Disclaimer: Haha, you're funny if you think I own anything.

Just looking at myself makes me feel sick.

And no, not for the reasons you would think.

I am currently wearing off white skinny jeans, converse high tops, jelly bracelets, studded belt that looks like piano keys, and the worst part – a Justin Bieber t-shirt. No way in hell would I ever pick to wear something so…so…degrading.

Anyone want to guess why I'm dressed so weird?

To those of you who guessed it had something to do with Takashi Adachi, you're right.

Takashi insisted he dress me before our little "date" so no one would recognize me. He even did my hair in a low side ponytail, gave me a hat, painted my nails, and put silver crap all over my eyelids. He was going to give me these cool lace-up gloves and make my lips hot pink, but in his words it was "too much."

"Why did I have to wear this?" I whine for the millionth time.

"Because, Ami, you're famous. By wearing clothes your fans would never expect you to wear, they will either not notice you or do a double take before deciding you're someone else," he tells me, trying to reason with me.

Yeah, right. Try reasoning with me when I'm not wearing a Justin Bieber t-shirt.

I have to agree with him a little, though – it's nice not having people recognize me.

"Whatever," I say, not wanting to agree with him. "But really, why am I here again? Why couldn't we have just gotten ice cream?"

Takashi turns to me and grins. "Because, Ami, ice cream's awesome, but here's even better! Even if you're 15, you still need to act like a little kid every now and then! I'm almost 18 and I still love to come here!"

Anybody want to guess where I am? Yupp, that's right.

The freaking amusement park.

It wouldn't be that bad if I didn't remember my sister telling me about all the dates she had gone on here. I can hear her sighing as she tells me about Tadase kissing her on the cheek, Ikuto riding the teacups with her…

No. Don't think like that, Ami. You will see her again.

I sigh boredly and roll my eyes. "Whatever. You're more of a little kid than me. I mean, I've been living on my own since I joined Easter. I bet you still live with your mommy and daddy," I say mockingly.

The grin disappears and he says quietly, "My parents died when I was 9. The only family I have is my little sister, Seira."

I stiffen at the word sister but manage to say, "Oh. I'm sorry."

He shrugs. "Whatever. You didn't know. But let's just forget we talked about it." I don't know what to say so I just nod. He smiles and grabs my hand. "Come on. Let's go!"

I blush. It feels weird to actually have somebody holding my hand. "Where are we going?"

"Well, you can't go to an amusement park and not ride the teacups!" he says enthusiastically, trying to pull me.

"No," I say in a flat tone, refusing to move.

He pouts. "Aw, why not?"

"Because."

"Come on, Kashiwagi. I told you something, so you should tell me something. I swear I won't tell anybody."

I look into his eyes. They're so warm and…inviting. I can feel my heart beat a little faster. No. I can't give in that easily. Instead, I turn away. "I told you not to call me that."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't try to change the subject. I told you my parents died, so you can tell me whatever it is."

"I don't want to!" I try to pull my hand away, but I pull too hard and tumble to the ground. I can feel my eyes burning, not from pain, but as I remember my sister. Laughing, smiling, blushing, frowning, crying, yelling…

Suddenly, I'm off the ground and in his arms, his hand warm on my face. By now, the people around us are staring and murmuring. But Takashi just ignores them. "Don't cry, Kashiwagi. There's no need for that. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be ok." If I weren't so upset, I would blush at how close we are – my nose is almost touching his.

"No, it won't," I whisper. "It will never be ok."

He stares at my eyes and sighs. "Please, tell me. I want to help."

"I…" Wait, am I really going to tell somebody I just met my secret?

"You…?"

I take a deep breath and push away a little bit to avoid any embarassment. "I used… I used to have a sister."

The look of surprise on his face is what I was expecting. But the words out of his mouth were not.

"Really? Wow, I've never read that on any of your fansites…"

The glare I give him makes him blush and mutter "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

I sigh and brush a few stray hairs out of his eyes. "You know, there's a reason it's not on any fansites. So you better not go around telling everyone about it."

He nods, still blushing. "I really am sorry, though. Uh…do you want to talk about it?"

My natural inclination is to shout No way! and run home. But since I just revealed to him – to this stranger I barely know – my biggest secret, I might as well fill him in on the details.

"Sure," I say quietly. Glancing at the people moving around us, I blush and add, "Maybe somewhere a little more private, though. Maybe we could go back to my place?"

"Uh…ok…"

I swear his blush just got darker.

This time it's my turn to grab his hand and pull. "Come on, then. Let's go!"

XOXOXO

"Whoa…your place is huge…" he breathes in wonder as we walk through the door of my apartment. Well, I guess condo might be a better word. I don't know. When I moved in, the Easter goons just said, "Here's where you're living," and left.

I just shrug and say, "I guess."

But I was over at Takashi's apartment earlier (while he was getting me ready) and it was a lot smaller. That's pretty much all I noticed, though. I was really tired and still half asleep.

We go over to my counter in the kitchen and both sit down on barstools. He seems to be taking mental notes, examining anything he can get his hands on, and much more observant than I was at his apartment this morning.

"So," he says, finally looking at me, "tell me about your sister."

I take a deep breath. Might as well tell him everything. "Her name was A-Amu," I start, faltering when I say her name. "Amu Hinamori." He raises an eyebrow at the last name. "Not Kashiwagi. Hinamori." He nods, so I continue. "Anyways, she was amazing. She tried her best at everything, and she was always happy. She couldn't hold grudges, not even if she tried. She had a lot of boyfriends, even though she was only 13. She was always so popular, "Cool n' Spicy" is what they would call her, and she had awesome pink hair."

"So what happened?" he asked softly, gently grabbing my hand when he saw the tears forming in my eyes. I swallow a lump in my throat and begin.

"There was an accident. It was all my fault. It was winter, and I wasn't being careful. Remember 9 years ago when we had that really bad ice storm?" He cringes but nods. "Well, we were at the park and I was under a big oak tree, staring at the icicles on another tree. Suddenly, I heard a snap and she screamed at me to move. I looked up and saw a huge branch was only meters above me. It had fallen off from the weight of the ice. I remember being pushed out of the way and falling into a snow bank. I looked back and saw her on the ground, under the branch, the snow turning red."

I can barely see, my eyes are so blurred with tears. But I take a take a shaky breath and finish my story.

"I started screaming and I didn't stop, not even when the ambulance came and took her away. Eventually, my screams turned to tears, and after that, I locked myself in my room. I refused to come out. They had to pick the lock and drag me out. It was horrible." By the end, my voice is barely a whisper. I close my eyes, remembering, causing the tears to fall silently.

Suddenly, I'm in Takashi's arms again and he's stroking my hair. He whispers, "My parents died that year. Actually, it was that same storm. They were driving Seira home from the doctor – she was only 2 – when they slid lost control of the car." I can hear the tears in his voice. "They hit a tree and the airbags didn't activate. Those idiots weren't wearing seatbelts." Even though he sounds so sad, he also sounds angry. Angry at his parents? "Seira was so lucky. She was in the back in a car seat. Thank God they remembered to strap her in. I was at home with my aunt when I heard the news. I remember seeing little Seira with her tear-streaked face, screaming and clinging to the police officer that was carrying her."

He pulls away and looks at me sadly. "After that, I couldn't bring myself to get my license. Actually, I have it now, because my aunt recently passed away and I had no other option. The same reason I crossdress at Hot Topic. It was the only place willing to hire me."

When he says this, I can't help but start crying. I had thought my life was so messed up, the worst life out there, and here's a guy who has a much worse life than me. I killed people – innocent people like Amu and Takashi, and even little Seira – to try to make my life better.

As soon as the first tear falls, Takashi pulls me up and walks over to my couch. My body is shaking violently, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. He sits down on the couch and puts me on his lap, wrapping his arms around me and pressing my head to his chest. I can tell he's crying, too, but his tears are silent.

We just sit there for the longest time before I can cry no more. I whimper, though, still shaking, and bury my face deeper into his chest. He smells good, but his shirt is soaked thanks to my tears.

I look up at him with puffy eyes and whisper, "I'm sorry."

He smiles sadly and says, "Me, too."

At this moment, I realize something. My heart is beating wildly, like when I'm on stage, and my cheeks are heating up. Just when I open my mouth to say something, he glances at his watch and says, "Oh, shit! I gotta go pick up Seira from school!" He looks at me, still shaking a little bit. He lifts me off his lap and sets me down where he had been sitting. "Don't worry, I'll be back."

He stands there for a little bit, thinking, before he leans in. I think he's going to kiss me! but he presses his lips to my cheek instead. He blushes and hurries to the door, but before he leaves, he turns and says, "By the way, it's not your fault your sister died."

I can only think one thing.

I'm in love.

Hm…I'm not good at writing relationships. I think they're moving a little too fast. What do you think?

So anyways, I'm so freaking sorry I haven't updated in forever! Thank you to Umi and bma925 for reviewing the last chapter, and thank you guys for reading! I was hoping I would have a new chapter and I wouldn't have to write one of those AN things (which is now replaced by this chapter), but noo, my inspiration just had to take a vacation.

Since I'm back in school, I'm going to try to update every other weekend. That way, you won't end up getting horrible chapters like this. I really hope it's not as bad as I think it is.

By the way, I have a link to Ami's outfit on my profile, so go check it out! And sorry Bieber fangirls, but I don't like him. I'm not going to insult him or anything, so please don't get mad at me.

So that's all I can think of for now. Thanks for reading, please review!

PS. I tried to make it long but to me it just looks...short.