CHAPTER 5:

Oh damn. My head felt like it would blow up any moment now. So far, I'd been thinking my head would split open over three hours ago. My thoughts were all blurry and my current teacher's voice sounded warped. I would probably hurl. Hell. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself here.

I dropped my pounding head on my desk, purposely shifting the teacher's attention to me. By my standards, I'd rather be sent to early detention than to puke my guts out in front of the entire class.

"Hinamori-san!" my she-devil of a history teacher screeched only a split-second right after my head reached my noticeably book-less desk. If there was anything she hated more than kids who hate learning history, it was kids who hate learning history enough to fall asleep in her class. Only this time, it wasn't my hatred towards her subject that led me to sleep.

My eyes voluntarily blinked several times, feigning that I was actually asleep a moment ago just so I would be sent to detention where I could spend the next four hours sleeping.

"Sorry…" I apologized and put on the sorry-I-fell-asleep act.

The she-devil slammed her hands on her waist and walked toward my desk like the strict teacher she was. "You know my conditions about sleeping in class," she said expectantly as if she was waiting for me to beg for forgiveness and let me stay in her horrifyingly absurd and boring class.

I nodded like the good student I should be.

She grimaced and then handed me the blue detention slip. Her eyes almost gored me to death but my evident fake sorry-eyes got to her. I grabbed my messenger bag and slung it casually over my shoulder. Thank Dad for my acting skills! I could finally rest my throbbing head.

The detention room was still devoid of delinquents but the rat-faced detention attendant was already sitting sternly on his desk, apparently waiting for the troublesome new arrivals.

"What are you in for?" the attendant asked and somehow the strange feeling of being in prison collided with the atmosphere.

"Sleeping peacefully," I shrugged and gave him the slip.

He glared like I wasn't supposed to talk but he said nothing. I sat at the far corner of the room with the rat-faced attendant still glaring at me. Aside from his face, his get-up was very professional. His glasses looked so clear it was almost transparent; his shirt was ironed crisp; and his shoes were very black and shiny.

I slumped on my desk and continued my headache-relieving, temporary death. Sleep was already starting to claim me when the back door next to my seat suddenly swung open. I tried to look at the next troublemaker but immediately decided against it. My head was pounding very painfully and there was no point cutting short my very-needed sleep.

"Pink hair. Your pink hair. I'd like to run my fingers through it…"

An obnoxiously familiar voice sang just a few feet away from me. I uncontrollably cringed. Who would sing a really weird and annoying song like that? Surely, someone who was completely out of his mind.

"Pink…pi-pi-pink hair! I'd like-"

"Fuwa-kun! Your noise is not really needed inside this facility," the attendant said with his ever stern voice.

My head shot up and came face to face with a lavender-haired jackass of a knight, making an uncharacteristic classic shriek come out of my mouth. The idiot grinned his I'm-glad-I-surprised-you smile and sat down beside me. Oh just friggin' great!

"How are you, my cherry?" the devil purred next to my ear.

What the freak? CHERRY? SERIOUSLY?

I dropped my head back to my folded arms on top of the desk. If only I had the strength to deal with this jerk, I would rip that grin off his damned face. But since I didn't, I'd have to settle for the second best option without getting myself in trouble – ignoring him.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" he asked as he toyed with my bubblegum hair. "We're the newest school couple now, aren't-"

Kiseki was suddenly dragged away by an unknown force - unknown because my head was enclosed in my arms. Maybe the Angel of Death finally felt like gracing Kiseki with his celestial presence. Oh, I could only hope.

Sounds of people punching each other echoed in the room. A chair tumbled down, rat-face stood harshly from his seat, boys grunted with every punch and I still had my head buried in my arms.

"What the fu-"

I snapped my head up, already annoyed with the unfortunately great-contributor-to-my-headache noise. A tall, short-haired guy was grabbing Kiseki by the collar and was probably going to punch him again. His silhouette was strikingly familiar but his dark blue hair was not familiar at all. Rat-face yelled at the boys but both paid no attention to him. It seemed they were very focused on whacking each other's faces.

Then, everything somehow went slow-mo. Rat-face rushed to the boys; Rima bolted in the room; the dark blue-haired guy slammed his fist on Kiseki's already swollen face; and Kuukai suddenly came from nowhere.

Rima put herself between the two boys and pushed Kiseki's assaulter away. "Stop! Damn it!" she yelled.

The boy froze…and eventually let go of Kiseki. He, then, turned and faced me, his honey eyes flashing all sorts of emotions where pain was the one that stood out the most. For unknown reason, I itched to comfort him. A part of me felt compelled to erase the pain of betrayal from his face. A bigger part of me just wanted to escape the awkward scene. I probably would've done that, too. But time was frozen.

Almost frozen.

The little blonde regarded me with brand new hatred and disgust. I looked at her with equal the intensity. Her glare only lasted for a few seconds then, she shifted her gaze at the battered knight with suspiciously too-sweet eyes. The Knight was a mess, his handsome face reduced to purplish bruises. Deep down, I felt a LITTLE bit sorry for him however, my merciless character was in command, making me feel glad that vain bastard got what he deserved.

"You've gone too far, Nagihiko," Kuukai suddenly said, finally breaking the deafening silence.

Nagihiko let out an impatient sigh as he brushed his fingers through his extremely noticeable short hair. "The Knight broke two rules," he simply said.

The King then, turned, grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from the detention room.

Our footsteps echoed through the woods. The place was surprisingly filled with a peaceful ambience, making me want to stay here for a long time. Nagihiko was still not talking and was still not letting go of my wrist. The scene back in the detention room had me a little curious. Nagihiko was not the type of person to just hit someone for no reason at all. The two rules Kiseki broke were the proofs. I wanted to ask what the heck happened but it wasn't like me to pry.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes until we reached a huge rock overlooking a vast blanket of pine trees dotting the beautiful field behind our school. Nagihiko sat down the rock and pulled me beside him.

"Why are you so quiet?" he asked.

"Why are you so quiet?" I asked back.

He chuckled heartily like he wasn't in a heated situation a while ago. I never thought Nagihiko was able to switch moods so fast. Though, come to think of it, I never did have deep thoughts about anyone in the school.

"Amu-chan?"

"What?"

"Aren't you curious about what happened back there?"

I uncontrollably chuckled. Though, I didn't have any reason to. "As I see it, the matter only involved you Guardians. And as far as I'm concerned, any Guardian business has nothing to do with me," I said.

Nagihiko moved to face me, his eyes now in agonizingly blank expression. "I never thought any of this would happen,"

"Any of what?"

"This wasn't supposed to be disclosed to the public but the Guardians have a rulebook created by the school's President. We were supposed to follow that no matter what. If anyone breaks even one rule, his Chair would be taken from him and immediate expulsion from the school will be given,"

My mind reeled at what he said. Rulebook? From the President? From the mafia lord? What kind of child's play was that guy doing? To think that Charanari High was a very prestigious school. Was he-

Nagihiko squeezed my arm, shifting my attention back to him again. "Kiseki already broke two rules and Rima broke one. Both of them would be already scheduled for expulsion next week if their actions were found out,"

"How would they be found out?" I asked, already curious of the information he supplied.

"The King is assigned to report directly to the President if any Guardian is to break a rule," he said as if quoting a line in the book, "And if the King fails to do so, he, too, would be expelled from the institution and the Assembly will be granted permission to choose the next set of Guardians,"

I snapped my head to his direction. He wasn't facing me anymore. His hands were balled into pale fists and he was slightly trembling as he stared at the mossy ground. I knew he wouldn't tell on the Knight and the Queen. That would mean if they were found out, he would be expelled, too.

"Was that why you were mad at the two of them?" I asked.

Nagihiko shook his head firmly. "I wasn't mad at them. I was mad at myself,"

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask.

He glanced back at me, his honey eyes boring into mine. "I never should've convinced them to join the Guardians. It wasn't anything everybody thought it was,"

What he was saying picked my interest. Hundreds of thoughts and conclusions popped in my mind as I tried to guess what kind of group the Guardians really was.

"What do you mean?"

Nagihiko sighed, as if weighing how much he should tell me or probably counting how many rules he already broke.

I tossed and tossed in my bed, incessantly reminding myself that I wasn't a robot and also needed to sleep. The clock read two-fifty-three in the morning but sleep was nowhere near me. I was trying to contact my family for the past six hours to tell them the information I gathered but all of their phones were out of coverage area. Though there was nothing threatening about what I found out, the fact that I can't reach them meant I was on my own for the time being. There was no telling when I could contact them again so I was stuck with the fifty armed men my Dad assigned to guard me.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

I took my sleeping mask off and peered at my balcony where the tapping came from.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

A shadow of a man cascaded through the glass sliding door. He was motioning for me to open the door. I rose from my bed and grabbed my baseball bat out of instinct. The shadow now was clearly that of a guy. He tapped again and I noticed that he was clutching his waist with his other hand. An alarmingly dark liquid pooled around his feet. He moved closer to the light of the moon and I immediately recognized his face – his bruised and bloody face.

I dropped my bat and rushed to the door, unlocking and sliding it open right away. He held on my shoulder and I could feel him already slipping away from consciousness.

"What the hell took you so long?" he said in his weakened, hoarse voice.

"Why are you-"

My breath got caught in my throat when I had a look at the dark liquid that stained my balcony floor. I looked at where his other hand was placed and saw that same dark liquid oozing through his fingers. The familiar rusty scent immediately filled the room. I nervously glanced back at his bloodshot eyes.

"Ikuto!"

My heart pounded against my ribs. Ikuto was turning pale. His body was shaking, but alertness was still visible in his stance. Then, he suddenly dropped on the floor, eventually staining my white tiles with crimson blood.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Is it getting interesting yet? I hope so. ^w^ Anyways, please review! Arigatou. Mwa mwa!

With all the love for writing,

Lace Ashdown

P.S.

Don't hate me for hurting Ikuto T_T I'm also saddened by it but I need it to complete the story. Gomenasai!

P.P.S.

Watch out for the story's twists and turns. (insert evil laugh here)