Chapter 3: And So it Begins
"I can't stand unpacking." - Shannen Doherty
So she really didn't exactly think this through. Whatsoever.
Amu breathed out a weak tinkle of laughter as she occupied her hand by scratching her neck, trying desperately to escape the looks of her parents. Her dad, in particular. You know it's about to get serious when your parents sit you down at the kitchen table and take forever to speak up and address the topic at hand.
"You'll think on it?" Amu guessed, trying to relieve the tension.
Ami then decided to choose this moment to waltz up to the trio and set her fifth grade math homework in the middle of the table. "Mama, can you help me with this division question? I think I'll quit school if I get another stupid question like it."
There was still a tense silence that emitted the air. Ami looked from her sister to her parents, her auburn pigtails bouncing around with the motion of her head. Realizing it might not be the best moment, she pursed her lips and quietly slid the math book back into her hands, backing away while mumbling something about asking the hobo on the street for help instead.
Once a few more minutes passed without so much of a blink from her parents, Amu blew her hair out of her face and crossed her arms, crouching back into her chair.
"You both know Ikuto well! You can trust me and him being under the same roof." She reassured, leaning forwards. "It's not like we'll do anything. Plus you can even remove the doors off the guest room and my room so you know that we aren't doing any funny business behind closed doors."
Tsumugu was nearly translucent by this point. So maybe she shouldn't have brought up the possibility of 'funny business' ever occurring. It's not like it would, though. They were friends and nothing more.
"Mama." Amu pleaded, turning her gaze away from her unnaturally pale dad to look at her mom. "Isn't this a better situation than me letting him stay here behind your back and letting him sleep in my room every night?"
An unnatural gurgle sounded from somewhere in Tsumugu's throat at hearing this.
Midori rested her elbow on the table and leaned her chin on her fist, eyebrows slanting downwards as she took this plan into consideration. She did trust Ikuto, but nonetheless, he was still a teenage boy, and Amu was a teenage girl. But a point Amu had brought up earlier was the whole thing about Ikuto moving out on his own and having to grow up too soon. If the only alternative to him living with a friend was living on his own…
Midori frowned and removed her glasses, cleaning them with her shirt as she weighed the options as Tsumugu slowly started to regain color.
Amu worried her bottom lip as she waited in silence for a reply. It was hard enough trying to get Ikuto to agree to it. The stubborn arse was set on living on his own and finally being a 'grown man' as Amu put it. But after the longest phone call of her life with him, he finally agreed to it- probably because he figured Tsumugu would just say 'no' anyways. Sometimes he was too smart for his own good. Amu hadn't even thought of her dad's reaction at the time, which was probably the stupidest thing she had done so far in her life. Of course in the end it all came down to her dad's decision on the matter.
Sliding her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, Midori turned her gaze to her eldest daughter. "How long was this going to be for?" She inquired.
The simple question flickered some hope into Amu as her eyes brightened. "A month."
Midori seemed to take this into thought as she grew quiet again. Finally, she crossed her arms and flicked up a finger as she spoke. "I, for one, would be fine with the idea."
Her announcement brought life to Tsumugu and a smile to Amu's face.
"Really?" The father and daughter chimed in unison, the tone of their voices complete opposites.
Midori nodded once. "We'll keep the doors on, but I don't want either of you leaving your rooms after eleven at night. I trust you, Amu, and I also trust that Ikuto will be respectful. But if something were to happen between the two of you, I will enforce more rules and will consider finding him a new place to stay."
Amu nodded along eagerly as her mom spoke. Midori always had been relatively easy-going, so getting her to hop on board with the idea wasn't too hard. Tsumugu, on the other hand…he was a completely different story. Plus, he still hadn't regained color to his face.
Both Amu and Midori sat and waited for Tsumugu to speak. At first he just remained silent as the color slowly started returning to him as his pupils regained their natural size.
Pressing his lips together, he exhaled sharply. "For a month?" He clarified. "Just a month and no longer?"
"Yes, papa." Amu replied meekly.
It seemed that everything was capable of growing quieter as Amu waited for what Tsumugu would say next. He had met Ikuto on numerous occasions and knew what he was like, whether that be a good or bad thing, so he knew who he would be accepting into his house. Now if he could just get over the fact that Ikuto was a boy, then the problem would be solved.
Tsumugu slowly stood up from his seat and drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Fine." He said quietly before walking away. "I'm going to go die now."
"Thank you, papa!" Amu beamed as she also got out of her seat and hugged her dad from behind before he managed to escape to his office at the end of the hall.
Releasing a deep breath, Amu smiled to herself. That went a lot better than she expected. Then again, she was preparing herself for her dad to whip out a few machine guns she knew he had lying around the house somewhere in case of situations like these. But he didn't! Yet.
Without another word, she bounded up the stairs and flew into her room, eager to give Ikuto a call.
The guest room walls were painted a deep green, with cream-colored curtains accenting the one window perfectly. Of course one look at it didn't scream 'Ikuto', but it's not as if it was a girly yellow color like Amu's walls, so it wasn't too terrible for a boy.
Amu lounged on the quilted bed with her head dangling off the foot of the mattress, watching an upside-down Ikuto stack another empty box onto the ever-growing pile of discarded cardboard. Amu couldn't even call it a pile, really. There were so few boxes in the room since Ikuto didn't bring over that many things. All he had to unpack were most of his clothes, a few books, and only like two things for the bathroom everyone shared - minus Tsumugu and Midori. Those lucky bums had an ensuite, of course.
"Is your plan to wear the same shirt everyday for the next month?" She asked from her spot in the middle of the bed.
Ikuto placed a few books down onto the bedside table with a 'clunk' before glancing over his shoulder at her. "Reduce, reuse, recycle." was all he slyly said in return.
Amu rolled her eyes and flipped onto her side so she could look at him better. He pushed the long sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows as he moved onto another box - this one containing clothes. "It's amazing how little guys can survive on." She mused, more to herself than to him.
"Because we're not picky." He proved his point by dumping his clothes out of the box and into a drawer, the material lying rumpled and jumbled together. Just when he was pushing the drawer shut, Amu quickly jumped up and stopped him.
"No, no, no, nooo." She began, opening the drawer fully once again as Ikuto stood quietly beside her.
She removed the clothes and slumped them onto the bed. Taking a pair of jeans from the pile, she walked back over to where Ikuto was standing and folded them neatly before placing them into a drawer.
Gesturing to the tidiness of the drawer, Amu turned to look at Ikuto and wiggled her eyebrows. "See? Pretty magical."
Ikuto hummed. "Very."
Amu tried to resist the childish urge to stick out her tongue, but alas, she gave in and stuck it out at him anyways before grabbing a shirt off the bed, beginning to fold that one too.
A vibrating in her back pocket put their bickering on hold as Ikuto took a seat on the bed next to his clothes, handing Amu a shirt as she answered her phone.
"Hey," Rima greeted boredly, sounding distracted by something in the background, "Nagihiko wanted to gather up the gang and hang out at the lake tomorrow. You'd better not let me be the only girl there."
"Are you inviting me to come with?" Amu teased, folding another shirt Ikuto silently handed to her.
Rima was probably glaring at the phone, Amu figured. The blond sighed dramatically. "I couldn't care less! ... But seriously, meet me at my house tomorrow at noon with your swimsuit. I have to go. There's something on tv."
Slipping the phone back into the pocket of her jeans, Amu grabbed a hanger from the closet and took the coat Ikuto was holding out for her. "Rima, Nagi, and everyone else are going to the lake tomorrow. Do you think you'll come?"
Ikuto lay on his stomach on the bed, holding one of the empty boxes in front of him with one hand, while the other hand held a marker that he was drawing on the box with, completely tuned out to the world.
"Ikuto?" Amu tried again, outstretching her foot to poke his shoulder with it.
His deep blue orbs finally looked away from whatever masterpiece he was creating, the serene expression permanent on his facial features as he looked at her. "Maybe." he replied.
Amu exhaled loudly. It was almost impossible to get him outside, let alone with a group. They were always fine one-on-one, but he got bored too easily when there were lots of people around.
The girl's jaw dropped as she remembered one crucial factor included in going to a lake. "My swimsuit!" She breathed out, mainly to herself, though she doubted Ikuto was listening even if his gaze did flicker towards her for a brief moment. "I don't know where I'd be able to find it!"
For all she knew it was probably at the bottom of her closet, underneath the layers of clothes, shoes, scraps of paper, fossils..who knew what was in there.
"When in doubt," Ikuto murmured as he placed the box down to smirk at Amu, "go without."
Amu sputtered out a string of insults before hitting him over the head and marching off in search of a bathing suit, leaving Ikuto behind to humor himself with her reaction.
Only 30 days to go.