Yuki-Koori, eighth doll of Rozen Maiden, was furious. Said doll, who had been asleep for the past sixty or more years had been woken up by—quite possibly—the most idiotic boy in existence. They were barely five minutes into their first meeting, and he had already attempted to call the police, tried to throw her out of a window, called her names which she had to admit didn't make any sense to her, and as of now he was curled up in the corner, bawling. Yuki-Koori stared, mortified, at the human who had answered to Hyoukai's call. Her artificial spirit twinkled beside her, offering a meek apology at the inconvenience. She sighed back at it, wondering what she should do.

Obviously, the first step would either be to find an at least somewhat less unsophisticated human to enter the covenant with, or maybe shape this one up a little. The last one would require more effort on her part, which she was not fond of, so she decided it would simply be easier to make her leave right now and find another. However, being the minx of a doll she was, she decided to scare the boy one more time. She smiled, holding out her hand, and a decently sized sickle materialized in her palm. She closed her fingers around it and walked up to the boy, who was still blubbering like an infant. The boy, who had heard her walk up to him, looked up in shock to see a sickle pointed right at his face.

"Suck it up, you baby!" she giggled, thumping him over the head with her weapon of choice lightly. Then, she noticed the look of confusion on the boy's face. Could he not understand her? She repeated herself once more, but received the same look of utter confusion.

"I-I can't...understand…you?" He stuttered out, his voice saturated with a heavy accent as he attempted to speak the same language as she. Then, it finally clicked. Yuki-Koori blushed terribly hard, gritting her teeth as she looked up to her artificial spirit, who trembled in fear.

"YA COULD'VE TOLD ME WE WERE IN JAPAN!"

Yuki-Koori, who successfully made the transition from English to Japanese moments ago, was still embarrassed. She sat at the window, glaring out of it as she cursed poor Hyoukai endlessly. She then glanced back over at the boy she had attempted to make a contract with.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" she asked, jumping down from the windowsill to face the boy. "Mine's Yuki-Koori, eighth doll of Rozen Maiden."

"I'm Takumi," he muttered, apparently still afraid of the doll. "But why won't you explain yourself? You know, I don't believe in living dolls or anything…"

"Then why did ya say 'Wind' to Hyoukai's letter?" she frowned. "What did you think 'Wind' meant?"

"I didn't say wind to anything," the boy frowned back at her.

Yuki-Koori looked up at Hyoukai. "Hyoukai, did this boy respond to the letter?"

Hyoukai twinkled, a 'yes' which could be understood by the maiden. Yuki-Koori glared at the boy, but just as she prepared to speak again, the door flung open to reveal a girl who appeared to be in her late teens. She had extraordinarily long brown hair and green eyes, which Yuki-Koori noted made her seem like the boy's older sister. Her guess was confirmed when the boy yelled at the girl to get out.

"Hold up! Did my prize come today? I've been waiting for almost two days," She shouted, exasperated. Then, her eyes found Yuki-Koori, who was staring up at her with awe. Her eyes widened considerably. "Nice doll, Takumi…"

"It's nice to meet someone who guesses 'doll' before 'demon spawn'," Yuki-Koori grinned up at the girl, who jumped back in shock. "I think YOU'RE the one who said wind!"

"This…this is my prize," The girl mumbled softly. "A freakin' living doll…"

"See, Hyoukai?" Yuki-Koori smiled up at her artificial spirit. "It was her, not the crybaby kid!"

The girl laughed. "Takumi, you started crying? You're almost eleven, you baby!"

"I did not cry, Takana!" the boy whined, throwing his fists in the air. "You're a tattletale, Yuki-Koori!"

"Oh boohoo, little Takumi," she stuck her tongue out at him, which only amused Takana further. "I should probably be getting down to business or something."

"Business?" Takumi asked. "Is this about the covenant again?"

"Yes," Yuki-Koori frowned. "I can't move for much longer on my own without entering a covenant."

"Okay, what do we have to do?" Takana, who Yuki-Koori noticed had become comfortable with the idea of a living doll much faster than any of her previous potential mediums had, asked. Yuki-Koori walked over to Takana, beckoning her to come down to her level. Takumi, who was now interested and a tad jealous, came closer as well. Yuki-Koori held out her hand, and a bronze ring molded into the shape of a rose materialized on her ring finger.

"Kiss the ring, one of you…preferably Takana," Yuki-Koori muttered the last part softly, but Takumi still picked up on it and pouted. "No offense, kid. I'll just get more energy from her, that's all."

Takana snickered, leaning down and kissing the ring. It began to glow a brilliant shade of pale blue, filling up the entire room with light. Takana and Takumi were both horribly blinded, and began to scream. Yuki-Koori held her ears in irritation, but still couldn't help but sigh in delight at how much more power entering this covenant had brought her. Warmth filled her body, which had always been unusually cold compared to her sisters'. Once the light finally died down, Takana clutched her hand in pain, groaning softly. Takumi tried to comfort her, but she just smiled weakly.

"Thanks for that," Yuki-Koori smiled. "Sadly, I have to be moving in here. All I need is my case, really. Oh, and food! Do you guys have cookies? I like Coca-Cola, too. Shinku says I should drink tea like the others, but I like soda better."

Takana was overwhelmed by the onslaught of information, but her confusion was quickly replaced by irritation when the screeching sound of a violin sounded outside. Yuki-Koori held her ears for a second, frowning, until it finally hit her. Unfortunately for her it was too late, and no less than a second later the window began to crack. She stood up, pushing the two humans out of the way. Soon enough the window completely shattered, sending glass flying in every direction known to man. Yuki-Koori snapped her fingers quickly, and two pillars of ice shot up from the floor around Takumi and Takana, protecting them from the glass. Once the onslaught of glass ceased, the second doll of Rozen Maiden, Kanaria, landed on their windowsill. Yuki-Koori narrowed her eyes, but grinned. She hadn't seen her elder sister in almost sixty years, but she knew if Kanaria hadn't changed at all since they'd last met, their "best enemy" type relationship would be as strong as ever.

"Long time no see, sis," Yuki-Koori smirked at her older sister, who returned smirk with the same amount of eagerness.

"Long time indeed, y'know!" Kanaria responded, surveying the room. "Eh? I was so sure your new medium would be here…"

Yuki-Koori snickered, gesturing to the pillars of ice in the corner of the room. "I couldn't have ya end up killing her right after I entered the covenant. Oh, and her little brother is there too."

"Anyway, Micchan is in the apartment a floor up, so I imagine we'll be seeing more of each other!" Kanaria grinned, motioning toward the broken window. "Which is good for the Alice Game, y'know?"

"Yep," Yuki-Koori agreed, smiling. "Now fix the window and get outta here. We'll continue this when the other sisters are awake. By the way, are any of them awake…?"

"Eh…Shinku is," Kanaria frowned, trying to recall. "But she's always awake, in every era…"

"Yeah," Yuki-Koori agreed, sighing loudly. "Any others?"

"Hina-Ichigo is," Kanaria finally remembered. "Shinku beat her in the Alice Game, but she won't take her Rosa Mystica…"

"Hina?" Yuki-Koori smiled, nostalgic feelings nearly choking her. "I remember her. It's a good thing Shinku might be getting soft; I want to see her and Hina again."

Suddenly, a soft voice groaned from behind the ice pillars. Yuki-Koori grinned sheepishly. "Maybe you should go now, Kana. I'll be seeing you around."

"I'll be waiting for your Rosa Mystica!" Kanaria said cheerfully, calling for her artificial spirit. "Pizzicato!"

Pizzicato, who had apparently been having a chat with Hyoukai, returned to its mistress. Kanaria jumped back out of the window, opening her parasol. Pizzicato followed behind her, trying its best to fix the window and keep up with her at the same time. Yuki-Koori smiled, satisfied, and lowered the pillars of ice. Takumi gasped, shivering, and Takana followed suit while grumbling a few choice words at the doll. Yuki-Koori started to apologize, but she then felt the fatigue of hunger wash over her.

"I haven't had a decent meal in years! Soda and cookies, Takana," Yuki-Koori ordered, sitting down on her case and relaxing.

"Is that what you call a decent meal?" Takana gagged, not being particularly fond of sweets and the like. "Yuck. Takumi, you get it!"

Takumi grumbled a little, but figuring he could also get some for himself, made no further complaint. The second he closed the door, Takana flopped onto the bed and busied herself with the television. Yuki-Koori, highly intrigued, looked along with her. She remembered the last time she was awake that televisions were a relatively new invention, and that her last medium had not had one. They had been on a walk one afternoon, sight-seeing. While crossing from the industrial zone into the shopping district, the first thing they'd seen was an advertisement for a little, ten inch black-and-white television. These were everywhere they went; only rivaled by the war posters displayed around. Sometimes Yuki-Koori, who had last been awake from the beginning to the near-end of the World War Two, wondered why these humans fought enough for there to even be a second. Shinku, who she had been sitting beside at the moment, simply reminded her that they fought quite a bit themselves, and that it was only fate that treated them so.

She'd had no idea why 'fate' had anything to do with it, but she simply nodded, knowing Shinku would probably have a more level-headed opinion than Suiseiseki or Kanaria. Yuki-Koori did not like stressing her mind on such issues, and—admittedly—would rather be having a snowball fight with Fumiko or tearing through her sister's library. At this thought, she frowned.

Fumiko, the ninth doll of Rozen Maiden, was Yuki-Koori's closest companion. And she, according to Kanaria, was not awake. She had always woken up shortly after Fumiko, so this was a shock once she realized it. She pouted, trying to get up on the bed beside Takana. Unfortunately for her, being the second shortest of the Rozen Maidens—only an inch or so taller than Hina-Ichigo—was proving to be a bit of problem. She huffed, latching onto the covers for dear life, and tried desperately to pull herself up.

Takana, who was too absorbed by the television to notice the doll's dilemma, only laughed in response to a joke that had been told. Yuki-Koori whined, slipping back down the covers and falling head-first onto the hardwood floor. At that moment, Takumi came back in, holding a large tray of cookies and a couple of glasses of soda. Setting them down on the floor, he finally noticed the little doll.

"Did you fall off of the bed?" he asked, bending down next to her and laughing a little. "I used to complain about being the shortest in the family, but I guess not anymore. Here you go."

He picked her up, setting her down beside Takana, who was holding her nose at the smell of the fresh cookies.

"Gimme!" Yuki-Koori gasped, forgetting momentarily about her hurting head and self-esteem.

Takumi pushed the tray closer to the doll, who eagerly grabbed and bit down into a cookie so big in comparison to her own head that she could barely fit her hands around the sides. Takana sat up, giving in and nibbling on the edges of one herself.

"It can't be helped," She'd said, flopping back down on her pillow.

"You know, I only fixed these up hoping you'd decide to explain yourself sometime or another." Takumi admitted through a mouthful of cookie.

"Oh, this again," Yuki-Koori groaned. "I was hoping I'd have one medium that would just…roll with it, I guess. But fine."

Takumi rolled over on his belly, eyeing her patiently. Yuki-Koori simply rolled her eyes and prepared the explanation for the seventh time in her existence. She wondered quietly to herself why she had counted, but began anyway. "Yuki-Koori, again, pleased to meet'cha. I'm the eighth doll of the Rozen Maiden, a set of dolls made by Rozen. I have seven older sisters and one younger. Maybe more, but I really hope not. Anyway, I was made to fight my sisters because my father, Rozen, wants the perfect little girl. If we do manage to win a fight, our prize is the soul of our sister, who we turn into a lifeless thing," here, she gestured to one of Takana's stuffed animals. "…Yeah, like that. Once we kill all of 'em, we get to see Rozen again, and he'll accept that one as his perfect daughter."

Takumi and Takana shuddered at the thought of killing each other just to see their own father. Takumi thought to himself that he'd have to give his father a hug when he got home tomorrow. However, for now he couldn't help but speak at how unjust as this story was. "But that's so stupid! Perfection doesn't exist, right Takana?"

"Right," Takana piped up. "Who does that guy think he is, anyway? If I ever see him, why, I'll just have to…"

Takana stopped here, as Yuki-Koori was laughing a little. "Perfection doesn't exist. I don't think it does, at least. It's kind of a suck-ish job, but my last medium's father was a sewage plant worker, so I guess I can't complain much."

"I wish I could be as optimistic as you, that's for sure," Takana sighed longingly, knowing this trait would make it more likely for her parents to treat her like the adult she wanted to be treated like.

"I couldn't really see over those ice pillars or anything, but was that girl one of the 'sisters'?" Takumi asked, remembering a few green curls and some yellow and orange clothing.

"Yup, sure was," Yuki-Koori smiled. "She's Kanaria, the second doll. We're pretty good friends…you know, for being told to kill each other and all."

"You don't all hate each other?" Takana asked, her pictures of angry little dolls beating each other up leaving her head. "That's a relief, I guess…"

"Oh, not at all," Yuki-Koori confirmed. "Some of us get along pretty nice. The twins, Kanaria and I…" She refrained from mentioning Fumiko for the moment, already a little depressed at the prospect of not having a library to raid for a while.

"Well, it's getting late," Takana noted, yawning a little. "Want me to set out a futon for you, Yuki? It might be a little big, but I'm sure we can roll it up a little."

"Nah," Yuki-Koori said, pointing at her case. "I sleep there."

"In that dark old case?" Takana frowned. "It'd be no problem setting out a futon, really."

"You humans are kind of different than me," Yuki-Koori reminded her medium, sticking her tongue out in a childish manner. "My case is really comfortable to me. I can dream there, but not really anywhere else. Beds are only comfortable to me when I'm awake…"

"Wait!" Takumi butted in, almost in a concerned tone. "Do we need to wind you back up again in the morning?"

"Very cute," Yuki-Koori said teasingly. "No, as long as I don't get killed, your winding up will keep me moving for a few years, possibly. I just sleep for a few hours, like you guys. Goodnight."

"Goodnight,"

Her case finally closed, and a few seconds later they heard soft snoring. Takumi looked at his older sister, obviously a little worn out from the day's events.

"How are we going to keep her from mom and dad anyway?" Takana asked, raising an eyebrow at the thought of her mom catching either of them, especially Takumi, playing with a doll. And the fact that it was a living doll only complicated the situation further. "Any ideas?"

"No," Takumi sighed, bouncing at the edge of Takana's bed. "She's really pretty…"

Takana laughed. "Crushing on a doll?"

Takana had to admit, Yuki-Koori was very pretty. Her long, silvery hair ran straight until it hit about three inches to the bottom, where it was the pulled into soft curls. Her bangs were straight and medium-length at her forehead, but closer to her ears they were long and pulled into more curls. Her outfit was very warm looking; it was most definitely designed for a winter-themed doll. Rested upon her shoulders and going down to her forearm was a thick, white capelet, fashioned almost like a winter coat. Underneath, however, was a relatively normal looking, Victorian styled dress. It was cut off at the stomach by a corset-resemblant set of grey cords, but at the bottom her white skirt flew out freely until it touched her ankles. And, to top the outfit off was a pair of snow boots and winter gloves, perfectly sized for her doll hands and feet. And, although she hadn't gotten a good look into her eyes, she remembered them to be a gray-ish blue color. Still, she couldn't just not tease her brother a little.

In all her thinking, Takumi had run away back to his own room. She laughed, lying back down in her own bed. Things had just become more interesting, maybe even for the better. How unusual.

A/N: Even though I'm sure no one is going to look at this or review it…Hello! I'd long ago thought about posting a story here with my dolls joining the 7 canon dolls, and I finally did it! –patting self on the back- I hope you come to love and enjoy my characters as much as you love the real Rozen Maidens, but if you don't that's alright! I have 6 chapters available at the moment, and I'll continue to write if you guys like it! Excuse my horrible use of commas and semi-colons and my frequent tense switches, though…

Until next time!