Thank you everyone for 21k+ reads! I couldn't have made it this far without all of you! I give you all much love! ❤
And sorry for the long wait...band camp started and I was so busy with that that I didn't have any time to write up a new chapter. And due to this starting, my writing will be delayed quite a bit, so I'm so very sorry! I hope you all can understand that!
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Chapter 38~~
"Score! We found the back door!" Kukai cheered as he made a 'yes!' gesture.
Amu stared at the once seemingly metal grey door with its paint peeling and rust forming. With trash still everywhere on the ground, she could only wonder how messy it was inside the building.
She watched as Nagi - being the brave person he was - walked up to door and attempted to turn the doorknob. They were all not surprised to see it open. But the loud squeak that followed it made them all freeze. Their eyes were wide as they prayed that whoever was inside this building (other than Tadase and the others) didn't hear it.
Slowly, Nagi continued to open the door, making sure to go as slow as possible so that no creaks would be heard. Once the door was finally all the way open, they all let out a sigh of relief.
"That was really close!" Yaya wiped the nervous sweat off her forehead.
"Shh! Yaya!" Amu and the guardian characters hushed her in desperation.
Stepping through the door, Amu saw that they were now in a dark hallway. There were no lights available, so they all just had to navigate themselves with the sunlight that came from the open door behind them.
"Which door are we supposed to go through?" Kukai whispered.
They all looked around, seeing multiple doors through the corridors of the hallway. "I guess we split up?" Miki suggested.
Everyone nodded. "Okay, call us when you find the door out of this place." Nagi answered.
Amu responded by opening a random nearby door. She peered in and saw a quite large room with an old kitchen in the corner and multiple chairs scattered about the room. "I'm guessing this was a break room for the workers here?" She lightly mumbled to herself as she shut it closed.
Well that wasn't the door out of here. That's for sure.
"Everyone! Yaya found it!" The pinkette turned as Yaya's voice echoed through the corridor. She saw the younger girl pointing towards the opened door in front of her. Sunlight peeked through as the front doors of the old apartment complex shined in.
"Great, Yaya! But don't yell so loudly!" Kukai angrily whispered as they all started heading towards her way.
Once they were in the front lobby, they all looked around, wondering where the others had gone. "I can sense them upstairs." Ran spoke up as Miki, Dia, and Temari all nodded.
"Where are they?"
"They're upstairs...I think the very top floor." Temari answered as she gave a tight grimace.
"Great! Let's go!" Yaya exclaimed as she hopped on the stairs. A loud creak shifted under her as she stepped onto the wooden stair, but since they were in the first floor, they doubt the people on the very top floor could hear it.
~~~
Jumping across the last flight of stairs, Amu let out a sigh as she looked around the messy, old hallway. At one end of the hallway, she paused as the view of Tadase, Rima, Ikuto, and Utau came into view.
Tadase was peering into what seemed like a door. All of them were dead silent, listening in onto the people on the other side of that door. Were the people who were causing this whole mess in there?
No doubt they were.
Quickly, Nagi ushered the rest of them to group up with Tadase and his group. They did so, quickly scampering across the worn out carpet, but making sure to stay as quiet as possible.
As they neared the group, Ikuto looked back and wasn't surprised to see them already arriving. "Who's in there?" Kukai mouthed.
In response, Rima just shrugged her shoulders and pointed down at Tadase who was still crouched near the door. His whole body looked stiff. His eyes were wide open in complete shock.
Amu frowned as she crouched down near him. Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, it spooked him out of his shocked trance. He merely looked up, his eyes still wide and his mouth slightly hanging ajar now. He pointed towards the crack in the door and scooted over to let Amu put her face to it, peering in.
She tried to glance around on what was going on inside. All she saw was piles of metal, books strewn everywhere, trash lying everywhere on the floor, and notebooks scattered about. One was wide open with an x-egg and x-character drawing. But other than that, she couldn't see much else other than the voices that came from the people inside.
She felt her heart hammering against her chest as she saw an x-egg float past the hole. Her heart rate picked up its pace as she watched a large figure pick up the open notebook of the drawings off the ground.
Her eyes widened as Su's voice emerged from her heart. "What's Kennsuke-san doing in there~desu?"
~~~
Amu couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it.
Kennsuke was a part of this whole x-egg thing?!
She stumbled on the floor, landing on her butt as her eyes went wide. She looked up at everyone, seeing Tadase's still shocked expression. Kennsuke was his best friend. She could only imagine how he was feeling right now.
Then she shook her head. He was probably feeling just like when they had found out that Kairi was working for Easter back then. And back then, she felt betrayed, hurt, and so many more feelings that she couldn't describe.
How did Kennsuke find out about x-eggs? Why is he doing this? Could he see their guardian characters this whole time?!
Rima urged the pinkette to spit out on why her and Tadase were so stricken. The only thing that Amu could do was watch Tadase pull his phone out. He scrolled through his contacts and stopped as Kennsuke's name popped up.
He showed it to everyone, pointing to inside the room afterwards. Everyone's eyes sent wide except for Utau. Of course, she had no clue who he was.
Seeing everyone's faces turn into shock, Utau let out an inaudible sigh as she gestured for all of them to follow her. She led them to the other end of the hallway, trying to get as far away from the people inside that room as possible just in case those people inside decided to come out.
She attempted to turn the doorknob and was pleasantly surprised to see that the room was open. She pushed everyone in and quickly shut the door behind her.
"Now, what's the plan?" She sighed as she leaned her back against the old door. "And who is that person you guys are all shocked about?"
"He's Tadase's best friend..." Nagi slowly answered.
Utau knitted her eyebrows together, ignoring the old cobwebs and dusty floor that surrounded them. "Then what's he doing here?"
This time Tadase spoke up with a shaky breath. "I-I don't know."
The singer sighed as she glanced at everyone else. Her brother was leaning against an old wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed, probably in deep thought. Amu was frantically telling Rima and Yaya what she saw in that room, and Kukai and Nagi just had a worried expression as they glanced at Tadase.
"We need to come up with a plan."
Everyone looked up at the singer for a long moment before agreeing.
"Nice idea, Utau!" Kukai exclaimed as he held up a high-five to his girlfriend. She slowly connected her hand with his and was surprised as he crossed their fingers together. He continued to stand by her as everyone started to make comments of a plan, holding her hand with a light squeeze.
"How about we run in there and demand answers?!" Yaya suggested as she held a hand up high.
"No. That's an awful plan." The short blonde immediately shot back. Her expression bored. All Rima wanted was to leave this horrid place and get this settled with.
"How about we run in there and kick their butts until they give us answers?!" Iru exclaimed from behind Utau's shoulder. Everyone looked to the guardian character and immediately rejected the suggestion.
The room was quiet afterwards. No one had no clue what to do. No plan was being made.
"Then...why don't we split up again?" Nagi slowly suggested as a small plan was forming in his head.
"We're up on the top floor, so why don't the people who can fly, or jump really high, get on top of the roof? And the rest of us will attempt to talk to Kennsuke or his friend about something interesting?"
Although the plan didn't sound so convincing yet, everyone knew that it was the best plan so far. "What would you guys say to Kennsuke or his friend?" Amu spoke up in curiosity.
Nagi looked around, his face looking unsure himself.
"Oh! Oh! I know!" Yaya exclaimed as she raised a hand and jumped up and down excitedly.
"How about we tell them that we're here to interview them for the school paper?!" Rima and Amu deadpanned at the younger girl. "Yaya. That's not going to work." The pinkette gave in a sigh of disappointment.
"Aw! Why not?! We can talk to them in disguise!"
"Because, Kennsuke might recognize us."
Then, Rima's eyebrows furrowed together as something popped in her mind. The sound of the crash from earlier echoed in her memory. "Do you remember that crash we heard earlier?" She turned to the three other people who had heard the sound as well.
"Yeah, I remember. What about it?" Tadase slowly answered. Ikuto was still leaning against the wall, not saying a thing the whole time. However, he was still carefully listening to everyone's suggestions.
"What? What crash?" Yaya asked as she looked at the four.
The singer sighed as she crossed her arms, no longer holding her boyfriend's hand. "Earlier when we came up here, we heard a crash. We assume it was either this Kennsuke guy who dropped whatever it was, or his friend."
"Yeah, since we heard that crash, we can act like we're looking around the building." A plan slowly developed in Rima's mind. "And maybe if we're loud enough, we can get them to come out. Once they ask us why we're here, we can just tell them that we're looking through old buildings for any signs paranormal activities. And that we had heard a crash coming from up here."
"But won't Kennsuke recognize you guys?" Amu spoke up.
Rima nodded her head, "that's the point. We want him to recognize us and be surprised that we're here."
Everyone nodded, understanding the plan a bit better now. "Now, who will be in what team? Roof team? Ground team?" Nagi asked as he looked around.
"Hm...." Tadase stood in place, glancing at everyone and studying them carefully. "Kukai, Utau and Ikuto should be roof team." He answered. Amu's mouth opened in surprise. "Wait, what about me?" She was referring to Amulet Heart and Amulet Dia of course. Usually if there was an "in the air" team, she was always first pick as one.
"If Kennsuke sees you here, he might react differently since he has a crush on you..."
At the mention of the crush he had on her, Amu blushed slightly. She still felt awful for rejecting his confession, but it couldn't be helped. Hearing this newfound information, Utau raised an eyebrow. "Tadase's friend has a crush on you?"
The pinkette decided not to answer the singer's question, and instead brought up another topic. "But you're his friend. I'm sure with just seeing you, he would be affected in some way."
Tadase sighed with a nod. "That's true, but with you also here, he might react differently than with just me."
Amu grimaced, looking at the old carpet underneath them. She could feel a cool gaze pierce her skin and looked up to see Ikuto staring right at her. Making another grimace, she watched as he only slightly nodded his head at her.
She sighed as she looked at Tadase once again. "Alright then, I'll be in the ground group."