XXI

"It has come to my attention that your daughter, Miss Yamabuki Saaya, has been bullying her classmate Miss Hinamori Amu here." Tsukasa gestured to Amu as he spoke her name.

Amu immediately felt the need to sink into her chair, not liking that she was being directly pointed and referred to. Unfortunately, since she was already present, there was really no other way to go about it. She looked down at her lap and felt Tadase squeeze her hand in immediate reaction to her actions.

"Is that true, Saaya?" Mrs. Yamabuki turned to her daughter. "Have you been bullying your classmate?"

"No, mama." Saaya, quite blatantly lied. She didn't even put any effort into it.

Amu wanted to shout out that Saaya was lying. She wanted to tell Saaya's mother exactly what injuries her daughter had caused to two innocent people. However, she knew yelling wouldn't get her anywhere. Not in this situation. Tadase squeezed Amu's hand once more, mouthing for her to breathe. It was astonishing how quickly he was able to tell when Amu was feeling stressed or bothered. Amu nodded and took a few breaths before turning to look at Saaya's mother directly.

"Headmaster, if I may interject…" she said slowly. "I'm sorry to say this, Yamabuki-san, but…your daughter is flat out lying. She didn't even try to come up with an excuse! I know what she did to me, and I know what she said to me." Amu purposely leaned over Tadase to stare directly at Saaya as she spoke once more. "She even went as far as to harm Tadase-kun, her own ex boyfriend."

Amu watched as Saaya's eyes widened in shock, but immediately went slack when her mom turned to look at her. Her innocent act wasn't going to phase Amu, nor would Amu let it go past Saaya's mother. "Saaya! Is this true? Did you harm your own ex boyfriend?"

Saaya fumbled for something to say. "M-mom, you've got it all wrong! Hinamori-san is the one whose lying! I-I didn't mean to… She just…" Saaya couldn't finish her sentences.

"If I may interject as well…" Tsukasa jumped in. "If you need physical evidence, Hinamori-san has provided us with two papers that have been proven to be Saaya-san's."

"Amu-chan, would you rather show the notes first or…" Tadase trailed off, knowing Amu knew what he meant.

Amu shrugged, haven shrunken back into her chair after being called a liar by the actual liar. She would never lie about something this serious. She was already starting to losing confidence. She knew this would happen. Saaya would try to deny everything, and somehow convince her mom that Amu was the crazy one and not her. Tadase ran his thumb across the back of Amu's hand comfortingly, which sent shivers down her spine, which in turn helped her straighten up and at least pretend to look confident.

"Show the notes." she said firmly after collecting herself. "It'll be easier for Yamabuki-san to take in."

Tsukasa nodded his head and opened a drawer in his desk. He gently took out the two notes and slid them in front of Mrs. Yamabuki. "I advise you to look at these notes. Are they in your daughters handwriting?"

Mrs. Yamabuki pulled the two notes closer to her, pulling out some designer reading glasses to inspect them. She gasped and looked at her daughter in shock. "Sweetie…this is your handwriting! Did you really write this?"

"M-mom! Can't you see…? She's…she's taking Tadase away from me!" Saaya suddenly outburst frantically. "I'm not doing anything wrong! I'm not doing anything wrong…"

Amu had heard enough. Saaya was clearly delusional. "Yamabuki-san, can't you tell that we're just friends? Quit trying to frame me for something I'm not doing! At least…at least I haven't resorted to violence for no reason!" Amu abruptly stood up, letting go of Tadase's hand. "Do you know how much you've hurt me? Hurt Tadase-kun? Not even just mentally, verbally or psychologically but physically?" she took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeve. "Do you see this bandage? You caused this. Do you want to see the stitches too? Or maybe you want to see Tadase-kun's leg? Are you happy about any of this? Are you satisfied with what you've done?"

At Amu's sudden outburst of truth bombs, the room fell silent. Saaya looked as if a cat got her tongue. Amu's facial expression was deadly. She was entirely ready to rip off the bandages around her arm to show Saaya's mother exactly what her daughter had done. Tsukasa silently took the notes back from Mrs. Yamabuki, waiting for Amu to settle down.

Tadase couldn't help but stare at Amu in awe. Something was burning inside of him as he watched this new side of Amu appear. At the same time though, he had a different feeling hearing Amu being so adamant about how they were "only friends". He shook his head and tried to focus on something else. It was true after all, was it not?

"Alright, that's quite enough, Hinamori-san." Tsukasa said, nodding at Amu with what looked to be pride in his eyes. "If we can all settle down, we must discuss repercussions for this. I have one question to ask." Tsukasa turned to Saaya's mother with a serious look. "I checked Saaya-san's record and it says she is supposed to take several antipsychotic pills. Is this true?"

Saaya's mother nodded. "She's supposed to take them with every meal…" A realization dawned on her about her daughters actions and she turned to her daughter quickly. "S-Saaya! Have you not been taking your medicine?"

"M-mom! Don't do this to me!" Saaya whined, looking from Tsukasa to Tadase. "There's nothing wrong with me! You know there's othing's wrong with me… Mom can't you do something?"

Mrs. Yamabuki sighed. "Saaya, what you've done is horrendous…appalling even! All I can do is agree to whatever punishment Headmaster Amawaka gives you." she paused. "Also, you are grounded for a month for not taking your medication and for assaulting these poor kids. You're lucky they didn't file a report to the police!"

Not yet… Amu thought, though her mind was already jumbled with the information she just learned.

"Until I have proper authority on what actions to take, all I can do at the moment is suspend Yamabuki Saaya-san for two weeks. I suggest you get her…medicine situation under control or I'll have no choice but to take it to the authorities and have her brought to a mental institution." Tsukasa reasoned.

"That's quite fair enough, Amawaka-san." Mrs. Yamabuki said. "I'll make sure she never skips a meal or even thinks about skipping taking her medicine. She'll be a reformed woman once she returns from her suspension, I promise you."

Amu sighed in relief. All her worry drained out of her as Mrs. Yamabuki agreed to all the terms. She was afraid Saaya's mother would be the type to be stuck up her own child's derriere, but was glad to hear that she had some sense in her. Even if it was only a 2 week suspension, that was two weeks for Saaya to hopefully improve herself, as well as 2 weeks not having to deal with her. Amu had no idea what exactly 'antipsychosis' medication was but if it was what it sounded like, not taking the medication would be a definitive reason for Saaya to be acting the way she had been acting since Amu started attending the school.

Mental illness or not, though, Amu was glad Saaya was getting punished for what she did. She hoped both she and Saaya could live a peaceful life after this. Separately of course. And as far from each other as possible. She'd be willing to put out a restraining order if she had to.

Tadase patted Amu's shoulder gently, leaning in close. "I'm proud of you, Amu-chan." he whispered softly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "You stood up for yourself and it went in your favour."

Amu smiled. "All thanks to you, Tadase-kun."

"What? Why me?" Tadase asked incredulously, a little louder than he had intended. He quieted down as Tsukasa led Mrs. Yamabuki and Saaya out of the room. "I didn't do anything. You did all the work today, Amu-chan. All I did was inform my father, as I should do for my fellow classmates…and friends. You really surprised me back there with that outburst, though. "

Amu shook her head and took both of Tadase's hand, squeezing them gently. "You helped me with my anxiety. Without you here I probably wouldn't have had that outburst. You were there for me all this time, too. You're truly an amazing person Tadase-kun. Thank you. I'm lucky I had you throughout this whole ordeal."

For the first time in a while, Tadase felt flustered. His face felt hot and he tried to distract himself, but remembered Tsukasa and everyone else had left the room. Instead of responding to Amu's touching monologue, he distracted himself by checking the time and quickly changed the topic, informing Amu that they should go get ready for class now. Telling his father's secretary that they'd be taking their leave for class, he lead Amu out of their office and the two set off towards their class with a somewhat awkward silence between them yet again.

Class came and went like nothing. Amu barely remembered learning anything. All she could do was think about that meeting and how surprisingly well it went. She had also done some research during study hall about the medication Tsukasa mentioned and learned that antipsychosis medication was prescribed for people with schizophrenia and helped with the delusion and hallucination symptoms.

It saddened Amu to find this out. It meant that Saaya was only acting out because she hadn't been taking her medication. For all Amu knew, she may not have even wanted any of this to happen. But then again, there had to be a reason as to why she hadn't taken the medication.

She massaged her head as she waited for Tadase at the front steps at the end of the day. She must have zoned out because she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder and spun around quickly. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was Tadase.

"Phew, it's just you." she muttered.

"Who else were you expecting?" Tadase asked, though it ended up being a rhetorical question, since he already figured the answer. "You still seem a little on edge. What's wrong? Aren't you glad Saaya is finally getting what she deserved?"

"I am! I'm practically ecstatic that Saaya is getting what she deserves!" Amu responded insistently. "But at the same time…Saaya is supposed to be taking antipsychosis pills. Antipsychosis pills are supposed to suppress symptoms of Schizophrenia. If Saaya wasn't taking them then that means she had no way of knowing what was true or false. She was delusional, yes, but that was only because she had stopped taking her medication."

Tadase sighed. "I suspected she had a mental illness, though she never outright told me even while we were dating. I don't understand why she would suddenly stop taking her medication though…" he shook his head. "Enough about Saaya. Let's go do something fun to take our mind off of things. How does that sound?"

Amu managed a small smiled. "I would love that. I've needed a break for so long!"

Amu playfully offered him her hand as she hopped down the remaining step they were chatting at. Tadase took her hand with an amused chuckle, but was surprised when Amu kept what he thought was a gag going. He wanted to comment on it but decided not to, part if him relishing the moment.

"So, what did you want to do? Anything in mind?" he asked instead.

Amu hummed and shook her head, "Lets walk around downtown for a bit and see if there's anything that perks our interest."

Tadase agreed and smiled as he allowed Amu to tug him off in the direction of downtown. He could feel something inside him changing as he watched fondly as Amu skipped ahead of him, still holding his hand, albeit loosely. Eventually, she stopped skipping and fell in step with Tadase, though still not speaking.

The walk continued silently for quite a bit. Amu was too distracted thinking about how obvious it had been that something wasn't quite right with Saaya. Of course, the thought had crossed her mind a couple times but she didn't want to make speculation, since mental illness wasn't a joke.

Tadase, on the other hand, was trying to make sense of these new found feelings he was catching for Amu. If they were even 'new' feelings. Tadase glanced at Amu, who was walking a little further ahead from him, having let go of his hand at some point. Tadase had probably noticed the fact that they were no longer holding hands more than Amu had.

They reached a crosswalk and Amu probably would have walked right into the street despite the stop signal if Tadase hadn't grabbed her hand once more and yanked her backwards into him. Amu yelped slightly at the action, surprised to have been pulled back so suddenly. Her spine had stiffened as well and part of Tadase wondered if she had thought it was Saaya again. Feeling bad, he quickly released her hand and stepped away slightly.

"Sorry." he mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but at her. "It didn't say walk but you kept going. D-did I startle you?"

Amu looked at Tadase with a reassuring smile. "No, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me. Again. I must have I zoned out."

Tadase caught glimps of this smile, which compelled him to smile back immediately. For some reason, he grabbed Amu's hand again. "If you still want to get lost in thoughts… if we hold hands, I can ensure you don't run into anything else. No ulterior motives, obviously."

Amu glanced at Tadase bashfully, then shifted her eyes toward Tadase's hand holding hers. "W-well if you think it'll help then sure. No ulterior motive for me either…"

But there was definitely an ulterior motive. At least for Tadase. Because he liked how Amu's hand felt in his, as creepy as that sounded in his head. Part of him wondered if Amu also had an ulterior motive but was promptly reminded by himself that she had been so insistent to Saaya that they were only friends.

The two crossed the street safely and headed to town, Tadase trying not to be distracted by his own thoughts as well this time. When they got closer to the main pedestrian paths, Amu started seeming a little awkward and bashful. She was looking around as if expecting someone to jump out at her or something; it was strange because Amu had seemed fine until they got out into the crowded streets of downtown. Tadase wondered if it was because of him.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Tadase inquired slowly. "You seem tense again. If it's about Saaya, you know she can't hurt you anymore. She's grounded and suspended, remember?"

Amu shook her head, chewing her lip nervously. "It's not that… What-what do you think…people think we are? I mean…we're holding hands…alone together…after school…" Amu trailed off, looking away, a pinkish tinge appearing on her cheeks.

Tadase blinked, glancing down at their hands, still linked together. This was what Amu had been thinking about? It was surprising because any time they hung out together after school they were alone together. Was the difference that they were…holding hands? Tadase hadn't thought about that. Did holding hands have to mean it was a date? Or that they were…together?

"Oh my god, d-did I make you uncomfortable by saying that out loud?" Amu sputtered out, suddenly realizing what she had said. "I-I should have kept it to myself, I'm sorry!"

Tadase managed a chuckle. "It's fine, I wasn't uncomfortable. I just never thought about it that way. I guess being with you feels so comfortable I don't really think about what others think of us."

Amu smiled meekly, her cheeks turning pink once more. She hadn't heard something like that before…it sounded nice. "O-oh…" she murmured softly, looked around trying to hide her blush.

She quickly spotted an interesting store as she looked around and ran towards it, quickly forgetting about what she had gotten embarrassed about. She ended up dragging Tadase along behind her. Surprised, Tadase almost tripped over his feet at the sudden speed and movement from Amu. Somehow, though, he managed to keep up with her without causing his leg too much pain.

He smiled softly at her sudden excitement. Amu was really cute. He knew this wasn't a sudden realization either; he'd always found her cute and quirky. They were some of the things that drew him to her in the first place. But this time it was a different feeling. Before, he found her cute like you would a puppy or kitty. Now…he couldn't explain the feeling. Now, it was as if no other person was as cute or pretty or quirky as Amu. It was overwhelming him and he couldn't stop thinking about it. Or stop looking at her. He'd never felt something like this before… Could it be possible? Was he… Did he have romantic feelings for Amu? Tadase stared at their hands as he pondered his own feelings.

A/N: Not sure if I'm happy with this chapter but I already cut it short (the remaining part I cut out will be in ch 22), as it was over 3000 and I didn't like that length. I even thought about cutting it down to just above 1000 words but that felt too short and probably was the length of the original chapter and I've been trying to condense this re-write as best as I could so its not 30 chapters (even though it's still getting close)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter either way. We finally get confirmation that Saaya is Schizophrenic, though I might not touch too much on it after unless I do decide to rewrite Love vs Death to make it make more sense in terms of the change in plotline regarding Saaya's sanity. (tbh I did just think of a good name for the other story that might fit? Maybe Devil's Incarnate where Saaya refuses to take her medicine, is put in an institute but breaks out and pays(?) a gang to...do the things that happen in Love vs Death-)