5: The Looking Glass
She seemed simply ecstatic when she saw the transparent woman that slipped into the mirrors view. "You b'ck," she whispered, the awe in her tone clear.
Danku smiled at the adorable child. "Of course, Eki-chan. I said I would be, didn't I?" She sat behind the little girl and began to work out the mess of knots. "What kind of imaginary friend would I be if I made promises I didn't plan on keeping?"
Ekichou smiled. She loved her imaginary friend. She couldn't imagine not knowing her. Her brother kept insisting that she didn't exist...but here she was, same as always. "C'n you tea'th me how tah do dat?" The little girl pointed to the olders' hair.
Danku hesitated. She had to give in to those pleading eyes however. How could she not? She smiled. "To do that I have to have a clippy."
"Clippy?" The little girl wrinkled her forehead in confusion.
"A clippy..." Danku unclipped the thing from her hair to show the child. And just for fun she snapped it at Ekichou's nose who shrieked into laughter.
"A monster-mouth clippy!" she proudly declared. She ran out of the room and back again with the desired item faster than Danku could stop her.
Having Ekichou set before her again, she parted the child's shoulder-length black and blue-highlighted hair that was the match of her own. After gathering all of the child's hair into a ponytail, she twisted it up, and then used the 'monster-mouth clippy' on it.
Ekichou just beamed at her friend. "You gonna stay dis time?"
Blink. "What?"
The little child frowned slightly. "You gonna stay 'while? You left fast yes'day."
Danku gave the little girl a smile as she reached for the hair gel. "A friend of mine is having a little...trouble." She smoothed the gel onto the child's hair to keep it in place.
"Ta'ble?"
"Mmhmm. She's like me except that her friend won't listen."
The child relaxed. She had thought for a moment that Danku was going to leave her, to be the imaginary friend of someone else. She was always afraid of that. Always would be. The irrepressible fear of your best friend leaving you. Ekichou shook the odd thought away.
"Eki-chan?" Danku started to fix her own hair back to the way it had been before.
"Yea', Danku-sama?"
Danku winced, unnoticed to Ekichou. "Do you think you can help my friend and I?"
Before she knew it, her little friend had her coat and shoes, and was heading out the door.
"Torieeeee..."
She stopped on her heel and looked into the shadows. Her eyes narrowed, something within her stirring to a boil. "Name yourself."
"Icy edge..." the person in the shadows murmured.
Tori shifted the quilt a little on her arm. "Verde? That you?"
"Si." Verde slipped out of the shadows, her black greatcoat giving the impression that she was still in the shadows. She was graceful, that much Tori could admit. Silent as an assassin.
Tori relaxed. "I thought you left." She threw an appraising look over the cloaked woman. "You look well."
Verde tipped her cap in recognition. "As do you." She looked at the quilt. "For the mirror?"
Tori nodded. She thought for a second, then asked, "Do you think I'm crazy, Verde?"
The other shook her head. "There is no way I could ever think you crazy. I know what it is you see." Her eyes grew sad.
Tori nodded, and left, knowing Verde's ways. There were rules on what she could, and could not, say.
Verde was gone again before Tori left for work.
She suddenly stopped in front of a shop door and ran her finger along the doorknob. He however didn't notice she had stopped until he almost ran over her.
He kneeled beside her. "What is it?"
"Lad'e," she said. Her eyes shone with triumph. "Lad'e 'ere." She turned to Danku, who stood beaming by her side. "'Elp 'er for you now."
Akihiro rolled his eyes. She was talking to her imaginary friend again. He had one a long time ago. It had been crushing when he went away. And for some reason, he'd always had the nightmare that his imaginary friend had taken his own life after someone else died. Disturbing, really. He shook those thoughts away. "Do you want to go in?" He glanced at the sign above the door. A music shop. Terrific. Just where he wanted to spent the rest of the day in, with instruments and his crazy little sister.
Sighing, he opened the door to allow her passage. She practically ran through the open gateway, catching his free hand and dragging him in in the process.
It took awhile for his eyes to adjust to the soft light of the shop. After that, his eyes scanned the store.
There really wasn't that much too see. Just a lot of dusty old instruments, amongst them a few new ones, and a couple of music books strewn into the mix. It had the look of an organized mess. There was only one other person in the shop. She wore the same bright blue as the cloth on the curtains, so he supposed that she was an employee. Now as they where approaching her, she was turning around. Akihiro hadn't expected to bump into anyone from school on this little 'take you sister out' exercise. Especially this particular someone.
Her skirt was a bright blue, coming up a few inches above her knees. A pair of matching blue socks attempted to reach to her skirt, falling short under her knees. The shirt was white and sleeveless, a mini-sailor collar adorning the front. The bow for it rode at her neck, and then the collar swooped out from there. In the middle of the shirt were the English letters 'MM' joined.
"Well, what can we at Myu-jikaru Myn do for you?" Tori asked, as was the custom of the MM employees.
Danku frowned upon this. Why should she have to work?
Akihiro blinked. She didn't remember him? All the better then. He jabbed his thumb at his sister and said, "Sister dear," he rolled his eyes, "decided to listen and take orders from her imaginary friend."
Danku fairly bristled. "She's not taking orders," she spat. "She's helping me!"
Ekichou blinked, then turned to Akihiro. "Danku-sama asked'ed me to 'elp 'er an' 'er friend."
Tori quirked an eyebrow. "Danku-sama?"
Danku gave a twitch at that.
Tori's eyes narrowed slightly and flickered in Danku's general direction. "What does 'Danku-sama' and her friend want?"
Ekichou opened her mouth, shut it, then turned to Danku. "What wan'?"
Danku paused. "For Lady to take the da-," she swallowed back the rest of the word,"-stupid quilt off the mirror."
Ekichou turned back and smiled. "She said she wan' Lad'e tah take tah de'oopid quilt offa mirror."
Tori paled. How did this child know about the quilt over her mirror? She looked back to the innocent looking child, her fear subsiding. Such an innocent face couldn't hide dark intentions, right?
Danku frowned. "Tell her...that I know Verde, Eki-chan."
Ekichou blinked up at Danku and nodded. Turning back to Tori, she said, "Danku-sama know Vird'."
Tori blinked. "Vird'?" She thought for a second and then her eyebrows flew up with shock. "Verde?"
Ekichou smiled and bobbed her head. She bounced up on her toes.
Akihiro put his hands on the little child's shoulders in an attempt to keep her in one place. He blinked in surprise at finding himself sitting on the floor.
Tori hesitated, then directed a question Ekichou's way while helping Akihiro to his feet. "If she knows Verde...then she must know what class she is, right? And her own?"
Danku gave a wide smile. "Verde is Class 2-3B." She waited while Ekichou relayed this message before saying, "I'm Class 1-2-3."
Akihiro just shrugged it off as a little child's ramblings. He didn't understand why Tori went along with it however. He poked Ekichou in the shoulder. "Mom and Dad are going to worry about us soon."
Ekichou pouted as she was lead out the door.
Tori was too deep in thought to see them go. She waved absentmindedly. "Come again soon."
"Braving the looking?" The voice came from the shadows, low and raspy, deathly quiet.
Tori whirled around to find Verde leaning against her doorway, playing with a fine daggers edge. Tori let out a pen up breath. "I thought you were one of the others."
Verde's eyes flared for a second before calming. She shook her head as she sheathed her dagger underneath her greatcoat. "They left."
"All of them?"
Verde nodded. "For the time being." She then quirked a smile at Tori. "They felt they were being a nuisance."
Tori stepped back a pace or two and flopped backwards down on her bed, the mirror forgotten. "They were," she mumbled. She suddenly thought of a black haired four year old. Sitting up, she turned to Verde.
Gone, once again.
Tori's eyes darted to the quilt-cloaked mirror. She sighed. She got up and took two handfuls of the quilt. She yanked on it, and it slid free. She blinked at the image.
Her own image was gone, as was the reflection of her room. Instead, there was the yellow silk-clad image herself and another young woman that somewhat resembled her, hair pulled back into a half-pony tail, minute strips of silver entwined throughout the ruby strands. Tori blinked at her outfit.
That new girl was a sailor solider.
The image and the senshi didn't seem to notice her. They were turned so that they were both in a way beside each other, yet their overstuffed armchairs were tilted inwards to allow them to see and talk animatedly. An active fireplace on the opposite side of the room gave the stone walled place a cheerful feel.
Despite the pleasant surroundings of the space, its occupants didn't seem happy.
The solider was shaking her head. "I don't like it. Something's going to happen...And soon."
The image sighed. "Too soon."
You can't contact her to help?"
The image glumly drove her heel into the floor. "She's thrown a blasted quilt over the mirror. Danku said that her 'little helper' has done all that she can do. It's all up to Atris now."
Tori blinked, frozen to the spot, quilt folded over her arm.
"I can't contact Verde either," the image continued. "Stupid constraints." She laid back in the chair, hidden from Tori. "Though I suppose," she went on mournfully,"that its better."
The solider nodded and stood, slowly stretching. She turned around to get her staff that sat behind her chair, and stopped, her eyes wide. The image looked at her curiously and started to get up as well.
"Um..." Tori fidgeted.
Verde slipped from the shadows and gave a bow to the mirror. "Looking glasses shouldn't be a clear portal," she murmured.