Hey, everybody!! I changed the Author's Note text. I didn't like using page breaks; too much trouble... So, now I'm back to my trusty bold lettering for the time being. Yeah, I know that wasb't really important, but I can't think of anything else to put... And I've been spending a lot of my time earning money to buy music from iTunes. My latest obession has been the vocaloid, Hatsune Miku. Listen to her; it's amazing how she's mostly a computer... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chappy. It catapults the entire story plot. I mean, how long did you expect Ikuto to hold out against Kirai? I had to make him crack at some point!! ^.^
Disclaimer: *sigh* Tell me, if I owned them, would I be writting fanfiction? Yeah, I didn't think so...
Amu groaned as she slid her legs into a pair of loose dark jeans. She had to go hunting downtown for a dress and she knew she wasn't going to enjoy it. Especially since Ikuto would be coming to help pick one out. She clasped her bra on and pulled a light blue t-shirt with "Adidas" printed in big bold letters on the front over her head. Sliding on a pair of flip flops that had peace signs all over them, Amu found her wallet in the pocket of the pants she wore yesterday and stuffed it into her pocket.
She wordlessly walked past Ikuto who was waiting by the front door to the apartment and made a bee line for the elevator. Ikuto smirked and quickly locked up before sprinting after her, catching the elevator without a second to spare.
"Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?" he asked, amused. Amu huffed and crossed her arms, refusing to face him.
"I just know that whatever you pick for me to wear won't be something I'll like. And I know that you'll force me to buy it. It's just the way you are."
Ikuto grinned and leaned down so that he was level with her sensitive ear. "And yet, you still fell in love with me."
Amu flushed brightly and turned away from him completely. Ikuto reached forward and embraced her tightly.
"Cold shoulder, huh? Well, that's new," he remarked, rolling his eyes, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"How about this one?" Ikuto asked. He walked to where Amu was a few racks away and held up a hot pink dress that was extremely short and strapless. Amu just stared at it, agape. "It's easy to get out of." Ikuto wagged his eyebrows.
"Pervert!" she squealed, hitting him on the arm. He chuckled and put it back, looking through the rest of them.
"What about this?" Amu asked, holding up a light green dress for Ikuto to see. Ikuto gave her an exasperated look after glancing at the dress which would show none of her curves.
"I'm not gonna have my date where a dress that looks like an oversized beach towel."
Amu stuck her tongue out at him and returned it to the rack. She scanned the rest of the dresses and was about to give in to Ikuto and let him choose since none of these were appealing to her. Thankfully, she spotted one more. Her eyes widened at its simple beauty and she quickly grabbed it.
"Ikuto!" she shouted, sprinting up to him. "Look at this one!"
Ikuto wearily turned to face her, expecting something truly ugly, but found it to be quite attractive.
"Go try it on."
Amu nodded and rushed into the dressing room. She slipped the dress on and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was white and stopped at her knees. It was made of light partially see through fabric. The sleeves were one centimeter wide straps and connected with the low back. It had a certain look of childish innocence while showing her mature beauty at the same time. The effect was mesmerizing. She stepped out of the changing booth and pirouetted in front of Ikuto, showing off all of the angles the dress had.
"Well?" she asked breathlessly. Ikuto didn't say anything; he just stared. He walked up to her and kissed her lightly on the forehead, then on the lips. He nodded against her head and walked toward the counter, never saying anything. She saw him take out his wallet and sighed.
'I guess that means he likes it.'
"Hold still," Amu growled as she attempted to tie Ikuto's navy blue tie for what felt like the hundredth time in the last five minutes.
"But this tux is itchy," he whined playfully as he fiddled with his cuffs again.
"Well, you'll just have to get used to it," Amu said, irritated. Her patience was wearing thin. "We were invited to this party only because you're Kazuomi's step son and of course the fact that you're performing tonight."
Ikuto grumbled nonsense as Amu finally managed to secure his tie. She stood back and held him at arm's length, looking him over. She nodded approvingly and started to turn towards the doors to the ballroom. Doing last minute touch ups on Ikuto's outfit was stressful, but it was well worth it in her opinion. Besides, she did have to admit: he looked quite sexy in a tux. But there was no way she'd actually tell him that. It would do so much damage to his already inflated ego.
Amu had her white dress on and had added white lilies to her pink hair, tying together her outfit. Ikuto placed a possessive arm around her shoulders as they pushed on the door and entered the overcrowded room. Not recognizing anybody, Ikuto steered Amu towards the shadows on the wall. He never liked these parties though he did have to admit that they were bearable as long as Amu was his date.
"Hinamori Amu?" a sickeningly familiar voice asked from behind the couple.
'Oh please Kami," Ikuto pleaded, his eyes turned to the heavens. 'Let that not be who I think it is.'
"Kirai," Amu greeted, turning to face the approaching neighbor, a warm smile on her face.
'Damn it,' Ikuto swore as he wearily turned to face Kirai.
"Hello, Amu," Kirai said, smiling at her. He shifted his eyes to Ikuto's. "Hello, Ikuto."
"Kirai," Ikuto said coldly, growling on the inside. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here due to my father."
"Oh," Amu said, surprised. "Who's your father?"
"He's just an ordinary businessman who made a lot of money last month."
"Uh huh," Ikuto responded, not believing him at all. There was something about Kirai that gave him a feeling of suspicion though he appeared completely harmless.
"Ikuto," Kazuomi greeted, placing a large hand on his shoulder. "You're up next." He then walked off to greet two newly arrived guests.
"He must be really busy," Amu commented, looking after Ikuto's step father with pity.
Ikuto turned her to face him. "Wish me luck." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before walking up to the stage. Amu and Kirai were left alone together, much to Ikuto's dismay. Kirai was quite pleased though and stealthily moved closer to Amu so that their hands could easily brush.
Ikuto walked to the center of the stage and raised his violin. The crowd grew silent and walked off of the dance floor, making room for whoever felt like actually dancing.
"Amu," Kirai began, stepping in front of her and holding out his hand. "Would you like to dance?"
"Sure," Amu agreed happily, taking his hand. She merely thought of it as a dance between friends.
Ikuto grew cold as he watched Amu and Kirai walk onto the floor. His grip tightened on the neck of his violin and his bow. Hatred for his neighbor welled up inside him as he saw Kirai's hand go on Amu's waist. And he felt the dull pain of his heart throbbing as Amu willingly put her hand on Kirai's shoulder and allowed her new partner to take her hand.
Stiffly, Ikuto raised his violin and rested his chin on it. He pressed his callused fingers on the strings and drew the bow, creating a beautiful, yet sorrowful melody. He forced himself to watch his love dance with another and it made him feel like a knife was going through his heart. Had he done something wrong? Was it his fault that Amu didn't seem bothered to be in the arms of another man?
Kirai glanced at Ikuto out of the corner of his eye and mentally smirked. Everything was going smoothly just as he had assumed. He looked back at Amu who didn't seem uncomfortable though he clearly saw that she wasn't holding any romantic feelings for him.
'Well, she's not my type anyway,' Kirai thought, turning his eyes away. 'She's too nice.' He cringed at the word. 'Innocence is good in a woman, but this goody goody kindness and ridiculously large amount of generosity is too much. I'm not going to give up the plan, but I don't think it's possible to make her fall for me. No, of course she could love me if I wished her to. After all, I am Kirai. But I'm not interested so I don't want to waste my time.'
He turned to look at Ikuto who had stopped looking at the couple. Instead, his eyes were closed and he had a deep frown on his face. 'He looks totally pissed off, but it seems like he's contemplating something. Well whatever; I don't care. Anyway, I don't think I'll make Amu fall for me on purpose. I just want Ikuto to believe she is.'
Ikuto pulled his bow along the violin in what felt like a never ending note. When it finally ended, his lifted his bow from the strings and bowed stiffly to the clapping guests. He walked off the stage and put his violin back in its case. He walked over to the door, not looking at Amu or Kirai, and placed his violin by the door. He needed a few more moments to think through his newest decision. Finally deciding to go through with it, he turned back to the ballroom and approached Kirai and Amu.
"Amu," he said, not even acknowledging Kirai. "Can we talk? Privately?"
Amu nodded and he took her hand, leading her to the balcony. Completely pushing Kirai from his mind, he was suddenly overcome by a massive wave of nervousness. But nevertheless, he was adamant about his decision and took Amu by the shoulders, staring deeply into her eyes.
"I- Ikuto?" Amu squeaked cutely, surprised at the amount of seriousness in his eyes.
"I can't wait anymore," Ikuto said, his voice raspy from the raw emotion he was feeling.
Amu looked up in shock. What was he talking about? He roughly pulled her to him, crashing his lips against her own. There was so much passion and not enough restraint in his movements. It made her wary of responding. He pulled away and held her securely, his eyes suddenly extraordinarily soft. When he spoke, it was in a tender, caring voice that Amu never heard before and didn't think him capable of producing.
"Amu," he began, gazing into her eyes again. "Will you marry me?"
Silence fell around the couple as Amu tried to take in what he said. Her heart skipped a beat as his words registered in her brain and their meaning was interpreted.
"Marry," she said blankly, staring in shock. "You?"
"Well, of course me," he said, looking at her strangely.
Another awkward silence fell around them. It was broken by Amu's shout of, "But that's crazy!"
"What?" Ikuto asked, his voice turning cold and hard to disguise the hurt he felt in his heart.
"We only confessed to each other not even a year ago. Don't you think you're rushing things a little too much?"
"Is that the problem? Or is it because you aren't sure you want to be tied to me that much? Do you think that maybe you'll tire of me and want to move on to some other guy?"
"No, Ikuto!" Amu shouted, hurt that he would even think that. "I just-"
"Don't say anything else," Ikuto said emotionlessly, his bangs shading his eyes. "I understand perfectly."
"No, Ikuto! You don't!"
"I do," he said and turned away from her.
"Ikuto wait!" she shouted after him, tears forming in her eyes. He showed no sign that he had heard and continued on. He reached the door and picked up his violin. Something from the corner of his line of vision caught his eye and he turned towards it. Kirai was looking at him, an air of smugness surrounding him. Ikuto glared at him and turned away, leaving both Kirai and Amu behind. Kirai smirked at him, pleased at how much Ikuto had helped him in Gaito's plan.
Amu was still on the balcony. She had fallen to her knees and tears were steadily streaming down her face. Her sobs seemed endless as she watched her tears fall onto her knees.
'Why?' Amu thought, stunned at the recent turn of events. 'What did I do to make him act like that? What caused this? I thought he had more faith in me.'
..........Heh heh heh. Yeah. Uh, don't kill me!! I'll make up for this later on :) I promise!!! I have already started to write the next chapter so if I get enough reviews, I'll post it by Wednesday. (If I can remember which day is Wednesday. I often lose track of what day of the week it is during summer TT) It has some Amuto lovin' and we all want that after this chapter, right? :D I know I do.