i. wr0te. an0ther. chapter. *ducks behind c0mputer t0 pr0tect self fr0m being sh0t by f0ll0wers.*

"Nagi! Earth to Nagi!"

Nagihiko sat up with a start, "huh?"

Everybody was staring at him with worried looks on their faces.

"Are you feeling alright, Fujisaki-kun?" Tadase asked, concern in his voice.

Nagi forced a smile and said, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

It was a lie. He knew that. Nagi had been thinking about what Ikuto had told him, trying to decide if it held any merit. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to even consider that he might be getting taken advantage of, but Nagihiko was the type to think things through and his mind couldn't help but question his friend's intentions. Even now that he had his own charas he wasn't a very big part of the group. They seemed to take part in things without him and forget to include him. Sure, the charas took to Rhythm and they all had fun together, but the other Guardians all seemed to have their own things going on that left him out.

Rima and Yaya dragged Amu off for something that Nagihiko hadn't heard. Nagi stared down into his cup of tea, his reflection staring back at him.

"I want to tell her…" he said suddenly.

Tadase looked at him quizzically, "Tell who?"

Nagi sighed, "I want to tell Amu-chan the truth."

"Are you sure that's the best idea? You've been keeping it a secret for so long…"

Nagi shook his head, "I'm not sure how she'll react, but I have to try. I can't keep lying to her forever. It's better if I tell her as opposed to her finding out from somebody else."

"I suppose…" Tadase contemplated.

Nagihiko walked home from school by himself again, or, he walked home with a shadow at his heels. Ikuto walked behind him, matching his pace, yet not saying anything. Neither of them spoke until Nagi stopped right in front of his front gate.

"So this is where you live. I didn't think you would have this kind of home." Ikuto observed.

Nagi sighed and whipped around to face the older boy, "Why are you stalking me, Ikuto? Don't you usually hang out around Amu-chan's house?"

"Amu isn't bothered by me anymore. She doesn't give those cute reactions to my joking." The cat boy sighed.

"So you decided that you'd follow me instead?" Nagi ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"You're interesting… I can tell you're not everything you seem to be." Ikuto smirked knowingly at him.

Nagi cast his eyes to the ground and opened the gate, "I'm going inside. Have a good evening, Ikuto."

"Wait." The older boy said.

Nagihiko paused and looked back Ikuto. Instead of the confident smirk that usually played across his lips, the high schooler wore a look of worry and seemed to be trying to find the right words to say.

"What is it?" Nagi asked.

Ikuto took a moment to answer. He wasn't sure what to say without it sound completely unlike him. Eventually he managed to get over himself and he sighed, "I don't have anywhere to stay right now."

"What about Amu-chan's place?" Nagi asked, brushing a dark blue strand out of his face.

"Her parent already caught me there once. I don't think they'll be too keen on me being there again."

"Are you asking if you can stay here?"

Ikuto nodded and Nagi said, "Fine. I'll ask my mother if you can stay for a while. We have plenty of room… it shouldn't be an issue."

Nagihiko opened the gate and let Ikuto in then closed it behind them. He wasn't happy that the older boy was here, but he was too kind a person to leave him without a place. Then something occurred to him…

"Where's Yoru?"

Ikuto turned his gaze to the ground, "Away."

"That's amazing, Yua!" Cecil said happily. She was sitting on Yua's makeup stand as the girl fixed her hair and practiced her new song.

Yua smiled and said, "Thanks, Cecil!"

The two smiled at one another. Not too long ago their relationship was rocky, to say the least. Yua refused to sing and hated Cecil because she reminded her of a broken dream, but that all changed after their confusion character transformation incident. Now Yua would sing all the time and Cecil watched, feeling happy for Yua. The girl had branched off from modeling into sing too, and they were both excited for tomorrow. It was the day Yua would record her first album.

"huh?" Cecil suddenly stopped smiling and floated up. It felt like another chara was nearby.

Yua stopped what she was doing and looked at her little blond chara, "What is it?"

"I thought I felt another chara…"

There was a faint dark chuckle someplace close. Yua stood and cautiously moved toward it, careful not to make a sound. Cecil followed with worry darkening her eyes. Whoever this chara was they weren't the good kind. In their messages to Amu she'd told them about X characters. The blond hoped it wasn't something that bad. She didn't think her and Yua could handle a confrontation with an X character. They couldn't even character transform yet.

Yua and Cecil crept down the dark hall outside their dressing room. It was eerily quiet and the shadows in the dark sent foreboding shivers down their spines. Nobody was around, which wasn't unusually considering how late it was, but they still felt cold eyes on them.

"Maybe we should go back to the dressing room…" Yua said, scared and nervous.

Before Cecil could agree the intruder chara revealed herself.

"Now I'll sing 'Dark Return!'"

"Ahhh!" Yua and Cecil shouted as they were thrown back by the force of the chara's attack. Yua hit the ground while Cecil tumbled through the air. The enemy chara laughed evilly and flew off, leaving the two confused and stunned.

an0ther sh0rt chapter, but s0me interesting devel0pments. Review.