Chapter 26

~~Amu's POV~~

Why did Nadeshiko always choose to take Kukai and leave me here in the middle of a silent fight between two idiots?

Ikuto was on the bed next to me glaring at Tadase who was writing, but mostly glaring back.

"Honestly I can't tell if you guys hate each other or want each other at this point." I said.

Tadase looked back at his paper and Ikuto looked at me.

"Sorry to interrupt the erotic eye contact."

"Now I can do it to you."

I covered my eyes and I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

I sighed and rolled off the bed. I pulled knee high boots over my purple tights.

Ikuto's eyebrows raised and Tadase looked up.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just going down to get a soda. I'll be right back."

I turned when I reached the door.

"Don't harm each other while I'm gone."

"No promises." Ikuto said as I shut the door.

I had a soda in hand. I braced myself as I turned the door handle.

Surprisingly, nothing was out of place; they were still sitting as they were when I'd left.

"So you guys stayed still?" I asked.

"I got up to pee." Ikuto said, just to annoy me.

But I was just surprised nothing had happened. I eyed them both carefully before sitting back down.

Ikuto moved beds to sit next to me again.

I sighed and popped my soda can open.

I took a drink and me, being oh so coordinated, spiled some down my chin.

I put my hand up to catch it, but suddenly Ikuto grabbed my hand and brought his face close.

"Ikuto what-"

He licked me.

He literally licked the drop off of my chin.

Electricity shot through me and I jumped up.

My face red, I shouted "THAT WAS SO GROSS!"

I was not the only one yelling.

"Ikuto! How dare you! She is your teammate! That's forbidden!"

Ikuto smirked at him. "We're not dating or anything." He said, giving me a pointed look.

"Although... I wouldn't mind breaking the rules if she wanted to.." His eyes looked me up and down, his pupils visibly dilating.

My heart beat faster and I had to look away.

I looked around to see Tadase was fuming.

I pushed him into the other room.

"You need to stay focused." I said.

"Wait! Are you going to be okay in there..."

He looked around me at Ikuto.

"Yes I can handle the idiot. You need to finish working, okay?"

He reluctantly let me close the door.

I sat down once again.

"You licked me."

"You liked it."

"I beg to differ."

"So then..." He moved closer towards me.

"You wouldn't want me to do it again...?"

I could smell him, I felt his hair touching my face and neck.

"NO I WOULDN'T LIKE THAT." I said leaning back.

"What are you so red about then..." He was smirking.

I leaned so far back that I fell off the bed.

He caught me before my head hit the floor and pulled me back up.

"Stop touching me."

"Hey, I just saved you. And I found you and brought you back here when you were drunk. Maybe a bit of gratitude."

I opened my mouth and then shut it again.

He was right.

I looked up at him and put my hand on his arm.

"Thank you.. Ikuto... I'm happy that you help me..."

His eyes widened and he slid off the bed and sunk into a sitting position on the floor.

He put his face in his hands.

I poked my head over the side of the bed.

"Are you okay."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Give me a minute."

I begun to braid his hair. I had about five strands of braided hair by the time he got up and sat back down next to me. He shook his hair out.

"I was bored." I said, shrugging.

"I can excite you.." He said, but suddenly stopped.

"No.. You're going to that thing again." He said.

"What thing?" I asked.

"That thing where you are unnecessarily cute at random times and I have to sit down for twenty minutes." He said.

"Well don't tell me to thank you if you can't handle it." I remarked, leaning back.

He grinned at me for a fraction of a second and I forgot where I was.

I turned my head away from him and turned on the TV.

It hadn't even been twenty minutes when Tadase came busting through the door.

He eyed Ikuto and I frantically. When he saw nothing was going on, he calmed down.

"I'm done." He said, holding up a stack of papers.

"Oh good! I'll call Nadeshiko." I said, eying to interrupt the immediate tension between the two boys.

When Nadeshiko and Kukai showed up, they had bags. Or rather, Nadeshiko had one small bag; and Kukai had six huge bags.

"Put them in the other room." She said to Kukai, and then sat down.

"Before we start this, I have a surprise." She said.

"There's a little machine where you create a logo and then can customise different things with it. So I made us a logo and got us all things."

She pulled out a light blue tie with a a stripe over the widest part. In this stripe was a tiny crown logo. She handed it to Tadase.

"That is an ugly tie." I said, earning a glare from Nadeshiko.

"They don't all look like that." She said.

She pulled out a pin with a light pink background. There was a stripe through the middle and the logo was a small dark pink flower.

"This one is mine." She pinned it to her shirt.

The next thing was a dark blue earring with an orange stripe through it. There was a yellow star symbol. Kukai had one ear pierced, obviously this was his.

Next was obviously for Ikuto. He always wore a long cross necklace.

This was what his was. It was black and the stripe was white. In it was a black cat face outline.

He took it, but didn't put it on.

Finally she took out a hair pin that looked like the ones I normally wore.

It was circle shaped, and had a black base. The stripe was light pink and there was a grey diamond logo.

I popped it into place, as I didn't have my hair done today.

Nadeshiko beamed.

Kukai removed his current earring and put the new one in.

Tadase laid his tie on the TV stand, and Ikuto pocketed the necklace.

Tadase cleared his throat.

"So. The idea for this round is going to be a game show type thing that will include the judges."

"Can I step out of this one?" I heard Kukai say.

I looked at him, surprised.

He scratched the back of his head.

"Stuff like this has never been my forte."

Tadase nodded.

"I will be host; the judges and Ikuto will be participating; Amu and Nadeshiko, you will be controlling the screen that will be showing the game."

He then started explaining the rules. It was basically like jeopardy without money.

There were categories that a participant would chose. A random question from that category would send to Tadase, who'd say it out loud. Whichever participant buzzes their buzzer first gets to answer.

If they guess right than they pick the next category and get 10 points, if wrong the question is passed to the second one who buzzed.

Tadase had picked out categories.

First was random Japanese trivia from our time with Miki.

Next was quizzes on the origins of buildings and statues from around the main streets.

The next was on types of food from here.

And the last was about types of dances, also learned from Miki.

Nadeshiko and I would wear the kimonos we were given.

He told us he had at least ten questions for each category, and then dismissed us.

At first no one moved.

Nadeshiko got into the shower after about 5 minutes of bombarding Tadase with questions.

Kukai was going through his suitcase, I don't know why.

I sighed and laid down. Ikuto was sitting beside me.

He was staring at me as if in thought.

"What? Debating invading my personal space again?"

His eges didn't change and I was surprised.

I got up to get another soda, as my other one had gone warm.

Ikuto followed me out and when I turned around to confront him, he dragged me to the roof.

"Did we need to come up here? I don't even think people are supposed to be up here." I said, sitting down. I knew I was gonna be up here a while whether I liked it or not.

Ikuto sat down across from me.

He took off his necklace and put it around my neck. It was really long on me, coming past my chest.

It was a heavy little pendant.

I frowned at him, questioning.

As he put his new necklace on, he said:

"Amu, it would make me very happy if you'd wear that from now on."

At first I was silent but then I remember he licked me less than an hour ago.

"I'd be happy if you jumped off a bridge."

He looked at me seriously and I frowned.

He held the pendant in one hand and my heart began to beat faster.

"Amu. This necklace is very important to me.. I can't tell you why right now, but I want you to wear this always."

My eyes narrowed. He sighed.

"I don't know where it started, but my grandmother gave it to my mother, and my mother gave it to me right before her accident." He cleared his throat.

"If it's something you got from her I'm not taking it." I started to lift it off but he stopped me.

"No. Amu now that I've given it to you you have to wear it."

"Why so."

"Because there is a legend behind it. It's been passed down for years. It's tradition."

"What legend is that?"

"I can't tell you yet."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not wearing it unless you tell me."

He stared at me for a moment. I moved to take it off when he sighed and put his hand up.

I paused, the chain in my hand.

"I wanted it to be in better circumstances.. But I guess this will do."

"What will do."

He looked directly into my eyes.

"Amu. My mother have that to me and told me the story of it."

"Here's the part you tell me the story."

"Anyone a part of the Tsukiyomi family gives that to a person they... I'll tell you in minute. And then that person is a member of the family, and passes it down to another person of the Tsukiyomi family.

"But I'm not a part of your family... And a person they what?"

"Not yet. You're not a part of it yet."

What was he talking about.

"Ikuto. I'm not related to you. How could I become a part of-"

"There's one thing I want to change about you, Amu."

I frowned.

"Your last name."

My face heated violently. He was talking about marriage.

"Ikuto. Who. Do. You. Give. This. Necklace. To."

He leaned forward and said,

"The person you love."

~~Ikuto's POV~~

I was already in an empty room by the time she'd processed what I'd said. I went through the window.

I was right under the roof and I could hear her breathing.

I put my head against the window sill.

I hadn't wanted to tell her till she had figured out her feelings, but I wanted her to wear it.

Suddenly I saw a foot hit the window ledge. I jumped out of sight right as her face passed, she was climbing down.

Her face was red and she looked frazzled.

But I grinned. The necklace was on her.

Maybe she really did love me like I love her.

I decided to stay up on the roof for a bit.

~~Tadase's POV~~

Amu came in the room a little bit out of it.

I concealed a laugh as she tripped over her own feet and stumbled onto the couch next to me.

But my mood fell immediately. She was wearing Ikuto's cross necklace.

My stomach knotted furiously.

I knew his family's tradition about that.

I wanted to scream.

He'd worn that necklace for eleven years and I'd never seen him take it off.

I frowned at her. Did she know?

"A-Amu... Why are you wearing Ikuto's necklace?"

She was calm about it, which made me hopeful that she didn't know.

"Oh, Ikuto gave it to me.."

"Can I see it real quick?" I wanted it off of her.

She closed her hand around the cross.

"Ah- uh. Ikuto told me I have to keep it on. I wouldn't want to lose it either..."

I forced myself to smile and nod at her.

She frowned and put a hand on my forehead.

"Tadase are you alright, your sweating. Are you sick?"

My face started to flush.

"Yes. I'm alright. It's a little hot in here. That's all."

She got up to turn down the heat and I chucked a pillow across the room to vent some anger.

It hit the blinds on the window and I cringed. She whirled around.

"What was that!?"

I opened my mouth and then shut it again.

I shrugged.

"Poltergeist."

~~Ikuto's POV~~

I was generally in a good mood.

Not only did I get to watch Amu wear outfits to match my cross for the rest of the week, but I got to watch Tadase's dismay with it.

Of course around her, he tried to act like nothing was wrong.

But once she was thinking, and unconsciously began playing with it, and he had to leave the room.

I knew the peace would only last so long. The girls left and Kukai was in the shower.

"You gave Amu your necklace."

"Observant."

"Ikuto.. Do you really feel that way about her?"

"I wouldn't mess around with that necklace."

"Does she know..."

"Yes. She wears it knowing what it means."

I could practically taste the hate. He was glaring daggers at me.

"Does she.. Return the feeling..."

"Well she is wearing it. I don't know."

He was silent.

That was something I'd have to figure out soon.

But I knew Tadase. And I knew he was going to try to get in the way.

The symbols are representative of the guardian eggs. I used the strips as in the ones on Amu's eggs. And the symbols the symbols on each persons egg. Short chapter, next is the actual round. Thanks for reviewing!