TW: Kidnapping, mention of drugging, mild abuse (kicking)

xviii

It had been almost 2 hours since Amu had left for the grocery store. Midori hadn't even noticed at first, due to being so immersed in the research and writing for her article. However, since Ami was out at her dance classes, and her husband was off on a work trip, Midori became quickly aware of the silence in her house.

How long did it take for her daughter to get 10 items from a grocery store that was only a few blocks away from her house? Of course, it was possible that Amu had run into a friend on the way and had gotten distracted talking with them but then why hadn't she texted or called her mother saying she'd be a bit? Midori was starting to get worried. Normally, she trusted her daughter to be out and about without her supervision but something…something didn't feel right.

After another thirty minutes with no return or text from Amu, Midori couldn't just sit around anymore. She had waited just in case Amu had gotten distracted and either forgotten to text her mother or forgotten her phone at home. After the latter thought, Midori felt the urge to check Amu's room, where her phone was still on her desk plugged into the charger. Midori sighed; she shouldn't have been surprised that her daughter forgot her phone but that it made the situation worse. Just where could that girl be?

After looking at Amu's phone for a second, she wondered if perhaps Amu's boyfriend, Tadase, had any idea what Amu was up to. It was possible that she ran into him and had forgotten that she needed to be home. She picked up Amu's phone and noted down Tadase's phone number to call him, not wanting to worry him by calling him through her daughter's phone. She took Amu's phone, just in case there was something useful on it and used her own cellphone to call Tadase.

"Hello?" the familiar voice of Amu's voice said from the other line.

"Tadase-kun, right?" Midori asked, just to make sure she had dialled the number right despite the voice sounding familiar.

"Is that…" Tadase spoke as if trying to recall who was on the other line. He didn't' answer Midori's question but she didn't actually need an answer in the first place. "Hinamori-san?"

"Yes, I was calling to ask about my daughter," Midori said, trying to think of how to word her next sentence just in case Amu was with him. "She forgot her cellphone at home when she left to do errands for me. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"Amu-chan? No, I haven't seen her yet today. We had no plans on meeting up," Tadase responded slowly. Somehow, Midori could tell Tadase was starting to sense something was up. "If you're the one who sent her on errands, wouldn't you know where she went?"

Midori pursed her lips. So Amu wasn't with Tadase. "Well…she was supposed to just go to the grocery store just a few blocks away but…it's been 2 hours and she still hasn't been back. I thought maybe she ran into you or perhaps another friend…"

Tadase hummed on the other line. "I can ask around to see if anyone has seen her and call you back if you'd like."

Midori sighed softly. She had considered calling or texting everyone on her daughter's contact list if Tadase had no information for her, but his offer made it easier for her. "If you did that, I would really appreciate it. Thank you, Tadase-kun."

"No worries, Hinamori-san." Tadase's voice sounded reassuring, though it didn't put Midori at ease. "I'm sure Amu-chan is fine. I'll call you back when I have more information."

Midori thanked Tadase once more and ended the call. Midori sighed and stared into space as she couldn't stop worrying. If Amu's father found out about this, he would be freaking out and possibly even blaming poor innocent Tadase for no reason besides that he was a boy and dating Amu. Midori was glad that his trip was a weekend trip and that he wouldn't be back until Monday. She hoped, at least, that Amu would have come back by then.

She really hoped that Amu had just gotten distracted and hadn't gone missing. She wanted to trust Tadase's words that Amu was fine. Midori didn't want to think about her little girl being hurt, or worse, kidnapped. With Ami gone until the evening, Amu was all Midori had until she got back. Now that she thought about it, how would Midori explain the situation to Ami that her beloved older sister was missing? Would it be…fair to Ami to lie?

Despite how calmly he had been on the phone with Amu's mother, the moment the call ended, Tadase nearly dropped his phone. This was way more serious than Amu's mother knew, after all. Amu hadn't gotten back from errands that should have taken no longer than 30 minutes? He instantly had a bad feeling about this. Still, he had to do what he told Amu's mother he would do. He went to his phone to text all of his and Amu's friends, in a way that he hoped wasn't too suspicious, to make sure no one worried or caught on that something was wrong.

After messaging the two people Amu would most likely be spending time with, Rima and Lulu, and not getting the response he wanted, his last resort was messaging Kukai and Nagihiko, just in case they had run into her as well. It was Nagihiko who responded first, saying he had in fact seen Amu, and at the grocery store she was supposedly at, to boot. Tadase immediately called Nagihiko after reading his message and asked to meet. The two met up nearby and Tadase was hoping to hear some good news. Unfortunately, Amu wasn't with Nagihiko when he approached, though Tadase somehow wasn't really expecting to see her anyway. Nagihiko tilted his head at Tadase as he saw his expression.

"What's up, Hotori-kun?" Nagihiko questioned, his eyebrows furrowing. "Is something the matter?"

Tadase purse his lips and looked around. "You said you saw Amu-chan, right? How long were you with her for?"

Nagihiko rubbed his chin curiously. "I bumped into her at the grocery store…we walked around the store together, talking while finishing our shopping. That lasted about…15 minutes? Then, when we left the store, we went our separate ways. Why do you ask?"

Tadase sighed. "I was afraid to hear that…why didn't you walk her home?"

Nagihiko shrugged. "I had a lot of stuff that needed to be put in the freezer ASAP. Why? Should I have walked her?"

Tadase sighed once more. "Can we go somewhere more private? I…I think there may be a problem…"

Nagihiko nodded, sensing the gravity of the situation and the two walked back to Tadase's place. Tadase considered calling Amu's mother back just to tell her that one of her friends had seen her but…he didn't have anything that would help her. Maybe he'd call her after, just to say someone had seen her. He sighed as he handed Nagihiko a teacup and sat down on his bed next to him.

"Tell me what's actually happening, Hotori-kun," Nagihiko said, just looking at the teacup in front of him. "Why should I have walked her home?"

Tadase sighed. "Amu-chan's mother called me a little bit ago asking about Amu-chan. Apparently, she hadn't come home from her errands. It's been nearly 3 hours and she might still be missing."

"What…what are you implying here, Hotori-kun?" Nagihiko finally took a sip of his tea, staring directly at Tadase.

Tadase stared at his tea before looking back at Nagihiko with a serious expression. "I think Amu-chan's been…kidnapped. More than likely by the people who have been looking for her the past couple of months…"

Nagihiko almost dropped his teacup at Tadase's words. "So, what are you going to tell Amu-chan's mother? And what are we going to do about this?"

"I…don't know," Tadase said honestly. He put his teacup down, suddenly not wanting it anymore. "All I know is that…I have to find her. Before something really, really bad happens to her."

When Amu woke up, she was in a dark room. It wasn't pitch black, but it was dark enough that Amu could barely see her surroundings. Was this another one of her dreams? No…this felt too real. Her head and neck really hurt and she had no idea where she was. It took her far too long to realize her hands were tied behind her back. She tried to wriggle out of the rope but all it did was give her rope burn.

Oh no. Had she been kidnapped? Just like in her dreams…? Where even was she? She wanted to call out for help but worried that it would attract the wrong attention. If she learned anything from her dreams, it was that calling out for help would only get her hurt. It felt weird to just accept being kidnapped, but there wasn't much she could do besides try to break her hands-free from their binds. She felt scared but for some reason, couldn't express it the way she wanted to. This caused her to probably act a lot calmer than a normal person would be. Eventually, after trying and failing to wriggle out of her binds, the only thing she could do was cry and try not to think about all the horrible things that had happened to her in her dreams. This may have been real but…surely the things that had happened in her dream couldn't happen as well, right?

After what seemed like several hours, the door was aggressively thrown open and two figures appeared in the doorway. The light from outside the room was much brighter than inside the room, so Amu's eyes were blinded and attempted to adjust after being in the dark for so long. Due to this, however, she was unable to properly see who had barged in. All she was able to figure out was that they looked menacing, but anyone would find two large figures standing over them menacing. They sure as Hell didn't seem like they were here to help her, though.

For a while, the men just stood in the doorway staring at Amu. She really hoped they weren't contemplating whether or not they wanted to finish her off in that moment. Amu tried to shoot her scariest glares at them but they were barely even looking at her at all. After a minute or so, the two turned to each other, still not caring about Amu at all.

"Looks like Missy here is awake." the slightly shorter one said. "Should we inform the Boss?"

The taller one nodded his head. "She seems to be feisty already despite not saying anything. Let's go to the Boss before she begins to get aggressive."

The two turned back around and, unfortunately for Amu, closed the door as they left. Amu cursed herself for not trying to escape or attack them sooner, but she still felt weak for whatever reason. In her current state, especially with her arms behind her back, she wouldn't stand a chance against those two. Amu didn't feel like much of a heroine at the moment; she felt useless.

After staring at the wall for another hour or so, she dozed off to sleep again, wondering how her friends and family were. Did they realize she'd gone missing? Her mother, at the very least, must be worried sick. It had probably been several hours since she had been tasked with going to the grocery store. To think her last conversation was with Nagihiko. Surely, Tadase had also been informed by someone that she may potentially be missing. She could be dead and anyone besides them would be non-the-wiser. With these thoughts in mind, Amu fell asleep once more this time, at least, on her own accord.

Tadase needed to find Amu. If not for his sake, but for her own sake and her family's sake. He had yet to talk to Amu's mother about Amu meeting up with Nagihiko because he had nothing else but that. It wasn't as if he could blatantly tell her that Amu had been kidnapped and he knew who was involved. However, he also felt that couldn't lie to her either.

The only thing he could do, for now, was to go straight to the source; Tadase had to visit Saaya at the psychiatric hospital. Tadase knew he would have a hard time getting anything out of her, and there would be a high chance of her lying but…Tadase just wanted anything that could help him figure this out. He took the dive and called the hospital to book a meeting with Saaya.

Tadase had never been to a psychiatric hospital before. Although it just looked like a regular hospital, Tadase was a bit worried about what kind of people he would run into. He reminded himself that just because they weren't mentally healthy, it didn't make them any less human. That, of course, extended to Saaya too but…she had already breached a line that was way too far.

He walked up to the reception desk and asked the receptionist about the appointment. Tadase wasn't sure what kind of meeting this would be; would there be a Plexiglass wall between them or would they meet face to face? He would have preferred the latter but it wasn't like he had a choice either way. The receptionist typed some things up on the computer before directing Tadase to a specific room after handing him a visitor pass.

The room he was told to go to was very…white. Rather stereotypical to how they're depicted in media. Thankfully for Tadase, there was a plexiglass wall separating them, though it didn't go all the way down, likely so people could talk properly. Tadase didn't want Saaya clinging to him or something. He wondered if all visits to all patients were behind a glass wall or if it was just a thing for specific patients who may be 'at risk'. When Saaya walked into the room, she looked genuinely surprised to see Tadase. Perhaps the staff hadn't told her who she was meeting because when she saw him, she gasped slightly with wide eyes.

"Tadase? What are you doing here?" her voice seemed confused but also weirdly pleased. "I didn't expect you to visit me here!"

"Unfortunately, I didn't just come to chit-chat," Tadase said, sitting down and lacing his fingers together. "Though I guess I'm obliged to ask; how are you feeling? Are you taking your medicine again? Are they treating you alright here?"

Tadase had a feeling he knew the answer to the medication one. There was no way that, if this was caused by her, Saaya was on any medication. Not to mention, Saaya hadn't been like this before; she was annoying at best, but never this…intense.

"Oh, of course, I am, Tadase!" Saaya said in a sweet tone. "The staff here is really great! They even said I might be able to leave soon if I keep everything up!"

"That's, uh, good to hear, Yamabuki-san," Tadase offered a forced smile.

"Oh, quit with the 'Yamabuki-san', Tadase~ We've dated before, just call me Saaya like you used to!" Saaya grinned, though she seemed genuinely bothered by the way Tadase had said her name.

"I think I'd prefer calling you Yamabuki-san, thanks," Tadase responded flatly. "I'm…glad to see you're doing well, at least. I guess that means you can easily answer a question?"

"You can ask me anything, Tadase~!" Saaya leaned forward in anticipation.

"It's about Amu-chan." Tadase watched Saaya's smiling face immediately twitch at the mention of Amu. Still, she tried to play it off.

"Oh, that bit-girl?" Saaya's smile was beginning to look more forced than before. "What about her? Did she cheat on you or something?"

Tadase blinked in surprise. How would she know that Amu and he were dating? They got together after she was involuntarily admitted. "How…do you know me and Amu-chan are dating?"

Saaya squinted before looking at her nails absentmindedly. "Oh, so you are dating? Interesting…"

"That's beside the point. No, she didn't cheat on me. She's not that type of person, Yamabuki-san," Tadase crossed one leg over the other as he watched Saaya's face. "Now, quit fucking around."

Saaya sighed and crossed her arms., though she seemed surprised to hear Tadase sound so serious and not to mention cursing. Her facade immediately faded as she let her true colours show. "What the hell do you want then? I don't give a fuck about your little 'Amu-chan'."

"If you don't care then why did you have Amu-chan kidnapped?" Tadase asked, leaning forward. "I know you were the one behind the malicious messages and attacks."

Saaya tilted her head, feigning ignorance. "What do you mean? I didn't do anything of the sorts!"

The way she drew out her words made it sound blatantly obvious that she was lying. Tadase wasn't sure if she was trying to lie or not, but it definitely wasn't working. He sighed and pulled out his phone.

"Tell me, then, why did those texts come from a burner phone that was tracked to this location?" Tadase held up his phone to the plexiglass, which showed the information that Kairi had obtained from the malicious texts from Amu's phone. "How did you manage to sneak a phone into your room?"

Saaya groaned when she realized she had been partially found out. "Alright fine, I may have sent some people after that bitch. Still, I have no idea what you're talking about with a kidnapping."

Tadase narrowed his eyes at his ex-girlfriend. Now he actually couldn't tell whether she was bluffing or not. She blatantly admitted to sending people after Amu but was that only because Tadase had the evidence to prove her otherwise? Tadase currently had no proof of Amu being kidnapped besides the fact that she was gone. At least Saaya's confession, which he had smartly recorded before pulling his phone out, was enough information to have Saaya further investigated at a later point.

"I was serious when I said 'quick fucking around' Yamabuki-san!" Tadase half-shouted, feeling increasingly annoyed. "You're the one who almost got her killed multiple times."

"I-" Saaya seemed taken aback at the blatant call out and Tadase's sudden rise of voice. "Oops?"

Tadase sighed and massaged his temples. "Just tell me where Amu-chan is. Maybe then I'll consider forgiving you."

"I really don't know exactly where she is…" Saaya frowned. She hesitated as she spoke her next words. "I-I can give you a place I think she's at. On one condition."

Tadase sighed in exasperation. "If you're not going to cooperate then I'll just have to figure it out myself. Either you tell me where you're at least 80% sure Amu-chan is or I'm reporting you to the police again." he crossed his arms. "I don't have time for your bullshit right now. You're not just endangering an innocent person, you're causing her entire family to worry."

"Can't you just-" Saaya started but was immediately cut off by Tadase.

"Yamabuki-san," Tadase said sternly. "I am not joking around here."

Suddenly, Saaya's expression changed. Tadase couldn't describe it but there was a significant change. She almost seemed like a different person. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not either. If you're going to keep bothering me like this, then there's no point in me staying at all! Your girlfriend is in some abandoned building. Now if you're done, I'm leaving!"

With that, Saaya stood up from the chair and stomped out of the room, leaving Tadase to sit for a second, taking in Saaya's words, before the staff escorted him out. That was exactly why Tadase hadn't wanted to go to Saaya. He had no idea what to do with such vague information. Sure, 'some abandoned building' was better than nothing at all but there were probably several abandoned buildings in the city. The worst part was, it was getting too late to be looking around for Amu right that second.

Yet again, Tadase was contemplating whether or not to talk to Amu's mother and what he would even say to her. He was afraid to say that she was missing but knew there was nothing else to say but that. The only bit of reassuring information he could offer her was that he knew who might have been involved and that he would do his best to look for Amu. Obviously, he would have no choice but to get the police involved, as well, if her mother hadn't already contacted them for a missing person report. However, he planned on conducting his own search as well, whether the police thought it was a good idea or not.

A/N: Okay so you may have to bear with Tadase being a bit selfish for these next chapters. Because of plot purposes, he does some stupid, reckless things without telling authorities. I did change how these events play out compared to the original version (which IMO is even worse in the lines of recklessness and selfishness) and added scenes that I skipped over but that's later on.

Whoever is reading this, I appreciate you!