Amu squatted down, holding her knees closely to her chest. She looked at the small creature with great interest. Shiragin had told her that this was a female fiddler crab that she had been following around. It looked like a normal crab, but it was all a dark brown color, and very small. It also didn't have very strong pinchers because one had grabbed on to her finger but it tickled instead of hurt. She poked at it and watched as it scurried away. She pressed down on its shell lightly, and it ran away, hiding under the planks of wood on the wooden walkway. Not seeing any more crabs around, Amu stood up and started walking to the front yard. At the end of the garage, before the mess of dirt and pine straw started, was a thick lining of grey rocks and white oyster shells. Having taken her shoes off already, she jumped over the rough rocks and on to the cushy dirt. She walked out to the wooden swing that hung from a large tree. She hoisted herself onto the sandy swing and pumped her legs, moving herself back and forth. She watched the ground ahead of her as she swung back and forth, and only heard the revs of something coming into the driveway. She looked back to see a figure familiarly dressed, but whose face was covered by a tinted helmet. The motorcycle stopped, and driver stood up and leaned it against the wall, and removed his helmet. Lo-and-behold, there was Ikuto. He put his helmet on his bike and revealed a box that he had been carrying with him.
"Ikuto?" Amu asked.
He scoffed, "Well, obviously."
"You… got a motorcycle?"
Ikuto nodded his head as he proceeded to scoot Amu over on the swing and squish himself in beside her.
Amu tried to keep her distance, but Ikuto didn't seem to mind the close contact. Then she noticed the green and white box in his lap, "What's in the box?"
"Oh, yeah, I stopped on the way home, got you a present," He opened the box to reveal about 30 bite-size pieces of chocolate all fitted in their own little holes that were their perfect shape. Ikuto read the description from the lid out loud in English, "'This is a 'sampler' box of many of our fine candies: nut clusters, crèmes, caramels, marshmallow, butter crunch, peanut butter delight, and many, many more.' Oh, and they're all covered in milk chocolate; I hate dark chocolate."
"Ah, I see," Amu scanned over the chocolates. She noticed Ikuto reading the little map they give you to tell you w which chocolates were in which holes. She started to reach for one, but her hand was swatted away by Ikuto's.
"No, that's the marshmallow one. I love marshmallow," Ikuto grabbed the chocolate and popped it into his mouth. He chewed and Amu heard a loud crunch. Ikuto promptly spit out the chocolate into the ground, the taste of pecans tainting his mouth, "These stupid people don't know how to make charts right."
Amu examined the chart for a moment, and then reached to the other side of the box grabbing a piece of chocolate directly across from the newly vacated hole. She popped the chocolate into her mouth, and smiled when she tasted the sweet and sticky feeling on marshmallow and chocolate mixing. She examined the map once more, finding something to use as her point, "Ikuto, do you like chocolate covered raspberries?"
"Yeah, but I don't trust where the chocolate is now."
Amu grabbed the box of chocolate and turned it 180 degrees, so it was completely flipped. She pointed to the picture of "Chocolate Raspberry" on the map and then pointed to the piece of chocolate in the corresponding hole. She picked it up and placed it at Ikuto's lips. He reluctantly opened his mouth, hoping it wasn't another pecan. He bit down on half of the chocolate, but instead of feeling the crunch he dreaded, his bite was smooth. The taste that filled his mouth was in fact that of raspberry and milk chocolate. He swallowed, and grabbed the other half of the chocolate from Amu's hands and consumed it, then looked to her for an explanation.
Amu put it in layman's terms, "Ikuto, you had the box of chocolate flipped upside down."
Ikuto glared at the box, "Gee, I feel stupid now."
"You should," Amu replied as she grabbed one with pecans.
Ikuto shut the box quickly, "Okay, Amu, save some for dessert, you little piggy."
Amu slapped him on the head playfully and he laughed. "Oh, that reminds me," Amu said, "What are we having for dinner?"
"Dinner!"
Amu tilted her head at him. He got up and motioned for her to follow him.
"Wait here," Ikuto said as he quickly ran up the stairs. He put the box of chocolate in the kitchen, then went back down to the garage. He found Amu waiting patiently for him as he asked. "Yeah, here's the thing, you probably don't know how to cook many things, and Shiragin can't cook worth a crap. So I'm the chef for the next week."
Amu shrugged. "Okay then," she started walking to the stairs to go inside.
"Hold it," Ikuto demanded, "You're helping me. Now come over here."
Amu sighed and walked back over to be faced with a helmet. It was different from the one before, then she realized that Ikuto was offering it to her. She took the helmet and held it in her hands and watched as Ikuto put his on.
"Well what are you waiting for? Put it on. You're coming shopping with me."
Amu started to put it on, "Why do I have to come?"
"You're picking out dinner."
Amu sighed.
"Okay, you get on in front," Ikuto pointed to the motorcycle.
"Why don't we just take the car?"
Ikuto smiled at her, "This is more fun." He nudged Amu on to the front of the motorcycle and then sat down behind her. He showed her where to put her hands and feet so that she didn't get in the way.
Amu blushed as she felt Ikuto pressed up against her back. But that seemed like a petty feeling when her heart nearly skipped a beat when she felt the vibrations of the motorcycle starting. Her heart sped up in nervousness. Ikuto skillfully turned the cycle around and headed out of the driveway.
By the time they had gotten to the grocery store, Publix, Amu's heart had calmed down, and she had become more comfortable on the motorcycle. Ikuto pulled into a parking spot close to the doors and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He got off and helped Amu off.
When Amu stood up, her body felt numb. It was like that feeling you get when you ride a scooter down a really bumpy hill, and when you stop, your hands tingle and fell numb at the same time. She couldn't help but grimace as she pulled her helmet off.
Ikuto couldn't help but laugh.
Amu glared at him.
"It's okay, you'll get used to it. It just takes some time," he shrugged as he started walking off towards the store.
Amu fell in step behind. When they walked in, they were greeted by the comforting feeling of an air conditioner and the comforting smell of a bakery near the entrance. Amu's stomach rumbled when she realized that she hadn't eaten all day besides those two pieces of chocolate.
She tugged at Ikuto's sleeve, "Hey Ikuto, can we get something from the bakery?"
Ikuto grabbed a basket from the stack of blue baskets and realized he was hungry too, "Sure, let's see what they have."
They walked toward the bakery and the smell got stronger. They went up to the woman behind a large counter of bread at pastries and each ordered a doughnut. They nibbled on their doughnuts as they walked back toward the meat section.
"So what do you want for dinner tonight?" Ikuto asked.
"I don't know," Amu shrugged as she swallowed a bite of doughnut.
"Well," Ikuto thought it over, "Chicken is easy, and its cheap, and I feel like eating chicken, so I'll make chicken tonight."
Ikuto examined the many packages of different parts of chicken, and decided on a package of 4 chicken breasts. He could save more for later. They walked through the snack aisle and grabbed things like fruit snacks and Cheeze-Its. They also grabbed a box or two of Devil's Food cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.
They went up to the check-out line and got into the shortest one. While they waited, they scanned over the covers of magazines and picked out a couple of bars of chocolate or other candies. When it was their turn, Ikuto paid in cash to avoid having to write his name in English. They got there things all fit into two bags, and it was Amu's job to hold them on the way back.
They went back out and found their parking spot. Amu held onto the groceries tightly as Ikuto zoomed down the road, the world blurring past both of them at 60-70mph. As they zoomed down the highway, Amu started to sing in her head. No, it wasn't one of her songs, and it wasn't one of Ikuto's songs. She had secretly memorized the lyrics to her new favorite songs, the ones by John Mayer.
We got the afternoon
You got this room for two
One thing I've left to do
Discover me
Discovering you
One mile to every inch of
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips and
Your bubblegum tongue
And if you want love
We'll make it
Swim in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be awhile
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Something 'bout the way the hair falls in your face
I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase
You tell me where to go and
Though I might leave to find it
I'll never let your head hit the bed
Without my hand behind it
You want love?
We'll make it
Swim in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be awhile
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Damn baby
You frustrate me
I know you're mine all mine all mine
But you look so good it hurts sometimes
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonderland
She saw a billboard for a fire department, which, of course, reminded her of Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.
It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on
Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms
We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burning room
I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me?
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw
I'll make the most of all the sadness
You'll be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me just to hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
'Cause you can't understand
We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burning room
Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Amu smiled as her world zoomed by at 60-70mph.
A/N-Haha, this is like... A new record for updates~! Just so you know, this saturday, I'll be going to the Bahamas (yeah, thats right, Amu and Ikuto are going too) and I'll be stuck on a plane for about 2 hours, so I'll probably pop out another chapter around then too. Remember to Review! Reviewers get virtual Ikuto plushies! :D