I don't own Shugo Chara blah blah blah
Note: Since this didn't update in a REALLY long time, you might want to go back and read the last quarter of the previous chapter.
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I thought for a moment. Well, truthfully, I'm not sure what to think.
"Rima-chan?" Great. Nagihiko found me. What to do now?
"What do you want?" I sniffled and crossed my arms. Avoid eye contact with him, I thought to myself.
"Are you alright? It's a bit cold if you're not wearing a jacket." He draped something warm around me. He's giving me his jacket? That was...sweet. (Yeah I know. Shaddup.) I considered refusing it, but I didn't want to get sick or anything. If I did, Mama would fuss about it and this'll be the last dance of my life. Nagihiko down down on the bench about an arm's length away. (His arm's length, not mine. That would've been to close.) Seconds passed. Awkward seconds, but they felt like minutes. "Rima, if this has anything to do with you and me dancing then I'm sorry," Nagihiko finally said. "I guess I got a bit carried a-"
"You did," I snapped.
"How can I make it up to you?" Make it up? If he can go backwards on time and never asked me to dance in the first place then maybe I'll forgive him. I'll admit, it was kinda fun. KINDA okay? I don't like being held in awkward dancing positions or twirled around til I get dizzy. "Come on Rima, there must be something I could do," Nagihiko insisted. "If it helps I'll let you punch me." He chuckled nervously. "Come on, give it your best shot." He braced himself a bit.
"That's cheap." I rolled my eyes. Hitting people like that wouldn't be my character, but wasn't I wishing to punch his face while we were dancing just a few minutes ago? This close opportunity would only come like once in a lifetime! I couldn't believe I was thinking about the offer for a moment. It's not like I punch hard or anything so it wouldn't do any good anyways. "Jump off a cliff instead."
Kusukusu exclaimed out of nowhere, "Or... DO THE BALA-BALANCE!"
"What?" Nagihiko asked in disbelief.
Heck no. "Kusukusu!" I cried. "I don't want some amateur do mess up the Bala-balance."
"Rhythm can do the Bala-balance! He's not that bad. Maybe Nagi can too! This is one of Rima's favorite gags!"
"Well I-" Nagihiko's eyes suddenly widened. He turned around and listened closely to something. "Rima, do you hear that?"
"Muri, muri, muri." An X-egg! I searched the night sky. "Muri, muri!" A little egg was floating around aimlessly. How did that get there? Nagihiko's phone rang.
"Hello? Amu? Rima and I see an X-egg right now. We're near the gazebo. Yes, she's alright," Nagihiko reassured. I smiled a tiny bit. It's nice to have caring friends. "What?" Nagi's voice grew worried. "There's even more at the gym? Okay. We'll be right there! Let go, Rima!"
I nodded. "Right! Come on Kusukusu."
"Teehee. Nagi will do the Bala-balance later right?"
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We ran into the gym. A swarm of x-eggs hovered in the air and everyone stood and stared blankly. "Amu! Everyone! We're here!" Nagihiko waved. Rhythm immediately flew over to him.
"Slow down next time!" I panted. "My legs are not suited for running." It would take a miracle for me to run a mile without dying. Kusukusu and Rhythm laughed.
"About time!" Yaya shouted. "What took you two so long?" She made a pouty face. "Well, hurry up and transform! Everyone else is already done."
Nagihiko and I nodded. "Right!"
"My own heart, unlock! Character Transformation: Clown Drop! Character Transformation: Beat Jumper!"
Yaya struck a victory sign. "Alrighty then! Let's go!"
"Impossible!" The X-eggs blasted its negative energy beams at Amulet Heart. She quickly jumped out in time. The other X-eggs started to blast their negative energy too. Every step we took was inches away from a direct hit. There was so many! Too many! Kukai burst out laughing.
"Look at how stupid you guys all look! It's like we're doing some crazy dance!"
"Souma-kun," Nagihiko said as he backflipped to avoid another negative energy blast. (What a show-off.) "This isn't a proper time to laugh."
"After this, I'll be a master at Dance Dance Revolution!" Kukai hopped back and forth, twirling in circles like an idiot.
Tadase spied something from a corner of the gym. "Guys!" We turned our attention to him. "Look!" He pointed to a small group of lab-coated Easter workers.
"HEY YOU!" Yaya hollered. "Stop it right there!" Obviously, they didn't follow her command. She motioned to us. "Let's go guys!"
"I'll stay here," I said. Amu looked at me.
"But Rima, you can't stay here by yourself!"
Nagihiko raised his hand. "I'll stay with her then." Amu gave a surprised look that quickly turned doubtful.
"Are you sure?" Nagihiko nodded. Believe in us, he reassured her. "Alright then. Do your best!" She gave a small fist-pump before catching-up with the others.
"Why are you staying with me?" I glared. "It's because you think I'm too small huh? You think I'm not strong enough to handle this on my own?"
"Nothing of the sort," he replied. "I just can't leave my date alone. That's not gentlemanly."
"We've only danced once. We are NOT dates."
Nagihiko said nothing and shrugged a bit. "Okay then, I can't leave a friend alone."
"Don't act like you know me so well," I said as I summoned my juggling clubs.
"Let's do this, Rima!" Kusukusu said from inside my heart.
"Tightrope Dancer!" My ropes whipped many of the X-eggs. They backed away at a safer distance. This should hold them back for a while, but I was worried. It probably won't hold them long enough for Amu to come back. We had to do something with them before they can seriously attack us.
But how? I tried to quickly think of a plan.
"Stupid," a voice from an X-egg whispered. The voice broke my train of thought. "I hate it. Why is it always dancing? Why not acting, playing an instrument, painting, or even working backstage? I have my own hobbies too! Aunt Misaki is such a naggy, vain, condescending-!" That voice was familiar. It was Chunge's heart egg!
"Chunge..." Nagi sighed disappointingly. For such being raised in such a proper family, she sure knows some strong words. Is Nagi and his family that two-faced and yandere?
"It'll be impossible for me to do all my chores and homework and still have time for fun," another heart-egg said.
"I'm such an idiot, why did I even bother try for that solo? I can't sing at all!"Another voice caught my attention. This one was very familiar.
"Geez. I can't make the middle school basketball team. I'm not good enough. I'm not like fast like Haru nor can I jump like Nagi." It was Kirishma!
"Kirishma-kun," Nagihiko murmured. "You're great at basketball!" he shouted to the heart egg. "Why do you doubt yourself like that? You're one of the best guys on the team!" Nagi looked distressed.
"No, I'm not. I'M NOT!" Kirishma's X-egg blew out a surge of negative energy. "I'm not, I'm not!" it cried over and over. All the other heart eggs started to scream too.
"I'm not! Impossible, impossible!" The sound was deafening. Their high-pitched shrills got to my ears. I tried to cover them before they bled. (Lucky Nagihiko, he had his freaking headphones.)
"Stop it." I ordered. They still kept screaming. "STOP IT!" My scream resounded throughout the gym. To my surprise, the X-eggs hushed immediately. "Stop saying that things are impossible." You just put yourselves down to make you feel better! That doesn't do anything. sure, there are things you can and can't do, some things are impossible, but that's what makes everybody unique. It's those different strengths and weaknesses that bind people together! Whether it's comedy, basketball, singing, or anything, just do the best you can to refine your art and technique!" I paused for breath. "All of you should be disappointed in yourselves. It's not because you can't do what you want to do. It's because you only think you can't!"
"I'm sure it's out there!" I heard Nagihiko whisper.
I started to ask. "Huh? What's out whe-?" "Gahh!" A white light flashed and immersed everything with its bright glow. I covered my eyes with my arms. "Nagihiko! What's this light?" I managed to peek out with one eye. There he was, floating in midair with an astonished look upon his face. The white glow dimmed to a soft pink light. I couldn't see what he was looking at. Then I heard a very feminine voice giggle.
"It's been quite a while, Nagihiko. You've finally found what you were looking for." Nagihiko's other chara, Temari! She's back?
"Temari, I'm so sorry I took so long!" Was Nagihiko crying?
"Nagihiko? Temari?" I felt myself tightening up. This was going to get interesting.
"My own heart, unlock! Chara-nari, Yamato Mai-hime!"
"Rima, Rima! Look! A character transformation!" Kusukusu squealed from inside my head.
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Nagihiko's POV
"Excuses," I thought to myself. "Was that what I was doing?" My mind flooded with thoughts as I jumped to evade the X-eggs. "I guess that's true. A boy like me can never dance like exactly like a girl. That was my excuse. I've been running away from the fact that I couldn't dance like a girl. I was limiting myself." A memory flashed through my mind.
"Bravo Nadeshiko! Beautiful!" A loud audience applauded. Flowers were thrown left and right onto the stage. I humbly bowed and made my exit. Mother was walking with me to the makeup room. Backstage, two women and a man were chatting amongst each other. "But what a shame. He's so beautiful, yet he does not have the same elegance and grace as his female counterparts," the man commented.
"Really?" one of the women said as she fanned herself with a flyer. "He had me fooled."
"I heard that he lives in disguise as a girl for his dance training," the last woman said in a hushed tone. "I suppose it does pay off, but I doubt he shall ever master dance as a woman."
"Mother," I tugged on her kimono gently.
"Don't, Nadeshiko," she said sternly. "All the costumes are expensive. You know better."
"Yes mother, but those people."
"Nagihiko, we have trained you very hard for your roles. You may never perform kabuki like a real woman, no matter how hard you've trained." Mother said without looking at me. My eyes darted to the floor in embarrassment. " Still," mother's voice softened. "you must give it your all, no matter what people say."
"I've been limiting myself," I thought again. "Rima's right. It was only my mindset that has been stopping me. There is a dance that only I can do, the dance that only I, a boy raised as a girl can do." My heart felt so much lighter every second as I realized this. "There was no reason to act like a girl. I have to be myself, no matter which role I play. May be I don't know what it is exactly yet. Maybe I haven't found my true dancing. Still, whatever it is..." I whispered to myself, "I'm sure it's out there!" Then, I heard a crack.
"It's been too long, Nadeshiko. No, I mean, Nagihiko." That voice, it can't be! "I guess you've found what you were looking for." Temari appeared in front of me, just exactly how I remembered her. I almost gasped.
"I-I'm sorry I took so long to realize, Temari! I'm sorry!"
Temari smiled and held out a delicate hand. "Shall we?"
"Character transformation: Yamato Nadeshiko!"
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"N-nagihiko?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "I mean, Nadeshiko?" No, it was Nagihiko, right? Uh...Nagihiko. Nadeshiko. Where's a coin for me to flip?
He/she laughed. " Rima-chan, it's an honor for me to show you my other side today." So it was Nadeshiko. Got it. A dancing fan appeared in Nadeshiko's hand. "I will dance to my heart's content!" she said proudly. She swayed her hands to what sounded like the music of twinkling bells. Soft, glowing flower petals were gently swirling everywhere.
"It's really..." I gazed at her dance. "pretty." Some of the X-eggs were lulled by its beauty and gently fell asleep.
"Way to go big sis!" Rhythm cheered. "But there are more of them!"
Kusukusu grew worried. "Rima, what do we do? Amu's not here to purify them." Crud. "Maybe we could wait for her to come back!"
I thought about it. "If we wait then they'll start attacking us. We should just hold them off as long as possible," I suggested, even though I knew that wasn't a good strategy.
"Rima-chan," Nadeshiko called. "How about we combine our powers?" She held out her hand to me.
"Huh?" I nervously took it. We were going to combine powers? Like Amu and Tadase? "How do we do-?" I didn't get to finish asking. A light suddenly enveloped us. What on earth-!
"Just follow my lead." Nadeshiko, she looked so confident, collected, and beautiful. I could help but smile. My feet started to move on its own and, soon enough, I was dancing on air. Every step and movement came naturally. I hardly knew what I was doing as Nadeshiko lead me with a strong and gentle, firm hold. Step back, forward, back, back, forward. I saw nothing but Nadeshiko and a pink glittering background with X-eggs faintly in the background. The rest of the world seemed so distant. Nadeshiko stretched out her hand and said in a clear voice, "Shining."
I did the same. "Beautiful."
We took a breath and said cried unison, "Queen's Waltz!" A flurry of sakura blossoms swirled around us and the X-eggs. The eggs slowly melted from black to their original pure white color. I never felt such power. It wasn't the demanding, crushing power I was used to. It was a different kind of feeling altogether. Nadeshiko and I slowly waltzed back down to the ground. We suddenly snapped out of our character-transformations.
"We did it!" Kusukusu shouted. "We can purify X-eggs too! Whee!" She did a triple back-flip.
"We sure did!" Temari nodded.
"You guys rock!" Rhythm hugged the two. "We're awesome!"
I looked over to Nade. Wait, I meant Nagi! "Hey, why do you still have Nadeshiko's hairstyle?" I asked sternly.
"She and I are the same. It doesn't matter," he replied as he took off his ponytail holder. He gave me that goofy smile.
"Tell that to Amu."
"Oh right, the deal." He chuckled. Why was he laughing? Does purplehead always have a stupid reason to laugh? Nagihiko read the look on my face. "A promise is a promise. I will tell her." I gave him a doubtful look. "Trust me," he reassured. "Have I ever lied to you- not including things about Nadeshiko?" I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever. We should hurry up and think about to how get the students back to normal so they won't suspect anything." I motioned to the heart-eggs returning to their owners.
"Oh yeah, huh!" Nagihiko scratched his head.
"You forgot about them?"
"I was caught up in the moment." I gave him an unimpressed look. "Of our combo power! It was great, wasn't it?" He smiled uneasily.
Voices broke though our silence. "Hey! What happened?" Nagihiko and I looked over. The kids were all stirring and confused. "Why did the music stop? Where Utau and the Guardians?" All eyes suddenly were on us. "Ah, Fujisaki-san, Mashiro-san, do you know what happened? Weren't you outside a moment ago? Aw, where's that hot dude with the violin? Is the party over? I didn't get Utau's autograph yet!" The adult-chaperons were starting on us too. "Where's the teachers? Is this what you call a school-supervised dance?" Nagihiko took a small step back.
"Don't," I whispered to him. The crowd was closing in on us. "If we move, they'll be even more suspicious." I looked out to everyone. "Listen," I announced. Mumbling and chatter was still going on. "HEY LISTEN!" The mass quieted down at once. "The Guardians have gone outside to handle a small problem. They will be back shortly." Their gazes continued to press down on me.
"And Utau?"
"And that cool violin dude!"
"Sorry, I had to go out a bit." Utau strutted into the room.
Our classmates all looked over. "HOSHINA UTAU!" Her fans squealed.
"Wait, she left?" a boy asked. Utau heard his question.
"I left just a bit so I could find that new song I wanted all of you to hear. You'll be the first ones to hear it. Excuse me..." She continued to strut onto the stage.
"Hey." Nagihiko and I turned around. "What on earth happened?" Chunge demanded. "I could have sworn I was by the chocolate fountain before. Then the next thing I knew, your Guardian friends were gone and then everything went blank." She looked deeply into her cup of soda. "Are you sure there isn't anything weird in these drinks?" Nagihiko and I both rolled our eyes.
"I'm sure it was just you. No one else is acting strange," Nagihiko assured her. Chunge gave a suspicious look.
"I'll be by the food tables again." She was about to turn when something caught her eye. "Wait! Is that," She pointed. "Temari?" Nagi turned around a bit too quickly. "Oh, so something did happen! You almost had me convinced, Nagi." Chunge turned away again. "Explain when we get home." She walked on over to the food again.
"Why did you lie to her?"
"I didn't want her to make a big deal out of anything. She has a tendency to do that." Nagihiko replied. "Huh, maybe my acting skills have gone down a bit." He rubbed his neck.
"No, it was your lying skills." Nagihiko looked at me, unsure how to take on what I told him. "They're different aren't they?" I asked. "Acting and lying."
Nagihiko smiled. "Of course. I was careless with my words."
"Maybe they're not so far from each other sometimes," I said without thinking. "But in your case, you were just a bad liar at that moment."
"I guess so." Nagihiko glanced away, embarrassed.
"It's not a bad thing for you, though. It gives you a chance to be more honest with yourself."
He smiled sheepishly at me. "Thank you, Rima."
"Psstt!" I heard someone from behind me and turned around. Amu! "You did it! You've stopped the X-eggs! Good thing Utau saved us from explaining huh?" She smiled. "We saw light coming from the gym and that's when we knew you two were alright."
"Fujisaki-san and Mashiro-san did an excellent job." Tadase nodded. "I didn't know that Mashiro-san could purify X-eggs," he added.
Rhythm jumped in. "It was actually both of them! Nagi helped too!"
Then came Amu's normal reaction. "Eh?" she cried. "Nagi helped too? You two can finally purify X-eggs!" She clapped her hands. "That's so great!" Is it just me or is Amu turning her 'cool 'n spicy' to 'peppy 'n ditzy' more and more each day? And what's with the "you two can finally" part? She makes it sound like as if it was long-expected. "How did you guys purify them?"
"Nadeshiko helped us! Temari too!" Kusukusu exclaimed. Nagi and I shot a glance at her. "Oops. Teehee. Sorry." She covered her mouth. I softly elbowed Nagi. He looked at me. I nodded.
Amu didn't catch on. "Nadeshiko? Don't you mean Nagihiko?" I told her that wasn't what Kusukusu meant. "Oh! Nadeshiko? She's here? Nagi," She turned to him. "you didn't tell me she was visiting." I looked plainly at Nagihiko. Yup, Amu never catches on. The moment of truth is about to begin. In the midst of the rest of the sixth graders, an awkward silence came over us. Even Kukai was silent for once. Tadase nudged Nagi. Amu noticed the silence. "What? Did I say something wrong?" She looked concerned. Yaya also asked why was everyone quiet. Nagihiko gulped.
"Well," He rubbed his neck and tried not to make eye-contact. "Amu-chan. You see..."
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LOLOLOLOLOL wait. Why am I the only one laughing?
This is so unfunny. OTZ Yeah. I can't even look back at all the previous chapters without wanting to cringe. This fic has like about 5 more chapters to go. Goodness knows when the next chapter will be coming out since I wrote several of them in advance. (Like what, over 2 years ago?) And I made some pretty big changes to the plot so I will have to rewrite some stuff over. Oh well! Thank you so much for those have have been waiting ever so patiently or have forgotten about me and are now rejoicing. And hello to the new readers! Is Shugo Chara still relevant even after it had ended? *sigh*
So much has changed in the past two years. Possibly even my writing style. *cheesy romantic voice*
Let's hope time and fate allows us to meet again in the next chapter.
Review yes?