Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amu Hinamori was a normal, yet popular, girl. Everyone respected her and thought she was cool. But deep down, she wished she could get rid of everyone’s expectations and just be herself.

It was just another morning, or at least, it was supposed to be. She was never expecting to wake up with two eggs in her bed. One of them was pink decorated with hearts and the other was yellow with diamond shapes.

After panicking for a bit, she stuffed the two eggs in her bag and went downstairs for breakfast.

“Oh, good morning Amu.”

“Morning, mom…”

“There’s something in the mail for you”

Amu’s mother handed her the letter, and our pink haired protagonist opened it up and read it.

Dear Amu Hinamori

You have been chosen to attend Seiyo Space Academy.

Please come to the Amakawa launchsite on September 1st where you shall embark on a new journey through the stars. We will be awaiting you.

Yours sincerely,

Tsukasa Amakawa

Chairman

P.S. Please bring your eggs with you. If one of them hatches before launch, I’d be delighted to see what comes out.

Later that day, Amu was walking from her school, a place where she would soon no longer be attending, when she suddenly fell into a hole. She tried calling for help, but nobody came.

“Am I really going to be stuck in this hole?” Amu thought, “No! I can get out of this hole! I will get out of this hole!”

At that moment, the pink egg flew out of her bag and hatched. Out came a tiny pink haired fairy wearing a cheerleader outfit.

“Hello, Amu!” the thing said, “My name is Ran! I’m your Guardian Character!”

Amu looked at her, “Guardian Character?”
“I’m your would-be self!” Ran explained, “I’ll explain soon, but first, let’s get you out of that hole! Hop! Step! Jump!”

Suddenly, Amu’s hairclip turned from a cross into a heart. Her shoes suddenly sprouted wings and she was able to jump out of the ditch.

“How is this possible?!”

“Anything is possible if you just believe in yourself!” Ran said, “I’m the manifestation of your desires, hopes, dreams! You wished to be able to stand up for yourself, so I was born!”

The two landed on the ground.

“So, Amu? What do you think?”

“Well, the winged shoes are a bit weird but… I suppose this doesn’t sound all too bad.” Amu said, “It’s just that… It feels all so sudden. Like I just got these eggs, and now I have a guardian angel?”

“Don’t worry!” Ran said, “You’ll get used to it!”

A week later, Amu was at the Amakawa Launchsite. Many kids were gathered saying goodbye to their families. Amu was no exception.

“We’ll miss you, Amu-chan!” Amu’s little sister Ami said.

“I’ll miss you guys too.” Amu said.

“Remember to call us every now and again!” her mother said. 

“Of course I will!” Amu said.

After saying her goodbyes, she went to board the spaceship.

After putting her bags in storage, she went to her seat and fastened her seatbelt. As Amu looked around, she noticed that it wasn’t just her who had a guardian character.

“Looks like it’s not just me who has one here.” Amu said.

“Yay! That means I can make new friends!” Ran exclaimed.

A few minutes later, the spaceship took off and they were now heading towards the Space Academy. Amu panicked due to the fact that they were rapidly leaving Earth’s atmosphere.

“First time on a rocket ship?” Ran asked.

“I haven’t even been on a plane!” 

A TV Screen near the front turned on for all to see. On it was a blonde haired man.

“Greetings. For those new here, my name is Tsukasa Amakawa, the Chairman of the Seiyo Space Academy. You are some of the privileged few who have been selected to attend this state-of-the-art academy, one that I have founded over fifteen years ago. Now some of you may be wondering, ‘why me of all people?’ Well, every single one of you have something in common: A Guardian Egg, or even, a Guardian Character.”

Just then, a lot of guardian characters came out of their hiding spaces, with everyone trying to get them to calm down.

Tsukasa kept on speaking. “Every child has an egg within their soul. This heart's egg can't be seen with one's eye. But, as the child grows up it disappears...”

“So goes my book, The Heart’s Egg . The egg is preserved by the owner's confidence and hopes of fulfilling his or her dreams. If your hopes become strong enough, it will become a guardian egg, and will hatch into a Guardian Character, your would-be selves. Here at Seiyo Space Academy, we will teach you not only the tips and tricks you need in achieving your dream, but also how to bond with your Guardian Characters and use them to become who you want to be.”

“That is so cool!” Ran told her.

“Now, in four hours, you will step foot into the Space Academy. It might be your first step in the boundaries of your new home, or it might be a return. For those new, we wish you and your would-be self good luck on your brand new adventure. And for those returning, welcome back to Seiyo Space Academy.”

Once the announcement ended, the TV turned off and everyone was free to roam around the ship.

Her face didn’t show it, but Amu was so excited to see her new school.

About four hours later, Amu looked out of the window to see Seiyo Space Academy. A massive palace covered by a glass dome. Many more smaller glass domes protruded out of it.

The ship entered the docking station and the door closed behind it. Once the airlock had cycled, the doors of the spaceship opened and the new students exited it, stepping foot for the first time into the boundaries of the Space Academy.

As Amu was walking, she bumped into a young blonde haired boy, who honestly kind of looks like Tsukasa.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t see you there.” he said.

Amu stammered. “Uh… sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

“You’re one of the new students, aren’t you,” he said, “I’m Tadase Hotori. Nice to meet you.”

Amu felt a blush creep up to her face. Not wanting to make herself look like an idiot on her first day, she instead said, “Get out my way, you little shrimp.”

Amu didn’t realize the repercussions of that until after Tadase walked out the way.

“‘Little shrimp’? That’s all you could say to him?!” Ran asked her.

“Look! I didn’t want to make a fool of myself!”

Just then, she heard a voice. “Did you really say that to a Guardian?”

Amu looked at the source of a voice, a black haired emo-looking girl with a red streak in her hair. 

“What’s a guardian?” Amu asked her.

“They’re like the student council of the Space Academy.” the girl explained, “They have this private garden where they hang out and do council work. There’s supposed to be nine of them, but the Eight’s Chair left last semester. Tadase is the Three’s Chair, and my friend Moca is the Five’s chair”

“Oh, I see.” Amu said.

The other girl spoke up. “The name’s Ran, by the way. Ran Mitake”

“What a coincidence.” said Amu, “My Guardian Character’s name is Ran. My name is Amu Hinamori”

“Well, my Character’s name is Anu.” Ran said. A small black haired Guardian Character dressed up like a rockstar came out.

“Say, you wanna be friends?” Ran asked.

“I don’t see why not”

“You might want to head to the Ceremony Hall for the Opening Ceremony.” Ran said, “Here, I’ll show you the way.”

So at the opening ceremony, Amu was watching Tadase give a speech. 

Ran (as in Amu’s Guardian Character) spoke to her. “I still can’t believe that you fell in love at first sight, and you called him a shrimp!”

“Come on, Ran! It’s not like I like him that much!”

“Sure you do…” Ran said, “You’re saying that to someone who is a representation of your wishes!”

“Oh, I get it! You’re a tsundere!” Ran said, “Well, I can fix that! From a girl who can’t confess her feelings, to a girl who can! Let’s Character Change!”

Suddenly, the heart hairclip appeared again, and out of Amu’s control, she stood up and screamed “Tadase, I’m sorry about what I said! I like you!”

Tadase looked at her. The entire room looked at her. Tadase simply said, “I have someone I like already.”

The character change wore off and Amu realized her actions. Filled with embarrassment and humiliation, she ran away.

“Why did you do that?!” Amu told Ran, as she ran through the hallways.

“Sorry. I just want you to get those words out your chest.”

“Well now you embarrassed me in front of the entire school!” Amu said, “Nice one, Ran. You ruined my life at Seiyo before it even began!”

Suddenly, another voice spoke out. “Maybe I can help.”

The diamond egg came out and hatched, revealing a blonde chibi with twintails, and a microphone.

“And what are you supposed to do, Diamond?” Ran asked.

“I sparkle.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Amu asked her.

“I can help you be calm and confident in yourself, and make you shine like the stars that surround this academy. I can clean up that inkspill you have made on your reputation.”

“I see…” said Amu, “You’re like Ran’s counterpart. While she’s energetic, you’re calm.”

“I suppose that’s it”

“Say, what’s your name?”

“My name is-”

“Woah! What is that?!”

The two of them were interrupted by Ran noticing a shiny lock in a display case.

“So pretty…” Amu said, her eyes filled with awe.

“Like what you see?”

Amu was jumpscared by the voice, she turned around and noticed Tsukasa Amakawa.

“Tsukasa Amakawa? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at-”

“I said all that I needed to say,” said Tsukasa, “You’re one of the new students, right? Amu Hinamori, was it?”

Amu nodded.

Tsukasa pointed to the lock in the display case. “That lock right there is called the Humpty Lock. It contains a great power that is said to unlock the hearts of others. They say that one day, a girl with a powerful Guardian Character will come into possession of the lock.”

Amu looked at it. “Is there a key to go with it?” Amu asked him.

“Nobody knows where the Dumpty Key is.”

“I see…”

Amu put her hand on the display case, and a light shone brightly emanating from the lock.

Tsukasa giggled. “I think it likes you.” said he, “Tell you what, you can have it”

Tsukasa unlocked the display case and took out the lock. He held it up to Amu

“By wielding this lock, you will have a power greater than anyone could imagine,” Tsukasa said, “Please use it wisely.”

Amu looked up at Tsukasa and nodded. “I will”

Tsukasa gave the lock to Amu. “Please take good care of it.” Tsukasa said, before turning around and leaving.

Amu stared at the lock. She was now in possession of a very powerful artifact…

“Well, looks like my years at the Space Academy will be very interesting.”

After all that, Amu was shown to her dormitory. She has been given a bracelet to unlock it. She opened the door. It looks like she’d be staying with Ran and her friend.

“Hey! Amu!” Ran said, “I can’t believe you’re staying in the same dorm as us!”

“Hi, Ran.” Amu said.

Ran showed Amu a small white haired girl. “Anyways, this is Moca. I told you about her before.” Ran said.

“Moca Aoba. Nice to meet you,” Moca said, her voice cute and slow, “I have two Guardian Characters, Sachiko and Su.”

Sachiko was a girl wearing a beige cotton dress with breadcrumbs in her hair. Su meanwhile was a green haired maid with a clover in her hair.

“Nice to meet you!” Sachiko said, “I’m Sachiko and I love bread”

“I’m Su, and I represent Moca’s dream to be a baker!” Su said.

“Nice to meet you, Moca,” Amu said, “I also have two characters, Ran and Diamond.”

“Oh, I guess that’s my name now,” Dia said.

“Well, better get ready for tomorrow.” Moca said.

The next day, the three girls woke up.

“Morning, Amu.” Ran said, “Are you ready for your first day?”

Amu nodded.

Moca received a notification on her bracelet. “Oh, there’s a Guardian meeting after class.” Moca said, “And you’re invited, Amu.”

“I see.” said Amu, “Well, I better get ready.”

So the three girls got dressed and went over to the dining hall for breakfast.

The day went by swiftly and soon enough, Amu had finished her final class.

Moca walked up to the girl who was waiting on a bench. She was holding a large bag.

“Hey, Moca.” Amu said, “What’s in the bag?”

“Oh, just some bread I stole from the kitchen for me to snack on during the meeting.” Moca said, “Now how about I show you where the Royal Garden is.”

So, Moca led Amu to the Royal Garden, a greenhouse located in the center of the palace.

After handing Amu her bread bag for her to hold (but not eat!), Moca unlocked the greenhouse with her bracelet and the two went inside.

“There you are, Aoba-san,” a tall black haired girl said, “Where were you?”

“Sorry, Rui-Rui. I just needed to get my bread fix.” Moca said.

A blond-haired boy dressed like a sailor spoke up. “Anyways, let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Hippo Nanami, I’m the One’s Chair. My Shugo Chara’s name is Campus.”

Campus looked like Hippo but in blue and white robes. “Nice to meet you, Amu-san.”

The black haired girl spoke up. “Rui Yashio, Two’s Chair. My Guardian Character’s name is Ayase.”

Ayase wore a black and green dress and held a violin.

“Tadase Hotori.” Tadade said, “I believe we already met, right?”

Amu stared at him, face red. “Y… yeah…”

“Oh! Now I remember you! You’re the girl who confessed to Tadase in front of the whole school!” the purple haired girl said.

“Will you shut up about that!” Amu screamed, “My Shugo Chara made me!”

“Speaking of which,” Tadase continued, “My Shugo Chara is named Kiseki”

The kingly Guardian Character went up and greeted Amu. “Greetings, commoner”

“Chiyu Tamade, I’m the Four’s Chair!” the young girl with long red hair and cat-ear headphones said, “Online, I’m known as CHU², the revolutionary music producer!”

CHU²’s Shugo Chara flew up to Amu. She had cat-ear headphones like CHU² herself, but was wearing an outfit typical for an electric punk band. “What up? I’m CHU²’s Shugo Chara, Tsumi!”

“Nice to meet you, Tsumi.” Amu said.

“Anyways,” Moca said, “You already know me, the Five’s Chair.”

The brown haired boy then spoke up. “Saburo Imai. Six’s Chair.”

The purple haired girl then said, “Karen Ryuuhyou, Seven’s Chair. Here’s my Charact-”

“Wait, I think we skipped one!” Amu interrupted, “Who’s Saburo’s Character?”

Karen ignored her, and pointed to her purple haired idol Character. “As I was saying, here’s my Character, Murasaki.”

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Amu screamed. She turned around and looked at Saburo. “Who’s your Shugo Chara, Saburo?”

Saburo looked down. “The thing is, I don’t even have a hearts egg”

Amu was shocked. No hearts egg? “But Tsukasa said-”

“I know,” Saburo said, “I’m an anomaly. That’s why I got taken in.”

Amu looked at him, before the last young blonde haired girl with twintails spoke up. “Moving on! My name is Yaya Yuiki! I’m the Nine’s Chair. This is my Shugo Chara, Mimi.”

Mimi had golden blonde hair and wore a long white summer dress.

“Nice to meet you, Amu-chan.” said Mimi, bowing down.

Now it was Amu’s turn to introduce herself. “I’m Amu Hinamori. These are my Shugo Chara, Ran and Dia.”

“Nice to meet you all.” said Dia.

So the nine of them plus their Guardian Characters, were seated around the table drinking tea that Tadase had prepared. Moca was eating her bread and CHU² was eating some beef jerky.

“Now, what have you called me in for?” Amu asked while Ran was snacking on one of the biscuits.

“The Chairman told us that you have the Humpty Lock.” Tadase explained.

“Wait, Amu-chin has the legendary lock?” Moca said.

Amu showed them the lock, Yaya and Moca stared at it in amazement.

“It’s so pretty!” Yaya exclaimed.

“Amu Hinamori,” Tadase said, “How would you like to be our new Eight’s Chair?”

Amu stopped. “Wait? You want me to join the guardians?”

Tadase nodded.

“Thanks for the offer,” Amu said, “But I don’t think I’m cut out for the job. I mean, it’s literally my first day here, and I only got this lock yesterday. I’m inexperienced.”

“Amu-chan,” Tadase said, putting his hand on Amu’s shoulder, making her blush, “The lock chose you for a reason. You’re special, and you have a special power that is beneficial for us as the Guardians of Seiyo. We can teach you how to use that power, Amu.”

Amu stared at him, and then shrugged. “Well, I suppose I might join you guys.”

Tadase smiled, “Thank you, Amu.” This made Amu’s heart skip a beat.

“So, Amu-san,” Hippo said, “Have you made your decision?”

Amu nodded.

“That’s great!” Karen said.

“Yay! We have a new Guardian!” Yaya exclaimed.

“In that case,” Hippo said, “I want you to have this special Guardian bracelet.” He got out a box and opened it. Inside it was a bracelet, similar to the one Amu was currently wearing, but with the number 8 inscribed on it.

Amu took it and switched out the bracelets. She showed it to everyone.

“That looks so good on you!” Ran said.

“Welcome to the guardians, Hinamori-san.” Rui said.

“How about I walk you back to our dorm so we can tell Ran-chan.” Moca said.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Amu said.

And so Amu and Moca went back to their room where Ran was waiting.

“So, how was the Guardian meeting, Moca?”

“Ran! Amu-chin has something to tell you.”

Ran looked at the two. “Well, Amu? What is it?”

Amu simply showed Ran her new bracelet. “I’m a Guardian now!”

Ran stared at her in shock. “Wait, really?!”

Moca nodded. “There’s now two Guardians in this room!”

“That’s so cool!” Anu said from Ran’s pencil pot.

“I know right!” Ran (As in Amu’s Shugo Chara) said.

Amu smiled. “You know what? I think I’m gonna like it here.”

Chapter Text

It was just a normal Wednesday, aside from Moca’s birthday being yesterday. The Guardians were all having a tea party in the Royal Garden.

“So, what do I do as a guardian?” Amu asked Tadase.

“Not much. We do paperwork, drink tea, plan events.” Tadase said, “Anything actually interesting is rare.”

“What do you mean by anything interesting?”

Hippo got out a photo of floating black eggs with a white X marked on them.

“These are X-Eggs.” Hippo said, “They are the corrupted Heart’s Eggs of children who have given up on their dreams.”

“Once a month, we head to earth for a few days to find as many X-Eggs as we can and purify them with the Humpty Lock.” Tadase explained, “It’s actually quite fun.”

Amu looked at the lock. Ran helped her put a chain on it for her to use it as a necklace.

“However, people with guardian eggs are less likely to have them turn into X-Eggs.” Rui explained, “And everyone here has a guardian egg.”

“Oh, I see,” Amu said, pouring another cup of tea for herself, “I’m looking forward to our monthly purification missions.”

“Well, you’re the one with the lock. You are kind of necessary.” Rui said.

“Hey,” Amu said, “Since this lock chose me, do you think it would be more powerful in my hand?”

“Well, I can only hope.” Moca answered.

As Amu and Moca were walking back to their room, they bumped into a girl with short teal hair.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there.” Amu said, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” the girl said.

Amu helped the girl up.

The girl’s Shugo Chara flew up to her. She was wearing a blue and white strapless top, a blue skirt held up by a dark blue belt, and a white thigh-long cape. “Sayaka, we better get going.”

The girl, whose name was Sayaka, nodded. “Okay, Oktavia.”

Sayaka and her Character, named Oktavia, ran off, leaving a bewildered Amu and Moca.

“Well I’m pretty sure that girl won’t be a worry to us any time soon.” Dia said.

Amu and Moca continued walking back to the dormroom with their Characters.

The next day, Amu, Ran and Moca were eating breakfast in the grand hall. Moca was character changed with Sachiko, a Character Change that involved her hair being filled with bread crumbs. Ran and Anu laughed as they watched Moca and Sachiko happily gobble up all the french toast.

“Hey, save some for the rest of us!” Amu told her.

Just then, a white haired boy walked up to them. His Guardian character was next to him, wearing a purple leather jacket and a mask.

“Excuse me, miss. May I sit here?”

Ran looked at him. “Oh, of course.”

The boy sat next to Amu, and held out his hand for Amu to shake.

“Tadaomi Kurama. Nice to meet you. This is my Guardian Character Ruki.”

Ruki laughed. “It’s always nice to meet a new friend!”

Amu shook his hand. “Amu Hinamori. These are my Guardian Characters Ran and Dia.”

“Ah, you’re one of the Guardians.” Tadaomi said.

Amu nodded.

“I’m also a guardian!” Moca said, with a mouthful of bread.

“Don’t eat with your mouth full.” Su told her.

Moca swallowed the bread in her mouth, and continued introducing herself. “I’m Moca Aoba. These are my Guardian Characters, Sachiko and Su.”

“If you want to be friends with us, then that’s fine by me,” Ran said, “Ran Mitake. Here’s my Guardian Character, Anu.”

“Yippee! A new friend has been acquired!” Ruki cheered.

“Thank you, Ran.” Tadaomi said, “I have just transferred here, so I don’t really know anyone.”

Amu spoke up. “It’s okay, I’m sort of new here as well.”

Later that day, Amu was heading to PE class. While students were still allowed to choose which classes they would take, the preset subjects were determined by their Guardian Characters, and since Amu’s Character was Ran, that means she had to take up PE classes, despite being terrible at any sport that doesn’t involve a ball.

Suddenly, she noticed a brown haired girl charging at her. “Amu Hinamori, I found you!”

Amu quickly dodged. “What are you doing, and who are you?” she yelled.

The girl introduced herself. “High School 2nd Year Misaki Watarai. Nice to meet ya, Amu Hinamori.”

Amu went over to shake her hand, but then Misaki squeezed it very hard, making Amu wince in pain and trying to let go. From there, Misaki saw an opening and tried to punch her, but Amu was quicker and managed to block it.

“Amu-chan, you’re the heroine…” Ran commented quietly.

“And that pose is…” added Dia.

Misaki gave Amu a thumbs up. “You pass!” She then held her hand out for a makeup handshake, but Amu declined out of skepticism.

“Sorry, sorry.” Misaki said, “Listen, Amu Hinamori…”

“Why the full name?” Ran asked her.

Misaki ignored her. She blushed, and spoke quietly. “I… like Tadase-kun…”

Amu was bemused (confused). “Pardon?”

As the two were in the locker room, getting ready for PE, they were talking to each other in private.

“A competitive battlefront?”
“Right! We should form an alliance.”

“Why did you choose me?”

“Because, Amu Hinamori, this will benefit you as well. Tadase is the school’s idol. To suppress the numerous rivals, we need to fight together as buddies.”

Misaki’s guardian character spoke to her. “Misaki’s dream is to get married to the person she loves. She just has a… competitive way of going around it. The name’s Ai by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Ai.” Amu said. She looked back at Misaki. “But still, why me?”

“Obviously, since you’re a guardian, you can get near him and…”

Amu stared at her. “And?”

“Since you were already rejected in front of everyone, you’re safe!”

Amu felt herself get crushed in despair.

“But, you were really cool at that time, Amu Hinamori! I was touched!”

Amu looked at her. “Really?”

“Anyways, let’s get ready for PE class!” said Misaki.

During PE class, Misaki noticed someone. “Oh my god! Kaoru-sama!”

“Who?”

At the sound of Misaki’s scream, a few other girls went up and all went over with Misaki.

Amu followed Misaki to a purple haired girl rotating backwards on the horizontal bar.

“Who is this?” Amu asked Misaki.

“It’s the Space Academy’s other Prince, Kaoru Seta!” Misaki told her, “Isn’t she so cool?”

“Hey, I thought you liked-”

Misaki covered Amu’s mouth.

Ai whispered in Amu’s ear. “Misaki doesn’t actually like Kaoru Seta. She considers her an enemy and is only in her fanclub to get intel, as well as make herself appear less of a threat.”

Amu was equally cleared up and confused by Ai’s explanation.
Once Kaoru was finished, she noticed Amu amongst the crowd. She walked over to her.

“Ah, a new kitten has joined us today.” Kaoru said, “Amu Hinamori, was it? I heard you were popular at your old school.”

Amu looked at Misaki and Ai. Misaki was calm, but Ai was making an X with her arms, as if telling her not to fall for her charms.

Amu turned her head away. “Anyone can do that.”

“Well, why don’t you have a go yourself.” Kaoru said.

Amu was stunned. What is she supposed to do in this position?

“Don’t worry, Amu!” Ran told her, “Just Hop, Step, Jump!”

Amu Character Changed, and went over to the bar and started rotating on it, faster than what should really be possible. After landing on the ground, the crowd started cheering.

“I must say, little kitten. That was impressive.” Kaoru said.

Later, back in the changing room, Misaki congratulated Amu, again, in private.

“That was amazing, Amu Hinamori! You showed Kaoru Seta who’s boss!”

“It… it was nothing really. Ran did all the work!”

“Together, we will go far!” Misaki said, “The Misaki and Amu Hinamori Alliance will crush Kaoru Seta!”

“Misaki, be quiet!” Ai told her, “The others might hear you.”

“Just wondering,” Amu asked, “How exactly do you know Kaoru likes Tadase-kun?”

“How exactly do you know Kaoru doesn’t like Tadase-kun?”

Amu was stumped.

“Can’t argue with that, now can you?”

“I don’t know how to argue with that.”

“Anyways, let’s make a group chat together,” Misaki suggested, “Just so we can stay up to date with each other.”

“Oh, of course.”

Later that day, Amu was in the Royal Garden, thinking about her newly formed alliance with Misaki.

“Hinamori-san, are you even listening?”

Amu looked up at the sound of Rui’s voice. “Oh yes. I was just thinking about a new friend I made!”

“Oh, about Tadaomi-kun?” Moca asked.

“No, a different one.” Amu said, “Tadase-kun, do you know about Misaki Watarai?”

“Oh, I vaguely remember hearing about her.” said Tadase, “She’s the energetic one with brown hair, right?”

Amu nodded.

“She’s a little weird, I know.” Tadase said, “But I think it’s good to have energy.”

“Did you say that to her?” Dia asked.

Tadase nodded.

Amu changed the topic of conversation. “You told me that there’s a girl you like already, right?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Tadase said, “I meant my pet dog, Betty, who died before I transferred here.”

“I see…” Amu said, “I thought you meant someone else…”

“Who?” Tadase asked.

Amu took a deep breath. “Kaoru Seta.”

“Why Kaoru of all people?” Caren asked her.

“I don’t know!” Amu said, “Maybe it’s due to both of them being princes!”

Suddenly, the other seven guardians froze.

“Did you just call Tadase a prince?” Saburo said.

“Yeah? What’s wrong with that?” Amu said.

Suddenly, Tadase Character Changed, spawning a small crown on his head.

“YOU FOOLISH COMMONER, YOU DO NOT CALL ME A PRINCE! I AM A KING! AHAHAHA!”

“And that’s why we don’t say the P-word around Tadase.” CHU² said, putting a bucket on his head.

Once CHU² took the bucket off his head, Tadase was back to normal. He curled up into a ball.

“I’m really sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s okay. I’m not mad or anything.” said Amu, “I’m just surprised that that is who you want to be.”

“It may not look like it, but I’m actually really shy.” Tadase said, “Kiseki was born when I wished to become stronger.”

“Just like me…” Amu said.

“Just like every other kid in this school.” Hippo told her.

“Well, shall we continue on with our meeting?” Rui said.

The other eight of them nodded.

That night, a blue haired girl was sleeping when someone opened her door. The mysterious figure went over and took her Guardian egg.

The girl woke up, and at the sight of the mysterious person’s face, she screamed, and everything went dark.

The girl’s roommate woke up near the sound of screaming. She looked around. Everything seemed normal, and looking at the bunk below her, the blue haired girl seemed fast asleep.

“Must be imagining things.” the girl said before heading back to sleep, not noticing her friend’s missing Egg.

Chapter Text

As Amu, Ran and Moca were eating breakfast the next day, Amu caught sight of a blonde haired girl with long twintails.
“Who is that?” Amu asked.
“Oh, that’s Utau Hoshina.” Ran said, “She’s an idol singer, and the leader of the school’s music club. Nobody knows that much about her.”
“I see.” Amu said.
Utau turned around and stared at Amu in the eye. She felt a chill down her spine.
“Amu Hinamori.”
Amu panicked. “Eh? Eh? You know me?!”
Utau simply smirked to herself, then walked away.
Ran looked at Amu, all dazed from the encounter. “Amu! Are you okay?”
“Yeah…” Amu said, “I’m fine.”
“Utau is so scary.” Moca said.
“I know, right” Amu’s heart Guardian Character said.
At that point, Mitake heard a commotion. “What is that?”
The three turned around to see a black haired girl with her blue haired friend, who seemed to be lifeless.
“Kanon! Please say something!”
Amu walked over to them. “What’s going on?”
“Ah! You two are guardians!” the black haired girl said, “Kanon has been like this since this morning!”
Moca looked at the girl. “I see.” she said, “Better ask the Guardians about this.”
Amu looked at Ran. “Ran! You can come too, if you want.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
The black haired girl got up. “Well, I’m coming with her.”

So Kanon and the other girl, Misaki Okusawa, were brought into the Royal Garden.
Hippo inspected Kanon, her blank face, her lifeless eyes.
“Hmm… I’ve never seen anything like this before” Hippo said.
“Do you think it might be an X-Egg?” Moca said.
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Moe today.” Misaki said.
“Is that Kanon’s Guardian Character?” Amu asked Misaki.
Misaki nodded.
“Maybe someone turned her Guardian Egg into an X-Egg.” Caren said.
“Are you saying that there’s a criminal running around in this school?!” Saburo said.
“I wouldn’t go as far as calling them a criminal, but I guess so.” Tadase said.
“Don’t worry, Okusawa-san.” Hippo told her, “We’ll find out who did this to Kanon-san, and get Moe back.”
“Thank you, guardians.”
“In the meantime,” Rui said, “Why don’t you look after Matsubara-san so she doesn’t do anything bad”
“Of course.”
“I think we should head off to class now.” Yaya said.
“I’m just gonna stay here.” CHU² said.

Amu and Moca were walking to class.
“How come CHU² wanted to stay in the Garden?” Amu asked Moca, “She’s a student just like us.”
“CHU² never comes to class. She only attends exams, which she excels every time.”
“Wow. That’s so cool.”
Amu and Moca noticed people working on something.
“That’s the robotics club. What are they doing at this time of the day?” Amu said.
“Wanna have a peek?” Moca asked.
The two entered inside and found a red rectangular robot with no limbs and an antenna.
“What is that?” Moca said.
“It’s so cool!” Amu cried.
“Like it?” a member of the robotics club said. He had brown hair and greenish hazel eyes. “We were just putting some finishing touches.”
Amu noticed a slightly opened chest compartment.
“Hey, what’s inside it?”
The member of the robotics club ran over and covered the opened panel.
“No peeking! Roboty’s chest compartment is for Robotics Club eyes only!”
“Roboty,” Moca commented on the name, “That’s creative.”
“Well, we better get going to class anyways.” Amu said, “See ya!”
Amu and Moca walked away.

Later that day, Amu’s next class was cooking. Amu was sort of expecting Moca to be there, but Moca was surprised that Amu was there.
“Amu-chan! I didn’t know you liked cooking.” Moca said.
“Well, I don’t hate it.” Amu said, “My cousin is a patissier, and one of the things I wanted to be when I was young was a cake decorator.”
“Ohoho! Then let’s bake together!” Moca said, “Today, we’re making cookies.”
“What sort of cookies do you think we should make?”
“I dunno.”
Amu thought about something, then asked Moca.
“Hey Moca. Do you think we should make special cookies for Misaki and Kanon?”
“Maybe we should,” Moca said, “But what do they like?”
“I heard that Misaki likes bears and Kanon likes jellyfish.” a voice said.
The two turned around to see the other Misaki.
“Misaki!” Amu said, “What are you going here?”
“I signed up for this class.” Misaki said, “Though I prefer making things with meat.”
“Ah, you must be Watarai-san.” Moca said.
“Amu Hinamori must’ve told you about me, right?”
Moca nodded.
“Well, that settles it” Amu said, “We’re making bear and jellyfish cookies!”
Su came out. “Moca! Let’s Character Change! Chip! Syrup! Whip!”
A clover grew on Moca’s hair, and Moca started baking, with Amu and Misaki helping.
After a while, the bear and jellyfish cookies were done.
“This will cheer them up!” Amu said.
“Then let’s go give it to them!” Misaki said.

The three of them were walking to Misaki and Kanon’s room when the robotics club member from earlier ran up to them.
“Amu! There’s an emergency at the robotics club room!”
The three of them ran over to the club room and they saw Roboty tipped over with his chest compartment open. In it was an egg shaped holder.
“Roboty!”
Another club member spoke up. “When we tried to get him to tell us what happened, he didn’t respond!”
“Excuse me, but what’s going on here?”
“Whatever was in Roboty’s chest compartment has been stolen!” Amu said.
“What could be inside there that is worth stealing and you are not showing us?” Moca asked the brown haired robotics club member.
“Promise you will keep this a secret.” the man said.
The three of them nodded.
“It’s Roboty’s heart egg. Our project is to create an artificial being with a Hearts Egg. A robot wil dreams and aspirations like us.”
“This is really important for us. Can you please help us? Can you help find who stole Roboty’s Egg?”
Amu nodded.
“Could it be the same person who stole Kanon’s Guardian Egg?” Moca wondered.
“It might be.”
Misaki saw something hidden in the chest compartment. “Hey! What’s that?”
She went over and picked it up. It was a ribbon.
“Let’s take this to the Royal Garden.” Amu said.
Once they were at the Royal Garden, they explained the situation to the guardians.
Misaki handed the ribbon to Tadase, and then Tadase’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
“Utan…”
“You recognize that ribbon?” Hippo asked him.
“This is Utau Hoshina’s ribbon!”
“Do you think Utau was the one who took Kanon’s Guardian Egg?” Karen asked.
“Well, what other evidence do we have?” Saburo said.
“Very well, bring Hoshina-san in.” Rui said.

So Utau was brought into the Royal Guardian. Her Guardian Character, a devil character named Il, was sitting on her shoulder. Also in the Royal Garden were Roboty, Tsukasa Amakawa, Misaki, and the boy from earlier, whose name they later learned as Kohei Hayasaka.
“Give us back Kanon and Roboty’s Guardian Eggs!” Karen shouted at her.
“I’m telling you, I don’t have them!”
“Utau-san,” Tsukasa said, “Your hair ribbon was found inside Roboty’s hair compartment. Only the Robotics Club members know what was inside.”
“Maybe Utau was just curious!” Il said.
“So you admit that your bearer looked through Roboty’s chest compartment.” Rui said.
Utau gave a death glare at Il, then turned back towards the guardians. “Even if I did look through Roboty’s chest compartment, which I didn’t by the way, that doesn’t mean I took Roboty’s Heart Egg!”
“Utau,” the Chairman said, “You had a free period when the Robotics club room was empty.”
“That doesn’t mean I took Roboty’s heart egg! And I definitely didn’t take Kanon’s!”
“I really want to believe you’re innocent,” Tsukasa said, “But until we have evidence of the contrary, you are expelled from Seiyo Space Academy. Your ship will be arriving tomorrow.”
At that moment, Utau Character Changed, growing a pair of bat wings.
“Fricking unbelievable! Seriously! You guys all suck!” Utau cried, exiting the Royal Garden.
Not even a moment later, she walked back into the Royal Garden and held out a hand to Misaki.
“My ribbon, please.”
Misaki placed the ribbon in Utau’s hand, and she left. Il gave one last raspberry before following her owner out the door.
“Well,” Moca said, “I’m glad that’s over! I’m sure that this case is 100% wrapped up and we can all go back to our lives.”
Yaya nodded.
“We still need to find Kanon and Roboty’s Eggs.” Rui said, “And also some way to reverse Kanon’s… spell.”
“Oh yeah. We do.” Hippo muttered.
Moca got up. “Well, I’m heading back to my room.”
“Yeah, me too.” Kohei said.
“I have a project I have to work on.” CHU² said.

Chapter Text

It was a lovely day in the Royal Garden, and the Guardians were talking about things.
“So, Moca. What’s your favourite type of bread?” Amu asked Moca.
“I have to say melon bread.” Moca responded.
Suddenly, they heard a voice call out to them “Hippo!”
The blonde haired boy turned around and saw a dirty-blonde haired girl.
“Lucia-san! What are you doing here?”
Amu looked at Hippo. “Who is she?”
“She’s my sister, I guess. Not really blood related.” Hippo said.
Lucia walked over to Hippo. “I made you some lunch!” She placed a basket of food onto the table. “I guess I made a bit too much, so you can share it with your friends!”
“Oho! I hope there’s some yummy bread in there!” Moca said.
“Yeah!” Sachiko exclaimed.
“Oh, no bread this time.” Lucia said, “But if you want, I’ll make some delicious bread for you! Provided Hippo doesn’t eat it first.”
“Hey! I’m not that greedy!” Hippo retorted.
Ran chuckled.
“Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you!” Lucia said, “After Utau-chan got expelled, I became the new leader of the school idol club!”
Hippo smiled. “That’s so great! I’m so proud of you, Lucia-san!” Hippo said.
“Well, shall we have lunch?” Tadase said.
Caren nodded and opened the basket.
“I hope you like it!” Lucia said.

As the group were eating, Amu noticed Tadase wasn’t feeling fine.
“Tadase-kun? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve just been thinking about Utau-chan.” Tadase said.
“Huh? Utau? Why?”
Tadase sighed. “Utau was my childhood friend. I’ve known her for as long as I can remember. We don’t talk that much recently”
“I see.” Amu said.
“I want to believe she is innocent, but without any other evidence, ”
Amu looked at him.
“How do you think we could make him happy?” Dia asked her.
“Maybe she could ask him out on a-”
“I’m not doing anything like that!” Amu cried, “N… not yet at least.”
Ran thought about it, then looked at Tadase. “Say, how about we pay a little respect to Utau by visiting her light music club.”
Tadase smiled. “I like that, Ran.”

So after classes, the two Guardians visited the light music club room.
“Oh! Tadase! You came!” Lucia said.
Another familiar face also noticed them. It was Misaki!
“Amu Hinamori!” the brown haired girl said, “I can’t believe it’s-”
She froze when she saw Tadase. “T… Tadase-kun…”
“Misaki? You’re in the band too?” Amu said.
“Of course! I play the bass!” Misaki said, “Anyways, what are you two doing here?”
“We came to pay tribute to our fallen angel Utau.” Kiseki said.
“Well why don’t you meet everyone!” Lucia said, “I’m Lucia, as you know, and this is my Guardian Character Pink!”
Pink looked like an Idol singer with long blonde twin tails, wearing a pink dress.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Pink!”
Lucia pointed at a black haired boy wearing a shirt with the number 8. “This is our guitarist, Otto Palle!”
Otto waved shyly. “My Guardian Character’s named 8-Ball. He helps me be more confident.”
8-Ball looked very similar to Otto, but he was wearing a tuxedo and he had an 8 symbol on his head. “Hello. I don’t have a favourite number.”
Next was a blue haired boy wearing blue jeans. “Trent Slacks! Back-up Guitarist! My Guardian Character’s name is Trousers!”
Trousers also looked similar to Trent, but his hair was tied up and he was wearing a denim jacket. “Hey there!”
“Next we have our bassists!” Lucia said, “We have three of them. It appears you’ve already met Misaki, right?”
Amu nodded.
“Our second bassist is Homura Akemi!” Lucia said, gesturing to a black haired girl, “Her Character is named Homulilly.”
Homulilly wore a white, long-sleeved coat and a black, collared shirt, the collar being lined with white along the edges. She also had a darker purple bow with long ribbons in the center of the collar.
“She’s a bit antisocial” Lucia said, “Anyways, here’s our last bassist, Nanami Hiromachi! Not to be confused with Lucia Nanami, of course”
A pink haired girl with a black-and-white cat hairpin walked forward. “What’s up? My name is Nanami. This is my Character Yukari”
Yukari had orange hair and wore a plain dress. “I represent Nanami’s dream to be normal.”
“Of course, no band would be complete without a drummer, so here’s Izuru Sameno!”
Izuru was an older girl with burgundy hair. “Lucia also plays the drums.”
“I’m not that good at them!” Lucia exclaimed.
Ran looked at Izuru. “Who’s your Character?”
Izuru grinned. “Glad you asked,” she said, “Here’s my Character Selachi.”
Selachi flew out from her Guardian Egg. She looked beautiful, but almost monstrous, like Medusa, but without the snake hair. Amu was almost terrified of her.
Budging in front of her was a pink haired girl wearing a jellyfish-like dress. “Call me Kura-chan! I’m this band’s Trombonist! My Shugo Chara’s name is Méduse”
Méduse looked even more jellyfish-like than Kura-chan, with tentacle shaped hair.

Lucia spoke up. “Anyways, would you like us to play a song for you?”
Tadase and Amu sat down. “Sure, go ahead.” Tadase said.
Misaki squealed at the thought of playing for Tadase, but Ai calmed her down. She got into position.
“Okay, how does Koi wa Nandarou sound?” Lucia suggested.
“On it!” Trent spoke. He started playing, along with the rest of the band, and Lucia started singing.

Kiite, mune no, hajikete
tobichiru nan darou
Furete, mune no, chiisaku moeteru atsui
honou, konna kimochi, hajimete na no yo

Utaidashitara tomaranai, (Hit it!)
odoridashitara tomaranai, (Hit it!)
Modorenai, magarenai,
suki ni narazu ni irenai

Aoi, umi ni oyogu SANGO no
Himitsu, tsugeru, koi wo shitta no
Atashi, motto utaitsudzukeru
kono mune no, tokimeki wo, ageru

Tadase and Amu clapped. “Bravo!”
“You did a really good job!” Amu said.
Lucia smiled. “Thank you! This has been the Dopey Moons!”
Misaki looked at Amu. “Well, Amu! I’m feeling hungry. Wanna get some crepes?”
Amu nodded. “We can invite Moca and Ran as well.”

In addition to the Space Academy itself, the space station also contained a small robot village where students can hang out after school hours. One of these was an automatic cafe.
“Isn’t this place so cool?” Misaki said, munching on a strawberry crepe.
“We can order as much food as we want here!” Moca said.
“Save some room for dinner!” Su spoke.
Dia giggled as she ate her crepe. “It’s so nice hanging out with friends!” she said.
“I agree!” Ai responded.
“You know,” Moca told Amu, “Me and Ran-chan are also in a band with our friends back at home.”
“Really?!” Amu said.
“You should listen to some of our music,” Ran said, “Hey, do you play an instrument?”
Amu shook her head. “I prefer singing.”
“Well, if you want to learn guitar, then just come to us!” Anu said.
“I can also teach you the bass!” Misaki said.
Amu smiled. “Thank you, guys.”
“Hey Amu, I really want you to meet Himari, Tomoe and Tsugumi.” Moca said, “You know what? On our monthly X-Egg cleansing mission, how about we pay them a little visit.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Amu said.
Amu’s heart Guardian Character cheered. “Yeah! I can’t wait to meet them!”
“Hey, are you guys done eating your crepes?” Ran asked, to which the eight others nodded.
“Let’s go back.”

At the dinner table, Amu, Ran and Moca were talking to Tadaomi.
“So, how was your crepes with Misaki-chan?”
“We had a good time,” Moca responded.
“Mhmm!” Sachiko said. She then pointed at Ruki’s dessert brownie. “Are you gonna finish that?”
“Hey! Maybe we can hang out someday too!” Ran said.
“Sure, how does tomorrow sound?”
Suddenly, Nanami ran up to them.
“Amu-senpai! There’s a problem!”
Amu turned around. “What is it, Nanami?”
“Lucia went to the bathroom, but she hasn’t come back yet. So I went up to check on her and… you have to see for yourself!”

So Nanami, Amu, Moca and Ran ran into the girl’s bathroom, when they found Lucia sitting on the floor in a trance, an oddly familiar trance.
“This is just like Kanon’s trance!”
Moca waved her hand over Lucia’s face, and snapped her fingers. Nothing happened.
“Exactly like Kanon’s trance.” Moca said.
Amu started to worry. “Where’s Pink?”
Yukari flew up to her. “I couldn’t find Pink’s egg! It must be stolen!”
“You know what this means?” Ran said.
Amu nodded. “It means Utau is innocent.”

Chapter Text

Tadase and Amu were in the Royal Garden, talking about the crime that had happened the day before.
“So, if Utau’s not the culprit, then who is?” Amu asked.
“Whoever it is, we need to stop them.” replied Tadase.
“Don’t worry!” Yaya said, “Detective Yaya is on the case!”
“Okay, Detective Yaya,” Caren said, “Who do you think is the culprit?”
“You don’t ask the detective who the culprit is before she has started,” Yaya said, “You need to let her collect clues”
“What clues do we even have?” CHU² retorted.
“Well, we can ask around to see if anyone else knows something.” someone suggested.
Amu turned around. “Woah! Saburo! I didn’t notice you!”
“Sorry. I just don’t have that much of a presence.”
Yaya stood up. “Anyways, let’s go!”

So the Guardians went around, finding if anyone knew something about it.
The first person they interviewed was Nanami.
“So, Hiromachi.” Yaya said, “Please recount how you discovered Lucia.”
“Well, Lucia said she needed to use the bathroom before dinner, so we allowed her. She was taking a while, so we thought it was just a bad lunch. 20 minutes later, she still hasn’t returned, and we were getting worried. I decided to check up on her and… well.”
“Was there anyone else at the scene of the crime?”
Nanami thought about it. “Well, I saw someone exit the bathroom just as I went in.”
“Who was it?”
“I think her name was Miki Pique. I only met her a few times.”
Yaya smiled. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

So next, they interviewed Miki. She was a blue haired girl wearing a spade beret.
“So, Miki.” Yaya interrogated, “Is it true that you saw Lucia’s Guardian Egg get stolen?”
“I only saw the end result. I swear! I didn’t take her Guardian Egg!”
Yaya stared at her. “Nanami said that Lucia went to the bathroom at around 6:00pm, and she checked up on her at about 6:20pm. Do you know anyone else who used the bathroom at that time?”
Miki thought about it. “Well, I guess Kaoru-san said she needed to use it.”
Yaya scribbled down on her notepad. “Okay, we’ll interview Kaoru after this.”

Afterwards, they got Kaoru at the scene.
“So, Kaoru, the Other Pri…” Yaya stopped to check if Tadase was listening. “The Other Prince of Seiyo. Miki said that you were in the bathroom around the time that Lucia’s heart egg got stolen.”
“I assure you. I merely went in, did my business, then left. I had not even seen Princess Lucia.”
“Well, if what you say is true,” Yaya said, emphasizing the ‘if’, “Then that would mean you used the bathroom before her Heart Egg got stolen.”
“That seems to be correct.”
“Do you know what time you left to use the bathroom?”
Kaoru gaped. “I do not keep track of such things!”
“It’s okay, I could just ask Miki.” Yaya spoke, “Did you happen to see anyone else on your little bathroom break?”
Kaoru shook her head.
“It’s okay. We’ll keep looking.”

So they decided to talk with Miki again.
“Why am I here again?” the blue haired girl asked.
“We need to know what time Kaoru went potty.”
“Well, it was shortly after we took our seats.” Miki responded, “If I had to give a time, I’d say about 6:05 or so.”
Yaya smiled. “Thank you for that valuable information.”

Afterwards, Yaya reported the information.
“Okay, so the crime took place between 6:05 and 6:20” Rui said.
“How are we going to find every girl who used the bathroom within that fifteen minute timespan?” Hippo asked.
“I suggest we track the location of everyone’s bracelets.” Caren said.
“Or we can just check the security cameras.” Rui said.
“Both of those plans require us to sneak into the security room.”
“It’s okay.” Tadase said, “I can just ask the chairman to give us the information.”
“Okay, you do that.” CHU² said.
Suddenly, they heard knocking outside. Tadase opened the door to see a grey haired boy whose hair covered his eyes.
“Oh, hi Jun. What’s up?”
Jun stammered. “T-There’s been another attack!”

So the guardians were led to the scene of a crime. A yellow haired girl with twintails was sitting lifelessly on a bench. Homura was looking at her in shock.
“That’s Mami Tomoe!” Caren exclaimed.
Moca prodded her with her finger. “Yep, she’s completely out.”
Suddenly, they saw Ran run over. “I heard there’s another attack, and I came to see what was wrong!”
Yaya smirked. “This looks like a job for Ace Detective Yaya!”
“And her partner Mimi!”
“Now, what were you doing at the scene of the crime?” Yaya asked Jun and Homura.
“Well, Mami wanted a drink so Homura and I went off to a vending machine. When we came back, we found her like this!”
“Damn, that’s four incidents so far.” Hippo said, “We need to prepare for any more future incidents.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” CHU² spoke up, “Let’s get that location data!”

So the Guardians were talking to Tsukasa in the principal’s office.
“You’ll really do it? You’ll really give us the location data?” Tadase asked.
“If it’s to protect our student body, then of course.” Tsukasa responded.
So they went over to the security room. Tsukasa looked up the location data of the students.
“That’s strange.”
“What is?” Hippo asked.
“Whoever did this seems to have used a signal jammer, so I have no idea who did it.”
“Well, can’t you backtrack to see who it might be?” Saburo asked.
“Both times, the jammer was activated within a large group of people, so unfortunately no.”
“Damn it! It’s a dead end!” Caren exclaimed.
Yaya chuckled. “The Ace Detective Yaya doesn’t believe in dead ends! Director! Give me a list of everyone who was in the radius of the jammer for every attack.”
“The location data deletes itself after a week, so I can’t give you information about Kanon’s or Roboty’s attacks. But I can give you information about those two attacks.”
“Thank you, Tsukasa!” Yaya exclaimed.

At dinner time, Yaya was still analyzing her notes.
“Okay, I’ve narrowed it down to five people.”
“You’re still looking at those notes?” Tadase said.
Yaya nodded. “Whoever it is, we need to figure out how they’re jamming the bracelet signals.”
“Maybe that’s how the culprit took Kanon’s egg.”
Yaya looked at Tadase, and he explained. “Think about it. After curfew, the dorm room doors only open for the people who live in them. Whoever’s jamming the location data must also used it to open the doors.”
“We should probably eat dinner.” Mimi told her.
“Mimi’s right, Yaya. You’re usually a big eater. Are you really focused on the notes that much?” Jun asked.
“Hey, Yaya’s not that of a big eater,” Mimi retorted.
“Aren’t you forgetting the time she ate all the pancakes and was still hungry?!” Jun’s Guardian Character said.
“A growing girl needs a lot of food, Juno!” Yaya replied.
Just then, Trent walked over to them.
“Hey guys. Can I sit with you?”
“Of course!” Juno exclaimed, “You can sit right here!”
“Alright!” Trousers shouted as he and Trent sat next to them.
Yaya glanced at her notes again. “Wait a minute. Hey, Trent. How well did you know Kanon?”
“Kanon?” Trent asked, “We’re in the same class”
Yaya nodded. “And Mami?”
“I mean, I do know her a bit.”
Yaya stared at Trent. “How acquainted are you with the Robotics club?”
“I don’t like where this is going?”
It was at that point when Yaya showed Trent her list of suspects, and his name was in it.
“Wait, wait! I’m not the culprit! I mean why would I?”
“You’re not the culprit, you’re just a suspect.” Tadase said.
“Still! Why would I ever go into the girls bathroom?!”
“I dunno. Maybe to steal someone’s heart egg!”
“I’m telling you! I’m not the one stealing heart eggs!”
Yaya scoffed. “Yeah, let’s see how you hold up in court.”
Without thinking, Trent blurted out. “Fine! Let’s see how I hold up!”
The entire dining hall stared at them.
“I guess we’re doing a court case now.” Jun muttered to himself.

Chapter Text

The court case was held on Saturday, and the entire grand hall has been converted to a courthouse. Rui was the judge.
“I call the court to order. Prosecution, please read the indictment.”
Yaya, the prosecutor, spoke up. “Indictment: The defendant Trent Slacks has been accused of stealing the heart eggs of three…” Yaya paused to count the number of victims. “Yeah, three people. Four including Roboty.”
“Very well. Defendant, are there any errors in the prosecutor’s judgement.”
Trent spoke up. “I didn’t steal anything! I wouldn’t go around stealing my own bandmate’s heart egg!”
Rui looked at the defense. “Defense, tell me what do you have to say about it.”
The defense was Otto Palla, Character Changed with 8-Ball. “I’m his best friend! He would never do something like that!”
“Prosecutor, please present your first argument.”
Yaya chuckled. “I’d like to present Exhibit A!”
Yaya showed everyone her notebook. A camera showed it to everyone. Unfortunately, she accidentally flipped to a drawing of Tadase in a skirt.
Yaya blushed furiously. “No wait! Not that one!” She quickly flipped to the page she was looking for, the list of accused names.
“I have narrowed the suspect down to five people. Out of all of these, Trent is the closest one to all of them.”
“Objection!” Otto called out, “How do you know that those are the suspects? For all we know, you could’ve just written down five random names!!”
“Oh, you want proof? I call upon my first witness!”
Yaya’s witness was Tsukasa Amakawa.
“So, Tsukasa. You gave us the information, right?”
“Yes. The culprit used a signal jammer to cover their trails. Fortunately, the jammer only activates in a certain radius. Using this information, we were able to get a list of possible suspects by finding everyone within the radius in both cases”
“An interesting deduction. But you have, like, four other suspects. Why do you keep jumping to conclusions?”
“Well, with no other evidence, we are led to believe that Trent is the culprit, as he is the closest one to the victims. Guilty until proven innocent!”
“Objection!” Otto said, “Let me give you a reminder of what happens if you believe that. I call Utau Hoshina to the stand”
At that moment, Utau Hoshina walked into the witness stand. After she was found to be innocent, she was invited back into the Space Academy.
“Why is she there! She isn’t even a witness!” Yaya cried.
“Objection!” Otto spoke again, “She does have a part to play in this storyline. If you remember, your hair ribbon was found inside Roboty’s chest compartment when his heart egg got stolen, right?”
Utau nodded.
“So everyone put the blame on you. But it turns out you weren’t guilty at all!”
“I’m sorry, Palle,” Rui said, “But if Hoshina wasn’t there to witness the event, then we must kindly force her to leave.”
“Objection! Because she remembers who took her hair ribbon! Don’t you, Utau”
“... Actually, I don’t.”
“Oh come on.”
“Well, thank you for your time, Utau.”
“Of course,” Utau said, before walking off the witness stand.

“Well obviously, whoever framed Utau must be close to her enough to know where her room is, and you’re really the only suspect listed in the Dopey Moons, Trent!”
“Just because we’re friends, doesn’t mean I was the one who did it!”
“I have something to say.” Otto spoke up, “Whoever stole Roboty’s heart egg must’ve known that Roboty contained one, something that only the robotics club knows. I call upon Kohei Hayasaka, leader of the robotics Club”
Kohei walked up to the stand.
“How familiar are you to the Dopey Moons?” Yaya said, “Trent in particular.”
“Well, Kura-chan is in the robotics club with us.”
“I’m more like their mascot.” Kura-chan said.
Yaya spoke up. “Maybe Kura-chan is an accomplice”
“What?!” Kura-chan cried, “I swear I haven’t told anyone outside the robotics club about the contents of Roboty!!”
“Hey, Mami was also in the robotics club, right?”
“Now that I think of it, Kanon was also pretty close to Kura-chan,” Hippo said, somehow with Rui.
“What are you doing next to me?” Rui asked
“I’m here to offer moral support.”
“What if Kura-chan’s the real culprit?” Il said.
“I’m not even in the book of names!”
At that point, Yaya made a claim. “Maybe Trent is just being used by Kura-chan to get people’s heart eggs for her!”
“You can’t just say that!” Kura-chan complained.
“Besides! It’s not me!” Trent spoke.
“We failed to account for the fact that the culprit might be working for someone.”
Rui slammed the gavel onto the table. “Order! Order!”
“We are getting nowhere with this case!” Amu told Moca. She looked at Saburo, the stenographer for this case.
“How’s your stenography going, Saburo?”
“I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Oh, okay”
Suddenly, Trent raised his hand up. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Rui stared at him. “Can’t it wait?”
Trent shook his head. “I drank a bit too much soda beforehand”
Kura-chan also raised her hand up. “I have to go too.”
Rui sighed. “Fine then. Court is recess. Once Hosho and Slacks return from their restroom break, we will return to business as usual.” She slammed the gavel down.

As Yaya was sitting on a bench outside, Tadase walked up to her.
“Uh… why do you have a drawing of me wearing a skirt in your?”
Yaya blushed. “I’m really sorry! It’s just that… uh… well…”
Mimi Character Changed Yaya and she immediately calmed down. “It’s… because I like you.”
“As a friend?”
Yaya shook her head. “It’s a shame you had to find out that way.”
“What do you mean?”
Mimi flew up to Tadase. “What Yaya is trying to say is that she has a crush on you.”
Tadase was astounded. “W… What?”
“That someone you liked, Tadase…” Yaya said, “I really wish it was me…”
“Yaya… is it true?”
“It’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“Wow… I never knew you thought about me that way. All this time?”
Yaya nodded. “Ever since that day all those years ago.”
Tadase stared at her, who simply smiled at him. “Yaya…”
At that moment, Jun ran up to them.
“Ah! Jun! What’s up?”
“It’s Trent! His heart egg has been stolen.”
Yaya broke out of her Character Change. “Wait, what?!”

The crime took place in the boys bathroom, so Yaya opted to stay just outside.
“If I had a nickel for every heart egg theft that happened in a bathroom, I’d have two nickels,” Tadase said, “Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”
“So does that mean Trent is innocent?” Otto said.
“Who knows?” Tadase said, “For now, let’s just assume that Kura-chan did it.”
“She did ask to go to the bathroom at the same time as Trent,” Jun said, “though I wonder what her motive was?”
Hippo clapped. “Well, it looks like court is back in session! And this time, we have a new defendant.”

So court was back in session.
“Since Kura Hosho is closer to the victims than Slacks, and also due to Slacks’s heart egg being stolen, she is up for trial.” Rui said.
“Why me?!” Kura complained.
Yaya looked at her notes. “According to these notes, your Guardian Character allows you to locate anyone and anything.”
“My job is to guide those who are lost.” Méduse said.
“The current story is as follows: For whatever reason, you decided to steal Kanon’s heart egg, which was easy since you have gained her trust. Using your knowledge in the Robotics club, you also stole Roboty’s heart egg, and framed Utau due to jealousy. You then became jealous of Lucia, so you asked Trent to steal her heart egg, while also stealing another fellow Robotics club member’s heart egg. Finally, to dispose of the evidence, you stole Trent’s heart egg.”
“I did no such thing!” Kura complained.
Tsukasa spoke up. “You were standing right at the center of the jamming radius. In addition, the jammer was found in one of the trash cans in the girls bathroom. Bring in Exhibit B.”
The broken signal jammer was brought in.
“It only makes sense that a member of the robotics club is able to build this!” Yaya said.
“Objection!” Otto said, “Kura-chan wouldn’t hurt a fly! She wouldn’t do that?”
Rui stared at him. “That’s barely enough evidence.”
“You want evidence? Tsukasa! How big is the radius of the jammer?”
“It’s about ten meters, covering half this room.”
“So, it isn’t far away to reach the bathroom?”
“You’re correct.” Tsukasa said.
“So, in order for it to reach the bathroom, it needs to be moved.”
“How do you know that Kura-chan didn’t move the jammer this time? She was right next to Trent this time.”
“Then we’ll see the bracelet tracking information!” Otto looked at Tsukasa. “Tsukasa, can you head into the security room and collect the location data for the duration of the recess?”
“Of course.” Tsukasa walked away.

While Tsukasa was away, Kura-chan noticed Sayaka talking to some friends. She went over to Otto.
“Hey, Otto. Can I tell you something?”
Otto looked at her.
Kura-chan started speaking in a whisper. “Sayaka seems to be acting weird.”
Otto made a confused face. “Sayaka?”
“I feel like she has been following me around.”
“Pfft. Don’t be silly.”
“No! I saw her! What if she’s the thief?”
“You’re such a worry wart, Kura-chan.”
“Wasn’t she one of the suspects?”
“Even if she did it, we have no way to prove that right now.”
Little did she know that her Guardian Character Octavia was watching them, she flew over to her.

Tsukasa finally returned. “Okay, I have the data. It shall be displayed using a hologram drone. Behold! Exhibit C!”
A drone displayed the information to everyone. It showed Trent and Kura-chan heading for the bathroom before the signal jammer activated sucking them in the radius.
“That’s not enough evidence!” Yaya “We know that the signal jammer can be remotely activated.”
They continued watching, when something caught Otto’s eye.
“Wait! Play that again, but slower”
Tsukasa rewound the recording, and played it at five times the speed, and everyone saw it. For a split second, while the radius was moving, what was clearly Kura-chan’s ID escaped the radius before immediately being scrambled into the abyss.
“See that? Kura-chan wasn’t at the center of the radius! She isn’t the one with the signal jammer!”
“Well that does it.” Rui said, “Case closed. Kura Hosho is innocent. Court dismissed”
Rui slammed the gavel one last time, ending the court session.
While everyone was leaving the grand hall, Tadase walked over to Yaya.
“It’s okay. We still have four more suspects. We’ll find the culprit soon enough.”
Meanwhile, the remaining Dopey Moons were gathered.
“Well, how about we all go to the robot restaurant in celebration tonight.” Utau said.
“Yay! Dinner with friends!” Misaki cheered.
“I’m down.” Izuru said.

At the restaurant, the seven Dopey Moons were talking.
“Once Lucia and Trent get their heart eggs back, let’s all host a concert!” Nanami suggested.
“Oh, it’s been a while since we had one.” Otto said.
Meanwhile, Kura-chan was lost in thought.
She got up from her seat. “Uh… I have to use the bathroom again.”
“Okay, be quick.” Homura said.
Kura-chan left the robot restaurant.
“Wait, do you think we should have someone check on her?” Misaki said.

Once Kura-chan was outside, she Character Changed with Méduse and focused on finding Sayaka. She felt… unusually close.
“She’s right behind me, isn’t she?”
She turned around to see Sayaka Character Changed.
“I can’t let you get away with this.”
Kura-chan screamed as Sayaka drained her energy away.
Homura ran outside, but all she saw was Kura-chan lying motionless on the ground.

Chapter Text

The Guardians were discussing the issue in the Royal Garden.
“Okay, that’s six victims now.” Tadase said.
“I hope we don’t get any more.” Caren said, “We need to figure out who is doing this fast.”
Moca decided to change the subject. “So… Amu-chan. Your birthday is coming soon.”
Amu nodded. “It falls during the Earth X-Egg clean-up week. I honestly don’t mind”
“Well we’ll plan a big birthday party for you.” Hippo said.
Amu smiled, “I can’t wait for all of you to meet my little sister.”
Moca then had a suggestion. “Can we invite Ran to our monthly X-Egg cleansing session?”
Tadase looked at her. “Well, I don’t see why not.”
“Hotori-kun, are you sure?” Rui asked.
“What? It’s just one person!”
CHU² raised her hand. “Actually, I want to stay behind and investigate the mystery of the disappearing heart eggs.”
Rui looked at her. “Wouldn’t it be safer if Imai-kun does it, since he doesn’t have a Heart Egg to steal?”
“I know, but Saburo always visits his older sister whenever we go down there. She’s expecting him.”
“How about this: I’ll go notify Saburo-kun’s sister, then both of you can stay up here and solve the mystery.”
“I’ll give you my notes!” Yaya exclaimed.
“That sounds nice.” Saburo said.
“Well, shall we get prepared?” Caren said, “I heard there’s a new monjayaki place I want to try out!”
“Ryuuhyo-san, this is not a holiday. Never mind the fact that we are celebrating Hinamori-san’s birthday.”

So, a few days later, the Guardians and Ran were outside the spaceship.
“Please call us whenever you find something new!” Yaya said.
CHU² and Saburo nodded.
“Say hi to my sister.” Saburo said.
Moca nodded, as she, Ran, and the other guardians boarded the spaceship. It set out for take off, then left the docking bay on a course straight for Earth.
“You can tell us all about it when you get back!” CHU² exclaimed.

As the eight of them were in the spaceship, they all decided to talk.
“Say, where are we going to be staying?” Ran asked.
“Well usually we just stay at our own places,” Tadase said, “Do your parents know about this, Hinamori-san?”
Amu laughed. “Not really.”
“Well, I’d be delighted to meet your family.” Hippo said, “Did you remember to bring the Humpty Lock?”
Amu got out the lock from her bag and showed it to everyone.
“That’s great.” Tadase said, “We’ll be arriving in four hours so make yourselves comfortable.”
Rui got out a book and started reading while her Guardian Character flew off to talk to Sachiko, Ran and Su.
Ran walked over to Tadase. “Hey, Hotori. Are there any bathrooms on this ship?”
“Unfortunately, no. You’re just gonna have to hold it,” Tadase said, “Don’t worry. It’s a pain for me sometimes too.”
Ran sighed as Anu flew up to her. “Don’t worry, Ran. You can hold it!”
Meanwhile, Caren was looking at Earth from the window. Moca walked up to her.
“So, is there anyone you want to meet back on Earth?” Moca asked her.
“Well, I guess there’s my twin sister Noel.” Caren said, “Do you have any siblings?”
Moca shook her head. “I’m an only child. The only Aoba of my generation that I know of.” She looked at Rui.
Yaya spoke up. “Well I have a baby brother at home! His name is Tsubasa!”
Yaya got some photos of him from her phone, and showed them to Ran and Amu.
“He’s so cute!” Amu exclaimed, before looking at Rui, “What about you, Rui? Do you have any brothers or sisters you want to see at home?”
“I’m an only child too. Though, I guess there is a childhood friend that I want to see, though I don’t think I’ve seen her in a while.”
Ran looked at her. “There is? What’s her name?”
Rui looked away. “I don’t want to talk about her at this moment.”
Ran, as in Amu’s Guardian Character, flew up to her. “Come on! You can invite her to Amu’s birthday party.”

Later, the eight of them were all on Earth.
“Wow! Fresh Earth air!” Yaya exclaimed.
“The starry sky is beautiful, but it’s nice to see trees and birds and stuff every once in a while.” Ran said.
“Well, now that we’re all prepared, why not do our first X-Egg search now?” Hippo said.
“Wait, what? Now?!” Amu shouted.
“Okay, find as many X-Eggs as you can in three hours, then lead them all back here. Since Amu has the Humpty Lock, she should be the one to purify them”
“Uh? How do I do that?” Amu asked.
“I dunno. It just lights up and all the X-Eggs are purified” Yaya said.
Ran raised her hand. “Wait, what does an X-Egg look like again?”
Hippo answered her question. “Black eggs with red crosses. You can join in too, Ran-san.”
“I mean, sure.” Ran said.
“Okay! Everyone Character Change now!” Hippo announced, before the eight of them Character Changed. Moca had Character Changed with Su, while Amu chose to Character Change with Ran.
“I’m feeling like a Su day today.”

So everyone was split up in definitely not biased groups. Amu with Tadase, Ran with Moca, Hippo with Rui, and Caren with Yaya.
As Amu was rounding up the X-Eggs, she decided to talk with Tadase.
“So… about you turning down my confession.”
“Oh yeah… that…”
“Why did you say that? That you had a girl you liked.”
Tadase sighed. “I never had a girl outright confess to me in public. I just didn’t know what to say.”
Amu looked away. “You aren’t… actually dating someone, aren’t you? Not even Kaoru?”
“I’m not…” Tadase said, “Me and Kaoru-san barely even interact. But… if you want to start dating me… I’ll have to make sure if it’s okay with Yuiki-san.”
Amu looked at him. “Why?”
Tadase smiled. “If you want to try winning my hand in love, you better compete with Yuiki-san.”
At that moment, they heard an X-Egg.
“Look out, an X-Egg!”

Back in the Space Academy, Saburo was talking to CHU².
“Surely you don’t have anyone waiting for you back at home.” Saburo said.
“I really don’t! Besides, solving this Heart Egg theft mystery is much more important.”
“Well I didn’t want to do this. I could be back on Earth with my sister. Why would you want to stay up here?”
Just then, the two heard violin music playing. CHU² seemed to freeze up, but Saburo followed the music to its source: a speaker to which Otto was listening to.
“Oh, Otto.”
Otto looked up. “Oh, hey Saburo. What brings you here?”
“That was wonderful violin music. Who’s it by?”
Otto smiled. “Oh, it’s one of Miu Tamade’s performances. She’s a world-class violinist.”
That was when Saburo looked at Chiyu. “Tamade? Is she related to you?”
CHU² stammered. “Sh… she’s…” The redhead girl ran away.
Otto spoke. “It doesn’t seem like CHU² likes it when her mother is mentioned.”
“Her mother?”

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Amu had managed to chase the X-Egg on the top of a construction site.
“Get in the bag and nobody gets hurt.”
Amu stared at it, then started running over. She jumped up, grabbing the egg. That was when she realized she was in the air, and she started to fall
“Help!!!!”
Amu’s heart raced. She felt like she was going to die. That was when the Humpty Lock shone, and she began to transform into a pink cheerleader. She then started to fly, saving her from death by fall damage.
“What just happened?!”
“Amazing!” Ran said from what seemed to be inside her soul, “You just Character Transformed!”
“Character Transform?”
“It’s the upgrade from a Character Change, where you use 120% of your power! Look! You’re flying!”
That was when Amu realized how high she was. She started to panic. “AH! I’M SO HIGH UP!”
“Amu! Don’t! If you stop believing in yourself…”
She changed back, and started to fall again. That was when she heard Tadase. “Holy Crown!” She was then caught by some sponge-like substance shaped like a crown. Amu looked at Tadase, holding a staff.
“Th… Thank you.”
“I saw your Character Transformation. You looked really pretty up there.”
Amu blushed. “Thank you.”
Kiseki spoke up. “Usually only someone with a strong bond with their Guardian Character could Character Transform.”
Amu looked at the lock in her hand. “Maybe that’s the power of the Humpty Lock.”
Just then, they heard the X-Egg again.
“Amu, Character Transform again. There’s still an X-Egg we need to catch!”

So they started chasing after the X-Egg.
“I just have to believe in myself…” Amu thought.
They eventually had the egg cornered.
Amu got out the bag. “This is your last warning, Egg! Get in the bag or I’ll have to use force!”
At that moment, Amu heard the feelings of the Egg’s owner. It was full of doubt and troubles.
Amu stopped. All of this negative energy… This must be what every X-Egg feels, the X-Eggs that are in her bag, and everything that the others have collected…
“The X-Egg… It’s speaking to me…” She looked up at the egg. “Whoever owns this egg, please don’t give up on your dreams! I believe in you, and you just have to believe in yourself! Or else your dream will vanish before your very eyes!!! It's way too soon to do nothing but give up!!!”
The Humpty Lock begin to shine again, and Amu realized what she had to do.
Amu made a heart shape with her hand, pinpointing the X-Egg. “Negative Heart: Lock on!” She then opened the heart shape, sending out a burst of purification energy to the Egg. “OPEN HEART!”
Tadase watched in amazement as Amu purified the egg. When Amu was done, the egg was white with a special golden symbol on it. The Heart Egg flew away.
“No… way… You actually managed to purify the X-Egg.”
Dia flew up and smiled. “That’s the power of the Humpty Lock for you!”
Tadase smiled. “Well, we have one more hour to go. Let’s find some more.”
Amu nodded.

Later that day when the Guardians have all gathered, Amu purified all the X-Eggs.
“Nice Character Transformation, Amu-san.” said
“Amu-chan looks really cute.” Moca added.
Ran looked at the others. “So, same time, same place, tomorrow?”
Everyone nodded, before heading back home for today.
As Amu entered her house, she was greeted by Ami, hugging her.
“Onee-chan’s back!”
“It’s really nice to see you again too, Ami.”
During dinner, their family started conversing about her birthday party.
“So, you’re turning seventeen soon. What do you plan on doing?” her mother asked.
Amu smiled. “I have some ideas.”

Meanwhile, Saburo was chasing around the Space Academy for CHU².
“CHU²? Where are you?”
He walked up to a girl. “Excuse me. Have you seen CHU²?”
“The last time I checked, she was in the girls’ bathroom.”
Since Saburo couldn’t enter there, he asked the girl to check up on her. Waiting outside of it, she was met with a loud scream.
The girl ran out. “What’s the problem?”
“CHU²’s Heart Egg has been stolen!”

Chapter Text

Amu’s family was setting up the birthday party at her house. The other Guardians were helping her.
“So, you have invited a lot of people, right?” Amu’s dad asked.
“A whole lot!” Ran said, “I can’t wait for Himari and the others to meet you!”
Amu smiled at her. “I’m excited to meet them too.”
“We have prepared a surprise for you, Amu-chan” Tadase told her.
“It’s gonna be the best birthday performance ever-”
“Yaya, you’re ruining the surprise.”
“Oh, sorry”
Rui walked over to her, “Aoba-san is preparing a very special cake for you”
“That’s good to know”
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
“Could that be the others?” Ran said.
She ran over and opened the door. However, instead of her friends, a brunette lady was at the door.
Amu walked up to her. “Uh.. who are you?”
“Ah, I believe we haven’t met. But it’s so nice to meet you, Amu”
Tadase walked up to her. “Amu, this is Lisa Imai, Saburo’s older sister”
“Thank you guys, for taking care of my little brother~!”
“Of course.”
“I hope he’s alright up there.” Lisa said, “Sometimes, I look up to the stars and wonder how he’s doing”
At that moment, Ami walked up to them. “Amu-chan? Who’s this?”
Lisa noticed her. “Ah! Is this your sister, Amu? She’s such a cutie! I’m Lisa, Amu’s friend’s sister. How about we play together”
“Okay, Lisa-nee!”

Later, the doorbell rang again. This time, Caren answered it to an indigo-haired girl who looked like her.
“Noel! You made it!”
Amu walked up to her. “This must be Noel.”
Caren nodded.
Ran sighed. “Himari’s still not here.”
“It’s okay, they’ll come here eventually” Tadase said.
They heard another voice. “Do you mind if I make my presence known?”
A girl with long black hair walked in, to which Lisa immediately recognised.
“Rinko-chan! I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Rinko waved at her. “Hi, Lisa.”
Lisa looked at Amu. “I didn’t know you two knew each other!”
Amu blinked. “I don’t”
“Wait, then who-”
At that moment, Rui shyly walked in. “Glad to see that you have made it, Shirokane.”
Yaya looked at Rui. “Rui! I didn’t know you had friends on Earth!”
Rui looked away. “We barely talk to each other”
Ayase flew up to her. “It was my idea.”
Rinko looked around. “Huh? Who said that?”
Ayase turned around. “Looks like she can hear me but not see me.”

Cut to even later, when Moca came over with a giant pink cake.
“Amu-chan, your cake is done!”
Amu was amazed by the cake. “That looks really good!”
“All in a day’s work” Su said.
“Moca! You’re here too?”
Amu looked at Lisa. “You know each other?”
“Me and Lisa-chi work together at my summer job at the convenience store.” Moca explained.
The doorbell rang and Moca went over. Three girls were standing outside, with pink, red, and brown hair respectively.
“Took you long enough.” Moca said.
The three girls went over to Amu.
“Amu-chan! It’s so cool to finally meet you!” the pink haired girl said.
Amu smiled. “You must be Himari, Tomoe and Tsugumi.”
The brown haired Tsugumi nodded. “Well, now that we’re all here, let’s begin the celebrations.”

So first of all was Amu’s parents’ birthday speech.
“We would like to congratulate our dearest Amu on her 17th birthday.” Amu’s mother said.
“Our little girl is growing up so fast!” Amu’s father said, crying.
“I’m proud that Amu has been making new friends at the Space Academy. So, let the celebrations begin! I have prepared a lot of fun games for you guys!”
So everyone was having fun, with some gathering in Amu’s room (much to Amu’s displeasure), and some, like Yaya, Rinko and Himari, were playing board games in the living room.
It was at that moment when Amu walked up to Moca, staring at Ran talking to Tadase.
“She’s really cute, isn’t she?”
“Who? Ran? I wouldn’t describe her as that.”
“She may have a tough exterior, but she’s a really sweet girl deep down, just like a succulent loaf of bread.”
Amu was confused. “Yeah. Uh-huh. But why are you telling me this?”
Moca sighed. “Can I tell you a secret? Keep it between us and our Charas, okay?”
The other Ran and Dia flew out of Amu’s pocket. “Sure!” Ran said, “Your secret is safe with us”
Moca spoke up. “I like Ran.”
Dia was confused. “Like, as a friend?”
Moca shook her head. “In the way that Amu-chi likes Tadase-kun”
Amu was surprised. “You… really feel that way about your childhood friend?”
Moca nodded. “I try to show my love in my own Mocatastic way, but she just wouldn’t listen.”
Amu nodded. “Mhmm… I feel you.”
“I wish for the day when Ran-Ran realizes that she’s more than just a friend to me. You know me and Ran got married at the playground when we were kids.”
“Aha… I think I have attended a playground marriage once.”
Amu smiled. “I’m sure you’ll get her some day.”
At that moment, Himari walked over to Amu. “Hey, guys! How about we play truth or dare in your room!”

So all the girls except Rui and Ami were in Amu’s room.
Lisa was the first one to speak up. “Amu, truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
Lisa dragged out a pink skateboard with a red cross on it. “I found this skateboard in here, so I dare you to do a kickflip”
“Right now? In this room?”
Lisa nodded.
Amu laughed. “How about we just head outside first.”
So Amu went to the back garden and did a kickflip.
“How about that?”
Tomoe gave her a thumbs up. “That was perfect!”
“Now, Tomoe. Truth or dare?”
“Hm… I’ll go with dare too.”
Amu thought about it. “Can you do a backflip for me?”
Without hesitation, Tomoe jumped up and did a backflip.
Tomoe had her eye on Rinko. “Rinko, truth or dare.”
“Uh… I’ll go with Truth.”
“What’s your exact relationship with Rui? Because Hippo was talking about them to me”
Rinko looked away. “She’s my childhood friend.”
“Tell us everything…”
Rinko sighed. “Rui looked up to me, and we were the best of friends. We participated in music competitions together. However, I had to stop participating, and I don’t think I’d ever seen her since. She was such a sweet girl back then. I wonder what happened to her?”
“Well there surely must be a reason why Rui invited you here,” Caren said, “If only she would tell her side of the story.”
“There must be.” Rinko said.
At that moment, Hippo walked in.
“So, that’s how it is?”
Rinko turned around. “Hippo. You’re friends with Rui, right? Surely you must know something.”
“I think it’s better if you hear from Rui-san herself.”
Rinko smiled. “Well… that’s okay. Wanna join in? Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Do you have a crush on Rui-san?”
Hippo shook his head. “However, there is a girl I like, but our families are mortal enemies. I invited her over, but I’m not sure if she’ll come. She hasn’t even answered my calls.”
“It’s okay! I’m sure she’ll come!” Yaya said. Mimi nodded.
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
“That could be her, you know.” Himari said, “Now answer it!”
Hippo opened the door and saw a green haired girl.
“Yuuri-san!”
“I’m sorry I took so long, Hippo-sama. I hope I haven’t missed anything. I was worried that… since Caren and Noel were gonna be there…”
“What happened between them?” Yaya asked.
Yuuri sighed. “I… I kidnapped one of them. But it really wasn’t me! It was just my job! I was forced to do it”
Amu looked at her. “I really don’t know what the rivalry between your families is about, but I forgive you, I suppose. Now come on in! There’s cake!”
Yuuri walked in and the birthday celebrations continued on.

Later, Amu and Tadase were talking while eating cake.
“You know, the more I learn about you guys,” Amu told Tadase, “The more I realize that you all are struggling with your own problems as well.”
Tadase sighed. “That’s how it works. If we didn’t have a deep desire in our hearts, we wouldn’t have our Guardian Characters.”
Amu nodded. “It’s a good thing that we’re all in this together. Me, you, Moca, even CHU² and Saburo all the way back in the Academy”
Amu and Tadase watched the rest of the house guests talk to each other.
“Oh, I almost forgot” Tadase got out a small box, and Amu opened it. It was a heart shaped hair clip, similar to that of Amulet Heart’s.
“Happy Birthday, Amu-chan.”
Amu smiled at him. “Thank you, Tadase-kun. I’ll always treasure this for the rest of my life.”
Tadase chuckled. “Well, put it on”
Amu proceeded to replace her own cross-shaped hair-clip with the birthday present. “How do I look?”
“You look just like her…”
Ran ran up to her. “Hey, I asked your mother the other day and she said she’s fine with what we’re about to do. So, how about one last birthday surprise”

Ran plugged her guitar in the amp. She and her childhood friends were all with their instruments, Moca on guitar, Himari on bass, Tomoe on drums and Tsugumi on keyboard.
“This performance is dedicated to Amu Hinamori, for even if only two of us are close with you, you will always be One of Us!” Ran said, “Hit it, girls!”
The girls started performing a song. Everyone was amazed by their performance, especially Amu.

3, 2, 1, Go!!!

Utaitsuzuketekita kako ga
Yasashisa tsurete kite kureta
Nani ga atte mo atashitachi wo
Shinjitsuzukete kureru hito ga iru

Itsudemo OK kiai wa juubun
(Kokoro kara tagitta kanjou)
Uwasa nante kechirashite Sing It!!
(Kokoro kara tagitta kanjou)
Tsuyoku (Face out!!) Atsuku (Face out!!)
Kimi e to uta wo okuru
Tsuyoku (Face Out!) Atsuku (Face Out!)
Honne dake de ikiyou
Ochikondecha sora wa mienai kara

Donna senjou datte nozomu tokoro sa
Pinchi koso chansu da kowakunai
Onaji yuuyake wo mitsumete kimi ga soba ni iru kara sa
Tomo ni tsunagou atashitachi to
"Meramera" tamashii kazashite
Tomo ni mezasou atashitachi to
"Meramera" tamashii kazashite
Tomo ni tsukurou atashitachi to
"Meramera" tamashii kazashite
Tomo ni waraou atashitachi to
"Meramera" tamashii kazashite

3, 2, 1, Go!!!

The entire living room clapped in applause.
The other Ran flew up to Amu. "I think I have a new favourite genre of music now!"
Ran took a bow. “Thanks from Afterglow!”
She looked at Amu. “So, how was it?”
Amu’s smile widened. “I love it! Thank you, Ran!”

With all her newfound friends celebrating with her, this might be the best birthday party Amu has ever had.

Chapter Text

Saburo looked at CHU² lying down on a bed in the nurse’s office, where all the other victims of this mysterious heart egg stealer. How could he have let this happen? One of his fellow guardians has fallen victim to the mysterious thief, and it was all his fault. He should’ve never left CHU² alone like that.
“Oh dear. What am I going to do? How am I going to explain this to the others!”
Saburo looked back at CHU². He needed to catch whoever was doing this fast.
“Don’t worry, CHU². I’ll save you.”
His mind drifted off to CHU²’s mother. Why didn’t she like talking about her? It’s probably best to leave that question until she wakes up.

As he walked out of the nurse’s office, he noticed a mirror lying on Lucia’s bedside table. He had a mission to do, but he couldn’t help but look at his reflection. Saburo liked mirrors. Why? It’s because he could confirm that he is still here today through them. He always had a faint presence, and every day, he worried about disappearing into nothingness, with not even his sister remembering that he existed.
Saburo never thought he could amount to anything in his life. His sister sparkled and was very popular with people her age, and the rest of the Guardians outshone him. But now, being the only Guardian in the Academy, this was his chance to finally prove himself. That Saburo Imai isn’t just a useless nobody. That even without a Heart’s Egg, he deserved his spot in the guardians.
With a newfound sense of determination, Saburo grabbed the mirror, whispering “Do you mind if I borrow this, Nanami-san?”, and ran out of the nurse’s office.

Saburo stared at both Yaya’s notebook, and of the transcript of Otto’s court trial that he wrote. Between the various doodles Yaya has drawn and information that Saburo already knew, tbere wasn’t much he could go off of.
“Oh dear. How am I supposed to figure this out?”
That was when he remembered that Tsukasa was the one who told Yaya the list of suspects. Since there had been two more cases since the court case, that means that he can narrow it down even more! Probably… Alright! It’s time to ask Tsukasa. Wherever he might be.

Saburo knocked onto the door to the Chairman’s room. Said Chairman opened it.
“Saburo. What brings you here?”
“I need you to look at the tracking data footage again.”
Tsukasa smiled, as he gave him a sticky note. “I’m one step ahead of you.”
Saburo looked at the sticky note. It looked like Tsukasa managed to narrow it down to two people.
“Though I think you might need to watch your back.”
That was when Saburo noticed one of the suspects, Sayaka Miki, standing right behind him.
“Uh, hey. Sayaka-chan.”
“Oh, hello. I was just looking for the nurses office.”
“Miki-san. You’ve been a student here for, how many years? Two?”
“Three, actually.” Sayaka made an innocent grin.
“That doesn’t matter. You should know your way by now”
Saburo offered to ask. “Why are you looking for the nurse’s office?”
“Mami’s a close friend of mine, you know.”
“Oh, I see.” Saburo looked at the sticky note in his hand. He can’t just straight up accuse her of being the culprit then and there. And besides, there was one other culprit that he needed to investigate.
“I need to go now. There’s something I really need to do.”
Tsukasa also spoke up. “I also need to get back to my duties. See you, Miki-san.”
Sayaka watched as Saburo and Tsukasa parted ways. Octavia flew up next to her.
“I think they’re onto us. Should we go follow that boy?”
Sayaka nodded. “Even if he doesn’t have a Heart Egg, we can’t let him get away with revealing us. And I think he could be really useful for us.”

Saburo spotted the last suspect, Misaki Watarai, listening to Kaoru Seta’s Shakespeare recital. He walked over to her.
“Misaki, may I talk with you for a second? In private, please.”
“Oh, of course!”
So the two of them went behind the school, around the place where Mami got her Heart Egg stolen.
“Do you recognise this place?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Are you friends with Kanon?”
“Yep! Of course!”
“And the robotics club?”
“Why are you asking me these questions.” The realization struck her. “Wait! You don’t think I’m the one stealing the Heart Eggs? I would never do such a thing to Kanon-chan! Or Kura-chan.”
“Are you sure? Because the only other suspect is Sayaka, and she’s friends with Mami, so turning on your own friend isn’t out of the question. I just need you to answer a few more questions.”
“Well make it quick. Kaoru’s Shakespeare recital is ending soon”
Saburo picked up Yaya’s notebook and started writing in it. “So, where were you yesterday at, I think… 4:28pm?”
“I was in the Home Ec room helping out with the cooking club.”
“Do you know who else was with you-”
“Of course!”
As Misaki told her who was with her in the clubroom, Saburo noticed Octavia in the reflection of the mirror.
“Uh… I have to go to the bathroom! Sorry!”

Okay, Sayaka is definitely the culprit. Why has she been following him the entire day?
Saburo was sitting in a stall. He knew that Sayaka had the ability to enter the boy’s bathroom anyways. He thought that she would need time to get her signal jammer. He needed to think of a plan quickly.
He heard a voice come from the neighbouring stall. “Saburo, you can’t hide from me.”
“Y… you can’t steal my Heart Egg! I don’t have one!”
“Oh, I know. But I can’t have you tell any of your Guardian Friends. So I’m gonna cut you a deal. You shall not tell anyone that I’m the culprit, and you need to alert me if I’m about to get caught.”
Saburo scoffed. “And what’s in it for me?”
Sayaka giggled. “If you tell anyone, then I’ll go down to Earth, and steal your sister’s heart egg!”
Saburo gasped. There’s no way she’d do that to Lisa!
“You can’t do that! You- you don’t even know where she lives!”
“Oh, do I? You could say that Octavia helped me do some not so legal snooping.”
Saburo whimpered. Now Sayaka knows where he lived.
“Have you been targeting me all this time?”
“I have. I was actually planning on going for you first, but when I noticed CHU² sulking in the girl’s bathroom, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity! It got your attention, right?”
Saburo looked away.
“You tried to play the hero, you tried to finish this mystery once and for all, and yet, you are bound into a deal with me.”
“I will not let you get away with this!”
“Oh, you will. Because even if you managed to get this far, in the end, you are too powerless to stop me. You are nobody.”
Saburo looked into the mirror. His reflection looked ever so slightly fainter.
Sayaka heard a knocking on the door of her stall. She spoke to Saburo. “You better let that person in. We’ll finish this conversation elsewhere.”

So the two of them were in Saburo’s room.
“So, first order of business. Give me your notebook.”
“It’s Yaya’s notebook, you know.”
“Whatever. Give me it!”
Saburo gave the notebook to her.
“Good boy.”
Octavia flew up and inspected him. “He looks so pathetic, Sayaka. Like a wet dog.”
Sayaka nodded.
“The Guardians will find out about it!”
“Will they? Because next up on my hitlist is the almighty Three’s Chair”
Saburo gasped.
“You know there’s nothing you can do about it, so be quiet. Anyways, second order of business. I want you to invite your sister up here.”
“You can’t make me!”
Sayaka grabbed Saburo’s phone from his pocket. “Oh wow, you have no phone password. How secure.” Then she looked through the contacts and dialed Lisa, then gave the phone to Saburo.
“Ah! Saburo! Nice to see you still keeping in contact. How’s space been?”
“I… uh… well…”
“Give me that!” Sayaka snatched the phone from Saburo and took it. “Hey, Lisa, was it?”
“Who’s this? Saburo, did you make a new friend?”
“Mhmm… Saburo was thinking that you should come to the Space Academy and meet me!”
“Ooh! Really?”
“Yeah. Tell the Guardians that you want to tag along!”
“I will~!”
“Wait! Onee-chan! Don’t-” But it was too late. Sayaka already hung up the phone.
“Like I said, what are you gonna do about it? Now, you are gonna keep quiet to your friends or else your sister is going to get it. Do you understand?”
Saburo could do nothing else but nod.
“Good boy. Here, have a treat for being so obedient”
Sayaka threw him a candy bar and walked away.

A few days later, the seven Guardians finally returned to the Academy.
“Welcome back, Academy,” Caren said.
“It’s nice seeing this place again,” Rui added.
“Eh, I don’t really care.” Ran said, “What I’m actually curious about is…” The eight of them all looked at their special guest.
“So this is Seiyo Space Academy. Looks stylish!”
“You’ll be accompanying us until Tuesday, right?”
Lisa nodded.
They all walked in and met up with Saburo.
“Saburo! It’s so good to see you!” Lisa ran over to Saburo and hugged him.
Tadase laughed. “Sounds like your sister is the affectionate type, Saburo,”
Hippo looked at him. “So… uh… ”
Saburo gasped. “I… she… well…”
Saburo looked at his sister. He couldn’t let her get into harm’s way.
“It’s best to see for yourself. Onee-chan, how about I take you to your room”
“I would love that! Oh, and you said someone wanted to meet me?”
“Uh… yeah. Right this way.”
Saburo couldn’t stop thinking about what Sayaka might do to his sister, to his friends.
As Saburo took Lisa to Sayaka, he looked at Tadase and whispered, “I’m sorry, Tadase”

Later at dinnertime, Rui and Hippo noticed that CHU² was missing.
“Looks like Tamade-san decided to eat in her room again.” Rui spoke.
“Wait, has anyone seen CHU²-san lately?”
The two of them stopped and looked at each other.
“Don’t tell me.”
That was when Otto walked up to them.
“Otto-san, where’s CHU²?”
Otto looked away. “Well… you see.”

Chapter Text

Amu walked into the royal Garden. She looked at the empty chair where CHU² was supposed to be.
Hippo slammed his hands down on the table. “Okay! This has gone too far. We need to find this mysterious thief stat.”
Moca went closer to Saburo. “You were supposed to keep watch on her. Has someone been slacking off?”
“I… I didn’t know… she just ran away, and when I found her, she was like… that”
“Well, whatever happened, we need all the help we can get.” Hippo said, “That includes you, Saburo-kun”
Saburo nodded, keeping quiet about what happened with Sayaka.
Just then, they heard a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it.” Caren said, as she walked over to the door, revealing Lisa.
“Pardon me for interrupting, but I wanted to see Saburo and this visitor’s pass doesn’t allow people to come here”
Caren muttered, “I didn’t even know we had a visitor’s pass until yesterday. But come on in.”
The two of them walked back to the table. Lisa went over and started pestering her little brother about eating his lunch. Rui simply rolled her eyes
“How are we supposed to conduct our meeting now? Imai-san doesn’t know the existence of hearts eggs”
Lisa perked up. “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Saburo looked at his sister and looked away. If he didn’t want his sister to have her heart egg taken away, he needed to find a way to lure Tadase to Sayaka.

At dinner time, Saburo was eating next to Lisa.
“The food here is so good! I just can’t get enough of it! Hey, aren’t you gonna have some more?”
“I’m… really not that hungry”
“Come on! You’re a growing boy, and you need to eat!” Lisa said, filling up his plate with mashed potatoes.
“Onee-chan, you’re embarrassing me”
That was when Sayaka walked over to them.
“Hey, may I sit next to you?”
Lisa looked up. “Of course!”
Sayaka sat down, and began eating her chicken curry, and that was when Lisa asked another embarrassing question.
“Say, why are you and my lil bro spending so much time together? Are you his girlfriend?”
Saburo’s face turned red. “It… It’s nothing like that!”
Sayaka giggled. “Actually, you could say that I kind of own him now. Fuhuhu”
Octavia flew over and gestured a dog collar around Saburo’s neck. Saburo puffed his cheeks at her, much to the confusion of Lisa.
Sayaka stood up. “Hey, Lisa! Why don’t we venture around the campus together tomorrow. I can show you all my favourite places”
“That sounds wonderful, Sayaka-chan!”
“Okay, see you guys tomorrow.”
As Sayaka left, Octavia stayed behind and said something to Saburo.
“You better give us Tadase by the end of the week.”

Meanwhile, in Ran and Amu’s room, the three of them were getting ready for bed.
“I have a bad feeling that something’s gonna happen to Tadase,” Dia said.
The three humans and four other Characters looked at her. “What makes you think that?” Amu asked.
“I dunno. I just have this strange… feeling that the Heart Egg thief is targeting another Guardian.”
Ran spoke up. “Well, whether Diamond is correct or not, we need to do something about it.”
The other Ran nodded in agreement, before looking over at Moca.
“Moca-chan, can you watch over Tadase”
“Eh? Why me? Why not Amu-chan?”
“Because, if Amu-chan were to face the Heart Egg thief, who knows what might happen to her”
Anu nodded. “If it was you instead, then we would still have an advantage.”
“So… I’m just dead weight to you guys?”
“No! No! You are a really valued member of the guardians.” Ran Mitake exclaimed, “It’s just that Amu is the only one who can purify X-Eggs!”
Amu nodded. “Ran’s right, you know. If I’m gone, then we’re completely defenceless”
“Come on, Moca-chan! I know you can do it!”
Moca sighed. “Alright, but you better pay me in bread.”
Su and Sachiko exclaimed. “Yes! Super Sleuth Moca-chan is watching the case!”
Moca laughed. “You’re making it sound like I’m taking Yaya’s job.”

So the next day, during breakfast, Moca walked up to Tadase.
“Tadase-kun. May I talk to you about something at the cafe this afternoon?”
“Oh, sure. I’m free. What do you want to talk about, Moca-chan?”
“It’s about the mysterious heart egg thief. There’s something I need to tell you about.”
This conversation didn’t go unnoticed by Saburo. He looked at the two, debating whether he really should tell Sayaka about this. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t really have a choice. Sayaka would steal Lisa’s Heart Egg if he failed.
That is why he walked over to them and suggested something to them. “Hey, if you want to go to a cafe to talk, why not head over to the Korean barbecue place instead. My sister’s going there, and I… I thought you guys would like to chat with her. She’s a pretty sweet girl, you know.” He deliberately left out the part where Sayaka was going with Lisa too.
“Well, we already met during Amu’s birthday”
“No, no. Saburo’s right,” Moca said, “You should get to know Lisa-chi more.”
Sure, that was part of the reason Moca agreed to the offer, but in Moca’s mind, with the helpful Lisa-chi also keeping watch on Tadase, there’s no way the mysterious thief could be alone with him.

The three of them arrived at the fully automated Korean Barbecue place, and on one of the tables were Lisa and Sayaka.
“Saburo! I didn’t know that you were coming too!” Lisa said, “You know, this place gets cooler every day! I mean, robot waiters? Come on now.”
Saburo laughed. “Yeah, the academy is pretty wonderful. Mind if we sit next to you?”
Sayaka nodded, her eyes discreetly fixated on Tadase. “Of course! Tadase, you can sit next to me.”
Moca, Saburo and Tadase sat down, and now was a good time, Moca thought, to mention the heart egg thief. Though, with Lisa there with them, she was somehow gonna have to do it without mentioning the heart eggs.
“You know, Lisa-chi, there is kind of a mystery going on in the academy right now.”
Saburo and Sayaka perked up in alert. Lisa was also interested in the news.
“Really? Spill the tea.”
Tadase looked at Lisa. “There has been someone going around and… hurting our student body. We’ve witnessed six or seven people fall victim to this mysterious person already, and we basically have no clues.”
“That’s terrible! I hope none of us.”
“Well, Amu-chan was worried that Tadase would be the next victim, so I was asked to watch him.”
Sayaka silently cursed to herself. How on earth did she know about that?
“Are you sure about that? What do you think about, Saburo?”
Saburo jumped in. “Uh… it might just be a hunch. I wasn’t even with them when they decided on that. Why would you ask me?”
Sayaka sighed. It was a good thing that it was Amu who told her and not Saburo. Luckily, she had a backup plan.
“Hey, Moca. I gotta go to the bathroom. Can you come with me?”
“Sure.” Moca and Sayaka got up. “Lisa-chi, look after Tadase-kun for me.”

A few minutes later, Sayaka went back to her seat, though Moca wasn’t with her.
“Is Moca still in there?” Tadase asked.
Sayaka nodded. “Must be a bad lunch.”
However, Saburo knew exactly what happened there. Unable to say anything, he just continued eating his food.
The four of them continued to eat and talk a bit more until Sayaka got up from the table.
“I’m gonna check up on Moca. She’s been in there for a while.” she said, “You guys have fun.”
After Sayaka left, Saburo looked at Tadase.
“Actually, there is something I need to tell you guys.”
Lisa and Tadase looked at him. “What is it, Saburo-kun?” Tadase asked.
Saburo breathed in. Should he really be saying this? He didn’t want to face the consequences. But he has too.
“Onee-chan. After I tell you this, you need to run away as soon as possible, and tell the Guardians.”
“Oh, does this concern me?”
Saburo nodded. He opened his mouth and spoke. “Sayaka Miki is-”
Suddenly, he got interrupted by Sayaka running to the table.
“There’s big trouble! Moca has been…”
Tadase got up. “I know exactly what you’re going to say! Take me to the scene of the crime.”
“Are you gonna go into the ladies’ room?! You’re such a pervert,” Lisa retorted, standing up, “Let me go inste-”
Suddenly, Saburo gripped his older sister’s arm.
“Onee-chan, don’t…”
Sayaka grabbed Tadase’s hand. “Come on! We have no time to waste! We have to tell someone!”
Sayaka dragged Tadase off to the girls toilets. Unfortunately for her, this left Saburo completely free to tell her what he needed to say.

Tadase looked over at Moca’s inert body.
“We need to report this to the others.”
“Actually, you’re not going anywhere.” Sayaka said. At that moment, Tadase was pushed into a stall. Sayaka locked the door behind her, and Character Changed.
“So it’s you…”
Sayaka giggled. “Too bad you aren’t gonna be able to tell anyone”
“But… Isn’t your Character Change ability to heal? How are you using it to drain life forces”
“I’m curing them from the illness known as free will,” Sayaka said, “And now I shall “cure” you.”
“But why? Why do you need people’s heart eggs?”
Sayaka thought about it, and said her response. “Have you ever heard of the Embryo?”
Tadase looked at her and gasped. “The Embryo!”
Sayaka nodded. “The magical wish granting egg. And your heart egg will be an important stepping stone towards it.”
“Well, you’re not gonna get it from me!” Tadase said, before character changing.
Sayaka smirked as she summoned a cutlass from nowhere, and the two had a swordfight in the small cubicle. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on Tadase’s side and he got scratched, knocking him onto the toilet.
“Well, I’m gonna enjoy this.” Sayaka said, as she grabbed Kiseki’s Guardian Egg and forced him back in. Still holding the egg, she began to drain the energy from Tadase’s soul. The blonde boy felt weaker and weaker, until he faded to black, meeting the same fate as Moca.

Meanwhile, Lisa quickly knocked on the door.
“Someone! Please let me in! It’s urgent!”
The person who answered the door was Rui.
“Imai-san? What is the matter?”
Lisa breathed in and said the words Saburo told her to repeat to the Guardians, though not fully understanding the words themselves. “Sayaka Miki is the Heart Egg thief.”

Chapter Text

The remaining six guardians were having a meeting, except for Saburo, who still had Sayaka on his tail. There was absolutely no way he was gonna lead her to Lisa’s hiding place.
“We need to tell the whole school about this, or at least Tsukasa.” Hippo said.
“But who knows what would happen if Sayaka finds out we’re onto her.” Caren said.
Lisa, who was sitting in Saburo’s chair, spoke up. “I have a feeling that I am her next target…”
“It seems to be implied as how your brother acted,” Rui said, “But the question is how he knows”
Dia went onto the table. “Saburo seems to be acting strange.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What do you mean?” Mimi asked.
“Huh? What’s wrong?” Lisa said, “Why are you guys looking at the center of the table like that?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Amu said.
“I think Sayaka has Saburo under her control”
“WHAT?!”
“That explains why Sabuchi didn’t give me back my notes,” Yaya said.
“Waiwaiwait! I’m confused. What is happening? Is everyone crazy? Or am I the one going crazy?” Lisa stammered in confusion.
The five of them looked at Lisa. “I guess you really don’t know the whole story.” Hippo said, “Like Amu-san said. Don’t worry about it. The point is that we need to keep you here until we figure out a solution. Whose duty is it to guard her right now?”
Caren raised her hand. “I’ll offer to keep guard!”
“Me too!” Yaya called out.

A few hours later, it was lunchtime. Rui offered to bring Lisa, Caren and Yaya lunch. Meanwhile, back in the grand hall, Amu noticed that Ran wasn’t eating.
“Still thinking about Moca, huh?”
Ran sighed. “We couldn’t stop her. She got Tadase… and Moca… I knew we shouldn’t have sent her to look after him. It wasn’t worth the risk”
Dia smiled at her. “It’s okay. We’ll get them back”
The other Ran flew out of Amu’s pocket. “Yeah! We’ll find Sayaka and kick her butt, and then we’ll give everyone their heart eggs back!”
“So we’re just gonna confront Sayaka?” Anu asked, “How are we even gonna do that when even Tadase and Moca couldn’t?”
“But Amu-chan has a character transformation.”
“That still doesn’t guarantee she won't fight back,” Mitake said. She took a bite out of her curry. “For all we know, she could also have a character transformation. Then we’d be pretty much doomed”
“Don’t say that, Ran-chan! With the power of love, anything is possible!”
Amu laughed. “That’s such a cheesy line, Ran.”
“But you admit that you would do anything for the one you love, right?” Dia said.
“Huh?” Amu blushed and looked away. “I… suppose”
Dia looked at Ran. “Same goes for you Ran.”
Ran looked at the diamond girl confused. “What are you talking about?”
Dia thought about it, and then shrugged. “That’s for Moca to tell you herself. Now let’s finish our lunch.”
Little did they know that Octavia was watching them.

Meanwhile, Saburo was trying to keep Sayaka from knowing that he told Lisa, which was pretty hard since they haven’t seen Lisa in a while.
“You know, I’d really like to meet with Lisa again. She only has two days left and we haven’t shown her all there is to do here.”
Saburo simply nodded. Inside, he was sweating a ton.
“Just two more days. Then I can finally be free.” he thought to himself.
“Hey, Saburo. Are you feeling alright?”
Saburo quickly turned around in a panic. He knew Sayaka meant well, probably, but if he were to slip up, it would all be over for him. Saburo put on his poker face and shakily spoke. “I’m fine… don’t worry about me.”
“Well, if you say so.”
That was when Octavia flew in front of them.
“Hey, you two I have news for you”
Saburo froze in place. If Octavia was about to say what he feared, then he, and more importantly Lisa, is in big trouble.
“They are onto us.”
Sayaka eyed Saburo. This could only mean one thing. Saburo gulped, frozen in fear.
“Where is Lisa?”
“I… I’m not telling you!”
Sayaka grabbed the boy’s collar and pulled him closer in anger.
“Tell me or else I would not quite steal your heart egg, but I can do other stuff to you.”
Sayaka sighed. “Well, I didn’t want to do this but…”
Sayaka reached into her bag and pulled out what was formerly a pink egg with jellyfish symbols, but has now blackened and had a black cross on it. Saburo gasped.
“Kura-chan’s heart egg.”
Sayaka chuckled. “Now, Medusé, go find Lisa for me!”
The X-Egg flew off and Sayaka and Octavia followed her. Saburo had no choice but to chase after her.
Dia felt the presence of an X-Egg and went over to Amu.
“Guys! There’s an X-Egg!”
“What?!”
Ran picked up her belongings and got up. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

Yaya, Caren and Lisa were playing cards, when Mimi and Murasaki appeared.
“There’s an X-Egg nearby.” Mimi said.
“Wait, what?”
Caren looked at Lisa and told her to stay back. Yaya and Caren were about to open the door when suddenly, the door slammed into her face, revealing Sayaka holding the signal jammer.
“That little door can’t stop me.”
That was when she heard a voice behind her.
“You aren’t getting anywhere near her!”
Sayaka turned around to see Amu and Ran behind her.
Lisa noticed her. “Amu-chan!”
“So the Eight has come to protect the damsel in distress.” Sayaka said, “Tadase and Moca couldn’t stop me. What makes you think you will?”
“Oh, I dunno,” Amu said smugly, “Maybe it’s the fact that I have this!”
Amu held up the Humpty Lock, showing it to Sayaka in all its glory.
“A lock?” Lisa was confused.
“You’ll see,” Caren said.
Amu put on the lock, and said the words.
“Atashi no Kokoro: UNLOCK!”
A bright light filled the area as everyone watched in awe. When the light died down, Amu wasn’t there, only her Character Transformation: Amulet Heart.
The one who was most impressed was Lisa. “Amu-chan! That was so cool! It’s like you’re a real life magical girl!”
Amu laughed it off, slightly blushing. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Lisa gave her a thumbs up. “That cheerleader outfit is a thumbs up from me!”
Sayaka simply smirked. “If you want to get to me, you’re gonna have to get past this!”
Octavia got out a whistle and blew into it. Suddenly, a bunch of X-Eggs flooded the halls and appeared in between the two of them. Amu recognised one of them. Kiseki’s Egg.
“Tadase-kun… I will save you. You and everyone else”
Ran looked at Lisa. “Caren, Yaya! Help me protect Lisa!”
Caren and Yaya nodded as the three of them Character Changed.
“X-Eggs, attack!”
Amu summoned her Heart Rod and started deflecting the attacks from the X-Eggs. One of them set out a beam of dark energy, but Amu deflected it.
“There we go”
Amu turned around to see some more X-Eggs. Her shoes sprouted wings and she flew away through the hallways, with the X-Eggs trailing behind her.

Meanwhile, Sayaka and Octavia were trying to get Lisa. However, just in time, Yaya pulled her out of the way.
“Pfft. You’re not getting away that easily”
Sayaka called in one of the X-Eggs, from the looks of it, Mami’s, and sent it after the two. However, Yaya and Lisa gracefully dodged its attacks in a dance.
“Wow, Yaya-chan. You’re such a good dancer.”
Yaya laughed. “Well, I’m not that good.”
“Well at my school, I’m the captain of the dance club. When you guys head to Earth next time, I should teach you.”
“Okay!”
Suddenly, they heard Caren’s voice. “Look out!”
They turned around to see Sayaka with a cutlass, but luckily Caren swept in and screamed into a microphone, knocking Sayaka back.

Meanwhile, Amu was still being chased with the other X-Eggs.
She noticed that Tadase’s egg kept missing. It was almost as if Kiseki was trying not to hurt her.
“Tadase-kun… even like this, you still care about me.”
She turned around to see two more X-Eggs coming for her. She swung her Heart Rod at them.
“I just need to weaken you, and then I can purify you.”

Meanwhile, Caren and Yaya were defending Lisa from Sayaka.
“Come on! Get back here!”
Caren tried blocking the cutlass with her microphone, but Sayaka had another trick up her sleeve. She nudged Caren’s leg, tripping her up.
Yaya ran over and tried to fight back, but Sayaka simply pushed her aside.
Sayaka scoffed at them. “How weak.” She looked at Lisa, and grinned at her. “See, Saburo. This is what you get for snitching on me.”
As Sayaka stepped closer to Lisa, she shut her eyes, waiting. That was when Ran spoke up.
“No! You can’t do this!”
Sayaka turned around. “You still oppose me?”
“I am not letting you any closer to Lisa! I already lost Moca, so I’m not gonna let you make Saburo lose someone too!”
At that moment, Ran felt a light within her. Anu also started emanating with the light. She closed her eyes. She knew what this meant.
“This is for everyone whose lives you have stolen! Atashi no Kokoro: UNLOCK!”
Ran started transforming. Her outfit was now a black leather jacket and a black tank top, which also had a red lightning symbol on it, similar to Anu’s outfit. In addition, she was also wearing denim shorts and fishnet stockings, with black knee-high boots, and her hair was topped with a red lightning bolt hair clip. In addition, she gained a red guitar.
“Character Transformation: Sunset Red!”
Ran smirked at Sayaka, and then stummed a chord on the guitar, sending out a powerful soundwave towards the blue haired girl. Ran started playing a riff which cut through Sayaka like daggers. Lisa, Caren and Yaya cheered for Ran as she hurt Sayaka with her music.
“How do you like that, huh?” the black haired girl said, twirling the pick around.
Octavia flew over to Sayaka, and healed her.
“Sayaka, are you okay?”
“I’m fine…” the girl said, “But if that’s how you want to play… Octavia, bring the X-Eggs to me.”
Octavia blew the whistle and the X-Eggs flew away from Amu.
“Where are you going? Come back here! I’m not done with you yet!”
Amu chased the X-Eggs back to the Royal Garden, and that’s when she noticed Ran’s Character Transformation.
“Wow, Ran! You look so cool!” Amu exclaimed.
Ran laughed. “Thanks for the compliment. It’s kind of my first time doing a character transformation.”
“Well, do you want to see mine? Atashi no Kokoro: Unlock!”
At that moment, Sayaka began to transform. Her transformation outfit looked just like Octavia’s outfit.
“Character Transform: Healing Justice!”
Amu and Ran were locked face to face with Sayaka, hazel and pink eyes meeting blue. The real battle has just begun.

Chapter Text

Where we last left off, Amu, Ran and Sayaka were face to face with each other. Caren, Yaya and Lisa were hiding behind a chair.
After a prolonged silence, it was Sayaka who made the first move. She covered herself with her cape and summoned a bunch of cutlasses heading straight for the two, but they quickly dodged.
Amu dodged and proceeded to strike with her Heart Rod, knocking her through the glass wall.
“Well Tsukasa’s not gonna be happy about that.” Ran joked to herself.
However, almost instantly, Sayaka recovered, healing her wounds, and got back up.
“What the? How is she…”
Ran looked at Amu. “This girl’s power is to heal herself.”
Amu sighed. There really was no way to stop her. That was when she saw a few X-Eggs flying towards Ran.
“Ran! Behind you!”
Ran quickly turned around and announced her attack. “Sunset Chord!” The girl strummed her guitar and sent the group of X-Eggs flying.
“Man, who knew fighting X-Eggs could be this exhausting.” Ran said.
Ran turned her attention back to Sayaka, who was summoning more cutlasses. The blue haired girl turned around to see the three hiding girls.
“Amu! Block the cutlasses! I’m gonna go get closer to Sayaka!”
Amu nodded and looked at the cutlasses heading towards her. She started spinning her Heart Rod and threw it.
“Spiral Heart!”
The spinning Heart Rod flew across the room, knocking away all the cutlasses. Amu caught the rod back in her hand. “I just thought of that move right now. I didn’t expect that to work.”

Meanwhile, Sayaka was getting closer to the two other guardians and Lisa. Ran creeped up behind her in order to pull her away. Unfortunately for her, Sayaka turned around.
“You really thought you could land a sneak attack on me, huh?”
Sayaka summoned another cutlass and started attacking Ran with it. Ran tried to block the attack with her guitar, but all it did was cut its strings.
“No!”
“Ran!”
Sayaka walked closer to her. “Hehe. Now you can’t play anymore! But don’t you worry. I can fix that up for you.”
Sayaka grabbed the broken guitar and healed the strings, and then she strummed a chord, sending Ran flying.
“How do you like the taste of your own medicine?”
Sayaka turned around to see the Heart Rod fly towards her, but she dodged. But then the Heart Rod turned around and went back towards her.
“Wasn’t expecting that, huh?” Amu taunted.
But alas, it wasn’t that easy. Sayaka sent a few more cutlasses, and focusing her healing energy on them, they somehow managed to stop the flying heart rod.
“Now I have your precious weapon.”
Sayaka sent out a few more cutlasses, destroying Amu’s winged shoes and causing her to fall down.
“Here, Amu. I want you to have it back. Justice Spiral Heart!”
Sayaka threw the heart rod and it started spinning towards its owner. Amu braced for the impact, about to be defeated by her own weapon.
But just then, a heart shaped arrow came out of nowhere and stopped the flying Heart Rod.
Amu turned around to see a mysterious brown haired boy. His outfit was a white toga, with red ribbons wrapped around it.
Ran also noticed that. “Who is he?”
The boy helped Amu up. “Are you okay?”
Amu nodded.
Sayaka sent some cutlasses to the two, but the strange boy pulled her away.
“Amu Hinamori, don’t give up. There is a way to get to her.”
Amu sighed. “But Amulet Heart is not strong enough!”
The boy laughed. “Who said anything about Amulet Heart?” he said, eyeing Dia.
Dia flew closer towards Amu. “Feeling glad that you have two Guardian Characters now.”
Amu smiled at her. A bright light shone as Amu transformed once more. Her hair was changed into ponytails, and she was wearing some sort of yellow futuristic idol outfit with a white ribbon on the back, also gaining a headphone as an accessory.
“Character Transformation: Amulet Diamond!”
Sayaka was aghast. “You’re still able to fight?!”
Amu nodded. “And I think it’s time for you to calm down”
She summoned a microphone in her hands and yelled out, “Starlight Navigation!”
A beam of yellow stars shot out of the microphone, aiming towards Sayaka.
“What? What is this?”
The X-Eggs flew out of the way, but some got trapped in the light. However, that was just a side effect as the real result is that Sayaka was sent back and fell onto the floor, almost unable to move.
Amu smiled, “You know I believe that everyone here is good at heart. If you are doing something like this, you must have a reason.”
Sayaka looked up. “Do you really want to know?”
Amu stopped the beam and walked over to her. “I don’t really know you that well, so consider this as making a new friend.”
Ran got up and walked over to her as well. “Two new friends actually.”
Sayaka sighed. “There’s this boy I like. His name is Kyousuke. He plays the violin.”
Ran nodded. “I see.”
“A few years ago, he broke his arm, and all I really wanted was to help him get better, but alas, the doctor said that it would take a miracle to give him his hand back. But that was when Octavia was born.”
“And what happened after that? Did you find out that even she was not enough to heal his arm?”
Sayaka shook her head. “No. I managed to heal him the day before I had to leave to go to the academy. It was the happiest day of my life!”
“So what happened? Why did you start taking people’s X-Eggs?”
“It was summer vacation, and I could finally see Kyousuke again! But I found out he was dating someone else. That’s when I learnt about the Embryo.”
“The Embryo?”
“A magical egg that could grant any wish to whoever finds it. If only I had it, then maybe Kyousuke would love me!”
“So you tried stealing people’s heart eggs to lure it out,” said Amu, “I know you really want him to love you, but that’s no excuse to hurt other people, to take away the embodiment of one’s dreams just for the sake of your own.”
Sayaka sat down onto the floor. “I guess you’re right.”
Amu looked up at the X-Eggs.
“Well, this is it. After this, everything will be back to normal.” she said.
“Yeah, our friends will finally wake up.” Ran said, “Will you do the honors?”
Amu pointed her finger at the group of X-Eggs. “Negative Heart: Unlock!” Then, forming a heart shape with her hands, she announced “Open Heart!”
A powerful wave of energy was headed straight towards the X-Eggs, purifying them. Amu could now clearly see the markings of Kiseki’s blue egg with a crown symbol.
“Tadase-kun… you’re all better now.”
Ran couldn’t stop staring at a light blue egg with a bread symbol on it, and a green egg with a clover symbol.
“Sachiko, Su… tell Moca I’ll be coming.”
The two eggs nodded and flew off to reunite with their owner.
That was when Ran noticed an egg she didn’t recognise. A pure white egg shining with light.
“Is that…”
Sayaka got up. “The embryo! All this time, I’ve been looking for it.”
As Sayaka got closer, the Embryo flew away, leaving her distraught.
Amu walked up to her. “Don’t worry. You’ll have your wish come true some day. I’m sure of it.”
The three of them broke out of their transformations, as Caren, Yaya and Lisa walked up to them.
“That was amazing!” Caren told her, “It was like seeing a fireworks display up close” Yaya nodded.
“Am I the only one who missed out on the show?” Lisa said, “I couldn’t see anything.”
Dia giggled. “I forgot you couldn’t see us”
Lisa turned around confused. “Wait?! Who said that?”
Dia looked at Lisa. “But you can hear us now, I suppose”
Amu looked at her. “I’ll explain later.”
“Hey, where did that cupid boy go?” Yaya said.
That was when the three of them realized that the boy that saved Amu was nowhere to be found.
“Whatever. Let’s go meet up with Tadase-kun now!”

The two rushed up to the student infirmary, where Tadase was waiting for them.
“Tadase-kun!”
Amu rushed over to Tadase and hugged him. “You’re okay…”
“You really did it…”
Amu and Tadase weren’t the only ones in an intimate moment. Ran was also hugging her childhood friend.
“Oh, you missed me already?” Moca said.
Ran blushed. “Well… you see.”
“Just get in there!” Moca pulled Ran back in and they held in an embrace.
Lisa smiled at them, when she heard a voice.
“Onee-chan?”
Lisa turned around to see Saburo.
“Saburo!”
“I’m really sorry for what I’ve done. And for dragging you into this.”
“It’s no biggie,” Lisa said, “I forgive you. And now we can spend the rest of my stay without worrying about anything! And Sayaka can join us too!”
Sayaka waved her hand at the small boy, who hid behind his sister.
“Don’t worry, Saburo. It’s over now. I promise I’ll never steal another Heart Egg again.” Sayaka said, “Now, how about we show your sister what else there is at the academy.”
Saburo inched closer to her, and shook her hand. “There we go! Now lead the way, Sayaka-chan!”
Amu and Tadase were still hugging and saying how much they’ve missed each other when they heard a voice from behind.
“Uh… Hinamori-san?”
Amu turned around to see Misaki O. and Kanon.
“Misaki! Kanon!”
Kanon quietly spoke. “I… just wanted to say thank you. For saving me and all…”
“It’s no problem. It was just purifying X-Eggs.”
Moe flew out of her. She was wearing a light blue ocean themed dress. “Well if you didn’t find me and purify me, Kanon would’ve never woken up!”
“Oh, and I wanted to give you these.”
Misaki walked over to her and gave Amu two felt plushies. They looked just like the cookies Amu baked.
“I made these a while ago just for this moment. Give one to Mitake as well.”
Amu nodded. “Thank you. I’ll give her this later.”

That night, Amu and Tadase were at the edge of the dome that surrounded the Space Academy, having a view of the vast universe.
“Hey, Tadase. Sayaka said something about the Embryo, you know, the wish granting egg?”
Tadase nodded. “Sayaka told me that too.”
“We actually saw it, you know. But it flew away.”
“Oh that’s a shame,” Tadase said, “You know, I’m looking for it too.”
“Really? What are you wishing for?”
Kiseki laughed. “Isn’t it obvious? World domination!”
Tadase shushed Kiseki and pushed him aside.
“World domination?”
“It’s a huge dream, I know.” Tadase said, “Say, if you had the Embryo, what would you wish for?”
Amu was taken back by the question. “Me?” She looked away, “I don’t actually know.”
“Come on!” Tadase said, “Anything in the world? What do you want?”
Amu laughed. “I guess I’ll be leaving that question for the me who finds the Embryo.”
“Well, if you can’t think of anything right now, maybe you could assist in our search?” Kiseki asked.
“Still,” Amu said, “It sounds like a lot of work to even get close to that egg.”
“I suppose you’re right…” Tadase said, “It’s gonna be a while until I can grant my wish. But you know what? That's okay with me.”
Tadase moved closer to Amu. “I may not be able to have the world, but for now, just having you is fine enough. For you are my world.”
Amu blushed. “T… Tadase-kun.”
“I love you, Amu-chan. And I’ll tell you that every day.”
Amu smiled, and the two of them hugged each other. Ran, Dia and Kiseki watched, with Ran in tears.
“It’s so beautiful!”
“Let’s leave them alone for now.”
Kiseki nodded as the three of them flew away.

A few days have passed, and it was finally the day that Lisa had to leave.
“I’m gonna miss this place, you know” Lisa said, “Just remember to visit me the next time you get the chance, Saburo. No more skipping out.”
Saburo nodded. “I promise. There’s no need for me to do so anymore, now that the Thief has been caught.”
Lisa nodded. “You know, I wish I had a Guardian Egg, then I can stay in this place with you.”
Tadase walked up to her. “If you do get a Guardian egg, we’ll make sure you receive a scholarship here. You only have a few years remaining, give or take.”
Lisa wasn’t the only one who was leaving. As Sayaka was the Heart Egg Thief, Tsukasa had no choice but to expel her.
Ran and Amu walked up to her.
“Well, this is our goodbye.” Ran said.
“I’m sure gonna miss you guys…” Sayaka whispered.
Amu smiled. “You know, I’m sure that you and Kyousuke will end up back together. You don’t need the Embryo. You just need to work hard to win him back.”
Amu’s Heart Character nodded. “Yeah! I believe in you! Go Sayaka”
Sayaka smiled. “Thank you, guys.”
And so the Guardians watched Lisa and Sayaka board the ship and the ship flew off headed towards Earth. CHU² looked at everyone. “Well now that all of this is over, how about we celebrate with a party?”
“Perhaps after our classes,” Rui said.
“But that sounds like a great idea.” Hippo said.
As the ten of them left, Amu and Ran noticed a brown haired boy. He looked sort of familiar, so the two .
The boy noticed them. “Hey, what’s up. My name’s Fuyuki Kirishima. You must be Amu and Ran. Congrats on defeating the heart egg thief.”
Ran laughed. “Well, it was nothing.”
Fuyuki looked at the docking port. “I feel like something interesting is going to happen here, you know?”
Ran blinked. “But we already had something interesting.”
Fuyuki looked at Amu. “Amu, you’ve only been here for about a month, and you’ve already gone through something like that. I’m sure that this Academy has yet to reveal all its surprises to you.”
Amu stared at him. Maybe the future did have a lot in store for her.
“Well, we better get going to class. See you.”
Fuyuki walked off as Amu and Ran watched him. Ran looked at Amu, “Well, shall we get going?”
Amu looked at her and nodded. The Heart Egg Thief may have been found, but Amu’s adventures at Seiyo Space Academy have only just begun. And now she has someone to go through them with.

Chapter Text

It has been a few months since the Sayaka incident, and a lot of things have happened. For one, Tadase had announced that he and Amu were dating, much to Misaki’s disappointment. She and Amu were still friends and now their mission is to not let Kaoru (or Yaya) take him away.
Another thing that happened was that the Light Music Club was getting more popular, owed to their involvement in the Heart Egg thief shenanigans. Tadase would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of Utau, and he imagined that once they graduated, they would hit the mainstream some day.
In addition, Ran decided to take part in the X-Egg cleansing sessions. She, Amu and Tadase would keep an eye out for the Embryo.

So now the school was on winter break for two weeks, and Amu was sitting in her room reading manga when she got a call from Tadase.
“Ah, Tadase-kun!”
“Hey, Amu-chan. Utau-onee-chan is having a Christmas Party with the Dopey Moons, and she wanted to invite us.”
“Is that so? Of course I’ll come.”
“That’s great! I’ll see you at 3:00, okay?”
Amu hung up and looked at Ran and Dia.
“Well, we better get prepared”
Amu looked into her closet and picked out something to wear. A black shirt with red text, and a white long sleeved under it, along with a white skirt and long boots.
“Looking stylish, Amu-chan!” Dia complimented her.
“Thank you, Dia. Now shall we go?”

So the Guardians (plus Ran, whom they considered an honorary Guardian) were all met up outside of Utau’s house. They even managed to convince CHU2 to go. Tadase looked over and noticed Yaya had also brought along Jun.
“Suzaki-kun, did Utau-onee-chan invite you here too?”
“Uh… actually Yaya wanted me to go.”
In addition to Jun, Tadaomi were also here.
Amu walked up to them. “And I’m assuming Misaki invited you?”
“That’s right,” Tadaomi answered.
“Well, let’s just go in,” Tadase said, knocking on the door. A blue haired boy a year older than them answered. “What do you… oh, it’s you, kiddy king.”
“It’s been a while, Ikuto-nii-san.”
“You guys must be here for Utau’s Christmas party. Come on in. We have drinks”
The thirteen of them entered the house and they were met with Utau and Lucia.
Utau simply smiled. “Welcome, everyone. You came just in time”
Il flew out of Utau’s pocket. “I hope you have a devilish Christmas, or something. Blame Pink for making me say that.”
The Guardian Character in question smiled, “Well, make yourselves at home. The rest of the Moons are playing Scrabble in Utau’s room. You can come watch.”
“I think we’ll pass.” Caren declined.
“Well then, suit yourself!” Il laughed.

There were a lot of other things to do at Utau’s house. For one, Ikuto wanted to show them their family video album. It included stuff like Ikuto, Tadase and Utau at Disneyland, as well as Utau’s audition tapes to become an idol.
“Ahaha!” Amu laughed, “You were so cute!”
“Shut up,” Utau said, blushing.
“Oh look, kiddy king,” Ikuto said, “The next one has you in it.”
The next video Ikuto showed featured Ikuto sneaking up to Tadase at the nearby river bank and scaring him, making him, as Ikuto put it, “scream like a girl” and fall into the river.
“Hey, we need to get Misaki to see this. I’m sure she’ll record it and then we can watch it whenever we want” Yaya exclaimed.
Amu got out her phone camera and replied, “Why can’t we be the ones to record it?”
Tadase had his hands covering his red face. “Please don’t.”
That was when they heard the doorbell, which Utau answered. Amu peeked from behind to see that the other Misaki and Kanon were there.
“Did you invite them?”
Utau shrugged. “Lucia told me to invite everyone who got their heart egg stolen. Mami is in my room playing board games. What took you guys so long?”
“Kanon got lost.” Misaki explained.
That was when Misaki W came down to get some more snacks, and saw the two. “Oh, hey other me!”
Misaki let out a quiet chuckle. “Hey, Watarai-san.”
“Do you want to join us in Utau’s room? We were just looking through Utau’s photo album.”
Utau got mad at her and chased her away. “Don’t you dare!”

As everyone was getting something to eat, Saburo walked up to Otto.
“So, uh… Otto. May I talk to you about CHU² again?”
Otto looked up at him. “Of course”
Saburo sat down next to him and started having a conversation with him. “I think I know why she never likes going down to Earth.”
Otto nodded. “I think I know what you’re getting at. I find it kind of strange. If my mother was a famous violinist, I would be proud in myself”
Saburo looked away. “Maybe it’s because she is left in the dark by her.”
Otto looked at him.
“Onee-chan is the breadwinner in our family. She’s popular, pretty, and can play the bass. I can’t… really do any of that. I don’t get noticed at all. Maybe it’s the same for CHU²”
“Maybe it is. Or perhaps it’s something else. Maybe she wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but is simply unable to. Maybe she thinks her own music could never be as good as her mothers.”
“Of course my music will become as good as mama’s!”
Otto and Saburo turned around to see CHU².
“I heard you were talking about my mother.” CHU² said, “You know how hard it is to be forced every day on the violin only for your mother to just say “keep doing better” or “don’t stop practicing”? Every wrong note, every little shriek. Ugh! It’s like she is mocking me!”
CHU² took a breath and continued talking. “I could never become my mother, you got that part right, but I will become better! I’ll become the greatest producer in the world, then people will recognize me for my talents, instead of just some nepo baby who can’t even play the violin well.”
Tsumi flew out to them. “That’s right! We will change the world!”
Saburo just stared at her, but it was Otto who said something.
“I listened to one of your tracks the other day, in commemoration of you getting your heart egg stolen. EXPOSE BURN OUT, was it? It was really good and… I really wanted to hear more of it. You’re really talented, you know? Even if you’re the daughter of Miu, you have your own skills.”
CHU² sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

Amu, Misaki and Yaya, were talking about Tadase and Kaoru.
“How sure are you that Kao-chi is trying to take Amu away from Tadase?”
“Just look at that smile of hers! I know she’s hiding something!”
“Have I told you yet that Tadase isn’t interested in Seta-san?”
“Don’t ever say that.” Misaki said, “After all, weren’t you the one who got rejected by him in front of the entire school?”
Amu was speechless.
“Exactly, and you still managed to win him anyway. That’s why you can trust nobody!”
Yaya rolled her eyes. “There’s no convincing her.”
“Yeah”
At that point, Mami came down and went up to them. “Oh, hey guys! What are you talking about?”
“We were just talking about Tadase and Kaoru,” Yaya said, “About how Kaoru-”
“Is much cooler and could probably beat Tadase in a fight.” Misaki interrupted, before glaring at Yaya. Yaya quickly quited down.
Mami laughed, “Yeah, Seta-san is pretty cool.”
Amu decided to change the topic. “Say, what’s your Guardian Character supposed to be?”
“Funny story, actually. I always love telling it. When I was young, my parents died in a car crash, and I was about to do so too. All I was thinking at that moment was “Save me. I don’t want to die”, and I guess the Guardian Character gods answered my prayers. So now, whenever I’m Character Changed with Candeloro,” Mami pointed to the Xeranthemum on her head, “I cannot die.”
Candeloro was wearing a white blouse with a yellow skirt with a corset, as well as a beret and ribbons.
“When I got captured by Sayaka, I was so scared. I couldn’t be there to protect Mami.”
Misaki clapped. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re back, right?”
Mami nodded.
“Do you miss your parents?” Amu asked.
Mami looked away, “Yeah.. I miss them a lot.”
Misaki smiled. “Well now you have us! Come here!” She ran over and hugged her tight. “You’re welcome in our friend group.”
“Hehe, thanks. Now want to play some Dungeons and Dragons in Utau’s room with Homura? I can teach you guys how to play.”

Hippo and Rui were playing chess when Lucia walked up to them.
“Hey, Yashio-san, was it? Thanks for looking after Hippo for me.”
“It’s nothing, really. He has been very cooperative in Guardian matters.”
Lucia nodded, but then noticed Caren and Izuru staring at each other.
She looked back at Hippo, “Has Hippo ever told you about Yuuri?”
Rui shook her head, and Lucia explained the whole thing about their families being mortal enemies.
“I see. So Caren disapproves of Hippo’s love because she was forced to take her sister away from her.”
“That’s right. I mean, I’m supposed to hate them for that, but… I… really hope Yuuri will be able to patch things up between them.”
Hippo sighed. He looked at Rui, “Oh, that reminds me, Rui-san. What’s up with you and Rinko-san?”
Rui gasped. “Did Shirokane tell you about that??”
“I just want to hear about your side of the story. Like, why did you stop competing in competitions with Rinko?”
Rui closed her eyes and spoke. “Actually, it was Shirokane who stopped first. I wanted to continue playing for her. But then came that fateful day when I lost a competition. It was so bad that I wanted to stop playing the violin. It felt like even after all that hard work, I just didn’t have any talent…”
“Looks like you and I are in the same boat.”
Rui and Hippo looked up to see CHU².

Ran opened the door to find Himari, Tomoe and Tsugumi.
“What the? How did you find us?”
“Moca told us.” Tomoe said, “I was thinking that since you usually spend Christmas with us, maybe instead we could crash your party.”
Utau walked in. “Who are you guys? Who invited you”
Moca raised her hand up.
“Whatever. I’ll introduce you guys to everyone. My brother’s playing video games with the others if you’re interested.”
“We’ll pass.” Himari said.
“Actually, I think I want to try.” Tomoe said.
“Yeah, me too.” Ran said.
“As for the rest of us, wanna watch Amu and her friends play DnD?”

Tadaomi, Jun, Trent and Ikuto were playing said video game while Tadase watched.
“Damn it, you beat me again, Jun. How are you so good at this?”
Jun shrugged. “What can I say? I’m just built different” Juno winked at Ikuto, for while Jun was naturally good at video games, Juno augmented his skill.
That was when Ran and Tomoe walked up to them. “Hey, can we join you guys?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Tadase said, “You can go after Ikuto-nii-san and Trent.”
“Hey!” Kura-chan retorted, “You said one more game before we put on the movie.”
Tadase sighed. “I’m so sorry. Mitake. Maybe next time.”
“Nuh uh!” Trent argued, “You said that Ran and the red haired gal could have a turn, didn’t you, Prince?”
Tadase suddenly Character Changed and laughed. “Ahahaha! As your king, I decree that we shall postpone our film viewing until our fair maidens have a turn on our game!”
Ran shrugged, “I don’t really care”
“You’re funny.” Tomoe said.
Ikuto too found the whole thing hilarious. “I still don’t know how that works, I always love it!”
Tadase reverted his transformation and scoffed. “Shut up.”
Ikuto gave Ran the controller and left. “I’m heading upstairs to Amu.”

“Roll for stealth.”
Homura rolled the D20 and ended up rolling a 3.
“You trip on a rock, alerting the guards to your presence. Roll for initiative.”
Homura grunted. “Oh, come on! You always do this to me!”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you suck at dice rolls.”
Tsugumi placed her hand on her. “It’s okay. You’ll get a good roll next time.”
The black haired girl got up and left. “Whatever. I’ll go see if the movie’s on.”
As Homura passed Ikuto, she told him, “You can take over my character.”
“I’ve never even played before.”
“It’s okay. I can teach you.” Amu said, “And maybe you can try playing this with Utau and Tadase sometime.”
“Well, I got my ass beat by Jun already. Maybe I will have an easier time here?”
“It’s mostly luck to be honest.” Mami said, “Anyways, you’re playing as the artificer named Homulily. And you’re currently being attacked by guards.”
“What weapons do I have?”
“Your inventory contains three smoke bombs and a healing potion”
Ikuto smirked. “I steal, err, borrow weapons from Amu”
“Hey!”
“Ran, that’s Amu’s character by the way, reluctantly passes over her sword to Homulily.”
“Don’t encourage him!”

Cut to later, when everyone was watching the movie. Well, mostly everyone. Rui and Ikuto were talking about violin and Moca was sleeping.
“Wow, I hope they can find each other before the clock strikes midnight,” Kanon spoke.
“This is boring,” Ran said, “Why are all these movies the same? Woman goes back to small hometown at Christmas and just falls in love with some guy? And then there’s something about “the true meaning of Christmas”?”
“You’re such a bummer, Ran-chan!” Himari said, “What’s not to like about Snow White of Christmas Eve?”
“I agree” Ran turned around to find whoever said that, and it was Izul? “This movie is a beautiful love story that shows that love can defy all odds”
Ran glared at her.
“What? A lady like me can’t enjoy a good Hallmark movie?”
“I don’t get it either, but I’m interested,” Tadaomi said.
Amu leaned closer to Tadase, and Tadase put his arm around her.
“It’s always nice hanging around with you,” Amu said.
“I agree.”
They noticed Misaki getting closer to him.
“Just let her on” Amu told him, “She needs it.”
As the movie ended, everyone clapped.
Moca woke up, “What did I miss?”
“You slept through the whole movie, Aoba-san.”
“Eh, so not much.”
Misaki O. spoke up, “Do we have time for one more movie?”
“Well, I told my parents I’d be home late.” Amu said.
“Mine too.” Ran said.
“Good, then how about Bio Panic 3? My friend recommended it to me the other day.”
“Isn’t that the one with the zombies?” Ikuto said.
“Eep! A horror movie?!” Amu whimpered, before switching back her persona, “I mean uh… I’m not really interested in horror movies.”
Dia shrugged. “There she goes again.”
“Well, how about Our Drawings?”
Amu smiled. “Now that’s a movie I can get behind”
“And Moca-chan will make more popcorn!” Su said, character changing Moca and making her reluctantly go to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

It was after the winter break and everyone was back at Seiyo. The guardians were backstage in the assembly area.
“Hey, have any of you seen the chairman anywhere?” Caren asked.
“Well, I’m sure he must be busy.” Tadase said.
“Do we have to do this entire assembly ourselves? This is baka-na.” CHU² complained.
“Be quiet, CHU².”
The assembly went off easily. There were new students coming in, so Tadase introduced them one by one. However, there was one name that didn’t go as smoothly.
“... Tsukasa Tenma?”
At that moment, a blonde haired boy slid in and made a dramatic pose.
“Ahaha! Good morning, Seiyo Academy! It is I, the Future World Star Tsukasa Tenma!”
Moca smirked. “He looks like an interesting person.”
“His name is Tsukasa.” Amu noted.
“Probably a coincidence. Many people can share a name, silly!” Yaya exclaimed.

Later, the Guardians were in the Royal Garden.
“So, it seemed like you knew Tsukasa, didn’t you?” Amu asked Tadase.
“The Tenmas are family friends of ours.” Tadase said.
“Tenma-san was so annoying,” Rui said, “I really hope we don’t have to run into him again”
CHU² nodded. Unfortunately, they heard the voice of the person in question.
“Did someone mention me?”
The Guardians turned around to see Tsukasa.
“What are you doing here?” Caren coldly asked her
“Isn’t it obvious? My namesake asked me to be the tenth Guardian”
“WHAT?!”
Tsukasa smirked as he showed everyone his specialized wristband. He already decorated it with stars.
Hippo spoke up. “He can’t just do that! There have been nine Guardians for the entire history of Seiyo.”
“Seriously, where even is the Chairman?” Yaya complained.
“Guys, calm down. If he wants Tsukasa II to be a Guardian, he probably has a reason for it.”
“Aha. That’s right, little prince!”
Just by the mention of that word, Tadase Character Changed and started maniacally laughing, and Tsukasa also joined in.
“Don’t call me a prince! I am a king!”
“What is a king to a star?”
“Oh god, now there’s two of them!” Caren muttered.
CHU² put the bucket on Tadase’s head and he stopped.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce my Character,” Tsukasa said, “Everyone, meet KAITO.”
KAITO had blue hair and was wearing a scarf and a white jacket.
“It’s me! Kaito!”
“Now I believe you guys haven’t introduced yourselves to me. So, go ahead! I’m already aware of Tadase, though.”
After some quick introductions, Tsukasa asked, “So, do you have some important Guardian duties for me?”
Tadase thought about it. “Well, since it’s the first day back at school, do you want to help the other new students feel comfortable here?”
Tsukasa nodded, and suddenly he had an idea. “I have a suggestion! How about we throw a party for them!”
Caren stared at him. “That feels a bit too ambitious.”
Tadase shrugged. “Sure, we can do it on Friday.”
“You’re not actually agreeing to that, Tadase!”
“Well, I think it’ll be fun.” Amu suggested, “Maybe we can show them around the robot village?”
Hippo laughed. “Well, there’s no point in arguing about that.”

So on Friday, a “Congratulations on your first week” party was held. There, the returning students were able to get to know the few new students better.
Misaki W. walked over to Amu. “Hey, don’t you think Tsukasa-kun seems like a perfect match for Kaoru?”
Amu laughed. “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna try matchmaking”
Ai giggled. “Kaoru likes Tadase, so to shoo her away, we get her someone similar to fall in love with. It’s a win win!”
“You’re not the only one who compared Tadase to Tsukasa.” Dia said to her.
“But it’s only a win-win situation if Tsukasa-kun likes Kaoru back.” Yaya noted.
“Well, you two are guardians. Why don’t you just ask him?” Misaki suggested.
“I guess.”
At that moment, Tadase walked up to the makeshift stage at the center of town square. “Everyone. A special performance featuring our very own Tsukasa Tenma is beginning in 5 minutes. Please take your seats.”
“Ooh! I wanna see.”
Amu wasn’t all too thrilled. “I could care less”
“You mean you couldn’t care less!” Mimi corrected.
“That’s right. You have to say what you mean.” Dia added.
Just then, a girl ran up to them. “Misaki-chan! You’ll never believe who Tsukasa cast as the other lead!”
When Misaki heard the news, she dragged Amu and Yaya to their seats. Misaki tried to hide it from her fellow fanclub, but she had a mischievous grin on her face.
“Kaoru Seta, I hope you fall head over heels with him.”
In the play, Tsukasa plays a shy pianist named Thorpe, and Kaoru is cast as the orchestra’s leader. Amu had heard from Tadase that this was one of the plays he had performed with his theater troupe back on Earth.
“Tsukasa is really talented, you know.” Amu said.
Yaya nodded. “Maybe this is what his character transformation with KAITO is like.”
After the performance, Amu walked up to Tsukasa.
“That was amazing! I was really moved”
“Fuhuhu. As expected from the future world star!” Tsukasa.

A few days have passed since then, and Tsukasa Tenma has been getting used to being a Guardian. However, there was still no sign of Tsukasa Amakawa.
“Seriously, where is that chairman? He’s been missing for a week now!” CHU2 complained.
Yaya slammed her hands on the table. “Looks like a mystery for Ace Detective Yaya to solve! And it looks like we have our number one lead right here!”
Yaya eyed Tsukasa. “Yeah, what about me?”
“You were the last person we know that Tsukasa spoke to before his disappearance! What do you know about it?”
“H-Hey! Don’t look at me! I know just as much as you do.”
“Well I’m sure we’ll be able to figure this out sooner or later,” Rui said.

As Amu walked out of the Royal Garden, Ran was waiting for her and Moca outside.
“How was today’s meeting?”
Moca smirked. “Same as always. We were just looking at Chairman’s disappearance”
“That’s good to hear. Actually, the Chairman’s replacement just came in today.”
Amu tilted her head. “His replacement? Can we see him?”
“I mean, I got a look at him, but he said he’ll reveal himself during dinner time.”
Moca smirked. “Well, I can’t wait to meet him.”
Moca and Amu kept that hopeful sentiment up until it was time to actually meet the Chairman’s replacement. This man, tall and with a cold gaze, spoke up.
“Good evening. As you may know, Tsukasa Amakawa’s whereabouts are currently unknown, so I, Ichiro Fujiwara, shall be his replacement for the foreseeable future. Welcome, students of Seiyo Space Academy, to a new era.”
Su whispered to Dia. “I don’t think I like our new Chairman.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure it would be fine”

It was not fine. The new Chairman put in new regulations in order to “keep the school orderly”. For example, no leaving in the middle of class, no phones on weekdays, and worst for Moca, no taking food from the school cafeteria.
Moca flopped down onto the desk. “Ugh. This can’t go on for any longer. I need bread.”
Su summoned a plate of bread.
“Thank you, Su”
“The real Chairman would never do something like this,” Ran said, “He told me that dyed hair is not allowed and gave me detention and a penalty! Hello? Caren’s hair is purple! You’re telling me that that is natural?”
“He even made me ditch my leg warmers and change my skirt! Does he not know what self-expression is?”
“We need Tsukasa back! Where even is he?”
“I’m sure we’ll find him eventually,” Dia said, “Say, how about we look for him during our next X-Egg cleansing session!”
“Where would we even start looking?”
“That… I don’t know.”
“Maybe we can ask Tenma-kun about it. After all, he seems to know the Chairman personally”, Sachiko suggested.
Ran, as in Amu’s Guardian Character beamed. “Perfect!”

Amu and Ran was walking around the hallways when Fuyuki walked up to them.
“Oh, Fuyuki was it?”
“We meet again.” the brown haired boy said, “You know, those new school rules are tough. There’s a new rule that says sports clubs can only practice during weekends. Do you know how hard it is to find somewhere to play?”
“What sport do you play?” Amu’s heart Character said.
“I’m in the basketball team.”
“Anyways, we’re looking for Tenma-kun,” the other Ran said, “We figured he might know something about the chairman”
“Oh, then you’ll get better luck with Tadase,” Fuyuki said, “I heard that he’s his uncle.”
“Well, I know where that is.”
Fuyuki smirked, “And why do you, as Tadase’s girlfriend, know where his dorm is?”
Amu blushed. “It… It’s none of your business”
“Tadase sometimes takes her to his dorm when he’s alone!”
“Dia, shut up. It’s not like we do anything intimate.”

As the three of them went closer to the dorm door, Amu could hear Tadase, Utau, and Tsukasa arguing.
“He’s your uncle! You do something about it!”
“Me?! Just seems like you are withholding important information!”
“I’ve told you everything that I know about Tsukasa I’s disappearance!”
“Well it’s not enough! Tadase is doing everything he can to find the Chairman because he is the only one who is able to actually run this damn place! And also, he is his family, you know.”
“That sounds really weird coming from a girl who had a crush on her own brother!”
“Do not bring Ikuto into this!”
“I feel very uncomfortable now”
Amu knocked the door and the arguing stopped. The door opened to reveal Tadase, with Utau, Tsukasa and Jun behind her. There was also a whiteboard with a bunch of information and questions about Tsukasa’s disappearance.
“What’s Tsukasa and Utau doing here?”
“Well, Tsukasa got moved to our dorm, and Utau got dragged by Tsukasa thinking she might have information.” Jun said.
“I do not”
“Didn’t know you’re rooming with Tadase too.” Ran said.
Amu looked at the whiteboard. “Seems like you don’t know anything about this either. Well, I was thinking. At our X-Egg cleansing session tomorrow, how about we look for Tsukasa. You know where he lives, right?”
“I mean… I think?”
“Hey, it will be your first time on an X-Egg cleansing mission too, Tenma-kun. It will be fun.”

So a few days later, Amu and Tadase were just outside Tsukasa’s house.
“This is where Chairman lives?”
“Yeah. It’s very close to a planetarium he works at part time.”
Amu knocked on the door. “Hello, is anyone home?”
Tadase got out a key and unlocked it.
“You have the Chairman’s key?”
“Well I asked my mom for a spare key.”
The two of them looked around in search for the Chairman, but he doesn’t seem to be anywhere. That was when Amu stumbled upon the study. It seemed to be trashed with books lying everywhere.
“What is this?”
Amu tried to turn the computer on. To her surprise, she didn’t need to input a password.
“Well that’s secure.”
She turned back to the screen and realized that the screen was showing the website for a company named Easter.
“Why would the Chairman be reading about this?”
Amu was about to investigate futher, when she heard the sound of an X-Egg.
“Amu! An X-Egg!”
Amu looked back at the computer. “Looks like we need to leave this for later.”

Amu, as Amulet Heart, arrived at the X-Egg, Tsukasa and Ran had already caught up to it.
Ran as Sunset Red turned around. “Amu!”
“I know.”
Tsukasa pushed Amu aside. “Let me handle this! Ore no Kokoro: UNLOCK!”
Tsukasa’s Character transformation was a black formal clothes with a blue scarf and a large black coat. He also had half a mask on his face. Its name? Gallerian Star.
“How come he already has a Character Transformation?!”
Tsukasa took off his scarf and started waving it around.
“Starcrossed Ribbon!”
Stars sparkled from the scarf and immobilized the X-Egg.
“Well, what else do you got?” Ran asked.
“That was my only move.” Tsukasa said.
“Well now, I can do this!” Amu said. She made a heart shape with her hand, pinpointing the X-Egg. “Negative Heart: Lock on!” She then opened the heart shape, sending out a burst of purification energy to the Egg. “OPEN HEART!”
Once the egg purified, the four of them continued looking for more X-Eggs to cleanse. By the end of the hour, they met up.
“So, did you find the Chairman yet?”
Amu shook her head. “However, I did find a piece of information that may or may not be useful to us.”

Chapter Text

From their various investigations, this is what they learnt about the man known as Ichiro Fujiwara. His man works for a company named Easter, which specializes in various enterprises like technology, minigames, and entertainment. Many ideas have been passed around the guardians as to what they were doing at the Academy, ranging from just wanting to make sure that the school is “proper” to wanting to destroy the Guardians (what beef do they have with them?). For now, though, their investigations have ended up inconclusive

It has been more than two weeks since they found out about Easter, and Valentine’s Day was coming up. That was why Amu, Yaya and Misaki G were all met up in the cooking room.
“Okay, here’s the plan! I sneak some chocolates to Tsukasa with a note that makes it look like it's specifically from Kaoru Seta!”
“Shouldn’t we be focused on making our own chocolates first?”
They heard the door open and they saw Moca. “Looks like you need help”
Ai flew over to Moca. “Are you just here to help us or do you have someone in mind?”
Moca smiled. “I want to give Ran a chocolate bread this year.”
Su smiled. “Then let’s get started! Chip! Syrup! Whip”
So the four of them got to work. They each made chocolates featuring their own designs, except for Misaki, who while also making chocolates with Ai’s heart and ribbons (to distinguish it from Ran), made a special secret set of chocolate with a theater mask shape. However, this didn’t go unnoticed by Moca.
“Ooh, I know who exactly those are for,” Moca said, “As expected from the leader of the Kaoru fanclub”
Misaki laughed. Technically those were chocolates for Kaoru, in the sense that they were chocolates made in Kaoru’s stead.
Soon, the four of them were done.
“Wow! Your chocolate bread looks so delicious!” Yaya exclaimed.
Moca laughed. “Let’s hope I don’t eat it before Valentines Day”
“Or Sachiko.”
It was that moment when an orange haired girl walked in.
“Wait, what is the Yua Sakurai doing here?”
Yua laughed. “Don’t call me out just because I’m a model. And in any case, I just wanted to check on Amu.”
One thing you should know about this girl was that she and Amu met in kindergarten. When Yua came to this school and found out that Amu was a Guardian, the first thing she did was find her and talk.
“Well, do you want to make valentines day chocolates with us?” Amu asked her, “We just finished, but we can help you make yours”
“I don’t see why not”
Misaki clapped. “First of all, do you have anyone in mind?”
Yua shook her head. “I’ll just make some friendship chocolates for Amu.”
“Oh, how disappointing.” Ai said.
Yua’s Guardian Character flew up. She was a blonde girl with a piano scarf and an orange beret.
“And now I’ll sing Let’s get Baking!”

Meanwhile, Tsukasa and Tadase were talking to each other.
“Hey, Tsukasa II. Do you have anyone you like back home?” Tadase asked.
Tsukasa thought about it. “There is a girl I like.”
“Be more specific,” Jun said, “Is it an actual girl or is it just a pet or someone.”
“It’s an actual girl! Her name is Emu Otori. We work together in the same theater group”
“Oh, what’s she like?”
Tsukasa thought about it. “Well, if there’s any word to describe her, it’s energetic. It’s actually kind of a pain to control her sometimes”
“Oh, the fun ones, huh?” Juno said.
Kaito nodded. “The next time we head to earth, why don’t we pay a visit to Phoenix Wonderland.”
Tsukasa looked at Jun. “What about you, Suzaki?”
“Well, I guess there is Ako.”
“Oh yeah. I remember you talking about her.”
“How lucky for you to have a girlfriend who goes right here to the academy!” Jun exclaimed.
Tsukasa laughed. “I mean, I suppose.”
Jun decided to change the topic. “So, in a few days, you two are gonna get tons of chocolate from other girls.”
Tsukasa and Tadase nodded. “It’s tradition for the male guardians to have a booth where the girls of the academy can give them their chocolates.”
“What does that mean for Saburo? Last year, I don’t think anyone gave him anything”
“Eh, he’ll be fine.” Kiseki said.

It would seem that the Valentines Day festival would go without any incident whatsoever, with girls and boys preparing for the event. However, Ichiro Fujiwara was planning something. He was currently on a phone call.
“Yes. I know. I’ll find it soon.”
“...”
Fujiwara thought about the rumors about the Embryo appearing within the academy. What he had gathered during his time as the chairman of Seiyo was the circumstances of which the Embryo appeared, after a purification of a few X-Eggs.
“That girl, Amu Hinamori, I believe she is the key to the Embryo. It seems to be attracted to the purification of X-Eggs.”
After listening to the other person’s response, Fujiwara said, “I’m not fully sure yet, but I have a plan to prove my hypothesis”
He walked over to a box and opened it. Inside were a ton of sleeping X-Eggs. Ichiro smiled.
“I’ll get back to you my results this Valentines Day. And if I do find the Embryo, I’ll be prepared.”

It was finally Valentine's Day. There was no school that day in order to make room for the festival.
Amu and Yaya were lined up at Tadase’s line.
“Hey, where’s Misaki?”
Yaya pointed at Misaki, giving Kaoru chocolates. While not being male or a guardian, Miki had helped her set up another booth for her, and that booth had a lot of girls crowded around it.
“Looks like she still wants to keep up the act.” Amu said.
Ai flew over to them. “Of course. Don’t get the wrong idea. Those chocolates are filled with laxatives. Now our plan.”
“Oh right. Our plan.” Amu said, “Someone has to sneak this note and chocolates just outside Tsukasa’s room. And we need to make him think it’s from Kaoru.”
“Uh, what are you two talking about?”
That was when Amu and Yaya realized they were in front of the line.
“O-Oh right! Here, Tadase-kun!”
Amu put the box down.
“And mine too!” Yaya exclaimed, placing her box on top of Amu’s.
“Thanks. Say, do you two want to sit next with me?”
Yaya beamed. “Really?”
Tadase nodded. “Be my guest. Besides, Amu-chan is pretty popular too. I’m sure people would want to give her chocolates”

Once again, Saburo sat alone at his table. The other guardians gave him their chocolates to him earlier, but those were the only chocolates he had received. He looked at Hippo, Tsukasa’s and Tadase’s booths. Tadase, of course, had the most girls lined up, and Tsukasa and Hippo also had their fair share of people.
CHU2 walked up to him. “No dice again?”
Saburo nodded, “Say, do you have anyone you want to give chocolates to?”
CHU2 crossed her arms. “Why would I do that? Valentine's Day is a stupid holiday. The only thing I love is music.”
Saburo laughed. “Actually, do you want to, like, go somewhere else? Since we don’t have anyone?”
“Anywhere beats here.”
Saburo got up from his booth and followed CHU2 to who knows where.

Moca walked up to Amu.
“So, how did it go?”
Moca sighed. “All she said was “Thanks, I guess”. It’s like she doesn’t even care”
Yaya nodded. “If Tadase ever said that to me, I would’ve been livid”
“Why would I ever say that? I appreciate your presence, Yuiki-san.”
“Well, she’s your friend. I’m sure she’ll realize eventually.”
“Did she at least say the chocolate bread was good?” Ran asked.
“Well, I don’t think she hated it.” Sachiko said, “She always likes the food that Moca gives her.”
It was at that point that they heard someone scream.
“An X-Egg!”
The four of them turned around, and sure enough, there was an X-Egg flying. Many students were chattering.
“How could one get in here?” Su asked.
“Uh… I don’t think that’s the only one.” Dia whimpered. At that moment, about fifty more X-Eggs flew into the building.
Amu screamed. “What the hell?! Where did they even come from”
Tadase stood up. “Okay, everyone! Follow Hippo and Rui outside. Let the Guardians deal with this.”
Everyone crowded against the two Guardians prepared to evacuate the building.
Yua ran up to Amu. “What’s going on? I’m scared.”
“Yua! I’ll explain later! For now, get outside!”
“And now I’ll sing This is Very Dangerous” Yua’s Character cried.
“Now’s not the time, Cecil! Just, let’s get out of here”
Yua and Cecil ran towards the door while Caren and Tsukasa came up to the Guardians.
“Where’s Sabuchi and CHU-tan?” Yaya asked.
“I dunno. They just ran off somewhere.” Tsukasa answered.
The six guardians looked up at the mass of X-Eggs making a mess of the grand hall.
“This could get really messy.” Caren muttered
Amu got out the lock and transformed into Amulet Heart. Tsukasa did the same.
Summoning her Heart Rod, Amu jumped up and tried to attack the X-Eggs, but they quickly moved out of the way.
The other four Guardians Character Changed and helped Amu and Tsukasa fight off the X-Eggs.
“We need to gather them all in one place!” Caren exclaimed.

Moca nodded, and was about to fend the X-eggs with her magic baguette, but that was when she noticed Ran trying to fight the X-Eggs by herself as Sunset Red. And it looks like she isn’t holding up so well.
“Ran!” Moca ran over and protected her.
Ran looked up. “Moca, are you?”
Moca smiled. “I’ll be here for you always, Ran-ran.”
Moca thought about how she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ran. “If only I could tell you how I really feel. I want to be more than just friends.”

Meanwhile, Tadase was helping Amu with fending off the X-Eggs.
“How many even are there?!” Amu cried.
“More importantly, where did they all come from?” Tadase wondered, while knocking away a few X-Eggs.
“If only there was a way to stun all these X-Eggs.” Amu then remembered Tadase’s special move. The Holy Crown. Not only can it save someone from deathly heights, but Amu had also seen, if though rarely, used to stun X-Eggs in place. “That’s it! Tadase, use your special attack!”
Tadase stopped. “I’ve never targeted this many X-Eggs before. I don’t even know if it’s strong enough.”
That was when he noticed X-Eggs charging their attack at Amu! Tadase tried to block it off with said special attack, but he didn’t anticipate more X-Eggs attacking them from behind.
The situation was looking dire. Even Tsukasa was struggling to keep up, and Moca and Ran weren’t faring so well either, though Moca had a new sparkle in her eyes.
That was when Kiseki flew up to him. “Tadase. Just believe in yourself. Your wish is to become stronger, right? If you keep worrying, nothing will change. You need to make the first step yourself. Only you can protect Amu.”
“Protect, Amu…”
Tadase stood up and announced “Boku no Kokoro: UNLOCK!”
His Character Transformation was a white frilly regalia, topped with a noble looking crown. Kiseki dubbed this new transformation “Platinum Royale”
It seemed that Tadase wasn’t the only one who got a new Character Transformation. Moca was now wearing a cotton patchwork dress and a flour covered apron, and her hair was tied in twin tails. “Character Transform: Serenity Bun!”
Tadase smiled at Moca. “Let’s finish this”
Tadase lifted up the staff and announced his special attack. “Holy Crown!”
A beam of light was cast at the X-Eggs and they froze in place.
Moca then cast what she called “Sticky Dough!”, a dough-based attack to entrap more X-Eggs into one doughy mess.
Working together, Moca and Tadase managed to gather all the X-Eggs in the center, all for Amu to purify them.
“Amu-chi! Now it’s your turn!”
Amu smiled. She pointed her finger at the group of X-Eggs. “Negative Heart: Unlock!” Then, forming a heart shape with her hands, she announced “Open Heart!”
A powerful wave of energy was headed straight towards the X-Eggs, purifying them. It also cleaned up the leftover dough that was tying all the eggs together.
Ran walked up to Tadase. “Nice teamwork, you two. I didn’t know you two would get along so easily.”
Su smiled. “Let’s just say they share the same goal.”
Yaya smiled. “Well that’s four down, six more to go. Well, five, actually.”
That was when Yaya noticed the Embryo lurking within the mass of Heart Eggs.
“Look over there!”
The others turned their attention to the egg that stood out from the rest. It was at that moment that Hippo and Rui came back.
“Woah! Is this the mythical Embryo?” Hippo marvelled, to which his tall companion answered, “I think it might be”
Unfortunately, their time to marvel at it (and to possibly chase after it) was cut short when purple thorny vines sprouted from the ground heading straight to it, the other Heart Eggs. The only reason it didn’t capture the Embryo was that Tsukasa used his scarf to cut the plants. After its near-miss, the Embryo flew away taking the heart eggs with it.
“Who did that?” Tadase wondered out loud, before noticing Fujiwara standing on the other side of the hall.
“I’m impressed. You’ve confirmed my theory that Amu is the one causing the Embryo to appear.”
Fujiwara walked closer to the nine of them. “Could it be because of that Humpty Lock? I always wondered what would happen once the Dumpty Key is found. I could only imagine great things.”
Tadase shielded Amu from Fujiwara getting any closer. “You’re not getting anywhere near her!”
Fujiwara smirked. “And what makes you say that, little prince?”
“Don’t call me a prince!”
Ran grabbed Fujiwara and pulled him closer. “Hey, I don’t know what it is with you or your stupid rules, but if you’re going after the Embryo, then too bad. We’re not letting you”
“And do you want to make a wish too? Tell me, little girl. What do you wish for?”
Ran stopped.
“Come on, be honest with me.”
“That’s none of your business! Now get lost! Oh, and give us back the old chairman!”
“Don’t worry. He’s safe and sound at Easter’s Headquarters.”
Fujiwara looked at Tsukasa. “And I know Tsukasa sent you for a reason, Tenma.”
“Hey! Whatever it is, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Fujiwara shrugged. “You could be very important to the tale. Or you could just. Either way, I’m watching you.”
Fujiwara was about to leave before turning back to Tadase. “You can’t protect her forever, you know. Even kings fall due to time.”
And immediately after, Ichiro Fujiwara was gone.

It was at that moment when the Guardians realized their new mission: to protect the Embryo. And in the center of it all was Amu Hinamori.
Tadase looked at her. “Fujiwara is after you, you know. Do you think you’ll be prepared?”
Amu looked down. “I don’t know.”
Ran laughed. “Don’t worry. You have us! You have all of us! Even Saburo and CHU2.”
“If we can manage to save 50 or so dreams from reducing to nothing,” Hippo said, “then I’m sure we can do anything.” Rui nodded in agreement.
Tadase held her closer. “Don’t worry, Amu. I won’t let Fujiwara get in the way between us. As your boyfriend, I will protect you with my life.”
Amu smiled.
Her face didn’t show it, but Ran was going through similar feelings as Amu. Despite what Tadase had said, maybe there would be a time when Tadase would fail to protect Amu, in that case, who would protect her?
Moca seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. “Of course Amu’s gonna be here with us.” she said, “And even if she can’t be around. She’s got us. You’ve got me, okay? I’ll always be with you, no matter what. Nothing’s gonna change the fact, whether it’s Fujiwara or anything else.”
Ran laughed. “Thank you, Moca. For cheering me up. I know who I can count on.”
There were lots of things that Amu or Ran didn’t know, but one thing’s for certain: they would always have someone to fall back on.

Chapter Text

A few days after the festival, the Guardians were having a meeting in the Royal Garden.
“That incident at the Valentines Day festival is just a warning.” Hippo said, “We need to prepare for what’s to come.”
Rui nodded. “Fujiwara has been proven to be very dangerous. We must not let our guard down.”
“Well, at least now four of us have a Character Transformation” Amu said.
“I’m excited for the day when all ten of us get a transformation!” Caren exclaimed, before looking at Saburo, “Well, nine, actually.”
“Was that supposed to make me feel better?” Saburo muttered.
“Hey, don’t be upset now.” CHU² assured, “Your lack of heart egg is what saved me from Sayaka.”
Saburo sighed. “Did I? All I was able to do was tell Onee-chan who told you guys.”
“And that’s exactly it, Imai-kun.” Tadase said, “If you did have a heart egg, it would’ve been stolen immediately. Even if it’s small, you were still able to make a difference.”
“Tadase-kun has a point, you know!” Yaya said, “Let’s all give it up for Saburo Imai!”
Saburo laughed. “You know know that the Sayaka incident was almost five months ago”
“We know.” Moca said
“Hold up, what happened?” Tsukasa asked.
“We’ll tell you later.” Amu said, “Say, any news about Kaoru?”
“Oh yeah,” Tsukasa laughed, “Being the nice person I am, I of course, accepted her secret confession!”
“You did tell her in person, did you?” Tadase said.
“Why would I need to? She already knows she is head over heels with me!” Tsukasa said, “But… we haven’t gone farther than hanging out outside of club activities.”
Of course, Kaoru had no idea that Tsukasa considers them to be in a relationship. Misaki did ask her about Tsukasa a few times, but she had intentionally left out that important detail as she’d be “more likely to turn him down if she hadn’t discovered her feelings for herself”, in her words.
“It’s fine. I mean, surely she has already realized that her feelings are reciprocated.” Caren said.
“I don’t know,” Rui said, “I mean, I’ve been around Seta-san for some time, and she isn’t exactly the most observant person.”
“Whatever. Can we just get back to talking about Fujiwara.” CHU² complained.
“You’re right,” Rui said, “We must not waste time on small talk.”
Moca raised her hand up. “Our monthly X-Egg cleansing session is coming up soon. We know where Tsukasa is now, I think. What’s stopping us from storming into Algebra and rescuing him.”
Saburo pointed at Moca, agreeing with her idea.
“Well, we can try.” Tadase spoke, “But only four us can Character Transform at this point”
“Do we have any better option?” Caren asked.
Nobody else could think of another idea, so they eventually decided on that.

As Amu and Moca were walking, she bumped into Kohei.
“Oh, it’s you… Uh…”
“Kohei Hayasaka”
“Oh yeah, I remember you,” Ran said, “You’re the leader of the robotics club!”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Kohei said, “I guess I haven’t repaid you for giving us Roboty’s heart egg back. Do you want to come over to the clubroom?”
“Do you have bread?” Moca asked her.
“Well, due to school rules, we aren’t allowed to bring food into the classrooms unless it’s for an event.” Kohei said, “But we can treat you guys to the robot village after.”
“Well, I’m down” Amu said.

So the two of them went into the clubroom. Medusé and Kohei’s character, a red haired boy with an orange leather jacket, were sitting on a newly refurbished Roboty.
“That looks so cool!” Amu exclaimed, “Can we peek inside the chest compartment?”
Kura nodded as she opened up the chest compartment. Inside it are pictures of the robotics team, stickers, a plunger for some reason, and most importantly, a golden egg.
Kohei’s Character flew in. “Like what you see?”
Sachiko nodded. “It’s really pretty.”
“Candeloro helped design it.” the character said.
“Mami’s in the club too?” Dia asked.
“Well, she just comes in from time to time,” Kohei’s Character said, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Atsui, and I represent Kohei’s burning personality!”
Ran high-fived Atsui.
“Hey, can I tell you something?” Kura said, “You know how Tadase Character Transforms when you call him prince? Ko-nii is like that, but in this case, it’s spicy things!”
“Swapping his and Nanami-chan’s lunches is always so funny,” Medusé exclaimed.
“Shut up.”
“It’s okay.” Moca said, “I’m not a fan of spicy food either.”

So, the four of them plus Ran who they invited were at the robot village eating lunch. It was at that moment when Fuyuki walked in.
“Hayasaka, you got room for one more?”
“Of course. You can sit between Ran and Amu.”
Kirishima sat down, and began talking to Amu.
“So, I heard you are going to find the Chairman in a week or so.”
Amu nodded. “Who told you that?”
Fuyuki smiled. “I just have a hunch. I just wanted to bid you good luck.”
Moca laughed. “We are gonna need all the luck we need.”
“It helps to be prepared. Have you got a schematic of the building you think he’s located in?”
“Hippo and Rui are working on it as we speak,” Amu said, “I’ve seen images of the Easter building and I feel like it is way too much”
“Then why don’t I come with you guys?” Fuyuki suggested, “I don’t think I have any upcoming games for then.”
Ran looked at him. “You’re not a Guardian.”
“And neither are you,” Fuyuki said, “But twelve heads are better than eleven, am I right?”
“Actually, it’s about a 9% increase,” Atsui said.
“In any case, I don’t even know if you’d actually be useful,” Ran said, “You’re just gonna turn a group of six people who can’t Character Transform into a group of seven people who can’t Character Transform. What do you even do?”
Fuyuki laughed and Character Changed, him gaining a heart shaped wreath on his head.
“Hey, Ran. Do you mind telling me an embarrassing secret?”
Ran looked away, blushing. “I wet the bed until I was nine.”
Amu wondered where she had seen that power before.
“Wait, hold up. That’s actually useful.” Anu said, “That way, we can force the Easter people to tell us where they’re keeping Tsukasa!”
Amu clapped her hands. “Then you’re hired. Welcome to the Guardians EX.”
“Guardians EX?”
“You’re not officially a Guardian, but you’re part of the crew anyway, just like Ran”

So it was the day that the Guardians would leave for Earth. The Guardians and Fuyuki were talking on the spaceship.
“It’s your first time on an X-Egg hunt, right?” Tadase asked.
“Yeah. I… actually am a bit excited.”
“Is there anyone back on Earth you want to visit?”
“None that I can think of right now,” Fuyuki answered, “No wait, there is a girl I met in elementary school. Her name is Rima.”
“Well, when we get back, you can pay her a visit.” Yaya exclaimed.
“I mean, sure. We can do that. But the X-Egg cleansing and the Easter raid is more important.”
“Come on! We have a week all to ourselves! And it’s not like the cleansing would take up our entire week!”
“We usually celebrate a successful cleansing mission with a trip to a fast food restaurant or a karaoke night, for example.” Hippo said.
“That last one is not me.”
“Come on, Rui-san! I heard you sing before! It’s really good!”
“Yeah, Rui! I really want to hear you sing!” Fuyuki exclaimed.
Rui sighed. “I mean, if you really want me to hear it”
Hippo looked at Fuyuki. “Trust me. Rui has a beautiful voice.”

When the spaceship landed on Earth, the Guardians decided to begin their raid. Walking over to the Easter building, they stared at it in awe. It looked much bigger actually being here.
“You guys all read the schematic front and back, right?”
Everyone nodded.
“Okay, we’ll split up into three groups,” Hippo said, “Me, Rui-san, Fuyuki-san and Caren-san will try and gather information. Tadase-san, Amu-san, Ran-san and Moca-san will look for the chairman, and the rest of you will try and distract the guards.”
Hippo held up a button. “Kohei-san has been kind enough to make these pagers. Tadase-san and I both have one, as well as everyone from the third group. If any of us press it, your bracelets will flash and we all meet outside. And if usual retreat isn’t possible, make your way through the vents. Got it?”
“Sounds clear to me,” Caren said.
“Well, let’s begin the raid. Tsukasa, you’re up first”
Tsukasa entered the building, and Tsukasa went up to the receptionist.
“Excuse me, but you aren’t supposed to be in here.”
“No, no. I’m here because I’m a health inspector.”
The receptionist stared at him. “Are you a bit too young to be a health inspector.”
“I’m older than I look.”
The receptionist stared at him, before shrugging. “Very well, I’ll let you”
“Excelent! First, I need you to sign some paperwork”
Tsukasa placed down a bunch of important looking documents. “I want you to sign here and here. And also here”
This gave enough time for the other eleven to sneak past and head into the rest of the building.

On CHU2’s and Saburo’s end, they were walking through the halls.
“Since you are completely defenceless if you get caught, I need to look after you.”
Saburo nodded. The lack of a Guardian Character made things really difficult during these X-Egg cleansing missions.
“It’s a good thing our job right now is just to distract everyone.” Yaya said. Yaya turned around. “As the oldest of us, I think I should be the leader of this operation.”
Mimi nodded.
“And what do you have to offer, candy eater?”
“H-Hey! I’ll have you know that I’ve been practicing self control!”
Yaya coughed. “As I was saying, why don’t we put everyone to sleep?”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
Yaya thought about it. “I’ll think of something.”

On Fuyuki’s end, they saw a secretary working on documents. Rui pointed out Fujiwara’s signature on some of the paperwork she’s doing.
“I think they might know about where Tsukasa is being kept.” Caren said, “Now, do your thing, Fuyuki!”
Fuyuki character changed and walked up to the lady.
“Excuse me, miss”
The lady was confused. “How did you get in here?” That was when she noticed Fuyuki’s wristband. “You’re from the Space Academy, aren’t you”
Suddenly, Rui and Hippo tied her up to the chair with duct tape.
“Now, Fujiwara told us you are keeping our old chairman hostage here. Do you mind telling us where they might be kept?”
“It’s okay, you’re allowed to confess…”
The woman stuttered, clearly under the influence of Fuyuki’s. “I don’t know all the details, but Amakawa is being kept in a locked chamber in the basement. The password to the basement is 45510, but I don’t know the code to the room. Only the Boss and Fujiwara know the code. Now let me go!”
“I’m sorry, but you’re staying here.” Caren said, “Now off to find that Boss.”
Caren put some tape on the secretary’s mouth and left along with the other two. Unbeknownst to them, the lady secretly was keeping a knife under her skirt.

Amu and Tadase finally reached the basement. Hippo had texted them the location of the basement and the code to the basement. Soon, they reached the cell.
Tadase knocked on the cell door. “Tsukasa! Can you hear me?”
It was quiet for a while, but eventually, they heard a voice. “Tadase, is that you?”
“Yes! It’s me! We’re gonna get you out of there, as soon as we find out the code.”
It was at that moment when Moca noticed an image of a pegasus over the milky way.
“What’s this?”
Amu looked at it. “Looks like the image of the milky way and a pegasus.”
Tadase looked at it and realized something. “Ah, it’s the Sky Code.”
Amu was confused. “Sky code?”
“It’s a code created by my distant ancestor along with Tsukasa’s, passed down from generation to generation. But each bloodline only knows half of the code. If only one person tries to decrypt it, they would just get a meaningless pile of letters.”
“That’s the reason you made Tsukasa a Guardian!” Moca said.
At that moment, their bracelets flashed.
“Oh dear.”
“What’s wrong?”
“They found us.”

The other group was just outside the boss’s room, when they were caught by the secretary.
“How did you even escape!?” Hippo exclaimed.
The lady pulled out throwing knives. “I always come prepared.”
“Well, you aren’t getting past the four of us!” Caren taunted.
“Three of you.”
“Wait huh?” The three of them turned around and Fuyuki was gone.
“H-Hey! Don’t bail on us!”
Hippo sighed. He pressed the button and the three of them Character Changed. “Whatever, we’re gonna have to buy the others some time.”
“There are others here?” The woman realized, “Hinamori is with you.”
“But you’re not gonna get her!”
Caren began singing into her microphone, amplified by Rui’s violin. Unfortunately, in this state, both were too weak, and the lady was completely unfazed.
“How did you manage to do that?” Caren cried.
Hippo charged at the woman, but she quickly dodged it.
“You aren’t getting away with this,” the woman said, “You’re trying to free Tsukasa, huh? Well, I am not gonna let that happen. He’s just a wrench in our plans.”
Hippo tried to land a hit on the woman, but she kept evading his attacks. And it wasn’t as if Rui and Caren were doing much either. It was at that moment, when the secretary made a gash on Hippo’s arm, knocking him down.
The lady walked up to him. “You know, the only person we actually need here is Hinamori. The rest of you are just fodder.” She held out her knife at him. “It’s been nice knowing you, Guardian.”
Suddenly, a heart shaped arrow flew and knocked the knife out of her hand. They turned around, and saw the mysterious boy that appeared during Amu’s fight with Sayaka.
“Hey! I’ve seen you before!”
The boy flew up and pulled Hippo away.
“What do you want, Hippo?”
The blonde haired boy looked at the secretary, who was fighting Caren and Rui. “I… I want to protect.”
“Protect who, exactly?”
“Protect the people I love. Yuri-san, Rui-san. No… Everyone. I want to protect everyone.”
“Do you think you are powerful enough?”
Hippo sighed. “No…”
“You’re the ONE’s Chair, the leader position! I’m sure you can do it.”
At that moment, Campi started glowing.
“You have got what it takes. You can shine brightly too. Just say the words.”
Hippo nodded. “Boku… Ore no Kokoro: UNLOCK!”
Hippo started Character Transforming. He was now wearing a similar outfit to Campi’s. “Character Transform: Hippocampus Legend”
Hippo wasn’t the only one who transformed. Rui was now wearing an elegant green gown, and hair was covered in music note shaped sparkles, while also gaining a butterfly shaped pendant.
“Character Transform: Rubato Heartstrings!”
“Wait, why did I transform too?”
“Don’t question a good thing, Rui,” Ayase exclaimed, “Now you can play to your best potential!”
The three Character Transformed people went over
“Let’s take care of her together.” the boy told Hippo.
Hippo nodded. He pointed his staff at the secretary. “Sealing Light!” A bright beam was sent in the secretary’s direction, knocking her back.
Rui began playing her violin, creating a soothing effect, weakening the secretary.
“Now let’s get out of here!” the boy cried, as the four of them made a run for it.

“That was so cool!” Caren explained, “I only have three months until I graduate, and I really want my character transformation then.”
“Then perhaps that boy can help you out too.” Rui said, “Speaking of which, where even is he?”
Hippo looked around, and he was nowhere to be seen.
In a vent somewhere, the boy was hiding. He reverted his Character Transformation to reveal his true identity, Fuyuki Kirishima.
Fuyuki’s Guardian Character looked kind of like his Character Transformation, but with the addition of a skeleton flower wreath in the stead of the red ribbons.
“Well, that went well.”
Kirishima smiled. “It sure did, Aiko. Now let’s head back to the others”

Tadase’s group and Tsukasa’s group met back outside.
“Thanks for distracting them with that stink bomb,” Amu said.
“It was supposed to be sleeping powder!” Yaya cried.
“The point is that we’re safe.” Tsukasa said.
Rui, Hippo and Caren caught up with them.
“Where’s Fuyuki?” Saburo asked.
“I’m right here.” the brown haired boy in question stated.
They heard yelling coming from inside the building.
“They’re still onto us!” CHU² screamed.
“Let’s go!”

Once they were far enough away from the headquarters, and lost the Easter members, it was safe to detransform. Tadase turned his attention to Tsukasa
“Tsukasa, there was a message written in Sky Code.”
“Sky Code?” Tsukasa said, “It’s been a while since I heard about it. Strange that there would be something written in it there of all places”
“Can you translate the pesagus’s wings for me?”
Tadase showed a picture of the symbol, to which Tsukasa typed his answer on his phone, and after which, Tadase translated his part of the message, ending up with two seemingly nonsense strings of letters.
“How do we combine them?”
“It’s a Vigenère cipher. You shift each letter in one message by the value of each letter in the other message.”
Tadase went and combined the two messages. “Two Three Six Seven Eight Nine”
“That’s easy to remember,” Yaya said, “Let’s go!”
“Are you crazy?! We just got out of there. We can’t head straight back in!” CHU².
“Tamade-san’s right.” Rui said, “As much as we have improved, it is too dangerous to head back in, especially with everyone on our tail.”
“It’s best to head back in once all of us gain our transformations,” Hippo said, “Well, all of us except Saburo.”
Yaya sighed. “Fine.”

They didn’t make an attempt for the rest of the week, as they were quickly spotted before they could even enter the building. The night before they all had to head back to the Space Academy, the twelve of them all booked a session at a karaoke bar.
“Come on, Rui! I want to hear you sing!”
Rui looked at everyone. "I suppose I shall give it a try"
Rui selected a song, breathed in, and started singing.

Kimi to natsu no owari shourai no yume
Oukina kibou wasurenai
Juunengo no hachi gatsu mata deaeru no wo shinjite
Saikou no, omoide wo

Caren smiled. Rui’s singing was beautiful. Once she finished her song. Rui looked at the screen to see she had a score of 89.
“That was amazing!” Fuyuki exclaimed.
“She was amazing too back at the ” Caren said, “Oh speaking of which. We saw the mysterious boy again.”
“Wait, you did?!” Amu exclaimed, “When?”
“When we were fighting the secretary lady.” Caren said.
That was when she realized something. “Wait a minute, the last time we saw him was when we were fighting Sayaka, which was at the Space Academy, meaning that he must be a student.”
“And the only time a student appears on Earth if it’s not a holiday is us, on our X-Egg cleansing missions” Rui said.
“And if one of us Guardians get our transformations, we’d tell each other about it,” Tadase added, “And we’ve already seen Ran’s.”
“Which leaves out…”
Everyone turned their attention to Fuyuki, who laughed sheepishly. “Uh… Surprise?”