Kleine Beere (semi-hiatus)

        “In that case, I’m glad to have woken you up.”

The light in this small creature’s eyes had given birth to the smile curling on his lips. Curiosity be it his own or that of another always brought such childish wonder to his soul. Such was the reason he enjoyed his life as it was and would not change it for the world.

The weight upon his finger did finally take his notice. Shun’s gaze shifting down as he then raised his palm skyward to give the metal band better lighting. When did such jewelry come to be in his possession? It had to be involved with this tiny individual, yet as to what it was meant for he was unsure.

“Hehee! Hina is glad too!” 

The light bouncing of the child’s feet, as well as her shrill giggles, gave off an overall young appearance. She didn’t look more than six years of age. As Shun finally examined the ring on his finger, Hinaichigo tried to pretend she didn’t notice. After all, some humans had rejected her when she told them about the contract, so this time she’d decided she wouldn’t unless asked about it.

Now that was unexpected. A rational person would consider this a lifelike doll, but only one with a recorded voice. However, Shun upon gazing down into the expressive gaze of this creature he could tell right away. She was sentient; alive. To treat her as anything less would not sit right with me.

         “Yes, I suppose I did. I’m sorry if I disturbed your sleep.”

So many questions were popping up, yet he’d rather wait and listen to what this little one had to say.

Hinaichigo slowly stood up and dusted herself off. It’d been many years that she’d been inside that case, and although it usually kept her pristine, her dress had gotten a thin layer of dust on it when she was taken out.

“No no, thank you!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up in gratitude, “Hina doesn’t like being alone in her box.”

With that, she bounced up to the taller man, examining him with much curiousity. Then, seeming satisfied with her evaluation, she smiled. 

Fascination would be the first thing that would come to him. Followed by curiosity, the force which drove him to do all things in his life. Such craftsmanship in a single piece could be appreciated by even him.

Fingertips ghosted upon said softness upon cheeks that by all means should not be warm. This could not be a doll, yet the small key caught his attention. Eyes targeting the shimmer of the metal as his hand by instinct went to grasp it.

Upon inspection, of both this tool and the back of this doll a thought crossed him. Children did not have holes in their backs, yet he was aware some dolls did have inner workings. Shun moved carefully to set the doll upon his lap, and then work to begin winding the key bit by bit.

As he wound the key, he’d hear a light clicking noise, an indication of the inner clockwork of the doll beginning to move together. Further evidence of this is the slight twitch of her hands, and the eventual opening of her emerald eyes. 

The key began turning itself, the doll now spasming regurlary as she floated upwards. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped, collapsing to the floor. Slowly, she lifted her head, staring at the man before her.

In a rather large case, Shun will find an eerily lifelike doll. She has blonde ringlets, her curls still very lively even in her state of apparent slumber. Her dress is a light shade of pink, with a burgundy trim. 

Whilst she wasn’t particularly feeling like fighting today, she was feeling quite mischievous. So what better way to curve this craving of causing some cause than play a mean little prank on Shinku~?

She wasn’t expecting to see Hinaichigo right away and was actually hoping that Shinku was there. Oh well, that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun with the sixth doll as well~

“Awwwww, is ugly Shinku not here to protect you~? How unfortunate, fufufu”

Hinaichigo was shaking by now, but she knew that Suigintou would only enjoy her fear. Therefore, she stood up as tall as she could, puffing out her chest, and put on the most serious face she could wear.

“You don’t scare me!” she proclaimed, although she didn’t sound all that confident. “If you’re looking for Shinku, she’s not here!”

Out of all the responses he could’ve gotten, Blues didn’t anticipate this one. In a way it made sense though. The girl was so stubborn to be ignored, and now if he did ignore her he’d look like a complete jerk. 

He glared his eyes from beneath his visor. You win this time, small strange girl.

“Fine! Fine. Stop crying.” He puffed, clearly annoyed. “I’ll ‘play’ with you. Now what do you wanna do?” He was assuming some classic game that children play. Tag or hide-and-go seek would make sense. 

As she heard Blues’s words, the girl seemed to perk up a bit. He’d aggreed to play with her! She smiled once more, although her chubby face was still red from crying.

“Thank you Mister!” She responded, rather cheerful considering her outburst. “Um... we could play hide and seek?” Sure, her suggestion was cliche and many children of the modern age didn’t enjoy it anymore, but she was in no way a modern child.

Blues crossed his arms, completely unconvinced. The fact that she was a small doll didn’t worry him too much, after all that seemed to be the norm nowadays. Tightening his lips, he stared at her through his visor for a few moments. She was sickeningly cute.

“Kid, someday you’re gonna realize that asking strangers to play with you is what pompous windbags do.” He didn’t know the exact meaning of the insult yet but it seemed correct. 

“Now scram.”

Hinaichigo flinched at the harsh rejection, and her smile disappeared. She looked up at Blues with a dejected, hurt expression, and her eyes began filling with tears. Her tiny shoulders shook as the tears fell.

“But I wanna play! I’m so bored!” She almost yelled at the robot, “Why won’t anyone play with me?” Although she knew her medium was not there, and that she’d broken the contract with her ony playmate, she still wanted someone to play with. Therefore, she had gone around asking every young person she came across if they’d play with her.

“Eh?”

The small blonde turned to the window when she heard the sound of someone exiting the N-Field. Upon seeing her visitor, however, she gasped and took a few steps back.