Amu nodded. "Sure, but only for an hour."
The motes were one thing. If Dad was asking then there had to be a good reason, and she'd need astonishingly bad luck for just three of them to matter. She was more concerned about the mental effects. She hadn't questioned it when Exa had told her about that aspect of the charm—she'd been happy, since it made her sisters safer—but to freeze part of Utau's mind, just to keep her from changing Iru and Eru…
An hour should be fine. Yeah. It'd be fine. She'd tell them if it took any longer. But—
Everyone was looking expectantly at her. She couldn't let them down.
"None of them are here. I need to get back to work, so can you come find me when they show up?"
So much work. Check on on Fumi, ask Exa about those charms, find out about the shrine Nyarlathotep mentioned, read up on the Septentriones, negotiate with Maya and figure out exactly what she wanted from them. Improve the Dragon Seal, improve her own understanding of it, do something about the eternal twilight. Probably not in that order, and she should try to get someone else to do most of it, otherwise she'd be at this for months.
It was, what, four o' clock? On a normal Monday, she'd be getting out of class right now, or maybe already chatting with her friends. Speaking of which, what happened to them? She should check on Tadase, and the rest of the Guardians… make sure they're all right…
She felt a little overwhelmed. Maybe she should just start by talking to Fumi.
"Why don't I just call them back?" Utau asked.
"—Eh?"
Utau was frowning at her, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.
— — —
"None of them are here," Amu said. "I need to get back to work, so can you come find me when they show up?"
And then she zoned out again, staring into the air like she'd been doing too often lately. Utau would be the first to admit that she didn't understand Amu all that well, but in the past she'd always been more… lively. Watching her flail about was always fun, when she wasn't flailing at
her that was, and you could always tell what she was thinking just by watching her act.
Lately, she almost always looked worried. It reminded her of herself. Not in a good way, either; she'd still been optimistic when she was Amu's age.
Well, she didn't want Amu to leave, certainly not before figuring this out. It was a bit risky, when Amu obviously didn't want to use that power, but she could call the bluff and see what happened. She could feel Iru and Eru in the back of her head; they seemed to have come to some sort of decision, though Eru was still arguing with Ran, so it wasn't like she'd be dragging them away from anything important.
"Why don't I just call them back?" She asked.
"—Eh?"
Playing dumb? She narrowed her eyes. That wouldn't work, not with Amu's parents right here. "Call them back. I can ask Iru and Eru to come here, right now, then we won't have to wait."
That would have to—wait,
what was she doing? The part of her that was Eru wailed in protest. Why was she trying to force a reaction, test Amu, when they'd only just made up after she'd told her what she'd been doing?
(
But Amu had known all along, and had tried to stop her instead of giving up on her, Iru optimistically offered up. Too optimistic; she'd been trying to help the children they'd been hurting.
But they couldn't be friends if probing her on a simple lie would push her away, she had to know how Amu thought—not
true friends, but she'd take even false companionship, or rivalry, over
nothing—all of her agreed on that, her, and the ghosts of her charas, and the charas themselves—)
All of these thoughts happened practically at once, below the level of verbal thought. Utau was left with a profound sense of nervousness, along with a lingering frustration at Su's incredibly open personality.
Su hadn't been bothered, but at this rate she was going to be a wreck by the end of the day. Was this how Amu felt all the time, or was it just Su? Maybe if she knew, she could ask, and one of them could tell her how to cope.
Amu's startled voice shocked her out of it.
"You can
do that?"
She was practically gaping, looking as surprised as Utau had ever seen her.
"Of course. Wait…" Utau frantically tried to realign her thoughts. There was no way Amu had suddenly learned to lie, and—thinking about it, she was a fair bit younger than her. She didn't know how long Amu had had her charas. If she didn't even know how to do
that, then—no, but—she'd just assumed she could, which meant, when Amu had asked her about Ran—
"I didn't think that was possible," Amu said, looking at Utau with something approaching awe. "Only way I can talk to my sisters is face to face. Can you teach me how?"
"I… guess, sure. It's not really talking, but I'll teach you what I can."
Sisters? "I can at least tell them to come back, or track them down."
Amu smiled unreservedly, before frowning and smacking her forehead. "Oh, but it'll have to be later. They're mostly asleep, anyway. It's going to be a while before I have any free time, and it'll probably be boring, but… do you want to come with me? There isn't much to do anyway, and we can drop by your charas on the way."
"Come with you?" She said, maybe a little weakly.
Amu's smile slipped a little, and her heart skipped a beat. This was the first time she'd been invited to
anything, in… she didn't know how long. She couldn't just…
It took an almost physical effort to push away the blank mask her face had slid into. In comparison, throwing a casual glance at Amu's parents—
what did they think of her spending time with their daughter—was an automatic, effortless instinct.
"I'd love to," she said.
The first stop would be Iru and Eru. She'd tracked them moving in her direction for a while now, maybe because they'd picked up on the conversation, so she guided Amu into one of the adjoining rooms to cut them off.
— — —
"They're in here," Utau said, pushing the door open with her back. "I mean, they will be in a minute. They're coming this way. I mean, we could have just waited, but I wanted to show you—" Her friend was babbling a bit, and had been ever since Amu had invited her. There was a grin stuck to her face.
They looked inside.
"Show her what, exactly?" Yaya asked, looking up from a card game. "Amu-chi, you're back! I heard you disappeared! What happened? Why are you with
her again?" She glared at Utau. Pepe hovered around her neck, while the other Guardians were sitting around a small table.
"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" Nadeshiko said. "Amu-chan, I'm happy you're back. We've been stuck here for hours, and nobody is telling us anything."
Playing cards, apparently. There was still a game in progress. Their charas sat in a small ring in the centre of the table, playing their own, smaller game. Amu knew she shouldn't be upset—she knew that, but—
"But we've been stuck here forever!" Yaya complained. "There's nothing to do, there's no TV, there's nothing even to read. I want to go home! Where were you?"
Tadase nodded along, arms folded across his chest. Kukai said nothing.
"I've been busy," she said shortly. "I had a lot to do, all day—"
Fumi was kidnapped, there was an invasion and the world nearly ended again. "And I ate lunch with Utau. She's helped me a lot."
Making the world not end.
"Utau this, Utau that—"
"Yaya." Nadeshiko put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. She looked at Amu. "We're concerned, that's all. You've been spending a lot of time with her, but very little with us. We were practically kidnapped—" She shook her head. "I'm not saying that was wrong. I know what was happening, and I think you made the right decision, but you made it without telling us. I still don't know much. And since then, you've spent most of your time with people who are supposed to be our enemies… although I was never quite sure about you and Ikuto-kun. What's happening? Will you please tell us?"
In the corner of her eye, she saw that Utau's expression had flattened. Acutely, she realised she was standing side by side with Utau, almost like they'd lined up against the Guardians. They hadn't—that wasn't her intention.
Something rasped against the ceiling tiles. Alarmed, she looked up. Just above the guardians—
A number of things happened very quickly.
A tile flipped up, giving her a perfect view of Ran—her eyes fixed on the charas beneath her—and Eru, looking anxious and uncomfortable. And a balloon, slowly toppling over the edge. It started falling, rock-like, and the three of them—Ran, Eru, but also Iru—were pulled along for a few centimetres before they managed to peel away.
The guardians' eyes followed it down.
The guardians' charas started scattering, but there was nowhere near enough time to get out of the way.
The balloon hit the table and burst, a tidal wave of water washing over the table and splashing the guardians—every one of them except for Kukai, who had dived for cover the moment he saw it coming. Their charas were sent tumbling, half-drowned and drenched.
Amu winced.
"
And that's for making Miki cry," Ran shouted triumphantly. She came to rest in mid-air, flanked by a sniggering Iru. "Ha, that's what you get! High five!" She clapped her hand against Iru's, while their targets spluttered indignantly on the table far below them.
There was a moment of silence, as everyone tried to come to terms with this, as Yaya looked from Utau, to Eru, to Ran and Iru, and back to Utau.
"Amu?"
"Yes."
"Did you know about this?" Yaya's voice was uncharacteristically quiet.
"I had no idea." She felt like face-palming. Ran's secret project was… this?
"Of course, Amu-chan wouldn't know. Which means—" Her voice started climbing. "Which means this can only be Utau's fault. I'm wet, and I don't have a change of clothing, and—this water is
ice-cold—Grhh—" She made a sound not unlike a very young lion cub trying to growl. "—Someone, help!"
Above them, Iru was laughing her head off. Amu couldn't help herself, even though she knew she should have been outraged on their behalf, she let out a snort of laughter.
"Did you have any idea this was happening?" She asked Utau.
"Hardly. I can't tell in that much detail. Besides…" She nodded towards Ran. "I think she's the ringleader."
Nadeshiko, moving with great dignity, picked a piece of rubber off her chest.
"Me, I'd rather know why Ran was claiming we'd made Miki cry," Kukai stated, climbing back to his feet.
"—Well, what are you waiting for, everyone?" Kiseki shouted. "Get her!"
There was a tiny scuffle, which was halted when the tiny combatants were plucked out of mid-air by a, frankly, deeply annoyed group of children. Eru, Iru and Ran fled back to Utau and Amu, who made no attempt at restraining them.
— — —
"So that's how it is," Nadeshiko said, frowning at Temari. "I was wondering. You've been grumpy every time we brought up Amu, but I'd never have believed it was something like this." Amu had explained the situation, and exactly why Ran was upset at the other charas. It turned out that none of them had mentioned anything. "Well? What do you have to say in your defence?"
It all looked really odd, to Amu, who still couldn't imagine having a real difference of opinion with her sisters. Ran had done what she'd been far too busy to contemplate, that was all.
"What they're doing is unnatural—"
Temari wilted slightly under Nadeshiko's disapproving glare.
"Try again, or I'll find a way to ground you. What were you thinking? You're supposed to be friends."
Temari said nothing.
"Seriously, now." Tadase drew a hand through his hair. "This is loopy. Changing charas into people? I'm not sure the world is ready for four of Amu-chan, but if that's what you want, of course I'll support you. I just wish you'd let us in. Let us help."
Kiseki stared guiltily down at the table.
"I was never bothered in the first place," Yaya said.
And Kukai?
"…It's weird," Kukai admitted. "Daichi is a friend, but I never really saw him as a person. Not a
separate person, at least. He told me, a long time ago, that the only thing he wanted was for me to fulfil my dreams. What you're doing… it's a complete break with that, isn't it. You're ignoring the rules."
Amu spotted Daichi looking a little melancholic.
"Maybe you've found a different dream, but you've changed a lot, and very quickly. You have a fourth shugo chara… but you're still Amu-chan, right? Friend to everyone. You wouldn't have let the three of them fade away, so I shouldn't be surprised it's come to this. If anyone was going to do this, it'd be you, and I… I have to think. It used to be a lot simpler. Easter was the enemy, Utau was working for them… is she still?"
She shook her head and crossed her arms. "No way! There's no way she's going back there. You don't understand, but Utau had it bad too."
"I don't, do I?" He looked regretful. "There's a lot of that going around. I guess the world ended, but we're still here, and there's a rumour going around that it's because of you. No-one talks to us; I only found out because Daichi overheard some conversations. You told us some of it yesterday, but you didn't say much, and you're still going. So tell me, Amu-chan, please. What's going on?"
[ ] Tell them… what, exactly?
- [ ] Encourage Utau to tell her story.
- [ ] Explain the specifics of what happened with Kagutsuchi. (Classified)
- [ ] Tell them about your day. (Undoubtedly very classified)
- [ ] Tell them about the Dragon Seal. (Extremely classified)
- [ ] Write-in. What do they want to know? What do they need to know?
Of course, each of these takes time.
- [ ] Apply Dream-to-Reality Methodology on Ran. (Half an hour)
A/N: Somehow my list-of-votes-to-process keeps growing. I really hope I can reverse that trend soon, but I
think this'll be the last thing I feel I have to let you vote on before, you know, letting the clock get a move on.
