Chapter 14

Wearing a uniform brought back many memories. Though, Amu was always one of the many people wearing skirts instead of the pants she was wearing now.

For once, she found herself wearing a boy's uniform. All throughout high school she had wanted to wear her brother's uniform instead of her revealing skirt. Of course, he never agreed to it. Because, what would he wear then?

Amu loosened her dark tie before nodding in satisfaction and exiting the washroom, wandering through the busy hallways, towards classroom 3-C.

She stifled a yawn before dropping into one of the seats in the room beside Nikaidou, who was enjoying his lunch at the moment. "Why do I have to do this, again?" Amu asked, her chin rested on the desk in front of her as her arms draped lazily at her sides.

Nikaidou swallowed what was in his mouth before answering her question. "It's only natural for your first single to come with a music video! Tsukasa thought that a high school would be the best location" He said before taking another bite of his sandwich. "Mm, but, hopefully not many people will be asking for your autograph" he added with a laugh. "Seeing as how half the extras here are students still".

Amu was too tired to make a comment, but remembered something and had to push away that laziness in order to ask Nikaidou. "Does it seem like I like Tadase-kun?" she asked in a hushed tone so no one else but them could hear.

Nikaidou slowly looked over at her in fear that Ikuto had told her that he was the one who blurted it out. "U-uh . . . well, I personally think so, yes. Why?"

"What makes you say that, though?" Amu asked eagerly as she inched closer to the man.

"Eh . . . well, you're always smiling, laughing, and having a great time when you're with him. I mean, didn't you also go out for a walk around town with him just recently?" Nikaidou pointed out, his voice muffled by the food rolling around in his mouth.

Amu's eyebrows knitted together while staring off into space, a frown on her lips. Maybe it really did look like she liked him. "Crap" she whispered quietly under her breath. She pressed the back of her hands to her flushed cheeks, suddenly dawning on her that others around her most likely mistook her for a gay person.

Not that being gay was a bad thing, it's just she didn't want people to be believing something that wasn't true.

Nikaidou wiped his hands with a napkin after finishing his sandwich, then turned back towards Amu. "Okay, let's review what the music video's about. So, you play a guy who likes another guy – who's Ikuto – but you can't tell him because he is dating someone else and is happy with his relationship. So, you're suffering and blah, blah, blah. It's basically the same as your lyrics for your song. Alright?".

Amu simply nodded in response. What made this whole situation worse, was that Nikaidou had the 'brilliant' idea of making the girl that was dating Ikuto in the music video, to be Utau. He figured since they were dating in real life, they'd bring chemistry into the video with them.

"Alright, everyone! Get into position, please" Tsukasa announced from the front of the classroom, dressed up as a teacher. Yes, he desperately wanted to be in the music video, so he decided he'd be the teacher. Including round glasses to complete the look. "Everyone, make sure to be really focused on your school work. Ah, Ikuto! You'll be looking out the window with a somewhat dazed look on your face. Clearly, you'll be thinking about Utau-chan" he instructed.

Amu could've sworn she heard a small scoff come out of Ikuto, but she shrugged it aside and plopped into the desk next to his.

"Amuto, glance over at Ikuto with the same dazed look on your face" Tsukasa said while making gestures with his rolled up piece of paper.

Amu nodded, then did what she was told. It didn't take much for her to look love-struck while gazing at him.

"Hey, student! Pay attention to your work".

Ikuto looked over at one of the extras Tsukasa was scolding, then noticed the boy continuously looking over his shoulder to see Amu. Glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose and he had green hair that was parted in the middle. Ikuto raised an eyebrow at the boy, then looked back out the window before Tsukasa saw he was out of position.

Once filming the short scene, Tsukasa called cut, but told everyone to stay put while the lighting technicians made a few changes.

Ikuto found himself watching the green-haired boy once again. Like he predicted, the boy was still glancing over his shoulder at Amu every once in a while. Without taking his eyes off of the younger boy, Ikuto nudged Amu in the side to get her attention.

"What?" the pinkette snapped with a wince while rubbing her side where the blue-haired boy had nudged a little too hard.

"That guy over there with the green hair keeps looking at you" Ikuto stated, still not looking away from the boy. Amu was confused at first before she looked in the direction Ikuto was looking. Who would want to watch her all the time?

That's when she saw the side of the boy's face, and immediately recognized him. "Crap!" she whispered quietly, hiding her face with one of Ikuto's books sitting on his desk, used as a prop. "That's Kairi! He used to be my brother's best friend . . . I don't know if they're still close, though".

Amu peered over the top of the book at Kairi, then noticed who was sitting beside him. Immediately the pinkette's hand gripped Ikuto's arm tightly as she froze in a mixture of fear and excitement.

"What is it?" Ikuto asked with a raised brow.

"Th-that person with the purple hair sitting beside Kairi is Nagihiko. He was my best friend all throughout middle and high school. How many people have to be extras!?" Amu hissed through tightly clenched teeth, her fingers continuing to squeeze Ikuto's arm. "Wh-what if he recognizes me and blows my cover? No... no, Nagi isn't that kind of person.... but, what if he's changed over this last year?" Amu panicked to herself, which Ikuto found amusing. He had never seen someone hyperventilate before.

"Lunch break" Tsukasa announced, poking his head in the door, then disappearing just as quickly as he appeared.

In a flash, Amu was out of the room, pulling Ikuto along with her whether he wanted to or not. The girl walked swiftly down the hallway lined with tall lockers and posters, muttering under her breath and occasionally saying something loud enough for Ikuto to hear, so she could get his opinion.

"Why is it so bad to talk to them?" Ikuto drawled in a bored tone once they stepped out into the cool afternoon air. Winter was clearly on its way.
"B-because, what if Kairi mentions an inside joke he had with Amuto? I wouldn't know what he was talking about, and he'd get suspicious – trust me, he would. He's smart. Also, if I talk to Nagihiko, then he might find out I'm not A-"

"Amuto, is that you?"

Amu's blood ran cold as she paled, her soul flying out of her mouth and up to the clouds. Slowly she turned around and made eye-contact with Kairi, noticing Nagihiko standing at his side. Brilliant.

"Hey, Kairi, Nagihiko" Amu greeted in the best calm, manly voice she could muster at the moment.

Kairi pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose before commenting, "I'm amazed you're actually talking to us. We both figured since you're now a celebrity and all, you'd ignore us".

Amu chuckled softly – the same way her brother always did – before shaking her head. "I would never ignore you guys. But, I am a celebrity. That's true" she said in a light, teasing tone.

Nagihiko smiled at Amu. "It's good to see that you haven't changed much". Just the way his eyes seemed to see straight into her soul made Amu shrink away and look down at the leaf-littered ground.

Nagihiko then noticed Ikuto there, and introduced himself, as well as Kairi. After he urged Kairi to talk to Ikuto, Nagihiko stepped aside with Amu, walking down the pathway throughout the school court yard.

He stopped abruptly, turning Amu by the shoulders so he could look her straight in the eyes. "Hello, Amu-chan".

The pink-haired girl couldn't exactly say she was surprised that Nagihiko had found out it was her. He was far too observant for his own good. But, those two words still made Amu's heart feel like it had stopped working.

"H-how did you know it was me?" Amu asked quietly. She knew it'd be useless to act as if she was indeed her brother and that Nagihiko had it all wrong. He wasn't born yesterday. "Does Kairi know, too?".

Nagihiko shook his head, his familiar, polite smile plastered on his gentle face. "No, he doesn't. And, I could tell it was you because I know you, Amu" he replied.

Amu instantly hugged him tightly – the first time in a year, but it felt like so much longer. "I missed you" she said quietly. She just wanted to stay like that forever. Having the comforting feeling of a friend nearby was something she had missed. Even if Kukai, Tadase, and Ikuto were there to talk to, it wasn't the same as having a childhood friend to share news with.

"How is everyone doing? Yaya, Rima, and the others?" Amu asked, reluctantly pulling away from her old friend.

"Yaya is . . . well, the same. Still a baby" Nagihiko replied with a soft laugh following shortly after. "And Rima, well . . . nothing much is new with her . . . except, she's my girlfriend-"

"What!? I knew you'd get together eventually!" Amu interrupted. "Aww, tell me everything!".

"Amuto, let's eat before the next scene" Ikuto announced, walking up to the friends with two lunches in his hands. Kairi was following shortly after, also carrying two lunches.

Ikuto handed Amu one as he sat on the bench across from her, next to Nagihiko while Kairi sat by Amu. The girl's eyes instantly lightened up once seeing what her lunch contained. "Yummy, strawberries!" she said with a bright smile.

Kairi smiled barely noticeable as he watched Amu eat. "Strawberries always remind me of your sister" he said randomly, making Nagihiko, Ikuto, and Amu all stop in mid-bite. Once Kairi continued, they all kept eating, thankful that Kairi hadn't discovered Amu's secret also.

"Why do they remind you of her?" Amu asked casually after eating one of the strawberries.

The green-haired teen thought for a moment on how the best way to explain it would be. "It's just that in high school, you would always collect fruits that no one wanted from their lunch, then you'd bring it to Hinamori-San's class. Even though I didn't like strawberries, I'd always ask my mom to buy them and put them in my lunch, because then I knew for sure that if I gave them to you, she would be eating them" he said, growing quieter with every word spoken.

Ikuto chewed slowly as he looked suspiciously over at Kairi, who wasn't making eye-contact with anyone. "Sounds like you like her" he commented. Seeing the barely visible blush on Kairi's cheeks made Ikuto clench his jaw tightly and stare dead-panned at him. He didn't actually think that his prediction was right.

"How is Amu-chan doing, Amuto?" Nagihiko decided to ask, saving Kairi from answering Ikuto's question.

"She's doing good – really good" Amu answered with a smile.

"Is everyone treating her well?"

"Yeah, they are. She's in good hands"

"That's good to hear" Nagihiko remarked.

"So, you like her?" Ikuto repeated to Kairi. Kairi cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to be rid of the small blush on his face. "She . . . was my first love" he confessed.

Those five words were enough to make Amu blush and choke on her drink, Nagihiko laugh at Amu's reaction, and Ikuto glare at her. "R-really? I had no idea!" Amu exclaimed before taking another sip of her drink in hopes of curing her coughing fit.

Ikuto cleared his throat as a way to make his thoughts distracted while he stood up, off of the uncomfortable bench he was sitting on. "Amuto, I'm sure we have to go back and start filming again, let's go" he stated, beginning to walk away with his hands in his pockets casually.

Amu opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again, knowing that if she wanted to remain living, she'd have to listen to him. "I'll talk to you guys later!" she promised before jogging to catch up to Ikuto.

"Your friend Kairi is a bore" he commented dryly with a bored expression present once they were out of earshot.

Amu merely stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, you're a cold … I-don't-know-what!" she replied, getting an eye-roll from the boy walking beside her.

"Nice one. Or, as teenagers always say nowadays: Fail."

"Sh-shut up!"

An expensive limo pulled up to the front of the large high school, and out stepped Hoshina Utau, wearing a short uniform skirt and a tight white shirt to match. The point of having uniforms was to look proper, yet, somehow, Utau made it look more revealing than it originally was.

She delicately slipped on a pair of large shades while scanning the school grounds, walking forward with her manager beside her.

Reporter Kiseki shoved his head out from the short tree he was hiding in, grinning evilly once Utau came into his sight. "Hoshina-san!" he called, waving a photograph in his hands wildly while charging towards the blonde.

She smiled politely at him, removing her sunglasses. "Yes, reporter?".

Kiseki straightened his posture as he tried to look as professional as possible. He then lifted the picture so Utau could see it. It was the one where a pink-haired girl was with a blue-haired boy, sitting on a wheelchair together.

"We had spoken about a week ago, and you had refused this was you. And, this happened before your scandal with Tsukiyomi-san. Am I correct?" He asked.

Utau refused to stop smiling while talking to him. "I'm sorry for lying . . . that was me" she confessed, trying to make her eyes look guilty and apologetic.

"Ahh" Kiseki commented with a stuck-up smile. "Why are you lying now? I know for sure that this wasn't you. I asked around, and everyone who was with Ikuto that day said that he had gone off with Kukai, Tadase, and Amuto. You weren't mentioned at all".

Utau gritted her teeth together. "What's your point?"

"Do you know who this girl is? Or should I go ask Amuto, since I have yet to talk to him?" Kiseki asked with a cackle.

Utau rolled her eyes, placing her shades back on the bridge of her nose. "Do whatever you want" she replied before pushing past him.

Kiseki watched her until she was out of sight, then looked back down at the picture. "So, this definitely wasn't Hoshina . . . but, who was it? Ah, right! I still need to know Amuto's perspective on what had happened that day!" he announced before shrinking down and running in the direction of the filming location.

"Just have a casual conversation, like you're good friends" Tsukasa said through his megaphone, then placed it beside his director's chair behind one of the cameras.

Amu gripped the rake in her hands tightly as she stepped on the crunchy leafs beneath her feet. Ikuto also had a rake in his hand, but he was already raking up the leafs, like they were suppose to be doing. They stood facing each other, that way they could talk while doing work.

"So, Amu, I didn't think you'd end up being the wife of a nerd" Ikuto commented, referring to Kairi's crush on her.

Amu glared at him. "I won't" she defended, pulling off the leafs that had gotten stuck on the end of the rake.

"Well, now I know of someone who can help fix my computer if it breaks down. Nerds are good at that stuff, right?" Ikuto teased.

"Amuto, throw some leafs at him playfully but naturally, like a good friend" Tsukasa directed loudly, not knowing what the two were talking about.
Amu hid an evil smile as she immediately obliged, bending over and gathering a pile of leafs, then throwing it at Ikuto. "Ha-ha, oh, Ikuto. Stop it" she said through a forced laugh, trying to appear like Ikuto's best friend.

"Why, you . . . " Ikuto then also grabbed a handful of leafs and threw it at Amu.

"Hey! I didn't throw it as hard!" she complained, gathering leafs on her rake and throwing them at Ikuto. He then grabbed onto her shoulders, somehow being able to push her down to the ground, and straddling her so she couldn't move or pull herself off the ground.

This worked to Ikuto's advantage, allowing him to throw crap-loads of leafs onto Amu without her being able to do anything about it. It wasn't long before he stopped and started laughing at how dumb Amu looked, leaves covering her except for her face, which was looking very angry at the moment.

Seeing his smile and hearing his laughter made Amu's angry expression disappear almost instantly and a blush appear. As her heart struck her ribs loud and fast, Amu pushed on her nose just like Nikaidou had told her to.

"Cut! The piggy nose at the end was exceptionally good – almost as if you're making fun of him like a good friend would!" Tsukasa commented.

Ikuto remained sitting on Amu as everyone else began moving to the next filming location. "Why are you doing that again?" Ikuto asked. Amu opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted when someone else spoke.

"Aw, that was a cute scene, Ikuto-kun!" Utau said sweetly as she walked over to them.

Ikuto stood up, off of Amu and helped her up with him.

"Oh my, you've got all dusty from the leaves" The blonde stated as she brushed the dirt off of Ikuto's shirt.

Amu felt the awkwardness in the atmosphere, since it was a semi lovey-dovey moment, with a random onlooker – which, of course, was her. She then quickly walked away, following Tsukasa over to the next location.

After watching her walk out of sight, Ikuto turned back to Utau, looking at her with a deadly expression. "You can stop acting, everyone's gone" he pointed out through gritted teeth.

Utau dropped her hands to her side, raising an eyebrow at Ikuto. "Aww, honey, act like you were earlier! Laugh and smile for me".

Ikuto smirked while shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. He then stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "That wasn't acting" he stated before continuing his walk away from her.

Utau's jaw dropped as her eyes went dangerously wide. "That wasn't acting? So . . . that girl actually made him laugh!" she huffed under her breath.

"Well, Amuto. I'll accept your challenge"

"I sent you a gift, did you get it yet?".

A man's voice on the other side of the phone asked.

"No, not yet. Dad, you didn't have to get me anything. You know how I don't like it" Ikuto replied with a tired sigh, rubbing his eyes as he walked along the pathway surrounding the school.

"Ikuto, I can never not sent you a present for your birthday. What kind of person would I be?" Aruto pointed out.

Ikuto remained quiet as he looked down at the ground and kicked a nearby rock. He wished that everyone would just forget when his birthday was. He didn't want it to be tomorrow, and bring back those memories he wished were forgotten. "How was your tour?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"It was good. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping in touch lately. You know how celebrity life is" Aruto replied with a slight laugh at the end of his sentence.

Even though his dad couldn't see him, Ikuto nodded.

"I'm not complaining though. I get to play my violin to please people – what's better than that? Getting paid for doing what you love..."

"Yeah, it's . . . nice" Ikuto replied, stopping in his tracks once seeing Amu sitting with Kairi on a bench a few feet away from him. "Hey, I have to go. Good luck on tonight's performance" he said before hanging up, placing his cell phone in his pocket and walking over to Amu."Tsukasa sent me over here to get you. We're going now".

Amu gave Kairi a quick hug, smiling at him. "It was nice to see you again. I'll try to keep in touch!" she said as she stood up and walked over to Ikuto.

"See you, Amu-chan" Kairi replied quietly.

Ikuto's eyebrows slanted downwards as he and Amu began walking towards the van they came here in. "Why did he call you by your name instead of Amuto's?" He asked.

". . . Well, he kind of figured it out . . . " Amu said, followed by a nervous laugh and a scratch of the head. "But both he and Nagihiko promised they wouldn't speak a word of my secret!".

"Let's hope they keep that promise" Ikuto commented under his breath as he climbed into the back seat of the van, sitting beside Amu while Nikaidou sat in the front with Tsukasa.

"Well, I think today went good! Great job, guys" Nikaidou commented with his signature goofy smile. Ikuto didn't bother replying to the man, since his phone started ringing.

He bit on his tongue to refrain from spitting out an insult once seeing who it was on the caller ID. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"Tomorrow's your birthday. So, of course I want to spend time with you" The woman on the other line said sweetly. The same 'sweetness' Ikuto hated.

"I don't want to see you. Oh, and about that favor you asked my manager about: I'm not singing your stupid song".

"Ah, Ikuto. You've always been difficul-"

"Oh, yeah? And how would you know? You haven't even been around for my life" Ikuto said angrily, but kept his voice quiet so he wouldn't disturb Amu and Nikaidou's conversation.

"Then, wouldn't now be a good opportunity to change that? Meet me tomorrow night at seven, at that restaurant you used to love that's a few minutes away from your studio. I forget what it's called, but I'm sure you remember. See you tomorrow night, Ikuto".

Just like that, the woman hung up without allowing Ikuto to respond.

He glared angrily out the window at the cars passing by while gripping his phone tightly. There was no way he was going to that restaurant, especially since she would be there.

If there are any mistakes, please let me know!

And, I'm sorry that Nagihiko and Kairi weren't in this chapter much . . . I'm going to try to include them in some upcoming chapters.