welcome to the nineteenth, though technically the seventeenth, chapter of my first ever 'Shugo Chara' fanfiction. as everyone can see this is an Amuto fanfiction since it focuses on both the heroine of the series and the cat-boy employee of Easter who secretly loves her, though Ikuto pretends to hate Amu purely for the sake of keeping their relationship simply that of one between two sworn enemies, even when the girls who go for Ikuto include his own sister, Utau. I know they sometimes marry their cousins in Japan and other Eastern countries but marrying their siblings. that's sorta the kinda thing that only a monster would do and could do. obviously Utau had never heard of a thing called inbreeding. that's kinda the result from siblings marrying one another. it's not like it's hard for a girl as pretty as Utau to look for an attractive boyfriend that isn't her onii-san. she's basically his imoto-chan. it would just never work out between the two as lovers, period. anyway, this nineteenth/seventeenth chapter of my first ever 'Shugo Chara' fanfiction is a total of three-thousand-two-hundred-sixty-eight words of pure storyline. the storyline of which doesn't include this explanatory headnote, right here, the disclaimer that makes up the paragraph following said headnote, nor does it include any of the author's notes/author's comments hidden within the storyline in between its own literary structure. OK, enough jawing about. on with the (mandatory) disclaimer.
disclamation: I don't own 'Shugo Chara' or 'The Ugly Truth' in any way, shape, or form. I am but a humble fanfiction blogger on both FanFiction and Wattpad. I have an account with Wattpad that I keep meaning to edit my own username. the same goes for my username on DeviantArt. why do I keep forgetting to edit my own usernames? anyway, 'Shugo Chara' is owned by the duo of manga artists known in their home country as Peach Pit, AKA Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara. Meanwhile, 'The Ugly Truth' was directed in 2009 by Robert Luketic and was written by a trio of writers made up by three women with the names of Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten M. Smith. arigato. danke. obrigado. grazie. merci. gracias. xiè xiè. sukiyaria. mahalo. yes, I know how to say 'thank you' in several kinds of international dialects. what can I say? I'm a linguistics geek, or a foreign language geek, I suppose.
The following day at the largest ballpark in the entire municipality of Tokyo, Amu and Tadase were heading to their seats for the ball game which was going on by then. A man in the stands was shouting something out to the stadium below. Everyone seemed to hear what it was that whoever was saying.
Random baseball fan: Go, Yomiuri Giants!
Amu and Tadase finally made their way to their seat in the stadium's audience seating rows. A pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants was up to bat as the couple made their way to their stadium seats. It was a surefire hit. As Amu and Tadase got on their way to their seat in the stadium, the pink head could hear Ikuto talking into the Bluetooth-compatible earbuds she had in her ears as she listened to every single word the blunet said to her.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (over Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible earbuds): OK, I have you in visual. Nod if you can hear me, Hinamori-san.
Amu just nodded her head as Ikuto had told her to do if the pink head could hear the blunet up further in the stands at the same baseball game.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (continued): Just relax, toots. Everything's gonna be fine.
Back with Amu and Tadase, the pairing of the blond and the pink head had finally located their assigned seat and sat down in the stands of the ballpark. A sporting event might not have been Amu's perfect idea of a first date, but if it was something that Tadase wanted to do and if Ikuto could help her to agree with the man of her dreams a lot more than if she were to act alone, who was she to disagree with any of it, really? It seemed to work wonders so far anyway, especially since in the past, she had gone on a ton of first dates with the guys she had dated due to the activity she would do on the date.
A/N: of course, Amu still has absolutely no idea to the fact that Ikuto had a giant crush on her, but that's an explanation for another chapter.
Amu was busy munching on the heavily buttered popcorn that she and Tadase had bought at the concession counter earlier on their date.
A/N: that would be my ideal kind of popcorn, only with margarine instead of real butter. I'm a little keener on the leaner ones of the oils and fats food group.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible earbuds): Now, do exactly as I tell you to, and do it when I tell you to do it. Understand?
As Tadase sat down in his own seat next to Amu, the blond asked her a question about the game and how the pink head thought it was guaranteed to go from then and there.
Tadase Hotori: You follow baseball, Hinamori-san?
That was when Amu heard Ikuto's voice in her ears just as she had heard Tadase talking to her beforehand when the blond asked the pink head about baseball. Amu could barely think of anything to say about what Tadase was asking her, especially since she did not actually follow baseball or any other sport like she had to lead Tadase to believe she had.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): Do something noncommittal.
Amu supposed that it was simply a good thing that she had another man like Ikuto to back her up and instruct her on how to act with Tadase in the presence of the blond man of her dreams.
Amu Hinamori: Eh.
Then, Amu giggled a little at what she had just said to Tadase about baseball. Tadase started to grow slightly worried about how things had seemed to be going with Amu by then. The blond even grew worried that the pink head was not very into what he had suggested them to do for their first date.
Tadase Hotori: You OK, Hinamori-san?
Amu just shrugged her head since her attempt at playing it cool for Tadase had clearly gone south at that particular point in their date at the ballpark.
Amu Hinamori: I'm fine.
Then, Amu suddenly heard Ikuto talk to her over her Bluetooth-compatible ear buds.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): That was a little over the top, but it was a good try.
Amu felt pretty unamused by what Ikuto had told her about her trial and error to play it cool towards Tadase about their date at the ballpark. In fact, the pink head was so unamused, she actually felt the need to suddenly comment back to the blunet out of nowhere.
Amu Hinamori: Well, arigato.
It definitely seemed to be out of nowhere to Tadase, anyway. In fact, it had seemed so out of nowhere to the blond in question, he even had to ask her what she was thanking whomever for.
Tadase Hotori: For what?
Just one look in Tadase's direction as soon as the blond had asked her such a question was enough to completely hypnotize Amu with her date's looks the way she had always unknowingly hypnotized Ikuto, her own romantic advisor on and off of television. In fact, Amu was so hypnotized by Tadase, she was pretty much in quite the heart-eyed trance when she looked into the blond's near crimson eyes. She just giggled a little to act on the trance into which the dreamy blond put on the pink head.
Amu Hinamori: Well, arigato for being you.
Then, Amu sighed dreamily before giggling a little more at what she had told Tadase about himself. The blond in question, himself, was just slightly confused by what the pink head had said about him. He was very welcoming towards her surprise gratitude, though, and he chose not to dwell on whoever she was talking to when she first said, 'thank you'. For all the blond knew about the pink head's sudden surprise gratitude, it was someone to whom she felt she had owed a lot more than any expression of gratitude could ever cover. He decided to just go with the punches, in the end.
Tadase Hotori: You're welcome.
The crowd cheered an explosion of excitement as the pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants stole every last one of the bases on the field in the center of the stadium. Everyone was just so exhilarated by the game that was going on, not an eye in the stadium could remove itself from the views of the Yomiuri Giants winning yet another game and earning their keep as the best team in the entire Tokyo Baseball League.
Meanwhile a small ways further back into the stands, a certain blunet who had a visual on the two was starting to get slightly jealous of Tadase for basically what he saw as kidnapping Amu's heart, but Ikuto was not willing to act on his crush on the pink head. After all, Amu was only Ikuto's producer, and he needed to be comfortable with that at that particular time more than ever.
Of course, it did not help the blunet with the way he always looked to Amu when a girl suddenly came up to Ikuto and hugged him out of nowhere.
Random girl: Oh, my Kami-sama. You're Ikuto Tsukiyomi. I love you!
The random girl had even gone to the game at the same ballpark with another guy, so she did not have any right to hug Ikuto, anyway.
Random girl's guy friend: Hey, hey, buddy, what the hell!
As much as Ikuto appreciated the random girl suddenly hugging him, the blunet also was not very pleased with her guy friend taking it out on him as though it were his fault she hugged him.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi: Dude, what the f***!
Of course, Amu misunderstood what her advisor from further up in the stands was talking about and repeated Ikuto's words exactly… to Tadase.
Amu Hinamori: Dude, what the f***!
Tadase did not know where Amu's sudden outburst came from, but he did not appreciate it very much. The blond just had to know where his date's sudden foul-mouthed behavior had come from.
Tadase Hotori: What?
Ikuto had seen the whole situation from where he stood and instantly regret his accidental interference with his lovely producer's date instead of helping her as he was supposed to have been doing with Amu.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi's brain: Great. She's gonna think I told her to say that to him on purpose. Gotta say something to cover for them both.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): Oh, no, no, no. I'm not talking to you.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi's brain: I hope she didn't misunderstand that.
Unfortunately for Ikuto, Amu actually misunderstood his words to her once again and thought he was telling her what to say to Tadase.
Amu Hinamori: I'm not talking to you!
Of course, Tadase kept misunderstanding Amu's intentions towards him. But it was not as though Amu was really able to catch onto the blond's confusion towards her sudden change in mood towards him.
Tadase Hotori: OK, did I do something wrong?
Ikuto Tsukiyomi's brain: D'oh! Gotta fix this before she gets even angrier at him, or me.
It was almost too late by the time Amu had finally realized that Ikuto was not telling her what to do or say with Tadase anymore. The pink head had gotten so lost in the blond's eyes, she forgot how to be herself to the man of her dreams. Of course, it was up to the blunet to save the pink head's chances with her blond dream boy. The blunet just had to suck it up and give his pink-haired producer the best recovery advice he possibly could have.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): No, stop, listen to me, Hinamori-san. Tell him you saw him looking at another girl.
And that was just what Amu did with Tadase, at the risk of sounding like a possessive bitch who did not trust her date to stay focused on only her worth beans.
Amu Hinamori: I-I saw you. I saw you looking at another girl.
Of course, Tadase only became confused about what Amu was appearing to assume he had been doing thereafter.
Tadase Hotori: Who?
Amu panicked and looked out at the crowd in the stadium, desperate to find a girl to tell Tadase at whom the pink head saw her blond dream boy looking.
Amu Hinamori: T-That girl. That girl right there.
Unfortunately for Amu, the girl she had picked to be her scapegoat in her attempt to keep Tadase all to herself was not a very pretty or attractive girl. In fact, the girl the pink head told her blond dream date at whom she saw him looking was morbidly obese and not in very good shape. As a matter of fact, the girl Amu told her dream date, Tadase, she saw him looking at looked a lot like the kind of girl Ikuto had accused her of being the first night he had ever heard her over the phone on his show the night before he was recruited for her own news channel. The girl the pink head told her blond dream boy at whom she saw him looking was also holding a few snacks in her hands and wearing a concession uniform.
A/N: yep! Amu chose a vendor girl as her man-thieving scapegoat, and she was even an ugly vendor girl, at that. nice goin', pink brain. you know, the more of both 'Shugo Chara' and 'The Ugly Truth' I've ever actually watched, the more I realized just how naïve and gullible the heroines of both the anime and the movie, respectively, really were in their offense to their actresses.
Of course, Tadase still bought Amu's comment about being jealous of the concession vendor girl that the blond in question had flagged down, anyway, despite it not being as believable as it would have been if the concession vendor girl was as attractive as Amu, herself.
Tadase Hotori: I was trying to get us a couple of hotdogs, if you need to know that badly.
A/N: granted, I've never been to a ballpark in Japan, nor have I ever even been to Japan at all for that matter. but the hotdogs were a part of the ballpark scene in 'The Ugly Truth', so I'm just rolling with the punches on that little bit. I'd also advise my readers to go with the flow on this fanfiction of mine. drat! I really should've put this in even just one of the disclaimers that are in the beginning of every chapter of mine.
Amu quickly saw her mistake(s) in what she set Tadase up to believe from her. Mistake number one was clearly assuming that he looked at another girl, while mistake number two was not realizing just how obese and average-looking the girl she told him at whom she saw him looking really was. It was a gigantic mess from her end of things. It was a gigantic mess for which Amu was definitely going to skin Ikuto alive when the two of them met up, once again.
Amu Hinamori: Oh, OK.
Tadase Hotori: Ni, onegai shi masu.
The hotdog vendor girl from the concession stand handed the two hotdogs she already held in her hands to Tadase.
Tadase Hotori (continued): Arigato.
The hotdog vendor girl from the concession stand then gave Amu and Tadase a couple of looks as she walked off.
Hotdog vendor girl: Arigato for your patronage.
The look the hotdog vendor girl gave Tadase was a look of appreciation for being an outstanding customer of hers.
Hotdog vendor girl: I'd consider consulting with a therapist if I were you. For your jealousy.
The look that the hotdog vendor girl sent Amu's way, however, was the look of someone who had been scared of the pink head as though the concession girl thought Amu was planning to eat her for lunch.
Meanwhile back up further in the stands, Ikuto saw the whole entire situation play out. Amu was clearly not very good at picking a scapegoat for jealousy. The blunet knew that the pink head was more than likely to blame him and hate him for the rest of their natural born lives unless he did something to help her recover from her unsettling display of unwarranted and imaginary jealousy.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi: OK, we need a quick recovery from that disaster.
Of course, by then Amu realized that she could no longer afford to say everything she was thinking, as the pink head suddenly remembered what had gotten her into the first mess with her blond dream boy, Tadase.
Amu Hinamori's psyche: Oh. So now, he's into helping me. What the hey is wrong with this guy, trying to openly sabotage my date? Who does he even think he is?
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): Make sure you put the hotdog into your mouth nice and slowly. Men like watching penis-shaped food go into girl's mouth.
Of course, that kind of comment from Ikuto had gone and ruined Amu's impression of hotdogs for life. Unfortunately for said pink head, she did not exactly keep her opinions about the blunet's way of describing hotdogs entirely to herself. As soon as Ikuto had even made his snide comment about the food that Amu and Tadase were supposed to be enjoying while on their date, the pink head actually tossed her drink aside in frustration towards the blunet's comment about food that might as well have gotten her off of hotdogs for life. Tadase and Amu both wound up saying 'Oi!' at once when Amu tossed her drink aside as the contents of the whole thing landed on the blond's lap as the pink head tossed her drink aside. Meanwhile back further in the stands of the stadium, Ikuto just as suddenly clenched his teeth in regret towards his teasing of Amu, instantly remembering just how serious a girl she really was.
Amu Hinamori: Gomenasai, Tadase-kun!
Amu reached for a few napkins to clean her dream hunk's lap up of her own drink.
Amu Hinamori (continued): Oh, Kami-sama. Gomenasai, Tadase-kun.
Of course, Tadase just did not think much of Amu's mistake, realizing that she did not really mean to spill her drink onto his lap.
Tadase Hotori: Ie, daijoboudesu. Really.
Amu wanted to tell Tadase that she only spilt her drink onto his lap because of a snide comment she had heard from Ikuto, but the pink head could not risk her blond dream boy getting wind of her getting advice from the blunet.
A/N: by the way, 'daijoboudesu' means 'it's OK' in Japanese.
Amu Hinamori: You know what? I can get this out. I'm sure I can. What kind of fabric is this?
Tadase was not sure what he actually wore from day to day since he did not make a habit of inspecting the contents of the fibers that made up his clothes.
Tadase Hotori: I don't know. Cotton?
Amu just continued to rub at her dream boy, Tadase's, pants that were wet with her drink and totally ignored all of the looks that she was getting from everyone in the stands as they all disgustedly watched her. Then again, the pink head could have also been completely oblivious to every last one of the looks she was getting from everyone else in the stands as they all tried to watch the baseball game.
Amu Hinamori: Cotton? Oh, cotton's the worst. Well, actually leather would be the worst. And then, right after that would be suede.
While most people in the stands looked at what Amu was doing with Tadase's pants in disgust at first and then started giving hoots, hollers and catcalls after a bit more of the stuff, a lot of other people in the stands with them both were giving wolf whistles the whole time.
Tadase Hotori: OK.
Of course, Amu just continued to remain stupidly and idiotically unaware of what hers and her dream date, Tadase's, situation looked like to the rest of the viewing audience in the stands.
Amu Hinamori: I think I can get it out.
Meanwhile back further in the stands, Ikuto tried his hardest to get Amu's attention and make her aware of what was going on around her from within the stands. He actually felt close enough to use her first name, even.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): Amu-chan.
Of course, Amu was so wrapped up in trying to fix her date with her dream boy, Tadase, that she did not even notice that Ikuto had already switched to her first name.
Amu Hinamori: Oh, look, hold on. It's coming!
Amu was about to pay a steep price for only seeing Tadase the whole time she was trying to dry off her drink from his lap with a napkin, because a camera showed up and got her on the stadium's kiss camera over the jumbotron screen that broadcasted the game out to the fans watching the game at home. By then, everyone seemed to be a fan of what Amu was doing with Tadase's lap and found it romantic if it was good enough to make the view of the stadium's kiss camera.
Of course, Amu just continued to remain oblivious to the way hers and Tadase's situation had even looked to the viewing crowd. Tadase, however, had only begun to quite enjoy himself once again and could not believe that he was set to be on the television at the baseball game at which he attended for the first time in his life. Granted it was going to be under embarrassing circumstances, but the blond was still happy to be on television, nonetheless.
Even the outfielders in the stadium took a break from their own game with one another's team to look at the very spot in the stands from where the kiss camera was being broadcast. It felt very interesting to them all. It had even seemed to really bring the two teams together for a momentary ceasefire between both of their sides.
Outfielder number ichi: Where?
Outfielder number ni: There! Over there!
Meanwhile a small ways further back into the stands, Ikuto also stood up to catch a glimpse of that of which he had more or less been the very cause. Needless to say, it sort of irritated him to a third-degree burn, but it had only bruised the poor blunet's ego to a certain type of second-degree burn. Nevertheless, Ikuto stayed focused on the task at hand of letting Amu know that she and her dream boy, Tadase, were basically on the stadium's kiss camera.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds): Amu-chan. Amu-chan, you might wanna look up at the stadium's jumbotron screen.
Amu finally heard what Ikuto was trying to tell her the whole time she was desperate to clean up Tadase's lap just long enough to realize that she was indeed on the stadium's jumbotron screen. The organ player in the box office even played the 'charge' melody to signify her moment with her blond dream boy.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi (through Amu Hinamori's Bluetooth-compatible ear buds, continued): Way to go, Amu-chan.
Of course, Amu was too busy being slightly embarrassed by that for which she had gotten herself and Tadase onto the jumbotron screen, albeit with a hint of appreciation in towards the situation in her mind, to notice once again that Ikuto had called her by her first name yet again.