Magical girl4: Hey guys! What's up?!

Amu: The ceiling!

Magical girl4: -.-

Amu: Sorry…

Magical girl4: Anyways! Hello! Magical girl4 speaking, I am bringing you the next chapter of Shugo Chara! Middle School!

Nagihiko: Disclaimer! Magical girl4 does NOT own Shugo Chara! Or any of its characters!

(Someone knocks on door)

Tadase: I'll get that!

Magical girl4: Thanks, Tadase!

Tadase: (opens door) Oh, um, hello. You must be lost- (Person pushes Tadase out of the way)

Magical girl4: Ah, she must be my OC... Oh yeah, forgot to tell you guys we were getting an original character up in here.

Kukai: Seriously?

Magical girl4: (to OC) Hey, thanks for joining us!

OC: Hey, I'm happy to be here. Enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 3

Hikari Akiko


Hoshi wo Miagete

"It's not ending... Everything's just starting."

.:Amu:.

My eyes open.

Blinding light flooded my vision, forcing my eyes to shut again...

I rested my hands rest on my eyes, and pulling them away slowly, I adjusted to the light...

All around me was completely white. It seemed like a huge white room, with blank walls and a blank floor.

I found my voice, "What… Where… Am I?"

I stood up, and decided to walk around. After a few moments, I spoke again, "Oh… I must be dreaming." I said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Something then wrapped around me, like a warm blanket. I turned my head and... saw... Ikuto hugging me from behind.

I blush instinctively - the heat rushing to my face.

He rests his head on top of mine, and smiles lightly. "Morning sunshine."

My heart pounded, feeling the warmth from him comforted me. "Ikuto... what are you doing here?"

He pouts, his dark blue eyes softening. "I can be here if I want to, can't I?"

"Yeah, but I…" I pause, swallowing any fear that I had. "Ikuto... I missed you..." Tears welled in my eyes. It had only been a few months since I last saw him but... He was here again, holding me... Why was he here holding me?

He then pulled away from the hug, and held my face. He looked serious. It didn't suit him. "Amu, I have to go now," he whispered, kissing my forehead.

"W-what? But, you just got here...?" I whisper, trying to maintain the hug. He parted from me, and I was now holding his hand as he continued to drift away. My face stretched into terror. "No, don't go!"

"I'll come back for you..." I remember he said something like that before he left... But now, as he was fading away, I felt scared he would never return. Tears were sliding down my face, and my hand continued to stretch out.

The blank space echoed. He was gone.

"Why?" I whisper, falling to my knees. "Why did you have to leave me again...?" My tears stained the floor, and I covered my eyes, not looking up again. Until, I noticed something.

... The Dumpty Key.

Somehow, I placed it in my hands, despite being far away from it a second ago.

Words drifted out of my mouth, "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall... Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…" The Humpty Lock was beside me, so I reached for it... "All the kings' horses and all the kings' men…" I both glance at the Lock and Key, then put them to my chest. "Couldn't put Humpty back together again..." I closed me eyes, and let the sounds of solitude fill the void...

"You know what? I always thought that nursery rhyme was sad... I've never been sure why people liked it."

My head shot up at the sound of the voice. In panic, I darted my eyes around. "Who's there?" I call.

It was then at the corner of me eye, I saw a figure of a girl.

She had white eyes, white wavy hair that reached her waist, and a white strapless dress that ended at her knees. I tried to move my feet forward, but they were were stuck. I tugged at my feet again and again, but no use.

She put one hand on her heart. "The Dumpty Key and the Humpty Lock will be reunited soon."

"Who are you?" I ask, still holding the Key and Lock.

She smiled. "All in good time, Amu."

Her smile was the last thing I saw.


.:...:.

The pink haired girl murmured in her sleep, continuing to toss and turn. Her chara's noticed their bearer's behavior, and started to surround her, worried.

"Amu-chan has been like this for some time now. I don't know what's happening to her..."

"Shouldn't we wake her up, desu~?"

"I think we should leave her for a bit, then we'll see."

"But I don't think we should let her stay like this."

Amu heard the voices of her would-be-selves, and slowly opened her eyes. And she saw all her charas around her. "Girls, what's wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"You were mumbling in your sleep," Dia said quietly, the other girls nodding.

Amu raised an eyebrow at them. "Oh... what was I saying?"

"Well, I did hear you say 'Ikuto', a few times..." Dia pointed out.

Amu stopped and thought. She recalled her dream, realising that it was a pretty weird one. Ikuto was there, so was the Humpty Lock and the Dumpty Key. And there was also that strange girl... It all felt really surreal. "Amu-chan! You're spacing out again!" squeaked Ran.

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about my dream..." she muttered, looking away.

Miki smirked. "Your dream with Ikuto."

Amu's face went red. "Miki! Sh-shut up! It was nothing like that!"

"Nothing like what? I wasn't suggesting anything," Miki said coolly.

Amu growled and crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks. All of them giggled at the pinkette's actions. "Anyways, I need to get ready," She pushed the covers off her body and jumped out of her bed.

~~~A few minutes later~~~

"Perfect!" Amu said, checking herself in the mirror. Today she wore her hair differently; there were twin tails that rested on her shoulders, and two purple x's on each of them. "Okay, let's roll," Amu smiled, running down the stairs. "Morning, Ami! Papa! Mama!"

"Morning!" they say back. The middle-schooler grabbed two pieces of toast and ran out the door.

"Bye!" she shouted before closing the door.

"Have a nice day!" they said in unison.


.:Amu:.

"Bye!" I shout to my family, before closing the door.

"Have a nice day!" they shout back. I smile at them, and stuff one piece of toast in my mouth, and start to sprint down the path.

Now, for some reason... I actually felt like running this morning. I used to hate running in elementary. But since past experiences with hunting X-eggs and other Guardian related things, running has now become completely normal for me. I closed my eyes while running, enjoying the current silence of the empty streets. It may have been stupid to close my eyes, but I felt confident in not hurting myself. I knew these streets like the back of my hand-

"AH!" I yelped, smashing into a body.

Everything happened all at once.

I fell bum first, a piece of toast shot out my mouth and my bag went flying. My chara's ended up screaming, and I see... A SHOCKED TADASE.

I was on my bum with my head down in complete and utter EMBARRASSMENT. I bet my skirt flew up. I bet a probably knocked poor Tadase out! I also BET that a piece of toast came flying out of my mouth and in to his face! Oh lord. I can feel my face getting hotter by the second. I look up from the ground, and see a hand. I look up even further and see Tadase's face. "Um… Thanks," I say as he helps me up. Looking away, I try to hide my blush.

"Amu, don't you ever do that again," he says, trying to hold in his laughter. I bite my lip. Oh god, this is too embarrassing. Before I even get to explain what I was doing. He erupted with laughter. He was holding his stomach and laughing!

"I'm sorry... I'm not laughing at you," he said, grinning. "You just really scared me, so I'm really laughing at myself."

I exhale. At least he wasn't mad at me...

"You were running a little too fast, desu~!" comments Su.

"YEAH! Like we chara changed!" laughed Ran.

"We couldn't even keep up," added Miki, smirking.

"Hey! I think you are overreacting a little too much!" I yell back at them.

Tadase noticed my frustration at my chara's, so he interrupted with a question. "Hey, let's walk together," he said. My head snapped towards him, and I nodded hesitantly, walking as calmly as possible. As we walked, I noticed that we hadn't walked together in a long time, so it was kind of awkward. "Hey, I like your hair today, it looks cute." I blush at his remark.

"Oh, y-you think so? Well, I guess it does look good! I mean, I wasn't expecting a comment like that..."

He chuckled at my words. "So how was your sleep?" he asks.

"Well, I-" I stop myself. I didn't really have that nice of a sleep, that dream seriously weighed down on me the more I thought about it. Half of it was about Ikuto. Why did he have to be in my dream anyway? It just makes me miss him. It felt like he was really there... Holding me… and then he had to say goodbye again…

I snapped myself out of it, noticing that I left too long of a silence and was getting a little too emotional about it all.

"It… I... I had a good sleep."

Well, let's just hope that I can keep on going throughout the day without thinking about my dream...


I sigh heavily, ready to pull my hair out, right in front of everyone in homeroom.

I can't stop thinking about my dream! As much as I've tried to not think about it, it just keeps replaying over in my head... So, it obviously means something. The strange girl is significant, since I've never met her before... She also said something about the Dumpty Key and the Humpty Lock... And Ikuto was there, even though I haven't seen him since Yukari and Nikadou's wedding… I also started singing in my dream... singing something, a nursery rhyme? That's what the girl said.

Wait.

I stop pulling at my hair.

Maybe... I'm just taking this dream to seriously. "Yeah, I'm taking it too seriously!"

Rima turned to me from her seat. "Taking... what too seriously?" she asked, suspicious.

"Uh, nothing!" I say, holding my arms up in defence.

She raises an eyebrow. "Amu, you walked into homeroom in a complete daze. You've been staring out the window this whole time... And you didn't even acknowledge Nagihiko when he came in. I think something is up."

I sigh in defeat, speaking as low as possible. "Ok, this morning, I had this really weird dream-"

"Alright, class!" Kaese-sensei interrupted me right on time. She seemed cheerful too, thank goodness. "Today we have a new student joining our class! She wasn't able to come yesterday, but make her feel welcome!" Everyone started talking instantly, and I was surprised to hear this too.

"Oh, what's her name?!" "What does she look like?" That kind of stuff.

Kaede-sensei grumbled due to the chatter. "Everyone, BE QUIET!" she screamed, everyone doing as they were told. She recovered by clearing her throat and smiling brightly. She motioned to the door, beckoning for the new student to walk through. "We're ready, Hikari Akiko-san."

The girl had a purple and black back-pack on one shoulder, and short, wavy brown hair that was tied into a pony tail. Her fringe lightly grazed over her left eye, and started at her right. She sported black knee high socks, in comparison to the white ones that nearly every girl wore, and her uniform was tucked in. She stopped at the front of the class and turned around hesitantly. I scanned her facial features; tall nose, and dark brown eyes. Everyone stared at her, whispering, "She looks really ordinary..." "Why couldn't she get here yesterday?" "She seems nice."

The new girl sheepishly grinned, blushed, and rubbed her neck.

Kaede-sensei sighed impatiently. "Would you like to say 'hello', Hikari-san?" she whispered, creating a rhythm with her foot.

Akiko tried not to fidget, rocking on her heels slightly.

She spoke. "Um... Hi."

Eyebrows were raised, instantly judging her character.

She cleared her throat and stopped her rocking. "I… um… I transferred here from another town because of my…" she seemed hesitant. "... My father's job."

The class started to whisper again, "Why is she so hesitant? "She's too shy."

I glance at the empty seat on my right, realising that she would have to sit next to me.

Her brown eyes locked with mine for a second. They widened in surprise, and her mouth gaped slightly. Then, the unexpected… She smirked.

Kaede-sensei smiled brightly. "Please sit down next to Hinamori Amu." Akiko's smirk widened.

She shuffled over to her desk beside me, and put her bag down. She sat down, crossed her legs and looked at me. "So... you're, Hinamori Amu?" she asked, leaning her head on her hand. Woah, ok... that was a sudden change of character.

"Yeah, I am," I say nervously, a friendly smile starting to form on my face.

She turns her head to Rima and Nagi. "Who are you guys?" she asks, seeing them looking over at us too.

"Fujisaki Nagihiko," Nagi said, smiling.

"Mashiro Rima," Rima said quickly, avoiding her gaze.

She grinned back. "Nice to meet you, then."

All of a sudden she was so confident... Feeling unsure about the whole situation, I looked down at my charas to see what they think of her. But they didn't look at me, they just stared at Akiko... dumbfounded? I glanced over at Temari, Rhythm and Kusukusu, and they were doing the same. Akiko looked at me, smiled one last time, and turned her attention to the front of the class. I looked to my chara's again, grabbing out a pen and pointing to a sheet a paper I was writing on, 'What's wrong, guys?' I wrote.

Miki spoke first, "It's just..." she began, pausing for a long moment. "There is something about her."

'Does she have an guardian character?' I asked, which could be likely.

Ran frowns. "No, it's… Something different."

"I can't quite put my finger on it, desu~," added Su. I turn away from them, and glance at the brunette from the corner of my eye, suspicious.

Tadase cleared his throat, probably feeling left out, and caught Akiko's attention again. "I'm Hotori Tadase."

Akiko faced Tadase, seeming surprised at first, but that surprise quickly turned into... Judgement. She rolled her eyes. "Did I even ask you?"

I look at her, shocked. The entire class did too, hearing her rude tone. "What. Why did she say that to Hotori-kun?" "She can't speak to him like that!" Tadase looked at her with wide eyes, his mouth pressed into a tight line. He seemed embarrassed...

I blink, trying to find the words. "Uh, Hikari-san…?" I say.

"Yeah?" she asks, nonchalant.

"Did you mean that?" I ask again.

"Of course I did," she said simply.

"W-why?"

"Because I hate him…?"

What.

"HIKARI AKIKO HATES HOTORI TADASE?!" screamed the class. Kaede-sensei yelled at everyone to be quiet, and everyone shut up immediately.

They sat in a shocked silence, staring at Akiko. And I was staring with them. I've never actually met a girl who... hates Tadase. From the looks of it, he was pretty much shell shocked. "Why do you hate him? " whispered a girl next to Akiko.

"I have my reasons," the brunette said with a shrug.

"You hardly know him...!" whispered another.

And that was completely true. Tadase was the nicest person I knew. And suddenly, this new girl says she hates him? And she doesn't know him at all!

"This," I say under my breath... Was going to get interesting.


"Whoa! Seriously!?" shouts Kukai, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Yep," I say. "She hates him, I don't know why though." I shrug, looking down at the wooden table, not bothering to touch my lunch.

"Did you ever do anything to her?" Kukai asked Tadase.

"No, I haven't, I just met her..." Tadase sighed, frowning in thought. "She seemed like a really nice girl. On the outside, mostly."

Everyone on the table seemed to be listening on this, even the chara's. "But maybe she secretly likes comedy!" giggled Kusukusu, appearing from out of the blue.

"Or is a real klutz like Amu-chan!" cheers Ran.

"Hey!" I growl, facing her angrily.

"Don't even worry about her, she's too hard to figure out," Rima said bluntly, drinking orange juice." She is probably stuck up, or spoiled and a brat, or whiny like Yaya."

I frown at her words. "I don't think so..." Ugh... what does it matter anyway? I hardly know Hikari-san, and even though what she said to Tadase was wrong, I don't even need to think about it. I've got enough problems on my hands, already. We still don't know the person who purified the X-egg yesterday, and why they didn't bother to show themselves, and whether or not we can trust them. That in itself is a whole other problem. And I've been trying to decipher that dream I had since this morning. It's all too much. Nagi looks at me, noticing my silence and continuous finger tapping on the table.

"Amu-chan, you look stressed. Is something the matter?" he asks sympathetically.

I lifted my head up from the table, and shook my hands lightly, "Uh, n-no. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine..." I said, feigning a smile.

"You've been acting strange all day, stop being so secretive," Rima accused, closing her eyes.

"No, really, I'm ok. It's… Lately I've been stressed out."

Kukai puts his hand on his chin. "Hm, about what?"

I sigh, regretting saying that in the first place. "Well... It all started with this dream that I had this morning-"

"It hasn't been easy for all of us."

I jump, hearing someone speak from behind me.

Who.

Who said that?

I turn to see... Akiko. She was standing there with her bag.

Seriously? She didn't have to interrupt me. I was talking. She looked at me, Nagihiko, Rima and Tadase. "Hey, I've got really nowhere else to sit. So..." she said awkwardly, starting to rock on her feet again. We continued to stare at her, until Kukai broke the silence.

"Yo, you must be Hikari!" he greeted enthusiastically, standing up and stretching out his hand to shake hers.

She smiled softly and took his hand. "Yeah, and you must be... Kukai," she recalled, while everyone paused.

How did she know who Kukai was?

She realised everyone's immediate gaze on her, and took a step back. "I-I mean, well… I… have heard about you! A… a few girls in my class were talking about the, oh-so famous Souma Kukai!" she added quickly, laughing it off.

"OH, well you know, I wouldn't exactly call myself famous or anything!" he laughed, waving off her weird behaviour.

She stopped shaking his hand, and looked at everyone hesitantly. "So, would it be ok if I sat down?"

Rima stayed silent, Tadase seemed to nod very softly, Nagihiko muttered a yes and I completely greeted her. "Yeah, sure," I smiled. Ok, I acted without thinking then... So as soon as she sat down next to me, it went quiet. She grabbed out food from her bag, and everyone at the table resumed eating, murmuring small talk. I thought I should try talk to her and get to know her, just to make things less awkward... "So, Hika-"

She beat me to it. "Whoa, Amu that looks... really pretty," she gasped, gesturing to the Humpty Lock that was around my neck.

"Oh, yeah..." I touch it softly, becoming self-conscious. She just went right ahead and referred to me with my first name. "I wear it around my neck every day..."

"Where did you get it from?" she asked.

"Um, a relative gave it to me."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. "So it's a lock. Right?" Geez, she doesn't stop talking.

"Yep."

"So there is a key?"

"Yeah."

"Where is it?"

Why does she want to know so much?! Ok, Amu, go easy, she is new, and she's trying to make friends. I pretended to think, "I... think I lost it."

"Oh, that sucks... Have you ever tried putting the key in the lock?" she asks again, leaning her head on her hand.

I pushed down a growl that was climbing up my throat. "No. I haven't." I knew that was a lie. But I needed her to stop asking questions. I looked at everyone for help. They were too busy looking at their chara's, and once again, they were staring at Akiko, shocked. Why were they were doing that? I sigh inwardly... What is up with her? I shake my head. "So, where did you used to live?"

She looked stunned I would ask her this, but composed herself. "I… used to live in the country... Until I moved to the city because of my dad's job."

Why is she being hesitant about this? "What is your dad's job, anyways?"

"He is a president of a company."

"That's cool... so, what elementary school did you go to?"

"Um, a private one... I can't tell you."

What's so private about an elementary school? I was about to stop asking questions, afraid that I would probably cross any personal boundaries. After all, I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. A pause ensued, and she continued to eat nervously, everyone on the table talking among themselves and singling me and Akiko out. Maybe I had to keep going... "So, what's your dream job?" I ask, and at this, her face went red. Aha, I struck a nerve.

"Oh well... I don't really know... I've always been unsure." She answered, looking off into the distance absentmindedly.

I huff in annoyance, reaching what seemed to be a dead end. "Do you... have any siblings?"

Akiko looked at me for a few seconds, then looked down. "I don't have any siblings... I wish I did, though." Wait. Did I just make her upset?

"Hey, it's ok..." I say, trying to comfort her, but failing miserably.

She looked up, an uncertain smile on her mouth. "No, don't worry about it, it's not all bad being the only child..."

Rima spoke up, realising that she rather not say anything to her, "I'm also only child. I sometimes wish I had a sister or brother..." she muttered. Akiko just smiled at her sympathetically.

Kukai grinned. "Heh, I got five brothers! It's hard to handle them all!"

Tadase added on to this. "I also don't have any siblings," and he smiled at Akiko again, who looked at him blankly.

"Whatever," she said, looking away from him.

Nagihiko cleared his throat, suggesting- "How about we all visit Yaya-chan and Kairi-kun?" I'm glad that he remembered that we would have to visit them sometimes. Although, it is kinda weird to suggest that if we had a new person on the table. Rima and Tadase nodded at this, but Kukai groaned.

"Do we have to?"

I snap back to reality, scolding him, "Kukai, we have to visit them at least every day from now on!"

He exhales. "But why? I think they can handle themselves. You guys were always there for them, but they got it."

"It'd just be nice to, that's all."

Akiko spoke up, hesitant. "Uh, who are they...?" She asked, looking at everyone getting out of their seats.

I turned to her, nervous. "Oh, they are just some friends we have in the elementary school... We used to basically be apart of a student council."

"Oh, cool. Can I come with?" she smiled, and we looked at her with ease.

"Sure," I smiled back. It's not like we never had guests at the Royal Garden before. "The more the merrier."


"So you're, Akiko?" asked Yaya, scanning the brunette, squinting and looking at her up and down.

We made it to the Royal Garden and Yaya, being the curious girl she is, was questioning the new girl.

"Yeah, I'm Hikari Akiko, nice to meet you," she laughed, attempting to be friendly but coming off as nervous. Yaya's squinting stopped, and she seemed to 'humph' in approval, sitting down and going back to eating a lollipop she brought out of her pocket.

Kairi just sighed at this, looking over at Akiko sheepishly. "Sorry about that, the Ace is curious about newcomers."

"I told you to call me Yaya!" the carrot-haired girl protested.

Kairi sighed, and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm only being formal for the newcomer." Yaya blushed lightly at this, looking surprised. Akiko chuckled at this, most likely finding their relationship strange. Everyone began to find their seat at the table. As everyone sat down, Kairi continued to work on papers, which Yaya seemed to stamp every so often with a defeated grunt. I also noticed that Hikaru wasn't here, huh...

"So... Your dad moved here to work?" Nagihiko asked Akiko, making conversation at the table. I guess trying to make it less awkward.

She nodded. "Yeah, he's a boss for some architect company."

"What about your mother?" I ask, joining in.

"She is in Europe, a fashion designer." I gape at her. So her family is kind of first class, like Lulu De Morcef's?

She smiles at everyone, and looks down to reach for something under the table. Her head then snaps up immediately. "Oh no, I... I think I left my back pack at the lunch table, I'll be right back!" She got up and ran out the Royal Garden.

"That was sudden..." I comment, looking back at everybody blankly.

Rima frowned. "Has... Anyone noticed anything strange about her?" she murmured, looking down at Kusukusu. Everyone else nodded, the guardian character's too.

"There is something about her, I could sense it," Musashi said, bowing his head, the room becoming somewhat tense.

Nagihiko looked at Rima and Musashi. "Agreed, there is something strange about her, and I've noticed everyone's chara's reacting to her that doesn't quite add up," he finished, looking at Temari and Rhythm.

"What do any of you think?" Tadase as the chara's, each of them looking at him with uncertainty.

"Well... we're not sure," Dia murmured. "But we all seems to agree that her aura feels... familiar." I raised my eyebrow at this, everyone looking as puzzled as myself.

"Then, if we're going to understand why this is happening, we might have to get closer to her," finished Tadase. I nodded my head at him and glanced at my chara's, worriedly. They were thinking deeply about the situation.

"I'm back," I hear a small voice say.

I pause, and look over at the entrance to the Royal Garden and see... Hikaru, holding a small woven basket. There he is. "Amu-chan," he whispers. I smile at him.

"Yay! My snacks are here! Thank you Hikaru-kun!" pipes up Yaya, running over to him. She grabs the basket from him, puts it on the table and opens it. There were cookies, cupcakes and doughnuts inside.

"Yuiki-san, do you mind if everyone else has some too?" Kairi asks.

She looks at him and smiles. "Sure!" she chirps. We all take some of the snacks. Yaya was eating all of the food, Nagi and Kukai were talking about soccer strategies, Kusukusu and Ran were telling jokes and I was laughing the whole way through.


.:Rima:.

I smiled slightly at everyone around me. They were all talking, laughing and eating the food from Yaya's basket… It felt nice. Everyone was relaxed, and it felt like a positive atmosphere, compared to the tense feeling that everyone felt just seconds ago... because of that girl. I could feel an annoyed noise making its way up my throat, but I pushed it back down. I glanced over at the basket again, the snacks sitting there expectantly, waiting for them to be eaten… They were actually delicious, and I couldn't resist. I put my hand in, keeping my gaze on the goodies, and not noticing the other hand that I had found. I look up at the owner and find that it's none other than the cross-dresser himself.

"Pardon me, Rima," Nagihiko says smoothly. I try not to roll my eyes.

"You are pardoned." I say sarcastically. He just laughs at my words.

"So, what is your favourite flavour doughnut?" he asks me, looking through the basket once more.

My mouth pulls into a tight line. "Not telling." I say stubbornly. He looks up at me again with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He squeezes then my hand and I flinch in shock.

"C'mon, tell me." He pushes, his smile turning into a smirk.

"No." I say persistently, two could play at that game.

He eventually looks at me straight in the eye, and grins. "Ok, I'll make you."

I recoil from his sudden change in behaviour and words. I scoff, looking away. "You can't possibly make me tell yo-" I was cut off suddenly, this overwhelming sensation spark from my tummy. My gaze snaps down to my stomach to find him tickling me?! Not resisting from keeping it in anymore, I explode into laughter. "HAHA, you i-idot, s-stop r-right now!" I practically shout, trying not to laugh uncontrollably. I whip my head around at Amu for help, but she smirks at me! AGH, HELP ME DAMMIT!

"Tell me then I will stop!" Nagihiko says, laughing too. Just seeing that smile is enough to make me slap him!

"OK! Ok! I will!" I squeak, surrendering.

He lets go and smiles broadly, stuffing his hand into the basket.

"But I didn't tell you what flavour I like…" I utter, watching in confusion as he digs around for his chosen doughnut.

"You don't have to," he says, handing me a caramel doughnut, which was my favourite flavour!

I look down at the treat with awe, then snap my eyes back up at him. "How did you know?" I say suspiciously.

"It's the colour of your eyes," he says, winking at me. Wait, what?!

I growl, putting a hand over my cheek, feeling the warmth radiating of it. I tried to scowl at him, but it came off as a pout.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile, just waltzing off.

Rolling my eyes, I face the doughnut again, tempted to take a bite from it. One day, I'm going to have to get him back.


.:Amu:.

I laughed some more as I heard one of Ran's jokes; I didn't know she had really good ones! I heard more laughter, and as I turned, what I saw made me want to stop everything and take a photo. Rima was been tickled by Nagi! She looks at me for help, but I smiled, finding the situation too funny. After a few moments, I heard footsteps coming from the entrance. Akiko rushed back in with her backpack, which nearly made panic. She was trying to catch her breath, and her eyes went wide, seeing everyone having a nice time, and eating food.

"Hey!" she shouts, catching everyone by surprise. There was tension, again, but that was quickly interrupted. "You all have food and forgot to invite me!" she grins, shifting into a teasing persona. Yaya ran over to her and gave her the basket.

"Here you go! Have some!" Akiko's eyes gleamed at the basket, and her cheeks went rosy.

"Gee, thanks!" she says, grabbing a cupcake and taking a huge bite out of it. To say that I was surprised was an understatement... She runs over to me and laughs. I smile back at her, seeing how quickly she got excited... She isn't so bad, maybe I can trust her? Everyone else seemed to carry on with what they were doing, so I began to talk to her.

"Found your bag?" I ask, gesturing to it.

She laughs again. "Yeah, I am pretty forgetful sometimes. It's a miracle that I remembered it."

I was about to say something else to her, until her expression changed from happy to wide eyed. She was staring at something behind me.

"Akiko?" I turn to look behind me too see Hikaru staring back at her. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, it's just Hikaru he…" And she stopped herself, realising her slip up. She hadn't met Hikaru before. She began to stutter, eyes darting back and forth, "I-I mean…"

"How did you know who Hikaru was?" I ask, my frown deepening.

"Oh, h-he just looked like someone I know... " My eyes turned from a gentle glare to a squint. I turned on my heel, walking back to everyone near the table.

"Something is up with her..." I murmur to everyone, trying not to be too suspicious. They look at me, worried, the atmosphere turning tense.

"Maybe we should do a test?" Kiseki asked softly, for once.

"Like what?" I ask him.

Daichi turned to me, explaining, "Us chara's made up a theory that think she can see guardian characters... but is pretending not to."

Rima frowned. "Why would she be pretending not to?"

"We don't know, but Pepe said she would volunteer," Miki said, nodding over at Pepe.

"Ok..." I say slowly. Pepe nodded back at Miki, and flew up to Akiko, right in front of her eyes. It went eerily quiet as everyone watched in anticipation, and Akiko jumped once she noticed everyone was staring at 'her'.

"U-um... Guys? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Ahem," Pepe began, completely ignoring Akiko. "DDEEECCHHUUUU~~~!" The baby chara then looked stunned once Akiko didn't react. The brunette continued to stare at everyone, confused. Pepe did a dance, whined, screamed some more, but in the end, she just sighed tiredly, "I give up, dechu~," As she began to float away, Akiko's eyes twitched, darting over to where the baby chara was floating.

"AHA!" I shout, pointing at her.

"Uh..." she squeaks, "What are you doing, Amu?"

"Akiko, do you have something to tell us?" Rima said, her eyebrow raising.

The brunette took a step back. "N-no... I don't?"

"Listen, you can tell us anything, we're your friends." Kukai said calmly.

"I... I say can't anything..." she looked away, cringing.

"What do you mean?" asked Nagi, trying to reason with her.

Her fist clenched, and she ducked her head, not saying a word.

I was about to say something, until I was stopped by my chara's. "Guys...?!

They look determined, but as always, worried. "X-egg!" they cried.

My eyes widen, and I look over to the others, before I remember that Akiko was right in front of me. This was really bad timing... Expecting that worst, I turn to Akiko. She looks between me and my chara's, "... X-egg...?!" She whispers, fearful.

I look at her in shock, mouth hanging open.

"So you can see guardian characters?!" I scream at her. She freezes, then nods her head stiffly. Everyone gapes at her, until we remember the current situation.

"Amu, we need to go!" Rima shouts at me, grabbing my attention. I run out of the Royal Garden with everyone, and see the X-egg floating in the air.

"I'll transform!" I shout, readying myself, bringing my hands into the familiar stance.

"Wait!" Akiko intervenes, literally right next to me. I don't even know how she got there, but she held out her arm to stop me. "There's... a strange energy to it..." she murmured.

Once, again, I was dumbfounded. She can sense these things too?! Dia looked at me, blinking worriedly. "She's right... It's different this time, it's... darker," I glance at the egg, my breathing growing heavy.

"It probably because I'm here..." Akiko says, eyeing the black egg. I look at her with anger, and shock.

"What?! You better explain yourself later!" I shout at her, running up to the the darkened egg. "C'mon, Ran!" I shouted to my pink chara. She flew over to me and blinding pink light surrounded us. "My Heart…! Unlock!" I saw myself, floating, surrounded by energy. The distant image of Ran got closer, and she smiled, hopping into her egg. I gently hold it, pushing it through my chest. "Character Transformation! Amulet Heart!"

The transformation was complete, and I jumped towards the X-egg.

"Amu-chan, be careful! It's seems more powerful now!" echoed Ran. The X-egg unleashed its power, firing black energy at me. Quickly, I summoned my pink pompoms to protect myself. The impact behind the dark energy nearly knocked me off balance. It's force was much stronger, so I struggled against it, unable to push it back at all. "Aargh!" I still held on, trying not to let it consume me.

The darkened Heart's Egg hissed at me, and re-directed its beam of energy to everyone else. "No!"

The black energy was about to reach them, and I could see Tadase going to summon Holy Crown. But before he could, a white light surrounded them. I gasped and launched myself to the ground. When the X-energy had subsided, I saw that... Akiko was holding a shield of light, above her and everyone else.

What the...?

Everyone else had the same reaction as myself, and they looked at the girl, unable to say anything. "Amu, get back to that egg!" she shouted at me, letting go of the glowing shield.

My whole body was still frozen, staring at her. Forcing myself to turn back around, I grit my teeth to face the X-egg, which hovered above us.

I jumped into the air again and summoned my Heart Rod. It slipped into my fingers. "Spiral Heart!" It spun towards the X-egg, but it dodged. "No!" I scream, catching the weapon. I landed onto Seiyo Academy building, flinging the rod with full force. "SPIRAL HEART!" The light finally entangled the black egg, and it screamed in resistance.

My weapon fell back into my hand, dissolving. "Negative Heart! Lock On! … Open Heart!"

The Heart's Egg shrieked one last time, before turning into a pure one, and flying away. I watched it disappear, and looked back at everyone, leaping off the building and undoing the transformation.

"Akiko..." I murmur, approaching her hesitantly. She looked up at me, guilt ridden. "I think you've got some explaining to do," she nodded shakily, and sighed.

She began to walk to the Royal Garden, and we followed after her. I drifted back, turning to everyone. "Guys, what happened down here?" I ask, worried.

Tadasde spoke to me, "Right when the X-egg was going to attack us, Hikari-san jumped in front and a white light came out of her hands, and she made a shield around us..." And he looked over to the brunette, who was making her way to the Royal Garden. Everyone looked anxious, and I couldn't help but shake the feeling that... she wasn't like any of us.

With an uneasy nod, I began to walk faster again, desperate to get some answers. Then felt I tug on my blazer. I turned around and saw Hikaru. "What's wrong?" I ask, bending down to his height. He grabbed out his egg, looking at it intently.

"... When that girl was staring at me before..." he whispered, "The egg started to move and it got warmer..." His hands were cupped around it. "But when she looked away, it went back to normal." I look at him with wide eyes, shaking my head slowly.

"What do we do now?" he asks, his face showing concern.

"We all go inside and Akiko will explain. We just have to wait." I get up and walk over to the Royal Garden. Akiko had better explain herself; I would sure like to know what's going on.


...

"A new school year...

I have a feeling a lot of fun stuff is going to happen."

...


Magical girl4: MWUHAHA! I left you guys on a cliffy! Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! By the way, Akiko is just more than a side character, so she'll be apart of the main plot.

Akiko: Can I tell them what I am?

Magical girl4: NO! You guys can write a review on what you think Akiko is. Or what she's doing.

Rima: You are so MEAN!

Magical girl4: Crap, she's gonna to kill me... Anyways hope you liked the Rimahiko fluff, it was short but, oh well.

Rima: Ugh, you just had to write that down didn't you?!

Magical girl4: Oi, I felt like it.

Hikaru: But why did my egg move?

Amu: Why did you make me knock over Tadase-kun?!

Magical girl4: SHUT UP! Ugh, it will be explained in the next chapter!

Tadase: And why does Akiko hate me?

Magical girl4: I SAID SHUT UP! (Slaps Tadase)

Amu: OH NO! (Runs over to Tadase) TADASE, are you ok?! (Hugs him)

Tadase: (Grins) Best day… Of… my life.

Ikuto: (Walks in) Yeah, ok guys, I am ba-! (Sees Tadase and Amu hugging) (Gasps and runs over to Magi) Uh, Magi, what happened here?

Magical girl4: Oh, you know, the usual. I slapped Tadase on the face, and now Amu is hugging him because of pity.

Ikuto: (gasps) QUICK! Slap me on the face!

Magical girl4: OK, whatever you say. (Raises hand but stops) Oh, wait. It feels wrong to slap you, for some reason...

Ikuto: You hit me every other day?!

Akiko: Here let me do it (raises hand) *THWACK!*

(There is a big red mark on Ikuto's left cheek, it turns purple)

Ikuto fangirls: IKUTO-KUN! WE WILL HUG YOU!

Ikuto: Wha? Wait, NO-! (Is pushed over by Tsunami of fangirls)

Yoru: Ikuto nya~! I will save you nya~! (Fly's over to crowd of fangirls) (Yoru's fangirls come into view)

Yoru fangirls: YORU, YOU ARE SO KAWAII~!

Yoru: Huh? (turns head and sees running fangirls) NNNYYYAAA~! (Is also pushed over by Tsunami of fangirls)

SC gang: o_o" ok then...

Magi-chan: (turns to viewers) Thank you Chloe, Dreamer Girl 22, and Jewel of the Dark for reviewing!

That's all for now! BYE ;)