Woot! First Shugo Chara story! I actually wrote this a few months ago for my friend's birthday, so I don't have any author's notes planned... So I think after this I'm just going to post the chapters and not say anything! This story is currently rated T, but ch. 2 has an M rating. If there are concerns that this story's rating is too low, please PM me and I"ll change it as soon as I get the chance.
Disclaimer: Storm Midnight claims no ownership or affiliation with the characters or concepts of Shugo Chara, which is copyright Peach Pit.
Well, that's about it, enjoy!
Saturday, September 23
Mood: Frazzled, Confused, Nervous... you name it!
Dear Diary,
I bet you're wondering why there are so many emotions today, huh? Well, to put it bluntly... I had that dream again. It's so weird! I can't understand it! I guess I never fully described it to you, so you wouldn't realize why I'm freaking out so much... ^^;
So it starts out in this forest, and I can't see a thing. It feels like I'm desperately looking for someone... someone important, but I don't know who it is! All I know that in the dream I'm worried sick and I'm so scared and... Alone... I wonder... Could I be looking for Tadase? Oh no, is this an omen or something? Am I doomed to loose him? NO! THIS CAN'T BE! We've been together for too long for use to break up just like THAT! TT^TT
We've been going steady for almost three years now... If my dream really is an omen of some sort... Why? But wait, there's more to it: I keep running though the forest and I enter this moonlit clearing, and there's this man standing in the center, looking out towards a lake. He whispers my name—I can't recognize his voice—and just before he turns around, I wake up. The dream always ends on a sad note—quite literally. I always hear a single note of music, as if someone was plucking a string. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
*Sigh* I guess some riddles are better left unsolved. -_-
Anyway, Yaya, Rima, Utau and I are going shopping today. *Growls* They want to help me find a dress for tomorrow night. What's happening tomorrow? Well, it's my third anniversary of being with Tadase, and my twenty-first birthday. He insisted that he take me to the most expensive restaurant in town for dinner. I reeeeally don't want him to, but I don't want to hurt his feelings and... Well, I just don't know! A small part of me has been trying to be in love with Tadase since I first saw him at the Academy, but... He's been avoiding me lately... What is he up to? =_=
I'll confront him about at dinner tomorrow night... Gotta go, I better eat breakfast before—
She was interrupted as she heard her doorbell ring. She sighed and finished her entry.
—Before Utau comes to pick me up...
Sincerely,
Amu
Amu Hinamori closed her diary, locked it, and placed it back within the spot on her shelf. Carefully she tucked away the key in its secret hiding place. The doorbell rang again... and again... and again. Amu stormed over to her balcony and looked down to see Utau furiously pressing her doorbell. Amu had moved out and gotten her own house when she was nineteen. She only had one rule: you do not ring the doorbell before eleven. She glanced at the clock on her wall: Ten-fifteen.
That blonde loved to spite her, especially this early in the morning. Amu shouted down to her, "You know, some people are still trying to sleep!"
"And some people need to be ready on time!" The singer shouted back. "Now let me in!" Amu quickly changed out of her pajamas and ran to the door. Utau smirked, "About time!" She pushed her way past her pink-haired friend and walked into the kitchen. "So what's for breakfast? I hope you made enough for the both of us." She sat down at the table and folded her arms.
Amu sighed; she couldn't believe this had become a regular thing, "I was just going to make some toast and—"
"Okay, waffles it is!" Utau cut her off. "And you should probably make some eggs too," She then added in a gentler tone, "Yaya and Rima are hell-bent on getting you the perfect dress, Nagihiko might come along as well."
The younger girl groaned loudly as she pulled out her waffle iron and other various ingredients. She was happy that she had such diverse Charas when she was younger. A small wave of nostalgia swept over her as she remembered them. Ran had helped her become an honest person and helped increase her stamina (which would surely help her on today's shopping trip). Miki made Amu show her creative side, and balanced herself. Su had allowed her to become an exemplary cook, and helped her learn the importance of domestic skills. And Dia... Dia taught her how to shine. Amu lost herself in memories of those happy times, but Utau quickly broke her out of the trance.
"Um... The eggs are burning..."
"Wh-What?" Amu scrambled to fix them, and managed to save them just in time. Quickly she served them along with several waffles. She cleaned up the stove and sat down. Utau unceremoniously dug into her food as Amu sighed once more and began to eat. Their meal was endured in silence, both too hungry to attempt conversation. As soon as Amu was finished, Utau helped her clean up the dishes and they prepared to leave.
"Come ON!" The idol urged as Amu ran upstairs to grab her bag. "Rima says you're dead if you're not at the mall within the next ten minutes!" Amu quickly pulled on her boots and ran back downstairs, she saw Utau on her cell phone.
"Yes, I know... Of course we will! ...He better like it or else! What do you mean 'or else what?' He's my little brother; I can threaten him all I want." She clicked the phone shut, scowling.
Amu chuckled, "Rima..." Her blonde friend grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to her car. It was a red convertible, sleek and stylish, just like its owner.
"You better buckled up," she warned. But Amu didn't need to be, she knew that Utau was a speed demon. Once they were both strapped in the car sped off. They reached the mall in record time.
xxxxx
The two were greeted at the mall's entrance by Rima and Nagihiko. "Where's Yaya?" Amu asked, "Wasn't she supposed to be here?"
Nagihiko explained, "Kairi called her up about five minutes ago and asked her out to lunch. She left to get ready for him."
"So she ditched us..." Utau concluded, "Humph."
Rima grabbed Amu by the hand, "So what are we waiting for, let's go find your dress!"
The next two hours were a flurry of satin, silk and frills. One of the first was a strapless black dress that was cut just below the knee; it was gathered at the bottom and sides. "Well it's certainly... form fitting," Nagihiko commented as Amu looked at herself in the mirror. He had put his long purple hair in a high ponytail, effectively passing himself off as a girl and allowing him access to the women's dressing room.
"... Can't breath!" Amu gasped. Utau quickly ran over and undid a part of the zipper so she could get it off. Rima then came in later with another dress. It was a deep teal color that reached to the floor, with a strap only over one shoulder.
She held the dress up to Amu, "...Clashes with your hair too much..." she muttered while shaking her head.
Nagihiko looked to the dress, then to the short blonde as she began to tuck it away, "You know, I think you'd look great in it, Rima," He flashed a captivating smile, catching Rima off guard.
She blushed lightly, "I-I don't know... teal really isn't my color."
He looked from her to the dress for a long moment, "Hmm... I guess you're right, I can see you as more of a dark rose color."
Rima blushed again, "I guess..." She quickly turned and scurried out of the room to help Utau pick out another dress.
Amu cracked open the door of the small dressing chamber, "Honestly, why don't you just ask her out on a date already?" she asked in a whisper, suppressing giggles.
Nagihiko frowned, "I don't think I'm the right guy for her..."
"Are you kidding me! You two are perfect for each other!"
He paused, "...You really think so, Amu?"
"I know so!" she replied. He beamed once more, pounding a fist into his open hand.
"Okay then, I'll ask her after lunch."
At that moment both Utau and Rima rushed back in, their arms filled with dresses.
They quickly squeezed her into a lime green cocktail dress. "No," Both stated in unison after looking at it on her. They looked to each other, "Whorish," they agreed. Nagihiko resigned himself to returning discarded dresses to their proper racks as the two blondes shoved Amu into as many dresses as possible.
Two more hours passed in the wake of discarded lace and fabric. It was shocking to see her two friends on the same wavelength. It was almost as if they were reading each other's minds as they appraised each selection. Unfortunately, once each dress was worn, they decided that it looked terrible on Amu. Nothing seemed to match her style at all! That and the fact that they kept picking dresses that made the poor girl look like a hooker.
"Not in a thousand years!"
"I wouldn't let my man catch me dead in that!"
"Tadase would kill me if I let you wear that!"
"Absolutely not!"
"What is that, a dress or a tube top?"
"We're not trying to find a look that doesn't scream 'Slut' here, now are we?"
"Is this style supposed to make you look like you're wearing a bikini?"
Amu had just pulled out deep rose-colored evening gown, "Wow, this one looks really—"
"No," Rima tugged the dress out of her friend's grasp.
"Why?"
"That one's mine."
Amu laughed as Nagihiko walked back in the room. He was carrying a beautiful dress that cut off just above the knee. The top consisted of a strapless bodice; it had a dark red, black and gold plaid pattern with black lace overlay, and the frilled skirt was black with red and gold accents. "I found this in the back corner of the store, what do you think?"
Amu quickly snatched it and tried it on, "It's... Perfect!" She felt like she would burst with excitement at the sight of herself in the mirror. The dress hugged in all the right places, and made her feel beyond beautiful. This sight was surely going have the power to knock Tadase—or just any guy—clean off their feet. Quickly they paid for their purchases and left the store.
Utau grabbed her wrist, "Time to find shoes!" Fortunately, shoe shopping was a lot less time consuming than finding the dress. Amu chose a simple pair of black heels to go with her dream dress and bought a pair of stockings to go with them. As soon as they exited the shoe store, Rima took the lead, shouting something about accessories. After finding a cute necklace and bangle to match, along with a small purse they deemed Amu's anniversary outfit complete.
"Are you happy with everything?" Nagihiko asked as he was finally able to pull his hair out of the ponytail. Amu nodded cheerfully. She then heard a voice calling her name; she looked to see Yaya and Kairi walking towards them. They had been sweethearts since the ninth grade, and had been voted world's cutest couple all four years of high school. Quickly the girls told them all about Amu's dress and her dinner-date with Tadase.
"Oh! That's soooooo romantic!" Yaya cooed. She then playfully yelled at her boyfriend "How come you don't take me anywhere nice?"
Kairi cringed, but answered eloquently, "Anyplace in this world is a nice place when I'm with you, my dear."
Amu, Utau, and Rima couldn't help letting out a small "Aww..." as Yaya glomped him.
"I love it when you use those gushy lines!" She squealed. She quickly pulled away from him and began digging though her bag. She pulled out a black headband, "And look at what he got me! Isn't it just the cutest?" The headband had blue cat ears on it. She playfully stuck it on Kairi's head, "Now ain't that just precious?"
Amu looked at him and she felt her stomach drop. With those cat ears on Kairi looked an awful lot like...
"Amu?" Rima cautiously asked. "Are you okay?"
The pink-haired Joker felt hot tears stinging her eyes and felt them beginning to roll down her cheek. A look of horror spread across Kairi's face as he realized that he reminded her about the Taboo. "Amu, I'm so—!"
"Don't!" She dropped her bags, and looked wildly around for an escape route; she spotted the nearest restroom and selected that as her destination. "I just..." she staggered, covering her face so the others would not see her tears. "I need a moment!" Her voice broke on the last word as she began to run.
Why did those memories still have to hurt so much?
She locked herself in the stall in the farthest corner of the room, thankful that nobody else was in there at the moment. She leaned against the door of the closed stall and began to bawl her eyes out.
Why did he have to leave?
Suddenly her dream made sense now. It wasn't Tadase that she was looking for every night in the dark forest, it was him.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi.
They had started dating when Amu was sixteen, she didn't care that there was a five year age difference between them, and her parents were fine with it, as long as she was happy (her father was still tremendously dismayed by the fact that his little Amu-chan was growing up into 'a fine young woman,' but that's beside the point).
All the broken promises that resulted were too much to bear.
He said that she was his whole world. He said that they would always be together. He said that he'd never leave her. He said that he loved her. Loved her. He promised her forever, he told her that he would do anything to make her happy. He constantly told her how beautiful and wonderful she was, and how he was the luckiest guy in the world to be blessed with such an angel. He said that when he was with her, he didn't feel the pains of his past, and that he could be his true-self when they were together. To Amu, Ikuto was her sun, her moon, her stars. There was no life without his sweet embrace. He was the one she told all her secrets to, and he was the one who held her when she needed to cry. He was the one she would stay up with on the phone or chat with online into the ungodly hours of the night. He was her first kiss, her first experiment with desire, and her first pregnancy scare. Yes, she had sex with him—although she would never admit it to the others, for that night was theirs alone. She didn't regret one single moment with him. Things were so perfect. She loved him with all her heart and more. Nothing could have—nothing should have ever driven them apart!
But then... he left. Without a trace. Just... Gone. The first day she sat home by the phone, not realizing anything was wrong. The second day she called him at least a hundred times, eager to find out where he was, her worry peaking. On the third day she rounded up all of her friends a conducted a search party throughout the town. Three days later she received a postcard. The location's name was in English, she couldn't understand it, but the picture depicted a bustling harbor city. There was no return address. It only bore two words in his handwriting:
"I'm sorry."
He didn't even say goodbye.
She had given him everything she had to offer. She had entrusted her heart to him, and so much more...
And he broke her; he broke her into thousands of pieces. Pieces that were too tiny to matter, but sharp enough for the memories to cut her deep if she ever tried putting herself back together.
That is what led her to Tadase. He was her rebound. She hoped that the spark from their childhood would grow into the kind of flame she had with... with him. She forced herself to love him, she forced herself to move on, regardless of the pain she had to endure. She never really loved Tadase, she just wanted to feel loved, and she needed someone to hold her. She wanted to see if she could find some small shred of his character with him. Just one small aspect would be something enough for her to hold onto. But alas, no such thing was found within the blonde boy. No one knew this cruel truth, and Amu cried herself to sleep ever now and then as she realized she would be inflicting the same pain upon Tadase that he had inflicted upon her. But her friends still noticed that anything that reminded her about him would cause her to break down, resulting in the Taboo. Amu desperately had tried to move on, but he was just too big a part of her to forget.
She heard the door of the restroom open and she scrambled to dry her eyes and compose herself. "Amu?" It was Utau. "You in here?" Of course she was in there, where else did she have to run?
Slowly Amu opened the stall door and faced her friend. The idol then did something completely unexpected. She walked over and hugged her. "I know that he hurt you so long ago, and I understand that you're struggling. I'll never forgive him for that until you do." She took a step back and examined Amu's face before dragging her over to the sinks, "Now let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
Amu smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
"That's what friends are for, right?" Utau replied. As she fixed Amu's makeup, she also stated, "Kairi's really sorry and offered to buy you lunch at the food court, but I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into." The younger girl rolled her eyes, "Oh come on Amu! It's free food!" She got a laugh at that statement. Amu hated to admit it, but overeating was her only major vice. Thank God she had an insanely fast metabolism.
Once Utau deemed her ready, the two exited the restroom and met up with the others at the food court. There was someone else with them. Amu recognized the newcomer immediately. Kukai Souma, the first Jack of the Guardians and Utau's fiancé. "Hey Baby!" He ran up to his diva and greeted her with a quick peck on the lips. "Amu!" He gave her a hug, then held her at arms length, "You okay now?" He asked quietly. "Nagihiko told me what happened."
"I'm fine now, don't worry." A sly smirk came on her face as she walked up to Kairi, "So Utau's says that you're going to buy me lunch."
The green-haired boy panicked, "Look I can only spare twenty dollars and—"
"I'm kidding!" She laughed at him. "Relax; I have enough money for myself." As she watched the couples around her erupt into giggles she noticed how she was alone. 'Why isn't Tadase here?' She wondered. 'Everyone has someone to laugh with; they have someone to be with. I feel like a total third wheel.'
Kukai and Nagihiko immediately caught onto her sudden sadness. They may already have women in their lives, but Amu was like a sister to both of them, and family looks out for each other, right? They looked to each other and nodded. Kukai pulled out some money and handed it to Nagihiko, everyone else then chipped into the pot. "You go run and get us some burgers; I gotta go make a call." As Nagihiko walked up to get food for everyone Kukai stood up, "Ladies," He gave a short bow, "Kairi," The two Jacks nodded to each other. The older man glanced at Amu one last time, "Please excuse me for a moment." He walked away from the food court and pulled out his cell phone. Angrily he began to dial Tadase's number.
xxxx
"Pick up, damnit!" Kukai growled quietly as he continued to pace. Now out of the other's sight, he was pacing along a small stretch of wall near a game shop. Again and again he dialed the King's number.
"Hi, this is Tadase Hotori; I'm not here right now-"
Kukai hung up and redialed.
"Hi, this is Tadase Hotori, I'm-"
He tried one last time.
"Hi, this is-"
"Why won't you pick up your damn phone?" Kukai shouted into the receiver.
He was about to hang up again, but he heard a small voice reply, "Kukai? Is that you?"
"Finally you answer!" Kukai growled. "Where the hell are you?" He looked around cautiously to make sure no one was eavesdropping on him. "We're all at the mall, and Rima's been telling me that Amu has been feeling left out by a certain someone lately." He let out an angry sigh, "I'm talking about you! You're the one leaving her out, numbskull!" Kukai scratched the back of his head, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to! What's up with you lately? You're never around anyone anymore! You're making her think that you're gonna pull an Ikuto and hightail it outta here!" Angry shouting was heard on the other end. "I know you'd never leave her, sheesh!" He replied. "Now I want to know what the hell's so important for you to ignore your own girlfriend and-"
He froze. "You're going to what?" Kukai's face was filled with shock, "You're going to WHAT?" He leaned against the wall, taken by surprise. "Well that explains everything! Why didn't you tell me?" He grew offensive, "I would not!" He paused, "Okay, maybe I would let something slide..." He nodded, "Look, I gotta go, Utau's waiting for me. See ya later, bro." Kukai tucked away his phone and smiled, "I never thought he'd work up the courage to finally..." He let the statement trail off into a chuckle as he went back to go find the others, praying they saved a burger or two for him.
xxxxx
Fortunately, Utau did happen to spare him a burger with some fries. He explained to Amu that Tadase was busy with something, but that he would tell her all about it tomorrow night. "You know," He suddenly wondered aloud, "I think its time us men went to the arcade see if my high score on DDR is still there from high school, and play some video games while we're at it." He smiled at Utau, "You still want to go shopping for yourselves now that Amu's settled for her special dinner?" The other girls nodded. "Good!" He wadded up his trash and chucked it into the nearest bin, perfect shot.
Everyone got up and collected their bags. "Are you sure you're okay with me leaving?" Kairi asked his girlfriend as he prepared to set off with the others.
"Of course!" Yaya replied as she hugged him, "You go have fun!"
Utau walked over to her fiancé, "You behave now, alright?" She planted a kiss on his cheek as they embraced.
Nagihiko then leaned over to whisper something in Rima's ear. She blushed a bright red—something extremely rare for the laconic blonde. She nodded vigorously in response to whatever he just said. 'He just asked her out!' Amu though joyously as he turned to walk away. She then felt another pang of loneliness as the guys left. 'When was the last time Tadase and I had a moment like that? Is it a bad thing that I can't remember?' She sighed, 'Maybe... maybe it's finally time to go our separate ways... After dinner tomorrow, we'll need to sit down and talk.' As the other girls turned around to face her, Amu quickly forced herself to smile so they wouldn't notice her grief. "What are we waiting for?" She asked, "I read something about a two for one sale on tops at this one store yesterday, why don't we go check it out?"
The others enthusiastically agreed, "And after that," Rima suggested, why don't we go to that beauty shop on the second floor? I've heard they've gotten some new perfumes in."
So they set out upon their bargain hunt. Utau nabbed a few tops at the sale Amu mentioned while Yaya bought a new skirt. ("You're sure this doesn't make my butt look big?" "No Yaya, just pay for it already! You've got about half the store waiting in line because of you!") Rima refused to buy anything, stating that if she did in fact want anything, she would get Nagihiko to buy it for her. (That's a boyfriend's job, to buy stuff for his girl... right?") Amu bought a small bottle of perfume entitled 'Moonlight Magic.' It smelled of various flowers, primarily violets and lilies, as if you were 'walking though an enchanted garden basking in the moon's pure light' according to the bottle.
Quite an amount of time had passed since the beginning of their shopping spree. "Utau, what time is it?" Amu asked as she organized her bags.
"It's about seven-thirty..." Before her friend could respond the guys met back up with them.
"There you are!" Kukai shouted. "Are you all finished shopping? 'Cuz we're thinking about treating you all to a movie." The other guys laughed nervously, Kukai was always very straightforward with his ideas. He looked to Amu, "You want me to call up Tadase and tell him to be there?"
"No, I don't need you to do that... Actually I just want to go home right now, I'm exhausted." That was an outright lie; she was just sick and tired of all the displays of affection that were going on around her. She envied their love, their happiness. She had nothing like that to call her own.
"Well then let me drive you back real quick—" Utau handed her bags to Kukai and dug her car keys out of her purse.
"How about you drop me off at the theater? It's only a twenty minute walk from my house." And it was fifteen minutes drive there... So she would get home a little after eight. She'd make herself some dinner and then probably go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be one hectic day.
"Are you sure?" The blonde asked.
"Yeah, I need the exercise anyway," This got a chuckle out of everyone. Everyone went to their respective vehicles and sped off to their next destination. Carefully they exited the car, trying not to wrinkle Amu's dress. After she made sure she had all of her stuff she prepared to leave.
"You sure you'll be okay on your own?" Utau asked for the umpteenth time.
"I'll be fine!" Amu shouted, her impatience getting the better of her. She waved to the other and began to walk, adjusting her bags every now and then as they began to slip out of her grasp. She knew the route very well, as they would see movies all the time when they were younger. Oh, how Amu missed those days of adventure. The Guardians were like her second family, and they all had remained friends to this day. Amu, as the Joker, was in charge of training a new generation of Guardians alongside Tadase, but she did most of the work. She had a job as a teacher as Seiyo Academy and oversaw the new Guardians. She still wore the Humpty Lock to her work, because she was the only one who could perform Open Heart since a new Joker hadn't turned up yet. She could see Guardian Characters and X-Eggs, but only when she was made aware of them by another child. And she still had very basic powers from her days as a Guardian, such as Ran's 'Hop, Step, Jump' and 'Heart Rod,' Miki's 'Colorful Canvas,' Suu's 'Remake Honey,' or in very, very rare cases Dia's 'Starlight Navigation.' This proved that while her Charas may have faded as she grew into an adult, their powers still remained within her heart.
She also had a second job as Utau's chief advertiser for her concerts. She would commission for billboards to be set up, hand out flyers and put posters up all around town. 'Ah! That reminds me,' She thought, 'I need to finish the poster design for Utau's new single! I'll be sure to do that tomorrow.'
Her body was on autopilot as she walked the route home; her mind was fully immersed in the memories of her character transformations. In a sudden wave a painful nostalgia, she was remained of Amulet Fortune... and Seven Seas Treasure. "No," she whispered quietly. "I will not think about him... not tonight." She was quickly approaching her house on the street corner, but something was different... Amu was just about to turn and walk down her driveway when she realized how quiet it was.
The silence was far too thick for her to be alone.
She stopped and turned to survey her surroundings. There seemed to be no one else on the street corner but her... 'Then why do I feel like I'm being watched?' She thought as she began to walk again. She stopped once more, 'But I better make sure...' Slowly she turned around. "Is... Is anyone there?" A bubble of courage blossomed within her chest as she shouted, "Show yourself!"
All was quiet in the dark night. 'I'm probably just being para—?" Her thoughts were cut off by the sharp sound of a twig snapping—as if someone had stepped on it. Again she felt like she was being stalked, like a cat would a mouse. Quickly she pulled out a small bottle of pepper spray from her bag; she never left home without it. "Who's there?" She demanded. A movement on the far end of the street corner caught her eye; a tall looming figure stood just beyond the street lamp's light, encasing the figure in darkness. Judging by the shape of the silhouette, he was clearly male. She took a cautious step back, ready to run if he made any move to grab her. "Wh-What do you want with me? Leave me alone!" She begged.
"I'm not going to hurt you," He soothed, noticing her rising panic. "Please don't try to run." His voice was deep, warm, comforting, 'And undeniably sexy!" Amu blushed furiously at the thought, this man could attack her at any given second—regardless of what he said—and here she was acting like a hormonal teenager! What was the world coming to?
But his voice... it was so... familiar. She took a careful step towards him, "Who are you?"
She received no response. He shrugged something off of his shoulder, a case of some sort? He lifted two objects out of it, one much larger than the other. He tucked the larger one under his chin and suddenly the air was filled with the most beautiful and wondrous violin music she had ever heard. The melody was powerful, yet mysterious, as if it was beckoning for her to come closer. The wood of his bow caught the light on the street lamp every now and then as it danced over the violin's strings. Slowly he walked into the circle of light, finally revealing his identity.
Time.
Just.
Stopped.
She felt her heart skip several beats as he smirk at her. Oh God how she missed that perfect smirk he had always given her, those mischievous eyes that pierced straight into her soul. The beautiful voice of his violin was silenced as he swiftly returned it to its case. Carefully he closed the gap between them, drawing Amu close to his chest; their faces were mere centimeters apart. A deep blush graced her features as she breathed his name; shock was coursing through her veins. His appearance was her wildest dream and her worst nightmare come true.
"...Ikuto...?"