So uh…I guess this is kinda way later than I promised…

Ikuto: Yeah no duh.

Hey! It's not my fault! A lot of things have been going on.

I lost my best friend…(well okay I left her as a friend because she started doing drugs, but still), The car died, so now I have to stay with my dad…which is death….with really good food, I was suppose to go somewhere this weekend, but because I have no car, that ain't happening.

So yeah I'm uber emo right now. I can only write when I have time to at school. Mainly because that's the only time I can get on a computer, AND I left my book at my house, but since I wrote it at school, I can get the document from there.

So I'm having a rough time…bah, whatever, enough of my whining.

Thanks to:

.x

Foxgrl18

brazzette

Chelsley

Little sisterz Atsuko n Mizuki

Amuto-4eva (who also reviewed the 1st chapter as well, just after I had written the second one)

Cecil Hoshina

GakuenAliceGRL

Zero-amu (who ALSO reviewed the 1st chapter as well, just after I had written the second one)

Air Angel32

For all the lovely reviews.

Oh damn this A/N took up a page! Shoot. Well sorry anyway! Onto the next chapter!

Chapter 3

As Amu awoke, she found that she was no longer in any pain. She sat up slowly and saw the lady with black hair leaning against the rock. Something large and black was hanging in the tree above her. Amu's eyes were still a bit fuzzy but she stood up, more graceful than usual she found.

"Oh, you're awake now. Hello." the woman's voice was gentle and light.

"H-Hi…"

The black shape behind the woman began to move and it came into focus for Amu. It was a large bat. And not large as in, oh a pretty fair sized bat, large as in WAY larger than a normal bat. Just about the size of a text book in length. It flew over to fly directly in front of Amu's face. She stifled a scream and backed up.

"Don't be scared of Hoshiko. She's harmless…well sort of…" the woman muttered the last part, but Amu still heard it crystal clear.

Amu stood where she was and looked cautiously at the woman. "What happened?" all she could remember was seeing this woman that was in front of her now, than feeling pain in her neck, then nothing. She lifted a hand up to where the pain started, only to find two small puncture wounds. "What the-"

Amu's eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at the woman and the bat that was now perched on her shoulder. The woman shifted uncomfortably.

"I am SO sorry about that! Normally Hoshiko would never…but she did this time…and…I am so so sorry! Your life is totally ruined now!"

Amu only felt more confusion. How is my life ruined? I mean…it's only a bite mark. It'll clear up. "I'm sure it'll clear up…no big deal."

"It'll go away just fine, no doubt about it. But that's not why! Oh Hoshiko you should NEVER turn someone. EVER."

"I'm sorry but I'm really confused at the moment. Can you please explain what's happening?"

"Yes, yes that's a good idea. But not now. It's getting to light out and I need sleep. So do you. Oh you're going to have a hard time waking up in the morning…. Come back tomorrow. I'll be waiting a little ways into the path."

"Um….alright, but what about the security guards?"

"Don't worry about them. They work for me. I'll make sure they let you in. And only you."

Amu grabbed her flashlight. "How long was I out?"

"Three hours. It's now 4:00 am."

"WHAT! OH MY GOD! I'VE GOTTA GET HOME! Where's the camera?"

"Oh well I'm afraid that when you fell, it fell with you, and it was damaged." the woman gave her an apologetic smile.

"Damn! Oh well. I'll worry about it later. I have to get home. Fast."

"Well I can get you to the end of the path quickly, but that's as far as I can get you."

"Alright! So how is that going to happen?"

"Get on my back and close your eyes, and KEEP them closed." the woman ordered and crouched down.

Amu was very unsure about this, but she got on the woman's back anyway. She shut her eyes and then she felt a little movement under her. Then she felt the wind whipping her face.

"Tell me your name." the woman asked lightly.

"Amu. Hinamori Amu."

"Amu...That's a nice name."

"What's your name?"

"Hikari. Kuro Hikari." Amu nodded. Her eyes were still closed but she felt Hikari's body shift under her and she was placed on the ground. "You can open your eyes now."

Amu opened her eyes and saw the beginning of the path.

"Wow thanks. How'd you get me here so fast?"

"That shall be explained in time. Come back here tomorrow around 10:00 pm." Hikari told her then disappeared from sight.

Amu looked around but found no traces of Hikari. She shook her head and made her way to her house. It was a good thing her parents never woke up until 7:00 am, and her sister didn't wake up until 7:30 am. She made it to her house in no time because she ran the whole way. Normally she would have been panting and out of breathe, but this time was different. She felt like she had taken a light stroll.

Amu climbed up the tree in her backyard and got onto her balcony and in through her glass sliding door. She shut the door and then quickly got out of her clothes and into her pajamas. She jumped into her bed and fell asleep.

Her alarm went off at 7:30 like it did every morning. Amu was more tired then she had been in a long time.

Must be from staying out so late.

Amu unwillingly got out of bed and got changed into the clothes her school uniform. It was a white blouse with a black jacket and a black tie. The jacket had the school symbol on it. Then there was a plaid black and grey plaid skirt and black shoes. It wasn't exactly her style, so she changed it around by wearing black and grey plaid knee socks and some black X clips in her hair, which she would put on later.

Amu left her room and went into the bathroom so she could brush her hair and teeth and put her signature X clips in her hair. She didn't even bother to look in the mirror once as she continued her activities. Once she figured she was done, she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Morning!"

Her parents and sister looked at her then their eyes went wide. Her dad spit his coffee out all over his newspaper, her mother dropped the coffee mug she had been carrying and her sister dropped the spoon she had been using for cereal.

"What?" Amu was seriously confounded. Did her hair look bad or something?

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?" her mother screeched loudly.

Amu looked at her mother with a look of sheer confusion. She grabbed a piece of her hair and pulled it to her face. Her naturally pink hair was now black. "OH MY GOD!"

"Why did you dye your hair Amu-chan, Are you going emo on daddy?" her father was crying now.

"I didn't dye my hair! Please believe me. I don't know HOW this happened!"

"Alright alright, but I want you to dye your hair back right after school. I'll make the appointment with your hairdresser." with that said, her mother ran off to go get the phone.

Amu stood in the same place. How did her hair get black? It wasn't natural for someone's hair to be pink-not that was normal in the first place, but normal for her- one moment then black then next. She looked at it again. It was still black.

"Onee-chan! Come sit down with me!" her little sister was 10, but she still acted like a little kid.

Her mother came back in talking on the phone. Finally she hung up and looked at Amu.

"The soonest appointment I can get you it tomorrow morning. Right before school starts."

"It's okay. I can go a day with black hair."

"I don't think that's a good idea Amu-chan. Think of what other people will say. Gossip in this town is popular, you know that. You wouldn't want everyone thinking you're going emo and rebelling, do you?"

Amu sighed. It was true that there was really nothing better to do in this town than to gossip. So, she grabbed a banana and then went back upstairs. Flopping on her bed, she grabbed her cell phone.

Better call Nadeshiko and tell her I'm not coming today.

She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Nadeshiko's number.

"Hello."

"Hey, Nadeshiko, it's Amu. I'm not coming to school today. Something…happened."

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Then why aren't you coming to school? We want to see the pictures you took."

"That's another thing. Yeah….I sort of broke the camera."

"You BROKE IT!"

"Y-Yeah. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I can get a new camera."

"I'm sorry, Nadeshiko. I didn't mean to break your camera."

"I know. It's not your fault, I'm sure. Mother will buy me a new one."

"Okay…but I still can't come to school. I'll see you tomorrow. But later. I'm going to be late for school tomorrow."

Nadeshiko was the person she'd tell everything to. No matter what. But this time was different. Besides, what would she say? She herself didn't even know what was going on.

"Alright. Bye." Amu heard a click and knew Nadeshiko had hung up.

Amu closed her phone and put it on her night table. When Nadeshiko said that her mom would get her another one, she wasn't kidding. Nadeshiko's family was the richest in all of Akiyama. The thing is, no one really knew except for her friends. Nadeshiko lived at the far end of town. Her parents had a driver to drive her to the corner of Amu's street. That way she looked like she lived in the area and she could walk to school with Amu.

Amu's cell phone rang. She picked it up and flipped it open.

"Hello."

"YOU BROKE THE CAMERA? AND YOU'RE NOT COMING TO SCHOOL?"

Utau's voice was loud some days, but today it seemed louder. Amu had to hold the phone away from her ear. Once the yelling was done, she placed the phone back to her ear. "Yeah and I'm sorry. I'll talk to you tomorrow though. Bye."

She turned off her cell phone so she wouldn't be disturbed.

"Amu-chan, we're leaving now. Be good and stay inside."

"Bye onee-chan!

Amu waited until the door opened then closed and until she heard the car back out of the drive way before she got up. She got out of her uniform and changed back into her pajamas. If she wasn't going to school she wasn't going to walk around in her uniform all day. She quickly ate some breakfast she got from kitchen and then collapsed on her bed. She was tired so she closed her eyes of a quick nap.

When Amu woke up, it was 3:00 pm. She got out of bed and changed into some regular clothes. She decided that walking around in her pajamas all day wasn't what she wanted to do. Once she got into some jeans and a white t-shirt she walked down stairs. Amu walked into the kitchen and grabbed few cookies and some milk. She then went into her living room and curled up on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. The channel she was on right now was playing an old show called The Pretender.

Amu watched the show intently. It was very interesting. The show was about this guy, Jarred, who was so smart that he could be anything he wanted to be. He could be a doctor or a firefighter or anything else. He was kidnapped as a kid and held in some center for years. The he escaped. And now he's on the run from this woman and the man that used to take care of him. So now Jarred was changing his jobs every week pretty much and traveling all over the place so the people wouldn't find him. As he was at a job he found someone he could help, and he did help them.

Suddenly the door bell rang. Amu got up and peaked out of her curtains. It was her four friends.

Great…

Amu couldn't open the door. What would her friends say if she answered with black hair? They would probably freak out.

"AMU, OPEN UP! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Amu panicked. She knew that Utau would probably bust the door down if she didn't answer. She noticed her hat on the coat rack and grabbed it. She pulled all her hair up on the top of her head and had her hat covering her head. It wasn't unusual for her to wear hats inside. She unlocked the door and opened it.

"Took you long enough."

"H-Hey guys. What's up?"

"Don't you 'Hey guys. What's up?' us! Why couldn't you come to school today! How could you break the camera!"

"Sorry. I fell."

"Well where's the broken camera? The memory card might still be okay." Utau would do pretty well anything to get what she wanted.

"I…uh…must have dropped it while I was running." Amu knew full well what was coming next.

"YOU DROPPED IT! HOW COULD YOU DROP IT! IT COULD HAVE HAD OUR PROOF ON IT! WE COULD HAVE BEEN FAMOUS!"

"Or in a lot of trouble."

Utau rolled her eyes at Rima's comment. "Whatever. So tell us, what did you find?"

"I…uh…"

"Don't tell them!" a smooth voice in her head pleaded.

"I didn't find anything. There was nothing but moths, owls, crickets and mice. I got to this clearing but there was still nothing there."

The good thing was that her friends would believe her. No one but Nadeshiko could tell she was lying. Thankfully Nadeshiko was giving Yaya brownies to keep her still and wasn't paying enough attention to notice.

"Really? Well that sucks." Utau had clearly calmed down now

Rima shook her head at Utau and Nadeshiko stepped closer to Amu with papers and books in her hand. "I brought you your homework." Nadeshiko handed over the homework.

"Thanks."

"Well we have to go now. See you tomorrow." Rima tugged Utau out the door. Yaya followed them.

"Bye Amu-chan." Nadeshiko smiled lightly then turned around, following her other friends out the door.

Amu shut the door after Nadeshiko was clearly out of sight. She glanced down at her homework and frowned. She hated homework with a passion, but she was still a good student so she went back into the living room and started on her homework.

In total it took her two hours to complete her work. In an hour her parents would be home with her sister, who played at a friend's house on these kinds of days, and it was her turn to cook dinner. She walked into the kitchen and began to make dinner. It was a pretty simple recipe, so she couldn't screw up…much. Suddenly, the phone rang. Thankfully her mother had left it right beside the oven.

"Hello?"

"Yes hello Amu-chan. How are you?" it was her mother.

"I'm fine."

"That's good. I'm calling to inform you that I may be a little bit late coming home. Ami is having dinner at her friend's house."

"Yeah okay. Bye."

They only had one car and her mother drove her sister to school and her father to work. So if her mother was late then her father and sister would be late too. Amu continued making dinner. Even if it was only herself eating- her parents usually grabbed food before they came home on nights like this-, she would still make the amount for the four of them.

When the food was done she ate then cleaned up. Her parents and sister came in the door just as she was finishing cleaning the stove.

"Oh what a lovely looking dinner! Papa is sad now that he ate at work."

Amu and her mother shook their heads and Ami just laughed. Amu sat down with her parents just out of habit. Her sister went to go watch TV. There was little conversation over dinner usually so the silence was normal. When Amu got bored, she got up. "I'm gonna go read."

"Amu-chan, Mama has to tell you something important." Amu turned around and looked at her mother. "I have to go on a business trip tomorrow morning and so does your father. It's a bit late to get someone to look after you, and Ami is coming with us. Do you want to come too? Or can we trust you by yourself?"

"I'll stay here. I'd rather hang out with my friends. Don't worry. No parties."

"I'm not worried about parties! I'm worried about boys! Promise your papa that there will be no boys!"

"I promise there won't be any boys."

Amu's father sighed happily and kept eating. Her parents would be gone early in the morning, way before she woke up. She walked up the stairs after calling a goodnight to her family and headed to her room. There was a note on her bed, so she went over to it and opened it up.

Dear Amu,

Don't forget about our little meeting tonight. I just thought I'd remind you. Humans can forget oh so easily…Oh but then again….well that'll all be explained later…

Kuro Hikari

She crumpled up the note and threw it into her trashcan.

What did she mean 'Oh but then again…'? I'm a human…or am I? Is that what she wants to tell me?

Amu collapsed onto her knees, her eyes going wide. If she wasn't human then what was she? Then she started to laugh.

Of COURSE I'm human. There's really nothing else I could be.

Amu got up laughing. She laughed a few seconds more then stopped. She was still confused about whole ordeal. How can one little bat bite ruin her life? She felt up to her neck, and found no bite mark.

Well that was fast. I didn't think it was possible for people to heal so fast.

Amu smiled. She was glad that stupid bite mark was gone so she wouldn't have to explain it if someone saw. A knock came from her door.

"Amu-chan? We're going to bed now. I'm going to leave you your care card, and some money. Use some to pay for your hair, the rest for groceries."

"'Kay How long will you be gone for?"

"Uh…well…about three weeks. Maybe a month. But there's enough money there to last you quite a bit, and if you need more just call. Or call if you just want to talk."

"Okay mom. Have a safe trip."

She heard her mother sigh and walk down the stairs to her room.

Well I'm going to be alone for three weeks. What to do….Ah I dunno. I'll probably have a sleepover or something.

Amu flopped down on her bed and stared at her ceiling. Her parents sometimes left her because they had to go off and do work, and her sister joined them because their parents wanted to spend tons of time with her. It's not that they didn't want to spend time with Amu or anything. They just want to make sure Ami gets the same amount of attention Amu got. Besides, they had bought her a kitten last time they left.

Speaking of which… "Yuki."

A fluffy white kitten bounded into the room-he had been sleeping in her sister's room all day, which is why she hadn't seen him. He looked at Amu questioningly then hissed and ran away.

Well that's weird. Yuki never hisses.

Amu frowned and got up to chase after her cat. Yuki had jumped into the bathtub. The thing about Yuki was that if he fell into the tub, he couldn't get out. Yuki hissed as Amu climbed into the tub and sat down.

"What's wrong Yuki? It's still me." Amu extended a hand towards her cat. Yuki just hissed and swatted at Amu's extended hand. "Yuki, don't swat. That's bad."

She picked the cat up by the scruff and put him in her lap. The cat was freaked out but Amu cooed soothing words to the cat and finally it wasn't scared. "It's still me Yuki, no matter what color my hair is."

Yuki mewed and then began to lick Amu's hand. She giggled and then got out of the tub with Yuki in her had. Then she felt a craving. Of what, she didn't know what it was. She tried to drop Yuki but her hands just wouldn't let her.

What's going on? Move hands. Drop the cat!

After a mental struggle with herself she finally let go of the cat. He scurried away and Amu sank to the floor. She still craved for something she couldn't describe.

What's going on?

Amu curled up on the bathroom floor and closed her eyes. She hoped the craving would go away but sadly it did not. After a few minutes she got up and walked to her room. She locked herself inside her room and then grabbed a book from her shelf and began to read. Amu glanced at her clock, it was only 9 pm. She sighed and kept reading. That craving was still there and burning her throat.

Maybe I need something to drink.

Amu placed her book down and went to the kitchen. She got some ice tea that was in the fridge and got a glass. She poured the ice tea then put the jug away. As she drank she found that the burning did not go away. When she was finished her ice tea she put the glass into the dishwasher then went back upstairs to read.

She read her book until it was 9:45 pm.

Time to go.

Amu sighed and threw her book down. Since her parents and sister were asleep, she had to crawl out her window yet again. She brought her runners out from under her bed and threw on a jacket. The glass sliding opened quietly and stepped out onto her balcony. It was much harder getting on the tree than off, but she managed. She closed the door behind her then climbed onto the tree. She shimmied down then headed off towards the forest.

So that took longer than expected…but that's what happens when I combine 2 chapters. T_T it's taking time out of my Bleach watching. So I think this is probably pretty boring eh? XD trust me it was worse.

Ikuto: Yeah, she wrote out in detail Amu making dinner.

Hey shut up! I wanna be a chef; of course I'm going to!

Ikuto: Mhm…*cough* loser *cough*

...whatever. Anyway, review please!