Chapter 17: A Heart-to-Heart Talk
"P—Papa?" Chika choked over her words.
W—W—W—W—W—WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?
T—that was Chika's father?
He looked frickin' 20-something!
"C—Chika, what are you doing?" he asked his daughter, staring at her with his caramel-colored eyes. Chika's wings disappeared the moment her feet touched the ground. "N—nothing. Weren't you on that business trip?" she asked, her tone slightly hushed. Nagihiko and I silently watched the father-daughter exchange scene.
"Y—yeah. I'm back though," he said. "C—Chika, what are you doing?" he asked caringly. My eyes softened. Such a caring father. If only my father—
Whoa. Off-topic. Back to their convo.
"I—I—" she stuttered, slowly backing away from her father. "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" she exclaimed, collapsing onto the ground and covering her eyes with her hands. Her father slowly approached her, and from behind him I saw Amu and Ikuto. I nodded reassuringly, telling her we'd be fine—for now. Nonetheless, Amu's Charas floated her way.
"What's wrong, Chika?" he asked. Chika sobbed. "N—NOTHING!" she exclaimed. Though on the ground, she continued backing away from her father. "Chika, did I do something wrong? What are you trying to do? I've done research on this…"Embryo" before," he added. Chika gulped, a knot in her throat unable to go down.
"I—I—I was trying to bring Ma back to life!" Chika exclaimed, taking her hands away from eyes, ever the more red. "S—she died! I—I—I want her back!" Chika protested like a whining child. Her father sighed, bending down so he'd face Chika face-to-face.
"Now, why do you want to bring your mother back to life?" he asked. Chika sniffed.
"C—c—cause…" Chika began nervously. "You loved her!" she exclaimed, each syllable ringing clearly in the air.
"You loved her! We were a family back then! But now? All your time is spent at work, making more money, making sure your company was running successfully, attempting to make more money, more, and more and more and more…" Chika trembled nervously. "When Ma was alive, you'd at least come home for dinner. Now, you come home sometimes at 1:00 in the morning! And don't lie to me! I know! I lie to! I'm not asleep all the time!" Chika exclaimed.
"Ma cared! Ma knew! Ma—Ma—Ma loved! She loved! Perhaps that's why her name was Aiko…" Chika spoke sorrowfully. "She understood! She sympathized! She—she—she truly was the most brilliant person on the world!" Chika exclaimed, breaking down into tears once again.
"I—I—I want Ma…" she mumbled. A low chuckle then escaped from her throat.
"I WANT MA!" she exclaimed, her charanari once again in full power. Her father took a surprised step back at the sudden appearance of dark wings of his daughter's back. Soaring into the air, her bloodshot red eyes glared down at her father.
"Go," she hissed, with a hint of alarm. It was as if she couldn't control herself once again. "GO!" she hollered, pushing her father out of her way and towards us. Nagihiko caught him and helped the man back onto his feet. Nagihiko and I then took our battle stances, alerted by Chika's sudden actions.
"Charanari, Amulet Heart!" I heard Amu exclaim, as she and Ran charanaried. Amulet Heart eyed Chika cautiously. "Careful!" I exclaimed, warning Amu of Chika's powers. For the first time in my life I believe, I saw Amu smirk.
"Got it all under control," she said confidently, which was rare for her. I blinked at her questionably while Ikuto charanaried in the background. "Go, shrimp," he said, as he leaped next to Amu. "Amu-koi and I got this under control," he said as confident as Amu. Amu's smirk widened. "Yeah, as Ikuto said—wait, what did you say?" she screeched, back to her tomato-faced expression. I sighed. The two would probably be arguing again for a long time. Anyways, me and Nagi were too tired to do anymore good. Might as well—
"Watch out!" I exclaimed. In the midst of all our chatters and my thinking, Chika had shot an attack at Nagihiko—and her father. Nagihiko's eyes widened, as he attempted to drag a full-grown man with him out of harm's way. However, my warning came too late.
"NO!" Nagihiko exclaimed, as Chika's father fell to the ground. My eyes widened at the bloody sight. How could someone do that? How could someone harm their very own father? How could someone be so cruel and ruthless and—
"Get him somewhere!" Amu hollered as she took a fighting stance as well. I nervously nodded, dashing towards Nagihiko and the man's way. Nagihiko was on the ground, slightly traumatized by what had just happened. I sighed. The same-ish thing had happened to me, too. When I was actually shot by those diamonds—let's just say I fainted. It wasn't pleasant.
"C'mon, Nagihiko," I ushered the poor, traumatized boy. Nagihiko blinked ever-so-slightly and nodded, quickly leaping up to his feet and reaching to carry Chika's father. From the glossy look in his eyes, I could tell he was still slightly out of it. I sighed. "Let's go," I said, taking the lead so Nagihiko would have less to think about. He nodded ever-so-slightly and took off after me as we dashed out of the room.
"Where to go…" I muttered to myself as Nagihiko and I (and Chika's dad) ran down the hallways. They were all dimly lit, and with the poor lighting, we had slight difficulty going ways. "We should probably treat him first," I realized, remembering about Chika's father's physical state at the moment. Locating a map (which was a brochure) of the company, I quickly located the infirmary of the building.
"Seems like no one's here," I noted as I turned on the light of the infirmary. It was a small, quaint room, with one large window and three patient beds. "I'll put him there…?" Nagihiko finally spoke up from carrying Chika's dad and I nodded. Placing the man on the bed, Nagihiko then walked towards the cabinet to search for medical supplies.
Thank goodness he knew that to do—cause I didn't.
"Y'know…" Nagihiko began as he tended to the cuts on Chika's father's body, "Chika didn't actually do anything wrong. She's just—as you can see, a bit disoriented." I snorted. "You call that disoriented? Even I wouldn't attack my own father, who I bet treats me worse than how Chika's father treats her," I spat. Family dynamics were never a good excuse for someone to use on me. I had a much worse family than anyone.
Or so I thought.
"But it's hard on her. Her mother passed away, and her father is drifting away from her. While you still have both of your parents, and they at least care for you," Nagihiko remarked. I blinked. "How do you know?" I asked. Nagihiko shrugged. "It seemed like every time I went to your house, they'd come up once in awhile to bring food?" he asked. I snorted. "That's cause they're pretending in front of guests." Nagihiko shrugged, throwing away a bloody cotton swab. "How do you know?" he challenged, as I opened my mouth to respond.
However, no words tumbled out.
Deciding against looking stupid, I quickly clamped my mouth shut. "Whatever," I spat, turning away and sitting down on the bed next to where Chika's father lied. I watched Nagihiko's hands work magic, cleaning up the bloody wounds, applying alcohol, bandaging—
Wow. He really is capable of 'anything.'
"What are you not good at?" I asked. Nagihiko paused in his handiwork and looked at me questioningly. "What do you mean?" he asked back. I sighed. "It's just—it seems like you're good at everything. Life is just so freakin' not fair," I complained. I figured since we were here, we might as well make small talk out of the situation.
"Well…" Nagihiko began tentatively, "I can't play basketball well—" I shot him a glare. "If you're count as 'not well,' Mr. Basketball Team Captain, I don't know who'd be counted as well," I pointed out. Nagihiko blinked, a smirk appearing on his face. "Awhh…is Rima-chan complimenting me?" he asked, as I rolled my eyes. "No way," I said, as Nagihiko dropped the topic.
"Then, I'm not as good as Souma-kun in soccer—" Again, another glare. "I want a proper answer," I said. "Like I want you to find something that I'm good at that you're not," I said. Nagihiko blinked. "Umm…" he thought, as he continued his handiwork, "I guess…uhh…"
Perhaps he's bad at making excuses? I'd mastered that skill awhile before Mama and Papa allowed me to come home by myself.
"I guess that I can't express my emotions as well as Rima-chan," he said, shooting a smile at me. I raised an eyebrow. "Explain," I spoke curtly, getting into my 'all boys are my slave' tone a bit.
"Well…" he began, focusing intently on Chika's father's shoulder, "you're able to yap off about almost anything and people won't shoot you suspicious glares—though they will feel slightly irritated," Nagihiko said, as I huffed. "However, at least you're expressing what you really think. I, however, can never managed to express what I'm thinking without lying through half of it," he said.
"Cause you were a liar," I pointed out bluntly as Nagihiko sighed. "Yeah, I've heard that a few times before," he said sarcastically.
An awkward silence enshrouded us.
"Sooooooo, I guess that's it with your questioning?" Nagihiko asked, turning towards Chika's father's ankle. "Does that satisfy you, my queen?" he asked, as I glared back.
"No. I don't get your answer," I said. "You say that you can't show what you really feel about something, but don't you? I, on the other hand, have to pretend to be nonchalant and indifferent towards everything, cause that's—apparently—part of who I am. Mashiro Rima, Ice Queen." I mentioned my infamous nickname at school and sighed.
"Well, it seems like we're complete opposites," Nagihiko remarked. "Y'know, since I'm 'Nagihiko,' people expect me to act like one. Like—" he proceeded to explain what he meant when he said the confused glare on my face, "—I need to smile. Y'know, keep happy? Apparently, Nagihikos aren't allowed to be sad. And I cannot be blunt. No matter what, I must be subtle, including when I want to scream in the cafeteria because the thirtieth fan-girl has deafened my ears," Nagihiko said nonchalantly. I hid a giggle. Nagihiko sounded funny when he referred to himself in third-person-ish language.
"So, we're even," Nagihiko remarked. I sighed. Perhaps we were. There was some cruel fate from up in the heavens that was twisting our lives. Or maybe this was destiny.
"I'm really envious of certain people," Nagihiko continued. "Like Amu-chan. Though she also can't show her worrisome, anxious side, she's at least starting to show it. And people don't find it weird. And Tadase, whenever he Character Changes, people are now used to it and find it funny even. People like Kuukai and Yaya never really had a façade, and Nadeshiko fit in rather well. People found Kairi's devotion to the code of bushido to be perfectly normal, and Chika-chan—well, I guess no one could really dislike her. She was Yaya's type—energetic, full of vitality, and the type no one could dislike," Nagihiko said, finishing with a sigh.
"Do you like her?" I mustered up my guts to ask. Nagihiko paused in his work again. "Who?" he continued, his voice empty and his hands working automatically as he stared at Chika's father's nose which suddenly became extremely interesting. I growled. "You know exactly who I'm talking about!" I exclaimed angrily. I hated it how he always avoided topics he didn't want to talk about.
"Who, Amu-chan?" he said distractedly, as I snorted. "Ikuto and Tadase would kill you for that," I said, as Nagihiko smiled a bit. "Yeah, perhaps." Another awkward silence.
"As I said, don't keep changing the topic!" I exclaimed. "Do. You. Like. Sasaki. –San?" I questioned clearly. Nagihiko gulped as he worked on Chika's father's ears for some reason. "Why are you asking something like this now?" he asked, not responding to my question.
"Just answer me!" I exclaimed loudly. More silence filled the infirmary.
"What if…if I said I didn't?" he asked tentatively. I was almost at my breaking point, I swore. "You aren't answering my question, you dimwit!" I exclaimed, resisting the urge to crash my head on the wall nearby. Thankfully I didn't do that.
"Maybe. That's really my honest answer," Nagihiko added hastily when he saw my murderous expression. I was seriously getting pissed off by his attitude. Couldn't he just respond properly?
"Alright then." I decided on leaving him alone. After all, now really wasn't the time to talk about these types of things, was it?
"What about you?" he asked. I turned towards him confusingly. "Do you like Chika-chan? As a possible friend, I mean," he added hurriedly. "I'm not accusing you of being lez," he said as I sighed.
"Maybe," I responded, similar to him. "Mostly, I can't respond cause I don't know her real well and according to your description of her, she has had a façade on the whole time I've known her," I explained so Nagihiko couldn't point out that I had the same answer as him.
"She really is lovable," he said as I whirled around at him. "So you do like her. Or love her?" I asked as his eyes widened. "W—what? No!" he protested, as I rolled my eyes. He wasn't willing to let me infer anything from him.
"What do we do now?" I asked. Nagihiko had placed Chika's father under some covers and we were left with nothing to do. Returning to Amu seemed like a good idea at first but that was quickly erased. Could we really leave behind an injured man? I thought about sending Nagihiko back, but decided against it as well. He'd been traumatized by the previous experience; I don't think that's a good idea. I considered sending myself back there, but I didn't want to go alone. That'd be really, really, creepy. Seriously! How many stories have you read about poor innocent girls traversing down dark, creepy hallways by themselves? They never had happy endings.
"I don't know," Nagihiko responded truthfully. I sighed. Perhaps…we should just dawdle here idly? I don't know.
"Uhh…Rima-chan?" Nagihiko piped up. I turned towards him. "What?" I questioned, though it came out more as a statement than anything. Nervously, he rubbed his palms together. "Did you hear anything before Chika-chan shot you with her attack?" he asked. I blinked. Yes, in fact I did. Though not really, cause now that it's over, my memory's a bit blurry.
"Uhh…kinda. There was…Kuukai? He exclaimed something and leapt my way," I recalled. "And someone telling Chika to stop—some guard or someone…" I attempted to recall—and failing to do so in the process. "Oh. There was that heart-wrenching scream," I recalled. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I imitated, except lowering the severity and intensity of the scream. "Something like that," I said. Nagihiko sighed. "Thank goodness," he said.
"You meaning…?" I questioned cautiously. He was definitely hiding something from me. Nagihiko's head turned my way as he smiled. "Ahahahaha…nothing!" he exclaimed as I narrowed my eyes down even further. "What," I demanded harshly. Did I ever mention? I hated being out of the loop.
"I said, nothing," Nagihiko insisted as I titled my head, meaning I did not believe in him. "Really! Thank goodness you didn't hear anything, cause—cause—cause everyone was sobbing for you! That'd be really sad, wouldn't it?" Nagihiko questioned. I rolled my eyes. His lying skills had lowered.
"I know you're lying," I pointed out bluntly as Nagihiko's smile slightly dropped. "What are you hiding from me?" I demanded, except my tone a degree less severe. I would probably not get anything out of him like that anyways, so maybe I shouldn't be so mean.
"Nothing, Rima-chan," he insisted. It seemed like he had ran out of excuses and could only bluntly deny. "Really?" I asked. Nagihiko nodded. "Are you sure?" I questioned again, at which Nagihiko responded in a similar fashion. "Fine," I said, turning away. I figured I could use the guilty card to try to make him feel bad for hiding something from me.
Yes, I was once told I was an evil plotting master, thank you very much.
"I did once love her," Nagihiko said, as I couldn't help but gasp. Without him mentioning the name, I still had a vague idea that Chika was the one he was talking about. "She was just so—I don't know, cheerful? Bright? Energetic? Like she didn't have a worry in the world. But I guess—I don't feel the same anymore. Like when I saw her on that first day of school, it all—I don't know, changed," he said. "There wasn't that feeling there anymore…y'know?" he asked, as I shrugged, attempting to keep up with his conversation.
"Maybe I still love her," he said, as I winced. Stop wincing, stupid body! Why are you wincing?
.....
C'mon, you can't be telling me I'm jealous of her? No way, in—anywhere! How could I be jealous of that rude, obnoxious, pompous girl?
"But…" Nagihiko said, "there's no room in my heart for her. Someone else is already there," he said solemnly. I could feel something snap within me, though I tried to keep together my charade.
"Uh-huh," I drawled out, trying to keep my breathing calm. No way. No way. This was not happening. This could not be happening to me.
Had I freakin' fell in love?
No way, I'm just kidding myself. It's the heart-racing effect. I'm scared, and that's why my heart's racing, not because—
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump-thump-thump—
Does your heart beat faster when you lie?
Thump.
Affirmative.
"So, who's the lucky girl?" I asked, attempting to keep neutral. No way have I fallen in love. No way have I fallen in love. No way, José, have I fallen in love with freakin' Na—
"Not telling," he said, completely causing me to do a mental faceplant. At least that disturbed my thoughts from—the unthinkable.
However, I was still extremely curious over who this mysterious girl was. Because, was it possible, that—
It could be…—gulp—me?
Cause think about it! It's probably not a fangirl, crossing out literally almost everyone in the school, not any taken female Guardian (Amu and Yaya crossed out), he'd just denied loving Chika, and him and Utau just don't seem to see eye-to-eye (and Kuukai would give him a black eye first). So, then isn't there only—
Me?
A/N: Wow. I've really delayed, huh? Anyways, yes, rushing, yes, not that nicely written, and no, I don't know when I'll update next. I'm so happy I'm finishing it, thank goodness!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara!
Anyways, thanks for all my reviewers who review. I'm sorry if I forget to reply sometimes, too busy. Thank you for your constant support. :)
Yes, it sounds like the end. I'm hoping I'll finish in three chapters. Three chapters. Maybe an epilogue. Who knows?
Hope you've enjoyed it!
