A/N: I am so sorry that this took like forever to update but what happened was that when I was writing this chapter, my old computer shut down on me and I lost everything. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!! The chapter before was even longer than this one here! I did go to a computer guy to get that back but he only got half of it back. So, as stubborn as I am, I didn't touch this chapter for as long as I did. I got a new computer so my info should be good now and I did a lot of thinking. So I shorten this chapter and will let it out now. I hope you all enjoy it.

Taruto: You can all flame her for taking so long if you wish. She did take three months to get back into writing this chapter.

Tsukiko: T-T-Taruto?!!! What are you doing here?!

Taruto: I was bored and thought I should come and check this one out. It's a little gross on how you made Kisshu and Zakuro act.

Tsukiko: Well that's your opinion and I know a lot of people that actually like this kind of stuff. You're only a kid and a boy so you won't understand a girl's young heart.

Taruto: Pudding is less annoying than you and that means something.

Tsukiko: Hold on! If you're here than that means that the others are here too?!

Taruto: Yep, even the idiot. But all of them are at 'The Kyuuketsuki' one.

Tsukiko: 'The Kyuuketsuki'? Oh crap! I have to write the third chapter!! –starts running away to go write-

Taruto: -yells at me- Can you finish 'History Repeats, Almost' and this one first? –Looks out and sees the crowd- Oh crap. –clears throat- I'll say this for her. Thank you all for the reviews so far and she hopes that they will continue coming. She does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses in her stories, especially not me. Thank you and please enjoy after the three month wait.

Ch. 12: Songs of the Heart

"Why is the air so tense?" Ichigo asks. Lettuce and Pudding are chuckling nervously as Mint is sipping her tea at their table. While they are sitting down, there are some students who are staring at Ichigo; mostly hateful glares and surprised eyes.

After Ichigo ran from Kisshu when their little dancing episode was done, Lettuce, Pudding, and Mint found her in the bathroom, locking herself in. The bad part was that she was hiding in the girl's bathroom and someone could have notice. But after a while before anyone did, she finally came out and they went back to their table, only to feel that the air around them is really tense.

Mint puts down her tea and answers, "Maybe it's because you forgot to do the two more respectable things when dancing with either a prince or princess of the school."

Ichigo turns red from that reminder but she's shocked with what Mint just told her. "What things?!" she asks.

Mint leans her elbow on the table and her cheek leans on her cupped hand as she answers, "When being chosen to dance with either the prince or princess, you must first accept their hand and kiss it and when the dance is over, you do the same thing. It's supposes to show how much you appreciate dancing with them."

"But I didn't ask to dance with him!" she tells them, quiet enough for only her friends to hear. "He took me by surprise and he didn't exactly tell me that I had to do any of those things."

Then Lettuce says, "I'm surprised, however."

Pudding agrees, "Pudding is too, na no da."

Mint and Ichigo looks at them from that. Mint takes another sip of her tea, however while Ichigo is looking at them curiously. Lettuce explains, "This is probably the first time in the schools' history that a prince and princess chose someone of the opposite sex at the same time. No one probably notices, but hime-sama danced with a boy as the oji-sama danced with a girl." Ichigo has blinking eyes as Mint puts her tea down again.

She says in a rather teasing voice. "I wouldn't be surprise that the prince knows about Ichigo's little secret but it would be a miracle that she was able to keep it for so long."

Ichigo looks at her unease and mumbles, "Actually, he does know." All three of her friends became silence after that.

Then all at once, "What?!!"

Ichigo points out, "You said that you wouldn't be surprise."

Mint rolls her eyes and asks, "The prince knows that you're a girl?" She asks that rather softly so that no one else can hear. Ichigo just nods. "But you told us that you haven't slept with him!"

Ichigo tells them, blushing red, "I haven't!! He just found out when we took a bath together." She covers her mouth after letting that out.

"You what?!"

"Shh!! That was a complete accident. I don't know if he found out before or when we were taking a bath but he found out." Ichigo lets out another sigh and sulks on the table while Pudding and Lettuce look a bit disappointed.

Mint looks the most. But she tells her, "Well at least he's being a gentleman like the prince he is. He let you stay here for as long as you have."

Then Ichigo growls, "He's probably going to use that to his advantage. I swear I don't know what the heck he's thinking at times!!"

Cling

Cling

Cling

After hearing that, everyone stops what they were doing and look up at the stage. Both Deep Blue and Masaya are there and like before, Deep Blue has a wine glass in his hands along with a knife. Masaya then moves to the side and offers it to Deep Blue. He looks a bit surprise but shakes his head to say 'no'. Then Masaya raises his brows up to show that he should and Deep Blue groans. He seems to really love his job.

He walks over and tells the schools, "Now it's time for the third event of the night." No matter how dead he sounds, the students look excited. They start going up to the stage like how commoners would do in a live concert and Ichigo looks confused.

"What third event?" she asks.

Mint looks like the sparkles came back to her eyes as she answers, "The event that consists of both the prince and the princess singing." She lets out a dreamy sigh as Ichigo looks surprise with blush on her face.

"Singing?!"

Lettuce answers, "Yep. If hime-sama went first in dancing, then that means that oji-sama is going first in the singing."

Ichigo collapses on the table and mumbles, "I'm doomed!"

"How do you know?" Mint asks, returning to her snobbish self.

Instantly she answers, "Because if that idiot is able to enchant me with something as simple as eating, then who knows what he can make me do with his singing!"

"Well he can certainly make you dance like a pro. I've never seen you dance like that before," Mint points out.

Ichigo sharply looks at her and asks, "That actually happened? I was dancing good?"

Her friends ask, "You thought you were dreaming?" Then Ichigo collapses on the table again. They'll take that as a yes.

Deep Blue continues, "Since you all know the rules and know that oji-sama is coming out first, then we present you to him." Then he backs away and Masaya only smiles at him while he pouts.

Masaya tells everyone, "Enjoy!" Then the students start squealing and screaming as they walk off. When they were gone, Kisshu walks on the stage and the students remain silent. Ichigo even looks up and turns dark cherry red when she sees how elegant he looks just by walking. The sway of his body, the flow of his hair, and how his skin glistens in the lights; she's going to have a heart attack.

Kisshu walks to the mic and picks it up from its stand. When he looks at the students, he smiles and that was when everyone started squealing again. That woke Ichigo up and looks at the students in disbelief. Some even start fainting. Then the music begins.

Amore E Mistero by Federico Angelucci

Hai negli occhi un mistero
è il potere che hai
e cosi mi fai nero
non appena tu vuoi.

Ichigo hunch was correct. He is really, really good and now she's just sitting there, watching as he looks so into the song he's singing. What language is he singing anyway? Italian? Is this one of the languages that he knows fluently? Must be since his pronunciation is so clear and perfect.

Se mi guardi
sai che mi streghi
guardi un uomo
e allora mi ingelosisco.

Di star calmo
spaventata mi preghi
se fai il polipo
giuro che io ti pesco,
si ti pesco.

Dimmi cosa vuoi tu da me davvero
vuoi che sia l'amico che hai più caro
vuoi che sia l'amante con te più duro

Dillo, dillo cosa
vuoi che d'amore
io sia malato
oppure vuoi
l'uomo con te spietato
forse ti va bene
che sia equilibrato
dillo adesso o mai
che nn mi puoi eludere
dillo o sono guai
ci sei o nn ci sei.
Non ci sei.
No!

Si sei un pò misteriosa,
e confusa tu sei,
e sei un bocciolo di rosa
o un'orticha chi sei.

Sembri a volte innamorata
poco dopo indifferente e lontana,
chi nascondi
sotto quella sottana,
sei innocente oppure un pò puttana,
dillo adesso.

Di che materia
vera tu sei di cielo
o bambola solo
voltata al sesso
io nn vorrei farti un processo mai.

Dillo cosa
vuoi che d'amore
io sia malato
oppure vuoi
l'uomo con te spietato
forse ti va bene
che sia equilibrato
dillo adesso o mai
che nn mi puoi eludere
dillo o sono guai
ci sei o nn ci sei.

Then to Ichigo's surprise, Kisshu looks directly at her and her hearts starts to pump harder and harder in her chest. The instant his eyes are on her, his lips curl up into a smile and now Ichigo notices something different in the way he sings. She noticed before that he was getting into it but now he looks like he's putting his heart and soul into his singing. She couldn't understand why.

Dillo cosa vuoi
che io muoia d'amore
che io ti lasci vuoi
starmi al centro del cuore
dimmi che cosa vuoi
restare con me..

Dimmi cosa vuoi tu da me davvero
vuoi che sia l'amico che hai piu caro
vuoi che sia l'amante con te piu duro.
Dillo, dillo cosa
Vuoi che d'amore io sia malato
oppure vuoi l'uomo con te spietato
forse ti va che bene che sia equilibrato

Dimmi cosa vuoi tu da me davvero.

After that last verse, the students started to squeal again while some of the boys fainted. For once, Ichigo didn't wake up from her trance after that reaction. She was too busy staring at Kisshu and he didn't pay any mind to them either. He smiles at her and then winks at her. That's what woke her up because after that little wink, she puts her head down to try and hide her face from him. Her friends noticed and look at her strangely while Kisshu slightly chuckles before walking off stage. While he walked off, Masaya and Deep Blue came back on.

Mint asks Ichigo, "Too much for you?"

Ichigo just tells her, "Shut up!"

"Well that was rude." Then she pushes her chair back and stands up. Ichigo notices.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see onee-sama sing. She's coming up soon." Then without another word from the others, she rushes to go join the crowd.

Pudding looks at Lettuce and asks, "Is it just me or does Pudding notice that Mint onee-chan is always happy, na no da?"

Lettuce answers, "It's not just you."

Ichigo is surprise to hear that. "Mint didn't tell you?"

They look at her and Pudding asks, "Tell us what, na no da?" Maybe Ichigo should have kept her mouth shut because now she has to tell them.

"I really shouldn't say but..." she pauses a bit before unleashing the big news. She still remembers what happened when Kisshu decided to give her the rest of the tour. "I saw Mint and Zakuro together. Together-together." Both Pudding's and Lettuce's eyes widen in surprise.

"Where, na no da?!" Pudding asks.

"In front of the host activity doors. It was right after school so I believe it was before the activity started," Ichigo answers.

Lettuce softly asks, "Are you sure?"

Ichigo nods. "Lips don't lie." Now both Pudding and Lettuce are really surprised and to Ichigo's curiosity, concern.

"This is bad, na no da," Pudding tells Lettuce.

Lettuce nods and says, "She'll get hurt."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ichigo lets out, getting their attention. "What are you talking about?! Who's going to get hurt?"

Lettuce answers, "Mint-san. If she is together with Zakuro-san than she'll get hurt."

Ichigo is blinking in surprise. "What do you mean that she'll get hurt?"

Pudding tells her, "We only saw a few cases, na no da. But we're positive that when Zakuro does have a certain favourite, she usually gets rid of them as soon as they began, na no da."

"Sometimes, it's a surprise if they last longer than two weeks," Lettuce adds. Ichigo's eyes would have rolled out and landed on the table after hearing that. The girl she respects at school is going to hurt her best friend? Now Ichigo's trying to remember how long ago it was when she saw Mint and Zakuro together.

Meanwhile at the crowd in front of the stage, Mint can't get any closer because the students who went up to listen to Kisshu are still up to hear Zakuro. Deep Blue is a bit disgusted by everyone's behaviour as Masaya is still smiling. Masaya raises his hand behind Deep Blue and pushes him to the mic. Deep Blue is flustered as he turns to Masaya and glares at him. Masaya still smiles.

Deep Blue announces, "Thank you, prince. And now if you will all quietly watch instead of squealing like little children, we present the princess of La Cielo, Zakuro." Right after that, the students squealed and Deep Blue looks like he was just hit by a big gust of wind. He backs away and dig into his ears to see if he can still hear as Masaya leads him to the side. As they walk off, Zakuro walks on. The students squeal louder with her appearance. She turns her head to the crowd and smiles. They cheer even louder as Mint looks up at her. She's pleading with all of her heart that Zakuro will look at her but as she walks to the mic, not once as she looked at her.

Zakuro stands in front of the mic and turns her eyes to the DJ. She nods and he nods back in response. Then he plays her song and she begins to sway to the beat. The students that know the song squeal even louder but Mint looks surprised to hear it.

I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry

This was never the way I planned, not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand, lost my discretion
It's not what I'm used to, just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

It felt so wrong, it felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

No, I don't even know your name, it doesn't matter
You're my experimental game, just human nature
It's not what good girls do, not how they should behave
My head gets so confused, hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

It felt so wrong, it felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist, so touchable
Too good to deny it
It ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

It felt so wrong, it felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Being just as loud as when they were with Kisshu when he was done, the crowd cheers and screams enough to blow the roof off the school. They squeal and scream until they ran out air. But then they would suck in more air and let it out with another scream. Lettuce, Pudding, and Ichigo had to cover their ears because it was so loud. Lettuce and Pudding think of this as normal as Ichigo is just really annoyed with the students' behaviors.

'I can't believe they're acting like this!' she thinks with a vein pulsing on her head. 'Sure they are the prince and princess of the school but all of this screaming is just ridiculous!'

Well, everyone was screaming and cheering. All but Mint. Not once during the whole song did Zakuro look at her. She didn't even try to find her. She just kept her attention to the audience, but not her.

Zakuro bows slightly to the audience and walks away to the side. Deep Blue and Masaya came out as she walked off. When she was gone, they're at the mic again. But Deep Blue whispers to Masaya, "I'm not announcing squat up here!" Masaya just smiles at him.

He tells him, "You've done enough." Deep Blue steps back and Masaya approaches the mic. He says, "Thank you everyone for your support. The princes and the princess, I'm sure enjoy entertaining you for your pleasure."

Ichigo had to think, 'Oh please don't say that, brother. You have no idea what you're saying, do you?'

"The final event will begin in a few hours. Until then, please enjoy the rest of the party. If you wish, you may come up on stage and sing. However, there is a signup sheet at the entrance to the theater and we will go in order. Duets are allowed, as well as groups. Please enjoy." After that, the students clapped for at least a few moments before running to the signup sheet. Since they were done, both Deep Blue and Masaya walk off the stage.

Ichigo looks confused. She looks at her friends and asks, "Final event?"

Lettuce and Pudding sit up but Pudding explains, "It's the 'Goodbye Ceremony', na no da. There are some other students that have to go after the party for family reasons and won't be back until months from now, na no da."

Ichigo raises a brow. "Okay, but where are you two going?"

Lettuce turns red in embarrassment but Pudding cheers, "We're going to spend the last hours of the party with our fiancés, na no da." After that, she was gone. Ichigo blinks in surprise as both her and Lettuce watch her go zooming into the crowd.

'She wants to see Taruto that bad, huh?' she wonders.

"Um," Lettuce lets out. Ichigo looks up and she sees Lettuce's troubled face. Ichigo instantly knew why she looks troubled.

"Go ahead," she tells her. "You want to see Pai, right?" Lettuce lets out a boiling pot of tea's worth of steam before nodding. Ichigo smiles at her friend's silliness. "Then go have fun. I'll be fine here since there is no way I'm going up to sing and I'm sure no one wants to dance with me."

"But," Lettuce lets out, nervously. "You'll be here by yourself, Ichigo-san."

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine," Ichigo tells her again. "Mint will be coming back soon, right? So go and have fun."

Lettuce still looks unease but she tries to smile. "I'll be back for the ceremony." Then she goes running off into the crowd. Ichigo just watches her go.

Then she lets out a sigh and collapses on the table. 'Even though I said that, I do not have any reassurance that Mint will be coming back.' She lifts her head up and looks at the crowd. She sees some of the students starting to dance and some signing up to sing. She sees girl-girl couples, boy-boy couples, and even straight couples dancing. When Ichigo sees some of the straight couples dancing, she can hardly believe that they are a couple. Maybe friends…

But Ichigo could not find Mint. She slouches back on the table. "I knew it. She's nowhere in sight. So what do I do now?"