'I wonder… if this perfume happened to affect us like that or if it was meant to…' – said Nagihiko. 'But then… why didn't Yaya…'
'Yes, she must have smelt the perfume, too!' – cried Amu.
'But… Well, it's not so clear to me what you mean… However, if I come to think of it, I felt the perfume when I came here that evening… and then… I thought Nagihiko had changed… I suddenly saw him as a man… I wanted him to dress as a man, I needed him to come to the party… and I couldn't think of Kukai for once…'
'Oh, my…' – started Amu. 'Then it's… not just me… It's not my fault, is it? It must be the perfume! We need to know where it came from!'
'Who had access to this changing room?' – asked Ikuto.
'Lots of people, really. Including your… Oh, no… Yaya, who told you I was coming from the tour?'
'Why, it was… Utau. She really insisted I should invite you to the party! But I thought… she had given up. I thought she had accepted that Amu was Ikuto's destiny and… She was really nice…Nagihiko, do you think she was involved in this? Do you think this was some sort of scheme and that this perfume…'
'I don't know what to think, but we should check. Ikuto, take Amu home. I'll look for Utau myself!'
'Oh, no – we need to know what's going on! We'll go with you!'
……………………………………………………………
Utau was rehearsing on stage. But it was obvious she couldn't concentrate. As the others approached, she stopped and turned towards them. She looked at Ikuto and she knew something was wrong. She frowned.
'You know why we're here, don't you?' – asked Nagihiko.
She gasped. Then her lips twisted in a bitter smile.
'It never goes as planned. But I had to give it a try.'
'What were you trying to do?'
'I didn't mean any harm, to be sure. I wanted everyone to be happy. So I thought… who else could Amu be happy with?... Oh, the idea came to me after finding this perfume. But when I found out that Nagihiko's company was coming back from the tour… '
'So you wanted the wedding to be off?! And Amu to end up with… him?!' – exclaimed Ikuto.
'Well… something like that. I pushed Yaya to bring them together and I thought the perfume would do the rest… That it would make them fall in love with each other… So I could comfort you…'
'Why can't you just… get over it?!'
'Wait…'
'Wait?! For what? Is there more to it?'
'How come you didn't deny it?' – asked Nagihiko all of a sudden. 'I wouldn't have expected you to confess, Utau!'
'You're right. The funny thing is… I've been exposed to the perfume, too.'
'So?' – asked Ikuto.
'So… it's… ridiculous, but… now I'm attracted to Nagihiko, too! I don't know how long the effects are going to last, but I've really managed to mess things up… Sorry.'
'Incredible… Who gave you this perfume, Utau?'
'Oh, I heard that fat old lady on TV talking about it…'
Yaya burst out laughing.
'What's got into you?' – Amu wondered.
'Oh, nothing… I thought I should get some, too – just to make Kuukai fall in love with me!'
THE END –