The World of the Moon

[pureauthor]

walrus: Yeah, I really hit a bit of a roadblock about halfway through the story. I'm glad you still liked it, though.

(X)

The World of the Moon

(X)


Six: The Sun and the Moon

(X)

Well, I guess the last one wasn't as popular as the others. Well, hopefully this will make up for it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(X)

Silence.

The moon hanging in the sky, far too large to be natural, flooded the empty hallways of the place with its silver light, giving the entire place an ethereal glow. In the complete silence, the place almost seemed hallowed ground, places where humans where not meant to set foot within.

A small sigh escaped Shiki’s lips as he took his first step through the silver hallway, his footsteps echoing with seemingly unreasonable loudness in the empty hallways.

This was not the first time he had been here, after all.

He continued on his lonely journey for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality couldn’t hang been more than a couple of minutes. Stepping in between deepest darkness and the cold light pouring in from the windows, he continued forward.

And then, past the open set of double doors, he was now in a vast, open chamber, more of the blinding moonlight coming down from the open ceiling to flood the entire place in glorious white - every pillar, statue, table, seeming to glow from within with this quiet radiance. A vista so stunning one could almost miss the single figure, sitting silently in the very centre of the massive room.

Almost. But Shiki had known she would be there, and taking in a deep breath, he set off towards the figure.

For a long time, she made no move to acknowledge his presence, keeping her back to him even as he approached her, his shoes tapping a steady rhythm onto the smooth floor. Finally, when he stood barely an arm’s length from her, she turned her head, the flowing carpet of shining gold that was her hair shifting slightly as it fell from her bare shoulders. Her right eye stared at him, a single point of brilliant crimson in the silver light all around them.

“You,” she opened her mouth, and her voice was like crystal, ringing clear and beautiful across the deafening silence that had existed just a moment before. “Are becoming a remarkably tiresome individual.”

Shiki stared at Brunestud, the Ultimate One of the Moon, and sighed deeply. After a moment, he crossed by her side and sat on a chair facing hers on the small table that she had occupied. She made no attempt to stop him, merely looking at him all the while with an unflinching gaze.

After another long silence, she spoke up again. “Is it my imagination, or have you been appearing before me more frequently as of late?”

He looked away – away from her, away from the blinding beauty and elegance that reminded him so much of Arcueid and yet was so unlike her – at the far walls of the grand chamber. “It’s not like I want to be here,” he replied.

It wasn’t like he showed up that often, either. Only when Arcueid had bad dreams and felt ill at ease. Only when he went to bed with her and held her close would he be returned to this impossible world.

“Yes,” her voice dripped scorn. “Only when you bring the vessel with you to slumber, and even then, rarely so. That you appear before me as often as you do says enough about how you spend your nights.”

A moment of awkward silence. Shiki shook his head. “Stop calling Arcueid a vessel.”

“Should I? To me, that is what she is,” her voice devoid of emotion or inflection, Brunestud rose. “A vessel. A channel for my rebirth into this world. What you choose to think of her, I leave to your own discretion. Would you not do me the same favour?”

Shiki pushed the glasses up the bridge of his noise and heaved another sigh. “We keep going over the same things when we meet, don’t we.”

“I don’t see that we have much else to talk about,” was the reply.

“No, I suppose not,” Shiki paused before a thought struck him. “Brunestud, what is it that you do here?”

“Do?”

“How long have you spent in here? Surely you’re not… bored?” the words seemed absurd even as they passed his lips, but Brunestud simply closed her eyes.

“For a long time, I was dormant within the vessel. It is only recently that I have begun to become aware,” Brunestud cocked her head to one side. “Perhaps it is an indication that the time of my awakening is near. More likely though, is that your bringing her close to death was what allowed me to surface.”

Close to- A grimace made its way onto Shiki’s face as he remembered the very first time he’d laid eyes on Arcueid – and the events that subsequently followed.

“As for your other question,” the ethereal figure continued. “I observe. The vessel’s experiences and emotions are something I can share in, even if I do not fully understand it.” One eyebrow arched. “You would not be surprised to know how many of her thoughts concern you, I trust.”

He could feel his neck becoming warm at that comment – at the realization of having a subconscious observer during his and Arcueid’s most intimate moments.

There was another slight, mocking glance from the Ultimate One of the Moon, and then she turned to head down one of the hallways of the moonlit palace.

After a long moment, Shiki followed after her.

“You do not wish to return to your own world?” she did not turn to look at him.

“Of course I do,” Shiki replied, not looking at her face. “But that’ll only be when I wake up.”

“There are ways to expedite the process,” Brunestud’s reply was calm, but Shiki did not miss how she flexed her fingers. After a brief second of hesitation, Shiki widened the distance between the two of them just a little more.

“You’re so much like her, and so different at the same time,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Indeed?” her reply dripped with sarcasm. “Was it the differences in our demeanour that gave that away?”

“It’s more than that. Like the difference between the sun and the moon.”

This time she did turn to look at him, the question already in her eyes before it formed on her lips. “How do you mean? She is of the moon, although in an imperfect form, and I am the essence of the moon.”

“I’m not talking about where you came from,” reaching out, Shiki ran a hand across the cool, smooth stone of the palace wall. “Just… your… I don’t know, your essence. You’re like the moon, Brunestud,” he stated. “And I know that’s obvious, but your beauty is just like it – a cold distance, a mystery that no one can fathom.”

A silence. Then, “and the vessel?”

“Arcueid’s like the sun – radiant with a joy for life,” unconsciously, a smile crossed Shiki’s face. “There’s just so much energy within her, waiting to spring forth, it sometimes feels like it’ll consume me as well.” Well, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“She was not always such,” was the only reply Brunestud made as they continued their walk.

They continued in silence for several more long minutes, until they rounded a corner –

And Shiki had to stifle a gasp of surprise.

They were now on a ledge that opened out to a stunning vista below him. As far as the eye could see stretched out an endless field of white flowers. Under the moonlight, their brilliance seemed almost enough to blind him.

Shiki stood staring for a long while, until he noticed that Brunestud was staring, not at the vast field, but at him. He turned back to meet her, a question in his eyes.

“Look there,” a single, slender finger, pointing down towards a particular patch in the field on endless whiteness.

Shiki looked – straining his eyes as he did so.

And then he saw it.

Amidst the field of brilliant white, was a patch of red.

“Roses,” Brunestud commented, a single eyebrow raised. “Curious, is it not?”

Shiki did not reply.

“Do you know why something like this would appear in the representation of the vessel’s soul?” without waiting for an answer, Brunestud continued. “It was because of you. Your presence here. Where once the vessel was purity itself, now that purity is broken.”

“…” Shiki continued to stare out over the endless meadow, before taking in a deep breath. “Is that so bad?”

“Pardon?”

“The pure white is beautiful, true,” he nodded. “But the red looks nice too. The world is like that, isn’t it? Filled with many different things.” He lacked the words to articulate his point, but somehow, he got the feeling Brunestud understood anyway.”

“Yes,” she murmured, almost to herself. “The vessel has changed.

“Would that I could experience such a change, too.”

And suddenly, for a brief moment, Brunestud no longer appeared to Shiki as the haughty and proud god of the moon, but as a faded shadow of herself, left to wander in silence and terrible loneliness.

“Brunestud, I –“ His breath caught in his throat, and a strange trembling sensation filled his body.

“Ah. It appears you are being called into wakefulness again,” she turned her crimson gaze upon him. “With any chance, you will not appear before me again. But I doubt I will be so fortunate.”

No. Pulling himself, together, he spoke. “No, Brunestud. I will come to see you once more. Even if it’s not often. Even if I can’t control when. I’ll come again.”

“Hm. You are a cruel one, to make such a threat.” Another mocking glance.

“No, not a threat,” he paused. The world was shifting now, distorting and fading as he hovered on the boundary between sleep and wakefulness. “A promise. A promise that… that I won’t leave you alone.”

For a moment, a look of blank surprise. And then, for the first time since he had met her, a tiny smile graced the ruby lips of Type Moon.

“Truly a tiresome individual. And yet, a most interesting one. Farewell… Shiki Tohno.”

(X)

“Shiki?”

The call came from somewhere far away. Shiki stirred in the comfortable warmth of the bed. “Mmph?” he murmured.

“Shiki!” A light tap on his nose. Shaking his head, he finally opened his eyes to stay into the smiling face of Arcueid.

“Oh… hey, Arc,” he mumbled sleepily as he fumbled for his glasses. It was daytime – and he didn’t want to see that line that drew across her neck. “How was your rest?”

A delighted smile spread across her face. “It was wonderful! I always sleep well when I’m next to you, Shiki!”

He laughed as he sat up in the bed, placing his glasses across his face. “That’s good to hear.”

“You know, when I woke up, you were smiling in your sleep,” Arcueid raised an eyebrow. “Did you have a good dream, Shiki?”

Shiki paused. “A good dream? … Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

With a smile and a nod, Arcueid bounded away, throwing open the curtains and letting the sun into the room. Meanwhile, Shiki simply sat on the bed, staring at Arcueid.

The princess of the moon, bathed in golden sunlight.

He couldn’t imagine a more beautiful vision.

(X)

Thank you for reading.

I would appreciate it if you left a review.

Next: Need

[Delcer]

Well, I guess the last one wasn't as popular as the others.

I think it might be because some of us have already read it on FFN.

Anyways, I recall reading quite a bit of your work in the past, not just the Type Moon stuff, and I found most of what I did read fairly enjoyable.

[Flere821]

*gives thumb up*

*realises he doesn't have anything to say that can improve this*

*goes back to lurking*

[walrus]

Mmmm sweet.

[Kieran]

. . . Annnd, I'm caught up.

I like the summer festival one - I found it very pleasant and vaguely sad at the same time. Of course, I might also enjoy it because I've used the setting so often in my stuff . . .

Sun and Moon was interesting as well, since I don't generally consider Brunestud when I think of Arc. Nice to know that s/he (it?) isn't forgotten.

. . . I have to admit that so far, if I have any complaints about your work, it's that it's too short.

[pureauthor]

ryu: Yeah, I'm reposting all these for the guys who don't check up FF.Net, or at least not regularly. I'm glad you enjoyed my other works, too!

Flere821: I'm glad to receive praise as well as criticism. Thanks for the thumbs up!

walrus: Sweet? Well, not how I'd have described it myself. But thanks! Glad you liked it!

Kieran: Glad you liked both of those pieces. And too short, huh? I've a couple of longer ones waiting in the wings, but for now I hope you still enjoy these bite-sized pieces.

The World of the Moon

(X)

Seven: Need

(X)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(X)

Shiki knows Arcueid doesn’t need him.

She’s glad that he’s here with her, that much is true. She smiles a lot when she’s around him, and every time she does that his heart leaps a little. Buying her things, doing things for her, even something as simple as making sure he shows up on time for their meetings, just so he can see her eyes light up with delight and the smile spread across her face.

He told her before that he wanted to make her happy. What he didn’t realize – not fully, anyway – was just how much of his being that desire would take up. How much time would be simply spent daydreaming about her, about what to say to her the next time they meet.

There’s so much – so many things he wants to do for her. It’s fortunate, really, that there’s so much that she wants to do. So many places to go, so many things to see.

And he’s happy, more than happy, to help show her this.

Arihiko laughs at him for this whenever the subject is brought up, calls him ‘whipped’. He doesn’t protest much, and never strongly, because deep down he knows that it’s true.

He would do anything for her.

But, always, whenever he does this, whenever she’s gushing with delight over some new trinket or place she’s never been to before, he hangs back a little, watching her from afar, because there’s always the little voice in the back of his mind that reminds him; she doesn’t need him for this.

She doesn’t need Shiki Tohno.

It’s easy to help introduce someone to the wonders and delights of the world. So simple that even a child can do it, and even a baby can quickly learn how. Just go. Have fun. Make mistakes. Explore.

And so Arcueid really doesn’t need Shiki for this.

It’s not like there’s anything special about him, really. Well, to be exact, the part about him that was special was not something that Arcueid would like about him. Women would not be attracted to the idea of him being able to kill anything under the sun, after all.

No, he’s (mostly) an ordinary person. Certainly not someone that would stand out in a crowd, certainly not anything special that Arcueid needs.

Arcueid doesn’t need him, really.

But he needs her.

So much of his life, so much of his self, has been invested in her. Everything about her drives him crazy – her smile, her laugh, the little twinkle in her eye whenever she discovers something, new, fun, exciting in front of her that she never really noticed before. Through Arcueid’s innocent delight, he’s exploring the world all over again as well.

This didn’t have to happen this way. That he’s now with the vampire princess is pretty much a quirk of chance or fate. If he hadn’t been sent home early that day, if Arcueid hadn’t been walking down that particular street, if she hadn’t decided to wait for him instead of hunting him down and exacting bloody vengeance that very night-

But he’s getting ahead of himself. And he never really liked thinking about ‘ifs’, either.

Right now, for him, there’s only Arcueid, and no one else.

Arcueid doesn’t need him to be with her.

But she does want him at her side

And that, in the end, is good enough.

And so, as he feels her head resting against his shoulder, he briefly squeezes her hand in his own, a slight subtle display of affection in the quiet night.

Thank you. For being with me.

And he goes to sleep himself.

(X)

Arcueid isn’t much for thinking about things.

Well, she hadn’t been much for thinking about things.

Before Shiki had met her, there had only been her instincts and the commands drilled into her by those who had raised her to be a living weapon.

She doesn’t feel resentment to them about that, which had apparently surprised Ciel and Shiki once when they’d all been together at some fancy restaurant (celebrating Shiki’s maids’ birthdays, as she recalled). She really prefers not to think about it in the first place.

But it was only after Shiki had killed her, only after she’d slowly and literally pulled herself together that she began to see more of the world in terms of things to be experienced.

Maybe it’s because I was killed by you, Shiki. Maybe there’s a part of me that hasn’t fully healed.

And even back then, she didn’t think about things too deeply. There was so much fun to be had that at first it was like an avalanche of new experiences and things, and she’d simply let herself be swept along on the tide.

Now though, she has time, and she finds herself thinking more about things. She’d always liked doing that from the moment she truly woke up, liked imagining new possibilities that lay over the horizon, or even in the distant past.

Really? I like ‘what ifs’. You could imagine almost anything with ‘what if’.

Sometimes, she wonders what life would have been like without Shiki meeting her at all. She’d have killed Roa, probably unsuccessfully, and then returned to her castle. Back to a dreamless sleep.

Would that be so bad?

Now it would be, of course, the thought of returning to silence and emptiness was unbearable to her, but she supposed that if she’d never woken up, it’d have been the same as always. There’s a brief hint of wistfulness at the thought of the eight hundred years she spent alone, but she pushes it away. No sense dwelling on the past that could no longer be changed.

Sometimes, instead, she wonders what if Shiki was a horrible person, like Roa. What would have happened? She still isn’t sure. Probably she would have killed him and that would be the end of that – but then she wouldn’t have had the strength to fight Nrvnsqr.

A smile briefly crosses her face as she thinks about the many possibilities in life, about the many ways it could go.

But dreams are dreams, and always at the end is the return to her life in the here and now. Particularly when such a return is always so pleasant.

She peeks an eye open, gazing at Shiki’s sleeping face. His face is still, as he always is when he goes to sleep – a sleep so deep and dreamless Arcueid can never shake off the slightest moment of wondering if he’ll wake up again. She can feel his hand lightly grasping her own even in sleep, and even that small feeling is a pleasure to her.

She closes her eyes again, leaning her head against the pillow.

She’s never put it into words before, but she really, truly –

Needs Shiki to be Shiki, to be who he is, so very much.

He’s said before that anyone could make her happy, and the very idea is so ridiculous that she’d nearly laughed out loud when she’d heard. In the first place, the only reason she can be the way she is, is because Shiki killed her.

But it’s more than that. Of course it is.

She couldn’t believe that anyone would look a vampire in the eye and agree to help them, but Shiki had. Everything about the way he was – how he always complained but would always follow through on whatever he said he would do. How he would always yell at her for doing things he considered stupid. The way he was willing, step by step, to slowly guide her into a world of wonder that she’d never known.

No one else would do that. Only Shiki would reach out to her.

How many people, if they knew what she was, would still reach out a hand to her?

She’d nearly ruined Shiki, but his only response was to hold her tighter still, and to promise that he would always be by her side.

And in doing so, he had trapped her as securely as any of the chains that had bound her in slumber back in the old castle.

For her, there was only Shiki. No one else.

That’s right. She thought sleepily. I love you, Shiki. You’re perfect for me.

He was still asleep, and besides, she hadn’t actually said anything out loud, but as Arcueid drifted off to sleep again, she wondered if perhaps Shiki had heard her anyway.

(X)

Thanks for reading. I would appreciate it if you reviewed.

Next: Booby Trap

[Flere821]

Impressive piece of writing there
(and no, I don't just praise people because I know it's one of the fastest way to get them writing, probably only second to giving their muse a kick-start with ideas - I do think this part is good)

I'm just glad this is a Type-moon work and not some kind of other romance anime/manga - I've read a few too many stories where people with Shiki's way of thinking depicted in this part ending at the conclusion thinking it's best for the other person in the relationship if they're no longer together. There'll be blood/horror in Nasuverse, but hardly ever with exasperating romance c*ap like that (excluding what Fate route Shirou tried to do with Saber).

[Kieran]

Another winner - and a very nice summation of why they stay together, even when everything sensible says that they should part.

[pureauthor]

Flere821: Well, I'm glad that you think my writing is impressive. Thanks for the kind words!

Kieran: Yeah, there really are lots of things working against an Arc/Shiki pairing in the long run - but that makes it all the more satisfying to see them together, in my opinion! Thanks for the review, too!

(X)

The World of the Moon

(X)

Eight: Booby Trap

(X)

This is a short piece that’s more of an extended joke than anything else.

This will also make absolutely no sense unless you’ve seen a certain scene in Kagetsu Tohya (Although it's infamous enough that everyone's probably seen it already anyway). Just so you know.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(X)

The afternoon found Shiki relaxing on the couch of Arcueid’s apartment, idly channel surfing on the new TV she’d bought without paying much attention to anything being shown on the screen. Behind him, Arcueid was busy rummaging through the drawers of her room, looking for something or other.

A part of his mind reminded him that he should be returning home soon, lest he tempt the ire of his younger sister. After all, he’d originally come over to make breakfast for Arcueid, but somehow, this and that had happened, and he’d found himself spending the entire morning at her house.

Well, being with Arcueid is okay, too. On that note, he looked over to his girlfriend to realize that she had a grumpy expression on her face. Arcueid being Arcueid, it was a bit of a tossup on what exactly could set her off at any given moment.

“Hey, Arc?” he called out as he stood from the couch. “Is anything the matter?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she replied in a distracted voice. “I just – can’t seem to find my stuff. It’s odd, I could swear…”

“Well then, I’ll help you look.”

“Would you? Thanks,” Arcueid flashed him a brief smile and indicated the drawer at the far end of the room. “Would you check those drawers? It’s a small green bag with a zipper that I’m looking for.”

“Sure I-“ Shiki was cut off midsentence as he turned to look at the drawer sitting at the far end of the room.

Badump.

His heart lurched in his chest. It took him a long moment to realize that he had subconsciously reached for his knife, and an even longer moment to remember that it was lying on top of his study table in his room.

He took a deep breath to steady himself as he stared at the drawer. By all accounts, it was perfectly ordinary. Made of wood, sturdy, it all seemed so perfectly normal.

And yet-

Badump.

Dangerous. If I open it, it’ll be dangerous. A half-remembered dream flashed through his mind and he took a stumbling step backwards.

“Shiki?” Arcueid was staring at him curiously now.

“A – actually, could you take that drawer? I’ll look um... over there,” he pointed at the kitchen and hurriedly headed away, trying to ignore the way Arcueid was staring at him like he’d grown a second head.

This is stupid. I’ve defeated supposedly immortal vampires more than once already, it’s not like there’s anything in Arcueid’s drawer that could give me pause.

...Is there? He almost took off his glasses to give the drawer a quick once-over, but shook his head. That was stupid. Besides, Arcueid had already just accepted it as Shiki being silly and gone over herself. As she bent over the drawer, there was a small gasp and Arcueid yanked the bag out.

“Found it!”

“O –oh,” Shiki paused. “So… what’s in the bag anyway?”

“Heheh,” Arcueid beamed as she unzipped the small pouch and brandished two slips of paper. “Ciel was talking about some sort of opera play being held in town, so I looked into it and got us tickets! Good thing I found it now too, it starts in an hour.”

“An hour?” Shiki blinked. “But, Arc, I really should be heading back…”

“Hey, are you saying you can’t spend an afternoon with me?” Arcueid pouted, and Shiki tried to ignore how cute she looked when she did that.

“N –no, but I already spent the whole morning with you!” A mental image of Akiha with a vein bulging on her forehead forced its way into her mind, and he hurriedly shoved it out again.

“And it was fun, right? So spending the afternoon with me should be fun too!”

Shiki sighed. “I give up. I can’t argue with logic like that,” I can always explain to Akiha later, right? “Fine, I’ll let you lead for today, Princess.”

“Yay!” Arcueid laughed, and grabbing on to Shiki’s hand, she hurriedly led him out of the apartment.

As he stepped through the doorway, he paused and glanced back at the drawer. No, there was nothing there. Arcueid had opened it, and there hadn’t been anything.

Shaking his head, he stepped out into the sunlight.

(X)

In the silence of the now darkened room, Algernon growled, his tail whipping agitatedly against the floor.

The whelp of a boy had come close, but somehow he had sensed the danger. If only his master hadn’t forced him to only be activated when someone other than her opened the drawer. She had forgotten, and he’d almost had his chance, but then-!

The boy was a bad influence on his master. He would have to deal with him sooner or later. One big paw padded against the ground as the jaguar slumped to the ground. He could wait. There would be many more opportunities yet.

He could wait.

(X)

This idea seemed funnier in my head before I wrote it.

Oh well.

Thanks for reading. Reviews would be appreciated.

Next: The Adventures of the White Moon Princess Phantasmoon

[Flere821]

Yeah, I haven't seen that scene in Kagetsu Tohya. I've at least read through Tsukihime via a 'Let's Play' and read all the Melty Blood manga, but can't seem to find anything on Kagetsu Tohya.

Closest thing I can think of is Aokazi Aoko's suitcase familiar thing that tried to devour people if she wanted it to.

[walrus]

IIRC, Arcueid has a leopard or something like that in her apartment. For preventing Shiki sniff to her underwear lol.

[Kieran]

I do remember it, because a very kind fan actually had a novelisation - or at least a written playthrough - of the scene in question on the old BL. I always assumed it was Ren in a more intimidating form, myself . . . Either way, I never considered before what the poor cat would go through, waiting for a chance to spring.

[pureauthor]

Flere821: Oh, I think there's a Kagtesu Tohya Let's Play floating out there too. I read it a while ago.

walrus: Yup, that's the one.

Kieran: The fate of a booby trap is a sad one, isn't it? Glad you enjoyed it.

(X)

The World of the Moon

(X)

Nine: The Adventures of the White Moon Princess Phantasmoon

I debated splitting this off into its own separate thread a bit, because it's kinda-sorta a multichapter fic but eventually I decided that it didn't really merit it, at least until we make a bit of headway into this.

I should also mention that this particular piece was very difficult to write and I ended up reworking the whole premise twice before I even began. Ugggh.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(X)

His heart raging inside his chest, Shiki Tohno barely managed to right himself as he leaned against the guardrail, eyes staring with a wild intensity at the woman that had just passed by him.

That woman… that woman.

That woman!

That woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman, that woman

Hair of shining gold.

Eyes as red as blood.

Her every movement, perfect and poised, like an elegant dancer. Even simply walking down the street, her movements were balanced and graceful. Her long skirt fluttered in the breeze, her sweater of pure white somehow making her even more striking than if she had worn something revealing.

Her features, so beautiful as catch the eye of everyone who so much as glanced at her. Shiki grit his teeth and swallowed once more.

That woman.

I want

to

Slowly, barely aware of what he was doing, he turned on his heel, hurrying after her.

If he could catch up to her, then he could –

He could –

Deliberately keeping pace behind her, he continued stalking the woman, waiting for the moment where she would be alone, and then…

There. She was ducking into an alleyway. Deserted. Alone. Perfect.

Breathless with anticipation, he reached up to remove his glasses. They would only hinder him during the next few moments.

Hurry, hurry while she would be alone.

Reaching into his pocket, Shiki drew his knife, and without hesitation, charged down the alleyway, knife already raised to –

“- let them fear justice’s might! Magical White Moon Princess, transf- wha?” The woman instinctively whirled at the sound of approaching footsteps, and seeing Shiki charging at her with knife drawn, she reflexively raised the rod in her hand to block the oncoming blow.

Wait, rod?Even as he cut through the line on the rod, neatly severing it and letting the top piece fall to the floor, Shiki could have sworn that the woman had not been carrying anything of that sort a moment ago.

Even more shocking, a brilliant light had suffused the woman’s body, along with copious amounts of what looked like sparkles. Crescent-moon shaped sparkles. However, the instant Shiki had cut the rod, the light vanished, leaving the woman to fall backwards with a cry of pain, her knee-high boots slipping on a tiny puddle of water.

Wait, boots? She had been wearing shoes a moment ago!

And a far longer skirt that had been of a different colour. And a sweater that covered her entire torso and arms, not what appeared to be a severely stripped down evening dress, with a very, very low neckline. Staring at her new outfit, Shiki’s homicidal impulse was quickly replaced of an impulse of a rather different nature.

“Ow, ow, ow!” The woman complained as she pulled herself to her feet, rubbing her bottom. “What was that about?”

“Uh? I – uh –“ Now that was no longer in the throes of a killing frenzy, Shiki had just begun to realize that if he had gone a single step further he’d have just brutally murdered a girl for no apparent reason at all. As it was, he still had his knife pointed at her and after he realized that he hurriedly tucked the weapon away.

The woman didn’t appear to be paying any attention, though. She stood, swaying slightly as she grabbed the broken piece of the rod. “Ugh… an incomplete transformation?” She stared at the broken pieces of her weapon (was it a weapon anyway?) before her gaze turned on Shiki and her eyes narrowed.

“Hey,” she snapped at him.

“Yes?” as replies go, it wasn’t an elegant one, but given that everything about this situation was completely insane, he supposed he could be forgiven a little hesitation in his replies.

“How did you break my wand? It’s got enough protective spells on it that even conceptual weapons would have a hard time damaging it, but you-“ she glared at the broken pieces for a moment longer before they simply vanished into thin air, causing Shiki to start again. “Oh man, this is bad. I can’t use any of the stronger magics in this state.”

“M – magic?” Shiki’s mind was still not in the process of properly processing information, and so he merely blurted out what came to mind. The woman’s expression brightened for a brief moment.

“Uh huh! I’m the Magical White Moon Princess, Phantasmoon! With staff in hand and justice in my heart, I strike down with the power of the moon! Wherever evil and darkness may lurk, I shall hunt them down and punish them in the name of the moon!” her brief smile was just as quickly replaced by an agitated frown. “Or at least, that’s what I’d do under normal circumstances, but someone just broke my wand and now I can’t use it to channel any magic.”

“Aha – ahahaha,” even Shiki wasn’t sure why he was laughing, but this was all far too much to take it at a single go. His first instinct was to simply write this woman off as completely insane. Sure, there was the fact that she was now wearing completely different clothes from a moment ago, but she was probably a fast dresser. Or something.

“This – look, this is crazy,” holding his hands up in a warding-off motion, Shiki began to back up. “I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m not going to play around any longer. I’m sorry about your, um, wand, but-“

Raising a hand, the woman snapped her finger, and Shiki froze as a circle made of light traced its way around him. I can’t move? What’s going on?

“Oh no you don’t,” the woman snapped. “I can’t use any powerful magic because you destroyed my wand, so you’re going to have to pay me back.”

One part of Shiki was currently freaking out because the woman in front of him had just done… something that had frozen him to the spot. (Okay, it was probably magic… which didn’t really help his agitation much.) Another part of him registered the statement about him ‘paying her back’ and immediately began wondering what he possibly had to give her. A third, considerably smaller part, noted how cute she looked when she was angry.

“P – pay you back?” he finally stammered. A smile appeared on her face.

“Uh huh. See, I’m supposed to be hunting down this vampire, but since you broke my wand I won’t be able to beat him like this. So, you can help me until I defeat him or my wand’s repaired.”

Vampire? Shiki sputtered for a moment, unable to form the words. The woman tilted her head to the side as she continued to watch him.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Am I – of course not! This is insane! Vampires don’t exist, and even if they did, I’m just an ordinary student! What do you think I could possibly to help you?”

“Don’t try to fool me,” crossing her arms, the woman leaned in closer to glare at him, with the secondary effect of giving Shiki a very good look at her cleavage. “Like I said, my wand’s incredibly hard to break. But you did it like it was nothing. So don’t give me that nonsense about you being an ordinary kid.” Her glare intensified. “So, are you going to help me, or not?”

Five minutes ago, today had been a perfectly ordinary day, Shiki reflected. Unable to move, being confronted with an impossible demand from an impossible person, still wondering about his sudden homicidal impulse he had suffered a moment ago, and the lingering effects of his anaemia all combined together into one great unendurable pile of awfulness, and Shiki Tohno gave the only response he possibly could.

He fainted.

(X)

Rubbing his eyes blearily, Shiki sat up in his bed. Instinctively reaching for his glasses, he set them on his face and glanced up around his room.

His new room.

At the Tohno Mansion.

That was odd. His last memory was of him being down some alleyway with-

Suddenly he bolted out of bed as though scalded.

“That woman! She-!”

The room was empty.

“A bad dream,” that’s all, he mumbled as he pressed a hand to his forehead. “Of course it was. Moving back here after eight years must really be getting to me.”

Letting out a relieved sigh, Shiki sat back down onto the bed, his shoulders slumping as she did so.

“I wonder why I dreamed about that strange woman,” he mumbled to himself. “I’ve never met her before,” or at least I don’t think I have. I’d remember an amazingly beautiful foreigner like that for sure. “Amazingly beautiful, huh?” he chuckled to himself in the stillness of his room. “Yeah, she really was pretty cute.”

The door to the room opened, and Shiki looked up to see Akiha standing in the doorway.

“Nii-san? You’ve awakened!”

“Ah, morning, Akiha,” Shiki gave her a smile and stood up. “And yes, I’m up.”

“Well, that’s good. The woman,” and a shadow fell across Akiha’s face. “Who brought you back would like a moment with you.”

“The wo-“ and before Shiki could complete the sentence, there was a blur of white movement and Shiki found him staring at the magical girl Phantasmoon in front of him.

“Ah, you’re all better now, then!” she beamed down at him. “I got really worried for a second there after you collapsed in the alleyway, you know!”

“You – wha – how –“ Shiki sputtered. “How did you know where I live?”

“Oh, I just read your mind,” if anything, her smile only grew wider. “It was a little difficult, though – your memory’s kinda fogged up. Not sure why that is, but-“

“Ahem,” Akiha coughed delicately. “Excuse me, Arcueid-san, but Nii-san suffers from anaemia, and though he has awakened, he would still need to rest a while to fully recover. Would you please leave him for the moment.”

“Aw,” the girl – Arcueid, apparently – frowned, but finally nodded. “Well, I guess it’s true he should rest. All right then, Shiki, I’ll leave you to it, but don’t forget our deal!” and with a final wave of her hand, she bounded out the door.

Left in relative silence, Shiki merely stared, dumbstruck, at the now empty doorway, while Akiha folded her arms.

“A friend of yours, Nii-san?” there was a definite edge in her vice.

“Uh, no, I just… met her today,” mentally, Shiki came to the decision not to mention anything about magical girls and vampires. Akiha was already worried enough about his physical health, he didn’t need to add his mental health to her list of concerns. “It was only a coincidence, and I guess she decided to be a good samaritan after I collapsed.” He neglected to mention the ‘deal’ that Arcueid had so candidly spoke of.

Akiha sighed and ran a hand through her long hair. “Well, I can’t say I care much for her excitable personality, or her…” her face coloured slightly. “Outrageous choice in clothing, but since she did help bring you home, I can’t turn her away either,” there was another long sigh, followed by a piercing look from Akiha. “She appears really interested in speaking with you too, for some reason,” an eyebrow was raised. “Nii-san, might you have any idea why?”

“No,” Shiki lied smoothly. Whatever insanity he’d gotten himself into, he wasn’t going to drag Akiha or the maids into it. “I’ll talk to her after I’ve have a short… rest…” he flopped back down onto the bed, sleep already rushing up to claim him once more.

(X)

It was several hours later that an understandably hesitant Shiki ambled into the sitting room to find the woman – Phantasmoon or Arcueid, he wasn’t sure what to call her – slumped over on the couch fast asleep, head lolling to one side.

“Uh, hey,” he said softly, and at his words, Arcueid blinked.

“Mm?” she mumbled as sat upright. After shaking her head slightly, she yawned at stretched her arms over her head, doing interesting things to her chest that Shiki tried studiously to ignore as he settled himself on one of the easy chairs. She turned to him and gave him a sleepy smile. “Oh, it’s you, Shiki.”

Shiki nodded and let out a breath. “Before anything else, let me thank you for bringing me back after I fainted.”

“You’re welcome,” an easy smile appeared on her face. “And no need to be so formal! After all, we’re going to be working together for a while, so we might as well get used to each other, right!”

“Yes, about that,” Shiki ran a hand through his hair. “I won’t help you. Or, more accurately, I can’t help you.”

“What?” Arcueid’s smile vanished in an instant, replaced by an angry frown. “Hey, listen. I’m stuck like this thanks to you, and you want to just-“

“I know,” Shiki raised a hand to forestall her further protests. “I broke your wand, and I’m sorry, and I’m willing to help you in other ways-“ not that I have all that much to myself anyway. “ – but I can’t help you fight, um, vampires and witches or whatever. I told you before, I’m just an ordinary person. I can’t do that sort of thing.”


“You keep saying that you’re nothing but an ordinary kid, but no ordinary kid could do something like this,” Arcueid help out a hand, palm upwards, and with a flash of light the two pieces of her magic wand appeared in it. “Not only did you break it in a single hit, I can’t even stick the pieces back together properly. Believe me, I tried. So,” she tossed the two pieces of the wand down onto the table and turned back to look at Shiki. “If you really want to keep insisting that you’re nobody special, tell me how you did that.”

Shiki let out a deep sigh, one hand unconsciously reaching up to take hold of his glasses. “When I was younger, I got myself involved in a bad accident. Ever since then, I’ve been able to see lines on things. When I trace those lines, the object gets cut or destroyed. That’s how I managed to destroy your wand, okay?”

“Lines, huh…” Arcueid had already cupped her chin. “That doesn’t sound very ‘ordinary’ to me, Shiki.”

How do you know my name? he almost opened his mouth to ask, but then he shook his head. She said she could read my mind earlier. I guess that’s how she did it. Although… “Hey, um, Arcueid, was it?”

“Yeah?”

“If you could read my mind, how come you didn’t know about me being able to see those lines?”

A dissatisfied frown appeared on Arcueid’s face. “Hey, what kind of person do you take me for? When I read your mind I just peeked deep enough to figure out where you live. I don’t go around going through the history of random people.”

“Oh, okay,” I guess she can be considerate when the situation calls for it. “Anyway, like I said, I can see those lines. That doesn’t mean that I’m any use in a fight or anything.” Better not to bring up the fact that I wanted to kill her.

“Really? I mean, you were moving pretty fast when you came at me in the alleyway,” Arcueid let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry. Like I said, I really don’t know the first thing about fighting.”

“Hm,” Arcueid appear to be deep in consideration. “Well, fine. In that case, I have another idea for how you’re going to pay me back.”

He was starting to have a rather large bad feeling about this, but Shiki plunged on anyway. “And that is?”

“Let me stay in your house for a few days.”

Shiki felt himself choking despite the fact that he didn’t have anything in his mouth. “I-“

The dissatisfied expression was back in Arcueid’s face again. “Don’t tell me this is something you can’t do either.”

“N- no, but… don’t you have your own house or anything?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No, not really. Mostly I wander from place to place, you know, hunting down evil where it goes. I’d just arrived in the city the other day, but this particular vampire is a lot harder to track than I thought. Plus, after what you did to me I’m pretty weak right now, and it’ll take a while before I can repair my wand fully, so I need a place to lay low until then,” she nodded, apparently pleased with her logic. “So, what do you say?”

“Eh – uh…” Shiki pressed a hand to his forehead, certain that he could feel a headache coming on. “I’ll go talk to Akiha about it,” after all, it’s a pretty big mansion. We should have some spare rooms. “No promises, though, Arcueid.”

“All right, then,” with a smile of delight, Arcueid stuck out her hand. “It’s a deal, ShikI!”

And as he reluctantly reached out to shake that hand, Shiki Tohno could not possibly anticipate where this simple act would end up leading him in the future.

(X)

TO BE CONTINUED

(X)

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I’d appreciate it if you reviewed.

Next: The Cake is a Pie

[walrus]

This chapter makes me totally burst out... I am still laughing.
Poor Shiki though, he met this woman, Phantasm Moon and now even Arcueid stays in the mansion...
Thank you for this chapter.

[Kieran]

This could be fun as a full fic. Scratch that - it definitely would be.

[Pata Hikari]

Oh.

Yes.

I like this.

[Neir]

FUCK YES, I LOVE THESE.

[pureauthor]

walrus: Putting Shiki through unfortunate situations is always fun!

Kieran: I've got plans. Time will tell if it ever gets anywhere, though..

Pata Hikari: Glad you do! (Did you like the other stuff, though?)

Neir: I'm glad you like them! Hopefully you'll like this next story, too.

(X)

The World of the Moon

(X)

Ten: The Cake is a Pie

Well this is a fair bit longer than the recent entries. I hope you all enjoy this! Continuity-wise, it's linked to my very first story 'A Quiet Dinner'.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(X)

For several long minutes, there was a dead silence in the dining room of the Tohno Mansion.

The six people present shuffled about uncomfortably, furtive glances shifting from each other to the table – and what lay on it.

After a long moment, Shiki opened his mouth as if to break the deathly quiet, only for him to fail on account of being unable to find anything to say. He could feel a slight twitch going through his body, although whether it was an instinctive suppression of the urge to run away or simply a reaction to the smell, he couldn’t really tell.

Ultimately, the silence was broken by Akiha. Shiki supposed she’d had training in learning how to keep her composure in situations like this.

“Well,” she began, with only the slightest tremor to her voice. “If there are no objections, shall we begin?”

As Shiki numbly reached for his fork, his mind had a sudden flashback to the quiet morning that had spawned all this insanity, just yesterday …

(X)

“MM–mmm!” Arcueid let out a pleasurable sound as she bit into the waffle, an expression of dreamy bliss on her face. Nearby, Shiki was staring at her face intently, his own breakfast all but forgotten as he watched his girlfriend enjoy her meal.

After a long moment, Arcueid noticed that he was looking at her, and she glanced down at herself, suddenly self-conscious.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just…” Shiki trailed off. It was just that the way Arcueid was now, a fork with a chunk of waffle halfway to her mouth, the corners of her mouth smeared with syrup, she just…

Looked incredibly cute.

Returning to himself, Shiki shook his head and chuckled as he began to dig into his own food. The way Arcueid could so easily captivate him with whatever she was doing was something he had realized for a while now. In some ways it was her beauty that made paying attention to her almost a matter of course, but really, it was the pure and innocent delight she found in everything that made her such a joy to watch.

Several minutes later, he finished his own breakfast and looked up in time to see Arcueid wiping her mouth. She let out a happy sigh.

“Thanks for making me breakfast again, Shiki,” she beamed at him. “I’m really glad you do it so often.”

“It’s the third time this week, isn’t it? I don’t really mind, as long as I can get up early enough to get to school on time,” he glanced up at the clock. “Speaking of which, I should be going now, Arc.”

At that, she sighed but nodded. “All right, but come play with me again soon, okay?”

With a smile and a wave of his hand, Shiki departed the apartment, a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest, absolutely certain at that moment that all was right in the world.

(X)

Alone in her apartment, Arcueid busied herself with tidying up the dishes that Shiki had left behind. As she stood at the sink washing the plates, a frown of contemplation made its way onto her face.

“He’s cooked me breakfast three times this week, already, huh?” she paused and stared off into nothing. “He’s done that a lot this past month, too.”

Several minutes later, as she was drying the dishes with a washcloth, she began speaking to herself again. “Shiki always says he’s happy to do it for me, but he’s had to wake up earlier to that, doesn’t it? Plus my house is in the opposite direction from his school, too.”

Finally, after she had finished her work and was now alone in her apartment, she fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

“I should do something for Shiki, too,” she mused out loud. “It’s not really fair that he always does stuff for me and I don’t do anything in return, is it?”

But what?

Well, the obvious tit-for-tat would be to help make breakfast for him, but Arcueid wasn’t really secure enough in her skills as a cook to try that. Especially not when he had such fantastic cooks like Hisui and Kohaku living at his mansion. She blew out a sigh.

Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure what Shiki liked to eat in the first place. She had the feeling that he liked his meals simple, so that was at least a small comfort. Still, she wasn’t sure about the specifics. Shiki had always ordered a variety of different foods when he went out, so pegging him down to a single favourite was a hard task.

Hm. Maybe she could ask the maids at Shiki’s mansion what sort of food he liked.

Yes. Yes, that was a good idea! And while she was at it, she could ask them for some help. Many hands made light work, and all that, right? It had said so in that book of proverbs that she had picked up at the store the other day, after all!

Had Arcueid not been so pleased with the cleverness of her idea, she might have remembered another proverb of a quite contradictory nature that was also in the book – one that, if nothing else, could be applied to the current situation in a far more literal fashion.

‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’

(X)

“You want to cook something for Shiki-san?” Kohaku clapped her hands together, a delighted smile on her face. “Oh my, that’s really sweet of you, Arcueid-san!”

“That’s right!” Arcueid smiled right back. She didn’t know why exactly, but she’d always found the cheerful maid of the Tohno household the easiest of the residents to get along with. Aside from Shiki, of course; he was on an entirely different levelling of getting-along-ness. But Hisui was honestly too quiet for Arcueid’s tastes and Little Sister… was Little Sister. Kohaku shared a cheerfulness and penchant for mischief with the vampire that had allowed them to bond a lot quicker than Shiki had thought possible. “I thought I should pay Shiki back a little since he always cooks breakfast for me. But I’m not sure what it is Shiki really likes to eat, though…”

“Ah, so you came to me for help,” a brief frown creased Kohaku’s brow. “But Arcueid-san, to be honest, I’m not sure what it is that Shiki-san particularly likes. He always eats anything I make him without complaint, and he never has special requests either.”

“Really? Hm…” Arcueid cupped her chin. Even his maids didn’t know? That was somewhat troublesome…

“Plums.”

“Hm?” At the sound of the quiet voice from behind them, Kohaku turned.

“Hisui-chan?”

Shiki’s personal maid nodded as she stepped closer, setting down the basket of washing she had been carrying with her. “Shiki-sama is fond of plums, Nee-san. If you wish to make something for Shiki-sama, you should make sure to include plums, Arcueid-sama.”

“Plums, huh?” Arcueid nodded. “Got it! Thanks, Hisui!”

“But that can’t be right,” Kohaku stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I seem to recall Shiki-san telling me he didn’t like them much before…”

“No, Nee-san,” Hisui shook her head. “I am certain that Shiki-sama is inordinately fond of plums.”

“Well, you might be right,” Kohaku conceded. “So, that being the case…”

“I’ve got it! I’ll bake Shiki a cake! A plum cake!”

“A cake, Arcueid-san? I thought we were discussing breakfast?”

“Well, not exactly. Anything’s good as long as I can make it for Shiki, after all,” Arcueid grinned. “Besides, if it’s a cake, we can all share it!”

“Hahaha, how generous of you, Arcueid –san. All right, then,” Kohaku nodded. “Give me a day to go out and gather the ingredients we’ll need. I’ll see you tomorrow, around noon would be good.”

“Bye, Kohaku! Bye, Hisui! See you tomorrow!” With an energetic wave, Arcueid jumped out the nearby window onto a tree branch, rapidly vanishing from view.

“Hmhmhm,” Kohaku hummed a note of delight into her sleeve. “Shiki-san was really fortunate to meet someone like Arcueid-san. Don’t you think so, Hisui-chan?”

“She and Shiki-sama get along well together,” Hisui answered in her usual reserved manner.

“But, still, Hisui-chan, I must say I’m surprised at you. Going out of your way to offer advice on winning Shiki-san’s heart to Arcueid-san? To think that you would support a rival for Shiki-san’s affections! Huhuhu…”

The effect was instantaneous. Hisui’s face changed to the colour of a fresh tomato in the blink of an eye. “Wha- what are you saying, Nee-san? Don’t be ridi- that’s not-“ she sputtered on for several seconds before she took a deep breath and managed to bring her feelings back under control. “Nee-san, Shiki-sama is my master. It is a maid’s duty to look to her master’s best interests, and not to let any personal feelings get in the way.”

“If you say so, Hisui-chan,” Kohaku chuckled as she walked towards the door of the room. “Well, I really should be going to town to get those ingredients. Watch the house until Shiki-san and Akiha-sama return, okay?”

(X)

The next day, four figures gathered in the kitchen of the Tohno Mansion, a singular goal of helping to create a masterpiece of the baking arts foremost in their minds.

“My, my, Len-chan wants to help too?” Kohaku chuckled as she petted the quiet familiar on the head.

“I think she wants to be able to lay claim to a slice for herself later,” Arcueid said as she rummaged through the ingredients Kohaku had bought. Len’s sweet tooth was common knowledge amongst those who spent time with the cat.

“Well, that’s no problem, then!” Kohaku chuckled slightly before a slightly troubled expression founds its way onto her face. “Although… Hisui-chan, please don’t take this the wrong way, but… why are you here?”

Hisui drew in a deep breath. “Arcueid-sama specifically requested for my help, Nee-san, in light of how much she enjoyed the last meal I cooked for her. I felt that it would be rude to refuse.”

“O – of course it would,” Kohaku chuckled nervously. So now Hisui would be helping them. Well, with any luck, she would be able to minimize any damage her younger sister caused.

“Anyway, shall we begin?” Arcueid beamed as she grabbed onto a bag of flour. “We should get started soon, too, so we can complete it before Shiki and Little Sister get back from school.”

“Ah, Akiha-sama did not have any school today,” Kohaku informed the vampire as she grabbed onto a plum and began slicing it into chunks with ease borne of years of practice. “She is currently in her room handling business affairs, and then she’ll take a rest until Shiki-san gets home. In any case, we should have free reign for a few hours.”

“Well, that’s good! Come on, Len,” Arcueid beckoned her friend. “We’ll get started on mixing the flour and the eggs.”

Kohaku smiled at the image of Len being Arcueid’s assistant as she returned to chopping the fruit before a thought struck her and she turned to her sister. “Hisui-chan? What will you be doing?”

Hisui nodded. “I shall be searching for garnishes,” and before Kohaku could say anything else Hisui had retreated to the other corner of the room and began rummaging to the cupboards.

G-garnishes… stifling an uncomfortable laugh, Kohaku returned to her work. Well, whatever it is that Hisui-chan digs up can’t be too bad, right? I’ll just make sure to keep an eye on her. And with that reassuring thought in mind, Kohaku returned to work.

(X)

Len silently watched as Arcueid began cracking the eggs. How humans did it and how supremely powerful True Ancestors did it tended to differ. For example, the standard human method would be to rap the egg against the side of the bowl hard enough to form a crack, and then use to crack to break the egg open and let the insides fall out.

Supremely powerful True Ancestors who had access to the Marble Phantasm simply manipulated the laws of nature so that after placing the eggs in the bowl, their shells disintegrated, leaving nothing but the yolks and whites to flowing out.

It seemed slightly excessive to the familiar, but then again it was efficient, and who was she to judge? Silently, she plodded over to the bag of sugar Kohaku had bought and brought it over to the mixing bowl.

The recipe, if she remembered correctly, had called for two teaspoonfuls of sugar. With a nod, Len scooped the amount out once, twice, and…

She frowned. She could not be certain, but… the amount of sugar seemed a little small relative to the amount of flour. Maybe just a little more?

After all, there was no such thing as too sweet, was there?

After a brief moment’s hesitation, Len nodded to herself, and with a fiery determination in her eyes, began to scoop out more sugar from the bag.

(X)

Arcueid flipped through the pages of the recipe book, a frown appearing on her face. She had to admit that she was woefully lacking in experience when it came to baking cakes (which would be a major part of the reason why she was relying on the cookbook in the first place), but she could swear that certain parts of the recipe seemed… off.

For one thing, why would there be instruction on how to add a top pastry layer? That wasn’t how cakes worked.

At least, she was pretty sure that wasn’t how ordinary cakes worked. Maybe Kohaku had chosen some super special cake recipe because she knew Arcueid would want it be as special as possible for Shiki. Yes, that had to be it!

Kohaku really is so thoughtful. Arcueid thought with a smile as she returned to her work. Still, she couldn’t shake that nagging doubt that this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Well, when the time comes I’ll just ask Kohaku or Hisui for clarification. They know what they’re doing, don’t they? And with a satisfied nod, Arcueid banished any and all worries from her mind.

(X)

Digging out several bottles of food colouring, Hisui paused to consider her options as she sifted through the various labels.

If it is to be a plum cake, it is only natural that it is to be the colour of plum. No one could find any flaws with that logic, and so Hisui continued in her quest to find the perfect shade of colouring.

Grabbing a paper napkin, Hisui poured out an experimental drop onto the sheet.

No, too red.

Another bottle.

Too pale.

Another.

Too rich.

Well, unless she could dilute it somehow… her eyes narrowed in concentration, Hisui glanced around the kitchen for anything she could use to lessen the intensity of the colouring.

Of course! The vinegar! It was colourless, so she could easily mix it in and lessen the strength of the colouring. A rare smile appeared on her face at her delight at finding such an innovative solution to her problem, and taking a deep breath, Hisui began to busy herself with her work.

(X)

Kohaku noted out of the corner of her eye that Hisui was puttering about in the additives section, but she was still keeping it to herself. I’ll just run whatever it is she’s trying to add by me before she puts it in. She’s not doing anything particularly important, just the garnishes, like she said, so even if she did something horribly wrong, it won’t waste that much time.

More important were Arcueid and Len’s antics. Kohaku snuck a glance at the vampire who was busy mixing the batter with gusto. Well, she certainly couldn’t fault her enthusiasm. And on that note, it would soon be time to add the fruit pieces-

Later, Kohaku would be at a loss as to explain how it had happened. She was normally supremely confident in her own skills in the kitchen, after all. Perhaps it was because she was busy keeping an eye on the other people in the kitchen. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night. Perhaps it was simply that the powers that be, in a moment of whimsy, had decided to strike her with bad luck.

Whatever the reason, there was a dull thud! and suddenly Kohaku felt a sharp pain lancing up her hand. With a cry of pain she jerked her hand away, causing the others to come to her side.

I cut my own finger? Kohaku stared at the bleeding appendage for a moment. Her hurting from such things was relatively new, but still, she knew that the bleeding was serious enough that she’d need to deal with it quickly.

“Urgh…” there was a troubled moan, and suddenly Kohaku realized that Arcueid had retreated to the far side of the kitchen and was currently trying desperately not to look in Kohaku’s direction. Ah, yes, Arcueid-san doesn’t do well in the presence of blood. I’ll have to leave.

“Nee-san!” she heard Hisui’s cry and she smiled encouragingly at her sister.

“Don’t worry, Hisui-chan. It’s not serious. I’ll just have to disinfect and bandage it.”

“All… all right, if you say so,” Hisui was clearly worried, but Kohaku was the one who had had medical training, and so Hisui deferred to her greater expertise in the matter. “Hurry up and treat it then, Nee-san.”

Kohaku smiled, nodded, and left the kitchen.

It was only when she was halfway to her room and the first-aid kit she kept in there that she realized what she had just done.

She had left Arcueid, Hisui, and Len, alone and unsupervised, in the kitchen, to attempt the baking of a cake.

A bolt of pure terror shot through the normally unflappable maid, and almost involuntarily, she sent out a mental cry.

SHIKI-SAN, RUN!

(X)

“Hey, man, anything the matter?” Arihiko gazed at Shiki with concern, and the bespectacled youth shook his head.

“No, I’m fine. I just…” he glanced over his shoulder. “Felt like there was some sort of danger around the place.”

“You know what’s a danger? If we don’t get there quicky, we won’t be able to reserve enough seats at the cafeteria, and Ciel-senpai won’t be able to join us for lunch! Now that’s a danger, so hurry up!”

“Coming, coming,” Shiki sighed and hurried after his friend.

(X)

“Hisui?” Arcueid asked as she lifted her head from the batter. “Could I ask you something?”

Hisui looked up from where she was busy pouring the food colouring into a pan. “Yes, Arcueid-sama?”

“Are you sure that this recipe is correct?” she handed the book over for Hisui to scan through, and Hisui paused.

“If Nee-san was the one who chose this recipe, then there should be no problems,” she said. “As for myself, I cannot find anything wrong with it.”

“Got it!” Arcueid smiled. “I just wanted to make sure. Thanks, Hisui!”

And so they returned to their work.

(X)

Several hours later, Shiki let out a long breath as he stepped through the doors of his family home. Today had been a tiring day at school, and he was glad to be back home, and to be afforded the chance to relax.

As he stepped into the interior of the mansion, he wasn’t surprised to see Arcueid in the lobby, apparently waiting for him. After all, she’d called in the morning with news about having some sort of surprise ready for him when he came back.

What did surprise him was the fact that she was pacing back and forth in the lobby, wringing her hands nervously. At the sound of his the door closing behind him, she whirled to face him, her face filled with surprise – and badly-concealed anxiety.

“S-shiki!” Okay, Arcueid stuttering? Something was horribly, horribly wrong here. Arc didn’t stutter.

“What’s the matter, Arc?” he smiled encouragingly at her. “You told me you had a surprise for me, didn’t you?”

A forced smile appeared on her face. “I did, didn’t I? Well, about that, it’s a bit of a funny story-“

“Arcueid-sama,” appearing in the doorway of the kitchen, Hisui bowed deeply. “The cake has just finished baking.”

“Oh, a cake?” Shiki tried to keep the smile on his face, but he had a sudden, awful premonition of doom lurking in front of him. “Is that the surprise, Arc?”

“Well, yes,” Arcueid looked as if she was about to get a tooth pulled without anaesthetic. Definitely not a good sign.

“Shiki-sama, with your leave, I will go inform Nee-san and Akiha-sama that we have finished our baking.”

A baking project that hadn’t involved Kohaku? This was just getting better and better.

Which had of course led them to current situation, with all of them staring at the… thing in front of them on table.

Splotches of grey-green covered the uppermost layer of the stuff, mixed in with generous amounts of what appeared to be a purple that reminded Shiki of nothing so much as deadly poison. Despite the fact that it had received ample time to cool, Shiki could detect a faint hissing coming from within the lumpy depths of the creation.

Surreptitiously, Shiki glanced up at the others to see how they felt. Akiha, sitting opposite him on the table, had an expression on her face that was almost bored, a definite feeling of ‘let’s just get this mess over with’ coming from her.

Kohaku looked apologetic, though for what exactly, Shiki couldn’t tell. He also noticed that one of her fingers was currently bandaged. I wonder what happened.

Hisui just appeared puzzled, as if she couldn’t figure out how they had managed to end up with what they had.

Len appeared on the verge of tears, her dream of tucking into a delicious cake thoroughly dashed by now.

And Arcueid… sitting at his side, Arcueid simply looked as if she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and die. Shiki reined in a sigh, even as he felt a stab in his heart at her crushed expression. Every last one of them knew that the cake – if it could even be called a cake, it half-looked like a pie, actually – in front of them was an affront to all that was good and pure in this world, but no one wanted to point that out and so risk upsetting everyone else in the room.

Finally, it was Akiha who broke the silence. “Well,” she said. “If there are no objections, shall we begin?”

With a nod of assent, Shiki picked up his fork and got ready to eat, as did the others in the room.

Twenty seconds later, all of them stood and bolted for the various bathrooms in the mansion.

(X)

Night had fallen, and the residents of the Tohno Mansion had retired for the day, mostly to nurse aching stomachs.

Shiki was no exception, and he lay in bed, feeling his digestive tract howl protests at the indignity it had been subjected to earlier in the day.

Well, it couldn’t be helped, he supposed. That was just the way things had turned out.

And on that note…

“Hey, Arcueid,” he called.

There was the soft rustle of curtains, and Arcueid stepped into view. “Ehehe…” she gave an embarrassed laugh that Shiki could tell was forced. “You knew I was there, Shiki?”

“You’ve pulled that so many times, it’d be surprising if I couldn’t tell,” he sat up in his bed. “Do you want some hot chocolate?” He’d managed to convince Kohaku to install a water boiler in his room a while back, under the unspoken understanding that he tended to entertain unannounced night visits far more often than was usual.

She shook her head. “Not tonight, Shiki,” and her voice was soft as she walked over to his bedside, settling herself heavily on it. Her downcast eyes stared at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze.

Shiki sighed. “Arc…”

“Shiki, I’m sorry,” she began suddenly. “I just wanted to do something for you like you always did for me. But everything went wrong, and everyone ended up hurt because of me.”

Shiki was silent.

“I don’t even know where it all went wrong. I’d gotten help from Kohaku and Hisui, I’d prepared as best as I could and I-“ she was cut off with a gasp as she felt warms arms wrap around her from behind.

“It’s all right, Arc,” Shiki said softly, into her ear. “It’s true the result wasn’t very good, but Hisui told me that you really enjoyed yourself while making the cake. That’s good, isn’t it?”

“But I-“

“Arc, even if the results didn’t turn out so well, I’m still happy,” gently but firmly, he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that she was looking at him. “I’m glad you wanted to do something nice for me. So… thank you.”

The beginnings of a smile almost found its way onto Arcueid’s face before she looked away. “But – that means I still haven’t done anything to pay you back for all the things you did for me, Shiki.”

“Hey now, Arcueid,” Shiki chuckled in the darkness. “You’re wrong. Every time I do something for you, you always pay me back.”

She turned to him, a questioning look on her face.

“Every time I do something for you, I get to see your beautiful smile when you thank me. That’s all the reward I need.”

There was a moment of silence, and then a smile spread across Arcueid’s face. “Shiki…” Closing her eyes, she leaned forward to embrace him.

Shiki returned the hug, settling himself backwards on the bed until both of them were lying down on it, arms still wrapped protectively around each other. With a last sigh of contentment, Shiki closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, the two of them remaining that way until the dawn came.

(X)

Well that ending was pure cheese.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and I would appreciate it if you reviewed my work.

Next: Conclusion

[Pata Hikari]

Oh that was hilarious.

[Kratosirving]

Len cutely drawing out more sugar was pure gold. I mean, I expected Arc and Hisui to fuck things up a little, but I thought that Len would bolt out the door in a panic when she realized that, not add to the chaos.

WIN