Amu Hinamori was sitting up in bed, the blankets down around her waist, and in her pajamas. She was in the midst of gently poking the rather large, and bloody, bandage on her side. She'd need to go get it changed again soon. without her parents knowing. She sighed and shook her head. At least kukai had talked to her after. She then reached out and grabbed the bowl of soup by her bed, taking a night little sip before eating a bit.
She was doing loads better, really. Thanks to Tadase's care, she was actually sleeping now. Jsut thinking about him made her cheeks go red. She slowly downed her soup, her eyes closed. Besides the bed, all of her eggs rested peacefully in their pouch.
Then the peace and quiet of the room was shaken - only a little bit, though - by the flash of gold light just out of the corner of Amu's eyes as Tadase dehenshins, and then makes a soft, quiet, knock on the balcony door glass. Kiseki's now floating beside him, just up and over his shoulder. But notably, Tadase is turned away from the door, knocking with his hand backwards, like he wants to make sure he's not seeing anything he shouldn't.
This is one of those things that makes him notably different than a certain catboy.
Amu Hinamori looked up, eeked. She quickly lowered her shirt to cover the wound. "C-come in!" The glass was open, screen closed, so it was easy enough to come in. She pulled the covers up and put her empty bowl on the bedside bed. "H-hi Tadase-kun," she said, smiling up at him.
Her heart was pounding. A small part of her was, well.. while she'd never admit it, she was adoring this extra attention. Usually she was stuck taking care of her little sister, being the responsible little sister. Cleaning up after her, cooking for her, taking care of her.
It was kind of... nice to be taken care of for once. To have people come to her and make sure she was okay. But she'd never say it. She moved her legs a bit so he could sit comfortably on the bed. "H-hi. I missed you." Then her cheeks went red. Wait, did she say that out loud? Oh gosh she was sicker than she thought. "I-I mean, I was, I wasn't, I, errr..." Her charas were all asleep or they'd have some comments of their own.
Tadase carefully, quietly scoots the door open as minimally as possible, slides in, then closes it. It's less about the reality of anyone seeing him, and more about the way that he feels like he needs to be sneaky because he knows he shouldn't be here without her parents knowing.
"Hi, Amu-chan. I missed you too." he says, smiling wide. Just as much as she liked being taken care of, he liked doing it for her - caring for the people he cared about was one of his own personal joys.
"I missed you too." he says, ignoring her sudden attempts at denial and trying to diffuse them with just a smile - and maybe a sparkle or two. "You know it's just us here, and I pretty much always think you're cool and spicy and so much more - so it's not like you have to walk that back."
Amu Hinamori blushed and squirmed a little, watching him. Oh gosh he sparkled. Oh he was so cute when he sparkled. She'd walk through fire for that sparkle. "R-right. I'm sorry." She moved her feet back and made a spot for him a little closer. And when he sat... he'd get hugged.
"I did miss you. Thank you for taking ccare of me and helping me with the nightmares. It's been so much nicer actually being able to get some real sleep lately. Knowing you're there and... and you'll keep them away." Oh she was soooooo in love with him. And then she had to grab a napkin quickly and cover her mouth, coughing into it. "Doctors say in a few more days the anti biotics should finish fighting it off. I should be cleared for school in a week."
Tadase nods, leaning into that hug so much, his own hand wrapping around her. "I just wish you'd let me help sooner." he says, with no hostility at all. "Not that I don't like hugging you and taking care of you, but you didn't need to get nearly pass-out-sick to get my attention. You really already had it."
"I will always protect you, Amu Hinamori, wether it's from nightmares or monsters or anything else." he says, looking into her eyes as she comes up from the coughing fit. "Yeah, everyone's worried about you. And the rumors, of course, are pretty extreme - you got expelled for punching Tsukasa, if you ask the right people."
Amu Hinamori blinked a few times and then giggled into her hand. "Oh? Was that before or after punching out the car? Because I'm pretty sure he'd be dead after that," she smiled up at him and did a little happy sparkle of her own. Sadly, unlike him, she hadn't learned to weaponize hers yet. It was all accidental.
But she fell in love when she was with him and love made her sparkle. There was a hrm from nearby and miki started to pop up. Then her eyes went wide. "Tadase-kun!" she said. "You need to talk to Amu she went and fought a monster even though she was sick and got impaled by a spear and she wouldn't listen to us when we told her she needs to sleep and rest and recover!" "Dang it, miki, couldn't let us have a moment, could you?" she asked, before giving Tadase a little smile. "I... I know it was stupid... and reckless... I'm sorry... Kukai already swung by and ummm, gave me a tlaking to..."
She might not have intentionally weaponized her sparkles, but against Tadase, they had a power all their own, and it was his turn to have red cheeks.
"Thanks, Miki." Tadase says, and may have fired off an errant sparkle at the blue chara. He turns to Amu. "I'm sure Kukai's better at telling you where you went wrong than I am just..."
Tadase takes a deep breath. "I love you, Amu Hinamori. And that means if you put yourself in danger, I get worried. I know with what we do that's not unavoidable, either... just... would you be a little bit more careful? For me?" he asks, reaching up to scoot an errant pink hair away from her face.
Amu Hinamori nodded, smiling. "I will. I'm sorry I went there at all. It was... it was stupid and reckless and I..." She gently reached up and held his hand to her cheek. She stared up at him. Then, slowly she leaned in a little closer, looking into his eyes. Her cheeks were red, from both sickness and blushing. She... she wanted to kiss him. Her lips, just inches from his. Getting a little redder.
Then that itch in the back of her throat. She had to pull back at the last moment, grabbing a napkin and coughing up a fury, hacking weakly. Eventually it stopped and she sighed.
"Bet Sailor moon never had that problem..." she mumbled softly, before looking up at him. No, he bet they kissed all the time and she wasn't at all nervous or scared about it. but then, she didn't have to kiss tadase. It was so hard, he was just so cute.
"I'll be more careful, I promise. And... I'm sorry. I know I should have been smarter. But... it just..." She chewed on her lower lip. "It felt good to help Lacrima. It felt like... like I was needed. Like someone really needed me..."
Tadase leans in juuust before Amu starts coughing. But he only ducks back just a little bit. "Sailor Moon doesn't have me." he says with a grin, poking her nose softly.
"You should've told me, because then we could've helped together. I'm not upset you helped. I'm upset you didn't let me help, too."
Tadase looks into Amu's eyes. "I need you. I really, really need you. More than anyone else." he leans in a little bit closer. "I love you. And I need you. And you make me more than I am without you."
Amu Hinamori blushed and poked her fingers together. "I-it was kind of sudden. I-I sensed a lot of dark energy and I thought they might need my purification and they did and I'm sorry, I know it was dangerous but I had to and... and..."
Her cheeks went red. "You... you really do need me?" she asked softly, her eyes staring at him, tone just above a whisper. She sounded so happy, sparkling gently at him. "E-even if I don't..." She leaned in a little closer. "... Even if I'm not always... the smartest or most... ummmm..." She blushed and lowered her eyes. Her face was so red. "Even if I'm not... grown... like ummm... some of the other girls?"
Tadase's voice reaches the same volume as Amu's - as though it's easier to talk honestly about these things in such hushed tones.
"You're the best, though." he says, simply. "You're the best girl on this whole planet. I don't care so much about the rest of those things. I've seen your heart. I've seen your dreams in a big way, too."
"There's nobody I need more than you and nobody I could need. Because I am in love with you Amu. And I think, in a very real way, I was always in love with just the idea of someone like you, even before we met. Talented, beautiful, strong..." Tadase leans in, his lips moving ever closer.
Amu Hinamori leaned in a little closer as well, her eyes wide. "You... you were?" and this was just the kind of stuff she needed to hear right now. Not jealousy, not anger, not hurt. Love. Her hand slowly reached out to touch his arm, staring up into his eyes with her own, soft ones.
She was so in love and right now, to her, there was no one in the world but him. Just her and him. No other cute boys, just him. "Tadase... I..." Her lips only a few centimeters from his. Miki watched with wide eyes, her hands under her face.
"I mean every word." Tadase says with that sort of firm convinction only he can really muster, that almost royal tone to his voice.
And then, perhaps to save Miki from imploding, he pulls her closer to him with the arm around her, pushing his lips against hers at the same time.
Amu Hinamori melted like a strawberry cone left under a magnifying glass on the hottest day of winter. Her eyes fluttered closed, her arms slowly, gently wrapped around him, her lips parted slightly and he suckled on his lower lip just a bit before she began to kiss him right back.
She didn't panic, didn't pull away, she just held him and was held by him and, for now, he was all there was in the world. Him and her, in love. She tasted slightly like chicken noodle soup. Likely from her earlier meal. If Tadase looked to the table he'd see three pairs of eyes now watching him, with wide eyed excitement.
Four pairs, in fact, as Kiseki has taken up residence with the other Charas. But for all Tadase cares, the whole world could be watching and he'd just kiss her more firmly. His taste might been the less appealing taste of sushi bought off of a cart on the way over - but the way he held her was anything but ordinary.
And he wasn't going to be the one to break that kiss first, either. Not when he'd wanted another kiss from her for so long.
Amu Hinamori had been sick, tired, crummy and just all around icky for the last few days. Oh, and stabbed yesterday. Before that, she'd been sad, depressed, having horrible nightmares, constantly drained, had her arm broken after being rolled over by a dog.
There was no way she was breaking this kiss. If anything, her grip on him tightened. He loved her. She loved him. there wasn't any argument, any fighting. There was just them and--
And, unfortunately for them both, her being sick decided to rear its ugly head. She tried not to, but, well... she had to suddenly pull back, didn't even have a chance to grab a napkin, her hands covering her mouth and she started coughing, hard core. She sounded like she was trying to lose a lung, little tears in her eyes.
"Awwwwwwwww," her charas said. Except miki, who was now eying kiseki a little.
Amu's coughing fit is, in some ways, a good thing, because otherwise they might never have broken that kiss.
But once they do, Tadase doesn't spend much time breaking away from her, instead, watching over her carefully and leaning against her once she's done with her coughing fit. "I wouldn't trade ten thousand girls for one Amu Hinamori, you know. I'd date you before the Crown Princess of Japan. Or Sailor Moon."
Amu Hinamori eventually calmed down. And then he was there. Dropping more love on her and her heart was pounding as she stared up into his eyes. She leaned in again, hugging him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"even... even though you... keep having to forgive me when I mess up and do stupid things or... look in the wrong places?" she asked softly. "You don't want a girl who's more.... focused? Even?"
Tadase plays with Amu's hair a bit now as she leans on his shoulder. "No, of course not. I might want an Amu who is, though." he says, tugging on her hair just a bit.
"But some other girl? Nah, not even if she was so focused as to be obsessed." he muses. "Not like I haven't gotten enough of that, anyways."
Amu Hinamori nodded, giving a soft little weak sigh. "I... I try..." she whispered gently to him. "I try to be that girl. For you." She pulled back and looked up into her eyes, looking so sad. "Tadase-kun. I... I'm so sorry. You... you deserve that Amu..." She stroked down his arm, smiling up at him, though it was weak. "Will... you always love me even if I'm not... strong enough?" she asked softly, chewing on her lower lip. Then her eyes lowered. "I love you. I... I really do..." Unknown to them, the little golden egg shook a little. "I love you... more than anyone."
But then, soft as a whisper. "What if you're right?" she asked softly. "What if... love... really is... limited and I can't..." She was getting all scared and sad again. Quick! Kiss! Her! He'd know this because those were the signs her three charas were holding up behind her. Kiseki was probably forced to hold up one that said 'now'.
Tadase leans in. "When I say I don't want anyone else, I mean it." he says, sternly again, before pushing his lips against hers.
He didn't even seen the Chara's signs. The only thing he saw was Amu's face, and her eyes.
He's a lot more aggressive, insistent even, about this kiss than the first.
Amu Hinamori melted again, lifting her arms up and around his neck, holding him close to her. She was in love. One hundred percent in love. And he was so amazing. So much better than she was. Better than she deserved.
Those fears began to melt and she pushed in slightly, her chest to his. He could probably feel her heart hammering, the way her hand squeezed his back, the sounds in the background of Miki deciding 'screw it' and assaulting Kiseki. Her eyes closed and, this time, no coughing fit to break it.
Depending on how much he pushed, though, she'd probably end up nestled in her pillow and, well, with her arms around him she had no intention of ever letting him go. So poor prince was going to be stuck for a while.
Tadase didn't mind being stuck, not in the least. Kiseki, on the other hand... well.. he's trying to get away from Miki. And that means he's flying around the room, hiding in various objects.
This shenanigans is different from Amu and Tadase, laying on her bed, embracing eah other, and just generally enjoying actually communicating for once, even if words are now limited.
Amu Hinamori just held him then, and kissed him, felt him against her, their eharts beating together. He was there. she was there. There wasn't any fighting, nothing to come between them. Even with her... accidentally starting to sabotage herself again, he'd been there for her. Knowing just what to do.
To think she'd once though ikuto would be hers. But this was nothing like the others. Jealous or not, the prince was hers and all hers and he loved her. And she loved him. And that was all that mattered.
Awwwww. Miki just wanted some kisses too. She just kind of blushed and moped and poked her fingers together after her rejection. Su patted her on the back. Ran scolded the king for hurting miki's feelings.
Kiseki sort of slowly creeps back up towards Miki and hugs her from behind for a moment before flying back off. He's a lot more shy about romance than his Bearer is!
Tadase pulls away from Amu for a moment, just laying there. "Really, you're perfect. Only problem is that you're sick, but even still. I feel like this is a moment, and usually we don't get these without them being ruined."
Amu Hinamori nodded. "I know. Always having something come up. But... this time... it's just you and me and I... I love you so--" "BIG SISSY!!!!" Ami suddenly came running in the door. "I'm hooooome!" And then jumped on the bed and hugged her. Or rather, hugged Tadase. Because he was on her.
"Big sissy?" Looked up and... Her eyes went wide! "A-ami?!" Amu squeaked, her face red. "Y-you're supposed to knock!" "You're home alone! with a boy! Ohhhhhh!" "Ami, wait, don't--" Then paled. "I-is mom and dad home?" "Nooooo. Not yet. Ohhhhhhhhh."
Tadase is caught by Ami, hugged by the munchkin - and he grins, by default, because hey! Little kids are adorable. But the exchange between the two of them becomes... a problem... and Tadase blushes because the munchkin has a point.
"H..hey Ami." Tadase says with a smile and a half-hearted sparkle.
And then Kiseki moves in between Ami and Tadase! "I humbly request you do not cause trouble for Tadase or Amu." Kiseki says to Ami.
Amu Hinamori stared, unsure of what was going to happen. Then Kiseki got involved.
Oh. Oh dear. He never stood a chance.
She grabbed him. "Lil sparkly dolly!" she said happily, jumping off them both and patting him on the head, roughly petting him. Guhhhhhhh.
Amu cringed. "H-hey. Ami. Ummmm... t-this is... my friend from school. We were just..." Think think think. "Playing a game!" "Ohhh, what kind of game?" Still petting kiseki. ".... A... errr... tickling... game?" she tried. Oh she was an awful liar. "Aren't you sick?" "Y-yes but he was keeping me company!"
Kiseki squirms in Ami's hands, and Tadase says a silent Thank You to the Chara who gives him a death glare, a very clear 'you owe me' from Chara to Bearer.
And then Amu tries to explain and... just makes it... worse. He can only imagine how it must sound if she told Amu's parents that she had a boy playing a tickling game with her on her bed... he can't help but facepalm.
"Ami, have you ever been sick, or had a scary dream? And you know how it feels better to have someone nearby? It's really like that."
Amu Hinamori gulped and gave a weak little squeak, covering her face with her hands. Oh, she wanted to die.
Ami gasped. "You... you were having nightmares? Why didn't you tell me?" Then she ran off.
Amu groaned. "The nightmares are only beginning..." After a few moments Ami returned with the karaoke machine and started singing at them. It was horrible. Amu groaned and collapsed in her bed. "Ugh..."
Tadase winced. And then... then the Karaoke started and Tadase nearly winced so hard he imploded.
He leans over and hugs Amu quickly, whipsering in her ear. "I'm going to go now, text me!" very fast. Before slowly, walking backwards with Kiseki in his hands, opening the glass door - and then escaping off the balcony. He might not have even henshined in his haste.
Amu Hinamori blinked, stared, then glared. "Traitor!" True love beats all. Except for little sister karaoke it seems. She groans and collapses in bed, having to listen to her sister try to... serenade her. IT was murder. Her charas just smiled knowingly.