Morg: Heyo! This rewrite is going much better than the last and I like this story a lot more now.

Ikuto: Does that mean we'll get to see the end of it?

Amu: Please let it end.

Morg: I'll do my best!

Ikuto: I can tell you what kind of ending I want.

Amu: Please, no.

Morg: You'll get what you get!

~Drama High~

"Hey," Ikuto said as he dropped his backpack onto the desk in front of Amu. "Sorry, I'm late. Got caught up in the hallway."

"It's cool," Amu replied as she turned away from the window to look up at Ikuto. Her eyes lingered on the bruise on Ikuto's cheek for only a moment before she looked back down at her notebook. "Are you still planning to come to my house today after school?"

"As long as it is still okay with you," Ikuto said as he sat backward in the chair of the desk where he'd sat his bag. "I don't want to intrude if your parents said no or anything."

"They're fine with it," Amu said with a shrug. "Like I said, my sister will be there but my parents won't be. Did you have any ideas that you want to talk about?"

Ikuto studied her for a moment longer before he twisted in his chair to pull out his notebook and then turned back to set it on Amu's desk next to hers. "The Feudal Era, right?"

"That's what you said."

Ikuto smirked down at his book. "So there were a lot of warlords and demons."

"I suppose," Amu said slowly as she tapped her pencil against the blank page of her notebook. "That we could pick a couple of people that were important in history and then a couple of the more well-known demons."

"I'm not much of a drawer," Ikuto said as he leaned his elbow on her desk and rested his chin in his palm. "I can do a lot of research and write about what happened but I won't be able to do much on the visual side of the presentation. Not unless you want everyone to be very confused about what they're looking at."

Amu laughed as she shook her head. Miki could give her a boost that would help her draw things faster or with more skill but Amu on her own could still produce a pretty good picture. She began to sketch a random monster that she could call a demon if she wanted before she turned her notebook for Ikuto to see. "I've got that part covered. Do you know much else about that era?"

Ikuto shrugged as he studied the picture. "Nope. I didn't have access to a computer yesterday after school so I couldn't do any more research."

Amu hummed as she flipped her book back around. "I don't know much else, either."

"That's a good picture, though," Ikuto said as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "If we fill the hallway with your artwork then I'm sure everyone will be too busy admiring it to care about what we're saying."

Amu rolled her eyes as she flipped the page in her notebook. "We can use my computer tonight to do some more research. You said that you didn't have access to one last night, do you usually?"

Ikuto shrugged again though he wouldn't look at her. "Sometimes. Hard to say when I will and when I won't."

"Then we should probably plan for most of the research to happen at my house. If we find enough information to start working on the presentation, we can always print pages out or take good notes for you to have with you without a computer."

Ikuto nodded.

Amu breathed out slowly so as to not draw attention to her sigh. It wasn't that Ikuto seemed nonchalant about their project. It was that he seemed interested in what they were doing and wanted to do it but wouldn't or couldn't tell her whatever was causing him to act nonchalant. Something was going on. Something the rumors that flew around their school probably touched on but Amu refused to listen to.

If Ikuto wanted to tell her why he didn't know when he'd have access to a computer, or why he had a bruise on his cheek, then he would tell her. She wasn't about to pry.

"Cool," Amu said as she began to tap her pen on her notebook again. They didn't have much time left until the bell rang. "I'll meet you by the bike rack after school."

"See ya there," Ikuto said as he turned around in his chair to put his book away just as the bell sounded.

XXX

Amu unlocked her bike before she put the chain in her bag and pulled it off the rack. She turned back to look at the entrance to the school to watch for Ikuto but was surprised to find Tadase standing just behind her. "Oh, hello?"

Tadase smiled as he shifted his backpack on his shoulders. "Hey, Amu. Getting ready to go home?"

Confused, Amu slowly nodded. "Well, school is done for the day."

"Do you want me to walk with you?"

Amu frowned as she looked at her bike before looking back at Tadase. "I don't usually walk."

"I could-"

"Hey, Amu," Ikuto said as he walked over. He wasn't paying attention and stopped as soon as he noticed Amu wasn't alone.

Amu cut her gaze from Tadase to Ikuto. She knew she was still frowning but didn't try to stop as she watched him approach. "Hey, Ikuto."

"What's up?" Ikuto asked as he looked from Amu to Tadase. "I thought we were leaving together today."

"We are," Amu told him before she turned back to Tadase. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

"But, Amu-"

"How do you want to do this?" Ikuto asked as he looked at Amu's bike. "Do you want to walk it together or both try to ride it?"

"Can you pedal while standing?" Amu asked as she ignored Tadase's pout to look from her bike to Ikuto.

Ikuto stared at her bike before he looked up at Amu. "I'm not very good with bikes."

"Then you can sit on the seat," Amu said as she swung her leg over her bike and put her foot on one of the pedals. "I'll stand and pedal."

Ikuto watched her for a moment longer before he did as she asked and climbed onto her bike. He sat on the seat and then stared at her back. "Now what? Where do I put my feet? Where should I hold on?"

Amu glanced back at him over her shoulder and grinned. "Just keep them off the ground and hold onto my waist."

Ikuto didn't have time to say anything else as Amu started pedaling. He held onto her as he worked to keep his feet off the ground. They wobbled for a few feet before she found balance and they picked up a bit of speed.

The ride was bizarre and a little dangerous and had Ikuto laughing as they came up to a corner they had to turn at. "Slow down!"

Amu huffed as she stopped pedaling. She put her foot down and glanced back behind her to see that the road was clear. "We can walk the rest of the way if you want. I just wanted to get away from him."

Ikuto hummed as he let go of Amu and climbed off her bike. "Not a fan of Tadase?"

Amu grimaced as she swung her leg over and began to push her bike around the corner. "He made me miss lunch the other day when he confessed to me. I don't know why he thought I'd say yes. I barely talk to him."

Shaking his head, Ikuto adjusted his bag before glancing over at Amu. "You did look pretty confused when I walked up just now."

"I don't know where he came from," Amu admitted. "I turned to unlock my bike which only takes a few seconds and then he was suddenly standing there."

Ikuto grimaced as he lifted his gaze to the houses they were passing. "That's weird."

"So weird," Amu agreed. She liked that Ikuto wasn't trying to pry for more information. In the future, if she could, she would return the favor. "Come on, this is my house."

Ikuto followed Amu up to one of the gates that blocked off the yard of one of the houses on the street. It was a modest house. Nothing like the one he lived in. "This is nice."

"Thanks," Amu said as she unlocked the gate and then stepped aside for Ikuto to pass her. She pushed her bike through and made sure the gate shut behind her before she turned to look at him again. "My dad is a photographer and my mom is the editor of a magazine. They do okay."

Ikuto didn't say anything about his parents as he followed to the door after she stashed her bike against the side of the house. "Is your sister already here?"

"She'll be dropped off in about twenty minutes," Amu said as she pushed open the door. "It'll be just us until then. Come on, I'll show you to my room."

Ikuto paused to take off his shoes and store them on the shoe rack inside the door before he followed Amu through the house. She seemed unbothered to have him there with her alone, which meant she either hadn't heard the rumors about him or just didn't care. He wasn't sure which one he hoped was true.

Amu pushed open the door to her bedroom and stepped in before gesturing to her desk. "My computer."

Ikuto whistled as he took in her setup. "That's a nice computer."

"Thanks," Amu said as she walked over and set her bag down. She gestured for Ikuto to sit in the chair she'd brought up from the kitchen for him the night before. "I did a lot of chores to save up enough money to buy it."

Ikuto set his bag down on the floor next to her desk before he sat in the chair. He didn't say anything as Amu put some things away and then turned on her computer.

"All right, let's research."

Ikuto kept his eyes on the screen as Amu pulled up a webpage and searched for information about their era. "Three main periods, huh?"

"Yeah," Amu said distractedly as she wrote down what Ikuto was reading. "We should definitely touch on all three of them."

"This looks like a pretty good website. Do you have a printer? Can you print out the information for me to take with me later?"

Amu hummed as she clicked around on the screen and printed the pages just like Ikuto asked. Then she clicked off that website and began opening others. She printed more pages for him about the different periods and the families that were in control during certain times.

She got so caught up in their research and talking about the rise and fall of certain families that she forgot the time until she heard her sister calling from the front door. "Hold on," Amu said to Ikuto as she got up. "Feel free to click around and print off more pages. I'm going to go check on Ami and make sure she's good. Do you want me to bring you a drink or a snack when I come back?"

"I wouldn't mind some water," Ikuto said as he slid into Amu's chair. "Thanks."

"Sure," Amu said as she walked out the door. She paused for just a second in the hallway as she realized that she was leaving Ikuto alone with her computer. Her computer where she made all her videos and posted them online.

Then she shook her head and continued on downstairs. Ikuto wasn't going to snoop on her computer. He was fine.

"Hey, Ami," Amu said as she stuck her head out of the hallway and found her sister still by the front door. "How was school?"

"Amu!" Ami cheered as she got her shoes off. "It was fine! I miss having second recess but I got to learn a lot of new things so I like it just fine."

"Sixth grade is hard, huh?"

"I'm ready to move up!"

Amu smiled at her sister as Ami followed her into the kitchen. "I'm sure you are. Don't go too fast, okay?"

"I won't," Ami promised as she sat down at the table. "What are we going to do today?"

"Actually," Amu said as she got out some healthy snacks. "I have a friend over today, remember? We talked about this yesterday. Ikuto is here. He's my partner for a school project so he's going to be spending some time here for the next few weeks."

Ami's mouth popped open as she turned to look at the doorway to the kitchen. "He's already here?"

"Yes," Amu answered. "He's upstairs in my room. He's working on our project since we're just doing research he can do it by himself for a bit."

"What am I going to do while he's here?"

"I was thinking that you could sit on my bed and play with my tablet while we worked at my desk. We can take these snacks and drinks up there if you promise to be careful while eating them."

"Your tablet?" Ami asked with wide eyes. "You'll let me use it?"

Amu smiled as she nodded and began to stack the bowls she'd put stuff in to carry them up the stairs. "I know how much you like drawing on it. Want to make me a picture?"

"I'll draw you something beautiful," Ami swore as she took a bowl and a cup from her sister to help carry. "And I won't bother you while you work, at all."

"It's okay if you need to interrupt," Amu told her as they climbed the stairs. "Just let us get some work done, too."

"Okay," Ami agreed.

Ikuto looked up as they entered the room. He smiled as he watched Ami carefully move without spilling her snacks or drink. "Hello."

"Ikuto," Amu said as she set some of the things she was carrying down on her dresser. "This is my sister. Ami, this is Ikuto."

"Hello, Ikuto," Ami said with a grin as she climbed onto Amu's bed and moved her bowl of snacks closer. She held out her hands and cheered when Amu gave her the tablet.

"Amu said you guys have to do work so I'm going to draw you something nice while you do."

"That sounds great," Ikuto told her as he took his cup of water from Amu and slid back into his chair. "Thank you."

Ami hummed but didn't say anything else as she got to work.

Amu shook her head at her sister. She turned back to Ikuto and shrugged. "All right, what did you learn while I was gone?"

.

Morg: Definitely like this version better.

Ikuto: There was an opportunity there that you let slip by.

Amu: I don't think so.

Morg: Cool it, Ikuto. This isn't that kind of story.

Ikuto: Then why are we even here?

Amu: I ask myself that every day.