Cuxie: Oh-HO! For once I'm back just as quick as I promised! ;)

Ella: I hope things get sorted out soon. .

Cuxie: I hope they don't. ^^ Confusion is funny!

Ella: Oh, dear...

Cuxie: Rockin' and a'rollin'!

Ella's POV

I had been overjoyed when the pink-haired girl, Amu, I believe, had been kind enough to bring me home with her. But Ikuto wasn't here when we arrived. (He must still be with that other girl...) The four of us seemed to be the only ones home. I was slightly relieved to have gotten as far as exchanging names, even more so to be able to tell them where I was from. After being in Japan for less than a day, I was feeling lost and desperate. A few friends wouldn't hurt at all.

I yawned. And maybe a nap too. Jet-lag appeared to be finally catching up with me. I watched silently for a while as Amu and the little blonde girl Rima went back and forth. I didn't need a translator to tell me that Rima wasn't too fond of me being here.

My head tilted forward. I fought my hardest against the pull of sleep and Amu's soft pink comforter. It would be rude to doze off here, in her room, when they were apparently trying to figure out what to do with me.

But it doesn't look like they can communicate much more... What else could we say to each other without the use of words? I felt a pillow give way as my head fell back. I shut my eyes. Just for a second...

I dreamed about Ikuto.

We're sitting out on the terrace at one of the tables of my mother's café. But this time, I'm not working. We're sitting across from each other, completely alone, sipping iced drinks. Around us, people are talking animatedly, but I can't hear any of them. It's like watching a silent movie; no noise besides the gentle hum of a violin in the background. Ikuto whispers something in my ear. I'm not sure what he says, but I'm sure its romantic.

Then he gets up. He takes my hand gently and leads me away. The farther we walk from the café, the more distorted everything becomes. I can't make out the streets or shops we pass by. I don't know where we are, even though we must be in the town I've lived in all my life. But I follow Ikuto, sure that he's leading me in the right direction.

After a moment, I notice that his hand doesn't feel right in mine. It's too light. I look down. His skin is slightly transparent, like foggy glass. I call his name silently. Before my eyes, he starts to vanish. I try to hold his hand tighter, but its no use. It's slipping through mine. Soon, I'm holding nothing but air. "Ikuto? Ikuto!"

He's gone.

I woke up gasping. I was rolled on my side, my cap half off of my head. For a moment, I had no idea where I was. But then I heard the bustling and chatter of Japanese girls and I remembered. Ikuto's sister. I'm with Amu.

Turning over, I saw the girls were busily tossing clothes around the room. They were dressed completely differently than before. Amu was wearing a purple and white minidress underneath of a very stylishly cut halter top with a cinched waist and sleeves, long black leggings that came up to mid-thigh, and ankle boots. Her hair was down and her bangs were clipped back. She looked amazing.

As did her friends. The little blonde was in a light blue silky tiered dress underneath of a white denim jacket. The bubbly one had on hot pink shorts over top of striped leggings, and a colorful printed t-shirt that fell of her shoulders.

Do all Japanese girls dress this fabulously?

Amu noticed I was awake. "Aa! Anata ha me o samashi te i masu."

The little blonde looked me over. "Kanojo ha kons āto ni chakuyou suru koto ha deki mase n."

I'm never going to make it in this country...

Rima's POV

"I told you we wouldn't have a problem getting her in," Amu said smugly. We were taking the back entrance to Utau's dressing room. Like Amu had predicted, we were such a common crowd at all of Utau's concerts her security guard barely glanced up when we came to the door.

And by 'we' I mean me, Amu, Yaya, Nagihiko, and Tadase. Kukai's probably already here.

Oh, and how could I forget the little stray that was trailing behind Amu like a lost puppy? It beyond irritated me that we had to bring Ella along. Something about that girl just screams bad news to me. I saw the look in her eyes when she ran into Amu outside of Momo no ChouChou. She's the kind of desperate that borders on psychotic.

"Something wrong?" Nagihiko asked quietly. He strolled beside me casually. I shrugged. "Ah. So definitely then."

I shot him a look. Why can he read me like an open book? I've damn near mastered the art of hidden and insincere emotions, but I might as well be an amateur next to him.

Unconsciously, we both started to lag behind the group, keeping pace with each other.

"Something tells me..." He said lightly, stretching his arms behind his head. "Something tells me...you're not too fond of Ella-san."

I shrugged again. Seeing as we didn't know much about Ella ourselves, we didn't have much to tell the guys when we met with them. All they knew, all we all know, is that she has to see Ikuto immediately.

"Any particular reason? Is it because there's another cute blonde around now?" He smiled at me, like this was just everyday chatter. I bristled. Cute? Did he really just say she's cute? My eyes zeroed in on the foreigner. She was ok, I guess. Better than we'd found her, now that she was wearing one of Amu's outfits; a black jean miniskirt and blue tank top with glitter appliques. Still...What's so cute about her?

"No," Nagihiko said, still speculating, "that can't be it. You've never had that problem with Tadase." I rolled my eyes. "Is it because she seems to be chained to Amu-chan?"

She's chained to Amu because she's a helpless stray and for some reason thinks Amu's the answer to her questions, I thought bitterly. Then something struck me. I thought back to earlier today when she first ran into us. It wasn't an accident that Ella had grabbed Amu like that. She deliberately said Ikuto's name because she knew Amu would react. But...how? How did she know Amu would know where Ikuto was?

Something definitely doesn't sit right with me about this girl.

"Well, whatever it is, I suppose it means we should keep an eye on her," he said with a straight face.

I turned to him. Was that sarcasm?

"You're usually pretty dead-on about these things. You've got sharp instincts. You always know when I'm up to something," Nagi winked at me.

My cheeks began to burn and I looked away. How can he say something like that so casually? I've lorded the cross-dressing thing over his head for forever now. Common sense should tell him to side with Ella.

Filled with an unusual sense of guilt, I tried to walk faster. But his legs are longer and he kept stride with me easily. "Don't misunderstand Rima-chan. I'm not upset. I'm glad you figured it out. You've saved me more times than I can count." He took my hand. "Whatever it is you're thinking about Ella-san, I trust your judgment."

I didn't respond. There was nothing I could say to that. At least, not with sounding emotional. But that was the thing about Nagihiko; I didn't have to say a word for him to understand me.

As we came to Utau's dressing room, the others went right in. I held back, tugging on Nagihiko's hand so he stayed behind with me. Pouting only slightly, I asked him, "...Do you really think she's cute?"

He blinked. Then he smirked at me. "Yes."

I gawked at him. "W-Wha?" Furious, I tried to snatch my hand back.

"But..." He held tight and pulled me closer, resting his hand on the small of my back. He leaned over, his lips brushing against my ear. "No one's as cute as my queen."

"N-Nagihiko..." I shivered delicately. My cheeks flamed brightly. He's so close...

And naturally that's when Yaya decided to check on us. "Are you guys coming...in..." A slow grin spread across her face. "Oooor, you can take your time," she giggled and ran back inside.

"We're coming," I said loudly, shoving myself away from Nagi.

He chuckled and held the door open for me. "After you, Your Highness."

Amu's POV

Tadase tried for the third time to hold my hand. Being petulant, I pulled Ella in between us, looping my arm through hers. "You'll see Ikuto soon," I said brightly. I doubt she understood me, but hearing his name seemed to brighten her up. She's seemed antsy all evening.

We came to Utau's dressing room. We hadn't been permitted backstage until after her performance. Utau's show had been fantastic, as expected. The crowd was immense and full of energy. And I actually managed to stop thinking about Tadase during the whole thing, even though he'd been sitting right next to me.

But Ella's reaction had been...unusual. As soon as Utau took the stage, Ella's eyes got as wide as saucers and she shrieked something in French. It took a lot of effort to calm her down. At one point during the concert she even started crying. Rima had muttered something about her not being "right in the head".

We entered Utau's dressing room to find...her and Kukai...doing things.

I averted my eyes, blushing. I heard Ella gasp beside me.

"Oh my," Tadase mumbled. "Ahem," he cleared his throat.

They both jumped. "Whoa! Knock much," Kukai said, although a bit sheepishly.

Utau glared at me. "Why do you have such horrible timing?" It was hard to feel the full force of her anger when she was curled up in Kukai's arms, blushing like mad.

"Kukai, you dog." Yaya giggled. "Today's just one big love fest." She elbowed Rima and wiggled her eyebrows.

"S-Shut-up!" She and Nagi must've been up to something. No wonder they were so far behind.

Why am I the only one having relationship issues?

"Who's she?" Utau asked, gesturing at Ella.

"Oh, this is Ella-san. She's-" I turned to our guest, startled by the look on her face. She was glaring menacingly at Utau and Kukai, her mouth twisted up in disgust. "Ella-san?"

She blinked at me, then grabbed my arm, pointing accusingly at Utau and Kukai. She said something in French.

"What's her problem?" Utau disentangled herself from her boyfriend and came over to me. Ella-san hissed something at her in French.

"I don't know. She doesn't speak Japanese. All we know is that she wants-"

"What's going on in here?" Rima and Nagihiko moved out of the doorway as Ikuto came in. He carried a couple of wires on his shoulder that he tossed into the corner. His eyes immediately found mine. I swallowed, unsure of what to do. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't been on my best behaviour with him earlier today. My stomach was back on its emotional roller-coaster.

"Ikuto-nii-san...Welcome back." Tadase smiled warmly. Taking advantage of my distracted state, he finally grabbed my hand.

The action was small and casual, but Ikuto caught it immediately. He quirked an eyebrow slightly. His eyes darkened and his face became an unreadable mask. He looked at me again and I turned away. I wanted to take my hand away, but I knew that would be sending a message I couldn't hope to understand. And I wasn't sure if it'd be a message to Tadase or Ikuto.

"IKUTO!" The loud, accented shriek made everyone jump. Ella san cried out in joy, running straight into his arms and nearly plowing him over. She buried her face in his chest. "Ikuto! Ikuto! IKUTO!"

We all stared blankly and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

"...What the hell is going on here?"

Cuxie: Betcha can't guess who said that! ;)

Amu: Why...Wha...I don't understand. O.o

Cuxie: Oh, Amu...that just means you're slow. ^-^

Amu: I am not! I'm just not following!

Cuxie: Because you can't keep up. Because you're slow.

Amu: Because I...I...I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. Just R&R...

Cuxie: I know everything~Amu knows nothing~! =P