IX

"Welcome home, Tadase!" Tsukasa called upon hearing Tadase enter. He walked out from a room and smiled pleasantly when he spotted Amu. "Oh, and hello, Amu-chan. Nice to see you again! How are your injuries?"

Amu bowed slightly as she took off her black combat boots. "Nice to see you too, sir."

"To what honour does Amu-chan have to visit us again?" Tsukasa asked curiously. "She's not hurt again, is she?"

Tsukasa looked as dapper as he did when Amu first saw him at the hospital the previous day. Despite the simplicity of the outfit, he still managed to look chic in a pair of beige slacks and a white button-down shirt. Amu decided that Tadase got his fashion from his father.

Tadase shook his head. "No. Something…came up. So I asked if she could stay over… Can she?"

Tsukasa looked at Amu with an amused smile. "Oh, of course. Just make sure there's no funny business." he tossed a wink in Amu's direction, which Amu thought was both embarrassing and unnecessary.

Tadase smiled as he took off his jacket. "Thanks, otousan."

Amu managed a smile, stumbling slightly when she felt another wave of vertigo was over. She tried and failed to ignore it. Tadase was there before she could even nonchalantly wave it off. He held her shoulders to steady her, making sure she was okay and wouldn't collapse again.

"Amu-chan? What's wrong?" he asked, his voice rimmed with concern.

Amu nodded quickly, though realizing it wasn't a helpful answer and actually spoke. "I'm fine. Just another wave of vertigo. I think I'm just tired."

"Did you want some tea?" Tadase offered. "My dad can get you settled in a room. I'll be there in a bit."

Amu was both relieved, though perhaps, deep down, also a little disappointed, that she would be sleeping in a separate room. While it wasn't really 'sleepover protocol', Amu didn't really expect to be sharing a room with Tadase in the first place. Especially since she was a female and he was a male. She nodded again and let Tsukasa lead her down a hall.

She actually got a good look of the place this time around. It was a traditional Japanese style house with shoji doors and walls, tamati floors and more. It was completely different from Amu's own western inspired house. Tsukasa stopped in front of a room and gestured for Amu to go inside after opening the door for her. Amu bowed slightly and stepped inside.

"Wow, this is a nice room…" she smiled slightly, looking around.

The room was, of course, also like a traditional Japanese room. The same tamati flooring and shoji walls. The bed was like a regular bed, but was flush against the floor. There was a small table, perhaps a kontatsu, or given the season, probably just a regular table, in the middle of the room. The only wall that was solid was one with a closet. Amu realized this was the same room as the one she had been in the other day. Her curiosity got the best of her and she turned to Tadase's father.

"Say…Hotori-kun…does Tadase-kun have any siblings?" she asked.

Tsukasa laughed quietly. "Not technically. But I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you that story. Ask Tadase about it later."

Just as Tsukasa said that, Tadase appeared beside him with a tray. Along with some tea, there were also a few snacks. Tsukasa moved out of the way to let Tadase pass. He smiled slightly.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone for now." he said quickly, a playful smile on his lips. "I hope you're comfortable here, Amu-chan."

Before Tadase could say anything, Tsukasa had disappeared, closing the door behind him. Tadase sighed, placing the tray on the table. He had no idea what was going on in his father's head. Amu knelt down in front of the table and was later joined by Tadase, who placed one of the cups in front of her.

"Thank you, Tadase-kun." Amu bowed her head with a smile, taking the cup of tea in her hands.

"What were you talking about with my dad?" Tadase asked, tilting his his head.

"Huh? Oh." Amu shrugged nonchalantly. She couldn't bring herself to ask right away. "Not much. He just told me to enjoy my stay."

Tadase nodded, eyeing Amu a little suspiciously, but eventually deciding not to question it. "I hope you don't mind this room. My room is across the hall if you need anything. Did you want to see it?"

Amu took a sip of the tea, humming to seem like she wasn't too eager, which she really wasn't. Okay maybe a bit. She took a second to respond. "Alright, sure. Not because I'm curious or anything, though."

Tadase laughed. "Of course not. It's only fair that I show you my room, even if you won't be staying there."

Tadase and Amu finished their tea. Then, Tadase lead her to a room just a kitty corner away from the room Amu was in. She looked around. It looked like any of the other rooms in the house, except his room was a bit larger and had a desk. The bed was similar to the one in the room she was just in, same with the walls and floor. There looked to be a sliding door which seemed to lead outside.

"It's nice…" Amu commented obviously, walking around. "Very spacious. And clean." She had the sudden urge to yawn at the end of that sentence and quickly covered her mouth. "Sorry."

Tadase shook his head. "You can get changed into your pajamas and sleep if you'd like. You've had quite the day."

Amu nodded slightly. "This must be the most boring sleepover you've ever had." she laughed dryly. "And if it's your first, then I apologize for ruining your sleepover experience."

Tadase laughed, shaking his head again. "It's fine. I just want to…keep an eye on you. For today. It was late anyway when you became conscious, and I had no other excuse as to why you were away for almost two hours." He turned Amu around and gently pushed her out of the room. "Now, go get changed and sleep. I don't need you fainting again. Especially not during school."

Amu rolled her eyes and marched into the room she was put in. She mumbled something that sounded like 'Alright, alright. Who are you, my mother?' before laughing shortly and closing the door. Tadase laughed softly as well and made his way back to his bedroom so Amu could change in peace. Amu snorted slightly at the days turn of events as she grabbed her pajamas from the bag her mother brought.

"Mama must seriously trust me to let me sleep over at a guys house…" she mumbled out loud, unzipping her hoodie. "As long as papa doesn't catch wind of this we're good. But…he still thinks Tadase is a girl, so that's probably what mama told him."

Amu, being lazy, hadn't put a shirt under her hoodie, so it didn't take much effort to change. In a matter of 20 seconds, she was already changed into her pajamas. Now, she poured herself another cup of tea, as it was still in the room, and sat on her bed to contemplate.

Somehow, after only a couple weeks of switching schools, Amu had both made an enemy as well as a good friend. It was a lot to take in. If not for Tadase, she probably would've asked her parents to send her back to her old school somehow. She sipped the lukewarm tea slowly, staring at the wall absentmindedly.

For now, her exhaustion was completely gone. Now she just felt bad for giving Tadase a bad sleepover experience. She finished her tea and set the cup back on the table, sighing.

"Man, I wish there was something I could do to make this a proper sleepover…" she mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should throw a pillow at his door…or prank call him."

She hummed and pulled her legs up on the bed. She wondered if they were within calling distance. Maybe that way they could still talk before sleeping. She hated being such a killjoy. A sleepover wasn't a sleepover without something fun, after all. She huffed slightly and stared at the untouched snacks. After a second, she stood back up and walked to the door, sliding the door open slightly.

"Tadase-kun…?" she called softly. His door was still open so she was sure he could hear. Soon, his head appeared in the door frame, confirming her suspicion.

She spoke again. "It's still early. Did you want to do something? If we do at least one sleepover worthy thing, I'll feel less bad about making things boring."

Tadase seemed intrigued. He stepped out of the room. "Like what?"

Amu shrugged, shuffling slightly as she thought. "There's still some snacks in the room. We can play truth or dare until we run out of food or something."

"That sounds fun." Tadase agreed, smiling softly. "As long as you don't pass out on me again."

"Funny." Amu rolled her eyes, opening the door further. "You better not give out weird dares."

Tadase shook his head. "I wont do anything Saaya would do, at least. If it makes you feel better, I can't even think of any dares right now."

He laughed lightly as he stepped into the room. Amu picked up a pillow from the bed and placed it on the ground to sit on, tossing one to Tadase too. They both sat down and Amu grabbed a cookie quickly and tossed it into her mouth. She looked at Tadase, chewing her cookie before speaking properly.

"So, who's going first?" she asked, running her tongue over her teeth behind her closed mouth. "Should we flip a coin? Or do rock, paper, scissors to figure it out?

Tadase shrugged his shoulders, reaching for a cookie. "You can ask me first. I can't think of anything to ask you right now anyway."

Amu nodded and asked Tadase the usual 'truth or dare', to which Tadase responded truth. Amu hummed as she thought of a good truth question. She could've gone for the 20-questions kind of truth by just asking what his favourite whatever was, but that seemed too boring. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, delving into her brain for a truth worthy of a truth or dare game before snapping her head up.

"Ah-ha!" she looked at Tadase, pointing her finger at him dramatically. "I know you're probably still trying to get over your break-up with Saaya, not that she's much to get over, but…do you currently like anyone?"

Tadase narrowed his eyes. "Are you asking this for yourself?"

Amu shook her head quickly, her eyes widening at Tadase's question. "What? No! Why would I care if you like anyone? But it's a good question for truth or dare." she looked away with a slight pout. "Just answer the question. Or are you gonna chicken out?" she returned her gaze to Tadase with a mischievous smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"No, no. I can answer it." Tadase responded. "I think. Just give me a minute to think about it. I haven't given it much thought yet since Saaya."

Amu kept her eyebrow raised but shrugged and grabbed another cookie, mumbling, "How can you not know if you like anyone?" under her breath.

She quietly started to count down from the sixty to try and stress Tadase out as she chewed her cookie. After the minute Tadase requested was up, she looked at him expectantly. Once again, the mischievous smirk still played on her lips. Tadase chewed his lip, still not speaking.

"Okay." he finally said after another twenty seconds. "I doubt this is the answer you want to hear but…rather than like someone, I've taken interest in someone. I don't know for sure yet if I have feelings for them, though."

Amu hummed, crossing her arms. She was trying not to be curious and ask who the person was. Instead she just nodded, showing she was satisfied with the answer. They continued playing, their dares not really too extravagant, and their truths just questions to help get to know each other. Soon, the plate of cookies was empty, and it had started getting dark.

Amu stretched, a small yawn emitting from her mouth, which she quickly covered with her hand as a force of habit. She was about to say they should sleep when a pillow hit her in the face. She looked up to see Tadase, now standing up with a playful grin that oddly suited his face. The pillow he was sitting on was now in her lap.

"Oops?" Tadase said innocently, his tone of voice not matching his playful grin. "I missed the bed."

Amu glared up at Tadase playfully and threw the pillow back at him. The pillow hit his stomach and harmlessly fell to the ground. She raised to her feet grabbing the pillow she had been sitting on as well. She gave a more competitive smirk this time.

"You can't get mad at me for this." she remarked, using her pillow as a shield as Tadase threw his pillow back at her. "You started it."

While Tadase was pillow-less, Amu threw her own pillow and picked up the one he had. However, while she was reaching for the pillow, the pillow flew back at her with extreme aim. Slightly unbalanced, Amu stumbled forward and landed on her stomach. Luckily, the pillow in front of her took the brunt of the fall and she rolled over, chucking both pillows at Tadase's head.

"No fair, I wasn't looking!" she complained, sitting up.

Tadase laughed, raising his hands in surrender. "Sorry. But you didn't say there were rules. And now you're defenseless, so throwing both pillows was a bad move."

He stepped towards Amu, trying (and failing) to look intimidating as he wielded both pillows, both aimed towards Amu's head. Amu winced and closed her eyes, covering her face with her arms. She prepared for a fluffy pillow to the head.

Tadase laughed slightly at Amu's reaction, shaking his head. He casually stepped over Amu to place both pillows back on the bed, stepping back over Amu. The latter lowered her arms, noticing she wasn't being brutally attacked by the pillows. She peeped one eye open.

Tadase's hand was extended down to her. He looked down at her with an amused yet kind smile. Amu blinked, taking Tadase's hand in bewilderment. She had honestly expected him to hit her with both pillows. Instead, here he was being a gentleman by pulling her back up to her feet with a friendly, warm smile on his face.

"Alright, I think we should head to bed." he said once Amu was up from the floor.

Amu just sat on the bed in a bit of a daze. She honestly looked ready to conk out. Figuring Amu wouldn't do it herself, Tadase pushed her down to a laying position. She didn't protest. Perhaps his previous actions had confused her. He only wanted to scare her a little bit, and to see what her reaction would be. Which, admittedly, Tadase found Amu's reaction to be quite…cute.

Before Tadase could even say goodnight to Amu, she had already rolled over, seemingly fast asleep. Tadase chuckled softly. He'd never seen someone fall asleep so quickly. She wasn't even under the blankets. Gently, he moved Amu and tucked her under the blankets so she wouldn't get cold. He brushed some hair away from her face, smiling at her cute sleeping visage.

He shook his head. Suddenly, the first truth Amu asked him popped into his head. No, not yet. He sighed and looked away as to not get distracted or carried away. He wasn't going to get swayed just yet. Tadase quickly stoood back up.

"Good night, Amu-chan." he said as he walked backwards out of the room, watching Amu with a fond smile on his face. He turned off the light and added "Sleep well." as he closed the door behind him and headed over to his own room.

A/N: Well, aren't you guys lucky! Another update the next day. I figured since I already had edited this chapter, I'd post it. Don't expect these frequent uploads for long, though. For various reasons including laziness, the usual, but also soon (in January) I'll be starting college. So if I'm not done posting/rewriting these chapters by then (which is highly likely), they might become less frequent. Maybe I'll post a bunch this month to make up for not posting though hmm... ANyways! Enjoy this chapter.

Who do you think Tadase's interested in (It's obvious but shhh)!? Why is he unsure about his own feelings!? Will Amu sleep well?! Find out next time on Jealousy Incarnate! /thatwascheesyitsfine