Disclaimer: I do not own SC.
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The silver crescent moon, coupled with the few twinkling stars of the navy blue night-sky, were spread beautifully above the heads of many people of all ages roaming around the city at the time. These people also, apparently, included Amu Hinamori.
The 15 year-old girl quietly slipped in and out of a few attractive places, her light footsteps not unlike a trained, elegant cat's, even though she took them in that manner unconsciously.
She raised her wrist to her elbow's level, and her gold-like eyes fell upon the bright, green numbers on her watch blinking 8:46 pm.
"There's still time," Amu murmured to herself, lowering the wristwatch. "I'll go back after a few more minutes."
She carried on, carrying herself with unintentional grace, but stopped immediately with narrowed eyes after hearing an almost inaudible sound, most probably of a stray cat, from behind the bushes and under-developed trees a few meters away from Amu.
After a few seconds of hesitation and contemplation, she took intentionally silent steps this time, and advanced towards the sudden sound, pressing her back against the bark of one of the nearby trees, and peeked out, realizing that she would probably receive a clear view of whatever was causing the barely audible noise.
"What in the…?" Amu's eyes narrowed and her nose crunched up in concentration, as she attempted to get a closer look at the object a few feet away from her, "No way. That can't be him, of all people, not if I know him."
Watching the blackish-blue haired boy kneeling down in front of something that resembled something of a kitten, carrying something in his out-stretched hand that Amu couldn't recognize, the pink-haired girl sighed. "Then again, I don't really know him."
Deciding to quit hiding in the shadows, she stepped out from behind the tree and nonchalantly began walking.
"Hey!" Amu called out, as Ikuto Tsukiyomi faced her suddenly. "Tsu—"
Her words suddenly caught in her throat when he aimed a glare at her and lifted a finger to his lips, as a sign to quiet down.
"A little louder, why don't you?" Ikuto whispered sarcastically. "Go ahead, scare the little guy away, Demon-Girl."
"D-Demon-Girl?!" she alarmingly whispered back, her usually-pale face turning slightly red. "Mind your language, you perverted, uncouth prick! I don't see any 'little guy' here anyway!"
"I guess I should label you as blind then," Ikuto bit back, pointing at a small, fury kitten with large, innocent, yellow eyes and black fur sitting I front of him with a wagging, slender tail.
"What are you? Harassing the poor thing?" It was the first thing that attacked her mind, actually.
"Why the hell would I do that?!" Ikuto responded, quite offended. "That's your image of me?"
Amu sighed in irritation, "Whatever," she stared at his slightly pouting face and voiced the question that had been nagging the back of her mind for quite a bit, "What're you doing here at this time anyway?"
She couldn't make out the light tinge of pink tinting his cheeks in the dark, as he turned his face away from her abruptly. "That… isn't any of your business."
"You're hiding something, aren't you?" Amu suspiciously and cautiously took a careful step towards him, tilting her head slightly to see if she could catch a glimpse of the object held in his hands.
Ikuto immediately stood up and hid the clandestine object behind his back, taking slow, careful steps backwards, as he caught sight of an approaching Amu. "I thought I said this isn't any of your business!"
'This is the first time I've seen him so flustered...' Amu thought, 'This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A fun one, at that.'
"You're right, it isn't," the rosette admitted, allowing Ikuto to sigh with relief, only for that relief to vanish into thin air as he heard her next words. "But don't think that's stopping me from butting into it."
"Amazing how you can say that so easily," Ikuto dryly commented.
"That's me."
"Don't I know it..." The dark-haired teen sighed hopelessly, before facing Amu once more, his dark tresses beautifully illuminated by the silvery light of the crescent moon, "Okay, look, I'm just... going to try this once more."
"Try what, exactly?" Amu narrowed her rich, honey-golden eyes in caution, but her inquiry was ignored.
Ikuto coughed, as if starting an important speech, and began, with the sweetest politeness, "Amu..."
Amu absent-mindedly took a cautious step back, her gold irises narrowing even more. "...What...?"
"Dear Amu-chan..."
The 15-year old girl twitched slightly, stuttering, "W-what?"
"My dear, dear Amu-chan..." The sugary, lovestruck smile remained plastered onto his pale face.
"W-what?!" Amu started stammering, cheeks tainted red, her eyes darting back and forth in sudden alarm, "Spit it out! For God's sake!"
Ikuto's face was suddenly deprived of its previous smile, no signs of any emotion other than annoyance displayed. "Quit sticking your nose into my business, Amu-chan."
"H-huh?" Shoulders slumping in surprise, Amu's nearly chalk-white face contorted in confusion, ignoring the still-existant blush, before her jaw dropped in bewilderment, and finally, her eyebrows furrowed together in irritation and anger. "Did I hear you right? Punk?"
"Oops..." Ikuto's face twisted into a smirk, which, Amu knew, was a cloak disguising nervousness and worry. For himself. "I'm guessing the 'Tough Guy' act didn't work??"
"Like hell it did, you twit!" The pinkette stomped her way towards the blue-haired boy, his clear, blue eyes-- which looked slightly foggy due to the mist of the night-- widening in alarm, as he internally swore at himself.
"'Don't meddle in my business'?? Don't freaking meddle in my business?! Who do you think you are? Bill Gates?!" She ignored his calm yet persistent cries of 'won't it be better if we talk this out?' and continued, "I'll have you know I had absolutely no intentions of bumping into you here! In fact, I'd like nothing better than to get the hell away from you! Just what do you think of your--"
When her cold words suddenly halted flowing from her harsh mouth, Ikuto opened one of his eyes that had closed during a sigh and followed her shocked gaze to something behind him.
"What in the...?" Amu's confused words were coupled with Ikuto's murmured 'uh oh...' and the unwanted widening of his eyes, especially after hearing the withdrawn girl's next words.
"Cat food...?"
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A pair of pure, golden eyes shot open in alarm and shock, sweat beading down the girl's damp forehead, as she flung herself off the previously comforting bed with horrified gasps and wide eyes.
Relaxing her stiff position once she darted her eyes back and forth, realizing her location, Rima Mashiro raised a faintly trembling hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead. After a few seconds of breathing deeply in an effort to calm herself, she shot her gaze towards Amu's bunk, and found her previous breathing exercises useless in front of the panic she felt welling up inside her.
Without another moment to waste, she dashed forward towards a soundly sleeping Yaya, grabbing a hold of her shoulders in panic and shaking them as hard as she possibly could.
"Yaya!" Rima felt pathetic tears gathering at the corner of her eyes when she realized the sleepy ginger-head's eyelids wouldn't budge. "Yaya! Yaya, wake up! Please! Please, I'm begging you! Get up!"
She closed her mouth reluctantly as she heard her own voice becoming panicky. Removing her hands from Yaya's shoulders, she clutched them to her chest in worry.
"What do I do?" Rima whispered to herself hopelessly, "Amu... she could be... kidnapped, or... or worse, abducted. What if... what if she's..."
"Great," Rima jerked up her head to raise her heavily concerned eyes at a shadow lurking near Yaya's bed that she had failed to notice before. "What's wrong with you now? Lost your doll or something, I'm sure."
Failing to recognize his face, her mouth immediately twisted into an unusual scowl, her mind conjuring up the idea of the shadow being Amu's so-called 'kidnapper'.
"You..." Rima immediately flung herself at him in uncontrollable rage. "What did you do to her?! I'll claw out your eyes if you don't tell me! I swear I will!"
"What's with you?!" He tightly clutched her wrists as she struggled wildly against him. "I sacrifice my sleep to see what stupidity you're commiting now and you attack me?!"
'Eh?' Rima ceased her struggling, as her eyes blinked up at the figure. "I'm sorry... what?"
"It's me, you twit!" When Rima finally caught faint traces of a pair of striking hazel-coloured eyes focused on her, burning in frustration in the darkness, her horror doubled.
"Uh... N-Nagihiko-san...?" she squeaked, terrified. His tense silence saying 'I was already in a horrible mood...' confirmed her assumptions.
"Oh my God!" She jumped away from him, as if he was the plague, examining him for any bruises or scratches.
"'Oh my God' is right."
"I-I'm so sorry! So, so sorry!"
The dark-haired male sighed in irritation, exasperated. "Would you forget the useless apologies," he eyed her irately and scowled, "and mind telling me just what, exactly, you were trying to do?" He pointed at an asleep Yaya, his gaze scorching Rima accusingly.
The reminder of Amu's disappearance made tears well up in the poor girl's eyes all over again.
"N-Nagihiko!" Rima blubbered, "A-Amu! She... she's not here! What do we d-do?! And... and... Yaya! Sh-she's not waking up either! Who do I--?! How-- how do--?!"
"Is that it?" Nagihiko's question remained unanswered, due to Rima's tears blocking her ability to speak. Thus, he sighed in annoyance once more.
And, finally, landed an earth-shattering kick on Yaya's bunk.
Rima raised her head from her hands, which were now soaked with her tears, when the ear-splitting sound of Yaya's bed scraping against the floor reached her ears.
With an abrupt shout, the previously-slumbering girl's eyes shot open, as she gasped audibly.
"W-what...?" Yaya sat up, her ginger-brown hair whipping her face as she sharply turned her head left, then right. As she caught sight of Nagihiko standing near her bed, leg still raised in a kicking position, her wide, hazel-coloured orbs narrowed in animosity.
"I'll kill you..." she whispered threateningly, "I'll freaking strangle you! Do you even know how much concealer I'm going to have to apply to cover these bags under my eyes?!"
"I'm not dumb like you, thanks. And if you want to 'strangle' anyone," Nagihiko retorted back, reminded of the bags under his own eyes, "Feel free to grab her neck." He pointed at Rima.
"R-Rima-tan...?" After turning on the idle night-lamp seated on her bedside table, Yaya rushed over to Rima when she spotted her dried tear tracks.
"What in the world...is going on here...??" Yaya grabbed her shoulders gently and pulled her into a consoling hug, before a certain thought struck her like lightning, and her cold, hazel eyes turned towards Nagihiko.
"YOU!" Her accusing finger was swiftly pointed at a nonchalant Nagihiko leaning against the wall. "What the hell did you do to her?!"
His back was straightened, and he met Yaya's irate gaze with a shocked one of his own.
"Me?!" He barked indignantly, "Why do I always get blamed for all the crappy stuff done in this hellhole?! I didn't do anything!"
"Says you!"
"Yeah, says me!"
It's as if the actual purpose of the entire episode was forgotten.
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A fuming Ikuto Tsukiyomi frowned upwards at the innocent, velvety night sky, his left eyebrow twitching irritably every once in the while, as he desperately attempted to ignore the bright-eyed 'kid' beside him. She had her back turned to him, with her pale, slender fingers squishing her mouth.
However, he could still hear her muffled laughter quite clearly.
"Will you quit it already?" Ikuto bit out through clenched teeth, still opting to avoid looking in her direction, "I'm a sissy boy, wuss, wimp, yadda yadda yadda. I get it now, so will you please shut up?"
"I... never said... that..." Amu's rebuttal was squeezed in between laughs.
"Okay, so I gave a kitten food," After a cutting look from her, he corrected himself, "Fine, whatever. I specifically bought food for a kitten. So? Sue me. It was only one night."
"Do you take me for an idiot, Ikuto?" Amu questioned, eyebrows raised in obvious sarcastic disbelief. "I can tell you've come here before. I don't know when, or how many times, but I do know that you have."
After a few seconds of silence-- accusatory on Amu's part, and defending on Ikuto's-- a defeated sigh was heard from him, as he rested his head against his folded arms, staring up at the midnight-black sky once more.
"Okay... I give. You caught me. Happy?" Ikuto admitted reluctantly.
Amu kept her sturdy gaze on the blue-eyed player for a moment longer, before she turned her head and assumed the same position as him, allowing a comfortable silence to wrap around both of them.
"Calm down," she proclaimed after a few quiet moments, even though he looked, at that moment, like the epitome of calm and collected, "It's not like I'm ever going to actually tell anybody."
"...Seriously?" Ikuto inquired softly, still not turning his head to look at her. "Or are you just... y'know... bluffing?"
Amu immediatly shook her head in response, and finally met his gaze eye-to-eye. "No way. Besides... thinking of what you did now... about your intentions... I guess, you actually kind of--"
"Let me guess," Ikuto interrupted, quite dryly, smiling humorlessly, "'Suck'?"
"Nah," For the first time, Ikuto had assumed, Amu smiled genuinely, somewhat carelessly, at him. "I was going to say 'rock'."
And, for once, he knew she wasn't even joking.
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Alryt, Nagi's character gets better from here on (although he was really ooc here) but I won't be updating for a while because:
1) School's starting tomorrow
2) I'm going to have to give a lot more time to chapters now than usual.
On a side note:
Ok, I NEED to rant about this. My uniform SUCKS. It's plain white. FULL, PLAIN WHITE. with a yellow check collar. CAN U BELIEVE IT??? YELLOW CHECK!!!
Uhm, yea, I'm done. And one more thing: Anybody else here dying waiting for Skip Beat! chapter 144? I'm thinking about uploading the pics of the ORIGINAL characters in this story. Waddya think?
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Im sorry to all who reviewed for the last chapter!!!! I won't be able to reply to ur reviews ryt now. THIS THING GOT ERASED AND I HAD TO REWRITE IT ALL OVER AGAIN! I'm so, so, so sorry. I kno it's not fair, but I promise i'll reply in the next chapter! Please forgive me, minna-san!
