VOLUME 1
Season 3, Episode 6
Episode 6:
"Miko-nee!"
Shun returned to find Mikoto"s p.r.o.ne figure lying on the kitchen floor.
This wasn"t one of her usual fainting episodes, he just knew it.
Sitting un.o.btrusively on the kitchen counter was the black sludge that Rosalie had once brought Shun for lunch. Judging from the black remnants on the spoon in her hand, Mikoto must have tried it.
"Miko-nee! Get up!"
Holding her up, Shun gave her a few shakes in an attempt to revive her.
"… The devil! The devil"s army employed a Habanero and -"
Her eyes unfocused, whatever Mikoto was muttering made no sense.
And yet, it was obvious from the remaining ingredients in the kitchen that Mikoto tried to teach Rosalie how to make curry.
Somehow he didn"t believe that effort to be a success. Well, certainly not from the way the potatoes seemed to be torn from the inside out, and the carrots were smashed onto the door of the fridge. Chicken bits and onion rings were placed in an odd position reminiscent of the way live sacrifices were stacked up before being burnt alive at the stake.
This didn"t make any sense. And what in the world was a Habanero anyway?
"Shun-chan …"
"Are you alright, Miko-nee? Nothing wrong with your head?"
"Rosalie-chan is…"
As she uttered Rosalie"s name, she looked around the room hoping to catch sight of Rosalie.
"-Ah!"
Shun followed her line of sight and found another spoon, black stains sliding off it. It occurred to him that Rosalie must have tasted the black sludge too.
"Rosalie-chan, she went out and -"
"What?"
"Go upstairs and see if you can find her."
Shun had barely begun to grasp the situation as he nodded his head, put Mikoto down, and got up.
Just as he walked past the dining table, a piece of paper caught his eye.
It was a note, left from Rosalie -
"Off to travel."
Wait, rewind. What happened?
"Rosalie-chan was really upset."
Mikoto volunteered that bit of information.
"She was?"
"The fact that she couldn"t even clean or do laundry, Rosalie-chan was quite disappointed in herself. She has been down about it for the whole of today."
"The whole day?"
He hadn"t even noticed.
"And now, this. After I fell, she must have tasted the curry herself. It must have been so bad that she just up and left us. "
Shun thought back to the times when Rosalie was helping around the house today - when she cleaned, when she did the laundry, when she tidied his room…
She had always been careless in her recklessness, but she was always so straightforward, always trying to do her best.
"Shun-chan."
Mikoto fixed her stare onto her cousin.
"Go find her. Bring her home."
Shun nodded silently and stepped out of the house.
Mikoto was left to deal with the remaining mess.
On her face played out the conflicted emotions she felt within.
Sigh.
"If only Shun were my little sister instead."