C15- Amu

Ikuto had simply watched me as I threw myself at him again and again- how could he leave them; Kukai, Tadase and Nagi? All I had to do was sit there and allow Helena to enact her childish fantasies on me. She wanted me to sit and allow her to do my hair and make up- as long as I simply obeyed we were all safe!

I punched his chest again and again, though I had no intention of harming him; I was simply venting all of my frustration. To Ikuto, my feeble hits were most likely less effective than rain hammering against his head.

Still he said nothing; my hand hit one last time against his hard chest however this time it simply rested there as I gasped for breath against my sobs. My fingers flexed a little against one of the grooves of muscle hidden beneath his shirt. Previously, I had been so focused on showing him that I was now a woman; I had failed to see that he had grown into a man.

Without any warning, his hand grasped onto mine to hold it firmly in place against his heart. His other hand gently raised my chin- forcing my angry and tear stained eyes to look into his own. Leaning in, he kissed me desperately- I had already read all of the signs of his desires but did not expect him to act upon them so suddenly.

As my heart exploded against my chest I stepped back in surprise. Ikuto's strong and silent gaze stirred up the intense desire I had been fighting ever since this all started- I could feel my tears threatening to return as I threw away all of my resistance and ran into his waiting arms once more crushing my lips into his.

He pulled away holding me at arms length with fire in his eyes "I promise Amu- I will save them all!" Impatiently I pulled him close yet again- breathing onto his lips as I spoke "I trust you Ikuto!"

My head moved to rest into the crook of his neck as he held me close, but we did not have time to enjoy our moment and so I begrudgingly let him go.

"Ikuto, what do we do now?" His face seemed to light up with amusement- I must have missed the joke because I could see no humour in our situation "I guess we have no choice but to head back to our dorm for now."

He began walking a little ahead as I hurried to catch up to him "I hope your room mate doesn't mind me intruding" did he just scoff? "Oh Akito won't mind- in fact he knows everything about our sex life. I tell him everything! He said if I wanted to bring you back any time he would face the wall and just listen to music!"

I stopped abruptly; just how did Ikuto manage to find me? Wait! Did he just say 'our'? Knowing that he was telling me big fat lies about Akito, I placed my hands on my hips with accusing eyes "you know…don't you?"

Ikuto keeled over laughing as I raced towards him with my fist raised angrily "aww come on Amu- I was only playing!"

His laugh bellowed harder as I sighed rather audibly "now is not the time for playing! Our friends are in danger you know!"

Ikuto placed his arm around my shoulders with a slight grin "I have to say- you made a convincing dude! You were one of the guys!" I brushed his arm off as we walked "I thought I was always one of the guys anyway!"

The sound of scrunching leaves had faded making me aware that Ikuto had stopped walking yet again. Despite turning around to scold him, my words got caught in my throat. Ikuto's face had become sincere "you know Amu…I never realised that you were Akito. I feel like I should have known!"

The look of anger on his face unsettled me "Ikuto, please don't be mad. You know I couldn't tell you- not because I didn't trust you, but because I wanted to protect you!" Evidently Ikuto had a great deal of things he wanted to say- before we were to progress any further he needed me to listen.

"Ikuto…what is it?" a faint tinge of red had surfaced on his cheeks "I said a lot of stuff to Akito…about you" it was hard to avoid rolling my eyes with a sarcastic laugh as I responded "yes I know…I was there"

Slowly Ikuto picked up his feet and began walking as I followed by his side "I meant it all Amu, I'm glad things turned out this way because I was able to tell you the things I had wanted to all along but didn't know how to say it. One thing has been bothering me though- why could you tell Kukai? You couldn't tell me or the others?"

Before he could even think for a second it was because Kukai meant more to me than he did, I took a hold of his face forcing him to confront my own sincerity "I love you. I had no intention of telling Kukai, I kinda panicked when we had that fight and blabbed so he didn't hit me"

A nearby rustle of trees reminded me where we were and what our situation was "gah! Ikuto we don't have time to be talking! We need to get back ASAP and figure out what to do next!"

With a nod, Ikuto took my hand firmly in his own before we dashed off back to our room.

So many things had happened and finally the pieces of an overly large and complex puzzle were starting to slot together. I couldn't let regret pull me back now, I had to believe in my choices and I had to believe in myself.

Our room was dishevelled and my things were thrown around carelessly. I fell onto my bed with a sigh of exhaustion whilst the bed sank slightly as Ikuto sat next to me "Amu, I need to know everything now- start to finish. You said they had Kukai...the cop who messed this room up was looking for Akito- for you. He wanted to take me at first but Ade stopped him. Then he took Kukai thinking you were together- he must have been in cahoots with that mafia!"

My arm slid away from my head as I sat up in alarm "You're right! Not to mention Helena, she's dangerous. She killed the man who was after me- he found out what she was up to and that's why he tried to kill her in the first place. I thought if I played along with her she would be satisfied and not harm anyone else."

My face darkened while I recalled the events of the time I spent with her "I agreed to join her, but I think she knew I was pretending. She told me that they had Kukai as a test- it was to see how I would react. I had no choice but to carry on playing along so that she didn't hurt him.

We didn't have the luxury of time and so hastily filled in the blanks so that we both were finally on the same page. It was after that we realised we still had no idea where to go from here!

My phone had begun to vibrate- it was Nagi's name on the screen! I looked at Ikuto with worried eyes as he snatched the phone from me "I'm guessing that this isn't Nagi?"

My ears were strained but along with the loud thumping of my heart I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation. I begged Ikuto to put it on speaker but he shook his head and held me at arms length!

"No, I am afraid Amu isn't available right now- I have no intention of passing on any messages either. Okay, fine. Put Ade on will ya?"

There was a short pause. Ikuto refused to tell me anything and nor would he let me any where near the call. I tried to speak out but his hand was clamped firmly over my mouth.

"Yo, Ade. Am I right in thinking you had no idea that your wife's extra curricular activities involved murder? Are you really going to stand beside her in this? It's okay, I don't expect you to answer me- just listen; If anything happens to any of my buddies- or Amu, and you simply sit by and let it happen- you know that makes you equally guilty right? Why don't you try and talk some sense into her?!"

Another pause followed before a small chuckle escaped Ikuto "I see...okay fine. I will look forward to hearing from you." He ended the call and put the phone inside his coat.

My eyes were once again largely angry and tearful as his hand came away from my mouth "sorry Amu, they called you. That means Helena was going to try and blackmail you. I didn't want to give them any chance to manipulate you! I am going to hold on to this so you don't get any messages that speak 'hand yourself over and your friends will live!' I wouldn't put it past that crazy bitch!"

He was right, if that happened I would have certainly gone to them. I had told Ikuto I trusted him- and that hadn't changed and so I nodded in agreement.

He sighed and laid back on his bed "Ade is torn, he adores his wife but he is a good person. He asked me to give him 24 hours to try and talk to her. I will call him tomorrow and see what he says- if it seems like she won't budge I will take you someplace safe and then go and get them myself!"

I didn't like that plan- any plan that involved us splitting up once again was a plan I could not agree to! Ikuto knew my stubborn face, he turned onto his side with his eyes closed in exasperation "Amu, if I go back there with you- it would mean everything we have done so far, we did for nothing!"

I knew what he meant but I didn't want to leave them in the first place! What could I do? Let Ikuto go alone and face the danger I had brought to us? His eyes were intense as the darkness outside set in "Amu- you told me you trust me? Was that a lie? Trust me to go tomorrow and bring our friends back."

My body was trembling as my eyes met his and I was reminded of my dream. We were both laid in our own beds and the moonlight was shimmering on his dark eyes. I knew it was not the time, but I was fearful that there was a possibility it would be our only time.

Once again battling with my tears and emotions, I silently approached Ikuto. He watched in anticipation as I climbed onto him with hard breaths that gently blew the dark hair that rested around his face and neck.

"I love you Ikuto- I trust you. Let me spend tonight proving it to you!" His hand stroked the back of my hair as my lips lowered on to his.

I trusted Ikuto, but he needed to trust me too! What ever tomorrow brought, I knew we could face it- If we faced it together. I too would spend 24 hours trying to reason with the one I loved!