Here is the next chapter! Thank you for the reviewsm you're awesome guys! Big credit for my beta reader – [kisshu-ichigo] – for your help editing this chapter.
As usual, I do not own Shugo Chara, now enjoy the chapter!
"Another Love Story"
Chapter 9
Normal POV
"Oh God, I am going to need stitches." Amu hissed in pain as she wrapped her abdomen with fresh white gaze. Today had been very bad for her. She somehow angered her mother, causing her to slam Amu into a window. The window shattered on impact and stabbed into Amu's side when her mother through her on the ground.
After Amu finished wrapping her abdomen and wrists, she walked to her bed and lay down in hopes of easing the pain in her sides. "It has been a week since I came back to live with my foster parents. I never thought living with them could get any worse than I used too, but I was very wrong." Amu thought, closing her eyes to try to get some sleep.
Within a week, Amu's foster parents had beaten and bruised Amu in more ways than one. Aside from their daily beatings, they abused her verbally. Telling her things like she would never live up to anything in life, she should be grateful that they even took her back in after running away, or if it wasn't for them she would probably be out on the streets selling herself to make a living. With things like that being said to you continuously, you start to believe it. Slowly, Amu was actually starting to believe her foster parents.
After her incident with Ikuto, Amu's wall that she took so long to build started to crack. With every harsh word, her foster parents said to the echo of Ikuto saying it was just a bet, was another hard blow to the wall that was supposed to keep Amu together. At night Amu would fall asleep to Ikuto's voice in her head saying, if she was pregnant, he would ask her to have an abortion. His words were like a slap in the face, a slap far worse than anything her foster parents could ever give. His words made her realized that the rich man could never truly love a poor and useless girl like herself. She was just an abandon orphan that no one truly wanted.
So within the week of being back with her foster parents, Amu's wall finally cracked and she realized that she had to be grateful that her foster parents had even picked her from a foster care a few years ago. She would try hard to please then and be grateful that they even took her back in.
'Welcome back, Hoshina Amu. Your life as Hinamori Amu ended the day your parents died in that car accident, along with your little sister. You died along with them that day.' Amu said to herself. She would not correct anybody anymore when they called her Hoshina Amu, because that is who she was now, Hoshina Amu.
"Amu, come down here!" Her foster mother called her. Amu stood up as fast as she could in her current condition and rushed downstairs, she did not dare keep her foster mom waiting in fear of angering her. Making her mad would only serve to get her another beating. It took some time to get down because she was in pain but when she finally reached the bottom steps she turned and asked, "What do you need, Mother?"
Her foster parents demanded her to call them Father and Mother so people would not get suspicious. "Clean up this mess! I am going to sleep; I had better not find it still dirty when I get up. If it is then I'm going to have to punish you." The older woman commanded the pinkette as she walked passed her and up the stairs to her own room.
Amu walked into the living room looked around, magazines scattered everywhere, laundry all on the couch and you couldn't even see the floor with all the broken glass from earlier. Her foster parents definitely had fought in here after she went upstairs. They have been fighting a lot lately; apparently, her foster father has been having an affair with a woman from some club that he liked to visit. Both she and her foster mother had caught him but she did not know why they did not divorce instead. Who knows, people stay in bad situations even when they know it's best to leave. Just like me staying here.
Amu walked over to the radio that was on the entertainment center, turned it on and let one of her old CD's plays as she went to the utility closet. She grabbed a broom, dustpan and all the cleaning supplies she would need to clean the messy room. She walked back into the living room and began to sweep up the broken glass. When she finished cleaning up the glass, she sighed, she was a maid here, a badly treated maid. However, she could bear the pain and abuse if she didn't have to deal with her ex lover again. The physical pain she received here was ten times better than the pain that Ikuto caused for her.
"I regret my decisions. I should have left him a week ago, I should have rushed back to catch my plane instead or at least I should refuse to play his game that day. I am so stupid; I should have known that he would only use me. I was just a toy to him, a toy meant to be played with and then tossed away. Well, it is over now. I just prayed that he did not actually get me pregnant. I will have to try and sneak to the doctors when I can. God I hope I'm not, or else I will be beat to death along with my unborn child. My foster parents wouldn't just let me getting pregnant go. They will punish me." Amu contemplated as she folded the laundry. She sang along to the song that was playing on the radio while she picked up the trash and put in the trashcan.
When she had finished cleaning the living room, Amu turned off the radio and began to walk to her room. She stopped when she heard the front door open and then being slammed shut. Her foster father had finally come home from work. "Father, welcome home." Amu greeted the old man. When he saw Amu, instead of greeting her with a friendly hello, he slapped her across the face. He walked forward, grabbed her by the shirt and pushed her up against the wall. Amu could smell the horrible scent of alcohol on his breath when he moved closer to her to stare at her. Amu showed no signs of being scared or in pain, this only angered the man. Amu's eyes widened as her father's fist collided with her abdomen. The impact of his fist was too painful for words. Amu wailed in pain, tears finally stream freely from her eyes. He struck again, this time in on her jaw. Amu could feel the blood starting to drip out of her mouth. He jabbed and punched repeatedly, as if they were in a boxing match. Amu screamed and whimpered each and every time. She wished she could die right then and there. Then at least she wouldn't have to deal with all of the problems in her life. In that moment, Amu wished she was safe in her mother's arms again. Her real mother, not her horrid foster mothers' arms.
She let tears run down her half beaten face, since she has signed out from the school, her step parents didn't hesitate to be as brutal as possible when they found out. With one final punch to the face, Amu landed on the floor. She could feel the blood running down her face when she looked up from the floor to see her foster father walk away and up the stairs to his room, leaving her alone on the cold floor, bleeding and in pain.
After a few minutes of crying on the floor, Amu wiped her tears and attempted to walk to her room, it took a while but she finally made to the top of the stairs. She opened her door to bedroom and walked over to her dresser to find her first aid kit. Amu grabbed more fresh bandages from inside of the box, along with some killer pain. She hissed in pain whenever the bandage made a contact with her bruised and bleeding skin.
Amu finished wrapping herself, put the fist aid back into her dresser drawer and crawled back into her bed. 'I wish I could just disappear. I hate being here but what other choice do I have? I missed my plane to Hong Kong and I don't have any money for another ticket. It took me a while to save up that money. Who knows how long it will take to save it up again.' Amu thought as she drifted into a numbing sleep.
'Where the hell could she have gone?!' Ikuto screamed inwardly. It has been a week and there was still no sign of Amu anywhere. He tried looking everywhere he could think Amu might possibly go. He went her apartment only to be told that she had moved out about a week previous. Then he had tried to look for her at her school, but the head master said she and her family had moved away. Nevertheless, that didn't make sense because Ikuto knew for a fact that Amu didn't live with her foster parents anymore. So he checked the bar where they first met, but the manager said that she has resigned for god sake! It was as if she left town completely.
Ikuto was absolutely positive she would never go back to her foster parent's house, there was no way she would put herself in harm's way again. So, where could she be?
Ikuto had been feeling horrible all week. This all really boiled down to his fuckin' pride. If he had admit that he really lost the bet and had fallen in love this Amu, then they would be happy right now and not dealing with this problem. 'Damn, pride of mine!' Ikuto cursed himself as he continued driving around town in hopes of finding Amu.
He'd been looking for the pinkette all day but there were still no signs of Amu anywhere he went. Ikuto had some investigators to some snooping to find out if Amu had any friends in town she might stay with, the only one they found was a girl named Utau. Ikuto went to her house her but was disappointed to find out that Utau didn't know anything. She was under the Impression that Amu had gone to Hong Kong the previous week. Ikuto was sure that the pinkette wasn't there because he had caused her to miss her flight. 'Hong Kong, She would be there now if I hadn't dragged her to my house that day.' Ikuto thought to himself has he drove away from Utau's house.
'Dammit!' Ikuto cursed as he slammed his hands down on his steering wheel. The only place Ikuto had not checked out yet was her foster parent's house. 'It's a long shot but I'll look there just in case Amu lost her fuckin' mind and actually went back.' Ikuto said sighed inwardly. Ikuto flipped open his cell phone and hit one on his speed dial. After a few rings, someone picked up. "Hello sir how can I help you?" replied one of Ikuto's investigators. "I need the address to the Hoshina residence." Ikuto told the man.
After getting the address, Ikuto drove across town to the Hoshina house. He pulled up to a small white two-story house about fifteen minutes later. Ikuto got out of his car, walked up the few steps to the door and rang the bell. A woman, probably in her late thirties, opened the door and was surprised to find such a handsome young man at her door.
"How can I help you with, young man?" The woman spoke in a creepily happy tone. Ikuto who was trying to ignore the lustful stared he was starting to get from this women replied, "Is Hinamori Amu here?" Ikuto asked the woman. The women paused in surprise at the mention of her foster daughter. After the surprise wore off her eyes became cold and her face turned hard. "What is your business with her?" The old woman asked in a rough tone. 'Funny how one minute this woman is checking me out and the next she is all pissy because I mentioned Amu' Ikuto thought annoyingly to himself before answering.
"I have to speak to her, please tell her it is urgent." Ikuto told the woman in the kindest voice he could, if he made her angry he might not tell him where Amu is. The old woman nodded with an annoyed expression on her face. "Fine please come inside and wait." the women said in a fake happy voice that you could tell was forced. Amu's foster mother moved aside and opened the door completely to let the man come inside.
Ikuto walked into the clean living room and sat down on the couch. Amu's foster mom walked over to the stairs and started to shout, "Amu, will you come down for a minute!"
"Yes, Mother!" Amu shouted down the stairs. Ikuto was completely shocked when she actually heard a reply. 'She really has lost her mind. She actually came back here! Why!? Why would she come back to the one place that has caused her the most pain? This is my entire fault. It's my fault she is here. I drove her to the one place I didn't want her to return to.' Ikuto thought to himself in confusion.
The pinkette limped as fast as she could down to meet foster mother. Ikuto noticed right away that Amu was badly hurt. Amu didn't look up when she reached the bottom of the steps; instead she bowed to her foster mother. The woman was always happy whenever Amu bowed to her as if she were a servant.
"Amu-chan." The young midnight blue haired man said in a sad and confused voice to the bowing pinkette.
Amu's head snapped up at the cold of Ikuto's voice, but the sight that greeted the young man and foster mother shocked them enough to gasp aloud. In front of them stood a girl with pink bubble gum hair and a face covered with bandages. Some of the bandages where not big enough to hide the hideous cuts and bruises on Amu's once lovely face. The bandages didn't stop there either; they went down until it reached her neck as well. Her hands were also covered with bandages that were now soaking through with blood and not to mention you could see the blood staining her shirt. Obviously, the bandages around her entire body were not helping the poor girl.
'Oh god, how did he find me? I didn't think he would really check here. Why is he even here? He doesn't love me so why go thought the trouble of trying to find me, probably to just gloat and laugh that I fell for his phony act.' Amu thought to herself as she took in the sight of Ikuto sitting in the living room she had just cleaned a few hours prior. She had a look of concern on his face, this confused Amu to know end. Why would someone who porously hurt her be concerned about her?
"What are you doing here?" Amu asked with her cold voice, suddenly remembering why she had came back to her foster parents in the first place. She didn't want to be near the man who used and abused her love and trust. "I was hoping we could go out for coffee, I need to talk to you. I think we've had some misunderstanding and I would like to clear things up." Ikuto said in a slow calm voice so as not to frighten Amu away. He didn't want her to run again, before he could get her to a hospital. He had originally thought coffee but after seeing her physical state, he needed to get her seen.
Amu shook her head in disapproval, he had said enough last weeks. She wouldn't let him hurt her anymore. "No Ikuto, I don't want to talk to you. Didn't you get my note? I am done here. I don't want to be around you anymore so please just go away." Amu said as tears slowly started to gather in her eyes. She wouldn't let them fall thought, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt her that much.
Amu's foster mother was about to speak and tell the young man she could not take Amu anywhere, but she stopped when she remembered how badly beaten Amu was at the moment. 'I don't remember she has that bruise few hours ago, it seems like my husband has come home and abused her.' Amu's foster mother thought. She was worried because the young man could most defiantly have her and her husband taken to jail for the state Amu was in. So she just stayed out of the way of the two, hoping they wouldn't remember her presence.
Ikuto stood from his spot on the couch and walked over to Amu. "Please, come with me Amu?" Ikuto said as patiently as he could, but his patience was wearing thin. The long they stood there the longer Amu didn't get medical attention, and that just wasn't okay to the young man. "No Ikuto, now please leave." Amu said in a whisper. Ikuto ignored her request and instead gently but firmly grabbed her by the writs and started to pull her toward the door.
Amu's foster mother realizing the young man was going to take Amu away stopped them. "Just where do you think you are taking my daughter young man? Amu is not going anywhere!" said in a rude voice. Ikuto turned with Amu still in hand. "Oh really, are you going to stop me? I truly hope you try bitch. That way I can have you lock in a place where you can rot for doing this to Amu." Ikuto said in a deadly tone that sends shivers up both women's spines. With that said, Ikuto yanked the door open and started to drag a stunned Amu to the car.
It wasn't until Ikuto's strong gripped started rubbing against her open wound that Amu realized Ikuto was putting her into the passenger side of his car. Ikuto ran over to the driver's seat and revived the engine before he drove away– leaving the dumb founded foster mother standing in the door.
The drive to the hospital was silent for the most part. Amu sat in her seat and just stared at her soiled bandages while Ikuto continues to drive. After a few more minutes of silence, Ikuto asked quietly, "Amu, what possessed you to go back there? I understand that you are upset with me, but that was no reason to return back there." Amu just looked out the window and tried to ignore Ikuto. In all honesty, she couldn't really answer his question. She knew going back to her foster parents was a bad idea but she was desperate at the time and had nowhere else to go. Once Ikuto realized Amu was not going to answer, he just sighed and continued the trip to the hospital in silence
About ten minutes later the pulled into the emergency room parking lot. Ikuto rushed Amu into the emergency room when she started complaining that she was too tired to stay awake. So Ikuto wrapped her arm around his shoulder and walked her in. A nurse who was on duty that day saw the couple and rushed over to help. "Sir, can you tell me what happened?" the nurse asked as she set Amu into a wheel chair that was nearby. "Her parents have been abusing her. I went to her house and found her in this condition. She wasn't this bad when I left thought. Please hurry and help her." Ikuto said worriedly when he saw Amu lose consciousness in the wheelchair. "Okay, thank you. I will need you to stay here and fill out some paper work while I take her back to be examined." The nurse said as she walked towards the ER doors. He didn't get to reply before the nurse was gone behind the two big wooden doors.
Ikuto sighed and walked up to the front desk of the ER to get the paper work to fill out. He took the paper work and walked back to a seat in the corner of the room. 'Damn, I didn't think that she would really go back to that hell hole!' Ikuto said inwardly as he started to fill out Amu's basic information that he could recall. When he was finished he took the paper work back to the front desk, the woman there told him the doctor would be with him shortly. Ikuto nodded his head and made his way back to his seat.
After about an hour or so of waiting, a doctor walked out from the emergency room doors and called, "Is there someone called Tsukiyomi Ikuto here?" Ikuto stood up and walked over to the doctor. The doctor led him through the ER doors and took him back a room where they found a sleeping Amu. The doctor told him that Amu had suffered a terrible beating. She lost a lot of blood and was given a blood transfusion just to be safe. The doctor also told him that he had given the pinkette some painkillers to help her sleep easier with the pain. "She is going to be okay but I should let you know that I will be contacting social services. There is no excuse that her parents should have done that to this girl. From the look of some of the scars on her I am guessing she has been going through this for years." the doctor said in a sad voice. Ikuto thanked the doctor and asked if he could stay in the room with Amu. The young doctor said yes and left the room to check on other patients.
Ikuto grabbed a chair and sat next to Amu's bedside. He looked at the sleeping girl and felt a great wave of guilt wash over him. The beautiful girl now had a busted lip and a hideous black on her right side. But even with her injuries, Ikuto still only saw the beautiful girl with pink hair and honey gold eyes that always astounded him. And even with her busted lip, he was sure that her smile was still just captivating as it was when he first saw her. 'I am so sorry Amu. If I had just told Kukai, the truth last week then you wouldn't have ran away. If it wasn't for my pride and my unwillingness to lose then you wouldn't be here now. Please forgive me Amu-chan.' Ikuto thought pleadingly as he picked up her freshly bandaged hand and gave it a light kiss.
Ikuto pulled away from Amu and stood up from his chair. "There is no way I will let them get away with this. I should have dealt with this from the start, I promise Amu, and I will have those bastards lock up immediately." Ikuto quietly said with determination burning in his blue eyes. Ikuto pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contact until he reached the number to his lawyer. He hit walk and waited for someone to pick up. When his lawyer's secretary picked up he asked her to make a note letting his lawyer know that he wanted him to make sure that Mr. and Mrs. Hoshina were lock away immediately for child abuse to their foster daughter Amu Hinamori. "Please have him update me on the progress of the case please." Ikuto said before he said his goodbye and hung up.
Ikuto sat next to the pinkette's side once again and picked up her hand in his, He promised then and there that he would never leave her side again.
The next day
Amu woke up the next morning to the sound of an annoying beep in the room. Thinking it was her alarm clock, Amu, eyes still closed, reached over to her side to shut it off, but instead of feeling her nightstand, she felt something warm and soft. This gets the pinkette's attention and made her open her eyes. Then she opened her eye she instantly felt a pounding in her head and a wave of dizziness that made the room spin. She rubbed her eyes several times to make the dizziness subside before opening them again. She looked at her surrounding and realized she was in the hospital. The thing was she couldn't remember how she got there. She stopped looking around when she caught the sight of midnight blue out of her peripheral view and turned her head to focus her eyes to the figure.
Ikuto was resting his head on the said of her bed while still while still slouching in his chair. 'He looks so peaceful when his is sleeping, almost like a small child.' Amu thought to herself, she tried to sit up but her body screamed in pain and she stopped her movements.
The midnight blue haired man sensed something was moving in his sleep and opened his azure eyes. Amu had woken up and was struggling to sit up in her bed. "Don't move Amu, your body needs more rest. Just lay down, okay?" Ikuto said as he gently pushed the pinkette back down onto the bed. "What are you doing? Why am I in the hospital?" The pinkette asked the young man. "You're in the hospital because of your foster parents, they beat you badly remember? I came to your house yesterday and accompanied you here, but you had lost consciousness before we even made it inside. "Ikuto said
Amu just stared at him; she vaguely remembered any of that. She remembered Ikuto coming to her house and dragging her to his car but after that, everything was just a blur. "I don't really remember anything after you putting me in the car, but thanks for bringing me here anyways." Amu said sheepishly, looking away from the young man and laying back down.
"You're welcome…..So how are you feeling? Are you hungry, I can go get you something from the cafeteria if you want?" Amu thought over Ikuto's word for a moment before replying. "How do I feel… other then my head hurting, I feel fine. I am a little hungry thought so breakfast does sound good." Amu replied. "Okay, well I'll go get you something to eat here soon, but before I go, I have some important news to tell you." Ikuto said with a slow smile starting to spread on his face. "What is it?" The pinkette asked cautiously, sitting up a little in her bed.
"I called my lawyer yesterday and asked her to work on your foster parent's case. Well, she called me last night and told me that she now has your foster parents in custody until their trial, but with the evidence, my lawyer has on them, plus the fact that you are now in the hospital tonight it is an easy win and your foster parents should be locked up very soon. You don't have to worry about ever being hurt by them again. Never again." Ikuto explained with great excitement. Amu was shocked by his words, it was like seeing a dream you have always had some true. You can't really understand it until it really sinks in, and once it did Amu let the biggest smile appear on her face. Just like Ikuto expected, even with a busted lip Amu still had the prettiest smile ever.
When Ikuto informed Amu that her foster parents would be put in jail, Amu felt a big weighed being lifted off her shoulders. Relief felt amazing to her; it was like the after feeling of a good stretch or even the feeling of jumping into a pool on a hot day. It just felt wonderful to not have to worry about her foster parents again. Amu was happy, beyond happy actually. How long had she waited for this moment, dreamed of the day when she could live freely without worry. But all that happiness came to a disturbing halt when Ikuto spoke next. "And for that reason, I want you to live with me from now on." Ikuto said in a determined voice, which said I will get my way.
Amu could not believe her ears; she looked at Ikuto in shock a moment, before uttering a small confused, "What?" Amu shook her head in disapproval. Memories of what had happened between the two suddenly came flooding back into the pinkette's mind.
Ikuto kept his steady gaze on Amu who seemed to be having a hard time taking this news in. "You heard me Amu. You will be living with me now." Was the only reply Ikuto gave the now annoyed and mad Amu.
Whoo, how's the chapter? R&R please! I want to inform that my other story called "The Dark Secret" has finished! *clapping hands while dancing*
I hope you like it readers, have a great and woderful day! Ja ~