Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara. This is pure fan-fiction.

I'm writing my second Amuto story so fast, I hope you like it! I would like feedbacks and comments. Thank you and enjoy!

Puppy Love for a Stray Cat

Ikuto was on his way home when he passed by Amu's house and saw the light of her room on. He smiled to himself at the thought of stopping by and teasing her again. Character changing with Yoru, he jumped onto Amu's balcony with great ease. Just when he was about to surprise her with his presence though, he heard Amu talking in her room. And it sounded like she was talking to someone!

"Hey get down boy! Stay still. Ahh! Hahahaha, hey that tickles. Get off me. Hahahahaha." Amu laughed in her room.

"W-WHO'S THAT?!!" Ikuto thought to himself. Was there another guy in there molesting his Amu?!

"Amu!" Ikuto shouted as he burst open the balcony door.

"Kyaaa! Ah Ikuto! Don't scare me like that! What are you doing here?!" Amu screamed.

Ikuto's eyes searched around her room but couldn't find any guy. Then his eyes went straight to what was in Amu's lap, a small brown scruffy looking dog. Wait, a dog?!

"W-What am I doing here. What is that doing here?" Ikuto said, pointing to the innocent looking pup.

"Well for one thing, this dog has more of a right to be here than you do Ikuto. And second, the reason he's here is because he's lost. I was on my way home with Ran, Su, and my other charas when this dog showed up out of nowhere. He has a collar so it must mean he has an owner. Su begged me to help the dog; she's a big animal lover I think. So now I'm watching the dog while Su and the other charas are looking for the dog's owner." Amu said coolly.

"A-A dog?!" Ikuto said, dumbfounded still.

"Yes Ikuto a dog." Amu said a little annoyed. "You want to pet him? He's really cute! And friendly! Here, look!" Amu said smiling, as she walked towards Ikuto.

Ikuto took a step back as Amu moved closer with the dog in front of her.

"Eh? What's wrong? Wait…….don't tell me…….because you're a cat character you're afraid of dogs."

"Why would I be afraid of a little mutt like this?" Ikuto said, trying his best to keep his cool.

"Reallllly? Then why don't you pet this little cutie?" Amu said teasingly. She couldn't help liking the fact that this time she had something over Ikuto. Ikuto was always the one having the advantage over her but not this time.

Ikuto began to hesitantly reach his hand over the dog until it gave a loud "Arf!" and Ikuto quickly retreated, taking another step back.

"PF-Hahahahahaha! It's true! You are afraid of dogs!" Amu said, as she burst out laughing.

"Who knew a big guy like you would be afraid of a little dog! Ahahahaha."

Ikuto began to get a little irritated. "I'm not afraid of dogs. This one is just all dirty and smelly looking. How can you stand holding it?"

Amu took a small sniff of the dog. "Hmm….he's not that bad. But I guess I should give him a bath. And some food. Sorry Ikuto, but I don't think I have time for your games tonight. I have a lot of work to do with this dog."

Ikuto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was he losing to a little dog?! This dog was taking all of Amu's attention! If the dog wasn't here right now, Amu would be blushing completely red as Ikuto smiled his teasing smile. She was practically acting like the dog's mom, saying that she was going to feed and give it a bath. Wait…that gave Ikuto an idea…

"Wait, Amu. Why don't I help you take care of the mu- I mean dog? I could be the dog's daddy and you could be his mommy. What do you think? That'll make us a couple for a night." Ikuto said with a smirk.

Amu blushed at the thought of Ikuto and her being a couple. Looking down at the dog she shook off the thought. "H-How do you expect to take care of the dog if you're afraid of him?"

"I told you, I'm not afraid of him." Ikuto said as he walked towards Amu and the dog more courageously. Amu was shocked to see Ikuto gently pat the dog's head, but it was a bit awkward since he just kept moving his hand up and down.

"Hmm….I don't know……" Amu said hesitantly.

"Come on. Your parents aren't home right? And I bet they don't know you're keeping a dog in here. If they come home I can easily hide myself and the dog rather quickly."

Amu was a little shocked that Ikuto knew things so well. It's true though, what Ikuto said. With his cat-like reflexes he could grab the dog and jump out of the balcony or something. That is, if he could pick up the dog without getting freaked out. But it would help….and maybe Ikuto wouldn't be so afraid of dogs after hanging out with one for a night.

"Okay. You can stay. But you have to promise you won't be just another stray I have to look after."

"Aww. You don't like looking after me? Didn't you say I was like your big cat?" Ikuto said, as he leaned close to Amu's face.

Amu started to lean back just as the dog gave another loud bark and Ikuto quickly moved away again. Amu was kind of glad she was holding the dog and decided to keep holding him for protection……and to tease Ikuto.

Some time later…

Amu, Ikuto, and the dog were now in the shower room giving the dog a bath. Amu made sure to keep a close watch on Ikuto to make sure he wasn't going to screw something up.

(Author's note: For this fanfic please give no mind to the fact that Ikuto has already been in Amu's shower room before. Please be open minded. Thank you!)

"Please don't tell me you're afraid of water too." Amu said teasingly as she started filling up a tub of water for the dog. (cats hate water right?)

"No, I'm not." Ikuto said, scooping up some water and pouring it over the dog.

"Why? Is mommy Amu afraid of getting wet?" Ikuto smirked as he splashed some water at Amu.

"Hey!" Amu shouted as she started splashing some water towards Ikuto's direction too.

Amu started laughing at her and Ikuto's little water war. She even almost forgot that they were supposed to be giving the dog a bath, not each other. After some time she calmed down and started getting to work at scrubbing the dog. Ikuto just kept pouring. Amu smiled to herself and was now happy that she let Ikuto help her take care of the dog. He made it a lot more fun, even though Amu ended up doing most of the work.

"Hey, Ikuto." Amu said, still scrubbing the dog.

"What?" Ikuto said, not paying much attention.

"Guess what I secretly nicknamed the dog."

"What?" Ikuto said, now a little more interested.

"Chibi-Ikuto!"

"What?!"

"Hahahahahaa. You see this dog reminded me a lot of you. When I first found him, he kept following me no matter where I went. Just like a stray cat! Stray cats seem to follow people more than dogs so I was little surprised. And the same goes for you! Ever since the day I met you, you always seem to follow me! Even ending up on my balcony now and then. You're just like my stray cat!"

Ikuto looked at Amu for a while and was silent.

"Oh no! Did I really just say that???? Did I really just say Ikuto was my stray cat? Shoot. Now Ikuto is gonna-"Amu was blushing red.

Noticing this, Ikuto gave a smug smile. "So…..you think of me as your stray cat, huh?"

"Y-Ya. Like a tic that won't leave me alone!" Amu said trying to keep her cool.

"Eh……don't be like that. You've been so nice to me. Even allowing me to stay in your house for a while." Ikuto said smiling.

"T-That's cuz…"

"I'm you're stray cat." Ikuto said, finishing her sentence.

"Errrr….just….get back to cleaning the dog!" Amu said as she went back to work.

Ikuto smiled to himself as he did what Amu commanded. He looked down at the dog and even started running his hands through its fur.

"Did you hear that mutt? She nicknamed you after me. I guess you're not so bad." Ikuto thought to himself as he started paying more attention to taking care of the dog.

After the dog was nice and clean Amu took it into the kitchen to find something to feed it. Ikuto followed behind her and sat on a chair as he watched Amu rummage through the fridge with the dog in one hand.

"Let's see….what do dogs eat……" Amu said to herself as she opened drawers.

"Hey Ikuto, speaking of animals that like eating a lot, where's Yoru?"

"Probably ran off at the first sense of the dog."

"Should have guessed that Yoru would be afraid of dogs too." Amu said. This time Ikuto didn't say anything back, just watched as Amu went through the kitchen. Ikuto wasn't really paying attention to their conversation since he was curious if Amu really knew what she was doing in the kitchen. She never striked him as the housewife cooking type. But then he remembered Su, one of Amu's guardian charas, Su was the girly type of character.

Ikuto began to drift in thought as he thought of Amu's other guardian charas; Ran, Miki, Dia………would Amu end up with all those characteristics in the end? As Ikuto pondered these thoughts he heard a low rumbling. He snapped out of his thought and searched for the noise. Then he heard Amu speak.

"Ikuto, don't tell me you're hungry too." Amu said, now in front of Ikuto.

Ikuto looked at her then at his stomach. The rumbling he heard was from him. Then he gave Amu a teasing smile and said "Yes mommy Amu, daddy Ikuto is hungry too. Why don't you cook for me and dog?"

Amu turned red from embarrassment. "Didn't I say you could only stay if you didn't cause more trouble?"

"Ya but I can't work if I'm hungry. What's wrong? You can't cook? Actually on second thought, you better not; you might poison me or something."

Now Amu was really mad. She couldn't stand someone like Ikuto putting her down like that. "Okay then! I'll cook you meal! Just wait! It'll be the best meal you ever tasted!" And with that Amu speeded through the kitchen taking out meat packages and frying pans.

Ikuto stared at Amu with wide eyes as she speeded through the kitchen. He smiled to himself as he watched Amu trying her best to cook a meal for him, even if it was out of spite.

"There, finished!" Amu said as she held a platter of pan fried meat.

Ikuto looked at Amu; she had a big smile on her face for a job well done. She was just so cute standing there, like a little girl that just won some big award.

"Well, well, well, so you can cook Amu." Ikuto said, smiling.

"Yep. See. Told you I could." Amu said, sticking her tongue out at Ikuto.

Ikuto started walking towards Amu just when the little dog was too. During Amu's massive cooking sprint the dog stayed on the floor watching her. Now the dog was right below Amu staring at a piece of meat falling from the plate. The piece landed right on Ikuto's foot and the dog ran to bite it!

"Arg! Wait! Hold on!" Ikuto shouted as he scooted back, looking at the dog's sharp teeth.

"Ahhh!" Amu screamed as Ikuto accidently bumped into her. And with that, the plate went crashing to the floor along with all of Amu's hard work.

"Ah-" Ikuto started until he looked at Amu.

Amu was now fuming red as she looked at the mess on the ground. Tears began to swell up in Amu's eyes.

"Ik-" Amu began, only to be interrupted by four flying charas right in her face.

"Amu-chan! Amu-chan! We found the dog's owner!" Ran said excitedly.

"It's a little girl!" Miki said.

"Yes, we saw a little girl talking to someone about her lost dog. And she said that he was small, brown, and had a green collar." Dia said.

"Just like the dog we found!" Su said happily.

"T-The dog's owner?" Amu said questioningly.

"Yes! Yes! We'll show you Amu-chan! Come on hurry!" Su said, as she started towards the direction of the door.

Just then Amu and everyone heard the turn of the keys on the door.

"Amu! We're back!" Amu's parents shouted as they began to enter the house in the other room.

"Oh no! The mess! The dog! Ikuto!" Amu shouted in distress as she looked around.

The shugo charas now looked down at the mess with worried faces. What were they going to do?

"Oh no this is bad. Ikuto you better hide. Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, you guys better hide the dog. And hurry! I'll just have to tell my parents I made a mess by accident." Amu said, as she took one last look at the kitchen and headed towards her parents to buy some time.

Ikuto watched as Amu disappeared, and then he looked down at the mess….then the dog. He only meant to tease Amu when he came over. He didn't mean to cause her this much trouble. Was there a way to fix this up? "Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, I need your help…….."

"W-Wait just a moment, okay? I just need to make sure that everything's ready before you come in." Amu shouted back at her parents, as she backed into the kitchen.

"Amu-chan, quick, character change with me and use Remake Honey!" Su said as she flew in front of Amu.

"Su! Where's Ikuto and the dog and everyone?"

"Don't worry about that. Just hurry! Character change!"

"Amu, what's the surprise?" Amu's parents said, as they entered the kitchen.

"Surprise! I made you guys dinner!" Amu said, as she gestured her hands toward the food on the table.

"Oh Amu! It looks wonderful!" Amu's father said.

"You made this all by yourself? Come join us Amu!" Amu's mother said, as she began to take a seat and patted the one next to her.

"Uh….hahahha….um……sure." Amu said hesitantly, as she took a seat. "Where the heck did Ikuto and the dog go?" Amu thought.

"Errr…if I had to pick a place, I bet Ikuto is hiding in my room. I bet Ran and everyone else also hid the dog in there too. Ohhhh I hope Ikuto will be okay in there with the dog. Wait… what am I saying?! It should be - I hope the dog is okay with Ikuto in there. Geez it was Ikuto who got me in this mess in the first place! I was just lucky Su acted fast with the Remake Honey idea." Amu thought to herself as she stabbed the meat on her plate with her chopsticks.

"Umm I'm done now. So if you'll excuse me…..I'll be in my room doing a lot of homework. So don't bother me." Amu said as she started to back towards her room.

"Sure thing Sweety! Thanks again for the meal!"

"You're welcome!" Amu shouted as she ran up the stairs to find out what awaited in her room.

"Ikuto?!" Amu shouted as she burst opened the door of her room.

"W-Where is he?"

Amu entered and started looking around.

"The balcony?" Amu thought to herself, as she walked towards the open door.

"Yo." Ikuto said, flipping upside down in front of Amu with his cat ears and tail.

"Kyaa! Ikuto! I told you not to scare me like that!"

Ikuto just gave Amu a sly smile.

"W-Wait…where's the dog?"

"Amu-chan!" The shugo charas said as they once again popped up. "The dog's back to his owner! Ikuto took him there!"

"W-What??"

"Ikuto came up with the whole plan! He asked me, Miki, and Dia to lead him to the dog's owner and told Su to stay behind to use Remake Honey with you. It all worked out!" Ran said, now dancing with her tiny pom-poms.

"He character changed with Yoru and even carried the dog all the way there and made sure it went inside with its' owner." Miki said.

"Yes, the little girl was very happy." Dia said smiling.

"I don't think I could have thought quickly enough at the time to use Remake Honey." Su said, now joining the other charas.

"I-Ikuto did all that?"

Amu couldn't believe it. This whole time she was thinking of how she was going to yell at Ikuto and now Ikuto was the one to clean up the whole mess. He even got her parents to praise her! What was she going to say now?

"Y-You did all that? You were okay with holding the dog?"

"I just don't like owing people." Ikuto said, looking the other way.

"What…is this?"

"It's for you. Its compensation." Said the little Yoru.

"What? Compensation?"

"You were making a snack like this…"

"Ikuto…."

Ikuto noticed Amu looking down with a bit of a sad face.

"I should have put more faith in him…" Amu thought to herself.

"Ya well I had to touch that dirty dog again. After all our hard work with cleaning it, it just got all dirty again by your cooking." Ikuto said coolly.

"W-What?! You bumped into me!"

"Aw, I get no thank you for returning the dog?"

Amu realized that Ikuto was trying to make her feel better, even if it did include making her a little angry at him.

"T-Thank you…" Amu said. Then, without thinking, she pecked him on the cheek.

When she realized what she just did, Amu quickly moved her hands toward her mouth and blushed the color red Ikuto was waiting to see since he came through her balcony.

Ikuto was quite at first then smiled. "You're welcome….mommy Amu." He teased as he started to leave.

"Wh….Uh…Ah….errrr Ikuto! Get out of here you stray cat!"

"Don't you mean 'my stray cat'?"

"ERRRRR Ikuto!" Amu shouted as she looked around her room for something to throw at him. But it was too late, he was gone.

"Darn it, that cat."

"C-Calm down Amu-chan." Miki said.

"Throwing things isn't very lady-like." Su said pulling at Amu's arm.

"I don't think that will solve anything Amu-chan." Dia said with a sweatdrop.

"Ya, he'll be back anyway. He's a stray cat, remember!" Ran said, shaking her pom-poms.

"Ya….my stray cat." Amu said smiling, as she continued to look out her balcony.

"My stray cat will be back."

So that's the end! I really hope you enjoyed reading it. Was the beginning a little too boring? I was also kind of worried that I might have made Ikuto a little ooc. Again please give me feedback whether good or bad (please don't be mean though.) Happy fanfic reading!