The Way Love Works

by Amulet Strawberry

CAT & MOUSE REWRITE. Hinamori Amu is moving to Tokyo for work. What she doesn't expect is to be suddenly dragged into a personal assistant job on the day of her interview WITHOUT the interview! Now what will she do, working for THE Tsukiyomi Ikuto?

Keirii: Oh em gee! Lookie here! It's the rewrite of Cat and Mouse, almost completely different and with a whole new name to boot AND ITS LIKE, NEARLY FOUR TIMES LONGER!!!!! Sorry it took me so long by the way. I've had college, job hunting and a bunch of other personal stuff going on this year so I've been pretty busy. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy! Its a lot different from the first versions, less characters and stuff which makes it a little easier for me~ So, read on!

The Way Love Works

Chapter 1

First Encounters With The Devil Incarnated

"Are you sure this is a good idea Amu-chan? I mean, you've never been outside Seiyo, never mind all the way on the other side of the country!"

"Kyoto, Mama. Don't forget Kyoto." Amu sighed, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she taped up a cardboard box stuffed with a twelfth of her book collection.

"That was back when you were in middle school, Amu-chan! And it was for three days! You're twenty-one and this isn't a school vacation!" Midori cried, hoping to make Amu see sense.

"Mama, I'm not a little kid anymore! As you so clearly pointed out, I'm a grown woman. I know how to look after myself. Besides, I've already arranged so many interviews, and half of them are expecting me by Friday!"

Midori sighed, "I remember. I'm just worrying about you Amu-chan. I mean, Tokyo is a big and dangerous place, I mean, moving into an apartment with Rima-chan had Papa worried to death! He's going to have a heart attack by the time you're boarding your plane on Thursday!"

Amu smiled softly, "Is he still running?"

Midori walked over to the main door and opened it just as Hinamori Tsumugu ran past crying, Midori held the receiver outside, "Why-y?" Amu heard her father cry, she cringed in embarrassment and flopped on the cardboard box.

It had been two weeks since she had announced her abrupt plan to her family and during the entire two weeks, her father had barely stopped his running tantrum, it was all like a bad gag in a comedy show, hence the reason why her best friend, Mashiro Rima found it extremely entertaining, walking past Amu's parent's home on her way back from work every night just to witness the man's regular event.

"Amu-chan," Her mother eventually sighed, "If this is something you really want… and if you promise me you'll carry pepper spray around, triple lock your apartment door and not to walk around late at night… then I suppose there's nothing Mama can really do than support you…"

Amu smiled tearfully, "Arigatou, Mama."

"Here." Amu jumped, startled as a box of tissues was shoved under her nose. She looked up and blinked at Rima who just smiled softly, "You're going to start crying again, right?"

Amu blushed a little and laughed softly, "For what must be the hundredth time."

Rima grinned and sat down on one of the boxes, leaving the tissues on Amu's box, "Its okay if you cry. I mean, you're moving away from you home of twenty-one years. I'd cry if I had to move away too. Well, I'd cry if I could cry but since I'm me, the likeliness of me crying is next to none." Amu laughed and Rima grinned softly, "But anyway, don't be too afraid, Amu. Go to Tokyo, believe in yourself and follow your dream. Because you're Amu and you wouldn't be you if you sat hidden away in Seiyo because people say Tokyo is too dangerous."

Amu smiled, her laughter having died down when Rima had spoken again. She stood and walked over to her best friend, wrapping her arms around her, "I'm gonna miss having you around Rima."

Rima sighed, "They invented the phone a long time ago, Amu." She smirked at Amu's growl, "But yes, I shall miss you too."

***

Hauling her two suitcases out of the taxi forty-nine hours later, Amu grinned up at the apartment building. Her apartment building. She turned back around and paid the driver, allowing him to leave before she dragged her suitcases up to the entrance. Searching for the buzzer to her new home, she pressed what she hoped was the correct one and waited.

The intercom system buzzed into life and Amu jumped as a crash was heard, "Ohayo! Souma residence!"

"Ohayo!" Amu squeaked, "My name is Hinamori Amu, I-I'm supposed to be moving into apartment 260 today… This is the right intercom right…?" She said, a little worried as she checking the number once again.

"Oh hoooo! My new roomie!" The male voice interrupted, "I'll buzz you in right away! I'm up on the fifth floor, the elevator will bring you up and the room is right in front of you then!"

"Ah! Tha-" She was interrupted by the buzzing of the door and the sound of the intercom hanging up. Amu gasped and grabbed the door before the buzzing could end and the door, lock again.

Once having reached the fifth floor, Amu dragged her suitcases to the door of room 260. Taking a deep breath, she only had to knock once before the door swung open and Amu was found herself faced with a tall, beautiful blonde wearing large sunglasses and a hat. She eyed Amu for a moment and even with her eyes hidden behind the dark lenses of her glasses, Amu could feel the dark aura of suspicion radiating from the woman.

With a final huff though, she stormed away to the elevator, her hair swishing behind her. Amu watched, slightly in awe of the woman's gracefulness and obvious beauty. It was then that a brunette haired man appeared in the doorway next to Amu, looking slightly breathless.

"U-Utau!! Come on! You're behaving like a child!" He cried as the woman entered the elevator.

Utau turned once in the elevator and scowled at the man, "I'll behave how I want, Ramen Shounen! Yaya was one thing and I accepted that she would be around, but now this… this… girl, is living with you!? There's no way I'll accept this Kukai Souma!! No way!!"

As the elevator doors shut, the man, Kukai, groaned, leaning on the doorframe and sliding down a little, "Oh man… now's she's calling me by that stupid nickname again… That's never a good sign."

Amu blinked and stared at the man for a moment, "Uh…"

The man suddenly looked up and stared at Amu is apparent surprise, "Oh! Roomie!" He stood up fast and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin, "Sorry, didn't see you there."

"I-Its okay… erm…" Amu blushed awkwardly, "S-Sorry about your girlfriend…"

Kukai blinked and his cheeks turned slightly pink, "O-oh… um… Utau and I… well… its nothing, don't worry about it." He said, lowering his hand from his head and smiling, "Here, let me help you with your stuff." He reached for one of her suitcases and lifted it straight up, blinking in surprise, "Well this is a lot lighter than I'm used to." He chuckled.

Amu chose not to comment as Kukai led her into the apartment, halfway through the hallway, he turned back and grinned at her, "I'm Souma Kukai by the way."

Amu, dragging her other suitcase behind her, bowed politely, "Hinamori Amu, nice to meet you."

Kukai continued to grin, "No need to be so formal Hinamori, we are going to be living together after all. Roommates need to be friends."

Amu hastily straightened herself and nodded, "H-hai!" She stuttered, shutting the door and following Kukai as he continued his way through the apartment.

"The apartment is pretty much the hallway with the other rooms connecting through separate doors, none of the rooms are connected but the kitchen and lounge are opposite each other, they're the first two doors ahead." Kukai walked past the doors and paused, allowing Amu to peek in and around. Everything involving her apartment had been completed online and over the telephone, so Amu hadn't really had a chance to look around properly. The only photographs she had seen of the place were unfurnished and having a roommate, Amu was sure he had already furnished most of the rooms.

Peeking into the lounge, Amu discovered that her assumptions were obviously correct. Kukai had painted the walls a clean white color since moving in and had filled the room with stylish white faux leather sofas and black furnishings and decorations. She blinked and turned to Kukai, "I like what you've done with the lounge. The photographs where all before you decorated…"

Kukai smiled softly, "This was all Utau." He laughed awkwardly, "She wouldn't let me touch the place in fear of me using something as atrocious as children's soccer wallpaper."

Amu frowned and took another look around the lounge, suddenly noticing the football memorabilia scattered around the room. A single soccer ball shaped cushion, a sports scarf thrown over the back of the sofa and a small collection of trophies on the fireplace. It appeared that her roommate was a sports fan. Not unusual for a guy, so it was something Amu would have to get used to.

Amu turned to peek into the kitchen, it was pretty cramped when it came to walking space, but the counter space was good enough, plus there were plenty of cupboards and space for a refrigerator, freezer and a dishwasher. The walls were decorated with sleek black and white tiles, Amu suspected Utau's influence once again.

She turned back to Kukai and muffled a squeak when she noticed he'd already walked away, moving towards the next door. She caught up as he kicked it open with his foot, "Here we have the laundry room. Utau didn't want to work with this space because she figured it wouldn't be worth it so its just been left after we painted the walls."

Amu managed to grab a glance into the room before Kukai led her away again, toward the last three doors, "And here we have the mandatory bedrooms and bathroom. Here's your room, and I'll allow you to get acquainted with the bathroom yourself." He said, placing Amu's suitcase inside the open door of a dark room.

Amu nodded and waited to hear the sound of the television in the lounge before taking her other suitcase into the bedroom. Feeling around the wall for the light switch, Amu squinted blearily as the light bulb flashed into life. She blinked and scanned the room, her eyes gradually adjusting to the light. It was a fair sized room, already fitted with a single bed and painted a creamy white color which Amu would eventually decorate with a pink border out of habit.

She left her suitcases at the door and wandered around the room, idly taking note of furniture she needed and decorations she would use to make the room as homely as possible. Reaching the window, she pulled open the curtains slightly and surveyed the view. Sighing, she sat at the windowsill and leaned against the window, her face cooled by the cool glass. Her view of Tokyo's night life, was nothing like the view of Seiyo.

***

"Geez, there's never anything good on t.v. these days…" Mumbled a red haired man, lying on the sofa of a large open apartment, "We should tell him to get cable you know, life would be so much better for him if he did."

"For you, you mean." Growled a young woman, sitting at a nearby table, a laptop planted firmly in front of her as she typed furiously.

"Geez, Kumi, you're such a nag, how about you shut up?" The man snapped. The woman, Kumi, stood with a feral roar and threw the nearest item, a thin metal ashtray, at the man.

"How 'bout you shut yer big fat trap, ass!" She yelled, before gasping and covering her mouth. Having ducked the ashtray which clattered against the wall behind him, the man smirked and leered at Kumi.

"Such a pretty Kansai accent, Ku~umi-cha~an. Why hide it so badly?" The man crooned, pouting childishly.

"GO T' H-"

"Ryou, Kumi, keep bickering and I'll force you both to dress as penguins for the next live concert." Said a short, well dressed woman, walking into the room as she leafed through a pile of papers, she looked up for a moment, "Is he still not here?"

The red haired man, Ryou, grinned, "What do you expect, it is-"

"He'll be here soon." Said another red haired man, his looks were slightly similar to Ryou's but his hair style and choice of clothing differentiated. He snapped a cell phone shut and smiled at the woman who sighed.

"Well at least someone is keeping an eye on that black cat. Thank you Hibiki." She said, smiling at Ryou's twin.

"No problem. We can't have him miss the auditions for his own personal assistant, right Suzu?" Hibiki said with a smile.

Suzu grinned and flicked through images of women on the papers in her hands, her grin became a smirk, "No, no we can't."

Ryou and Kumi watched Suzu suspiciously, "What are you up to Kinomoto Suzu…" Kumi asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the other woman who squeaked and held the papers tightly against her chest.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

***

Amu sighed and closed the curtains again before walking over to one of her suitcases, opening it, she pulled out her travel bag which she had placed in there while waiting for her taxi. She could brush her teeth, then go to bed. It had been a long day.

Amu lifted the black and pink polka dot bag from the top of the suitcase and sat down on the bed, unzipping the bag. Rummaging through the contents, Amu pulled out her pink toothbrush and the tube of sensitive toothpaste. Blinking at the tube, she sighed. She'd completely forgotten that it was empty. Standing, she dropped her things on the bed and walked out of the room, into the hallway.

She crept toward the lounge and opened her mouth to call out to Kukai, only to hear him talking, "U… Oh come on Utau, its not like I can stop her from… Utau! Don't be so…"

Amu stepped back away from the doorway. It would be rude to interrupt him now… he was after all, trying to mend something her appearance had broken. She walked back to her room and grabbed her purse from where she had thrown it on the bed. It was only toothpaste, and she'd seen a convenience store nearby when the taxi had driven her to the apartment. Yes, Kukai would probably let her use his if she asked, but her toothpaste was the special kind for sensitive teeth and gums, plus, Amu happened to like flavourless toothpaste, using any other type would give her aches all night or make her feel sick.

She tiptoed to the kitchen and grabbed the kana magnets she'd noticed before, moving them to leave a note for Kukai which he would hopefully see. Once finished, she tiptoed back out and slipped on her shoes at the front door, opening the door as softly as possible.

Closing it behind her, Amu jogged over to the elevator and pushed the ground floor button. She stood in the elevator and waited, pushing her hair behind her ears. The flight had been short, so Amu had only worn a pair of old jeans and a warm hooded sweater. But upon landing, she had seriously wished she had worn something warmer. It was colder than she had expected in Tokyo.

She jogged out of the elevator and out of the apartment doors. Hopefully, jogging would keep her warm, she thought as she jogged in the direction she remembered seeing the convenience store. It was pretty dark, even with the street lights and the occasional car driving by, so Amu quickened her pace. She'd never been comfortable when out at night, the thoughts of perverts and criminals roaming around scared her.

Amu jogged around the corner and saw the friendly lights of the store a few blocks away. She smiled, it would be useful having one that close. Hopefully they would sell the specialist toothpaste she needed. Having reached the building, Amu slowed and approached the automatic doors, pausing as they opened for her. A group of teenagers standing outside, eyed her as she entered. Amu forced herself to ignore their stares.

So focused on ignoring the teenagers, Amu crashed into a hard, leather cased chest. Blinking her eyes into focus, Amu looked up at the person she bumped into and was met by the reflection of her own golden eyes on the surface of a pair of dark sunglasses. Frowning, Amu backed away and mumbled an apology as the man took a step back and walked around her. Amu harrumphed and placed her hands on her hips. How rude! He bumped into her too!

***

It was only upon returning to her apartment building, with a paper bag containing her toothpaste plus a bottle of soda, a bag of chips and a magazine, that Amu realised something. She groaned and slapped her forehead.

"You idiot… you didn't even get your keys from Souma-kun…" She mumbled, pulling her hand from her forehead to cover her pink face. With a sigh, she reached over to the intercom and pushed the button for the apartment.

She waited, the after a minute she pressed it again… then again after another minute, this time twice in panic… he couldn't have…

Five Minutes Earlier…

"Ah, r-really? O-Okay! I'll be there in twenty minutes Utau!" Kukai exclaimed into the telephone. Utau groaned.

"Oi, I never said to scream down my ear, Ramen Shounen." She grumbled on the other end of the phone line.

Kukai grinned, "Hai, Hai. Anyway, I'll be right there." He said, hanging up the call before running out into the hallway, pausing at the door as he pulled on his shoes. "Oi, Hinamori! I'm going out for a while! Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge and if you need to go out for anything, there's an extra set of keys on the hook next to the door in the kitchen! Ja!" He called before slamming the door shut behind him, eager to see his girlfriend now that she wasn't angry with him.

Now…

Amu sighed and leaned against the wall beside the door. Even if she did somehow get into the building, she'd still be stuck waiting in the hallway until Kukai got back. Sighing, Amu pulled her knees to her chest and tucked her chin between her knees. Typical. It was just typical that she'd end up locked out of her own apartment on her first night in Tokyo.

"Great…" She mumbled, "I hate my rotten luck…" She sighed again and hid her face behind her knees. It seemed she would be waiting here for a while…

"Oi, can you move?" Amu blinked. Who… she looked up and was met by her reflection for the second time that night.

"Eh…?"

A dark eye brow arched above the left side of the sunglasses, "Move? I'm trying to use the intercom." The rough voice told her, sounding a little amused.

"Move…" Amu blinked again and examined the man standing in front of her. He was tall… very tall… with hair that shone blue in the light spilling out from the lobby of the building. The leather jacket that he wore was clearly quite old and was worn in patches, his denim jeans were in a similar state, torn at the knees and bleached on the shins.

His lips moved into an amused smirk, "Move…" He repeated, drawing out the word as if teasing Amu whose eyes widened.

"Ah! G-Gomen!!" She stuttered, pushing herself to her feet and moving aside. The man chuckled and took a step toward the intercom. Amu watched from the corner of her eye as he pressed the button for the top floor. She blinked, hadn't the owner of her apartment mentioned that the top floor was owned by one person who had renovated it into a single floor apartment building? Apparently he was quite well known for it in the building. Amu figured she'd probably see him a lot, considering that he lived directly above her apartment that was.

Amu was jolted into reality as a voice crackled from the intercom, "You stupid stray cat! You said five damned minutes, not half a day!"

Although Amu was slightly freaked out by the yell, the man didn't appear phased in the slightest, "Whatever, I'm back now, aren't I? So buzz me up."

The woman (Amu guessed since their voice sounded more feminine than manly) was clearly unimpressed by the man's words, "Is that all you have to say for yourself!? One of these days I'm kicking you out you stupid cat! I swear I will!"

The man sighed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just open the damned door for me."

The woman was silent for a moment, "Don't you have your own stupid key?"

Another sigh, "I forgot it. Now if you want to get this over with just open the door." There was another few moments silence before another voice, a man's voice this time, called out from in the background. Although it was too crackly to make out what he had said, the woman released an annoyed screeching sound and slammed down the intercom phone. Amu blinked and the man stared silently at the intercom for a few seconds.

Eventually he sighed, "I'm taking my key back from those idiots…" He mumbled to himself. Amu's lips tightened into a thin line, part of her wanted to apologise and be sympathetic, but for some reason, another part of her wanted to laugh. He was clearly causing that poor woman frustration so it was by his own doing that he was locked outside.

It was then that the man appeared to notice that Amu was watching him, he turned to her and arched an eyebrow again. Amu flushed and hastily turned her eyes to the ground, mumbling a quick apology. Whether the man was going to say something about her staring she never found out, as a moment later, the door was buzzed open making Amu jump, startled.

She kept her eyes glued to the ground. Still too embarrassed to look up at the man and instead, waited for the sound of the door shutting and once again locking her out. Her wait was a long one and figuring that the door was quieter than she had thought, Amu looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. The door was still open, jammed with what appeared to be a wallet which had been trapped between the door and the frame, barely noticeable really but Amu had been pretty surprised to find that the door hadn't been shut properly.

Cautiously, Amu approached the door and opened it, bending down to grab the wallet which now lay flat at her feet. She blinked and looked in the building at the elevator which was currently moving up to the top of the building. She tilted her head, had he honestly dropped it like that without noticing? After all, wouldn't a resident of the building recognise the absence of the sound that the door made when it shut?

Amu frowned and flipped the wallet open as she made her way over to the elevator. Maybe he didn't live here… If he didn't… well, she'd just have to be a polite citizen and follow him up to give him his wallet… She frowned and arched an eyebrow. There wasn't a single form of photographic identification in the wallet, not even a driver's license. Just a number of credit cards and a few photographs in the back… Okay, so now she was just being nosy, but who could help it? He could have been her new neighbour, and she seriously wanted to know if she was living in the same building as some sort of fraud criminal or something.

Entering the elevator as it reached the ground floor again, Amu reached into the back of the wallet and pulled out the photographs. They seemed to be photo booth photos and a few cut-outs, the photographs seemed to mainly include two red haired males with similar features - possibly twins, and a woman with brown hair and yellow-brown eyes. Not a single image included a man with blue hair. Flipping to the next photograph, Amu gasped slightly, it was an old photograph, worn at the edges and a little scratched, but the blonde pig-tailed girl in the image remained beautiful. Was this his childhood sweetheart perhaps?

The sudden ding on the arrival of her floor startled Amu, she took a step out of the closed space and continued to rout through the wallet, searching for an address of some sort only to crash into something or someone as she turned to walk down to the hall to her apartment. She jumped back, holding her nose which had been promptly smushed against the surface she had hit.

"Ahhhhhh!!! I've been hit!! I've been hit!!! Man down! Man down!" Amu's eyes widened in surprise at the exclamation and raised her to find a tall auburn haired man holding his arm over his chest where Amu had crashed. He cried out again as he leaned against the wall and Amu panicked a little, had she really hurt him!? Was her head seriously that hard?!

"I'm so sorry!" She squeaked and placed her hands on his shoulder and arm, "W-would you like me to call for help… o-or maybe help you to your room…?"

The man turned his sharp green eyes to face Amu and smiled, "It'd be great… if you helped me to my room I mean…"

Amu nodded firmly, "Okay. it's the least I could do since this was my fault after all!"

"You're so kind…" The man said, smiling as Amu moved to help him straighten, "So do you live in this building? I've never - OW!" The man yelped and jumped forward, tripping over his feet and falling to the floor, his hands clutching his head.

Amu gasped and was about to move to help the man to his feet again when a woman stepped into her view, apparently having appeared from around the same corner as the man. She sighed and frowned at the man on the floor, obviously annoyed by something… or someone considering the way she kicked the man's leg a moment later, causing him to yelp again and spin around to glare at her, "Oi, moron, you know how Ikuto feels about you messing with the girls in his building." The woman growled around the lollipop stick in her mouth.

The man climbed to his feet, his glare glued to the woman relentlessly, "He's the one who refuses to live in one of Easter's buildings. See, if he lived with us, we wouldn't have these problems and I wouldn't have to pretend not to notice every cute girl who passes by!!!"

"You don't do that anyway, you idiot!!"

Amu felt extremely tiny and invisible as she was suddenly caught in the firing range between the two glares, well, maybe not literally, but standing between the couple made Amu want to duck and run for cover! She lowered her head a little and attempted to attract their attention, "U-um… excuse me…?"

"WHAT?!" They snapped, turning their glares to Amu, making her regret her decision to attract their attention.

"W-well… I was just wondering… c-can I leave now?" She stuttered, shrinking back against the wall, the wallet still in hand and held against her chest. The arguing man and woman seemed to notice that Amu's hands were full and stared at the wallet in confusion.

The man was the first to speak, his hand pointing at the wallet hesitantly, "O-oi… isn't that…"

The woman nodded, "Its definitely his…" She muttered, just loud enough for Amu to hear as she shuffled over to stand beside the man, "He never washed that thing so your stupid cat face is still on it…"

Amu blinked and looked down at the wallet, wondering how she hadn't noticed the pale blue child-like kitty face drawn on the back of the wallet, "Hey, my kitty face isn't stupid." The man growled, glaring at the woman before turning to look at Amu cautiously again, "So… do you think…"

"Maybe…" The woman bit down hard on her lollipop and Amu winced at the painful cracking sound. She leaned over to the man again, "You think we should go back up and get Ikuto or Suzu to call the cops…?"

"You're the one who reminded me that Ikuto didn't want people knowing he was here!" The man hissed, "Just imagine what he'd do to us if we had to call the cops about a stalker having his wallet!"

Amu blinked. Once, then twice before her eyes widened as she registered what the man had just said, "STALKER?!" The man and woman paused, turning back to Amu. A moment later they both nodded to which Amu responded with a burst of color on her face, "I'M NOT A STALKER!!!" She exclaimed throwing her arms into the air, "I just found this stupid wallet in the foyer!!" She cried, "How does being a well-mannered citizen make me a stalker?!"

The man and woman blinked and after a moment, the woman sighed smacking the man over the head, "This is what happens when I spend too much time around you."

The man yelped and grasped his head again, glaring at the woman, "Hey! You can't blame your stupidity on mine!"

The woman ignored the man and walked over to Amu, she stopped in front of her and bowed her head a little, "I'm sorry, we jumped to conclusions." She raised her head and pointed at the wallet, "That's our friends wallet, you don't mind if we take it from here do you?"

Amu looked down at the wallet then back up at the woman, "I-I don't know… I mean, what if you're lying and just want to steal this wallet and the money inside?" She asked, slightly hesitant.

The man suddenly jumped forward and grabbed Amu's hands, making her flinch a little and pull back immediately. The man didn't seem to notice, "Then you should come up with us and give it back to him yourself!" He said, grinning.

The woman crossed her arms in thought, "Hmm, although your intentions aren't exactly to get Ikuto's wallet back, idiot, that is a good idea." She commented, looking over at Amu, "So, is that cool with you?" She asked, pulling the now bare lollipop stick from her mouth.

Amu blinked once, considering her options before nodding, "Okay…"

***

Kumi grinned at Amu before she turned the door handle and pushed open the door of the top floor apartment, "Oi, Ikuto! You got a visitor!" She called, slipping off her shoes in the small hallway which immediately connected to a large lounge area. Amu did the same as did Ryou as he followed her, his grin practically glued to his face.

"Okay, promise not to scream when you see Ikuto, okay Amu-chan?" He said, Amu frowned.

"I've already seen him though…" She mumbled, a little confused. She had explained to Ryou and Kumi about how she had come across the wallet as they had journeyed up to the apartment via the stairs.

Ryou just chuckled, having heard Amu's almost inaudible mutter, "Sure you have, Amu-chan. But you haven't met him out of disguise yet."

Amu blinked and suddenly, Kumi slapped Ryou across the head. Again. "You idiot! Make it obvious why don't you!"

Ryou grasped his head and whimpered, opening his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a female gasp that was not from Kumi's mouth. The three turned to find a short brunette woman dressed in a business suit. Ryou and Kumi raised their hands, "Yo, Suzu." Ryou greeted, grinning once more.

The woman, Suzu, seemed frozen, staring at Amu almost in fear. After a moment, her mouth closed and she narrowed her gaze at Kumi, "I'd expect this from Ryou, not you." Kumi scowled.

"She's just returning Ikuto's wallet to him. Get him to wear his stupid mask if you're going to be so paranoid." The fellow brunette snapped as she unwrapped another lollipop.

Suzu's face contorted into a mixture of multiple expressions as Kumi popped her lollipop into her mouth and walked past the shorter woman, "Fine! But if Ikuto complains, I'm pointing him in your direction!" She cried, flailing her arms and puffing her cheeks out.

Ryou chuckled again, "They do that a lot." He explained to Amu, before spotting someone entering the lounge from another hallway, his face brightened further as he called out, "Hey! Biki! Come meet Amu-chan!"

Amu looked in the direction of his wave and saw another man, almost identical in appearance to Ryou if not for the slight difference in hair style and fashion choice, with his hair being a little longer than Ryou's short spiky style and his clothing loose and layered rather than tight and thin. The man blinked and walked over, shaking his head slightly, "Ikuto is going to kill you." He said as he approached them.

Ryou pouted, "No he wouldn't! He'd be lost without me!" He grinned again and turned to Amu, "This is Hibiki, my twin brother. Hibiki, this is Amu-chan. She lives downstairs and is returning Ikuto's wallet. She found it in the foyer."

Hibiki smiled at Amu, "Nice to meet you Amu-san." Amu found herself blushing as she smiled politely at Hibiki.

"Nice to meet you…" She mumbled shyly.

Ryou grabbed Amu's hand and pulled her into the lounge, "Come on in Amu-chan, Ikuto is probably in his room or something." He looked over at Hibiki who nodded and left the room through the same hallway he had entered through. Ryou smiled at Amu and pulled her towards the large 'L' shaped sofa in front of the large television, "Hibiki has gone to get him." He told her, pulling her down next to him as he sat down.

"O… okay…" Amu looked around the room as Ryou continued smiling at her. It was clear that this Ikuto person had plenty of money to spend. The room was filled with gadgets of every kind, including two very shiny and new looking laptops and every game console created plus one that Amu knew wasn't due to be released for another three months!

"Hmmm…" Amu's eyes widened as she suddenly found her vision blocked and her head forcibly turned to face none other than the business woman, Suzu. Amu felt slightly self-conscious under the woman's almost critical stare.

"C-can I help you, Suzu-s-san?"

The woman just continued staring, moving Amu's face around in different angles, "You… look familiar…" Suzu murmured. On Amu's other side, Ryou leaned around to glare at the woman, "Oi, no man-handling Amu-chan, Suzu."

Suzu glared at Ryou and stuck out her tongue, "I'll man-handle who I want to handle, Ry-ou. Besides, she's really familiar!"

Ryou rolled his eyes, "You always think strangers are familiar to you, Suzu-Baka." Suzu pouted and pushed Amu's cheeks together, pursing the girl's lips forcibly.

"Yeah but this time I know I'm right! I've seen her face somewhere recently! I know I have!" She argued. Ryou just sighed and pulled Amu away from Suzu. The next few moments were spent in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by a hasty tapping. Amu turned and blinked at Kumi's back which sat at a table, concealing a laptop. Amu mildly wondered what it was she was typing so passionately.

Suddenly, a loud yawn broke the clacking of the computer keys. Amu jumped a little, startled at the surprisingly loud noise and turned to find the man who had dropped the wallet. He blinked at her, his glasses no longer hiding his eyes and Amu found herself in awe at the shade of blue as dark as the twilight sky.

He scratched at his head, still staring at Amu, "Oh…" He mumbled after a while, "You got in the building." Amu squeaked and nodded, jumping to her feet and spinning around to face him. He smirked, "I was kind of worried that my plan wouldn't work." He said, his smirk growing to a grin.

Amu frowned, "…Plan…?"

The man, Ikuto she presumed, nodded, "You brought my wallet back, right? It was stupid to use that but it was the only thing I could find." He told her, around them, the others, plus Hibiki who had followed Ikuto into the room, gaped at the dark haired and eyed man with wide eyes as did Amu's.

"You did that on purpose!?" She cried, completely shocked that someone would do something that stupid.

Ikuto just sighed and leaned against a nearby wall, crossing his arms over his chest, "Well you wanted to get in, right?" Amu opened her mouth to argue but couldn't think of anything to argue with as all her comebacks would be lies. Ikuto smirked, again, "Then what's the big problem?"

Suzu decided to answer this question with a glare, "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact… that if Amu-chan didn't pick up the wallet… SOMEONE ELSE, LESS TRUSTWORTHY COULD HAVE!!"

Ikuto rubbed his ear a little and arched an eyebrow at Suzu, "Wouldn't have happened. I knew she'd pick it up."

"Why you little…" Suzu started grumbling before screaming and throwing a cushion at Ikuto at storming out. Ikuto sighed, having caught the cushion before impact and dropped it to the floor before walking over toward Amu, his hand held out. Amu blinked at his hand in confusion.

"My wallet."

Amu's eyes widened, "Oh!" She gasped, hastily bringing up her hands and placing the wallet on his palm, "Here."

Ikuto turned the wallet over in his palm and looked down at Amu, "Did you look through it?"

Amu blushed guiltily, "N-no!" She stuttered, turning her face to the ground. Ikuto chuckled in response and smirked.

"You're quite the bad liar." He commented. Reaching for her face with his free hand, he tilted her chin upwards. Amu jumped back, startled, her face bright red. Ikuto laughed again, "And such a little mouse."

Amu's blush turned darker, desperate to escape, Amu turned on her heal and stormed over to the doorway, "I-I'll be l-leaving now…" She stuttered again.

"Oh!" Ryou jumped up, "I'll come with yo-"

"NO!" Amu yelped, not daring to turn around, it had been embarrassing enough for them to have seen her face that red and flustered, "I-I'll b-be f-f-f-f-f-fine!" She stuttered, racing to the door and pulling it open.

"Um… Okay! I'll see you some other time, Amu-chan!" Ryou called as she ran from the apartment and towards the stairwell, leaving the door to slam shut behind her.

Back in the apartment, Ryou and Hibiki exchanged glances, as Kumi giggled at her laptop, "Wow, either she is seriously slow, or she's just been living in some cave for the past two years." Ikuto smirked.

***

Amu glared up at the ceiling, in the background, her alarm beeped noisily underneath the blaring sound of music coming from upstairs. From the same apartment she had been standing in last night, to be specific. Screaming through her teeth in frustration, Amu pulled her pillow over her face. Since five in the morning, FIVE IN THE MORNING, Amu had been lying awake having been awoken by THAT NOISE! Why had no one told her that the top floor apartment was home to a band!? A band that practiced at five in the morning all the way past SEVEN to be specific.

How did she know that they were a band? Maybe because she could constantly hear their noisy voices shouting that they'd messed up, or that Ryou kept messing up mainly. Apparently his drumming was too hasty. Amu groaned as the music stopped again and Kumi's voice broke the silence, "DAMMIT, MORON!! STOP MESSING AROUND!! TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY WOULD YOU!!"

"PISS OFF YOU ARROGANT KANSAI BIATCH!!!"

"WHAT D'YOU JUST CALL ME?! I'LL KILL YA!"

Deciding that she couldn't take it much longer, Amu rolled out of bed and stomped over to her suitcase where today's clothes lay on top. Behind her, her alarm finally gave up and clicked itself off as the music started again upstairs. Amu sighed and walked out of the room, her clothes tucked over her arm. She mildly wondered how Kukai managed to sleep through all that noise as she noticed that the apartment was still in darkness. Hearing the sounds of extremely loud snoring, she sighed. So that was how…

When Amu had arrived at the door yesterday, after having returned the wallet, she was met by Kukai who had just arrived himself. The boy had been muttering unhappily, soaked from head to toe, even though it wasn't even raining… Apparently, Utau was more annoyed than he had thought when he had gone to visit her after Amu had left for the store…

Half an hour later, Amu left the apartment, this time with key in hand. Today was the first day of a line of interviews that Amu had arranged before leaving Sieyo. The first being in half an hour on the other side of Tokyo in Chūō. It would take fifteen minutes to get from her apartment in Itabashi to the Easter Entertainment Corporation. Having already called a taxi, Amu left the apartment and walked out to the elevator. As the doors opened, Amu's eyes widened.

The man standing at the back, raised his head and blinked, "Oh, Nezumi."

Amu blushed, "N-Nezumi…?"

Ikuto grinned, "Because you're such a mouse, its going to be my nickname for you."

"W-why yo-ACK, THE DOOR!" Amu squeaked, rushing into the elevator as the doors shut behind her.

Standing on the other side of the cubicle of space, Amu suddenly felt extremely self-conscious. It wasn't hard not to feel that way though, when you were standing in such a confined place with such a good looking guy! And Amu was a free, single girl, remember… the color further rose in her cheeks. It had been so long since she was attracted to a man, the last being her first love, Hotori Tadase, the 'King' of the student council back in elementary school all the way to high school. She had dated him for a year and a half before Tadase broke it off, his excuse being that he needed to concentrate more on his grades.

"Oi, Nezumi." Amu jumped, startled by Ikuto's sudden words and looked up. The dark haired man now stood in the doorway of the elevator, holding the door open. He smirked as Amu's face, which had cooled in her moments of thought, filled with color again. Ikuto smirked.

"O-Oh, um, r-right…" Amu stuttered, walking out of the elevator and speeding past Ikuto toward the exit. Dashing down the steps, Amu practically ran to the taxi which sat waiting for her. She leaned forward once having shut the door, "The Easter Entertainment Corporation building in Chūō please." She told the driver, leaning back in her seat and sighing a breath of relief once the car began driving away. For some reason, Amu felt that the less contact she had with that man would be for the best.

***

Amu stared up at the large sea-front building in awe, was it seriously a business building? It could pass off as a hotel if it wanted to! "That'll be six hundred and thirty yen please, ma'am." The driver said, breaking Amu's thoughts.

"Oh, yes…" Amu dug through her bag and pulled out the money before exiting the car and standing on the sidewalk, brushing off her black pencil skirt as it drove away. She swallowed and looked up at the building again. Okay, this was it, her aim right now was to make a good impression in front of her interviewers and possibly be hired by them. She'd researched Easter Entertainment, they were an extremely rich company and to be hired by them would be a one in a million chance. Amu sincerely hoped to be that one in a million. To have Easter Entertainment as a previous employer would be very useful in the future.

"Nezumi?" Amu jumped, startled once more that day and turned to find Ikuto looking at her, slightly confused, a pair of sunglasses sitting atop his head as he exited a car which drove away as he shut the door.

Amu's eyes were wide again, "W-what are you d-doing here!?" She demanded, pointing at him in mild horror. Had she not only just left him at the building with the thought of not spending too much time around him in mind!?

Ikuto raised him arm and scratched the back of his head, "I work here." He told her, pointing up at the Easter building with his other hand. Amu's face blanched as Ikuto spoke again, "What about you?"

Amu stared at Ikuto, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, "…I…Inter…view… PA… interview…" She murmured. Ikuto's eyes widened a little before a smirk slid across his face.

"Ah, then I'll take you up." He said, grabbing Amu's wrist before she had a chance to reject his offer.

"W-wait!" Amu cried as she was dragged into the building. Once in the building, Amu frowned as Ikuto dragged her straight past the reception desk where a sign in form sat, "Erm, Ikuto-san, sh-shouldn't we s-sign in…?"

"No need," Ikuto called back. Amu continued frowning as he dragged her to the elevator and in, pressing the button for the twentieth floor. When Ikuto released her wrist, Amu shuffled over to the other side of the compartment.

"Ano… Ikuto-san… h-how do you know wh-where my interview is t-taking place…?" She asked the man, her eyes to the floor.

Ikuto was silent for a moment, "…I guess you could say I'm sort of like one of today's interviewers." He said, Amu gasped and her head shot up to look at him.

"W-what!? S-seriously!? B-but I was told that my interviewer would b-b-" Amu's stuttering exclamation was interrupted by the ding of the elevator arriving at their floor, Ikuto suddenly pulled her to his side as the door opened and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Amu's eyes widened and another blush rose to her cheeks as she found dozens of women and a few men sitting around the reception area of the floor all staring at her.

Ikuto pulled her out of the elevator and smirked, "Suzu!" Amu's eyes widened further as the same woman from the night before, poked her head around a doorway, the woman's eyes also widened and she pointed at Amu accusingly.

"I KNEW I RECOGNISED YOUR FACE!!!" She exclaimed. Ikuto chose that moment to pull Amu around in front of him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and placing his chin atop her head.

"Suzu, send everyone home." There was a collective moan around them and Amu guessed that the people filling the room were her competition for the job, "I've made my decision, Nez… sorry, Amu will be my personal assistant from now on." Amu's eyes widened and she could feel everyone's glare directed at her. Amu thought back to the letter that she had received about her interview…

Dear Hinamori Amu,

After receiving your application, we would like to invite you for an interview at Easter Entertainment Corporation. The interview shall take place on Friday 20th at 7:30am. Please come prepared to be interviewed by your future employer, one of our very own entertainment idols, and his manager.

Sincerely,

Head of Music Entertainment,

Hoshina Kazuomi

Looking up at her future… well… current employer, Amu swallowed as he looked down at her with a smirk, "Please take care of me, Nezumi-chan." He whispered. It was going to be a long future at Easter Entertainment, Amu felt.

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Keirii: Read and review, please and thank you! ;3