Alex's Notes: Sorry it took so long, but I was sick until Wednesday last week from Saturday, and had two papers to write. One down, one to go. Once again, I apologize for the wait. :[
This chapter is long and rather dull, IMO, but the next chapter is where the story truly begins. This chapter was just needed for some development and space between events. Again, sorry about the dullness, but I hope you enjoy this one anyway! We'll get through this rising action soon enough! It might be riddled with a few spelling/grammar mistakes, but I'll go over it fix them later. Promise. I really wanted to release this though. x_X
Oh, and Great America was fun. If you people go ever go to the one in California, make sure you ride Survivor! That one was my favorite.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach Pit does.
The Miracle Swap
Chapter 4: The musician's comeback!
I found myself once again in the Guardian's garden, seated in the same seat I had been in a day prior. But the only difference was my mood, which was not a good one as I scowled down at the tea cup place in front of me at the table. I listened to Amu protest about becoming the new Ace, and Utau was not having that.
"…and I already said no two days ago!"
"Yeah, well, we're the Guardians, and we said so, meaning you must. You're going to be the Ace. And you're going to like it."
"B-but…"
"I will tolerate zero 'buts', Amu."
The moment after I was chosen to be the Joker had been hectic for me. Amu and I were called up to the stage, and I had to walk through large lanes of people who were either congratulating me or staring after me with great suspicion, whispering to their friends as they did so. Whichever it was didn't matter to me, I shot anyone who said a single word a glare of oppression. This little announcement was definitely not something I saw coming, nor was it something I would have looked forward too if I knew it would happen. I didn't pay much attention to Amu; I was too busy seething with anger as I marched up the steps to the stage to care. I followed the Guardians behind the curtain, Tadase dismissing the assembly swiftly before following the rest of us. I said nothing to them as we made our way out the back door; I was too busy calculating how I was going to reject their offer without giving them a chance to object. Amu, however, had other plans.
"What is the meaning of this!? I already rejected your offer two days ago!" She began with lots of screaming and reckless yelling, and although I didn't know her all too well, I could just tell that this was the way she handled most things.
"We told you we'd get you to join, one way or another!" Kukai explained, grinning despite Amu's obvious oppose to the idea of becoming the Ace. "This is just one of our methods. When it comes to who is chosen to be in what chair, we have no power over changing the decision! Weather or not you agreed wouldn't have mattered, you would have been forced to join our council anyway."
"But what about what I want!? I don't have time for something like this! I have a lot of important things to handle at home!" She objected, her expression turning into one of unhappiness rather than anger.
Utau spoke, curt and serious. "You'll just have too find time."
"What!"
"Need I replicate?"
"That's not what I meant!"
After that point of the conversation, I assumed it was no use listening to it any further, and went back to my own thoughts. What exactly could I say to convince them not to let me be the new Joker? Utau seemed too busy with Amu at the moment to even pay attention, so I focused on the two others members of the Guardians who might be easier to crack. Tadase… would be easier than Utau, yet more difficult than Kukai. Which meant Kukai would be the easiest to convince.
Oh, the reason why Kukai was the easiest to convince? Well, let's just say I have some 'embarrassing photos' of him during a soccer game from quite awhile back, but would still do the trick. Of course, I would never really blackmail anyone, but Kukai might be gullible enough to believe me if it's something as dire as a picture of his pants being ripped as an opposing team member misses the soccer ball and kicks him by mistake. That might do the trick. But what if that didn't work…?
Unable to think of much else, I decided I'd go ahead and try the first plan, and if it failed, then… well, then, I would just be out of luck.
I tuned back into Utau and Amu's conversation – my first thought upon hearing it being 'what did I just miss…?'
"… and then we have to cremate her in the fireplace and give her a funeral in her favorite shoebox! That's why I don't have time for this stupid counsel!" Amu was yelling, an absolutely serious look on her face. Utau didn't look stunned by this comment, nor did Kukai and Tadase. I must've missed something, since this statement sounded a little weird to me.
"Amu, just tell her to push it to the weekend or something. It's not even real. Do you really need a funeral for such a thing!?" Came Utau's reply, her arms crossed and her expression of equal seriousness.
"It isn't that simple! I can't just tell her that, we've already planned a funeral on that day!"
"Who in their right mind would come to a dolls funeral!?"
"According to Ami, her friends."
Utau scoffed slightly before responding, "Fine, you can miss your Guardian duties on that day. But you still have to be the Ace, there's no way out of it."
Amu's expression softened a bit as she contemplated on this, and then nodded contently as she took her seat again. I suppose now was my time to object to my own chair in the Guardians.
"Utau – "
"No." I blinked. How did she know what I was going to say!?
"But,"
"Don't care; you have Guardian Characters and you're the holder of the lock, so you have to be in the Guardians anyway."
"Well, I have – "
"Already found them in your room the other day. I burned them."
I blinked again. Darn that twin telepathy thing! She must be using it somehow or something, how else would she know where I hid those pictures!? Or what I was about to say… irritating. I huffed and glared in the other direction, knowing there was no way I could get myself out of this now.
She smirked evilly in satisfaction, "Now that that's settled, the reason why you were chosen to be the last two members of the guardians is because you have guardian characters. That is the requirement for joining, but we can't go around telling people that because they'd think we're odd."
"Yep, since other people can't see guardian characters unless they have one themselves or know about them, it would be quite impossible to explain the requirement to anyone. But that's not important right now. What's important is –"
"HEY wait!" Amu suddenly interrupted, a look of alarm on her face, "Do I have to wear a cape!?"
"Well, they are part of being a Guardian." Kukai pointed out.
"But they look so lame! Their not my style at all."
"I'll have to agree with Amu on this one," I spoke up, because I wasn't going to wear the stupid capes either. "They look repulsive. Who wears capes anymore, honestly? I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those."
"See?" Amu pointed at me, "Ikuto agrees with me! We'll join your council, but under the condition that we can refuse to wear the capes!" Since when did I give her permission to speak on my behalf? I didn't even want to join the council! But either way, I agreed with her on the whole cape thing, so I didn't object to what she was saying.
"FINE!" Tadase shouted, going into another one of his random rages of kingliness. He always did that when he was interrupted. "Just let me finish!" Amu silenced herself at once, and he cleared his throat before continuing.
"As I was saying, we have some important business to attend too. There are three main reasons for the Guardian council's existence. The first, lifting harsh school rules from the students. And the second is containing and purifying any x-eggs that may appear. And the last, if not one of the most important, is monitoring Easter."
"Easter?" I asked. I'd heard of the company before. They did a lot of miscellaneous jobs, like music, merchandising, and other random stuff. Why would we need to 'monitor' them?
"Oh, right. I forgot you just got your Charas yesterday." Tadase replied, beginning his explanation. "As we told you yesterday, x-eggs are created when their holder no longer believes in them or wants them. X-eggs then have the potential to hatch into a Punishment Chara. A Punishment Chara is a warped version of the person's original wish or dream, and they are extremely dangerous. It's our job to purify the eggs before they can hatch cause any damage." He paused a moment while I digested this.
"This brings us to our issues concerning Easter. Lately, they've been getting in the way of our purification process. The adults in Easter have somehow discovered that Charas exist, and can see them. They've even created technology that can turn someone's unborn egg into an x-character, and once they do that, they steal the egg. We have yet to discover why they are collecting them, so in the mean time we can only try to purify them as fast as Easter is grabbing them."
"And how do you go about purifying them?" Amu asked.
"That's where I come in!" Kukai shouted excitingly. "So far, I've been the only one out of the three of us who can do a character transformation. If you can do a character transformation, it's very easy to purify them in that for rather than if you were in a character change mode."
Okay, he lost me. "I get the whole transformation thing, but…character change?"
Kukai blinked. "Oooh, that's right. You've only done a character transformation, huh? It's rather unusual that you went straight to transformations instead of going through a character change first." He leaned back in his seat and relaxed his head on his hands before continuing. "A character change is the lesser version of a character transformation. It doesn't hold as much power, but it's still rather efficient. When going through a character change, you can experience a personality change, physical strength change, or special abilities."
"For example," Amu's pink Guardian Character, Ran, floated up to me. Odd, since I didn't notice her there before. But then again, I tend to forget about them, especially Yoru because he doesn't know how to shut up, which causes me to ignore him. "When Amu does a character change with me, she becomes more honest and athletic!" She waved her pompoms around, as though the thought of a character change filled her with hype.
"And when she does a character change with me," Suu chimed in, "She becomes kinder, girly, and is a better at cooking!"
Amu crossed her arms at this, pouting as she spoke. "It's not like I'm not already girly, Suu!"
"Well, you still have a ways to go on cooking, desu!"
"Bah!" She threw her hands up in the air in protest.
"Hmmm…" Yoru rose up from the table and grinned evilly at me, "I wonder what would happen if I did a character change with Ikuto…"
"I'll pass on finding out. If it's anything like our transformation, I want no part of it."
"Ran wants to see!"
"Suu wants to see!"
"I wanna see too!" Amu raised her hand in agreement and smiled sheepishly at me. For some strange reason, I suddenly felt a tiny urge to comply with their requests at the sight of her smile, but I still had the will too stand my ground against the idea.
"No."
"Nyaaa, please, Ikuto!? Just this one time!"
"No."
"But, it's nothing like the character change!"
"No."
"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Ikuto!" Amu said, siding with Yoru."
"…No."
"Oh fine then whatever! I'm doing it anyway. Character change, NYA!" there was a short *pop!* noise before I suddenly felt a difference. My hearing and scent senses suddenly became a lot more acute, and although I wasn't moving, could feel I had a better reflex system than before. I glanced around the table, and the other guardians were giving me shocked stares.
"What is it this time?" I received a reply of silence from them, until Kukai started snickering slightly. He did this for about five seconds before bursting into a fit of laughter, Tadase and Utau just continued staring, and Amu's expression was unreadable.
"Ikuto," she said after no one bothered to tell me what Kukai was laughing at, "Touch your head."
Frowning, I obeyed and touched the top of my head lightly. At first, I couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary because the first touch had been at the center of my head. I slowly moved my fingers through my scalp until I reached an odd lump on my head – which I felt twitch slightly at contact.
"If this is what I think it is…"
"Ikuto, you look like a cosplayer!" Amu exclaimed, pointing at the new set of ears on my head. I hated hearing that.
"Shut up!"
"She's right though," Utau mumbled, "You do." Even my own twin sister was joining in on the 'poke at Ikuto' fun… goody.
"Can't we just get back on topic!?" I suggested, Yoru ending the character change, a look of satisfaction on his face as he sat next to my untouched cup of tea. Tadase agreed wholeheartedly and continued as I wondered if their discussions were always interrupted this often.
"As I was saying, Easter is getting in the way of our purification. They've been making more x-eggs than we can keep up with, and since Ikuto can character transform, then that sheds a little light on our situation."
"I can too, you know…" Amu mumbled, looking a bit annoyed.
"You can?"
"Yeah…"
"Perfect!" Kukai stood up in his seat, "If that's the case, then I think we should all go on a hunt for some x-eggs! We can test out your skills!"
"Sounds like a good idea," Tadase approved, "Amu-chan, have you ever purified an egg before?" She nodded. "Well then, why don't you and Ikuto pair up and search today after school, while me, Utau, and Kukai group up and search elsewhere?"
"Works for me."
"I don't really feel like it…" I stopped my protest when I noticed Utau's hard stare, "but I guess I have no choice."
"Well then, that settles it! Let's get back to class now." Tadase dismissed the meeting, and we all began our way back to class at our own pace. I packed up my stuff and Yoru slipped into my backpack, going in his egg as he rested next to the unhatched one. I walked down the few steps of the greenhouse and out the door, to discover Amu was there. Had she been waiting for me…?
She was leaning up one of the wall of the greenhouse, staring off into space. Curious to as of why she was just standing there, I walked up next to her and waved my hand in her face.
"Hellooo?"
She jumped up in fright, then spun around towards the opposite direction my voice came from, sputtering nonsense. Once she came to a stop, she quickly turned around again, her previous calm and dazed expression replaced with an angry one.
"Why do you keep doing that?!"
"Doing what?"
"Come up behind me and freak'n me out!"
I smirked and shrugged, "I wasn't trying to startle you that time, you just weren't paying attention and I tried to get your awareness. I was trying to tell you that we might get in trouble if we arrive later than Kukai and Tadase, buuuut since you don't want my help I just remember next time too…"
"Okay, okay! I get the point! I'm going, sheesh…" and with that, we the what was soon to become our daily trot to class together. We walked in silence for a long time as a large wave of awkwardness came over us. Or, more specifically Amu, since I was able to stay calm the whole time. She on the other hand, fidgeted with her book bag and was noticeably trying to look everywhere but my direction. She was failing miserably. When we turned the last corner in the school hallway that led to our classroom, she suddenly came to a stop before reaching the door, and I halted as well to see what she was up too.
Her honey colored eyes were cast to the ground slightly, her pink hair hanging over her shoulders, and she had a slight tint of pink on her cheeks as she lightly tapped the tip of one foot into the linoleum repeatedly. With her fingers twined delicately behind her back, she glanced up at me shyly and frowned a bit.
"Ummm…"
"What?"
"Well. Um…"
I wasn't really in the mood for her speech impairment or whatever she had, so I cut to the chase. "Spit it out, I don't have all day."
She perked up a bit at this and straightened her posture, the small tint of pink turning into an outright blush.
"W-w-well, never mind, it's not that important I guess! I'll just tell you later! I have something important to take care of after school, so wait for by the greenhouse after school." I raised an eyebrow as she sped passed me, charging into our classroom at full speed. I heard a loud bam,and then laughter from our classmates. Strolling into the classroom, I discovered she had tripped over practically nothing and caused her desk to topple over on her. I merely chuckled as I pulled the desk off of her and offered her a hand up, which she swatted away and stood up herself, her face flushed with embarrassment. Shrugging, I went to my seat and sat down; barely listening to the lesson once I had done so.
As I stared out the window, I came to realize something strange about myself. Something in my behavior the moment prior to the moment before had been off, and even I didn't notice it until after the fact. Why was it, that when our teacher had fallen on the second day of school, I hadn't bothered to help him, but when Amu fell, I felt the need to offer her a hand?
After pondering about this, I dismissed it as simply a reflex. After all, when Nikaidou sensei fell, I wasn't right next to him, but when Amu fell, I just so happened to be right there. It was just a normal impulse. Despite the fact that no one else had offered her a hand up when she fell, and were all instead laughing at her, it was still just a normal reaction.
Right?
~Nya.~
Home economics had been humiliating for me, and hilarious to others. As I've mentioned before, there are very few girls in my class this year. There are only three – Amu, Rima Mashiro, and Yaya Yuiki. Yaya and Rima were two girls that I would like to classify as "The very, very smart type," because they never paid any mind to me whatsoever, and probably went out of their way to do so. Not that I cared. I just noticed.
We had a fairly large portion of food to make today – one large pizza with tons of toppings, meaning we would need a group of at least four people to make it. At first, the plan was for me, Kukai, Tadase, and Amu to all be in one group, but the teacher announced that he would randomly place us in different groups. The result being of me, Amu, Rima, and Yaya.
"I'm not working with this guy." Rima declared once we had gotten to our station, and Yaya nodded with agreement. I simply smirked and leaned up against the window as I sat on its sill, prepared to sit and do nothing as they did the work for me.
"Who said he'd be cooking?" Amu asked, hands on her hips with a knife poking out of one of her fists as she did so. "He's going to be the cleaning boy."
"Cleaning boy? What's with that diminutive name!?" I demanded. Oh sure, I wouldn't mind cleaning. I was quite terrible at cooking, I admit to my flaw! But to give me such a name was far to insulting for me to withstand.
"Well, it's what you are," Amu replied, a smug look on her face, "You're a boy, and you're going to clean. Therefore, you are a cleaning boy. The name suits you perfectly. Cleaning boy." She put emphasis on the name, and I soon found myself scowling at her. What happened to the cuter, blushing girl I was speaking to earlier!? This version of Amu was so rude, uncute, and irksome!
"Why can't I have a name like… like -"
"Ikuto the living bounty paper towel!" Yaya interrupted me suddenly, raising her hands into the air in excitement.
"That's even better Yaya!" Amu agreed, smiling at the noisy girl. "From this day forward, Ikuto will be 'Bounty boy!'"
"That's even worse!"
"RIMA!" Amu ignored me and turned to the blond, whose expression was a mocking one as she glanced in my direction. "You will make the sauce! And Yaya, you will cut the veggies. I'll make the dough for the pizza." She turned to me and added – "And you will do nothing unless we hand you a dish that needs to be cleaned. Bounty boy."
I unfortunately didn't have time to protest, because as soon as that final word left her lips all three of them began their work. They went through dishes and utensils very quickly, and I was kept busy as I listened to their laughter and idle girly chit-chat. The irritating thing was, every time someone had something new dish to be cleaned, they would yell something like 'Yoo-hoo, Bounty boy~', resulting in an eruption of laughter from the classroom. What was even more humiliating was that I had to actually come when they called. But it was well worth it, since their pizza came out great and we received an A+. The girls left the class together, laughing and joking around as they did so. I grabbed my stuff and went straight to the cubbies, swapping my shoes before heading to the greenhouse to wait for Amu. I waited for quite awhile, and in the end, wound up leaning against the wall of an area that was a hidden from the entrance of the garden as I awaited her arrival.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, I finally heard Amu's voice as she approached. She was talking with her Charas – and there was one other voice I didn't recognize. Before revealing where I was, I decided to be nosy and eavesdrop on their conversation. I peaked from behind the slightly hidden wall of the greenhouse I was standing behind, and saw something interesting.
"You know you really shouldn't feel bad though, Amu!" A blue Chara was hovering near Amu, she wore a light blue beret hat and a black shirt with light blue sleeves, along with dark blue hands and brown boots. That color scheme looked strikingly similar too the girl who stole my x-egg before… but I wasn't going to point fingers. There were a lot of coincidences in this world, and this could be one of them.
"Miki, you know I can't help it."
"But this isn't helping! If you continue doing things like this, you'll only get worse!"
"Don't worry so much Miki. I'm only doing something like this one time, and then I won't do it for anyone else. I promise!" The little blue Chara didn't seem convinced, and eyed Amu skeptically. "Fine, do what you want! But keep your promise this time, Amu! I worry about you, you know… you'll never get better if -"
"No need to worry Miki! I'll be fine, so stop worrying!" Miki still had a look of unease on her face, but nodded and went back into her egg, Amu catching her before she fell to the ground.
"Miki is right though Amu. But Suu and I trust that you'll be careful. Right Suu?" Ran turned to Suu who nodded enthusiastically.
"Thanks guys…" She smiled at her Charas before turning around, looking across the field. "Now all we have to do is wait for Ikuto to get here..."
That was my cue. I stood up and strolled casually from my hiding place, my hands casually in my pockets as I pretended I heard nothing. My appearance must've fooled her, because she turned around without any look of alarm in her expression.
"You kept me waiting!" Who was she to talk!? I've been waiting fifteen minutes for her to arrive!
"Teacher asked me to help put up some P.E equipment." I lied, but it was believable since I was walking from the direction of the P.E shed. "What's with the blue egg?"
Amu yelped and stuffed the egg into her book bag, seeming to have forgotten to hide it from me. "It's an egg that was born at the same time as Suu and Ran, but it never hatched. So I keep it with me incase it ever does."
Why was she lying about Miki? I racked my brain for a moment, but couldn't think up a logical explanation to as of why she'd be lying about her own Guardian Character. Perhaps it represented an embarrassing would-be-self?
"Oh. How long have you had them?" I asked, changing the subject so not to raise suspicion. She pondered about this for a moment before replying, counting her fingers slowly.
"Well, I'm sixteen now so I guess I've had them for about six or seven years." I suddenly felt a bit late in bloom. Why was I the last to receive a Guardian? I'd have to ask when Utau received Iru and Eru next time I saw her…
"Anyway," she cleared her throat, "Before we go hunt down any x-eggs, I um… have something I want to say…"
"Yeah?" I didn't feel like going through another one of her "um" and "err" sessions again, so I tried to rush her.
"But first we need to go to my house." My jaw dropped ever so slightly.
"You expect me to do what?"
"It's not that far away! Stop complaining!"
"Why!?"
"Because there's something there that I need to pick up!"
"And just how far away is your house, exactly?"
"Less than ten minutes. We would have been a fourth of the way there by now if you just shut up and started walking…"
I sighed. "Is it really so important that it can't wait?"
Her eyes flashed, and she suddenly became very angry. "YES, it is. Now just shut up and come on, I mean seriously, is ten minutes of your time that much to ask for!?" I opened my mouth to retort, but she continued –
"Or maybe you're just too cool to hang out with me for a mere hour or so for our assignment, since you're the 'prince of seduction' and all; I must not be enough of a person to be in your presence!"
Okay, where did that come from? I had barely said anything rude and she was suddenly going off on me! What was wrong with this girl!? And how did she learn about my title!? Hardly anyone had called me by that all week! Instead of yelling back at her, I simply frowned and said nothing. Loosing my cool and becoming angry wouldn't help the situation. I glanced at Amu's Chara's, and they all had a look of fear on their face. Was this behavior unusual for Amu or something?
"Amu-chan, calm down!" Ran yelled, batting Amu with one of her pompoms.
"I knew this would happen…" Suu mumbled miserably. I raised an eyebrow.
"You did?" She quickly denied that she 'knew' it would happen, saying that Amu was upset about something that happened recently and hadn't meant what she'd said. Amu merely huffed and began walking toward the school gate. Sighing, I decided I really did have nothing better to do, so I followed her – making sure to keep a good distance between us.
We walked in silence as she led me through a district I'd never taken the time to explore before – it was a new area of town, and all the houses were freshly built. I never bothered coming down this part of town because I knew it would only have residents I'd never met before, and therefore didn't care about.
Once we arrived at her house, she pulled out some keys and unlocked the door, inviting me in with a calmer tone than before. I stepped inside and slipped out of my shoes, taking a seat on the couch as Amu had instructed me to do as she ran up to her room.
I glanced around the house, fascinated with being in a home that wasn't mine. Although Tadase and Kukai were my friends, I rarely ever went to their houses or anything, so being here was a rather nice change. I'd been to Kotone's house many times in the past though – it was only recently that I'd stopped visiting. Speaking of Kotone, I hadn't seen her around very much since Tuesday. I wondered what she was up too…
"Okay." I hadn't heard Amu come back downstairs, and was taken by surprise when she suddenly appeared in front of my and dropped a large case onto my lap. I gave her a look of confusion, and she scowled.
"Just open it already! It's yours!"
I smirked. "You mean, like a present?"
"It's whatever you want to call it."
I continued smirking as I popped open the square case – almost gasping when I saw what was inside.
"This… this is for me?"
"Who else would it be for?"
"But why would you give me a violin…?" Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the exact same violin I had before, looking good as new. There wasn't a single sign of damage anywhere on the instrument, and it still had that new silver shine to its frame.
"This is supposed to be shattered, how did you fix this?"
Amu scratched the back of her head modestly, "Well, that's kind of hard to explain…"
"Then I guess you'd better start right now."
Suu answered for her – "Amu used a character transformation with me and we used remake honey to fix it! That attack has the power to fix almost anything, desu!"
"And how did you find it?"
"I saw where your dad put it when I saw some of your memories… although it wasn't actually in your memories; I was somehow able to see it anyway."
"Hm," I looked down at the violin again. "Very interesting. So then, why?"
"W-w-well!" Amu suddenly blushed an unbelievable shade of red and avoided my gaze. I mentally slapped myself when I found myself admiring how cute she looked when she did that. "I thought I was really rude… yesterday…" Oh, that's what she was apologizing for? Thinking back, I had actually forgotten about the conversation momentarily. This was quite a way to apologize to someone, that's for sure. She should get angry and feel guilty more often. I'd probably benefit from it a lot.
"And I wanted too…" Ran suddenly floated up beside Amu, who still seemed to have trouble speaking, a mischievous look on her face.
"Looks like Amu needs a push! Character chaaaaange!" A red heart suddenly appeared on her head, and her face went blank for a moment.
Then, she acted very out of character as opposed to her normal personality.
"Yes! I'm actually really sorry Ikuto, I didn't mean to call your problems trivial, I was just upset! I hope you'll forgive me, because I really would like to hear you play the violin sometime – I love your music!" That last part seemed a bit random, but whatever. I went along with the conversation as casually as I could without grinning much, but it was proving difficult.
"Oh really? You like the way I play?" There had only been three people who'd heard me play and approved of it, so this was an interesting development.
"Yeah, and I also really -" Her character change suddenly came to an end with Ran, with the little pink cheerleader giggling manically.
"RAN!" Amu stomped over to her and grabbed her sturdily. Despite Amu's attempt at strangling her own guardian, Ran continued to laugh uncontrollably through chokes. It was actually really entertaining to watch.
"You really…?" I asked once she'd given up on suffocating Ran.
"Really what?"
"You said, 'Yeah, and I also really…'"
She crossed her arms and lifted her head snootily – "I-it's not important! Let's just get out of here…" she trailed off at the sound of the front door unlocking. I instantly wondered if that was a bad thing – what if it was an overprotective father of hers or something? I really wasn't in the mood for that right now. But instead of some overprotective father, a brunette with glasses rounded the corner into the living room carrying a shopping bag, her eyes suddenly widening at the sight of Amu and I. I glanced over to Amu, and noticed she had an extremely cross look on her face.
"Amu-chan, is this your friend...?" She woman asked as she smiled warily in my direction – I immediately noticed a look of apprehension on her face. But I could tell that apprehensive look on her face wasn't for me – it was for Amu. I then assumed she was Amu's mother after noticing her eyes were the same unusual shade of honey as hers.
"Yes, he is, Mama." Amu grumbled, using a noticeably forced tone. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the living room, leaving me with barely any time to grab the violin and bow – forcing me to leave the case. "We're leaving now."
"Ah - but – wait, Amu-chan!" Her mom called after her, following us to the entry way. Amu ignored her as she continued to the door, grabbing both pairs of our shoes and shoving me out the door.
"Amu-chan…?" Her mom asked softly, the hurt evident in her voice.
"We were just leaving. I'll be back soon, don't worry about it." Amu said curtly before closing the door behind her on her mother, slipping on her shoes with shocking speed. "Geez, Ikuto, you're so slow! Get your shoes on already!" Her tone immediately returned to its happy, cheerful euphoria – so fast that it was almost scary. I simply frowned as I finished up putting on my own shoes, and followed Amu down the path that led to the sidewalk.
"We should hurry to the park so that we can start our search for the x-eggs," She said upidly.
"Sure, but,"
"And another thing! Take better care of your violin; I can't fix it every time to screw up!"
"Amu, what was up with that?"
She looked up at me as we continued walking toward the direction of the park, a look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean?"
"You were awfully curt with mother just now…" I put rather bluntly. Perhaps I shouldn't have been poking in another's business, but with Amu, I had been doing that so much lately that it no longer seemed to matter. She casted her gaze down slightly, a small look of frustration in her expression.
"She deserves whatever's coming to her." She put simply, bitterly even, causing my curiosity to grow suddenly. I raised an eyebrow and she sighed, rolling her eyes at me.
"She doesn't matter. She's not important."
We were getting no where with this conversation. Time to change the subject, but only slightly. "So, does your Dad work late or something? He didn't seem to be home."
"He's been gone for ten years." Great, that didn't help much. Way to go Ikuto, you're just spewing positive topics today!
"Interesting."
"Not really."
Silence.
And there was quiet for a long time, until we reached the park. We had been told to meet Kukai, Tadase, and Utau there, but it didn't look as though anyone had shown up yet. Just as I was I was preparing to suggest we go home since no one was coming, Kukai came running down the path of the park at full speed, his guardian character Daichi following him effortlessly despite his rapidity.
"Amu! Ikuto!" He called as he ran; stopping without catching his breath once he'd reached us. "Utau and Tadase went off somewhere else to look, and they said they'd call us if they found anything, so I've decided to stay with the rookies for today!" Rookies…? Well, whatever. Having Kukai around would be much better than being stuck with the moody pinkquette standing next to me.
"Works for me." I shrugged.
"Same," Amu complied. And with that, the three of us began to wander around the park together. It started off with just us being rather silent for some reason, but Kukai broke the ice once he'd taken Amu on one of his famous high speed dashes out of boredom. After that, Amu made sure to be as chatty as possible, fearing she'd have to run again if Kukai became bored.
We had been walking around the park for almost an hour with no luck. Utau and Tadase apparently hadn't found anything either, since they had yet to call us. I was feeling a little disappointed, because I had wanted to see how the whole 'purification process' worked, but no x-eggs had shown up.
"Ikuto, nya… we're not gonna find anything, let's go home…" Yoru whined as he peaked out at me from within my book bag. I ignored him and continued listening to the conversation Amu and Kukai were having.
"…so then, after what was supposed to be our final inning, we had to have yet another since it was tie game. I was in the outfield, and -"
"Wait, you're going too fast again!" Amu shouted for the third time since Kukai had begun to talk about baseball, "Start over, and this time explain to me what an inning is! I don't get this baseball concept!"
Kukai shook his head, "One of these day's I'll have to educate you. It's upsetting that today's adolescence can't even grasp the concept of baseball! It is America's pastime, after all."
"But we're not in America…"
"All the more reason to care!"
"B-but that doesn't make any sense!"
Kukai shook his head again, "You've a lot to learn!" I sighed at the little chit-chat the two were having, it was so like Kukai to bring something of sports into a conversation. I tuned them out for a moment as I had yet another one of my pondering sessions.
Today had been an interesting day so far. First Amu lies to me about Miki, then apologizes to me by fixing my violin, and she seemed to hold some sort of grudge against her mother. True, I did not know this girl very well, but the more I was around her the more intriguing she was becoming to me. Her behavior was out of the ordinary, why would a girl of her status even bother speaking to me? Didn't she not understand the rumors about me or something!? She was not one of those girls who had chased after me with lust-like intentions like last year, nor was she one of those cautious girls who didn't bother giving me a second look. The fact that she was in the guardians wasn't an applicable reason for that, just because you were in the same council as someone didn't mean you had to converse with them or give them such a generous apology. Perhaps I was simply over thinking things, but I honestly found it quite strange.
I glanced over at Amu and Kukai again, still continuing to tune them out. This time around, Kukai was the one frowning in frustration and Amu was laughing at him, shaking her head mockingly in the same manor as he had before. There it was again. Her smile. I couldn't help but wonder why the sight of it was becoming something of an anticipated event for me. A smile was a smile. No, everyone's smile was not the same. But it was still just a smile. Why was it, then, that I couldn't help but stare slightly whenever Amu entered one of her elated moods? Another strange thing – and it seemed more crucial than all of the other facts why was it that my slight façade, the one that earned me my titled, didn't kick in when I was around her?
That was the one strange thing that I was failing to figure out. Unless I was with Utau or Kotone, something would click in my head that made me act a certain way when I was with another girl. But when I was with Amu, that sudden change didn't spark. At all. It was almost scary; I wasn't used to it not happening. Was this proof that I had come to rely on my slight façade over the past few years in high school…? I had never really thought of it as something to rely on, I just thought of it as something irritating that kicked in when it felt like it.
This new school year was turning out to be very bizarre. But another thing I had noticed was that I hadn't had any time all week to do what I normally did during school – my agenda usually consisted of first period through fourth, either staring out a window, or constantly listening to 'those' girls chatter around me, about me or without me. Then there would be lunch, where I'd either sit with Utau, Kukai, Tadase, and Kotone, or I'd make my place at some other table where my presence was greeted by a warm welcome if my three guardian friends where busy in some sort of meeting. Repeat the first process through the rest of the day, and it would turn out to be a very social one.
But as of late, my usual schedule changed. I no longer had 'those' girl around me to talk with our about me, since there were only three in my class this year. So there was no 'prince of seduction' attitude to kick in, and no one to continue to spread rumors. I hadn't eaten lunch in the cafeteria in what seemed like ages, because I'd been in the royal garden everyday since Tuesday, and therefore didn't have any reason to act the way I usually did at school. For the past few days, I had been… a bit more normal? Weird. And with my days as a guardian just beginning, I was probably due to eating in the royal garden more often. The only reason Utau, Kukai, and Tadase ever ate in the cafeteria was because they liked to talk with Kotone and I from time to time. Would this mean I wouldn't have time for my old way of life at school anymore?
I frowned a little. I was thinking too much. We'd see how it would play out eventually…
"Ikuto! Where are you going!? Get back here!" I stopped in my tracks and looked around – noticing I was no longer walking beside Amu or Kukai anymore. Realizing my mistake, I backed up until I reached them again – Amu eying my suspiciously.
"Spacing out much?" She asked. I said nothing, and looked over to Kukai, who was on the phone. He nodded with urgency once before saying, "Okay, we'll be right there." He closed the cell phone, and turned to us, yet another look of excitement on his face.
"That was Tadase; he said they've just found five x-eggs near the slushie shop downtown."
Amu's interest seemed to peak suddenly - "And how far away would that be?"
"About ten minutes – but only if we character transform."
"Then what are we waiting for?" She opened her little pouch that contain her three eggs and tapped on Ran's. "Ran! Let's go!" The little red chara popped out of her egg, nodding eagerly.
"…Wait, so we're all character transforming now…?" No, I wasn't slow. I just honestly didn't want too. Stalling is the best policy, after all...
"Yes! Let's hurry, before the x-eggs get away! We can't let Easter find them first." Kukai said as Daichi went into his egg. I twitched a bit, but knowing I had no choice in the matter, opened my book bag and pulled Yoru out along with the humpty lock.
"I guess I have no choice… let's get this over with."
"Yay, a character change, de nya!" Yoru was so excited, it was sickening.
"Wait, what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, holding up the violin I'd been carrying the whole time. Now I really wished I had that case, even though it had been oddly shaped…
"It'll disappear and reappear with the transformation along with your bag, so chop chop, nyah!" I nodded unwillingly and did as instructed, going through the character transformation process without as much 'spirit' as my other two friends. Kukai was now in a pilot's outfit, complete with goggles and a pilot style jacket to match. I scowled when I realized he didn't have to run like I did – he had some sort of hover skateboard thing so he didn't have to use his energy. How unfair.
Amu on the other hand was now in a pink cheerleader outfit, hands on her hips, and a foreign look of confidence on her face. But that changed from one of confidence to one of bewilderment when she looked my direction.
"Ikuto, what's with that cat outfit?" She asked quizzically.
"I'm not a cat… apparently, I'm a black lynx."
"Well either way, it looks weird." She crossed her arms and nodded at her own statement.
I rolled my eyes, "Says the pink cheerleader with a giant heart planted on her head…"
"Hey! At least I don't have weird cat ears and a tail!"
"Psh, cat ears are sexy, a million times better than weird, unoriginal accessories like yours."
Her jaw dropped ever so slightly, "Unoriginal!?"
Kukai stepped between us, "We're wasting time! Tadase and Utau can't character transform, so they need us for backup! Follow me!" He hopped on his board and sped off in some seemingly random direction, Amu following him without another word. I stared after them for a second, wondering how I should pursue. Kukai was using his board, and wasn't limited to where he could go. Amu was now using heart speeder roller blades to stay in pace him. How was I supposed to keep up with them?
"Geez, Ikuto, you're such an idiot to work with sometimes, you know that?" Yoru spoke.
"How am I an idiot this time?"
"You'll see. Just run, nya!"
"Fine…" I started the dash steadily, but soon, I discovered I didn't need to start my runs like I normally did. Some sort of inhuman strength coursed through me, and a greater nimbleness and speed than from my first transformation came back without hesitation. No longer did simply running satisfy me, I now had to excise my new abilities to the fullest. Taking a few giant leaps forward, I soon found myself catching up with Amu, passing her up upon arrival. But that wasn't enough either, and I took another great leap, but this time, it wasn't so much forward as it was to get higher. I landed on the rooftop of a building gracefully, and continued forward after Kukai – who seemed to have no trouble at all keeping ahead of me.
The feeling of being able to glide atop buildings without an ounce of fear or hesitation is indescribable. But if I were to try and describe it, the only word I could think is… well, freedom. No restrictions… yes, that is how to describe it after all. Leaping across buildings at ones own digression is like being free of restrictions, because you forget everything as you go. The only thing to think about is ones next destination; and nothing else matters. But for a split second as the three of us ran, I couldn't help but wonder: If this was what it meant to be free, then what would I have to achieve in order to obtain the right feel like this constantly? Was it even possible to constantly feel like this? It must be, since it was my would-be-self… but if that was the case, then what was holding me back?
My thoughts were interrupted upon our arrival at the slushie shop. I landed atop the building without any problems as Kukai came and hovered to my side, dropping to the ground and glancing around for Utau and Tadase. Amu was the last to arrive, but only be a few minor seconds. She took a large jump onto the building, inelegantly loosing control of her roller blades upon landing. But she played it cool and regained her balance, pretending nothing had happened once she had done so by canceling out the blades.
"So, where are they?" I asked Kukai, who was scratching his head in thought.
"No clue. They were supposed to be right around here, but…" We all glanced around as he trailed off, and soon received an indication of our missing friend's whereabouts.
"Holy crown!" We immediately knew where they were, and leaped across the ally way behind the slushie shop, landing on the building behind it and gazing down the other side. There they were, Utau and Tadase, fighting off ten x-eggs… wait, ten? They said there were only five not too long ago!
I instantly noticed the fact that Utau was rather immobile as she stood behind Tadase, who was using his holy crown attack as a shield from the x-egg's blows. She crouched behind him, gripping her wrist and glancing around alertly. Unable to wait any longer, I jumped from the top of the structure and dove in front of Tadase. The metal claws on my right arm's potential was suddenly realized as I slashed at the two eggs in front of me, they swooped backward and squarely missed my assault. I leaped backward to Utau's side as Kukai and Amu took over, grabbing her wrist gently, but with authority and examining it.
"What happened? Are you alright?" I asked her, the words spilling out as quickly as possible due to the urgency of the situation.
"One of the eggs charged at me when I wasn't ready. I tried to catch it with my bare hands, but I think I might have sprained it in the process." She was right. It didn't seem broken or anything, so I let Tadase take over and protect her as I left to assist Kukai and Amu.
"Spiral heart special!" Amu tossed her pink cheerleading rod at a group of three of the eggs, it spun around and left a trail of dust as it did so, which seemed to trap the x-eggs. I then remembered that we were supposed to purify them, but realized I didn't quite know how to do that. Amu moved to the side as one of the free x-eggs charged toward her, she moved effortlessly to the side in a dodge, but in the process lost the three eggs she had trapped.
I looked over to Kukai, who was circling around a different group of about four eggs, but also couldn't quite get the chance to purify them because one other continuously attempted to attack him. Soon I realized that what we were doing at the moment was futile – we'd never be able to purify the eggs if we were working in perfect unison. Plus, there were just too many of them. I thought about simply destroying the eggs, but it wouldn't make sense to do that. If our goal was to purify them, then obviously destroying them was against the cause, and just wouldn't do.
"Yoru! How do we purify eggs?"
"I dunno de nya! I don't think I'm really built for purifying, I'm only good with nimbleness and combat!"
I scowled. "Then how am I supposed to help them…? If I even bother using my claw, then I might accidentally destroy it."
Yoru offered me no answer. Instead, I was greeted by a new voice.
"Simple, Ikuto-san. Use the gentler side of yourself."
I glanced around and to my confusion, could not see anyone speaking to me. I cocked my head to the side. "Yoru… was that you?"
"Nope, nyah." Our character transformation suddenly ended, and I found myself exposed in the center of the battlefield, violin in hand. I rushed off to the side next to Tadase, and discovered a light emanating from my book bag. I unsnapped its catch and suddenly, my remaining egg rose out of the bag, its features lighting up slightly. A chara with straight, neatly cut purple hair popped out, his red eyes holding what seemed to be a permanently bored expression. He was wearing a black butler's outfit for the most part, minus the rebel-like purple boots and scarf hanging from his neck.
"Let's make this quick," he began before I could ask any questions, "I am Orrick. I represent you wish to violin and be more gentlemanly. And… that's all we have time to speak of right now. Ikuto-san's heart, unlock!"
The humpty lock glowed for the second time that day in my palm, and in a short flash of light, my appearance had changed yet again. This time, I was in an outfit almost identical to Orrick's, with a black butler's outfit, a white shirt covered by a black long-sleeved vest, the back of the vest coming down passed my waist and ending in a tipped shape, with the same pair of purple boots and scarf. The difference was: 1, I now had my violin in hand, and two, I was wearing a top hat. Strange. I never thought I'd see the day I'd wear one of those.
Character Transformation: Melodious Butler!
"Alright my little novice, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" My arms rose involuntarily as I got into a playing position. "See, you're quite special, you don't purify things like most people do. All you have to do is use a little music…"
I glanced over to Amu and Kukai. From what it looked like, one of the eggs had hatched into x-characters, and they were having quite a bit of trouble fighting them off. So I did as Orrick said, and played. I played a song that I'd never heard before, and it wasn't just one of those impulse made-up pieces of music. It was something that had rhythm, familiarity, and perhaps history. The unnamed piece of music was soft like a lullaby, and as I played, the x-character suddenly went back into its egg, yawning. Very slowly, the x-eggs morphed back into their original pure white forms, and flew off in some random direction once the song had ended.
The character transformation ended, and Orrick bowed as Amu and Kukai approached, the two having ended their character transformation as well.
"Wow, Ikuto, I didn't know it was possible to purify things like that!" Kukai exclaimed as he came up, a look of wonder in his expression. I shrugged.
"He's right Ikuto, that was amazing!" Amu complimented. I just nodded, offering neither a thank you nor boast. I turned around and walked back to where Utau was, as she was my current first priority.
"Ikuto, it's honestly just a sprain." She complained when I examined her hand one more time – but you could never be too careful about these things. Besides, she was my twin sister. Did she really think I was going to let this go unchecked?
"Don't care. We're taking you to the doctor, by now less than tomorrow." She sighed and stood up, dusting herself off with her good hand.
"Whatever, back to the subject at hand. Ikuto, I didn't know it was possible to purify eggs like that."
"You've opened up a new door for us!" Tadase exclaimed as he came up behind me, "With that sort of power, we will certainly be able to contain all the recent x-egg sightings without Easter being as much of a burden."
"Is it really that big a deal?" I asked nonchalantly, thought I couldn't ignore the small surge of pride I felt. I was finally becoming something a bit more important in this world; I couldn't help but be a little happy.
"What I stupid question," Utau barked, "Of course it is! And what's more, Easter doesn't even know about you yet, so you could be like our secret weapon."
I scratched my chin, "Secret weapon, huh...?"
"You know what I found strange?" Kukai said, "The amount of x-eggs we just fought. There's never been that many x-eggs at the same time before…"
"You're right," Tadase agreed, "It is quite peculiar."
I sighed "Listen, that's a grand idea and all, but can we discuss this tomorrow at a guardians meeting or whatever? I'm tired."
No one seemed to disagree with my suggestion, and so we all began our walk home, together at first. Kukai, Tadase, and Utau led the way, with Amu trailing behind them. I took my time and found myself quite a few yards behind all four of them as I was lost in thought again, the days events had been something interesting. My two important characters had been hatched, and things were going smoothly. I couldn't help but wonder what lied ahead, it seemed as though my high school life would only be filled with purifying eggs and whatnot. While it sounded better than what I had been previously doing for the passed few years at school, purifying eggs might get boring after awhile. But I'd only have to endure it for two years, so it wasn't a big deal…
Then I noticed something. Where had my violin gone? I glanced around, and even checked my hands, but it had vanished.
"Did I leave it back there…?" I wondered out loud.
"If you're talking about the violin…" Orrick spoke up, "I have it."
I looked at him incredulously. "How could you possibly have it?"
He crossed his arms and spoke snootily, "Well. When we did a character transformation, I became one with your violin. It is now part of your character transformation and character change, so next time you wish to play, all you need to do is character change with me and you can play it any time you'd like."
"I like the sound of that," this was quite a useful feature indeed. I wouldn't have to sneak it into my house, and it would technically be with me at all times since Orrick would always be there. I really liked that idea. Perhaps things were finally starting to look up for me.
I soon came to notice Amu had slowed down quite a bit and was now walking beside me, staring at me from the side. What could she possibly want at a time like this?
"What is it now?" I asked in a somewhat impolite tone; I wasn't in the mood for another argument with her. I really was tired. But she ignored my tone when she replied.
"I noticed something today." She said, almost in a ghostlike manner.
"And that was?"
"Today, when you were leaping on the rooftops…" she looked at me, and I then saw the setting sun reflected in her golden eyes. I suddenly felt captivated – so much so that I barely caught the next thing she said. "You were smiling."
I blinked and replayed what she said in my head a few times.
"What are you talking about? Of all things to notice, you notice that?"
She frowned and began that blushing of hers, "Well, you almost never smile genuinely, so it was just something I noticed…"
I huffed, "How would you possibly know how often I smile?"
She crossed her arms and looked away, the mood suddenly shifting to our typical hostile atmosphere. "Well, every time I see you you've always got on such an expressionless face! And the only time you come close to smiling is when you do that disgusting smirk of yours!"
This, of all things, actually triggered that smirk of mine. "Oh, so are you saying you scrutinize me or something, Amu?"
Her cheeks went from pink to red at this comment, "N-n-n-no! I just noticed it, that's all!" I chuckled, but not only from her response. Somehow, I felt as though I'd had a similar conversation with her before. But I knew that was impossible.
"I don't see how you'd notice that unless you stared at me all day," I said teasingly, and it was working because she began to go berserk after that comment, stuttering and shouting random nonsense. I simply watched her as she spoke out of hot air, and when she was done, continued staring and remained quiet.
"What!?" She shouted at me, and smirked at her unflinchingly.
"You done yet? I'm growing tired of hearing your constant screeching. You sound like a howler monkey going through puberty, so I advise that you try being quiet for once."
Amu twitched and then glowered, "Y-y-you jerk!" She then began stomping ahead of me, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Okay. I'll admit it. Amu was cute. More than that, she was adorable. And the fact that she was so fun, so easy to tease made it all the more amusing to play with her. She was different, and I liked that.
I suddenly felt kind of bad about saying she sounded like a howler monkey, she really didn't sound bad, but she took everything personally so it was her own fault she was getting angry.
"You know Ikuto-san; it's partially thanks to that girl that I managed to hatch." Orrick said suddenly, floating up beside me. I'd completely forgotten about him and Yoru yet again, I still wasn't quite used to having them around. Glancing into my book bag, I noticed Yoru was sleeping soundly inside his egg; he must have been just as tired as I was.
"Oh really? And how might that be?"
"If she hadn't fixed your violin, you probably wouldn't have bothered to get another one. And then I'd have no reason to exist."
"Interesting," Was all I said as I rounded the corner of the block. I instantly noticed Kotone across the sidewalk, her nose in a book as she walked along the path. I hadn't seen her since she'd given me my violin a few days ago, so I decided to drop by and say hello before I continued my way home.
I crossed the street swiftly, just in time for when Kotone tripped and fell on the sidewalk after not paying attention to where she was going. Her book fell to the side, and I read the title as I approached. 'Quirks and Perks of the Music Industry.'
"Lucky for you I just happened to be walking by, neh?" I asked, holding out my hand for her. She smiled that consistently innocent smile of hers and accepted my hand, allowing me to pull her up. I picked up her book as she dusted herself off.
"Thank you," she said, before taking her book back. "So, how's life as a guardian?"
"Extremely interesting. I don't think I'll be bored for quite awhile."
She giggled. "Well, Ikuto, I'm in a hurry right now but I have something important to tell you…"
"Like?"
She remained silent for a moment, her emerald eyes casting off to the ground. But although they were facing such a direction, they looked as though they were seeing so much more than just the concrete.
"Mmm… never mind. I'll tell you later, it'll take awhile to explain anyway, and I'm in a hurry."
Weird. I thought. Kotone wasn't usually the one to drop a subject like that. Then again, this day couldn't get any more out there, so perhaps it was just meant to be. I didn't press for an answer, and waved her off as she continued down the sidewalk, her eyes once again focused on the pages her book. I then sped off in the direction my sister had gone, desperate to finally get home to rest for the remainder of the day.
Alex's notes: Well, this chapter came out very differently than I had originally planned. Oh well, what's done is done. Sorry if the ending seemed a little choppy, I was trying to hurry up and end it 'cause the chapter was so frikken long. Too long, honestly. 26 pages it too much. Seriously, I overdid it. Don't get spoiled! Not all the chapters will be this ridiculously long! xD guess that's something I'll have to work one. Slightly shorter chapters...
If you thought Amu acted strange in this chapter, hold that thought. :) That's all I'ma say. You'll all get your answers soon. And, bah! I can't seem to make Tadase important. He's not the most fun character of the cast to work with, so I tend to neglect him… hope you all don't mind.
Mmm. Two more weeks left of school. I have one four page history paper due next Tuesday, which will be easy to write, and finals next week. Don't expect the next chapter too soon.
An interesting fact: I had originally planned for Orrick to be the Chara of Death Rebel, but changed it too a butler at the last minute. It just didn't seem to fit what Ikuto's trying to be in this story. :P Orricks eyes are similar too Guu's from Hare+Guu, by the way. Their bigger though.
Next chapter: The only hints I'm giving is that three very interesting things will happen. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be so much more appealing, I promise!
So now, Review please!