I open my eyes to see my bedroom ceiling. Something feels... off, somehow. I sit up and notice a jar in my hand.

"Eh? What's this?" I wonder aloud. I then stand up and notice four eggs lying in my bed.

Suddenly, the jar in my hand slips from my grasp, falling to the floor and shattering. I gasp, and kneel to pick up the pieces of the jar as strange multi colored gas floats up from the jar, and sick, evil black gas rises sluggishly into the Suddenly, images flash across the backs of my eyelids, names echoing in my head. First, four small people, one in pink, one blue, one yellow, one in green.

'Ran, Miki, Dia, Su.'

'Guardian Charas.'

A girl with long blonde hair, bat wings and a red outfit on, with a small angel floating in the air beside

'Utau, Il, El.'

A boy with blue hair, black clothes, cat ears and a tail. Beside him is a small creature with cat ears, a tail, and paws.

"Amu-nya!" I

"Yoru..." I whisper.

An image of a group of small people sitting in a semi circle around a kingly looking person.

'Kiseki, Temuri, Rhythm, Il, El, Yoru, Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, Daichi, Pepe, Kusukusu, Musashi.'

Another image of the boy with neko ears.

"Ikuto..." I whisper as the name appears in my head. As I whisper the name, it echoes through my heart, soul and the images flash by faster and faster: Ikuto saving me from a man-

'Nikaidou.'

Ikuto helping me hunt X Eggs, Ikuto staying at my house, in my bed. Ikuto giving me candy after breaking the tart, after Tadase's and my ice cream were dropped in a scuffle. Ikuto rescuing me from the shell fired by Easter.

The images stop as I realize something- something big. I loved- no, that's not right. I love Ikuto. I laugh bitterly and drop my head onto the floor. The glass, mysteriously is gone. Tears well up and sobs wrack my frame.

"Of course I wouldn't realize until he was dead." I laugh once more, the bitterness in it scaring me to the point that I am grateful when the memories begin anew, with feelings this time. I laugh at Yaya and Rima's antics, blush at flirting from Ikuto, and cry as the most recent memories come back to me.

FLASHBACK

"Kiseki, Tadase! No!" I scream. The other guardians are already dead. I'm exhausted from the emotional strain and from fighting all of the X Egg generated monsters and inventions sent by Easter. I crawl over to Tadase and watch his chara transform fade away and then Kiseki fade as well. I collapse beside him and he slips his hand into mine, twining our fingers together.

"I know... you don't... love me anymore, but... please." He rasps out. "Just till i'm gone." I nod, wishing I could reassure him everything would be ok, that we'd be fine. But I couldn't bring myself to lie to him or give him false hope. We both knew we weren't both coming out of this

When I feel his pulse stop through our connection, I gently pull away to look at Tadase's tear streaked but smiling face and almost start crying again until I hear a familiar voice scream, "Ikuto!"

I jerk around to see Utau propping herself up on one elbow, staring with a horrified expression on her face. I follow her line of vision and gasp. Ikuto has been trapped from the waist down by goop an X Chara created, and he cannot move. Yoru hovers before him, determinedly protecting his friend and master, though he is clearly exhausted.

"Stop, Yoru!" Ikuto growls fiercly.

"I won't-nya!" Yoru exclaims defiantly, defending his neko brother till the end.

I drag myself to my feet, stumbling over to Ikuto with Miki, Ran, Dia, and Su following behind me, just as exhausted as I am. On our slow journey, Il and El join us, their mistress too weak to stand. I speed up as the X Eggs begin attacking Yoru. I join him before Ikuto and my charas ignore me and join Utau's before me. I stand helpless as the X Eggs attack my charas, destroying them. Unlike the others, however, before they are fully destroyed, they are sucked back into their eggs and into me. Utau's charas are destroyed and I cry once more as there is no way to survive that.

"Argh!" I hear from beside me. I turn and see Yoru fading slowly away.

"No!" I scream. As I do, the Humpty Lock glows brightly, the light intensifying more and more until I fall

When I awaken, I first see Ikuto beside me. I crawl the short distance between us and see bis chest rising and falling.

'Still alive.' I think. 'Thank god.'

Ikuto opens his eyes and at their glazed appearance, my eyes water. "Ikuto. Don't you dare leave me!"

"Whatever happened to cool and spicy?" He teases.

"Screw cool and spicy!" I exclaim, leaning over him and burying my face in his chest, feeling his chest rumble weakly as he chuckles. He raises a hand and ruffles my hair gently.

"Well I like cool and spicy." He chuckles.

"Well I love you!" I exclaim desperately. I feel Ikuto tug weakly on my hair and I look up and see Ikuto leaning up and then I feel his warm lips on mine. By the time I recover, he begins to pull away. It is only when he collapses back to the ground that I realise he didnt pull

He died.

"IKUTOOOOO!NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I scream.

FLASHBACK END

"NOOOOO!" I scream. "IKUTO!"

I pass out.

Ikuto POV

I followed the sound of my name and found an elementary girl writhing on the floor as though in agony. At first I thought she meant someone else until she muttered, "Ikuto, Yoru, i'm so sorry." I turn to Yoru and he shrugs. Suddenly I notice 5 guardian eggs on the girl's bed. One yellow and black with diamonds, another blue and black with spades, one pink and black with hearts, and another that is green and black with clovers. The fifth egg is whitish silver with a black shield and an orange crest of the Humpty Lock. Behind the shield is a red sword crossing a purple one.