TW: dream referencing disturbing, violent acts (but no actual violence)
vi
Tadase was about to go back and check on Amu when he spotted a familiar form by the front desk, standing next to Kairi and Yaya. He couldn't help but stare as he walked up. It was indeed who he thought it was.
"What are you doing here, Ikuto-niisan?" Tadase asked. "Did the nurses call you?"
"No, I followed the ambulance here," Ikuto responded and Tadase couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
"You really didn't have to…" Tadase furrowed his brow. "I had everything handled."
Ikuto shrugged. "Too late, I'm already here. If you're staying, I'll be leaving. I just want to check on Amu."
Tadase sighed and reluctantly and lead Ikuto to where Amu was. The walk was silent. Clearly, Ikuto would rather talk to Amu about the situation and not Tadase. Or maybe he just wanted to wait until they got there so they could all three talk about it.
Tadase pushed the door of Amu's room open and Ikuto stepped past Tadase to sit in the chair directly next to Amu's bed. By the time Ikuto was pulling the seat to a better spot, Amu was looking at him in just as much confusion as Tadase when he saw him in the lobby.
"Ikuto? Why are you here?" Amu asked, pressing a button that pushed the bed up to a sitting position for her.
"Why else would I be here?" Ikuto responded, really not answering the question. "I came to check in on you."
Amu blinked in surprise and looked at Tadase, who just shrugged. Ikuto sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees as he looked between the two as well.
"So, who wants to have the honours of explaining to me exactly what happened?" he asked, looking at Amu intensely, though there was a bit of worry in his expression. "I was going to go to check on you since I knew Tadase's dad was working late but saw a car pulling out of the driveway, so I laid back. The next thing I knew, someone came out of the bushes and Amu yelped. Then someone ran off the property."
Amu's eyes widened and she leaned closer to Ikuto. "Did you see who it was?!"
"I chased after them for a bit," Ikuto responded, clasping his hands together. "That's when I heard the sirens and lost them. It was someone in a black hoodie and black jeans. The usual 'stealth gear'."
"You weren't being sarcastic when you said you followed the ambulance, where you?" Tadase suddenly realized. "You actually heard the ambulance and followed it. What did you do, have Utau-chan ask her manager for her car?"
Ikuto laughed dryly. "Smart kid. Now I have to play at her next concert because of it." His clasped hands tightened slightly as he continued. "The real question is…why is someone following Amu and trying to kill her? I thought this mess was over with."
Amu swallowed hard. "W-well…that's what we're trying to figure out."
"I didn't know you cared so much, niisan," Tadase said, raising his eyebrows. "You better not be after my girlfriend."
"Ta-Tadase-kun!" Amu exclaimed, looking at her boyfriend in exasperation.
Ikuto snorted and shook his head. "Calm yourself, kiddo. Amu's dating my 'brother', even if you do annoy me sometimes. Of course, I'd be concerned if an ambulance came from the direction of my brother's house knowing you both were there together."
"Well…I, at least, appreciate you caring." Amu managed a smile, noticing Ikuto's tightly clasped hands and placing her own hand on top of them. "I'll take all the support I can get. You're the closest thing to an adult I can trust with this."
"Gee, thanks." Ikuto rolled his eyes at Amu's last comment, but Amu could tell that it lessened his tenseness. He even managed to crack a little joke. "Don't go holding my hand, though, or Tadase will get the wrong idea."
He moved his hands away from Amu and stood up, ruffling Amu's hair slightly. Tadase looked at his adopted brother as he walked back towards the door.
"Well, I better get going. Visitor hours are almost over." Ikuto said. "Don't worry, I'm sure the nurses won't force you to leave, though, Tadase." He winked at Tadase before opening the door.
Ikuto saluted with two fingers and with that, left the hospital room, leaving Amu and Tadase alone. Tadase sighed and took the seat Ikuto had been in previously, holding Amu's hand in both of his. They just stared at each other in a comfortable silence until Tadase finally spoke up.
"Are you thirsty? I'll get you a drink from the vending machine," he said. "Though you're probably only allowed to drink water."
Amu smiled at Tadase endearingly, squeezing one of Tadase's hands with her own. "Thanks, Tadase-kun. I appreciate you being here."
Tadase brought Amu's hand to his lips and kissed it gently before standing up and walking to a nearby vending machine to get a drink for himself and Amu. He couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this, still. Especially now. That was why he wanted to make it up to Amu by taking care of her as much as possible.
When Tadase returned, Amu had lowered her bed a bit. She was rubbing her shoulder, which caused Tadase to furrow his brow in concern as he walked up and handed her the bottle of water. Amu looked at him and smiled gratefully when he even opened the bottle for her.
"How does your shoulder feel?" Tadase asked, sitting back down in the chair and opening his own can of soda.
"It feels weird," Amu answered after taking a long drink of the water. "A couple of times now, it's still felt like something is still lodged in my shoulder… And it's been throbbing as well."
Tadase frowned slightly. "Tell me if anything becomes unbearable and I'll get a nurse. They gave you a painkiller, right?"
Amu nodded. "It doesn't hurt right now, thanks to the pain killer. It just feels weird."
"Would you prefer sleeping on the bed alone, then?" Tadase inquired. "I can just sleep on the chair so I don't accidentally irritate anything."
"If you sleep in the chair, you'll get a kink in your neck or be sore in the morning…" Amu pouted. "I think I'll be fine for now. I'm already going to be in pain for a bit, I don't want you being in any more pain right now, so please feel free to sleep w-in the bed with me."
Tadase chuckled at Amu's words, noticing she quickly changed her wording. "Alright, missy, let's not get ahead of ourselves." he chided jokingly. He got up to sit on Amu's hospital bed and Amu moved over some, very carefully. "If you ever feel uncomfortable, you're welcome to kick me off of the bed."
Amu chuckled softly, hitting Tadase weakly. "This should be fine. Thanks again. You're too sweet."
Tadase shook his head, leaning in to press a kiss to Amu's forehead. "You know I'd do anything for you, Amu-chan." He stood up and walked to the light switch. "We should get to sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted."
Amu smiled softly and nodded as Tadase turned the lights off and made his way back to the hospital bed, lying next to Amu after she allowed him under the blankets. He tried not to hold Amu too closely, but his arm found its way underneath Amu's neck.
"Good night, Amu-chan." He whispered softly.
"Night, Tadase-kun," Amu's voice mumbled, instinctively snuggling into him.
Unfortunately, and at this point naturally, Amu's night was not good, even with Tadase next to her. Another nightmare plagued her mind. At this point, Amu was expecting to have these kinds of dreams. It didn't make them any better to experience, though.
It was a damp night in her dream, and Amu was running, as usual, with no umbrella or jacket. It was in a 3rd person point of view as if a camera were floating just above dream Amu's head and at first, Amu couldn't tell if her dream self was just running to get out of the rain or running from something. Thunder rumbled loudly and lighting struck, lighting up the entire sky. It was almost as if the thunderstorm was right above Amu's head.
Frozen from fright from the thunder and lightning for a second, Amu covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly. After taking a second to recover, she seemed to remember she still had to run and immediately continued running, glancing behind her. The rain got harder and the temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees. She stopped for a breather and by this point, Amu was suddenly seeing and feeling things from her own perspective.
She felt something prick her neck as she stood back upright, though she didn't know where it came from because when she looked around, no one was there. When she was about to start running again, Amu started to feel unusually weak and dizzy. She didn't know how long she had been running for but suddenly her arms and legs felt like they were lead. She collapsed onto the ground into a big heap, the cold rain pouring onto her, drenching her clothing, body, and hair. The rain almost made her feel heavier.
Any passerby might have thought she was dead. Either that or collapsed from pneumonia or hypothermia. But, there were no passersby. Except one, which she was picked up by. It was a large, mysterious man who easily threw her limp body over his shoulder as if she were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
The scene changed and it was like dream Amu had 'woken' up. She was still lying down, now in an unfamiliar location. She couldn't move her arms or legs at all, and when she looked over, she saw they were being restrained by metal cuffs lined with leather. On a trolley next to her were various scary-looking tools; several syringes, scalpels, drills, etc. She could have sworn she felt blood dripping down her body, but it also could have been sweat.
The only thing she knew was that she wanted to get out of where ever this was. She tried to struggle, but the more she struggled, the tighter the cuffs on her wrists and ankles felt. Her fear was getting more intense and she could hear maniacal laughter somewhere off to her left. Then, there was a whirring noise that sounded almost like a saw or chainsaw.
That was when she started thrashing and screaming, though her voice made no noise. What if they were trying to amputate her limb…or limbs? Her eyes shut tightly in her dream and she could hear a familiar voice calling out to her.
"Amu-chan! Open your eyes!" it was Tadase. "You're having a nightmare!"
Amu's eyes shot open, her face beaded with sweat. She shot up and saw Tadase looking at her in concern."Tadase-kun…"
Tadase sighed in relief, caressing her cheek gently. "Good, you're awake."
Amu clung to Tadase, burying her face in his chest. Tadase just sighed and rubbed Amu's back comfortingly. Amu was fighting the urge to cry. That was the worst nightmare she'd had yet.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, still caressing Amu's back. "That seemed like a really bad one…"
Amu shook her head, hugging Tadase tightly. Tadase held Amu close, minding her shoulder. He muttered an 'I'm sorry' to Amu, kissing the top of her head.
"You'll be okay like this, right?" Tadase asked. "As long as I'm close."
Amu seemed to nod slightly, though still didn't look up from Tadase's chest. He sighed. This felt too familiar to him. In both a good and a bad way. He pressed a kiss against Amu's head, praying her nightmares stopped soon. He closed his eyes once more, keeping Amu as close to him as possible the rest of the night.
A/N: Wowie this chapter is a doozy. I also had to re-edit a lot bc I changed the setting to make more sense for someone who just got a BLOOD TRANSFUSION and also got STABBED(?) IN THE BACK. Idk why 2014 me (and mid 2020 re-writing me too) thought it was a good idea to have someone who might be feeling anemic and in a lot of pain go home immediately after having to get stitches/surgery.
Anyway, these dreams are RAMPING up real quick, I might actually have to change the rating soon bc I forgot just how...violent (not sexual) this gets. Considering how bad I am at violence I thought it would be safe to have it as it is now, for now.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.