DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything of Shugo Chara. Boo.

Her back was against the wall, eyes staring down in her own. It was night time, the time of day when they really had a chance to see each other without causing commotion with the Guardians. This time, though, it was different. It wasn't just a visit from her friend—who, in her own ways, was her secret lover—that would end with a perverted comment by him. No, this time, it was really different. Her back was against the wall, and his hands were just above her shoulders on that wall, pinning her in his own cage. She had a hard time breathing—how did this begin again?

Thirty minutes ago…

"Ikuto-nya! Where are we going at this hour?" Ikuto walked the streets past numerous houses and slowly passed the streetlights towering over him. He shrugged and continued to walk. "Ikuto! We're heading towards Amu-chan's place! It's too late-nya!" Ikuto flicked his little friend and Yoru cried in pain. Ikuto looked over at him and said:

"I wasn't planning on going over to her place, Yoru. But, now that you mention it, I could stop by. I have yet to see my," he stopped and smirked, "little strawberry." Yoru caught up to his owner and notice the smirk on his face. Yoru then flew in front of his face and then said: "Ikuto-nya! You don't have to see her!" Ikuto stopped.

Ikuto looked up at the house they stopped in front of and his smirk grew bigger. Yoru looked with him and sighed. "Looks like I am obliged, Yoru. Thank you for stopping me," He rubbed the little Chara on his head and saw him jump the wall to her balcony. The lights were on, but the curtains were closed. It was welcoming, so why was it stopping Ikuto? It wasn't like any other time stopped him when the curtains weren't closed. He could hear the little Charas speaking to the girl. The balcony door was cracked open a little bit, but it would make too much noise if he pushed it open.

Instead, his little Chara was put up to a task. "Yoru," Yoru looked over to see Ikuto's hand pushing him into the room. Yoru started to cry, but Ikuto shushed him. "You need to do some investigating for me for a while before I go in. Be my eyes," Yoru looked at his master and understood. He had never seen him like that, though. Not that determined.

----

"Ahh!" Amu said as she collapsed on her bed. Ran, Miki, Suu, and Dia floated above her as she continued to smile after the long day. It felt so nice to just lay down after the day, but so much had happened in those hours! Tadase-kun and the rest of the guardians helped another X-egg go back to its owner and have their heart back, and… Amu opened her eyes and saw the Charas staring down at her in joy. She smiled back and started to laugh.

"Amu-chan, you were great today!" Ran exclaimed as she floated around cheering with her pom-poms. "You helped the egg back to its owner!" Amu nodded and looked at the other three. "Everything is calm again, Amu-chan," Miki said as she continued to draw in her notepad. Suu spun around in glee as her green dress whipped around with her. "It was exciting, desu!" Dia agreed and spun around with her. Amu sat up in her bed and felt so alive. It had been a long time since the guardians encountered an X-egg! It was…exhilarating.

Amu dawned on an interesting fact. "Oh!" She grabbed a little journal from her dresser next to her bed and opened to a new page. The Charas knew about the journal, but they never got around to looking at the contents. And every time they tried looking over her shoulder, it wouldn't work. Luckily, a little purple cat happened to let himself in and sit over her as she wrote. The other Charas couldn't say anything as they wanted to know, too! "I just remembered that this day was perfect!" Suu flew in front of her face and Amu pushed the journal back on her chest.

"Why is that, desu?" Ran and Dia looked floated over to Amu as Miki stayed back and continued to draw (she would occasionally look up to see Yoru). They were eager to hear her statement! Amu blushed a rosy red and started to write again. The journal was close to her face so the others couldn't see, but she did say: "Because Ikuto wasn't…" The Charas smiled and floated around her head. Yoru read the words and started to snicker; Amu did not hear.

"Amu-chan believes she had a perfect day!" Dia smiled. Amu continued to scribble little notes to herself and Yoru continued to read. 'Everything was perfect today! I saw Tadase-kun earlier today, and I saw the rest of them too! I haven't been this happy since…' Amu stopped writing, as if conflicting with herself. But, then she suddenly continued. '…since I last saw him. It's been too long.' He looked at a previous entry, dated only days ago, merely saying: 'I saw him today. Though..I yelled at him, and I don't think he's coming back. Why do I do this? Why am I pushing this away?' Yoru started to float away from Amu and out to the balcony, and Miki followed. Her artwork was done anyway, so she needed to do something.

When Yoru left the room, Miki left as well. There, she saw Ikuto standing on the balcony looking at his little Chara. Ikuto's eyes suddenly fell on the little Chara and Yoru turned to her. "M-Miki!?" Yoru began to blush as the girl floated over to Ikuto. "Ikuto? What are you doing here tonight?" Ikuto looked down at Yoru and then back at the girl. "Just out and about, so I thought about stopping in to say hello to Amu." Mikis' shoulders dropped in sadness and Yoru floated over at her.

"Do you know what she writes in the diary-nya?" Miki looked up and shook her head. "She hides it from us, so we never know what she writes." Ikuto became intrigued. Amu had a diary? "Ikuto-nya! You should know what's in the diary! Amu-chan, she misses you!" Miki looked at Ikuto who smirked. She started to talk: "It's true, though," the smirk began to fade, "she felt terrible after you left a few days ago. She yelled at you for interfering with her life, and she regretted it." Miki sighed and then felt Ikuto walk past the two Charas.

Amu, on the other hand, closed her diary and threw it on the dresser and looked at her little Charas. "Yes, that's right! I thought today was a great, perfect day!" She smiled and the Charas smiled with her, with the occasional 'stubborn Amu' whispered under their breaths. "Yes, in fact, it was perfect because I didn't have to see..!" The balcony door opened and she turned her head towards the door. Her eyes widened as she looked into the midnight blue eyes of the boy that made her blush in embarrassment. "..Ikuto?!"

----

He closed the door, trapping the other two Charas outside, and leaned against the glass door. The three Charas already in the room scattered to their eggs and closed them tight. The dim light of Amu's lamp didn't make it totally dark in the room, but it was light enough to let her know who it really was (not like she would've known anyway). She jumped up from her bed as Ikuto fell on it and she started to yell. "W-W-What are you doing here, Ikuto!?" He laid on his back and closed his eyes.

"Why, is it such a bothersome that I wanted to visit you, Amu?" She hated how he said her name. It always made her shiver. "I was wandering through the night and thought about you." Amu blushed, but quickly turned her head and scoffed it away. Like she would believe that! Ikuto rolled over on his side towards her and reached out to her skirt. Unfortunately, she didn't react fast enough and could only say:

"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" She tried to escape, but he already wrapped his arms around her legs. "Why can't you just humor me, for once?" She slapped him on the head and he smirked. "Pervert!" She was released from his grasp and he shrugged. "I had to try and woo you somehow, Amu." She turned her back to him and crossed her arms.

"W-Well, you don't have to! I'm fine without your attempts of 'wooing'," she said. Ikuto moved over on the bed and thought about teasing her some more. Of course, he had to: "And yet I have a feeling you are curious on waking up in my arms. You know, there's room on this bed for two," and Amu swiftly turned around and was fuming. "I would never get in bed with you!" Ikuto shrugged and went back on his back. "Ugh, pervert!" But I don't mean it.

She turned around to Ikuto and he had a book in his hands. The diary! Ikuto! She quickly jumped onto the bed and tried to grab the book, but instead, he moved just a little bit over to have her just collapse on his chest. She began to squirm as he wrapped his arm around her. "Let me go, Ikuto! And give me back my diary!" He looked down at the girl and smirked. "Why, Amu, I hadn't realized you missed me so much. I'll make sure to come by more often." Amu looked up at the diary and snatched it from his hands.

"Don't snoop around with my stuff, Ikuto! And who says I miss you?!" She quickly turned around away from Ikuto and he just kept smirking. She placed the book on her bookshelf near her bed and turned back to Ikuto. "You're such a nuisance," she said. He shrugged. "I aim to please only you, Amu," and she shook her head. He'll be the death of me!

Suddenly, the light bulb burnt out. It was dark in the room, just the two of them almost ten feet away. The only light that leaked through was the lights from the street. Amu walked around her bed and didn't notice Ikutos' eyes following her. He was intrigued at her, and couldn't figure out why he was so interested in her. She was like no one he had met before. Perhaps it was because of the key and lock, but…there was something else about her.

Amu took her lampshade off and saw the little light bulb dead. She sighed and placed the lampshade back on the lamp. Of all the things to happen, the light bulb had to die. She looked down at Ikuto, who was staring at her, and she started to blush. "Uh, Ikuto?" He raised an eyebrow and she blushed even more. Breathe, Amu! "Why are you staring at me?" He shrugged. He couldn't answer. Amu sighed and walked around the bed again. She didn't hear anything. She was going toward the door to get another light bulb.

"I don't know if I'll ever understa--" Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm and slightly push her back into the room as two arms—one on each side of her—trapped her. There she was, standing against the wall, looking up at the midnight blue eyes that were her moon and he was looking down at her golden eyes that were his sun.

----

Oh, that's right. I was getting a light bulb, wasn't I? Amu couldn't help but stare into his eyes. They were almost calling to her, as if they were saying, "Look." He was making no moves trying to get close to her. He was just standing there over her in the dark. And she was making no attempts to ever escape from his grasp. The two Charas outside looked on at their masters and looked at one another. Yoru blushed. "You don't think…" Miki started, but Yoru shook his head. "Don't say it, Miki!" Miki just smiled.

The three Charas inside peeked from their eggs and their eyes widened at the sight. Even though they couldn't see their faces, they knew what was being expressed. It was obvious. The two stood like that in silence just staring into each other's eyes for a good solid minute before Ikuto began to speak. Her heart began to rapidly beat and her breathing was always hitched in her throat. "Amu," he started. Her heart was now heavily pounding against her chest as her face got hotter. She noticed something, too: he wasn't smiling, wasn't smirking. He was serious.

"I-Ikuto?" He felt his heart beat against his chest when she said his name and he felt so…alive. Whenever he had heard his voice from her, it was as if he had never heard it before like that. But, he had maintained his composure and started to talk again. "Why do you tease me like this?" Amu's eyes widened and she started to get furious. She was teasing him? How was that possible?!

"I'm teasing you?! I sho--" Amu stopped as he inched closer to her face. Her face got hotter. She was starting to feel her heart burst, almost as if she was going to have a heart attack! "…should be saying that to you," she whispered. She felt his hands touch her shoulders, but she couldn't look away. Then, her world was dark. She was brought to his chest and felt his arms wrap around her shoulders and held on. She didn't tense up, like she thought she was, but instead was at ease at his touch. Ikuto let his head rest on top of hers and took in the small scent of strawberries in her hair.

She hoped he couldn't feel her heart pounding against her chest, but she heard him whisper: "Amu, what I mean is why do you lead me on?" She felt it hard to breathe again. "Why can't you accept my love?" How could she respond to something like that? Amu felt his lips touch the top of her head and she felt her eyes close in content. She wanted to cry, really, for what she had been putting him through, but she didn't want him to worry. "I didn't…" Ikuto barely opened his eyes and continued, "I didn't want to go anywhere near you because of my love, but it's hard for me to be away from you when all I can think about is you."

Amu froze. Her mind was blank and her heart was racing. Tears started to fall from her eyes and she could feel her breathing start to tremble. Ikuto noticed and leaned away from Amu. She was holding onto his clothing while trying to hide her face. She couldn't bear having him look at her tears. It would be the first time. "Amu," she heard. She knew his eyes were looking down at her. She had to look. When she did, she saw his eyes full of emotions, full of worry, shock, and love. Then, she felt his hands on her face, wiping the tears away as she spoke.

"I didn't mean to," she said. Her breathing was trembling again and she had to catch her breaths when she spoke. Ikuto continued to look into her eyes with love. "I didn't mean to lead you on." His touch was gentle to her tears, and while she didn't mind him brushing those away, she felt her heart yearning for something more. "Then what did you mean to do?" He whispered. She tightly closed her eyes and had to find the words to express herself. She didn't want to miss this opportunity, not again.

"I m-meant…" her breathing hitched, "t-to…t-to…" She couldn't say it. She found it hard to really let her heart open and to have him listen to those words. He inched closer to her face and she could feel his warm breath slide around her face. If it were hard to breathe then, it was surely harder after that. She opened her eyes and found the courage to say: "I can't." And he nodded.

"Say it." She closed her eyes.

She breathed in. "To say 'I love you'!" She cried. That was enough for Ikuto. He didn't want her to cry anymore, to shed those tears. Suddenly, she felt his lips brush against hers, just a sweet loving kiss that had enough passion for both of them. They only locked lips for maybe three seconds, but it was enough for both of them to be happy. Ikuto thought about making it passionate, but at a girl that age, her heart would explode. He knew better.

When they pulled away it was as if that was supposed to happen a long time ago.

Ikuto looked down at Amu and she looked up at him. Her face was bright red from embarrassment and he leaned down to her ear. He whispered: "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it, Amu?" She shook her head and felt her face heat up even more—if it was possible—from his breath on her ear. Ikuto kissed her cheek and she closed her eyes. He looked at her to see her smiling.

"No, I guess not."

What an ending. NOT.

8D Such a disappointment, right?

Until next time!

TLS