"Hey mom! I'm gonna be staying after school most days, starting today! I'll see you later!" I was trying to get out of giving an explanation by telling her while she was still sleepy and when I had to hurry to get to school. But no dice.
"Wait, what! Do you have detentions already?" I was already half-way out the door, but I had to stop. Well, I didn't have to, really. But the dragon way wasn't exactly how I wanted to act all the time. At the very least, it would be troublesome to have mom run out after me in her pajamas while trying to figure out why I had to stay late after school.
I turned to face her. "No, mom. It's just this... club sort of thing." I was being to hesitant with my answer. No wonder I had been believed last night with my chara-change stunt; under normal circumstances, I couldn't lie worth a hoot.
"How am I supposed to believe you? Tell the truth - I can tell when you aren't saying everything." My mom replied.
I breathed inwardly through my teeth. "That's harsh mom. Real harsh. Calling your own daughter a liar, right after dad was falsely accusing me last night. Thanks for letting me know just how much you believe in me." That hit home. I could see that she was hurt at more or less being called a bad mother by her own daughter. I guess I had some cunning in me, even without my chara-change. "Listen, mom, it's just a club thing. If you want, call the school and ask if I have any detentions yet. That'll show them how much the teachers should trust me." This was meant her to keep her from calling - if she thought about how teachers might react to a mother asking if her daughter had any detentions after only one day of school, then maybe she wouldn't bother calling in the first place. I really didn't want her prying into my school life.
Seeing that she was kinda speechless at the points I was making, I seized the chance to leave. "Gotta go, or I'll be late for school! I'll see you later tonight!" I said, dashing down the sidewalk before she could call me back. I didn't slow down until I was about a block away. In truth, I had plenty of time to get to school. My mom just didn't need to know that. By my side, Azami flew through the air. I'd noticed that, whenever she was moving over a large distance or wanted to go fast, she always opened her wings and used them, despite the fact that she could float and fly without them. Of course, she looked way cooler when using her wings to fly through the air, so I didn't complain.
"Hey, Azami?" I asked, "would you please not tell any of the other guardians - or their charas - about my lack of ethics?"
"Why? A dragon never hides her true self from others. Others either accept her as she is, or leave. Or, on occasion, get killed in mysterious, fiery accidents. Why can't you let them know how you really feel?" said Azami. Her logic was impeccable, as always. Except perhaps the fiery death part.
"Because, I enjoy hanging out with them, but I'm afraid they might not like me if they know how I really am." Azami looked unconvinced, so I switched tactics. "Plus, didn't you say that dragons took pride in their skills at lying? Perhaps this won't be an outright lie, but it will definitely be practice for me at deception. Plus, if we ever want to join the other side, if there is another side a little less goody-goody, then we'll want the guardians to trust us. It would be to our advantage to not have them be wary of us now, when we haven't really done anything yet."
"Hmmph." said Ayami. If she were a real dragon, I bet smoke would've been coming out of her nostrils right now. "I don't like it, but you do have a point. Who knows, maybe I'll keep it a secret. Maybe I won't. It just depends on my..." She flew right in front of my face and flicked me on the nose with her tail before continuing, "...mood. It simply depends on what mood I'm in at any moment."
That was enough for me. Although I really couldn't be sure if she would tell or not, I was pretty sure she'd keep my secret. If not, there was nothing I could do to stop her. As she said before, a true dragon lives in the moment; there was no sense for me to be worrying about something that might not even happen.
When I was about four blocks away, I saw Nadeshiko in her guardian's cape turn onto the sidewalk a little ways in front of me. As if sensing my gaze, she turned around and waved, waiting for me to catch up. I ran ahead, glad for someone to talk to on the last few blocks to school.
"Hello, Miyuki-san. I see your guardian chara hatched!" Nadeshiko said, looking to Azami.
The little dragon chara folded her wings, smiled, and bobbed her head politely. "My name is Azami. Nice to meet you." Her formality surprised me. I'd thought she would be a bit more outspoken around others.
"Nice to meet you as well. I am Fujisaki Nadeshiko."
"And I'm Temari, her shugo chara. Also a pleasure to meet you." Said Temari from above Nadeshiko's shoulder. It reminded me almost exactly of their introductions from yesterday.
Nadeshiko and I continued walking, side by side. "I'd thought that your chara hatched last night, but I wasn't entirely sure until now." said Nadeshiko. This surprised me a bit. Could charas sense other charas hatching from that far away?
"How'd you know that she'd hatched, Nadeshiko-san?" I asked.
"Well..." she said, smiling with almost as much mischief showing as Azami usually did, "I just happened to be watching TV last night and saw a clip of a girl jumping off the top of a building, but walking away unharmed. I doubted that there were many girls in the area who look so much like you and could possibly survive a fall like that, so I guessed it was you and your chara had hatched. I'd suggest you don't get too bold in broad daylight - people might start to ask questions that you don't want to answer."
I blushed, and Azami spoke up from my side. "A true dragon doesn't care who sees her, as long as she's doing what she wants."
"Oh? Is that so?" said Nadeshiko, a friendly smile on her face. "Well, I would say that your name fits you, then."
"Hmm?" the little dragon chara wondered. "And how is that?"
"Azami is a rather traditional name, though I don't hear it used much anymore. It refers to the flower of a thistle, and is often used to symbolize defiance." explained Nadeshiko. She smiled again, making me think that it was the only expression she knew how to make. "I simply think it fits your attitude quite nicely, no offense intended. First your hitting Kiseki and Tadase in the heads, and then your reaction to the video."
"Perhaps it does fit me well. Maybe it doesn't." Said Azami, leaving the subject at that. By now, they'd made it up to the school doors.
Nadeshiko turned to me. 'It's been nice talking to you, but I really need to get to class now. I'll see you at lunch, Miyuki-san, Azami-san!"
"Yep! See you later!" I said back as we both headed to our respective classrooms. Though we were both in the same grade, the school was too big for all the fifth graders to be taught in the same room. Then again, it was smaller then some elementary schools I'd been to before.
* * *
Only when lunch time came did the rest of the guardians get to meet Azami. Hinamori Amu barely made it to class on time, so there was no good moment for introductions before class. Lunch was served in a large room on the ground floor of the school, where everyone ate at circular tables that were scattered around the room. Seven or eight people could seat themselves comfortably at a table, though a few had less than seven and many had more than eight. (that is, where groups of friends all wanted to be at the same table together, even is it meant no elbow room) Everyone had two choices, as far as lunch went - either the main lunch that the cafeteria served everyday (which actually didn't taste half bad), or you could bring your own. My mom had already put money into a lunch account for me, so I went up and grabbed the meal of the day: some sort of noodle dish with an okay tasting sauce on top. Nadeshiko caght my eye once I was through the lunch line, and waved me over to the guardian's table. I wasn't surprised to see that all the guardians sat at the same table together. It seemed to me that for a group of people who were supposed to do their best for the students, they were awfully distant from most of the student body. Of course, everyone adored the group. That was one thing I'd learned today. Every single person at the school had a 'favorite guardian': either Amu, with her 'cool and spicy' attitude; Tadase, the ultra-cute prince; Kukai, the fun-loving, athletic guardian; Yaya, the cute one witht the funny, baby-like character; or Nadeshiko, being so kind and beautiful. It amused me that I was now among the ranks of the guardians. Already, people knew that I had been invited to join them. I wondered if anyone was picking me as their favorite guardian. Unlikely, I thought to myself.
As soon as I sat down, Azami brought herself out from where she had been following behind my head. "Everyone," I said, with just a slight hint of pride to my voice. "This is my shugo chara, Azami. Azami, these are the guardians." Each of the guardians and their charas intoduced themselves, saying almost identical introductions to when they had introduced themselves to me. Do they practice these introductions in front of the mirror at home or something? I couldn't help thinking.
Azami, for her part, didn't do her formal little greeting from before. Instead, she spread her wings and did a quick flight around the table before landing back on my head. Everyone watched as she circled, and I could only imagine how the guardians must have looked, so obviously watching something that no one else could see. Well, perhaps anyone watching will just think we saw a fly or something, I reasoned. Ordinary people usually came up with mundane answers for things they couldn't see. Once Azami landed on my head, she simply flicked her tail and folded her wings. "Nice to meet all of you." She said, smiling.
What a bipolar shugo chara. I thought jokingly to myself. When she's with me, she encourages me to jump off a building. When she's introducing herself to Nadeshiko and Temari, she's the model of politeness. Now, she's a big show-off. Of course, I didn't mean this seriously. As she'd said so many times since hatching, a dragon does what she wants, when she wants. I guess that meant that she acted however she wanted to act as each situation came her way.
"Yaya saw you on TV last night!" Yaya burst out as soon as introductions were, talking to me.
"Are you talking about that girl that jumped off the roof?" asked Kukai. "I thought it looked a bit like Miyuki-san, but I thought I was seeing things."
"Yep yep! Yaya is sure it was Miyuki-chan! Right, Miyuki-chan?" asked Yaya. By now, everyone at the table was listening with rapt attention. Even the charas, who were normally having their own conversation as their humans talked and ate.
"Well..." I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "Yeah. It was me." I admitted.
"Really?" asked Tadase. I had to admit, most of the girls in the school were on to something - Tadase was definitely cute. I really had very little interest in boys, but it was true. "Were you chara-changed?" he continued.
"Yeah. Azami and I were just having some fun..." I said, trailing off.
"So you jump off a building!?!" Kukai asked, laughing. "Well, I'll give you points for originality. I don't know anyone else who jumps off of buildings for fun!"
Kiseki strode forward. Like most of the other charas, he'd been sitting in the center of the circular table, where no one put their food. "Very impressive, commoner!" said the little king. "You shall definitely be useful in my search for the embryo! We will need..." Everyone around the table smiled at Kiseki's speech. Apparently, they'd heard it before.
Kiseki rambled on, not really paying attention to us as Azami floated down next to my ear. "Do you want to do it this time?" she whispered to me, "Or may I?"
I chuckled a bit and whispered out of the corner of my mouth. "You can do it. I'd feel like I was abusing my size if I did it."
"I say that you should use everything - even size - to your advantage. But very well. It'll be my pleasure." Azami said, a wicked grin on her face. As she opened her wings and swooped down, I suspected she was going to knock him over, like she had in her egg yesterday. But this was not the case. Her wings lent her speed as she swooped down and grabbed Kiseki's crown off of his head before zooming up in the air again, laughing.
Kiseki rose up into the air, outrage plain on his face. "How dare you take the royal crown, commoner! Give it back immediately or face the consequences!" Of course, consequences were the one thing Azami absolutely ignored.
Azami shook her head, her long violet-colored hair waving and her red horns faintly gleaming. "Catch me if you can, kiddy-king!" She said, before swooping off towards one end of the lunchroom. Kiseki zoomed off in pursuit, followed closely by the rest of the charas. All of the guardians, including me, laughed at their antics, though I noticed Tadase flinch at my chara's last taunt. I wondered what was wrong, but he joined in on the laughing quickly enough. We talked a bit the rest of lunch, while the rest of the chara's played keep away with Kiseki's crown. (though Miki joined Kiseki's efforts at trying to recover the crown, and Ran simply floated at the side of the game, cheering.) Though I had fun talking, I thought their might be more to that seemingly involuntary action by Tadase. I decided to bring it up later. Was there something really offensive with having your chara called a kiddy-king?
* * *
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. The stuff we were learning in class at the moment was mainly stuff I already knew, and wasn't really a problem. As soon as school was out, I made my way out to the Royal Garden. I was starting to learn the names of some of the people in my class, so I said a quick goodbye to some of them. I tried to say it in a cool way, to try and fit my status as guardian. Already, I could see students treating me differently. People deffering to me to let me go in front of them in the line at the water fountains, and others whispering behind my back, saying how I was obviously a guardian due to how cool I was. That comment startled me, but I welcomed it. I'd been called cool a couple times before for my hair style, but never by the majority of the student body. It was definitely a kind of power, being admired by all the students in the school. And dragons had a thing for power.
By the time I made it to the garden (which really didn't take too long), everyone else was already gathered.
"Hey, hey, Miyuki-chan! We have a surprise for you!" said Yaya as I approached the table.
"What would that be?" I asked, intrigued. Azami floated by my side, just as curious. Nadeshiko held out her hands, which she had been hiding behind her back. Clasped between them was a red cape, just like the ones she and Yaya always wore.
"We just want you to try it on, to make sure it's not to big or small." explained Nadeshiko. "You won't officially get it until you're announced as a guardian next week." she handed it to me, and I tried it on. It fit perfectly. I really liked it. Personally, it really wasn't the most stylish garment around, but... but it did have a sense of power to it. Perhaps it was a bit outdated symbol of power, but it was a symbol of power nonetheless.
However, that was the only exciting part of today's guardian meeting. After I gave back my cape so that they could present it to me later, we went to sorting student files. While it may seem like one of the most boring tasks in the world, having the others around to laugh and joke around with helped. Of course, the charas abandoned us as soon as they saw what we were doing. Even Azami left with the others to do something more fun in the greenhouse.
(mainly third person point of view here)
"Wow, your wings are so cool desu~!" Said Suu. All the shugo charas had gathered over in one corner of the greenhouse, and were currently admiring the newest addition to their group.
"And... done!" Miki said, as he finished making the last few marks on his sketch. It was a picture of Azami, focusing mainly on her dragonish characteristics: her wings, tail, and horns stood out.
"Wow, Miki, that looks great!" said Azami. Now, the dragon was being really gracious. Of course, I guess even dragons enjoy flattery. Kiseki muttered something to himself a little ways away, still a bit angry after the crown incident at lunch.
"Ahh, tails and wings and horns aren't that great." said Daichi. He was getting just a tad bit annoyed at all the attention Azami was getting. "I mean, wings don't really help when we all can fly anyway. And the only other chara I know with a tail is that two-timing Yoru, and it has certainly not helped him. Just made him more mischievous, more than likely."
Now this caught Azami's attention. For one, she was curious as to what other shugo chara had a tail other than herself, seeing as none of the others here had such a thing. Secondly, she knew that Miyuki wanted to at least know who the evil people were. If the good-natured Daichi was calling someone two-timing, that had to imply that this 'Yoru' was evil. Or at least on the opposite side of ideals from these charas.
"Who's Yoru?" she asked, trying to make it sound like an innocent enough question.
"Nah, forget I mentioned him." Said Daichi. "I'd rather forget him."
"How about this," said the dragon chara. "If I beat you in a race around the garden, then you have to tell me everything about this Yoru. But if you win, I'll quit showing off. Deal?"
Daichi, who was both annoyed at the showing off as well as a very competetive chara, leaped at the opportunity. "Deal. What'll be the course?"
Of course, the charas (being the silly, hyperactive little charas they were) couldn't come up with a simple race track, like flying a few times around the perimeter of the greenhouse. No. They couldn't do something nearly as simple as that. They came up with the most complex race course they could, filled with all sorts of twists, turns, and loops around people and plants. As soon as the track was decided, Pepe grabbed a miniature green flag to begin the race (though where he got the flag, the world may never know). The other charas stationed themselves at various parts of the garden so that the entire race could be seen. Ran positioned herself at the center of the garden, so that she could cheer them both on at whatever stage of the race they were in. The two competetors lined up side by side at one corner of the greenhouse, with Pepe posed in front of them to drop the flag and begin the race.
"On your marks!" said Pepe through his pacifier.
"Get set..."
"GO!"
The two charas were off before the flag even hit the ground. (which is saying something, since it was only a couple inches off the ground to begin with) Azami was able to easily get and keep the lead at first. Despite the fact that all charas can fly, her wings really did speed her up quite nicely. However, during one of the tight turns around a plant, she clipped her right wing on a leaf and lost a lot of ground as she got her balance back. They stayed in this way, with Daichi in the lead, for only a little while before Daichi took a wrong turn. As all the observing charas shouted at him to get back on track, Azami (who is a good bit more intelligent than Daichi, though not quite as purely athletic) took the lead. This slip-up by Daichi was enough for the dragon chara to keep the lead all the way to the end, finishing a full foot in front of Daichi. (when you're only a couple inches tall yourself, a foot is quite a large measurement)
Wiping some sweat off his forehead, the athletic little chara capitulated. "All right, all right," he said as he collapsed to the ground. "Your wings have some speed to them, I'll admit that."
Azami lowered herself gracefully to the ground and sat down, hiding most of her exhaustion. It had actually been a really tough race. "So?" she said, as the rest of the charas gathered around. "Who's Yoru?"
"Yoru is a thieving little cat, the chara of someone named Tsukiyomi Ikuto. Ikuto used to go to this school, and Tadase and him were really close. But then Ikuto and Yoru betrayed us. He took the Dumpty Key and joined up with Easter." explained Daichi.
"Those traitors..." Muttered Kiseki under his breath.
"Wait a minute..." said Azami. "What's the Dumpty Key? And Easter, for that matter?" Now she was getting to the heart of the matter. Betrayal definitely sounded like it had to do with bad guys.
"The Dumpty Key," Miki continued on for Daichi, "Is sort of part of a set, with the Humpty Lock the Amu-chan always wears around her neck. Here, I'll show you." She grabbed out her pad and pencil and did a quick but detailed sketch of both items. "It's the Humpty Lock that allows Amu-chan to chara-nari with us."
We could use something like that. A power boost to lets us chara-nari together. Thought Azami, though she obviously didn't say so aloud. She recalled how Miyuki had asked if they could chara-nari the other day. At time, Azami had answered no. She didn't know how or when they would chara-nari, if they could do it at all. Maybe they needed an item like the Humpty Lock or the Dumpty Key.
"So what's Easter, then?" Azami asked.
"Easter is our sworn enemy!" Said Kiseki vehemently. This was exactly what Azami was looking for - a sworn enemy. "We think the Easter company is the cause of the increase in X-eggs recently! They try and take away people's dreams in search of the embryo!"
"What do they want with the embryo?" Azami asked.
Kiseki shook his head. "We haven't the slightest idea. But there is no way we can let them have it! I need the embryo for world domination!"
"Guys!" shouted Kukai's voice from the entrance of the greenhouse, interrupting their conversation. "We're leaving for the day! Do you guys want to be locked in here, or what?" The charas joined their respective humans as they left the greenhouse.
(back to first person P.O.V.)
It was on our way back that Azami told me all that she had learned. Later that night, after I finished my homework, we discussed the matter. We both decided that we wanted to check it out - usually, the villains in a story are a lot more interesting than the good guys. Plus, they can usually offer a lot more power, which seemed true so far. I didn't think of it so much as betrayal. It was more like just something I had to do. It was part of my character to veer from the normal course, and part of my would-be character to search for power. I looked up Easter on the internet - it turned out that it was a huge company, practically monopolizing many different industries. I found out that the most popular Japanese singer at the moment, Hoshina Utau, was working under them. I wondered if perhaps she knew who she was affiliating herself with, or if she was just another one of Easter's ways of getting revenue.
Then Azami and me debated when we should go check the place out. I had determined through my internet seaches the location of Easter's main headquarters, which turned out to be not too far away, in the main commercial area of the city. I said that we should wait til the weekend, but Azami argued that if it was a corporation, then they might not be open then. Of course, unless I skipped school (which I'll emphasize that I did NOT want to do, considering that I didn't want to get booted out of Seiyo Academy), there would be no way for me to get there before work hours ended. In the end, we decided to wait until the weekend, as I had suggested. Our reasoning being that if it really was an evil corporation, neither of us thought that villains took weekends off.
And now, what would hopefully the fun part of my adventure could begin. From the beginning, I knew I'd wanted power. Hopefully, Easter could offer it. If not, well... I decided not to think about it. As Azami kept on impressing upon me, a real dragon is supposed to live only in the present.
Thanks to everyone, especially my newest reviewer/favoriter, Kitty Obsessive Disorder. (by the way, love the name.) Thanks for your positive and in-depth review! I'm glad to hear you like it! I always worry that I put too much detail in, and that people might not like my stories because of that. So I was happy to hear that you didn't mind.
As always, please review! I don't care if it's a negative or a positive review - all I need are some writing tips, if you can give them!