Hey guys,

I wanted to thank Riri-kun, God Fenrir, Natsu713160, Bassethound1021 and a lovely anon for all their reviews :) thankyou soooooooo much for taking the time to tell me what you felt.

so, here's my next chapter, I hope you like it :)

no guarantees that all chapters will come out this quickly, but hey, I'll do my best.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Amu's pov-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOO

I quickly dragged the thief away until we were well away from the crowd and safely in Nadeshiko's home/shop. I gave Nade the list of groceries I needed and she disappeared to go fetch it all. It was only then I let out a relieved sigh and turned to meet him, the so-called Robin Hood of this town. I must admit, although I was never very attracted to guys, he was very good looking. Dark blue hair, Safire eyes, slender body. His wanted posters didn't look half as good as the real thing, and plenty of girls had swooned over those- I'm sure they would have feinted at the sight of the real thing. Blushing at my thoughts, I quickly turned away and regained my composure before talking to him. Seeing as there were no other customers it was safe to converse with him now.

"Hey, my name's Amu; sorry about before… don't worry, I won't actually make you work in the mines."

His gaze seemed to sweep right through me, almost as if he was attempting to read my soul. It was several minutes before he answered; I had almost begun to fear he hated me. "You saved me." He stated bluntly. I couldn't figure out whether it was a thankyou or an accusation.

"Ummm yeah? Want did you want me to do, let them kill you?!" I said, getting slightly angry at the fact that he didn't seem grateful in the least. "Well I'm sorry that I was trying to help you maybe I should have just let that man kill you seeing as you obviously-

My voice stopped short when he suddenly pulled me into a hug, his slender arms pulling me to rest against him. I felt my face explode in crimson red as my blood immediately reacted to my embarrassment at being so close to him. Just as I opened my mouth to scream at him to let me go, he spoke.

"Thank you, Amu." His voice was soft and mysterious, but at the same time sincere. "Im sorry if I offended you, I'm just not used to being helped by strangers... I was attempting to figure out your ulterior motive." He pulled back a little to look into my eyes. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes; it wasn't like any expression I'd ever seen before. Then that look was gone, replaced by an annoying smirk that looked like trouble. "Well, well, well, Amu, your face looks like a tomato." He teased, making me blush harder.

"sh-shut-upp!"

He pulled me in closer and whispered into my ear, "You're so adorable when you blush like that Amu. He said, emphasising my name in a creepy way that sent shivers down my spine. Then all of a sudden he leaned a little closer, as if he was about to whisper something to me and BIT MY EAR!? WHAT ON EARTH? THAT HURT!

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" I raged, "WHAT RIGHT HAVE YOU TO BITE MY EAR? WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT?"

'Well," he answered with a calmness that really irritated me, "that was my thank you for saving me."

I'm fairly sure neither of us could tell if I was flushed with anger or embarrassment, but before I could continue raging, Nade came back with my stuff. Seeming to understand I wasn't in the best of moods, she completely ignored my blush (thankfully) and gave me my stuff. "Seeya soon Amu-chan, be safe while walking past 'lento, sometimes thieves that don't only steal from the rich lurk there," she said, glancing at Ikuto.

"Okay 'Nade," I replied, "bye".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—Ikuto's pov-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wow, I am starting to find this girl MORE interesting than before, if that's possible. She seems to have a slight split personality issue, but even without that she is different to any other girl I've ever met. She's obviously smart, extremely strong and athletic, beautiful, polite, easily angered or embarrassed and she doesn't scream and worship the ground I walk on. Yup, she's a strange one.

I love the fact that in order to make it look like I'm her prisoner she's holding my hand tightly as she drags me through town. Her hand was warm, her slim fingers intertwined with mine, but there was something wrong. Something was seriously out of place; I just had to figure out what. Ugh, it's right here, in the back of my mind, I just can't grasp it. Just as we reached the end of the town I figured it out. Her hands were way too calloused to be the hands of the lady I assumed she was, after all, if her father had that much influence on the townspeople then surely she was rich? That's when I had a small flashback about Nadeshiko's parting words to Amu. "Seeya soon Amu-chan, be safe while walking past 'lento, sometimes thieves that don't just steal from the rich lurk there." Nadeshiko basically just called Amu poor… but her father funds heaps of village projects? Now I'm really puzzled.

I decided that the best way to get answers was to be my usual blunt self. So, instead of beating around the bush, I simply turned to her and asked. "Amu, why is it that your hands are calloused, you are way too strong for a lady of your age and Nadeshiko basically called you poor back there but yet you said your father funded many town projects?" I blurted in one breath, which I'm actually quite proud of.

I could clearly see the shock in her eyes, just before her façade slid back into place and her face became neutral. "You noticed all that did you" she said, sighing. I waited patiently for an answer but none was given, which irritated me. I did not like being ignored. Especially by her, for some reason.

"Well?!" I practically screamed, causing her to jump, startled back to reality, as it seemed she had been lost in thought.

"Oh…" she replied looking into my eyes, searching for something. She obviously didn't find what she was looking for, which I expected, because my eyes never show my thoughts. My thoughts were proven true when she simply said "that's none of your concern," and walked a little more ahead of me.

I looked back, we were very far from the town, but the road was straight, and so we had to keep walking for a long time, that way if anyone from the town was watching us they wouldn't see her let me escape. Not knowing the answer to my question was killing me, so I reached towards her and grabbed her arm. As I reached towards her she instantly flinched, which confused me, but I had already grabbed her arm. Once I had her arm she started to cry silently, pain written on her face, clearly trying not to scream. I immediately let go, not sure what I did to cause such a reaction. Wait…. Oh please tell me that her father doesn't…

"Amu, pull up your sleeves." I ordered firmly. That's right; it was not a request but an order. She obeyed after a moment's hesitation, and my thoughts proved to be right yet again. Her arm was completely purple with bruises, and I assumed the rest of her was too. I suddenly felt anger explode through my mind, who would dare hurt someone as pure as the girl in front of me?!

"Amu did your father-

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT! THAT MONSTER IS NOT MY FATHER AND HE NEVER WILL BE!"

I just stood there shocked at her outburst.