A/N: Eeeeeh! , I know, I know, it's short and not much happens. I just didn't have time to write (read: didn't feel like it) these past couple weeks, and I was rushing to finish it tonight. Next week I'm going to Minnesota, where (no offense to any Minnesotians) there's not a whole lot to do. I have a figure skating competition (anyone else gonna be at the ISI Worlds?), but when I'm not on the ice I won't be doing much other than chillin' in the hotel. Anyway, long story short, I'll do lotsa writing, since I'll have my laptop, but not necessarily any WiFi. So, yeah, expect a great chapter next time~!

EDIT: Gah! I though I uploaded this two weeks ago! Why is it not up? I did't even notice until I went to upload chapter 12! I apologize profusely-I'll put them both up today as an apology.

E l e v e n:

"So, the first thing I want you to do is figure out what all their leads are. I need to know where they think the Embryo is, and how they plan on getting it," Matsuko instructed.

"O-okay." I could do that, right? Easy enough.

"Once you figure it out, call me. Here's my number." She tossed me a scrap piece of paper with a series of digits on it. I pocketed it. "I don't expect this information tomorrow, but I need it quickly."

"Alright."

"Well, I'll see you later." Matsuko turned on her heels and disappeared before I could get another word in. I noticed a small chara trailing behind her, but I didn't get a good look of it.

I started to make my way home when none other than Ikuto hopped out of a nearby tree and blocked my path. I noticed he had a long, dark blue tail sticking out from his backside, as well as two blue cat ears nestled in his hair. How did I not notice those before? "Uwahh!" I cried. "Where'd you come from?"

He pointed at the tree. "There."

"Not what I meant! Anyway, what do you want?"

"Don't help Easter," he told me, getting close to my face.

"What, why? Do you want the Guardians to take over the world?" I asked, taking a step back. What was up with this guy? I thought he was with Easter.

"No, if I tell you anything else I'll be in trouble, but, trust me, you don't want to get mixed up with them."

"They're bad, nya~!" His chara chimed in.

"I can't say anything else, but just avoid Easter." With that, he gave me a little wave and walked away, leaving me even more confused than I was before.

"What is up with that guy?" I asked aloud, to no one in particular.

"I dunno," Keira mused, "but he's pretty hot."

"What? No he's not! He's creepy." Even so, a small part of me agreed with her. "C'mon, let's go home."

I made my way into school the next day feeling prepared. The Guardians trusted me—I would be able to easily get any leads out of them. The only problem was that I wasn't supposed to know anything about the Embryo—somehow I'd have to get the Guardians themselves to bring it up.

I walked to my desk calmly and sat down beside Amu-chan, who was already there. "Hi," I greeted her, "What's up?"

She shrugged. "Not much. You're still coming today for the training, right?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, "definitely."

"Great, Tadase-kun wanted me specifically to work with you on something, okay?"

"Sure. What're we doing?"

"You'll see." She winked, before turning her attention to Nikaido-sensei.

Keira buzzed around my head. "Ooh, I wonder what you guys are gonna be doing. Maybe I'll get to chara change with you!"

I shook my head. "Hopefully not. Then everyone'll know my secret." I made sure to duck my head and whisper very quietly so no one could tell I was talking "to myself", and Amu-chan couldn't hear me mention my secret.

"Gaah!" Keira sighed. "Why does it matter? Just tell 'em! I doubt they'll care."

"Still, what if it spreads around and everyone finds out?"

"Please, no one'll believe them. You make a pretty convincing boy."

"Oh, thanks."

"Seriously, though. This wig is itchy. I don't wanna keep wearing it. Just tell them the truth!" she whined.

"Nuh-uh. I can't."

She rolled he eyes before flying over to join Amu-chan's charas. Amu-chan, for whatever reason, had three. I was not jealous at all—one Keira was plenty enough for me.

I glanced up to Nikaido-sensei for a moment—it seemed he was looking at our charas, but I knew he couldn't have been—only chara bearers can see them, and he's an adult, so he couldn't have one. Right?

As soon as he saw I saw him, he turned away from the charas and cleared his throat. "Okay, class, good morning. I've graded your Japanese tests from last week—I'll start handing those back." He threaded through the room, dropping papers on desks. Some kids received theirs with utter glee, while others were crushed. The rest of us sat nervously, wondering which group we'd end up in.

I, of course, knew I had done terrible. The test was on vocab and, sadly, I barely had the Japanese vocabulary of a kindergartener. I didn't even know the English translation of any of the words, much less what it actually meant. For the most part, I guessed wildly and wrote generic definitions that could fit a wide spectrum of words.

At least in America, I could sound out the words and guess based on what they sounded like. However, in Japan, I didn't even know how to sound them out. They were all written in kanji, and I had no clue how to figure it out. Why do the Japanese need three alphabets? Is one just not good enough? Can't they have one set of characters, all with their own distinct, unchanging, sounds? Why is it not ONLY Hiragana, or ONLY Katakana? Even better yet, just stick to the good 'ole Latin alphabet.

I squirmed with suspense until Nikaido-sensei finally reached my desk. Avoiding my eyes, he dropped the paper on my desk before moving on. I gulped. The rest of his face was expressionless, but I knew it couldn't be a good sign. I finally dared to look at the red number scrawled on the top and immediately wished I hadn't. I had failed—utterly failed. I got a thirty-nine percent—that was the lowest grade I had ever gotten—ever.

"Hey," Amu-chan whispered, "how'd you do?"

I showed her the paper.

"Oooh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I shrugged. "I'm just having trouble with my Japanese—especially kanji. If this test was in English I would have done a lot better."

"I'd offer to help you, but I didn't do so well myself." Amu-chan showed me a paper displaying a grade just above failing. "Y'know, Nagihiko-kun and Tadase-kun are both good students—maybe you could ask one of them." I squealed inside at the thought of having an excuse to spend more time with Nagihiko-kun, even if he was possibly evil.

"Yeah, I guess I'll ask Nagihiko-kun today after school."

Keira raised her eyebrows suggestively at me (luckily none of the others saw), and I gave her a look that said, "Quit it!"

A/N: I'm not gonna ask you to review that short little thing, but I highly suggest reading my rewrites of the earlier ones. I'm changing some (minor) details so I'd recommend reading it. By the way, the idea of Nagihiko tutoring Taylor is courtesy of NekoMimi03! Thank you!