Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!

Chapter Summary: When Amu goes on her date with Ikuto, and then another with Tadase, the kitty starts getting a little jealous.

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to update! My parents are redoing the computer room, so I haven't had access to internet. Again, I am so sorry! So I've written a little extra-something that will be posted after this chapter.

Latest SC! Chapter Note: What the hell?! Ikuto-kun leaving?! Peach-Pit, how could you?!

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Green Faced Kitty

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He'd known it was a bad idea to take her out to dinner where those idiots usually were. Sure, they were fun enough to hang out with on boys' night out, but once a good looking woman was brought into the equation, they got too friendly, as the case may be.

He had cleaned the house--much to Amu's surprise--to near spotless perfection, only missing the spot under the rug that he'd swept all the dirt, not that she knew about that yet. So she'd kept up her end of the bargain, though she'd asked if they could go out the next day because of how tired she was. They stopped for dinner before the movie and, much to Ikuto's dismay, met up with two of his "friends".

"What does Tsukiyomi have that I don't?" one asked jokingly, sidling up close to Amu's chair. "I'm sure if you think he's good in the sack, you'll be astounded by what I have to offer."

Ikuto growled a little at that, glaring at the guy who was quickly going from his Buddies list to I'll Kill You The Next Time I See You list.

"Aw, c'mon, man! Look at her; she's hot. Besides, I don't see your name on her."

While Amu told him off for such a medieval comment, Ikuto kindly asked the owner of the small restaurant, who was writing out a sign that said "No Pets Allowed Ever" with a Sharpie marker, if he could borrow the writing utensil. After thanking the man, Ikuto leaned over, grabbing Amu's leg and quickly graffitied both pant legs with four simple words:

Tsukiyomi's Woman: Back Off.

"Ikuto, you'd better not have just written all over my brand new pants!" Amu shouted, jumping out of her seat to glare down at him. "I just bought these, you ass!"

His friends snickered as she scolded him, but when he sent them a murderous glare, they gave half-assed reasons that they couldn't stay any longer and left. Ikuto smirked a little to himself, glad that he was finally alone with Amu. Even if she was ready to bite his head off.

Noticing his happy expression, Amu growled, "Excuse me? What is so great about you ruining my new pair of jeans?"

He looked up at her once again, noting the dark look crossing her features as her hands clenched into fists and rested on her hips. I'm in deep shit, now, he thought, growling a little to himself. But there was nothing he could do; he had written on her pants for a reason and he would stick by that, even if it killed him.

That is, if she didn't first.

"If it's such a big deal, I'll buy you new ones, okay?" he replied, wincing when his annoyance at his friends drifted into the tone of his voice. Shit, shit, shit!

"Excuse me? Because I don't want your name on my brand new jeans, you get angry with me? You asshole!" She snatched up her purse and stomped out the door of the restaurant, ignoring the people watching her every movement.

Sighing, Ikuto laid some bills down and went after her; he didn't want her walking alone ever. The worst of people seemed to migrate towards her like a flock of birds. And it wasn't like she had any idea how to protect herself; she couldn't punch worth a damn and a slap wasn't going to stop anyone. Might daze them for a little while, but that was about it.

He followed a good distance behind her. Just far enough that if anything were to happen, he would be able to jump in, but not close enough that he would have to wear a cup. He found his eyes drifting towards her ass again and again, encased in those tight jeans. The swaying had him in a trance that was only broken when he heard a voice he didn't particularly enjoy hearing on a regular basis but had become quite the familiar one over the past few weeks.

"Amu-chan, I'm guessing Tsukiyomi is in the doghouse, huh?" Tadase asked much too casually, nudging at the edges of Ikuto's in-control temper. And when he gently touched the woman in question, an apologetic gesture, the cat nearly snapped. "I'm so sorry for what happened at your place last week. I shouldn't have allowed it to go that far."

You ass! Trying to show me up…ass, Ikuto thought, keeping his growl to himself. Moving quickly to Amu's side, he "accidentally" knocked the prince's arm away. "How very noble of you." Thank God that came out as mockingly as I'd hoped it would.

"Oh, shut up, Ikuto," Amu growled in return, elbowing him hard in the ribs. Her temper hadn't been helped with his obvious show of disrespect towards their unwanted companion, and it didn't seem to get any better when he lazily threw a possessive arm over her shoulder, but she didn't do anything to throw it off.

Tadase gave a small chuckle, glaring at Ikuto for only a short moment, then said, "I know this must be a horrible time to ask you, but I was wondering if you wanted to go out again tomorrow. We could do whatever you want." He smiled charmingly at her, ignoring Ikuto at once.

She grinned in return to him, though it turned into a bit of a smirk when her eyes darted up to meet the blue-haired man beside her. It was almost as if she planned to stick her tongue out at him. He probably would have laughed, if Tadase hadn't reached out to brush a stray strand of her hair out of her face.

"Don't touch her, Kiddy King," Ikuto snarled, smacking his hand away once again. He moved quickly in front of Amu, blocking her completely from Tadase's view. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared down at the young man standing before him.

The blonde boy sighed, asking, "Tsukiyomi, now that I'm eighteen, don't you think I've outgrown that nickname?"

"No, you're still puny." Ikuto easily sidestepped and blocked Amu from moving around him.

"Ikuto, that's enough, damnit!" Amu finally shouted, putting one hand against his arm to try to push him out of the way. She moved to his side, punching said arm as hard as she could. "I can't believe how childish you're acting! Treat him with a little respect, would you?"

"Not unless he promises me that he's not trying to take you back. If he tells me that he's only taking you out as friends, then I might actually let him take you out."

"Let him? You egotistical ass—"

"I'm not letting my fiancée go off with another guy!"

"You are so stupid and stubborn!"

"At least I'm not trying to take another man's woman!"

Amu froze for a moment, too furious for words. Then, with fists tightened at her sides, she ground out between clenched teeth, "I am not yours! I live in the twenty-first century, thank you very much, and I will go out with whoever I want!" She turned to Tadase with a dark look on her face. "I would love to go out with you tomorrow night, Tadase-kun. How about eight-ish?"

He gave a small smile, though event hat seemed a bit forced. "Sure. I'll pick you up at eight, then." He walked past them then, seeming a little down.

Amu turned to give Ikuto a triumphant look. "That's right, ass. I have a date tomorrow and you have nothing to say about—what are you doing?!"

He kept walking, ignoring her flailing as he shifted her to better hold her on his shoulder.

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Tadase's P.O.V.

I should have known better than to ask her out. Everything she did was just to get Ikuto angry. She didn't pay much attention to what I did, but what Ikuto would have done. Her eyes would glaze over whenever I did something she could relay to him that would piss him off, and I could practically read her mind. She only wanted to bother the other man.

When Mashiro-san told me about Ikuto announcing that he and Amu-chan were getting married, I should have known better than to do as she asked. There was no way that, if it hadn't been true, Amu-chan would have allowed Ikuto to continue living with her. She would be so angry with him that he would have been chased away by her hysterical father's abrupt appearance. Amu-chan had learned, much to Ikuto's chagrin, how to use Tsumugu-san's like and dislike of the older man to her advantage.

Of course, this "date" proved why he had never really had a problem with me. Amu-chan and I simply didn't have the kind of chemistry that Ikuto and she had. So Tsumugu-san and Midori-san just saw me as one of Amu-chan's friends.

"Amu-chan," I said, sighing to myself when her head jerked up as if I had surprised her. Her eyes were wide for a moment, then they settled on me with a small smile and she rested her chin on the back of one hands.

"Sorry, Tadase-kun, my mind must have wandered a bit. You were saying?"

I returned her smile, though mine was a little more apologetic than hers. "Amu-chan," I repeated, "I'm glad you came out with me tonight. It's been a lot of fun."

She nodded, leaning forward. "I had a really good time tonight, too. It's really nice to be able to get away from Ikuto once in awhile." Whatever truth she felt in that statement didn't quite reach her eyes. It was a little ego-deflating to know that she was thinking of someone else so much when she was with me, but when I think about how much grief Ikuto goes through, it makes me feel at least a tiny bit better.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I bet it is." There was an awkward pause as I tried to think of a way to bring up that this kind of thing really wasn't working. Since we weren't dating, I didn't want to say, "I'd really like to stay friends," like some sort of bad television show. But I also didn't want her to think that I never wanted to see her again.

"I don't think this is working."

I blinked. "Huh?" I asked eloquently.

She looked at me, running one hand through her pink hair. "This just isn't going to work. I'm sorry I'm doing this to you," she apologized, sighing sadly as her body sagged. "I can't believe I'm actually stooping to his level. This is ridiculous." Her eyes met mine and she groaned. "I don't want to lead you on or hurt you, but I'm acting so immature! I just want to make Ikuto realize that I'm my own person and can make decisions by myself! This isn't the middle ages!"

I kept blinking like an idiot as relief swamped me. Thank God, I didn't have to broach the subject. "Yeah, I know," I said again, smiling at her reassuringly. I reached out and grabbed her hand in mine, giving it a platonic squeeze. "How about I bring you home now? You can give him a good kick for me."

She gave me the first real smile she'd directed at me that evening and squeezed my hand in return. "Thank you. And don't worry; I most definitely will kick him."

We left and the car ride back to her house was full of laughs. Our friendship remained intact, which was more than I could say for Ikuto's body parts later on that night. Apparently, she was going to show him—without turning to another man, she assured me—that she could do things on her own. That she didn't need him dictating her life.

When I parked in front of her building, she gave me a smile and said, "Well, I'm willing to bet Ikuto's got his fur in a twist over this whole thing, so I'd better go smooth some ruffled feathers—that one didn't work." She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for tonight, Tadase-kun. You're a great friend. The best." Then she had gotten out, closed the door, and was striding across the grass, and I pulled back into traffic.

I got home right as my cellphone started ringing.

Calling: Hinamori Amu Home

Why she was calling me, I had no idea. Maybe she and Ikuto had gotten into a worse fight than I thought they would. But then, wouldn't he be the one leaving?

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone.

"Where the fuck is Amu?" Ikuto's voice growled darkly into my ear.

Amu-chan…but I dropped her off fifteen minutes ago!

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Amu's P.O.V.

I wondered how I was supposed to tell Ikuto how I felt about him. I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been, making him jealous by going out with Tadase-kun. But that didn't mean that I would allow our whole relationship to go on that way. He couldn't be in charge of my life anymore than I could be in charge of his.

I didn't notice when I opened the door to the apartment building, or held said door open for the new guy that had moved in only a few days after Ikuto's announcement of our "engagement" to Rima-chan. I'm even thinking in terms of him! This is insane!

I was so far from reality that when an arm wrapped around my throat and a hand covered in a damp rag closed over my mouth, I didn't have time to react before the world went black.

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I didn't want anyone getting bored with this story, so I felt like a twist could be thrown in. I've got this whole thing planned out, no worries, so it won't drift off the original course.
Niixx

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Preview
Frantic

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"You little mother-fucker!" Ikuto shouted, grabbing Tadase by the collar of his shirt, slamming him hard against the wall of the kitchen. After the blue-haired man's furious phone call, Tadase had raced to the apartment, demanding to know what kind of a sick joke he was trying to pull off. "Where the fuck is she?!"

"I dropped her off more than forty-five minutes ago! What the hell are you talking about?!" Tadase returned, yanking Ikuto's hands off of him. But he was just as frantic as the other man. How could Amu have not made it up to her apartment? He'd watched her walk into the building, only pausing to hold the door open for another person that lived there. How hadn't she made it back up to rip Ikuto a new one?

"Then where did she go? Did you see her get into the building?"

Tadase had never heard Ikuto so…terrified. Her voice trembled even though he tried to make it into an angry rumble. "I watched her walk in and then I left. She was on her way to kick your ass when I drove away!" To see that kind of fear, that kind of anxiety in Ikuto's face, in his eyes took the younger man completely by surprise and struck his own chord of fear.

Ikuto's eyes got a distant look to them before he murmured, "She's gotta be somewhere in the building."

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Hope that left you ready for the next chapter. I can't wait to finish it and hear all of your reviews.