A/N: I meant to get this out a lot sooner, I really did. But things have been… slow. So for this next chapter, I thought I'd give you some Amuto, since the last chapter was mostly Rimahiko. It's really hard for me to keep Ikuto in character, so he might be a bit OOC. I'm probably not gonna update for a while after this chapter, because I have this idea that I've been turning around and around in my head all week, working out the who, what, when, where, why and how's. So far, I've got the who, what and where figured out. That's the easy part. Now I have to figure out when, why and how. Until I've got that, there's not going to be much story. But keep on reviewing! Maybe your reviews will speed my writing up a little XD

The Million Dollar Bet

Day Two, Part One

It was still somewhat dark in the early morning, but Ikuto didn't mind. Mid-day was the time when it was hardest for him to stay awake. Besides, there was something he wanted to do before the other woke up.

~Flashback~

Ikuto watched his favorite pinkette scribbling away in a notebook. He silently walked up behind the couch she was sitting on and glanced over her shoulder, looking at the words that were forming on the page.

Dear Journal,

Today was the first full day of the Million Dollar Bet Vacation. So far, it's been pretty fun. Earlier, Tada—

There was more, but Ikuto didn't get to read it. Amu snapped the notebook shut, gasping. Ikuto chuckled under his breath as Amu spun around in her seat, glaring at him.

"You…!"

"Yes?" Ikuto asked, smirking.

"You perverted catboy!" Amu nearly shouted.

"What did I do?" he enquired. "You're the pervert, remember?" Amu began to freak out. Ikuto taunted her a while longer, until he chased her up the stairs and Yaya grabbed Amu. She'd completely forgotten the journal she left sitting on a couch in the downstairs living room. Ikuto hadn't.

~End Flashback~

He picked up the notebook and walked outside with it, retreating to the rooftop to find out what Amu had written.

Inside, in the girl's room…

"Whatcha looking for, Amu-chii?" Yaya asked cheerily as she watched Amu search frantically through the room. She'd checked under her bed and under her pillow at least a dozen times now. She'd gone through her suitcase several times, ransacked the closet, and opened and closed all the drawers in the bureau, sorting through each. Amu would have checked in the bathroom, too, but Utau was in there taking a bath, and had been for the past forty-five minutes. Rima and Yaya had been going about their own business, but Amu's search had caught their attention. Both were watching her with amusement.

"Where did it go?" Amu muttered to herself, not even noticing that Yaya had spoke.

"Amu-chan, if you tell us what you lost, maybe we could help you find it," said Rima. Amu turned to look at her friends.

"I lost my journal. It was a—"

"The thing you were writing in last night?" Rima cut her off. Amu nodded.

"I think you left that on the couch," replied her friend. Amu's faced changed to recognition, and then to horror. She raced out of the room and down the stairs, into the living room and to the couch where she had been writing. It wasn't there.

Ikuto finished reading Amu's journal and began to descend from the roof. The sun had come up, and everyone would be awake. This was a problem, as Ikuto wasn't sure what Amu would do if she found her journal in his hands. And if anyone else saw him with it, they would probably tell. The answer came to him when he heard singing emanating out of a window just past the ledge of the huge balcony. He stood on the railing and looked through the window. The girl's bathroom was on the other side.

Utau, who was wrapped in a towel, was singing, while drying her hair with another. Ikuto tapped on the glass, and his little sister looked up to see his face in the window. She shrieked, though not too loud, before realizing that it was Ikuto, and opened the window to give him a piece of her mind.

"Ikuto, you pervert!" she yelled. Ikuto smirked.

"You're my sister," he pointed out.

"That makes no difference," Utau scoffed.

"I need your help," Ikuto said. Utau raised her eyebrow. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I can!"

"Well, I need you to put this somewhere Amu would find it… somewhere she might have left it and forgot about it. Like, behind her bed or something."

"Why would she be looking behind—wait! I don't want to do any such thing! What are you going to pay me?" Utau said. Ikuto thought about it then came up with an answer. He didn't like the thought very much, but if it would keep his name clear by Amu, it was worth it.

"What if… I let you kiss me?" he said. Utau turned her nose up.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Half a year ago you would have jumped at that," Ikuto commented, "It's that Souma boy, huh?" Utau held her hand out.

"Fine, I'll do it. But I don't want your idea of payment. Instead, you have to do the dishes for me on my turn," she said.

"We're taking turns? Since when?" he asked. She nooded.

"You were busy tormenting Amu last night, so you missed it. We created a schedule for cooking and dishes. That means you have to do them tonight, since it was my turn. We're working in pairs… you'll have to work with Yaya tonight." Ikuto looked horrified, but handed the book over.

Sometime after breakfast…

"You want us to do what?" the charas yelled.

"Dig a hole to America," Kiseki stated, as if he were asking them to simply fetch him an ice cream cone. But no matter what the others thought of it, Kiseki would get his way. Within a half hour, each chara had their own spoon for digging, and they were looking for a patch of dirt in the back yard so they could begin their strenuous task.

A/N: I needed to get this out, because I've been working on it for a long time. I've got some good ideas, but most of them will take place later on. I'm splitting day two into two chapters, because… well, I have several reasons, but the biggest one is that I want to get this out, and it would take a LONG time for me to finish this day. So, in the next chapter, you'll find out what happens to the charas on their… odd… mission, and what happens when Ikuto and Yaya have to do the dishes. You'll also see if Amu finds out about what Ikuto did.

There is only one way to make me write faster, and that is: REVIEW!!! The more reviews I get, the harder I will work on this. So, if I get like… ten more reviews, the next chapter might be out by tomorrow night or the next day! That is, if my teachers don't overload me with homework. Oh, and I still need lots of ideas, so keep them coming. I like some of the things you've suggested so far. Hehe, my authors notes are almost as long as the story… okay, that's it!