Morg: Heyo! Look at me updating again so soon.

Ikuto: Soon? You call this soon?

Amu: I would call this too soon.

Morg: It hasn't been a year so I would consider it soon.

Ikuto: You need to get better at updating.

Amu: The best way to do that would be to stop posting stories.

Morg: Well, I don't think either of those things are gonna happen.

~Indebted~

"Amu? Are you feeling up to joining me in the kitchen to get something to eat?"

Amu turned slowly in the bed until she could see Midori standing in the doorway. "More juice and crackers?"

Midori smiled at that as she shook her head and held up her hand to offer it to the girl resting in the bed. "I was thinking we'd try some soup."

Her stomach rumbled at the thought of getting to eat something with a little more substance to it. "Do I get to pick which kind?"

"I'm afraid we only have chicken noodle."

"Is it at least the hearty kind?"

"No, Amu," Midori said as she watched Amu get to her feet by herself. "It's the kind with barely anything else in it. We can't overwhelm your stomach."

"My stomach has been begging to be overwhelmed," Amu grumbled as she shuffled the few steps between her and the doctor. "It would really like to start getting solid foods."

"I'm sure it would." Midori took a step back as Amu approached the door. She was glad to see that Amu was moving better. "I'm sure you would love to be all healed up and back to normal. I'm sorry that these things take so much time."

"It isn't your fault," Amu said as she took one careful step after the other. "I think my balance is getting better. I don't feel like I'm about to fall over for no reason."

Midori made a sound and kept her distance, though she also stayed close enough to help if Amu stumbled. "That's good. We'll see how you do with soup and start talking about what else you can begin to eat again."

Amu kept her hand away from the wall despite feeling like she wanted to hold it while she walked. If the drugs in her system weren't out already then they were close to being purged. She didn't want to convince herself that she needed help when she didn't.

Slowly, she made her way down the hallway and to the kitchen. She was surprised to find Ikuto seated at the counter, though she knew she shouldn't have been considering it was his house she was staying in. "Hello."

Ikuto looked up from the papers in his hands to smile at Amu. "Hello, Amu. How are you feeling today?"

"Tired but stronger."

Ikuto dipped his head into a single nod before he looked down at his papers again. "I'm glad to see you out of the bed again. What is Midori allowing you to eat today?"

"Soup," Amu said with a grin as she made her way to one of the chairs at the counter Ikuto was already sitting at. She didn't choose the one right next to him, but she also didn't avoid him to sit at the table, either. "And if soup goes well then we get to talk about adding more things to my diet."

"Then I hope it goes well," Ikuto said as he turned the page in his hand to read along the back of it. "Have you thought about whether or not you want me to send someone to check on your house?"

Amu bit her lip as she fiddled with her fingers. She rubbed the pads of them along the top of the marble countertop as she watched Midori get out a pan to heat the soup on the stove. "I'm a little nervous about what they'll find."

"Yeah?"

Ikuto's concerned answer had Amu swallowing and looking at him. He didn't dismiss her fears outright or try to tell her she didn't need to worry. He just prompted her to figure out what she was feeling and then share it with him. "What if all my things are gone?"

The whispered question had Ikuto lowering the contract he'd been reading through. "Your things?"

"I was grabbed at my front door. They would have been able to take my keys and get into my house. What if they took everything?"

Frowning, Ikuto turned in his chair to study Amu's worried gaze. "There are some things that I'm sure you own that cannot be replaced. I will do everything I can to help you get those things back if they're gone."

"Ikuto."

Slowly, Ikuto reached out. He rested his hand on Amu's still fidgeting fingers as he smiled at her. "The rest of it will be easy to replace. I know of several people who have already volunteered to take you shopping as soon as you're up for it."

"Really?" Amu asked as she looked down at his hand on hers. "Who would want to go with me? I don't know them."

"Well," Ikuto said as he squeezed Amu's hand before letting her go. "Utau is one of them."

"What! Really?"

Smiling, Ikuto picked up his contract again. "Rima and Nagihiko are the ones who will go to your house to check on it and bring you anything you want them to grab."

"I wouldn't mind having my phone and my laptop back," Amu said quietly as she watched Midori ladle some soup into a bowl for her. "I don't want to lose the pictures I have on them."

"Anything that you have that is electronic, Kairi will have to go through to make sure that no one tampered with them. I don't want you to be looking at something on your phone and have someone watching you through the camera or tracking your location. Is that okay with you?"

"Are you giving me a choice?" Amu asked as Midori gave her the bowl and a spoon. She blew on her soup before she turned to find Ikuto watching her. "I don't mind. Of course, I don't want someone watching me or tracking me. It just sounded like you were telling me what was going to happen and then asking to make sure I wasn't going to throw a fit."

"I don't want to do anything that you aren't okay with," Ikuto said slowly. "As long as I am able to still protect you to the best of my abilities."

Amu set her spoon back down into her bowl despite her stomach's complaints. "So you'll allow me to make my own decisions as long as you think they're what's best."

"I can't let you leave," Ikuto said firmly. "And I won't allow someone to somehow spy on you while you're recovering. The rest is up to you."

Amu nodded at that before she picked up her spoon and blew on her new bite of soup. "I can accept that for now."

Ikuto watched her close her eyes as she enjoyed her soup. He watched her speak quietly with Midori about how her stomach was handling the change in her diet and what else they could start to add.

He watched her and promised himself that he would not overstep.

Even if he wanted to.

XXX

Nagi whistled as he and Rima pulled up in front of the little house that matched the address that Amu had given Ikuto. "This is a cute little place."

"Do you know what Amu does for work?" Rima asked as she checked their surroundings for anyone who might be watching the place. "I don't think Ikuto's mentioned it."

"I only know that she likes to sing and sometimes finds a quiet corner to sing on. I don't know anything else about her."

"Only that she helped Utau," Rima agreed. "I want to meet her."

"Ikuto said we could once she's up for visitors." Nagihiko got out of his car slowly. He stretched and used the movement to look around for anyone surveilling them. "I did look to see if I could find any videos of her singing."

"And?" Rima asked as she got out of the car. "Did you find any?"

"Just one that I think might be her." Nagihiko held out his hand and grinned at Rima as she took it with a sigh. "It's hard to tell because the camera was shaky and it was dark. But if it was her then she's pretty good. It's no wonder that Ikuto liked going to listen to her."

Rima allowed Nagi to pull her along toward Amu's front door. They kept their eyes out for anyone around them but didn't see anyone suspicious. "Do you know why he never approached her to offer her a deal? I know he's had people do that in the past."

Nagihiko shrugged as they stepped up onto the front step. "No clue. Hey, does this look like it was forced open to you?"

Rima stepped around him to look at the door. "Not so much as forced open as someone was trying to open it that maybe didn't know how the lock worked."

"So they did take her keys."

Rima made a noise before she looked over her shoulder at the empty street. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she pulled out a lock-picking kit and set to work. It didn't take her long to jiggle the handle and push open the door.

"I still think it's incredibly sexy that you can do that."

Rima rolled her eyes but smiled to herself as she led Nagi into Amu's house. "So you have said. Multiple times."

Nagi opened his mouth to reply but cut himself off at the sight of Amu's house. There were things that looked like they hadn't been touched during the time she was missing. There were places that looked like someone had been there that morning. "This doesn't seem right."

"Someone has been here. Someone has been here and keeps coming back."

Nagihiko nodded in agreement. "Let's grab the things Amu asked for and go. We'll need to tell Ikuto what we found and see what he wants to do."

Rima turned to head down the hallway. "I'll find the clothes she wanted. You see if you can find her phone and laptop."

"On it."

XXX

Amu wasn't entirely sure why she was so nervous about the fact that Ikuto had two people going to her house to get some of her things. She couldn't decide if it was because strangers were going to be in her house without permission or if it was because she'd been grabbed from there and was potentially sending other people to a dangerous location.

Either way, she spent her time waiting for them to return to Ikuto's skyscraper staring out one of the massive windows at the city. It was almost disconcerting to see people going about their lives as if hers wasn't severely messed up.

She used to be one of them.

"Amu?"
Turning, Amu met Ikuto's eyes as he watched her from the door to the living room. "Nagihiko just called. He said that everything you asked for was there."

Amu sagged a little in relief. "Good."

"He also said that there were signs that someone was living in your house."

"What?" Amu looked back up at Ikuto as he took a small step into the room. "Someone was living in my house?"

"That's what it looked like."

"But they didn't take any of my things?"

"No."

Amu chewed on her lip as she looked back out the window. She was proud of herself for being able to stand for so long but her legs were growing tired. "Why would someone live there but not take anything?"

"I don't know," Ikuto said as he took another step forward. "But we can have someone watch your house for a few days and see who it is. We can talk to them and find out what they're doing."

Amu nodded as she looked at her reflection in the window. "I don't understand. Why would they just live there?"

Ikuto watched the despair settle onto her face. He ached to take her back into his arms like he had when she'd been dumped in front of him back at the auction. Instead, he held himself back. "I don't know. We'll find out, okay? Rima said it didn't look like anyone forced your door open so they probably found your keys."

"How long will it take whoever to go through my laptop and phone to make sure they're safe?"

"Probably a couple of hours."

Amu wrapped her arms around herself as she leaned forward against the window. She closed her eyes as she rested her head against the glass. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"I know, Amu. I'm sorry."

A tear slid out from beneath her closed eyes. She didn't bother to wipe it away. "Will you help me back to the bed?"

Ikuto crossed the room in a few long strides. "Whatever you need."

"My legs feel weak. I think I was standing for too long."

"Do you want me to help you walk or do you want me to pick you up?"

Amu opened her eyes and looked up at Ikuto through her tears. "I don't think I can make it."

Ikuto nodded as he closed the distance between them. "Close your eyes so you don't get dizzy."

Amu did as he asked just before she felt his arm steady her back while his other arm lifted her from behind her knees. She sighed as she was held against his firm chest. She kept her eyes closed as he carried her through his penthouse and down the hall to the bedroom.

Even after she was settled onto the bed, Amu kept her eyes closed.

For a little while, she wanted to pretend like everything in her life wasn't completely messed up. For a little while, she wanted to pretend that she was home in her bed and thinking about the work she had to do the following day. She wanted to go back to the time when that was the biggest worry she had.

.

Morg: Poor, poor, Amu.

Ikuto: I know what could make it better.

Amu: No.

Morg: Love and understanding?

Ikuto: Sure.

Amu: No.