Chapter Text
(Prologue)
This is the story of Cinderella. Well, that’s not quite accurate. This is actually a story that has her in it, but her name’s not Ella. It’s Konoka. Cinder-Konoka. And the story’s not so much about her, as it is about a mouse. A white mouse. One of seven who were chosen by the Fairy Godmother to become Cinder-Konoka’s servants during her magical night at the castle. But this accounting is quite different from the one most of you are used to hearing. Perhaps I should just start at the beginning…
(Actual Start of Chapter)
Once upon a time there was a mouse, and she, along with her six friends, lived in a cage that a young girl, Cinder-Konoka, kept in her room, which doubled as the house’s kitchen. The mice were Cinder-Konoka’s only friends, and they listened as she told about her day, and the terrible things her stepmother and stepsisters made her do.
“…and then they made me clean the whole house from attic to cellar, so I decided to do this room last, since I get to spend time with you. Oh, Love, how I wish I could just leave this place. But as you know, it was my father’s dying wish to keep the family together, so I can’t. Oh, if only he’d known how Stepmother would change. Then I bet he wouldn’t mind if I left.” Cinder-Konoka reached up to her shoulder and stroked the small, white mouse’s head. Out of the seven mice she kept as pets, this one was her favorite. She had named it Love, since it seemed to love attention from her more than the other mice. It would always run right up to the cage door when she came back to her room, and as soon as she opened the cage, it would crawl up her outstretched arm, tickling with its mousy feet, and perch on her shoulder. And then, it would seem to listen to her daily problems and actually understand them. Whenever she would talk about something bad that happened, it would put a paw on her cheek as if to comfort her. And when she talked about finding her true love, as she often did, and receiving her first kiss, the mouse would put its nose to her skin and seem to kiss her cheek, which always made her laugh from the ticklish whiskers. But alas, it was just a mouse, and couldn’t possibly understand…or could it? Cinder-Konoka was about to go over the tedious plans her stepmother had in store for tomorrow, when she heard…
“Cinder-Konoka! Get out here, now!”
“Well, I gotta put you back in your cage, Love. Stepmother is calling.” Cinder-Konoka gently picked Love up in her hand, and placed it back in its cage and closed the door. Then, she looked around cautiously, and finding no one, pulled out a wand from inside her sleeve. Cinder-Konoka had a secret that only her mice and father knew about. She was a mage. Knowing how her step-relatives hated animals of all kinds, Cinder-Konoka waved her wand over the cage.
“Seven mice who are so white, become invisible to all this night.” She tapped the cage once, and to any who might have been watching, the mice would seem to have vanished. Once that was done, Cinder-Konoka slid her wand back up her sleeve and quickly left the room.
Love sighed as she watched the girl go. Then she turned away to go to her sleeping corner. As she walked by, she was noticed by the tallest of the other mice. Cinder-Konoka called this one ‘Ninja”, as she always seemed to be there one minute and gone the next.
“Back from your date so soon, Setsuna? Don’t tell me it didn’t work out between you two. I thought you made a rather promising couple.” Ninja remarked sarcastically.
“Aw, knock it off Kaede. She was just called away by one of the evil witches. She’ll be back. Stupid step-people. Why don’t they just leave Konoka the squeak alone?” Love, whose actual name was Setsuna, scowled. She was, for lack of a better word, in love with Cinder-Konoka. And it made her furious down to her mousy bones that the girl was bullied so by the step-people. She wished with every hair of her body that Cinder-Konoka would return her love, although she couldn’t quite figure out how a relationship would work between them. As she pondered this, she was suddenly bowled over by two small, white, furry blurs. She yelped as she tumbled into the cage wall and landed in an undignified heap. She growled at the two blurs. “Grr, Fuka! Fumika! Watch where the squeak you’re going!”
“Sorry, Setsuna! Kaede, Fuka won’t stop chasing me! Tell her to leave me alone.”
The smallest of the mice were the twins. Cinder-Konoka named them Chaos and Trouble, since that’s what they caused whenever she let them run free. But to the mouse community, they were Fuka and Fumika. Kaede sighed.
“Now girls, can’t you see that I’m in the middle of teasing Setsuna? Go wrestle somewhere else.” The twins pouted, as much as mice can pout, until Fumika lost interest and began to chase Fuka, intent on revenge. Satisfied that her two pesky cousins, whom she could hardly believe she was related to, were occupied, Kaede turned back to her unhappy friend, who had picked herself up and shook her fur out agitatedly. “Now Setsuna, you know we mice don’t meddle in the affairs of humans, so why is it that you insist on being around Miss CK all the time? Don’t tell me you’re really in love with her?” Silence greeted her comment. Kaede stared in shock. “You’re really in love with her, aren’t you?” More silence. “Oh my squeaking God! Setsuna, you can’t be serious. A mouse and a human? It’s against the laws of nature! Not to mention the fact that you’re both girls!” At this Setsuna could not keep silent.
“And now who’s the pot calling the kettle black?” Kaede feigned ignorance.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Setsuna’s furry face took on a smug look.
“I know all about your little rendezvous with that forest mouse. What was her name again? Oh, yeah. Mana. Don’t bother to deny it,” she cut off the taller mouse, who had been preparing to speak. “I found a little something just the other day that proves it. A wood shaving, thicker than most, carved by a mouse-made knife. The words ‘Mana’ and ‘Kaede’ with a heart in-between ring any bells with you?” Kaede had nothing to say to this. What could she say? But she knew she still had an argument about different species being with each other, but before she could say anything…
“All right! What’s all the racket going on over here? It’s getting so that a mouse can’t get any sleep around here.” Two more mice, one rather short and the other near as tall as Kaede approached. The complaint had come from the shorter mouse, in a posh British accent. Cinder-Konoka called this one ‘Little Devil’ because she was always mean to the other mice. Most would have left her to fend for herself, but Cinder-Konoka was too kindhearted to do that.
“It’s none of your squeaking business, Evangeline!” Setsuna snapped. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I-” Setsuna had begun to walk away, only to run into the taller mouse that had been with Evangeline. Cinder-Konoka called this one ‘Guard’ because that’s what it did. It seemed to guard Little Devil, following her everywhere and never allowing the other mice near her shorter charge. Said mouse abruptly grabbed Setsuna by the scruff of her neck and turned her to face the angry dwarfish mouse.
“You should not use such language, Setsuna. You owe Master an apology.” Guard stated. Setsuna struggled, but the other refused to let go.
“Dammit, Chachamaru, let me the squeak go!” Setsuna had quite the bad language problem, and felt no need to do anything about it. Chachamaru, who had been Evangeline’s servant even before she had immigrated from Britain, did not take kindly to such language. Especially if it was directed towards her master. Evangeline liked to think she was in charge, ruling with an iron paw. And everyone knows that you do not speak to your leader in such a manner. But Setsuna and all but one of the others refused to bend to her whims. Thus, a near constant set of conflicts, much like the one Setsuna was in now, occurred during everyday life.
Setsuna’s struggles continued, attracting the attention of the twins and the final part of the seven-member mousehold, Makie. A fairly dimwitted rodent, she typically wandered around doing nothing in particular until she found something that captured her incredibly short, ADD interest. Cinder-Konoka had named her ‘Ditzy’. Skirmishes like the one she was witnessing were common enough, but since nothing else had happened that day, Makie decided she would watch and see if anything came of it. Nothing did.
Knowing her battle was a losing one, Setsuna quickly gave up, apologized in a tone of voice that showed she didn’t mean it at all, and promptly left after she was released. Going over to her sleeping corner, she turned around a few times, then with a heavy sigh, curled into a little ball and went to sleep, thoughts of a certain chocolate-haired girl in her head.