There was never a dull moment in the Kusabue household.
The noise was nearly endless, thanks to the eccentric doll lover who ran aforementioned household. It was a large apartment, but there was enough noise made to annoy most of their poor neighbors. Mitsu knew this, but she determined it simply could not be helped. Their neighbors didn't have a cute, living doll for a companion! They couldn't understand why it was completely necessary to scream about it for most daylight hours.
Well, except the Moriya family. But Yuki-Koori and Fumiko were away so often that it didn't make much of a difference.
At least, Mitsu thought so. Kanaria, cute as she was, wasn't always the best source for information.
"Oh, Kanaria," Mitsu sighed longingly as she glanced at the paper she'd just received in the mail that day. "Someone just offered to pay me a whole bunch of money for some pictures modeling their new line of doll clothing, and I only have one doll to do it with! Whatever shall I DO?"
Kanaria blinked, glancing up from her omelet to face her distraught medium. "What are you askin' me to do about it? Wait, Micchan, anything but that!"
Kanaria was definitely not in the mood to be around any of her sisters. With Hina-Ichigo's recent passing, the Alice Game was on all of their minds. Which one of her sisters would actually be willing to participate in a photo-shoot right now?
"I know they're a bunch of suckers," Kanaria thought irritably, trying to concentrate on her omelet instead of her pleading medium. "But they're definitely not going to agree to that, y'know!"
"Oh, please Kanaria?" Mitsu whined again, getting down on her hands and knees for an added effect. "I really need this money! Rent is due in…WAH!"
"Dummy," Kanaria sniffed, though her resolve was weakening a little at the thought of her medium being homeless due to her inability to spend money wisely. "You should stop buying all of those doll clothes, y'know!"
"Please, Kanaria?" Mitsu asked again, knowing her reduced tone might surprise Kanaria into agreeing. "I really need your help…"
Kanaria bit her bottom lip, visibly frustrated but lacking more resolve. "Kana might be able to hassle Yuki-Koori and Fumiko into doing it. And maybe that mean Sekihi; she always tags along with them."
Yuki-Koori had participated in Micchan's dress-up torture twice without too much complaint, after all. Fumiko was too nice to express her disgusted thoughts aloud. Sekihi had taken to following the two dolls like a baby lamb, so Kanaria knew it would be easy enough to get her to come. What about the others? They were clearly all awake. Suigintou and Kirakishou were definitely out of the question. Shinku had softened up lately, so perhaps she would want to join?
She wasn't too keen on either of the twins, and she didn't think either of the time would want to participate, either, so she ruled that out. That was four more dolls, if she played her cards right.
"Kana will be back soon," Kanaria resolved, sighing loudly as she walked out of the door and towards the elevator. Normally she would have taken a more bold entrance, even if her first destination was just downstairs, but she knew if she wanted her sisters on her side for the day broken windows were definitely out of the question.
As she stood in front of the door leading the Moriya family's apartment, she became increasingly worried. What if the parents were home? Even if the thought of her showing up like that was mildly humorous, Yuki-Koori would probably bash her head inside out if she found out she had revealed herself like that. She hesitantly held out her hand, rapping on the door twice. A tense moment passed before the door jiggled a little and then was yanked wide open. Kanaria's legs wobbled as they prepared themselves for a quick getaway, but the only person she could see there was a tired looking Yuki-Koori.
"Kanaria?" Yuki-Koori yawned out, stretching her arms high above her head as she finished. "What do you want?"
Kanaria was quickly losing confidence, but she knew she had to do this. For Micchan, even if she had brought about her own trouble.
"Listen here!" she started, pointing her parasol at the now frightened looking Yuki-Koori. "I have come down here to invite you to a very special event! You should be honored!"
Yuki-Koori made a face, but eventually stepped out into the hallway. "Kanaria, I hope you know you pick the worst times to invite us to play dress-up with that idiot you call Micchan."
"J-Just hear me out, Yuki-Koori!" Kanaria whined, dropping the parasol at her side in defeat. "Micchan bought so many doll clothes she can't pay the rent. So Kana, being the benevolent companion I am, decided to give her a hand! She needs us to model for a line of doll clothes!"
Yuki-Koori sighed. She didn't really care about Mitsu at all, even if she did end up homeless due to her own idiocy. But Kanaria, on the other hand, she did reluctantly find herself caring about. Even if Fumiko, Sekihi, and Shinku were all still waiting for her inside, she knew they were probably itching to stop talking about the inevitable and have a teensy bit of fun. Shinku's opinion on the matter was debatable at this point, but if she was really needed—even if it was for something stupid—she would help her sister out.
"Come inside," Yuki-Koori sighed out, placing her hand around Kanaria's shoulder and pulling her into the warm room. "A few of us are here. Maybe we could get something to happen."
"You're not such a bad sister after all!" Kanaria chirped, walking alongside Yuki-Koori as they entered what appeared to be Takumi's room. Sure enough, a few of their sisters were there. Sekihi was lounged lazily against a heated blanket with Fumiko beside her, but Shinku had opted to sit dutifully in the rocking chair across the room instead of relax.
"Oh?" Shinku looked up to see Yuki-Koori and Kanaria walking side by side. "It was the second doll. What do you want?"
"She might require our assistance," Yuki-Koori chuckled, knowing Kanaria would be mortified if forced to admit it herself. "Her medium's life is ruined and she needs us to model some doll clothes for money."
Sekihi made a face from her comfortable position on the floor. "And you invited her in for what reason, Yuki-Koori?"
"I-It should be an honor!" Kanaria pointed an accusing finger at the doll as she reminded her of this. "We'll be absolutely famous now! Especially me, the cutest!"
"I have to disagree," Sekihi smirked, rolling over to face Yuki-Koori. "I think Yuki-Koori is the cutest of us."
Yuki-Koori turned bright red at those words, kicking Sekihi's side in a panic. "Y-You are so…!"
"I think we're famous enough," Fumiko laughed at her sisters' odd exchange, though the kick Yuki-Koori administered was very cringe-worthy. "We are the Rozen Maidens. But we'll help her out, won't we, Shinku?"
Shinku sighed, closing the book she'd been reading and eyeing the second doll critically. "We do have a lot more to be thinking about than a photo shoot, you know. However…"
Kanaria waited for her answer impatiently, even tapping her feet a little as the tension grew higher.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt too much to take a break," she stood up as she said this, straightening her dress out a little. "We have been at this for two days now…though some of us have been working harder than others."
Sekihi smiled sheepishly, standing up and pulling Fumiko up with her. With that, the five dolls ambled awkwardly back upstairs to Micchan's apartment. Shinku was a little upset with herself for ignoring the possibility of Kirakishou striking while they were clearly vulnerable, but she also knew the doll had not made herself present at all since they had unintentionally sent her on a mission to rid of Suigintou's medium. Suigintou, she had been informed, had sent Kirakishou away herself for the moment. In that case, what else was left to assume but that she was planning something on an even larger scale? Could it be something that would catch them all off guard? Eliminate them all at once? The thought made her sick.
Either way, she wanted to do this. Not because she enjoyed the torture that came with being around Kanaria's eccentric medium, but because she wanted to do something out of the kindness of her heart for the doll. It was, she knew, unlike her.
But, with Hina-Ichigo's passing came incomprehensible amounts of guilt. She had not been entirely kind to the doll, even if she had left this world knowing they had tried their hardest to help her. The way she had treated the doll, as an inferior, was entirely shameful to her now. Hina-Ichigo had been brave enough to face Kirakishou, after all. How could such a doll be inferior? She had earned her right to be called the sixth doll of Rozen Maiden.
But, for now, this was the only way she could think to atone for her treatment of the doll.
"Y-You did help me out, Kana!" Micchan jumped up from her slumped position on the floor, running over to meet the newly arrived dolls. Yuki-Koori and Fumiko she did recognize, but who were the two others?
"R-Right," Yuki-Koori cleared her throat, moving herself slightly behind Fumiko. "The doll in the red is our sister Shinku, and the one with the creepy, red eyes is Sekihi."
Sekihi pouted, tugging on Yuki-Koori's arm. "My eyes aren't creepy! How dare you introduce me with that kind of a lie!"
"You're right, you're right," Yuki-Koori laughed, pulling Sekihi's tiny hand off of her arm. "At least you have two of them."
"I can't believe it!" Micchan blurted out, wrapping the five dolls into a painful hug as she did. "Your interactions are so cute! You can even argue! You even have a sarcasm function!"
"Kanaria, you sure have your hands full," Fumiko huffed out through the hug as she attempted to push the woman off of her poor sisters. Fortunately, Shinku intervened with a quick swish of her pigtails, knocking Micchan down about two feet away.
Kanaria shook her head, sighing. "Micchan is…very…"
"Interesting," Shinku interrupted irritably. "We don't have very long to stay, Mitsu. If you want something with us, shouldn't we get started now?"
"Oh, yes!" Micchan shot up, running over to her closet door and pulling it open. From it came a very large, intimidating looking box. It was sealed rather poorly with tape, but nearly every corner of box sported what appeared to be the name of the company.
'Marie's Doll World'
"Marie?" Shinku mused quietly, backing away as Micchan swayed unsteadily with the heavy box. "I wonder…"
"The presence of a new maestro is always interesting," Fumiko added from beside Shinku, causing her to jump. "Do you think her dolls are a force to be reckoned with?"
"Judging by the clothes," Yuki-Koori murmured as Micchan began frantically pulling the clothing out of the box. "She's pretty good. Do you think her shop is anywhere nearby?"
Before Shinku could respond, Micchan had already sorted out the clothes for which doll she wanted to wear them and had dropped their respective piles beside them.
"Micchan," Kanaria groaned as she flipped through the clothes. "There are so many outfits! And you got them all for free?"
"Sure did!" Micchan said proudly, waving the letter in the air. "Marie said she'd seen my pictures on the Internet and thought I was the perfect choice for the job!"
Yuki-Koori frowned. Takumi had, in his spare time, attempted to teach her about computers and the Internet, but they still confused her to no end. However, she knew if their pictures were somewhere on the Internet, they had most likely gathered considerable attention.
The Rozen Maidens had faithfully remained nothing more than myth to most people who had managed to find any information on them. While Rozen had not put any rules on hiding their existence from humans, obviously, it still made Yuki-Koori a little uncomfortable. Doll collectors, she had learned from experience, were very odd people sometimes. Obsessions made Yuki-Koori uncomfortable in general, especially after seeing Kirakishou's infatuation with Suigintou.
"Where, exactly, are you putting those pictures?" Fumiko piped up weakly as she gazed at the amount of pink outfits thrown her way. "I don't really feel comfortable with this, you know. You should have asked."
Micchan pouted. "Just on my blog. They have gained a considerable amount of traffic, but it's nothing you need to be worried about!"
With that, Micchan left Fumiko to her internal protests and began setting up her camera equipment and green screen. Sekihi sighed, shaking her head softly. Even if she hadn't been living in the human world for very long, she knew those things must have cost a fortune. And yet, they had been brought up here because she was low on money?
"What a load of crap," Sekihi grumbled, picking up the frilly, brown blouse on the floor and tracing the collar gently. "I like this one, though."
Shinku smiled a little as she looked through the clothing pile. Yuki-Koori had been right; the clothes were definitely superb in quality. She noticed Micchan had mostly set out very princess-like outfits for her to wear, crowns included. Micchan had read her personality well, which surprised her a little.
However, she couldn't help but be reminded of a conversation she'd had with Jun before she'd gone off to fight Suigintou. Nori had insisted their clothes should be washed, but her dress had to wait. First, she needed her cuffs fixed. Jun was reluctant, but eventually he had taken the tiny sewing kit out of his closet and began working on it.
Jun had an exceptional talent for sewing. Even enough so that Shinku often imagined a future when Jun was maestro like Rozen. His fingers were very magical, making watching him sew a very enjoyable activity.
She'd made him promise that one day, if she should become Alice, that he would sew her a princess robe in celebration. He'd doubted he had the skill to do that much, but Shinku knew the dresses in front of her could not hold a candle to the way Jun's clothes would look.
"Hina-Ichigo would have loved this," Fumiko noted quietly as she began pulling her dress off. "I'm so angry…I wish she could be here with us."
Hina-Ichigo had loved doing all things girly, dress-up definitely included. Though her previous medium, the young Tomoe, had often done those kinds of things with her, she'd been unable to since moving into the Sakurada household. It saddened Shinku as she realized Fumiko was right. Hina-Ichigo would have loved to dress up and pose cutely in front of a camera. She would definitely brighten the mood a little more.
And they really did need that now, even if Kanaria was doing an alright job as she paraded around the room.
Yuki-Koori pulled her shoes off, finally taking a glance at the pile for something to wear. Micchan had set out a few winter themed outfits, but none of them really caught her eye. She remembered the last time she'd been here to dress up, only a couple of months ago. She'd been dressed up as Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, which was very strange to her at the time.
Especially considering poor Micchan probably had no idea about the Alice Game or the supposed fate of her doll friend.
Fumiko slid next to Yuki-Koori, causing her to jump. Apparently, she had found something to wear despite her initial reluctance. From out of various piles she had put together quite the outfit, consisting of a few clips in the shape of stars in her hair and a flowing, blue dress that showed off every doll joint in her arm and everything below her knees. Her socks were short, frilly, and with a few blue stars embroidered in the sides.
"You look nice," Yuki-Koori commented through a smile, her hand automatically moving to play with the beads dangling off of her hair clips. "Decided to dress up after all, huh?"
"Thank you," Fumiko smiled back, rubbing her hands against the chiffon material on her dress. "I just picked the softest things I could find that sort of matched. I like this color."
"We should change things up more often," Yuki-Koori noted as she sifted through the pile again. "It's… a breath of fresh air."
"I agree," Fumiko grinned, bending down in the pile to help Yuki-Koori. "What about one like mine? You look pretty good in black…"
Yuki-Koori took the piece Fumiko had held up for her, examining it carefully. It was a lot like her dress, even down to the material. Though she and Fumiko looked nothing alike, she knew Fumiko had always wanted them to dress similarly. Before she could jokingly remind Fumiko of this, she had begun pinning a few black stars on the side of her head.
"Did you see Sekihi?" Fumiko whispered as she finished putting the stars and begun looking for a similar pair of socks. "She looks so cute in all that pink, but she's sad about her eyes…"
Yuki-Koori bit her lip, guilty she had pointed out Sekihi's red eyes so rudely. Though Sekihi seemed about as confident as a doll could be without being, well, Kanaria, she was obviously very insecure when it came to the color of her eyes—a striking, ruby red.
At that moment, Sekihi came up beside them. She was, like Fumiko had pointed out, clad almost entirely in pink. She had apparently dropped the brown blouse, and instead chose a very girly, very frilly pink dress. With this she also found a pair of white stockings and pink shoes, but her light colors choices completely contrasted the dark look she was sporting.
"I hate my red eyes," she announced irritably, folding her arms across her chest. "I can only wear dark clothes, or it looks weird!"
Yuki-Koori smiled a little, giving Sekihi an affectionate pat on the head. "Shut up, Sekihi. You look just fine in pink. Great, actually."
Sekihi's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's good. I was hoping I'd get a compliment from you after you so rudely did not acknowledge mine."
"Look!" Fumiko clasped her hands over her mouth as she gazed at Shinku, who was being helped get ready by a reluctant looking Kanaria. Her dress was dark red, like her normal attire, but much longer in comparison. "She looks like a princess…Oh, Sekihi, please give her that crown!"
Sekihi looked at Fumiko oddly, surprised by her enthusiasm, but brought the crown she had been twirling around her finger towards Shinku and gently placing it on her head despite the height difference. Shinku seemed extremely embarrassed by the attention she was getting, but continued to hold her calm, cold demeanor.
"You look so pretty, Shinku!" Fumiko squeaked happily, throwing her arms around the unsuspecting doll, who shrieked in surprise. "This look suits you really well!"
"Th-Thank you, Fumiko," Shinku choked out through Fumiko's tight grip, attempting to push her off without using her pigtails. "Now…shouldn't we be taking pictures?"
"Hey!" Kanaria whined, clearly disappointed with the lack of attention her new attire was receiving. "You're forgetting about the prettiest, you know!"
"I didn't forget," Fumiko stuck her tongue out at Kanaria as she explained herself. "I was just about to compliment you, too. You look very pretty, Kanaria."
"Oh, sure, now you say it," Kanaria pouted, glancing back over at the frantically working Micchan. "Kana thinks Micchan's going to have a field day, though. You'd better watch out."
Shinku frowned. "I've never seen a medium this eccentric. I'm already tired, and we haven't taken pictures yet."
"That's Micchan for you," Kanaria shook her head. "Oh, speak of the devil…"
Micchan was waving for them to come over now, as she had apparently finally finished setting up her cameras.
"You all look so adorable!" she sang happily. "Especially you, Kanaria, you look amazing!"
"Like Kana said," Kanaria murmured, giving her sisters a fearful glance. "You'd better watch out."
Before her sisters could heed the warning she'd given them, they were immediately scooped up and placed in front of a large, intimidating camera.
"Bye, Kanaria," Yuki-Koori sighed, closing the door behind her as she finally filed out of the Kusabue apartment. Shinku and Fumiko had ran back to Jun's house as soon as Micchan wasn't paying attention, but Yuki-Koori and Sekihi had decided to stay and wait for some copies of the photos. Takana and Takumi would enjoy them, Yuki-Koori knew. Takana had stored all of the photos from the previous photo shoot in her room, and Takumi had even made his favorite poster sized and framed it above his bed.
"That was a mess," Sekihi yawned out, placing her hands above her head as she yawned. "But I had fun."
"It wasn't awful," Yuki-Koori lied, glancing down at Sekihi as she trudged along with the large packet of pictures in her arms. "But I can see you liked it. You kept the girly outfit."
"I've taken a liking to pink, I think," Sekihi explained as she pushed open the door to the Moriya family's apartment and walked inside. "We're home."
Takana poked her head out from the kitchen. "Nice to see you guys again. You've been gone all day."
"We had stuff to do," Yuki-Koori informed her medium dully, though she did feel bad for being gone for so long. "We're back for a little while, though."
Takana let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Well that's good. Takumi's been such a pain in the ass since you left."
"I'm sure he won't be too mad," Yuki-Koori laughed, taking the packet of pictures out of Sekihi's hand. "We brought a bunch of pictures."
While Sekihi moved into the kitchen to help Takana with dinner, Yuki-Koori walked upstairs to talk to Takumi. Takana often did describe him as being a pain in the ass when she was away, which made her feel strangely guilty. Yuki-Koori knew she was not a likely candidate for winning the Alice Game. And if she did not, she wasn't going to be able to come back. Did that make her only option winning, even if it meant tearing her sisters down? Did she love Takumi enough to do that? It was something she'd have to consider at length, even if her time was running out. Even so, she couldn't help but be aware that her bond with Takumi had far exceeded her bond with any medium, or any human she'd ever come in contact with.
"I'm home," Yuki-Koori sighed out lamely as she pushed open the door to Takumi's small room. "Hohoho, I brought gifts."
Takumi jumped out from his near-sleeping position on the bed, but quickly recovered when he noticed the doll standing in the doorway.
"Finally!" he grinned, picking Yuki-Koori up and setting her down on the bed. "Was that supposed to be an impression of Santa Claus?"
"I think so," Yuki-Koori frowned, handing Takumi the packet of pictures. "I was roped in to some photo shoot today. Sekihi and I thought you guys would like these."
"More pictures?" Takumi asked halfheartedly as he opened up the packet, careful not to tear too deeply. "My parents are going to think I'm insane."
"Should have thought of that before you framed that giant one over there," Yuki-Koori grinned, unable to hide how flattered it made her feel. "What d'you think?"
Takumi flipped through the pictures, laughing at Yuki-Koori as she attempted to pull herself up to see. He could see their expressions getting more annoyed as the pictures went on, which only further added to his amusement. After pulling out one with Yuki-Koori by herself, he couldn't help but notice the visible joints on her ankles, wrists, and elbows.
"You're a ball jointed doll?" he asked, showing her the picture as evidence. "I didn't know that…You're really well made for one."
Yuki-Koori nodded, cringing as she realized he had chosen the picture of her in a sailor-esque outfit. "Impressive. You've been doing research, haven't you?"
Takumi nodded enthusiastically, gesturing towards his computer. "I asked Fumiko about some things, too. She's really nice."
"That's why she's my favorite sister," Yuki-Koori smiled a little, though she already missed Fumiko terribly. "By the way, you're a total pervert, Takumi."
"No!" Takumi shrieked, dropping the picture he'd been looking at in the process. "I…You're a doll! I can't think about you like that!"
Yuki-Koori threw back her head as she laughed at his feeble attempt to defend himself. "Whatever, Takumi! Fine, then you're saying you'd be all over me if I were a human girl?"
"N-No! Well…" Takumi waved his hands around frantically as he attempted to come up with a response to her teasing. "I mean, I hope if you were human I'd be smart enough to make you my girlfriend! I mean…!"
"You love me," Yuki-Koori said matter-of-factly, though her tone was still slightly joking. "Don't try and hide that if you're going to make so obvious, dumbass."
Takumi fell back on his bed, sighing in defeat. "Yeah, Yuki-Koori, you win. You're funny, and brave, and…why am I telling you this, anyway!?"
Yuki-Koori laughed a little, trying desperately to push away the awkward air she'd created. "Thank you. If I were a human girl, I hope I'd be smart enough to at least make you my manslave."
"As if I wasn't that already," Takumi groaned, slamming his hands over his flushed cheeks. "I can't believe I told you that!"
"You shouldn't be ashamed," Yuki-Koori attempted to reassure him, though she still sounded uneasy. "It takes a special kind of person to bond with a Rozen Maiden, I think."
Takumi eventually sat up, sighing. "Before I forget and you have to leave again, could I try something?"
Yuki-Koori frowned, backing away defensively. "So help me Takumi, if I end up in different clothes again, you are dead…"
Takumi shook his head, quickly bending over to retrieve two ponytail holders. "I was stuck at my cousin's house the other day, and she taught me how to braid hair. And your hair is really long, so I was wondering…"
Yuki-Koori rolled her eyes, but turned around so her hair was facing Takumi. "You'd better know what you're doing. My old medium's little sister used to fix my hair, and I always ended up looking like a troll doll!"
"Yeah, yeah," Takumi sighed, gently running a small brush Takana had lent him through her thick, silvery hair.
Yuki-Koori pulled her knees up to her chest, feeling calm for the first time in weeks. Takumi did seem to know what he was doing, she noted with relief as he began parting her hair. Shinku had told her about a time that she'd allowed Jun to brush her hair, but she hadn't mentioned it being this comforting. Of course, it wasn't too surprising, as she had only allowed Jun to touch her hair because it turned into a mess in battle.
And Shinku would never tell anyone, even a sister, what kind of feelings she felt when it came to Jun. Even if they were fairly obvious.
As Takumi pulled the other side of her hair into another braid, she could feel her consciousness fading. She hadn't slept all that much in the past few days, but she hadn't noticed what kind of effect it had on her until now.
"Are you asleep?" Takumi whispered as he finished braiding her hair. "You keep leaning over."
Yuki-Koori shook her head, letting out a monstrous yawn seconds later. Takumi smiled, picking her up and placing her in front of his small mirror.
"I think I did okay," Takumi said, though he seemed embarrassed. "I feel so weird, doing something like that and being a boy…"
"You did a good job," Yuki-Koori smiled lazily as she tugged on the edge of a braid. "Doesn't matter if you're a boy. I'm going to go to sleep now."
"G'night, Yuki," Takumi waved a little as Yuki-Koori crawled into her case. "Thanks for coming home tonight."
Before Yuki-Koori could respond, a loud cracking noise at the window caused them both to scream. Glass begun to shatter, leaving Yuki-Koori only a second to spare as she jumped out of her case and shielded Takumi with barrage of ice.
"Dammit!" she cursed loudly, alerting the other doll of the household as she rushed up to see what had happened.
"Ugh…should have taken the door…" the voice of Suiseiseki whined out weakly as she picked herself up off of the floor, minding the broken glass and pillars of ice. "Damn it, Sui-Dream! You said Shinku and the bookworm lived here!"
"Nope," Sekihi shook her head, melting the ice away from Takumi. "And watch out next time, idiot! You almost killed the kid!"
"Hmph," Suiseiseki mumbled halfheartedly, causing Yuki-Koori to notice the worried expression she was sporting. "I guess I have to settle for you and the crazy one, then…"
"What's wrong?" Yuki-Koori sighed as Sui-Dream went to work with trying to fit the glass back in the window.
"I need your help," Suiseiseki spoke solemnly, pinning her arms by her sides as they shook. "Souseiseki…she…decided she wants to fight the Alice Game! We have to stop her now!"
Yuki-Koori's breathed hitched, even though she wasn't terribly surprised. "Who is she taking on? What happened?"
"I don't know," Suiseiseki whined, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I bet she's taking on that damn Suigintou! She's always looking for a fight!"
"Takumi, I…" Yuki-Koori looked back worriedly, though her medium's expression remained blank. "I'll be back in the morning, okay? I promise."
"Do what you have to do," Takumi said softly, now completely resigned instead of throwing a fit. "I'll trust you."
Yuki-Koori waved halfheartedly, grabbing Sekihi's hand and taking her sisters into the N-Field. It was quiet, as usual, creating an irritating buzzing in her ears as she flew along beside a distraught Suiseiseki.
"I told her to reconsider," Suiseiseki hiccupped, wiping stray tears out of her eyes. "She…she decided to fight anyway! I can't believe I'm related to such a rotten brat of a little sister!"
"You can't honestly tell me you weren't expecting this," Yuki-Koori reminded her sister, internally cursing herself for her lack of comforting skills. "I mean…she was always like this."
"I know, yes!" Suiseiseki snapped. "But I was hoping she'd change her mind if I pressured her just a little…"
"Oh no," Sekihi whispered from beside them, causing them to look up at their surroundings. All around them, a web of rose vines had begun to form, encasing every door as they moved along. "Dead end…"
"Kirakishou," Yuki-Koori whispered, her voice shaking with fear. "D-Do you think Souseiseki…"
The clanging of the gardener's shears and flying of rose vines from behind them confirmed Yuki-Koori's theory only moments later, causing them all to jump in surprise.
"Souseiseki!" Suiseiseki wailed, a long plant vine bursting from under her and cutting through a small tangle of rose vines as she looked for her twin. "Stop it this instant! Kirakishou is insane!"
A laughed echoed from behind them as they looked around for the blue clad doll, catching them off guard.
"Look here, fourth doll," the whispery voice of Kirakishou murmured. "An entourage of sisters to help defend you. How terribly sweet."
Souseiseki landed beside her twin moments later, shears in hand. "Suiseiseki…how did you find me here?"
"We were looking for you because you ran off, idiot!" Suiseiseki sobbed, throwing her arms around her twin's stiff body. "Don't do this! Please, Souseiseki!"
"Your sister wanted this, elder gardener," Kirakishou reminded the doll, her tone sickeningly sweet as she allowed the rose vines to fade. "She's too fun to toy with, after all. So blind in her choices, so innocent, only wanting what her father wants..."
"Shut up," Souseiseki hissed, pushing her twin off roughly and slamming her shears into Kirakishou's open hands. "I will no longer be…bound by your shadow, Suiseiseki…! I no longer want to see your sad face!"
"Stop fighting!" Yuki-Koori attempted to shout as she shielded herself and Sekihi with a thin barrier of ice. "The Alice Game…it…"
"Has begun already," Kirakishou interrupted as she shot another barrage of rose vines at the irritable doll. "Come, Souseiseki. Show me your worth as a Rozen Maiden and leave that twin of yours behind for good."
"Do not intervene, Suiseiseki," Souseiseki commanded sharply as she dodged a rose vine headed straight toward her arm. "Or I'll…cut you…down, too!"
"How hurtful," Kirakishou giggled, zooming past Suiseiseki as she encased the three shocked dolls in another set of vines. "Rejected by your own, dearest sister and twin. How does it feel?"
"S-Souseiseki," Suiseiseki whispered, her voice broken as she struggled to remove herself from Kirakishou's iron rose grip. "You don't really…you can't mean…"
Souseiseki ignored her twin's soft pleas, charging at Kirakishou with all of her might. A loud crack sounded immediately afterwards, causing the three trapped dolls to look up in fear.
The sight before them was shockingly gruesome.
"I'm sorry," Kirakishou wheezed, laughing softly. "I don't think you'll get the chance to tear your twin down. You'll have to entrust that job to me…"
A large vine had gone completely through Souseiseki's chest just as she had managed to stick her shears into Kirakishou's side, creating horrific injuries on both ends. As Souseiseki fell to the dark void below, Kirakishou ripped the shears out of her side and threw them to the side.
Sekihi broke out of her vines with a long trail of fire immediately afterwards, allowing her time to rush over and grab Souseiseki's frail body.
"Souseiseki!" Suiseiseki wailed, pushing through the vines and running over to her sister, who was struggling to keep her eyes open. "Please, Souseiseki, don't go!"
Yuki-Koori pushed out of the vines as quickly as she could manage, shooting a large pillar of ice at the weakened Kirakishou and causing her to fall again.
"How dare you toy with her like that," she roared as she took the pillar of ice back. "How dare you, Kirakishou!"
"My body," Kirakishou wheezed out mournfully, running her fingers over the large crack the shears had made. "The vessel Hina-Ichigo made…is so weak…"
The chaos was interrupted as a bright light filled the entire area around them. From Souseiseki's visibly damaged body emerged her Rosa Mystica, causing Kirakishou's eyes to widen in delight. This victory had put another fire in Kirakishou despite her injuries, allowing her to slam into Suiseiseki as she tried to grab her fallen twin's soul.
"This was won by me, Suiseiseki," Kirakishou reminded her, placing her hands against her cheeks in satisfaction. "Do not bend the rules our father created…"
The Rosa Mystica did not obey Suiseiseki's reaching hands. Instead, it swiftly moved into Kirakishou's chest, creating a bright light that blinded the weakened dolls for a second time.
"Damn it!" Yuki-Koori cursed, feeling her body ache as her own Rosa Mystica burned brightly in her chest. A reminder that one of her sister's was gone, even if she had witnessed it just moments ago. "Souseiseki…"
"This power," Kirakishou sighed dreamily, her body drifting upwards. "I can't take it…It's amazing…my body feels so light…"
Yuki-Koori looked towards the tearful Suiseiseki and angry looking Sekihi, pulling them close. Even if they weren't talking, they knew exactly what the other was thinking.
Kirakishou had them cornered. Right where she wanted them.
Being surrounded by so many books had never made Fumiko feel as trapped as it did at this moment.
Though her library cleaning had been halted for a few weeks while she reentered the human world and met with her sisters, she had decided to take what little time she had now and finish it up. Somewhere between sections E and F, she had become tired and sat down among the stacks of dusty, old books. That's when she had felt a tremendous amount of pain in her chest, caused by what she assumed to be her Rosa Mystica.
"One of my sisters…" Fumiko wheezed out, clutching her chest. "What happened…Bekanntheit?"
Bekanntheit was blinking worriedly beside her, its words sputtered and unintelligible. It knew that Fumiko would be incredibly upset to hear that another one of her sisters had fallen victim to Kirakishou, and three of her sisters were about to become her next targets.
"Bekanntheit!" Fumiko snapped irritably, sitting up despite the pain in her chest. "Stop sputtering and tell me what happened!"
'T-The fourth doll decided to fight the Alice Game, mistress,' the spirit mumbled weakly. 'Her twin, Yuki-Koori, and Sekihi went to save her, but Souseiseki became the seventh's doll's victim.'
Fumiko threw her hand against her head in frustration. Not only did she lose the chance to make amends with Souseiseki, but the lives of three of her sisters, including Yuki-Koori, were in grave danger at the hands of Kirakishou.
"I have to go now," Fumiko whispered shakily, standing up and shoving books out of her way as she ran towards the exit. "I have to…tell them I'm coming, Bekanntheit!"
Fumiko did not know what her presence would do to stop Kirakishou, but she knew she had to try and save her sisters. A large rifle materialized in her left hand before she realized it, but it mattered little to her now.
She had to distract Kirakishou.
A/N: Oh, wow, an actual cliffhanger, I think. Oh wow times two, I actually got the chapter out in less than a month. I wanted to include one last bit of filler before I dove right into more killing, so Kanaria's house was the perfect place to do it. Then I killed off Souseiseki. Whoops.
It actually was difficult, deciding what should happen to her. I wanted to actually have her fight someone instead of give up her Rosa Mystica to Suigintou after giving Suiseiseki the 'like a mirror' speech. But I have something else big planned for Suigintou and Shinku, so I decided to have Kirakishou play with her a little bit before killing her. I suppose it was easy, since Souseiseki was probably thrown incredibly off guard by her sisters being there, especially Suiseiseki.
Hina-Ichigo's body material did not create a stable vessel for Kirakishou, however, so she's suffering some pretty intense injuries. But, she does have a second Rosa Mystica now.
Kaboom. Intensity.
Thank you to Scarlet (hope you enjoyed it over here in America!) and James Birdsong for the two reviews, again! I appreciate any feedback on this story, critical or positive!
