Amu went to the elevator and pressed the "L" button. The doors got close to closed, when a hand stuck in between, making them open back up. Ikuto stood in front of Amu, on the other side of the doors.

"What?" Amu asked.

Ikuto hesitated. He just stared at her. He didn't know why he was chasing after her. He didn't care that she was raped or not. Because he knew she wasn't.

Amu gave an exasperated sigh, "What ~nya?" she repeated.

Ikuto shook his head, "What? Oh, that. You can stop with the '~nya' and the cat ears thing," Ikuto said, then went back to staring. He couldn't remember why he rushed after Amu. He just stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. "You said you were going to the beach with your Yaya friend, right?"

"Um," Amu hesitated. She had lied about that. Yaya had asked her if she wanted to go, but she said she didn't feel like it. "Yeah, we're going. Why?"

"Can I tag along?" Ikuto asked. He didn't know why. He wanted to keep an eye on her. Maybe he had her all wrong.

"What?" Amu was taken back. Ikuto wanted to go to the beach with her and her friend? Wasn't he bothered by the fact that her friend was probably going to be fangirl attacking him the whole time? "Um… I don't see why not, but I should warn you that Yaya is a huge fangirl."

"So's my sister. I'm used to it," he shrugged, "So can I come?"

"Sure," Amu said.

They rode the rest of the way down the elevator in silence. When they got back down to the lobby, Amu started walking to the bathrooms, while Ikuto walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Ikuto asked.

"Oh, um, I have to use the restroom," Amu blushed.

"You just went ten minutes ago," Ikuto retorted.

"I… uh," Amu thought of something, "I was only checking my hair! But I want to go before we go to the beach. I hate the bathrooms there."

"Okay then, sure. Though, we are stopping at your house to get your stuff anyway." Ikuto leaned against the wall and waited for Amu.

Amu hurried into a stall and pulled out her cell phone. She clicked through her contacts until she got to Yaya's number. "Are you still up for the beach?" she typed.

She soon got a reply that read "DEFFINATLY!"

She typed back, "Meet me at the beach in 30 minutes." Then she left the restroom and started on her way back to her house.

When they turned on to Amu's street, Amu remembered what Ami had asked her. "Ikuto, I just remembered. My little sister wants to meet you."

"Your little sister?"

"Yeah, her name's Ami. Remember when I had you write that autograph yesterday for her?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember her. So she wants to meet me. I'll be sure to meet her while you're getting your things together."

"Wait… What are you going to wear?" Amu asked. "You don't have a bathing suit or anything to wear, do you?"

"Its okay, I've got a plan."

They chatted all the way back to Amu's house. Amu walked in and Ikuto waited to walk in until Amu was half way up the stairs to her room.

"Hello?" Ikuto asked loud enough that Ami would be able to hear him from the living room. He heard a loud, high pitched gasp and saw a small girl come rushing from around the corner. Her face was all smiles when she saw him standing in the doorway. She rushed to him and squealed.

"Mama, Papa! Tsuyomi Ikuto's here!" Ami screamed as she hugged Ikuto around the legs.

"It's pronounced 'Tsukiyomi Ikuto,' Honey," Ami's mom said as she followed her to the hallway.

Ami's mom invited Ikuto to sit on the couch while he waited, so he and Ami chatted, and Ami's dad listened in. They talked about his music mostly. And what it was like to be famous. And they talked about Hoshina Utau, who Ami was also a big fan of.

Amu soon came back down the steps, carrying a medium sized bag that held a water bottle, a towel, sunscreen, some money, and a change of clothes. She was wearing a white cover-up that didn't cover much past her thigh, a black two piece bathing suit, and some flip flops.

"Wait," Amu's dad spoke from the computer, looking at Ikuto suspiciously, "Where are you guys going?"

"To the beach," Ikuto said.

"What?" Amu's dad rushed over to Amu, "You're going to the beach alone with an 18 year old boy? Do you know how many hormones are coursing through his veins at this very moment?" He shook her by her shoulders wildly.

"I'm right here, you know," Ikuto said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Amu put her hands on her dad's wrists to stop him from shaking her any further, "Its okay, Papa. Yaya's going too." Amu's cell phone chimed with the sound of a text. She took it out and read it, then put it back in her pocket on her cover-up, "Yaya just texted me. Rima and Nagihiko are going too."

Amu's dad looked at her as he thought it over, "Okay, okay, go. But I want you back by dark."

"Okay, Papa. I'll be back before 8 then. See you later," she waved to them as she walked to the door.

"I guess I'm leaving too," Ikuto stood up, "It was nice to meet you," he said to Ami and ruffled her hair before leaving with Amu.

They talked more about random things, and about their tour and about Beaufort. Then Amu asked again about what Ikuto was going to wear to go swimming.

"You'll see. We're almost there," Ikuto said as he turned left.

"What? We aren't close to the beach yet. And the beach is this way. That's the way to the shopping district."

"Come on," Ikuto motioned for her to walk with him.

Amu followed him into the shopping district. They walked past many sets of doors before Ikuto grabbed Amu's wrist and led her into a large clothing store. Amu didn't bother look for the name, they all had the same things.

Ikuto took the long way around to the men's department to avoid as many people as he could. He went to the bathing suit section and quickly scanned the different colors and designs for one he liked. Amu didn't even get a chance to see it before he disappeared into the changing room. She watched as his jeans flung over the edge of the door, followed by his black t-shirt. Then he stepped out of the changing stall and presented himself to Amu. The bathing suit that he had picked went right to the top of his knees. It was brown with burgundy red swirls. Or maybe it was burgundy red with brown swirls. That didn't matter much. Amu noticed his boxers sticking out the top of the trunks. They were mostly black, but they had small white glass prisms on them. There looked like a ray of white light going in one side, then a rainbow coming out the other. Then she remembered who that was for. Ikuto was wearing Pink Floyd boxers. She would never have expected that.

Amu noticed the trail of dark blue hairs that led from his belly button to the top of his boxers. She felt her body go warm and she blushed when she looked back up at his chest. Ikuto was so skinny. But he wasn't like most skinny boys. Most skinny boys, you could see their ribs and everything, and their bones. But he was skinny, but with enough muscle that you didn't see every single bone in his body. She could see where his hip bones emerged from his boxers, and she could see the very bottom rib over his abs. She blushed.

"Amu?"

Amu didn't answer. Her mouth was dry.

Ikuto noticed that Amu was staring at his Pink Floyd boxers. He smirked, "Hello? Is anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is anybody home?"

Amu didn't move. Her blush deepened.

Ikuto put his hand on her chin and lifted her face back up. He put his face down, close to hers, "My face is up here, Strawberry."

Amu blushed at the name.

"Anyways, I was going to ask if you liked my bathing suit, but I guess you do, so I guess I can change back now," Ikuto said as he went back into the stall.

Amu took that time to regain herself. Soon, Ikuto would come out of there, fully clothed, and everything will be normal again. And that happened. Ikuto came out of the stall with his jeans and shirt on, and he had the bathing suit hung on the hanger in his hand.

"Let's go," he said. Ikuto started walking back to the front, then quickly turned around and started going the other way.

"Where are we going now?" Amu asked as she turned around with him.

"Utau stole my last pair of sun glasses, and I've been meaning to get some more, and I just remembered," Ikuto walked to the sunglasses stand right beside the women's jewelry. He looked at pairs of sunglasses, and Amu decided to look at jewelry while she waited. Ikuto walked back to Amu, with a pair of Aviators in his hand. "What are you looking at?" Ikuto asked. He followed her gaze to a necklace. It was a small solid gold chain, with a small solid gold pendant that was in the shape of a lock, and had a clover encrusted in it with diamond. "You like that necklace?" Ikuto asked.

"Yeah," Amu said, "I've seen it here before, but Mama said it was too expensive."

Ikuto looked at the price tag. It wasn't too extremely expensive. "Do you want it? I'll buy it for you," Ikuto said as a cashier came over to them.

"What?" Amu blushed and looked up at Ikuto. "No, you don't have to do that."

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

Ikuto was glad to see that the woman was well into her thirties. Just one less autograph he'd have to sign today. "Yes," he placed his Aviators on the table, "I'd like these sunglasses, and that Humpty Lock necklace down there," he pointed to it through the glass.

"Oh, nice choice," she said as she leaned down to unlock the glass case.

"Ikuto," Amu whispered, "I said you didn't have to get it for me."

"But you didn't say I couldn't," he smirked.

Amu blushed.

The cashier put the sunglasses and the necklace in a small bag together and swiped Ikuto's credit card, then gave the all items to back to him. Then Amu and Ikuto walked back to the front of the store and bought the bathing suit. When they got back outside, Ikuto took out the sunglass and placed them over his eyes, and took out the necklace. He was about to give it to Amu, but then put it back in the bag, "You can gave this later. You don't need a solid gold necklace to go to a beach."

"Ikuto," Amu said shyly.

"Hn?" he said in reply.

"Thanks… For the necklace," she blushed.

Ikuto smiled, "My pleasure."

Amu's phone chimed. She pulled it out and checked another text. She read it out loud for Ikuto to hear, "It's from Yaya. It says 'Hey Amu, I'm arguing with my parents. I won't be able to make it for another 45 min. Sorry. See you then.'"

"Well then," Ikuto started, trying to think of something to do, "You haven't had lunch yet, have you?"

Now that Amu thought of it, she was pretty hungry. She had overslept, so she hadn't eaten any breakfast, and she hadn't had lunch yet. "I guess I'm hungry. We could go have lunch somewhere while we wait."

"Great," Ikuto said, "So where do you want to eat?"

Amu looked around, "I don't know. Just anywhere. But I feel like eating ramen. What about you?" she asked him.

"Ramen's good with me," Ikuto pointed down the street, "There's a place down there. Lets go."

They walked down the street to the restaurant. A few older men and women stared at Ikuto, trying to get a look at his eyes behind his Aviators. They weren't sure is it was him, or if It was just some kid that looked like him. So no one said anything. They went into the shop and got sat down at a tall table by the window. Ikuto noticed that their waitress was a girl around his age, so he told Amu what he wanted and turned his head to the window so the waitress wouldn't see his face and recognize him.

When the waitress came around, Amu ordered for the both of them. When the food came back, Ikuto looked back at Amu, hoping he was safe. Surprisingly, no one came to his table to ask if it was him. He was so relaxed then. The sunglasses were doing wonders for him. He never wanted to take them off. When they got done, Ikuto gave Amu the cash for the meal, and she paid it up front, then they left back for the streets.

Ikuto glanced at his watch, "Well that killed about 15 minutes. And we're only 5 minutes away from the beach. I guess we could just stay at the beach alone for 10 minutes," he grabbed her wrist and started guiding her to a kiosk on the side of the rode.

"I don't know… Papa doesn't really want me alone with you, you know?" Amu blushed.

"I think its okay. I'm not going to rape you or anything, I promise," he smiled at her. "Now what flavor did you say you liked best? Red bean?"

Amu looked up and realized that they were at a taiyaki stand. "Oh, yeah, I like red bean. And you like chocolate, right?"

"Yep," Ikuto said. He ordered one chocolate taiyaki and one red bean taiyaki from the old man at the kiosk. He handed the red bean one to Amu, and flipped his upside down and started eating from the tail.

"You're starting at the tail?" Amu asked as she took small bites out of hers as they walked back toward the beach.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothings wrong with it, I've just never seen anyone eat it like that," Amu shrugged.

They chatted the all the way to the beach, and threw their trash in the trashcan right outside the beach. Amu went out on the beach to set up towels and stuff, while Ikuto changed into his bathing suit in the restrooms. Amu sat down on her towel and waited for him. She heard the muted sound of feet in the sand coming up behind her. She turned around to see Ikuto again. He was wearing his new bathing suit, he was holding his jeans, his shoes, and his socks in his hands, and he had his shirt flung around his neck.

Amu couldn't stop staring at him, just like before.

Ikuto smirked. "Oh, Amu, stop staring," he crouched down and got close to her face, "I'll start blushing."

Amu blushed and pulled her face away. She knew Ikuto wouldn't start blushing. He was just teasing her for how much she blushed.

Ikuto put his hands behind his head and laid down in the sand next to Amu. He had forgotten to buy a towel. Oh well, it didn't matter. It was just some sand. He noticed Amu was taking off her cover-up. Even though he knew it was just a cover-up, and she was wearing a bathing suit underneath, he decided to play with the thought in him mind a little bit. He smiled. Then she had her cover-up all the way off and folded up beside her, and his mind party ended.

Amu stood up and poked Ikuto in the stomach, right above his Pink Floyd boxers, with her big toe, "Hello? Is anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is anybody home?"

Ikuto chuckled at her quote, and retorted with his own, "I've become comfortably numb."

"Well then, I guess you don't want to go get in the water," Amu said.

In return, Ikuto quickly slid one of his hands out from behind his head and stuck it out in Amu's direction above him, "Help me up."

"You're so lazy," Amu said as she grabbed onto his large warm hand. She grounded her feet in the sand. She started to pull, but the sand wasn't the sturdiest of surfaces. She fell down beside him, kicking up sand everywhere.

They both laughed. Then they both stood up. Right when they were about to leave, Amu's cell phone chimed at the sound of another text. Ikuto waited while Amu picked it up and read it to herself.

Amu dropped the phone. She didn't move.

"Amu?" Ikuto asked, somewhat worried.

Amu didn't say anything. She just sat back down on her towel. She pulled her cover-up back on over her body. She seemed to be fretting over how short it was. She pulled out her other change of clothes. She regretted packing a halter top and a skirt. Amu looked up at Ikuto and blushed. She looked over at his clothes on the ground. She grabbed his jeans and started pulling them on over her legs.

"Uh, Amu, those are my pants," Ikuto crouched down in front of her.

"I'm just borrowing them until we leave," she said.

Ikuto looked at her. His pants were many sizes larger than her. The hems on the legs were almost a foot longer than her feet were inside his pants.

"Amu, what's wrong?" he asked.

Amu just shook her head.

Ikuto noticed Amu's cell phone laying in the sand a foot or so away from when she dropped it.

He picked up her phone and read the opened text from Yaya on the screen to himself.

"Guess what! Tadase's coming to the beach with us too!"