Um, so, hi.

I've decided to continued this, and so I've developed the plot line. So, don't worry, story's all planned out. I'm just a bit worried if you'll still read it. xD

All comments have been taken into consideration. Criticism too.

I also want to let you know:

I WILL NOT MAKE IKUTO A WHORE.

He rapes her in the prologue for a desperate reason. A reason you'll find out later in the story.

Chapter One: Passionate Burns

"May your light
(waiting for a sign)
Take my life
(crying to the sky)
Set my heart
(for love to come around)
On fire . . ."

The soft lighting from the open windows cast shadows across his old, mature face. His face was set in a deep scowl, his eyes never wavering or letting any emotion seep through—they were as emotionless as rock was, whether in rain or snow, the physical appearance was the same. "Tsukiyomi Ikuto," he said in an amused voice, calculating and fastidious. "son of the legendary violinist," he paused, then, and smirked at the boy's eyes that were avoiding to look at him. "Did you enjoy your mission?"

There was a burst of emotion from his eyes, then, a star burst of pain behind the boy's dark blue eyes. It had gone as quick as it come, but the old man didn't miss it. He grinned ear to ear.

The boy spat before he answered, "No, Father."

"Ahh," his father mused. "that's too bad, then."

The boy—who wasn't a boy, really; he was only about twenty-four or so and that wasn't so young—he didn't deserve to be called a boy; though, a man. Yes, a man. The man was sitting down across from his father in the comfortable arm chair with his white violin case strung casually across his angular shoulder. Tsukiyomi Ikuto stared at his father, at his deep frown and emotionless eyes that were so much like his own regarding the way they were structured, even though Kazuomi was only his stepfather.

"May I leave?" he suddenly asked. Comparing features with his stepfather, whether he was related to him or not, always made him sick.

"Yes," His father answered, not coldly, but cool and crisply, like the falling leaves at the season of autumn. Ikuto flinched at how it sounded so much like him, but walked out the office nonetheless.

Before walking out the door, however, he turned to his father that was staring after him and said, "I hope you know that I hate you, old man."

His father just smiled, a trace of a smile that had a hint of something evil behind it and said, "I know."

:.:

It had been six years.

Six torturous years of hiding from the world.

Hinamori Amu, now at the age of twenty-two, has never associated herself with men. The only exceptions were her two best friends, who she could trust with her life—Fujisaki Nagihiko and Souma Kuukai. They were the only two men that she felt comfortable being touched by, even though they didn't do it much.

And they were the only men she told about her losing her virginity.

They were together right now, Kuukai on her right, Nagihiko somewhere else at the hotel. They were like her body guards—even though she thought the idea was horrendous and selfish, but Kuukai and Nagihiko joked about it, and eventually, she laughed about it too. Amu normally never came out of her small, comfortable apartment, but today was her best friend's, Mashiro Rima's birthday. She couldn't missed it—and if she had, Rima would've surely came to track her down to kill her.

There were a lot of people at this party; mostly men—men she didn't know. Hence, the reason why her friends were guarding her. Amu was dressed in nothing at all too revealing (she had stopped trying to be "attractive" when she had lost her virginity)—a comfortable, stretchy gray sweater made of the cotton material and faded blue jeans with some of her old sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a sloppy ponytail, with pink bangs hovering over her face. She wore no make-up, none at all, but she was still very attractive—she couldn't help it—with her small, straight nose, golden-colored orbs that reminded everyone of honey, and her small, petite frame.

Amu smiled and nodded with many people—mostly women, but eventually men and normally that was only when Nagi and Kuukai were with her. One of them would occasionally bring up the "I'm her boyfriend," trick which usually brought the man who was talking to her cower in the corner.

Amu rested her small head on Kuukai's shoulder. Luckily, he wasn't so much taller than her as others were, so it was no problem to lay her head on his broad shoulder.

She sighed. "This is so tiring," she complained. "I want to go home."

Kuukai chuckled. "Wanna crash at my place tonight?"

Kuukai lived about two doors down from her apartment, so it didn't really matter who crashed in at whose place since they were practically the same.

"Sure," Amu yawned, and added, almost as an afterthought, "I need some pajamas. Do you have some at your place?"

"Yeah, I think so. If not, I'll just give you some."

She nodded, her eyes suddenly staring at Rima. She was short, like her, but shorter. And also petite. Her long blond hair fell all the way to her knees and her eyes were big and round, also honey-golden. The aura around her was menacing most of the time, except with her or Nagi. And the occasional Kuukai.

Amu felt a hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her reverie. She stiffened visibly and turned to see who it was. Seeing it was Nagi, her posture relaxed considerably. "Oh, Nagi," she breathed. "I got worried there for a second."

Nagi was one of her "best friends," who she knew was gentle at heart and would never be capable of hurting her. His long, purple hair was usually let loose, and it hung all the way down to about Rima's length, but he was taller. His eyes, a dark gold, was like a lion's fur, though he was nothing at all like a lion; though, quite the opposite. He was as graceful as a bird soaring through the sky.

"Sorry for frightening you," he said, his cheeks flushing red. "but I was about to ask you if you were doing all right."

So much like you, Nagi, she thought admiringly, to be worried about me.

She smiled, then, a small, sweet smile full of gratitude. "I'm fine, Nagi," she said. "but tired. In a minute or so, I'm going home with Kuukai."

There was something behind his eyes, then—disappointment? But, all he said was, "Mmm, I see."

Amu stared awkwardly up at her best friend, and felt a fringe of emotion inside her—she suddenly noticed him; the way his lashes curved over his cheekbones, the laugh lines across his eyes that made him look so much kinder, and even younger. His phone buzzed, and he fished it out of his pocket, staring at the text message. Sighing, he placed it back into his breast pocket and raked a hand through his hair. "Rima needs me."

Amu giggled. "Are you her servant, or something?"

He squinted his eyes, calculating. "I guess."

Kuukai suddenly popped up, then, surprising her by looping his arm around her shoulders, turning her around toward the direction of the exit. "See ya, Fujisaki," he called before they walked out of Rima's party, with Nagihiko staring after them.

:.:

The ride home was silent in the darkening sky. Kuukai, who was usually very hyper and peppy stared straight ahead, pretending to be absorbed in turning left. Finally, Amu sighed, "What's wrong, Kuukai?"

"Why do you assume," he said. "that there's something wrong?"

She stared at him, trying to read through his, for once, unreadable expression. "Kuukai," she said, exasperated. "seriously. You can't fool me."

He hit the breaks hard at the sudden appearance of a stop sign. He was silent for so long that she didn't think he'd answer. Then, he said, "I've been thinking lately," he paused as he stepped on the gas pedal, moving the car forward.

"About what?"

"What happened to you." His voice held no emotion, nothing at all; perhaps it was because he didn't know what his voice should sound like, or that he didn't want the wrong emotion in his tone.

Amu stiffened. It had been six years; six years since she had been raped, so why was her dear friend thinking about it now?

"Why now? It's been six years, Kuukai. The man who kidnapped me and raped me was smart—even the police couldn't figure out who he was or who he worked for. The case has already dropped for a while now, Kuukai. There's no point for any of this," Amu said.

Kuukai's feet slammed hard on the breaks as he turned his furious gaze on her. "If it isn't such a big deal, Amu," he spat. "then why are you still afraid to go to clubs? To parties? To go out alone, without anyone by your side?"

The way he said it was too harsh. It broke something inside of her, whether it was her heart or something else; it knocked the breath out of her nonetheless. "Kuukai," she whispered. "Stop. You're scaring me."

He didn't look at her when he continued driving, or when she said he had been scaring her. But, he did stop against the curb around an intersection that led to his apartment. Kuukai rested his head on the leather steering wheel, his breaths coming out deep and a bit breathless, if that was possible. "The truth is, Amu," His voice was hoarse, and he didn't look at her when he talked to her. "I've hated you these past few years. Not the hate that you think I might mean, but the hate that ... makes me burn with anger that I wasn't there to protect you, that I—" He stopped, and laughed soundlessly and without humor. "I know I don't have one bit of a chance to solve your case. Hell, even the professionals who actually have a degree in this thing didn't know how to solve it, but I'm just letting you know that I'm going to try," This time, he lifted his head from the steering wheel and smiled confidently up at her shocked face. "I'm going to try for you."

She stared at him, horrified. "Kuukai," Amu whispered. "why has thi—"

"Okay!" He clapped his hands, smiling that goofy smile that she was so used to. The tense atmosphere forgotten, Kuukai grinned as he stared ahead. "I'm going to go pick up a surprise, so do you think you walk to my flat from here?"

Amu quietly turned her head and calculated. From the curb he parked from, it was about a three minute walk to the apartment building. To reach his door would take another two minutes. She looked at him. "Of course," she said, though her stomach had butterflies. "It's just right around the corner, isn't it?"

"That's my girl," Kuukai smiled, reaching his hand over and ruffled her pink hair.

Trying to ignore the fear gnawing in her heart, she let out an exasperated sigh before stepping out of the vehicle and closing the door.

"Amu," Kuukai called. "You didn't have any beer at the party, right? No whiskey or wine or anything that can make you ... sick?"

Now, that she remembered, Amu did have a glass of wine—and she didn't handle any kind of alcohol well in her system, no matter how little of it she had it. Not wanting to make Kuukai worried, she shook her head. "Nah," she said. "And plus, you were always with me, and you didn't see me drinking anything, right?"

He nodded, and pulled the lever on D before speeding off, and the darkness swallowing him up.

Amu was alone now. Quickly glancing around herself, she walked around the curb and found her apartment complex in view. A sigh of relief escaped from her, and she picked up her pace. Amu felt her sight go dizzy, and she stopped against the wall for support. Why was the wine catching up with her now? She didn't have it recently ... or maybe she did, she didn't remember. A wave of nausea swarmed over her, clogging up her mind in a deep fog. Sweet gleamed around her forehead, though it was a chilly night.

She fell to the ground before losing consciousness, and the darkness overcame her.

Soooooo sorry for a late update. ;_;

And it might be crappy, but at least it's long. Ish. Long-ish. That counts for something, doesn't it? :D /happy

I dunno. I don't feel like I did my best job, or maybe I did something to it. Sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger~

Actually, I was going to do an even worse cliffhanger, but HA. That's just how nice I am. ;D

Review, my darlings!

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