Bip: Time I have to enjoy life and not detest school and education 12/17 hours a day; I get .000000000001 time for myself after you add in the hours for homework. I don't even get Saturday or Sunday off o.o so the time I have to type this is .000000000000000000000000001.

Kukai: Thanks for your explanation. –munches on an apple-

Bip: Gyaaa! When did you get here?

Kukai: In the middle off you type/say that. Hey, why are you looking at me like that?

Bip: How much do you like ice cream?

Kukai: Why?

Bip: Answer first.

Kukai: Out of time! Bip does not own Shugo Chara!

"Talking"

Thinking

"YELLING"

"Person saying something special or person thinking back to what another person said. You'll have to figure it out yourself :O"

Chapter 6: The Past Tadase Couldn't Remember; Ikuto's Feelings

-Amu's POV-

Wow! I couldn't believe it! Tadase requested to talk to me! And at my house! I ran home as quickly as possible. Tadase was coming in an hour. I slammed the door as I went in, not bothering to lock it. I ran up the stairs, threw my bag on my bed and opened up my closet. I began throwing clothes around, looking for the perfect outfit.

"Hey!" Ikuto complained as a skirt flopped on his head. "What are you doing?"

"Huh? Weren't you in cat form?"

"I got slightly over the average form of pissed." He didn't complain as I continued to dig a hole in my drawers and closets. Then I stopped for a moment. For some reason, I felt a tension in the air.

"Hey, Amu." Ikuto began. "Are you…happy?"

I faced him with a confused look.

"I mean, with your current life."

I turned back to the piles of clothes in front of me and thought for awhile. "No…not really." We sat in silence for a while.

"Why not? You have a great family."

"Yeah, but, I don't think I've told you, but…I…don't really have a true friend." He looked surprised that I said that. "You see, every year, me and my family move to a different country. To have good experiences, I guess. I have to learn new languages and any friends I've possibly made, I'll never, ever see again."

I didn't say anything as I thought of my so called experiences with friends. "But!" I turned to face Ikuto completely "Ikuto is! Ikuto is my first ever friend!"

Ikuto looked very surprised to hear me say this. "…Amu…I…" he reached over and leaned closer to me. And just as he was about to say something, the door banged open. Ikuto ducked under the bed.

"Amu-chan! We're going shopping so you have to watch the house!" my dad exclaimed.

"Ok! Ok! Go, then!" I was pissed that they cut off what Ikuto was about to say.

After the trio of them left, Ikuto came out from under the bed.

"Um…Ikuto…What were you about to say before?"

"Huh? Nothing. By the way, do you still like Tadase?"

I was caught off guard by this question. "Yes…He is my first love I guess. I've never been to a place long enough to love anyone."

"Is. That. So?" His voice sounded as if he was holding back from shouting.

I turned to face him, again. "Is something the…" He looked really angry. "Ikuto, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said in the same tone of voice. "I'm going out." He jumped out the balcony before I could say anything.

"…Ikuto…?"

Tadase arrived exactly on time. Not a second earlier, not a second later. I had chosen the perfect outfit. (A/N: Plz use your imagination for her outfit. No good on that :X)

"Tadase-kun! Welcome!"

"Thanks for having me over, Amu-san." I showed him the way to the living room and he glance around the way a person visiting a 'for sale' house would. He sat down on the couch as I prepared tea. "Your parents aren't home?"

"No." I sat down on an armchair next to the couch. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well…It's about…" he paused for a while. "It's about your cat Ikuto."

Huh? I did not expect this.

"You see, I have no memory of my childhood."

This piqued my interest. Never have I thought about Tadase's childhood. I assumed it was just something ordinary.

"Never in my house was a picture of me under five years old. Whenever I asked my parents about the fact there weren't any pictures of me, they'd change the subject. When I ask why I can't remember what happened during my childhood, they'd stay quiet and then change the subject."

What does that have to do with me?

"You're probably curious about why I'm telling you this. Do you remember when I was looking for your cat with you?"

I nodded. I remember all too clearly how his expression was and Ikuto's anger.

"That time…what happened?"

I looked at him in confusion. He played around with his cup. "How should I put it…From what I remembered, I saw your cat. He was glaring at you. And then…I was at my house. I don't remember what happened. Not a bit of the passage back."

"I was talking with Ran about this. She says that because both this memory and my childhood memories disappeared, they're probably connected. She says memory lost has to do with shock. Something in my childhood shocked me enough to have me forget. And Ikuto had something to do with it."

I bit my lip when he finished his story. I didn't know how to respond. I thought back to how he reacted when he saw Ikuto. I wanted to help Tadase more than anything. I didn't know why, but I felt like it would bring me closer to both Tadase and Ikuto. I wanted to find out more about Ikuto and I am going to do it anyway I can. "That time…"

Tadase looked up.

"That time…when you saw Ikuto, you looked like you were in pain and you regretted something a lot. He looked like he was really angry at you. Then, you left in a hurry."

"Is that so?" He glanced down at his tea, deep in thought. "Amu-san, can I see Ikuto right now?"

"He's out. Cat's need out, too. He'll come back later." I wanted him to stay longer. "I'll go get you more tea." I took his cup and went into the kitchen.

So…Ikuto knew Tadase in his childhood… I thought as I stirred the tea leaves. Wait a minute…Tadase said that he couldn't remember before he was 5. That was at least 6 years ago! Ikuto has to be around for at least 6 years…that would make him a middle-aged cat! But, why? He looks like a teenaged boy every time he transformed! I stopped stirring the tea for a moment. I realized that, my knowledge of Ikuto before had been miniscule, but, now with this information, my knowledge of him perhaps doubled but my questions tripled. Just who is Ikuto? What is Ikuto?

I finished stirring the tea and headed out of the kitchen.

"Tadase-kun, I have…" My cheery voice trailed away quickly as I saw what was going on. Ikuto in cat form sat on a table glaring at him. Tadase stood in front of him. His eyes vacant as if he wasn't really there. His expression was pained and scared.

"No…" I heard Tadase mumble. "Don't do that."

"Tadase-kun?" I inched closer to him.

"DON'T HURT HIM ANYMORE!" Tadase seemed to scream at the top of his lungs. Right after he said that, his eyes closed, he fell down on the couch and appeared to be asleep.

"TADASE-KUN!" I yelled in a worried voice. I dropped the tray of tea, not caring that it spilled all over the carpet.

I shook him to see if I could wake him. "Ikuto! What happened to him?!"

He was in cat form by now. "The past was too much for him, I guess."

I glanced at him with worried eyes. "Just what happened…between you two?"

He glared at me. "It's none of your concern!" He said in a stern voice.

I flinched at his tone. He looked like he wanted to take that back. "Amu…I don't want you to be around Tadase too much."

"Why not?"

"He wouldn't be able to protect you if there's any danger."

"Why would there be danger?"

"If I'm not certain of his whereabouts, who knows what he'll do. He'll come back to hurt Tadase. And if you're around Tadase, you'll get hurt, too. And…I can't let that happen. No matter what."

After saying that, he turned around and walked upstairs. I heard him slam my door upstairs. "That's my room, Ikuto!" I sighed. This is just weird. Why would someone hurt Tadase? And if the person's goal is Tadase, then why would he aim for me too?

I walked up the stairs after putting a blanket on Tadase, he was sleeping peacefully. I was glad the door was unlocked and then I heard Ikuto's voice.

"No, I can't leave at that time of the day." There was a pause. "Hell, no. That's ridiculous, how can I visit Hokkaido in 2 hours?"

Curious, I opened the door a crack. He was sitting on my bed, facing away from me. He appeared to be talking on the phone. When did he get a cell phone?

"Yeah, I can be there at that time. Yes I can get there, I can take the bus. Wait, let me just write this down." He ripped a piece of paper from my notebook. How dare he touch my stuff! He quickly scribbled down an address. "Are you sure you can be there on time? Didn't you have a–"

There was a long pause. It appeared the person on the phone was yelling at him.

"Yeah, but you're such a scatterbrain."

"I'M NOT A SCATTERBRIAN!! YOU ANNOYING JERK. BE GLAD I'M DOING YOU A FAVER!" The person on the other side of the phone yelled. I could hear it from where I was standing.

"OW!" Ikuto said. "And I'm not asking this for free. I already got what you wanted! You useless scatterbrain!" He moved the phone away from his ear.

"CALL ME A SCATTERBRAIN ONE MORE TIME AND I WON'T HELP YOU." Ikuto moved the phone back to his ear.

"Right, right. See you there." He ended the call on his cell phone and put it in his pocket. However, he left the piece of paper where he wrote the address on my desk. Without noticing I was there, he leapt out of my balcony, again. Show off.

I waited for about ten minutes, to make sure he was gone. I walked to my desk and picked up the paper. Written in a neat handwriting, it said: Love Park xx street xx avenue Saturday at 3 remember to bring stuff or else she'll chew my head off. I made up my mind. I'm going to follow him and find out what he's up to.

That night, I stared at the ceiling of my room, thinking. The note said 'she'. At the thought of him seeing someone, my heart suddenly hurt really badly. Although it only lasted a second, I still felt the aftereffects of pain fading away. There's no reason for this. It's probably just that I didn't want to let Ikuto grow up, kind of like an overprotective mother. I continued to convince myself with this for at least 10 minutes.

I shifted in my bed and looked down to where Ikuto slept in his little bed. My parents hadn't gotten him a proper cat bed (A/N: I currently for got what that was called X0). He was sleeping so peacefully and something about that made me really happy. And I wished that I can continue to be happy and watch him in this peaceful sleep forever.

-Ikuto's Pov-

I knew Amu was still awake. She just kept tossing and turning around. I had to wait a long time until her breathing was even and I was certain that she was asleep. I crept out of my makeshift bed and transformed as quickly as possible. This time, I used the door. I thought I should act if not a lot, a little civilized instead of jumping out of windows.

There was a light breeze as I walked through the streets. I stopped at a dark alley, really dark now that it was early morning. I walked calmly through it. I remembered the decision I made back then.

-Flashback-

A girl with blonde hair stood before me as I stood up. I was walking on two feet. I was human.

"Ikuto, you're a human now." she said to me. "You get another chance."

"Another chance?"

"This time you're a human. You can change back to a cat but, you can be human, too." She said as she jumped up a dumpster with grace and grabbed a ladder and continued to jump as she went high up the building with ease and didn't trip until the end when the wind seem to blow something off her head and for the first time, I noticed something attached to her back. I realized I was just seeing things and it was just her dress and that there was nothing on her head, it was just light reflected off her hair.

"Oh yeah, Ikuto, from now on if you have any questions, I'll be here. Come in your human form. If you don't like this place because of the memories…"

"No, it's fine. I'll get over it. It's just a matter of time." I said shaking memories from my head. "This second chance…does it let me live forever until I can find it?"

The girl glanced at me with a look I didn't recognize. However, I have seen it on others faces when they looked at me. People who walk by me when I'm on the streets.

"No. When you're close to finding what you're looking for, I'll inform you. After that, you have a set date."

-End Flashback-

I realized what that look she gave me by now. The same look on people when my owner left me and my siblings in a cardboard box for people to take. It was a look of pity. I understood why the people on the streets would pity me but, I never understood why she pitied me.

"Where are you, you airhead?" I called. It wasn't long until she was sitting above me on a fire escape. I sat on the dumpster.

"You didn't have to come here." She said. "I would have known naturally."

"Hn. So, now it's a bad thing to come here?"

She frowned. "No, but…I just wish that the happiness…" Before she finished her sentence, she leapt down in a swift way down on to the dumpster. It was like an inhumane grace. In the moonlight, I seemed to have seen something on her back, but, again, I realized my eyes were playing tricks on me. "…you are looking for, didn't take form as love."

"What?" I asked her with a question look. Although I was in confusion, some small part of my brain seems to understand. It wasn't something the rest of my brain can comprehend, though. "I think of Amu as a really caring sister. They really are like a family to me." Amu especially.

She sighed and sat next to me. "Ikuto, why bother denying yourself. It's obvious you love her."

My entire brain understood, now. It was unusual how she can totally convince me. I do love her. More than I realized. The way she cares for me and the way she surprises me with everything she says and does. The way I want to make her happy no matter what. I remembered the way I was before, ignoring everything in life and always angry, she was different, I couldn't ignore her.

She smiled. "You understand, now."

"Yeah. I can live as human now, right?"

She frowned and that look of pity returned to her face. "I'm sorry. There's more to that. Because your happiness took form of love…you have to wait for her to return her love to you. And what's more, can you really fall in love with a human. You're a cat, remember that. And please remember, she has someone she loves, too. You only realized you loved her only because I was able to tell you, to stop you from denying, it's harder with her. She'll keep denying simply because you're a cat."

"I'll make it in time."

"I hope so."

-Narrator's POV-

On Saturday, Amu really did follow Ikuto. She was even hiding in the shrubs in case he turned around. He hid behind a tree to go from cat to human. He also appeared from the tree with a bag in his hands. He soon arrived to the park through subway. Where on earth did he get a subway card? Amu thought.

He sat down on a bench at around 2:45. Wow. He'd make a good boyfriend, arriving earlier. Amu shook her head. What am I thinking?!

Amu thought for a moment. Something's wrong. There's something important about today. I remember wanting to come here myself because of an event here.

It hit Amu the moment a crowd headed this way, in the center of it was Utau Hoshina.

Bip: Yahoo! Ikuto loves Amu!

Kukai: That was sooner than expected.

Bip: I thought it was about time. :)

Kukai: Hmm…I thought you liked love that fosters over time?

Bip: I do, but this was enough. I'm worried I'm not doing Ikuto's personality like it should be… Anyways, Kukai, how much do you like ice cream?

Kukai: Shoot. I thought you forgot. Enough to run up a skyscraper for it.

Bip: O.o Just like in Shugo Chara Truth and Dare, huh?

Kukai: …yes…

I have like no more ideas for making previews interesting…o.O. So until I do, I'll just explain how this story came to be… (Aren't I lame?)

Q: Where did this story come from?

A: I think I was reading too much Guru Guru Pon-chan. -.-

Q: Which part of the story was decided first?

A: hm…When she first sees Ikuto as a boy when she left him in the bathtub.

Kukai: Hmm…that's interesting. What were you doing when you thought of that?

Bip: …Hm…I think I was sleeping or showering…maybe…O.o Woah! Why are you here again??

Kukai: I forgot something. Please review!

Bip: oh…-.-