A Shugo Chara Story Ch. 4

Chapter 4:  Goodbye..?

“So they want you pick who you love?” Rima asked Amu in class. Amu sighed and answered, “Yes…”
“Then that’s easy.” Rima replied.
Amu looked at her confused. “It is?” she wondered.
“Well yeah. You love Tadese, don’t you?” Rima said softly.
Amu paused for a moment. “Yeah. I do.” she said with a smile.
“Well there’s your answer. It’s not like you like that Ikuto guy, right?” she looked at Amu suspiciously.
“N-No! Of course not!” she blurted out. Then the teacher came back in the room, and Amu faced forward.
Then when it was lunchtime, Tadese left Amu alone. He smiled at her halfheartedly, and she smiled and waved at him sheepishly. “Why aren’t you sitting with your lover?” Yaya smirked. “Lover?!” Amu blushed. Then Yaya smiled big and shouted out, “Just kidding!” as she ran towards her friends. Rima appeared from behind  Amu and startled her. “Aren’t you going to tell Tadese you love him?” she said dully, as if she cared. Amu just stood there thinking.

“I don’t know if I can… It’s more complicated than that…” she confessed. “So you like Ikuto?” Rima asked with astonishment. “Um…” was all Amu said. “I’ll take that as a yes…” Rima said under her breath. Then they walked to the Royal Garden, surprised to see it empty. “Desu…” Sue said from Amu’s backpack. Then Amu let her Guardian Characters out.

“Follow your heart, Amu-chan!” Ran cheered. “Choose one of them!” Miki yelled. “Ugh! Too complicated!” Amu groaned. Rima left the garden so Amu could think to herself. And just as Amu banged her head on the table, someone spoke in her ear. “Why are you hurting yourself?” the soft voice asked. Amu was startled and looked up immediately. “Ikuto..?” she was surprised to see him there. “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?” “I ditched.” he said casually. “Well go back! You caught me at a bad time…” she murmured.

Ikuto looked at her curiously. “Still thinking about yesterday?” he accused. She nodded her head. “Don’t think about it too much. It doesn’t really matter.” Then Amu looked at him confused.
“Doesn’t matter? How can you say that?? You both love me and you’re telling me it doesn’t matter???” she growled.
“Yeah. Go ahead and choose Tadese. It’s obvious he’s the one you’re gonna choose anyways. So why should I waste my time trying to win you over?”
She looked at him with disbelief. “Ikuto doesn’t like me anymore?” she thought to herself. She could feel the tears forming in the corner of her eyes, so she quickly made up an excuse to leave so he wouldn’t see. Amu ran to the back of her classroom and crouched down, holding her knees. “He doesn’t like me anymore…” she kept repeating in her head. When the bell finally rang, she quickly got up and wiped her tears away.

She went inside and sat down in her seat. Rima noticed her puffy red eyes and asked what’s wrong. “Nothing…” Amu lied. She couldn’t concentrate on her schoolwork. “Amu-san,” the teacher snapped, “Pay attention!” “Sorry sensei…” she said miserably. Tadese noticed her gloomy attitude, and passed a note to her when the teacher wasn’t looking. “What’s wrong?” he said in the note. Amu crumpled it up and threw it back at him without writing a response.

Then school was over. Amu got up and headed towards the door, but Tadese stopped her. “What’s the matter Amu-chan?” he asked. She stared at him blankly and then walked past him without a word. Her thoughts were all focused on what Ikuto told her at lunch. She kept repeating his every word in her head, and the tears formed again, but this time she didn’t stop them from rolling down her cheeks. She was so trapped in her thoughts, she was talking out loud when she thought she was talking in her head.

“No, Ikuto…” she said out loud by mistake. “What?” she looked up at the familiar voice. Then she immediately wiped her tears when Ikuto was coming towards her. “I heard you say my name.” he said. “Go away.” she said with a fierce expression. Then she walked right past him. “You’ll be happier with Tadese-kun.” he said from behind her. She stopped in her trail. “I’m not good enough for you. I’m sorry…” And right when she turned around to answer him, he was gone.

Amu rushed home hoping to see Ikuto in her room. And when she ran upstairs and opened her door, he wasn’t there. Yoru was gone too. Now she felt even more depressed. So she threw her backpack on the floor and plopped herself on her bed. Then she got a text. “I’m leaving.” Ikuto said in the text. Amu quickly replied, “Where are you leaving to? Will I ever see you again?” then she clicked send.
She waited five minutes, and tossed her phone on the foot of her bed. He didn’t reply. “Where is he going?” she thought. And a few minutes later, the door bell rang. So she forced herself out of bed and answered the door. It was Tadese. “I wanted to see if you were ok.” he said. “I’m fine now.” she answered truthfully. Now she was wondering where Ikuto went. She didn’t think she would never see him again. “Well why were you upset?” he wondered. “My fish died..?” she lied.

“Oh. I’m sorry about your fish that I never met…” he answered suspiciously. “By the way, Ikuto wanted me to tell you something.” This got her attention. “He said he would never see you again.” The way Tadese said it sounded like he was glad Ikuto would be gone. But Amu was in shock. She just stood there with her eyes wide open. “Amu-chan?” he asked. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.” Then she closed the door slowly and fell down to the floor and grabbed her knees as she cried. “No! I chose YOU, Ikuto!” she cried.

Then she went back to her room and got her phone. She tried texting him again, asking where he is. Then after many minutes with no replies to any of them, she sent him one last text before she gave up. “Meet me at our usual spot.” she said in it. Then she ran outside to the old abandoned carnival where she made her precious memories with him. She waited there for an hour, but he never showed up. “Ikuto…” she said quietly to herself.