I don't own Shugo Chara blah blah blah

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Wha! That man's a giant!" Kusukusu's jaw dropped. "Like the biggest person I've ever seen!"

"To you, everyone's a giant," Chunge rolled her eyes. Hehe, good point.

The security guy looked down at us. He yawned. "Passes please?" We pulled them out. "Come in," He opened the door.

Woah! this was cool! We were backstage filled with comedians! I looked around.

"Wha! This is so awesome ne Rima-chan?" Kusukusu squealed. Some old guy came up to us.

"Welcome," he said boredly. Honestly, this is a comedian's place! How come all the people that work here sound so bored? "you must be holding VIP tickets am I correct? I am Mr. Boro, your guide. Please stay with the group at all times, blahblahblah, please step right this way," More like Mr. Bore- me-to-tears- o to me. (a/n: damn, that was so lame. xD ) We walked around for a couple minutes.

"Ppssttt!!! Rima!"

"Yes Kusukusu?"

"You should pay more attention! We're so lucky to have Nagi give us these tickets so you should remember everything from here! Who knows? Maybe we might see someone famous!"

"I guess," I looked around more closely. There were props everywhere. Comedians were rehearsing.

"Bala balance!"

My head spun around at the sound of the voice. My eyes fell upon a pathetic boy probably around my age.

"Bala balance!" he said again. Oh my goodness!

"Rima," Kusukusu called. She saw it too; her eyes were blazing with anger.

I felt a chara change.

"YOU FOOL! HAVE YOU NO RESPECT FOR COMEDY? YOU AREN'T EVEN DOING THE POSE RIGHT! YOUR ARMS ARE PLACED TOO CLOSELY TOGETHER AND..."

Well, it was a chara change so everything was a bit hazy. What I did know was that I ended up lecturing him for the bazillion things wrong with his form.

"AND YOUR LEG ISN'T HIGH ENOUGH AND-"

"Okay stop it!" he cried. His face was in a scowl.

Oh no, I've done it now....

"Rima? What's going on here?" Chunge asked.

"Please! stay with the group at ALL times!" the guide cried. Honestly, what group?! It was only me and Chunge anyways. (Not including Kusukusu of course.)

The boy turned to the guide. "Who is this girl?! Who does she think she is to criticize my bala balance?" he said angrily. I took a closer look at him. There wasn't much to say about him, except that he had messy orange hair and a total know-it-all- snobby look to his face.

"Well you are doing it wrong!" I exclaimed. He was mocking comedy even further with his ignorance! My yelling couldn't go unnoticed. Soon, everyone backstage was staring at me. Whispers started to go around.

.

"Hey hey, make way for the comedian director!" an elderly voice shrieked.

'

"Rimaaaa!!!!" Kusukusu squealed. "It's- it's..."

"Karasuke shishou!" I gasped under my breath. I was awestruck. MY FAVORITE COMEDIAN STORYTELLER WAS HERE!!!! *SQUEALS*

"Saito!" he called in a firm, but cheerful voice. So that's the kid's name.

"H-hai Mr. Karasuke shishou?"

"What seems to be the matter here? You seem rude to our VIP guests."

"Sir," Saito pointed a finger at me. "she was criticizing my bala balance and I bet she doesn't even know how to do it correctly!"

Oh no he didn't!

"I can too," I pouted. Karasuke shishou walked up to me. He studied my face.

"Hmm... this girl is very serious about comedy I see," He took a step back and nodded to himself. "May you demonstrate the bala balance to us young lady?" he gave an encouraging smile.

"Bala balance!" I struck my signature pose perfectly! But then again, why should I be so surprised with my own performance? I've done it a billion times before and mastered it.

Surprise gasps were the only sounds I heard now. I didn't care, I was doing my thing. Laughter and cheers rang in my ears. I never felt so happy!
"Wonderful, wonderful!" Karasuke shishou applauded. If I wasn't chara changed I would've just fallen from the shock of being praised by my favorite celebrity! "and what's your name young lady?"

"Mashiro Rima," I answered. I stopped doing the bala balance and returned on two feet.

"Mashiro-san, that was the best I've ever seen from such a youngster like you or anyone else for the matter!" he beamed.

"What?!" Saito cried. Ha!

"She had her arms at the perfect angle too," he noted. He paused for a moment and put his hand on his chin. He wrinkled in forehead in head thought. "Say, Mashiro-san, would you be interested in being part of the comedian show next week? This festival is actually month long so is it possible for you to come next week. This would be very interesting to the audience since you are so young not to mention the only girl in the show,"

The only girl in the show? "Oh yes I would love to!" I got all starry-eyed. "but, why aren't there more girls in the comedy acts?"

"Most of them are in the kabuki department,"

Ugh. Dancing felt so sexist right now. Oh well, less competition.

"You think you can beat me in comedy you little shrimp?" Saito challenged me. If there's one thing I know:

'

I do not back down from comedy challenges, especially to comedy wimps like him.

'

"You're calling me short pumpkin head?" I said calmly. I just love this about myself sometimes. I control my voice calmly and it gets people even madder.

"Don't make fun of my hair blondie!"

"Then don't make fun of mine you hypocrite,"

"I bet I can be funnier than you any day! I'll challenge you then! Next week, whoever can get the most laughs from the audience wins. Of course, you don't have to, unless you're chicken. Bawk bawk!" Saito started to imitate the lamest chicken ever. If you can't do a bala balance right, then you can at least impersonate a chicken!

"I am not chicken! And what's the prize?"

"My prize is when I win I get to gloat and laugh in your face!" Honestly, is this guy immature or what? Gloat and laugh in MY face? Not gonna happen.

"YOU gloat? That's not going to happen. I accept this challenge arrogant fool,"

"ARROGANT?! ME?!"

Chunge harshly whispered to me. "Rima what are you doing?!"

"Very mature now," Karasuke shishou smiled with his bubbly old man personality. "let's settle down young comedian grasshoppers."

.

Chunge spun around. "What time is it sir?"

"About 6 o' clock,"

"Already?!" she grabbed my wrist. "thank you very much Karasuke shishou! I will look towards the performances next week! Right Rima?"

"Right," she started pulling me towards the door.

"I will look forward to seeing both of you again! And Rima, work on your act!" he grinned.

.

--------Outside--------

"Where are we going?" I asked as Chunge dragged me away with Kusukusu following.

"We're going back to the dancing stage so I can grab a quick snack and get ready for work backstage,"

"Why am I coming then?"

She stopped dead in her tracks. "So you can watch Nagihiko duh,"

I pouted. "Why would I do that?" I can't believe she dragged me away from the comedians for this!

"Come on, you can't really hate him that much right?"

"Teehee! Rima actually doesn't!"

Kusukusu, shutup! I'll have to teach her a lesson later when we get home.

""Please Rima? He might need the support!"

"It's only the practice anyways right?" I said boredly.

"Fine fine, you can leave later on if you get as bored as I do when I hear those old ladies sing to the music."

"There are old ladies singing?" Well, I really wanted to go now. I mean, what could be better than watching my cross dressing, best friend stealing, liar dance to old ladies singing?
"Let's just go! This arguing is gonna make us late!" she started running.

"Whaa! Wait, slow down!" She was running pretty fast, even in a casual kimono. It reminds me of Kukai's scary special training or something. My feet probably barely touched the ground!

Kusukusu had a different reaction. "Teehee! Race you there Chunge!"

"No fair! You can fly!"

----------Kabuki, Backstage---------

"Phew!" Chunge wiped the sweat of her forehead. "That was close. I have perfect timing!"

"The show is starting in about 10 minutes, you call that timing?" I panted.

"Pessimist," she muttered, whatever that meant. We rested for a few minutes. Then Chunge stood up. "Well it's almost showtime," she stretched. "I'm gonna go get some snacks right now. Wanna come?"

"No. I'm not that hungry..."

"Anorexic," she muttered again.

Hey!

"I know what that means," I glared at her. She sweatdropped.

" If you need me, I'll be at the far right side of the stage where the curtains are." She hurried off.

I found a chair to sit down on. Kusukusu said to me "I can't wait to see Nagi dance ne Rima-chan?"

"I guess," This actually could get pretty interesting.

In front on us was the make-up and dressing rooms. The make-up room actually didn't have a wall. Instead, there was a thick sheet that covered it and separated it from the rest of backstage. Lights from inside the make-up room created a silhouette of everything. The sound of chattering was heard.

"Ne ne Rima, dancers are coming!"

"Mother, I'm sorry if I don't get this right."

"Nagihiko," I breathed his name. I realized he probably couldn't see us behind the sheet.

"That's Nagi? We should say hi to him!" Kusukusu said excitedly. "Hi-!" I cupped her in my hands.

"Shhh..."

I mentally moaned to myself. "Since when did I start shushing people and cupping their mouths like Purplehead?"

"Nagihiko, I know. I am sorry for such short notice. Why do you look so embarrassed in your dress?"

Dress? I looked closer at their silhouettes. Their bodies and faces were perfectly outlined. I saw Nagi in a kimono, for girls. His hair was still down.

"Well, I don't feel too comfortable in it. It's been such a long time and I don't want..." his voice trailed off.

"What is it you don't want?"

"Well," he lowered his head. "I feel slightly embarrassed,"

"I don't understand, you've done this since forever. You've never told me you felt embarrassed once when you perform. Is it because of the fact that in Kabuki you're the only boy here dressing as a girl? That, must be it then, all the other dancers are young women and you're the only boy. There are some male dancers, but you couldn't dance like them right?"

He couldn't be a girl and he couldn't dance like a guy. What was he then?!

"Mother, it's not necessarily that," A brief silence fell over all of us.

Slowly and softly, Nagihiko's mother said...

"Oh I see, it's because of Rima isn't it?"

Because of me? I felt my body temperature go up.

"N-no! It's not like that Mother," he stuttered. Panick lined in his voice.

.

Something just hit me on the inside.

Why did I feel hurt?

Am I that unimportant or something? My heart started drumming.

"Oh all right," Mrs. Fujisaki studied his face closer. Hmm... I guess we won't have to put some make-up on you after all." Makeup? "Your cheeks are nice enough," Was he blushing because of that?

"Mom, I don't want my friends to know just yet,"

"You're afraid she will figure it out?"

"To a certain extent, yes."

.

Too late purplehead.

.

"What makes you so sure she'll come anyways? Didn't you say that she wasn't very fond of you?"

"Well yes,"

"Then why?"

"I don't know, I just know she will," I could hear Mrs. Fujisaki's soft chuckle. Wow, he knew that I was going to see him? After all I put him through, he still trusts me to come watch him?

"It's almost time. You better get going then. Here, I'll help you." She handed him something. I figured out it was a hair tie. Nagihiko pulled his long violet hair up into a ponytail. His mother took a step back to watch him. I could tell she was beaming. She said to him (her?) with a hint of pride.

.

"Welcome back Nadeshiko,"

.

"It's good to be back mother." his voice turned into a female's voice. He didn't put his entire heart into his statement.

"I will be leaving you now, get in your position very soon."

"Yes mother." She left. I was still watching Nagihiko's - or shall I say, ''Nadeshiko's'' silhouette standing all alone. He stood there for a few seconds. Then he took out something round.

"It's Nagihiko's pink egg I bet!" Kusukusu whispered with excitement. Nagihiko wiped his cheek. In a low voice, he whispered

.

"I need you Termari. I need you now,"

.

With that, he tucked it somewhere in his kimono. Somehow, I accidentally kicked the chair a bit. Shoot!

"Eh? Is someone there?"

Crap!

I quickly walked away since I didn't want him to know I was eavesdropping. I went over to Chunge, just in case he did find me and he was gonna suspect something.

---------Far Right Side of the Stage-----------

"Chunge," I called softly. My stomach grumbled.

"What's up?"

"Do they still have some food somewhere?"

"Yeah! Kusukusu wants some too!"

"You idiot! You should've eaten wayyy sooner!" she sighed. "There's a ramen stand just outside the dancing stage. You should buy a cup."

I searched my pockets. "Umm.."

"You left your money in the car didn't you?" Hehe, how'd she figure? I left everything in the car.

"You owe me 200 yen." (a/n, is that the equivalent of two dollars? O.o)

"Thanks,"

----------After Buying Some Ramen-----

I sat down in the top seat in the center row. It was actually pretty crowded with people. A woman walked to the center of the stage.

"Welcome VIP members," she said serenely and bowed. "thank you for coming here today. Though this is a practice performance, our dancers are nonetheless eager to do their best for you. We hope to see you next week to see the real performance as well. Please give a big round of applause for them!" She disappeared through a trapdoor in the center of the stage.

Music started to play. Various stringed instruments started playing.

"Rima! Didn't Chunge say there were gonna be old ladies singing?"

"I think so."

The music was getting a bit louder. "Haha! Imagine Nagi dancing to that!" Kusukusu giggled. I smiled at her.

.

Then the lights brightened and the curtains gracefully started to slide to open.

.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

whee! done! and testing's finally over! . whoo!

ep 83: i was watching on Friday night (while writing this, hehe) to look for some inspiration. well that was disappointing! xP (hehe ranting now)

1. wth? Nagi dances with a filler character? WHY?! O.o and Rima and Yaya do some weird dance too?
2. no Amuto?! I though Amu was gonna see Ikuto! Eh, at least Tadase's being nice about it and so are the other Guardians. ^_^"
3. Nagihiko wears that pink and blue shirt a lot. O.o
4. where's the rimahiko moments? =__=
5. Ikuto was flirting with that Easter employee? wtf? O.o
6. ANOTHER FILLER NEXT AGAIN?! oh well, Sensei Nikaidou's in it! ^_^?

go figure. so all we see is Nagi walking next to Rima most of the time and smiling & watching her reluctantly dance with Yaya? =p bleh. Although there is some character development for him. Lulu too. . and lol. they had DDR in that filler! xD

okay, so ranting done. =] in my next chapter I will be actually using Nagi's POV to start with. xD It's like this chap from his POV while Rima was busy getting in comedy fights. x] I might be switching back & forth POVS, but don't get too used to it. x]

Read n' Review ! :D