Alex's notes:

To be honest, I finished this chapter at the same time that I finished the last one back in November, and I remember having a good reason for not uploading it right away. However, after reading over it two days ago, I haven't been able to remember what that reason was… so I see no reason for holding it back any longer. *Shrug* I'll probably remember after I upload this, and then face-palm. Oh well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.

The Miracle Swap
Chapter 10: Gripping true reality. Part III
What is a hug?

And so, I went to sleep with surprising ease. It was an odd sleep though, because despite the fact that the day's events had been depressing until the last few moments, I had a strangely pleasant, yet short dream about the T-mobile dance, which then slowly faded into black…

Don't ask.

I'd figured before I drifted off into sleep, however, that this was probably going to be the last good sleep I'd have for awhile. Tomorrow would be the start of: Operation - Keep Easter at Bay, as Orrick called it, and although I wasn't the type to lose sleep over worrying about things, this was different. Normally 'worrying things' would consist of… things that the adults would had to deal with, not counting keeping my grades up, and although I'd try to share their worries, I had a habit of discarding them all during sleep. I guess you could say I was a very aloof type without much of a care, even in serious situations.

But this time, it involved something that had practically nothing to do with my family at all, yet was something that was more worrying than anything my family could come up with themselves. Guarding another person from an evil organization (when most people have no clue about their malicious doings, might I add) wasn't something we had to deal with before. Perhaps I wasn't losing sleep because it hadn't sunken in yet that I was now technically the protector of Amu, especially since her Charas had been taken away and she was now completely defenseless, or I was probably just plain tired from the days events. Either way, I was curious to see what would occur tomorrow… well to be honest, tomorrow sounded more interesting than the remainder of the day, because I had that Christmas concert event thing to go to. But interests are subject to change.

"Hey… Hey, Ikuto…"

Who would possibly dare wake me at this hour? It was practically midnight! MIDNIGHT. I was tired, and didn't feel like being bothered. Yet still, someone felt that it was necessary to poke my cheek. But, due to my drowsiness, I couldn't quite make out who was speaking.

"Shut up… go back to sleep…" I managed to mumble, struggling to speak with coherence. There was a short pause, and then another poke of the cheek.

"Ikuto…?"

"Stop touching me and let me sleep."

Another pause.

"B-but, you're living room's so dark and creepy, and it's making weird noises… can't I stay in here for a bit?"

I still hadn't opened my eyes, and was in the process of trying to go back to sleep, but I somehow found the will to raise my hand and wave the person away casually as I replied sleepily: "Sure… do whatever you want…"

"… Really?"

"Yes. Now shut up and let me sleep!" I barked grouchily, giving into a sudden temptation to turn away from the direction of the voice. Then there was finally silence, or at least for a moment until there was a soft thump noise near my desk, and then the bed creaked and there was a short movement, which I disregarded for the time being, numb with exhaustion. 'The time being,' being for about thirty seconds after I finally registered that someone bigger than Yoru or Orrick had taken refuge near me, and shortly after this realization I shot up to actually attempt to understand what was going on instead of brushing it off. To my surprise (Well okay, it didn't really surprise me, nothing could surprise me anymore after today) Amu sat next to me, leaning against the headboard of the bed, her arms wrapped comfortably around her legs as she stared at me with a bit of frustration.

"… What." I asked with an immense amount of annoyance in my tone. I wasn't the kind of person who enjoyed being woken up at this hour… but she remained silent, pouting a bit more.

"What?" I asked again, a little louder this time. Her expression was a full fledged frown now, and she pointed to my room's door.

"Do you honestly expect me to sleep on the couch in such conditions?"

I blinked a few times, trying really hard to understand what she was talking about. Conditions? My living room had conditions? Well, I wasn't aware, despite the fact that I had fallen asleep in it many times before.

"… What?" Wow, Ikuto. Don't you sound smart right now, repeating the same word three times in a row…

Amu sighed and closed her eyes as she rubbed the temples of her forehead, as if what she was saying was supposed to be painstakingly obvious… which it should have, since this was my house after all, but I still didn't get where she was going. "Look, I appreciate you letting me stay here and all, but if your house is haunted you're supposed to tell the guest who's staying over so they can... brace themselves… " She trailed off for a minute as she stared back at the door, and then remained silent. I sighed, now fully awake.

"How is my house haunted?"

She looked back at me with a surprised expression "You haven't ever heard that noise at night!? How do you sleep through it!?"

"What noise?"

"That crushing noise coming from the kitchen…"

I stared at her for a moment, taking in her stupidity. The moment she'd said 'crushing noise coming from the kitchen,' a light bulb went off in my head, and I remembered.

"The freezer."

"The freezer?"

"Crushing ice."

"Crushing… crushing ice!?"

"Yes, Amu. In this day and age, most freezers have their own ice-makers; it freezes the water from the dispenser and crushes it to make ice cubes." I spoke slowly, treating her as though she was an elementary student who couldn't understand this simple concept. She stared at me for a few moments, her golden eyes seeming to emit some sort of light even in the darkness of the room. She smiled at me, which caused a feeling of unease to come over me, for more reasons than one…

"I knew."

I blinked. "You knew…?"

"I knew that. I was just hoping the conversation would wake you up a bit." She grinned.

"I hope you have a good reason for waking me up," I said, raising an eyebrow but other than that remaining inexpressive.

"You and Utau have very cute baby pictures."

I narrowed my eyes slightly, contemplating on what she just said. Pictures…? "Wait, you went through our album? What, are you going through our stuff now?"

She frowned and looked the other way. "No! It's just that when I was trying to find out where that crushing sound was coming from, I stumbled upon it when I checked the closet. That's all!"

"Uh-huh…" I nodded as if I understood, but honestly didn't. "And this matters because…?"

"Well, no reason, really…" She murmured, refusing to look in my direction.

"You wouldn't have brought it up if it didn't mean anything."

"W-w-well, that may be true, but…" Amu shifted slightly, and then noticeably stiffened. Where was she getting at with all this babbling so late at night? "… I guess I was just… a little jealous of you…" She spoke so quietly, I could barely catch onto what she said.

"There's nothing to be jealous of. Every family has them, right?" I asked naively, not quite prepared for the response I was to receive.

"Ikuto, you take a lot of things for granted," She looked up with me; frown still intact and suddenly seemed serious. "No, every family does not have a family album. You just assume that everything's quaint with the world all the time, but how much do you really know?" I listened to her words, but without thinking about them quickly replied –

"Huh, with such a self-righteous attitude it sounds like you're talking about yourself." I said solemnly, causing a look of sadness to sweep across her face.

"You're right. I don't have any." She said flatly.

"Why?" I asked, sounding uninterested. Though, this seemed rather familiar.

She shrugged, "I burned them."

I stared at her for a minute, lack of expression still intact. But to be frank, I suddenly remembered that night at the party when I was speaking to Miki. She had mentioned something about Amu burning or cutting all the pictures that included her father… did she…

"Regret it?" I found myself saying that last part as I thought it, my curiously getting the better of me.

"O-of course not!" She suddenly shouted, eyes widening, "What am I saying – why would I be jealous of someone like you anyways, the pictures needed to go! They were in the way – and besides you're -" She stopped when Lieu, who was normally a deep sleeper, hopped down from his scratching post and onto Amu's head after being awoken by her mini-rant. Amu in turn let out a shriek and began trying to pull the cat off her head. Instead of assisting her, I merely watched for awhile, as it was amusing watching my cat unintentionally feud with Amu. Once it got boring (well, not really boring. Just painful to watch) I snapped my fingers and Lieu bounced off her head, shaking in the process. Amus hands were still on her head after he had descended, she grumbled gibberish for a moment as she tried to get her hair back in order.

"Stupid." I mocked plainly.

"You're stupid! Why didn't you tell me you had a cat!?"

"You should have noticed him last time you were here. Stupid."

"Rrrg!" She silenced herself in defeat, and I couldn't help but chuckle. It was nice seeing Amu back to normal. For now, that is. I couldn't help but wonder why she had suddenly snapped back to being her usual self. It was strange, because Ami was the whole world to Amu, and to suddenly see her in her normal stage of mania was bizarre. Had Utau said something to her that I hadn't noticed…?

Since I'd turned my head away for the time being as I thought, I noticed a yellow egg placed on my desk, unhatched and seeming dormant.

"At-uh-Ikuto…" I turned my head back in her direction. Now, her face was noticeably pink as she outstretched a hand towards me. I put on a confused expression, to which she quickly drew back and looked the opposite direction. Weird girl. Cute, but awfully weird.

"Y-y-you should… do that more often…"

"Less subtlety, please."

"You should, you know… laugh a little more. It makes you look less freakishly serious!"

"You sure do change topics a lot, you know that?" I quickly changed the subject, "What's with that egg over there?"

"Oh…" She stared at it for a moment before replying, furrowing her brow, annoyed. "Well, along with Ran Miki and Suu, I also have a yellow egg, but it never hatched. I didn't want to leave it alone at my mom's house, so I brought it with me…"

Realization suddenly struck me – so that was Dia. The egg that never hatched because Amu's radiance was never strong enough, and represented her wish to sing or something like that… it was sad that I knew more about Amu than she did herself.

"But you know, I think I already know what it represents," she said, peaking my interest. "Maybe something to do with my love for music. Ever since I started working for Easter, the colored dulled, so I actually think it's gotten further away from hatching. I used to want to be a singer, but joining Easter stopped me in my tracks on that dream. But whenever I sang to Ami, it always brightened up for a bit…" she stopped at the mention of Ami, her cheeriness dropping. I decided to change the subject again, but only slightly this time.

"Reminds me of me, kinda."

"Don't be conceited."

"No, it really does," I leaned my back against the headboard of the bed, my hands behind my head as I stared at the ceiling. "When I was little, my uncle taught me everything I know today about instruments and how to play them."

"That sounds weird since your dad seems to hate instruments so much."

"I guess. But at the time, it was just me, my uncle, and Utau because our parents were off somewhere, so it wasn't all that weird. I really killed the fun of playing instruments for myself."

"I don't really wanna hear this story anymore," Amu suddenly said, flopping herself down on the bed and flipping on her side away from me.

"Wha- hey! Why is it that when I'm talking, no one feels the need to listen!?" Silence followed my question, and then the sound of Amu's fake snoring. Feeling playful, I smacked her with a pillow, but she surprisingly didn't fight back. She just snatched the pillow and wrapped it around her head.

"Amuuuuu…"

"…"

"…Amu?"

"…"

"Hey," I tugged at the pillow she had firmly wrapped around her head, "Headquarters to Major Tom… come in Tom. Tom, do you read me?"

"Ikuto; just shut up."

"Four, three, two, one…"

"Ikuto!"

"Earth below us, drifting falling…"

"Rghh…" She curled into a ball and quieted down, refusing to speak after I mumbled a few more lines from that old Major Tom song. I continued staring down at the girl who was so tightly curled up into a ball, suddenly having hushed. I didn't pay any mind to that last bit though, since I assumed she'd somehow fallen asleep. I was more focused on what Yoru had mentioned earlier.

Even someone level-headed could get confused then intrigued by simple matters, I was no exception. Though at the moment, I was more confused than anything, trying to separate my thoughts of Amu into organized categories of what I was feeling towards her. There was a lot to sort through, annoyance, friendship, protection, and then one Yoru had added today, 'love.' How I was beginning to loath that word. Note that I don't mean the meaning of the word, just the word itself. I mean really, the word 'love' is so commonly used for everything, it felt like it had lost its special meanings from since when I was little. Now it just seemed to mean something like; "I love those shoes," or whatever. Wasn't there a better, more attractive word to use?

As I was going through these sorts of things in my storm of a mind, I suddenly realized I had unconsciously slipped a lock of pink hair between my fingers, and had been twirling it around as I thought, with my head resting on my other palm. I mentally slapped myself, not because twirling her hair was a bad thing, but because it might wake her up. But after thinking about it, I realized I didn't care, and resumed fidgeting with her hair as she seemed to sleep. I smile crept up on my features as I looked on at her position. She looked like a puppy trying to cover its ears with its paws, the pillow firmly wrapped around the front her head as she held it there, and I could picture her face rather scrunched in frustration, forcing her eyes shut. She really did have an irresistibly cute charm about her, and I was very impressed with my amount of self control. Orrick had really come in handy after all…

Deciding it was time to sleep, I gave the lock of hair one last swoosh between my fingers before dropping it, and watching it fall upon her shoulder again. No sooner that I had done this, my peace and tranquility was interrupted by a noisy snuffling sound coming from beneath the pillow that was wrapped around Amus head. Tilting my head slightly in confusion, I waited until the sound emerged from the pillow a few more times before finally asking her what was wrong.

"…Nothing…" Came her distressed reply, just the short moment of her voice's emergence riddled with near-hysteria.

It was like a natural impulse, like a reflex, or maybe just an order from my constantly correct conscience when I reached out and gently took hold of her petite waist, pulling her in with one swift movement. I was taken aback from my action, surprised I had thought on impulse this time around rather than planning, and soon wondered if I had just jinxed myself about Orrick. I silenced that thought in my mind and refocused on Amu, who had suddenly burst into a wiggling frenzy.

"W-w-w-what are you d-doing, Ikuto!?" She squeaked, any previous feelings of sorrow seeming to have vanished from her qualities as she tried to wriggle her way out of my grasp, but of course, she could not, and knowing her she would just give in eventually.

"This is a hug. Have you not experienced one before?"

"NO! I –"

"Oh, you haven't?" I interrupted her, a smirk quickly moving across my face, "Allow me to educate you on the matter then," I murmured, my breath rolling over her shoulder as I gave her a playful squeeze. She growled, slightly deterred from her squirming. With my arms clasped firmly around her stomach, I felt her heartbeat increase, while I, on the other hand, stayed cool and collected.

"Better now?" I asked her after she'd finally stopped trying to escape her inevitable fate and had forced herself to relax. She merely made a short scoff of protest, making me rather irritable. Here I was trying to help her, and she was giving me such a cold shoulder, unveiling of her thoughts.

"Amu… say something. Please?" I whispered, entertained by her shuddering as a reaction. She remained quiet for another moment before finally speaking.

"Hey, Ikuto…" she began, her voice a little more stable than before.

"Mmm?"

She suddenly flipped over to face me, revealing a slightly puffy-eyed girl with a serious expression. "Do I annoy you?"

I raised an eyebrow, "No, what gave you that idea?"

She averted her gaze from me slightly, "I'm just making sure…"

Silence fell between us until I braved to ask the question that had been burning in my head for the past few minutes, "What's this really about, Amu?" I wanted her to be more honest. Not only with herself, but with me, too. If that meant I had to step over a few lines that had once been prohibited, then so be it. Instead of replying, she tucked her head into my chest and remained silent. So did I. I had all night, and would wait.

"Ikuto… I worked so hard so make it up to Ami for not being a good sister, but… I failed anyway, and was so caught up in it all that I wasn't even able to tell the difference between the real Ami and a substitute. I wasn't able to make it up to her…"

"What could you have done? It's not like you were aware of the reason Ami and your dad left. Stop blaming yourself."

"But it is my fault! If I hadn't been such a jealous mess before, this wouldn't have happened!"

"So you're saying you're the reason why things have turned out the way they have?"

She was quiet after that, and I continued. "Amu… just shut up. The only thing you've ever done wrong was blaming yourself for anything." I heard her take a deep inhale, and then she exhaled deeply. She remained still for a few moments, silent, probably still taking in what I've just said. I wondered if I'd calmed her down now… and then wasn't quite sure if the sound of her beginning to sniffle again was a 'yes' or 'no' to my question. Either way, I saw it as progress. I didn't mind that she was wetting my shirt with her tears, or that she was hugging me so tightly that I could barely breathe. For the moment, I only cared about Amu, and nothing else.

Alex's notes:

Hmm, I would have written more, but this seemed like the best note to end it at. I found this chapter sweet, did you?

To be honest, I had fallen out of love with not only Amuto, but S.C itself for awhile back in November, and just couldn't write about it after writing this chapter. :c I think it happened around the time S.C Party came about, the whole concept of everything that was going on in both manga and anime bored me, and when I'm bored with something… ugh. So, I'm only just getting back into the groove of things S.C-related now that it's completed.

I'm not sure how often I'll update this particular story, since I have around four new ideas for other story's running through my head that I kinda want to try out, two of which are also Shugo Chara. Most of them I've kinda sorta already started on, but there's no outline on them, and when I have no outline I get afraid that I won't be able to finish it because I don't know where I'm going. So, I think I'll start working on those...

Anyway, I just finished the biggest project of the school year in my English AP class, so I feel a bit freer. We'll see what happens!
Also, please review, and give me your opinions! I noticed so many people favoriting and author-alerting like there was no tomorrow, yet not as many reviews. u_u Don't get me wrong, those things make me happy, but most of my fellow FF-Authors know that nothing beats a review, right? ;D

Later!