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Chapter: 7

The obnoxious ticking of the wall clock added to Ikuto's headache. He finished emptying his already empty stomach into the toilet, his hand shaking as he flushed it. It seemed that lately he was too weak and shaky to do anything. The tumor treatment was getting to him.

He released an uneasy breath, pulling his limp body off the cold bathroom floor and over to the sink. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hold his toothbrush without his hand shaking, Ikuto reached for the cinnamon mouth wash instead. He knew it was Amu's favorite.

Amu. He was desperate to get out of the hospital and start spending more time with her. Of course she visited him everyday and spent the night whenever she could. But he wanted to take her out on a date, go see a movie- anything, just as long as it wasn't in the hospital.

After swishing it around in his mouth a few times, he spat the mouthwash into the sink and reached for his razor. Even though he didn't have a beard or any stubble, he decided he'd shave whenever he could, just to feel like he was still alive.

Once the shaving cream was on his face, he lifted the razor, ending up having to put it back down. His hand was quivering too much to do anything. If he tried shaving, he'd cut himself.

A soft knock was heard at the closed door before it slowly opened. Just seeing that girl made his heart lift. Words couldn't describe how much he loved her.

"Are you okay?" Amu asked, closing the door behind her.

He forced a laugh. "I... I can't even shave anymore." He stated before resting his head in his hands as he leaned his elbows against the sink.

Amu reached for the razor, telling Ikuto to sit down on the toilet seat cover. Once he obliged, she sat sideways on his lap, placing the razor against his cheek.

He winced, making Amu jump and pull away. "D-did I cut you?" she panicked. Ikuto chuckled as he shook his head. "No, I just wanted to see your reaction."

Normally she'd hit him across the head and stomp away. But now, she enjoyed hearing him laugh. Even seeing a smile or smirk was breathtaking. She couldn't stand to witness what he had been going through – painful needles almost daily and headaches so bad he couldn't sleep. The headaches were the worst part of this experience. If he ever did manage to fall asleep, he'd squirm and cry out in pain.

Tomorrow was the day of the surgery. Amu knew it was tomorrow that she'd have to leave. Ikuto's life would be so much better without her in it. His step-dad had a bright future planned out for him that was sure to get him far in life. Amu knew she was just holding him back. Plus, this was the only way to ensure he could have a chance at living.

Kazuomi had planned the whole thing out. Before the operation, Amu would leave, and Kazuomi would tell Ikuto that she couldn't handle the stress and that she never really loved him, just that she was using him for his money or something along those lines. Hopefully this would make Ikuto feel like he didn't have a reason for living since she was out of his life. This would make him not care if he got the operation. Originally he didn't want to get it because of the low chance of survival, but if Amu had left, then perhaps he'd just give up, since with her gone, he wouldn't care if he died.

It all sounded very complicated, but Kazuomi knew it would work. As much as she hated to, Amu knew she had to go along with the plan for Ikuto's sake. She needed him to live.

The pinkette hurriedly wiped a tear from her eye and rinsed of the razor, placing it back on the edge of the sink. Ikuto washed his face and pulled Amu into the strongest hug he could muster. He didn't know what he'd do without her.

End of Flashback

Ikuto groaned while rubbing his face tiredly. He didn't understand what was happening to him. All of a sudden all these images would pop into his head. Images he couldn't explain. Something told him they had all happened before, but he couldn't remember.

It especially confused him that almost all these flashbacks or dreams, whatever they were – they all contained Amu. She was in nearly every single one. But... they had never met before...right?

He groaned again. Maybe it was someone who just looked like Amu. Or maybe these were all simply dreams that had nothing to do with his past.

Ikuto turned off the faucet and dried his face with a towel before emerging from the washroom, the smell of breakfast already filling his nostrils. He wouldn't put too much thought into it. He was thinking too much.

"Good morning!" Yoru greeted from his seat at the table.

Ikuto smiled and ruffled the boy's hair before taking a seat across from him. The omelet and steamed vegetables set out on the table triggered something else in his mind. Strange... he felt as if he'd had this exact breakfast once before, when a girl with honey-colored eyes was sitting across from him. But, he shook it off, knowing it was impossible since no one in his family ever cooked.

"Thank you for breakfast." He said to Amu as she sat down beside Yoru. He couldn't help but look at her differently. That dream he had about being in a hospital room with her made him confused. If it wasn't just an odd dream... then was it really a memory? "...We haven't met before?" He clarified.

Amu stopped in mid-bite, looking over at him. Trying to ignore her rapidly beating heart, she answered as calmly as she could. "No... not that I'm aware of." She replied with a shrug as she shook her head. "Why are you wondering?"

He shook his head and cleared his throat. "I don't know... just- I had a dream and... yeah, never mind." He then dropped the subject, going back to eating.

However, Amu suddenly lost her appetite. What was his dream about? Was she in it?

Before anything else happened, the front door opened and Tadase walked in with laundry detergent in his hand. "'Morning!" He acknowledged with a smile.

Amu instantly jumped out of her seat, running over to the blond. "I need to talk to you." She stated in a low voice before pulling him into the other room, making sure they were out of ear-shot.

"What's wrong?" Tadase asked , "Oh, and I brought the detergent you needed."

Amu thanked him quickly and took the container from him. "Wh-what would happen if he remembered?" She asked in alarm, making sure to keep her voice low.

"Who, Ikuto? Why do you think he'd remember?"

Shaking her head, Amu took deep calming breaths. "I don't know, I just have this feeling that he might remember, and if he does, I know he'll never forgive me for what I did. I had to say the worst things possible to him so he'd let me leave, I betrayed him, I hurt him in a way I never should-"

"Amu, calm down!" Tadase advised, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know you didn't want to hurt him, but in order to get him onto the operating table, you had to do anything possible. Stop blaming yourself! It was for his own good."

It was for his own good, but she could've come up with a different way to get him to agree to the surgery. She didn't have to hurt him the way she did. This is what she told herself every time she thought about that day.

"You do know it was to save his life, right?" Tadase questioned, staring Amu dead in the eye to make sure she was telling the truth.

She shook her head. "I could've done something else. I-"

"What could you have done? Really, Amu. Kazuomi had a plan, and I know that he would've made sure that no matter what, you'd be out of Ikuto's life." Tadase declared after checking over his shoulder to make sure Ikuto and Yoru were still at the table. "That was his plan: to get you out of his step-son's life. The only way that was possible was for you to do what he told you to. If you decided to do it a different way, he'd come up with an altered scheme to get rid of you. It wasn't your fault, Amu."

Realization suddenly dawned on the pinkette, whose honey-colored eyes widened at the thought. "If it was just to get rid of me... that means... th-that means he didn't care if Ikuto died from the operation! I'm sure he would've been relieved if that happened! That's why he wanted him to get surgery so badly."

Tadase sighed deeply. Amu didn't seem to understand what he was trying to tell her. They both knew that she had said things to him that she didn't mean, but that was only for the purpose of trying to get Ikuto to let her go.

"We should get you out of the house... maybe go stay with Rima for a few days." He stated.

Amu instantly shook her head. "You know I can't do that! She'd of course wonder why I couldn't just stay here, and I can't tell her that it's because of Ikuto."

"Wait... you haven't told her?"

"No, I haven't told anyone. You're the only one that knows that Ikuto's..." Amu lowered her voice, "Yoru's dad."

The blond slowly shook his head, also lowering his voice. "Why don't you just tell him?" He didn't see what the problem was.

"I can't. He doesn't remember anything and his life is... pretty much perfect as it is. I don't want to mess that up." Amu replied solemnly.

"Hey, hey, are the Hinamoris home?" A rather loud voice called from the doorway of the house. Obviously it was the one-and-only Souma Kukai. Funny, he should have been assisting Utau at the moment. He was rather skilled at sneaking away from her.

Amu walked down the hallway, halting in front of Kukai. "Hey, stranger. Did you stop by for breakfast?"

The brunette shook his head, eager to share his idea with everyone. "I was just thinking that, well, it is summer after all, so we should all go camping!"

Camping? Amu could already sense disaster.

This chapter was more on the serious side.. as you can tell. Hopefully next chapter there'll be more humor. But, look! I updated quickly! YAY!