Thank you Snowrosex3, TsukiyomiAlikutominnawatusi, Kuro neko-chan, Ren'aiXhakumei, Panda., Your Secret Admirer, yuuka-hanamaya, Pop Dragon, Aznpride3x3, Tsuki's Angel, ArtGrrl Sunna-Bluecat, xhapily-randomx, Ayumi, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, rushi luvs anime8D, Kags21, HarunaNiwa073, ichiruki12741, Pikachuwolffox4, stukinmyskin, Born2beAngel, Diabolical Kitsutora, Random-Bubble159, Kaggie101, EVIL SUGAR NAZI OVERLORD, tsukiyomi arisa, xxxUtauloverxxx, sylvanicara, and ^ . ^ CHU! 3 for reviewing!

This would've come out earlier... except my computer got a virus so I was out for two days without computer D: It sucked. I ended up watching the Spongebob Sponge Bash thing the whole time since there was nothing better to watch on T.V. Don't think I can do that again...

Anyways, thank you guys so much for 2OO+ reviews! They all really mean a lot to me, since, once again, I'm too lazy of a butthead to reply to most of them.
... and also once again, no thanks to those who add me onto their alerts without reviewing and haters. I could do quite well without both of you guys.

Amu smiled as she watched Ikuto walk a little ways in front of her; the two of them headed back to work. It had been a little over a week since Amu had led the arrogant man into her house and helped look after him while he was sick. Now Ikuto looked and felt better than ever, all thanks to his secretary's gentle care.

As the two of them walked by a jewelery store, something in the display window caught Amu's eye. She immediately ran back in front of the window, practically pressing her face to the glass as she stared at the object.

"Amu!" Ikuto, who was a couple feet ahead of her, called out. "Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

Amu motioned for him to come over.

"Come on!" She said, as excited as a five year old who just saw some candy. Reluctantly, Ikuto made his way back to Amu in front of the window. Amu pointed at two of the items on a display.

They were two necklaces. One of them had a key hanging from it, the other a lock. Both were intricately desgined, as if custom made for a nonexistent person. Though the two of them were sold seperately, Ikuto could instantly tell that the two of them matched each other perfectly.

"Aren't they pretty!" Amu gushed. "Wait a couple of minutes. I'm going to go buy them."

She noticed a price tag dangling off of them. Her face fell instantly as she saw the prices. Only buying one of them could use up all her money, let alone buying both.

"Nevermind..." Amu said softly in a dejected tone. "Forget it."

She spun on her heel and slowly walked away. Ikuto didn't move for a couple of moments. He felt a stab of pity as he watched the small pinkette walking away.

Her eyes.. had this special sparkle when she was looking at the necklaces. She must really want them.

His thoughts slowly trailed back to necklaces. Then something clicked in his head.

Come to think of it... isn't her birthday coming up soon...? Maybe it wouldn't hurt if...

Amu all of a sudden came running back, pulling on Ikuto's arm.

"Come on!" She said. "I thought you said I was taking too long. Look at you!"

Ikuto chuckled and followed Amu's quick pace.

*****

As the two of them raced each other up the stairs to the main entrance of Easter's building, they saw something that neither of them expected. Waiting at the top of the flight of stairs was a man. Amu didn't recognize him and just passed him off as a strange man standing there, but Ikuto instantly knew who he was. He stopped in his tracks, glaring at the man and shifting slightly to take a protective stance in front of Amu.

"What do you want?" He asked harshly. The man smirked at Ikuto.

"Ikuto," He said, sadly shaking his head in mock dissapointment. "That's no way to talk to your father, is it?"

Ikuto's glare hardened.

"Stepfather," He corrected. "Anyways, you still didn't answer my question . What do you want?"

Amu stood close behind Ikuto, gaping at the conversation she was hearing.

Stepad..?

Ikuto's stepfather took a step forward. Ikuto instinctively took a step back, bumping into Amu and causing his stepfather to grin as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"I just came to let you know that you know that you left these in my office," He explained, dangling a set of keys in front of him. "Stupid boy, thinking you can forget the keys to your car and house in just any random place?"

Ikuto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's great," He said sarcastically, extending an arm forward to reach for the keys. "Now give them back."

His stepfather chuckled darkly.

"Wow," He said. "You're even more stupid than I thought. Have you already forgotten about our little conversation a few days back?"

Ikuto glared at him. His stepfather glared back. The two of them just stood there glaring at each other until Ikuto stopped with a resigned sigh.

"Fine," He muttered. His stepfather grinned.

"Good," He said approvingly. "I'll be back with the keys once I see some improvement."

With that, he passed by them as he walked down the stairs, eventually disappearing from both Amu and Ikuto's sight. Ikuto held his hateful glare until his stepfather was well away and after he had grabbed Amu's arm and dragged her into the building and up to Ikuto's office.

"I hate that man," He muttered, closing the door to his office. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" She asked. "And what was with that 'remember our convo' thing?"

Ikuto sighed again.

"I hate his existence," He explained, his voice full of hate. "And the conversation was from that day I told you to miss work. It pissed him off that I stopped working hard. He said that until everything I did improved, I wasn't allowed back in my house or in my car. Plus the fact that I forgot my keys in his office helped reinforce that. I hate how he has that kind of power over me. Makes me wish he would just drop dead now."

Amu thought for a moment.

"So that means..." She said slowly. "That you've got no where to stay for now?"

Ikuto nodded. Amu seemed slightly happier.

"Then you can stay at my house for a bit longer!" She exclaimed. Ikuto seemed a bit surprised.

"You would actually let me?" He asked. "I've already been a bother by staying there for a while now, haven't I?"

Amu shook her head vigorously.

"To be honest," She said quietly, ducking her head as she felt herself begin to blush slightly. "I sort of.. enjoyed the week that you were here. Tadase's never around, so I'm kind of lonely most of the time nowadays..."

Ikuto grinned.

"Glad to hear it," He said, trying to ignore the hidden meaning in what she said.

The only reason she wants me around is because she can't have Tadase around.

*****

"Come on!" Suki whined, bouncing slightly as she sat on Tadase's bed. Tadase rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Seriously," He said. "You're starting to sound like one of those snobbish singers that are all over every magazine."

Suki frowned.

"But I am a snobbish singer!" She complained. "And you know that. When the freak are you going to break up with Amu!?"

Tadase sighed.

"Just wait, okay?" He asked. Suki pouted.

"Why?" She demanded. "I don't like waiting."

"Because," Tadase said in a pained tone, as if they've had this argument many times. "Whenever I see her, it's always in an awkward location so I can't just go 'I'm breaking up with you.' out of the blue can I? You had the perfect opportunity, I'm just waiting for mine."

Suki frowned, but didn't complain further.

"Just make it quick," She muttered, flopping backwards on the bed.

Tadase stood up and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going" Suki asked.

"To go get you and Amu birthday presents," Tadase called over his shoulder. Suki sighed.

"Yeah fine," She muttered. "Go ahead, ignore me for some ugly pink headed freak."

***** night time :DD

Amu stretched as she and Ikuto walked out of the building.

"So tired," She yawned. Ikuto chuckled softly at her.

"But I didn't make you go run outside and get anything today," He pointed out.

"Exactly," Amu said. "You made me sit there for hours reading all those stacks of papers ofyour stuff to check for mistakes and everything. I'd rather walk back and forth from across the street than sit in a chair reading. A chair that's so soft and comfortable... I probably fell asleep in it a couple times and you just didn't tell me."

Ikuto grinned and silently walked with Amu back to her apartment, pushing her gently every now and then when she seemed to have fallen asleep in her tracks.

As soon as the two of them entered the small partment room, Amu quickly walked to the couch, falling on it in a half laying down / half sitting position.

"Help yourself to the fridge," She mumbled sleepily. "Too tired to eat..."

Amu's eyes suddenly fluttered closed and her arm fell limply at her side. Ikuto held a breath to keep himself from laughing. It took Amu what... a matter of seconds?.. to fall asleep. He walked over to the sleeping girl and carefully picked up her legs, placing them on the couch so half her body wasn't dangling off the edge.

Ikuto remembered the events of that morning. He took one last glance at Amu, her breaths coming out in soft sighs as she stayed sound asleep.

She's asleep.. and doesn't look like she's going to wake up for a while... maybe now I can go get her her present...

He wasted no time in running out of the apartment and all the way back to the jewelery store. There was no one else in the shop, and the worker seemed to be a bit surprised that someone would suddenly come running in.

"Can.. I help you?" He asked. Ikuto nodded.

"The lock and key in the window," He motioned toward the display. "I'd like to buy both of them."

The worker shook his head apologetically.

"Someone just bought the key," He said. "But if you like, you can still buy the lock."

Ikuto sighed, but nodded again. It was better than nothing. The worker smiled and walked over to the display to take out the necklace.

"For your girlfriend?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Ikuto said. It wouldn't hurt anyone if he told a small lie like that.. wouldn't it? The man smiled again.

"Well since it's for someone special," He said. "I'll give you a discount on it. Plus I'll wrap it and put it in a box for you. That sound good?"

Ikuto grinned.

"Thanks," He said gratefully.

After paying for the necklace, Ikuto placed the box carefully in his pocket and hurried back to Amu's apartment before his secretary could wake up.

... and little did he know that right before he entered the jewelery shop, a certain someone with blonde hair exited the same store, the key necklace tucked in his pocket.

**** The day of Amu's birthday

Amu swiveled in a chair boredly, crumpling various pieces of used paper she could find and entertaining herself by tossing them into the garbage. There was nothing to do today, almost as if Ikuto had avoided giving her any work to do today.

"Boo." A sudden voice from right next to her ear startled her. Amu jumped up, and saw that Ikuto was standing behind her, smirking.

"Idiot!" She screamed. "You scared the crap out of me!"

Ikuto chuckled slightly.

"So I'm guessing you don't wan't your birthday present?" He asked teasingly. Amu's face immediately brightened.

"You got me something?" She asked disbelievingly. Ikuto snorted.

"Remember?" He reminded her. "You went through my computer stuff and read through my calendar? I was going to get you something anyways."

Amu smiled sheepishly. Ikuto pulled the box with the necklace inside it out from inside his pocket. He handed it to Amu.

"Happy birthday," He said. "I saw how much you wanted it... so I went to go get both necklaces for you, but someone already bought the key one. So I could only get you the lock one..."

Amu's eyes lit up.

"Thanks!" She practically squealed. "I love it!"

"Amu-chan," a voice from behind them said. Amu and Ikuto turned around and saw Tadase standing there, smiling kindly at Amu. Amu smiled some more.

"Tadase!" She said happily. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

Tadase grinned.

"Actually," He said apologetically. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, but I thought I'd stop by quickly and give you your present."

He handed her a box, almost identical to the one Ikuto gave Amu, except his had a different design on the edges.

"Happy birthday!" Tadase said cheerfully. Amu opened the box and gasped. She pulled the present out and picked up the necklace Ikuto gave her, dangling both of them in the air in front of her.

One was the necklace with the lock on it, and the other ewas the key.

Care to review? :O

By the way, I need a new Shugo Chara! fanfic to read. I remember last time I went into the archives and subscribed to a whole bunch of stuff was spring break. Then I went in a couple of times last week and couldn't find anything that sounded interesting. You guys have anything to suggest?

Find one and I shall love you forever :DD

Review!