Alright there guys, here is my first Shugo Chara!-but certainly not last- fanfiction to be posted.
Spoiler Alert! to those who haven't finished the anime. Do not continue reading unless you want it ruined for you.
That being said:
This is based after the end of the anime and draws pieces of the animated series and manga both to patch up the anime sending Ikuto away at the end. I for one am a fan of Amuto (which I would presume you are too, for being here now) and I nearly died when he was all like, "Alright see you later Amu" and then poof!. We get some hints to Tadamu and the series ends. No offense to Tadamu fans, but my otp had just shattered before my eyes and I was just a little devastated.
Anyway, please enjoy, let me know how I did in a review, and keep being wonderful readers. I live for you guys.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!, Shugo Chara! Encore, nor any character in this aside from my own original characters such as Taro.
Enjoy!
Je t'aime toujours
Chapter 1: Out of the Blue
A year and half had passed since Easter's undoing, since Utau and Ikuto were freed. Amu smiled, breathing in the soft rain scented air. Since that time, there had been few X eggs to deal with, and even if there were, a new generation of Guardians were there to protect Seiyo Academy from harm. The royal protectors.
It brought a tinge of nostalgia to the blush coloured middle schooler. So much had changed since then. She had graduated into middle school, turning thirteen and joining Kukai along with Nagihiko, Rima and Tadase- Amu blushed. They had all grown up so much in such little time, it was hard to believe. The fall trimester of school had just started and in a little under a month, she would be turning fourteen, and entering year two of middle school at the start of the next school year. She sighed.
Then it would be off to high school...
She wondered what it would be like to be a high schooler- probably not much different from being a middle schooler, she figured. A small smile met her lips as her thoughts strayed back to the first high schooler she could remember calling a friend. He was all grown up now, she supposed. It was kind of depressing to be left behind, Amu had to admit. A sigh left her parted lips as she readjusted her hands in her pockets, it was hard not to wonder how Ikuto was doing now?
Had he found his dream yet?
Amu's rain boots splashed in the thin puddles along the sidewalk, as she turned the corner to the bookshop she had been volunteering at for the past few months. She didn't get paid of course, and the only work she was allowed to do was help stocking shelves and directing customers to the right sections as they inquired, but it was still a lot of fun. Plus, she was able to read all the manga she wanted. She smiled as she entered the shop, the little bell above the door ringing pleasantly.
The atmosphere was buttery and warm, soothing after the damp cold, and she slipped behind the counter to step into the back room. Digging through her bag, she pulled out her change of casual shoes. Amu toed off her rain boots and slipped her feet into the black flats. Humming softly to herself, she placed her belongings in her cubby and removed her school uniform's jacket to hang it on the coat rack, pulling her apron from rack and tying it securely around her waist.
With a happy smile tugging at her lips, she moved back out into the store place, ready to head out to the storage room to retrieve the newest arrivals for stock. So many wonderful books. It seemed like so many people had amazing stories to tell. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of lives they led to come up with such tales, and if someone like her would ever have something so interesting to write about. Then again, she hadn't exactly led a normal life.
Glancing back into the employee room, she smiled at her egg holster, where her would-be selves hid quietly. They knew it was difficult for her to focus on work when they were buzzing around, so for the two hours that she worked, they had agreed to spend the time napping out of sight. They could be cooperative sometimes... She giggled softly.
Making her way into the storage room, Amu found the book cart already loaded with the new arrivals. All she would have to do was set up the display stand and arrange them nicely on it. Easy enough, she smiled, giving the cart a tug out into the main store front.
A middle aged man greeted her as she stepped out of the storage room, smiling pleasantly.
"Oh, Hinamori-san I am glad you found the new stock. Thank you for being so helpful, it really is wonderful to have you around the shop," he complimented, leaning a little closer to whisper jokingly. "The boys love you too!"
Her face reddened as she followed his line of sight to the teenage boys that had gathered in the shounen section, before she looked back to her boss with a pout.
"M-miyamoto-sama!" Amu stuttered through her embarrassed whine.
For a moment the man just chuckled, giving her a pat on the back before uttering his amused apology and making his way back behind the counter.
She made her way to the display table, tugging the cart along behind her and began slowly pulling the books from the cart and setting them neatly in a line around the title stand, her eyes nervously flicking up to the boys down the aisle ever so often. High school boys... Her heart hammered in her chest, as she watched them. Surely Miyamoto-sama had been kidding, right? She wasn't even their age... No way they would even glance her way.
After a moment of studying their uniforms, she let her sights drop back to what she was working on, humming softly to herself. She wondered what she would look like in high school; would her chest get any bigger? She sighed, giving a quick glance down to her lacking feminine physique. It was hopeless, she pursed her lips.
The uniform change wouldn't really be that different from Seiyo Middle School's dress code. Black jacket with thin white trimming, black skirt- though she supposed the high school's uniform did include that dark undershirt with the blue trim, decorated with shiny little silver crosses. She smiled.
Ikuto had almost always been wearing his uniform when she saw him.
Once more her thoughts strayed to how the teen- well, man now- was doing. She hoped that he was still striving after his dream. They had made a bet to who would realize their dream first, and Amu could only hope he wouldn't go back on that bet. He'd said he would come back once he had found himself and his path.
She blushed hotly, remembering their parting- his very public kiss to her cheek.
Absently, Amu rose a hand to feel at the soft skin just beside her mouth where his lips had met her, the spot tingling like it had back then. Perverted cat...
She shook her head of pink tresses, turning her thoughts back to the books in her hand, the arrangement she was making, the teenage boys down the aisle... She sighed. Maybe she was the pervert after all. She could almost hear Ikuto prodding her with teases at her admission, and her cheeks puffed a bit in irritation. He was so annoying!
Then again, she had kind of missed that about him.
Without him at home to bother her, she only had Ran, Miki, Suu, Dia, her mother and father, Ami and... She rolled her honey colored eyes. Alright, maybe she had enough people to pester her on a daily basis. Still...
It had been nice having him as a friend, having someone to talk to about her day when she was safe to drop her outer character. She gasped softly. Amu had never really given it much thought before, but...
Ikuto had been the first person to ever see her inner character. She blushed.
He really was like a big cat. Flitting into her life and personal space, taking up her schedule and making a space for himself in her heart. A sad smile tugged at her lips.
She really hoped he was doing alright.
He hadn't called but once since he had left, and that had nearly been over a year ago. She had to wonder if he had forgotten her after all. It was probably better that he found a girl his own age anyway... She sighed before choking and blushing at her own thought.
It wasn't as if she had taken him seriously when he said he'd make her fall in love with him! And she certainly hadn't thought about dating him...
Her defensive shoulders drooped, melancholy expression replacing the frantic blush from before. The truth was, she had. She had believed him, if only a little bit, and she couldn't have helped thinking about what it would be like if he actually managed to get her to fall for him. Her blush returned. Ikuto was really... Amu sighed, not wanting to think about him anymore.
Looking back to her stack of books, Amu silenced her thoughts, resuming her humming. She fished the last of the stack off the cart, being careful to sit them upright just under the title sign in a neat little line of three. There.
All set.
She smiled, taking a step back from the stand to admire her work. Running her hand across her forehead (as if it had taken enough effort to work up a sweat) Amu turned to the cart and pushed it back down the aisle she had come from, returning it to the storage room happily. Now, with that out of the way, the only thing she had to do was to tend to customers and make sure they found what they were looking for.
Stepping through the aisles she smiled at various shoppers, asking if they needed any help looking for something. They waved her off with a 'thank you, but I am fine' or 'no thank you', and eventually all that was left for customers to inquire were the teenage boys in the manga section. She stepped around a display of current manga, approaching them timidly, but trying to remember to smile.
"Excuse me, can I help any of you find something?"
They turned to look at her from the manga they had been laughing and chatting over, eyes studying her before going wide. One of the boys, who had red hair in a similar style to Kairi's she noticed, spoke up first and pointed to her name tag.
"Hey, you're Hinamori Amu, the famously 'cool and spicy' girl from Seiyo Elementary," he spoke a bit astonished.
Immediately her chipper disposition melted away, and her lack of people skills rendered her with little words in her embarrassment. So even the high schoolers knew who she was? Her cheeks puffed a bit, and her hands found her hips.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Internally- Why can't I greet people normally!? "I'm not in elementary school anymore though, so..."- My outer character is going to ruin everything!
The boys exchanged looks of amazement, before looking back to her. The same boy as before spoke up once more, "Wow! You really are cool and spicy!"
She sighed. People would never change...
"So, can I uh... help you find anything?" She muttered, playing with the ties of her apron behind her back nervously.
Eventually, one of the boys piped up, stepping closer to her to mutter the name of a manga he was interested in so his friends would not hear him. She felt the urge to give him a confused expression, but smiled instead and led him around the corner to the shoujo section, his friends following in tow in curiosity.
She held out a finger running it along the spines of various red, pink, and white covered books- all completely decked out in fancy lettering, roses of different kinds and very attractive men. She blushed. Amu couldn't imagine a boy wanting to read any of these, but then again, what did she know?
The girl thrummed a concentrative hum in her throat as she read over the alphabetically organized titles until she found the one the boy was looking for. Pulling down the first volume, she presented it to him with both hands, smiled in a rehearsed manner.
"Here you are, sir."
The boy accepted it gratefully, attempting to hide he in front of him from the prying eyes of his two friends behind him. The red headed boy stepped over to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder as he leaned to read the title of the book in his friend's hand, a loud laugh broke from him and he turned to eye his friend incredulously.
"Oh man, don't tell me you read this girly stuff!" The boy's other friend joined the redhead in snickering at their friend's choice of manga.
Amu looked on in silent interest and slight remorse as the boy reddened, holding the treacherous manga in his hands. He shook his shoulders free of their hold and turned to face them.
"Sh-shut up, will you!" he defended. "For your information, this is a romance novel and the girl in it just so happens to be really cute!"
"Whatever you say, Taro!"
His friends continued to snicker and tease him, chuckling amongst themselves.
"Hey, he's your friend isn't he?" Amu retorted without thinking, her poor people skills making her come off as cool once more. "It's completely uncool to make fun of your own friends, you know..."- What am I saying? Why am I defending him? Her inner character was bright red with her blush.
The boy blushed, turning to her as his friends let their laughter slowly die down. Taro spoke up, thanking her.
"You didn't have to defend me, but... Thank you, Hinamori-san."
She gave a passive look, her outer character still leading her disposition.
"There's nothing wrong with liking romance..." she muttered, hand on her hip.
Taro smiled broadly, "So, even someone cool and spicy like you likes romance too? That's so great!" he beamed. "Someday, I want to be a manga artist and make stories like these..."
His dark green eyes slid to look lovingly upon the shelves of romantic novels. "It's my greatest dream..." he glance back at his friends with a hopeless smile and a chuckle, "Even though these knuckleheads will never understand it."
So, he had a dream? Amu smiled inwardly. She bet that his heart egg had yet to be born, or maybe he was even a character bearer too and had left his hidden like she had, and no doubt it was the artistic type. Miki would probably get along with that kind of character well. Maybe Ikuto wasn't the only teenage boy that had held onto his heart's egg...
Then again, she thought, Nikaidou had one furthered that and even as an adult he could still see and talk to guardian characters. She hadn't seen him in a while, but Utau had said that he and her manager Yukari were doing well. She blushed.
She wondered if his egg would be reborn soon...
"I bet you will be a great manga writer someday, Taro-san" Amu smiled at him.
He grinned, holding the manga to his chest, "Thank you, Hinamori-san."
"So," he began, "Do a lot of people know you like romantic stuff? You are always described as being aloof and cool." Taro explained.
Amu's face lit up like Rudolph's nose. "I-i...Eh heh, I don't really bring it up much." Her brain flurried in a frenzy and left her poor inner character to melt down. She sighed. There she went again...
"Oh, I see..." he smiled. "Not many people know about how much I like it, either. Only my girlfriend really," Taro chuckled, "but I think she thinks it makes me a little uncool. Do you have a boyfriend, Hinamori-san?"
Asking straight out? Amu's heart raced.
Was he trying to kill her here?
She really wasn't sure what to answer with. Yes, no, kinda, I have a few on hold? She internally scratched at her brain. First had been Kairi the chairman, then Tadase- who continues to say that he loves her though their awkwardness has made it nearly impossible to get any further than that. And then there was Ikuto, who said that he loved her and he would return to make her fall in love with him. What were the odds of that actually happening?
Laying it all out like that, Amu had to admit she was in a bit of a romantic trainwreck. She stammered.
"I...um, it's kind of complicated."-Internally, I sound so pathetic! She once again played nervously with the ties of her apron.
"I see," he scratched his chin. "So, is that there is someone you like, or someone that likes you?"
"I..." Amu went silent, unsure of what she could even respond with. It all sounded so pitiful when she thought about it. Finally she murmured quiet enough that only Taro would hear her.
"How... do you know when someone is really meant for you? Like meant to... love you?" Her inward blush bloomed outward now and her cheeks burned hotly.
Taro watched her expression, his interest in all things love kicking in compelling him to offer his advice. He crossed his arms over his chest, one hand still holding to the manga as the other lifted to tap against his chin in a thoughtful manner.
"I suppose," he began,"You know when that person is a constant thought in your mind, you know. Like when your paths keep crossing and they pop up when you least expect it- Like fate is throwing you together... At least, that was how I knew when I met Mikoto, my girlfriend." Taro blushed brightly.
He continued, "I guess the best way to describe it is, it's someone who is always there when you need them- even if you don't realize you needed them in the first place," he chuckled, "Love is kinda like magic. You just have to believe in it, and trust your heart."
Amu nodded in thanks to Taro, as he and his friends turned to leave, and he wished her the best of luck with her lucky guy- as he had put it. After they had left, Amu tried her best to focus and diligently finish her shift, moving through the store like her mind was lost somewhere else entirely. Which, wasn't too far from the truth to be honest.
Trust my heart...?
Lost in thought, the girl rose a hand to her chest, gripping the Humpty lock within her shirt and holding to it tightly. How was she suppose to trust her heart to tell her who was meant for her? She barely understood the messages her heart usually gave her as it was. And besides, it wasn't like her dream guy was just going to pop up out of nowhere.
Amu shuffled a few books around on a shelf, absently making sure they were in the right order when her thoughts were interrupted by a voice.
"Ne, can you tell me where the romance novels are?" the voice spoke close to her ear.
Amu flipped around, nearly dropping the book in her hand as she did. If felt like the air had been robbed out of her lungs.
"Ikuto!?"
Oh look, a cliffy right off the bat hm?
Don't worry guys, you won't have to wait long to see the next part. Thank you so much for reading, and again, please let me know what you thought?
I am hoping to capture the feeling of reading the manga or watching the anime with my style here, it's something I have never tried before.
