You call me a stranger.
You say I'm a danger
But all these thoughts are leaving you tonight.
I'm broke and abandoned
You are an angel
Making all my dreams come true tonight.
~Stranger- Secondhand Serenade
"I don't think I got through to her." Kukai told the band as they sat around the auditorium. Ikuto and Nagihiko were seating in two seats in the front row, while Tadase and Kukai were sitting on the edge of the stage, all awaiting the decision of their "singer".
"When did you even get a chance to talk to her?" Tadase asked, curious as to how an upperclassman got to talk to her more than he did. Earlier that day he had attempted to speak with her, he had to muster up all his courage to even approach her. When he did though, he was immediately pulled away by some girls that had "required" his attention.
"Believe it or not, she ordered from the Golden Dragon last night, and I got to deliver it." Kukai explained still amazed himself. He knew that job was more useful than paying his way for college. He was finally starting to see the perks in it.
"And you're saying you didn't help?" Nagihiko asked tiredly. He had searched for her all day, yet he was unable to ever find her.
"I think I might have pissed her off." Kukai admitted defeatedly. He wasn't accustomed to a girl hating him. He would've taken an entire soccer team that had plans on beating him up after a game over that one girl. For reasons he couldn't explain, she intimidated him. Maybe it was because she was different from other girls he had ever talked to, or the fact that he never had a real conversation with a girl. It made him wonder if all girls were like that.
"Great." Tadase commented with a sigh, "Speaking of which, you didn't talk to her, right?" he asked Ikuto accusingly. After the auditions, and she left, they had all agreed it would be best if they all tried to "persuade" her to join, while Ikuto just stayed away from her. They all knew that their was some tension between the two, and it was obvious to anyone that she hated his guts.
"Me? Talk to her? I'd never do something like that." Ikuto answered smoothly avoiding eye contact to reveal his lie.
"You liar!" Tadase said. He had known Ikuto his whole life, they were like brothers(more like a brother they never wanted), and he could tell from his lack of eye contact he was lying. Somehow, he knew he would talk to her, even after they told him it would be better if he didn't. He knew just telling him not to do something would only make him want to do it more. Plus, the way he talked to her made it seem as though he enjoyed her annoyance.
"Oh man, Ikuto!" Kukai complained falling back onto the stage, "You pissed her off! And now she's not going to show up!"
"You're probably right." Ikuto answered honestly. He was mildly sure that she more or less hated his presence. He doubted that she'd show, no matter how much persuading they did.
"Nice going." Tadase commented with a bitterness he only used towards Ikuto. Ikuto just shrugged, used to those kinds of comments from Tadase. It actually amused him how he was the only one Tadase would be bitter towards. He was the only one that could make a prince curse, and it was that more amusing coming from a guy that looked like him.
Just when they had all accepted that their waiting was pointless, they all heard the door to the auditorium swing open and slam shut. The girl they had been waiting on approached them with a demanding stride, while glaring at the band. They all just stared blankly back at her from the door to her standing in front of them.
"Fine." Amu answered the silent question that had been running through their minds.
"Fine?" Ikuto asked not sure he heard right. Did she just agree to be their singer?!
"Fine." she answered again with more authority and annoyance in her voice, as they all started to gather the meaning of the word.
"Fine? Fine..." Kukai pondered the word out loud, until he finally grasped the meaning, "Fine! She said fine!" Kukai exclaimed in joy running up to Amu and quickly embraced her in a bear hug, a little too tight.
"Can't. Breathe!" she protested, with a lack of oxygen, trying to pull away.
"Don't suffocate her!" Tadase told Kukai, smacking him on the back of the head in order for him to release her. His face turned from annoyance to a kind smile to Amu, "I'm glad you decided to join us. I'm Tadase, we have a few classes together." he introduced himself with a out stretched hand to shake.
Getting a closer look at him, Amu could tell why all the girls called him a prince. "Amu. Nice to meet you." she responded shaking his hand in return.
"Nice to meet you Amu-chan. I'm Nagihiko." Nagihiko greeted her with a small smile and a nod. He was polite. Amu couldn't help but wonder what it was like for a boy to live in a house full of dancers.
"Nice to meet you." she responded with a small and a nod herself.
"Now that we all know each other," Ikuto started moving towards the group that had managed to make a circle around Amu as if she were the leader of a pack, "What made you change your mind?" he asked. She sounded set on avoiding the band and everyone in it, so why was she suddenly willing to join?
Amu hesitated. He had more control over her than he had realized, but she wasn't about to let him know that. "I have my reasons." she answered reluctantly with a monotone voice that made her seem bored with the question.
"Like?" Ikuto asked persistently, which he would have continued asking if he hadn't been rudely interrupted, "She's here man! Who cares?!" Kukai asked moving on. He personally didn't care about the details of the situation. Like everyone else, he was just happy she had decided to show.
"Alright." Ikuto said, with a surrendering sigh after seeing the relief expressions on his band members faces. "Let's get started then." The instrumentalist began to make their way to their instruments... all except for one.
"Right!" Kukai answered Ikuto with a salute as if he had been ordered to perform a certain task. "Time for special signer training!" Kukai answered with high enthusiasm and a thumbs up towards Amu.
"Huh?" Amu asked unaware of what he had in mind as "special training".
"Special singer training?" the other members asked in unison, oblivious to Kukai's plans as well. They knew Kukai couldn't sing, so what was he going to teach her? Kukai only gave them a mischievous smile as he revealed a rope behind his back, that only added to the confusion of the group.
"Ready?!" Kukai asked Amu as he threw the rope behind her back, "Running Dash! Go!" he commanded as he started running a sprint around the auditorium. Amu screaming behind him as she had to try to keep up.
The other guys just stared at the two running around the place. Kukai was a fast runner, and by the looks of it, Amu was not the athletic type, as she was pulled and rushing to keep up with him. The only thing was, they had no idea why he was doing this "special training" that made no sense to them.
"Uh, how does this help her singing?" Tadase asked, breaking their shocked silence, but the stares continued.
"I'm...not sure." Nagihiko admitted blankly watching them carefully, as if he could find the answer if he did.
"Well, whatever the reason," Ikuto started, taking a seat and leaning back comfortably, "It's amusing." he commented, more than slightly enjoying Kukai's way of thinking. How often would he get a chance to see her freaked out running around an auditorium. It was sort of out of character for her, according to Tadase's analyzes he had discussed with them earlier. A cool girl that basically said screw the world. Yeah right, was Ikuto's first thought after hearing that. He wanted to crack up laughing, remembering how she had acted around him earlier that day. For some reason though, Ikuto preferred to see her like this than when she glared at him and tried to use that cool attitude.
After almost half an hour of frantic running, Amu finally tripped over her feet and fell face first on the ground, conveniently in front of where the rest of the band was sitting.
"So," she heard a sly voice asked casual, but Amu could just hear the hint of amusement in his voice. She'd be willing to bet money that there was an annoying smirk plastered across his face. "How'd it go?" Her legs felt like cement, and she was still shaking from the experience she hoped to never live again. She had always hated running and everything else that involved sports, and Kukai was just, so, fast. She thought she was going to die for a while.
"What. Did. That. Do?" Amu managed to ask, too tired to lift her head off the ground to see their expressions.
"You have stage fright, right?" Ikuto asked, still amused by the girl. "Yeah." Amu answered, too tired to argue or insult him for being stupid. She just wanted this day to be over.
"Then that's it. Conquering one fear with another." he answered matter of fact like. Only earning him a glare from Amu as she moved her head just enough to see the smirk and show her anger.
"That can't be healthy." Nagihiko commented from Ikuto's analysis. "Was that what I was doing?" Kukai asked Nagihiko with a confused expression, rubbing the back of his head. Nagihiko felt a sweat drop. He was beginning to worry about the safety of this girl in their band. Between Kukai's extra enthusiasm and energy towards her, Tadase's sudden mood changes when speaking to one member then to her, and Ikuto's constant teasing, which was something he was going to look into the reason behind it, this girl's mental state was going to be fried.
"What?" Amu asked in a stern voice giving Kukai a glare with daggers in her eyes, making the boy tremble in fear enough to hid behind Nagihiko. He then realized just how much she really did intimidated him.
"Why don't we try getting in some serious practice?" Nagihiko suggested trying to regain the peace amongst the members, specifically between Kukai and Amu. She looked like she was ready to kill their drummer, and none of them wanted to go through more auditions for a drummer of all things. They had had as much as they could handle with loud noises.
"One question." Amu stated pushing herself off the ground, holding onto one of the chairs to keep herself up. "Are you guys any good?" They were all taken aback by the question. That quickly turned into them all being offended. Did she honestly think they weren't any good, but bothered to endure the torture of both finding a singer and trying to get her to join their band? "I've never heard you play before, and apparently no one else has either." Amu told them as a way to defend herself for asking the question.
"We've never performed for an audience," Ikuto explained, being the only one unaffected by her question, "We were just an instrumentalist band, so there weren't many opportunities to."
"So, you can play?" Amu asked, making sure that she knew what she was getting involved with.
"Find out for yourself." he answered her walking over to his guitar, silently signaling the others to follow. "Any request?"
"Oh! OH! I got one!" Kukai answered waving his drum sticks in the air from his drum set, shaking his arms like a child waiting to be called on by the teacher.
"Ok," Ikuto answered, he wasn't really talking to him, but since no one else was going to speak up anyway, "Shoot."
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!" Kukai answered with more excitement than a teenage boy should have when suggesting to rocking out to a nursery song. They all gave him strange looks, suggesting their was something wrong with his mental stability at the moment, well, more than usual anyway, "I heard her sing it when I delivered the food last night. Get off my back!" Kukai defended himself from the comments that he knew would soon be made if he didn't explain himself.
With that defense, they all shifted their looks to Amu, who blushed slightly, still embarrassed that he had heard her. "Give me a break." she answered, quickly shaking off the blush and putting her attitude back on, "My little sister made me."
"You have a little sister?" Kukai asked unaware that she hadn't been the only person in the house at the time.
"You went to her house, and you didn't know that?" Tadase asked with amazement on how Kukai could get through the day.
"Hey, she's short! I didn't see her!" Kukai defended himself as the two continued their bickering with insults towards one another that Amu didn't quite understand the affect the words would have on them.
They were interrupted by the sound of a guitar strumming the beginning rhythm to the song, vibrating thorough an amp. It was odd hearing the song being played with an electric guitar, but Ikuto kept playing until he heard the others come in one at a time. Kukai adding some speed and volume, Tadase adding a back noise for the basics, and Nagihiko complimented the song with a capo added to his guitar for a higher note for harmony.
Though Amu didn't want to admit it, they were pretty good, even with a nursery song. They seemed to be in sync with one another, knowing when to play at what time, and how they needed to play it. It was a beautiful combination, and Amu felt a strange urge to hum the song to herself. That, however, would not satisfy the band though.
Ikuto was urging her to just jump in, it wasn't like it was a hard song anyway. He gave her a look with a smirk, somehow provoking her. He got under her skin in a way no one else ever could. She would have stared him down, but she had to remind herself that he held a lot of cards at the moment. She surrendered taking a deep breath while tapping her foot to the beat to follow.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Singing this was different than with Ami. For one, there was more pressure for her to do well. Other than that though, the whole beat was different. She used to sing it like a lullaby to Ami, but just then, she had to sing more like a singer in a rock band. They ended it soon after her singing. Ikuto gave her a smile of satisfaction. Now, they had a band.
An hour later, Amu began walking to her sister's daycare center to pick up Ami. She was glad that Ami wouldn't have to wait any longer than usual for her to come, even with band practice. It was an interesting experience for her. She was never the only singer before. She had had solos in choir, but at least there were other singers behind her. Now, she was the only singer, and a few guys on instruments behind her didn't help lessen the focus on her.
Then again, they are the school hotties. Amu laughed to herself. It was funny how girls could get obsessed with guys they didn't know a thing about. To Amu, they were all insane. Especially the supposed school heart throb, who was both insane and annoying. And he has power over me. Amu thought dropping her head in despair. She couldn't think of anything worse than that. She could only wait and see what he would make her do, how far he would go with this power.
She was startled out her thoughts when she heard chimes begin to ring. It took her a moment to realize it was her cellphone going off. This took her by surprise. She hadn't given her number to anyone, not that there was anyone to give it out to, and her dad should supposedly still have another hour of sleep. She checked the caller id to see a number that she didn't recognize.
Hesitantly, she hit the green phone button and spoke into the phone, "Hello?" she listened in the receiver, but there was no reply. "Hello?" she asked again, a little more irritated by the call than anything.
Suddenly, she heard heavy breathing. It reminded her of Darth Vader from Star Wars, but it wasn't as amusing as she had thought it was in the movie. "Who is this?!" she demanded with authority and control in her voice that she didn't feel. What if this was some psychopathic stalker that was on the run and planing to kill her in her sleep?! Alright, that may not have been the most logical assumption, but Amu didn't have any logical reasons on her mind.
The breathing got heavier and louder in response. She stood still, frozen in place trying to figure out what the hell was going on. When suddenly she heard someone say in her ear, "Boo." taking her off guard. She screamed in surprise and fell forward shaking from shock.
"You always this jumpy?" she heard the voice ask with an amused tone. She looked up regretfully, to see the insane, annoying, and now psychopathic stalker towering over her with that same cocky smirk.
Fuming, Amu stood up and glared at the boy that was still looking down at her, even when she was standing up, and just snapped at him, "Yeah, I'm like that when ever some psycho comes up behind me!"
"Psycho?" asked innocently, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
"I call a guy that calls my phone to freak me out a psycho!" Amu responded still steaming when a realization hit her, "Wait, how did you get my number?"
"I took your phone when you weren't looking." Ikuto admitted without any hint of apology or embarrassment in his voice and expression. He looked more like he was bored with the question.
"Yeah, that's not creep and stalkerish at all." Amu commented sarcastically rolling her eyes once she saw the smirk come back, "What do you want?"
"Just letting you know tomorrow practice is at Kukai's place."
"I see," Amu answered kind annoyed about how he had her number and he chose to follow her instead of just calling her. "And how am I suppose to know where that is?"
"We all just take the van over." Ikuto told her shrugging the issue like it was nothing important, "So just go to the parking lot after school."
"Fine." Amu surrendered knowing arguing wouldn't do her any good, "What's the van look like?"
"Oh trust me, you'll be able to tell." Ikuto answered slyly knowing the usual routine for getting through the parking lot, while knowing she had no idea. He was looking forward to seeing her expression, especially since she just looked confused at the moment.
Before Amu could ask what he meant, she heard a little voice call out to her, "Onee-sama!" Amu turned to see Ami running towards her. She was surprised to see her, and even more surprised that while she was traveling in thought she had somehow ended up in front of the daycare center.
When Ami reached Amu, her excited face turned blank as she stopped in front of Amu and Ikuto. She turned her head up to give Ikuto a blank stare, who returned it with a blank stare of his own. They were having a silent stare off. Amu bit her lip from laughing at the scene. Her little sister standing up to a guy as big as Ikuto, who acted like he could speak on Ami's level. When Ami stepped on her tip toes as a way to intimidate Ikuto, she couldn't help it. Amu started laughing lightly but loud enough to catch her sister's attention. Along with Ikuto's who had been following Ami.
It felt strange to Amu to laugh again. She hadn't laughed in so long. Her sister's excited face came back, happy her sister was laughing again. She looked back up at Ikuto with an excited smile. Ami had the impression that Ikuto was the reason her sister was laughing again. "Hi! Big kid!" she greeted him with a frantic wave.
"Hey. Little kid." he responded with an out stretching hand that Ami's little hand took to shake. Amu stopped laughing but just smiled at the scene of the two mingling.
"Time to go Ami." Amu told her sister who was smiling big at Ikuto. "Ahh!" Ami complained not wanting to leave the big kid.
"Come on Ami." Amu tried to persuade her bending down to level a little showing her a winning smile. "Please?" she asked nicely, the way Ami had learned in kindergarden was a necessary word when asking for something.
She kept that smile as Ami made a face that suggested she was giving the option some thought, when she felt someone blow in her ear from behind. She screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin. All while she heard snickering and a little high pitch giggle. Betrayed by my own sister. Amu thought as she gave Ikuto a death glare. "Would you stop doing that?!" she yelled at him, mad at herself for falling for the same trick twice in the same day.
"I don't think so," Ikuto answered with an amused look, "It's too much fun." and surprising enough to Ikuto, it really was. He thought he might get bored after a while, but no, he still enjoyed it. Especially with an audience to applaud him.
"Let's go Ami." Amu told her sister, taking her hand and pulling her down the sidewalk. Ami began to follow in step beside her, but not before telling Ikuto goodbye.
"Bye bye, Onni-sama!" she called back at him with a wave that made him chuckle, especially when he saw Amu's shocked expression, that held a distinct blush if he wasn't mistaken.
They kept walking away, and when they were out of sight from Ikuto she told Ami, "Ami, please don't call him that." she asked in a tone that suggested she was begging. Which at the moment may have been necessary. After hearing Amu laugh after being silent for so long, Ami now looked up to Ikuto for doing what she couldn't. Just like looking up to an older brother, unfortunately for Amu.
Why did she have to call him that?! Doesn't she realize what that would have to mean?! Amu asked herself as they kept walking home. "Onee-sama. Your face face is really red." Ami stated seeing her sister's face that had been blushing from her thoughts, and with Ami pointing it out, only made her blush darken. "Thanks Ami."