here's chapter three, although it'll be listed as the fifth chapter of my first ever 'Shugo Chara' fanfiction. I gotta say it. this is not my finest work ever. I mean, I know I'm not much into pleasing my readers, but like I always say, 'read and review my stories at your own risk'. this third chapter, here, is a good two-thousand-four-hundred-twelve words worth of total storyline long, excluding this headnote, right here, the disclaimer which makes up the paragraph following said headnote, and any and all author's notes or comments from yours truly hidden within the precipice of this chapter's storyline. I don't know what to call this chapter, yet, but I think it should be something along the lines of a continuation of what my first two true chapters were titled.
disclamation: I don't own 'Shugo Chara' or 'The Ugly Truth' in any way, shape, or form. I am but a humble fanfiction blogger on both FanFiction and Wattpad. I have an account with Wattpad that I keep meaning to edit my own username. the same goes for my usernames on both YouTube and on DeviantArt. why do I keep forgetting to edit my own usernames. anyway, 'Shugo Chara' is owned by the duo of manga artists known in their home country as Peach Pit, AKA Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara. Meanwhile, 'The Ugly Truth' was directed in 2009 by Robert Luketic and was written by a trio of writers made up by three women with the names of Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten M. Smith.
Meanwhile in Yuu and Yukari Nikaido's television viewing room, both husband and wife saw everything that was going on in their television studio. They were less than pleased with the ratings behind what they had both witnessed. Yuu turned off the television in his and Yukari's office just before talking to Amu about everything the husband-and-wife team of co-chief executive directors had to say to the young woman.
Yuu Nikaido: Have you seen the ratings from yesterday, Himamori-san?
Obviously, Amu felt her need to correct Yuu even with him no longer needing to pretend to get her last name wrong.
Amu Hinamori: OK, Nikaido-sensei. It's still 'Hinamori'.
Of course, Yuu didn't want to hear what Amu had to tell him thanks to the ratings of their news show.
Yuu Nikaido: You don't deserve to be called by your proper name.
Amu Hinamori: That's so unfair.
Of course, despite Amu suddenly seeming to hate her employer, Yuu's, guts, the husband of his and Yukari's husband-and-wife team of co-executives already had an explanation ready for his and his wife's ironically best news producer.
Yuu Nikaido: Don't blame me for wanting to go back to 'Himamori'. Blame your terrible ratings as of late.
Yukari was not just Yuu's wife and the mother of his now adult children, even in their middle age. Yukari was also the adult sister of Kairi Sanjo, Amu's backstage director and her date for that night.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: It's hopeless. We got beat up in our ratings by all the network shows, including a rerun of that one show I don't even like, 'Who's the CEO'.
Yukari then plopped down into her office chair and started rubbing both her temples. Naturally, Yuu rushed to his wife/co-executive's side, while Amu only stayed rooted in her spot, worried about which of the shows on 'Who's the CEO?' even was the rerun that beat her show up in ratings.
Amu Hinamori: I almost don't wanna know the answer to my own question, but which one of 'Who's the CEO?' did they rerun?
Yukari began having flashbacks of the rerun 'Who's the CEO?' had even run. Needless to say, it brought back some of the most painfully humiliating memories when remembering both what she thought about the specific show and the fact that hers and her husband's ironically best producer's own show had lost to in terms of their ratings. So, her husband, Yuu, had no choice but to answer for her.
Yuu Nikaido: It was a rerun of the show where the vacuum breaks.
Amu knew that show from 'Who's the CEO?' very well, herself. It was a pitiful, pathetic show.
Amu Hinamori: My network lost in terms of ratings to a rerun of a show where the vacuum broke and the people on said show had to spend the whole show trying to get rid of one pest?
Yukari only groaned in frustration before she finally responded to what Amu had said about the very show from 'Who's the CEO?' beating up her own show's ratings like they were nothing.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: Yes! Yes, your show's ratings were beaten even by your least favorite show of your boss's least favorite program.
Of course, Amu knew that Yuu and Yukari had every right to be disappointed with the ratings from within her own show. Her only problem with their method for venting their disappointment was on whom they were both taking their frustrations with the mediocre-at-its-worst ratings from the show their ironically best news producer ran on television. She wanted to do something about it. She would just have to consolidate them and promise that she could easily make the show a hit once again, just as it was in the past for them.
Amu Hinamori: Look, you two. I promise you both that things can get better, Yuu and Yukari. This ratings dilemma is just a temporary setback, and nothing else. Things'll be so much better by this time tomorrow. I promise.
Yuu and Yukari, however, were threw with every last promise Amu ever made on which she had just constantly failed to follow through. They were both done with her relentless optimism towards the ratings of her own show.
A/N: that's right. Yuu and Yukari are finally done relying on their ironically best news producer, Amu's, relentless optimism and boundless naïveté.
Yuu Nikaido: You know, Hinamori, the guy with the cable-access show on Channel five-hundred-fourteen does better than us at ratings.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: If we could only just programs 'Koushiro Watanabe' reruns, we'd easily do a nine-share at a quarter of the price.
With such revelations from her own husband-and-wife co-employers, Amu was suddenly worried about her show being offed before she would ever even be anywhere near retiring age.
Amu Hinamori: Please, you two. Please don't tell me you're both thinking of killing off the show.
Yuu leaned forward in his own desk chair while his wife/co-chief executive director, Yukari, sat down directly on her husband's desk with one of her legs crossed over the other, her right hand placed on her lap and her head facing Amu's direction, just her husband, Yuu, was facing.
Yuu Nikaido: We're no longer a family-run station, Amu.
With just those words from Yuu, Amu finally understood where her conversation with her own husband-and-wife co-chief executive directors was actually going. Yukari spoke to Amu about hers and her husband's plans for the future next.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: I mean, we love you, Amu-chan. We love you so much. You're great at what you do. You've always been great at what you do, and the tarot cards even tell me that you'll always be great at what you do.
At first, the notion that her co-employers loved her work brought comfort to Amu's tender heart. Even Yuu nodded at every last word from out of Yukari's mouth. As soon as Yuu started speaking up about everything he and his wife/co-chief executive director, Yukari, thought of Amu, the poor young woman suddenly sensed that there was a 'but' to Yukari's compliments about her talents with her own show and Yuu's agreements with such compliments.
Yuu Nikaido: But the fact is, Himamori-san, that you really do need to give Yukari and I some numbers.
Upon hearing the 'but' from Yuu, Amu finally understood what it was that her husband-and-wife co-employers needed her to do for them both. She turned to face Yukari, who had been nodding her head to everything her husband/co-chief executive director had already told their ironically best news producer.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: It's true, Amu-chan. Yuu and I have two daughters attending a beautician's academy.
Yuu Nikaido: We also have a son in a beauty school in Florence. I don't know how much you know international travel and universities, in general, but let me tell you this; euros are nowhere near as cheap as yen or even American dollars.
Yukari once again spoke up about what she and her husband/co-chief executive director, Yuu, needed their surprisingly best news producer, Amu, to do about her own show's ratings.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: The bottom line is that you need to raise the show's ratings, or Yuu and I actually will have no choice but to totally kill off not just your show, but also your career and your life here.
At finally understanding exactly what was at stake for her and her show, Amu tried to offer a solution to her husband-and-wife team of co-employers.
Amu Hinamori: I can rally, you two. I will just rally the ratings.
It might have seemed like the perfect solution to Amu, but to Yuu and Yukari, it was no different from what happened at their station all the time. Yuu only chuckled at Amu's optimistic naïveté. Yukari just rubbed her temples once again… only by that time, she had rubbed her temples in both frustration and in amusement.
Yuu Nikaido: You do rally, Himamori-san. You rally every day you're here.
As soon as Yukari was finished rubbing her temples in both frustration and amusement towards hers and her husband/co-chief executive director's ironically and surprisingly best news producer, she finally spoke to Amu about the very idea of her rallying everyone on the set.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: But the thing is that this time, Amu-chan, Yuu and I are all too worried that even you and your rallying won't be enough.
Of course, Yukari also had something to remind hers and her husband/co-chief executive director, Yuu's, ironically and surprisingly best news producer, Amu, about for the night which she had ahead of her.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido (continued): And speaking of which, Amu-san, don't you and my kid brother have that date tonight? You know, the very same date that you rescheduled on my poor brother, Kairi, four times in a row over these past two months now.
Amu suddenly became worried about basically being in the doghouse with her own husband-and-wife team of co-employers with as many times as she had rescheduled on the wife's kid brother.
Amu Hinamori: Oh, my goodness. I completely forgot about my date with Kairi tonight. Oh, but I really shouldn't go on a date tonight, especially since I've still so much work to do for the two of you.
Of course, Yukari wanted to do something about her kid brother's loneliness.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: Amu-san! Amu-san, how about you go on that date tonight? You need it as much as my kid brother does.
Of course, Amu was not willing to back down about taking care of everything for Yuu and Yukari. She could not let someone or something else run her show. It was her show, and her show was like her baby.
Amu Hinamori: No, I really shouldn't go on the date tonight or any date, at all. I should be home, thinking up new ideas for things like sweepstakes and deals and such. I control this show. I run it. It's my baby. It's my_
Before Amu could finish her surprisingly long rant about continuing to run her own show, Yuu interrupted her with a deal of his own.
Yuu Nikaido: Himamori-san, listen to me.
With his interruption towards her finally getting through to her, Amu was ready to listen to whatever deal Yuu had to offer her about her date for the night with his kid brother-in-law at last.
Yuu Nikaido (continued): How about this, Himamori.
Amu was not that ready to listen to her employer, Yuu, with him calling her 'Himamori' once again.
Amu Hinamori: It's still Hinamori, Nikaido-sensei.
Of course, that time Yuu called Amu 'Himamori-san' was nothing short of an honest mistake.
Yuu Nikaido: It's just Yuu, nowadays, not Nikaido-sensei anymore. I'm not your teacher anymore, Hinamori-san, and you're not a child anymore.
Amu finally began listening to Yuu as soon as he said her last name correctly. She nodded at both him and his wife/co-chief executive director, Yukari. Then, into the chief executive directors' office came Senna, who happened to have heard everything that went on in said office between Amu, Yuu and Yukari.
Senna Hanazono: These two are right, Amu, my friend. You've already rescheduled your date with Kairi four times in the past two months. You cancel your date with him tonight and he's basically not into you anymore. I mean, you'll still see him here in your office, but he won't ever wanna go out with you on a date again. Besides, you should be out there observing humanity, even if it is one of your newspeople you're observing. And you know that humanity is who watches our show.
Amu was not all that sold on Senna's suggestion about dating a co-worker, even a co-worker as hot as chief executive director, Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido's, own kid brother, Kairi.
Amu Hinamori: Yeah, they are. All two-point-four seven percent of humanity who watches our show.
Senna also had a picture of Kairi, himself, if only to remind Amu what she was playing for with her date with Yukari's kid brother.
Senna Hanazono: Plus, just look at him and at Yukari-sensei. Look at their shared bone structure as brother and sister. Their bone structure could be the same bone structure as your future children. Don't you want symmetrical kids?
Of course, Yuu and Yukari had a thing or two to say to Amu Hinamori about her reluctance to go out on a date with Yukari's kid brother, Kairi.
Yuu Nikaido: You really should go on that date with Yukari's kid brother. It'd do you some good in both your relationship status and in your workplace environment.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: Yuu's right, Amu-chan. You should think of it as killing two birds with one stone.
Amu, however, still did not feel right about going on a date with a co-worker that was also her female chief executive director's kid brother just for the sake of talking more about what work to do at the television studio.
Amu Hinamori: I don't know, you guys. I just don't know.
Of course, when the husband-and-wife team of co-chief executive directors saw Amu continue to struggle with being true to her love life and diligent in her work at the same time, Yuu and Yukari both agreed to offer Amu a deal from the both of them.
Yuu Nikaido: How about Yukari and I make a deal with you, Hinamori-san?
Amu was suddenly intrigued by the offer of a deal with her husband-and-wife team of co-employers.
Amu Hinamori: OK, you caught my attention. What kind of deal did you two have in mind?
Yukari took the floor on hers and Yuu's deal from there.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: Well, if your date with Kairi goes well, you'll never have to worry about the lost ratings ever again. If it goes poorly, you'll have to do whatever Yuu and I should tell you to do to get the ratings back up.
That was the deal Yuu and Yukari had to offer Amu about her date that night with Yukari's kid brother, Kairi. It was a weird deal, for sure, but if it meant she might have to soon face losing her show and her television network career, Amu supposed it was worth giving it a shot.
Amu Hinamori: Well, I suppose I better head home early to get ready for my date, then.
Yuu Nikaido: Go on, Hinamori-san.
Yukari Sanjo/Nikaido: Hope all goes well, because you know what'll happen to you if it doesn't.
Amu could only gulp at the possibility of losing her show, her career and her credibility in one day. Senna then spoke up to her friend about her date with Kairi for a more compassionate form of reassurance.
Senna Hanazono: If not for yourself, then go on the date with Kairi for me, Amu. I have not been touched by a man in quite some time, and I must live vicariously through the dating life of my own best friend. Amu, I really, really think that Kairi could be our next boyfriend.
With the moving speech from Senna, Amu could no longer say 'no' to any of their encouragements to go on her date for the night with the boss lady's kid brother.