Many weeks passed before you saw Ikuto again and Riku still wouldn't talk to you. That was his loss you guessed, and although you swore up and down you didn't like him you couldn't convince yourself to take the bracelet off. Maybe you did like him, but why would he like you? Even if his flirting was serious once he really got to know you, and all of your insecurities he would leave- most people did, which is why you lacked in the friend department. Everyone thought you were really cool and, well hot, until they got to know you that was when they realized the outfit projected confidence you didn't feel. The school year was almost done and you were very happy about that!
As you walked home from school, thinking about how much better your parents had become, you spotted Ikuto. You spent the two minute walk towards him agonizing over whether or not you should say hello, Mai spent most of it telling you too. As you approached you heard he was on the phone, you weren't sure what made you do it but you stood around the corner of the building he was leaning on so he couldn't see you and listened in. You didn't really hear anything except "I'll be there soon...Goodbye, sir." Maybe he had some school thing? You were about to 'casually' bump into him until you noticed he was on top of the building running away. Now you were curious, no one ran like that for school- so you followed him. It made sense at the time. As you pulled yourself onto the building, thanks to a handy wall, you realized you would have to run fast to keep up. You started at a sprint and thanked whoever had designed Japan with buildings close together, after a while you caught up with Ikuto. As you followed at a safe distance you noticed a swarm of angry looking eggs with rather large X's on the front- they wee headed for Ikuto! What would you do, if only you could help him, he didn't even see them. A purple light started to glow, but where was it coming from. You looked around in confusion and then with horror as you realized it was coming from you.

"Ikuto!" You screamed out. All of a sudden there was nothing but purple light- coming from everywhere. You were naked, kind of- there was no shape to your flesh just a vague bodily outline. Your H/L (Hair Length) flowed all around you, Mai appeared in front of you "Don't be afraid Y/N-chan." she whispered as her egg enclosed around her. You gulped as it whooshed towards you and rippled through your chest. You could feel it in the middle of your chest, enfulging your heart. Breathe Y/N, you tol yourself. Something was happening, you were spinning slowly and then faster and faster. When you stopped you realized you had clothes on, it was a short black skirt with neon purple fishnets and a purple tank top with holes in it, there seemed to be a black under-shirt. As you landed on you feet you realized you had your favourite boots on and a black leather hat fell onto your head, the purple wrist band appeared like it did when you chara-changed. Ikuto turned around and faced you, his jaw dropped.
"You can character transform, Y/N?" Ikuto asked, shock filling his voice.
"Apparently.." You answered in awe, at that moment you remembered the X-eggs. Something came over you and you threw your hat at the group, it circled them and they stopped- unable to move, the hat flew back to you and you caught it in your hands, with a flick of your wrist it went back onto your head. Your fingers formed an upside down heart- similar to a spade- and you thought about the impurity of the eggs, a pulse of purple seem to be coming from your hands- it sent out waves in time with your heart beat- and slowly the eggs turned white. They flew back off, and somehow you knew they would be okay. With a groan you collapsed, no longer in a 'character transformation' as Ikuto called it. You could feel yourself sliding off the roof, that is until I hand grabbed you and pulled you up. Carefully Ikuto picked you up in his arms and held you against his chest.
"I'll protect you Y/N" you heard him whisper softly, with a soft sigh you snuggled you head into his chest and let yourself drift into unconsciousness.

When you woke up your room appeared to be empty, you were in your room and confused how did yo-Ikuto! The memory flooded back to you, he left you- just like you knew he would. With a groan you started to sit up, but from somewhere beside you Ikuto shot up. He had been sleeping on the floor next to your bed.
"Ikuto? I- I- I don't understand?" You were confused but his deep blue eyes comforted you.
"You saved me Y/N, and when I got you home you asked me not to leave. So I stayed." He said it so simply and innocently, there was none of his normal sarcastic defence. You nodded.
"It's cold, you can sleep in my bed if you want. B-but no
funny
business!" You said firmly, he smiled down at you and crawled made sure there was an apt amount of apace between the two of you. As you started to fall asleep you heard a very soft; "Goodnight Y/N."

***
When morning came around you realized you were wrapped in Ikuto's arms and you could feel his soft breath on your cheek. There would be no way to get up without waking him up, but you really didn't want to wake him up. You rolled over to look at him, your face was inches from his and his soft lips were so close to yours. You didn't want to breathe on him out of fear of waking him up. He let out a light sigh and pulled you closer- what was it you were feeling? Normally there was nothing but anxiety or odd numbness. But now, now it was like your inside were being lit up, and it was wonderful and scary. It wasn't much longer until Ikuto woke up, he continued to hold you for a little long before abruptly he slid away from you and was on the other side of the room.
"I-uh-I should go Y/N. You shouldn't really be around me, staying here was stupid." He said softly.
"Wait, your shirt is you wait for like two seconds I'll get you a replacement." He hesitated and then nodded. You rushed out of your room quickly and searched in your dads closet, the first thing you found was a button up black shirt. You came back in, part of you was scared he wouldn't be there but he was. You handed him the shirt and offered to fix the one he was wearing. He opened his mouth to protest but promptly shut it, there would be no winning this argument; you turned to grab your small sowing kit and you heard Ikuto rush to take his shirt off. As you turned around to grab the shirt he had just taken off you caught glimpse of his skin. You could't help the gasp that escaped your mouth, Ikuto self consciously put the button up shirt on quicker. His pale white skin was covered with bruises.
"Ikuto! Stop!" You said rushing towards him, without thinking you grabbed his hand which were in the middle of buttoning the shirt up. You opened the shirt and took it off him, he stood there- defeated. "I'm sorry." You said before you started touching around his ribs, it was difficult because you wanted to be gentle but you had to know if anything was broken.
"What happened Ikuto?" You asked as he started to put his shirt back on.
"My step-father is not a patient man. I am not the good guy, Y/N. You save X-eggs, I destroy them. I don't have a choice, I don't want to be the bad guy but there's no other choice. I have to go, Y/N." He looked so broken, he looked how you normally felt. You looked down at the bracelet he gave you on your wrist and knew you would help him no matter what.