The Troubles with Cat-Sitting

More updates to each chapter coming soon!

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December 7th: A chilly morning bristles through the streets of inner-city Tokyo, where a pink-haired heroine makes her journey to the Tsukiyomi residence. It's currently 9am, with the girl having dressed herself in an oversized red parka, a black/white striped scarf around her neck, a matching pair of black mittens and a hat, and a deep brown shade on her Oxford shoes; she wanted to make a good impression upon the mother of the man she was going to care for in due time. She only met the mother, Souko Tsukiyomi once when she visited the man/boy at the hospital. Since then, many plans and coordinations took place to ensure proper care of the son, Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

...

Amu didn't know what to expect once she knocked on the main door to the house.

BRRRRRIIIINGGGG

BRRRRIIIIINNNG

The door bell buzzed twice, then a familiar voice sounded in the speaker attached to the door-

"Hello?"

Amu proceeded to respond appropriately~

"Um, Hello! This is Amu Hinamori; is this the Tsukiyomi residence by any chance?" Amu hoped she didn't mix up the addresses; she never actually visited Ikuto's house before (as compared to the numerous visits Amu received at her own house from Ikuto, himself).

"Ah! Good morning, Amu! I'll let you in." the voice, now recognized to be Souko's responded sweetly. Another buzz emanated through the door, prompting Amu to open the door on command. Once she walked into the foyer of the house, she immediately removed her shoes and placed them on a little faux leather mat next to a set of bags and umbrellas. Souko appeared just then, having came from another room close by. She was wearing a black dress suit and nylons, almost as if she were to belong in a professional office setting acting as personal secretary to some big corporate hot shot instead of going to court to testify for the abuse placed upon her son. You can't really judge a book (or woman) by its covers, especially when the book appears to be short but is instead 1000 pages long on the inside, multiple intricate details tucked away each page at a time.

"Hello Amu, it's wonderful to see you again! Come on in, please make yourself at home! I'll set some tea up in just a moment." Souko said as she lead Amu to what would be considered the living room. Whilst the room seemed smaller in perception, the minimal usage of furniture made for more space and gave the room a classy vibe to it. Amu seated herself on a long, brown-leather couch.

It felt weird to be alone, all of a sudden. Before her visit, Amu commanded her three shugo charas, Ran, Miki and Suu to pay a visit and update the Guardians about Ikuto's condition as only a few select people were allowed to visit him at the hospital; Tadase having been included in the selected list of visitors.

To her recollection, Amu vividly remembered the day she first saw Ikuto after the accident; after discussing further plans for Tsukasa and Amu to care for Ikuto while Souko dealt with EASTER and the current lawsuit against the company, Tadase shortly visited after.

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December 1st-- 6 days before.

Amu's POV:

Today is Ikuto's 17th birthday and he is celebrating his special day in a pediatrics wing of a local Tokyo hospital after having been brutally mind-controlled by EASTER, or more specifically Gozen themselves.

..

As of now, there's talk that Ikuto was so severely injured from the accident that he is now left in a permanent state of incapacitation, relying solely on caregivers to provide him his needs.

..

"Happy birthday, Ikuto!" a crowd of nurses clapped and cheered as Souko and Utau assisted Ikuto in blowing out the candle on his personal cupcake; it was a small chocolate cupcake with blue and pink icing swirls, adorned with a small rainbow-striped candle.

It wasn't that people forgot that today was Ikuto's birthday, but considering the sad news his family and close friends were told regarding his condition, it seemed as those something that's supposed to be a happy moment was bypassed in favor of grievance and sorrow.

Luckily in short notice, Tadase had ran to a local convenience store and picked up a small, bite-sized cupcake for Ikuto (as told by the doctor that Ikuto would not be yet ready for full-sized solid foods at the moment).

"Here you go- let's take a bite, Ikuto" Souko warmly said as she broke off a piece of the cupcake and fed it to Ikuto. In all actuality, the nurses also wanted to be sure that Ikuto could physically eat without needing to do the Heimlich procedure on him; hence a group of college-aged nurses joined in celebrating their patient's 17th birthday together, for safety as well as good bedside manners too!

As Souko carefully fed the remaining cupcake to Ikuto, it became evident that messiness would be unavoidable when feeding Ikuto. There were smears of pink and blue icing around his mouth and cheeks, as well as chocolate crumbles on the corners of his mouth; he ate mouth-open similar to that of a baby eating food for the first time.

The nurses had made a small gift for Ikuto, which he was currently holding in his arms as Souko started wiping his face with baby wipes to clean off any remains of the eaten cupcake. The little toy was a stuffed cat, it's ears perched high on its head and a few whiskers poking out of its cheeks. Big black, beady eyes adorned the creature and a small white button nose sat under, with no mouth provided but it did give the toy a certain cutesy- appeal to it. The cat was a dark navy blue, the material a soft yarn; the cat also had a pink collar with a tiny silver bell attached, making little "CLING" sounds once moved around.

In tradition, these little toys would be appropriately handed out to the younger patients in the pediatrics wing, with most teenagers opting for a set of new headphones or money in a card for when they had to celebrate their birthdays in the hospital; in this case, the nurses made a good judgement call in regards to the peculiarities of Ikuto's condition and figured a toy cat would be much more appreciated and loved.

All of a sudden, two sounds of gentle handclaps came from one of the nurses, prompting all the attention to turn towards her.

"All right, let's give Ikuto some privacy everyone- I believe we may need to change his diaper again, Mrs Tsukiyomi; it's been a couple hours since his last change" the nurse quietly commented to Souko as the remaining nurses helped shuffle Utau, Amu and Tadase (alongside the charas) out of the room and toward the direction of the elevators leading to the hospital cafeteria. Tsukasa insisted on staying back to help assist in changing Ikuto for future references.

...

The trio drank their hot chocolates in silence; the charas floating above the kids heads quietly depressed. No one dare utter a word- they all shared the same thought.

It wasn't until Amu spoke that the trio even looked at each other; everyone's heads were down staring into the styrofoam cups of warm chocolate milk, a few tiny swarms of marshmallows floating on the surface.

"Do you think Ikuto would have wanted this?" Amu quietly uttered, her voice shaky and quivering as if she was on the brinks of crying right now.

"I don't think so. I'm glad he's alive, but I don't know if, given the choice he would have wanted to continue living if he knew this would be his outcome" Utau sadly stated. She also wasn't far from tearing up given the circumstances surrounding her older brother's current state of being.

Tadase, after having kept to himself quietly as the girls shared their sadness amongst each other cleared his throat, his hand reaching out to touch Utau's hands with softeness and comfort. He gave her hand a small, reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be ok, Utau. Ikuto will pull through- he always does and he's good at it! I'm sure he'll get better overtime; right now he just needs some extra support to get him back on his feet. He'll be our big brother Ikuto in no time" Tadase said with encouragement.

No one at the table wanted to argue with Tadase, for they all secretly hoped that Ikuto would get better sooner rather than it being too late to dream the possibility.

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Back at the Tsukiyomi residence- current present day

Amu Pov:

"So here is where you'll be able to find the cleaning supplies. I stocked up before you came but please let me know if there is anything else you need. Tsukasa will stop by soon today to check on Ikuto- his telephone number is on a sticky note on the fridge in case you need to contact him sooner. Ikuto is asleep upstairs and has been sleeping a few hours at a time- Tsukasa will help with changing the diapers and bath time so you don't have to worry about that! Otherwise, I prepared some meals for you and Ikuto that are in the fridge. Please don't hesitate to call me, Amu! I'll be near my phone at all times and if I can't take your call right away, I'll promise to get back to you shortly." Souko shared as she finished packing all the necessary documents needed for the court proceedings.

There was also a small travel size suitcase filled with her belongings as Souko had the intention on staying at a hostel near the courthouse to avoid having to make the commute consistently back and forth from the house.

"Thank you for the information, Mrs Tsukiyomi. I'll be sure to update you on Ikuto and let you know if there are any changes." Amu kindly shared. Souko, having about to leave the house turned towards Amu, facing the middle school girl in the foyer and gave her a comforting smile.

"Thank you for all your help, Amu. Without you, I think this whole situation would have been more difficult not only for Ikuto to handle but for myself as well. I greatly appreciate your kindness and generosity in supporting Ikuto through everything."

With her final statement having been shared, Souko took her belongings and headed out the door, quietly closing the door behind her.

Making her way back to the living room, Amu finally took a chance to see her surroundings. She told herself that she can do this- Ikuto had been there to help Amu numerous times in the past; now, she can return the favor.

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Another chapter up! Hope you enjoyed this one! More are to be followed soon :).