The Art of Seduction by lionetspirit
Chapter 10: Classes Begin
Amu sat on the floor with her knees up, only a few feet away from the flickering television screen before her. In her right hand, she clasped a tissue, crumpling it as she watched the news.
"On Saturday, Ikuto Tsukiyomi was spotted outside Daiei supermarket with, who he claims to be, his girlfriend. As we all know, the rising international star has never publicly announced any relations with anyone, asserting that he wanted his focus to be on future career goals, not and I quote, 'meaningless love affairs.' Here's the recording if you've missed it this week."
The reporter's face was replaced by the too-familiar-scene. Ikuto stood with a clearly red-faced Amu trapped beneath him. Ikuto's silky voice made Amu's knees shake. "Yes, I was going to wait to make a public announcement but I just couldn't wait any longer. This is Amu Hinamori." A moment of silence passed. "My new girlfriend."
The report's voice cut into the scene. "Who is this Amu Hinamori? And what will this mean for Tsukiyomi's career?"
Amu's hand found the remote and with her pulse thundering hard against her ears, she pressed the 'power' button.
At the very instant the television turned off, Amu's phone rang. Not recognizing the number, she picked up her cellphone and gasped at the voice.
"Ikuto?! What do you want?" Her eyes widened. "No. I'm not coming. I don't care if you're there every day. I am not coming to see you!"
With that, Amu flipped her phone shut but she couldn't fight the knot in her stomach. Something bad was coming, but she was sure that if she hung around Ikuto, it'd only be worse.
Meanwhile, Yoru was relaxing in Ikuto's apartment.
"How about starting the weekly pickings early this year nya?" Yoru leaned lazily across the black leather couch in the living room. He raised a hand to filter the afternoon light that streamed through the ceiling length windows that made up the fourth wall of Ikuto's apartment.
Ikuto unloaded the cans of cat food from the large paper bag on the floor. "No."
"But Ikuto," Yoru whined, turning onto his stomach as he propped his head up with two hands. "It'll help make you feel better nya, get you out of that slump."
"I'm not in a slump."
"You haven't even looked at a girl since…" Yoru was silenced by Ikuto's glare. "I just mean that ever since you met that no-good Amu, you've only gotten yourself into a mess."
Ikuto's glare softened slightly as he turned to look at the can of cat food he was holding. He spun it around, marveling at the label before Yoru interrupted.
"See, this is what I'm talking about nya!" Yoru slapped the can out of Ikuto's hands. It fell on the ground with a clang and rolled away.
Ikuto sighed. Lifting himself from the ground, he said to Yoru, "Take care of the rest of this. I'm going to take a nap."
"Ikuto, nya." Yoru watched the retreating figure in concern. "What happened to that rule of yours? Look after yourself only. Just forget Amu and that stupid slap! If she can't appreciate how much trouble you put yourself in to help her, then don't help her!"
"You understand, right Yoru?" A hush fell.
Yoru understood that look in Ikuto's eyes, a look that he hadn't ever personally seen on Ikuto himself, but saw often enough in the girls whom Ikuto was with.
"Ikuto…to Amu…?" His feline jaw hung open, and his eyes almost popped out of his sockets.
Ikuto abruptly turned around so that his back was facing Yoru. "They want her. Easter wants her. I've already called her but she won't listen."
With the start of classes, Amu almost forgot about the "real" world – the world she'd have to face when it came time to move her things out of her apartment. She certainly forgot about the mysterious call from Ikuto.
Since the day she met Rima Mashiro and Tadase Hotori, she had not seen anyone, except Kukai again. That, she was grateful for. She'd often hear horror stories about the Prince's sudden outbursts that happened whenever Hotori and Nagihiko passed by any crowds of girls. He'd spurt out something like, "I am no Prince. I am King. King of the world!" and then order Nagihiko to "fetch" him some food, or to give him a massage.
Nagihiko, being the kind and pleasant person he always was, simply did what Hotori-san said with a smile and hoped that with the one task, the princely figure would revert back to the somewhat shy and very well-mannered person that he was when they had first met.
As for Nadeshiko, she was having her own handful of problems with the human doll. In many ways, the leading male and female of the honors group were similar. Mashiro, who was filthy rich compared to most of the students at the academy, had never lifted a finger to do anything for herself in her life. And upon ordering Nadeshiko around, the sophomore Queen would promptly launch into a full-fledged, top of the lung scream of instructions on how to be a proper lady. Kukai said he was surprised Nadeshiko hadn't pulled out her Naginata yet.
Amu remained doubtful over what Kukai said, but still felt all the more grateful for having him around.
But that gratefulness would soon fade after hours of running around while dragging a car tire behind her – which was what Amu happened to be doing at the moment.
"In that case, you should be glad I'm not anything like Hotori-san either," Amu grumbled.
"What was that, Trainee?" Kukai raised his hand to his ear in an exaggerated motion. "Another car tire, you say?"
Amu growled, "Kukai!" Really, as sweet as Kukai could be sometimes, which he truly was over the past few days, he was hell to deal with when they were training.
"Alright, Amu." He removed the ropes around her arms, pulling them over her head behind her. For a moment, Amu was scared that Kukai would pull out another car tire from out nowhere, but instead, he led her to a bench, much to her relief.
"I'm sure the football team is missing their equipment." Kukai handed her a bottle.
Sweating, she gladly took the bottle of water and didn't even have time to blush as Kukai wiped her face and neck with a cool damp towel. If anything, she had a greater inclination to kill him at the moment.
"This isn't all pointless. You might think I'm just doing this to you just – "
"To torture me," Amu interrupted.
Kukai grinned. "Okay, well I was going to say, just because I wanted you to be my soccer partner."
"Huh?" She stared at him as he intently wiped her forehead without looking at her.
"I see potential, plus it'd be an excuse for you to leave campus." He took the bottle of water and poured some of it onto the towel. After wringing it out, he brought it back against Amu's feverish neck.
"Eeek!" Amu jumped up with a shiver, suddenly conscious of what he was doing. She was all too thankful her face was still flushed from all the running.
Kukai immediately gave in to another fit of laughter. "Oh my god Amu. I don't think I've ever laughed this hard in one day!"
Amu glared, crossed her arms, and plopped back down against the bench, but really she was just a little pleased. And offended.
"But seriously now, Amu." He gently nudged her hand and when there was no response, suddenly crouched in front of her. "There's a good reason to all of this, besides training you as my partner." He wiped her right cheek and brought the towel behind her burning ear.
Amu grabbed Kukai by the wrist and looked him in the eye, voice a little edgy. "Really? I'd like to know what it is."
For a moment, they remained in silence. Kukai with a hint of dull amaranth on his cheeks, quite possibly from the workout, and Amu with a returning though blank stare. At this angle, Kukai's eyes were as translucent as real emeralds, and it was at this observation that Amu abruptly released her grip and pulled the damp washcloth out of Kukai's hand.
"Thanks, but I can do this myself." She looked away.
Kukai looked at his empty hand while still kneeling in front of Amu.
"Oh, right." He spoke with an immediate grin, but he wobbled a little on his knees before propping himself up with a hand.
"So, the reason?"
"Right." Kukai murmured as he sat beside Amu. "I thought it was pretty obvious."
Amu's hand shook slightly as she wiped away the remaining traces of sweat. "Well, make it more obvious" she spoke in a way usually reserved for her Cool-and-Spicy character.
"It'll help you get away from the fangirls, for one thing. " Kukai's tone was playful. He was leaning against his arms and was facing up at the sky. His legs were crossed with one resting on the other at the ankle. "You gotta relax a bit, you know? Chill out a little Amu. Seiyo will teach you that."
"Yeah. The world renowned school will teach me, of all things, to 'chill out'. Especially when I've got jealous girls after me."
Kukai gave her a big slap on the back, causing Amu to fall forward and yelp.
"Yep. Enjoy the ride. Or chase, or whatever."
As she recovered, she hacked: "Really, Kukai. You're too much to keep up with sometimes."
"Well get used to it Freshie." His head rolled to the side to face her and he offered a wink. "Cuz you've gotta be better than that to fend off the rabid fan girls."
Amu paled. And the memories of that day came flooding back.
It was only four days ago since she got her school uniform. Six days since she slapped Ikuto. It seemed that two days wasn't enough time for the general public to forgive Amu for her horrible sin.
After she and Kukai left the other Guardians and Honors members, Amu had chased her sempai all the way across the campus, to the majestic front gate. Kukai had purposely led her there so that he could accompany her back to her apartment to help her begin moving her things.
There wasn't a place for Amu to stay at yet, but Kukai reasoned that they could store some of her things at the Sophomore's Royal Garden for a little while. And since there was only a week before the start of classes, Amu wanted to get started on emptying out her old apartment.
The mob of women at the front gate had other ideas.
Amu called her three best friends and pleaded for them to bring her at least her essentials – a few days worth of clothes, a toothbrush, a picture of her family, her phonebook, her contacts case and her glasses.
"Amu-chan, where will you live desu?" Amu could almost cry at the tone Suu was using.
"Don't worry Suu. It's not like I'm homeless out on the streets or something. I'm safe at school. This school is probably safer than any other school in the world. Did you know that they keep the students on campus so no one can kidnap them?"
"Wahh!" Suu immediately wailed. "Kidnap?! Why kidnap?"
Miki swiped the phone from Suu. "Genius Amu. Real genius." Amu heard muffled voices in the background. Of Ran suddenly wailing together with Suu, squealing "Amu-chan's never coming back!"
"Don't worry!" Amu said more urgently, clasping the phone in her hand. "I'm at Yaya's dorm right now. She's Kukai's friend. I'll just be staying here a few days until I can sneak out and get the rest of my stuff."
"I hate Tsukiyomi," Miki growled. "I hate him for causing you all this trouble."
"But he was really cute," Ran chirped up before suddenly grumbling, "I mean, I hate him too!"
Amu could just imagine Miki sending Ran that glare.
Suu blabbered from beyond the line, "Wh-why does Amu-chan h-have to get involved with such f-famous p-people? Famous p-people are trouble, desu."
"I didn't know he was famous." Amu said defensively.
"It's not Amu's fault. It's Tsukiyomi's. I will maim him for making us break our promises to your Dad, Amu. "
"I bring out the violence in you, Miki." Amu spoke lightly. And with that, their conversation had concluded.
During the next few days, Amu had kept a low profile, but no matter what, unfortunate incidents kept occurring – a hole in her left shoe, hair dye on her comb that she didn't notice until after she had accidentally streaked her hair orange, a missing eraser, an exploding pen.
Yet somehow, it hadn't stopped her from rising as the "Cool and Spicy" girl. No one saw the hole in her shoe. When she streaked her hair orange, she had the added title of "Stylish" to her name. The next day, some of her classmates came in with streaked hair.
Amu wondered how on Earth she became instantly popular. And what was wrong with these people who thought she was worship-worthy.
She had wandered her way around on her first day, getting lost again, before luckily bumping into Kukai.
With a simple "I knew you'd be lost," Kukai pulled Amu's still half-sleeping body to Speech101 at 9:00 a.m. By the time she got there, Kukai had already worked a full blush of her cheeks from all the running and she was completely awake. But her hair needed extra work.
"Geez, Amu. You're such a mess. I might have to give you a wake-up call from now on." He swept a lock of hair away from her eyes with a 'tsk,' handed her a comb Yaya had ran out to give him for Amu, and shoved the rosette into the room. Kukai strolled away in disappointment with the words, "What a Nagi thing to do," upon his lips.
Feeling completely lost, Amu nearly screeched "Kukai!" before stopping herself. She stood in front of a classroom of gaping students, calmed her racing heart and said, with a bored look on her face, "Hey." They continued staring at her with gaping mouths, but she leaned back against her seat, resting her head against one hand while bringing the other to comb through her hair.
Whispers ran through the room of the unanimously decided "Cool kid" of the class.
"She knows the Jack? Last year's debate team champion and the next political figure in training?"
"And they're so familiar with each other!"
"She's so cool!"
"And spicy! Just look at that hair."
"Oh my gawd. I totally love her hair."
"She's rockin' it."
Amu didn't move. She didn't know what to do and she stayed completely blanked out even when the professor repeatedly called her name.
"Amu Hinamori!" He said in frustration. "Will you please introduce yourself already?"
She bit her lip. She didn't want to go to the front of the room. "Do I have to?"
She didn't move her hand, afraid that her neck would be too weak to support the weight of her head. Because, at the moment, everything felt weak.
"Yes!"
She looked up, head still, body motionless. "Well, we've already met."
"Totally rockin' it." She heard a guy whisper behind her. Luckily for her, he had caught the professor's attention and Amu was left off the hook.
The rest of her first day proceeded similarly. It was in Art101, Intro to Drawing, where she was missing an eraser. Not wanting to seem unprepared for her first day, Amu decided to wing it. She remembered back when they were kids, Miki had brought her out to draw the New York City skyline. Ran had stolen her eraser after she yelled at her younger sister for always taking Amu away.
Miki had done the most beautiful drawing by first shading the entire page in different tones of gray, and then using her fingers to smudge the charcoal just the way she wanted. "And finishing touches with a hard pencil to outline the sharp edges." Amu whispered to herself.
By the end of it, the class was clapping their hands and the professor said she would be exempt from Art101 if it was his choice. But since it wasn't, she'd have to go along with the class and hand in the assignments just to get credit.
"Show-off." A redheaded girl muttered. As the rest of the class rolled their eyes, threw their erasers at her, or defended Amu, Amu lowered her head and wished she could just be like any other student in the class.
She'd much rather stay quiet and unknown. Sit in her corner of the room and enjoy drawing without people commenting or watching.
By the time Amu had reached English Lit, she realized that her pen had exploded in her bag, leaving a mess at the bottom of her briefcase bag. Her stack of loose leaf paper soaked up the blue ink on the left edges. Since most of the paper was still useable, she took out a sheet for her in-class assignment on an introductory piece about herself.
When she brought it up to read with trembling hands, the class loved the inkblot "design" and asked her where they could buy the paper. And when they found out she was from the U.S., the students rushed up to ask her about the newest fashion, popular movies and music.
One guy casually wrapped an arm around her shoulder and asked if it was true what they said about how Americans greet each other.
"And how's that?" Amu said a little aggressively despite her pink cheeks, not at all appreciating the sudden contact.
"With a kiss." He leaned forward and Amu, in full panic, stepped to the side, causing him to trip.
"Ugh, do you want a slap too?!" Amu couldn't help but screech, cheeks reddening just as the remembrance of the kiss.
The classroom went completely silent for a few minutes. Before a low chattering quickly built up into a clamor.
"That have-it-all model had it coming!"
"Hell yeah!" joined another chorus of guys.
Amu expected some sort of scratching or slapping or punching to take place among the girls. But some of them grinned, mouthing a silent thank you for teaching Ikuto a lesson. The others just appreciated the fact that there was one less girl to compete with for the model's charms.
The first few days of class went well for the most part, aside from the professors she offended. While Amu was unintentionally building a reputation for herself, her classmates surprisingly didn't give her a hard time. Amu was already hiding from the general public and had suspected she would have to do so at school too.
Compared to the life waiting for her outside, her Cool-And-Spicy character was the least of her concern. In fact, she almost reveled in it. Loving it for, if nothing else, the way it always got her out of a situation. Even if it wasn't completely her, it was better to be seen that way, than to be seen bobbing open her mouth with nothing to say.
During those four days of class, Amu had stayed with Yaya, who had an odd habit of being overly possessive with her sweets. Amu finally understood where all that energy came from. All that energy that miraculously allowed Yaya to keep up with the constantly-on-an-adrenaline-high Kukai.
Yaya exploded once, screaming "Who ate all my cake?!" For the next 5 minutes, Amu clung onto dear life, explaining as quickly as she could, that it was Yaya who had finished the cake two days ago, when Amu was gone collecting more things that the sisters had brought for her. Then Yaya simply laughed awkwardly, scratched her head and said, "Oh yeah."
After that, Yaya trusted Amu significantly more with her pastries and even offered her a piece at one point. That was when Amu knew she had made progress.
It was pleasant for the most part, staying with Yaya. It was like reliving her days back in the U.S. with Ami. She didn't share a room with Ami, but there were many nights when little Ami would cuddle up against Amu in her bed.
Ami was getting too old for it, but neither Amu nor her parents had the heart to stop her. Because Ami had the power to win anyone over with a "Bwut I love Onee-chan thwissss much," and she'd extend her arms just to show how much.
Sometimes, Amu could see Yaya as Ami, especially that windy night when the girl came out to the living room and asked if she could sneak into the guest bed with Amu.
"C-Can Yaya stay with Amu-chi tonight?" Yaya asked in a small voice.
Amu slid over. Grinning, she patted the empty space on the bed. "Hop in."
They huddled under the covers. While Yaya was shaking, Amu took her hand and she slowly calmed down.
"Amu-chi. You're such a clueless person." Yaya curled into a ball, clinging onto the covers. "I wish you weren't so clueless."
"What do you mean, Yaya" Amu soothed.
"I-I'm such a bad person, Amu-chi. I'm low. The worst."
"No, you're not Yaya."
"I am! Why c-can't you just see?"
Amu stroked Yaya's unbraided hair, thinking of how its color resembled Ami's. "You're adorable and sweet. Fun and full of energy. You remind me of my little sister."
Yaya turned around. "That's the worst part. I'm just like a kid."
"Yaya…"
The wind howled. A menacing shadow of a tree branch was cast against the living room wall. Amu could feel Yaya shiver, but the girl pulled away from Amu and got out of bed. "I guess I should go back to my own room."
She cringed again at another howl of wind. "Goodnight Amu-chi."
"You've gotta work on your sprint, Trainee."
Amu cringed at Kukai's voice as they ran through the kept green lawns of the academy. "I've worked non-stop on my sprint, Sem-pai! Now are we breaking out today of here today or what?"
Kukai spun on his heels and gave her a thumbs-up. "You've got spunk. That's what I like about you Amu."
Like? Amu blinked. Had he just used I, like, you, Amu all in the same sentence?! The world spun. Her legs were feeling funny.
Kukai grabbed her hand and pulled her down against a shrub.
"K-Kukai," she kneeled on the ground, breathless. "W-what are you d-doing?! It's – I'm still – I d-don't know! It's too s-soon!"
"What are you talking about?" Kukai whispered with his hand pushing her down at the top of her head. He wasn't looking at Amu, but rather out along the pathway. "Shh for a bit."
Amu brushed away the bits of branches from her hair, hiding her burning cheeks with her hands. She kept quiet.
About thirty feet away from their hiding places, was a mob of girls. Amu ducked and clasped a hand against her chest.
"H-how'd they get here?" She whispered urgently. "That's like a kajillion of them! No wonder weird things kept happening to me."
"What'd you expect? Obviously the whole school would be after you." Kukai pushed aside the leaves of the shrub just enough to see through its crevice. "How are we gonna get you past those schoolgirls? Do you think you're ready to test out your Super Dash?"
Amu breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "School girls? I can handle them. They don't have anything against me anyway."
She promptly smoothed out her skirt, rearranged her belt, pulled out the creased collar of her untucked shirt and slung her jacket behind her back. "Come on, Jack." Smiling, she bowed slightly and offered a hand.
Kukai swiped her hand away, causing Amu to blink. "You do me great shame as a man, Amu. I think you might even top Hotori-san in prince-liness."
"Did someone say Prince?!" On the path a little distance away from the crowd, Tadase Hotori ambled along with a smiling, Nagihiko. Before Tadase even began asking for anything, the purple haired bishounen was by his side, patting him on the back. "No, your Highness."
Tadase Hotori nodded with satisfaction, puffed up his chest and said, "Now come with me commoner!"
Just as Kukai was about to launch into a fit of uncontrollable laughing, Amu clamped her hand over Kukai's mouth to keep him from sniggering too loudly.
While Tadase and Nagihiko had walked far enough away to have missed the scene, the mass of girls turned their attention to the pair.
Girls of different heights and years, all dressed in the same black blazers and white dress shirt, with the same checkered black and red tie with its matching skirt, and their dress shoes, turned to look at the curious scene of Kukai, appearing as if he was about to explode from laughter from the way his cheeks were so red and Amu, whose eyes bulged out as she hissed something sharply to Kukai with a hand clamped on his mouth, and the other at the base of his neck.
The girls stared blankly at Kukai and Amu, who stared blankly back at them.
"This – um – it's not…." Amu instantly dropped her hands and her blazer in the process. After picking it up, she brushed off the dirt.
Her throat was constricting again and her jaws were going tense. A moment of silence passed. Finally out of oxygen, Amu barked, "we'll be on our way then." With her nose in the air, she tugged at Kukai to motion him to leave.
The girls all scuttled to the opposite side of the path, and Amu fought down her blush as she speeded past them. Kukai, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease. It wasn't until Amu stopped suddenly that he asked what was wrong.
Amu had heard it, she was sure: Yoru's voice.
"I told you, this'll cheer you up, nya. Excited about the pickings this year?"
"Not really." It was Ikuto. Amu was sure it was him because the effect on her was immediate. A shiver ran up from the tip of her toes all the way to the top of her head. She was sure she had a huge mass of static hair from being so shocked. All her muscles were stiff. She didn't know whether to run or to hide, but currently, she couldn't even move.
"Are we doing a lotto this year nya?"
"When do we ever?" Ikuto scoffed.
"Alright girls, you're lucky today nya. All the rumors are false! Ikuto Tsukiyomi was always, and will always stay single to please you women out there." Yoru's voice boomed through the microphone. "You heard him. Same as always."
Amu forced her legs to move. Thirty feet from the voice.
"No." Ikuto sounded bored. A girl fell to tears.
Twenty-nine.
"And no." A wail pierced the air.
Twenty-seven.
"Been there."
Twenty-five. Amu shuddered as she approached that twenty feet mark…
"Done that." A disgruntled hiss.
Twenty-three.
"Not interested. Not interested. Not interested!" The sound of slamming against the table and Yoru's voice, "Don't take it out of the table Ikuto! We have to return this by 2:30 nya."
"I give up. I don't want to do this anymore Yoru." The scrapping of a metal chair against cobblestone.
"But Ikuto, nya!"
Twenty-seven. His voice was fading. The worst was over. Now to just walk away undetected. As long as the girls were still there to distract him…
"AMU HINAMORI! I've been looking for you!" Someone called from a distance. Amu groaned.
"What would happen if I killed the owner of the voice?" she snarled.
Kukai laughed. "You'd go to jail? But only if they can catch you. Good thing I taught you that Super Dash, huh?"
However, the moment the owner of the voice approached Amu, she had forgotten all about her intent to kill. "H-Hotori-san." She sighed dreamily. Kukai rolled his eyes.
Tadase leaned forward, palms resting against his knees as he fought to catch his breath. Nagihiko stood beside Tadase, and after reaching in his briefcase bag, pulled out a sheet of paper. "Fresh off the press, Amu." He handed her a sheet.
"This is the information on the Guardian election." Tadase stood up and offered a hand to Amu. "I wish you the best of luck."
Kukai looked from Tadase to Nagihiko and back before Nagihiko gave him an apologetic shrug. "It really was just printed today. Haven't even officially gone through all the Clover Guardians yet."
"Well, I'll say." Kukai swiped a sheet.
"So," Amu coughed, attempting to look casual. "Why were you looking for me? I'm sure Kukai would've eventually gotten it to me."
"Yes, I would've."
"That is, I was wondering if you would perhaps be interested in teaming up? Support each other, advertise for each other, combine our forces."
Kukai elbowed Amu, pointing out the group of staring girls. They had formed two lines and at the space between them was Yoru and Ikuto, seated at a long table the students usually reserved for Club use.
Ikuto leaned back against the seat with his legs crossed over the table and his eyes closed. Yoru was looking down at a sheet of paper and occasionally pulled his hair with his left hand.
It wasn't too late yet. Amu could still sneak away.
"Sorry, can't. Gotta go." Amu said abruptly, shoving the paper in her bag. "Thanks for this though."
Just as Amu thought she had gotten away, Ikuto's deep voice paralyzed her. "Amu?" It was a tone of clear surprise.
That soon changed to amusement though.
"Come to sign up, Amu?" He slipped his legs from the table.
"For what?" She snapped, bright red.
"For the win a night with Ikuto contest, nya!"
"One slap wasn't enough?"
Ikuto narrowed his eyes.
"I think she's made herself clear enough the first time, you thieving cat. Isn't it enough that you've stolen the i-innocence of so many others?" Tadase's cheeks lighted a dull pink at the word.
"Hotori-san!" Amu's impression of the prince improved ten-fold.
"Hinamori-san, we can increase our odds." Tadase clasped her two hands. "And I'd much rather prefer you to be my Queen than that stuck-up princess."
"Okay, enough of that." Kukai suddenly interrupted pulling Amu's hands away from Tadase. "We had somewhere to go, remember Amu?"
"Right." She replied, remembering. "I guess that's goodbye for now then."
She turned to go, but Ikuto called again.
"Amu," his voice resounded softly through the microphone, taking on a much gentler tone than what she was used to hearing. "Can I talk to you?"
Meanwhile, a fair share of the fan girls surrounded Nagihiko, asking for autographs. Tadase watched as the rosette paused at the sound of Ikuto's voice.
"In private." His smooth voice echoed again in all its moroseness.
Amu turned around, golden eyes twinkling sadly. She released a heavy sigh, remembering the urgency in his voice during that call. "Alright."
"Take care of the rest, Yoru." Ikuto said with a sweep of his hands as if to dismiss them. A mutter of 'aws' and 'ohs' reverberated through the crisp autumn air. The last of which Amu could hear, was Yoru's voice calming the crowd with a: "Nothing to worry about girls. Just a bit of a slump that has nothing to do with that girl."
A small prick pinched Amu's chest. For some reason that she couldn't explain, she had the tiniest hope that maybe some of it had to do with her. That maybe she could have some kind of effect on the immovable Ikuto Tsukiyomi, to make him speak so gently.
I'll try to include more Amuto after this. Sorry for the lack of interaction, I know it's disappointing. It should be more Amuto focused after this. And I'm sorryyy for taking soo long!