Chapter 5: Practical doll

Walking along the seemingly endless corridor, Alice kept on pursuing Remila. She felt uncomfortable and unless she got the knowledge out of the devil first, facing the absent librarian later might be… awkward.

"Will you give me a proper explanation, Remilia-san? In the first place, how did you know I got my stuffs back? I never told anyone, and Marisa just wouldn't blurt it out casually."

"Why are you making such a big deal? Or is it guilt I sense from your tone?" Remilia groaned, for inquisitive people she didn't fancy.

Flashback to last week

It was a Sunday just like any usual Sundays. Or not.

When she woke up in the morning, the sun was in its highest glory, warmly welcomed the house of the dollmaker and its inanimate residents. Did Alice sleep till noon, you ask? The answer is "yes", for she was busied conducting experiments in the laboratory last night. The maiden cared not about her health and has put forth her utmost concentration, sweat and time aside. Overslept was no big deal when you live alone, right? Still, she scolded herself for wasting away approximately 4, a half hour and 27 seconds in bed.

Then things turned sour quickly. When afternoon reached, the sunny sky earlier was completely replaced by billowing of dark clouds, but rather than rain, a hail cascaded Alice's vision as she stared out the windows in shock.

"Hail… am I dislike by even nature?" remembering this kind of weather was unpleasantly labeled to her personality, Alice's mood that day dropped lower.

Thus the girl practically took the whole day off without doing anything, feeling restless while immersing herself in reading. At last Alice settled with making theories on papers first, when she realized the needed materials were, let's just say, whisked away long ago by a black-white gust of wind.

"This day can't get any worse, right?"

Even Shanghai doll was comforting its pitiful master, how Alice wished nobody could see her now…

"Hey! Alice, are you home?!"

A knock, then came a familiar voice from the other side of the door. But what strange pattern, since the one beyond was always breaking into her house, not once bothers knocking and mannerism. The girl heaved a sigh and reluctantly opened the worn-out door.

"What do you want at this hour? I'm busy."

"Uwaa! What with that extra cold, icy tone, Alice? Did you eat some ice-cream for dinner?"

The witch was her usual self alright, Alice checked in her mind. But, hm, what was that hanging behind her shoulders?

"What's with the big bag, Marisa?"

"Ah... haha, I'm spotted already…"

"What the?" Marisa- Alice's next-tree-neighbor was acting all shy and innocent in front of her. First, she put the bag down with a *thud*, then unknot it and took out several books in both hands, finally she presented them to Alice, just like a schoolgirl presenting her feelings to her…. Wait a minute here! Alice's heart-rate went up ½ tempos after having a weird delusion.

"Um… these are the books that I, er… borrowed from you some time ago. I know that you're very persistent with the independent doll research and… ugh, I only… take notice recently that these books I sto-borrowed all have some relativities to it. …So you see," the more she said, the more Marisa's cheeks became redder by the moment.

"Funny how she feels conscience-stricken now…," Alice's facial muscle relaxed to the projection of cuteness. Geez, to think Marisa would lighten up her depressing day, despite being half the cause, as such, the girl couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

In the end, it was a memorable day. All her due books were returned safely, but,

"Does that mean you've also returned Patchouli's share, Marisa?"

"… Actually, this and that are different matters, ze! I still need to hold on to her books, for various reasons."

A sting. An inaudible noise. A slight discomfort feeling in the stomach. Alice's heart stirred. But her expressions unchanged. Why is it she always acts this way whenever the young witch talks about—?

End of flashback.

"What? Did I hit bull-eye? How easy to predict, you are."

"I haven't done anything wrong, Remilia-san. If you don't want to let me know, I'll drop it.", a helpless smile pasted on Alice's lips.

Thinking back, whether it was sincerity or some ulterior motives from Marisa, Alice have no way to confirm. Arguing a fruitless argument won't bear anything in the end; hence she continues marching forward with a bored-looking devil-in-tow.

When they arrive in the living room, Sakuya was already by the large table, a cart of tea and cakes waiting for her mistress and guest.

"Welcome back, Milady. I see that you're unharmed, as does Miss Alice." the maid splashed a very composed smile toward the two.

"Eh, was you here all along, Sakuya-san?" concern laced her words since she remembered Remilia first saying Sakuya was going to bring tea to the library, but didn't inform the maid about the unexpected change of plan.

"Why, yes and no. Thank you for your concern, Miss Alice. Please, have a seat.", still with a smile on her face, Sakuya gestures for Alice to join.

By then, Remilia was already plopped down to the couch, so Alice decided to sit across her, with Sakuya tending to their tea elegantly. Today is Earl-Grey, it seems.

"Sakuya, next time, replace the library windows with iron bars instead of cheap glasses, ok?"

"I don't think we have the budget for that, Milady."

"Wouldn't it look like a prison cell instead of place to read?" Alice deadpanned.

"Hum… right, they wouldn't be able to see the brat if we did that." The devil bluntly said, in her lap an open book she picked up from the corner of the couch.

From across the table, Alice's heart skips a beat when the word "they" reaches her ears. "They, huh?" It's been too long since everything began yet she still can't get used to hearing that specific plural noun.

"Does it matter though? My feelings, and hers alone…"

Lost in thought Alice silently mused to herself. The thought about Marisa, and the thought of completing her doll research, which is more important? Which brings her the most happiness? Aren't they both equal? But if that were true,

"Between heart and logic, I am always lost."

When she looks up, Sakuya was no longer in the room. Apparently, the maid was already done with her duty here and moved on to another task, leaving Alice and Remilia alone here. You never know when she will appear and disappear again…

By checking her watch, Alice knew that it was 3.15pm. Only 20 minutes have passed since the incident in the library happened and by now, everything is really quiet, save for the occasional sound of turning pages coming from Remilia and the metallic sound of fork slicing through the blueberry frosting cake from Alice.

"Shanghai~"Her little companion floated closer to meet Alice's blue irises while waving its tiny arms in the direction of the cake.

"Eh? You want to try some, Shanghai?"

The doll cutely nods its head, like a child who has its appetite piqued by the smell of food.

"Alright Shanghai. Calm down and I'll let you have a bite of Sakuya-san's desert."

"Shanghai~~" The doll smiling face reaches Alice's motherly instinct, so much that Alice's eyes soften into a smile itself.

"I didn't know dolls could eat human's food." Noticing what a strange sight happening, Remilia spoke up, amused by the spectacle.

Alice cocked her head on the side as she gazed at her partner's cheerfulness, she thought for a moment and said:

"About that, this child has a sweet tooth, I think. She always wanted to taste the sweets I made whenever there was some and digest them just fine, so I never thought too much about it."

"That's not the scientific answer I was looking for, puppeteer. You make it sound like your doll really wanted to eat, like a human," the devil pointed out.

"But that was always the case, Remilia-san." Alice answered back matter-of-factly.

"Shanghai~~~" seeing her master hands unmoving, Shanghai swift down on her own and try to lift up the fork that was still piercing a small portion of the cake. When she did so, the doll's small frame shook a little, her balance unsteady yet not faltering, latching onto the fork that's bigger than her body shakily.

"Ah! Be careful, Shanghai! …Geez, why are you being so hasty? "Alice nervously supported her doll and brought the plate closer to them.

"Then wouldn't it be an autonomous doll already?"

"It's different, Remilia-san. This child can only act under my command most of the times. When I left her in idle mode, her course of function might be different than my desirable one, nevertheless the will can't stem away from its root, which, is my words. Therefore this child is only semi-auto, not fully autonomous yet." Alice patted the doll's head warmly, in her eyes a glint of unknown emotions surged for split seconds, then fade away moments later as she faced Remilia with a stiff smile:

"Does that answer satisfy you?"

"Somewhat…" Remilia still giving the duo a disbelieving look.

"Shanghai~…~" the weak cry of the little doll snapped Alice back to look at her partner. This time, Shanghai graced herself more firmly onto the fork and was ready to lift a piece of cake-

"Ah, not again! Let me just handle it, Shanghai."

-toward Alice's petite mouth.

"Eh?" Alice momentarily froze, unsure of the gesture made by her semi-auto doll.

"Shang…hai~" the piece of cake now suspended in mid-air, waiting for someone to chomp down on it…

"Heh, seems like it wants to feed you, its master, instead." Now truly amused, Remilia lets out a laugh, which in turn earns greater confusion from the dollmaker.

"H-Hold on a minute. What are you trying to do, Shanghai?"

Receiving that question, the doll puffed her cheeks out almost like a sulking child. Her tiny arms finally grasped hold of the fork along with such a delicious sweet, yet still her master won't open those delicate lips at all!

"Uu… stop that, Shanghai. I can feed myself." The color of a ripe tomato smeared Alice's cheeks.

"Ahaha! You know, I actually read about this from some dull books before. It said that this is the hidden desires every intelligent being have and experience. Like, you have some childish things you want to do yet too embarrass to execute it, thus it became a subconscious desire hidden deep in your brain, or so I read. In short…" Remilia dangerously lower her tone and shut her book half-way through. What kinds of expressions are beneath her bangs now? Alice senses the air shifting ever so slightly.

"Ah~!" and thus the suspended cake was no longer in sight. Everything happened even faster than the speed Sakuya arrived earlier, much to the devil's surprise.

"Tch. You're no fun at all, puppeteer."

"Shanghai~" the stubborn doll showed a very proud expression to her master, who hang her head low for some reasons after eating her sweet delivery. So she peered through the locks of golden hair just in case, "Shanghai~?"

"Don't do that ever again, Shanghai, or no sweets for you ever after…" Alice mumbled under her breath.

And the air froze for someone else immediately…

A/N: Er, first off, I'm sorry that I have to cut the chap off at this point. I kinda wrote aimlessly in my notebook and before I knew it, there was no end in sight... Thus typing everything down to one document was a pain, so I had to cut it into smaller parts instead. A shame, blame me if you must...

Secondly, I don't remember how I got stuck with the way Shanghai speaks. So I'm sorry if her part was confusing to you guys.

Thanks for reading till this useless note! Enjoy, reviews and tell me what you think, ok?