Sunshine's watering can is child-sized, half as big as the one that Alice owns, but it still feels very heavy. She has to lean back to offset its weight, and it sloshes with every step she takes. When she reaches the edge of her garden, she plops it down and surveys her kingdom.
When she was planing it, the garden had seemed very big, like an impossible amount of food. Now, it seems small. She has to crouch down for a closer look. The sprouts are delicate little green things, most of them so short that she could pluck them right out of the ground if she wanted. They've been growing for weeks, and the tallest ones aren't even halfway up to her knees. She leans right in, until her face is almost right up against one of them, and peers at it. She can almost convince herself that it looks a little taller than it did yesterday. Almost.
Next to it though, another, tinier plant pokes up from the soil. The sweet potato plants in this area have broad, soft-looking leaves, but this other plant has long, jagged ones. A weed.
Sunshine purses her lips as she inspects it, double- and triple-checking to make sure that she's correctly identified this interloper. Once she's convinced, she points at it. "This one. Please."
Wordlessly, Ichigo floats down and braces her feet against the ground. Gripping the stalk of the weed with both tiny hands, she leans back and tugs on it. Bit by bit, the roots pop right out of the soil. After giving it a little shake to dislodge the dirt, she toddles over and drops it by the edge of the garden.
Sunshine nods, satisfied. After looking at the plant for a few more seconds, she decides that the dirt around it looks a little dry. She lifts the watering can, wobbling a few times until she stabilizes it, then carefully tilts it forward to drop a splash of water on the sweet potato plant. When she finishes, little droplets are beading on its leaves.
That's one plant tended to, and only a few dozen more to go.
Sunshine repeats the process as she moves down the row—inspecting each plant's health, pointing out the weeds to Ichigo, watering the plants that need it. The watering can grows lighter with every stop.
A sparrow lands on the other side of the garden. It cocks its head to the side, peering blankly at the rows of sprouts. Sunshine pauses mid-weeding. Alice has already warned her that birds will try to eat some of her garden, and Sunshine isn't about to let that happen. When the bird is still lingering after a few seconds, she trembles with outrage, then levels a finger at it. Without missing a beat, Ichigo charges forward, waving her tiny hands overhead and looking completely prepared to tackle the bird.
The show of intimidation works. The sparrow hops back, putting some space between itself and Ichigo, and peers at her. When Ichigo starts advancing again, the bird chirps in annoyance and flits off. Sunshine keeps a wary eye on it until it's out of sight.
Gardening is a lot of responsibility. Alice told her about a dozen different things that can hurt a garden, and Sunshine is the only one who can defend against them. She imagines that this is probably what fighting youkai feels like.
With the local bird population sufficiently deterred, Sunshine continues down the row, weeding and watering.
She's just starting on the second row when a voice interrupts her from behind. "Oh, good afternoon. I bet you're Sunshine, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you!"
Sunshine turns around. There's a lady standing there, only a head or two taller than she is. She's wearing a weird, wide hat with writing on it, and her black hair is tied up in two long braids. More importantly, she's leaning in so close that her face almost touches Sunshine's when she turns around.
Alice and Marisa have given Sunshine a lot of talks about the Forest of Magic. The forest is full of youkai, and some of them aren't as nice as Miss Kamishirasawa. The forest has plenty of fairies, too, and while those aren't scary, they can still cause a lot of trouble. When somebody Sunshine doesn't recognize comes out of the forest, she's supposed to be very careful and go right inside.
This lady doesn't look very scary, but Sunshine doesn't recognize her, either.
Sunshine takes a few hurried steps back, raising her hands to direct Ichigo into a defensive stance. Ichigo is in the middle of wrestling with a weed. It takes her a few seconds to drop it and hover up into position.
The strange lady looks from Sunshine to Ichigo and back. She looks more confused than intimidated. "Ah? Do you not know how to talk?"
This isn't the reaction that Sunshine had been expecting. She takes another step away, while Ichigo nudges forward to try, unsuccessfully, to drive the woman backward. Sunshine doesn't take her eyes off the lady for a moment, but there doesn't seem to be any harm in answering the question. "I can talk..."
"Oh, wonderful. My name is Narumi Yatadera. It's nice to finally meet you, Sunshine." The woman is carrying a basket, and now she shifts it to one hand, freeing the other to reach out and gently pluck one of Ichigo's hands between two fingertips. She gives it a very delicate handshake. "And it's nice to meet your friend here, too."
Sunshine's eyes widen in surprise. The woman ignored Ichigo's intimidation attempts so easily. Plus, she somehow knows Sunshine's name. That's weird. The whole thing is weird, really.
Sunshine's mind is made up.
She lunges forward and grabs Ichigo around the waist. Clasping Ichigo against her chest, she turns and takes off sprinting toward the cottage as fast as her little legs can carry her. When she reaches the door, she tugs it open, barely slowing down as she half-leaps inside and slams it closed behind her.
"Um!" she shouts, before she's even come to a stop. "Mom! Um! There's a lady!"
Both parents are inside, and she can hear both of them stirring immediately. Alice is the first one to respond, leaning out through the door to the kitchen. "A lady?"
Sunshine dips her head in a nod. Just to be safe, she runs over and throws her arms around Alice's waist, burying her face in against her tummy. "Outside..." she explains, muffled.
Marisa steps into the room, too, with a book propped open in one hand. "What's goin' on?"
Alice looks down to Sunshine. When Sunshine doesn't explain herself, Alice does it for her. "I think there's somebody outside."
"Uh, huh." Marisa, too, looks down to Sunshine. "Like, a youkai, or...?"
She's interrupted by a knock at the door.
Sunshine stiffens up, clinging to Alice even more tightly.
"Er, hello?" Narumi's muffled voice comes through the door. "Could you please let me in? I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding."
"Yeah, hold on." Marisa looks thoughtful as she steps over to the door. By the time she pulls it open, she's grinning. "Must've been really important for you to come all this way and traumatize our kid."
"Traumatize...? I wouldn't! I just said hello to her! I was very polite!"
"Sounds like exactly the kinda thing a child-gobblin' monster would say." Marisa shoots a glance back to Sunshine. "Is this the lady, kiddo?"
Sunshine scoots back, putting Alice's form more fully between herself and the visitor. She peeks out for long enough to give a single nod, though.
"... I see." Alice allows only the slightest hint of amusement to show on her face, then strokes Sunshine's hair and shoots her a reassuring smile. "I'm glad that you were careful, Sunshine, but I promise that everything is okay. I'll tell you what—why don't you and I go get some snacks ready? I think some introductions are in order."
A few dolls cooperate to settle a tray of tea and snacks onto the coffee table.
On one side, Narumi sits in an arm chair, trying to make her sunniest, most non-threatening expression past her embarrassment.
On the other side, Sunshine is seated between her parents, pressed up against Marisa's side so tightly that she manages to halfway hide behind her. With her one exposed eye, she keeps a cautious watch over Narumi.
"I'm sorry about this," Alice says. "We don't get many visitors, and we've… perhaps told Sunshine a few too many stories about the youkai who live in the forest."
"Oh, it's quite alright." Narumi's eyes drift over to Sunshine, a mixture of amusement and concern on her face. "I hope she's okay, though...?"
"Here." Marisa scoots aside, just enough to make it hard to hide behind her, but rests a comforting hand on Sunshine's shoulder. "You don't have to be scared, kiddo. This is a friend of ours. Naruko, meet Sunshine, and Sunshine, this is Naruko."
"Oh, it's Narumi, thank you," Narumi says, with the polite determination of somebody who is prepared to keep making the same correction until the sun burns out. "It's nice to meet you though, Sunshine."
If Marisa hears the correction, she doesn't show it. "Naruko is, uh—y'know how you were scared of Rinnosuke at first, but then he turned out to be a big dweeb?"
Sunshine isn't sure what a 'dweeb' is, but she gets the idea. She nods.
"Naruko here is, like, ten times less scary than he is. So you don't gotta be afraid of her."
"Ten times…?" Narumi tilts her head to the side, giving the idea serious consideration. "Really, that seems like a bit much, doesn't it? I'm fairly certain I could beat up that shopkeeper youkai if I had to."
"Yeah, but you'd feel really bad about it, so it doesn't count."
"In any case..." Narumi leans forward, slowly extending a hand to Sunshine, like she's approaching a wild animal. "I hope I didn't scare you too much. Can we still be friends?"
Sunshine stares at the hand. She's still kind of suspicious of all of this, but between her parents' reassurances and the fact that they're right here, it seems safe enough. She eases herself away from Marisa's side, staying close enough to dart back to cover if she needs to, and offers a hesitant nod.
Narumi smiles. "I'm glad. Ah... I even stopped by that junk store to buy you a present, but I'm afraid that nothing there caught my eye. I'll have to make it up to you next time."
"That's very kind of you, Narumi," Alice says. "... and I don't want to sound rude, but is there an occasion for your visit?"
"Oh, I had thought that was obvious. I came by to meet Miss Sunshine."
Both of Sunshine's parents stare at her.
"… you came to meet Sunshine?" Marisa asks.
"Oh, yes. I hope that isn't a problem…?"
Alice glances from Narumi to Sunshine and back, obviously trying to get an idea of how Sunshine feels about this. "Well, not necessarily. It's just sort of—"
"Seems kinda weird for a shut-in like you," Marisa finishes for her.
Narumi shakes her head. "Patchouli mentioned her during my last visit to the mansion, and..." Instead of finishing the sentence, she says, "Maybe a demonstration would be best? Miss Sunshine, could I please see your hand for a moment?"
Sunshine glances to Alice for confirmation. Alice looks uncertain, herself, but offers her a nod. "Go ahead. I'm sure that Narumi won't hurt you."
Even with Alice's reassurances, it takes Sunshine a few seconds to find the courage to comply. She slowly reaches out, with one finger outstretched. Her hands are delicate and fine, but they still have visible balljoints. Ever since she's started going to school, she's been a little self-conscious of them. They're one of the things that the other students seem to notice the most.
Narumi extends a finger toward her, too. As the two move closer and closer together, the flesh of Narumi's finger darkens, becoming stone. It makes a hard little click when it touches the wood of Sunshine's own finger.
Sunshine stares at this in surprise. When Narumi doesn't move away, she gives it another little tap. "Um. It's rock."
"That's right," Narumi says. "I'm a statue."
Sunshine stares at that stone finger, deep in thought. This is one of the strangest things that she's ever seen, but the implications of Narumi's statement are starting to occur to her. "I'm a doll..."
Narumi shoots Sunshine's parents a quick, sheepish look, but otherwise seems reluctant to look away from Sunshine for a moment, even as she explains herself. "Tsukumogami are... rather unlike me, and even that komainu at the shrine is a divine spirit. But another construct who was animated by the Forest of Magic..."
Narumi trails off, smiling, with tears brimming in her eyes. Nobody seems to know what to say to all of that, least of all Sunshine. It seems important, and she slowly thinks through it. If Narumi is a statue, and a statue is basically just a big doll...
Sunshine looks from Alice to Marisa in confusion. They both look kind of thoughtful, themselves, but neither is stepping in to disagree with Narumi.
"Um. Um."
It feels like Sunshine's whole head is full of squirmy worms, slipping past each other and trying, but never quite succeeding, to hook together into sentences. It's hard to put the ideas in her head into words, and even harder to get those words to her lips. She opens her mouth, but all that comes out is a soft, frustrated noise. With a sigh of defeat, she looks to Ichigo and crooks one finger in a subtle gesture.
Ichigo immediately reacts to the instruction, floating off across the room. Sunshine shifts in place, acutely aware that all three adults are waiting for her. Thankfully, it doesn't take Ichigo long to return with a paper and pen.
This is easier to handle, but there's still a lot to deal with. She's barely sure where to even begin. After a moment of debate, she decides to start with the most relevant fact: [YOU'RE LIKE ME.]
"That's right," Narumi says. "I'm a Jizo statue. Have you seen those along the road?"
Sunshine's too deep in thought to respond, but the answer satisfies her. It feels really important. Super important. A tremble runs through her body. She writes the only thing she can think of. [HOW]
"Hmm, well, I suspect it was something like what happened with you. One day, I was a statue standing in the forest. Then, I realized that I was starting to think things, and pretty soon, I could move around and talk."
Another tremble runs through Sunshine. [LIKE ME.] It's practically the only clear thought she has.
"That's right," Narumi agrees again, softly. "Like you."
The two stare at each other in silence for a while, Narumi beaming and blinking back tears, and Sunshine frozen in surprise. She isn't sure why this matters so much. She's met a lot of humans and youkai before. But she's never met somebody like her.
Marisa breaks the silence, giving Sunshine a light squeeze and saying, "Y'know, you could do way worse in a big sister than Naruko here. She's a really good magician, and she can do all kindsa tricks that me and your mom can't."
"O-oh, oh my. Er." Narumi stiffens up, stroking anxiously at a pigtail. "'Sister' might be a bit much, don't you think?"
"It might be a bit premature for 'sister,' yes," Alice says coolly. "... I do have to admit that there are some interesting similarities, though."
"Okay, fine, not 'sister,' but still." Marisa pulls her hand from Sunshine's back and settles back on the couch, looking thoughtful. "... hey, kiddo? D'you think maybe you'd like to spend some time together, just the two of you? Could maybe work on your garden a bit, or play or somethin'. Just, you know. I bet you've got a lot to talk about, huh?"
Sunshine stares up at her, dazed. Her first instinct is to say no. She usually gets uncomfortable when she has to spend time away from her parents with strangers.
But... right now, something about that sounds kind of nice.
She nods, slowly.
"Oh." Narumi stiffens up, but her surprise quickly melts back into a smile. "Yes, that sounds... that sounds lovely."
Narumi helps Sunshine finish weeding her garden.
She talks while they do so. She tells Sunshine things about how she woke up and realized that she could move. When Narumi started moving, she wasn't in a nice house with a family all picked out. She was standing in the forest, and she had to figure everything out for herself. She built her own house and spent weeks learning things before she ever interacted with people.
It sounds kind of scary. Sunshine is glad that she lived with Alice even before she was able to think. Building a house sounds pretty hard.
When they're finished, Narumi takes a step back and looks out over their work with a satisfied nod. "You have a very cute little garden, Sunshine. Did you plant it all yourself?"
"Uh-huh." Well, the dolls helped, but as far as Sunshine is concerned, that's the same thing.
"I can see that you're taking very good care of it." Narumi glances over. "... do you mind if I help out a little more, though? It will be interesting, I promise."
Sunshine really isn't sure where this is going, but she doesn't see any reason to say no. She nods.
Narumi takes another few steps back, putting some room between her and the garden. She closes her eyes and stretches her hands out like she's trying to pick it up.
Sunshine has seen enough magic to recognize when somebody is casting a spell. She takes a step back, just in case Narumi is going to shoot a laser or something.
What happens isn't a laser, though. A stiff breeze picks up, tugging at Sunshine's clothes and tousling Narumi's pigtails. It brings a feeling of warmth with it—not actual heat, but more of a general sense of it. It feels insulating and comforting, like the times that she's sat with one of her parents under a blanket.
For a few seconds, Sunshine wonders if maybe that's the entire spell. Then, she notices movement in the garden. The plants are creeping upward. Now, they really are growing quickly enough for her to see. She hurries over and kneels down for a better look, and she isn't disappointed. Leaves perk up, grow outward, and then sag under their own weight. Buds swell out from nothing, like growing soap bubbles, then split open into dainty little flowers. A little vine creeps along the ground, swaying side to side like a grasping hand, and Sunshine brushes a fingertip against it. It curls around her finger and gives it an insistent tug. Carefully, she picks her finger free before the vine tries enveloping her whole hand.
As the breeze dies down, that warm feeling seeps out of the air. Where Sunshine's garden had previously been filled with tenuous little sprouts, now the plants are bigger. Most of them are taller than Ichigo, forming a neatly-organized doll-sized forest.
"Um. Whoa." It's the only word that Sunshine can think to say.
"Do you like that?" Narumi sounds just a bit proud of herself. She lowers her arms, relaxing out of the dramatic position, and adds, "I specialize in life magic. Making plants grow faster is really easy for somebody like me."
Sunshine nods at that, then looks down at her newly-expanded garden. It kind of makes sense, and it kind of doesn't. Marisa uses light and heat magic, so she shoots big lasers. Alice uses doll magic, so she fights with dolls. She isn't sure what life magic would look like, though. Maybe it's just about making things grow bigger.
That would have been very useful a few months ago, when she still had her tiny body. But if her magic does stuff with life...
That thought leads to some very interesting places. "Um!" Sunshine says. "Um."
Narumi lowers herself to Sunshine's height. She's short to begin with, so that isn't much of a change. "Oh? What is it?"
"Can you... make things alive?"
"I can, yes."
Sunshine looks around for Ichigo. It doesn't take long to find her. As soon as she does, she scoops the doll up in both hands, then thrusts her toward Narumi. "Please."
"Oh, I see." Narumi shakes her head. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be a very good idea. If I used a spell to bring her to life, it wouldn't last very long. Doing something like that would be mean, don't you think?"
Sunshine isn't sure whether she understands. She isn't sure when she came to life, but the parts before that weren't very scary. The more she thinks about it, though, the more she agrees with Narumi. Now that she's alive, she wouldn't want to go back to being a normal doll. Normal dolls don't even know how to play when she asks them to, and they aren't very good at drawing, either. Helping Alice is very important, but Sunshine thinks that she's better at helping her parents now that she's able to think for herself, anyway.
"Oh... not being alive again would be scary..."
"Mmhm." Narumi's eyes drift down to Ichigo. "Is she your favorite doll, then?"
The question takes some consideration. Being a doll is really important, but Ichigo is even more important than that. She settles on, "She's Ichigo. My friend..."
"I think I understand. She goes with you everywhere and helps you out, right?"
Sunshine nods.
Narumi's smile grows. "I have a friend like that, too. Would you like to meet her?"
Usually, Sunshine is reluctant to meet new people, but Narumi's enthusiasm is infectious. Sunshine nods again.
"Wonderful. Stand back, please."
Sunshine does, and Narumi moves too, putting a few meters between her and the garden. She raises her hands again, but this time, there's no slow buildup. A little red spark of light appears in the air, halfway between her hands. More energy roils around it, like steam rising off of a pot of boiling water. Then, with a foomf sound like the start of a fire, it grows outward. The little spark explodes into a big red ball of energy, wider than Sunshine is tall, glowing with a dull light.
Sunshine takes another step back, surprised, but her fear evaporates when she notices that Narumi is still completely relaxed. Narumi leans in, giving a hug to the big ball of energy. She's nowhere near big enough for her arms to wrap all the way around it, but she does her best. "This is my bullet golem. Isn't she adorable?"
Sunshine doesn't know about 'adorable,' but it's definitely the biggest bullet she's ever seen. She takes a cautious step forward, then another. She lays her hand on the side of the bullet, and it feels strange. On the very outside, it's sort of a haze, like pushing her hand through warm fog. As she moves past that, the fog pushes back more and more, like rubber, until her hand rebounds away.
The bullet gives a bounce in place, spinning, and Narumi clasps her hands proudly together. "Oh, I think she likes you! ... would you like to go for a ride?"
"Um. A ride?"
"Oh, yes! She's very friendly, you know." Narumi offers a hand down to Sunshine. "How about it?"
Sunshine stares at that hand for a few seconds, but she can't see any reason to say no. Hesitantly, she slides her hand into Narumi's.
Narumi scoops her up. Narumi isn't much bigger than Sunshine to begin with, and she apparently isn't very strong. Sunshine can tell that she's straining as she hefts Sunshine up onto the bullet, then pushes her forward. Sunshine slides onto the thing, with her weight sinking her a few centimeters into its surface. As big and round as it is, she can't quite sit down. She has to settle for sprawling out on top of it instead.
"You're the perfect size," Narumi says, admiring the sight as she steps back. "Are you all set?"
Sunshine nods.
Narumi looks down to the bullet. "Now, please be gentle. She's only a child, you know."
Before Sunshine can worry too much about what this means, the bullet hovers up into the air. It takes her with it. The ground recedes below her, and they rise up until she can see onto the roof of the cottage.
Then, the bullet plummets back downward.
Sunshine lets out a squeal of surprise, clinging as tightly as she can to the bullet. She's just starting to feel safe against its surface when it impacts the ground below, then bounces off again. Soon, it's bounding around the yard, hopping from spot to spot in long, arcing motions. At the top of each bounce, her body rises a few centimeters off of the bullet as it starts to fall. At the bottom, she bounces down against it, sinking into its surface before she rebounds.
"Is this speed okay?" Narumi asks. Her head bobs in and out of view with each bounce of the bullet. "I can ask her to slow down if you'd like."
Sunshine shakes her head. "More!"
"More...?"
"Um! More, please!"
"Very well." To the bullet, Narumi adds, "You heard the girl."
The next bounce shoots her into the air. The world spins around her, and she realizes that she's rolling end-over-end as she rockets upward. Just as she's starting to fall, the bullet darts right up beneath her, and she lands as gently as a butterfly alighting on a flower.
This is even better than when Marisa does loops on her broom, and doing broom tricks might be the most fun thing that Sunshine can think of. "W-whoa!" she squeaks, toward the apex of another arc. It trails off into a shaky squeal as she's launched again, followed by a few sputtered, delighted noises when she lands.
It's hard to get a good look at Narumi's face, since she's bouncing around like a rubber ball, but she's pretty sure that Narumi is smiling. "Having fun?"
"M-mmhm!"
"I do need to talk to your parents for a few minutes. Do you think you'll be okay out here by yourself? My bullet can protect you if any scary youkai come by. She's a very good guard dog."
The bullet slows down for a few seconds so they can speak. Sunshine just nods. She needs to save her breath for shouting.
"Good! If you want to get down, you can just ask her nicely, okay? If you get bored, she's also very good at playing Tag."
"... I'm still not sure about this," Alice sighs, for the fifth time, while peeking out the window.
"C'mon, hun," Marisa says, also for the fifth time. This time, though, she backs her words up by resting her hands on Alice's hips, giving her a little tug backward toward the couch. "Sunshine's got more defensive wards on her than Patchy's diary, remember? You could throw that kid through a wall and she'd come out okay."
"That doesn't mean that I expected somebody to try it."
Marisa isn't giving up easily this time, though. She gives Alice another insistent tug, leading her backward until she's laying on the couch, with her head on Marisa's lap. Marisa grins. "There. Can't look out the window and worry all day if I've gotcha here."
"Yes, it's truly a foolproof plan. Now I can just hear Sunshine screaming instead."
"C'mon." Marisa rests a hand on Alice's cheek, giving it a few strokes. "She'll be okay, I promise. Narumi's the last person who's gonna hurt her. ... 'sides, I do way crazier stuff on my broom sometimes, and she loves that. Kid's probably havin' the time of her life right now."
"I seem to recall asking you to be careful when she's riding with you, anyway. I'd rather her not pick up your reckless habits. … you're probably right, though. Those don't sound like screams of terror."
"Exactly. So, less talk, more cuddling."
"Well... if you insist," Alice pauses mid-sentence to turn her head, placing a kiss on Marisa's clothed tummy. "It doesn't sound like the worst plan. Your thighs make for a nice pillow these days, too."
"Huh. Do they?"
"They do. I might credit the fact that you ate two-thirds of my last batch of macarons."
"I mean, that could've been anyone. I'd start my investigation with Sunshine, if I was you. Kid doesn't talk much. Could be hiding something."
"Of course," Alice says dryly. "Our daughter, the criminal mastermind. Why didn't I see it sooner?"
Before Marisa can respond, the front door opens, and Narumi walks in. Her head is tilted thoughtfully to the side, and her eyes are half-lidded in consideration. She barely seems to notice their presence. She lingers by the couch for a few seconds before lifting her head and giving a confident nod. "I think that I've seen enough."
"Er." Alice pushes herself up from Marisa's lap, smoothing out her clothes as casually as she can. "Seen enough? For what?"
"Oh, to understand Sunshine, that is. She might be a bit less similar to me than I'd thought..."
"That so?" Marisa asks. "I mean, I guess it's kinda obvious now that you mention it. You got all squishy and human-looking when you came to life. Sunshine didn't."
"Exactly. And you were able to transfer her consciousness from one body to another, right? Oh, my, that would be much harder if she were like me. I'm not sure that even I could pull off a spell like that. I'm sure it would be almost impossible for newcomers to life magic like you."
"Yeah, uh, we're really impressed. So are you gonna tell us your theory, or...?"
Apparently, this is just the question that Narumi has been waiting for. She confidently straightens her posture, holding her hands together in front of herself. "I'm almost certain that it's incorrect to call her a living doll. Think about it logically for a moment—your dolls are animated by a spell, but the doll and the spell are separate components. My, if the doll itself had come to life, it would probably end up fighting the enchantment. Who knows what might have happened?"
"So, what? You're sayin' she's, like... a living spell?"
"Oh, exactly!"
A few seconds pass in silence.
"... I mean," Marisa says.
"I suppose it makes sense..." Alice says.
"We might have both been animated by the Forest of Magic, but oh, there are some important differences between spells and statues! If I had to guess... she really has more in common with my bullet pets than with me. Oh, and I have some theories about how this interferes with her ability to do magic, too! If you think about the flow of magic in a human soul as a plumbing system, then by comparison, Sunshine is like—"
"I, er." Alice leans forward, putting a steadying hand on Narumi's shoulder and looking her in the eye. "I'd be very interested in hearing your theories sometime, but this perhaps might not be the time for it. This is already a lot to consider."
"Ah? Oh, of course." Narumi settles down, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry. And please don't take this as a complaint. Sunshine is... still quite possibly the closest thing I have to a relative, and she's really a cute kid. Would you, er... mind if I came by to visit her at times?"
"I'm sure that would be fine," Alice says softly.
The three sit in awkward silence for a few seconds, with nobody quite sure what to say. Narumi breaks it, perking up in sudden realization. "Oh, and! Before I go, I have a gift for you, too."
"Heeey, gifts? Now you're talkin' my language." Marisa leans forward, just in time for Alice to elbow her in the side.
Narumi doesn't seem to notice. She takes a seat and grabs her basket, pulling it into her lap, then reaches inside. From within, she withdraws a single gourd, in a bright, mottled, red-and-yellow color, then offers it over. Her expression suggests that no explanation is necessary.
But it obviously is. Alice and Marisa stare at the gourd in blank confusion. Alice is the first to move. "... well," she says, reaching out to accept it, "Sunshine has been eating about eight percent more than my calculations had predicted, so more food is always welcome, but—"
"Oh, no, they aren't for eating. Would you like to cut it open?"
Alice looks even less certain about this, but goes along with it. An offhand comment is all it takes to send a nearby doll floating off toward the kitchen. After a brief hunt, it returns, with a knife as tall as itself dangling from its hands.
Alice lightly takes the knife and eases the blade into the gourd. It's slow work. The rind is thick and tough. Once the blade sinks in about a centimeter, it hits something hard inside. She saws the knife back and forth a few times, and it makes a grinding sound against the gourd's contents.
"One deep cut should be enough," Narumi says. "After that, you can crack it open."
"... right..." Alice eyes the thing, but whatever secrets it's hiding, they're well-concealed. She rests it on her knee, then pushes down on either side of the crack. Slowly, with the sound of tearing rind, the crack widens. She catches a glimpse of something golden inside, and then it splits in half.
Inside, the gourd is hollow. The interior, though, is completely coated in chunky golden crystals. Some are tiny little things, while others are big enough that they threaten to meld together into one big mass in the middle.
"It's a native breed to the Forest of Magic," Narumi explains. "All of the wild strains make carnelian or malachite. I've been trying to selectively breed them to get emeralds, but… as you can see, this generation is mostly topaz. Miss Patchouli had mentioned that you're looking for gem quality topaz, though, so I thought it might be helpful?"
"Oh, uh." Marisa leans over, idly poking at some of the crystals while she speaks. "We were gathering all kindsa stuff like this when we were making Sunshine's body, but that was a while back. I mean, it's pretty neat though. If you don't mind—"
Alice clears her throat. "I was the one who told Patchouli that I was looking for topaz, actually. It's for a personal project." She sets the gourd aside. "Thank you, Narumi. This will do nicely."
"Huh? What kinda doll needs a pile of gems?" Marisa asks. "Makin' a tiara?"
"A personal project," Alice repeats. "If I have any leftovers, though, you're welcome to them. But, er, Narumi, you do know that you could probably sell these, right? There's at least one jeweler in the human village, and the tengu village has to have one or two."
"A-ah, er." Narumi glances aside, suddenly looking anxious. She strokes a braid again, tugging at it with both hands. "Well, I wouldn't know where to begin negotiating the price, anyway. Consider it a favor between magicians."
"Pretty sure that means she'd rather give them away than have to talk to a stranger," Marisa says.
"Dear," Alice says. "Don't be rude."
"Oh, no!" Narumi shakes her head, smiling. "That's exactly it."
"Well... thank you for the gift." Alice turns the gourd around in her hands, thoughtfully watching the light glitter off the facts of the topaz. "... I think I'd like to extract these before it starts to spoil. Marisa, why don't you and Narumi check on Sunshine? As much excitement as she's getting out there, I'm sure she'll want a nap soon."
"I mean, sure," Marisa says. "Will you be busy for long, or should I start thinkin' about making dinner for me and Sunshine?"
But Alice is already headed toward the door.
By magician standards, Alice has been very casual about her studies ever since becoming a mother. Apart from interruptions from Marisa, she has most of the day to dedicate to her crafts and studies while Sunshine is at school. If she really wants to, she can work through the night, but she usually chooses to sleep instead. For the most part, though, Sunshine comes first, and she spends time in her workshop when she can find it.
Today is an exception.
By the time she's extracted most of the topaz from the gourd, an hour has passed. The sounds of Sunshine and the bullet golem playing together have faded, and she isn't sure whether that means that they've gone inside, or Narumi has gone home. Part of her feels guilty for remaining holed up in her workshop, but this is a project that she's been imagining for months. Years, maybe, if she's honest with herself.
So, before she knows it, she's pulled out a magnifying eyepiece and started inspecting the chunks of raw gemstone for one of suitable size and quality.
Next comes cutting. It isn't easy, since the topaz is harder than any of the tools around her shop. With the help of a little magic, though, she manages to cleave a chunk into smaller, pebble-sized gemstones. Under her supervision, dolls work with deft little tools to grind facets into them—painstaking, careful work that takes much longer than she'd expected.
Out her window, she can see that the sun is down now. Polishing the gems is going to take hours more, and she's already missed dinner. She isn't going to finish this step of the project tonight. She also isn't going to be satisfied until she can check some of her measurements.
She crosses over to her desk. The top drawer is mostly full of tools and salvaged parts from old dolls. At the very back of the drawer, though, practically invisible unless you know to look for it, is a small wooden box.
She pulls out the box. The clasp on the front is enchanted to only open for her. As soon as it recognizes her presence, it clicks gently, and she opens the top.
Inside, the box is lined with velvet. A bare silver ring glitters inside.
Alice can't help but sigh with relief. She's pretty sure that even Marisa knows better than to poke around in her workshop, these days. But with a secret like this, she can't help but worry.
Alice directs two dolls forward, one on either side of the ring, hefting it up for her inspection. Another doll takes the half-finished pieces of topaz and carefully slides them into waiting holes along the top of the ring.
The fit is perfect. Of course it is—Alice's entire livelihood is about crafting delicate little things with precision. It's still satisfying to see her work coming together, and know that it all lines up exactly as planned.
"Thank you. You can remove the gems, now."
The dolls remove the gems, and Alice gives the ring one last glance before closing the box and tucking it away again. It's coming together just like she'd pictured. And this, against all expectations, was the hard part. Unlike the topaz, she already has a lead on the diamonds she needs to finish it.
And after that, her engagement ring will be ready.