The dolls in this story are ball-jointed dolls. Look them up if you're curious!
He had just wanted to grab some lunch, really, so it stood to reason that Komaeda wasn't quite in the mood when the cashier at the local conbini told him about the prize drawing included with his purchase of a bento. He was constantly winning the damn things. What would it be this time? Another vacation he wouldn't take? A TV he'd shove in the closet…
"Congratulations, sir!" the girl behind the counter reached underneath to fish out a long, narrow box, which she handed over to him. "You've won this lovely doll! I'm sure your girlfriend will love it," she winked.
"Thank you very much, Miss," Komaeda replied politely, attempting to gather up the small bag containing his lunch, while not dropping the doll box.
Komaeda hadn't been eating lunch at home very often these days. More and more, he found himself needing a break from the quiet echoing all around the house left for him by his parents.
As he made his way to the park, he mulled over the cashier's words. Had he really struck her as someone who would be in a relationship? Komaeda wasn't even sure if he was interested in girls that way; it just wasn't something that crossed his mind often. Either way, it wasn't as if anyone could ever possibly want to be anywhere near him, and he generally disliked pondering things that had zero possibility of happening.
He settled himself onto the park bench, placing the box beside him, and tugging on the collar of his tee. Despite the summer weather, he remained bundled neck to knee in his usual green jacket. There was some measure of comfort in maintaining an extra layer between himself and the rest of the world.
Popping open his lunch, he nibbled on the rice briefly, before setting the meal aside, situating the ornate doll box on his lap instead. His finger tips traced the gold embossed roses meandering across the powder pink lid before gingerly pulling it open.
Nestled inside was a pale figure made of some PVC-like plastic. The doll was intricately jointed. Her dark hair was pulled into two neat little buns, with the straight bangs creating a frame above her violet glass eyes.
Despite all the care taken in the eyes and hair, the box contained no clothing, a fact made even more apparent by the doll's ample bust size. It made sense- give a product away for free, yet make it so the winner still had to purchase something. Nothing's ever really free after all.
As he began to lift the small plastic girl from her cushions, a sudden gust of wind kicked up. He heard a clatter from beside him that he could only assume was his lunch toppling to the sidewalk. 'Assuming' was all that he could manage for the moment, due to the fact that a stray sheet of paper had plastered itself across his face.
"Doll's Hope IV, Doll Convention."
He read to himself after peeling the violently pastel flyer from his face.
"…Nanami-san?"
Tsumiki's whisper was met with as much silence as could be had in the crowded event hall.
"Nanami…san?" She attempted once more. This time, some string could be seen beneath the table cloth of the vendor table.
"…You called?"
A pair of cloth cat ears poked out from the underneath the table, as Nanami emerged, bundled snug in her hoodie.
"Did you enjoy your nap? They say that ten minutes is the optimal duration for naps…in order to feel most well rested…"
"You only let me have seven, I think."
In reality, Tsumiki's table-mate had been asleep under the table for closer to an hour.
Nanami seated herself in the folding chair beside Tsumiki's, pulling out her PSP. "Did you get any more business?" she asked.
"Not yet…" There had a been a decently sized line in front of the booth right after opening, but by afternoon most attendees had moved on the other displays or simply gone home.
She began to fiddle nervously with a length of elastic from her supply kit.
"Why don't you take a break and go look around?" Nanami yawned, reluctantly taking one hand away from her game to hold in front of her mouth. "I can look after your stuff for a while."
"A-are you really sure?"
Nanami nodded. Though Nanami usually had her head buried in her game, she was still generally a fairly observant person. Tsumiki didn't doubt her friend's ability to hold down the fort, even if she did feel guilty leaving the other girl by herself.
She began to browse the aisle, feeling her legs stretch after sitting for half the day. Exquisitely sculpted dolls and elegant miniature clothing beckoned from all sides. Everyone exhibiting at the event was so incredibly talented, all creating amazing things by hand. Tsumiki, on the other hand, did nothing more than repair dolls that had been made by others.
She glanced back toward her own booth. 'Nurse Tsumiki's + Doll Hospital', the pink banner festooned across the front of the table read in bold English. Nanami had made it for her using the computer and printing lab at school. Tsumiki was hopeless at graphic design.
She continued to traverse the hall, comparing the booths to her own. There was a pink-haired boy selling motorized dolls that could walk about., while the adjacent table was run by a man in a long black jacket, who's table was covered dolls shaped like little animals. A blonde girl cooed over the resin creatures, as the pink-haired boy wrung out his black beanie hat in frustration. Tsumiki thought that perhaps she had seen the three around school.
One particularly striking booth was manned by a dark-haired gothic lolita girl. The dolls set upon the table were impressively styled as lady vampires with their man-servants, painted blood dripping from their minute fangs. Some were even set in an elaborate diorama involving an ornate manor sitting room backdrop and tiny, velvet-lined coffin.
The dark color-scheme of the table display made the shopper's white hair stand out startlingly as he inspected the table's wares, before moving on to the next. Hands in his pockets, he walked slowly, taking in the entire room.
It wasn't unusual to see men shopping at these events, but the typical otaku types tended to know their way around, gravitating straight toward whichever table the Hatsune Miku dolls were displayed on. This person appeared to be lost.
"Ah, um, ex-excuse me…" Tsumiki began.
"Everyone here is very talented, aren't they?" the boy interrupted, genuinely impressed, as he continued to survey the room.
Tsumiki wasn't quite sure if he was speaking to himself or not, as he continued looking around the room, rather than at her. It was just as well; it wasn't as if she was really anything to look at anyway.
"They are…" she responded dejectedly. "But, um... sorry to bother you, but did you…need help with anything?"
The boy finally turned to face her. "You shouldn't talk to strangers, you know. What if I were here to steal expensive dolls? Now you know too much and I'll have to drag you away and kill you!" he exclaimed cheerfully.
Tsumiki backed against the table, causing the display to rock violently. "W-what? …I-"
"It was a joke!" the boy chuckled. "I'm here to find clothes for this one…" he pulled a nude doll from the bag hanging off his shoulder.
The girl running the table Tsumiki cowered against clucked her tongue at them, fixing the two with a red-eyed glare. Clearly, they had overstayed their welcome.
"I'm sorry!" Tsumiki chirped, hurrying farther down the aisle, strange boy following close behind.
"I, um, I don't know much about clothes, so you should probably find someone else to ask, so…"
"Is your doll naked too, then?"
Tsumiki looked at him as if he had implied that she were the one unclothed.
"I mean, you must have some kind of clothes on your doll, don't you? …of course, it's okay if you don't! I wouldn't want to judge other people's hobbies! Either way, do you mind if I take a look?"
"She's…back at my table…"
"Table?"
"It's…it's over there…" she pointed shakily in the general direction.
Before she knew it, she had led him straight to it.
The pink tablecloth was strewn with tiny limbs and parts and bits and bobs, as if one of the figures had been murdered while the pink-haired girl stationed there dozed rather than watch over things.
"You run a doll hospital?" Komaeda asked, impressed, picking up what appeared to be the lower part of a leg, turning it over in his hand.
Before Tsumiki could respond, Nanami began to stir, roused the strange voice. She blinked a time or two. "Who's this?"
"This is…" Tsumiki's eyes grew wide, horrified at her own rudeness in not asking the boy's name.
"Komaeda Nagito," he said, the girls introducing themselves in turn.
There came an uncomfortable pause until Tsumiki suddenly remembered why she had brought him over to the table in the first place.
She scrabbled under the table, emerging with a duffle bag. Slowly, she began to tug at the zipper, only to stop half way through, interrupted by the sudden arrival of Nanami's boyfriend.
"Nanami," Hinata deposited the hefty suitcase he'd been lugging on top of the table. "I brought the stuff you asked for."
"Ah, thanks." Nanami slid the bag off the table before leaning across the table to give Hinata a peck on the cheek. "I think… This should be just what we need," she continued, looking upon the bag's contents with approval.
"It's all gaming equipment!" Hinata ceased rubbing at the lip gloss mark on his cheek in exasperation. "I thought it would be stuff you guys need for the table, like your lunches or something. Did you two even bring anything to eat?"
Both girls shook their heads.
Hinata took a step backward as he finally noticed Komaeda, who was now bending to inspect the other boy's badge.
"Hinata-kun?" Komaeda straightened after reading the name. "You set that bag right on top of their display. You should pay more attention to how hard your girlfriend is working! I know, why don't you go buy her something from the machines out in the lobby?" he suggested, though, in reality, Nanami was only working hard at getting Minako to Social Link with Shinji, and the table had already been little more than a mishmash of doll parts worthy of a horror movie set.
"Ah, this is Komaeda-san…I think," Nanami introduced.
"You 'think'?" Hinata sighed. "C'mon, Nanami. I'll buy you a Blue Ram."
After watching the two exit, Nanami clasping Hinata's hand as they walked, Komaeda began to tidy up the table, organising parts and supplies alike to create a tight little display rivaling some of the other more modest booths.
Once finished, he turned to Tsumiki. "I'm sorry that I only told him to get your friend something. I have a bento in my bag somewhere. You can have it, if you'd like."
He set down his still unclothed doll and opened his satchel, pulling out the lunch he had bought to replace the one that had fallen off the bench earlier.
"A-are you sure I can have something like this? I've gone without food for days before, so a few hours is nothing, really!" she attempted to smile reassuringly, though it was clear that this girl wasn't always the best actress. "I couldn't take it from you...you m-might get hungry yourself, and then you'll hate me for being such a pig..."
The boy laughed. "I was just going to get myself something from the machine after they came back, but would it make you feel better if we shared? I wasn't planning on eating the whole thing anyway. I mean, I could get you something from the machine too, but I think it's mostly just candy bars out there…"
"I might make the food taste bad..." Tsumiki nodded hesitantly, "but...if you're really sure..."
"I could say the same. I'm sure you'd rather eat with your friends; I know I'm really a poor substitute, but I'd be happy if you could make do with me until they get back."
"T-thank you so much." Tsumiki said, as Komaeda cleared off a spot on the table he had just arranged so nicely, before lifting the lid off the box and handing the girl a pair of disposable chopsticks.
"I guess two pairs stuck together when I tried to take one. Isn't that lucky?"
The two ate in silence for a time, watching the various people who passed by the booth, a few taking a business card now and then, before Tsumiki finally put down her chopsticks, afraid to overstep and take more than her share.
"Is there anything I can do to repay you? You could..." she quickly looked around the area, "stick doll parts up my nose...or in my ears... or my-"
"Hmm, I think I'll pass. What you can do is tell me how you got interested in all of this." Komaeda made a sweeping gestured around the room.
"…I didn't show you yet, did I?" Tsumiki asked, frowning as she unzipped her bag the rest of the way.
Komaeda wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting, though by this time he had already formed some inkling that whatever she had in the bag wasn't exactly going to be normal, even given the venue. Talented people tended to be very idiosyncratic, after all.
Tsumiki's pale, calloused fingers emerged cradling a figure, clothed in black and red, blonde hair pulled into two fluffy pigtails topped off with tiny accessories that appeared to be somewhat unsettling little teddy bear faces.
It was beautiful doll to be sure, though something about the smug expression on its face left Komaeda feeling vaguely pissed off, and he wasn't quite sure why.
What stood out the most, however, were the deep cracks running all along the doll's face and limbs. One hand was completely missing, leaving only an elastic-strung metal hook protruding from the wrist hole.
"So you fix other people doll's, but not your own?" Komaeda asked, looking the doll over with a thoughtful expression.
"…Yes," Tsumiki replied, looking down at a snipping of elastic that had fallen.
"I see."
"I've always liked miniatures and…small things since I was little," the girl continued, "I didn't have a lot of toys, so I held onto my rag dolls and baby even as I got older. I…I liked dolls because they never leave you, unless you make the choice to give them away. They can never leave on their own, though…and they can't do anything without you, you know? If you don't dress them, they stay naked. If they break, they need you to fix them… So I saved up my money, and got this…" she stroked the doll's hair, fingers shaking slightly.
The more he looked at her face, the more he thought that Tsumiki looked like a doll herself, eyes wide, beatuty mark so perfectly placed, it might have been painted on.
Komaeda considered for a moment. "Well, I think I understand what you're saying- things do need to be broken before they can fixed. I've always thought something like that, at least."
Though he couldn't help but wonder if she had broken the thing herself, or simply bought it like that (and hopefully at a discount).
At that moment, Nanami and Hinata returned.
"How was lunch?" Komaeda asked.
"I used up all my cash on the train fare getting over here, so I only had enough to buy Nanami something..." Hinata explained, gesturing at his pockets.
Nanami held up the can she had been sipping. "Here."
Hinata took the can, turning a little pink around the edges as he drank from the opening.
"Thanks," he said to Nanami, before informing the other two that he and Nanami could watch the table again while the other two took a break.
After browsing a few more booths, Komaeda settled on a simple white blouse and black skirt for his new resin companion.
At this point, most of the other attendees were starting to file out; the event would be closing soon.
"We started packing up for you. Hope you don't mind," Hinata said as they returned to the table.
"No, no! That's fine!" Tsumiki shook her head vigorously, "Sorry for all the trouble!"
The four finished breaking things down and exited the building. It seemed that Tsumiki had gotten more commissions for repair work than she had initially thought, as her bag was now jam-packed with more dolls and parts than ever.
"Want me to take that for you?" Komaeda asked as he and Tsumiki walked the other two to the train station, Hinata and Nanami a little ways ahead.
"O-oh no! I couldn't possibly ask you to do something like that!" she sputtered.
"Are you sure? It's really about all I'm good for."
Tsumiki cautiously slid the duffle off her shoulder, handing it over.
As Komaeda took it, his own bag slid off the opposite shoulder with a sad little snap.
"…Well that didn't sound good," he said knealing to peer inside the fallen bag, "Do you think maybe we could meet up again tomorrow and you could take a look at her?"
And so it would seemed that for once, his luck had given him something he wanted to hang onto after all.
The end
Just a heads up that I post all of my stories first to my Archive of Our Own account, under the name EvilMuffins. I don;t come on here very much any more, so if you like my work, that's a safer bet!