Hey again. It's me, Alts. I think I made this chapter longer than the previous one. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara nor any of its characters.
BTW, the story will remain with Ikuto narrating.
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Chapter 2. Hinamori Amu Part 1 and New Encounters.
I woke up to the sound of that annoying alarm at 5:00 am. Instead of hitting the snooze button, I threw the chiming alarm clock against the wall, smashing it into little bits. That was the fifth alarm clock I destroyed this week.
Clearly, I am not a morning person.
I dragged my pathetic self out of bed and tiptoed over the piles of clothes and other junk, trying to head for the bathroom. I didn't trip this time, which was a surprise.
I have a feeling it'll be a great day today, even though my life is not so great.
I brushed my teeth, which were, for some reason, unusually sharp. One time, I tried to pick some food out of my teeth, but my teeth pricked my finger, making it bleed. Utau had teased me, calling me a wolf. I got annoyed at that, because I'm a cat-lover, not a dog-lover.
I lazily dressed myself in my black uniform before heading downstairs and switched the t.v. on as I made myself toast.
It was the horoscope show, which I rarely watched. I don't believe in horoscopes. They're basically lies that either make you feel more hopeful or more depressed. It's a scam.
"Today, the Sagittarius will have great luck!" the peppy lady said happily. "You will find yourself in some life-changing situations, and for the better, too!"
I smiled a little bit, even though I knew full well that it was a lie. I was a Sagittarius, and one could never have too much good luck. I hoped that life-changing situation she was talking about would be about the Easter Corp job.
Then, I heard my cell phone ring. It was the beginning of Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. I prefer oldies to the stupid pop songs with the same repetitive lyrics about love and life that they sing today.
"Yo?" I asked as I picked it up.
"Hey, Aoi-kun!" It was Fuyuki.
"What?" I asked with a sigh. Whenever Fuyuki calls, it's always about Easter Corps.
"Well, Gozen, Director Hoshina, and the rest of the Easter Corp board members are going to America for a while to attend to some important business. Since there's no one order around to make orders, all the Easter Corp members will have an entire week off, including me and you!" Fuyuki yelled excitedly.
I almost dropped my cell phone in shock.
"Yes!" I yelled happily. Having all of the heads leave on a business trip was a once-in-a-lifetime rarity, and I was going to savor this sweet moment.
My depressing life has finally gotten a turn for the better.
"I gotta go now. I have a date to attend," Fuyuki said suavely.
"Make sure you don't mess up as badly as last time," I replied.
"Oh Aoi-kun! Last time was different," he said shyly.
"Sure it was..." I said sarcastically.
"I'll see you later, then. Kirishima Fuyuki, signing off!" Then, he hung up.
I looked at the clock. It was ten minutes before school started so I got my toast, took a bite on it, picked my backpack then left.
I was nearing the school, when I saw three guys surrounding a girl with odd pink hair. They were all in the middle division in my school, because they were wearing green plaid uniforms.
"God, what is with boys these days? They need to have three of them to beat one girl!" the pink-haired girl taunted. "This just proves that girls are better than guys!"
"What?" the boys yelled outraged.
"Come on! I can take all three ofyou on!" she roared, going into a fighting stance. I watched her intently. That girl was speaking so haughtily, but I could see her fists shaking. It was like she was trying to put an outer façade to fool other people.
But it didn't fool me. I guess I have to help out now. I sighed.
"Oy!" I called out.
The boys turned abruptly. "What!" they yelled. But then they took a look at me. The high school uniform. The enforcer arm band I was wearing.
Yup, they knew that meant quite some trouble.
By the way, I was in the enforcement group of the school, which enforces the school law and allows the enforcer to use violence if necessary. The qualification tests were supposed to be super hard, but it was pretty easy for me, since the Easter job was harder. I didn't want to join, but my parents made me, saying it would be good for me.
Therefore another reason I don't have friends. Everyone's too scared of enforcers, since most of the people in the school do stuff that most students shouldn't do. For example, smoking weed in the bathroom.
"You know, three against one isn't a fair fight," I said, trying to act powerful and threatening. "So if I see you guys doing this again, I'll beat the crap out of you. So scram!"
"YES SIR!" They roared, before running like scared cats.
"You know, I could have handled that myself," the girl said cheekily as she crossed her arms.
"It's my job to help others," I replied. "Especially certain weak little girls whose fists were shaking in fear."
What?" the girl yelled, outraged. "I was not scared!"
"Sure you weren't," I said sarcastically. "Miss..."
"Hinamori Amu," she said coolly, her honey golden eyes staring intensely at me.
"So, Miss Hinamori Amu..." I started. "Let me guess. When you were first introduced to your class, you messed up, giving the wrong impression. And now you're stuck with this tough, cool girl personality for the rest of your school years here."
"What? How did you figure all of that out?" she replied, flustered. She started blushing so much that her cheeks were as pink as her hair.
I laughed. Then I patted her head. "Just be yourself. Trust me on this one."
Yeah. Because I knew someone just like you. A girl like you, who kept up an outer facade, from long, long ago.
Amu got a little red in the face.
"Get your hand off me," she growled. I immediately took my hand off her head.
"Sorry. It was on impulse," I said nervously. She gets really irritated easily like Utau. Maybe they could be friends. But then the first bell rang.
"I got to go," I muttered. Then I started running to my homeroom.
"Wait!" Amu called out.
I turned around abruptly. "What?" I asked, exasperated.
"Will I see you again?" she asked.
I smiled softly.
"Yeah," I said, before I started running again to my homeroom. I kept running for a while, then I stopped. I just realized that running was pointless.
Enforcers can have a lot of excuses to be late to class.
I sighed and started walking. That was a complete waste of my energy. I headed for my homeroom, which was Room C-3. I opened the door and saw Nikaidou-sensei- a very klutzy teacher by the way- doing a lecture. He spotted me.
"Ah, Tsukiyomi-kun. You're late," he said with a smile. I saw some classmates snickering at me. I'm attracting attention, and I don't like attention.
"Sorry, Nikaidou-sensei," I said dully. "I was late because I was stopping a fight."
"Oh, really?" Nikaidou-sensei replied, impressed. "Well then. I won't mark you in tardy. Now go sit down and turn to page 58 in your English book."
I walked to the back of my classroom and plopped myself into my seat. As I took my English textbook out and turned to the page. I heard some students whispering.
"Wow. Tsukiyomi-san stopped a fight."
"Yeah. And I never noticed it, but isn't he cute, too?"
"And that aloof way he acts. It's so cool."
"Maybe enforcers aren't that bad, after all..."
I grimaced inside. I could hear the start of some stupid fan club, again. The lecture was absolutely boring, so I rested my head on the palm of my hand and stared out the window. I felt myself dozing off when Nikaidou-sensei called my name.
Tsukiyomi-kun," he called out.
"Yes?" I asked, boredly. I was still in some kind of daze.
"Please read pages 62-65 in English," he said promptly. "It's the punishment for dozing off in my class."
I shrugged. I stood up and started reading flawlessly. I was so dazed that I forgot to hold back. I'm actually pretty talented, but I hate attention, so I try to seem average. I read quickly with the right pronunciation, as if I just came back from America. By the time I was done, everybody's mouths were wide open, including Nikaidou-sensei's.
"Tsukiyomi-kun, that was superb!" he said. I shrugged yet again in response. Then I sat back down again, and started daydreaming while looking at the clouds outside. But certain voices were whispering behind me again, distracting me from my daydream.
"Wow. Tsukiyomi-san is so smart, too."
"I think I might be falling for him."
"He's getting more and more perfect by the day!"
I clenched my fist and bit my lip. More attention. Then the bell rang and everybody headed to their next class.
My next class was P.E. I went to the lockers and took off my shirt to change.
"Whoa," all the guys around me said.
I turned around abruptly. "What?" I asked, irritated. This attention business was getting more annoying by the second.
"Dude, you're really buff," one of the guys said.
"Really?" I asked, skeptically. I never thought myself as buff. I actually thought my own figure was skinny. It's probably because of all the extra work Earter Corp's been making me do.
"Look at that six-pack! And those abs! Where did you get them?" another guy asked, amazed.
I sighed. "I have been changing with you people for the last two months. Why is today the first time you noticed?"
"Well, Tsukiyomi-san, you always made it seem like you're not there, but for some reason today, you seem totally noticeable."
Gee. I put on my P.E. clothes and said," Great. Now you know." Then I went to the gym. My gym teacher was Yukari-sensei and she is one strict woman. She has absolutely no pity and she'll make you run ten laps if you're late, which, thankfully, I wasn't.
"Today class, we will be having boy-girl partners for push-up testing. One person will count the push-ups of the other person. Then they switch," Yukari-sensei said. "But today, you have to partner up with somebody from Kiba-sensei's class."
I frowned. I have to partner up with somebody, and it has to be a girl. Plus it's from Kiba-sensei's class, which was a class consisting of seventh graders. I have to... socialize with others. That sucks.
I looked around, trying to find a decent seventh grader. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind. I turned to see a flash a pink. It was that Hinamori Amu girl. "Hey, want to be my partner?" she asked, her cheeks a little red like before.
"EH? COOL & SPICY HINAMORI-SAN IS ASKING SOMEBODY TO BE HER PARTNER?" the seventh graders yelled in surprised, mostly the boys though.
"Cool & Spicy?" I asked skeptically at Amu. She smiled back nervously.
"It's part of my outer impression," she replied quietly.
"Ah. So apparently to everybody in this school, you are cool... and spicy?" I asked yet again.
"Shut up!" she said, annoyed. "Just do your dang push-ups."
"Fine, fine," I said, going down on the ground in push-up formation. "Make sure you count correctly."
"I'm not that incompetent!"
"Sure..." I rolled my eyes. Then I started doing push-ups, and at a fast rate, too. For some reason, I wasn't holding back like usual. Maybe I'm just really hyper today.
"Slow down!" She yelled. I ignored her and kept doing push-ups.
58, 59, 60, I counted in my head, then I stopped. "How much was that?" I asked. Amu was surprised and confused.
"Um, um, 87?" she asked back. I laughed.
"That's a ridiculous number!" I replied. "It should be around 63, I guess."
"Ok, then... um... what's your name?"
Oh yeah. I forgot to give it to her earlier. "Tsukiyomi Ikuto," I replied promptly. "You can call me Ikuto if you like. I'm not that big of a fan of proper manners and whatnot."
"Um, so um, I...ku...to-kun?" she asked, enunciating each syllable of my name. I patted her on the head again.
"Right." I said. "Now it's your turn to do push-ups."
"Joy... can't you just tell the teacher I did 20?" she asked, looking at me with the infamous puppy-dog look. The teary eyes. The quivering lip.
"Nope. You have to actually do push-ups," I said, completely unaffected by the puppy-dog look. As I said again, I'm a cat lover. Plus, Utau used that trick so many times that I've gotten 120% immune to it.
"Fine..." She went on the push-up position and did three push-ups, two of which were failed she gave up and layed there for the rest of the 60 seconds.
"Wow. Only one authentic push-up," I said.
"Didn't I do 3 though?" she asked, sitting up.
"I will not count those other pathetic push-ups! You had your hip touching the ground like a seal," I spat.
"Geez, okay!" she spat back.
Then Yukari-sensei and Kiba-sensei yelled. "Okay kids! Gather up!"
"Got to go," I muttered. "See you later."
"Yeah." Amu smiled. "See you later... Ikuto-kun." She blushed a bit as she said my name. I really don't get why she keeps turning red near me. I seated myself near Yukari-sensei and the rest of my class. She droned on and on about healthy eating and all that crap, then she sent us to the locker room.
"Hey, Tsukiyomi-san, how many push-ups did you do?" a certain emerald-eyed brunette asked.
"Um, 63, I think. My partner said it was 87, but that was too ridiculous of a number," I replied. I saw the brunette's emerald eyes sparkle in response. He took my hand immediately and started shaking it vigorously.
"I'm Souma Kukai! I like fit guys like you! I mean, I only did 53 push-ups, and I'm captain of the soccer team!" Kukai spoke really fast, and I could barely understand what he was saying.
"Nice to meet you..." I said, really confused.
"Anyway, I think we're going to be great buddies!" he said, swinging his arm around my neck, making me choke. Then, the bell rang, and he released me. "I'll see you later, pal!" Then he ran off to his next class. I immediately changed clothes, then grabbed my backpack and headed for my third period, which was music.
"We have just finished learning recorders, right?" Tonari-sensei asked.
"Yes," the class replied.
"Now, we start learning violins," he said. "Everybody, get a violin from the back."
Everybody started scrambling to the back for a violin, but I stayed in my seat and raised my hand.
"Yes, Tsukiyomi-kun?" Tonari-sensei asked.
"I have my own violin. Is it okay if I call somebody to bring it over?" I asked.
"Sure, but don't take too long."
I went out to the hallway, but instead of calling somebody on the phone, I took out the blue cat doll and called out Yoru. He appeared, half-awake. "What's the job~nyaa?" he asked sleepily.
"Yoru, get my violin," I commanded.
"What~nyaa? Ikuto, I'm a ghost, and I can only touch electricity~nyaa. How am I going to hold your violin~nyaa?" he asked.
"Correct. You're a ghost, which means you can possess somebody. Just go to my house, possess some random bystander, then fry my security system, then get my violin and come back," I said. "One more thing that's been bugging my mind ever since I met you. Why are you in a five-year-old form? You died when your mom was still pregnant with you."
"Well, Ikuto, do you prefer talking to a floating child, or a floating embryo~nyaa? That's why all the old dead people turn young, to make it easier for the eyes, since there's a lot of people with sixth sense everywhere~nyaa."
"True," I contemplated. "I would find it easier talking to a floating child than an embryo. But there aren't that many sixth sense people, are there?"
"You would be surprised how much there really are~nyaa. They just don't say anything~nyaa," he replied.
"Anyway, go now," I said, shooing him off.
"Fine~nyaa," he said, teleporting with a pop.
I waited for a few minutes, then saw some random, brown-haired guy walk up to me holding a violin case. "Here~nyaa," he said gruffly, handing me the case."That was a lot of work~nyaa!"
"Thanks," I muttered, trying not to laugh. Hearing a grown-up do that stupid "~nyaa" thing sounds really funny. "Now go return the person where he was originally."
"I know, I know~nyaa," he replied with a sigh, then he turned and started running. I went back to my classroom and seated myself in my seat, holding my case.
"Got everything, Tsukiyomi-kun?" Tonari-sensei asked. I nodded. Everybody already had their violins on their shoulder, though some of them had it on the wrong side. When I took out my violin out of its case, Tonari-sensei's eyes popped.
"Tsukiyomi-kun, is that a Stradivarius violin?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah. It was passed down from my dad to me," I replied.
"May I see this wonderful masterpiece of a violin?" he asked, his eyes sparkling. I sighed, then gave him the violin while having this "you drop it, you die" look on my face, but Tonari-sensei was too intent on my violin to see that.
"Class, this is a Stradivarius violin, one of the best in the world, and there are only 600 of these," he started. Then he started giving a lecture on the history and crap on it. I felt like falling asleep, but before I could completely shut my eyes, Tonari-sensei handed me back my violin. "Tsukiyomi-kun, how skilled are you at playing the violin?" he asked.
"Um, I'm okay, I guess," I mumbled.
"Would you mind if you could play something for us on that violin? Surely a Stradivarius violin owner must have some skill!"
I sighed. "Fine," I said.
I propped the violin up on my shoulder and started playing the first tune that popped into my head, which was an excerpt of the Devil's Trill Sonata(or Violin Sonata in G minor). It was the original version, not the Vanessa Mae one. I didn't feel like playing the entire thing because the entire song takes way over 10 minutes. When I finished, I heard lots of clapping from the students around me. I bowed, and took my seat again.
"Wonderful, Tsukiyomi-kun!" Tonari-sensei chirped while he clapped. "Even more than I expected."
"Thanks," I mumbled. I was feeling slightly irritated because of the many whispers about me.
"Oh my god. Isn't that Tsukiyomi-san from English?" One of the girls whispered.
"Yeah. I heard from the guys that he has a six-pack when they saw him change in P.E.," another said.
"He's hot, smart, and athletic! Plus he has musical talent!"
"A whole package in one! He's perfect!"
I couldn't handle it anymore. Every single class I've been in so far, I've been attracting attention, attention, and even more attention! I threw my bow and yelled back at those gossiping girls.
"Shut up!" I growled. "Stop whispering about me behind my back! I'm not perfect and you girls are so annoying that I would rather hang myself under a sakura tree than attempt to associate with any of you dimwits."
Whoa. I didn't think I would say all that. I turned around and plastered on a fake smile to Tonari-sensei.
"Sensei, I don't feel so good. May I go to the nurse's office?" I asked sweetly.
"Um, Tsukiyomi-ku-" he started, but I interrupted him.
"Please?" I asked with a sugary sweet voice, but the expression on my face said ,"You better say yes or I'll make the rest of your life miserable."
"Okay!" he yelped nervously as he immediately scrawled something on a pass. Then he handed it to me, his hand shaking. I took it and smiled.
"Thank you," I chirped. I went back to my desk and got my stuff. Then I went to the door, kicked it open with such strength that the glass on it started cracking a bit, then took my leave. The moment I left the classroom, I leaned on the wall and sighed. Then I started silently panicking. Great. What the hell was that Ikuto! I acted totally bipolar there! I am going to be in so much trouble later! I sighed again. Maybe I should just go to the nurse's office and fake a sickness.
"Um, Siva-sensei?" I asked in a (fake)sickly voice as I went inside the nurse's office. Siva-sensei was sitting there, typing on the keyboard. She stopped typing once she saw me.
"Yes, Tsukiyomi-kun?" she asked.
"I don't feel so good," I said with a groan.
"Do you think you need to go home early today?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah..."
"Okay. Um, what class did you come from?" she asked. I showed her the pass from Tonari-sensei.
"Oh, Tonari-san's class. Well, I'll write you in as sick in the attendance logs. You can go home now, Tsukiyomi-kun. Hope you feel better."
"Thanks," I replied with a weak smile. I left the nurse's office and started heading for the entrance, when I saw a girl with a long, purple ponytail. She looked elegant, but there was something off about her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. I saw that hall monitor arm band. She probably thought I was sneaking out of class. But her voice sounded different... at least for a girl.
"Um," I started. "Aren't you a guy?" The cross-dresser froze, then started laughing nervously.
"What made you think that?" he asked with a fake smile.
"Your voice," I said. "It's a slightly different pitch than a girl's. I can tell, because my dad taught me to recognize different pitches on instruments. A voice is no different when it comes to pitch."
The cross-dresser started speaking like a guy. "Don't tell anyone!"
"I won't, I won't," I said. "Cross-dresser."
"Shut up!" he retorted.
"But aren't you actually cross-dressing right now?" I asked seriously. "I just called you as you truly are, a cross-dresser."
"But-" he started. I interrupted him.
"I don't have time for this," I said with a sigh. Then I started sprinting to my house.
"Wait!" he called out, but of course I didn't wait. I ran even faster. I didn't stop until I got to the front porch of my house. I searched through my backpack for my key, then I opened the door. I seated myself on my couch and started to relax.
God, what a day it's been! I met a spunky outer-facade girl, an athletic fanatic, and a cross-dresser. School is filled with such colorful people. After thinking for a while, I felt myself falling asleep and get a long-awaited, non-nightmarish nap.
But before I fell asleep, I kept thinking about that cross-dresser. He looked so familiar.
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How was that? That was three times as long as the first chapter!
I'm a slow writer, so it took me a while to publish this chapter, because my mom was nagging me about my stupid homework, violin practice, tenor saxophone practice, clarinet practice, and exercising... and eating.
SO NOW I'M DONE! Please R&R!
Alts, signing off!
P.S. If you see some random parts, that's probably my editing notes. I'm not sure if I deleted them all...