A few uneventful days passed. There was more practice, then a day of rest. The plans were that the next morning, Ikuto would drive over to Amu's and pick her up in the morning. Then Ikuto and Amu would meet Shiragin at the airport to leave for the south-eastern United States. That faithful morning came, and Amu's happy was more than upset to see her leaving.
Ikuto, tired of waiting in the car, invited himself inside; not that he was noticed, considering how much Amu's parents were gushing over her departure in the foyer in front of the door. Ikuto leaned against the door impatiently, tapping his finger. He pulled out his cell phone and started texting someone.
"Okay, okay, Mama, I'll call you when I can. I mean, I'm probably going to be busy. Hold on, I got a text," Amu pulled out her phone and flipped it open.
The message was addressed from Ikuto, it simply said "Hurry up, we've got to go."
Amu entered a colon, then a backslash, then sent the message to Ikuto as a sign of defiance. It was a very poor attempt at not listening to an authority, because as soon as his phone beeped with news of a message and he pressed it open, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and pull her back into Ikuto's tall frame.
"I'm sorry, Hinamori-san, but we really must be going. Amu doesn't want to be late on her first trip to America, isn't that right, Amu?"
Amu rolled her eyes and leaned out of Ikuto's grasp and kissed her mother, her father, and her little sister goodbye.
Ikuto urged her out the door. He grabbed her bags and carried them behind him while scooting her along the pathway to the road quickly.
"What's the rush, Ikuto?" Amu asked.
"If there's one thing Shiragin hates, its unpunctuality," Ikuto pressed his hand against Amu's lower back and pushed her quicker toward the car.
Amu blushed and shooed Ikuto's hand off of her back, but in return, she sped up her pace to Ikuto's car. She opened the door and sat down on the leather seat that was now warmed by the sun. Ikuto went around the back and threw Amu's bags into the trunk along with his. Her polka-dotted bright pink bags clashed so colorfully with his boring black ones. Seconds later, Ikuto was sitting beside her in the driver's seat with his keys in the ignition.
Once they started moving, Ikuto relaxed. Truthfully, Shiragin didn't mind when people were late. Actually, Ikuto just wanted to get out of that house and onto the road. It was very apparent that Amu's dad wasn't too fond of Ikuto. He thought that Ikuto would end up raping Amu or something of the sort.
"That's ridiculous, I have self control," Ikuto said aloud, forgetting that Amu was in the car beside him.
"What's ridiculous?" Amu asked.
Ikuto looked over at her when he realized she had heard him, "Oh, it's nothing of your concern. I was just thinking out loud."
Ikuto moved Amu's arm off of the arm rest that was between them and opened it up. He grabbed a CD from it and closed the arm rest. He put the CD into the CD player and skipped to track fifteen.
The sounds of a guitar and drums filled the car for a few seconds, before Ikuto turned it up—then it blared through the car.
Amu looked over at Ikuto and watched him. She had never heard this song before, so she paid close attention when the words started and Ikuto sang along with them (although his voice was masked by the volume of the music).
We got the afternoon
You got this room for two
One thing I've left to do
Discover me
Discovering you
One mile to every inch of
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips and
Your bubblegum tongue
And if you want love
We'll make it
Swim in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be awhile
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Something 'bout the way the hair falls in your face
I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase
You tell me where to go and
Though I might leave to find it
I'll never let your head hit the bed
Without my hand behind it
You want love?
We'll make it
Swim in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be awhile
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Damn baby
You frustrate me
I know you're mine all mine all mine
But you look so good it hurts sometimes
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonderland
Amu blushed a light pink when she thought about what the song was about.
Ikuto turned down the volume as the song ended, "You like it?"
"I don't know," Amu said, "Why?"
"He's opening for us," Ikuto said as he turned the volume up to a moderate volume, but quiet enough that he could still hear Amu.
"Really?" Amu asked.
"No, I'm just kidding. He's way too good for us," he laughed to himself.
Amu nodded, "Well, I'm glad to see that you don't think you're all-that, better than everyone around you."
Ikuto continued to laugh as music played softly, filling the car.
"Oh, Ikuto, um, have you ever been on a plane before?"
"Yeah, lots of times, why?" Ikuto's giggle-fit had calmed down, and he was paying close attention to the road, although they were the only car on the road for a good 100 feet.
Amu looked out the window at the passing trees, "I've never been on a plane. What's it like?"
"Well, we're flying in the business class, and we're flying international. That means that you get comfy seats and a TV to watch. The food isn't all that good though, depending on what you get. And our flight will take roughly 17 hours, we're going on Delta," he told her.
Amu looked shocked, "Seventeen hours?"
"Japan and the east coast of America are pretty far apart. And after we land, we have a 4 hour drive to where we're staying for a week."
Amu let out a heavy sigh, "But that's so long!"
Ikuto chuckled at her, "Its okay, you'll have something to do. You could sleep, for instance."
Amu turned on the fan and pointed the cool air towards her. She decided to change the subject off of excruciatingly long flights, "What kind of car is this?"
"It's a Kia," he said.
"Okay, Ikuto, be more specific. Seriously," Amu gave him a sharp look.
"Oh, you want me to be specific? Well let's see," Ikuto looked up in mock-thought, "My car is silver, and it has leather seats, and it can hold 5 CDs at a time," he stayed quiet after that, waiting for Amu's reply.
"What model car is it?"
"Oh, that's what you wanted to know. I see. Its an Amanti," Ikuto grinned at her, "Isn't it pretty?"
Amu squinted at him, but she couldn't help but let her lips pull up into a smile, "You're such a dork, you know that?"
Ikuto shook his head in a proud way, "I've been told."
Amu let out a small laugh and turned the music back up. She changed the track number to 11 to see what would come on.
It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on
Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms
Amu was surprised that it was the same person as before. The first song was most definitely (if not bluntly) about sex, but this one was about love.
We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burning room
I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me?
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw
I'll make the most of all the sadness
You'll be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me just to hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
'Cause you can't understand
We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burning room
Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?
Go cry about it - why don't you?
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Burning room
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Amu pulled out her iPod and opened her Safari search engine, "Who did you say this was again?"
"John Mayer," Ikuto said.
Amy typed in "john mayer lyrics" and scrolled through the first results. She clicked on one and started reading the lyrics. She liked them. "Hey, Ikuto, do you have The Heart of Life on that CD?"
Without missing a beat, Ikuto replied, "Track seven."
The song had changed to track 12 while she was looking things up, so she clicked the back button 6 times. The song started with soft guitar, voice being added at approximately 21 seconds. Amu read the lyrics on her iPod as the song played.
I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
There's things you need to hear
So turn off your tears and listen
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good
You know it's nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
Then the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who's misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I know it's good
Amu smiled at the happy tune of the song. She decided to be a little more orderly and set the track number back to one. She grabbed a pen that was sitting on the floor beside her feet and grabbed a piece of paper out of her bag. She asked Ikuto the names of all the songs on the CD in order.
He hesitated a second, then replied in one breath, "Assassin, Belief, Clarity, Daughters, Dreaming With a Broken Heart, Edge of Desire, Heart Of Life, Heartbreak Warfare, I'm Gonna Find Another You, I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You, Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, Something's Missing, Stop This Train, War of My Life, Your Body is a Wonderland."
Amu's hand struggled to keep up with the pace at which he was speaking. She listened to the CD all the way through, putting checks beside each song she liked (which happened to be all of them). When the CD ran out of songs, Amu frowned.
Ikuto caught sight of this, and opened the arm rest again. He pulled out another CD and held it up to the CD slot. He saw Amu's face light up, "Just so you know, this one isn't all John Mayer, its got a few others on it… Actually, I put a few of those weird songs from your iPod on it."
"What songs are on this CD?" Amu asked.
Ikuto had to think for a few seconds about this one, but soon replied, "Prelude 12/21, Coastal Cities, Thunder, It's Time to Dance, Mad World, Love Like Woe, Wish We Were Older, Monsters, Price of Company, STARSTRUKK, Stripped, Time is Running Out, Comfortably Numb, Clarity, Holiday, Candle, Your Body is a Wonderland… Come to think of it, only two of the songs are John Mayer. Oh well, I'm sure you'll enjoy everything else. This CD is approximately 1 hour, so I doubt you'll get through much. I suggest skipping to song number 5, then number seven.
Amu flipped to number 5, which, if she remembered right, was Mad World.
All around me are familiar faces
worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world
Mad world
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very, mad world, mad world
Enlarge your world
Mad world
Amu turned down the volume as the next song, Love Like Woe, came on, "Well that was a weird song."
"You think that was weird? Go to number thirteen," Ikuto winked at her with a sly look on his face. "By the way, we're about 15 minutes away from the airport. Get ready for your first plane ride"
A/N- I'm so sorry for the wait. My computer got another virus. Again. It needs… like… a vaccine. Just so you know, I do not own John Mayer, Gary Jules (Mad World), Pink Floyd (Comfortably Numb), or any of the other artists and songs listed in this chapter. Ikuto and I just share the same taste in music (no, not really. Those are both the playlists of two of my mix CDs… ;D).