Chapter 19: Destroyed Chara

Amu and Ikuto sat side by side, facing Yaya. They both stayed silent.

"I'm not getting any younger," Yaya told them seriously.

Amu spoke first, "He was being chased by Easter. There was a guy with a knife chasing him. I found him and he fainted. I took him back here just to take care of him…"

"It was my fault," Ikuto took over, "I didn't want to go out because I knew Easter would find me. So, I asked to stay in her room. She said she'd have to ask you, but I begged her not to."

"Ikuto…" Amu mumbled.

"How long has this been going on?" Yaya asked them.

"Since last Wednesday," Amu told her.

"You know what I'm most disappointed about?" Yaya asked.

"No…" Amu said softly.

"That you couldn't trust me enough to tell me. I mean, Nadeshiko was my best friend, but then she left. You're my best friend, Amu. I know that I'm not your best friend, and I don't care. You're my best friend, and I would tell you anything. I can't believe you'd hide something like this from me…"

Yaya sounded really hurt; it pierced Amu, "I'm so sorry…"

"Even though you're my best friend, I know that on your list I'm only low down. I still don't even know about your past. I still don't even know you that well and I live with you. I thought I was high enough on your list that you could trust me with something like this, though."

"I'm sorry…"

"I think I need time staying somewhere else. I need time without me relying on any of my friends... I know that I'm immature; I need to learn to depend on myself. I'm going to find another dorm to stay in, and I think we should stop being friends for a while."

"Yaya," Amu began.

"No, let me talk. I'm sorry, Ikuto, but if you had done the right thing in the start I wouldn't have had to say this. You'll need to leave our dorm. Ami lives here and she's only a little girl. It isn't right. I understand that Easter is after you, but I'm sure you can find somewhere to stay. I want you out of here by Thursday. Otherwise, I'll have to report you to Tsukasa."

"Yes, I understand," Ikuto told her.

"Well, I'm going to pack up my stuff," Yaya told them. She turned around and walked into her room.

"I did something really bad…" Amu said quietly as a tear fell from her eye.

"I'll change back into my original clothes and leave," Ikuto told her.

"No, wait. I'll help you find a place. We can find you a hotel or something."

"My credit card is registered under Easter. As soon as I use it, they'll know," Ikuto told her.

"Well, we'll figure something out. At least stay here for tonight and we can try figure something out. Tomorrow you can leave."

"Thank you, Amu," Ikuto told her.

"You can sleep in the spare room tonight," Amu told him.

"Sure."

Later that afternoon Amu went out to pick up Ami. When she got back, Yaya was already gone.

The next morning Amu arrived at school early. Tadase was the only other one who was there early.

"Hi, Amu," Tadase said brightly.

"Hi," she responded with a smile on her face.

"I was wondering, could we talk after rehearsals today?"

" Yeah, sure. Give me like an hour or so before you come over, though. I need to pick Ami up."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Amu."

"Anytime," Amu assured him. More students began coming into class. Amu was confused; people usually came in just after the bell rang. "Why's everyone coming early?"

"Cause of school photos… Will you be alright, Amu?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine, she assured him.

Nearly everyone was in class by the time the bell rang. As Nikaido entered class he was delighted to see everyone already in their seats, "I'm glad there's such anticipation for school photos. Luckily, we're up first."

There were cheers throughout the class. Everyone stood up and the class walked towards the media room. As Amu was walking she was getting more and more nervous. Soon she'd be face to face with her father. She hadn't seen him in so long.

Amu was calmed down when Tadase's hand gripped hers.

"Thanks," she told him.

The two walked in silence.

Nikaido began talking to the class as they walked, "Guys, we're going to the side entrance to the media block. The photos will be taken in the green screen room."

A chorus of 'okay' was heard from the class. The class walked as a group and they arrived at the side entrance to the media block.

"Wait here," Nikaido told them as he went through the door. He went through one of the doors in the building. After about 30 seconds he came back out.

"Okay guys; arrange yourself in order of height. Shortest at the front, tallest at the back."

Tadase gripped Amu's hand one more time before he let go.

Amu was about a third of the way through the line. After everyone had lined up they walked single file into the green screen room. As Amu entered she saw a seating frame, with three metal bars for sitting on. She turned to see him standing there. He had soft eyes, and short eyebrows. He had a smile on his face. He truly looked like a nice person when he stood there. What a deceptive look.

"Okay guys," he said to the class, "I'm going to tell you where to sit."

He tapped Rima's shoulder since she was the shortest and told her were to sit. The line seemed to go down quickly as everyone made their way over to the seating stand. The first row had been completely filled, and Amu was now the first in line. Tsumugu was about to tap Amu's shoulder when Amu's hand instinctively reached up to slap his hand away.

"I'm sorry, I don't like disgusting people touching me," she told him.

He looked obviously offended, "I'm sorry. Can you sit in the centre of the second row?"

"Whatever," Amu brushed off what he said as she made her way over to the seating stand. She sat down and people began filling the 2nd row. After all three rows had been filled, Nikaido stood beside the seating stand.

"Okay, is everyone happy?" Tsumugu asked, "On the count of three say cheese!"

Amu didn't smile as he took the photo. He looked up from the camera.

"Hey! You girl with pink hair! Can't you at least smile? You've been absolutely rude to me ever since you walked in here, I have no idea why."

"Don't call me girl with pink hair, I have a name you know," she said to him.

"Well what's your name?" He asked.

"Hinamori Amu."

He froze as he heard her name. He didn't move for a few seconds.

"I guess you understand why I've been rude to you now?" Amu asked sarcastically.

"Amu…" he said slowly.

"Don't you dare say my name; you lost the right the minute you walked out of my life."Amu got up from her seat and moved out of the seating stand, "This time, I'm the one who's walking away."

She walked to the door and opened it. As she was about to walk out he yelled out, "Wait, Amu!"

"I told you not to say my name," Amu warned him. She shut the door and it slammed closed.

Tadase, Rima and Yamada got up from their seats on the seating stand.

"I'm leaving," Rima told them as she walked out the door. Tadase followed her out.

Yamada walked up to Tsumugu and whispered in his ear, "You don't know what she went through after you left her. You are not fit to be a father. I hope you suffer in hell."

Yamada too, walked out of the room. Everyone else in the class was looking on in astonishment. They had no idea what had just happened.

"Well, let's get back to the class photo shall we?" Nikaido suggested.

Tsumugu, still in shock over what had just happened simply nodded his head.

Amu was standing outside the media block. Tadase, Rima and Yamada ran up to her.

"Are you alright?" Rima asked.

"Are you joking?" Amu asked, "I'm fantastic! That felt so good!"

The four of them began laughing. "Did you see the look on his face when you said your name?" Tadase asked in between his laughs.

"He was like a deer caught in the headlights!" Rima said still laughing.

They all continued laughing. Amu felt comfort just knowing that her friends were beside her. They continued to talk until people began to come out of the green screen room one at a time. The tallest came out first. Obviously the solo photos were done from tallest to shortest.

Nikaido came out and he walked up to the four of them, "You still need to do your solo photos. It's a requirement of the school that everyone has a solo photo done."

They all looked at Amu, "Sure. Let's go back in there."

The four of them walked back into the room just as the last girl left. Tsumugu turned to see the four of them.

"Amu… can I talk to you alone?" He asked.

"No. If you have something to say just say it," she told him.

"Well, okay…" He began, "I want to be part of your life again. That's why I offered to do the school photos."

"Yet, you didn't approach me at all. You didn't try that hard," Amu told him.

"That's because I thought you'd hate me, which you obviously do…"

"Well guess what. When you left me it was the hardest time of my life. I'm better now, though. My friends mean everything to me," Amu told him as she hugged the three of them, "And I'm fine living without you. So, don't think after all this time you can just walk back into my life."

"But, Amu…"

"No, just no. I don't want you in my life, and neither does Ami."

"How is Ami?" He asked, excited by the mention of her name.

"Fine without you," Amu told him.

"Please… what can I do to get you back in my life?" He was almost begging now.

"How about you start showing an interest in my life again? I'm doing an opening number for an audition next Tuesday. It's being held at the school's auditorium. Come and watch me sing."

"Of course. I'll definitely be there," he told her.

"Why'd you do that?" Tadase whispered to her.

"Because I'm going to give him a message. He'll realise that I don't want him in my life."

Tsumugu went back to his camera, "Okay, tall guy you're up."

One by one, the four of them each took a photo. They didn't leave after their individual photo, though; they waited for all four of them to have their photo taken. They left as a group, not looking back as they exited the room.

At recess the group made their way to their usual spot in the cafeteria. Amu, Tadase, Rima, Kairi, Yamada and Suzuki were sitting at the table. There was an empty spot in between Rima and Kairi were Yaya usually sat. After they had been talking for a while, Suzuki bought up the topic.

"Where's Yaya?" He asked.

Everyone other than Amu shrugged. Amu looked down towards the table before she spoke up, "She's just having some time away from us so she can learn to be self-dependant…"

Suzuki knew he had bought up a sensitive topic, so took her answer for granted. Tadase was quick to change the topic, "Wow, we're actually doing a practice run through of the musical today… In less than two weeks we will actually be performing it in front of an audience for the first time."

"Ahh… damn. Can you guys apologize to Geraldine for me? I still have after school detention…"

"Oh, that's right," Amu said, "Damn. Won't be the same with William."

He chuckled, "William is still awesome."

"Shh. I'm trying to cheer you up," she told him.

Everyone began laughing.

They kept talking until the bell rang for next class. Everyone bid their goodbyes as Amu and Rima made their way to the art room. When they entered the room they saw a lot of pieces of paper which were upside down all over the tables.

"What's all this?" Rima questioned.

The art teacher was excited at the question, "We're going to have a draw-off."

"A what?" Amu asked.

"I'll wait until everyone is in the class to explain what we're doing," she told them.

After a minute or so everyone had gotten to class and taken a seat.

"Okay class!" The teacher yelled. She was obviously very excited, "Today, we're extremely lucky. The year 12 art teacher suddenly started vomited at recess."

"Wow, that's a bit mean," someone called out.

"Oh, woopsies. I didn't mean it like that. But anyway, since they couldn't find a relief for her at such short notice, we'll be combining the year 11 and year 12 art classes for the next two lessons." Gasps of excitement were heard throughout the class. "Everyone welcome the year 12 art students!"

Everyone looked towards the door as the year 12 students began walking through the door. Amu was surprised when she saw Shouta walk through the door with the other students. There were only 8 year 12 students, which also surprised Amu, considering that there were about 15 year 11 students.

"Year elevens, I want you to get into partners and when you have decided on your partnership, there should be only one pair per table," she told the class.

Amu and Rima both looked at each other at the same time. They stayed at the table they were currently sitting at.

"Now, year 12s, I want one of you to go to each pair."

Shouta immediately locked eyes with Amu. He walked over to the table Amu and Rima were sitting at.

"I didn't know you did art," Amu said to Shouta.

He was about to comment, but they were interrupted when the teacher spoke again, "Okay. We're going to be doing a draw-off. Each table has a word on it. It's just a word. I want every person in the group to just draw any ideas they get when they think about that word. You just fill your page with every idea that comes to your mind. At the end, people will vote for who has the best drawing in each group of 3." Everyone got excited. This sounded like it would be fun. "Also, year elevens, I want you to look at your senior's works. I'm pretty sure they'll win everything. This is just made to be a learning experience. Don't discuss with each other what you're drawing. It's about your personal feelings. Groups, flip over your paper."

Amu flipped over the piece of paper which was in the middle of the table. It read 'Prisoner.'

The three of them began drawing and Amu was the first to talk, "So you do Art?"

"Yeah. I don't want to sound cocky, but I'm the best artist in this school."

Amu scoffed, "Whatever. I'll just show you."

"You two know each other?" Rima asked.

"Oh, yeah. Woops, I totally forgot to introduce you guys. How bad is that?" Amu said, "Rima, this is Shouta. Shouta, this is Rima."

"How do you guys know each other?" Rima asked.

Have you ever experienced that weird phenomena where everyone in the class suddenly goes silent at once, just as you're about to speak? If you have, you probably know what I'm talking about. It always seems to happen at the most inconvenient time. Well, that's what happened just then.

"Oh, he's Yamada's roommate, so we've met a lot."

Gasps were heard throughout the classroom. By itself, that sentence sounded really bad.

"There's a misunderstanding here," Shouta clarified.

"It's no use, Shouta. It'll be all over the school by lunch time. That's alright; I'm used to it by now."

"You're used to it? That's wrong. You shouldn't have to get used to rumours like this."

"It's fine. I know who my friends are, and they don't believe things like this. That's enough for me."

He smiled at her, "You're an inspiration, you know."

"Thanks. Well, don't think I'm going to go easy on you 'cause you're flattering me. I'm going to draw the best damn picture you've seen."

"I look forward to seeing it after you finish. I'm sure I'll beat you, though."

"Don't forget about me," Rima warned them.

They kept drawing and talking when Rima's head suddenly shot up, "Oh I just remembered I have to tell you something, Amu."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Guess what I'm doing after rehearsals today?"

"What?"

Rima lowered her voice so only Amu and Shouta could hear her, "A guy from my drama class called Takuya asked me on a date…"

Amu had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming, "Congratulations!"

"Oh, congratulations. Just remember, if he breaks your heart, I'm always here to help you feel better," he joked.

"Another player," Rima joked as she rolled her eyes, "You're not my type."

"Ooh, burnt!" Amu said as she playfully nudged Shouta.

"You won't say that after a night with me," he told her.

"Wow, you sound confident," Rima said.
"Of course. I have a 100% success rate."

"Zero out of zero doesn't count as 100% success rate," Amu added.

"Oh, wow. Is it gang up on Shouta day?" He asked.

Amu and Rima high fived each other before Amu added, "I'm sorry, but it's fun."

After about one and a half hours had gone by, the teacher told everyone that it was time that each group would present their pictures. Amu's group was up first. The three of them stood up and made their way to the front of the class.

"Well, Rima, can you show the class your picture and explain your feelings?" The teacher asked.

Rima showed everyone the picture. It was a picture of a girl with a chain tied around her body. The chain went into her chest, "Well… I wanted to express that everyone is a prisoner of themselves. That's why the chain comes out of her chest…"

"Wow! That's beautiful. This'll be hard to top. Let's see what Amu has."

Amu showed her picture. It was a picture of a girl running through a field, "I went for a different approach. The girl is running free; she's not going to allow herself to be a prisoner."

"Wow… this will be a close one," The teacher said, "Last but not least, Shouta."

He revealed his picture. It was a picture of two people kissing. There was a chain coming out of the girl's chest. It wrapped around the boy's neck. "Well, I guess I wanted to show that we're all prisoners of the one we love. The boy is a prisoner of a girl's love. A chain comes from her heart and it's around his neck. If the girl walks too far away, the chain will tighten and cut off his air supply, so he'll die. He can only live if the girl is close."

Everyone in the class stared at his picture. He had so much small detail in the picture. Even Amu and Rima were in awe. It was truly beautiful. They couldn't believe he had drawn it in only an hour and a half.

"Okay… we'll vote now," the teacher told them, "Who votes for Shouta?"

Everyone in the class, including Amu and Rima put their hands up.

"I'll concede," Amu told him, "When it comes to art, you could teach me a few things."

He smiled, "Art's not the only thing that I could teach you a few things about."

Amu playfully slapped him, "You're such a pervert."

"Well, by unanimous vote Shouta has won. Which group is next?"

They sat through the voting for each group and after it finished, there was about 10 minutes left until lunch. The teacher told them they could talk for a bit.

"You're art was beautiful," Rima said to Shouta.

"Well, I was inspired," Shouta told them.

"Oh? By who? Must be some girl if she can have a chain around your neck," Amu teased.

"Oh, yeah. That person's something alright…"

"So maybe you'll tone down your playboy tendencies a bit?" Rima asked.

He scoffed, "Yeah right. I'm not the type for a serious relationship."

Amu put her face into her hands, "You'll never learn. Well, I'm glad that your teacher got sick. It gave me a chance to get to know you better. Before today I just thought you were Yamada's sex-crazy roommate. I learnt that you actually have a personality, a sex-crazy one, but still." Amu poked out her tongue as she finished talking.

"Oh, wow. So immature. Well, I'm a teenage boy, what do you expect?"

Amu and Rima rolled their eyes. The bell rang, and they all headed out to lunch.

"Where do you hang out at lunch?" Amu asked Shouta.

"Oh, I hang out with some of my friends in the cafeteria."

"Same!" Rima said.

"You should come and sit with us," Amu told him.

"God, Yamada would probably kill me," he said. Amu and Rima looked at him questioningly, "Don't get me wrong, we're good friends. We just see each other enough without hanging out together at school."

They smiled and Rima talked this time, "I get where you're coming from. Well you're always welcome to sit with us. You'd sure spice up the conversation a bit."

"Was that a compliment?" He asked.

Amu and Rima just giggled to themselves. When the three of them arrived at the cafeteria they went their separate ways. Amu and Rima sat down with the rest of the group as normal.

The rest of the day flew by quickly. The rehearsal for the musical went well. Ikuto's understudy, Scott, still couldn't do the role as good as Ikuto could. William was a bit disappointing after seeing Yamada perform so many times.

Rima and Amu were walking back to their dorms together.

"I hope you have fun on your date," Amu told her.

"Yeah… good luck with Tadase."

"Thanks… I'll need it."

By the time Amu and Ami arrived back at their dorm there was only about 10 minutes left until Tadase was coming.

"Ami, can you go in your room for a while? Amu has something very important to do…"

"Sure sissy! I'm weawwy tiwed anyway, so I'm going to sweep."

"Okay then, good girl, Ami."

After Ami went into her room Amu knocked on the guest room door. Ikuto opened the door.

"Hey," Amu began, "I don't have long until Tadase comes. When he arrives, you need to just stay in here okay. I'm going to say this very quickly. I'll pay for a hotel for you until the court hearing on Saturday."

"What?" Ikuto asked.

"I'll pay for your hotel, that way they can't track it to you."

"You can't do that, Amu. You are only living comfortably; if you start wasting money on a hotel for someone else then you and Ami will go hungry."

"I don't care," Amu said, "I'll give Ami my food, whatever. I can live with one meal a day anyway, I'm good at it. I want to help you, Ikuto."

"No, I can't let you do that," Ikuto told her.

Amu heard the doorbell ring, "Oh, its Tadase. Get in your room and stay in there."

Ikuto got into his room and closed the door. Amu walked up to the door and opened it.

"Hi, Amu," Tadase said with a smile on his face.

"Hi, come in."

Tadase came in and the two of them sat down on the couch, "Amu, remember when you saw me with the key necklace that matches your lock?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we never tried to put one in."

"I guess we didn't," Amu said.

"Can we try now?" Tadase asked. Amu thought about it for a moment. She was still thinking when Tadase spoke up again, "Please, Amu. I need to do this so I can make a decision."

"Okay, then," Amu conceded. Tadase moved closer to her. Amu pulled her necklace out from under her shirt. Tadase looked down at the keys on his chain. He picked up the one in the middle and held it in his left hand. In his right hand he picked up Amu's necklace and he slowly moved the key into the lock. The key touched the lock, but it didn't fit in.

Tadase smiled sadly, "As I thought. We aren't destined to be together."

Amu, too, smiled sadly, "Yeah, I don't think we are supposed to be together."

"Well, I hope we can still be really good friends," Tadase told her.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way," she said adamantly.

It was at that moment that Ikuto exited his room. As they heard the door open both Amu and Tadase looked over to the room. Shock crossed both of their faces.

"Ikuto…" they both said in unison.

"Why are you here?" Tadase asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Oh? Amu didn't tell you? I've been sleeping in her dorm for the past week. I was actually sleeping in her room until yesterday."

Tadase looked at Amu in disbelief, "It's not true, right Amu?"

Amu looked at the floor.

"ANSWER ME!" Tadase screamed.

"Well, it's true, but-"

Amu was cut off when Tadase pushed past her. He ran out the door of the dorm. Amu fell to her knees.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Amu screamed at Ikuto, "GET OUT OF HERE NOW. I HATE YOU. I WILL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN IN MY LIFE. I HOPE EASTER CATCHES YOU AND YOU DIE!"

The words pierced Ikuto, 'Stay strong, Ikuto. You're doing the right thing. This is for her, after all.' He slowly walked out of the dorm, and shut the door.

Ami came out of her room after hearing the screaming, "Ah you okay, sissy?"

"Yes, I'm okay. I just have to go out for a bit. Go back to sleep, Ami."

"Okay, sissy," Ami responded before she went back into her room.

Amu wiped her eyes, but it was pointless. The tears wouldn't stop flowing. She had just ruined his life. She needed to talk to someone. Kukai and Nadeshiko were gone. Yaya, Tadase and Ikuto hated her now.

She stood up off the floor and ran out of her dorm. She needed to get some fresh air. Not thinking straight, she ran to Rima's dorm and banged on the door. After there was no answer, she slumped to the ground. As if on cue, Amu heard a rumble from the sky. It started raining and Amu was soaking wet. The tears mixed with the rain on her face, making her face so much colder. Her face was going numb as she stood up. She now remembered Rima was on a date. Her next thought was Yamada. Wet, cold and still crying Amu began walking towards Yamada's dorm. When she arrived she only banged on the door once before she fell to her knees. She couldn't stand anymore. Someone inside had obviously heard her bang, though, since the door opened a few seconds later. Amu looked up at the person who had opened the door to see Shouta standing there in only his boxers. As he looked down to see Amu drenched his face became worried immediately. He leant down and picked her up, carrying her inside. Amu's wet body was pressed against his warm one. Amu wrapped her arms around him to try and stay warm.

"You're freezing…" he told her.

"I ruined Tadase's life," she cried out. Tears flowed from her eyes.

"I'll get a towel. I'll be back in just a second," he told her. He quickly rushed to get two towels from the bathroom and came back out. He wrapped one towel around her while pressing the other one against her body to dry her off.

"I'm the worst…" Amu said.

"No, you're not. You're a wonderful person," Shouta told her. After Amu was dry, Shouta pressed his hand to her forehead, "You're still so freezing…" Amu stayed silent, "I'll get you a change of clothes," He went into his room and pulled a pair of his boxers, track pants, long shirt and jumper out of his cupboard. "Go into the bathroom and get changed."

Amu stayed silent, she wasn't listening. Shouta picked her up bridal-style and carried her into the bathroom. He then went back and bought his clothes into the bathroom.

"You really need to dry yourself off and change your clothes. You'll get sick." Amu was still zoned out, "AMU!"

That snapped Amu back to reality. She paid attention to her situation now. She looked down at the clothes. They would be far too big on her. Shouta could see that Amu was back in reality now, "I'll be just outside this room, okay? I'll be right here."

Amu took off her clothes and dried herself again. She changed into the clothes Shouta had given her. They were far too oversized, the track-pants dragged along the floor, and the sleeves of the jumper were off her hand. She walked out of the bathroom and Shouta hugged her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes… your clothes are so warm," Amu said. She was still not thinking straight.

"I'm sorry Yamada isn't back from detention yet… he probably had some nasty teacher… You'd probably rather have him take care of you."

"No…" Amu answered, trying not to make Shouta feel bad. She didn't expand on her answer, leaving Shouta confused, "I'm a horrible person. I hate myself…"

"No, you're not. You're one of the nicest people I know, Amu," he told her as he hugged her again.

"Can I stay here for a while?" She asked.

"Sure, I'll help cheer you up," Shouta told her.

"I don't think anything could cheer me up…" She said, her voice was miserable.

"What about a magical night in my bedroom? I promise I'll help you forget everything that happened."

Amu thought about what he was saying. Right now, she was still a bit confused. That's why her reply was only one word, "Yeah…"

Shouta picked her up and whispered in her ear as he did, "I'll make you feel special, like you're the only one that matters. I'll make you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world."

Amu snuggled herself closer to him, taking comfort in his arms. Shouta carried her into his bedroom, and closed his bedroom door behind him.

A/N: Oh… My… God! I'm the author and I still get surprised when I read this part… Lots of things to think about for this chapter; don't think that you have to answer them all.

First of all, I just want to say that personally this is one of my FAVOURITE chapters in the whole story. I don't really like to brag about my own story, but I think Shouta's character is awesome! Shouta is finally given some good characterisation for himself in this chapter. Before this point, he was just like a plot point for Yamada's characterisation. This chapter marks his entry as a main character of the story. When I first introduced him, I never had any intention of him even becoming anything remotely near a main character. I planned on him only being there as an object of Yamada's jealousy. That is one of the main reasons I love what I've done with Shouta.

And, I have something to admit… The Rima going on a date with some random guy was kind of a cop-out on my behalf. I needed some way to remove her from the picture since she was the one person left that Amu would go to before Yamada. It probably seems REALLY out of character for Rima to go on a date, but you'll see what I did with it next chapter. :) Personally, I think that my cop-out worked out well haha. Anyway, things to think about:

Will Amu really sleep with Shouta? If so, will she regret it? Will they start dating? If not, what will Shouta think?

Who is that person that Shouta is in love with? Why does he still fool around with girls if he's in love with someone?

What will Yamada think? Yamada has always been jealous of Shouta, and Amu promised him that she wouldn't sleep with Shouta!

What will Tadase think? Will this ruin every chance that they had of becoming friends again?

What is going to happen to Ikuto? He said that the only people he trusted were Utau and Amu, and Easter is keeping an eye on Utau… Where will he go?

That was a massive authors note… I wonder if anyone actually bothered reading it. Sorry that I ramble a lot!

See you next weekend!