Fyen: My first oneshot ever written!
Rima: Or her first story about me and Nagi.
Fyen: Yup! XD
Nagi: As you can see, it's super long for a oneshot...
Fyen: It's freakin' long! So that you people actually have something to kill time!
Rima: Yeah... and I don't see why this is labeled 'humor' for the genre, it's not even that funny...
Fyen: You have to find SOMETHING funny in here! *rolls eyes* Anyways, um, read I guess. ^^;
"So...," Rima started saying casually, with her legs crossed as she lifted a teacup up to her lips, blowing at the steam coming from the tea inside it gently while in the Royal Garden with Nagihiko waiting for the others to arrive for their guardian meeting. "When are you going to tell Amu-chan?" she asked the indigo-blue-headed boy who was sitting across from her at the main table for the fifth day in a row.
Nagihiko, of course, knew exactly what she meant and was unsettled. "You've asked that many times already," he replied with a twitch, disapproval clearly shown in the tone of his voice at the topic that Rima chose to bring up. However, the little blonde didn't seem to care in the least bit.
She set her tea and saucer down on the table and gave him a piercing stare. "And you never said exactly when you were going to tell her the truth either. Graduation day is just in a few days now. Are you going to hide it from her forever?"
He sighed, feeling lost again. He knew she was right, but how was he going to do that without all that guilt that has piled up in his heart for this past year? "I don't know,... but I will eventually tell her some day--"
"Cut it out."
"Huh?"
"You've used that excuse all the time, I'm sick of it. At least find a different excuse if you're going to avoid talking about this every time," she said with a dull tone as her infamous chibi glare tried to intimidate him.
As a matter of fact, Nagi was sick of this whole subject himself. A vein managed to bulge out on his forehead as he replied irratably, "Well, if you think I'm such an excuse then why don't you try to think up a brilliant time for me to tell her?"
Rima stared at the guardian papers on the table before her, as if pondering over this question then proceded to lifting up her tea to drink again. "Easy," she said after another small sip of her favorite tea, "I'll think up a plan of how to make you and Amu be alone together, and you spill out everything to her then."
The once-calm Jack sat there gawking. 'This... girl! She's unbelievable, how could she say something like that like it's so simple?!' he thought with bewilderment. "You obviously have no idea what it's like to have kept such a huge secret from your best friend," he then said aloud to her. Rima shot him a dangerous glare at the mention of Amu being his best friend, almost as if she was saying, 'Watch it, Jack.' He sweatdropped, still not getting why she wouldn't want Amu to be anyone else's best friend.
"Make that, lying to my best friend."
Nagi flinched and felt more guilt weighing down his heart. He never liked the idea of him lying to Amu, but it was the truth. He had been practically lying to everyone his whole life, lying to everyone that he was a girl and not a boy crossdressing because of a family tradition, so why did Amu not knowing anything bother him so much? Suddenly, he realized Rima had been staring at him with intense curiosity, probably waiting for a reply. "I suppose...."
Rima's eyebrows raised a bit in surprise, as if she wasn't expecting him to accept something that she thought was offensive to him. She knew that he did feel really guilty about lying and keeping the truth from Amu this long as well, but she found it kind of amusing sometimes to bring it up when he really ticked her off. But this time she felt somewhat bad for him as well. And for Yaya since she also didn't know anything about Nagi's family tradition but for some reason, she sensed that Nagi didn't care much about Yaya knowing than Amu knowing.
Finally, she gave off a small casual sigh, as if she was tired. "Looks like you really need help, huh?"
Nagi looked up at her in question then something occured to his mind. "Do you want me to ask you to help me or something?"
Now a vein appeared from Rima's right forehead. "Baka! Who'd wanna help you? You should be able to deal with your own problems!" she fumed, as if that simple question seriously offended her and she turned away, drinking the rest of her tea just as the rest of the guardians, along with Amu herself, were entering the garden.
As Rima realized this, she quickly turned to Nagi, muttering five more words before everyone else joined them, "But there's still a plan."
He gave her a look of surprise again as if saying, 'What?!' She replied with an unnoticeable wink which must've meant, 'Oh, you'll see.'
'Not good,' Nagi mentally noted to himself.
The Next Day, Right Before School Ends
Amu was still packing her things in her school bag as Tadase was waiting for her in their classroom to head to the Royal Garden afterwards. Rima was in there as well and suddenly said aloud, "Amu-chan, while you get your things, we're going to wait for you outside the classroom."
"Okay, I'll be ready in a sec!"
Tadase tilted his head in confusion at Rima as she pulled him out of the classroom. "Mashiro-san?" he asked, knowing that something was up.
"I need you to help with something. Actually, it has something to do with Nagihiko. There's this plan...," she then trailed off and glanced at Amu in the classroom. Tadase also looked then suddenly realized what she was talking about.
"Ah, I understand, don't worry," he said with a small smile.
She looked up at him, a bit surprised, then whispered, "R-Really? You actually know what I'm planning?"
"Planning what?" Amu said as she finally walked out of the classroom to join them.
Rima looked startled but then regained her cool again, replying, "Oh, Yaya-chan just called and told me I had to go try the new ice cream flavor from the shop down the street with her before we go to the guardian meeting."
Amu looked clueless now, "Really? I didn't know there was a new--"
"It just came out today," Rima paused to sigh. "You know how Yaya is, she'll force me to go, so I'll go real quick and be back later. You just go on to the Royal Garden without me, Amu."
"Yoohoo!" Suddenly Yaya appeared out of no where.
"Oh! There she is! Come on, Yaya," Rima said-- or rather commanded-- to Yaya as she dragged her with her-- for the first time-- to the school's exit with Yaya looking completely oblivious. Amu and Tadase were just as stunned even though Tadase already knew what Rima was doing.
'She sure has some skill,' the king thought to himself, shaking his head to himself while he did so.
"Shall we all head to the Royal Garden now?" Nagihiko suddenly asked, appearing from right behind Amu.
"WAH AHHHH!" she yelped in reply clinging onto Tadase's uniform, causing him to sweatdrop.
"S-Sorry, did I frighten you?" the Jack apologized, rubbing the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah! It's alright, I-I'm okay!" she said trying to straighten herself out now.
"Amu's such a clutz, as usual!" Ran said, unecessarily pointing that fact out.
Both boys laughed at her, causing her to blush. "Oh yeah, I was told to go to Tsukasa-san's office right after school today for more information about the students, you two go on ahead without me for now. See ya!" Tadase said, completing his part of the plan and walked off making Amu wonder even more. Nagi also realized that this could be the plan that Rima was talking about and the air around him suddenly got tense.
"Weird how nearly everyone just had something to do all of a sudden, don't ya think? Nagi?" Amu asked, trying to get Nagi's attention as he started to panic on the inside.
"Oh, yeah...," he said, still unsure of himself if this is really the right time to do that.
As both Nagi and Amu walked towards the Royal Garden, Rima was hiding somewhere ahead behind the tree, waiting for them to come by. Yaya was taken care of for Rima had paid for Yaya's ice cream and "everything else." Rima had told her that she was going to the restroom for a bit because of her upset stomach. Of course, it was a lie, but she figured this was too important to miss and that lying would be okay in this case since Yaya could probably mess everything up just like she had stepped on the curtains and brought them down by accident when they were eavesdropping on Nikaidou and Yukari. And if she finds out that Nagi still hasn't told Amu the truth yet, something would happen that would have to make Nagi confess... when they reach Rima.
Nagi and Amu both walked during an awkward silence. When they were somewhat near the Royal Garden, Amu suddenly stopped. Nagi, expectantly confused, also stopped and asked, "Amu-chan? What's wrong?"
"Hm? Oh... it's nothing really."
Nagi knew this kind of look of expression on Amu's face, it was definitely not nothing. "No, Amu-chan. Really, just tell me, it's okay," he told her and flashed her a friendly smile.
She smiled back but with a litte sadness in her eyes. Rima watched with intense anxiety behind the tree.
"Fufufufufu! Rima-tan, this is fun spying on people!" Kusukusu giggled.
"Sh!" Rima scorned her and continued to watch.
"I was just thinking about earlier today...," Amu continued. "When you scared me like that..."
Nagi raised an eyebrow. It couldn't be that that single, little fright actually troubled her so much that she's still thinking about it now, could it?
"When you scared me like that..., it reminded me of Nadeshiko," she finally finished, and a small smile crept onto her face.
The color immediately drained from Nagi's face as she said this. 'STUPID! Curse yourself for having scaring abilities!' he scolded himself silently.
"I really miss her, ya know?"
Okay, Nagi's practically pale, white now.
Behind that one tree that was a few feet behind Amu, the litte living doll grinned to herself, "Perfect timing."
'But I have to tell her...' Nagi told himself and his lips actually started to quiver.
"N-Nagi? Are you alright?" Amu asked him, noticing how he didn't look so good.
"You shouldn't miss her," he told her straight out, looking hard at Amu.
Clearly shocked, she replied, "Wh-What? Why?!"
"There really is no 'Fujisaki Nadeshiko,' Amu-chan. Only Fujisaki Nagihiko."
Amu started having all these confusing questions to ask now. 'What is he saying? Is he saying... that Nadeshiko's dead or something?!' "Eh?! What's that supposed to mean?"
Nagi forced himself to look Amu in the eyes with intensity now. If he was going to tell her this and receive her forgiveness, he was going to do this right. "Amu-chan, I was Nadeshiko all along. I was your best friend before. That's why, I could sound and look so much like her. It's part of the Fujisaki household's tradition for boys to crossdress as girls when we're young. It's so the Fujisaki household could continue our traditional dancing style."
Amu stayed quiet now.
"...And I'm deeply sorry for keeping that from you so long. I was wrong to do that, and I was aware of how you'd feel if I kept on keeping this secret from you, I'm really sorry, Amu-chan. Please, forgive me," and he bowed his head down before her, unsure of how Amu would take this. Temari also decided to reveal herself as well, and bowed her head down just like Nagihiko did, begging for Amu's forgiveness for her bearer.
Rima's hands were gripping on the bark of the trunk of the tree now as she watched with anticipation and anxiety gripping at her heart. Surprisingly, Kusukusu watched quietly as well. Rima was mostly worried because of how Amu would feel because of this sudden, shocking truth. She was her first best friend that she really cared about after all. Amu was there for her whenever she felt lost and lonely, but she was unsure of herself if she could help cheer Amu up herself when Amu felt hurt.
Finally, after a long silence of processing all of this through her mind, Amu began to speak, "I... I really don't know how to take this. But... I really do want to forgive you."
Nagi finally lifted his head so she could look at him at eye-level again. He felt some hope rise in his heart.
"You are still one of my closest friends, and I don't want to lose our friendship because I simply couldn't forgive you,...."
"I'm fine with it if you can't ever forgive me, Amu-chan. I've pretended to be a girl for a long time and yet I even became good friends with you and I feel very guilty because of that. I've basically lied to everyone most of my life, I don't expect forgiveness from anyone," but even as he said this, Nagi's heart still faltered.
"Nagihiko..."
"But I want you to know that I'll always still admire you as a friend. Your inner radiance shines almost all the time when I was a girl near you. You've inspired me to continue with my dream yet I still managed to falter without you with me. So I want to thank you too, Amu-chan. Thank you for these feelings," he continued, clenching his fists now. "I... I've always had feelings for you!"
Rima's eyes grew wide with shock now and so did Amu's. "Eh? Wh-What?!" Amu asked, obviously confused at what he's getting at.
Rima's grip tightened on the tree as she thought with an infuriating feeling, 'That... That bastard! I set up this plan so he could tell Amu-chan the truth about him! Not... Not confess some random love to her!' This was so strange, why was she feeling so mad just because he was starting to tell Amu something completely different? Instead, she should be interested and wait to hear what else the Jack had to say to the Joker. She then decided that it was because she didn't want her best friend to start dating a low life like him or even like him, then she couldn't be able to spend more time with her best friend. 'Yeah, that's it!' Rima was now convinced that that was the case now.
Nagi was mentally scolding himself now, 'Gah! Why the heck did I just say that?! That's unlike me... I never meant for that to slip out! I might as well just tell her everything else now...' The long silky-haired boy then attempted to continue with what he was saying, "What I'm saying is--"
"JERK!!!"
Both Nagi and Amu turned their head toward the direction of an angry Rima running towards them.
"R-Rima?!" Amu said, wondering why they didn't notice her earlier if she was already running this close towards them.
Nagi was also clearly shocked at Rima's interruption. Plus, what did she mean by yelling out "jerk" all of a sudden?
When Rima finally reached them, she pushed Nagi away and spread her arms out in front of Amu protectively, just like she did when she first met the former queen's chair, Nagihiko. "That's enough outta you!" Rima suddenly blurted.
"Rima! What's wrong? Did you... hear all of that too?" the pinkette asked, unsure of why the short queen was so hostile to Nagi again. Nagi just gave Rima a skeptical look, like he just couldn't get it.
'Seriously, what's wrong with her?!' he thought, feeling frustrated now.
"Yeah.... This guy's a liar," Rima replied a little softer, setting her arms down but still glaring at Nagi. He flinched, once again, at her words.
Amu managed to give a slight laugh, "It's alright, Rima. I forgive him. So you should too, okay?"
Both Rima and Nagi looked at Amu, stunned like, 'Did she just say what I thought she just said?'
"R-Really?" both Nagi and Rima asked, simultaneously, along with the stutter.
Amu nodded, giving them a cheerful smile. "So... make up?" She held out one of her hands toward Nagihiko like Tadase did to her when she asked him to forgive her before.
Nagihiko also smiled, gladly taking it and they shook hands. 'Well, that was faster than I thought it would be,' he thought, relieved.
Rima still watched in shock though, like she was saying, 'Amu, isn't that too fast?'
They finally let go of their hands and Amu said, "Now it's your turn, Rima."
"Huh?"
"Make up with Nagi too!"
The stubborn chibi then looked at Nagi as he lifted his hand out to her gladly. She looked at it as if she was disgusted, but took it anyways, not making eye contact.
'She must've popped out like that to help me. It must've been a part of her "plan,"' Nagi suddenly realized then made a mental note to himself that he should thank Rima later for helping him.
Afterwards, Tadase finally appeared along with Yaya claiming to be sick because she ate so much ice cream and blaming Rima for actually ditching her somewhere instead of going to the restroom. They continued with the guardian meeting with everyone looking skeptical at Amu and Nagi, except for Yaya since she didn't know anything still. So Nagi also decided to tell Yaya which resulted in Yaya banging on his arm in anger then turning bipolar by hugging him and calling him 'Nadeshiko,' claiming that she had missed him(or "her") so much.
At last, the guardian meeting was over. Rima had volunteered to stay behind to get the table cleaned, which was unusual, and Nagi had volunteered as well for a chance to thank her for "helping" him. Everyone else all gave a look at each other but was okay with it as they all left the Royal Garden, leaving Rima and Nagi alone.
Nagi caught Rima still glaring at him while she wiped the table with a wet cloth. "Why did you suddenly volunteer to help?" he asked, out of curiosity.
"Maybe because I felt like it," she answered bluntly.
Nagi sweatdropped at her simple answer. "Look, I just wanted to thank today for what happened earlier...," he started.
"Huh?"
"You interrupted me like that to help make Amu forgive me, didn't you? I really appreciated your help, thank you, Rima." He managed to smile at her.
Rima's expression suddenly twisted, and her hand made contact with Nagi's left cheek by a slap across the face. Nagi stood their, too stunned to rub his cheek. Not too many people in this world who thank someone actually get a slap in reply, you know. "What the heck do you mean by that?! I only came out because you were getting off topic!" she added, really ticked off.
"What... are you talking about?"
"I set that plan up so you could tell Amu the truth about you crossdressing, not confess your love to her!"
"Wh-What?!"
"It's obvious, you all of a sudden started blushing when you said that. You were going to say something like you loved her! Just get this in your head, I'll never let you fall in love with my best friend. She'll be scarred for life if that happens."
Nagi twitched. There's seriously something wrong with this girl. "You must be jealous or something," he simply blurted.
"Jealous your face!" she shot back.
"Why are you so touchy suddenly?" he asked, not able to stand any of her temper anymore.
"Because... I hate you!" she spat, and stormed off with Kusukusu following worriedly. Nagi was left standing there with nothing else to say but now rubbing his cheek where the harsh queen had just hit him, he was confused. Deeply confused.
A few days passed by with Rima not saying a single word to Nagi. This made Nagi very uneasy. Each time he'd try to say something to her, she'd turn away as if someone else had caught her attention. He'd never felt so frustrated because of a girl in his life before. Well, Amu was a different thing but Rima seemed to be more... powerful. It was as if he wasn't used to not hearing Rima's voice speaking directly at him either in a mocking or sarcastic tone or even a happy, good-mood-ish one. He had already thought of Rima as a friend before without really acknowledging it. Or maybe it was more than that?
Finally, one day after school as Rima once again left early from the guardian meeting, Nagi went after her, excusing himself. But Rima seemed to walk faster than usual, as if her legs had grown longer, allowing her to gain more speed to escape from the Jack. Nagi decided, he really had to confront her. He still didn't get why she was so mad at him that day or just plain hated him all of a sudden. So he ran in front of her and attempted to make her stop walking. But she just sighed in disgust and tried to walk around him but Nagi grabbed her arm pretty hard and even pulled her back with great force, causing her to stumble backwards into Nagi himself and make the two of them fall.
"Ow!" Rima grunted as she tried to get up, realizing that she fell on top of Nagi as his expression bore a look of pain. She blushed faintly, just light enough that you could see light pink on her cheeks if you looked closely, but she immediately got up, accidentally stepping on Nagi's leg in the process.
"Agh!" he yelped, as he also got up, rubbing his leg.
"What did you do that for? You gripped my arm pretty hard, ya know!" Rima snapped, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to ask Nagi if he's okay.
"I just wanted to know why you hate me and why you keep avoiding me!"
"Ugh! I don't hate you, okay?!"
"Then why do you keep avoiding me?"
Rima slightly let her eyes drop away from Nagi's eyes as she hesitated to say anything more. The real reason why she avoided him ever since she told him that she hated him was simply because she realized something that horrified her afterwards.
Flashback
She had locked herself in her room that day when she arrived home and she was thinking hard to herself. 'Why did I act rash like that? Why did I even say that to him?' she thought to herself but she accidentally said her thoughts aloud without realizing it.
"Maybe it's because you like him!" her clown chara giggled.
Rima's eyes widened and she began to glare at her chara. "No. Way. How could I like him?!"
"Well, when you like someone, isn't it when you always feel like you want to help them and when you know he might like someone else, you always get jealous and get mad at them for no reason?" (A/N: Don't ask me how Kusukusu got that explanation. o.O)
Rima seemed to ponder over this now. She'd hate to admit it but, now she thinks her own chara is actually right. 'Oh great... Do I really... feel like that towards that freak?' Rima thought worriedly.
End of Flashback
And because of that simple reasoning, it made her want to forget this feeling that she had, even though it was a wonderful one. But she hated the idea that she had it.
Rima took a deep breath before replying to the boy she "hated" and squeezed her eyes shut as she did so, "I wanted to stop loving you!"
Silence. Except for the gush of wind that suddenly blew forth, blowing both of their long silky hair flying a little into the air as if it was a que for Nagi to say something. But he just stood there, staring at Rima as she waited anxiously with anticipation, feeling... stupid.
Finally, he started to mutter, "Wh... Why would you want to do that?"
Rima opened her eyes, looking at him weirdly now. "Well... I told you I hated you. And I didn't want to like someone like you anyways...."
"But... you want to like me anyways since you said so yourself...."
'Actually, she said "loving" which is nothing like "liking!"' their charas all thought in their minds, yet none of them thought to mention it out loud.
The blond girl just huffed and turned her head away stubbornly since she honestly couldn't argue that she really didn't have any feelings for him.
"Um," Nagi continued. "But I guess... I like you too."
Rima looked up at him, curious. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better? That's not helping, ya know!"
"Fine then... Well, I guess I feel the same way though because I realized... since I couldn't stand it when you wouldn't talk to me. I wasn't used to it and wanted you to stop hating me."
Rima just looked away as if saying, 'Oh just stop it, you're not doing anything useful right now."
"Rima, I love you, too! So stop ignoring me!" he finally blurted, causing Rima to blush a deep red now but she still refused to make eye contact.
In fact she even started covering her ears. "GAH! Shut up! You sound ugly!"
But Nagi didn't listen. He would not have any of this. He stepped up to her and hugged her head gently (because of the major height difference), resting his head on hers as she still had her ears covered.
"L-Let go! Don't touch me, you dork!"
"Not if you listen to me!"
"Fine! I've un-plugged my ears now let go!"
As Nagi let go of Rima, he quickly leaned in to make contact with Rima's lips with his right afterwards. Rima gave a muffled yelp in surprise but actually stayed still. After about five seconds or so, the Jack finally pulled back leaving a shocked queen with her mouth hanging open.
"Have I proven to you... that I really do love you now?"
Rima finally regained her composure and crossed her arms, being how stubborn she is, looking away with her eyebrow twitching. She tried to answer as bluntly as possibe but it was hard to hide her blush, "I never said I didn't believe you."
Nagi smiled in relief. "Can I hear you tell me that too, now?"
"S-Stupid! You don't have a right to ask me that, I still need to wash my mouth!" she snapped back while her hands immediately flew up to cover her mouth. Well it was mostly her whole face since she was obviously trying to hide her blood-red blush.
"It wasn't that bad was it?" the Jack asked playfully.
"Shut up!" and with that, the Queen started running away from him towards home as the Jack chased after her with her school bag that she had accidentally left behind on the sidewalk.
About a few feet away behind a ridiculously skinny tree, there were two girls smirking to themselves while one boy was behind both of them, chuckling aloud.
"The Queen and the Jack sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" the two girls sang together as they giggled at a certain digital picture that had just been recently taken on their phones.
'Isn't that a little too old?' the King thought to himself, sweatdropping while the Joker and Ace had creepy grins pasted onto their faces.
Fyen: No, Tadase, that is NEVER old! MWAHAHAHAHA! :D
Nagi & Rima: ^^;
Rima: Anyways, I thinks that's unfair that we were spied on!
Nagi: u_u
Fyen: Btw, Nagi, "dork" means "a whale's penis."
Nagi: O_O WTH!?
Fyen: I just thought you should know. u_u
Rima: o.o So um, I guess review to tell us what you think?
Fyen: *smiles*