Improper Guardian

Chapter Twenty Nine

By: Brenli

For the second time, Nema walked before her people with her head hung. Once again the murmurs formed an uncomfortable buzz around her, but she tried hard to ignore it as she focused on trying to hide the slight limp from her right leg. After taking that fall with Michael, she was more banged up than she would have liked to admit.

"… Oh, Nemaaa…! Your mini-crown…! It's… crushed!" Lilliel suddenly said from beside her, hopping along. "Do you want to wear mine?"

Nema stopped limping and looked down at Rujiel's little sister.

"… Nema…?" Lilliel brushed aside her curls and frowned up at her. "Why are you crying…?"

The battered Queen suddenly dropped down and wrapped the oblivious little girl in a hug. "… I'm sorry…! Lilliel, I'm so sorry…!"

"… Why?"

Nema stood, not wanting to tell her why just yet. She would rather call everyone together and get it done in one blow… and then deal with the reactions as they presented themselves to her. "I have an important announcement to make. We will all meet in the soapbox room." And then she limped on.

The soapbox room was not really the soapbox room, anymore. Since the Revolution, the soapbox room had been transformed into a meeting room for open debates and planning; however, the name still stuck. The soapbox was no longer there, but there was a small sort of stage set in the midst of seats on all sides, and in these seats as many I-Children as possible filtered in, some roused from sleep, others wide awake. Several more crowded along the back walls and in the doorway. The younger Rabbits liked to sit on the floor, right at the edge of the stage. As it was late there weren't many young ones, but Lilliel was there, her face wrinkled in confusion and worry. And Nema stood in the middle of the stage and felt all these eyes on her, and she wondered if they would all yell and attack her once they found out what had happened. Though some mocked Rujiel for his strange devotion to Nyssa, it was widely accepted that he was clearly one of the hardest working of the men, and therefore he was held in high regard.

But now, Rujiel was nothing but a half-rotten shell of the man he once was.

Suddenly, the room exploded in a flurry of voices. Most of them expressed worry for her, while a few others tried to quiet everyone else down.

Nema held up a hand, and the room went silent. She bit her lip. "… I am the least of your worries, as always. If I were to fade out, my cause would still be there and I expect you to carry it out in my memory. My health is not your concern."

"… But what happened to you?" A voice said from behind her. She turned to see that Nyssa had entered from the opposing doorway and stood in it, all the other I-Children spacing themselves from her. Her eyes were ringed with red, as though she had been crying, but Nema dismissed it. She turned back around and began speaking with her head hung.

"… Tonight I had engaged in a quarrel between Rujiel and Michael."

"So Michael did this to you?" Voices began to ask, and several threats formed just as quick.

"The wounds that you see on me are merely the result of a nasty fall I ended up taking." Nema said firmly.

"So where is Rujiel, then? Washing Michael's blood off his body, no doubt…!" Some male voice said gruffly, his laughter coming through in half-coughs, like a chronic smoker.

Nema clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "… Rujiel will not be coming home." To the deafening silence, she was quick to quell any assumptions. "It is not what you would think. Michael is not the one at fault. I am."

This fact did stir a low rumble of words. Nema couldn't be sure if they were angry, shocked, or disbelieving. Maybe they were all three. Nema looked down at Lilliel, whose pink eyes were wide with shock, and she spoke to her, but loud enough for the whole room to hear. "You know I would never, EVER mean to… I'm not asking for anyone's forgiveness, but the truth is it really was an accident…! I slipped… I was too high-strung… too lost and frantic… and I slipped. And I'm so sorry I slipped…! Lilliel… I am sorry."

She watched as Lilliel scrambled up on the stage and rushed up to her, tears already running down her face. "… He is… dead?"

"… A ghoul." Nema told her. She knelt before her, and then she bowed, ignoring the fact that Lilliel was much younger and traditionally should not be bowed to at this level. "I can't say it enough… I'm sorry."

Then the unbelievable happened. Nema felt Lilliel press her hands against the crown of Nema's head, stroking the mussed, white hair. "… Rujiel would be very sad if he saw you bow to me like this. I'm sure… that he forgives you if it was an accident. I am going to, too."

Nema looked up from her low bow and asked, "… What?"

"I mean… you just lost your fiancé. I think that if you must be punished… that's punishment enough, isn't it? I forgive you… and I'll bet… Rujiel does, too…" Lilliel's sudden peak in maturity was marred with her firm belief that Rujiel and Nema had been engaged, but it was there, nonetheless. Nema didn't know whether to be thankful or cry more. Lilliel turned and addressed the large, pale audience. "If anyone has any angry feelings about this, you can just get over it." Then she looked back at Nema, who only bowed her head in shame. "… You're dismissed!"

Nema heard the shuffles and murmurs of the people leaving, and after a while the room grew silent. Then she felt the light pressing of Lilliel's lips against the top of her head.

"I said I forgive you…" She said quietly. "You should go to bed." And then finally, Lilliel was gone, too.

It was a long time before Nema actually stood up to leave. Now that no one was around to see her, she allowed herself to groan in pain as she stood hunched over. "… In so much… fucking pain…"

"I hope you stay that way for what you did."

Nema's pale head whirled around to see that Nyssa was still in the room with her. She had taken several steps down into the soapbox room, and now she stood on those stairs, her body firm and stiff in anger, her red-rimmed, electric green eyes brimming with tears.

"… You… KILLED him…?" Nyssa hissed lowly.

Nema frowned and lowered her head. "I am s-"

"You better look up at me and REPEAT what you said!"

In surprise, Nema lifted her ruby eyes up to the I-Child before her. This was not the Nyssa she knew. The Nyssa she knew never changed in her manner and thought processes. She was never emotional… and now… she was something very different.

Something Nema wasn't sure she was ready for.

"DON'T STAND THERE LIKE SOME BEATEN OLD HAG! YOU WON'T GET PITY FROM ME!" Nyssa suddenly screamed.

"But you already heard what I said…!" Nema cried back. It was weak of her and she knew it. She knew she ought to have expected a confrontation from SOMEONE. And yet, these were the first words to come out of her mouth.

"I don't care." Nyssa began taking more steps down to the stage. "You'll say it to me slowly. And clearly. Repeat what you said! I don't care if it hurts you so much!"

Yes, so it was punishment, then. Nema supposed that was fair enough. "… I turned Rujiel… into a ghoul."

"You DESTROYED HIM!" Nyssa snarled and jumped down the last four steps and leapt onto the stage. "He was a good man and you DESTROYED him…!"

"It was an accident, Nyssa…!" Nema took a few shaky steps back, her eyes quickly shifting down to Nyssa's pale fists. Had she imagined that they crackled like lightning for a short moment?

"Accident, my ass!" Nyssa ignored the tears that had begun to escape her eyes. "He was going to kill your White Wing lover, wasn't he? He was going to kill Michael off! And it would have shifted the war in our favor, and you KILLED him for it!"

"… Nyssa –"

"You killed Rujiel to save your fucking White Wing boyfriend! And you call yourself a war leader…! What good is it holding your heart over a whole nation of people that are depending on YOU?"

The words struck a chord inside Nema, and she exploded forth, suddenly failing to feel the pain in her body, and she hissed back, "Don't talk to ME about those priorities! Are you so much better? I shouldn't HAVE to be a war leader, and you know why? Because YOU should have finished it a LONG time ago! But where did YOU go? Off into your room to long for Cheriour, or Ashriel, whether they be the same man or not!"

And suddenly Nyssa stepped up and struck Nema. Nema fell and actually had to shake her head before she could stand. The slap had sent a sharp shock through her, and when Nema looked at Nyssa again, she realized all too clearly that there was much more to Nyssa than she had assumed. Most Angels, I-Children or not, were not equipped with special powers. Among I-Children, however, there were a few uniquely powerful people. People like Raziel, and now Nema… and now Nyssa, apparently.

"I AM NOT LIKE YOU!" Nyssa cried sharply. "I DIDN'T BREAK RUJIEL'S HEART, LIKE YOU, HUSSY!"

"On the contrary…" Nema said darkly. "Everyone knows that you broke Rujiel's heart. Every day of his life."

It was the wrong thing to say, Nyssa flew at her. Nema fell and tried to block the fists coming at her, but blocking was pointless with the lightning currents flowing from Nyssa and into Nema. "IT'S NOT ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS HOW I DEALT WITH RUJIEL!" Nyssa shouted and cried. "I CAN'T AND WON'T LOVE ANYONE, ANYMORE! ALL IT DID WAS CAUSE HORRIBLE THINGS! PEOPLE DIE BECAUSE OF LOVE!"

At last Nema fought the pain and curled her legs up, kicking Nyssa off of her. "Then you are no better than Cheriour for thinking that!"

"… YOU are the one like Cheriour! How many White Wings do you kill off every day by your own hand, in spite of the fact that you LOVE one? You are a MURDERER! You commit genocide, just like HIM!" Nyssa's angry speech was interrupted by a swift kick in her side.

"I kill them all because they agree with and approve of the pain WE go through…! Almost ALL of them… have committed the acts themselves!" Nema grit her teeth against the pain that was coursing through her entire body by this point. "Beating and raping and killing us all…! Each of those Hunters is guilty of that by this point in time! And you're sympathizing with them NOW?" Nema let out a pained scream as Nyssa whipped out one of her arms and tripped her.

"Is your White Wing lover guilty of those things, too, then? And you still love him!" Nyssa sneered and started to laugh, but it stopped short in her throat. "… What are you doing…?" Sharp pains were beginning to press out from the middle of her chest. Her ribcage felt an unmistakable pressure, as though they would break soon.

Nema blinked the tears out of her eyes. "… I never… EVER said that my being in love with Michael was a GOOD thing. I have TRIED to forget him. I have tried to HATE him… and by this point I have almost succeeded. In spite of that I will tell you now… that I love Michael."

"Whore!" Nyssa snarled, and then cried in pain as the pressure traveled up to include her head.

"I have only had sex twice in my life; how DARE you call me a whore!" Nema cried. "Do you honestly think that I have NO idea where you are coming from…?" Nema sniffed back an angry sob. It managed to escape in the choked up form of a bitter laugh. "Why do you think you're ALONE? I know that pain…! To love someone so much… to believe that they love you, too… to have that thrown in your face… get it beat into you… and then you have to face that fact, that they probably DON'T love you and want to HURT you… every fucking day. I KNOW THAT PAIN. I took comfort in the fact that you understood me! Why can't you do the same?"

Nyssa struggled with the pain. She was unable to look Nema in the eye. And for a while Nema believed that Nyssa was going to begin sobbing from a mixture of physical and emotional pain, until Nyssa exploded in a brilliant array of electric beams and sparks that sent Nema off the stage and head first against the first row of seats. Nema fell out of view, and Nyssa felt Nema's hold over her drop away suddenly. Had she knocked her out?

Nyssa crawled to the edge of the stage. Her ribs still ached from the pressure they had endured. Nema was sprawled out in a slightly crumpled mass, eyes closed, body limp.

And Nyssa cried and said quietly. "… It's not the same." She shut her bright green eyes and whispered to Nema's limp body. "It's not the same…! You didn't have Rujiel there as long as I did…! He wasn't there for you… like he was for me… when no one else would even look your way… because you were the one who had gone mad. And he was there, anyway…" She swiped at the rivers of tears flowing down her snowy pale face. "And now he won't be there… and it's not the same for you… because you won't wake up and feel like there is no one else who will care for you. And you won't feel like… maybe… you didn't choose the right one…"

"That's true…"

Nyssa suddenly looked at Nema, who was trying… desperately… to just sit up. She crawled and shifted her weight towards the stage… and Nyssa noticed how Nema was practically giving it her all just to cross her arms over the edge of this low stage and rest her chin against it. However, most of this damage was not even by Nyssa's hand. Nema had already been wounded prior to their little fight. But Nyssa had been too angry to acknowledge this and had even had the cruelty to use her rarely-exercised power on her. Well… so much for honor.

Nyssa watched Nema take a deep and shaky breath and actually found it in herself to be slightly ashamed, however angry she still felt. One thing that had never changed about Nyssa was that she was a woman of honor, but in this moment… feeling completely enraged and lost… she'd forgotten her morals.

And then Nema began a low laugh that made Nyssa angry all over again. "What's so funny?" She hissed.

Nema allowed tears to escape her eyes and gave Nyssa a sidelong glance. "… Us."

"… I fail to see ANYTHING funny about US!"

"But it is funny… we are… stupid." Nema sniffled and laughed more loudly. "So completely stupid… you and I. Do you want to know the real reason why we are fighting?"

"… What?"

"… We are heartbroken. That's what it all comes down to. We're so heartbroken all we can THINK about is that kind of pain. We are BLIND girls, you and I… A pair of idiots." Nema paused to take another shaky breath.

"… Angry idiots." Nyssa couldn't help but agree solemnly.

"… Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn."

"That's Shakespeare…"

"I know."

"… Didn't think you knew Shakespeare."

"Why? Because I grew up in Japan?"

"… Maybe."

Nema laughed weakly. "How horrible. Do you think I'm a heathen?"

Nyssa allowed herself a crooked smile. "… I'm still mad at you, you know."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me." Nema agreed quietly. "I do want to ask you to stop beating me… no magical lightning fists… or plain fists, for that matter… I'm already bruised… and scraped… and achy… and even bitten… probably just for good measure. One more blow from you and I think I'll be out for a week."

"Maybe you deserve to be out for a week."

"Maybe. If you decide to knock me out anyway… then at least I tried to reason my way out of it." Nema shrugged. "… But Nyssa?"

"Yeah?"

"It truly was an accident. Even though I left Rujiel, I did and do still care for him… In fact, I left him because I cared enough to stop lying to him about… who I really love. I just want you to know that. I will miss him. I miss him right now." Nema finished quietly and closed her eyes.

For a while, neither of them moved. Nyssa was convinced that Nema had probably fallen asleep, but then Nema shook her head and began the long struggle to stand. "Okay. That's pathetic." Nyssa got off the stage and stood next to her.

"Well… pardon me for being, you know… beat up." Nema rolled her eyes and continued to struggle. She froze when she felt Nyssa suddenly wrap her arms around her and begin heaving her up. Nema leaned against her and tested her right leg again.

"Did you break it?" Nyssa asked plainly.

"No… just strained." Nema winced at the pain and sighed. "… Thank you."

Nyssa didn't bother to acknowledge Nema's last two words. "Where to?"

"The big bath."

"At this hour?"

"… I am dirty and bloody."

"… Point taken." Nyssa helped Nema walk the whole way there. "… What if you drown?"

"… Fair enough. Maybe I deserve it." Nema pushed open the door and limped in. Before her was the large women's bath. No one needed to use it, if they were too modest. But to Nema it was a touch of home, as though she had taken a Japanese public bathhouse with her.

"… You should take a day off, tomorrow."

Nema looked over her shoulder with wide red eyes. "… I didn't know war leaders HAD that option."

"… I led a rebellion once."

"… You want to cover for me?"

"I have that ability."

"And what about everyone else?"

"They're assholes. I'll show them I still have what it takes." Nyssa said firmly. "… We have a deal, then?"

Nema allowed a tired smile to cross her face. "… Sure. We have a deal."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Two seconds... One...

"Oh, there we go!" Doll chirped to herself as the timer went off. She'd made the oatmeal and raisin cookies because she had noted that when she finally found the batch of cookies Katou had last stolen, he had eaten mostly that kind. Yes, she'd seriously made Katou a batch of cookies, just for him. And yes, she knew that he wasn't being serious about that request. But she decided to take it upon herself, anyway.

After waiting for the cookies to cool just a little bit, she put them all in a little basket and prepared to leave in her new maid outfit. She had taken into consideration that Katou did find her maid dresses cute, so she made a new one. She didn't want to say it was just for him, or anything like that, though she had to admit she was looking forward to forcing Katou to admit that he found her cute as she delivered cookies in this shorter and much more lacy version of her typical uniform.

Doll could not possibly begin to explain why she found forcing Katou to admit such a fact was so uplifting to her. Because the truth was it really did make her feel like she should be proud of herself. The truth was that lately, Doll found herself picking on Katou with much more happiness than she had when she served Uriel. Why? She didn't know.

She knocked and heard a low groan and a thud that she believed signified Katou's body rolling off the bed and onto the ground. A muffled, "Fucking bed...!" was confirmation of that.

The door to Katou's room opened. "... I'm tired. Go away."

Doll did an overdone pout, her bottom lip quivering. "But I brought you your reward for finding my key and winding me back up...!" She held the basket before her and allowed the scent to waft up under his nose.

It seemed to wake him up a good deal. "You made the best kind!"

"I did!" Doll smiled. "For you." She gave him the basket and he readily took it.

"Thanks!" Katou smiled, but it faded a bit as he eyes focused on Doll, "... What's the occasion?"

"No occasion." Doll said as she let herself into his room. The maid in her took over. "... THIS IS A MESS! YOU REALLY ARE A PIG!"

"Hey, kid, it's not like you've ever bothered to come in and clean my room up for me, you know…" Katou said carelessly as he chewed on a cookie.

Doll sighed at him. "I shouldn't HAVE to pick up after you! I am Uriel's maid, not yours!"

Katou was quiet for a moment, making a big show of eating and enjoying the cookie in his hand. He even licked his fingers. "God, good."

"Don't get too passionate with my cookies… that's creepy." Doll shuddered.

"Would you rather I get passionate with you, then?"

Doll froze. "What?"

Katou held up a finger to make her wait as he bit into a second cookie. "… Mmmph. Noffing important."

But the little maid marched up to him, stealing his cookie and sending him a fiery glare, her lips forming a small pout. "You're being a pervert again!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't come in here with a dress like that on ya. I see cleavage."

Doll suddenly blinked rapidly, looking down to check. She blushed. "… D-don't look there, you JERK!"

"Don't come in here with a dress like that." Katou replied coolly. "You can't tell me you aren't running around in that dress for NO reason." After a pause he asked, "You gonna go and try to seduce Uri again?"

"NO!"

And suddenly Katou smiled. "Well, then!"

Doll gasped at the implication. It wasn't like that at ALL! Not really. "I-it's not what you're thinking! You're just a stupid, lazy, cookie-eating pervert!" She screamed and sent mental daggers at him.

Katou merely held up his hands. "And you're just an anal retentive maid."

"Hmph!"

"And you're cute when you're angry."

Doll opened her mouth, but she could find no words to say, so she set to work making Katou's bed. She didn't seem to notice how completely and utterly silent the room became, or that Katou had stopped feasting on the fresh cookies.

"Doll…"

"What?" Doll snapped, feeling thoroughly fed up with him. And to think, at one point she was grateful for him! Hah! Never again!

"… Stop."

"Oh you don't WANT me to clean your room? Do you NEED it messy?" Doll bent over and made ready to climb onto his bed.

"… PLEASE stop!"

It was then that she felt Katou rush forward and pull her off his bed. "DO YOU MIND?"

"I mind, I mind!" Katou stepped away from her. "Just… for a modest maid, you know… you are very… oblivious."

"What are you TALKING about?" And then it finally clicked. Her skirt… was FAR too short to successfully make his bed without giving him some kind of eyeful. "… Oh."

"… So you can't get mad at me for that one. I was actually being a GENTLEMAN about it. So there." And just like that, Katou was back to eating cookies.

"… So you like it?"

Katou looked up at her from his seat at his little table.

"The cookies?"

A smile touched his features. "No one makes 'em better."

"Good. I'm glad."

Katou inhaled another cookie before talking again. "… That's good, then. I want you to be happy." And then he stuffed another cookie in his mouth.

"… Katou?"

"Mmmph?" Katou chewed thoughtfully.

"You said that stuff… about waiting."

He looked up at her blankly.

"… You said I couldn't wait forever. For Uriel."

"… Mmm." Suddenly Katou seemed more intent on looking at the basket of cookies.

"… How long can I wait for him, then?"

He stood up. "I don't wanna talk to you about this."

"But WHY?" Doll whined. "You're the only person I CAN talk to about this!"

"I doubt that."

"… PLEASE, Katou? I just want your honest answer."

"You're gonna hate my honest answer."

But Doll stood firm. "Just TELL me! I can take it!" But she couldn't.

Because Katou rushed forth and pressed his mouth to hers in a desperate kiss. Really, truly, it was desperate. It wasn't rough, but there was an urgency in the way his lips brushed onto hers. She froze and tasted the sweetness of cookies and Katou's own mouth… and then it was gone. And Katou sat back down and stuffed another cookie in his mouth.

She stared at him as he chewed and chewed. His blue eyes betrayed a great deal of confusion that he couldn't mask, no matter how hard he tried. She took a breath. "… What was that?"

"I don't know what it was."

"That's a lie. You know what it was…!"

"It was a kiss." Katou mumbled. "You know what kisses are, don't you?"

"I know what kisses are!" Doll whined. "… But…"

"… But…?"

"WHY did y-"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Katou snapped and chewed on another cookie. For the first time Doll saw Katou not as a pervert or a mooch, but as a simple man. Currently… a very troubled man.

"… That's a lie, too." Doll said quietly.

"… Yeah. I know it is." Katou watched Doll sit on the floor beside him, her adorable head by his knee. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting. I will sit here until you talk to me about what you just did."

"Well I don't know what to say about it! You'll be sitting there for hours! Don't you have to go get Uriel-SAMA some tea?"

"He can go without tea." Katou grew quiet. This time it was not because he was eating a cookie, so Doll repeated herself. "Uriel can go without tea."

They sat like that for a long time. Katou finished off four more cookies. Doll played with the lace at the edge of her short, poofy black skirt. "… I don't want you to wait for Uri anymore." He finally said.

"What?"

"I don't want you to wait for him. He doesn't love you. … That's the truth. Sorry if it was harsh."

Doll sat there beside him, her attention focused on her little hands. "… I believe that there is a chance he loves me."

"Why?" Katou said too firmly. To make up for it, he shoved another cookie in his mouth.

"Because… Uriel gave me a new life. He has told me time and again that when he first found me… he felt my pain and he wanted to get rid of that sadness."

"Uriel plays with souls all the time. That's why I'm here, and Setuna's here, and Sara's here, and Nema's here."

"But he wants to make me happy!" Doll suddenly cried. She felt a warm hand brush aside her dark curls, and she blinked back tears.

"… He hasn't made you happy yet… and how many years has it been? Enough time for Setsuna and Sara to have a little girl and raise her almost to adulthood on Assiah. 16 years at least, Doll… That's a long time to keep someone unhappy."

"… I… I'll tell Uriel that I love him!"

"Uriel already knows you love him. Everyone knows you love him." Katou paused, frowning at his own words. "… He doesn't know what he has." He mumbled after a stretch of silence. "You worship the man… clean his whole house… make him tea… cheer him up… compliment him… lately… you've been trying to seduce him. And he won't take you. I've never seen a man as blind as that. Unless he knows… and doesn't love you."

Doll shut her eyes, as though this simple action would keep the truth out.

"… It wouldn't hurt so bad if you just… walked away. You can still work for him. But Uri… doesn't love you, as far as I can see. It's not worth the trouble trying to bend someone to your will like that. There is better for you out there. You just need to look."

Doll sniffled and looked up at him. "… WHERE? WHERE is there better people?"

Katou opened his mouth, closed it, bit the inside of his cheek, closed his eyes, and fixed his gaze on the basket of cookies. "… I don't know." He was surprised to feel Doll's head nestle itself against his knee. "…Stop that. You're not my slave."

Doll ignored him. "… So why did you kiss me…?"

"Because…" Katou trailed off, picked up a cookie, prepared to eat it… and dropped it. "I wanted to make you feel happy." He couldn't meet her gaze, though he felt it burn into him. "I'm not being a pervert, and I'm not saying that I'm better…! I know I'm not better. I know 'cause I'm a freeloading, cussing, rude little bastard. I know. That's who I am. So I'm not saying I'm better, 'cause I know I'm not."

"You talk too much."

"I don't care." Katou replied swiftly. "So the point is, you know, at least… I want to give you the light of day. At least I notice you, and look at you the way you wish he would. I know I'm not him. I'm his fucking polar opposite, if anything. But I would be willing to treat you the way you want to be treated, that's all. But I can't live up to his reputation, 'cause let's face it, we're not even coming from the same general background. I won't ever equal him so I'll never replace him." He paused to take a shaky kind of breath. It seemed ragged and painful. "I'm not too stupid to know that. I won't ever be him. I'm not better than him, and you should go get better than him. Which means I'm not a part of this, and… that is… okay."

Doll listened to him speak without reservations and began to choke up on tears of a different kind. "… Katou-"

"That really is okay, I swear." Katou said quickly. "Just as long as the next time I see you, you're smiling, kid." He put on a semi-threatening scowl and poked her head. "You got that?"

Doll wiped the tears off her face and sniffled, letting a smile curled over her lips. "I was playing a game that day that you walked in on me… pervert."

Katou reverted to eating cookies again. "Yeah?"

"Yup. You know that daisy game?"

"I don't know shit about flowers. Ow!" Katou rubbed the arm that Doll promptly slapped. "What?" Katou scowled.

"You don't know the 'he loves me, he loves me not' game?"

"Obviously not."

"Well I was playing that before you walked in on me."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. It said that Uriel doesn't love me."

Katou couldn't help but snicker. "See? Even FLOWERS know that he doesn't love you."

"It said that you DID."

The room got quiet. "… Love's a strong word. You're cute and fun to be with. That's all I know."

Doll pouted. "So the flowers aren't that smart?"

"No. The flowers just read too many romance novels."

Doll laughed. "You should prove to me that you don't love me."

Katou's blue eyes grew wide. "… WHY?"

"Because I bet you can't!"

To her joy, he jumped up. "You're ON!"

"Fine then! If you don't love me, you won't kiss me ever again!"

"… That's it? That's all I have to do?" Katou's face twisted into a look of genuine confusion. Doll had to admit… that face was cute.

"Yes! But you should give me a proper thank you, because you forgot to do so!"

"What the Hell are you talking about? I said thank you!"

"But you didn't kiss my hand!"

"… That's not fair!" Katou growled. "You're tricking me into saying it!"

Doll held out her hand.

"NO!"

Then she pouted. "… You're going to make me unhappy if you don't act proper just this once…!"

"… You… conniving little b-"

"Hey!" Doll snapped. "You'll make me unhappy and ANGRY if you call me names!"

"… Why the Hell is my loving you so important to you?" Katou crossed his arms over his chest.

"So you admit to loving me!" Doll jumped up and hopped before him.

"I DID NOT!"

"… Fine. Fine then. Then I'm leaving."'

"… What?"

"I'm unhappy. I don't want to be here, anymore."

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, DOLL!"

"Well… life isn't fair, is it? … Farewell." Doll turned and attempted to leave him and sulk in pretend sadness. For she knew that he would crumble and kiss her hand. She didn't know WHY she knew. But… she did know.

She DIDN'T know that he would crush her against him and press another kiss to her lips. This time, Katou's kiss was much rougher and demanded. It was an angry and frustrated kiss. Maybe this was his way of getting back at her. She tried to pull away, but his grasp tightened to the point where she cried out a little, and then he deepened the kiss. Doll struggled and fought. But the horrible yet shamefully delicious part of it all was… Doll completely enjoyed this.

Katou finally ripped his mouth from hers. "… THERE. HAPPY?"

"… I never said that you had to kiss my mouth. Unless you loved me."

Katou's eyes widened. He was at a total loss for words. "That's… not… fair."

"Life isn't fair, is it?" Doll grinned. "Well it didn't make me happy, anyway."

"… WHAT?"

"It made me happy, but not happy enough."

Katou growled low in his throat. "… Oh YEAH? What made it bad?"

"You'll just have to keep trying to find out, now, won't you?" Doll said snottily, brushing her dark hair over her shoulder. She squeaked when he began pushing her, and then she was pressed hard against his door.

"Was that an invitation? Because I think you're too fragile and prudish to DEAL with me finding out."

"… Bet you I'm not."

"Prove it."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

AUTHORESS NOTE: It's fucking summer and my updates are still all retarded and slow! What the Hell is going ON? TT

Anyway… naughty NAUGHTY playful ending. They're allowed. I've written so many sad things, haven't I? It was good to take a lapse into some lighter and more sentimental things. Like a good day off.

Apparently Nema will be taking a day off. I have no idea what she'd be going with that kind of free time, though. Sewing more things? I don't know. I'll figure it out.