Amu groggily rubbed her eyes, not wanting to face the day but knowing she had to. As she sat up, pain shot through her back. Rubbing her area in pain, she turned around to find that the cause of her annoyance was the uncomfortable metal pole of Ran's bed. 'Must have fallen asleep here last night.' She thought to herself.

She stood up so see Ran sleeping in an awkward position on her bed. 'She must have crashed during our pillow fight.' Amu smiled at her slumbering friend. Taking care of Ran made her feel like a big sister again, even though she was younger. But she was kind of like the big sister to the entire gang, always acting as the mature one ever since the day she had joined the 'family.' Even more so now that Ran had given her leadership position to the pinkette recently, thinking she was better suited for the job. Even though Amu knew on the inside she was not qualified at all. Because on the inside she was incredibly immature. On the inside she was still that little girl who had lost her parents in a horrible fire. On the inside she was still the young teenager who had lost her baby sister. Still so young...

On the inside.

And only on the inside.

Seeing the time, Amu decided it was time to wake up the others and prepare for the day. Another day, another dollar. At least she hoped.

"This is it? Not really much of a breakfast…" Kiseki complained, frowning at his small bowl of cereal. Kiseki was the newest addition to the 'family.' Before he lost his parents, he was a spoiled rich kid who was used to getting everything he wanted. He had tried many times to run away to his aunt and uncle's place, but Amu had caught him and convinced him to stay, explaining to him that by being near them he would put their lives in danger. Because he was an amateur, he didn't steal. At least yet. He was still in training.

"Sorry Kiseki, were low on money right now…," Amu paused biting her lip before speaking again, knowing the negative reaction she was going to receive "because of which, I'm going to be going out today."

"What?" Practically everyone screamed at once.

"B-but Hinamori-sama! What if something happens to you! We can't risk losing our leader!" Tadase tried to protest but Amu simply put her hand up.

"I'm sorry Tadase but I can't sit here doing nothing any longer. I want to help our family. No. I need to help our family. So I'm going on duty today. And I'm bringing Rima, Rhythm and Kusukusu with me."

The three mentioned nodded in solemn agreement while Tadase sighed in frustration. He was deeply, hopelessly in love with his leader. Something about her strong seriousness made her so…attractive. But he knew it was unrequited. Amu would always just see him as a brother. And for now that was okay. But he always hoped that one day, when Easter wasn't after all of them anymore, she would want a normal life with a normal husband…and he would be right there to fulfill that role.

The group had split up about 10 minutes ago and Amu was still looking for a target. She tended to go for the perverted looking middle-aged men; after all, they were the easiest to trick. Amu looked towards the large skyscraper on the left and, thinking she saw a potential target, backed up slightly, right into a young man.

"Ow! Oh sorr…y." Amu stumbled on her words as she now gazed at the most beautiful human being she had ever seen in her entire life. He looked to be about the age of nineteen, with gorgeous brown hair and stunning big, green eyes. He was staring right back at Amu, his eyes wide with shock and amazement. And Amu just barley noticed the shade of pink on his cheeks.

"No no no! It was my bad um…"

"Amu Hinamori." Amu blurted her name out without hesitation, still hypnotized by the man's beauty.

"I'm Kukai Souma. It's nice to very nice to meet you Amu-chan." Kukai said with his trademark grin, shaking Amu's hand excitedly. Amu blushed at Kukai's immediate casualness with her name. "Hey you're about my age right? What university do you go to?

Amu twiddled her thumbs in embarrassment. "Actually, I don't go to university, I-I can't afford it. I have to support my family by working." Then something hit Amu like a sack of bricks. Why on earth was she acting so shy and embarrassed around this person? Why were all her emotions suddenly on display? How could she have formed this immediate connection with a total stranger?

"Aw I'm sorry to hear about that."Kukai responded with genuine sympathy. "Hey I know! How about you join me for lunch? My treat!" He then suggested his confident grin still clear on his face. Kukai had no idea why he was inviting this girl he just met on a date, but something just felt right about it. Like it was destiny.

Amu smiled and blushed ever so slightly at the brunette. She didn't know what it was about him that made her true personality come out, but she was about to find out.

"Sure! Sounds like fun!"

Kukai held the door open for Amu as the two entered a very modern café. All the people appeared to be very wealthy, but also pretty young, as if they were college kids who had been paid into the top schools. Kukai really stood out from the crowd; however everyone smiled and waved as he walked through the door. 'He must be rich if all these stuck up people are acting like they're his best friend' Amu thought with a scoff, looking over at Kukai. But when Kukai saw Amu's stare, all he did was smile warmly right back at her. 'Well maybe he's a little different from them' Amu thought with a smile.

"So what do you work as?" Kukai asked after they had gotten a seat. At the sound of the familiar question Amu smiled deviously. This was a very constant question asked by her targets so of course she already had the answer prepared.

"Oh I do some off the street work, you know, whatever's available that day. My family and I move around a lot so I can't really have a permanent job."

"Hey that's awesome! You know the freshman are going to move in soon and some of my buddies and I are starting a moving business, taking the heavy stuff into their dorm rooms and helping the freshie's unpack. And I know this is kind of sudden and all but it would really help if we had a forth man on the job. I-I mean woman." Kukai blushed at his mistake making Amu giggle. "So you think you're up to it? It would really help us out and it would give you and your family some cash too."

Amu thought about the offer for a second. On one hand her family would be so pissed if they found out that she had taken up another job besides stealing. But on the other hand Kukai was just so cute and nice, and it really seemed like he needed her help… "Sure." Amu finally responded happily, causing Kukai's entire face to light up.

"That's great! Oh they're gonna be so happy when I tell them that I've found a fourth person! Oh and don't worry, my friend's are really nice and very courteous to girls. Probably more than me…" Kukai said with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Amu giggled to relieve his awkwardness.

Kukai and Amu stayed at the café for about an hour, talking about random things and constantly laughing. Amu had never felt so free and liberated. Kukai just made her feel natural. Normal. Amu had not realized that she desired to be normal until this day. She had always figured that her 'family' life was how it was and it was always going to be that way. And she just kind of…accepted it. But now…

Kukai looked at his watch with a frown. "I'm sorry Amu-chan I've gotta go. Can I get your number?"

Amu also frowned at this. She couldn't have a cell phone because it would be too easy for Easter to track them. But she couldn't tell Kukai that. "I can't exactly afford a cell phone, but can you give me your number? I'll contact you on a pay phone."

"Sure." Kukai said, as he started to write his number on a napkin. "Here you go. Call whenever you want." The college boy winked at Amu who smiled in response, her heart beat ringing in her ears. "Call me soon okay? Our first job's on Saturday, I'll tell you the details when I get your ring." Kukai stared to run out the door, obviously late. "Bye Amu-chan! I can't wait to get your call!" Amu waved at her new friend as she watched him run down the street.

When Amu and her partners in crime met up at their designated meeting point, she realized she had forgotten one important detail. 'Crap I never robbed anybody!' Amu bit her lip at the thought, knowing now she would have to make up an excuse. Just that moment however, the other members came around the corner. "S-so how'd you guys do?" She asked with a bit of nervousness.

"We did great!" Kusukusu and Rhythm exclaimed simultaneously.

"I put on a slapstick-mime-comedy show on the street while Rhythm here jacked all their wallets! Total we earned 628,321 yen!" Kusukusu shouted with joy, shoving the wad of cash in Amu's face. Amu almost jumped with joy, but managed to maintain her composure. "That's a very good job you two. Nice work. And you, Rima?"

Suddenly, Rima dropped a giant bag on the sidewalk, confusing the other three greatly. "Um Rima? What's this?"

"Expensive art, jewelry, gold bars, the works." Rima explained, taking out an example of each item as she spoke. The trio just stood there with their jaws dropped.

"How did you…? Never mind, I don't want to know." Amu said shaking her head, while Rhythm and Kusukusu shifted through the bag eagerly.

"So what did you get Hinamori-sama?" Rima said unemotionally. Amu blushed slightly and looked away from the others.

"W-well I landed a job." She grumbled under her breathe.

"Hey that's not fair Hinamori-sama! You've told us before that we're not allowed to take jobs because they could help reveal our location to Easter!" Rhythm complained, Kusukusu and Rima nodding in agreement.

"Well I know this guy. He's an uh, childhood friend of mine! Also he's been one of my 'inside sources' on what Easter's doing. Apparently, they're starting to send even more people out into the field so we may need to start using the wigs and color contacts again." Amu lied.

"Aw but those contacts hurt my eyes!" Kusukusu complained as the four started to walk back to base.

"Well maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to reuse it after a construction man stamped his feet all over it."

Sorry for the wait ^_^'