Y/N POV:

I shuffled in front of the mirror as I pulled on a new kimono. It was black in color with little stars floating around the edges of the fabric, and it had long sleeves that covered my hands. I admired my reflection, twirling around and spreading my arms out. My body stopped spinning but my world kept going, and I staggered around in circles before shaking my head violently back to reality.

"You're so funny, (Y/N)-chan!" A familiar voice was heard coming from the direction of the shoji. There was the sideways head of Douma peeking inside the room, messy hair hanging down and nails grabbing onto the frame of the door. 

"Hi." I went over to Douma and mimicked his actions, tilting my upper body sideways with my hands folded behind my back. That was, until I fell over from the lack of balance. Douma slid open the door and stood up straight.

He giggled and held out a hand to help me up. I reached up and grabbed it, and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"I was thinking..." Douma said after he let me go. He led me over to my futon, where he plopped down. I bent down to sit next to him, but he pulled me over onto his lap and snaked his arms around my waist.

"What is it?" I asked, stroking his head with my hand. 

"Do you want to spend time with me? It'd be so fun!" Douma exclaimed, resting his chin on my shoulder. 

"Sure, there's not really much around here to do anyways." He frowned at that, and opened his mouth for a second before closing it again.

"Really?" He hummed. "What do you suggest I do?" He faced me, eyes searching mine for a reaction. I shrugged as usual, and he laughed.

"Of course, why didn't I expect that." A knocking sound came from the door and I pushed myself off of the futon towards the entrance. Not saying anything, I slid the shoji open to reveal Touko standing there holding a breakfast tray in her arms. 

"Uhm I'm sorry to interrupt on your business but I brought food for you to eat." Touko stared at the ground nervously after she noticed Douma's presence.

"Thank you Touko-chan, this looks really good." I took the coaster of rice and tempura from her hands and she bowed. I stepped back as she closed the shoji and I heard her feet striding down the hallway at a brisk pace. The plate was heavy in my hands, so I placed it on a nearby chair and massaged my arms.

"What were you saying, Douma-sama?" I realized that Douma was still here, watching me. He blinked and made grabby hands towards me. I sighed and attempted to help him up, failing miserably as I got red in the face.

I sat down and panted, out of breath. Douma looked surprised at me and took a golden war fan out of his pocket and held it against his face. 

"Ara ara, I knew you weren't strong, but I had no idea you were that weak!" I flipped him off before he continued. "I have an idea, I'll teach you self-defense! That would be a win-win since you could learn to be stronger, and I could have an excuse to spend time with you!" His eyes widened as he used his fan to clamp his mouth closed.

I thought for a moment, seriously considering his offer. 

"Sure, I'll do it. As I told you, there's not been much to do for the two weeks I've been here." I said as I crunched on a tempura. He studied the food curiously, and it seemed as if he hadn't eaten tempura in decades. 

"Douma-sama, you keep staring at the tempura like it's alive. Are you okay? Do you want some?" I asked, unsure of what else to say. He stopped staring at the tempura, snapping back to reality. 

"I'm awesome, thank you so much for caring, (Y/N)-chan!" Douma grinned wide, and I returned it with an awkward attempt at a smile. 

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Y/N POV:

I stood up as I swallowed the last grains of rice on my plate. I reached down for the tray and strode across the room, trying and failing to open the shoji with my feet.

"Oh, you can just leave that outside the door for the other girl to pick up, don't worry about it." Douma shrugged it off as he met me by the shoji and slid it open for me. I walked out into the hallway and placed the tray on the floor beside the door. 

"We will begin training in an hour when I am done with my duties with the other followers. I will send the maid girl to retrieve you from your room and walk you to the garden where we will train at night." I frowned at the last part.

"Why not in the daytime?" I asked, leaning my body against the wall.

"As I said, I have duties to fulfill as the leader of the cult and I cannot discard them. I have an idea, why don't you go to sleep in the daytime so you're not bored, and we can train at night! I'm so smart!" He dramatically did a hair flip, and I gave him a look. 

He laughed and turned on his heel down the hallway before peering back at me one more time. I waved at him, and he smiled softly, waving back.

For a moment, I was not sure what to do, but then I remembered that Touko once mentioned a large library located in the temple. I wanted to ask Touko where in the temple the library was , but she was nowhere in sight. Quickly, I paced into my room and scribbled down a note for Douma which said, 

'If this is Touko - bring this to Douma.

'That's sure to make him laugh,' I thought and stuck the note to the shoji. Turning on my heel, I marched down a random hallway in search of the library.

I strolled down many different hallways of varying shapes and sizes. One was an elegantly decorated corridor with ivory walls and lavender curtains. It had paintings of white lotuses, much like the lotus from the painting of the blue-haired girl. 

This forked into two different hallways, so I chose to go down the right hall. At the end of the corridor, I found a small blue door, so I checked if it was locked by opening it. The door led into a one-exit, closet-sized room filled with cleaning supplies, and I found it boring, so I closed the door and left.

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Ten minutes of wandering aimlessly down random hallways later, I came across a locked door. On it, it had a sign saying, 'East Wing - Do Not Enter'. Even if I felt like breaking the rules and going inside, which I didn't, I couldn't break the thick metal lock that barred the doors shut. 

But, I could press my ear against the door and listen for sounds that came from whatever was behind the door. 'Technically,' I thought, 'I'm not breaking the rules since I'm not entering.' I held my ear flat against the door, eyes closed, listening for any movement from inside. Douma really should've been more clear when he stated the rule.

I waited for some time, hearing nothing. However, I was determined to hear what was inside that room, so after stretching my sore arms and looking outside into the garden to discover the sun was still high in the sky, I pressed my ear back onto the warm wood of the door.

To my surprise, I actually heard a soft scuffling noise coming from inside the room and I stilled all movement I was making, my body in utter silence. 

I closed my eyes and held my breath, the noise growing louder and louder until it grew into a scream, causing me to cover my sensitive ears. I heard footsteps nearing the door, so I ran. I ran down hallways, across open rooms, and opened doors until I somehow came across my room. 

I slammed the shoji door closed and flopped myself onto the futon, panting. I wasn't scared, and I wasn't excited; I was simply tired. I passed out on the bed, my body still splayed sideways over the sheets.

Word Count: 1450