Chapter 6

Miki's blue egg closed with a soft "click" as she settled in for the rest of the night, cuddling up with the covers as she snuggled deeper into their folds. Closing her eyes, she sighed contentedly as she remembered what had just happened only a few moments before.

Miki awoke suddenly when her little egg was flooded with light. A shadowy figure entered her egg and floated just above her, seeming to study her intently. She rubbed her eyes groggily to clear her vision and saw a tail attached to the shadow.

"Miki, nya? Are you awake, nya?"

"Yoru?" Miki asked softly in wonderment. "What are you doing here?" Miki sat up in her egg and scooted over so Yoru could sit on the cushion next to her. He floated down slowly and sat to face her.

"Ikuto wanted to come check up on Amu, nya." A grin blossomed across his face. "He's been waiting forever for her to fall asleep, nya."

Miki giggled. "Yeah, Amu-chan was pretty freaked about what happened today."

"Yeah, I could imagine," Yoru said a little nervously. He kept glancing around, never really looking Miki in the eye. Miki thought it was the cutest thing she had ever seen in her life. Suddenly, Yoru looked at her, wringing his paws, and said, "So, h-how have you been, n-nya?"

"F-fine," Miki replied, blushing. Miki had the biggest crush on Ikuto's little cat chara. She had drawn hundreds of sketches of him. In some, he was smiling foolishly as he wandered around, oblivious to the world, and others were of when he had a look of triumph on his face after he had done something particularly amazing. Her favorites were sketches of him and her, gazing into each others' eyes and holding hands. She had actually just finished a sketch like that right before she went to talk to Amu. To her horror, her sketchbook was still out and open, right in-between Yoru and herself.

Yoru noticed this at the same time and snatched the sketch book away before she could grab it and hide it away. "What's this, nya?" he asked with a smile, breaking the nervous silence.

Miki lurched forward to make a grab for it. "Give it back, Yoru!"

He held it up high, just out of her reach. "What's the magic word, nya?" he asked tauntingly. Instead of answering, Miki just made another desperate lunge, straining her arms to reach it. Unfortunately, she put too much of her wait forward and ended up toppling over into Yoru's lap and knocking him over in the process.

"Owww, that hurt, nya," Miki heard Yoru groan. She looked up and caught her breath and she saw his luminous yellow eyes staring into her blue ones. Yoru also seemed to forget how hurt he was as he stared at her. His eyes softened as he stared into her eyes.

Miki felt a furious blush creep into her face as she scrambled up off of him. "I'm s-so sorry," she said frantically. Yoru stood up too then leaned down to grab her sketch book. She looked away from him as he studied the sketch of them, too embarrassed to see what he was thinking written on his face.

"Do you imagine this often, nya?" he asked quietly. She looked up to see him staring at the picture, a smile spreading across his face. She didn't know how to answer so she just kept silent. He eventually looked up and met her gaze. "Don't be shy, nya," he said, a blush spreading across his face too. "I-I do too, nya."

Miki's breath caught and suddenly her entire being was filled with joy. A dopey smile spread across her face as she gazed at him with adoration. She leaned over and kissed him quickly and softly on the cheek, before her courage ran out. Yoru started with surprise and looked at her as she pulled away. She looked down, wringing her hands as her blush turned a shade or two deeper. Suddenly, she felt a paw take her hand. She looked up into Yoru's luminous eyes as he smiled and said, "Come on, I think Ikuto might need us, nya."

Miki giggled softly to herself as she snuggled up in her blankets at the memory. Her hand still tingled from where Yoru had held her hand and she could still smell his warm and fuzzy scent on her clothes. Breathing deeply, she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face and Yoru in her dreams.

Amu woke up to the sun shining down on her face, alerting her to the start of a new day. She stretched lazily, still in her bed, as she heard the soft clicks of four eggs opening up. Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia floated over drowsily, stretching and rubbing sleep from their eyes. Amu giggled and sat up in bed to greet them. "You guys look even more tired than me," she said. All four charas just looked at her through half lidded eyes and then yawned at the same time, synchronized down to the last milli-second, causing Amu to collapse into a fit of giggling. The four charas looked at each other and then started giggling too.

"How about some tea?" asked Su, still giggling a bit. "It should help us all wake up, desu."

"Great idea, Su," said Amu, still giggling a little. As her guardian character floated down to the kitchen to help make tea, Amu climbed out of bed to get ready for the day. She chose a purple skirt that came down mid-thigh and was belted across the waist. With it, she wore a black shirt, tucked into the skirt, with black leggings, her black boots and a purple, blue, and green scarf tied around her neck to finish it off. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and run a brush through her hair. After a few minutes of staring into the mirror, deciding what exactly to do with her hair, she decided to put it up in a ponytail and then clip it with a big purple clip to the back of her head so that a poof of hair came out of the top and the tail came out the bottom. Satisfied, she bounced down the stairs to the kitchen where she was met with the aroma of freshly brewed tea and baked biscuits.

"Wow Su," Amu said as she walked in, "you've really out done yourself. It smells delicious!"

"Thank you, Amu-chan," replied Su with a smile. Amu glanced at the table a saw a plate and cup set out for her and then mini cups and plates set to the side for her charas. Amu poured her tea and buttered a biscuit as Su served the other charas. Just as Amu took her first sip, Miki said,

"I wonder what Ikuto has planned for you today, Amu?" Amu choked and spit out her tea all over the table and then continued to cough. Her charas floated up to her with worried expressions.

"Are you ok?" asked Dia.

"You're not to supposed to inhale tea," said Ran.

"I know-" cough, cough, "that-" cough, cough. Amu took a deep breath and finally stopped choking. Her head was spinning as she remembered the fact that Ikuto had re-entered her life, turning every moment into an unexpected mess of emotions.

"How did you forget that Ikuto was here?" asked Miki curiously.

Amu looked up at her charas. "I don't think I forgot," said Amu cautiously, "I don't think my brain had progressed that far yet," she finished.

"Well, it's there now," said Miki with a grin. "What do you think today will bring?"

Amu put her head in her hands and groaned. The thought of another day filled with more Ikuto-crafted surprises was almost too much for her to bear. Her heart just wasn't used to all of the emotions that Ikuto brought out in her just by being in the same room as her.

"What's wrong, desu?" asked Su worriedly. "Aren't you happy that Ikuto is back? It's all you've thought about for years, Amu-chan."

"I know, I know," said Amu dejectedly. "I don't know what it is. I mean, I'm beyond ecstatic to see him and he's every bit the Ikuto I remember, but, I…"

"I think I know what's wrong," interrupted Dia. "First of all, he hasn't been here for so long, his presence and daily intrusions are throwing you off balance."

"That's true," agreed Amu.

"Secondly, you're scared."

"What?" said Amu incredulously. "How could I possibly be scared of that perverted cat?"

"You really need to come up with a better insulting nickname," commented Miki with a smile. "That one is losing its edge."

Amu shot her a death glare causing Miki to giggle. A sudden knock at the door interrupted their argument and Amu got up with a sigh to answer the door. She looked through the peep-hole to see who was there and swung open the door with a smile to find Nagihiko on the other side. "Good morning, Amu-chan," he greeted with a smile.

"Nagi!" Amu replied with a huge grin of her own. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me," Nagi asked. "I need to get a jacket and some other things and I didn't want to go alone. All the other guardians are busy."

"Sure!" Amu replied. "Come on in while I go grab my purse." Amu ushered him into the entry way and closed the door behind him. "I'll be right back."

Amu ran up to her room to grab her purse, making sure that her money and credit card were inside. With one glance in the mirror, she grabbed some lip gloss and ran back downstairs to the kitchen. Su and the others were still cleaning up from breakfast, washing plates and eating utensils while chattering about the past few days. "Hey girls," Amu said, "Nagi wants to go to the mall and do some shopping. Do you guys want to come?"

"Sure!" said Dia. "I feel like I haven't been to the mall in ages!"

"I'm in," said Ran. "It's better than cleaning up here."

Su smiled at Amu and said, "I'd really love to go but I should finish cleaning up here. I also have some other things I wanted to get done here today."

"Are you sure, Su?" Amu asked. "We can always clean up later when we get back."

"It's fine," Su replied with a smile. "Have fun shopping!"

"What about you, Miki?" asked Amu.

A blush blossomed across Miki's face as she answered. "I actually told Yoru the other day at the park that we could hang out today." Miki's blush grew deeper and she kicked her feet around shyly while staring at the ground.

Amu smiled at her little blue chara, happy that things were working out for her and Yoru. She hoped things would go as well for her and Ikuto. Why couldn't love be less complicated? "Have fun, Miki. I guess I'll see you guys when we get back. Have a great day girls!" Amu looked at Dia and Ran, smiled and motioned toward the door, "Let's go!"

With a cheer, her charas flew behind her as she raced back to the door where Nagi was waiting. She bounced in front of him with a wide smile. "Ready!"

Nagi chuckled, "I see that. Let's head out then." Amu opened the door and stepped into the bright sunlight, opening her arms wide, letting the sun warm her pale skin. She had a good feeling about today. Everything would work out for the best, she had confidence that it would.

"Are they gone, desu?" asked Su in a soft whisper as Amu shut the front door.

Miki peaked out the front window and then gave Su a thumbs up. "Yup!" she replied in a normal voice, "they just turned the corner."

"Good! Now I can start making the decorations for tonight, desu," said Su, ideas already swirling around in her head. She would need paper lanterns, streamers made of white flowers, white petals…Ooo, this is going to be so exciting!

"Ok," said Miki with excitement. "I'm going to start designing Amu-chan's outfit for tonight." She pulled out her sketch pad and started sketching away, determined to create the perfect outfit for Amu's surprise. She already had a color scheme in mind: midnight blue and black. She got the idea from the choker the Lulu had sent Amu all those years ago. She started designing the skirt and shirt and then glanced up to see Su willing white flowers into existence all over the kitchen, humming as she went along. Miki giggled, filled with excitement about tonight's surprise for Amu. She was happy that Nagihiko had agreed to take Amu shopping or Su and Miki could have never helped Ikuto with his plans.

Just then, they heard the door bell go off, announcing a visitor. They flew over to the door and between the two of them managed to turn the doorknob and get the front door open. Ikuto stood there, wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt, a navy blue jacket, and his signature mysterious smile. His hand was on his hip which was cocked to one side and his eyes danced with life. "Hello, Ikuto-kun," greeted Miki with a smile. "Amu-chan and Nagihiko just left for the mall. Nagi said that he would make sure to keep her entertained until late afternoon."

"Good," replied Ikuto, his grin widening. "I can't have her finding out what I'm up to, that wouldn't be any fun for me." Both Su and Miki giggled, they knew how much he loved to tease and surprise her. He was one of the only people they knew who could truly surprise her. He turned his attention to Su. "You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, desu!" Su replied. "Come in and grab the flowers and lanterns off the table and then we can head over to the park and start decorating, desu." Not even Ikuto was about to disobey orders from Su, so he quickly loaded up the supplies into his car. While Ikuto was running back and forth between the house and the car, Yoru snuck up behind Miki and poked her in the sides.

Miki jumped a good inch as she yelped, startled by the feeling of being tickled. Turning around with her arms wrapped around her stomach so as to avoid further attack, she found Yoru doubled over in laughter. "You should have-" laughter, "seen-" more laughter, "your face, nya!" he choked out between bursts of laughter. After about thirty seconds, he calmed down and went to wipe tears from his eyes. "It was priceless, nya!"

Miki was torn between glaring at him for startling her and hugging him because he was so cute when he laughed. She settled for just sticking her tongue out at him in reply and pretending to be mad. But then, Yoru came over and gave her an unexpected kiss on the cheek to apologize. Miki blushed and the two shyly held hands while Su and Ikuto were finishing up.

"Well, I guess I'll just leave Yoru with you, Miki," Ikuto teased with a wink. "He seems pretty happy."

"Shut-up, nya," Yoru replied with a blush.

Ikuto looked at the two charas and smiled. He hoped with all his heart that he could soon be holding hands like that with Amu, although, he wouldn't do it nearly as shyly as Yoru was; it just wasn't in his nature to be shy. If anything, Ikuto would just grab Amu's hand and then hold on to it tightly as she struggled to free it, telling her that he would never let her go, no matter what. He would win her heart, no matter what it took. Ikuto snapped out of his brief day dream and waved a casual goodbye to the two lovebirds. "I'll catch you two later," Ikuto said. "Play nice now." With a wink and chuckle, he ran out the door, obviously eager to set up everything for his evening with Amu. He climbed into his blue convertible with Su hovering near his head and started the engine with a roar. Much to Su's surprise, he quickly sped away from the curb and went down the street at a good clip. Only a few seconds later Su spoke up.

"Ikuto-san, I know that you are really excited about tonight," she started in a nervous, high-pitched voice, and then winced as she looked at the speedometer, "but could you please slow down?"

"No way," Ikuto replied. "I want this evening to be perfect and the sooner I get started, the sooner I can finish and the sooner I can see Amu again." Ikuto looked at Su with a grin and then noticed how terrified the little green chara looked. He sighed and backed it down a little bit. "Happy?" he asked.

"I guess that's a little better," replied Su, still obviously not completely comfortable, but Ikuto didn't notice. He was too lost in thought.

Su looked at Ikuto. His eyes were far away, in another world, and a soft smile settled on his face as he drove, the wind blowing through his silky, blue hair. Su sensed his excitement under his stoic expression; she could see it deep in his eyes. She smiled to herself and tried to avoid looking at the speedometer for the rest of the trip and thought about the next few hours. I know that Ikuto's plan will work, she thought. All these years of waiting and longing…this just has to work out for them, desu! Su's thoughts wandered to all the flowers and things in the trunk of Ikuto's car and slowly, a picture of the perfect setting came to her mind. As Ikuto got closer to the park, Su became more and more excited. Amu-chan is going to love this surprise, desu!