Disclaimer: I do not own Sunrise or any of its creations. All works created and published by me are purely fanbased.

Three Wishes Or You

Special 2: The Unused Study

Nimara

"I'm bored…" I sighed and placed my head down on the cold wood of the dining table. I looked up to see her smiling at me from behind her tea cup. With that smile, I knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Why don't you take pleasure in a cup of tea then?" Ugh, knew it. She closed her eyes as she blissfully took in another sip of tea. I narrowed my eyes at her but then sat myself up as I noticed something out the corner of my eye. On one of the kitchen counters, in front of the window, was a short vase of flowers. The arrangement was purposefully and artistically done.

"You arranged the flowers?"

"Would Natsuki have better preferred that I ate them?"

I wrinkled my nose at her. Those flowers were the ones I had found growing on the other side of the pond in the backyard. They were wildflowers that were in full bloom at the end of the summer season. They weren't as beautiful as Shizuru's growing roses but they had more variety. It was strange for me to do so, but I had picked the flowers and left them in the kitchen. It looked like Shizuru had gone ahead and prettied them up. Green leaves and sprigs of lilac in the vase told me that Shizuru had gone back outside to pick more decorative pieces for her arrangement.

Well either way, it looked nice. It gave more color to the kitchen and open dining room. Maybe I could convince her to do more arrangements like that. I rested my head on my hand as I looked at the arrangement and thought about the house. The house was old but well kept, just like the surrounding area and town. It was truly meant for single living but could be adapted for a small family or couple. From what I could see, most of the houses in the area were like that and their residents were mainly retired old couples or widows. The land (better known as the spacious backyard) was large in comparison to the house so I assumed Shizuru must have paid a pretty penny to live in this area. This was no commoner's residential area with all the houses spaced out far away from each other for privacy.

What bugged me was the inside of the house. It reminded me of a newly listed house. You know, those ones you see in the horror movies where the family is looking at the house with the agent and it is completely barren of furniture and painted all white. That's exactly what this house resembled plus a few necessary furniture pieces. There was almost no décor in the house. All the walls were bare of any type of painting or photographs. The only thing on the floor besides carpet or wood was a large rug in the living room, which was probably the most decorative thing out if you didn't count the old white curtains. Even the bookshelf next to the television only had three books in it!

Now I'm not saying Shizuru lacked the skill to decorate her own home. The flower arrangement told me she definitely likes pretty things. Maybe she just never got into decorating the place but even that was a silly notion because there are only three rooms in the house.

Well…actually there are four rooms in the house not counting the kitchen. I've been here for months and I still don't know what is in the fourth room. It's down the short hall, across from her bedroom. The room had to be fairly large, at least as big as Shizuru's bedroom if I could judge by the exterior. She always passes right by it on the way to her room but never looks at it, never stops in front of it, and definitely never enters it. It is as if there was a wall where I saw a door. I bet if I lived here long enough I would somehow be brainwashed into thinking there really was no room there.

Though I hardly need to, I could pass through the walls, but there is a limit to how nosey I could be. On some days I would just pace in front of that door contemplating what was inside. Yesterday, though, I had put my hand on the doorknob and twisted it. It was unlocked. I didn't open the door, mostly because I was surprised it was unlocked but now I couldn't get that room out of my head. What the heck was inside it?

I looked over at Shizuru who moved to put the tea set on the kitchen counter. I needed to know!

"Shizuru?"

"Yes, Natsuki?" She turned to me and smiled, almost making my heart stop. Her features are so amazing when she smiles softly like that. I could see why she was popular as an actress. Her charm was so natural. I took a deep breath and formulated the proper question in my head.

"I can't help but wonder what is in that room. The one down the hall with the door always closed. What's inside it?"

The smile fell off her face but not in a negative way. She simply seemed a little surprised with my question and I had yet to feel any overwhelming sense of fear or sadness wash over her. "Natsuki has not been inside?"

I blinked. Did she expect me to snoop around the house? That woman! I puffed out my cheeks in mock offense, "Of course not."

A smile returned to her face as she walked over to me. She put her finger to her cheek in a pondering gesture. "It really is just a room."

"What's inside it?"

"Things. Dusty things, by now." I knew she could tell I was unhappy with her answer. She laughed softly and asked, "Would you like to see it?"

Her tone was that of a mother asking a child if he wanted to see something amazing. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her and stood to follow her over to the room. I would finally get to see what is inside. More importantly I was glad that I did not step on a sensitive topic when I asked her about the room. This was much easier than I thought it would be. Man, I should have asked her sooner. I held my breath as she effortlessly opened the door and revealed the room. I walked inside and was a bit disappointed with what I saw. Boxes.

Well I suppose I should have expected something like boxes and other random pieces of furniture. I mean, what else could be in there? Dinosaurs?

The room was painted white like all the others and had a crème colored carpet. Besides that, there were a surprisingly large number of boxes lined against the walls. Shizuru walked into the room slowly, the mood around her had shifted from happy to something I couldn't place. I followed close behind, aiming to open the curtains on the nearest windows for more light. Shizuru walked over to the boxes as I drew back the curtains to let in the soft morning light. Things were dusty, as she had predicted. Standing in front of the window, her and I casted a shadow on the boxes. I wasn't sure if I had made the correct decision in having her come here so I waited patiently.

"These are my belongings from my previous residence." She went over to a box and moved her hand over the top of it. Her voice had a neutral tone to it. "I had a penthouse in Tokyo near my agency and after Yukino died I felt like it was better for me to go somewhere quieter."

I walked over to her, cautious and interested that she had brought Yukino up by herself. I watched with curiosity as she opened the large box she was touching.

"Oh!" She cried. Even in that small word I felt relief come over me. It was an excited exclamation from her, void of any sadness or regret. Eagerly I peered over and into the box. She pulled out a lavender dress that had been folded and put it up against her body. It was a one piece sundress, with white and purple trimming. She would look absolutely gorgeous in it.

"These are the clothing that didn't fit in my wardrobe!" She carefully put the dress back into the box and opened the box next to it. "Ara, there are so many boxes of clothing here!"

She looked over at me with a smile that I returned. "You were an actress right? You must have had a lot of clothing."

She nodded and opened another box, "There are some really nice pieces somewhere. I wore them to Galas and Awards events. I had them sealed in plastic covers so they wouldn't deteriorate. This house is much smaller than my penthouse in Tokyo. I had a walk in closet over there and more clothing than I would ever need."

I put my hands on my hips and looked at the other boxes, "These aren't all clothing are they?"

"Natsuki is silly! Of course not."

I went over to a box and opened it. The first thing I saw was a metal canister that I recognized as a high school diploma case. I never went to high school myself but I had serviced a highschooler as a Genie once. I'll tell you now; he had the worst wishes ever and the only reason he got into a decent college was because of me. I moved it aside to see stacks of papers that looked like essays and a carefully folded uniform.

"I found a box of your highschool stuff." I said as I shifted through it noting old yearbooks and some awards.

"Really?" She said in the most enthusiastic tone I've ever heard from her. She came over with a laugh and took out the uniform. "Ara, this is so old! I wonder if I can fit into it?"

Happily I thought about her in the school outfit with a skirt that was probably way too short for her now. When I first met her she looked frail and thin but ever since she came to terms with Yukino, her appetite had returned and her body fleshed out. Definitely…fleshed out in all the right places. With happy thoughts in mind, I dug out an honorary arm band that had Student Council President written on it. "You were the President?"

"Yes, I was. I went to Fuuka Academy and was the youngest President to be voted in. Ara, I think it was the winter of my first year that I won."

For someone who seemed to have accomplished a lot in her short life, so far, she never spoke with an arrogant attitude. I could tell she felt proud about the things she did but never overstated them. She began to open more boxes and I helped along with them. Many of the boxes were filled with clothing and we set them aside to go through later. Shizuru said she would donate a few pieces to goodwill or even give a few to her little student, Rin. I could always tell which boxes were packed by Shizuru and which were not. The ones packed by Shizuru were grossly orderly. Every fit perfectly inside no matter its shape or size. We came across a few pieces of décor that belonged to her flat from before.

Given that there was no so much as a candle decorating the house led me to press her to finally finish 'moving in'. Some of the items in the boxes look expensive including some crystal figurines and carefully wrapped vases. It amazed me how she could just forget about all this. She agreed with me, pointing out her favorite pieces and where she might put them. Regardless, I monitored her mood closely. She seemed to be doing well. She was stronger than she knew and it was something I admired in her.

"Ara…" I looked over at her to see her sift through another box.

"Find anything cool?" I said, donning a pair of sunglasses I had found. They were big blue shades that were probably twenty years outdated. I doubt they would even look good on Shizuru.

She looked at me for a second before laughing but I had already caught her expression beforehand. Something had upset her and it was probably in the box she was looking through. It seemed inevitable that she would stumble upon something that would connect her back to Yukino. I took off the glasses with a small smile and walked over and looked into the box.

It definitely had not been packed by Shizuru since everything was a mess inside. A bunch of odd trinkets, books, and papers. She was still smiling at me but raw emotion could not escape her eyes.

"Yukino-san's?" I offered in a lighthearted manner. She looked back into the box and nodded. She was still smiling softly which was a good sign. I slowly reached into the box, respectfully moving items around. Was Yukino a packrat? I laughed aloud grabbing a stack of movie stubs stacked together with a rubber band.

"What the heck is this? She collected movie stubs?" Shizuru began to laugh as well and grabbed them from me.

"Be nice, Natsuki! She liked movies!" I went back into the box and pulled out something that caught my eye at the very bottom. It was a DVD case.

"Apparently she also liked naughty movies?" Girls Gone Wild was etched in English across the DVD case and I waved it in front of Shizuru's face. Her expression as priceless as she read the title, paled, and then exploded with color. She reached to snatch it from me but I levitated it over her head. She frowned at me and squeaked, "Give me that!"

An odd reaction for her. Hm, maybe it…

"This isn't Yukino-san's, is it?" I grinned smugly. The blush spread to her ears as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"Does it matter who it belongs to?" She gritted out.

I bubbled with laughter, lowering the DVD back into the box. I had my share of fun at her expense and now I knew a dirty little secret. It must have been my lucky day. She sure was cute when she was angry. Shizuru glared at me and continued to look through the box, putting the DVD aside. I found a small frog keychain, and Shizuru pulled out a brown snow hat. As we went through all the small things, Shizuru began to tell me about Yukino and I listened carefully. It would be silly for me to say that I was jealous of the way Shizuru talked about Yukino but I wondered if someday she would speak to other people about me with the same enthusiasm. Shizuru seemed happy though, recollecting the small things about her former friend and lover. It had to be the first time in a long time for her to talk about Yukino without feeling guilt.

As we finished going through the box I pulled out a smaller cardboard box. I opened it to see a stack of addressed letters. There was quite a few of them and most seemed to be posted from England.

"Who's Haruka?" I read the top letter's scratchy scrawl. Everything was in English.

Shizuru looked over at the letters with me and then exclaimed, "Oh no! Those are supposed to go to Haruka!"

"Who's Haruka?" I said again with a blink. Shizuru flipped through the letters real quickly, not appearing to read them. Eventually she spoke with a smile, "We were looking for these! Haruka-chan is a good friend of mine and Yukino's best friend. They wrote to each other sometimes so Haruka could help solidify her English. These were supposed to go back to Haruka after Yukino passed away. Ara…I wonder where Haruka is now?"

A little bit of worry shadowed her beautiful face and I hastily said, "How about we finish going through these boxes first? I'm sure we can find Haruka-san's address through other people you know. We'll get these to her okay?"

Her eyes lit up with what was probably gratitude. Whatever I could do to help, I suppose.

"That sounds nice, 'Suki." Bah! There goes that nickname again. I felt my ear prick with heat and from the devilish expression that came to her face, I knew I was blushing.

"Suki. Suki. Suki…" she muttered quietly as she placed the letters back down and turned towards the door. I knew she was still smiling at my expense. My face only reddened more and I growled, "Hey stop that, you!"

She looked back at me with a giggle. It was probably payback for the DVD. It's not my fault she was secretly such a dirty woman! I stuffed my hands in my pockets, fighting a losing battle with my blush.

"I could use a cup of tea before unpacking more. Do you wish to join me, Na-tsu-ki?" I puffed my cheeks in annoyance as she accentuated my name with her thick Kyoto accent.

"No, you're a brat," I muttered loudly.

She walked out the room and called over her shoulder as if she did not hear me, "I believe there is half a bag of mayo crisps. Want that for a snack?"

Damn her. She gets me every time! Well if she wanted to play that game, then we would play. I clenched my fist and yelled as I marched out the door, "Fine! But you're trying on that school uniform of yours when we finish!"

Her sweet laughter filled the house in response. No matter what, I would never get tired of hearing that sound. Some part of me wished that I would never have to stop hearing that sound.

A/N: Hello dearies! Here is the second chapter of the three part special for this story. I hope you enjoyed another slice in their day as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's a bit rough, I apologize but I've been sick. More importantly my darling Beta will probably not get the chance to Beta for me for some time. So let's wish her well and hope she can come back soon cause my proofreading sucks. I'm open to any critique with the writing since I don't have a second pair of eyes for now.

There is one last part, which I think some of you will enjoy the most. It's totally cute, trust me. After that we'll resume right back into regular chapters and continue on with the show!

Thank you for all your support! Let me know how you liked it!

(*)Important note(*)- I will post a floorplan of the house soon (next four days or so). It's pretty straightforward but you guys might like to see it. It'll be on my DA with a link in my profile and in the next chapter.

Till next time!

Nimara