Amu's P.O.V:
At the first sight of light, I escaped his arms and dashed for it, finally reaching the bright sunlight and falling to my knees.
"Never again." I noted to myself, Ikuto walked up behind me.
"I couldn't even see if that place was actually haunted, waste of my time." He stared at me with an accusing eye.
"Excuse me, it is not my-"
"Don't look away Ikuto, I can see clearly in your eyes." He mocked me and my ears began to heat, crawling over to my cheeks.
"Whatever." My face was flaming, why did I think he was going to be nicer about my situation? Maybe it was because of all the kindness I have shown him on his situations.
Well kindness given is surely not kindness received.
"Freedom, sweet sunlight, bathe me!" Yaya dove into the sand, I could see her body visibly relax.
"It wasn't even that bad Yaya." Kairi rolled his eyes at Yaya's behavior.
"Says you, I swear I saw red eyes in there." Yaya rolled over, now her back on the sand.
"Well you should have seen-" I quickly punched Ikuto's ankle and he toppled over, idiot never knows when to shut his mouth.
"See, n-nothing to be scared of, Rima." I could see Nagi clutching Rima's wrist like his life depended on it.
"Big baby." Rima teased, pulling away from him.
"Now for the other two." I stood up, brushing my hands off from the sand. After five minutes, I could finally see Utau and Kukai making their way towards us.
"It was so dark in there, couldn't see a thing, let's do it again!" Kukai shouted.
"No!" Yaya and I both shouted back.
"Fine then." Kukai grumbled. "Surfing it is!" He quickly bounced back, he sped off, leaving a cloud of sand behind him.
"He is so eager, isn't it cute?" Utau skipped along, humming a song and I shook my head.
"Crushes are weird." Rima mumbled and Yaya and I nodded in agreement. The girls went to go change while I just had to strip off my shorts and shirt, that was a smart move, haven't made one in a while.
The thing is, what's the point of bringing a bathing suit if you are going absolutely no where near the water? I hate the ocean, I didn't even want to stick my toes in. Yet the way the sun beating down my skin was the only reason I would ever touch the water.
"I have my boogie board!" Yaya held up the brightly colored board, where did she even get that from?
"Look at this!" Nagi grabbed his skim board and threw it on the sand where the waves hit, it almost seemed as if he was gliding on top of it as he rode.
"Lame!" Kukai tackled him down, both crashing into the water.
"Dude!" Nagi attempted to push him off
"My turn!" Kukai quickly grabbed Nagi's board and rode it himself.
"Idiots." Rima laid down her towel, laying down on it to prepare to tan.
"Where is everyone getting their stuff from?" I asked.
"The bus is open to people who want to borrow beach items."
"When did you leave?"
"When we were changing, that's why it took us a little longer." Rima shrugged, I nodded and sat down in the sand beside her. Yaya was alright out in the water, sitting on her board while Kukai just kept threatening to push her down. Utau was playing catch with Ikuto in the water, and Kairi was just sitting in a beach chair under an umbrella, reading a book.
He never really pulls away from a book, only on rare occasions.
"Amu, it's shallow over here!" Yaya called for me, waving her hand.
"No thanks." I waved back.
"She's scared of the ocean Yaya, remember?" Ikuto reminded her.
"You shut up." I grumbled.
"You're scared of the ocean?" Rima opened one eye to look at me.
"We talked about this a couple of days ago."
"Probably wasn't paying attention," She said and I sighed. "Why are you scared of it?"
"I'm not sure, being pulled in by the tide, drowning, sharks." I vaguely explained.
"Gosh Amu, you really think that would happen?" Rima scoffed but I nodded. "Well, if it did, don't you think everyone here would try to save you?" She asked and I looked at everyone, I guess that is a good point. I don't think anyone of them would just allow me to drown, they would at least try to save me.
"Alright, I guess I could try it." I decided that while my courage is up, that I should use it to my advantage. I stood up, walking to the water, waves skimming my toes and I shivered, I didn't expect it to be so cold. The deeper I went, the more I felt like running back but I continued.
"You're doing it Amu!" Yaya cheered, I let out a laugh.
"I'm doing it!" I repeated her words, the fear diminishing with her encouragement. I felt a fish tickle my foot and flinched, but decided not to let it bother me.
Until, something wrapped around my leg and pulled me down, I screamed under the water when I suddenly felt something captured my lips. I wasn't sure what it was, but that didn't stop me from flailing and kicking until the creature finally set me free. I swam to the surface, gasping and coughing.
"What the fuck!?" I shrieked, Ikuto emerged slowly in front of me, smiling sheepishly.
"Boo?" I guess he could sense my anger, because I was damn furious.
"You will just not give me a break today." I pushed him down and walked off, reaching the shore and continuing to walk, passing by Rima.
"Amu-"
"Thanks for the advice, except it turns out that the asshole who was supposed to save me was the one who drowned me." I flashed her a sarcastic smile and made my way, hearing Yaya call my name but I ignored her.
Somehow, I was in front of the buses in the parking lot, I decided that this would be the best place to hide until we had to go to the hotels. I crawled up the small stairs and made my way to where Yaya and I sat while driving here.
What an asshole, I was going to get over one of my fears and he teases me. I have a break down in front of him and he teases me right after, right after being all sweet about it. Guiding me out of the cave, while just staring into my eyes, like stars in the midnight sky. The way they were so nervous and somewhat caring about the situation.
But now they just spell 'major bastard' in bold letters.
"There you are." Yaya appeared on the bus, running over to me and sitting beside me. "Ikuto can be-"
"I know how he can be, and I don't care." I was trying so hard not to be mean, but I couldn't help it at this point.
"But you still care for him, or at least like him as a friend." Yaya said in a hushed down, as if she was afraid that she would upset me even more.
"What makes you say that?" I turned to her, seeing her golden-brown hair instead of her eyes.
"You keep coming back to him." She looked up at me, a strong gaze meeting mine and my neck began to heat up.
"Y-Yeah, whatever." I tried to play it off cool, but it was true. No matter how upset I got, I still forgave him far too easily, for reasons still unknown to me.
"Amu, tell me about your old boyfriend, the one that you used to love." She demanded and my eyes widened slightly at the sudden question.
"I wouldn't even know where to-"
"What was he like, personality-wise." She quickly provided the foundation, and now I need to put bricks down.
"Nice, very nice," I coughed awkwardly, trying to remember what I thought of him before I hated him. "Honest, a little too honest sometimes, always telling me exactly what he thought of my outfit or something even as small as my nails.
"It wasn't always a bad thing, of course. His feelings were so clear and his actions always so expected, I felt secure with his arms around me because I knew, well at least thought, that nothing would change." Tears threatened to spill out but I quickly wiped them.
"How did he make you feel?" She kept asking questions.
"Yaya, I really don't want to-"
"It's important Amu, just answer." She insisted.
"Safe, warm, secure like I said before. Made me feel more loved than my parents ever did." I whispered the last part.
"I see." Yaya had a faint smile on her lips.
I managed to ignore Ikuto for the rest of the day, which was hard since he kept trying to get my attention. I was strong though, I sure as hell was not forgiving him that easily this time.
I put on the white robe that the hotel provided, the girls from our bus were all taking a baths in the public showers. My hair was still a bit tangled from our beach experience, but my brush was in my bag, so I'll brush it out later.
"Watching Kukai shirtless was a dream!" Utau shouted from the bath.
"If you keep sitting in there, you'll be a prune." Rima scolded, blow-drying her hair.
"Is she open with this crush?" I looked at Rima.
"It's to make sure no other girl dares to go near him, almost all girls are scared of Utau." Rima examined herself in the mirror, fluffing her hair up with her hands. You didn't want to get on Utau's bad side, she was that type of person that could threaten you and mean it.
"They better be!" Utau laughed, I shook my head with a smile.
"C'mon, I want to go to out hotel room." Yaya complained, she was sitting by the door. Luckily, our hotel assignments were of our own choosing, but they were pretty strict about going into other girl's rooms. Boys were on a completely different floor, if you even found out what floor they're on, and snuck down there, if you get caught, you're dead.
No fool has ever tried to sneak onto the opposite gender's floor.
"Alright, I'm done." Utau stood up, I viewed her body briefly before quickly looking away. Utau was slim and tall, the body of a model almost, no wonder every boy has a crush on her. "It's always nice to go to a public bath with friends, quality bonding time."
"You're just stupid, is all." Rima smirked and stood up, Utau ruffled up her hair and Rima fumed.
"I just fixed it!" Rima exclaimed.
"Whatever, let's just go." Utau tied her robe tightly, touching her bun to make sure her hair didn't get wet.
"I'm surprised you went through the entire day without getting it wet."
"I'm just a natural." She shrugged, walking ahead of us in the hall. We rode the elevator to our floor and found our room, our bags were placed on the four twin beds, I found mine and walked over to it. There were two beds on each side, and I was right beside Utau.
The room was rather spacious, there was even one large cupboard closet if we wanted to hang our clothes.
"You girls should get some sleep, it'll be a long night." Utau stretched out her words, jumping under the covers and turning over so she wasn't facing me.
"What do you mean?" I questioned her.
"It's usually hard to fall asleep in a new place." Her voice had a strange tone, I decided to just lay down in my bed and follow her commands. Despite of what Utau said, I fell asleep soundly.
I dreamed of the beach, except the sand didn't burn the bottom of my feet, but it was comfortably warm, soothing my body. The waves made amazing noises as they broke against the shore, splashing over my feet.
I felt two hands on my shoulder, messaging them softly and I let out a relieved sigh. Then something soft touched my shoulder, it didn't feel like hands at all though, it trailed up my neck and I shivered.
"Amu." A voice whispered, I giggled lightly.
"Yes?"
"Amu." The voice was harsh now, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Amu! Wake up!" I sprung up and my hands shot to my shoulders. I saw Utau staring at me, her eyes wide and I just matched her gaze, both of us thoroughly confused with one another.
"Were you massaging my shoulders?" I decided to speak first.
"No, why were you giggling in your sleep?" She shot back.
"Reasons that should not be mentioned." I gave her that look and she just nodded, patting my shoulder. "Wait a minute, why are you waking me up?"
"My friend just texted me what floor the boys are on." She waved her phone in front of my face, the bright screen irritating my eyes.
"I don't care?" I said in a question form.
"I heard from Ikuto that Kukai has a journal that he takes everywhere, and he writes all his secrets in it." Utau explained quickly in a hushed tone, looking back at Yaya and Rima's side. I just stared blankly at her for a second, when her plan was suddenly clear in my eyes.
"Hell no, leave me out of this." I growled.
"Come on Amu, Yaya would probably be too scared and Rima bit me before for waking her up." Utau seemed to wince at the memory.
"We could get expelled!" I hissed.
"My dad is the principal, I can't get expelled." Her confidence was beaming, a bit of her arrogance showing as well.
"Fine."
"Hope you packed something black." She smirked at me and I stood up, throwing all of my clothes around to try and find something black. Unfortunately, the only thing black that I had was a black lace tank-top with some black shorts. Why the hell didn't Yaya pack some less exposing?
Oh yeah, this is a vacation to the beach. I just stripped off my pajamas and put them on, I guess it didn't matter right now, just sneak in and sneak out.
"Cute top." Utau acknowledged and I just glared at her, she rolled her eyes and opened the door, looking around the hall and gesturing me to follow. I stayed crouched while scooting out into the hall with her, it wasn't even lit up anymore.
"What time is it?"
"Like three in the morning." Utau kept looking around, I was right on her tail when she went forward, making sure not to get caught. We made it to the elevator and she clicked on the of the buttons. Once the doors closed, I let out a deep breath.
"Now, there will probably be at least one guard on the boy's floor, since boys are just naturally untrustworthy." Utau watched the numbers change on the top of the doors, tapping her foot impatiently.
"You shouldn't be the one speaking." I breathed out, the doors opened and we both crawled out.
"Do you even know what room they're in?" I looked around, now worried about this other guard.
"I know what Kukai's favorite number is." She looked over her shoulder, a sheepish grin on her lips.
"Let's up that works." My tone dripped in sarcasm. We stopped at a door and she took a bobby pin out of her hair, picking at the lock until we heard it click. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Ikuto taught me." She shrugged, walking in. What a great brother-sister bonding time. Luckily, all the boys were asleep, and we didn't wake them upon our arrival.
"I'm going to look through Kukai's stuff, you just stand there." She said.
"Are you sure I can handle that?" I stood beside the cupboard closet in their room, she dug through his bag and I just stood there.
"Did you here the elevator go off?"
"Yeah, and I think a heard some feet crawling around here." I heard out in the hall.
"I'll check the rooms on this side, you check the right." And this is where I panic.
"Utau, hide somewhere they're going to come in here." I flailed my arms.
"Where am I supposed to go?"
"Just shut up and get in here." I heard Kukai grumble and he pulled Utau up into his bed, hiding her under the covers. Great, now where do I go?
I felt someone grab my wrist and the push me into the closet, they stepped in as well and closed the door behind them. Their hair was completely messy and his eyes tired, but they lit up once they saw me in there with them.
"I thought I grabbed Utau." He mumbled.
"Utau is under Kukai's covers." I growled, looking away from him.
"Are you still upset?"
"Of course I'm upset, and shut up, they might come in here." I placed my index finger over my lips, he just combed his hair back with his fingers, which I found strangely alluring.
"I did it for my own reasons, and I'm not apologizing." He looked away from me.
"An apology won't make me any less angry."
"That's why I'm not giving you one." I didn't want one, but he is pushing me off the edge and I will drag him down with me.
"Well now I want one."
"What?"
"You're being an ass about this and now I won't forgive you until I get one out of you." I huffed.
"I'm not giving you one, don't you understand that?" He looked at me as if I was an idiot.
"Fine, then I will never forgive you, and you're back to Smurf in my book." I informed him and he shrugged.
"Don't care." The worst feeling is when you're trying to upset someone with your words and they just don't care.
"Whatever." I matched his tone and got out of the closet, Utau was standing there, pretending not to be listening to our conversation.
"Are you al-"
"Let's go." I walked past her, not even bothering anymore.
I know there hasn't been an actual Amuto moment in a while but this entire fight is leading to a great resolution. In my other stories I noticed that every problem was almost instantly solved in the same chapter so I want to practice dragging the fights out a little. But trust me, the resolve will be so worth it. Hope you enjoyed!
Please R&R!