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Chapter 3

The following night, while eating dinner with the family, my mom brought up a very strange topic.

"We're having guests over tomorrow night," mama said bluntly.

"Guests?! Very nice mama! Who is it?" Papa exclaimed eagerly.

"It's this very nice woman I met at the market a couple of days ago. We've been meeting at parks and at tea shops. She's very sweet, so I decided to invite her and her son over for dinner tomorrow night."

"SON!!!!" Papa exclaimed, turning his head towards me. None of this concerned me, so I only continued eating my steamed vegetables.

"Oh papa, calm down," mama said, waving her hand at papa, "Amu-chan, you should be excited. The son is someone you know."

I nearly choked on my carrot. "Someone I know? Who?"

"I'm not telling you…" mama replied evily.

"MAMA! Tell me! Please!"

"Hmm, why is Amu-chan getting so excited?" Mama teased.

"Boy?! Amu-chan?! My little sparrow!" papa exclaimed in the background.

"Fine…don't tell me," I pouted.

"Amu-chan. I went to buy you and Ami dresses for tomorrow. Yours is in your room," Mama said before standing up and walking towards the sink. I had a strong desire to go see what my dress looked like, but that would ruin the 'cool and unconcerned' façade I was working towards. However, after I put my dishes into the sink, I slowly slithered up the stairs and into my room.

There I saw something laying on my bed. I picked it up only to find out it was the dress. It was an elegant, strapless white dress with black floral design. There was a black bow that tied in the back, for design purposes only. I had to admit, the dress was lovely. But why was it so formal??

"Amu-chan, your mama has very good taste," Miki said with approval.

"I suppose she does," I said as I eyed the intricate detail.

"Hey Amu-chan, who do you think it is? The boy?" Ran asked.

"Well I really don't know. I mean Tadase and Kukai are out of town. Nagi is still here, so it must be him…"

"What about Ikuto?" Dia asked.

"Hmmm…knowing Ikuto…he probably won't come. Besides…Nagi seems more like the family dinner type…"

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow desu!" Sue cheered happily.

"Yeah…tomorrow…"

The rest of the night went away quickly, and tomorrow came.

My day was of no significance, but that all changed in the evening.

"Amu-chan you look so pretty!" all four of my charas cheered.

But I had to admit…I looked good. With my pink hair slightly curls, it completed the look of the gown.

"Amu-chan are you ready?" I heard mama call from below.

"You guys stay here, alright?" I said to the suddenly saddened faces of my charas.

"Why?!?!?!?" Ran cried.

"We understand," Dia said trying to calm Ran down.

"Thanks…"

"Amu-chan! Your bow! It's untied!" I heard Miki yell as I ran downstairs. I quickly tied it as I arrived downstairs, where I could tell the guests had already arrived. Mama was talking eagerly to another woman, supposedly the one she had met at the market. I walked into the kitchen grabbing the tray of beverages. As I entered the sitting area, I nearly dropped the tray after seeing the boy sitting on our family's sofa.

Ikuto.

I should've known.

"Ah Amu-chan! You're here finally. This is Ms. Tsukiyomi, the new friend I have made. And you must remember Ikuto-kun," mama said, sitting next to Ikuto's mom. I may have forgotten to mention, but mama and papa were oblivious to the fact that Ikuto walked me to and from school. They were also unware that he sneaks into my room at night sometimes. I walked slowly to the center table and placed the drinks down. I tried not to make eye contact with Ikuto because I knew for sure he had a smirk on his face. As I scanned the room for where I should sit, my heart rate nearly tripled once I realized it was beside…Ikuto.

Why you ask? Because…to be perfectly honest…Ikuto…looked…kinda…cute. Ok fine! He looked better than cute…hot…even…

He had black pants on, a white collared shirt, and a black vest on top. My eyes may have unintentionally widened, because Ikuto's smirk grew bigger. As I took a seat next to Ikuto, minding the space between us was only a few centimeters, I looked up to see Ami with a large smile on her face, and papa with a smile of content. Why isn't papa freaking out?!?!? Why didn't Ikuto tell me he was coming over! That idiot! He should have at least dropped a hint!

"Amu-chan," mama said, calling me back to reality, "you and Ikuto-kun seem rather bored. Why don't you two go talk?"

"Um…" is all I could manage to get out, while blushing extremely red.

"That seems like a good idea," I heard Ikuto's velvet voice say from beside me. He then suddenly stood up and grabbed my hand, slowly pulling me out of the sitting room and into the kitchen. What surprised me even more than the hand holding was my papa's reaction. He had none. It was as if…he didn't mind Ikuto holding my hand or sitting beside me.

Once we were in the kitchen, I leaned against the sink casually as Ikuto stood in front of me.

"How come you didn't tell me you were coming over?!" I exclaimed quietly so the grownups (and Ami) couldn't hear.

"Because I didn't know till this morning myself. Besides I wasn't going to come…until my mom said it was your house," he teased.

"Yeah right…you probably would have gone anyways, seeing that you have no life…"

"You're one to talk…"

"Why so formal?" I said as I took in the full effect of Ikuto in clothes other than his usual black.

"I could ask you the same question," Ikuto replied, edging closer to me.

"Yeah, but I look better…" Play it cool Amu, play it coooool.

"…I suppose you do," Ikuto said before leaning against the sink beside me, drink in hand.

"You know I do—wait…what?"

"What?"

"You…agreed?" I asked in surprise.

"I'm not rude, Amu. I wouldn't call you ugly when you are, in fact, the complete opposite," he said before taking a sip. I'm not sure if he noticed, but I blushed dangerously red at that comment.

"…thank you??" I was confused…should I return the comment.

"Besides," Ikuto said before quickly placing his cup in the sink, only to swerve around quickly. He placed both his hands on the edges beside my waist, pushing me back a little bit. "I've never seen you wearing anything strapless…it's made my day…" Ikuto whispered into my ear.

I made a sound of disgust. "You never change, do you?" I said as I tried pushing him away.

"Come on Amu…you know you wouldn't have as much fun around me if I weren't the way I am…if I were simple and pure…like all your other friends…" he whispered into my ear again, his hot breath melting my insides.

"Wow…didn't know you were so full of yourself…but I guess it's obvious. I can add another word to the 'describing Ikuto list.' Narcassitic…" I mumbled as I felt him move back to his original position, leaning against the sink beside me.

"I'm not in love with myself…but there's no harm in complementing yourself once in a while."

"…You're still a pervert…"

"And yet, you seem to forgive me every time…"

"Well that's just because," I said nervously.

"Because?"

"You really don't do anything bad, and I know you wouldn't…"

"Really? How can you be so sure?"

"Because, you value my friendship too much to challenge it," I said confidently as I started to walk away. I felt his hand warp around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"And you don't value mine?" Ikuto challenged.

"I never said that," I replied quietly before pulling my hand out of his grip. I quickly walked back to the others, knowing for a fact that Ikuto had a expression of shock on his face.

I've always valued his friendship. But…is something else growing? Inside of me? For him?

Na….it's probably just my stomach growling for food…as usual…I'm hungry.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful…not that I wanted 'eventful' to happen. We ate a very nice meal, and surprisingly enough (being sarcastic), I ended up sitting next to Ikuto. But due to the watchful eyes of both our parents, Ikuto was shockingly quite the gentleman. He pulled the chair out for me to sit in, along with Ami's. That won Ami's heart. She soon began calling him "future brother-in-law," making me blush scarlet every time. Ikuto didn't seem to mind, he just laughed it off. And every time she said that, I felt his hand lightly stroke the top of mine under the table (I tried pulling away, but it was no use). Now just imagine how many times a hyper active 7 year old can say "future brother-in-law."

Yes. THAT many times.

Surprisingly, papa's heart had also been won by Ikuto. Soon Ikuto and him were in a deep discussion about what Ikuto planned to do now that he was out of school. Ikuto's response was quiet interesting.

"I'm not sure where my future lies," Ikuto said, ending that topic. He looked to me quickly with an unreadable expression, which soon turned into his usual smirk.

Not sure where his future lies? Why did he look at me afterwards? Whatever…

Afterwards, while the adults plus Ami had gathered in the sitting room for some tea, Ikuto and I were in the kitchen again. I was setting plates into the dishwasher as Ikuto just leaned against the fridge, watching.

"You could help you know," I said, irritated.

"I could…but this isn't my house."

"Meany…" I said about the grab another dirty plate, but was surprised as Ikuto handed it to me.

"Here…you went to slow anyways…"

"…thanks," I grumbled. But truth be told, I was going slow, and with Ikuto helping the dishes got done much quicker.

And as if it were planned, Ikuto's mother called out to him, telling him it was time to go, as soon as we were done. As we walked towards the exit of the kitchen, Ikuto said quietly, "Keep your balcony door unlocked…I might visit."

"Um…" is all I could manage to say.

As the walked away, I couldn't help but smile a very faint smile. The reason…I guess…Ikuto wasn't as bad as he usually is.

About to head upstairs, I was stopped when my mama called my name.

"Yes?" I said as I walked into the sitting room.

"Amu, Papa, Ami and I have to go out of town for three days. I was going to tell you earlier, but it's actually Friday through Saturday," mama said.

"WHAT?!?!?!? That's tomorrow! MAMA! You could've said something a little bit earlier!!"

"I know…I got so caught up in the dinner party that I forgot to tell you…"

"Where are you going?"

"Ami has a singing camp she wanted to go to…"

"Singing camp? Seriously…"

"It's only for three days Amu-chan…do you have a friend that will let you stay?"

"It's so last minute!"

"Would you like to come with us?"

"NO! I CAN NOT HANDLE A BUNCH OF 7 YEAR OLDS!"

"Then…"

"I'll call someone…I'll ask…when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning…eight…is it ok with you Amu-chan?"

"Yeah, I'd rather stay here with my friends than be surrounded by singing babies…"

"That's what I thought…now go pack."

With that I took my leave. As I burst into my room, I quickly found my luggage bag and started piling clothes and personals for my three day "trip."

"Amu-chan, where are you going?" Ran asked.

"We have to find a place to say," I said, zipping up my suitcase, everything double-checked, "for three days."

"Where are we going to stay?!" all four of them yelled. "Everyone's out of town!"

"Not everyone," I heard a familiar voice behind me. I stood up to realize Ikuto standing, with his hands in his pocket, a huge smirk on his face.

"HUH?!"

"You can stay with me," Ikuto said before winking and then turning around to leave. "I'll be here at noon, Amu-chan." With that he took his swift, mysterious exit.

Complete silence…

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Ring Ring! my phone rang. One new text blinked on the screen. I opened my phone to reveal a text from Ikuto.

Besides…you have nowhere else to stay. Don't freak out.

"…MOM! I FOUND A PLACE TO STAY!" I yelled downstairs before falling onto my bed, questioning the decision I just made.

Hope you liked it!

Chapter 4 coming soon!

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