Thanks for reading! I'm so sorry that this book hasn't been updated in so long. I'm sure you'll forgive me. On with the chapter.

Rima knocked hesitantly on Nagihiko's door. Would he even answer? It seemed they were always on-again off-again these days. She had instructed him not to tell Amu about her relationship with Ikuto, but obviously that didn't matter anymore. Amu refused to have anything to do with her. Ikuto treated her like a little kid and ignored her at every chance. Nagihiko was the only person left. If he refused to talk to her, Rima wasn't sure what she would do. When the door opened, it was not Nagihiko's surprised expression that greet her, but Nadeshiko's. The girls both examined each other with puzzled expressions.

"Na…Nagihiko?" She checked, not looking him in the eye.

"Technically." was the response. Rima sighed.

"Can I come in?" She wasn't sure if he would speak to her, let alone bring her into his home. He took a deep breath and tapped his foot on the ground. Rima half-smiled at him. He looked so… so… pretty! His pale skin, the light touches of make-up, the floral kimono—everything just seemed to illuminate his beauty so well.

"Why?" He asked coldly. Rima herself wasn't sure why she wanted to come in. She just did.

"To talk to you…" his angry expression didn't change. "and to update you on Amu?" His eyes lit up at the mention of Amu. Did that mean he was only interested in hearing about her, or he just needed this excuse to let her in? It didn't really matter to Rima. Whatever the reason, Nagihiko let her in.

"I'm doing a lesson right now, so you'll have to wait a bit." He said in his Nadeshiko voice. Rima sat down and watched Nagihiko for the next hour. He stretched, went through certain steps, and practiced harder ones. He danced flawlessly, though his mother always insisted he do the moves again. Rima couldn't believe the amount of balance and concentration Nagihiko had.

When the lesson was finally over, Rima followed Nagihiko into the kitchen. He drank an entire water-bottle before speaking.

"If you still want to talk, wait in my room. I'll go change in the bathroom." Sometimes Rima forgot that Nagihiko and Nadeshiko were the same people.

She sat impatiently on his bed, checking her phone every few seconds out of how uncomfortable she was. He entered the room in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. His long hair was no longer in a pony tail and hung freely down his back. Thankfully, the bits of make-up had been washed away as well.

He sat down next to her and smiled weakly. He knew what was coming. Whenever Rima saw his transformation, without fail, she always said:

"You're a very feminine man, Nagihiko." He chucked at her over-used joke but returned to his seriousness almost immediately.

"I'm waiting. Update me." He instructed, giving her no chance to talk about anything else.

"Right. Well Ikuto and I broke up." Nagihiko didn't seem surprised at all. In fact, he seemed completely un-phased. As if Rima hadn't even said anything that mattered yet.

"I'm not hearing the 'Amu' part of the update…" Rima blushed a bit. He really only wanted to hear about Amu. He didn't even care that she was single again.

"Oh, yeah. Well we… we told her. And obviously she isn't speaking to us." Nagihiko's cold, uncaring expression was like a stab to the heart. "And Ikuto is acting like nothing ever happened between us! He won't even talk to me! Tadase… well I'm not really all that close with him anymore. No one really understands what I'm going through! I'm terrified to talk to you because I know you hate me just like Amu and Ikuto! And you're-"

"Whoa, whoa—Hate you?" Rima nodded in response. Small tear droplets were forming in her eyes. Nagihiko didn't speak. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. In seconds she was crying, letting out all her angers and fears and frustrations onto Nagihiko's shoulder. They sat like this for a few minutes, with Rima occasionally mumbling something and Nagihiko stroking her hair or saying something soothing.

"I've never hated you." He whispered. Rima looked at him, her eyes widened in innocence. She searched for any signs that he may be joking. To show his sincerity, he kissed her cheek.

"Was that an 'I still love you' kiss or an 'I hope you feel better now' kiss?" She checked, a bit embarrassed.

"I do still love you, but that was an 'I hope you feel better now' kiss." Rima smiled at his honesty.

"After all this… I'm not sure I'm ready to date again." She sighed, squeezing his hand.

"I know. And I'm willing to wait for you to be ready. But that doesn't mean I'll wait forever. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were stringing me alone. So I'll wait a bit longer. I hope you understand my reasoning." Of course she understood it. In fact, it made perfect sense! But it still hurt to hear.

"Okay, that's fair. Do you want to hang out though? If I go home I'll just be bored." Nagihiko smiled and assured her she was welcome to stay as long as she'd like. After a few hours of various fun games, he got a strange text from Amu.

"It says: 'Nagihiko, you've always been very special to me and I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind.' What do you think she wants?" Rima's stomach did a little twist. What did Amu want? Maybe she had finally noticed how trustworthy Nagihiko was. Not just trustworthy, but stable and dependable. Kind and considerate too. Nagihiko was everything to Rima, even if she wasn't ready to date him. Maybe Amu saw him as the perfect opportunity for revenge against her back-stabbing friend? Of course, maybe Amu genuinely wanted to talk to him.

"It… could be anything. I think you should talk to her if you can." Nagihiko noticed the tenseness in Rima's voice. He raised an eyebrow to her but she merely arched her back and lifted her chin. I deserve this, she seemed to say. I'm going to take it with all my dignity. Nagihiko nodded solemnly. He knew whatever he was getting him into, it was coated in drama.

Nagihiko fell to the ground, dead. His cold, lifeless body was being prepared to be mutilated and incinerated. A tiny blond stood over the corpse with a slight smile. Nagihiko sighed.

"Rima will you please stop imagining my death?" He never would have expected that one day in his life he would need to ask this question. Rima looked at him with a shocked expression.

"How did you know?" She demanded, her arms crossed. Nagihiko stopped walking just long enough to laugh.

"Was it your devilish gaze, wicked smile, or unnatural cackle that gave you away? Take your pick. Alright, we're at your house." Rima frowned.

"But I want to hear what Amu says!" She pouted, her lower lip quivering. Nagihiko didn't fall for it for one second.

"She wants to talk to me alone though." He reminded her. Her determined face remained unmoved.

"I'll hide!" She suggested. Nagihiko merely rolled his eyes.

"Goodbye, Rima. See you later." Reluctantly Rima began walking into her home. "And stop imagining my death!" He called, only half joking.

"Oh come on! You couldn't even see me!" Nagihiko couldn't help but laugh.

When he finally arrived at the meeting place—the jungle gym of a small neighborhood park—Amu was already there. She was hanging upside down by her knees with a very serious look on her face. Nagihiko wondered how she could think in such a ridiculous situation. He waved to catch her attention. Once she was on her own two legs again and the blood had returned to where it belonged through-out her body, she sat on the swings.

"Sorry I'm late. I walked Rima home." Amu's face fell.

"Oh… then I suppose she already told you?" Amu checked. In a way, she was relieved by his returning nod. Now she wouldn't have to retell the horrible, heart-breaking story. "Okay then. I brought you here because I don't know what to do. How can I ever be friends with Rima again? And I know I have to forgive Ikuto because I did the same thing to Tadase and he forgave me… what am I supposed to do?" She pleaded. It wasn't difficult to notice how confused she was. She wanted to be friends again. She wanted to love Ikuto again. But after everything that happened, she didn't see how she could.

"Amu… will you forgive them then?"

Silence.

Amu wasn't sure what her answer was. She had come to Nagihiko for the answer!

"Alright, a different question; Assuming you forgive them, will you become friends with Ikuto or go back to your relationship?" Amu hadn't really considered it that way. There really were three choices: Never forgive him, forgive and become friends, and forgive and date again.

"Well Tadase and I stayed friends…so I guess we'd just be friends." Now Nagihiko smiled.

"But can you really just be friends? I know from experience how it'll go. Ikuto will wait for you. Slowly but surely you'll fall for him again. And one day, when you're ready, he'll come back into your life. Because that's just how true love works. You can't tell because your heart is overcome with the pain of betrayal, but beneath that is the pain resulting from not being with Ikuto." Amu was silent yet again. Was Nagihiko right? And what did he mean by 'I know from experience'. Surely he couldn't be talking about Rima?

Amu considered very closely the things he said. She took a deep breath and expelled all the anger and hurt over him cheating on her. Beneath it she felt a longing. A longing for Ikuto. Could Nagihiko possibly be right?

"What does this mean?" She questioned, her head in her hands. Amu wasn't one to be overly dramatic. She wouldn't be feeling the way she did if there wasn't a valid reason. It was definitely right of her to be upset. It was right of her to break up with Ikuto. But everything felt so wrong.

"That's something you've got to figure out on your own, Amu." Amu nodded. She knew what she would do.