Okay! So chapter 7! I've been kinda looking forward to this chapter, but I don't know why. I just feel like it will be fun to write. XP So, on with the story! Hope you like it!

Flash of Pink

Chapter 7

Ikuto jumped out of his seat in surprise. "Too much information," he whispered.

Kukai glanced at him in confusion. "What're you talk about?"

"There's too much information to see what's important!"

Kukai stared at him. "Yeah, we've known that for a while now."

"No, Kukai. Not the murders."

Kukai didn't understand, so Ikuto continued.

"Kukai, the girls used the same tactic. They asked me so many questions that I couldn't focus on anything. They messed up my mind so I couldn't think about the details."

Kukai's eyes widened in understanding.

"The girls did the same as the killers."

The two were silent as their revelation sunk in. Sure, it was true that it could be just a coincidence and that the girls were genuinely curious about what it was like to be police officers. But somehow, it seemed like one coincidence too many. After all, there were four of the girls, and three of them might kill for the fourth if she asked. And the one that they'd kill for had pink hair.

"Kukai," Ikuto said distantly. "Go get Nagi and Kairi. I have a favor to ask of you."


"You did what?"

Utau rubbed her ear and stared at her phone in annoyance. "You don't have to yell at me."

"Obviously I do, considering you didn't seem to hear me when I said no the first time!"

"Come on, Amu. I know that you're interested in him. Who do you think I am?"

"I am not interested in him, for the millionth time!"

"Amu, you can't lie to me. I'm one of your best friends. I know you like him."

"I do not! He's perverted, and way too personal, and just-argh! I can't even explain it!"

"Okay, maybe saying you like him is going a little too far. But you most definitely are interested in him, don't even try to hide that!"

"Utau...!"

"Don't 'Utau' me! You know it's true! And just because you're too proud to invite him yourself doesn't mean that I'm not gonna get him to come anyways! Besides, he said he would bring some friends. I'm curious what kind of people he's friends with, aren't you?"

There was a pause. "Don't expect me to be happy about this!"

Utau grinned. "You'll thank me by the time it's all over."

The pinkette promptly hung up on the blonde without a farewell. It didn't faze the older girl in the least. "She'll love me when everything's said and done."


Ikuto led his friends to the gym of Amu's school where the tournament was supposed to be held. "Here we are."

Kukai grinned. "Oh, I'm going to love this."

Kairi pushed his glasses up his nose. "I still don't understand why I'm here. I work with technology, I'm not a field agent."

Ikuto glanced at the green-haired man. "Because when we went through training you were amazing with this kind of work."

Nagi looked at the gym. "Where exactly are we supposed to meet them?"

Ikuto shrugged. "I figured we'd just go in there and find them."

Nagi made a humming noise in the back of his throat. "But doesn't it look a little crowded?"

Ikuto shook his head. "We'll be fine. On another note," Ikuto turned to look at his friends. "So you understand the plan?"

The three nodded.

"I get Utau," Kukai said.

"Rima is mine," Nagi added.

"And I get Yaya-san," Kairi stated, ever the gentleman, even when investigating her as a murderer.

Ikuto nodded in satisfaction. "Don't let them get together, okay? We don't know what they'll try to pull. And try to get them to trust you. They'll be more likely to slip up that way. Are you ready?"

Nagi looked at Ikuto doubtfully. "Are you really asking us that?"

Ikuto grinned. "That's the answer I was looking for."

So they walked into the gym, unaware of what they were walking into.


It was more difficult to find the girls than Ikuto had imagined it would be.

Actually, Ikuto didn't even find them. Utau had called him out.

"Hey, Ikuto!" Ikuto ignored the lack of an honorific. The blonde, followed by the three other girls, ran up to him. Amu was in the back, looking at the ground. Ikuto smirked.

"Hey, ladies. These are a few of my friends. This is Kukai, Nagi, and Kairi," he said, introducing each of them in turn.

"I'm Utau," she said. She pointed at Rima who hid behind her. "This is Rima. She's a little uncomfortable around strangers."

Ikuto felt a little bad for assigning Nagi with Rima.

"I'm Yaya!" the girl piped up. "I like candy, and cute things, and-"

Ikuto felt really bad for assigning Yaya to Kairi.

"I'm Amu," the pinkette said cordially, looking up for a moment to properly introduce herself. But when her eyes met Ikuto's and he smirked at her, she looked down at the ground, steam practically coming out of her ears.

By some unspoken signal, the four guys split up and walked closer to their intended subjects. Kairi politely bowed to Yaya, who in turn patted him on the back and talked to him excitedly. Kukai put an arm around Utau who began talking to him. She seemed to say something that set him off because suddenly there was fire in his eyes and they were walking away with sparks flying between their locked gazes. When Utau left, Rima was stuck talking to Nagi who was trying to act gentle in an attempt to get her to talk to him.

And Ikuto walked toward Amu.

"Hello, sensei," Ikuto teased. "Is there any particular reason why Utau invited me instead of you?"

Amu raised her head and crossed her arms. "N-Not really."

Ikuto's smirk widened. "It wasn't that you were too nervous to ask me yourself?"

Amu stared into his eyes incredulously. "What the-? Of course not! I just couldn't care less if you came! Utau wanted you to come! I was against it."

Ikuto took a step closer to her. "Really? I'm wounded, Amu."

Amu blushed hard and took a step back. "W-Whatever."

Ikuto looked around the gym and began walking, placing his hand on the small of Amu's back, discreetly pushing her away from her two friends. "Why don't you give me the grand tour and tell me what exactly we're going to be doing in this competition?"

Amu jumped away from him, unintentionally moving even farther away from her friends. "D-don't just t-touch me like th-that! We are in an elementary school's gym! Th-there are kids here!"

Ikuto grinned. "I think we're fine." Amu's blush increased. "Now, am I going to get the tour or not?"

Amu turned away from Ikuto. "F-fine. I don't know what you want it for. You aren't going to be coming here often!"

Ikuto smirked. We'll see about that.


About thirty minutes later, someone said over the PA system, "If you are participating in the dodgeball tournament, please report to the registration table."

Ikuto smirked at Amu. "Shall we go?"

Amu looked away from the blue-haired man. "I'm not participating."

Ikuto glanced at her quizzically. "Why not?"

Amu paused for a moment before answering. "I don't really like playing games like dodgeball."

"Why?"

Amu glanced at the ground. "N-no reason."

A thought occurred to Ikuto. "Then why did you come?"

As much as she tried to hide it, a blush crept up Amu's neck. "U-Utau dragged me."

But the blush gave her away. "You didn't come here to see me, did you?"

Amu turned away. "O-of course not!" she exclaimed defiantly. Ikuto's smirk didn't dim. "L-look, are you going to enter or not?!"

Ikuto thought about it for a second. "Well, why not?"

Next thing he knew, he was on the court, about to start the game. He looked at the other people playing. They had made age groups so that ten-year-olds wouldn't be playing against twenty-year-olds. This group was ages twenty to thirty. Ikuto, being twenty-seven, went into this group. He noticed that Kukai was also playing on his team. It appeared that he and Utau were playing against each other. Ikuto couldn't help but laugh a little. Who would've known that Utau had a similar spirit to Kukai?

Then, the whistle blew and people began running to get the dodgeballs in the middle of the court.

Ikuto stayed back. He knew that the people who went to the front at the very beginning were the most likely to get caught.

Once the balls were all on different sides of the court, Ikuto dove into the action. He picked up a runaway ball that had crossed onto his side and threw it at a man on the other side. It hit him in the middle of his back. He saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye and easily dodged the oncoming ball. Someone else threw a ball at him and he caught it effortlessly.

Meanwhile, Amu watched him with her jaw slack. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Watching him was like watching a dancer. His moves reminded her of a cat; agile. Whenever a ball came at him, he either dodged it gracefully or caught it. By the time the game began reaching a close, everyone was aiming for Ikuto because he was the one no one could touch. Even when most of the remaining people were attacking him, he never even came close to being hit. It was amazing.

Finally, the game ended. Ikuto's team won, with only three people left: Ikuto, Kukai, and a man neither of them knew. Unbelievably, when Ikuto walked back to Amu, he didn't seem even the least bit out of breath. The only evidence that he'd even done any physical activity was the single bead of sweat that was slowly dripping down from his temple. Amu didn't even realize her eyes were watching it fall. When she did, she felt like an extreme stalker.

Ikuto apparently noticed it too. "See something you like?"

Amu blushed and turned away from him. "A-absolutely not!" She paused. "Y-you... You did well."

Ikuto felt something warm swell up in his chest. He didn't know what the feeling was, but something about it bothered him. Trying to cover it up, Ikuto replied, "Will you give me a reward?"

Amu stared at him in shock. "What?"

Ikuto cocked his head to the side. "I was thinking that you would buy me some water." Pause. "What were you thinking, Amu-chan?"

A blush crawled up her neck. She couldn't believe that just a minute ago she'd seen him as graceful. "P-pervert!"

"Ah!" Ikuto and Amu both whirled toward the exclamation they'd heard. It sounded like a small child screaming. Without hesitating, the two of them ran toward the sound. A crowd was slowly forming, but the two managed to force themselves to the front.

In the middle of the circle was a young child crying and grasping his knees. Blood was seeping through his hands. Ikuto went closer and pulled the kid's hands away gently.

The kid's knees were scratched up badly. It looked like he'd fallen on concrete and slid a few feet before stopping. The cuts were surprisingly large and were bleeding badly.

Ikuto heard a gasp of horror behind him and he turned around to look for the source of the noise. Maybe it was the child's mother.

But no. It was Amu. Ikuto's eyes widened at her expression.

She looked... Conflicted.

Her hands were over her mouth and she was leaning away from the hurt boy like he was a poisonous snake. She seemed to be shaking, but not out of fear. Like she was trying to restrain herself from doing something.

The pinkette managed to turn around and force her way out of the crowd.

"Amu!" A chorus of female voices called for the pinkette. Her three friends darted after her quickly. The three men with them shoved their way to the center of the circle.

Ikuto shot to his feet. "You three take care of him!" He had to follow after them. Something was happening. He wasn't sure what, but something big was happening.

"Amu, calm down." Ikuto froze behind a corner and hid there, listening to the scene.

"Amu, you need to calm down," Utau repeated. "Everything is fine. You can't do this here. Not now."

"I... I..." Something was off about Amu's voice. It was strangled. Like she was fighting someone. Or something.

"Amu-chan!" Yaya said pleadingly.

"Amu," Rima murmured.

"C-Can't..." Amu choked. "B-blood... S-so much... So much b-blood..."

"Amu, please calm down," Utau begged. Ikuto's eyes widened. Yes, she was begging. Utau was begging. But Utau was so... Confident. She wasn't one to beg to get what she wanted. "Amu, you can't do this here. Please, please cool off."

Amu wasn't even talking anymore; just making choking gasps. It wasn't even hyperventilating. It was more severe than that.

And then, it stopped.

All of it stopped. The heavy breathing, the begging. All of it stopped and all that remained was silence. A dead, eerie silence. Ikuto was about to turn the corner when Utau spoke again.

"Amu...?"

"Make me leave. Now."

Amu's voice was different. Strained, but darker somehow. It almost didn't sound like Amu's voice.

"Oh, no," Yaya whispered.

"Do it!" Amu said hoarsely. But even with her voice sounding like that, he could hear the undertone. It was a voice that demanded obedience. It was a voice that you would follow, even if you had to put your life on the line.

"Rima," Utau said, "Go tell the guys that we had to leave." Realizing he would get caught, Ikuto turned and began quietly running back to the gym, as much as he wanted to stay and hear the rest.

When he got back, the crowd had dispersed. Kukai, Nagi, and Kairi were standing in the same place, waiting for Ikuto to return. Kukai saw him first. "Dude, where have you been?"

Before Ikuto could even think of answering, he heard Rima's small voice say, "I'm sorry, but something came up. We have to go."

Ikuto turned to look at her. Something came up? What an explanation. But he said nothing. Rima turned and left without a goodbye.

Ikuto turned to the three men he'd asked to come along.

"We need to talk."

Woah! What happened to Amu? I would write a longer author's note, but I'm about to watch a movie with my family, so not enough time. Hope you liked it! Review, fave, follow please! Just so you know, I tend to update the stories that get the most reviews faster. XP