Morg: Heyo! Time for another chapter!

Ikuto: Awesome.

Amu: No thanks.

Morg: Good thing I don't care what either of you thinks.

Ikuto: You just keep telling yourself that.

Amu: Maybe someday it'll be true.

Morg: Yeah, and maybe someday I'll have enough money to buy you.

~Indebted~

Ikuto pressed one hand down between the side of his thigh and the arm of the couch. Once he was sure that it was out of sight, he clenched his fingers into the cushion he was sitting on. The more Amu spoke, the harder it was for him to control his anger.

"There was a room in that building with rows of beds. I remember stumbling past them as I was pushed by a man until we got to an empty bed. He shoved me down and told me to stay and then laughed. He thought it was funny because none of us could walk on our own."

Midori ran her fingers over the back of Amu's hand. "Do you remember any of the other girls?"

"I can't tell you what they look like," Amu said softly as she stared down at her lap. "It was dark and the drugs made everything too blurry. I just know that I saw a lot of them. And we were all in the same state. I blacked out again after laying there for a while."

Kairi gave Amu time to collect her thoughts. He watched Ikuto out of the corner of his eye and waited until he saw his jaw unclench before he said anything. "Are there any other memories that you have?"

Amu fidgeted with her fingers before sneaking a glance up at Ikuto. "Just the ones of the auction. I woke up while I was in that mirrored room. It took me a while to realize that I was looking at myself. I remember being taken out of there and given another shot and then being forced to walk down a hallway. I remember the door opening and being so hot. I know I was picked up but I don't remember anything else until I woke up here."

Ikuto forced his fingers to relax. "I want you to know that I'm the one who picked you up when the door opened. I felt hot to you because of the drugs they gave you. Kairi administered something to reverse the effects. Midori is the one who got it ready. You can ask her what it was. Then I held you until we could get the car around. I carried you out, held you in the car on the way here, and then deposited you in the bed where you were watched over by Midori and myself. No one else touched you while you were unconscious. I swear it."

Amu picked her head up at that. She met Ikuto's intense gaze for a moment before looking away once more. "I appreciate you telling me that."

Ikuto nodded before turning his head to look away from all of them.

Kairi slid to the edge of the couch and picked up his phone. He did not stop the recording. "I have to ask one last time if there is anything else that you remember. I know this can be embarrassing, but it is important."

"Just the sensation of people touching me to make me move or to drag me places. They were rough but not to the point of causing too much pain. I guess they didn't want to leave marks."

Ikuto's fingers clenched back into the fabric of the couch. "I am sorry that this happened to you, Amu. I would not wish it on anyone. If it brings you any comfort, everything you're telling us here helps us get closer to stopping them."

"Right now I don't think anything you say can help," Amu admitted to her lap. "But I appreciate you telling me."

Midori hugged Amu to her side as she looked at the two men across from them. "Is there anything else for this evening? I'd like to help Amu back to the bedroom so she can sleep some more."

Kairi shut his phone off with a shake of his head. "I will send this to our contact and will let you know if he has any follow-up questions."

Amu dipped her head into a nod before sneaking a glance at Ikuto once more. "I am beyond grateful for you. You got me out of there. I don't know what I can do to repay you."

Ikuto pushed himself up and off the couch. He paced a few steps away before turning to look back at Amu once he was sure that she wouldn't be afraid of him standing while she was sitting. "I don't think you know who I am, Amu. I-"

"Of course, I know who you are," Amu cut in. "You're Tsukiyomi Ikuto. Anyone with any aspirations knows who you are. I just don't understand why you would buy me. Was it just at random? Did you just bid on the last girl of the night?"

Ikuto folded his hands behind his back to stop himself from crossing them over his chest. He forced himself to remember Utau and all the things he had to do and not do with his body language while his sister was in a fragile state. "I didn't buy you at random. I was only there because of you."

Amu dropped her head into her hands to block her face. She wasn't sure what it was doing and didn't want anyone else to see. "But why?"

"Several years ago," Ikuto began as he stepped forward. "You helped a girl that was thrown out of a car onto the side of the road."

Amu picked her head up to look at Ikuto. "Yes, I remember her. She was naked. I took my jacket off and put it on her before I called the police. I tried to find out later if she was okay but they wouldn't tell me."

Ikuto turned away from everyone in the room to look out the windows at the city. "She's my sister. They took her to send a message to my father and to me. They took her but they never sent her to an auction. We received videos of some of the things that were done to her. Then they dumped her on the street naked."

Amu gasped as she tightened her hold on Midori. She couldn't do anything but stare at Ikuto's back as he looked out over the city.

"They kept tabs on her after they dumped her to see what would happen. So they saw you help her. We started working to take them down and someone said something once in reference to you. So I've always kept tabs on where you were."

"What?"

Ikuto turned back to find tears streaming down Amu's cheeks. "I like listening to you sing, Amu. I know what days you go out to do your busking so I usually find somewhere nearby to listen to you sing. The last time I went, you weren't there. I had people look for you just in case you had found a new spot. Then I checked with a mole that I'd gotten into their organization. A girl that fit your description was seen."

Amu closed her eyes as she dropped her chin. It was more than a little overwhelming to learn how convoluted everything was. "You knew they had me."

"Yes," Ikuto said with a nod. "I knew they took you and so I waited for you to be put up for auction and then went there myself to buy you."

"But why? I barely did anything to help your sister."

Ikuto shook his head as he moved forward once more. He stopped himself at the back of the couch he'd been sitting on. With his hands resting on it, he stared down at the spot he'd been sitting. "Utau has come a long way in her recovery but things still get bad. She has a hard time telling us when it's a bad day. She came up with a way for us to understand without having to say anything."

Amu didn't look up at Ikuto as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter. "What does she do?"

"She wears your jacket."

Amu blinked her eyes open in shock. She lifted her head to find Ikuto studying her. "She…?"

"She still has it," Ikuto confirmed. "She refused to let it go even at the hospital. They compromised with her that she could hold it but not wear it while they cleaned her up. She wore it constantly for the first several months we had her back. I don't think you understand. What you did may have seemed little to you, but it was everything to Utau."

Midori soothed Amu as the younger girl leaned against her. "You gave her the first bit of safety she'd had in days, Amu. She went through something horrific and you didn't turn her away when you saw her."

Amu just stared down at the hand she held tightly in her own.

Ikuto cleared his throat as he pushed away from the couch to face the windows once more. "If there is anything I can do or get you that will give you the same comfort, please tell me. You are important to me because you helped my sister, yes. But you are also a person. You did not deserve what happened. I want to help you however I can."

Swallowing hard, Amu nodded but didn't lift her head again. "I don't have anything like that. I don't… I can't think of anything."

"I will send someone right now, if not go myself, to your house to get anything for you."

Amu did look up at that. "Why would you send someone? Won't I be going back there soon, anyway?"

Ikuto didn't answer. He tried not to let his body tense up.

Midori squeezed Amu's hand before turning to her a bit more on the couch. "Amu, think about what would happen if you went back home. They took you from there. They are probably watching the place. In order to keep Ikuto's cover, you have to stay here."

"It's only temporary," Ikuto assured as he turned around. "I don't want to force you to stay. As soon as it is safe, you'll be able to return home."

Amu looked from Midori to Ikuto and back again. "I understand what you're saying. I do."

"If they took you because of me, Amu, I promise that I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. I know it doesn't help that I bought you. I know that makes our relationship a little unbalanced. But please, let me keep you safe."

Slowly, Amu nodded her head. "I understand. I think part of me wants to go home because then I can pretend none of this happened, but I can't stand the thought of someone watching me. To go there and know that some stranger could be looking at me. I don't want that."

Ikuto took a step closer to Amu before stopping himself. "If you're okay with giving me your address, I'll send someone over there to check on the place. I don't want you to make it through all of this only for all of your things to be stolen or trashed."

"You don't know my address?"

Ikuto shook his head as he met Amu's eyes again. "I told you, I only checked up on you while you were busking. I didn't follow you home."

Amu dropped her gaze again. "I can write it down for you. I wouldn't mind having some of my things since I don't know how long I'll be staying here."

"Whatever you want," Ikuto promised. "We'll take this one day at a time."

"The first step," Midori cut in with a smile, "is to rest and build your strength back up. We're going to start you off on some broths and some lighter foods and see how your stomach handles them."

She didn't return the doctor's smile. Amu nodded before looking back down at her hands. "If it's okay, I'd like to eat something and go back to bed. I felt more awake before but my head is starting to get foggy again."

"Of course," Ikuto said as he moved to sit down on the couch again. "Do you want to give me your address tonight or do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

Amu yawned as she slumped against Midori. "Tomorrow."

Ikuto nodded but didn't say anything else as Kairi brought in a bottle of juice and some crackers for Amu to eat. She struggled with them but managed to swallow them down and keep them down.

Ikuto stayed where he was as he watched Midori help Amu back down the hallway. He had to remind himself that she would be okay. That her road to recovery would be long, but that she was going to be fine.

He wouldn't let her be anything but fine.

.

Morg: The plot thickens.

Ikuto: I think that's generally what's supposed to happen.

Amu: I think it could thin out this time instead.

Morg: This is why I don't let either of you write anything.