~ I do not own Shugo Chara. Boooo.~

Chapter Two

~A Prince's Game~

Amu inwardly cursed Ikuto as she walked down the long hallways. She had no idea where she was headed but let her feet carry her away. Hopefullly far away from Tsukiyomi. Who cares if fast walking looks stupid! Her escape came to an abrupt stop as she crashed into a wall. Wait, walls don't usually smell like nice cologne. And she was pretty sure they don't grunt when you run into them. Oh, crap he found her.

"You okay there, Amu-chan?" She let out a relieved sigh at the familiar voice and grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for running into you!" Kukai just laughed and brushed her apology away as he ruffled her bubblegum hair.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. I'll see you around, okay? If you wanna race sometime I'm up for it! You're pretty fast at fast walking!" He teased, flashing her a cheeky grin.

She smirked. "You're on, pretty boy!" Talking to Kukai was kind of refreshing. She liked knowing that not all the "Princes" were like Ikuto. Plus his cologne smelled nice. And now she felt like a pervert.

"What's this? Amu, so this is where you were hiding?" Ikuto joked lightly. And there went Amu's moment of peace. She annoyingly pondered how he could have found her so fast. She must have at least ran to the other side of the school, which was saying a lot since their school was enormous. Ikuto sauntered toward Amu as she slowly backed away. Kukai glanced between the two of them curiously, standing back to watch. Amu pivoted quickly and was about to make her escape but was stopped by an arm wrapping around her waist. Before she could respond, Ikuto leaned and whispered into her ear.

"You leave me for Kukai, huh?" He asked, making the pinkette blush heavily. She stomped on his foot causing his grip to loosen and started her marathon run once again in the opposite direction. The two boys stared in shock as they watched her race away. Ikuto came back to reality first and started chuckling.

He had never met a girl that responded the way Amu did. Well, the blushing he was used to. Stomping on his foot violently and bolting away were not something he was familiar with, however. It intrigued him. She intrigued him. The fact that Amu hated him fueled the need he had to tease her even more, much to her chagrin. Kukai stared wide-eyed at Ikuto.

"The stone prince laughs!" He smiled as he walked over to his friend. "You shouldn't tease her like that, man. She might die of running!" Both chuckled as they thought of the vibrant pink-head. "Whaddya you say to her anyway?" Kukai continued curiously. Ikuto smirked before he responded.

"I teased her and said 'You leave me for Kukai, huh?'" Ikuto snickered again and expected Kukai to laugh with him, however, when he glanced over at his friend he was turned away with a faint pink tint on his cheeks. Ikuto stared at him incredulously as he scoffed.

"Don't tell me you like that girl." Ikuto wasn't sure about how he would react if Kukai answered yes. He didn't like the girl, but he did find her interesting and didn't intend on having any distractions or competition. He smirked at flustered Kukai who turned to face him and rushed out a reply.

"No! I just think she's cute. We just met her!" Kukai started, but Ikuto knew his friend well enough to detect a hint of nervousness in his tone, making Ikuto smirk all the more.

"Well you better get ready then because the game has now begun." Kukai whipped his head to his friend with a dropped jaw.

"You can't be serious. You know how badly this ended before..."

Ikuto winced, but quickly covered it up with a wave of his hand. He didn't intend for this to get that far this time around. He flashed Kukai a smirk and started to walk away. Kukai knew what this meant. There was no turning back and there was no changing Ikuto's mind about this little game. Kukai sighed heavily. This wouldn't pan out well, at all...

XxX

Amu knew she was reaching her limit. She needed to stop. She slowed down as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. The need to sit down and catch her breath overpowered her body and lungs. Exhausted, she glanced around to take in her surroundings to realize she was at the door to the roof. On instinct she pushed open the door with the hope that it was windy outside. Once she stepped out, a cool breeze of fresh air blew against her face making her sigh in relief. She opened her eyes warily as she dragged her feet over to the fence to lean on for support. She wondered how much more of this she could take. It's only been one day and she knew she couldn't handle running from Ikuto like this everyday.

"Why the hell did I run so fast?! Idiot! Where's Ran when you need her?"

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a noise that sounded like rustling paper. She stiffened and crawled curiously to the source of the sound to find Tadase across the fence reading a piece of crumpled paper intensely. She raised her eyebrow as she took in the appearance of the tired boy. His hair was disheveled, brows furrowed in fustration, and his red orbs held a look of sadness as they scanned the paper. Amu walked over to Tadase slowly and took a seat next to him. He didn't seem to notice his new visitor as he shut his eyes tightly.

'What a difference from just a little bit ago...' she thought.

"Hotori-kun?" His eyes shot open as he realized he wasn't alone anymore, deeply praying that it wasn't a fangirl. Tadase relaxed slighty knowing he wouldn't be jumped, but still regarded her carefully..

"Oh, Amu-chan, I didn't see you coming. What are you doing up here?" He asked with a smile. Amu scowled as she thought of what she could say to that question. Oh, I don't know! I ended up here after your insane buddy harassed me! she wanted to say but decided against it.

"I just needed some fresh air. So what're you reading?"

Tadase sighed. "It's nothing. I don't want to trouble you."

"Nonsense, let me see. Maybe I can help!"

He seemed like he was about to refuse, but then he handed over the paper motioning her to read it with another sigh. She took it gingerly and began scanning what seemed like a letter.

Dear Tadase-kun,

I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye to you in prrson, but I thought it would be easier this way. If I did this in person I don't think I would have been able to say anything without bursting into tears. My father was transferred to America for work, so I will be flying there tomorrow to find a new home. I wanted to tell you sooner but I didn't want you to worry about me. I think it'll be easier for both of us if we just go our separate ways. I'm sorry, and I hope you can be happy. Thanks for the amazing year together! I'll miss you Tadase-kun. Please take care of yourself!

With love, Aya

Amu put it down sadly. She glanced over to Tadase who looked exhausted, gave him a smile, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Tadase's eyes widened as he was watched her curiously but was somewhat grateful. If she wasn't there he probably would have broken down even more.

"It's been a week since I got the letter, but it still bothers me, I guess. I held up pretty well this morning, though!..."

"I'm sorry Tadase. If you need anything I'm here for you. I'm not too good with relationship advice, but I am good at cheering people up!" He smiled as he listened to her comforting tone. He felt like a child again being comforted by his mother and returned the smile she gave him. His eyes slowly closed as he collapsed onto Amu's lap making her mentally freak out.

"E-Eh? Hotori-san! Are you okay? Oh god, now what?!" No response. She peeked down at his face and noticed he was troubled even in his sleep. He must have been up all night over this.

Amu sighed quietly to herself as she took in his exhausted appearance. They had about another twenty minutes until the assembly, so she just let him nap, letting the cool breeze brush against her face.

Her eyes wandered over to his bag and saw a marker sticking out.

"Hmm...let the cheering up begin!"

-End-

This chapter has been edited :)