"First Place" (
Summary[]
While the trio of friends exchanges promises to meet again after the Debut, Ricky and Lou earlier had come across Shirley who is sitting in a chair with threads sewn into her clothes surrounded by a spiralling cage of flowers. As the duo continues on, they spot soot in the distance which Lou claims to be from Louise as every Shadow so far has a different way of giving off their soot. Getting Louise to give off soot again, they are able to find her tied up underneath a knot garden where they build a rope ladder and free her. Ricky introduces himself only for Louise to insult him and Lou to mimic her expression. Humiliated, Ricky considers pushing the two back into the hole as they are too absorbed in themselves.
Plot[]
The trio of friends promise to meet again after the Debut. Going back to the time around when Emilico and Rum met Patrick, Ricky and Lou find Shirley in a spiral cage of flowers sitting in a chair with threads sewn into her clothes. Ricky is surprised when Shirley suddenly turns to him and politely greets her but doesn't know her name, and is pulled away by Lou, noting that Shirley is rather eerie. Lou asks if he is insulting her which he refuses then asks her to take off the creepy mask made out of her bag which was to protect her face against falling rocks. Ricky attempts to get Lou to hesitate by questioning her friendship with Emilico but is frustrated to see her not falter, believing he is the most capable in the class.
After some more walking, they notice a trail of soot in the distance which Lou identifies as Louise, revealing that every Shadow has a way of giving off soot: Kate's trail is straight, John gives off sparks, Patrick's soot spreads out like mist, and Louise's soot curves as it rises. Since Shirley didn't give off soot, Lou doesn't know much about her.
Louise's location is somewhere in a garden and Ricky notes she is probably in a situation where she cannot speak and raises the idea to say something that will make her give off soot. Lou pretends to leave which leaves Louise uneasy as she loves her Doll dearly, allowing Lou and Ricky to pinpoint her location which is underneath some knotted hedges. They build a rope ladder allowing her to climb out, only for her to insult Ricky believing he fell for Lou and looks down on Patrick. Ricky attempts to reach out to Lou who is mimicking Louise's expression and is dismissed by Louise, angering him. Turning their backs to him, Louise starts talking about her experience being trapped as Ricky realises their guards are down so he can push them back into the hole...