Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ That Voodoo That You Do ❯ Cottoning On ( Chapter 7 )

The Megumi doll was under scrutiny, come first thing in the morning. Saito put it on the table and tried to answer his own questions. What was its purpose? Where had it come from? Why did he have it? Who had made it, because the night before he had told his wife, and it was news to her.

Still, it didn't seem to be holding up very well. Its long hair was knotted and tangley. There was a rip in the yukata, and revealed the stitching and padding used to give her a bust. Too small to be accurate really, but then it was only a doll. Because it was only a doll, and the likelihood of anyone claiming it minimal, Saito decided to first customize it, and then send it to the meddlesome medical practitioner herself.

Finding it much too fiddly to pick the knots free one at a time, he decided to make a much more extreme change to Mini Megumi's hair. He cut it from waist length to a more masculine bob

Still not satisfied, he redressed it in a western doll's dress he borrowed from Tokio's collection. He'd find an excuse for that later, but before putting it somewhere safe (he knew it would have serious repercussions on his reputation if he was seen to be playing with dolls at work) he had one last improvement to make. Taking a small measure of rice from the kitchen, he stuffed it the incision of her bosom, giving it a more accurate proportions. He smirked at his own handiwork, and left.

MEANWHILE

The real Megumi Takani was in fact, just waking up in Tokyo. Without looking, she rolled over, out of her futon and went to get dressed. Everything was just fine until she came around to putting on her usual attire. It wouldn't do up. For some reason, the fabric refused to stretch over her chest. She looked down at herself, running her hands over her own curves.

"What the…?" when she realised her bosoms had enlarged three or four sizes since she last saw them. Realising the only thing that must've happened, she scowled, secretly vowing to herself to locate that damned doll.

"Well, what comes around, goes around." She reasoned, returning to her nightclothes, sitting down again and looking for where she left her version of Kaoru. Something touched the side of her face. Realising her hair still needed to be done, she went to bunch it and move it to one side. Yet for some reason, she couldn't grasp it.

Megumi put her hands on her head. Yes, she still had hair. She moved her hands down to her ears. Her jet-black locks were still present. To the back of her neck. No, now something was wrong. Slowly, she looked down around her futon and screamed.

Back in Kyoto, Aoshi appeared to be asleep. His eyes were closed, his breathing controlled and deceptive. For he was, in fact, thinking about the night before. About the kiss, as anyone would, but also about the events leading up to it. Strangely, he always found himself being drawn back to the same detail. The dolls.

Fortunately for everyone involved, Aoshi seemed to be getting significantly closer to finding an answer than anyone else so far. Maybe it was the fact he faced the situation with a focused clarity, or maybe it was just that aside from its instigator, he was the one who found a pattern. A Saito doll. A Battousai doll. Strange behaviours.

So far, he had been unaffected, but how long was that likely to last? How many other dolls were there, and, were the dolls in someway linked to this in a more sinister way.

His eyes snapped open and Aoshi moved his head just slightly to rest his eyes on the red haired mannequin with a cross shaped scar on the left cheek. It smiled at him dumbly, its violet eyes looking beyond him. He decided then to postpone his meditation formally at the temple until he got to the bottom of the matter. To do that, he would need answers. And the best way to get solid, reliable answers would be to conduct an experiment. He made plans swiftly, and set about putting them to work.