asked. She sighed regretfully before saying the number.

"At least ten thousand dollars."

Utau stared, not comprehending. Amu felt light-headed, as if she was on the brink of passing out. "Ten... Thousand..." Amu mumbled, dazed. Utau said nothing. "This is a dream, isn't it?" Amu said. "It has to be. It can't be real. After all the work we did it all just turns up to nothing?"

Sanjo-san glanced at Amu sympathetically before looking down at the papers in front of her, not reading them.

"But this can't happen!" Amu exclaimed. "We worked so hard and we earned so much! We can't just lose this... just like that!"

"Amu, please calm down," Sanjo-san soothed. "I know how you feel about this, and I felt the same way when I first heard it. But these kinds of things happen in life sometimes and we just have to-"

"No!" Amu exclaimed. She had completely forgotten all sense of manners in her anger. "We don't have to get over it! We don't have to drop it and bow down like this! Sanjo-san, please understand!"

"Amu, you need to understand that we are a small church with limited funds. We can't go spending money on everything. This is just one thing that we can't do. Ten thousand dollars is too much for our church to pay for. We can't afford it."

"Yes, but with others help we can."

Amu and Sanjo-san turned to Utau. Her face was a steely mask of determination. "Maybe we can't pay for it by ourselves, but if we keep holding fundraisers, then we'll get there eventually. Right?"

Amu and Sanjo-san simply stared at her as the idea she'd suggested sunk in. Ten thousand dollars... Could they really pull it off? That was a lot of money. But they had made two thousand thus far.

"How can you be so confident about something like this?" Amu asked, amazed at the blonde girl's determination. "How can you just not give up?"

Utau glanced at Amu and smiled. "Well, when I'm older-actually, not when I'm older. As soon as possible, I want to be able to share my voice with the rest of the world. But there's going to be a lot of struggling to get to where I want to be. How can I give up just like that? What kind of rising star does that?" Utau stuck her tongue out at the two others.

Slowly, a smile crawled onto Amu's face. "Ten thousand dollars, huh?"

Snajo-san's eyes widened. "Girls, I know you really want to do this, but it's just not possible-"

"Sanjo-san, if we do this, the church doesn't have to pay for it at all," Amu said, eyes glimmering. "We can do it! We already have two thousand dollars. That's already a fifth of what we need. Come on! Please?"

Sanjo-san stared at both of the girls in turn. She sighed. "I suppose that you can." The young girls squealed happily. "But!" The two turned back to her. "You have to have all the money within three months."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed.

"After that month we need to get started on our next activity. If you can't get it done by then, we'll be doing another picnic."

"Aw, not another one!" Utau groaned. "Okay, Amu, now we have to raise ten thousand dollars in three months. I am not doing another picnic. That was unbelievably boring. Not happening." Utau grabbed Amu's wrist and dragged her into the kitchen. "We're getting started on the baking, Sanjo-san! Try not to interrupt us! We need to do this fast."

The older woman watched their retreating backs. She smiled a small smile. "Those girls are going to do amazing things one day."


Ryou Kurosawa leaned against a wall, bleeding, panting.

He hadn't started crying. Yet. He knew that he was going to. It was coming. Just a few more hits and he was done for. He would be reduced to begging for his life at that point. But at this point he was still clinging to the idea that the Phantom would just turn around and leave just as suddenly as he'd come. The odds were low, however. It was the Phantom; he wouldn't leave until Ryou was sobbing on the ground, unable to get back up.

That's what he'd heard, at least.

Ryou pulled a knife out of his pocket, moaning in pain. Even moving his arm that small distance nearly made him collapse. He stared at the Phantom who stalked toward him eerily. He was wearing all black, which made his white mask stand out even more against the darkness.

Ryou was trembling. He'd always wondered why so many people were being beat up so severely. No, not why; how. After all, everyone who'd been attacked was a criminal. All of them had been on their guard from the police or, more recently, the Phantom. So how was it possible that he managed to always hurt them so much? How hard could it possibly be to defend yourself against one guy?

Impossibly so, apparently.

The Phantom kicked Ryou right in his stomach. Ryou keeled over, dry heaving. He dropped his knife and it scattered away from him. The Phantom planted his foot in the middle of Ryou's back, flattening him effectively. The criminal banged his chin against the ground with such force he was surprised that his jaw wasn't broken. He tried to stand again, but the Phantom simply forced him back down.

"Ryou Kurosawa," the Phantom said. The man in question shivered as best he could. The man's voice was as cold as ice down the back of his shirt. "Accused of embezzling, theft, kidnapping-you know, the girl from a year back. No one could find her. And no one ever did. So tell me, did you get bored of her and kill her? Or is she still trapped in some dark place where no one else can get to her aside from you? She's probably-oh, what, fourteen now? I'm pretty sure that pedophilia is against the law too."

"She loves me!"

"Try Stockholm Syndrome. Ever heard of it?"

Silence. And then Ryou slowly started to laugh. "Ha. Stockholm Syndrome. That's funny. You wouldn't know, of course-that love transcends the boundaries of age. And sometimes... Sometimes watching alone just isn't enough. And you just have to have them. Just because it's against the law doesn't mean it's not good. And by the way... She's not fourteen now. She's twelve."

The Phantom froze at that number. "Twelve?"

Ryou laughed a little before coughing. "Yep. Twelve years old now. And I've had her for two years. And she loves me just as much as I've always loved her. It took her about six months to come to terms with the fact that she loved me. For the first few months she would scream and cry that she wanted to go back to her family, her friends, her life-but then she finally realized that she needed me more than she needed them. That I'm all she needs. That I'm all she'll ever-"

The Phantom stomped on Ryou's head hard. Ryou felt his nose shatter into a million shards. He screamed and started crying, just like he new he would. "You make me sick. But as tempting as it is to kill you on the spot, I don't want to rack up a list of kills. Besides. That's too good for you. You're going to wish you'd never been born by the time that I'm finished with you. But before I do that, let me tell you something first."

He leaned over and whispered in Ryou's ear, "Unless you want me to pay you another visit, let the girl go and make like a dead man. Change your name, no more crimes, and stay low. Or you're going to regret it. Strongly."

And Ryou regretted every minute of his entire criminal life for the rest of the night.


Utau and Amu sat in Sanjo-san's car the morning after their baking spree, leaning on one another, their eyes heavy as weights.

The night before, they'd been unable to stop baking when they'd finished what they said they would. Somehow they just couldn't bring themselves to stop until they'd finished everything. Literally neither of them had gotten any sleep. And they'd made more than people had ordered too; they were going to set up a stand that afternoon where people could pick up what they'd asked for and if anyone else wanted something then they could buy it. They weren't getting their hopes up, but ten thousand dollars was a lot; they would take anything they could get.

"Amu..." Utau groaned. "I'm tired."

"I bet that I'm even more tired..."

"No you aren't. I'm way too tired for you to be more tired than me."

"No, I'm too tired for you to be more tired than me."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Girls?" Sanjo-san asked. "Are you sure you're okay? We can always do this tomorrow, you know-"

"No!" both of the girls screamed at once, suddenly energized. "We are doing this today," Utau added. "We just spent all night making those sweets. We aren't going to let them get even a little bit stale."

"Okay then," Sanjo-san said, backing off. "You can do it. Just don't over-exert yourself. You still need to do well in school and fulfill all your other needs."

"We know, Sanjo-san," the girls said simultaneously. There was silence in the car.

When they got to their school, the girls departed, saying their goodbyes.

Today was going to be a rough day.


It was just as rough as Amu and Utau had imagined it would be. They almost fell asleep in all of their classes. They had short fuses. They were constantly worried about the stand.

When the final bell finally rang, the two charged out of their classrooms and to the stand that Sanjo-san had been nice enough to set up for them. Everything was already in order; the sweets, the sign, the stand itself. When Sanjo-san saw them coming, she waved. "I have to go! Good luck, girls!" Sanjo-san turned around and walked back to her car, driving away.

Amu and Utau stood behind the stand, breathing heavily. They'd run as fast as they possibly could with their backpacks for the distance from their classrooms to their stand. In other words, a long way. They both dropped their backpacks. Then the students poured out of the school buildings. "Ah!" Amu exclaimed. "Hurry up and get yourself together! People are coming!"

They walked closer. And closer. And closer. They were right next to them.

And then they passed them up.

Amu blinked. She was sure that at least half of those girls had ordered something from them. And she'd seen them look over at the stand. And then she heard them talking.

"Ugh, are you kidding me? Ikuto's not there? I'm not buying any of their stupid food. As if it would be any good. Besides. I need to cut down on my fat intake. I'm getting chubby."

Amu deflated. They weren't coming. She could practically see the money they'd earned flying out the window.

Utau's eyebrow twitched. She was not taking this. She and Amu had worked hard. And those girls were going to take what they asked for. "Hey!" Utau yelled. "We have the sweets that you all wanted! Come and get them! This is the only day that we're giving them out!" Amu winced at the attitude that Utau spoke with. Note to self: Never aggravate Utau.

The girls who'd ordered things turned and stared at Utau. "Excuse me?" one of the girls said. "Look, just because we asked for them doesn't mean we have to buy them. So you can keep your stupid candy and go fu-"

"Hello, ladies."

Amu whirled around.

"Iku-I mean, Ikuto-sempai." Amu stared at the tall teenager with surprise in her eyes. When had he gotten there?

"Hello, Amu," he replied. "Hello, Onee-chan." Utau glared at her brother but Amu could see the affection in her eyes.

"I-Ikuto," the girl who'd been talking back to Utau stuttered. "Well, hello. I didn't see you there. Well, I wasn't buying the sweets because, um... My mom... My mom is picking me up today, and I really can't be late. She'll be so upset with me if I don't get there when she comes."

"When she comes?" Ikuto asked. "As in she's not here yet? Oh, I'm sure you have enough time to pick up you're things." Ikuto smiled mischievously at the girl. She all but drooled.

"Uh... I guess." She dug around in her bag, looking for money. "O-Oh, here it is! Uh..." The girl handed it to Amu who asked for her name. "Miyaki Fujioka." Amu found her name and got what she'd ordered: five lemon squares, five taffies, and five of everything else.

"That'll be... forty-one dollars." Amu stared in surprise at the number, checking her math. But she checked it three times; that was right. Forty-one dollars... Forty-one...

The girl handed over the money. Amu handed her the sweets in return. Before Amy could give it to her, Ikuto grabbed a lemon square from the pile. Amu was about to yell at him to put it back, but she remembered that she was at his portion of the school ground and he was older than her. Ikuto-sempai. As in she had to be polite to him. She made a fist with her hand. "Ikuto-sempai, could you please-?"

"Come here, Miyaki," Ikuto said, ignoring Amu and unwrapping the lemon square. As if in a trance, she stumbled over to him.

"Yes, Ikuto?" she said flirtatiously. At least, it was meant to be flirtatious, but in her trance-like state she couldn't quite manage it.

"Open your mouth for me, would you?"

"What? Why do you want me to open my-?"

Ikuto stuck a corner of the lemon square in Miyaki's mouth, smiling seductively. She blushed like a cherry a batted her eyes. "It's good, isn't it?" Ikuto asked. Miyaki bit down and ate the small piece. Her eyes widened and she looked back up at Ikuto in surprise.

"Wow. This is... Really good."

Ikuto smiled again. "Isn't it?" He smirked devilishly. "Would you mind if I had some?"

Miyaki stared at him for a second before shaking her head rapidly. From the same corner she'd eaten from, Ikuto bit down and took a little for his own. Miyaki blushed again. Amu was also blushing. Miyaki had bitten from that corner. And then Ikuto put his mouth where hers had just been. Did that qualify as an indirect-?

"Oh my goodness," Amy whispered. No one heard her over the roar of the girls in the crowd. Suddenly all of the girls crowded around the small stand, demanding that they have their sweets. It was just like the moment in the cafeteria. But now there were others who were waiting in line to buy something due to the comment of how good it was. Amu smiled as she gave things back to the people.

This was all thanks to Ikuto. He'd really helped them out by getting all those girls to order from Utau and Amu. She wondered if he'd done that on purpose. If he had, then that was really impressive. To be able to get most of the girls in the cafeteria to ask for something from Amu and Utau was really mirac-

Amu froze. She replayed the two scenes that she'd witnessed. The one in the cafeteria and the one with Miyaki. She recalled Ikuto's actions. Oh, no, Amu thought. Oh, no, no, no. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Amu turned to Ikuto. "Ikuto, don't you dare leave after this," she whispered. "I have to have a word with you."

When everyone was gone, Utau said that she'd count the money. Amu grabbed Ikuto's sleeve and dragged him over under a tree in the shadows. "Amu," he said mischievously. "You're bringing me in the shadows? I'm worried. Are you trying to make a move on me?"

Amu whirled on Ikuto. "How could you do that?!"

Ikuto blinked. And then blinked again. And then again. "What?"

"How could you... How could you just manipulate those girls' feelings like that?! What were you thinking? Ugh, Ikuto! Why would you do that?! Those girls really care about you-"

Ikuto's eyebrow twitched. "They don't care about me. They care about my looks and my image. They are not the same thing."

"Regardless, what you did was still wrong!" Amu groaned. "Oh, gosh. This is awful! So I just took the money of girls who were manipulated into buying the sweets." She glared up at Ikuto and yelled, "Don't talk to me!"

Amu stalked away from the shocked teen.

"Utau, let's pack up," Amu growled. "We're leaving."

Utau blinked. "What's wrong?"

Amu replied, "Just pack up."

Utau stared at her for a moment longer before packing up as Amu had asked. While she was doing so, Utau looked back to where Amu and Ikuto had been.

Ikuto was gone.

Lord Jesus, there is anger in my heart and I cannot root it out.
I know I should calm down and offer the hurt and dissapointment to You,
but my emotion is running away with me.
Help me overcome this weakness and give me peace of heart as well as mind.
Let me learn from this experience and grow into a better human being.
Amen.

Aww, man. Amu, sometimes you really aggravate me. Argh! (Lena: Lol argh. Pirate sounds. Ooh, pirates make really good main characters in romance stories. You know, the ones where they all get together and do dirty- Me: Just stop.) I learned last night that some of my best and weirdest stuff sprouts from when I'm writing but I don't know what to write(not writer's block, just not knowing what to write). It's pretty funny actually. But what did you guys think? Good, bad? Review, fave, follow. Appreciate them all! :)