Here is the next chapter...

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Chapter 17

Normal POV

"Ouch!" a groan escaped from Amu's small lips. 'Where am I?' she asked herself as she looked around the room she didn't recognize. Then, her brain recalled the incident a few hours ago. She had been kidnapped!

"You have woken up, I see," a voice that sounded so familiar to the pinkette spoke and confirmed her suspicion. She turned her head and was face to face with none other than Takahashi Aoi. 'So what Ikuto and his father told me is right, huh?' she thought. "What do you want, Takahashi?"

Aoi smirked widely when his ex-fiancée asked him coldly. "Well, well, I think it was Aoi before," the blonde man taunted her.

"Heh, as if," she spat, not caring the hard look she received from him. It was a good thing that she had called off their engagement.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, Amu," he taunted her further, still smirking. Well, he definitely looked handsome with that smirk of his, but Ikuto was way more handsome. Also, smirks better suited her beloved bluenette rather than this ex-turned-kidnapper.

"So? My ex-fiancé kidnapped me… What a drama," Amu grumbled in a low voice, but loud enough for Aoi to hear.

"You're the one who started it, Amu!" he spoke with fervent fury. "You called off our engagement; if you hadn't done that, you and your parents wouldn't have been here right now!"

Speaking of parents, the pinkette had completely forgotten about her parents because of her stupid argument with the blonde.

She quickly justified herself by thinking that her parents could defend themselves in this situation – they had used to be part of Black Lynx, after all – and therefore could care less about them. However, not knowing their whereabouts, as well as Aoi pissing her off, ticked her off. "If I hadn't called it off, who knows what you and your father would have done to me? Speaking of parents, where are mine?" she asked him in annoyance.

"Well, I don't think I'll tell you, Honey," he said while flirting with Amu.

The pinkette eyed him with disgust clearly displayed in her golden orbs – which was blatantly disregarded by the blonde. 'I think his brain isn't functioning well," she deadpanned inwardly. 'I've called off our engagement and he was flirting with me after kidnapping me. He has definitely lost it.' "Tell me!" she demanded.

"Why should I obey you, my little kitten?" Aoi asked.

'Ewww… 'Kitten'? Are you kidding me?' she hissed in her mind. She decided to act, nonetheless. Giving hem her infamous puppy eyes that could make anybody obey her – including her blonde female best friend and her current boyfriend – she pleaded, disguising her reluctance well. "Tell me, please."

"Well–" Aoi was cut off when the door opened up to reveal a middle-aged man with blonde hair and brown eyes; they were different from Aoi's, so the pinkette assumed that he was one of the gang members.

"Aoi!" the new man spoke.

"Father," Aoi greeted the old man and bowed.

Amu's eyes widened. 'Father?! But they don't look alike!" she screamed in the back of her mind while gazing at the two men before her. She scanned the old man, looking at him completely. He was the exact opposite of Aruto, she noticed; his face was as hard as stone and his eyes were cold.

"Hello, Hinamori Amu," the old man, Takahashi Claire, greeted her. "Looks like I finally found you after eighteen years."

Amu didn't reply him as she saw the older blonde man taking a small blade out of his pocket and stalked towards her direction. "What do you want?" she asked coldly.

"What do I want?" Claire repeated her question tauntingly. "I want you dead with your father, although I'll keep your mother."

"Why?"

"Because your father took Midori away from me. He formed a powerful gang and ruled the underworld. They're supposed to be mine! Your mother's supposed to be mine and I'm supposed to rule the underworld, not your good-for-nothing father!" he yelled as he slashed his knife on Amu's pale skin. Blood ran down slowly and Amu hissed in pain.

Claire kept cutting her while shouting like mad. "I want revenge! Revenge!" More blood ran down her pale skin, dying it with blood red. Amu could feel her head becoming dizzy and her vision became blurry. Slowly, she submitted herself to the darkness.

'I love you, Ikuto. I'm sorry, and thank you for everything,' she thought before closing her eyes completely.

"We need to be faster, Father!" Ikuto yelled impatiently.

That, apparently, was not helping Aruto at all. "Kairi, have you found where their hideout is?" the Tsukiyomi patriarch asked the intelligent green-haired man who didn't only work as their personal doctor, but also was the head of Black Lynx's intelligence department, a section that comprised of agents that gathered information for them.

"Yes; their hideout is in the west side of the town," the bespectacled young man said, flashing Ikuto a victorious grin.

The west wing was one of the most isolated places, which made it perfect in many ways. They would be able to kill the Takahashis without being caught by some unrelated civilians.

Under Aruto's command, the gang headed to the west wing in high speed mostly due to Ikuto's impatience. They arrived at the Takahashi members' hideout. Their sudden charge made the Takahashis retreat. Aruto and Ikuto rushed towards the room where they locked Amu up – which they had learned about before from one of the Takahashis Ikuto had managed to catch and forced to confess everything – while Kukai and Kairi rushed into Tsumugu's and Midori's locked up room.

Once they arrived, Ikuto was completely taken aback in shock. In the room, his most important person was on the cold floor, covered with her blood. He looked up from the pinkette to the men that stood not far from her. They were Takahashi Aoi and his father, Takahashi Claire.

"Well, well, look who's come!" Claire exclaimed dramatically when he saw Aruto and Ikuto.

"What did you do to her?" Ikuto asked furiously, his voice was cold and his azure eyes were hard as he looked straight at the old blonde man.

The leader of the Takahashis replied casually, "Oh, I tried to kill her; what's the big deal?"

"Kill her?! Are you crazy? What's her fault to deserve such thing?" the new head of Black Lynx shouted.

"Well, actually it's her father's fault, but since she is his daughter, she's at her fault too. Don't ask too much question, brat! What are you doing here with your father?" Claire shouted back.

"Heh, we're here to kill you and your damn gang!" the bluenette answered with his infamous smirk.

"What is your problem with us?" Aoi asked suddenly.

"Well," Ikuto replied, "I am the current Black Lynx leader, while my old man here," he pointed at Aruto, "is the former leader."

Claire was more than shocked. "What?! It's not Tsumugu?!" he exclaimed, not happy with the information he heard just now.

"Of course, old geezer!" Ikuto answered and aimed his gun towards the old man.

"Well, I don't care anymore!" Claire shouted as he shot the bullt right towards the young bluenette, who dodged it.

Aruto aimed his gun and shot at Claire; it went right at his right shoulder. Ikuto rushed towards Amu and picked her up gently. Aruto and his son then stepped out from the room to the open ground and put Amu into one of their cars where Kairi's assistant had waited to give the pinkette a treatment.

Claire and Aoi followed them outside. They noticed most of their members were lifeless on the floor. Soon, Kukai and Kairi walked out of the abandoned building with Tsumugu and Midori. They put them into the other car that Aruto had prepared. Kairi jumped into the car and gave Tsumugu some

medication while Midori got it from his other assistant. Kukai then followed Ikuto and Aruto to the battle field and stood right beside the current leader.

The members of Black Lynx faced the members of the Takahashis who had lost by number. Black Lynx members were known for their speed and accuracy; that was why Black Lynx hadn't lost one of their members in this battle while Takahashi had lost some.

In the blink of an eye, Ikuto had already taken down five Takahashi members and Kukai had taken down four. Takahashi had lost another nine members. Aoi stepped to the front and began shooting at Ikuto, but the midnight blue-haired man was faster than him. Ikuto grabbed his shoulder and knocked the gun off Aoi's hand before taking him hostage. Well, if they wanted to play dirty, he could also do the same.

"Ask your member to back off or I'll shoot your son," he threatened the old blonde.

Unfortunately, Claire did just the opposite of Ikuto's demand. His lackeys shortly started shooting at them. Aruto, Ikuto, Kukai, and the other Black Lynx members didn't hesitate to shoot at them all and left Claire standing in the middle of the battlefield.

"Father, help me!" Aoi shouted to his father.

"Why should I risk my life for you?" Claire replied. "You're not my son! I adopted you years ago from orphanage."

Aoi couldn't believe what he'd heard just now. He looked at his father, but the older man proved him his words. Claire shot his gun towards his direction, and Aoi didn't move a bit and let the bullet strike his heart. He choked out some blood before slipping out of Ikuto's grasp and onto the cold floor. Kairi quickly rushed towards him and gave him a treatment. He left Tsumugu in his assistant's care to help Ikuto with the battlefield but it seemed like they didn't need it in the first place, so he helped Aoi instead.

Ikuto was more than furious. He shot his gun and the bullet buried itself into Claire's head with an impact that threw the old blonde backwards. Claire fell onto the floor with blood covering his fat body.

"How is he?" Ikuto asked Kairi when they arrived at the hospital after the incident that had happened just an hour ago.

"His father shot him in his vital organ," Kairi replied. "I've done everything I could; I'll let god decide the rest."

"How about Amu and her parents?" Aruto asked worriedly.

"Amu lost so much blood, but we have given her transfusion when we arrived." The green-haired doctor's expression then turned grim. "I can't say too much about her parents. Tsumugu was shot in the same place as Aoi was and her mother was shot on her stomach; she lost too much blood and her blood

type is a rare one. We only have two more bags of her blood type available, and I'm afraid that we can't help her. I tried contacting several hospitals just now, but they don't have that type of blood anymore."

Ikuto punched the nearest wall to him, wallowing in his helplessness. His girlfriend was about to lose her family again and he couldn't do anything but let fate decide it all. He sent a silent prayer to god, wishing that his prayer touched god. He wished that the pinkette wouldn't lose her remaining family, whom he had considered as his family as well.

Two days later, Amu woke up from her long sleep. She blinked her eyes open and felt her head dizzy. Once she opened her eyes, she saw white. 'Where am I?' she asked herself. She tried to sit up but felt her body scream in pain as she groaned. Then she heard the door being opened and turned her head to see Ikuto on the doorway. His face pale and tired, the bluenette walked towards her and grabbed her hand before giving them a light squeeze.

"You have woken up. Thank god," Ikuto said and kissed her forehead.

"Where am I? What happened?" Amu asked, completely confused.

"You're at hospital. You don't remember, huh?" Ikuto told her.

"I remembered being kidnapped by Aoi and his father cut my skin," she murmured, trying to remember what had happened. She then gasped when she remembered that she hadn't seen her parents inside the room when Claire cut her. "My parents; what happened to them?"

Ikuto's expression turned gloomy. "Your mom and dad were still unconscious, but Aoi passed away yesterday. Dad and Mom are giving him a proper funeral as we speak. Aoi isn't Claire's biological son; he was adopted. Aoi was shot by that old man." He didn't dare to tell her about her parents' real condition. Her dad and mom were in coma; their heartbeat going slower and slower each day.

"Can I see them?" the pinkette pleaded. She really wanted to see her parents and assure herself that they were okay.

Her lover nodded his head before lifting her up in bridal style and putting her onto the wheelchair. He then brought her to her parents' ward. They visited her father first, but Ikuto blocked her view to the heartbeat monitor so Amu couldn't see it. He didn't want her to get shocked and sleep again. These two days had been already a torture for him; he had had enough.

"Dad, please wake up soon. I miss you," Amu murmured loud enough for Ikuto to hear. She cried – she cried! Damn, he hated it when she cried.

Later, they visited her mom. Ikuto did the same with the monitor; it was a bit hilarious when Amu asked him why he always stood in front of the monitor. He came up with a 'I don't want to disturb you and your parents' moment but I want to see them so I stand here'.

It was the lamest reason he could come up with and Amu giggled. Well, at least he could make the pinkette laugh.

Then they went back to her room. Ikuto didn't leave her side any single time, except when he needed to go to the bathroom. He told her their childhood stories. Amu blushed whenever Ikuto told her that she had wanted to be with him when she had been a small child. They stopped talking when Kairi came into her room to do a checkup. He said that she was okay, but the cuts would leave scars on her skin.

Amu was taken aback. Her skin wouldn't be soft again, and she would be a monster. Her entire body was covered with scars that couldn't be healed and were printed on her soft skin. She was no longer a beautiful girl; she was a monster now.

"No… No!" Amu stuttered and she sobbed.

Ikuto tried to calm her down and shot the green-haired man a glare. He hugged her carefully, afraid that if he hugged her tighter she would be in pain.

"Calm down, Hinamori," Kairi said, trying to take control of the situation. "We had found a brand new medication that will heal your wounds perfectly; it will take a week to heal and a month to make the scars disappear."

Amu instantly relaxed. The scars would disappear; she wouldn't be a monster and she was glad of it. Ikuto also relaxed when he heard it. After that, Kairi left the room, leaving the young couple alone. He needed to check on her parents' condition today.

"Ikuto, when can I go home?" she asked.

"Kairi said you can go home tomorrow," Ikuto said, remembering what the doctor had told him yesterday when she had been unconscious still. 'Once she wakes up, she can go home the next day,' Kairi had said, as the bluenette recalled.

Amu let out a small smile on her face. "That's great," she said. "Then can you bring me to Aoi's place? I want to meet him."

Ikuto nodded. Well, they had been best friends and fiancés before, so she still felt sorry for the late blonde man. Amu's smile widened at that. Then the door was opened to reveal her other family: Aruto, Souko, Utau, and Kukai.

"Amu! I'm glad you've woken up!" Utau exclaimed happily but didn't dare to hug Amu because of her injury.

"We bring you lunch; your favorite," Souko said and she brought out some homemade food before serving it in front of the pinkette.

"Thanks," she said and smiled at them. She loved her new family so much.

"Ikuto, we also bring yours. Both of you can enjoy the food while we visit Tsumugu and Midori," Aruto said as the four walked out of the room, leaving the young couple alone again.

Amu couldn't move her hand yet; it hurt so much whenever she tried to. Ikuto noticed it and helped her with her lunch. He fed her, making her blush.

"Sorry about that," she said.

He chuckled as he kept feeding her. It wasn't the first time he fed her, though. When they had been younger, he had fed her numerous times when she had refused to eat. After that, Ikuto ate his own lunch while the pinkette stared at him. She found it cute whenever Ikuto ate something.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked, completely baffled by her behavior.

"You're cute," she said while looking away, trying to hide her blush.

Ikuto smirked. "So, my favorite strawberry thinks I'm cute, huh?" he teased her and made her blush even more.

"Ikuto!" Amu protested. She didn't like being teased. Ikuto laughed when he saw her reaction. He had expected it, though.

Both of them talked and talked; Ikuto teased her and she groaned in annoyance. He laughed even more when Amu didn't deny any fact he stated regarding their relationship.

Suddenly, the door slammed open. "Amu!" Utau ran towards them in panic.

"What? What happened?" the pinkette asked her.

"Your parents… Your parents…"

"My parents? What happened to them?" Amu asked in worry as she saw her best friend choking for word.

The blonde girl cried. "They died, Amu. Both of them died just now."

Amu's mind went blank. Her parents had died; they both had left her at the same time. The pink-haired woman couldn't hold her tears any longer as tears burned down her face.

"Ikuto, I want to see them," she pleaded, clinging onto her boyfriend who was also shocked by the news.

He lifted her up from the bed and put her on the wheelchair before wheeling her to her parents' room. Once they arrived, they saw Aruto and Souko crying. Amu couldn't wait any longer; she pushed the door open and saw Kairi standing in front of her dad.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry, Hinamori," Kairi replied gloomily. "He has stopped breathing. We've done everything we could but his body refused to respond back. I'm sorry."

"Mom – what about my mom?" Amu choked.

"Your mom bled to death; seems like her wound opened again and we couldn't stop the bleeding. Also, we couldn't give her any blood again because we ran out of stock."

Amu's body stiffened as she let the death of her parents sink in. Her parents had left her, and now she was alone. 'Mom, Dad, bring me with you! Don't leave me alone!' Amu screamed in her mind as she slipped into the darkness.

What do you think? Please R&R ! I've an important announcement to make. This story only has two or three chapters left, thank you for your support so far guys. It meant a lot for me.

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