AN: Wow, this chapter took me SOOO long to write... I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm going to use all of my spare time over the next few days to write out the rest of this story. It's quite hot where I live right now so I have a really good excuse to stay inside on my laptop. :) This chapter gives you info on all of the characters so far and shows you what they're doing. So since I'm explaining a lot, this is naturally the longest chapter I've written in a long time. We're nearing the end of the story. YAY!!! I'm almost done!! There is one more short chapter after this, then the final battle with Gaito, and then the epilogue. then we're done!!! WOOT!! :D And I can hardly wait for chapter 40. I want Amu and Ikuto to kiss soon!!! I HATE having to wait a month to read each chapter!!! :P
Disclaimer: Where on Earth did you get the idea that I own it?!?!?
Thanks a lot to MikoKagome1113, oxCuteKataraox, o0fuYuHAnAsHIrAZuKI0o, Smallvillegirl2, .'-CutePrisonBreak-'., sylvanicara, -Devilish-Anime-Angel-, Foxgrl18, and Rain'chi for their reviews. Something just happened in my life and I want to thank you all for your support as well as everyone who favorited and alerted this story!! Thanks, everybody!!!
Ikuto opened his eyes and yawned loudly. He felt content filling up his entire body. He grinned as he remembered the day before. He grinned even wider as he looked around himself and saw the walls of Amu's bedroom.
Amu
He turned his head to his left, where Amu had slept last night. He stiffened and stopped breathing as he saw the empty bed beside him. Bolting upright, he looked around himself quickly, a bad feeling growing inside of his gut. Where was she?
He looked over at the basket where all of the Charas slept and all of the emotion was wiped off his face. Only Yoru was left and Amu had once told Ikuto that nobody else in Halloween could see Charas. That meant that she had to have left willingly and taken her Charas just in case she needed their help. If Gaito had summoned her, she would have at least left a note, right?
Stepping out of bed, Ikuto walked slowly over to Yoru's egg and knelt down beside it, resting his back against the wall. He stared blankly at the floor as he tried to make sense of what was going on. The doorknob started to turn and Ikuto looked at it expectantly, anticipating seeing Amu bringing his breakfast like she did every morning.
'Well of course that was what she was doing,' Ikuto thought to himself. 'She always does that. I'm so stupid. But why am I getting this really bad feeling deep down in my gut. Oh, whatever.' He shrugged off the feeling. All of this had gone through his head in just a few seconds and a foot stepped through the door along with the bottom of a leg. 'Wait, that doesn't look like Amu…'
And it wasn't. A maid of around thirty years walked in, a tray in her hands. She spotted Ikuto sitting against the wall next to a seemingly empty Easter basket and walked over to him. She crouched down next to him and placed the tray on the ground. Seeing his shocked face, she frowned deeply.
"What's up with you?" she asked, a sneer appearing on her face. "Get used to seeing me now, hottie, cause I'll be your new maid. Trust me, I'll treat you way better than that Amu girl did." Her hand reached forward to touch his thigh and he immediately pushed it away. She frowned a little, but a seductive smile found its way onto her lips. "Don't worry, you'll warm up to me soon. Then we'll have tons of fun."
"I'd rather we didn't," Ikuto replied shortly, his face closed.
His new maid kept the smile on her face with a massive effort of will. "I see what's going on here. Just let that little girl, Amu, go. You'd be so much happier if you did." Ikuto turned his face away from her, his eyes cold as ice. The new maid sighed unhappily as she stood up.
"Honestly, I can't see what you find attractive about that little girl," she said in a whiny voice. Ikuto turned up head in her direction and glared coldly at her, his hands clenching into fists. "Why are you reacting like that? Oh, that's right. You probably wouldn't know yet." Ikuto's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She smiled, having the upper hand again.
She bent down, her chest in the perfect position for Ikuto to see her cleavage if he lowered his gaze. Ikuto, strangely feeling no temptation to look what so ever, just deepened his frown and hissed, "What don't I know?"
"Your little Amu left late last night." Ikuto's eyes widened and he stared uncomprehendingly at her face. She, thinking that he was staring at her just because she was beautiful (AN: Seriously, how much more dense can she get?), advanced on him once more, but Ikuto had reached his limit. He grabbed her by her collar and pushed her away, still keeping a tight grip.
"Listen, I feel absolutely no attraction toward you at all so stop wasting my time,"he growled at her. Her eyes widened as she saw the threat in his eyes for the first time. "Tell me what happened to Amu."
"She um," the maid stuttered, suddenly scared and completely losing her previous behavior. "She left late last night, long after you got back with her. Gaito and Takasu only found out late this morning, long after the sun came up. Apparently, she left on her own; Gaito didn't tell her to do anything. He always assumed that she had given up on life and wouldn't even think about escaping so he never put up much of a defense. She left easily and nobody's seen her since."
Ikuto was silent as he listened with all of his attention. "She left willingly?"
"Yeah. Gaito ordered Miyu to go after Amu this morning and she just left to go find her about an hour ago. Hey, um can I go now?" Ikuto was still holding the maid's collar, his grip tightening unconsciously as he listened to her story. Crashing back into reality, he let her go and placed one of his hands against his forehead. The maid quickly rushed toward the door. Once there, she turned around to face the still shell shocked Ikuto, feeling that she was a safe enough distance away from him to say something.
"I think she was quiet selfish." Ikuto didn't show any sign that he had heard, but he most certainly did. "Leaving you here, all alone in Halloween, with no form of protection… She could have freed you from your bracelet with her key, but instead, she just used it to open the front door. Those keys can only be used once you know. So she only cared about saving herself this whole time, using you to take some of the attention off of her just so she could make her preparations for leaving. It's quite pathetic of you to have believed in her." Ikuto, who had been stiffening with each word she said, snapped his head up and gave her a cold glare. "Yeah, she sure loved you."
"Shut up!" he roared. The maid flinched in terror. Even Ikuto was surprised with himself, but he had been filled up with a sudden wave of white hot rage and had to let it out as soon as possible. "Get out of here! Leave and don't come back! Let me starve for all I care." His voice lost its power as he shouted and he whispered the last part, completely and utterly spent. The maid turned around, flung open the door and fled as though her life depended on it.
Ikuto sighed, his sudden rage gone, and dropped his head into his hands. Amu really had left him all alone. Every word the maid had said before she left echoed around in his head. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to control the enormous feeling of betrayal slowly consuming him.
'She abandoned me just to save herself,' he thought and his heart ached as he realized just how true those words seemed. Feeling his heart break in two, he dropped his head in his hands and let the wall keeping his emotions at bay down and allowed it all to consume him completely.
Gaito paced restlessly back and forth in his office. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back and his brow was furrowed deeply, showing his great anxiety. He usually never felt this nervous, but then again, things were usually kept firmly in his iron grasp. However, the matter of his servant, Amu, had managed to wriggle itself out to freedom. Just last night, he knew exactly what his next move toward his goal would be and he had complete confidence in his so called perfect plan. But the little Amu brat had managed to prove that fact false. She'd completely turned the tables and Gaito wasn't positive that she knew that yet. She played a great role in his previous plan for the Embryo. Now all of his careful planning was flung back in his face by that young naïve brat.
'She's probably running farther and farther away right now, making getting her back here all the more difficult,' Gaito thought exasperatedly to himself. He sighed and sat down heavily in his chair, his lean body bending most ungracefully under the stress. He rested his elbows on his wooden desk and rubbed his temples, trying to think up a new and improved plan. His eyes closed and let his mind take hold of the situation completely, surrendering himself to his advanced mind.
'Where's Miyu?' Takasu thought worriedly as he walked quickly down one of Halloween's long hallways. 'I wanted to have a word with her about Amu.' He turned and walked into the elevator, pressing the button that would take him to the basement. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently, glaring up at the floor level he was on and wishing that it could go faster. His frown disappeared and a small smile formed on his lips as he remembered Miyu giggling at him for his constant impatience with everything. She thought it was quite funny though he had no idea why. And she was right of course; he hated waiting most of all. But he never thought that way around her.
He was quite fond of Miyu and cared about her safety more than his own. At first, he thought this was foolish behavior; everyone should take care of themselves and only themselves. But one day, when he and Miyu were on a mission together, she saved him from death. He was her face illuminated by her silvery halo of hair and her shimmering eyes staring down into his. It was then that he realized just how important other people could be. He only cared about Miyu that much, though. He didn't want Amu to get hurt either, but he was just protective of her as a brother would be of his little sister. Besides, he felt the need to make up with her over killing her mother, father, and sisters.
The thought of Amu only made him more agitated. What was she thinking, suddenly leaving Halloween on her own? She knew just how dangerous and deadly Gaito could be. The sound of the elevator doors pulled him from his thoughts and he stepped out swiftly, walking in the direction of the guards training room. He opened the door and walked over to a small table in the corner, nodding at the guards for their good work. They've been training extra hard since Gaito found out that Amu had disappeared. He picked up a small cell phone and turned around, heading back towards the door.
"Everyone," he called, his hand on the doorknob while facing the guards. They stopped what they were doing and looked inquiringly at their favorite trainer. Takasu had always treated them well and they were prepared to follow his orders above all else. "If for whatever reason I need your help, I'm going to call you and expect you to be ready to go as quickly as possible, alright?" The guards gave their assent and Takasu opened the door and left. He walked back to the elevator and it immediately opened, revealing one of Gaito's personal servants.
"Gaito-dono wishes to speak with you, Takasu-sama." Takasu was surprised, but he quickly took a hold of himself and nodded, entering the elevator with the servant. They went all the way up to the top floor, which housed only Gaito's office. He walked up to the door and opened it, the servant lingering outside. Takasu shut the door behind him and turned around to face his much hated boss. Miyu had opened Takasu's eyes to Gaito's cruelness only a little while ago.
"Takasu." Gaito greeted him with a cruel smile placed on his lips. "I've come up with an alternative plan, a way to get out of this mess Amu has left for us."
'This is gonna be good,' Takasu thought tiredly, though he let nothing show on his expressionless face. He only responded with, "Wonderful, sir. May I hear?"
"Not all of it." At Takasu's slightly bewildered expression, Gaito elaborated. "You've been associating with Miyu and I'm not entirely sure she can be one hundred percent trusted." Rage boiled down in Takasu's gut, but he didn't say or show any of that. "I had you join my corporation, because your family has been good servants of Halloween for many years now and I trust that you will never even think of rebelling against me."
'I wouldn't be so sure, Gaito,' Takasu thought menacingly.
"Miyu on the other hand I'm not so sure about. She's quite a wild one, just like her sister. I only took her in, because you recommended her. But now, she seems overly concerned for little Amu's safety and I don't like it one bit. I want you to go find Miyu and bring here, with or without Amu and I'll properly dispose of her. I fear that Miyu may eventually cause Halloween a great blow. Now go… Well, what are you waiting for, boy?"
Takasu was staring at Gaito with slightly narrowed eyes. He was always good at controlling his emotions, but he was barely able to keep a hold of this one. His protectiveness for Miyu filled him up completely and he felt all of the rage he was possibly able to create focus solely on Gaito.
"You understand don't you, Takasu?"
"Completely," Takasu said in an emotionless voice, using all of his will to keep his voice even. He turned on his heel and walked quickly through the door. His fists clenched at his sides as he walked toward the elevator once more, thinking about what he was going to do to help Miyu.
Miyu kept her quick pace with ease as she ran towards the park. That was where she most expected Amu to be. Gaito had ordered her to go find Amu as quickly as possible and she had spent many hours asking locals if they has seen a girl with long pink hair and golden eyes running by, which they all replied with no, and wasted many more wandering around aimlessly. After a few fruitless efforts, she decided to just try to think of all the places Amu would hide out in. A few minutes of thinking got her where she was now: on the way to the park.
She ran faster than before, feeling time slowly slipping away. She didn't want to fight Amu, but knew that she would have to. But before she did that, she would try to reason with Amu and try to get her to come back willingly. Miyu knew that it would probably be a worthless attempt since Amu nearly always stuck with her decisions as soon as she made them, but she figured that it was at least worth a try. Though Miyu wanted to be free from Halloween desperately, she knew better than to just run off like Amu did. Gaito would constantly pursue her and the rest of her life would just be a huge chase. After all, Gaito never gave up when he wanted something.
Miyu turned the final corner and entered the park. Her hair streamed out behind her and her eyes shone with fierce determination. Her fists tightened as she swung them in perfect synchronization with her legs. The sound of her feet hitting the tiled pavement was rhythmic was she raced along the paths. She focused all of her attention on putting one foot in front of the other. The pocket where she kept her master key seemed lighter than usual, but she just ignored the thought.
'Amu, wait for me,' she thought as she raced along.
Amu tightened her coat around herself as she listened to her heels click on the ground. She walked up slowly to a wooden bench and sat down, crossing her ankles and putting her hands in her coat pockets. Her golden eyes were dull and devoid of emotion as she gazed up at the cloudy sky. She fingered the two master keys in her pocket; one hers', the other stolen from Miyu. She'd already used them both. Miyu's key had unlocked Halloween's doors for her while her own key had been used to unlock Ikuto's bracelet.
She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she left him there completely, with no way of escape. So on the day of his fever, when she made the decision to leave him, she snuck up to the sleeping Miyu and snatched her master key. Gaito was too dangerous and Amu wanted no harm to come to Ikuto. After the poisoning session, Amu knew that she wouldn't be able to fight off Gaito any longer. So, she made sure that her final day with Ikuto was the best so far. And it was, to her at least. Ikuto seemed happy, but you could never be entirely sure with him.
Amu smiled a sad smile at the memory of her favorite cat boy. She missed him so much and knowing that she would never be able to go back to him hurt her heart in the most brutal way. She clutched her chest and her breathing hitched. With a massive effort of will, she calmed herself down and gingerly touched the rose Ikuto had put into her hair the day before. She couldn't part with it no matter how hard she tried. She knew that it would cause her pain and allow her to never forget Ikuto, but it was a reminder of all the happy times she had with him. She smiled as all of her moments with Ikuto crowded around her mind. She sighed happily and yet, you could hear such sorrow hiding behind it. Her Charas were all awake, but resting in her jacket pocket, feeling their own sadness consume them as they thought about leaving Yoru behind and pity for Amu since she had to go through so much… and it still wasn't over.
"Amu," a familiar voice called, pulling the pink haired girl from her thoughts. Amu looked in the direction it came from and froze. Standing around fifteen feet away was a very stern looking Miyu. Amu got over her surprise, realizing that she shouldn't be too surprised that Miyu had found her, and jumped to her feet, ready for a fight. "Amu, I'm just here to make you see reason."
"What reason?" Amu asked coldly. "There is no reason in any of this. Gaito is insane and he's lured us into his giant web of deceit. There's no reason where we are."
Miyu sighed and tired again, "Amu, I care about you. You know that. And I only want what's best for you."
"How can Halloween be the best thing for me? If it is, I must have no other options."
"Exactly; you don't. If you run away, Gaito will run after you and your life will be identical to hell." Amu flinched at Miyu's words and Miyu felt pity for poor Amu. "Please, Amu, come back to Halloween."
Amu closed her tortured eyes and took a deep breath, thinking through everything. She opened them once more and shook her head.
"I won't."
Miyu sighed sadly and crouched down low. "I guess I no longer have a choice."
"You wouldn't," Amu said with wide eyes as she took in Miyu's actions.
"I'm sorry, Amu, but it has to be done." With that, Miyu raced toward Amu and began to attack. Amu's Charas jumped out of her pocket and Miyu quickly swiped them away. Amu barely had time to retaliate against Miyu's punches and kicks before a new round began. She focused entirely on dodging as she tried to regain her footing enough to fight back. Finally, she got control of herself and answered Miyu's attacks reluctantly with her own.
Ikuto stared with empty eyes at the floor of Amu's room, his mind completely free of any thoughts. He only felt numbness and never really took in what he was feeling and seeing. It was as though he was inside an impenetrable shell, a shell allowing no emotion inside. He heard a crack as Yoru woke up and came out of his egg. He listened as Yoru looked around himself and saw no one besides Ikuto next to him. Moments later, he flew up in Ikuto's face, his golden cat like eyes full of tears.
"What happened, nya?" he shouted in Ikuto's face. Ikuto finally registered the fact that Yoru was shouting in his face. He explained the situation slowly with no emotion at all. Yoru settled down on his master's shoulder as he listened silently, shockingly still and silent. When Ikuto was finished, Yoru flew up in his face and looked at him questionably. Ikuto gazed back.
"So what are you waiting for?" Yoru finally asked after a few moments of staring. Ikuto's eyes finally got some emotion though it was just barely noticeable: confusion. Yoru rolled his eyes and started to speak again,
"Dude, of course Amu still loves you."
"You could've fooled me," Ikuto muttered under his breath.
"Quiet, nya!" Ikuto was surprised at Yoru. This was a side of his Chara that he had never seen before. "Gaito was threatening to kill you, because Amu was hanging out with you, right? Well, since she loves you, which she most definitely does, of course she would leave. If it was to protect you from Halloween's director, she would without a doubt. Wouldn't you do the same?"
Ikuto was quite shocked at how perceptive Yoru was. He'd never realized it before. But his thoughts were mostly focused on what Yoru was saying. It was true that he would have done the same thing for Amu if the situation was different.
"But still," Ikuto began, slightly dazed. "She abandoned me; left me here with no hope of ever escaping. If she really loved me, wouldn't she have helped me escape with her?"
"If you went with her, you'd still be in as much trouble as you are now, stupid. And how do you know she doesn't love you, nya?" When Ikuto couldn't answer, Yoru winked at him slyly. "Didn't you notice that she didn't leave that rose you gave her yesterday behind?" Ikuto leapt up from his spot on the ground to get a better look around the room.
"As soon as you mentioned the rose, I started to look around for it and when it wasn't there, everything else in your story made perfect sense." Yoru floated up to a shocked Ikuto and grinned widely. "Aren't ya proud of me, nya?"
"Yeah," Ikuto replied, grinning as well as he scratched Yoru behind the ears. Yoru purred in response, silently begging for more, but Ikuto was no longer paying attention. He saw that his tracker bracelet was extremely loose. He pulled his hand away from Yoru and reached for the bracelet. Yoru floated and gazed at it as well. Ikuto lightly pulled at the strap and it slipped off, falling to the floor. Ikuto knelt closer and Yoru followed, both of them studying the unlocked strap. Suddenly, Yoru was laughing happily, looking at the tracker bracelet.
"See, Amu gave you the chance of escape you wanted. She gave you the opportunity of freedom, nya!"
Ikuto just stared at the bracelet and a small happy smile appeared on him face. "She didn't completely abandon me," he whispered to himself. He stiffened as a thought came to him and jumped up. He sprinted towards the door, with Yoru following quickly behind.
"What're you gonna do, nya?"
"Save Amu," Ikuto said with a grin as he took the elevator to the ground floor, already think of fighting security guards and jumping through the next open window he saw.
Ikuto leapt through a small window in one of Halloween's smaller offices on the ground floor and landed gracefully on the sidewalk outside. The guards, who had been hot on his trail, all tried to jump through the window at the same time and basically just all got stuck.
"See ya, idiots!" Ikuto shouted over his shoulder as he took off into the crowd of people. He allowed himself a small smile as he heard their shouts of rage echoing behind him. He reached a hand into his pocket and touched his Dumpty Key, feeling out the Humpty Lock's location. Yoru occasionally helped when his "sort-of radar" kicked in.
Ikuto found himself running in the direction of the park.
'Why am I not surprised?' he thought with a small grin. His feet pounded on the path and he jumped over the hedges, cutting through the forests. He sprinted in the direction the Dumpty Key was leading him, not thinking anything anymore as he focused on where he was going. He burst through the trees and found Amu and Miyu fighting only a few yards away. Amu had Character Changed with Ran, but Miyu appeared no different than before.
"Amu!" Ikuto shouted. Amu glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Ikuto! What're you doing? Get out of he-," She was cut off as Miyu attempted to kick her in the face. Ikuto Character Changed with Yoru and they both doubled up on her.
"Ugh," Miyu grunted as Amu finally managed to land a kick. Miyu knelt to the ground and her opponents quickly stepped away. Once at a safe distance, Amu turned on Ikuto.
"What do you think you're doing? I give you the chance to get out of this mess and you throw all of my efforts back in my face. Just what are you trying to pu-," She was cut off once again by Ikuto pulling her into his chest.
"What am I going?" he asked quietly in her ear. "What're you doing? Do you honestly think that you can just go off on your own like that without me?"
"It's what's best for you," she said into his shirt. "If you went along with me, you'd be miserable and exhausted from being constantly on the run. You wouldn't be happy."
"And you think I'll be happy if you leave?" At those words, Amu collapsed against him, crying hysterically and clutching him tightly. He stroked her long hair and strengthened his grip around her waist.
"I'm a horrible person," Amu said. Ikuto made to respond, but Amu kept talking. "Because of me, you'll never be happy. You won't be happy if you run away with me and, as you said, you won't be happy if I leave you behind. I've hurt you so much." Ikuto shushed her and kissed the top of her head, not saying anything.
"Why don't you just fight back?" he asked quietly. Amu stiffened in his arms, but he ignored it. "I'll help you fight them and earn you your freedom, just like how you helped me with Easter. It can be done, Amu. All we'd have to basically do is overthrow Gaito and the rest will collapse. You just have to let me help you."
Ikuto's words echoed around through Amu's head.
"But-," she began.
"I want to be by your side."
Amu lifted her head up from Ikuto's chest and smiled widely at him. He smiled back. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He pulled away and cupped her face in his hands.
"Go," he told her.
Amu took off towards that waiting Miyu. This fight was far fiercer than the last, yet Ikuto didn't interfere. This was Amu's first fight for freedom; she needed to be able to do this on her own.
Amu finally managed to grapple onto Miyu and drag the silver haired girl to her knees. She pulled back her fist, preparing to punch her in the face, knocking her unconscious. Miyu bowed her head, acknowledging that she had lost, and waited for the hit to come. Amu hesitated, seeing Miyu in a completely vulnerable state.
'What's she waiting for?' Ikuto wondered as he watched Amu in complete bewilderment.
Amu's fist trembled in reluctance as she contemplated what she was about to do.
'Amu-chan, what are you waiting for?' Ran asked from inside her. Amu shook her head slightly in response. She gazed at Miyu, who was now staring back in confusion. Amu let out a sigh of exasperation as she closed her eyes, defeated. He fist fell to her side and her fingers unclenched. She opened her eyes and looked at Miyu sadly before taking a few steps back.
"What're you doing?" Ikuto shouted at Amu. "Finish this!" Amu just shook her head and stared at her high heels. "Why not?"
"I can't hurt her," Amu whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "Because-," Her words caught in her throat and she was unable to respond. She took a deep breath and tried again, successfully speaking in a clear, understandable voice.
"Because she's my youngest sister."
Ugh, I want to punch myself in the face for this cliffy... But please review and tell me what you think about it. I'll explain more about this in the next chapter... and yeah, I kind of planned this from the beginning. I even left a clue for everybody early on in the chapter. Gaito said, "She's a wild one, just like her sister." when he was talking about Miyu and Amu had just caused a whole lot of trouble for him so it kinda hints about something... And I LOVED this side of Yoru that I used. XD I'll update in a few days so hope to hear from me in a little bit. And don't forget to review. The review numbers have been decreasing lately and I'm just assuming that's due to the fact that I'm always late with my updates. I'm really sorry about that, but things do happen in my life that I have to take care of... Anyway, enough of my whining!! XP I hoped you liked this chappy!!!! And I KNOW you all enjoyed the cliffy!!! (*sarcastic*) MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (PS: I REALLY HATED that maid in the beginning of this chapter, but Ikuto had to figure out about Amu somewhere and I decided that I would show Ikuto's unconscious loyalty toward Amu. :D)