Morg: Heyo! Buckle up!

Ikuto: I don't like it when you start off like that.

Amu: I don't like it when you start.

Morg: Both of you need to get over it quickly.

Ikuto: No, we don't.

Amu: You can't make us do anything.

Morg: Why do I even bother?

Ikuto: No idea.

Amu: I ask myself that question every time.

~Indebted~

Amu let Ikuto leave the penthouse first. She hugged him goodbye and then went into the bedroom she knew was his but that she'd been using since he'd rescued her. She rummaged around in the drawer that contained the clothes that Nagi and Rima had brought for her from her house before she found what she was looking for.

They were most likely going to strip her. Amu knew that they'd be rough. She thought about putting on something that would be difficult for them to force off of her but decided all that would do was make her hurt more. So she left on her shorts and pulled out a sweatshirt with a hood.

Standing in the bathroom, Amu pulled her hair back into a small ponytail at the base of her skull. Then she pulled up her hood and tucked her hair inside of it. It was large enough that she could pull it forward and hide her face in it.

It was honestly perfect for attempting to appear like she was sneaking out. Escaping was the reason she'd asked for it in the first place. She hadn't known Ikuto all that well when she'd asked Rima and Nagi to bring some of her stuff. The sweatshirt had been part of her contingency plan.

Luckily, she hadn't needed it for that reason.

Amu checked herself in the mirror one last time. The earrings that contained the microphone and camera were safely in her ears. The heart-shaped bracelet dangled from her wrist. Despite the fact that she couldn't feel it, she pressed lightly against the outside of her hip to remind herself that Ikuto would be able to find her even if she lost the jewelry.

"All right," she said to herself but also to the people she knew were listening to her. "I'm ready. Remember the plan. Let me get the evidence that we need before you come rushing in. I can handle this. I can do this. So let me."

Then she shut the bathroom light off and walked out the door.

XXX

Ikuto tapped on the screen of his tablet as he sat in the car with Kukai. "She looked pretty nervous. I don't know. Maybe we should call this off."

"Dude," Kukai said as he looked over at Ikuto. He was glad that their windows were tinted so everyone out on the street couldn't see them just sitting in their car. "You heard her. Let her do this."

Ikuto sighed as he switched the feed back to the video footage. She'd made it out of the building and was carefully making her way through the city. Amu was smart. She wasn't taking a direct route back to her place. She was going a roundabout way. If anyone had been watching for her and then followed her from Ikuto's building, they probably lost her as she moved through the city.

They'd find her again at her place, but it was still awesome to see that she wouldn't be so easily taken.

"She's about to come around that corner over there," Ikuto said as he gestured out the windshield so Kukai could track what he meant. "Do you remember what she's wearing?"

"Yeah," Kukai agreed as he sat up a bit straighter. "Are Nagi and Rima still good in their position?"

"The last time I checked they were," Ikuto replied before he sent off a message into their group chat to make sure their other car was still in a good position. "She made really good time getting here despite going the long way."

"From what you've told me, Amu seems pretty resourceful. I'm not entirely surprised that she wants to help take them out."

Ikuto was silent for a moment before he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. "I'm going to tell you something that only Amu, Kairi, and I currently know. It has to stay between us."

"What happened?" Kukai asked as he kept his eyes on the corner to watch for Amu. "It had to have been pretty bad if you're keeping it a secret."

"They sent a DVD of recorded footage of the time they had Utau."

"What!?"

Ikuto kept his eyes closed though he could tell that Kukai had turned to look at him. "Kairi discovered it and immediately brought it to me. He didn't watch more than maybe ten seconds before he realized what it was. When he brought it to me, Amu volunteered to watch it so that she could look for any evidence that we could turn over to the authorities. She didn't get much but she screenshotted what she could. Then at the end was a message that said they'd take Amu and do worse to her if I didn't back off. They threatened to release the footage of Utau on the internet to make her life Hell once more."

"Ikuto," Kukai said weakly as he gripped the steering wheel hard. "She's improved so much. If they release that…"

"That's why Amu wants to do this," Ikuto said quietly as he opened his eyes in time to watch Amu walk past their car. "She wants to get them and shut them down before they can do anything else to Utau. She wants to stop them before they hurt more people."

"I swear that I'll never tell anyone about that DVD if we stop them and find the original and destroy it."

"Even if they managed to release it," Ikuto told him as he kept his eyes on Amu as she stopped at the corner of the block that she lived on and looked around for someone watching her. "I would do everything in my power to have it taken down and anyone who has seen it put in jail."

"No matter what happens," Kukai said as Amu finally made her way up to her front door. "We can't tell Utau. She's finally going outside again."

"I know," Ikuto agreed as Amu disappeared inside her house. "I don't want her to know."

Ikuto's phone buzzing pulled him out of his thoughts. He answered it and put it on speakerphone as soon as he realized it was Nagihiko. "Yeah?"

"Boss," Nagi's voice sounded hushed on the other side of the phone. "Didn't you say that you weren't going to tell the police what we were doing?"

Ikuto shared a look with Kukai. "They don't know what we're doing today."

"Then I think I know who the mole is. He's about to make his way to the door. What do you want us to do?"

Ikuto's grip on his tablet tightened as a familiar head of blond hair stepped into view. "We can't do anything. She has to be taken. Make sure you get plenty of pictures and videos of him. He's going down with the rest of them."

"Wait," Kukai said as he shifted in his seat to get a better view out the window. "Isn't that Tsukasa's protégé?"

"It was," Ikuto ground out between his clenched teeth. "I have a feeling Tsukasa is going to be very interested to know what he was doing here."

XXX

Amu shakily breathed out as she looked around her house. It almost didn't feel like it belonged to her any longer. It hadn't been that long since she was last there, but she couldn't help but feel like she was stepping into another life.

She shuddered before shaking herself. Pushing back her hood, Amu sighed before she went to her little closet and got out some of her cleaning supplies. They were coming for her, but she had to make it look like she'd escaped Ikuto to return to her old life. She might as well take care of some of the dust and cobwebs while she waited for them to show up.

Smirking to herself, Amu set about picking some things up and putting them away before wiping down her little tables and shelves. She thought about talking to herself, since that would mean she was actually talking to Ikuto, but decided to not to. If someone had bugged her place or something then she didn't want to give them any hints.

Still, she couldn't help but be amused that she was forcing Ikuto to watch her clean. He was probably making that face that he didn't know he made when he caught her doing something he thought she didn't need to be doing but found it endearing that she was.

It was one of her favorite looks to put on his face.

Then again, his face was one of her favorite faces.

Amu couldn't have been home for more than ten to fifteen minutes before there was a pounding knock on her door. She jumped at the sound before turning to look at it. She really hadn't expected them to knock.

"This is the police! You are trespassing! Come out!"

"Oh," Amu said softly as she put down her rag and set aside the books she'd been holding.

Slowly, she made her way to the door and unlocked the deadbolt. She opened it but only barely. "Hello?"

"Come outside," the officer said in a firm voice. "You're trespassing."

Amu swallowed hard as she opened the door a little further. She found herself meeting the gaze of a young man. "I live here."

The officer paused for a moment before frowning. "Hinamori Amu?"

"That's me," Amu said without opening the door any further. "Why did you think I was trespassing?"

"Hinamori Amu is in protective custody," the cop told her. "No one should be here."

"I was staying with a friend," Amu told him while her grip on the door tightened. "I decided I wanted to come back home for a little while. I'm sure my friend will be here soon to get me."

The cop studied her for a moment before he looked over his shoulder at the mostly empty street. "I think you should come with me. You're not safe here."

"What?" Amu said as she shifted her foot to brace the back of the door so it would be harder for anyone to force it open. "Why do you think that? This is my home."

"Amu," the cop said firmly as he turned back to her. "I know what you went through. I know that you were being held by Tsukiyomi Ikuto and that there are people who would do anything to get to you. You shouldn't be here."

"I want you to leave," Amu said as she pressed the door a little more closed. "This is my house. You can't make me leave. And Ikuto will be here soon. He knows where I am."

"You see," the man said as he shot his hand out to stop her from shutting the door. "I don't think he does. From the looks of it, you snuck out of his place to come back here. You shouldn't have returned, Amu. I have no doubt that he's probably frantically searching for you, but he's not going to find you here."

Amu frowned as she pushed her weight against his on the door. "Why wouldn't he find me here?"

"Because," the cop told her as he brought his other hand up to slam against the outside of the door. "By the time he gets here, you'll already be gone."

Amu threw herself against the door. "Leave me alone! Why can't you just leave me alone? I didn't do anything to anyone! I just want my life back!"

"Open the door," the cop screamed as he slammed against it again and again.

Amu, despite putting the effort into trying to close the door, knew that it was a losing battle. Not because she wasn't strong enough to get it shut, but because she wanted him to get in. There was a mole in the police force. She wasn't stupid. He'd shown up not long after she'd returned home. There was no way he was going to actually escort her to safety.

Not when she was already safely at home.

So Amu fought him for a few minutes before she gave up and turned to run.

She sprinted through her little flat and managed to get into the bathroom and shut the door and lock it before his larger form slammed into the outside of the door. "If you break anything, I'm going to make you pay for it!"

"Open the door, Amu!"

"No!"

"Open the door!"

"I said, no!"

"Amu!"

"Fuck off!"

Amu barely had time to duck into the shower to avoid the door as it swung open after the cop kicked it in. When he grabbed her, she fought him. She scratched at his face and his arms. She kicked and struggled and bit. But she also let him maneuver her out of the bathroom and let him pin her down and cuff her.

She screamed and fought the entire time, but she didn't forget the reason she was there.

"You can't do this! Ikuto will find you! He's got friends in the police force! You'll never get away with this!"

The officer panted as he hauled her to her feet with her hands cuffed behind her back. "He can call anyone he wants. Tsukasa thinks I'm the only cop he can trust."

Amu scoffed and made him work to keep her standing. She bit back her grin as he grunted at taking more of her weight than he'd been planning on taking.

"Tadase here," he said into his phone after he made sure she wasn't about to fall back down. "I've got her. Tell the boss I'm bringing her in."

There was a pause as Amu strained to listen to what the person on the other end of the phone was saying. She could hear their voice but she couldn't pick up their words.

"No," Tadase said in response to whatever was asked of him. "I didn't search her. I figured the boys would like the honor once we get there."

Amu flushed as she realized what the sleaze ball behind her meant.

"We'll be there in twenty."

Amu stomped on his foot as soon as he hung up the phone but Tadase was quick to snag her by her cuffs and by her throat.

"None of that," he told her as he crowded against her back. "I told them I wouldn't touch you more than I have but you keep that up and I might not be able to resist."

"You're an asshole," Amu spat as his hand slid down her throat to rest against her chest just above her breasts. "Ikuto will kill anyone who touches me."

"He might have bought you," Tadase said to her before he pulled away to start dragging her to the door. "But he doesn't have you right now. That means you're fair game."

"Fuck you," Amu spat as he pulled her out of her house. She turned to look at him just as he got her outside. "You're an officer of the law but you're corrupt. You forced your way into my house and are now kidnapping me without cause."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a real bad man. But I'm wealthy and I get all the sluts I want. It's not a bad life. Besides, you'll probably even learn to love what they're going to do to you. Plenty of girls do."

Amu struggled but she ultimately allowed him to force her into his car. He hadn't paid any attention to her jewelry, which meant their entire scuffle had been filmed. He might be one of the lowest people in the organization but she knew they had everything they needed for Tsukasa to arrest him.

And he was taking her to more of them.

Amu gritted her teeth as she looked out the window of his car. There were several parked cars on her street. She knew one of them contained Ikuto. She only hoped that he could handle what was about to happen to her.

Because now more than ever, Amu was ready.

And she was going to take them down.

.

Morg: I love badass Amu!

Ikuto: Hell yeah!

Amu: Whatever.