Chapter Text
Amu quietly dried the dishes as her mother washed them. She set them on the counter for Ami to whisk away to put where they belong. It was a mindless task which was both helpful and not since her mind was a million miles away thinking about the problems that Ikuto faced when she’d rather be distracted by her family.
“Amu,” her mother said softly as Ami went clattering around in the cupboard they kept their pans in. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Amu answered truthfully.
Midori let the dish she’d been cleaning fall back into the sink as she turned to her daughter. “Is something happening? Are you okay?”
Amu bit her lip as she leaned against the counter. “Nothing is happening directly to me,” she said at last. “But I think I do want to talk to you about it.”
“Of course,” her mother replied with a firm nod of her head. “You know that I’m always here for you.”
Ami hit the counter as she scooped up the next item to put away.
“Maybe we could talk,” Amu said with a smile tugging at her lips. “Later in my room where we have a little more privacy.”
Midori smiled back at her before she turned to her younger daughter. “Ami?”
“Yes, Momma?” Ami asked as she turned back with a clean plate balanced on her head.
“Don’t break anything tonight and you can have a treat.”
Ami grinned as she let go of the plate to clap her hands. It slipped from her head but she managed to catch it before it hit the ground. “I’ll do my best.”
Midori sighed as she went back to washing.
Amu grinned while she worked to dry everything her mother washed. Her thoughts still flickered to Ikuto and school but she felt lighter knowing she’d be able to talk to her mother about it.
XXX
Midori closed the door behind them as she followed Amu into her room. She sat down on Amu’s desk chair with a quiet sigh.
Amu dropped onto her bed as she watched her mother relax. “Did you have a rough day at the office?”
Midori hummed as she shook her head. “I handled all of my work yesterday.”
“That’s nice,” Amu replied as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She rested her chin in the gap between them as she looked back at her mother. “Do you have any big articles coming up?”
“Baby,” Midori said kindly as she scooted Amu’s chair closer to the bed. “I will gladly talk about my work with you if you’re interested in it. I don’t want to if all you’re trying to do is stall.”
Amu sighed without lifting her head. “I’m not sure where to start.”
“How about with who this is about. You said it wasn’t you.”
“It’s not me directly,” Amu confirmed. “It’s Ikuto.”
“The boy you’re partnered with?” Midori asked as she tried to keep her tone and face neutral. “I would like to meet him soon.”
“He’s a great partner for our project and treats Ami nicely when he’s here. I’m glad I was paired up with him.”
“So then what’s the problem?” Midori asked when Amu trailed off. “Does he smell or something?”
“What?” Amu asked with a laugh as she let go of her knees and sat up. She crossed her legs and leaned her elbows on her thighs as she looked at her mom in disbelief. “That’s not it! He smells fine, Mom.”
“Then explain the problem,” Midori bemusedly said.
“He’s getting bullied at school,” Amu said bluntly as she dropped her hands into her lap to pick at her nails. “By Hotori Tadase and some of the other boys.”
“Have you told a teacher?” Midori asked as she let the laughter fade from her voice. “Bullying it not okay.”
“I know,” Amu rushed to say. “I know it’s not. I haven’t seen them actually push him or anything yet. I have heard some of the things they’ve said to him and for whatever reason, they’re bullying him about me.”
Midori frowned as she tried to process everything her daughter was telling her. “About you. How can this be about you?”
“Ikuto has reassured me that it really isn’t,” Amu sighed as she looked back up at her mother. “He said that Tadase is using me as an excuse to get some of the others involved but it’s a personal thing between the two of them. I don’t know exactly what and I don’t want to pry.”
“So most of the boys in your school think they need to bully Ikuto about you. What about you exactly?”
Amu sighed again as she dropped her head back to dramatically look up at the ceiling. “I caught them telling Ikuto to stay away from me and that we should fail our project rather than him be near me.”
“Oh,” Midori said as she tried to stifle a laugh. “And how did that go for them?”
“I yelled at them,” Amu admitted as she dropped her head back down. “I told them very firmly that I would not forgive any of them if they made me fail and that they need to leave Ikuto alone.”
“Okay,” Midori said with as straight a face as she could keep. “And how did that work out for you?”
“Most of the school thinks I’m in a gang and that Ikuto is under my protection and that he does bad things for me.”
Midori couldn’t help it. She laughed. Only her daughter could face so much drama during high school.
Amu couldn’t fight back her smile as she watched her mother react to how ridiculous things were. “I know, it’s stupid. I heard them again talking about how they were just going to wait until after our project was over to bully Ikuto so that they wouldn’t bother me and I lost it again.”
“So you’ve yelled at his bullies twice,” Midori said with a nod of her head. “What does Ikuto think about all of this?”
“About the bullies,” Amu said slowly as she thought over her words. “He seems resigned to dealing with it. He told me he doesn’t want to fight back because he just wants to graduate and go to college.”
“And about you interfering?” Midori asked
Amu sighed as she twisted her fingers in her lap again. “I think he appreciates it. He knows now that I don’t like it and I made it clear that I would always stand up for him. I told him that finishing our project does not mean that I’ll stop caring because we’re friends now.”
“Do you know if he’s told his parents?”
Amu dropped her gaze at that. “I don’t think he has,” she said softly. “I don’t know much about his home life but I’ve heard a few rumors – that I definitely didn’t want to hear! – that his home life isn’t great.”
Midori made a sound of understanding. “Have you asked him about it?”
“I think,” Amu said before she looked up at her mom again. “I think that he’d been waiting for me to ask but not in a good way. I think he’s worried that I will ask. I feel like he’s holding his breath sometimes, just waiting for me to pry like some of our classmates would. I don’t want to do that to him.”
Midori got up from the chair and moved to sit at Amu’s side. She wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “I know this has been hard for you but you’re doing a great job. Respecting Ikuto’s boundaries while making sure he knows you’re here for him is tough. I want to make sure you know that you’re doing great.”
Amu’s breath rushed out of her as she leaned heavily into her mother’s side. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Second, if you see him getting bullied again, then I want you to get a teacher. It needs to be documented that this is happening. Otherwise, it’ll be your word against theirs. Proof is important.”
Amu nodded without breaking out of her mother’s hold. “I can do that. I’ll record it if I have to.”
“Until Ikuto wants to do something about them himself, this is going to be difficult for you. You’re already doing a great job of making sure that he knows that you’ve got his back. And for most kids who get bullied, that’s really important. He needs to know that he’s not alone.”
Amu nodded again. “I’ll keep doing that, too.”
“And lastly,” Midori said with a bit of a smile as she squeezed her daughter tighter. “Bring him around when I’m actually home. I want to meet him.”
Amu laughed as she wrapped her arms around her mother to hug her back. “I will do my best,” she promised.
XXX
“I’m starting to think you’re incapable of learning,” Tadase said as he shoved Ikuto up against a wall. “I’ve told you so many times to stay away from her.”
“And I keep reminding you,” Ikuto said with an exaggerated sigh, “that we’re working together for a school project and I have to be near her to do that. So really, which one of us doesn’t seem to be getting it?”
Tadase’s lips pulled back in a snarl as he pulled Ikuto forward by his shirt only to slam him back once again. “It’s still you, stupid. I’ve warned you plenty of times. Now I’m telling you. Stay away from Amu or I’ll make you.”
Ikuto made sure that he looked back at him with the most bored look he could make. “I think Amu has made it clear to everyone that she’s capable of deciding who she does or does not spend time with. And once again, we were assigned partners. I don’t have a choice.”
“Wrong,” Tadase snapped. “I gave you a choice.”
Ikuto didn’t have time to duck as Tadase swung.
XXX
Amu dropped into her chair at her desk with a sigh. She pulled out her notebook before she looked up and caught sight of Ikuto. He was sporting a bruise on his face that hadn’t been there when she’d waved at him in the hallway earlier. “What happened?”
“I am apparently a little slow to learn,” Ikuto said with a wince. He didn’t back away as Amu reached out to carefully touch his face. “It’s fine. I can handle this.”
“Yeah,” Amu said sadly. “But you shouldn’t have to. Who did this to you specifically?”
Ikuto shook his head at that. “Oh no. You are not going to fight them just because I won’t.”
Amu met his gaze as Ikuto covered her hand with his. “I don’t think you understand,” she told him softly. “You’re my friend. I told you. I’ll always fight for you. Now tell me who it was.”
Ikuto sighed. He didn’t let go of Amu’s hand as he drew it away from his face. His gaze dropped to her desk. “Tadase,” he said at last. “It was Tadase.”
Amu twisted her hand to tighten her grip on Ikuto’s without squeezing too hard. So far she’d witnessed other boys cornering Ikuto but not specifically Tadase. Ikuto’s hold on her hand in return made it clear to her that he didn’t want her to get up and leave. “I’m not about to find him right now,” Amu said quietly as she leaned closer to him over her desk. “But if I see him even look at you wrong, I’ll fight him.”
“I’m sorry that he brought you into this by using you as an excuse,” Ikuto replied just as softly as he turned Amu’s hand over and ran his fingers over the back of it. “That’s not fair to you when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I’m glad,” Amu said with a little smile. “Because now we’re in this together. I told you. We’re friends.”
“Yeah,” Ikuto said as he returned her smile. “Friends.”