Shirakawa Mansion

"I see, I suppose as long as you don't get hurt that's alright; just be sure to be careful." He replied, his voice calm but kind as he spoke. "Thank you, for the kind compliment as well; I try to be, sometimes it can even earn a new friend and friends are always good to have."

He'd made quite a few friends these past few decades, it was nice and he had fun. He was happy, got to laugh, have fun, it was great; it was something he'd always wanted growing up and now he actually had it.

"W-Welcome...We....are....friends?" She looked up with a small gasp before speaking, her face rather confused as she stared. Masaru seemed rather worried over her getting hurt, but...she did a lot. Small things happened that had to do with her cloak and clothes. It was more of the price she paid for her shyness. She had no idea how to respond... she had...not many friends...

"If you'd like to be." Masaru replied, of course smiling again. "I'd like to be, if that's alright with you."

She seemed surprised by his words before confusion replaced it. Did she not have many? He supposed...it might be hard for her due to her shyness, but still, he'd be her friend if she'd let him.

"You'd...want...to...with...me..." Mia's face blushed and she looked down at her lap... before pulling the hood up. Her lips were still visible for a second before she pulled it down to cover the tears that leaked from her eyes. She rather hoped Masaru hadn't seen.

"...I...am the...ghost...of the...library....but...yes... friend..."

"Mhmm." Masaru nodded just as Mia pulled the hood over herself to hide her face. His eyes widened slightly before softening, noticing the lieutenant seemed to be crying a little. "You're Mia. Mia is Mia. If you don't mind me calling you that, that is." He said, "and I'm Masaru, or Masa. People seem to enjoy nicknaming me. Hehe..."

Mia choked at Masaru's words, bending forward and burying her face in her hands as she shook. She...was going to break. This was a dangerous man. He was the most dangerous. Hideki was cute in a self aware/young/sweet way... but this man here was going to kill her without meaning it.

Tears still fell down her face, but she felt like they should evaporate on contact with her skin. Her voice shook as she replied, in a way it looked like she was sobbing about this when she was really wishing she could melt through walls. "...M-Masa...M-Mia...is a nickname...too... Eufemia...they...are nice..."

"That's a nice name, very nice." Masaru complimented. She really had been crying though, that much was obvious now. It must have meant a great deal to her...

After a moment of inner debate, he brought his hand to rest on her head lightly; hoping he wouldn't scare her when he only meant to comfort her. "That settles it then. Friends."

...He couldn't be stopped by any means. He just kept going. WHAT WAS THIS MAN AND HOW DID HE EXIST!? Masaru was ridiculous. This was the only explanation. He was a dork and then not a dork. How did he keep doing this!?

Still it was... with the most shock she had had all night that she felt a bare hand on her head inside of her hood. It...was touching her admittedly soft hair and head. No...No... She shook lightly from the shock of such touch before...she relaxed a bit. Not...her weakness... her hands fell to her lap and her eyes closed. If...he moved his hand around she might collapse. But she couldn't help it.

Masaru gave a small smile as Mia seemed to relax some. She was relaxing rather than getting nervous and running, that was good. He moved his hand slightly, lightly petting her head as he gave a chuckle.

"Everything's alright, see?" He replied, "It's nice to have a new friend, growing up I didn't have any so having them now makes me really happy. It's even better if I can make them happy in return."

"Mhm." Mia's usual shyness melted quite a bit as she sighed lightly. Her smile was soft and she relaxed more and more, almost melting as she sat there. her voice was a bit drowsy but was in fact at a reasonable volume. "It is really nice... I've been alone in the library for so long, I forgot what its like to talk to others... But I...love children so much and don't want them to be lonely like I was... So I can talk to them."

"I am sorry Masa. I would have talked to you if I had met you. We could have been friends... But happy now is really good too. I'm happy." Her voice was a bit sad, though her eyes stayed closed and she still had the small smile on.

"Nozomi really likes you, after you left the other day she couldn't stop talking about you." He chuckled again. "She said you'd been really nice, a birthday fairy, it was amusing but also cute. There aren't that many kids around here, and the ones that are are nobility...she never says anything about it but I think they ignore her since she's not. It's sad, but that's how children of some families are raised, so when you met her and spoke with her she was really happy."

He listened to her speak again, apologizing about not speaking with him before to which he continued smiling to, but like some of his others it was soft. "There's no need to apologize. I know it's tough, when I was younger I had a lot of trouble talking with others too. I'm happy I can now though, and I'm happy you're happy now as well."

A happy blush showed on her face. As long as Masaru kept petting she'd probably keep talking. She felt so relaxed and wibbly though, swaying just a bit with her eyes closed. "That...is good. I'll come see Nozomi lots then...if its okay Masa. But...it is really sad to hear that... Poor Nozomi. E-Even if its not okay... I'll come visit her! I-I...don't like people doing that. Even children... though children can learn..."

Mia's voice was stronger and a bit more direct, her eyes opening slightly to look at Masaru. She was being as forceful as she could be, bullies and things of that nature made her angry no matter how shy she was. "Happy is good. We can be happy friends. Hehe."

Reaching into her cloak, slowly she pulled out... a cupcake. It was perfectly frosted and she gave a small smile as she handed it over. "Friendship celebration... For you Masa."

"Of course you can come and see her, I'm sure she'd be more than delighted."

He was quite surprised as Mia suddenly pulled a cupcake from her cloak. Had that been in there the entire time? How had it not gotten mashed or anything? Despite his confusion, he took the cupcake.

"Thank you very much." He smiled, "This makes for a perfect friendship celebration."

"Thank you..." Mia's smile was bright and warm, the biggest smile she'd shown to anyone who wasn't under ten in years with her face uncovered. Still, Masa seemed rather happy about this. His words...though made her shake her head as she reached into the cloak once more and pulled out a party hat. This one was NOT the one she had put on Hideki's head. Inside the hat was a lighter and a candle.

Motioning for Masa to hold out the cupcake, she stuck the candle in and then handed him the hat. Holding up the lighter, she realized... she hadn't said a word and was back to being silent again and flushed. Maybe... he'd understand her still. She waved the lighter, warning him she was planning on lighting the candle.

Once again he was taken by surprise, holding out the cupcake as she held up the lighter before he gave another small laugh. "You have all of these nifty little things in your cloak? It must be magic."

He took the hat, placing it on his head like he was supposed to. So now it was a perfect friendship celebration.

Mia lit the candle with a small grin, nodding a bit. It... was a library special item. She had found it when much younger, and thought of it as a gift the Library had given her. But she didn't say anything at all to Masa about it. Maybe... if she got her voice back...

The lighter went back into the cloak and then she pulled out another hat, placing it on her head and...stared. Who should blow out the candle? One eyebrow raised in question, she gave a shy smile before looking away.

Masaru looked down at the lit candle, was Mia requesting he blow it out. He looked down at it for a moment before glancing back at Mia. "How about we both blow it out? Go on three?"

It was only right. If this was a friendship celebration for both of them then they should both blow out the candle.

Mia turned beat red at Masa's suggestion. What!? That meant... If she didn't move they'd just be blowing it out in each other's faces. Nodding shakily, she scooted over to him a bit more, sitting next to him on the floor they had never left.

She held up her fingers, one up to signal the count. She was so close to him... it was a cupcake, there wasn't enough of it to really blow on unless they got close... Mia leaned her head down, raising her first finger and then the other after the same interval so he'd. She pursed her lips and blew when she reached three, hoping he did the same. Otherwise this whole thing would be the worst embarrassing day ever for nothing.

His smile grew some as she moved to do as he suggested, watching her fingers as she counted down; blowing out the candle with her when she did. "There! We did it." He chuckled, "now...How about we split it then? The cupcake."

Yaaay! Success! It was worth all the pain she was now suffering. Her legs had frozen up from nerves, but she looked at Masa with a blush and shook her head. She waved it to him, he could have the whooole thing.

After the cake, she still didn't want anything that sweet. Uuugh.

"Hmm? Are you sure? You made it though." Masaru replied, "Hmm...If I eat the cupcake then, you'll need to tell me something I can make for you in return. It doesn't have to be limited to sweets either. How does that sound?"

Mia shook her head very strongly. He didn't need to make anything for her! The hat fell off of her head and she stuffed it into her cloak, grabbing the candle too and bringing it up to her mouth. However she stopped almost there, with a grimace. Holding it out to Masa's mouth, she shrugged and waved it for him to have the frosting so she could put it away.

"Are you sure? I enjoy cooking so it wouldn't be any problem." He offered, though before he could continue Mia held the candle to him; motioning for what he figured was to lick the frosting. He looked at it for a moment, was he supposed to just from her hand....? No, couldn't be...something like that would freak her out so there was no way she was suggesting he do that.

Thinking that, he moved his hand that wasn't holding the cupcake to take the candle from her hand before getting the frosting from it. He gave a small smile after doing so, "The frosting's really tasty."

Mia's head shook strongly again. She didn't need him to make her anything! Nothing at all! She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing apparently and...luckily Masa took the candle. Her face was beat red at what she had done, glad for Masa's rather kind acceptance of things.

Or...had he thought she was flirting?! NO! SHE... SHE WASN'T! She hadn't meant it like that. She just didn't want to put icing in with the other... Her blush intensified as he said the frosting was tasty and she blinked a bit before her brain shattered for a bit. Scrambling away, she crawled under the table and pulled her hood up. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't...mean it...like...no...I know...its...weird...I am not... stalker...or things...or...trying...to...do...that stuff..."

"Huh?" Masaru's eyes followed the shy lieutenant as she crawled under the table, apparently worried about being a stalker or something. "I know you're not, though? It's alright, Mia. You don't need to hide." He tried to reassure her, though he was unsure if it was working.

"You just wanted me to have the icing because you didn't want it, that's what you meant and that's what I took it as. It's alright, I promise."