Disclaimer: Shugo Chara! belongs to Peach Pit. I'm just having some fun with the characters in here, okay?
Author's Note: This is my first attempt at an SC! story, so I don't mind crit here. Feel free to tell me what you think!
"Amu-chan! I know we said that you would have to babysit Ami-chan today, but don't worry! We found a new babysitter, and he's a very nice person. Go have fun with your friends!"
Amu turned her cell phone off with a sigh. Putting it back into her bag, she muttered, "Jeez, what's up with them?"
"At least they told you this time," Miki butted in with a nod.
"Yeah, yeah," Ran energetically added, waving her pom-poms in the air. Grinning, she said, "Now, come on, Amu-chi! Don't you wanna hang out with everyone else?"
Amu pouted. "Yeah, but something tells me this situation isn't right."
Suu floated beside her with a smile. "I bet he's a very nice person, so let's trust your parents."
Waving her arms in the air, Amu let out a huge sigh. "Fine, fine! I guess I'll go to the gardens with Kukai and everyone after all."
A chorus of "YAY"s followed from her charas; Amu laughed as a reply. With her Guardian Charas trailing behind her, the pink-haired girl confidently made her way towards the local botanical gardens.
She couldn't help that nagging feeling that she should be back home. Even when she was taking pictures of the flowers with Kukai (who insisted on being in every picture!) or eating lunch with Tadase (cloud nine... or well, it would've been if she weren't feeling so guilty), that feeling still stung.
"Why do you look so guilty?"
"E-eh?" Amu immediately jumped, staring back at Rima. Shaking her head, she nervously replied, "I'm not guilty of anything! So, come on, Mashiro-san! Let's have some fun!"
She confidently marched past, fists pumped in the air. Tadase blinked, staring at the blazing trail that she left behind.
"She's not acting like herself," He said, tilting his head slightly.
Yaya nodded in agreement. "You think she's in love?"
"I heard that," Amu yelled back with a glare.
Kukai, Tadase, and Yaya looked at each other with knowing glances before bursting into laughter. Rima stared with blank eyes, almost as if to say, "What's so funny about all this?" (As for Kairi? He just stood back and recorded everything in his memo pad.)
"Still," Kukai sighed, letting Daichi rest on his shoulder. "Something's bugging her. You think we should check it out?"
Tadase tilted his head to the side. "You mean...?"
Yaya beamed. "Of course! Tadase-kun, take her home!"
Rima opened her mouth in protest. Kukai immediately came to her side with an all-too friendly noogie. Grinning, he told her, "Hey, Mashiro! Why don't you and Sanjou come and join me over at the Sunflower House?"
"I don't think that's such a wise ideee--"
Kairi too was cut off in protest as Kukai dragged the two new Guardians over in the direction of another greenhouse. Yaya beamed, following after them with a new skip in her walk.
"Yaya's gonna see the sunflowers! The blooming sunflowers! Hooray!"
Tadase watched them all walk off. Softly laughing to himself, he quickly caught up to the marching girl.
"Hinamori?"
She blinked, following the sound of his voice. "T-Tadase-kun?"
He smiled. "You want to go home? I wouldn't mind escorting you."
"But what about the others? Surely they'd miss us if we left them so early."
Tadase pointed to the mismatched group marching off to the Sunflower House (or well, two of them would be marching if they weren't protesting!). "I have a feeling they'll be fine. Come on!"
With that, he took her arm. Amu could already feel the blush coming hot onto her cheeks.
Nearby, Kiseki floated beside Miki, Ran, and Suu. "You know why she's being so weird?"
Ran shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe she's feeling guilty 'cause she was supposed to babysit Ami today?"
"Ehhhh," He blinked. "Could be."
As they walked towards Amu's house, Tadase smiled at the scenery passing them. "Summer's such a nice season," He commented. "Everything's so warm."
The blushing Amu nodded in agreement. "Y-yeah. Though winter was nice too... with the skiing and everything."
"That's right. We had a lot of fun on the slopes, didn't we?"
She couldn't help smiling at his thoughtful expression. "I think so. Even though I had to character change--" She paused, her eyes immediately darting down. Stupid, stupid!
Why did she have to bring that topic up again? She knew that Tadase liked Amulet Heart. Even though he himself admitted that only Amu can be Amulet Heart, so he must like her... it was still a weird topic.
He nodded in agreement, a slight blush coming across his face. "Y-yeah. It was a fun winter break."
For a while, their walk was in silence. Amu sighed. How could she have been so stupid as to have Tadase think about Amulet Heart again? (And without Rima around, she surely had a chance. Her self-confidence couldn't leave her any more, right?)
"U-um..."
He blinked. "What is it?"
She knew her face was as red as a tomato. It had to be! Yet, how could he just stand there looking so calm? "Tadase-kun? Thank you for taking me home."
"You're welcome," He replied. "Did you enjoy the gardens?"
"Definitely," She replied with a slight grin. "I'll have to show you the pictures once I get them developed."
He tilted her head. "Did you borrow your camera from your dad? He's a photographer if I remember correctly."
She nodded, her blush lessening by the second. "Y-yeah. He said it'd be no problem if I used his old camera for the day."
"I see. I bet the pictures'll come out well!"
"I don't know... Kukai butted himself into every single picture I took. Even the ones that were supposed to be of the flowers."
He laughed. "He probably left two pictures alone, Amu. You really never do know with Kukai..."
"Yeah," She echoed, feeling the camera in her pocket. Looking around at her familiar neighborhood, she opened her mouth to thank Tadase again for the walk home.
BAM!
A blonde figure hurried past her; Amu flew into Tadase's arms. Blushing heavily, she somehow got herself back on her own two feet.
"S-sorry about that--"
Both of them stared at the figure as she immediately wailed, "How could I lose to that Hinamori girl? He even asked her out on a daaaaaaate!"
Crying some more, the figure retreated into the shadows of the next neighborhood. Amu blinked.
"Was that... Hoshina Utau?"
Amu shrugged. "I dunno. If it was, what was she doing here?"
Tadase looked just as confused. "Perhaps she got the house numbers mixed up?"
They shrugged. Walking up to her house, Amu glanced over at her companion. Smiling, she called, "Thanks again! I really enjoyed it!"
She opened the door; Ikuto and Yoru walked out past her.
Tadase and Amu looked back at each other as the blue-haired teen silently made his way towards the city. Yoru just looked back at them with an all-familiar smirk.
"H-He was the babysitter?!"
Tadase stared. "... You've got to be kidding me."
Amu's face met the floor of her house. "... I knew I should've come home, I knew I should've come home... Who knows what he's done to Ami-chan?"
The three year old in question was sitting near the door with a grin. Spotting Tadase and Amu, she called, "Onee-chan! Guess what? I got my first boyfriend!"
THUD.
Ami blinked. "Wowwww... they're so happy at the news that they fainted. I've gotta call Mommy and Daddy!" And with that, she slammed the door shut.