Honest Nagihiko
By Laura Schiller
Based on: Shugo Chara
Copyright: peach Pit
On his way to the Guardians' final confrontation with Ikuto and the Easter Company, Nagihiko looked over his shoulder and saw Rima – the smallest and most physically fragile of them all – falling behind. He ran back to help her, without thinking of what exactly he would do – carry her? Drag her along? But as he held out his hand to the petite blonde, she fixed her brown eyes on him with a look of absolute contempt.
"I won't hold hands with a liar,"she said.
Nagihiko moved back as if he had been slapped.
The five friends were currently ensconced in the Royal Garden, sipping tea and munching cookies around a white table and savoring the warm, sweer air of the blooming greenhouse. The shugo charas were at the table as well, eating from doll china. All except Temari, that is. It had been three days since that fateful night at the Dream Egg Land amusement park, the night they had saved both Ikuto and the young president of Easter. Nagihiko had promised himself that, if he survived the night, he would definitely tell his secrets. Both of them.
Nagihiko took a deep breath and jumped into the first pause in the conversation he could detect. He had to do this quickly, before he lost his nerve.
"Everybody," he said, clenching his fists tightly under the table, "Listen. I have something very important to tell you."
"Huh? Something important?" asked Yaya, blinking in surprise. Tadase gave her a polite look of warning.
"Yes. Forgive me for not telling you earlier … I was worried you might … anyway … " Nagihiko found himself struggling for words. Rima had such a sly, knowing look in those caramel-colored eyes of hers, and Kiseki and Rhythm were nudging each other and snickering like schoolboys. As for Amu and Tadase, they only looked politely interested; Nagihiko wondered how long it would take for the disgust to take over Amu's face.
"Oh, all right. Temari, would you come out, please?"
Nagihiko fished the pink, beflowered egg out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and watched the tiny dancer emerge.
"Greetings, everyone," said Temari in her wind-chime voice, hiding her blushes behind a wide pink kimono sleeve. "It's been a long time."
"Temari-chan! Awesome!" squealed Pepe. The other charas joined her in an enthusiastic welcome, crowding around until Temari had to float above their heads. Rhythm grinned.
"My royal court welcomes you, dear lady."
"Nice to meet'cha! Ever heard of bala-balance?"
"Suu has ever so many delicious recipes to show you!"
"Wait a second," Miki interrupted, looking from Temari to Nagihiko and back again. "Does that mean you … and he … ?"
Meanwhile the humans had sat silently, digesting Nagihiko's revelation as best they could. Yaya interrupted herself mid-sentence: "But why does Nagihiko have Nadeshiko's – oohh …"
She slapped her forehead and crumpled into her seat in chagrin.
Nagihiko was beginning to feel like a convict on trial. He stole a glance at Rima, longing for some spark of kindness or approval. Her face was blank. She would have made a magnificent poker player.
"That's right," he said, drawing himself up with an attempt at dignity. "Nadeshiko and I are one and the same."
"I knew," said Amu, startling them all over again.
"Eeeh?" Yaya yelped. "Amu-chi! Why didn't you tell me?"
"How did you guess?" added Tadase, with an admiring look.
Amu blushed and held up her hands.
"Oh, it was just … I needed advice, one time. It was back when Ikuto was hiding out in my room, and keeping him a secret was driving me crazy, and I missed Nadeshiko more than ever 'cause she was always so good at giving advice. So I asked Nagihiko to be a girl for me."
Yaya giggled.
"So he put up his hair in that Nadeshiko ponytail, and we talked about what it means to live with a lie … I didn't tell him about Ikuto, you understand, just the general idea … and your answer was really wise, Nagihiko. So … insightful … like you knew first-hand how it felt to keep a secret. You said some things are better kept hidden, only you have to live with the consequences. And you looked so sad."
Nagihiko lowered his eyes and focused on his plate. Amu's empathy was a highly admirable trait and her greatest power against X eggs, but he didn't feel entirely comfortable having it focused on him.
"And at the same time, you just looked too much like Nadeshiko, even for a twin. I got to thinking about how you two never seemed to live on the same continent, and why you were so vague about when she'd be coming back … and it just fell into place."
He looked up, and Amu was smiling.
"I didn't tell you guys," meaning Tadase and Yaya, "Because it's Nagihiko's secret after all, and I knew he'd get to telling it when he was ready. I admit I was a bit shocked at first," with a wry lift of her eyebrows, "Finding out that the pretty girl who baked cookies with me two years ago is the same dashing basketball player we know today. But come to think of it, Nagihiko – you – you're awesome!"
He jumped in his seat, eyes widening.
"Amu-chan … ?"
"You are! I could never pull off living as a boy!"
"You might if you'd been brought up to it all your life," Nagihiko retorted. "And if you left off the pink hair dye."
"Amu-chi's right," Yaya chimed in. "You were such a cute girl, and now you're such a handsome boy – it's like you've got the best of both worlds, y'know?"
Nagihiko, mildly shocked by the idea that Yaya found him handsome, held up his hands to ward off the excess of compliments even as a radiant smile stole across his face.
"Aw, you guys … thank you so much. I'm so relieved … "
"We're still your friends, Fujisaki-kun," said Tadase, in his gentlemanly way. "We will accept you, no matter what lifestyle you choose."
Nagihiko blinked hard, fighting back a few tears. He looked over at Rima one more time.
Her smile was tiny – barely detectable, in fact. But it was there.
At the end of the meeting, as Yaya walked home in one direction and Tadase escorted Amu in another (Holding hands, no less – nice going, Hotori-kun!), Nagihiko and Rima found themselves alone in the greenhouse.
"Do you still consider me a liar, Rima-chan?" asked Nagihiko. His heart was pounding in his ears.
"What are you saying?" Rima asked gruffly, tugging at one of her butterscotch-colored curls without looking him in the eye.
"You told me once you wouldn't hold hands with a liar," he continued, slightly emboldened by her reaction. If he made her nervous, that meant he might have a chance. He took a small step forward.
"I just want you to know … I really like holding your hand."
She looked up with a small gasp, her face cherry-blossom pink.
"The Queens' Waltz, Rima-chan. We purified a whole flock of X eggs by dancing together. There's a bond between us … can you feel it? Or are you still determined to hate me?"
Rima shook her head.
"I haven't hated you in a long time," she confessed, in a tiny voice. "Not since that day you stepped between me and the question egg attack. Even though you didn't have your powers. You may be a stuck-up know-it-all with an evil sense of humor, but … but I think I like you."
"Well than," said Nagihiko, intensely gratified. "That means we have something in common.
"What?" Rima glared, possibly anticipating that he would turn her 'evil sense of humor' comment back on her.
Instead, as he had a way of doing, Nagihiko turned her expectations upside down.
"I like you too," he said, holding out his hand and giving her what he hoped was a charming wink. "Now, Rima-chan, will you hold hands with honest Nagihiko as he walks you home?"
Rima's bright hair bounced as she nodded, her blushing face lit up by a rare, full smile.