I didn't want to get out of bed. Well – that and I couldn't get up. I didn't have the energy to get up and close the curtains so I could block out of the sunlight, or stop the alarm clock from ringing. My arm was out of its cast, but it was in extreme pain, not to mention my ribs were throbbing. I had coughs, sniffles and a fever most likely from sitting out on the balcony all of last night. Moaning in pain, I turned over and grabbed another pillow. I hugged it at my chest and stared up at the ceiling. All of last and since this morning I've been thinking of Ikuto non-stop. Only one thing roamed my mind: Why did he break up with me?

It's just another break up, so why should this one matter? Frustrated, I threw the pillow against the door with all my might only to surrender back into the bed with a sharp cry of pain. With my eyes squeezed shut to relieve the pain and the regretful moans, I missed the knocking of the door.

"Amu? Are you okay in there?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Liar. I'm coming in."

The door silently swung open and Kain's head peeked in through the doorway. A goofy smile was plastered onto his face.

"What's wrong? You've been moping around like love-struck monkey since last night and now you're acting all sluggish."

"Love-struck…monkey?" I asked appalled.

"Yeah," he answered with a slight shrug and chuckle.

"I just don't feel good."

He stared at me with warm but concerned eyes, then raised his hand and rested it on my forehead. I felt a brush creep up into my cheeks. It was kind of embarrassing to be lying down in the bed with my pajamas and having him check my temperature. Even if it was just Kain.

"Hmm…you are a bit warm. I'll go get Ikuto."

"No!" I shouted with as much strength as I could muster.

As soon as I said that, I felt a sharp sting in the back of my throat. Great, I probably had a sore throat too.

"Don't be silly. It's just Ikuto," he said with one of those smiles that only made me smile back before he left.

"That's the problem. It's only Ikuto," I whispered to myself.

I closed my eyes and miserably waited for the both of them to come upstairs. And though I secretly prayed for some sort of delay, God didn't seem to be on my side this morning. The pair of them returned to my room speedily; Ikuto lagging behind Kukai and Kain.

"Amu, you don't feel good?" exclaimed Kukai rushing towards my bedside.

"Not really…" I mumbled trying to reassure them with a faint smile.

I was hoping it worked. Did it?

No.

"Just say you feel bad," interjected Kain. "We won't hold anything against you just because you do."

"I – thank you."

Kain looked straight at Ikuto, and then turned to me with a cocky smile.

"Well Amu, I hope you feel better, but we have to go. I'll give Ikuto some time with you, so he can give the run down of today. That way you won't miss anything."

I gave him a horrified look and he merely chuckled. He turned around to leave, and motioned for Kukai to follow him as well. Kukai gave me sympathetic look and leaned in closer towards me.

"Don't go," I whispered.

"It's okay. I've told him not to act so cold around you, especially since he just came back from his parents' house yesterday. I can't promise he'll be happy dandy, but he does care, remember that. Feel better Amu," he said placing a small kiss on my head.

On his way out, he lightly pushed Ikuto with his shoulder.

"Don't put such a jealous look on you're face," he whispered loud enough for me to hear.

Kukai looked towards me, winked, and then left the room.

Talk about awkward. There was an uncomfortable air of silence hanging around everywhere like the Christmas lights your dad puts up right on Christmas Eve. I just watched him walk forward and take a seat on my bed. More silence followed the transaction.

"So, how do you feel?"

"Bad."

"What were you doing last night?"

I glanced at the balcony guiltily. Okay, so maybe sitting out in the cold with the strapless dress I had bought with Rima and the group hadn't been the best idea I've had.

"I was sitting in the balcony," I mumbled.

"What were you wearing?"

"My strapless dress," I squeaked out.

Ikuto sighed and dragged his hand through his hair. And as he looked at the balcony, I just stared at him. Strange, how was I able to be so comfortable around him?

"What am I going to do with you?" he mumbled placing his hand on my head.

I stared at him with wide eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," he whispered lowering his head so his bangs covered his face.

"O-okay."

I felt my cheeks turn hotter.

Wait? What was I doing? I shouldn't be blushing, especially around him. He didn't accept the reason why I couldn't tell him the truth, so he broke up with me. Fair enough on that, I wasn't a truthful partner. What about the knowledge of him being my negotiator? He knew I wanted to find the negotiator, so why didn't he just come out and say it was him? If you really think about, he wasn't being that truthful either.

So explain to me, why I'm going in a big circle. When I should be mad at him, I'm not. I find myself wanting to be around him again. And when I am mad, and I'm determined to stay mad, he makes all the anger dissolve around me.

"We're just going to be investigating today. Stay in bed and rest, okay."

"I can walk."

"But if we run into them again, are you able to fight back?"

At my silence, he merely nodded his head.

"Get well then," he finished awkwardly before leaving.

The next hour passed by like this:

I tried to fall back asleep.

Hana woke me up and forced me to eat breakfast.

Hana forced me to sleep.

I couldn't sleep so I quietly just sang to myself.

I got bored of singing, and so out of desperation I counted the all the stripes on my pajamas.

I leaned back and tried to get comfortable in my bed for what seemed like the hundredth in the past hour. As I searched the room for something slightly entertaining to do, Hana burst through the door.

"Hana, I can't sleep and there's no point in eating since I just had breakfast."

A smile cracked on her face.

"Well you should be sleeping like I had told you too, but I have some news that you'd like better. You have a visitor."

"Who?"

I frowned. Who else could've been visiting me? Maybe it was Kukai or Kain…possibly Ikuto. Or what if it was Kyou, and he came to finish me off or something. My stomach did a quick flip at the thought of that.

Hana moved aside, revealing the familiar combination of blonde and red.

"Tadase? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I hadn't seen you in the past two weeks. To be frank, I was starting to get worried, so I decided to check up on you. So what's wrong?"

I sighed.

"It's a long story."

"Want to take a walk around the park and explain to me? Well…that is if you can walk."

"I think a small walk would be healthy for you," said Hana.

"What about my clothes?"

"Just stay in what you are."

"In pajamas?" I asked horrified.

"Its fine," interrupted Tadase. "It's still early out and not a lot of people are awake yet."

"Okay."

Both he and Hana helped me out of bed and down the stairs. Hana reapplied another layer of gauze around my ribs and gave me a thick scarf. I was actually thankful, I'd thought about bringing the pajamas I used during the winter time.

"Bye Hana," I whispered feeling the wrath of my sore throat again.

I stumbled out of the house, and with a slow pace Tadase and I walked to the park. He stuck close to me, in case I fell over.

"So where's this park?"

"Right around the corner."

I nodded my head. He had been right; it was calmer in the early morning and hardly anybody was out. And for the people that were out, they barely even noticed my clothing.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he chuckled.

"Ah, nope. Remember, once we're in the park and I can sit down."

"Fine, fine. You sure are stubborn."

"And you sure are pushy."

"Pushy? How am I pushy?"

"You're the one who practically forced me to come out to the park," I answered with a smile.

"Yeah, but who's the one who agreed to come?"

"But if you forget about the part where I agreed to come along, then my adjective fits you perfectly. See?"

"Ah, I don't think so."

Ikuto POV

"Not to burst your plan Ikuto, but where are we going?" asked Kukai.

"The ruins of Kyou's house."

"Why should we go back?"

"There's this note she found. And if she found something as important as that, there should be more shouldn't there?"

"Everything's probably destroyed."

"Even so, I think the plan's okay," replied Kain coolly.

"Right here," I ordered the driver as I pulled out the fare.

"We're not there yet," whispered Kukai.

"After what happened last time, I'm not risking it to stop directly in front of the house anymore. The drivers could be delivering the information."

"Like the case we did together a couple years back?"

"Exactly. Merci monsieur."

From here, it took only five minutes to reach the reserved pile of a destroyed house. But more than a dozen pieces had managed to fly at least a couple yards away from the house.

"Keep your guns close by and ready."

They nodded and we began the laborious search. Was it ironic that I had already found all of the missing pieces to the broken doll she had tried to save? I shook my head and shoved the parts to the side so I could resume my dig. The first couple inches in the pile only revealed bricks and other rubbles from the exterior or interior of the house. Most of the papers I had found had been destroyed in the accident. An accident that had full intention of killing someone.

My mind unconsciously drifted to when I had pulled Amu out of the same pile I'm digging through. Her battered body and unsteady breathing. And then I realized it, it was pointless wasn't it? It was pointless breaking up with her. It didn't change anything and I was still thinking about her.

Groaning, I carelessly shoved away what was currently on the surface revealing a small picture frame. I picked it up and brushed my thumb over the somewhat cracked glass and bronze frame. There was a little girl in the picture in front of what seemed to be her parents. The strange thing though – she almost looked like Noelle. It seemed crazy, but to be safe, I'd have Amu check when we got back.

"Ikuto, I found a satchel here!" exclaimed Kukai holding up the leather bag.

I walked over as Kain and Kukai inspected the bag.

"We should probably open it."

I wasn't paying attention. Something about the bag seemed way too familiar. I was positive I hadn't seen it in a store anywhere. Amu! It had to be her. It made sense because she'd gathered all the things she thought were valuable then rushed out. Only to see she'd forgotten the doll, so she goes back in. The house explodes, leaving Amu's bag.

Looking back, I saw Kukai opening the bag.

"Wait!" I exclaimed placing my hand on the bag. "That's Amu's bag, I think it'd be wise if we let her go through it."

"Good call," chuckled Kain slinging the back over his back.

Amu POV

"It's so pretty!" I exclaimed as loudly as my throat would allow, which wasn't very much.

"That's what I thought when I first saw this place too."

The two of us were in a peaceful state of admiration and tranquility, the last we – he needed was to listen to me nag about how my ribs and head were killing me. I tried to wrestle the pain; I mean really, we were only standing. I scrunched of my face and clenched my teeth; anything I could do to just make the pain bearable.

"Amu, look at the ge…

Tadase? He was saying something…what was he saying?

I'm not sure what happened next, but all I remember is collapsing to the floor coughing fiercely. Tadase quickly knelt down and pushed the hair out of my face.

"Are you okay? Amu!"

I coughed a little bit more – with each cough, a sharp, knife like feeling stabbing my insides – then looked up to him and just weakly smiled.

"It's nothing," I said attempting to get up on my own. "I just got a little light headed."

"Don't shrug it off as nothing!" shouted Tadase. "When you're not feeling well, say something…now…I'm taking you back home."

"No! Don't take me back to a place where I'll be cooped up in a bed all day. Where I'll be left to only sleep and eat. It's so boring," I pleaded.

I could tell Tadase was caught in between a cross of being angry, trying not to laugh, and doing the right thing. He stared at me, right into the eye before sighing.

"Fine. But you're sitting down the entire time. Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir."

The closest bench was a short distance away, but its scenery was so captivating. Leading to the bench was a path of rose bushes and surrounding the bench were tall trees. But the best part of it was the small lake with the small ducks swimming through it.

I took a seat, hearing my ribs sigh in relief. Tadase took a seat next to me; he leaned back and eased his hands behind his head.

"So what's up?"

"I was involved in an explosive accident," I admitted a bit too bluntly.

Tadase jolted forward, and stared at me wide eyed. Psh, and he thought it was one of those common girl problems along with a cold.

"Explosive accident? What happened?"

I knew this was going to take some explaining.

"Well, I'm a negotiator. I came to France because there's this criminal who's recently been kidnapping hoards of children. We'd found one of his hideouts and searched it out. Turns out, one of his colleagues was there to stop us."

"You look pretty good for being blown up."

"Thanks…I guess."

"So, does that explain the cold?"

"Huh? Uh, no. I was thinking about my ex-boyfriend and I just happened to stay out all night sitting on the balcony."

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

He stared at me in the eye again; something he'd been doing a lot lately.

"You know, you can be honest with me. I won't judge you."

I tilted my head back and looked at the clouds. Truth is I wasn't okay. There were just too many emotions swirling around in my head.

"No," I whispered quietly.

There was a long silence, in which Tadase took to lean back and make himself more comfortable.

"There's this event where my painting are being shown off at this expensive gallery. The only problem is I kind of still need a date."

I turned to him, to see that he was smirking.

"Oh no. There's no way I'm coming," I said putting my troubles to the back of my mind.

"Come on, you have to. I'll be a loner the entire night if you don't. Not to mention it's a good way to clear your head."

"I'm kind of busy – with the case and all."

"Hana, said you were free."

Damn it, I was running out of excuses.

"What if my team gets angry?"

"Then they have a problem. I may not have any experience about being a cop, but as a painter I know, that if you don't take time and clear you're head, it's your downfall at the end."

Groaning at this perfect answer he gave to me, I slightly hit him on his arm and gave in.

"Okay, I'll come."

"Good. It's a pretty formal event with people richer than I am."

"Great. I'm starting to hate this a little more every second that goes by."

"There's the enthusiasm I love," he remarked sarcastically. "Anyways, I'll pick you up at 6 p.m."

"Got it."

As more people poured into the park, Tadase got up off the bench and turned towards me.

"We should probably get going now."

"Probably."

He helped me up, and instead of walking our way back like we had done, he called a cab.

"Tadase, do you know of a person by the name of Kyou Kurosaki?" I asked while we waited.

"I don't think so, though the name seems very familiar. If it's that important, tonight you can ask some of the people coming to the event. Some of them are cops; others are fathers and mothers with children as cops."

"Okay, that'll help. Thanks."

A taxi quickly pulled up and I got into the car; Tadase remaining behind.

"You're not coming?"

"No, I have some business to handle."

"Okay. Thanks for this."

"Your welcome."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Just as I closed the door and the taxi started to move, Tadase shouted out my name and ran after the car. The taxi stopped suddenly, and I lowered my window.

"Listen, about tonight, if anyone says anything…don't take it to mind. Just ignore them."

"What're they going to say?"

"I'm not sure, but just don't take it to mind."

"Okay."

With much suspicion, I watched him leave through the back window.

Later

"How was today?" asked Hana as I took of scarf and unwrapped the extra layer of gauze.

"It was fun, though the minute we got there, I collapsed and he forced me to sit down the entire time."

"Smart boy."

"I guess," I answered casually, taking a seat at the small table in the kitchen.

Hana slid a plate of a simple chicken sandwich in front of me.

"He's taking me out again tonight."

Interested, she took a seat in front of me.

"Again? Maybe he's into you."

"I don't think so."

"So where's he taking you?"

"Some art gallery. It's pretty formal."

"What time?"

"It's at 6. What time is it now?"

"Around 4 p.m."

"It's been 3 hours already!"

"Yeah. The park must've been pretty fun if you didn't realize how long you'd been there."

"Well, I'm going to get some rest. Thanks for the sandwich."

Well-fed and happy, I walked up the stairs and gently eased myself onto the bed.

Ikuto POV

I stood up from the house, and took out my cell phone. It was close to 4 p.m. by now, and we'd gone through every inch of the house.

"Kain, Kukai, we should probably go back and talk to Taiyo and Tsuki and tell them what we found here."

"Are you going to tell them about Amu?" asked Kain getting up as well.

"I don't know."

We walked back to where the taxi had dropped us off and called another one. Before long, a cab hauled up and I gave them the address to the orphanage. The car pulled up to the intimidating structure, before speeding off. I knocked on the door and Taiyo opened the door.

"You're back again?" she said in a way that made it seem that we'd been coming over all the time – like an unwanted guest.

"Yes."

Groaning, she spared another glance at us.

"Where's the other one? The one with the strange colored hair?"

"She's out sick."

Ignoring my comment, she walked in and settled herself next to her twin on the couch.

"Well, hello," smiled Tsuki getting up. "Should I get some tea?"

"Uh, no thank you."

Seeing the somewhat grim look on all of our faces, she turned away from us and headed into the kitchen.

"I'll make some anyways."

Taiyo stared at us angrily, making Kain and Kukai a bit uneasy. I was unaffected, and just casually leaned back. Tsuki quickly came back with tea and cookies.

"So what do you want?" snapped Taiyo.

"It's about the house. We found no traces of the two twins that had been supposedly adopted, Ichiru and Hikari."

"Then where are they?" exclaimed Tsuki placing her cookie back on her plate. "What if something's happened to them?"

"Check the house again. Isn't that your job?" said Tsuki angrily.

"The house was destroyed in an explosive incident, which also explains why our other partner isn't here," I offered coldly.

Both of the twins stopped and just stared wide eyed. They obviously hadn't been expecting to hear that bit of information. Sighing, I got up again, motioning for Kain and Kukai to come as well.

"You're leaving?"

"I just came to deliver that bit of news."

"But you'll keep searching right?"

"Don't worry," smiled Kukai.

Before leaving, I took a look at Taiyo, who had remained quiet after telling her what had happened to the house, again.

The only question I had at the moment was why he needed so many children.

Amu POV

I stood before my dresser, and curled the rest of my hair. Styling it a little, I pushed in a couple bobby pins, and grinned with satisfaction at my hair. I walked over to my small closet, and pulled out the midnight blue dress I'd bought with Rima, Utau, and Yaya. I zipped it up from the side, and put on my black heels. Sitting down on my dresser again, I opened the box with the broken necklace in it. Without giving it a second look, I pulled out a pearl necklace I'd inherited a few years back from my grandmother. It had belonged to my mom originally. I clasped it around my neck and grabbed my clutch that matched the color of my dress, which I stuffed with makeup and other 'important' materials.

I walked down the steps, slowly and painfully. Yeah, I had to have Hana wrap numerous layers of gauze around my ribs, just so I wouldn't have a repeat of this morning.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you," I replied with a smile.

I sat down in the kitchen as I waited for Tadase to arrive; I'd gotten a ready a bit too quickly. Looking around, I caught sight of the time. It was around 5:50 p.m. Ikuto and the rest of them weren't back yet. A pang of worry sprang into my heart.

"Hana, while I was asleep, did Ikuto, Kukai, and Kain come back to the hotel at all?"

"Not that I know of."

Slumping back into my seat, I kept my watch on the door the entire time. The time slowly ticked to 6:05 and a knock came at the door. It was Tadase in a dark suit and not Ikuto.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Bringing my own ride instead of a taxi is a bit harder in the crowded streets of Paris."

"No it's fine really."

Tadase steadied his gaze on me and smiled.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you. And you look handsome," I replied with a smirk.

"Bye Hana!"

"Goodbye Amu, have fun."

I followed Tadase outside, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him hop onto a bright red motorcycle.

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope. Hop on."

I inched a little closer to vehicle, looking at it dreadfully.

"You didn't have a car?"

"Oh I do. Three to be exact and a limousine. But I thought I'd arrive in style."

"I see."

I picked my dress up a little and got on behind Tadase. And I thought that was the worst of it. Grabbing something from in front of him, he turned around and handed me a large helmet in the same show off red as his motorcycle.

"But I fixed my hair."

"I didn't take you as the type to be worried about their appearance."

"I'm not. But you said it was a formal event and people might say something bad."

A worried looked came into his eyes.

"Don't worry about a thing. Just be yourself and you'll be fine. Plus, it's just this one guy I'm worried about."

"If you say so," I said as I eased the helmet onto my head.

I apparently wasn't warned of fast he was going to be driving or how he was going to make over a dozen sharp turns that made you want to fall off. Or the fact I was holding onto his waist for dear life, so I would fall. Or the fact that I was actually enjoying the whip of the wind against my face and body.

When we got there, the street was filled with cars and limos and the paparazzi. A sight I had only witnessed on T.V. As soon as they saw the red motorcycle, cameras were shoved right at our faces. I didn't know why such a formal art show needed annoying paparazzi.

Tadase grabbed my arm and led me through the crowd. With him navigating me, it didn't seem that hard to shove past them. The structure itself was amazing. Just like many of the building I had seen in France, this one resembled a castle. With it tall towers, and old bricks.

Finally, we managed to escape them once we entered the magnificent building. The inside was more modern than the outside. While the exterior gave you a medieval feeling, the inside was so much more modern.

The floor was made of a light woodwork and the walls were painted a simple white. And though it might have seemed a little too plain, the paintings were able to standoff on their own.

I walked away from Tadase, and ventured up to the closest painting. It was dated to a while back, but the painting looked so real. Like it was taken with a camera instead of paints.

"You drew this?" I asked with astonishments.

Tadase walked towards me and lightly chuckled.

"That was the first portrait I ever drew of the Eiffel Tower. Strange since I had been living in Paris for a while now."

"It's beautiful."

"Thanks."

Every once in a while, as Tadase showed me one of his painting, someone would come up and talk to him. His tone changed, I noticed. He acted more serious and elite; where as with me, his tone was more light and carefree.

"Who is that gorgeous lady by your side Tadase?" asked the man's companion.

"Ah, she's just a good friend of mine."

"Well do introduce us."

I smiled courteously at the woman. She was beautiful herself. Her dark hair was tied up in a stiff but elegant bun. And though her complexion was a bit pale, she pulled it off with a sleek black dress and bold red lips.

"Amu, this is Mrs. Yamamoto. Her husband owns one of the largest boat companies in Japan."

"Pleasure to meet you," I smiled shaking their hands.

The couple bid farewell, and Tadase sighed.

"You handled that quite well."

"Really? I guess I've seen too many movies."

Tadase chuckled and we made our way to another one of the paintings. It had only been 15 minutes since I'd arrived here, but I was having a wonderful time.

Ikuto POV

"You look dreadful. What happened to you?" exclaimed Hana as we walked in.

"Thanks," I muttered with sarcasm. "We were digging through the ruins of the house."

"Well do go up and take a hot bath. I'm sure you're tired."

"I'm so going first!" exclaimed Kukai running up the stairs.

"Well, I'm going to go and take a rest," said Kain retreating as well.

"I'll go check on Amu and see if she's okay."

I had only managed to get on the first step of the staircase, when Hana reemerged from the kitchen with plates in her hand.

"You won't find her upstairs."

"Then where is she?"

"She went out with a friend just a while ago."

"A friend? We've only been here for a couple weeks, how could she possibly have made a friend already?" I asked feeling my temper rise just a bit.

"I'm not sure. But he sure was dashing. Looked just like a real prince."

"Where'd they go?"

"I'm not sure sweetie, but she said it was something formal."

"Who'd she go with?"

"Ah, I forgot his name. But he had this wonderful gold hair and these charming red eyes."

Just what the hell was she thinking, going to an event with Tadase?

A/N

Hello ~ I actually had a hard time stopping this chapter. If I continued it, it would have reached to page 25. Anyways, sorry for not uploading as quickly as I had planned out too. My weekends have been booked with parties and dates, and every day in between is getting ready for my trip which is in just a couple days. Not to mention I had some writer's block – 3 – . By the way don't you like the new change on fanfiction/fictionpress when you login? I'm not sure, it seems more techy to me :)

But don't worry. I'm going to upload one last time on Friday or Sunday before I leave on Monday.

I think that's all for this time. Look forward to Friday's chapter!

Read~Review~Enjoy

Neko-Meme