A/N: Tadaa! I'm here with a second chapter of this. I'm on a roll with this story, I've got the plot and no writer's block yet. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I appreciate all your reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara.

Edit: Again, just putting page breaks.

Chapter 2 - Realization

Rima wrapped her scarf around her neck, as it became colder. She was reading her gag manga, sometimes glancing up to watch Nagihiko play basketball, and then returning to her manga. How can they stand to play when it's so cold? They're only wearing their basketball shirts and their shorts! Rima thought as she watched Nagihiko shoot a basketball into the hoop for the tenth time. The other players were good, but none could compare to Nagihiko, she thought.

She sighed. I wish Amu would hurry up.Amu was currently walking her sister Ami back home since her mum couldn't pick Ami up. Amu promised that she would come back and that the three of them would go to the mall together.

For the past two weeks, Amu and Nagihiko had gone everywhere together like they were magnetically attracted or something. Whenever Rima tried to talk to Amu, Nagihiko would pop up out of nowhere and start talking to Amu. It was like they were in their own world. Rima would, of course, be forgotten, and, feeling very irritated, she'd walk away to talk to Yaya instead.

The only real conversation Rima could remember having with Amu was about her date with Nagihiko. It was a short conversation too.

"How did your first date go?" asked Rima, the day after the date.

"It was like when we usually hang out, except I felt kinda nervous and we were holding hands," said Amu with a dreamy expression. "Good-bye Rima, I'm walking home with Nagi today."

After school for the rest of the two weeks it was the same, Amu and Nagihiko constantly went out and Rima found herself hanging out with Yaya more often. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy Yaya's company, but she was happier when it was the three girls together.

Earlier today, after the bell rang, Amu walked up to Rima. "Rima, do you want to come with me and Nagi to the shopping mall?" she had asked Rima.

Rima felt happier then she had been for the whole two weeks and smiled widely. "Of course!" she said.

"I have to send Ami home first," said Amu. "Can you wait with Nagihiko? He's having his basketball practice right now."

Rima had agreed, since it was Amu that was asking.

Rima smiled at the thought. She was finally going to spend some time with Amu after two whole weeks. Even if Nagihiko was coming, it was better than nothing.

After ten more minutes of Rima watching Nagihiko play, the whistle blew. After high-fiving his team-mates and changing, Nagihiko walked up the stands to sit next to Rima.

"Did you like watching me?" he asked her. He was now wearing a brown coat with jeans and a yellow scarf.

"Not really," she said.

"Are you sure? Because I was you watching me for about twenty minutes without reading your manga again," he said taking her manga and waving it in the air.

Rima turned slightly pink. "I- I already finished reading it," she said. "I wasn't really paying attention to you; I was watching the other players." She snatched the manga from his hand and put in her bag. In fact, she did like watching Nagihiko play; it was like he was floating around the court. She would never admit this to him, though.

"Well, you did see enough to know that I scored fifteen shots," he said.

"No, you only scored eleven," she pointed out.

Nagihiko smirked. "So you were watching me," he said

Rima glared at him. "I wasn't," she argued, feeling angry that Nagihiko had tricked her.

"Yes, you were," he said.

"No, I wasn't."

"You were."

"No, I was-"

"Hey guys!" called out Amu from below the stands.

"Amu!" said Nagihiko and Rima in unison.

Rima glared at Nagihiko again and ran downstairs so that she reached Amu first. Feeling pleased with herself she smiled triumphantly at Nagihiko who had just reached down stairs.

Nagihiko mouthed the words 'you were' to Rima before opening his arms to let Amu hug him.

Rima felt something in her chest. It felt painful. Her eyes widened. What was that?

She frowned. She had been getting strange feelings like that for the past two weeks. And for some reason, they always happened when she saw Nagihiko and Amu together. She didn't think it had to do with weather, since it had been getting cooler and cooler (the coldest autumn, in fact, that she ever remembered) and she didn't think they were coincidences.

Finally she decided that she was worried about Amu. Even though Nagihiko was Amu's best friend, he was still a guy, and he could hurt Amu.

It still doesn't make sense...she thought.

She shook off the feeling again.

"Let's go!" she said with a smile. She pulled Amu's hand and led the way to the mall.

XOXOXO

"Take this one" said Rima, showing Amu a pale pink dress.

"No, this one looks nicer," said Nagihiko, holding up a blue dress which looked like it was flowing, and had some sparkles on it.

Amu looked at them both and said hesitantly, "I'm sorry Rima, but I think I like the one Nagi picked better."

Rima's face fell. "Oh, okay." She sobbed. "I- I just thought you'd like it." She sniffed.

"Oh – Rima!" said Amu in alarm, seeing Rima's eyes water. "I didn't mean to say..."

"She's pretending again," said Nagihiko, handing Amu the dress he chose.

Rima glared at him and wiped away the fake tears.

"I hate you," she said.

Amu gave her a reproachful look.

"I mean, I really don't like you," she said, glancing at Amu.

Amu half-smiled and went into the changing room with the dress and some other stuff she picked.

"I hate you," whispered Rima to Nagihiko, now that Amu was out of ear-shot.

Nagihiko gave her an amused look. "Why?" he asked. "For showing Amu a dress that looks nice?"

Rima ignored that. "Should you even be here? It's a girl's store."

She looked around the room which was full of dresses and other accessories for girls.

"So, you've finally accepted that I'm a boy," said Nagihiko, smiling.

Rima ignored that too.

"Besides, boyfriends sometimes help their girlfriends with their shopping, you know. And Amu is my girlfriend."

Rima suddenly felt rage building up in her. "Shut up," she said fiercely. Stupid Nagihiko, talking about his relationship with Amu...

Nagihiko stared at her, taken aback by her expression. "Rima-chan?" he said in a worried tone.

Almost instantly, her anger boiled away. What just came over me? She thought bewildered.

"I'm just – sorry," she said awkwardly. "I don't know why I said that."

"It's okay," said Nagihiko, also looking awkward. "Umm...why don't you try out that dress?"

Rima looked surprised and looked down at the dress she was holding. She wanted Amu to wear it; she didn't pick anything for herself.

"Er – okay," she said, walking into the changing room.

She took off her clothes and tried on the dress. It fit her nicely, even though it was for Amu. I'm getting taller...she thought. She looked at herself in the mirror. It suited her nicely, even though it was a bit puffy at the bottom, it still looked nice. She stepped out of the dressing room.

"Wow Rima, that looks amazing on you," gushed Amu, who had finished trying one outfit.

Rima's cheeks turned pink. "Thanks Amu!" said Rima, feeling delighted that Amu had complimented her. "You look great too!"

Amu grinned sheepishly. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, with a black belt and a black vest with a white shirt underneath it.

"I'm going to try the dress now," she said, and went back into the changing room.

"I knew it'd look good on you," said Nagihiko who was sitting on the bench beside the changing room. Rima nearly jumped, she had almost forgotten he was there.

"No, you didn't. You haven't seen me wear it before, so you wouldn't have known how it would look on me," said Rima, resisting the urge to smile.

"I just knew that it would," he said. "And it really does look amazing on you."

Rima felt suddenly very warm. Not just in her face, but somewhere in her heart. That means a lot to me, Rima thought, coming from Nagihiko. Wait – what?

"You look like a small princess, or should I say, queen?" he said in a teasing voice.

Nagihiko stood up and took her hand and at that moment, Rima felt warmth spread from the tip of his fingers throughout her entire body. Nagihiko then made her twirl around. Rima felt light-headed and felt her heart flutter against her chest. Nagihiko stopped and she staggered before regaining her balance.

"You're not that graceful though," he chuckled.

Rima stood there, her heart still beating fast. Nagihiko sat back down on the bench and smiled at her. What's this feeling? Why did Nagihiko make me feel this way? Suddenly it hit her, the reason, why she was having odd feelings ever since two weeks ago, whenever she saw Nagihiko.

She looked up at him, back at his smiling face and instantly felt like she could stare at him forever.

I like him.

At that moment, the door of Amu's stall swung open.

Rima turned to look at Amu. She looked dazzling in the blue dress. When she made any slight movement, it seemed like sparkling waves were moving with her.

"Amu, you look beautiful," said Nagihiko.

Amu flushed bright-red and said, "T-thank you."

Nagihiko stood up and, walking past a stunned Rima, planted a kiss on Amu's cheek. Amu flushed deeper but smiled timidly and gazed into Nagihiko's eyes.

It was like the whole world froze for Rima. Her heart stopped beating fast at once and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Nagihiko is Amu's boyfriend. I can't like him. She tried smiling at the happy couple but she couldn't. The pain in her heart was too much for her.

Rima ran back into her stall and changed her clothes. She panted heavily, as if she had just run a mile. Why of all people does it have to be him? Why can't I like someone else? I can't ruin Amu's relationship. She'd hate me. And...Nagihiko...he doesn't like me anyway...I wouldn't stand any cha-

NO! I don't like him.

She repeated this a thousand times in her mind, before stepping out of the stall.

She took one look at Amu and Nagihiko holding hands and felt the pain surging back.

Rima walked past Nagihiko and Amu, and hung the pink dress back on the rack.

"Weren't you going to get that?" asked Amu.

"No..." said Rima in a low tone. She couldn't let Amu or Nagihiko know how she felt. "I have too many dresses anyway."

"If you say so," said Nagihiko. Rima felt another sharp pain in her heart. Even hearing his voice now, hurt her."I'm going to pay for your dress Amu."

Rima stared at Nagihiko's back as he walked to the counter. Did he know? No...he couldn't have...she didn't act that suspicious.

"Nagihiko is the best," said Amu with affection in her voice. "I'm so glad he's my boyfriend."

Rima couldn't say 'yes', so she just nodded.

"I – I have to go," said Rima suddenly.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Amu asked her.

"I just remembered...my mum wanted me to do something for her," said Rima quickly.

"Oh, okay," said Amu, nodding.

"Bye," said Rima, running out of the shop as fast as she could.

Rima panted, as she reached home, and threw herself onto her bed. She curled up into a small ball with her knees against her chest.

Why? Why do I like him? Why does it hurt to see him and Amu together? I don't understand...it didn't hurt like this until today.

Even though Rima had unconsciously been having bad feelings, it was never as bad as this. She had seen Amu and Nagihiko hold hands before and it never affected her this much. Was it because she knew her feelings?

Maybe, when you know what the feeling is, it gets worse, she thought. The truth was, that all those odd feelings, was her, already liking Nagihiko, but refusing to let the thought creep into her mind. But now that she's found out her feelings...

She buried her face into the pillow.

Please, let me wake up with no feelings for Nagihiko at all, she thought desperately.It hurts too much to see him with Amu. And she's my best friend! I can't like my my best friend's boyfriend. What if they found out? I don't want these feelings! I want them to disappear. Please, I don't want these feelings...

Please...please...please...

Rima drifted off to sleep, not noticing when her chara Kusu-Kusu, had come back from a chara meeting which the charas still had to attend even though they knew there wasn't an Embryo to find anymore.

Kusu-kusu watched Rima, and she could see the tiniest glimpse of tears at the edges of Rima's eyes. Kusu-kusu had no idea what had happened and had no idea, like Nagihiko or Amu, that Rima's heart was pained.

A/N: I'm sorry, but hurting Rima was necessary for the story. She won't get as hurt for the next chapter, at least, it won't be worse.

Or will it?

Review!