iii

In a white room separated by a glass panel, three people were conversing. If it could be even called that. One person, behind the glass partition, was glowering at the 2 other men who were on the other side. The lights were dim, making it nearly impossible to identify any hair or skin colors from an outer perspective. It didn't help that the two men were wearing dark sunglasses.

"Have you gotten her yet?" the person behind the glass asked venomously.

"No, not yet." one of the men responded, much to the other person's visible disappointment. "She's always either with someone else or when she is alone, she's too cautious. There's no way to sneak up on her."

The person behind the glass sighed in exasperation, banging their fist on the table in front of them. "Who cares if she's with someone?! If you have to, capture both the girl and whoever she's with! Or even better, use her boyfriend to bait her out."

"B-but Boss, you said not to involve him." the other man stammered.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore. If it's taking this long, do whatever you can! Just don't hurt him. Now stop being useless and do what I hired you for. I have other stuff to attend to!" the person behind the glass ordered before shooing the larger men away.

The men bowed and left. Once they were gone, the person sighed, leaving the glass room, ignoring the people around her. They walked down a hall and into another room, closing the door behind them with a loud slam. They then sat down on a white bed and punched their pillow in rage. "Useless! How hard is it to kidnap a person!? You're supposed to be professionals!" they grumbled. "Once I get out of here, I'll have to take matters into my own hands…"

Before Amu knew it, it was nearing the time she was supposed to go to Tadase's. They agreed that Tadase would pick her up and within a few minutes of him messaging her saying that he was on his way, there was a knock on the door, causing Amu to jump up.

"Honey, Tadase-kun is here!" Amu's mom was calling out but Amu was already partway down the stairs, causing her to nearly body slam her own mother when she reached the bottom. Amu's mother chuckled softly, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "You know the rules. Don't be gone too late, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and be careful!"

Amu nodded as she put her shoes on and happily greeted Tadase at the door. Tadase smiled at her and said goodbye to her mother as they made their way in the direction of his house. Despite having Tadase as moral support, she still felt a little anxious walking around and she clung as close to Tadase as she could while she peeked around every so often. Every time she did, she could have sworn she had seen a shadow dart behind the nearest thing.

"Amu-chan, you're a bit jumpy today, aren't you?" Tadase noted, tilting his head at her. "Is it because of what happened at the cafe? Do you want to talk about it now or wait until we get to my place?"

"I-it's really not a big deal…" Amu said slowly, not mentally prepared for Tadase to mention it so quickly. "We can wait until we get to your place…"

Tadase nodded and squeezed Amu's hand gently. Amu appreciated the gesture and managed a smile. Soon, they arrived at Tadase's house, and Tadase lead Amu into the living room.

"I still have a few more things I need to do, so wait here for a bit. I'll get some tea while you wait." Tadase said with a smile.

He left the room and Amu looked around humming. The house smelled delicious and though Amu was quickly distracted by the smell, her dread returned when she received another message from that unknown number.

[From: Unknown Number

Quit running and hiding behind other people and maybe we'll get somewhere.]

Amu wanted to ask who it was sending these messages but at the same time, she was afraid of the answer. Just what did this person want from her? She wondered if now was a good time to tell Tadase about it. As if on cue, Tadase came back with a teacup.

"Everything is almost done!" he said happily as he placed the cup in front of her. He waved his hand in front of Amu's face when he noticed her blank expression. "Amu-chan? What's wrong?"

Amu's head shot up to look at Tadase and she dropped her phone upside down in her lap. "O-oh! It's nothing!"

Tadase frowned and sat down on the couch next to her. "This is about what happened at the cafe, isn't it?"

Amy clenched her fist around her phone. She knew this would worry Tadase more than anything. She didn't want this to include him, especially if all this still involved Saaya somehow. Still, she knew she didn't have much of a choice.

"Amu-chan, I'm worried. Please…tell me what's wrong." Tadase reached out and covered Amu's hand with his.

Amu took a breath. She stayed silent for a bit before finally speaking up."So…when me and Lulu went to that cafe…we sat outside because she kept insisting. And as we sat down…a plate was thrown at me. Or…in my general direction, at least. The plate didn't hit me, though. I was looking down to look at your message when it happened."

Tadase's eyebrows furrowed in concern as he examined Amu's face. "And after that?"

Amu chewed her lip. "We finished eating and left as fast as we could… and then…" she trailed off, faltering. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say all this but she had already said this much.

"Then?" Tadase coaxed gently, taking Amu's other hand.

Amu gently released her phone, letting it sit in her lap. "I got a text message…from an unknown number. Something about me crossing a line and that they won't miss next time…then I got another one when we got home saying they know my every move." her voice kept getting quieter and quieter the longer she spoke. "And…and I just got another one now."

"May I see your phone, Amu-chan?" Tadase asked softly, pointing to the phone now laying in her lap still faced down.

Amu picked up her phone and held it out to Tadase hesitantly. "I deleted the last two messages already…"

Tadase took her phone and read the message. He sighed as Amu tried to hide her face. "And you don't know who's been sending you these threatening messages?"

Amu shook her head slowly. "N-no…I don't."

Tadase's grip on Amu's hand tightened slightly. "All this started today, right? Is there anything else I should know?"

Amu folded her lips into a straight line. "On my way to the cafe with Lulu and even earlier when we were walking here… I swear it felt like someone was following us…" she opened her mouth once more, closed it, and opened it again. Her voice was barely a whisper now. "A-and I've been having nightmares."

"What kind of nightmares?" Tadase asked, shifting closer to Amu.

That was the question Amu was dreading to hear from him. She didn't want to have to explain her nightmares. Especially if they had a chance of coming true. She tried to hide her face with her hair, not wanting to cry in front of Tadase and worry him even more, but she could already feel Tadase wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

"Amu-chan, it's okay. I'm here," he whispered softly. "You don't need to tell me the details if you're not comfortable."

Amu inhaled sharply, trying to talk as fast as she could before she could stutter or break into tears. "All of the dreams I've had involve me running away from someone with a weapon and usually ends with me dying or one of my loved ones dying."

She took another breath and covered her face with her hands. Tadase sighed softly and moved Amu's hands away, nudging her chin to get her to look at him. "Amu-chan, look at me."

Amu hesitantly let Tadase bring her face to look at him. She examined his facial expression and immediately regretting speaking. His eyes were full of concern mixed with a bit of disappointment. Tadase's thumb moved to wipe away tears Amu hadn't even noticed had formed.

"Amu-chan…don't cry," he said softly, pressing his forehead against hers gently. "I just don't want you to get hurt, that's why I'm so curious and concerned."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away…" Amu mumbled, glancing down. "I…I didn't want you to get involved too."

Tadase gave Amu a gentle kiss on her forehead before pulling her into a tight embrace. "If you thought you could keep me out of this, then you were dead wrong. You should know that I'll do anything to keep you alive. Because you're my girlfriend and I don't know what I'd do if you disappeared."

Amu felt her cheeks flush. Tadase pulled away, brushing hair out of Amu's face. "You don't have any idea on who might be doing this?"

Amu bit her lip. "I… my main suspect is, of course, Yamabuki Saaya. B-but I don't know how she could possibly be doing it when last I heard she was put in the psych ward to help get her Schizophrenia under control."

"I can ask Saaya's mom about it?" Tadase offered. "Or have my father do it."

Amu shook her head. "I-I want as little people involved as possible. What if she comes after you for some reason? She's not okay right now…you saw what she did accidentally to your leg."

"But from what I understand, she still claims to love me," Tadase commented.

"You know how silly that sounds? What if it's not Saaya herself but someone she paid? They probably don't care either way." Amu protested. "She…she has to have someone working for her. As far as I'm aware, you aren't allowed phones in a psych ward."

Tadase searched Amu's expression for a while, not speaking, before sighing once more. "Alright. But I'm not just going to sit here and watch you be stalked without doing anything about it."

Amu stayed silent. She had hoped that he would do exactly that; not do anything and let her handle it. She just planned on ignoring any message she got and just keeping a good eye out, anyway. She thought maybe if she ignored it for long enough, they'd give up. Even though part of her knew that it wouldn't be that easy.

"You wanted me to sit here and do nothing, didn't you?" Tadase questioned as if reading Amu's mind. "So what are you going to do if someone actually is following you? Let them lurk outside the location you're at until they can get you alone?"

Amu blinked. Of course, she'd considered that possibility. But she hadn't really thought about what she would do about it. "Well do you have any better ideas?"

Tadase hesitated as he came up with an idea. "Well… this briefly crossed my mind..and it's a crazy thought so please tell me if it makes you uncomfortable… What if you…stayed at my place for a couple of days? To…confuse whoever is following you?"

Amu bit her lip at the proposition, shocked Tadase had even thought about that. "I-I mean that could work but… I'm not sure Mama would allow me to stay for 'a couple' says. And papa is a whole different ballpark."

"You could always try to come up with something," Tadase said. "Why don't you call your mom and ask first. It can't hurt to be too safe, right?"

Amu sighed softly, not ready to be scolded by her mother, or worse, her father. "Can we do it after we eat, at least? I'm getting hungry."

Tadase chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright. If that will make you feel better then, sure, let's eat. Can't leave a lady with an empty stomach."

He stood up and offered his hand down to help Amu up. Amu smiled softly, her face slightly red from Tadase's last statement. She took his outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet and lead her into the dining room.

A/N: ok I had to edit this one again despite having finished this chapter months ago bc I hated the wording, especially of the first bit. Even though I'm sure it's obvious, I wanted it to be ambiguous/mysterious. I hope it worked out that way. I hope you're enjoying this so far, don't forget to review or favourite this. Makes me know if I should continue this or just give up haha. (yes, I need gratification to know if people like something)

If you are reading this, know I love you and appreciate you!