9th part! :)
I hope U enjoy! ^-^
And thnx to everyone who's read this far along!

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Amu made her way into the living room, holding 2 plates of freshly baked waffles for both her and Ami. Ami had asked her to make them the way her mom had, and she'd happily agreed. She loved brining back little mementos of her mom, like she was right there with her again.

Her mom had always been eccentric, just like her dad, and she loved them for it. They embarrassed her to no end, but she loved them. Her mom had always had a smile constantly on her face, glowing with enthusiasm. Amu missed her so much, but she always smiled when she thought of her.

Life had become so much more complicated since her mom had died. Her dad was always working, or taking care of Ami. She barely saw him anymore. She missed seeing him laugh and joke around, which he never did anymore after her death. He was like a completely different person, other than the fact that he still babied both her and Ami.

Amu took care of Ami while her dad worked, and she had to admit that sometimes it was hard. She really was a handful, so full of energy. She did want to help out though, make things easier on her dad. So she became the good big sister, the responsible one.

She blinked in surprise as she rounded the corner to her living room. Ami had her arms around Ikuto in a big hug and he had one arm around her as he looked fondly at her. It was so cute that she felt herself smile. But, he probably didn't want her to see him like this, did he? Something told her he didn't.

She backed up a few steps, and called out before walking back around the corner. "Ami-chan, waffles!" Ami was already off the couch, reaching for her waffles.

She grabbed a waffle off the plate with her hands, stuffing the whole thing into her mouth. "Amu-chan, how come you only made two plates? What about Ikuto onii-chan?"

She blinked in surprise, onii-chan...? Amu smiled, Ami really seemed to like Ikuto. "Ikuto isn't hungry right now, right?" She looked to Ikuto, hoping he'd back her up.

"I might be hungry if you fed me," He teased.

I guess he decided to take this opportunity to tease me instead. "No!"

He shrugged, "Guess I'm not hungry then."

Ami jumped onto the couch, snuggling up next to Ikuto. Amu moved forward to take a seat on the chair beside them. Ami grabbed her hand however, and pulled her down beside her, so she was cuddled between both Amu and Ikuto. Amu nibbled on her waffle slowly, aware of him watching her every move. Ami seemed happy though.

Ikuto swung his arm around Ami, and his hand brushed against Amu's arm. She felt herself tense from his touch, it felt like electric tingles on her skin. Was that normal? Because it was new to her. He ran his fingers up and down on her arm, tracing patterns. What's he doing? She looked over at him, but he wasn't even looking at her. He couldn't see her blush, of which she felt relieved. He was staring over to the side, but she didn't know what he was looking at. Is he even conscience of what he's doing? She highly doubted it.

"Amu-chan, can I watch TV?" Ami smiled up at me hopefully. This interruption seemed to bring Ikuto back to reality, and he looked over at Ami, but he didn't stop stroking Amu's arm, which made her blush deepen.

"S-sure Ami!" she squeaked out.

Ami turned towards her, she looked concerned. "Are you okay, Amu-chan? You're all red! You're not sick, right?"

No! How embarrassing... She could already visualize Ikuto smirking at her, before even looking at him. "I'm fine Ami..." she mumbled. She didn't look up as she said this to avoid his gaze.

She started to get fidgety because of this embarrassing moment and the fact that Ikuto was still tickling her arm, both of which caused her face to go completely red. "Can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" He looked amused.

"Touching my arm! Stop it!" Amu said, exasperated.

He shrugged, "Okay." He took his hand away from her arm.

Amu was surprised that he stopping this easily. This is too easy! He's going to do something weird! Sure enough, only a couple seconds later, he brought his hand up to her face and started caressing her cheek.

She didn't think it was possible for her face to get anymore red, but it happened. Why does he have to be so annoying? But, his hand does feel really soft, and that does kind of feel nice... She almost leaned into his hand, but quickly got a hold of herself again."H-hey!" She swatted his hand away. What was I thinking? I can't believe I almost did that!

Ikuto smirked at her, "For a second, you looked like you were enjoying it." His face was only inches away.

His face is too close... She averted her gaze from his. "Don't be stupid." Her heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to cover it with her hand to try and muffle the loud noise, which seemed so loud that everyone should have been able to hear it. But, that would be too obvious.

He closed his eyes, and a little half-smile appeared on his lips. "I can hear your heart beat, you know. It's loud, and fast."

B-but, no! That's not fair! No one's supposed to hear that! It's like cheating; he can tell everything I don't want him to know! And it's such a personal thing... It's something that only you're supposed to hear. She felt so vulnerable, like if he could hear her heart he could break it too.

He leaned closer, and placed his head on her chest. His ear was right on her heart, listening to every beat. She gasped quietly in surprise, "Wh-what are you doing?"

"I'm listening to your heart. I like the sound, it's nice." Ikuto snuggled closer to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Amu was glad that Ami was too absorbed in her television show to see this. She was tempted to shove him away, but just as equally tempted to hug him back. Her heart felt like it was in the centre of a hurricane, getting tossed around.

"G-get off me pervert," she tried to pry off his arms from around her, but he was too strong for her. And he knew it too.

He looked up at her with a little frown on his face. "No. I like it here." Ikuto rested his head over her heart again. Eh!? Wh-wh-what!? He can't just do that! Not that I can really stop him, but still!

She blushed yet again, and looked down to try and push him off for the second time. When she looked down, she saw a smile was on his face. And it was a nice, gentle smile, with no trace of his usual smirk. Amu just couldn't bring herself to try and move him anymore, he looked so... Cute, she thought, finally finishing the thought she'd always had repeated in her mind. It did embarrass her, though she was glad to finally accept it and stop using up energy trying to deny it.

She raised her hand and placed it on top of his head. She slowly ran her fingers through his hair. Yes... he's cute. And I like him.

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(Onii-chan = brother)


Thnx for reading! Please review!
3 Happily-random!