Chapter 41

Hey!

So sorry for updating late! _ You see, last week was our final exams for the quarter and I needed to CRAM!

TeeHee! I passed Math, Science and History but I failed Filipino (A subject from our country…)Anyway, Sorry for babbling. On with the story!

"NA-GI-HI-KO!" She grunted.

It was unexpected but somehow, an arrow was there, zipping by towards Nagihiko's direction. It stopped right before his chest, or before the deathsicles could hit him. It glowed then the deathsicle broke.

All eyes were immediately on Rima. She looked at her hands.

Why was she holding a glowing bow and arrow?

~~~~~~~~Rima's POV~~~~~~~~

I examined the bow and arrow made of fine wood. I wasn't holding anything just a little while ago so how'd I end up with these weapons.

"AIM!"

I heard something say to me. I frowned. Is that my conscience?

"…"

"Just aim the bow and arrow, Rima-tan! Don't worry!"

I suck at sports! I can't even do something as much as dribbling and you expect me to aim and shoot? Yeah right! Oh and isn't this wonderful? I'm talking to myself in my head! T_T

"…"

…

"Just aim and shoot!"

No way!

"Do it or else…"

Or else what…

"Character Change!"

Wait! Chara…change…? ARE YOU MY CHARA?

Bow and arrow marks replaced the star and raindrop ones from Kusukusu.

My body moved involuntarily and before I knew it, the stretching sound of the bow's rope against the arrow was auible.

I let go of the rope and sent the arrow hurling towards Tanaka. She simply stepped to the side. Was my aiming that bad?

"Rima! Watch out!"

I blinked, and when I opened my eyes Yumei Takai, along with a bunch of deathsicles were circling me! I dropped my bow and arrow because of the shock. "Nani?" I cried. Kusukusu was outside, trying to get to me. "No, Kusukusu! Don't!" I screamed. She wearily looked up, her lips were curved and her eyes were wet. "But Rima!" She whined.

I panicked when I saw the deathly attack getting smaller, and smaller, with me in the middle. Now, it was merely a few inches from my nose.

"RIMA!" My friends cried. I could make out their expressions through my mind, but I couldn't see them with my eyes. Everything was circling me so fast, like a tornado, and I would get dizzy trying to focus on one thing.

"Rima!"

"Rima! We're going to help you! Don't worry!"

"Queen, just hang in there!"

My legs staggered and my eyesight blurred. Before I could shut my eyes, a sharp knife shot me in the leg. I screamed in pain as I watched blood ooze out of my outfit. Another one came and gave me a scratch on the shoulder. I knelt on the ground, tears striking my eyes.

"ITAII!" I yelped.

Somewhere outside, I could hear Tanaka chuckle. "I wouldn't want you to die peacefully, you know…after all you've done to me…"

Another scratch, this time, on the elbow. I let out another scream.

"Rima!"

"Are you okay? Where are you?" I heard my friends cry.

At that moment, there was only one thing on my mind: "WHERE THE HELL WAS NAGIHIKO?"

"Rima!"

"Rima! Answer me!"

My friend's voices shook.

"Rima!"

"Can you get out?"

"Are you okay?"

"Please survive for us!"

Suddenly, there was silence. I thought for a moment that I just lost my sense of hearing because I was dying, but my theory was proved wrong when a bright, white light flashed, followed by the words of a boy saying,

"Boku no Kokoro: UNLOCK!"

I knew that voice. Without hesitation I yelled, "Nagihiko?"

The white light from the other side of this tornado blinded me. All of a sudden, I found myself being lifted by a white light too. It was painful at first, because of all these wounds, but it was also somehow very soothing and after sometime I was hardly in any pain! "Charanari…?" I wondered out loud. When the light got stronger, I knew what I had to do. I hesitantly placed my hands before my chest then said

"Watashi no kokoro: Unlock!"

Everything then happened so fast, and I was immediately face-to-face with Nagihiko. His face dropped when he saw my condition. "Rima, you're bleeding…" He said with worry. I looked down so my bangs covered my eyes. "Can we talk about this later…?" I said. He slowly nodded, though he was biting his lip out of nervousness. A chara then appeared before us. He and I gasped. "Taki…?" We both said in unison. The chara had a hair like mine, only with a streak of purple and her hair was tied up in two low twin tails. She wore a white, long, 18th century dress, tight until the elbow and it loosens up to the tips of her fingers. On her left hand was a bow and arrow.

She grinned then went inside her egg before merging into two and disappearing into me and Nagihiko's individual hearts.

"Good Luck, Rima…Nagihiko…"

"Charanari: Heaven's Archer!"

"Charanari: Heavens' Sword!"

Finally, we landed on our feet on a piece of wood. I instinctively aimed my arrow at the arrogant, snobby, unwanted, hideous, terrible, overly-proud idiot in black clothing.

"You ready to die, you arrogant, snobby, unwanted, hideous, terrible, over-proud idiot?" I yelled. Nagihiko, who was beside me, sweat-dropped. "You could just call her Tanaka you know…" He muttered.

I aimed where she was, which was left…

No…Right.

I mean UP!

I MEAN DOWN!

I mean…GAH!

"Nagi, she's moving to fast!" I whined to the boy beside me. He sighed then bravely zoomed towards the girl then miraculously stabbed her right shoulder with his sword. She yelped in pain as I watched with amusement.

He repeatedly stabbed her- in the arm, the head, the thigh, the palm…NOTHING! She wasn't dying! Nagihiko was about to thrust the sword into her chest but she immediately shielded it with her arms. She yelped once again at the sudden pain. Nagihiko must've noticed her effort to protect her chest so he tried to stab her again but she said something that only he could hear- something that made him abruptly stop and stare at her with wide eyes. I frowned.

"Nagi! Why are you holding back?" Utau asked from the plane, her eyes burning with determination. Tanaka said something to him again, and he instantly took a step back.

"Nagihiko…?" I said.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with misery. Seeing those normally big, innocent brown eyes full of misery made my heart skip a beat- not because of happiness but because of a sudden pang of pain and sadness. He took a deep breath then said, "You know we can end this now…" He croaked. We all cocked our heads, except for Rikka, Hikaru, Lulu and Utau (Hikaru, Rikka and Lulu because they had absolutely no idea what was going on. Utau because right after Nagihiko said that she yelled, "OF COURSE WE CAN, KID! STAB HER AND KILL HER THAT'S HOW TO DO IT!" but everyone tried to ignore her)

"How?" I asked, trying to play along. Nagihiko purposely dropped his sword. "…by giving in to Tanaka? And promising to not ever save another x-egg?" He said it so unsurely.

We all gasped.

Whatever Tanaka told him must've been brutal. As usual, Amu was the first to speak up. "Nade-err…Nagi-err…WHATEVER YOUR TRUE NAME AND GENDER IS! What's going on?" She demanded. The indigo-haired boy sighed. "Think about it this way. Tanaka just badly injured Rima-chan, and since those wounds have come from her deathsicles, she may use those wounds as an advantage and do whatever she likes with Rima's body!" He said all that in a single breath. How did he do that? Can he sing like Oprah too?

You know, I should really stop going off-topic when things are only getting dramatic…

"Looks like you're both in a tight spot…" Said the voice, that we all know belongs to Taki.

Can Nagihiko hear you too?

"Yes" She answered. She then chuckled.

Why the hell was my chara laughing, now of all times?

"You don't get it, do you? I'm no ordinary chara so you're both in no ordinary charanaris! I was born from your desire to protect each other so some threat like this couldn't kill you, Rima-chan, as long as it's still Nagi's desire to protect you. Hear that, Nagi?"

She was talking to the purple-head while in my mind!

I looked at Nagihiko, and he looked at me. He anxiously bit his lip before he had gathered enough courage to face Tanaka. Then, he said, "I change my mind. Turns out I just really want to kill you after all!" He smirked. Tanaka seemed taken aback by this action, at first, but then she curled her arms at me. Immediately, I felt the wounds open up again, and I accidentally let out a scream at the sudden pain. Amu and the rest panicked.

"NADESHIKO, STOP!" She cried. Nagihiko snapped his head up then he turned to me. "Rima-chan?"

"I-it's okay…just s-stab her…" I winced. Nagihiko tightened his fists until it turned white then he once again tried to stab Tanaka's chest. She covered it with her palm but this time, it went through and hit her chest anyway.

The scream she made after that made her previous yelps of pain seem like nothing, because this time she actually bled and yelped non-stop.

My eyes blurred and so I rubbed it with my bloodied hands.

My body began feeling weaker by the moment.

I looked at Tanaka with my heavy eyelids…

She wasn't dying…

Why…Taki…?

"Aim!" She chirped.

I struggled to get up by my body seemed to be too heavy for my feet at the moment.

Taki…it hurts! I wasn't protected and…

"Nagihiko needs your help, Rima-chan! Aim and shoot! I'll explain everything later"

Yeah! When I'm in heaven!

…Or hell…

I heard Taki sigh.

"Rima-tan, please trust me on this!" She pleaded.

I had a strange urge to trust her. First of all, because the sword Nagihiko had thrust into Tanaka was slowly vanishing and Tanaka was slowly healing. Second, it's this instinct to trust Taki, as a chara, just like I trust Kusukusu. I tried to get up once again but was too weak- not to mention I could hardly see. All I could see were blurred images and some stains of red blood that was probably all over my hair now.

"Aim while lying down!" Taki told me.

I didn't have time to complain. The sword was nearly vanished and everyone was too panicked to think about what to do. I was once again hearing that stretching noise of the rope of the bow against the arrow. I shut my left eye so I could get a better aim and once I got an aim at her heart, I fired. It's weird, though, because right after I fired, I felt all my strength die away. I lay my head then…everything turned dark.

The last thing I heard was an agonizing scream and the last thing I saw was a huge black light that immediately diminished…

"…ma…"

"…ima…"

"Rima"

"RIMA...please"

"RIMA!"

"RIMA, WAKE UP!"

I slowly parted my heavy eyes, only to meet a pair of brown eyes staring back at me. Those innocent eyes that showed worry, washed with relief once I did open my eyes. "I'm glad you're okay, Rima-chan…" He chuckled. He walked away then held onto his head as if he were exhausted. I looked at Tadase, whose face was also close to mine. In fact, EVERYONE'S faces was close to mine. They all circled me, though Nagi was the closest.

"Hotori-kun, what's wrong with Nagihiko? He looks so exhausted" My voce slightly cracked, probably because I haven't been speaking in quite awhile. He sighed. "Fujisaki-kun was the one worried the most about you" He said. I looked at Nagihiko, who was squatted to the ground and messing his hair around in exhaustion. Was he really that worried?

My mind clicked and then I remembered something. I abruptly sat up then looked around.

"Where's Tanaka?" I asked, alarmed.

"You mean that chic I thought was hot…" Zack muttered. His face was full of embarrassment, obviously because he thought Tanaka was hot. Maybe he was also embarrassed about the whole crushing on Nadeshiko thing too.

No. Not maybe. He would definitely be embarrassed about crushing on a boy.

Zack took a deep breath before he could continue, "You killed her with your arrow. She's gone…" He said.

I looked at my surroundings. I was inside the plane. Amu slumped on a corner then cried, along with Utau and Midori. The boys were only huddled on the ground, silent and somehow awkward.

Seeing Kukai being silent meant something was seriously wrong.

"What's with this melancholic atmosphere…?" I wondered.

I turned to Bailee, Midori and Cody, who looked like the only ones with the ability to talk properly and not in between sobs. The three bowed their heads, but Cody said, anyway, "Your peppy friend still couldn't be fond. Same with your green-haired friend" He said dully.

And there!

You know, something's REALLY been bothering me and since hardly any of my friends are still Shugo Chara fans, I wanted to ask you guys how you reacted when you found out that Nadeshiko was actually a boy!

I'm just so curious :))

Anyway, Thanks so much for all your support! I would really appreciate any reviews coming from you guys!

This story is coming to its possibly last chapter in the next one, but I think I'll go make a new, AU, Shugo Chara story (Rimahiko, of course) I still can't get over Shugo Chara!