[A/n]: Thanks to Red Distress, waterflygirl, and Ikuto878 for F/F!
Ikuto878: Aw, thanks :) You made my day! Make sure to tell me when I make any mistakes or if something seems weird! Thanks so much for the review and the F/F!
Chapter Nine,
Welcome to Seiyo Elementary!
XXX
"Hey, hey, did you know? About that shakedown incident?"
"Yeah, I heard, I heard! She saved some kid in our school from some mean high school kids!"
"Hinamori-san is definitely the best!"
"Her hair colour is so cool, I bet she had it specially done by a professional,"
"There's a totally relaxed feeling around her, it's like she already knows everything!"
"The way she wears her uniform is cool too!" Aki sat at her desk, eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Her mother is a famous fashion magazine writer and her father is an ace photographer!"
"Everything about her is just so cool!" They squealed in admiration for the girl, breaking out of their whispers.
"I bet her boyfriend is much older, and a celebrity!"
"Like an idol?" One asked.
"Maybe he's even French!" Aki sighed and stared out the window, looking up at the October sky. Morons.
Her eyes flickered down her uniform, trying to see what was so cool about it. It was just loosely tied and her cuffs were folded. She had her jacket open and shorts under her skirt too, if that made any difference. I'm not relaxed at all, I'm just bored out of my mind from being forced to sit here all day and relearn everything I already know. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day. I want to see Ali… I wish we could've gone to the same school.
It was week two of going back to school and Aki couldn't have disliked it more. She was away from her family and in a different class than Shiori. She also had a strange nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was missing something every time she was in the school.
It was driving her insane.
The only thing that amused her in this school was watching the rumours grow and hear crazy speculations on how she messed up her leg. It had healed quickly thanks to her health bar but she still had to use a crutch and wasn't allowed to do any running on that leg for another month. Whoop-di-do.
XXX
"How was school today, Kiki?" Shisui tapped away on his computer in the nurse's office, doing some left-over paperwork about some kid with an epi-pen. "You have fun?"
"Oh yeah," I said in a monotone, swivelling around in his chair in a few circles. "So much fun. I felt like I was going to explode from joy." He rolled his amber eyes and tapped a few more things onto the computer, used to my dramatics.
"I can tell. Promise me you won't use any smoke bombs on the teacher, okay?" He paused. "None on Hana-san either, she'd kick your butt." Because of the expulsion, I also had to do some community service so I helped out at Hana-san's cafe/bakery thing. I always assumed they had stolen the money they used but apparently her cafe was well known enough that they didn't have to do that.
"No smoke bombs," I repeated. "Got it."
"Or any type of bombs."
"On the teacher, right?"
"On anyone in the school," He corrected himself, giving me a pointed look.
"So, if some weird person comes and attacks me on school campus, I beat the crap out of them instead of using a smoke bomb to get away. Gotcha."
"Stop twisting my words!"
XXX
"Behind your back is a spirit!" A woman on the T.V shouted, pointing directly at me. I ignored it and continued eating, unlike my sister. Ami, my little sister of three years old, made a scared noise, and dropped her fork. "That's right, no matter who you are, guardian angels are protecting you!" She declared. I snorted.
"This is stupid," My mother looked at me, amused. "I've never once had an accurate fortune told by someone on the TV." Midori pulled out a magazine with the person on the TV in it, a large woman with short black hair and thick red lips. My other sister, Ali, nodded.
"Famous people are always full of crap." She said wisely, making a face on her plate with her spaghetti and meatballs. I sent her a look, and she stuck out her tongue at me.
"Charming." I said sarcastically.
"Anytime."
"Oh, but, 'The Never Betraying Physic", Nobuko-san is for real!" My mother chirped, the rest of my siblings sending her skeptical looks. Shisui and Shouta wisely stayed out of it. "Mama's magazine even did a cover of her awhile back!"
"Never mind that!" Papa lifted a picture of Ami and showcased it. "Look, look! Papa's latest masterpiece!" Mama slammed her hands on the table, narrowly missing the dinner plate. I snapped my hand across the table to stabilize it and she never noticed.
"That's amazing, Papa!" She squealed, Shisui joining in with her, cooing over Ami. I groaned in annoyance, rolling my eyes. Ami grabbed my arm, crying.
"I'm scared, Onee-chan! A monster!" I picked her up and placed her, fluffy pink dress and all, on my lap.
"That's a person, Ami." I scolded lightly. "She's just like you and I."
"NoooOooooO!" Ami wailed, clinging to my shirt.
"I dunno. She looks pretty weird to me."
"Alllliiiii," She shrugged, fixing her hair into a braid. Shouta, always the peacekeeper tried to calm us down but failed miserably. Poor kid, he was born into a family of weirdos.
"She looks kind of like Aunt Nadeshiko," He tried to give a reasonable response but Ali and I gave him a weird glance.
"In what way does she look like Nadeshiko-nee?" I muttered, rubbing Ami's back comfortingly.
"Monster!" Ami wailed, hiding her face into my sweater. I smiled softly down at her.
"No, it isn't a monster, a guardian angel is your companion." Nobuko continued, staring straight at the camera. "Always behind you, watching over you and protecting your true self." True self…? I felt an ache in the back of my mind again. It was becoming more and more frequent lately, which was concerning. I hoped I wasn't sick or anything. "People who ridicule them will die." Wow, that went from 0-100 fast. I thought amusedly, staring back at the TV. Kinda creepy.
"I am not creepy!" I felt shock course through my veins. What? "How dare you call me creepy! I'm a sweet lady who's looking out for all of you!"
"Okay, a creepy old lady talking at me through the tv," I muttered, taking a deep breath. "I've been staying up too late recently."
"Onee-tan?" Ami looked up at me curiously. I set her down at her chair again and picked up my plate, carrying it over to the kitchen before heading upstairs. I paused at the banister.
"Thanks for the food."
XXX
"You heard the old hag talk to you through the TV?" Ali hummed, hugging my pillow to her chest. "I'd say you're crazy but we've seen weirder things. Have you figured out how we…died, yet?" I shook my head in frustration.
For years, I'd been getting flashes of memories but whether they were mine or the original Aki's was unclear. I had been able to tell that the ones I saw in my dreams were mine, however, I always forgot what they were once I woke up.
"The only thing I can remember is that I was terrified and in pain," I recalled, frowning in thought. "I think I also protected you from something but I can't remember what."
"Then why don't we ask our guardian spirits?"
"What?" She smiled at me and slipped off the bed, walking out onto the balcony. "What do you mean?" She turned back to me, her back facing the starry night sky as I stood.
"Aki, we came from another world," She breathed. "We died and now we're here! Isn't it possible that anything could be true in this world?" She looked at me hopefully. "It wouldn't hurt to try it, right?" We lapsed into silence when I walked over and grabbed her hands, tapping her forehead against mine.
"…Might as well give it a shot, right?" I grinned at her, getting one in return. "We got nothing to lose." Ali took a deep breath, closing her chocolate brown eyes.
"Dear Guardian Angels… Uh… Hi," She giggled nervously, making me laugh. "We're kinda lost here and don't know what to do, so, like, if you could give us some help, that'd be great. Thanks."
"Hey, if you guys really are real, could you show us how to get home?" I wondered, closing my eyes as well, putting my whole heart into praying. "And if you can't do that, could you show me who to be better at the things I like?"
"Guardian Angels, please come help us and show us our paths," We murmured, ending off with a last phrase. "We would be forever grateful." I waited for a moment before releasing Ali.
"Well, that didn't work," I chuckled, turning back to go inside.
"They might be busy," Ali offered.
"Yeah, sure, dishing out justice and stuff, right?"
XXX
In another realm, a being perked up.
"Guardian Angels, please help us and show us our paths. We would be forever grateful."
So they finally called out to her, huh? The being chuckled at the image of the two little girls she had switched, seeing them grown up. Standing up from her chair, she strode away from her office and out into a colourful outside world, eggs and tiny creatures flying around everywhere.
Watching the groups of little ones, she reached out a hand and plucked several eggs from the air, dropping them in a basket she had brought along.
"These should work," She hummed, heading back inside her office.
XXX
"ONNNEEEEEEEEEE-CHHHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Ali screeched, slamming my door open with a loud bang.
"Ali, what the hell…?" I groaned, her shout waking me up from a peaceful sleep. Oh well, I only had a few more minutes anyway.
"Looooook. At. Thiiiiiiis." She shoved a hand with a coloured egg into my face.
"I really don't care how well your painted eggs turned out… Wait, did you stay up all night making them? You're crazy." I took in the ridiculous amount of detail around the egg, the flashy, tie-dyed colours and shiny sequins hurting my eyes in the morning.
"I didn't make it," She hissed, leaning forward. "When I woke up, it was beside my face!"
"Mhm… Sure…" I sighed, realizing that my time to sleep was over. "I'm gonna get ready for school now." I threw off the covers, swinging myself off of the bed.
"You don't understand-!" She stopped, puzzling me. "…Kiki, look at what's on your bed."
Eggs. Five eggs were on my bed.
"The hell?" I poked them, kneeling down onto the floor. "A green clover, a pink heart, a blue spade, a silver shield, and a…" I squinted at the last egg. "An animal of some kind? What's that? It doesn't look like any shape I've ever seen." It was a massive multicoloured blob in the middle of the egg. I glanced at Ali, who looked just as baffled as I did. Her face brightened.
"You don't think this is the Guardian Angel's doing, do you?"
"You're kidding me."
"No," She insisted, cupping her egg with her hands. "They were the ones who did this!"
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my clothes. I'd decide what to do with the eggs later.
XXX
"Hey, mom," Ali called from the table, watching my dad cheer Ami on while she sang. I couldn't even tell what she was saying. Something about flying? "Did you put something in our beds last night?" Midori looked over curiously at us.
"No, why?"
"Well-" I was cut off by my father who flashed a picture he had taken proudly at my mother.
"Cuteee!" She gushed, forgetting all about us. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying, you two?"
"…Nothing," We both looked down at our plates. I squeezed Ali's hand. "It wasn't important anyway." My mother seemed to accept this and went back to chatting with Tsumugu.
"Kiki-nee, Ali-nee, is something wrong?" Shouta worried, catching our expressions. He was overly sensitive. I grinned at him.
"Nah, we're fine, Shou," Over the past few years, the kid had almost grown taller than me, much to my irritation. Well, we were almost fourteen, so it was to be expected. Actually, he was almost thirteen but same difference.
"If you say so."
XXX
After school, I decided to take a walk around to clear my head. Tsukasa was away today and I had nothing to do at the shop or the dojo so I was bored. I liked looking around at all the little animals and plants anyway.
What are those eggs, I mused, having mulled it over all day. Every time I did it, my head hurt. Every freaking day at this school, my head hurt! It was like I was forgetting something that was at the tip of my tongue, like it was so obvious that it should've been right in front of my face. I tried looking in inventory but it just said "Unknown".
"Hey, you." I glanced around in surprise, trying to locate the voice. "Yeah, you, commoner." I scowled.
"I don't know who you are but you really shouldn't call someone you don't know a commoner," I growled.
"Up here," The voice sighed in exasperation. I looked up to see a tiny purple-haired fairy floating in the sky. He had a cape and puffy pants on, like the old-fashioned royalty people. I gaped at him in shock and stumbled back.
"W-What?" I felt my jaw drop. The little floating thing looking on in approval.
"Amazed by my elegance? It's not surprising that someone like you would-gack!" I snatched him out of the air, examining him from every angle in bafflement.
"What are you?" I wondered.
"Let go of me, you man-handler!" I raised an eyebrow.
"That's not a nice thing to say to someone who could crush you. Try please," I ordered, annoyance clear on his face.
"Please let me go," He spat. Good enough.
"Kiseki! Where are you?" My eyes followed the tiny creature.
"Are you Kiseki?" He ignored me and floated off, his cape fluttering in the wind.
"Tadase! Some insolent commoner just fondled me!"
"I didn't fondle you," I protested with a scowl. "You were the one who surprised me." A blond haired boy with startling red eyes came down the path at a jog, slowing down when he saw me.
"You touched the king," He argued, coming down and glaring fiercely at me. "That's a crime!" I rolled my eyes.
"King? Where?"
"Why you-!"
"You can see him?" The blond spoke, eyes wide as he looked at me. I looked at him strangely.
"Uh, yeah? A little floating purple guy?" He nodded. "Yep, I see 'im. Who're you, by the way?" He smiled at me charmingly. Oh, he's cute.
"Hotori Tadase, King's chair," He inclined his head toward me politely. "Pleasure to meet you." I hummed interestedly.
"What's a King's chair?" He blinked and Kiseki scoffed at me.
"You don't know what the king's chair is? Tadase is the leader of the Guardians!"
"The what now?"
"The Guardians, the leaders of the school," He sighed and shook his head.
"I think I remember some people talking about you…" I mused, recalling conversations in the classroom and the people out the window a few years ago.
[Achievement Unlocked: Starting your adventure!]
Woah, woah, woah, what? I hissed, catching the notification out of the corner of my eye. "You're basically the student council, right?"
"That's right," Tadase confirmed, still smiling at me. "And you must be Hinamori-san, correct?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"How do you know who I am?"
"There are many rumours about you around the school," He replied mysteriously. "And I find it interesting that you can see Kiseki. Do you have any of your own? Any eggs?" I tilted my head in puzzlement, eyeing him warily.
"I found eggs this morning if that's what you're asking." He looked like I had just confirmed what his suspicions.
"Aki!" I heard Shiori call me from the edge of the forest, sounding annoyed.
"Sorry, gotta go, blondie!" I spun away from him abruptly and took off in the direction of the school, rather fast for someone with a crutch, if I did say so myself. "Seeya!" I ignored his shout and skidded down the path.
XXX
"Hinamori-san," I opened my eyes and was met with two faces, one being the boy I'd met yesterday and the other a redheaded and sporty looking boy. "Good afternoon." I sat up crossed legged and gave him a blank stare. "I'm Hotori Tadase, from yesterday after school?"
"Yeah, I remember you," I mumbled, glancing up to see Kiseki and another floaty thing with blue hair this time. "You're the student council president guy." The boy next to him snickered.
"You finally found another girl who doesn't swoon over you," He chuckled, grinning impishly at me. That wasn't true. There were lots of girls who liked other boys in this school, they just didn't mention it. "I'm Sohma Kukai, a ninth grader and Tadase here is a seventh grader, like you!" He jerked a thumb up at the two floating boys. "This guy is Daichi and you've already met Kiseki."
"And I should care because…?"
"Because we want you to join the Guardians!"
"No."
"No? Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because I don't particularly like the people in this school other than my one friend. Can I go now?" I grumbled, irritated that they had bothered me during lunch. Shiori was going to be here any second now and she would force me to join the Guardians whether I wanted to or not.
"Please?" Tadase gave me puppy dog eyes but I had little siblings, that wasn't going to work on me.
"I order you to join us, commoner!"
"No," I repeated flatly. They didn't look like they were going to give up. "And my name is Aki, not commoner."
"Why don't we have a bet?" Kukai suggested, unfazed by my rejection.
"A bet?" I was interested now and he could tell. "What kind of bet?" He shrugged.
"You choose whatever you like, and if we win, you join us, and if we lose, we'll leave you alone," He offered.
"Sohma-kun!"
"Okay, you're on," I agreed, allowing myself a small grin.
XXX
I had chosen hide and seek. He had the entire week to find me outside of school starting at 4:00PM to 8:00 AM, when school started. My only other comment was that he wasn't allowed to go to my house since I wouldn't be there anyway.
"You're pretty good, Hinamori," Kukai praised, having found me during lunch and sat with me. "I don't know if I'll actually catch you." It was day two. The other rule was that only Tadase could help, not any of the…floaty-things. They still hadn't told me what they were.
"I'm not planning on letting you," I quipped, scanning the grade 7,8, and 9 textbooks. As I suspected, it's all the stuff I read a few years ago. If I go over it again tonight I should be able to pass no problem. I was currently studying the grade nine material, so I wasn't going to have too much of a problem except with math. I was awful at math. Who cared what V= 6Y+67-3x/8 was?
"Is that the grade seven textbook? Man, that brings back memories," He chuckled, glancing over at what I was reading. I noticed that he had a very bright and optimistic personality. I could only hope I wouldn't bump into him in the morning. "Wait, are those the other grades' books too?" I nodded, losing interest in him at the moment.
"Grade seven to grade nine," I mumbled, examining a small section in the grade eight science that I missed. Damn, they have jewels here too? I slammed the cover shut, sliding the three thick books into my bag. "You might want to go. The bell is going to go off in…" I pulled out my phone, a different one from the one I had in my old world (I was worried about it getting broken) and checked the time. "About two minutes?"
XXX
They're following me, I took a turn onto an unfamiliar street to throw them off. They were pretty obvious about following me, hiding behind nearby thing trees when I looked around. I debated on running around and scaring them but decided against it. I would turn the corner and ditch them, hopefully.
XXX
"Seriously?" Kukai groaned, looking around frantically for the green haired girl they were following. "Where did she go?"
"I'm sure we'll find her, Sohma-kun," The slender blond assured. "She probably just went around the corner."
"I hope you're right, I want to catch her before the time's up!" He declared, grinning at his younger companion. "She's interesting!"
"You think everyone is interesting, Sohma-kun,"
"Everyone is!"
XXX
"I want you to join the Guardians," Tsukasa commented over a pile of papers after the fourth day. I didn't think that the two boys would look in the chairman's office. "I feel it would be good for you." I pressed my lips together in mild annoyance but didn't say anything. He knew how I felt about it. "It would be nice for you to make some friends as well."
Yeah, friends. With people who were four years younger than me in middle school. That was always fun.
They'd never worked for me in either world.
XXX
I skipped the fall assembly. It wasn't going to be anything interesting, the same thing no matter where you went to school.
I wandered down the street and noticed something familiar. I hadn't been there before so it struck me as odd. I went down the street and walked into the construction zone, seeing a large hole in the ground. An image of a pink-haired girl falling onto it flashed into my mind. Who was it? Why couldn't I remember who it was?
In my frustration, I had accidentally fallen into the hole myself.
[-3 HP]
Owwww… I'm an idiot, I groaned, feeling my ankle throb. I must've screwed up up again. I may have had exceptional healing powers but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Now I'm going to have no way of getting out of here. I'm so screwed. I felt my throat close up and tried to calm myself down. It's okay, I can always just call someone on my cellphone to get me out, I reasoned, then remembered my battery was dead.
"Fuck."
"Aki-chan, you shouldn't swear!"
"People shouldn't do lots of things, what's your point?" It took me a moment to realize what had happened. "Huh?" A pink egg wormed itself out of my bag, floating into the air. "I'm just so done with this world, floating eggs, people… tiny people." I took a deep breath. "You're hallucinating, you're hallucinating,"
"How rude!" The egg cracked open with a loud "pop!", a small, completely pink girl appearing out of it. "I'm not a hal…hallu…"
"Hallucination?" She puffed up her cheeks.
"Yeah, that!" She waved her pom-poms around, her pink hair bouncing with her movements. "C'mon, Aki-chan! Let's get out of here!"
"In case you haven't noticed," I gestured to the walls of dirt around us. "I'm kinda stuck and my ankle is completely busted." I'm talking to a pink thing that popped out of an egg that appeared in my bed a few days ago. I don't even have the energy to dispute about this anymore.
"No problem," She assured me, grinning at me. "From a girl who can't fly to a girl who can fly- Chara change!"
"Wait, what?" I stuttered. Did she just say flying? Chara-change?
"Hop! Step!" Glowing pink wings appeared behind my joints, my mind finally remembering why everything was so similar. She's…! "Jump!" I felt a large bubble pop inside of me, warmth spreading through my body for a moment.
I let out a shriek as my body moved on its own, involuntary taking me into the sky and bouncing off of the various metal bars before landing on one of the top girders of the construction site.
"S-Shugo chara," I looked down dizzily, clinging to the post beside me after I saw how high up I was. It finally all made sense. Tsukasa, the school, Tadase, the eggs, Kukai, my parents, and Ami. They were all from Shugo Chara. So was the little pink girl. "N-No way, this isn't possible." The woman in the television, the shakedown with the little boy… It was all from the first episode of Shugo chara!
"This world is made up of your favourite anime and manga," She said.
The pink girl seemed to take my shock about this world as from what she did.
"My name is Ran, Aki-chan's Shugo Chara!" That confirmed it. Memories of episodes flashed past my eyes, the general plot line and the roles Amu played appearing in my head. "Aki-chan's would-be self!" She cheered, waving her pom-poms again.
"Wait, if this is after that…" Didn't Amu confess to Tadase? I supposed it was an alternate universe because she didn't have green hair and brown eyes either. Plus, Shisui, Shouta, Ali, Akira, and Yuji weren't in there either. Was everything self-correcting? If we were following the proper sequence of events, next was…
"Heh? So you have Charas?" Ikuto. The black-haired high schooler jumped off of the bar and easily walked over to me, his cat ears and tail swaying as he walked. He sniffed the air towards me. "You still have more eggs, don't you?" He smirked, violet eyes flashing with amusement. I let out a low growl. Now that I knew what they were, he wasn't going to get my eggs, even if I didn't know what the heck was in the other two.
"There are four others, nya~!" Yoru floated out from behind Ikuto's back. I'd always liked Yoru, more than Ikuto, at least. Ikuto was pretty cool too, though.
"Aki-chan, be careful!" Ran warned, moving in front of me protectively. "These people want your eggs!" I already know that! I glanced behind me. Nowhere to run. "Kya!" Ikuto flicked Ran away and leaned closer.
"So, you're Aki?" It was almost ridiculous how they followed the script, like it was something they practised over and over again. Well, they were still game characters.
"LVL 6, Ikuto, ?"
I'm pretty sure he's an ally but who knows in this screwy place, I huffed, smacking the hand that was supposed to grab the unhatched eggs in my bag away. Wait, Amu had to fall to get the lock back, so does that mean…? I swallowed back the fear that was creeping up my throat.
"Heh, the little girl has some spunk," Ikuto snickered, shifting back a little out of my range. "Looks like your eggs are just about ready to be born too."
"And we already have the Humpty Lock! We scored big today!" Yoru held the lock within his paws. It seemed like no matter what I did, the world was self-correcting the plot and returning to the script. I wonder what would happen if I beat him up or cussed him out? I shook the thought from my head. "Ikuto, grab them and let's go home, nya!"
"Sounds good," He agreed, inching closer. I slid a foot back, knowing what had to happen. It seemed I had to take on the heroine's role in the place of Amu. What a pain. "Come here, girlie, just hand over your eggs and you'll go home. Everybody wins." I scoffed and took a deep breath, now at the edge of the platform.
"Sorry, but I think I'd rather go my way," I grinned shakily at him and leaned back, letting myself fall off the ledge. Ikuto and Yoru gasped, Ran letting out a shriek, tumbling down with me.
"Aki-chan!"
"Come on, come on!" I shouted, terror overwhelming my sense as I felt myself rush towards the ground, the air almost painful against my back. If I didn't do something, I would be a green pancake. "Please, help me!" There was another duo of surprised gasps, not that I could hear it with all the wind whistling in my ears and I saw the Humpty Lock hurtled down toward me, glowing bright pink, just as I remembered it in the anime.
Different words, same outcome. It looked like this world was about to become a whole lot bigger.
The light dazzled my eyes as I strained my arm to reach for it, my only chance at getting out of this whole mess. Here goes! I snatched it out of the air, the light growing even brighter, illuminating the entire sky.
I felt a warmth again and a sense of peace, instinct taking over my body as the light faded and I was still heading down. I let my body move on its own, crouching down and sending me flying up into the sky.
It was exhilarating. I couldn't even begin to describe the feeling of flying and briefly wondered why Amu was always so terrified of flying when it felt this good. It was like my heart had been lifted away from any problems I had, like I could fly away. Although, the skimpy cheerleader outfit could've been a little better, seeing as it barely covered any of my body.
Giddy laughter streamed out of my mouth as I twisted and turned, trying all sorts of positions to see what they would do before I landed. I could see the entire city from up there, Ikuto and everyone else nearby only little dots on the ground.
All right, Aki-chan! I heard Ran's voice echoing in my mind, it was pretty neat. You're already able to character transform! I let out another laugh and ignored the small rational part of my mind calling me insane. I hadn't had this much fun in ages!
Sadly, everything had an end.
I landed on the ground, stumbling a little and almost tripping into Tadase with a wild grin. I'm sure I looked crazy with hair all over the place and wide eyes once I turned back.
"That. Was. Awesome!" I exclaimed, realizing that it was probably a little weird for Tadase who had only ever seen me grouchy.
"I know, right?" Ran bubbled, giving me a thumbs up. Tadase chuckled and turned to Ikuto who had landed shortly after me on a crane.
"You again, little king?" The teen teased, giving the red-eyed boy an arrogant smirk, tail waving from side to side.
"Taking newborn eggs is against the rules," He stated, moving in front of me protectively. "Also, putting your hands on the Humpty Lock is deplorable, Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Oh, he chara-changed with Kiseki. I forgot about the whole "calling-him-by-his-first-name-because-I-feel-betrayed" thing.
"Yeah, go find some old eggs and eat them," I muttered sarcastically, shifting my bag behind me, ignoring the stinging in my ankle.
"It's your fault for leaving it there," Yoru taunted, sitting on Ikuto's shoulder.
"I'll never let the likes of you have the embryo!" This was pretty cool, watching it play out like a movie.
[Achievement Unlocked: Transformation!]
[Achievement Unlocked: Meet Ran!]
Yeah, because I hadn't figured that out already. Thanks so much.
Ikuto flicked his wrist, a giant blue cat paw coming out of it. It looked a lot more realistic than it did in the show but then again, the rest of the world wasn't really animated either. He swung it forward towards us, Tadase doing the same with his staff in retaliation.
"Holy crown!" A sparkly orange light came forth, blocking the giant cat paw and dispersing it into smoke and providing a cover for the Ikuto to flee. "…He's a crafty cat," Tadase murmured as if he was trying to provide and explanation for me. "He ran away." The blond turned to me, the crown on his head disappearing as his expression softened.
I'd never been quite clear on how Chara-changes worked. Did the Shugo Chara force their personality onto the bearer, or did they magically transform them? "Are you okay?" He questioned, a small look of concern on his face. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," I hummed, shoving my left hand in my pocket and used my other to check the eggs. No damage. Well, besides my ankle, of course. "Neat trick." Okay, be cool, you're only talking to one of the main characters in one of your favourite anime. I resisted the urge to grin like an idiot.
"Hotori-kun," My eyes flickered away from the king and over to my left where a red-clothed Nadeshiko stood. I always wondered if she… he… had seen the entire thing and just watched. Screw it, this is Nadeshiko, she's a she right now. "If you don't return to the Guardian meeting…" She trailed off, her meaning someone muddled but Tadase seemed to understand.
"You might want to go home for today," He advised me, Kiseki nodding along with him. "Well then…" He stepped forwards, joining his friend. "See you." I was left behind, standing silently and touching the Humpty Lock that'd been forgotten. It made a soft metallic cling when it hit my necklace, pulling my out of my trance.
"Well, that wasn't what I was expecting today," I brushed my hair back, pushing down all the loose curls and stray hairs.
"It was fun~!" Ran cheered, waving her hands excitedly. "Don'tcha think, Aki-chan?"
"It was okay," I replied coolly, starting to walk toward the entrance of the construction site when I noticed the time. I was going to have to explain why I was at the cafe so early. "And my name's Aki, not Aki-chan."
XXX
[A/n]: Aki's finally figured out where she is but how will she deal with having to join the Guardians? Will she stick to the plot line? Will she create her own? Who's the mysterious person who picked out the eggs? Find out next time on "A Green Fall"!
Thanks for reading!
