Writer's Notes: Writer's block sucks. School sucks. Homework sucks. GRAH! So stressful! D;
I'M ON SPRING BREAK YET I HAVE A SHITLOAD OF PROJECTS TO DO! WTF! TO HELL WITH 'BREAK'!
-sighs- Okay, I'm done ranting.
Did I mention Ikuto is 17 here? Then again isn't he 17 anyways…? Aaand…let's make Amu 15. :3
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Ikuto eyed his surrounding as he waited for his taiyaki to be done. The place seemed much less shabby.
"Something happened?" Ikuto asked Gen casually, watching children chase each other with glee.
The man grinned, obviously extremely happy. "Not jus' this place, sonny. 'Ole kingdom's gettin' better. The towns the king n' queen have ignored for years now have been shapin' up 'normously. Tha' girl thief again. Bloody 'mazin', I tell ya."
Smiling lightly, the prince closed his eyes. "The girl thief, huh?"
"Tha's right. The king n' queen aren't bad rulers, but they need ta shape up. It's been six years a'ready." The taiyaki maker shook her head as he worked on the last pastry.
"Six years…?"
"Gen!! Hurry up! It's past closing time already, we need ta hurry if we wanna get a good spot!" a stranger called, and Gen laughed heartily.
"I'll be there! Woul'n miss it for the world!"
He handed the prince his chocolate-filled taiyaki. "Cel'bration party. Looks like ev'one's hard work paid off in the end, eeh? Finally, ev'thing's changin' fer tha better…"
"…What do you mean?" Ikuto asked, slightly suspicious.
"I don' know the details…bu' six years ago, when the Humpy Kingdom was reduced to ashes, I 'eard the king n' queen were devastated. Dunno why, always thou' kingdoms were always at war wit each other fer territory."
The Humpty Kingdom…the name sounded vaguely familiar. Truthfully, he didn't know much about his own kingdom. Since he didn't attend school, (he was a prince afterall) normally a tutor would come to the castle to teach him. He was extremely stubborn, however, especially when he was young, and all the male or elderly tutors eventually got fed up with him and quit. Younger female tutors were just too giggly over him to teach him anything.
He was brilliant at everything else except the history of his own kingdom. Ikuto just didn't really see much point to know it…until now. The Dumpty Kingdom's relationship with the Humpty Kingdom six years ago…he'd be eleven then.
"Anyway, gotta close up now. 'Njoy yer taiyaki."
Ikuto placed another coin and walked, inwardly smiling. "Thanks for the information and the fish, Gen."
Another 10,000 yen coin.
Well, he could spend it on some more food and other things for the celebration party…
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"Taiyaki, huh. So you like chocolate?"
He eyes widened a bit as he flipped on the lights. The girl sat in the middle of his bed, reading a book as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
The only thing wrong with the picture was that she had bandages over her arms and a few band-aids on her legs, and one on her face.
Ikuto narrowed his eyes a little before sitting on the edge of his bed.
"…What happened?"
"I am a thief…people do hunt me down, you know…" she set down her book and sat up.
"Hmmm…have the palace guards done anything?"
"Nope…your castle is too easy. Mostly by other violent thieves who want to capture me and threaten me so I can steal for them. They can't even be considered as thieves…couldn't steal candy from a baby."
Wordlessly, the prince handed Amu a pastry, and she slowly nibbled at it.
An awkward silence fell over them.
"The Humpty Kingdom…"
"What?"
"Something I heard from Gen…taiyaki seller. Know anything?"
"Um…the kingdom that fell six years ago, right? The Humpty Kingdom and Dumpty Kingdom used to work together, and were basically a world of their own. Before the Humpty Kingdom fell, I think the Kings and Queens just considered themselves as one, since it was really…almost impossible for one to function without the other."
Amu paused, chewing some taiyaki before straining to remember.
"Sorry, I can't tell you much…but your mother and father have done an amazing job ruling the kingdom after that incident."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, although several of the smaller towns are in bad shape, the main cities are doing extremely well, which is keeping the economy running. And they've kept it running like this for six years, if it were anyone else the kingdom would have fallen right after the Humpty Kingdom did. Although they could have done something about the areas of poverty…they have more than enough supplies and money to shape up it up."
"You seem to know…a lot about my kingdom."
Amu smirked lightly, finishing off her pastry. "You're just stupid."
The prince smirked back. "But you were wrong about one thing."
"Oh? And that is?"
"That we have more than enough money to spend. The large cities are doing well because we're supplying them with money, and it's not cheap. Plus after the Humpty Kingdom fell, several areas of the Dumpty Kingdom were crushed, so we spent a lot of money on repairs."
"Hmmm….I thought you didn't know much about your own Kingdom?"
"Wha—How did you know that?"
"Well, let's just say I overheard your parents talking…something about Ikuto needing to act more responsible and learn about his duties when he becomes king? As a boy he never listened to anyone when they tried teaching him about his own kingdom…"
Raising an eyebrow, she chuckled. "Stubborn, were you?"
"Eavesdropping is a bad habit."
"Hypocrite."
Amu lay down again, curling up in sort of a half-ball.
"Sleepy…"
"Hey…"
Ikuto leaned down and nibbled her ear, whispering.
"If you sleep here, I might do something to you…"
"You won't…because…I trust you…"
Blinking, the prince sighed and stared at her sleeping face. She was too innocent; he couldn't do anything to her.
He picked up the book she had been reading and opened it, managing a few pages before he himself fell asleep.
"If Tsumugu-papa knew she slept with a boy…" Suu whispered to her sisters, her big green eyes wide.
"He'd go beserk!" Ran laughed.
"Shhh!" Dia and Miki said together, so the two wouldn't wake up. Yoru was out cold in his egg on the desk, and Amu's fours characters slipped into their own eggs as well.
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The next morning, she was gone. It was rather early, the sun barely up yet.
The place where the thief had slept was cold, so Ikuto assumed she left quite a bit ago. Yoru was still snoring in his egg, and the prince yawned and fell back asleep.
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"I can't believe I just felt asleep there like that," Amu groaned as she slipped into her own bed at home, removing her wig and putting on pajamas. "Thank god Ami went to sleep early that night…"
"If Tsumugu-papa found out you slept with a boy…!" Suu told Amu, her big green eyes wide and innocent like the night before.
"He'd go beserk!" Ran repeated, laughing again.
"Ergh, It was a mistake, I know, okay?" Amu groaned, slipping under her blankets. "Don't tell him, please," she added worriedly.
"You know he can't see us," Miki told her, sketching.
"But he can hear you if you get close enough and loud enough," Amu reminded them. "So…please?"
"Even if you say that, Ran is such a loudmouth…something might slip…" Dia sighed, and Ran pouted.
"I am not!"
"All you do is cheer…"
"Do not! I'm useful, too!"
"I didn't mean it that way…"
At that moment, Amu's cell phone rang, the cute ringtone playing as the owner rolled over tiredly.
"Hello?" She mumbled.
"Hi, Amu dear. The preparations have been complete…we'll be returning very soon!"
"Mama!" The pink-haired girl gasped, clutching the phone tighter. "Really?! When?!"
"Papa assumes tomorrow morning, if all goes well. We're on a train right now," Midori responded. "Is Ami sleeping?"
"That's great! And yeah, Ami's in her room right now. She's still sleeping," Amu avoided hinting or revealing that she had spent the night at Prince Ikuto's room.
"That's good," the mother said, "We hope you've been well. We'll see you tomorrow, then, honey."
"Mmmhm, have a safe trip!" Amu said, and snapped her phone shut.
Turning and grinning widely at her characters, she announced, "It's done. Preparations are complete and Mama and Papa will be returning tomorrow. Our job is done."
"Done, huh? It'll be a bit odd, returning to normal life…" Dia murmured.
Amu held up her wig and black costume, looking at them for a minute.
"…I think I might miss these. Those adventures were fun."
"Well, keep them," Ran laughed.
"You never know when you might need them, desu~!" Suu said.
"And I could always design you a new one," Miki added.
Smiling, Amu packed them into a cardboard box.
"And this room…we'll be moving back, as well…"
Turning back to the cardboard box containing the wig and costume, she smiled a little sadly.
"…See you," She said, and folded down the flaps, closing the box.
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Is this it?
In this third round,
The cat is home, and the mouse,
The mouse is escaping…
Hurry, you feline,
Perhaps if you act,
The mouse may still be caught.
But if you delay…
Chances of catching the mouse
Dwindle…
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Ending Notes: Uh, yeah…I realized this fanfic has like a million holes.
-FAIL-
But yeah…it's something I just kinda pulled out of my butt, so…
I was too lazy to check this chapter over, so mistakes were probably everywhere. xP
Next chapter is probably going to be the last chapter. It's going to take forever tho, since I'm so damn lazy. And the fact fanfiction ideas aren't exactly coming to me like they used to. D:
-FAILS AGAIN-
Sorry guys. D: