The Troubles with Cat-Sitting
The fact that there will be a Shugo Chara sequel next year; Needless to say, I'm ecstatic!!!!!
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December 29th: Sunday morning at the Hinamori House.
Amu Pov:
After spending a wonderful week at a luxurious onsēn in Hokkaido, Amu Hinamori returned to her house in the Tokyo region with her family and unpacked her suitcase, mentally preparing herself to go back to school the next day.
With the New Year approaching, Seiyo Academy was determined to educate its elementary-school students to the highest degree: even if that meant forcing children to come to school on New Year's Eve/Day simply because these two dates landed on weekdays this year.
As Amu went to her bedroom to put away her clothes from her hot pink and black-striped suitcase, her three active Shugo Charas (Dia still sleeping in her egg) were floating about helping their depressed owner prepare for school on Monday.
From the onsēn trip, Amu managed to buy small presents for her fellow Guardian members as well as Kukai, Utau, Ikuto and Tsukasa respectively.
...
"~Amu, did you pack the chocolates and key rings from the onsēn? I can't find them anywhere!~" Ran excitedly asked her owner as the little pink cheerleader Chara threw Amu's clothes from the suitcase pile all around the room, covering the floor with the girl's gothic style wardrobe.
"Ran! Stop throwing my clothes everywhere! I have the presents already wrapped on my desk!" Amu annoyingly shouted out loud to her oblivious guardian characters as the girl quickly picked up the fallen clothes and went to hang them in the closet nearby. Miki, her artistic blue character assisted with hanging the clothes back accordingly by colour and style as Suu, the green cooking character went about cleaning and dusting the room, encouraging Ran nearby to join her in her endeavors.
"~When are you going to see Ikuto again, Amu? Were you planning on stopping by his house today before school started?~" Miki curiously inquired as the little character properly hung up the clothes in order, with Amu simply grabbing the remainder of her vacation wardrobe and putting them on hooks for her Chara to organize later.
"Yeah, I want to give Ikuto and Tsukasa their gifts just in case this week gets busy with school." Amu said as she placed the remaining of her belongings away, reorganizing the setup on her desk for her future studying sessions.
"~I bet Ikuto will be happy to see you! Hopefully he had a great week at daycare, and I'm sure Yoru helped out a lot too!~" Suu happily mentioned as the green guardian finished up with cleaning the shelves, joyfully humming a tune as everyone else went about getting ready for the visit soon that same day.
...
At the Tsukiyomi house the same day.
Ikuto Pov:
The T.V played quietly in the background, the sound of a child's program singing songs and clapping hands to puppets and toddler participants as Ikuto Tsukiyomi watched the screen keenly, the teenager sucking on a pacifier and playing with the little toy piano (from chapter seven) gifted to him on Christmas from Amu, Tsukasa and the guardian characters.
As each key was gently played, Ikuto giggled to himself quietly; he occupied his attention to the picture of Utau Tsukiyomi ne' Hoshina on his little piano surrounded by black and blue fluttering butterflies.
His little sister, Utau had visited him after daycare was done on Christmas Day over at his house. The teen idol had finished a recording session that afternoon and brought some presents for her "big" brother, her mother, Yoru and Tsukasa. Afterwards, her boyfriend Kukai Souma joined the group and drove in Tsukasa's car to celebrate the remainder of the Christmas festivities at Yukari Sanjo and her little brother, Kairi Sanjo's apartment complex.
Ikuto remembered how the day went as he continued to watch the tv and played with his toy piano.
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December 25th: Christmas Evening at the Sanjo Residence
"Merry Christmas everyone!!" Kukai happily chanted as he opened the door for the group coming in; Utau assisted Tsukasa with getting Ikuto's shoes off as the trio made their way into the living room, the fellow Shugo Charas following suit.
"Well it's about time you guys got here! Any later and the food would have gone cold" Yukari complained out loud much to the dismay, and annoyance of Utau. The girl's arms were piled high with beautifully wrapped gifts of different shapes and sizes.
"Ok, well I can just return your gift to the store, Yukari if you're going to complain" Utau harshly mentioned to her manager as she went to put the presents underneath the glistening green pine tree in the room.
"Alright, let's put this negativity behind us you two! It's Christmas; let's just celebrate everyone's health and happiness" Yuu Nikaidou (Yukari's boyfriend) interjected as the teacher (former EASTER employee) went to assist Tsukasa with putting Ikuto safely on the floor in the living room nearest the t.v stand.
As Kukai comforted Utau and chatted with Kairi, the other adults went about setting the dining room table for dinner and the guardian characters entertained Ikuto with toys and songs.
"So, how is everything going Tsukasa? All been well with Ikuto?" Yuu asked his boss as he placed the china ware to each designated seat.
"It's going good! Ikuto has been going to daycare this whole week and today was a half day so I got some work done and we just celebrated in the afternoon with Utau and Kukai." Tsukasa happily stated as he placed the utensils and napkins next to each plate, quickly setting aside a bib for Ikuto next to his own seat.
"Have you heard from Souko recently? Everything going alright with the court appeal against EASTER?" Yukari questioned as she placed the bowls of steaming potatoes, rice and a cooked chicken onto the decorated table.
"Yes, I have. Unfortunately she got held up with the allegations EASTER made regarding Ikuto's accident; the court is on her side and the evidence is substantial to prove abuse and endangerment of a minor, however EASTER has some powerful lawyers preventing the case from closing. Souko wanted to stop by today for Christmas, but she couldn't leave the area due to work and traffic." Tsukasa sadly said as he attempted a reassuring smile to the duo.
"Man, that must be tough. Poor Ikuto, I bet he misses her greatly. Even Utau seemed upset when she couldn't give her gift to her mom today. I tried to talk to her about the circumstances, but she just ignored me like usual. I know, though she's hurting bad" Yukari sadly mentioned as the trio finished setting up for dinner.
"Let's try to stay positive for them today. Those two have been through enough as is; let's give them a happy Christmas now" Yuu stated as he ushered the teens in the corner to come sit at the table, with Tsukasa collecting Ikuto in his arms and leading the Charas to join everyone.
"Oh, Ikuto needs a diaper change. I'll be right back eveyone; please start without us!" Tsukasa quickly stated as he carried the boy towards the bathroom, Yoru following behind to help.
...
"Ok, let's get you changed now, Ikuto. Yoru, can you pass me the wipes please?" Tsukasa asked the cat Chara nearby as the man undressed the teen below him contently lying on the bathroom floor playing with a small, squishable cartoon animal toy he received as a gift earlier this morning.
"Huh? What did you say, Tsukasa? I'm sorry; I wasn't paying attention" Yoru depressingly sighed as the little guardian sat atop a brown, woven basket filled with cotton face towels. He kicked his legs slowly about, breathing in and out and sighing with every breath.
"Could you pass me the baby wipes? Are you doing ok, Yoru? You seemed pretty quiet this week; is everything alright?" Tsukasa worryingly asked as he went about throwing the soiled diaper away in the trash bin near him, quickly cleaning the teen boy and strapping a new diaper on.
"I don't know. I don't think Ikuto can see me anymore; he's ignoring me at school and won't bat an eye at me! I'm scared he doesn't need me anymore, Tsukasa!" Yoru cried as the little Chara hugged Tsukasa's shoulder, blowing his nose into the man's blue polo top loudly. Tsukasa gently collected Yoru into his palms, stroking his blue hair and ears as he attempted to calm the cat Chara down.
"Oh Yoru! I'm sorry you are feeling this way; it must have been tough for you to deal with all of this by yourself, especially since the accident. You are still here, Yoru; Ikuto needs you now more than ever. It's scary and confusing for him at this time, but you are always apart of him. You are his heart and soul; your importance matters the most right now in Ikuto's recovery" Tsukasa gently explained as he allowed Yoru to rub his little head against his chin affectionately, a soft purring sound vibrating from the cat chara.
Just then, a whimper came from Ikuto as the boy started crying; he waved his arms up at Tsukasa, indicating for the man to pick him up and cradle him as he was starting to become upset.
"Come, Ikuto; let's dry those tears away now. It's Christmas and you are with your family. Lets be happy for what we have today, isn't that right Yoru?" Tsukasa smiled to the boy and his Chara, who were both snuggled in his arms as Tsukasa rocked Ikuto back and forth.
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Back to the Present Day- December 29th at the Tsukiyomi House
Amu Pov:
"Happy late Christmas everyone!" Amu happily cheered as she handed out her presents to Tsukasa, Ikuto and Yoru. Ran, Miki and Suu gathered round Yoru, who hastily opened his present and screamed with joy at the can of tuna fish and catnip he received!
"Ah, thank you guys! I love catnip and fish!" Yoru cried joyfully, collecting hugs from the other characters as everyone laughed in unison.
"Here you go, Ikuto! Can you rip this piece off?" Amu kindly guided the teen as she assisted Ikuto with opening his present. Once the paper was ripped off the box, Amu opened the present and gave the little bag of chocolates and a stuffed Japanese macaque plushy to her friend eagerly, with Ikuto laughing loudly at the toy's funny face.
"Oh, that's so sweet of you! Thank you, Amu for the gifts!" Tsukasa happily shared as he watched Ikuto play with his new toy fondly.
"You're welcome! I had a great time at the onsēn with my family and hope to go back soon! How was your week, Tsukasa!" Amu inquired as she tried to take the price tag off the toy (though Ikuto refused to let the toy go)!
"It was good! Ikuto, Yoru and myself celebrated with Utau and her family/friends over at Ms Sanjo's apartment for Christmas; then, it was just finishing the week with back-to school paperwork and Ikuto's daycare necessities" Tsukasa mentioned briefly as he sat up to grab a glass of water from the kitchenette.
"That's great, I'm happy to hear all is well! By the way, I can be available to help out with Ikuto after school and on the weekends now. I would love to spend some time with him!" Amu gleefully chuckled as she played alongside the teen on the rug, who was very engaged with flying his stuffed monkey about.
"That would be super helpful, thank you Amu! I'm sure we can also work something out to help manage your school work and Ikuto's needs too" Tsukasa happily shared as the remainder of that day was spent playing in the living room and sharing a delicious after-Christmas meal together.
Amu couldn't have asked for a better day to occur.
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Happy Halloween-ish everyone! Yea, I'm posting less frequently due to my work and life schedule but I still have some more plans for this story and hopefully others to come:)