Chapter 12.
Ikuto
"Amu-I mean Ayame!" I corrected my stupid self before eagerly standing up in front of her and smiling like the dork I am. She looked sad and beautiful all at the same time. What was wrong? It was definitely something I had done earlier…I knew it. God I was such and ass! I put her through so much pain even though I tried so hard not to. "W-what are you doing here?" I asked as I looked her over for a moment.
"I was, um, grocery shopping." she said showing off the brown paper bags filled with groceries. I smiled and easily offered my assistance without hesitation since she was carrying like three bags that looked pretty full.
"Here, let me help you." I said taking two of the larger bags from her. She sighed in gratitude and smiled up and me, pushing a lock of black hair away from her face. She was so beautiful…
"Thank you," she said as we walked together. She was leading me back to the school so she could drop of the groceries and as we walked in silence for a few moments I contemplated on what to say. What to ask. I couldn't very well just tell her "Oh yeah, I lied to you and you actually have a whole real family and you actually love me and you killed yourself to save your loved ones and me and I had to find you and well, here we are!". She'd probably think I was sniffing something then run off like she had so many times before. And finally when something popped into my head to start a conversation came up, she cut me off.
"So...how have you been Ikuto?" she asked as we walked past the crowds of people on the side walk. I shifted the weight of the bags in my arms and sighed before smiling and responding to her quickly. She was having a good day apparently because she was all smiles and I hadn't seen her like that in a very long time. It made me want to smile with her, and I did.
"Okay, I guess. Trying to find work here and there, trying to pay rent and stuff. You know, same old, same old." I said lightly looking at her with a wry smile. She chuckled and nodded while we crossed the rode.
"No wonder you are looking so skinny these days!" she giggled. I didn't understand so I asked what she meant in the stupidest way I possibly could.
"Huh?" I asked looking down at myself. I had been noticing my jeans weren't fitting as well as they used to and my shirt were a little baggier but I thought that was just from the washing I had done. The laundry mad was terrible and I didn't know how to wash so I either shrunk things, discolored things or just screwed everything up completely. We were walking past a park when she answered finally.
"The whole starving musician thing? You know?" she said giggling up at me with the cutest little smile on her lips. I laughed and sighed, I finally got it. "So, how long has it been since you've had a home cooked meal?" she asked looking up at me from the corner of her eyes, warily. I smiled to myself and shrugged as if I really didn't care even though I knew what she was going at.
"Well then I must insist, that you are coming over for dinner tonight!" she said pointing at me with a little smile on her face. She was trying to get me to come over…and my heart skipped a little beat when she did. "And you know the garden's always need tending to at the school…I know my brother always needs help but can never find anyone he trusts enough with his roses." she said looking up at me happily but hesistion was still there. "Maybe you could work for boarding at the school and then you can come over every day to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with me. I make the best pancakes." she said smiling at herself.
"Wow," I said hesitantly but it was all about my act. I had to act like I didn't know what the hell was going on. "That sounds…great." I said smiling at her with a little happy grin on my lips. She smiled back as we reached the gates of the school and sighed heavily, obviously tired even though she had only carried one bag.
"Great then!" she said bouncing a little bit now. "I'll just tell onii-sama when we get back." I said happily.
"Could you help bring those inside?" she asked in the cutest little voice I had ever heard. I obliged without another question and soon she was talking about how she couldn't wait to leave the school and go to live in downtown Tokyo with a friend of hers and how she was doubting her relationship with Ren. I understood how she felt. She probably just found out about the cheating a few days ago or something because the way she spoke was horrifying.
"He just never pays attention to me anymore…and I know that he doesn't' love me as much as he probably loves someone else…I knew it." she said drifting off her sentences here and there…she really wasn't making much sense but I still listened, I couldn't help but listen.
"You deserve whatever you're little heart desires, Ayame." I said as she stopped at the dorm's entrance. She turned to face me in an instant, almost in shock and smiled at me as if I was the answer to everything she had been looking so hard for. She looked at me for a moment, fiddling with her keys and then slowly I noticed we were both starting to lean in, gradually. Closer and closer we came until finally…our lips were met and soon all the world around us disappeared. That is until I felt someone's fist smash into my jaw.
I pulled back from Ayame only to see her backed up against the wall. I had dropped the bags of groceries and saw Ren standing right there in front of the both of us, fuming. His shirt was tattered and he looked like he had just ran here or something. That's when he came at me again. He grabbed me by the shirt collar and pinned me up against the door of the dorms.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Ren screamed as I tried to escape his grip.
"REN! STOP IT!" I heard Amu scream at the top of her lungs and tried to pull him off. He shoved her off easily with one hand and she fell to the ground. That set me off.
"Don't you dare touch her like that!" I said lifting my knee right to his groin. He immediately let go of me and I punched his gut a couple of time before slamming him into a near by tree. The dorms Amu stayed at were close by the observatory, or basically in the middle of no where and only her and her brother lived there so no one was there to really help or stop the fight. He tried to straighten up a little but was only met by my fist meeting his eyes. He collapsed then and lay on the ground groaning.
"You kissed my girlfriend…" Ren groaned out in agony. I coughed a little then spoke in a hefty voice.
"Ren, you don't care about her at all," I started string down at him then continued. "You cheat on her, and treat her like crap but you won't anymore." I said staring down at him. He was glaring up at me but I wasn't even worried about it anymore. "Get out of here, before I decide to call the cops." I said turning away from this pathetic excuse for a man.
I rushed over to Ayame, who was still lying on the ground and knelt down to look at her. "Are you alright?" I asked in a gentle tone. I brushed back a piece of her hair, only to see she was crying. I knew she was upset and probably hurt so I gathered her up in my arms, bridal style and unlocked the door before bringing her inside and setting her sown on the nearest thing I could.
Ren wouldn't be coming between us any longer.
