A/N: the credit for the idea for part of this chapter goes to Ocean.

The Million Dollar Bet

Day Three

Things were beginning to get crazy. All the girls were really cranky, because Yaya hadn't stopped talking last night, and wouldn't let them get to sleep. Everyone had a stomach ache because, despite his protests, Ikuto had to cook lunch, with the help of Tadase. All the charas were still stuck outside, and they were very hungry.

Kukai and Nagihiko had taken the worst of the food poisoning. No one knew why. Perhaps they simply had gotten the worst pieces of the… whatever it was they ate. Or maybe it was their breakfast that didn't mix with it well. Whatever the case, they were both in extreme pain, and had gone to find some medicine.

"This might work," said Nagihiko, picking up a bottle with some capsules in it. The description proclaimed it would cure stomach aches of certain causes: one of them was food poisoning. Both Nagi and Kukai took two of the capsules, and immediately felt a lot better.

Rima was reading a gag-Manga in the downstairs living room, but things started to get a bit noisy. Aggravated, she stomped up the stairs and to the wide double doors that opened onto the huge balcony. As soon as she stepped outside, a familiar, small voice yelled something, and suddenly, the charas all rushed to her.

"We were stuck out here all night ~nya!"

"We were really hungry," added Iru.

"And it was dark and scary ~dechu."

Rima sighed and opened the door. The charas raced in. She shut it behind them and sat on the porch swing to read her Manga. Content while in her own world of comedy, Rima didn't notice the door to the balcony open. She also didn't notice when the person that walked through the door approached her.

"Hey, Rima-chan," said a voice. Rima jumped, flopped out of the porch swing, and landed in a pile on the ground. She shook for a moment, then took deep breaths to calm herself. Irked, Rima looked up to see who would dare to… Nagihiko?

"Purplehead," she addressed him, glaring. She got to her feet, dusted herself off, and sat back down on the swing. "What do you want?" Nagihiko sat down next to her and began petting her hair.

"Aww, Rima, it's not nice to call people names," he said. There seemed to be something different about his voice, a tone that had never been there before.

"Don't call me that!" she slapped his hand away.

"Why not?" Nagihiko asked. "You can call me Nagi, if you want." Rima glared at him.

"What's wrong with you? You're not acting right," she said, scooting to the other end of the swing. Rima regretted that move when she found herself squished between Nagihiko and the arm rest.

"What am I doing that's not right?" he frowned. "Amu said something like that, too. And so did Tadase."

"Because you are!" Rima exclaimed. Nagihiko put his arm around her and moved even closer… so close their faces were mere inches apart. Rima jumped up.

"Riiiimaaa," Nagi whined.

"See! It's like you're sick or something! Maybe Ikuto's cooking did something to you…" Rima picked up her book and went inside. She stormed down the stairs, and found Amu, who was fixing a meal for the charas.

"Hi, Rima-chan," Amu said, "What's up?"

"Is Fujisaki the only one that's acting weird?" she demanded. Amu thought about it, then shook her head.

"Now that you mention it… Kukai, too. He's acting… kinda like Ikuto!"

"Perverted?"

"Yeah, that's the word!" Amu exclaimed. Just then, Utau came into the room with an odd expression on her face.

"Is Kukai acting weird?" Rima asked her. She nodded.

"I don't know what happened. I think it was something in that… stuff Ikuto fed us."

"Maybe… but how come it didn't effect Ikuto, too?" Rima asked.

"Because he's already perverted," Amu said.

"But it didn't effect Tadase," Utau pointed out.

"Well, I don't think that Tadase would—" Rima began. Amu cut her off.

"If it can effect Nagi, then it can effect Tadase, too," she said.

"This house is full of perverts!" Yaya yelled, running into the kitchen.

"See? Even Yaya can tell they're acting weird," Rima said.

"But why only Kukai and Nagihiko?" asked Utau. Everyone shrugged or shook their heads. Just then, Kukai came into the room. Immediately, he spotted Utau and walked over to her, putting his arms around her neck and kissed her forehead. She jerked away from him and put her hands on her hips.

"Why are you guys acting so weird?" Amu asked. Kukai wasn't paying any mind. He was still trying to get Utau's attention.

"Maybe they took some kind of weird medicine," Rima said.

"Kukai," said Utau, "Everyone had food poisoning early this afternoon. Did you and Nagi take something to make you feel better?" He thought about it, then nodded.

"Yeah, but why? Are you still sick?"

"Show us the medicine," Rima demanded. Kukai found it and brought it to them. Utau read the back.

"Warning: kids under the age of 18 may get strange side effects from taking this. Some of these include: hiccups, extreme exhaustion, craving for lunchmeat turkey with whipped cream, a strange urge to watch old cartoons, especially Felix the Cat, perverted-ness…" she trailed off.

"Well, that explains it!" Rima exclaimed.

"Mystery solved," added Amu.

"Is there a cure?" asked Yaya. Utau glanced over the bottle again and shook her head.

"We'll just have to wait until it wears off," she said.

Nagihiko and Kukai were almost their normal selves by dinner time. Afterward, everyone was sitting in the upstairs living room when Yaya exclaimed, "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

"Alright," said Utau, "Amu, truth or dare?"

"Truth,"

"Do like Ikuto or Tadase better?"

"Eeek!" exclaimed Amu, "That's not fair! Uh… both?" Utau glared at her. "Rima-chan, truth or dare?" Amu asked quickly, before anyone could object to her answer.

"Dare," replied Rima. Amu searched her brain frantically for something to dare Rima to do that she wouldn't hate her for.

"I dare you to… make dessert for everyone tomorrow."

"What kind of a dare is that?" exclaimed Ikuto.

"Well, can you think of anything better?" Amu asked.

"Yes! Shrimp, Amu dares you to sleep in the attic tonight, without your chara," There was a silence in which Rima weighed the results with her pride, and made up a decision.

"Fine. Yaya, truth or dare?" she finally said.

"Dare!"

"Don't eat any candy for a full day."

"WHAT?!"

"Can you do it?"

"Of course Yaya can! Tadase, truth or dare?" Yaya said.

"Truth,"

"Aww, Yaya was hoping Tadase would say 'dare'. Hmm… Tadase, do you hate Ikuto?"

"Not really. Souma-kun, truth or dare?"

"Dare,"

"I dare you to purposely lose a ramen-eating contest."

"What? Well, it's on purpose… okay, fine. Ikuto, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Ikuto replied. Shocked noises came from the group, and said catboy smirked.

"Uh… do you ever act like a kitten?"

"That's Yoru. Girly-boy, truth or dare?"

"Umm… dare," replied Nagihiko.

"You have to stay in the attic, too. No charas," Ikuto was looking pleased with himself. Nagi gulped.

"Uh—okay. Rima-chan, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said, glaring. This was what he had been hoping for.

"Why do you hate me?" he asked. There was no answer, resulting in an expectant silence. After a few more seconds with no answer, Nagi sighed and gave up. "That's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Amu, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she replied. Just then, Rhythm, chased by several other charas, came flying into the room. A pair of headphones appeared around Nagi's neck.

"Kiss Tadase," said Nagi, chara-changed with Rhythm. Amu's cheeks now matched her hair. She rose from her seat and walked over to Tadase, kissing him on the cheek. Ikuto glared, making Tadase feel nervous.

Rima walked into the girls bedroom and opened a drawer in the bureau dresser. She pulled out her pajamas and set them on her bed, then walked into the bathroom and began brushing her hair.

Truth or Dare was not one of her favorite games, and she sure didn't like what had come out of it. It wouldn't be so bad if it was her and Kusukusu, but Nagi would be there. And there wouldn't be any charas. She doubted she would sleep at all that night.

Kusukusu floated up beside Rima, looking at her in a sympathetic way. "It'll be okay, Rima-chan. Nagi is a good boy, he won't do anything perverted."

"The cross-dresser? Maybe not, but I'm still not thrilled about this whole thing," she stressed the 'cross-dresser'.

After changing, Rima picked up her pillow and pulled all the covers off her bed. She began dragging them out of the room, down the hall, past the living room, and up the stairs. Opening the door, she pulled everything into the attic. It was really dark. Ikuto hadn't said she couldn't have a flashlight, did he? No, she was pretty sure he didn't. Rima piled her covers on a stack of crates, and ran back down the stairs. She searched through her suitcase and found what she was looking for: a small, silver flashlight. On her way back out of the room, she also took her pillow, which she realized she'd forgotten. When everything was in the attic, Rima began to set up her covers to make a suitable bed. The ground was hard, but there wasn't much to be done. Just then, the door creaked, and Nagi came in, carrying an armload of his bed covers, which he set down on the ground.

"Hey, Rima-chan," he said. Rima glared.

A/N: In the next chapter:

Find out what happens to Rima and Nagi

What will Ikuto do to Tadase?

What will happen to Yaya without eating candy for a full day?

Haha! This is getting really fun. I know this chapter took a long time to write, and it's pretty short, but I was busy. So reveiw please!