DAVE

Chasing Yesterday

By: Lucas McDrake

Chapter 5-Kuin

Closing the front door behind me, I realized my eyes were still bulging. Composing myself, I turned around to see my mom in the kitchen.

"Is dinner almost ready?" Jen asked, skipping into the kitchen. Vivi and I had managed to convince her that none of that had commenced, but it would be harder to convince ourselves. After all, both of us had seen it. That doll was unmistakably real.

"Yeah," she replied, throwing a smile my way over the counter. "By the way, UPS dropped a package by today. Said that it was for you...Anyway, it's by the front door." She turned back to her cooking before I could ask any more questions.

Turning back towards the door, I saw that a box had been concealed by the door as I came in. Instantly, suspicion came. Was it another of those freakish dolls?

Picking it up, I carried it to my room, and dropped it on my bed, contemplating whether or not I should open it. What if this doll was even worse than that other one Vivi had under her wing?

Man up! I thought. You can deal with whatever it brings on...

I ripped the tape off, and opened it to reveal Stryofoam. Digging in, I found the suitcase, which seemed identical to Vivi's. Pulling it out, I set it next to the box on the bed, and quickly opened it to find a...doll.

It was still very unsettling how realistic they looked. I thought I would have been used to how...real they were, by now.

Guess not.

This one looked very childish compared to Vivi's. It's face wasn't childishly fat, but it was unmistakably smooth, like a baby's skin. It had a green baggy shirt, similar to that other doll's. It also had white sweats, and white slippers. It had short brown hair, and it seemed to just be sleeping. It's face was slightly twisted, as if it was having a bad dream.

It looked so harmless...I couldn't help but feel...pity...

Shaking my head, I grabbed the key with one hand, and the doll with another. Before inserting it, I looked at its face once more. It still seemed upset, even in sleep...

I felt a tear make a trail down my face. Why was I crying?

Quickly wiping it away, I turned it back over and inserted the key, turning it twice.

I dropped the doll onto the bed when it started to move.

"Uh..."

I backed away from its childish voice. I hit the wall without realizing it, concentrating on the doll's movements.

It stood up, and looked around the room. Then, it spotted me. It's irises were freakishly white, and even from across the room I could see how they looked like milk, slightly in contrast with the actual whites of its eyes.

"...Hi," it mumbled, starting to back away. "Uh..."

"What are you?" I asked.

"I...I'm the third Rozen Knight doll," it stated, looking down at the bed, and holding its hands behind its back. "My name is...Kuin."

"Kuin?" I pronounced.

"Yeah," it muttered, looking back up at me. Now, blue shards mixed in with its white irises.

I couldn't speak. How did its eyes change color so fast? We stood staring at each other for what seemed like forever.

Then, the doll-Kuin, I reminded myself-looked around the room. "How long has it been since you activated me?"

"I...don't know," I answered him, looking at the clock. "Probably two minutes."

"Hm..." He seemed to be contemplating. When he turned back to me, his eyes had suddenly turned a liquid orange. He started to ask, "Would you-"

Suddenly, my mirror hanging up on the wall started to shine.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse...

"Quick!" I turned to look back at Kuin, and found that he had jumped from my bed to the dresser to my left, which was directly under the mirror. Jumping back from his sudden proximity, he urged, "Kiss my ring!"

I looked down at his hand, which had a ring shaped into a rose. The actual ring was gold-at least, that's what it looked like-but the rose was silver. Looking back into its eyes, I saw that they were now liquid iron.

"Dude, could you cut it-?"

"Hurry!" it pressed before I could finish.

I looked back down at the ring, contemplating whether or not I should do it. Vivi's doll couldn't save her until she kissed its ring... Holding Kuin's hand, I started to bring the ring to my lips.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the shining had suddenly stopped, so I turned my head to see that Vivi's doll, Yuan, had come out. Seeing that there wasn't an evil teddy bear with sharpened poles out to get me, I dropped Kuin's hand Kuin looked away, I saw that his ring turned brown, suddenly.

This mood ring/eye stuff was really freaking me out.

"Kuin," Yuan sighed, his eyes turning from silver to opal as he turned his gaze from Kuin to me and back again. "I see that Je-Muzu hasn't reacted yet." Then, he took a step closer to Kuin as he stated, "It wouldn't be wise to assume that he's not going to, however. We'd best be ready when he assaults us."

Glancing at me again, he looked downward, his eyes gaining white flecks that I could barely detect because I was only two feet away, at most. Then, he urged, "Let us hurry." Holding out his hand to reveal his ring shaped into a sword, he ordered, "Kiss my ring, Kuin. This way, you can draw energy from my medium."

Kuin threw a quick glance at me, in which I saw that his eyes had changed to chocolate and pearl.

Cut it out! I could barely resist to shout it. It was getting old really fast...

Quickly, Kuin turned back towards Yuan, and bent over to kiss his ring. A light illuminated the room, centered around them. Eventually, it dimmed away to reveal that an additional ring had been added to their opposite hands, Yuan's addition being a replica of Kuin's, and vice versa.

Then, just in time, the mirror illuminated again. I started to back away towards the opposite wall. Teddy bears were just not my thing...

Instead of a teddy bear, however, a stuffed rabbit came through the mirror.

Before it could do anything, it was suddenly crystallized. I glanced at Kuin to see that he was suddenly concentrating, as if trying to figure out the hardest math problem ever created. At least, that's how twisted his face was.

Barely a second had passed did Yuan then rush forward with his sword unsheathed. Slashing through the crystallized bunny, it shattered into millions of pieces, scattering in every direction.

Including mine.

Before I could panic, though, Kuin turned towards me, his face still twisted in concentration. Right as it would seem the crystal shards were a millimeter from contact with my body, they vanished.

I realized I was still holding my breath, and started to breathe deeply. "That was...close."

Kuin, throwing a smile my way, stated, "That's an understatement." Now, his eyes were shining emeralds.

After a few moments of this passed by, Yuan stated, "We'd better get back..."

"Right," Kuin agreed, his eyes flashing white as his smile vanished. He quickly glanced at me before continuing, "Let's go."

Quickly, Yuan jumped into the mirror, making it glow.

Before Kuin jumped through, he turned back to me. We wordlessly stared at each other.

"Bye," Kuin mumbled.

I stared into his eyes, wondering...what? Shaking my head imperceptibly, I muttered, "See ya."

Kuin lightly smiled, but his eyes didn't change, for once. He quickly jumped through the mirror before any more words could be spoken.