The Heart's Choice
The former Guardians are finally going to middle school, but it seems that it's not going to be as good as it seemed when the student council president has it out for Amu. Meanwhile, Amu finally has to face her hardest decision: Tadase or Ikuto? Utau is coming under stress from work and develops a serious problem that strains her relationship with Kukai. Rima's parents are fighting more than ever and she's isolating herself from Nagihiko. Kairi doesn't know if he likes Amu or Yaya. Yaya is feeling abandoned and left behind while everybody else is dealing with their problems. And that's not all! Something dark is rising, and it's threatening to destroy everything they've worked so hard for...
A/N: This story takes place after the last chapter of Shugo Chara! Encore! The names are going to be said Japanese style (last name, then first name, i.e. Hinamori Amu, Souma Kukai, etc.). "Senpai" is used when regarding an upperclassman, "kohai" is used when regarding a lowerclassman, btw.
I made a crappy trailer years ago for this story that can be found here if you want to watch it: http(:)(/)(/)www(.)youtube(.)com/watch?v=AbUREj0qCr4 . Just remove the parentheses.
Chapter One - Middle School, Here we Come!
"Amu-chan! Amu-chan, wake up! AAAAAAMMMMMMMUUUU-CHAAAAAAAN!"
"Wahhh!" Amu shouted as she fell out of her bed. She glared up at Ran, who was sitting on top of her alarm clock. "What do you want, Ran?"
"The alarm clock has been ringing for the past thirty minutes!" Ran said.
"WHAT?" she screamed, jumping to her feet and running around the room crazily. "I can't be late for my first day of middle school! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"We tried. You sleep like a rock," Miki pointed out.
Amu stuck her tongue out at her blue chara, then began running around again as Ran cheered her on. She pulled her hair into her signature hairstyle. Then she ran into her closet and pulled out her new middle school uniform. It consisted of a white button up shirt, a yellow plaid tie, a black jacket with white trim and gold buttons (Like Kukai's), a black ruffled skirt, white socks, and black shoes. Of course, she'd added her signature embellishments: a yellow armband attached with a safety pin and the yellow plaid leg warmers.
She was just about to leave when she remembered something. She ran back to her desk and grabbed her new shugo-egg box made of yellow plaid. The chain also had a new charm: a yellow diamond. She hadn't been using her previous shugo-egg box because of the dollhouse in the Royal Garden, but they didn't have that anymore since they'd graduated.
"I like the new color," Dia said. "Yellow suits you, Amu-chan."
Amu smiled. "Thanks!" Then she saw the clock and flipped out again. "I'M GONNA BE LATE!"
She ran downstairs and grabbed a piece of toast that was sitting on the counter.
"Amu-chan!" her mother called. "Let your father get a picture of you in your new uniform!"
"Mom, I don't have time!" Amu said, but posed anyway.
Her father squealed happily and then continued taking pictures of Ami. "Perfect, perfect, perfect! My precious Ami is going into the first grade!"
"Bye!" Amu called as she ran out the door.
She ran down the street until she had caught up to some other classmates. A lot had happened over the summer. Nikaidou-sensei and Sanjo-san got married and were now on their honeymoon. Nagihiko revealed to her that he was actually Nadeshiko. Kukai and Utau's relationship seemed to have strengthened suddenly. Hikaru's egg hatched into a shugo chara named Kou. Ikuto -
She stopped walking suddenly, feeling saddened. Ikuto had left immediately after the wedding to continue his search for his father. He hadn't even said goodbye, just waved and got in the car. She should've expected as much from him, but it still hurt.
"Wherever I go, whatever the distance that separates us...I will come back to you. And when you grow up and become an adult, I promise I'll come back for you. Because I'll always keep liking you like this. If you don't believe me, I'll seal my promise with a kiss..."
That was what he'd said before he'd stolen her first nose kiss.
Her hand involuntarily went to the tip of her nose and she sighed.
"Amu-chan?"
Her hand dropped back to her side and she straightened up, her cheeks turning red. She turned around to face the speaker.
"T-T-Tadase-kun!" she exclaimed.
He smiled. "You're as chipper as always. I like what you've done to your uniform."
She blushed again and smoothed out the black skirt. "R-Really? Well, I like yours! You look good in it!" Then she covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide.
He smiled. "Thank you!"
"Amu-chan! Tadase-kun!"
They turned around to see Nagihiko and Rima running toward them.
"It's strange, isn't it?" Rima asked.
"What?" Amu replied.
"Seeing us wearing school uniforms without Guardian capes," she replied, smiling.
They all laughed at that.
"What time does school start?" Miki asked out of the blue.
"Eight," Amu replied. "Why?"
"It's 7:55," the chara replied.
"What?" she exclaimed and took off running with her friends toward the school.
SCSCSC
They arrived at the entry ceremony just in time. They leaned against a wall, trying to catch their breath. Rima was especially struggling since she wasn't very athletic. Nagihiko patted her on the back.
"Welcome all of you to Seiyo Middle School!" a girl was saying. "I am Makoto Kiyomi, your student council president for this year! I hope we will all get along well together!"
"She's so pretty," Amu murmured. Kiyomi had pale green hair that flowed to her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright yellow. She had a happy smile on her face as she explained to them the plans for the year ahead.
"Not as pretty as me, Yamabuki Saaya!"
"Shh!" everybody hissed. Saaya looked angry and Amu edged away from her and more toward her friends.
After the entrance ceremony, they were all trying to see what classes they'd gotten into. When Amu walked forward, people moved out of her way, though, so they were able to make it to the front without much of a hassle.
"Rima-chan and I are in Moon Class," Nagihiko said.
"I'm in Sun Class," Tadase said.
"Me too!" Amu said excitedly.
"Excuse me."
Amu felt somebody tap her shoulder so she turned around and was face to face with Makoto Kiyomi. The girl smiled at her and Amu smiled back.
"I'm sorry, but you need to wear your uniform properly here," she said.
"What?" Amu said, frowning. "It wasn't a problem in the elementary school."
"Yes, well, this is the middle school and I'm your student council president. We're big girls here, so we wear our uniforms correctly, 'kay?" Kiyomi smiled again, but this time it seemed sour.
"O-Okay, Makoto-san - "
"Senpai," Kiyomi interrupted. Amu stared at her, surprised. "I am your upperclassman, so you shall address me as Makoto-senpai or President. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes, Makoto-senpai," Amu stuttered.
"Thank you, um..."
"Hinamori Amu."
"Yes. Thank you, Hinamori-kohai." Then the beautiful girl turned around and walked away.
"W-What just happened?" Amu asked her friends.
"You encountered the dictator that is Makoto Kiyomi."
They turned to see Kukai smiling at them.
"Dictator?" Tadase asked.
"She runs a tight shift. She even makes us use the senpai and kohai honorifics when we're around her. She was vice president last year and tried to make everybody listen to her, but people only listen to the president. Things were much more loose last year," he replied.
Amu noticed that his shirt was tucked in and his jacket was buttoned. "Yeah, I can tell."
"You'd better fix your uniform now. Makoto-senpai has teachers enforcing the dress code," he said.
Amu sighed and nodded. "I'll go to the bathroom and fix it in a little bit. Why is she so strict?"
Kukai shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she likes the power."
"I don't like her," Ran declared.
"Let's not judge too quickly," Dia protested.
"Yes, she might have a very kind heart," Su said.
"Who is she to boss around the king?" Kiseki asked angrily.
"Kiseki, I'm not the king anymore," Tadase said.
"She seems very cold," Rima said.
They fell silent and sighed simultaneously. Amu felt squirmish inside and knew that this was not the best way to start her new life as a middle schooler. In fact, it was a terrible beginning.
Hey guys! So, new Shugo Chara fic! If you haven't read the end of Shugo Chara! Encore! you can read it on mangafox(.)com if you want to. I've drawn the girls' uniform and I'll try to upload it to the internet and post a link so you guys can look at it. I'll also try to draw the gang in the uniforms and I'll even try my hand at Kiyomi. But be warned, I'm not a very good artist.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Then please review or private message me. Til next time!
~Ki
Next Episode: The New Joker Is...? !