Author: Grr... Lately I have been lacking the inspiration that brings you guys quick chapter updates...

Amu: Don't worry, I'm here for you :D.

~~~~~~ Trip To The Hot Springs (Part 3) ~~~~~~

(Normal Point Of View)

On the next day, Amu rose from her bed, well rested, and ready for a full, action packed day of...

Relaxing in hot springs~~~

Upon awaking, Amu noticed that 5 traditional Japanese kimono's were lied out neatly next to each futon.

Each kimono was different, which Amu liked.

She quickly undressed, and slithered into the fancy kimono.

She took a glance at a small clock on the back wall, which read 6:00 am.

Amu assumed that nobody else would be up for a while, so she wanted to leave for the women's hot spring and get a bit of time along.

Before leaving, however, Amu took a glance at herself in a full body mirror that was structured on the back wall.

The kimono was a soft, copen blue. The material it was made out of seemed to be silk. Deep gold patterns of flowers, zen designs, birds, and many others, seemed to flow with the silk and come alive.

She became transfixed with the kimono for a few moments, before drawing back to reality and heading to the hot springs.

(Ikuto's Point Of View)

After getting dressed in my simple gray-blue kimono, I headed outside of my room for some solitude in the springs.

I don't expect any of the guys to wake for at least 30 minutes. They were all snoring when I awoke.

Heading down the long corridors, I reached the men's hot spring.

However, down the hall, I saw someone going towards the unisex spring.

My curiosity sparked.

Taking a closer look, I realized that the person who was heading to the unisex spring was...

Amu?!

She seemed to be drifting off in space somewhere, and she was absently walking into the hot spring. It's almost like she doesn't even notice that she happens to be going there...

A perfect idea of revenge for last night formed in my mind instantly.

(Amu's Point Of View)

Ah... It's so nice out this morning!

I'm sure I'll get lots of free time in the women's bath...

Sliding the shoji (Japanese door) carefully, I headed in to the women's bath.

I disrobed quickly, till I was stark naked. I then wrapped a pure white tower around myself. The towel came from my upper thighs to right over my chest.

Sliding in to the warm water, sighs of contempt slipped out of my mouth.

I closed my eyes, and slowly sunk down into the water, my mind relaxing, my senses fading in and out of reality.

I didn't know how much time passed, but I think I was in heaven there for a few moments.

In an instant, a soft creak of the shoji sliding open reached my ears. My senses snapped from their relaxed phase, and became alert, almost like a cat.

Slowly sinking under the water, I peered over to the entrance.

There, stood Ikuto, in all his kimono glory.

"What are you doing here?!" I hissed. "Get out, pervert! This is the women's bath!"

Ikuto said nothing, and he instead faced the opposite direction from me, and he began to disrobe.

I turned around from him, crossing my arms, silently seething with rage. He still hasn't answered my question yet!

Finally, Ikuto spoke. "I don't mind if you look while I'm undressing, Amu. I'm sure you wouldn't mind either." He purred.

The way his voice rose slightly at the end end of his sentence annoyed me beyond means.

"In your dreams!" I scoffed. My annoyed look changed into a teasing one. "You still haven't realized that fact that I'm in control, right? You remember last night, don't you?"

When I heard nothing from Ikuto, I continued. "But you still haven't explained why you are in the women's bath!"

"Amu, I'm done changing now, so you can look. And I hope your aware, this is the unisex spring..."

Wait... WHAT!?

"Gah!" I spun around to check if this really was the unisex spring.

And there, in big, bold faced letters, on a large arch by the entrance to this spring, a wooden sign read, 'Unisex Hot Spring'

How could I have missed that?! I such a douche bag sometimes!

However, I saw Ikuto in only his tiny white towel while I was looking for the sign. The towel only covered his private part, leaving everything else exposed.

In embarrassment, I plopped my head in the spring water to hide myself.

Normally, I would have bolted right out of the unisex bath this instant, but I was too embarrassed and ashamed to even move right now.

I heard Ikuto enter the spring. I slowly opened my eyes.

Ikuto was now under the water except for his neck and above, so I felt more comfortable.

"So, you finally came out of the shell?" Purred Ikuto.

I pouted, and ignored him.

Ikuto edged his way towards me, until he was sitting next to me.

I began to shake slightly from being nervous. Here I was, half naked in only a tiny towel, sitting next to Ikuto, who was also half naked in an even smaller towel!

My uncomfortableness growing by the second, I inched towards the right of the pool away from Ikuto. I was inching towards the more shallow end of the spring. The water now only came up to about my chest.

Ikuto started to close in on me by coming closer.

I went farther and farther to the right, and the water became more shallow as I went right.

Ikuto didn't stop scooting towards me though.

Eventually, I reached the end of the spring, and I could no longer scoot away from Ikuto.

The water was now only up to my knees. I felt vulnerable, even in my tiny towel, because the water was no longer hiding me, so now my whole body was exposed for the most part.

Once Ikuto finally cornered me to the end, I began to shake from nervousness again.

Ikuto, who wasn't looking at me, rather the plants surrounding the spring, place a comforting hand on my leg.

I stopped shaking finally.

I'm not really sure how much time went by of us just sitting next to each other in the spring, saying not one word.

I began to feel relaxed, and the comforting spring lulled me into a state of sleep.

Seconds later, I was snapped back to reality by Ikuto. He had gotten closer than before, and he was now facing my direction, with a smirk plastered on his face. He started to push me over on the rock...

"W-Wait! W-What are you doing? I demanded.

Saying nothing, he forced me upon the smooth rock that was on the rim of the spring.

With him on top of me, my cheeks burned like a raging fire.

He then said, "Last night, you said you were always going to be the one in control. Is that really true?"

He hovered above me, and began to lower himself more and more, till his face was only inches away from mine.

I began to tremble, and I shut my eyes, afraid of what he was going to do.

When nothing happened, I slowly opened my eyes, only to find that Ikuto was no longer on top of me, rather sitting next to me on the rock.

I looked over to him in confusion. "You... didn't do anything to me?"

He grinned slightly. "Why... do you want me to?"

I said nothing, and he looked into the open sky. "I wouldn't do anything like that that you wouldn't want me to do..." He began slowly. "For the most part..." He remarked with a slight chuckle. "I don't expect you to love me yet, but I hope you will, someday." He looked at me with a soft smile.

Wow... Did I just see... Ikuto's sweeter side?

"But..." He said, his voice returning to it's normal playful tone. "I won't give up on you. Not now, not ever."

And with that, he leaned forward, and kissed me fully on the lips.

In astonishment from his sudden kiss, I fell forward into the spring.

"Amu!" Ikuto shrieked.

I expected to crash my head right into the concrete of the spring, since this was the shallow end. But instead, I stopped myself last second from hitting my head right on.

While in the process, my white towel slipped away...

I surfaced from the water, breathing heavily.

"Amu! Are you alright?" Ikuto demanded. His look of worry changed into a one of embarrassment when he realized that my towel had disappeared, and he shielded his eyes to give me privacy.

Blushing like mad, I dove into the deep end of the spring to find my towel.

When I found it, I wrapped it securely around myself.

"Umm... Ikuto... I found my towel. I'm sorry about that." I said quietly.

"Uh... That's fine. See you later, Amu."

Ikuto left the spring, leaving me wondering. Does he really have a sweet side like that? Did he mean everything he said?

Author: Phew! That was a long chapter. I typed it all at once in two hours. I know it's out of character for Ikuto to say something like that, but everyone has a sweet side, right?

Next Chapter... Chapter 36...

~~~~~~ Trip To The Hot Springs (Final Part) ~~~~~~

Amu, still wondering about what Ikuto said to her, finds herself playing a competition with the rest of her dorm mates in the activity room... A ping pong tag team tournament!

It might not sound that exciting, but a few... INTERESTING things happen...

Since Kukai and Ikuto are a team, and Amu and Utau are teamed up in the tournament, they make a bet. The team who wins the tournament gets to make the loser obey all their commands for a day.

Can Amu and Utau prevail? Or will Ikuto and Kukai win?