Author's Note: The sentences that are bolded are prompts that readers have sent in ^-^

"Couples in love tend to show more of themselves to each other than to any other person" - Nathaniel Branden.

Chapter 9: Glittery Penis

Tadase was probably the last person she expected to be on the other line when she answered the phone. They hadn't spoken since their day at the park and she was itching to talk to him. So, needless to say, she was more than thrilled to hear his voice on this warm evening.

She had her sliding door open halfway to let in the cool night breeze while she lounged at her desk.

"Well, anyways, what are you up to?" Tadase asked, sounding momentarily distracted by something.

Amu glanced at the computer sitting in front of her and fiddled with the mouse a bit. "Just looking at the prices of animals. My sister randomly decided that she wanted a pet, so I said I'd help her choose one."

Tadase laughed lightly at this, though Amu really didn't see what was so amusing. "Does she usually just act on impulse?"

Amu smiled. "Basically, yeah."

"And would you say she gets that from you?"

The pinkette actually took this into thought as she leaned back in her seat and inhaled the fresh air that flowed past her. "Nah, I'd say she's a lot braver than me, to be honest. It's kind of annoying, since I'm the older one, therefore I should be the braver one."

"That's just society talking." Tadase commented lightly, "You don't have to live up to everyone's standards when being yourself is clearly more than enough."

Amu smiled at this and bit down on her lip as a blush swept across her cheeks. Even though Tadase was one to enjoy small talk and their conversations tended to be full of awkward moments, she still enjoyed their talks.

Tsumugu chose this moment to stick his head in the doorway to check to make sure she and Ikuto weren't getting up to any monkey business, though it was painfully obvious by the running shower water that Ikuto was in the bathroom.

After a thorough search around Amu's room, Tsumugu watched her suspiciously as he slowly backed out of the doorway, half expecting Ikuto to be hiding nude somewhere.

"So um.. The reason I called is because I wanted to apologize for our picnic the other day," He began hesitantly, "I originally intended to spend the day with just you, but at last minute I got talking with Nagihiko and it became a group thing."

That's the reason he called? It made Amu wiggle happily in her seat, not realizing Ikuto had walked into the room in the middle of drying his hair. He watched in amusement while she continued to dance happily.

Tadase went on before she could respond. "And I'd still like to hang out with you..by ourselves, if that's not too uncomfortable for you."

"N-no, not at all!" she replied eagerly.

It only took a moment for Ikuto to put the pieces together and come to the conclusion that she was talking to Tadase. He silently shifted his gaze to the sliding door. Continuing to dry his hair with a towel, he inhaled the fresh air streaming in through the doorway as thoughts ran through his head, none of which he was willing to voice out loud since he knew perfectly well how Amu would respond if he were to say just what he thought of Tadase.

Ikuto looked back at Amu and frowned slightly. Distracting himself from the phone call occurring just feet away from him, he tried to remember what it was he came in here for. Oh, right, it was Amu's turn to shower.

"Amu," He spoke finally.

The pinkette didn't hear him. This made his frown become more prominent before he tried again.

"Amu."

There was still no response. She was too busy giggling away with Tadase to notice anything else. She probably don't even realize that her dad had come and snooped around her room just minutes before.

Ikuto dropped the towel from his head and slung it around his neck as he got an idea. He left the room without another word and closed the door to his room behind him.

"How about next Tuesday? Are you free then?" Tadase asked.

'Actually I'm quite pricey that day' Amu automatically thought in response. She glared in the direction of the house where Ikuto would be. He was rubbing off on her.

"Y-yeah, Tuesday sounds good-" her phone beeped once and she frowned. She had a call waiting. "Hey, Tadase-kun? Sorry, but I'm getting another call. Will I see you this Saturday at movie night?"

"Yeah, I should be there."

Amu beamed as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Great, then I'll see you then! Goodnight." She quickly answered the other line, hoping she hadn't missed the call.

"Bathroom's free." Came the silky smooth voice.

Amu whirled around to glare at her door, feeling more hatred burning in her chest than she ever had when it came to Ikuto. She slammed the phone down and threw open her door, pushing her way into Ikuto's room. "What is your problem?" She exclaimed with a quick flail of the arms.

"What did I do?" He asked with innocence that was so fake it might as well have been a model.

Amu's nostrils flared as she stomped further into the room.

Ikuto sat calmly on his bed. He was still straight-faced as he swung his legs over the bed to face her.

"You know what you did!" Amu scolded.

Ikuto just hummed. "Do I?"

"That phone call.." the pinkette said in a low voice.

"Ah, yes. I apologize for taking so long in the shower, but feel free to use the bathroom now."

"IKUTO! You know that you interrupted an important phone call!"

Ikuto remained unfazed as he watched her blow up and stomp all around his room as if she was wanting to break holes in the floor. It was nearly working, too.

"How was I supposed to know it was important?" He continued with the half-innocent, half-bored tone he had going on, which just added to Amu's anger.

She took a few deep, calming breaths to refrain from losing her head. Unfortunately, she had already lost it. Plus the facade Ikuto had on wasn't helping her cool off. She let out a noise of frustration before stomping back into her room. The door slammed furiously behind her.

Amu bit down on her lip angrily as she glared at the open window. Even she knew that she was overreacting. She really had no right to completely blow up like that. But now that she'd already made a fool of herself, she decided she'd might as well continue with it.

The door creaked open behind her and she was more than ready to start yelling again, but when she turned around, she found her dad walking in instead.

"I know he's in here. The door was closed. He must be here." he was chanting to himself as he slinkered throughout the room. Everyone was convinced he had officially gone crazy. He caught sight of the end of a sparkly baton that stuck out from under her bed and his eyes lit up as he grinned menacingly. "Ah-hah!" He grabbed the baton from under the bed, and once realizing what it was, frowned deeply.

"What, did you think that was me?" Ikuto's voice sounded from the doorway. He leaned against the doorframe. "Come on, I really don't think I have that glittery of a penis."

Tsumugu looked like he would snap something with his teeth. He left in a sulking shadow, still carrying the baton.

Amu sighed at her dad. He really had lost it.

She then seemed to remember Ikuto was there and turned to glare at him. "You! Get out."

"Amuuuu come on," he whined as she pushed against his back and forced him out into the hall before slamming the door.

There was silence between the two as they both leaned against different sides of the door. She could hear him sigh lightly, but he didn't move. He was probably well aware that Amu was waiting for him to speak.

Amu fiddled with her pajama bottoms. "...I-I'll forgive you only if you buy me a bucket of gummy bears." she finally stuttered out stubbornly.

Ikuto shifted against the door.

"And I would like to have some chocolate," she quickly added in as she folded her arms.

The doorknob started to turn, but Amu didn't move. When the door opened just a crack, the pinkette glanced over and made eye-contact with Ikuto, who was still sitting on the ground as well, reaching up with his hand on the doorknob.

"Gummy bears? Really?" he arched an eyebrow at her.

"You're going to judge me?" Amu shot back in a huff.

"Yes." he replied easily.

Amu opened her mouth to retort, but closed it again as she tried to hold back a smile and retain her angered expression. Ikuto noticed this and smiled gently at her, pushing the door open a little more.

"Can you love me again?"

Amu tried to bite back a smile as she inched away from the door to let Ikuto open it fully as he rose to his feet. He outstretched his hand and helped her up.

"I guess I could," she grumbled with fake reluctance.

Ikuto smiled and pulled her closer. Amu wrapped her arms tightly around his torso as she buried her face into his chest. The scent of his body wash was stronger than usual as she inhaled the pleasant smell. It was a known fact that Amu couldn't stay mad at Ikuto for long and vice versa. They relied on each other too much.

"The bathroom's still available for you to shower," Ikuto reminded quietly as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

Amu sighed and pulled away. "Right-o. I should get on that then."

Truth be told, she didn't want to end their hug. It was far too comfortable.

Ikuto scanned through Amus bookshelf while she gathered together clothes and a towel. Finding everything she needed, she sent one final look in Ikuto's direction. He was lying on her bed, already flipping through a shoujo manga she was almost too embarrassed to admit she owned. Watching him now made her palms start to sweat as her heart seemed to start thumping louder.

In a hurry, she scrambled to the bathroom and locked the door behind her as she took deep breaths, breathing in Ikuto's body wash that still lingered in the air from his shower.

Amu swallowed thickly as she felt her flushed cheeks. She must've been coming down with something.

She scoffed at this. Who was she kidding? She was in terrible danger of liking Ikuto whether she wanted to admit it or not.


Gaah I'm SO disappointed with this chapter, but it's to establish Amu's realization that she could in fact like Ikuto. I STILL HATE IT THOUGH. I promise the next chapter should be a lot better (hopefully) and I will add in more of the prompts that have been supplied. Thank you to all who sent in prompts! I thoroughly enjoyed them ^-^ (I don't need any more)