Lying in the name of love
Sheets slither and slide over the inhabitant of the bed as he attempts to insulate his body heat. Freezing air flows through a shattered window (damn that wicked doll) and engulfs the room. The young boy groggily sits up, preparing to defend his legs for when he will approach that suitcase to ask for the assistance of the pompous doll inside.
There is no need.
Jagged shards glow a rose-red as they levitate upwards and fuse together to prevent the temperature from descending any further. This can't be happening. It's just a trick of the eyes—yeah, that's it, because he's not wearing his glasses, just put them on, and go back to sleep.
He puts on his glasses.
She's still there.
"What?"
"Uh…why are you awake?"
"It's nothing. But if you must know, the wind was quite loud. Honestly, what a worthless servant."
"Hey! It's you cursed dolls' fault! You all—"
"Jun, go get me some tea at once."
"What?! No way! It's 1:30 in the morning! Go get it yourself—Ow!" So much for defending his legs.
"Make it darjeeling tea."
"Yeah, yeah…"
"We say "yes" once, correct?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…agh!" After receiving another kick to his leg, he carefully places one foot in front of the other, lest he awaken his sister and Hinaichigo.
As he boils the water, a thought occurs to him: Shinku has never complained about the wind before. Sure, she's mentioned how cold it gets, but…the wind wasn't that loud…
Eh, it's probably nothing.
Jun ascends the stairs (cautiously, of course) and returns to his room.
"Here."
"Really, you shouldn't keep a lady waiting for so long."
"Shut up."
"Ah, this tea is lukewarm. Did you pour the boiled water into the cup, and then the pot, like Nori? Perhaps I should give both of you lessons—"
"If you don't like it, don't drink it!"
"But…" she begins to whisper, eyes fixated upon the clear brown liquid, "There's a subtle flavor, that most people would miss…it's…"
Suddenly, her lips curve upwards.
Why is his heart palpitating so quickly?
"By the way, when I woke up, I saw Nori bring a blanket in here."
"Ah, so that's where this came from…"
"She really cares about you, Jun…"
"Yeah…"
"Well…good night."
"G'night."
XXX
"Jun-kun, you're awake!"
"It's about time the puny human woke up."
"Yay! Time to climb Jun!"
"Agh! Get off of me!"
Despite the sudden cacophony that has enveloped the room, Shinku's lips remain closed.
"Look everyone! Detective Kun-kun is on!"
"Yay! Detective Kun-kun!" Hinaichigo jumps off her chair and rushes to the TV, plopping directly in front of it.
"Don't sit so close; you'll damage your eyes, Hinaichigo."
"Hweh…okay, Shinku…" She crawls towards the sofa and scales its fluffy green surface, and takes a seat.
Jun rises out of his chair.
"Huh? Jun-kun, where are you going?"
"To the library. Uh…thanks…for the food…oh, and the blanket too."
The front door slams shut.
"Eh? What blanket is he talking about…?"
Still sitting primly on the sofa, Shinku takes a sip of her black tea, and quietly utters:
"You're welcome, Jun…"