Hey guys, back again! This one is a little more Anime-verse than manga, seeing as in the anime Amu never find's out about Nagihiko being Nadeshiko. Hope that makes sense.

Enjoy!

I do not own Shugo Chara!.


Je t'aime toujours

Chapter 7: Advice

Amu watched out the window, dutifully tuning out the happy chatter of other students who waited for class to start. It was just like always, she was the odd one out, too cool and spicy for the others to relate to. She sighed.

They were doing it again...

And now, the chatter of the "older boyfriend" she apparently had was buzzing louder than ever. Girls giggling and whispering about Amu's scandalous scene in front of the school.

"They say he's a university student!" One girl had started, and Amu had no idea who 'they' were, or how they supposedly knew anything about Ikuto. She blushed.

"Hinamori-san is so cool! She even has older guys after her- And he was totally cool, too! I bet he's famous!- Did you hear that universities from all over Japan are trying to get her choose them? She's got them like all lined up in waiting for her or something! I bet she'll pick the one her boyfriend is at-" and it had continued from there, the outrageous rumors spawning one after another like wildfire.

The trimester had only just begun.

Amu sighed sadly.

That wasn't who she was. In fact, from how she had been feeling over the past night or so, she would put "cool" and "spicy" at the bottom of her list of characteristics. At the top would be "shy", "confused" and "hopeless".

"Oh... What's with this splitting character of mine?" she whined to herself, letting her head fall to her desk. "It's way too confusing."

Why were things getting so difficult as she got older? Did Ikuto ever feel this way...?

Amu bit back the blush she felt coming on. She had said she wasn't going to think about him for today, not until she had to. Otherwise, she didn't think she could take seeing Tadase today. Her wide golden eyes glimmered with unshed moistness, as she stared at her hands on her desk.

"Are you alright, Amu-chan?"

Amu jumped in her seat, turning to look up at the voice.

"Fujisaki-kun!" she squeaked, faking a smile and waving her hand in dismissal. "Yeah, I'm totally fine!" Her eyes lowered, and she bit her lip.

Nagihiko watched her for a moment, keeping the kind smile on his lips though his suspicion was settled that something was indeed wrong with the Hinamori girl. His warm brown eyes shone in concern, and he tilted his head to look over her.

"Are you sure, Amu-chan?"

She nodded, avoiding looking up.

Amu sat up straight and looked over in surprise as he took the desk next to her, turning sideways in his seat to face her. Amu gasped. The way he looked right now, the kindness and insight in his eyes... It reminded her exactly of his twin sister Nadeshiko. How she missed that girl's advice...

It was the first time she had a best 'girl friend', so to speak. She blushed a bit at the silliness of her thoughts. This was Nagihiko, not Nadeshiko. Though, they were twins, no one could blame her for having the memory drawn up. She sighed.

Nagihiko watched Amu for a moment, hesitating on rather or not to ask her about her evident issue again. If he had still had his other character on- the character of his "sister"- he had no doubt that Amu would have likely confided in him. But now, he was male, his true self. He smiled knowingly to himself, it was understandable that she would feel less comfortable talking to him.

Still, she was his friend, and he wanted to do all he could to help her out.

He breathed, smile kind and gentle.

"Amu-chan, what seems to be bothering you today? Does it perhaps have something to do with the new rumors?"

Nadeshiko...

Amu blinked from her thoughts, fidgeting nervously.

"Fujisaki-kun... C-can I ask you for a favor?"

The boy sighed silently, already knowing what she wanted to ask.

In front of all these people?

Taking the hint from the way her eyes glittered pleadingly and her hands folded in a prayer like gesture, he lifted his hands to his long hair and pulled it into a ponytail, securing it with the ribbon he used during gym. He tilted his head to the side a bit, letting his forelocks sway in a feminine manner, brown eyes soft.

"Ne, Amu-chan... "

Amu practically squealed and broke into tears at once. "Nadeshiko!"

Nagihiko sweatdropped, hushing Amu with his hand politely. "Amu-chan, this is embarrassing. Please don't make so many people look..." he pleaded, internally flinching at having to use the girl's voice he had long ago forewent.

He sighed.

Amu nodded fiercely, her mouth pressed in a tight line as if to prove she would not outburst again. After a moment, the girl finally spoke up with a blush tinting her cheeks, seemingly satisfied with the return of her friend Nadeshiko.

Here goes...

"What if... Someone has someone they like," Amu began, her voice low and nearly guilty, and she whispered. "But, one day, they start to think that maybe someone else is the one meant for them... That fate threw this new person to them on purpose...? What should that person do, how do they choose?... How do you ever know for sure?"

Amu's voice was hushed, nervous.

Nagihiko gasped silently, mulling the thought through his mind a few times to digest it. It was clear that Amu was speaking of herself... Did that mean that she had found someone other than Tadase...?

Then perhaps the earlier rumors had been...

The Fujisaki boy cleared his throat, shaking the thoughts from his personal conflicts, and readied his voice.

"I think, there is no way to know until the choice was made if it was the right one... You just have to trust that your heart is on the right path. But, if this someone, is truly starting to have second thoughts... They should be honest with the person they care about. Sometimes, keeping secrets helps protect those we love, and other times... It hurts them more than we think it might." - Don't hurt Hotori-kun... Nagihiko spoke, his internal thoughts continuing when he knew it best to shut his mouth.

Amu seemed to intake every word carefully, rolling them around in her mind and trying to fit it to an understanding. She knew that she couldn't keep being so wishy washy on her feelings forever... But between Ikuto and Tadase, it was just so unclear.

What Taro-san had said seemed to match up one piece after another to Ikuto... But where did that leave Tadase? Amu sighed, lowering her eyes, before faking a smile and looking back up to 'Nadeshiko'.

Amu cleared her throat a bit, forcing brightness back into her eyes.

"Thank you, Fujisaki-kun. I was just wondering, that's all."

He nodded unsurely, but let it go. Raising his hands to undo his hair, he let his normal personality slip back on. He sighed.

His only hope was that Amu didn't keep this a secret from Tadase when she made up her mind.

The chimes rang, students rushed to their seats and got out their supplies in waiting, as the homeroom teacher entered the room and class commenced. It was tedious and boring, at least to Amu, whose thoughts were entirely elsewhere. Her wide golden eyes lost in the skies outside her window. It was a beautiful day, the sky was so serene and calm and blue. She sighed.

Maybe more time would make things better.

With several subjects down, lunch break having been taken, the ringing of the final bell announced the ending of the school day. Amu slowly got up from her seat, gathering her things while she watched her guardian characters chatter happily to themselves.

"Ne, everyone, ready to go?"

They all paused, turning to smile at her and nod.

"Amu-chan," Suu piped up suddenly. "Aren't you suppose to meet Ikuto-san after school, desu?"

Amu's face lit up like a red lightbulb, a puff of steam enveloping her.

That's right... He had said she owed him...

Amu squawked, raising her hands to her cheeks. Just what did she owe him, exactly!?

...What would Ikuto ask for?

"Amu-chan... Are you alright?" Ran murmured floating over to her owner.

"I think she broke..." Miki deadpanned, sighing.

"Maybe she's thinking of what happened last night, desu?" Suu pondered aloud.

Amu's blush burned hotter, and she waved her hands in front of her face in dismissal, shaking her head frantically back and forth. She stammered.

"N-nothing happened last night! B-besides, even if it had, you guys slept through it so wh-what does it matter?"

She was not a very good liar under pressure.

"Sorry for being so tired last night, Amu-chan," Dia spoke. "Kiseki-san kept us out while you were at school yesterday with important training missions." She giggled.

"We were very tired, desu," Suu smiled apologetically.

Amu swallowed her bashfulness, and sighed at her characters with a smile.

They were really good friends to have...

The four of them happily chattered at Amu's side as they made their way out of the classroom and down the hall. Amu held her silence though, not trusting her outer character to hold up in front of other students while her thoughts kept slipping back to the night that apparently didn't happen- according to her. Just with the slightest thought, she could already feel the blush seeping back into her cheeks.

Why had Ikuto done that...?

Why had she asked something so dangerous like that?

He had even given her permission to take his shirt off of him...

Her cheeks bloomed into full blush, heating up hotly. Ikuto would have let her take an article of his clothing off! She could hardly wrap her mind around it, nor the strange heaviness that built inside of her when she thought about it. It was the same as last night, the electric, hot feeling. She groaned in her chest.

Ikuto made everything so much more confusing.

The early autumn breeze hit her bare legs as she stepped out into the schoolyard, making her shiver a bit. The sun was already lowering in the sky, passing late afternoon, and beginning to turn orange in the west. It felt nice though, something to wake her up from her thoughts.

Her steps carried her closer across the courtyard to the front gates, and her sights hesitantly looked up. She gasped.

He really was here...

Leaning against the front pillars to the gate's arch, Ikuto waited calmly with his starlight eyes settled on the horizon beyond and his arms crossed over his chest, the slight wind making his hair sway like she pictured it might in a shoujo manga. She blushed.

For a boy, Ikuto was sure beautiful.

A small smile found her lips, and she readied to take another step toward the front gate, when a voice caught her off guard. Her mind sputtered in embarrassment, and she flipped around to meet the speaker.

Tadase!

She hadn't seen him much at all but from afar today... He was running for student council, and it had kept him nearly entirely occupied with planning and special programs as the trimester started up. She blushed.

"T-tadase-kun..." she murmured.

The boy blushed, matching her own as well as her nervousness.

"A-amu-chan," he smiled. "I didn't get to see you today... Will you forgive me?"

Amu's blush remained, her voice strong enough to do no more than stutter incoherence as she nodded weakly.

"I'm glad," his pale red eyes glimmered. "I love you, Amu-chan."

Amu went up in a poof of steam, her cheeks bright red, until a hand clapped gently down on her thin shoulder, making her squeak. She turned her head to look up.

"Ah, so she's cheating on me already, hm?" Ikuto spoke, leaning down to Amu's sensitive ear. "How could you, Amu...?"

Ikuto!

Ikuto smirked at her, his eyes holding her captive for a moment. Why did he have to walk over just then...? He had surely heard what Tadase just said.

And now, how did she respond?

Tadase's face lit with shock, his eyes wide.

"Ikuto-niisan!" he gasped.

The teen turned his sights to the younger boy, a sly smile on his lips as he stood back up straight, keeping his hand on Amu's shoulder. He spoke.

"Yo."

Tadase stammered, "I-i thought you were searching for your father... Have you come back? How long will you stay?"

"Long enough to make sure Amu is mine." he responded simply, smirking.

"Nii-san! Hinamori-san isn't yours!" The hotori boy whined in refusal.

Ikuto looked down to Amu, pulling her against his side while he rose the other hand to tap at his chin in thought.

"Isn't she?"

"I-ikuto-niisan!"

"Hmp," Ikuto glanced down to Tadase with a grin, "Don't get so bent outta shape, Kiddy King... You can't fight fate."

Tadase whined once more, his brows furrowing as tried to get Amu away from Ikuto by way of scaring the catboy with his intimidating glare. Which, much to the former king's dismay, was having little to no effect. He looked like an angered puppy.

Fierce.

But harmless.

Ikuto smiled again.

Amu gasped, playing back what Ikuto had just said. Fate...

Did fate really have something to do with all this, after all?

She really didn't know.

Ikuto and Tadase continued bickering for a moment, Amu tuning them both out until she heard Ikuto speak gently.

"Amu owes me something..." his eyes lowered to meet her wide golden depths, his own smoldering with an emotion she couldn't name.

Her heart beat, and she wet her lips nervously.

"...Something important." Ikuto leant in, placing a kiss to her temple gently. She squawked in shock, face burning up.

Her eyes frantically slid to Tadase as the boy scrambled to find words of determinant and warning for the catlike teen, before she grabbed Ikuto by the wrist and drug him towards the front gate of the school like she had the devil on her tail. She called back frantically, excusing herself before Ikuto could do or say anything more dangerous.

"Th-that's right! I owe him some catnip! Lot's of catnip!" she stammered as they drew closer to the gate. "That's all, Tadase-kun! Please excuse us!"

They rounded the corner with Amu blazing down the sidewalk, getting them out of sight and sound of the former king. When they finally stopped, Amu turned to Ikuto in a huff. Her cheeks bright pink and puffed with irritation. He smirked.

"Ne, Amu, will you really buy me lot's of catnip...?"

"No, no way!" she screeched. "Why did you say all that in front of Tadase-kun!?"

Ikuto sighed, dropping the playful expression he wore, and leaning down to her height.

"Amu... I am not giving you up to him." he spoke, making her stammer.

What was Ikuto saying all of a sudden?

"I may have left, but I will never let him win you over... I told you, I will come back and make you love me, Amu."

Her eyes lowered in embarrassment, her cheeks flushed hotly. Ikuto was saying it again, she bit her lip. The same thing that had been swirling in her head all this time. He would come back for her... Make her love him.

She didn't even know what he really meant, and yet, she couldn't get it out of her head.

"...You know when that person is a constant thought in your mind..."

Taro-san's words came back to her again, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Maybe... Just, maybe. She shivered.

Making up her mind on all this...

It was just way too much right now.

She looked back up to Ikuto, her honey colored eyes glimmering softly in the dimming light of day.

"Wh-what is it I owe you... Ikuto?" she mumbled.

He stood up straight again, "Ah, well I took you somewhere you needed to go..."

He had paused there, making her impatient to hear where he was going with it.

"What is it, Ikuto?"

"Now I want to take you somewhere I need to go..."

She bit her lip, looking to the side. "You want me to go with you...? But I-"

"You don't have to work tonight." he cut her off, making her blink in confusion.

"H-how do you know?"

Ikuto smiled a catlike grin and slid his hands into his pockets, glancing to the side in a sly show. Amu waited for him to speak, her stomach flipping at the cunning expression he wore. Ikuto had better not have done anything weird.

"I stopped by to talk to your boss today... You have Tuesdays and Thursdays off."

Amu's jaw went slack, her eyes incredulous before she worked up the composure to fume. Her hands on her hips as she shouted.

"I-ikuto, you cat-eared-cosplaying stalker!"

He sighed. Name calling and all, Amu was still too cute to hate.


And, there we go. I hope you all enjoyed it, please let me know how I am doing in a review if you could, helps me to keep on track!

Thank you!