Chapter 5: Find Me
Author'sNote:Yes,IKNOWIhaven'tupdatedinawhile,andI'msorry.Freshmenyearis….interesting.Andtothosefewpeoplewhowannagetonmycase,YOUtryhavingaseizureinthemiddleofyourschoolauditorium!It'sNOTFUN.Butyeah,Igotamessageaskingformetodragthisout,whilemostofyoujustwantmetoendit.Sothischapterislong(sorrytothatonepersonwhowanteditlonger)butnextchapteristhereallybigone.(Andhopefullyend).Sopleasebearwithme.Thankssomuch!Bytheway,IapologizeforthemisspellingofNagi'sname.I'lltrytofixthatifIcan.3
~Ri
Amu's P.O.V
It hurt. There were no words to describe the pain. It was dark, and cold, and wet. Did I mention painful? Trying to sit up from the freezing stone floor, I let out a moan of pain. How could anything hurt this much? Glancing down to give myself the usual once over, I cringed. I had bruises and cuts all over my legs. My red plaid skirt had been ripped short and jagged. My Seiyo uniform shirt was shorn in ways even the cleverest stitching could not hope to make it right. The scars on my face were deep and stinging, but I turned the limb causing me the most discomfort. My wrist. It burned. It ached. It felt like fire was flowing through my veins there. Brilliant. Just brilliant. Now where was my tormentor, the arrogant, insolent little creep?
"Ah, Miss Hinamori. Have you thought anymore about my proposition?" Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear…I simply stared at the man in the shadows. He wasn't as tall as he seemed. Through the faint light shimmering from somewhere outside my "cage" I could make out a faint outline of a white pinstripe suit. Nice, expensive. Too bad it'll be covered in blood soon.
I lunged at the man, only to be yanked back my two tall men in matching black suits and shades. Geez, this is Tokyo Japan, not Stalin's Russia. These guys looked like the epitome of gangster backups. And I gotta say, if I hadn't hated them with all my guts I probably would've given them props on the style of glasses they wore. Jaguars, nice.
C'monAmu,focus.Readhisvoice.I could always tell what kind of "punishment" he had in store for me based off his vocals. The softer his voice, the more painful the torture would be. Sometimes I wondered what would happen if he totally lost control and just killed me. Some nights when the pain and the sorrow would mix I would hope he'd kill me.
"Today Miss Amu, I think I'll just ask you politely. Tell me how the guardians operate."
I swear I didn't mean to do it. I really didn't. But I just burst out laughing. I fell to the floor laughing on the stone, my ribs aching. Whether from the torture or the whooping laughs emanating from me. The Guardians protected student's rights, helped keep things peaceful. And of course we had our Charas but we only Chara transformed to defeat X eggs. How does this mean anything to this man? And why does he want to know about my friends and…Ikuto. It hurt to think his name. Shaking my head weakly, I tried to clear my thoughts. I couldn't afford to think about this now. Unfortunately the shaking of my head also made me keel over from dizziness and nausea.
"Do you wish to mock me Miss Hinamori?" The sickly voice murmured. I shut up immediately. As funny as it was, I don't think this guy would appreciate the humor.
Afraid to shake my head again, I simply stared at the menacing shadow the invisible man cast on the cold stone floor.
"Then, you will tell me all I need to know." The simpering voice turned deadly. I flinched ever so slightly, immediately regretting it. I couldn't let him know that he'd gotten to me. With a sigh, the shadow receded to nothing only stopping at an unseen door once, to call out to his guards.
"Make her suffer."
Ikuto's P.O.V
It was a crazy thought. I'm probably completely wrong. But how on earth could I NOT try to do this? I raced toward the only shipping yard, praying I wasn't too late. I saw a large gray shape on the horizon. Character Transformation with Yoru into Black Lynx had been a good idea. I could move much faster. I was now standing in the shadows of the forest, where the trees thinned out, the ground was now grey, dusty, devoid of life. The shipping yard looked more like a prison than a cargo hold. How convenient. Rolling my eyes at the possible irony, I slunk out of the trees and decided to send Yoru on a little recon.
"Hey Yoru."
"Yeah Ikuto-nya?"
"Feel like storming a castle?"
Amu's P.O.V
My life sucks. By now, what little I remember is not very pretty. Especially him. He left me without so much as a by or leave and he thinks that I won't care. OrmaybeheknewI'dcare.Hewantedtohurtmeonpurpose.Ugh. The thoughts swirling in my head chased each other in circles, only increasing the pain in my head. Goon 1 and 2 had finally stopped having "fun" when they heard a strange chime. Thank god for that. I think I had heard one of them say something about branding me. And I don't want to sound pessimistic but that doesn't sound very fun at all. Not that any of my treatment has been very pleasant. I needed to think of a escape plan. A way to get out of this wretched place. That's what he would tell me. "Focus on yourself Amu!" That's what he always said.
Curling up in a ball against the stone wall, I fought back my tears. Those monsters had raked up all my painful memories with a horrid machine. They had used them against me. The worst part wasn't that those things had happened. It was that I wasn't sure what was real and what was not. And they made me remember him.I began to sing to myself, trying to cheer myself up, bring out my radiance as Dia called it.
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens"
I squinted my eyes breathing deeply still fighting the salt water in my bruised eyes.
"Brown paper packages tied up with string
These are a few of my favorite things." I released a sob. Covering my eyes, I heard yells coming from above me. They wanted information again. Well I wasn't going to give them anything. I felt something sear against my back but I was didn't feel the pain.
"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs" I was in a world of fog. I couldn't feel anything. And that scared me more than any of the torture techniques used before.
"Hand me the torch!" A voice cried through the mist. Again I felt a brief flash of pain. But I was too far gone to truly understand the agony.
"These are a few of my favorite things." Another flash and I sunk gratefully into the familiar ocean of blackness.
Yoru's P.O.V
Ikuto is a strange person. He wants to put so much on the line to save Amu. He says he doesn't care about her, just wishes that everyone would shut up and find her. Yet I know him better than anyone else. I am what he wishes to be after all. I know how he feels about her. Which is why, I'm clambering through these little cracks and crevices, looking for that familiar pink bob that always gives him such joy. I saw many men dressed similarly to the men from the old Easter Company. They all had matching suits and they're eyes were covered with shades. Two were walking back and forth in front of a door, while every now and then you could hear a short sound of scuffle then silence. Maybe…just maybe that could be where Amu was…
Out of the door came two more men dressed in the same identical suits as the ones on patrol. Except one of them had a large red stain on his right sleeve; a closer inspection confirmed it. It was blood. Oh no…I have to get back to Ikuto NOW.
"The prisoner is unconscious." The one with the bloody sleeve stared blankly as if he really couldn't care less.
"Wake her up." The one on patrol replied just as emotionless.
"We tried. Her pulse is weak. Tell the Master he hasn't got much longer if he wants information from this girl."
"Alright."
The two men who had left the room retreated toward one of the many other hallways. I had to get to Ikuto. If the prisoner is Amu, then we need to get her out. NOW.
Ikuto's P.O.V
"Ikuto-nya!" I looked up from my drawing in the dirt. I had sketched out a rough plan of the fortress in the dried dirt, schematics of the whole thing.
"Yoru, what did you find out?" I was anxious. I really hoped that coming all the way out here had not been a crazy childish idea.
"I think I know where Amu is-nya!" My eyes which had been half open before flew wide and I stood up quickly.
*Inside the "fortress"*
"Which door Yoru?" I had snuck into this place easy enough. It may have been built to look like a fortress, but the gist of it was, it was still only a shipyard. It wasn't built to actually keep people out. It had been child's play to get inside. Dodging the massive amount of guards was another thing altogether. I was now in a large hall, crates surrounding me on all sides, only leaving room for doors and a little space around them.
"The one on the left-nya." Nodding, I pulled a cross that was sewn onto my school uniform, and used the edge to pick the lock on the door. Amazing. For such uptight security you'd think they'd have better locks. Holding my breath, I opened the door warily.
Amu's P.O.V
I was floating. On a cloud, surrounded by strange things. I then remembered something that I'd read in a book, something that my father had loved to say.
"Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast"
I had always thought it was a strange quote. As I sat on my little cloud, I began to see the purple sun fade. It was getting darker. No! I liked it here! Here it was quiet, peaceful. The gazebo which I now sat in seemed so familiar, its pillars coated in thick ivy. Why was it familiar? Then I heard a voice. It was quiet at first then getting louder. It was asking, begging for me. What could I do? The world I sat in got darker and darker. The gazebo bench beneath me disappeared and I was falling. I screamed. It was an unearthly, terrifying scream. And then my eyes flew open.
Ikuto's P.O.V
Oh god. No please god no. Not Amu, not now. Not now, please not now. She laid spread eagle on the floor, blood blossoming on the front of the remains of her white shirt. Her legs and arms were covered in lacerations and the bruises on her face, including one on her right eye, were nasty shades of yellow and purple. I couldn't tell if she was breathing. For a split second I stood in the doorway and stared. Then, I dashed to her side. Lifting her wrist, which was also covered in painful looking scrapes, I felt desperately for a pulse. My body immediately relaxed. It was there. Very weak, but still there. Cradling Amu in my arms, I made my way towards the door. All the time I chanted to her, begged her, needing for her to wake up, to hear me.
"Amu, Amu please wake up, can you hear me? Please, just open your eyes. Please? Oh gods Amu, just hang on."
Her whole body was shaking. Then she let out a yelp, and her eyes flew open. I could feel her heart beat, weak but fast against my chest as I raced through the halls, back the way I'd come. I could hear guards now, behind us, cries of anger and alarm let me know they had discovered that Amu was no longer there. Her eyes, her honey orbs were full of fear and pain. Yet there was a tiny spark, a spark of recognition.
"Ik-u-to?" She managed to gasp. Relief was evident in my eyes. Another emotion was also there, a tingling feeling that had begun at my fingertips when she said my name. She remembered me. Then she seemed to hear the guards coming because she began to quake, seeming as if her entire body was internally screaming. Holding her tighter, I came to the rafter where I had first arrived. Character Changing with Yoru, I hopped up to the whole in the ceiling, praying we'd get somewhere safe in time. All of a sudden though, we were surrounded.
Amu's P.O.V
He was here. He was truly here. I didn't have enough energy to fight against his firm hold on me as he ran, and secretly, I didn't want to have him let go. Peering over his shoulder I could see the guards coming. No. They couldn't capture us. They would get me, kill me, and worse, they'd kill him! I don't know why but they have a weird fixation with him and the Guardians. I CAN'T let them kill him! I could feel my body shaking as I tried to get out of his arms. We were surrounded. I was not giving up without a fight. If I was going down, I was going down fighting. And I was fighting for him. For me. For both of us.
"Amu, what are you doing?" He hissed, trying to get a better grip on me as I clambered weakly out of his arms. Shaking off the initial pain of standing I faced the room full of guards. Even here on the rafters, there were men ready to shoot if we made a single move.
"If I give myself up will you let him go?" I managed to get out without stuttering in fear.
The looks in the men's eyes said "not a chance".
"No." A guard near the front with a blinking green light which I imagine had a transmitter on it. "He is also necessary. This only makes our job easier. We thought you were still in Cairo Tsukiyomi Ikuto."
Ikuto's eyes widened a fraction. How had they known where he was? At this point it made no difference. Ikuto yanked me none to gently so his body was sheltering mine. I slid out from behind him despite his efforts and stood beside my friend. The guns raised. I closed my eyes.
"Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast"
Six impossible things. I felt my chin tilt up. I gave a smirk at the guards. Six impossible things.
"Ikuto, six impossible things! Count them!" I spoke to him forcing the words out of my swelling lips. He gave me a look of total confusion.
"I can believe in six impossible things!" I called out to the men with arms, totally stunning them for a second. Reaching for a bar, I began to mutter to myself.
"One: Guardian Chara exist." I braced myself for the onslaught of bullets. Instead, the men rushed at us. Ikuto Chara changed, trying to protect me, while fighting off the devils. I was bashing people with the metal pole. "Two: I made friends with my worst enemy." A brief image of Utau flashed through my head as I used my pole as a vault and threw myself at three men, successfully knocking them out. Ikuto was still battling. He was trying to hold them back, while keeping an eye on me. Though I was battered, I was also determined. I was angry. And I was going to win. "Three: Traitors can be your friends." Kari had proved as much when he switched sides from Easter to the Guardians. "Four: Nikaidou actually loves Sanjo-san." Kari's sister and our teacher (both former Easter workers) were polar opposites, and deeply in love.
"Kill the girl if you must, but keep the boy alive!" The orders sounded out over loud speakers.
"Five: I can decide who I want to be." I grunted as I got punched in the side, causing me to wince in pain, but I retaliated with a swift jab to the man's pressure point, sending him to the ground immediately. Good old Nadeshiko. Who knew those acupuncture lessons would actually pay off?
Looking up, I finally realized the guards were all unconscious. Ikuto was surrounded by unmoving lumps in rumpled clothes. My savior was still in Black Lynx form, ready for anything. All of a sudden, I felt dizzy, and the next thing I knew, my world went black.
Author'sNote:HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Well, it won't be for much longer, it's 11:25 pm here. But yeah, point still stands. I know I was late in updating, and I know that I need to update my other stories. BUT: For those of you who wanted longer chapters, and for Ikuto to find her, Ta-da! You're welcome. I think this story has one more chapter in it. :D I think I can pull it off don't you? So glad you guys have been bearing with me, and have been giving me amazing reviews. Love y'all! R&R!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Ri