And I'm back with the first part of episode 2. Updates probably won't be as frequent as they were for episode 1 as I have other work to do. Still, I really enjoy writing this so I'll do my best not to make you wait too long either. Just to make something clear as well, this is a romance fic, in addition to being a third season. I will be putting in more romance than was in the series. Please keep that in mind if you're not a fan of mushy stuff. Lastly, yes, Suigintou will appear in this episode. Stay tuned.

Rozen Maiden: Märchen

EPISODE 2

Elementary, dear Kunkun

At long last it was the weekend. Aside from a surprisingly light amount of homework, Jun could finally relax. He didn't remember school being so stressful. Nori on the other hand wasn't quite at ease. She was busy getting ready for her big match. There was some kind of inter-school lacrosse tournament today, and she'd been going haywire with nerves wondering if she'd do well at it. Jun had given up trying to reassure her, and followed her to the door to see her off.

"Good luck, sis," he told her as she slipped on her outdoor shoes. She looked troubled. Was the game really bothering her that much?

"Thanks, Jun," she said. She stopped with the door open, hesitating for a moment. Finally she turned back to her brother, her face etched with worry. "Umm, Jun?"

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

She bit her lip, wondering how much she should say. "It's about Shinku..."

"Do you know what's up with her?" Jun asked. He jabbed a finger over his shoulder in the direction of the front room, where Shinku sat watching television. "She's been acting pretty weird lately. Weirder than usual, I mean."

"Do you think you could maybe be extra nice to her? I think she's just feeling a little ... down lately."

Jun seemed genuinely confused. "Nice? But I am nice to her. When am I not nice?"

Nori's shoulders slumped a little. "Oh Jun-kun, I'm serious! I think she has something important she wants to talk to you about, and it would really help if you were especially kind to her."

Now she'd piqued his interest. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the front room. "Something she wants to ... talk about?" he turned back to his sister, "What? Hey!"

Nori was already gone, her rapidly retreating back disappearing down the driveway. Jun shut the door, grumbling to himself. What was that all about? Be extra kind to Shinku? He supposed he could cut back on shouting at her, but he only did stuff like that when she did something to incite him, like slapping him with her hair or bossing him around. Which ... was pretty much always. She was being especially short with him these last few days. If it weren't for the fact that she was a doll, he'd be inclined to think it was just that time of the month. He'd even said as much to Suiseiseki, who'd promptly kicked him in the shin for the remark. As if he deserved that. The evil little doll.

Jun strolled into the front room to find all of the dolls sitting quietly on the couch, watching Madame Pearl. They were probably waiting for the Kunkun show to start. The new season began today, and they weren't about to miss the first episode. He swept his gaze across the room and realised that there was one doll missing - their newest arrival, Barasuishou. Of course she wasn't there; she'd be upstairs in his room, keeping out of the way. It didn't take a genius to see that the other dolls couldn't stand being around her, and she'd clearly picked up on that. With a sigh, Jun turned around and headed upstairs.

Sure enough he found her standing on his bed looking out the window. She did that a lot. Just stood and stared out of the window for hours on end, not moving an inch. Suiseiseki and Kanaria had moved their cases into Nori's room, as they refused to sleep in the same room as her. Shinku didn't appear to mind, though she also hadn't said one word to Barasuishou since the incident with Kirakishou and his sister, and seemed to be pretending the Enju doll did not actually exist. Jun kinda felt sorry for Barasuishou. Sure, he understood everyone's reasons for acting this way, but still...

"Hey, the Kunkun show is about to start. You wanna watch it?" Jun asked the silent figure. She didn't turn around.

"They do not want me down there," said Barasuishou calmly, "So I will remain here."

Jun leaned against the doorframe and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Don't you get bored just standing there all day?"

Barasuishou turned away from the window and sat herself down on the bed, meeting Jun's gaze with her eerie amber coloured eyes. "Why are you talking to me?" she asked.

Jun shrugged. "Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

Barasuishou seemed to think about it for a moment. "Yes. I killed Shinku. In front of you. Right after you had convinced her to spare my life. You should hate me for that."

Her bluntness caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly enough. "Well I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because ... I understand why you did it. You dolls, you're all so obsessed with pleasing your fathers, you'd do anything to make them happy, even kill each other." He shook his head. "I don't get that. Heck, Suiseiseki might be a giant pain sometimes, but at least she puts her own feelings first. You could learn something from her. I suppose if I asked you what you wanted, you'd say that you want to become Alice, or find your father so you can make him happy. Something like that."

The doll bowed her head and stared at her own hands, which she clenched and unclenched. She slowly shook her head from side to side. "No. My father is gone, and I cannot become Alice. I do not understand why Master Rozen brought me back. I serve no purpose now."

Jun clenched his teeth for a moment and then snorted. "How about serving your own purpose for a change. Do something for yourself."

Barasuishou looked up at him. "What would I do?"

Jun shrugged. "Whatever you want. That's kinda the whole point. Find something to do that makes you happy. Preferably something that doesn't involve killing people."

"How do you know what to do?"

"I don't. I have to figure it out as I go along. Right now though, I think I'd like to go downstairs, get something to eat and watch the Kunkun show." Jun removed his hands from his pockets and stood to one side of the doorway, gesturing. "Wanna come with?"

Kunkun had already begun by the time they entered the front room. Jun grabbed some snacks from the fridge and sat at the kitchen table, Barasuishou sitting on the chair next to him. The other dolls were too preoccupied with watching the show to notice either of them. Jun took a moment to clean his glasses so he could see better, whilst Barasuishou bit down on a chocolate stick and then looked at it as if she'd never seen food before.

"Ohh, I bet it was that crazy cat!" said Suiseiseki, pointing at the screen, "He's just so sleazy it has to be him!"

"I am certain Kunkun will uncover the culprit without delay," said Shinku. Barasuishou peered at the screen.

"Is it not obvious? The killer must be Mister Kitsune."

A deadening silence descended upon the room, filled only with the sound of the Kunkun show in the background. As one, the three dolls stood up on the couch and stared across the room towards Barasuishou. Jun could have cut the tension with a knife. Barasuishou looked back and forth between them all, her face reddening suddenly.

"It surely must be, if you consider the facts," she explained, "Mister Kitsune is the only suspect to have an iron clad alibi, which is inherently suspicious since it implies that he knew he would need an alibi for the time of the murder. Kunkun said that the victim was blackmailing someone, and Mister Kitsune's past is shrouded in secrecy, suggesting that he has something to hide. If you accept that his alibi was false, a likely hypothesis since it was provided by his fiancé, then he could easily have had the opportunity to do the deed and recover the incriminating evidence."

The Rozen Maiden dolls continued to stare at her. Suddenly the music on the television swelled to a dramatic crescendo as the camera focused on Detective Kunkun.

"The culprit is none other than Mister Kitsune!" the dog detective declared boldly. There was a hushed gasp, followed by an angry shriek from the fingered fox.

"Curse you, Kunkun! However did you know?"

They all watched as Kunkun recounted his deductions, almost word for word the same as those made by Barasuishou. Even Jun was impressed, and he wasn't as obsessed with the puppet show as the dolls were. The credits began to roll and Suiseiseki turned to Shinku in stunned amazement.

"She ... she solved the case before Kunkun did! I so don't believe it!"

Kanaria rubbed the side of her head as if she'd just been struck. "Oh, wow. Maybe Kana isn't the brainiest after all..."

Barasuishou looked vaguely embarrassed and tried to cover it up by staring at her lap as she crunched down on the remainder of her snack. Before anyone could say anything further, the telephone rang. Groaning, Jun got up and answered it, wondering who in the heck would call at the weekend. It was Mitsu, Kanaria's medium.

"Jun? Oh thank goodness I got you!"

"Hey Miss Kusabue, are you back already?"

Kanaria glanced across at Jun at the mention of her master's name. "Micchan?"

"Listen, Jun, I'm in a bit of a pickle here. I'm supposed to do this fashion shoot today, but both my models called in sick," Mitsu explained, "I have to get the shoot done by the end of today or I'm going to be in trouble. I just need a couple of teenage girls to help me out for a few hours. Do you know anyone that might be willing?"

A fashion shoot? At the weekend? Jun scratched his head, thinking. "Well I'm afraid my sister is out. She's busy at some lacrosse tournament and wont be back until tonight. Sorry."

Mitsu wailed over the phone. Man, talk about a high maintenance job, thought Jun. "Wait a second, maybe Tomoe would be able to help," he offered.

"Really? Oh Junjun, that would be great!"

"I'll give her a call and see if she's free. She might have a friend she can bring as well."

He jotted down the address she gave him and then called the Kashiwaba residence. Tomoe had given him her number and said he should call if he ever needed anything. She'd presumably meant help with schoolwork, although Nori had been quick to tease him about that. She answered on the third ring.

"Jun?"

"Tomoe, hi, I was just wondering if you were free today?" he asked. When he heard himself say the words out loud he blushed, and was glad she couldn't see him.

"Sure, what do you need?"

He explained about the fashion shoot and asked if she'd be willing to help Mitsu out. He wasn't really expecting her to say yes, but to his surprise she seemed quite keen on the idea.

"That sounds like fun. Sure I'll help out."

"Great, she'll be so relieved to hear that."

"The only thing is ... I don't really know anyone else who's free today. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, just head on over. Maybe she'll have found another by the time you get there."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Jun was about to say goodbye and hang up when Tomoe spoke first.

"Jun ... why don't you come along as well?" she said.

He balked. Him? Come along? ... to a fashion shoot? He swallowed. "I ... well it's-"

"I heard from some of the girls at school that you used to be interested in fashion and dresses," Tomoe continued, prompting Jun to turn a bright shade of scarlet. Needleboy. That's what they'd called him. He was really glad she couldn't see him. "Besides," she added, "the company would be nice."

"Company? You mean my company?"

"Well of course, Jun."

"I ... uh ... okay, I guess. I'll see you there then."

"See you."

Finally the phone call ended. Jun put the receiver down and clapped his hands over his face, certain that it was melting into wax and running away. Then he felt four pairs of eyes staring at his back, and turned to find everyone watching him. He swallowed again.

"I gotta go out for a while..."