Just to make it clear, the POV alternates between Amu and Ikuto, starting with Amu. Sorry for any confusion!

Prologue: Memory

All I've got is a memory

To hang on to one I can't leave behind

- Zoot Woman

The night my parents died, a police officer came to my door. All I can remember thinking was, "What did they do this time?"

See, my parents were never the type to stay out of trouble. Ever since I was born, both of them had been struggling to keep food on the table. They saw it as doing what they had to do. I saw it as committing useless crimes, risking being caught, and actually getting caught, just to put food on the table. I didn't really care if I went hungry. There was never enough food on the table to begin with.

I don't remember much after the police officer told me that both my mom and dad were in critical condition. Being my 16-year-old girl self, I passed out. It was all too much. I heard the people hovering over me, wondering aloud if I would be okay. I just wanted to see my parents.

When I arrived at the hospital, they woke me up slowly. I just wanted to see my parents, but they told me that I had to stay in bed. I, on the other hand, was not stupid. I knew that if I didn't get to my parents quickly, they wouldn't be alive when I got there. I shoved the people surrounding me aside in hopes of getting to the door. Amazingly, not even the police officers, relatives, and friends watching me struggle could keep me away from my mom and dad. I sprinted down the hallway, looking around frantically for the ICU. I saw the signs for the ICU, two levels down.

"Damn," I thought, "just what I need. I've got people chasing me, and now I have to scramble down two flights of stairs?" I groaned and started on my way.

Descending the stairs was a nightmare from my personal hell. I had always hated stairs. I just held my breath while I was headed down, and sooner or later I'd have to get there.

I burst out of the stairwell at lightning speed. I whirled about looking for the sign.

"Where is it?..."

There!

I scampered towards the door. A nurse saw me and asked, "Who are you here to see?"

"Midori… *pant* and Tsugumu… *pant* Hinamori…"

"Relation?"

"I'm their… *pant* daughter."

"Okay, please be as quiet as possible, Hinamori-san. Their injuries are rather extensive, so be prepared for a somewhat gruesome sight."

"Got it."

We walked into the ICU, and I was shaking. My nervous imagination was taking over my mind. What if they were battered and bruised? What if I was too late?

He showed me to their beds. It turns out that for once, my overactive imagination had been right. They were covered in blood, scars, cuts, burns, and bruises. The X-rays next to their beds showed multiple broken bones.

I broke down. They were going to die.

I don't remember much about what happened after that either. All I know is that the chase party that had come running after me was back, and that I was being showered with offers to stay with people. We all knew that my parents were going to die.

The night that I killed that man and woman, I saw the headlights coming. All I can remember thinking was, "Why are they driving on the wrong side of the road?"

Kukai-kun had invited me to a party that was being hosted by some of his friends on the soccer team. I thought, "Why the hell not? It couldn't hurt to stop by. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Famous last words? I think so.

I didn't drink that night, but there was something about that party that gave me an adrenaline high. When they tested me for drugs and alcohol later that night at the hospital, I came back clean. Absolutely nothing was in my system. No one really knows why I was so affected by that party. All I know is that when I left that party, I shouldn't have been driving.

I headed out the door the moment Kukai-kun started calling people unicorns and doing back flips over the couches in his buddy's living room, which was at about 1:00 in the morning. Just a little too much fun for me. I started up the engine of my car, savoring in the beautiful sound. I loved that car more that anything. It had been a present from my parents when I had gotten my license. It was the last thing that they gave to me before they disappeared. I treasured that car more than anything.

I pulled out of Kukai-kun's driveway just as my favorite song came on the radio. I thought, "What luck! But why would anyone want to play this song at one in the morning?"

The freeway was mostly deserted by the time that I left. As I drove along, I started to get drowsy. I started singing and dancing to try to keep myself awake. After all, it was one in the morning, and I was tired. My adrenaline high had suddenly vanished. I felt my eyes starting to droop. I lost my concentration for a split second.

But a split second is all it takes for the world to change.

Their headlights shone.

The world slowed down.

I started to cry. I knew it was over.

I heard the impact. I heard the airbags go off. I saw it flying toward my face and eventually hitting me. I saw the crushed metal and the flying parts. I saw the fire start. I saw the flames envelop their car, and eventually, mine. I smelled the burning flesh and gasoline. I heard their screams. I heard mine. I saw them searching for any sign of help that would never come. I heard them calling out someone's name. Amu-chan? I couldn't really make it out that well. I called out to my parents. I heard my sobs. But I felt nothing.

That was when I blacked out.

I woke up in a hospital bed. I knew that I was still alive because I was sure that death wouldn't be this uncomfortable. A man, who I assumed to be my nurse, was standing over me with his hand at my wrist, taking my pulse. I just let him be. He would know that I had woken up one I started talking to him. I opened my mouth to speak, but all I could hear was a squeak. Well, this was strange. I finally managed to whisper, "What's going on?"

"You're suffering from multiple bruises, burns, lacerations, and broken bones. To simplify, Tsukiyomi-san, you're pretty banged up and should probably be dead by now."

"Wait, how long has it been since my accident?"

The nurse thought about it for a second, and then responded, "About a week and a half."

A week and a half? What about the other people? The people I hit? Were they alive? Were they dead? Did their family know? Were they going to sue? I didn't have any money to pay for that!

"And the others? The people I hit?"

"Dead. About an hour after they got here. It was a pretty sad sight. Their daughters were there, just sitting in chairs next to them, holding their hands as they died."

Daughters? What had I done? I had ruined their family, their lives!

"Are their daughters here? Can I apologize?" I knew that it had been a week and a half, but there was still a chance!

"Yes, one of them is, actually. The oldest daughter has had joint problems since birth, so she has to come in for a monthly checkup, which so happens to be today."

Was it fate? Was this my chance to beg for forgiveness, to make them see that I had never wanted to kill anyone? I needed to find them.

"Is there any chance that you could ask them to see me? Please?"

"Yes, Hinamori-san's appointment should be over pretty soon, so I can probably get them here in about five minutes. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes!" I replied anxiously, "but please hurry!"

I couldn't believe it. Was it fate that told me to wake up that day? Or was it just luck? Whatever it was, I needed to find out.

When the nurse from the ICU, the same one that had led me to my mom and dad a week and a half ago, came into my joint checkup, to say I was surprised would be an understatement. To say that I was confused when he asked me to come with him was even more of an understatement. I just followed him like a good girl, my knees still a little sore from my checkup.

When we came to the door of the ICU, the nurse stopped me and said, "I have to warn you, this boy is probably the last person you want to see right now, but he has a legitimate reason to ask you here. So, he has told me to ask you to keep an open mind and to at least listen to what he has to say."

I nodded. Could this be the person who hit my parents?

He led me deep into the ICU. I had no idea what to expect. Would he be a gross old drunk? Would he be an attractive young drunk? I stopped the nurse.

"Excuse me, I have one thing to ask. Was this man drunk when he hit my parents?"

"I guess you figured out who he is. No. Nor was he under the influence of drugs."

What? How was this possible? But he had to have been!

"Okay, thank you," I whispered.

The nurse led me towards what I could only assume to be the bed of my parents' killer. When I saw the man, or rather boy, occupying it, I was taken aback. I couldn't believe what I saw. The boy looked to be about 17 or 18, but his chart by his bedside said that he was barely 16. It was confusing because his features made him look older than he actually was. His midnight blue hair was only comparable to his eyes of the same color. His face was angular with sharp curves, marred by burns, cuts, and bruises. Even under his injuries, he was pretty attractive.

He opened his mouth to speak, but all he could get out was a small squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi."

"I'm Amu Hinamori. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes Hinamori-san, you actually can. See, as you've probably figured out by now, I was the one that hit your parents." A despairing look came over his features, as if he was being eaten alive by his thoughts. "I know you don't want to give it to me, but I'd like to ask for forgiveness. You don't have to forgive me, just please hear me out."

I nodded my head. I felt my hands shaking, and I was on the verge of tears.

"I don't know how it happened, or why, but what I do know is that I never wanted any of this, especially for you or your family. Please, just know that I'm sorry and that you don't have to forgive me, now or ever, if you don't want to."

I didn't talk for a long time. I just sat there, stared into my lap, and cried. When I did look up, Tsukiyomi-san was looking at me, a concerned look in his eye.

"I- Um- I have to go!"

I ran. It's all I knew how to do. I couldn't stay there. Even if I could learn to forgive Tsukiyomi-san, forgiveness wouldn't come today.

Well, I couldn't blame her for running. I did kill her parents, however unintentional it had been. What I really wanted to know is if she was ever going to forgive me. I could only hope that she would call me. I had slipped my contact information into her bag while she wasn't looking. Maybe one day she'd find a way to forgive me.

I was discharged from the hospital a week after I woke up. The people from the hospital gave me a lift home since my car was totaled. It was the only thing I had lost in the accident.

Hinamori-san had lost so much more.

I returned to my apartment to find it in total disrepair. I checked the food in the fridge. Most of it was rotten and spoiled. I groaned and decided that I'd clean it out later.

My apartment had always seemed empty to me since my parents had been abducted, but it seemed even more desolate now that I had come back. I sat on my bed, not doing anything. I simply sat there as my guilt ate away at me. What had I done? What had I done?

After I met with Tsukiyomi-san, I returned to our old house. It seemed so empty lately. I dropped my keys on the counter. The note that Ami had left me two days after Mom and Dad had died was still sitting right where I had left it. It said, "Left to live with Auntie. I'll miss you tons, but I know you'll want to be by yourself. Take care, Amu-chan. Call me lots. Love, Ami."

I had known that Ami would go off to live with Auntie. She was my mom's sister, and Ami absolutely adored her. Ami would be in good hands, which meant that I was free to do as I pleased. When I had read it, I smiled seeing Auntie's phone number scrawled in Ami's neat print at the bottom.

I went into my parents' room and looked around at the various things that they kept in it. Ami's and my school pictures, pictures of their wedding, and a scrapbook of Ami's and my best pictures, both funny and pretty.

None of it mattered now. All of it was gone, over.

I cried again into their pillows. It was the only thing I had left of them. Everything in this forsaken house reminded me of them. The kitchen reminded me of when I would come home to my mom making me a snack. My room reminded me of how my dad would scare away the monsters under my bed. The living room reminded me of eating ice cream on family movie night. Even the bathrooms reminded me of the days that I couldn't take a bath by myself, so they had to help me.

I had to get out of this house. Now.

A/N
Peaches: Hello there! Yeah, so this is my first story, and it's not my favorite. And it's a little random. And there's some OOC-ness. My apologies! I promise it'll get better!
Ikuto: Yeah, it better be good. Don't screw up my character or I'll-
Peaches: Oh, stuff it. Do the disclaimer.
Ikuto: Peaches does not own Shugo Chara! or Zoot Woman.
Peaches: Please R+R! Ta-ta for now!