Akirina: Yeah... I don't think this chapter was any good... But pls enjoy!

Chapter 6

"Hey, have you heard? There are a couple of transfer students transferring into Seiyo this term…"

"I heard that there are four of them transferring in!"

"I heard that one of them is Hinamori-senpai's little brother!"

"I wish they'd slow down the rumor mill." Amu sighed to Hikaru as she led him to the Royal Garden for refuge before the school started. She had managed to sneak in with him just before everyone arrived and had left her bag in her classroom before accompanying Hikaru to the staffroom.

"It can't be helped." Hikaru replied as he stared down at the bag in his hands. Hikaru was dressed in the normal school uniform but he had a white jacket draped over his shoulders despite the warm weather.

"Don't you feel hot in that, Hikaru?" Amu asked, studying her little brother.

Hikaru shook his head. "It's made of silk, so it doesn't feel hot."

"You're sure?" Amu asked in concern. "If you start to feel hot, you'd better take it off. I don't want you to get a heat stroke or anything of the sort."

Hikaru nodded as the siblings reached the staffroom. "Nikaidou-sensei?" Amu called as she poked her head into the room. One of the teachers raised his head and sighed upon seeing Amu. He got up and made his way to Amu.

Hikaru took note of the teacher's appearance. He had messy brown hair and brown eyes. A brunette. And he was apparently an acquaintance of Amu's, seeing how he had reacted to her presence.

"Hinamori-san, what did I tell you about—" Nikaidou started when Amu turned to Hikaru and smiled brightly, interrupting the teacher.

"Hikaru, this is Nikaidou. He's Yukari's boyfriend, so I know him very well. If you happen to get into any trouble, just call upon him." Amu told Hikaru quietly.

"Hey, I'm not some pet, you know. I'm a teacher. Teacher." Nikaidou emphasized.

"If you look out for Hikaru, I'll consider half of the debt paid." Amu bargained.

Nikaidou stopped and stared at Hikaru for a moment before he turned his stare to Amu. "Really?"

"No, I'm kidding with you. Of course I mean it!" Amu rolled her eyes. "Just look after him, alright? Don't let anyone hurt him."

"He must be very important to you, Amu." Nikaidou murmured quietly to her.

"Of course he is. But if the kids want him to 'prove' that he is my little brother, it'll be tough for him." Amu told him.

"I'll watch out for him." Nikaidou assured her. Amu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." She told him before turning to Hikaru. "Hikaru?"

"Thank you." The boy replied solemnly, turning his light blue eyes to Nikaidou.

Nikaidou nodded and Amu pulled Hikaru away. "Come on, Hikaru, I have to introduce you to the Guardians…"

AMUAMUAMUAMU

"Hey guys," Amu started when she entered the Royal Garden. Then she stopped. The Royal Garden was filled with people. Well, people that she recognized. As usual, there were the four other Guardians. Then, Rima and Kairi stood amidst them and Amu finally realized the situation. Rima was the same age as her and Kairi was the same age as Yaya, which made things difficult for everyone.

"Have you been introduced yet?" Amu asked, glancing briefly at the chaos that was the Shugo Charas and then back to the Guardians and Rima and Kairi.

"No. We were waiting for you, Amu-chi, since you know all of us." Yaya replied.

"Oh, I see." Amu replied before she started the introductions. "Well, the Guardians are basically a group of students who have Shugo Charas. They organize stuff for the school and they watch out for X-eggs. The King is Hotori Tadase and his Chara is the purple haired one called Kiseki. The Queen is Nadeshiko Fujisaki and her Chara is the one in a kimono called Temari. The Jack is Souma Kuukai and his Chara is the one that has green hair called Daichi. The Ace is Yaya Yuiki and her Chara is the one that looks like a baby called Pepe. Guys, this is Rima, my friend when I first started school and Kairi who was in my group at the orphanage. I helped him to find his sister. Kairi's Chara is the samurai one called Musashi and Rima's Chara is the one that looks like a clown called Kusu kusu."

"Nice to meet you." Tadase told the transfer students. "Um, I think the Headmaster told you about the new arrangements…?"

Rima and Kairi shook his head and Tadase sighed. "Honestly, that guy should be more responsible…"

Then he said, "Rima, you'll take Nadeshiko' position as Queen. Uhm… Nadeshiko… Well, she's going overseas, so the position will be free…"

"What?" Amu and Yaya stared at Nadeshiko. "Why are you going overseas?"

"I want to learn more about dancing." Nadeshiko replied honestly. "I'll miss everyone, but I'll be back."

"Then will your twin brother be joining us?" Amu asked, catching on quickly. Nadeshiko moved uneasily.

"Ah, he'll probably transfer over in a week or so." Nadeshiko answered as truthfully as she could.

"You'd better pray that he does, or I'll knock your head in." Amu threatened.

"Nadeshiko has a twin brother?" Yaya asked incredulously as Tadase and Kuukai looked at her with slight surprise. Well, she had mentioned that when she first met them…

"Yes. His name is Nagihiko and he is Rima's fiancé." Amu replied.

Everyone gasped, turning to Rima. Finally Yaya asked, "You're engaged?"

"Yes." Rima looked slightly annoyed. "I'm engaged to Fujisaki Nagihiko."

"What?" came the collative responses from their audience.

"At such a young age? But Rima-chan, are you sure?" Yaya asked.

"It's nothing much." Rima was getting annoyed. "There's no need to make a huge fuss over it. Tadase, continue."

"Um… yes. Well, Nagihiko will be taking over the Joker position after Kuukai leaves at the end of the year. And Kairi will be the Junior to the Joker position." Tadase finished.

"Did the Headmaster say anything about Hikaru?" Amu asked.

"Hikaru…? Oh, your little brother? Well, he did mention that Hikaru would be Apprentice to the King position." Tadase told her.

Everyone's attention turned to Hikaru, who shrank back, uncomfortable at the attention and he clung on to Amu's hand, one other hand fisted in her skirt. Amu smiled at them, "He's a little shy." She explained. Then the conversation headed to how they would settle the Guardian duties and it was decided that Kairi would do the planning for the Guardian's schedule.

"Amu will be doing Guardian duty the most." Kuukai told Kairi. "She is the only one who is able to Character Transform among us."

"Rima also knows how to Character Transform." Amu added unexpectedly. "And she is able to do it at will."

"Really? That's interesting." Kairi turned to Rima. "Will you mind showing us that later after school?"

Rima scowled at Amu and stuck her tongue out at the taller girl when she thought no one was looking was looking. Everyone had to stifle their chuckles.

HIKARUHIKARUHIKARUHIKARU

"Class, this is Hinamori Hikaru and he will be joining our class." Nikaidou introduced the new transfer student to the class. "Now, Hinamori-san, will you mind introducing yourself to the others?"

Hikaru looked at Nikaidou before he faced the class and said, "I was adopted by my sister just last week. I like to read and collect things."

"What did you use to collect?" Nikaidou asked curiously.

"Pretty stones." Hikaru replied. "But I had to leave them behind when I moved in with my sister. I don't know whether I should continue collecting them or if I should start a new collection of other things."

"Is that so? That's interesting." Nikaidou told him before turning back to the class. "Now, where will you seat…?"

Most of the students raised their hands eagerly and Nikaidou picked out a girl from the front of the class. "Ah, you can seat beside Rikka-chan." Nikaidou guided Hikaru to the grinning girl. "She will help you around the school and in class."

"Nice to meet you, Hikaru! I'm Rikka Hiiragi, but you may call me Rikka." Rikka told him cheerfully. " l hope I can get to know you better!"

"…Nice to meet you." Hikaru replied shyly as he took the place next to Rikka and focused his attention on the teacher.

AMUAMUAMUAMUAMU

"Amu-chi!" Yaya poked her head into the classroom as the bell rang, signaling the starting of break time. "We've a meeting…"

"What? Can't it wait until after break time?" Amu asked as she finished typing in her laptop. She was finishing a report to the Gozen and was starting on some statistics that she had to handle for Utau.

"Hoshina Utau's here!" Yaya squealed none-too-softly. "And we've found another Guardian Apprentice!"

"What? Utau's here?" Amu closed her laptop quickly, standing up immediately. "She didn't tell me she was coming!"

"Well…" Yaya dragged it out. "She said it was a surprise visit. She's thinking of transferring over here so that she can communicate with you more easily."

"She told you that?" Amu asked, slinging her laptop bag over her shoulder and heading towards Yaya. "I thought she was just joking."

"Yes, she thought you would say that too." Yaya bounced eagerly. "She's just so cool!"

"I'll bet." Amu murmured, having already expected the response of her classmate. "Come on, let's go down to the Royal Garden."

UTAUUTAUUTAUUTAU

Tsukiyomi Utau, also known as Hoshina Utau sat in the Royal Garden daintily sipping at some Earl Grey tea that had been prepared for her. She had dropped in to the Royal Garden to visit Hinamori Amu, her new manager after Yukari had decided to resign, and had decided to inform Amu of the decision she had made to join Seiyo Academy.

"Utau!"

Utau looked up, briefly distracted from her drink and watched as the pink-haired girl entered the room with a brunette following her.

"Amu," Utau greeted coolly as she stood up. "I need to talk to you alone."

Both girls froze in the doorway to the Royal Garden and Amu nodded slowly, murmuring something to the brunette before she gestured for Utau to follow her. They left the Royal Garden quickly, Utau remembering to bring the case that she had been told to bring and as soon as they were out of earshot, she started to talk.

"Amu, Gozen sent me on this mission."

Amu froze, turning to look at Utau. "It's decided?"

"Yes." Utau handed her the white bag she had been holding and Amu looked down at it before she returned her gaze to Utau.

"I hate this." She confessed, accepting the case from Utau, a bitter look in her eyes.

Utau kept silent, knowing what Amu was going through since she was experiencing the same thing. She had not wanted to join Easter, but when they threatened to kill her family, Utau had unwillingly pledged her services to Easter. She knew the power of Easter, seeing as her stepfather had been the previous Gozen (but had been killed by the current one) and knew that Easter had enough power to wipe her family out. Especially now that they had Ikuto.

"The first performance will be after school." Utau told her. "Gozen wants us to take the eggs and put an X on them. And since Seiyo Academy has a large number of students…"

"I understand." Amu sighed. "I'll meet you at the general office of the school. That's where they broadcast the music and such."

"Alright. I'll get someone to take me there later." Utau replied.

Utau watched as her friend walked away, vanishing into the school. She remembered the first time they'd met—when both of them were seven years old and they were in a park. Amu had been wandering around and had met her father, Tsukiyomi Aruto. Upon realizing that he could play the violin, Amu had pestered the older man into teaching her and he had given her lessons thrice a week.

Amu and Utau had met, a coincidence, as Aruto had bought his daughter to the park with him. He had then allowed the two girls to play together—which consisted more of bickering—and in the end, Amu had played the violin while Utau sang.

Utau never admitted this, but if she compared Amu and her brother, Ikuto, she would say that their violin skills were perfectly compatible to each other.

And after her father disappeared, she had never seen Amu. That was, until one year ago.

HIKARUHIKARUHIKARUHIKARU

Hikaru took a bite out of his sandwich that Rikka had given to him at lunch. Actually, she had given him two, seeing as he and Amu had forgotten about packing some food, but he had not been hungry. This sandwich was proving as a good snack—Hikaru felt knackered from all the studying. While they had the same curriculum in the orphanage, the syllabus at Seiyo Academy had covered more in depth.

"Hikaru! Let's go back together, ok?" Rikka pounced on him happily. Rikka had developed a rather affectionate way of talking to Hikaru—not that the boy minded, but it was rather odd having a girl treat him like that.

"Well, I need to wait for my sister…" Hikaru ventured softly.

Rikka blinked. "Oh! I'll wait with you then. Let's go find a seat!" She eagerly dragged Hikaru over to one of the benches at the school gate and seated them down before starting to talk to him about the homework their teachers had assigned them.

Hikaru could only wish that he could go home quickly. He was tired and he had a dreadful headache.

AMUAMUAMUAMUAMUAMU

"Are you prepared?" Amu asked the blonde, amethyst-eyed girl as she removed the white violin from her case. It was in perfect condition, but there was something in that violin that left much to be desired.

"Yes." Utau replied as she positioned the microphone slightly. "You can start any time you want."

Amu nodded and clicked on the broadcast button. She settled the bow over the strings and pulled gently. Utau joined in after the first cord, beginning the demonic melody that would draw out the Heart Eggs and place an X on them.

HIKARUHIKARUHIKARUHIKARU

"I wonder what's taking your sister so long…" Rikka murmured as she swung her legs impatiently. Sure, most of the students were staying back for clubs, societies and the likes. But surely Hinamori-san knew that Hikaru was waiting for her!

"There's probably some kind of Guardian matter…" Hikaru muttered to her as he read his textbook. "She'll take some time, at least. You could start doing your homework now, you know."

"Yes, but still!" Rikka whined, before she switched topic. "Anyway, speaking of Guardians, I'm to be a Guardian Apprentice to the Queen!" She bounced excitedly, no longer bored. "Have you heard who the new girl is? I heard she's called Mashiro Rima and she's in the same class as Hinamori-sempai!"

"Yeah, she's called Rima." Hikaru replied, not a bit fazed by the information.

Rikka gaped at him. "You've met her? Cool!"

"I'm a Guardian Apprentice too, in fact." Hikaru informed her.

"Really? To whom?"

"The King. I think he's called Tadase."

Rikka squealed excitedly. "This is really cool! Have you seen your Guardian Chara yet? Or has it been born yet?"

"No. But Amu told me that mine would be born some time soon." Hikaru admitted softly. She had told him when he had come to stay with her.

"Oh…" Rikka said. "Well, mine's already born. But it hasn't hatched yet…" Her face lapsed to one of wonder. "I hope it hatches soon! I can't wait to see what my Guardian Chara will be like!"

"Hm…" Hikaru hummed absentmindedly. "I wonder too…"

"What—" Rikka was cut off when a series of chords interrupted their conversation, signaling an announcement was about to be made. The music that came over the speakers situated all over the school distracted their thoughts and Hikaru was awed by the melody of the singing and the violin.

"Isn't that—" Rikka turned to say to Hikaru when something else distracted her thoughts. Her eyes latched onto something beyond Hikaru's shoulder and she gaped. Hikaru, turning at Rikka's words caught her shocked gaze and turned in the direction where she was staring in.

Black eggs rose above the treetops and children. They were marked with a white cross and all of them emanated a purple aura and chanted 'impossible'.

"What… What are they?" Rikka asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight.

"X-eggs." Hikaru answered, having seen them before at the orphanage.

"What?" Rikka's gaze swung to him for a moment before she went back to gazing at the nearest X-egg. "I think I can understand them. It's like I can hear their thoughts."

Hikaru blinked at her in surprise and was about to say something when a movement at the peripheral side of his vision caught his attention. The bright pink was certainly enough to attract his attention…

"HIKARU! WATCH OUT!" Amu yelled to her brother as she ran towards him, a whit violin in her hand and she pointed the bow in the direction of Rikka. Hikaru turned quickly and saw that an Egg had snuck up on them without their realizing it. He dove and pushed Rikka to the ground as the Egg unleashed a wave of dark energy at them. Luckily it missed.

Hikaru looked up, feeling frightened and Amu reached them, taking a protective stance in front of her brother. "Ran! Character Transform!"

AMUAMUAMUAMUAMU

After a huge cleansing of Eggs, Amu collapsed onto a bench, tired from the activity. She had managed to keep Hikaru and the girl safe, much to her relief.

The Guardians had arrived shortly after and they had managed to help Amu with the cleansing, even though they could not Character Transform just yet.

"Are you all right, Amu-chi?" Yaya asked in concern as the Guardians crowded around the tired girl. "You look very tired."

Amu nodded, still breathing heavily as she tried to reply. "That was a lot of Eggs." She panted, trying to regain her breath. "I think I'm going home early…"

"Go ahead." Tadase nodded, looking rather worried for her. "Get some rest. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

Amu nodded politely to him before she turned to Hikaru. "Hikaru, are you ready to go home?"

Hikaru nodded silently before he turned to the girl. "Onee-chan, this is Rikka Hiiragi. She's my friend."

"Oh, hello, Rikka." Amu greeted the young girl. "It's nice to meet you. You're the new Guardian Apprentice to the Queen, right? I heard you transferred in two months ago."

Rikka nodded, in awe of Amu. "Y-yes…"

"Well, I'll talk to you some other time, ok? I need to get home now…" Amu offered the younger student a tired smile and Rikka nodded enthusiastically.

"Come on, Hikaru. Let's go home." Amu stood up and went to collect her bag and the violin case before she left. Hikaru followed her, still puzzling over what had happened.

The violin had stopped when he saw the X-eggs, but the singing hadn't. Then Amu had ran out with a violin in her hands. Was she involved in this?

UTAUUTAUUTAUUTAUUTAUUTAU

"Gozen." Utau bowed respectfully to the hidden figure.

"Well? What did you find out?" the voice-altered figure demanded. Utau hid a wince at the news she was about to deliver.

"Hinamori Amu is a potential traitor. She helped the Guardians to cleanse the X-eggs." Utau reported coldly. "She saved a child from being struck by the dark energy."

"Is that so…" Gozen contemplated. "Very well. You're dismissed."

Utau removed herself from the room, all the while worrying for her friend. She had not wanted to participate in this plan that the Gozen had thought up to determine Amu's loyalty, but Ikuto's life was in jeopardy if she did not agree to it.

"I hope you'll be safe, Amu…" Utau uttered to herself. Maybe Yukari could help out.