Running Up That Hill

Rating: T (may eventually go up, we'll see) for dark themes, romance, language.

Summary: Easter discovers the true dynamics of Amu and Ikuto's relationship, and the true strength of her powers, and use it to their advantage. Amu x Ikuto. Amuto.

Author's Note: Um, yeah. ^^ I had a dream of this a few good months ago but just never took the time to write it. Well, after having several reccuring dreams of it, like in a series of chapters, I just had to quench my thirst to write and did.. lol. xD Although I have another Amuto fic in the works right now, "30 Minutes", that I really need to update (immediately!) on, I've been... shall we say, having a bump in the road with it. Usually, they're easy for me to go over, but with this particular fic, not knowing much of the Ikuto arc when I began writing it, this bump not only is preveting me from crossing it, but also throwing me two steps back, and I just want to start over - completely. So though I usually discourage myself from writing one multi-chaptered fic (Because God knows I'm horrible with them, lol), I'm now doing two. Though this one will be more consistent because almost every night I dream of something new for this, and when a fic demands to be written, you can't question it, lol. So here we go! Please read and review! Hehe, the song "Running Up That Hill" by Placebo has definitely helped me out with this fic.

NOTE:

This takes place just BEFORE the Ikuto arc; like around chapter 27/Episode 64 of the manga/anime. So YES, THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS for those of you who are outdated with either. Some bits of this will follow the anime, some the manga, though I WILL be including the manga plot slightly as well. Because the Ikuto arc pwns. Ha ha ha. xD And... this fic will have Dark!Amu later on. Maybe around chapter 5 or 6.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara. The lovely duo of Peach-Pit does! ^^

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"And if I only could, make a deal with God..

I'd get him to swap our places..

Be running up that road. Be running up that hill.

Be running up that building.

If I only could...

Come on, baby, come on, come on, darling..

Let me steal this moment from you now.

Come on, angel! Come on, come on, darling.

Let's exchange the experienece..."

"Chapter 1: Taken"

Tsukiyomi Ikuto sighed as he walked up the stairs of Easter. How he hated this place. Everything about it. He hated having to work in his father's stead, hated having his family name sneered upon by his cruel, sadistic step-father, Kazoumi Hoshina, hated how the man treated him as nothing more than sin produced from an already forbidden relationship between that of his mother and father. When his father left his family behind, he and his younger sister had then become the target for Easter, as the only official heirs, though luckily he and Utau had been too young, then; Both of them had been sent to work for the company for their father breaking the contract. How powerful, Easter was. Anyone who rose against it would easily fall, no matter how strong their will to fight was. Easter manipulated and destroyed lives. With a sinister smile.

"Ikuto, nya?"

Ikuto stopped on the second-to-last stair before the door and looked at his tiny cat chara, Yoru, who was floating in the air in front of him. "What is it?"

The chara blinked. "You okay, nya? You were spacing out."

"Oh.. it's nothing. Just thinking," The teen answered. He walked the last step and pulled the handle, the door allowing him inside to this despicable place. Putting on a smooth marble-like expression, Ikuto walked casually through the halls, ignoring his many co-workers staring at him.

"Hey, Ikuto-kun!"

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, Ikuto turned around to be greeted by one of his step-father's lackeys, the idiotic scientist who was a complete incompetent in every sense of the word. "You dad told me to tell you when you arrived that he has some work for you, and to go up and see him immediately." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Ikuto's shoulders, who refrained from tossing the stupid ass off of him and instead contented himself with violent thoughts such as kicking the guy out the window. "Do your best for the Boss, Ikuto-kun!" The happy giggly laugh only seemed to aggravate Ikuto more.

"Sure," He responded curtly, as the man finally let go of him and skipped away from him. "That idiot.."

"Who does that guy think he is, nya?!" The little chara now resembled a ball of angry fluff, his little tail standing on end. "I should've scratched his face for touching you like that, nya!"

Ikuto smirked in amusement at the mental image and walked in the direction of the elevator. He leaned against it leisurely as he waited for it to reach the 79th floor. Once he exited, he took a breath before opening Kazoumi's office door. "You wanted to see me?"

The man was obviously waiting for him, not seated in his chair and looking at paper work, but standing in front of the desk. His expression was as cold as his eyes. "You kept me waiting, Ikuto."

Ikuto said nothing; he truly was not sorry for it.

Kazoumi had not expected a reply and turned an unpleasant smirk at him. "I have a job for you."

"What?" Ikuto replied indifferently. What could it possibly be? Cleaning up more junk? Searching for the Embryo? Nothing he'd never done before. Just the usual, boring work. So then, why was Kazoumi's expression almost... mocking, as if taking pleasure out of something? It was probably just the idea of knowing he'd taken Ikuto's precious violin from him to make him obey orders, to which Ikuto had most certainly not forgotten; he'd not let his violin go neglected. He'd take it back.

"I have quite a... treasured something of yours that I want you to lock up."

Ha! His violin? Was Kazoumi as stupid as he looked? Didn't he realize Ikuto's sneakiness, that he'd never lock it up for Easter to do with they pleased with, that he'd steal it back before letting they could get their filthy hands on it? Still, if Kazoumi was this stupid, he'd play along; He made a mental note to himself that once he had it, to sneak out through the vents as quickly as possible. It wouldn't do him good to get caught. "Fine, what is it?" He drawled in a bored tone, only pretending to act as if he didn't know what it was.

Kazomi chuckled darkly, and walked around to behind his desk and bent over to pick something up. Ikuto waited, just to lay his eyes on his familiar violin case, but that hadn't been what Kazoumi had lifted up at all; instead, there was a small groan, and Kazoumi's hands were clenched around a handful of short, pink hair. Ikuto's eyes widened. No...

Amu's eyebrows were creased with pain, and she slowly opened her honey-colored eyes to meet Ikuto's distant ones. "I.. Ikuto."

"Amu.." He whispered breathlessly. He felt frozen stock still, as if someone held him in that position. The shock of seeing Amu here in Easter, and Kazoumi's disgusting hands on her, quickly turned to rage. "Let her go," He snarled. "She has done nothing to you."

Kazoumi's expression became amused. "Who are you to order me, Tsukiyomi Ikuto? Am I not the one to order you?"

"I said," His voice trembled with hatred, reinforcing the threat behind it. "Let. Her. Go."

Kazoumi gave a mirthless laugh, tightening his grip on the small girl who yelped slightly as the pain on the top of her head increased. "You really aren't in the position to disobey me, Ikuto, nor to threaten me. You forget you have no solid ground here in Easter. Your opinions are worthless, as well as your threats. You will do as I tell you, and I order you to lock her up."

"No," Ikuto said automatically. "I refuse."

Now Kazoumi's smirk disappeared. "Don't make me hurt you, Ikuto. I am still legally your father. You are still a child. I thought taking your violin from you was enough, but apparently it has no effect on you. You need hardcore discipline, boy. Physical."

Ikuto took a millimeter of a step back. "You won't touch me."

"You insolent pest," Kazoumi snarled. "I can do whatever I please to you. You have no one to help you anymore. Your future lies in my hands, and your mother, your sister, and even you are too powerless to do anything about it. Wake up to your true destiny, boy, and do as I tell you. Or I won't hesitate to knock that rebellious attitude out of you."

Ikuto remained stoic. "If you don't let her go, I'll make you, old man. Your threats are nothing on me."

Before he knew it, however, Ikuto had suddenly been knocked across the small room, and slammed hard into the wall, cringing, but shaking with anger as he felt blood ooze from his split lip. Before he could react - jump forward and knock him down, then take Amu from him! His mind urged - several guards came bursting through the door, and Ikuto looked hurriedly at his step father to see him pressing the "Emergency" button. "You..."

Kazoumi ignored him and addressed the guards. "Hold him -" He jerked his head at Ikuto, "down. I'll call for more of you take the girl."

"No!" Ikuto shouted, and rapidly went to charge at the man but was pinned down hard to the floor by all the guards and could not move a limb before he could take so much as a step forward. "I'm warning you, old man! You better not hurt her! You leave Amu alone and let her go! She's done nothing!"

A grunt, followed by a sharp kick to the face; blood tricked down his cut cheek. Kazoumi turned cold eyes upon him. "You'd better shut your mouth, you little rotten spawn of a devil. You truly are your father's son, the same worthless plague." He kicked his step-son in the face again, and Ikuto's eyes watered as the rage coursed through his entire body.

"I don't care how powerful you think you are," Ikuto seethed. "You will not hurt her."

"Shut him up," Kazoumi ordered. A guard smashed his face against the carpet, holding his head down to muffle him. Still, he resisted. He would not let them treat him like some helpless kid!

"LET THE FUCK GO OF ME!" He used all of his body strength, to try and throw them off of him, but he was pinned down too securely. He heard the door open and saw five more security enter, and who knew how many more Kazoumi would call. The dark-haired boy's eyes twitched. "I swear... you hurt her... and I'll kill you."

Kazoumi looked unimpressed and swiftly tossed Amu, who Ikuto now saw had her hands tied behind her back, onto the carpet in front of him. "Lock her up somewhere where this brat can't get to her. Make sure her charas are locked up tight inside their eggs, with no means of escape, and that she's unable to as well. Teach her a little lesson while you're at it. I'll be down to join you shortly."

The men bowed and two of them reached down and seized Amu by the scruff of her neck, lifting the girl painfully to her feet. She gave a cry of pain as they began to drag her hardly out the door. "I-Ikuto!" Her voice was desperate, a scream.

"AMU!" He tried again; Adrenaline pumped through his system and he gave a loud snarl in the form of a hissing cat and without knowing how he did it, tossed the men off of him. He had reached the doorway before he was tossed to the ground again, falling face first onto the hard floor of the hallway, where he could still see the men in black suits taking the crying and screaming pink-haired girl down the long hallway and out of sight. "Amu!" His voice was loud and vibrating off the long hallway walls. Fear overwhelmed him for the first time in years. Amu was...

Kazoumi's voice was a snicker as spoke. "Now that that kid's taken care of, lock him up securely as well. I'll not have some meddlesome Black Cat ruin my plans. Even if he's my own step-son."

A fist came down hard on his head, sharp and painful, and Tsukiyomi Ikuto gave a loud grunt of pain as everything went black.

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(1): The 79th Floor: LOL, I honestly think there's more than that, but w/e xDD