Recap
"Are you feeling better Rima-chan," Mrs. Fujisaki asked as we came back.
"Yes," I said honestly. I was definitely feeling better. I still don't know whether I should stay or go but the fact that Nagi is on my side makes me feel so much better.
Chapter 25 Spending the Night At Nagi's
*Rima's POV*
"How about three turns to the other side of the stage while I'm changing, then you can do a layout and I'll catch you as you fall back," Nagi offered the yawned.
"I don't know. Wouldn't be better if you caught me forward. I mean a layout is where you lean way back and put your leg up. Wouldn't you catch my leg?" I offered.
"Rima, that's too dirty. We're only sixteen," he said.
"Rima's can't stop thinking dirty ever since your make out session in the bathroom a while ago," Kazumi teased.
"Shut up! I was only offering another suggestion but fine. I fall back then what?" I asked Nagi the last part. I was hoping he would ignore my red face.
"Then maybe a foxtrot," Nagi said. I could tell he was running out of ideas. We were at his house coming up with actual dance moves. Both of us were tired.
"No that seems cheesy," I said. The bad thing right now is that it's late. Mrs. Fujisaki asked my parents if it was ok if I spent the night this weekend. Of course my parents were a bit upset I was spending the night with a boy but Mrs. Fujisaki assured my parents that Nagi and I will sleep in separate rooms. The evil thing was that she begged us to stay up all night to come up with a solid dance routine.
"Maybe you should take a break. You two have been working on this for hours," Kusukusu suggested.
"I want to be done today," I whined as I collapsed on Nagi's bed.
"At least tomorrow we can really practice. Your doctor said you don't have to use crutches after tomorrow right?" Nagi asked.
"Yes, I'm done with those stupid things," I whined. Nagi stood up and walked over to his closet.
"How about I cheer you up," Nagi said as he looked for something.
"What were you thinking?" I asked.
"Well Christmas is coming in a few weeks," he said. I totally forgot. We even started to get snow yesterday.
"What's your point?" I asked.
"I was going to save this but I'll give it to you now," he said. He came out of the closet with something behind his back.
"Close your eyes," he said. I sat up and did as I was told. Something smooth was placed in my hands.
"You can open your eyes now," Nagi said. I opened and saw the newest edition of my favorite manga. I felt my frown turned into the biggest smile I could possibly muster on my face.
"It's the newest one but it's not out yet," Kusukusu said excited.
"How did you get it?" I asked.
"We Fujisaki's have connections almost everywhere," Nagi said then winked. I held my arms out towards him. He came over to me and hugged me. I wrapped my arms tightly around him.
"Thank you," I said.
"Your welcome," he said. I gave him a quick peck then began reading while Kusukusu was reading over my shoulder. There would be a giggle or two from us every once in awhile.
*Nagi's POV*
"Wow! She left you for the manga like that," Rhythm said as he snapped.
"She just needs a break," Temari said.
"What are you two doing?" Rhythm asked. Kazumi was messing with Temari's hair.
"I'm braiding Temari's hair. I can braid yours too since you have long hair like Nagi," Kazumi said as she finished Temari's.
"No way," Rhythm said.
"Come on," Kazumi said as she tackled Rhythm.
"Nagi! Help!" Rhythm said.
"Sorry Rhythm but it's just a braid. I always have to put my hair up. Maybe you should get a taste of that," I said.
"That's what Temari is for," Rhythm whined as Kazumi man-handled his hair.
"And done," Kazumi said triumphantly. Rhythm pouted showing that he wasn't happy.
"Rhythm you could be my sister," Temari teased as she hugged Rhythm. There was a little giggle. All the charas looked to see Kusukusu now focusing on her friends and noticed Rhythm's hair.
"It's not funny," Rhythm said.
"You look so cute!" Kusukusu cheered as she hugged him. He seemed to get over it pretty quick. His cheeks were tinted a bit with pink.
"Now I see how Nagi picks up girls," Rhythm teased.
"Not cool Rhythm," I said.
"I like him, boy or girl," Rima said overhearing my boy chara as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I wrapped an arm around her. I gave her a quick kiss and she smiled at me. This would have been a good moment except there was a tap on my paper door.
"Come in," I said. The door was opened and there stood Baya. She was holding some kind of cloth material.
"Rima-chan, Mrs. Fujisaki insisted I give you this to wear for bed," she said as she handed Rima the fabric. Rima unfolded it to reveal a nightgown. It was a teal like color. There was white lace around the hems. It looked a little bit to lolita for Rima but she smiled at it.
"Thank you," she said.
"Your quite welcome. Also Mater Nagihiko, your mother and grandmother would like to talk to you. Rima-chan can change in here while you're gone," Baya said.
"Alright, did you know what they want?" I asked.
"They didn't say but neither looked upset," she informed.
"Thank you Baya," I said. I then turned to Rima.
"I'll be back," I said. She nodded and continued to admire the nightgown. I left my room traveling to the room I knew my elders would be with Rhythm and Temari on my shoulders. Now that I think about it, I haven't really spoken to my grandmother since I yelled at her. She called me so she can scold and punish me. Suddenly I felt like going back to Rima and snuggling up with her all night...I guess that makes me a pervert. I need to hang out with Rhythm a little less. Then the thought came to me that my elders were in on the plan so my grandmother couldn't be mad...right? I tapped on the paper door.
"Come in," I heard my mother's voice. I opened the door and bowed.
"You wished to see me?" I asked.
"Yes, I know you want to be with Rima-chan right now but your grandmother and I have some good news," mother said with a huge smile on her face. She was usually happy but she always seemed calm. She looked like she was hiding something and she was about to burst. I sat down in front of them showing them they had my full attention.
"Nagihiko, you know what you did," grandmother said. Was she mad even though she was in on it?
"Yes," I admitted.
"You don't seem to back down or regret your decision," she said.
"No," I said trying to be confident.
"Good," she said. She closed her eyes and I swore there was a small smile. I had to admit I wasn't expecting that reaction. Rhythm's jaw dropped and Temari gasped.
"Your grandmother and I talked and we have come to an agreement that you may continue to go to school as yourself as long as you keep being Nadeshiko during dance practice," mother said.
"What?!" I said not thinking about it. I quickly bowed.
"Sorry for my outburst," I apologized.
"Its alright Nagihiko. I expected some kind of reaction," my grandmother said. I looked up at her.
"Did you agree or did my mother have to beg you?" I asked.
"I actually suggested it. You're becoming a man and I can't stop that even if I try. Do you know the real reason I came back to Japan?" she said.
"To be honest, no," I said now that I was thinking about it.
"I came here to see how much of a man you have become. I admit there was a time I was worried that you were going to become a man with no spine, no authority. You are a good boy Nagihiko but I worried that you only cared what others thought," she said.
"That's why she liked Rima so much," Temari said putting two and two together.
"You probably would've ended up like that if you haven't met Mashiro-san," she said. For some reason I couldn't help but agree with her.
"That girl has changed you for the better. I thought you deserved to be rewarded," she said.
"I'm being rewarded for yelling at you?" I said a bit shocked.
"Yes, but don't do it again," she said.
"I won't unless it's needed," I said.
"That's the answer I was hoping for," she said.
"Mother, I would like to talk to my son alone," mother said.
"Of course, it's late and I'll head to bed. Goodnight," grandmother said then left.
"Nagihiko, Rima-chan is waiting for you so I'll make this quick," mother began. Her tone sounded...worried maybe even scared. I didn't dare say something.
"Tsukasa is going to find a way to get you and Rima-chan home. If you two stay here long then everything will go wrong," she said.
"Do you know about...the wishing well?" I asked.
"Nagihiko, I'm your mother. I've known things were different since this all began," she said.
"How? How did Tsukasa know too?" I asked.
"Many years ago when I was about your age. The guardians found the embryo. We didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands so Tsukasa, and the rest of us hid it in the wishing well. It was a big secret that we would take to our graves. The only reason we remember is because of this," she said as she picked up the necklace that was around her neck. It had an egg hanging that looked exactly like a mini-embryo.
"So when the guardians now were looking for the embryo in grade school it was really already found and hidden?" I asked.
"Correct, we couldn't tell you so we let you look for it," she said.
"Rima made that wish, she really wished the embryo would grant her dream, but she never touched it," I said.
"She was crying, maybe a tear touched it," Temari pointed out.
"I think you have a lot to wrap your head around. If you keep it a secret from the Mashiro's then I will allow you to sleep snuggled up to Rima-chan," she said.
"You'd allow that?" I asked a bit shocked.
"I trust that you are a responsible young man that knows his mother will punish him serverly if, nine months from now, he come home with a grandchild," she said.
"I think that's her way of saying if-you-do-the-do-with-Rima-then-she'll-kill-you," Rhythm whispered.
"Why is your hair braided Rhythm?" my mother asked my chara. I was still getting used to her seeing them.
"One word, Kazumi," Rhythm said.
"Wait a minute mother, if you can see charas in this world and you know about the other world then you could always see my charas?" I asked.
"I raised you right. The original guardians could always see charas we just didn't reveal it to our children," she said.
"But we knew Tsukasa could see them," I said.
"He was the king so he represented us. If something was wrong with our children then he would let us know. One of us had to know what's going on. Since he was the one that saw all of our children he was the best candidate," she informed.
"Now that I see it. Any of the first guardians never really questioned our strange actions," he said.
"Why don't you go to bed? You and Rima-chan must be tired," she said.
"Thank you mother," I said then bowed.
"Goodnight you three," she said.
"Goodnight," my charas and I said together. I walked back to my room with Temari and Rhythm floating next to me. I tapped on the door.
"Come in," I heard Rima say. I opened to the door to see her sitting on my bed deep into her new manga. She was wearing the nightgown Baya brought her and she look stunning.
"What did your mom and grandma want?" she asked.
"I'll explain everything in the morning. My mother said we can sleep together," I informed. I saw her cheeks get pink.
"Rima's thinking dirty thoughts again," Kazumi teased.
"No I'm not!" Rima yelled.
"Nagihiko, I'm going to bed," Temari said then retreated to her egg.
"We should all go to bed," I said.
"But I want to find out what happens," Rima whined as she pointed at her manga.
"You can read the rest tomorrow. It's late and earlier you were whining that you wanted to be done for the day," I said.
"Fine," she said. She put her manga away, I turned off the lights, then we both got under the covers. She rested her head on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her.
"Nagi, can I have a kiss goodnight?" she asked. I smiled and kissed her but I realized it was a trap. She flipped over and kissed me harder. I pulled her closer and kissed her harder too. We didn't stop till we needed to breathe. Her and I were both panting.
"That was some goodnight kiss," I said. She smiled and snuggled back up to me.
"I think you'd deserved it. You did give me my Christmas present early," she said.
"Oh by the way. I get to go to school as myself," he said.
"Good, now I can kiss you at school in the open without causing suspicion," she said as she gave me another peck.
"I can actually walk down the halls holding your hand and just be myself," I said.
"Goodnight," she said.
"Goodnight," I said. Her and I were silent but we were happy. Eventually we fell asleep in each other's arms.
*Third Person's POV*
Mrs. Fujisaki cracked her son's door open to see her son and his girlfriend. He never told her but she knew. She then closed the door and went to her own room.
"Did you tell him?" Mrs. Fujisaki saw Tsukasa in her room and she was a bit shocked.
"Yes, he deserved to know," she said.
"Those two need to go to their own time. I can get them home on the twenty-ninth," he said.
"That's the day of the prom," she said.
"I know. I thought I would give them a happy memory before they go back to their world. This is Rima's perfect world. I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to stay but you and I both know she can't," he said.
"I know. I assume my son told her or will tell her in the morning," she said.
"We need to contact the other former guardians. We can't do it without them," he said.
"I will tell the girls if you can get in contact with Aruto," she said.
"I've already discussed everything with him," he said.
"Then they will go home after prom," she said.
"Correct, let them be happy now. If they never came to this world then they would never be close, Rima would never dance, never have a little sister, Nagi would still be worried about his grandmother's opinion-"
"Are you saying all that will vanish as if it will never happen?" she asked.
"I'm saying that the embryo is a very unpredictable object. There is no telling what will happen. I'm just preparing you for what might happen," he said.
"My son is so happy and so is Rima. Why can't they just keep their memories from here? Why can't it just be simple?" she asked.
"Life would be boring if it was easy," he said.
*Gasp* So much info fit into one chapter. Some surprising, some happy, some sad, some good, some bad, and some a little kinky *cough*Rima*cough*
Anyway what do you think will happen? Will Nagi and Rima forget each other? Will they even be able to really get home? Will Rima ever finish her new manga?
Also ideas/comments/flames/reviews are welcomed