Sorry it took a while to update! School's been busier, and I do not have a ton of free time. However, I'm pushing extra time to update this! I own nothing, and enjoy!

As I waited on the crowded line awaiting my turn, I suddenly felt water touching my face, coming from the sky. Groaning, I glanced up, and saw the grey clouds concealing the light blue sky, giving off a dreary feeling. The sky was beginning to open up, as rain began pouring heavier.

"Onee-Chan, it's wet!" Ami whined, clutching my hand tightly. A snide comment formed in my mind, but since it was my little sister, I neglected to say it.

"Don't worry, the line is speeding up; we'll be at the front in no time." I reassured, squeezing her hand gently. However, I was lying. The line moved extremely slowly. Everyone had to wait on the line in order to get scanned by the Controllers. They checked to make sure that you did not carry any items you were not supposed to, your health status, your age, and other necessary information. This check-up was performed monthly.

Since everyone in the city had to wait on the line, it took hours to get to the front. I had woken Ami up around four in the morning, so we could get on the line earlier, and hopefully get it over with. However, it appeared that my philosophy was not unique, as a huge line of people were gathered ahead of us, having arrived here even earlier.

Ami yawned loudly. The sun had just recently risen. It must have been just past six. I stroked my sister's hair gingerly, sighing.

"Amu!" I turned quickly, facing the source of the voice. Kukai stood a little off the line, waving at me. Directly behind him stood a girl with all of her long blonde hair tied into a hat. A smile formed on her face, as she followed Kukai to talk to me.

"Hey guys! Utau, it's been too long!" I hugged my friend. Utau tilted her sunglasses slightly upward, hiding her facial expression. Utau always had to wear accessories to cover up herself because of her fame. Before the Controllers came, Utau was a highly successful singer. She gathered fans nationally, and was beginning to receive global fame. However, her career was ruined by the invasion. This caused Utau to be very resentful of the Controllers. Now that she was twenty-years-old, Utau was required to work. However, she tried to disobey as much as she possibly can without getting killed. Kukai had constantly scolded her and told her to watch her back.

"Nice to see you too Amu," Utau said, hugging me as well. We let go, finally, and Utau and Kukai got on line behind me, ignoring the fact they were cutting.

"How's work been?" I asked. Utau gave me a scornful look, which spoke for itself. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "Wait! Kukai told me the news yesterday! Congratulations!" Utau beamed.

"Thank you… I can't deny that it's a bit difficult to process." Utau admitted. Kukai put his arm around her shoulders.

"What happened to them?" Ami asked, looking up at me.

"We got engaged!" Kukai replied.

"Kukai! You can't be so loud about it! That's not the kind of thing people around here are supposed to do!" I hissed.

"Who the hell cares? Kukai and I are happy, so whatever. I don't give a crap about what the Controllers' opinion are on my engagement." Utau muttered.

"I want to be the flower girl!" Ami exclaimed, smiling widely. I laughed slightly.

"Ami-Chan, I don't know if they're even having that…"

"Of course you can Ami!" Kukai squatted to her size, and patted her head. Ami giggled happily.

"Obviously, we can't have a proper wedding, due to the circumstances. However, we are going to have certain traditions, like the maid of honor and the best man, which will be Yaya and Ikuto." Utau explained.

"That sounds great!" I told her. "How is Ikuto by the way? I see him even less then you…"

"He's good. I mean, obviously he detests working as a coal miner, but he's fine." Utau explained. There was a silence. Ikuto and I used to be closer. I used to have a major crush on him. When I was younger, I used to be extremely slow when it came to certain things, romances included. It took me many years to realize my feelings for Ikuto, and that he actually loved me back. However, as Ikuto and I started hanging out more, our romantic feelings began to evaporate and become a sibling-like relationship. When Ikuto got his girlfriend, I was a little upset at the time, but now I support him. However, I couldn't help feeling a slight happiness when they broke up. He still continues to tease me, but it isn't flirting necessarily anymore.

"Ugh, this line is so annoying!" Kukai whined.

"You have no right to talk Kukai; I've waited here for almost two hours." I grumbled my hand still in Ami's.

"Oh shit, you were here at four?!" Kukai exclaimed. I nodded slowly.

"Nice math Kukai." Utau muttered. Kukai gave her a thumb up.

Finally, the line seemed to move a little faster. I sighed a breath of relief, moving closer to the front of the line. When it was Ami and my turn, I held out my arm for them to inject me with a needle, which contained who knows what. Ami yelped when they injected her. I squeezed her hand tighter.

"You're good." A voice replied. I took Ami away, and waved to Kukai and Utau. I dropped Ami off at the daycare, and headed to the Underground.

It took me a few minutes to get past the security, besides having done it many times. When I entered the Underground, I was greeted by an uncomfortable sight. On the queen-sized bed to the left of me, Rima was on top of Nagihiko, both kissing heavily. Fortunately for me, only Nagihiko's shirt was off, but they were dressed other than that. I stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do. It wasn't the first time I had seen them kiss, but I haven't ever walked in on them making out.

"I just hate those stupid checkups! Seriously, I don't want to get up so…oh." I didn't even need to turn around to realize Kukai and Utau were there. Rima rapidly scampered off of Nagihiko, both of their faces dark red. They both looked at the ground.

"I-It w-w-wasn't w-what it looked like! I-I, um, err, w-we…" Rima faltered.

"Sorry to intrude on your make-out session!" Kukai said with huge grin on his face.

"We weren't…" Nagihiko sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to conceal the truth during this particular moment. "Can you guys let us know when you are coming next time, instead of barging in without warning?"

"Yeah sure, sorry about that." I muttered.

"It's alright."

"Hey Fujisaki, can you put a shirt on?" Nagihiko nodded, embarrassed, as he pulled a shirt from his drawer.

"Hey Utau, I heard you two got engaged!" Rima said, quickly changing the subject and diverting the attention away from Nagihiko.

"Yeah we did." A huge grin crossed Kukai's face. They were holding hands.

"How did he propose to you, Utau?" Nagihiko asked, rejoining us and sitting beside Rima. He was now wearing a blue shirt.

"Why Fujisaki; are you looking for ideas to propose?" Kukai teased. Nagihiko's face reddened, but he didn't reply.

"It was terribly cliché. I had come home from work, extremely worn out, and then he prepared some dinner for me in a very romantic way. I knew he was going to propose to me before he did." Utau muttered, but she smiled at Kukai anyway. Kukai scratched the back of his head.

"Well, we're happy for you guys." I said.

"Thank you…" There was silence for a moment. Kukai put his arm around Utau's shoulders. Rima and Nagihiko held hands, their fingers intertwining with each other. There was me, a girl who was single, and had only dated once. However, that one boy that lasted about one week had ruined the whole entire dating experience for me. He had started kissing me passionately on a date at one point, and I wasn't very comfortable with the idea of losing my virginity at that moment. So, I ended things with him.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from above. All five of us looked up suddenly, perplexed by the sudden noise.

"What was that?!" Kukai wondered, jumping up in surprise. We exited the Underground, and made it to the surface.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary." Rima pointed out, looking around.

"Yeah, me-"Before I could finish speaking, I felt my mouth being covered suddenly, and someone holding me tightly. I gasped in surprised, and struggled to escape the strong grasp.

"Amu!" I heard Nagihiko cry. Suddenly, the grip loosened on me, and I fell to the ground. Turning around quickly, I saw the Controller that had grabbed me being attacked by none other than Tadase. His eyes looked furious, as he struck the Controller with a large sword.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Tadase bellowed, stabbing the Controller vigorously with the sword. It made a foreign noise, before falling to the ground. Tadase pulled his sword out of the Controller, and watched as the Controller died. I looked up at Tadase, my eyes widening.

"T-Tadase-Kun!" I gasped. He crossed his arms, turning the other direction.

"Watch your back, Hinamori. They desire you."

"Why do they want Amu?" Utau asked. Tadase did not reply. "I asked, why do they want her?"

"That's not for me to say." Tadase muttered. Utau grabbed him by his collar.

"Why not, Tadase? Don't want to tell your big sister something important?" Tadase gave her a menacing look.

"You are not my sister!" Tadase roared. A look of hurt crossed Utau's face, as she let go of Tadase.

"I should get going." I muttered quickly. "The Nursery is closing early today." It was a lie, but I didn't want to deal with them at the moment. They waved to me, with the exception of Tadase, and I scurried away.

Arriving at home, I thought about the day's events. Why was Tadase so protective of me? He used to love me, but that was five years ago, before he turned into a monster. As I thought about him, I couldn't help but to notice the beating of my heart. Sighing, I allowed myself to drift off to sleep, compensating for the lack of sleep I had because of the check-ups.

I know this chapter was weaker. I apologize immensely for that. You see, I wanted to get an update in since I haven't updated in weeks. So, consider this some more character and plot development. Please review/alert/favorite and I'll try to update quicker (no promises thanks to school).