Chapter 11: Lost Memories

Ikuto sat in the waiting room with Amu's roommates. They had busted the car door off without hurting Amu, but Rima was stuck and the steering wheel had bent around Amu's back, so both bled a lot.

Surgery was being done on both at that moment. Ikuto could hardly stand to wait anymore when a surgeon came out four hours later. She had black hair, pulled back and bright-orange eyes. Everyone stood up instantly. "Rima has broken both of her legs but she's getting some more blood. Hinamori suffered a large head injury, but she'll be okay after a week or two. You may go see them now."

Ikuto was the first at Amu's side. Her skin was creamy again instead of pale and an IV was in her wrist, giving her the blood she needed. A bandage was wrapped around the crown of her head, but she looked normal otherwise.

"Are you Tsukiyomi Ikuto?" the nurse asked. Ikuto nodded, holding on to Amu's hand. "It would be wise for her to rest for a while." she said. Amu's golden eyes opened slowly and Ikuto held tighter to her hand. She looked at Ikuto in a dazed way. "Amu, are you okay?"

She looked at him like he was stupid. "Who are you?" Ikuto felt like a gun had been put to his head and the trigger pulled. "A-Amu…it's me. Don't you remember? I'm Ikuto," he tried explaining, hoping she would say it was a joke. But she remained confused as she sat up and felt her head.

"I don't know any Ikuto's." she said. "Amu-chi?" Yaya came around the curtain with the rest of her roommates. "How's she doing?" Kukai looked at Ikuto. "Who is this 'Amu' you all keep talking about?" Amu asked. All of her friends went pale, including Ikuto, who had been that way since she first spoke out of waking.

"You're Amu Hinamori. You're eighteen and you go to Tokyo University. You want to become a clothes designer." Ikuto said. "I do? So…what? Are you my boyfriend?" she asked Ikuto. "Yes." Ikuto replied. "Then…why am I in the hospital?"

"Your friend, Rima, and you were in a car accident and you were hit in the head hard." Kukai explained for Ikuto. "I don't remember…I could see lights, hear screaming, maybe it was me. But, that's pretty much all I can recall."

"Visiting hours are over." The same nurse walked in. "I want Ituko to stay with me." Amu said. They all sweat dropped. "It's 'Ikuto'." Ikuto said. "I don't know why, but I want to go with you." Amu said.

"All right, fine. If he signs some release forms." the nurse was tired and probably just didn't want to deal with stubbornness right then. Ikuto stood and nodded.

The others said good bye to Amu and then left while Ikuto talked with the doctor who had taken care of Amu. "She's suffered a large concussion and the blow was centered on the part of her brain where her memories are, causing amnesia. She won't remember anything for a long time. But, if she spends some time with her friends, she'll begin to regain the lost memories." she explained. "She sounds like she can remember you a little, so keep her with you in your home, Mr. Tsukiyomi."

Amu was sitting across the room on the hospital bed, letting the nurse take her blood pressure. She was talking to the nurse with a smile on her face.

Ikuto signed some forms, verifying Amu's release from the hospital. "Come on, Amu," he said, holding her hand while they walked down the long, bright hallway.

Her friends had brought her some clothes and she now wore a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Her hair was down and reached to her belt. Her eyes were wide with wonder at everything around her.

Ikuto couldn't blame or get annoyed about it. He didn't either. She had just lost her memory while trying to save a friend, so she had every right to be curious. Her golden eyes, always so beautiful, searched the entire outside as they walked to the parking lot.

He smiled at her curiosity—smiled, not smirked, for once—as he unlocked the car door. Amu stopped outside of the door as he opened it for her. Her eyes swam with terror. "I-I don't like this thing. It's scary. I don't know why…I just don't want to get in it." she said. Ikuto understood. "It's all right, Amu; you may not remember, but I promised you once that nothing would happen to you as long as I was around. And you're with me now, right?" he said. Amu nodded. Ikuto hugged her shoulders comfortingly. "Then that means, nothing will happen to you, right?"

Amu nodded and smiled, obviously feeling a lot better about it. She sat down and reached for her seatbelt and then her eyes flashed with horror again and she let it go instantly, like it had burned her. She was probably getting flash memories of how terrified she felt when she last saw things like that.

Ikuto smiled at her and then pulled her seatbelt around her chest and flat stomach, snapping it for her. He rubbed her shoulder. "It's okay, Amu. Remember my promise."

They pulled up at his 'house', which, in truth, really was his dad's mansion. He just lived there and his dad was never home. He helped Amu out of the car and she walked across the lawn with him, looking in awe at every wonder in the large yard.

She was amazed with how big his house was. "It's so…wow." she said. She then turned to him. "So…you're name is Ikuto and you're my boyfriend? I can't say if I'm right or not, but shouldn't I be living in like, a dorm, or something?" she asked.

"You normally do. But you have to stay with me, at least until your memory is a little better." Ikuto answered.

He still couldn't bring himself to believe that her car being smashed was an accident. He knew someone was behind it. "Amu, are you sure you can't remember anything?" Ikuto asked. "Well…I remember something about you, and how I played a game and after that…" She turned scarlet. "I-I don't want to talk about it." she said.

Ikuto also understood that completely. "It's fine," he said, taking her hand. He led her up the stairs and into a large room beside his. It was decorated with pink and black. He had this ready-made for when she'd need it.

She sat down on the bed and laid back. "I'll be in my room if you need me. I'm just next to you, okay?" he said. Amu nodded and curled into a ball against her pillow. Ikuto shut the door quietly and headed to his own room.

Amu was in a white nightgown to her knees and it had spaghetti straps. She lay in the huge bed with all the pillows around her. It was a four-poster canopy.

She couldn't sleep at all. She looked at the door and walked towards it.

Ikuto heard the door open and saw Amu slim form stand in it. She walked towards the bed and lay against his back. Her body was warm and she was soft. He turned over and realized he hadn't gotten into pajamas and was wearing his clothes from that day. He held her close, feeling how scared she was. It must have been terrible to endure such a thing.

"Ikuto, I can't remember my mom or my dad. And I can't even remember why I was in the hospital…but I know that I must really love you because I can remember you." she whispered. She moved against him, falling asleep.

Ikuto held her closer. Was she always so beautiful in her sleep? She was really warm and soft…like a human hot water bottle. Hadn't he told her that before? When she was twelve and he was seventeen.

Flash Back:

"Why aren't you in the floor?!" Amu had shouted her shoulder-length hair stringy in her frustration. "When you say it like that, I really don't want to go down there." Ikuto had replied, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her down. (Refers to episode 74!) She had an irritated expression as he held her around the shoulders. "So warm. A child's body temperature is rather high; like a human hot water bottle."

End Flash Back.

Amu seemed a little better as the days went on. Ikuto had to re-teach her a lot of things; like how to turn on the shower, or how to use a fork and spoon. She could mostly remember how to do things that dealt with every day life, but that blow was really hard on her head and she still had some trouble.

She could still read, walk, and write perfectly well. Ikuto took her to school everyday and then drove to work. Today was a bad day for Amu, though.

Now the story of 'the designer and the CEO' had gotten out big time. Amu could hardly remember anything about it, but people were avoiding her. Most guys thought she was hot and liked her more, but the girls all got jealous and refused to talk to her.

Amu walked down the hall alone, feeling so confused that she could hardly stand it. It was like waking up to being eighteen all of a sudden and she had responsibilities, work, and she was expected to be drawing all the time, from what she had heard.

She began to get evil looks from girls as she passed and she just looked the other way. She was startled when she was pulled by the arm and yanked into a broom closet. "What the hell—?" she shouted when she looked up at a young man with purple hair and the same colored eyes. "Can I help you?" she said in an irritated way. She didn't like this person. She couldn't remember why.

"Can you really not remember?" he asked her. "Do I look like I know who you are?" Amu said sarcastically. She was being rude, but she oddly didn't care. Not one bit.

"No, genius; I can't." she said irritably. "Well, then we can be friends, right? I'm Len Lampridge." he said, outstretching a hand. Amu looked suspiciously at it. "I don't know if I should," she said. "Why not?" Len asked. "Because Ikuto told me not to talk to anyone else that I don't remember." she replied simply. "Don't listen to Ikuto. He's a killjoy. Do I look dangerous to you?" Len said innocently. Amu knew she shouldn't, but she could almost remember someone like him. That would make him a friend, right? And, if she remembered him, then shouldn't she try to regain her full memory?

Amu took his hand and shook it. "Amu Hina—Hina—Screw it! I can't remember!" Amu said. Len smirked. "It's Hinamori." he said. As soon as her hand touched his, the feeling of being terrified for her life and disappointing Ikuto hit her full force and she tore her hand away. "I—I'm sorry! I have to go!" she said in a terrified way, ripping the door open and running down the hall.

Could he get rid of her at all?!! Really, what he had expected to be the easiest job in the world was turning out to be a big pain. He'd had two guys rape her; her eggs turned to X's because he made sure to bring out the bad side of her; and he had three cars crush hers! She still wasn't dead!!!

You think she might have committed suicide after the story of her and his brother had come out, or after she was raped, or after her eggs changed. No; she wasn't weak like he had first thought. She was apparently determined to live; memory or none. But he wasn't finished yet; he wouldn't rest until he held Amu Hinamori's dead body in his arms. He had a new idea to get rid of her.

Amu stood in the girls' bathroom, gasping and crying. She didn't even know why. A painful feeling of being hurt and violated was inside her body. She couldn't remember why she felt that way.

Ikuto came and picked Amu up early that day; around 1:54; to find her already waiting. She looked like she had been crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked, getting out. Amu pasted a small smile on and nodded. "I just want to go home." she said, getting into the car. Ikuto nodded. She had learned to fasten her seatbelt on her own again, and she got into the car without hesitation when Ikuto was there.

THAT SATURDAY:

Amu wore a pink-and-black-striped-sweater and a black mini skirt; the same ones she had worn before. She had her hair pulled back again and let it fan out at her waist once more. She was doing some homework and came across a word she couldn't quite understand. She knew Ikuto would help so she got off of her bed and went to the door, walking down the hall to the library.

Ikuto left the library to go pick up some more of Amu's things. He had her Shugo case with the eggs and the Lock in it. He didn't think she'd be ready for all those memories to hit her yet, so he kept it with him for now.

Amu walked into the double doors. The room was filled with ceiling-high shelves around the walls. Not a wall was free of a shelf. It was large, with a marbled floor and a painting of an angel on the vaulted ceiling. The walls on the borders were outlined with gold.

"Ikuto? Do you have a dictionary I can borrow?" she called. Only her echo answered her. "I wonder where he went?" she said quietly, walking through the many shelves.

So many books! Amu was amazed at how much Ikuto's father had. She wandered through the many oak shelves for a while; then she remembered why she was there.

She looked at a bottom shelf and spotted, on the bottom of a pile of old books, New Japanese Dictionary. "That's a coincidence." she said, bending down and gingerly removing the four, old volumes off of the book she wanted. Its cover was a dark red and it seemed to be too new to be under those for long. The pages on the side didn't look real.

Amu picked it up and felt how light it was for a dictionary. She tapped on the front with her long index finger and heard a tiny sound. "It's…made of tin?"

She enclosed her slim hand over the side and opened it to find the inside hollowed-out and filled with several photos.

She carefully and slowly picked up the pictures. They had all been laminated and were a size enough to fit a small frame. A girl with shoulder-length pink hair and golden eyes had on a black blazer with a red-and-black plaid skirt and shin dresses with the same designs. She had on a white shirt under the blazer. She sat on a pink horse on a merry-go-round with a young man with midnight-blue hair and sapphire eyes rode on the horse next to her.

The girl was smiling at the camera and holding a peace sign while the young man just looked plain bored, looking at the girl. Amu squinted and then looked at the next one. The same girl was being pulled up onto the same young man's back. The next one was of the same girl with a young man with long, purple hair and lavender eyes. He had his arm around her shoulder and they were smiling, like they were best friends.

Then there was one of the same girl, only older, at the beach in a bikini (Here we go with the bikini song again!) with two other girls; one with golden hair and one with brown pigtails. The brown-hair girl was in a red one piece and the blond was in a blue two piece. The girl who had been in all the pictures was beside the same, blue-haired young man and she had on white sunglasses. She had them pulled down by her hand, winking at the camera playfully with a smile.

This time, the young man was smiling at her. Amu dug deeper into the hidden box and found a white piece of notebook paper. It had been crumbled, but smoothed back out. She unfolded it from its square shape and read.

My Amu,

I'm sorry I haven't been around and I know it's probably hurt a lot. Congrats on winning that award. Your designs are better than anything Utau has bought. I'd like to buy your designs for 953,354,543 yen if you'll work with me. Amu, I'd be the luckiest person ever if you'd come back. These last few years without you have been the worst of my life.

I have something important to tell you, but I can't right now. If you're wondering how I wrote all of this so fast; I always carry it with me, that's just how much you mean to me. I don't expect an immediate answer, but I hope you accept.

Missing you always,

Ikuto,

Amu felt her eyes swell with tears. Tears ran down her face. She looked at the pictures again and held the one on the merry-go-round.

The doors opened to the library and a few minutes later, Ikuto found Amu by the shelf where he kept the pictures of her. She was bent down and held something. The box wasn't on the shelf.

Amu looked over her shoulder at Ikuto and her eyes were wet with tears. "Ikuto, is that me?" she asked in a voice that sounded as though she was hurting. Ikuto bent down beside her and took the letter. "I found this in your room before your accident. I had written it to you. And yes; that is you."

Amu looked painfully down at the pictures. "And those are my friends? And…that's you…" she pointed to the young man beside her in most of the pictures with blue hair. "That's me…" Ikuto admitted.

Amu broke into tears. "Ikuto, I can't remember! I can't remember any of it!" she sobbed hard. Ikuto put his arms around her shoulders. "I-I want to remember it." she sobbed into his shirt.

"You will, I'll make sure of it, Amu. That's why you're here with me now; so you can remember." Ikuto soothed.

So…is it good? I'll update soon. Been pretty tired. I uploaded THREE whole chaps yesterday!!!