XVIII

After a few minutes of paranoid walking and looking for alternate routes, Amu arrived at Tadase's house, thankfully, without incident. She hesitated slightly as she opened the door, not sure if just walking in was legal. It wasn't like it was breaking and entering so she quickly looked around and opened the door. Once inside she maneuvered her way to Tadase's room and knocked on the door. After a second, she decided to announce her presence before sliding the door open.

Ikuto was just standing up. He had black bags under his eyes and his hair was even more messy than usual. Amu held back a laugh, knowing he'd probably been through a lot that night. She bit her lip and waved awkwardly.

"Morning," she said, playing with her hands awkwardly. "Rough night?"

Ikuto just nodded and gestured for Amu to come in. Amu walked into the room silently, glancing at Tadase, who was still fast asleep. Amu scratched her head and looked at Ikuto, who already seemed like he was about to fall asleep standing up.

"Ikuto, maybe you should go lie down." she offered slowly. "You look like a zombie. I can cover things from here until Tadase-kun wakes up."

Ikuto seemed hesitant. "But…" Amu crossed her arms and gave a firm look that said she wasn't moving until he complied. He sighed reluctantly. "Fine, fine. I'll be in the guest room. Call me if you need anything."

Amu smiled triumphantly as Ikuto stumbled out of Tadase's room and into the hall towards the guest room. Once she heard that door close, she glanced at Tadase's sleeping form before leaving his room also, making her way to the kitchen to maybe make Tadase some breakfast. Ikuto too of course.

Recalling the first time she was at Tadase's house, she managed to find the kitchen and checked around for what was available. Finding eggs, she settled for an omelette and fruit. She looked around the cupboards for a teapot and tea, remembering whether or not Tadase had ever mentioned his favourite tea.

Quickly jumping back to the eggs, she made two omelettes for Tadase and Ikuto. Once the eggs were done, she made the tea and carefully cut up any fruits she had found in the fridge. Leaving Ikuto's portion in the oven, she grabbed a tray and brought Tadase's meal back to his bedroom.

As quietly as possible, she stepped back into Tadase's room, staring at Tadase for a little longer than she intended to. He looked so peaceful, almost angelic. It almost seemed criminal to wake him up. Unfortunately, Amu didn't want the food she had just made to go to waste so she had to wake him. Placing the tray on his side table, she knelt in front of him.

She looked at him for a bit longer, resisting the urge to fix a fallen piece of hair before gently nudging his shoulder. "Tadase-kun…it's time to wake up. It's nearly noon."

Tadase twitched slightly, causing Amu to move away in case the close proximity startled him. However, he just rolled the other way. Amu nudged him again but got the same reaction as he turned back to face her. Almost ready to give up, she looked around to think of a way to wake him up. For some reason, the first thing she thought of was the Sleeping Beauty or Snow White situation. But no, it would be creepy to kiss someone you'd only known for a couple of weeks…right? Especially since…she had no feelings for him…right…?

She shook her head quickly. Stop having creepy thoughts at times like this, Amu, she thought. Maybe one more nudge will do it.

As she reached out once more, Tadase grabbed her wrist, startling her and causing her to yelp in surprise and fall backward slightly. She leaned close again, wriggling her wrist away and waving her other hand in front of Tadase's face. Was he playing tricks on her?

"T-Tadase-kun…?" she whispered. "Are you…awake?"

Tadase eyes fluttered open as a sly smile appeared on his face. "I heard and felt you the first time. I wasn't sure if it was from my dream or not though… the second time I was just toying with you."

He gently sat up, releasing Amu's wrist. Amu looked away sheepishly and gestured to the eggs next to her, stammering. "I-I made you breakfast…"

"I'm not gonna bother asking why you're here," Tadase said, pushing his blankets off of his torso. "But I do appreciate the eggs. And is that Jasmine tea? How did you know it was my favourite?"

"I-I hazarded a guess." Amu managed. "It also helped that about half of the teabags in your cupboards were Jasmine."

Tadase laughed softly and slid over, patting the spot next to him. "Kneeling like that must hurt. You can sit up here if you'd like."

Amu smiled gratefully and shuffled next to him, not wanting to get too close. She sat cross-legged and placed her hands in her lap, rubbing her wrist gently. Tadase took the tray from the side table and picked up the chopsticks lain neatly on the tray next to the plate.

"So, I take it Ikuto told you to come?" Tadase asked. "Though I'm surprised you're up this early on a weekend. You must have gotten here a little after 10 in the morning."

Amu hesitated. Should she tell Tadase about the nightmares that kept her up almost all night? And that she didn't get any proper sleep until after around 3 in the morning? After a moment of thought, she decided it would best not to worry him over it. She offered a smile and a nonchalant shrug. "I was worried, is all."

She hoped Tadase couldn't see through that blatant lie. Even if it was half true. However, Amu could tell by the change in Tadase's expression that he had, in fact, noticed she was with-holding information. Looking into Amu's eyes with a serious gaze, he sighed softly.

"Are you keeping something from me?" He asked, almost dejectedly. He chewed on a piece of omelette, eyes fixated on Amu.

"No! Don't worry about me. It's…nothing, really." Amu tried incredibly hard to keep her voice steady. "I would tell you if it was something…significant, I swear."

Tadase shook his head softly. "Amu-chan, you're my friend. Everything you say, do, and worry about is significant to me." His eyes were firm, not leaving Amu's eyes and not letting Amu look away. "Something is bothering you, I can tell." he paused. "Did Ikuto do something?"

Amu quickly shook her head, wringing her hands together in her lap. She didn't want to bother Tadase with her dreams again. He had enough on his plate as is. She just stared at him with a nervous smile before forcing herself to avert her gaze.

Without warning, Tadase placed his hand on top of hers, immediately halting her nervous fidgeting. She looked up in surprise. Tadase's gaze had softened and his voice was just as soft as he spoke. "Come on, Amu-chan. Talk to me. You trust me, don't you?"

Amu stared at his hand holding hers, feeling a stir inside her that perplexed her. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and she managed to squeak out the words. "I do trust you."

Tadase moved his hand away from Amu's and instead placed in on her arm. "Alright, now tell me what's on your mind. I'm all ears."

Amu sighed softly. "I don't think it's anything you'd even want to hear."

Tadase shook his head and squeezed Amu's forearm gently. "Anything you tell me, I'll listen to. I won't let this go until you tell me what's bothering you. Does it have to do with why you're awake so early?" he paused, letting go of Amu completely. "Did you have another nightmare?"

Amu's mouth felt dry. Tadase could see right through her. Reluctantly, she nodded. "I…went to bed early last night because of how exhausting the events were…but I kept having this continuous dream…I'd wake up panting and sweating and crying but when I had calmed down and went back to sleep I was thrown into another scenario and it was an endless loop."

"Oh, Amu-chan…" Tadase wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing it gently. "What was in these dreams that got you so worked up every time?"

Amu would've been surprised at the action but was too busy having a mental flashback about how horrible her dreams were. "My friends…all my friends just…poof. Gone."

"Gone?" Tadase questioned. "Gone how? Was I included?"

Amu licked her lips. "Gone as in…dead. Killed. Right in front of my eyes." she laughed bitterly before tearing up. "Over and over…I-I woke up at 1 in the morning, frustrated with my dreams…"

"Was I…one of them?" Tadase repeated slowly, instinctively pulling Amu closer to him when he saw her starting to cry. He was a little nervous about her answer.

Amu shook her head. "It was only 3 of my friends when I woke up at one." she sniffled slightly. "One of them had been Lulu. I couldn't risk seeing…seeing you die too. Even if it was a dream…thethought of losing my friends…losing you, terrified me. I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep tonight. I managed to get like 5 hours of peaceful sleep but…that's it."

Tadase pulled Amu into his embrace, startling her at first. "I'm so sorry you went through that Amu-chan… I wish I knew how I could help you."

Amu, whose face was now buried in Tadase's shoulder after she had gotten over the initial shock, shook her head. She sniffled once more. "I-It's fine. I know there's nothing you can do…that's why I didn't want to tell you. You can't control my dreams. Hell, I can't even control my dreams."

Tadase rubbed Amu's back comfortingly. "I can't control your dreams, but I can let you vent it out. Maybe that helps? Help you remember it's only a dream and that it can't actually hurt you."

Tadase pulled away, staying close enough to Amu that she could still feel his breath. It…surprisingly wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Tadase brought his thumb up to wipe her tears gingerly. It was a nice moment. Amu didn't exactly know what she was feeling but…she kind of liked the closeness?

Unfortunately, the moment was quickly ruined when the front door opened. Now obviously, it wasn't Ikuto, since he was asleep in the other room, hopefully. Amu instinctively jumped away as a familiar voice rang through the house.

"Tadase?" It was Tadase's dad. "I'm back!"

Amu jumped to her feet as she realized the exact person she needed to talk to was finally here and available. She patted herself for pockets and the 'evidence' before realizing she had taken her jacket off in the foyer and that was where she had the evidence. She groaned softly and ran to get it, quickly greeting Tadase's father on her way, who was rather shocked to see her here again, especially so early, it barely being noon yet.

"I'll explain everything!" Amu called from the foyer. "Just give me 2 seconds!"

A/N: Hi, notice anything different? I added a cover photo (which took me way too long to draw)

I wanted to include Tadase in there but didn't know how to so I guess it's just Amu and Saaya. Changed up their uniforms from the original anime, so canonically to this story, the uniforms to their school are now Yellow bc yellow plaid looks cool to me.

Anyway, enjoy this fic. We're at the climax almost, I believe. Also, I lied in the last author's note, I'm only about 5 chapters behind (ahead?) compared to the original version. I think that's a good sign because I cut a lot of unnecessary out but...idk if having more chapters is better or not hahah.