Oneshot: Hot Chocolate
Summary:
It all started with a sudden visit and hot chocolate. Amuto. Oneshot.
Author's Note:
I had intended to write something like this before Christmas, but it's a bit late for that now. So meh. Enjoy the oneshot.
Disclaimer:
Shugo Chara and all related characters and elements are the property, copyright and trademark of Peach Pit and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes.
"I'm so bored!" she exclaimed at nothing in particular, throwing a pillow from her bed at the wall. She sighed. The pink haired seventeen year old did not have any plans for this evening, even though she should have. Her friends had said that there was going to be a party on Christmas Eve, but she found it to be impossible when they all realized that this year, they had to be with their families. The irony in that; that all of them suddenly have family plans that they must all attend to.
Her family wasn't home either, having decided to go to a friend's house for a Christmas Party. They had thought that Amu was going to a party already, so they had left without her. When she realized that they had left, she forgot that she hadn't told them her change of plans.
Her golden hues flickered to the darkening sky outside her window. She realized that there was white stuff falling down, in contrast to the dark sky. It's snowing, she thought.
Deciding that going outside would probably be better than being stuck indoors, she got herself suited up to go out and play in the snow for a bit, despite the fact that it might be a little boring being by herself.
When she zipped up, she headed outside, locking up the door before she descended the front steps. She could see her breathe as she breathed in the freezing air, looking up at the falling snow. She shivered as a slight gust blew by her momentarily, causing her eyes to shut before reopening them. Unsure of what to do, she decided to walk around for a bit before coming back home…
She laughed at herself. What a lonely way to spend Christmas Eve.
When she came back from her walk, she found someone sitting in front of her house. Surprised, she walked over and noticed it was a male slumped over. He had a lovely box wrapped in colorful paper with a pink bow. She recognized his dark blue hair immediately.
"Ikuto, what the heck are you doing in front of my house?" she asked, nudging him with her foot.
He looked up at her with half-lidded sapphire orbs when he realized who nudged him. "Amu, I thought you would be out for awhile… its Christmas Eve... shouldn't you be out at a party or something or are you without anyone to hang out with?"
"W-Well, everyone suddenly had important plans to attend to," Amu muttered, nudging him aside so that she could enter her home. As her fingers went to get her key, she shook as she tried to open the door.
She was truthfully, very happy to see him. It had been so long since she's seen him and he had seemed to come back from traveling. She shook so much, that she was unable to open the door properly. She was surprised when she felt someone come up behind her, his hand going to her own, and holding it steady as he slipped the key into the lock and opened the door.
Shockingly, his hand was very cold and she wondered how long Ikuto had been out in the cold. When she tried moving away, she could not when he held her steadfast against him. "Your hands are warmer than I expected, Amu," he said softly.
At that, she snatched her hand away in embarrassment and entered the house. "C-Come in," she stuttered before closing the door behind him. She noticed that he carried a violin case and a bag of what appeared to be his clothes. Had he come straight here to see her first?
When they slipped off their jackets and shoes, they entered the living room. Ikuto sat down on the couch, just like he always did: with his hands behind his hand and his ankles crossed as he rested them on the foot rest in front of him. Amu went into the kitchen and decided to offer him some food or something.
"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" she asked, shuffling around the kitchen to find something suitable.
There was a pause, in which Ikuto did not answer her question. "Hey, Ikuto, would you like anything?" she repeated. Again, when he did not answer, she decided to enter the living room to find out what was wrong.
"HEY, I ASKED YOU A QUESTION," she exclaimed, when she realized he was merely watching her and observing her. Suddenly embarrassed by his focus on her, she flushed, "Wh-what?"
He smiled.
It was so warm, so loving that she blushed so vividly red, that one would wonder if she would faint from the blood shooting up into her brain. For him to be away for so long to suddenly smile at her, somehow made her want to do something… aside from her being really embarrassed.
"Wh-What are you smiling at?" she managed to ask.
"How you've really grown and how… what's the word, not so kid-like anymore," he smirked.
"K-Kid-like?!" Her stuttering words threatened for her to smack him, but he swiftly moved out of the way. "I'm not a kid anymore!"
"So I've noticed." He smirked again, but the smirk wasn't fully there. Amu noticed that there was something different about it. "Oh, I want hot chocolate."
"Huh?" Momentarily, she was confused by his statement when she realized it was the answer to the question she had asked him three times earlier. "Why you…"
He chuckled as he danced out her way, unable to land a hit on him. Finally, when she could no longer do anymore, she gave up and headed into the kitchen, annoyed with Ikuto. "You're lucky that you're a guest." She looked in the kitchen for some hot chocolate to mix.
Ikuto watched from where he stood, observing her. She wore a white sweater that exposed her shoulders with black straps on her shoulders. She wore a black skirt with white socks that went up to her thigh. In her hair, she wore her typical X-sign shaped hair clips, in a black color.
He sighed when he noticed that she was unable to reach the part in the cabinet that seemed to hold what she was looking for.
Aggravated, she tried reaching with all her might. Even standing on her toes and with the help of the counter, she was unable to reach it. Stretching to the very limits of what she can do, she was surprised again when Ikuto's arm reached passed hers and grabbed the bag.
"Looking for this?"
"Yes, and thanks for the help," she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest as she turned around to glare at him. "Now give me the bag."
His eyes glinted with something and she thought he was considering it. Then she realized that what the glint was… it was the glint of mischief and merciless teasing.
"Ikuto… give me back the bag," she said slowly, moving forward to try to grab it.
"Hmm… I'm still thinking on that… should I give you back the bag?" he mused. His smile on his face suggested otherwise.
"Ikuto!" She reached for the bag as she jumped forward and found that he moved out of the way so that she could not reach it. And so it begins, the game of the cat playing with the mouse.
"Come and get it, Amu," he said, smirking so wide, she was getting annoyed.
"Curse you for being so tall," she muttered as she tried reaching for it for the third time. Again, he moved out of the way. This continued for the next half hour with Amu trying hard to get the bag while Ikuto effortlessly moved away from her swiping hand.
"IKUTO!" she vented, aggravated that she could not reach the bag. "Can I please have that bag back?"
"Hmm…" Again, that glint and so-called "thinking it over" face. "Well, come and get it." He held the bag in front of her face for a few moments before Amu pounced. However, Ikuto noticed a bit late. As he pulled away, Amu's body collided with his and he fell back with a grunt as he landed on the ground.
He blinked, slightly dizzy from the fall and looked to see if Amu was all right.
"Amu, you all right?" he asked softly. As his hands touched her back, he was suddenly thrust into reality as he realized that she was no longer twelve, but seventeen; the same age she had met him. Suddenly, he didn't feel like playing around anymore as his blood warmed.
"Yeah, I'm super," she said sarcastically. Truthfully, she was getting annoyed with the game that Ikuto had decided to do. But when they fell, she was smacked into his hard muscles and almost gasped when she felt his muscles underneath his shirt. Her face already flushed from the chase, it couldn't get any pinker when she felt his hand touch her back. It was warm through her shirt… warm and large. Was his hand always this large when she was younger?
When she looked up, she found herself looking into his face. She was shocked in the look at was in his eyes. His usually smiling sapphire eyes were now a dark turbulence of navy blue… as if some sort of thought had invaded his mind.
Finally realizing that his guard was down, she ignored her pounding heart, and grabbed the hot chocolate bag and moved off of him.
"HA! I WIN!" she gloated.
Ikuto snapped out of his stupor to grasp that she had gotten hold of the hot chocolate bag. Resting his head on the palm of his hand, he looked at her with a smirk, "Even with such a grown up like body, you're still so, so, so very young."
"H-HEY! W-Well, at least I don't j-just suddenly show up out of nowhere!" she huffed and stomped into the kitchen.
How dare he?! And just when I invited him in, he decides to play a game, and then not even explain to me what has happened! Amu thought, ferociously ripping the bag open, spilling the chocolate powder into the cup. As she began to stir it with water and some milk, she began to think more calmly, but more sadly. Why didn't he say hello? Or a simple greeting, or a "Hi, Amu, how are you?" Why didn't he even just say a simple "how are you?" to me instead of just… making fun of me…
In the midst of her thoughts, she didn't notice what Ikuto was doing. When he came into the kitchen, he found her staring absently at the hot chocolate, carefully stirring it as to not burn it. Leaning close toward her ear, he whispered softly, "Amu…"
"GAH!" she jumped, almost doing something of a disaster in the kitchen. "IKUTO! Do NOT scare me like that! I could have burned myself!"
"Ah, sorry," he apologized. "Are you done yet?"
"Hmph, yeah, almost," she grumbled, really annoyed as to why she felt like she liked him in the first place, let alone love him. Wait a minute, love? She almost froze when she thought of that. Did she love Ikuto? It was true; she had spent sometimes yearning for him and for his teasing and his smile so much, that it made her hurt and cry. But she was not going to admit that now, after he was being such a jerk toward her.
"Amu, I got a surprise for you when you finish," he said gently. It surprised her that he could sound like that and decided that he was being sincere.
"All right," she agreed. When she finished making the hot chocolate, she poured it into mugs and walked over toward where Ikuto was standing, which was by their Christmas tree. He was admiring it.
"I see some of the things that bought with your Shugo Charas," he noted.
"Yeah, why? What about them?" she offered him the mug and he took it. He blew on it softly before taking a sip. "Hey, did you put milk in here?"
"Yeah, don't you like it?" she asked worriedly.
"I do, it's just the way I like it," he said quietly before taking another sip. When they had finished a bit more of their hot chocolate, Amu watched as he walked over to the wrapped package and handed it to her. "Really, I had intended to give this to you later, but it's Christmas."
"Hmm?" she placed her mug down and held the package. She looked up at Ikuto questioningly before deciding to go sit down and open it. She paused before she did and looked up at him again as he nodded.
She took off the bow gently before unwrapping the wrapping carefully, as if she wanted to save it for later. When she got that off, she found herself looking at a brown box, of which she opened. Inside, rested a leather bound book of sorts. It was black, but worn from overuse.
Just when she was about to ask, he only gestured her to open it.
Looking back down at the book, she opened it.
The first page held a picture of her and Ikuto, back when they were younger. How this picture was taken was shocking because Amu clearly did not recall them taking a picture together at any time in the past. Unable to say anymore, she turned the page and found it filled with scrap pieces of paper, all scribbled in Ikuto's handwriting. They were music sheets and notes as to leads to where his father was. On the next page over, were letters from Tadase and herself as well as Utau and his mother. She stroked each in turn before she turned to the next, and the next. Each page was filled with a memento of sorts; she wondered why it felt like it was documented. When she reached the second half, she found herself staring at…
Nothing. She was staring at nothing.
"Ikuto, how come the second half of this album is empty?" she asked. She looked up at him and found him with a soft smile. Gently, he knelt down and put away the album safely into the box before stroking her face.
"Because my other half of my present was this," he said as he lifted his violin case and took out his violin. She could see how worn out it was from over the years and watched as he tuned the violin, getting it ready to be played. It had been so long since she's seen him play his violin, she watched with admiration, adoration and…
When he began to play, for a moment, she did not recognize the tune. But when she did, she realized with a laugh that it was the song that they played together, back in the park when they did their duet. Unable to resist the temptation, she began to sing softly to the tune, the lyrics still clear in her mind.
When she looked over at Ikuto, she realized that he was having fun.
When they finished, she applauded him before watching him put away his violin again. "You play more beautifully now, it's a lot softer and happier," she commented with a smile.
"It was because I was thinking of you."
"It's so wonderful—what?" she froze.
"It was because I was thinking of you, Amu." His sapphire eyes held no mischief, no silly little grin, but a serious one, just as it was back at the amusement park when he told her he might not see her again.
"You…"
"I still love you, very much," he said softly.
Unable to answer, she stumbled backward. She glanced at the album before placing her hands on her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard, her face so pink with… what? Why was she so nervous and so happy?
"I see."
Huh?
She looked up and found him with an expression that reminded her immediately back when they had their troubles Easter. It was that same sad expression, but it seemed deeper; he was hurt.
He was packing away his belongings, finishing his hot chocolate when he went to the door. When it finally hit her that he was leaving, she took off from where she had fallen and ran into him. When he heard the pattering of running, he turned around just in time for her to clash into his body, wrapping her arms around his torso, her face buried in his chest.
"Don't leave, Ikuto!"
"Amu…?" He tried to see her expression, but was unable to. He placed a hand on her head and the other arm around her. He sighed quietly, "Yes, Amu?"
"I… I…" she couldn't say it, but she knew more than that. She knew that somewhere deep down inside of herself that she had always loved him back. Tears threatened to stream from her eyes. It was as if she was suddenly afraid that she was going to lose him.
"Amu, take a deep breath," he advised, "and calm down. What's wrong?"
"I…" she breathed deeply through his shirt, taking in his scent in the process, suddenly making her very aware of him. But she forged forward anyway; she was going to give in and understand her feelings.
"I love you, Ikuto." Tears rolled down her face gently, causing Ikuto to rest against the door to lift up her chin to face him.
"I love you too, Amu." The way he said her name sent shivers up her spine and made her heart flutter with anticipation. He closed what remaining space they had with a kiss.
She was surprised how soft his lips were, and how warm they were. It was a gentle kiss, and it tasted of chocolate, thanks to the hot chocolate from earlier. But she melted underneath her first kiss, her knees weakening, threatening to give way.
He pulled away from their kiss to chuckle.
"It seems, you still have a long way to grow up, dear Amu," he smiled. Even though she knew he was teasing her, she didn't mind. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Then, teach me," she said delicately.
He rested his forehead against her own, closing his eyes as he embraced her, giving her squeeze. "But of course."
* * *
It's been a year since then, and again, snow began to fall to the ground. To Amu, it only reminded her of a very happy memory. After their little confession toward each other, her family had decided that then it was time to come home. When they found that they could not open the door, they rang the door bell, and embarrassed, she pushed Ikuto out of the way to open the door.
Her mom was almost very happy to find out that her daughter finally had a boyfriend, despite him being a few years older. Her dad, as per the usual, wailed and cried that she shouldn't grow up, and should stay with him forever. Ami, being older at the age of ten, whacked her poor father and smiled, "Don't worry, daddy, you have mama!"
For a moment, her parents looked at each other for a moment before smiling and agreeing with a laugh. Then, Ikuto was welcomed in more formally and he gave them each a small gift from where he's traveled.
"Amu-chan!" said a voice with the utmost urgency.
"Hmm?" she looked up at the person who spoke to her.
"Geez, can't you stop spacing out for another minute? We kind of need you," Yaya pouted.
Amu laughed. "All right, sorry," she apologized as she followed on behind. "Yaya, what are you buying?"
"I'm buying presents for everyone," she huffed. "I wish we could go buy some cute stuff or go to that cute store I saw awhile ago."
"Then why don't you?"
Yaya paused for a moment to look at Amu. She raised an eye-brow. "Did something happen?"
"No… not really, I'm just really happy," Amu said as she noticed someone from the corner of her eye. "Nagi! Rima!"
The pair looked up and waved back, walking over. Yaya glomped the small light-brown haired female, "You're still so cute!"
"Yaya…" Rima said through a smile. "You're beginning to hurt my cheek."
"So Amu, how are things with you lately?" Nagihiko asked. "How are things going with you and Ikuto?"
Amu had told them about Ikuto awhile back, most of them not that surprised and glad that finally Amu had realized her feelings. Tadase had said that he was only happy for them, and will still continue to be Amu's friend, always.
"Well…" Amu began slowly, holding her cellphone in her hand as she played with the charm that hung from it. "Ikuto gave me his apartment key the other day… more like during our Winter Break because I was always over so much…"
"So, you cook for him?" Yaya asked, curious.
"Um… yeah, before he comes home from work or his school," Amu fidgeted. She couldn't tell where this conversation was going.
"Hehe, so you're a wife now?" Yaya giggled as she patted Amu on the back. "Congratulations on marrying!"
"Y-YAYA!" Amu exclaimed, suddenly very embarrassed.
"Nagi, go buy me some taiyaki," Rima requested of Nagihiko.
"Hmm…? Suddenly in the mood for some?" he asked, raising an eye-brow.
"Yes," she confessed, not bothering hiding her sudden need. Nagihiko sighed for a moment before smiling and agreed.
"All right," he shrugged as he began to walk away. When he was out of earshot, Amu was confused.
"Why did you-"
"Has he done anything to you yet?" Rima asked sternly.
"Ha?" surprised, she wasn't sure what to say to that. It was true, now that she was of legal age; Ikuto no longer seemed like the adult in the relationship, although, he still technically is. "Well, no… he had said before that I was too young for anything, only giving me kisses on the cheek or forehead, but never…" She paused, suddenly realizing something. In the past year, he hadn't done anything to frighten her, and had treated her with the utmost patience… as if… well, Amu wasn't sure. What was Ikuto waiting for? Then again, it's not like she minded how patient he was with her.
"So he hasn't?" Yaya asked, surprised. Despite the fact that Yaya had been the youngest of the group, when she entered high school, she surprised them all by having a more mature side to her, but she was still the baby. In certain times of their conversations, Yaya would seem to have become more responsible. It must be because of her baby brother, Tsubasa.
"No… why?"
"This is weird, maybe Ikuto is gay," Rima speculated. "It's not normal for a guy his age to be restraining himself from a girl like Amu."
"G-GAY?!" Amu exclaimed. There was no way that was possible… after all; he sometimes randomly hugged her from behind just for the sake of it when she was at his apartment. "N-NO WAY!"
"Who's gay?"
They turned to find themselves looking at Utau with Kukai beside her. She wore sunglasses and a hat to disguise herself from the public. She wore that same outfit when she first came to Amu's house on a surprise visit. Kukai was dressed in casual wear of jeans, a green jacket zipped up and a hat.
"We're speculating that Ikuto might be gay," Yaya said, not caring who they were actually talking about.
Whatever Utau was holding, she broke it with a loud snap! "I-Ikuto… g-gay?!"
"Well, it's possible, after all, you had said before that he had never expressed interest in girls before Amu… and now, he's restraining himself from really doing anything to Amu," Rima said with a shrug.
Kukai laughed so hard, he needed to hold the wall for support. Utau sighed. "He's not gay, I'm pretty sure of that… otherwise, why he would still be with her now and still say that he loves her?" she pointed out. "Kukai! Stop laughing!"
"S-Sorry," he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Nagihiko came at that moment.
"Did I miss something…?" he asked slowly, noting the serious expressions on their faces. "Here you are, Rima."
"Not really," Amu admitted as Rima thanked Nagi.
"He's not, all right?" Utau reassured. "Kukai, you calm enough now to go have some ramen? I mean, that's what I came out from my break for."
"Heck yeah!" he said with a wide grin. "Let's go… I'll race you." With that, a glint appeared in both their eyes and instantly, they ran off. Amu sighed, shaking her head as she thought, Still the same…
"Rima, we have to go now or we'll miss that show," Nagi reminded her. As he did so, stars appeared in her eyes and she nodded furiously.
"All right, we'll be off then," Rima said as she waved good-bye. "Good luck with Ikuto, Amu!"
"R-Right…" Amu waved back as she watched the pair disappear around the corner. "I wonder what show they're going to watch…"
"Probably a comedy, knowing the way Rima just acted just now," Yaya said as she glanced at the time. "Ah, I have to go; I'm supposed to be home to watch Tsubasa."
"All right, I'll see you later," Amu said as she hugged Yaya before she ran off toward home.
"Hmm… what to do now?" she mused aloud before deciding to go grocery shopping for Ikuto's dinner.
* * *
"Let's see, after that I add this…" Amu thought aloud as she continued to cook. She was in Ikuto's apartment now, waiting for him to come home as she usually did. Since it was Christmas Eve, she prepared his favorites with fish, milk, and others. Of course, she cooked her own favorites too. When she was about done, she began to think of what Yaya and Rima told her. Now that they mentioned it, Amu has been acting more like his wife than anything else… even more than a girlfriend. She cleans up his apartment a lot, cooks for them when she's here, and even does her homework here!
As she waited for him to come home, she also began to wonder why Ikuto hasn't touched her yet. Maybe Rima was right, maybe Ikuto was homosexual…
Just then, she heard the door open as she heard his voice, "Hmm… something smells good."
When he appeared around the corner, he was wearing what appeared to be a semi-formal suit with one of Amu's scarves around his neck. He placed his violin case on the side, took off his jacket and scarf and hung it on the coat rack. She found that as he sat down, he wore a black turtle-neck sweater with black skinny jeans, and white socks. He looked rather sleek and… as much as Amu didn't want to think about it then, rather hot.
"I'm home, Amu," he greeted with a kiss on the cheek. She snapped out of her reverie, hoping that whatever insecurities that was building up was going to disappear soon.
"Welcome home," she smiled. They began to eat dinner and as they finished, Ikuto helped with cleaning up. Half the night passed by slowly as Amu helped Ikuto set up his bedroom for the night. Her insecurity then still had not disappeared. He hadn't hugged her from behind, or kissed her as a thank you for a small deed, or even just held her hand out of nowhere for what may have seemed like forever. She felt her heart tighten and decided to ask the question when she handed him the hot chocolate. "I-Ikuto… is something wrong with me?" she asked as she gave him hot chocolate.
"Eh?" He turned his head from the television as he received the drink. They had agreed that this Christmas Eve they would just spend time at his apartment before he sent her home. "What do you mean?" He sensed something was wrong.
"Is something wrong with me?" she repeated as she looked down.
"No, nothing is wrong with you, why would you think that?" he replied. "What made you think that? What…?"
"Because you haven't touched me since last year and I'm already afraid that you're going to disappear on me just randomly one day!" she confessed, tears beginning to blur her eyes. "Sometimes, I doubt that you even truly love me."
"Oh Amu…" Ikuto pulled her close to him, to his chest. "Sometimes, I love you too much that it hurts." He noticed something. "You're shaking… Are you cold?"
Amu held her mug of the hot beverage as she took a shaky sip. It warmed her insides and why she was cold, she wasn't sure.
Carefully, he took the hot chocolate away and set them down on a table. He held her face between his hands so that she would look at him. "Amu, more than anything in the world, you're the most important person to me; I love you with all of my heart." He brought out a small velvet box. As she opened it, shock began to appear on her face. She looked to him for a moment and when he nodded, she took out the silver ring and placed it on her ring finger.
"D-Does that mean…?" she asked softly.
"Yes, will you marry me?" he asked as he kissed her eye.
"Yes…!" Without thinking, she kissed him on the lips, ripping away whatever control Ikuto had left.
"Amu…" he growled, his voice deep and laced with… with something she did not recognize. "Call home and tell them that you'll be spending the night here." When she looked at his eyes, it was a stormy sapphire.
"E-EH?!"
When she did, her mother only laughed.