.●▫Two▫●.

Suddenly, a dark aura erupted around Amu, and for a moment, everyone thought that they had been transported to Hell. Amu muttered towards Nikaidou in an unusually low voice, "What did you just call me?" Nikaidou-sensei seemed to shrink under the evil atmosphere and he chuckled nervously.

"U-um…I meant, Hinamori Amu," he stammered out to the class. The malicious air seemed to evaporate after Nikaidou's correction, and Amu's eyes turned back to the class.

The ferociousness in her spheres of gold pierced the souls of all of her new classmates. She was using her special Kon Sunnachi technique, something she had picked up in her Yanki days. After even that swift connection, Amu let a flicker of sadness pass through her eyes.

After her Kon Sunnachi technique was finished, she looked towards Nikadou-sensei expectantly. Nikaidou was still recovering from Amu's first little rebuke.

"Hu—oh yeah! You're seat is right over there, by Hotori-kun," Nikaidou-sensei informed her. A young, peppy boy raised his hand to signal he was this 'Hotori-kun'. Amu inwardly groaned. She always had to sit by the wuss.

Amu strode over to her window seat and plopped down. She stared at the window, lost in one of her memories…

~NYANKO~

Thirteen year-old Amu stared at the wooden blade before her. Her heart rate increased, and her knuckles began to tremble with excitement. NO!

A voice in her head broke this moment of desire. The voice was reasoning with her as best as it could. Amu! This isn't the way a proper young lady should act! the voice scolded.

What if I don't want to be a proper lady? Amu hissed back at the voice.

What would your mother and father think of this? the voice snapped back. Amu froze. She hadn't expected that. Since Amu was the heir to their family, she was expected to act properly in both public and private. She kept her parents happy by being a quiet, cute, and soft-spoken little girl. But in truth, she was tired of this charade she had to put on every day. She wanted to be an independent, strong willed girl who didn't have to fake her way through life.

But, even then, she didn't want to disappoint her beloved parents. Amu closed her eyes, not sure of what she should do. And that's when a quote popped into her head:

'If you live someone else's life, you're not really living at all.'

Amu didn't want to be a sweet loli who ended all her sentence's with a high pitched 'desu'. She didn't want to wear things that felt uncomfortable on her delicate skin and have people giggle and mutter things like "She's just so adorable!" whenever she entered a room.

SCREW my parents, Amu shrieked in her head.

B-bu—the voice was completely cut off as Amu caressed the beautiful Bokken in her hands, the smooth wood mesmerizing her.

That was the first time Amu had broken free of her Oujou-sama act.

~NYANKO~

Amu briskly walked out of her class when the bell rang. That memory had been surprisingly vivid…it had happened 4 years ago…Amu wondered why she had had it in the first place.

She snapped to attention when she felt something poke her. Amu arched her back, feeling a body being lifted into the air, and flipped the body over—hard.

The body groaned, and Amu could make out blonde hair and crimson eyes. She instantly recognized them.

"Oh, shit! I am so sorry…er…Hotori-san?" He nodded. "Anyways, just a tip, but…it's not smart to sneak up on me…I'm a little used to surprise attacks…"

Hotori-san said quickly, "Oh no, it's not your fault, I should have know better than to surprise you." He seemed to be a bit nervous. "Well, actually I was going to ask if you needed any assistance in getting around school…" his voice trailed off, as if he were having second thoughts. Amu raised her eyebrows, amused.

She leaned closer to his face and asked, "You sure you'll be able to handle me?" Tadase blushed mildly. Ah, I love being a woman in charge, she thought. Amu turned back into a proper position and they began to walk again.

He kept surprisingly quiet after this, and just followed her like a docile puppy. That gave her enough to time to delve back in her memories…

~NYARI~

Amu was still only thirteen. But she had a mysterious talent for using her bokken. One night, Amu carefully opened a window to her home in the country, and leaped down to the ground with accurate grace.

She made her way out of the house's land via picket fence. Amu ran stealthily towards where she had seen those beautiful soldier-like people engage in incredible battles.

Today, she would engage in a battle as well.

She made her way towards the closed road on Uragiru Drive. There, she saw a small group of women, who looked about 16, who were fighting with bokken's like Amu's. Amu watched the excitement with deep respect for the fighters.

When that battle was over, Amu stepped into the middle of the circle, ready to fight. But all she received was the crowd's snickers.

"You should go back home, little girl. You could get really hurt!" a voice called from the crowd. That's when something inside Amu clicked.

She was tired. She was so damn tired; no one could ever know the depth of just how tired she was.

She was tired of being a goody-goody who had to be extra quiet so her parents wouldn't notice this new obsession of her's. She was tired of being called 'Young Lady Heiress to the Hinamori Family'. She was tired of acting like her little sister. She was tired of being picked on by the 'poor people'. She was tired of being weak.

And then, Amu changed. She ripped the ribbon that kept her hair in a neat ponytail out, her wild, shoulder-length pink hair whipping around in the wind. Her healthy, flushed skin paled to a ghostly white. Her canine teeth sharpened. Her pupils dilated, until they overshadowed her irises, and then shrank to slits.

Amu broke into a fit of rage.

She raised her bokken and began to whack everyone in sight with it.

BASH! A girl with short black hair was sent flying to the concrete road. CRACK! She broke a curly-haired girl's left arm. FWAP! Amu struck a tanned girl right in the face.

Screams echoed around the night air. Pleas of mercy, battle cries, and shrieks of pain could be heard for blocks. Amu kneed the leader in the jaw and smashed her face in. The stout woman fell to the ground, blood spurting from her nose.

Amu had won.

She panted for dear life, and sweat was clearly visible on her form. She had never done anything like this before. Amu had not just won any fight.

She had won against an entire Yanki gang single-handedly.

~NYARI~

Amu was so caught up in this memory, she didn't notice the large posse that was walking in front of her.

"Hina--!" Hotori-san tried to warn her, but was cut off as Amu bumped into the head of the group.

"Ouch!" they both cried as they landed on the floor. Amu rubbed her forehead, and looked up at who was responsible for this.

She wasn't expecting him to look so damn hot.

She stared up at a guy who had navy, tousled hair and penetrating, azure eyes, and from what she could tell, one heck of a six pack.

"Ack! What the he—" the guys voice was immediately cut off when he saw Amu.

Ah, you must be thinking that they're both thinking of what the other looks like naked, or that it's love at first sight, or maybe that they're about to have a mad make out session.

Well, the boy was all for it. But if you knew Amu, you would know that Amu has more self control over her emotions than perhaps 97% of society.

"Watch your self, pretty boy," she snarled at him. The boy was dumbfounded, but immediately retaliated.

"Well, it's not exactly right to daydream in the halls, little girl."

"WHAT did you just call me? Where do you get the right to call me a 'little girl'?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Well, I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi. Who the hell do you think you are?!"

--

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! And Amu and Ikuto meet! Oh, I just want you guys to know that both Amu and Ikuto have a very sad past in this story. Also, I wanted Amu to like flip Nikaidou over, but I settled for her messing around with Tadase. Amu's 17, while Ikuto's 18. Here are some more terms:

Himamori- this is a pun; Hima means having spare time. It's kinda like telling Amu to get a life.

Kon Sunnachi- means 'Soul Snatch'

Nyanko and Nyari- these are variations of 'Nya', the Japanese equivalent to 'Meow'. I'm using these to have flashbacks.

Oujou-sama- means 'Young Lady'

Self Control- I know some of you may not like it for Amu's character, but Yanki's are known for their MOST OF THE TIME emotional self control (that excludes revenge and anger)