A/N: I don't own Save me! Lollipop, all rights go to it's owners and producers etc. My cover image is a black and white picture of Hikari that I drew.

Sighing, I slumped further across my desk and allowed my head to drop down onto my folded arms. For the past half an hour, I had been attempting to complete my homework, but I found myself irritatingly unable to concentrate. Every little noise, be that the rattle of my tightly latched window, the distant creaking of the house, or even, on more than one occasion, my own breathing set me into a small flurry of panic.

Bad Thought: There are too many of them. Bad Thought: They're going to find you. And catch you. And remove the pearl. Forcefully. Worse Thought: They could kill you. Even Worse Thought: And you'd leave your mother all alone.

I couldn't help but feel anxious.

After all, now there were two sets of examinees after me. The prospect of having to face San and Forte still terrified me. They had attempted to kill me at least twice now, so I had more than enough reason to be wary of them. But Rokka and Gou? I didn't know what they were capable of, which only frightened me further. Just thinking about them lurking in the shadows had me one edge. For all I knew, they could be watching me through my window right now...

Feeling my heart leap into my throat, I instantly shot up and grabbed the window ledge as I tripped over the chair in my haste to close the blinds. The window was locked, I knew that for a fact. I'd already checked three times. Task completed, I released the breath I had been holding and leaned back to survey my room. It was dark now that the curtains were shielding it from the dying rays of evening light, but nothing had changed at all. The door was still closed, the desk hadn't moved, my bed was still in the correct position and there wasn't even a crack in the closest door.

On the spur of the moment, my mother had decided to quickly nip out to the pet store last minute and buy anything else she felt we might need for Tabby. After double checking that every inch on the house was securely locked, reminding me to go straight next door if there was a problem and to lock the door behind her, she left, leaving me all alone. To be honest, I probably should've gone with her. Sometimes she got so hyper, she'd lose herself. I didn't want her buying out the whole store, after all. Though, I had to avoid putting myself in situations where it would be awkward for Zero and Ichii to follow. Coincidentally running into them at a pet store when I'd already mentioned how they didn't own any animals wouldn't exactly be subtle.

Sighing once more, I summoned up my courage and padded over to the closest. Hesitating, I knocked as loud as I dared and only entered when I heard Ichii's faded voice instructing me to do so. Feeling a little nervous, I moved through the bedroom and peeked around the living room door. "I was wondering whether you guys waned some hot chocolate-" I trailed off when I noticed both boys nursing cups of warm goodness.

"Why don't you join us?" Ichii said, smiling warmly. He gently gave Zero a little nudge and the boy rolled his eyes before placing his cup on the table, sticking his tongue out at Ichii and heading towards the kitchen to make some for me. My protest was interrupted by Ichii insistently tapping the space next to him, indicating for me to sit. I hesitated for a brief moment, but after Zero's encouraging nod, I carefully did so, my hands twisting nervously in my lap.

Zero returned quickly and handed me a steaming mug displaying a cute design of hugging cartoon rabbits that I couldn't help but feel he picked out just for me.

"Thank you." I said quietly, before taking a small sip and wincing as the liquid scalded my lips. It was still far too hot to drink yet, so I quickly placed it down on the table. Zero merely nodded in acknowledgement as he settled down on my other side. Neither he or Ichii appeared to be bothered by the lack of space between us. I, on the other hand, was acutely aware of it, but was thankful for the distraction.

"I heard your other let you keep Tabby." Ichii said, and by the way the words tumbled from his mouth he'd evidently jumped on the first conversational topic that crossed his mind. It broke the awkward silence that had descended upon us, and, somehow, chatting about Tabby- about how excited I was that she was coming to live with me, and how the first thing I was going to do was play with her until I dropped dead from exhaustion- it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. It seemed like, as soon as we started, we couldn't stop and slowly, all my worries faded to nothing.

"No."

"But-"

"No!" I repeated firmly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Absolutely not. There is no way you are coming in to the girl's locker room with me!"

"But we can't let our guard down!" Zero protested, gesturing around in a wild motion that almost hit Ichii square in the face. Luckily the boy had the sense, and the quick reflexes, to dodge. From Zero's tone and hesitation, it was obvious he was unable to summon up a better argument on the spur of the moment. Which I was thankful for, since I was determined to win this battle. I certainly knew I wouldn't appreciate their presence. Not to mention all the other girls who would certainly be embarrassed. So, no. They were not following me this time. I supposed that if I got attacked, I would just have to deal with it on my own, like any reasonable, mature person would.

"I understand that. But you can't be in the same room as me! What about when I'm changing clothes?"

"Well that makes sense," Ichii said diplomatically, turning on his heels and heading towards the entrance for the boy's room. His swift interruption seemed to have surprised Zero just as much as it did me. "Come on, Zero."

He opened his mouth, though it seemed as though he hadn't prepared a clever argument and merely resorted to throwing me a dark look, as if his sudden lack of inspiration was my fault. Though, obviously, I had no control over his power to articulate things properly. "What? Are you serious?" Evidently, that was all he was capable of.

"Yes." Ichii nodded, to further confirm that fact. "See you later, Hikari. Be careful, okay? And call if you need us." With that, he continued on his way, throwing a small wave over his shoulder which I hastily returned. Zero hesitated for a moment, switching incredulous gazes from myself to the back of the retreating boy, before, spluttering protests, he chased after him.

Wow! Ichii's so mature and sweet.

Though, unfortunately, the smile and my dramatically improved mood disappeared almost instantly. I had spent so long arguing that, without my knowledge, my entire class had changed and already left. The room was completely empty. After a moment of pure disbelief, I snapped straight into a rapid-fire mode, changing so fast I must've been a blur. I didn't even spare a moment to wince at the loud clanging my inside shoes made when I threw them into the locker. Though, I took more care than I probably should've when tying my laces, since Kei policed me pretty harshly on that. She had good reason, though. Every time my laces were loose, I'd managed to trip over them. So, I suppose she was right to be wary.

Distracted with pulling my hair into what I deemed was a fairly neat ponytail, I bumped my locker door shut with my shoulder. Though I froze solid at an unfamiliar noise emanating from behind me. It sounded like... laughter? "You shouldn't let it bother you so much that you have small boobs." Releasing a small, startled cry, I whipped around, my leg sweeping in a wide, arching kick, exactly how Zero had taught me the night before. If he'd seen it, I was sure he'd be proud of how I executed that kick, despite the fact that it didn't connect due to Rokka being just out of it's range.

Narrowing my eyes, I allowed an annoyed scowl to take up my features as I carefully began edging towards the open door. I figured that if I could at least escape this confined room, I had a much better chance at defending myself. And, more importantly, making it to the gym to enlist the help of the boys. I just needed to buy time until I reached the corridor. "What exactly do you want? Ichii's not here, you know."

That seemed to amuse her. "I know that. I'm here to cast a transforming spell on you."

At that alarming announcement, my eyes widened significantly and I bolted straight for the open door. Unfortunately for me, it seemed like Rokka had expected that and nonchalantly kicked an abandoned bag into my path. I hit the ground hard, shoulder first and tumbled forward into a the most messy, ungraceful forward roll in existence. Let's just say my shoulder didn't exactly appreciate the collision. I was sure by now, it had stormed out on strike. So, as I was groaning, barely recovered enough to force myself to bear the soreness and crawl the remaining distance to the door, Rokka jabbed her staff towards me and cast the spell.

It was awful. A searing, slicing feeling that pulsated throughout my entire body. It was electric, setting my nerves alight with a flood agonising pain that curled toes, clenched fists and arched my back, involuntarily enticing a twisted, broken scream from my lips.

And then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

And I was left doubled over, determinedly forcing back hot, swollen tears, my choked gasps barely drawing in much needed oxygen.

One simply glance at the mirror was enough to see what she had done. I was no longer a petite, socially awkward twelve-year-old. Now, it looked as if I was just shy of my first birthday, which of course, was ever so helpful. Two cherry red double orbs held my raven hair in pigtails and my blue eyes seemed almost preternaturally huge in this state, though I was relieved to find my locket ever faithfully hanging around my neck. That at least was enough to provide even a little comfort. Though, I had to admit that the, rather cute, pink hooded onesie, adorned with bunny ears and a tail was different.

Bad Thought: You're going to remain like this forever.

My eyes narrowed dangerously up at the girl, though as I tried to convey my feelings in the eloquent wording which I am known for, I found that a stream of unintelligible blabbering replaced my colourful cursing.

"Not bad, huh?" Rokka's smug grin was enough to convince me that she was in fact the devil. "I thought you could use a little change. Good luck trying to steal my Ichii away now. I told you that you didn't want to mess with me, didn't I? And now look what you've made me do. Understand this; I won't let you tear our love apart. Ichii is mine! So just back off and leave my man alone." I couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at that. Ichii wasn't hers. He wasn't a possession to own. Something to collect and check off a long list. He was a human being and deserved to be respected.

Her expression softened. "Oh, I'm coming my love. Now we can be together and no one will stand in our way!" With that, she left.

Sighing, I sat back on my haunches and thoroughly examined my situation. There was definitely only one solution, aside from hunting down Rokka myself and forcing her to change me back, which I severely doubted I'd actually accomplish in this form. Reasonable Thought: No. You just have to find Ichii. Surely he'll know how to help you.

I sure as hell wish she'd had the decency to make me just a tiny bit older. Being able to walk would surely be helpful right about now.

Scratch that. I wish I could walk AND talk.

It was inevitable that my Find-Zero-and-Ichii-Plan wasn't exactly running smoothly. I'd managed to trek right down to the landing between the first and second floor before I'd been discovered by the nurse. Thankfully, it seemed like for once, some deity was on my side. Having her office situated on the first floor saved me the daunting task of climbing down the remaining stairs, and placed me much closer to the gym. On the other hand, it also meant that I was now trapped. It wasn't as though she would just allow me to wander off on my own.

"So, how did you get here, little one?"

I almost baulked under her intense gaze. It was more than a little unnerving. Luckily, her gaze shifted to the door as two people abruptly entered. Ayumi, usually an incessant ball of energy, looked the exact opposite of cheerful. Her face was twisted with worry and she clutched my uniform tightly to her chest as she scanned the room. Kei, wasted no time in squeezing her way past to do exactly the same, the tightness around her eyes as pronounced as the grim line her lips were drawn in. "Excuse me. You haven't happened to see Asahina Hikari, have you? She's missing."

The nurse frowned, and slowly shook her head. "No, I don't think I have." She looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help."

Kei! Ayumi! Thank god, you're here! You need to look closely, okay? I'm here.

My frantic babbling had caught the attention of both my friends. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a spark of recognition from Kei. But my hopes were crushed as her expression hardened once more. "Jeez. I'm going crazy." She muttered, lazily running her fingers through her hair. Ayumi raised an inquiring eyebrow, so Kei quickly clarified. "That baby looks a lot like a young Hikari, doesn't it?"

That raised a ghost of a smile from the other girl. "You're right. Is she yours? She's pretty cute."

"She's not mine. I just found her in the hallway."

As Ayumi shifted her weight to her other foot, my lollipop slipped out from the fold of my uniform. My Sensei's booming voice helpfully concealed the noise of it clattering to the ground. After hearing that they had still failed to find me, the hopeful light in his eyes died instantly. There was a pause for intense thinking, before the idea of splitting up was proposed and immediately agreed to. Even the nurse had become compelled to help and followed closely behind my Sensei.

They noticed I was gone? It looks like I'll have to surprise them with grape juice and ice cream the next chance I get! I glanced towards the door, where my lollipop had been abandoned. Ne... If I have my lollipop... Zero and Ichii would be able to recognise me!

I thanked the Gods for my amazing luck, and despite the fact that I my decent from the bed involved me landing ungracefully on my butt, I felt more relieved than I had all day.

Taking a deep breath to steady my shaky breaths, I allowed myself a moment to rest and squinted against the sharp glare of the sun. Two boys stood out in the mass of people. Blue hair. The other brunette. For a moment, I mistakenly believed that my eyes were playing tricks on me. But when they defied my expectations and remained, instead of disappearing before my very eyes, a delighted squeal rose from deep inside my chest.

It was masked by Rokka's enormous scream. There mere sight of me crawling over horrified her and after assuring an exasperated Ichii that everything was essentially perfect, and with speed I wasn't aware that she possessed, Rokka had hurtled over and hauled me up by the arm, dragging me out of sight and dumping me in with the gym equipment.

Which is exactly when I decided, politeness be damned, that the next time she made the mistake of getting too close, I was biting her. If she was going to transform me into a baby, then I'll damn well act like one. As soon as she went racing back, I followed. If she thought I was going to sit back and sulk, she was sorely mistaken. I was almost certain we'd been through that little charade at least four times by now. Me attempting to reach the boys, her stopping me and going back. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It was getting incredibly irksome.

Apparently, Rokka thought so, too. "Why can't you just stay quiet, you little brat?"

"What are you doing in here, Rokka?" Rokka, the Queen of Discretion, shrieked and jumped almost six feet in the air. Her attempts to act nonchalant as she used her body to block me only seemed to pique the interests of the two boys even further. Since I had spent the last hour and half crawling around on the baking pavement and earning myself a great collecting of blisters and bruises, I decided it was about time that I had a chance to derail her plans. Starting from now, I was going to become her worst nightmare. So, in accordance with my plans of sweet revenge, I threw back my head and wailed as loud as I could. "Is that a baby behind you?" Zero's voice switched from confusion to suspicion in the blink of an eye.

Captain Obvious strikes again. Why don't you get here so I can reward that great achievement with a gold freaking star.

"Absolutely not." Ichii raised a challenging eyebrow. He at least was displaying a good deal of intelligence. Taking three steps to the side earned him the perfect view of me, and a visible flinch from the girl. "Oh, you mean this baby?" She laughed nervously and scooped me up into her arms, much to my disgust. Instead, I satisfied myself with being the most unhelpful child in the world, screeching and struggling as much as this tiny form would allow me to. "I found this adorable little girl wandering around outside and I was just about to take her to the teachers so they can help her find her parents when you walked in and interrupted me."

Neither boy looked very convinced. Zero was studying me so intently that I played my last card and desperately waved the lollipop around, hoping that he'd recognise it.

Without warning, Gou sprang out from underneath the equipment I had previously been stationed on. Honestly, I didn't even have the energy left to question how exactly that was possible. "Hold it right there, Lady Rokka. The finder is saying that the Crystal Pearl is inside that baby!"

"What?" Zero exclaimed, his expression one of absolute horror as he examined me. "That means... That's Hikari? What did you to her?"

"Now it all makes perfect sense. You must've swallowed the Crystal Pearl on accident or something. That must be the reason why Ichii said you were an important person to him earlier... The only reason he's protecting you, is because you've got the Pearl. Without that, you're useless!" I winced. Her grip was suffocating. "So, Ichii, my love... If I take her to the Magic World, will you come back and live with me forever?" The question, and her sweet smile, apparently caught the boy off guard. Though, as she nodded to Gou, he quickly collected himself. "You know what to do. Now!"

"As you wish, Lady Rokka." He bowed respectfully, before initiating his Phantom Magic: The Child's room. The bright light was blinding and forced me to shield my eyes. All of a sudden, a sense of complete weightlessness took over my body, which tugged heavily at my navel, causing my stomach to drop in response. Somehow, it was both sickening and exhilarating at exactly the same time.

All at once, I was on the ground once more. It was soft and squishy beneath my hands, unfamiliar to the texture of the cold school pavement. It certainly was a child's room. A huge one, at that. Everything seemed to be disproportionate, distorted in an unnerving manner. Not to mention the fact that the entire room was filled with identical copies of myself, all crawling towards Zero and Ichii, both who looked fairly shocked. This is hopeless! If I don't do something to stand out, they'll never find me!

"It's up to you, Ichii." Gou's voice echoed eerily, sending unpleasant shivers up my spine. "If you can pick the real Hikari out of all these multitude of impostors then you win and we'll withdraw quietly for today. But if you can't find her, then we'll take her away and you'll never see her again. So if you really do care about Hikari, not just the Pearl, the you shouldn't really have a problem picking her out of a crowd, right?" He chuckled ominously. "Happy hunting, Ichii and Zero. Good luck to you both."

Bad Thought: They'll never find you.

I gritted my teeth.

Reasonable Thought: They'll try their damn hardest.

Zero seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. "Which one is the real Hikari?" He looked awkward as he carefully picked his way between the wriggling babies, eyes scanning each one with hawk-like precision. "There are so many! It's impossible. We'll never be able to find her at this rate!" I couldn't help but agree. But, since I noticed that all the fakes seemed to be congregating around the boys, I decided to instead move into the space. After all there wasn't anything wrong with giving them helping hand, now, was there?

"Oh no!" Zura's little voice caught my attention. He was flying around, using sharp eyes to inspect the fakes. They paid no attention to him, instead, they remained focused on Ichii. It seemed like a good idea, until I noticed a dark shape slowly edging towards him. "I can't tell which one is her." He released a startled scream as one of the giant animals came to life and carelessly batted him aside, straight up and into the wall of the room. His flight abruptly halted, Zura crashed down to the floor, lifeless.

My heart leaped into my throat. Zura! No!

Red hot anger flushed my cheeks. The bear was advancing on him, movements slow, disjointed and robotic. I dismissed my initial fears in favour of being absolutely apoplectic with rage. Right now, it didn't matter to me whether or not Ichii and Zero could spot me. All I was focused on was getting to Zura, and despite the fact that he was stirring, my concern never faded for a second.

"G-Get away, zura. G-Get away from me!" Deaf to his cries, the bear continued forward. Alarm flickered across the faces of both the boys as they expertly manoeuvred their way around the mass of squirming children. "Please, don't come any close- Ah!" As the bear prepared to punch him flat, I threw my arms out wide, using my whole body as a shield to protect the helpless seahorse. The utter fury that had been amassing hit a crescendo and exploded outwards in the form of a tremendous roar. Yeah, there was no doubt at all. I was pissed.

"Zero, get the bear!" Ichii had already surrounded the two of us in one of his defence capsules.

"My pleasure." Despite the fact that Zero's face was shrouded in darkness, it was easy enough to see the smouldering gleam burning deep in his eyes. The boy wasted no time in utterly decimating the bear with a blast of his Magic Cannon that was so powerful, it left clumps of soft stuffing scattered everywhere. The boy certainly hadn't been playing around. Though the dark expression that had been marring his features very quickly morphed into one of relief at the sight of myself and Zura, both relatively unharmed, being carried back down towards him.

"Don't worry, Hikari." Ichii's smile was so warm, it was almost tangible. "We've got you now. You're safe." His words eased the tight ball of tension that had been winding in my stomach and with that, I tumbled forward and landed straight in his arms, gripping his shirt with my tiny fists. "I gotcha." His voice, which was brimming with such sweetness, and the gentle way he cradled me was enough to trigger the rising tears. And Ichii, sweet, kind, precious Ichii only pulled me closer as I cried, his hand carefully stroking my raven locks in an attempt to calm shaking sobs.

"Keep your promise." Zero ordered, a certain sharpness to his tone. "We've found the real Hikari. Now let us go."

Gou conceded. "That was the deal. You've won the game, so we won't take the girl away from you, I just hope you've saved some luck for the next time."

At first, I was completely unaware of three things. One, that we had been returned to the equipment room. Two, That I had been returned to me normal age. And three, that all eyes were on me, my head still nestled against Ichii's chest as I struggled to reign in my emotions. The boy in question, however, didn't seem to bothered. After a few more seconds, I realised that my feet were touching the ground. That alone was the thing that made me back up so I could take a better look at myself. The shock must have been evident, since Ichii appeared to be fairly amused as he used his thumb to wipe away any lingering tears from my cheeks.

"Wh-Why are you helping that girl, Ichii? I'm a much, much better woman than she'll ever be! I can't leave now. Not when that annoying little girl is trying to steal my Ichii away from me. I just won't stand for it! Transform Magic: Magical Forge!"

Fear had rooted me to the spot. The toy rabbit materialised so quickly, I was left with no time to react. I couldn't save myself as it swung it's arm downwards in what would be a bone-shattering punch. The only thing I could do was close my eyes tight and hope it ended fast. Only, after several tense seconds, I realised that it never had a chance to connect. My lollipop, my precious, treasured possession had protected me. At the very last moment, it emitted one of Ichii's defensive shields, which absorbed the impact from the blow and seemed to repel it straight back, causing the rabbit to explode and keeping me safe from harm.

"I-Ichii?"

Rokka was stunned, to say the least. I wasn't sure I looked much better. I had expected to go flying into the wall and shipped straight to the emergency room, not to be barely standing on trembling legs that looked vaguely reminiscent of Jell-O. Aside from possibly having my heart skip a beat, I was relatively unscathed. And at the moment, that fact was a little hard to get my head around.

Ichii smiled remained gentle, despite him carefully wrapping his arm around my shoulders and giving a reassuring squeeze. It was a welcomed presence, nevertheless. "I cast a Defence Magic spell of Hikari's lollipop. It's set up so it'll activate any time she's in trouble." He switched a slightly sheepish gaze to me as I returned a grateful smile. "Sorry, I guess I should've told you that right from the beginning. We could've avoided this whole mess altogether."

"Why? Why do you care so much? Why won't you come back home and marry me?"

"I've already explained, haven't I? Hikari is an important person to me. I've sworn to protect her, Rokka, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. So, please, don't try to hurt her again." His words caused my cheeks to flush bright pink, though they induced tears for the other girl. "You understand, right? I can't go back to the Magic World right now. I have to stay here and make my dream come true. "

This news seemed to have upset Rokka even more than she already was. "I see." Her voice was cold. "So that's how it is. I hope you know that you're breaking my heart!" And with a small burst of light, the busty teenager was replaced by a little girl, who promptly turned and buried her head into Gou's stomach. The butler didn't seem fazed by this, he merely just patted her head.

"She's really a little girl?"

"That's right." Ichii confirmed, with an amused smile. "Lady Rokka here is really only five years old." Which of course explained everything. Why Ichii wasn't fazed when she kissed him. Why he tried to remained gentle and understanding even when she was throwing a tantrum, and threatening the lives of his friends. "I'm sorry Rokka." And all the while, I noticed that Zero was staring at me, his expression soft. The smile he displayed was not his usual endearingly confident, or teasing smile, but a warmer, kinder one, similar to what I would expect from Ichii. I returned one that I hoped was just a bright and pleasant as his.

"Now, now, we really should get back." Gou's voice was equally gentle as he carefully lifted up the small girl, despite her frantic struggling. "if you'd like, I'll make you some of your favourite stew to cheer you up."

"I'm not going to give up, Hikari! I will separate you from my Ichii!" And with her last piercing cries, they disappeared.

"Finally." Zero said, his arms folded across his chest. "I was about to poison the tea."

"Sweet girlfriend, Ichii." Zura teased, which made us all laugh. And it felt good to laugh. It felt whole, and precious, and safe.

"Hey, Ichii? Mind if I ask you something?"

For a moment, the boy ceased all movement. He regarded me curiously, before continuing to carefully remove the band from my hair, allowing the waves to cascade down my back. "Of course. What's troubling you?"

"How exactly did you know which baby was the real me?" While the thought hadn't actually been bothering me, it had crossed my mind a couple of times. And, well, with all the craziness that had been going on, I felt like I had the right to indulge in my curiosity just this once. "I mean, Kei and Ayumi did think I looked familiar, but they never realised it completely and they've know me for much longer than you have."

"That was easy."

The boy's simply shrug merely confirmed his words. I followed his gaze across the playground, the very same one where I had helped that girl not too long ago. "None of the fakes retained your personality. The moment you tried to protect Zura, I knew it was you. Because, while there were many babies that looked just like you... You were the only who tried to save him." He lightly pinched my cheek. "You're really sweet, Hikari. A very special special girl." His smile was more than enough to melt my insides.

"What are you two doing?" Zero's voice interrupted the transformation of my legs to goo. I'd have to find a way to discretely thank him for that later. "Come on! I'm hungry and tired of waiting on you!" He looked so exasperated, waving his arms around so wildly that he almost hit himself in the face with his bag.

"He's right. Ready to go?"

I nodded and we jogged to catch up.

"Ne, Zero. My mum took another night shift. I say we splurge and order take out!" Zero obvious ecstasy was adorable. He jumped up, pumping the air in celebration, already chatting at a hundred miles a minute. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.

These two are hands down two of the best friends a girl could ever have.

A/N: And that concludes this chapter! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful xD