Chapter 3

another short chapter, a good one I think though :D

Kairi found himself in the same position he was yesterday. Standing right in front of Amu's buzzer. This time though, he didn't have the time to hesitate. Amu was rushing out the door and to the gate.

"I'm so sorry Kairi, I had to convince my sister I wasn't going anywhere special. You didn't wait long right?"

"N-No. I just arrived here."

Amu smiled as she quickly held out her hand and looked in the opposite direction.

"We should get going. Yaya usually gets mad when I'm late."

Kairi stared at Amu's hand for a while before finally reaching out and grabbing onto it. They preceded to walk to Yaya's house, but the mood seemed to have differed from yesterday. Yesterday, there had been a lighthearted, sorrowfulness in the air. Now it seemed that the mood was much happier, as Amu now laughed as she dragged Kairi along through the streets.

"Kairi, come on your so slow!"

Kairi couldn't help but laugh himself as he picked up his pace and ran past Amu.

"Ah, but it seems that your not running to your full potential, Amu."

Amu and Kairi tried to outrun each other to Yaya's house as Ran and the others stayed farther behind, sharing a few laughs about the two's sudden change of character.

"Amu and Kairi-kun sure seem to have a competitive relationship now!"

Ran gleefully waved her pompoms in the air as Miki let out a long sigh.

"I was hoping for some more development. It seems these two are still little kids at heart."

Finally, the two had ran all the way to Yaya's house, with Amu pulling in the lead.

"Haha. I beat you, Kairi! Wait until I tell everyone!"

Amu burst open the door laughing as Yaya emerged from the corner.

"Amu-chi, finally you decided to- Ah! Iinchou?! Looks like you finally scored big, right?"

Yaya smirked as she eyed the two holding hands. Kairi was the first to notice, so he quickly let go of Amu's hand in embarrassment.

"Sanjou-kun..? Amu-san..?"

Tadase looked fairly surprised when he saw the two standing in the doorway together. He couldn't help but think of all that could have happened between them.

"Amu, looks like you finally hooked up with Kairi, right? About time you two discovered your feelings for each other."

"R-Rima! Kairi and I.."

Another awkward moment. Amu still didn't know how to explain her relationship with Kairi. Was he just a replacement in her heart for Ikuto? Or was he something more than that..?

"..we're not officially going out. At least, not yet."

Kairi finally answered, looking Amu straight into her eyes with a heartwarming smile. Was this what Amu had been missing for five years? Or was this the first time she was figuring out how great of a person Kairi was?

"Well, well. Now that you flirtatious little kids are here, let's start taking care of Tsubasa. And, talking about an important matter."

Kukai suddenly emerged from behind the wall, rushing Kairi and Amu into Yaya's living room.

Nagihiko had been left to watch Tsubasa run around the room with his toy airplane. He was five years old now, and he still managed to steal all the attention away from Yaya.

"Souma-senpai, are you entering university now?"

Kairi eyed Kukai who still had Daichi tagging along beside him. They seemed to have a very close bond.

"Yeah. I'm going in for a major in Skateboarding. They say if I do really well, they'll send me to America for a tournament. And if my Skateboarding opens me up to more skills, they say I could compete in the Olympics."

Kairi nodded as he saw Kukai flash a smile and a thumbs up to Daichi. He was always so full of energy.

"Nagi-chan, who is this guy?"

Tsubasa pointed to Kairi as he rushed back into Nagihiko's arms.

"That's Sanjou Kairi-chan, Tsubasa. He's a really good friend of Amu-chan."

Tsubasa nodded as he looked up to Kairi and smiled. Kairi remembered this feeling from when he was holding Tsubasa so many years ago.

"Kai-chan looks like a good person. Kai-chan is my friend!"

Kairi smiled as everyone gathered around Yaya's table, with Tadase at the head. It seemed like even after all these years, Tadase had a cute face, but a strong personality.

"As we all know, Ikuto Tsukiyomi is in the hospital currently. It looks like his conditions are in fact, worsening. As of late last night, they have banned any visitors for the time being. Now, the police department is still determining if the stabbing of Ikuto was a suicide attempt, or a malicious attempt by somebody else. The prime suspects are his parents, an employee of Easter, or somebody else who entered the house unknowingly."

Yaya nodded her head as Tadase explained the situation.

"I think out of all of us here, Amu-chi should know the most about Ikuto's behavior."

Amu diverted her head from Tadase and Yaya's stares and nervously twiddled her fingers.

"I haven't seen Ikuto since he locked himself up in his room. The only time I ever went to his house was last Thursday because I thought he might have been sick or something, but his mother told me to leave the property right away."

"..What kind of relationship does Ikuto have with his parents anyway?"

The question that came from Kairi's mouth was a very good one. If Ikuto hadn't stabbed himself, his parents were the prime suspects.

"..I believe it's a very distant relationship. Ikuto's stepfather is the head of Easter so he obviously has hatred for him, and he is very cold to his mother."

Tadase had finally answered and the room was silent once again. Until Nagihiko stood up with Tsubasa in his arms.

"I think you guys are worrying about this way too much. We're here to take care of Tsubasa right? We can only wait for Ikuto to either wake up and tell us himself, or die and then we move on."

Everybody seemed to agree, except for Amu who still had her eyes on her fingers. Kairi slowly reached out and stopped her from twiddling them around and then turned her face towards himself.

"Amu, is there something that you haven't told us yet? Do you know more than you have said?"

Amu slowly nodded and everybody fixed their gaze on Amu.

"Amu-san, what do you know?"

Amu slowly let out a big sigh and faced Kairi. She thought if she pretended she was only talking to Kairi, she would be more at ease.

"..It's true that Ikuto did cut his arms, but he didn't stab himself below his heart. It was my father who did that."

A/N : Did you expect that? I THINK NOT :D. This was really decided on a whim, but I thought, "What the heck?" Why would Amu's father possibly do this? Just think. Remember what he said to Kairi in Chapter 2? :O More pieces to the puzzle will be revealed in the next chapter.