The Art of Seduction
by lionetspirit
Chapter 11.5: The Bet
She attempted to be angry, she really did, but Amu just wasn't that kind of person. Tension was thick in the air and Amu felt like she was suffocating in it. What was she supposed to say to someone who had stolen her first kiss? The last time she had seen him, she slapped him across the face. They weren't really in the position to have a conversational tone.
He stood some feet apart from Amu, staring up into the sky as he leaned against the tree where they had first met. He closed his eyes and breathed in softly.
Amu bit her lip, memories of the afternoon spent with Ikuto and Alto fresh in her mind. Ikuto's surprisingly gentle expression as he cared for the kitten, his serene smile, his unguarded, shimmering deep blue eyes. Why was she so easily guilt-tripped? A person shouldn't have been allowed to feel this guilty so easily, Amu sulked.
"Was it really so bad? Or was it because it came from me?" He said suddenly, opening his eyes.
He scrutinized her, measuring her reaction, but gave nothing away with that cold, hard tone of his.
She bobbed her mouth open to speak, and then closed it as she searched for her words. How was she supposed to feel? Ikuto was almost a stranger, but sometimes she felt like she knew him better than anyone. At least when he dropped his stupid mask in front of her like he did now.
"N-no, it's not that. Any of that. It's just…How can I say this?" Amu struggled with her words. How could she bring herself to be angry with him when he sounded so honest?
Ikuto tousled Amu's hair with his left hand. "Relax kiddy. I was joking. Did you think I was serious? I'll admit, I shouldn't have kissed you though. Look how that turned out." He began walking away.
"Ikuto!" Amu had lived long enough with her own mask to recognize when Ikuto was using it. "Ikuto, I just told you it's not like that. It's just rude to randomly say I'm your girlfriend."
"I told you didn't I?" He turned his head just enough to look back at Amu who stood on the cobblestone road with the colorful leaves falling behind her. "I told you I'd do something 'worth all those suspicions' you had of me." He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"It wasn't suspicious! It was just rude to k-kiss me for no reason."
"Who said there was no reason?"
"W-was there?" Amu's cheeks blossomed a lovely carnation pink.
He shrugged. "And I thought it was custom at the States."
"Why does everyone say that?!" She groaned, throwing her hands to her sides.
"Everyone?" Ikuto's ears perked up. "Who's everyone?"
"What's it to you?" Amu exhaled and closed her eyes, easing away the agitation she felt.
When she opened her eyes again, Ikuto was only a few inches from her face, wearing a slight frown. He looked down at her through dark hooded eyes that glinted with the lightest trace of sadness. His smell, a mixture of sweat and cologne, wafted across Amu's nostrils. When he moved, his sleek cobalt hair fell over his face, poking Amu's cheeks.
Amu sucked in a shuddering breath, hoping that her bright cheeks would be mistaken for anger.
"More than you know, Amu." Ikuto's velvet voice teased her name from his lips. She took a step back. He didn't move any closer and Amu didn't move any further away.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, finding nothing they could say. Amu couldn't look away though she tried. She was lost again in the depths of those beautiful blue eyes, like the deepest oceans that were hiding so much beneath them. Those melancholy eyes, were they real or did he use them with everyone else?
"Tell me," Ikuto whispered. "Do you like Souma?"
Amu stumbled backwards, falling onto the grass. "Wh-what the? What does that have to do with anything?"
Ikuto's eyes narrowed, growing dull and lifeless. "Then if it was him kissing you, you wouldn't have slapped him, would you?"
Amu crossed her arms. "Why the hell are you getting angry? Do I have to remind you that you were the one who forcefully kissed me?" Amu stomped, standing up to meet Ikuto's glare.
"I'm not angry. This is just how I act."
"Oh, yeah." The rosette rolled her eyes. "That's what you said last time too."
"I'm not."
"I'm sure." Amu raised both hands to Ikuto's face, gulping as she did so. She rested her thumbs between his eyebrows, causing Ikuto's eyes to widen, before she smoothed out his tense muscles as if to prove a point. "And you haven't slept with half the girls in this school either, right?!"
Ikuto turned away. The muscles between his eyebrows tensed up again.
Amu pulled back and lowered her head. "I'm going home. Need to clean out stuff you know?"
Before she could run off, Ikuto grabbed her by the wrist. "Amu," he spoke softly. "You never answered me."
"Why not me?" Ikuto's revealed such pain that Amu had to gasp at the sudden stab she felt at her chest. "I – " But rather than continue speaking, he suddenly took hold of her lips.
Her golden eyes widened, swirling with the tumult of emotions she was feeling. He gazed at her, gauging her reaction as he kissed her firmly, more deeply than the first time.
He pressed forward cautiously, as if testing new waters. Amu's half lidded eyes slowly closed. Here was Ikuto, the man she was inexplicably drawn to – the guy who helped her time and time again, who was more than his pretty face and fame and reputation. Her fingers inched up towards him, even though she tried to fight it.
When Amu's hands grabbed at his collar, the effect was instantaneous.
Ikuto closed his eyes, sucked in a breath through his half parted lips and snaked his arms around Amu's feverish body. Her body fit against him so perfectly, it was painful to be apart. She tugged at his shirt and he responded by pulling her closer then spinning around to push her against the tree.
It was then that Amu's golden eyes flashed open. She was suddenly very aware of the burning trail Ikuto left against her back, her own swollen lips and Ikuto's heavy breathing.
She flattened her palms on his chest, which increased her temperature by a couple of degrees, and shoved him away.
Panting, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Wasn't it bad enough you stole my first kiss?!"
Ikuto blinked a few times before a full-fledged smirk appeared on his mouth.
"Oh, just stop it." Amu glowered at the ground, feeling her cheeks turn bright red.
He considered for a moment. "Sure, I'll stop."
Amu stared up with big bright eyes only to see his toothy grin. Her stare quickly turned into one of suspicion. "Really?"
"Ifyou manage to beat me at my own game." Ikuto was beginning to see the end of his past week of absolute boredom. He loved how red he managed to make her, loved how he could make her stutter and loved making her jump in embarrassment.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Amu questioned, horror already apparent in her voice.
He curled a finger, motioning for her to lean forward and whispered, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
His voice resonated through Amu. She nodded, not trusting her voice.
"Then defeat me in the art of seduction, Amu," He blew the words into her red-tinged ears.
Amu blanched, supporting herself against the tree. "Th-That's completely counter-intuitive! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"
He bowed, brushing the tips of his hair against her left cheek as he leaned toward her ear. "If you win, I'll do whatever you want."
"Is that really the only way?" Amu stated grimly. Was it bad that she was feeling just the tiniest bit excited about this little game?
"It's my terms or nothing. Besides, it really is more fun this way. Of course, if I win you have to do whatever I want." He nipped at her ears, then pulled away while grinning at the rush of blood on Amu's face.
"I-Ikuto!" She screeched, heart pounding so loudly she could barely hear herself speak.
"I do love it when you scream my name."
"You PERVERT!" Cradling her ear, she grumbled: "I'll show you, you don't have any, ANY effect on me at all."
"That seems to be working well."
"Sh-Shut u-up!" Amu closed her eyes tight, wishing to be invisible instead of this horrible shade of red. "F-for everyone's s-sake, I-I'll take y-your stupid challenge Ikuto! You'll see. I'll stop your stupid games and teach you a lesson."
"Oh?" He remarked, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I'd like to see you try," he said, meaning every word. "That is, if a kiddy like you can really do it."
Taking in deep, even breaths, Amu calmed her racing pulse. The moment her golden eyes stared up in a fierce glare straight at Ikuto, he was almost sent staggering backwards. "You forget this is a two-sided competition. If you can't seduce me, you can't win. And as I've already proven," she smirked, feeling her Cool-and-Spicy character take over. "I'm an impossible feat."
With that, she raised her chin and proudly walked away.
Just as she brushed by Ikuto, a natural smile – the same one that appeared when he looked fondly at Alto – graced Ikuto's lips.
He whispered just enough for Amu to hear at that distance. "I'm sorry, Amu."
She spun to look at him, pink tresses falling against her surprised face. After closing her gaping mouth, she sent her a thoughtful smile of her own. Her eyes softened at his unguarded expression, and her stance which had previously been aggressive, now relaxed. "Thanks, Ikuto. But this doesn't mean I'm going to lose to you."
Ikuto could barely contain his grin. "Doubtful."
"As long as one of us admits defeat, the other wins right?" Amu carefully chose her words. He nodded.
Holding out her palm, Amu offered, "Let's shake on it."
She knew Ikuto Tsukiyomi was a good guy underneath it all. This was the same guy who, at who knows what lengths, kept Amu from being expelled on the first day, even for all his perverted behavior. Amu was determined to show Ikuto, even if he didn't know it himself, that he was a good person.
Ikuto took her hand, astonished by its unexpected warmth, and said, "You'll find me to be a very competitive candidate."
Amu nodded, blood flowing to her cheeks at his intonation. She found Ikuto's azure eyes as captivating as the first time she met him – full of depth and so unlike the dull tone it had taken before.
Without letting go of her hand, Ikuto leaned down against her ear and whispered, "You understand this means you'll be seeing me a lot more right?"
Rather than turning red like Ikuto expected her to, Amu grinned. "I can live with that. And weren't you supposed to be watching me anyway?"
Ikuto's grip tightened against her hand. "Is that an invitation?"
Amu managed to keep the blush off her cheeks. Shrugging, she pulled away from his hand, fingers slightly tingling.
Ikuto's mouth gaped open as she spun on her heels and ran off in the other direction, pink hair flying in the wind behind her.
Had she just… ?
Before Ikuto even finished that thought, he felt the corners of his lips curve up. He hadn't remembered smiling this much in a long time. Even Yoru said so as they were permanently cancelling the weekend raffles.
Yoru couldn't understand why Ikuto would be grinning when he had just practically announced his celibacy, but Ikuto's good mood couldn't be ruined.
"I've just got one target now, Yoru…" Ikuto looked like he was a little boy getting his Christmas gift.
"What did you smoke nya? And why didn't you give me any?" Yoru muttered at Ikuto's grin.
"…and I think I'm making progress."
That still didn't explain anything to his messy sidekick, but Yoru simply shrugged it off and blamed it on a momentary bout of insanity. Amu did have a tendency to do some strange things to his best friend.
So I had this written for awhile, but I was planning to include another half to this. Then I thought you guys really have waited long enough. Maybe I'll come back to revise this later, but here it is for now. Until the next chapter.
Reviews are greatly appreciated xD (I almost feel bad asking for it since I hadn't updated in so long.)