(A/N: I do not own Shugo Chara. Please review!)

Engagement Party

Bridal Shower

Rehearsal

Rehearsal Dinner

Bachelor Party

WEDDING!

Chapter 2

It was the day of the engagement party. It was going to be held at seven o'clock and everybody was getting ready. It was almost six-thirty.

The decorations were already hung and the table was set. Amu was surprised to find that there was an old housekeeper that helped around the house. Mrs. Franklin. She was stout and proper and poise and was probably in her mid-sixties, but still had excellent posture. At the moment, Mrs. Franklin was fixing dinner.

Amu stood in her room looking at herself in the mirror. She wore the new dress that Aruto had picked out for her. It was knee length and a light shade of pink. It was a sleeveless dress that was complete with a white trimming at the bottom. She looked at the jewelry on her desk, some of which was given to her by Aruto or her mother, some that was her own. She decided on the golden chain with a heart shaped charm, a golden necklace and her special diamond ring that her father had given her for her seventh birthday. Back then it was too big for her fingers and she would always wear it on a necklace, but now, it fit her ring finger perfectly. She would always wear it on her right hand though, so people wouldn't get the wrong idea.

Amu fixed her hair so it flowed out and over her shoulders and she gave herself a smile. She should be excited. At least her friends were coming!

"Nice dress," a voice said. Amu whipped her head around to see Ikuto smirking at her from the doorway. He was wearing a black tuxedo complete with a black bow-tie. His hair was the same, messy. It didn't look like he was going to comb it down or anything.

"Pervert," Amu scowled at him, redness coming to her cheeks. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Don't worry, Amu. I just got here. You know, I helped pick out that dress for you. Of course, I didn't know what you looked like when I helped my dad buy it. It's good that it looks so… nice… on you."

"Yeah, well…. Thanks, I guess…," Amu said, looking at herself awkwardly in the mirror.

"So, I heard that your friends are coming?"

"Yeah."

"You'll introduce me to them, right?"

Amu looked at him. "Yeah."

Ikuto smiled and nodded. "Is Kukai coming too?"

"Yes, Ikuto, he counts as one of my friends."

"Okay, okay. No need to be so harsh about it," Ikuto smirked.

"Just… go away, okay?"

"No." Amu groaned and decided to ignore him. But he didn't stop talking. "My friends are coming too, you know. Only my closest. I'll be sure to introduce you to them. By the way, I don't have a girlfriend."

Amu whipped her head towards him and stared at him. "Why the hell would I care if you had a girlfriend or not?"

Ikuto smiled slyly. "I know the question keeps you up at night, Amu. But don't worry, I'm single."

"What the hell? What kind of lies are you thinking about? I don't care if you have a girlfriend or not! I haven't even thought about it!"

Ikuto smirked and was about to leave the room when he said, "Sure, Amu. Keep denying it."

Amu was about to yell at him when she realized the he wasn't there. He had left.

"Aw, dammit! Out of all the future stepbrothers in this world, I'm stuck with him!" Amu fumed. She grabbed her dangly earing and put them in. "There. Now let's go see if Yaya, Rima, or Kukai have come yet." Amu checked her watch. It was almost seven.

"AMU-CHI!" a high voice called. Amu turned to see Yaya running towards her at full speed. "AMU-CHI, AMU-CHI, AMU-CHI!" Yaya then tackled Amu and hugged her tightly. "YAYA MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

"Yaya," Amu laughed. "It's only been a few days."

"BUT YAYA STILL MISSED AMU-CHI!" Yaya cried out.

Amu returned the hug and then stepped back to see Rima and Kukai walking up behind her.

"Hey, Amu!" Kukai exclaimed, giving her a warm hug. He stepped back and then it was Rima's turn to give Amu a hug.

"Hey, Amu," she said.

"Doesn't it feel like we haven't seen each other for weeks, Amu-chan?" Kukai said with his famous large smile. Yaya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Amu said with a sigh. She then smiled at her friends. "Probably because we are always together, except for those vacations we'd have with our own families."

The four friends smiled at each other and group hugged.

Then they heard someone clear their throat behind Amu.

Their hug broke and Amu turned to see Ikuto standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Amu-koi, I think you should introduce your friends to me, don't you?" he said. Amu heard her friends gasp. Of course. A tall teenager had just called her koi and they didn't know who is was.

"Amu-chi! You didn't tell Yaya you have a boyfriend!" Yaya whined.

"Or me, Amu," Rima said coolly.

"Amu, why didn't you tell me? You tell me everything!" Kukai said. "Ah, well. Nice to meet you! I'm Kukai!" Kukai smiled at Ikuto. Ikuto gave him a smile.

"Yes, yes. So Amu-koi, I think you're mother needs you," Ikuto said.

"Ikuto! Stop it with the koi crap!" Amu fumed. She turned to her friends. "Guys, this is Ikuto. Tsukiyomi Ikuto, as in Tsukiyomi Aruto's kid! He's going to be my new stepbrother!"

"Oh," her friends said in unison.

"Aw, Amu. You ruined the fun," Ikuto said, putting his hands on her bare shoulders, sending a shiver down her spine.

Amu shook off his hands and turned towards him. "Ikuto. This is Rima, Yaya, and Kukai."

Ikuto looked at them for a moment with a serious face. He seemed to be thinking about something long and hard. Then his expression lightened and he smiled.

"Nice to meet you Ikuto-san!" Yaya said with a smile. Rima gave him a nod.

"It's awesome to finally get to meet you, Ikuto-san!" Kukai said with smile. "Hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name. It's just that I already am calling your dad Tsukiyomi-san."

"It's alright," Ikuto said carefully. "Oh, and Amu. I was serious about your mom, you know. She needs you."

Amu rolled her eyes. "Fine. Guys, I'll be right back. Oh, and you guys can sit down, eat, and whatever." Amu turned and walked away.

Ikuto looked at her friends, particularly Kukai. He was pretty fit, fitter than the pictures gave him credit for. He kept on smiling and Ikuto noticed his eyes followed Amu walk away. He also noticed that Kukai called her Amu and Amu called him Kukai.

Ikuto smirked.

"So, how long have all of you known Amu?"

"Well, Yaya and Rima have known Amu-chi since kindergarten," the orange haired girl, Yaya said.

"I've known practically since birth," Kukai said with a smile. "We've been best friends ever since!"

"It sounds like you two are pretty close," Ikuto noted.

"Well, yeah!" Kukai said with a smile.

Ikuto looked away for a moment. So… these two were pretty close, huh?

"It seems you two have become pretty close as well," the blonde one, Rima said.

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Ikuto asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Well you only call her 'Amu' and she only calls you 'Ikuto,' Ikuto-san," Yaya said with a smile.

Ikuto didn't respond but he smiled and nodded.

"Hey, Ikuto-san? You'll take care of her, won't you?" Kukai said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"What do you mean?" Ikuto asked, innocently.

"Well, Amu-chi isn't very good with change," Yaya said.

"I've known Amu for a long time," started Kukai. Ikuto mentally rolled his eyes. Go ahead. Keep repeating that fact, Kukai. Yes, we all understand, you two have known each other 'since birth,' Ikuto thought. Dammit, this has to stop getting to me! "And she's more sensitive than she looks. After her father died, she would pretend like it didn't affect her. Whenever someone said they were sorry about her dad's death, she would just turn her head and say it didn't matter."

"She's vulnerable, though," Rima said. Ikuto shrugged. Rima stepped towards him and gave him a cold glare. "You better take care of her. We won't always be around now to help her out."

"Hey guys!" Amu called from behind them. They stopped the conversation as Amu reached them. "Hey come on, let's party!"

They went outside to where a dance floor was built onto the grass.

"Hey, Amu. Wanna dance?" Kukai asked with a large grin. He gave her his hand.

"Sure," Amu said with a smile. They went onto the dance floor and started dancing to some upbeat song from a band that his dad liked. Ikuto tried to hide his frown.

"Look at that, Yaya. They left us again," he heard Rima say bitterly. Again?

"Yeah! Amu-chi and Kukai-kun always leave Rima-chi and Yaya alone!" Yaya whined. Ikuto scowled and then an idea popped into his head. He would have to do this before his friends got there. Lucky for him, his friends always arrived late, or as they called it, 'making an entrance.'

Ikuto walked over to the DJ, a family friend of his that was a year older than him.

"Hey, Ikuto-kun!" he said with a toothy smile as Ikuto approached. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, Hiro. It's been a while. Hey, can I make a request?"

"Sure, go ahead." Ikuto whispered the name of the song to him. Hiro crinkled his nose. "Man, I've never would've expected that song to come out of your mouth. You sure?" Ikuto nodded slyly. Hiro seemed to understand. "Ah, there's a lady involved, isn't there?"

Ikuto shrugged. "You could say that."

"Okay, I get it now. Sure thing, once this song is over, I'll play that for you."

"Thanks, Hiro."

"Don't mention it."

Ikuto walked over to the dance floor. He had to time this right. He watched as Amu shacked her hips to the beat next to Kukai who also seemed to be enjoying himself. The song finally came to an end and Ikuto made his way across the dance floor and placed his hand on Amu's shoulder.

"Hey, Kukai. You wouldn't mind if I took Amu for the next dance, would you?" Ikuto said.

"No, of course not!" Kukai said with a smile. Kukai left casually and went over to Yaya and Rima who were sitting at a table.

"You know, you should also ask me if it's all right," Amu said sourly.

Ikuto smirked. "I already know you can't resist me, Amu-koi."

"Will you stop it with the koi!" Suddenly the song that Ikuto requested started to play and he smirked as Amu caught the drift. "This is a slow song."

"Thank God, you're not tone deaf after all."

"Shut up!" Ikuto slid his arms around her waist, which happened to catch her by surprise.

"What are you doing?" she yelled, trying to push herself away.

"It's called dancing. Come on, Sis. What do you have to lose?" Ikuto said with a smile.

"Fine. One dance," Amu muttered. She put her arms around Ikuto's neck and Ikuto smiled down at her as the lyrics began of Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley started. (A/N: Aruto is into Elvis.)

Ikuto looked into her eyes. They were actually very pretty. They were a deep golden, so different than his blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" Amu asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

Amu glared at him, broke her grip around his neck and moved her hand to her back where she pushed up his hands. "Pervert."

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Amu. You're my soon-to-be-stepsister. You need to stop being paranoid."

"I'm not being paranoid! You're being perverted!"

"Damn, you think every little thing I do counts as being perverted."

"That's because every little thing you do is perverted!"

"Can you just shut up and enjoy the song?" Ikuto asked with a sly smile. "You should listen to the lyrics."

"I know how the song—" Amu stopped. Ikuto smirked. She probably finally seemed to realize what this song was saying.

(A/N: A few lines from the song: )

Wise men say,

Only fools rush in.

But I can't help falling in love with you.

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin?

If I can't help falling in love with you.

Like a river flows,

Surely to the sea,

Darling so it goes,

Some things are meant to be.

Take my hand.

Take my whole life, too.

For I can't help falling in love with you.

Ikuto leaned in while they were dancing and whispered in Amu's ear, "For I can't help, falling in love with you…" Amu broke their dance.

"What the hell?" Amu hissed.

"What? Can't I sing a long? Really, Amu. You're so jumpy," Ikuto sighed. Sure… That's all he was doing… Singing along…

"Oh… sorry," Amu said, her cheeks turning a bright red. Ikuto smirked. She was blushing again.

"Now, will you finish the dance with me?"

"Fine," Amu said, rolling her eyes as she put her arms around Ikuto's neck and he put his arms around her waist.

The song slowly ended and Ikuto twirled her around for the finish.

"Yo, Ikuto!" Ikuto turned to see his friends walking up to him. On the other side of the dance floor, Amu's friends were walking over to them, as well. They all met up with them at the same time.

"Hey, guys," Ikuto said. He looked around at all the faces and sighed. "I guess I'll be the one making the introductions." He placed his hands on Amu's shoulder. "Guys, this is Hinamori Amu, my soon-to-be stepsister. Amu, this is Hoshina Utau," he pointed at the girl with long blonde hair that was pulled into two long pony-tails. She gave Amu a slight nod. "Fujisaki Nagihiko," he moved his hand over to the boy with long light blue hair pulled back into a low ponytail for the occasion. At least he knew better than to put it into a high ponytail, or he'd look like a girl for some unknown reason. Nagi smiled at all of them said hello. "And Sanjo Kairi." He nodded towards the last of his close friends that had light green hair and glasses. Ikuto and his friends would always tease him about being the nerd of the group, but it was okay because they were all friends. If anyone else teased him, well they'd have to put up with
Ikuto, and most dangerously, Utau. Utau was always protective of her friends and she didn't mind punching a guy or two to get her point across.

"It's nice to meet you," Kairi said.

"It's nice to meet all of you guys too," Amu said with a smile. "Oh, and this are my friends, Yaya, Rima, and Kukai!"

"Cool meeting you guys!" Kukai said with a big smile. Ikuto noticed thought he saw something flicker through Utau's expression when Kukai spoke. Hmm…

"So you guys are Ikuto-san's friends?" Yaya said.

"Yeah, we are, unfortunately," Nagihiko said with an innocent smile.

"Shut up, Nagi," Ikuto said, rolling his eyes.

"Lighten up, Ikuto," Nagi said, laughing slightly.

"So do you guys live around here?" Amu asked.

"Yeah, but we usually drive here," Utau said simply.

"You guys drive?" We stared at her blankly. That must've been the stupidest thing she's ever said. Her face turned a very cute shade of red. "Oh—sorry! I mean, I didn't mean—It's just I didn't get my license yet so—"

"It's all right, Amu! Don't worry about it!" Kukai said with a smile. Ikuto then thought he saw something flicker through Utau's face again… jealousy maybe? Nah, she wasn't like that… But maybe…

"Yeah, we drive. But Kairi does most of it," Nagi answered. "He is the only one with his own car."

"You didn't get your license yet?" Utau asked.

Amu blushed. "Yeah… I sort of didn't pass the exam… Something about… running over a—Never mind."

"I could teach you if you want," Ikuto said with a smile. "I'm a pretty good driver. Ask anyone."

"No, thank you. I just need to study more," Amu said with a scowl.

"Sure," he said sarcastically, with an innocent smile. "Hey, why don't we go inside and sit down? I think it's almost time for dinner."

Everyone agree and they headed inside the house to eat.

(A/N: Next update will be as soon as I can )