Megu and Suigin Tou's Excellent Adventures
A Rozen Maiden fanfic by Aondehafka
Disclaimer: the characters and concepts of Rozen Maiden are owned by Peach Pit, not me. This story is based on the anime, not the manga.
Chapter 5: There and Back Again
The light of the setting sun gleamed crimson and gold against a hundred skyscraper windows. The wind gusted around and among the structures, carrying with it sounds of urban life, scents from the city and the sea beyond, and Megu.
Suigin Tou's medium gave a long, satisfied yawn. 'I'm glad I didn't spend too much time trying to imagine what Nerima would be like,' she mused as she floated along. 'There was no way I could have anticipated most of that. So many surprises, so many new horizons... opportunities, revelations, challenges...'
She suspected she still had one challenge ahead of her. 'I'll be home in another ten minutes, if the wind doesn't shift,' she estimated. 'I wonder if she's waiting for me. It was awfully convenient, finding a breeze blowing straight toward our home.' It was a nice thought, that Suigin Tou might have summoned up a wind to carry her along, but Megu realized it was also unlikely. If Suigin Tou knew she was on her way home and that she was operating on the last of her strength, surely the Maiden would have flown out to meet her.
"I wonder if she's very upset," Megu murmured. "Well, if she is, then she should be even happier to see I'm okay. She can't have looked closely enough at Nerima to understand what's happening there, what it's really like." She smiled. Her angel had done so much for her, it seemed only fitting that she could help lay some of Suigin Tou's fears to rest.
The wind shifted a minute later, proving that it had just been a fortunate coincidence. Megu was forced to propel herself rather than merely sidestep gravity. The extra effort provoked a weary groan from her, but even that had a certain satisfaction. She'd earned this weariness, and it was a small price to pay for the experiences that had spawned it.
Still, by the time she spotted her balcony with its perpetually-open door, she could almost hear her futon calling. 'A few quick minutes to tell Suigin Tou I'm fine, and then to sleep. Tomorrow will be soon enough for anything more.'
She touched gently down onto the balcony, walked through the door into her loft apartment, and collapsed with a pained grunt as something knocked her legs out from under her. Whatever it was maintained a death-grip there, which caused Megu to end up twisted at the waist so that her legs faced up while her torso faced the wall, one arm pinned beneath her, the other just managing to catch herself in time to soften the impact.
"WAAAHH! Y-y-you're finally here!" cried the one who'd tackled her as Megu tried to lever herself up from the ground. The cry nearly made her slip and fall again. She'd only caught glimpses of her assailant so far, and with no lights on in the apartment little was clear. Whoever this was, her size, sex, and level of ornate elegance were a match for Suigin Tou's, but the squeal had removed all doubt—this was definitely not her angel.
Grimacing, Megu forced her system to cough up a few dregs of adrenaline and bent gravity to bring herself upright. This prompted the other to let go of her and take a tiny step back, then several bigger steps to the side, then a full-blown dash-and-leap which ended with her outside on the edge of the balcony, balancing on the railing with her back to the emptiness beyond. Megu turned to keep an eye on her but didn't move to follow.
"H-hmph!" the Rozen Maiden said, brushing at her clothes. Megu squinted, but the doll's new position between her and the sun made it even more difficult to make out any details. "I guess that's another one Suigin Tou owes me. Maybe even two or three, for making me stay in such a scary place so long. Why didn't you get back sooner, Megu?"
"Ah, I'm sorry," Megu said helplessly. "But... who are you?"
The Rozen Maiden made a noise like a dozen indignant cats. Putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward with a glare, she pronounced, "Ka - Na - Ri - AUUGH!" This last as her pose overbalanced her, sending her to plop chin-first onto the balcony floor.
With the doll no longer backlit at eye-level, Megu was able to get a better view of her. She had leaf-green eyes and light green hair, which was styled in ringlets and sported a ruffled heart-shaped ornament. She wore a bright yellow coat over a darker pleated pantsuit, which might have been either yellow or orange under clearer light. Her eyes were screwed almost shut as she rubbed her chin. "Are you all right?" Megu asked, glad that she didn't see any kind of cut or bruise where the doll was rubbing.
"Ow ow ow... hmmph! A little thing like that isn't worth talking about. Especially not compared to how everyone always forgets my name!" Kanaria complained.
"How can I forget you, when I've never met you before?" Megu asked, reasonably enough.
"There's only six or seven Rozen Maidens in the whole world, and I knew who you were! Do you know how many human girls there are?"
Megu blinked, quickly giving up on finding a sensible answer to this. "Anyway, you said Suigin Tou told you to wait here for me?"
"Mm-hm, and tell her through Pizzicato as soon as you got back." The doll blinked. "Oops." She closed her eyes. Megu sensed a brief surge of power from her. "There!" Kanaria said, opening her eyes again. "She knows you're back, and she'll get here as fast as she can, and Pizzicato's going to meet me back at Micchan's. I'm going home now."
"Ah... I see," Megu said. By no means had this answered all her questions, but she didn't think she had enough energy to dig useful answers out of the mercurial little Maiden. She stepped to one side, giving Kanaria a clear path through the doorway. "Here," she said, gesturing at the opening when the Second Doll just stared quizzically at her. "Suigin Tou always comes through the big mirror in the living room, but there's another in the hallway you can use. You don't have to worry about running into her and bumping your head again."
"That's not what I'm worried about!" Kanaria exclaimed. "And I'm not going back in there! So hurry up and bring me my umbrella, okay?"
Megu blinked. "I'm sorry... your umbrella?"
"Didn't Suigin Tou tell you anything about me?" Kanaria asked plaintively.
Megu quickly thought back over the few things her angel had mentioned. Nothing positive came to mind, at least not positive enough to be worth saying now. "She doesn't talk about the other Rozen Maidens much," Megu said apologetically. "And when she does, it's usually about Shinku."
"I might have known," Kanaria grumbled. "Anyway, I need my umbrella so I can fly away without going back in there." She did her best to hide a shiver.
"What's so scary about our apartment?" Megu asked, honestly bewildered.
"A-all those creepy little figures," Kanaria said, trying not to look like she was speaking through gritted teeth. "You've got them on every shelf, every flat surface, every room... and, and I swear those things were moving when I wasn't looking at them!"
"You mean... you didn't realize...?" Megu stared a moment longer, then turned and headed further into the apartment. She returned a few minutes later, carrying a doll-sized parasol in one hand. In the other she held a high-quality plastic molded Pokemon figurine, one of the dozens Kanaria had referred to. This one was Charizard, an orange lizard with green wings. Megu ran a gentle finger down its back and it leaned into the caress, then turned to give Kanaria a baleful stare.
"I-i-it's moving! It's really, really moving now!" the Maiden squealed, waving her arms frantically.
"Of course he is," Megu said. "Suigin Tou animated all of them. They're our security system."
Kanaria's jaw dropped. "W-What?"
"She didn't say anything to you, I suppose. But why would she? She got the idea from one of you in the first place. She had to have thought you'd know what they were without her saying anything."
"Why would she think that? She didn't get this inspiration from me!"
Megu gave her guest a questioning look. "I know I said she doesn't talk much about the rest of you, but she's told me a few things. I got the impression that you younger Rozen Maidens were one big happy family, with everyone always knowing exactly what's going on with everyone else."
"Maybe she hit her head in the fight with Barabara and Father forgot to fix it," Kanaria replied snippily. "We've all got our own lives, thank you very much!"
"Well, in any case, Suisei Seki was the one who found out that if you bring Pokemon dolls to life, they have their Pokemon powers." Megu patted Charizard again. "Thanks to that, we don't have to pay for water or electricity, or worry about anyone breaking into our home."
Charizard nodded his head, then began to carefully huff and puff. No flame was produced, only smoke—which rose into the air in a series of smudgy but legible kanji.
Megu studied the message, then looked back at Kanaria. "He says that he and the others only scared you because you were snooping around, poking into everything and making snide comments."
"Erk!" Kanaria drew back in a frozen, exaggerated posture. She held it for a few moments, then shook herself into motion again. "W-well, anyway, Suigin Tou didn't say I had to stay until she got back, only until you did. So please let me have my umbrella, okay?"
"Here you go," Megu said, holding it out with a tolerant sigh. 'I remember Suigin Tou said Kanaria was the second most childish of the Rozen Maidens. Maybe it's just as well I haven't met Hina Ichigo yet.'
The Second Doll stepped forward and took the parasol. The explanation seemed to have relieved her fear of Charizard, since she moved without hesitation and even stuck out her tongue when the Pokemon shot a few sparks at her.
Charizard apparently took exception to this, and spat a long, thin lance of white-hot flame that splashed against the fabric of the umbrella. Caught off-guard, Megu didn't jerk him backward until the damage had already been done... or rather, not done. There was no sign of scorching on the parasol.
"Nice try, you little gimcrack piece of mass-produced monkey business!" Kanaria crowed. "This umbrella was made for me by Father, the greatest craftsman in the world! No way is a puny thing like you strong enough to hurt it!"
By now Megu's long day had officially caught up with her. She was far too slow to stop the Pokemon's response. Charizard growled, glowed, and spat a huge, murky fireball twice the size of Kanaria. It rolled over her and through the balcony railing behind her, leaving the Second Doll smoking and charred black.
"AAHHH!" Megu shouted, tossing Charizard back inside the apartment and racing in after him. "Squirtle! Where's a Squirtle?!"
She darted back outside holding a reluctant-looking Water Pokemon, just in time to see the disgusted Kanaria finish brushing soot off herself. "My clothes were also made by Father, you little pest!" the Second Doll shouted past Megu.
'For this I turned the last power I had into adrenaline and physical energy?' Megu closed her eyes and counted to ten, ignoring the rush of water and squawk of indignation as Squirtle decided he did want to douse Kanaria after all. "Kanaria," she said, after opening her eyes and covering Squirtle with her free hand. "Didn't you say you were leaving?"
"I was going to, but maybe I've changed my mind!" Kanaria yelled indignantly. "Maybe I'd rather walk right back in there and play a Concerto of Dispelling! Suigin Tou can just animate all those little twerps again if she thinks it's worth it!"
A brilliant gleam of light emanated from the large mirror in the living room.
"Or maybe not," Kanaria said hastily, dashing through the hole in the railing and out into empty space. Megu watched just long enough to see the doll open her umbrella and sail away, on a path that ignored the direction of the wind.
Then she turned and hurried back into the apartment, entering just as Suigin Tou tumbled out of the mirror... and quite a tumble it was. The First Doll's dress was rumpled and disarranged so badly that at first Megu thought it had been torn. One of her wings was twisted around in a semicircle, with the end trapped somehow in a fold of the dress. The other wing extended stiffly behind her in a straight line. Clinging to her in various places were a large number of stone disks, each about the size and thickness of three stacked hundred-yen coins. It was obvious they were what had frozen her wings and pinned her dress in disarray.
With some difficulty due to the disk that prevented her right knee from flexing, Suigin Tou got to her feet. She stared up at Megu for a long, silent moment. "You look like you're in good shape for someone who spent the day in Nerima," she eventually pronounced.
"Um." Megu stared down helplessly, then knelt beside the Maiden. "...You don't."
"Then you did notice." Suigin Tou glowered for a moment, then heaved a long, weary sigh. Megu started to reply, but the First Doll cut her off. "Wait a moment. I'm going to try something."
Megu watched as her angel closed her eyes and stood still, so still that for an instant she could have been a doll in truth. In that instant the disks fell from her to clatter on the floor.
"SNORLAXES!" Suigin Tou yelled, the momentary illusion of peace shattered. "Get in here!"
Waddling as fast as they could, a bunch of identical Pokemon entered the room – ones that looked like overweight teal-and-cream-colored bears. Megu watched as Suigin Tou flapped her wings, shedding feathers which swirled around the fallen stones and swept them forward into the Pokemons' yawning mouths. They gulped, settled onto their backs, and fell asleep.
"Not much for security, but wonderful garbage disposals," Megu joked, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Of course; that's why I kept them. If anyone ever broke in and had to be disposed of, this would be much more elegant than dumping the corpse in an N-field."
Megu blinked. "Um... you are joking, aren't you?"
"After the day I've had, I'm in no mood to joke," Suigin Tou said darkly. Then she relented, and continued, "But I didn't mean we'd go that far with ordinary human intruders. Mostly I was thinking about Enju or whatever replacements for Bara Suishou he has in the works. Or if Laplace has a little brother." She looked away from Megu, glaring in the direction of the mirror. "However, I can think of a few people from a certain ward that I wouldn't mind removing."
"I did spend the whole day there, you know," Megu interjected into the awkward silence. "And I didn't have any real problems. The closest I got was using up all my energy twice, and even there someone was kind enough to buy me a pot of strength-restoring tea."
The Rozen Maiden stared blankly at her. "Didn't... have... any...?" If she'd even heard Megu's last sentence, there was no sign of it.
Megu took a deep breath, and said as firmly as she could, "The things that were scary, scared me because I didn't understand them. I think that's how it will be for you too—when you go there with me next time."
Suigin Tou's expression slammed closed. "Excuse me? Not only do you want me to let you go back to that... that deathtrap, you even want me to come along?!" Then she blinked and shook her head. "Wait, that didn't come out right."
"I do want that," Megu said briskly, taking advantage of the First Doll's momentary confusion. "Mon Lon knew what she was talking about. There are many lessons I need to learn there, and from what I saw today, there are many more I want to learn. I don't know whether any of that will be true for you, Angel-san, but at least you should come with me to see what I said was true. It's not nearly as scary a place when you understand it."
"I suppose those revolting tiddlywinks were just an illusion, then?" Suigin Tou inquired acidly.
The sarcasm flew right past Megu as her mind grappled with one particular word. "Tiddlywinks?" she repeated.
"Oh, excuse me, Martial Arts Tiddlywinks," Suigin Tou said, half-turning to give the mirror another glare.
"Tiddlywinks?" Megu echoed again.
Suigin Tou gritted her teeth. "Does it sound better to say 'small stone disks charged with life force, that clung tighter and tighter the harder I tried to get them off'?"
"I suppose. But just before you came back, I watched Charizard hit your little sister with a full-size fireball, and if it hadn't covered her with its own soot there wouldn't have been any effect at all. How can she ignore something like that, while something like this affects y—" Megu's eyes widened and her lips clamped shut. Too late, she realized what the answer must be, and she cursed herself for asking such a question. She might be feeling physically alert and energetic due to her panic over Kanaria's plight, but this was still the end of a very long, very challenging day. Otherwise she never would have asked such a horrible question, never would have brought up how Rozen hadn't seen fit to complete his first Maiden. She grimaced and said in a near-whisper, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Suigin Tou asked, clearly bewildered. "Father made us immune to normal damage. But since he wasn't a raving madman, he couldn't predict there'd be a place like Nerima."
Megu just sat there and blinked for several moments. "Oh. I never knew that about you."
Suigin Tou shrugged. "How else would our clothes have lasted through the centuries without needing to be repaired?"
Jun looked dubiously down at the emerald gown in his hands. He slid the fingers of his right hand all the way through a slit that hadn't been there this morning. "I don't like this," he said unhappily. "Sousei Seki shouldn't have cut it so close."
Suisei Seki tossed her head and gave an angry sniff. "Who asked you, anyway?" She gestured to the undergarments that were all she currently wore. "You don't see any cuts here, do you? She wasn't going to hurt me!"
"Did you want to fight her?" Jun pressed.
The Gardener didn't meet his eyes. "I wanted her to feel better. And... and practicing like that was what she wanted to do."
Jun grimaced, but decided to let it go for now. His brow furrowed in concentration as he looked down at the dress, and the ring on his finger glowed brightly green. The damage to the dress vanished as if it had never been. "Here you go."
"Thank you, Jun," Suisei Seki said quietly as she accepted the gown.
"Um... would you like me to make you some more clothes?" Jun asked. "I mean, this is the second time this week I've had to fix that, and it isn't even the dress you originally got from Rozen. I could make you more copies, or some completely different outfits...?"
"N-No thanks," Suisei Seki replied, turning her head so her blush wasn't visible.
"Well, okay... OUCH!" Jun rubbed unhappily at his suddenly-aching shin. "What was that for?!"
"Don't you know anything about manners? You're supposed to ask three times before you decide 'no' really means 'no'!"
"I never thought about that," Megu admitted.
"And it goes even farther," Suigin Tou continued. "That protection begins to weaken if we get within a few miles of each other. It weakens further the closer we get, and vanishes entirely by the time two dolls are close enough for the Alice Game. Only the Gardeners are immune to this effect, and only with each other."
"I guess it's lucky for Kanaria that we didn't set up our home close to Shinku and the others."
Suigin Tou sniffed haughtily. "As if I would flout Father's obvious will like that!"
"I don't know. You can be pretty sneaky when you want to be," Megu teased gently. "Such as right now, when you're trying so hard to distract me from what we were really talking about."
Rather than a sniff, this time the First Doll sighed. Then, her expression hardening, she said, "Very perceptive, Megu. So, since you're suddenly seeing things so clearly, why don't you look into my eyes and decide if I'm going to listen to you tell me 'Let's go to Nerima, it's not that bad!'"
Megu did as requested, staring in silence for a few moments. At last, she looked away and said, "I understand."
"You do? Good."
"I do." 'I should drop this for now; it's going to take at least a month to wear her down.'
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Suigin Tou grumbled. She stared down at the ground below as if wishing it were even farther away.
"I can't believe it only took a week," Megu said happily. She bent the air in front of her into a lens, persevering by trial and error until it provided enough clarity and magnification. Peering through it she inspected the cityscape below, trying without success to locate anything familiar. She'd visited some very distinctive places in her previous trip to the ward, but none had a remarkable exterior; not until a visitor went inside did she see anything truly extraordinary. Much like Nerima itself, Megu thought.
Of course, there were exceptions to this rule, as her current vantage made clear. Megu spotted several locations that were obviously unusual even from the outside. One appeared to be a massive open-air obstacle course, which sprawled the length of several city blocks. Another was a small palace that seemed to be made of ice, which steamed gently in the sunlight but didn't actually melt. A third...
Megu squinted, then tweaked the lens for even greater magnification. "Furinkan High," she said, reading the sign on the school gate. "That's where Shinku attends, isn't it?"
"Shinku?" Suigin Tou blinked, losing the teeth-gritted trepidatious look that Megu hadn't been paying attention to anyway. "Furinkan? Yes, that's right. Why do you ask?"
"Because... well, just look at what's going on there."
Her medium gestured invitingly at the lens construct, but Suigin Tou didn't need it. She sharpened her gaze and took in all the details. The main building sported obvious signs of damage. On the first four floors more windows were broken than not, and on the fifth all the ones she could see were missing their glass entirely. The roof was scorched black in several places, large enough to suggest mortar impacts save for the lack of craters. One wall bulged outward from ground level to the fourth floor, the result of a massive palm tree which at that point pushed through a window to spread its leaves in the sun.
As far as Suigin Tou could tell, events at the main building were over now. The excitement had moved to the athletics field. The entire student body was congregated there, along with the members of the faculty. The former, many of them clutching weapons that would have made normal administrators run screaming for the hills, had the latter surrounded.
Megu and Suigin Tou watched as the tableau held for a few seconds more, then broke. With a roar that the duo almost thought they could hear, the students charged in—and promptly began getting their assets handed to them. A woman-turned-girl-turned-teenager in yellow spandex held coins in both hands, one doing nothing that they could see, the other launching a constant barrage of energy blasts that scattered students like bowling pins. A darkly-tanned man with sunglasses, lei, floral-print shirt and shorts, and palm-tree topknot tossed exploding pineapples with one hand and played a ukulele with the other, and from the pained grimaces and hands clapped over ears the second attack was worse than the first. Melee combat was handled by a conservatively-dressed girl with black hair in a side-poneytail, who looked barely older than the seniors who fell beneath her gymnastics clubs. A grizzled man in a janitor's uniform swung a mop with wild abandon, laughing gleefully at the chance to get some payback at the people who made his job necessary. The airborne duo had to wonder—if the mop always crackled with energy like that, just how effective was it at cleaning messes rather than causing them?
Those four were clearly the star fighters on the teachers' side, but they weren't alone. From what Megu could see, she guessed that everyone on the Furinkan staff must be at least a black belt. Such skill would have impressed her a week ago, but now she knew better. In the current situation it just meant that when someone engaged them, they could hold out long enough for the fearsome foursome to come to the rescue.
At first Megu was reminded of the fight with Happosai. But as the minutes wore on, she realized this battle was progressing differently. Most of the best student fighters had positioned themselves on the outside of the ring that trapped the faculty, leaving the younger and weaker ones to play the role of cannon fodder. The teachers were still putting up a good fight, but it was clear that the tide had turned. When a group of girls wearing leotards and vindictive looks hurled a swarm of medicine balls at the poneytailed teacher, she failed to deflect them all. One slammed into her head with enough force to stagger her, the strongest student fighters surged forward with a roar, and the battle was over.
Megu watched, unable to quiet a tiny flutter of apprehension, but telling herself it was bound to be all right. Sure enough, the students did nothing worse than tie up the vanquished teachers and drop them off with the rest of the wounded. Several nurses appeared, who had apparently remained neutral in the recent rumble, and began administering first aid. Not wanting the reminder of her old life, Megu averted her eyes... satisfied that even in such an incredible disturbance everything had ultimately been okay.
"Keep watching, Megu," Suigin Tou instructed.
"Huh?" She turned back, refocused, and watched as a nurse waved a vial under the deeply-tanned man's nose, awakening him. Once he was conscious and looking up at her, she smiled sadistically, held up one hand, then pulled a rubber glove onto it with a snap! that Megu could feel if not hear.
"Well, he does look like he might be about fifty," she said, looking quickly away. "Isn't that the age where men need those exams regularly?"
"There's nothing regular about this place," Suigin Tou stated, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed when the man somehow squirmed out of his bonds, darted through the nearest students, and vanished into an escape tunnel. Where the sand came from that whumphed down into a dune which sealed the door behind him, she had no idea.
"In any case, which one is Shinku?" Megu asked, looking at the students and expanding the lens so she could inspect more of them at once. "There are many girls with blonde hair. And I don't see Jun, either; have you spotted him yet?"
"Neither one of them is there," Suigin Tou answered.
Megu blinked. "Not there? But... why not?" She looked back at the disheveled main building. "You don't suppose they got knocked out in the early fighting, do you?"
Suigin Tou snorted. "Considering that the first and only time I spied on Shinku here it was also a Hawaii and Havoc Appreciation Day, and she was the one who shattered the teachers' defense, I can say: 'Not very likely'."
"Then where are they? I wanted to finally put a face to her name," Megu complained.
"Who knows?" Suigin Tou hesitated, took a deep breath, then said, "She probably decided to abandon the battle. You know, old habits and all that." She felt noticeably lighter after getting the words out. 'If I can make jokes about it, then I'm definitely almost all the way better.'
"Suigin Tou..." Megu said disappointedly. "I thought you were done making bitter remarks whenever someone brought her up."
"What? You... I... But... Not..." The First Doll closed her eyes. 'I hate this place.'
She opened them again to see Megu drifting away, slowly enough that she didn't think her medium was aware of it. "Megu, where are you going?"
Megu stopped, blinked, looked thoughtful, then said, "I think we should go down there and look around for them."
Suigin Tou's jaw dropped, but she couldn't find words just yet. Seizing the opportunity, Megu continued, "Like I said, after hearing so much about her I want to finally meet Shinku. And it would be nice to say hello to Jun as well, to say 'thank you' for the things he showed me, and tell him I'm putting my power to good use."
"Absolutely NOT!" Suigin Tou declared. "We aren't even all the way to Nerima yet, and you're already forgetting the conditions we agreed on? That school is definitely not in Amazon territory!"
"But we only decided on that because we didn't want to run into Happosai," Megu replied. "And they've already had their craziness for the day at Furinkan. I'm sure we'd be safe."
"I said 'no', and I meant it," Suigin Tou declared. "Now, we can either explore the Amazon Quarter like we agreed, or we can go back home. Your choice, Megu."
Her medium gave an annoyed huff. "Fine." She made a ninety-degree turn and glided swiftly away, heading for the subtle boundary that set their destination apart from greater Nerima.
They flew in silence for twenty minutes, touching down at last on a rooftop a few blocks inside the Quarter. "Do you have anywhere particular in mind to go?" Suigin Tou asked.
"I'm not sure..." Megu was silent for a few moments, then said, "Why didn't you want to stop at the school?"
"Why are you still belaboring this point?!" the First Doll snapped.
"Because it doesn't make sense to me!" Megu snapped right back. "Because I don't understand why you were so reluctant to go there, and I want to understand! I'm beginning to feel like Happosai isn't even the issue, more like he's just a convenient excuse!"
"URK!" Suigin Tou flinched visibly, then gave a shaky laugh. "Th-That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say!"
"Is that right," Megu said.
"Yes! Of course it... it is..." The First Doll stared into her medium's unyielding eyes, and sagged. "I've been to Nerima three times, you know," she murmured. "And I've sent Mei Mei on eleven surveillance runs. The only reason I'm here today is because you just... won't... listen when I tell you this is no place for us."
Megu sighed. "Fine. If you can explain why, then we'll leave." Just as Suigin Tou began to brighten, she added, "And I'll wait until the next time you're away to come back."
Suigin Tou growled something unpleasant in German, then said, "I'm not leaving you here alone. Let's just get moving." Putting action to words, she flew down to street level.
Megu joined her, and they proceeded quietly for a few minutes, the girl walking, the Maiden floating along beside her. They received a few curious glances from other pedestrians, but no-one stopped them or said anything.
"I'd still like to hear your reasons," Megu said as they reached an intersection and turned onto a larger street.
The First Doll sighed. "Is it so hard to understand? So hard to see why I don't want to be here? Think about my life. I was the second strongest of the Rozen Maiden dolls. Humans were quaint little creatures with brief lives and briefer perspectives, and the only power they had worth noticing was that they could build things which lasted longer than they did. Compared to me... well, really, there was no comparison at all. As Father's workmanship, only my sisters could hope to approach me in either strength or beauty.
"Now, obviously that was wrong," she continued quickly, lest Megu interrupt. "But it was a reasonable enough mistake, I think."
"I wasn't arguing," Megu said with a smile, "...Angel-san."
Suigin Tou managed a faint smile of her own. "So after hundreds of years of waking and dreaming in such ignorance, all of a sudden I find a place like this. Young teenagers, young adults, centenarians who apparently think they're still young... all sorts of people stronger than I'd ever dreamed humans could be. Some who overshadow me like a redwood with a rosebush." She paused for a moment, then said in a near-whisper, "I'm not used to feeling small and vulnerable, Megu."
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Megu asked, compassion evident in her face and her voice.
Suigin Tou shrugged and looked away. "What good would it have done? Convince you not to bring me along when you visited? That's a thousand times worse! I'm at least powerful enough to face most of the dangers here head-on, but you... almost anything would be strong enough to crush you!"
"But I spent a whole day here and never met anything that wanted to," Megu countered. "And I met many people who were kind enough to help me, who wished me all the best. Even the girls who challenged me to duels took it back after they learned how new and inexperienced I was."
"Challenged you to...?" Two blazing spots of color had appeared on the First Doll's cheeks.
"Yes," Megu said patiently, "and listened and agreed when I explained why I wasn't ready. Suigin Tou... you've never really described what's happened during your visits here. I know you've gotten into plenty of trouble, but I'm beginning to suspect it happened because you charged in over and over with feathers flying. Have you ever tried just talking to people?"
She was surprised when the color fled her angel's face, leaving Suigin Tou nearly as pale as her hair. "Once or twice," the Maiden said. "...It didn't go very well. Violence might not work perfectly, but it at least gives me a situation I can deal with."
"Now I'm really curious," Megu confessed.
"Too bad. I'm not saying anything more about that debacle." Suigin Tou growled wordlessly for a moment, her cheeks shifting from pale to unusually pink. "The one good thing about today, is that with you here I won't get into something like that again."
"Are you trying to torture me with curiosity?"
Suigin Tou grinned sharply. "Perhaps."
Another twenty minutes had brought them to their destination: the supposed 'ice palace' Megu had spotted from the air. "I'm a little disappointed," the girl confessed.
Suigin Tou arched an eyebrow. "That it's not made of enchanted ice, but rather glass tinted arctic blue?"
"Don't forget the vents where they deliberately release fumes from dry ice, so it looks like the building is steaming in the sun." Megu pouted. "I say if they're going to call themselves Yuki-Onna's Icebox, they ought to have some real magic backing that up."
"Frankly, I'm relieved," Suigin Tou countered. "It's a breath of fresh air, to find something as normal as over-the-top advertising." She looked away from Megu to read the billboard beside the main entrance, which explained the nature and purpose of the facility.
"Hm. I guess I'm still a little curious about what kind of place it is," Megu said reluctantly. "Would you like to go inside?"
"Well, if we're going to, now is definitely the right time," Suigin Tou muttered.
"Pardon?"
Speaking loud enough to hear, the First Doll said, "We can if you want. According to this sign, it looks like a strange mix of teenage hangout and training facility."
"Actually, training facilities here are teenage hangouts," Megu interjected.
"Yes, well, apparently the upper floors are just the tip of the iceberg." Suigin Tou blinked, then grimaced. She hadn't even been aware of the pun until it slipped out. "There are seven underground layers, with twenty-three ice rinks of variable size. It says they can accommodate something as small as a one-on-one training session, or as large as a challenge match with a thousand spectators."
"A match... on an ice rink?" Megu asked. "Come to think of it, I suppose that would be very interesting. Mobility and stability are always critical, and this way they'd become a whole new challenge." She smiled at Suigin Tou. "At least for people who can't fly."
"Apparently you can even engage the service of instructors," Suigin Tou mused. "That might be worth looking into. If that sign means what I think it does by 'learn to channel cold chi', that could be very interesting. And satisfying." She grinned evilly, picturing a jolly snowman with a stovepipe hat, knobs of coal for eyes and a smile, a carrot for a nose, and suspiciously-familiar long golden hair poking out the back of the 'head'. 'Yes, ice would be a lot safer than fire.'
"Should we go in, then?" Megu asked. "If you were interested in asking about lessons, now might be a good time. It's probably not very busy, since it's the middle of a schoolday."
"You're absolutely right," Suigin Tou agreed with a smile. "Let's go."
They ventured inside, located the front desk, and were informed that all the facility-employed instructors were booked solid for the next week. However, advised the receptionist, the first step in such lessons was to acclimate oneself by spending lots of time on the ice, and sub-rink four was currently set up for ice-skating, at a very reasonable price of fifteen hundred yen for the rest of the day.
And so, three winding corridors, two flights of stairs, and one sarcastic comment about needlessly-complicated building designs later, Maiden and medium found themselves in sub-rink four. Tables with chairs were scattered around the edges of the room, giving people somewhere to relax from skating. A snack bar filled one corner of the room, while the opposite corner held a skate-rental kiosk. The rink itself was the largest the Icebox had to offer, large enough that it could have contained three challenge matches at once.
Nothing like that was happening at the moment, of course. True to Megu's guess the room was sparsely occupied, with a few dozen young adults gliding peacefully along on the ice. Only one of the tables had someone seated at it, on the other side of the room from them in the corner not taken up by a business.
"Do you want to rent skates, Megu?" Suigin Tou asked, glancing dubiously at the prices displayed on the sign. "I can have Mei Mei borrow a pair from somewhere else, if you don't wish to spend any more money."
When her medium didn't answer she followed Megu's gaze, determining that the girl's attention had been caught by the occupied table. Seated there was a young man, young enough that he was probably skipping school to be present. His straight blue-black hair was cut to medium length, parted in the middle and carefully styled to give the impression of a no-nonsense guy, the kind who never worried about such frivolous things as hairstyle. His face was thin and angular, and his general build was slim and wiry rather than muscular. He wore spectacles, and behind them his eyes were closed in concentration. His hands rested palms-up on the table in front of him, and on top of them rested a longbow, glowing with a gentle blue-white radiance.
"I just realized something, Megu. There was no reason to come here; I can't skate to acclimate myself to the ice. And with the state of my dreamworld I shouldn't need to anyway. Let's go."
With the ease of increasing practice, Megu ignored the irrational comment. "Suigin Tou, doesn't that boy look... familiar? I could swear I've seen him somewhere before."
"You probably glimpsed him on your last trip." The First Doll gritted her teeth, then forced herself to calmness. After all, with Megu at her side, things would be completely different. And it would undoubtedly be better to assure herself of that now, when the situation was as limited as this. She took a few deep breaths, then said, "Do you want to go say hello?"
"I don't know... he looks like he's busy meditating. I shouldn't disturb him."
"Nonsense!" Suigin Tou said, now fully committed to her course. "If he wanted privacy he wouldn't be in a place like this. Let's go."
She prodded her friend into motion, and set out leading the way. However, she kept one eye on her medium, and when she saw that Megu's curiosity had overcome her reluctance she slowed casually down, allowing the girl to pass her. By the time Megu reached the table the Maiden trailed her by several feet, and was positioned so as to be half-hidden behind her.
"Can I help you?" the boy inquired as Megu reached his side. His tone was polite enough, though he didn't open his eyes.
"I was wondering where I'd seen you. Or... a picture of you...?" Megu mused.
The boy released a quiet snort of amusement. "I'm guessing you don't watch much anime, then?"
"Anime...?" Megu's eyes widened as she made the connection. It had been about two weeks prior. A scene had caught her eye as she flipped through the channels, and she'd stopped to watch a few minutes of the program. She didn't even know the name of it, but now she at least knew why the boy in front of her looked familiar. "You really have your own show?" she asked. "Is it true you hunt monsters to keep ordinary people safe?"
Another, not-so-quiet snort. "No to both, I'm afraid. There's no such things as Hollows or Shinigami, and I'm not a hero. My family's archery techniques were developed for war, to be used against ordinary people. They made all that stuff for Bleach up out of whole cloth."
"I see. Or no, I guess I don't. Why would they do that?" Megu asked. "Your real story sounds more interesting than the normal anime plots."
This response was enough to finally earn the boy's full attention. The glow of the bow vanished, and he opened his eyes. "You must be new here—" He cut himself off with a quiet gasp, his eyes widening as he looked past Megu. "Suigin Tou?"
"I believe my friend asked you a question," the First Doll said coolly, staring back at him from half-lidded eyes. "Surely you aren't rude enough to ignore her?"
With some effort the boy tore his gaze away and back to Megu. "Please pardon my rudeness," he said, standing and bowing, his posture carefully chosen to include both girl and Maiden in the gesture. "I'm Uryu Ishikawa."
"Megu Kakizaki," she replied, returning the bow then frowning thoughtfully. That name didn't quite match what she thought she remembered. "Ishi... kawa? Not Ishida?"
Uryu smiled ruefully. "Apparently, under the applicable law, that change was the last tweak they needed to base a character on me without my permission or compensation."
"That doesn't seem fair," Megu protested.
He shrugged. "I know you're new here; I recognize your name. You haven't heard any of this yet, have you?" When Megu shook her head, he gestured to the chair to his left. "Please, sit down." When Megu complied, he stepped around to the other side of the table, picked up the chair to the right of his, and balanced it on the remaining chair in such a way that it formed a seat at just the right height for Suigin Tou, to Megu's left and directly across from his chair. After looking at it for a long, silent moment, the First Doll sat, at which point Uryu did as well.
"This all started many years ago, long before Nerima became the place it is today," he explained. "There have always been extraordinary people, and they've always come together in small groups. And that means they provide plenty of inspiration for manga artists and anime screenwriters who know about them." Uryu frowned. "From what I hear, originally the people who served as that inspiration were compensated as generously as possible. After all, nobody wants an offended super-human fighter trashing their place of business."
"I wouldn't think that has changed," Megu observed. "Did something else?"
"Yes. Today Nerima has a purpose." Uryu paused. "Have you heard that much, at least?"
"I have," Megu assured him. "To show the world what heights it's possible for people to reach if they really want to, and draw in those who do want that."
"Exactly. Anime and manga help with that goal," Uryu explained. "They soften people up, prepare them to learn such things truly are possible. On the other hand, sometimes a technique that was just the brainstorm of a normal artist will catch a martial artist's eye, and they'll work to develop it for real. And every now and then, we'll learn something even more important..." His voice had fallen to a near murmur with that last sentence, and his eyes were drifting away from the girl he was supposedly speaking to. Clearing his throat and dragging his gaze back to Megu, he said, "Since we benefit this much from the media, these days they get a large amount of slack in drawing on us for their inspiration."
"Hm. That sounds fair after all. What do you think, Suigin Tou?" Megu asked, wanting to draw her friend into the conversation.
"It sounds completely and utterly ridiculous," the First Doll said, her tone as lofty as she could manage. "The kind of nonsense that breeds in such a forsaken place as this."
With a chiming of bells that somehow managed to sound both incredulous and indignant, Mei Mei appeared out of nowhere. The nachtgeist bobbed in front of Suigin Tou for a moment, chiming louder and louder, then blurred into a circular course over the tabletop. Without warning a large block of mangas dropped from the plane of her motion, landing on the table with a loud thunk. The neat stacks were disarranged in the landing, many volumes falling to flop open... revealing various action scenes. Megu noted, with rising amusement, that the flashiest and most impressive ones were accompanied by careful research notes in the margin, written in what was unmistakably Suigin Tou's handwriting.
"Mei Mei, you traitor!" the Maiden snapped, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.
Both Megu and Uryu laughed freely at the display, which didn't help much to calm her down. Uryu brought himself under control first. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he said. "Not here. As I said before, you're hardly alone in such pursuits."
Suigin Tou declined to comment or meet his gaze. Uryu looked down to the pile of mangas, scanning through them until a pleased smile spread across his face. Carefully he extracted the volume of Bleach from its stack. This action at least got Suigin Tou to look at him, even if it was with narrowed eyes. Forging bravely ahead, he opened the front cover, pulled out a pen, and signed his name along with a brief message.
"I didn't ask for that," Suigin Tou said coldly.
"I know," Uryu said, taking a deep breath. "But I will ask you to return the favor." Bending down and rummaging in the pack next to his chair, he pulled out a manga of his own.
Megu boggled as she stared at the cover illustration and the title. "Rozen... Maiden?" she gasped. She stared a moment longer, then turned her gaze to Suigin Tou.
The doll in question looked like she'd stuck her tongue in a light socket. Her hair was frazzled, her eyes were wider than should have been possible, and her jaw dangled like a broken window shade. Ragged feathers dropped lifelessly from her wings. Even her dress looked rumpled beyond belief, as if it had just emerged from the spin cycle of an avalanche.
"I have this one with me because it's my favorite volume," Uryu said earnestly, leaning forward and handing the book to Suigin Tou, "but I've read all the ones that have been released. The story of how you and your sisters began... the difficulties you've faced, the challenge in front of you now to find a new way forward, a new path to the future... I'm sure you've heard this already from other people, but your story really speaks to me."
Suigin Tou managed a strangled, abortive head-twitch, indicating that no, she hadn't heard that before.
"I mentioned that my family's archery techniques were designed for war. We were the artillery long before Japan's battlefields saw gunpowder," Uryu continued. "The techniques are lethal, designed to kill large groups with a single arrow. It's been centuries since they were used; only family honor has kept us practicing them and passing them down to the next generation.
"But with the changes that are happening in this place, I'm determined to change things too. I'm training like I never have before, to adapt my family's knowledge in ways that win fights without killing. That's actually why I'm here today," he explained. "For my next lesson in manipulating the chi of ice. I had no idea I'd see you again, Suigin Tou..."
"Ishikawa-san!"
The cold, clipped exclamation rang through the air. In unwilling reflex Megu whipped her head away from the drama in front of her, spotting the approach of a tall, slim girl a year or so older than her. The girl was clad in a light blue pantsuit. A staff with many joined loops at the end, which Megu failed to recognize as a rugbeater, was slung along her back. Her long, brown hair was arranged in a ponytail, and her eyes were icy enough to make a shiver run up Megu's spine.
"Ah, Natsume," Uryu said, jumping and looking surprised. "Why are you here so early? It's still..." His voice trailed off as he glanced at his watch.
"Still fifteen seconds until our lesson officially begins?" Natsume asked frostily.
"My apologies; I lost track of time." Uryu hesitated, then said, "Would it be possible not to start it just yet? Perhaps we could wait a quarter of an hour?"
"Certainly it would be possible not to have it now," Natsume said, her tone no warmer. "If you no longer wish for me to be your sensei."
Uryu grimaced and got quickly to his feet. "No, Tendo-san, I said nothing about throwing away my training," he replied, his voice now cold and tight as well. He gathered his belongings and strode quickly away toward the nearest door.
Megu stared in bemusement as the newcomer turned to watch him, her expression and posture shifting as dramatically as a collapsing iceberg once he could no longer see her. Gone were the rigid control and any hint of cold; instead, Natsume just looked sad and helpless.
Then she turned back to regard the girls still seated at Uryu's table, her expression shifting again. Her glare now could have put a polar storm to shame. Suigin Tou—frazzled, barely aware of the world around her, not even looking at Natsume but instead flipping through Uryu's manga—flinched badly enough to drop both the volume and a new cloud of feathers.
For her part, Megu fell right off her chair.
Fortunately, Natsume left it at that, turning on her heel and striding away after Uryu. Maiden and medium watched her leave in silence.
This was broken at last by Suigin Tou, who released a long, quivering sigh then said plaintively, "I want to go home, Megu."
"Then let's go," Megu said gently. "Oh! But first we should take that book to the front desk, so someone can return it to Ishikawa-san."
"That... book?" Suigin Tou's eyes drifted down to the manga volume, resting on the table before her. She picked it up again and stared at it, her dazed, distressed expression shifting into something darker. "Shinku..." She drew the word out in a long, low growl.
"What about Shinku?" Megu asked, blinking.
"Who do you think is responsible for this... this..." Words apparently failing her, she settled on saying, "For this?!" letting her tone express her outrage.
Megu took the volume from her hands and began flipping through it. "Come now, Suigin Tou," she said absently. "Weren't you listening to Ishikawa-san? He had no input at all in the series that included his character."
"Which one of us wasn't listening?" Suigin Tou retorted. " 'The story of how you and your sisters began... the difficulties you've faced, the challenge in front of you now to find a new way forward...' And the little I could bring myself to read through in that book is completely true! It has to be Shinku's doing!" Megu opened her mouth to reply, but the Rozen Maiden overrode her. "Who else could it have been? She's the one who turned her back on Father's will, for a mortal life! She's the one who so willingly embraced Nerima and everything that comes with it!" She seethed quietly for a moment, then said, "As soon as I manage to forgive her for one thing, she moves on to a new outrage! What right did she think she had, to tell this story without asking everyone else?! If she likes being human so much, let's see how she enjoys a month in a full-body cast!!"
Megu carefully closed the manga and removed her finger from the page it had been marking, which listed the authors as 'Mitsu Kusabue' and someone known only as 'Kanaria', with source credit given to 'Pizzicato', 'Holie', 'Lenpika', and 'Mei Mei'. 'From everything I've heard, Shinku can take care of herself. But I'd better buy Kanaria as much time as I can, to let Suigin Tou calm down.' Aloud, she said, "I see. For now, though, I think you were right—let's go home."
Suigin Tou nodded emphatically and darted into the air, pausing for a wing-swipe at her seat which had been so carefully arranged by Uryu. Megu noted, with some relief, that the blow merely knocked the top chair off and back to its original place at the table, rather than reducing the furniture to smithereens. 'Suigin Tou, you're kinder than even you realize,' she mused as she followed the First Doll toward the door they'd come in through. 'If that manga tells your story well enough for people to see what you're really like, it's not surprising that Uryu wants to know you better.' She blinked as that thought sparked another. 'In fact—'
"Rozen Maiden-san?" The call came from behind just as they were about to exit from the room, shaking Megu from her thoughts. She noticed Suigin Tou stiffen as if about to blaze ahead at full speed, then blink, relax, and turn to face the girl who had called. Megu followed suit, coming around to see a group of teenage girls hurrying across the room, heading from a door on the left side toward another on the right. The leader was one of the more outlandish figures Megu had seen so far, with her hair bleached white and threaded with a rainbow of tiny beads, and her clothes much the same—white cloth liberally encrusted with multicolored glittering sparkles. The word 'stardust' was written in basic black across her top, providing a bit of relief from the glare as long as the viewer didn't think about where he or she was staring.
"You're going the wrong way," the nameless girl continued as her group drew even with Megu and Suigin Tou. "Come on, we don't want to be late!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you," the First Doll said, more politely than Megu had expected. "We're on our way home, and this door is the way out. Where did you think we were going?"
The glittering girl just stared at her. It fell to one of her friends to say, "Don't you want to see the rematch between Mousse and Jun Sakurada?"
"What?" Suigin Tou replied. "Sakurada is here?"
"And Mousse?" Megu interjected, half excited, half astonished. "We are talking about the Master of Hidden Weapons and not some other Mousse, right?"
"Yes, and the fight will be starting any minute now!" exclaimed the prismatic princess.
"Actually it's another twenty minutes," offered a girl in the back of the pack, who at least looked more sensible than her leader. "Dawn, would it kill you to wear a watch?"
"You know I only believe in sundials." Dawn tossed her head indignantly, then continued, "Well... we should still hurry, so we can get good seats. We skipped class for this, after all." The group began walking again, though at a less frantic pace than before. Suigin Tou and Megu moved automatically to follow them.
"I suppose Shinku did as well?" Suigin Tou asked, trying to sound casual rather than menacing. "Skipped class to watch the fight, I mean."
"You have to ask?" retorted one of the girls with a snort. "Of course she did."
Suigin Tou grinned darkly. "Excellent."
Megu shook her head as they filed out the appropriate door and headed down more stairs. 'I hope this place has good insurance.'
Behind them the various mangas lay forgotten on the table... until Mei Mei buzzed around and returned them to storage in the N-field.
Author's Notes
This plus what makes up the final two chapters were originally outlined as one piece. However, I realized at this point that it was going to be way too much for one chapter. Tune in next time when Shinku finally gets to appear on the stage!
The Pokemon information that appears in this chapter is courtesy of www(dot)serebii(dot)net. Regarding the issue of immunity (or at least, extreme resistance) to normal damange among the Rozen Maidens, we need some kind of explanation as to how they've made it through the centuries without their clothes wearing out. Of course we know from the original series that Shinku and Kanaria are capable of mending damage with their power, and for the purposes of this fic I assumed that all the dolls could, so this explanation wasn't absolutely necessary. But I decided to go with it anyway, since it gives me a reason for Suigin Tou to feel more justified in living apart from the other dolls and looking down on them for staying together.
Those familiar with Ranma ½ might have noticed that Furinkan High school seems to have had a few extra floors tacked onto it since that series. This, of course, is because of its new status as the recipient of all the special students that can be rounded up. And yes, Kodachi is now employed there—she teaches chemistry.
As was indicated in the body of the fic, the character Uryu Ishida is from the series Bleach, whose characters and concepts are owned by Tite Kubo, Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, and Viz Media. To anyone who thought this chapter was meant to indicate Uryu is the real problem Suigin Tou has in dealing with Nerima... you ain't seen nothin' yet.