I stayed for a little while longer before leaving the Royal Garden. Of course, I wanted to stay a lot longer and get to know the rest of the guardians more, but I knew my parents would get angry if I was gone too long. It was like they couldn't trust a daughter who gets expelled for an teensy-weensy little explosion. Typical parents. This time, I kept the egg in the pocket of my uniform jacket. The pocket was deep, so it seemed like a safer place for the egg then in my bookbag, where the numerous books, notebooks, etc. could possibly harm it. I walked home happily, with one hand on the egg, and the other touching the necklace at my neck. I often used it as a source of strength - whenever I was scared (which wasn't too terribly often) or really angry or (as in this case) really happy, I would touch it. It was just one of those weird habits of mine.
As soon as I walked in the door, my mom called out from the living room. "How was your first day of school? Did you behave yourself?" It sounded like she was trying her best to sound optimistic, though I knew she was still angry at me for getting kicked out of my other school.
"Fine." I said unenthusiastically as I walked up the stairs to my room, hiding how excited I actually was. This had been probably the best day of my life so far. I wrote for a bit, my emotions and feelings being conveyed through my work. Now, the three noble characters of my story no longer seemed quite so boring. I simply added some guardian-like characteristics to them here and there - one wanted to conquer so that he could make everyone's lives better. Another loved to joke, and laughed a lot. The third was undecided as to what she wanted to do with her life, and so tried everything.
Amazing how much a shugo chara can reveal about a person. I thought as I typed away the story on my computer. Which got me thinking some more. What will my shugo chara reveal about me? Will the guardians learn who I really am - a power-hungry, nobleness-hating villain? That thought scared me. They would probably never talk to me again if they found that out. And as much as I wanted to say that I couldn't stand their stupid little morals, it was untrue. Perhaps I wanted to be evil, but I still liked them. In just a day, I had laughed harder than I probably ever had before. All because of them. As much as I wanted to say I liked being on my own, I knew that I enjoyed their company. They were a fun group, and I really wanted to spend more time with them.
I moved my swivel-chair back and twirled it. I had been so happy when I got it last year from my parents. Of course, that was before I'd done anything really bad. They'd gotten me an actual desk along with it, saying they wanted me to keep my grades up. On top of the desk was the family laptop, though I was usually the only one to use it. A chair was probably an odd thing for a young girl to get excited about, but twirling in a circle really helped me think. I held the egg in my lap as I spun, ideas and thoughts tumbling around my head in the process.
Suddenly, an idea came to my head. "I want to go walk around town." I said to myself, thinking aloud. I hardly ever wanted to go outside - usually, I was content to just sit in my room and read, write, or surf the internet. But today was different. I was still hyper from the events of the day, and staying in my room seemed like absolutely the most boring activity in the world. Not to mention, it was only about five in the afternoon, which would leave me stuck in my room for another five hours or so before actually going to bed. Of course, my parents would never let a juvenile delinquent like me out to roam the streets. I thought glumly as I continued my spinning.
Suddenly, I felt movement from the egg in my hands. It was rocking harder than I'd felt it all that day. I stopped spinning, and watched with delight as the egg floated upwards until it was eye-level. A zig-zagging line appeared around it's middle, then darkened as the fracture in the shell grew deeper. It's hatching! I thought to myself, pointing out the obvious. With a final loud crack, the two parts of the shell flew off and disappeared, revealing my very own shugo chara.
She was the same size of the other shugo charas. To my disappointment, she wasn't completely a dragon. But she was close. She still had the general human body - she was skinny (for the size of a shugo chara, that is), and wore a smooth black skirt that cut off just above the knees, as well as a semi-loose, long sleeve black shirt. All in all, a very elegant yet practical outfit. On her feet was what looked like tight-fitting footsies made to look like dragon feet (with claws at the end of three menacing-looking, purple-scaled toes), Whether they were shoes or what, I could tell those claws would hurt to be scratched by. Her hands looked like regular hands. Except perhaps for the fact that her fingernails were really more talon-like: thick, long, curved, and sharp. Her hair was long, and it draped down her back in a beautiful fashion, matching the elegance of her outfit. Oh, and the hair was purple. I realized it was the same shade of purple as her dragon-feet, as well as the same shade that could be found streaked through my own hair. It was my favorite color - a nice, deep violet. Her eyes were ever so slightly slanted, and her pupils were like a cat's: slim and vertical, rather than round. Around them, a light shade of red (though not so light that it could even come close to being called pink) colored the iris. One of the eyes was partially covered with stylish bangs of her purple hair. From a black cord around her neck hung a small red sphere, of the same shade as her eyes.
And though she looked amazing by all those standards, that wasn't the best part. Sprouting out of her back were two dragon-like wings, the same color of purple as so much of the rest of her. In addition to this, she also had a slim yet strong violet dragon tail. Both seemed to sprout out of the clothing itself, though by the way she moved them it was obvious to tell that they were just as much a part of her as her arms or her legs. And, to top it all off, two slender horns sprouted from the top of her head, both the same red as her necklace and eyes. All in all, I was ecstatic. Perhaps she wasn't exactly a dragon, but she was pretty darn close.
As I was taking all this in, she smiled at me. I noticed two little dragon-like fangs in her mouth, where the canines usually were in a regular human mouth. "So why don't you?" she asked.
I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about. "Why don't I what?" I asked.
"Go outside. Take a stroll. That is what you feel like doing right now, right?" Her voice was smooth, with a slight hint of sibilance to it.
"Well, yeah, I just sorta had the urge to go outside. But..." I said, sort of trailing off.
"But what?" She asked, in a kind tone of voice.
"But..." I continued, "But my parents would never let me go outside. I'm unofficially grounded. Plus, they worry about a fifth grader roaming the city alone. As if I can't take care of myself."
"So? What do they have to do with whether or not you go out or not?" Asked the dragon-like chara.
"Well..." of course, they had quite a bit to do with it - who knew how much trouble I would get in if I went without their permission. But I saw the point the chara was getting at: if I really wanted to get out of the house, I could. The only thing holding me back was fear of the consequences.
"If you don't have a good answer, then let's go. Chara change!" The orb of my dragon necklace and my normally grey irises turned the same shade of red as my chara's necklace and eyes, and I found myself silently opening my window and jumping out. Wait! I shouted inwardly. My room is on the second floor! I'm gonna kill myself! Surprisingly enough, my legs absorbed the impact easily. In fact, my body hardly seemed to be phased by the fall. My body (which wasn't completely under my control at this point), ducked down to avoid detection by my mother, who might've been able to see me from a nearby window. Once out of view of the windows of my house, my necklace and eyes changed back to their normal colors and my body came back under control of my brain.
"What was that for? Do you know how much trouble I'll be in once they realized I've pulled a Houdini on them?" I asked my chara incredulously, who was currently floating by my side, wings folded. Thankfully, we were currently in a small alley between houses, so the chances of someone seeing me talking to something invisible was fairly small.
She smiled at me, a smile that was half kind and half mischievious, and introduced herself. "My name is Azami. I'm your shugo chara. Don't you remember the wish you made last night, Miyuki-chan? You had a desire to be more... dragonish. To not care what others think. To act based on whatever it is you want to do at any given moment, not thinking of the consequences. To not live by any sort of code, like moral standards. That is what it means to be a dragon. I was born from that feeling." Azami scowled, though not in an unkind way. More like she was going to... playfully scold me. Which indeed she was.
"But if you're going to use what your parents might do to you as an excuse not to do what you want, then I might as well go back to my egg. A dragon doesn't care about what will happen. A dragon lives in the here and now. And a dragon uses the power that comes from living only in the present to avoid negative consequences, if they do indeed come. So, are you ready to go?" Azami opened her wings and glided down the alleyway. I ran to catch up, though she slowed down when we reached a sidewalk in a more occupied neighborhood. I took the lead more at that point, deciding to head to a nearby park. A place that would be big enough that I could find a spot to talk with my guardian chara.
As we walked (or, more accurately, as I walked and Azami glided by my side), I couldn't wait to ask my questions. I made sure to keep looking forward as I talked, though, so that if someone noticed me, it would look like I was simply talking to myself. "So how in the world did I jump from that window without hurting myself? Was that your power?"
"My power is your power." Replied Azami. "But yes, that power came from the chara-change. There's a lot more you can do with the power of a dragon. As you saw, you're much stronger and can take more powerful forces without hurting yourself. That jump didn't even bother you. You can also jump a good bit higher, run faster, and you're quite a bit stronger, among other things. In addition to the mood-change to that of a dragon, you also get more... cunning with your chara-change. The power you want isn't centered around one aspect in particular - true power comes from a balance of mind and body. You're attitude, intelligence, and physical strength all contribute to this."
"So... could I jump from the top of a building?" I asked, interested to know how far my abilities would stretch.
"That depends on how tall the building is." She said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a mischievious glint in her red eyes.
"Do you wanna find out?" I asked. I couldn't help turning my head and smiling to her. I could only imagine the look of recklessness that was probably being expressed by my face.
"Does it matter if I wanna find out? If you want to find out, then let's find out!" She said encouragingly.
I led the way, speeding up my pace and changing my route as true freedom flooded through my veins. So this is what it's like to be a dragon. To not care what will happen, only what is happening. I knew of an apartment complex nearby. I'd gone past it numerous times before, and had also seen aerial pictures of the place. It was three floors tall, and rather hexagonal in shape. It was more or less a ring of apartments, with a courtyard in the center. The apartments had balconies, both on the outside of the hexagon and on the inside looking out into the courtyard. That's what made the place perfect: not only could I test out how far I could fall, but I could also test my jumping abilities by jumping from balcony to balcony to make it up to the roof.
As soon as the place was in sight, I grinned. "This is the place." I said.
"You might want to get a running start, since it is your first jump using your full abilities. Plus, you can fall a lot easier than you can jump. So, are you ready?" Asked Azami.
I nodded, to psyched to say anything more.
Azami smiled, her little dragon fangs showing. "I'll be with you all the way! Chara-change!" Once more, my necklace and eyes changed to red, and I felt strength and boldness flow through me. I ran the twenty feet up to the nearest second story balcony, then jumped. It was a jump similar to that of a high-jumper or a basketball player making a layup. I sort shifted the direction of my body from that forward motion of the run to the upward motion I wanted in the last couple seconds, then leaped. It was a thrilling feeling, and I easily cleared the railing and made it onto the small balcony. Not wanting to be caught, I quickly focused my attention on the next floor I needed to make it to. I realized that, since the balcony above me was... well, straight above me, there really wouldn't be any way I could make it to that balcony. Unless I had wings. I checked my back, just to make sure, but I still had no wings. Oh well. I decided to jump to the balcony not directly above me, about ten feet away horizontally and ten feet up. Since the deck was too small to give me a running start anyway, I balanced myself on the railing (this was actually quite easy. Apparently, the chara-change improved my balance as well) on the side of the balcony and crouched down to get the ultimate amount of momentum out of my jump. I flew through the air, barely managing to grab a hold of the top of the railing. However, I did get a hold of the railing, which is the important thing. Thanks to my increased strength, I was able to haul my self up onto that third floor balcony with only a little effort.
I could feel Azami's presence as I made the final jump to the roof. This was easier than making it to the third floor balcony, mainly because I didn't have any railings I needed to jump over. I managed to land, feet first, on the roof. I felt the chara change end, so I sat and admired the view for a bit. The adrenaline of doing something like that - something reckless in the sense that if I fell, I could die, and in the sense that I could be arrested for tresspassing - still coursed through my veins. It seemed like no one had seen me, but that really didn't matter anymore.
Azami and I just stayed up there for a while. Not like the view of the city was all that beautiful, but it felt like a bird's eye view from way up on the roof. Finally, as the sun was beginning to set and my stomach was beginning to grumble, I prepared myself to jump off the roof. I walked to the edge, then backed away in hesitation. It had certainly seemed like a good idea earlier, but now that I was actually on the roof, I had a bit of a different perspective on things. This was probably over twice as high as the jump from my window.
"Umm..." I said. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea."
Azami tried to put on a disapproving frown, but ended up laughing instead. "No real dragon is afraid of heights." She said mockingly, though not cruelly. "As I was saying before, a real dragon doesn't care about consequences. Not even the possibility of a hard fall. But, since I am your would-be self, I'll give you a little boost." Once again, my eyes and necklace turned red as all fear left me. I stepped boldly up to the edge, then thought better of it and backed up. If I was gonna jump, I was gonna make it a good jump. Going straight down was too boring. It would be much more fun to get a running start. And so, I backed up about five feet from the edge, mentally prepared myself for the adrenaline rush one more time, ran forward, and leaped.
I swear, you can't truly live life unless you do something reckless at least once. This was the first time I'd done something so directly life-threatening on purpose, and only those people who have experience something similar can possibly imagine the feeling. I seemed to notice everything as I fell. My senses were heightened not only by the adrenaline, but also by my own dragonish chara-change. The feeling was amazing, and I only wish it had lasted longer. But, soon enough, my feet hit the ground. The landing jarred me a bit, and I knew that a jump from much higher than that would probably get me hurt. But still, I had jumped from a three-story building! What a rush!
We said nothing to each other on the way back, that leap having been all that needed to communicate. Though I had been chara-changed at the time, it still showed how much faith I put in Azami, and she knew it. Not to mention, the fact that she had indeed chara-changed me to help me get through it without killing myself. This had been kinda like one of those faith tests, where you fall backwards and trust a partner or friend to catch you. Except for the fact that I would've died if I hadn't been caught. There was that tiny difference.
The sun had already set by the time we made it home. I did a quick chara-change to jump up to my window, using ridges in the outer wall to give me a boost. When I crept in the window, everything seemed to be as it should have been. The light was off. The computer monitor, though the green light showed it was still on, was blacked out in power-saving mode. My chair was in the center of the room where I'd left it, it's back facing me. It seemed like my parents hadn't noticed my absence. I almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then I looked closer at the chair. It seemed like there was something more to it. I wished I was still chara-changed, since I'd found that the red eyes helped me to see in the dark.
"Someone's in the chair." said Azami from my side. I could here her powerful tail flicking back in forth, in what I guessed was either anticipation or defensiveness. I nearly whispered for her to shut up, but then realized that most people couldn't see or here her, so it wouldn't make a difference whether she talked or not.
Then, the chair swiveled. Even in the dim light, I could tell who the occupant was. My mom.
"Yamada Miyuki, where in the world have you been!?!" She asked angrily. "You know you shouldn't be out without our permission! We kept calling and calling you for dinner, but you never came, and what a shock it was to see that you had just up and left! Your father is downstairs watching the TV, making sure you didn't do something stupid!"
Now this annoyed me. What did they think I was doing, selling drugs? "You mean something that would get me arrested, right?" I asked incredulously, surprised my mom would even make such an inference.
"What were you doing out there?!?" My mom asked again, avoiding the subject of exactly what she was inferring.
Suddenly, I felt the familiar sensation of a chara-change come on. I wondered if Azami was going to make me use my strength to knock my mom out or something, but I decided to just go with it. This time, though I still felt the familiar boost of strength, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before - a sort of heightened mental activity. It's like I was thinking more clearly and much faster than normal. And I was thinking more... cunningly.
Tears came to my eyes. That shocked me - I was more angry than sad or guilty. Then I saw them for what they were: crocodile tears.
"I-I'm sorry, mommy." I said through my tears. "I-I-" *sniffle* "I just wanted to meet up with a friend from my old school. I really missed her, and I hadn't had a chance to s-see her since that- that-" *sob* "accident. B-but I didn't think you would let me see anyone from my old school, so I- so I- I'm so sorry!" I broke out into sobs that would have softened the heart of even the saltiest crocodile. I was amazed at my own genius. Though I'd never had a problem with the moral aspect of lying, I'd never been this amazingly good at it. It was awesome. My mother, looking guilty for her anger, came up and soothed me.
"It's okay, sweety. I understand. But next time, please tell me where you're going. Maybe I could have given you a ride." I sniffled and, keeping my eyes averted downward in fake shame, I nodded.
From downstairs, a voice shouted. "Miyuki, are you there! Come down here this instant! You too, honey!" I wiped my tears away. My eyes were still somewhat bloodshot, but other than that, hardly any sign remained of my little guilt-trip. Whether it was me or Azami that did it, the chara-change remained. Perhaps we both realized that I might still need it.
My mom and I walked down the stairs, into the living room where dad had the TV turned on. He turned down the volume. My mom was the first to talk.
"It's okay, honey. I talked with Miyuki-chan, and we worked everything out. She seems contrite."
My father simply looked at me, straight in the eyes. I didn't look away. "You know," He started. "I just saw quite the amazing footage on the local news. It was shot from a distance, so not much can be determined from it, but it showed what looked like a young girl jumping from the roof of a three-story apartment building, and miraculously surviving and walking away. The old lady who taped it called the police when she saw the girl preparing to jump, but she was gone before the police made it. The girl had rather similar clothes to you. And the people of that side of the apartment building says they had heard something earlier this evening, but when they looked out to their balconies, no one was there. You wouldn't have happened to have seen anything while you were out, did you?" His voice stayed calm, as if he was just starting a conversation, but it had a clear hint of accusation behind it.
"Honey, what are you implying?" asked my mother. "You can't possibly be saying that Miyuki jumped off the roof! There's no way she would've been able to walk away unhurt!"
My father just continued to stare into my eyes, ignoring my mother's question. And yet, I had no trouble looking into his eyes. None at all. He didn't even seem to notice the different color of my chara-change. I felt power in my gaze. It was an odd feeling, but if I had to describe it (which I guess I do have to describe it), then I would call it similar to that power that authors always say snakes have when staring down their prey. Almost a sort of... hypnotism.
"No, I didn't see anything, dad." I said, putting all I could into convincing him of my innocence. "And of course, mom's right. There's no way I could jump from a roof and live. Even if the building was only one story. Not to mention three stories." My fathers eyes seemed to waver, and then he dropped his gaze.
"Of course, of course." He said, in what sounded like a slight daze. "There's no way it could have been you. I don't know what I was thinking. Well, I'm just glad that you're back safely. Don't go running off again, okay?" His voice didn't carry much conviction. He seemed distracted, like there was a thought just at the edge of his mind that he couldn't get a hold of. My mother sent me to bed, and I went to my room, mentally patting myself on the back as the chara-change faded.
I put on my pajamas before heading to bed. I was fairly exhausted from the day. Despite the strength chara-changing gave me, jumping from a four story building still wore a person out. I positioned my extra-fluffy socks on my bed side table, giving Azami a place for her to rest in her egg, whose shell parts had magically appeared where she wanted them.
"So what was that just then?" I asked.
"With the power to disregard consequences comes the power to deal with consequences." Azami replied. "Dragons have no qualms about deceit - in fact, lying is more of a past time for dragons. Of course, I wouldn't suggest lying all the time just because you can. That is, unless you want to." Even in the dark, I knew that mischievous smile was on her face.
"So what about that thing with my dad?" I asked.
"Well, it all comes from that same power. You could call that the power of... persuasion. In this case, it was easy - what you were trying to get him to disbelieve was pretty unbelievable for him anyway. The more believable a story or proposition you make, the easier persuasion is. Also, I wouldn't try it against other people who can see shugo charas. They would be more resistant to it, and might even realize what you're trying to do. Of course, that would add a fun bit of risk to it, don't you think?"
I smiled. "Yeah, though I can't think of any reason why I'd want to... persuade the guardians. Their the only ones with charas that I know." I had told Azami all about the guardians earlier, though she had heard most of what I knew from inside her egg. I had congratulated her on her attack on Kiseki and Tadase as well - both were classic moments, not soon to be forgotten.
Persuasion, eh? I thought to myself. My life just keeps getting better and better. All thanks to Azami.
Azami.. Azami...
And with that last thought in my head, I feel asleep, deeply content.
As always, thanks for reading! I always need to improve, so please review - I'd really appreciate it. And I know I already said it in the last chapter, but happy new year to all! (you know what will make my new year happy? Reviews. O_o Just joking.) (actually, not really. Review, please!) Also, thanks to Suzuka Harukaze, who is the first (and so far, only) reviewer of this story! Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy the story!
You know, I've got over 5,000 words in this chapter. Over 5,000 words in a single chapter! Can you believe it? OMG o_O Once more, I hope you readers like long chapters! Think of it this way - if you do like this fanfic, then you just get that much more entertainment the longer my chapters are. If you don't like this fanfic, but you're reading it anyway, then... stinks to be you. Sorry.)