A/N: So that's... three weeks? Let's see if I can make the next one even faster. You can expect Amu's next part tomorrow (I'd like to say, might be the day after), but I saw no reason to sit on this in the meantime.
A matter of family, part 2
Utau slunk down the corridor, unsure how to proceed now that she'd so dramatically made a fool of herself.
Her brother, who would have known, was nowhere to be found.
That didn't surprise her. She might have offered to find him, but there was a world of difference between saying so, and actually doing so, especially when she'd only made the offer because she liked the thought of sneaking up on him. Which would never have happened. Nor did she know where to look.
That—his whole "getting lost" thing—was a holdover from their days with Easter. Unlike her, Ikuto had mostly been able to stay out of their schemes, but only by not being there when they looked. So they'd turned to her, and she'd gone along—after all, if they were focused on her, they'd overlook him. It even worked. She'd taken up all their attention, and Ikuto had found Amu, and…
Utau felt some very complicated feelings about that.
There was no way Ikuto had planned for any of this. He'd just happened to become friends with Amu, while Utau had just happened to become—enemies? Rivals?—with Amu, while Amu just happened to be the sort of person who'd work hard to save even her enemies. Then, the world had just happened to end, which prompted her to save them, and… ugh. She felt queasy just thinking about the sheer number of coincidences that had gotten her to where she was.
To where she could run away from Amu's parents, that was.
She scowled. Their unspoken not-quite-a-plan had worked, but not because of anything either of them had done deliberately. She wasn't sure what he'd been trying, or if he'd been trying anything at all. She loved her brother. So why was he such an idiot?
"Even so, did you have to run away right after breakfast? What are you, ten?"
Utau shouted her frustration at the empty corridor, then squeaked, looking around to make sure that it was, in fact, empty.
"At least Amu seems to work as a magnet," she mumbled. Though Amu wasn't here. And… and why did he seem to enjoy her company so much more than her own? Was Amu just that much cuter, or was he trying to suck up to her, or… might he actually have a crush on her?
She dismissed the thought. Amu might be the one with a crush, it'd fit, but Ikuto seemed almost as uncomfortable with that as with her own—
Her blush, which had never quite faded, went nuclear. That had not been the brightest idea, and she was glad she'd never taken it beyond teasing. She nearly cringed, just thinking about it.
The more time she spent introspecting, the more embarrassed she was getting. At times like this it was much better to take some kind of action, even if it was just fixing her hair. One of her ponytails had come undone, she'd lost the hairband, and as a result she kept having to sweep it back. Downsides of waist-length hair.
She definitely looked a mess, but that, at least, was fixable.
— — —
A minute of furtive sneaking-around found her an empty bathroom with, most importantly, a mirror. A single ponytail would have to do. It looked odd on her, and she ineffectually patted at it until she caught sight of her own reflection.
Puffy, reddened eyes. Still-messy hair. Her face looked awful, even when she tried to wash it off, her hair felt like she hadn't seen shampoo in a year, and her clothes were rumpled and messy from sleeping in them. She looked a little bit like Amu, just from the lack of self-care, which… wasn't a good sign, was it? Her mother might have a point. But it had been a crazy week, and up until just now she'd been too busy to really notice how grungy she was getting.
She let out a breath. Okay, fine.
'Iru!'
"You yelled?"
Utau spun, nearly crashing into the mirror. When she got her racing heart under control again, she saw Iru laughing her little head off behind her, Eru by her side. How—
"Really, sis? That's pretty bad. You're so distracted, you can't even feel me sneaking up on you?"
"I was trying to fix my hair," she protested half-heartedly. "Also, 'sis?' Are you taking cues from Amu now?"
Iru wiggled her hand in mid-air. "Eh. Little of this, little of that. After talking to Ran, I thought I'd try it. What do you think? Feel like a sister yet?" She grinned, radiating amusement. Utau's mouth twitched.
"Getting there."
"Ikuto, you mean? You know he's bad at dealing with you."
"He'll learn. I'll keep up the hugs until he does, then—" She paused. Iru hadn't interrupted, but her quiet mirth had redoubled, and this time it was definitely aimed at her.
"Are you growing?"
Not even just physically. Iru's imprint in her mind was quickly getting deeper.
"I told you I was talking to Ran." Iru smirked. "Although this is Miki's trick. It's surprisingly simple once you know how."
"I can see that." Utau blinked at her more rebellious half, who'd stepped down from mid-air to stand in front of her. Now that they were the same size, they did look like sisters. Apart from Iru's black, undyed hair, her horns, her tail, her ever-present grin…
Okay, so Iru looked entirely the part of a demon.
She shook her head in bemusement. "That aside…"
"I know. I was just having a bit of fun." Iru leaned in, making her shiver under the close inspection. "Hoo~, you do look like crap."
Even if you're part of me, I'm not sure I want to hear that.
"There's only one solution to this. Eru!"
Eh?
"Got it. Character transformation!"
No, wait—
She barely had time for her eyes to widen.
Utau's mind splintered, coming apart under the completely unexpected assault. Memories whirled uncontrollably through her consciousness.
Character transformations were funny things. It wasn't just "Chara change, but more so," since in a Change the chara in question would have stayed separate from her. The second time she'd successfully transformed, she'd been twelve years old, and they'd had to promise that she'd get a whole evening alone with Ikuto if she did.
The promise had been necessary, because she wouldn't have done it otherwise. She'd asked Amu about it—how she could do it so easily—but apparently, having the Humpty Lock meant the transformations were over before she even noticed. Amu had asked what she was supposed to be noticing, but… well. Utau hadn't gone into detail. She didn't know if she could have described it.
It was never over fast enough. She couldn't transform unless she gave herself up—her feelings, her thoughts, her entire identity. Any resistance, even mental, would make it fail. Eru was close to being her, but she wasn't her. She wasn't her, and she wasn't not-her. She was Eru, but she was diametrically opposite to Iru, and—
A second's blankness, then she straightened up as Eru. Iru slowly released her arm.
Utau sighed, feeling the air play against the new appendages on her back. She blinked away tears.
"I… really messed up, didn't I."
A moment's denial, which she couldn't tell the source of. They were so deeply meshed, she wasn't sure she could dismantle the transformation if she tried. They'd drift apart over time, for sure, but for now…
"Hey." She smiled at Iru, who looked back with concern. "It'll be fine. We're always fine, right? Now let's look for that kitty-cat."
Eru was a little too bubbly to be upset for more than a minute at a time.
She grabbed Iru's hand before moving on. Right now they were both Utau-sized, and there was no way she wouldn't take advantage of that!
An evil grin crossed her face at the thought of Yoru's reaction, clashing badly with her halo and angelic looks.
