Souseiseki raised her shears as a last minute defence shield, but it was deemed unnecessary. Rose petals melded together and became a shield in front of the gardeners as Suigintou took a glance to her right, where Shinku stood with Suiseiseki.
"Shinku!" Suigintou screeched. Shinku and Suiseiseki rushed to Souseiseki's aid. Katsutoshi smirked and lowered his hand.
"What a gathering," he commented.
"Suiseiseki, what are you doing here?" Souseiseki cried, running to her twin.
"Stopping you from being a baka!" her twin retorted, shaking off her sister's hand.
Souseiseki spun around and flew up to Suigintou. "I'm not here for the Alice game," she said. "Instead, I want to request something of you."
"Oh?" chorused Suigintou and Katsutoshi, both smiling slyly.
Before Souseiseki could voice her thoughts, her twin flew up to join her.
"Stop, I know what you're going to ask but I don't want it, okay? I just want you to come back home and be the sensible one like you are!" Suiseiseki grabbed her twin's shoulders and shook her violently. "Come back, please."
Souseiseki ignored her. It was for their own good, for if another doll other than herself could protect her from the harm of others, it would give Suiseiseki an advantage at the Alice game and also make Souseiseki feel at ease knowing that her twin could live on if she were to fail.
And she planned something else once her twin had the last doll with her.
"I just request that you surrender the pursuing of the third doll," Souseiseki said firmly.
Suigintou smiled and tilted her head.
"What's in it for her?" Katsutoshi asked.
"Stop, everyone!" Shinku cried, also flying up. "Souseiseki, return to Jun's with Shinichi and Suiseiseki."
Souseiseki would normally protest, but something in Shinku's eyes was dead serious, and perhaps hid something.
She was reluctant but agreed with a slight nod. She placed her hands on her twin and Shinichi's wrist and signalled for them to leave.
They didn't turn back, but they could hear very well Katsutoshi's taunts.
"You're acting cowardly, Shinichi."
Back in the closet room, everyone remained quiet as each gathered their thoughts. It wasn't long after when Shinku appeared from the mirror as well. But the first thing everyone noticed was that her dress was ripped in various areas and that at some area's it was drenched with melting ice.
But Shinku simply straightened her dress as if nothing happened and gestured them to follow her. They did so and made their way to Jun's room.
Inside, Hinaichigo was with Jun sitting on his bed as if awaiting them.
"Jun, make me some tea," Shinku said before Jun could utter anything about her dress.
"No!" Jun protested. "I'm involved, and you're in tatters, I have to fix you up first."
"It doesn't matter," Shinku replied, defiant. She hopped onto Jun's bed. "I have something to tell you all relating to the Alice game."
All was dead silent as everyone waited for Shinku to speak.
"There's another way to become Alice," she said slowly. "We all yearn for Father's love, do we not?"
"Yes but I don't want to harm my sisters for it!" Suiseiseki protested. Shinku merely nodded at the outburst.
"Exactly," she agreed to everyone's surprise.
"What do you mean?" Souseiseki asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Alice is perfect," Shinku breathed. "But a perfect girl cannot grow from the annihilation of others; otherwise she might be forever tainted with the memory."
"Shinku, what are you trying to say?" Hinaichigo asked, completely confused.
"Father told me this in my dream that a perfect girl must be with love and affection. She must be the rose that does not wither, the sky that does not cloud. Nor one filled with regret and hatred," Shinku closed her eyes as her dream became more aware to her.
"What about us then?" Shinichi put in. All eyes turned to him. "We were sent here to help kill-"
"Perhaps not," Shinku interrupted. All eyes went back to her. "Maybe the Rozen Pages were sent for a different reason. For the three most passionate dolls to…"
Jun's eyes widened as Shinku's words pieced together like a jigsaw in his mind. "Love," he breathed.
Souseiseki and Shinichi glanced at each other at the word, and looked quickly away with a faint blush on both of their cheeks. No one noticed this exchange.
"See, this is a clue Father sent us," Shinku concluded.
"So what about them two?" Hinaichigo pointed her small finger at Souseiseki and Shinichi whom both blushed simultaneously.
"I suppose they've both got an advantage of sorts, another way to love," Shinku said, a smile widening on her face. "That's all."
"Then Suigintou and Kirakishou?" Souseiseki asked with a smile of her own.
"She doesn't know," Suiseiseki said and cheered. Hinaichigo joined in.
Souseiseki looked at Shinku who looked unsure for a few moments before she went to Jun and demanded that her dress would be sewn back to normal. Jun reacted with a blush at the thought of Shinku in her undergarments.
"Master Souseiseki, what shall we do now?" Shinichi asked from behind her. Souseiseki remembered something.
"Please just call me Souseiseki…" she sighed. From there, she got Suiseiseki to temporarily stop throwing insults at Hinaichigo and calm down. She told her that she'd be going back to the old man's house – as Suiseiseki liked to put it.
Her twin agreed before whispering something in her ear. Souseiseki was surprised but nodded and gave her twin a hug, whispering back to her, "Good luck."
And with that, Souseiseki returned to her case. Shinichi didn't question and went to his own case. Souseiseki bid farewell to Jun, who wasn't really paying any attention to her, till she broke the window by flying out with her case.
"Not again!" Jun cried.
Shinichi flew out the gaping hole in the window but paused. He opened the case long enough to say, "Sorry, Jun."
Then the case closed itself again and Shinichi went after Souseiseki.
"Get back here you two!" Jun cried desperately. "Ow!" He hopped around on one foot having trod on a shard of broken glass.
"Really, Jun, you're quite the klutz," Shinku quipped. Two suitcases flew out into the distance leaving the commotion in Jun's house all up to him.
A/N: It's occured to me that I update really frequently for my readers. Like 2/3 times a week. And since some people take months to update one chapter, I think this gives me an excuse to slow my updates to once a week. So 1/7. Random day.
There's another perfectly legit excuse for this. I'm going to write something else. I recently started obsessing of Hitman Reborn so I'll be writing some random stories for that anime too. :D
BUT WAIT.
If I get five reviews on any chapter from now on, I'll update pretty much as soon as I see it. *cheers*
Also, apologies for this crappy excuse for a chapter. Something about it I hate for some reason. Siiiigh. Anyway, from here on I guess you can expect both action and romance pairings.