Hey, people!!! Hopefully the reason you've decided to keep reading is that you liked the story and not because you want to ridicule me for my awful writing!

Just a little heads up for this chapter and the next one: they were originally written in third person, and then I decided that some of the things I wanted to do sounded weird in third person, so I changed it. So if there are any parts where I accidentally reverted back to third person, let me know so I can change it.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the first chapter!!!!

P.S. Things that are in bold, are spoken in English.

Chapter 1: Cool and Spicy

"Amu-chan! Wake up!"

"You're gonna be late, desu!"

"Wake up, wake up, Amu-chan!"

"Five more minutes."

"You said that 10 minutes ago!"

"It's already 7:30, desu!"

"What?!" My eyes shot open to glare at the three small pink, blue, and green figures floating above my head. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" I demanded as I tumbled out of my bed, startling my three shugo charas.

"You wouldn't wake up!" the blue shugo chara, Miki, replied. She had short blue hair, blue eyes, a blue hat with a blue spade shape on it, blue shorts, and a blue bag. Her long-sleeved shirt was white and over it she had on a black vest.

"I'm gonna be so late!" I screeched as I tossed my pajamas onto the floor and struggled to get into my school uniform. "And on the first day back after summer vacation!"

Su, dressed in a green dress with a white apron, with blonde hair, a white handkerchief over it with a green clover accessory, and green eyes, tried to justify my sleeping in by saying, "Amu-chan, it's understandable that you were tired. You stayed up super late to finish your homework, desu."

"I know that, Su," I snapped. However, I instantly regretted it when I noticed Su's eyes tearing up. "I'm sorry," I sighed, bustling to the bathroom. My shugo charas floated along behind me.

"That's okay, desu," Su responded, smiling happily.

Meanwhile, in the background, Ran, dressed in a pink cheerleader's outfit with pink pom-poms, pink sneakers, and a pink visor with a large pink heart on it, was cheering loudly. "You can do it, Amu-chan! Fight!" Her pink eyes were lit up with laugher and her pink hair bounced as she did jumps, twirls, and flips in order to encourage me.

I sighed, doing my best to ignore the too-energetic Ran. Instead, I rushed into the bathroom, turning on the water and splashed my face with it.

I inhaled in surprise at how cold the water was, then spluttered, realizing I had just breathed in water. I coughed a few times in order to get my lungs free enough to breathe, then ignored to soreness of my nose.

"Amu-chan!" all three shugos exclaimed in worry.

"I'm fine. Could you help with my hair?" I responded quickly, holding up the brush for the girls.

They flitted over to take hold of the brush, then started to run it through my light pink hair.

I quickly applied toothpaste to my toothbrush and started to furiously scrub my teeth. While I did this with my right hand, my left was busy wiping the left-over water from my honey-colored eyes.

My charas and I finished our respective jobs at the same time and I quickly clipped two X-shaped barrettes into my hair on either side of my head.

"Su, could you make some toast for me?" I called as I thundered back to my room, grateful that my parents had already gone to take Ami, my little sister, to school (as only people who had shugo charas could see them, with the exception of little children, and the sight of toast magically making itself may have been enough to give my parents heart attacks).

"Of course, desu!" Su said happily. She loved anything that had to do with cooking. Su zoomed down to the first floor and into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Ran, Miki, and I were grabbing numerous books, notebooks, pencils, and papers and stuffing them into my bag.

"Amu-chan," Miki scolded. "Why didn't you pack your stuff up last night?"

"I would have, but I basically passed out after my homework was done." Suddenly, I froze. Wait, I thought. Didn't I fall asleep at my desk last night? How did I end up back in my bed?

"Amu-chan?" Ran asked. "Are you alright?"

"Y- yeah," I responded hesitantly. Then, I shook my head. Wow, I really must have been out of it if I couldn't even remember how I got to bed.

Remembering that I was running extremely late, I yelled, "Miki, time report!" I snapped back into action, throwing the last of my things into my bag.

"7:45!"

"Wow, you got ready in 15 minutes, Amu-chan!" Ran reported unnecessarily, following me out into the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. "That's not a bad time."

"Yeah, you just missed beating your 14-minute record time," Miki added, slightly teasing her frazzled owner.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, ignoring the slight. "Su, how's the toast coming?"

"It's done, desu!" Su replied, handing me two pieces of toast with strawberry jam one at a time.

"Thanks!" I mumbled, already having taken a bite of one of the pieces of toast. "Let's go!" I yelled, taking a bite of the other piece to even them out, then squishing them together to create a toasted jelly sandwich.

I ran to the front door, stuffed my feet into my shoes, and raced out of the house.

"How are we on time?"

"We have 10 minutes," Miki responded.

"RAN!"

"Got it!" Ran said happily, glad that she was so useful. "Hop!" Cute wing accessories appeared near my wrists as I continued to bolt toward my middle school. I took another large bite of toast. "Step!" The same accessories appeared near my ankles and I braced myself for what I know was coming next. "Jump!" I quickly bent my knees and leapt into the air, easily higher than any of the houses around me.

I shut my eyes momentarily, praying that no one was around to see me. But as I bounded quickly towards the school, I didn't know that someone was around to see me: a silent, cat-like figure following behind me in his own graceful leaps.

I skidded to a halt in front of the door to my first-year star group classroom. I subconsciously smoothed my hair back into place, finished the last of my toast, and took a few seconds to catch my breath.

When I finally slid open the door, it was to my name being called for attendance.

"Hinamori Amu?" Nikaido-sensei was calling.

"Here," I said, out of breath, as I slid the door closed behind me and walked stiffly to my desk between Fujisaki Nagihiko and Mashiro Rima.

As I sat down in my desk, I heard whispers under the loud tone of Nikaido-sensei's attendance-taking. I rolled my eyes as I made out the phrase, "Cool and Spicy," that my classmates associated with me. Apparently, my lack-of-breath response had sounded indifferent.

I sighed and glanced over at Nagihiko, who was sitting quietly to my right. At the same time, Nagihiko glanced back at me, smiling sweetly.

I blushed and looked forward again. The fact that Nagihiko and my former best friend, Nadeshiko, weren't twins, as I had believed, but the same person still stunned me. I had learned that it was tradition for the boys in the Fujisaki family to be raised as girls for part of their training as Japanese dancers.

I sighed again, wishing that Nagihiko hadn't told me about his family's secret. I glanced back over at the cute, purple-haired, yellow-eyed boy. Things were so awkward! I felt like I couldn't talk to Nagihiko anymore, and I was even more embarrassed that I had openly discussed my love life with a boy posing as a girl. It was just too weird.

"Amu-chan?"

I looked up at Ran blankly.

"Are you all right?" The small girl had a look of concern on her face. "Are you feeling sick?"

I forced a smile on my face and shook my head. "I'm fine," I whispered so quietly it was nearly inaudible, even to myself.

Suddenly, I felt someone else's gaze on me. I looked to my left where Rima was staring at me with tears in her golden eyes. Instantly, I regretted the small exchange I'd had with Nagihiko.

I'm sorry, I mouthed quickly, hoping my jealous friend would forgive me. Instead, the tears multiplied, threatening to spill over. Flustered, I brought my hands together in front of my chest and gave the slightest bow I could manage, hoping that it would go unnoticed in my classroom.

Suddenly, a piece of paper slid onto my desk. It simply said, They're fake tears, in Nagihiko's elegant script. Amu turned and glared at Rima, who, knowing she had been found out, wiped the tears away and turned toward the front of the classroom so that her golden curls blocked her face.

Rima's shugo chara, Kusu Kusu, giggled from her perch on Rima's shoulder. Kusu Kusu had blonde hair, orange eyes, and a star on one cheek, a moon on the other. She wore an orange clown outfit with white polka dots and a matching hat.

I rolled my eyes and tried to concentrate on what Nikaido-sensei was saying, but couldn't. I still had the feeling that I was being watched.

Quickly, I scribbled Is anyone looking at me? onto the backside of the note Nagihiko had sent to me. Then I pushed the note towards where my three shugo charas were sitting on my desk watching Miki draw in her sketchbook.

Su was the first to notice the note and she floated up lazily to peer around the room. She floated back down and shook her head. "No, Amu-chan. Why, desu?"

"Tell you later," I replied in a whisper.

For the rest of the day, I tried to ignore the prickling sensation at the back of my neck telling me that someone was watching me.

Finally, after what seemed like years, the last bell rang, dismissing the school for the day.

I jumped out of my desk, eager to go to the Guardian meeting. Though my friends and I, all of us former Guardians, weren't officially part of the group any more, we still regularly went to the meetings.

I enjoyed going, but it was mostly out of necessity. The new Guardians needed all the help they could get with fighting Easter, an evil company that would go to any means to get the Embryo. The Embryo was a magical egg that would grant any wish, whether good or bad. That was why it was crucial that the Guardians get the Embryo: if Easter got it, they would be able to wish for anything they wanted, whether it was World War III or to gain all of the world's wealth.

It didn't help that the only Guardian to be left in the elementary school was the spoiled, babyish Ace's chair, Yuiki Yaya. She certainly wasn't a leader.

And Yaya was definitely having difficulty trying to be a mentor to four people, all of whom were strong-willed, opinionated, and stubborn.

Yaya wasn't handling the situation well. She was used to being spoiled, cared for, and cute, none of which were good qualities for a mentor to have. As a result, Yaya had given birth to another shugo chara. She now had two: Pepe, who represented Yaya's babyish side, and Mami, who represented Yaya's responsible side.

I sighed impatiently, waiting for Rima and Nagihiko to pack their things.

"Amu-chan," Nagihiko started. "You can go without us today. Rima-chan and I have class duty."

I blinked. "You do?" I looked to Rima for confirmation.

"Yeah," Rima answered unhappily.

"Oh, well then I'll see you later!" I called as I rushed out of the classroom.

"Yay! Let's go, Amu-chan!" Ran cheered happily as she zoomed through the air next to me.

"You're in a bit of a hurry today," Miki observed. She was also flying next to me. Su, meanwhile, was clutching my black blazer in order to not be left behind. "Anxious to see someone?" she teased.

"N - not really," I replied, blushing and defensively slowing from a mad dash to a leisurely walk. "I'm just . . . looking forward to the meeting."

"Sure."

Just then, I heard a familiar voice call my name from behind. "Hinamori-san!"

I quickly turned to see a cute, blond boy with reddish eyes running toward me.

"Speak of the devil," Miki muttered.

"Tadase-kun!" I said, surprised, as Tadase caught up with Ran, Mike, Su, and me. Hotori Tadase was the former King's Chair in the Guardians and was my long-time crush. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to let you know that the Guardian meeting for today was cancelled."

"It was?" I asked blankly. Tadase nodded. Boy, did I feel out of the loop today. "Why?"

Tadase and I started walking down the hall together. "There's supposed to be a really bad storm later." I suddenly froze in my tracks. Tadase stopped a few feet in front of me. As he turned around to face me, he asked, "Hinamori-san? Are you all right?"

"Y- yeah," I lied. "I . . . just remembered that I have to . . . run some errands. I should get going," I said, running past Tadase. "See you tomorrow!" I called.

Within seconds, I was out of the school building and jogging down the street toward my house.

"Amu-chan!" Miki called from behind me. "Slow down!"

"Wait for us, desu!" Su cried.

All three shugo charas had been taken off guard when I had bolted away from Tadase and were now attempting to catch up to me.

"Sorry," I apologized as I slowly came to a halt. "I just really want to beat that storm." I looked up at the cloudy sky, grimacing.

"Why did you just run off Amu-chan?" Ran asked after she, Miki, and Su had caught up. "Tadase-kun might have walked you home." The other charas nodded their agreement.

I started toward my house again, but this time at a slightly-faster-than-normal walk. "I didn't want him to find out that I'm afraid of something as childish as thunder!" I cried in indignation.

"Lots of people are afraid of thunder, desu," Su reasoned.

"Only little kids are afraid of thunder," I retorted childishly. "It doesn't fit my character to have such an uncool fear."

Su dropped the subject, knowing that I was too stubborn to relinquish my opinion. Instead, she asked, "Amu-chan, why did you ask if someone was staring at you, desu?"

I explained about the ever-present feeling that I was being watched. I shivered when I realized that the feeling was still there. Was I being followed?

"You've had the feeling all day?" Miki queried, dumbfounded.

"Well, I didn't notice it when I woke up and was rushing to get to school, but I was a little . . . flustered then."

"That's scary, Amu-chan," Ran squeaked.

Suddenly, I stopped and whirled around. The prickling on the back of my neck had just multiplied by three. My wide eyes frantically searched for something, anything, that might be capable of producing such a strong feeling of being watched, but found nothing.

Then, without warning, I felt a soft hand sweep my hair off the back of my neck. Someone's warm breath tickled my skin and soon after, I felt a strange, wet sensation.

I shrieked and whirled back around, bringing my arm up to slap my harasser in the face.