*Bows humbly!*
I am reeeeeeeaaaaaallllllly sorry for not updating in welll quite a long while LOL ^^ I hope that you all will forgive me with this new chapter!!! Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara in Any way!
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"Welcome Young Honored Guests!" A slew of maids and butlers lined the foyer bowing in an exaggerated greeting. Yaya and Rima thought it reminded them of the greetings from a rich character in a shojo manga.
"Hello!" Kukai mused, "I've been here a thousand times yet I never get used to it!" he laughed jovially. Amu smiled, "Neither do I"
A butler stepped forth and took all their bags and coats, "Are the young masters residing in the recreation room." Rima and Yaya scoffed, How old fashioned!
"Ah no geeves were studying today!" Kukai said slinging an arm around Amu and Tadase.
"Ah then the library we shall prepare your things them but all work and no play make for dull children!" Geeves flicked his wrist and four maids appeared right before them, "Get the young guests ready for brunch in the garden."
Before Amu, Rima, or Yaya knew what was going on they were flung from one servant to the next and ended up getting stripped by several maids and put into pretty sun dresses and heels which none had any experience in walking. Their hair and makeup was done and before they could blink again they were out on a stone way path leading out to a lovely fragrant rose garden, "Ah! I see the girls were 'serviced' as well." They spun on their heels, rather ungracefully, to see Kukai, and Tadase were dressed differently from before. Kukai was wearing a light green pressed shirt and a dark suede vest and light brown slacks. The maids had given up on his curly spikes long ago so his hair was unchanged. Tadase was also in a pressed shirt but it was white and over it was a light gray sports coat and slacks.
The girls blushed staring at them (Heck suits are cuuuute!) A thought crossed Amu's mind, How would Ikuto look dressed up like that?
She spaced off in Tadase's direction for a little while and didn't snap out of it until Rima slapped her on the back, "Earth to Amu!!"
Amu snapped up her now curly hair snapping with her. "W-w-what?"
"You totally got lost drooling at the boys just now!" Rima reminded her. Amu blushed a deep shade of red which matched the sun dress Yaya was put in, "W-was not!"
"Were too Amu-chii!" Yaya teased her short brown hair dancing with wide curls. Amu tugged at Yaya's ears, "Hey!"
"Ow, ow Amu-chii It hurts!" Yaya tugged away from her and massaged her ears with a pout on her face. "Amu-chii is soo mean!"
A light chuckle was heard from behind them and they whipped around to see a woman about the age of 20 or so with Short shaggy Royal blue hair and indigo eyes. She wore a pale blue shirt and a black vest which was spotted with something white. Her jeans however were torn and covered in different hues of paint. But aside from her messy clothing she was beautiful Amu awed at her for a second until she noticed Nagihiko and Nadeshiko behind her.
"Ah- uuh Hello." Amu said finally a light embarrassed blush tinting her cheeks.
"Hi!" The blue haired woman smiled and offered a white speckled hand in greeting, "You must be Nade-chan's friends, I'm Miki Fujisaki their older cousin."
The three of them gawked. Miki Fujisaki is a world renowned artist famous for her large photographic like portraits some scaling the size of twenty feet in length and ten feet in height. She was also a pop icon because of her graffiti work. Amu had always been a fan of hers also because she started at a young age and worked hard to get where she was now. Nadeshiko gestured toward the trio starting with Amu, "These are my friends the girl in the white sundress with the pink hair is Amu. The girl in the lime green dress with blonde hair is Rima and last but not least in the red baby-doll dress and brown hair is Yaya."
"Nice to meet you all! I've heard a lot about you three from Nade-chan!" Miki said happily. They continued to gawk leaving Miki's white speckled hand in the air. Suddenly Amu burst out, "Miki-san! It's an honor to meet you!" Amu took her hand happily, "I'm a huge fan of your work!"
Miki laughed a peppery laugh, "I'm so glad!"
"Miki-nee-chan is pretty famous I'm not surprised they're star struck." Kukai said nonchalantly Tadase and Nagihiko nodded in agreement. Nadeshiko giggled lightly then something caught her attention from down the path and she cleared her throat and everyone turned their attention to her, "Well I think it's time we meet Papa and Mr. Hotori for brunch."
"Ah yes!" Miki said lightly her gaze floating toward the stone path, "They're expecting us so we can't be late."
They followed the cobble stone path until it led them to a large white iron bar gazebo where two men were in a light discussion drinking coffee from delicate porcelain cups. The first was in a dark gray suit his hair was a light brown and he did not look nearly older than his late thirties. The other was much more handsome his hair was dark purple like Nadeshiko and Nagihiko but it was shoulder length floating freely around his face. He was dressed more casually that the brown haired man wearing a white shirt and brown slacks. There was something in his expression that was so serene the girls felt comfortable approaching him but his elegance and gentle face made them all blush.
The two broke their conversation when their attention caught the following group. The first to speak was the brown haired man, "Well what a large group this morning."
"Ah! Hotori-san! Oji-san!" Miki said being the quickest to explain, "Were here with a few extra guests Nade-chan brought her friends over!" Miki motioned their attention to Amu, Yaya, and Rima. The man with dark purple hair smiled, "Ah yes It's good to meet you, I am Notori Fujisaki."
The man with the light brown hair nodded, "Ah yes what pretty young girls! I'm Yuu Hotori! I'm Tadase's father."
Amu slid her eyes over to the prince like boy, "Oh!" She thought, They look nothing alike
Notori stood up and Yuu followed suit, "If you please," He gestured to the seats around the table, "There's plenty of room around the table so make your selves at home."
S-s-so cool! Yaya danced around the table to get a seat closest to Notori. Rima sat next to her and Naghiko sat next to Rima. Nadeshiko laughed and sat next to her brother and Kukai stole the seat by Nadeshiko leaving Amu sitting between Kukai and Tadase who was sitting by Yuu. Amu blushed deep red. She wasn't used to this kind of situation. She kept her gaze at the table until a tea cup with a rosy scent appeared in front of her. She lifted her head and noticed everybody was receiving a cup of the rosy tea.
Notori took a sip of his tea then turned toward Nadeshiko, "So could you please introduce your friends?"
"Of Course Papa!" Nadeshiko said placing her own cup on the saucer, "These are my friends Yaya, Rima, and Amu."
"Hey Nori-tan can I ask you a question?" Yaya mumbled cutely. Notori smiled and nodded, "How come, even though we've been here before this is the first time we've meet Nori-tan."
Notori smiled, "Well You see I work nights mostly and Nadeshiko only brings you guys on the days I work."
"What kind of work do you do?" Amu asked surprising herself.
"I'm a historian of sorts." He said taking up his cup again and twirling the contents before taking a sip and continuing, "I'm actually currently working on a project that deals with this region's ancient royal family with the help of the Hotori family to restore what little artifacts are left from that time period."
"It's an on-going ordeal that has been really tricky considering most of the artifacts were destroyed with the royal Tsukiyomi family." Yuu interjected, "Notori-san and I have happed to come across an interesting find."
"The last portrait of the Tsukiyomi family before they disappeared" Notori said with a hint of excitement in his voice, "I've hired Miki-chan as a restorer of the piece."
"Can we see it!" Yaya asked eagerly. Miki shook her head, "It's still got a lot of work to be done besides I've sworn to secrecy until the piece is unveiled at the gallery showing during the Night Festival!"
"The Night festival?" Amu, Yaya, and Rima asked simultaneously.
"It's a gallery of the ancient arts held down in the city square. We were planning on unveiling it then." Yuu announced, "Of course you all are invited to come! It would be instresing to have all of you there. Especially Ms. Amu."
Amu blushed, "Why me?"
"Tadase may be a good looking boy but he's too shy! He needs a date." Miki explained.
Tadase turned as red as an apple and turned away, "I-I'm not I just haven't found a girl I really like….yet"
Amu smiled and laughed, "Oh!"
The servent came in carrying nine silver platters and they all delivered nine delicious omlets to each person and filled their cups with fresh tea.
"Help yourselves!" Notori-san offered politely. Every one dug in except Amu who was worried about Ikuto and unconsciously said aloud, "I should save some for Ikuto."
Notori, Yuu, and Miki all stopped and stared at Amu, "Did you say Ikuto?" Notori asked in a cold voice.
Amu felt a chill go up her spine, "Uh… yeah my cat is named Ikuto and I brought him with me …I hope you don't mind."
"What an interesting name for a cat…." Yuu said, "But to save him food?"
"Amu's dad is a veterinarian! Both of them treat animals like humans." Rima said flatly and continued to eat, With the exception Ikuto is human…they don't need to know that
"Oh is that so?" Yuu laughed. The atmosphere suddenly lightened, "Of course we don't mind uh… but…" Yuu looked around and on the ground, "Where is the little fella?"
"He wandered off earlier probably saw a bird or something." Kukai said stuffing a large bite of egg in his mouth.
"I see." Notori smiled, "Cat's are wanders they don't like to stay in one place at a time."
Amu dropped her fork. A thought had occurred to her that hadn't before. Will Ikuto leave me one day?
Once she heard the clang on the dish she remembered where she was and blushed, "heh… butterfingers."
Nadeshiko cleared her throat again, "Well we better finish up quickly we do have a paper to work on."
"Ah! Yes that's right you girls are going to do a report on the era that is of our expertise." Notori added, "If you have any questions ask us."
"Amu-chii probably needs to." Yaya pointed to her with a her fork, "She picked the Tsukiyomi curse and none of us took notes on it in class."
"Ah that one is a fun subject." Yuu and Notori smirked, "Do you know what the curse is supposed to be?"
Amu shook her head.
"Well way back when, the Tsukiyomi family's head, the king as a matter of fact, actually had no royal blood. The princess married him for love and he ended up inheriting the crown as well as a slew of enemies one being a nasty sorcerer. Legend says that the sorcerer attacked the family with a curse for each individual member a total of Four curses the Black Cat, the Sand Canary, the broken violin, and the lost jewel."
"There is a poem that was found near the ancient palace shortly after the family disappeared some believe it to be the secret of the curses, "Notori pulled out a bent piece of note book paper and read, "When the moon doth rise/and the sun doth set/thou shall grow ears and tail/ and cry for thy humanity/ where the moon shall give mercy/ the sun shall not/by day a cat/ by night a man/ until a fair maid sets her heart upon thee/ and tulips bloom below the moon/ the cat shall be no more/ and the man shall walk his days/ the curse of the music of the moonlit path/ shall be lifted and hence/ a price be paid in full/ a living amulet shall shatter/ and a broken heart will mend a thousand years of wrong/"
"That sounds so sad." Amu said, "The price to be paid is a broken heart…."
"Well these kinds if things are not always what they seem the secrets often lay within the words." Notori explained, Amu… hmm… like Amu-let….how interesting….
Hmm… well I don't really have much to say but CLIFFY! LOL sorry but come one I couldn't resist leaving it there ^^ I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you review! It will give me motivation to write the next chapter!!!
Thanks for all who reviewed! I lost track of the Special thanks so It's a mass thank you!!! For all those who reviewed and/or favorited my story! Catcha next chapter!
