VIII

Amu had no excuse for why she fainted. It was just a spontaneous, incomprehensibly bout of vertigo. Her vision had gone blurry a couple times, but she just thought the wind was making her eyes water again. Without warning, her body had just shut down and everything went black.

It could have been because of how overwhelmed she felt, considering the situation she was currently in. It was also possible that a stitch broke loose on her arm and she was bleeding out again. Or, perhaps even worse, both. She found herself being aware that she had fainted, and semi-unconscious, but couldn't do anything else besides that. Her body hadn't fully woken up yet.

Vaguely, she could hear someone calling her name. It was tinny and warped, but she somehow managed to deduce it as Tadase's. Her eyes refused to open. Her body wouldn't move. All she could do was listen. Even then, Tadase's voice was being overwhelmed by her own heart booming in her chest and her ears.

"Amu-chan, come on!" Tadase's voice was getting louder, which Amu took as a good thing. "Wake up, please. Get it together! Please just…do something!"

So Amu tried to do something. She tried to open her eyes, that failed. Twitching her fingers also failed. She was terrified, herself. Was she dying? How was she both conscious yet unconscious at the same time?

She felt hands on her arms, holding her a little tighter than she was used to. They were shaking her roughly. It seemed she was slowly getting her senses back. But not fast enough. She prayed for the rest of them to wake up sooner.

"You can't be dead yet, Amu-chan!" Tadase's voice was both angry and concerned, mixed with a bit of sadness. "Open your eyes, please! Why wont you wake up?!"

Amu willed herself to be fully conscious. For a second, she managed to get her fingers to twitch. She prayed to whichever god would listen that she could open her eyes. Then, like some cliche anime scene, when a rogue tear fell from Tadase's tear ducts, Amu's eyes fluttered open, revealing a white room.

At first, Amu thought she was back in a hospital. She quickly decided it wasn't busy enough. It was too quiet. She looked around, squinting slightly from the brightness. It definitely wasn't a hospital.

Tadase was standing over her, but his eyes were closed. He hadn't noticed she was awake yet. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice didn't sound like her own.

"Where…?"

Tadase jumped slightly, opening his eyes at the sound of Amu's voice. He looked both relieved and annoyed. "Amu-chan! Finally! I-I thought you were dead! You weren't moving. If I didn't notice you breathing, I would've actually believed you were dead!" his voice was louder and sterner than usual.

Amu stared up at Tadase, stunned that he was raising his voice at her. She looked away, managing to stammer out, "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what happened…"

Tadase grabbed Amu's arms, pulling her up and shaking her harshly. Her head lolled back and forth slightly, making her dizzy. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Amu-chan! You were out for two hours! I was so worried! I almost called your parents!"

Amu winced. It seemed Tadase hadn't realized he was gripped right where Amu had been cut. It also didn't help that she wasn't a fan of being yelled at. She tried to hold back the pain for Tadase's sake, figuring she deserved being yelled at, but ended up yelping.

In an attempt to get Tadase to let go, she harshly pulled her arm away, which didn't help the pain At least it finally made Tadase realize what he was doing. She huffed loudly, rubbing her arm as she shot Tadase a defensive glare. Tadase blinked and pulled away as if breaking from a trance.

"I- Oh my God, Amu-chan. I'm so sorry." he averted his gaze. "I-I don't know what came over me. I was scared and let my anger over Saaya get the best of me. P-please don't be mad!"

He looked at her currently sharp, glaring honey-brown eyes with a pitiful, puppy dog eye look. Amu chewed her lip. Part of her was still a little hurt that she got yelled at for something beyond her control. The other half was trying to understand that maybe she deserved to be yelled at for worrying Tadase for so long. She sighed and sat up, resting on on her knees.

"Tadase-kun…" she said slowly, reaching for the blond's hand. "While I don't appreciate being yelled at for something beyond my control… I'll forgive you because I understand I worried you."

Tadase looked at his hand in Amu's as she squeezed it gently, looking up at him with a comforting smile. His heart did a backflip but he tried to calm it as he returned the smile with an awkward smile of his own, unable to speak properly as it felt like his heart was crawling up his throat.

Amu pulled her hand away and looked at her watch. "Oh, God, it's this late already! I need to get home. Otherwise my mom will be worried sick!"

Tadase froze and started to awkwardly laugh. "Uh, right. I don't know if you heard when I said I almost called your parents… That was a heat of the moment thing. And… I kind of actually did call your parents. Or rather…they called your cell and I answered."

Amu stared at Tadase incredulously, unable to form proper words for a minute. "Y-you did what?"

"And…I may have said you were staying over…" he added slowly, rubbing his nape as he took a couple steps back. "F-for a sleepover."

Amu jumped up, standing on the bed, of which Amu now figured out was the school infirmary. It probably wasn't safe, but Amu was too surprised to care. She jumped off the bed carefully to stand in front of a nervous looking Tadase, trying her hardest not to shake him like he had shaken her.

"A…sleepover…" she said carefully. "How did my mom agree to a sleepover with a guy? Also, what about my uniform and all that?"

"Your mom…brought them." Tadase grabbed a bag from under the bed. "I told her I was at the school for my dad and that you had run into me but were in the bathroom. She gave them to me as easily as that."

Amu stared at Tadase, her jaw dropping. Tadase hadn't needed to do that. Yet he did anyway. So no one else had to worry but him. So she could stay…safe. She was at a loss of words a she awkwardly took the bag of her stuff. She peeked inside just to make sure it was in fact hers.

"I-you came up with an elaborate plan just to…protect me?" she mumbled feeling her cheeks heat up slightly.

"Er…more or less…" Tadase rubbed his nape nervously. "Sorry. It was a little impulsive, wasn't it? Should I call her back and cancel…?"

Amu put her hand on Tadase's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. There's no backing out now anyway. And… I don't mind staying over."

Tadase looked at her with a meek smile. "R-really? It's okay?"

Amu nodded. "Sure. I've always wanted to try a sleepover at a friends house. Well, a guy friends house. Despite having male friends, though, my dad always thinks the guys are after his little girl."

Tadase smiled a bit wider, laughing slightly at Amu's comment about her father. "I'm glad. I thought you would get mad or something. Since I was wondering myself if it was a good idea in the first place."

Amu shook her head. "I was more mad at you for yelling at me for no reason. You're good. Just don't pull anything creepy and you're great."

Tadase laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Don't worry about that Amu-chan. I'm sure you know that I wouldn't do that."

Amu giggled, nodding in agreement. They talked for a little bit longer before Tadase gathered his stuff, and made sure Amu was one hundred percent okay. After making sure all the doors he'd gone through were locked, he and Amu left the school grounds and started towards his house.

A/N: Whoops I kinda died. Sorry! I have so many of these chapters finished yet I still can't even update properly. I'm a horrible person. Kidding. this is a bit shorter I think (which I was trying to avoid when rewriting this story, but I guess it cant be helped. I think I still combined a couple chapters with this though) but I hope its still enjoyable! If anyone is still reading this please feel free to give me a good schedule for posting these. I have like 10 more chapters prewritten so it's not like I have an excuse right now. Sigh. Also feel free to recommend other animes to write for!