Disclaimer: I do not own any Shugo Chara characters or anything to do with the show or manga

Hinamori Amu slowly crept up the front doorstep to her home. She gingerly twisted the door handle and stepped inside, bracing herself for what was to come. As she tiptoed down the hall she jumped at the booming voice that was reprimanding her.

"Where on earth have you been?!" a stern voice scolded.

"I was at work" Amu whispered back her head suddenly becoming fascinated with the floor.

"Tsk. And why didn't you inform me, you little wretch?".

I couldn't tell you because you were drunk, Amu thought to herself.

"Tomorrow's your payday correct? I'll have the money transferred to my account".

"Can't I please keep some?" She pleaded.

"How dare you speak to your father that way, you ugly bitch. Now get lost" Amu's father shoved her aside as he walked past her, her body banging into the wall. "Oh, and don't forget to do my laundry" He smiled and sauntered down the hallway.

Amu sighed. She'd been living like this for a year now. Ever since her parents died and she'd been forced to stay with her uncle she'd become a free maid service, as well as a personal chef and assistant, only she doesn't get paid for her services. He likes to refer to himself as her father, but that could never be true. No one could ever replace him, especially someone like her uncle. Of course she didn't like it here, but there was virtually nothing she could do to prevent it. Amu brushed her pink locks out of her face, sighed, then continued on her way to complete the household chores.

Ikuto stretched and yawned. All he wanted to do was sleep. Is that too much to ask? His eyes fluttered open to see houses flashing past him, one suburban street after the other. His head was resting on the car window. He and his mother were on their way to a new home where he would be attending a new school. He sighed. School was such a waste of time. It was incredibly boring. Well, it was boring everywhere he went, to be honest. If only his mother didn't have to change jobs. What a pain.

"We're nearly there sweetie" Ikuto's mother smiled at him. He gave a half smile back, the best he could manage. It was becoming late afternoon and they had been in the car for a while so he was partially excited to arrive.

"Here we are!" Ikuto's mother exclaimed, looking like a child on Christmas morning. What was she so excited about? The house looked alright, fairly average. He got out of the car and began to help unpack their things.

Ikuto dropped a cardboard box to the ground.

"Sweetie, there's one box left in the car, could you please go and get it?" his mother asked as she walked by him carrying a box, her steps slow from the additional weight she was carrying. Ikuto strolled out of the house to the car, picking up the box with ease. As he turned away from the car he saw a girl at the neighbouring house to their right, looking through the mail she had just retrieved from their mailbox. Ikuto stared at her. Whoa. Who was she? She was beautiful. The girl suddenly, turned to walk back inside her house when she looked up, locking eyes with Ikuto. She looked surprised at first, and then gave a slight smile and nod before tuning and retreating inside her home. Ikuto stared after her for a moment, and then shook his head aggressively. What on earth was he doing? He hurried back inside to begin the unpacking process.

Amu blushed as she closed the front door. Wow. Who was he? He was gorgeous. She shook her head violently and went back to work. It was getting late and she still had homework to complete. She walked into the living room to finish folding the washing. After about ten minuted of folding the laundry, Amu's hair was forcefully grabbed and yanked back.

"Oi, you little bitch! You still haven't finished? You're fucking hopeless, why do I even bother with you?" he threw his hand into the air, releasing her hair. Amu sprung around and saw the empty beer bottle in the palm of his hand. She groaned inwardly. Her hands shook at her sides, fear of what he might do creeping down her skin, giving her Goosebumps all over her small frame.

"You piss me off, get out of here until you learn to do things properly" Her grabbed her hand tightly and yanked her to the front door, throwing her out into the night. The door slammed behind her. Amu turned around to face the closed door. She rested her head against it, tiredness washing over her. Why was this happening to her? This isn't fair. Amu decided to head toward her local park, there was no way her uncle would be letting her inside the house anytime soon. She wandered down to the park, her favourite place to get some time to herself, some peace and quiet. She reached the park; the night was silent, with the crunching of leaves from her footsteps being the only exception. She breathed in the night summer air as she walked to sit under her favourite luscious green tree. She flopped down onto the grass, tucking her knees to her chest, her back resting on the trunk of the tree. With the surrounding silence and nothing to occupy her mind, she drifted off into memories of her beloved parents. Then to the horrid months she had spent with her uncle. Before she knew it she felt drops of liquid splashing onto her hands that were resting on her knees. She sniffled and wiped her face angrily. She was angry at herself for crying, for being weak. Amu then heard the leaves of the tree rustle, figuring it was from the wind until she expectantly heard a deep voice from in front of her.

Ikuto placed the last box into the kitchen, just as his mother had asked of him.

"Hey mum, can I go out for a quick walk?" Ikuto had always enjoyed going out at night time.

"Sure sweetie, just don't stay out too long" She smiled at him. "We can leave the unpacking of the boxes for tomorrow, it's already fairly late". Ikuto smiled back at her and left the house, ready to explore the area. He didn't really pay much attention to the street names that he passed, for he never got lost as he had a great sense of direction. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He felt really tired but the cool air felt nice outside. He didn't quite want to return as of yet. The footpath he was following had opened up into a park,that looked incredibly inviting. Finding a nice enough looking tree, Ikuto climbed up and decided to take a quick nap. Before he fell asleep, he could hear her crunching of the leaves from footsteps, but couldn't see the source, for the branches were blocking his view. Then all of a sudden he could see the culprit when he looked directly toward the ground. It was the girl he had seen just earlier, who was now slumped against the tree. Now what was he supposed to do? Ikuto wanted to leave, but was fascinated by the girl. His thoughts about departing where interrupted when he heard a sniffle coming from the girl as she rubbed her eyes. Without thinking Ikuto jumped down from the tree branch, landing in front of the girl and asked "Hey, are you alright?". The girl looked utterly shocked, which was understandable to Ikuto since he had just appeared out of nowhere. He waited patiently for her reply.

"I'm fine, thanks" the girl said with a fake smile plastered on her face. Ikuto could see through her fake persona. He bent down on his knees and leaned toward her all in one swift motion.

"That's good, it would be bad for a nice girl like you to be unhappy" He stated to her in a low whisper. She blushed in response. Ikuto smirked. This girl was cute, and fun to tease. "Y'know it's not safe for you to be out here at night, let me walk you home?" he questioned to her.

"I can't go home" she said glumly looking at the grass instead of Ikuto's face.

"Hmm. Well then come to mine for a while. We are neighbours after all" He smirked.

"Ah-um, only if it's not a bother to you or your family" the girl replied shyly.

"It's not. Let's go." Ikuto held out his hand which the girl took it hesitantly. He helped her up and started back toward his new home.

"Oh yeah, by the way, what's your name?" He inquired.