-1No One

Ikuto stared from Amu to the wide opened-mouthed Yaya and Nadeshiko, holding his head in his hands. He blinked a few times, hoping he was seeing things but when he opened them - reality was so ever cruel. "This is really short notice Amu."

Amu fidgeted with her hand, "but could they stay? For the night?"

Ikuto turned to look at Nadeshiko and Yaya who both seem to be awe-stricken and lost in a different dimension. "Are you sure these two aren't idiots?"

"IKUTO," Amu hissed, slightly embarrassed that he said that out loud.

Ikuto sighed, "well I guess I'm not to object right? They can stay but… rules apply Amu."

Amu smiled, "thank you Ikuto."

She quickly grabbed hold of Yaya and Nadeshiko, shoving them both into her room and closing the door gently. She stared at the two who still seem to be lost of stricken. "earth to Yaya and Nadeshiko. Aliens are attacking so wake up."

"Amu," Yaya began, taking deep breaths, "who was that?"

Nadeshiko grabbed Amu, pulling her closer, "you never mentioned you had a older brother Amu? Why didn't you introduce us to him?"

Yaya leaned in too, "He's slightly old but that equals he's very masculine and…"

"Quite a attractive young face to add." Nadeshiko finished for her.

Amu pulled away from Nadeshiko and Yaya, "what are you two talking about? This is crazy. He's Ikuto Tsukiyomi… he's my father."

Both Nadeshiko and Yaya's mouth was now opened wide again. Nadeshiko eyes Amu, "your father must've been a bad boy when he was young."

"That's way too adult-like for that age Nadeshiko," Yaya interrupted, "but you think her mother is as young as he is."

Amu giggled, "he's not my real father. He took me in when I was still young. I suppose he wasn't very mature then either though."

Nadeshiko and Yaya glanced at each other then both said, "Oh, so that's the story. No wonder he looked so young."

"Let's forget about him for now, what should we do?" Amu suggested, getting excited over the prospect of a sleepover.

"Obviously," Yaya began, "we'd mess about and let the time fly and don't forget the ghost stories."

"Yaya, the night hasn't even begun yet," Nadeshiko pointed out, "ghost stories are too early."

The three of them laughed. The hours passed by unnoticed. It was already night before they knew it. Having spent the entire afternoon playing games and gossiping in Amu's room; with the few occasional interruption by Ikuto bringing them refreshments for the night, all three of them found themselves rather exhausted. They were all on the verge of sleep, Amu certainly fell asleep at some point, because she was woken by Nadeshiko, who pressed a finger to her lips, signalling her to be extremely quiet.

"What is it?" Amu asked glancing at the clock on her desk, it was 11:30.

"We're sneaking out of your room to your father's remember," Nadeshiko whispered.

Amu stared at Nadeshiko, a expression of disbelief casting over her facial features. Yaya was already by the door, waving at them to come. Nadeshiko went over to the door where Yaya was. Amu stared at the clock that read 11:30. Her heart began to race and the dream she had days before came flooding back to her. It was exactly this same time she walked out her room in that dream. Amu shook her head, her body already shivering. "No, no, stop Yaya, Nadeshiko stop!" Amu cried out, running to the door and holding onto the handle that Yaya also held.

"What's wrong?" Yaya asked, "I thought the three of us already decided."

"Don't worry," Nadeshiko said, "there's three of us and one of him."

Amu shook her head,. It wasn't like that, she couldn't bring herself to say it to these two. She herself didn't fully understand what Ikuto had tried to do to her in her dream. It was a dream but it was too real to ignore. "Let's not. I'm not prepared after all."

"Amu, nothing bad will happen," Yaya said with confidence, shoving Amu's hand away and pushing the handle.

Amu felt herself stop breathing, seeing the door open slowly. Even though Nadeshiko and Yaya were standing right beside her this moment, she felt more alone than ever. What was to come? What was to come in opening that door? Amu felt vulnerable and lost. Nadeshiko took Amu's hand, leading her out the room slowly.

"Amu, its ok. Once you know what it is, you won't fear it anymore because you know," Nadeshiko said to Amu.

Those words resonated through Amu's mind along with the warm smile that Nadeshiko and Yaya gave her that moment. It made sense. It was true. It was the unknown that scared her.

The three of them slowly crept towards Ikuto's room which was locked.

"Is he asleep?" Yaya whispered.

They pressed their ears to the door. Amu listened hard. There was no noise at all. Deathly silent, unlike in her dream where she heard heavy breathing. Nadeshiko who was always the braver of the three just opened the door without a second thought. Amu closed her eyes, expecting… she stopped in her thoughts. She didn't know what to expect.

"What is this?" both Yaya and Nadeshiko asked. They sounded disappointed for some reason.

Amu gulped and opened her eyes to see the room completely empty. She went further into Ikuto's room. His bed sheets were perfectly smooth and stretched to the corners. It didn't seem at all that he ever went to sleep. The only thing that caught Amu's attention was the wide opened window that was allowing the breezy night wind to blow into the room. She went to shut it, "he's so clumsy."

"Amu, where is he?" Yaya asked.

Amu sighed, giving the most honest answer, "I don't know." Where did Ikuto go? Amu knew she'd be thinking about it for the remainder of the night. Finding the room empty had somehow relieved Amu of her stress and fear - it proved one more thing a well; her dream was wrong - it wasn't real.

Nadeshiko yawned, "well, let's really sleep this time. But Amu, that father of yours is rather sneaky. I bet he's up to no good out and about this late so he doesn't let you out of your room so that you won't ever find out."

Yaya giggled, "how bad can he be? The most I suspect is he'd be in a bar drinking. I know my dad loves drinking out with his friends way into the night. Did you not say he likes sleeping in during the mornings? Those are the symptoms."

Nadeshiko nodded in approval, "there you have it Amu. Case closed."

Yaya jumped a few times, "that's a reference to Detective Conan."

"You bet it is," Nadeshiko smirked, "anyhow Amu. The truth is out."

Amu smiled, "yeah."

Amu watched as Nadeshiko and Yaya fell asleep. She tossed about in her own bed and still, she couldn't help but wonder where Ikuto went so late. The theory of him out drinking wasn't completely wrong but it didn't seem like Ikuto either. There were parts of it that made Amu unable to believe in that story. She tried thinking of all the people they know, the places they'd go or even Ikuto may go. Nothing came to mind. Filled with thoughts of Ikuto, Amu descended into a light sleep.

The morning sun was ever so brilliant; its rays always penetrating into Amu's room, like a natural alarm, telling her to wake. She yawned, not having got much sleep yesterday night. As usual she got herself ready and went to cook breakfast. Half-way through pouring the milk, Amu stopped. She stared at Ikuto's door and before she knew what she was doing, her feet was already moving her towards his room. She directly opened the door with no fear - maybe it was because of last night. It was more of a worry and curiosity to want to know what Ikuto was up to yesterday night. Amu dwelled no more in a dream that wasn't real. She smiled, a relieved smile, seeing Ikuto roll from one side to the other on his bed. A few minutes later, she had woke all three, Nadeshiko, Yaya and Ikuto up. Everyone sat eating at the dining table.

"You two aren't staying over again tonight?" Ikuto asked.

"No thanks."

"These things are only fun once in awhile," Yaya explained.

"Good."

Amu kicked Ikuto's leg under the table. How embarrassing was he to directly tell a guest they were not welcomed.

"So Mr. Tsukiyomi, where were you last night?" Nadeshiko took the opportunity to ask.

Ikuto looked at her in a quizzical way, "I was asleep in my room the entire night. Are you my mother?"

"Your lying," Yaya probed, "we sneaked into your room last night. It was empty."

"What are you talking about?" Ikuto questioned back, "I'm not getting the joke."

Amu stared at Ikuto. She glanced back at Nadeshiko and Yaya who she knew was thinking the exact same thing as her, why is he lying or rather denying the fact that he left the apartment around 11:30? Why?