WAIT!!!! THIS IS NOT AN AUTHOR'S NOTE CHAPTER!! Well, it kinda is. But, READ READ READ if you haven't already for "Crossing Paths" or "Drunk" or on my other stories.
Now you might be wondering, "Why the hell did she update three of her stories in one day? She doesn't update that often but she updated three?!" Um, I have an explanation for that. XD August 7th was the day of being an author for a year :D Woo!! XD Because of this, I decided to update all my stories and a one-shot. But my updates were delayed because I had to finish my book, "Gone With The Wind." (Which was quite good.) and I had to hurry since it was overdue on the 3rd XD So here were my presents for me and you readers. But it's like almost a month late because I unintentionally took my break before finishing my updates O.o My bad. So think of these as updates before I put it on hold.
Present for you: updates on all stories and a one-shot
Present for me: a break from Fanfiction
That's right. A break. I already had one but I think I need another one. I'm tired and I have a full explanation in my rant section on my profile. Please read it. But here's a sentence from it: Fanfiction has taken a toll on me. Hope you read my explanation and vote for a random poll I thought of XD "Who's the real pervert?" "Amu or Ikuto?" Vote if you want~ I personally think Amu is in some ways XD But Ikuto is too in some other ways~
Oh, and I'm putting my stories on hold except for "Crossing Paths." I really want to finish that before continuing. I even have part of the ending typed out!! 0o0 I'll probably work on "Unexpected Love" next because "Twilight" is getting a bit old.
Thank you to these reviewers:
Soccerluver04, AMUTO4EVA0, Himeka Tsukiyomi, Aznprid3x3, Mew Mew Kazusa, xhappily-randomx, ShugoCharaLuvr, Innocence and Instinct, HarunaNiwa073, sylvanicara, babo123, oxCuteKataraox, Snowflakes01274
Only thirteen…that's the least amount of reviews I've ever gotten for this story… :( Well, I was kinda planning to delete this story because Twilight is like…old right now but I have this suspenseful (I hope) Amuto part coming up that wasn't in the original Twilight :3 look forward to it! It should be in 2 or 3 chapters.
Ok, enjoy this chapter ^-^
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! in any way. It rightfully belongs to Peach-pit.
X-x-Flashback-x-X
"You're a natural, Amu-chi!" Amu…chi? "I'm Yuiki Yaya! But call me Yaya!"
"I'm Hotori Tadase."
Hotori…isn't that my dad's friend's last name?
"Ne, Amu-chi, where is all your other friends?"
"Um, in the water swimming."
"Can we join??" she gave me her sparkly puppy eyes.
"U-Um, sure."
"Yay!" She jumped up and down in excitement.
Oh, boy. I met two new people today. One of them is hyper to the max and she's pretty cute. The other is a prince-like boy who is very polite.
I wonder what my friends will say when they see these two.
X-x-End of Flashback-x-X
X-x-X
Discovery
Japanese Translations are at the bottom. If there are any mistakes in the translations or Japanese words, please tell me in your review.
Amu's POV
"Hotori-kun, does your father know my dad, Hinamori Tsumugu?
"Yes, he does. They're like best friends. And do you remember when we played when we were little, Hinamori-san?"
"Just call me Amu, Hotori-kun."
"Alright, Amu-chan. Call me Tadase."
"Ok. And I don't really remember playing with you when we were little. Sorry, Tadase-kun."
"Hmm? What's this? Tadase and Amu-chi knew each other when they were kids?" Tadase-kun and I nodded.
We, meaning Yaya, Tadase-kun, and I, were walking through the forest and to somewhere. I'm not sure where. Before we met up with my friends, Yaya offered to introduce me to her and Tadase-kun's friends.
We were now walking through the silent streets of this small town, passing small houses. We stopped at the end of the street and Yaya opened the door. We stepped into the house.
"This is where I live," Yaya announced. "And here are my friends! Minna, this is Amu-chi!"
I bowed and said, "Hinamori Amu."
I stared in awe at the group in the living room. There were eight people; three guys, five girls.
"I'm Pepe! Yaya-chan's little sister." The girl was in a pink tee, white shorts, and flip flops. She had the same color hair as Yaya and her eyes were periwinkle.
"My name is Musashi." He looks surprisingly like Kairi. They both have green hair but Musashi has purple-gray eyes instead of light blue like Kairi's. He was wearing samurai clothing…but isn't he hot in those clothes?
"I'm Kiseki, commoner!" What? He had light purple hair with blue eyes. He resembles Tadase-kun very much. He was in jeans and a white collar shirt.
"That's Tadase's younger brother. He wants to rule the world someday," Yaya whispered to me, snickering at the end.
"Yo, Amu-chan! I'm Rhythm!" I liked this guy. He seemed really friendly enough. He had long purple locks (like Nagihiko's) and blue-purple orbs. He had on jeans, a pale blue shirt, a dark blue vest over the shirt, and a snow hat (I think but why wear it when it's not that cold outside?), and headphones around his neck to complete the look (or is he going to listen to music later?).
"Hello, Amu-chan. I am Temari. Rhythm's twin sister." Wow, this girl is super polite and pretty! She had the same color hair as Rhythm and same eye color as her long tresses that was in a high ponytail with two flowers on it as decoration. Her attire was a light pink kimono with flowers at the hems. (I never knew teenagers at this time of day would still wear kimonos as a daily outfit…)
"Hi, Amu! I'm Kusukusu!" And then she laughed this unique giggle. It's cute. And so was this girl. She had long golden hair with light orange eyes. She had on a dark orange polka dotted T-shirt and white capris.
"I'm Eru~" She had blonde hair and are her eyes closed?? She had on a pale pink dress that reached her knees. "And my twin sister, Iru~"
"Hey." The girl named Iru had short byzantium colored hair with red eyes. (A/N: Yes, byzantium is a color!) She had on a black halter top and a black miniskirt with some black pumps. Although their appearances are different, you can tell Eru and Iru are twins. Well, fraternal. And for some reason, I don't think Iru likes me very much from the cold stare she's giving me.
(A/N: Tell me if I forgot anyone!)
"We're heading down to the beach to meet Amu-chi's tomodachis! And you guys are all going!"
"No, thanks. I'll pass."
"Heeh~? Iru-tan, you have to go!"
"I refuse."
"She's going alright. Come on, minna, let's go!"
"Rhythm!" Iru glared at the purple-haired boy.
X-x-X
"Amu-chan, who are they?"
I used my right hand to scratch the back of my head in embarrassment. "I picked up some friends along the way and they wanted to meet you guys. I hope you don't mind."
"Some here are your friends." I heard Iru murmur. I sweatdropped. Now I'm positive she doesn't like me that much. But I wonder why…did I do something wrong? I don't recall saying or doing anything to offend her.
"I don't mind." Daichi grinned at me. "The more the merrier."
"Great! Sorry to barge in like this! I'm Yuiki Yaya! But Yaya is fine," Yaya introduced, slinging an arm around my neck. Everyone introduced themselves and my friends introduced themselves to my new friends.
After that, most of us went swimming. Some were playing beach ball while I just walked around the beach and talked with Tadase-kun. It may be just me, but Daichi seems to be frowning the whole time I saw him.
There was this one time that I tripped on a rock and almost fell if I hadn't shot my hand out to support me and for Tadase-kun's grip on me.
Pretty soon, it turned dark. 7:30 to be exact.
"Let's have a bonfire!" Yaya cheered. We all agreed and Rhythm and Musashi helped Daichi start it.
"I brought some marshmallows from my house!" Pepe proved her point by holding up three bags of big, white marshmallows. Temari brought quite a few bars of Hershey chocolate (Yaya had stars in her eyes when she saw the amount of chocolate), and Eru and Iru brought the crackers. Musashi collected some sticks for us to use to hold the marshmallows up. Kiseki—although reluctantly—got some beach towels for us to sit on.
23 people crowded around the blazing fire. We all made our s'mores (Yaya ate that and a whole chocolate bar) and chatted.
"Hinamori-san, you seem so…intimate with Hotori-kun," Saaya said. Is it just me or did she sound a bit jealous? I thought she liked Daichi…
"Oh, that's because Amu-chan and I knew each other since we were little."
"Oh, I see…" I do not like where this conversation is going. "Are you two dating?"
Blood boiled under my cheeks. "N-No." I looked to my right and saw that Tadase-kun was blushing a little as well. I glanced up and saw that Daichi had a small smile on his face. Why is that?
"I see. That's too bad," she said, without any sympathy in her voice. "Hinamori-san, it's a shame the Tsukiyomis couldn't come, don't you think? Didn't you invite them, Daichi?"
Before he could answer, Kiseki responded, "You mean Tsukiyomi Aruto's family?"
Saaya looked a bit irritated but nodded. "You know the Tsukiyomis?"
"The Tsukiyomis don't come here." Kiseki seems a bit touchy about the subject. I wonder why at the mention of the name "Tsukiyomi". Kiseki blew on his half-burnt marshmallow rather angrily. Does he not like that family? But from the tone of his voice, it's more like they're prohibited from entering this town. I wonder why…
"Let's tell some scary stories!" Ran suggested, breaking up the current atmosphere.
"Why can't we just sit and talk?" Miki said, with a bored look on her face.
"No way! Story telling is much better!"
"You should just let your sister have her way, Miki, nya. It'll make things easier for you."
Miki blushed and crossed her arms. "Fine. Ran, you win."
Ran grinned. "So there's this girl in this town—in our town actually—and she went over to the city to shop. On her way, she met an extremely handsome man. His skin was really pale, almost white, and when she held hands with him, they were ice cold. His eyes were suspiciously red. They spent the day together until it turned dark. When the guy offered to escort her to her car, she agreed. After walking for 15-20 minutes, the girl was beginning to worry. She said, "Um, are we possibly going in the wrong direction? I believe my car was only 5-10 minutes away." He had on a breathtaking smile and said, "Of course not. This is just a longer route so I can spend more time with you." The girl automatically blushed. He then led her to an alleyway. The girl was starting to become scared. The man then brought his mouth to her neck and said quietly, "More time so I can taste you longer." And he bit into her neck. Like the vampire he was. No one heard from the girl again. And if you happened to be walking around that area, it was rumored that the ghost of the girl would haunt you and tell you to hide and the same man would appear."
"…"
"So, what did you think?"
"I've heard that story before."
"Eh? You did, Miki?"
"You told me just last night."
"Oh, whoops."
"This is boring." Iru stood up and left.
"Iru, matte!" Eru chased after her.
"Yaya and Pepe-chan will tell an even better one!" Yaya exclaimed, standing up. But I was not in the mood to listen. Tadase-kun must've sensed this because he asked if I wanted to go somewhere for a little.
We came to a tree and sat down. From this view, you could see the high cliffs, the beach, and the shoreline. Tadase-kun claims that this is his favorite tree and he founds it relaxing here.
But right now, my mind is full of theories.
Ikuto (and Rima and their family) resembled the man in the story so much.
"Tadase-kun, do you think the story is true?" I asked curiously.
"Well, I sometimes believe in it for fun but I think I do believe this one."
"Eh? Why?"
"I'm not really supposed to be telling this to anyone but…"
"Oh, I won't blabber to anyone. Onegai?" I tried to act a bit…cute to see if it worked. I put on a small pout and looked up at him with big eyes.
Surprisingly, it did.
"Many stories have lasted and have been told for many, many generations in the Hotori family. There was this one about how we were descendants of dogs. That's why there's a law that dogs must not be killed and treated like we were their brothers. Then there are stories about the "cold ones".
"The cold ones?"
He nodded, looking out at the water. "My great-grandfather actually knew some of them and he was the one who made a treaty to keep the cold ones off our land. It's like this. The cold ones are enemies with the dogs—well, they're not really dogs. They're men who can turn into one. So that's why the cold ones are naturally our foes.
"But then my great-grandfather met a group of the cold ones who a bit different than most cold ones. They didn't hunt like the rest of their kind did. Most would feast on humans. That's why I kind of believed the story that Ran-san told just now. They weren't supposed to be dangerous. But my great-grandfather made a truce saying if they would promise to stay off our territory, we wouldn't expose them to everyone."
"If they weren't dangerous, then why did he make the truce?"
"You never know when they might lose their self-control. Even though they're pretty civilized. It's best to be safe, though."
"Civilized?"
"They claim to not hunt humans but animals."
"Oh, I see. This was an interesting story."
Tadase-kun grinned.
"But I have one more question…I hope you don't think I'm nosy or anything."
"Of course not. Go ahead."
"Earlier, when Saaya asked about the Tsukiyomis, Kiseki seemed a bit…sensitive to the topic."
"Ah."
"Why is that?"
"You see, the cold ones my great-grandfather met are the same Tsukiyomis today. My great-grandfather met Tsukiyomi Aruto."
"Tadase-kun, what exactly are the cold ones?"
"People would call them vampires." I felt my blood turn cold.
"Amu-chan, you alright? You have goose bumps along your arm."
"I'm fine."
"These are just old stories that can sometimes creep you out and it's a bit crazy. That's why my dad doesn't want us to tell anyone." He laughed lightly.
"Don't worry. I won't tell."
I feel a bit bad. My objective of calling him out was to see if I could find any information on the Tsukiyomis. And I did. Now, I just have to see it with my own eyes to see if it's one hundred percent true.
But Tadase-kun's a sweet guy. I wouldn't mind spending a day with him. He's fun to be around.
X-x-X
It's Sunday and I have nothing to do. And Tsumugu's already gone to go to his job.
I grabbed a book from my desk and started to read it. After an hour or so, I threw the book aside and decided to take a walk. I threw some jeans on with a hoodie and sneakers. I went out the house, making sure the door was locked tight.
I didn't get much sleep last night. I was thinking about what Tadase-kun said. The "cold ones" are supposedly vampires and Rima's father is the same vampire Tadase-kun's great-grandfather met. The description from the story Ran told yesterday fit Rima's family so well. And I'm assuming the man in the story was a "cold one".
At the discovery of this newly found information, a thought struck me.
Will I be able to see Rima and their family the same again?
I know it's wrong to treat them differently once I found this out but I'm afraid my nerves will get the best of me and I'll start avoiding Rima. I guess the story did scare me (I hate ghosts and scary stuff).
I'll just have to see what happens tomorrow.
X-x-X
I don't think I'm acting any different around Rima. But that's just me. I really can't see Rima suck a human's blood. She looks so innocent with her petite figure, innocent golden eyes, and golden wavy hair. It just doesn't work in my head.
"Amu, what did you do this weekend?"
"I just went to the beach with some of my friends. I also had a reunion type of thing with one of my childhood buddies."
"The beach?"
I remembered how the Tsukiyomis were supposedly not allowed to go to the beach due to the treaty made by Tadase-kun's great-grandfather. However, that was a while ago. I wonder if Rima knows about it. "Yea, you go there?"
"No, swimming's not my thing." Rima smiled but I could tell there was something behind that fake, embarrassed expression of hers.
"Oh, I see. I don't really swim that much either. What did you do?"
"Eh, nothing much. Just sat around at home."
"Oh."
We sat down in homeroom and Ikuto was already seated with his books on the table in a neat pile.
"Hi, Ikuto."
No answer.
How long can a guy hold a grudge?
Fine, then. If he wants to give me the silent treatment, I'll gladly accept it.
X-x-X
Almost three weeks passed and there has been no verbal—or physical—contact between Ikuto and me. To put it simply, we're ignoring each other.
Daichi was extremely pleased. We're now walking to gym—which I dread, since we're doing baseball and I'm horrible at that sport—and before we went to the lockers, Daichi stopped me by grabbing my hand to spin me around.
"What's up, Daichi?"
"Amu-chan, I've been planning to ask before but I was waiting for the perfect time but it never seems to come. I can't wait any longer and I'm afraid you'll go with someone else. Amu-chan, will you go the Halloween Party with me?"
The Halloween Party obviously takes place on October 31, next Saturday. (A/N: I was looking up the date and turns out Halloween really is on a Saturday!) There's going to be dancing involved and it's similar to a Fall Dance, I guess. To go there, you would have to have a partner. It could be the same gender as you but preferable, the opposite sex.
"I thought it was traditionally the girl's choice."
"Well, yes…"
"Daichi, I'm sorry but I won't be able to be your partner on that day. I'm going to be out of town."
"Why?"
"I just need to restock on some stuff since I'm running out." And that was true. This town barely has anything that can entertain me so going to the city would be good. Plus, dancing just really isn't my thing. Sure, I can dance a little, but it's safe to say I suck. And I don't think I can blend in with the crowd and that I'll be standing out like an awkward idiot.
"Oh, that's too bad. Can't you do it the next day?"
I shook my head. "Sorry, I have something to do that day," I lied. I was just hoping to stay at home next Sunday. "Why don't you ask Ran?"
"Well, she asked me yesterday, but I told her I had to think about it." No wonder Ran looked down in the dumps yesterday. "I was hoping you would say yes."
"Daichi, I think you should say yes."
He sighed. "Yea, you're right." And he trudged towards the boys' locker room. As I looked at his retreating form, I felt bad for rejecting him. But I know that Ran has a huge crush on him and I just can't do that to my friend.
X-x-X
P.E. was depressing. I couldn't throw right and I didn't even hit the ball once. I sighed. Baseball just wasn't my thing.
I got the car keys from my bag but stopped once I saw Kairi leaning against my car.
"Kairi? What are you doing here?"
"Ah, Amu-chan. Actually…" He took off his glasses and cleaned it with the hem of his shirt. "I was wondering if you would like to go to the dance with me."
I had to stop my jaw from dropping. "U-Um, sorry, Kairi but I have to go somewhere that day. Sorry."
"Yea, I heard from Daichi."
"Then, why…?"
"I just thought you made an excuse to not go with him." He shyly smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Amu-chan."
"Um, yea. See you."
I opened the car door and banged my head against the steering wheel. Two guys asked me to the dance in one day even though one of them knew I was going to be out of town. I'm not even that…attractive and such.
I looked up and almost had a heart attack.
Ikuto was walking casually towards my car.
I did the first thing I could think of: I started the car and sped away. I don't know why I'm running—or in this case, driving—away from him but I know that my nerves got the best of him. I looked into the side mirror and saw Ikuto with his hand on his mouth. Was he laughing??
X-x-X
A nice, hot shower really helps after a long day. I sat on my bed, my wet hair dangling and a towel wrapped around my naked body. I strolled over to the balcony (A/N: Did I mention that? If I didn't, my bad. But Amu has a balcony :D) and chugged down my bottle of milk.
After I finished the whole bottle, I let out a breath of happiness. "Milk definitely tastes better after a hot shower!"
I heard the ringtone of my cell phone and looked at the caller ID. Well, one thing's for sure. This person isn't on my contacts list. I flipped it open and brought it to my ear.
"Hey." Ok, that came out on an impulse. I always "hey" but I think I should've said hello since I have no idea who this person is.
"Hello, Amu."
I almost dropped my phone.
"I-Ikuto?!"
X-x-X
Japanese Translations (correct me if I'm wrong):
minna – everyone
tomodachi(s) – friend(s)
matte – wait
onegai - please
Cliffhangers are my best friend :D
Oh, and please read my current one-shot "Drunk." That was the one-shot as a present to all my readers :3 Please read and review it~
So…Review? Please? If you do, I may have faster updates :D