Chapter 2: Unhidden Secret

Souseiseki´s clear cut answer left Jun speechless. He was staring at her heterochromatic eyes, where he witnessed growing discomfort. He realized how strange his attitude might seem to the girls, so he tried to calm himself with a deep breath. Everyone in the room was so silent, that the noise from the bathroom could be heard. The one who destroyed this heavy atmosphere was Kanaria, who asked the following question.

"Jun, why are you so sure that they should have found something on a trip, I suppose?"

Sakurada averted his gaze from the discouraged doll to the curious one. He was planning on making a comment about Laplace when everyone would be present, but it seems like now was the time to open up a curtain. The boy shook his head lightly and answered.

"No, I did not find anything, but… I met Laplace, and he said that one of you found a clue for a clue to Rozen´s secret, or something along the lines."

Upon hearing the name of the disappeared demon, the girls' gazes were overflowing with surprise.

"La-la-la-laplace, I suppose!?"

"So he is back?..."

"Yes, we met in the N-field."

Jun came closer to the table and took a seat where Suigintou was settling previously, his gaze directed on the passage to the hallway. He was thinking about whether should he continue this conversation further or bring everyone together first. Unravelling this topic when not even the members of all the groups are intact is a rushed decision. Also, all of the girls were probably tired from the trip and readied themself for the meeting with their mediums. There is truly no need to rush, therefore the boy explained his plan to a couple of Rozen Maidens who were located here.

"We will talk about it later. First, you need some rest also Mitsu is probably worrying about you, Kanaria."

Jun smiled at the girl, who until his words looked wearily. She sighed with relief and energetically answered, giving Jun an even bigger smile.

"Thank you very much, I suppose! I have not seen her for a long time. How is she doing, I suppose?"

"Master!"

Suddenly Souseiseki snapped, her appeal was so loud that it made Jun jump in surprise. He thought she was angry at his proposal, but when his gaze fell on the girl, who bowed to him, holding the hat with one hand, he was puzzled. After an instance, Souseiseki continued.

"I am sorry for not living up to your expectations! I will work harder from now on!"

Even though her words were full of dignity and diligence, they only caused a restrained cackle from Jun.

"What are you apologizing for? It was my fault for taking the words of this rabbit too seriously."

At these words, Souseiseki cast her gaze aside, not because she was hiding it from Jun, but for the voice that was heard in a hallway. Small steps were spreading from the staircase, which indicated that someone was going upstairs. After a while, one of the girls returned to the living room, decorating it with her red and green eyes as if they were fairy lights. She is now dressed only in an undershirt, yet her prideful gaze is not shattered in the slightest. The first one being observed by her heavy glare was Sakurada. Her expression seemed indifferent, but after a while, she crossed her hands and cast the gaze aside, snorting. Then she faced Souseiseki and immediately began clinging to her.

"Souseiseki, please, help me fix my hair, desu! Even though this Nori is my medium, she is awful at it… unlike this chibi human, desu."

Her two massive hair drills were indeed not in the best shape, and the only ones who can perfectly fix them are her previous medium Jun and twin sister Souseiseki.

As for the reason why Nori became Suiseiseki´s medium, it happened about half a year ago, when Jun already had contracts with four Rozen Maidens. Souseiseki and Kirakishou were technically bound with Jun from the unwound world. They were not able to take his energy due to being in different realities, one of which does not contain Rozen Maidens, but since Jun from the wound and unwound worlds were technically the same person, they were able to take his energy. The situation resulted in the exhaustion of Sakurada´s body with additional Hinaichigo´s and Suiseiseki´s contracts, studies at school, and research. One time Jun even ended up in hospital.

It was decided that half of his contracts must be rearranged for different people. Tomoe again became Hinaichigo`s medium, which did not end up happening without the examination of Hina. One time, she already drained Tomoe to a nearly unrecoverable state thus they had to be sure if it would not happen again. Luckily, everything was fine, Tomoe and Hina were able to contain a stable contract. As for Suiseiseki, it was hard to decide who of the three had to break the contract with Jun, but since both Souseiseki and Kirakishou were contracted by unwound Jun, they were not sure if it would somehow affect people or dolls` state. Suiseiseki became an extra element in this bizarre system, therefore it was decided that she had to make a contract with the only other person who was aware of Rozen Maidens existence, Sakurada Nori. No need to say how spiteful she was about this decision, but through the tears, struggles, and persuasion she gave up and followed their plan. After such an occurrence, though, she began to look strangely at Kirakishou, whose portions of a meal were mysteriously getting smaller every time she looked away…

But the most surprising aspect of this contractor's reshuffle was Suigintou´s request of Jun becoming one for her. This plea caught everyone off guard, even Suigintou shortly after ditched her own statement, giving unconvincing excuses. Still, there was an attempt and the reason for it is a mystery for the company to this day.

Though, saying that she was not cooperating with the group would be an overstatement. Despite her negative relationship with Shinku, she was actively trying to bring her little sister back to life. Troubles would occur only if someone would mention her lack of medium or say a particular woman´s name out loud. Every time such a scenario came true, further teamwork with Suigintou was impossible.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Shortly after Souseiseki started to fix her twin´s hair, the one who entered the room next was Nori with Kirakishou in her hands. Their appearances contrasted not only by their bodies but also by their mood. Kirakishou finally calmed down and was looking upon everyone with a bright smile, which made Kanaria audibly relieved. Nori, on the other hand, was gloomy with tiredness. It seemed like a school day combined with noisy girls sucked all her energy.

"I am clean again, master!"

"Mhm, very happy for you…"

Nori placed Kirakishou on the floor, and she immediately ran to Jun with Kanaria, asking a question.

"When are we going to visit the older master?"

"A bit later, he is probably still working with a theatre troupe."

"Mmm, but what should I do now then?"

Her face abruptly grew dim as she glanced from one side to another in an attempt to find Hinaichigo, but the girl was already upstairs. Jun knew exactly what Hina was doing in his room, so he did not want to interrupt her, but what to do with Kirakishou?

All of a sudden, Kanaria started talking, making a good point.

"We were off for quite a long time, I suppose. So there might be new episodes of Kun-kun!"

A smile returned to Kirakishou, and her eye sparkled with interest. Kanaria descended from the chair, took Kirakishou by hand and started marching towards the TV. Kanaria twisted her head a little so that Jun could see the confident smile on her face. Her suggestion was indeed a success, not only did it take the attention of Kirakishou, but also struck Suiseiseki who tried her best to not show any interest. Yet, the words which slipped from the sharp tongue made her excitement clear.

"You are going to watch this cartoon again, desu? Well, since I can't go anywhere right now, I will join you."

A quiet giggle could be heard, coming out of Souseiseki´s lips. Suiseiseki tried to face her with an annoyed face, but the point of interest was vastly overtaken by the noisy TV. Instead of the children show, the channel was showing a weather broadcast. Kanaria, who was holding a remote control, proceeded with changing channels, and soon enough she had found a long-awaited TV show.

Everything went back to normal if only Shinku could enjoy the show with everyone else. She missed quite a few new episodes… A melancholic sigh came out of Jun's mouth. He stood up from the chair and quietly sneaked into the corridor. There, he quickly glanced over the dark hall but did not notice anyone. Jun started walking upwards, and with every step, an excited voice, coming from his private area, was growing louder. Soon enough, he reached the dark wooden door, the only entrance to his personal realm. Who could be so bold as to enter the boy's room without permission? Jun glanced through the small gap between the door and frame but did not enter inside. The reason for it was a small girl, who energetically with a bright smile was talking to a sleeping Shinku. Jun did not want to interrupt Hinaichigo's routine of visiting her older sister.

From the end of the Alice Game and its new unknown beginning, Hinaichigo was talking with Shinku on a daily basis. Even after the formation of a contract with Tomoe, she never missed a chance to see Shinku again and tell her everything she has been through throughout the day. Everyone knew about her new habit, but it was not seen as something strange. Hinaichigo, like anyone else around, knew the cost of her demise. They were thankful to the winner of the Alice Game but at the same time bore a strong sense of guilt. Every Rozen Maiden occasionally spoke with a supposedly "normal" doll, thanking her, grieving over her, or even begging for forgiveness… Hinaichigo was the most diligent in this regard, and the topics for endless monologues were not restricted in the slightest. If Shinku is still able to hear everyone, then Hinaichigo is her main informer about the world on the other side of an eternal dream.

Jun is now standing quietly, his back is leaning towards the wall, and his eyes are closed. He is listening to the words of a child about a great adventure she had with her egocentric sister. Even though it might seem like a bad idea to let living dolls all by themself on the other side of the globe, but there is a reason why they could act with significant freedom. And this reason is the people who were Rozen Maiden´s medium in either near or distant past. Hinaichigo and Suiseiseki were residing in Odille´s house in France. At first, they were concerned about asking for a place of residence, such a manner could be considered rude, but it appeared that not only Odille but other relatives were happy to see Rozen maidens in their place, thus it was decided to contact the relatives of mediums for every group. Luckily, there were plenty of such relatives in Europe, but the knowledge about Rozen Maiden existence did not apply to every person. Several times, Sakurada had to blush after receiving an answer from the dumbfounded people, who thought that he was either an online troll or tried to scam them. And serious language barrier made all the matters even worse because he had to translate every reply slowly, piecing together whether they knew about Rozen Maiden or not. In the end, he found just a few people who could take in stray girls, but it was more than enough.

Fortunately, all inconvenience was in the past, and the only matter he has to pay attention to is the energetic words of Hinaichigo, who was describing her path in a long monologue.

"We were staying with Odille for so long! It was such a shame that we could not play this much, but I was so happy to meet her and her family they were very kind to us. They even showed us old maps of their town and told us a bit of its history… but nothing about our father. We visited several museums, and Odille´s father brought so many books from the archive that my head still hurts from these hard words. It was relieving to speak in french again, but I was tired out pretty quickly because of the research. But it is nothing. We will bring you back, Shinku, no matter what! Oh, also Suiseiseki is so mean! Before our departure, she decided to have a walk near the lake. I accidentally pushed her into it, but it was an accident! There was no need to smudge my dress… and it was her idea to go there in the first place!"

So that's what happened there… - thought to himself Jun while listening to Hinaichigo´s story. He did not have a chance to ask for a more detailed report from every group. He cooled down after one rather unpleasant revelation and started to scroll Laplace´s words in his head over and over again. There must be a reason for his weird phrasing "Clue for a clue". If he can believe dubious words of this demon, then the gear for the mechanism called "New game" must be so small that not even Rozen Maidens could consider it for a clue. Every bit of information from this week-long trip must be taken into consideration, but the whole discussion and speculation shall start after everyone have some rest.

Jun jerked his head, facing the ceiling, his thoughts diverted from uncanny rabbit to more trivial stuff like food and recreation. The school day was relatively long today, and he only ate in the morning. Until this moment, Jun was ignoring the gluttonous calls of his stomach, but now is a perfect opportunity to refill his energy. He made one step towards the staircase, which lead to the kitchen, but his body froze on this one step. He noticed a girl so small that the one must descend his sight to the floor to meet her gaze.

The one standing in front of him was Souseiseki, whose top hat somehow compensated the height of a doll. She bestowed Jun with a light bow, and with a soft smile, continued her way to the entrance of Jun´s room. He was ready to remark the current occupation of this place, but it was not needed because Souseiseki only peeped into the room.

After a while, she faced Jun yet again and silently said.

"Again, the first one to meet Shinku."

Ignoring the smile on Souseiseki´s face, Jun felt the weight of sadness and concern in her words. Jun nodded.

"Yes, and this is not that surprising… hope we will bring her back very soon."

Souseiseki directed her gaze to the door, where the words of her younger sister could be heard. After several seconds a faint breath came out from her mouth, and she faced Jun again.

"I hope the words of Laplace were the truth, another way it will be too cruel."

"...Unfortunately, we can not be absolutely sure about it, but, hey! At least there must be a reason for his appearance. He did not show himself for an entire year after all."

"This is true."

Words of consolation are like sweet poison. Despite being toxic for your body and mind, you would want to gulp more of it until it will lead you to demise… Jun understood it well but could not help himself and kept believing in the best. Suddenly, he felt a gentle gust of wind with his face, which came from an open window. He came closer to the end of the hallway to close it but noticed something falling from above. It was a jet black feather matching one of crow. The presence of these menacing but smart birds should not be surprising to anyone, yet Jun pulled his head out of the window, facing the cyan sky. Souseiseki gave him a questioning look, as anyone would do. What on Earth was he trying to examine? The answer to such a question is residing just above his sight. There were a pair of slender and tiny legs covered with black boots. Jun immediately recognised the one sitting on a roof and called out to her.

"Suigintou? What are you doing here?"

After his words, the legs stopped jiggling and disappeared from his view, giving place to the cute and cold face of the girl. Her crimson eyes are glowing from the sunlight, white hair is hanging from the roof in patches, and her facial expression is of a displeased one. With slight irritation in her tone, she said.

"Guess it was bold to assume that such a stalker as yourself would not find me here."

"Sta- Hey! What is this for?"

"Laplace came back after all, huh."

Jun gasped but did not stutter.

"So you were listening to our dialogue? And I am the one being called a stalker."

"Silence, human, better tell me when you will open up your little secret to everyone else."

Despite her rude disposition, her sense of the matter around her is astonishing. Without giving a hint, she grasped the planning of a serious discussion in the near future. At first, Jun was ready to inform Suigintou about his plans, but now the sour aftertaste from her words gave birth to stubbornness in his head. He hesitated for a moment, which lead to the conversation being overtaken by Souseiseki. She jumped on the windowsill and jerked her head to face Suigintou.

"We will have a meeting after everyone will receive some rest. I will call you myself."

Souseiseki´s expression was stiff as if she performed on a business meeting. After her explanations, Suigintou only sighed and hid her face behind the roof, saying: "How boring… but do as you please."

"Hey, wait!"

Yelled Jun, but no answer followed his request. Suigintou´s presence was erased, leaving him with only Souseiseki by his side. It would be better if everyone were in his reach, but the first doll, as always, was acting on her own, as a prideful stray cat. It was inconvenient for Sakurada, but a determined gaze of Souseiseki, which he caught in the corner of his sight, was somewhat relieving. In the end, the ones who understood Suigintou the best were her own sisters.

As Jun was about to comment on Suigintou´s attitude, a door quietly opened behind his back and drew the attention of Souseiseki. He turned around to witness an intruder, who was dressed in pink. Her eyes were still directed to the scenery in Jun´s room, and the mood seemed to be dull, but when the door shut completely, she remained standing in front of it, practically shedding tears.

"Hinaichigo."

The one who called her was Souseiseki. Hina slightly gasped upon hearing her own name, but when she faced her older sister, her arm quickly wiped out the tears, giving place to a big smile that could not hide the red spots in the corners of her eyes.

"Souseiseki!... And Jun! I did not know you were here, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Souseiseki came closer to Hinaichigo and hugged her tightly. While waving her tiny hands, Hinaichigo asked in a surprised manner.

"S-s-souseiseki, why are you!?"

"It's ok. You do not need to hold it inside, Hinaichigo."

Souseiseki´s words were relaxing and a bit quiet. Even Jun´s ears barely caught them. He jerked his glasses and went towards the staircase to give some time to the girls. Upon passing Souseiseki and Hinaichigo he said.

"We will be watching "Kun-kun" in the living room. Come when you will finish"

Instead of expected excitement, only silence was present in the hall. Soon enough, when the boy reached the stairs, he could hear sobbing coming from Hinaichigo, which gradually overgrew into crying.

"Shinku… Shinku… I want to talk to her once again. I want her to come back… Shinku…"

Such were the last words Jun heard before descending to the living room. Hinaichigo´s self-blame was squeezing down his heart, giving him even stronger resolve to finally begin Laplace´s game.

Jun came to the living room, where a high pitched scream could be heard shortly after his arrival. The boy was taken aback, holding his heart and feeling the increasing beat rate. Soon he realized that the shout was coming from the TV, which made him exhale in relief. He came closer to the sofa where three dolls and a sleeping Nori were residing.

"Hey-"

"Sssshhh!"

Jun was about to make a noise complaint but was interrupted by Suiseiseki. She squinted her eyes at the boy and hissed at him, holding one finger in front of her lips. With an annoyed expression, he was watching over Suiseiseki, Kanaria and Kirakishou, who were too invested in children show, which resulted in ignorance about their surroundings. Jun looked around and noticed a TV remote on the sofa´s arm with Nori's head near it. He casually grabbed the remote controller and turned off the TV, cutting off Kun-kun´s words: "Considering all the evidence, the culprit must be…" Fading…

"Eh, who is the culprit, I suppose!?"

"J-JUN, DESU!"

"Kyaa!"

From all the ramble once asleep Nori returned to reality with a frightened squeak.

"Oh, and this woke you up, but not the TV."

"Why have you done it!? You shorty, desu!"

Saying this, Suiseiseki crawled closer to Jun on the sofa's back. Afterwards, she cunningly snatched the remote from his hand, which resulted in her falling from the sofa. Jun reacted to this situation immediately and caught the girl midair. Suiseiseki´s eyes were squinted, and upon opening them, she witnessed Jun´s face. A slight blush appeared on her face. Suiseiseki shook her head, swaying long brown hair which flew into Jun's face. Suiseiseki escaped from his hands and returned on the sofa, hiding behind Kanaria's back, which was an unusual sight.

"Master, why would you be so cruel…?"

"We were so close to the resolution, I suppose!... Not that I do not know who was the culprit, though."

"Were you not the one, saying that you are not interested in this children show?"

"This- We are talking about you, I suppose! Pizzicato!"

Now Kanaria was mad at him as well, calling for her artificial spirit, a bright yellow spark, which was flying energetically around her head. This wild spirit dance resulted in agast of light that took the form of an umbrella. She hid herself, Suiseiseki and supposedly Kirakishou from Jun's sight behind the lush yellow cloth. Shortly after, the TV was turned on yet again, but now it was showing the start of a new episode.

Jun sighed tiredly and glanced over Nori, who was now sitting on a couch, looking over the girls in confusion. She noticed the heavy gaze of her brother and quietly asked him with noticeable drowsiness in her tone.

"What's the matter, Jun? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, no-no, just…"

He hesitated for a moment but continued expressing his train of thoughts.

"About what happened in the morning… I am sorry for what I said back then."

Upon hearing his apology, Nori was looking at him with clear confusion and a slight distrust. She was not doubting Jun's words, but rather her own ears. The girl began turning her head from side to side, but no one near was found, which resulted in her pointing with a thin finger at herself. Jun snorted in displeasure and stated.

"Yes, I am talking to you. Quit this reaction! You make me look like a narcissist!"

"J-u-u-u-u-n!"

Groaned Nori and hurriedly jumped off the sofa with tears coming from her eyes. She came closer to her little brother in an attempt to hug him tightly. Jun, on the other hand, was not happy with this idea at all, he outstretched his arm, which bumped into Nori's face. Annoyed, Jun kept pushing her back, but his physical condition was rather poor compared to his older sister with a sporty hobby, thus he fell victim to unwanted hugs full of tears.

"Get away from me, you idiot! What are you doing?"

"You apologized, Jun, apologized! You are finally growing out of this period!"

"Wh-what period, dammit, I said let me go!"

And while siblings were occupied with a bizarre mixture of fighting and tenderness, the three other entities were quietly observing the scene by peeking out their heads from the sofa´s back. A series of elegant cackles like the sparrow's squeaks could be heard, which were all caught by Jun's keen ears.

"What are you laughing at!? Help me!"

But nobody answered, so nothing prevented sweet cuddles, until Nori herself was tired of them. Only a sense of drowsiness and a bitter taste of defeat remained in Jun's body which was lying on the carpet, seemingly dead inside.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

A while later, Jun recovered from Nori's assault and was once again on his legs. A sheer disgust could be read in his eyes whenever he was looking at his own sister, but Nori neverminded it at all, answering to the wordless condemnation with an innocent smile, which further dyed the boy´s head into deeper tones of red.

Souseiseki and Hinaichigo finally arrived, the one was happy and energetic as always, and the other's face was glowing with an oddly restrained pride. As if Souseiseki hesitated on whether she should act as if she achieved something or not. Jun, though, was the only one who noticed Souseiseki's strange attitude, because everyone else was having fun. Even Sakurada's temper has been softened upon seeing Hinaichigo's happy smile.

After dozens of Kun-kun episodes, it was finally time to meet up with other Rozen Maiden mediums. Jun's prime target was himself but from the unwound world. He called out for Kirakishou, who enthusiastically jumped into his arms and playfully started purring like a cat, which provoked giggles from his mouth. He disappeared into the storage practically without anyone noticing. Only Nori, despite her bad eyesight, conducted her little brother with a soft glare. Even though for any Rozen Maiden Jun remained his old, a bit harsh, but kind self, in the span of these hollow weeks, Nori witnessed her brother in his worst. She truly was happy for the return of determination and spark in his eyes as if he managed to find something… At least so she thought.

Jun and Kirakishou were floating through the N-field, with their destination being a parallel universe where Rozen Maidens do not exist. At first, the trip was accompanied by a pleasant silence. Both were observing the place with totally different moods. Kirakishou was struck with the feeling of loneliness and a strange nostalgia. The main time of her existence was spent here without contact with any other Rozen Maiden or even her own body. Such a pitiful state brought the youngest of the girls into a state of eternal jealousy, which could be comprehended as madness. Even though she was not able to interact with her sisters, Kirakishou was looking over them, contemplating their moments of happiness, anger, and grief, which further strengthened her envy… Fortunately, upon entering the past tense, everything remains there, even the most outrageous feelings. She finally got everything she desired, and the time passing by only healed Kirakishou's deep wounds.

Jun, on the other hand, was frantically flouncing his head from left to right, not to find someone, but rather in the hope of not catching sight of HIM. The boy was still paranoid about Laplace, whom he met just today, and since Kirakishou was sinking in her own thoughts all this time, she could not ask for his strange behaviour, thus Sakurada continued surveillance surroundings.

Suddenly, the boy caught a sound of humming which passed his left ear. He turned his head, prepared for the worst, but nothing scary happened beside him. The one humming a familiar song was Kirakishou. With her closed eye, she tilted her head from left to right as if the actual music was playing in her head. Jun did not interrupt her but kept listening. Soon enough remembered the culprit who left this peaceful melody in his head.

"Ah, Kanaria!"

"Hm?"

He accidentally uttered the name of a musician out loud, which put a stop to Kirakishou's hummings. She glanced over the boy with confusion to which Jun immediately explained himself.

"Sorry, it's nothing. I just thought that this melody was familiar, and I remembered that Kanaria played it."

"You are right, master. This song was performed by sister Kanaria. She used to play her violin a lot during our investigation, and she is really good at it!"

Kirakishou gave a childish smile which contrasted with her gloomy state a couple of minutes ago, Jun, though, being trapped in his thoughts, was clueless about this sudden change.

"Oh, this is the door!"

Said Kirakishou, despite pointing at the lonely mirror, which was placed not that far away from the couple. Upon entering the reflective surface, they finally reached the house of the unwound Jun.

With a thud, they both fell into the bathtub, which made Jun's heart skip a beat. Thankfully, no one was here at this particular moment.

"This would be awkward if he were there… this mirror definitely should be moved elsewhere."

"W-who is here!?"

Suddenly another voice spread, and the door into the bathroom was harshly opened. In the aisle stood a man whose hair is brown and eyes are green, yet his face, especially so familiar bags under his eyes, is a matured copy of Jun´s. His left hand was occupied with wrapped newspaper as if he was ready to fight with it, but after some time of examination, the cautious face loosened, giving place to a surprised expression.

"The younger me?!"

"Yo, long time no see." - said Jun, waving his hand from an uncomfortable position.

"Master… it hurts."

The quiet murmur was performed by Kirakishou, who fell from the mirror before the boy, which resulted in her tiny body being under the pressure of a human's weight. Jun hurriedly tried to get on his feet both his hands were put on the bathtub rim, but as the boy was ready to push his body upwards, the older himself came closer and picked him up as if Jun was a cat. A sense of helplessness spread in his head, which made him understand Suiseiseki's salty attitude from before, but the boy restrained himself from complaints.

"Kirakishou, you are also here!"

"Ah!-"

Kirakishou got up on her two, straightened the white ruffled dress and elegantly bowed to the adult Jun.

"I am pleased to meet you again, my master. It's truly been a while!"

It would be a sight to bear if the act would not be shown in a bathtub. Because of this, the only answer to her words was a restrained cackle from adult Jun.

"Eh…? What is wrong? Jun, have I done something wrong?"

Kirakishou turned her worried face to the young Jun, who was pitifully staring at her. Such a reaction plunged her into more doubts. This resulted in both Juns explaining the lack of elegance in greeting in this kind of place, which made the girl more disappointed in herself.

Later, the three of them moved from the bathroom to the small and only room in adult Jun´s occupation. Young Jun was surprised to see a new laptop on his table, which became a topic of interest for Kirakishou as well.

"Master, I do not remember seeing it before. What is it?"

"Oh, this is a laptop, just a portable computer, if to be franker."

"Why it looks so… strange?"

Despite having knowledge of such technology, young Jun was still astonished by the looks of this gadget. It was not too different from the ones he saw in the tech shops, but still more sci-fi. Adult Jun enthusiastically opened a laptop and with a childishly prideful expression started to describe it.

"Glad you noticed it, this is a new model which came out this year. This boy is pretty powerful, I am using it for studies and games. I had to save a lot of money to buy it, but never regretted this purchase!... Oh, you can't even know about it, you are from the past, right… Well, I can just say that this laptop is superior to the computer I, well, you have."

"Wait, really!?"

"Yes, here I will launch Crysis to prove it… no, wait, it came out three years ago, and you are 5 years younger. Hm, how about Resident Evil 4?"

"I do not like it, but would you really be able to launch it on this?"

"Just watch, scaredy-cat."

While being observed by annoyed young Jun, adult Jun outstretched his index finger towards the power button of his laptop, but soon he froze because of a loud sigh behind his back. It was Kirakishou who was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. By the look of loneliness, it was clear that the girl felt out of place, so Jun closed the laptop and faced his younger himself.

"Actually, this will wait. First of all… it's been truly a while since I saw you, Kirakishou and me. I am glad you came back again."

Kirakishou jerked her head and witnessed a welcoming smile on the face of an adult Jun. She stood up and quietly got closer to Jun. A faint blush could be seen on her face, but soon it was hidden behind unwound Jun´s body because the girl hugged his arm and said.

"I missed you, master. I am sorry for being so useless for you."

Then Jun, while stroking her peach coloured hair, gave an answer: "No-no, you should not apologize. In the end, you are helping Shinku, and even if you were here it is not like you would be able to move."

These words of comfort were enough to cheer up Kirakishou. Upon viewing a peeking smile on her face, young Jun felt the warmth within his body. It was a blissful sight of a long-awaited reunion of Rozen Maiden and her medium, but the mention of one detail by adult Jun forced younger himself to interrupt this sweet momentum.

"I am sorry to interrupt you, but…"

Jun and Kirakishou synchronously directed their gazes towards younger Jun. He hesitated for a moment but then asked older himself.

"Have you found anything about Rozen Maiden, me?"

Adult Jun looked down on Kirakishou with his face full of uncertainty. He removed his hand from the girl´s head and opened a table drawer where a bunch of papers and notebooks were scattered around. Most of these belongings are the product of his studies in university, but he still took out one notebook without the headline. Then, Jun held it out towards younger himself and spoke.

"Aside from the reference to the kind-hearted queen from one German poem, I was not able to find any information regarding doll series "Rozen Maiden". It was such a pain in the ass, honestly! Especially with the search on European services. I also contacted that Kanaria´s medium, Mitsu Kusabe, and she did not know anything about Rozen Maiden either… but was very passionate to know more."

"Yeah, she is like that. And regarding language struggle… I totally understand you."

Both Jun´s from different realities were invested into some research, but the main topics rapidly differed from one another. If one was trying to find the recipe for Rosa Mystica creation, the other was searching for evidence of Rozen Maiden existence. At first, due to Kirakishou´s antagonism, they did not pay enough attention to the bizarre diversity between the wound and unwound worlds. For some unknown reasons, adult Jun´s choice affected the world itself, and the existence of Rozen Maiden was erased. Even people, who were mediums in the wound world, did not receive an invitation to become one in this reality. This matter was too suspicious to be overlooked, thus adult Jun received a mission to find Rozen Maiden in the unwound world. No need to say that his objective was impracticable.

"Still, it is strange how my choice affected the world so much… as if my involvement in Alice Game gave life to it…"

Young Jun directed the look at his hands in concern. Just one thought of choosing the other option and losing his chance of meeting Rozen Maiden… not even that, but a chance of erasing their whole existence provoked a shiver down his spine. They were the reason he and many other people went through changes. The weight of responsibility, he never acknowledged, sat on the boy´s weak shoulders. Luckily, his uncertainty was witnessed by two allies, and they immediately tried to loosen his sense of fear.

"Master, it is better to not dwell on it. In the end, your decision made many people happier… and I am among them."

"Me either, also I am the one who made the supposedly wrong choice and am doing totally fine. If other people would not know of their fate of becoming Rozen Maiden medium in the first place, they would not even think that something is wrong, right?"

Adult Jun lightly hit the back of the younger himself with his palm and proceeded to talk, showing a confident smile.

"Just take a look at me. Do I resemble someone with regrets?"

Upon seeing the dyed hair and green eyes, with contact lenses, of older himself, Jun narrowed his brows. This sign of disrespect was noticed by adult Jun, and a wry smile overtook his face. Before younger Jun had a chance to say anything, the older himself made a neck grip and started stroking his hair with the fist.

"I know what you were about to say, damn brat! There is no point in overthinking about it, you hear me!?"

"Yes I do, dammit, let me go!"

It was not forceful stroking at all but rather a soft one. Adult Jun understood the gap between his and his previous self´s physical power, which led to absolutely toothless teasing from his side. Young Jun, despite the words of annoyance, was deep down thankful for the received support. There is truly no point in overthinking about the past. Only present and future must stay the matter of his interest.

Jun somehow escaped the grip of his older self, and upon hearing Kirakishou`s giggle, he playfully took a fighting stance. The determined smile returned to the boy´s face, and he said, wiggling his hand.

"Come any closer, and you will feel the might of Rozen´s power!"

Older Jun burst out laughing and raised his hands.

"Please, don't, I beg your forgiveness!"

Young Jun quit his fighting stance and closed his eyes in thoughts. He was standing in the middle of the room humming, but then his brown eyes opened, and an index finger of his right arm was pointed at older Jun. With an arrogant tone, he said.

"Alright, for now, I will let you go with only a slight punishment. Kirakishou, punish him!"

The girl could not restrain her laughter for a while, but after receiving a command she tried her best to play along. Her only eye lay on the older Jun, whose expression held the surprise.

"Yes, my master, your sentence will be carried out right away."

After these words, a bunch of white vines appeared out of nowhere and slowly started to move towards dumbfounded older Jun. He stepped back and gave a loud objection.

"Hey, it's unfair, stop it!"

But before the vines could reach his body, a strong thud was made to the wall. The three of them jumped in surprise and began examining one another. But after a few seconds, the voice of the culprit could be heard outside of adult Jun´s apartment. With a hoarse voice, a presumably elder woman yelled out her annoyance.

"Shut up, kids!"

"Oh, crap…"

Whispered older Jun and cast his gaze towards younger himself. Seems like it was the time for adult Jun´s first noise complaint, which they both understood. Young Jun bowed apologetically and sat down on the floor with a grim expression. Adult Jun did the same, but instead of bowing just sighed wearily. But the only doll in this room was clueless about the laws. She witnessed the fall of happiness on both of her masters´ faces. Kirakishou narrowed her brows and was ready to scream back at the lady but was interrupted by Jun`s arm on her mouth.

"What are you doing!?"

"This lady… she has stolen the fun from you, master!"

"It's ok, we are at the wrong here."

Kirakishou spitefully glared at the wall where the thud came from but did not do anything afterwards. As both of her masters´, she sat down, hugging her knees. This way, the noisy reunion was burned down by an outsider, leaving the place only for quiet talks. At first, their interest in discussion was adult Jun's life. He finished his first year of study at university. There Jun was studying economics which already helped in his promotion at the Takiwa Book store. The previous manager, Yamaguchi, was fired due to his incompetence, but the new manager was lacking experience. Therefore they required experienced Jun´s help. That resulted in the company board setting an eye on Jun, which basically resulted in a guaranteed working spot after the university.

His newly established hobby at the drama troupe progressed rapidly. At first, Jun was only helping them with decorations, but later his sewing talent was discovered and exploited. However, he did not mind it. In the beginning, though, Jun was concerned, but praise from the troupe's side established confidence in this regard. The mastery which was forgotten in the past returned to him as if he always engaged in it.

Aside from these accomplishments, there were not many changes in Jun´s adulthood, which lead to the point of discussion softly diverting from himself to Kirakishou´s journey. Adult Jun glared at his Rozen Maiden, who all this time listened attentively to his story. His sudden gaze took Kirakishou by surprise, and she unintentionally averted her only eye. But not for too long, with the reason being adult Jun´s question.

"Anyway, enough about me. Kirakishou, I would love to hear about your journey with Kanaria to… Austria?"

"Y-yes, we were in Austria, my master… did not we decide to discuss it later?"

The question was directed towards young Jun, to which he only shook his head and gave permission to talk.

"It is fine, not that other me will be in present during our discussion."

"Discussion, huh?..."

"Not a big deal, just a chat about girls adventures after some rest."

Adult Jun appeared to be suspicious of their wordings, but younger Jun made a satisfying explanation to it… The reason for him not explaining the entire situation is the lack of adult Jun´s involvement in this situation. Even though Jun really wants to open up Laplace´s words, this will only give a burden to adult Jun, the realization of him being an outsider. Also, Kirakishou is clueless about the demons return as well, her finding out about the details might set the girl into a state of unrest and all of that during the decided "vacation". This train of thoughts left Jun with only one option, staying quiet and analyzing Kirakishou´s words in advance.

"I think it is time for me to start the story… well… we were in Austria, spent the nights in possessions of sister Kanaria´s previous holders. These people were really nice to us, not even questioning our appearance… I felt a bit lonely. It seemed like I was an outsider, which was close to the truth. In the end, I participated only in the conclusion of Alice Game, if-"

"-Kirakishou…"

Both Jun´s exhaled at the exact moment, but the one who cut her off earlier was young Jun. She ascended her gaze to see the concerned faces of her masters, who are basically the same person. After seconds of realization, she covered her mouth with the hand, her flower in the eye socket faltered a bit.

"Oh, my apologies, I did not mean to whine about it. After all, it's the past."

She removed her hand, exposing a soft smile on her face, which silently stated the lack of need for concern. With a significantly positive, maybe a bit forced, tone Kirakishou proceeded to speak.

"Firstly, we dived into archives with sister Kanaria to find out about people named or called Rozen. I was struggling in the beginning, due to a lack of knowledge of the German language, but I learned it quite easily."

After these words, the tension in the room was suddenly heated up. It was the jealousy of both two boys towards the dolls´ capability of learning a new language on a whim. A teardrop running down both Juns´ cheeks was a good indication of their trauma. After burying themself in dictionaries and wrong translations, they surely dreamed about this kind of power. Kirakishou, though, did not notice a change in the atmosphere, and continued speaking.

"There was no information about father in the books at all. We visited plenty of places, but there was none, even in the archives of Vienna. But despite sister Kanaria and myself being tired, we continued the research in the history books, folks and even urban legends… During the whole trip, there was one strange occurrence, but I suspect my eye deceived me. Not only Kanaria but both Pizzicato and Holie did not react to THAT thing whatsoever."

"What is this thing you are talking about?" - Asked mysteriously adult Jun.

Kirakishou kept silent for a moment, but after some visible hesitation, she thoughtfully answered.

"It happened in a park where a cat attacked me. There was a man with a face of a tuna. He reminded me of Mr Rabbit, despite being much uglier."

A shiver ran down young Jun´s spine upon hearing her statement. Subconsciously he prepared himself for any information regarding Laplace, but another mysterious creature took him by surprise. A man with a tuna face… What could it possibly be?

"Tuna faced man?..."

The question, which resided in younger Jun´s head, came out of older himself´s lips. He was not scared or deep in thoughts, just a bit confused. Kirakishou started to stroke her twintails, clearly doubting her own words. At last, she said with slight embarrassment in her tone.

"Sadly, I can't tell for sure… tuna, salmon, bass, mackerel all the fish is the same for me. Slippery and uncanny."

"Wha- no! Are you sure about what you saw? What was this thing doing?"

Suddenly, said out loud younger Jun. He leaned towards Kirakishou, demonstrating his shocked expression. The girl, at first, examined him with her mouth open, but after a while, she began explaining with a sense of distrust on her small face.

"It was peeking on us behind the tree, but as soon as I noticed its fishy face, I rubbed my eye and… it was gone. Later on, I examined that place and asked sister Kanaria and artificial spirits if they had seen him, but there were zero traces of its existence."

She outstretched her right arm, and a bright red dot flew out of her sleeve and soared the air as if dancing. It was moving from right to left, supposedly indicating the negative answer. After Shinku´s Rosa Mystica shattered, Holie was left alone on its own. Usually, they follow that Rozen Maiden who absorbed Rosa Mystica of their previous owner, but since it was broken, girls were not sure about its further activity. Soon enough, Holie started following Kirakishou, the only Rozen Maiden without artificial spirit, which resolved the situation. Holie was a great partner for the one girl who did not know much about the real world. This spirit on the pair with Kirakishou´s sisters were helping her to get familiar with the previously unseen universe.

Just a thought that such an attentive spirit would not notice the uncommon occurrence makes it look like it truly was Kirakishou´s imagination. Jun, though, could not overlook it, since Laplace already made his move. The possibility of a connection between this demon and the unknown creature is low but not zero.

Jun stood up, clenching his fists. He turned his head to older himself, who was giving him a dumbfounded glare.

"What happened, me? You look a bit pale."

"...Um, I just do not feel well after the lack of sleep and school, so I think we will be going for now."

"Master?"

"We will give you a visit next time, so be prepared at any moment!"

A confident smile and frisky words drove the attention of adult Jun to younger himself. He narrowed his brows in distrust but eventually bowed and said.

"Alright then, have a safe trip."

Jun was not sure if hiding anything from himself is effective at all. In the end, they are the same person and should understand each other better than anyone else. Even if adult Jun was not trying to pull out the truth from him, young Jun felt that at least the surface of his secrets are known to older himself. And the words he said before their departure to the N-field convinced Jun even more.

"Do not overwork yourself, me…"

Inside the embodiment of incertitude, N-field, the place no person would ever hear him, Jun whispered.

"You are not questioning me because I would not either, huh."

Despite being silent, his words were overheard by Kirakishou, but she did not question his mumbling. In the end, only Jun knows the thoughts of Jun, so further unrest is rather pointless. Also, she had another topic to sink her thoughts into…

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Jun and Kirakishou reached and entered the mirror, which leads to Sakurada house´s storage room. Judging by the darkness which shined outside the windows, it was late evening or even night. Luckily, the lights inside the room were turned on, which made the hike through the junk scattered around much easier. With his ears, Jun caught several voices outside the room and upon seeing Kirakishou´s concentrated face, he was assured about the odd amount of them. Raising one brow, Jun slowly opens the door and peeps outside with Kirakishou, residing in his arms. In the living room, Jun noticed not only all Rozen Maidens, but also several people whom he knew. Nori, Tomoe, even Mitsu were sitting by the table and having a discussion with each other.

"And here are our late guests."

A door was suddenly pulled, which practically made Jun fall on the floor. The boy raised his head, and his eyes were struck by the dark figure with jet black wings, who was soaring above the ground. It was Suigintou with a feather in her right hand and a cheeky smile on her face.

"You… what is happening here?"

Suigintou narrowed her brows until eyes were completely hidden under her eyelids. A disappointed sigh departed her lips, and the girl said while being observed in front and behind.

"What a foolish question to ask, human. But what should I expect from Shinku´s previous medium?... We are in the middle of a discussion with your little secret about Laplace, hidden from everyone else, being in the spotlight. As you can see, I was sincere enough to even bring every other Rozen Maidens´ medium."

Suigintou opened her amber-red eyes and turned away from the boy, which made him look deeper into the room and notice a now silent flock of guests. They all were staring at him, a truly anxious sig