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Thoughts raced through her mind as Amu Hinamori strolled through the park, her three charas buzzing around her head, playing tag.

"Tag! You're it!" Suu called sweetly as she tagged Ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Ran exclaimed excitedly, chasing after her.

Their voices, however loud they may be being so close to her ears, were drowned out by her hectic thoughts. She kept replaying the memory in her head, over and over again, as if trying to prove to herself it was real . . .

*flashback begins*

"Hey, Hinamori-san!" Tadase ran up to her, calling her name. She stopped, spinning around and waiting for him to catch up to her. "Hinamori-san!" he repeated, slightly out of breath.

"Oh, hello, Tadase-kun," Amu greeted, taken aback. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, I just came to inform you, tomorrow's guardian meeting has been cancelled."

"Wha?!" Amu exclaimed, surprise taking over. "I mean, uh, um, why?"

'Cool and spicy. Cool and spicy. Cool and spicy,' Amu thought to herself as she waited for the king's reply.

"Everyone bailed on us. Kuikai has an unexpected soccer game and Nadashika has dance practice," he explained.

"W-well what about Yaya?" Amu asked, desperate for the meeting to take place.

"Well, you see, I told her already and when she found out there wouldn't be any snacks . . . well, you know how Yaya is."

Amu contemplated that for a moment, trying desperately to think of a way the meeting could go on. Her parents both had things to do tomorrow, and the only way she could get out of watching Ami was the gaurdians' tea. Amu didn't know how much longer she could stand her 'big sister' facade before she snapped. Ami was in a very . . . annoying stage right now.

"The only way the guardian meeting could take place," Tadase continued, as if reading Amu's mind, "is if it were only you and me."

Amu stood there, staring with a blank expression as Tadase rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, waiting for a response.

"J-just you and m-me?" Amu stuttered dumbly.

Tadase nodded. "But if you don't want to we could always cancel--"

"No!" Amu nearly shouted. Her face turned scarlet. Lowering her voice, she said, "No, no, it's okay. I'll go." She hid her face in embarrassment.

"Really?" Tadase beamed, all awkwardness gone. "Alright then! Same time same place?" Amu nodded, still not meeting his eyes. "Okay, see you then! Bye Hinamori-san!" And with that, Tadase turned and jogged home in the opposite direction.

Miki waited until Tadase was out of hearing range before floating up to Amu and stating, "You know, he practically just asked you on a date, right?"

Amu's head snapped up, eyes wide. "A d-date?!"

Ran ignored her question and started a cheerful chorus of "Go, Amu-chan! Go! Weee!"

"Would it really be considered a date if it was originally a group activity?" Suu asked sweetly.

"Of course it's a date!" Ran piped up. "YAY! Go Amu-chan! Your first date!" (This takes place before Amu and Tadase's date at the aquarium.)

*flashback ends*

And so that's what brings Amu here, walking (more like marching) through the park in flip-out mode, screaming at herself and panicking about what to do about her kinda-sort-of-but-not-really-date with Tadase tomorrow, when she just so happened to pass a tree where a certain kitty cat was taking a little snooze.

Ikuto awoke from the sound of a familiar voice yelling a few yards down the pathway. His ears twitched, and he easily picked up what was being said with his super cat senses.

"What am I going to do?! What am I suppose to say?! What am I going to wear?!" The distressed little girl was in such a frenzy that she didn't realize that she would still be wearing her school uniform, since it was right after school and on school grounds. But she didn't pay any attention to her charas as they tried to make her see any logic.

Ikuto smirked as he spied a pink head walk straight towards his humble tree. He grinned as an idea popped into his head. Just a little closer . . . little closer . . . ready . . . and . . . NOW! When Amu was only a mere two feet away, Ikuto leaped from his perch on a branch and landed directly in front of a now frozen Amu.

"Now, care to tell me what such a cute little girl would be doing interrupting my cat nap?"

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!" Amu shrieked, startled, and jumped ten feet in the air, landing on the opposite side of the path, a good three yards away. "I-I-Iku-t-to!" She stammered, shaking in shock and fear. She could have sworn she was alone. "H-h-how did--?"

"Are you going to just sit there stuttering like an idiot or are you going to answer my question?" the cat asked in a bored monotone.

This fired up Amu, and she stood abruptly, yelling "I'm not cute," her fists balling up at her sides and standing up on the tips of her toes to look bigger and more fearsome.

She didn't know what to expect as a response, but it certainly wasn't what happened. Ikuto swooped in on her, more like a hawk than a cat, so that they were only a few inches apart. He lowered his head to hers so that his lips were placed conveniently beside her ear.

"You are to me," he breathed, his soft lips barely brushing her ear as he spoke, sending a slight shiver down the young girl's spine. This caused something to spark inside of Amu, and she froze.

What is this . . . feeling? Amu thought to herself, thoroughly confused. It's like . . . how I feel around Tadase, only . . . different . . . was it better? I'm not sure . . . stronger? Yes. Definitely stronger. Tadase was like a small candle flame compared to this burning sun. But . . . what exactly is it? It can't possibly be love, but . . . this can't be a simple crush, can it?

Amu stared deep into Ikuto's midnight blue eyes as they stared right back. She couldn't look away even if she tried. . . . Not that she wanted to. . . .

Maybe . . . I really do like him. Maybe, just maybe, I might . . . possibly . . . even . . . come to . . . love him. Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe we were meant to be together. Just like our lock and key. We matched. Not quite the same, but not very different either. Maybe Ikuto is the solution to my problems; the answer to my questions; the missing piece to the puzzle of my life; the key to not only my lock but . . . maybe my heart as well?

"Thinking about me, are you?" Ikuto teased, his famous smirk apon his face, eyes gleaming.

Amu shook her head furiously, ridding the thoughts from her mind. She glared at him, her face red with both anger and embarrassment.

You don't know how right you were. She thought with both venom and desire.

"NO! Who would do a dumb thing like that?!" She spat in his face, which was still only a couple inches away from her own. Realizing this, she took an uncertain step back and folded her arms over her chest in an attempt to act 'cool and spicey'. Ikuto saw right through it though. But instead of saying so as he so badly wanted to, he stuck with a sarcastic remark.

"You still didn't answer my first question."

No reply.

"Amu . . . " he said, a mix of threat and mischief in his voice.

She snapped. "IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR SLEEPING IN A PUBLIC PLACE! TRY FINDING SOMEWHERE MORE PRIVATE TO TAKE YOU LITTLE CAT NAPS IF YOU LIKE THEM SO MUCH!!"

Ikuto grinned.

"Good idea. How `bout your house?" He the question out so fast that it took Amu a moment to figure out what he had said. Just as she opened her mouth to reply, Ikuto took his chance. "Great! I'll see you there at midnight! I'll bring snacks." With a wink and a protest (Guess which came from who?!) Ikuto turned on his heel, chara changed with Yoru--who had been surprisingly silent during this entire exchange--and sped off to who knows where, a huge smirk still plastered to his beautiful face.

Amu fumed, steam practically pouring out her ears, which were now bright red. This earned a giggle from her charas behind her. She spun on the spot and lashed out her fury upon her charas.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE ALL OF YOU?! HUH?! SOME GUARDIAN CHARACTERS YOU ARE! LEAVING ME IN MY TIME OF NEED! WHY I OUGHT TO--"

Ran, Miki and Suu instinctively took off, Amu chasing after them, waving her fists in the air with a continuous stream of threats insults flowing from her mouth at twenty words a second.

Amu's kinda-sort-of-but-not-really-date with Tadase was suddenly not as important to her as it was only a mere ten minutes ago. Her excitement for it had died down by a huge fraction, and now it hardly seemed any more special than your average every day guardian meeting.

Could it be because of Ikuto? She asked herself. Maybe . . .

But she knew the real answer to her many questions.

Yes. Yes, he was.