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And winter had finally come. Amu loved this season more than anything else. In winter Tadase-kun had confessed to her. It was 2 years ago. So this cold time of the year held the most precious remembrances to her. That day was their second anniversary and Amu was waiting for her special person in a snowy park. But if to be honest, she wasn’t so sure about her feelings anymore. It seemed that his work and researches were more important than being with her. It was true that Tadase-kun was a successful biologist, but her young heart couldn’t take his excuses anymore. Whenever they were going to meet, he would always betray her expectations by canceling the date or not even coming in the first place. And it made her heart ache. Of course, she understood that he was working and all, but she wanted to be loved by him, to marry him and always be with the one she loved. She wanted just a simple attention from his side. Was it too much of asking? Time flew by but there still was no view of him. And it had been 2 hours since her arrival at the place. 2 hours of standing in the cold. Amu was getting confused. She was so tired of waiting. It couldn’t be that he had forgotten about their date, could it? To prove the rightness of her thoughts, she took her mobile phone out of the pocket and dialed a number. After several beeps she heard Tadase’s voice. “What is it, Amu-chan?” he sounded calm and sweet as always. The girl bit her lower lip. After a short pause she began to speak. “Tadase-kun, are you free now? Can we meet?” “Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m in the middle of my experiment. Maybe tomorrow?” She swallowed a lump that rose in her throat. It couldn’t be happening again… “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. See you later then.” “Bye.” And he hung up. It hurt…it hurt so much! He had forgotten, he didn’t even remember about their special date when she called him. And she reminded him about this day so many times… Amu chuckled bitterly and bit her lower lip again to control the upcoming tears. It wasn’t fair. He promised to change. It wasn’t the first time he forgot about the meeting, but every time she told him about his absence, he begged her for forgiveness and promised to improve. Amu wiped away a little hot tear from the corner of her eye. It was pointless to stay here. She looked like a fool by standing there for who knew how long. The girl took out a small purse from her deco pink bag and opened it. There was a little mirror inside the purse, so she checked her make-up and was about to close the object in her hands, when her eyes fixed on a little pink-coloured sheet of paper. She remembered how she got it immediately. It was 3 months ago when that strange guy gave his visit card to her. And she couldn’t understand why she didn’t just throw it away from the beginning, but instead, she had put it in her purse and kept it till this very moment. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind. A feeling of betrayal echoed in her heart, when she recalled Tadase’s face. Everyone admired their relations and called them a perfect couple, but how wrong those people was. Amu lowered her head in regret. She thought that she could change Tadase, that her love would win his heart—a heart of a scientist. But it seemed that she was just dreaming all this time. The reality was a way crueler than she thought. She loved him, but his indifference and nonchalance reached the highest point of her patience. A hot tear rolled down her cool cheek and froze under a cold wind, though she wiped it away roughly. “Yo! Amu, is that you?” a familiar voice called out to her unexpectedly. In a second Kuukai’s cheerful face appeared before her golden eyes. “Oh, girl, what could happen that you look so miserable and lost?” he asked with concern as his smile dropped right away. “Kuukai-kun!” she couldn’t believe that it was him, her eyes widened in surprise. “How come you’re here?” He grinned broadly in return. “I came to pick Utau up from work. And what about you? I supposed that you had to be with Tadase, since it’s your anniversary today,” he gifted her with an intimidated look, arching a red eyebrow. Something tightened in her chest painfully. Even Souhma-kun remembered that she and Tadase had a special date that day. “He didn’t come,” was her dry reply as she looked away and stared emotionlessly at the passing people. A red-haired guy clapped her shoulder in a friendly way and offered her a reassuring smile. “I have some free time before taking Utau home, maybe you’ll accompany me to a café? My treat, of course.” She didn’t feel like going anywhere, but she agreed to her own surprise. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to feel lonely at the moment; maybe it was because Kuukai was a good friend of hers. She didn’t know the reason, but in a blink of an eye Amu found herself sitting at a cozy little café with a cup of hot coffee in her hands. “So, Amu-chan, why did it happen?” She didn’t need an explanation of that question, because the girl knew what exactly he wanted to know. “He is always busy with his experiments and researches, so I guess, he could forget about our anniversary…again.” Hinamori made a heavy sigh. “I’m tired, Kuukai-kun.” Her eyebrows knotted as a hurt expression appeared on her lovely face. “Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t want me to be around, that I’m some kind of an encumbrance to him and his work. Our meetings became a rarity. I’m not sure about his feelings towards me anymore. I thought that it was ok at first, that we will find the solution, but it seems that the only one who tries to do something is me, and that makes me be left behind.” “Here,” there was a napkin in his hand and Amu didn’t even notice that she was crying. “I quite understand your situation, Amu-chan. We’ve been through similar problems.” Kuukai sounded serious, yet his voice was calming and honest. “Utau is a famous singer. Even if we live under the same roof as a family, it doesn’t mean that we have a chance to talk to each other. I got irritated with her because she didn’t provide me with her attention. Our marriage was on the edge of collapsing. But you know what? We had a serious conversation some weeks ago and she said that we have to save our relations, our family, and our love to each other no matter what. She signed a two years’ contract and she has to work for it, but after that Utau promised to take a long vacation, so we could start everything anew, set a real family and have as many kids as we want.” When Kuukai said those last words his lips curved into a gentle smile and a light blush appeared on his young handsome face. “I believe that we can overcome everything to keep our family alive, because I love Utau and she loves me in return. But what concerns you…” he looked at her seriously and carefully, “I hate to admit it, but I really think that you should break up with Tadase. I respect him as a friend, as a smart and intelligent person, but I can’t forgive him for making you cry and suffer so much. You are a good, lovely, caring, gentle and clever girl; I believe there is someone who will treasure you the way you deserve to be”. Amu was silent. Souhma had just voiced all of her most hidden doubts that were bugging her for a long time. Things got so tangled when you were alone, but now, when there was a person, a dear friend who you could talk to, all those messy thoughts just stood on their right places. Breaking up with someone you loved was a hard decision and even harder process. She didn’t know if she could ever do it. It was painful to bear with such indifferent attitude from Tadase’s side, but it was even more painful to just burn all the bridges. “Amu-chan, please, cheer up,” the guy took her hand encouragingly. “Let the time do all the work. Time is your best friend. You will find the way, I’m sure. Just don’t think too much now. You need to change the atmosphere around you. How about a dinner with Utau and me today? I’m sure she will be happy to see you,” and he grinned at her with that broad and friendly smile. Amu laughed a little in return. It was hard to hide the tears that were ready to leave her eyes. Having such good friends as Utau and him was a real happiness and she couldn’t control those sentimental feelings. “I’m so grateful for your help, Kuukai-kun,” she uttered truthfully on the edge of bursting into tears. “You’re welcome!” he cheered. “Now, wipe your teary face and let’s go or else Utau will skin me alive if I am late to pick her up”. Amu giggled earnestly at his remark and did as she was told. After 10 minutes of walking, they entered a huge building in European style.