Atmung
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.
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Chapter 2: Baby Steps
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"Jun-kun! You're home!" Nori said thankfully. "Um... where did you go?" She looked at the bag he was straining to carry. Through the cloth she could see hard corners and flat surfaces. "Are those books?"
"Yeah. Didn't Shinku tell you?" Jun gasped as he staggered past her. "Tomoe found some more that might tell about Rozen and the dolls. She got them sent to the school library and I picked them up just now."
"Shinku-chan isn't here. She's doing something in the N-field. And when I asked Suisei Seki-chan, she just told me a story about you going off to battle your fears."
"Wicked little doll," Jun grumbled half-heartedly as he straightened up from putting the bag on the couch. "But I guess it's good to see her getting her spirit back."
"I know..." Nori murmured. "With Hina-chan and Sousei Seki-chan sleeping like this, it's so quiet. It almost feels like our house is mourning for them..." She gave an abrupt shake of her head. "But that's not right! They're not gone for good! They're just... away for awhile. Right, Jun-kun?"
"That's right!" he said, much more firmly than she had managed. "We're gonna get them back. Maybe one of these books will have what we need." He sighed. "I just wish Shinku was here to start reading them—OUCH!!" He hopped away on one leg, clutching the other in surprised agony.
Suisei Seki retracted the foot she'd used to kick him. "Since when is Shinku the only one around here who knows how to read?!"
"They're in German, Suisei Seki!" Jun hollered.
"So was Father, you stupid chibi-human! We all read German just fine!" Suisei Seki declared. "Now get me one of those books!"
The impulse flitted across Jun's mind to offer her a choice by upending the sack over her head. But the books were too hard and bulky for that, and anyway this wasn't the best time for jokes. "Here you go," he said, picking up the topmost one and giving it to her.
Suisei Seki accepted it with a haughty toss of the head and flounced away. The drama of her exit was ruined, though, as Jun suddenly called out, "Wait!"
"Well? What is it?"
"There was one time Shinku told me I could use our connection to do some of the things she could, that I could read German if I tried hard enough. So I tried, and nothing happened, and she said she was lying." Jun hesitated, hoping against hope, then said, "Was she really?"
"Chibi-human, your brain must be even smaller than your head!" Suisei Seki pronounced. "How could you possibly think that would work? I already said, reading German isn't one of our powers!" She stalked away again, but stopped at the doorway. Without turning around, she said in a much quieter tone, "But... I guess it's nice to see how much you want to help Sousei Seki and Chibi-Chibi Ichigo..." With that said, she darted out of sight.
"I really do want to help them..." Jun said to no-one in particular.
"Jun-kun..." Nori murmured. "You will. You'll find a way. Remember how you were able to fix Shinku-chan's arm? You shouldn't have been able to do that at all, from what she told me. But you still did."
"I guess..." Jun sighed. "I'm going to my room for awhile."
"Okay," Nori said. "I'll call you when dinner's ready."
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With a grunt Jun flopped down onto his bed, lying on his back and staring vacantly through the ceiling. He laid like that for only a little while before twisting around onto his side. That pose lasted no longer, and soon he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, grimacing in thought.
"What is it about what Suisei Seki said that's bugging me?" he muttered, rubbing his fingers against his scalp as if to massage the thoughts loose. "Not even that little wicked queen would lie about this. Shinku was just teasing me—I really can't read those books, no matter how much it might help."
He chewed over the thought for awhile longer. "Hang on... what was it Suisei Seki actually said? Something like, it was stupid to think I could use Shinku's power to read German, because reading German wasn't one of her powers in the first place?"
He frowned, and this time it looked more thoughtful than frustrated. "That doesn't answer my whole question. That one time, Shinku said that as her medium I shared a number of powers with her. Obviously she was just teasing about reading a different language, but that doesn't mean she made up the whole thing. What if I really can use that power, even when I'm out here?"
As if drawn by a magnet, his gaze turned to lock on Hina Ichigo's closed case. With that as his anchor, he let his thoughts drift to experiences he'd had in another place. Or maybe it was places. He barely understood anything about the N-field, but he at least knew that some things were possible there that weren't in the real world.
"I gave Shinku her arm back," he said, remembering the most cherished of his personal triumphs. "And there were a couple of other times, too, when I used power to protect her during a battle, or to break out of those crystals so I could get to her." He ran them all through his mind, trying to call back every detail he could. "Each time... each time I was so determined to help her, to protect her, to give her something... to do that for someone I cared about..."
Almost without realizing he was doing it, he slid off the bed, kneeling on the floor close to Hina Ichigo's case. "Enju said, 'The soul which has gone far away on a journey will not come back'," he whispered. "But he was wrong, or he was lying... he said some things to me about love, and how that mattered for a dollmaker, but his doll was as ugly on the inside as he was. I don't think he understood even the little bit I do..."
His hand was on her case now. He sat unmoving for a long time, lost in thought. At last he heaved a sigh, and whispered, "I miss you, Hina Ichigo, Sousei Seki. Maybe I could do something about that. But... but it's way too big a job to try without any practice at all."
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"Hey, Jun-kun," Nori said as her brother joined her in the kitchen. It was good to see him come out of his room so soon, rather than spend an hour or more brooding. "Did you want a snack? Or maybe to help your big sister fix dinner?"
"No. Do you still have that tea set Mother gave you?"
"Huh? My eleventh birthday present?" she asked. "It got broken."
"I know, but I thought you kept it anyway."
"I did, but..." A few of the pieces had survived the fall intact. Was he thinking about taking it for the next time he and Shinku had tea? "It's not really in any shape to be used."
"I know," he said. "I just want to try something."
More puzzled than ever, Nori nevertheless brought out the tea set. Jun looked it over, blinking in surprise. "When did you glue everything back together?"
"About a year and a half ago." The first anniversary of their parents' departure overseas. "It just didn't seem right to let it keep sitting there in all those pieces."
"Well, I'm glad you did. Maybe it'll make this easier," Jun said, picking up one reassembled teacup. "And... big sister?"
Nori blinked to hear such a hesitant tone from him. "Yes, Jun-kun?"
"You take such good care of me, of all of us, and we don't do enough to show you how much it means," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't think of your tea set a long time ago. Even if this doesn't work, I'll get Shinku to mend it."
"What do you..." Nori gasped as the meaning hit her. "That's right!" she breathed. "Shinku-chan can fix broken things, putting them back together again perfectly! Oh, Jun, I never even thought of that! Thank... you..."
Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. Jun's eyes were closed and his brow was wrinkled in concentration. He held the cup carefully between his hands. On his left, the rose ring glowed warm crimson.
As Nori watched in astonishment, the spiderweb of cracks in the cup disappeared as if they had never been.
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Author's Notes
Shinku isn't the only doll who can fix broken things; we see Kanaria do this as well. On the other hand, Hina Ichigo has to clean her crayon drawings off the floor and walls by hand. Probably this is a case of something that needs an active medium, but any doll who has one could do it.