Quick update FTW. :] School's starting. D: Boohoo. I wanna see if I can update this before tomorrow… Doubt it but it's worth a try.

Thank you to these reviewers:

CrAzYaNiMeFrEaKgUrL, Sukiya62, Foxgrl18, xheyxhaleyx, FlowerFairy9751, Shugo CharaLuvr, The Ever-Blue Alchemist

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Also, a shout-out to CrAzYaNiMeFrEaKgUrL, because he birthday was on the 4th. I would also like to thank you so much for always reviewing practically all my stories and staying with me from the very beginning. I really appreciate it! I hope you had a great birthday and enjoy this chapter (:

To xXYou-Know-You-Hate-MeXx, in the beginning, it is VERY similar to Twilight. But I'm sure as you read on, there will be some changes from the plot. I suddenly had this idea and it's different from the real plot so I hope you will read it. You might not since you probably stopped at chapter 1 but I hope you can read on and notice changes as the story progresses.

The end of this chapter will be very exciting (in my opinion) and be prepared for a major cliffhanger. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! in any way.

X-x-Flashback of Chapter 9-x-X

Before I could stop myself, I called out, "Ikuto!"

He turned around. "What is it?"

"Um..." My fingers twiddled around nervously. "Why did you join the orchestra?"

He gave me a long look that made me uncomfortable. What felt like eternity, he finally responded. "Because someone else joined it so I thought I would join it as well."

"Someone...else? But no one joined it recently."

"There was one. See you." He waved the walked towards his car.

I sat in my car, puzzled. Who was he talking about? Who recently joined the orchestra?

My eyes widened and I looked in the rearview mirror in my car. My face was very red indeed like the inside of a watermelon. At this newfound revelation, many new questions sprung up in my mind and I wondered if he was kidding or not...

The "someone" he was talking about...

Was me.

X-x-End of Flashback-x-X

X-x-X

A Thorn Was All It Took

Saturday came and right now, it was some time in the afternoon. Tsumugu was at work until 6 and then he would go out with some friends. I already left some sushi if he wanted some and a note. Yes, I told him beforehand but it didn't go as well as I suspected...

Flashback:

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Amu-chan, how was school?" he asked cheerfully, hanging up his coat.

"It was good. Hungry?"

"Starving." He smiled at me and we sat down across from each other. He took a bite of the rice and he praised, "Amu-chan, this is delicious! You should become a chef!"

"Ha ha, I'm not that good."

We continued eating in a comfortable silence until I broke it.

"Um, I'll be going somewhere this Saturday evening."

"The Halloween Party, right?" he asked, swallowing his food.

"Um, no, I'm not going. These kinds of parties aren't really my thing."

"You should go Amu-chan! It'll be fun. Just no hanging out with boys!" he said, putting on his "over-protective" face.

I smiled a little to myself. "It's okay. Someone else invited me to go somewhere."

"Well, if you say so. I guess it's fine. Who are you going with?" He took a big spoonful of fried rice into his mouth.

Here I go...! "Tsukiyomi Ikuto."

His eyes bulged and he choked on the rice. I ran to the sink and fetched him water. He chugged it down, coughing a bit. I didn't think he would be that surprised.

"What? Another Tsukiyomi kid?"

"Honestly, Dad, what do you have against the Tsukiyomis?" I asked, sitting back down.

"It's nothing really. Well one, they're pretty famous so harm might come to you from the paparazzi or something. Two, they just seem…mysterious and suspicious."

"Dad, they're not gonna harm anyone. I'm friends with them," I reminded. "I'm good friends with Rima. Don't you remember she came to our house?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "But I didn't get a chance to talk to her."

"That's because you weren't home. She's a nice girl, Dad."

"I know that. Their whole family is polite."

"So…can I go this Saturday?" I asked hopefully.

"Papa will be REALLY sad if you go with a boy! And by yourself too!" He sniffed and gave me his pleading puppy look. Luckily for me, I've had practice since Mom always used this secret weapon on me.

"Papa, it's not like we're gonna DO anything, if you catch my drift. Don't worry too much."

He sniffled and pouted. "If anything happens to you, your mother will have my head."

"I'm prone to accidents anyways. She knows that too. Please, Papa?"

He sighed. "All right, fine. But remember—don't do anything inappropriate with him!"

I laughed softly. "Roger that."

End of Flashback

At least he agreed. I went back to the problem I had: what outfit should I wear? If I wear a casual dress or a skirt, would I be trying too hard? If I just wore jeans, would that be too casual? What if we're going to a fancy place? God, this was confusing!

I settled for a red, black, and white plaid skirt that was mid-thigh length. I had this white blouse that hugged my curves and its sleeves reached my elbows. I grabbed some red and black bangles, sliding them onto my left forearm. For shoes, black boots that reached below the knees with red laces were my choice. For my hair, I had a side ponytail on the ride side of my head.

I examined myself in the mirror, turning this way and that. I guess I look fine. Luckily, it was relatively warm out.

The doorbell rang, causing me to jump a little. I gulped, suddenly feeling very, very nervous. I took two deep breaths and walked to the front door. I opened it, showing Ikuto in skinny jeans, a tight white shirt, and a zip-up hoodie. Even if he was wearing simply clothes, he still looked hot. His abs were perfect too...

"Hey, you ready?" he asked, snapping me out of my reverie. I nodded and locked the door as we walked to his car. "You look nice." He gave me a small smirk/smile that sent my heart fluttering.

"T-Thanks. You look good too."

We piled into his (expensive) car and locked in our seatbelts. He scrolled down the windows and I inhaled deeply. Even though it was cloudy, it wasn't that cold.

"You shouldn't drive like a maniac this time," I recommended.

"You should be a good passenger and not comment on my driving."

"Ikuto."

"Again, we're not going crash," he said, backing out of the driveway.

"You're gonna get a ticket."

"Never did and never will." He grinned. I shook my head, knowing he won't listen.

Soon enough, we were on the highway and he was going 80 mph. I swear to god, we're going to crash!

"Amu." He looked at me and heaved a sigh.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" I commanded, panicked.

"I rather look at you than the road."

My cheeks flushed bright red and I stuttered, "I-Ignore me then! I don't want to crash!"

"You're hard to ignore though. And again, we will not crash." To my relief, he paid attention to the road. My right hand went to my cheek and sure enough it was warm. I still think he's bipolar. He gives me the cold shoulder one day—though he doesn't do that anymore because he's "given up"—and he's flirtatious the next! I took a peek at him and stared longer than I wanted to at his profile. He had a well-defined face with the perfect angles. He was very pale and I bet his face must be cold. Today, his eyes are violet with a touch of violet... I wonder why his eyes always change colors…

"Something on my face?"

I jumped a little and knew I was busted. Tearing his gaze away from the road, he gave me a smirk.

"Or were you admiring my face?"

My mouth dropped and I stammered, "What—you—I wasn't—I was just—ugh, forget it!" I let out a "hmph" and faced the window. He let out a soft chuckle and continued to drive.

He put some music on—classical music.

"This song is beautiful." I closed my eyes, absorbing the high notes of the string instruments. Their notes were swirling around in my mind as I smiled.

"You like classical music?"

I nodded. "It's very calming." I let out a content sigh and sat back. "Hey, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Hey, that's no fair!"

"Why should I spoil the surprise?" he questioned, giving me his smirk.

"What if I don't like surprises?"

"Too bad." He stuck his tongue out at me, making me a bit aggravated.

We've been driving for 20 minutes and according to Ikuto, we're more than halfway there.

"I think you should at least give me a hint."

"They say that curiosity killed the cat but in this case, strawberry would be the more appropriate term." He smirked at me, turning into an exit.

I blushed and surveyed my surroundings. All you could see was trees. And more trees.

"I think you'll like it. It's a great place."

I smiled at him and sat back, enjoying the wind blowing my hair back. I mindlessly hummed a tune, not really caring if Ikuto was there. Well, kind of. But compared to when I first met him, I feel less nervous and intimidated. Being with him like this felt...nice.

"You're humming that song again."

"What song?" I asked, halting my humming.

"The song you always play on the piano. The one from the music box."

"Oh. That. I didn't even realize it."

"You must love the song a lot," he noted.

"Yeah...I guess I do." I rested my elbow by the window with my chin in my palm. I continued humming the song and I guess I was singing softly under my breath because Ikuto commented on it.

"You have a nice voice."

I blushed and thanked him.

"Could you close your eyes for the rest of the ride?"

"Why?"

"Because it's a surprise."

I pouted. "Meanie." But I did so anyways. I felt self-conscious when I felt him gaze at me.

"Hey, watch the road!"

"But I'm looking at the road."

"No, you weren't. I could feel you looking at me."

"You can't know that for sure. Your eyes are closed."

I frowned, knowing this was going nowhere. "You know what, just forget it."

About ten minutes later, the car stopped. I unbuckled my seatbelt. Well, tried to actually. It was locked shut and stuck. Suddenly, my car door opened and I could hear waves crashing. Are we at a beach?

"Need help with that?" he offered.

I nodded and let his hands do undo the lock. I could sense his right hand near my left thigh and his left hand was slightly touching my other thigh. His cool breath fanned my face as he tried to get the lock undone. My face flushed bright red at the close proximity of his head.

The seatbelt came undone and went back to its original position. I thanked him and hopped out of the car. With my eyes still closed, I took a few steps forward.

Bad idea. I tripped on a rock and fell forward. Before I could even open my eyes, Ikuto had caught me from the front.

"Whoa, careful, Amu. And keep your eyes closed."

I frowned. "But I can pretty much guess where we are."

"Yeah, but the surprise is the view of it. Come."

Easier said than done. I took a few tentative steps and already guessed that Ikuto was way ahead of me.

"Need help?" I heard him say.

"Yes, please." I felt his hand grasped mine as he pulled me forward. His hand was so cold yet I felt an electric shock all the same. My feet touched the sand and I could hear and smell the waves. I felt his hand let go of mine, making me disappointed.

"You can open your eyes now."

My eyelids rose and my eyes widened.

The view was absolutely beautiful. The water was a pretty blue color and the waves were crashing against each other softly. The sunset was perfect. Tones of orange, pink, purple, blue, and yellow colored the sky and around the sun, which was almost gone. The reflection on the water made it shimmer brightly.

"It's so pretty," I quietly said in awe.

"It is," he agreed.

"Where is this?"

"It's near the north of Japan on the west coast. No one really goes here since it's fall and also because this beach isn't really well-known."

"How'd you find this place, then?"

"Luck, maybe?" he said, grinning. "I was driving and went past by this. I often go here to take my mind off things."

I nodded understandingly. I took off my boots hastily and walked forward into the water until it was right above my ankles. The water felt so cool and nice. I inhaled the wonderful scent and kicked the water a bit. I turned on my heel, noticing Ikuto just standing there. I waved at him.

"Don't just stand there! Take your shoes off too!"

"I'd rather watch."

I frowned and practically skipped towards him. I grabbed his hand, surprising the both of us (mostly him), and said, "Don't tell me you were planning to just stand there. That's so boring."

His eyes twinkled with curiosity and mischief. "Basically, you just want me by your side."

"Wha—" I blushed as I continued to drag him to the water. "What are you talking about, you arrogant idiot!"

He laughed, making me huff in anger. I let go of his hand and ran into the water until it reached my knees. I turned around and saw that Ikuto was right behind me. I gasped and moved back, causing me to lose my footing. Before I fell into the water, he wrapped his right arm around my waist, pulling me to his chest.

"How do you do that? You just poof out of nowhere!"

"It's magic," he responded with a straight face.

I burst out laughing and teased, "You look so stupid saying that."

His eyebrow twitched and I giggled. He suddenly smirked as I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. What was he thinking?

Cold water splashed onto my face all of a sudden.

My mouth formed an "o" as I wiped my face. "What the heck!"

"This is my kind of fun." He winked at me and started to aim more water at me.

I grinned at him. "Oh yeah?" I kicked my foot up and a big wave made his lower body wet. I backed up and took aim but he was in front of me before I could respond. Water hit my face and I blinked rapidly.

"Hey, no fair! You just materialize in front of me in a millisecond!"

"Like I said, it's magic." He smirked and splashed more water at me. I laughed and a water fight ensued. We backed up until the water hit out waists and we were just a couple yards away. I took a step back and tripped. Again. Seriously, how clumsy can I get? I fell into the water and before I could react, I was already above the water in Ikuto's arms.

"Geez, you're such a klutz." His arms around me, making it seem like a hug. I blushed until my face resembled a cherry as I pushed him away with my hands on his chest. Then I sneezed, making him chuckle.

"Wanna head back?"

I nodded. He took my hand, making me flush yet again. Once we got out of the water, he turned to face me and scratched the back of his head with an apologetic face.

"Sorry, I didn't bring any towels. I didn't think we would go in the water."

"That's ok. I'm fine."

"You'll catch a cold, though." He frowned and his eyes went down for a second. He turned away quickly. I looked down myself and saw that he could see my bra. I blushed scarlet and turned around, covering my chest.

"I'll see if I have anything useful to help dry us off." He jogged back to the car while I sat down. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I thought my heart might explode. Then I heard footsteps behind me and when I turned my head, a towel landed on my face.

"Turns out someone left it in my car," he said with a wry smile. I shrugged my shoulders. We dried ourselves and I wrapped the towel around my body to conceal my chest. We walked along the edge of the water, grabbing our shoes along the way.

"Thanks for taking me here."

"No problem."

"Hey, why didn't you go to the Halloween Party?" I questioned curiously, kicking the sand around as we strolled.

"Not my thing."

I laughed. "Really? When people look at you, they tend to think that you probably love parties and the like."

"Those don't appeal to me and probably never will. Girls always try to kiss me or something."

I giggled at his annoyed expression. A comfortable silence fell upon us as we strolled along the edge of the water. I looked towards the fading sunset, admiring its gorgeous colors.

"Thanks again for taking me here. I love this place."

"We could always go again."

My heart thumped. Was he asking me out on another date? "That would be great."

As we neared the end of our walk, we reached the woods.

"Do you want to go in the forest?"

I looked towards the sun, noticing we didn't have much sunlight anymore. But it's a quick walk so we shouldn't need it. The moon will provide us with light. "Sure."

We put on our shoes and walked in the woods. The trees seemed so ominous at night and oh so beautiful. I moved my right foot forward and it got caught on a root of a tree. Just great. I fell forward and my eyes squeezed shut. My hands instinctively went in front of me to catch myself when I reached the ground. However, my palms hit a firm chest and arms made their way around my waist.

"You really are clumsy. You should watch your step, Amu." By the tone of his voice, I knew he was smirking.

"I know that!" I said quickly, embarrassed. I pushed him away (but I did like his arms around me...) and turned away, pouting.

"Come, let's go." I turned my head, glancing at his outstretched hand. Holding back my blush, I took his hand. As we walked hand in hand, I purposely look to the left, my gaze far away from landing on Ikuto. However, I didn't think I could say the same for him because I felt two holes boring into my head.

My eyes laid on this tiny bush of pretty flowers. I walked toward it, pulling on Ikuto's hand. I let go of his hand, crouching down to look at the flowers more clearly. I fingered its violet petals, noticing it resembles Ikuto's eyes a bit, only the flower was a few shades lighter.

"It's so pretty," I softly remarked. A pale hand reached out in front of me, grabbing onto the stem of the flower and snapping it from the roots. I turned around, only to be inches away from Ikuto's face. How come I didn't notice him knelt down next to me? He's way too quiet and sneaky.

"Here you go, princess." He winked and handed me the flower.

Blushing, I responded, "Why thank you."

"Be careful of the thorns." No sooner had he said that, my finger pricked itself on the thorn. I winced in pain, standing up, letting the flower fall to the ground. Blood had started to trickle out of the wound already. I frowned.

"Hey, Ikuto, do you want to head back now?" I examined my cut to see how deep it was. I clamped my mouth over my finger, trying to stop the blood. When I got no response, I glanced down at Ikuto. He was still kneeling on the ground with his head down.

"Ikuto, you ok?" I was beginning to get worried. I shook his shoulder with my uninjured hand.

Before I could even blink, I was thrown to a nearby tree, my body pinned against it. I yelped in pain. Ikuto's body was smoldered against my own and his face was in the crook of my neck. How the heck did he do that in less than a second? When he looked up, my eyes widened in shock.

His eyes were red.

"I-Ikuto?" I squeaked out, my voice breaking. He clutched my wrist, bringing my hand to his eye level. He brought his mouth to my bloody finger, sucking on the blood.

"Ikuto, snap out of it!" I stomped on his foot but he didn't seem to notice. After he couldn't get much blood out of my finger anymore, his mouth wandered to my neck. My breath hitched when his lips kissed my neck. His mouth slowly traveled upwards until it stopped on the tip of my mouth. He took in a huge breath, as if smelling me.

And then his lips were on mine.

My mind began to become dizzy and I couldn't think straight. He quickly opened my mouth and his tongue was...licking mine? His mouth soon sucked on my tongue. I tasted the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Was he sucking the blood I had on my tongue from licking my cut?

He continued to give me his mind-blowing kiss, leaving me breathless. He pulled away and I took in huge gulps of air. He captured my lips again and his hands roamed my body. I turned my head because I need oxygen or I would've died. His lips softly touched mine and he muttered:

"I want..." His lips lowered to my neck again. He began licking it up and down, making shivers crawl up and down my spine.

I gained some resistance and started to push him away to no avail. "Ikuto, this isn't like you. Snap out of it!"

"Amu, I want you..." His hands were in my hair now and his mouth had probably given me multiple hickeys.

My cheeks flushed bright red at his statement. "Ikuto, I'm serious, wake up!"

He looked up and that's when I noticed his mouth, or more specifically his teeth. With the moonlight shining down on us, I could see his protruding fangs.

Giving my neck one last lick, he whispered huskily, "Amu..."

"Ikuto!" I hissed, "wake up!"

"Amu, I want your blood."

And his fangs pierced my neck. I shrieked and began hitting Ikuto. He began taking large gulps of my blood as he sucked my blood. It hurt so much but yet it felt sensual at the same time. My knees buckled but his lone arm around my waist held me up. His other was busying holding my head to the side, giving him much access.

"I-Ikuto..." My eyes fluttered close but I forced myself to keep them open. I have to make him snap out of it!

When I blinked, Ikuto was off of me and flung to the left. I gasped when someone else appeared in front of me. He caught me before my weak knees buckled.

"I'm so sorry about this, Amu-san." I looked up through half-lidded eyes to see Aruto-san, Ikuto's father and the doctor who treated me from before.

"God dammit, he's such a freaking idiot!" I heard Kukai growl from somewhere to the far left.

"God, this is such a mess," I heard Utau say. A woman I didn't recognize suddenly appeared behind Aruto-san.

"Oh my god, Amu, are you all right?" Rima appeared in front of me with a worried expression on her face. "Aruto, I'm sorry I couldn't see it in time."

"Rima-chan, it's fine. Let's get her to the car." He picked me up bridal style and started to walk out of the woods. "Nagihiko, calm Ikuto down, please." Was the whole family here?

And then I felt the searing pain in my neck, my head, everywhere. I gasped for air and clutched my head.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you as soon as I can." He had already reached the car in no time and buckled both of us up. He sped out of the parking lot and down the road.

My suspicions from before were confirmed.

Ikuto was a vampire.

X-x-X

Cliffy! XO Hope you enjoyed this! Sorry I rushed the end, I have school tomorrow. xD I'm glad I updated this before school started. I hope to update Crossing Paths on my birthday, September 10th, but that's unlikely. But I do have a day off from school on the 9th so maybe I can? :D Unless the teachers pile up on homework T.T

Sorry for any mistakes in this. I didn't have much time to go through this and I practically wrote everything on my iPod too.

Please review! (: