"Alright, but you owe me, Ikuto."
"I'm sure I could find a way to repay you," Ikuto purred, slowing his pace so he could walk behind me. His arms snaked around my waist, and I started to roll my eyes but stopped and shivered as he whispered in my ear, "Actually, I can think of lots of ways to repay you."
He straightened a little so he wasn't as close to my face and I turned to glare at him. I could see the laughter in his eyes, but he simply smirked at me, instead. I knew my cheeks were on fire just by his expression. "You're an idiot."
"But a hot idiot," Ikuto replied, releasing me and continuing down the sidewalk. "So what is it you want, really?"
I thought for a moment. "Nothing, right now. But you owe me. One day, there's going to be a knock on your door. Whatever I want, whatever I ask, you have to give it to me."
"Within reason," Ikuto clarified.
"Anything."
He sighed, sounding exasperated, but his tone was light when he responded, "Fine. Now let's go buy you a dress."
That promise still rings in my head, eight years later, as I drive to Ikuto house. I was only seventeen at the time, so painfully young compared to Ikuto, who had five years on me. It took a lot for me not to go back to him before. Despite everything that happened to me, I still held onto Ikuto's oath. I hadn't meant to actually make him go through with it, but I never took him up on his offer to repay me. Even after things went bad for me merely two years after getting out of high school. I was nearly starving and freezing to death, but I wouldn't take his charity, not even as repayment. As I said before, I didn't mean to hold him to it until now.
In the end, I think it was my stubborn attitude that kept me from going to him, even when everything around me was falling apart.
Just out of high school, I'd been offered a scholarship, but turned it down, choosing to follow my boyfriend at the time – Tadase – to another city in which he was offered an internship. At the time, I had hopes we would marry. I was always like that, a dreamer, never one to look reality in the face and give it a good once-over. It took me ages to realize that Tadase and I could never work out together. It wasn't that he did anything wrong. It just ended. I suppose, when I look back, I saw it coming but wouldn't accept it.
The breakup had left me devastated. I moved back to my hometown, only to find I had nothing left there. Ikuto had moved to the next city over, having got a job that paid him well enough to get by, then finally getting promoted and having enough money to leave. I had moved out of my parents' home when I left with Tadase, and once I was gone, they had moved to their summer home on the beach. My sister – younger than me by a year – had gotten married already and had moved off to somewhere.
I was all alone. I had no one, and I had nothing. Still, something compelled me to stay there. I rented a small apartment, and got by for a little. It was tough, but I wasn't going crawling back to Ikuto. I hadn't even talked to him in over two years. Things gradually began to get better, and I was starting to enjoy my life. It wasn't the best, but it was something.
And then there was the fire.
The cops said it was an accident – blamed it on my carelessness. I may be clumsy, and I may lose things, but I didn't lose a lit cigarette in my own home. I'd had a pack or two lying about, but I hardly used them. I had tried, once or twice, to loose myself into addiction. I never could do it. I still couldn't throw my life away like that, even if it wasn't worth much. Anyway, I know for a fact I threw out the cigarettes a week before the fire.
It was arson, I knew. But the jury wouldn't have it. The landlord pinned it on me, blamed me for burning down his apartment building. It got tough after that – working hours from before dawn to the wee hours in the morning to pay off the fines. It was unfair, and I was wearing thin.
Still, I wouldn't go to him. I wouldn't hold it to him. Meanwhile, he got lucky. Ikuto played his cards right, became manager, then kept moving up the line to CEO. I couldn't just barge in become a thorn in the side of his perfect life.
It took time, over five years, but I slowly made my way back out of the pit I'd been tossed into by life's undertakers. They'd tried to drag me down and put me six-feet under, but I wouldn't let them. Here and there, I made a difference in my life. I paid off the fees, rented another apartment, got some of my life back. I made friends, actually had something to look forward to after long working hours. I never fell in love again, though. I suppose I should have noticed, all that time ago, that after Tadase, there was only one man who occupied my thoughts, and I refused to go to him.
Finally, I began to make my way to the top. It wasn't anything big, but I got a decent job – not something like a high schooler's part-time occupation bagging groceries – but an actual job, working in an office. It wasn't anything special, but my determination not to fall back into the pit I'd been in before helped. My employers noticed, rewarded me. I slowly made my way up. Not to the top, like Ikuto, but high enough that I didn't have to worry about money so much. Things got better. I didn't need to think about Ikuto's promise anymore.
Until one day, I remembered. It is eight years later, and I'm finally returning to claim what Ikuto owes me – anything I ask. It took me a while to accept that this is what I really wanted. I think I'd known, long ago, that Ikuto had wanted something between us, but I always believed he was just joking. It took a very sweet and very sappy letter from the blue-hair man a few weeks ago – the first time we communicated since I moved away with my boyfriend at the time – to give me the courage to get in my cat and actually do something about it.
And now, as I park in front of his house – it's beautiful, simple, but big and wonderful, worthy of CEO of whatever important title he's given his company – walk up his sidewalk, and knock on his door, the words from eight years ago come rushing back.
"One day, there's going to be a knock on your door. Whatever I want, whatever I ask, you have to give it to me."
"Within reason."
"Anything."
He smirks as he opens the door. "I knew it was you," he says, opening the door wider. "I don't know how, but I knew."
I manage a soft smile. He looks good. His arms are muscled, and his plain t-shirt stretches at his shoulders. His hair is perfect, shorter than I remember, though, and his eyes gleam with mischief, the way they always had when I'd been with him before. "I hadn't planned to hold you to that, but I guess I knew I would come back one day, too."
"So what is it? What do you want? Anything, right?" He steps back from the doorway to give me room to enter.
I pause for just a second, realize that my words are about to change my life in a way I'd never thought of before. I step into Ikuto's house, throw my arms around his neck instead of walking past him, and, standing on the tips of my toes so I can reach, I whisper against his lips, "You."
. . .
So, that had a lot of sappiness. I'm not sure where the idea came from, aside from Monk. I know Ms. Flemming says the thing about "you owe me" in one of the shows. I don't remember which. I don't own anything, and I'm not claiming anything from Shugo Chara! or Monk. Thanks for reading. c;
If this one-shot gets enough traffic, I may add onto it by writing out what Amu had to do for Ikuto. And why she had to have a dress.