Author's Note:
Ack. So late. Gomen. T__T Didn't have inspiration to write. Thanks to CrystalPenn who helped with the beginning of this chapter! =D Also, was anyone else a puddle of miserable tears like me at the end of episode 77? T__T I swear, it affected me more than the manga, and that's rare! And btw, Death Rebel is epic! ;D
Suuz112 - Aw, I'm sorry to hear that! O: I hope you're feeling better! Lol, same! Cool N Spicy Amu ftw! Ha ha ha, I'll just say this; there will be pain and suffering. But there will be happiness. That is all. ;D Lol, I really intend to. It just sucks when I have zero inspiration when I wake up one day.. xDDD
Saya143 - Thank you!
sierraphantom - Thankies!
Japaneseanimeluvr34 - Thanks so much! LAWL, yeah, that part made me snicker. He really is large-foreheaded, so I just had to throw it at him, the fugly asshole. xDD
KyoxSakiFan - Arigatou! = D I really hope I don't disappoint then! xD Lol, we're all just sadists, aren't we? ;D - Proud one - Oho, you should! Thank you! Ahhh 30 Minutes... I need to re-write that fic completely once I'm done with this one, it's so outdated and I had very little facts on the Ikuto Arc then. xDD.
Wildeh - Lol, ohhhh yes. =D Though Ikuto gets to do some of that this chapter. ;D
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 333
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"Chapter Four: "Rescue"
Ikuto lied on a soft, white hospital bed. His blue, sapphire eyes were shut but he could still feel IV pierced in his left arm and wet droplets falling on his face. There was a sniffling sound, followed by more droplets. Who's crying? He wondered. Am I crying? Or is someone...crying for me? He slightly opened his eyes. In front of him was a vague, hazy image of a pink haired girl, crying above of him. He heard her voice calling out to him over and over. "Ikuto...Ikuto..."
"Amu..." he whispered. He opened his eyes wider. The hallucination of the pink haired girl faded into a girl with long blonde hair. It was Utau. She saw him open his eyes through her salty tears and sighed with relief.
"Ikuto!" she cried. "Thank god! You're alright!"
Then, after seeing Utau's face, it hit him. "AMU!" She was still in Easter. He quickly sat up straight and furiously pulled the bed sheets off him. The sound of footsteps made him look him; Yukari and Nikaidou had rushed into the room after hearing Utau's squeal of delight.
"DAMN IT!" He yelled furiously. Without hesitation, he angrily pulled out the IV needle from his arm, hopped off the bed, and started putting on his shoes.
"Eh? Ikuto!" Said Nikaidou, astonished." What are you doing? You're bleeding-"
"I'm going back to Easter."
"But you just got better! You've been unconscious for 2 hours!" Protested Utau.
"What?!"
"You had a seizure and have been resting here to recover-"
"Shit!" He'd been unconscious for two whole hours. Who knew what might have happened to Amu during that period of time. Different thoughts came rushing to his head. He could just imagine the things his step-father could have done to her by now. He had to save her now. He tried to leave the room, but Nikaidou stopped him, blocking his only exit.
"Move." He said, gritting his teeth.
"Ikuto, we need to think of a plan first."
"Screw the plan. Move!"
"No."
"MOVE, NIKAIDOU!"
"DON'T YOU HEAR ME TELLING YOU TO THINK THIS THROUGH?!" Nikaidou snapped, his composure falling away.
"DON'T YOU HEAR ME TELLING YOU TO MOVE?!"
"Stop it, you two!" said Yukari, stepping in between them. Ikuto shoved past both of them, trying to get to the door, when suddenly, Utau persistently cut in front of him, making him stop in his tracks. She forced the full power of her lavender eyes on him. "Ikuto, Nikaidou is right. We need to think of how to save Amu before we take any risks."
"Doing nothing and wasting time on a plan is already taking a risk!" Ikuto growled, his voice rising to a shout. "IT'S RISKING HER LIFE, UTAU! They might have killed her during the two hours I've been unconscious! And yet you want to waste more time?!"
"Ikuto..."
His solemn blue eyes stared directly into the eyes of his beloved sister. "Utau...please..."
She stared at him, surprised by his plead and sincere voice. He really loves her, She thought sadly to herself. She looked away from her brother's gaze, blushing, to lay at his arm, which was dripping with blood. "At least...let me mend your arm first..." She ran towards a safety kit that sat on a shelf on the wall. She pulled out a roll of bandages, a tourniquet, and began wrapping it around his wound. Ikuto stared mesmerizingly at his sister, surprised by her actions. She had always been there for him, no matter what the circumstances. He closed his eyes and smiled.
"Thank you, Utau."
She blushed lightly again and smiled as she finished her work. "That should do it."
"Good," He flexed his arm out, ignoring the stinging from the IV he'd ripped from his flesh. "Now, I'm going." He looked at the three, his eyes fixated especially on Nikaidou. "With or without your help."
Yukari and Nikaidou exchanged a brief glance before Nikaidou sighed, and placed a hand on Ikuto's shoulder. "There's no stopping you, it seems, when you want to get back your most precious person. I can see you love her more than anything."
"Yes," Ikuto replied honestly. "I do love her."
Nikaidou smiled, and gave a nod. "Then, Yukari and I will meet you in the car if you have anything else you need to get." The man exited the room with Yukari in tow. He could hear Utau's footsteps as she stood behind him and turned to face her. The girl's eyes were sad.
"So you do love Amu."
"Yeah," Ikuto could not find himself to speak hardly to his sister; he knew she loved him so much, but she loved him in a way he could never love her in. "I'm sorry, Utau. I love you as my little sister. That's all I can give." It hurt him slightly to hurt his own sister, but she needed to understand. To know. To accept.
The blond-headed teenager lifted her head, her face sheilded by bangs now falling away, her features composed, and a smile curved upon her lips. "I know. I understand, Ikuto. Amu needs you, as much as you need her. You two.. belong together." She swallowed, grinning wider. "All I've wanted was for you to be happy, and when you're with her, I see how happy she makes you. I think the least I can do is let you be together, without being an obstacle rather than your support."
"Thank you, Utau." Ikuto gave her one of his older brother warm smiles, happy she understood.
"Now let's go get her back," The girl walked ahead of him and he followed behind her. The two were almost immediately stopped as they reached the end of the hall that lead to the exit by a nurse, who began trying to get Ikuto back into his room. "We haven't discharged you, you cannot go."
"I'm leaving," Ikuto growled. "I don't care if you're not discharging me."
"You need rest!" She protested, putting a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking away. "You were on the brink of death when they brought you in here, and I am not going to allow you to become sicker just because --"
"Get out of my way," Ikuto hissed, tossing her hand away from his shoulder. "Patients do not have to stay if they do not wish to, and no one, not even you, is going to keep me from leaving. Now move or I'll make you."
"I can call security," She threatened, her eyes narrowing. "You are not leaving."
Utau placed her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed dangerously. "We're going, and there's nothing you can do about it. Call your security; for disrupting the peace, we'd most likely be thrown out anyway. We have rights, and we're leaving, against your reccomendations. I am Hoshina Utau, an idol, and you will not keep my brother from leaving. I can get you fired in an instant, got it?" The nurse's face paled, and Utau nodded, satisfied with her threat. "Come on, Ikuto," She turned away and began walking down the hall with a huff and Ikuto followed her. The nurse scowled behind them, but did not call for anyone. Ikuto had to hand it to her; Utau was good.
Once they reached the outside, they were met by Nikaidou and Yukari who were leaning against the van's side with somewhat annoyed expressions. "What took you two so long?" Nikaidou inquired.
Ikuto sighed. "A nurse tried to stop me from leaving, but when Utau threatened her job, she dropped it."
Yukari looked over at the blonde-headed girl, smiling approvingly. "You'd stand up to anyone, wouldn't you?"
"Of course," Utau smiled slightly. "When it's to save my brother's most important person."
They then climbed into Nikaidou's car and once Nikaidou joined them, the van sped off in the direction of Easter.
"Okay, so once we get there, what should we do?" Yukari asked the group, turning around to gaze at the two siblings.
Ikuto leaned up in his seat. "I'll go in alone first for a bit. I only need thirty minutes at the most to get Amu out of there, if I'm right about where she's being kept. If Yoru's with her, him as well. If I'm lucky, I can get the violin. If I'm not back in half and hour, you guys can come in. I'll take Amu's phone in with me and you can call me or I can call you if I need back-up."
Nikaidou, although not liking the idea of Ikuto going into Easter alone judging by his skeptical expression, knew this was going to be the best deal he was going to get, so he stiffly nodded and looked back to the road. Yukari nodded as well, and when Ikuto turned to look at her, so did Utau.
"Do you know which room Hinamori-san's in, though?" Nikaidou asked.
He smirked. "I brought the Lock for that. It'll react to her presence. I don't want to risk the charas, so they went back into their eggs until I bring Amu out safely."
"Good plan," Yukari smiled.
They finally reached Easter in what it seemed was no time at all. Ikuto advised for them to stay hidden in the shadows so the sight of the car wouldn't cause much of a commotion and slid out the door. The parking lot was dark and deserted, like he expected it to be at this hour. Ikuto crept like a cat, silently and stealthy until he reached the back door which was bolted shut. Taking out the hair pin Utau had given him, he began to pick the lock and managed within minutes. With one last look back at the three, he quickly sped through the building, taking out the lock as he went. It gave small shudders that increased as he crept through the staircases.
"Getting closer," He murmured. A couple of staircases up, it gave a vibrating-like shudder and a small glimmer of light. "Almost there." He held the object out in front of him, until it began shining brightly in the dark stairwell just as he passed the door to the 75th floor. "Shit," He hissed, sheilding the bright light with his hands. "I know you're almost to Amu, but stop shining, or I'm screwed."
He could feel the key in his left pocket radiating. He sucked in his breath as he opened the door, peering and seeing no one before he followed the light's guidance down the hall, and reached the door where the Lock began to very nearly leap out his hand it began vibrating so badly at. "She's in here," He whispered, and wasted no time picking the lock and opening the door in a near toss, his eyes meeting darkness and he scanned the small room, seconds later landing on the golden-tinned ones, and the girl looked up at him with a look of astonishment on her face.
"I-Ikuto..." She looked as though she were on the verge of either crying or yelling.
"Shh, I'm here," Ikuto told her gently as he raced to her side. "I'm going to get you out of --"
"Ikuto, nya?"
Ikuto tore his eyes away from Amu to see Yoru, in a small cage. The cat chara's tail was wagging. "You came, nya!" The teen smiled at his chara and picked the lock for the cage, and Yoru exited quickly and jumped onto Ikuto's shoulder, rubbing his head against his owner affectionately. "Thanks, Ikuto, nya!"
Ikuto saw Amu's facial expression change out of the corner of his eye and he turned sideways to look at her. She was smiling, her eyes had brightened, and her cheeks had become rosy from the blush. "You... really did..come back for me... again.." Her voice cracked from dryness.
Ikuto walked over to her, smirking and beginning to undo her bonds. "Idiot, of course I would. You don't belong here... with these vile monsters..."
Once he had freed her, he lifted the small girl into his arms, holding her protectively. The girl clung to him, her arms wrapping around his neck, surprising him slightly. "They... they told me you were..."
"I'm not," Ikuto told her, defiantly. "They tried, but they couldn't defeat me. They won't beat you either. Let's go. Nikaidou, my sister, and Sanjou-san are waiting outside in the car. Your charas, too. They're waiting for you."
She smiled wider, burying her head into his chest. "I'll be so happy to see those three again. They're probably so worried."
"They are," Ikuto confirmed. "They don't have to worry anymore now, because you're back. Yoru," He called over to his chara. "Character transformation."
"I can't, Ikuto," Yoru said sadly, his ears dropping. "I'm too exhausted, nya. Whatever they got you with took it's toll on me, too. I can do a character change, though, nya."
As soon as he'd finished, the cat ears and tail popped out of the boy, and Ikuto sighed. "I don't know how effective it will be but it's better than nothing. Thanks, Yoru. I'll let you rest once we get back to the hotel."
"Okay, nya!" Came Yoru's pleased response.
Ikuto darted out the doorway with Amu held tightly in his arms, using his enhanced vision and sound to his advantage. It wouldn't be like last time. This time, he'd know if they were coming. He reached the stairwell, running down them easily, not hearing any sound of Easter anywhere. "Heh. I expected them to at least be on guard, but this is too easy."
Amu said nothing, and it wasn't until Ikuto looked that he saw her eyes were closed. She'd fallen asleep in his arms. Smiling, he made a mental note to tease her about that later. But after he made sure she was all right. She would need to be seen by a doctor, too. Great, he thought, I'm going to see that damn nurse again. Then the pain came; sudden, strong and sickening. His eyes widened, and he fell to one knee, still cradling Amu. His vision blurred horribly, his stomach turning.
"Not again," He hissed. "Not now.."
He couldn't stop it as he vomited, careful to move Amu away from him before he did. She awoke, worry covering her features. "I-Ikuto? Are you okay? What's wrong..?"
He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head. "I-I'm fine, let's just get out of here."
Amu said something, but he couldn't hear her; his hearing and vision were zoning out! He was on the verge of collapsing yet again. He knew her voice was rising, and tried to explain he couldn't hear her but his breathing was being cut off, and he set Amu in his lap as he grabbed his throat, struggling to breath as his mouth sucked in air deep into his lungs, and catching nothing. He felt as if he were suffocating, and the wound on his arm was on absolute fire. Don't let me die here, he pleaded. Not until Amu's safe. Please..
Then, before he knew it, he had been knocked onto his back, and Amu had been taken from him. Through the haze, he saw his step father, holding Amu around the waist as she kicked and screamed, smirking down at him. He couldn't even make the growl his breathing had become so struggling.
"Are we having problems here, Ikuto?" The man snidely remarked, pressing his foot down hard on Ikuto's chest, making him cough. Ikuto could barely hear him. "How unfortunate. Although it wouldn't hurt me in the slightest to have your miserable little ass die here, I can't let that happen just yet." He pulled out an injection needle with his free hand and held it down to Ikuto's face. "This is your vaccine. It would cure you instantly. Do you want it?"
Ikuto gasped as taking breaths became harder. He wanted to speak; to tell Kazoumi to fuck off and that he didn't need his stupid ass vaccine, but his strained breathing wouldn't allow it. He knew he would be dead in a matter of minutes, but he knew what Kazoumi wanted him to do, beg, and he would not fall for it. "I..." Ikuto tried his hardest to speak, panting heavily. ".. don't... need... fuck... you..."
Kazoumi's smirk broadened. "How stubborn you are. It wouldn't do your cute little girlfriend here any good than for you to die here, would it? Can't you let go of your pride, if you really love her like you say you do? If you want to save her, shouldn't you give up everything, including your pride? So what's it going to be?"
"N-no," Ikuto stood his ground. "Rot... in Hell..."
Kazoumi gave a bark of a laugh. "A little piece of filth like you is going to be the only one rotting in Hell. You are an ambomination, you black cat. You stink of bad luck and misfortune." He gave his step son another stomp on the chest, increasing his breathing problem. Amu screamed in panic and struggled harder to get out of the man's grasp. "How is your breathing, son?" He mocked, leaning down to gaze into the boy's face. "Not quite so strong are you now, huh? No, you're quite the opposite. You're weak, and disgusting, and pathetic, I don't know why anyone would risk anything for you. You're a stray, black cat who should be eaten by the dogs."
"Leave him alone!" Amu yelled, eyes welling with tears. "Leave Ikuto alone!"
"Oh?" Kazoumi looked down at Amu and lifted a hand to her face tenderly, brushing away her tears. "So you're finally letting that little facade of yours fall. Good girl." His old, wrinkled hands carressed her chin, and Amu shivered uncomfortably. At that moment, guards came running down the stairwell, and Kazoumi nodded. "Good, you're here. Don't let Ikuto up, no matter what. Though..." He sneered at the boy again, "I don't think he quite has the strength to get up. Ha ha ha." His eyes glinted mischeviously at Amu. "I've gone easy on you, but now you will break. By my hand."
He dropped the girl hardly to the ground, making her cry out in pain at the hard impact and forced himself on top of her, seizing her wrists to pin her down and using his body weight to secure her. His eyes locked with Ikuto's as Amu became distressed and began squirming beneath the man. "Of course, I'll let your lover boy over there watch first-hand as I break you."
"Don't..." Ikuto did not like this man touching her. "Don't.. you... fucking... touch her..!" He attempted to get up, but the men kicked him down again. His eyes blurred, but he fought it, and tried again, only to be knocked back down. But he would not give up. Even though his breathing was only getting worse, and if he strained too much he would inevitably die, he had to get Amu away from this sick bastard who was his step father.
"Ha." The man seemed unphased by Ikuto's threats and stuck his fingers up Amu's skirt, and as the girl gave a loud, throat-tearing cry of pain, Ikuto did not want to think about what he was doing to her.
"YOU BASTARD!" He roared, jumping to his feet and collapsing again before struggling up again. He would not stop until he got Amu away from him.. he would not hurt her like this! "I won't let you hurt her you sick, disgusting bastard!" Another sharp kick to the face by one of the guards sent him down, and he felt tears sting his eyes as the small girl's cries only became more frantic, loud and pained, and Ikuto crawled, knowing he was humilating himself but not bringing himself to care, and gently pulled at Amu's hand, moving himself closer. His head was bent low, everything seemed to be going. Amu looked up at him with her pained, tear-stained eyes as she sobbed, and Ikuto could not look at what the man was doing to her. "Stop..." His voice was, for the first time in his life, a beg. "Please.."
Kazoumi snickered at him, inserting his third finger. Amu raised her head sharply with a scream ripping from her throat that Ikuto never wanted to hear again before tossing her head to the side, sobbing in complete and utter agony.
"STOP IT!" Ikuto's dam broke, the tears came spilling from his eyes. "STOP HURTING HER! SHE'S JUST A KID! JUST STOP IT!!" His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. He began to feel his body weakening. He was going to die, and the last thing he was going to see was Amu's pained face and Kazoumi's triumphant expression.
It was all crashing down. Everything was being taken from him. Kazoumi had gotten what he wanted. He'd wanted to see Amu and Ikuto both broken, and he had couldn't taken anymore from them, now. He heard the footsteps, followed by the hand digging into his hair and pulling him up and the plunging of the needle into the same spot he'd recieved it last time. He felt the coldness of the vaccine run through his system. He would live, but he knew he'd rather die than to live knowing how much pain Amu was now in. She'd been scarred in a way that girls should never be scarred, violated in a way that was repulsive and undignified on the highest level. Ikuto's vision cleared, his breathing became even.
"That should do it," Kazoumi commented, walking back over to Amu, who'd passed out. "However, I can't say the same for your little sweetheart."
Before Ikuto even knew what was happening, Kazoumi had shot a needle into Amu's forearm, and the girl gasped as she was pried from her slumber, and Ikuto saw the mass amount of purple liquid drain into her body. Rage overcoming him like never before, he charged headlong at Kazoumi, knocking the older man down as well as succeeding at knocking the needle away from Amu and began to pound, with as much strength as he could muster into his step-father's face. He felt as if he could murder him, every thought process was gone. The only thing he could think of was revenge; the darkness consumed him, and he was nearly shocked at how evil he could really be, how much rage could emanate from his body. He thrashed the man's head repeatedly against the floor, the red blood spilling all around his step-father's head and Kazoumi was smirking, and that only pissed him off more and he wrapped both hands around his windpipe, willing him to die.
Seeing this man's eyes bulge, him struggle to breath in his mind's eye, made Ikuto feel a sense of pleasure, and he intended to make sure it became a reality.
"Ikuto!"
But his attempt was cut short as he was wrestled off the man by a strong pair of arms, and he fought and kicked against the person, growling, wanting to kill the man lying before him --
When he caught Utau's scared expression. He stopped resisting, panting, eyes wide. He saw that Kazoumi now lay unmoving, and the guards were tending to him. What.. what had he done? He'd never thought himself capable to ever unleash that kind of violence.. always threatening, and a small fight here and there, but actually intending to murder...
The pair of arms released him, and as Ikuto turned to face them, he realized it was Nikaidou who was looking at him as though he'd never seen him before. Ikuto looked away, to Amu, who was huddled in Yukari's arms and had passed out again. "Let's go," Nikaidou said quietly. "We did what we came to do.." His gaze rested on Ikuto who looked quickly from his unconscious step father to Amu before nodding slowly.
"Yeah..."
They left Easter headquarters quickly, and Ikuto, hands shaking from the aftermath like a tremor after an earthquake, held the sleeping form of Amu to his chest, his head buried in her hair. No one said a word as they drove back towards the hotel, and Ikuto knew the other three were just as appalled and scared of his actions as much as he was.
The darkness within him had won.
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Oh boy. That was too much fun. Poor Amu, though. ;__; I really hate torturing her, but you gotta do what you gotta do for the sake of plot, lol. So what's going to happen now? Well, so far, Kazoumi's plans have been working to a t, and it seems as if they'll continue to. Though both Ikuto and Amu are stronger than he gives them credit for, and now that he's at least got her back, Ikuto won't give in so easily. ;D