"Remy, you have a phone call from Uncle Nikaidou!" called my Mom.
I raced down the stairs and skipped the last two, jumping from the third step and landing on the floor with a loud BANG!
"Remy, how many times have I told you not to do that?" my Mom scolded.
"Sorry," I apologized, "Can I talk to Uncle Nikaidou now?"
She sighed and handed me the phone.
"Hi, Uncle Nikaidou," I said.
"Hello, Remy. Guess what," he replied.
"What?"
"You're allowed to work at Easter-"
I sucked in breath with excitement and started jumping up and down chanting, "Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!"
When I calmed down, he continued, "I'm glad you're excited, Remy, but I'm not finished. You need to be under supervision at all times since you're so young."
"That's okay!" I replied excitedly.
"You'll be supervised by me for the time being," he added.
My smile instantly disappeared. "What do you mean 'for the time being'?"
"I don't have a Guardian Character anymore, so you're going to have to be supervised by someone who does have one. You'll also be taught how to use yours to her fullest abilities since I'm assuming you don't know how. Am I correct?"
Uncle Nikaidou was acting strange. He was being very serious, which was unusual since I had barely ever seen him like that.
"Yeah, you're right," I said, my tone more calm.
"You'll have to come by today as soon as you can so we can find out more about your Guardian Character and why she was created. It's only so that we can understand how you can be used to benefit the president," he explained.
"Okay," I replied.
"I already let your Mom know, so she'll be bringing you here soon."
"Okay."
"I'll see you soon, Remy. Bye."
"Bye, Uncle Nikaidou."
I hung up the phone.
"Come on, Remy. Lets go," said my Mom, sounding like she didn't approve.
"Coming," I replied quietly.
I walked towards the front door and put on my shoes; following Mom outside to the car.
"What's wrong, Ream?" asked Koori.
"I'm nervous," I answered.
I got in the car along with Mom and put on my seat belt. She put on hers and started up the car, reversing it out of the driveway and onto the road.
"Why?"
"'Cause I won't be with Uncle Nikaidou the whole time. I'll be with a stranger."
"Oh you'll be fine," said Koori. "But I haven't met people like these before, so I am curious about what this experience will be like."
I nodded.
(^^^-^^^)
"Remy, follow me," said Uncle Nikaidou when I walked in. He was still as serious as before.
I followed him through the hallways and counted every door we passed. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... 13... 14... We stopped in front of a door as he opened it. The inside was white and filled with strange things I had never seen before. The people were working with the strange machinery inside and were all wearing lab coats.
"Remy, this is Yukari. Yukari, this is Chika Kiyomizu's daughter, Ream. We all call her Remy as a nickname."
The lady Uncle Nikaidou was so familiar with was very beautiful. She had redish brown hair and stunning blue eyes. She wore glasses, but it only made her look more sophisticated. She wore a yellow suit with a white shirt underneath the coat.
"Nice to meet you," she replied with a friendly smile, holding out her hand politely.
I took it and shook it quickly before returning my hand to my side awkwardly. "You too," I replied quietly.
"She's extremely shy, but she'll grow accustomed to you soon enough," Uncle Nikaidou assured Yukari.
Yukari nodded. "How about we move to my office so we can learn more about what you already know."
"Okay," I replied.
They both left the strange room and I followed them, once again counting the doors. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... She opened a locked door and we went inside.
"You keep your office locked?" I asked.
"I like to feel assured that no one can come inside without me knowing," explained Yukari.
I nodded.
Yukari went and sat behind her desk after closing the office door when we entered. Uncle Nikaidou stood beside her while I took a seat in front of the desk.
Yukari took out a notebook and pen. "So, Ream, what wish did you make that created you're Guardian Character?"
"I wanted to be less shy and afraid. I wanted to be less emotional since I tend to get upset easily. Koori helps me with that," I answered.
She scribbled in her notebook. "Koori, that's your Guardian Character's name?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what a Character Transformation is?" Yukari asked.
"No," I answered.
"Do you know what a Character Change is?"
"Sort of," I replied. "I princess tiara appears on my head and I act like how I want to be. Except the first time, Koori controlled what I said and did."
"What happened?" prodded Yukari, stopping her scribbling in her notebook long enough to look at me.
I was sitting alone, outside, underneath a tree. I was eating my lunch while listening to the nearby birds. It was a nice peaceful silence. Neither Koori, nor I, wanted to disturb it. Someone else wanted to, however.
"Hey, Ream," said a girl, her tone snotty.
I looked up and saw Mai with her friends, Mao and Midori. They were girls in my class who had liked to torment me since I started school there in Grade 4.
"Hi..." I greeted them cautiously.
"We're hungry, Ream," said Mai.
"Yeah, Ream. We're hungry," echoed Midori.
I didn't answer.
"Aren't you going to share your lunch with us?" asked Mao innocently.
I knew what they were getting at. 'Give us your lunch or you'll regret it'. It's happened before. The last time I resisted, they dragged me by my hair till I gave up my lunch kit. Mom didn't understand why my uniform was dirty, and I didn't explain.
I still didn't answer them.
Mai moved forward to do something nasty and I flinched away. Then suddenly, I felt something inside me switch places, and a princess tiara appeared on my head.
"Why don't you just buzz off and go pick on somebody else?" I snapped.
Mai, Mao, and Midori stared at me with surprise. They looked at each other for a moment, and then back to me.
"What did you just say?" asked Mai.
"Why don't you just buzz off and pick on somebody else?" I repeated more fiercely.
"Get her," ordered Mai.
Mao and Midori came at me and started pulling my hair. I kicked one of them in the knee and other other I kicked in the shin. They backed off a moment, clutching their body parts in pain.
Mai glared at them. "Can't you two do anything right?"
She then glared at me and swung her arm. I just barely dodged her potential blow before doing the same, punching her in the face. She fell on the ground, holding her cheek and stared up at me, completely astonished, but she soon gave me the nastiest glare I had ever seen her make.
"You're going to regret this, Ream Kiyomizu," she threatened before getting up and running off with her friends.
I felt something switch back inside myself, and the tiara disappeared.
I stared at Koori. "What happened?"
"So you were able to stand up for yourself with Koori's help," Yukari stated more than asked.
"Yes," I replied. "Can you tell me what a Character Change and a Character Transformation are now?"
"A Character Change is when the Guardian Character grants his or her master special abilities and become a certain person the Guardian Character was born from. Something will appear on you to show that there's been a change. For you, it would be the princess tiara. The Character Change can be controlled by a Guardian Character, but sometimes the user can use it themselves if they're exposed to something that provokes their personality," explained Yukari. "A Character Transformation is when someone combines powers with a Guardian Character. The character goes into his or her egg and goes into the owner's heart. This ability surpasses the Character Change by 120% of it's normal power. This is also rare, so not many people with Guardian Characters can actually transform. The Guardian Character is still active, so they can communicate and can force the owner to do something unwillingly. If you have more than one Guardian Character, you can switch between transformations. It is possible to Character Transform with another person's Guardian Character, but the transformation doesn't last as long and it takes up more of your energy. The power isn't as good either."
"Wow..." I replied.
"A lot to take in?" asked Uncle Nikaidou.
"Yeah..."
He chuckled. "You'll understand easier when you experience it yourself.
"But can I actually do it? You already said it's rare for someone to Character Transform with a Guardian Character."
"If you can't, we can 'cause it to happen," said Yukari.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Wait a second, Yukari! You can't put Remy with Ikuto!" exclaimed Uncle Nikaidou.
"Why not? If she can't Character Transform on her own, then using the Dumpty Key that Ikuto has is the only way for her to be able to," Yukari reasoned.
"But we can't even grantee she'd be safe with Ikuto," he argued. "He's always running off on his own and doing his own thing."
"If he doesn't, he'll know what will happen to him if he doesn't keep her around."
Uncle Nikaidou stayed silent.
"What's going on?" I asked Koori.
"I don't know, but something tells me that this company is willing to do quite a lot to get what the president wants," answered Koori.
"Um... Who's Ikuto?" I asked. "And what's the Dumpy Key?"
They both looked at me and then at each other.
Yukari sighed. "Well, now that Nikaidou has mentioned things he shouldn't have in your presence, I suppose we'll have to tell you."
"Sounds like your Uncle Nikaidou is going to get an earful later," said Koori.
I nodded.