TW: this chapter contains a (very) brief mention of a person being held captive, reader discretion is advised.

xxi

As Tadase made his way back to his place, he wondered exactly how he was going to talk to Amu's other friends about this. He could go over and physically tell them… but when his father took them there it took three hours. Obviously, he would ask Ikuto to drive him this time if he did decide to physically go but the bigger question was, how would he justify to his father why he would be gone for probably close to a whole day? The three hours Tadase was usually gone to see Amu was already hard enough to explain.

Tadase considered calling Kairi to figure something out but he still couldn't help but want to tell them all at the same time. Still, it couldn't hurt to call Kairi anyway and ask if there was any way they could come to him. It wouldn't be the first time Tadase would've had to bring Amu's old friends to their current city, so clearly it was possible.

With his decision made, he called up Kairi and vaguely asked how easy or hard it would be to bring Nadeshiko, Yaya and him to the city Tadase and Amu currently resided in. Kairi, surprisingly, didn't ask any questions. Perhaps he was able to perceive that the situation was serious and required all of them.

"I'll see what I can do," Kairi said over the phone. "My sister might be in town again today or tomorrow so I can see if I can get her to drive us. If not, I'm I can have her arrange train tickets for the 3 of us."

Tadase didn't realize he was holding his breath until Kairi said that. He sighed in relief. "Good, this is…really important and is better to be done in person rather than via text or a phone call. Text me when you have a set time/day. I may be busy early tomorrow but after that, I'll be free."

"I will contact you soon then," Kairi responded, yet again not questioning Tadase at all. Tadase was starting to like how levelheaded and cool Kairi was. It was rather reassuring. "Take care, Hotori-kun."

With that phone call ended, Tadase put his phone away and prepared himself both physically and mentally for talking to the police the following morning. He prepped any evidence he had and even rehearsed what he was going to say since he knew he had to fib a little bit if he didn't want to get scolded or penalized for not telling the cops Amu's whereabouts sooner. He just hoped Amu would go along with it since he had forgotten to mention that part to her earlier.

Kairi ended up confirming that he, Yaya and Nadeshiko were able to come down and would arrive in the city around mid-late afternoon the following day. It worked out perfectly because Tadase's entire morning and early afternoon were taken up talking to the police and testifying what he knew. For some reason, Tadase didn't expect to be taken into an interrogation room, which intimidated him a bit but somehow, he managed not to fumble his words too much or accidentally reveal how long he'd known Amu was there for. Though rather than saying he'd only just found her, he did say he'd visited twice, once was when he accidentally found her first (aka almost two weeks prior), and once to ensure he hadn't just been seeing things, the day he claimed he say Amu get beaten up (which he lied once more and said happened more recently than it actually had; he'd have to convince Kairi to see if he could change the date on the video before sending the evidence officially to the police).

The cops ensured Tadase had nothing to do with the capture but didn't seem as pressed after seeing the video; after all, why would someone in cahoots with a kidnapper take a video of the violence and report it to the police himself? After about 2-3 hours of 'interrogation', the police officers let Tadase go, telling him he had until the end of that day to send them the video file and exact address of the location. The police claimed they would stake the place out to see if Tadase was telling the truth, and see if anyone else was being held captive, before taking appropriate action a day or so later.

Tadase felt immediate relief and satisfaction when he walked out of the police station. At last, Amu would be saved and he'd be able to hold her again. Or…maybe not immediately since he assumed she would have to be in the hospital for a long time. The only unfortunate thing was…now that they knew where Amu was, her parents also had to know that their child was found. Meaning Amu's parents would likely find out just how bad the situation really was. But, seeing as Amu was alive, that would probably be more important to them than anything else.

Tadase's phone buzzed as he reached the sidewalk in front of the police station. He pulled his phone out and noticed it was a message from Kairi stating they were entering the city limits and were ready to meet anywhere as long as an address was provided. Tadase hummed as he thought of a good place to go to talk. Preferably a quiet place. He could probably get his hands on the keys to the school from his father if he asked nice enough. Maybe claim he left something in his classroom that he needed immediately or something? Or be slightly honest and say Amu's friends were here to...comfort him about Amu's disappearance and that he wanted to give them a tour of his school.

Honestly, Tadase didn't really like lying to his father. This situation was probably the first time he'd consistently lied to his father; before this, he was always honest and open. Now…it didn't feel right telling his father these things; especially since he's the principal of the school they got to. Then again, half of the time, it felt like his father already knew everything that was happening anyway and that the lying was useless. Still, his father never said anything about him to it. Either he really trusted his son or just…wanted to see how things played out himself. It did kind of scare Tadase to think that his father was well aware that his own son was lying to him every other day, sometimes even every day and that…his father was seeming okay with that?

Tadase sighed, one more lie couldn't hurt, right? After all, hopefully, he wouldn't have to lie anymore as soon as Amu gets out, considering he was already aware of the bullying in the first place and this was just…adding insult to injury. Literally. He texted Kairi the address of his school and set off back home, hoping his father would willingly give him the keys to the school. Or at least…the auditorium or greenhouse behind the school.

Surprisingly, Tsukasa gave Tadase the keys to the front gate and greenhouse no problem. Maybe he sensed the urgency in Tadase's voice or maybe Tadase's half-lie was that good. Soon, Tadase was waiting at the school's front gates for Kairi, Yaya and Nadeshiko with a weird feeling of Deja Vu.

Not soon after Tadase had arrived at the gates, a black car pulled up in front of the school. Yaya and Nadeshiko were the first to step out; Kairi came out last after telling the driver, presumably his sister, to drive around or find something to do to kill time. Tadase briefly wondered if Utau but doubted it, as he only saw 4 people in the car. If Kairi's sister had only just gotten back then Utau was probably resting wherever she was currently residing; Tadase didn't really know if she lived in the city Kairi and the others were from or the city he currently lived in. He didn't bother to ask, as he figured Utau would reach out to him if she so desired.

"So," Kairi said as the car drove off, bringing Tadase from his thoughts. "What did you want to talk to us about in person?"

Tadase laughed dryly. "Let's go inside first. It's something that needs to be said with everyone sat down…"

Amu's old friends were just as surprised, if not more, at the news of Amu's disappearance and kidnapping than her current friends. Nadeshiko was speechless, her hand over her mouth as she looked like she was trying not to cry. Yaya was crying, bawling her eyes out and clinging to both Kairi and Nadeshiko. Kairi…was the usual stoic Kairi, though Tadase could detect a fair amount of concern in his expression, with his slightly furrowed eyebrows and a deep frown.

"And…how long did you say it has been?" Kairi asked, being the only person who could probably physically speak without crying.

Tadase understood the other two girls' feelings completely. After he found out Amu had been kidnapped/gone missing, he cried for a good day or two before deciding to get his act together and do something. Even after almost two weeks, he still found himself waking up with tears on his face, crying without realizing it. He cleared his throat.

"It's been…almost two weeks to the day," Tadase responded quietly. He looked down at his clasped hands. "I, um, found her after maybe between 3-7 days but my dumb ass wanted to feel like a hero so…I only just told the police today that I knew where she was…"

"But the cops are going to do something, right?" Nadeshiko managed to ask, her voice cracking slightly. "You said you had evidence too."

Tadase nodded his head slowly. "they said they'd do an initial outside sweep to confirm everything and see if there are other victims. I think also so they have grounds for a search warrant if asked. Then, they'd break into the building and do a thorough search and hopefully, Amu will be back safe and sound…"

Yaya was still sobbing her eyes out but managed to squeak out, "P-poor Amu-chi… W-what did she do to deserve something like this? All she did was…was fall in l-love…" she sobbed out once more, prompting Nadeshiko to wrap her arms around the smaller in a tight hug.

"I don't really want to submit you to what she's going through so…I won't tell or show you the location but…" Tadase said, "I can give you a tour of the school. We just…might have to break in since I only got the key to the greenhouse."

After walking around the school with Amu's old friends as he struggled to try to cheer especially Yaya up, Tadase offered they stay over for dinner, as payback for Nadeshiko allowing them to stay and eat dinner when him, Amu and Rima visited them. Yaya had finally calmed down at the mention of food so Tadase had his father pick them up and take them to his house. They could have walked but…Tadase didn't want to risk being followed by anyone even though the main person the 'stalkers' wanted was Amu. Kairi told his sister to pick them up at Tadase's house after they finished dinner, though she seemed a bit annoyed by it judging by how loud she screamed on the phone.

Tadase tried to act like everything was normal, like he didn't just drop a huge bomb on Amu's old friends and that they were just there to keep Tadase company until Amu was found safe and sound. Luckily, none of them said anything that would allude to what was told to them, either. Kairi stuck fairly close to Tadase the entire time, whispering ways he'd be willing to help and also later helping Tadase change the date on the video for the police to be a more recent date. He wasn't sure if it would work but in case the date something that would show/come up, he wanted to make it seem like his facts checked out.

By the end of the night, Tadase was sending them all off with a hug, even Kairi. He told them that he'd contact them once Amu was saved and to have a safe trip back. He told Kairi to keep his eye out for anyone suspicious as they left, just so at least someone was aware that there could potentially be someone casing out Tadase's house for whatever reason. Now, the only thing Tadase had to do was…tell Amu that everything was all good. Except…it was too late now. He probably should have thought this through if he wanted to talk to Amu one more time before the cops busted in.

He ended up going out once his father went to bed, sneaking out as best as he could and bringing an extra bright flashlight to see the main roads and paths he'd take and a less bright one to use once he got on the right property to draw less attention. He made sure he also had something that glowed in the dark or when lit so he didn't get run over.

When he arrived, unsure if Amu would be sleeping or not, he knocked on the glass slightly and called Amu's name softly. After a moment, though Tadase could barely see, he heard shuffling from inside. He briefly shined his duller flashlight inside to make sure it was only Amu and not anyone else. His light barely lit Amu's figure up but he quickly recognized the pink hair, despite how muddy and greasy it was.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Amu-chan," he said with a slight laugh. "I just wanted to tell you…I told the cops, they'll be casing the place out soon before deciding how to best get you out. I didn't want to risk being caught by the cops if I came in the day or tomorrow evening so…I decided to come now. I also told your other friends."

"Nadeshiko and the others?" Amu's voice sounded a little hoarse. Either she'd just woken up or…had done something to lose her voice…like screaming.

"Yes," Tadase said with a nod, though he knew Amu probably couldn't see it. "Also…I may or may not have fibbed a bit to the cops so…if they do ask if you ever met with or saw me just say you saw me once or twice. I couldn't bring myself to tell them I've known where you were for a week or so…"

"Alright, Tadase-kun…thank you," Amu replied. "Oh, does Ikuto know? And Lulu? Since we're already telling everyone else."

"Ikuto knows…vaguely," Tadase responded after a moment of thought. "He knows of this location because he drove me here when I was first looking but I'm not sure if he figured out that this is where you are. Though this was the last place I asked him to drive me to, so who knows. Lulu…I don't know her well enough but I can tell her too if you want."

Amu made a noise that Tadase assumed was meant to be confirmation or agreement. "If I'm getting out of here soon then I guess everyone should know what happened before they see the horrendous state I'm in…"

Tadase frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. "No matter what state you're in, we'll still love you. I hope you know that."

"Thank you, Tadase-kun…" Amu mumbled. "You should probably go, I don't want to keep you and I definitely don't want to get caught."

"Alright. You'll be out of here soon, I promise." Tadase offered a smile that Amu probably couldn't even see.

Tadase went back to his home and immediately fell asleep. He woke up 4-5 hours later and decided to do what Amu told him to. It was a school day so he could probably talk to Lulu first, considering he knew Ikuto probably already had an inkling.

Lulu's reaction was the same as everyone else's; shock and horror. Obviously, everyone in the school was aware that Amu had gone missing but didn't know the details. That being said, even just the fact that Amu was missing caused a lot of rumours. Tadase even heard people claim she ended her own life, which he promptly corrected and scolded them for even thinking about it. Tadase didn't even want to think about the rumours that were going to come out once it was revealed that Amu was found alive.

"Oh my God!" Lulu exclaimed, nearly dropping her lunch. "And she was supposed to tell me about the trip y'all went on too… I'm glad she's alive though! Y'know what they say; the first 24 hours are the most important and the survival rate significantly drops every day the person isn't found. It's been…well around 336 hours or whatever and somehow she's still alive? That gal sure has some luck on her side. I'm relieved, at least. Still horrible that she was kidnapped and held captive though! I hope whoever did it gets life in prison!"

Tadase laughed dryly at Lulu's last comment and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I hope so too…though a better place for them would be Hell."

"Damn straight!" Lulu agreed with a clenched fist. She patted Tadase's shoulder. "If ya need anything, feel free to give me a call. I'll give ya my number in case ya don't have it"

Tadase smiled gratefully and let Lulu put her contact info into his phone. For a second, he wished the window of the building Amu was in had been open sooner; he could have given her his phone. If he had done that and told his father he lost his phone, he could have probably borrowed his father's back up phone and communicated with her that way. He wondered if that would have been too risky though…

The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful and Tadase had a hard time focusing. He wondered what the police were doing currently. Were they casing the place out yet? Were they doing anything? He also wondered how Amu was doing. Were they abusing her still? What if they moved her room again for whatever reason? Would that make Tadase's statement obsolete? He sighed and doodled on his notebook until school ended.

The next and final step was telling Ikuto despite Tadase having an assumption that he was already aware. More than surprised or horrified, Ikuto just seemed annoyed and angry. He expressed how much he wanted to rush in there and beat up every single person who hurt Amu but Tadase reassured him that the cops would be covering that. Ikuto just grunted mysteriously. Despite that response, Tadase noticed just how unfazed Ikuto was about hearing this and wondered just how much he knew previously. The sudden thought that maybe his own father could possibly be like Ikuto and pretend he didn't know until it came up scared Tadase.

"If you need anything, call me," Ikuto said, ruffling Tadase's hair. "I might be busy in the next coming days though."

Tadase nodded, though he wasn't sure what he would need either Lulu or Ikuto for. This would finally be ending soon and he would finally be able to hold Amu in his arms again. He wondered how hard it would be for him to go with the police to the location when they storm the place… Suddenly, he remembered something important. He turned to Ikuto.

"Hey, weren't you…doing some police training lately?" he asked curiously, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Ikuto nodded. "Why else would I keep offering my help? I'm in the know." with a final wink, he left Tadase in his room to think.

Tadase fell back onto his bed and sighed. Naturally, the first thing he ended up thinking of was Amu; how he remembered her the first time he met her when she transferred. He had heard the rumours and wanted to check out how true they were but as soon as he saw her, he just…had a feeling that the rumours were all false. And his suspicion slowly proved itself to be true the more he hung out with her. Very quickly, without him even realizing, he found himself gaining a crush and, eventually, falling for her.

As he continued to stare up at the ceiling, his mind kept wandering and thinking about Amu and all the things he loved about her. It had gotten to the point where the ceiling turned into a mirage of Amu. He reached his hands out, knowing that he probably looked crazy and wouldn't touch anything but air. His imagination was the best he had when he couldn't visit her himself, after all.

He loved her soft, bubble-gum pink hair that made her stand out but not in a negative way. He loved her honey eyes that were almost doe-like, especially when she was surprised, and Tadase could never get enough of her smile. Her lips were always so soft and whatever lipgloss or balm she used always tasted like cherries whenever he kissed her, which was a slight contrast from the strawberry scent her hair always had. He felt a bit weird thinking about these things but...she was his girlfriend so it wasn't wrong, right? He could be doing worse things.

He couldn't wait to hold Amu in his arms and kiss her. He just wanted everything to return back to normal. Or as normal as it could possibly be. No more checking over his shoulder or worrying Amu might get kidnapped or attacked or have nightmares. Though…he was sure Amu would probably still have nightmares for a while, if not then some form of PTSD. No matter what happened after, Tadase was at least sure that Amu would be free soon.

A/N: okay so a little less intense of a chapter compared to the last two(?). I still put the trigger warning because there was the brief scene with Amu, who is, indeed, currently still being held captive. It only seems fair to mention a small scene even if not much was brought up since the fact still stands that at that point the person being held captive was still held captive.

I'm kinda churning these out fast since they're done and I have nothing better to do atm.