Chapter 6

The drive to the beach didn't take long. It was evening so they weren't going to swim. Just a simple picnic on the sand. They unpacked the car. Aruto was carrying two beach chairs, Ikuto the other two. Midori carried the basket of food, leaving Amu to carry the blanket.

"I wonder if we'll be able to see the stars tonight," Midori questioned aloud as they made their way to the sand.

"I imagine so," Aruto answered with a smile at his fiancé.

When they got there, Ikuto helped Amu spread out the blanket, against Amu's complaints, and soon they were all sitting on the blanket together. Amu tried to sit as far away from Ikuto as possible, but it was hard on a blanket that held four sitting people. Ikuto, on the other hand managed to find a way to sit next to her.

They sat in somewhat of a semi-circle, Aruto on one side of the blanket, next to him Midori, next to her Amu, and next to Amu sat Ikuto, smiling at her innocently as she glared at him.

Midori started unpacking the food. Amu looked towards the ocean. It sure was pretty…

Amu took her food and they all soon began to eat.

"So, Ikuto, where were you today?" Aruto asked. They all looked at him. Yes, thought Amu. Where were you today? Thank you, Aruto-san. Then Amu mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't even care where he went that day.

Ikuto shrugged. "I was just driving around."

"Well, you made your father very worried," Midori said. "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"Nagi was bothering me so I turned off my phone," Ikuto answered. "I forgot to turn it back on."

Aruto smiled at him. "Okay, Son. Just remember to turn it back on, okay? You had us all worried."

Aruto and Midori went back to eating and Ikuto turned towards Amu.

"You were worried about me, too, Amu?" Ikuto asked, his eyebrow raised.

Amu's cheeks turned red and her eyes narrowed. "Of course not, idiot!" she hissed.

Midori turned towards her. "Amu, is something wrong?"

"No, Mom, sorry," Amu said quickly. Midori shrugged and went back to talking with Aruto.

Ikuto looked at Amu and smiled. "Hey, you finished?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Hey, Midori-san?" Ikuto said, still staring at Ikuto with a big smile on his face.

Midori looked at him. "Oh, yes Ikuto-kun?"

"Can I take a walk on the beach with Amu?"

Amu's eyes widened. Midori smiled. "Of course! That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

"Just be back around seven, okay? That's when we should start heading back," Aruto added.

"Sure, Dad," Ikuto said with a smile. Before Amu could protest, she was being pulled off the blanket and Ikuto dragged her across the beach, away from parents.

Soon, the blanket, and their parents, were out of sight.

Ikuto had her hand in his and was leading her somewhere.

"Ikuto, where are you taking me?" Amu asked, annoyed.

"You sure don't like surprises, do you?" Ikuto responded. He smiled back at her. Then he turned back around and started running, dragging her behind him, again, until they reached his destination. It was that sheltered seat that lifeguards sit on when they're on duty. It looked somewhat like a miniature shed that was lifted off the ground by wooden stilts. Ikuto turned towards her. "Don't freak out like you usually do, okay?"

"What do you—" That's when Ikuto lifted her up and placed her inside the mini shack. Then Ikuto climbed into it himself. It was wide enough for each of them to have enough room to move around. "And why would I freak out?" Amu demanded.

"Well, I've noticed that when I pick you up, you freak out."

Amu blushed and looked away. "Shut up…"

Ikuto laughed, making her redder. "This is nice, isn't it?" Amu looked at him. "I mean, look. The weathers nice, the ocean's beautiful, and I'm here with you." Amu looked down. "You're not still mad at me, are you?" Amu bit her lip. So he hadn't forgotten. He was talking about the mornings events.

"No…"

"That's good. I don't like it when you're mad at me." Amu looked up at him. He was staring out at the ocean. Then he half smiled. "Did you really hate it? The kiss?"

Amu's face turned a dark shade of red. How should she respond to that? "I didn't… hate it…," she answered in a small voice.

Ikuto turned towards her. "But you didn't like it?"

"No… I… might've liked it… a little," she said softer, shrinking down. God, this was embarrassing.

He chuckled. "Oh, really?"

"Jerk!" Amu exclaimed. "Don't ruin it like that!"

He raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?" Amu sighed and looked out at the ocean. Ikuto moved closer to her. "I liked it…"

Amu looked at him. He looked so sincere. He was close to her now. He raised his hand and brought it up to her face and started caressing it, but she pulled her head away. "Don't say things like that. It's not like anything can happen between us. We're going to be siblings…"

"No, we're going to be step-siblings."

"It doesn't matter, Ikuto. I don't want to have any type of love relationship with my stepbrother," Amu said looking at him. She needed to end it. She needed to end whatever thing was going on between them.

Ikuto smirked at her. "But we're not step-siblings yet, now are we?"

Amu looked at him. "What?"

"We can do anything we want until the wedding, Amu. Right now, it's just me and you. We have no family relation what so ever." Amu stared at him. He was right… They could be together and it wouldn't matter until the wedding. "Why not? Before the wedding, we can just end whatever there is between us."

Amu didn't know what to think, what to do. He was making sense. Technically, they weren't step-siblings yet. It didn't matter. And that kiss… it made her feel happy… but… "No."

"Why not?"

"No, Ikuto. You don't understand. I wouldn't be able to just end it like that. It would just be better if nothing happened between us," Amu said, turning her head around.

"Then we won't make it official," Ikuto said. He turned her head towards him and leaned down. "But I still want to kiss you."

Amu looked down. "I don't… want to be hurt… and if I do this with you and I fall in love—"

"We won't make it anything more," started Ikuto, "than a kiss now and then." Ikuto leaned down even closer to her, moving her head towards him once again. Their lips were only inches apart. "Let me kiss you, Amu," he added in a low voice.

Amu looked into his eyes. "Okay," she managed, before Ikuto threw himself onto her, his lips crashing against her. He pushed her onto the floor of the mini lifeguard shack and he put himself over her, kissing her hard and passionately. He had been holding himself back for what seemed like ages, and that one 'okay' was all he needed. One of his hands was pressed onto the wooden floor to keep him up; the other was behind her head, pushing it upward to him.

He had wanted her to agree to being together until the wedding, but this was the next best thing. Anyway, he would probably come up with some way to trick her to going out with him.

This kiss was almost nothing like the first, although she was kissing back (thankfully) and it was mostly nothing but passionate. But this kiss was not gentle. At. All.

"Ikuto…" he heard her say in between kisses.

"Hmm?" he responded, as he kissed her.

"We should head… back…"

"I don't want to."

"Ikuto…"

He then pulled away from her and looked at her. She really was beautiful. But she was right, too. It was almost seven. They should start heading back.

Ikuto walked into her bedroom that night. Her lights were turned off and she was fast asleep. He walked over to her bed and looked at her. She looked so at peace when she was sleeping, not to mention gorgeous. She breathed slowly and deeply and her hair was braided to keep from tangling. Ikuto brushed her bangs out of her eyes gently and looked at her sadly.

He didn't want to lose her. Sure, he would continue teasing her even after their parents got married, but he knew they'd never be able to be together. He would be fine with dating his step-sister, but she didn't like that. Ikuto sighed. If their parents weren't going to get married, then he'd be able to date her easily and they'd probably be a couple. But then again, if their parents weren't going to get married, the chances that he'd ever meet Amu would be very, very slim.

Why? Why'd he have to fall for the daughter of his dad's fiancé? Why? He bent down and kissed her forehead. "We'll figure something out," he whispered. "I promise." Thoughts swarmed his head about what might happen after the wedding. What if she gets a boyfriend? What if she falls in love with someone other than me? What if she falls for Kukai? How will I be able to stop that? If I'm only her brother… She'll never let me kiss her after the wedding. Why her? Why'd I have to fall for her? I'm never going to be able to be with her.

Ikuto slowly walked out of the room and closed the door gently behind him. He walked down the stairs and out the door to his car. He drove to a nearby bowling arena where he was meeting his friends.

He parked his car and went inside. There weren't that many people there, but the arena stayed open until one in the morning. It was eleven. After renting his shoes, he walked over to the lanes where he saw Utau, Nagi, and Kairi getting everything ready.

"Hey, Ikuto!" Nagi said with a smile.

Ikuto smiled at his friends. "Hey, guys."

"Where's Amu?" Utau asked, not looking at him.

"At home," Ikuto answered. "Why do you care?"

Utau shrugged. "No reason."

"Are you ready for the rehearsal wedding?" asked Kairi.

"I guess so. I don't do much though. I'm just a groomsman," Ikuto responded.

"What's Amu?" asked Nagi.

"She's a bridesmaid."

"Who will be the ring bearer and the flower girls?" Kairi questioned.

Ikuto thought for a moment. "I think Amu's younger cousins Ran and Su are the flower girls and my younger cousin Hikaru is the ring bearer. Now let's stop with the wedding crap and play." His friends looked at him, confused. He shrugged. He must've sounded angrier about the wedding than he should have. But he was angry. And he didn't feel like hiding it.

They were half way into the game. Nagi was winning with Ikuto as a close second and then Kairi and Utau fighting for third.

"Oh, Utau-chan, how is Kukai-san by the way?" asked Kairi, adjusting his glasses. Utau dropped her bowling ball and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I was simply asking you how your crush was doing," Kairi responded innocently. Ikuto couldn't help but chuckle. They all knew she was thinking of him. She would always slaughter them all at bowling and during that game, it seemed like she might even be placed last, if third wasn't bad enough for her. Her mind was definitely somewhere else.

"Shut up, Kairi! He's not my crush and how should I know how he's doing?" Utau fumed, her face bright red.

"Utau," Ikuto piped up.

"What?"

"I have his number." Utau stopped and stared at him. Ikuto smirked. "I can give it to you, if you want. I stole it from Amu's phone." Ikuto remembered the past week. He had been thinking about reading past text messages between her and Kukai, but found that her all of her messages in her inbox and sent messages had been deleted. She probably needed more memory. So he had settled on just stealing his number from it.

Utau looked at Ikuto skeptically. Kairi and Nagi were snickering. She knew he wasn't lying about the number. She also knew that it would be easy enough for him to give it to her. But that would make her friends have one over her and she didn't want that. They'd tease her even more if she admitted her crush on Kukai. Utau rolled her eyes at Ikuto.

"I don't want his number, idiot. Now let me bowl in peace," Utau said to him. She turned back towards the lanes. Okay, Utau, she thought to herself. Focus. Focus.

She released her bowling ball and watched as it made contact with the pins. It hit all but one. She scowled. She'd done better, but that didn't matter now. She had to focus on this pin. Don't think about him, Utau. Focus on the pin. The pin, she thought. Don't think about… she smiled a little. Don't think about how he has the most amazing smile… and how his eyes are the prettiest shade of green… and when he laughs, I think I might melt… and how—Utau! Utau shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the pin. Get a hold of yourself. The pin! The pin!

She positioned herself and then released the ball. It hit the last pin. She smiled. On the screen the words Spare flashed on and off.

"Come on, Utau, you can do better than that," Ikuto commented.

Utau glared at him. "Shut up, Ikuto. You're lucky that I'm letting you guys off easy."

"Sure you are," Ikuto said with a smirk. He went over to the lanes with his bowling ball. Utau walked over to the seats and took a seat next to her bag. She opened it and got out her phone. She opened it to check the time (she didn't have a watch) when she saw it was open on her contacts list. Utau looked at it confused. Her contacts list?

Then she realized her list was in the Ks… Her eyes widened as she saw Kukai's name flash back at her. She opened the contact to see his number. How did…? She looked back at Ikuto who had just started his turn. She smiled as she looked at the number. Her phone had a password on it and there was only one other person who knew her password.

"Thank you, Ikuto," she said quietly to herself. She smiled at the number again, before she closed her phone.

(A/N: So a lot of Amuto, ending with a little Kutau Hope you guys liked chapter 6. Next chapter will be updated soon )