"Stop with all this damn gloominess, okay?" exclaimed Hitoshi whirling around immediately once the six of us entered the base. "It's not the end of the goddamn world!"

Neither of us spoke a word which only led him into further frustration. I turned around to face the solemn faces of Sasuke and Mayumi.

"Uh…you two stay here. The four of us need to check in with our Chief."

"Fine."

Sighing heavily, I led the way to the Chief's room.

"Please do have a seat," he said motioning to the couch that had been placed in front of the desk.

We did as he said, but before he could even have a chance to speak, I spoke up first. The events of the past few hours had been replaying in my head non-stop.

"Chief, if you don't mind me saying, but why did you call us during the case? For as long as I could remember, phone calls from the base to any member on an undercover mission are strictly prohibited."

His stony and expressionless face cracked into a tight smile.

"Yes, you are correct; however, I had a young lady come in the other day with some very interesting arguments."

"A young lady? Who was she?" asked Hitoshi speaking up quickly.

He frowned.

"It's shameful to admit, but I don't quite remember her name, but what I do remember was that she had this strange pink hair…"

"Chief, we don't have anyone here with pink hair," stated Kyou.

"Yes, if I remember correctly, I believe she was a negotiator from some other station."

What the hell was she up to?

"Can you tell us what happened between the two of you?" I asked in dire need for information.

The Chief shook his head; his stony, expressionless face coming back into play.

"I was asked to keep the main contents of our conversation private. If you really need to know what happened, you're going to have to ask her yourself."

Hitoshi groaned about how he was never going to find out what happened since he didn't even know who this pink haired girl was. The chief cut his rant short and had us fill in a few documents about the mission before we left.

x

Each of us, after the check in, had gone our separate ways except for Sasuke, Mayumi and me. I led them around the parking aimlessly, only to realize that I had never come here with my car and that it had been Utau who had driven me here.

Groaning, I hailed a cab and ushered the two kids inside.

"Ikuto, you don't need to do this anymore. I have some money and so does Mayumi…we can just get a hotel room or something."

"Why would I send two underage kids to a hotel? It's not happening."

"So Ikuto, where are you taking us? Your house?" questioned Mayumi as if to lighten the mood.

"Not quite."

Amu POV

Things had been so uneventful lately. My gaze dropped down to the files that currently covered my table. After finally finding out that the person who fired the first shot was a man who went by the name Hikaru Tenachi, work had been slow. I wasn't sure why either, but it seemed Tsukasa was adamant on not giving me any negotiation cases since Ikuto left on his SWAT case.

I wonder how he was doing on his case.

Sighing, I slumped even lower on the couch and began my usual afternoon daydreaming until the doorbell rang.

"Ami! Can you get the door?" I shouted too lazy to even attempt to get up.

I waited a beat and when I didn't hear a reply, I groaned, pushed myself up off the couch and trudged to the door.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly after I flung the door open. "I'm not interested in buying anything."

"I wasn't interested in selling."

My eyes widened, as I for the first time took note of the person's features. Dark azure hair that reminded anyone of a midnight sky and eyes that matched the color of his hair. For a moment, I forgot…or I chose to forget – whatever the case, I ran towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist pulling him close to me.

"A-amu?" he whispered hoarsely after a few moments.

Realizing what had happened; I pushed myself away and looked to the floor in embarrassment. From the little traces of heat I could feel emitting from my face, I could tell I was slightly pink. Looking up, I noticed the two kids who stood awkwardly behind him. I flashed them a cheerful smile and stepped to the side.

"Well, come in. You guys must be hungry; I'll make something to eat."

The girl looked up and gave me a tiny smile of appreciation before going in. The boy followed behind her closely, and Ikuto went after them. As he passed by, I saw the tint of pink on his cheeks and tried not to smile.

The three of them took a seat on the couch, once again awkwardly.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting company today. Somebody should've called me if they planned on visiting," I said shooting Ikuto a look. "So what can I get you guys? I have coffee, tea, juice?"

"Oh, there's no need to do that for us," announced the girl, slightly uncomfortable.

"Don't be modest. I'll just get you two some juice. Ikuto, how about some coffee?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Ikuto POV

"She's really pretty!" gushed Mayumi once Amu had disappeared into the kitchen.

"She's even hotter in person."

I looked at the two of them and sighed. Hearing my sigh, the two of them turned and shot me pointed looks.

"You're an idiot," started Sasuke not even sparing a glance in my direction.

"I know!" agreed Mayumi before I even had a chance to speak. "Why were you just standing there? You should've just hugged her back."

"I don't believe I've forgotten to mention the fact that we broke up."

"And? I do remember you telling her that you missed her – a lot – over the phone."

Mayumi's eyes widened at this new bit of information.

"When did this happen?"

"Oh, you were asleep," shrugged Sasuke casually.

She looked mortified, but for the most part let it go.

"But you really should've hugged her back."

I shrugged.

They didn't understand how I felt. Even now, my heart was beating at an irregular pace. But I wouldn't admit that.

Amu thankfully walked back in with a tray full of drinks and assorted cookies. She took a seat next to me on the couch and smiled as she usually does.

"So, what's with the unexpected visit? I'm sure you guys would rather be at home relaxing."

Immediately remembering Hidetoshi, Sasuke and Mayumi looked down at their drinks. They each had a solemn look on their face.

"Amu," I began. "Why did you meet up with the SWAT Chief?"

Turning slightly so she could face me as well, a frown played across her face.

"I was trying to help. Besides how do you know I talked with your Chief?"

"He told us," I let out with an exasperated sigh. "But now, because my team isn't on the case anymore, a new team is going to kill Hidetoshi without a care in the world."

Amu froze for a moment, before letting out a small laugh. The three of us frowned at her, but she was still smiling.

"I see what's going on here. This is what really happened. After the phone call, I went up to your Chief the next day and asked if there was any way to slightly alter the mission you and your team were originally sent out to do. Obviously he said no, so I sat there in his office for three whole hours talking his ear off until he finally agreed. I also selfishly requested that when you and your team came back that you were given the details of the new mission and not given any details about me. But he must've gotten the whole thing backwards."

"So what exactly is this new mission?" Sasuke speaking up for the first time.

"You must be Sasuke. Well, I talked with Ikuto's Chief and asked him to not have your brother executed. Instead, a new team is going to capture him alive and throw him into jail for quite a long time."

We all had blank looks on our faces, clearly not expecting this. Amu merely got up and sent us another smile.

"It's getting dark, so you guys can stay the night if it's fine by you. I'll ask Ami to run a hot back for all of you and then I'll tend to your wounds. Okay?"

"How'd you know they're wounded?" asked Mayumi sending Amu a questioning look.

"I've worked as a negotiator long enough to see how two people walk when they've been severely inured."

Night Time

Amu POV

I sat on the bathroom floor next to Mayumi while I wrapped the gauze around Sasuke's torso. They both sat in their bath robes silently staring at the floor. Yet at certain points, their eyes would drift up to each other before averting their gaze once more.

"Are you two going out?" I asked casually.

"N-No!" stuttered Mayumi her face going a very bright pink.

Sasuke remained silent but his face was also quite pink. I smiled. They were just too cute for their own good.

"W-what about you and I-Ikuto?" questioned Mayumi still recovering from her flush attack.

With a sigh, I clipped the gauze in place and leaned back against the counter.

"We broke up a while ago."

"But you guys still like each other!"

"I…I'm not sure."

Sasuke sent me a look that I didn't quite understand.

"Look…Amu, I know it takes a bit of unsure feelings to realize what someone's feelings really are. But you can't stay in the middle forever or both of you will end up getting hurt."

"I've heard that before."

"Because we're right. It's obvious to everyone here that you and Ikuto have some pent up feelings towards each other, but neither of you are fully able to admit this to the other person. You keep quiet because you're not fully sure yet and you don't want to get hurt in the process. Ikuto's an idiot because he just bent up on protecting everyone around him even if it's at his own cost. You guys just need to hurry up and realize your own feelings."

Sighing, I got up and looked at them.

"Well, thanks for the advice Doctor Love Guru, but you two have got to go to sleep. A lot has happened today, so I guess you two would much rather sleep together than apart.

Their faces both went pink.

"For tonight, you two can sleep on my bed and tomorrow I'll go out and buy a bed for the other spare room I have and you guys can live here if you want to."

"Sasuke and I were going to leave tomorrow; we don't want to be a burden on you or Ikuto."

I smiled, knowing exactly how they felt.

"If you two were a burden on me, then I wouldn't have even offered, okay? And besides, I'm not going to send two under aged kids out on the streets alone. So go and brush your – damn…I don't have any spare tooth brushes. Okay, so today you two can skip out on that and tomorrow just leave everything to me, okay?"

"Thank you very much," mumbled Mayumi embracing me.

"Yeah, thanks," muttered Sasuke gruffly.

"Mhm. Now get some good sleep. Goodnight."

I walked out of the bathroom to find Ikuto leaning against it. My face began to heat up.

"Were you standing there the entire time?"

He shook his head.

"I was in Noelle's room. I just got here right now."

"I see," I muttered somehow not able to find the right words to say.

Ikuto took a step forward, closing the distance between us. Our bodies were practically touching – we were barely inches apart. He suddenly wrapped his arms around me bringing me in close.

My face, I could tell, was already visibly pink but when I heard Mayumi's silent giggle I turned an even darker shade.

"Ikuto?"

He placed his chin on my head.

"Thank you, Amu…for what you did. I'm glad I'm back."

"Me too," I whispered slowly wrapping my arms around his torso.

Ikuto POV

My mind was still on Amu even after I came downstairs. I found Ami sitting in the kitchen and so I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her. With a word, she got up, poured another glass of milk and slid it towards me before taking her seat again. The box of cookies was in the middle.

"So, I heard you and Amu had a moment upstairs."

Frowning, I pulled a cookie out of the box and looked at her.

"How'd you find out?"

"Sasuke and Mayumi," she answered with a sly shrug. "But, I'm glad you're back. Amu's been acting stranger than usual."

"Strange how?"

"Just strange," she muttered.

Ami and I were talking about my mission a little while later when we heard the sound of locks and doors and windows being shut. She completely ignored the sound, and continued to dunk her cookie in her glass of milk.

"What's that sound?" I asked taking a bite of my own cookie.

"Amu's locking the doors and stuff."

Had she always done that? I didn't seem to remember her ever taking her time and going to every single place with a lock and checking it.

"Had she always done that?"

Frowning, Ami looked at me as if she too thought it was strange now that it was being brought under question.

"Actually, she started to do it a couple days ago. After I came back from Kukai's house, I saw her going by and locking everything. When I asked her about, she shrugged and said that she was just doing what she should've done from the beginning."

What had happened while I had been away?

x

I had decided to let Amu take the couch at the end and I slept on the floor. There was no need to mess up both of her couches.

Not being able to sleep, I sat up and leaned against the couch she was sleeping on and looked at her. I pushed the bangs away from her face and tucked it behind her ear gingerly. She looked so peaceful in her sleep…

I leaned in close and brought my lips against her forehead. She stirred lightly but continued sleeping. Sighing, I stared into space lightly until my eyes focused on her table. There were files scattered all over the top.

Had those always been there? I hadn't noticed them when she brought in the food earlier. Reluctantly pulling myself away from her, I got up and walked towards the table that she had pushed away to make room for me.

There were witness reports that had been organized meticulously according to date and subject. Important lines were highlighted in pink. To the side was an arrest warrant that had been signed by several people including Tsukasa himself.

Who had been arrested?

Frowning, I pushed aside other papers until I found a file with the name Hikaru Tenachi on it. Inside, there was a sketch along with a copy of a witness report and all of his contact information. I kept looking until I finally found a newspaper article that had been printed out recently.

After finishing the article, I turned to face her sleeping figure, a smile on my face.

So she really had found the man who fired the first shot.

Whispering to her a quiet 'goodnight', I crawled back into my spot and fell asleep.

x

-THUD-

"Hmmm?" I mumbled stirring from my sleep.

I opened my eyes and was immediately greeted by the darkness. Without moving, I patiently waited for any sort of sound similar to the one that had woken me up. When I heard nothing, I groaned and turned on to my side when I felt something move beside me. My eyes drifted down to see Amu.

"Christ!" I exclaimed jolting away only to realize that she was holding onto my hand in her sleep which prevented me from going very far.

Calming down, I moved closer towards her – the moonlight illuminating her sleeping figure. Her mouth was slightly parted allowing me to hear her steady breathing. Looking up a little, I saw her blanket was also on the floor.

She must've fallen.

Sighing, I picked her up bridal style and carried her to the couch, setting her down gingerly. I was about to move away when I realized she still had a grip on my hand.

"I-ku-to," she mumbled slowly.

Frozen, I turned back around to see her still sleeping. Her face was flushed I noticed with a small frown. Did she have a fever?

I placed my other hand against her forehead, but it was normal. Not wanting to wake her up, I sat on the floor beside her.

"Ikuto," she said again. "Come on…we have to go…to the hospital."

"Why?" I asked slowly.

"Baby."

"Whose baby?" I asked again.

"O-ours," she finished pulling herself closer towards my arm.

It was strange; but for some reason, after that, I couldn't fall back asleep.

The Next Morning

The five of us were sitting at the breakfast table. Amu ate her breakfast nonchalantly while Ami, Sasuke, and Mayumi all sent me sly looks.

"Ikuto," Amu began casually. "Are you going to stop by Tsukasa's today?"

"Uh yeah, there are a couple of things I need to get done."

"Oh, do you need me to drop you off? You don't have your car with you."

Ami and the rest of them nodded their heads quickly.

"Its fine, I'll just get a cab."

"Okay."

From the corner of my eye, I saw them glaring at me.

Sighing, I washed my plate in the sink and set it in the dishwasher.

"Have a good day!" she exclaimed just as I left.

What they failed to notice was the slight pink tint on my face.

x

"Oh my God, it's Ikuto! Oi, love birds, get over here!" exclaimed Kukai who was reminding me too much of Hitoshi at the moment.

Rima and Nagi appeared from their respective offices, their faces flushed.

"How was the mission?" asked Nagi.

"Well it got cut short."

"Cut short?"

"Amu worked a deal with my SWAT Chief and asked him to let the guy I was suppose to kill serve time instead."

Rima's face looked immediately guilty.

"Is she okay? Gosh, I've been so buys with mission that I haven't even had the time to visit her."

"Yeah she's fine."

The four of us talked a little while longer, before we split up. I was turning around to leave when Kukai immediately grabbed my shoulder – his face seemed worried.

"Ikuto, I need to talk to you later. It's important."

I frowned at his sudden serious change in attitude. Kukai was hardly ever serious.

"Yeah."

Amu POV

"Ami, do you want to come with us or do you want to go over to Kukai's house? Utau and Noelle should still be there."

"No it's fine, I'll come."

"Okay," I said turning to Sasuke and Mayumi who were sitting on the couch talking. "Do you two want to share a room?"

They looked at me uncertainly.

"I'm a bit uneasy…I mean you're both teenagers and there is some attraction between you and…you know?"

They both turned pink understanding where I was trying to go with this.

"Then me and Mayumi can share a room!" exclaimed Ami.

I nodded my head but looked towards Mayumi for approval.

"Do you mind sharing a room with Ami?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Okay, and Sasuke you're fine with having your own bedroom right?"

"It's cool."

Pleased by how smoothly this all came out, I grabbed my bag and ushered them into my car.

Later

Ikuto POV

Kukai sat across from me; his expression was anything but comical. If I was reading his face right, it seemed as though he torn between telling me and just shrugging it off and leaving.

"So what is it?" I asked breaking the silently dreary atmosphere.

His emerald eyes shot up and stared into mine before breaking contact once more. His mouth was pressed in a firm line. I hardly ever saw Kukai this serious before and that alone had me worried about the topic of this conversation.

"I-I promised not to tell, but if I don't I'm afraid something bad will happen to her."

"Utau?" I asked with a slight frown.

He shook his head, his dark auburn hair swaying from side to side.

"Amu."

Kukai's gaze immediately came back up to mine. It was clear in his expression that he was worried.

His words repeated in my head slowly.

"Something bad will happen to her."

"Amu."

"Something bad."

"What about her?" I asked my voice suddenly hoarse.

"Ikuto," he said still maintaining eye contact. "Amu is being threatened."

I froze.

Threatened?

Hadn't I already confronted her about this a while ago?

Seeing my complex face, Kukai elaborated.

"While you were away, Amu and Ami came to visit Noelle. While they played, Utau brought Amu to the kitchen, where I happened to be working, and she began talking. Someone's been continuously threatening her – letters have arrived at her office, her house, and even voice mails on her phone. She told us not to tell anyone, but with all of her information in this bastard's hands, I'm afraid he'll do something."

I pushed away from my desk and headed out the door.

"Ikuto!" shouted Kukai from behind me but I paid no attention to him.

I failed to hear the voices of those around me. Only one thing lingered in my head painfully.

She was being threatened.

x

Whether she wanted me or not I was moving into her place. If it had been up to me, I would've had them all at my house where this person couldn't reach them, but my house didn't have that much room.

When I finally reached her house, the sky was dark. To my dismay, there had been heavy traffic on practically every street I turned on to. I pulled out my bag and walked up to her door. Unconsciously I wrapped my hand around the door knob and pushed it open only to find that the door had been unlocked.

I cursed profusely under my breath. I was going to talk to her about that.

When I walked in, the house was completely dark. Sighing, I threw my luggage down somewhere and searched the wall for the light switch. When my hand felt the bump in the wall, I clicked on it only to see the room remain dark.

"When did the electricity go out?" I muttered to myself quietly.

Sighing, I fished through my pocket and pulled out my lighter. I flicked it open and a small bubble of light grew in front of me.

"Amu!" I shouted.

No reply.

"Ami!"

No reply.

"Mayumi!"

No reply.

"Sasuke!"

No fucking reply.

A seed of worry sunk its fangs into my chest. Where were they?

From upstairs I heard a series of footsteps descending down – a flicker of the flashlight shined on the wall. My hand immediately nestled itself on my gun as I waited for the suspect to show him or herself. The sudden light shined on my face, immobilizing me momentarily.

"Ikuto? I thought I heard you."

The light moved away from my face and I saw Sasuke leaning against the staircase.

"You didn't answer," I grumbled.

"What if it was a dangerous stranger? Do you honestly expect us to respond back, especially when Amu forgot to lock the front door?"

"Anyways, where is everyone?"

Sasuke dragged a hand through his hair.

"Everyone's huddled together in my room. We're telling ghost stories. And Amu is outside trying to fix the power box."

He handed me the flashlight that he had been holding.

"Take it. I doubt a lighter would serve much purpose."

With that, he disappeared back upstairs.

Shoving the thing in my pocket, I ventured back out the front door and to the side of the house to see Amu sitting on the cement. Hearing my footsteps, her head snapped up – shock was clearly written all over her face.

I stepped closer to see that she had been crying. Noticing my sharp gaze, she crumpled the piece of paper that had been in her hand and shoved it in her pocket.

"The power went off," she started lamely.

"I know," I answered sitting down beside her. "Why were you crying?"

She suddenly found the hem of her shirt interesting.

"I wasn't crying."

"Liar."

"I hit my head against the power box and it hurt."

Frowning, I studied her face. It was as my gaze dropped down, that I saw her hands trembling.

"Liar," I repeated taking her hand in mine.

The trembling stopped.

"What was that note?"

A forced laugh escaped from her lips.

"Don't be silly. There wasn't ever a note."

Why won't she tell me?

"Amu…Kukai told me that you're being threatened."

Her eyes darkened. I held onto her hand firmly.

"I-

A sob escaped her lips, but she shook her head refusing to cry. Sighing, I pulled her into my chest. For a moment, she didn't move. It was when I pulled her in closer that she held onto the bottom of my shirt and another sob escaped.

"I-I'm scared…I didn't want to worry them…s-so I pretended that it was j-just a regular blackout even after I saw the note. I-I didn't want A-Ami to realize that the reason I locked the doors and checked them w-was because I got a note in front of my door…I don't know what to do Ikuto."

I placed my chin on top of her head.

"Idiot," I mumbled. "You don't need to carry everything on your shoulders. Damn it Amu, I'm here. You can tell me if something is bothering you. Why do you always want to do everything by yourself?"

The air was silent, besides the occasional sniffle from Amu. It was obvious she was trying to suppress her sobs but the more she did the more she ended up crying.

I was going to kill this bastard.

"We'll worry about the power tomorrow, okay?"

Nodding her head, she wiped away her tears and the two of us walked back into the house. Remembering the flashlight that I left on the cement, I walked back out to retrieve only to find the crumpled up note.

Bending down, I opened the note and read its contents.

I hope you like the dark Amu because very soon that's where you'll be – in the dark.

Author's Notes

Yay for quick update!

Hello everyone. I hope this chapter is good enough for you guys (even though I don't like it all…even after re-writing it three times). And for all those people who were demanding some Amuto, here you go. A chapter with Amuto packed fluff :3 Yaaay (:

If anyone is wondering why I included Ikuto's mission in the story at all, that'll be explained later.

Now onto my LOVELY reviewers:

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