Hey guys, once again THANKYOU SO SO MUCH FOR REVIEWS! I cannot say it enough, everyone's reviews inspire me, so thanks! Another chapter, wouldn't call it a filler, but...Yeah, I think I'm losing my touch right now (did I ever have a touch?) but hopefully I can get more into the story again in the next few chapters. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Shugo Chara, nor any characters and DEFINATLY not any scripted lines used within the show, not even the storyline itself. I do own Kana, Ume and Jiyuu though because I made them up. ; )
"You know, Ikuto actually came home last night" Ume muttered to me as we walked to the royal garden. My arms filled with snacks and treats from our shopping trip the afternoon before.
"Shock horror Ume. Why do I care?" I had fallen asleep on my desk doing homework- it was uncomfortable and now I was in a bad mood, shoot me.
"I dunno, you were asking about him. Plus he seemed kinda down, and he was clutching that stupid violin of his like there was nothing else"
"When isn't he?" Jiyuu sighed in response.
"Okay I have a preposition for you two." I stopped just as the giant dome came into sight. "Let's not talk about Ikuto, Utau, Easter or any of that shit for the whole night."
"And what do we get out of it" Jiyuu rubbed her chin in interest.
"The thrill of feeling as though we all actually lead, normal, happy lives for the remainder of the party" I continued to walk again, almost losing my balance, the bags and boxes I held wobbled because of my clumsiness, and due to my power of bad luck, everything decided to stay in my arms aside from the top box of chocolate. I closed my eyes as the pink and red package fell towards the ground, but nearly five seconds later and there was no sound of it hitting the floor.
"Goodness thank-you!" I heard Ume cry, there was a chuckle and I opened my eyes to see a hand (the person's body was covered by my armfuls of food) just holding the box off the ground, whoever it was had caught it just in time, I sighed in relief.
The box-catching-person stood up straighter, and if I craned my neck high enough, I was able to see their face above my food pile. My relieved smile disappeared
"Thanks, Yuu" I mumbled watching as he placed the box back on top of the pile.
"No problem- it's pretty obvious that there's going to be a hassle whenever the guardians throw their annual Christmas party." He glanced over to the royal garden, where inside brightly decorated trees and hung streamers could clearly be seen.
"Yeah, it's pretty impressive" I gaped, amazed that they were able to put up so much in so little time, "hey why are you following me anyway! I told you to stay away from my private life." Yelling at him made me lose my balance again, this time, nothing fell off.
"You also said you only expect news from Easter to come through me to you. So here" he held out a small white envelope, the Easter logo was clearly stamped in the corner, I narrowed my gaze- was it that hard to see I couldn't actually carry anything?
"Thank-you Nikaidou Sensei" Ume gushed, taking the note and using all her strength to keep it from falling. Jiyuu quickly flew over to her aid, and they both disappeared into my bag to stash it away.
"I have some work for you, that note should verify acceptance from you via the director."
"Fine" I breathed, starting to walk away, "as much as I'd love to help right now, I have a meeting to attend" as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I heard a party-popper crack, and loud cheering. My cheeks went red,
"Of course Kana, I would hate to keep you from you... important duties" he laughed to himself as I quickly made my way into the garden, passing well decorated trees, and brightly coloured lights on my way to the tiny undercover patio which lay in the middle.
"Kana!" as soon as the patio came into view, it was pretty hard for me not to be noticed, I mean, I looked like about five layers of food with legs. But Kukai was the only one of the five who actually rushed over to take half my load away.
The food he took cleared my view; I was able to see straight at him. Kukai's smile was wider than usual, and the Christmas lights made his eyes sparkle immensely, "Good to see you came!" He smiled, guiding me over to a small table partly stacked with food already,
"Defiantly, wouldn't miss it!" I smiled, dumping the food with the rest,
"Really? You just seemed a little hesitant this morning when we talked."
"Oh, really?" I though back to when I had literally run into him (again!) this morning before class. Kukai and I had talked for ages; mainly about sports... the boy really liked sports. He even told me Daichi, his chara, had hatched while he was trying to decide which sport to play for school, "Well I'm here now." I looked around the table to Amu, she smiled widely at me.
"This is quite a feast- considering everyone simply brought a thing or two from home" Nadeshiko smiled, as everyone gathered around the table. I felt something jiggle in my bag, and I opened the clasp just in time for my two chara's to push themselves out.
"Sorry we're late!" Jiyuu called, dragging herself and Ume over to where the other chara's sat. They seemed to have bonded with everyone pretty fast- I was glad they were finally hanging around with others that weren't like Yoru or Iru... even Eru- she could get pedantic at times.
While the others turned back to talking, I stole a moment to look in my bag- Ume and Jiyuu had rested the note on top of basically everything else, and made it pretty obvious that they had already ripped the envelope and read whatever was inside. God.
Ignore it Kana, this afternoon Easter does not exist- I hummed in my head, not wanting to make a scene at my chara's.
"Ta-da!" I quickly snapped my bag shut and looked over to where Suu, Miki and Ran all hovered over a magnificently decorated cake.
"I made the cake!" Suu blushed, as nearly everyone in the room sat with their mouths open. She was one talented guardian character.
"That's our Suu!" Ran cheered, tiny pink pompoms suddenly appearing on her arms.
"And I designed it!" Miki, the tiny blue chara bowed modestly.
"That's our Miki!" Ran cheered again. I giggled and came back to where the guardians were now having their own conversation.
"Okay, that takes care of preparations" Tadase, blonde hair, pink eyes (ha!), said with hands on his hips.
"It looks amazing" I blurted, gazing in awe of all the food brought in.
"Indeed! Shall we begin?" Nadeshiko offered. Her attitude made it seem almost as though she were the parent of the group, the most mature.
You know when everything happens so fast, you don't really even know what's happening? That's what the party was, a blur of singing, dancing and talking, somehow I even ended up in a red and green elf costume (which was a step up from Kukai who was a reindeer or even Yaya who had found a way to wear a bunny costume for Christmas). I had never been so comfortable around people like this before, in such as short time as well. Nadeshiko was so kind, it was almost unhuman at times, Yaya was... well, Yaya, she was chirpy and fun a bit of a baby you'd say. Tadase was very welcoming- always listening to what others said, very sheepish for a guy with a chara like Kiseki. Amu was everything I knew her to be, kind and fun, but very stubborn... a bit of a 'try to be cool' girl. And Kukai was...perfect...
"Kana?" Ume tugged on my shirt when I finally broke away from the fun to grab a drink.
"I don't like that tone Ume" I pouted, taking a sip of water
"Kana I really think you should read the note Yuu gave you"
"I thought our agreement was- no Easter for the rest of the afternoon" ignoring my own words, I reached into my bag, taking the note which had already been ripped open.
"Yeah, raincheck on that" Jiyuu snickered, coming in with frosting around her mouth. I couldn't count how many chara sized slices of the cake she'd eaten. "Yuu wants you to do some dirty work... Like now."
I read the note, too distracted to actually take in the information- but I knew what it said. I had clean-up duty. Shit
"Omigod, he couldn't have given me this like, yesterday!" I yelled, suddenly realising that I was meant to meet him in the central park over half an hour ago.
"Given what?" I yelped, suddenly realising Kukai was trying to read the paper from behind my shoulder. I closed it before he hopefully took any words in,
"My Uncle!" I quickly blurted in defence. "He wants me to check on his... his... Dog!" oh real smooth Kana. Jiyuu and Ume muttered to each other before giggling, "And I have to be at his place... now!" Well it was 1/3 true; I did have to be somewhere right that second.
Kukai opened his mouth to make a point, but I held my hands up and dashed for the door. "Kana!" He called after me, but I just waved him away.
"Thanks-for-the-party-it-was-so-much-fun-I'll-see-you-tomorrow!" I called in one exaggerated breath as I ran for the door, not bothering to say goodbye to everyone properly, not bothering to remove the elf costume...
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It was cold, the sun was setting, I was tired.
"I can't- I can't do it!" I gasped, falling to the ground with a thud. I was out of breath, out of energy, and the park was just over a mile away. I knew I shouldn't have eaten all those chocolates!
"Com'on Kana, just another mile or so!" Jiyuu said modestly, grabbing my shoulder and making a bad attempt to pull me up.
"Kana please, Yuu is going to be so mad if you don't get there soon!" Ume flustered, gliding over to help Jiyuu- it still did nothing. I took another deep breath in,
"Well you should have told me what time to be there!" I yelled at her, Ume pouted, "You're supposed to be the organised one!"
"Kana, if it makes it easier, you can character change with me?" Jiyuu offered, glowing lightly- as she did when she was about to perform a change with me. I shook my head,
"Thanks Jiyuu- but no offense, if I changed with you, I'd probably end up running to Europe." It was true; Jiyuu's change gave me immense strength and speed. But the catch was- Jiyuu reflected all my free-will, and when I changed with her, I usually ended up running away from my problems, my worries, and from things I didn't want to do. This was one of those things.
"Then do a charanari with me" Ume offered, taking a step in front of Jiyuu. I pondered for a moment- Ume's personality was much more obedient than Jiyuu's, and with Ume I basically had no free will- I wouldn't end up running anywhere. Only thing was, the speed and strength I gained with her was nothing compared to what I did with Jiyuu.
I didn't really have time to accept or reject the offer, as Ume suddenly disappeared into her egg- and I was surrounded by a large, blinding light. Basically losing touch with everything around me, until seconds later, I finally felt my feet touch the cold pavement below, and felt energy that suddenly ran through my veins again.
"Charanairi Faithful Radiance" As I landed in a crouch on the ground, the words were whispered in my head, yet somehow they found a way out and echoed to the world around me. I finally stood, with enough energy to do so easily now- and was cautiously aware of the scythe which I held in my left hand, you know the thing the grim reaper has? Yeah. No I idea how I ever got that, but I couldn't argue with what Ume gave me; even if it did also involve my suddenly shoulder length, cropped hair. I looked so different in this transformation, I guess it was handy though- I became an entirely different person, both physically and emotionally, Ume's transformation gave me her more obedient nature- causing me to do basically any task I was asked of. It was useful when I had trouble following what the director wanted.
"Kana, are you okay?" Ume whispered, after we had been standing for a couple of seconds. I nodded, leaning far back on my heels- ready to pounce, literally. "Be careful Kana, if you wear yourself out with me, terrible things may happen when you change back." I nodded again, and Jiyuu quickly came over to grab my black-clothed shoulder.
"Go Kana!" she cheered, as I collected all my energy and sank further to the ground. It was basically dark now, I was really late- the party would even be over, and I was in trouble enough as it was. I twirled the scythe in my hand; gather my energy up enough until my legs ached. Pushing my legs forward in a flash, all the energy I had was released, and I was flung into the air, my skirt and hair blowing in the wind as I soared further and faster into the sky, with Jiyuu still clutching onto me.
It wasn't until I was so high up and I could see the entire city that I began to lose speed, and for a few seconds I was suspended in mid-air, giving me enough time to search for the park. It wasn't hard though, to spin around a few times and find a dark green patch covered with tiny black dots, X-eggs. As soon as I saw the park, my hands instinctively cut through the air, pushing me down towards the green. I even fell so fast the wind whipping at my face made my eyes water, so I closed them, hoping for a perfect landing.
"You're late Hoshina Kana" Ikuto grumbled in a monotone, as my feet gently touched the ground with exactly the grace and style I had wanted. I knew he only used my true and full name to piss me off when he knew it would work best.
"I'm in charanari Ikuto. It you want to keep your head where it is, I suggest you don't push me" I snapped back, for only a moment resisting the peaceful nature Ume granted me in our transformation.
Ikuto chuckled loudly, "As if you could take me." I watched as he grabbed for one of the many still, peaceful floating X-eggs. The area of the park we stood in was scattered with them, the silent, calm floating X-eggs- I had never seen them like this before, where did they come from, what had happened?
"We have work to do. Just tell me what Yuu wants" I growled back, totally ignoring his comment. The tone was mine, but the words were Ume's, she had the control over me.
"Don't hurt yourself" he muttered, squeezing the egg so tightly I thought it would burst, but it didn't, "Just help me gather them up, okay?"
"Okay" I whispered, why? Why don't we just get rid of them as usual? What's going on? My mind began to ramble, but Ume's extreme amount of obedience and control over me restricted my words, and I couldn't ask. Instead, I pushed my scythe forward, preparing myself for the attack I knew would do just the job, when Ikuto suddenly dropped the egg and picked up his tiny, blue cat ears which came with his chara change. "What?" I asked, dropping my scythe back down, my heart beat faster as he quickly turned to face a noise I obviously couldn't hear- on my right I watched as Jiyuu glided forward in curiosity, her hearing exceeding to power of mine or Ume's. "Ikuto, Jiyuu?" I panted, worried when they didn't reply.
"Kana get back" Ikuto suddenly gasped, turning back to face me- his expression unreadable.
"What's going on?" I spoke Ume's frightened words,
"Just get back, turn away" he told me again. Something inside me tugged and I couldn't object when Ume allowed me to do as I was told and turn away, far off footsteps suddenly coming into my hearing range. I brushed my short black hair behind my ear, is it a threat? Is someone coming for us? My mind continued, as I was able to see Ikuto just through the very corner of my eye. I tried to spin my body around, to see what was happening, why he was so serious, but Ume was too powerful, and I stayed facing away. Until, after what seemed like forever, the footsteps picked up and closed in on us, closer and closer, my heart sped up, was this what Ikuto wanted me away from? Was this person a threat? I tried to move again, but still no luck.
"Kana?" Jiyuu flew down in front of my face, obviously as worried as I was,
"What's going on?" I whispered, listening as the footsteps came so close. They stopped. And there was a loud gasp.
"A wanderer" Jiyuu replied. She called anyone who interfered with our jobs wanderers. I don't know why. "I can't see what they look like though, Ikuto's in the way." I nodded, not bothering to even try and see the wanderer, Ikuto would take care of them anyway, and I was slightly ashamed to be seen surrounded by so many X-eggs.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw Ikuto turn his head, only slightly, in the wanderer's direction. Still expressionless- why was he so cautious with this person? He acted like it was someone he knew, not diving for them first up, as he usually would.
"Ikuto..." I heard the wanderer speak quietly; it was most obviously a girl. The voice, almost familiar. Did she know him? Could she see the eggs?
There was a long winded pause as Ikuto, the wanderer and I all stood in absolute silence. Even Jiyuu was too afraid to move over just to see who the girl was, and Ume still had me immobilized anyway. Suddenly I heard the wanderer take a step forward and I held my breath
"Get back!" He turned around, disappearing from what little view I had. I had never heard Ikuto like that, so strong, fearful, angry. It scared me, I turned away further,
The wanderer gasped again, but this was different; it was the sort of gasp anyone would make when they were told to stay away.
"Stay away from me!" Ikuto yelled again. This time, I gasped but he didn't flinch, it was as though he were trying to protect the wanderer, he made it sound as though he were trying to make her back away from a monster. But considering what we were doing... what we were about to do- I couldn't disagree
"Ikuto" was all I heard the girl mutter. I ducked my head further, ashamed to be seen, I was pathetic. Ikuto growled, before taking a step back,
"Who is that, behind him?" I heard another voice ask, this one sounded as painfully familiar as the girl's voice. But I just couldn't pick out whom. Were there two of them? But I was still too afraid (and unable) to raise my head
I could see only enough that Ikuto suddenly slashed his hand forward through the air. Not sure what he was doing, I watched, as one of the many X eggs created lurched forward, right in front of my face, and shattered itself, into a thousand tiny pieces. This, somehow, created a vicious wind, which whipped forward from my face and into the direction of the wanderer and her friend. I decided the dark which radiated from it would be enough to cover me, so, with every ounce of self control I had, I lifted my head, curious to see who was interfering with our task.
Before I could register any of the world surrounding me, Ikuto grabbed my hand, tightly, and Yoru pounced on Jiyuu pushing her forward while Ikuto dragged me. He ran faster, even with me on tail, and disappeared into the bushes, along with the following X eggs, finally releasing my crushed hand and making it obvious for me to follow him.
Curious, I stole my last chance to glance behind my shoulder to witness the wanderer.
The wanderer, wherever she was standing, was hidden behind a row of trees we had used to run behind. I tried desperately to peek around without being noticed, but all I caught sight of was something small, and light, it was too tiny for me to see small details from my distance. It was floating in midair, and I gulped, wondering how many people in the city had light-blue coloured chara's, before Ume finally found some control over me, and pulled my body into the bushes.
End chapter- So, not much really happened, but what do you think? Seriously, review and tell me ;D Also, just beware I'm skipping for quite a few eps in the next chapter, so...Yes. Thanks again!
