Chapter Twenty One
Sakura sighed as she walked through the park after quitting the Guardians. They couldn't keep her any more, the blackmail plan that Yaya started had become useless now, since everyone knew she was a girl. She turned, seeing Setsuko's downcast expression and feeling a little guilt. She hadn't even thought of the effect it would have on her Charas if she quit.
"I'm sorry, Setsuko," she said, catching her Chara's attention.
"For what, Saku-chan?" asked Setsuko, blinking. Sakura smiled and turned away, freezing when she felt the presence on an X-Egg. "Do you feel that?"
"Yes," Sakura nodded. "Come on, Setsuko; Chara-Nari!"
"Alright," the blue Chara agreed.
"Watashi no Kokoro: Unlock!" Sakura yelled, her hands twisting as usual in front of her heart. Setsuko flew towards her, twirling as her egg closed around her.
Sakura's whole form was covered with light and her hair flowed out around her in unseen winds. Blue light formed around her torso and Sakura spun, allowing them the sparkles to fall off gracefully down her, leaving Sakura in a white Lolita dress with a blue top-layer and a lot of frills to make it puff out. She twirled and posed as a ballerina would, with her leg extended behind her, thus allowing thousands of sparkles to form over her legs and feet.
The sparkles on her legs fell off to reveal white tights as she lowered her leg and kneeled down, brushing her hand over her feet, leaving a dusting of sparkles over them, which fell off when Sakura stood and kicked out her feet, leaving behind light blue Mary-Janes. Sakura twirled on one foot and sparkles weaved into her eyelashes, causing her to blink them away to revealed eyes that shone with innocence.
Her hair pulled itself up into ponytails on either side of her head as she twirled, curling into very tight ringlets. She bowed her head and a blue Lolita headband with white frills appeared in her hair and she blinked when a large, blue rose attached itself to the headband.
"Chara Nari: Lonely Rose!" she and Setsuko called at the same time, holding the sides of her skirt and performing a curtsy.
"Over there!" Sakura yelled, pointing to the egg and running as fast as she could in the direction it flew. When she got there, she saw Amu in her uniform and, surprisingly enough, Rima transformed. "So, she can do a Chara-Nari, too?"
"Can she purify eggs, though?" Setsuko questioned from inside Sakura.
"Juggling Party!" called Rima, sending bowling pins towards the egg. Sakura watched in shock as the girl destroyed the X-Egg without a second thought, not even caring that she had just destroyed a child dream.
"Cold," Sakura growled as the girl turned back to the Yang Joker.
"You didn't even move. How stupid," she said to Amu, turning to face her. "Why don't you quit being the Joker?"
"I knew you weren't right for the Guardians. I am so glad I quit. No regrets, especially not now I've seen you destroy an egg," Sakura said, stepping forwards and seeing the looks of surprise on Amu and Rima's faces.
"What was I supposed to do?" Rima asked, though her voice showed that she didn't care in the slightest. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she looked towards the shattered egg shells.
"Broken X-Egg – Target!" said Sakura out loud, her body beginning to glow. She rose off of the ground and held her hands out to the broken egg, breathing a sea of pink sparkles towards it. "Healing Kiss," she said softly, blowing a kiss towards the egg shells.
They watched as the egg shells glowed blue while the bits of egg shell began to move, rising up from the ground and piecing themselves back together to form an X-Egg again. When it was re-formed, the darkness of the egg began to peel away, revealing a cleansed heart's egg. It jumped a few times and circled Sakura before flying off to its owner.
"That is what you do, False Queen," Sakura scowled, Setsuko floating out of her as she returned to normal, "Hinamori!"
"Y-Yes!" replied Amu quickly, still shocked by her sudden appearance.
"Don't let anyone push you around," she stated. "You're the only Joker now."
"H-Haruno, why did you quit?" she asked, approaching the girl. Sakura backed away and shook her head.
"A number of reasons that would take too long to name," she smiled, turning and leaving the two girls behind.
{-}
"Can I help you?" the woman at the desk asked as Sakura approached her, her face set with determination. Gulping all of her concerns away, Sakura nodded and showed the woman a piece of paper.
"My name is Haruno Sakura," she stated. "I'm here to see Director Hoshina."
"Let me just call up to his office to see if he is available," she smiled pleasantly, picking up the phone and dialling.
"No, Saku-chan!" Setsuko pleaded, tugging on Sakura's jacket sleeve to get her attention. "I know that it's difficult for us right now, but you cannot join the enemy!"
"They're not my enemy any more, Setsuko," Sakura whispered, looking at her Chara with sad eyes. "I quit the Guardians, remember? If anything, I'm just making a new ally."
"Director Hoshina will see you now, Haruno-san," the woman smiled, putting the phone down. "His office is on the Twenty-Fifth floor. If you get lost, feel free to ask anyone for directions."
"Oh, thanks," Sakura nodded, heading towards the elevator.
{-}
"Here's the last of it," a gruff-sounding man announced as he put down another box. Sakura looked over to him and nodded.
"Right," she sighed, getting up from the ground and closing the door. She had just finished moving in to her new apartment – one owned by the company. It looked nothing like her old one, but wasn't much bigger. Luckily, though, it wasn't any smaller. With another sigh, the young girl picked up a box of posters and photographs and carried it to her new bedroom, not noticing when a photo slipped out.
After setting everything up as best she could, leaving most of her posters, as well as her world map, inside the box, Sakura walked out of her new bedroom and back into the hallway of her apartment. With another sigh, she began to set all of her kitchen stuff in her kitchen before moving onto the living room. The girl managed all of this and walked back into the hall, looking down when something caught her eyes.
"A photo?" she muttered, bending down and picking it up. Her eyes widened when she saw a simple picture of her mother, all by herself. "I forgot that I had this," she added, staring at it. Her mother's hair was knotted on top of her head with loose strands falling around her face. She was wearing a simple green sundress with yellow sandals and was smiling towards the camera. Another look told Sakura that her mother was pregnant at the time it was taken.
"Saku-chan, what's that?" asked Katsumi, settling herself onto Sakura's shoulders, "A photo of your Mama?"
"She was very beautiful, Saku-chan," Setsuko smiled. Mari flew forwards and noticed something on the back.
"What's on the back?" she asked loudly, pointing to it. Sakura blinked and turned it over.
My darling Aki,
I know that my time in this world is ending soon. These few years have been the best of my life, and I only wish that I could know our beautiful little girl as much as you will.
All my love forever,
Kathleen
A small tear came to Sakura's eye as she clutched the photo tightly.
"Mama," she sniffed, holding it to her, hugging it as she had longed to embrace her mother all these years. Before any tears could escape her eye, Sakura wiped them away and walked into her bedroom, placing the picture on her night stand.
She then sat down on her new bed, slightly tired from the move, and yawned widely. With a final stretch, Sakura closed her eyes and took a small nap.
}-{
"Mama, good morning!" four-year-old Sakura called happily to her bed-ridden mother on the morning of her birthday, "Mama?"
"Hello, my angel," her mother's weak voice sounded as she opened her hand for Sakura to hold. The girl did so and blinked, tilting her head.
"Are you okay, Mama?" she asked innocently, smiling when her mother laughed a little.
"I'm sorry that I'm going to miss you growing up," she rasped. "You're going to be so...beautiful," her words ended quickly and her hand fell limp around Sakura's smaller appendage.
"Mama?" she questioned, shaking her mother's arm, "Mama, wake up!" Sakura called, tears in her eyes, "Papa, Mama won't wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
}-{
"Wake up! Saku-chan!" yelled Katsumi, extremely worried. Sakura was tossing and turning, her face contorted into a fearful expression as sweat made her hair cling to her forehead. Mari and Setsuko were trying to wake her up by shaking her shoulders while Katsumi called out to her. Nothing worked.
"Saku-chan, it will soon be time for school!" Setsuko stated, faltering when Sakura sat up, gasping. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears, which she quickly wiped away.
"Sorry, guys," Sakura muttered, standing quickly and running her hands through her hair. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and took a shaky breath, sighing out all of her worried.
"You okay, Saku-chan?" Mari questioned, floating closer. Sakura attempted to smile, but it looked more like a wince.
"I...I'm fine," she said, her words becoming a whisper as she opened her bedroom door and walked out into her apartment, getting herself ready for school. Her Charas looked on in worry as the four of them left the apartment, heading to school.
{-}
"I can't believe Saku-chi really quit," Yaya whined when Sakura didn't show up at the Guardian meeting. Her eye filled with false tears and she clutched to Amu sadly. "What if she never comes back?" she wailed.
"I'm sure she's fine, Yaya," Amu laughed nervously. "Anyway, did anyone else know that Mashiro-san can do a Chara-Nari?"
"Huh? Really?" chirped Yaya as she perked up. "Why didn't you tell me, Rima-tan?"
"You never asked," Rima shrugged, Kusukusu laughing. Yaya then declared that she was going to ask all sorts of questions, but Rima refused to answer them.
"So, that would make Mashiro-san the third person from the Guardians that can Chara-Nari," Tadase smiled. His words brought another bout of sadness onto Yaya as she remembered Sakura.
"Hey, Tadase!" she yelled. "Stop bringing up Saku-chi!" she complained, but stopped with wide eyes when she saw who had entered the Royal Garden. He walked to the table and placed his hand on Amu's head, causing everyone to turn to him.
"Yo!" Kukai greeted, grinning widely. He was in his new, middle school uniform.
"Kukai!" called Yaya loudly as she jumped on him. "Did you get kicked out of middle school?"
"Of course not, silly," he laughed, patting her head. "The middle school is only next door, you remember? I thought I'd stop by for a bit."
"Dachi's here, too!" Ran cheered as the Charas surrounded the Star Chara, him grinning as widely as his owner.
"So, what's all this talk of Sakura, huh?"
{-}
"Early," Sakura huffed as she wandered out of the school grounds.
"You are simply too used to going to school for the Guardian Meetings, Saku-chan," Setsuko reminded her as they settled themselves by the fountain in the park next to the school. Sakura sighed heavily and leaned back, looking up at the sky.
"I still can't believe my egg..." she trailed off, scowling. "It's just not fair."
"Saku-chan, it's alright," Katsumi soothed. "I'm sure –"
"Wait! Kukai!" the sudden yell made Sakura look up, seeing an angry middle school student standing in front of her. She tilted her head, spotting Amu panting behind him, but was forced to look at Kukai again when he leaned towards her.
"Denied!" the boy shouted to her; this caused Sakura to jump a little and Kukai reached out his hand, the one that wasn't holding Amu, to take a firm hold on her wrist. "I deny your request to quit the Guardians. We need a Yin Joker, and you're the only one for the part," Kukai explained, nodding at his own logic.
"You don't have the right to do that," Sakura cut in, snatching her wrist back from him. "I've quit and that's all there is to it," she added. Kukai stared at her for a moment before grinned.
"You're going to patrol with us," he decided, taking her wrist along and dragging her quickly with Amu.
"Just like old times, huh?" she muttered to the taller girl, who nodded in reply with a nervous grin. They pulled to a stop and Sakura sighed, listening as Kukai guessed exactly what was wrong with Amu. The girl then began to cry, so he offered to buy them all ice cream.
Sakura grinned. Free ice cream was always acceptable.
{-}
The three of them sat on a park bench, eating their ice cream happily. Amu had gotten a double scoop of mango and strawberry while Kukai was eating mint and vanilla. As Amu told Kukai everything that she was worrying about, Sakura was happily eating her double scoop of chocolate and toffee. The Charas were next to her, Mari and Daichi holding an ice cream cone while the other Charas ate the double scoop on top.
"And that's why you've lost confidence in being the Joker?" Kukai questioned when Amu had finished her tale of woe. Sakura blinked, finding it all rather stupid to begin with. Amu froze when Rima had transformed into Clown Drop, therefore it was her own fault that she was made to feel inadequate.
"I guess I wasn't being myself," Amu confessed as Kukai turned to look at her and Sakura paused, looking away. "But I don't know what being myself even means anymore. My true character..."
"Dummy," Kukai sighed, tapping his ice cream onto her cheek, listening as she shrieked about how cold it was. "I don't know what being myself really means, either," he admitted.
"Really?" asked Amu hopefully.
"Sure," he nodded, looking up at the sky. "I'm struggling right now to decide whether I want to join the Soccer Team or the Basketball Team."
"Oh, that's all?" Amu sighed, unimpressed by his own problem.
"Basketball," Sakura stated quietly. "There's a community Soccer Team you could join out of school. One solution to your problem," she added, seeing his face fall as his only argument was solved. "Either way, it's better to not know who you really are."
"What do you mean?" blinked Amu, not understanding.
"It's more exciting that way!" Kukai cut in.
"And it also means that you are free to do whatever you want, without being tied down by what is expected of you and what you expect of yourself," the small girl added, licking her ice cream again. "After all, does anyone really know everything about themselves?"
"I...I guess," Amu nodded, taking in what they were saying in awe.
"Truth is, Daichi was born when I was feeling this way," Kukai smiled, remembering the day he met his Chara for the first time.
"So, it's okay to hesitate? To not understand myself?" she questioned.
"Sure thing!" grinned Kukai, giving her a thumbs-up as Amu smiled.
"How nice," mutter Sakura, rolling her eyes and licking her frozen treat. The smaller pinkette froze suddenly when a butterfly made of red energy flew their way, disappearing as a strong wind blew their Charas and their ice cream away.
"My ice cream!" yelled Kukai, running after it.
"I found you," a girl's voice sounded. The two pinkettes looked towards where it came from, seeing Hoshina Utau standing on the path, bat wings on her back and a Chara by her side.
"Utau-chan!" a happy Angel Chara called from Amu's side and Sakura blinked, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. Sakura's Charas flew to her side and Kukai stood behind the girls, watching the events take place. "Utau-chan, you've come for me, haven't you?" The Chara continued gleefully.
"El," Utau acknowledged. "I was wondering where you'd gone. You became Amu's Shugo Chara?"
"Enemy – enemy!" the other Chara chanted.
"Sad!" whined El.
"I-It isn't like that!" denied Amu, but Utau looked as though she didn't care either way.
"Whatever," she shrugged. "I have another Shugo Chara, after all," she smirked, holding up a Diamond Egg with a white 'X' on it. Amu looked shocked when she saw it.
"Dia!" she called. "That's my Shugo Chara!"
"Yours?" asked Utau mockingly, "Aren't you mistaken?" she added, her voice filled with unhidden amusement. The girl let it go and the egg floated around her, not going to Amu. "You see? It's staying by my side."
"Dia!" yelled Amu again, hoping that her egg would come to her.
"It appears she doesn't accept you as her owner," Utau grinned, "That's why she left you." As she said this, a crowd of X-Egg appeared around her. Sakura blinked, turning to Mari, who nodded.
"Watashi no Kokoro: Unlock!" Sakura called, holding her hands in front of her heart and twisting them. Mari flew towards her, punching her fist into her palm as her egg closed around her and she flew into Sakura.
Sakura's whole form was covered with green light and her hair fell just below her hips and floated around her. Light formed around her torso, and she brushed it off and leaving behind a green, cross-strapped top that tied at the back on her neck with darker green patches all over it. Green sparkling light wrapped around her lower half and she brushed that away too, leaving her in a pair of darker green, khaki shorts that folded at her thighs. Her knees and down then got covered in light and she kicked her feet, throwing off the sparkles and leaving knee-length rainbow socks and green leather boots.
As soon as that happed, she ran her hands over her arms from her elbows down, leaving green arm socks of differently shaded stripes, as well as three green bangles on each wrist. She punched her fists in the air as a cord formed through green light around her neck, leaving a green compass hanging there, and green and yellowed swirled goggles, in the same style as Mari's, appeared on her eyes, which she pulled down to her neck. Her hair pulled itself up into long ponytails on either side of her head and a green headband appeared in her hair. She blinked when a large, green and yellow swirl attached itself to the headband.
"Chara Nari: Lonely Fighter!" she and Mari called at the same time, punching to her left, kicking to her right and then finally falling to the ground with her tongue stuck out.
The eggs rushed towards Amu after Utau had set out the terms for their fight – Amu's wins, she gets Dia; Utau wins, she gets the Humpty Lock. For some reason, any suggestion that someone other than Amu had the lock pushed Sakura into a defensive state as she blocked the oncoming eggs with her green Tonfa and pushed Amu towards Kukai, who moved her to safety on his skateboard after he had Chara-Changed with Daichi.
"Stay out of this, Haruno Sakura," Utau scowled. Sakura's eyes narrowed too before she recalled what Utau said about the Lock – she wanted it so that she could have something to match Ikuto's key.
"You know, while Hinamori has the lock, I'd say that I'm closer to Ikuto," she smirked, seeing Utau's eyes widen in shock. "After all, he sneaks into my home every so often and eats food that I prepare for him. He even played the violin for me on my birthday."
"No way," whispered Utau, backing off before her eyes became hardened, her fists clenching. She bit hard on her lip and glared at the younger girl, stepping forwards. "Then you are my enemy. The wager is the same – as we have nothing to offer each other. You'd better fight hard for Amu, huh?"
"I fight for no one but myself," Sakura grinned, holding her Tonfa defensively as she ran towards Utau, hitting away all X-Eggs that came towards her, but unable to protect herself against the winds that pushed her back.
"Gotcha!" stated Kukai as he caught her before she could hit the ground, carrying her back to where he had put Amu. Sakura looked towards Amu and saw the shock on her face before looking back to Kukai, seeing jealousy in his eyes.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Is all that true?" Amu asked. "What you said about Ikuto?"
"Well, no," Sakura admitted, not seeing the relief on Kukai's face. "He played violin for me the day after my birthday, but I didn't think it was that significant."
"Hmph," Kukai huffed, crossing his arms. "What're we gonna do about her, huh?" he questioned, nodding towards Utau. Sakura glared.
"I'll take care of her. You two focus on the X-Eggs," she told them, ignoring their protests, but the Angel Chara flew in front of her.
"No! I will not let you attack Utau-chan!" she rejected, frowning. Sakura blinked and ignored her, walking past the Chara, "So cold!"
"Hoshina-obaasan," Sakura called loudly, causing Utau to twitch.
"I am not an old lady!" she growled. Sakura laughed at the twisted look on her face and Utau calmed. "I like to compete, Sakura. Victory and defeat are what make people shine and improve. That's why I don't need El. It doesn't matter if she's kind when she's weak. I only need Il and Dia."
"Utau-chan," El wailed, hearing what her owner had to say about her. Sakura scowled.
"I need all of my Chara's for all of their traits," Sakura replied, clenching her fists and taking a step towards Utau, "Katsumi's confidence, but also her rather short temper – Setsuko's grace, but also her naïvety – Mari's strength, but also her rashness."
"That's ridiculous," Utau scoffed.
"No, it's not!" Sakura cut in before she could continue. "They are all Charas born from my heart, what I want to be. Deep down, you know that there's a part of you that wants to be what El is, just as much as you want to be what Il is. That's the reason Dia doesn't belong with you – if she was supposed to be you're Chara, she wouldn't have been born from what Hinamori wanted to be!"
"Watashi no Kokoro: Unlock!" Utau called, ignoring Sakura as she transformed with Il. "Chara Nari: Lunatic Charm. Nightmare Lorelei!" she announced, her attack sending red energy bats towards the three opposing her. One hit Sakura and Mari was thrown out of her, being pushed back with her other Charas.
"Mari, No!" Sakura called.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Utau taunted. "Have you given up on getting Dia back already? If not, fight me!"
"You shouldn't fight!" Amu called, shielding herself from the attack. She was thrown back and landed hard on her shoulder; Sakura ran over to her, looking for her Charas but couldn't see them.
"How foolish," Utau smirked, looking at the pinkettes. "Shouldn't fight? If you think like that, never standing up for what you want and never trying to outrank others, you'll end up being beaten down,"
"I agree," Kukai smiled, shocking everyone. "I kinda agree with that last part, at least," he added to clarify. "Sport is all about ranks, and improving yourself through beating others,"
"You get the idea," Utau nodded.
"You think?" he grinned. Sakura blinked and sighed, shaking her head when she realised that Kukai had just gain the 'Utau Seal of Approval' without even knowing it. She then paused.
'What reason is there for me to fight Utau?' she mused, looking at the girl. 'I mean, we're both a part of the same company now. Is there any point in continuing a battle like this?' Sakura frowned, standing up. Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari flew to her. 'She had a part in breaking my Sun Egg...but that wasn't her intention; she really has nothing to do with me – our meeting was out of coincidence and our dislike of each other is only because of Ikuto. She is nothing to me, personally.'
"My turn, Saku-chan; we'll kick her butt!" Katsumi grinned, punching the air in a very Mari-like way. Sakura shook her head.
"No," she rejected, seeing everyone turn to her. "This battle isn't mine. If Hinamori doesn't wish to fight, then I shall not get involved. This is between Hoshina-san and Hinamori, Dia and the Humpty Lock; neither one of them are mine nor, quite frankly, do either of them appeal to me."
"But, Saku-chan!" yelled Mari, shocked. Sakura just case a glance in her direction and sighed.
"Not only does this fight have nothing to do with me, but I'm not even a Guardian anymore," she added, seeing Utau's face crease in confusion. "When I quit the Guardians, I forfeited my rights to fight for or with them. I meant what I said earlier, Hoshina-san; I fight only for myself, and you have nothing to offer me."
"That seems fair," nodded Utau, her face blank. "Perhaps next time we meet, we can fight for Ikuto, huh?"
"No. He's like a domestic cat that thinks he's a stray," Sakura laughed. "He can't be owned, but he'll always come home for dinner." With those final words, Sakura turned to leave.
She never noticed an un-amused 'domestic cat' in the tree, listening to every word she said.