(A/N: I might have made Tadase a little out of character to go along with my plot. If you are someone who hates that then I apologize I do not own Shugo Chara. Please review!)

Chapter 7

The blond haired boy reached out his hand and smiled at her. "Would you like to come inside?" he asked politely. Amu looked at the outstretched hand. What had just happened to her? She had been pulled by some mysterious force from Ikuto… and… WHERE WAS IKUTO?

"Did you take me here?" Amu shouted, glaring at the boy. He looked a little taken aback.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You know exactly what I mean? Do you have some problem with Ikuto, too? Well if you do then shove off! Take me back to him!"

The boy looked down with sadness in his eyes. Amu didn't know if it was real or fake, but nonetheless, she almost felt guilty. Almost.

"Take me back to him!" Amu demanded once more.

"I can't do that," Tadase said, shaking his head. "I don't know where he is now."

"You must've found some way to find him or you wouldn't have found me! Now take me back to him!" Amu yelled. Her voice was almost cracking. No, she needed to keep her voice strong. She needed to get back to Ikuto.

"Why don't you come inside?" he asked, smiling.

"Don't change the subject," Amu said coolly.

"I won't let you leave if you don't come inside," Tadase said, motioning towards the opening.

"If you won't take me to him… I'll find him myself!" Amu yelled out the levitation spell and jumped off the ledge, only to be pulled back down to the ground again by the same force. "What the hell did you do?"

"I can't let you leave, I'm very sorry," Tadase said, sympathetically. He was definitely faking his sympathy, Amu concluded. But it was… so… real looking… maybe he was really… sorr—No! What was she thinking? This boy was nothing but trouble! She just needed to find a way to get back to Ikuto.

"You're not sorry," Amu muttered. "If I go in with you… will I be taken back to him?" Amu asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Tadase said with a smile.

"Then I'll go in with you."

"I have to warn you, though. You probably won't want to come back out," he said with the same innocent, breath taking smile.

"Trust me. I'll come back out," Amu reassured, giving him a cold glare.

"I trust you with my life, Hinamori-san." Okay where did that come from? Amu looked at him. He was pretty nice for a bad guy… or was the word creepy? Amu chuckled to herself at this thought.

When they got inside, Amu found a nice living environment complete with the latest technology, spell books, potions, a dining table, couches, and multiple rooms. It must have been using some type of magic to hold it all together, especially when Amu felt air conditioning and saw that there was electricity in the home.

"Sit, Hinamori-san." Amu nodded hesitantly and walked over to a blue and yellow striped seat that sat next to the couch where Tadase was sitting.

"So?" Amu asked. "What do you want with me?"

"Why don't we get a chance to get to know each other first?" Tadase asked with a sly smile.

"Well I know your name, you know my name. I think we know more than enough about each other," Amu said, keeping her voice as steady as she could.

Tadase laughed even though Amu hadn't said anything funny. "Hinamori-san, I was thinking a little more deeper than just names. For example, what do you like to do?"

"Why should I tell you?" Amu asked.

Tadase smiled. "Why don't you come over here, Hinamori-san? You're so… distant."

Amu's eyes widened. No, she was not going to sit next to him. If she did…

"No, thank you, I'm perfectly fine where I am," Amu said firmly.

Tadase just smiled. "Whatever makes you happy. Tea?"

The tea set had appeared out of thin air. It was magic. "Um…" Amu looked at the tea that Tadase was already pouring into two cups. "I-I—" Tea. Her weakness! But… what if it had something in it? Some type of drug or something? But… he was drinking it too. She suddenly felt very thirsty. And there sat that wonderful… beautiful… tea…

"It's chamomile. Is that all right?" Tadase asked with a sweet smile. "I can change it if you want."

"No, that won't be necessary. I-I'm not thirsty…"

"You really should drink, Hinamori-san. Please?" His expression looked so innocent. His eyes were slightly wide and it looked like he could fall into a deep sadness if she didn't accept. Amu made up her mind.

"Thank you." Amu took the tea cup from Tadase's hands. Tadase seemed to lighten up and gave her another smile.

"No, thank you, Hinamori-san! I hope you like it!" Then he began drinking his own tea.

Amu eyed the light colored drink and hesitantly took a sip.

It didn't taste so bad… Actually, Amu's eyes widened, it tasted great! Amu took another sip, then another. She smiled as she drank. She felt so calm and at peace now.

"Do you like it?" Tadase asked.

"Yes! Yes! This is delicious! I-I mean… yeah, it's okay," Amu said, blushing slightly. Amu paused for a moment. Chamomile? Amu forgot what Chamomile had tasted like but she was sure that this tasted much better. This wasn't chamomile… Amu slowly set the cup down and stared at it intently. Had he…

"Hinamori-san? Would you like to stay here?" he asked. "You could if you wanted to."

Amu stared at him. "Eh…" Why did she suddenly have the urge to say yes…? "No! No! Why would you even ask that?" Tadase looked away sadly and Amu instantly felt guilt. "Listen, we just met. What makes you think that I would want to stay here with you?"

"Well, you seem like a sweet and innocent girl, and let's face it. You're trapped in a dimension full of monsters who want to kill you. This is the only safe place where you can stay," Tadase said.

Amu let all of that sink in. "Wait… how do you know that there are monsters after me?"

Tadase stared at her. "Word spreads fast around here."

"Wait, do you live here?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then… you're a monster too!" Amu yelled. She stood up abruptly. Tadase then began to laugh which caused Amu's cheeks to turn bright red.

"No, no, I'm not a monster. Not only monsters live here, Hinamori-san. I mean, I'm just like you and Tsukiyomi Ikuto, I have a gift too." Amu looked down. What was she doing in this guy's house when she had no idea where Ikuto was? And why did she hate the way his name sounded coming from Tadase's mouth.

"What's your gift?"

Tadase smiled. "Air."

"So that was you, right? Who caused that invisible force? You were using your gift?" Amu said, her teeth gritted.

"Yes," Tadase said simply.

"Why would you do that? What do you want from me?"

Tadase smiled. "I already told you. I want to keep you safe from all of those monsters."

"I was safe with him!"

"Where you? Really? You don't know everything about Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Hinamori-san. The monsters are after him."

"I know that!"

"Then how do you expect to be safe with him? I'm helping you."

Amu looked at him. Dammit, she thought. Why does it seem… like he's making sense to me? No, snap out of it, Amu! "You'd be helping me if you take me back to him!"

"I promised that I would, after we're done here. And if you still want to. But, we aren't done yet."

"There must be something else that you want! Helping isn't your only motive, I can see that!" Amu yelled.

Tadase smiled. "Fine, you caught me. I guess, I'm just interested in you. You're special, Hinamori-san. I can tell. I just don't know why. Maybe it was because Tsukiyomi Ikuto brought you into this dimension with him."

"Don't talk about him like you're his best friend."

"What if we were best friends?"

"You wouldn't have taken me away from him if he was your best friend," Amu pointed out.

"Hinamori-san? Have you ever loved before?" Tadase asked, smiling at her.

Amu blushed and stared at him, baffled. "N-no, why would you ask that?"

"You could fall in love with me… You could stay here…"

"No! No! I want to go back! I'm going if you like it or not!" Amu turned around and stopped at the entrance-way.

"It's too bad you drank that tea then…" Amu froze. "I mean, I have been practicing with my potions…. I guess I forgot to mention that… I mean, that potion should start kicking in about an hour or so… I still need practice, as you can see, or it would've worked right away. Then you would've had no choice. No matter though, Hinamori-san. You can leave if you want to. But you'll come back. I know you will."

Amu whipped her head around. "What do you mean? What kind of potion was it?"

"If you were smart, you would stay here with me forever. Then we could avoid what will happen in the next hour or so."

Amu didn't know what to do. She then shook her head and ran out. She screamed out the levitation spell and jumped off the ledge of the mountain. Tears fell out of her eyed. For all she knew, she was going to die in an hour because of that potion. She just couldn't stay there, though. She needed to find Ikuto.