Wow! Thanks for the reviews and stuff everyone! I'm so glad you all enjoyed the story so far. Here's the next part.
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How does he know… how?! He can't possibly…he can't!
Amu had picked up the phone and held it in the palm of her hand. It was still flashing with a call. Her computer screen was also flashing with messages, all asking her to please pick up the phone.
But she didn't know what to do. Did she want to speak to Ikuto now, after she'd indirectly confessed? Ahh, how embarrassing!
But she supposed she should. She steeled herself, clicked the green button and put the phone to her ear, unsure of what to say.
"Moshi moshi?" She took a deep breath.
One part of her was extremely excited. She hadn't heard Ikuto's velvety voice in a very long time. However, one part, one very large part was as nervous as hell. She was terrified of his response. He was four years older than she was, they hadn't spoken in a long time and she knew that there was more than a possibility that he'd found someone else on his travels, and had moved on from her immature self. For some reason, she didn't think she could handle hearing those words – especially after what she had unwittingly told him.
"Amu." His voice was somehow slightly deeper, but still rich, and lackadaisical somehow.
Amu couldn't find her voice to reply, so she waited, her hands shaking from nerves.
"Utau roped you into her forum too, huh?"
"Y-yeah." She was not expecting that.
Ikuto chuckled down the phone, and somehow, it relieved a little of the tension in Amu's body. He's able to laugh. He must be happy.
"She could just hire people to be professional forum moderators."
"But that's not Utau." Amu defended her friend. "She doesn't just trust random people; she wanted it to be – wait. You were moderating too?"
Amu swore she could almost hear the cat boy smirking down the phone.
"Obviously."
"I thought it was just me."
"No."
"Why have you phoned me Ikuto?" Amu finally asked the question that was lingering in her mind.
A soft snort of laughter tickled Amu's ear. "Am I not allowed to?"
"It's not that. Why now? Why not… sooner?" Her soft feminine voice dropped to a soft whisper.
"You missed me that much?" His voice sounded curious more than mocking though.
Embarrassed, Amu nodded, before realising that Ikuto couldn't see her. Her cheeks were flushed a deep fuchsia as she replied in a tiny voice. "Hai."
In Paris, Tsukiyomi Ikuto closed his eyes, submerged deep in thought. She misses me. She said to me on the forum she loves me, before she knew she was talking to me. But it's not a confession.
"Don't confess to me, Amu."
"H-huh?" Ikuto waited. He knew her very well, and he knew that she was about to – "WHY WOULD I CONFESS TO A PERVERT LIKE YOU?!"
He couldn't stop laughing. The fact that he had expected it and she had delivered – she hadn't changed, not one bit!
"IKUTO!" Amu's voice whined at him through the little device he held to his ear. "Stop laughing at me!"
"Sorry, sorry. It's just I knew you'd shout like that and when you did… I'm sorry."
"Hn."
"But seriously Amu. Don't confess to me. At least not now. It's been years. I haven't seen you in so long. I want to see your face when you do confess." He half expected her to rant and rave about how there was no way she'd ever confess to him, that she loved Tadase… but her response surprised him.
"Are you ever going to come back?"
Her voice genuinely sounded… lost. Ikuto's heart ached. This is why he never called – he couldn't hack being able to hear her and not being able to see her. He missed her terribly… her cute blush, her strong personality, her soft pink hair, her eyes… I miss it all. "Amu…"
"You're not?"
"You want me to?" Ikuto raised a blue eyebrow, not that Amu knew.
There was a long silence before Amu squeaked out "Maybe."
The cat boy took a deep breath. "You should be getting something in the post this week."
"Don't change the subject!"
"I'm not; what you receive will answer your questions. Have you grown up yet?"
"I'm 15 already!"
A soft chuckle escaped Ikuto's lips. "I know. I have to go now. Goodbye, Amu."
"You're going?"
"Hai. It is quarter past 2 here."
"In the afternoon?"
"The morning."
"Oh… I'm sorry, Ikuto!"
He snorted. "It's fine."
"Hey Ikuto…"
"Hm?"
"Can I… can I text you, maybe?"
Ikuto relaxed. "If you want. Goodnight, Amu."
"Night, Ikuto."
At two different places in the world, two people simultaneously hung up their phones.
Amu sighed. That phone call was… awkward as hell. But oh god, it was so worth it! Amu smiled. It was a Saturday, she'd spoken to Ikuto and now she was going to meet up with Rima and Yaya. What a great day!
She ran a brush through her pink hair and adjusted the thigh high socks she wore before slipping on her shoes. She called out a farewell to her family, and all but skipped out of the front door.
"Amu-chi! Amu-chi, over here!"
Golden eyes scanned the café for the voice that had been calling her – it could only be Yaya. She quickly spotted the aforementioned girl, simply because the excitable Yaya was waving her arms about wildly trying to get the attention of Hinamori Amu.
"Hey Yaya, Rima." Amu said as she pulled out a chair.
Rima's eyes narrowed at her best friend. "You're happy." She stated.
Yaya's brow crumpled in confusion. "Isn't Amu-chi always happy?"
"Yeah. I am." Amu responded, not sure if she was ready to divulge what she had that morning.
Rima shook her head. "Not this happy."
Yaya frowned as if concentrating as she looked Amu over. "Hm. Rima-chan is right. Today, Amu-chi is about 64% happier than usual."
"Spill." Rima almost commanded.
Amu blushed heavily. "I am not. Today is a n-normal day, and I am as happy as normal, nothing s-special happened this morning, nothing at all. Nothing out of the ordinary, just an ordinary morning – "
"Amu." There was almost a warning in her best friend's voice.
"Y-yes Rima?"
"What happened this morning?"
Amu sighed. She really did suck at hiding things from her best friends.
"Come on Amu-chi, tell us!" Yaya smiled brightly at her pink-haired friend.
"Fine. It was just a phone call, anyway. It was no big deal." Amu shrugged, trying to play it down.
"A phone call. A phone call? What phone call could have gotten you so excited this morning?"
Amu snapped her head round. There, in front of her, was Utau, dressed in disguise, of course.
"U-Utau? What are you doing here?"
"I'm playing at the Tokyo International Centre next weekend, so Sanjo-san said I could have a week off here to see you all. When I went to your house, Ami-chan said you'd come here with Yaya and Rima." Utau shrugged.
"Wow, Utau-chan, you're playing a venue that size?"
Utau smiled. "Yeah, it's not just any old concert though. I'm doing an acoustic set with an entire orchestra."
"Wow."
"Yeah, Sanjo-san has sent you all tickets too – I insisted, because without you guys, I'd probably be in America right now, sucking out the hopes of dreams of young kids." The star sighed as she slumped down in her chair.
"It's fine though, isn't it? You learnt from that experience; your music is so much better now!" Yaya cheered for her favourite pop star.
"Yeah, I think that made you work harder at achieving your real goal in singing." Amu smiled.
"Thanks, everyone. I hope you'll all be able to make it."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I'll be there!"
"Of course! Yaya can't wait!"
"Excuse me; I have your green tea." A blonde waitress interjected. The four girls thanked the young girl as they took their tea from her wooden tray.
"So, Utau, what songs are you going to play?"
"Well, I'm going to play all my big ones, and then there'll be my new single and a surprise cover song."
"So you'll definitely play Meikyuu Butterfly and My Heartful Song?" Amu asked.
"Obviously! I'm also going to play Glorious Sunshine and Black Diamond." Utau nodded.
"Black Diamond?" Rima asked. "Isn't that the song that you recorded to –"
"Yeah. But I'm not going to use that song for that! I just like the song. I'm sure had it been released without the charas help it would have been just as popular anyway."
"Yeah, of course, it was sung by Utau-chan!" Yaya cheered.
"So what are you going to wear?" Rima asked the group as a whole.
"Well, I'm going to have three outfits for when I'm on stage. I'm playing a long set – there'll be two breaks, when I'll change."
"Well, I think I need to buy something new for such a special concert!" Yaya grinned. She loved buying new clothes.
"Ah, I don't think I have anything suitable either…"
Rima smiled an almost scary smile. "It's time to go shopping then!"
Amu felt three pairs of eyes on her as Rima's words sunk in. She knew it was no good to argue against those three – they'd get their way eventually. She sighed as she drunk the last of her tea and prepared to be dragged around the shops.