A/N: OMG 9 reviews?! That's 4 more than I was even hoping for! Who knew one little Rimahiko moment could do so much? Though I love them too =]
It made me soooooo happy! And so I'm rewarding you all with a good chapter!
Oh and I'm sorry about the missing italics in some places in the last chapter. Apparently the document manager likes to remove italics randomly so I'm going to make sure they are all there before I post this time.
Countdown to Amuto in 5…4…3…2…1…
Amu walked into the girl's locker room, still thinking about Rima. She had no idea how she was actually going to try and set her best friend up with that guy. It wasn't like she could lock the two in a room until they worked out their problems.
Though that might work…
She rid her mind of the thought as she got dressed in her gym uniform. She'd think about it more later. Right now she had to worry about making it through the next forty-five minutes without punching Ikuto in the face.
The other girls were casting glances in her direction and talking amongst themselves. There eyes weren't full of hatred anymore. More like a mixture of joy and shock.
"I can't believe she really kicked Ikuto yesterday."
"Yea, I guess we don't have to worry about her anymore. There's no way he'll pay attention to her now."
"Good more for us."
She could hear them snickering behind her. Good. At least now she didn't have to feel their eyes shooting daggers into her back every day. Especially when she had never liked the guy in the first place. She finished lacing up her shoes and headed out to the gym.
She saw that familiar blue hair and grimaced. Luckily for her, all they were doing today was the mile run so she didn't have to interact with him much at all. She certainly didn't need to hear him go on about how difficult it was going to be for him to get Tadase to like her. Asshole.
"Yo." He said when she reached him.
"…"
"Ah, going with the silent treatment again, eh? Just so you know, that doesn't work on me."
She glared at him.
"I think I've made it perfectly clear," she started, "that I do not like you nor want to talk to you unless I have to."
"Wow, 'Don't beat around the bush or anything…'" he mocked her.
"…"
She heard him sigh before they started their stretches. What? Did he expect me to be nice to him now just because he blackmailed me into doing his dirty work? True, she did want to help Rima, but she hoped he wasn't really going to try and 'help' her with Tadase. He probably wants to dress me up in slutty outfits so he can get a glimpse of my underwear again.
They finished their stretches and waited for Kyoto to give them their instructions for the mile run. Most of the girls didn't really care. Amu had overheard them saying they were just going to walk most of it anyway since they weren't graded on the time.
"Alright class," Kyoto said, "As you know, we're going to do the mile run today. However, I noticed yesterday that some people were having some…issues with their partners."
Amu felt like he was looking directly at her and Ikuto. She looked down at the floor to avoid his gaze. I never did get reprimanded for kicking Ikuto last time… She had a feeling she was about to get yelled at now.
"So before we start running, I'd like to do a little activity called the Trust Fall. Now, I'm sure you've all seen or heard of it before. I know it sounds stupid, but we're going to try it anyway since we've got extra time today."
You've got to be kidding me.
"For the few of you who may not know," Kyoto continued, "it's very simple. All you have to do is stand a few feet in front of your partner, close your eyes, and fall backward. Then your partner catches you. Any questions?"
"I have one."
"What is it, Tsukiyomi?"
Amu looked over as Ikuto raised his hand. Wow, is he really that dumb that he doesn't understand how the Trust Fall works? Then she noticed the smirk on his face.
"What if your partner isn't strong enough to catch you?"
The other kids started to laugh and Amu's jaw dropped for a second, but she closed it right away. She started to shake and curled her fingers into a fist. Her mind couldn't even process the words she wanted to say to him just then.
Kyoto just shook his head. "This isn't about strength. You have to trust that your partner will catch you. On a real team, you have to trust everyone else out there with you to do their best just as they are trusting that you do yours. This is no different. If you doubt them, they will start to doubt themselves and things fall apart."
Wow, that was kind of deep. Not that it mattered. She didn't expect Ikuto to trust her and she certainly did not trust him.
"Let's get started. Boys you will fall first."
As Ikuto stepped a few feet in front of her, Amu started to wonder whether she should actually try to catch him or not. She did not trust him by any means, but she didn't want to piss Kyoto off again. Besides, did she really want to embarrass Ikuto like that in front of everyone?
The whistle blew for the boys to fall as Amu thought about how many times Ikuto had embarrassed her in front of everyone. She had her answer. Yes, yes I do.
He started to fall toward her so she took a step back and watched as his back smacked against the ground, followed by his head.
"Ow!"
Everyone looked over at them and Amu had to stifle her laughter as Ikuto got up holding the back of his head. She felt much better after watching that. Kyoto walked over, glaring at Amu.
"What happened, Hinamori?"
She cringed a little bit at the way he said her name. Like he knew exactly what happened.
"Sorry, sir. I just dazed off a little bit and I didn't even hear the whistle blow."
"She's lying." Ikuto said, wincing.
Amu shot a glare in his direction before turning back to Kyoto. But she wished she hadn't when she saw his face. He was staring into her eyes and she felt it down to her toes. And not in a good way. Those normally gentle eyes were ruthless at the moment.
"Your turn, Amu," was all he said before walking away.
Ikuto smirked. Shit. I still have to go. She knew even before she fell that he wasn't going to catch her. And why should he? She stood there waiting for the whistle to blow. Shit shit shit shit shit. It's a strange thing to have to force yourself to fall on your head. But she had to go through with it. She had too much pride.
The whistle blew and she let herself fall. She had half a mind to give Ikuto the middle finger in the process but she didn't need to get into more trouble. The last thing she saw before her head smacked the floor was Ikuto looking down at her with that god damn smirk on his face.
"Tsukiyomi! Hinamori! My office, after school, no exceptions!"
"What the hell is wrong with you two?"
Ikuto didn't respond. He couldn't look his teacher in the eye. He felt terrible for doing this to him, but what was he supposed to do? Amu let him fall first. She was staying just as silent as he was.
They were sitting in his office just outside the gym. Kyoto was leaning back against the front of his desk, arms crossed over his chest, staring at the two of them. He'd made them sit on two chairs next to each other in the middle of the room.
"Hinamori, I respected you for not being like the other squealing girls in the class, but it's only been three days and you're already causing me more trouble than they normally do."
Ikuto laughed to himself. He looked over and saw the red rise in her cheeks as she stared at the floor.
"And Tsukiyomi, I thought I was doing you a favor by partnering you with someone who would give you your space, but you haven't handled things much better than she has. I expected more from you now that you're a senior, but you've disappointed me."
Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. If there was one thing he hated, it was disappointing someone he respected. He really had acted childish.
"I do not want to have to switch partners around now that people are getting used to them. So we're going to get to the root of this problem right now and work things out. Let's start with yesterday. What happened during the sit-ups? Hinamori?"
Shit. The last thing I need is for him to think I'm a perverted little kid. I just said that to tease her.
He watched as Amu blushed even more. He started to get a little nervous. He couldn't lose Kyoto sensei as a friend. He'd been Ikuto's teacher the last two years. He'd given him advice and helped him out whenever he needed it. Now he was going to lose all respect for him.
Amu glanced over at him, looking into his eyes as if she was searching for something. He stared back, not knowing what she wanted. Her eyes widened a little bit before she turned back toward Kyoto.
"I…umm…" she started.
Oh god here it comes. He closed his eyes and put his head between his hands.
"Well…you see…" she hesitated.
Ikuto opened his eyes again and looked at her. What is she doing? He knew very well how much she hated him. So why hadn't she just spit it out already? She looked at him one last time.
"He told me I had weak arms so I decided to show him how strong my legs were."
Ikuto and Kyoto both raised an eyebrow simultaneously. What?
"He told you that you had weak arms?"
Kyoto was staring at her with an indifferent expression on his face. Amu swallowed hard trying to figure out what to say. She was going to say what really happened. That he had looked down her shorts to see her underwear. Reveal Ikuto as the pervert he was.
But then she had looked at him for a moment. Just a moment, but it was long enough for her to see the sadness in his eyes. It was the same face he had made while talking about how good a guy his friend was yesterday. Just like then, she didn't know what was going on in his head, but now he looked…afraid.
It was an emotion she'd never expected to see in him and for some reason, after seeing him like that, she couldn't bring herself to tell Kyoto the truth. But she couldn't make it seem like she randomly kicked him out of nowhere. Then I'd just sound crazy…Besides, what she said was kind of true anyway.
"Well…not exactly…but he made fun of my push-up."
Kyoto looked over at Ikuto, who was partially smiling to himself. Amu almost regretted not ratting him out after seeing him look so smug. But then he surprised her.
"It's true. I did make fun of her," he said, "so I deserved that kick."
It was surprising that he admitted it, yes, but then he looked over at her and those blue eyes stared into hers in a way that made her feel like the only person in the room. She felt like his face was right in front of hers and she couldn't breathe.
"I'm sorry, Amu."
His voice felt like it reverberated throughout her body and she felt a chill creep up her spine. But it was quickly replaced by heat and she tore her eyes away before it showed up on her cheeks. What the hell just happened to me?
"Well, Amu?"
It was Kyoto's voice this time and she looked up at him, feeling her body temperature return to normal.
"Do you forgive him?"
She was afraid to look back at Ikuto. She didn't want whatever that was to happen again. Once was enough to know that he had meant it.
"Y-yes."
"Good," Kyoto smiled, "Then let's start over right now."
Amu was a little nervous standing in front of Ikuto in the middle of the gym. She waited for Kyoto to blow the whistle. Would he catch her this time? Did she trust him? She felt her stomach start to knot up.
Why am I getting so nervous this time?
It wasn't like it would change anything if he didn't catch her. So what was she afraid of? Did she want him to catch her? Did she want to trust him?
The whistle blew. She closed her eyes, pushed the questions out of her mind, and fell backward.
Before she knew it, she felt hands grasp her shoulders and her body stopped as her head hit his chest. She felt him lean down. Felt his breath on her neck.
"Thanks," he whispered.
She opened her eyes as his hands moved down to her waist, lifting her to her feet. Her shoulders suddenly felt cold. He let go and she turned to face him. Bad choice. His eyes stared back at her and he flashed her a quick smile. Amu felt her breath catch.
"Alright switch."
She jumped at the sudden noise. What is wrong with me today?
Ikuto moved past her a few feet and she turned around to face his back. She could do this. It was like Kyoto said before, it didn't matter if she was strong enough. If he trusted her, she would catch him. She remembered the look he had given her in the office.
The whistle blew and she reached out to catch him. Her arms snaked under his and she wrapped them around his chest. She felt the weight bare down on her.
God, he's just as heavy as I expected.
But she was determined not to let him fall. With a small grunt, she moved her hands to his back and pushed him to his feet. When he was standing straight, she let go and doubled over trying to catch her breath.
I did it!
She looked up and he turned around. He looked almost as shocked as she felt. Then his expression changed and he smirked at her. She fought the blush rising to her face. Maybe she didn't mind the smirk as much as she thought.
"Nice catch," he joked.
"You too I guess," she tried to sound annoyed, but couldn't stop herself from smiling back at him.
A/N: First of all, I just have to say that Ikuto is sexy. Second, that I love you guys bunches and I can't wait to see if you love this chapter as much as I do.
That's it for now. It might be another two days until I can get the next chapter up since Harry Potter comes out Wednesday. I will work on the next one a bit tomorrow but I might not finish it til Wednesday night so you can probably expect it then.
Some more Rimahiko maybe? I think so…
