Morg: Heyo! Sorry about not updating in forever! I am addressing a comment left earlier in this story.

Ikuto: We don't want your excuses.

Morg: I wasn't going to give any.

Amu: Lay off Ikuto. I'm sure Morg has a great reason for making us wait.

Morg: Not really!

Ikuto: She doesn't own anything.

~Alone With the Likes of You~

"I think the storm is finally over. We should be okay to go now."

Amu shifted in his lap to peer up at the sky. He was right. The clouds were no longer threatening in their color or speed. They looked almost docile. "I suppose so."

Ikuto began to shift in order to get Amu into a standing position. She groaned and resisted. He chuckled a little and grabbed her bag. Inside he found her camera and a Swiss Army Knife. Ikuto hugged her tighter to his chest. "Smile Amu."

Amu looked up at the camera he was holding to take a picture of them. She didn't really want a picture from this particular memory considering how badly her hands and back hurt not to mention her butt. She smiled anyways.

Ikuto once again shifted her off of him. This time, however, instead of trying to put her on her feet he just set her on the ground beside him. Scrambling to his feet, Ikuto put the camera in her lap and moved to face the tree. He flipped out the knife and began his task of carving.

Amu stayed where she was on the ground with her camera in her lap. She didn't dare move her hands or the rest of her body for that matter. She hurt. Everywhere. Ikuto's hand moved precisely as he wanted it to as he carved with the knife into the tree. "What are you doing?"

Ikuto smiled as he continued his work. "I'm not about to leave this spot without marking it in some way. Think about all the amazing memories we created here not too long ago."

Amu groaned again. "I don't think I'll be able to forget for quite some time."

Ikuto couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Not to worry my dear. I'm going to carry you down off this mountain so don't worry about a thing." He flipped the knife closed and slipped it into his pocket. He packed up the rest of their stuff from under the tree before putting his backpack on backwards so that the pack was on his chest. He helped Amu put her's on her back before placing her on his own back. Amu turned to see the tree just before Ikuto started off. The words Ikuto & Amu defeated the storm here! faded as he moved at a good pace to get them both off the mountain.

XXX

This was going to be hard to explain. Amu stared down at the bandages on her hands. Ikuto had had to carry her off the mountain after the storm had passed a day ago. Her hands had been badly scrapped up and needed to be cleaned. Amu still wasn't certain that they had gotten all of the slivers out of her fingers. Now she had an even bigger problem.

Ikuto peeked around the corner of the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room to see Amu staring at her injured hands. He felt extremely guilty because he knew that it was entirely his fault that she was in that condition. In fact he was babying her to the point where he was certain she was going to murder him. The bandages needed to be changed soon. "Amu-koi, time for your check up from Dr. Tsukiyomi."

Amu groaned and quickly moved towards the stairs. "I have to go to the bathroom first. I'll leave my bandages off so you can see the cuts."

Ikuto nodded and watched as she practically sprinted up the stairs. He was glad that she didn't trip and land on her injured hands to hurt them further. Her mood was weirder than usually. He noticed that she seemed to want to stay away from him.

Amu grabbed a small bag from her things and rushed into the bathroom. Sometime during the night she had woken up to use the restroom to find that she was now at that certain time of the month. What was worse is she had no idea how to tell Ikuto, so she was bluntly avoiding him. The stupid man wasn't helping since he insisted on caring for her hands. Now she had to be extra careful that he didn't find out because she was certain that he would insist on 'helping' her.

Amu quickly finished what she was doing and washed her hands before heading back downstairs to find Ikuto waiting for her with the first aid kit. Something told her that she should just tell him, but how was she supposed to go about that. Somehow 'Hey Ikuto, I'm bleeding profusely from that spot down there and we can't do anything for the next week. I don't want your help because I'm a big girl now' just didn't sound like a conversation she wanted to have.

Ikuto did his best to focus on her hands, but something made him want to just push her back on the couch and ravish her. Something definitely was a little different about her. Usually his reaction to her presence wasn't this strong. It was good that she was avoiding him, or else he would've regrettably forced her to lose the bet.

"Hey Amu, how much longer do you want to stay up here?"

Amu flinched slightly at the sound of her name. She watched Ikuto's nimble fingers finish tying her bandages up. "I'm ready to go anytime you are. I can't really do a whole lot up here anymore anyways."

The muscles in his back hardened as he took in her offhand remark that was by no means supposed to be snarky. He still blamed himself though, so he took it as his fault that Amu couldn't continue to enjoy the mountains. "I'm really sorry."

Amu sighed before placing one of her bandaged hands on his shoulder. "I was a willing participant and I'm the one that decided to hold onto the tree. You are not at fault here and if you keep blaming yourself then I'm going to have to hurt you. Besides I wanted to see the mountains and now I have. Let's go back to the beach and let my hands heal before we decide anything else."

Ikuto smiled before getting up off the couch. "Alright, then I'll go pack everything and load the car up since you can't really do that stuff."

Amu nodded and went back to staring out of the windows while Ikuto walked away. He went up to the only room they had used and began shoving his things into his bag. With Amu's clothes he was gentler and actually folded most of them. Next he went into the bathroom to grab their stuff from there. He noticed a small bag next to the toilet and grabbed it since it looked like Amu's. On the way back to their room, he accidentally dropped it sending a wave of tampons free upon the floor.

Ikuto stared down at the individually wrapped women products. His mind was frozen. Amu was on her period? She didn't tell him so, but then again there was no reason for her to actually tell him. It was her body and her choice. He quickly set down the rest of his stuff that he was carrying and picked up her escaped tampons. He understood now why she was so much more attractive. The hormones that women give off while on their period attract men that much more. He was going to have to be careful.

Ikuto was no longer looking forward to the car ride they had ahead of them. He was almost at his limit already for keeping his hands to himself. How was he supposed to survive at such close quarters and such a confined place? He was going to be trapped in his car with a very attractive Amu and her overbearing hormones for several hours. This was going to be hell.

Amu waited until Ikuto gave her the all clear to get into the car. She didn't want to leave, but she wanted to be back at the beach house. The mountains had been fun and full of new experiences, but she needed something a little more towards her norm at the moment. Ikuto was lucky that the car ride back was going to be much different from the car ride up. She had to keep her hands to herself this time.

Ikuto jumped in and snapped his seatbelt into place. He watched as Amu tried to do the same. In the end he ended up just snatching the contraption out of her hands and hooking it for her. Ikuto kept the windows open as he sped off down the mountain. Amu stared out the window to see everything she had missed on their way up since it had been so dark out by the time they had finally arrived. Her camera had tons of pictures on it now since she'd done what she'd promised and took pictures of everything. She even had one of Ikuto and her kissing on top of the mountain.

They stopped at a gas station so she could use the bathroom. She was relieved that Ikuto didn't comment on it or the fact that she took her purse in with her. Ikuto was doing his best to suffer in silence. He trying to keep his hands off the pinkette. It wasn't like she smelled good or anything like that. The attraction that he felt towards her was not one that his senses were magnifying. It was his hormones. He couldn't believe that she didn't feel it as well. How could he be the only one to be this tormented?

Amu left the gas station without a care in the world. She had noticed that Ikuto's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, but she didn't understand why he seemed so nervous or out of it. They'd barely spoken since they'd left no matter how many times Amu had awkwardly tried to talk about anything.

She grabbed a drink and paid for it before returning to where Ikuto sat waiting in the car. "Did you want anything?" He shook his head and faced out the window. Amu couldn't take it anymore. "What is your problem? You better not be still beating yourself up about my hands. I managed to buy this stuff and carry it without them hurting so much. I bet I can even feed myself again."

Ikuto did his best not to just jump her. He was doing his best to protect her from himself and she was only turning him on more by showing her concern for him. "It's not that."

"What else could it be? What else has happened? Why are we so awkward together today?"

Ikuto groaned before taking one of her unbandaged hands in his. He needed to redress them since she'd used the bathroom. "You're on your period aren't you?"

Amu stared into his pained eyes. She didn't understand how he knew or why it was troubling him so much. "So?"

Ikuto sighed before starting the process of wrapping her hands back up. He applied the proper cream to make them painless and heal faster before wrapping the bandages around them. "The hormones your body releases are stronger during the time you are on your period. I'm forcing myself to behave no matter how appealing you are right now."

Amu stared at him open mouthed. "What? Are you sure that that is even possible?"

Ikuto rolled his eyes and started his car. "I'm positive. Now stop being so cute or else I won't be able to be good."

Amu shut her mouth and stared out her window once more. Now she felt guilty for putting him in this position. It was all her fault and she hadn't even warned him. She'd just gotten into the car and made him deal with it. Now she understood why he gripped the wheel so hard. "I'm sorry."

Ikuto heard her whispers even if she didn't want him to. "I think it makes us even. I injured your hands so you can torment me a little for your revenge."

Amu smiled but didn't dare look at him. She wanted to make it as painless for him as possible. She was definitely going to avoid him for the rest of her week. Or at least she was going to try.

.

Morg: So there you go. Its short but that is for a reason. I need to know how you guys want this story to go. I can keep it clean until she gets off her rag or I can make Ikuto break down and do something naughty.

Amu: I don't want to even think about it. I don't want you to even think about it.

Ikuto: I'm cool either way actually. I'll do whatever the readers want this one time.

Morg: Whatever! So review and I'll update sooner! By the way it is true that the female body gives off stronger hormones to attract men during the week of menstruation. I'm just amplifying this effect on Ikuto because let's face it, he's different from other men when it comes to Amu.