Huzzah! I have updated! I was starting to think that I would never get around to it… '-_- Well, as always, I own nothing! :)

I plopped down onto the creaky bed, silently fuming as the pervert-asshole walked out of the police station. Really, couldn't he cut me a little slack? My mom works over 100 hours each week for a minimum wage paycheck that barely provides enough to pay the bills and get us food. There is no way she can scrape up enough money for a bail. What the hell am I gonna do? I held my head in my hands and let out a loud sigh. This is what I get for doing stupid shit like this. I looked at the clock. 4 in the morning and not a soul awake except me and that yawning cop on duty. I got up and began to pace the small room, ignoring the painful ache of several bruises and scrapes. I had to think of some way to get out of here. School started at eight, so I at least had a few hours to think. Slowly, the clock ticked away the minutes, and soon it was six. The on duty cop had since received breakfast and was pulling out several pages of a report form.

"So miss, I need to ask you a few questions to fill out this report. Please answer honestly and clearly." He looked up expectantly, his pen hovering above the page. I wearily nodded my assent, too tired to fight with him. "What is your name, age, and date of birth?"

"Hinamori Amu. Age 17. Born September 24th, 1995." I felt my stomach rumble. The lingering smell of food wafting past my nose and reminding me that the last thing I ate was the small muffin the cop had given me yesterday afternoon. Damn I was hungry. "Do you think you might be able to get me something to eat? I'm kinda hungry right now." The cop looked up briefly from the paper before continuing to fill it out.

"As soon as these papers are filled out, I will see what I can find. When were you brought in?"

"About 3:30 in the morning."

"What were you brought in for?"

"Umm… there was sort of a fight happening in the park. Then the blue haired asshole and his buddy came and broke it up."

"That was Tsukiyomi-kun and Souma-san I suppose. Souma did call in earlier to alert us of his report on an injury." I leapt up at this statement.

"Yaya? Is she ok? What did he say about her, was it serious?" My knuckles were white as I clung to the bars and waited for his response. He raised his hands above his head in a defensive pose.

"Hey, I don't know all that much about it. He did say that her condition was stable and that she should be fine. That's all I know." I sighed in relief. She was gonna be ok. It is never a good thing when one of your buddies gets hurt, and for the victim to be Yaya, the youngest, was sure to be hard on everyone.

"Ok. I think I have all I need for now. The rest I can get from Tsukiyomi when he gets back." He shuffled the papers into a neat pile and was about to flip the TV to a new station when I coughed meaningfully and held my stomach. He rolled his eyes at my exaggeration but got up and strode off to find me something to eat. A few minutes he came back with a paper plate loaded with day old fruit and a hot pocket. "Sorry, this is all there was in the fridge. I warmed up the hot pocket for you though. Enjoy." He handed me the plate through the bars and gave me a plastic spork. Oh yes, because if you gave me a normal fork I would immediately try to stab you, sheesh. Nevertheless, I sat down on the creaky bed and dug in. I had worked my way through all of the fruit and had just started on the hot pocket when a familiar voice drew my attention. I whipped my head toward the front of the station, not sure if I was hearing the voice correctly.

"Miss, have you seen my daughter? I came home late last night and found her gone. I have checked all over town, but I can't find her! Her name is Hinamori Amu, pink hair, about this tall?" The secretary could be heard tapping away at her keyboard for several moments before she replied.

"Yes ma'am. There was a Hinamori Amu brought in early this morning, arrested for gang related activities. I am sure the officer on duty would be happy to bring you back to see her." A horrified gasp accompanied this statement.

"G-gang related… oh no… my Amu would never be involved in anything so violent!" My stomach clenched at this statement, and I took a shuddering breath. I had deliberately kept my mom in the dark about what I did as part of the Oriental Troups. I never wanted her to know what lengths I went to to protect us. Well, that plan was about to go to hell in a hand basket. My food lay forgotten on the floor of my cell as the on duty guard brought my mom in. She was still in her work outfit, and she had bags under her eyes. She had been out all morning looking for me, that much was obvious. She had probably been working hard till late on top of that. I felt like a pile of shit as she looked incredulously at her eldest daughter, behind bars. The officer unlocked the door to my cell, and I rushed out to meet her, throwing myself into her embrace.

"Mom, I'm so sorry! I can explain this!" I cried, begging her understanding. She touched my face gently, tracing the outline of my tattoo with a shaking finger.

"I-I never realized how deep in you were, Amu. I thought… you told me that you were just an outside member! You never said you were this deep into it. How could you lie to me, Amu!" She was crying and yelling at the same time, and I pushed her away, agitation running through my body.

"I know I lied! I didn't want you or Ami to be hurt, that's why! I joined to keep you guys safe! I don't like half of what I do, but if I want you to be protected, then I've gotta screw my morals and do it! Can't you see that? Everything I do for the Troups, I do to protect you!" I was crying as well at this point. Please mom, try to understand!

"I never wanted this for you… I never wanted you to be a part of this…" Mom was shuddering and gasping for breath as tears poured down her face. It wrenched my heart to see her like this. We both clung to each other for several minutes, crying into the others shoulder until our sobs quieted to small gasps and sighs. "We will have to figure this out another time, Amu." She turned from me and faced the cop, who had been awkwardly standing off to the side during our little emotion-fest. Talk about embarrassing. I shuffled away and wiped my eyes, trying to pretend like my face wasn't all red and blotchy from crying.

"How much is my daughters bail?" My mom asked the cop and began unzipping her bag.

"Well, ma'am, her current bail is roughly 200 dollars, with a later court date yet to be determined." My mom grimaced painfully at the exorbitant price. That was nearly a month's rent for our small, run-down apartment. Mom slowly reached for her wallet, and I could see that it pained her to count out 10 of her hard earned 20s. I wouldn't allow her to suffer any more than she had to for my mistakes.

"Mom, wait. I think I know someone I can call who might be able to help us out a little." She nodded, and asked the cop if we could use the stations phone again. I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out a worn piece of paper, one I never thought I would use. Carefully, I dialed the number on the paper and waited anxiously for him to pick up. Calling in a favor like this was risky. He would probably give us the money, but there was always a catch. I would owe him, big time. Suddenly, a deep voice answered.

"Hello, this is Nikaido-san, what may I do to help you?" Swallowing hard, I formulated my reply.

"Hello, sir? This is Hinamori Amu. I have a bit of a problem…" I gave a short summary, explaining my predicament. "So you see, I need 200 dollars for bail, and we can't really afford it right now." There was a pause.

"Of course, Himamori-san. I will be there shortly. What is the address?" Ignoring the mispronunciation, I turned to the officer, who quickly told me the street name and building number. I repeated them to him, there was a quick click and then the line went dead. "He will be here shortly," I told my mom. She gave a weak grin and pocketed her money again. The cop turned to me and ushered me back into my cell. I went quietly and lay down on the lumpy mattress, worry growing in my stomach as I contemplated what he would want. Of course, I would be expected to pay him back, that was a given. But there would be something more.

As I waited and contemplated my fate, he strode through the door, looking dapper in a nice suit and tie. With an easy grin and a nod of his head, he pulled his wallet from the pocket of his pants and pulled two crisp 100 dollar bills from their leather casing. "So, who do I give these to?" The cop, won over by his easy smile, grinned in return and led him back to the front desk to organize my release.

In short order, the paperwork was organized, and I walked out of the police station into the early morning sunlight. It was about 8 in the morning, and I was going to be late for school. I am having some damn shitty luck today. I turned to walk home with mom, but Nikaido stopped me and slung a casual arm around my shoulder. I tensed, but he smiled and nodded his head over toward his nice fancy audi. "How about I run her home, grab her stuff, and take her to school? That way she won't be quite so late." My mom looked uneasy, not sure what this strange man's connection to me was, but I plastered what I hoped was a reassuring smile on my face and assured her that he was an old friend.

Now placated, my mom suppressed a yawn and waved goodbye as she started the long walk home. I hoped for her sake that she would take a day off. She hadn't gotten any sleep in the past 24 hours, and I knew she would work until she dropped. Turning from her shrinking frame, I quickly opened the door and slid into the passenger side seat of his car, begrudgingly admiring the supple leather seating and the soft purr of the engine as we headed back out onto the main road.

"Thanks for paying my bail, sir. I promise I will pay you back as soon as I can." I kept my voice strong, pretending like I actually had some idea of how to scrape together 200 dollars.

"I know you will Himamori, you always do. Of course this leaves me free to call in a favor when I need it, right?" His tone was easy, but there was a harsh message interlaced throughout his response. He was testing me, trying to see how loyal I was. One speck of doubt, and I would be dead and my family thrown to the dogs. I composed my face into an easy grin and gave a joking laugh as I replied.

"Of course it does! I owe you for this; doing you a favor is the least I could do." The tension left his body at my easygoing reply, and he smiled again, this time a sincere one. I smiled back, but underneath the façade my heart was pounding. There was something going on that I wasn't allowed to know about. I would have questioned further, but knew that prying was a good way to get yourself in trouble, so I continued to smile and joke. We arrived at my house, and I quickly dashed up to my room, threw on a clean set of clothes, scrubbed the blood from my face, and upon seeing my disheveled mess of hair in the mirror, grabbed a hat. I also grabbed a clean spare bandanna, wrapped it around my wrist, and slipped my backpack onto my shoulders as I raced back outside.

I was still a mess, but this would have to do for now. The drive to the school was quiet, and within a few short minutes we had arrived, along with a few latecomers who were sprinting to class. I waved to Nikaido as he drove away, then dashed into the school and turned the corner, barley registering the blue haired cop in my rush to class.

Shazaaaaammmmmm! Over 2000 words BIATCH! Haha it feels so good to write again! . As always reviews, comments and criticism are appreciated! Thanks! –Sovay C.