A/N: I'm back! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I basically have been super busy with school due to some "surprise" assignments that my professors like to toss on us. And I also changed the plot of the story to make us get to the good stuff faster! I pretty much cut the remaining chapters in half. Detail has been sacrificed for acceleration purposes! Though I'm sure you'll all be happy with this result! :D

Because of that fact, this chapter was not as "fun" as originally planned. I mean, I loved writing it, but it doesn't have the fun, jealousy atmosphere. But, like I said, I think you guys will like it a lot!

And due to the lack of time (seeing as how I have an exam in the morning that I need to be studying for), I will unfortunately not be putting review responses in this chapter. I feel really bad, but it takes me a long time because I like to send a unique response to each and every one of you! I hope no one gets angry! I'm sorry! Know that I love you all and I hope you continue to review despite my meanness! Thanks again guys!

And enjoy!

Ikuto walked down the hallway, aimlessly following behind Rima.

What does she need me for, anyway?

He'd much rather be at home right now. Or out somewhere by himself. He could use a nice jog or something. Anything that would help him clear his head. He hadn't seen Amu since she had stormed out of the gym that morning.

"I don't care about Tadase!"

What did she even mean by that? He wanted it to mean exactly what it sounded like. That she didn't have any more feelings for Tadase. For an instant, he saw the image of her blushing face staring back into his as she pulled him towards her. He shook his head to rid himself of the scene, but he couldn't stop his own cheeks from heating up.

If she really had feelings for me, she wouldn't have tossed my hand away.

For what seemed like the thousandth time since then, he replayed the scene of them exiting the theater. Her hand had felt so warm. And even now, no matter how much he continued to convince himself that she only had feelings for Tadase, he couldn't completely dismiss the hopeful feeling he'd been carrying around since she'd said that this morning.

What if she really doesn't like Tadase anymore?

And if she didn't like Tadase, it was entirely possible that she did like him. His blush deepened. That hopeful feeling kicked in ten-fold this time. Why else would she all the sudden not care about Tadase? And if that were true, he could understand why she was so pissed at him for talking about it.

That's gotta be it.

He knew he shouldn't believe that things would work out between them, but there had to be a reason that she was constantly occupying his thoughts all the sudden. He needed to apologize to her. To clear this whole thing up. He'd look for her before gym tomorrow and talk to her in private. He smiled as he resolved himself to this decision.

Amu might like me…

He couldn't stop the thought now. For the first time in a year, something good was finally happening in his life.

"Hmm…where are they?" he heard Rima murmur in front of him.

Ikuto looked up to see that they had entered the library. Rima walked past the front desk and took a left hand turn into the stacks. He raised an eyebrow.

What is she doing?

He turned the corner to follow her and stopped in his tracks. He could hear laughter all the sudden. And from a voice he knew.

"Tadase, look at this picture of Stalin. Isn't that mustache ridiculous?!"

He felt his stomach drop as the realization hit him. Amu was here. With Tadase. He reached a hand up to his forehead. He was starting to feel dizzy.

"He does look a little ridiculous," Tadase laughed. "Look at this one of Churchill."

Amu laughed again, "Roosevelt is even funnier. They all look so weird!"

Ikuto found himself wishing he was deaf as he heard the two of them laughing together. He immediately turned down an aisle between the book stacks to his right. His head was spinning as he leaned against one of the shelves for support. He tried to process what was happening.

I thought she never talked to him. What's going on?

He heard her laugh again and his hand squeezed tightly onto the shelf he'd been holding onto. He had to resist the urge to punch the books in front of him when he heard Tadase's voice again.

"Hey, Amu. Why don't we go to the History Museum tomorrow after school since it's so close to here. We could ask Rima and Kukai too."

Ikuto heard silence from Amu's end at first. Please don't go.

"Uhh…yeah, sure. Why not? I guess that's like doing research while having fun at the same time, right?"

"Yeah!"

He could practically feel them smiling at each other. He grimaced in disgust. In the back of his mind, he started to wonder where Rima was, but when he looked up, he realized he could see the top of her blonde hair in the row of stacks ahead of him. He walked around the corner to enter the aisle she was in. He watched as she stood up on the tips of her toes to see through the stacks at the open study area beyond.

He, too, looked through the stacks to see what she was looking at and immediately wished he hadn't. Amu and Tadase were sitting at a table, laughing and talking together as they flipped through the pages of some textbook.

"Rima," he started. He heard her gasp as she froze next to him, startled by his voice. "I'm leaving."

He couldn't watch this anymore. He turned and walked past her down the stacks toward the entrance.

"Wait…" Rima mumbled. "Wait! Ikuto!"

He felt a hand grab his arm as the nearby laughter ceased. He came to a stop and turned around to face Rima. He was afraid to look at her, unsure of what expression his face held.

"I'm sorry," she started, "I—"

"Ikuto?"

Ikuto cringed at the sound of Amu's voice behind him. She was the last person he wanted to see him right now. He didn't want anyone to see this side of him. Especially not her.

"Rima?" Amu continued to ask. "What are you guys doing here?"

Amu had no idea what was going on. She had been sitting down researching with Tadase when she suddenly heard Rima's voice calling out for Ikuto. She'd been so startled that she'd gotten up, almost on autopilot, and walked towards the voice.

And now here she was, looking at Ikuto's back between the book stacks. And behind him was Rima, and she was blushing.

What the hell was going on here?

Ikuto wasn't turning around and Rima wasn't saying anything either. Her blush just deepened the more Amu stared at her. Had she just…interrupted something? Her heart started to race, and not in a good way.

Did Rima just confess to him or something?

Her heart practically stopped at the thought. But she couldn't help it. All she could feel in the air was that her presence was not wanted. She saw Ikuto start to turn around, but she immediately looked away, not wanting him to see her now watery eyes. Before he finished turning, she turned completely around.

"Ah…sorry," she managed to blurt out as she hastened out of the aisle and walked past the front desk towards the restroom. She kept her head down so no one could see her face. As she passed a second set of stacks, she ran smack into someone who had just come out from one of the aisles.

"Amu?"

She looked up instinctively to see Nagihiko staring back at her. His facial expression went from surprised to worried in seconds.

"Amu, is everything okay?"

She just continued to stare at him, eyes welling up with tears. Not able to bear it anymore, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around him, and dug her face into his chest.

"Uhh…Amu?"

She started crying and couldn't stop herself to even respond to him.

Damnit, Damnit, Damnit!

Did Rima really like Ikuto? There was no way. How was that even possible? They'd never even met before yesterday right? But then again, Rima almost never blushed like that. Ever. And it was so awkward just then. It had to have been a confession.

Amu suddenly felt a hand on her back, gently patting her. Her eyes widened slightly.

If Rima likes Ikuto…what about Nagihiko?!

He'd been working so hard to get Rima's attention and he was such a nice guy. There was no way she could tell him what was going on. He'd be devastated.

Rima watched as Amu took off in the other direction.

What the hell?

She'd been about to apologize to Ikuto for dragging him here under false pretenses, but it was embarrassing to explain to him that she had simply brought him here in hopes of distracting Amu from Tadase. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal.

But the look on Ikuto's face when he had turned to face her had sent chills through her entire body. Like he'd just lost a member of his family or something. Before she had been able to say anything, Amu had showed up, and Rima had to keep quiet.

She'd just be pissed at me if she knew I was trying to get between her and Tadase.

That's what she had thought at the time, but Ikuto's clenched hands and dark expression had not gone unnoticed by her. He hadn't said a word, nor did he turn around to tease Amu like she would have expected. And the way Amu's own expression changed before she turned to walk away was not something Rima was used to seeing.

Did something happen between those two?

Regardless, she was still standing here in front of Ikuto, who was avoiding her gaze. She still needed to apologize.

"Ikuto, I'm—"

"I'm sorry, Rima," he interrupted her. "You'll have to find someone else to help you. I'm not feeling well."

And without another word, he turned and disappeared from her sight. She stood there, flabbergasted. What in the world was wrong with those two? She had no way of knowing what Ikuto was thinking, but her best friend was by herself somewhere. Upset. Even though Rima didn't know what happened, she couldn't leave Amu to sulk by herself.

She looked over through the stacks again to see that Tadase was still sitting by himself, looking a bit confused. Feeling responsible for some reason, she decided to inform him that Amu was not feeling well all the sudden and was going to the nurse.

"Oh, okay. Well tell her I hope she feels better and I'll see you guys tomorrow in class."

"I will."

"Oh, and Rima. Amu and I thought we should all go the History Museum tomorrow after school since it's nearby. Can you come?"

"Yeah, sure. See you then."

Not wanting to prolong the conversation anymore, she turned and headed back toward the library entrance. She didn't really like museums, but anything was better than being stuck alone with Kukai to research alone. And this way she could keep an eye on Amu and Tadase. Either way, she had bigger things on her mind at the moment.

Where did Amu go? The bathroom maybe?

She figured it couldn't hurt to check real quick before trying Amu on her cell phone. As she neared the bathroom, she heard sobbing sounds. Picking up her pace, she hurried around the last stack of books and immediately came to a halt.

Her eyes widened as her arms fell limp against her sides.

Nagihiko?

There in front of her was her best friend with her arms wrapped around Nagihiko as she stared up into his face. Rima's stomach felt like it had lodged itself in some awkward place inside her. It was uncomfortable. She didn't like it.

She was angry. And sad at the same time. What was happening to her? This virus had just taken a turn for the worse. And it kept happening around him.

Nagihiko's eyes finally turned towards her and they widened instantly.

"Rima?"

Amu looked over as well, and Rima noticed a tear streaming down her cheek.

But she didn't care. Too many emotions were jumbling inside her all at once. She needed to get out of there. So she turned. And ran. She ignored the cries of her friends behind her and just continued to run. Out of the library. Out of the school.

What's wrong with me?

She kept running. Why was she feeling this way? Why'd she just take off like that? So what if Amu and Nagihiko met up in the back of the library to do…whatever it was they were doing. *Anger*

Grr…stop it! Stop it, stop it! I'm not angry!

Why did it matter if Amu liked Nagihiko? It meant she'd finally gotten over Tadase. Now Rima didn't have to worry about Amu's failed love life anymore. *Hurt*

I said stop it!

She wasn't hurt. She hadn't run into anything or been hit by anybody. This virus was even making her body confuse emotions! She was happy. Happy for her best friend for finding someone. *Sadness*

What?

Her legs came to a stop. She keeled over. Out of breath. But her mind didn't even register that. All she could do was stare in disbelief as she watched the teardrops hit the pavement beneath her.

Nagihiko pushed Amu away from him and tried to run after Rima. But he was stopped by a hand grabbing hold of his wrist.

"It's pointless to run after her."

His eyebrows furrowed as he turned to face her.

"What?"

He stared as a sullen Amu dropped to her knees on the floor in front of him. Her grip on his wrist tightened.

"Amu, I'm going after her. Let go."

This was ridiculous. Had she not just seen Rima? His heart had practically broken at the sight of her looking so surprised. He knew what him comforting Amu had looked like.

"She…likes someone else."

His eyes widened at Amu's words. She broke out into sobs again and let go of his wrist. He just let it fall to his side as he stared at her. It felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"What are you talking about, Amu?"

He didn't want to know the answer. But he couldn't just leave without an explanation.

"It's Ikuto!" She said, evoking a new burst of sobs.

To say he was shocked would be an understatement.

"What the hell? Amu, that makes no sense."

"I saw it! She confessed to him! Just a few minutes ago between the stacks on the other side."

There's no way…

There was absolutely no way that the same Rima, who had devoted her free time to trying to get Amu and Ikuto together, could possibly like that very same person. Amu had to have heard wrong.

"What did you hear? What did she say exactly?"

"Well...I didn't actually hear it, but when I walked around the corner to greet them, they were both just standing there, silent, ignoring my presence. And Rima was blushing. It was so awkward and I felt so unwanted that it couldn't have been anything else. That's…that's why I'm so upset. My best friend likes the same guy."

That did it. He was just angry now.

"Amu. This is getting ridiculous. Does the thought of Rima liking Ikuto make any sense to you? I don't know what happened there, but if you didn't even hear anything, I'm sure it wasn't a confession."

"Well, it did seem a bit odd that she would like him after just one day—"

"Exactly. And even if she had confessed, do your own feelings not matter at all to you? Were you just going to give up?"

"What? Well, yeah. I mean, Rima deserves to be happy."

"What if he didn't return her feelings, then what? Would you just ignore your feelings just to keep Rima happy?"

This could not continue. He was so tired of dealing with all this misunderstandings.

"Of course! Rima is my best friend!"

"Then I disapprove."

"What?"

She had stopped crying now and was just staring up at him blankly.

"I disapprove of you. You don't deserve Ikuto if your feelings are so weak that you just toss them aside at the slightest hint of competition. As his best friend, I disapprove."

She jumped to her feet. She sounded angry. Good.

"Hey! You have no right to say that! My feelings are not weak! I've never liked anybody as much as I like Ikuto!"

He smiled at her.

"Then do something about it."

"What am I supposed to do?!"

"Just tell him."

"What? I…I can't."

"Why not?"

"But Rima—"

"Stop it. This is not about Rima right now. Do you really want to give up without even telling him how you feel? If you're always doing stuff for other people, you'll never have anything for yourself."

He watched her hands clench at her sides as she stared at the ground.

"How could you of all people say that? Don't you want Rima to be happy?"

Amu was feeling so many emotions all at once. How could he just ignore Rima's feelings like that? She finally looked up at him and all those emotions faded away. He was staring back at her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen.

"Yes. I do want her to be happy. But I want to be the one who makes her happy. I want to be the reason she's smiling."

She just continued to stare at him.

"Nagihiko…"

"I'm in love with her, Amu."

Amu's jaw dropped.

"What?!"

She expected some sort of explanation but he just smiled back at her. She had known he liked her a lot, but love?

"I'm not going to let go of Rima for anyone. Not without her hearing me out first."

He turned around to head toward the entrance.

"Wait, Nagihiko! What are you going to do?"

He looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Isn't that obvious?"

A/N: YAY! Wow I actually wrote a long chapter for once! Woo! And it was exciting! At least I hope it came across that way! Like I said before, I know this chapter was a little bit on the serious side, but now we're finally getting to the good stuff.

And the next chapter is the one all the Rimahiko fans have been waiting for! WOO!!!

Sorry again for the lack of review responses. I really do feel terrible, especially for any new reviewers who were hoping for one (which might not be anyone). I promise they'll be there on the next one!

Til next time! (Probably another two weeks, sorry guys!!)