Here's another chapter of Neko Calling!
Hope you enjoy!
Comments are loved and appreciated!
Oh, and I realized a mistake of mine. (First Shugo Chara fanfic after all) Makoto is actually in the same grade as Amu, but she was born on March 3rd whereas Amu's birthday is on September 24th. So Makoto is almost a year older than Amu, but not fully. Still, she is 13 at the beginning, the same age as Nadeshiko.
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The alarm rung loudly, despite being on the other side of the room. Groaning, I dragged myself over the side of my bed and onto the floor, stumbling dazedly onto my feet and shutting off the blaring alarm. Rayne peeked out from her dark red egg, glaring intensely at the alarm before flying out and stretching, her fanged canines glinting as she yawned widely.
"Let's get this over with." Rayne muttered bitterly, her horns flashing. Her two fellow guardian character eggs flew up and into my school bag under her control. Groaning irritably, I dressed in the school uniform and left my room. "Papa, you have twenty minutes." I warned, knocking loudly on his door.
"Mmmm…"
Rolling my eyes, I kicked the door open, ripping the sheets off his curled up form. "That stupid physic lady was announced dead this morning by my evil wrath because she made me give birth."
"WHAT?!" He screamed, nearly knocking into me as he flailed around. "Lady Saeki-sama is dead! NO!" He paused and whipped his head towards me. "You gave birth?"
"Well, half of what I said was true in a way." I shrugged, skipping out of his room that was filled with machines and computers. Ignoring my brothers yelling and the klutzy loud echoes of him falling throughout the second floor of our house, I walked down the stairs and ate breakfast. Cereal. Again.
Well, fruit loops this time.
Yawning loudly, I microwaved a few bagel bites, using our rice cooker to add a portion of plain white rice and lima beans into my Japanese bento my brother had oh so graciously bought for me. "I'm leaving!" I yelled up to my brother. "You have five minutes till you have to leave for work. Also, I have three kids now, so you're an uncle."
I skipped out and shut the door behind me, cackling at my brother's screech. As I left our isolated home and walked on the sidewalks with many other students dressed in our schools uniform, I noticed the loud chatter coming from three familiar girls who had fawned over the….
What were they called again?
Oh, the Guardians.
Such a cliché name, give them props for the epic music that seemed to appear when they showed up though.
"Hinamori-san was soooo cool yesterday! She had so much courage to profess her love in front of the prince!" Ah, by Hinamori, they meant Amu and the prince was Tadase, AKA, the prince wannabe.
"Ahh! It was so romantic! We should be best friends now that we all like the prince." Another squealed. But she was rejected and how does liking the same guy make you friends?…. Tuning them out, I left them to their weird fantasies.
Amu seemed to be doomed to life full of fangirls and fanboys.
RIP
I found my class relatively easily, following a group of giggling girls my age up the stairs and into the classroom where I noticed the very 'proper' Kimono girl sitting majestically. Imaginary wind whipped at her hair and her cape fluttered.
I shuddered. The feels man. The feels.
Wow, I feel hippie suddenly.
I hope my grave will say, "Here lies the awesome Makoto, who died from the overwhelming feels of her majestic classmate."
She was speaking calmly with another group of classmates, who melted in her attention. Dodging some puddles that were once classmates, I seated myself in the very back window seat.
The cliché backseat where the main character always sits.
Me, yay. Super enthusiasm.
Not long after, the room was filled with students, all sitting as class was soon to start. I looked up from my kindle fire, where I was reading the Adventurers Wanted series for the fourth time, when Nadeshiko- I think her name was- stood up and was looking around in confusion.
"Excuse me," I blinked in surprise when every head literally snapped over in attention. "Has anyone seen Kazushi Makoto arrive yet?" I deadpanned.
I had literally passed her when she was looking in my direction earlier. I debated for a second on whether or not to answer her. But the feels demanded I showed some respect.
"I'm right here." I relented, somewhat hesitant. Much like what happened to Nadeshiko, every head snapped towards me in surprise.
Are you cereal? (Yes, cereal) No one noticed me until I spoke?
Nadeshiko seemed flustered when she realized I was only three seats behind her the whole time. At all the noise, Rayne peaked her head out of my school bag that was resting on the hook of my desk. Nedeshiko's eyes focused on her immediately, looking confused as Rayne suddenly scowled and vanished back into my bag.
Clearing her throat, she walked up to me with the students parting like she was a celebrity. She curtly held out an envelope with a seal on it, the embarrassed blush gone and her confident majestic-ness had fully recovered. "After school today, we'll be waiting for you and Amu in the royal garden." Nadeshiko stepped into my bubble-that-shall-not-be-breached. "Well talk to you about the eggs." She spun around, her hair hitting me in the face as she returned to her seat, with all the aura of a princess.
Thanks for the whiplash, sweetie.
My mind is so messed up, I should be in a mental hospital.
"Will there be food?" I asked, watching her turn back around, as if she hadn't expected me to say anything else.
"Ah... yes, snacks and tea." She answered, staring at me oddly. Free food was always a good thing. Free food meant no effort of having to make my own at home. Free food meant a happy me and a happy Rayne.
"Okay." I opened my bag and casually put the letter in, watching Rayne's grumpy face as she glared at the letter as if planning its murder. The other students were whispering and glancing back at me for the rest of the period. My first class was Japanese history, which I was happy to learn and the teacher didn't make me do the cliché introduction to the class. He merely introduced my name and gave the basic information of me being a transfer student from America.
I decided I liked him, the older man in his thirties with black hair and glasses. He was calm and didn't talk too quickly for me to get confused, and was fairly lenient in homework from what I could tell. I had a feeling he's quickly going to become my favorite teacher.
I mean, dem glasses tho.
Be in awe of my wonderful speech/thinking skills.
School passed with its normal boring slow motionless slug-ness, when Rayne came out during the lunch break. The class had soon forgotten my existence in the same class and gossiped about the Guardians and how Amu and I were invited to the royal garden. Rayne joined me in eating the small pieces of pepperoni off my bagel bites and some rice, stuffing her face messily, her tail flicking cheerfully behind her.
Around third period, Math- my "oh so despised" subject, along half of the world's population- I noticed Amu's gym class outside with the third-years, who were doing the horizontal bars. Ran must've character changed with her because Amu did a 360 in character and practically flew to the bars, spinning around them like a sports athlete on steroids, as the children in both grades watched in awe.
Snickering, Rayne and I watched Amu freak out and disappear. Once the subject of my amusement left, I turned to look at the board full of numbers and letters that shouldn't belong together. Not that I was bad at math, I don't mind it if it's easy, but I absolutely despise the subject because it's not important for any of my future jobs.
I'm not a rocket scientists, or anything of the sort.
"It's very important to have math. You students are the next generation of possible scientists-" Blah Blah, Blah. NO.
Rayne rested lazily on the curve of where my neck met my shoulder, using my brown-red hair as a blanket as she snored/purred in my ear. Even during my last period, art, she sleep soundly as I painted scenery as instructed by the Art teacher, Mazola-san.
I sneezed.
My Amu-tsundere alarm was ringing.
OoO
Rayne flew beside me as I walked around, lost, in the crowd of students eager to get home. One brown-haired girl stopped at my side and pushed up her glasses, her green eyes vanishing behind the glare for a moment. "Kazushi Makoto, the new American transfer student. I am Jugoi Nanase, it's nice to meet you. Are you trying to find the royal garden?"
"Yeah, Nanase." Unlike Amu, she seemed not the least bit bothered by the use of her first name. Rather, she smiled and pushed up her glasses.
"I'll show you the way, I'm in the same math and art class as you." Oh, so she saw me freaking out in math and the Art teacher praising me on my evening sky painting. Goodies.
"Mm." I hummed, following her lead as we separated from the other students and down a long path to a giant glass building.
"Here's the royal garden, I'll see you tomorrow." Nanase waved and walked off, reading while walking. Opening the door, Rayne sat on my shoulder as I followed the pathway through the flowers and plants to a table where the guardians stood beside.
"Kazushi Makoto, welcome to the royal gardens. We'll wait to have our meeting until Amu comes, but please help yourself to the tea and scones I prepared." Nadeshiko welcomed, gesturing me to the table of snacks.
"Yay, food." My comment got a strange look from Tadase and Nedeshiko, but the other two grinned and went along with me, cheerfully chatting about random things and eating scones. I had already forgotten their names, but didn't bother asking.
They would probably repeat their names once Amu came in.
On cue, I heard the doors to the garden open and Amu's voice filter in. "Excuse me." She said shyly, her footsteps quiet as she hesitantly walked over.
"Hello, Hinamori-san. Welcome to the Royal Garden." Tadase greeted her. We all gathered on the white table around the snacks and Nedeshiko pored tea for everyone.
"Today we'll be having maca tea. I've also baked some scones." Nedeshiko said pleasantly. The other girl suddenly jumped up from her seat and yelled.
"All right! I love Nedeshiko's scones!" The other girl said cheerfully, almost giving me a whiplash from her sudden move.
"Well then, shall we should start with the introductions." Tadase suggested, "The Guardians' King chair, Hotori Tadase. I'm in the fifth grade, like you and Kazushi-san." His chara flew over to float next to Tadase. The Guardian Character's hair was light purple, wearing a small gold crown, a kings robes and the suit with puffy pants. "And he's my Guardian Chara, Kiseki."
I refrained from laughing.
This time at least, no promises on the next time.
"Queen's chair, Fujisaki Nedeshiko. I'm also a fifth-grader." Nedeshiko introduced and her chara flew over, dressed in a traditional pink kimono with sakura flowers in her violet hair. "This girl is Temari."
"Ace chair's Yuiki Yaya! I'm in the fourth grade and I love cute things!" Yaya cheered and her baby-like chara flew over, emphasizing her point. The baby chara had a red bow on its pink rabbit hat, wearing a pink baby outfit with a yellow bib and a yellow pacifier in her mouth. Her brown hair was in pig tails like Yaya's. "And this is Pepe-chan. Pleased to meet you!"
Pepe-chan….
Okay, this is it. I have died inside.
"Jack's chair, Soma Kukai. Sixth grade. I'm captain of the soccer club." His chara flew over, wearing a white sweatband around his head with a yellow star on it. He wore clothes like a soccer player and has mint-green hair and light brown eyes. "And this dude is Daichi."
…..Their Guardian Characters suited them perfectly.
And people wonder why there are stereotypes.
Amu jumped up nervously trying to introduce herself, "Um, I am-"
"We know all about you, Hinamori Amu." That's not creepy at all. "As well as Kazushi Makoto." Nadeshiko smiled. Spare me from your demonic informational gathering ways.
Sorry, I haven't had my meds yet.
Oh, wait…. I don't have any meds…
Maybe that's the problem.
Nadeshiko, Kukai and Yaya had gathered around Amu, "You're really bashful. That's cute!" Yaya squealed.
"And you're afraid of scary stories, they say." Kukai added. God forbid, do they know her sizes too? Might as well be stalkers.
"H-how do you know all that?!" Amu fretted as I calmly (Mentally freaking out) sipped my tea.
"Being aware of all students' personal information is part of a guardian's duties." Nadeshiko informed happily, the other two readily agreeing. Knowing that she's afraid of scary stories shouldn't be included in that…
"More like an invasion of privacy!" Amu yelled, going from shy and nervous to angry. Nadeshiko giggled her strange giggle, and moved on.
"And these are your Guardian Characters, Ran, Miki and..." Rayne glanced up from where she was stuffing her mouth with pieces of the scones and Amu's Guardian characters stopped making the leaning tower of sugar cubes to stare at Nadeshiko.
"Rayne." I filled out her unasked question.
"Just what are Guardian Charas, exactly?" Amu asked and Tadese stepped forward to hand her a yellow book with the picture of humpty-dumpty on the cover with the title, 'The Heart's Egg.' "A book? The Heart's Egg?"
I listened from my spot, "There is an egg in the heart of each child." Amu read, the book starting to sound dangerously like the weirdo Saeki on TV. "It is the heart's egg, unseen by the eye. As one grows up, it fades away." Why? Do we die on the inside or something? "Huh? A page has been torn out."
"That picture book was created by the founding king of the guardians." Tadase told her, "The heart's egg… doesn't it seem like something familiar?"
Rayne and the other two eggs of mine popped into my mind. Who would've thought, I had eggs in my heart. Or my heart was an egg? My heart gave birth to an egg? Wait, why did my baby heart have to fade away when I'm older?
"Yeah, everyone holds their own egg. But, sometimes, the egg wiggles up and your other self is able to pop out." Yaya explained, demonstrating with her hands and making Pepe pop out.
"That's basically what a Guardian Chara is." Kukai summed it up. Well, I'm never eating eggs again then.
"My other self…" Amu muttered to herself. The four Guardians stood magestically in the sunlight of the garden.
"We guardians all have Guardian Charas, our other selves, and recruit new members each generation." Tadese told us, "That's why, Hinamori Amu and Kazushi Mikoto, we would like you to join the guardians." Amu blushed in shock, staring at Tadase. I sighed, running my hand down my face. The prince needs to tone down his pheromones, Amu's going crazy. "The hearts egg… it usually sleeps peacefully inside each child. But every so often, the egg reacts. Burdened by worries, inside you, it darkens. When that happens, the hearts egg changes into an X egg."
Nice to know, since half the children in the world probably have X eggs.
"X-egg?" Amu repeated.
"When that happens, your character transformation will come in handy!" Kukai smiled proudly, puffing out his chest.
"None of our members can character transform." Nadeshiko said. Well, you guys are useless then, aren't you?
"Yaya wants to see the character transformation!" Yaya whined, running around hyperactively. Rayne scowled at the girl, covering her pointed ears with an irritated click of her tongue.
"Character transforming? That was an accident!" Amu disagreed, backing away from the three and nervously shaking her hands in front of her. "I have no idea how to do it on my own!"
"Ha, neither do I!" I spoke for the first time, cheerfully adding my two cents. Amu suddenly froze and looked over her shoulder at Tadase, who was oozing prince pheromones three time more than before.
"Can we count on you being a guardian?" Tadase charmed. Amu's face exploded into a pink blush, bashfully clasping her hands together and looking at the floor.
"N.." Amu started and her Guardian Characters repeated her. "NO!" Amu steeled herself, firmly refusing.
"No thanks, I'm good." I answered when they glanced at me hopefully. The four of them fell into despair, clouds of darkness hovering over them.
"Why not?!" Yaya yelled in Amu's face. Because I'm not sure I'll be able to keep Rayne from murdering you. My chara had already started to shut her egg around herself and floated back into my bag, giving me a simple irritable glance before closing it. "If you're a guardian, you can do all kinds of things!"
Like what? Skip school? Well…. I'd rather not miss anything important in class.
"B-because…" Amu started, looking down at the floor again. "I wouldn't like wearing that royal cape." Amu admitted, instantly sending me into a flurry of laughter that made me drop from my chair to clutch my stomach.
"That's it?" Nadeshiko muttered and Amu suddenly became passionate.
"It's an important matter! It goes completely against my fashion rules!" Amu yelled. Kukai joined me in my laughter, pointing at Amu. Gasping, I stood back up and brushed my clothes off.
"This girl, she's amusing!" Kukai praised, "You pass!"
"I said I'm not joining!" Amu yelled back.
I wonder if I could just slip out without them noticing, since they were so focused on Amu. Silently, I grabbed my bag and jumped over the flowers, crouching to hide behind them. I made my way to the exit, and looked back to listen.
"No matter what?" Tadase asked, giving her the puppy look. Oh heaven no, I will punch Tadase in the face. I frowned, humor and escape momentarily abandoned as I glared at Tadase. Was he doing this purposely, because he knew she liked him? I slipped out of the door while they weren't paying attention and jogged off.
Amu hurriedly ran away, yelling back a quick apology as she fled the garden, her Guardian Characters following after her. Kukai burst into laughter once again, "She's great!" He paused and glanced back where I used to be sitting. "Ah! She ran away too!"
OoO
Leaning against the couch arm rest, my legs swung over the over as I read in the schools gigantic library that I had managed to find. The library staff gave me a surprised look to see an elementary student still at school and actually reading for fun. Rayne was reading alongside me with her own book that she took from the shelves using her horns ability to make the books float.
"Dreams are… useless." An apathetic voice spoke from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I paused in shock to see another Guardian Character sitting beside my shoulder on the couch arm rest, reading from a book her size. "Useless. Useless. Useless. Well, he is a downer, isn't he?" She raised an eyebrow at me, silently asking for my agreement.
"Uh… yeah. Who are you?" I asked, staring at the blonde Guardian character. Her eyes were sharp, mossy green and she wore simple brown capris and matching brown jacket with a gray tunic. She had a satchel hanging on her shoulder, filled with books for her size. In her hands was a white covered book, small printed words appearing on the pages she read aloud off of.
"I'm Kris, your second Guardian Character. Born from your wish to be calm, intelligent and knowledgeable." She stated with a calm, long yawn. "The girl named Amu is currently fighting the downer boy. His egg has become an X egg, but it appears she will be able to handle the situation just fine." Rayne flew over to greet her fellow character, smiling and thanking her when Kris shrunk the book she had been reading to a more manageable size for her to read.
Its good that they get along. Or that I get along with myself… I shrugged and Kris' words from before sank in. "Wait, Amu is fighting someone with an X egg already? Geeze, she can't sit still."
"Its fine, the guardians will soon arrive to see her victory, there is no need for our assistance." Kris told me, walking along the arm rest to climb onto my shoulder. Rayne tilted her head, obviously wondering why she didn't just fly. "I prefer to walk rather than fly, it is much healthier for the body." Kris answered as if she knew what we were thinking. "I cannot read your mind, it is just obvious by your expressions. I merely read the current and future events of the people Mikoto knows in my book."
"Wow, you can see into the future!?" Rayne asked, jumping around in midair enthusiastically.
"Read the future." Kris corrected.
I opened my mouth to speak when light suddenly burst from my chest and spread along my body. "My turn." Kris said casually, closing her egg around her and floating into my chest. My hair whipped out, growing to reach my elbows and my clothes changed to mimic Kris'. I felt the weight of the books on my shoulder as the bag rested against my hip and my shoes turned into hiking boots. The white book materialized in my arms and the light finally dissipated, leaving me on the couch in my character transformation.
"Character Transformation: Future Reader." Kris and I spoke in unison.
"Huh, looks good on you, Mikoto." Rayne said after a second of studying me. "So future reader, huh. My Character transformation is Gravity Combatant."
"Open the book and read from it." Kris spoke in my mind. I followed her instructions and opened the book randomly, words appearing on the blank pages.
"Negative Heart, lock on! Amu yells and aims her attack at the X-egg, her hands in the shape of a heart. Her attack emits pink waves of hearts that surround the X-egg. 'Open Heart!' Amu commands, banishing the hopelessness of the egg and returning it to normal." I paused and skipped through the Guardians comments on Amu's amazingness. I read a few lines and paused.
"Mikoto turns towards the aisle of the bookshelves and is hit by an X-eggs attacks? What?" I look away from the book down the aisle in time to see something rapidly approaching. "Holy cheese in a wallet!" She jumped off the couch and landed in a crouch, watching the X-egg fly from the aisle and face her. Mikoto fumbled with the book in her hands, reading quickly.
She dodged the attacks that the book told her, words appearing by the second each time the future changed with her ability to read the attacks before they happened. "Trapped, you can't escape. I can't escape. I can't be free, it holds me in a cage. I'll hold you in a cage." The X-egg screamed.
"What do I do? I can't just 'negative heart' it like Amu did!"
"Take the pink book from my satchel." Kris' voice came again. "It has purifying capabilities, but you have to distract it enough to catch the X-egg inside. You can control books, thus move them without touching them."
Mentally thanking her, I pulled out the pink book and dodged another wave of attacks, tucking the pink book under my arm as I jumped forward. Glancing down, I quickly read the next few lines and filled my mind with strategies to reach the egg. I glanced around the Library space and jumped up, pushing myself towards the X-egg by kicking the wall.
"You can't escape!"
A silver book floated out of my satchel and something flew out into my grasp. Kris took control for a second, the object in my hand jabbing into the ceiling to let me pull myself out of the path of the next attack and launch me down in the aisles of books. I lifted my hands and the books flew off the shelves and out of my satchel to surround and confuse the X-egg. My pink book discretely vanished in the crowd, and I maneuvered it through the books to close around the egg. My pink book flew back into my grasp and the library books returned to their previous position.
Sighing, I shut my Future book and stared at the pink book. "Now just pull the egg out after you wait five minutes, to let it be purified completely." I nodded and stretched, looking over to where Rayne floated with stars shining in her eyes.
"That was amazing! Nice job Mikoto and Kris!" Rayne applauded, surprisingly cheerful.
"Thank you. Let's go find the child it belongs to while we wait. We can't undo the transformation until the purification is complete and once we let it out, it can find its owner by itself. The purification will last as long as the child doesn't give up on his or her dreams again." Kris told me.
"Am I the only one who feels like I just exorcised a demon with this whole purification thing?" I asked them, making the two laugh.
OoO
I hoisted the boy off the floor and onto the couch with the help of Rayne's gravity change. He was probably the same age as me, with glasses and a smooth black hair. I may or may not have petted him while he slept.
He was too cute.
I pulled out the pink book and opened it, Rayne and Kris siting on my shoulders to watch. The egg seemed to have been drawn into the book like an illustration. Kris gave me instructions, so I reached into the pages and pulled the egg out. The purified egg floated out of my palm and into the boy's chest, making the boy stir into consciousness.
"Huh? What was I-" He halted and seemed to take a mental step back, his brown eyes focusing on my face. "Ah! Kazushi-san! What happened?" He stuttered and sat up stiffly.
Huh, I am surprised he remembers my name, not many do.
"You seemed to have fainted from exhaustion." More or less the truth, the boy did have heavy bags around his eyes and his expression even while unconscious seemed tense and unhappy. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Are you okay? You shouldn't be overworking yourself so much. Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."
"S-sorry for my rudeness, Im Hirota Kazuki. Y-you don't have to worry about me, Kazushi-san." He pushed up his glasses, eyes drifting away.
"Well I wouldn't want you to get hurt, Kazuki." His face burst into color, staring at me with his mouth slightly agape. "Oops, sorry. I shouldn't be so impolite but I'm still not used to how Japanese people refer to each other with last names and honorifics."
He frantically shook his hands, "No, no, it's okay, Kazu…. M-Mikoto-san. Thank you for worrying about me, not many people seem too." He muttered the last part to himself. I frowned, shifting worriedly, despite not knowing the boy well.
"Anytime, Kazuki. Hey, you're in most of my classes, right?" I asked, trying to cheer the kid up. He nodded and stared at me questionably. "Why don't we be friends? I don't know many people here yet and I always go unnoticed for the most part, so if you don't mind sticking around for a while?" I asked.
"O-of course, Mikoto-san!"
I gave him a pleasant smile, standing up from the couch and patting his head automatically. "See you tomorrow, get a good rest, alright?" I told him and he nodded, dumbfounded. Contented, I turned and left, waving a goodbye over my shoulder.
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Yay for friendship!
…. Okay, I'm forever alone.
Anyways, heres another chapter. I'll try to update on my others sometime this week, but I have another account with 11 other stories that I have to keep up with, so please be patient. XD
Comments are a pleasure!
