Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara or any of its characters.

I had a burst of inspiration and this was what came from it. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Guns N' Roses

Chapter 1

"The light won't switch on!" I pressed it up and down frantically, feeling dread as darkness closed in on me mercilessly.

"Mama! Papa!" I cowered backwards, feeling my back hit a solid wall. Why wasn't anybody here?

Suddenly, I saw Okaa-san slumped on the wooden floor. Her face was unnaturally pale and her eyelids were flickering slightly, the only indication that she was alive. A shudder passed through me and I approached her slowly, afraid to acknowledge what was in front of me.

"Papa!" I shouted, hoping that Otou-san would somehow hear me and save Okaa-san.

A silhouette of a familiar figure appeared behind Okaa-san, his teeth glinting slightly in the dark. There was a menacing, almost insane aura about the way Otou-san approached me. I cringed back, and my eyes widened instantly, finally noticing that he had a gun.

"Papa?" My voice sounded weak and pathetic, even to myself.

He grinned, one of sadistic happiness. He raised his gun to my head slowly, making the moment seem almost melodramatic. The cold barrel of the sleek silvery pistol pressed into forehead firmly, and I swallowed, my body frozen.

"Please, don't-"

I shot upright in bed, panting wildly, body rigid with utter fear. My mid-back bubblegum pink hair was more than a little tousled, and my chest heaved with relief that it was all just a nightmare. Actually, not a nightmare. I'd been reliving that moment since it happened about a month ago. I pushed my side bangs out of my face easily as my forehead was slick with sweat, to note that it was 3 am in the morning. I pressed a finger hesitantly towards the spot the gun had been. It was all so surreal...

To put it bluntly, my Otou-san had killed my Okaa-san a little over a month ago. I was there. I saw every bit of his sadistic sneer and Okaa-san's limp form. The police had barged in not a moment later. They later deemed him to be insane and mentally unstable, before putting him in a mental hospital to recuperate, and later, into prison. I was not allowed to see him. He was a trained fighter, and that was dangerous in his condition. In fact, he was the one who taught me how to fight. I took after him, and had been trained with his personal fighting techniques. I also kept people out of trouble at school. I had no idea what went wrong.

"Amu-chi!" My best- okay, my only friend in the entire Seiyo High School, attacked me with a hug tightly as I stepped through the gate. I pried her off gently, noting the stares from all the other kids in school. I shoved my thumb into the belt loop of my pants, giving her a pat on the head when she pouted.

"We're sophomores this year, Amu-chi! We've got to join a club! What are you interested in?" My ever energetic friend rambled on. I closed my eyes. Her hyper moods was distracting in the mornings. Especially when I had a bad night. I used the back of my hand to stifle a yawn.

"I'm not going to join anything, Yaya-chan." I told her firmly. I hated to burst her bubble, but I had no interest in anything. No, strike that. I didn't know what interested me. What a joke, right?

It would also definitely be a source of gossip at school, considering my reputation here. Cool n' spicy Hinamori Amu did not join clubs.

"But, Amu-chi!" Yaya whined. I sighed. She still acted childishly when she wanted to get her way. "We have to! It's a new rule regarding extra-curriculum activities!"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. As badass as I apparently was, I wasn't one to break the rules.

She leaned closer to me. "And, you know, maybe it can help you forget the incident." Her eyes sparkled with hope and concern.

I knew she was just looking out for me. "It's over a month ago, Yaya-chan. I'm fine."

"No, you're not!" She insisted. "You should start being yourself again, Amu-chi."

I could never last long against her puppy eyes and persuasive words. "Okay, maybe you're right. I'll join a club."

"And maybe wear a skirt again?"

I chuckled. Ever since that incident, I'd been wearing the guy's uniform to school. It consisted of a white collared shirt with a red tie, with black, slightly dressy, pants. I'd added my own touch to it by rolling the sleeves up, donning a black leather belt with two buckles, and a beanie with small silver studs, making me look slightly punk. Believe it or not, I was used to it. Those pants were way more comfortable than a short red plaid skirt. "No way."

She refrained from commenting any further. She usually spent most of her time with other friends, but was probably trying to be nice to me because everyone thought I had to be traumatised by what happened.

"Here is a list." She handed it to me. I scanned it quickly. Art club, basketball, cooking, dancing, drama club, EPA club, Tri-M Music Honour Society- wait. EPA club? I looked over it once more. That sounded interesting.

"How about the EPA club?" I suggested.

Her eyes sparkled in excitement. "Oh my gosh! You're right! I forgot about it!"

"What is it about anyway?" I frowned, unable to find a description on the list. The other clubs were pretty much self-explanatory.

"Well," She paused. "I'm not sure." A sheepish grin made its way across her face. i rolled my eyes.

"But I heard there's lots of rumours and gossip there!" She defended herself.

Well, great. A gossip club. At least it wasn't a sewing club or anything. Gossiping sounded superficial but I wouldn't need to do anything. "Count me in."

"Alright!" She shot me a grateful smile. "Let's try out together!" She tugged on my hand, leading me towards the staircase.

"Erm, what about classes?" I asked her.

She giggled. "The first and second period's been cancelled so we could try out for the clubs. Haven't you heard?"

That was what permanent isolation was doing to me. I sighed. "Let's just go."

We reached a small classroom. At least, it seemed like one. EPA, the sign read. Well, we were at the right place. Apparently, it was a pretty popular club. Hoards of people, especially girls, were crowding around that place, whispering excitedly.

An azure-haired guy seemingly stepped out of the shadows. Immediately, everyone quieted down.

"He's the club leader." Yaya whispered to me upon seeing my confused expression.

He was wearing the same thing as all the other guys in school - and me, but he somehow pulled it off differently in an elegant, yet slightly rugged manner. His features were chiselled to perfection and his eyes were orbs of a slighter darker shade of blue than his hair. The only thing off-putting about him was his mouth. It was twisted in a grim line. He looked like his face would crack if he ever flashed a smile.

"You," He suddenly said, pointing towards a spiky, brown-haired boy. "That ginger," He pointed towards a curly redheaded girl. "And you," He went on to Yaya, whose eyes gleamed with pride and exhilaration. I was confused. Why was he pointing out to people like that? "And finally," He paused, probably for dramatic effect as he scanned the students gathered there. There was a collective intake of breath as we anticipated his next words.

His eyes landed on me, and a slight smirk adorned his handsome face. "The strawberry pinkette over there."

I narrowed my eyes and stepped forward, my cooler exterior showing itself again. "Pinkette? You're one to talk, perverted, blueberry-haired freak."

I mentally slapped myself. The crowd stared, and a wave of "cool n' spicy!" rang in the air.

The azure-haired guy, however, ignored me. "Follow me, the ones I'd picked out. The rest of you," He eyed us coldly again, with no trace of either a smile or smirk. "You can just go."

My jaw slacked open. He was booting them out? Just like that? What kind of club is this? I mentally asked again.

Everybody went irritably, muttering to themselves. The corridor was clear in half a minute, leaving the five of us.

"So," His back was facing us. "Follow me."

We went into the classroom, which was bigger than it seemed from the outside.

"Are you guys confident in handling yourselves?" He asked us, as he scrutinized our faces carefully.

What a weird question. I noticed the brunette boy nodding, so I followed suit.

"Oh, Ikuto-kun!" The redhead flung herself into the club leader's arms. "I don't know what you mean?" She pouted her red, over-glossed lips as she squeaked, trying to sound sultry.

A vein throbbed in my forehead irritably.

So did one of his. He shoved her off him roughly. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"So you do remember!" She squealed, while the rest of us stared at her oddly."I'm Saaya-chan, your biggest fan!"

"Well, Saaya-san, get out. You're out."

She gaped disbelievingly.

"What are you waiting for?" His voice held no trace of hesitation. He was cold, and calm. "Get out."

With that, she went sobbing as her heels clacked against the ground in the corridor.

"Now that we're done with that." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright, I'll be brief. My name is Tsukiyomi Ikuto, and I'm the leader of the EPA club. Usually, I choose four candidates every year for this club. Now, apparently, we have three. So why do you want to join this club? Do you even know what is it we do?"

Yaya moved closer to me. "He's creepy... I want to leave!"

"You're going to leave me here because you're scared?" I pressed my lips in a thin line.

"I'm sorry, Amu-chi!" She shouted as she fled out of the room.

Ikuto looked annoyed. "Okay, so we're down to two. Come to this room," He gestured to a modern-looking door. "separately in a minute. Brunette's up first. Pinkette, wait five minutes before you enter."

I glared heatedly at him. The brunette just nodded and entered a minute after Ikuto did.

When the time was up, I slinked into the room. No one was in here and it was really dark... "Hello?" I called out, annoyed. "Blueberry? What am I supposed to do now?"

"Sorry to disappoint, I'm not the... blueberry, as you call him." A husky voice further into the room rasped out, snickering a little. "I'm going to test you for entrance."

"Test?"

"Your test is to defend yourself."

Okay, I really hope all of you enjoyed it. That was really fun to write. Please feel free to review, follow, or favourite if you happened to like it! It would really make my day.

- J