Hey, hey! I've finally returned with another chapter! I think that this is totally going to be fluff without plot, after some careful thought, but you guys don't mind, right? Right…?

"Tsukiyomi-kun, I just want to tell you that," the teacher trailed off thoughtfully, "I'm glad that you've started coming to school regularly. I would've gone out hunting for you just to make sure that brilliant mind of yours wouldn't go to waste." She smiled good-naturedly and waved him off with her hand. "Now get going; there's a test tomorrow that you need to study for, right?"

Ikuto bowed slightly with respect to his teacher and left the office. Yoru quickly flew into his view with a cheerful smile.

"You've been happier ever since the last battle, nya." Yoru put his hands on his hips and gave an all-knowing grin. He quickly added, "I like you better this way."

Ikuto felt a small smile slip onto his face. "I don't know how you put up with me before," he commented sarcastically before continuing to his shoe locker. As soon as he opened it, however, a stream of what he assumed to be love letters bombarded him.

"Your fan girls have been happier too, nya!" Yoru laughed at Ikuto's sour expression. Ikuto hurriedly scooped up the letters and dumped them into the nearby trashcan when no one was looking. The last thing he needed were girls from school competing for his heart. He already had the ever-so-clueless Amu and Utau who had, luckily for him, decided to gradually back off in that respect.

"Come on, Yoru. Let's go home." A hand on his shoulder and an arm around his neck quickly stopped Ikuto.

"Let's go play somewhere, Iku-pon!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go Ikuto!"

"Haru, Michi…" Ikuto warned playfully. Haru let go and cheered.

"Ikuto finally seems like himself! Yay! You haven't been this happy since we were kids…"

"And you've been coming to school everyday." Michi added. Ikuto grunted and continued walking. He almost fell over when he looked up. Amu was waiting by the gate.

"Hey, Ikuto… Is that your girlfriend? She super cute!" Haru grabbed Ikuto and gave him a noogie. "You lucky dog, you!" That promptly earned him a good smack on the head.

"Let's ask her if she wants to play with us," Michi suggested teasingly and approached the pink-haired girl. Ikuto sighed and rushed ahead of them.

"What about our test tomorrow?"

Amu waited by the gate and kicked the dirt bashfully. Her charas watched from a safe distance. They had decided to pick Ikuto up after school since they knew where his school was now.

"Amu-chan's a stalker," Ran, Miki, and Su cheered simultaneously. They were sure that even Dia in her egg would agree too.

Amu didn't seem to be paying attention, though. She was probably daydreaming. Miki hovered by her head with a mischievous smirk.

"Ikuto's coming…"

"Eh…? Eh! W-where!?" Amu frantically looked around but didn't see the object of her affections. "Miki."

Miki laughed wholeheartedly at Amu's reaction before her heart seemed to stop. She felt as though she had turned to stone. "Amu… He's really coming."

Amu crossed her arms and huffed. She wasn't gong to fall for that a second time. "You can't fool me twice, Miki."

"Amu…" That velvet voice… Amu felt the shivers it sent down her spine. Ran, Miki, and Su remained petrified at Amu's unexpected encounter. Yoru's presence quickly melted the ice, however.

"What'cha doin', nya?" He asked the three charas. Su smiled.

"We were waiting, desu!"

Ikuto smirked at hearing that. Amu felt her cheeks flush slightly.

"Want to play with us?" one of Ikuto's friends asked. Another of his friends popped up.

"Yeah, it'll be fun! Right, Iku—" Ikuto promptly stepped on his foot.

"Sorry, I'll have to take a rein check." Ikuto grabbed Amu's freehand and led her off. Their charas followed behind.

"What're you doing here?"

"I…" Amu trailed off before resolving to be honest. "I wanted to walk home with you… I haven't seen you since last week when we… we…" Her face flushed a cute shade of pink. Ikuto looked away with a slight flush on his face as well.

Miki hovered by Ikuto's bag curiously. His sketchbook was sticking out. "Didn't he draw Amu last week?" she asked Yoru. He nodded.

"Ikuto did really good, nya. You should see it!"

"Uwah… I want to see!"

Ikuto looked down at the charas and glared. "No."

"Eh… I want to see too!" Amu stepped closer. Ikuto took a careful step away. Amu pouted. "Ikuto!"

Ikuto broke out into a run. Amu did as well. When she saw that she was falling behind, she called on Ran for support.

"Hop, step, jump!"

Ikuto looked behind him and saw that she was dangerously close. "Yoru!"

The cat chara shook his head. "I don't wanna, nya!"

"Aha! I got you now!" The impact was harder than either of them had expected. Ikuto wasn't able to catch Amu before she slammed into him. They both fell onto the grass. Amu opened her eyes and found herself on top of him, and his arms were around her, too…

"You didn't have to tackle me, Amu." Ikuto sat up and rubbed his back. Amu rested her head against his chest and smiled. "You've really changed somehow… You normally would've freaked out in this kind of situation."

"Well, after that day, I really thought about things. That's why I… I…" Amu trailed off at the sight of the floating egg in front of her. Dia's egg shined brilliantly and cracked open.

"Amu-chan! It's nice to see you again!" The chara's eggshell completely disappeared. Amu felt her eyes burn with emotion.

"Dia!" Amu desperately grabbed the chara and hugged her between herself and Ikuto. Ran, Miki, Su, and Yoru looked on in awe.

"You finally shined, Amu-chan! Your heart is finally honest with itself." Dia wriggled out of her embrace and breathed. "Now, I just hatched, so don't choke me to death, okay?"

Amu blushed and apologized. "Sorry…"

Ikuto rested a hand on her cheek gently and made Amu look back at him. "Now what were you going to say?" he asked lightheartedly. Dia and the other charas floated close by to hear the answer.

"I really, um…" The pitter-patter of raindrops interrupted her and made everyone look up. "Ah, it's raining…"

"Amu…" Ikuto inched dangerously close to her to bring her attention back to the matter at hand. Amu could feel his hot breath on her face.

"I want to know more about you, Ikuto," Amu choked out and decided to stick with that answer. Ikuto, however, didn't seem satisfied with it.

Ikuto hugged her closer and whispered, "Amu, I love you."

"I love you, too," Amu replied reflexively, and Ikuto smiled contentedly.

"That's much better."

Amu snapped out of her daze and looked up, mortified. "Eh!? I-Ikuto!"

"Whoo! Go Amu-chan!" Ran and Su cheered. Yoru, Miki, and Dia pulled Ikuto's sketchbook out while everyone else was distracted.

"We got it, Amu-chan!" Miki called out while Yoru and Dia flipped through the pages. Amu slyly pulled herself out of Ikuto's arms and rushed over to look.

"It's right here, nya!" Yoru said proudly. Amu and her charas looked closely. It was a good sketch, but…

"Ikuto…" Amu sat up on her knees and turned toward him. "Why do I have cat ears?"

Ikuto looked away stubbornly and crossed his arms. Dia floated over to him with a giant Cheshire grin.

"Cat-ear fetishist."

Amu sat with Ikuto under the tree quietly. His mood seemed questionable ever since they had looked at his sketchbook. She sighed and settled on surveying the area; the rain didn't look like it would stop anytime soon, and neither of them had an umbrella.

Amu smiled with realization; this was the spot that Ikuto had played his violin so many times before. The last time he had played for her here, she had sung along. She didn't even do a good job. Amu peered up at Ikuto's face and saw that his face was blank and detatched for the most part.

"Dia," Amu whispered. The chara came quietly to her quietly. "Chara change?"

"Okay," Dia smiled all-knowingly.

Amu's x-clips were replaced with diamonds in a flash. She quickly stood up and took a deep breath.

"Dare ni mo makenai

yume ga aru

aruki dasou mune hatte…"

Ikuto turned to look at her, mild surprise on his face. That song…

"La la la uta wo utaou

kao age kokoro no mama

utaou

akirame ja ikenai

dekinai koto nande nai

yuuki no uta…"

Amu let a joyful grin spread across her face. The song sounded better this time. It was a shame that Ikuto didn't have his violin with him right now.

"Dare ni mo makenai

yumi ga aru

aruki dasou mune hatte

watashi dake no michi ga aru

shinjiru no sa…"

Before Amu could continue, Ikuto silenced her with his lips. Amu promptly gave in to the kiss. The rain still pounded around them.

The charas watched the couple with heavy blushes. Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia all looked at Yoru simultaneously with the same thought.

"What would it be like to kiss…?"

Yoru backed away, sensing their intent. "W-wah! Stay away, nya!"

Ikuto eyed the sleeping Amu and his sketchbook and smirked. The rain had slowly lulled her to sleep, so this was the best chance to sketch her again. He took his uniform jacket off and rested it over the sleeping girl tenderly. He picked up his sketchbook and started drawing; this one wouldn't have cat-ears.

Miki, the only awake chara, floated over to Ikuto and propped herself on his shoulder. When he showed no signs of protest or discomfort, she settled herself some more and started to watch.

"Amu."

Amu felt her eyes flutter open against her will and was immediately hit with a familiar masculine smell. Ikuto had carried her home through the rain, and they were standing outside her door. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and let herself down.

"It was starting to get late, and the rain wasn't letting up…" Ikuto explained; Amu nodded with understanding. When he was about to turn and walk away, Amu grabbed his sleeve and motioned him to come closer. He complied.

"Meet me on my balcony?" Amu whispered into his ear. "I'm sure there's still enough room on my bed for a selfish child like you…"

Ikuto smiled at her allusion to the past and nodded. "Don't take too long, Amu."

Amu rushed through the door followed by her charas. She made sure to sneak some extra dinner portions upstairs for her stray cat.

When Amu was sure that Ikuto was asleep, she squirmed out of his embrace and crept to his schoolbag. She silently pulled his now-bent sketchbook out and flipped it open to the last page that was used. She blushed at the writing Ikuto had placed at the bottom and left a reply of her own.

"I love you more than I can tell you, Amu."

"Even though you're a pervert and a cat-ear fetishist, I love you, too, Ikuto."

Meanwhile, Ikuto lay awake in bed, unbeknownst to Amu, contemplating the future.

"I never studied for my test," he thought idly.

In this case, the future referred to the doom that awaited him the next day.

A/N: Then the next day, the two of them caught a cold and had to stay in bed with each other. Just kidding! (Although, that'd be really funny…) And poor Ikuto never studied for his test. He's going to fail! XD

To tell the truth, I've never really thought of Ikuto as a pervert… He's just misunderstood. :D

Oh, and wouldn't YoruxRan/Miki/Su/Dia all at once be super funny? Screw Kiseki's harem! Yoru's got it going on!

Next Episode Preview

Ran: Dia's finally come out of her egg!

Su: It's so exciting, desu!

Miki: What made her come out of her egg, though?

Ran: …

Su: …

Dia: Amu finally came to terms with the fact that she loves Ikuto! Ah, the Amuto-ness warms my heart…

Miki: You're an Amuto shipper, too!?

Ran: Next time on Shugo Chara!…

Dia: Our Shining Love!

Amu: What the heck are you guys talking about!?