A/N Sorry I haven't been around in the past while, I've been going through a kind of hard time recently but it's alright now! This is kind of another filler chapter-I'm sorry!-but I felt it was slightly necassary and I haven't exactly finished imagining what Amu's foster parents will be like. It's surprisingly difficult since I don't want to make them all Mary-Sues, but at the same time, I kind of want them to be a picture perfect, white picket fence kind of family. Oh well, I'll decide later, probably in the middle of my sleep -_-
Enjoy!
"Ahhhh, free at last!" Kukai stretched his arms around his head and sighed, a look of exaggerated content on his face. A sudden fist colliding with his shoulder toppled him to the left as he pouted miserably.
"Idiot. Amu was the one in the hospital not you." Rolling her amethyst eyes at the pouting brunette, Utau smiled slightly at his adorable expression before quickly blushing and turning away.
Smiling to herself, said hospital-free girl hummed merrily as Ikuto pushed her along in her now familiar wheelchair down the street until they arrived in front of a cheery looking restaurant and pushed open the door. The tiny bell chirped a welcome as a perky waitress walked up to them holding a few menus under her arm. "Hi there! Welcome to Cora's. Is it just the four of you or-"
Ikuto interrupted her coolly, already wheeling Amu deeper inside. "Just us."
Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's aloofness, Amu leaned back in her chair and couldn't help the ecstatic grin that spread across her face at the thought of finally being out of the hospital. Upon her discharge, the doctors assured her she'd make a full recovery as long as she took it slowly and refrained from any strenuous physical and too much pressure on her broken bones. To be honest, Amu was looking forward to the checkup she was scheduled to have two weeks from now. She'd finally be able to get the cast off her leg and be allowed to take the splint off her fingers. Besides, two weeks from now, all the bruises on her body should have faded and the stiches in her stomach would have fallen out and she would finally be able to stop taking the medication the doctors put her on. Her pills were mainly pain killers and antibiotics against infection but still, Amu hated swallowing pills, she felt like she would choke every time.
But Amu knew she shouldn't complain. In every aspect, she had it good. She wouldn't have any long time injuries, or a broken bone that would never heal right. Her internal organs were fine and she hadn't lost too much blood. The only downside to the equation were the needle-like scars that ran raggedly up and down her torso. When her father whipped her, it wasn't with the leather part of the belt, but the buckle itself. At certain points, the pin part had dug into her skin and ripped it out, sending pieces of skin flying into the air along with tiny droplets of blood.
The doctor had said that her scars would probably last forever, but Amu was okay with that. She remembered sitting with her mother one day as they flipped through her Japanese history book and stopped at a page about the later lives of soldiers. A picture of a man with a thin scar running across his neck had her asking the question of why he didn't get it removed. Her mother's answer would stay with her the rest of the life and was the reason she wasn't considering asking for plastic surgery.
"People get scars because they made a mistake, they didn't pay enough attention or their opponent got the best of them. When Kobayshi-san got captured, they held him at knife-point and were about to kill him when his comrades came in and rescued him. He kept that scar as a reminder of what happened and to motivate himself to get stronger. Instead of erasing his mistakes, he learned from it."
She had something to learn too. Amu would keep those scars to remind herself never to let anyone get the best of her ever again. She would keep them because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And she would be stronger.
Startled out of her musings, Amu realized with a sudden embarrassment that the waitress was looking down at her with a mixture of pity and impatience. "Will you be sitting at the end of the table?" she asked, looking down at her wheelchair questioningly.
"Oh, umm-"
"Actually, would you mind taking her wheelchair to the front? We can get it when we leave." Smiling at the waitress, Kukai pulled Amu up to her feet, careful to lean her on the opposite side of her leg and set her down delicately in the booth like chair as the waitress nodded hesitantly before going back to staring at the seemingly uncaring blue haired boy. Noticing her ogling her brother, Utau scowled and made a not to herself to keep an eye on her.
Her brother was taken.
"Can I bring you any drinks?" she asked perkily, sliding over the menus to her patrons and quickly scribbling down their responses.
"Just water, thanks." Kukai answered cheerily, intently examining the menu and contemplating with utter seriousness his potential order.
Snorting at his expression of life or death, Utau asked for the same thing her brother was getting which was apparently a steeped tea. Everyone on the table smiled as Amu cheerfully asked for chocolate milk, not feeling much like a hot drink at the moment.
A ping caught everyone's attention as the waitress left, wheeling the wheelchair awkwardly to front and Amu glanced curiously at Kukai's sheepish expression. Flipping open his vivid green phone, his eyes quickly scanned the text before turning to the curious siblings.
"Apparently the time changed to three instead of two, according to you-know-who, it's just delay after delay with these people."
Ikuto snorted knowingly before being grabbed by an eager Amu. "Are we going somewhere?" she asked, widening her eyes cutely and glancing at Utau, knowing she was the weakest link in the chain.
Stammering, Utau was saved by a smirking Ikuto who played idly with the salt shaker annoyingly, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Nowhere." He chirped, loving every minute of her pouting.
Narrowing her eyes, Amu waved her arms around. "Ikutoooo!" she whined, "Tell me!"
"It's a surprise." He winked snarkily watching as her face turned redder and the desire to know welled in her eyes.
"Ikuto!" about to say, or rather yell some more, she was interrupted by four drinks being set in front of them and the disappearance of their menus. Quickly informing the waitress of their orders, the four settled back comfortably in their seats, entertaining themselves with idle chatter before Kukai popped their bubble of contentment and brought up the meeting with Amu's foster parents later that day.
"Do any of us even know who they are?" he asked, not really expecting a positive reply and not being surprised when no one nodded.
"I guess we'll just have to find out when we see them." Amu replied disappointedly.
"The meeting's at seven right?"
Nodding at the blonde, Kukai picked at the edge of the table anxiously. "Yeah, she's supposed to meet them at the Social Services office and then go back home with them. We're packing your bags after lunch right?"
"Mm." To tell the truth, Amu was not looking forward to going back to her house and packing all her stuff up. She felt like if she went back there, everything would just come rushing back and all the time she'd spent on pushing her experiences out of her mind would go to waste. She didn't ever want to go back to that time of despair and shock ever again. But looking around her, at the amusing bickering of her two best friends and the serious looking boy to her left, Amu figured she'd be alright. If she ever teetered to close to the edge, they'd be sure to pull her back into the light. She was sure of it.
"They're only giving me two bags so I'm really going to have to toss out a lot." She commented sadly, already missing her punkish outfits and random knick knacks.
"Don't worry Amu-chan! Miki'll help you choose!" Ran called out cheerily from inside her chara pouch and Amu patted it gently, smiling down at her pink clad chara.
"Are they going to sell everything else?" Kukai asked curiously, watching as Ikuto nodded, looking far older than he really was.
"They're going to sell the house and everything in it and put it into a separate bank account for Amu to use when she turns eighteen. Her mother's will is being processed but nothing will come out of it until the end of the trial. Tsumugu won't get anything when he's deemed guilty."
Everyone was quiet for a moment until Kukai looked at Amu somewhat appreciatively, "Sooo, basically, you're kinda rich now aren't you Amu?" he grinned boyishly when he got the response he wanted as Amu stuttered before laughing along with everyone else at the table.
They were still chuckling when the waitress pulled over a moving tray with four scrumptious looking dishes and proceeded to set them down accordingly. Utau glared at her when she noticed the heart shaped layout of the food on Ikuto's plate and watched satisfactorily as the waitress cringed slightly before stuffing a slip of paper in her hand back into her pocket. Utau realized with righteous outrage that she had scribbled her number onto the paper, noticing her glare, Ikuto chuckled amusedly before moving around the fruits on his plate to ruin the romantic image before Amu noticed.
Turns out it was unnecessary considering the second she had her plate, Amu lost all focus of the world around her and attacked her food viciously, stuffing as much food as humanly possible into her mouth before devouring it. "You look like you haven't eaten in a week." Ikuto commented dryly, watching as bit by bit, all the food on her plate disappeared.
Snapping her head up indignantly, Amu went on the defensive, a strawberry stuck to her fork. "You try eating hospital food for a week, it doesn't even have a taste!" she exclaimed passionately, stuffing the strawberry in her mouth to prove her point, moaning in pleasure and licking her lips mournfully.
Nodding seriously, Kukai hummed in agreement. "Truer words were never spoken." He answered solemnly.
"See, Kukai thinks I'm right." She retorted proudly, a sweat drop forming soon after at Utau's sarcastic reply.
"And he also thinks ping pong's a sport." She retorted dryly.
Rubbing his chin, Ikuto looked thoughtful as he glanced at his sister, "Well technically…"
Amu sighed knowingly, here they go again.
"No way! A sport requires actually MOVING, where's the movement in ping pong? That's like saying foosball should be a sport!" Utau exclaimed, her pigtails flying with her words.
"Then why's it in the Olympics?" Kukai tossed back, high fiving Ikuto as he shot off some fact or other about the athleticness of ping-pong.
Amu smiled, listening to their banter amusedly as she polished off the last bit of her blueberry pancakes. Leaning back into her seat, a blush dotted her cheeks as underneath the table, Ikuto had grabbed her hand and was trying to get her to play a game of thumb war.
Not too long after, the four of them found themselves in front of Amu's house and stood there warily. Standing at the front, was the procrastinating rosette whose hand trembled over the doorknob precariously. Straightening her jaw determinately, she squared her shoulders boldly and twisted the golden knob quickly before she had a chance to reconsider.
The eerie swing of the door brought their breaths to a halt as the untouched foyer entered their view. Nothing had changed save for a few pieces of yellow police tape and a few missing items for evidence. The glass that had shattered when Tsumugu threw the picture frame still remained strewn about on the floor and Amu choked up visibly at the sight of it. Spinning her neck around rapidly, Amu was suddenly overcome with a swell of emotions that she didn't even know how to name.
Thousands and thousands of memories swirled around in her head like a tornado and everything around her seemed to pass by in a blur of colours and sounds. Spinning, spinning, spinning. The world spun around her as the glass seemed to lift in the air and come flying right at her. Terror erupted in her eyes and she could feel her throat tightening in a scream when a cool hand sprang out from nowhere and touched her gently.
Jolted back from her subconciousness, Amu's eyes widened tearily as she blinked to see Ikuto's gentle face in her view. "It's alright." He murmured, his hand cupping her cheek softly as she brought her own hand to hold his firmly.
And with those two words, the shards vanished from her sight and the world slowed until everything was still once again. Her breaths came in steady beats and everything seemed brighter, a bit livelier than before.
Smiling brightly at her boyfriend, Amu nodded. "Mm." she agreed, before turning to her friends, a motivated expression on her face. "Kukai, you're in charge of bringing the suitcases; they're in the basement, somewhere in the storage room I think. After that, you and Utau can work in the kitchen to clear it out of all the food and Ikuto and I will pack everything else. So let's do it!" she cheered enthusiastically, grinning as Kukai cheered back, grabbing Utau's hand and dragging her down the stairs of their unfinished basement.
Turning to face the tall blue haired boy, Amu smiled sweetly and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her up and lift her in his embrace. "If we hurry, we can probably finish just before three, ne Ikuto?"
Caught off guard, Ikuto's eyes wore a slightly surprised expression as he hummed in response. It was already 12:28 and by the end of that day, the entire house was supposed to packed and ready to be sold. It wasn't only Amu's two suitcases that had to be ready to go, but everything that couldn't be sold as well. Albums, journals, artwork, anything personal or hand-made had to be either thrown in the garbage or taken somewhere else. Ikuto figured that if Utau and Kukai could finish clearing the kitchen of food and things, they could get a head start on collecting anything that couldn't be sold. That way, Amu could just sit down and go through it all and decide what to throw out and what to keep right before they left. It was a relaxing way to end their day, and say good bye.
Bursting through her door loudly, Amu nearly killed herself in fright as Kukai dropped the two bags, heaving with the exertion before jutting his thumb behind him. "You know where to find us, have fun Amu." He winked mischievously, obviously implying something he should definitely NOT be implying.
Glaring heavily at him, Ikuto scared the brunette enough for him to scurry out the door fearfully, pouting pitifully at his sister over how scary her brother was.
Smirking satisfactorily, Ikuto just started thinking he might be able to enjoy himself, until Amu twirled out of her closet holding a shirt to her chest and sighing, the crutches Ikuto had given her held tightly under her underarms. "Ikuto, should I keep this? Or is totally not worth it? I really like it, but it'll take space from the more important things…maybe I should-" after the first two minutes and a half, Ikuto's thoughts drooped out of focus and all of Amu's words blurred right by as his eyes fluttered closed and purred in content.
Sweat dropping at Ikuto's sleeping form; Amu huffed at his lack of tact. "Stupid pervert. I thought he was going to help me." Muttering to herself, Amu contented herself with allowing her trendier chara to pick out her clothes before throwing them to Suu, who somehow was able to fit more of everything into each bag than Amu ever could.
"Amu-chan, I'm done!" pointing at the perfectly zipped bag, Miki entered her lecture mode, "I filled it with all your cutest outfits and the bag of toiletries you gave me."
Glancing confusedly at the other empty one, Miki's small smile and nostalgic eyes said it all. "I left that one empty for the things you can't replace." Smiling her thanks, Amu hugged her tiny chara to her cheek and whispered her thanks.
Walking around her room, Amu soaked in the happiness on her friends' and family's faces from the photos on her walls and desk. Walking up to her dresser, she held up a silver frame that held a picture of her and her mother standing in front of the waterfront, her mother's hand clutching wildly at her hat to keep it from flying away and the other around her daughter's shoulders. Amu's hair was waving crazily in this photo, but her smile was no less brilliant.
Grinning down at the photo, Amu carefully turned the frame around to loosen the picks around it and gently tugged the photo loose. The next half hour was her running around the house to scrounge around for an empty album and stuffing all the pictures in her room into its clear pages. With the help of her charas, the picture placing process took less time than she anticipated and Amu quickly cleared each bedroom for any pictures she wanted to keep.
Rummaging through her parents' closet, Amu found the large box that held all of their family albums and tugged them into her room where she carefully placed them in her bag, looking down lovingly at them before limping down the stairs, having tossed her crutches down ahead to see how the two lovebirds were doing.
"Oy, Amu! Come check it out." Kukai called out from behind the kitchen and Amu poked her head in curiously.
Gasping, she hurled herself over to the large pile as quickly as she could and dug threw it wildly, laughing in delight at the things she found. "Where did you find this? I've been looking for it forever!" she cried out happily, holding her bright pink diary, little kid writing plastered all over the cover.
"It was behind the couch, under some dust bunnies." Utau tossed out casually, scrunching up her nose in distaste. "Honestly Amu, you should take better care of your stuff."
Giving the blonde an incredulous look, Amu's fingers brushed the worn cover nostalgically before snapping back into her packing mode. "I guess I'll have to sort through all of this, are you guys done the kitchen?"
Nodding satisfactorily, Kukai patted his stomach and sighed contentedly, "Aaaaaall taken care of Amu."
Snorting, the blonde bopped him on the head affectionately before tackling the pile along with Amu, sorting everything into multiple piles and helping her dump the unwanted things into a quickly filling garbage bag. The three of them were working quietly, randomly commenting on a few items or laughing as they recalled a memory when Utau's head snapped up and her calculating eyes caught Amu's. "Where's Ikuto?" she demanded accusingly, as though already suspecting her brother being up to no good.
Amu's face darkened comically as she suddenly remembered him falling asleep on her and she crossed her arms grumpily. "He fell asleep." She grumbled, glaring as Kukai snorted.
Outrage burst into the pop star's eyes as she jumped up energetically, heading in the direction of the stairs, her shouts still heard by the two shocked occupants of the room. "A hundred yen he won't wake up." Kukai wagered, wagging his eyebrows up and down comically.
Snorting, Amu jutted her head away. "Ha! Are you kidding me? He'll come running back down here in three seconds." She countered self-assuredly.
"No way."
A sudden serious look overtook the rosette's face and Kukai blanched warily. "If you think Ikuto's scary, then you've never seen Utau." She warned eerily, already backing away from the blonde tornado she knew would come their way.
Face paling, Kukai's head swivelled in paranoia, trying to locate the angry blonde. Said blonde came down one minute later, pulling a meek Ikuto by the ear before plopping him on the floor and wiping her hands satisfactorily. "You don't cross me and get away with it." She murmured darkly, watching in sick satisfaction as Kukai sank lower into the floor and shied away meekly.
"Now where were we?"
"Thanks for the ride Souma-kun!" Amu called out, waving happily towards the speeding brunette as he drove down the road, leaving the four of them and Amu's two bags in front of Nagi's grand Japanese styled home. After an hour of begging and promising to the do the chores later, Kukai had managed to hitch them a ride to their dancing friend's house last minute and was currently grumbling at the unfairness of the world.
"What are we doing at Nagi's?" she asked curiously, pushing the wheels of her wheelchair as each of the boys took one of her suitcases.
Smiling conspiratorially, Kukai hauled her out of her chair as Utau handed her crutches before pushing open the door loudly.
People popped up from everywhere as they cried out their salutations, "SURPRISE! Welcome back Amu!" all around her, her friends cheered euphorically as streamers popped out of cans and party whistles were blown.
"Minna!" she gasped happily, looking up at the colourful banner on the ceiling and the long table of food and snacks. "Thank you." She whispered before being engulfed in a two way hug with Yaya pulling on her left and Rima at her right.
"Amu-chi! Amu!" the two short girls glomped her on either side and Amu teetered precariously, unable to retain her balance, arms lurching forwards to break her fall, Amu gasped, bracing herself for the impact when someone's white clothed chest broke her fall. Arms wrapped around her, lifting her up, Tadase smiled sweetly, garnet eyes glittering with unsaid lust. "Are you alright Amu-chan?"
Still in shock from being in his embrace, Amu glanced around to find Ikuto and felt a relief in her heart when she saw him heading her way, crutches in his hands. Pulling herself from his embrace, she saw his crestfallen expression, but felt no pity, instead, smiling gratefully at the slightly jealous cat eared boy and crying out in surprise to see a familiar green haired boy.
"Incho!" she cried out, reaching an arm out to hug him soundly. Kairi blushed at the contact and stammered his congratulations at her discharge formally. From behind an open door, Nagi strode in carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies, their enticing aroma watering her mouth. "Those smell delicious Nagi. I forgot how good of a cook you were."
"It's hard to believe you could forget the first time I baked for you…Tskiyomi-san gave you a compensation that night didn't he?" winking coyly, he laughed at her rapidly reddening face and Ikuto's satisfactory smirk.
From his spot in the room, Tadase could clearly see the changes in his now cheery crush. The aura of darkness and dismay that had surrounded her before had evaporated, leaving only the pure essence of what she was and the joyous cheer that had won over so many hearts. With jealousy squirming in his own green heart, Tadase watched as Amu stuffed a peanut in his rival's mouth, telling him with absolute certainty he'd like it. He watched as Utau chuckled when her brother spit it out savagely and glower at Kukai when he took the opportunity to swipe some chocolate fondue off his plate.
With a sinking heart, Tadase realized that while Amu had fallen into a depression, he hadn't even realized how bad it really was until he saw the brand new her. The contrast of the Amu now, and the Amu then had finally hit him and it was in that moment when he saw Amu and Ikuto share a secret look over the last piece of eel on her plate that Tadase realized he had lost his chance.
When he should have been there for her, Ikuto had been there instead. Instead of the Guardians being by her side when she most needed it, it had been Utau and Kukai who had taken the time to comfort her. Looking at the smiling quartet, he realized that even though they would always be friends, he had missed his chance in ever being something more and he regretted it with his very soul.
As everyone munched on baked snacks and goodies, Amu and Nagi sat on the porch steps, watching the birds fly high into the sky, looping through the clouds and swooping down to their nests. Nagi's long purple hair ticked Amu's arm and she brought her fingers up slowly to run through his hair wonderingly. "I still can't get over how soft your hair is Nagi." She commented, wishing her own bubble-gum pink hair felt as smooth as his.
Chuckling, Nagi shrugged casually. "The right shampoo does wonders."
"House-wife." She teased, pushing his shoulder playfully.
Smirking, he pointed a finger at his chest cockily. "Well at least when I try to cook something, it doesn't explode in my face." He grinned playfully and she pouted.
"It was only once…and it was partly your fault too you know."
Smiling gently, Nagi looked at her kindly. "Yeah, I know."
They sat like that, in contented silence until Nagi brought up the question that had been lingering on his mind for the past while. "You look like you're looking for something Amu-chan."
Not bothering to deny it, Amu looked off, down the road, her lashes fluttering. "I'm waiting I guess." She murmured musingly.
"For your foster parents?"
She didn't need to reply, as they both knew the answer. "Do you think they'll be nice?" she asked finally, the question seeming to burst out of her like it was contained for too long.
A resolute expression grazed his face and he nodded seriously. "Not anyone can be a foster parent, they have to go through screenings and tests and all sorts of trials. So don't worry about it Amu-chan, I'm sure they're lovely people. And if they're not, always know there's a backup plan."
"Backup plan?"
Grinning secretively, Nagi nodded without a word. "It's almost time isn't it? For you to go?"
Glancing down at her watch, Amu nodded sadly. "I don't want to leave. I feel like…I feel like if I leave…I'll never come back." She sounded so scared, so worried and anxious that Nagi wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, letting his words wash over her like a soothing wave.
"You'll come back, Amu-chan. I promise."
Behind them, the door slid open and Utau's melodic voice flitted through the air. "It's time to go Amu." Nodding resolutely, Amu stood up shakily before hugging her friend good-bye. "See you soon Nagi."
Teetering into the room, Amu hugged each of her friends in turn before shouting her goodbyes and closing the door shut.
"This is it." She said, not really to anyone in particular, but to the world, telling it she wasn't going to back down.
"This is it." Ikuto agreed, lacing his hand in hers before setting her into the backseat of the taxi and clicking the door shut.