Cuxie: I'm back once more! And I made you all brownies!
Ami: Really?
Cuxie: No, not really. But I am back!^-^
Ami: That's...nice.
Cuxie: =_= What's that supposed to mean?
Ami: W-What? I said that's nice!
Cuxie: NO! You said, 'that's...nice,' like it's not really nice!
Ami: I-I didn't mean anything by it-
Cuxie: Do you not want me here or something? Do you wanna write your own story?
Ami: No! I'm sorry! I wasn't-
Cuxie: It's too late! ...You've hurt my feelings. (TT^TT)
Ami: I-I'm sorry! Oh, man...
Cuxie: I'm just gonna forget about the chapter and go read a book...
Akio: (grabs Cuxie by the ear)
Cuxie: Owwie!
Akio: You were saying?
Cuxie: R-Rolling... ~_~
"Daisy, please slow down!" I raced down crowded streets, dodging people and trying to keep my chara in sight. She didn't appear to have heard me. "D-Daisy," I cried weakly. My head still hurt from the collision with that X-egg, and I was winded. We'd barely reached the bridge when I decided I couldn't go on any further. I slumped against the brick frame, gasping for breath.
"Ami-chan?" Daisy finally turned to me, flapping her arms around impatiently. "Hurry uuup! We have to catch it!"
"D-Daisy...I can't..." I sank to my knees, thankful no one was around to see me like this.
"But we're so close!"
Looking up, I could see the egg a short distance ahead, a black dot whirling around in the air. It was flying around like a loose cannon; bumping into trees and zigzagging all over the place. I got dizzy just looking at it.
"C'mon Ami-chan! Chara Change!"
"Wha?"
I felt a large bubble pop in my chest. Peering over the edge of the bridge, looking at my reflection in the water, I saw that two large daisies had replaced the ribbons in my hair. I suddenly felt very energetic.
"Here it comes, Ami-chan!" Daisy cried. The egg was whizzing towards me again, but this time I was ready. I ducked as it flew past me, then spun around and held my hand up.
"FREEZE!"
To my surprise, it actually did stop. It turned around, the white 'X' mark facing me, and started screeching in a whiny, high-pitched voice. I couldn't understand what it was saying, and I wasn't entirely sure how to catch it, so my plan was already falling short. When it saw that I wasn't attacking, it let a resonating scream.
I covered my ears, wincing as the vibrations hit. "What now, Daisy?" I had to yell to be heard over the sound. Daisy clung tightly to my arm.
"Fight back, Ami-chan!"
"With what?" But even as I said the words, felt my weapons materialize in my hands. In each palm I was holding sharp-edged, flower-shaped disk. "What are these?"
"Throw them!"
I did as she said, tossing both disk towards the egg. My aim was way off and I didn't come anywhere close to hitting it, but the action seemed to startled it. It went into a frenzy, shaking and whirling around in a directionless manner. I threw more disk, but none of them hit. It was moving too fast and erratically for me to get a good aim. And it didn't seem to be doing it on purpose. It was almost like...it was confused or something.
"Ami-chan!"
"Eh?" It came at me, tumbling and spinning, and I ducked. I tried my disks one more time. This one hit, sending the egg reeling to the side. It spun frantically, then slowed down until finally...
It dropped into the river.
"WAH!" Daisy and I flung ourselves at the bridge edge, looking on as the little egg bobbed up and down on the water as it was carried away by the current. "Wha...What do we do now?" My chara asked helplessly. I didn't have an answer. I stared at the water until I couldn't see the X-egg anymore. All I knew at that point was that I wasn't very good at this Guardian thing.
The rest of my weekend was a nightmare. Between worrying about what would happen to the X-egg and how I was going to tell Seo-san (if I was going to tell Seo-san), I was a mess of nerves.
Daisy got over it pretty quickly. "Yay! I get to see Tomo today!" I watched her water the Fushigi Hana. The little pink polka-dotted flower pot sat on my window seal. So far, there wasn't a single shoot of green, but I watered it just as the instructions directed. I hoped it would grow soon.
Returning my attention to getting ready, I fastened my cape around my shoulders. I couldn't help but feel giddy and nervous. People still stopped and stared at me in the hallways, and my sister's name came up everywhere I went. But no one hassled me much either. My new-found Guardian status made people keep their distance.
When I got to school I resolved to avoid Seo-san for as long as possible. I didn't think I could look him in the face without blurting out what happened. But I didn't want him to be disappointed in me. Especially after all the trouble he went through to convince Yamabuki-san and Inokuma-senpai that I was cut out for the job.
On my way to class, I tried not to collapse under the weight of all the stares. I passed a group of girls who immdiately quieted down in a way that made me sure they'd been talking about me. I practiced tuning people out, instead focusing on inanimate objects rather than faces. I was nearly to class when the blue-haired boy from the first day sidled up to me. "So you're a Guardian now, huh?"
"Uh, yes?" It sounded questionable even to me.
"Did your sister pull some strings or somethin'?" He asked unabashedly. "I heard she had some special position when she went here. Jokster or somethin'. Why didn't she get you that job?"
I averted my eyes. "M-My sister didn't have anything to do with it."
"Uh-huh," he said, like he didn't believe me. "So why'd they choose you? Do you know any Guardian secrets or something? I bet you're sister told you everythin' that goes on in the Royal Garden, so they had to make you a member so you'd keep all their secrets." He grinned like he'd just solved some big mystery. "Am I right? Do you have any dirt on them?"
"Nmm..." My face burned shamefully. Was that the latest rumor going around? That I'd practically blackmailed the Guardians into making me a member. "...I-I-"
"Hinamori-san!"
Seo-san was waving at me from down the hall. He seemed oblivious to the fact that this caused everyone between us to fall silent and stare. I froze, shell-shocked. Beside me, my classmate looked on with obvious interest. "Is he your boyfriend now?"
My face flamed violently. My instincts were screaming flight; I took off running in the other direction. From inside my bag, I heard Daisy's muffled cries as her egg was jostled around, wondering at my sudden change in pace. I kept running, heading to the pagoda in the garden. Common sense said I would be late for class and might face detention. But my mortification outruled all else. I couldn't help but wonder what the story would be tomorrow. Probably something like: New Guardian Embarrasses Herself and Everyone Around Her.
As soon as I reached the garden I wanted to turn back. Sensei would be mad if I was late, and Seo-san probably thinks I'm a weirdo now...
"Bwah!" Daisy exploded out of the front pocket of my bag, heaving. "Wah~what's going on?"
"I messed up again," I mumbled sullenly.
She regarded me for a moment, he large pink eyes unblinking. Then she said, "Well, lets go fix it."
"...W-What?"
"Let's go fix it! We'll make it better, whatever it is."
"D-Daisy..."
"Gombare, Ami-chan! DASH!"
"Dash!" I shouted along with her. I was getting so used to the feeling of Chara Changing that this one barely even registered with me. I hurried back to class.
By the time lunch rolled around, I'd nearly forgotten about this morning's indiscretion. It had been too late to find Seo-san before first period. But I did manage to avoid running off again when I saw the blue-haired boy again, thanks to Daisy. I kept to myself, as always, while I ate. Instead of eating in the classroom like most of my classmates, I went to the cafeteria even though I had my own bento and didn't need to buy anything. Students usually only passed through to grab something quickly. Most of the small round tables, like the one I was sitting at, went unused. I liked it because it was quiet and secluded and no one ever bothered me there.
Or no one used to, anyway.
A few bites into my bento, I saw several girls enter the cafeteria. Instinctively, I ducked my head, hoping I wouldn't be noticed. But one of them pointed in my direction and they all came rushing over. "AMI-CHAN!" I winced.
"Ami-chan! Ami-chan!"
"Hi, Ami-chan," one girl said at a much lower decibal. "We've been looking all over for you." She smiled widely at me. She was tall with big brown eyes. She had long hair pulled back into two braids, and shiny silver clips held her bangs away from her face. I knew I'd seen her in the halls before, but I couldn't remember sharing any classes with her.
"H-Hi, um..."
"You can call me Sanada," she said sweetly.
"Okay...Sanada-san. Uh, why were you looking for me?"
She laughed like I'd said something funny. "To talk, silly! And to congratulate you on getting the Ace Chair." The three girls behind her nodded adamantly. They all looked relatively similar, with short hair and colorful hair clips.
I fidgeted in my seat. "Um...thank you?"
"Of course! Do you like the position? The cape looks really good on you."
Before I could respond, another girl chimed in. "We saw Seo-sama wave at you today. Are you guys good friends now?"
"What's Inokuma-sama like in person? I bet he's nice."
"Do you guys hang out together a lot?"
Their closeness had me feeling claustrophobic. They were all firing off questions faster than I could answer them. Sanada-san sat down at my table and the rest of the girls followed suit, squeezing themselves around the small table. I cringed away from all the voices. From my shirt pocket, Daisy examined them all with subtle curiousity. I didn't know who to look at, so I stared down at my now-cold rice. "Nagai-san," a new, quieter voice spoke up. Her full name must be Sanada Nagai
"What?" Sanada-san answered impatiently. "Can't you see I'm talking to Ami-chan?"
The girl cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's a boy from one of the Moon class looking for you."
Sanada-san perked up. "Moon class?"
"That's Seo-sama's class," one of the girls squealed.
"Let's go!" The girls practically stampeded out of the cafeteria, Sanada-san in the lead. "See you later, Ami-chan!' she called quickly over her shoulder. I tried to mask my relief. Especially since the girl who relayed the message was still standing next to me. Her head was bowed a little, light blue bangs covering her eyes. She looked up and gave me a shy smile. "You looked like you needed rescuing."
I'm sure my face flushed a bit. "Uh, yeah. T-Thanks. I was just a little...surprised. They've never talked to me before."
"It's because they think you'll get them closer to the Guardian boys." I must've looked puzzled. "Nagai-san's nice enough, but she's a little, um, boy-crazy. I'm sure she thinks if she gets closer to you, and you know Inokuma-san and Seo-san, well..."
"Oh." For some reason I was disappointed. Not that I had believed Sanada-san suddenly wanting to be friends didn't have anything to do with my new Guardianship. But I suddenly felt a little bit like a pawn in a chest game; easily used and disposed of. I briefly wondered if I Sanada-san really did plan on seeing me later. I noticed the girl was still standing near me, shuffling her feet. "Oh! Do you want to sit down Kasumi-san?"
She blinked. "You know my name?"
I nodded. "We've been in the same class two years now, right?" It'd taken me only a second to place a name, but I'd recognized the short sky-blue hair immediately. Aoi Kasumi is one of the quieter students, plus she's the only girl in the class who's shorter than me (only by about an inch).
Kasumi-san blushed a little. "Y-Yes. I know."
Daisy giggled, though she had retreated back into my jacket pocket, I'm sure she heard everything just fine. "She's shy. Just like Ami-chan." I placed a hand over my pocket as casually as possible. It still weirds me out that I can see and hear her, but most people can't.
Kasumi-san cleared her throat. "You know, Seo-san wasn't looking for Nagai-san. He was looking for you."
"Eh?"
"At least, I think so. He came by the classroom right after lunch started." She shrugged, lowering her eyes. "It's none of my business but I thought you should know."
"Thanks," I said, without much enthusiasm. Daisy prodded me from inside my pocket. Right. I've still gotta tell him... I stood up slowly. "I guess I'd better find him before lunch is over." That probably only gave me a few minutes.
"Oh, okay. I'll see you in class then," Kasumi-san said.
"Okay." I wrapped up my half-eaten bento and left, trying to think of where Seo-san would most likely be during lunch. I was too embarrassed to visit his classroom or ask any of the other track team members, so I settled on the next most-likely place: The Royal Garden.
Cuxie: Somehow this got really long and off the intended track...
Ami: What was the intended track?
Cuxie: If I remembered it'd probably be there. But who cares! It's the best I can do at the moment.
Ami: I'm meeting a lot of new people lately.
Cuxie: You're horizons are expanding.^_^ Now if only we could speed up the romance...
Ami: EH?
Cuxie: Joking!(sorta) R&R!
