II
A curly red-headed girl was looking down at Amu. Looking wasn't even cutting it. She was outright glaring at Amu, her emerald green eyes trying to bore into Amu's own honey brown eyes when instinctively sent back its own death glare. From what Amu could see, this girl was very much a 'goody-two-shoes.' Perfectly curled hair, caked on makeup, and a neatly done up uniform.
"Hey, bitch, what do you think you're doing sitting in my spot?" the redhead snarled bitterly.
Yep, I was right. Amu set her food aside and crossed her arms. "Am I not allowed to eat lunch? Yamabuki Saaya. And why are you even here? Haven't you heard the rumors about me? I could very much kill you."
"So you know who I am." Yamabuki Saaya seemed satisfied. "That means you should know that Tadase is my boyfriend."
Amu was becoming livid. She rose to her feet to meet Saaya's gaze. "I don't know who you think you are getting this close to me, but you need to back off. As far as Hotori-kun has told me, you guys broke up. So you have no right to call him your boyfriend, nor do you have any right to harass me just for eating lunch with him once."
Saaya scoffed. "Whatever. It's none of your business."
"Then it's also none of your business as to why I'm eating lunch with your ex-boyfriend." Amu shot back, her hands curling into fists.
"It's not like Tadase would ever like you anyways," Saaya said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Oh? And why is that?" Amu questioned, her outer character's personality really helping her in this situation.
"I mean, look at yourself," Saaya responded. "You're a mess. Your hair is weird, and your get up makes it look like you just came from some creepy occult."
"S-so what?" Amu could feel her outer character slowly breaking. "I'd rather be different than look like some goody-two-shoes who only follows the latest, stupid trends. At least my uniform gives me character!"
"If you mean make you look like a slut, sure." Saaya scowled at Amu.
Amu glanced down at her uniform, slowly breaking a little bit more out of character. It wasn't that bad. It was the same as every other grade 10 girl's uniform; a plaid skirt, black jacket, and matching plaid tie. She had just decided to decorate it with chains, cross pins, and decided she didn't want to tuck in the shirt. Her legs were just covered in ripped stockings and then just the schools Mary Jane shoes. Of course, her hair was thrown up in a high messy pony, attached with a small X clip.
"It's called punk, not slutty," Amu said through gritted teeth, hitting her last nerve. "You don't see me showing any skin unnecessarily, do you? Because that is the true definition of a slut."
"Who cares about logic? All I got out of that is you're a loner. So how about you just stay away from my Tadase?"
At the time, Tadase had started heading back up towards the gazebo, but neither Amu nor Saaya seemed to notice. Tadase froze when he saw them arguing, unsure what to do yet, seeing as Amu seemed to be handling it okay for the moment. He did notice Saaya clench her fist though.
"Who are you to tell me who I can and can't hang out? At least he isn't afraid of me like everyone else!" Amu shouted, close to snapping and pulling on Saaya's too perfectly curled hair.
It was at that moment when Saaya raised her clenched fist, it's target being Amu's face. Amu tried not to look too fazed, but on the inside, she was starting to panic. Was this it for her? Maybe she shouldn't have sad so much… She winced and looked away, ready for Saaya's strike, but heard Saaya gasp in surprise. She snuck a peek at the red-head, instead. seeing the back of a blonde head.
"T-Tadase!" Saaya stammered at the blond teen, who was currently standing in front of Amu, holding Saaya's wrist
"Yamabuki Saaya!" Tadase said in a serious voice, releasing Saaya's wrist. "What do you think you're doing to Hinamori-san?"
Saaya looked around nervously. "S-she started it!" she stammered, pointing an accusative finger at Amu.
Tadase looked back at Amu, who just shook her head before looking away, embarrassed to be having Tadase protect her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her bottom lip jutted out slightly.
Tadase shook his head pitifully at Saaya. "Really? Picking on the new kid? How low. And you wonder why I broke up with you?"
Saaya's eyes widened at Tadase's words and she furrowed her eyebrows angrily. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll step down. For now. But your little friend is gonna pay."
"Saaya!" Tadase raised his voice slightly, scaring even Amu. "Leave. Now."
Amu watched in both horror and secretly amusement as Saaya opened her mouth, before closing it when Tadase's hand comes in contact with her face. Amu even winced at the sound alone. Amu really hoped she didn't have to get on Tadase's bad side. If everyone though Amu was scary, clearly they'd never seen a livid Hotori Tadase.
"Like I said before; and you wonder why I broke up with you?" Tadase's voice was full of annoyance. "You were pushy, obsessive, and clingy. I couldn't even hang out with my female friends without having you on my back about it." he took a deep breath. "Now, please, never go near me or Hinamori-san ever again. How many times must I remind you that you aren't my girlfriend anymore? I can talk to whichever girl I want!"
Saaya looked like she'd be punched in the gut. Amu, somehow brought to 'life' from Tadase's harshness, stepped next to Tadase with her hands on her hips. Tadase stared at her for a while, but it was Amu shouting "Scram!" that caused Saaya to run away, probably to cry to whatever people she paid to listen to her problems.
Tadase turned to Amu. "Are you okay? I was a little worried at first because I figured you might crack under the pressure. But you handled yourself pretty well."
Amu smiled faintly. "It's not totally just a cover up. All of my sides are still me." she paused. "I mean… what do you mean? Pft, I was just doing what I usually do when confronted. I'm not a scaredy-cat."
In reality, though, Saaya's words had hit her hard. But she didn't want to cry in front of someone like Tadase. So she held it back. It wouldn't be right to be so strong, and then immediately show weakness. She'd only known this guy for less than 3 hours, after all. Sure, Amu acted tough, and sometimes she actually was tough, but…even she didn't like being judged.
"H-Hinamori-san…?" Tadase questioned confusion and concern in his voice. "Are you crying?"
Shit. Amu thought through her slightly bleary eyes. I didn't want this to happen…
She rubbed her eyes quickly, shaking her head. "Strong people don't cry. I-I must've got something in my eye..." She looked away, biting her lip. "S-say…Hotori-kun…"
"You can call me Tadase if you want," he said, cutting Amu off.
"R-right. Tadase-kun…" she trailed off. "What do you think about my hair…? N-not that anything Saaya said got to me."
"Your hair…?" Tadase inquired. "Why? Did Saaya say something?"
Amu turned away slightly. "I mean, she called me a slut…n-no big…deal…" She melted to the ground spontaneously. "I-I'm fine."
Tadase blinked, watching Amu as she crumpled to the ground. "H-Hinamori-san?" He crouched down next to Amu, putting his hand on her shoulder. "She just said that to hurt you. I highly doubt you're a slut." He pulled her into a comforting hug when she turned to look at him. "If she ever tries something like that again, I'll definitely help you."
Amu looked at Tadase in slight astonishment and shock, not sure how to respond to the hug. Too embarrassed to hug back, she just sat there with her face almost buried in Tadase's shoulder. She pulled away slightly after a second or two, recalling what Tadase had said earlier.
"Thanks, Tadase-kun." she managed. "B-by the way. I'll accept we're friends now. So…call me Amu."
Tadase stared at Amu for a little bit, taken aback by the request before breaking into a grin. "Alright, Amu-chan!"
He stood up, offering his hand down to her. "We didn't get to eat much of our lunch, but we'd better get back."
Amu looked up at him and his dazzling smile and thought that maybe it wasn't too bad to let at least one person see her 'real' self every once in a while. She smiled slightly and grabbed his hand, letting him help her up. Much to her surprise and slight happiness, Tadase didn't let go of her hand, even giving it a squeeze before he helped pack up their stuff and go back toward the school.
A/N: So I decided to upload the second chapter early. Because I highly doubted I'd get 10, I don't know why I thought I'd get a bunch of reviews so quick. But I did get a LOVELY review from someone and reading their review made me really happy. So whoever 'anon' is, thank you for the review, I hope you'll end up liking this remake as much as the original. And I'll see if I can make Saaya seemless evil, more...troubled? or possessed.
Just a small disclaimer that I forgot to mention in the first chapter, yes, I know Tsukasa Amawata(too lazy to google it so I hope that's right) isn't Tadase's father, he's his uncle, but they look similar, so I thought it'd work that he was his father. And this is a completely different universe anyways, so anything can happen. Also, excuse the language, but I did say there would be some foul language, and, of course, violence.
Rather than setting a high goal, I'll instead see if miss/Mr anon reviewer will review again, and will post the next chapter a week or so after I get their review. If not, then just expect this chapter in the next week. :') Or whenever I get bored again.