Chapter 1
I'm Not Japanese
A blonde girl wearing a straight blue coat and dress boarded a ferry with her father on one sunny Paris afternoon. Usually, the girl would board the ferry with her mother. She would tell her daughter about the places in the city and go there. They would usually go back to their house, carrying bags with the contents of the shop or talking about their trip.
Today, it was different. She was no longer going home. Instead, she was going to her father's house in Japan.
A week ago, the girl' mother died in a car accident. That day, her dad's side of the family, which was Japanese, decided that she would need to go to Japan to be taken cared of. They said that she would have a week to get ready.
In the last week of staying in France, the girl's father taught the Japanese language and culture to her. She didn't like it. She wanted to be French. She was French. In the contrary, her father said that she was Japanese.
That was when her Chara was born. The Chara wasn't born yet. It seemed that it wasn't going to happen.
She gave the Guardian egg the loving care that her mother gave her. She wanted her egg to feel welcome at all times.
She kept it a secret from her father, knowing that if he did, he would tell her to discard of it. Or he would say to put it in the gallery, like the tradition of her father's family.
And it was the night before that the Chara hatched out of its egg.
Ever since, the Chara wasn't doing anything other than accompanying her. It was more than she ever wanted - a cute little figure that would follow and comfort her.
It was always that the figure would successfully sooth her, but now, discovering that they were actually leaving, depressed her so much that it would be very hard for her Chara to make her happy, if her Chara actually tried.
The girl looked at the ferry then at the city behind her. She wasn't going to board the ferry. It wasn't until her father, a fair Japanese man, tapped her shoulder that she would. She turned around hastily, showing her father only the top of her blue beret and the teardrops that slowly fell on her coat.
"Don't worry, Valentina-san," her father said softly, but straightforward, "you're Japanese and you will fit in."
"Je ne suis pas Japonais," the girl replied shakily, as if she was trying to be confident. "Je ne suis pas Valentina-san!"
Her father sighed. "How are you supposed to continue in Japan then?"
"Non."
That was all Valentina ever said. She never said anything else. The ferry stopped. Valentina looked up to her father. He had a literally straight face - as if he wasn't listening.
"We've got to go," he said, as he got off the ferry.
Valentina followed her father, knowing that she had nothing else to do.
In front of them was a cab.
Valentina handed all of her bags, except for her handbag, to taxi driver, who was loading the cab.
When she finished handing her bags to the taxi driver, she entered the cab, pulling her seat-belts on.
Her Chara floated out of Valentina's handbag. She was a little blonde girl wearing a green triceratops costume and a crown. She also had a champagne glass on her hand. It floated beside her whenever she let go of it.
The Chara was smiling - not drunkly nor sarcastically.
"Where are we going, mademoiselle?" she asked.
"To Japan, Gazon."
"Why?"
"Because I'm Japanese," Valentina said, as if it was a fault or something disgraceful.
Grazon held her stomach and lied on Valentina's shoulder, pretending to die.
"Don't do that or else I'll…"
"You're faking it," Valentina said, with a slight smile.
"You're French," Grazon winked. "Nobody but the French can do that."
While they talked, Valentina's father and the taxi driver sat down on the front seats.
The taxi driver stepped on the pedal and drove the car off to the airport. The view outside was unclear for Valentina. Everything was an eyesore. There were so many vertices and lines to see out there that seemed to move right through her eye, as if they were cutting through it.
Valentina refused to look outside, not wanting to have an eyesore.
"Valentina, are you alright?" Grazon asked.
"I… I'm dizzy," Valentina replied, dizzily.
"It's alright," Grazon said, sitting on . "I still got a pint of rhum français."
"No thanks."
It was usual for Grazon to impress or cheer Valentina up. It would be very unlikely for her not to be able to impress Valentina.
Grazon drunk her rum very slowly, trying to keep her loneliness away. She knew what Valentina was going through. Grazon can't hate Valentina for what she was going through.
Valentina wore a droopy face, as if her heart's egg had turned into an X Egg.
The cab stopped at the airport, making Grazon fall onto Valentina's palm. Valentina got off the cab, feeling quite indifferent.
She took her bag and sunglasses. Valentina slid the eyeglasses on her. It was very rare for Valentina to wear sunglasses, especially on days that she felt depressed.
Valentina and her father wandered off to the entrance of the airport.
When she was just about to move off from the taxi area, a beautiful sound started. Valentina turned around to see a man with a black suit, playing the violin. He had dark blue hair and dark eyes, as if he had seen so much.
He too had a Chara. His Chara was a blue cat that seemed to lick his fur all the time.
He looked…like her father but younger. Valentina approached the man and buttoned her coat tightly.
"Salut, monsieur," she managed.
Yes, she had heard of the warning about not speaking to strangers. But all she ever wanted from him was his name.
The man stopped playing the violin and put his full attention on the young girl.
"W-w-what's your name?" she stammered.
"Tsukiyomi Ikuto or Monsieur Tsukiyomi," he replied.
Tsukiyomi sounded so familiar to Valentina, as if it was related to her. Valentina reached down from her pocket a jewel. She handed it to Ikuto.
"Monsieur, even if you know me or not, please keep this," Valentina said bravely. "It is one of the most expensive jewels given to me. It means a lot to me. And you, even if we aren't related, mean something. So please keep it."
Ikuto kept the jewel in his pocket.
"Valentina, where are you?" a voice called.
"Désolé, Monsieur Tsukiyomi, for disturbing you from your day," Valentina apologised, as she walked away.
Her father was already in a line boarding a plane. The line looked so long that it seemed that it had no end at all.
It took some time until the two got into the plane. They placed their bags in the cabinet over them. It took some time for Valentina since something would stop the her cabinet's lid from closing.
Her father, however, took seconds to do so as his only luggage was a piece of paper.
When the two finally finished and buckled up, Valentina turned to her father.
"Papa, what is that piece of paper?" she asked her father, with a little bit of curiosity.
"It's a music sheet for the violin," he replied gloomily.
"Have you ever played it before?" Valentina asked.
Her father just stayed silent and looked up at the signs. It wasn't until Valentina was about to place her beret over her face, that her father responded.
"Yes, I have."
In a Paris alley, Ikuto and his Chara talked to each other. Well, at least the Chara was talking the most.
"What are we going to do with the jewel?" Yoru, Ikuto's Chara, asked. "Are we going to sell or keep it?"
Ikuto flicked Yoru.
"What did I do!?"
"You're acting like an idiot," Ikuto said calmly.
He thought of the girl. She so much looked like Utau. Were they actually related?
He decided that he had looked enough for his father. He knew that his father would be where he hadn't looked for enough.
Japan.
Valentina and her father went up the stairs, to their house. It was a small two bedroom house, with balconies at both bedrooms. It was newly refurbished and looked very spacious - compared to the actual size of the apartment.
All they ever unpacked were the essential objects - books, the laptop, clothes that they are going to wear and all of those stuff.
After this, the two simply flopped on their beds (Valentina's father came first so, she followed his example) and went to sleep.
The next morn', Valentina was rushing to get to school. She hastily put on her uniform and looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a red skirt, a buttoned up black coat and a red tie.
She looked good but not good enough. Her beret wasn't on her head.
She searched through all of her drawers and bags (some of which are still packed) not realising that Grazon was already handing it to her.
"Chara Grazon," Valentina started.
"Votre accuiel!" Grazon chuckled as she dropped the beret on her head.
Valentina chuckled.
"Merci," she thanked her Chara.
Valentina fitted her beret on an angle. She looked at herself in the mirror.
"Pitch perfect," Valentina said to herself.
"Valentina-san! School!" her father called from the front door.
Valentina never took Grazon to school. But, Grazon was a living thing and is something meaningful to Valentina. She'd never let go of her Chara.
"Grazon, into my bag," Valentina winked, with a smile.
When Grazon got into Valentina's bag, she closed it and ran off to her father, who was at the door.
"Amu-san," a voice sounded.
A pink haired girl opened her eyes from a dream that would repeat forever. In front of her was a man with blue hair and a black coat. He was bathed by the morning sun's light. It would only be a dream for the girl - since the man had left months ago to find his father.
It would be a dream-come-true if the man returned to Japan.
The man of her dreams.
"Ikuto," Amu said silently, "if this is a dream, do anything you want to me. I'm open."
"And you called me a pervert," Ikuto said calmly.
Amu shot up from bed to realise that Ikuto was in her room. She was incredibly surprised, happily and angrily.
"Ikuto!?" Amu exclaimed.
Ikuto chuckled. "So you dream of me, huh?"
Amu sighed.
"Yes," Amu admitted, "ever since you left."
Ikuto gave her a photo. Amu looked down at it. It was a photo of his father.
"If you ever see him, tell me," Ikuto said.
Amu looked up.
"Okay," Amu said, just to find out that he disappeared.
She then looked up at the clock then at her three Charas. There was Ran, Miki and Su but no Dia. It was 8:25 - late for a Guardian in demand.
"Where's Dia? We should be going to school by now!" Amu said in a very pissed-off manner.
"Chara, Chara, Shugo! Oui?" Ami, Amu's sister, said. Amu reacted by being surprised.
"Since when did Ami learn to speak French?" Amu asked Ran.
She changed into her uniform and jogged downstairs. Amu saw Ami beside Dia, hugging her. She was wearing a brown jacket - which was quite awkward for her style. Ami was dancing around.
"Ami, what are you doing?" Amu asked.
"I'm playing with my Chara, Amu-chan!" Ami exclaimed happily.
"No Dia isn't…" Amu stopped when she saw another Chara with a brown jacket - like Ami's. The Chara had red hair and had the UN logo on her left side of the jacket. "What does she do? How did you get her?"
"I dreamt to be a singer like Chara Dia but, I wanted to be somebody else," Ami explained. "I WANNA BE A WIYTER THAT WIYTS FOR DIFFEWENT LANGUAGES!"
Amu smiled and patted Ami on the head. "So she's a linguist?"
Ami nodded.
"Great job, Ami," Amu smiled.
Valentina walked down the hallway to her class. As she did, girls who were talking looked at her sourly while some boys stayed at their spots, lovestruck.
When she eventually reached her class, a girl with the similar beauty of a blooming flower stopped her from going through.
"You're French, right?" the girl asked with a treacherous smile.
"Ou-oui," Valentina stammered, feeling quite intimidated.
"Well, get the hell out of my tracks and don't mess around with me or anybody else," the girl said, pushing Valentina out of the way.
Valentina just leaned on the doorframe.
Soon, the teacher came in from an intersecting corridor, noticing Valentina. The teacher leaned over to Valentina.
"Valentina-san, is there a problem?" he asked.
Valentina nodded slightly.
"Well, I'm Nikaidou-sensei," the teacher introduce himself. "You'd better see the Guardians."
Just as he said so, Amu came in running into the corridor then ran into them. She tripped over.
"Himamori Amu, no running," Nikaidou-sensei warned, looking down at the girl.
"Yes, Nikaidou-sensei," Amu smiled, nodding then standing. She speed walked to her seat, getting ready.
"By the way, that's Amu-chan, the Joker of our Guardians," Nikaidou-sensei said, turning to Valentina. "I guess we have to get out of the doorway to prevent those accidents from happening."
Nikaidou chuckled a little bit and went to his desk. Valentina sat on her desk beside the door.
The bell rung, signalling for the students to go in their rooms. When they did, Nikaidou-sensei went up to the front of the room, with a warm and welcoming smile.
"Hello everybody!" he greeted. "Today, we have a new student attending our class. Her name's Valentina. Please be nice to her and as welcoming as possible."
Valentina sighed softly - relieved for the fact that his teacher didn't say she was French.
"Now, continue with the rockets you were building," Nikaidou said, "except for Valentina-san."
Valentina felt quite frustrated by this. She clenched her fist on what seems like glass. Nikaidou-sensei went to a blonde, short girl who seemed to look like an Englishwoman.
'At last, someone from Europe,' thought Valentina.
"Mashiro-san, can you please help Valentina?" Nikaidou-sensei asked. "After all, you're a guardian."
For Valentina, the word Guardian was something that'd haunt her weeks after it was said. Guardian, for her, was a treacherous person who a teacher asks to help people. They would usually run out of the business and tell the person affected 'ignore'.
It's like hell on earth. Well, Valentina never felt hell so she's not comment on that.
"Okay, Nikaidou-sensei," Rima nodded.
She stood out of her seat and tapped Valentina's shoulder.
"Hi, Valentina-san," Rima said in a monotone voice. "Would you want to have a walk with me?"
This was where Valentina hesitated. The last time Valentina was with a Guardian, she was rather put down. This Guardian, to be exact, was Lulu De Morcerf Yamamoto.
She nodded slightly and stood up from her seat.
When the two girls got out of their classroom, Valentina finally stopped. Grazon crept out of Valentina's handbag and chuckled.
At the same time, Rima's Chara, Kusukusu, tapped on her shoulder.
"Look, she has a Guardian Character," Kusukusu pointed.
Grazon then jumped out of Valentina's handbag, surprising her.
"From a girl who can't seem… WHATEVER! GET TO THE POINT! CHARACTER CHANGE!" Grazon recklessly shouted.
A wine bottle soon appeared in Valentina's hands with her tie turning green instead of red. She then stomped her way to Rima, holding the wine bottle as if she was going to stab her.
"Never ever call me Valentina-san, oui?" Valentina said threateningly.
Rima started to sob quietly.
"CHARACTER CHANGE!" Grazon exclaimed again.
A pair of glasses appeared on Valentina's eyes.
"You're faking it," Valentina said.
"Go get some strawberries and think about why you want to talk to me," Rima sighed.
"CHARACTER CHANGE…AGAIN!" Grazon exclaimed.
"Where are the strawberries?" Valentina said, with a sparkle attack. "Pretty please tell me?"
Rima sighed.
"Are you okay?" Rima asked.
"Yes, I am!" Valentina smiled.
"If you need any help, go to the Royal Garden," Rima said, "cause we'll be there for the rest of the day. Feel free to bother us."
Rima walked away with her Chara.
"THAT WAS IMPRESIONNANT, GRAZON!" Valentina exclaimed.