-Chapter 26-

A couple hours later, Tadase was sitting in a police van with Ikuto and some other officers, watching a camera planted in one of the police officer's jackets. He sighed slightly, wishing he could be the one running into the abandoned building after breaking in. Of course, he wasn't that powerful. Police officers were much stronger and more helpful than him, after all. He was just a teenager. He should have just come to the police in the first place...

Ikuto touched Tadase's shoulder. "Hey. You tried to do it yourself. And that's all that matters. Do you want to borrow my phone to talk to your friends? To tell them you contacted the police and that they're trying to help Amu out?"

Tadase shook his head. "Whatever. It's none of their business I got the police's help. I know they care. But they might ask too many questions. I'll tell them later."

Ikuto frowned, but nodded slightly. He wanted to do something to make Tadase feel better, but he had no idea how to, not used to comforting people. He sighed and patted Tadase's shoulder awkwardly. Tadase didn't seem to care that much and just ignored the taller, watching as the police officers finally broke into the building after deciding whether it was safe or not.

"Check every room." The police chief, who was in the van with Tadase and Ikuto, said to the officers via a Bluetooth headpiece in his ear. "There may be other things besides the girl."

The officers nodded affirmatively and noisily barged into each and every room, grabbing anything that looked like it could be evidence for another charge besides kidnapping and torture. Each room the officers went into, Tadase held his breath, hoping it to be the one Amu was in, and each time it turned out to be empty (save for some suspicious boxes and weapons), Tadase felt worse.

What if the kidnappers had heard the police coming and left, dragging Amu with them? For all Tadase knew, Amu might not even be in the building anymore. That thought made Tadase want to curl up and cry. And he wasn't the type to cry very often. Tadase didn't even want to think about what Amu was being put through now, if anything.

Ikuto had left the van a while ago, either too impatient or too anxious. Tadase was getting to that point too, but he couldn't leave. He needed to be present or at least get to see Amu when she gets found. Otherwise, he'd feel...like he wasn't there to help. He sighed and covered his face, momentarily removing his gaze from the screen in front of him.

"Hotori-kun?" The chief questioned. "Are you okay? If you're not feeling well, you can wait outside with Tsukiyomi-kun. We'll tell you if anything happens."

Tadase shook his head, removing the headphones, which allowed him to hear what the officers said, momentarily. "I want to see what's going on."

"Well, just know that you're free to leaveļ¼" the chief cut himself off after hearing something from the officers and detectives in the building. "What? You think you have a trail on her? Well hurry up then! Find her, we don't have all day!"

Tadase quickly looked up at the screen. One of the officers had a cellphone in his hand-Tadase's cellphone. He put hit headphones back on swiftly as to not miss anything else. Just in time, he heard a scream. A familiar sounding scream. His eye's widened.

"S-sir...th-that was..." He stammered. "A-Amu...chan..."

"Follow it." the chief told the officers. "Follow the sound of her scream. Now!"

Tadase bit his lip. He hoped Amu was okay. What could that scream have meant? Did the kidnappers do something to hurt her? He leaned closer to the screens in front of him, watching diligently. He wanted to do something. He really wanted to help Amu...but he couldn't.

Apparently, Amu's kidnappers claimed there was someone in the building with them. They looked panicked when they barged into the room they were keeping Amu in, grabbing her roughly and dragging her out. She had no time to grab the phone. And even if she could have, the men would've ended up finding it and hurting her. And she didn't like being hurt by them.

It was probably better to leave it in the room anyways. If someone was in the building, maybe they were here to help Amu. Maybe...it was Tadase and all of her other friends. And if someone was in the building...then surely they'd be able to hear her if she shouted really loudly...right? She bit her lip.

"LET GO OF ME!" She shouted, screaming loudly afterwards.

But all that led to was her getting slapped. Then suddenly, a cloth was placed over her mouth and nose, and after a couple seconds, everything went black. She was put unconscious by something. The men didn't bother to pick her up or anything and just dragged her limp body behind them, trying to run and get away from whoever was on their case.

"Can't we just kill her?" one of the men asked.

Another one shook his head. "We'd be defying our orders if we did. Even if I want to just get rid of her too."

"This is stupid. Why did that girl insist we don't kill her?" the first man grumbled. "If she hated her, why not just automatically kill her?"

"Beats me." the second man shrugged. "At least she won't be loud anymore now that she's unconscious. Otherwise, we'd be screwed."

"Men, stop blabbering and get moving." a third man said in an irritated tone. "We could get caught any second. And it won't be the bitch's fault this time."

"Yes, sir." the two other men mumbled and continued dragging Amu forwards.

"Have you found anything else?" the chief asked.

"Negative, sir." an officer said. "But there seems to be a lot of messes around. As if someone was in a hurry and kept knocking things over. Perhaps they're trying to escape?"

"Then hurry up and find them!" The chief and Tadase shout simultaneously, despite them only being able to hear the chief.

The men nodded and Tadase sighed again. There hadn't been any leads on Amu after that scream...could she be unconscious, or worse, dead? Tadase didn't want to think about it. He massaged his temples.

Please be okay... He thought. Amu...

After what seemed to be an eternity to Tadase, the police officers finally found something other than drugs and weapons. It wasn't anything of importance, but the officers said that it may have been used to make Amu go unconscious. The dust on the ground also seemed to have been disturbed, perhaps by Amu (or someone) being dragged across the floor. Obviously, all that information was collected by the detective on scene, not Tadase.

Still...all this information both scared Tadase, and made him feel relieved. Amu was hopefully only unconscious. Hopefully. But still, doubting thoughts flowed through Tadase's mind. What if they'd already left already? Maybe they were already running away from the building. Tadase's hand curled into a fist loosely.

"I-I...I need to take a break..." he stammered. "I'll...be back."

He got up and left the car. Ikuto looked over, confused. He started to say something, but Tadase ignored it. He had to do something no matter what. Even if it meant...sacrificing himself. For Amu...Tadase would do anything. He ran away from the van and towards the back of the building. There had to be a back exit somewhere. That was probably where they were headed.

"I'm coming for you, Amu..." Tadase mumbled to nothing. "Wait for me. You can't be dead...right?"

Imagining Amu smiling and nodding eased Tadase's nerves a bit, but that didn't mean it was true. He sped up a bit. He hoped Ikuto didn't plan on following him. Or telling the police chief he'd run off. This was something Tadase had to do. For Amu's sake, and for his own sake as well. The police officers may have been professionals, but if someone gets away when the place isn't surrounded properly...then what?

It started raining as Tadase was circling the building, looking for some alternate exit. Somehow, it didn't surprise Tadase that this would happen. Frankly, it set a good mood and expressed his feelings quite well. He bit his lip for the umpteenth time that evening and opened the door he stopped in front of. He was soaking wet and out of breath. But if he could catch Amu's kidnappers, it didn't matter. He hid for a while, so if they did come, he could surprise them...though he wasn't sure what good it would do...

"Amu..." he whispered to the air. He closed his eyes momentarily and rested his head against the wall. "The things I do for you..."

He heard some movement and tensed up slightly. Peeking up from behind the wall he was hiding behind, he looked around. A box had fallen. But there was no one in sight. He sighed. Worked up for nothing. He was about to go back to his hiding spot when he caught sight of some shadows ahead of him. It could have been one of two things-Amu and her kidnappers, or the police officers. Hopefully, it was the former.

Then, he heard someone swearing. "Shit. They found us. Run!"

Which meant...Amu was close by. And so were the police. Tadase wasn't sure how to feel. Relieved? Hopeful? Scared? He clenched his fist and watched the shadows, now silhouettes, come closer to where Tadase was hiding. The men seemed conflicted. The officers, appearing now, didn't hesitate to move closer. One of them said something into their earpiece.

"Drop the girl and surrender." The officer up front said. He held his gun up. "Carefully now. Any sudden movement and I'll shoot you."

"Y-you can't stop us." the man holding Amu's limp body said. He pulled Amu to her feet, holding her steady. "If you shoot...I'll kill her." Tadase's eyes widened as the man pulled something from his pocket. He unsheathed it and it shimmered slightly in the darkness. "That way...everyone wins, right?"

Tadase wasn't sure what to do. He could call out for Amu...or stay quiet and try to sneak up on them. Either would probably lead to him, or even Amu, getting hurt. He rubbed his temples and creeped closer to the kidnappers. He nearly broke into a run when he heard the now awake Amu scream at the sight of the knife being held up to her neck. Before he could get any closer, he was stopped.

"Who are you?" the officer demanded, and Tadase thought it was in reference to the kidnappers of Amu. "In the back. With the blonde hair. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Tadase blinked. He swore mentally. He'd been caught by the cops...how would he explain why he was here? He took another step forward. "Amu...I-I came for Amu." That was all he could say. Then the kidnappers turned around. They had a new, better reason to kill Amu now.

"T-Ta...da..se...?" Amu mumbled hoarsely.

Tadase fell to the floor, relieved, scared, and nervous all at the same time. "I'm sorry, Amu..." He could feel the tears welling up in his tear ducts.

A/N: EDIT: I'm reposting this because no one seemed to notice it the first time I posted it. I'm almost done the next chapter, too, so expect that soon too.

HONTONI GOMENASAI, MINNA. (I'm really sorry, guys)

I keep saying I'll finish chapters quickly...then get immediately lazy and procrastinate. But a couple days ago, I finally thought of a way to end this chapter, so I figured I'd better get it done before I forget the idea. (I don't know why, but my document said this file was over 2k words, yet when I uploaded it to the doc manager, it said it was only 1888 words)

Also, if the chapter seems a bit abrupt or rushed, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to end up that way. I just wanted to get this finished before I started feeling guilty.

-has no idea how stakeouts work despite watching multiple cop shows-