Here is the next chapter...

Sorry for late update but I hope this chapter can repay it. Anyway I want to say a big thank you for my new beta-reader for this story kisshu-ichigo for helping me (A/N: Thank you once again for the big help)

As usual, I don't own Shugo Chara! Now, let's begin the chapter...

Chapter 7

Normal POV

Amu shakily said "No" and moved from underneath him. Ikuto was in complete shock. Didn't he just hear the pinkette say she loved him a moment ago? 'What happened? If she loves me then wouldn't she want me by her side? I can protect her, love her and she is turning me down? Why?'Ikuto thought to himself as he stated at Amu who was staring back at him with an emotionless expression.

Amu could see Ikuto's face slowly start to pale as he went deeper into thought. You could clearly see the hurt and pain swarming in those beautiful blue orbs of his, not to mention his face that was usually so handsome looked wrong with the frown that was forming in the place of the smile that was there only moments before.

Amu slowly got up and walked toward the window to look outside for a while, needing to think on how to proceed with what just happened. Amu loved him, it was true, but she thought that the man deserved someone much better than her. She was nothing; she was just a poor girl that had many scars on her body and soul. She was like a broken machine that might never work again. Why would he want to be with someone who had, as may problems as her? He was a great man. After she got to know him a bit, Amu realized that he was not just some snobby pervert. Ikuto actually cared about people, and the world around him. Yes, he had money, power and fame but that did not mean he was a snob. He was sweet, understanding and strong in many things. He deserved better than an ugly girl with a broken body and an unstable mind.

Amu was still looking out the window at the beautiful afternoon when Ikuto walked up behind her. She could feel him hovering over her. He was so close that she would feel his hot breath hitting the back of her neck, causing her to shiver.

"Why?" Ikuto asked, placing his hands on Amu's shoulders, almost as if holding her in place so she wouldn't leave. Amu did not answer him; she could not tell him her reason because she knew that Ikuto would not let her go, he would just shake his head and tell her that she was a foolish for thinking such thoughts.

She knew Ikuto was a wonderful man. He had to be to love someone with as many flaws as she had, and she love him but what would the world say? What will they say when they hear that the great Tsukiyomi Ikuto was dating a lowlife girl who wasn't even worth his time? She did not want to hurt his reputation in any way, shape or form. Therefore, the only thing she could do was reject him. 'If we are not together then he can find someone worth loving him.'Amu thought, turning around to face Ikuto with determination in her eyes. She had to do this if she wanted to save his reputation.

"You love me, don't you?" Ikuto asked the Amu once again, giving her a look that said, "I demanded an answer." Amu looked him dead in the eyes and said in the clearest voice she could.

"No, I do not love you Ikuto." Amu answered him while she clenched the bottom of her shirt in her hands. It hurt her so much to lied to his face, but there was no other way. Oh, how much she wanted to say yes, she would give anything to say yes but that would be selfish and I was not something Amu would do. She loved him enough to let him go, even if it hurt her in the end.

"What about your confession just now? You can't honestly tell me that mean nothing to you!" The midnight haired man asked the girl in a voice that was angry and pleading. He was really confused, Amu said she loves him, yet moments later, she is singing a completely different tune, saying she did not love him.

"I just got caught up in the moment. I was not thinking clearly. I didn't mean to say it; it just sort of slipped out in the heat of the moment." Amu said, looking away to hide the pain in her eyes, She was doing everything she could to hold back the tears that were building and stinging in her eyes.

"Are you serious? Do you really mean that?" Ikuto asked the girl for the hundredth time, almost as if he was unwilling to believe a word she said. That alone scared Amu. She wanted him to believe her. "Yes, I am one hundred percent serious." Amu answered him, pushing back the tears and looking straight into his eyes, to prove just how serious she was.

Almost as If he had a light switch as his emotions, Amu found that the once warm and inviting gaze was now being replaced by a cold, angry and hurt one. Ikuto didn't look at her the way he used to, his eye looked resentful now; they lacked the sparkle she loved. Ikuto abruptly stood up from the bed and walked towards the door without looking back at her. Before leaving the room, Ikuto stopped in front of the doorway. "You can go ahead and rest now, I won't bother you with any of this again." Ikuto said in a cold voice that sent shivers down Amu's spine just before he slammed the door.

After Ikuto departed from the room, Amu sat there on the bed for a moment, once the words he had spoken really sunk in, Amu wrapped her arms around herself, fell back onto the bed and let her tears finally fall. She cried and cried until she felt that her eyes couldn't let out a single dropped of water anymore. She cried so much that she was shaking. Ikuto never came back to the room for the rest of the day to see her, nor did Amu leave the room, to afraid to run into her now lost lover.

As nightfall came and the room darkened, everything was silent. Amu barely slept that night, all she could do was replay the day's events over and over aging in her head, hear the hard cold word come from Ikuto, over and over again. She rolled over on the king-sized bed and saw the small digital clocked place on the nightstand beside the bed, 3 a.m. it read in big red lights.

Amu knew she couldn't face Ikuto after what happened today, so she decided to get up from the bed and take a shower, even with it being so late, she wanted to shower and leave back to the safety of her apartment.

After her shower, Amu couldn't find her original clothes so she put Ikuto's shirt back on along with her shorts. After gathering her things, Amu quietly opened the door and let herself slipped down into the halls of Ikuto's big mansion. The halls were dark, only being lit by the light of the moon that could make its way in from some of the curtained windows. There wasn't a soul in sight when Amu finally found the stairs. She made her way down in search for the main door.

When she found the door, she opened it and stepped outside into the cool night that was lit by the silvery moon shining above. A butler rushed to her as she turned to close the door, he bowed at her. She just flashed him a small smile and said her thanks before she closed the door.

'Goodbye.'Amu thought as she walked to the large gate surrounding the mansion and told the security to open the door for her. Once it was unlocked, Amu pushed the gate as she let herself walked outside. She turned her head and looked at the house once more before she walked away, making the long journey back to her apartment across town.

'Goodbye Ikuto, I love you.'she thought as she walked further and further away from the house until she reached the main street.

Earlier that day with Ikuto.

Ikuto walked into his private study room slamming his to so hard that the hinges screeched in protest. "Dammit!" Ikuto cursed aloud. He clenched his fist tightly before he slammed them down on his mahogany desk, causing papers and folders to scatter all around him.

He just confessed to her and she turned him down! Any woman would kill to have him confessed to them, yet this girl was turning his confession down flat. She was different after all; she wasn't like any other women he knew. Most of the woman he dated were just gold diggers who wanted all his money or they wanted him for sex and nothing more. Because let's face it, he had the money to dish out and he, not to brag, was amazing in bed.

However, he knew that this girl was so different. She couldn't be compared to the other women that he ever dated. They couldn't match up to her in the slightest. She was so beautiful in her own way, very unique. With everything she had gone through, from losing her parents, being abused by her fosters and enduring being by herself all this time, Ikuto found that he may have for once fallen for someone.

Ikuto moved from behind his desk to sit on his small leather couch that was seated in front of the fireplace. After making himself comfortable Ikuto called one of his maids and asked her to bring him his beer and then light him a fire for him to enjoy. He needed to calm down before doing something stupid. He needed to relive his stress or else he liable run back to his room and take the Amu by force.

Once the maid had lit the fire and gave him a beer, Ikuto stayed in the study, just drinking his thoughts away. He drank until nightfall, when eventually he passed out to the sight of the glowing orange embers still burning in the fireplace.

With Amu.

Amu arrived at her small apartment sometime around 5 in the morning. She took her key out her pocket and opened her door. Tiredly letting her small figure slipped inside her small yet warm home. She took off her shoes and made a beeline toward her warm inviting bed. She changes into her pajamas and crawled into the safety of her bed, where as soon as her head hit the pillow, all the stress of the day finally caught up and she was out like a light.

Amu woke up the next morning to the rays of light shining through her window, still felt so miserable, she did in fact sleep last night but it was very restless, her dreams were plagued with the nightmare that had occurred the day before. Amu sat up in bed a yawned, throwing the covers off of her she made her way to bathroom to take a nice shower before starting her long tedious day.

Amu stripped off her clothes and turned the shower knobs on hot, she waited for it to get warm before stepping in and letting the water cascade down her body. The heat of the water relaxed the tense muscles in Amu's body, allowing her to relax and think clearly for once. 'I need to fine myself another job. I can't go back to work at that bar now. How can I work in a place that I know essentially he is paying my checks? Knowing him, he is likely to show up at that bar again just to watch me or taunt me. Moreover, I know that from the moment I see him; I will feel nothing but pain inside my heart. I don't think I can look into those painful eyes ever again. I know I am being ungrateful; I always was an ungrateful child when I was younger. Ikuto doesn't need someone who is as ungrateful as I am in his life. I know I am being selfish, but I have to protect him, even at the cost of my own happiness. I don't want Ikuto to become a worldwide joke, just because he wants to be with me.'As Amu contemplated all this in her head, she finished her shower and turned off the water. She opened the shower curtain and let out the steam from the water.

Amu grabbed a towel from the towel rack and wrapped herself before steeped out and walked towards her bedroom. She walked over to her closet and picked out her clothes for the day. She decided on a black tank top with her white long sleeved sweater over it, dark blue jeans that were almost black and a pair of black flats to match. She made she every part of her body was covered up so her wounds wouldn't show. No one but Ikuto and the doctor knew about her scars and she'd like to keep it that way.

Amu walked over to her dresser mirror, picked up her cover up and started to apply it to her face. Ever so slowly, the scars on her face started to disappear as the makeup did its job. After making sure none of her scars were showing, Amu applied some light pink lip-gloss to her lips and black eye liner to her eyes. And like that, Amu looked like a normal women, one whom you would never expect to hind scars on id you took of her makeup.

Once Amu was satisfied with her appearance, she made her way into her small kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal. Taking her bowl of cereal with her, Amu sat on her couch and turned on the news to see what was going on in the world. After finishing her blow of coco puffs and watching a boring newscast on bee disappearances, Amu looked at the clock and realized it was time for her to leave.

She grabbed her purse, put her keys inside and walked towards the door. After making sure she locked it, Amu walked towards the small elevator at the end of the hall and pressed the button waiting for it to pick her up. When the doors opened, Amu walked inside and pressed a button for the first floor. Once she was in the lobby, she saw her stepmother walking in through the main entrance.

'How's she fine where I live so fast?' Amu asked herself nervously. She quickly walked away into the crowd of people hoping to not be seen and make her way out. Amu then noticed a fire exit to her right and bolted for the door. When she was outside, she sighed in relief and walked towards her school, which was two blocks away. Amu was confident that her father wouldn't try looking for her anytime soon, probably because he was lying in a hospital bed after yesterday's incident.

'I don't know if I can keep doing this. Somehow, they find me anywhere I go. It's as if they are checking every apartment complex in town. Wait, that's it! I need to leave this town. They won't come looking for me if I move far away enough. I need to get out of this town as soon as possible for my own safety! If I do that then maybe, just maybe I can start over. I can start a new life and maybe be happy for once. Even if that means leaving when I know, Ikuto is still here. I can put him or myself in any danger. I have to leave.'Amu told herself. When she reached her high school, instead of walking to homeroom like normal, Amu to a detour and walked towards the headmasters' office. After knocking twice, she heard a person say, "Come in" and she opened the door, letting her small figure slipped inside before closing the door.

The headmaster was sitting at his desk filling out some paper work before looking up to see who was in the room. "Ah, Miss Hoshina, what can I do for you today?" The headmaster asked with a pleasant smile on his face. "Actually it's Ms. Hinamori now and um I just came to talk about resigning from this school starting tomorrow." Amu informed him with a small smile. The headmaster looked surprised by this. Amu could see the confusion in his eyes. "May I ask the reason, Ms. Hinamori?" The headmaster asked Amu in a curious voice.

"Well, my family and I will be moving soon." Amu swiftly lied to the headmaster. If he knew, she was leaving on her own then he would send her back to her foster parents and that was not an option in her book. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt them. The headmaster sighed before replying to her. "Very well, please precede it to the administrator office by the end of the day and fill out the paper work there, Tracy will help you and will return the forms to me. Hope you do well in your new home and school. Please give your family my regards will you." The headmaster said in a friendly voice. "Will do sir. Thank you for everything. Please, excuse me." Amu said, bowing quickly as she walked towards the door to leave.

When she was out of the headmasters office Amu made her way towards the administration office that was down the hall; she didn't want to waste any time. For all she knew her stepmother could show up at her school any minuet and drag her back to their shitty excuse of a house where she would proceed to abuse her physically and mentally. Amu wasn't about to let the happen. Never again.

After a long process of filling out forms and with the administrator, Hinamori Amu was officially resigned from her school. Sighing in happiness Amu left her school and walked towards the bar where she works – Black Lynx – to resign there as well. 'I needed to move out of my apartment as soon as possible. Maybe I'll go to Okinawa. I know it's expensive there but that just means my foster parents can't afford the trip to fine me there even if they wanted to.' Amu thought to herself as she made her way down the sidewalk. After about fifteen minutes, Amu could just make out the nightclubs sign coming into view.

After a long debating with her manager who begged her not to leave, she finally resigned from her job as one of the clubs waitresses. Upon leaving the now ex manager's office Amu was thankful Ikuto was nowhere in sight. Amu smiled, taking one last look at the place before running out from the club as fast as she could. It was already going on about five p.m., meaning the club would be open shortly, but with the thought of running into the man she love the most, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Amu wasn't going to change it. So Amu ran as fast as she could back to her apartment, in hopes of looking for a new one, maybe in Okinawa, maybe somewhere else. All she knew was she was leaving.

Once she arrived at her apartment, She looked around, making sure her foster mother was nowhere in sight. Once she saw that the coast was clear, Amu quickly ran to the elevator to make her way up to her apartment.

After using her key to open her door, Amu took off her shoes and entered her living room. Amu sat on her couch and just thought for a moment. Leaving wasn't as easy as it sounded. "Where should I even go? Is Okinawa far away enough? Maybe it would be best if I just leave Japan all together. That way they would have to search all of Japan before thinking I left the country. I know! I'll go to Hong Kong. That should be far away enough." Amu asked herself aloud. "Thank God I saved up my tips for emergency money; I should have just enough to buy a ticket to Hong Kong. It's a good thing this apartment is a month to month contract, I already paid this month so I can just resign before I leave." Amu said as she got up from the couch before going into the kitchen and making herself a bowl of Ice cream.

Walking back to the couch with her bowl of cookie dough Ice cream, Amu picked up her house phone and sat down with her ice cream and phone in hand. 'I should call Rima and let he know what's going on.'Amu thought as she dialed her best friend's number. After a few rings, someone finally answer with a friendly voice. "Hello?" Amu heard her friend answer. "Rima, it's me Amu." Amu said in an excited voice, having not talked to her friend in a long time. "Oh my God, Amu?! I am so happy you called! I was so worried about you after I hadn't heard from you. Last time I we talked you have to go because your stepfather came home, and that was about three months ago. Has anything changed? Are they you know…..still abusing you? Rima trailed off in a sad tone.

"I'm fine Rima, a lot has changed. I actually ran away a few months ago. I got my own apartment and am still going to school. Things were going grate. I had a job at this club and I was making grate money. But unfortunately life really does hate me and came back to bite me in the ass. My foster parents found me and where I live so I need to get out of this town A.S.A.P so listen, I am planning on catching a plane to Hong Kong tomorrow. So I was wondering if I could stay at your place. Just until I can get a job and get my own place. I am sorry about the short notice but I have to get away before they catch me again. I do not want them finding me and locking me up. I am tired of this Rima. I just need to be free. I don't know any other people outside you who live in Hong Kong, so can I stay with you?" Amu asked her best friend in a pleading voice. Rima could hear the desperation in Amu's voice. It was not something she could turn down. Not that she would ever turn her best friend away.

"Absolutely Amu, Mi casa es sue casa! We are best friend after all; I would never turn you away! I am actually super excited! I cannot wait to see you. Have you talked to Utau and told her anything?" Rima asked. "No, I haven't. I am going to call her after this. Thanks by the way, you are awesome and I literally have no clue where I would be ha or be going without you Rima." Amu happily. "No problem. Anyways I have to go now Amu, but call me before you bored your plane and let me know when to pick you up." Rima replied. "Aright I will, bye Rima." Amu said before she hung up.

Amu, Rima and Utau have been best friends since they were little. The three of them came from middle and high-class families, which meant that Rima and Utau were richer than Amu's family, but that never made a difference to them. Much to her dislike, Rima had to move to Hong Kong a month before Amu's parent's had their accident. Rima was the only one of her friends who knew about her foster parents abusing her; Utau didn't know that Amu's parents were abusing her though. The only reason Rime even knew was because Amu was talking to Rima on the phone one afternoon when her father came home in a pissed off mood. Not knowing Rima was on the phone, her foster father beat her to no end and Rima heard it all. She heard the screaming, the begging for him to stop and even the sound of Amu falling to the floor as he violently started slamming his fist into Amu's stomach. Once her foster father left, Amu crawled back to the phone that had fallen under the couch due to her father roughly yanking her off the couch. After calming Rima down, Amu had managed to convince her not to report it to the police. Amu told her she wanted to deal with the situation herself. When Rima said she should tell Utau, Amu quickly asked her not to tell Utau. She didn't want her other friend to worried her as Rime did.

After calling Utau and informing her that she was going to see Rima for a while, Amu set to work on packing her essentials. She was going to leave the furniture for the next resident to use. It's not as if she could take it with her.

She went into her closet, grabbed two large suitcases, and brought them into the living room. She gathered all her clothes, shoes, jewelry (what little she had) and record information, such as her birth certificate, pass port, back statements, and other stuff into the two large suitcases and set the at her front door to take in the morning.

After making herself a bacon cheeseburger with homemade friend cries for dinner, Amu settled herself in the couch and turned on the TV to watch the latest episode of supernatural. When she finished her dinner and the show was over, Amu went into her room and picked up the house phone. She called 411 and was transferred to the airport number.

Five rings later a women with a friendly voice said, "Tokyo international airport, this is Usako, how may I help you this evening?" Amu cleared her throat and proceeded to speak. "Hi, I was hoping to reserve a ticket from Tokyo to Hong Kong for tomorrow." Amu told the lady. "Okay, and what time did you want to make your flight Ms? And will that be coach or first class?" The woman named Usako asked.

"Um, sometime in the morning would we good. And first class please." Amu said while thinking to make sure she had the money for first class. "Alright, everything is put in the computer. Your ticket will be six hundred and fifty dollars; you will leave tomorrow at eight A.M, and be in first class row C seat 2. Just come to the front tomorrow morning and pay to receive your ticket. Do you have any questions Ms?" she asked me in a honey sweet voice. "Not that should do it, thank you very much." I said to her in delight. "Not a problem, thank you for choosing Tokyo international to flight with and have a wonderful night. Goodbye now." She said before she hung up.

"Well at least that is taken care of." Amu said to herself, stripping off her clothes and getting into her comfy pink pajamas. She walked over to the nightstand and set her alarm for six in the morning, before jumping into bed and getting comfortable. It took a while but sleep finally claimed the pink haired girls. The only problem was as soon as sleep took over, so did the nightmares. Nightmares of her foster parents finding out where she was and coming for her. Taking her back to that horrible place, they called home and breaking her beyond repair.

*beep beep beep* Amu slammed her hand down on her alarm clock and rolled over in bed. Amu slowly opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep away. She got up and walked into her bathroom to take a quick shower before breakfast.

After her shower, Amu got dress into some comfy jeans and a pink long sleeves shirt before doing her makeup and walking out into the kitchen. Amu made herself a big stack of pancakes with bacon and sausage on the side. Amu looked at the clock while she was eating and saw that it was going on seven already. She hurriedly ate the rest of her food, cleared her plate and went to the front door to slip on her flats. She grabbed her to suitcases and made her way out the door and to the elevator.

Once in the lobby, Amu quickly returned her apartment key to the main office and rushed out the building. After Amu hailed a taxi, she stuck her luggage in the trunk and paid the man to take her to the airport.

Amu arrived at the airport a quarter to eight and quickly launched her into the airport. She was running late. Amu ran to the check in desk and waited her turn to get her ticket. Once it was her turn she game the woman her information and money for her ticket. The woman smiled at Amu and handed her the ticket before saying, "You better hurry Ms. Hinamori, and your flight is getting ready to board. Amu nodded her head quickly and bolted toward to the check-in gate and checked herself in.

With her ticket in hand, Amu finished checking in and ran as fast as she could across the airport to get to her terminal. Amu didn't stop until she reached her boarding terminal. Sighing in relief that she made it on time Amu started walking to the line to board the airplane, unfortunately, she wasn't paying any attention and accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm sor-" Amu started to say until she saw just who it was she bumped into. Amu looked up to find a certain midnight blue-haired man was looking at her in shock. But that was quickly replaced when a look of realization hit him.

"Amu." He said coldly with a dark aura surrounding him as he stated at her.

When she heard the coldness and hatred inside his voice, it was like a knife stabbing into her heart repeatedly. It felt horrible to see the hatred for her in his eyes.

"Ikuto." Amu said in an emotionless voice with her poker face up so he wouldn't see just how much it hurt her to be near him. The two of them just stood there, staring deep into the others trying to find something that was impossible to see with each not truly showing their emotions on their faces.

So that's what they did. They started at each other until the flight attendant called them to board the plane.

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What do you think? Please R&R! (A/N: Let me know what do you think of this)

Also, do check out my other stories (get the link from my profile) readers!

Anyway, I hope you have a great and wonderful day fellas, Ja ~