well, here it is. the actual fourth chapter of my first ever 'Shugo Chara' fanfiction. it's one-thousand-seven-hundred-three words worth of a full storyline. it's a storyline that doesn't include this headnote, right here, the (mandatory) disclaimer that makes up the paragraph following said headnote, nor does it include either one of the author's notes/comments from yours truly hidden within this fourth chapter's own precipice. I love my life, but I hate my health. I have good memberships to both FanFiction, itself, and to Wattpad, where my fanfictions can also be found. Granted, that a lot of them are the same as what are on here, but that's why I copy my FanFiction documents onto my Wattpad account. OK, enough jawing around. time for the (mandatory) disclaimer.
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.
Amu went out to a fine-dining bistro that night where Kairi was expecting her. She was greeted by the hostess on her way to her table at the restaurant.
Amu Hinamori: Hi. I'm looking for a guy with dark turquoise hair, blue eyes, tall, and a lean yet athletic build. He's six feet tall, to exact. And he's read all of Shakespeare's plays twice.
Then, Kairi Sanjo, himself, showed behind Amu and tapped her on the shoulder.
Kairi Sanjo: Technically speaking though, Amu-chan, I'm five' eleven" and a half, but I could read all of Shakespeare's plays for a third time if it makes my chances with the likes of you any better.
The hostess then escorted Amu and Kairi to their table where they started talking both as part of their date and about what they could do to boost the show's ratings. It was not very long before a waiter came to their table.
Waiter: Hi, can I get some water for the table?
Kairi quickly turned into the first to answer his and Amu's waiter about water.
Kairi Sanjo: Uh, yeah, actually. A bottle of flat water, if you don't mind.
Waiter: Sure.
Kairi Sanjo: Arigato.
Before the waiter could walk back into the kitchen to get the table it's water, however, Amu stopped him in his tracks by grabbing onto his sleeve.
Amu Hinamori: Um, just one second.
Then, Amu gestured herself into her date and co-worker, Kairi's, direction.
Amu Hinamori (continued): I'm sorry, Kairi. Did you know that they've done studies that show tap water and bottled water are basically the same thing. And that they'd already passed a law where restaurants are required to filter their tap water, so it's not really tap water, it's filtered water, which is basically the same as bottled water, except that you don't need to pay ¥one-thousand-thirty-eight-point-four-two for it.
A/N: those of you who didn't read that one author's note from yours truly in the first true chapter of this fanfiction, that amount in United States dollars is exactly seven of them, roughly around the same price as bottled water actually is in the US.
Of course, that one little fact from Amu was not something even a guy as smart as Kairi knew. Then again, it was also not something the poor guy had really needed or wanted to know.
Kairi Sanjo: I just… I like the way it tastes better anyway.
It was true. Kairi would have and could have gone his whole life without hearing such a fact from a date, of all people. He knew he was attracted to Amu before, but after finally being on a date with the woman in question, poor Kairi was starting to question his own judgement of girls.
Kairi Sanjo (continued): Can I get a blended mango margarita with that, too, please? Arigato.
The waiter just wanted to mind his own business as he went to get both of the drinks for Kairi, the nice gentleman.
Waiter: Oh, yeah.
As the waiter walked away slowly to head back to the kitchen, Amu became slightly confused by Kairi's main drink order for their date.
Amu Hinamori: Huh. I thought that, uh_
Then, Amu took out the sheet of paper she had with her in her clutch purse. It was the same sheet of paper that Senna had given to her in Yuu and Yukari's office just before she went home to get ready for her date with Kairi. It was Kairi's profile, alright. Naturally, Kairi was expectedly shocked about Amu having a copy of his profile.
Amu Hinamori (continued): I thought it said in your profile, Kairi, that you like to drink rose wine.
Kairi Sanjo's brain: Oh, no. She didn't . She did.
Kairi Sanjo: You… you really printed out my profile, Amu-san?
Amu quickly saw where the date was starting to head. She had to say something about her print-out of Kairi's profile.
Amu Hinamori: Actually, Senna did. You know, my associate-producer? She printed your profile out for me. She doesn't like me to not be prepared. Though, I'm never not prepared. Kudos, by the way, on the comprehensive car insurance plan, Kairi. That was a good touch to have.
Kairi, however, was beginning to get just a little more freaked out by Amu's seemingly constant need for control even outside of their shared workspace in the camera-viewing room from behind the scenes of their television studio workplace.
Kairi Sanjo: That part of my existence wasn't even in my profile. How'd you or Senna get a hold of that?
Amu, of course, was as oblivious as usual to her control-freaky-self steering even Kairi away from her like the plague.
Amu Hinamori: No, Senna got it for me from your background check. I told you that she doesn't like me to not be prepared for whenever I go out on a date.
Amu was quite proud of herself for knowing so much about Kairi from outside of his work life. In fact, she was so proud of her knowledge of her own date outside their shared work life, that Amu seemed to have failed to notice that Kairi felt slightly uneasy about any further conversations that were not going to be about work at all.
Amu Hinamori (continued): So, ahem, tell me about yourself whenever you're out observing the world, Kairi. What do you like to do, you know, for fun?
Kairi was feeling a little disturbed that Amu could not sense even just slightly that she was making him feel uneasy about his life outside of their shared workplace at his sister, Yukari, and her husband, Yuu's, television studio.
Kairi Sanjo: Well, I don't really know what's left to tell you about my life outside of our work that you don't already know what I do.
It was then and there that Amu finally came even close to realizing that she had gone and ruined hers and Kairi's date by eliminating all the pleasant surprises that he most likely would have wanted to tell her he did in his daily life outside of their shared workplace on his own without her having both his profile and his background check on her. She had basically taken the fun out of their date together that night. Fortunately for Amu, she knew just what to do about their date going sour as quickly as it had.
Amu Hinamori: Good point, Kairi. Luckily for the both of us, I actually took the liberty of printing out some talking points for us to talk about just in case this were to happen.
Kairi looked at his date incredulously like he had hoped she was just joking around with him. But no, as a matter of fact, she was being serious about having printed out the talking points for if they had run out of things to talk about other than work.
Kairi Sanjo: I'm just gonna go out on a limb, here, and guess that this has happened before on your dates.
Of course, it had happened with Amu before. It was even the reason she went on dozens of hundreds of thousands of first dates in her life, while not one of her dates from the past ever asked her for a second date. Sure, she was one gorgeous girl, even when she did not know it, herself, but her potential boyfriends had always been turned away by her biggest flaw. Amu's biggest flaw was that she always had to be in control of everything in her life.
Amu Hinamori: No, no, this hasn't happened before… that much.
Of course, Amu did not completely lie to Kairi about her dating life's past, but she still did not even bother to speak up to him when she told him that she and her dates did not run out of things to talk about 'that much'. She had whispered it under her breath at the time, anyway.
Amu Hinamori (continued): But you do have nine-out-of-ten of the necessary attributes on my checklist.
After hearing that Amu had a checklist for the guys in her life, Kairi already knew what a mistake he had made to pine after Oblivious Amu in the first place. She never wanted love like she had always claimed to want. What Amu had clearly wanted was the perfect boyfriend.
Kairi Sanjo: Oh, dear god.
Cool Kairi chose to give Oblivious Amu's checklist a chance and find out what she wanted in a man, anyway, despite being done pining for her ever since she had first come to work at his sister and her husband's television studio.
Kairi Sanjo (continued): OK.
Unfortunately for him, Amu already had one picked out for them to talk about, anyway. So, Kairi never got the chance to tell her which one he actually wanted to talk about.
Amu Hinamori: Oooh, this is a good one. Let's start with three.
Kairi Sanjo: Wait a minute. You've already picked one out.
Amu Hinamori: Oh, come on. It'll make a good conversation. Just give it a chance.
Kairi did not want to give Amu's checklist a chance, anymore, though. The third talking point on said checklist was all about talking about feelings, something that Kairi was not very good at. It was the one attribute on Amu's checklist that Kairi did not meet her standards. Amu set her standards for men too high and never once got even so much as just one second date from any of them in return for her going out with them. She could pick men up, but they would always drop her over her constant need to always be in control of every little thing in her life.
Kairi Sanjo: You know, Amu. It was nice to finally get that date with you that you promised over two months ago, but I'd like to just drink, eat and just get on with my life as soon as this date is over, if it's all the same to you, that is.
Naturally, Amu was very shocked by what Kairi was telling her. She did not understand why Kairi, of all guys in her life, did not want to talk to her any further.
Amu Hinamori: What? But I thought you were the one who had asked me out that day. Don't tell me you're reneging on your own words form when you even asked me out.
Kairi Sanjo: It-it's not that. It's just that this is moving a little too fast for me. It kinda feels like you don't want anything to do with my faults, and that you only wanna accept my positive traits. I don't want that kind of girl to be mine. I'm sorry!
With that last apology to Amu, Kairi just left to go look for another woman at another table, literally any other table.
A/N: you get what I did there, right, readers? you always wanna look for the good in people, but you also wanna acknowledge the bad in them, too. any of you ever hear the term about taking the bad with the good in another person? everyone is definitely greater than the sum of their parts, and I do mean everyone. it's what love, family and even friendship are all about.