XIX

Tsukasa remained silent as Amu explained what had happened to her since she started attending the school. He nodded along politely during the story but didn't speak until Amu had finished and laid out the evidence. Tadase, after a long bit of hesitation, also came clean about his own injury. Tsusaka had a look of disappointment mixed with concern on his face. Other than that, Tsukasa didn't seem all that surprised to hear his son had gotten into trouble.

"As a parent…I never really liked that girl," he said with a slight bitterness. "Now obviously I can't say that as a principle, but I've been watching her for a while. I'm sorry to hear that this happened, Amu-chan. Tomorrow is Sunday but I can try to call Yamabuki-san's parents to see if they're willing to come down to the school."

"Do I have to go with you…?" Amu asked hesitantly.

"Not unless you want to," Tsukasa responded with a shake of his head. "Tadase too should consider going."

"If Amu-chan isn't going neither am I." Tadase said firmly. "She has more of a right being there than I do. I'm just the ex who happens to be close to the victim."

Amu looked at Tadase incredulously. "B-but Tadase-kun! Who knows how she'll react when she sees me? She could try and play the victim and say I'm lying!"

"There's a chance she'd do that anyway," Tadase said. "If she tries to harm you one more time, I'm going to have to take matters into my hands and take care of her. Once and for all."

Amu gulped and stared at Tadase with wide eyes. She'd never felt so scared yet so grateful towards Tadase. He'd never been this serious to her since they'd met. The only thing she could manage to say was his name, her voice full of shock, awe, and a little bit of fear.

Tadase offered Amu a smile. "Don't worry, Amu-chan. I've got your back."

Several feelings welt up inside Amu. Had Tadase always seemed this…brave? It seemed to Amu that he was willing to risk his life for her. But…why? She hadn't felt this loved since she got to this school. Her face felt hot as she thought about this feeling she was having.

Tsukasa stood up, drawing the two teenager's attention back to him. "Well, I should get to work. That paperwork isn't going to write itself. I'll file a report for the board, too, and fax that to them." He turned to Amu and flashed her smile reminiscent of the smile Tadase always gave her. "If anything else happens, please tell me. My office door is always open. Both here and at the school…metaphorically of course."

As he walked out of the room, he tossed a playful wink. Amu and Tadase were alone again and Ikuto hadn't woken up at all during that whole conversation. A comfortable silence settled between the two. Tadase kept sneaking glances at Amu as if waiting for her to speak.

Finally, Amu let out a breath and said. "So…I guess this is it. Saaya's going to get punished."

Tadase nodded. "If that evidence was enough, she'll definitely be punished. I'm sorry she caused so much trouble. What a horrible first impression of a new school."

Amu looked at Tadase. "Hey now, you don't need to be sorry for anything! It should be Saaya who apologizes!" she scoffed at the thought. "As if she'd ever apologize."

"Which is why I'm apologizing on her behalf, as her ex," Tadase responded. "I care more about you than she does, after all."

Amu's heart did a somersault hearing Tadase say he cared about her, though she didn't know why. Her face felt hot again. "You…you care about me?"

Tadase laughed softly. "Of course I care about you, Amu-chan. You're my friend! If I didn't care, would I be doing all this for you, going against my own ex-girlfriend?" Tadase put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "You mean a lot to me, Amu-chan."

"So, when are you two gonna kiss?" Ikuto's voice startled both of them.

Amu jumped and moved away from Tadase's reach in embarrassment. "W-what are you talking about?"

Ikuto shrugged nonchalantly, taking a seat across from Tadase. He looked at Amu. "Hey, why's your face all red? Are you actually thinking about kissing my step-bro?"

Amu squeaked and covered her face. "Sh-shut up, Ikuto! I wasn't thinking about it!"

Ikuto laughed in amusement at Amu's embarrassment, turning to Tadase. "From what I heard, you told the old man about that bitch Saaya?"

Tadase, who was also a little embarrassed, shook out of it quickly to answer Ikuto's question, knowing he was just teasing them. "Yeah. He's going to call Saaya's parents and report the case to the board."

"I take it I don't need me to be your bodyguard, then?" Ikuto asked half-jokingly.

Amu, also somewhat recovering from her embarrassment, shrugged. "I-I don't see why you'd need to… If this case goes through she'll either get expelled or suspended."

"But who knows how long that will take." Ikuto pointed out. "Suspension and expulsion don't take a day. Especially since no one on campus knew about it."

"Do what you want, Ikuto," Amu said. "If you think it's best, by all means, go ahead and be our bodyguard." she glanced at the clock. It was nearly 2 in the afternoon. "Shit, I need to get home. I didn't properly tell mama where I was going, so she might get worried." She stood up. "Call me when you feel better, okay?"

Tadase also fumbled to stand up. "Let me walk you home!"

"In that condition?" Amu let out a sarcastic laugh. "Since you asked so nicely, I guess I can let you walk me, since if you need my help you can lean on me but…how are you going to get back?"

Tadase hummed. "I guess I could ask Ikuto-niisan…"

Ikuto cleared his throat loudly, clearly not liking the idea of tending to Tadase again, but otherwise continued looking at his phone.

"I'll ask my mom to drive you home."Amu decided, sensing Ikuto's displeasure at Tadase's suggestion. "I really don't understand why they didn't give you crutches. I get it's not a broken leg of anything but if it's still hard for you to walk then they should provide something for aide. It sucks seeing you walk around in pain like that."

Tadase smiled widely. "Awe, you care about me too!"

Amu bit her lip. "Well, duh. You're like…my best friend here."

Tadase chuckled softly, liking how that term sounded coming from Amu. Part of him, though, was feeling a different reaction to being called a friend. He pushed that part of him aside and held his hand out to Amu playfully.

"Shall we?" he asked.

Amu took Tadase's hand, much to his surprise. "We shall!" she laughed softly as she playfully skipped along toward the door.

A small smirk crept into Ikuto's face as he watched the duo, wondering when some interesting development might happen. Once they were out of the house, he shook his head and walked back to the guest room.

Around halfway back to Amu's house, the two of them were still holding hands. Amu tried to pull away, feeling her hands getting sweaty and not wanting that to disturb Tadase, but he refused to let go.

"Come on, Tadase-kun," she whined. "My hand's all sweaty now and it's embarrassing… It was fun while it lasted, but can you let go?"

Tadase shook his head. "Nope. You're my stability, remember?" he gave Amu a mysterious smile she'd never seen before.

"I don't see how hand holding is supporting your leg right now," Amu commented, still trying to wriggle her hand away.

Tadase's mysterious smile increased. "Then how about you step closer and support me properly?" he teased, tugging on Amu's hand playfully.

Amu flushed, both because the way he was insinuating it was embarrassing her more, but also because she realized all this time she hadn't been helping Tadase support his weight. While he didn't look in pain, for all Amu knew, he was hiding it. Without warning, Tadase bursts into laughter, casually throwing his arm around Amu in the most platonic seeming way possible.

"I'm just pulling your leg," he said, releasing Amu's hand. "You're funny, Amu-chan. Do you know that?"

Amu let out an awkward laugh, rubbing her nape. "Hah…yeah…"

Abruptly, Tadase's laughter fades as he lurks forward, nearly falling onto the cement. Amu almost dragged down with him because of their position, instinctively catches his fall by gripping his shoulders. She didn't really want to be lugging him back to the hospital again. At least not by herself.

"Tadase-kun? Are you okay?" she positioned herself so her arm was around Tadase's shoulder, allowing herself to carry half of his weight.

Tadase nodded. "Don't worry. I just tripped on an uneven sidewalk crack."

Amu gave a sigh of relief and lead Tadase to start walking again. "I thought your leg was bothering you or something. I didn't wanna be the one taking you to the hospital again not even a day after you had just visited."

"Are you that worried about me, Amu-chan?" Tadase inquired, limping along next to her.

"Of course I was!" Amu said, accidentally shouting. "I mean…yea. I feel like it's partially my fault you got hurt anyway…"

"Amu-chan!" Tadase exclaimed. "Don't say things like that!"

"It's true though, isn't it?" she insisted. "I mean, if I hadn't gotten close to you Saaya wouldn't have bothered me and wouldn't have caused all this mess…"

Tadase froze, causing Amu to almost trip as well. "Amu-chan…do you really think that?"

"I-I mean maybe?" she stammered. "I've thought about it a lot lately. Ever since I came here I've caused nothing but trouble for everyone. Had I…shaken you off like I did with everyone else…Saaya wouldn't have gotten jealous. She wouldn't have come after me, and more importantly, she wouldn't have accidentally hurt you."

Tadase pulled away from Amu to look at her. She looked…broken and conflicted. He could tell that she treasured their relationship, but Saaya was making her believe that she was the problem. Instinctively, Tadase collected Amu in his arms.

Shocked at first, Amu didn't know how to react. Tadase brought his hand up to caress her hair comfortingly. "It's okay Amu-chan. You're not the problem here. Everything is going to be okay."

Amu whined into Tadase's shoulder. "B-but Saaya is out to get me! Curse you for being so…" Amu trailed off, realizing what she was about to say. She pulled away from Tadase quickly. If you hadn't been so nice and attractive I wouldn't have been drawn to you…

"Curse me for being so what?" Tadase asked, suddenly intrigued.

"N-nothing!" she took a step back. "L-let's get going!"

Before Tadase could even think of opening his mouth, Amu was already walking away. Confused, he watched her walk before falling in step a bit back from her. Sometimes, he could read Amu like a book. Other times, he had no idea what was going on through her head. Perhaps that was what kept him wanting to get closer to her.

When they arrived back at Amu's place. Amu walked up the steps and turned to Tadase before opening the door. She looked meekly at Tadase, rubbing her arm as she asked, "Did you want to know what I was going to say earlier?"

"Well I wasn't going to press you but if you're just going to tell me, sure," Tadase responded, looking at Amu expectantly.

For a while, Amu stayed quiet. She took a breath and spoke quickly in a quiet voice. "I was going to say 'Curse you for being so nice and attractive.'"

Before Tadase could comment, Amu opened and slammed the door. Shortly after, the door opened again. Except instead of Amu, it was her mother. Amu was inside, sighing as she leaned against the staircase, clutching her chest. She'd never felt so nervous in her life. Was what she did stupid? It wasn't like she confessed or anything, right? Because she didn't have those feelings…right? Right?

She sighed and made her way up to her bedroom, where she remained for most of the day, thinking about what all had happened in the past 24 hours.

A/N: Heyo we're nearing the end! I have mostly all of the chapters done now and can I just say that I have somehow managed to shorten this story from nearly 30 to prolly like 25 or less.

Also Ive come to learn that my word processor counts quotes and probably commas and other punctuation as words so I GUESS all of these chapters are shorter than it tells me.