How is it that no matter how much time passes, I always come back to Shugo Chara fanfiction? It's so strange. I guess it's because Shugo Chara was my first experience with fanfiction, my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, and most of all, had the warmest response from readers. I just scanned through the monstrosity that was my first story, Midnight Romance. But no matter how bad it was in my eyes, the reviews were always loving and supportive.

So I'm back again to give this another go. Please enjoy!

Albatross

She awoke, her thin, naked body floating in a pool of green-tinged water that held a distinct medical smell. Bright industrial lights attacked her poorly sensitive eyes and she winced in defense, her arm came over her head to protect her eyes with forgiving shade and she racked her brain for any clues as to why she was naked, in a pool, alone.

Through her muddled thoughts she found that she couldn't recall where she was the last time she was awake. As she thought more about this, she caught sight of a hospital bracelet that dangled from her wrist;

P A T I E N T 3 1 2 1 7

Hinamori, Amu

The name rang familiarly in her mind; but at the same time, it possessed a slightly bizarre, almost foreign, tone. It took her a full minute of rapid blinking to process that the name engraved upon the silver bracelet was indeed her own.

'Well, it's not much, but it's a start.' Amu thought to herself.

"You're awake."

She jolted at the sudden, new sound of a human voice. Sitting up, she was surprised at how shallow the pool of water was. If she stood up it only came to her pelvis region , 'Well duh, I would've drowned if it was any deeper.' Remembering the voice, Amu looked up. A woman with curly hair and glasses stood at the edge of the pool. Her black suit contrasted greatly with the white-stucco theme the room seemed to have. Amu was struck with a delay realization, that she was still very naked. She flushed and folded herself over her knees, trying to hide herself in the rippling water.

The woman cleared her throat, "This is good, they weren't sure you'd ever wake up." Her hand slid into the pocket of her suit jacket and extracted thin Blackberry. Her fingers flew over the keypad and she held it up to her ear, "She's awake."

She nodded her head as the person on the other line spoke, and then hung up and tucked the phone away into its spot in her pocket. Amu, who waited patiently for the entire durations of the call, began to assault her with the questions that had been rolling around her mind since she opened her eyes, "Where am I? Who are you? Why am I in this pool? Why am I naked? What is this place? Why in God's name am I naked?"

The woman doesn't look surprised by the torrent of questions being thrown her way, she simply shifts her wait on her heels and adjusts her thin silver frames, she said, "You are in a medical hospital owned by Easter. What you are in is called an Anesthetic Capsule, the antibiotics contained in the water are designed to soothe and repair damaged skin cells as well as strengthened loss muscle mass caused by lack of activity over long periods of time, such is why you are naked to get the full affect during these sessions." The woman paused, " As for who I am, you can call me Sanjou."

Amu's mind reeled at the onslaught of information and Sanjou adjusted her glasses again, "Now, if you'll come with me. We have a lot to discuss."

'Obviously.' Amu thought as she waded out of the pool. Gravity decided then to remind her who was boss in the universe and her legs buckled, and she stumbled out of the pool. Fortunately, she caught herself before tumbling to the ground. She rubbed her hand across her thigh, feeling the small layer of muscle under her skin. After a minute of goaded her legs to cooperate, she finally stood straight.

The cold air that one usually associated with the hospital attacked her skin, causing goosebumps to rise on top of her wet body. She shivered and graciously accepted the pink towel Sanjou held out to her. After she dried herself off as best as she could, Sanjou handed her a pink hospital gown that didn't quite close all the way in the back. Amu raised her eyebrow at yet another reminder that something must have happened to her to land her in such a place. Sanjou led her out of the room into a hallway with white tiles, white walls and white fluorescent lights. Every so number of feet, a large, metal door sat, flanking both sides of the white pathway. Sanjou strutted with confidence and grace, her stride so great that Amu had to double the amount of steps she took to keep up.

They traveled for a while, the hallway longer that it originally seemed, before they came up to a door with a high-tech keypad built into the wall beside it. Sanjou inputed a series of numbers and stared into a little lens that shot a beam of red into her pupil. The door, upon recognition, beeped and flew open with a woosh.

The room they entered was simple, but still very white. Amu made a comment on this as Sanjou sat them down at the table situated in the middle. "Silly girl, the walls are Ivory, not white." Sanjou explained as she pulled out clipboard from somewhere on her person and clicked her ball-point pen a few times, "So how are you feeling Amu?" She asked, her pen poised at the first line of what looked like a medical file.

"Alright," Amu said quietly, "...a little weak. But alright."

"It's to be expected, you've been asleep for a very long time." Sanjou wrote something before setting the pen down parallel from the clipboard and clasped her manicured fingers together, "I'm going to ask you a series of questions to evaluate your psych and mental status. Alright?"

"Ok."

"When is your birthday?"

"September 24th"

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen?"

"Capital of Japan?"

"Tokyo."

"Home address?"

Amu's eyebrows pulled together in confusion, she recalls her home. A small two-story home in a sleepy little town. But she couldn't remember her address, or what the name of the town was, "I... I don't know."

Scribble. Scribble. "Parents names?"

Again, " I don't know."

"Siblings?"

A flash of a smiling, chubby-cheeked face, "Yes, a little sister."

"Her name?"

"..."

The questions continued, and with them the desperation in her grew. For some reason, she couldn't recall anything about the family she knew for certain she had. It was very off-putting.

"Hmm," Sanjou hummed, "Strange, other than the obvious case of mild amnesia. You seem fine, which when considering the amount of brain trauma you received, it's astounding you have no other symptoms."

Amu, who was just about fed up with being in the dark, huffed in annoyance. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but can you please tell me what happened?"

Sanjou clicked her pen, "You had an accident." she said, "I won't go into the details because they were rather gruesome. Due to the severity of the accident, your chances of surviving were slim."

"But..." Amu inquired.

"When we got word of your accident, the CEO of Easter sent out the best team of surgeons who slaved for seven straight hours to save you, and they were successful."

"But why?"

Sanjou smiled, "You've been on our recruitment list for years now. Smart, creative, athletic, and talented. You had all the credentials, if not more. However your attitude is a bit roguish. But nothing that can't be changed with practice. We were originally going to wait for you to turn eighteen before reaching out to you, but with recent circumstances. We had to interfere a little earlier than scheduled."

"So basically, I've been watched by this stalker company for years and when I had this accident, they decided to step in and play the hand of God?"

"Exactly."

Amu leaned against the back of the chair and crossed her arms. "There has to be a catch."

"Smart. Just like your file said. Fine." She un-clipped a packet of paper from the clipboard and fliped it towards Amu. Picking it up, she scanned through it quickly, words such as 'Debt', 'Payment, 'Hours', 'Medicine', 'Contract', and 'Binding' leap off the page, attacking her as she read. Amu felt her mouth go dry.

"Do to the amount of material and money it took to repair you, your body is officially the property of Easter Corporation."

"How much?" Amu murmurs, more to herself than her companion. Sanjou twirls clipboard around and pointed to a highlighted amount at the top. Amu stared at the long line of zeros like it was a train passing her by. She dropped her head into her hands, a feeling of dread falling over her.

"Miss. Hinamori." Amu lifted her head, her hands covering her trembling lip. Sanjou was pushing yet another packet of paper, "All is not lost. There is a way to pay for your debt."

"How?"

"Easter is a very large business. It has footholds in just about every category. However it's known mostly for its entertainment industry. Music, TV, Movies, and Fashion, we do it all. If you agree to work for us, half of your income will be used to pay off your debt, while the other half will be given to you to spend at your leisure."

"You're offering me a job?"

"Basically."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you will have to pay the entire amount upon your release from this institution."

Amu let out a little gasp. She had never even seen that much money in her life, the thought of having to pay it back made her want to curl into a ball and cry.

"What about my family?"

"Your family will be held responsible for this if you refuse to do either." Sanjou slides a photo out from under the contract and angles it towards Amu. She recognized herself standing off to the side, pink haired and clearly looking bored, but smiling slightly into the camera, a little girl hugging her leg and sucking her thumb. Her parents were next to her, grinning warmly at each other. Even though her brain didn't recall anything about who they were or what they were to her, Amu's heart clenched at the thought of them having to pay off her debt with money they clearly didn't have.

Sanjou sat the pen down upon the contract, "So what will it be Miss. Hinamori?"

'I have no choice.'

Slowly, she grasped the pen and signed her name on the dotted black line.

Chapter 1 End