Chapter three. Her request, his task

It was already Friday when Amu finally got her chance—Ikuto finally came to school.

Even though he came back after a year, he didn't struggle to catch up with his grades or anything. What was even harder was that Amu had absolutely no idea how the infamous Tsukiyomi Ikuto looked like. Of course she asked the girls from The Guards about info of him, those girls knew almost everything about him; family, address, hobbies, class, friends, ex-girlfriends and so on, but they didn't tell her a single thing. Rima decided not to interfere so she let Utau, being the leader, decide and Yaya actually wanted to help her, but she couldn't say anything against Utau. Amu had to do everything on her own, a fair and square battle.

There were only three weeks, without counting the following weekend, until the bet was over. Amu had no time to lose and so she decided to go right to the source. She heard from her classmates—who already begun fanning her, both boys and girls—that Tsukiyomi Ikuto's gang accepted requests. They could do various things such as spying, protecting someone, escorting and so on. Of course they didn't do anything illegal, safe for the fights they usually start all around Tokyo.

Friday morning, right after the first period, Amu walked down the hallways towards The Snakes' room. She stopped in front of a fancy, big door at the end of the hallway. People kept staring at her with scared looks but she didn't pay attention to them, she knocked twice on the door and, without another second, she opened the door and stepped inside.

Nagihiko was enjoying his tea when he heard two knocks on the door. He was about to get up and answer the door when the door itself opened revealing a girl's silhouette.

"Hey," the pink-haired girl greeted as the door closed behind her.

"Hello." Nagihiko answered giving one polite smile.

He analysed the girl from head to toe . Her hair has an unusual color, her golden eyes were confident and her lips curved into a small smile, more like a smirk. Her legs were long and slim as well as her body. Without a doubt, she was a beauty. He wondered how come he didn't see her around here until now.

"I am Fujisaki Nagihiko," he said approaching as he lend her his hand. "How may I help you?"

"Hinamori Amu." she replied taking his hand. The moment she told Nagihiko her name, his eyes widened in surprise, followed by a hidden smirk. "I would like to speak with the leader."

"Unfortunately, our leader is not here right now, thought he may come any moment."

"Oh," her disappointment was obviously shown. "In that case, please read this. I'll wait for your answer afterhours." the girl handed him a letter as the bell rang.

"Of course." Nagihiko replied as the girl smiled and turned around, leaving the room.

"Oi Nagi." Kuukai appeared from the other room which is also part of The Snakes' space. "Who was that girl? She was quite hot."

Nagihiko turned around and placed the letter on the small table as he grabbed his cup of tea again. "That girl, my friend, was Hinamori Amu."

Tsukiyomi Ikuto walked down the high school's empty hallways, heading towards The Snakes' room. The second period already begun but he had no intention of joining it, maybe he would go to the third period which would be PE.

Even though the hallways should be empty, there was a person walking towards Ikuto. Normally, he wouldn't pay attention to a simple girl, but he couldn't help passing by her. When he passed by, Ikuto could have sworn he saw a smirk on her face, but he still kept walking towards The Snakes' room. He memorized her face, she was a hot one and maybe he would need a girl to lose some time.

As soon as he entered inside his and his friends' room, Nagihiko, Kuukai and Tadase focused their gaze onto him.

"What?" he asked seeing that they didn't intend on saying anything.

"You lucky bastard." Kuukai said glaring at him.

"What Kuukai means is that Hinamori Amu visited us." Nagihiko corrected him. Ikuto sat down on the couch next to his friends as Nagihiko handed him a letter. "What's this?" the black-blue-haired boy asked. "And what's up with the thing about Hinamori?"

"A letter from her. She asked for you and left this when I told her you weren't here."

Ikuto opened the letter scanning the words.

Snakes,

I am Hinamori Amu, a transferred student in class 2-B. I have a request. Tomorrow night I want a certain person of the Snakes' members to protect me for exactly twelve hours, from nine o'clock at night until nine o'clock in the morning. My address is written on the bottom of the letter, I'm waiting for your answer.

Sincerely, Hinamori Amu.

"Oh, I see." Ikuto said smirking as he threw the letter away. "But she said she wants one of the members to protect her, not me."

"Then, should I be the one to take on this task?" Nagihiko asked Ikuto.

The leader gave his partner a questioning look. He knew that Nagihiko was smart, very smart. His question wasn't an usual one, there was something behind his words.

"Sure." Ikuto replied putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.

"She said she'll come afterhours here, we'll talk with her then so don't leave until then." Nagihiko replied.

"What a drag, don't tell me I have to attend classes too." Ikuto asked looking at his friend. Before he could receive an answer, he realized that Hinamori Amu was in his class. He had no idea how this girl looked like and he really wanted to find out, so attending classes might not be such a bad thing. "Forget it, I'll go to the classes."

The leader decided that if he'll get bored, he might as well search a bit for the girl he saw moments ago and spare some time with her. After all, he didn't get the chance to get close to any girl since last year, before he left for Europe.

It was not until Ikuto stepped inside the high school's backyard that he realized all the second-years classes were there for PE. He didn't change his clothes as he was there only to observe. He looked around and spotted a large crowd of people looking at a certain pink-haired girl as they cheered for her. She ran few meters and then jumped a tall bar, landing on a mattress.

It was the girl Ikuto saw on the hallway, just the one he was searching for.

Not only that she was beautiful, but he was also popular. He found out he was a second-year just like him, but he wondered how come he didn't see her in the first and only month of high school. There was absolutely no way he would miss something like this.

But he didn't make a move. He would not make a move, she will certainly look for him sooner or later.

"Ikuto, this is Hinamori Amu." Nagihiko presented as the girl lend her hand out to Ikuto.

The boy couldn't believe, the girl he watched at PE and caught his attention was Hinamori Amu. He shouldn't be that surprised after all, she was the one who made Kairi fall for her.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto." he took her hand and shook it.

Amu has a smile on her face and Ikuto's face was expressionless, he looked indifferent.

"And these are Souma Kuukai and Hotori Tadase." Nagihiko presented as the two boys winked and smiled at her. "Please, take a seat." he continued.

"I'm sorry but I don't really have time, I'm only here to hear your answer." she replied, her gaze focusing only a moment on Nagihiko, her interest being obviously caught by Ikuto.

"In that case, our answer is yes. I will be the one to protect you." Nagihiko said.

"No," Amu cut him off. "I want Tsukiyomi Ikuto."

As Ikuto smirked and Nagihiko stood speechless, Tadase spoke first. "That will be more expensive."

"It doesn't matter." Amu said taking out her wallet. She took out the money and handed them to Tadase. "Will this do?

The boy accepted them without even counting. "Perfect." the blonde boy smiled.

"Well then," Amu continued turning her attention towards Ikuto again. He knew that this girl wanted something more from him then just to be protected for one night. "I'm waiting for you."

She turned around and again, her smirk appearing on her face again and this time, Ikuto was sure he wasn't wrong.