Rozen Maiden Fan Fiction ❯ Dream of Something Better ❯ Tipped Balance ( Chapter 14 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Rozen Maiden. I do, however, own Rikou Daijima, Mirien Daijima, Anira Hanagami/ Rina A. Gamihana, Morielta, Scylla, Lyn, the `Master' and the personality of Joenna.

Chapter 14

`He wants to see the three of you now.' The door keeper told the three dolls waiting nervously in the hall outside.

The three of them slowly walked towards the door. The eldest, who was the first to reach the door, pulled it open and allowed her younger sisters to enter before herself.

The three dolls stood in some sort of office, there were papers and files scattered everywhere. On the shelfs around the room, there was a variety of books. The room was very dimly lit.

There was a man sitting with his back towards them, in a desk chair that was in front of a desk. The room was entirely silent, apart from the small `click' of the door closing. The man began to speak.

`Tell me, what have you three been up to since I last saw you.'

None of the three dolls dared to speak, due to the fact they had achieved very little since they had last seen this man.

`Surely, you must know what you've been doing since I last saw you three weeks ago.'

There was still silence.

`Fine then. I have no choice but to ask you individually. And you'd better answer. Morielta?'

Morielta stepped forward. `Yes?'

`What of the mission? I hear that you found three other Rozen Maiden dolls…And you failed to catch them.'

`That is true.'

`…I see. Scylla…'

Scylla also stepped forward. `Yes?'

`I have heard that the one who was sleeping under your poison has woken up again. Why is this?'

`We…Well…The effects of the poison aren't permanent. But, she has been restrained and I will be giving her a new dose shortly.'

`Good. Lyn…'

`Yes, sir?'

`I need to speak to these two in private. I will tell you when the time is right.'

`Okay, sir.'

Lyn left the room, and closed the door behind her.

`I do believe that only yesterday, Lyn vomited up that `object' that I gave her. Morielta and Scylla, I want you to find the `object' and bring it back. Once you do, follow the same procedures as last time to put it back. But hurry. The effects of having it within her will wear off soon, and I don't want that to happen.'

`Yes.' Both Morielta and Scylla replied.

`You may go.'

----------------

`I can't believe we have to find that golden thing that keeps Lyn from going hyper on us.' Scylla sighed. `What's the point in that?'

`Remember what Lyn was like before Master gave it to her? If she changed back, she could ruin all our work, and that will upset the master.'

Scylla rolled her eyes. `Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get your point.'

Morielta turned to face her sister. `So, you were in the area where she vomited it up. Where do we start looking?'

----------------

It was midday on the Sunday that had followed Scylla and Lyn's attack. Suigintou was flying over the city, trying to remember which house was Rina's.

`These cities are all so big, and all the buildings look the same. How boring. Why don't they do something different for once?'

Suigintou continued her search, until she spotted the purple-red roof of Rina's house. One thing about Rina's house that stood out from the rest of the city, was that she had a very large garden. Most of the houses had very little garden space, if any at all.

Suigintou, realising that all the windows were closed and most likely locked, rang the door bell and leaned against the wall near it.

Rina came to answer it and pulled the door open. Rina looked around the outside area, in all the areas except directly next to her, which was where Suigintou was floating.

`I'm over here.'

Rina turned, with a very shocked expression on her face. Her shock turned into a cheery smile when she saw Suigintou.

`I remember you! You're Sue…Sueigen…Suieguen…'

`Suigintou?' She said with a sigh.

Rina clicked her fingers. `Yes. That's it! I assume you want to see Suiseseki and Souseseki?'

`Why else would I be here?'

Rina let Suigintou and herself inside, closed the door and locked it, while still continuing to chat to Suigintou.

`They are inside sitting at the table. We just finished lunch you see, and I had a concert this morning, and I brought Suiseseki and Souseseki along with me, because they desperately wanted to know what I did for my job, and they made friends with another doll, and we brought her home with us, as a guest, and of course I had to get her medium's permission first and he didn't seem to mind, and…'

Suigintou was not listening to Rina's drabble, and had begun to stare at the unusual paintings, and vases of flowers that sat on display tables in the hall.

She re-tuned to Rina's speech when she suddenly yelled `Suiseseki, Souseseki, your sister is here!'

Rina turned to Suigintou. `I have a promo to go to very soon, so I'll be leaving you with them. Please be nice to the guest!'

Rina ran up the stairs in order to finish getting her things together in order to go out, leaving Suigintou to her own devices.

Souseseki appeared from the door at the end of the hallway.

`Oh, so it's you!' Souseseki said in a surprised manner. `After what happened yesterday, I assume you're here to discuss the events that have been happening?'

`I wouldn't come here for any other reason.' Suigintou replied.

`We've just finished lunch, so we were in the kitchen.' Souseseki turned and walked back into the kitchen.

When Suigintou entered the kitchen, she got a shock.

`So, you're here ~desu!' Suiseseki said, while eating a choc-chip cookie at the same time.

Suigintou completely ignored what Suiseseki had just said, and pointed at the guest.

`YOU! What are you doing here?' Suigintou yelled.

Joenna, who was sitting at the end of the table, simply smiled up at Suigintou.

`HI! I remember you! I saw you on Friday night! You're Suigintou aren't you?'

`Yeah, that's our sister Suigintou ~desu. When things are shocking to her, she likes to yell at people, so don't take it personally ~desu!'

`EXCUSE ME?!' Suigintou yelled at Suiseseki.

`Could we please cam down?' Souseseki said, although her two sisters present weren't listening and had continued bickering at each other.

`COULD YOU BOTH BE CIVIL FOR JUST 5 MINUTES?' Souseseki yelled over top of Suiseseki and Suigintou's argument.

Suiseseki sat back down and pretended to eat her cookie. Suigintou sat herself down on a chair opposite Joenna, who was still smiling happily at her. Souseseki was next to Suigintou, and Suiseseki was across from Souseseki and next to Joenna.

The four of them sat in silence for a few seconds, before Souseseki decided to begin speaking.

`Well, since no one else is ready to start…We have been attacked two days in a row by a group of dolls that are working together for this `Master'. On Friday evening, we were attacked by a black grim-reaper's doll named Morielta, whose weakness is water. On Saturday evening, Suigintou, her Idiot and the Idiot's sister were attacked by a pair of dolls; Scylla, who had the power of poisonous snakes, and Lyn, whose powers we didn't get to see.'

`THAT'S RIGHT ~DESU!' Suiseseki yelled. `If they ever dare to attack us again, I'll feed them to the sharks ~desu!'

`So you guys have been attacked by three strange dolls in a row?' Joenna asked. ` But that's not possible! We dolls aren't able to use our powers for offensive attacking out of the battle arenas!'

`That's why we brought her ~desu!' Suiseseki whispered across the table at Suigintou. ` She seems to know a lot about the conditions of those fake dolls ~desu. And plus…'

Suiseseki leaned in even further and her voice dropped even lower in volume. `Doesn't she remind you of someone we used to know ~desu?'

Suiseseki sat back in her chair, picked up another cookie and started to eat it.

`Joenna's appearance does remind me of Barasuishou, but her personality however…' Suigintou thought, as Joenna began to attack a cookie with one side of her mouth. `No Barasuishou qualities there…' Suigintou thought with a sigh.

Souseseki looked at Joenna directly. `Well, it seems our secret is out anyway. Suigintou, Suiseseki and I are three of the seven Rozen Maidens. Suigintou is the eldest, Suiseseki is the third-eldest, and I am the fourth-eldest, and Suiseseki's younger twin.'

`WOW! Does that mean you can do special stuff?' Joenna said with excitement.

`Yeah ~desu! As long as we have a medium, we can fight in the human world anywhere, and Suigintou can fly in the human world with no problems ~desu! Souseseki and I have to use our cases.' Suiseseki said.

`That's so awesome! But…If those dolls attacked you, that means that they also have offensive attacks that can be used outside the battle arenas! You should report this to the police!'

`The police bother with things like this?' Suigintou asked.

`We live in an age where dolls are the rage! Of course they have rules for them.' Joenna replied.

`Joenna, we have been alive for a very long time, and the longest Alice Game era lasted seven years.' Souseseki explained. `We awaken when an era begins, and go to sleep when an era ends. This is the first era we've existed in that has these `living dolls' in them.'

`So the whole `Alice Game, fighting-to-the-death, just to become human' aspects from the legend are true?' Joenna asked.

`Unfortunately ~desu.' Suiseseki said sadly.

There was a silence between the four of them, until Souseseki spoke up.

`…So, from what we know, the three dolls aren't working for themselves. They have some sort of master, who wants to capture us.'

`I wouldn't be surprised' Joenna said with a sigh. `There are some really obsessive doll collectors out there that would stop at nothing to have the `legendary Rozen Maidens' among their collections. '

`That would include hurting our medium and your idiot ~desu' Suiseseki said.

`The idiot is now my medium. We made a contract yesterday evening.' Suigintou announced.

`That's great ~desu! Now you can fight in the human world without getting tired all the time ~desu!' Suiseseki yelled happily.

`But, that further improves the risk of him being a target for an attack.' Souseseki stated. `All I ask, is that you keep an eye on things in your idiot's home, and if anything seems out of the ordinary, find out what is going on and deal with it quickly. The longer something lasts, the more powerful it will grow.'

`I know, you told me that yesterday.' Suigintou said with a sigh.

----------------

Rikou finished off his homework, and sat down on his desk chair. It was early afternoon, and the weather had become quite humid. He was tired, which considering the events of yesterday, he had half expected it.

He closed his book and lay his head on the desk. Rikou instantly noticed the black feathers that Suigintou had left near the keyboard. He picked one of them up and began to play with it.

`Her feathers are so soft, you would never guess that she uses them to cut things with.' Rikou thought.

At that point in time, he was drawn to a very loud conversation that was being held in the street.

`Are you sure this was where it was?'

`Of course I am! I was nearly choked by that stupid tree!'

Rikou turned to the window and looked outside. He gasped and then sat on the bed, out of sight from the window.

It was that green snake doll, and she had another black doll with her that he had never seen.

`Wha…What are they doing back here? Have they come back here to attack? They wouldn't have or they would have already done it. From their speech, perhaps they were looking for something.' Rikou thought.

`The gold thing!' Rikou suddenly realised. `Of course! Now where is it…'

Rikou turned to his desk, to find that the golden object had gone. He began to rummage through the things on his desk.

`Where is it? Where is it?' Rikou thought frantically.

He heard his window smash, and when he turned to look, he saw Scylla and the other doll enter his room through the broken window.

`That's him?' The black doll asked.

`Yeah.' Scylla said rolling her eyes. `He's an idiot. You should be able to get tons of information out of him.'

The black doll summoned what looked like a scythe, and pointed it at Rikou's neck.

`Yesterday, Lyn vomited up a golden object. Where is it?' the black doll asked.

`I…I don't know.' Rikou replied.

`You don't sound so convincing…' the black doll said, pressing the scythe against Rikou's neck.

`I don't know! I really don't know!' Rikou yelled.

`Don't torment him sis, he's telling the truth.' Scylla said.

The black doll's scythe vanished and she stepped back.

`Perhaps…' Scylla said mockingly. `You could tell me where Suigintou is? She may know.'

`I don't know where she is.' Rikou said nervously, although what he was saying was true.

`Don't worry Hun, we'll find her for you! Scylla said with a smirk.

The darkly dressed doll and Scylla jumped from the window ledge, and continued to leap from building to building until they were out of sight.

`Why doesn't Suigintou ever tell me when she's going to go out, or where she's going? I worry about her…' Rikou thought. `She probably would have no clue where that golden object is…'

----------------

`We also need to figure out what this thing is' Suigintou fished around in her dress for something.

Suigintou found what she had been looking for, and held up the small golden object, that Lyn had vomited up.

`Let me see that.' Joenna asked.

Joenna looked it over, examining it from every angle.

`I suspected it as soon as I first saw it. If you look at it like this, it just looks like a small, well engraved pocket watch.'

`So, you know what this is?' Souseseki asked.

`Yep. It's called a `Tipped Balance' and it's a device that cruel mediums use to manipulate their dolls personalities, and force them to have what ever personality the device is programmed to make you have. They are supposed to be illegal, it's bad to have them, even in your possession. They are absorbed by the doll at the medium's command.'

`So, perhaps the blonde one was being manipulated by their master ~desu! But what about the other two ~desu? Do they have these Tipped Balances too?' Suiseseki asked.

`We can't be sure. But if what Joenna says about it's legality is true, then we better not make it obvious that we have one.' Souseseki said. ` Suigintou, keep it with you, and don't even let your medium see it.'

`Oh, so you're going to make me responsible for the illegal item, aren't you?' Suigintou said sarcastically, as Joenna handed it back to her.

No sooner had Suigintou slipped it back into her dress pocket, when they heard voices from the doorway.

`Well, well, well, isn't this the happy gathering?'

They turned to see Morielta and Scylla standing at the door.

`What do you want NOW ~desu! I could pummel you now for what you've tried to do to us ~desu!' Suiseseki yelled at them.

`Calm down, Suiseseki. Myself and Morielta dearest, are not here to fight you this time. We just want to know if any of you have seen…Maybe a small golden object that previously belonged to Lyn?'

`We have no idea what you're talking about.' Suigintou quickly said. `Now, please leave, or things are going to get ugly.'

`Such cruel words are unfit for a lady such as yourself, sweetie.' Scylla said, not knowing that her last word had signed her death warrant.

Suigintou lifted herself up from her chair and expanded her wings so fast, no one knew what was going on. She tackled Scylla to the ground and began to shoot feathers at her.

Suigintou heard the gardener twins and Joenna yell at her to calm down, but she didn't' listen.

`Do NOT call me by such woosy names like that again. DO YOU HEAR ME?!' Suigintou yelled.

`I will never do that ever again, sweetheart.'

`Suigintou punched her fist into Scylla's stomach, and Scylla lost her breath. It was then that Suigintou felt the blade at the back of her neck.

`I recommend that you get off my sister and surrender the Tipped Balance.' Morielta whispered into Suigintou's ear.

Suigintou got off Scylla and turned to face Morielta. She looked at the kitchen door and found that it was covered in sludge, preventing the gardener twins and Joenna from helping her.

Suigintou stared at Morielta for a few seconds, the only sounds being the distant noise of Suiseseki, Souseseki and Joenna trying to break down the door.

`What is your answer?'

`Never.' Suigintou stated.

`We'll have to do this the hard way then.' Morielta clapped her hands and sludge rose out of the ground, binding Suigintou's wrists and ankles together. Morielta slowly walked around Suigintou, until she was directly behind her. Suigintou could only see her out of the corner of her eye.

`Suigintou, what do you value most?' Morielta asked.

`I would never tell you.' Suigintou said.

Morielta then ran something very sharp underneath where her left wing jetted out of her back, and deep into the root of her left wing. Suigintou felt a tear slide down her cheek.

`Are you sure?' Morielta asked.

`Yes.' Suigintou replied.

The sharp tool ran upwards cutting most of the wing root. Suigintou bit her lip to keep herself from screaming in pain.

`Are you going to surrender the Tipped Balance?' Morielta asked.

`No.'

Morielta put one hand on Suigintou's back, and the other around her left wing. She began to pull on Suigintou's wing. Intense pain shot up and down Suigintou's back. Morielta then gave it a sharp tug, and the wing came out.

Suigintou screamed, her eyes wide in horror, and uncontrollable tears ran down her cheeks.

Morielta leaned over Suigintou, dangling the disconnected left wing in front of Suigintou's face.

`What will your answer be now?' Morielta whispered.

Suigintou didn't say a word, and the only sounds that came from her, were the sounds of her gentle sobbing.

`Do you want me to take the other one too?' Morielta said slyly.

Suigintou still refused to answer.

Morielta, yet again, dug a sharp object underneath the place where her right wing emerged from her back.

`Do you still refuse to speak?' Morielta whispered. `If you do feel the urge to say something then let me know.'

Morielta cut the sharp object into the root of Suigintou's wing. Suigintou began to struggle, but she instead found that if she tried to move, the pain of having something in her back just increased.

Morielta then continued to pull Suigintou's right wing out of her back, just like she had done with the left wing.

When Suigintou's right wing was pulled out of her back, she continually screamed, struggling against the sludge. The pain from her back stung, and she began to sob, louder than she had before.

Morielta stood in front of her, cradling both of Suigintou's wings in her hands. The hall way was littered in feathers, and Scylla standing against a small table, simply watching the events that were displayed before her.

Then the door suddenly shot open.

`I'm home!' Rina yelled as she stared at the dolls, and then giant mess in the hallway.

`R…R…in…' Suigintou choked.

Rina suddenly screamed and ran out the door.

`So much for that' Scylla said, rolling her eyes.

`Suigintou…are you going to surrender the Tipped Balance, or…maybe we could find some other way to make you talk.'

As Morielta said that, Rina returned to the door, this time armed with a garden hose.

`It seems there are some freaky dolls in my house! Scoot!' Rina yelled.

She pressed a button on the hose, and it began to spray water everywhere. Morielta instantly began to cower, and Scylla sighed, hoping her dress wouldn't run.

The sludge melted into a big puddle on the floor.

Morielta then began to fade, and shortly after she disappeared completely. With the sludge now gone, Suiseseki, Souseseki and Joenna burst through the door.

Suigintou's sludge bounds had vanished, and she turned away from her sisters and Joenna, not allowing them to see her crying face. Rina had run around the back in order to turn the hose off.

`My, my, it seems I'm quite out numbered here.' Scylla said mockingly.

`Then why don't you just leave?' Souseseki said, summoning her shears and pointing them threateningly at Scylla.

`I always had to wonder…Why you lot were so aggressive? The blonde one came with out a fight.' Scylla said.

`Blonde one?' Joenna said, not realising what she had said until afterwards.

`You seriously don't know?' Scylla said with a smirk. `Oh, but you're just an ordinary doll, of course you wouldn't know.'

Souseseki pointed her shears directly at Scylla's neck. `Go on. Tell us about this `blonde one'.'

Feeling threatened by the shears, and the death stares given by Suiseseki who was standing near by, she began to speak about the `blonde one'.

`Well, not too long before I began pursuing you lot, there was this other blonde one, who we also suspected of being a Rozen Maiden. Anyway, I went into the house that she was staying at, ready for battle and everything. But when I threatened to kill her unless she came with me, she kept on saying weird things like `Why are you doing this?' and `Don't you feel any remorse for what you are doing?'. I just laughed at her and told her `NO'. Then, I took her back to the master and he was so pleased with me.'

Scylla could see that Souseseki was distracted by her story, and she suddenly disappeared, in the same way Morielta had earlier.

The four dolls were silent, until Rina came back inside.

`Whew, that was tough! Do you guys think you could clean up?' Rina asked.

`Sure ~desu.' Suiseseki lifted her ring, and it started to glow a bright green. All the feathers, muck and water disappeared, and everything returned back to it's original states.

Both the gardener twins noticed the absence of Suigintou's wings. Souseseki knelt down next to Suigintou.

`Do you want to heal yourself?' Souseseki asked.

`Yes, very much so. I'd like to do it without anyone present.' Suigintou said sadly.

Joenna, who was listening in on the conversation, walked up to Rina and tugged on her track pants.

`Rina, I'm hungry. Can we have some tea?' Joenna asked, putting on her most innocent look.

`OK then! It's lucky I changed from Anira to Rina at the Promo, or I wouldn't be able to!' Rina said happily.

Rina and Joenna went into the kitchen, and they were shortly followed by Suiseseki and Souseseki.

Now, Suigintou had to attempt the painful task of forcing her wings to grow.

She took a deep breath, and began to transfer her power to where her wings were. The roots began to heal themselves, and Suigintou winced from the pain of having the wing root regrow deep within her back.

Slowly, a pair of very small wings began to sprout from her back. She expanded them until they were at normal size.

Suigintou stood up and gently touched her right wing. She slipped her hand in her dress pocket, and breathed a sigh of relief when the Tipped Balance was still there.

Suigintou turned to Rina's kitchen, wondering what the others had been up to while she was gone.

----------------

Lyn wondered around the black mansion she lived in. Her two sisters were out doing, who-knows-what, and that meant that she was the only one in the entire mansion other than her master, who she was forbidden to see and the millions of lifeless dolls, kept in glass cabinets around the mansion.

Lyn was walking up a hallway, that was lined on one side with a three rows of glass cabinets filled with dolls, that stretched right to the end of the hallway, and the other side there was a door every so often. She knew that behind those doors, there were more lifeless dolls, yet again in glass cabinets. The would be hundreds in one room, and considering the amount of rooms in the mansion, that was a lot of dolls.

The only rooms she knew of that had no dolls were her Master's office, which she could only go into if her Master called for her, her Master's bedroom, which she had been forbidden to go to under any circumstances and that room, the one that she had visited regularly. Until now. As the day had worn on, she had found herself more and more reluctant to go into that room.

Lyn stopped three rooms down from `that room' and looked at the living dolls. They had been named living dolls, because they were supposed to be `living'. But, of the millions of living dolls around her Master's house, the only living dolls that he owned that were actually `alive', were herself and her two older sisters.

She put her hands against the middle row glass cabinet. Staring back at her, were the lifeless burgundy eyes of a doll that her Master owned. A living doll, whose spring had never been wound, who had never `lived'.

Lyn knew the reason why she and her sisters were alive. They were different. Lyn and her sisters were the only three living dolls whose Rosa Mystica lasted more than three years. Their Rosa Mystica lasted five years, and they could do things that other living dolls couldn't. The three of them were at the top of their range, and they were the only three dolls of that sort that existed.

Until, however, the Master had heard sightings of the Rozen Maidens. The Rozen Maidens were THE ultimate living doll. Nothing could surpass them. So, he had picked his three most powerful and advanced living dolls to find the Rozen Maidens and capture them, using what ever means possible.

Lyn lowered her hand and continued to stare at the lifeless dolls. She knew that before the Master had heard reports about the Rozen Maiden sightings, she was once a lifeless doll, just like this one.

She giggled. Maybe she owed the Rozen Maidens, because if they had never decided to show themselves, then she wouldn't be alive. And she would still be trapped, behind a glass wall, just like all the other dolls…

But once we have captured the Rozen Maidens, what will happen to us then? Will the Master still let us stay alive or…Will we have to sit behind the glass again, just like before?

Her hand dropped from the glass cabinet, and she continued to walk towards `that room'. As she walked, she stared at the floor, trying to avoid looking at the dolls. Even if `that room' scared her, at least there were no lifeless dolls in there.

She walked into `that room' and shut the door. The room was almost entirely black, and there was only one object in there. An object that kept the rooms occupant in a constant state of dreaming.

Lyn knelt down in front of the room's occupant. The room's occupant was a living doll, and she was sitting in a doll-sized Victorian-styled chair with red cushions. There was an instrument connected to her arm, that continually fed her a sleeping poison.

Lyn knew that this living doll was a Rozen Maiden. This Rozen Maiden looked no different to any of the other dolls in the glass cabinets. But Lyn knew that this Rozen Maiden was alive, barely, but still alive. With no medium, no rules to follow, no boundaries.

`To have that sort of freedom must be wonderful' Lyn thought to herself.

`Don't think these thoughts Lyn. You once knew what freedom was. You can find it again.'

Lyn knew, from what Scylla had bragged when she had brought this doll here, that this Rozen Maiden had decided not to fight Scylla, and had simply allowed herself to be captured.

`Why do such a thing? Why not fight back? Is she a coward?'

`She did it out of bravery and pride, not cowardice.'

`To have the option not to fight…Even that is something I don't have.'

`If you wish not to fight, then tell the world that you will not. Be brave.'

`No…Not yet.' Lyn thought to herself.

She sat in front of the Rozen Maiden and stared at her. Even if the Rozen Maiden could not move, or reply, Lyn felt the need to keep her company. After all, someone so used to being free would struggle in confinement.

Lyn wondered what it would be like to be the blonde, curly haired doll dressed in crimson.

----------------

Suigintou sat with Rina, Joenna, Suiseseki and Souseseki at the table in Rina's kitchen. They had finished their afternoon tea and it wasn't long before they began to talk of the events that had happened earlier in the hallway.

`Well, obviously they were looking for the Tipped Balance so they could take it back and reuse it ~desu! What other reason could those evil dolls possibly want with the Tipped Balance ~desu?'

`As long as Suigintou keeps it safe, we won't have to worry about that.' Souseseki said. `But then there is the other matter…Do you think that another Rozen Maiden is being held in captivity by that `Master'?'

`Scylla could have been lying!' Joenna pointed out.

`I know, but the description was so accurate…The only living doll who's blonde, preaches about not fighting and that those three would have the slightest interest in, would be Shinku.' Suigintou said, her voice revealing an extreme annoyance.

Suiseseki stared at Suigintou. `Are you having a hard time accepting that Shinku was captured ~desu?'

`No' Suigintou said. Then the anger in her voice heightened. ` It's just that Shinku could have AT LEAST TRIED to defend herself, but NO, it's always the `You can't fight, it's bad' from her.'

`Why doesn't Suigintou like Shinku?' Joenna asked innocently.

Suigintou began to feel a deep hatred, as she remembered all the reasons why she hated Shinku.

`She has her reasons. It's very complicated.' Souseseki said nervously.

`Oh, I just remembered.' Rina, who had previously been just listening, said to the dolls. `Something weird happened at the Promo that you dolls might want to know about. The whole deal in the hallway made me forget about it.'

`What is it ~desu?' Suiseseki asked.

`Well, I was at the Promo and I'd just finished my show. I was disguised as Anira of course, and I had just gotten off the stage.'

----Flashback----

`Great work Anira! Keep this up, and you'll soar to the top of the charts.' Anira's manager praised her.

`I'm only doing what I can!' Anira replied.

`Well keep it up girl, you're going good!'

`Thanks.'

Anira turned and walked towards the door that lead out of the wings, and into the dressing room area.

Suddenly, Anira was approached by a man, who looked like he was in his late 20's.

`That's some nice ring you've got there. Can I have a better look at it?'

`No!' Anira said confidently, quickly putting her left hand in her pocket. `Now, there's somewhere I need to be, so if you'll excuse me…'

Anira tried to push past the man, but he stood in her way.

`Please, could I have a look at your ring?'

`I already told you, no!' Anira yelled. `If you don't stop this me, I'll get someone to call security.'

`Anira, is this man causing you trouble?' her manager asked.

`Yes, he was. Could you please get someone to take him out of here?' Anira asked.

`Sure thing. Hey, we've got an intruder over here!' Anira's manager yelled.

As soon as Anira's manager had said this, three security guards appeared and the man was handcuffed and lead away.

----End of Flashback----

`And then I headed back into the dressing room to get changed.' Rina concluded.

`What did this man look like ~desu?' Suiseseki asked.

`All I remember about him, was that he looked like he was about 29.' Rina said. `His clothing hid most of his personal features.'

`This man recognised your medium's ring. Which means that he must know about Rozen Maidens, to some degree.' Souseseki said, deep in thought. `At least when you are disguised as Anira, no one will know who you really are, or how to track you down.'

`Thank goodness for that.' Rina breathed a sigh of relief.

`It sounds like lots of people are interested in you guys.' Joenna stated.

Suigintou stared up at the clock and realised what the time was.

`Oh dear, idiot will be getting worried if I don't return soon.' Suigintou sighed. `I better be going.'

`Ok then! Please visit us soon!' Joenna said happily.

Suigintou did a double take. `You never told me she was going to live with you! You just said that she was a guest!'

Rina giggled, nervously. `Well, her medium is a friend of mine, and he's going away for the week. He'll be back to collect her for her tournament match on Saturday.'

Suigintou turned to Suiseseki and Souseseki. `I can't decide who is more stupid; Your medium or mine.'

----------------

Rikou was in his room, doing some more research into the Rozen Maiden legend. He sat at his desk, browsing the internet for more information.

`The seven Rozen Maidens fought, often to the death, and the winner would take the loser's Rosa Mystica. Once a doll had all seven Rosa Mystica, they could become Alice and meet their Father, Rozen, who they were fighting for in the first place.' Rikou read from the website. `Wow…That sounds…vicious.'

`But I wonder why Rozen would force his daughters to fight like that? And from what I have seen of Suigintou and the Gardener twins, the only fighting they ever do is against those evil dolls. Uniting against a common enemy? Perhaps…'

`By the way, where is she? I haven't seen her all day.' Rikou said to himself.

At that moment, Suigintou appeared at the window. Rikou instantly closed out of the website he had been reading and turned to face Suigintou. She stood on the window ledge, opened the window and closed it.

`Suigintou?' Rikou said, crossing his arms.

`Hmm…?' Suigintou replied, sitting herself on the bed,

`Where were you? First, you just left with out any notice, then Scylla and her companion visited me with threats to kill me if I didn't tell them where you were, then this ring started feeling really hot and painful. I knew that you were in trouble…I do worry, you know.'

`You don't need to worry I am always fine. I can handle myself in those situations.' Suigintou said calmly, brushing the invisible dust off her dress. `Did Scylla and Morielta really give you a visit?'

`Yes, and I almost got killed.' Rikou said.

`I see…' Suigintou said deep in thought.

`Next time you go out, could you please at least tell me where you're going?'

`Fine.' Suigintou said with a sigh. `But I'm not doing anything else for you.'

`Really?' Rikou asked.

`What do you want now?' Suigintou asked, rolling her eyes.

`Mirien is having dinner right now, and I was just about to join her. I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to eat?'

`…Perhaps I will join you. Idiot, open the door.'

----------------

A/N

For all of you who can't connect up the clues, here we have the long waited sorta-kinda re-introduction of Shinku. Those of you who are smart, there are many clues in this chap to what will be happening during the next few chapters.

How long has it been since I last put a chapter up? I've just been so busy lately, so this like this fanfic haven't been top priority.

But other good news! This chapter sets the new record for being the longest chapter so far at 5991 words, not including this A/N [the previous record was `Morielta' at 4052 words]. I also got more reviews from the last chapter than before, so I am incredibly happy! Stay tuned for the next chapter, with even more PLOT than before!