…
His arms were wrapped around her. They were sitting on that boat, staring at the sun as the light glistened off the rippling water. Earlier, they had been feeding each other strawberries.
It was the most romantic, perfect date in the history of dates.
And it was also the most disgusting thing she had ever seen.
Utau forced herself to look away from the window, where she had been spying on them from her balcony with the telescope her father had gotten for her. She spun around on her heel, pacing her bedroom angrily.
Her only friend was sitting on her bed, scribbling on a piece of parchment as she ignored the blonde's raging.
Finally, Utau stopped pacing and threw her hands up in frustration as she let out a loud shriek. "It pisses me off! What does my lovely Prince Ikuto see in that ugly, pink haired nobody of a seamstress?!" She grabbed one of her pillows and tossed it at the wall, making it hit a vase.
"She's not pretty, she's not rich, she's not a princess, and she's obviously not sleeping with him because my darling prince wouldn't sink so low…" Utau stomped her foot angrily as she turned to her friend. "What does that girl have that I don't? What makes her so special?"
Lulu finally looked up, eyeing her friend. The heiress's hair was ruffled and tangled, her clothes were wrinkled and out of place, her face was flushed with anger, and her eyes were burning passionately.
The French advisor sighed, putting her parchment down. "Utau, you are a vision of beauty but you lack class and manners. You are acting spoiled and rotten right now, and that is exactly what every other princess did in Prince Ikuto's presence. Those are the same princesses that he turned down. That girl is simply being herself and that seems to catch his interest. Perhaps if you didn't act as if you were Princess Saaya…"
However, Utau wasn't listening. Her anger and jealousy was getting the better of her.
"I have to show everyone that Prince Ikuto and that pink haired rat do not belong together," she said. "I have to make sure that Amu does not fall in love with my future husband and turn him down so he can be comforted by me! I will have to be subtle about it though; I do not want to end up like Tadase."
Lulu returned to her parchment; she would advise her friend even if the spoiled heiress didn't listen, but she wouldn't go out of her way to help her from the dark path she had gone down. She didn't owe her that much.
Lulu was really Utau's older half-sister from when Kazuomi had an affair with a French woman, but was considered the illegitimate child so she became her sister's advisor in exchange for a roof over her head.
As children, Utau and Lulu had been best friends. They did everything together and were truly the closest pair anyone had every seen.
When Lulu had turned eight, she had learned about how she had been born. No wonder Utau's mother treated her so coldly. Since then, she felt as if she didn't deserve the rich life of the heiress and began to shy away.
Utau never learned the truth and it was probably for the better as the pampered life morphed the once sweet girl into somebody bitter and heartless. Lulu often thought of running away from the place she was barely welcomed, but her conscious told her to stay; she blamed herself for the way Utau had gone down, and felt it better to stay with her during these dark times.
She did not love Utau or anyone else in the Hoshina family, but where she was going to go? They had been friends once; that didn't have to change.
"You know," started Lulu, looking back at what she had written. "I find it hard to believe that you and Tadase had once been lovers."
Utau grimaced. "Please do not remind me; I was intoxicated and in the delusional state of believing I could make my darling Ikuto jealous." An almost sympathetic look crossed her features. "It really is a shame he went down such a dark path and let the jealousy get the better of him. I truly pity him, but I cannot say he does not deserve it. Do you see how that girl is ruining everything? She is causing good people to turn twisted and making their jealousy come out."
She flipped her hair. "I have to stop her or else more people will be corrupted!" Her eyes widened and a dark smile crossed her lips. "And I know just how!" Utau ran out of her bedroom, leaving her advisor behind.
Lulu sighed, rolling up the parchment. "What a hypocrite my sister is. I cannot believe I share blood with that girl."
…
Saeki Nobuko had been only six years old when she discovered her talent for magic and sorcery.
She had been playing in the forest with her favorite doll, mostly because her loud and weird comments scared off the other children her age, when she had wished for a friend. Her hands suddenly warmed up and, just for a few seconds, her doll had blinked and smiled warmly at her.
Nobuko had freaked out and threw the doll into the river. It was only when she heard the doll scream for help did she realize she had made it come to life; for the first time in many generations, the Saeki line had a witch in the family.
Many people called her crazy, saying magic didn't exist and only desperate people went to her. But they all knew the truth; magic did exist and she was crazy, but she knew what she was doing.
She was an expensive witch but she promised that it was worth it. And her previous customers had always looked satisfied.
That was why Hoshina Utau was proudly walking into the small shop owned by the odd woman.
Nobuko looked up from her cauldron, eyeing the heiress. "Ah, Lady Utau, what can I do for you?"
Utau wrinkled her nose, slightly doubting herself for sinking so low. Was she really so desperate? The answer was yes, she decided.
"I am in love with somebody who I know loves me back, but he has been blinded by the lies of a hideous scarlet woman of some kind," she said. "I need him to see her for who she really is so he can come back and marry me."
The witch stared at the blonde for several moments. She had seen cases like these far too many times and knew that this girl was not as pure and innocent as she pretended to be; she also knew exactly who Utau was talking about, and did not think the prince or his new fiancée deserved to be manipulated with.
However, as wicked and dark as she was, Utau was still a paying customer.
Nobuko sighed and reached for a green vial on a nearby shelf, handing it to the anxious blonde heiress. "Give this to the girl and you will see results in a few days' time." She reached for a dark red vial. "Give this one to the boy."
Utau frowned. "Potions? Could you not just cast a spell of some sort?"
"A spell is very hard to control and much more noticeable," explained Nobuko. "You will have to slip the potions into their food somehow." She happily took the gold coins Utau handed her. "It is crucially important that you do not mix up the vials!"
The heiress was already out the door and the witch sighed, returning to her cauldron as she grumbled to herself.
"Nobody ever listens to me."
Utau had a wicked grin on her face as she clutched the vials in her hands. She wasn't sure what the potions would do exactly, but she didn't really care; she just wanted to get rid of that seamstress so she could have the prince all to herself, like she should.
It was simple enough; simply get into the royal kitchens and slip the potions onto the correct plates. The tricky part was figuring out how to do that without raising suspicions.
…
"Do not make me an aunt before I'm twelve," was the first thing Ami said to her sister when she entered her bedroom.
Amu normally would have dropped her brush, ignoring how half of her hair was tangled and knotty, as her face turned red while she spun around to gawk at her nosy little sister for reminding her of their previous conversation.
However, all she did was giggle and stare into her mirror with a dreamy expression.
"I won't," said the seamstress airily.
Emiko shook her head as she sat on her friend's bed, silently greeting the younger girl as she sat down next to her. "She's been like that for hours and she absolutely refuses to tell me what happened on the date. I am pretty sure they kissed, but all she does is giggle and gaze into that mirror."
Ami raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"
The princess turned to her. "My apologies; I am Momoka Emiko from the Lunar Kingdom. I met Amu soon upon my arrival here and we became friends. From your earlier remark, you must be Amu's younger sister."
"That I am," replied Ami, smiling kindly. "Anyhow, when did she get back from this assumingly amazing date? I mean, it had to be amazing if she's all giddy like this; Amu was never one to be those kinds of girls so this is a big deal for her."
Emiko shrugged. "I came in here about an hour ago but she was already here and in her nightclothes so I'm not sure since I already said she's refused to tell me anything."
The eight-year-old glanced at her more-than-usual-airheaded sister before she sighed and stood up. "Well, I think I will go down the corridor and tell Papa that his eldest daughter just returned from her first date with the prince and that she may possibly have had done adult things too."
Ami winked playfully at the princess before exclaiming, "Kukai-kun!" A second later, the duke came running in. "Can you take me back to my room, please?"
The brunette looked out of breath, as if he had been running all day. "And…why can't you have…Yoru or…someone else do this?"
Ami blinked. "Well because Prince Ikuto is probably all high from his date with my sister and Yoru is most likely out with Miki; plus, seeing as Daichi is engaged to Ran-who happens to be like my other sister-we're practically family." She batted her lashes innocently at him. "Don't you want to be part of my family, Kukai-kun? Family helps each other out, don't they?"
Kukai looked so lost and baffled; the princess couldn't help but laugh at his expression.
"Yes, Kukai, don't you want to be part of her family?" Emiko asked, teasing the duke as she decided she quite enjoyed the Hinamori sisters. They were both fresh and original in their own ways; while Amu was sweet and innocent, her sister was saucy and vulgar at times.
Ami continued to look at the duke expectantly before he sighed heavily and lifted up the younger girl into his arms, bridal style. The girl looked completely pleased with herself.
"First I get to be carried by the prince, and now the duke," she squealed, pinching the said duke's cheeks. "I can't wait until I tell Daichi about how I made his cousin my dog!"
Emiko lost it and she actually fell off the bed, laughing at his stricken expression. "Oh, I like you, Ami-chan!" She continued to laugh and laugh, even when Kukai and Ami had left the room.
The hysterical laughter from the normally composed princess made Amu finally turn around and see her friend on the floor.
"What in the world are you laughing about?" She asked, utterly confused. When did Emiko enter her bedroom and what about it could be so funny? "Did…did something happen?"
After a few moments, Emiko calmed herself and she stood up. "That's what I should be asking you; how was your date with the prince?"
Amu blushed. "It was…sweet." The crimson redhead gave her a look that plainly said she wanted details. "Alright, alright. It was really romantic; we had dinner out on the water, talking about our childhoods and whatnot, and he fed me chocolate strawberries before we watched the sunset."
"That is romantic," agreed the redhead, grinning. "So, did you kiss?" She received a pillow in the face as a response from the blushing pinkette. "Alright, no need to be so defensive. You said that you wanted to see if you had any feelings for him and that is why you decided to go on a date. Did you discover any feelings?"
"I don't know," replied Amu, still blushing from her friend's remark. "I didn't feel anything special, but I also felt something more than nothing. Does that make sense?"
"You are asking the wrong person about love," murmured Emiko. "Oh, I guess I should mention that your sister has made Kukai into her personal lapdog while she's on bed rest."
"That's really not surprising," stated Amu, rolling her eyes. "That girl is like a wolf among sheep; she plays the part of a cute, sickly girl, but she's really a strong character."
"She gets that from you," said the redheaded princess, earning a baffled look from her friend. "You pretend that you're not graceful or queen material, that you're strong or brave enough, but you are. You may be a bit ditzy at times, Amu, but you carry yourself the way a person of royalty does. You have the courage to attend a ball filled with people you consider out of your league and then after denying a duke, you reject the prince too because he made a half-assed attempt at proposing. Not many people have the courage to do that, myself included."
Emiko smiled at the pinkette. "You still have a lot of things to learn about royalty but the fact that you're trying is amazing, you know. There are people out there who have been attending lessons on manners and proper etiquette since they could speak, and they still can't do anything right. You grew up in the village with no idea on how the royal system worked, other than maidens become legible for marriage at age fifteen, and then you show up and start a…start a movement."
"A movement?" Amu repeated, blushing. "Don't be ridiculous, Emiko."
"I'm serious," she exclaimed. "Your views on the world and society are much different from someone like me, Ikuto, and Kukai because we have grown up inside the palace walls with no concept other than how our lives were supposed to run. You are fixing mistakes we never saw, and you are treating people like people, where we have been practically ignoring them."
Emiko gave her friend an assuring look as she walked over and squeezed Amu's shoulder lightly, saying, "You are certainly queen material, Amu, though it is certainly a long journey to get there. However, I believe you can accomplish it easily; it is another situation that I am worried about."
"What do you mean?" Amu asked.
The princess sighed. "I know far too many people who have gotten forced into marriages with people they did not have feelings for, and ended up living a life they did not want. I understand that is my fate as well, and I truly dread the day my parents announce the name of my unknown husband, but I do not want that same fate bestowed upon somebody I consider a good friend."
Emiko turned and began to walk out the door. "Amu, I know this sounds dramatic and a bit cliché, but you must eventually face whatever feelings you have for Prince Ikuto because as I understand, this engagement was a setup for the singles in the village to stop bothering you and Ikuto. You cannot marry a man you do not love, no matter who you are doing it for. Your friends and family would not look down on you, and you know that. Your wedding day is approaching rapidly; I advise you make a decision soon or else you will be forced to meet your soul mate one day and then reject them because you are a married woman."
Emiko took a deep breath, rolling her eyes. "That sounded awfully dramatic, did it not? Ah, well; you know what I was trying to say." She smiled sadly. "Please do not force yourself to have a fate like mine, Amu."
She then walked out of the seamstress's bedroom, closing the door behind her and leaving Amu alone with only her thoughts as company.
The pink haired girl sighed and fell back on her bed, staring at the beautifully decorated ceilings.
"I know I have feelings for the prince…but I do not know what exactly those feelings mean."
A sigh escaped from her pretty pink lips and her eyes fluttered shut as she let sleep take her over.
…
Utau twirled a strand of her hair as she listened to the meaningless words coming from the young man's mouth. She faked a smile when he looked over at her, and he blushed before returning to the counter where he was cutting a piece of fish.
The smile disappeared the moment he looked away and she glanced around the royal kitchen, though she made sure no one looked in her in the eye. Luckily, it was pretty empty so only a handful of people were in the kitchen; thank goodness too; Utau hated talking to the help.
"So, Haruhi-kun," started the blonde. "As you are the head chef's son, you must be very talented."
"Please, just call me Tio," replied the young man, blushing once more as he continued to chop up the fish. "And I suppose I am not a complete failure, if that is what you are trying to say, but I appreciate the compliment, Hoshina-san."
Utau fluttered her eyelashes and leaned in closer. "I know it seems odd, but I've always wanted to be a cook; do you suppose I could help you since nobody's here?"
Tio glanced at her, smiling. "You do not strike me as that kind of woman, Hoshina-san. I would like to believe that you are not the type to cook and do common things expected of a housewife. Your character is much stronger than that."
Utau pulled back, blinking in surprise at his words. "Ah…do you think so?" An unfamiliar feeling washed over her but it was not unpleasant.
The black haired man chuckled, nodding at her. "Yes, I do; however, if you wish to help, you may help prepare the plates for Princess Emiko and Miss Hinamori. They are much lighter eaters than Prince Ikuto and the Duke of Seiyo, who both eat like starving men; of course, the prince is much…cleaner about it, but that is what makes Souma-kun unique."
The blonde haired maiden simply nodded and he pointed out where the girls' plates were, already filled with food.
Utau's earlier warm feeling vanished and a determined glint formed in her amethyst eyes as she slipped a small vial from her dress pocket, carefully pouring its contents into one of the glasses, making sure that Tio and the others in the kitchen weren't paying attention, before she placed the cork back on the vial and put it back in her pocket.
She turned to Tio and faked another smile as she held out the glass, saying, "Tio, this glass seems to sparkle almost as much as Hinamori-san's personality; could you please make sure she gets this one? After all, it only makes sense that such a lovely maiden receives such a lovely looking glass!"
Her own words made her feel sick, and it was all Utau could do to not lose her lunch.
Meanwhile, Tio blinked before smiling at her, looking amused by what she had said.
"Of course, Hoshina-san," he exclaimed. "Do you plan on staying for dinner?"
"No, I have other plans," said Utau, deciding to slip the other potion into the prince's glass another day just in case the questionably-sane-witch had conned her.
The young chef looked slightly disappointed. "Ah, well, then…have a safe journey back home, Hoshina-san, and thank you for gracing this kitchen with your radiant presence."
A teasing smile formed on his lips as he said this, and Utau quite closely resembled a fish out of water; nobody had said something like that to her; most people were too often intimidated by her or acted as cold and serious as she did. He was…polite, but also charming, and for some reason that enchanted Utau.
"I should be going," said the blonde heiress quickly before swiftly exiting the kitchen, placing a hand over her surprisingly warm cheek. "Why…why do I feel this?"
Utau contemplated her odd feelings as she walked through the corridors, passing by a bedroom with an open door. She heard a young girl giggling and singing, "I'm going to be a princess; I'm going to be a princess! She's going to be Queen; she's going to be Queen!"
Utau stopped and realized that the young girl must have been Amu's younger sister; the thought of the pink haired seamstress pushed all previous warm and girlish feelings aside as the blonde scowled, walking back to her carriage with a fierce look on her pretty features.
"I shall not lose the prince to you, filthy peasant."
…
I don't own Shugo Chara!
Sorry for the late update; I had half the chapter done, and then I had writer's block for a while, and then school started and then suddenly, I was drowning in homework.
Hm, let's just take a look at the pairings that are definitely going to happen or are already canon in my story:
Amu and Ikuto
Rima and Nagihiko
Miki and Yoru
Ran and Daichi
Dia and Rhythm
Su and Musashi (though he was unnamed in a brief mention, that was my intention)
Now, some pairings that I am still debating on:
Emiko and Kukai
Emiko and Tadase
Emiko and her still unknown arranged husband
Emiko and a random person
Utau and Kukai
Utau and Tadase
Utau and a random person
Utau and the young chef, Tio
Notice how I added a couple OCs in there? Anyways, I still don't know which road I will go down in the end but I have the general idea.
I've already planted the seed for the next part in the plot, but if you have any ideas about how you think the story will or should play out, I'd be willing to listen.
Now, moving on…
I finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist! It was pretty awesome, but I definitely earned some weird looks because in one episode, I'm bawling my soul out, and then a few episodes later, I'm falling off my chair laughing.
THIS SHOW IS SO BIPOLAR SOMETIMES, I SWEAR, AND THEN THERE WAS THE MOVIE, MY GOOD LORD JESUS
Now I'm starting Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, which I know follows the manga and is more feel-breaking than the 2003 anime.
(By the way, in FMA, I don't know why but I ship Envy and Greed)
I know you guys probably aren't interested in my choice of anime and manga, but you know what? I like to talk about myself (I can be pretty vain sometimes; it's human nature) so you can skip over this if you really want to.
After I'm done with that, I will finish reading Chibi Vampire, which I started last year but never finished because I kept putting it off and finding new anime or whatever to get distracted by.
Um, I watched Ouran High School Host Club again, and I read the entire Shugo Chara manga again.
After I'm done watching FMAB, I'll probably then watch Vampire Knight or Magica Madoka. My friends keep trying to convince me to watch Free, and my dad recommends that I watch Death Note (I get my love of anime from him).
If you have any anime or manga you like and think I would be interested, please feel free to suggest some to me; I will totally love you and put it on my waiting list (I have a LOT of anime and manga on my waiting list, btw).
To make things easier for you, if you want to recommend something, I don't really like fighting, gory stuff; I mean, I'm okay with SOME gore, but I'm more of a girly, shoujo kind of a person.
Okay, here is a basic list of things I would appreciate in the manga or anime:
Romance
Strong heroine that can also have vulnerable moments
Good-looking guys (I'm serious; all my crushes are fictional)
Moments that make me laugh
Moments that make me cry
Moments that make me squeal because of fluffiness/cuteness
Some action but not a whole bunch (one of the reasons why I never finished watching Bleach)
Is common enough for me to find easily online without registering for a website or pay for it
IS FINISHED (I don't really like ongoing anime or manga because I lose interest while waiting for next episode/volume)
Um, yeah, I think that's it; if you guys have an interesting anime or manga that doesn't really involve anything on my list but you think it's great, you can tell me and I'll check it out to see if I think it's cool or not. And I'll watching some ongoing stuff, but only if it's worth it.
Back to this story, don't hesitate to tell me about any mistakes you found or what you thought about the chapter; also, don't forget to say what you think will or should happen, if you have any idea.
Until next chapter!