May, December & A Love Most Unexpected

Rating: T

Pairings: Hikaru/Amu

Genre: Romance

Notes:

If anyone is reading this, it must have caught your eye the fact that I'm writing an Amu x Hikaru fiction or think that I mistakenly wrote Amu instead of Ami. I just simply figured that I would try my hand at a crack pairing, and if this were canon, I would ship them. Since they're not, I'll write a fanfic of them and ship them anyway.

Also worth noting, that this story is about to become three (3) years old. This chapter, while originally a one-shot, has been updated with new lines of dialogue, better construction, a few inconstancies fixed, and overall a little better vocabulary and grammar. The story is still the same, but with just three (3) years of added experience to make several improvements. Hope you folks enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own Shugo Chara.

Amu Hinamori absolutely loved her guardian characters.

Whether it be the athletic Ran, the artistic Miki, the domestic Su or the positive Dia; all of her characters were very precious to her; as both her would-be selves and as well as her very dear friends. She would want them to stay with her for as long as she could keep them. She had gotten accustomed to their antics, their styles and their way of seeing the world around them. It was cute, and Amu had become quite possessive and, in a way, protective of them as if they had really been born from her.

However, barring that in mind, she could be very annoyed by them at times as well. In those moments where her guardians would act less like cute little fairies which filled child-like dreams and more like the little devils that stand on your shoulder and whisper bad suggestions which sound appealing.

This would be one of those times.

With a deep blush across her features, Amu walked through the streets of the city, basically stomping the ground which each step she took. She wasn't as angry per say as she might have been perceived, but was clearly flustered beyond which she would have preferred. To add insult to injury, she was severely lamenting the fact that she went out like she did; since it was very cold outside and all she was wearing was small blouse which covered almost none of her back and left her with a revealing midriff, and a very short skirt which did not reach the area where her socks ended.

Regardless, she would fight the cold (since it couldn't possibly be worse than that time she transformed with Ran in the ski-lodge), all so that she could blow off some much needed steam. A bad day made worse was inevitable, however, as her stomping apparently caused her to slip on nothing. Maybe the mere act of thinking of snow caused a person to slip as if he/she were on snow?

As if she had any more reason to be flustered, landing on her butt in the middle of a pretty busy street would surely give her a bit more embarrassment. As several passers-by took notice, with only two young gentlemen bothering to help her up, Amu had to instinctively cross her legs to avoid showing anyone anything. She gave the young man who held his hand out a warm thank you, ruined by the fact that she was beginning to shake from the cold, but he gave her a soft smile in return. Both her helper and the other boy questioned her if she was alright, to which she assured them she was.

'Now, now Amu…' she told herself, as the two young men walked away. A soft blush adorned her features, but she mere merited it to the embarrassment of the fall. 'Don't overreact here; stuff like this could happen to anyone. Heck, probably has happened to so-'

"What are you doing?"

A soft voice caused her to look up, though not too much. In front of her, drinking what appeared to be some warm coffee on a plastic cup; was a young blond boy well-dressed on expensive coats and expressionless features. Hikaru Ichinomiya, current President and acting CEO of Easter; or what was formerly-known as Easter. Next to him stood a rather tall man well dressed in matching black tuxedo, shoes and sunglasses. A bodyguard, Amu presumed. Said man could have passed as a statue, since he didn't even bother to react.

Amu just gave the man a soft smile before turning to face the young boy. The only sound heard was a single sip of the coffee, since his glance did not waver, apparently used to receiving answers whenever he asked something.

"Hikaru…" Amu spoke, taking a moment for her thoughts to reach her mouth. She wondered how long had he been there, but decided against asking, considering it would sound (in her opinion) a bit rude against a little boy she had not seen in a while. As she eyed him, she noticed he had extended his hand, as a gesture of greeting she presumed. "I hope…" she started, taking his hand and giving him a soft shake. "…you didn't catch me falling on my butt just now."

"Your hopes are for naught, since that was what caused me to notice you," his voice was somber as he spoke, causing her to realize he was probably a bit cold too. Before she could voice it, however, he continued. "Are you unhurt?"

"I-I'm fine, actually," she murmured, surprisingly honest. She wasn't really hurt, at all. Fighting possessed people did that for you. "Simply slipped on thin air is all. I'm alright."

"I see…" Hikaru spoke while continuing to drink his coffee in an attempt to warm himself. His eyes shifted towards the ground, after a brief pause and before Amu could speak, he turned to her again. "How does one slip on air?"

"One doesn't," she merely stated, her expression becoming slightly comical. "I somehow did, however."

"I see…" while he said it, he clearly he did not, as Amu decided to change the subject or have the young Ichinomiya become paranoid at the idea that Amu had gone crazy. He might have been a young boy, but at the age of six he had already been the "Gozen" of Easter, and the closest thing to an actual antagonist that the Guardians had ever had.

"Hey Hikaru," Amu started, but the words wouldn't come out. Eyeing the pink-haired girl, which required him to look upwards; he awaited a follow up to the conversation she had obviously attempted to start. None came.

"Nothing to say?"

"My mind went blank…" was all she could muster, as she truly had no idea what to say. She mentally slapped herself for it, since out of all the people she could have bumped into, Hikaru could be one of the easiest to talk to. Well, should be one of the easiest to talk to, in theory at least. She hadn't really conversed with him too much lately. "Let me try that again," she stated as she focused. "How have things been in Easter?"

He stared down at her, which caused her to freeze, mostly because of how it felt to be looked down by someone shorter than her. Logically it wasn't possible, but the young boy had a way with expressions of authority that Amu merely stood like a soldier on inspection as he studied her. Before she could contemplate about whether she had said something wrong or not, Hikaru lit up with a light smile, before turning to the side. "Come and see…"

-0-

"Welcome, how can we assist you?" a young lady behind the counter spoke up, all dolled up in expensive professional fashion (as Amu referred to it) with a bright, rehearsed smile. Amu felt a bit uneasy around such people, older people, but returned the smile nonetheless.

"Please allow me access to the backroom. I believe the key would suffice," Hikaru spoke up, who couldn't be seen from behind the counter. The young woman seemed a bit surprise, as she simply moved herself a bit forwards in an attempt to see whether or not Amu was using ventriloquism or there was really someone there. Before she could, however, Amu simply grabbed the young President by the arms and raised him to meet the secretary at eye-level. While Amu wondered why the bodyguard didn't follow them here and ask for the key himself; she had to admit Hikaru looked cute when she held him up. When said young woman saw the boy, Amu was surprised at how much her face seemed to drain of color. She darted backwards and pressed a few buttons on her keypad which seemed to do something; whatever it was Hikaru seemed content.

"President Ichinomiya, sorry sir, it's just that without your- I mean, backroom keys, coming right up," her voice seemed to fade as she quickly dashed towards the other room behind the counter to fetch the keys, as Amu could actually feel Hikaru slightly smirking, somehow. She turned him to face her, still in her arms. "President? Sir?"

"It's a sign of respect," he replied in all seriousness.

"Right…" she answered in sarcasm.

After a few seconds of waiting (actual seconds, since the secretary seemed to think she would be fired if she made Hikaru wait one whole minute) the duo was given the key. Hikaru quickly motioned to Amu and led her towards the backroom he had so anxiously awaited her to arrive to. Amu had asked him why, as curiosity was getting the better of her and she wanted to know what he was so eager to show, but all she received as an answer was to be more patient. Being told that by a six (soon-to-be-seven, as Hikaru would say) year old was a bit degrading, but she would not argue against it.

However, on the way there, Amu got a reminder of her earlier conversation with Ran. A young man passed by them, no doubt one of Easter's youngest employee's (excluding the company's soon-to-be-seven President), and held one of the doors open for the duo. Even though Amu knew it was done mostly because of the little boy walking next to her and not herself, she couldn't help but blush at the young man's warm smile and friendly gesture. She was a sucker for things like that, since the guy had this older boy style which a certain cat-boy dominated together with the gentleman like grace of her prince.

Afterwards, she found herself inwardly sulking.

'Ran's right,' she thought to herself, while her eyes were down casted. 'I do blush at every boy I encounter. It's pathetic. It's no wonder Ikuto messes around with me so easily.'

Amu felt herself get a bit mad at, well, herself. One thing was to find someone cute, attractive, or hell, sexy; but this was ridiculous. Upon noticing her internal struggle, since "cool" and "spicy" Amu could not act well when she was in her train-of-thoughts, Hikaru stopped in his tracks. This caused Amu to almost bump into the shorter boy and come to a sudden halt herself.

"Are you broken?" he voiced his concern. In his own way, that would make sense. In her own way, it wasn't that far from the truth.

"Just… sulking is all…" she replied as earnestly as she could, while not mentioning actually anything. At the mentioning of this, Hikaru signed. His hand found its way onto his temple, as the other was positioned on his hip, mimicking a pose normally seen on exasperated adults. On said adults, it seemed appropriate if not a bit dramatic. On him, however, it was simply adorable. Amu found the act so cute that she struggled not to hug him tight. She might have taken time to warm up to Ami when she was born, but the idea of a baby brother had always been a personal favorite. It was so cute that she was almost blush-…

"Hikaru, you're too cute, stop that," she merely commanded, hoping he would understand. The boy in question merely tilted his head, but instead of asking what she meant, he merely took a seat on a nearby chair. At him doing this, Amu noticed that they had reached his office, a bit more family-friendly than her last visit; since any and all objects resembling dangling cages were no longer in sight. Or maybe he just hid them better?

"What's wrong?" Hikaru asked, sitting with his legs crossed, causing her to stop daydreaming again. Amu decided to take a seat as well, noting on just how comfortable the seats were. She preferred them to those cages any day.

"Nothing Hikaru. It's something you wouldn't-"

"Do you know how to run a company?" he interrupted. The sudden question, and subsequent interruption, caused her to look up from facing the floor. Blinking a few times, Amu let out a soft smile. "Sorry about that…" she spoke softly, tilting her head to the side, as she understood. "I sometimes forget how much I hated to be told that I wouldn't understand the problems other people felt. Made me feel insignificant or that I could be of any use for them, since I could even begin to understand what was going on."

Hikaru lowered his gaze a bit, as he did whenever Amu genuinely smiled. For someone who was as ditzy and as childish as her, the moments when she acted mature where moments when he felt truly younger. And it didn't really bother him.

"It's just that I've been thinking about something Ran said the other day, and again today," she confessed, but decided it would be best to not add the fact that Ran had also said the same thing some time ago as well. Nor would Amu tell him that her other guardian characters had whole-heartily agreed with Ran.

"Ran, that's your character right?" Hikaru asked as he remembered her guardians, considering how hard they were to forget since they were the most unique of the bunch.

"Yeah. The pink one."

"I know. I like your transformation with her. You look cute as a cheerleader," he stated, but to his surprise saw Amu slap herself on the face as he did. This caused Hikaru to narrow his eyes. "…Mosquito?"

"No, no. It's just that that was what Ran was talking about…"

"Your cheerleader outfit?"

Amu shook her head, taking a deep breath. Maybe Hikaru could actually serve as a good talk-to buddy, since the kid was way too smart in the first place.

"She was teasing me about the fact that I blush at practically every guy that comes my way. In a way, she says I get a crush on every single guy I meet, or as she put it and I quote: "and spend more than three minutes and/or exchange more than five words with"," Amu stated while extending one hand with three fingers extended and the other with all five extended. As she did, she watched Hikaru after she had spoken, eyeing the youth. She wanted to hear his opinion in the matter; on someone who could see the situation from the outside looking in.

"I agree."

"What?" she shouted, rather loudly. The sudden shout startled the people passing by the office, yet Hikaru remained perfectly intact. "Not you too Hikaru…"

"Me too?" he asked with an eagerness she had not previously heard from the youth. Hikaru's head was tilted sideways; a sly grin was placing itself onto his face. For the first time, Amu felt a slight shiver regarding the boy. Why did he look scarier now than when she had "fought" him before? "Does that mean you blush when I talk to you too and/or when I'm more than three minutes with you?" he quoted her quoting Ran. "Because, if that's true, I've done both today alone."

"You have, but you're a special case," she stated, as Hikaru looked on. He seemed not to understand her meaning, causing her to try a more direct approach. "Listen Hikaru, you are truly a handsome boy, a cute one at that, but what Ran means is a boy that I… well… would want as a boyfriend or something or the other…"

The sentence had ended as a mutter, but unlike what Amu had expected; Hikaru's smile did not vanish. "I'm still content with that…"

"Hikaru…" she voiced, while adding a 'just how old are you…' on her head. She rather not voice the latter part of her statement, merely feeling a bit, well, overwhelmed by it all. She knew childhood crushes occurred, but she had never really thought of one from a younger boy towards a girl. Maybe it was her just being biased, but she had her share of childhood crushed when she was younger and all the boys she had known back then merely had interest in cars, toys or the like. Not girls.

"Hikaru," she spoke as she attempted to clarify. "…If you really mean that, I'm very much honored by it all, heck, it would mean that one of my future boyfriends could very well have a fortune and I would be able to buy anything I would want since he-" she stopped herself at that point. It sounded a bit off to her.

"So girls like that do exist."

"Please ignore that," Amu quickly added while she took a deep breath, followed by continuing. "What I meant was; that I'm honored, but what Ran meant is a boyfriend, well, my age."

"I don't buy that," Hikaru stated, narrowing his eyes. The suddenness of his statement caused her to eye the boy; who now had his arms crossed to mirror his legs, to which Amu felt the urge to hug him again. Ignoring that, she then questioned what he meant; though was given a quick answer. "You're interested in Ikuto, who is clearly not your age."

"About him…"

"Nor was the guy who held the door for us. Kiroshima is twenty-two; he's even less your age," Hikaru added, which caused Amu's blush to deepen a bit, less because of the age dissimilarity and more because of how even Hikaru was able to read her so easily.

"Point taken," she noted matter-of-factly, mirroring Hikaru's own speech pattern. "But… You're still a young boy. Boy's your age aren't interested in girls in the way that-"

"Boy's my age are liars. We look at girls, we don't admit it," as he stated this, his face gave her no clue just how serious this conversation was, something which was starting to make her nervous. Deciding against slapping herself again, Amu opted to show some resolve. Hikaru was younger, so she could defend herself against him. Could she not, she would be no match for Ikuto once he came back.

If he…

Ignoring that, Amu simply shrugged. "Whatever you say Hikaru. But what exactly does having a girlfriend entail?" she questioned, turning towards the boy with arms crossed and a wry smile on her face.

"Being with her, in sickness and in health. Sharing the pains and triumphs of each of their lives as they begin to live thinking of each other as one, until death do them part. Or financial troubles," he softly added the last part, apparently serious. She was amazed about how he could say that with such a straight face.

"That's marriage, Hikaru. And "financial troubles" is a bit of a too much real-world problem to be used by you… or me…" Amu stated, as Hikaru seemed to ponder that a bit. Seeing his reaction caused Amu to smile. He was still a child, which was reassuring to see, even if he was a little jaded one at that. At least, his concept of love was still, almost, fairy tale like.

"You're right. A girlfriend means the step before all that. It's not loving her unconditionally, but trying to find out if you love her or not," as he spoke, Amu looked on, as Hikaru seemed to be staring at a picture on the wall, featuring a young couple. Before she could ask if the two pictured were who she thought they were (blonde hair and all), Hikaru continued. "It's spending time together to get to know that person, to know if that pounding in your chest in simply there because you can see up the girl's skirt or because you actually fell in love with her-"

Amu's leg became crossed.

"-That's what it is to me. A girlfriend is a girl you give a hint of what life with you would be like, so that they can decide whether it's right for them or not. Is a preview of what's to come, and what they can have if they say yes," upon finishing his statement, Hikaru turned back towards Amu, who was at a loss for words. She knew Hikaru was smart, but she had never though he could see something so clearly which even she had trouble grasping at times. It made her wonder why exactly had she felt that way about so many guys before, since to her a boyfriend had meant a prince which she could lean on. Hikaru's explanation, however, seemed both more realistic and more romantic.

At this she found herself blushing again, smiling softly at the younger boy. "You win, Hikaru. You can make me blush too."

"I win huh?" Hikaru said, slightly blushing as well. "Does that mean I can be your boyfriend?"

"Hikaru, I told you, our age is a bit…" she spoke while she showed the difference in her hand with her fingers, Hikaru placed his hand on hers, smaller fingers intertwined with longer ones. "You're after Ikuto, who's five years older than you. I see no problem with me, since that the exact amount you are older to me. Besides…"

In an instant, Hikaru gave Amu a light peck, causing her to stiffen the moment his lips brushed slightly against her own. "…unlike Tadase, I feel like I can compete with Ikuto."

-0-

"Amu! You're back!"

Ran, living up to her namesake, ran across the room as Amu entered. Upon rediscovering flight, she took off and crash-hugged into Amu as the girl returned said hug. In a moment, her other guardians flew about, all eager to know where Amu had run off to. Between Miki showing her a new picture she had drawn, Su telling her a new sweet treat she had made, and Dia mentioning some clothing she saw on a new magazine from Amu's mother; Amu simply held the four tightly as they reacted to how cold her body felt. "Amu, you're freezing!"

"Yeah, short skirts aren't the best for cold days," she stated to the surprised Ran, to which Dia was quick to notice something. "But Amu," Dia added, eyeing her. "You're wearing a coat, quite a cute one at that. Where did you get it? You didn't go shopping without us, right?"

"Not like that Dia, it was something else, actually…" she spoke as she pondered if she should tell them or not.

"Amu, I thought you weren't going to come back for a second there, you'd never guess who returned," Ran quickly stated, apparently not really interested in Amu's new coat. Before Amu could speak, Ikuto made his presence known by quickly grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into a hug. "Been a while, chilly girl," the young violinist spoke up, Cheshire Cat-like grin ever present. "Just where have you been this late an hour; helping the diminutive prince with his royal bath?"

"Actually…" Amy spoke up, the lack of stutters or a blush causing both Ikuto and all the present guardians to look a bit surprised at her. Smirking, Amu found that having a poker face could be ever so helpful. "I was on a date today, I just arrived. The coat was a parting gift from the gentleman."

"A date?" as Ikuto asked, his fist had inwardly clenched, but he quickly dismissed it. Leaning back on the bed, he decided to humor Amu, though he was listening intently on any name mentioned, be it Tadase or otherwise. "With whom?"

"…A millionaire-playboy."

The Author Rants About:

Crack

And by that, I mean pairings. I love canon couples as much as the next writer. Amuto? Sure, it's a sexy pairing. Kutau? Love it. Rimahiko? Probably my favorite of the canons. But what about this one? Hikamu? Amukaru? Himu? Ah? Hikaruamu? Whatever, point is, it's just fun. I always thought Hikaru might develop a crush on Amu someday, her being the one who first showed warmth to him and all, especially since he's so mature for his age.

To me a crack pairing is more fun to make than a canon pairing because of the liberties you can take. If you write it well, you might create a new sub-pairing that gets a lot of attention. Do it poorly, and nobody will care for it and it will remind you why no one had tried it before. As for this one, did I succeed? You tell me.