Chapter 2

(Ikuto's pov)

I know that her parents didn't want us dating and I respected that, but they did let us spend unlimited time together. So, on my way to work (I took the scenic route), I started driving to Amu's house. As I neared her house, I saw flames and black smoke coming from the area that her house was in. I sped the rest of the way to her house. I got more scared when I saw that the fire was Amu's home. I slammed on my breaks, got out of the car, and ran to her front door hoping that no one was in there.

I swung the front door open "Catch her Ikuto!" Amu screamed at me and she threw her little sister in my direction. I grabbed her out of the air and looked back to the door. Then I saw that Amu had a flaming beam on her head and she wasn't moving. "No!" I yelled.

"Ami, get to my car and stay there" I told her setting the crying girl on the ground. "Go amai*, I'll get Amu" I said pushing her down the walkway. "Hai Ikuto-nii-san" she told me crying as she ran down the pavement to my car. "Save Amu-nee-san, please" then ran to my car.

I turned to the front door and the fire was getting closer to Amu. I need to get that beam off you, I thought as was trying to figure out how help her. Running into the doorway, I starting to lift the beam up, but I couldn't hold it and grab Amu at the same time, thankfully Nagi came running up and pulled Amu out the front door as I stood there with a flaming beam while trying to figure out how I was going to do this.

"Thank you Nagi" I said as I dropped the heavy beam and left the inferno. Nagi pulled out his phone and call 119 for the fire brigade and Amu's parents as I bent over Amu. Ami came running up to me from when she saw Nagi and I carry her Amu out of the house and stared her sister, "Nagi-nii, Ikuto-nii-san, will she be okay?" she asked while crying.

I looked up at a soot covered girl. She had tear streaks down her face. Her school uniform had black all over it and there were burn marks on the hem of her skirt. She had no shoes on and her stockings were ripped. Her hair had black areas and was pointing in all directions. It looked like she put her finger in a light socket. In a way, her whole body into a light socket, but Amu saved her and all she had was a cut on her arm, which was caused when Amu threw her at me.

"She's breathing Ami, she'll be okay" I told her then turned to Nagi. "Take your phone voice or video recorder, I don't care, but have Ami tell you exactly what happened in that house. This way, it will be fresh and when she is questioned, they won't be able to change her story, please?" I asked him. Then I leaned over Amu trying to take care of the best I could while I waited for everyone to there. Nagi said "okay" as he took Ami's hand to the side and video recorded her explanation of what happened.

Just as Nagi finished getting the story from Ami, the fire brigade and the police showed up at literally the same time. Amu was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and Ami was checked in the front yard by a paramedic who cleaned up her cut and had given her a clean bill of health, except for needing a bath.

***At the hospital***

(Ikuto's pov still)

Amu was rushed to the hospital and was sent into surgery as soon as she got there. She had a concussion and her head was cracked open and needed to be sewn back together. She broke her ankle in three places. Then there was more bad news, when the beam hit her, it caused her pupils to go white because of how it landed. The doctors were going to try to do surgery but only after sewed up her head and set her broken ankle. Then they were going to try to save her eyesight; but eye surgery was experimental and may not work.

When Amu first got to the hospital, everyone came including her parents and waited but after 3 hours and there was still no word, I told everyone that they could go and as soon as they came out I would make sure they were told what was said. In the end, Tadase, Yaya, Kukai and Utau left for their homes. Nagi and Rima chose to stay so that they would know right away as did her parents with Ami asleep with her dead on Rima's lap.

All that remained was Midori, Tsumugu Nagi, Rima Ami and I.

After many hours of waiting (it was dark outside by now) the doctor walked into the waiting room. "Hinamori party?" he asked while holding a clipboard. "Yes?" Midori said "I'm Amu's mother. How is she?"

"As you well know, her injuries were extensive, we repaired her head where the beam hit her. She got hit across the forehead and will probably have scars. We didn't have to shave her hair or anything, but we had to use staples. That hit alone means she is lucky to be alive. She had three broken bones on her right foot; and it looks like it was from landing on it wrong or jumping with too much force while holding a lot of weight. I'm assuming this was when she was running to get out of the house while carrying her little sister. It is a miracle she was able to keep running but that was probably her adrenaline, she is a very strong and caring young lady who loves her sister very much. You can see that by how she refused to give up" the doctor said.

"Then we came to the issue of her vision" the doctor continued with an even sadder voice. "When the beam hit her, it did something to her pupils. The black part of her eye that we use to see and process what is seen, is now white. This means she was blinded. We tried but I don't believe the experimental surgery worked. It looks like your daughter will now be blind forever and there is nothing we can do, I'm sorry. So, congratulations, your daughter is alive, that in itself is a blessing, you still have both of your daughters, but I am sorry we couldn't save her vision" he said sadly.

"Thank you, Doctor" Midori said coldly and sat next her husband without saying another word while glaring at Ami who was now sleeping on Rima's shoulder.

"Can I go see her?" I asked the doctor. "Hai, but be prepared, she may not want to see anyone. When we woke her up, all she said was that Ikuto would hate her now and started crying. Are you Ikuto by chance?

"Yes, I am" I replied. "For the record, I would never hate her, please tell me which room is hers?" I requested and he told me to go down the room number was #143 and pointed down the hall. "Thank you, doctor" I said as he walked away.

After the doctor left, Tsumugu and Midori stood up and yanked a sleeping Ami off Rima's shoulder, stood her up and smacked her in the face. She pointed her finger at her youngest daughter and said, "How could you do that to Amu?! It's your fault! You ruined her life!" she screamed at Ami. "I will not have a special needs blind and ugly scarred daughter, nor will I have the girl who caused it" Tsumugu yelled. "I disown you, and the monster in who cares what room!"

I watched in horror as Tsumugu and Midori blamed an accident on a ten-year-old girl, then I stepped in front of Ami trying to protect her from the constant smacking and pointing. "Do not blame on Ami, Midori! Tsumugu! Do you think she just wake up this morning and say, 'Jee, I think I'll burn my house down, permanently scar my sister and hey just for the heck of it? Let's make her go blind too?!' Do you really think she could do that?!" I yelled at them both. Ami ran around me at her parents with her arms out.

"Mama, Papa!" Ami cried while trying to hug them. "Don't ever call us that again. You are no daughter of mine!" Midori yelled, roughly pushing her to the ground.

I picked up Ami from ground, and held her as cried her eyes out, "It's not your fault amai, Amu will be okay. I'll protect you and her. Don't worry." I looked at her now ex-parents and said, "I'll take care of them. You can leave but understand. If you leave, don't come back. I will not have you destroy them again. Now, choose and I suggest you choose carefully" I said while I glared at them.

I watched as Midori and Tsumugu glared at a crying Ami, saying "go ahead and keep them. We want nothing to do with them ever again" then walked away without looking back.

"Nagi? Rima? Would you two please take Ami with your for now, I want to go check on Amu. Bring her back in a few hours okay?" I asked. Nagi gently took Ami out of my arms carried her to the door while Rima rubbed her back took her home. I sadly watched her leave and started down the hall to Amu's room.

I walked to her room number and heard Amu crying inside, I sighed as I knocked gently while opening the door.

"Amu? Are you okay?" I asked her. "Ikuto, please don't look at me. But can you please tell me if Ami's okay? Did I get her out in time?" she asked in a panicked voice while crying and facing the wall away from me.

"Shhh, Amu, it's okay" I told her as I walked over to her. "You got her out. She only has a small cut on her arm. You did great. Amu, please look at me?" I requested.

"No, I c-c-can't" she sobbed. "I don't want you to hate me, I'm ugly and scarred and they tell me I'm blind. Please run while you can Ikuto please."

"Amu, I will never be able to hate you, you have a broken ankle from saving your sister. You have staples in your head showing the love you have for your sister. Before you ask, I don't care if you can't see, I love you for your heart not for what you can see" I told her gently turning her body towards me. I kissed her forehead where they wrapped bandages around her head. Then I kissed her eyes that were also bandaged.

"Please Ikuto, take care of Ami and my parents, but you don't have to worry about me" she said. Tears were soaking the wrap. "Sorry Strawberry, I love you too much to let this come between us. I promise I will take care of your family (what's left of it I silently thought to myself), but you are my priority. Now, why don't you rest. I won't leave your side" I told her as I hugged her and laid her down on the bed.

Within the next thirty minutes, my phone wouldn't stop beeping. It was all our friends asking how she was. I sent a message to Nagi and asked him to relay the information to everyone else and he did. Finally, the messages stopped coming through. I fell asleep on the chair beside Amu.

***The next day***

I did not sleep well at all, I kept waking up to the nurses checking Amu's vitals and bandages. But each time, they told me that everything looked good.

There was a soft knock on the door around 9 and Ami came in with Nagi and Rima. Ami had a bath and was clean, but her face was puffy from crying.

"Can I see Amu-nee-san? Please? She asked in a small voice that was on the verge of crying again if she or I had said no. "Come on in Ami" I told her motioning to the bed.

"Amu, your sister is here. Do you want to say hi?" I asked her to wake her up.

Amu woke up and tried to sit up, "Ami, are you okay? Ikuto said you were but I want to hear it from you too. Please tell me I didn't fail you?" she said as she walked up the bed.

"Amu-nee-san, did I break you? Mama and Papa said that it was my fault. Then told me I couldn't call them that anymore. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you" Ami said as she collapsed on the floor. "Amu-nee-san, I'm sorry I hurt you nee-san, I'm sorry" and started crying loudly.

"Ikuto, hand my Ami please" she asked me. I walked to the floor where Ami was crying, picked her up, brought her to the bed and sat her next to Amu.

"Ami, listen to me, please" Amu felt for Ami's face. "There you are, please stop crying. I don't know how the fire started, but you need to understand. I will never blame you for this. This was an accident. As for my foot? Who cares? I have an impact break. If I ever needed it, I would break every bone in my body to keep you safe. I would die for you. Do you understand?" I asked her. She felt Ami nod her head. "As for Mama and Papa, I don't know what to tell you for them, but you have me. You have Ikuto and everyone else. We will not let you be alone. Okay? Please do not let what Mama told you hurt you" I said as I stroked her light brown hair. When I was done talking to her, I gave her a hug and let her go.

"Amu-nee-san please don't die? I don't want to lose you too. I am happy that you aren't blaming me, but please don't die. Amu-nee?" she said then she gasped, Amu-nee-san? where are we going to live?" she asked.

"You and your sister will live with me Ami" I told her. "I love your sister and I intend to marry her when she is ready, but for now you two will live with me. Do you want to hang out with Kukai and Utau or Nagi and Rima while I get everything settled?" I asked her.

"Nagi-nii and Rima-nee-chan please" she said. I looked at Nagi who only nodded and then I started making plans to keep the girls safe. I would not allow anything else to happen to them. Good thing my father left me his inheritance and made head of his company. Amu and Ami would not have a need financially again. Now I just had to watch their emotional states.

Author's notes:

Amai means Sweetie.