Red Wine

Summary: At Ikuto and Amu's wedding Utau feels the need to drown her feeling with a bottle of red wine. Kukai has to show her that they just need to help each other out.

Parings: Kutau, Amuto, Rimhiko, Kaiya, and TadaseXLulu (if you squint). And the reason it's rated T is 'cause of the booze(:

Disclaimer: I own nothing!!! Shugo Chara! belongs to Peach-Pit(:


She poured herself a bit of red wine and drank it all within the couple of seconds after she poured it. Before she even swallowed it though; she had already started to fill up her glass again. She wasn't much of drinker but it was the sweet bliss of knowing that later she wouldn't remember any of this that made her take another swig of her drink. Tonight, what she really wanted was to forget everything that had happened that very day and maybe her whole life; maybe even the feelings she had deep in her heart. The red wine was her savior at this wedding.

She was sitting far away from all the people at her brother's wedding. They had come up to her plenty of times during the day and asked her many questions; most were about how she felt that her brother was getting married. They probably wouldn't look at her the same if she answered truthfully. So she answered with only half of the truth: happy. She was happy that her brother was with someone he loved, she was happy that person was her best friend and now technically sister. Yes, Hoshina Utau was happy.

She almost laughed at that thought. This wasn't happiness; not even close. It was a bittersweet memory that hopefully with enough of the booze she was having would be gone by the end of the night. She was watching her brother, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, dance away with his bride. Plastered on his face was a smile she didn't see very often. This made her take another gulp of her red wine. She looked at her brother's new wife, Tsukiyomi Amu, giggle as he spun her around and capture her lips in a quick kiss. Utau looked away trying to fight the urge to cry. Yes indeed Utau was sad that her only true love, her brother, had finally fallen in love with someone that wasn't her.

These feelings had started to slowly eat her up when she had actually been apart of the wedding. It was those feelings that made her ask for a whole bottle of red wine and melt away from the crowd onto a balcony with no more then three tables. Here she was watching her brother and best friend dance. Dance, laugh, kiss, hug, and unfortunately exchange I-love-yous. All those times she tried hard to restrain herself from going up to them and yelling at them and telling them that they were making this harder then it should be for her. Yet she didn't because long ago, in an air port, she left all her envious feelings there. She took another drink; drowning her feelings with that dull numbness she had been hoping she would feel.

She could see everyone from her perch also. She could see Rima and Nagihiko (who weren't that far away from Amu and Ikuto) dance away with smiles on their faces also. They were to be married in a year. She could see Yaya and Kairi talking with expressions she could only describe as lively sitting at a table far off. They had just recently started dating. She could also see Tadase with a girl he had only met a little while ago named Lulu. They had just gotten reacquainted today and Tadase had been with her the entire night. She hoped Tadase would score a date. He hadn't really dated since Amu and he broke-up a couple of years before tonight. She envied them all, they were happy. She wasn't.

"Yo, Idol-san! What are you doing over here all alone?" came a voice from behind her. He turned around to see Kukai Souma standing there looking just like he did the last time she had seen him. His hair was still the same messy length and his eyes were still that same shade of green she remembered from so many years ago.

Seeing Kukai made her spill her wine.

"Kukai! What- How- I thought you weren't going to be able to make it!?" she exclaimed as she carefully stood up and wiped her hand on a napkin. She hugged him tightly and he returned the hug holding her tightly and picking her off her feet a little making her squeal and laugh.

"I could never miss this! Amu almost killed me over the phone when I talked to her. She was yelling at me to get my ass down from Australia back here to Japan for the wedding. I wasn't going to miss all of the partying!" he exclaimed happily.

Utau smiled and tucked a hair of her long blonde hair behind her ear. He hadn't changed; he was still the same old Kukai she knew.

"I'm really glad you could make it, Ramen-Boy. Amu will be really pleased when she sees you." She said with a small smile.

For the first time that day she smiled a real smile. She caught herself and instantly the smile was gone quicker then it had gotten there. Kukai noticed this also. He gave her a confused look as her own eyes trailed off back into the crowd, instantly spotting Ikuto. Kukai followed her gaze and eventually figured out what was wrong.

"Idol-san, I thought that was in the past?" he asked pouring himself a bit of red wine.

She pulled her glass up from the table and motioned for him to pour her some as well. She sighed and tore her gaze away from the happy couple that was still dancing around. She looked at Kukai and took her glass from him and chugged more then half of it down.

"It was but getting over the only person you've ever loved is hard." She whispered more to herself then him.

To her surprise Kukai nodded and placed his empty glass on the table. His own eyes went to face Ikuto and Amu as they danced away. A strange look over took him. One she had never seen before on his face. It startled her really. She was use to seeing him either smiling happily or smiling greatly. This look on his face though was one she couldn't place.

"It is really hard to get over your first love." He said agreeing with her.

The look on his face was still there and now she could place it. It was the same look she had always had when she would look at Ikuto, but his was directed at Amu. It was one of longing. A longing to be with the one person they had always wanted to be with but they knew it could never really be possible. For Utau it was impossible because Ikuto was her brother and either way they wouldn't be allowed to be together. For Kukai it was the fact that Amu had always belonged to someone else. Either Tadase or Ikuto had held her heart and now there was no denying that Amu was indeed very much in love with Ikuto. But then as he looked over toward Utau he smiled. Again something was different about this smile.

"But if you truly love that person; you want them to be happy. So if they're happier with someone else, let them go." He said with an unmistakable tremble in his voice. He drank the rest of his wine and grabbed the bottle and motioned to see if she wanted more. She pushed her now empty glass at him and watched as the simple red substance filled the glass.

"I know you have to let go. That's what I did so many years ago. I just never fully was able to stop loving him. Is it the same for you?" she asked, swirling her wine around. Kukai took a sip of his own wine and placed it down, his attention slowly turning toward Amu again.

"Of course!" he glanced at her, "But because I feel this way I know that all I can do is smile and be here because she is happy and seeing me here, as her best friend, will make her even happier. Besides, I'd rather see her smiling like that then forcing a smile because she can't be with him."

Utau felt a sudden swell of admiration take over her as he spoke. She wished she could be as brave as him. He was letting her go because he loved her. She still hadn't let go. No matter how much she tried to convince herself, it was just a lie she had told herself to make herself feel better.

"I think I never really did let him go. If I had I wouldn't be feeling like I want to go and cry my eyes out." She whispered.

She looked inside her glass and took a sip. The numbness increased and she was starting to feel it affecting her.

"It's only natural you want to cry. I felt that way in the airplane ride back. I almost made a fool of myself when I realized I kept tearing up. But crying isn't a bad thing. It's just embarrassing!" he said with a little chuckle.

She smiled at him and nodded in agreement and drank the rest of her wine. She motioned for him to fill up her glass again but this time Kukai looked at her seriously before giving her the drink.

"How did you figure that your love for Ikuto was, well, not sisterly-like?" he asked.

He filled up his glass but stopped half way as he saw Utau take a huge drink and downing more then half the wine at once. She motioned again for more but this time Kukai put the bottle out of her reach. Despite the glare she was throwing him she answered him.

"When I realized that he was the only person that would ever be there for me. My father was gone, my mother was unstable, and I had no one else. He was the only one I could trust." She reached out and tried to get the bottle but Kukai quickly snatched it away. He poured himself another glass and set the bottle down on the floor by his feet. Utau glared even more now but she didn't say anything. Kukai took a small drink and looked at Utau seriously again. "How do you know you're not mistaking it for that kind of love?"

Utau fiddled with her empty glass and shrugged, "I'm pretty sure I'm not mistaken. If I am then I've been living a lie most of my life." Kukai nodded and finished his drink. He put the glass down and began to tap the table with his finger.

After a moment he looked at Utau and smiled, "I think I fell in love with Amu when she said something really inspiring. It was right after I met her and started training her that we had a conversation. She said something about no one having a good or bad egg in one's heart. Something about that made me feel," he took a moment to think about what he was going to say, "connected to her. After that I felt different around her. But maybe if I had only realized it sooner I might have been able to confess."

Utau smiled a bit and put her glass down, "I guess we both messed up our love lives. Right?" Kukai only nodded and put his own glass down; his gaze slowly making his way toward the dance floor where he saw Amu. Utau followed his eyes but hers landed on Ikuto. They both watched as they danced around but Kukai was the only one who didn't have that uncomfortable feeling in their stomach. Utau had to look away. Once more she reached for the wine bottle; thinking that now was the best time since Kukai was distracted but unfortunately she was wrong. He took it as her fingers skimmed the cool surface of the bottle and held it far away from her. He looked at as if inspecting it and then glanced at her with accusing eyes.

"Are you trying to give yourself a hangover?" he asked in a teasing tone. Utau recognized that tone; it was one that he would always use around her when they were younger. It was a tone that he would use before challenging her. So like all the other times that he had used that tone she decided to use her own teasing tone, "Maybe."

He grinned and held the bottle up as he slowly got up and put his hand on his hip and then twirling the bottle in his hand and then looked at her again with an accusing, yet teasing look.

"Well you can't do that." He said with his hand still on his hip. He waved the bottle in front of her face. She went to grab it but he took it and shook his finger at her. She stood up, "Are you sure?" leaning toward him.

"You have to catch me first, Idol-san." He said leaning in as well. As soon as he spoke those words he flipped around to the other side of the table and wagged the bottle at her again. She gave a small frown but it wasn't really a frown, more of a smirk. "You're dead, Ramen Boy."

With that the chase began. But not only that started, but a change also started because Utau found herself smiling as he dodged her and teased her. She felt herself smile even more as he more then once stumbled and almost fell. She laughed and she herself almost fell as she reached for him. But she didn't fall to the floor but instead into his arms. Then he stumbled and she found herself being pushed against the hand rail with him pressed against her. She opened her eyes and she found his bright green eyes looking straight into her violet eyes. That's when she felt the change become even more noticeable. They didn't look away from each other even when the crash of the wine bottle echoed through the small balcony. They hardly even flinched. Her hands rested against his chest and his hands were pressed on the hand rail. Then he leaned in and kissed her. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was the drama, or maybe she just wanted to, but she found herself kissing him back.

When the need for air became great he pulled away and put his forehead on hers and took a gulp of air. She took her own gulp of air and was surprised to feel the weight of everything disappear. Every little thing that had been bothering her suddenly disappeared; almost like it had never been there in the first place. She felt almost well enough to go in and walk into the wedding again and face it like she had wanted to in the first place. Almost.

She leaned in and kissed him again and pulled away and looked at him. For a moment there were no words exchanged; it was just them, the city lights, and the sounds of the honking cars. Kukai was the first to speak.

"I think…I think I need to help you and you need to help me," he took another breath, "get over the people we once loved." She put her head on his chest and nodded.

"Yeah that sounds good." She whispered. As he wrapped his arms around her waist she felt that that plan would possibly be easier then both expected.

At least now she didn't need the red wine to forget how she felt about Ikuto.

Kukai would be the one to help her.


Author's Note: Holy crap this took me forever to write! DX

I know I should have updated my A to Z: Kutau, but this sorta poped into my head and I really needed to write it down. This had originally been planned to have Utua be extreamly drunk and Kukai would be there as she spilled all her worrys as a drunken wreck but in the end it transformed into, well, that up there. So if you're readng this then I thank you and would appreciate a review(:

Oh, and this is dedicated to a friend of mine who recently went through almost the same thing as Utua except her's is a little more complecated and...he isn't her brother XD

R&R people and I'll give you a cookie :D