Chapter 6: Menschheit

Nori had purchased two cakes for the occasion: a chocolate cake decorated with cherries and almonds, and a white cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Tomoe was having trouble keeping Hinaichigo off of the latter.

Shinku was finishing up her explanation. "Just through the keyhole. I don't think it should take very long."

As she stood in front of the closet door, Micchan sat with Kanaria on her lap, her arms folded around the doll; Suiseiseki and Souseiseki sat side-by-side, engaging in a whispered conversation; Suigintou reclined on the couch; Tomoe held on Hinaichigo's arm so as to prevent her from reaching the strawberry cake, and Nori and Jun sat on the table. Together, they all formed a semicircle facing the closet.

"So," Shinku concluded, "now we just have to decide who goes first."

Kanaria immediately volunteered. "As the most intelligent Rozen Maiden, I should be the first- kashira!"

"Wait just a little longer!" Micchan protested. "If you're never going to be a doll again, I... I at least want a few last moments with you..."

"...Fine," Kanaria grumbled.

"I'LL GO FIRST! ME FIRST, NA NO!"

Shinku shrugged. "Go ahead."

Hinaichigo ran toward the closet door, leaving Tomoe gazing after her.

Yamamoto, once again foiled in his plans to confess his love for Nori Sakurada due to a randomly cancelled train ride, was getting hungry. He decided to kill some time by stopping in at a nearby convenience store.

He emerged with a can of juice and was stopped on the street by a peculiar-looking girl. She had European features, milky white skin, and a slim body; her locks were a cotton-candy pink in the sun and they spilled over her petite shoulders, obscuring part of her frilly maid uniform. Of course, Yamamoto wasn't interested in any of that. He couldn't stop staring at her right eye- or was it her left? No, it was his left. Either way, it was a cloudy white, contrasting sharply with her amber-colored right eye.

"Would you like to stop it at our maid café-? We have a full staff of beautiful and happy maids, waiting to serve you-!"

"...No thanks." He sipped his juice and walked away.

"Berrybell!"

Utter silence.

"...uuuuuu... Whoa! Ow! Na no..."

There was an extended rustling of fabric, while Micchan gripped Kanaria's little wrists excitedly. Nori put her hands over her heart.

A young girl emerged from the closet, clad in a lavender turtleneck that was actually large enough to serve as a sort of shirt-dress on her. She pulled at one of her golden ringlets; it instantly bounced back into place. Noticing this, she giggled.

"...Not what I was expecting," Jun commented.

"What were you expecting?" Tomoe asked.

"I dunno. Something... smaller. I mean, she only acts about five."

Hina pouted. "I am not five, na no!"

"Yeah, more like ten."

Micchan had released her steel grip on Kanaria in order to coo and giggle over Hinaichigo. Kana seized the opportunity and leapt out of Micchan's lap.

"Kana! Kana-chan! WAIIIIIT!"

But it was too late. Kanaria had already entered the closet, and the lock could be heard closing.

Nori laughed awkwardly. "Why does our closet lock?"

At Hakuo Junior High School, the student body was abuzz with gossip and rumors.

"Have you seen the new girl?"

"I think she's an exchange student."

"But she speaks such perfect Japanese!"

"But she doesn't look Japanese at all!"

"I wonder what happened to her eye?"

"She's so pretty. I wish I looked like her..."

"Why does she dye her hair?"

"All the boys want to go out with her."

"She would never go out with any of them..."

Kanaria, wearing the most elaborate, ruffly ensemble Nori owned, sat next to Micchan and stroked the velvety texture of her former doll-dress. Micchan herself undeniably was about to get a nosebleed from staring at the spot where the low-cut shirt showed off Kanaria's surprisingly abundant cleavage.

She was going to miss holding Kana in her arms and dressing her up in tiny outfits, but Mitsu Kusabue had a greater scheme in mind. No, not that. Okay, maybe she was thinking about that, but she didn't plan to act on it.

Souseiseki shoved herself down from where she was sitting and made toward the door.

"Wait, desu!" Suiseiseki cried out.

Sousei turned around. "Yes?"

"L... let's go together, desu!"

"We're the only ones left." Souseiseki shrugged.

Suiseiseki walked slowly up to her twin, then followed her toward the closet door, one hand on her shoulder. When Sousei entered the closet, Suisei waited at the door for a moment.

She scanned the room one last time with her glassy doll-eyes. The other Maidens who had already become human, then all their former mediums and Nori, and then, lastly, a lingering look at Jun.

He nodded at her and she scampered into the room.

It was deathly quiet for several moments. Only the faintest sound of folding cloth as the remaining two dolls undressed could be heard. And then, the strange cosmic sound of the artificial spirits.

The silence was broken by Suiseiseki's scream, followed by what sounded like an avalance of heavy items toppling over.

"Ow... desu..."

"Don't worry, Suiseiseki, just put on some clothes."

Souseiseki opened the door just enough to slip out of it, and emerged wearing a knee-length skirt and a baggy sweater. For a brief moment, she seemed to flash Nori a pleading look.

Nori scratched her head. "Er, I'll see if I have some pants, Sou-chan..."

"More like Sou-kun, kashira!" Kanaria commented. No one seemed to notice.

While Souseiseki and Nori went upstairs, a red eye peeked out from behind the doorframe. A length of rich brown hair extended to the floor beside it.

Time stood still. Suiseiseki slowly pushed open the door, gingerly placing her toes outside, then moving forward just a bit, until she was visible in full. Unlike her twin, she had chosen a green spaghetti-strap top and a miniskirt that more fully defined her perfect figure. Her eyes seemed watery.

She coughed. "Ehm... desu..."

Micchan clasped her hands together in delight, Tomoe smiled, and Jun was utterly fixated.

"She almost never talks to anyone, you know?"

"She always leaves right after school's over..."

Shinku sat sipping her tea, occasionally taking a miniscule bite of the ridiculously thin slice of chocolate cake in front of her. Hina was on her third piece of white cake and had already asked Suiseiseki, Nori, Tomoe, and Kanaria for their strawberries. Suigintou sat there staring at her chocolate slice as if waiting for it to make a move.

"Hey, Nori," she asked.

Nori wiped whipped cream from her lip. "Yeah?"

Suigintou sighed, then plucked an almond from her cake and rolled it between her fingers.

"You own anything black?"

Micchan and Kanaria stood at the door, waving.

"Thank you so much!"

"Bye-bye, kashira..."

As they exited, Micchan put her arm around Kanaria's tiny waist. "Do I have a surprise for you, Kana-chan..."

"I don't know if I want to hear about it, kashira!"

Tomoe excused herself. "We'd better get going, too. Ready, Hina?"

Hina frowned. Apparently, her stomach had the capacity for more than six pieces of cake, and she was still holding a fork over the seventh.

"I can wrap up the last of the cake for you." Nori smiled graciously, while Hina grinned, flecks of cake and strawberry between her teeth.

Tomoe took the last quarter of the cake and carried it in one hand. Hinaichigo grasped the other tightly. "What are we going to play, na no?"

At this point, Jun came jogging down the stairs, holding a frilly pink wristband. He thrust it out at Hina.

"Just 'cause you can't wear your clothes anymore." He pointed. "See? It's your dress."

Several seconds later, he regretted this. Hina had latched onto his leg.

"Did Mitsu and Kanaria leave?"

"Just now, na no-!"

"Eh. I'll give them theirs tomorrow. Get offa my leg."

Hinaichigo obliged.

"I can't imagine that someone so perfect could exist."

"It's like she's a doll come to life or something."