(A/N: I just want to make a shout out to everyone who has stuck with me this far! Thank all of you so much! I do not own Shugo Chara. Please review!)

Chapter 9 (A/N: OMG, Chapter 9 already?!)

Amu and Ikuto were helping Mrs. Franklin set the tables in the main dining room for the rehearsal dinner that night. Amu kept catching Ikuto glancing over at her, and when their eyes locked, he would smile at her, and she would smile back. Mrs. Franklin was oblivious to this.

Amu was about to set a fork down when Mrs. Franklin snapped at her. "No, no, no!"

Amu looked at her in surprise. "E-excuse me-?"

"Didn't you pay attention? Goodness!" She quickly went over to Amu and rearranged the silver wear to the 'right' way. "Remember that next time! This is a great lesson for you!"

Ikuto shook his head and laughed softly under his breath. Amu gave him a look, but couldn't help smiling afterwards.

When they finished with the tables, Ikuto and Amu walked out of the dining room and went out to the back yard. That's when they started laughing.

"You don't mess with Mrs. Franklin's silver wear," Ikuto laughed.

"She snapped at me so fast, I thought I was going to be held for murder," Amu laughed.

Ikuto lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky. Amu lay down next to him. Ikuto looked at her with a strange look.

"What?" Amu asked.

"You're lying down next to me?"

Amu smiled and looked up at the sky. "That's strange. I'd think you'd be happy about it."

"Don't get me wrong, Amu. I am happy, of course, but this is so unusual of you. Don't you think I'm going to try something on you?"

Amu closed her eyes and smiled wider. "Of course I'd think that. But that's you, right? I'm used to it."

Ikuto smirked. "Does that mean you're used to me?"

Her face turned slightly red, but then she smiled once more. "I guess I am."

Ikuto looked at her and smiled. He had to admit he was slightly surprised. The sun was shining down on them, however wasn't too hot. The weather was just right. And she looked beautiful lying down next to him with her eyes closed on the grass.

"I can't believe," Amu breathed, "that tonight is the rehearsal dinner."

Ikuto frowned and moved to lie on his back and looked up at the drifting clouds in the sky. "Yeah… And after that, is the bachelor party… and then comes… the big day."

Amu sighed. "Everything is happening so fast…" She opened her eyes and turned her head towards him. He turned her head towards her.

"It is… isn't it?" Ikuto responded sadly. "Soon… We'll be step-siblings…" Ikuto looked away, he didn't want to think about.

Amu frowned and watched him. He looked so… sad. That's not how Ikuto should've looked. She then moved closer to him and surprised him by snuggling up to him and laying her head against his chest. "We shouldn't be sad. We need to be happy, okay? For our parents. I mean, we shouldn't think badly about the wedding. This is their special day, and it's sort of our too."

Ikuto looked at her sadly. He knew she was right… He knew how important Midori was to his father. Ikuto slowly wrapped his arms around Amu and held her close. "Okay. I'll try and be happy… for our parents… and for you." He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him.

"Ikuto… Thank you," she said softly. He tried to give her a happy smile, but it turned out sad. She saw the sadness and instantly felt pain. Then she smiled and her body up towards him so they were face to face. "Don't be sad, Ikuto…"

"But Amu—" He was cut off when Amu pressed her lips against his. He was surprised that she had done that. That she had kissed him. It didn't take long for him to take control and to turn the kiss much more passionate. He moved their bodies so that she was lying on her back and he was hovering over her. Her hands ran threw his hair and he used one hand to balance himself, the other slid up and down her slim figure.

Their make out session lasted a few moments before they heard, "Amu! Amu, where are you?"

Ikuto broke their kiss and looked at her. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

They heard Midori call for her again. "Amu!"

Ikuto leaned down and started leaning down towards her and starting kissing her neck.

"Ikuto...," Amu whispered.

"Hmm?" Ikuto responded, kissing her up her neck and progressing to her ear. He then left kisses down her jaw, across her cheek, and then he placed his hot lips back on her lips.

"I-Ikuto…" Amu said softly through the kisses.

"What?" Ikuto whispered as he kissed her.

"My… M-my mom..."

"Mm hmm?" Ikuto responded, kissing her harder and more passionately.

"She's…" Amu tried to clear her head. It was very hard with him kissing her like that. When she heard her mom call for her again, she knew that they needed to stop. Now how was she going to get him off of her? She let go of his hair and moved her hands to his shoulders where she gave them a gentle push upwards. That broke the kiss.

"What, Amu?" Ikuto asked. He was about to lean in for another kiss, when Amu turned her head.

"My mom is calling for me," Amu explained. "If she starts looking for me and finds us like this…"

Ikuto sighed. "Fine… Go to your mother."

Amu gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and got up from the ground and headed towards the house to find her mom.

Ikuto smiled and lay back on the grass. She was finally getting used to him. Now she was kissing him. Was it unusual? Yep. Was it out of character? Definitely. But, hey. He wasn't complaining.

Amu opened the door and almost ran into her mother.

"Oh, there you are!" Midori said with a big smile.

"Hey, Mom. Sorry, I was outside," Amu said with a smile.

"Someone's on the landline for you. Use the phone in the kitchen."

"Who?"

"It's a surprise." Her mother winked at her and walked out the door. A confused Amu went towards the phone in the kitchen, that was laying on the table.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Amu-chan! It's so good to hear your voice again," a sweet, gentle voice said on the other line.

Amu could tell the voice was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on who it was. "Um, sorry, but who is this?"

The voice on the other line laughed softly before answering. "Did you forget me already, silly? It's Dia."

Amu's smile widened. Hinamori Dia was her aunt on her father's side. Her dad's younger sister. Dia was in her late-twenties and was the best aunt a girl could have. Amu didn't like choosing favorites, but she preferred Dia much more that her mother's sisters. Although Aunt Aika was all right. Dia was still so much cooler.

The only problem was that she hadn't seen Dia much since Amu's dad died. At the time of her father's death, Dia had just finished college. Dia loved her brother and was also very sad at the time, so she tried to cure her sadness with traveling around the world, so that's what she did. In effect to that, Amu only saw Dia once or twice a year, maybe every two years.

"Aunt Dia!" she cried with joy. That's what she called Dia. Simply, 'Aunt Dia.' No, honorific needed. That's what Dia wanted and what Amu preferred.

"Hey, Honey! How are you doing, Amu-chan? Holding up?"

Amu sat in a chair at the table. "Yeah, I'm doing okay. How are you?"

"I'm doing wonderful! Can you guess where I am now?"

Amu smiled. "Hmm… Uh… America?"

Dia laughed softly. "Close, but no. Try again!"

"Uh… London?"

"Nope! Here, I'll give you a hint. I'm somewhere in South America."

Amu thought for a moment. "Brazil?

"No."

"Colombia?"

"That's next week!" Dia laughed.

"Venezuela?"

"I'm actually going there tomorrow!"

"Uh… Chile?"

"Exactly! Good job, you won our game!"

Amu smiled. "So how is Chile?"

"Oh, it's beautiful, Honey. It really is! I need to take you with me here sometime, okay?"

"Okay!"

Dia laughed again. She had such a beautiful, melodic laugh. "How's Tsukiyomi-san? Oh, and I heard he had a kid too, right? Um… what was his name?"

"Ikuto."

"Yeah, that's it! How are they? Are they nice?"

Amu was about to say that they were wonderful, but she paused. Was that right? Dia was the sister of her mom's first husband. Would it be right to say that a new man and his son were amazing? Especially… the son… "They're… okay."

"Well, that's good!"

"Are you coming to the wedding?" Amu asked hopefully. She had asked without thinking. Didn't Dia just say she'd be in Colombia in a week? Amu frowned. And anyways, Dia was the sister of Mr. Hinamori. None of Amu's family on her dad's side was coming to the wedding. Amu mentally slapped herself. She didn't want Dia to feel guilty. But… she still felt like Dia was supposed to be there…

There was a pause on the other line. "Amu-chan… I'm… I'm really sorry, but… Well, I would come if I could… but I'm leaving for Venezuela tomorrow, and then I'm heading towards Colombia and… it's not exactly right for the sister of the past husband to be at the wedding… I'm so sorry, Sweetie. I know how important this day must be—"

Amu smiled and laughed. "Hey, don't worry about it. I was… just asking, that's all."

"Okay, Honey! If you ever have anything you want to talk about, you know you can always just give me a call, right?"

"Okay, thanks Aunt Dia!"

"Bye, Amu-chan! I love you!"

"Love you! Have fun in South America!" Amu responded before ending the call. Amu smiled at the phone.

"Who was that?" Amu turned to see Ikuto smiling at her from the doorway.

"My aunt Dia. She was my dad's sister," Amu responded. There was a slight hint of sadness in her voice. She hoped he missed that.

He walked over to her. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, why would I lie about that?" Amu asked, slightly surprised, but mostly offended.

"Calm down, I didn't mean it that way," Ikuto said with a smile. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Amu, you're so beautiful."

Amu blushed."Iku—"

"You're so different from the other girls that I've met. You're kind, and strong… And you love your friends and family. You have a big heart," he whispered in her ear. This made her blush more. "And you're the most amazing girl… that I've ever met."

"Ikuto…"

That's when they heard footsteps and Ikuto quickly let go of Amu and stepped back. Mrs. Franklin came in.

"Where have you two been?" she demanded.

"Uh…," Amu started.

"We were just outside and then we thought about coming in for a little snack," Ikuto finished with a smile.

"Get out of my kitchen!" she snapped. "The whole dinner for tonight is in here and I'm not finished yet!"

"S-sorry, ma'am—" Amu apologized.

"Don't 'sorry' me! It's bad enough you don't help efficiently. Do you know how many guests are coming? Do you?"

Ikuto and Amu looked at each other. Amu smiled nervously. "Um… a lot?" she answered.

Mrs. Franklin scoffed. "A lot, hmm? You're lucky you're not my child! There almost one hundred guests coming and your mother and I are cooking for all of them! Now get out and make yourselves useful!"

Ikuto grabbed Amu's hand. "Yes, Mrs. Franklin." He then led Amu out of the kitchen.

They walked together into the living room where they sat together on one of the couches.

"I don't think that Mrs. Franklin likes me very much," Amu said.

Ikuto put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Don't worry. She grows on you. And she's not mad at you; she's just stressed out with the whole wedding thing."

"Okay…"

Ikuto kissed her forehead. "Just don't worry, okay?"

"Okay," Amu said with a small smile, her cheeks a light red.

Ikuto grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. The Lighting Thief was playing. "Want to watch this?"

"Sure," Amu responded. She hadn't seen the movie before, but she had read the books. She could help but notice how… wonderfully hot Logan Lerman, the guy who played Percy Jackson, was. She blushed when she thought that. But it was so true.

Ikuto didn't care much about the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series very much, but he admitted the movie wasn't that bad. That is until he saw Amu blushing when they showed a close up of the main character, Percy Jackson. He remembered when the movie first came out and mostly all the girls at his school were going on and on about how hot Logan Lerman was.

Ikuto scowled. He had met Logan before, since Rick Riordan, the writer of the book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, had seen his dad play in a concert and had a meet and great with him back stage. Rick had then invited Aruto and Ikuto to go see a preview of the movie, since it wasn't in theatres yet, with the actors. So Ikuto and Logan met. They were about the same age as well. He was very nice, but wasn't exactly Ikuto's type of person to hang around. But it wasn't like they talked a lot. Apparently, movie stars were very busy.

Ikuto rolled his eyes as Amu smiled and blushed when 'Percy' sat at the bottom of a pool shirtless.

Her eyes were glued to the screen. Ikuto scowled again. Damn him, he thought.

"Amu," he said. She didn't respond. "Amu. Earth to Amu."

"Huh?" she responded, not taking her eyes away from the screen.

Ikuto glared at Logan Lerman. "Amu, I'm going to get us some food."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, okay, sure."

Ikuto rolled his eyes again and got off the couch and went towards the kitchen. Thankfully, Mrs. Franklin wasn't in there. Ikuto was about to walk towards the fridge, when someone rang the doorbell. Ikuto turned and went to answer the door. He opened the door to see Utau. A very frantic Utau.

"Hello Uta—"

"IDIOT!" she yelled. She pushed him hard and he almost tripped over his own feet. Luckily, he had fast reflexes and good balance.

"Dammit, what the—" She cut him off again when she slapped him hard on the face. Okay… maybe his reflexes could use a little work. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Y-you—Y-you-! You caused this!" she screamed, she was about to slap him again, when he caught her hand in midair. That's when he noticed she was shaking and crying at the same time.

Amu, who had heard the noise, ran into the room. "U-Utau-san? What's going on?"

Utau whipped her head towards Amu and was about to charge towards her when Ikuto caught her around her waist. Utau was screaming and struggling against Ikuto's hold. Amu didn't know what to think. It looked like Utau wanted to kill her.

"I can't believe I actually believed! And it's both of your faults! Damn both of you!" Utau yelled.

Amu looked at her in surprise. "U-Utau-san, w-what-?"

Ikuto gave her a warning look. "Amu, just go. I'll take care of this." Amu hesitated before nodding and heading back towards the living room. Ikuto picked up the struggling Utau and took her to the first empty room he could find, his dad's office.

He let her down and let go of her. She had calmed down… a little.

"Utau, tell me what happened." She had her fists clenched and looked down. Tears ran down her face. "Utau. What happened?"

She was still shaking. Without looking at him, she answered. "It's all your damn fault. You made me believe that… that he could actually…." She bit her lip and clenched her fist harder so her knuckles turned an unnatural white. She continued to sob.

"Utau."

She looked up at him. "It's you damn fault! You kept… You kept p-pushing us together…" Ikuto understood what this was about. Kukai.

"Utau, tell me. What happened between you two? I thought—"

"Well you thought wrong," she snapped, her bottom lip trembling. "You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you. We went out."

"Utau, you should be happy about—"

"We went out and I was happy. I thought we were together after that, okay? But I thought wrong. I asked him if he wanted to go out to lunch with me, he said he had other plans. I drove past his house and I saw him on the front porch—" She struggled to say her last sentence. "I saw him…" She bit her lip and started to sob. "I saw him making out with a strawberry blonde." Ikuto's eyes widened. "His hands… were all over her."

She then burst out in tears. "Utau…" He wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed into his chest. "I'm… I didn't know that he would do that."

She then pushed away from him. "Well, I guess that makes both of us."

"Did you talk to him?"

"He… He called… and texted… but I wouldn't answer him. H-he wanted to know… why I wouldn't answer h-him."

"Listen, Utau," Ikuto started, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You need to talk to him. Let him explain himself. I'm… I'm sorry he hurt you. I didn't think he'd do something like that to you."

Utau smiled sadly at him. "I didn't think he'd do that either." Utau wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Maybe that's why I fell for him so badly. He made me feel so special… and happy… he seemed like that guy that… was so good hearted… and that it was simply impossible for him to hurt you." She looked down. "But I was wrong… " Utau then patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. I needed someone to talk to."

"Utau," Ikuto sighed.

"Thank you." Utau gave him a short hug. "Thank you for giving me a chance at love."

"Utau. Listen, it's… my fault, I pushed you two together—"

"No. Ikuto, I'm really grateful. Love… doesn't happen much to me, you know that." Before Ikuto could say another word, Utau gave him another pained smile and then headed out of the office and then out the front door.

Ikuto scowled and leaned back on his father's desk. "Dammit…" Utau was his closest friend and was like a younger sister to him. She was right. She wasn't much of the lovey-dovey type and not very social. Lots of guys looked her way, but she didn't look theirs. Of course she had dated before… but Kukai had been Utau's first real…

"Ikuto?" Ikuto turned to see Amu standing in the doorway. She looked concerned… and alarmed. "What happened?"

Ikuto sighed and went over to her and embraced her. He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Don't… worry about it." He knew how close Kukai was to Amu. He didn't want Amu to feel upset about what had happened with Kukai and Utau. But… maybe… "Amu." Ikuto took his head off her shoulder and looked at her. "Amu… can I ask you a question?"

"What? Sure, I guess."

"Does Kukai have a girlfriend?"

Amu laughed. Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"Well, no, Kukai doesn't have a girlfriend." She laughed again. "Sorry, but Kukai's just not really the romantic type. It's hard to picture him with a girl."

"Amu, does Kukai know any strawberry blonde girls?"

Amu looked at him confused. "I don't think so… but… why? Is… Did Kukai tell you about a girlfriend?" She frowned. "Why wouldn't he tell me…?"

Ikuto laughed sourly. "Amu, you're getting ahead of yourself."

"Um, I can ask Kukai if you want—"

"No. Okay?" Ikuto smiled at her.

"But—"

Ikuto embraced her once more. "Please, Amu… Can we go back to the movie now?"

Amu hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding. Ikuto held her hand as they moved back towards the living room. He scowled. He needed to talk to Kukai.

The guests had finished arriving for the rehearsal dinner and everyone was seated and eating. Ikuto and Amu sat with their parents and their grandparents at a table. Ikuto sat beside Amu. Ikuto looked over towards a table a few tables away. That's where his and Amu's friends sat. Utau wasn't sitting next to Kukai like he had planned, but after the whole drama with Kukai, Ikuto had switched Utau's seat with Nagihiko's. He felt bad, though, since Nagi wasn't sitting next to Rima.

Their friend's parents sat together at a different table.

At different times, a few friends or family would come up to Aruto and Midori to congratulate them. Besides that and the soft music played overhead, the dinner was quite… boring.

Ikuto quickly finished his plate and excused himself from the table. He then walked over to Utau's table.

"Hey guys," he said with a smile. They greeted him. Utau gave him a quick nod. "Kukai? I need to see you for a second." Ikuto saw Utau's eyes widen, put she quickly looked down.

"Uh, okay…," Kukai responded. He got up and followed Ikuto outside the main dining room.

When they entered an empty guest room, Ikuto looked Kukai up and down. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Kukai looked at him, baffled. "Excuse me?"

Ikuto leaned in close to him. "You. Hurt. Her."

This made Kukai even more confused, and alarmed. "Hurt? Who'd I hurt?" His eyes widened. "Did I hurt Amu?"

Ikuto swallowed the new anger that he had for the worry that Kukai seemed to have when mentioning hurting Amu. "No, Kukai. Who the hell where you kissing yesterday?"

"What?"

"Strawberry blonde chick? Who was she?"

Kukai looked at him for a moment, and then seemed to realize what he meant. "Oh! You mean Rebecca-chan!"

"You were kissing her yesterday. Why?"

Kukai's smile vanished. "You saw?"

"No. Utau saw," Ikuto snapped.

Kukai groaned. "Dammit. Is that why she wasn't answering me?"

"Why'd you do it, Kukai?"

Kukai rubbed his temples. "Oh, God. Dammit. Dammit! I've ruined it, haven't I?"

"Kukai."

"Yes, sorry. Uh, Rebecca-chan is an ex-girlfriend of mine, uh—"

"Ex? Really? Utau said you were making out. You don't do that with your ex, unless you've gotten back together."

Kukai frowned sadly. "She had come by to talk about getting back together, but I didn't want to. She kissed me… and one thing led to another… But I stopped that kiss! I mean it, Ikuto-san! I don't like her! I told her she needed to stop it and go away and that we were over. I was just… caught off guard. I was… thinking about Utau."

Ikuto raised in eyebrow in delight. "Utau? You were… thinking about Utau?"

Kukai blushed. "Well, uh, see—" He sighed. "What can I say? I really like her…" He frowned. "Dammit, I've messed everything up, haven't I?"

Ikuto nodded. "Yeah. But I see the misunderstanding."

Kukai smiled. "We went out, you know. She's… the most amazing girl I've ever met…"

"Well you better talk to her. It looked pretty bad. You denying a date because you had 'plans' and then she finding you making out with some girl."

"Yeah, I know, I know. I really did have plans, with the family. We went to a soccer game. She was there when I got back."

"Did Amu know about her?"

Kukai smiled slightly. "No… I never told her about Rebecca…"

"Why not?"

"It was a few years ago. Uh, Amu was going through something and she needed me. I didn't want to tell her I had a relationship because then she'd feel bad about keeping me away from her."

Ikuto nodded in understanding. "I think that you should go and talk to Utau now, Kukai. She was pretty upset."

He smiled slightly. "She… cares about me that much?"

Ikuto laughed softly. "Don't tell her I told you. She'll kill me."

Kukai laughed. "Okay, thanks, Ikuto-san!" Kukai rushed back into the dining room, followed by Ikuto. Ikuto watched Kukai go over to Utau and lead her out of the dining room. Ikuto smiled and walked back to his table.

"Where were you?" whispered Amu.

"Just fixing a mess I made," Ikuto answered with a smile. Amu looked at him, completely baffled. Ikuto laughed softly and placed his hand on top of hers under the table. "Don't worry about it, okay? Just… stay away from any exes, okay?"

"Huh? Exes?"

Ikuto only smiled. He looked back towards the open doorway. Kukai and Utau hadn't returned yet.

"Ikuto? Could you and Amu-chan help clear the plates?" Aruto asked.

"Sure, Dad," Ikuto answered.

They took the finished plates and headed towards the kitchen. When they entered the kitchen, Amu's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Ikuto looked slightly surprised but then pleased. In front of them, leaning against the counter, was Kukai and Utau. And they were making out. Very… passionately…

They didn't seem to notice Ikuto and Amu standing in the doorway.

Ikuto looked at Amu. She was very red and looked very surprised. Ikuto didn't know if he should be amused or upset at that. He then looked at Kukai and Utau. They were still kissing. Ikuto cleared his throat and started laughing. Kukai and Utau both turned towards them and turned bright red. They then jumped away from each other and continued to blush ferociously.

"U-u-um, A-Amu—" Kukai started.

Ikuto continued to laugh and took the dishes from a frozen Amu and walked past Utau and Kukai with the dishes and placed them in the sink. He then turned back, took Amu's hand, and led her back towards the dining room.

(A/N: Next update: SOON )