Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A tall, wide wooden stage. Colorful lights standing out among the darkness enveloping the audience — some whispering among each other, some laughing at the play no one could look away from...

I was also watching! Kinda covered by a cloth so nobody could see me, but I was there, sitting on someone special's knees!

In the center of the stage was a small stand with trees, houses, castles peeking out, some small balloons even... On top of it were also a couple performers, small just like me! They moved one step at a time, their arms moving with an audible bzzzt bzzzt sound each time — they looked like wooden dolls, but were actually robots! Well, there was only one man doing the play, so it's understandable, you know? He only has two hands and both of them are already taken by one marionette he himself played!

The wooden marionette's strings reached out to all of its wooden arms and legs (I'm saying that like it has three arms or something, ehehe), two smaller ones in control of the doll's eyelids, another one for... its mouth!? No wonder that marionette feels so alive! Swinging its sword with a clear brave face, the voice speaking for it feeling like its own as its mouth flapped up and down! Mr. doll performer must be a real pro! It's like that doll has a soul inside... just like I do!

I'm just a small porcelain doll, I love when Nene dresses me up and brushes my hair... but wouldn't it be cool if I could dance onstage too?!

Nene would sing for me, she would make me do all those pirouettes and jumps that I saw on TV, it would be so cool!!

Nene... loves to sing, and she sings really good! She... only sings to me though... and she stops every time someone comes into her shop — she doesn't even sing to Mr. Purple Doll Performer! And the two are good friends just like me and Nene!!

I'd love to see her onstage one day... but...

If only I could tell her how great she sounds...!!

Applause rung out. The show was over. All the robot performers now stood at the bottom of the stage, around their creator's shoes. He stood in the center, in front of his small doll stand, holding his blonde marionette as he made it do a grand bow while standing on one of his palms.

It's surprising how many people come to watch doll performances, I heard most hate dolls and think they're evil and have creepy spooky ghosts inside them... I mean, they're not really wrong, I'm just not creepy!! Though maybe Nene would be scared of me if she knew I'm actually alive...

Huh...

Oh! She picked me up! I guess it's time to leave now...

Ah, Nene bumped into someone...! “Oh, I-I'm sorry, you can go first...” She immediately brought me close to her chest, she always does that when she's nervous... I really like when she does that but I don't like when she's worried!!

“Nene~!”

“Oh...” She pulled me back down, looks like that voice calling her was Mr. Purple Doll Performer. “You done packing up?”

“Not really, I just thought... Oh? You brought your doll with you again?”

“Y...Yeah, so what?”

“Awww, did she enjoy the show~?”

“I-I don't know!”

“I haven't seen this dress on her before, it does look like—”

“S-S-Stop being weird about it, just 'cause you're weird doesn't mean I am...”

“Fufu,” Mr. Doll Performer always teases Nene about liking me, I kinda get it~ “Alright alright. I just wanted to ask if I could bring Tsukasa over to your place after this.”

“Hm? What happened?”

“The metal on his joints got very rusty, I ignored it for some time, but now that it's gotten worse I'm planning on ordering replacements. I'd like for you to keep him for... a couple days or so, maybe I can also ask you to wash his hair?”

“Can you not... umm,”

“Referring to my best actor as "it" would be very inhumane, Nene!”

“No, I mean... at least not when you're right next to me with so many people around, please.”

“So?”

Nene's sigh was so strong I could feel it hit my back! “...Fine, I'll see about the hair, come over in the evening.”

Mr. Doll Performer smiled. He must like his doll just as much as Nene likes me! “Thank you, I'll be there then. Bye bye, Nene! Emu too~!”

He reached over to pet my head, but Nene didn't let him...

“Don't touch her—... you'll ruin my doll's hairstyle.”

“Fufufu, good luck then, you two~”

After all of that, Mr. Purple Doll Performer went back to the stage, hiding himself behind its long red curtains. I didn't get to stare at them any longer since Nene turned around and began leaving the underground studio we were at, she carefully put me back into her bag and left. The way out will be very long, this place is pretty big and very well hidden, the sewers are also very stinky, Nene always washes me after we visit Mr. Doll Performer's shows...

Ahem! It's finally time to go home~!

Even if my life as a doll isn't anything super special, I love living with Nene! As long as she loves me like she always does, I'm the happiest doll ever~!

Chapter Text

A soft chime rung out as Nene opened and closed her shop's door. With a sigh, she dropped her bag on the floor, wiping some sweat off her forehead, with her short hair not giving her any comfort against the summer heat, even if better than her previous long wavy locks.

The young woman walked over to the center of her small shop — the space was filled to the brim with all kinds of small nothings and big somethings placed all over its dark wooden shelves, though it all was somehow still well kept as something like a watch corner blended well into the nearby keychain section, both in color and in size — kicking a couple empty boxes out of the way, she brought her beloved doll onto her small music box stand, the tiny pink shoes on her thin porcelain-white legs popping right into its two tiny holes in the center with a satisfying click. Nene smiled, fixing a couple slight folds that had formed on the pink-haired doll's pink and black frilly dress.

“There... Sorry for bringing you with me again, I couldn't help it.”

The porcelain doll's two round glass eyes continuously stared at the woman with an unmoving smile, their metallic pink corneas reflecting the light coming from the old rusty chandelier hanging right above.

“You... You know how it can be, sometimes.” Nene proceeded to move her doll's arms into a more natural pose, putting them over her chest. “...Sorry.”

You shouldn't be apologizing, Nene! I love shows just like I love you!!

“That place is so dirty, I still can barely breathe there.” She meant both the sewers they had to go through, twice, and the stage audience. Touching the doll's synthetic hair, Nene noticed some dust coating its tips. “I'll clean you hair later, I hope we have enough of your shampoo left... Don't know when Rui's coming, not sure if I'll really be cleaning his doll, but I'll go check how much we have.”

No matter what, the doll always had that same approving smile on her face.

Nene ran over to her counter, digging around a colorful decorated box filled with countless tiny doll props like books and miniature cosmetic kits for a heart-shaped perfume bottle. There was a thin layer of what looked like white soap at the bottom. “...Yeah, we'll have to buy more. There's not enough even for you...”

Nene stood back up, not getting any response. It's hard for her to even imagine her doll responding these days, maybe it's the stress of her upcoming college entrance exam — that is, her entrance exam to a music college. Ever since her slip up during a public show she had participated in when she was just 16, every time she would attempt singing in front of someone her voice would tremble as she herself would shake uncontrollably. She hated herself for that. There was no way she could move on, no matter how she tried, not without a doll she once found in this very same shop back when it still belonged to Rui's family.

“Oh? You've been looking at this doll for a whole minute now, I see. Do you like it~?”

He said his mom found it at an auction, got it for surprisingly cheap, thought it was fine to sell it. No matter how much Nene denied any affection toward this particular porcelain doll, Rui gifted it to her for her birthday. This... guy.

There really was something about that doll that made Nene feel lighter. She could look at it and immediately mirror its... oddly expressive smile... her smile.

“Here, I'll brush your hair at least...”

When did she start acting like this?

This doll was like her best friend... Look, this was seriously wrong, Nene knew that, it was wrong on so many levels, but if no one knew it would be fine, right? Better than talking to walls. Nene did do that sometimes. Therapists don't exist in this AU because I've never seen one. Rui doesn't know about Nene's... that, or maybe he pretends not to, but she tries her best to hide her oddness to not reaffirm his own.

Finishing up removing any and all dust clots in her doll's pink hair, Nene put her back on her stand, putting her little brush away with one last pat on her small head as it shook in response, a faint ring of porcelain echoing inside.

“There.” She smiled, to no one in particular. She looked up at the five wooden clocks presented on the wall behind her counter. “...ughh, Rui must be coming soon...”

The girl sat down on a small stool, not too far from her friend. With her hands on her knees, she waited in the silence. Somewhere in the distance she could hear people walking around, chatting, wooden carts rolling around the bricked roads... the wind chimes hanging outside her shop for sale barely made any noise as wind had a hard time reaching the dark alleyways, making the heat unbearable even with all of the windows open.

...It all really is boring.

Standing up suddenly, Nene picked her doll up again with a determined glare. “E-Emu! Let's dance!”

She took a deep breath, then

Of course! We haven't danced in so long~!

“...No.” She put her back down, onto the stand. “I'll just sing for you today.”

Awww...

“My entrance exam is this Friday, I... have to focus.”

Nene pressed a couple buttons on Emu's stand, winding up the lever on the side. The music box inside began playing.

And, after clearing her throat, Nene began singing.

“一一一, 一一一一 一一一♪”

She stared at Emu as if directly inspired by her spinning around. Her voice fit the soft notes of the playful music box melody so well. That melody currently playing was how she saw Emu, or how she imagined her personality to be — childishly kind and optimistic.

You'll do this, Nene!! I know you will!!!

A melody that has hope to give and things to say, but is dismissed as simply happy and cute. Despite that, Emu was happy Nene enjoyed herself, even if she couldn't hear her.

Continuing to sing, Nene approached Emu again, moving her thin hands around to the rhythm, putting her legs up and down like she's jumping along — both girls flowed with the melody, words coming out of the green-haired's mouth like flower petals flying around in the wind and—

Out of nowhere, Nene heard a wind chime fall to the floor, making her flinch.

“Whoops.”

“R—Rui?!” She turned around, only after she'd put Emu back into a more basic pose, which I guess was her falling face first onto her music box. “Why are you—?!”

“Oh, I held your door's wind chime so it wouldn't make too much noise as I came in, didn't think it would detach so easily.” Rui smiled like anything but a psychopath, finally placing his suitcase down. “Hello, Nene! Emu!”

“What is wrong with you!?”

“I haven't heard you singing in so long, your third entrance exam is this Friday, right? You got way better at singing since last time~”

“I... Y-You creep, why come so early?” Nene was still shaking, trying her best to act cool as she returned to her counter.

Rui placed his star-decorated dark blue suitcase onto it. “You know how worried about Tsukasa I am, I got here as fast as I could.”

“Yeah, sure...”

“Come on out, my love!” The tall man playfully knocked on his suitcase before opening it. Inside was a soft blue bed, a Barbie-sized one, with a wooden man sleeping on top of it with his painted-on eyes' wooden eyelids wide open. There was even a nightstand with a miniature lamp glued to the bottom of the case, along with a neat fluffy rug and a couple slippers placed right next to the "sleepy" doll. He wasn't wearing anything, showing off all the burn marks and scratches on his thin wooden arms and legs split into sections by some metallic parts to be controlled with string — despite his seemingly recently brushed hair, he looked very old. “Oh, forgot to close your eyes... But surely I did close them, right?”

“You carry a suitcase on its side, of course things mess up on the way.”

Just out of sight, Emu raised her head up, curious.

“No no no, there's a special flap for keeping Tsukasa's eyes open and/or closed if needed, this wouldn't have happened.” Rui explained confidently with the tone of a mythbuster with psychotic tendencies. And then he gasped. “Awww, he woke up for me~!”

“Goddess Hatsune, not in my shop.” Nene took Tsukasa out of Rui's hands with the slightest bit of force put into the action.

“Be- Be careful, Nene! You're hurting him...!”

“Look at all of the burn marks here, there too... I can barely even notice the rust on this marionette's joints, you sure they're the problem here?”

“These scars are important for preserving my greatest actor's history.”

“How did you even...” Nene shook her head. “Nevermind.”

Ehehehe... So this is Tsukasa? He looks so cool even offstage~! I didn't notice that weird mark under one of his eyes before...!

“I'm sure you'll take good care of him, Nene.”

“Didn't you promise to throw him away last month?”

Rui blinked as if genuinely confused. “I thought you got used to me not doing that ever since I spilled ketchup on his hair.”

“...so from the very beginning?”

“You liked how I colored his hair after, so yes.”

Ketchup hair??? I hope we become friends so I can smell them!!

Nene glared at her friend's doll again. “...I'm not cleaning it. I'm out of soap, sorry.”

“I'll buy some, no worries.”

“I'd rather have you finally pay your part of the shop's rent.”

“Well...” Rui scratched the back of his neck, looking down in embarrassment. “I'm kind of out of funds currently... Renting stages is becoming harder and more expensive these days, but I don't want to raise the ticket prices more than I have to. You know I'm always there for you, but...”

The green-haired lowered her head as well. “No, I understand. Sorry.”

“Are you doing well, at least?”

“...”

Emu lowered herself back down. I mean... there are less people coming to Nene's shop, but they buy all kinds of stuff still!

“—Not really. No, not at all.”

Eh...?

Rui sighed. “...I see. Won't college be too expensive this time, then?”

“If I pass the exam perfectly I'll get a scholarship. It's just...”

A moment of silence passed between the two. The air around them was filled with a slight feeling of anxiety. Emu could feel it too.

“I... mean...”

The taller of the pair sighed. “I guess buying replacement parts for Tsukasa and everyone won't be that necessary, so... I'll think about what I can do to help.” Rui crossed his arms. “This time will be the last, promise.”

“If this town's theatre doesn't let you in you can always move out.”

“I don't want to leave you alone here, Nene.”

The two stared at each other, with Rui placing a hand on Nene's shoulder. She brushed it off pretty quickly, dropping the man's lump of ketchup stained wood onto her counter.

“...I'll be fine.”

This guy has all the chances in the world to move on and become a director and yet he's still here playing around with dolls all on his own. Don't even get me started on his paranoia.

“So, what got you to finally give someone else your doll?” Nene jokingly sighed to lift up the mood, picking up a spare handkerchief to quite roughly wipe Tsukasa's body making intense lego building noises as his limbs flopped all over. “Why not bring it with you like you always do anyway?”

“...I feel like someone is watching over me.”

“Oh really?”

“I don't feel safe carrying Tsukasa around with me anymore, nor can I leave him back at my place, so it'll be fine if you'll be there with him, right?”

“Maybe you should stop with the trespassing.”

“No, I mean — someone must be after my doll performances-”

“Rui, the more you talk about it the more delusional you're getting, stop.” Nene poked her childhood friend in the forehead, blowing his head off, to the side. “I'll look after Tsukasa, there, it's fine. You can go.”

“But—”

“It's fine.” The girl pushed the taller man to the door. “I have to close the shop, it's getting late, the bags under your eyes are bad enough.”

“Hold on, Nene! Can I—?”

Flipping the sign on her door over to "Closed", she then forced it shut. This guy was almost about to suggest staying at Nene's place to sleep with his doll and she hasn't cleaned the floors yet.

Rui knocked on the door, his voice muffled only slightly. “Can I take a moment to wish him goodnight at least?”

Nene pretended she didn't hear that. A man kissing his doll goodnight doesn't deserve the experience of lying on top of her hard, cold floors. You already know what joke I'm using for the rest of this dumbass fanfic.

The woman sighed, rubbing her temples. She turned on a lamp on her counter and proceeded to put Tsukasa back into... its suitcase. Nene will never respect the doll's pronouns. Well, she wasn't a complete monster to leave a doll without warmth, so she tuck it into its bed rather caringly — making sure to not touch it too much, you never know where Rui might be kissing this chunk of wood.

Emu peeked out to look at what Nene was doing, but quickly had to fall back into her original place once she turned back to her, frozen under the green-haired's gaze. The doll, unmoving, felt warm once her owner's shadow covered her.

“...Look what I found.” Nene presented a couple tiny rubber bands in one of her hands, ones that you'd probably use to make DIY bracelets as a kid. “Sorry for taking so long. I found these in Rui's suitcase, don't know what they're there for, but...”

Nene picked Emu up, her small thin fingers working on her hair. It would hurt when she'd pull some of it suddenly, but it wasn't the first time, so she could easily trust Nene's expertise in hairstyling. She couldn't wait to see herself in the mirror!

Nene giggled softly, seemingly done. Quicker than usual, huh? Maybe it's some simple hairstyle... “You look adorable. Maybe...” She glanced back for a second. “Maybe I should make you a bed too.”

No worries, I don't need to sleep!

“I could make pajamas for you, maybe slippers, an eye mask...”

Mgggghhhh~!! I wanna sleep so bad now!!

Nene yawned, looking out her shop's window covered in decorative vines and fake flowers. She could barely see the night sky behind all of the tall buildings standing right in front of her, in the not too wide alleyways. Every day here feels darker and darker, maybe because Nene was actively trying to stop childishly talking to her doll these days. What she definitely promised to herself is that she'd completely end her odd habit once she enters music college...

Checking around the shop one last time, Nene went back to the staff room — one where her bed is at.

Once the last open door of the building was closed, Emu jumped up almost immediately.

Breathe in, “GOODNIGHT NENEEEEEEE—!!!!!!!”

The porcelain girl grinned proudly, hands on her sides. “Ahhh... Silly, you forgot to lock the entrance again~!”

Emu jumped down a pile of boxes from her music box stand to reach the floor, running up to the entrance door in question. With a surprisingly high jump, she pulled out a small old handkerchief out of one of the boxes on the floor, tying it over her back to use as a backpack for the door key. That key shouldn't be too far away, must be in one of the drawers at the counter, the lowest one specifically! All Emu had to do was to drag it out with a fork to grasp the thing's big thick handle better and jump in. The drawer was stinky with rubber and metal, filled with stuff like gloves, wrenches and everything else the little doll doesn't bother looking at, and the needed key wasn't buried too deep there.

“Gotcha!”

Reaching out to grab the iron key with both of her hands, Emu fished it out by the green tag keychain attached to it, stumbling back onto the floor carefully enough to not make too much noise or else Nene might start to believe she's not alone just like Rui.

Now, it was time for Emu to take out her trusty handmade shoelace rope and get up the door!

Happily humming the song Nene was singing to her today, even tilting her empty porcelain head left and right to its rhythm, Emu got back to the shop entrance, a colorful rope made out of several shoelaces tied together dragging behind her. She quickly made her way up onto a nearby shelf for better reach in a surprisingly acrobatic fashion, throwing her rope over the door's handle to then jump down and grab onto it before she could hit the ground. With the required key on her back, she climbed up to its keyhole and put it in with a satisfying click, making sure to twist it carefully... and it's done! The door is now safely locked, no worries for Nene!

Now...

Sliding back to the floor, Emu ran up to the door to her owner's room, trying to listen in. No light was leaking from its edges, so she must already be asleep... Time flies so fast!

The porcelain doll threw her rope over the door's handle again, the thing light enough to be pulled down even by a girl as tiny as Emu. She carefully tugged on it while pulling the rope back, once the handle was low enough she could safely push the door forward, opening it. Peeking in, the miniature girl smiled — where did Nene get that unicorn eye mask? Emu had never seen it before, she looks so cute in it!

Nene's room wasn't that big, nor did it have that many nice decorations or cool stuff to describe. There were some basic necessities here and there, the woman herself was sleeping on a simple mattress with a basic pillow and blanket... Emu wasn't that aware of how other people lived out there, so she never felt like her living conditions were odd in any way. The only thing that worried her was that Nene had suddenly stopped sleeping with her one day. Maybe she didn't have nightmares like she'd used too, maybe she's just grown out of it...

Oh well, Emu was still there every night to give the girl a peck on the cheek!

She's scared of the day when Nene might stop having fun with her entirely, but...

Leaving Nene's room and quietly closing the door behind her, Emu stretched her arms up to mimic the currently sleeping girl, even letting out a fake yawn and rubbing her eyes after. Emu doesn't like nighttime. No playing with Nene, no staring at people walking outside, no listening to music Nene would occasionally put on... All the fun stuff ends, Emu hates that. Her head starts to think of bad stuff all these dark 8 hours, but—

Hold on, what about her new guest friend!? She can't put her head low just yet!

Wait, is that... sniffing? And sobbing and crying? And whining and more sniffing?? Oh no, the guest needs a tissue! But they're out of tissues!! What should Emu do?!?

Chapter Text

Emu picked up a round baby phoenix plushie and painstakingly climbed onto the counter with it.

“Ho~hoh—OH!!” Reaching the top by jumping from one of its top drawer's handles, the girl slipped, dropping her toy onto the table as it rolled on forward. “W-W-Wait!!!”

Getting back on her feet, Emu ran after the thing, waving her arms in front of her desperately. She didn't notice the sobbing in the background stop as she did so.

“Sir Mr. Phoenix please wait—!!” With a big jump, the doll successfully pounced onto the plush round bird, only to lose her balance and roll forward just enough for her face to hit the wooden table surface with her legs pointing at the ceiling. “...ow.”

A face peeking out of the suitcase watched over the struggling girl with just the right kind of clown music playing in its head.

“No no no, hold on—!” (you can stop imagining the music now) Emu slipped back onto Sir Mr. Phoenix, her long time friend, servant, protector and mentor figure, and pushed the entire upper part of her body into the hole at his bottom, standing up. “Ouch, owowowow...! Al...right...!!”

“Are you... okay down there?”

“Ah!!! Are you still sad, sir?!”

“I mean...” The doll mimicked clearing its throat. “I was definitely not sad in the first place, what are you doing, miss?”

“Awwww I was trying to cheer you up, sorry...”

She's not that bad at it, I'll be honest... “I'm seeing a doll as weird as you for the first time... May I know your name?”

“Emu! It's Emu, my name is Emu~!” The porcelain girl was meeting an another doll for the first time, she had to make as much as she could of her first impressions! ...Even if she was stuck in a plush toy now!

“Emu?”

“Emu Emu!” The doll happily tap danced, still turned away from her guest and not knowing it. “Emu Emu Emu~!!”

“I get it, I get it, I get it...!!” The wooden man sighed, climbing out of his suitcase to help the weird hyper girl take off her fun-sized mascot costume before the thing makes her fall off the counter. Emu stared at awe at her... savior, I guess, to which he reached a hand out for her to shake. “My name is Tsukasa, but you should probably know that already!”

Emu beamed, hopping up and down so high her face could meet Tsukasa's. “Oh yeah! I love your shows, you're so cool!!”

“Oh, so you've seen my shows after all...” Tsukasa smirked to himself, a hand on his chin. “Hmmm, no wonder you're acting so weird, being near a star is quite the experience, I agree!”

“Woah, did you visit stars!?!”

“Odd question, but indeed I know lots of other dolls in the spotlight aside from me, like-”

“I only know that stars are supposed to be really really hot, is that where you got your burns?!”

“...My bur—” Tsukasa froze, looking down at his body. Uh-huh. “Are you seriously... Oh Goddess, are you not listening to me at all!?”

“Wha...? Oh, so you call yourself a star?” Emu innocently tilted her head.

“I AM a star, you ignorant dollhouse pack-in!! A show star!! Do you not know who stars are?!?”

“Ehehe... Sorry, I haven't ummm... I mostly stay here so-!” The girl smiled warm enough to potentially melt her porcelain lips, which were becoming a bit shaky already. “Nene doesn't really take me out anywhere and I don't understand what the TV says aside from people dancing on there, but I have my music box and my costumes and dresses and plushies and—!”

“So you are living under a rock, I see...” Tsukasa sighed, almost apologetically, which he will not explain as Emu doesn't seem to look offended by his recent attitude in any way, which is... surprising, no, shocking actually. He then proceeded to move to the other side of the long counter the two were on in thought, leaning onto a bottle of what seemed like hair spray with his arms crossed. Emu followed after him shortly after. “You seemed like an outgoing one, isn't it hard being so isolated?”

“Not at all, I like living with Nene~!”

“Nene... She's your owner, correct?”

“Mhm!” Emu nodded with her entire upper body as if she was bowing to the man in the most inorganic, yet passionate way possible. “She's really caring and cute! Oh, and she's an amazing singer!! I can finally tell that to someone, YIPPEE~!!”

The doll proceeded to do a little silly dance to celebrate her victory, you can imagine some clown music again.

“Huh... Cool.”

“Mhm mhm~! She's very very shy though—”

“Rui told me about her at times...” Tsukasa looked down at his wooden feet — no shoes, no toes, just rounded blocks of darker wood.

“—Yeah, they're good friends right?!”

“...Wouldn't say so.” The wooden man laughed quietly. “I mean, Rui constantly whined to me about how she didn't like me or thought he was weird, which I agree on—”

“Is it true that he kisses you a lot by the way?”

“N—No, it's not!!”

“Well, not a lot, just sometimes?”

“NO!!!”

“Aww, I always wished Nene would kiss me too so I thought I'd ask...”

“...let me finish talking!!” Tsukasa groaned, stepping away from the bottle of hair spray he was leaning onto just moments ago. “I mean, he is oddly affectionate, I don't know how to feel about it, but... he's...”

Suddenly, the man went quiet. Emu, curious, approached him yet again like a slightly timid cat — she heard Tsukasa sniff again.

“...he'll throw me away, he'll-”

“WHAT!?!” Emu's sudden high-pitched scream made the man jump. “No no no! Didn't he say that he wasn't going to throw you away recently!? At least I heard it!!”

“I've gotten too old!! You see all my burns and cuts, right?!” Tsukasa raised an arm for the girl to see a noticeable dent on it, big drops of clear water leaving his eyes. “Soon there will be a day when I won't be able to step onto the stage under Rui's guidance anymore and I'll be left to collect dust in some trash bin!!”

“But... he must take good care of you right...?”

“As much as he may care about me, if he continues trying to warm me up with a lighter before bed I won't live for long. Though... I must thank him for as long as I'm here.” The wooden man put a hand on his hard flat chest. “He made me what I am now. I was once a simple wooden mannequin, but now, thanks to him, I live as a star of the stage...”

“I woke up to live on an empty, abandoned street among piles and piles of garbage and waste. No distinctive features, no voice, no reason for me to attempt getting up to my feet — but, as if an unspoken wish of mine had come true, a man so suspicious looking I'd run away if it wasn't for my frozen state had approached me. A grey hood left his face dark, his pale hands took hold of me with a stare so chilling my soul would jump out of my sturdy body once he threw me into his big dark bag!!”

Emu gasped. The two sat down in front of each other with an imaginary campfire separating them and lighting up the bottom of Tsukasa's face as he waved his hands around spooky scary-ly.

“He brought me to his house... Knifes were put up all over the walls, saws and needles! And the whole floor was a mess!!”

“Blood!?!”

“Worse!! EYELESS DOLL LAMPS!!!”

“AAAAaaahh........? Doll lamps? Wha...?”

“Made out of doll heads!!!!!”

Emu then shrieked very loudly.

“He put me onto a table, I felt like I was going to faint... and then I woke up.” Tsukasa paused dramatically. “...I could feel my eyelids click as I opened and closed them.”

Emu was about to shriek again but he shut her mouth quick enough. “It's not a bad thing, look at me!”

The man grinned as if ignoring all the burns on his body. “Separated fingers, freedom of movement, additional joints for arms, feet and face — all with retractable marionette strings! I can even simulate crying with moisture packets just under my eyes!”

“Ohhhh~!”

“Those packets just keep on leaking these days!!”

“Why'd you sniff though? Even I can't do that!”

“Just... oil.” Tsukasa put a hand to his face. If he had skin I'd write about how red it was and compare it to... tomato (how original), but Rui doesn't like tomatoes so fresh raw meat will fit much better. Or would he like tomatoes since they're technically fruits? Or does he mean he doesn't like vegetables purely by culinary rules? Or maybe he is a fruit tomato believer? I don't think he would kiss raw meat anyway. “I was supposed to have a function of growing out my nose, but thankfully that wasn't implemented...”

“Rui must be a genius!”

“HE IS!!” Tsukasa got louder in excitement, until his self-awareness caught up to him and the man collapsed on the floor. I mean the table. “But Goddess he's so... He's... He's pathetic!! What will happen to him when I'm gone?!?”

Emu noticed a small grey button on the man's stomach as he was lying on his back. “What's this—?”

“Don't pre-”

“You must be really tired, Rui!”

The porcelain girl's eyes widened at the soft voice coming from a speaker somewhere inside Tsukasa. She was sure it sounded like, umm, Rui did, though it felt like he was putting on a voice to imitate Tsukasa's character to the best of his abilities.

“Miss—”

“You did well today! Time to take a break!”

“You made me shine!”

“Thank you, Ru-”

“You did well-”

“HA~HAHA-”

“You-”

“Thank-”

“You-”

“HA-”

“Y-”

“Th-”

Tsukasa hit Emu's arm away, sitting up. “Stop doing that!!”

“Awww...”

“Think about it! How pathetic should one be to comfort themself with a doll?!”

Something in Emu's empty porcelain head rung. Like a thought rolling around inside. Nene... must think the same, right? Emu was never able to understand her wish to distance herself from her, but it felt so clear when Tsukasa said it...

So then...

“But... If Rui is happy with you, it's fine, right? I-I mean...” The girl played around with her bleach-white fingers as they clicked against each other. “I feel happy when I make Nene happy... I don't think it's weird or anything...”

“...I understand what you mean, but think about it!” Tsukasa grabbed Emu's shoulders. “Say, she could do so much more! But can't face her problems proper! All because she keeps talking only to her doll!!”

...Oh. Well, um, Nene might be like... that, certainly she is not good at talking to people but... could Emu really be holding her back from growing so much?

“At least that's how Rui is! He's amazing, I have not enjoyed any show he brought me onto that wasn't his — compared to all the others, he is a master of his craft, the perfect director, I wish I could truly thank him for molding me into his ideal actor, and yet most see him only as a weirdo... too into his dolls. I mean, technically I'm alive so it's not that weird-” Tsukasa mimicked a cough, perhaps his soul really got stuck in his throat at the embarrassment. “F—Forget that. In the end, one day I'll... have to leave, one way or another, so that Rui can achieve his dreams, but as he is now I know he still won't be able to, that loner!!”

“Eeehhhh!?”

“I have to do something!! And now that he's not holding me in his hands tonight, I might be able to...” Standing up, the modified mannequin sighed. “Alas, I have no ideas currently. He said he'll keep me here for a couple days, right? Goddess Hatsune, I don't have much time...”

“...Weeeeell,” Emu stood up as well, she's really into following Tsukasa, it seems. I mean, it is the first time she's interacting with someone other than Nene... “How do you want to help him?”

“For him to become a true show director... I must give him the best actors I can. Those worthy of his lead! Worthy of his stage and the fame that may come with it!” Tsukasa grandly put his arms on his hips, his torso tilted up just enough for it to seem like he's puffing out his chest. And here I thought writing people swimming instead of walking was hard. “If only there was a way to invite them all with how I am. One look and my soul is frozen in place, if only there was a way to invite them over to Rui anonymously somehow...”

Emu put both hands to her chin in thought for extra brain power, a low hum leaving her purely decorative nose as her soul spun around in her head like a plate of soup inside a microwave. She has to help him! Nene might also be happy to see Rui successful! Maybe then... Emu might also help her somehow.

“...Ewreeka!”

“...” Tsukasa blinked, his eyelids clicking audibly. “What?”

“I mean, I got an idea~!” Emu spun around happily. “I had a chat with the shop counter and it suggested we make posters!”

“The... shop counter? You talked to it?”

“Mhm! I learned how to talk to everyone in this shop from Nene~!”

That's... one way to manage your thoughts, I guess, let's not shame either of the girls right away. Maybe we'll get to know all about Nene later.

“So... what does the counter mean by posters?”

“Basically! We draw a bunch of posters about how cool Rui is, then we go out with some tape and stick our posters all over the place! There will be less people out at night, so we'll be able to walk around fine without being noticed~!”

“...OH!!” Tsukasa excitedly grabbed both of Emu's arms. “What a great plan!! How have I not thought about it?! If we just advertise his mastery of show production more then...!”

“He'll have a bunch of new friends come~!”

“He might be a weirdo, but we just have to not write about it in the posters!!”

“YEAH!!”

The dolls gave each other a high five.

“You're not as dumb as I thought, young lady!”

“Awww, just call me Emu~!”

———

The dolls took out their pencils and began to work. A pile of papers was stacked on the floor, most of it already painstakingly converted into vibrant, colorful adverts, all thrown together haphazardly by two mini people the size of two crayons. A lamp was also placed near them, casting a spotlight onto their work... floor.

How much time did they spend drawing already? Emu doesn't feel tired, but Tsukasa sure does act like he is, slumping against his purple pencil finishing off the last touches on his owner's hair. Maybe it's because Emu's only been working on everything but the image of the person the posters are made for, but it makes her sound lazy! And she is not! Perhaps Tsukasa is just more passionate about Rui than she is — no, it's obvious! His portraits must be one to one! He even fell down on the floor with how passionate he was... oh, oops.

“Tsukasa?” Emu poked the man's head with her green pencil a couple times. “You okay...?”

“I'm... good...” The wooden marionette slowly got back on its knees, limbs shaking and heavy as if someone had brought a magnet under the floor to pull the man's metallic joints down. “Just... one more...”

“I wonder where we should put all of these...” The pink-haired of the duo put her pencil down, looking over their pile of what could... hopefully be described as art. “I've never been outside like that before, I hope we don't get lost!”

“Don't worry, I took some walks around town before on my own, I'll lead the way...” Tsukasa brushed off his knees, popping his joints as he looked down at his last creation. Is it any good? Well, his fatigue did affect its quality quite a lot, but his visual judgement was affected by it as well. “...I'd take a break now, but thinking about Rui makes me want to run all over the town one corner to another.”

Emu nodded, wearing a small roll of sparkly decorative tape with heart patterns over her waist like a swimming ring. “Are we done?! Can we go!?”

“How do we get out of here exactly?” Tsukasa looked around. “I don't see any cracks we can slip through, at least.”

“No worries~!” The porcelain doll ran back to the drawers at the counter, jumping in and digging up her key again. “I'm a pro at door opening closing!”

“And... you've never went out? I'd be curious if I were you.”

Emu shrugged, steadily approaching the door with her key and her shoelace rope in hand. “I feel the best with Nene. Streets are scary!”

The girl began her usual routine of throwing the key over her back, climbing the nearby shelves to throw her rope over the door handle and jumping down onto it to access the lock. Tsukasa, arms crossed over his chest and one foot tapping on the floor, looked up at her. She could make for a great performer with such skillful movement. It's surprising how such a hyperactive girl can be kept in such a... box. Even the garage Rui lives in is bigger than this shop. Are the lives of performance dolls and decorative ones really that different?

“Ta-da~!” Hearing the door's lock click, Tsukasa's head was shot back into the present. Emu was holding onto the iron handle, pulling it down with her weight. “Can you please pull the door back?”

“And... how should I?”

“Grab onto my rope and puuuuuull it back~! Easy!”

Nodding, the Pinocchio ripoff did as was told. Opening the door took no effort at all, he didn't have to pull that hard, even if the door seemed heavy at first. Due to the amount of effort he did put into opening it though, Tsukasa had almost made the door hit a wall, basically risking giving Emu a concussion — thankfully he pulled it back quick enough.

The fresh night breeze hit the shop like a big cold wave. Emu carefully climbed down her shoelace rope as if that breeze could blow her away.

Facing the exit into the wider world, she stood still, mouth left wide open.

Her soul bounced around her chest like a bullet ricocheting off the walls of a small enclosed iron box. Her legs were shaking as if she was standing upright for the first time. The wind brushed her hair back, her twin tails bouncing up and down, and she couldn't help but instinctively try to pull them back in fear of the new hairstyle she got from her beloved owner being ruined.

Tsukasa walked over to stand in front of her, reaching one hand out as the dark blue shades of the night lit his back. “Welcome to the streets, Emu!”

“Woah...!” With her hair still held in her hands, the smaller doll pranced forward, stopping once her tiny feet touched the giant grey bricks of the alleyway floor. The ground of the outside felt much colder than the one of Nene's shop... She turned back, looking over its entrance. “Oh!! Nene's shop looks so beautiful over here!”

“Why not look at the sky or something?” Tsukasa followed after Emu, shrugging. “I mean, the shop does look nice... Seems just like Rui had described.”

“Ehehe...” Emu spun around with her hands flying all over as if she was trying to control the wind around her. “The outside really is coooooold! Nene always kept me in her warm bag when we went out for a reason!”

“Nights are colder usually, daytime shouldn't be that bad, especially if it's summer... If Rui could take me out to the public I swear he'd wear me as a necklace or something.”

“Teehee~”

“Not funny!!”

A sudden rush of wind hit the two dolls so hard both hit the ground in surprise.

“AHHH-!!”

“Ow-!”

Somewhere behind them the two could hear papers fly all over.

“Goddess, the papers! Ughh, let's grab the posters already and go!!”

“And tape~!”

“Yeah yeah, we gotta hurry, the night doesn't last forever—!!!”

And so began a story as weird as its title...

“Before we go, can I smell your hair real quick?!”

“...”

“Pleeeeeease~!”

“Does it still smell of ketchup!?!”

“It looks like it should!”

Chapter Text

The two dolls, now ready for adventure dressed in cloths covering up their more fancier clothing, with papers just over Tsukasa's size dragged behind them and a small roll of tape around Emu's waist, they moved out into the town. The dense forest of brick buildings, despite the lack of life at night, was well lit, many bright warm lampposts lighting up the streets, so to avoid being noticed under the countless spotlights the duo had to stick to some less populated trails for now...

“WOAAAAAAAAHHH—~!!!”

Dashing out of the darker alleyways, Emu's wide eyes quickly reflected the light of the moon in the sky reflecting the light of the currently sleeping sun. Her cold, colorless porcelain skin practically glittered, aided by the cold temperature, but the doll couldn't care less about it when her newfound friend was showing off his glowing eyes feature as they were about to stick their first poster onto a cafe notice board they were just able to find.

The mini girl dropped her head down from the skies, the light in her eyes not matching the other doll's. “Woah woah~!! How'd you do that!?”

“I wonder how all of these electronics fit inside me at times.” Tsukasa smirked, his line seemingly not a complaint. His eyes didn't shine too bright, their amber lights being nothing compared to an average flashlight, but they worked fine enough to light up the nearest 5 meters (in doll perspective) ahead. Not very effective, only really used for decorative purposes, but it'll do here. “I think Rui added these from the very start when I first got my eyes, I have no idea what went on in his head at that time when he added these...”

“Lamps?!”

“Yeah- I mean, I have yet to use them in any show and it's been years!”

“Could it be he was trying to turn you into another doll lamp like the ones he had?!?”

Tsukasa covered his ears with his hands despite his hearing not being affected by the two decorative wooden ovals. “—D-Don't make me think about that and get to hanging up that poster!!”

Being a cafe board, the cafe that it was hanging at had some outdoor tables set up, so all Emu had to do to reach the board was to move a chair up to it, which was way easier now that she had a friend to help her. She couldn't help but worry if the way they dragged the chair to their destination was making too much noise, but they better act quick if someone really can track them down right now.

Climbing the oddly shaped iron chair was like climbing a mountain, which Emu imagined to be very fun with how acrobatic she is — all of the small metallic flowers and leaves decorating the chair were so fun to grab onto and climb! None of anything in Nene's shop was just as detailed and edged like this chair is! Climbing onto its seat, the porcelain girl looked down to see how Tsukasa was doing. Not so fun. He's doing good but probably doesn't enjoy it as much as Emu does. Not sure if it has anything to do with the roll of paper attached to one hand of his — pulling out one of his strings, the one at his left wrist specifically, the marionette used it to take one of their posters up with them by wrapping it around it, climbing with it dangling close to the ground.

“Now...” Reaching the top, the wooden man took a breather, after which he began working on unwrapping the poster he had brought with him with both his arms and his legs. “There! I'll hold it up, you get the tape and stick it!”

“Yes sir!”

Cutting some of the vibrant red heart pattern tape using the sharp tips of her fingers, Emu quickly attached two pieces of it at the poster's bottom as Tsukasa held it up. The top required jumping high to reach it, making the tape attachment work there more messy, but the doll managed to deal with it, taking additional jumps to straighten the tape up.

Dropping down, Emu grinned at a job well done. “Ta-da~! How does it look?!”

Climbing down the chair, Tsukasa looked up at Emu with his hands on his hips. “Let's not waste time and get to our next destination!”

“W-Wah...!!” His eye lights blinded her for a second.

———

“GASP!! Is this what they call an ice cream stand!?”

“No time for ice cream! Careful, your robe is—”

“You're making Rui happy, so I want to make Nene happy too!”

“...With ice cream?” How is she planning on carrying it with her...?

“Mhm~! Oh, how about we attach a poster to the stand while we're at it?”

“That's... Alright, you win this time, let's go!!”

Emu swung her arms around happily as she approached the colorful stand of cold treats. “I wonder what her favorite flavor is~...”

“All Rui ever told me about her tastes is that she likes grapefruit, I wonder if there's anything like that here...”

“She— She never told me!! Awww, I have to use this new knowledge to its fullest...!!”

———

“And this, Emu, is the central town stage!”

Eyes not losing their amber glow, Tsukasa pointed at a big stage in the middle of the dark town's central square. It was way bigger than the stages Nene had brought Emu to in the past: she could see lots of rainbow cutouts at the top, some animals drawn on the stage's background filled with all kinds of flowers, even coral and seaweed for the comfort of the fish cutouts at the bottom wearing seashells like crowns and necklaces and holding party poppers in their hands... fish hands. They gave fish arms...?

“Woah~! Did you perform here!?”

“I didn't, this is the biggest stage in this town and I am merely a wooden marionette. Rui brought me here once, but I was almost noticed by someone, so he never took me to this place again.” Tsukasa put a hand to his chest. “It is my duty to make him put on the greatest show here now...”

“How about putting some posters up here then?” Emu walked over to climb onto the great central stage, petting a small decorative wooden horsefish cutout on her way. “I'm sure everyone's gonna notice them with how popular this place is~!”

“...Amazing idea, Emu!” The wooden man faced the girl again, a new burst of confidence letting him get bolder. “I'm sure whatever actors might be lurking around will definitely take note of things put up on something as big as the central square stage!”

———

“Woah~! What a big bathtub!!”

“This is called a fountain, Emu. This one is the tallest ones in—”

“Can we put a poster onto it!?”

“C...Careful, there's water all over the place—!”

“Wah!?” Stepping into what looked like a shallow puddle, Emu was soaked up to her knees. Both dolls raised their papers up above their heads in panic to not ruin them. “U-Umm...! This fountain is not very nice...”

“Nene better not notice our wet clothes when we come back!!”

“Oh no oh no the fountain is raining right onto us—!!!”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH—!!!!!”

“EEEEEEEEEK~!!!”

———

Soaked after the encounter with this town's biggest fountain and a failed attempt at sticking a poster onto its base, Tsukasa and Emu dragged their remaining dry posters out of danger, panting as they squeezed water out of their clothes and hair.

“Ummmmm... Tsukasa, one of your eyes is kinda...”

“Huh...?” Tsukasa looked back at his companion.

“You know, like... blink blinks sometimes. Oh, here they go again!”

“Ughh, is one of my lights going out...?!” The marionette rubbed his blinking eye as if the action would help somehow. “Goddess Hatsune, not now...!!”

“Ah! No worries, we can...” Emu shook her head around to catch any potential passing thoughts, eyes squeezed shut. “...Umm, lemme think a bit~!! Maybe we can find a lamp somewhere and—”

“I think it's time we return to the shop... We don't want to come too late, when does Nene wake up?”

Emu looked like she was about to burst into tears, if she'd have those. “No no no, but we have two posters left...! We spent so much time and effort on them, we can't let it all go to waste...~!!”

“I know, but—!!”

“Let's stick them to some walls at least!”

The smaller doll rushed over to look around the nearest alleyways available, all too dark for them to venture into now that Tsukasa's eyes are at risk of going out any second. Her little feet's soft taps on the bricked ground echoed all around the wide streets, making her panic even more — was she afraid of just how big the town is to get lost in or did she fear someone perhaps might hear them in the middle of the night?

“...Uhhhh...!”

“I don't know any other prominent places we can go to... The ones left are too dangerous to for us venture to, you never know if they might work at night or something.” Tsukasa crossed his arms, pondering on despite already facing a dead end. “I think... it really is better we head home. I'm satisfied with the work done.”

“...Awwww...”

“Raise your chin up, little doll! You helped me out big time!” The man ruffled his friend's hair as hard as he could, which felt a little too harsh for a friendly move, but he meant it well. “It may seem like nothing, but these little posters might just be the thing that lets Rui become the greatest director in the near future! It means lots for me too!”

Was it really the fear of the night that forced Emu to freeze in place? Is it really the reason why her head is all over the place right now?

No, she knows there's something else to do at these streets.

In a couple days, Tsukasa will have to leave... And she won't be able to walk around here again. Looking around, she has no idea which road to take to return home, she doesn't know where she'd even go to... help Nene.

How does she do that? How can she help? She was finally able to learn what her beloved owner's favorite fruit is! Tsukasa will surely help her help Nene further, right!? She just needs to understand her better... think of something, anything!

She doesn't want to leave the streets just yet.

“...H-Hey, how about—?”

“My, I knew I heard someone around here~”

Emu froze. There, coming from one of the dark alleyways, was... a person. Too tall to be a doll.

The figure was wrapped in darkness, holding something in its hands, something like an umbrella but... It's not raining, right? And that flashy dress — yellows, light greens, dark blues, all combined with a peculiar net pattern and what seemed like a.... rabbit theme. The figure's costume is a beautiful mess incomprehensible even by Emu, the most important thing sticking out there definitely being the white rabbit headband worn over the figure's short sky-blue hair.

“EEEEK!!” Emu jumped behind Tsukasa, tugging him back as well. Yeah, they better get home now, this is not good, not good at all...!!

“Shizuku?! I never thought you'd be going out again, it's so nice to finally see you!”

H... heh...?

“Ah, the museum is closed for the next week due to some construction works going on, so I'm free to walk out at night~”

Emu slowly peeked out from Tsukasa's back, until she was forcefully pushed forward by the wooden man. “Stop hiding, she's good!!”

“W-Wha-...?!”

“Who's this cute little girl with you...?” The woman, Shizuku, kneeled down. Seeing her up close, Emu could notice lots of bunny-themed patterns on her sleeves as they dragged on the ground. “Hello~”

“Whoarewhoareyou!??!?”

“Calm down, I told you she's fine, plate of porcelain!” Tsukasa clapped the girl's back a couple times, varying in power. “This is Shizuku! She's my old friend and works at this town's museum as a clothing mannequin!”

It didn't seem like much at first due to the dim lighting, but Emu did notice that the big tall creatively dressed woman's skin was shaded an inorganic grey... Up close, her styled short hair also looked noticeably fake — the way its thick individual blue hairs are glued onto each to other looks very odd- the small doll only now realizes that Shizuku's hair hasn't moved an inch ever since she laid her eyes upon her!

Noticing the curiosity in the porcelain girl's eyes, the mannequin smiled sweetly at her. Just as the tiny of the two got to notice the beauty mark at Shizuku's lips, she pulled up her rabbit headband by its ears... her hair following right after it. Emu shrieked.

BALD!??!!!!??

“Ta-dah~” The girl of plastic put her hair back down. I feel like I just committed a crime with that scene. “Eh...? Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't think I'd scare you like that, I thought-...!”

“Shizuku...” Tsukasa sighed, a hand resting on his friend's big grey leg covered up by a tall black shoe. “She's visiting the streets for the first time, let's not move things too quickly or her screams might just break the barrier between dolls and the living.”

“Ah- she's here for the first time?!” Shizuku's beautiful thin aquamarine eyes widened in pleasant surprise. She quickly put her hands over her cheeks in an attempt to contain her overflowing happiness. “Awww, was such a beautiful little doll trapped in a house for so long~?”

“A-Actually, it wasn't that bad!” The domestic doll warmed up to the mannequin lady a little. “Living with my owner Nene is the best ever! But I'm so happy I got to learn her favorite ice cream and candy and juice flavors today and Tsukasa even let me see the college she'll go to any day now~!!”

“...Awww~! Really!?”

“She's...”

“Mhm! We even planned to get some grapefruit candy from a shop near the one I live in so I can bring it to her~”

“No wonder you look so well! Your owner must be carefully washing through every tiny strand of hair of yours!” Shizuku took Emu into her plastic hands, the little one not afraid of her inner baldness anyone, it seems. “Nene, was it?”

“Woowww~! You seem even taller than she is!”

“Oh?”

“Teehee... She always seems tinier than other people, she's so cute!”

“Ohoho~, can you tell me more about how she looks? Maybe she visited our museum before and I got to see her...~”

“Ahem.”

The chatting girls looked down at Tsukasa, the man standing on the ground all this time as the two went on and on repeating how cool Nene is and how cool it is that Nene is cool. His arms were put to his sides, one wooden foot tapping on the bricked floor.

“...Shizuku, can you help-”

“I wonder why you brought this sweet girl out to such dangerous dark streets...”

“Name's Emu~!”

The mannequin returned to the girl in her hands. “What are you two up to aside from taking in the fresh night air and looking at tonight's stars?”

“Oh! Tsukasa was just worried about his owner Rui and that he might throw him away soon so I suggested we place a bunch of posters everywhere to let him find actors once he's—!”

Tsukasa sighed with a resonant wooden click of hand to face.

“I see... Tsukasa is as caring as always~”

“I mean... he got me a place to stay at and all, of course I have to repay him...” The man looked like his hard face could wrinkle with embarrassment at any moment.

“Fufufu~ I know he must've done a lot for you to go out of your way to stick posters everywhere.”

“W-Well...”

“I care lots about Nene too!!” Was this a competition or something...? “I learned how to close and open doors just so I could help her with her shop and smooch her goodnight~!”

“Hold on, Emu-” Tsukasa suddenly called out to the girl. “...Did we close the shop's door after we left?”

“..........”

“.......”

“...”

“...?”

“Did we not!?!”

“I don't think we did.”

“Oh no!!!” Emu grabbed onto one of Shizuku's fingers in panic, waving it around. “We gotta hurry back before some bad people come to wake Nene up-!!”

Tsukasa hurriedly nodded. “Yeah, I think now is definitely the time we go!”

“But the posters...!”

“Can I take them?” Shizuku picked one of them up, looking over it. “...Awww, is this your owner here in the middle, Tsukasa~?”

“Y...Y-Yes, so what?! Don't judge my drawing skills, pencils are too big for those of our size!!”

“He looks very cute! How about I put these remaining posters outside our museum?” The mannequin suggested with a soft smile, looking at the girl still clinging onto her ring finger. “Is that fine?”

“Oooh, of course!!” Emu beamed back. “Will a bunch of people see them!?”

“Surely they will, many people come to check if the museum is open these days — after the construction is done the amount of people seeing your posters will only increase!”

“I didn't think we could use the museum like that but... Thank you, Shizuku!” Tsukasa grinned widely. “Is there any way we — or I — can repay you for your kindness?”

“I'm so glad to see you so happy with your new owner. I was really worried when the museum staff threw you away, the performances you put on were so fun and I couldn't help but miss your loud voice... It feels so quiet now.” Shizuku frowned, very carefully putting Emu down on the ground as if she could break her with a single wrong move. “Consider this an apology for my little slip up that day~”

Tsukasa tilted his head. “Thanks... I guess. Being with Rui is way better than posing in silly wigs and dresses every day. Is the flower lady not visiting you anymore?”

“No no, she's still there, it's all good, she can't just visit me every day, you know...~”

Emu continued to listen in, standing to the side. Tsukasa was working at a museum before? Standing in place all day? ...Maybe Emu has some things in store too is he was able to become a show performer after all of that! But what did the tall mannequin lady do that she feels so sorry about...?

“Tsukasa, Tsukasa!” The porcelain girl tugged onto her friend's robes.

He turned his head to her before she could say his name a third time. “—Huh? What is it?”

“Umm...! If you're staying at our shop tomorrow as well, can we visit the museum with Miss Shizuku!?”

“Wha...? What for?”

Really... why? Well, Emu is just curious about it, that's all...

“Museum All-rank Chess Tournament...?”

Rui's smile widened once Nene's natural blank expression met his. “Mhm. Yesterday I was walking by the museum after purchasing some clothes for a new doll I'm making and an older man said I looked smart. Gave me this invitation.”

“Someone complimented you, I get it, what's with the tournament?”

“Fufufu~ It's not often that I get compliments.”

“...Mmmhm...” The young woman put the invitation down onto the counter, back to counting change in her cash register.

“...I thought you'd like to join is all, you said you're bored these days, so I thought it'd cheer you up. Or are you perhaps a checkers person?”

Nene sighed as if the checkers question was serious, crossing her hands over the table. “I... like cards more, but... I haven't visited the museum in a long time. I only went there back with my parents, so...”

The purple-haired performer reached a hand out. “Would you like to go? I can go with you, if you want.”

“I... guess.” The girl lowered her head, a visible chill passing through her spine. “F-Fine...”

It was the last time Nene had brought Emu with her somewhere. She has no idea of how the museum looked due to staying in the girl's bag like always, but she could definitely hear how much fun she had that day... Was it the chess tournament? Was it something she saw at the museum? Emu really wanted to know — at least she wanted to understand how Nene felt there.

“...I really wanna know what a museum is like, you know?! And I wanna learn more about Miss Shizuku and you!”

“Really... Huh.” Tsukasa put a hand to his chin. “I don't mind visiting that place, but it's not something I miss too fondly...”

“If you really want to visit us again, tomorrow there will be a doll party held at the museum's basement!” Shizuku stood up, picking up her umbrella along with the smaller dolls' cute little posters and brushing some dust off her long sleeves. “I hope the rest of the dolls coming won't mind me inviting you two over so suddenly~”

“Thank you so much, Miss Shizuku~!!”

“Well, if there's a party...” Tsukasa closed his eyes, lost in thought, imagining himself performing in front of a crowd of excited museum dolls again... He does kind of miss them. “...When does it begin?”

“Closer to midnight! Oh, and be sure to bring the fanciest clothes you can, there will be a beauty contest held by me~”

“Woah~! I can't wait!!” Emu hopped around excitedly, suddenly grabbing Tsukasa by the hand. “Let's hurry back home and prepare~!!”

“H-Hey, you're gonna rip off my arm like that, don't— WAA-UGH!!” In a desperate attempt to keep up with the smaller doll's speed as she tugged him forward, Tsukasa slipped and fell face first onto the ground. “...ughh, hold on!!”

Shizuku giggled, picking the struggling Tsukasa up as Emu looked back up at her, confused. “If you two are in a hurry, how about I help you out a bit?”

———

Using a ladder at the side of one of the buildings of the dark alleys, with two dolls clinging onto her shoulders, Shizuku climbed onto a rooftop, staying low to let her mini companions jump off. Standing on top of one of the roof borders, the duo were hit with a sudden powerful rush of cold wind, almost blowing them off their feet. Emu was surprised to find out wind was getting stronger the higher you go up... Maybe if their shop was to be built on top of some iron pillars to elevate it it wouldn't be so hot all the time! Thankfully, the wind didn't stay there for too long, and soon enough things became quiet again, letting Shizuku safely let go of the two dolls.

Looking at the bright star-filled sky much clearer now, Emu couldn't help herself and became excited all over again, almost attempting to reach her hands out to touch the tiny balls of light far above. “Tsukasa Tsukasa, where are we gonna go now!?!”

“Home, Emu!” Is she always gonna be so awfully adventurous? The man brushed his hair ruffled by the wind back into place. “I wonder what time it is... What's with our path here, Shizuku?”

“Run from building to building until you get to your destination! One doll told me he was running on top of pipes to pass by unnoticed even in daytime! I was surprised to find out just how many pipes are there rooftop to rooftop~” The mannequin, still staying put at her ladder, waved. “Just be careful not to fall and you'll get there in no time~!”

Emu bowed passionately. “Thank you once again, Miss Shizuku!”

“Just Shizuku is fine~” The sky-blue beauty nodded back, climbing down. “Bye bye, see you tomorrow~! Maybe I'll try putting your second poster somewhere better...”

“K—Keep yourself safe out there, Shizuku!!!” Tsukasa ran over to look down at the girl already back on the ground with her umbrella in hand, walking further into the dark alleyways with her plastic head as empty as always. He sighed. “...Goddess, if she gets into trouble again...”

“Hweh?”

The wooden shell of my favorite vocaloid producer crossed his arms. “I wonder if the rumors about the museum's moving mannequin are still going around.”

“...Ehehe~” Emu grinned. “Nene never noticed me change poses!”

Tsukasa shrugged. “Rui never caught me either, not even once. I think he wouldn't notice too either way.”

“Were you on the table or in your suitcase last time Nene left you by the way?”

The porcelain doll playfully wiggled her torso around as Tsukasa stood frozen in place. Did he... forget?

“...I forgot.”

He forgot.

Before Emu could laugh once the man's embarrassment would set in, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her forward like she'd drag him not too long ago. “Come on, I'll remember on the way-!!!”

“Wheeeeee~!! We're coming, Neneeeeeee~!!”

“Stop enjoying yourself so muuuuuuuuch—!!! Where do we gooooooooo—!?????”

“Right where the big inflatable teddy bear is sitting aaaaaaaaaaat~!!!”

“WHEEEEEEEEEEEERE—!???”

“Right theeeeeeere~!!”

Course corrected, Tsukasa ran ahead with Emu easily keeping up after him, wind blowing into their faces as they laughed together (or at each other each time one would slip accidentally). The strong winds would try to stop them occasionally, but could only rip off the two's cloaks as they continued picking up speed to dry off their still wet clothes on the way.

Not looking back at her flying away cloak, Emu stared ahead.

Emu's mouth was left wide open as she looked over all the buildings in the distance. So much to see, so much to find...! Just how wide this town — no, this world is!? Nene spends most of her time at the shop, doesn't go out too far either... Emu felt sad every time she would leave, but now she feels sad knowing that she probably has yet to see the borders of this seemingly borderless town!

She knows it now — if Tsukasa is helping Rui move on from doll performances to become a director...

...She's helping Nene break her limits for her voice to finally reach the outside world!

———

knock knock

“...mmmhh.... hold on..... Ne...ne...”

THUMP THUMP THUMP

“A-Ah!?”

Jumping at the sudden sound, Rui, sitting at his work table in his vibrant eye-strain pajamas, fell back on the floor along with the small wooden stool he was sitting on. The sudden pain hitting his spine was enough to force the man's sour lemon eyes wide open.

Who was knocking on his garage door like that!?

Still on the floor unable to get up from the sharp pain collecting itself at the back of his head like hot coffee poured into his skull, Rui turned to look at the time on the watch looking down on him from his desk... 11 AM, cool, neat.

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

OKAY OKAY MOVING ON

Usually Rui wakes up somewhere around lunchtime, so—

THUMP THUMP

Sitting up and uncovering himself from the thick pile of blueprints that had somehow become his blanket, the young inventor rushed through his cluttered room, jumping over all the dolls and robots on the floor on his tiptoes with a small "sorry" each time he hit someone's little arm or leg on accident. He had to avoid his handmade doll lanterns hanging from the ceiling as well, his room was awfully crammed...

Finally reaching his garage and putting on a pair of platypus slippers, a big doll stage covered by a dark blue cloth standing in the center of the large room, Rui could feel his legs tremble from the sudden marathon he had to go through to get here. Despite that, he quickly crouched down to pull the heavy iron gates up before whoever was behind it could bombard the poor young man's hearing with constant noise again.

Strange... His landlord is only coming at the end of each month, did something happe—?

“Sir Kamishiro.”

Hearing his name, Rui froze. That didn't sound like his landlord. The man was blessed with the nicest grandma landlord ever, a doll enjoyer just like him at that! Just who was bothering Rui in (what to him felt like) the morning!?

Finally, the purple-haired doll performer stood up, the leather black uniforms of the two people standing in front of him quickly catching his eye, and not in a good way.

“...O-Oh.” The man began sweating despite cold air hitting his thin pajamas. “G...Good morning, officers!”

“Good... day, Sir Kamishiro.” The taller of the policemen greeted him again, taking out a fine from one of their pockets. “Vandalism, defacement of public property, trespassing. If you won't finish paying off your previous fines along with this one by the end of this week we will have to send you off to community service.”

Hearing the offences he wouldn't usually hear along with the sum of money printed on the small flimsy piece of paper he held in his hand, Rui's lower jaw began to tremble as he tried his best to keep up an understanding smile. “A-And... f-f—for how long...~?”

“With your history of offences and your inability to pay them off in the past, we're guessing approximately a year. The matter will be discussed in court if needed.”

Rui wondered if the two officers could hear his heart knock against his ribcage as loud as the two had been knocking on his garage. They could probably notice his face's new shade of red already... Oh dear Goddess, what was going on?? How come he's suddenly fined for vandalism of all things?! Defacement of property...!?! They would forgive his trespassing most of the time! It's not like he's checking in on the government building every few days or so, he's just dumpster diving occasionally...!!

“E...Excuse me, sir.” The man finally got the courage to speak back.

“Yes?”

The second officer stayed silent, making Rui's brow twitch once in a while.

“I- I just... wanted to ask... one thing!” The paper in his hands began making noise as the two trembled along with his strained legs. “...Where did the vandalism charges come from? I'm sure I ne—”

The quiet officer shoved a bigger paper into Rui's chest, making him involuntarily drop the other one as he struggled to take hold of it.

“I bet there are some posters of yours we weren't able to find still stuck somewhere. Remove them before we find them first.”

With that, the officers turned around and left.

“What's up with this guy again...”

“As if I know. Was he drunk or something? Writing all that gibberish.”

“I look at it and still can barely understand a word.”

“Maybe it's something related to his......”

“...Huh?”

Chapter Text

“Haaah...”

On her way back home with a heavy bag of food pulling half of her small body down, Nene sighed, once again counting the amount of potatoes inside with her dark brown cap pulled down over her face in shame. She could swear she dropped one on the way... some might brush it off and move on with their life, but this responsible young woman is not planning on throwing away those 5 gold coins she spent on that single lost vegetable. But... she'd look weird searching for a single potato on the streets, right? What if people look at her and—

“NENE—!!”

Just as she was about to enter her shop and leave the trouble of her stranded veggie behind, a yet another vegetable began approaching her at an increasingly worrying pace.

Oh goodness, there are so many people around, if they see me with him...!

Carefully dropping her bag to the ground for the sake of comfort for the food inside, Nene hurriedly opened her handbag and took out her umbrella, panic clicking the small silver button at the base of its thick pink handle.

“NE—”

Before Rui could run up to his dear friend, his face was attacked with all seven colors of the rainbow that sent him flying back, butt hitting the ground to add insult to his back injury this morning.

Hiding behind her vibrant rainbow umbrella, Nene quickly made her way into her shop to further hide herself from the unwelcome attention of the people around the two. “Come in.”

“N—Nene!!” The man got back to his feet, trying to push Nene's antisocial shield away. “It's important! I-I swear, you-!!”

“Come inside.” The girl barked under her breath, kicking the ground for Rui to hurry. He acted immediately, running after her as he grabbed her bag of food with him. He quickly closed the door shut behind him.

...Things got quiet as the outside world fell into the background. Rui even got to calm down a little as he got a hold of himself in the dark, cluttered store.

Closing her umbrella and shrinking it back to before she shot Rui with it, Nene threw it onto the shop counter, right next to Rui's closed doll suitcase. “Goddess, you scared me... Why run around like a maniac like that?”

Sill panting, Rui bowed. “I apologize for—”

“Don't apologize, just explain.” The cabbage girl put her hands over her temples. “I'm so tired of my neighbors asking me about you with all of the crazy crap you pull out out there, I'll never forgive you.”

“...There's someone going after me.”

“No.”

“There IS!”

Nene sighed, taking off her hat and wiping some summer sweat off her brow. “Now I get why you woke up so early... It's the first time your nightmares had lead you all the way to me.”

“It wasn't a nightmare, I'm sure I was awake!” As Nene moved around the shop turning on various lights and switches and lamps to liven up the atmosphere with colorful light, Rui closely followed after her, arms gesticulating for no one to see or care. “Police came to me recently and gave me a new fine when I have yet to pay off the previous ones and they said they'll send me off by the end of this week!!”

“Do you even... try to pay anything off?”

“Of course I do, Nene! But- But paying everything off in just three days...!”

“Did you come to—?”

Nene heard a rustle behind her. Rui took out a crumbled paper out of his pockets.

“What... is this?”

“Someone put these strange posters all over town.” The girl could feel her friend's voice tremble slightly. If she wouldn't know him and his voice so well she'd barely notice, but... she never heard Rui like that. At least as far as her memories go. “...I was accused of— well, actually immediately fined for vandalism. I don't know who's idea was it to draw these odd posters of me and frame me in such a weird way, but if they knew what they were doing...”

Nene looked down at the poster in her hands, the tape left at its corners barely keeping itself together after the man had crumbled it along with the paper. As Rui said, he was indeed drawn on it, albeit crudely, but as much as the poster looked like some sort of advert... there was no real way to know if it even was that. All text there felt as if a child not knowing how words work, but knowing that they exist and are made out of a bunch of letters wrote it. If one glance at that text made Nene's head spin I'm afraid people with dyslexia are at a risk of passing out here and there, no wonder Rui's vandalism wasn't overlooked by police.

But... If these posters are not Rui's, then who in the world would make them?

The troubled man sighed, voice still trembling as he walked back to the counter to lean onto it in hopes of calming his breath. “I'm sorry for causing trouble again. I'm aware being paranoid will just make things worse, but I...”

“Rui, are you sure these posters are not yours?”

“No... I'm sure.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“...I don't know what to... say, now...”

It must be some mistake, it must all be an elaborate prank, someone must've hidden a bunch of cameras around here...! No no no, this is all just a funny bit for the next couple of chapters, there's no way this is what sets off all the conflicts in this story! ...Right?

To think that Rui was right for once...

Still, Nene crossed her arms, trying to keep up her bitter attitude despite her concerns. “H...Hey, I told you to move out already. You should've listened.”

“You know I'll really be in trouble if I escape from police so suddenly...”

“Now... maybe get a job?”

Rui's face had never been as deadpan as it was now.

“Seriously, what else can you do? If someone's after you because of your doll shows, doing more won't do any good.”

“But...!”

“Let me go wash my hands, be right back.” Nene sighed, making her way over to her room and going through it to reach the bathroom as her friend slumped over her counter, loudly shutting some door closed there.

They... need a moment away from one another. Rui doesn't know what he was hoping for when rushing over to her place so suddenly: maybe help, maybe he just wanted to warn her in case police come knocking at her door in search of him... He promised not to bother her too much and he's having trouble with keeping that promise up for, what, 5 years now? Maybe 6? Not that he should even expect help...

“I'd like to stay alone for now, thanks.”

She brushed him off fine after she had tried applying for college for the first time. She wouldn't talk to him at all when he would enter college himself. Nene was never like this, she was the nicest girl Rui knew, helping the boy through his troublesome past, she was the best friend he could have...

Did her sudden first failed exam affect her that much? Even after all the shows they did as kids? Maybe it really is just her elder neighbors pairing the two childhood friends together — not like Nene will ever have the courage to tell anyone her "preferences", Rui was only able to find out she likes girls through a misplaced secret diary of hers. She'd never tell him, anyone, otherwise. Maybe she's really getting tired of Rui.

“Oh...? Who's that? Haven't seen him around here before...”

“Is that a water gun he's holding? Woah, I haven't seen this one in any of the toy shops I was at with dad, it looks so cool!!”

Ever since he was little, he was always dreaming of doing shows with Nene in the future. He'd make rainbow-making water guns for when she'd be a mermaid, make small glowing festive tree robots for when she'd be a star of a Christmas show... To prove he was worthy of being her best directior.

“Hey, who's that over there?”

“Shh! Don't get close to him, he's...!”

Others were sharing their interests and hobbies so casually, but Rui's passion could, at the time, only be understood by the green-haired diva.

“Is he into shows? No wonder, I know a show enthusiast when I see one!”

“Should we let him join us? We only got one place left in the club, but he seems nice...”

He went on to mask his oddities well for most. He'd slip once or twice, but as long as he had Nene, skipping classes at the school gardens had its purpose.

“Why is he tinkering with machines so much...?”

“I heard some rumors about him doing street performances after school, but why is he so quiet?”

Entering high school, Rui could notice the growing distance between him and the rest of the people around him. With a year between him and Nene, she had also tried to distance herself from the boy once he encouraged her to get to know other girls instead, fighting through her often shy nature to join music clubs and find like-minded friends in the future... which Rui seemingly forgot to do. Did he even want to?

“Huh? Where's Kamishiro?”

“I think he might be in the gardens again, sir!”

“Again? Goddess Hatsune, if it wasn't for his ideal grades I'd write a report on him already...!”

Rui always sat in one corner of his school's garden, covered by the shadows of some nearby trees as he worked his magic and blessed his tiny creations with the ability to move. Robots, dolls — unlike the kids his age, they would do anything he'd ask them, put on the best shows with him, trust him, love their creator. It was easier that way, and he didn't have to hurt anyone in the process.

...Deep down in his heart, he did wish that someone would see one of his street performances and stand there in awe, amazed by his direction skills. He'd run away again like he always does when the street police catches him, but that person would run right after him. They'd track him down, ask about him all over school, all just to approach him in the darkest corner of the gardens, all alone, with their hand out — "I want to do shows with you!" They'd say. "I was stunned by your performance yesterday! A director as great as you will be a great fit for a star such as myself!"

Alas, such silly fantasies are only kept what they are.

Rui encouraging and supporting Nene's fight against her social anxiety seems pretty hypocritical now that the man himself doesn't even try to open up to anyone anymore. He convinced himself that he's fine alone and he rolls on with it.

Reaching a hand out to his suitcase, the man opened it with a click quiet enough to not reach Nene. Inside, still in his bed, was his greatest actor.

Rui pulled him to his chest, a heavy feeling spreading through it as if he's a kid about to throw away his favorite toy. No, more like he's a grieving lover holding his beloved's body in his hands after a year of separation... 

Despite his disinterest in myths and all kinds of spirituality, he believes that this doll has a soul trapped inside. Others would panic at the mere thought of something like this happening, but it only makes Rui feel better about his solitude. He's not actually crazy, just misunderstood, why else would this once plain wooden mannequin give him so much comfort? Nene might talk to herself, but Rui needs someone to listen, be it imaginary friends or dolls, and he knows for sure that his evening talks with Tsukasa are not going to waste.

“...How are you, Tsukasa? Do you like Nene's place?” Rui whispered in case Nene would come in. He put his doll on the counter, putting one of his legs over the other as they hung down from the table and crossing his little hands. He helped the doll open its eyes with his nails, its frozen proud grin unmoving. “Come on, don't look at me like that, of course she doesn't understand you like I do~ I'll pick you back up soon, okay? I hope she wasn't too mean...”

The purple-haired mechanic threw his head back with his arms crossed as well. “Goddess, you won't believe what happened... I'll spare the details, but—”

Something fell in the distance. Maybe Nene had just dropped something, but it still made Rui jump.

“...Some other day. Sorry.”

Rui, wait!!

Tsukasa...!

“I'm back, did you think of anything?”

Rui didn't even notice Nene enter the room again. He put a hand to his face, grin shaky as if he's holding back a headache. “...Yeah. I might try asking for a job through a friend of mine. It might not be enough, but it's better than nothing.”

“Who's the friend?”

“Don't worry about it~”

The girl looked down.

“...Perhaps a sane person would immediately try to rid themselves of any and all of their possessions to satisfy their... I'll guess stalkers, but you know I'm nowhere sane enough for that.” Rui's grin returned to stability as he picked Tsukasa up, rubbing him against his cheek in what was supposed to be a cute way. “Isn't that right~?”

No...! Rui, no!!

“You were serious just minutes ago, what's up with you...”

“My bad. I'm sorry for bringing you into my problems again, couldn't help myself~” Still oddly back to his usual self, Rui stood up, putting his doll back down. “I'll be going now, I have to hurry to catch them on their lunch break!”

Nene was about to reach a hand out, rather weakly, but couldn't catch up with how fast the man had picked himself up and left the store. In one moment, all that was left of him was the sound of chimes bouncing off each other outside. Oh, and one doll sitting on the counter, out of its suitcase.

She picked it up. Oh yeah, she has to wash it... Rui would definitely notice she didn't work on it, he has an eye for these kinds of... odd small things that no other person would care about. She shouldn't be thankful that the things that happened happened and the weirdo inventor didn't comment on his doll because of that, but she kind of is? Like, Rui can possibly let go of this dangerous hobby of his now, if only police wasn't involved and... whoever that is on his tail now.

But really... will it be enough? Will anything be enough? How will Rui feel?

What will he do after?

“...Huh?”

One of the blond marionette's deep amber eyes looked cracked. Like something inside of it got broken. Weird. Did Nene sleepwalk again and pick him up? Maybe she tried to wash him or something? She's not sure how this doll works, but it's as if some liquid left the cracked eye despite its injury being internal, wetting the wooden man's face just where its black mark is. So is the injury recent? But why did the liquid also leave the doll's second eye...?

Hold on— injury? Really? Is that what we're calling it?

Whatever, this doll's old, just another crack to remind Rui that time's ticking. Oh, and Nene was definitely sleepwalking, she jumped off her bed in horror this morning after she'd remembered not closing the door yesterday again, but, despite how sure of the fact she was, the shop entrance was fine, locked as always. Not the first time this has happened. Her sleepwalking alter ego must also not be afraid of approaching shop clerks for advice I assume — the Nenes of night and day are two completely different people.

...She's going to lose it if she doesn't get any sleeping meds before her college entrance exam.

She could feel someone staring at her back even now.

———

Entering a big dark cafe through some iron door at the back of the streets, Rui danced through its many square glass tables to reach its long black bar table with glowing purple edges. All around him were small lamps around the walls and lots of decorative wooden owl statues — this whole place has both the feeling of familiar warmth and that of coldness of the night, even in daytime, it's so easy to forget what time it is without windows around...

Welcome to Night Owls at 25:00. It's not a very known place, but it does have enough loyal customers to fill the seats every day.

Working up until 3 AM, much past midnight, the cafe is known as a hideout spot for anyone troubled by "the town's watchful gaze", as they say, I put it in quotes to not sound too edgy. The dark atmosphere in contrast to the blinding lights outside in a world that still majorly thinks depression doesn't exist is comforting, and Rui thinks so too, though he doesn't visit much — mostly because of money issues, even without the most recent poster scandal — aside from checking in on an old friend of his, he'd never even meet their coworkers! The staff here are very nice as they said, talking to them should be no problem, it's just the matter of convincing Nene to cross foreign dark alleyways territory someday to not eat at a cafe alone like the loner that he is and she's never doing it. Well, Rui's not getting hungry anytime soon now anyway...

“Excuse me!” Approaching one worker at the bar table, a woman with dark purple hair tied into a fluffy ponytail, Rui called out to her with one hand raised not too high. Her dark feather-themed maid outfit made her bright, almost glowing, blue eyes stand out like gems on a wedding ring. “Could I—?”

“Oh, I'm really sorry, sir, but we're currently on our lunch break~” The sweet eerie barmaid smiled with a plate of cheesecake in her hands. A small heart badge on one side of her chest had "Yuki" written on it in a cute cursive font. “You can take one of the tables while we're in the back and once we're done a waitress will quickly come over!”

“No no no, I'm sorry, I'd like to see Mizuki Akiyama.”

The woman tilted her head with her smile less uhh... painfully wide. “Akiyama?”

“Yeah, there's something I'd like to talk to them abou— I mean, we're good friends, so I thought...?”

“...Is something troubling you, sir?”

“Oh, yes, actually. It's a long story~” What's with her eyes...?

“You look like you have a toothache...”

How... Wait, how does she know? Rui's been having troubles with getting a dentist appointment these days, what's going on?

Yuki shook her head. “I guess I shouldn't be saying that with how popular our sweet dishes are, ehehe~”

“...There is actually something more serious I'd like to talk to Akiyama about...”

“Oh, finally!” A waitress also wearing a dark purple maid outfit like Yuki approached the woman and took the cheesecake out of her hands. Long brown hair with decorative horns on top, coffee-brown eyes, a heart pin with "Enanan" in a slightly more readable font. “Is that blueberry on top?”

“It has some blueberry inside as well, I hope you like it!” Yuki smiled widely again.

“Mhm, thanks a bunch!” Enanan spun around to leave only to notice Rui standing right in front of the bar table. The man could notice a wing-like pattern at the back of her dress, much like an owl's. “Oh, please pick a table, sir, I'll come over when lunch break's done!”

“He wants to speak with Mizuki...” Yuki whispered softly. I don't remember if she's taller than Ena or not, sorry for the name break, but just in case I'll say she's wearing high heels so that she has to bow down a little to reach her ears.

“Really...?” Enanan glared at Rui for a moment, not in any angry way, but she's definitely considering Rui's flashy appearance to be at least somewhat suspicious. “...And you are?”

“Rui Kamishiro.”

The brunette turned around. Yuki quickly closed her ears. “AMIAAAA—!!”

“I'm busy~!”

“Pretty sure that weirdo friend you were talking about came!!!”

A sound of something big flopping onto the floor in the distance could be heard, followed by rushing footsteps.

Not even a second passed until a pastel pink... chef maid? burst through the grey kitchen door near the trio. Long loose hair styled like Enanan's and decorated with black ribbons, Mizuki, or Amia in this case, grinned upon noticing the bird's nest that is their old friend's hairstyle. “Woahhh... It's been a long time since I've seen you outside of shows, huh?”

“Amia.” The purple of the night owl maids tilted her head sweetly, peeking through Enanan's shoulder. “What did you drop back at the kitchen?”

“Ah—”

Amia awkwardly left said kitchen they were at and closed the door behind them with a nervous laugh. “Nothing too big... promise~!”

“Amia...”

“Mizuki, I swear...!”

“Sooooo- hey, Rui!” Mizuki made themselves comfortable sitting over the bar table — yes, on top of it, legs crossed, heels tall enough to look down on Enanan as well even though I am pretty sure they are taller anyway. “I'll joke about your appearance later, how are you? What is it that you need? Looks like you finally got along with my girls, eh~?”

“...So, here's the deal.” Rui sighed.

———

“And... that's why you're searching for a job now?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“...” Glancing around the kitchen the two were sitting at, Mizuki awkwardly threw another French fry into their mouth. “Ummm... well... all of our positions are taken, sorry.”

Rui nodded, looking down at his knees. “...It's alright, I understand.”

“Maybe you can be a janitor or something,” A maid with very long white hair tied into a ponytail could be seen scrubbing off some dough off the floor in the background, as if a pizza in the making was dropped there... Which was probably the case. “But that's nowhere near enough to pay off police fines of all things, you know? You'd need to become a janitor for five whole places!”

The man nodded again. There should probably be enough establishments around in need of additional work force...

“H—Hey, are you seriously thinking about it!? Of course you're not doing that!”

The man, thoughtful expression pushed to the side as he tilted his head, frowned. “But what should I do, then? There's no way I can abandon my entire life of doll performances and...”

“Just think about it — there's someone going after you as you said, incriminating you and all that.” Mizuki waved their hands around, careful not to spill their fries. Their pastel pink eyes with extra pink eyeliner showed genuine concern, one that Rui had missed since the start of his adult life probably. “Will they really stop after you pay off your fees? Don't think so. Maybe they'll do something even worse in the future! Like...”

Rui gulped, clutching onto his trenchcoat. “Like...?”

“...Rob your house maybe? Steal your dolls?”

Oh, he... haven't thought about that!! He was so focused on police visiting him this morning that he completely forgot about dealing with the main problem here! Who, out of all the normal people outside, might be responsible for all of this? What if they catch Rui in daytime? Spread some nasty rumors about him? Oh Goddess, the anxiety makes him want to throw up his entire digestive system like some colorful rope made out of napkins or whatever that clowns pull of out their mouths...

“Rui...” The pink maid pat their friend on the back knowingly. “Not in the kitchen~”

He gulped back a cough. Yeah, he could feel the rainbow ropes at the back of his throat. “Sorry.”

“With how tough things are... I really want to help. Still have to repay you for middle school and all that! But finding you a job is just the beginning...” Mizuki's eyes bounced left and right like windshields, maybe helping their coworker still cleaning the floors. Eventually, the pair of pinkies stopped, a grin growing just below them as the owl maid got closer to Rui and playfully tapped him on the shoulder. “How about... we get you a detective?”

A detective...? Where did that come from? Repaying him for quietly standing next to them in the gardens sometimes with... a crime specialist?

“Aren't detectives part of police?”

“I mean an independent one, obviously!” Mizuki poked Rui on the shoulder harder. They then took out a note along with a pen to write on top of it.

The non-maid of the two looked at it curiously, only ever hearing of independent detectives in literature and movies. He still has that officer outfit Mizuki had made for Tsukasa once, they love making outfits for the little guy and Rui is really into all the different kinds and flavors of his favorite blond doll boy. So yeah, Rui only really knows the hot dark coffee kind of detective, the one people love to romanticize (Rui included), but this irl detective encounter might not only free him from undeserved responsibility, but will also make for a great opportunity to study the reality of professional detective work!

“Wow, you seem really excited about this~” Mizuki giggled.

“How can't I be?” Rui laughed. “I can feel my narrative barely dodging a bad end right now...”

“Ehehe...” Finishing writing everything down, Mizuki put their pen down and gave Rui the paper, a name and a phone number there for him to call. “Here you go! She and her team are the best I know, they're real cool~! Give them a call and you'll see!”

So... just how cool will this Haruka Kiritani be?

Chapter Text

“...Goodnight...”

Nene sighed, turning off the last of the lamps in her shop and returning back to her room.

Some time later, among the blue-ish darkness of a growing summer night, one of those lamps, specifically the one in the very center of the shop near a pile of boxes with a music box on top, turned back on. Emu carefully made her way down from that lamp, rushing to check on the doll still sitting at the shop counter with its not too heavy wooden head down.

Tsukasa... He still hasn't moved an inch.

Emu's been worried about him all day! To think that she had to stand still for hours without any way to reach out to the saddened doll!! And no wonder... it was all her fault. She came up with the plan of making these damned posters and sticking them everywhere!! She got Rui in trouble — Tsukasa's beloved owner! In trouble!! And now...!

Climbing onto the counter, the doll carefully approached her gloomy friend, not making too much noise. “...H-Hey, Tsukasa...?”

“...........”

“I'm... really sorry, I...!” Emu, not getting any vocal or visual response from the marionette, had to awkwardly tap Tsukasa on the shoulder. “...Tsukasa?”

“Huh?”

The wooden man had suddenly raised his head up as if pulled- no, yanked up by a string, throwing his carved circular piece of wood back with the force of one of those car testing mannequins on impact with a concrete wall flying out of the front window.

“...Emu?” He blinked a couple times, eyelids clicking audibly with their sound spreading through the dead silent shop. He looked as if he didn't know why Emu was in front of him so suddenly. “It's...”

Tsukasa suddenly wrapped his hands over his inorganic body, rubbing it all over it as if trying to spark fire, in case his already present burns weren't enough. What was he... doing? Dolls don't get cold, do they? Or should Emu bring a blanket or two to warm up him up?

“S...Sa—”

Finally noticing the porcelain girl's deeply concerned gaze, the man quickly rubbed all negativity off his face like he was wiping away a flowing stream of tears, but some leftovers of it were left for obvious reasons once Tsukasa seemingly got back to reality. “...Oh...”

What had just happened...?

“...Rui...”

“He won't throw you away!!” Emu pushed a hand into her chest and another into her friend's as to channel her energy into him directly. “I-It was all my fault!”

“—I really appreciate what you have done for me, Emu, there's just... nothing we can do.” The little man sighed. “Nothing we could do really... I guess crossing the border between dolls and the living is a universally bad idea.”

Emu plopped down next to Tsukasa, hands playing around with the frills of her skirt. “Why?! There's still so much we can do!”

“I remember I actually tried leaving letters for Rui on his table... drawings more so, to try talking to him, but he never got them. He'd just... stand there awkwardly looking at one, then would check all the windows, then burn the drawing, then throw out its ashes outside, then spray the table with something...” Tsukasa crossed his arms with a baby face Emu had noticed just now. “He really... doesn't like my drawings...”

“Maybe he just... doesn't realize it's you drawing them? I mean, he kisses you and stuff, right?”

“No he doesn't!!” The mannequin shook his head around stubbornly. “I mean, kind of does, but when I drew myself with arrows and circles around me to maybe let him know it's me he'd just trap and lock me in an iron box for an entire day!! I don't get it!!!”

Emu crossed her arms too, puffed up cheeks included. “Mwuh, he's so weird, no wonder Nene doesn't like him!”

“I just...” Tsukasa rubbed his head. “Don't get him sometimes... But,”

“If only we could talk to him somehow, maybe Nene too...”

“Yeah...”

“If only we could...”

“...do something?”

“Mhmmmm...” Emu rubbed her chin. “Something like a...”

“Something magical...”

“I dunno, I dunno...”

“Can't put my finger on it...”

“...Yeah...”

After another moment of silence, Tsukasa frowned. “Why did I... back then...”

“Eh?”

“...I remembered some things just now, or today, I guess. But why did I...? All these memories still feel unclear, so I have time, but I never thought I'd start remembering things suddenly...”

“What... kinds of things?” Tilting her head as brain liquid sploshed in there, Emu had no idea what Tsukasa was talking about. Was he remembering his life before Rui? Maybe because he's afraid he'll be gone soon?

She can't even begin tying things together here, especially since Tsukasa's muttering is so quiet all of the sudden and he never seems to want to elaborate on anything weird he's saying... He remembered his past life at the museum before, right? He told Emu about it, together with Shizuku, but what happened? Maybe there's something that happened at the museum, something that Tsukasa forgot... 

—Bingo! Didn't Shizuku say she did something? This must be it!

...Speaking of, isn't it time to go give the mannequin woman a visit?

Emu jumped back to her feet all of the sudden, surprising Tsukasa. “You remember we're going to the museum this night, right right??”

“...Oh.”

“Mhm~! Shizuku must be waiting for us!” The doll beamed. “And! Maybe we'll even be able to come up with a new plan to help Rui~!”

Tsukasa sighed, hands on his knees. “I mean, I'm all up for visiting Shizuku, but...”

“Come on, stop being so down all of the sudden, I know you still wanna help~!!” Emu whined, waving her hands around haphazardly.

“I refuse to act so selfishly as to bother my great leader and creator again!!” Tsukasa yelled back, hands trembling with fury. “How can't you be bothered by my...! My...!!”

“Mmmm...” The doll of porcelain tilted her head to the side. “...But helping Rui might help Nene too. And that would make me really, reeeeeeally happy, you know~?”

“...Huh?”

“Yesterday was so... so amazing!” Emu spun around like a disney princess. “So new and fresh and special! I can barely find any words to describe how cool it was, walking around big people streets, looking up at the mini stars attached to tall metal sticks everywhere... But,” The girl wrapped her hands around her body as if wearing a straitjacket to not let her emotions get loose at the thoughts of her beloved owner. “The coolest thing was me getting to know more about Nene: why she's been getting more sad lately, why she's been talking to me less, talking less to walls even... I remember she once took me to a museum along with Rui to play in a chess tournament or something, I really want to see and feel the fun she had at that museum!”

Eyes blinking hopefully at Tsukasa, the girl patiently waited for his reaction. The mechanized chunk of wood didn't move an inch, which then lead to Emu putting her hands together and adding some glitter to her eyes (literally, rubbing some off her dress and rubbing it onto them) to beg for the man's help in a more obvious way.

He sighed. “Fine, fine... Not like I'm selfish if I'm following your selfishness.”

“We'll see what we can do for Rui too, right~?”

She does want to make up for her bad idea in the first place, after all... and find out more about what's bothering Tsukasa too.

———

A gigantic white building with tall windows and doors entered the two dolls' line of sight after quick traveling through the nightlit streets again, by ways of pipes that is. To think that there were people building such big entrances — are there giants out in the world? Are humans possibly dolls to some even bigger people species out there...? And this place is so different from all other buildings around it too, like it was brought to life from the covers of all of Nene's books labeled "History" or something like it in her basement, Emu's not too sure.

To get to the building proper before getting into it, Emu and Tsukasa had to first climb past the many construction borders and much tape standing in their way. Ducking under some, almost getting stuck in bits of yellow and black tape thrown all over the ground like corpses of a bee massacre — the two bee gladiators could see a faint light come from a thin line of windows at the base of the giant building past its long and wide set of stairs. Now, they need to find a side entrance to sneak into...

“Ouch-!”

Hearing Emu's yelp followed by some sounds of rustle, Tsukasa, busy removing all tape stuck to his sleek suit deep fried like potatoes — I'm trying my best to imply he's wearing the potato star costume somehow — glanced back, only to then turn around completely once he noticed the smaller doll's pink toy suitcase was stuck in some metal wires on the ground.

“Ughh, I told you you should've kept it home!!”

“But how else am I gonna show off all the cute outfits Nene made for me to everyone~!!” She whined, pulling harder on her suitcase. “Having just my adorably cute adorable cute usual dress won't be enough!!!”

“You should leave the shop more often!!”

“I don't wanna leave Nene alone~!!”

“But you're here with me!!”

“That's cause-... uhmm...!” Emu shook her read around, continuing to pull on her stuck suitcase. “No no no, I won't be going anywhere without you~!!!”

“Okay okay, stop tugging on that thing like that, we're making too much noise, you never know when—!!”

“Wait, I think I heard something-!”

“...That must've been the wind, there's a lot of metallic wiring on the ground, ouch.”

Suddenly, both dolls fell to the ground, unable to move. Faces facing down, they weren't able to look at the people running through the construction borders above them, but it seems that those guys didn't seem to notice them either... Their loud steps shook the dolls like the getting used to period of changing your phone's notification sound.

Could it be... they're also sneaking into the museum?

As the footsteps grew more distant, it was safe for the duo to raise their heads again, free from the influence of the living's sight. They could notice the two figures of interest entering the same door Emu and Tsukasa were just about to find themselves, — the closed off back entrance. Those figures were surprisingly small, their size that of 12 year olds, both wearing dark cloaks to hide their heads. It looks like they'll have to follow them and not get caught... at least they'll open all the doors for them yeah?

Finally removing Emu's suitcase from the wires it was stuck in, Tsukasa pulled the girl's hand forward to follow the two adventurous kids. He seemed worried about them, but Emu was too excited about the upcoming doll party to think about... anything really.

Nene, despite being an adult as far as Emu knows, is surprisingly small for her age... just how small was she when she was baby?! Could she be as small as Emu once?!? Just wondering.

———

The sound of the two cloaked kids' rapid footsteps rippled all around the wide museum halls like a sudden hailstorm in November — sneaky, unwelcome, should probably not be there. Emu stared wide at all the space the two humans climbed around excitedly... Out of all the interesting stuff all over, they immediately began climbing some tower of glued together rock-hard deformed pillows, forming into a shape of some big skin- and meat-less lizard while laughing. Just what were they up to...?

“Come on, catch up~! We won't be getting to the top of its head anytime soon at your pace!”

“H— Hey, don't grab onto its neck like that, you'll break something!!”

“Sheesh, this dinosaur is sturdier that the one we climbed last month! He'll be fine!”

“Diner...sour...” Emu curiously peeked out of the trash can she and Tsukasa had inevitably found themselves in to hide from the kids. “Woah...! They're climbing a... diner-sour?! What is that thing!?!”

“No idea... really. It looks like some attraction though. I haven't seen it back when I was living here.” Tsukasa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Just how popular is it if kids are sneaking in to play on it at night? During construction works too...”

“Maybe, just maybe... Nene got to play on it too!?”

The wooden man's eyelids clicked open and closed rapidly. “Wait... what?”

“When you told me about the museum history stuff and the excursions it has, I thought "There's no way Nene would be all laughing and smiling here like she was when I was last with her!" — like, it sounded so boring at first... but if she really got to climb a diner-sour, then~!!”

“But you said something about chess, right?”

“Do you think Rui might've also climbed the diner-sour and enjoyed it?”

“AH-!?” Tsukasa turned to his friend suddenly. “...you think?”

“I'm sure!! We must investigate while we're here!”

“But the—?”

“W-WAH!?!”

Suddenly, one of the children, climbing down the dinosaur skeleton after thoroughly enjoying hanging around its thick, long bony neck, shrieked at the sight of a never before seen short-haired pale figure frozen in place not too far away.

“Jeez, don't be that loud, whatever officer's here now must've already heard y—”

“It's the mannequin ghost!!”

“WHAT!?!?”

Emu took out a big, for her size, chocolate candy out of her suitcase, receiving a disappointed glare from Tsukasa as she slowly started to unwrap it, still looking ahead at the troublemaker kids in interest.

“U-Umm... what do we do!?”

“Just- keep looking at it while we're running away, let's hide!! 3, 2, 1...!”

“AHHHHHHH—!!!”

A loud thump was heard somewhere in the distance.

“...Gone. I wonder where they went...” The wood of the duo couldn't help but wonder, until hearing a tasty-sounding crack of chocolate right next to him. “...EMU!!”

“Whuh?”

“You shall share some of your sugary goodness with me if you had bothered to stuff it into your already packed clothing package!!”

“Mhmmhmmm...” Chewing up some chocolate stuffed in her suddenly flexible enough porcelain cheeks for ease of speech, the girl struck the man with a wide choco-stained grin. “I 'ave second one!”

“TWO!?!”

“How'd you know I brought three!?”

“You— You brought three!?! WHAT!?”

“What?”

“Oh?” A curious aquamarine giantess, hearing the two arguing, peeked into the duo's trash can with the elegance of a royal family raccoon. “Ah, there you are! I was worried you got lost in town or something worse worse, aww~”

“Shizuku Shizuku~!!” Emu immediately threw herself into the woman's face, though she didn't seem to mind it much. “Did you scare these umm... weird guys away?”

“I didn't even notice them at first... I was only searching for you two once it hit meeting time, but suddenly stopped in place. I was so worried that I might've stumbled upon a guard or perhaps some after-hours construction worker...” The bunny-eared mannequin carefully and lovingly took hold of the smaller doll on her. “But I'm glad it's all okay~”

Tsukasa sighed. “Shizuku...”

“Oh? You're here too?”

“Why... wouldn't I be?” The man of the trash can glared, crossing his arms with a shaky, yet proud grin. “You two are awfully unaware of your surroundings, and I'm not letting this silly interactive toddler doll waddle around on its own till its batteries run out.”

“You looked so dark and gloomy I didn't notice you at first~”

“Ah! Tsukasa is just really—!”

Tsukasa slapped Emu's mouth shut. “Whatever she was about to say just now is not the case!”

Eh...?

Shizuku tilted her head left and right a couple times. “Would you like to... chat for a bit sometime later, then?”

The woman's smile looked so beautiful and sincere, but... Emu looked back and forth, unable to read either of her friends' expressions. She knew Nene's face so well she could practically read her mind and guess what she wanted for dinner before she herself could even start picking, but alas, she couldn't tell if the smile Tsukasa had suddenly shown Shizuku was genuine or not, sad or not. The girl considered herself to be a natural at reading people's expressions just from her barely expressive owner alone, but now it was hard to believe...

“...Actually, I wanted to talk to you about it. The thing that made me blend in with the stinky crumbled papers in this waste bin, that is.”

“Th...Then let's get~ going!!” Emu jumped to her feet, still standing on Shizuku's plastic palms. “Let's get to having fun quickly so we have time for sad talks some time later~!”

“But- But what if Rui did climb the dine-saw like you said?!”

“...Huuuuuh?”

“...”

“Fufufu~ Was is it that got you two curious about our museum's dinosaurs?”

“Just- they weren't there when I was still here...” Tsukasa quickly shook his head in embarrassment. “N-Nothing too interesting...”

With a determined glare, Emu was ready to roll and use all of her brain power for the sake of her friend's future with Rui! And past with Shizuku!

———

...Or maybe not really.

Brought into the museum basement, Emu was immediately overstimulated with sound and color of the party going on down there. And...

So many dolls...!!

There was a big colorful carpet on which countless couples of tiny wooden mannequins danced. All of them, despite their bland appearance not differing much from their dance partners, were wearing tiny silky dresses and suits fitting the music playing in the background — in one corner of the dance floor was a working golden gramophone, one controlled by a metallic-looking doll in an elegant purple flower-themed dress...

“Everyone~” Shizuku clapped her hands a couple times. Dolls both big and small turned to her: not just the ones dancing, but some nutcrackers and clay dolls sitting in the back as well, drinking what could only be described as pure golden oil as they laid down on piles of candy wrappers. “Our last guests have arrived! It's time for our party to begin proper~!”

The dolls cheered. Unnoticed at first, the noise made Emu turn her head around to find more dolls half her size (1/3 of Tsukasa's even, perhaps?) made out of all kinds of out there materials: paper dolls, both flat and less so, dolls made of cloth, rope dolls... Emu couldn't even imagine such dolls existing like she does! While she was frozen still in awe, Tsukasa stepped forward confidently, welcoming himself into the crowds like a young celebrity.

“Greetings, everyone! It is of course I — if you've lying in a trash bag all your doll life, the name's Tsukasa Tenma!”

“Woah... you're back to the museum!?”

“Who gave you this hair?! And your eyes...!”

“Nice suit! Did your new owner make it?”

He looks so happy...

...Just like when Emu would be pampered by Nene. Well, she doesn't need that much to be happy, perhaps it's an obvious difference between her and the dolls living the outside life. Maybe Tsukasa's not that afraid of Rui throwing him away if he's got so many dolls at his back...

But what would... Emu do without Nene?

“Emu—!!”

“Hweh?!” The doll's head had almost popped off her neck from surprise.

Tsukasa called her over with one hand of his, looking back at a crowd of his fellow wooden mannequins. “That over there is Emu. You could say she's a new comrade of mine, helped me somewhat. She's still a domestic one, so expect—”

“H-H-HELLO!!” The porcelain girl awkwardly yet energetically hop skipped over to the woodens, bowing down. “E...Emu Ootori! Emu means... means "Smile"~!! At least that's what Nene told me, so-!”

“...Oh.” One of the more generic mannequins reached a hand out for Emu to shake. Its palm was basically a small rounded block of wood and she couldn't help but stare at it in awe as to how can one live without fingers. “Hey there. How'd you get to know Tsukasa?”

“Yeah, bet he wouldn't dare take help from a doll as fragile-looking as you, no offense!”

Tsukasa grumbled. “Hey, I'm still taking offense to that!!”

“Ehehe~...” Oh boy, having conversations with fellow dolls instead of a single kind shop lady still feels so weird... “U-Umm... so, it all began with his owner taking him to—”

“Oh, right, Tsukasa's owner!”

“So did they mod you like that or not?”

“W— Well, yes, he actually d... -HEY!!”

People outside of Nene really love to cut people off...

Just as Tsukasa was about to drift into an affectionate speech about one wonderful man that gave him separate fingers for some to this day unknown purposes, he snapped out just in time before his acquaintances' laughter could be noticed by outsiders.

“You look so well-groomed now — finally something to tell you apart from others beside your loudness!”

“Listen, I might leave my owner soon, so you don't have to rub my newfound handsomeness into my face that bad!!”

“No way!” Emu wrapped her arms around Tsukasa's waist. “I'm helping him stay!”

The man grimaced as hard as his wood could allow him, noticing the girly mass of girl clinging onto him. “I should've... taught her some etiquette... before bringing her here.”

“Awww, I was soooo afraid she'd be the shy type...” Out of nowhere, Shizuku kneeled down near the group. Once Emu let go of Tsukasa in surprise, the bigger woman immediately picked her up again. What was her deal with holding her up like that all the time?

Tsukasa scratched his chin. “I... guess with how she got to meet you at first, it's rather...”

“I see you've come prepared, hmm~?”

“Prepared...?” Emu stared blankly at Shizuku, until the mannequin raised up her pink suitcase in one of her hands. “Oh!! Yeah, there's a beauty contest, right!?”

“Ah, how can you ask such things when you've clearly come prepared~?”

“I can't wait to see so many more beautiful dolls like me and get together with them tonight~!!” The porcelain girl wiggled around happily, to which Shizuku decided to put her back down. “Hey hey, Tsukasa! Are you going with me?!”

“Oh, Tsukasa, are you joining too?”

“One of your eyes'... light... thingies at the center looks off, but if we get some spooky Halloween theme-!”

“H...Halloween...?” When was it October?

“No no no, I apologize, but I'm not so basic as to jump at an opportunity to prove my handsomeness... There's nothing that your eyes can't see — even if you don't look like you have any!” Tsukasa threw a dusty handkerchief lying on the floor onto his shoulders like a cape, eyes thin and expression vibrant enough to give his fellow dolls a seizure. “I'll be doing a show!”

“Still doing them? Daaaaaamn....”

“I'll let you know actually — I've become a fine star among the living already, and-!”

“I was just wondering if you'd like to do a show here, actually.” Shizuku returned back to her old friend. “After the beauty contest, we're having a special chess match with its participants, and we thought of some theatric intro for it, but...”

“CHESS!?!” Emu exploded and died.

“Oh? Do you like chess, Emu? I thought you were a more of a checkers person~”

“You guys- I mean, we guys can play chess together!? Like a... chess tournament, right?!??”

“Well...” The blue beauty hummed. “We don't have that much people who can play chess, both size- and skill-wise, but you don't mind, do you?”

“Ehh... Nope! It's okay, I was just wondering...” Maybe if she experiences her first game of chess and replays the memory 10 times or so, she can get a proper feel of what a tournament could be like... yeah, that'll do! “So wait, you said beauty contest participants will play too, right??”

“Oh, you mean that? Ahaha~ I meant that the winners of the contest will get to stand in for the kings and queens on the board!” The mannequin explained. “We have one big enough to...”

Oh.

Emu could feel herself slowly drifting into a fantasy, Shizuku's words muffled and ineligible past the ones adding in bricks to the smaller girl's imagination... Her pink eyes were left blank, like a doll's, her soul leaving her cold body and flying up past the basement ceiling and all ceilings layered on top of it...

“Stand back! Don't touch him!”

As Emu slowly approached a kneeling king of black crying into the monochrome tiled floor under him, begging for her mercy, a sword was pointed at her from behind.

The marble boots under her long frilly white dress clicked as she turned around. The neverending white void all over was nothing to look at, and so she faced her last opponent on this board — the queen of black. Slightly taller than her, the green-haired woman, with her curly locks almost reaching her waist, pushed her pointy blade further into Emu's chest, to which the latter stumbled back.

“Don't. Move.”

Those sharp purple eyes, that cold glare of theirs... It fit her black dress so well. The lace adoring her hair too, tied into it with black ribbons. The big ominous hand behind her floated still — overlooking her — ready to command her to strike at any moment.

Emu's pulse quickened, and not just at the danger presenting itself in front of her. Well, Nene is a danger, and is obviously presenting herself currently, so technically... ugh, whatever.

Despite the empty air of the black and white battlefield, wind brushed past the two women's opposing-colored attire. Emu's long white dress glittering like one for a wedding, and Nene's horrifyingly goth — gosh, Emu was in love, sooooo in love, she wished she could be the other's damsel in distress just to get a chance to be carried in her soft warm small strong clean squishy fleshy living alive arms despite her new much bigger size compared to what she was just moments ago.

Charmed, the pink-haired could only drop her blade, leaving the king she was previously set on killing curled up on the floor behind her pathetically. “Ahh... It's been so long, Kusanagi, my love!”

“I— wait, what?” The hand behind Nene also seemed to curl up in confusion.

Emu rubbed her cold hard cheeks energetically in hopes of making them redder for the incoming romance. “AHHH~ my sweet queen Nene, have you ever wondered why I wish for the death of your king so badly?”

“Uh...” The queen of black trembled awkwardly, the blade in her right arm pointing its nose at the ground. “...to win?”

“Maybe!” The girl winked. “If that means winning you!”

“...ummmmmmm......”

Emu turned back to finish off the king of black.

“W-Wait!”

“Hweh?”

“...Don't just 'hweh' at a battlefield, queen Ootori.” Nene sighed. “I'm not tied to the king, don't kill him.”

“WHAT!?!”

“Look, isn't 'queen' also just your battle title? Like, if you're here to win me over, doesn't that mean you're also not tied to your king of white?”

...*gasp*.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah I'm not!!” Emu excitedly stumbled over to Nene, grabbing her shoulders. “I killed him at the very start of this game actually!”

“Wait what the fu—”

Nene's lips... so warm... so sweet, yet thin — Emu couldn't get enough of them. Her own lips were so hard and cold probably, she wondered if the other woman didn't like them, but, eventually, the queen of black closed her eyes in bliss, letting the one of white do the same...

Emu brushed her beloved's back as softly as she could, and yet Nene knew the art of comforting touch much better: her thin, soft fingers tickled the other's neck, brushing up her pale skin to reach the back of her head obscured by inorganic pink hair...

She could hear an iron sound of a blade joining hers on the hard floor at the girls' feet.

Nene...

“...emu.....mu.....!”

“EMU!!!”

“Wah—?!” Emu twitched, back to normal size and... she touched her lips. What horror. No sweet lipstick was left on her colorless lips. Slowly, the rest of background sounds of the doll party came back to muffle her ears with their noise. “...ah?”

Tsukasa glared at the girl, but, somehow, his gaze held a bit of concern. “...You alright, Emu? Anything—?”

“No no, I'm good! No worries~!” She needs to write down this fantasy of hers as fast as she can so she can continue to fantasize about it at home...

“...Ehe.” Shizuku pat her head with a single finger. “You really like chess, don't you~?”

“Yeah, of course!! I love chess like I love Ne—”

“To the disappointment and sorrow of my dear fans, I once again repeat — despite my long awaited return to the museum, I shall not take part in the beauty contest, nor chess, I'm afraid.”

Chapter Text

“And our queens this time around are...”

“Emu Ootori and Kohane Azusawa! Thank you, everyone, for your votes! Tonight's master chess match will begin soon~!”

Followed by applause, Shizuku bowed to the big small audience, leaving the kings and queens winning the beauty contest standing on their respective fancy chairs.

“I'm so glad we have multiple winners here...” Azusawa, a cloth doll able to win the girls' contest alongside Emu, sighed with what felt like relief. “There's no way I would've beaten your adorable frilly dress! How did you make it?”

“Ehehe... Aww, thank you, you were so cute onstage too! Your cow costume is the best~” The doll of porcelain beamed, taking any and all opportunities to spread the word of her beloved also. “Actually, I have an owner who makes me lots of dresses like this one! I mean, it must be unfair with everyone else making costumes on their own, mustn't it...”

“No no, I actually have an owner too! It's not that she makes costumes for me or anything, but...” Azusawa's face fabric softened to one of a bed sheet, her bead eyes melting just a tiny bit as well. “...I can understand wanting to show off your owner's love, hehe.”

“Eh!? I thought I was the only one who has an owner here- that's so cool!! ...Well obviously Tsukasa also has an owner too, but you know you know!” Emu grabbed the other girl's cloth hand into a forced handshake. Her hands don't have fingers, just so you know. “How about we become friends? Maybe if I'll start coming outside more often!”

“O-Oh yeah, you're... new.” She giggled. “Sure! I'll be glad to, uhm... Emu, was it?”

“Yup! And you're Kohane?”

“Y-Yeah, that!” Kohane smiled, despite her sudden trembling fit. “Uhh...”

“Hmm? What's wrong?”

“What...?”

“You're shaking, I can see!”

“Oh, I just... Sir Tenma's friends are usually those of higher, umm, status, and I thought...”

“...Really?” Emu pouted. “We kind of only really know each other for... a couple days? Even less than that! Is he really that friend-picky and I didn't know?!”

“W-Well, he's really talented, I love his shows a lot... I'm a big fan of his actually!”

“I actually saw his shows too, my owner knows his owner!”

“No way! Really?! Your owners are...?!”

“Mhm mhm~! I wonder how well Tsukasa performs alone if he does so well with Rui!”

“Rui? Is that his owner's name?”

“Yeah! I actually had to help Tsukasa help his owner withhhhhh—...”

...Maybe telling Tsukasa's biggest fan that there's a chance he might never perform with his owner again is not a good idea.

“Help with what?”

“...Taxes!”

“Taxes?” Kohane frowned, albeit a bit awkwardly. “...What's taxes?”

“Well it's actually...!”

I remember Nene was always saying how she had trouble with them but...!???

“...I think my owner mentioned them a couple times.”

“Oh, yeah?” How widespread is the taxes thing really?

“She and her roommate are always running away from them for some reason, that's all I really know...” The doll of cloth put her hands together, looking up. “Sometimes I wish I could help her, even if I'm just a doll... but... can I, really...?”

“...That sounds exactly like me!”

Kohane continued to look rather concerned still. “Are we really that similar...?”

“I guess we are~!” Emu trapped her new best friend in a hug tight enough to squeeze her waist into a thin string. “Nice to meet you, Kohane!!!”

“And how are we supposed to stand on the opposite sides of the chess board now...~”

“CHESS!! I FORGOT!!” Emu yelled out, switching over to whispering as she noticed Shizuku was inviting what were probably the chess masters that are gonna be playing with them tonight into some side door of the basement. Her speech was as grandiose and smart as a whisper could be. “Actually, I'm on a mission to help my owner with chess somehow~! Last time she was playing it at this museum and I've never heard her be so happy since, so I'm working on finding out the secrets of this strange game!”

“Woah...!” Kohane put her cloth palms together in prayer. “I wish you luck!”

“It's not that it matters if I win or lose...” The doll of harder material crossed her arms, putting a finger in between her eyes as if pushing up imaginary glasses. “...What matters is that I get the true chess experience.”

“—No... No, no, I messed it all up again!!”

“Huh?” Both girls turned to the source of the strangely panicked line of speech. Emu stared down at the many small dolls that had begun running up to and onto a big table not too recently placed in the center of the basement's dance carpet. In the center of that thing was a chess board, on top of which stood one familiar wooden marionette in his... potato tuxedo, with some poorly made cloth wings on his back.

“Curses...!” Tsukasa sighed, head low and fists shaking. “If it wasn't for these damned mortals ruining everything again...”

“If it was some other angel agent sent down here, I wouldn't have to suffer so much this month! Ughhh my pay is gone again, I bet!!” The "angel agent" plopped down in disappointment, then proceeded to roll on the floor to further his suffering. “AGHHHHH!!”

Suddenly, a voice echoed from... above? It was very womanly, but Emu immediately noticed this... slight accent of it that sounded like rubbing rocks together, to the point the voice itself sounded somewhat choppy. No, not elaborating on that.

“My angel, oh dear angel, are you lost in inner conflict yet again?”

“You could... say that- wait.” Tsukasa hopped back to his feet. “Your godly majesty?! Miss Meiko, is that you!?!”

A very tall entirely grey woman entered the basement through its basement basement, a side room, that side room Shizuku had lead her into just recently, having to bow down slightly to fit though its slightly-above-average-human-height entrance. Okay, this is ridiculous, I think we're stretching the definition of a doll way too far on this one. Her hair was simple, short and smooth, yet her big eyes felt vivid despite their colorless eerieness and it felt as if, somehow, her white robes flowing along the floor despite being made of stone made her seem taller than she actually was... Returning back to those same "history" labeled books over at Nene's place, right next to the big white not-really-castles with a bunch of pillars pictured on these books were usually one or two stone people standing there also — was Meiko one of them?

“Your godly majesty, I am yet again apologizing, this pathetic angel can't help no mortal yet again!!” Tsukasa kneeled into the floor that was the table he was on as his boss bowed down slightly to face the little man better. “A new war broke out... I thought I'd fix up the relationship between a couple kingdoms to make up for the revolution I accidentally sparked up last month in one country, but...!!”

“It's alright, it's okay, little one...” Meiko pat the marionette with one cold finger of hers. Emu noticed the way her red nails glittered under the light of the basement — could they be gems or something like it? “Your soul is one of the purest out there, there's no way I can fire you.”

“R...Really?”

“Your pay will be cut again, I'm afraid.”

Tsukasa lowered his head back down.

“This is a situation us gods should not get involved in usually, but...” The statue woman put a hand to her chin thoughtfully, just like those guys of history books!! “...there is one man I'm currently having some troubles with, so...”

That said, the man in question entered the basement as well.

“HIS GODLY MAJESTY KAITO!??!?”

The man, Kaito, was a statue just like Meiko was with his nails sparkling with blue stones, perhaps he was a statue of the same era too with him wearing a Roman robe as well, one short enough to reveal the sandals he was wearing... that weren't made of stone, for some reason. Not like they fit his historic attire either, they looked rather childish.

Now, at the sight of his supposed rival, his face hardened, like a rock.

“...Meiko.”

“Kaito.”

The couple glared at each other.

Kaito stepped closer to the other statue first. “...I told you to remove cows.”

“And you have yet to get rid of horses!”

“But can't you see the importance of horses in mortal society? They're used for humans to travel all over this beautiful world we have created and you want to rid it of them!”

“Why would one ever want to get rid of all cows?”

“They look weird, they're our modern day abominations.”

“How can you say something so... cruel!” Meiko argued, hands on her hips. “Not only is their milk great, but they're also really cute actually!”

“They're stinky!”

“So are horses!!”

Not too far off, Emu looked around awkwardly. Did everyone here know what the two were talking about? She does know who cows are, at least in theory, but horses... she'll just have to stay on the cows side for now, Kohane was trembling slightly in the meantime.

“...Well,” Meiko sighed, finally. “I have found a way for us to solve this argument.”

Raising one hand up, the woman sent Tsukasa a signal. He began... turning his neck with one of his hands? It even made some clicking noises — and in one moment, with his face up, a burst of small golden confetti flew out of his mouth, spreading all over the chess board the doll was standing upon.

“Humans!! Your time has come to serve your overlords — with a battle!!”

Finally, the chess match can begin!

Tsukasa called all spectators over — the four winners of the beauty contest were also there to take their positions at the board. With how things were set, Emu and Kohane sadly had to part, but that was only until they're once again reunited in battle! Standing next to her king, a doll of porcelain just like her, surprisingly, Emu took hold of a nearby toothpick as her weapon.

Meiko was about to make her first move, even though white pieces are usually supposed to move first I'm pretty sure, until—

Everyone stopped, the two statues and their mannequin friends frozen in place as everyone smaller than them fell face down.

Two kids in cloaks entering the basement stared at the sight in horror, pointing a single flashlight at the piles of dolls around the two statues frozen in a neverending nevermoving neverbeginning game of chess. They shrieked.

———

“H-Hey... Now that I think about it, I...!”

“We're already here.” Rui pat Nene's back lightly, to which the girl took another step forward to avoid his hand. “The chess tournament is just one member off and everyone is looking at you, come on~”

Emu could feel Nene's trembling even inside her bag.

“Wait, Rui- seriously, I'm fine, I just don't-!”

“Excuse me, Mr. _______?” Pulling Nene further by her hand as she weakly attempted to lean her body back into the sea of crowds, the purple menace approached one of the event organizers next to the museum's event floor. “I apologize for coming in last minute, but could this young woman join the chess tournament?”

“Ru-...!” Suddenly meeting the event organizer's gaze, Nene froze, falling quiet.

Emu could feel it... her hesitation. But what was she afraid of?

Emu had occasionally overheard Rui tell Nene about a possible connection between people and their dolls. He kept talking on and on about how he understands Tsukasa and he understands him, though Emu would never be sure about it if she'd never speak to his doll herself — however, due to her refined knowledge of Nene's nature, character and all other synonyms for one's being, she had always seen these silly jokes of his as fact. Even if Nene couldn't actually understand her back.

At this moment, she doubted even her own understanding of her. If only she could look past this bag she was trapped in to see what danger was her beloved owner subjected to in the hell that is "museum"...

“Check.”

Check? What's check? What was Nene checked for?

Her bag thrown over the chair she was sitting on, Nene lowered her head in thought at the chess board below, hands shaking ever so slightly — but it was nothing compared to how she was shaking before.

She picked up her rook of black, Emu could hear the piece hit the floor of the board again, the sound resounding with newfound confidence. "Ch...Check."

Huh? The crowd had suddenly... what was that noise they were making?

The person in front of Nene — a chess veteran, you could call them — hummed in interest. All while Nene had the dorkiest smile ever.

Despite her initial hesitation, Emu could hear how much fun she was having... What first seemed to be a situation where Nene, a puppet, was pulled back by an ominous hand of worry looming over her, was instead one of her pulling onto her own strings: something will happen, not sure what, but it will, and something might take hold of her strings. That's how it felt. At least, it's how Emu would've seen it, even if she didn't have any strings to worry about, and even if she had them, she trusted Nene's presence, she'd go anywhere with her, take on the hardest of tasks if she'd be there with her... odd for a normally inanimate being to say.

Basically, the truth is — it wasn't chess that was important here, it was the presence of one purple man clapping for Nene in the background, strong enough to push her past the borders of her cosy personal terrarium and soft enough to bring her comfort and confidence anywhere.

She lost the chess match, but... standing up, showered with praise and applause, she confidently shook her opponent's hand.

“You were great, Miss Kusanagi! Don't mind the loss, if it wasn't for my experience you might've played me!” They laughed, gripping Nene's delicate hand tighter.

“It... It was an honor playing with you!” Nene's bag slid off her shoulder slightly as she bowed. “Thank you... s-so much! Can I ask for some advice while you're still here?”

No way... it felt like magic, there's no way Nene would speak to a stranger so easily!!

“Ruuuiiiiiii—!”

“Oh?” Hearing his friend's voice while he was busy admiring a recently built dinosaur exhibit, more specifically its egg section, Rui turned to see Nene dash toward him full speed ahead. “Oh, Nene! Ah- my bad, I—”

“Where the hell were you!?” The girl grabbed onto her friend's shirt, pulling him close angrily. “You should've seen how I took pictures with Mr. _____!”

“You took pictures? Oh- I mean, you let someone take pictures of you~?”

“Don't say it like I'm afraid of cameras or something.” With an audible "hmpf", unusual for Nene, she let the poor man go. “...I just got confident and you're back at joking around.”

“Aww, you know I'm happy for you.” Rui smiled, sincere. “At least I'll get to see your pictures in the press tomorrow~”

“...The press? You mean newspapers, right...?”

“Mmm... yeah.” Rui looked around thoughtfully. “I assume the pictures taken with you and Mr. _____ were taken by the museum to promote its chess tournament for the near future. Who knows, maybe you'll really end up on some newspaper covers~”

Despair suddenly overtaking her body like thousands of years passing through her brains in one embarrassing minute, Nene tried her best to not turn into a sad wet lump of human girl looking meat on the floor as she grabbed onto her head, pulling on some hair even.

“...Oh Goddess, oh no.”

“It's okay Nene, people won't mind.”

“Please don't talk about the people, please don't...”

Nene will always be Nene, it seems... Not like Rui can do anything with the newspapers, huh? Maybe he can, but it's "can", not "will" either way.

With him by Nene's side, she felt different. Emu couldn't be prouder of his help and Nene's partial growth. After all...

...She herself was starting to feel weird, without Nene. As much fun as she was having with chess, it was as if...

“______~! ______, wake up! The shop's gotta open in 5 minutes!!”

———

With one last graceful slash of her fun-sized squeaky hammer, Kohane brought the king of white down.

The game was finally over. The chess board was showered with noise from all sides — that included Emu, especially hyper about the winning team as she herself sat at one corner of the board, out of the game just 10 minutes ago.

Standing up from her chair, Meiko bowed to the audience. “Thank you, thank you! I'm glad to announce that all horses are no more and that the kingdom of black shall now rule over these lands for at least the next month!”

Kaito sighed, his voice back to that of Kermit the frog when colorful palette wasn't yet making him out to be a blueberry hot boy. “But... horsies...”

“Aww, don't act like I'm actually getting rid of them, show's over!” The red-nailed statue pat the other's head, not necessarily ruffling his hair since, you know, rocks. “Ahh, those kids gave me all the adrenaline I needed to beat you this time!”

“Fufu,” The blue-nailed grinned back. “I do agree, if they wouldn't scare me so much I would've not let you off that easily.”

The two shook their crystal-adorned hands. Oh! Emu must not lose this chance!!

“Kohane~!!” The doll in question twitched in surprise, quickly caught in a tight hug without any additional warnings. “Thank you so much, playing chess was so much fun~!”

“Ehe...he...” The twin-tailed cloth cowgirl giggled awkwardly, not sure if that was from the sudden hug or due to the afterglow of her epic win. “Not like we were the ones actually playing, but I had fun too! Thank you, Emu!”

“Can I shake your hand!?”

“Oh- sure!”

The queens shared a handshake of their own, Emu's porcelain fingers wrapped around Kohane's patch of soft silk resembling anything but a palm, not even a palm tree actually.

...This weird feeling in Emu's chest still wouldn't go away. Even after the handshake, it felt as if the rain cloud inside her was only worsening.

Ah!! Maybe she should go find Tsukasa?! Goddess, she completely forgot about him and helping Rui!

But... where is he? Emu thought there would be an aftershow of some kind after the chess match and he'd perform again, but...

“Emu?”

“Uhm... hey, Kohane... Did you notice Tsukasa, umm, go somewhere?”

“Sir Tenma?” Emu nodded. “I... haven't, sorry. I think I saw him sitting somewhere in the middle of our game, but after some time I just... never noticed him after.”

Suddenly, panic began to overtake Emu's body.

How will she return home?! How will she return to Nene!?! What should she do here?! Who does she ask?!? She can't find Shizuku anywhere either...!

She doesn't want to worry Kohane after the two had just met each other, but- but-!

“...Emu?”

No, no, it's fine... it's okay, she'll always find a way, she'll...

In one corner of her tiny vision, the girl of porcelain noticed a door. Meiko was opening that door and taking a peek inside — it was the same room she was brought to earlier.

“Shizuku~! We're done, are you coming?”

“Ah, just a minute~!”

“I'll be counting the seconds then, you know!”

“Awww... Could you wait a bit more, please?”

Emu immediately calculated the fastest way to that door and jumped off the chess board to then travel through the still full dancefloor carpet on the floor.

“E...Emu!?”

Eyes set straight on her goal, the doll missed Kohane's worried squeak and got to door. Meiko didn't close it fully, and for sure didn't notice the tiny beauty contest winner running past her feet. Emu was able to catch the door just in time to peek into it herself, without giving herself away to the people inside... two people.

Sitting on an armchair while her past friend sat at one of its armrests, Shizuku looked concerningly worried.

“—Is he okay? Did anything bad happen aside from the fines?”

“The fines are the worst thing here! They'll only lead to him being jailed, and it's all because of...” Tsukasa sighed heavily, to the point that the speaker hidden under his fancy clothes crackled slightly. “...I really don't know what to do anymore, I'll have to come up with some way to—”

“I'm sure you and Emu can figure something out~”

“I don't want to force Emu to go with me, I could see she was already feeling anxious while on the chess board.”

He knew before she could even realize it herself, huh...

“Still, there's one thing bugging me...”

“What is it? Does it have to do something with her?”

“No, I... not necessarily...”

Tsukasa rubbed his hands together, looking down at them as he did so.

“I began remembering things again. I remembered my sister.”

...Sister!? Did Tsukasa... have a sister? But dolls don't have families, do they? Emu couldn't remember how she was born, where she was born, with who and why... did she have a family? Could she have one? Really, what was Tsukasa talking about?

“Awww~... Did you have a sister too?”

“Well... yeah, I did.” Tsukasa... smiled? “I'm still not sure what her name is, but I do remember her tiny blonde twin tails and her big, beaming pink eyes! From all the memories I have of her currently, she seemed younger than me, and I think she's been stuck in some...white room with white beds and curtains all the time I've been with her. It felt like I was visiting her somewhere all the time, like she was living in a different house each time I went to see her, but I'm sure we were family...”

...Were?

“As happy as I am that I'll finally have a fellow big brother to share my passion of being an older sister with...” Smiling as well, Shizuku's light voice went darker as she continued on. “...You now also might be in danger?”

The marionette nodded, arms crossed. “If this continues on, if I'll be left without Rui, then... pretty much.”

“You're saying it so casually... are you sure you're okay right now?”

“You've been living with your memories fine all this time, right? After construction's done, the flower lady will come back and you'll be safe again. And I'm fine too! I'll find a way — there's no way this burning bundle of passion created by his one and only puppet master can be put out so easily!”

“But what if...?”

“T-Tsukasa!” Finally, Emu decided to come in and make her presence known, though not too confidently. “What are... umm... you...?”

“...” He looked away. “Nothing a star such as myself can't handle. I've come up with a great idea to help Rui already!”

“Eh?” About to use Tsukasa's green light to her advantage to run up to him for a hug from behind, Emu stopped. “But... what were you and Shizuku talking about? What danger were you—?”

“Tsukasa, I should tell her, shouldn't I?” The mannequin smiled softly. The wooden man didn't reciprocate, looking away from her too. “...Unlike me, she has all the chances to help you. A pure doll like her should know those things beforehand too, just in case.”

“What are "those things"...?” Emu tilted her head. The feeling in her chest got worse as she felt a distance grow between her and the two other dolls.

“.......”

Standing up from her armchair with no reply from Tsukasa, Shizuku sat down on the floor in front of Emu. “You are very lucky to have the good owner that you have~”

“Wh...Wha...?”

“Have you ever wondered what your past life might've been like?”

Past life...

Past... life?

Emu never thought about it... she didn't even think of having one, really. If it meant a life before the one she's having right now in the sense of... reincarnation? Then it has never crosses her mind. She could only stare back at Shizuku, confused.

“...Your current one must be nice, then.” Shizuku pulled her plastic cheeks down into a frown. “However, most dolls don't have the opportunity to get owners as good as yours. Some might never have an owner at all.”

“All lonely dolls quickly find other lonely dolls to join them on the streets, to live out their lives in peace just like you do, but... a fellow doll's love is different from that of a human being's. Humans, on a different realm of life than we may be, even if they can't hear us, can take care of us like no other doll can. They can protect us like no other, feed us with love, brush our hair and brush dust off our bodies...”

“It is said that a marionette can't pull another's strings up if no one is there to pull up its own. It's a rather common saying among dolls like us — all of us are torn, damaged, so there's no way we can take care of others if no one's to care about us.”

Emu blinked repeatedly to sort all the info attacking her head right now. It felt like someone had just went to a library, picked up all the fanciest books, tore off all of their fanciest pages and cut out all of their fanciest words to put them into the speech that Shizuku was presenting now. But to put things simply: dolls practically can't live without humans to care for them... right?

“I think you understood what I meant. Sorry if it all sounded pretty convoluted~” It did. “There's just no other way to show the importance of this matter to someone who'd never experienced it. A doll overtaken by dread is bout to suddenly start remembering things from its past life.”

“But... isn't that a good thing?” Emu definitely did think it sounded cool. Basically, when Shizuku and Tsukasa were humans, they had cute little sisters! How bad can that be?

“One myth is going around concerning dolls — one that says that humans who die relatively young, they... turn into these dolls.” Despite the tiny doll's positive outlook, Shizuku continued on. “The more you remember from your past life, the higher the chance is that you might... remember your death.”

Tsukasa sighed, dropping to the floor. “...And once you remember your death, you'll freeze forever.”

“F...Freeze forever!?”

“You'll be basically trapped in your own body.” The blonde had finally looked back at Emu. “I'm sure I'll freeze just as Rui throws me away.”

“T...Tsukasa-!” Emu grabbed onto Tsukasa's arm, to which he turned away again. “I can help you!! I can definitely help if I'm all good, I can still help! Even with that plan you already have, what is it about!?”

“I don't have no plan, I lied!!” Tsukasa tore the girl off his hand forcefully. “I...! Listen, I'm sorry for pushing you away all of the sudden, but there's no need for you to risk yourself any more than you've already did!”

Dolls can... freeze forever?

Freeze forever... Emu can't even begin to imagine that. All the days she'd spend with Nene, the same ones she always does, but unable to do things like... would she be able to feel? Smile sincerely? She'll never be able to kiss Nene goodnight again and close her shop's door every couple nights or so, that's for sure...

This feeling, this thought, Emu would've probably lived her life fine not knowing it, but she can't ignore it now that Tsukasa is involved! She's sure that she can handle it — if she can just have Nene hold her once in a while and sing to her, it'll be enough! But he's a star! A doll that can make many others smile!

“Tsukasa~” Shizuku tapped the wooden doll's head, making him look up at her. “You're crying, you know?”

“Tsk...! Why did...” Wiping away the water rushing down from beneath his eyes with the sleeves of his potato suit, Tsukasa couldn't help smiling still. “...Just why did Rui make me look so emotional...? Haha, what weirdo...”

Sensing the moment, Emu smiled as well. “Ehehe... I'll give you a tissue if you let me help you~”

“I don't need tissues.” Seemingly done with his tears, Tsukasa turned back to Shizuku. “What I do need is...”

Knowing what the man meant, the mannequin nodded. “Of course. It's an odd idea, but one that might solve all the problems that you have — ones that even Emu might have~”

Not expecting to be brought up so suddenly, Emu bounced closer to the woman. “Eh...?”

“There is a myth... a legend going around this city, that there lives a person who can turn dolls into humans.”

Emu and Tsukasa looked at each other, as if to see who was more shocked.

Me and Nene...!

Me and Rui...!

KISSING!??!?

!??!? WHY ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT KISSING???

IT'D BE SO COOL IF WE WERE THE SAME SIZE!!

WH- WH- WH- DON'T YOU WANT TO TALK TO HER FIRST???!

“...You both seem awfully excited.” Shizuku couldn't hold back a giggle at the smaller dolls, her hands on her cheeks. “Oh well, you two are definitely ready for this journey better than I'd ever be~”

Chapter Text

Nene woke up in cold sweat as her alarm clock stabbed her ears awake. She sat up, her mattress creaking loudly in the process, staring down at her trembling hands gripping onto her blanket.

...This same nightmare always greets her in the morning. A nightmare of the day of her first mess up onstage. Every time Nene thought she'd got numb to it, it would shift, change shape in some way — there would be more people in the audience, Nene would mess up more lines maybe, sometimes she would recognize more people in the crowd... She keeps on telling herself how weak and insignificant this trauma is, at least how it should be, and yet she can't convince herself enough to not require a presence of one porcelain doll next to her in bed, close to her chest.

At least Nene had some motivation to get out of bed faster in the morning. She had to go see Emu.

With one quick stretch to wake her body, the girl rushed out of the sheets to go wash her hair. Next is drying it, dressing up in her usual, styling her hair, then some light make up and... it's like she really is getting ready for some date she's an hour late to already. She never bothers with morning exercise or anything like that, simply preparing herself for yet another day of sitting at her shop's counter, counting change, but she has to look presentable next to her favorite doll, you know?

Glancing around her room as she fixed her sleeves, Nene was met with one cold reminder: a calendar in one corner with a date circled in black permanent marker — today.

Friday

entrance exam

→10:30

...Crap. Time flies fast, huh?

Taking a deep breath, Nene calmed her inner anxious spirit animal, which is either a kitten or a rabbit if speaking from some tests she took in some newspapers yesterday, and looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She needs to practice some more, prepare her voice. She won't miss her chance this time!

As a last farewell to her odd doll-keeping hobby, she shall sing one (hopefully) last song to her favorite doll.

She took the most confident five little steps out of her room, until...

“...Emu?”

.......

“E...mu...?”

Nene had never received a response from the doll, not like she would ever get it, but... it was especially silent now. And empty.

The girl rushed to the tower of boxes in the middle of her shop so suddenly she had almost flipped it over, looking all over it in hopes of finding her doll somewhere on the floor or dropped into one box on accident or just... nothing. She had much excuses for her lost doll at hand, but none of them rung true as she checked box after box in search of her belov— most favorite. Oh, maybe she had accidentally left her in some... uh... Maybe she put her somewhere else while sleepwalking? Goddess, she hopes she didn't sleepwalk outside with Emu in her hands like a total weirdo, her neighbors wouldn't forgive her for that one...

Hold on. Maybe...

Nene spun around so suddenly her hair would've hit her in the face if it was long enough, facing the shop counter. She opened the suitcase still placed on top of it, to the horrifying sight of an empty doll bed inside.

...If she's not going crazy enough, Rui might just set out on a town-wide killing spree with his army of robo-dolls once he finds out the love of his life has been stolen by someone. She can't wrap her head around this... this whole situation, was she really robbed?! The girl quickly dug through her cash register to make sure, but how odd it is that basically the only things stolen from her shop were Emu and Tsukasa. And she was so sure she had closed the entrance door yesterday! She was so focused on tomorrow's exam that there was no way she'd miss locking her door, but it... was left unlocked, its key left outside behind a vase of flowers not too far from the entrance. This situation is only getting weirder.

But she must stay focused, she promised herself she would. She planned on letting go of Emu anyways, and...

Her hands trembled as she gripped them into fists.

She can ignore the sudden added pressure at her chest! She'll make Emu proud!

———

She'll...

Standing on a small stage with only the front seats of the audience somewhat populated, Nene stood among the darkness under a weak stream of light coming from above. Staring down at the line between her spotlight and the three older judges not too far from her, the young woman had just finished her performance.

“...I'm afraid we can't take you in this year, Miss Kusanagi.” The grandma in the middle put her papers back on her knees after taking all the notes she needed. “Your performance was good overall, but there were some glaring mistakes noticeable enough for us to refuse to ignore.”

Looking down still, Nene nodded, not adding anything in. She knew all the times she messed up and where mistakes had been made this time.

“Miss Kusanagi was taking this exam last year too, right?” An older woman on the side asked.

With an older man on the other responding. “This is not even the second year she's been here. She's a familiar face to me already.”

Nene's stomach dropped at the judges' quiet discussion for no one but the reader to know.

“Now now, I do get that she has quite the memorable voice, but taking on the entrance exam so many times...”

“I respect the courage, I suppose.”

No... she's not brave at all. The reason why she's been taking this entrance exam over and over again is exactly because she is... a coward. Scared of an audience, but also scared to be left all alone. Afraid of taking on singing again, but also afraid of losing her single most powerful passion.

Everyone would definitely laugh at her once they find out her only comfort inbetween those fears has been one doll. And now that the doll is gone—

“Your performance has actually become worse compared to last year.” The middle judge spoke up again, her voice soft enough for Nene to hear and not push herself further into a corner. She looked rather nice despite what she had just told the antisocial pack of greens, a heartfelt smile comforting the girl somewhat. “Why... is that? To tell the truth, I was secretly rooting for you all this time — seeing you improve each year gave me hope to see you succeed one day, I could see you're very hardworking, Miss Kusanagi. As one of my colleagues here said, your voice is really special, soft in its own ideal way, I couldn't wait to see you perfect your performance... since the problem isn't necessarily your voice or technique, is it?”

Nene shook her head. “It's not...”

“What made you so nervous today, Miss Kusanagi?”

...

She got robbed, lost basically the dearest thing in her life, her psychotic friend might soon earn himself a proper sentence for manslaughter.

...Why are they asking her this? What, is the person after Nene late and they're stretching the time as much as they can till they arrive?

She's always had a hard time being honest, with herself too. Admitting she's clinging onto the last stable thing in her everyday life via having chats with a porcelain doll is hard even if she's not planning on saying it out loud. Nene knew she'd let go of Emu fine after her stability becomes that of studying and improving her skills with others — at least that's what she wanted to believe. I have so many things to say about Nene's self-destructive views and how bad they are, but this is her 3rd person pov technically.

Not getting a quick enough response, the middle judge shook her head. “It's fine if you don't want to talk about it.”

“No, I-” Nene cut herself off, cutting in too suddenly for her to think of an excuse... for anything. She was an adult and didn't need college staff to look down on her though. “It's nothing, really...”

“I suppose... letting you pass will be fine. You have great foundation as a singer, I can see your singing voice is natural and not at all forced — our place is here to teach and let voices grow, after all, and since your main problem isn't lack of understanding in basic technique, we're fine with letting you in to help. Isn't that right?”

Looking over to the other two judges, their lead was met with confident nods of agreement.

But...

“...I'm really sorry, but I was actually hoping to get a scholarship since I...” Nene muttered under her breath, no one would hear her mumbling if it wasn't for the reverb of the wide stage reaching the people below. “...I am incapable of affording to study here otherwise.”

“...I see.” With an especially heavy sigh, the middle judge looked down at her papers, writing some stuff down to then put her arms back on the table and face Nene again. “We... hope to see you next year, then.”

Followed by a moment of awkward silence, Nene nodded, leaving the stage.

Leaving the audition hall.

Leaving the music college building.

———

Head uncomfortably facing the refined wood of her shop counter, Nene continuously drowned herself in newfound depression. Another year off, great...

But really, there was something else on her mind. The failed audition didn't feel as bad compared to her shop's most prized wares's personal space being violated by some foolish thief.

Gosh, if Rui runs off to do an unsuccessful kickflip off the tallest building in this city after he hears about Tsukasa, Nene is gonna be in so much trouble... She'll have to deal with police once they come knocking on her door as his parents are too far away to deal with their son's crime record, maybe she'll even be questioned about his death in more detail — it could all end up turning into a narrative where she is the central villain not approving of the poor guy's interests and cutting him off from them only to make things worse. (And it's not like they like dolls either, once they know of Rui's hobby they'll be quick to pin the blame on Nene for not giving him off to police immediately as he's doing illegal doll showbiz!!!)

...man.

why does she also have to worry about that weirdo along with her missing little comfort doll.

—The unmoving wind chimes of her shop rung off as her door was unceremoniously opened. Crap, she should've flipped it over to closed today, she can't deal with this, she's too busy dying inside...

“Greetings, Miss Kusanagi! Why the long face?”

Raising her head up not too energetically at the energetic girly voice, Nene had almost fallen off her chair at the sight of short pink hair and vivid pink eyes, as if her doll had... become........!!

“...H-Hey, uhm... you alright?”

Oh. No, definitely not Emu, she never wore this white blazer with this salad green skirt and black tights and green/white shoes and Nene definitely doesn't remember making this flower hair tie for her... Also, her pinks were more light and pastel compared to... this.

Goddess, she's gonna fucking cry this is the worst day ever...!!!!!!

“Good... morning, Miss Momoi.” Nene tried to not sound too sluggish, she's talking to a frequent customer of hers, after all. “What is it that you need today?”

“Have you been sleeping for so long? It's not morning, that's for sure!” Momoi chuckled. She then took out her pastel pink purse. “Same as usual.”

“I'm gonna run out of flower themed items soon enough, miss...”

Airi Momoi is, as was mentioned, one of Nene's frequent customers, not that there are lots of them or anything... She doesn't know why she's so obsessed with flower memorabilia and plastic flowers, even the lower quality ones, but never bothers to ask. However, she is apparently also a fellow doll believer — well, she believes the myths about dolls holding dead spirits inside them. That kind of doll believer, one that Nene definitely isn't, not at all. Not to mention, Airi was an idol in the past as well! Nene doesn't know if she was more surprised to find out she was an idol or a weirdo like herself Rui.

Either way, the two girls have come to know each other fine, even if Nene's not too talkative about the more personal parts of her life (imagine telling an ex-idol you've failed your entrance exam to a music college 4-5 years in a row). At least she knows about Emu... the Emu that's missing currently.

Of course, while Nene was busy digging up more flower stuff to appease Airi's obsession, the ex-idol quickly noticed her favorite doll's disappearance. “Oh, did you forget to put Emu up today?”

Nene choked. “She- It's not like she's- it's for sale...”

“I was just about to ask if you had to sell her or something...” Airi leaned onto the counter, landing a concerned gaze onto Nene's back digging around her big bag of keychains. “You know, with all the stuff you said about the shop not doing well with money, I thought... maybe.”

The short hair short height salad girl huffed as she finally pulled out some keychains, having to squat down to find them at the bottom of the bag. “I would never sell her, she's the most valuable thing I have...”

“Hmm...”

Maybe she would sell her after she'd enter college, but even that's hard to think about... Even if Nene manages to distance herself from her toy, she can't possibly hand her over to someone else! There are no caring hands besides hers that can touch her!

“Here you go...” Nene's voice sounded almost... disappointed, I think. Either at herself or at the pathetic display of 5 tulip keychains and a sunflower handkerchief presented on the table. “It'll be, uh... 25 gold.”

“You really are running out, huh...” The vivid pink woman smiled sympathetically, taking out the money needed. “Keep the change?”

“No, it's fine...” Oh may this stubbornness to take some additional money from a kind customer forever burn in hell...

Airi could only give the girl an awkward shrug, putting her newly bought gifts in her pretty bag. “Well, I guess I'll... Oh! I'll go check out some nearby shops, plastic flowers might cost more there, but...~”

She doesn't have to say she won't visit again like that, stop rubbing it in, Nene's not dumb...

“...Uhm, Miss Momoi.” The ex-idol turned around, one hand on the exit's handle. Nene looked down at the once again empty table (tsukasa no more as well). “Thank you for coming here as much as you did... I really appreciate it.”

“Awwh... You know I had fun chatting with a fellow fan of all things dolls, you know?” Grinning, Airi winked, saying the last part in a whisper. Remember this stuff technically violates moral laws here? “No need to thank me, I liked your wares too!”

“Say, I just wonder... I mean, I've always wanted to ask — why are you buying all of this... flower stuff? Do you gift it to family or...?”

“...Well, I've always wanted to share this with someone too...” The girl sighed through her nose. “Sooo, back then I was an idol, there—”

Suddenly, two figures burst through and into the shop. All wind chimes both inside and outside fell to the floor from the force of... the two women in detective gear, striking thoughtful poses.

“...Miss Kusanagi.” The blue-haired spoke first, her stature more calm and reserved, fitting her cold blue appearance and smart short hairstyle with braids. “Apologies for bursting in so suddenly. My name is Haruka Kiritani, and this here is my assistant Minori Hanasato. We are detectives of MORE MORE JUSTICE.”

“Jump! Fly! Camera, action!!” The brown-haired girl right next to Haruka jumped around heroically, almost stumbling on her feet with how complex her movements were. “Get ready, it's serving time!! Time to serve you—!”

“MORE MORE JUSTICE!!”

While Nene was not planning on hiding her second hand embarrassment at the two somewhat professional women posing like Tsukasa during Rui's extra action-filled performances, Airi gave the two some pity claps. “Wow, better than last time I saw you... do that.”

“We took your advice to heart!” Hanasato bowed so hard her ponytail at the back would've slapped her in the face from above if it would've been longer. Why is this the second time this chapter that I talk about a character's hairstyle **potentially** hitting their owners face from sudden movement? “Oh, and it's great to see you again! How is-?”

“It's fine, I'm fine, everything is as fine as it always was... You two still doing detective work?”

“We work part-time most of the time, but we're still passionate about finding the-”

“Okay okay, I get it!” Airi shut Minori's mouth with both of her hands with a big silly grin definitely not hiding some darker plot elements of her character. “What are you two here for?”

Nene nervously and awkwardly brought herself back into the conversation. “That's... what I was supposed to ask.”

“...” “...”

“...”

“I apologize for... this.” Haruka nodded, straightening her detective cap. “Let me explain everything. We were sent here to question you on Mr. Kamishiro's case.”

Nene hit her head on the counter as hard as she could. No. NO. SHE'S NOT GETTING INVOLVED IN HIS CRIMES. OR INJUSTICE. NO.

“I don't know anything sorry.” She muttered.

“Eh? But shouldn't his doll be with you?”

“No, check all over my shop, not there.”

Airi knew absolutely nothing about what was going on there, but was really concerned about her shopkeeper friend being involved in crime. “...You guys seem awfully offtrack on my case these days.”

“We were sent here by Mr. Kamishiro himself, we do need funds for proper research and this seems like an easy small case.” The head detective smiled her idol smile. Wait, do these people know each other...? They talk like they do.

Hold on. “...So, were you ordered by Rui to go here?”

“Not necessarily, but he did ask us to help with this case.”

“By "this case" do you mean...?”

“Strange posters were put up all over the streets to, as we think is likely, pin the police on him, which—”

...damn it.

“—and it is important to address this before the time period of addressing this case runs out and we're unable to take it to proper authorities.”

Holding her head in her arms in pain after the detective's prolonged speech with the author's attempt to sound smart about it only to cut half of it out during editing, Nene nodded slightly. “Uh-huh.”

“And you are his closest relative.”

“I guess.”

“So please, help us as much as you can.” Haruka bowed once again. She was surprisingly patient with the store gremlin.

“...I can't believe he actually spent money on detectives.”

“This is pretty serious!” Minori pointed out, pouting. “There's clearly someone going after sir Kamishiro, we must stop them before they do things much worse!”

Much worse...

Someone... going after him...

...Is she starting to believe it too? Oh no, but if she's gonna tell them about, who knows what she'll be dragged into...?

“...There's-” Nene took a deep breath to collect herself. “I just got robbed this night.”

“Huh...!?”

“WHAT!??”

“Seriously...?”

“Specifically, nothing was stolen besides my doll Emu and Rui's doll.”

“Eh...?!”

“NO WAY!!”

“And you didn't tell me? Daaamn...”

“Please don't wo-”

Minori took out a big roll of colorful tape with clover patterns. And then began to tape it all over the shop.

“Wh- What are you-!?”

“Marking the crime scene!”

“Nobody died though?!?”

“We must work with what we can and investigate while potential marks are still there to lead us somewhere.” Haruka tipped her detective cap smartly. ???? Nene thought she was the most normal one here!!

“Hey, Minori, can you untape the door? I can't leave...~”

“I'm so sorry!! But...! But...”

“Airi, could you please stay with us some more?”

“Sighhhh... Weren't we supposed to meet up on Saturday at Night Owls? Oh well...”

She can't accept it so easily, can she...?!? Such is the charm of an idol...

A charm that Nene can't understand!!!

“Do I have to help with the case now?”

“It'd be helpful if you gave us all the info you know on this shop, you bought things for the museum here pretty often, right?”

“Sure, sure...~”

Nene hopes Rui's having the worst case of hiccups right now as she curses him in her head for infesting her only safe space with former idols.

“Alright, now...” The head detective turned back to her again. “Miss Kusanagi?”

———

Leaning onto the back of a small truck in one corner of a street, a dark-haired woman looked through a schedule of some kind right in front of a nice innocent purple-haired man standing there patiently, waiting for her with an expecting smile.

Eventually, yellow and amber met. “...Sorry, sir, but I'm pretty sure your delivery has been postponed.”

“Ah, what a shame...” Rui sighed, a smile stuck on his face still. “Can I cancel my order, then?”

The woman frowned, crossing her arms. “I'm afraid it's not possible.”

“I... see.” Well, here goes plan B... Rui has nothing to do but try to help Nene in some other way while he's waiting for his detectives to return. Like finding a job maybe?

Suddenly, Rui burst into an extremely ill-sounding coughing fit.

The nearby woman's amber eyes grew concerned. “You... cough like a grandpa sir, do you, uh, need help?”

“It's okay~ COUGH COUGH HACK ACK WHEEEEEZE”

“Sounds like tuberculosis, not gonna lie.”

Chapter Text

“There is a myth... a legend going around this city, that there lives a person who can turn dolls into humans.”

Emu didn't expect for things to go like this, but...

“...We must find this magician person and ask them for help!”

Sat around in some staff room with its windows spilling in some light of the lazy early morning despite all the construction tape stuck over them, the dolls conversed on the topic of their future savior — one person who shall make their dreams come true and turn the two littles into fleshy biggies. Shizuku explained as much as she could, though the expressions on Emu and Tsukasa's faces were still drastically different from one another.

“H—Hey, Emu... you know this is... we barely know anything about this guy!!” Tsukasa put his hands onto Emu's shoulders to assure she's not blasting off anywhere before he's fine with it too. “Shizuku, you sure about this...?”

The mannequin nodded. “I'm sure. There are a couple people I know who had visited them and... Ah~ I can still remember their bright faces once they returned to the museum from a new visitor's perspective...”

“R...Really...?”

“Where do we find the doll magician!? Do we have to give them something? Will they hear us!?! Maybe...!!”

“I'm sure they must have some secrets, though I've never met them personally, I'm not sure how their communications went.” Shizuku thoughtfully put a hand to one cheek of hers. “As for payment... You'll probably need some gold, I suppose?”

Emu blinked. “Gold...? Like, human money kind of gold?”

“How does this magician think dolls would make money...” Tsukasa's mechanical eyebrows lowered, I guess? “There's no way we're gonna steal it from somewhere, right?”

“No way I'm stealing from Nene!” Both her and Rui are piss poor also, there's not even a chance.

“The more I think about it, the more this plan is an immediate bust...” The wooden man groaned.

“But maybe we can bring something else of value!”

“Like... what?”

“...I have some more candy with me!”

“If I were that guy, I would not take free candy from the streets! Let alone from some doll!”

“Maybe you can get some... materials for them to work with?” Shizuku suggested. “I don't know much about all this stuff, but magicians seem like people that would find use in anything~”

“Materials...” Tsukasa scratched and sharpened his chin. Rui did play some backstage 4th wall breaking magicians sometimes, plus he definitely can find use in anything... Bingo!

Seeing Tsukasa's face lit up suddenly, Emu's own bright ideas' light was covered up in heavenly glow of knowledge and realization.

“Oh! I know one good place Rui takes materials from!”

“How much does your owner really have in common with the doll... magician? I guess we can call them that.” Despite Shizuku's less than serious nature, the question was genuine.

“I wouldn't be surprised if Rui had tried out some rituals in the past, let's just say. If you'd see how he looks, you'd agree, not to mention he loved to surround me with lit candles every Sunday evening.” The marionette didn't mean it all as an insult (yeah sure), as greasy as Rui's hair probably was, it's not that he's creepy, he just has an aura of either a brooding alchemist or an excited sorcerer most of the time. Tsukasa thought it would be fun if he(Rui) could actually partake in shows at the doll's level, as a fellow performer, doesn't matter if he's gonna be his sidekick or his second main or whatever, just imagine if he was some robotic doll that... hold on, why am I telling you this. “...Don't look at me like that, what else can I add?”

“Maybe... there can be some way we can ask the magician what they need?”

“Listen, I don't want to be too mean before I really have to, but as much as I'd like to ask you for any further ideas, I don't want us to accidentally target a second person with a jail sentence.”

As the smaller dolls continued on their useless and uninteresting back and forth chatter, Shizuku sighed, pulling out a thick book.

“I suppose writing a letter to go will help...”

———

After a night of studying the blade of sharpest words and nastiest alphabet letters, the dolls came forth, prepared for the most lyrical exchange of... papers through a letter slit of a door the doll magician supposedly lives behind. Well, the chances are high — the address was so specific that it can't be anything else, the atmosphere is dark and shady, no other people seem to live in this apartment complex, it's perfect for an underground ritualist!

“It's so stinky here... even stinkier than the sewers me and Nene had to go through to get to watch your shows!”

“Reminds me of the scent of when Rui overcooked a Christmas chicken once and then put it in a bag and left that bag in one corner of his room and forgot about it for a week until it turned into a zombie...” Tsukasa trembled at the horrible memory, unwrapping the small note paper he and Emu have brought with them. Shizuku helped them write on it, so it should theoretically be readable enough. “...You ready?”

“Rui turned a chicken into a zombie...!?”

“...Yeah, it didn't move, but it became all green, I think he got rid of it in time.”

“Oh- oh no...!!”

“Are you ready?”

With a gulp, Emu nodded, taking the note into her hands as she mentally prepared herself after Tsukasa's zombie story. Stepping back a fair distance from the door, she put one leg forward, body slightly lowered, until she sprung back up and into a sprint, jumping up high enough to slip the paper right into the door's slit.

The doll safely fell back down by sliding down the door's rough surface. “...Ta-dah~! Told you I could do it!”

“Now we wait!”

“Yup!”

...

...........

“...Do you think they're actually home?”

“Who?”

“The magician!!”

“I thought this was their home, do you think this is just their workplace and— could they be sick...?!”

“No, I mean—” Tsukasa rubbed his face. “I wonder what we should do while we're here... waiting.”

“...Nene.” Emu had realized it just now... it must be time for Nene to already be awake. “Ne...ne...”

“...What?”

“N...Nothing~!”

W-Well... A day of Emu missing won't be that bad, right...? She'll come back as fast as she can! And hey, if she becomes human and gets longer legs, she might get right back to Nene's place in 10 minutes! And she'll hug and smooch her lots now so she'll basically make up for all the time Nene missed her! She just hopes that it doesn't affect her too much...

...Something weird is swirling inside her again.

“Hey,” Tsukasa made Emu jump as he put a hand on her head. “I can see something's troubling you, you better tell me before it causes trouble!”

“Eh...?”

He didn't even pet her or anything, he just held his hand... there. “I don't know why I pretended like I didn't hear you mumble your owner's name just now.”

Emu tilted her head, making Tsukasa's hand slip from the top of it. “...Aren't you worried about... umm... Rui finding out you're not there?”

“Huh... Well, we still have time until he comes back to the shop, and I think Nene might just think she misplaced us somewhere. Didn't she mention her sleepwalking once in a while?”

“If you put it like that...” It did calm her a bit, though she'll never be sure Tsukasa's completely right in his assumptions. She's still not used to being so far away from the human woman. “But don't you miss him yourself?”

“...Weird question.” The wooden man crossed his arms, his current thoughts unreadable. Emu thought she struck a cord in him, an especially sad one she didn't mean to, but he quickly proved her wrong by putting on a smirk-ish grin. Do you remember that time when prsk devs tried to make him cat smirk like Rui in the early sekai story days? He's doing it exactly like that. “I won't come back until I become as tall as he is to face him for real, if that's what you're asking!”

Well... they can only go forward now, no turning back.

Out of nowhere, surprising the duo, came a piece of paper, landing on top of both of their small heads. That paper indeed didn't come out of nowhere — it came from the door. A response, finally!

Emu's spirits immediately rised back up. “Ooh, they responded!!”

“Yes, that's exactly what they did...” Tsukasa turned the paper over, holding it on one side so Emu can help and hold it on the other. “Now, it is time we decipher their potential message...”

Shizuku said that the doll magician might try to hide their message behind some cryptic symbols for the letter to not be readable by most. Thankfully—

I didn't understand your message, sorry.

Their letter was slipped back out the door, doing a grand loop while in the air before plummeting to the ground in front of the two dolls with a grand slap.

Hey, no one said Sizuku is good at writing herself.

“...Oh.”

“Did we write something wrong...?”

“I spell checked every sentence multiple times, my efforts can't go to waste like this...!!” He is not good at spell checking*

As Tsukasa threw his back at the door to lean back on it with his arms crossed to continue speaking his mind at the ruined plan, a new paper flew out of the mail slit.

And Emu picked it up, it was very small, clearly torn from some bigger piece of paper. You could probably hide it in a fortune cookie.

Clarifying: are you calling yourself and your partner dolls?

“...NO WAY, THEY HEARD US!?”

“They didn't hear- uh- YOU KNOW YOU'RE WRONG TECHNICALLY!!” Tsukasa hurried over to check the doll magician's message as well. “Gimmie... Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried, there was just so much text Shizuku had to write out, my head hurt just looking at it all, let alone deciphering what "jeaneaross" meant.”

“Wait, but how do we tell them we're really...?”

....oh yeah.

For one quick moment, the door opened and closed back almost immediately. Neither Emu nor Tsukasa could notice the figure behind it, not even having the time to fall back once they were met with a human gaze... or were they?

After some muffled voices(?) behind the door, a new paper flew out of it.

I'm not sure who sent you here, or how you even got here, but I'd like for you to help a little.

Oh, finally! They'll be taking some good steps now.

Firstly, I would like for you to get to the town's central warehouse. I'd recommend going there at night if you were bigger, but you seem small enough to not be too noticeable. There you'll have to deliver this matchbox.

Just as the dolls read that, a small box flew out the door, comfortably fitting into Emu's arms.

There are some dolls that ordered this package, you'll have to give it to them, they should be part of a train set.

“Train set dolls...?” Tsukasa scratched his chin in interest. “Never met these kinds of... dolls before.”

“Can't wait to meet them~!”

“I never doubted your excitement.”

Next, I'd like for you to pass a letter

The letter came also, folded into a small thick envelope.

to the Phoenix theatre. There's a woman there, leader of the Phoenix stage troupe, once you pass her the letter she'll immediately know who it's from.

“Could they... Could they be talking about Sakurako Seryuin!?”

“Eh? Who's that?”

“They wrote all about her in the letter!!” Looking down at the writing again, the marionette huffed. “...I guess there's no point talking all about her since we'll be seeing her either way.”

“No no no, tell me about her!”

“Let's not lose time...”

“Well... leaving her a letter seems easy enough!”

Hopefully it is...

And, finally, if you wish to transform yourself, you'll have to get a couple bags of lifeless powder and bring them to me. They shouldn't be too big, though the more you're able to carry the better. Out of all the places I know, you can get it at the Golden Gallery, be careful to not touch the powder directly.

Also, I'm not available from 8 AM to 11 PM. In case I'm not home, please wait in the trash can just near the door.

Tsukasa gave the dusty wooden trash can a side glare. “We'll choose out time carefully.”

“This magician person is less weird and crazy than I thought...”

“...Same.”

“Umm... where should we go first?”

“It's better to first get these papers and this matchbox off our hands.” Folding the doll magician's letters, Tsukasa looked at Emu. “I know where the Phoenix theatre should be at, but I'm sure the path from here will take hours... At least the warehouse shouldn't be down in the sewers, right?”

“Hope so...?” The Phoenix theatre is down in the sewers just like all the doll stages Nene had brought Emu to? He knows way more about the town than she does, Emu's not too sure how to move the chat along so it wouldn't be completely one sided.

“Hey, what's in this matchbox anyways?”

...

.......????

———

So... pressured by having someone's tiny plastic limbs in their baggage, the dolls picked up the pace to search for the town's central storage. Speaking by its name, it must be somewhere in the center, right? Well...

They're in the center square now, but there's no building even resembling a warehouse anywhere. Lots of people are walking around here, their giant crowds ones like stormy seas beneath the dolls climbing on top of the pipes from one building to the other. So... what now?

“Ummm... maybe we should've asked the magician for advice.” Emu brushed a hand through her hair, the wind up here messed it up a lot. “If it's not at the center, then it can be basically anywhere, right...?”

Tsukasa looked down at the crowds thoughtfully. “After all the time we wasted getting here... Ugh, there must be some way to get a direction, but...”

Looking down as well, Emu quickly noticed one peculiar head among the usual kinds of brown and black and blonde and ginger. One that also wore a face mask to hide its identity despite such way of protection not working well with its flashy appearance — that man was definitely Rui!

 Wait-

...but what was he doing here?

“Tsukasa, look!”

Pointing at the man — somehow, Tsukasa didn't notice him — the second doll locked his eyes on the target. “R- Rui!? He's...!”

Rui was making his way over to a a couple in jackets and postman hats, the two next to some carriage with a big pile of boxes near it.

“...What could he be doing down there?”

“Maybe...” Tsukasa had some thought, but it quickly trailed off as he began making his way down with the help of some screw heads peeking out of the pipes going down into the ground.

“W— Wait, Tsukasa-!”

Emu rushed right after the marionette despite his course of action not being the safest, the two hiding behind a box in the corner just close enough to reach the postmen and Rui's speech bubble and not interesting enough for anyone from the outside to look into.

“Good day, Ms. Shiraishi, Mr. Shinonome.” Rui bowed a little. “It's Kamishiro, is my package here?”

“Pretty obvious it's you...” The ginger man — with a little tiny bit of unfitting yellow on his forehead like he tried coloring himself blonde but regretted it almost immediately — of the postman duo scoffed. “Can you not put on a hat or something? Seriously.”

“...I'd like to be done here quick.” The suspicious man looked around, making the dolls get back to hiding again. He got closer to Shinonome, lowering his mask a bit. “Please hand me the package.”

The dark haired woman of the duo rubbed her face with a long sigh. “...You know how scared we were when police came to our house to interrogate us on the fact we worked with you before? Like, not even our company's headquarters, our house.”

“Oh yeah, even saying I was fucking terrified would be an understatement.”

“Higher ups said we shouldn't work with you anymore.”

Shinonome nodded along. “Yeah.”

“Also said we should report you to police whenever possible.”

“Yeah.”

“H-Hey, let's not get too fired up here~! You know I did nothing wrong, right~?”

“Well, we don't know!”

“Yeah!” Shiraishi nodded along.

Rui is in trouble... Emu was worried just like Tsukasa was, but what could they do?

“S...Say, where are the two of you going?”

“Storage. No, we're not picking up your thing, sorry.”

“I'll pay extra!” Rui panicked, searching for any spare change in his pants. “Uh... Hold on, please...”

“This morning will forever haunt my memories...” Shiraishi sighed, picking up one of the boxes right next to Tsukasa and Emu...! “We're really sorry, but neither I not Akito are willing to risk a sentence just for fixing someone's... toy.”

“...Can I at least get the money back?”

Akito crossed his arms. “Sounds mean, but yeah, we kind of have enough problems already...”

Another box has been taken away from the doll duo's hiding spot as the ginger leaned in to grab it. Both looked around in panic. Where else could they run off to? The pipes they traveled on top of were too far from where they are now—

Suddenly, the big man twitched as a loud bark was heard somewhere near.

“Oh- careful, don't drop this one!”

“It's practically glued to my hands, what do you want!?”

“I saw you jump!”

“Was that a puppy just now...?” Emu, given the chance, peeked out to see... a big white fluffy beast run in circles around some woman on the street. She gasped. “Puppy!! A real puppy~!!!”

“Shush, what if it sees us!? This looks more like a dog than it does puppy...!”

“Will we fall if a dog sees us?”

“I never had the misfortune of seeing eye to eye with one, no idea!”

“Hmmm...”

...Here goes nothing!

Seeing a small rock, probably part of the bricked floor, Emu swifty picked it up in both of her light porcelain arms and threw it as far as she could toward the dog... which wasn't too far, it didn't even leave the shadow of the box the dolls were at.

Tsukasa cast a disappointed look down, right at the grey mother of that tiny piece of rubble. “...Now what?”

The impact of that thing was so small Akito didn't even notice it, grasping the last box, until—

The woman the dog circled around previously, one with unremarkable brown hair covered up by an unremarkable detective hat matching her unremarkable detective cosplay gave the big pup a small piece of cloth. Pink silk with... black edges, as far as Emu could see, she remembered having some clothes that looked similar to that. There's gotta be some reason as to why the dog then immediately rushed to the rock Emu threw down, right?

And then... it noticed the dolls.

It even made the scary ginger man stumble on his feet, dropping the box in his hands as fast as possible to then immediately back away from the loud animal barking at him excitedly, its attention now on his interesting reaction to its appearance — absolute horror.

“What the-! Hey, Akito, what are you—?”

“Who the hell let this thing here!?”

“AAAHHHHH I'M SO SORRY, SIR!!”

Peeking out, the doll duo was sure that now is the best chance to escape. But where?

Right after a quick moment of thought, Tsukasa grabbed Emu by the arm and lead her toward the postmen's carriage.

“Calm down, calm down~” The detective cosplayer girl gave her excited dog some pets to chill its furry head while An tried her best to help hold it in place. Thankfully, both were successful. “I deeply apologize, I just don't have a proper search dog and Sumo is all I have... He's not trained that well yet~”

“Ah, Ms. Hanasato?” Rui tapped the girl on the shoulder, at which she almost fell over her little friend tugging on Akito's shoelaces. “Are you done?”

“W-Wah...! Oh- Mr. Kamishiro!” Standing up straight, Minori bowed. “Don't worry, we're still working on your case!”

He shouldn't be worrying about it, the fact that MORE MORE JUSTICE is still working on his incrimination case is troubling in its own way the longer it lives on. “And how it is going...? Have you checked Nene's place already?”

“Speaking of Miss Kusanagi! Erm...” Minori's thumbs looked like they were having a very deep and complicated discussion with each other as they twisted around one another. “It appears that...”

“I picked up the last box already, jump in the carriage, Akito!”

“If your tone there wasn't so unbearable I would've said thanks...”

“Calm down, your voice is still shaking~”

With a couple more passengers hidden in between some bags, the carriage, letting out a rumble as its engine started, began to move away from the Sherlock cosplayer and her criminal kinnie, the two were left talking to themselves despite Rui's immediate panicked reaction to them leaving. He was just about to reach a hand out, but quickly realized how pointless his efforts were.

“...Tsukasa?”

“Wha-?” Meeting Emu's face, the doll of porcelain gave the wooden man a concerned look, one that he immediately turned away from. “...Don't worry, this is better than having no direction at all, at least we have a chance with the storage these guys are going to. Now, hold on tight, we're on the move. I don't know if you know this, but staying still on a moving object is harder than you think.”

“Oh! Uhmmm~ don't worry, I got practice when me and Nene—”

He sighed. “It's nothing...”

The two's ride was left silent after that.

...Is Rui aware Tsukasa is missing? Nene must've noticed her doll's disappearance already, for sure.

Really, he's so... pathetic, Tsukasa is split between "*gasp* He does care to fix me still...!?" and "He's still trying to fix me even though he has collected several criminal charges already and is piss poor and has no job and Nene is also in trouble (partially because of him too)..." and you can definitely see which half outweighs the other.

If only he knew Tsukasa was fine out there... The marionette wondered what would his reaction to his beloved performer entering a state of flesh and blood and bone be.

Thinking about that, he was able to keep his past life's memories at bay, for now.

———

As the carriage came to a halt in a strange place surrounded by tall metallic and rusty buildings with the sky covered in strong fog, the doll duo jumped off as quickly as they could to not get caught in the postmen's sight, hiding beneath their ride for the time being. Chatting about some nonsense the dolls weren't living human enough to understand, they took some empty boxes off their vehicle and walked off into the distance...

“Do we... wait here?”

Tsukasa looked back at his companion, he was trying his best to read their surroundings. “...Why should we?”

“The doll magician said it's best we wait until it gets dark... right?” Emu felt very oppressed by the unfamiliar surroundings. They didn't look welcoming in the slightest... “I mean, we might be small, but just how many people could be inside that big big place?”

“...I'm very impatient now, we have way less time than you think we do! See that grey, uh... thing up at the entrance to that storage?” He meant the folding garage door. “Rui has the same kind of entrance to his house!”

“Woah... neat!”

“NOT! You might be great at working with normal dolls, really do respect your skill, but if this folding metal beast closes down, there's no chance two dolls as small as we are will ever open it up on our own!”

“O-Oh...”

The dolls had a plan: enter building, think of another plan inside, don't get noticed by anyone/anything in the process. Maybe they could try and find some side exit to the storage to enter at night, but with so many carts and people around it would be dangerous to head out freely exploring all around the place. Hopefully it will be easier hiding in boxes inside the storage itself...

Looking left and right like she was about to cross a road, Emu peeked her head from beneath the carriage. “...Let's stick to the right side of that wall and hop from box to box!”

“You know if anyone notices us on the way it's basically over, right?”

“Aww, you're so pessimistic all of the sudden...”

Not a move... It's as if Tsukasa is worried about something completely irrelevant. Maybe it's because of them meeting Rui, he was definitely not doing his best out there.

“Eh!? Emu...?”

Tsukasa's voice sounded much lighter and high pitched... is he really crying again?! That "Eh!?" was really out of character though...

“U-Up there!”

Peeking out from underneath the vehicle, Emu looked up, it took her an embarrassing 5 seconds to realize that the voice she heard wasn't the wooden doll's, but one that belonged to a cloth one instead. That cloth doll was handing down from one of the carriage's doors, wearing a bright yellow dress with two sunflower hair clips attached to the tips of her familiar small blonde twin tails.

“K...KOHANE!?!”

“Wha-? Meeting again already? Didn't you just meet yesterday at the—” After a moment of further thought, another question slipped through Tsukasa's gears as he peeked out as well. “Wait... what are you doing in this post carriage?”

Kohane tilted her head. “What are you doing underneath it?”

“We need to get inside the storage!” Emu picked up and shook around their small package for the doll high up to see. “And deliver this~!”

“Woah... I was worried I'll never get to see you again, but to think you became postmen like An...!”

“Well, we have this deal with-”

“Eh? Who's An?”

“My owner!” The cloth doll smiled wide. “She's the black-haired girl driving this carriage with her friend! And I'm driving with her as her luck charm!”

“Luck charm...!? I didn't know you were a magician~!”

“Ehehe... I'm not, but An feels better when I'm with her, she even thanks me for every good thing that happens to her~... Not gonna lie, it feels a bit weird at times, especially since she also blames her friend for everything else.”

“I never thought of being a luck charm, but it must be nice!” Emu tugged on Tsukasa's arm as he stood there thoughtfully. “Hey, Tsukasa! Do you think Nene and Rui might consider us their luck charms too~?”

“...” The marionette sighed, frowning. They're about to go on about their beloveds again. “Let's get back to the main topic...”

“Oh, yeah-”

“So you don't know how to get into the storage, basically...?” The cloth doll's thin string mouth frowned.

“Yup! ...Do you know how?”

“I'm actually well acquainted with the central storage! I don't go there myself too often, not without An, but I got to see every corner of it, I'm sure. It's even bigger than the museum!” Kohane the storage expert waved one of her cloth hands around in knowledge. “I can lead you while An is out signing papers! We don't... umm, have much time, but where do you need to take your package?”

“There's a hand and some legs inside!!”

“The person who got us this package said there are some train set dolls that ordered this.” Tsukasa explained more proper. “Do you know them or...?”

“Oh, I do! I'm sure who you're getting this for!” Kohane finally dropped down to the ground, her body soft enough to not worry about any kind of fall damage. “There's a part of this storage previously owned by a now closed down toy shop and factory. Lots of their toys were dolls, so at some point the company that owned them was covered in controversy...”

Emu frowned in sympathy. “So they closed down and left everyone to sit there...?”

“It seems so... I don't know everything, me and the storage dolls didn't get to talk much...”

“There's no point being stuck in here, can't everyone just leave the storage?” Tsukasa argued, his tone not too nice for the situation.

“I mean, I'm sure most dolls left, but...”

“...Not the train set dolls?”

Kohane shook her head. “Maybe it has to do with one of them not being able to leave with everyone.”

The delivery doll duo looked at their package again. Well, it must be hard to leave with nothing but a single arm left...

“Then,” Invigorated, Emu raised not only her head up but also a thumbs up. “We're not just helping ourselves it looks like!”

“E...Eh?”

And so, to not lose time, the three went inside the storage, with Tsukasa having to explain everything about their journey to Kohane while Emu looked around in awe at the countless gigantic box structures reaching the very top of the building's ceiling.

As excited as Emu was and as anxious as Tsukasa felt, the two were ready to do good... though one of them was definitely not prepared for what this encounter with the train set dolls would bring.

Chapter Text

Hi

Lots of stuff happened

TLDR: I'm fine, no worries, but I left the prsk fandom. And this fic won't be continued anymore.

I was putting off writing this note for a long while since I didn't want to give up on the fic just yet. I took a hiatus until summer as I was bombarded with stressful stuff from all around me, hoping to come back eventually.

Sadly, even though I'm much better now, my year long passion for the silly clowns has finally met its end.

I feared becoming a yet another author who left their work unfinished and disappointing readers, I know first hand how it feels to see your favorite author go, however, I feel much more afraid of my work becoming dull and dry as my passion dwindles. These 3 years in the project sekai fandom were the best 3 years I've ever had on the internet, and befriending sea creatures took half of that time, wow-

In the end, I think, despite the shame of leaving Doll Rituals to sit on the windowsill like a neglected pot plant, I've made the right choice to finally leave that shame past me. I guess what my artist block needed all this time were some new characters and stories to (not too crazily) obsess over — I've been drawing non stop these days, getting much better at it too with more variety of faces and bodies and such! Feels nice. I've also been much more invested in my own original projects as well!

Well... I'm sure I'm not the only person that moved on from here. My evidence is that half of the people who'd once contacted me on discord for sekai stuff now have honkai star rail profile pictures. Makes me leaving a bit easier on the heart, I guess :)

I'm really sorry that things ended up this way, but I'm sure it's for the best! Thank you for your support and your care for my well-being during my writing journey! Good luck with your own works, be it sekai-related or not!

If you really are reading this now,

Thank you for reading :)

— Sweerly