Saintly Territory

Mia just blinked as the gikongan questioned whether it could have both, gave Rio in Masaru's body a very scrutinizing look. She examined him from head to toe, looking thoughtful before giving a sad, sorry sigh and shaking her head with pure apology as if there was nothing worth commenting on in Rio.

She just walked over to him after that dismissive examination, sighed again and reached up to pat his head as if to soothe him. "You...you poor thing."

Just...to be in that levels of denial... To...to be that...out of it... She pitied Rio so hard in that moment before removing her hand from his head and smiling.

"I~ Wasn't~ Asking~" Her favorite evil tone returned as she looked up at him, smiling and tilting her head with eyes closed again before grabbing his arm and tugging him towards the boxes.

The hell was with that look!? Rio felt his jaw clench as Mia just sighed and shook her head at him. He could have both, it wasn't out of the question! Personality, stamina, he was the perfect mod soul, and he could find plenty of women to vouch for him!

Poor...

Like before, his eye twitched as Mia approached him and patted his head in pity. That dismissive examination... Gh...

That tone of hers was not to be toyed with though... She wasn't asking about the boxes, and as she pulled him over to them a noise of frustration escaped him. He looked down at the old looking things and eventually picked one of them up, pulling it out from the slight coverage the clothes provided.

This was stupid... This one even had a hole in it! Why the hell didn't Shirakawa just toss this crap...?

There was indeed a hole, a small one on the closed box near the bottom in the center, like it'd been made for some stray cat out on the streets to live in. Seemed it had stuff in it though, a blanket of sorts sticking out of that hole just slightly.

"Gh, he'd do better to through this shit away..."

Mia had actually wounded him this time. She had been right to think that it'd bother him something fierce to be treated like that! Yaaay, she was learning. Papa was a good teacher, even if he only taught by example.

At least Rio was obeying her again~ She didn't mind the frustrated noises, the actual doing was what mattered. As he bent over, she peered around him curiously as he lifted the box and commented on it.

While he was holding the box, she got up on her tippy toes, all the evil teasing gone as pure curiosity replaced it. What kind of stuff was in this...? "There is a blanket... Why the hole though? Here, hold it I'm gonna open it. Did a mouse or something get in?"

She bit her lip, leaning closer and over the box while her hands went to the lid to open it up and see what was inside. Whatever mean comment Rio made was ignored as she let curiosity rule her.

"Dunno." Rio remarked, letting out a huff as he stood still for Mia to open the box up. This was stupid, entirely stupid... They were moving the box anyway, they could just take it outside and burn it, whatever was in it could just die in the fire... Tch...

Inside though, was no mouse, nor any sign an animal had been in. The hole looked like it'd been cut by hand rather than eaten through. Within the box was the blanket, a small, but soft and fluffy looking one that seemed to be a bit old; on top of the blanket though was a lone, hand-made-looking, equally old plush of...a pig.

"Hah?" The hell was that?

Rio didn't know, but that wasn't unusual Mia felt. He seemed like he was kept out of a lot of things, stuck in candy form...

Which... was kind of sad... Stuck alone a lot... for decades even... She hadn't realized the soul candy had such a personality, it...was as if it were a true person...

Maybe... it was in some ways?

Frowning as she finished opening the box, Mia was distracted from her thoughts as she stared in abject awe. A wittle...handmade plushie of a pig!? "Awwww, this is so cute... And there's even a handmade hole...? Did Masa do this?"

Reaching inside, she pulled both the pig and its blanket out. They looked old and she brought the blanket up to her cheek. It was fluffy and soft... And the pig plush was cute...

She seemed entranced as she held and examined the floppy thing. "Look at it, so...so cute..."

Mia was that taken by...a dumb stuffed pig? She had lifted it from the box along with the blanket and was snuggling and cooing over it like it was some live, baby animal or some other shit like that.

"Probably filthy." He remarked, letting out another huff.

He was much more suitable to be hugging and holding over a damn stuffed animal.

Whether Shirakawa did that to the box or not was something he didn't know, and didn't care to know. He just wanted this dumb closet stuff done with.

What the hell was even with that slight baby talk when she'd picked up the thing!?

"It doesn't smell dirty. It seems well loved and taken care of." Mia just smiled as Rio grumbled sullenly, holding the pig up with its blanket. "Its gotta be Masa's, there's no reason it'd be in here otherwise... Aww, Masa made it a little home too. That's so cute!"

Done giving the pig plushie her full attention, Mia returned to snuggling it to her chest as she set the blanket over her shoulder. The box was empty now and she just frowned softly. "Set that one to the side, I'm gonna go put this on the bed... It should get to sit out for a bit~"

It deserved to be out for a bit! And she'd make sure its little house was all safe and secure, stepping past Rio to head for the exit.

Hah?

That was cute!? If anything it was creepy, in Rio's opinion; Shirakawa was a grown man, just toss the damn pig and move on. This was all kinds of stupid, and a grumble was given as Mia exited the closet with the plush and blanket.

...What the hell was he supposed to do with the box!?

He was just left to stand here like an idiot! Again, the parting view was nice, but he was just standing here with no idea what to do with this damn thing!

Mia stepped over to the bed, smiling at the cute little piggy before gently setting the blanket on the bed. She folded it as best she could before putting the pig on top and then pulling the blanket the rest of the way up over it... And then she planted a soft kiss on its head. It must have been something he loved! He'd be happy to see it, she bet.

Hurrying back to the closet, she saw Rio standing there with the box still and gave a laugh as she slowed to a halt nearby. "I said you could set it aside you know. I wonder if its all really personal stuff in those... Probably, I shouldn't be going through that without him here."

Maybe organizing the closet was a bad idea... Well she had her own rooms to deal with~ Giving a grin and a pleased hand clap. "We'll just head to my sewing room then! I can have you help organize my costumes and otome stuff."

Rio stood there, and waited...and waited as Mia continued to give that damn stuffed animal star treatment while he remained here standing in the damn closet with this dumb box.

Hah?

What was with that laugh...?

He blinked, scowled, and blinked again before setting the box down, letting out another breath before stepping out of the closet. So now organizing the closet was a bad idea, he guessed. No skin off his back...

Her...sewing room...?

...Joy...

"Ahaa..." Costumes and otome stuff... The hell was otome stuff...and costumes...? Like...?

What was with that scowl?

Mia held in her laugh this time, knowing she was annoying the thing but unable to help it. She wanted it to be taught a bit of a lesson but also felt bad putting it back in candy form. Rio couldn't do anything like that... It felt almost inhumane really...

That sound meant okay and Mia just smiled and tilted her head before shutting off the light and closing the closet door. Heading for the bedroom's exit a moment later, she was sure Rio would follow her... Her eyes gave a last sweep of the room with the piggy on the bed though, causing her to pause and stare for a moment...

Using a flash of shunpo, she landed in front of the bed and nabbed the piggy before using it to reach the exit again. It was settled in her cleavage and she gave it a pap on the head before leaving the room and heading out into the hallway. "This way Rio, it's nearby. I should probably get rid of some things... Maybe I'll sort through my game stuff and see what I can just sell or get rid of..."

Someone would want them she felt.

Laughing at him like that... So damn amusing, huh?

Rio began walking for the door, hands returning to his pockets as he prepared to be led to wherever the hell Mia's sewing room was so this could just be gotten over with.

...Hah!?

He couldn't exactly follow with his eyes thanks to Mia's flash step, but it didn't take him long to figure out what she'd gotten.

She'd...picked up that dumb plush again!? She'd picked it up and... There!?

That damn pig was getting better treatment than he did!

"Gh..." Once more...the mod soul felt his eye twitch as he followed Mia out into the hallway. Dumb...stupid...shitty pig...

Mia didn't seem to be bothered by the gikongan's sullenness, expecting it to happen and thus unable to be annoyed much. It was listening and that's all that mattered.

She patted the piggy, heading down the hallway to the nearby sewing room...

"If you want I can take you out of the body, I mean if you are so badly bothered right now." Mia glanced back as she reached the door, blinking owlishly as she slid the door open to one rather messy, but very large, room. At least it seemed so at first glance, with projects half finished hung up or one stands. There were several large tables, a few smaller coffee styled ones, all of which had varying items on them. Several racks were full

However there wasn't much clutter at all actually. Most of it was stuff she needed or was working on, organized by the project itself. Not that many others knew that, but Nozomi, Masaru and Shizue did. She'd explained how it wasn't really messy to them, especially since she had a rather comfortable chair too for embroidery as well.

There was one section, a several boxes entirely out of place... They just sat there, lonely and marked with notations of what was in them. It was the few final costumes not hung up or put in their proper places that were ready for them. On top of that, there were several boxes of otome plushies and other odds and ends she hadn't wanted to set up in her bedroom but was fine with displaying in here.

"This way, we'll be dealing with those. You get to help me hang them up and put things out~ Unless you've decided to be candy again?" Mia questioned, stepping into the room with a grin.

Take him out of this body? Gh... It wasn't like he wanted to go back to being a soul candy, he just didn't like manual labor... Hell, he was much more cut out for the noble, rich boy life in that regard, more so than Shirakawa!

Damn workaholic.

Without responding immediately, Rio stepped into the room with Mia, his attention off to the side for the moment before he took in all the...

...

Why the hell was there so much...?

Mia's words caught his focus again, and he looked over to her before frowning. "I'm just not into this manual labor crap...Gh..."

Again...wasn't like he wanted to go back to being a piece of soul candy, he just didn't want to do the work. It was dumb...and he wasn't cut out for it.

"...Do you want to do something else then? I have some things I can think of with you in that body..." Mia paused part of the way to the boxes, the sullen gikongan getting her full attention for the moment as she turned back and looked at him.

The piggy was still firmly in her boobs, getting patpats occasionally before she crossed her arms. An eyebrow was raised as she stared. If he would be such a brat, there was another job that she could think of for him. He was in Masaru's gigai, which meant he was perfect for fitting the Christmas Present she was making.

It had gotten to the point she was worried over it not fitting right, but unable to ruin her surprise for him. This would be perfect if the gikongan preferred, her eyes having glanced over the mostly finished work...

"....Hah?" Other things...she could think of when it came to him being in this body? Well, yeah, he could think of a few things too but he doubted their thoughts were resonating on this. He just didn't want to work, he had better things he could be doing with his time.

That damn pig...still getting better treatment; that thing wasn't even alive! It was just a dumb toy! Yet it got to sit there and have its dumb head petted...

Mocking him...

"...That's where Masa sleeps, so I figure his little pig can too." Mia gave Rio a sweet smile as she noticed his eyes go down to the pig, hiding the blush that she'd felt well up as she realized the gikongan was staring at her chest at times.

That... Maybe she should have put her haori and scarf back on... She could use her hair though and reached up to pull out the hairband, sliding it through her butt length hair to let it fall. Her hands shifted the hair around as she spoke again, leaning a bit to make sure of no tangles. "Strip then. You can help me hang things up in a bit."

It'd be perfectly fitted! This would make the present so much nicer...

Where Shirakawa...slept...

Seriously what the hell had come over Shirakawa in the past decade or so!? He was some loser workaholic, and now he was still that loser workaholic, but concubine with the body of a goddess now included...

Were losers truly the luckiest in life in the end...? No... No he couldn't let himself believe such a thing.

Rio stood by as Mia fixed her hair up, waiting for...whatever. He'd get orders, and he'd have to go through with whatever dumb job was given to him. Blegh...

!!?

Those "orders" though that were just given were not something he'd expected to hear, and he blinked.

H...Hah...?

"Ehhh, changing you mind about Shirakawa and upgrading? It'll take some convincing after earlier though, hmph..."

Whatever Rio was thinking, Mia didn't seem to care as she went over to a table with a sheet covering it. Lifting the sheet up, she began moving things on the table around to get to the hidden, mostly done houseclothes plus fancy overcoat...

The gikongan hadn't started undressing though which made her pause before he spoke...

"..." Mia stared, confused for a moment at whatever the hell the gikongan was talking about before it sunk in. Her hand rose up to her lips as laughter bubbled up...before she turned to the side and bent over to try and keep it inside...

Failing, failing miserably, she burst into bright peals of laughter. It took her a few moments to compose herself before she looked up a bit... "Haaah! Y-You thought... Hahahahaha! I have a christmas present for him I need to make sure will fit! You're in his gigai, so I should be able to make adjustments. Spirits no, I'm never going to touch you and I'm not going to beg for you, especially for you."

....Tch.

That sound audibly escaped Rio as Mia burst into laughter, after failing to attempt to stifle it at his words. Could he just walk out? Obviously not, he'd end up getting burned to death most likely or he'd just run into that head servant who would likely just boot him back here...

There was no way out of this crap.

Why the hell did he need to help with stuff for Shirakawa...?

Once more...he felt his eye twitch at all of this.

He would have to try...an outfit on she intended to give to Shirakawa because he was in the gigai right now. Couldn't he just leave the gigai and leave her to play with the damn shell? Obviously, that likely wasn't an option either.

Damn.

"Strip! Striiip!" Mia demanded, a few tears falling down her cheeks from her laughing fit. The soul candy had just ignored her earlier orders, making her straighten up with an amused grin and head to the gigai. Her hands went out, reaching up to begin unbuttoning the shirt.

"I don't have much time, so hurry Rio. You didn't want to do manual labor, so now you get to model for me." Her hand undid his buttons with a quickness that spoke of her having to do this more than a bit, before they reached for the pants.

If she could make sure she was on the right path... Some of the embroidery couldn't be done until after she made sure it was right. What if it needed hemming?! No way... It would ruin it.

Annoying... This wasn't any better than manual labor! It wasn't any better at all! Having to model for something that would eventually be Shirakawa's!? This option was just as shitty!

"Gh-!?" Rio looked down, looking to Mia as she quickly began to unbutton the shirt the gigai currently had on. Pissy was the best way to describe the mod soul's current state of being...

This was dumb...

"Gee, why tell me to strip if you're just gonna do it yourself? Gh..." A huff escaped, "Though...guess this is probably the better method..."

The woman was terrifying, but as he'd thought earlier... He was terrified, but enamored. Having her undress this body wasn't so bad.

"Because you are so slow~ So impossibly slow~" Mia frowned, a bit of her evil tone coming back as she undid the gikongan's pants and belt. It was tugged down, allowed to fall with no regard for anything before her brisk hands returned to the top and coat, reaching up to tug them down his arms.

"Only a pathetic man would get off on a tailor stripping them." Without glancing up at Rio, Mia smirked as she got the soul candy on the way of being undressed. "You can get it the rest of the way off, I'm grabbing the clothes."

Moving back to the table, she unfolded the pants that Shizue had done the folding for. It was a striking midnight blue and the material was soft and comfortable. The hem was embroidered and was one of the ones she'd done and that before thinking about the fact that she might need to fix any issues...

There was a matching top, an open house shirt styled top with similar attributes and a sash to go with it. All matched the theme of snow and ice, with the backdrop of a midnight blue that was almost black... Those first for trying on!

-Gh!

Did she just derive pleasure from irking him? Rio was beginning to think that assumption was true as Mia further undressed him. The clothes fell to the floor as they were undone, Rio's expression one of annoyance as Mia told him to get the rest off as she headed to get the clothes for Shirakawa.

"What makes you think I'm not just gonna spoil the surprise for Shirakawa anyway?" He questioned as he shrugged the clothe still hanging on him off that Mia had undone before, glancing to her as she gathered the clothes up. It would technically be a method of annoying...the only downside would be actually...eugh...talking to the guy...

"Because you hate him. It would make me unhappy, but him upset... And I don't think he'd even listen to anything you said. Though, him knowing about his present isn't the end of the world either. I could just strip him instead for modeling~" Mia spoke, rather assured of the outcome as she waited for Rio to finish getting undressed. "...Is that your desire? To make me pissed off again?"

"Why? Do you want something to keep the secret? If its reasonable I wouldn't mind paying you for your silence." Seeing he was done, she held out the clothing items, light blue sash on top with dark blue snowflakes embroidered on the ends. Did he want some sort of treat or something? A special item or something?

"Here, try it on quick. If he gets back and sees it I'll have to resort to drastic measures..." She frowned softly, hoping now that Masaru stayed away enough to assure herself of the fit...