Chapter Seven

"A Life Changing Event"

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I lost all interest in Amu and Ikuto for awhile. But, I read the final manga chapter and it reimbursed a lot of my faith in them.

Plus hearing about Shugo Chara! Encore made me happy too.

I doubt Ikuto will be in it, but I still hope.

I hope you enjoy.

~ABeautifulDream

Ikuto's POV

I awoke to the sound of birds chirping, the smell of fresh coffee being made, and a bright light in my face.

Left the blinds open last night. That would explain the excessive amount of sunshine.

As my eyes adjusted, I looked around the room. The walls were a-drab looking beige, to be completed with some dull artwork. The windows were covered by green, casual curtains that had no design whatsoever. The floor was carpeted in red from wall to wall, and I had a strange premonition that they'd be awfully itchy. The room had a few dressers and an armoire, but they were completely empty, so I figured that no one had been here for awhile. A few feet away from the bed was a brown, polished table holding a wide – screen T.V. It looked so out of place in the shabby room that I simply stared at it for awhile, almost expecting it to disappear and be replaced by one that was ten inches high.

I rolled out of bed, my bare feet touching the floor. Would you believe I was right about the carpet? Well I was. I knew this couldn't be my regular room, because it looked nothing like it, so, where exactly was I? The simple question was answered from one look at a not-so-simple girl. I sucked in a breath, the noise being the only sound in the room, as I saw her. Amu Hinamori was laying down peacefully in bed, fast asleep, her hair sprawled out over the pillow, like pink seaweed. She was almost completely covered by a red bedspread, but her head poked out over the top of it. I realized at once that this wasn't the girl I left behind to go after my father, but in fact, a full grown woman. And…

She was as beautiful as I remembered her.

So seeing her after all that time hadn't changed anything.

I didn't know if I should be happy, or saddened by that.

Amu turned over in her sleep to face the opposite direction, away from me. As soon as her face was no longer in my vision, holding me in place along with my thoughts, the events from the previous night came flooding back to me. She showed up at the club for me…she saw me, half naked... (a fella's gotta earn money, don' he?) we all went to a hotel that Utau, my sister, had paid for. And a friend followed me – Kuukai. I was sure I had seen Utau and Kuukai hitting it off last night, and I was internally glad for that. Never have I known her to have any serious love interests that were outside the family, so I figured this was good for her.

I walked out, pausing a step after the doorframe, (in nothing but my boxers and an old shirt, aka, my pajamas), into the kitchen. The kitchen was much better decorated, and much larger than the bedroom I had stayed in. It was tiled in white and black, something that must've been expensive – but it was worthwhile. The refrigerators were off to the left side of the room, taking up a large amount of the space, silently keeping the food inside cold, while there was a table in the dead center of kitchen. At the table sat two quiet people, Utau, and Kuukai. Utau was wearing an expression that said "Back away slowly," while Kuukai was grinning mischievously. I had learned fast to be wary of that smile.

My guess was that Utau wasn't so happy to wake up to find Kuukai in her bed.

Kuukai was the first person to notice my entrance. He looked up, grinned at me, and then motioned me to sit down. I carefully and noiselessly closed the bedroom door behind me and made my way to the table. I sat down, quietly, grabbing the coffeepot to pour myself a cup. Utau looked at me as I did so – no – not looked, glared. I couldn't figure out why she looked so irritated until I got up, hoping there was some bread in the kitchen for toast, my chair screeching on the linoleum, that she covered her ears in annoyance and shot a baleful glare in my general direction.

"She's hung-over," Kuukai said matter-of-factly, his grin growing wider. Utau shot him a glare, and it was then that I noticed how red her eyes looked. Kuukai wasn't just being an ass. I felt a pang of sympathy for my sister, but then I realized we all had to learn at sometime about the aftereffects of alcohol. I continued into the next part of the kitchen, being as quiet as possible while opening the drawers to look for bread so I didn't cause my sister further irritation. I was pleased to find that the kitchen had come fully stocked, so I could make my breakfast.

"You know," Kuukai said quietly, knowing I would hear. "You think in a suite as good as this that there would be better decorated bedrooms."

A quick half-smile flashed over my face, and I was about to reply – that was, before I caught the look on his sister's face. The "say-one-word-and-you-are-dead" look. Oh, sure. Get mad at me. Jeez, sisters. I made my way back to the table, toast partly in mouth, and sat down quietly as possible. Apparently, it wasn't quiet enough, because Utau looked up, prepared to say something evil. I knew my sister pretty well, and when she got that expression in her eyes…watch out. I finished the rest of my toast in a quick few bites, wondering if I could make a quick escape, but before I could do so, Utau spoke. And when Utau spoke when she was irritated…well…

The best words to describe her were 'mind ninja.'

"So, did you and Amu have a fun time last night?" It took a few seconds, but the words finally sunk in, and I stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the table. I saw Utau wince in pain again, but this time I didn't feel bad for her. Serves her right.

"I'll go wake up Amu," I said, stiffly walking away. I could hear murmurs behind me, and that just flared up my anger even more. Opening the bedroom door, I stalked through the room, stopping just above her bed. Amazingly, despite the noise I made, she still hadn't awoken. I felt myself unconsciously smile, letting my "outer façade" slip away to reveal my true character. The character that could feel, instead of just being a mindless drone with a strong front.

My thoughts were interrupted when Amu stirred, turning over in her sleep and then mumbling something incomprehensible. I held my breath, feeling panic wash over me at the thought that she knew I was watching her; (I would never hear the end of the nickname pervert.) As if in a dream – like state, I reached out, touching Amu's cheek with the back of my hand, with almost no pressure whatsoever. A smile stretched over her features, illuminating her face, even in her light sleep. Could she feel me then? Sense me? I sighed internally, knowing that I was getting too far ahead of myself. Amu had known me forever – she and I were friends – she and I had a bond. So. What? That didn't measure up to anything to what I felt for her.

But, somewhere deep inside me, I knew that if she had no feelings for me whatsoever - that every ounce of friendship had disappeared over the years – I would still be okay. But I knew that if she was unhappy, I'd do anything to change that around. Now, the next step was admitting that to her.

I would have continued standing over her, watching over her protectively, but alas, fate did not see that so. Amu turned, yet again, (Did she turn as much in deep sleep? How did I not feel her move?), and she murmured something without seeming to give a second thought to it.

"Pervert."

I knew she hadn't awoken, but it had still soured the moment, so I took my hand off her cheek, and instead picked up the pillow I had used last night. I walked over the doors that lead to the bathroom and – whop – threw the pillow directly at Amu's face.

Amu startled awake, arms flailing slightly, her eyes darting around, and her hair a mess. I internally grinned at the way Amu woke up, but the outer façade me had already kicked in – leaving me unable to smile externally.

"Time to get up," I called in a sweet, mocking tone. Amu's head turned to me at the sound of my voice, her eyes focusing in on mine. I turned on my heel, walking into the bathroom, preparing to close the door, but…then decided to have some fun. "And…don't follow me in, Amu. If you want to talk about what's been going on these past few years we can wait until the plane ride." I saw emotion flash in Amu's still waking up face, and I barely had time to close the door before the pillow hit the door.

When I stepped out of the shower, ten minutes later, the first thing I did was grab a towel and wrap it around my waist. I walked over to the mirror, rubbing over it with my hand, getting rid of the condensation. I shook out my wet hair, specs of water flying everywhere, and when that was done, I brushed my teeth. Once that was done I was nearly done being dry, so I removed my towel, searching for the clothes I had previously stripped from.

"Strange…" I thought to myself. My clothes weren't where I left them. I looked around the area, and all over the bathroom, but my clothes were no where to be seen. The saying, "Well it's not like it could just up and walk away," came to mind.

My concentration was lost when a fist banged loudly on the door. I looked at the door in annoyance, already knowing who would be on the other side.

"Come on, Ikuto," Amu's voice called out to me. "What's taking so long?"

"Just a minute," I called out hastily, quickening my search.

"Oh, Ikuto…" Amu called out sweetly, innocently. The muscle in my jaw twitched in irritation at the thought of what was to come, as I silently continued to look. "Are you by any chance…missing something?"

I looked at the door for a moment, stopping my search, when something dawned on me. No. She wouldn't. She wouldn't dare.

"Amu…" I said - my voice low and dangerous. "Did you take my clothes?"

"What would give you that idea Ikuto?" As she spoke, I grabbed my towel in my hand, wrapping it around my waist securely.

"I'm going to tell you one last chance, Amu." I said quietly, enunciating every syllable. "Give. Me. Back. My. Clothes."

"And if I don't?" I made my way to the doorway, placing one hand on the knob.

"Then I'll do this." I turned the knob, running at Amu with as much speed as possible while the towel would still stay wrapped around me. Amu squealed, trying quickly to take a defensive position, but her reflexes had nothing against someone who used to have a cat chara. I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her close to my chest. I smirked down at her as her amber eyes widened, and spoke as seductively as possible.

"Is there anything I can do that will change your mind, Amu?" I continued staring down at her, my face clear. I could almost hear her heart bursting out of her chest. I almost smiled in response, but I quickly caught myself before I did that. There was no point in denying that I was glad I could still manage to do this to her.

"A…h…d…" Amu desperately tried to form a sentence as I got ever closer.

"Where are my clothes? Please tell me…" I said, giving her a sad stare.

"I…in the dresser," she said meekly.

Once I go the response I wanted, I let go of Amu, letting her down carefully. I walked over to the dresser, and, sure enough, the clothes were there. I held the clothes close to me in one hand, adjusted my towel with the other, and I walked back to the bathroom. But, before I went in, I bent down my head and kissed Amu's cheek. You may be a grown-up, Amu, but you've got the maturity level of a teenager.

Amu's POV

It took me a few seconds after Ikuto kissed my cheek to realize what just happened. After it had registered, I flamed up again, and automatically, I picked up the first thing I could find and threw it at Ikuto. But, just like before, Ikuto closed the bathroom door before it hit. All I wanted was to give Ikuto a little payment for last night – and look what happened. He ended up turning the tables and teasing me. And it wasn't easy, stealing his clothes. I had to wait for the exact right moment – the moment when he closed his eyes to put on the shampoo (the moment I heard the bottle's soft noise and smelt the familiar, generic smell of shampoo) before I made my move. And I had to be fast and silent too.

I sighed, grinning to myself. Only Ikuto could do something like that. Some part of me acknowledged that I was glad that hadn't changed. I grabbed my clothes out of my suitcase, changing out of my pajamas and into my day clothes hastily before Ikuto could come out. I left my suitcase – completely packed up – sure that one of Utau's crew would pick them up later. Heading out, I checked out the scene as I looked around, surprised between the plain looking bedroom and the well put together kitchen. Utau sat at the table, holding her head in her hands and wearing a pair of sunglasses. I chuckled throatily, at Utau shot me a glare. I know who's hung-over, I thought to myself in a sing-song voice. I didn't say it out loud for fear Utau would kill me and Kuukai would just laugh and begin to joke around, which would just make her more annoyed.

I was more like Kuukai than I thought when I originally met him. He and I were a lot alike, with the way we acted. He was sweet and charming, and I had been told by Tadase that I was –

"Shit," I mumbled aloud, not caring about what pain I caused Utau. I ran to the phone on the wall, dialing Tadase's cell without a second thought. I saw Kuukai shoot me a look that easily said what-are-you-doing, but I ignored him. The phone began to ring and I began to silently pray.

"Pick up pick up pick up pick up pick up pick up…" the chant continued endlessly as the dial tone continued to bah-ring.

"Hi, this is Tadase; you've caught me at a bad time…."

Damn.

"But just leave your name, number, and reason why you are calling and I'll get back to you soon as possible."

La-Di-Dah…

The phone operator's prerecorded, monotonous voice kicked in. "If you would like to page this phone number, press five now."

No, I wanted to leave a message.

"If you would like to leave a message…"

Now this is what I was looking for…

"Wait for the beep and begin talking. When you are finished recording…"

I blocked everything out after that for a few moments. I've heard it all before.

Beep.

Still blocking things out…

I felt a familiar arm snake around my waist and mummer something in my ear. "Generally leaving a message involves talking, Amu…" Ikuto said in a low, seductive voice. I startled myself out of unconsciousness, realizing that the tape was already running.

"Oh, hey, I just wanted to let you know that Ikuto's fine, we found him –"

"I would say that I'm a little more than fine…"

Couldn't he at least wait until I finished the message to make comments with double meanings?

"And we are headed back today, as soon as possible…Oh, and…um, I just wanted to let you know that –"

The tape cut off, and I realized after a few seconds that I was out of time. I sighed, realizing that it was pointless to recall him and tell him I loved him. He knew that, didn't he? I snapped my cell phone shut, laying it down on a nearby table.

"And who was that?" Ikuto asked - general curiosity evident in his voice, arm still around my waist.

I opened my mouth to respond, but then I fell silent. Why couldn't I just say his name? Ta-da-say. Tadase.

"Cat got your tongue, princess?"

I blushed profoundly at the nickname, and then stalked away, Ikuto reluctantly (or so it seems) letting me go. I ignored the looks from Kuukai and Utau (who I assumed was slowly feeling better, because she lost the sunglasses) and sat down at the table. I picked up a piece of toast to nibble on, Ikuto sitting smoothly next to me, but then I found that I had no appetite.

Ikuto, Utau, Kuukai and I sat on Utau's plane, preparing for takeoff. This was Utau's second plane, (out of three, I recently found out), and this one was more suited for the average family. This was something you'd see in the average movie – not that I'd seen too many of those. Though, as the plane whirred to life, I couldn't help but wonder what Utau's third plane was like. After a long argument between Utau and Kuukai, Utau used her womanly charms (or that's what she calls them – I for one more so think that it goes along the lines of "flirting.") to convince Kuukai and her to make a temporary alliance. She and Kuukai devised a plan and made me bet that if I lost a game that they made up, she and Kuukai would get he first class, all by their selves. Simply put – I lost. Who knew that the game happened to be a ramen eating contest? So Ikuto and I were stuck in the economic class – though heaven knows why Utau and Kuukai needed a whole cabin to themselves. All in all – I was awfully cautious about going into the first class area.

So Ikuto and I sat next to each other in middle class, and felt an overwhelming sense that I had – A) I had forgotten something. B) That something was going to happen. Call it woman's intuition or whatever you want to call it, but I couldn't help but feel tense. I just wanted to be up in the air, on the way back home, in Tadase's arms as he held me close, never letting me go…

But, even thinking of Tadase made me nervous, for some reason. The same feeling that took over when Ikuto was about to find out about Tadase's and my relationship. But, why would I be nervous at the thought of Ikuto finding out about us? Sure, Ikuto could be awfully overprotective of me sometime, but that had never made me nervous before. But, then again, I had never really dated seriously with Ikuto in my life…

I shook the thoughts away that we presenting themselves in my head, and I turned towards the window. I hadn't even noticed that we had rolled lazily out of the gate and were beginning to pick up speed. Ikuto was right; I did define the phrase, 'spaced out.' It was then that the sound hit me – and when the sound hit me – it hit hard. I opened my mouth open wide, hoping to un-pop my ears, but I had no luck. I closed my eyes, hoping to just block out the noise, and soon I began to drift away, along with the noises of the shaking plane (which made me extremely nervous.) But, as my luck would have it, as soon as sleep began to find me, I was disturbed by – well, take a wild guess. Go on, try.

"What, you didn't get enough sleep last night?"

My eyes opened in annoyance, but I didn't see Ikuto, so I knew that he was behind me.

"I, for one, did not get very much sleep last night, because of a certain cat boy talking in his sleep…" my sentence was cut off when Ikuto plopped down next to me in the middle seat, his arm brushing mine. I looked anywhere but to my left, and I found that we were already in the air. I looked up above me and the 'fasten seat belt' button was no longer lit up.

Spaced out – thy name is Amu Hinamori.

"And what exactly did I say, princess?"

Uh oh, caught in the act.

I began to rack my brain for a suitable lie, but after several moments of not coming up with anything, a triumphant look crossed Ikuto's features. He won the battle, but not the war. After that, the two of us fell into a comfortable silence, though there was still so much to say.

"What's wrong, Hinamori-san?" Ikuto whispered in my ear, his lips brushing up against my ear. I didn't care for that name quite either. In fact, I think I preferred being called princess. He first called me princess ten years ago, on a Halloween trip, and the nickname sort of…stuck.

As I turned my head, I felt his warm breath against my face. He was so…close. I could almost feel his scent coming off of him. I looked up in his eyes, and I froze. His eyes had always, since we were kids, had a hypnotic quality about them. In fact, it was one of the first things that I had noticed about him…

Flashback, Amu's POV

"Amu…" said one of my childhood friends, tugging on my arm. "Come on, come play with us…" I looked around me, and I automatically knew where I was – elementary school, age 9. I was in third grade again, out on the playground. It wasn't like I was the nine year old girl, more so I was seeing myself as a child from a distance, but yet, up close. Like I could see what was going on, like I was standing right next to me, but I was completely invisible to everyone. Anything I did, the little me did, including pinching my arm to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I'd bet the measly remains of my bank account on the fact that I could feel anything she was feeling too. It was….strange.

But I had always been good with strange.

I was sitting on the edge of the sandbox and there were children playing all around me, shouting, laughing, and all around just having a good time. The sun was shining above us, and I felt horribly content. But…I could feel someone watching me that wasn't happy…

I looked up and there was Ikuto, in his 12 year old body. He was staring at me with an unfathomable look in his eyes, and I felt a pang of sympathy wash over me. I already knew what I was going to do, and so I stood up, brushing the sand off my skirt to gain some dignity. I strode over to where Ikuto stood, under an oak tree in the shadows, and looked him daringly in the eyes. I could feel the stares of others on my back behind me, but I only noted it in the very back of my mind. Already, I was beyond anything happening to me. Embarrassingly, my nine year old self noted that he was cute.

I noticed, as I got closer to the older boy, that he was quite attractive. He had shaggy blue hair that was un-gelled and perfectly mussed up, in fact, it looked like he had just woken up and shook out his head. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had. He skin was pale white, and it reminded me of the moon. Just how much time did he spend in the shadows? He wore the same school uniform as everyone else, but he added his own style, like a cross at his neck in the form of a choker and on his wrist as a bracelet. I could tell that it was more of a fashion statement than religious one, and I also saw that only he could pull of that look. The last thing I noticed, and by far it was the most alluring – were his eyes. Midnight blue? Sapphire? I couldn't quite describe them, but they had a certain magnetic quality to them. The kid stared back into my eyes, and I could find no emotion in their depths.

He gave off a certain aura, and I could see why he was alone most of the time. It was clear the message – back off. Well, even though I could read the signs, I still stood my ground.

"What do you want, kid?" he said, staring down at me with an edge of contempt in his voice. He was at least a head taller than me, so I had to look up so I could keep eye contact.

"Listen, I see you alone over there, and I just wanted to let you know –"

"I don't care what your friends put you up to, go –"

"My friends didn't put me up to this," I interrupted. The way he was talking to me brought out someone daring that I didn't know I had in me "I just wanted to introduce myself -"

"Hey, Tsukiyomi," someone called from behind us.

Ikuto looked away from me, and I instantly missed looking at his pretty eyes, to the person behind me, but I just continued to stare at his chest.

"Flirting with a third grader?" One of the guys said. A different one that called out to 'Tsukiyomi.'

"You are such a rebel, man," said the first person who talked. Tsukiyomi rolled his eyes.

"Buzz off," I heard him mutter, and I involuntarily giggled.

"Alright, man," said number two. I still hadn't turned around.

"Have fun," said number one, adding a sexual implication that I hadn't noticed when I was a child. I rolled my eyes, and I noticed that my younger self did too. Kids these days…

After a few moments of silence, I looked back up at the one what was supposedly a loner. I flushed in embarrassment when I realized that he was looking down at the top of my head, and the kid gave a certain kind of smile to me that I couldn't really place the name of. Grin? Quirk?

"You thought I was an alley cat, huh?" said Tsukiyomi. "A free bird."

"Good guess," I mumbled, suddenly embarrassed.

The kid ruffled my head and felt a pout form at my lips. When he noticed the expression on my face, he chuckled, and the sound was all silver. I made a note to commit the sound the memory, though I hoped I wouldn't have to. I wanted to hear it again, I wanted to see him again. I turned around at began to walk back to my class, but he stopped me.

"Wait…" he said. After a moment, he continued with, "I don't even know your name."

I gave him a blinding smile and said, "I am Hinamori. Hinamori, Amu."

"Nice to meet you Amu," he said. I liked the way he said my name, though I wasn't sure why he called my by my first. "And my name it Tsukiyomi. Tsukiyomi, Ikuto."

I nodded and the smile died down a little, though I could still feel it in place. "Will I see you again?"

He nodded, and then seemed to lose interest in the conversation, because he walked away from me, going to sit down at the base of the tree we were under. I turned too, but in the opposite direction and once again began the walk back. It was then that I knew what Ikuto's type of smile was.

A smirk.

I was awoken from my trance by a whack to the head.

I flinched in pain and rubbed the spot where I was hit, and then I looked over at my assaulter.

"What?" I asked in annoyance, my voice a tad too loud.

Ikuto didn't answer; in fact he was looking away from me, his eyes closed. Why I oughta…I mumbled in my head. As I watched him, he seemed to come alive.

"What are you thinking?" He said quietly, almost mumbling. He had been wanting my attention a lot over the past while. Perhaps – maybe – did he miss me? Then why did he leave?

I looked at his form, almost expecting him to open his eyes, but he remained motionless.

"W…what?" I said after a moment. Did I imagine that he asked me that?

"Just answer it," he responded. There, now I knew I saw his lips move.

"Honestly…" I said. Why not tell the truth? "I was thinking about…when we first talked in the school yard."

"Hmm…" he said unemotionally, drawing it out as he exhaled.

"What are you thinking about?" I said to him after a moment.

Finally his sapphire orbs opened, but they remained fixed on the ceiling. "Stuff."

"No, that's not fair!" I protested. His eyes turned to me. "I told you what I was thinking; now you have to tell me!"

Ikuto rolled his eyes at me in a condescending way, and that just fueled my temper. I whacked him in the forehead, like he did to me, and then turned away from him in a huff.

After a moment of me staring at the clouds as we rolled by, I heard him say, "I was thinking about the lock and the key."

I looked at him in surprise, forgetting my notion that I was not going to speak to him for the rest of the plane ride, and he was holding the key in his hand. It was exactly how I remembered it; it still even had a shine to it, like it had been polished. I had never heard of Ikuto taking so much care of something, besides his violin…

Speaking of which, where was the thing? Before I could ask, Ikuto opened his mouth and started to talk again. "Do you remember how we got these?"

My hand dove into my pocket and pulled out the Humpty Lock. How could I forget?

It was my 13th birthday party. There weren't kids screaming about or even loud music playing, it was just a few friends of mine and I gathered around my kitchen table, chewing on pieces of chocolate cake. I remembered that year that my Dad lost his job, so we couldn't afford much.

There was Ikuto, sitting next to me on my right, solemnly chewing on a carrot. I was surprised I even managed to get him to come. There was Tadase on my left, talking and laughing with another one of my friends, Kairi. There was Utau, sitting next to Kairi, with a look on her face that matched her brother's almost identically. And then my little sister, my parents, and a friend my sister was allowed to invite that I didn't know the name of.

When the doorbell rang, my mom went to the door, disappearing from sight and then coming back with a familiar man.

"Uncle Tsubaki!" I called cheerfully, running towards him and enveloping him in a hug around the waist. I heard a rumble of a chuckle in his chest as he looked down at me and ruffled my hair affectionately while his other arm wrapped around me in a return hug. Next to me, my Mother smiled, happy to see her brother, and my Father watched the boys at the table with a warning look in his eyes. He never did like when I brought home guys.

"Hey kiddo," Tsubaki murmured, releasing me from his grip as his hand dove in his pocket. I watched curiously, with wide eyes. He pulled out a small white box with a small silver bow on it, and handed it to me, smiling. "Give one of these to a person you really care about. Don't open the lock until you feel that it is right." I didn't grasp what he had meant, fully, but that was usually how he was. Although I wasn't supposed to open my presents until later, I opened it anyway, and there was the lock and the key.

"The Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key," Tsubaki said, his voice full of an ancient, almost undetectable magic. Give it to a person you truly care about.

There was no doubt in my mind. I took the lock and key out of the box and shoved the lock in my pocket, then walked over to Ikuto daringly. He stared at me with eyes that were older than his fifteen year old state, that had it's usual bit of mischievousness in them and a hint of question. There was nothing else in the room as I held out my hand with the lock in it, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Will you take this?" I said quietly.

Ikuto robotically held out his hand, and I dropped the small key into his palm. He stared at it blankly. He didn't say thank you – he didn't say anything – but I thought I may have seen the foundation of a smile on his stoic face.

I could sense the shift in the atmosphere between us.

I didn't know what it meant, but the term "friends forever" seemed a bit more realistic now.

I was looking out the window again, Ikuto sitting next to me silently, when there was a change in the pressure of the cabin. The shift made both Ikuto and I look up, first at each other, then forward.

A heart stopping sound filled the air.

The sound of the captain.

"Ladies and gentleman, please fasten your seatbelt and put on your masks, and do your best to remain calm…"

Yellow breathing masks fell from the compartment above us, one for every seat in the cabin. I snatched mine and put it over my face, my heart racing in panic as I noticed the plane begin to nosedive into the ocean. I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until Ikuto reached over the seat, calmly taking my hand and making me look at him. We were in a plane crash, falling fast and surely to Earth as lights flashed dangerously around us as the electricity was cut, and yet I had never felt so safe.

The plane hit the ocean with a loud foom, I remembered a horrible pain in the back of my head, and then I fell unconscious.

How was it? Good, bad? I don't like it much, but it's up to you. I apologize, again, for not updating sooner.

Next – I'm seriously considering dropping this story, but if you want, I'll keep going. All it takes is a few good reviews.

All my best – ABeautifulDream