With Barasuishou recently defeated, Hinaichigo and Souseiseki still in slumber and Rozen's last words, the quest to return the fallen begins, Sakurada Jun being a person to naturally take action, investigates.
"Sakurada-kun, these are all the books I managed to find, I have already gone through most of these and did not see anything about… Sakurada-kun?"
"Ah… yes I'm listening, either way I want to take a look at them"
Turning his attention back to the bookshelf Sakurada Jun continued rummaging through its contents.
"Sakurada-kun you're making a mess, and those books you're returning aren't in the right order either, Sakurada-kun?"
"Mmm…"
This time it did not seem like he had heard, but only someone who just met him would come to that conclusion, anyone else would know that he just wasn't paying attention.
"We have searched this entire section twice and we have not found anything new, I suggest we concentrate on what we have"
"Mmm…"
Kashiwaba Tomoe was not a person to get easily frustrated, but everyone has their limits, and she just reached hers.
"Sakurada-kun!" Her voice was not too loud to cause attention, she did not need to be, her tone and the book forcefully dropped on the table was enough to emphasize her discontent.
"Wh… what's wrong"
"I'm worried about you, you're eating less each day, it's clear that you have not slept and it's not like you to be so… distracted"
"Don't worry about me I feel fine, and I have slept, just not so much" Typical for Jun to give such defensive answers.
"That's not reassuring, I want to help HinaIchigo and Souseiseki just as much as you do but right now I'm more concerned about your health"
"Alright look how about we take these books and call it a day, it's getting late anyways" Once again a defensive answer, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation. "These were hidden in the back of the shelf, I have a feeling they have information that can help, plus they're not in German"
"Back of the bookshelf you say…" Silently she stepped closer wanting to look at the items the young boy held, being a small amount shorter than him was giving her difficulty observing the books.
"Wh… what… what is it?" He stammered, startled at seeing the girl peer suddenly and closely over his shoulder.
"I have already seen those, there is nothing in them that can help, both of them are just standard crafting and shaping techniques used in generic doll creation, nothing out of the ordinary"
"Are you sure you looked at them thoroughly, they're both very thick and you could have missed something while reading them in such a short time"
"I can't say I'm sure, I skipped parts of various chapters, but I did have plenty of time to look through them to say that there is nothing helpful for our situation, I began reading them a week after HinaIchigo first arrived at mi house"
Based on the event just five days ago of asking her for assistance with his investigations he had assumed she recently gone through the books therefore possibly missing important details.
"Ah… sorry" A genuine apology for questioning her work with only an assumption.
"That's alright" She indicated with a gentle smile.
"So what did you find?"
"Ah yes" Turning to the books she had forcefully dropped minutes ago "I found these three, these two I already read and there is nothing interesting on them" Setting aside the two books they both concentrated on the remaining one "This is the first time I've seen this one, at glance the content looks very normal, much like the ones you found"
"You say you haven't read it yet so there's still a chance that it might be useful right?"
"Correct, there is always a chance"
Neither of them giving notice of how obvious the answer was to such a question.
"Alright, that's more than enough, I'll start as soon as I get home"
"I would like to look at it first" A statement more than a request.
"Mmm…" Entranced by his own thoughts he did not pay attention to his friend's words, he was quickly brought back when she picked up the book in front of him.
"Ah… I wouldn't like to trouble you so much, I don't want go home empty handed either" He quickly said seeing that his book was being taken away.
'Hmm?' Letting things go as they are now would not let her sleep well at night so utilizing her wit and a little bit of luck decided to put her newly thought plan to action.
"It's no trouble Sakurada-kun, you can take the opportunity to rest"
A sigh of relief escaped his lips, she did not correct his response, meaning that he successfully hid the fact that he had no idea what she said to him.
Or so he thought.
"I told you I'm alright, if that book is of any help I would like to find out as soon as possible"
"Well I will work harder so I can give you faster results"
"N… No!, that's not what I meant, I want to be the one to look at it so you won't have to, I mean I don't want you to feel pressured"
"Ah… well then it would still be better if I keep it, the time you would spend reading the book will be better spent resting and in that time I will do the work with no pressure"
She made a very good point.
"You would also have a difficult time as this book is in German"
"Shinku knows German so that won't be a problem"
"Shinku already has enough to do, it would be best not to burden her further"
She was right, he could not argue with that.
"Well I don't want to go back without something to do"
"Here" She handed him the two earlier books almost immediately, clearly showing that she anticipated his response.
"Wait you said that these were no help at all didn't you?"
"Yes and you said you wanted to look at them anyways"
Even though it was not an argument but a friendly discussion, she was clearly winning.
"Let's get going then, I have to do some errands before it gets dark, I'm sure you have things to do as well Sakurada-kun"
"Um… Yeah"
Book in hand Tomoe left the library followed by her friend, a comfortable silence was shared while on their way home.
"Hey"
"Yes?"
"You left the books"
"Yeah…" He responds, knowing what she was referring to.
Normally one would immediately follow up with an explanation, however the few seconds of silence indicated that he did not intend to give one.
"Kashiwaba-san, are you sure it's no trouble for you"
"I'm sure, if it will make you feel at ease I will let you take it"
"Feel at ease?, sorry but… I'm not quite sure what you mean"
"You've been very insistent on taking the book with you, does it bother you that I have it?"
"No of course not, it's not like that at all, it's just… well…"
"You want to cheer up Shinku and Suiseiseki by bringing back new information"
A flawless deduction, for a moment he wondered if he was just too predictable.
"Yeah but that's not all, I…"
"You feel… helpless… because you were not able to help the dolls in Enju's Alice game"
Another flawless deduction, he did not like the fact that she used the word helpless, even though it was most accurate.
"Yes, there's one more thing I…"
"You feel like you're taking advantage of my help"
'How is she doing that' "Yeah, but you said it's no trouble right?""I did, however, I only meant that its no trouble interpreting the book, for my time I want you to do something for me, a favor"
He did not expect her to say that, she had a way of continuously surprising him.
"Sure, what is it that you need?" He was now very curious to what she would ask of him.
She stopped and turned to face him, staring at him with a pondering look, this of course made the boy very uncomfortable, for a moment she closed her eyes and remained facing him still in thought.
"Kashiwaba-san?"
"Hmm?"
"What is it that you want?" He says with an annoyed tone
They resumed walking.
"Sakurada-kun, before I tell you what I want, are you willing to do whatever I ask?"
What could she possibly want to make her ask him something like that, he was even more curious than before but now that feeling was mixed with a bit of fear.
"Um… I guess so, I mean it also depends on what it is, not that I don't trust you but come on, it's weird that you're asking me something like that… ah hehe… he…" This answer was accompanied by dozens of hand gestures further indicating that he was very nervous.
By now they reached the point where they part ways.
"I suppose it is strange, I will see you later then Sakurada-kun" She turned around and started walking away.
"Wait what did you want me to do!"
She turned her head to look at him before responding.
"Are you willing to do whatever I ask, no arguing, and no questions asked?"
'I can't believe she's still asking me that, and now she added something else to it' "Yes, yes I am" Curiosity got the best of him.
Time moved much slower for him now, as she turned her body around, opened her mouth, moved her lips to form the words.
"I want you to get some sleep"
And this concludes Kashiwaba Tomoe's master plan.
If Jun was sitting he would have fallen off his chair, but he was standing so that was not possible but he did do a very comical double take that provoked a small laugh from his female friend.
"That's all you wanted!, you didn't have to make such a big deal just to ask me that, besides I already told you I'm fine" How many times has he told her that and she would just not let it go.
"You said you wouldn't argue about it"
"Yeah but…"
Right there he realized it, constantly insisting that he rests, the quick answers, the way she responded for him, the questions.
"You tricked me!" He could never be seriously angry with Tomoe, all he could do was put as much shock to his words as possible.
"I had no other way of convincing you, well then have a good evening Sakurada-kun, I'm already late and I must get going, I'll tell you if I find out anything, so long" She waved.
Not giving him an opportunity to respond she left, running fast to get to her destination, while Jun observed her disappear into the corner he smiled and made his way home to start on her favor, which he finally admits he needs.
Tomoe is a clever girl.