CHAPTER 4

School bell rings

I walked out to the front of the school and sat on my favorite bench. It just so happened that Kukai Souma, my best friend, was there too.

Amu sighs

"Amu, what's the matter?" Kukai asked in a concerned tone. He tried to look into Amu's eyes but she had her head down.

"I don't know, Kukai. I just feel so weird inside."

"Like how? What happened to you?"

"Well…I don't know…"

"Come on, Amu. We've been friends ever since kindergarten. You can practically tell me everything that's on your mind, and I can fix it for you."

"It's embarrassing though."

"And? What's your point? What you're going through right now…millions of people may have experienced it already."

"Well…okay. So, you know how Ikuto Tsukiyomi just transferred to our school?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, when I first heard about this Ikuto guy becoming famous, I just automatically thought it was a load of bull. But then today…today…today…" I gradually trailed off, because the image of him staring at me intently suddenly popped up in my mind.

"Yo, Amu. Wake up!" Kukai yelled, tugging me out of my daze.

"Huh? What?"

"You were kind of daydreaming."

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about stuff."

"Okay…so are you going to continue what you were saying, or what?"

"Oh, right. Where did I leave off at?"

"You were saying how Ikuto becoming famous was such a load of bull."

"Oh, yeah. Okay. So yes I thought it was a load of bull, but then today, something happened. Something just went off inside me and made me completely forget my hatred for him. Like right now, I cannot find a way to hate him even if I tried. No matter what I do, it just gets worse some how."

"Yeah? How does it get worse?"

"Well, every time I think about him, I get this weird feeling inside me, and my face gets hot."

"Yeah…that usually happens when you have a thing for someone. It happens when you start to develop feelings for a person."

"What? No! I do not have feelings for this Ikuto Tsukiyomi. He's a jerk face and I would never ever want to get caught in situation with a guy like that. He's trouble."

"…Amu?"

"What?"

"You're blushing. Really bad."

I immediately raised my hands to my face and held my cheeks. They were surprisingly hot. I looked up at Kukai who was staring at me suspiciously, and I smiled at him sheepishly. He gave me a blunt stare and asked me straight out, "Do you have some feelings for him or something? Because I think you do."

I couldn't lie to him, but I wouldn't have exactly called them "feelings".

"Okay. Here's what happened. Last night, I made a pact with myself that I would not stay in class like a loser for three hours. Instead, I told myself I would wait patiently for him like everyone else at the front of the school. Little did I know, that waiting for his arrival like everyone else would affect me greatly! So after his bodyguards parted the crowd in half so he could walk through, I finally saw him. I'll admit he was very attractive looking. Then suddenly something weird just happened to me."

"What happened, exactly?" Kukai asked eagerly.

"It seemed like the world had stopped right before my eyes. And after I looked at everything else around me, I turned to see if he was frozen too. He looked frozen, but he didn't seem frozen like everyone and everything else. And that's when I found the answer as to why everything suddenly stopped. It was because he noticed me. And he was looking really deep into my eyes…and it…felt so…awkward."

Kukai just stared at me for a really long time. I figured he had no idea what to say to this, because I guess I sounded really insane to him. Slowly, he began to open his mouth.

"Yeah…Sounds like you've got feelings for the dude. Now before your stubborn ways disagree to my amazingly accurate evaluation, I've got something to say. Now just hear me out, all right? Listen, I maybe no expert in love and relationships and stuff like that, but I know it when someone has feelings for another person. I know this because I've experienced it before."

"Yeah? How? You never seem to tell me about anything."

"Well, what do you want to know then?"

"Oh, I don't know…just the usual-WHO DO YOU LIKE?"

"I knew you were going to ask that. Well, you're going to be in for a shocker when you hear this, so bear with me."

"Uh huh. Okay. Just spit it out."

"I like…I like…I like…Utau…H-Hoshina."

It took me a moment to take it all in and to calm down so I wouldn't get excited. I saw it coming too! I knew he was going to say Utau Hoshina. He always stared at her in class everyday and it was quite noticeable too.

"I knew it! I just knew it!"

"You did? How? How did you know?"

"Because you always stare at her in class and smile at her differently from everyone else."

"Oh…well…ahem…enough about me…heh…what about you?"

"Oh, right. Well…your evaluations…they're, I have to admit…a bit…accurate. BUT…I'm still not sure about my feelings just yet. I really have to think them through and I could use some time."

"I see, I see. I understand." Kukai said, patting my hand. Then, out of nowhere, Tadase appeared. He used to be my crush, but then I got over him.

"Hey, Tadase." I said in a gloomy tone. Tadase gave me a weird look then turned to Kukai for an explanation. He never really was the type to question people about their business.

"She's frustrated with her life right now." Kukai explained plainly.

"Ah, I see. But why?" Tadase questioned.

I was about to speak for myself, but then Kukai ended up doing all the work for me.

"Because…well, let's just say she had an awkward moment with Ikuto Tsukiyomi. You know…that popular newly discovered famous dude?"

"Oh, yeah I know him. He's actually my friend."

"What?" Kukai and I said in unison.

"Yeah, we're actually really great friends. We've known each other since we were little kids. We just haven't contacted each other for a while, so he may have forgotten me."

"Wow. What a small world." Kukai mumbled.

Suddenly, almost instantaneous, I heard a voice from behind Kukai and Tadase that said, "Yeah, it really is." This voice was deep and strong, but mellow. It was music to my ears…music to my soul. This voice was silky smooth and ran shivers down my spine. This voice was…this voice…I peered behind my two friends to see who this voice belonged to. And I saw him. And he was the last person I wanted to see at that moment.