Recap
"Why don't you change his mind?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her and tilted my head a bit confused.
"You convinced him that day we went to save Ikuto. If you did it once then you can do it again."
"How would I do that?" I asked.
"You said words that really moved him. He took them to heart and Temari hatched. Every time he dances then say how good he was," she said.
"He'll think I'm his best friend," I pointed out.
"Is that such a bad thing? Temari will be the only girl chara that remembers me. I really miss her Rima," Kusukusu said. She was being serious. It was rare to see her like that. I smiled at her.
"Alright, I'll try my best," I said.
"Yay! Operation Make Nagi Happy so Temari Will Come Out of Her Egg," Kusukusu cheered.
Chapter 5 Operation Make Nagi Happy so Temari Will Come Out of Her Egg
*Rima's POV*
Today will be all about finding the wishing well and begin 'Operation Make Nagi Happy so Temari Will Come Out of Her Egg'. That's what Kusukusu called it so I was sticking with it but maybe we should call it O.M.N.H.T.W.C.O.H.E. That seems harder to remember.
"Hello Rima," I heard behind me. I turned and saw the purple headed boy that I was supposed to make happy. He ran to catch up with me. I looked at his shoulders but only Rhythm was there. Why do I feel this is going to be a lot of work? I just noticed that he didn't use an honorific.
"Add an honorific," I said.
"You use my name with out an honorific," he pointed out.
"You call him by his nickname," Rhythm added.
"Rima, remember the plan," Kusukusu whispered in my ear. I have to be nice around him and make sure Temari hatches. Out of his charas, Temari was my favorite. Rhythm was just a playboy.
"Alright Nagi, you can call me Rima," I said in a sweet voice.
"What's the catch?" he asked.
"No catch," I said.
"Kusukusu, is that true?" Nagi asked as he turned to her. He knew she had a hard time keeping a secret. Kusukusu looked at him, then me, then him till she got dizzy. She floated down and I caught her.
"There is nothing to worry about Nagi. Let's find the well so everything can go back to normal," I said still being very sweet. Him and his chara looked at me suspiciously. Him and I were now at the gates of the school.
"Rima! Nagi!" we heard a familiar pinkette call our names. She ran over to us with Utau right behind her.
"Hello," I said.
"Hey Chibi," Utau said. Why must she keep that nickname?
"Did you mom say it was ok to go shopping with us this weekend?" Amu asked.
"I can go but I have to bring my little sister," I said.
"That's a relief. I have to bring mine too," Amu said.
"I am the little sister so I will bring myself," Utau said.
"Nagi, you should come too," Amu said.
"Why me? I thought this was a girl thing," Nagi said.
"Pretty please," Amu asked using her sparkle attack. Nagi always fell for a girl's sparkle attack. He was a bit of a pushover.
"I guess," Nagi said. I decided I better pull him away and save him. We had to look for the wishing well anyway.
"Nagi, you promised to show me around the school," I said. He caught on pretty quick.
"I did, I better do it now. Can you tell the other guardians?" Nagi said the last part to the two other girls.
"We'll tell them," Utau said.
"Thanks, Nagi let's go," I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him away. I thought that was nicer than dragging him by his tie like last time.
*Utau's POV*
"You know the plan for this Saturday, right?" I asked Amu.
"Of course, I can't believe Nagi said that," Amu said.
*Flashback*
"That chibi girl is pretty cute," I said as I sat next to Nagi. Rima went to the bathroom so I decided to talk to him.
"I don't think she's cute," he said.
"What do you mean? If you looked in a dictionary and found the word cute then you'd see a picture of her," I said.
"I just don't think she's cute," he said.
*Flashback Over*
"Our mission is to have Nagi call Rima cute by dressing her up in a bunch of cute outfits," I said.
"Rima won't be happy with us. She doesn't seem to like to be dressed up," Amu said.
"She can get over it because it's happening. If Nagi doesn't think a girl like Rima is cute then he must play for our team," I said.
*Rima's POV*
"It should be here somewhere," I said. Him and I have been looking all over the area I thought might be where the well would be. Where could it be?!
"Look here Rima," he said. I was not used to him saying my name without an honorific. I walked over to him. He pointed to circle of dirt.
"Dirt?" I said confused.
"It looks like the wishing well was here but it just vanished," Rhythm said.
"So I'm stuck here," I said.
"It seems like it," Nagi said. This really sucks. I pretty much have to start my social life over, I have to get everyone back with the right person, and I have to dance. How could this get worse?
"Rima, I'm really sorry. I was the one that told you to make a wish," he said. His face looked depressed. He was not supposed to be sad today. I was supposed to cheer him up. This was the first thing I had to do. Temari hatches then I'll work on someone else. Utau getting Ikuto should be next.
"It's alright," I said. He looked at me shocked.
"What do you mean? Don't you want everything to go back to normal?" he asked.
"Of course I do but I have you to help me," I said as I gave him a smile. He seemed shocked and I could've sworn I saw his face get a bit pink but I blinked and it was gone so it must've been the light or something. He smiled at me.
"I promise to help the best I can," he said.
"It's a little weird to see those two get along," Rhythm said to Kusukusu.
"But it's better so we can be friends," Kusukusu said as she hugged him. Rhythm, being the playboy he is, hugged her back. We all heard the distant bell ring meaning school started and we were now late. We both started running toward the school. I noticed that I wasn't tired from all the running.
"Wow! Rima is actually running for more than a minute," Rhythm said.
"I guess I'm more athletic since I dance or something like that," I said as I kept running.
~~~~*Time Skip*~~~~
"Rima, you almost got a detention," Kusukusu said.
"Yeah, but luckily Nikaidou-sensei is our homeroom teacher and thought it was a guardian thing," I said.
"Nagi has never had a detention before," Rhythm said. Before Nagi could say anything all the charas gasped.
"X eggs!" they gasped.
"Let's go," Tadase said. All of us, Amu; Utau; Tadase; Kukai; Nagi; and I, chased our charas. Utau followed ours since her's were no longer with us. I don't really know why she came if she can't charanari.
"There they are!" Kukai announced.
"Everyone charanari!" Amu said. Utau had a vein pop out on her head.
"Sorry Utau," Amu said.
"Just get this get over with," Utau said as she sat on the grass with her arms crossed over her chest.
"My heart unlock!" all of us except Utau said.
"Charanari Platinum Royal"
"Charanari: Sky Jack"
"Charanari: Beat Jumper"
"Charanari: Clown Drop"
"Charanari: Amulet Heart"
"Rima! You can charanari!?" Amu said shocked.
"That's not what you should be focused on," I pointed out.
"Oh yeah, the X eggs," Amu said. I love Amu but she can be so dense.
"Tightrope Dancer!"
"Blaze Shoot" Nagi and I attacked at the same time. The ropes wrapped around his ball of energy. My ropes had the energy on them. I swung the ball around.
"I guess that works," I said. The ropes broke apart and the ball was gone but the energy was still in the ropes. They wrapped around the X eggs.
"Now Amu," I said.
"Negative heart lock on, open heart!" she said then purified the eggs. The eggs then went back to their owners.
"I never knew you could do a combo attack," Rhythm said.
"But Clown Drop and Yamato-" Kusukusu began but Rhythm covered her mouth.
"Nagi, is your mom still sick?" I asked making sure the attention wasn't on my loud mouth chara. Don't get me wrong, I love her to death. She can slip some things out if she doesn't watch herself.
"Yes, why do you ask?" he asked a bit curious.
"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house," I said as I gave him a smile.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Nothing, you've just been extra nice to me today," he said. I grabbed his sleeve and tugged a bit meaning he was supposed to follow me. He understood right away. We started to walk away when we heard our friends talk.
"There is something between those two," Kukai said.
"They do share a strange friendship," Tadase said.
"Nagi said he didn't think Chibi was cute. How is that even possible?" Utau said.
"We are still an earshot away," I said. The grip on his sleeve was tighter.
"If that's the case then why don't you think she's cute?" Kukai asked.
"I just don't," Nagi said.
"How?" Amu asked.
"Is there something you need to tell us?" Utau said.
"I know what you're implying Utau and I am not gay. Is it impossible to think she's not cute? I just don't and that's that," Nagi said in a calm tone. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
"Let's go Rima. Bye everyone," he said.
"Bye," I said to them. They all waved at us. After we walked off school grounds there was a silence. It wasn't one I was used to where I was comfortable being quiet. Why didn't he tell them I hated being called cute?
"Why didn't you tell them I hated that word?" I asked.
"It's not something for me to tell. Even though you constantly teased and mocked me, you never told anyone about my Nadeshiko secret. It would be unfair if I told them," he said. After he was done talking I noticed he was still holding my hand.
"You can let go of my hand," I said. He looked at our hands then quickly let go. Were his cheeks pink. I guess he was a bit embarrassed for not noticing earlier. The rest of the way to my house was in an awkward silence. The only talked was him talking into his phone telling his mom where he was.
"Mom, I brought Nagi home," I said.
"We have another guest," mom said from the kitchen. I was curious and walked in. There was a beautiful woman. She had lavender hair that was put up in a tight bun. She wore a nice button up shirt with a black skirt. She looked to fancy to be just going over to a normal house. I felt myself bow my head to her and words flew out of my mouth.
"It's nice to see you are feeling better Fujisaki-sensei." This must be Nagi's mom.
"There is no need to be so formal in you own house. I'm not your teacher right now so just Fujisaki-san will do," she said.
"Mother, what are you doing here?" Nagi asked.
"I was telling Mrs. Mashiro about your grandmother. She is coming all the way from Europe to visit. SHe used to run the Fujisaki dance school till she married and it was passed down to me. I would like all the dancers to do their very best when she arrives in a few weeks," she said. I saw Nagi's face pale.
"Nagi and I will be in my room talking about guardian things," I said to save him.
"Leave your door open," mom said. What does she think we'll do? Nagi and I both went up the stairs to my room.
"Thanks for saving me back there," he said.
"Is your grandma really picky when it comes to dancing?" I asked.
"Yes, but that's not what I'm worried about," he said.
"Then why did you look like you saw a ghost?" I asked.
"My grandma always wanted me to be a girl. She pretty much disowned my because of my gender. She's the reason I started pretending to be a girl at such a young age. I had to act like a girl at home too, twenty four hours a day. Right after I came back from Europe my grandmother stayed so my mother was kind enough to let me be myself as long as I was Nadeshiko for dance practice," he explained. I used to think he was perfect at everything and had a perfect life but I was wrong.
"Why don't you just impress her with your awesome dancing skills," I said. He looked at me shocked.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Time for 'Operation Make Nagi Happy so Temari Will Come Out of Her Egg' to take action.
"I've only seen your dancing once. It was so graceful and beautiful that you earned some respect for me. Since it was back when I first hated you, that means a lot. I may make fun of your tradition but I am actually jealous a girl like me isn't not as graceful as a boy like you. It bugged me for weeks to be honest," I said not looking at him while I was talking. I knew he was looking right at me.
"Rima, do you mean that?" he asked.
"Of course I do," I said as I looked right at him. He could tell I wasn't lying. I was speaking the truth the whole time. I looked away from him again.
"This is between you and me," I said. I felt something wrapped around me holding me close. I turned to see Nagi hugging me.
"It means a lot to hear that from you," he said.
"Personal space," I said. He let go and smiled at me. I smiled back at him.
"Nagihiko, it's about time we leave the Mashiro's to their business," his mother called.
"I'll be right there," he said. He gave me one more smile then walked out. I couldn't help but smile too.
*Nagi's POV*
After I left Rima's house, ate, and took a shower I was in my pjs laying on my bed. The smile on my face never disappeared.
"Someone's happy," Rhythm said.
"I can't help it," I said. He gave me a sly look.
"Could you be happy because of a certain blonde we know?" he asked.
"Utau?" I guessed. I knew who meant but I was just messing with him.
"Try a foot or two shorter," Rhythm said.
"I guess what Rima said really helped me get out of a funk. The news my grandmother is coming is always bad news," I said. Rhythm yawned.
"I know what you mean man. I'm gonna hit the hay. See you tomorrow," Rhythm said as he went in his egg. I guess now would be a good time for me to sleep too. I turned the lights off and went to bed. The one thing I didn't know was that a certain pink egg moved and cracked.
I got a chapter out. I'm really sorry but school started and I've already been busy and it's only been two days. I worry that my academics will interfere with my fanfiction but I will try my best. I am super determined.