The Attraction of The Mirror. Chapter 3

A/n. And here we have another main character introduced, the one I have really high hopes of… Let’s see what adventures she brings into the story~

Her eyes traced a vague path on the ground and she followed it, her hand gripping onto the katana in its sheath tightly. With each step she felt more confident in herself, especially after the previous events that happened in the skyscraper trees forest. Well, at least that’s how the girl called it as the trees there were as wide and tall as Tokyo Tower. Taking the last few steps she stopped and stared at the view in front of her.

From behind the bush at the very edge of the said forest Jurina casted her eyes on a rather gloomy village just few meters away from where she was standing. The sun was shinning, houses were of varied colors and kids were running around and playing but..something felt out of place and Jurina couldn’t pinpoint it as of yet. Just her senses told her to be very careful and observing.

The short haired girl braced herself and left her cover, heading towards the first building that her eyes spotted – a cafe. Keeping the hood on she passed the running around kids, opened the doors and went inside. Closing it behind her she went deep into the cafe, still keeping the hood on and sat at the farthest table possible. Only after opening the menu and hiding her face behind it Jurina started observing the interior.

The cafe was simple, walls lavender colored and the counter and tables of modern white-grayish steel. There were two waitresses in somewhat similar uniforms, just of different colors, who were moving between the tables swiftly and keeping gentle smiles on their faces. Not that there were many customers, actually. One table had a somewhat cute girl, who was wearing a white red blouse and a checkered white-red skirt and a red ribbon-scrunchie. She was sipping a somewhat weird looking cocktail which was dark blue with glowing white things swirling inside. Jurina nearly gawked at such a view and turned her head elsewhere.

At the other table there were two girls, chatting lively and probably gossiping, as they were casting scorned looks towards the girl in checkered outfit. Both of them were wearing pink puffy dresses with white fur vests and long silver boots. The outfits were sickening to the girl and she turned her gaze away. That’s when she found herself staring at the maid who just approached her table.

“Gokigenyou~ My name is Sashihara Rino and I am at your service today~ May I take your order, okyakusan?”

Jurina quickly scanned the menu and her eyes widened at the bizarre things listed in it.

*open in new tab to see full view*

Jurina gulped and murmured the word ‘water’ which she was sure was accepted with a shock and even disgust by the waitress. However, when the hooded girl raised her head she was just met with a smile on the waitress’ face and soon her hands were grabbed by a pair of warm ones.

“Finally!!! A normal customer in what….hundred years?!! Oh, I am so happy!!!!!” The waitress beamed another happy smile and skipped to the bar to get her water.

The short haired girl just sighed and darted her eyes out the window, trying to spot something other than random houses and take her mind away from the fact that a ‘y’ in a word ‘year’ and ‘u’ in the word ‘liqueur’ were missing in the menu on the table. Her gaze stopped upon a dark black spooky castle peaking out from the top of the forest.

“Here is your order~” A waitress interrupted her thoughts and placed a glass of water in front of her.

“Mhm, thank you. Nee, can you tell me… How to get to the castle?” Jurina tried to sound like she had business in there.

“Oh, you must have business with HER.” A respect was heard in Rino’s voice and then she thought for a few seconds. “I think I might know someone who’s not afraid to pass through the forest and knows the way around.”

“Mhm? That would be good.” Jurina said and finished her glass of water in one gulp. “Could you take me to that person then?”

“No…I have to work here but I know of whom to ask. If you go down the street you should be able to find a huge white house. Next to it there is a simple ordinary house with red doors. that’s where you will find the one who will help you to the said person. Just tell her you’re from Sasshi and if she doesn’t believe you… Tell her she owes me two tickets to Kaotan’s concerts.”

“??… Okay… May I know the person’s name?” The short haired girl asked.

“Takahashi Minami is the name, but we all call her Takamina.” Sasshi stated and smiled. “She is a very nice and caring person, the best mayor one could have actually.”

“Oh, she’s in that high position. Well then, I’ll see you around maybe~” Jurina left, not even thinking that she might have to pay for the water.

“She didn’t pay though…” Rino sighed and looked at her partner. “Rie, she didn’t pay…”

“I am sure she is not from here and also… I feel like the new winds started blowing here… We might finally get the so awaited freedom…” Kitahara Rie stated and went to the girl in red checkered clothes. “Kasai-ohimesama, do you want anything else?”

“Another glass of liqueur, Rie-chan…” Tomo~mi sighed and placed her head on the table, wearing a sad expression on her face. “Tomochin….”

“Sasshi go bring the bill over to Oota-san and Nakagawa-san, I’ll call Itano-sama.”

“Hai hai…”

—

Just at the end of the long street Jurina finally noticed the mentioned white house and next to it there really was a simple house with red doors. She was wondering why the mayor doesn’t live in the white house but decided to ponder about it later because she had more important things on her mind right now. The black haired girl knocked on the door and soon met eye to eye with a…ribbon… It was a huge deep pink ribbon and it took some time for Jurina to realize that the one coughing for her attention was not the ribbon – which wouldn’t be so weird, considering all the weird things in this town so far – but a girl who had that huge thing on her head.

“Um…good day? I am looking for Mayor Takahashi Minami.” The hooded girl spoken trying to hold in the laughter on how tiny the girl in front of her was.

“I AM Takahashi Minami. May I know who you are and what brought you here? I don’t let the strangers into my office so easily.” The voice was firm and yet somewhat gentle, making Jurina realize that despite the height – which still made her laugh out loud in her head – the mayor was a very clever and composed person.

“I am sent here by Sasshi. In case you don’t believe me, she said to tell you that you owe her two tickets to…er” Here Jurina pondered a bit, trying to remember the name. “…Kaotan’s concert…?”

“Ah, oh, then come on in and we can talk while sitting comfortably.” Minami motioned for the girl to come in and soon both of them got situated on the soft couches at the simple office. “Coffee, tea, juice?”

“Whoa, you have normal drinks here..?” Jurina joked and they both chuckled.

“Yeah, well don’t compare that cafe to mayor’s office. I have even normal food here, you know~” They both chuckled once again. “So, what brings you here? And I’d love to know who I am speaking to.”

“All I can say is that my name is Jurina. I don’t know what people I can trust here as I’ve been through quite a lot until I got into this town and…I wanna know how to get to that castle. So if you’d be so kind and help me out. Sashihara-san said you might know of a person who could lead me there through the forest.”

“Um…yeah…” The midget blushed for unknown reason and then tried to put herself together. “I think I can take you to her.”

“Thank you…” Jurina answered and started observing the office while Takahashi went to change into different clothing.

The office had only one thing that was totally not understandable to the black haired girl. There were no personal things in the room: no pictures, flowers, colorful things. Simple office without anything that would tell at least a thing about the mayor of this town. It was really weird for the puppy girl but she decided to brush it off for now and just kept thinking of what awaited her at the castle.

—

“So tell me more about this person that we’re going to.” Jurina asked her companion as they were walking towards the forest.

“Well… Let me begin like this There was once a person in this land, who was known for making the most beautiful and fancy hats in the whole world. No one called him any other names but The Hatter. He later found a wife and married her and not long after the daughter was born. Her beauty traveled around the land and some people got jealous of the happy couple. They burned the house at night while the whole family was sleeping, in hopes to remain the most beautiful ones in the country.”

“So cruel….”

“But little did they know that the little girl was the one with a very sharp sixth sense so unconsciously she sleepwalked out in the forest and that was how she stayed alive. My father took her in and taught her all he knew about defence and we became good friends. Soon she left to rebuild the parents’ house and stayed there true to her own desires. She wanted revenge.”

“Wow… She sounds cool~” The puppy like girl couldn’t contain her sparkling eyes anymore, her curiosity was at the highest peak.

“Bad times fell on our land and from the once beautiful and peaceful it turned into cold and grim one. It has its nice moments only thanks to those few who still have high hopes of returning the peace to this land.” The mayor continued. “The Archer is one of them. She is actually called Maeda Atsuko, with her distinctive traits being her black shoulder length hair, ice-cold stare and my-pace chara. Also, she is the Ace Archer in this land, and you could find no other as good as she is. If you want her to show you other side of hers, I suggest you calling her Acchan simply, that would do you good.”

“Other side?” The taller one tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?”

“She probably means this~” a cooing voice stated and soon a body launched itself on Minami, tackling her on the ground and making the mayor blush in deep red. “Mi.na.mi. I missed you~”

Jurina was staring at the view in front of her with the smirk on her face. She never knew she would see the serious Takahashi being pinned on the ground and molested by non other but the beautiful archer girl. It was a view she wouldn’t want to miss ever in her life so she just rested her back against the tree and observed the unfolding scene.

“A….atsu…ko….can’t…breathe….” Minami tried to push the taller one away but it didn’t work. Soon her lips were conquered by the black haired beauty and the mayor had no other option but to give in, pulling her dear ace closer in the tight embrace and opening her mouth for the better access.

Maeda used this opportunity and her tongue slid into the midget’s mouth, exploring it ever so diligently, not missing a spot, making the tiny one moan and suck air out of her own moist cave. Finally the taller one retreated, leaving the gasping Minami pant on the ground, and turned to smirking Jurina.

“You must be the one I’ve been waiting for, Matsui Jurina-san. Follow me and don’t worry about Minami, she’ll come after us when she catches her breath.” Atsuko voiced and ventured further into the forest.

Jurina had so many questions to this black haired beauty but realized they have to wait. She casted one last smirking glance towards the haggardly breathing mayor and then followed after the ace archer, wondering why the archer is wearing pink-black frilly skirt and a cute black hat on her head.

Advertisement