A/N: Tadaa! I've finally updated the story :D It took a little longer the usual, but here it is! Oh yeah, this story is inspired by (and may look like it's sort of copied from) 'Outta Control' from emichii (Such an awesome writer! My work can't be compared!). If any of you readers are Taiora fans, then I would recommend you read emichii's stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara.
Edit: Minor gramatical errors. (Ahh I've heard that the lyrics are annoying, but I don't really want to take them out, sorry!)
Chapter 5 - Everything is Under Control
Rima tapped her table repeatedly with her pencil, her mind thinking deeply. She looked down at her maths book. She was never really good at maths, she didn't find it fun. The only time she had enjoyed anything to do with numbers was when someone had said "Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine!" Any other number related joke was approved by her, but equations were definitely not welcome.
Rima sighed at looked out the window. The sky was turning to a beautiful shade of orange, signalling the end of the day.
Tomorrow was Christmas, meaning there were only a few more days of winter break, and she didn't want to leave her holiday homework until the last day. A smile snuck its way onto Rima's face; that was probably what Amu was going to do. Amu had just come back from her trip with her parents yesterday, and said she hadn't done it yet either.
Just then, her phone buzzed. She had gotten a message from Utau.
I wonder what it is? I haven't heard from Utau for a long time, Rima thought.
The text read:
Hey, my dad and his friends are holding a Christmas Party tomorrow night. You're invited. It's at the usual park at 6 o'clock. Reply soon.
Well...her mother was going to her own Christmas Party anyway, so she'd probably say yes.
'I'll come' texted Rima back.
She turned back to her maths problem and stared down at it. Maybe she could get one of her slaves to do it for her. She shook her head; she didn't have that many slaves anymore.
She thought about the party. Amu was probably coming, and since Rima was invited the other former-guardians were probably invited too. Which meant Nagihiko would come.
But that didn't matter, thought Rima smiling triumphantly. She hadn't thought of Nagihiko at all since she was with Amu. Not even once. Well, there was one time that Nagihiko had called her, but she didn't answer, so it was okay. She was sure that all her feelings had been evaporated.
The answer to the maths problem suddenly came to her. That was a good sign. She scribbled the answer down, feeling excited for the Christmas Party tomorrow.
XOXOXO
Rima stared at the park. It had been completely transformed; paper lanterns of all colours were hung around the trees, a stage with a few instruments on it and a giant Christmas tree was placed at a corner of the square. Lots of guests had already arrived; some were chattering around and some were scouting the food table. They were all wearing formal clothes, making Rima glad that she had dressed properly. She was wearing a white headband, and a blue dress with tights and a white jacket.
"Hey," said Utau, walking up to her, smiling. "Glad you could come."
"Hi!" greeted Kusu-kusu enthusiastically on Rima's behalf. "Where do we put the presents?" Rima was clutching a bag full of the presents that she and Amu had gone out to buy the other day.
"Under the tree, of course," said Utau.
"Right, is Amu here yet?" asked Rima, scanning the crowd.
"Yeah, I think she's by the tree," said Utau, turning. "I have to go greet the other guests, see you later."
Rima nodded and made her way for the tree. She managed to get a glimpse of the food and had the urge to rush over and eat, but she kept walking.
"Hi," said Amu as Rima came into sight. Amu was wearing the black vest and white long-sleeved shirt that they bought the other day, but she wore it with a plaited pink skirt with white tights.
"Hi Amu, how was your trip?" asked Rima, putting her presents under the tree.
"Great! We went skiing and stuff," said Amu.
"Yeah! Amu-chan was really great," cheered Ran.
"She made me chara-change...again," said Amu, gritting her teeth at the memory.
"Amu! Rima-chan!" said a violet-haired boy, running into view.
Rima stared at Nagihiko, completely stunned. Her heart had increased in speed and was beating painfully against her chest. What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be over him! It was supposed to be full-proof! But she was looking at Nagihiko, with his cute smile, and amber eyes. It didn't help that Nagihiko was wearing his brown coat with a white sweater and jeans.
"Hello," Rima managed to mumble, not believing it.
All her efforts were wasted. All it did was make her heart-ache worse.
"Rima?" said Amu. Rima looked at Amu and saw that Amu had a concerned look on her face.
No! Rima cried in her head frantically. She thinks something's wrong. She cannot know that something is wrong. HELP!
"CHOCOLATE!" screamed a shrill voice. Saved. She took this distraction as chance to quickly change her face back to normal.
The three of them turned to the direction where the loud sound had seemed to come from. They all sweat-dropped, because right there, stood Yaya, looking like she was having a hard time restraining herself from diving head-first into the chocolate fountain.
Yaya had saved Rima again, without knowing it.
"Yaya," called out Amu, waving a hand at the poor girl.
Yaya turned around and spotted her friends. She waved back but then turned to talk to someone.
"Who's she talking to?" asked Nagihiko, though he didn't need to be answered, since at that moment, Yaya ran over dragging a boy with her.
"Hey guys!" she greeted cheerfully, while the poor former-Jack panted beside her.
"S-senpai, could you not drag me like that next time?" breathed Kairi.
"Haha, sorry!" apologized Yaya.
"Oh, hello," said Kairi to the others.
"Hi, Kairi," said Amu. "How's it been going?"
Kairi pushed up his glasses. "Well, all the chairs in the guardians are still full, with the exception of the 'Joker' position. There has been a decrease of X-eggs for the past year, though when one is found, it is taken care of immediately. The school uniform is being currently discussed this week, and the paperwork has been stacking up..." said Kairi in a tone that made Rima think that he might have rehearsed this.
Rima and the others tried to listen to what Kairi was rambling on about, until Yaya interrupted him.
"Enough complicated talking," cried Yaya. "You're not being fun at all."
Rima secretly agreed.
"Well, we might as well tell him what's been going on with us too," said Nagihiko, and started telling Kairi what was going on in the school. Kairi looked like listening to what Nagihiko was saying attentively, while Amu sweat-dropped at the scene.
Yaya looked bored then turned to Rima. "So how are you feeling?" she said in a casual tone.
Rima understood what she meant by that. She shook her head. She was still stupidly in love with her best-friend's boyfriend.
"Oh," said Yaya with a sympathetic look.
"Good evening everyone," rang out Utau's voice. She was standing on top of the stage with a microphone in her hand. Everyone fell silent. "I'm glad that everyone was able to come, and we hope you'll enjoy this performance."
Two dark-blue haired men wearing suits, one in his late teens, walked up to the stage and stood next to a keyboard, where a tall man, also wearing a suit, with brown hair sat. There was a thin girl with red hair standing next to them, with a guitar. Another man sat beside the girl, ready to play the drums.
"It's Ikuto," whispered Amu to Rima. Rima nodded.
Ikuto and his father started playing tunes, on their violins, with the man on the piano. Utau took a breath and started singing.
Kanashimi ni tsubusare sou demo
sonna kao wa yamete
Okazari no Cheap na Pride wa sutete shimaou
Rima listened to Utau's voice, gentle yet strong. The lyrics of the song...they also meant something to Rima. The man with black hair, sitting at the drums started playing, as well as the girl on the guitar as Utau started the chorus.
Taiyou no moto de hitomi somukezu ni ikite ikou
Sou da yo waraitai hashagitai sunao ni
Kanjirareru mabushii Happiness
Zettai akiramenai darenimo ubaenai yume ga aru
Ima sugu tsutaetai tsukamitai aserazu shinkokyuu shite
Taiyou ga niau yo tobikiri no egao misete
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amu lean against Nagihiko's shoulder. Rima locked her gaze on the stage. Why should she cause herself pain?
BIRU ga sasu shikakui kage ni nomare souna toki mo
Kowagarazu shikai no mukougawa habataite ikou
Rima stared at the stage; there were beams of various colours of light flashing on the players. It was rather interesting, Rima thought.
Fukaku kizutsuki naite naite tsukarete mou nemurenai
Kuyashikute aishitai aisaretai kodoku na
Nagai yoru mo kate ni naru kara
Dareka no koto ushiro yubi bakari sasu nante
Kekkyoku jishin ga nai jibun ga nai tsumaranai nigeteru dake
Kinishicha DAME da yo saikou no toki tsukamou
Not interesting enough, apparently, because Rima's gaze fell onto Nagihiko and Amu again. Nagihiko saw her, and gave her a smile.
Glorious Sunshine!
No! Don't look at him, she thought. She tuned herself out so that she could only hear the music and only see the stage.
Taiyou no moto de hitomi somukezu ni ikite ikou
Soshitara megami mo higamu you na Kiss wo
Tokimeiteru mabayui Happiness
Sono mune no oku yuruginaki hikari tsuranuita kimi koso
Honto no kagayaki no imi wo mitsukeru hito
Taiyou ga niau yo yorokobi no uta utaou
Rima tuned back in when she heard the sound of applause echoing from the crowd, and started clapping too. The musicians on stage bowed, and walked of the stage as Utau announced that they were going to have short break before resuming.
Amu lifted her head from Nagihiko's shoulder and looked around.
"Look, Ikuto is coming," said Amu. And as she said, the tall cat-like young man walked towards them.
"Hi," he greeted them. "Long time no see."
"Yeah," said Amu. "How've you been doing?"
"Fine," he said, then he smirked. "But you've been better."Amu blushed, because Ikuto was looking pointedly at Nagihiko.
"So you're Amu's boyfriend," said Ikuto. "I heard about you from Utau." Nagihiko nodded as the two shook hands.
"I saw you from the stage with Amu, which was also how I could tell," he said smirking. This caused Amu to blush even deeper. This guy could really make people feel uncomfortable, thought Rima, judging by the looks on Nagihiko's and Amu's faces.
"Hey it's Ikuto!" said Yaya, glomping him. Yaya reasoned that since Kukai was like her big brother, that made Utau her big sister, automatically making Ikuto her other big brother. At least, that's what Rima thought she meant.
"Hi," he said, ruffling her hair absent-mindedly. Ikuto was used to this since Yaya glomped him the last time they met, Rima supposed. Or maybe it was because he was glomped like this by Utau, as Amu said.
Just then the red-headed girl with the guitar walked up to them. She looked about seventeen to Rima.
"Excuse me," said the girl bowing to everyone. She then turned to Ikuto. "I'm sorry, but we have to go perform now." She turned back to the group. "I hope you guys don't mind."
Rima stared at the girl. She was very polite, but her clothes and hair seemed out of her personality. Then again, as a character bearer, who was she to judge?
"Oh yeah," said Ikuto. "This is Akira Kouzumi. She's the daughter of the keyboard player."
Akira bowed again. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
The former-guardians started feeling a bit uncomfortable. She was a bit too formal to them.
"I think you're scaring them, Akira," said Ikuto, chuckling.
They heard a ping and Akira's ruby necklace disappeared. "Ahaha...sorry about that...my mum said it's important to be polite." She rubbed the back of her head. "Ruru likes doing that when I meet someone, which is good, but it kinda freaks people out sometimes." A small chara peeked out from behind her shoulder. She had blonde hair and a blue dress and was wearing white gloves.
"Oh you have a chara," said Yaya in interest.
"Yup," said Akira. "She was born out of my will to be like my Okaa-san."
"Oh, is she here?" asked Amu.
"No, she died," Akira said in a matter-of-fact tone. Amu looked horrified at what she just said but Akira didn't seem to mind. "But I think she wants me to be polite. She always said so." She turned back to Ikuto. "Anyway, we have to go Ikuto-kun! They're already waiting for us; you weren't supposed to chat with people."
She walked back to the stage merrily with Ikuto following her.
"She was nice," said Yaya. "I like her!"
"She spoke as a lady should," said Kairi in an approving voice, "for a moment anyway."
"The band is going to start playing again," announced Utau. "Please clear out from the centre of the room to make way for the dancers."
The band started to play some classical music and couples started moving to the middle to dance. Utau went off the stage and joined Kukai, whom they didn't see just now for some reason. The charas floated to a table and attempted to dance.
"Yay," cheered Yaya. "Let's all go dance." She dragged along Rima, Kairi, Nagihiko and Amu along with her to the dance floor and started to dance with Kairi, who looked completely confused at what was happening. After a minute, Rima couldn't see them anymore under the flurry of people.
Great. Now what was she supposed to do? Yaya had totally abandoned her and she was standing in the middle of the room like an idiot. She turned to Amu and Nagihiko to ask them go sit down with her but stopped.
Amu had her hands in Nagihiko's and were doing something like a waltz. Amu looked nervous but Nagihiko muttered something and she smiled.
Rima felt as though she had been pierced with a knife. To see Nagihiko...smiling like that for Amu was bad enough; it made her feel like she had been slapped, but they were dancing together. And that was the thing that Rima couldn't stand. Didn't she dance with him when they were purifying all those X-eggs? She didn't know about Nagihiko and she never told him, but that had meant something to her. And yet...and yet...
She wanted to run; to get as far away as possible. But her legs were rooted to the spot, and her eyes did not seem to want to stop watching the couple. After about four minutes, the torture finally stopped.
The guests clapped for the band when the music stopped. "Okay," said Utau, now back in the stage. "Now it's time for an exchange of partners."
There was a buzz of noise and Amu looked panicked and ran over to Kairi. Yaya grabbed some random person from beside her. Rima stood there, alone. Again.
But she wasn't alone. Nagihiko looked at her and said, "So that makes us partners right." Her heart nearly stopped.
No, she cried in her head, this is too dangerous! I can't do this. But nevertheless, after hesitating, she took Nagihiko's hand. She let Nagihiko lead the dance and looked away from his face. This only would last four minutes. I can handle that.
"What's wrong?" asked Nagihiko.
She had to look back at Nagihiko, since looking away seemed to ruin their balance. She looked at Nagihiko with a sort of fury. Part of it was so that he wouldn't suspect anything, and part of it was because she was angry that he had to be so damn handsome.
Why does he have to have warm, soft hands? Why does his eyes make me want to melt in them? Why did I have to fall in love with him?
She had asked herself that last question many times, but never got an answer. But she did have to answer Nagihiko.
"I don't see why I have to dance with you," she said spitefully. "I don't want to." It was partly true.
"Why not? We danced together before," said Nagihiko.
"Well that was different," she said stubbornly.
"How was that different?" he asked her.
"Because...it feels really weird to dance with you when you're going out with Amu," she shot back. She just had to cause herself more pain, didn't she?
"Oh...right..." said Nagihiko. He was gazing in the direction of Amu. Rima felt anger surging up, but tried to control it. Don't lose control. This is for Amu. Don't be selfish, Rima.
For the rest of the dance, she kept quiet and refused to look at him anymore. The moment the music stopped she let go of Nagihiko's hands and stalked off to catch up with Amu.
"Hey Amu," said Rima. "How was your dance?"
Amu sweat-dropped. "I accidentally stepped on Kairi's feet a few times." Kairi winced, as if to prove the point. Yaya walked to them and said, "That was fun!"
"Who did you dance with?" asked Amu.
"Umm...that old man over there," replied Yaya, pointing to a nearly bald old man.
The others sweat-dropped.
"What about you?" asked Amu.
"Nagihiko dances like a girl," said Rima shortly.
"And Rima can't dance at all," said Nagihiko when he came. Rima glared at him (hey, she wasn't that bad) and Nagihiko returned it with a smile. "Haha, actually you were quite good at dancing."
Rima mumbled "stupid" under her breath. He was not allowed to compliment her right now.
"I bet you were good Rima," said Amu smiling. Now that compliment Rima could take with a smile.
"And now it's time for the Christmas Presents exchange," said Utau. She sounded like one of those advertising people on TV, thought Rima.
Everyone scrambled for the giant tree, so it took fifteen minutes before they could get all the presents to the table. Yaya opened all hers first and yelled "cute!" at every single one, since everyone had gotten her cute things. Kairi of course, formally said thanks to everyone in his mature manner, though when he saw the Samurai guide he started reading it and was deaf to whatever else anyone said. Kukai, who had now joined them along with Utau, gave praise enthusiastically to whoever gave him a present.
Amu opened hers and blushed at whatever she got. When she saw Rima's gift, she cried out happily and gave Rima a hug. Rima was happy, though that feeling was not to last as Amu opened Nagihiko's gift.
"Wow," she gasped. She held up a giant jewellery box which had intricate designs of flowers and ribbons. When she opened it, there was a dancer which revolved slowly on the spot, with a tinkle of music. "It's beautiful." She stood up and hugged Nagihiko. Rima flinched and was about to run away but Yaya gripped her shirt from behind without anyone noticing.
Amu put the box away, much to Rima's relief and looked at a package. "Oh, this is from..." her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. She hastily put away the present without opening it. "Okay," she said. "Now it's Rima's turn."
Rima had gotten a limited edition bala-balace figurine from Utau, a cap from Kukai, a book 'The History of Comedy' from Kairi, the latest edition of Rima's favourite gag manga from Yaya, and a bracelet from Amu with a teardrop and star charm. Rima smiled at Amu gratefully for the present (even though she knew that Yaya had asked Amu to get it). Rima felt overjoyed that they both now had something to symbolise their friendship.
"Thank you everyone," said Rima, giving one of her are smiles to at all of them.
"Yo," said Rizumu flying over. "You haven't opened Nagihiko's present yet."
"Oh, right," she said. She was hoping that nobody would notice and that she could just open it at home.
It was really small, maybe it was a pen or something then she wouldn't have to thank Nagihiko that much. She opened the neatly folded wrapping, taking as long as she possibly could. At last, everyone could see a small black box. Yup, definitely a pen.
"Go on, open it," said Amu excitedly.
Rima opened it confidently and looked into the box. Her hands suddenly grew numb. There was a black choker inside. It wouldn't have been that much a big deal to her, if it wasn't for the sakura flower on it. Suddenly, she flashed back to when she and Nagihiko were at the fair with Yaya's brother, when Nagihiko held her cheek. Rima felt another stab of pain at her chest, and refrained from wincing. Why did it have to be a sakura? It could've been a ribbon, or a rose, but instead it was a sakura.
"How do you like it?" questioned Nagihiko.
"I – I think..." she said, unsure what to say. She hated it. It just had to remind her about that day – yet – she felt like it was precious, because that day was special to her.
"Hey, don't be unfair," said Utau suddenly. "She already said 'thank you' to everyone so there's no need to get another opinion out of her."
"Of course," said Yaya cheerfully. "That's not in her character, right? So no need to go and push her."
Rima stared at the both of them. Yaya had just saved her life again, with the help of Utau too.
"That's right," said Rima. She glared meaningfully at Nagihiko, who just shrugged.
"Nagihiko comes next," said Yaya.
"How come you guys started without me?" asked Ikuto, walking right up to them.
"It's not our fault that you were eating first," said Amu. "Anyway, we're opening Nagihiko's presents now. "
"Oh yeah, thanks for the violin case, Amu," said Ikuto.
"Hey, how come I don't get a thanks for the present I gave you," complained Utau.
"Because you're family, so it doesn't count," said Ikuto simply.
Utau grumbled quietly while Kukai comforted her, obviously holding back a laugh.
"By the way," said Ikuto, now looking at all of them. "Speaking of presents, I have a surprise for you guys."
Everyone, including Rima, looked up at Ikuto, with interest.
"Well, what is it?" asked Yaya impatiently.
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," he said, smirking.
"Come on! Tell us," pleaded Yaya, who didn't like to not-know something.
"Like I said, you'll have to see. It'll come in one week. That's all I'm saying," said Ikuto with the same infuriating smirk. Even Rima had to admit that she was curious about what the surprise was.
"Well," said Kairi, finally clamping his book shut. "School starts in one week, so whatever the surprise is must be happening in school."The group stared at Kairi. Even Ikuto looked slightly taken aback by Kairi's deduction.
"AHAH!" yelled Yaya triumphantly. "It's going to be in school...I KNOW! The music teacher has resigned, and that means that the job is open...YOU'RE BECOMING OUR NEW MUSIC TEACHER!"
The group then looked at Ikuto and he just smirked. "You guys know me better than that. Why would I become a teacher? That would take all the fun out of life," he said.
"Yeah, a stray cat like him wouldn't take a job in one place," said Amu.
"Then what is it?" demanded Yaya. "What's the surprise?" Ikuto stayed silent and smirked at her, clearly enjoying tormenting the little girl.
Ping!
"WAHHHH! I WANT TO KNOW NOW!," wailed Yaya, in baby mode. It took them nearly ten minutes to calm her down. "Anyway," she said. "Let's get back to the present opening."
Nagihiko took out his bag and opened a package, which Rima knew was Amu's, judging by her face turning pink. He held out a teddy bear with an X-clipp and a pink sweater on it.
"I know it's really bad," said Amu turning away, her face growing redder. "But I heard of a make a teddy-bear kit that you were supposed to give to the one you like and I wanted to make something for you that would remind you of me." Amu turned back to Nagihiko to see his reaction.
Nagihiko smiled, and took Amu's hand. "It's perfect," said Nagihiko. They both smiled at each other.
As always, they looked like a perfect couple. Something Rima could never compare to. Rima looked down as her eyes darkened, hoping they would let go soon.
"Oho! There's love in the air," cried out Eru suddenly. Amu and Nagihiko lt go of each others hands and they both turned pink.
"Stop it!" said Amu nervously.
"Lovey-Dovey love! Lovey-Dovey Love!" chanted Eru, then she suddenly stopped. "I smell jealousy!" Rima tensed. Please, don't look at me.
"Amu-chi and Nagi have lots of fans," said Yaya. "There would be lots of jealousy!"
The group broke into a laugh, and Rima forced a small felt it was safe to stop staring at the ground, and looked up. Her eyes strayed to Nagihiko's presents. She spotted hers under the pile of the others. Her heart nearly stopped again. She couldn't watch Nagihiko open her present. She wouldn't be able to.
She then heard a loud beep come from her bag and everyone looked at her. She opened her phone and read a text message...from Yaya?
"A true samurai knows when it is time to retreat...I saw that in Kairi's book!" it read. She looked up, and Yaya winked at her. She flashed her the smallest of smiles.
"I'm sorry guys," said Rima in an air of great disappointment. "My Okaa-san says I have to go home now." She put her phone back in her bag. "Bye." She turned around and started walking away.
"Bye," chorused the others, since they all knew about her strict parents.
At the gate to the party, she broke into a run, to get as far away as possible to the one who caused her so much pain.
A/N: That was my longest chapter yet, more than 4800 words! It was going to be longer but I'll save it for the next chapter. The msuic-box present was KasumiAmu's idea, so thank you! And the teddy bear from Amu was inspired from 'CardCaptorSakura'. The interesting event will be in the next chapter, or maybe the chapter after that.
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