Gensokyo my Beloved

[Fonzi]

Chapter 30 ? The End of the Road

He woke up after some time to the feeling that the wagon stopped. He had no idea how long he's been sleeping, but as he wiped his eyes, he could see that the wagon still wasn't in the Human Village. He curiously turned his face to one of the merchants sitting on the wagon, who looked back with the same confused face.

"Where are we?" asked Kyouichi and yawned. "Why have we stopped?"

The merchants were all quiet and all were curiously staring ahead. Kyouichi also peeked out of the wagon and saw that the four Ryuuken guards were all standing in ready stances with their hands on the hilts of their swords. Lieutenant Takamori held something in his palm and stared at it with uncertainty. Kyouichi guessed that it was a magic detector, although much more effective and precise than the one he was given by Kirisame-san. Everyone was disturbingly quiet. It looked like the Ryuuken were expecting some kind of ambush. And it was exactly so?

In another second, a humming sound could be heard from the distance and it was quickly getting louder and louder. Lieutenant Takamori immediately let his eyes off the detector and vigilantly looked from left to right. In the next second, he shouted: "Incomiiiiiing~!" and hit the deck. The other warriors did the same just in time to evade a truly massive barrage of bright red missile-shaped danmaku shots that came from a further thicket of trees, distanced approximately 150 meters from the wagon. Each of the shots exploded upon impact and scattered smaller red shrapnel. One of the Ryuuken was holding his thigh with a painful grimace on his face. One of the shrapnel shots hit him. Everyone else was still okay, but the merchants began panicking, and one after another they jumped out of the wagon to take whatever shelter possible. The horses were neighing in terror as they were standing on their hind legs and dangerously kicking with their front ones. They too were frightened by this sudden danmaku assault. Kyouichi was still on the wagon, trying to figure if it was better to stay where he was or to follow suit and jump out like the merchants. By now the Ryuuken were all back on their feet, including the one who got hit and clutching their weapons. Another humming sound came from between the trees, signaling another incoming salvo of red missiles. This time, the Ryuuken evaded the shots completely and even managed to deflect the shrapnel with their swords. Two of the stray shots, however, hit the wagon's cover, easily ripping a hole through and missing Kyouichi's head by mere centimeters. He didn't need another millisecond to decide what to do now.

"Okay, the merchants knew what they were doing. I'm outta here!" he shouted and abandoned the merchant wagon. As he got out, he already saw one of the Ryuuken drawing his Spell Card for a counterattack against their unseen foe.

"Sharpness Sign "Grandmaster's Shuriken"!" he shouted as he activated his spell. The card dispersed into several dozen purple stars which instantly turned into actual razor-sharp throwing stars and jetted off at an incredible speed towards the thicket of trees where the attacks were coming from. Each of the shuriken left behind a bright purple trail of light. This attack seemed quite fast and accurate. As it hit the tree thicket, some of the tree branches fell down from this counterattack. Now they could all see a single figure ascend above the tree line and flying towards the Ryuuken. The guards raised their swords and pointed their tips at the oncoming enemy. Without any words, incantations or declarations they shot bright-blue laser-like bolts right from the tips of their blades. However, this unknown enemy evaded most of them without much effort and the rest of them he deflected with his own weapons. Yes, the attacker was a male, dressed in dark-red and black clothes similar to a monk's robe. He was almost bald except for the back of his head, where he had a really long strand of black hair tied into a ponytail. In each of his hands he held a kama ? a traditional sickle-like weapon which was more generally used as a farming implement. Although Kyouichi never saw this man before, he was almost certain that he's a youkai. A quick glance at him through his magic detector revealed a considerable magical presence in his body. Even more than any of the Ryuuken possessed. He was now hovering in midair only about 20 meters away from the ambushed wagon. For a moment, the warriors ceased their attacks and waited for what this man had to say to them.

"If you surrender one of the humans to me, I'm willing to let the rest of you pass." said the man with ice-cold voice and overconfident look in his dark eyes.

"Oh, it's just you, Otoya?" murmured Lieutenant Takamori with an unamused voice. "Look, I'm really not in a mood for this today. Why don't you just turn back now and try your luck later when the odds are a bit better for you?"

Apparently these two knew each other well, although Kyouichi wasn't too sure if they were exactly friendly with each other.

"Hahahahaha~!" laughed the floating man, whom Takamori addressed as Otoya. "I could take on twice as many of you pitiful Ryuuken whelps, Akiyoshi-kun. But for now, I'll settle with just kicking your butt in a formal duel."

The young Ryuuken snorted and smiled. "Fine, but since I don't have much time to enjoy beating the crap out of you, we'll just have a quick 2 Spell Card fight."

"Oh, come on, Akiyoshi-kun. Where are the times when we had 6 card matches? This will barely be enjoyable."

"Hey, maybe next time?" said Lieutenant Takamori and readied his sword, "?when you can prove that you are even worthy of such an honor as being wiped out by six of my Spell Cards."

"Hmph? Sometimes I wonder why I haven't cut that arrogant tongue off of your mouth yet." mumbled Otoya and descended to the ground.

Akiyoshi looked at his Ryuuken comrades and gestured for them to stand back. They grudgingly obeyed their superior's order and sheathed their swords. The young lieutenant took a few steps towards his opponent and smiled. "I hope you've got a spare change of clothes after I rip yours to shreds and stain them with your blood."

"I like your sense of humor, Akiyoshi-kun. Now, try not to fall too early and spoil my fun." replied Otoya calmly and made some flashy spins with the kama in his hands.

"A ground-based duel, huh?" thought Kyouichi who was hiding behind the wagon and peeking on the scene of this upcoming fight.

The two rivals were standing in fighting stances and glaring intensely into each other's eyes for almost one entire minute. Then, as if prompted by some unheard signal, they each lashed out with their weapons to strike their opponent down. Kyouichi inadvertently held his breath as he watched the showdown. Both Akiyoshi and Otoya were formidably skilled with their weapons. While the Ryuuken was performing fast slashes, Otoya managed to block them all effectively with his kama. Then they switched their roles and Akiyoshi was on the defensive, trying to parry his opponent's lightning-quick jabs and cuts accompanied by a series of kicks. It was like watching a martial-arts action movie, only better. Clinking metal sounds echoed throughout the field as their weapons clashed. Finally, Otoya hooked Akiyoshi's blade with one of his sickles and moved it out of the way for his second kama to strike the Ryuuken's vulnerable body.

"Aaaah!" yelled Lieutenant Takamori as the claw of the weapon dove into his shoulder. His scream was immediately silenced by a kick in the stomach that knocked him down. However, the young Ryuuken was far from being defeated. In an instant he sprung up from the ground, evading Otoya's axe kick that just left a small hole in the rain-soaked soil. He didn't waste a second to draw out his first Spell Card and declared it: "Warrior Sign "Seven Virtues of Bushido"!"

Suddenly, seven orbs of light, each of different color appeared above Akiyoshi and spread into a wide line. At first, this spell was very similar to Reimu's Fantasy Seal, but the light orbs that were summoned by Akiyoshi's card each began forming into some sort of symbol. In a few seconds, these symbols were molded into words: Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor and Loyalty. Then, each of the words began blasting its own stream of danmaku in different patterns and directions. Even Kyouichi, who hasn't yet seen too many duels could tell that this card was a powerful one - very confusing and hard to dodge. Even someone as agile as Otoya had apparent problems. While he was dodging and parrying the shots for almost 15 seconds without getting hit, the danmaku streams were gradually becoming more and more intense as the spell was fading. Otoya tried some really impressive dodging maneuvers, rolls and even a backflip, all the while he deflected the shots coming directly at him with his weapons, but this was simply too much even for him. He was struck in midair during a star flip by several of the shots and fell down to the ground face down. A few additional shots landed on his back before the Spell Card ran out of steam.

"Had enough yet, Otoya?!" Akiyoshi taunted him.

Otoya's laughter came as an immediate response. "No, Akiyoshi-kun. Your attacks are just so boring that I managed to have a little nap while dodging that last spell of yours."

He sprung up like a frog and he was back on his feet. "I won't even need a single card to take you out."

"You won't even get to using them." retorted the Ryuuken and charged him with his sword. Again, a scene of two weapon masters trying to land a blow against their opponent repeated itself. This time, however, Akiyoshi used Otoya's aggressiveness against him. As the man with kama began one of his dazzling combos, Lieutenant Takamori just leapt out of the way each time Otoya got too close. He didn't even block his attacks; he just evaded them altogether, holding his sword in a ready-to-lunge position, making it difficult for Otoya to surprise him by kicks. After more than a minute of dodging, Akiyoshi found an opening in his opponent's combo and launched a counterattack. He slashed his chest, thigh, right arm and even managed to strike his head with the hilt of his katana, knocking Otoya off balance.

"Not bad?" he grinned at Akiyoshi from the ground. "But to beat a youkai, you'll have to do better than that."

Otoya stood up and dusted off his robe. "Well, I suppose I'll use one after all?" he said and raised his hand with a Spell Card already between his fingers. "Rage Sign "Berserk Torrent"!"

An ominously looking dark-red cloud appeared above the scene of battle, blocking out the sun. It was large enough to shade even the three other Ryuuken who were watching the duel from a safe distance and even Kyouichi, who was still hiding behind the merchant wagon.

"It's a small miracle those two horses haven't fled in terror along with this wagon?" mused the outsider as he noticed the red gaseous mass forming overhead.

Suddenly a bright red flash came from the above, and soon after, another one, all accompanied by the sounds of thunder. It looked like Otoya summoned some kind of localized magic storm. After the few initial lightning bolts and thunders, all hell broke loose. Down from the cloud like a hailstorm came a shower of small red diamond-shaped shots and occasionally a few large red ball-lightnings came flying chaotically and made dangerously distracting and unpredictable movements. Lieutenant Takamori had a really hard time trying to fend off all of the projectiles. Surprisingly, he was doing a really good job. Until the storm intensified and the red diamond-shaped shots turned into brightly shining energy spheres which were not just falling, but literally shooting down from the red cloud. Takamori was now in a state of panic. His arms tried to make coordinate movements to move his blade just in time to deflect the next shot coming at him. Then as he made a step backwards, he tripped and fell on his back. His sword deflected another of the incoming spheres, which changed its heading in a very dangerous way. Kyouichi was still cowering behind the wagon when he suddenly heard a silent humming sound getting quickly louder?

A loud crash?

A bright red flash?

Flying chunks of wood?

And a strong hit in the head were the last things Kyouichi experienced before he stopped perceiving the world.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 31 ? A Beautiful Day for a Disaster

Minazuki 28, Monday, Forest of Magic ? a dense, humid forest taking up a large area near the center of Gensokyo. Its closest part is distanced from the Human Village by over 4 kilometers if one travels by the northern road and by more than 10 kilometers if one decides to take the western road. It is a place enshrouded by many mysteries and legends. People rarely ever venture there, although there are some who prefer the isolation that this forest provides and have settled to live here.

One such unusual human is Marisa Kirisame. A self-proclaimed ordinary magician, whose house is located on a small clearing somewhere deep inside this vast forest. The house is a western-style L-shaped 2 storey wooden construction with the second floor being the attic. Due to her hobby of collecting all sorts of things, often times even without understanding what most of them are, her home was considered simply as the messiest house in Gensokyo. Marisa was just reading one of her "borrowed" books while drinking a cup of tea when she heard someone knock on her door.

"Huh? Who could it be?" she wondered as she got up from her comfortable armchair and carefully stepped over all the various odds and ends littered all over her house.

"Oh, it's Reimu." she muttered as she peeked outside through a window to look at the person standing at her door.

"Hiya, Reimu~! Nice to have you visit, ze." she greeted her good old friend as she opened the door for her.

"Hello, Marisa. I've come to talk to you about something?" said Reimu with her face unusually serious.

"Oh? uhh? Sure. Come in." Marisa beckoned to her. "And try not to trip over my stuff?"

"Would you like some tea?" asked the witch as she tried to clear up the mess out of Reimu's way.

"Umm? okay I guess." shrugged the shrine maiden, knowing that Marisa couldn't ruin the tea unlike her tamagoyaki.

Marisa nodded and led the way into her kitchen. "Okay, just give me a minute... Ouch!" she exclaimed suddenly as she stepped on something sharp. "Damn it?" she muttered while rubbing her heel.

"Don't you ever clean up?"

"Uhh? Do what?" grinned the witch sheepishly and looked down to see what she stepped on. "Oh! Look, Reimu, mahjong tiles! We've been looking for those the last time at your shrine, right?"

"Yeah?" murmured Reimu absentmindedly.

"So what did you want to talk about, huh?"

"Right? I wanted to ask you a favor like last time? for the Tanabata festival."

Marisa put some water in a tea kettle to boil and nodded agreeingly. "But of course, Rei-Rei. I'll help you send out invitations. Hey, by the way I was just about to visit Alice, so we can ask her if she's going to do that doll show of hers this year as well?"

Reimu was relieved to hear that she could count on her friend's assistance and smiled. "Yes, let's visit her first. But I was just thinking? Maybe we should have something new at the festival this year."

"A new attraction?"

"Yeah? Something that will attract a lot of curious people to come to the shrine. Something that will be remembered for a long time to come? And not just by Akyuu-chan."

"I hear 'ya, ze. Maybe we'll think of something if there's more of us to discuss it."

"Maybe we should hold a Spell Card tournament or something." Reimu suggested.

"Hey, that could be pretty interesting." confirmed Marisa and served tea for her miko friend. "Maybe we should invite some new folks for such an event. Like?I don't know... Utsuho or Byakuren?"

Reimu's face quickly turned to a surprised one. "Eehh? I'd still like to have my shrine standing even after the tournament would end? Utsuho's just?"

"Overpowered?" asked Marisa in order to help Reimu find the right word.

"Yeah? That and a bit bridbrained too." commented Reimu as she drank the tea. "But Byakuren-san is a very good idea. She's also powerful and popular with the people from the village, to my dismay?" she finished the sentence with a bitter-sounding tone. Ever since the new temple was founded near the village, it got many followers which meant that the Hakurei Shrine got even less visitors than usual.

"And unlike Utsuho, she won't go blasting away your shrine by accident." added Marisa.

Suddenly, Reimu frowned in a spaced-out expression and looked outside the window, sighing heavily. "If only Yukari would come too? I'm starting to miss that old youkai."

"Maybe this time, she won't resist the temptation to show herself when she'll see all that fun, food and drinks. Maybe a Spell Card tournament is just what we need in order to lure her out."

"You know, I'm starting to have doubts?" spoke Reimu, resting her chin against her palm. "I mean? nobody and I mean really nobody has seen her or heard from her for such a long time? Not even her shikigami. It's like they literally disappeared from the face of the Earth."

"Well, if you got any good ideas on how to find her, let's hear 'em."

"That's the thing ? I don't. She's not in Gensokyo, so I thought I'd ask Yuyuko and Satori to keep a lookout in their respective realms, but there are yet other places where she could be."

Marisa giggled. "Obviously! There's still Makai, Heaven, the Dragon Palace, Sanzu River and Higan and the outside world, of course? and the Moon?"

"No, I don't think she's THAT stupid to try and provoke the Lunarians after having her butt kicked by them twice?"

"Says who?" opposed Marisa. "Have you been there personally to see what happened to her during the first war? Or even the second??"

"Well, no, but my intuition tells me that she's not on the Moon."

Marisa shrugged, not too sure what to think either. "Either way, there are still quite a few places besides the Moon where she could be right now. Including Mayohiga. Even if Satori said that she couldn't see her mental activity through the amulet in Gensokyo, we all know, or to be more exact, we DON'T know if Mayohiga can even be considered a part of Gensokyo?"

Reimu snickered amusedly. "You're right? Just imagine it: we're all looking for her like crazy while she's lazing around in her home, not even curious about what's going on in Gensokyo."

"I bet it's just as you say." Marisa said with optimism. "Now, how about we paid Alice a little visit?"

"Oh, sure, let's go." nodded the miko and finished the tea in her cup. "At least her home is always clean, unlike yours?"

"She doesn't need to store so many things under one roof."

"Oh, and you do? You don't even know what half of that junk is."

"That's why I'm studying to understand it." smiled the witch and stood up from her chair.

"You should just leave that up to Rinnosuke. And when do you plan on returning that mound of books you stole from Patchouli?"

"Hey! She's a youkai with a long lifespan. But me, I'm just a normal human. She can have them back when I die, ze."

"That's like saying: The sooner she kills me, the sooner she can have her books back."

"I meant after I die a natural death?" Marisa completed her own statement.

Reimu giggled again and followed her into the corridor. "Yeah, if you call her reaction to you stealing her books as natural, then your death by her hands will indeed be natural." she jested while walking over the doorstep of Marisa's house.

Marisa followed her outside and locked the door of her house by simply pointing her finger at it.

"Let's walk instead of flying." suggested the blonde and put on her trademark hat.

"What's the matter? You're trying to lose some weight?" Reimu tried to poke fun at her.

"Nope. Just feel like walking for a change?" replied the witch as she began walking down the path leading from her house.
During the short walk to Alice's house, the witch and the miko exchanged trivial news from their everyday lives, not paying much attention to anything else. Alice also lived in the forest just about 15 minutes walk from Marisa's house. Her home was European-styled as well, made of bricks as well as wood. It had only one floor, but it had a small tower-like extension which was almost twice as tall as the house itself. From a distance, it was somewhat similar to a church. A thin, white smoke rising from its chimney revealed that Alice was at home and probably cooking something. Marisa nonchalantly led the way to the house of anther one of her good friends. By a couple of knocks on the door, she summoned the attention of the house's tenant.

"Yo, Alice-chan~! It's me and Reimu~!"

As a response, they heard the door being unlocked from the other side and opened. But instead of Alice to welcome them, there was her doll, Shanghai, with a curious expression on her face, floating in midair and eyeing the visitors.

"Gee, Alice, can't you at least answer the door by yourself?" called Marisa into the house.

Shanghai smiled in response and made an inviting gesture. Reimu and Marisa shrugged and entered the white house with a dark-blue tile roof.

"Uhhh? Alice?" called the magician as she didn't see the dollmaker anywhere. Instead, a whole band of dolls in little maid uniforms were doing housework ? dusting the shelves, washing the dishes, wiping the floor, two of them were stirring soup at the stove and two were even having a mock swordfight with butter knives. It was already well known to both Reimu and Marisa that the dolls weren't self-conscious, but each of them was controlled by Alice's magic strings. However, the girl in question wasn't even in the kitchen. Shanghai waved her hand again and flew into another room. The guests followed her into the living room where they found the manipulator of all the dolls sitting comfortably in her armchair, sewing miniature dresses for her dolls. Only when her guests entered the living room, she put down the needle and thread and looked at them.

"Hello, Marisa and Reimu. Please, have a seat. I'll bring you something to drink and the lunch should be ready any moment now." she said with a nice smile and with an elegant movement of her hand, she summoned a pair of dolls. One was carrying a plate with home-baked biscuits and the other one brought two glasses with apple juice. Reimu amusedly watched the dolls serving her and whispered to Marisa: "I wish I had some trick like that to help me with my chores at the shrine."

"But she still has to control each of them individually." remarked Marisa and helped herself to one of the biscuits. "Sort of makes me think that it's actually even harder work to manipulate each of them in order to do some chores, ze?"

Alice just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Dolls are my biggest hobby and controlling them to act so lifelike makes my house seem like a livelier place."

"Say, Alice," Marisa addressed her and beckoned at the shrine maiden, "Reimu here is making plans for the upcoming festival and?"

"?And I'd like to ask you if you'd be willing to do a doll performance this year too." Reimu finished Marisa's sentence. "But of course you could think of some new show with your dolls."

"Oh? Right? The festival's here soon?" murmured Alice absentmindedly. "I really lost my track of time."

Reimu gave Marisa a sidelong glance and looked back at Alice. "So? is that a yes?"

"Umm? yes, of course, I'll come to the festival to perform. I'll have to think of what kind of show to do?"

"Well, you still have more than a week, so take your time to think about it." said Reimu and adjusted her position in one of Alice's comfy armchairs. "Anyway, do you have any interesting news, Alice?"

"News? Well, no, nothing interesting has ha?."

Her sentence got interrupted by a sudden and urgently sounding knocking on the door of her house. The blonde dollmaker looked surprisedly at Marisa and Reimu. "Was someone else coming with you to visit me?"

Marisa just shrugged. "Nope."

Curious about who could be knocking on her door, Alice stood up from the armchair and went to take a look for herself. Just as she opened the door, her eyes looked down at the person, or to be more accurate, persons who were desperately looking back at her. They were small girls ? half Alice's size. Their wings that were not directly connected with their bodies were an infallible sign that they were fairies. They were all already familiar to Alice. One of them had short golden hair with short braids on sides, blue eyes and was wearing a red and white dress, remarkably similar to Reimu's outfit. The second one ? a brown-eyed blonde had her hair styled in intriguing spiral-like curls on both sides of her head. She was wearing a white one-piece dress with black ribbons tied to the front side. Her skirt's hem was also adorned by yellow symbols of lunar phases from crescent to full moon and then a sun symbol. She was also wearing a mob cap, very much like the vampire Remilia Scarlet, but hers was white with black ribbons to match the dress. The last of the fairy trio had gray eyes and long black straight hair styled in hime-cut and decorated by a blue ribbon. She was wearing a blue dress with white sleeves and yellow star patterns on the front side of her skirt.

Their names were: Sunny Milk, Luna Child and Star Sapphire and they were more commonly known as the Three Mischievous Fairies. Usually not the type to show up in front of other humans, but they always liked to play various pranks on them, however, with miserable success rate.

Alice gave them all a once-over and raised a brow. "What are you three doing here?"

"Umm? Alice-san?" started Sunny tentatively. Her voice was shaky and her face bore a frightened expression. "Something terrible happened~!" she cried out and flailed her arms.

"Umm? maybe I should do the talking." said the black haired Star and gently pushed her fairy friend aside to assume her place. "Alice-san?" she started calmly.

"What is it?"

"Please help us~!" she panicked and without even asking the dollmaker for permission, she bolted right into her house.

"Can we please, come in, Alice-san?" asked the curly-haired Luna staring at the youkai girl with pleading eyes. "W-We can explain everything, just?please~!"

Alice took pity of the frightened little fairies and nodded. "Please, come inside."

Both Sunny and Luna leapt up and hugged their savior tightly. "Thank you, Alice-san~!"

The dollmaker looked at them confusedly, shrugged and took the fairies inside. Just as the two fairies let go of Alice, they noticed Marisa and Reimu who also entered the kitchen to see who came to visit Alice.

"Oh no, Sunny, I told you this was a bad idea?" whispered Luna to her friend. "The miko is here too?"

The sunlight fairy just shook her head and opposed. "That's actually a good thing that she's here too. And even that thieving witch?"

"Oh would you look at that, Reimu?" smirked Marisa as she also recognized Alice's guests. "The three troublemakers in the flesh?"

Reimu also looked at them with suspicious eyes. "What's up? Did one of your pranks backfire on you again?"

Alice showed the two humans her palm in order to silence them so she could ask the fairies what was the matter.

"O-Our home?" stuttered Sunny and wiped a tear from her eye. "Attacked by an army of other fairies? Burning? We had to run."

"Your home? Where is that?" asked Alice calmly, trying to soothe them.

"We used to?live here in thi ? in the Forest of Magic." replied Sunny through her sobs. "But we recently relocated to a tree near where the miko lives. Now it's burning? everything is burning~!"

Reimu immediately widened her eyes. "A fire?! Near my shrine?!"

"Doesn't that have anything to do with your crazy little fairy war against Cirno?" Marisa joined the interrogation.

"We've already reconciled with Cirno-chan~!" cried Sunny and wiped her tears into Alice's dress. "And even if we didn't, she's not the one to send other fairies to fight her enemies. She's the one who likes to do everything by herself."

"Hmm? true." admitted the witch. "Cirno's not likely to start fires, but rather freezes things?"

"That attack sounds more like the one in Kazemura." Reimu thought aloud. "But if there's a forest fire near my shrine, we need to go there and put it out this instant!"

"We? we tried to find the miko and ask her for help, but she wasn't there." continued Sunny, looking a little more calm than a few moments ago. "And now?" she stopped her sentence halfway.

"And now what?" wondered Alice, making several of her dolls gather around the poor fairy and pat her soothingly on the head.

Suddenly, Star Sapphire crawled timidly from under the table and gulped. "Now? I can feel those fairies followed us! They're coming!" she panicked and crawled back into hiding.

"Wait, what?" asked Alice, not too sure what the fairy meant, but her question was answered in a few moments.
Star was joined under the table by her other two fairy friends when suddenly, a loud crash and a sound of breaking glass came from the living room of Alice's house. Before she and her two human guests could react to it, another couple of similar sounds came from the bedroom and even in the kitchen, the windows were forcefully broken and random fairies began swarming the interior, wreaking havoc upon Alice's household.

"Kyaaaaaah~!" screamed the frightened fairies under the table. Marisa, Alice and Reimu weren't exactly calm either. At first they just shielded their heads with their arms from the fragments of broken glass from the windows and for a few seconds just stared in panic at the chaos that erupted everywhere around them. Marisa blasted a few of the fairies with rapid-fire blue shots coming from her palms, managing to leave a few holes in the walls of Alice's kitchen. The fairies that got hit immediately disappeared in a bright flash of light. But dozens of them came pouring in through the broken windows, ready to take over the place with their sheer numbers. They fired their danmaku at everything and everyone. Even Marisa got a few shots.

"Ow?! Damn you, little?" she cursed as she was hit in the palm, trying to shake off the pain.

Alice didn't hesitate to defend her home. She mobilized her own platoon of dolls, armed with miniature shields and lances and used them to fight off the crazed attackers. Several of her dolls fell a victim to the berserk fairies, but she managed to align the ones with shields into square formations and successfully barricaded all of her broken windows. With her other hand, she ordered the lancer dolls to hunt down all the fairies that were now trapped inside her house, but still threatening everyone and everything inside. However, now that all her windows were covered up by her doll shield maidens, it was completely dark inside. Only the chaotic fairy danmaku lightened up the place. Marisa hurriedly conjured up a light-providing white energy orb in her palm and made it levitate just a few centimeters below the ceiling. Now Alice's lancer dolls could effectively charge the fairies and impale them with their miniature weapons. The mortally wounded fairies immediately burst in a white flash and left only white smoke. However, a second wave immediately rushed in from the living room and the bedroom, setting several pieces of Alice's furniture ablaze.

"My house!" screamed Alice in shock. The fairies now began taking out the dolls with shields by shooting them from behind. It wasn't too long before Alice's barricades have fallen, allowing more fairy reinforcements to pour into her house. With a snap of her fingers, she summoned Shanghai to her aid and the little doll unleashed a bright-red laser-like beam out of her hands, instantly burning every fairy it touched. However, this also helped the fire inside her house to spread faster. "Oh?. This isn't good." she groaned and ordered Shanghai to take her time to aim and shoot the beam only briefly, so not to start any more fires. The fairies' retribution was swift. With their fresh reinforcements pouring in through the broken and unguarded windows, they overwhelmed Alice and sent her to the ground by a series of shots, hitting her various body parts.

"Alice!" screamed frightened Marisa as she saw one of her best friends hit the floor. The very moment she did so, all of her other dolls followed suit and lay motionlessly on the ground.

Reimu, in the meantime, took out her gohei wand and like with a sword, she slashed the annoying attackers with it, effectively making them disappear. Those that were out of her reach, she disposed of with her blessed ofuda which she used as a sort of thrown weapon.

Marisa furiously clenched her teeth and out of her pocket she took out a small wooden octagonal object with eight trigrams printed in a circle on its front side. Reimu knew all too well what it was. It was Marisa's miniature magic furnace known as mini Hakkero which she used to unleash some of her most powerful spells. The witch put the mini furnace in front of her mouth and was about to mutter her spell when Reimu put her hand on her shoulder.

"No, Marisa! You'll wreck Alice's home completely!"

"Don't you see what's going on?!" asked the witch and ducked immediately to evade several shots from the fairies. "Let me do it, Reimu! It might be our only way!"

The miko just resolutely shook her head, drawing out her own Spell Card. "No! Cover me while I take care of this with less collateral damage!"

She then made a break for it, smashing few of the fairies out of her way with her trusty gohei and running into the living room. Marisa put away her Hakkero and supported Reimu's effort with conventional shots, taking down as many fairies as she could.

Meanwhile Alice groaned on the floor and stirred about.

"Hey, Alice, you okay?" asked the witch, throwing a brief glance at her youkai friend before continuing her fire support.

Reimu, despite the assistance provided by Marisa, was now completely surrounded by a cloud of fairies and bombarded from every side. But this is exactly what she wanted to do in order to achieve her plan. Before she collapsed from the repeated hits of enemy danmaku, she activated her Spell Card: "Divine Arts "Demon Binding Circle"!"

The card flared up in a bright yellow light and the energy connected with Reimu's raised hand. A wide spinning octagon of similar light and color showed on the floor around her. The next second she crouched and touched the floor with her charged-up palm, immediately becoming bathed in an extremely bright pillar of orange light erupting upwards from the place where she had touched the floor and slowly broadening until it was as wide as the octagonal pattern on the floor. Since it took up nearly the entire living room, all the fairies inside were obliterated and vaporized instantaneously. Once the light died out, however, Reimu's figure slumped down on the floor like a rag. She had halted the fairy invasion, but didn't stop it. Now she was lying on the floor in a burning living room of Alice's decimated house.

"No! Reimu!" yelled Marisa and bolted from the floor to aid her friend in need.

Alice opened her eyes, slowly looking left then right, still finding it hard to even understand what was going on. But something like an inner voice or perhaps instinct drove her to stand up now and she obeyed.

"Oh? ouch?" she rubbed the back of her head, and fixed her headband. "Marisa?! Reimu?! Where are you?!"

The answer to her question was Marisa dragging her unconscious friend's body out of the blazing living room. Smoke was quickly filling up the other rooms in the house and not even all the broken windows were enough to keep the air inside breathable for much longer.

"Alice!" exclaimed Marisa with relief as she saw that her youkai friend was already up and standing. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

The witch then threw one of Reimu's arms around her neck and with her free hand she opened the main door and carried the shrine maiden out. Alice, however, knew that she couldn't leave her house just yet.

"The three fairies!" she shouted and quickly looked under her kitchen table where she last saw them take shelter.

They were still there, although what she saw was quite a shock for her. Luna's body was lying motionlessly on the floor, while Sunny was sitting atop of struggling Star and strangling her with all the might she could find in her thin fairy arms. Her expression was manic and her grin twisted.

"Unngh?. Sunny-chan!" uttered Star with her last breath. "H-How? urk? could you??"

In another moment, Star's face turned blue, her eyes closed and she stopped resisting. Sunny was still clutching her throat in an iron grip, smiling psychotically, even when her friend no longer showed any vital signs. Alice gasped in terror, but didn't lose her cool. She knew she didn't want to, but the situation didn't give her any other choice.

"I'm sorry, Sunny-chan?"

She pointed her finger at Sunny's head, closed her eyes and sent out a strong bright-green shot that punched a hole right through the fairy's temple, making her body limply fall on the floor with a silent thud.

A long moment of silence?

Only the sound of burning fires and cracking wood broke the deafening silence that settled itself in Alice's ears. She was still sitting there, horrified by what just happened and at what she just did. She tentatively stretched out her shaky hand to check any of the other two fairies' pulse. With disappointment she found out that they were all dead. Despite this, she pulled their bodies from under the table. With a snap, she summoned the last remaining dolls that were not destroyed in the onslaught and with their help she carried the fairies out of the burning house. Like a captain of a sinking ship, she was the last person to leave the place.
On the small clearing in front of her home, she saw Marisa kneeling over Reimu, trying to bring her back to life by heart massage and artificial respiration. Her attempts, however, were constantly thwarted by the unending hordes of insane fairies.

"That's it!" she exclaimed angrily and stood up. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, pulled out her Hakkero, whispered her spell into it and pointed it at the largest cluster of fairies. "Love Sign "Master Spark"!"

The mini Hakkero started emitting a loud humming sound just a second before it unleashed an enormously wide white beam of magical energy with its edges flaring up in all other colors of the visible light spectrum. The sheer force of the spell produced a resonance powerful enough to make the nearby trees shake violently like during an earthquake. Needless to say that any fairy unfortunate enough to find itself in its way was met with a quick death, which to Marisa seemed too merciful. The witch instantly took out an entire flock of the little youkai with her initiate blast and while the spell lasted, she aimed her Hakkero to other directions, trying to bring down as many fairies as she could.

"Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrggh!" she yelled in fury as she turned the beam slowly, burning down fairies by dozens. "Die, die, die!"

And the fairies obeyed. Most of them, anyway... However, there was still quite a number of them even when Master Spark fizzed out. Alice hurried to assist Marisa in her effort, knowing that she couldn't help the Three Mischievous Fairies anymore. She still had enough dolls to muster up one final counterattack. She arranged them into a wide-spread X formation and each of the dolls began firing red or blue shots to decimate the remnant of the fairy legion. Marisa again resumed her attempts to resuscitate Reimu.

"Come on, Reimu! Don't leave me now!" she urged her while massaging her heart. "You can't die! What kind of a dumb epitaph would it be: "Killed by fairies"?" she tried to jest, but anxiety was wrenching her throat and altering her voice. Reimu still didn't respond, but at least Marisa could still feel her pulse. Finally, after a long nerve-wrecking while, Reimu started coughing and opened her eyes. Marisa let out a joyful gasp.

"Reimu!" she embraced the shrine maiden before she even figured out where she was.

"M-Marisa??" muttered confused Reimu, wondering why was Marisa holding her like that.

"I'm so glad?" whispered the witch into her ear as she let go of her. "Now?" she stood up and crossed her arms, "get the hell up and let's finish off the rest of those fairies, ze!"

Reimu nodded silently and slowly got up on her feet. Then she and Marisa teamed up with Alice to crush the fairy offensive once and for all.

When the last squadrons of fairies regrouped into a formation, ready to shower Alice with their danmaku, she drew out her own Spell Card.

"Puppeteer Sign "Maiden's Bunraku"!"

The card turned into a large, semi-transparent purple orb that was launched against the fairies, but exploded halfway, bursting into several dolls which instantly stopped and fired multiple red beams. In the same direction the dolls fired short streams of smaller blue orbs, which followed the same trajectory as the previously fired beams, further reducing the numbers of the remaining fairies. The rest of Alice's dolls scattered small red shots, the movement of which resembled falling snow. However, it wasn't falling but slowly charging towards the last of the fairies. The process was repeated a few times and then Alice's spell ran out, leaving no fairies for Reimu and Marisa to shoot down.
"It's over?" muttered Marisa while panting.

"Yeah?" confirmed the wounded shrine maiden and stared blankly at Alice's burning house as well as the nearby trees which were also engulfed in flames.

"That was quite a something, ze? But we can't sit down and rest just yet!"

Marisa was right. Something had to be done about this spreading forest fire, but none of the girls' spells were ideal for such a task. They needed to get help. Alice looked down on the unmoving bodies of the three fairies that have fled to her house in hope to save themselves from the savage fairies, but she couldn't protect them in the end.

"Hey, Alice?" said Marisa as she put her hand on her shoulder. "No use crying over spilled milk? You know that they'll be revived soon, right?"

"Then?" said the youkai dollmaker with a trembling voice, "Why aren't they waking up yet?"

"It takes a while even for the fairies to respawn." Marisa comforted her. "They'll be fine in no time, but other people and youkai may be in danger. We need to put out this fire and see if we can still manage to save your house."

"But how do you plan to put it out when it got out of control already?" wondered Alice. "You know I don't have extinguishing spells or anything?"

"Neither do I."

"We'll need to get help of someone who can use water-based spells." said Reimu pragmatically and looked up at the small patch of sky that was visible from the small clearing. "Damn! It rains a whole week nonstop, but when you actually need the rain, it's always sunny?"

"Hmm? Nitori could help us, she has water magic." reasoned the witch. "And Patchouli, of course! She's an elementalist? and even lives closer from here than Nitorin? But then again, she's quite angry with me now?"

"We have no time!" urged Reimu. "Let's get going already!" she ordered and took flight, ascending quickly above the treetops. What she saw from above, however, took her breath away?

"Uh? This is NOT good?"

"What's not good, Reimu?" asked Marisa who followed her upwards along with Alice.

"That." she made a hand gesture along the whole panorama in front of her.

Besides the fire burning below them and spreading quickly, there were several other places especially in the northeastern part of Gensokyo from where dense black smoke was rising and orange flames were lashing.

"Oh, shit!" cursed Marisa as she gazed upon other separate fire sources in the distance. "Looks like we weren't the only ones attacked. We need to get moving!"

"I'll go find Nitori!" volunteered Reimu to take one of the tasks. "It also might not be a bad idea to get Cirno."

Marisa nodded and took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll go and ask Patchouli. Alice, you try to find the ice fairy. Let's move! Go, go, go!"

Each of them jetted at top speed towards their separate destinations. While they were all flying together for a while, Alice separated from the formation right above Misty Lake to look for Cirno, the ice fairy who was known to supposedly reside somewhere in the vicinity. Marisa headed straight for the mansion and Reimu continued northwest towards the base of the Youkai Mountain to find Nitori Kawashiro ? a young kappa inventor, engineer and mechanic. The only kappa she was actually familiar with.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 32 ? State of Emergency

Soon Reimu reached the forest under the huge mountain, through which she was flying before only once. It was during another incident which entered the annals of Gensokyo history under the title "Mountain of Faith" in Akyuu's chronicle. It took place in autumn 3 years ago ? in 122. During this period Reimu was visited by a stranger who claimed to represent the god of the mountains and ordered her to shut down Hakurei Shrine for good. Of course, Reimu was against it, and so, she went to undertake a little investigation, heading for the tallest mountain in Gensokyo in order to confront this mountain deity. On her way to the top, she met several minor kami and eventually, the kappa Nitori. She had a little run-in with Aya and finally, near the mountain's summit, she discovered another shrine ? Moriya Shrine, where another shrine maiden served the bidding of her shrine's goddess. The conflict ensued as soon as the other miko explained that her task was to gather all of Gensokyo's faith for her mountain goddess. Of course, Reimu had to settle things with danmaku. Finally, after fighting through all that opposition, Reimu confronted the goddess herself above the lake near the Moriya Shrine, surrounded by tall pillars. The goddess intended to gather the faith in order to prevent overall decline of faith in all of Gensokyo's kami, which could even lead to them losing all their powers and throwing Gensokyo into a state of chaos. It was a tough battle for the young human miko, but she managed to beat the goddess in a Spell Card duel. Fortunately, as with all incidents, it all ended well. Kanako Yasaka, the goddess of the rain and wind was officially accepted by the tengu and kappa as the goddess of the Youkai Mountain and she pursued her monopolizing of faith no longer. No doubt she still gathers enough of it from the locals living on and near the mountain.

After a while of reminiscing, Reimu found a river near the foot of the mountain and slowed down her flight in order to be better able to look for the kappa.

"Nitori~! Oi, Nitoriiiii~!" she called out loud. As soon as she did that, she saw some movement with the corner of her eye. "What was that?" she tried to follow the movement but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She then slowly descended and landed on the ground, taking a slow look around. Before her eyes she saw a brisk mountain stream being fed by a waterfall and continuing further southeast, flowing into the Misty Lake.

"No kappa in sight?" sighed the shrine maiden and decided to at least take a sip of the fresh mountain water and wash her face. Just as she knelt at the side of the stream and took some water into her palms a voice from behind startled her into almost falling into the river.

"Reimu-san?"

"Waaaah! Who?! What?!" asked the confused and frightened miko looking left and right, but unable to see anyone.

"Oh? please, wait a second." said the voice that could belong to young girl around the age of 15 to 18. Reimu could already tell who the girl was?

"Nitori? Where are you? I can hear you but?"

In the next second a girl's figure appeared out of thin air just a couple of steps in front of the confused miko.

"Ta-daaah~!" she called theatrically, striking a flashy pose. She was a little shorter than Reimu. Her hair was blue with a short pigtail on one side, and her eyes were of same color. She was wearing a blue dress that looked like it was made of some waterproof material and had many pockets around the hem of her skirt, where she had various tools, with which she applied her trade. She also had a large dark-green backpack for larger tools with its straps intersecting on her chest and holding a golden key like some sort of charm. Her head was covered by a green colored hat and on her feet she had a pair of blue knee-high rubber boots. She was now looking curiously at Reimu who didn't quite understand why was the otherwise shy kappa acting so flashy.

"Bet you didn't see me at all with my new Optic Camouflage mk2?!" said the kappa girl and smiled proudly.

"Uhh? well? just a little?" said Reimu tentatively, but quickly recalled that there was an emergency to solve and she didn't have time to praise Nitori's new invention. "Listen, Nitori, I need you to go with me somewhere!"

"Huh? Wait, what?"

"Gensokyo is threatened by numerous forest fires! We need your water magic! Come on, let's go!"

"B-But? But?" the kappa protested as Reimu was already dragging her by her hand and taking off into the sky.

"Wait up, Reimu-san!" called the kappa girl while pointing her finger at the summit of the Youkai Mountain. "If that's really true, wouldn't it be also worth our time to ask the goddess of the wind and rain to help us with this?"

Reimu stopped her flight and rolled her eyes down to look at Nitori who was tightly holding her hand and dangling in midair. The shrine maiden had dragged her away so suddenly that Nitori didn't even trigger her own flying ability.

"Hey?" Reimu raised an eyebrow at her. "You're quite heavy to carry around, you know?"

Only then Nitori slowly let go of the shrine maiden's hand and ascended so that their faces would be on the same level.

"But that wasn't a bad idea, by the way?" Reimu admitted and also focused her attention at the top of the mountain. "But we mustn't waste time. If she'll take too long to decide whether to help us or not, we're going to put out the fires without her."

Nitori nodded to those words and flew by Reimu's side all the long way to the upper part of this imposing mountain. Even though they were flying as fast as the aerodynamics allowed them, their flight took quite some time and the girls didn't remain unnoticed for too long.
"Hold it right there!" another female voice halted them. They didn't obey and continued on their way to Moriya Shrine. However, when a stream of brightly shining red and blue spheres zoomed past their shoulders from behind, they figured it might be a better idea to take care of their source first.

They stopped and as they turned around they saw a familiar girl flying towards them. It was Momiji Inubashiri ? a white wolf tengu whose purpose was to guard the Youkai Mountain from any and all intruders. She was about Nitori's height and age in appearance. Her hair was short and white. She was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and a black and red skirt. A red tokin was placed on her head to signify her identity with the tengu race. In her right hand she held a large scimitar-like sword and a white round shield with a red aralia leaf print. Her duty was to detain pretty much everyone who wasn't a tengu or a local resident of the mountain. Fortunately, she was well acquainted with Nitori.

"Hey, Momi-chan, this is an emergency!" called Nitori at the girl. "We need to get to Moriya Shrine. Let us pass, please!"

The wolf tengu tilted her head to the side. "Nitori? Oh? and you?" she frowned as she looked at Reimu whom she was also well acquainted with, although not in the friendliest way.

"We've no time to chat!" said the shrine maiden urgently. "Either get out of our way or get ready to go down like the last time!"

"Oh, wait, wait, wait, Reimu-san!" Nitori halted her before she said anything that could provoke an unnecessary fight. "Let me talk to her."

"Well, hurry up then!"

"Uhh, Momiji-chan, please forgive Reimu, she's just under a lot of stress, hehehehe~." giggled the kappa timidly.

"That gives her no excuse to trespass again into our territory." retorted Momiji and pointed the tip of her sword at the shrine maiden. "And the same goes for you, Nitori. You may be my friend, but my orders are strict and clear: no trespassers; period! If you want to go to the shrine, you need to ask lord Tenma for permission."

"You're a tengu, damn it!" shouted Reimu angrily and pointed at the smoke pillars on the northeastern horizon. "Don't you see it?! The forests are burning! If that's still not a good enough reason for you to let us pass to get help, then you're more stupid than you look. Besides, there's another human living near the top of your mountain and you let her stay, so what's your problem with me?"

"We've already dispatched several of our tengu agents to take care of the fires with their wind powers." said Momiji flatly. "There's no need to further concern yourself with it, shrine maiden. Just turn back and don't return without permission."

"Oh, gods?" uttered Reimu and slapped her own forehead. "You really ARE a dimwit! The wind powers of the tengu are just going to help the fires spread! What we need is water! Lots of it! Nitori here is already willing to help, but it would be even better if Kanako Yasaka would make it rain again." Her look turned from serious to very serious as her eyes narrowed and she drew out her gohei and pointed it at the wolf tengu. "Now? I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and let us pass. Otherwise, you know what the second option is?"

Momiji sighed with disappointment. "Then you really leave me no other choice."

She grudgingly tightened the grip around the hilt of her sword and with a swift swing she sent another barrage of shining blue and red spheres at the shrine maiden and the kappa. She was determined to follow her duty as was expected of her kind.

Reimu quickly dived backwards, distancing herself from the dense mass of shots and waiting until the cluster spread out a little to allow her to weave through safely. Time was running and Reimu really didn't have any time to waste with pointless Spell Card duels. However, it was already too late to resume negotiations.

Nitori immediately decreased her altitude and the wave of Momiji's shots flew over her head. She instantly reached inside her breast pocket to find a small metal box with a single button which she now pushed. In a flash of rainbow light, she faded out of Reimu's as well as Momiji's vision. The kappa just activated her cloaking field. What she did after that remained unknown for a while.

Just as Reimu found an opening in the dense cluster of enemy projectiles, she was surprised by the charging wolf tengu who came flying towards her, ready to slash her with her sword. Reimu instinctively set her body into horizontal position to evade the sharp blade. From this position she made a mid-air flip, not letting her eyes off her opponent. While she was floating upside-down for a single moment, she unleashed a stream of amulets at Momiji, who was just finishing her slash. But even when she was seemingly vulnerable, Reimu's amulets were stopped by Momiji's lightning-quick shield arm. The wolf tengu quickly recovered and repeated her slashes with greater force and speed. Reimu nearly didn't dodge the last of the attacks which cut off a part of her shirt, but didn't injure her body.

"Whoa! That one was close?" thought the shrine maiden, ready to take out her Spell Card to quickly end this little dispute. However, Momiji didn't want to allow it and charged at her face with her shield. In the last second, Reimu managed to notice this and block her face with her arms. A loud clang sounded as the shield met with Reimu's arms, which were already wounded from the previous battle against the fairies.

"Ow! Ouch, ouch, ouch!" grimaced the shrine maiden in pain as she dropped her Spell Card. "Oh, damn it!"

Momiji took the advantage of Reimu's momentary incapacitation and pointed her sword at her chest, which started glowing brightly red. "You should have listened to me, shrine maiden! Now it's payback time!"

Reimu's eyes widened in a frightened expression just as Momiji was about to unleash her finishing barrage to strike her down. But instead, a bright blue flash appeared behind the white wolf tengu girl and her head made a sudden kink from the impact that she received.

Momiji's vision swam and the grip on her sword loosened up, making her drop the weapon. The next second, she started falling down as well. However, just before she hit the ground, her fall suddenly stopped and the girl's unconscious body descended slowly and softly to the ground.

"What the??!" wondered the confused shrine maiden as she watched the scene.

All was explained as a brief rainbow flash appeared and revealed Nitori holding the defeated tengu in her arms and putting her slowly on the ground.

"I'm very sorry, Momiji-chan, but Reimu-san is doing the right thing?" she whispered an apology to her wolf tengu friend. Once she put her down, she bowed to her and took off into the sky again to catch up with the shrine maiden.

Reimu smiled sweetly at the kappa. "Nice job, Nitori. Thank you?"

"I believe this is yours, Reimu." Nitori said and stretched out her palm with Reimu's dropped Spell Card.

"Thanks again, Nitori. You've saved me this time? I didn't expect you to go up against your friend like that."

"Sometimes even among the best of friends, conflicts can't be avoided." stated the kappa and looked closely at Reimu's wounded body. "But what on Earth did happen to you? Don't tell me that Momi-chan hurt you so much."

"That's a bit complicated to explain. Right now, we need to go to Moriya Shrine."
Nitori nodded and once more, flew in a side-by-side formation with Reimu to the plateau where they already saw the roof of a distant shrine and the glittering surface of the nearby lake, which was supposedly a part of Lake Suwa spirited away from the outside world along with the shrine. It was surrounded by tall hexagonal stone pillars decorated by shide ? the zigzag paper streamers like the ones on Reimu's gohei wand and usually found hanging at Shinto shrines. The two of them landed right in front of the second of the two known shrines in Gensokyo. Since they didn't see anybody outside, Reimu and Nitori briefly knocked on the door and entered the shrine to see if the person they were looking for was inside. All of the three known residents were inside the living quarters, sitting at a table and having lunch.

The second shrine maiden in Gensokyo was about Reimu's age and height. Her hair was long, light-green and adorned by a snake-shaped hair accessory wrapped around her hair on one side and a small hair clip shaped like a frog's head. Apparently these were from the outside world. Since she was a shrine maiden, her outfit was very similar to Reimu's in style, but her color theme was blue-white instead. The blue parts of her clothes were also patterned with light-blue polka dots and stripes. Her shirt sleeves were also detached like Reimu's. She was surprisedly glancing with her dark-blue eyes at Reimu who just let herself into her shrine along with her kappa companion.

"Hakurei Reimu?" she stated coldly after giving the uninvited guest a once-over.

Reimu responded in the same manner, saying the other miko's name. "Kochiya Sanae?"

"What's the meaning of this rude incursion?" asked Sanae, still calmly. The other two persons sitting with her at the table also gave Reimu and Nitori questioning looks.

"There's a forest fire in Gensokyo~!" called Nitori from behind Reimu's back, waving her arms to get their attention. "I saw it! And it's not just one fire either!"

Reimu continued the thread of thought: "That's why we're here! To ask for your help, Kanako-sama?"

The person Reimu addressed was a tall young-looking woman with shoulder-length hair, the color of which was somewhere between blue and purple. Her eyes were dark-red. She was wearing a red shirt with long white sleeves. A palm-sized round mirror was hanging on her necklace over her chest. She also had a long dark-red skirt with brighter red flower patterns along the hem. Behind her back, floating by itself, was a thick shimenawa rope circle with hanging shide paper strips. On her head she had a circlet made of smaller shimenawa and decorated by bright-red leaves. She was the goddess Reimu was looking for. As she heard that Reimu needs her help, she couldn't hide her surprise.

"My help?" she asked and pointed at herself with her thumb. "To put out forest fires you say? Well, that's quite a serious problem, isn't it, Sanae?"

The green-haired shrine maiden rolled her eyes at the goddess in silence.

The third and the smallest girl in the shrine spoke after a while of silence. "Go with them, Kana-chan." she spoke with a childish voice. "Now is your time to return the favor to all the people for all the faith they have for you."

Despite her appearance, she was also a goddess. In fact, even older than Kanako. Her name was Suwako Moriya ? the shrine's goddess of earth and one of the oldest gods living in Gensokyo. She looked like a young human girl with semi-long blonde hair and gray eyes. She was dressed in a simple purplish dress with wide white sleeves and frog print design on the front side. On her head she had a light-brown wide-brimmed hat with two frog eyes on top. The fact that its frog eyes were moving and blinking on their own gave the impression that it had a mind of its own.

Reimu still freshly remembered the Spell Card duel she had with her. Not because of any serious conflict, but just as a game. However, it was certainly one of Reimu's hardest earned victories.

"Are you going with me then, Suwako?" asked the other goddess while she was slowly standing up. "Earth can serve to put out fires just as well as water, if not even better."

Suwako's hat rolled its eyes in sync with the little goddess wearing it as she thought about Kanako's suggestion. "Hmm? Causing earthquakes and landslides in order to put out forest fires would bring more destruction than the fires themselves. This seems more like your cup of tea, Kana-chan."

"Very well." shrugged the tall goddess and bowed to her faithful shrine maiden, Sanae, and her fellow goddess, Suwako, and walked towards Reimu and Nitori. "Let's have a round two of the summer rain season?"

Reimu showed her thankful smile, bowed to the kami and led the way out of Moriya Shrine. Kanako followed her and once outside, she ascended into the air to take a good look around. She saw the spreading forest fires, but her face didn't show any signs of panic.

"Okay? Let's get started, shall we?" she said more to herself than to Reimu and Nitori.

"Then don't linger and come with us!" Reimu prompted her and waved her arm in a "follow me" gesture.

"There's no need." smiled the rain and wind goddess calmly "I'll just make it rain from here all over Gensokyo. The rest, however, will be up to you, and your kappa friend."

"Fortunately, we're not alone in this." said Reimu, hoping that Marisa and Alice managed to get someone who'd be able to deal with the spreading fires.

Kanako simply raised her arms above her head and without any chants or Spell Cards she made gray clouds appear in the clear blue summer sky. After just one minute, the clouds grew and covered up all the visible sky. Then Kanako gently waved her fingers as if she was playing an invisible piano and lowered both of her arms slowly.

A single drop of water fell down on Reimu's forehead. Then another one. And another? A cool rain started falling from the sky. Not too strong to make flying difficult, but not too light either. Kanako elegantly descended back to the ground.

"Well, I hope this helps? I wish you best of luck, Reimu and uhh? Miss kappa."

"Of course you helped! Thank you very much, Kanako-sama." thanked the shrine maiden turned to Nitori. "Let's fly and put out the one closest to my shrine first!"

"Okay~!" called the kappa and glided behind her, prepping her most effective water-based Spell Cards as she flew.
Marisa decided to take a more civilized approach and instead of breaking into the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion through one of its windows, she landed in front of the huge manor and knocked on the main door. The door unlocked itself and slowly opened up before her. Sakuya, the head maid was already standing in the foyer with a very surprised expression, widened eyes and mouth agape.

"Umm? Hi, Sakuya. I uhh? I just came to visit Patchouli and? apologize. And ask a little favor from her too?"

For a witch that never cared much about trivialities such as good manners or feelings of other people and as someone who never in the history of the mansion's existence entered through its main door, Marisa was acting way out of her character. This was just too great a shock for poor confused Sakuya, who was standing as if frozen in time with the same bewildered expression.

"Uh? could I please come in, Sakuya? It's quite an urgent matter, you know."

Sakuya suddenly snapped out of her confused state and tentatively walked up to Marisa and put her palm on the blonde's forehead to make sure she wasn't sick or something.

"Hehehehe, I'm feeling fine, thank you." giggled the witch and entered the mansion's foyer.

The maid then placed her palm over her own forehead to make sure she wasn't the one who was sick and just hallucinating.

"You should take a vacation, Sakuya. You don't look so well?" Marisa smiled at her. "So, does that mean I can see Patchouli?"

"Uhh? You know the way, don't you?" muttered Sakuya and teleported somewhere away.

Of course, Marisa knew her way around the mansion, but she never was too used to taking the corridor and the descending staircase to enter its great library. Furthermore she was feeling kind of anxious to face Patchouli again after she was so forcefully driven out of her library. What was worse, Patchouli's radical and forceful action was quite well justified and even Marisa had to admit that. She mentally prepared herself as she walked towards the massive door of the library along the long darkened hallway. Just in case, she'd need it for immediate self-defense, the witch grabbed her mini Hakkero and put her tentative hand on the door's handle.

"Well, here goes nothing?" she whispered and opened the library door.

She saw the purple-haired librarian leaning over one of her tables over some book, but she was really surprised to see the younger Scarlet sister sitting there next to her and reading as well.

"Umm? Hello?" she sounded and closed the door behind her.

Both Patchouli and Flandre turned their curious and surprised faces at her.

"Ma-Marisa??" stuttered Patchouli and stared disbelievingly.

Flandre's eyes sparkled with joy as she saw her. "Marisa-neechan~!" she exclaimed and hurried to welcome her by a sweet embrace. However, since she was incomparably stronger than any human, poor Marisa was knocked off her feet and landed on the carpet.

"Hey, Flan? Easy now!"

"Marisaaa~! Have you come to play?"

"Not now, Flan-chan, I need to talk to Patchouli?" uttered the witch, futilely trying to stand up.

"Aww, come on~! Just a little game of danmaku~?" Flandre insisted pleadingly. "Patchouli-sensei's lessons are sooo boring~."

"Like I said?" Marisa struggled to get herself from under the vampire's grip, "I don't have time to play? Now please, let me go already."

Only now did the little vampire realize that she was inadvertently incapacitating Marisa and released her from her embrace. Patchouli also stood up from her table and slowly walked to the witch who was now already back on her feet and dusting off her black and white clothes.

"Did you say you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Ah, yes? Patchouli," she looked straight into her purple eyes and took a deep breath, "I? I'm sorry for the last time for borrowing so many books at once? And for spilling your tea on you, but that was an accident."

Patchouli was in a loss for words for quite a while. She had experienced quite a lot of things in her over 1 century long life, but Marisa apologizing to her for stealing books would be a first. Furthermore, she thought that Marisa would never show up again after their last library incident, but here she was ? standing in front of her and apologizing.

"Marisa? I'm? I'm also sorry for using Royal Flare on you?"

"No? It's fine. I kind of deserved that one, ze?"

"And I thought you were mad at me?" muttered the librarian and lowered her head.

"Ha! Ditto." smiled the witch and stretched out her right palm. "Friends?"

Patchouli nodded and took Marisa's hand to shake it. "Friends."

Flandre watched this scene curiously and a bright smile settled on her childish face. "Yaaay~! I want to make some friends too~!"

"But that's not all I've come here for?" said Marisa after a while.

Patchouli frowned and crossed her arms. "Oh? I should have known. You want to ask me some favor, right? More books?"

"No, no, no?" the witch shook her head with a sheepish grin. "The favor is that I need you to come with me now. There are several forest fires burning throughout Gensokyo, so I thought your water magic would be helpful."

"What? There's a forest fire and you tell me that so nonchalantly?!"

"I wasn't even sure if you wouldn't blast me with another Royal Flare if I showed up the way I usually do?"

"But this is different. It's an emergency. We should get going and probably ask someone else for assistance too."

"Heh? Never thought convincing you would be so easy." said Marisa. "Don't worry, Reimu and Alice went to get some help as well. The fires were started by some crazy fairies. Poor Alice? her house is now burning. We should put out that fire first."

"That sounds like fun~!" rejoiced little Flandre. "I would like to go with you and watch Patchouli-sensei put out fires, but it's raining outside?" she pouted disappointedly and pointed at one of library's windows. "Rain makes me and Onee-chan weak and sleepy?"

"What? Rain?" uttered the witch as she looked through the window. "I've never been so happy to see rain? Now we have a better chance. Are you ready to go, Patchy?"

"I'm ready." nodded the youkai sorceress and called for the head maid. "Sakuya~!"

"Yes, Patchouli-sama?" asked Sakuya who was suddenly standing between her and Marisa. "Do you want me to take care of this nuisance here?" she pointed her thumb back at the witch.

Marisa frowned at her remark. "Oi, oi?"

"No, Sakuya. I need to go out for a while and I want you to keep an eye on Flandre while I'm gone."

Sakuya threw a sidelong glance at the younger Scarlet sister and the vampire girl smiled sweetly back at her.

"Understood." she replied positively, but with an expression that said: "Why me?"

"Yaaay~! Sakuya~! Make me a triple chocolate, strawberry and vanilla parfait with extra whipped cream on top. And? and caramel pudding and? and that tiramisu that Patchouli-sensei likes and?"

"But Remilia-sama says I shouldn't stuff you with too much sweets." protested the maid, but Flandre continued stating her list of demands for another five minutes. Marisa and Patchouli were already on their way to Forest of Magic.
While Reimu and Marisa flew to their separate destinations to get some help, Alice was scouring the shoreline of Misty Lake, searching for Cirno, the ice fairy whose dwelling was rumored to be somewhere in that area. However, Alice knew well that all fairy dwellings were impossible to locate by humans. Even though Alice was a youkai, it didn't make her search any easier. Besides, fairies didn't necessarily linger around their dwellings, but enjoyed playing and exploring. She wasn't even hoping to find the ice fairy. After the third lap around the entire lake, she dismissed her effort, because she just got a better idea.

"This is pointless. But hey, I know who could help us with the fires. Although I've never talked to them personally?"

Alice didn't linger at the lake for another second. She took off to her new destination ? the Temple of Myouren. In just 15 minutes, Alice made it to the outskirts of Human Village and to the one and only Buddhist temple in Gensokyo. Upon entering the temple, the puppeteer saw that the prayer hall was empty, so she entered the door behind the large Buddha statue.

"Uhh? Is anybody here?" she called into the dark narrow corridor, but got no response. She therefore proceeded further and repeated her call. Then she suddenly heard silent rapid footsteps as if somebody on the floor above just ran off somewhere. Then Alice could hear a childlike voice, dampened by the walls of the temple shout: "Byakuren-sama~! Hurry, hurry, somebody broke into the temple!"

Her heart skipped a beat as she stood there confusedly, knowing that the voice was most certainly referring to her. However, Alice believed that she'd be able to give a good explanation to whoever will show up and ask for one particular person's help to put out the forest fires. Although Alice never visited this place on her own, she heard about it and its inhabitants from Reimu and Marisa and also thanks to Aya's newspaper.

As she was trying to imagine the person whom she only knew by name, a sudden ray of light appeared at the end of the narrow wooden corridor, revealing stairs leading up to a trapdoor that was just opened. In the next moment a single foot wearing a black boot with white strip of cloth tied around it stepped down on the topmost of the wooden stairs, soon followed by another. The person who appeared a moment later was none other than the temple's owner, Byakuren Hijiri. Alice figured that out just by the description of her she had heard from her human magician friend.

"Who dares to desecrate the holy walls of the Temple of Myouren with acts of thievery?" she asked as she glanced upon Alice, standing more than five meters away from her in a poorly lightened corridor.

"Thievery? No, you're mistaken?" said Alice denyingly and walked up towards Byakuren. "I'm not like Marisa."

Byakuren eyed her carefully and suddenly stretched out her palm forward. Alice's immediate reflex was to crouch and cover her face as she expected to be attacked? But she wasn't.

"You?" muttered the monk, "You're a youkai?"

"Huh?? Yeah, I am?" said the blonde puppeteer as she stood up timidly. "I'm Alice. Alice Margatroid. I heard about you from a friend of mine?"

"And what are you doing here, Alice Margatroid? It must be something urgent, I assume?"

"Why yes, it IS urgent!" said Alice loudly. "Gensokyo's forests are burning and so is my house. I've heard that a person by the name of Minamitsu Murasa, who supposedly has some water manipulating abilities, lives here in this temple."

Byakuren widened her eyes, looking surprised and concerned. A forest fire in Gensokyo was certainly not a matter to be taken lightly. Indeed, Alice's info was correct: Minamitsu was one of the youkai who lived here at the temple. Byakuren confirmed that with a nod and hurried back up the stairs, asking Alice to follow. As the dollmaker climbed up the steep stairs to the second floor, she was immediately reminded that the temple was originally a ship. A flying ship in particular. She now found herself on its main deck, where she saw Byakuren leading the way to the captain's quarters. Byakuren tersely introduced herself to Alice as she led the way. There was also another, smaller girl on the main deck ? a mouse youkai dressed in a brownish-black one piece dress with light-pink sleeves and a gray capelet. Her hair was gray and short, with a pair of round mouse-like ears sticking out. Her eyes were dark-red and staring intensely at the newcomer to the Myouren Temple. The mouse youkai also had a small necklace with a single blue crystal pendant. She even had a long gray tail, which was more catlike than mouselike and with that tail she was holding a mini basket with a normal non-youkai mouse inside. She seemed to be playing some sort of game with some mysteriously-looking metallic L-shaped rods. Alice had little next to no idea what they were supposed to be, but then again, she wasn't even that curious. The mouse youkai surely wasn't the person she was looking for. She just silently followed Byakuren's steps, which led to the front side of the deck. The youkai monk opened up the captain's quarters without even knocking and let herself in, holding the door opened for Alice.

"Please, come in, come in."

The blonde dollmaker followed her host inside. It was quite a large room with one large table with a map of some ocean and unknown islands. By the looks of it, the map was ancient. There were also various navigating instruments such as sextants and compasses placed on the main table and even an old brass spyglass. The rest of the room's furniture consisted of several wardrobes and storage chests and a single bed for the captain. The captain as Alice assumed was the girl sitting at the table with the map and writing something into a logbook.

She was rather pale with short black hair and teal eyes. She was wearing a white and teal sailor uniform, complete with a white hat and a red neckerchief. She looked preoccupied at the moment, but she did notice Byakuren and Alice enter her quarters and it didn't take her long to greet them both accordingly.

"Good afternoon, Byakuren-sama. And miss?"

"Alice Margatroid."

"It's time to mobilize the crew, Murasa." announced Byakuren and gestured towards her guest.. "Alice-san says there are fires spreading over Gensokyo's forests and our help is needed."

Minamitsu glanced at Byakuren with a puzzled expression. "Are we taking off with this ship?"

"No, of course not. We're going by ourselves. We'll offer a helping hand to anyone who needs it."

"Oh? Understood." nodded the captain of the Palanquin Ship and from the table she grabbed a simple wooden ladle. She then took off from the ground and floated just several centimeters above ground out of her quarters. Alice and Byakuren followed her outside and watched as Minamitsu floated up to one of the ship's masts and yanked a piece of rope hanging down to sound an alarm bell. In less than ten seconds the young mouse youkai showed up along with three other girls ? all of them youkai.

One of them was a tall blonde whose short hair had also black stripes. Her eyes were golden-yellow. Her dress was burgundy-orange with white sleeves and collar and a tiger-pattern around the hips and abdomen. She also wore a pair of white frilly pants under the dress. There was a large white cloth circle attached to her back. Her head was decorated by an orange lotus-shaped ornament. In one of her hands she held a long spear with black shaft and diamond-shaped tip.

The second girl was wearing a white dress with dark-blue trim and a headdress similar to that worn by nuns, revealing only little of her short purple wavy hair. Her eyes were dark-purple and staring at the ship captain. In her hand she held a plate-sized golden ring and Alice could only guess what it was used for. However, Alice's attention was more captivated by the pink-reddish cloud swirling around the girl that appeared to have a face of an old man with a beard.

The third youkai girl was the strangest-looking of the lot. Even her arrival to the scene was unusual, since she appeared as a blue energy sphere that swirled around the mast and then materialized into the shape of this young girl. She had short black disheveled hair and dark-red eyes. She was wearing a tight short sleeved black dress with a short skirt, a narrow blue and white vertical trim in the middle and a small red bow tied below the collar. On the lower left side of her skirt she had a dark-red tomoe design, remotely resembling yin-yang pattern. She was also wearing black thigh-length stockings and bright-red shoes with red bows. The most eye-catching part about her was the wings. From the right side of her back stretched three large red metallic-looking blade-like wings with sharp tips, and from the left side jutted three dark-blue curved tails with arrow-shaped tips. In her right hand she held a long trident with a blue snake wrapped around its shaft and her forearm. On her left arm she had a black wristband. To Alice, this girl looked kind of dangerous, but her face and expression were rather friendly in contrast.

"My dear friends," started Byakuren once her "crew" assembled, "we have an emergency situation here." she told them with calm, but loud enough voice to be clear. Her hand then gestured to Alice as she continued her mission briefing. "This young youkai is Alice-san and she says that numerous fires are spreading over the forests of Gensokyo. While I know that nearly none of us, with the exception of Captain Murasa here, know how to deal with forest fires, I'm asking the rest of you to go with me and help those who are in immediate danger to escape. In other words: your mission is evacuation. Now let's not waste any more time. Alice-san, please lead the way."

Alice nodded and levitated upwards. "If you just fly up a little, you'll be able to see them all. They're to the north and northeast from here. I think the closest one is in the Forest of Magic."

As she said that, she could feel something cold and wet touch her nose. She looked up for a moment and caught a raindrop right in the eye, making her grimace and blink rapidly. It started raining.

"Looks like gods are with us." remarked Byakuren who followed the puppeteer in flight towards the Forest of Magic. "We're lucky it's still summer rain season?"

Alice sighed in her mind with a bit of relief, although she knew that her house and everything inside was now probably beyond any hope of rescuing. However, she had no time to despair, for she and Byakuren's team could still save Marisa's house and a major part of the forest itself.

"Okay, it seems there are fires burning in four different locations. We better split up." suggested Byakuren and turned to her teammates. "Murasa, you go with Alice. Ichirin, you'll try to prevent the Hakurei Shrine from burning down?"

The nun-like girl with her cloud companion nodded and split up from the group.

"Shou, Nazrin, you'll take the largest one over there. Me and Nue will try and help anyone who might be near the one in the far northeast." said the monk girl, giving further instructions to the tiger youkai and the mouse youkai. "If you put out the first fire, Murasa, don't waste time and proceed right to next one, okay?"

"Yes, Hijiri-sama." acknowledged the captain and then she split away from the group and followed Alice to the nearest fire.
"Thank you for helping me, Minamitsu-san." called Alice at Captain Murasa through the wind's howling as they flew at top speeds in a dramatic race with time.

"Don't thank me." said Minamitsu reservedly. "I'm just repaying Hijiri-sama a favor. It's her you should give a proper thanks to."

Alice shrugged at the girl's rather indifferent attitude, but she was grateful for her assistance. Whatever her reasons for helping others may be?

In less than ten minutes, the two girls reached the burning trees in the Forest of Magic and the clearing where Alice's house was standing. Captain Murasa prepared her wooden ladle and descended lower above the blazing roof of Alice's once beautiful home.

"Just stand back Alice-san. Leave everything to me. Perhaps we can still save your home? partially."

She then turned her ladle bottom side up and began pouring water in a steady unending stream down on the fires. By the looks of it, Alice figured that Minamitsu's ladle was a bottomless one, similarly like Suika's gourd had infinite sake. Although, if Suika would decide to put out the fires with her more concentrated version of this rice alcohol, she'd probably just fuel the fires to burn even more. However, the ladle in Minamitsu's hand actually had no bottom at all, so it should be physically impossible to contain any water. However, she just kept pouring more and more water out of it as if it could create water out of nothing. Murasa saw that this would probably take a while to put out completely, so she thought she'd speed up the extinguishing process a bit. She drew out a Spell Card and called: "Flood "Venus of the Bilge"!"

Then she dropped the card into her wooden ladle. A bright blue flash from it indicated that the spell was activated and Murasa once again turned it upside down over Alice's house. Hundreds of light-blue shining spheres spread out from the ladle and spread equally to form a dense layer hanging in air for a while, before they all fell down. Each of the spheres splashed as if it turned into a barrelful of water upon touching the ground. The fire was put out in a matter of seconds, but now, Alice's house was flooded. Captain Murasa didn't linger though. She suddenly turned green. Not just body, but her whole figure with clothes became green and blurry and she suddenly disappeared to appear several tens of meters above the burning trees of the Forest of Magic to stop the fires completely.

"What the hell is she?!" wondered Alice as she watched the captain repeatedly teleport herself in this strange blurry greenish form and pour water down on the fires. "What did Marisa say she was again?? Oh? I remember ? she's a ship ghost." she muttered to herself as she recalled that bit of information. "A restless spirit of a shipwreck victim?"

Even though it was just as Alice said, she wasn't scared. On the contrary, she was relieved that Minamitsu managed to effectively put out one of the four forest fires with relative ease.

Once the ghost was done with her job, she appeared once more in front of Alice and smiled.

"Well, that takes care of that? I still have three to go. You don't have to go with me, Alice-san, but if you want, I won't hold you back."

Alice looked down upon the flooded clearing and immediately recalled that the three fairies that she tried to protect were still there, lying lifelessly on the ground.

"I think I'm not going to go with you, Murasa-san, but I'd still like to thank you." she said once she looked back at Minamitsu's face.

"Helping others is a rather? refreshing change from sinking ships in the past?" remarked the ghostly ship captain with a smile. Then she turned away and floated quickly towards the second fire source.
Alice landed on the clearing and with sorrow in her heart she looked at the remains of her house and at the bodies of the Three Mischievous Fairies, partially covered in muddy water.

"Why?? Why aren't they waking up yet? Shouldn't the fairies be immortal? And what on Earth would make Sunny kill her two friends in cold blood with her bare hands?" she asked in her mind as she put her hand on one of the fairies' necks in hope to feel some pulse.

"This can't be?" she blurted out with trembling voice. "What horrible thing has befallen all the fairies in Gensokyo? It's been over half an hour. Please, wake up already?"

The fairies usually didn't take long to resurrect, but for some unexplainable reason, these three were still not recovering. Alice was kneeling there by their bodies, asking herself hundreds of questions, the answers to which she couldn't come up with. She blamed herself for not being able to protect someone in need of her help. Despite being a youkai, her heart was just as sensitive and fragile as any human's. If not even more so? She began sobbing and couldn't stop. She just hoped nobody would come and see her like this.

?

She didn't know how long she was sitting there. Cold rain was showering every square centimeter of her body, but she ignored it completely. She was unable to think of what to do next when a silent voice inside her head said: "Don't cry? Alice?"

"That's easy for you to say?" she murmured a reply to her inner voice, still unable to stop her tears from rolling down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Alice-chan?" the voice repeated itself, still sounding weak and distant.

Alice didn't respond. She just silently wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, when she felt something pull her by the skirt. Surprised by this, she opened her eyes wide to see Star Sapphire holding a fold of her dress in her shaky hand.

"Don't? cry?" she murmured once more.

Alice now figured that the voice wasn't that of her inner self, but of one of the three fairies.

"S-Star-chan?" she stuttered unclearly, but in her heart she rejoiced that the fairies still did resurrect as was expected of them.

"Huh? What?? What happened?" asked Luna as she stirred about a little and opened her eyes.

"Alice-san? Is that you?" sounded the weak voice of Sunny who was lying between the two other fairies.

"Sunny-chan, Luna-chan~!" exclaimed Alice happily and helped them stand up. "I'm so glad? I was worried you wouldn't revive yourselves."

The three little youkai were still very weak and barely able to stand on their own, but they each expressed their gratitude to Alice for trying her best to protect them.

"So, are the evil fairies all gone now?" asked Luna timidly, still trembling from the memory of the recent event.

"Yes. Me Marisa and Reimu had to wipe them all out?" the puppeteer acknowledged and looked at her ruined house. "But they've caused a lot of damage and even started several forest fires."

"Oh no?" moaned Star with worried face. "Our home? I bet it's completely destroyed now?"

"If I still had a home to take you in, believe me I would, my dear fairies? But?Sunny-chan?"

"Yes? What is it?" asked the sunlight fairy with a confused look.

"Don't play like you don't know. What's gotten into you?! How could you do something so horrible to your best friends?!" inquired Alice scoldingly.

The fairy looked genuinely puzzled and she looked left and right at her friends, asking them without words what was Alice referring to.

"I? What are you talking about Alice-san? Did I do something?"

"You don't remember?" asked Luna and Sapphire at the same time.

"You?" Alice paused herself for a second, "?strangled them both. You were crazed? Just like the rest of those other fairies."

"What?! No! It can't be?" rejected Sunny Milk vigorously. "That's a lie! I couldn't possibly have done something so monstrous to Luna-chan and Star-chan? Right??" she bashfully glanced at her friends again.

Both fairies were silent.

"W-Why are you so quiet? Tell me that it isn't true! Tell me? Tell me?" she started disbelievingly shaking her head in denial. "Oh no? No! Impossible! Unthinkable?!" she shouted and burst into tears.

"So Sunny-chan got possessed by something?" wondered Star who took pity of her crying friend and comforted her by a lovely embrace. "I figured it wasn't really you? But I was scarred?"

"You must all hate me now~!" cried poor Sunny into Star's shoulder.

"That's not true!" opposed the black-haired fairy. "We don't know what exactly happened, but the same thing could have happened to just any of us?"

"That's right." Luna seconded and joined the embrace by throwing her arms around the other fairies' shoulders. "It wasn't your fault, Sunny. We still love you~!"

Sunny was just as confused as she was happy at that moment. "Forgive me?"

"We already have." Star smiled at her reassuringly. "But? I'm getting really cold, standing in this water?"

"Oh? That's right?" Luna realized the fact that she was standing knee deep in water and wondered where it came from. "Why is there so much water on this clearing?"

Alice gave a quick recounting of the recent events and added that she was very happy that the three fairies were now alright.

"We? We thank you so very much, Alice-chan~!" said Sunny and with the other two of her fairy friends, she floated up and kissed the blonde puppeteer sweetly on her cheek.

Alice smiled and embraced all three of them. "Now I just hope Marisa and Reimu had at least as much luck finding some help as I had?"
The shrine maiden and the young kappa finally reached the vicinity of the Hakurei Shrine. Despite the rain provided by the goddess Kanako, the fire has spread over an area nearly as large as the Scarlet Island. Just a few hundred meters away from that inferno stood the still unharmed Shinto shrine of the last living descendant of the Hakurei clan.

"Looks like we don't have much time." said Reimu as she was nearing the huge pillars of fire along with Nitori. That's when she saw that some really unusually colored smoke was rising from the flames.

"What's that?" she wondered as she tried to take a better look, but the immense heat made it impossible for her to get any closer to the fires than she already was. Furthermore, if she'd fly too high, she'd suffocate in the smoke cloud. Then the pink-colored smoke began swirling as if it had a mind of its own and began circling very fast around the entire burning area, like some sort of magical hurricane. For a split second, Reimu caught a glimpse of an old man's face in that smoke?

"Wait a minute? That's Unzan, isn't it? That means Ichirin must be here as well."

And it was just as the young shrine maiden assumed. She saw a girl's figure floating further from the fire and manipulating the cloud-like youkai to prevent the fires from spreading any further.

"Okay, Nitori. Do your stuff." Reimu gave the kappa permission to unleash her spells and the blue-haired girl obliged.

"Water Sign "Kappa's Great Illusionary Waterfall"!"

Reimu gasped as she saw that Nitori wasn't taking things easy and utilized one of her most powerful spells right from the start. The card, as its name suggested, created a thick glimmering veil of blue water shots and turned the raindrops into even more projectiles. Once there was enough of magic water spheres gathered, the kappa let them all fall down at once. It really looked like a giant magical waterfall that poured down and mercilessly doused the flames with a loud hissing sound. The shrine maiden observed the bullet pattern and quietly thought to herself that if she were to face this Spell Card in a duel, she'd hardly be able to find even a small opening in time to avoid being flushed by the tremendous force of falling water.

"Hey, Nitori~!" she called at her from a distance. "When I told you to put out the fires I didn't mean that you could flood the entire Gensokyo~!"

"Don't worry, Reimu~!" shouted Nitori back. "I've got it all under control~!"

And all the water that has fallen to the ground got instantly turned into danmaku again and levitated back up to keep the waterfall's stream steady and dense. The forest fire didn't stand a chance.

Once the last little orange tongue died out and the last piece of kindling wood stopped emitting smoke, Nitori and Ichirin landed down in the large clearing that was created after the trees were burned and subsequently flushed down. Ichirin looked a bit surprised to see what the little kappa was capable of. Nitori, on the other hand, breathed heavily as the spell put a lot of stain on her, exhausting both her spirit and body.

"I?*huff, huff* I can't? *huff, huff* go with you any more? *huff, huff* need to rest a while?"

"Pull yourself together, Nitori! We still need to put out more fires!" Reimu tried to encourage her to stand up.

That's when Ichirin walked up to her with the cloud youkai Unzan now shrunken to a much smaller size, hovering beside her and silently staring at the two other girls.

"Don't worry, Byakuren-sama sent out her entire team to help with the fires and to rescue anyone who ended up trapped by them. Me and Unzan will now go and help to put out the rest of them?" she said and took off, but stopped shortly afterwards to turn around. "And in the name of Byakuren-sama, I thank you both for assisting me."
With that said, she flew up into the sky to continue her task. Reimu was now faced with a dilemma. On one hand she felt it was her duty as a shrine maiden to help any people in need and go along with Ichirin to help with the rescuing, but on the other hand, she was reluctant to leave the exhausted kappa alone in the middle of a burned-down forest. Furthermore, she herself was injured badly enough, and she wasn't too sure if she'd be able to manage another fast flight. Therefore, the shrine maiden decided to stay with Nitori, helped her stand up and supporting each other's tired bodies, they slowly walked towards the shrine.

"At least? my effort wasn't completely useless?" uttered the kappa weakly as she dragged her feet over the scorched earth.

"Of course it wasn't, Nitori. You helped a lot. I? I almost wonder why we didn't become friends much sooner."

"Hehehe?" Nitori giggled quietly. "The first time we met I was a bit scared of you, Reimu-san."

"Yeah, but then you went on the offensive." remarked the shrine maiden as she recollected their first encounter.

"I just wanted to scare you away from even greater danger that lurked further on top of the Youkai Mountain."

"Your intention was good, but if I listened to you back then all of Gensokyo's faith would have been taken by Kanako and I'd be forced to close down my shrine."

"I know, I know? But? when you come to think about it? Didn't you meet most of your friends in some sort of conflict?"

Reimu smiled and snorted to acknowledge Nitori's claim. "That's right? And to think a good part of the incidents I resolved were actually a misunderstanding on my part? Like the one with Byakuren for instance? I guess not all youkai need to be hunted down without mercy?"

They finally reached the end of the forest and entered the shrine yard. With sighs of relief they both sat down inside the shrine at Reimu's kotatsu. Suika was somewhere away, so Reimu reluctantly stood up again to make some tea?

"You're hurt, Reimu? You should go see Doctor Eirin."

"I will? But first, I'm going to rest a little."

The water boiled in a couple of minutes and Reimu poured it into two cups, putting a tea bag into each of them.

"Say, Reimu-san?" sounded Nitori as she was blowing at her tea in order to cool it down a little. "Do you think that Kanako-sama's rain will be enough to stop the rest of the fires?"

"Perhaps not by itself, but I asked Marisa and Alice to get help of Patchouli and Cirno. Even though the latter of the two is a rather questionable solution to the problem? I hope that Marisa managed to convince that sorceress to get out of her library since she doesn't do that very often."
When the human and youkai magicians flew out into the falling rain from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, they quickly noticed that the fire over the Forest of Magic was put out already.

"Well, that's one less problem to deal with." remarked Marisa and changed her course to the next fire source ? burning far to the east from the lake, near the road to Kazemura. They both flew as fast as they could, and yet, it took them over 10 minutes to get to their destination. Once they were near the fire, they saw that it was really huge, enveloping a vast area of the local woods. It was raining, but the rain did little in the way of stopping the blaze.

"Mukyu~. I should have taken an umbrella?" murmured Patchouli feeling her nightgown getting wet, but she instantly got an idea how to deal with this inconvenience. She made an intricate hand movement and with a silent incantation she made a thin water bubble around her body which kept her safe from the rain.

"Ha! Who needs an umbrella when you have magic like that?" said Marisa with a smirk. "But? This fire may be too much for you to handle by yourself, Patchy?"

"I? I'll try my best anyway." replied the librarian and drew out a card.

"Just make sure you don't use one of your fire spells by accident."

"What kind of idiot do you take me for? Water Sign "Princess Undine"!"

Patchouli shot out several straight-line streams of blue water spheres into over a dozen different directions, making even Marisa quickly make an evasion maneuver so she wouldn't get hit.

"Whoa, Patchouli! I'm not on fire, you know?" she shouted at her friend, but she was already in the spell-induced trance and didn't respond to her.

Aside from the misdirected streams of water, Patchouli released long narrow ice shots, leaving only a narrow gap in-between them. Marisa found a safe spot in the air and watched the card's effect for a while before she shouted: "You could have picked something more effective. You're not having a danmaku battle! You're trying to extinguish a freaking huge fire, ze!"

Patchouli's spell faded and it looked like it didn't do anything at all.

"Come on, don't you have something more effective in that deck of yours?"

"Well? umm? I do? But it's still just experimental. Not tested yet?"

"Then I don't know what better opportunity for testing out your new Spell Card are you waiting for. Cast, cast, cast!"

Patchouli sighed, tentatively drew out her new water-based Spell Card and stared at its picture for a while. There was a wave-shaped pattern of small and large blue water projectiles drawn on its front side. The elemental sorceress raised her hand with the card and declared her new spell: "Tidal Sign "Airborne Tsunami"!"

The card disappeared in a flash of bright blue light and even Patchouli herself began glowing in the same colored light, which gradually faded and concentrated in her fingertip as a bright blue shining sphere. She pointed her finger in the direction of the fire and released thousands of bubble-like blue spheres of various sizes in a large horizontal layer. There were so many of the shots that it resembled a flood spreading across the air towards the fire. Then Patchouli raised her arms slightly upwards and lowered them again to create a huge curve in the brutal water stream and even intensified the stream below the "surface" of this spell, making it impossible for any potential opponent to evade the barrage by staying below the wave. The only option was either to find split-second openings in the walls of the waves themselves or to fly over them at the risk of getting hit by randomly scattered magical droplets of water. It was truly overwhelming. Definitely one of Patchouli's most powerful spells. Even though she didn't have the energy to keep it up for too long, the tsunami managed to put out the major part of this large forest fire with ease.

"Wow? Patchouli?" uttered the blonde witch who stared at the whole scene from behind her back. "When did you learn something so powerful?"

"Not too long ago."

"But as you can see, we've only put out one half of the fire."

The purple-haired youkai girl raised a brow. "We?"

"Well, you did it, hehehe~." giggled Marisa as she corrected her statement. "But what do you expect me to do? Use my Master Spark against it? Only you can do it. Cast that wave one more time!"

"Wait a second. You know haw exhausting it was to maintain that last spell? It'll take a little while for me to recharge my magic power."

Marisa didn't put any effort in order to hide her displeasure. "Oh, great. Now what are we supposed to do? Sit by and wait till the whole forest burns to ash?! I should have known that an asthmatic and anemic youkai with poor health like you wouldn't be much of a help?"

Patchouli lowered her head in self-disappointment and despite the fact that she found Marisa's last remark offending, to say the least; she didn't have an

[Fonzi]

Chapter 33 ? Fairy Hunt

As the second to last day of Minazuki dawned, the girls slowly and reluctantly got out of their comfy beds to see plates with breakfast already placed at each of their night tables.

"Heh, this really is a hotel." chuckled Marisa as she grabbed her pair of chopsticks, ready to dig into the meal.

"I didn't even notice when the rabbits entered our room." remarked the shrine maiden as she was wiping her eyes.

"By the way?" sounded Alice, "Are we going to the mansion first or are we going to the underground?"

"I doubt Byakuren has had any luck entering the underground to bring Satori here." reasoned Marisa with her mouth full. "But yes, we should first go get Sakuya, then see Satori and then try to catch us some fairies."

"Wait a sec, what about those sedative syringes Eirin was supposed to give us?" wondered Reimu.

"Umm? You mean these things?" asked Nitori who picked up an opened box from her night table to reveal six syringes lined next to each other it a protective casing.

"Guess Eirin hasn't forgotten?" nodded the shrine maiden as she looked behind her at Nitori.

Only now she noticed that Patchouli's bed was empty and cleaned up. "Oh and Patchouli must be already helping her now?"

"Hey, we should get her some fresh clothes when we stop at the mansion." recalled the witch and finished her breakfast.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that." Alice nodded to the idea and started putting her bed into order as well. "By the way, Reimu-san, do you feel better today? Can you fly on your own?"

Reimu smiled at Alice and nodded. "I'm almost as good as healthy. I can fly without help, thank you."

Once all the girls have eaten their breakfast and got ready to leave, they left a brief thankful message for Eirin in their room. They didn't bother to leave normally, though. They opened one of the room's windows, and as they floated out of Eientei, Nitori closed the window behind them. Reimu really did feel much better than yesterday and she could fly just fine. Even though her wounds were still bandaged, they didn't hurt her anymore. Whatever powders Eirin used to treat her seemed to work marvelously. The girls took off into the sky, dodging the leaning bamboo trees on their way up until they were hovering above the huge forest. Once they had all obstacles which blocked their view out of their way, they changed their heading towards the Misty Lake which wasn't too hard to see even from a greater distance.

Reimu silently prayed that today she would finally get to the bottom of the fairy incident.
Meanwhile, in the Human Village, the people ? natives and outsiders alike all slowly began crowding the streets as they were on their way to their work or to school. One of these humans was Midori Iwakami - a 16 year old girl who was spirited away together with dozens of other outsiders into this fantasy world over a month ago. One of the lucky ones who actually made it to Human Village before any dangerous youkai found them. Like many of her peers, she too was slowly getting used to the new life in this new environment. She was currently living in a house with a retired master craftsman, Naota Tanisake who is incidentally an outsider just like her. Despite the old man's opinionated influence, Midori still managed to make several good friends with some of the youkai living in the village. Because she was a cheerful young person full of energy, she didn't have any problems with establishing new contacts and making new acquaintances. It was therefore no wonder she was picked as the vice-president of the so called Transfer Students' Club ? the club that grouped together all those outsiders in Gensokyo who had a strong desire to find a way back to the place they once called their home.

Perhaps she could even make it to the leading role in the club, because the only reason this role was given to her friend, Kyouichi, was because the young man had gathered more knowledge about the world of Gensokyo by the time the club was officially established. However, Ishimaru didn't have half of Midori's leadership skills or experience in organizing a team.

Today was the time for yet another meeting of the Transfer Students' Club and so, Midori was on her way to the fairly new building of the Human Village ? the Kamishirasawa Affiliated Academy. She was worried that she'd be a bit late today as she hurried up the stairs to the second floor of the school building. As she finally made it to the library door and opened it, she saw that less people have come for today's meeting than the last time.

"Umm? Good morning to you all." she greeted them with a rather tentative smile. "I see that some of our members like to sleep in?"

The man named as chief secretary ? Hikaru Nagahashi looked at the girl with a concerned look and nodded to greet her. "I don't know if I should tell you now or wait until the club prez deigns to arrive here, but?"

"What's up, Hikaru-san?"

"Another two members of our club have decided to settle in Gensokyo permanently?" replied the paranormal researcher after a brief look into his ever-present diary.

"What? Another two? That makes our current club member count just?"

"Yes, thirteen people." confirmed Nagahashi-san with a nod after he checked the data in his notepad.

Midori was surprised and a little disappointed with the development of the situation. "Hmm? They could at least show up one last time and tell us why? If things keep going like this, there'll be just six of us who actually want to return home? Kyouichi won't be too happy to hear this."

"Speaking of him, where is that lazy bum?" wondered one of the other club members. "He's always late for the meetings?"

"Hmm? Has anyone seen Ishimaru-san recently?"

The remaining club members exchanged their looks as they shrugged their shoulders.

"As a matter of fact, I've been with him recently?" came a surprising reply from behind Midori. The voice belonged to Yuujin Ueda. Not the most sympathetic man in other people's eyes, but with a strong and unwavering desire to return home to Tokyo. Therefore, his loyalty to the club's cause was unquestioned.

"So? uh? Do you know where he is?" asked Midori curiously.

"Eientei, as far as I know." replied the man tersely and took a seat on one of the vacant chairs in the room.

"Eientei?!" Midori widened her surprised eyes. "Did something happen to him?"

Yuujin shook his head to gesture that he doesn't know the details. "Look, I've just heard this from some of the Ryuuken. He was on the last wagon of the caravan that was bound for the Human Village, but they got ambushed. Ishimaru was injured in the process? That's all I know."

"Wait isn't Asakura-san hospitalized there as well?"

"Yep. That guy should be discharged sometime this week. As for Ishimaru, I've no idea how long he is going to spend there? Hopefully he wakes up before autumn comes or else we're leaving without him." said Yuujin coldly.

"How can you say something like that?" Midori scornfully looked at him. "After all he's done for the club?"

"Oh, really?" smirked the trainman as he crossed his arms. "And what has he done so far, hm? He told us to search for some nonexistent youkai all over Gensokyo and gave us a bunch of meaningless tasks that bore no positive results."

"He did what he believed was the best for us. Even if we didn't manage to find Yukari so far doesn't mean she doesn't exist."

"Umm? I have brought something that might help us a little?" sounded a shy girl's voice from among the outsiders. The girl was a little younger than Midori with slightly curly brown hair. She was holding a sheet of paper in her hands as she shyly stood up from her chair.

"What have you brought us, Nadeshima-san?" Midori encouraged her to come closer.

"Well? I've found this old drawing on one of the classroom's bulletin boards?" said the girl as she turned the paper to reveal a crudely drawn picture of a landscape and two human-shaped figures standing next to each other. One was a short girl with black hair with two pigtails, the other one was a tall girl with long blonde hair drawn with a yellow pastel, dressed in long white dress, wearing a white hat of some sort with a red ribbon and holding a parasol in her hand. Both characters were smiling brightly. In the lower right corner of the picture there was the picture's name penciled in a child's handwriting ? "Me and Yukari-chama".

"That's? ehh? very cute." said Midori as she snickered at the picture in her hand. "But I doubt this going to help us much?"

"Yeah, we might as well take this picture and stick it on the library's door next to the other one?" jested Daniel - the foreigner among the outsiders as he pointed at the picture hanging on the door of the school's library. The picture he pointed at was the front page of the Bunbunmaru News with the photo of Kyouichi in a shrine maiden's outfit, futilely trying to block off the lens of Aya's camera with his palms. Everyone had a brief laugh before the club's discussion continued.

"But seriously? We don't even know which one of these two is Yukari." remarked Dan as he hovered his index finger over the two crudely drawn characters.

"Probably the bigger one, since this is a kid's drawing?" reasoned Midori pragmatically.

"Actually, I think this is a useful finding." Sayuri popped her head between Midori and Daniel to take a closer look at the picture. "For instance, I had no idea that Yukari-sama is a blonde? She looks sort of foreign. Her dress looks European? Victorian era perhaps??"

"Keep in mind, Hayashi-san, that you're judging that based on a stick-figure drawing made by a seven to ten year old girl with wild fantasy and minimal sense for details." Yuujin reminded her. "Besides? How old is this drawing anyway? As far as I know, some folks in the village refer to her simply as "that old gap hag"."

Midori leaned over the picture and focused her eyes on the faded penciled words before the picture's title.

"Hmm? If my eyes are still good, it says? Nagatsuki 14th? 123."

"Two years ago in September?" asked Sayuri, tilting her head to one side.

"So it seems." nodded the vice-president. "However, I exceptionally have to agree with Yuujin here; this won't lead us any closer to the youkai of boundaries."

"Ishimaru was foolish to consider her as an option in the first place. He hasn't really done much for the good of this club besides keeping us busy with silly and pointless tasks."

"Now that's going a bit too far, Ueda?" Midori objected as she gave the man a scornful look. "Kyouichi has done more for this club than you did and I won't let you badmouth him in his absence."

"Just for your information, dear vice president," Yuujin drawled Midori's club title with a sarcastic tone, "I am working hard every single day so that we could all buy the necessary traveling supplies and ditch this crazy place? And out of all the club's members, my job's payment is the highest and so is my contribution to the club's fund."

Hikaru briefly looked into his notepad and leaned to Midori, whispering into her ear: "I almost hate to admit this, but he speaks the truth?"

Midori sent him an angry frown. "That still gives him no right to talk about Kyouichi like that. Seriously? Saying jokes about him is one thing, but this is just plain mean. Wasn't it his idea to found this club in the first place? Wasn't it his idea to plan our difficult journey back home? And lastly; wasn't it you, Ueda-san, who gave him your vote during our election?"

"Hmph?" snorted the ex-trainman while crossing his arms. "Aren't you a bit too fond of Ishimaru-san?"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, Iwakami. Everyone in this school keeps whispering about you two being a bit closer friends than you're letting on."

Midori disbelievingly shook her head. "That's just ridiculous? I'll use your own words: Keep in mind, Ueda-san, that you're making that judgement based on rumors spread by 12 to 13 year old children with wild fantasy and too much free time on their hands? Honestly? I never held you in high regard, Ueda, but now you've succeeded to fall even lower in my eyes."

"I'm just saying aloud what everybody thinks and nobody is willing to tell you straight."

Midori smirked and repeated her denying headshake, anger building up inside her chest. "You better shut up already, before I?"

"Before you do WHAT, Iwakami?" Yuujin cut off her threat with a cocky tone. "Expel me from the club?"

"You wouldn't believe how gladly I would do that."

Yuujin burst into laughter and impertinently pointed his finger at Midori while he was at it. "Ahahahaha~! That's right? You would? provided you had any authority here, brat."

"I am the club's vice-president." spoke Midori with still calm, but threateningly sounding voice. "Just keep trying my patience. I dare you."

"Please stop already~! Both of you~!" Sayuri finally stepped between the arguing outsiders, since she couldn't take it anymore. "We're all on the same boat here, we need to act as a team, otherwise we'll never make it back home~! Our club's already falling apart, we can't have internal disputes over trivial matters~!"

"This woman speaks some sense." Daniel joined this conflict of opinions, seconding Sayuri's idea. "Both of you, calm down and take your seats." he ordered both involved parties.

Midori and Yuujin stared daggers at each other for yet another while before they silently obliged and sat down as far away from each other as the small library allowed.

"I think we should let speak someone else for now." said the foreigner, nodding his head at Professor Nagahashi. "Hikaru-san?"

The man in suit silently nodded and stood up from the chair. "Now that we've wasted enough time with petty bickering, wouldn't it be a good enough time to start a constructive on-topic discussion?"

The silence of everyone present in the room encouraged this experienced man to continue.

"We all know what this club's plan is? However, as more members have decided to abandon our cause and settle here, it seems we will either have to work harder or postpone our expedition."

"No way! I'm not waiting here any longer than autumn!" Yuujin immediately protested.

"In that case, we're going to have to increase our weekly contribution to our fund."

"But wait, Hikaru-san." sounded Sayuri as she raised her hand to express her objection. "Doesn't that also mean that with less club members we'll need less supplies?"

"That is indeed true, Sayuri-san, but we better have some sort of reserve just in case. Therefore, we'd better stick with our original plan and buy the same amount of supplies as we would buy for 18 people? Furthermore, due to the recent forest fires that you all could have seen even from the village, the prices of certain supplies and goods have increased."

"But I don't know if I'll be able to contribute to the club's fund any more money per week. I'm already doing my best at work and giving it my all? I would also like to return home as soon as possible, but... how do I earn more money?"

"Furthermore, who's going to pay for those members who are sick or injured?" asked Daniel. "Asakura-san is two weeks late with his contribution and our prez also has to pay for this week?"

"That is indeed a problem, isn't it?" confirmed Hikaru as he started walking from one end of the room to the other. "Asakura-san and Ishimaru-san are probably going to have to pay for their hospitalization at Eientei? Hmm? I've been thinking?"

"Yes?" Sayuri curiously raised her eyebrows?

"Perhaps we could ask for a loan from someone?"

"A loan? Are you crazy?!" asked Yuujin as he tapped his forehead with his finger. "That will just make our financial situation even worse!"

"Well, not quite." Hikaru disagreed with him and put on a mischievous smile. "You see, we could ask for the loan, buy the supplies and get out of Gensokyo, never paying back? Who's going to know that we're planning to leave Gensokyo? Nobody but us?"

Yuujin's and everyone else's mouths opened and eyes widened in surprise.

"Hikaru-san?" said Midori after a while of silence. "That's a very lowly and dishonorable idea coming from you? I like it!"

"Of course, we'll use this only as our last resort." Hikaru reassured everyone. "Just letting you know that there is such an option?"

Hikaru's idea stared another polemic discussion among the club members that lasted over one hour. Despite the negative development of the situation in the Transfer Students' Club, hope still remained in the hearts of those outsiders who were working hard to make their bold plan become reality.
Not longer than 15 minutes after they left Eientei, the group of four girls has arrived at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Marisa waved to Meiling the gate guard as she flew over the iron bar gate. Meiling noticed the girls and waved back.

"Well, what do you know? She's actually awake for a change." Reimu poked fun at Meiling's habit of sleeping on duty. "Guess she's so used to your regular visits that she doesn't even bother halting you?"

Soon after the girls landed in front of the main entrance of the mansion, Marisa again boldly stepped forth and knocked on the door. After a brief moment they opened wide, revealing the chief maid who was already waiting in the main foyer. Her look was again filled with surprise and confusion.

"Emm? and what are all of you doing here? And where's Patchouli-sama?"

"Gee, is that a way you should greet guests?" asked Marisa provokingly. "We've come for you this time?"

Sakuya was thrown into an even deeper state of confusion. "W-What? For me? What do you mean?" she instinctively put her hand on the thigh band with her throwing knives.

"Whoa, whoa, easy now, Sakuya!" the witch noticed that and tried to calm her down a bit. "We're just asking you to come with us. We... uhh? sort of need your help with something?"

"Yes," Reimu joined the conversation as she stepped a bit closer towards the maid. "And we've also come to take some of Patchouli's clothes while we're here."

That certainly sounded very weird and suspicious to Sakuya's ears and the maid threateningly drew out three knives, which she held between her fingers. "What the hell do you want Patchouli-sama's clothes for, you perverts?!"

Alice just dismissively shook her head over Reimu's and Marisa's inability to explain crucial facts before asking somebody a favor, which more than once led to a misunderstanding and a subsequent danmaku showdown.

"Can't you two first tell her that Patchouli is still in Eientei working as a voluntary nurse or whatever?"

The other girls shifted their looks at her and blinked a couple of times as they processed Alice's words.

"What? Eientei? And Patchouli-sama is now working there? Are you serious?" asked the head maid, still clutching the throwing knives in her hand.

"Well, yes, we are." confirmed the shrine maiden. "As you might have noticed, there's an incident going on in Gensokyo and we could use your help, Sakuya."

"B-But what does that have to do with you taking Patchouli-sama's clothes?" the maid couldn't understand.

"Oh, that? Well, since she offered to help around in Eientei for a few days, we thought it'd be nice if she had some extra clean clothes she could change into after a day of work?"

"I still find it hard to believe that Patchouli-sama would be willing to do any other work than reading and writing books?" muttered Sakuya to herself as she lowered her hand and deftly placed the throwing knives back on her thigh band. "But if what you say is true, than I will bring some of her spare clothes right away?"

Two rapid popping sounds echoed throughout the mansion's main foyer as Sakuya disappeared and reappeared with a small pile of neatly folded purplish clothes that belonged to Patchouli.

"Uh? thanks?" said Marisa as she received the garments. "Now, we need you to come with us."

"Didn't you just need the clothes?"

"No, Sakuya." sounded Reimu. "Aren't you listening? We need your help in order to resolve one particularly troubling incident."

"But you know that I no longer do this kind of work."

"Well then it's time for you to make a comeback." Marisa encouraged her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That task we need your help with is rather simple and should be no problem for you." added the shrine maiden, "we'll explain everything later, just come with us already?"

"But I can't just leave without telling my lady? And secondly, who's going to watch over young lady Flandre if even Patchouli-sama is gone?"

"Just let the crazy girl stay in her basement." said Reimu as she waved her hand. "She seems to like it in there for some weird reason? And as for Remilia, you've got five minutes to convince her to let you come with us, otherwise we'll be the ones to do the talking." she waved her gohei wand and beckoned at Marisa who gently tossed her Hakkero in her palm and nodded to Reimu's words.

Sakuya wasn't afraid of Marisa, Reimu or their semi-threatening suggestion, but she was briefly caught up in a reverie, reminiscing the times when she used to lead a more liberal way of life and sometimes even teaming up with the miko and the witch in order to resolve a bunch of incidents. That was all before she decided to settle down to devote all her time to serving her vampire mistress, leaving the incident resolving to Reimu, Marisa and Sanae. As she recalled those memories, she couldn't help but to feel that deep inside her heart she missed all the fun of Spell Card dueling.

"Umm? why is she standing so motionlessly with that blank expression on her face?" wondered Marisa as she waved her palm in front of Sakuya's eyes.

"Maybe she froze in time. I heard it happens sometimes to those who can manipulate time?" shrugged Reimu as she tentatively poked the maid gently with her gohei.

"Kyaah!" Sakuya was immediately brought back to reality. "Right? I'll ask my lady if I'm allowed to leave?"

Right after she finished her sentence, she teleported herself away into Remilia's quarters.
"My lady?" she bowed tentatively as she appeared in front of the eternally young vampire.

"Ah, Sakuya~. It seems we're going to have a lovely sunny day after a week of rain?" remarked Remilia calmly. She was sitting in a chair next to a small round table, enjoying a cup of her favorite red tea.

"Yes, so it seems?" answered the maid as she took a brief look out of the room's window.

"It's good to have a little break from this tiring rain?"

"Umm? my lady? I've come to ask you something."

Remilia surprisedly rolled her eyes up at the tall maid to look into her face. "Whatever questions you would like answered, my dear Sakuya, please ask away?"

"Kirisame-san and Hakurei-san have come to ask me to help them with resolving an incident and?"

"You'd like to go with them, right?" the vampire completed Sakuya's unsaid question.

"Do I have your permission, Remilia-sama?"

Remilia took another sip of her tea, savoring the taste before putting down the cup on the plate and elegantly interlocking her hands. "Sakuya? If it's regarding shopping for daily supplies or resolving incidents, you know that you needn't ask me for permission to leave."

"Really?"

"Of course. Don't you remember that I sent you to Kazemura in order to have you find out what's going on with the fairies? Despite the fact that you are my maid, I never said that I will obstruct your personal freedom in any way."

"Remilia-sama?"

"I don't doubt your loyalty, Sakuya. It was your decision to settle down and let leave youkai hunting behind? But you are more than capable of resolving incidents. And now, when even the Hakurei shrine maiden has come to ask you for assistance, don't you feel the urge to go out there and do what needs to be done?"

"I? I do, my mistress?"

"Excellent?" smiled Remilia and stood up from her chair. She walked up to her maid and looked up at her as she grabbed her by the hand. "You know that your success makes me feel proud, don't you?"

Sakuya couldn't think of any words to reply with.

"Naturally you have my permission to go."

"Thank you, mistress." Sakuya bowed and took a step back.

"But only under one condition?" added the lady of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Yes, Remilia-sama?"

"Please return to me safely?"

"Of course I will, my lady." smiled the chief maid, ready to teleport herself back to the main foyer, when Remilia once again grabbed her by the hand. "Wait a minute?"

"What is it, Remilia-sama?" Sakuya raised a curious eyebrow.

"I just thought that since Reimu and Marisa have come all the way here I should at least say hello?"

Sakuya smiled and nodded as she snapped her fingers and instantly sent both Remilia and herself back to the main foyer where Reimu, Marisa, Alice and Nitori were impatiently waiting?
"Aah~. If it isn't her noble highness herself?" commented the witch upon Remilia's and Sakuya's simultaneous arrival.

"Yes, good day to you as well, my short-tempered, ill-mannered friend with tendencies for "borrowing" other people's things?" retorted Remilia as she greeted the guests. "So what have we here today? Two humans, one youkai magician and a kappa?"

"We've just come to uhh? "borrow" Sakuya for a while?" explained Marisa with an innocent smile.

"I know that?" she brushed her off and gestured to the maid. "Sakuya told me?"

"Well, what do you have to say then?" asked Reimu impatiently.

"She doesn't have my permission to leave." replied the vampire tersely.

"What?!" asked all the present girls at once.

"In that case, we're going to make you give her permission." said the shrine maiden, drawing a Spell Card out of her sleeve. Even Sakuya herself was surprised by her lady's sudden change of mind.

"She doesn't have permission?" Remilia repeated the beginning of an unfinished sentence. "?she has an ORDER to go and help you." she finished with a smile.

"O-Oh?" uttered Reimu as she slowly withdrew the card. She almost felt a bit of disappointment that she didn't get the chance to duel against Remilia.

"Your order is my wish, Remilia-sama." said the maid and bowed once more.

"Go out there and make me proud? And if you still won't resolve that incident by evening, I could also join up with you when the sunlight won't be so strong."

"Very well, mistress." said the maid and walked over the doorstep, outside of the mansion. The other girls followed suit and took off into the air.

"Okay then, I'll be back? And don't forget to serve lunch to lady Flandre while I'm gone?" called the chief maid before she distanced herself far enough for her voice to become inaudible.

"Fortunately, I can always just ask Patchy to cook something when Sakuya's out?" thought Remilia as she closed the main door of the mansion. Her next steps were therefore headed for the great library where she hoped to find her friend. However, as she got there and couldn't see the bookworm sorceress anywhere, she became very surprised. Upon closer inspection of Patchouli's favorite reading desk, she found a sheet of paper with a brief message that seemed to be recently written in Sakuya's handwriting?

"Dear lady Remilia,

I think I forgot to mention that Patchouli-sama is currently out on a voluntary mission to help Eirin-sama at Eientei. She should be back before the end of this week. I'll be back as soon as I fulfill your order.

Your loyal and faithful maid ? Izayoi Sakuya"

"W-What?" asked the confused vampire as she read the message. "So even Patchouli has gone out? Uuuu~. Sakuyaaaa~! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Remilia bit her lip in a desperate expression. "Uuu~? What do I do? Umm?" she thought hard about what to prepare for herself and her little sister for lunch. It's true that vampires fed mostly on human blood, but they also felt hunger for "normal" meals.

"Koakumaaa~! Meiliiiing~! I need your help~!"
"So, where are we headed off to?" asked Sakuya as she followed the other four girls in their flight towards south.

"Back to Eientei? obviously~!" replied Marisa with a hint of annoyance in her voice, since she was the one to carry Patchouli's clothes.

"And afterwards?" the maid inquired further.

This time, Reimu decided to give Sakuya some briefing. "After that we might take a very brief look at the Temple of Myouren to see if Byakuren managed to get to the underground and bring Satori along. Then we'll head off northeast. Not yet sure where exactly, but we're to catch several of the crazed fairies and bring them to Eientei..."

"And what exactly do you need ME for?"

"You'll be the main fairy catcher?" said the shrine maiden and showed Sakuya the small box with sedative syringes that Eirin provided. "If we find any of those insane fairies, we're most likely to encounter an entire swarm. Catching them without any tranquilizer would be very hard, so we'll need your throwing skills and your time altering as well?"

"Hard? Catching fairies?" asked the maid in disbelief.

"Trust me, Sakuya-san." sounded Alice. "When enraged, they can be very dangerous? Haven't you heard about those forest fires that broke out yesterday?"

"Why yes? the ones Marisa asked Patchouli-sama to help extinguish?"

"Well those fires were all started by swarms of those mad fairies. My house burned down too?"

"Oh, that's right!" Marisa suddenly realized something. "Since we're already here, please give me a minute to check if MY house is still standing, ze?"

She then put Patchouli's clothes into Alice's hands. The surprised puppeteer almost dropped them as she watched Marisa separate from the group and head towards the clearing where she hoped to see her house standing unharmed?

By the time the girls made it to the area where the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was spreading below them, Marisa regrouped into the formation.
"It's still there, good as ever?" she announced with relief.

"And messy as ever?" added Alice who knew all too well what sort of lifestyle her human friend lives.

After a couple more minutes of flight the girls began to descend below the treeline, so they would have it a bit easier to spot the well-hidden building of Eientei.

"It was this way, right?" asked Reimu who was again uncertain whether they were flying the right way.

"I think it was?" said Alice. Frankly, she was just as uncertain as Reimu.

"To be exact it's THAT way." said Nitori who pointed at a direction and took the leading position in the formation.

"Nitorin? How do you know that so certainly?" wondered Marisa. "Do you really have such a good memory?"

The little kappa inventor giggled and shook her head. "No, no? I just planted a little device on the building that in combination with this device?" she pointed at a strange metallic box she had affixed to her wrist by an elastic band, "?will show me the exact position of Eientei."

"Good job, you sneaky little kappa, you?" Marisa gave her a praising tap on the shoulder and followed Nitori's lead until the silhouette of a gigantic Japanese mansion appeared further beyond the dense bamboo.
"Looks like your little gizmo worked, Nitori. We're here?"

The girls landed and entered the impressive building, headed straight for Eirin's office.

Avoiding the busy rabbits in the main corridor, the girls reached the office and after a few knocks on the door they entered. They were not surprised to see Reisen again instead of Doctor Yagokoro.

"Uh? Hello again?" the rabbit girl greeted them from behind the table. "Need anything from Eirin-sama or me perhaps?"

"We've brought some clean clothes for Patchouli here?" said Alice, as she put the pile of clothes on one of the chairs.

"For me?" sounded Patchouli's voice from behind a folding screen as the sorceress popped out her curious head to look. "Oh, Sakuya. Never thought I'd see you here?"

"T-That's my line?" muttered the maid confusedly. "What are you doing, hiding behind that screen anyway?"

"I came to pick up some medicines for the patients upstairs." replied Patchouli and stepped out from behind the folding screen, revealing her new attire.

Sakuya's jaw dropped as she saw her in a white doctor's uniform. Marisa and Alice also couldn't hide their amusement.

"She looks so? so? cuuuute~!" cooed the witch and clasped her hands together.

Patchouli looked down at her uniform and shrugged indifferently. "It's a uniform? Whit a bit shorter skirt? But thank you for bringing me my comfy clothes, Sakuya."

"Eh? no problem?" said the maid who probably never saw Patchouli wearing any other clothing than her usual one.

"By the way, Patchy, how's the work here?" wondered Marisa. "Is it hard? And do you even know what you're doing?"

"So far, I'm just following Eirin's instructions. Doing what she tells me to and trying my best not to mess anything up? It sure is different from library work."

"Yeah, I can imagine? Good luck then." Marisa stepped aside so that Patchouli could pass and leave the office with the medicines she picked up.

"Wait a minute." Reimu halted the sorceress as she was about to close the door behind her.

"What is it?"

"Do you know if Byakuren has come back in the meantime?"

"That monk? No she hasn't shown up yet." she shook her head and finally left the office.

Reimu turned to the remaining girls in the room and nodded. "Well then, our next stop is the temple of Myouren. My guess is that Byakuren couldn't go underground. If that's so, we'll have one more thing to do."

"Then what are we still waiting for?" asked Marisa and opened the office's door. "Let's' get going."

Nitori exhaled heavily. "All this flying is making me tired and it's only noon?"
Once the girls have reached the outer premises of the Human Village, they landed on the deck of the Palanquin Ship and immediately started looking all over it for any of its crew members.

After ten minutes of fruitless searching, the girls have regrouped again; this time in front of the entrance to the praying room?

"Found anyone?" asked Reimu as she was catching her breath.

"Nope?" Marisa shook her head and looked at the other three girls who also gestured a negative reply.

"It seems this whole temple/ship is empty?" commented Alice and rested her back against the wall.

"I wonder what navigation mechanism this ship used before it was converted into a place of worship." muttered the kappa as she stepped back to take a look at the whole ship.

"You can ask Byakuren about that stuff? when we find her?" said Reimu, looking at the both ends of the road connecting the Human Village and the Forest of Magic. "But where could she be? Where could all of her youkai band be?"

Sakuya was still a bit confused about this incident she was supposed to help resolve and had no idea what Byakuren had to do with it. However, she didn't bother asking any more questions, since she thought that everything would become clear later on?

"Well, the last place that we know Byakuren went to is the entrance to the underground?" reasoned Alice. "Maybe she's still there."

"I say we head there too." Marisa agreed with her and initiated her hovering mode. "Maybe Byakuren got trapped in the underground?"

"Oh great?" pouted Reimu and took flight towards the Youkai Mountain. "The last thing we need is to undertake a rescue mission."

"Hey, Reimu~! Wait up~!" called Marisa after her friend who was already too far away to hear her? "Come on, girls, we need to catch up with her." she said to the rest of the team and followed the tiny red-white dot in the sky.

They managed to catch up with the hurrying shrine maiden somewhere above the Forest of Magic.
"Say, Reimu-san?" sounded Sakuya timidly. "Are we really going to the underground now?"

"That's right. We'll need Satori-san to look at those fairies we catch and tell us what is causing their madness."

"But wait a sec, Reimu." Marisa grabbed her by the collar to halt her flight. "Isn't there another entrance to the underground near your shrine? You know? the one that was made by that geyser?"

Reimu stopped dead in her tracks, blinking a few times as if she was hit by a brick. "You're right~! Geez? I'm so spaced-out today? I would already like to have this problem resolved, and in all my haste I forgot something so obvious."

"Let's split up then." suggested Sakuya. "I'll go with Reimu; the three of you can go on to the other entrance near the mountain?"

With that said, the girls split up and each group headed towards their two separate destinations.
"Okay, Sakuya, you're a human, so you shouldn't have any problems with entering the underground, but you need to stay close and follow my lead, okay?" Reimu explained with a bossy tone. "And be prepared to fight and dodge. There are lots of evil sprits down there."

"And who are those strange individuals over there?" asked the maid as she pointed at the distant figures hovering near the Hakurei Shrine.

"Hmmm? So I'm gone for just a day and my shrine got overrun by a bunch of youkai? Something has to be done?"

Reimu accelerated her flight and drew out her Spell Card, ready to give the unsuspecting group of youkai a surprise attack. Sakuya flew by her side with knives already in both her hands. As Reimu was about to declare the spell, she got close enough to identify all the figures?

"Wait, Sakuya~!" she shouted at her companion who was about to unleash her throwing knives upon her targets. "That's her!"

"Who?"

"That's Byakuren-san. Heeey, Byakureeeen~! Over heeeere~!" Reimu shouted and waved her hand in the air to get the attention.

The group flying towards the shrine was indeed Byakuren and her youkai followers. What's more, there was also Satori among them. As they noticed Reimu and Sakuya, they speeded up a little to meet up with them.

"S-Satori-san?! You've brought her? You actually went down to the underground?" Reimu couldn't believe her eyes.

Byakuren politely bowed and smiled at the shrine maiden. "I'm sorry it took so long, but yes, we've found her and asked her for help? And Satori-sama was kind enough to come to the surface again."

"B-But you're all youkai!" stuttered Reimu in confusion. "How did you manage to even enter the underground?"

"Through that hole in the ground, of course?" shrugged the Buddhist monk and pointed with her thumb somewhere behind her.

"But youkai from the surface should not be even able to?"

"Guess that was nothing but a rumor then."

Reimu took a deep breath and exhaled through her clenched teeth. "Yukari? That lazy, lying old youkai? She just made that up!"

"Umm, are you feeling alright Reimu-san?" Sakuya looked at her with a worried face.

"Yeah, yeah? I'm fine?" the shrine maiden brushed her off. "It just makes me mad when I'm being lied to."

"I have no problems with that." sounded Satori's voice suddenly.

"Yes, of course you don't. You can tell immediately if the person talking to you is lying or not."

"That's right. Although I cannot tell the truth from a lie when the person presenting something as a truth is not even aware of the fact that he or she has been lied to about it?" said the young satori. "But you can rest assured that neither I, nor any of the here-present youkai are lying to you?"

"Anyway, I'm glad we're finally back on the surface?" said Byakuren and took a few deep breaths of fresh air to emphasize her happiness of seeing the sky again. "We truly got a bit lost down there yesterday?"

Reimu couldn't help but to silently admire the youkai monk for keeping her promise and returning from the underground with the mistress of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Furthermore, she managed to convince her to come to the surface without using any danmaku.

"Very well," sounded Satori again, her third eye focused on the miko. "Since they managed to drag her all the way here, it would be good to meet up with Marisa and others and tell them that they no longer need to go to the underground?

"Hey~!" called out the confused shrine maiden. "Are you reading my thoughts again?"

"?Maybe?" said Satori with an innocent smile and made a wink. "I'm not saying that your idea is bad, just? How are we going to catch up with your friends? They must be already at the mountain by now?"

"Well?" said Sakuya and grabbed her silver pocket watch, which was always clipped to the skirt of her maid outfit by a chain. "I could make our flight to the mountain a little shorter, but I can only use this ability once per day? Maybe I should save it for catching fairies."

"Ahhh?" Reimu nervously exhaled and turned her back to Byakuren and the rest of the youkai. "Let's fly already! Maybe we'll still catch them on the surface if we hurry!" she tried to delude herself with optimistic thinking. Byakuren, Sakuya and Satori briefly exchanged their surprised looks and went after the shrine maiden.
"Say, Marisa, are you sure the entrance is this way?" Alice asked her human friend once they reached the northern foot of the Youkai Mountain.

"What do you mean? We're at the damn mountain, aren't we?" retorted the agitated witch. "The second entrance is somewhere in the mountain, ze?"

"Yes? "SOMEWHERE" is a very specific term?" remarked Alice sarcastically.

"Will you be quiet for a minute?! Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate?"

"On what? Blasting a hole in the mountain with a Master Spark?"

"On remembering where exactly that goddamn entrance was!"

"Too bad I never was in the underground?" said Nitori with a hint of regret. "I'd surely plant a tracking device near its entrance like I did at Eientei."

"Well?" said Marisa after a while of flying back and forth and scanning the mountain's wall. "I know for certain that one way to get to the underground is through the summit, but?"

"I don't think the local tengu populace would be too happy to see us flying over their heads." Nitori completed what Marisa hasn't finished saying. "Besides, that "entrance" you're talking about is actually the industrial part of the Youkai Mountain. That's where the hybrid geothermal nuclear reactor chamber is? I've heard it's really, really hot down there."

"Then we have to find another way in, ze!"

"We've been looking around for over a dozen minutes? Let's try looking further over there now?" suggested Alice and flew on ahead to search for some other hole in the mountain.

"No, Alice? I'm quite certain the entrance is somewhere around here." Marisa insisted on staying and thoroughly scanning the immediate surroundings. "And I think I already see it~!" she exclaimed thriumphally and dove between the tall pine trees.

"And I think we've been spotted by someone?" said Nitori as soon as Marisa began to descend to the ground.

"Huh?" sounded the witch's voice from below and soon after, her head popped out from among the treetops to take a look. "Who's spying on us? Some nosy tengu?"

"I? can't see exactly, but whoever it is, he or she is now flying off somewhere else?" replied the kappa as she tried to focus her aqua-colored eyes on the distant figure.

"If it's a tengu scout, it could mean trouble? Let me take a closer look?" said Marisa and rocketed towards the mysterious lonesome figure.

"Aha? so you're a girl too, aren't you?" thought the witch as she approached the person and got close enough to identify her gender. "I wonder who that?.?"

Alice watched as Marisa flew towards the unknown person who appeared to be no longer interested in them and was now flying somewhere towards east.

"Ah? Marisa? I just hope you won't pick any unnecessary fight like you have a tendency to?"

Both the youkai puppeteer and the kappa followed the witch, since they were also curious to know who could be watching them and then just nonchalantly fly away. The fact that she was actually flying away from the mountain held a strong indication that she was not one of the tengu scouts.

"Hey, you~!" Marisa tried to halt the stranger. "Wait up!"

The girl giggled as she briefly turned her face at the witch and continued flying away from her. Even this brief moment when she showed her face was enough to ring Marisa's bell?

"Hey, I know you! You're Koishi! Hey, stop for a moment, will ya?!"

"Oi, Marisa?" uttered Alice as she caught up to her in flight. "Who's that girl you're chasing?"

"That's Koishi~! This is actually a lucky encounter, because she's one of the Komeiji sisters?"

"Komeiji?" repeated Alice, looking surprised.

"Yes, and that means she's also a satori? obviously? Heeey~! Koishi, stop running away from us~!"

The girl simply ignored Marisa's call and her only response was another cheerful giggle.

"Oi, Komeiji~! Are you listening?! I said stop, dammit!"

Marisa lowered her head to increase her aerodynamics and hence, her speed. Finally she caught up with the fleeing satori and grabbed the back of her shirt. "Gotcha~!"

Koishi let out another excited giggle and finally stopped in midair. "Tehehe~! Yay, you tagged me? Now I'm it."

Marisa took a while to catch her breath before she looked Koishi in the eyes. "Sorry, Koishi, but I don't want to play tag right now?"

After a few seconds, Marisa was joined by her friends, both of which took a good look at the girl who was getting away from them for nearly one whole minute. She was a rather short girl with short and slightly wavy gray hair and dark-green eyes. She was wearing an ocher shirt with diamond-shaped blue buttons, a dark-green collar and frilly black sleeve hems. Her knee-length skirt was of a lighter shade of green and decorated by a faint flowery pattern. She also had a small black hat with a yellow ribbon around it. As a satori that she was, she also had a third eye placed over her heart. However, unlike her older sister, hers was dark-blue with two long cords wrapped around her torso and linked to each of her ankles, their color gradually shifting from dark-blue to light-violet. Also, unlike her sister, her third eye was closed. She deliberately sealed it off herself a long time ago, in order to save herself from the hatred of other youkai and humans who despised her sister for her innate ability of reading minds. However, upon doing so, Koishi later awakened an even greater power within herself ? the ability to see and manipulate the subconscious. She could no longer read other people's minds and became more carefree and whimsical, enjoying her aimless journeys and exploring the surface world, returning home to the Palace of the Earth Spirits only on rare occasions?

"We have a favor to ask from you?" said Marisa, faking a humble tone. "Could you come with us for a while?"

"Ooooh?" Koishi curiously looked at Marisa's two friends. "I haven't met you yet~! Koishi Komeiji, pleased to meet you~!" she smiled cheerfully and stretched out her right hand.

"Uh? Alice Margatroid?" said the blonde puppeteer bashfully and shook Koishi's hand.

"Eheheheee~! You touched me? Now you're it, Alice-san~! ?just kidding~!" giggled Koishi and quickly released Alice's palm, flying right over to Nitori. "Oh, you're a kappa aren't you?"

"Y-Yes? Nitori Kawashiro? That's my name?" replied Nitori and also briefly shook hands with the strange satori.

"Pleased to meet you, Nitori-san~ Oh, and Marisa-san too, but we already know each other, right?" she asked as she turned her head to the witch.

"Okay, we're all friends now; will you come with us already?" Marisa repeated her demand.

"By the way, how are you, Marisa?" Koishi nonchalantly continued her idle conversation. "It's been a while since we've seen each other? You still hang around with that shrine maiden?"

"Yes, but listen?" said the witch, but again failed to interrupt the whimsical satori.

"She's an interesting person, isn't she? Like you, she's met so many different people and youkai and became as powerful as she is? Hey, girls, have you met many people and youkai too?" she asked, shifting her gaze from Alice to Nitori and back.

"Umm?"

"Well?"

"Because I've also become a little stronger since the last time we've met, Marisa?"

Marisa took a breath, exhaling heavily. "Look, Koishi, we really have no time for this chit-chat. We need you to come with us? Like now!"

"How about a little game first?"

"No time for that? Come, on, follow us!"

"And if I say no?" asked Koishi teasingly.

"Oi, Marisa, why don't we just beat her up and drag her to Eientei?" suggested Alice, who was growing tired of this pointless conversation.

"That's the spirit, Alice-san~!" Koishi cheerfully clapped her hands and smiled sweetly. "A little game of danmaku is all I need to make my day?"

"Umm? Alice," Marisa murmured to her friend. "That's easier said than done, you know?"

"Come on! What are you talking about?" the youkai puppeteer didn't understand why would Marisa negotiate with someone who won't listen to reason. "We've got her outnumbered three to one. Let's get this over with, already!"

"Yes, let's~!" sang the cheerful voice of Koishi.

"I know that she may not look like it, but Koishi's actually quite a mighty satori? If we were to fight her, we'd have to give it our all?"

"But you see for yourself that she won't come with us willingly." argued Alice. "That's when Spell Cards come to play."

"Spell Cards, Spell Cards~♥!" rejoiced Koishi, her childlike face showing an expression of excitement and thrill. "I'm curious to see your interesting Spell Cards, Alice and Nitori-chan? Uh? I hope I can address you with "chan"?" she murmured nonchalantly.

"Looks like, she's raring to battle." commented Nitori as she was mentally getting ready for a danmaku fight.

"And all of you can attack me at once~!" added the younger Komeiji sister. "I'll show you my lovely spells as well~!"

"Is she really serious?" asked Alice, who doubted that this girl could take on three opponents simultaneously.

As if to answer her question, Koishi quickly flew several meters backwards, crossing her arms in front of her chest and making a large red circle with a hexagram in the middle appear behind her.

"It seems she is." Nitori replied to Alice and also distanced herself a bit from Koishi.

Alice saw that a bright-red glow appeared in the center of Koishi's circle and she could already tell this wasn't going to be an easy one-sided pounding of one poor satori?

"Okay, Marisa, you battled her before, right? Do you have any strategy, or some advice?"

"Ehh? yes, dodge."

"Gee, that's really helpful!" pouted the dollmaker at the human magician.

"No, I mean really? DODGE~!" Marisa shouted this time and pushed Alice away from herself, just in time to retract her arm before a fast and dense current of numerous red bullets shot between them.

"Whoa~!" exclaimed Alice as she saw what Koishi was capable of. She was shooting very dense continuous currents into all directions, slowly spinning clockwise, making a spiral pattern and leaving very little room for error. Alice and Nitori slowly and carefully followed the curves in the streams of danmaku and when they suddenly changed direction, they dove into the small gap that was left between them for a brief moment. Once they got the hang of this pattern, they began returning the fire. Alice made Shanghai shoot a straightforward red beam at her target and Nitori attacked with a spreading stream of blue bubble-like shots. Marisa utilized her conventional green magic missiles that were a bit slower, but packed more power.

"Concentrate your fire~!" she ordered like an experienced war veteran and as she slowed down her own movement, her shots became larger and changed their color to blue. That was her so called magic napalm, because of the blue smoke-like effect the projectiles left once they hit any solid object. Even though all three of the girls were relentlessly firing their magic against Koishi, the young satori seemed unfazed by this. Magic shots kept landing on her body one after another, but she just kept on smiling and kept up her initial attack for over a half a minute.

"Ah? Finally, she stopped." exhaled Nitori when the red spiral streams disappeared.

It wasn't long before Koishi pulled out her first Spell Card.

"Symbol "Danmaku Paranoia"!"

Marisa immediately recalled what this spell does and shouted at her friends. "Everyone, regroup to me! Now!"

Alice was close enough to hear the call and assumed a position right next to Marisa without asking any questions. Nitori, however, was a bit further and didn't hear what the witch shouted at her.

"Nitori~! Get here on the double!"

Only now did the kappa notice, but couldn't quite understand Marisa's intention. "But why? We'll only become easy targets like that?"

Before Nitori could realize what was going on, it was too late for her. Koishi unleashed a symmetrical barrage of large blue glowing orbs and Marisa and Alice became surrounded in a purple ring made of smaller projectiles that burst outwards. Poor kappa tried to dodge the chaotic shots, but she couldn't have her eyes focused on two different directions. She got hit by one of the larger orbs from the side. Only now she figured that the only safe zone was inside that purple ring, which Marisa and Alice were seemingly trapped in. Right now, Nitori had no other choice but to endure the hits which were quite a bit painful. Marisa and Alice could see that Nitori was in trouble and so, they focused their fire in order to break Koishi's spell as quickly as possible. After less then 10 seconds of their joint attack, a loud pop echoed over the mountainside.

"Hey, are you alright, Nitori?" Marisa asked as she could finally see her kappa friend more clearly with all the distracting danmaku gone. She was holding her right hip and looked like she was in a lot of pain. However, she didn't feel like giving up.

"I? I'm fine?" she replied, drawing out a Spell Card of her own. "Drown "Trauma in the Glimmering Depths"!"

A dense mass of blue wave-like intersecting bullet currents appeared around Koishi, while Nitori shot out a wide fan of large blue orbs. It was one of her hardest-to-dodge Spell Cards.

"Well I don't know?" murmured Marisa to Alice as she watched the spectacle. "The last time I checked, Koishi was pretty much immune to my Spell Cards?"

"Immune?" Alice raised her eyebrows.

"Well, yeah? Only the most powerful of youkai know a technique to make themselves basically immune to their opponent's Spell Cards? at least during their own spells I think?. And Koishi falls into that category."

"I didn't know she was that powerful?"

"Yeah? She's somewhere up there along with individuals such as Flandre, or Mokou, or Nue? But since we didn't say how hard we would like to battle against each other, perhaps she won't use that ability?"

While Koishi disappeared in the swarm of blue shots, all that could be heard from her was her playful laughter.

"Yaaay~! Nitori-chan~! That's a beautiful Spell Card? Ahahaha~!"

Nitori only wondered what her opponent could be doing right now. Apparently, Koishi was more or less mesmerized by the wave patterns that resembled several surfaces of water.

"Well, whatever is going on, it doesn't look like Nitori's spell has much effect on her." noted the witch and began firing her conventional straightforward magic missiles into the dense clusters of Nitori's blue orbs, hoping to hit Koishi with at least a few shots. Alice joined her and started aiming Shanghai's beam at random directions within the area of Nitori's spell.

"I really like how it looks like I'm underwater~!" rejoiced Koishi as she flew up and again down into the barrage, like a fish jumping up from the surface and diving.

"Are we even hitting her?" Marisa wondered, continuing her blind barrage.

"Don't know? But at least we're trying?" replied Alice and tired to aim for the center of the blue cloud of bullets. "Hey, Nitori, could you stop your Spell Card for a moment? I can't see our enemy?"

Of course, Nitori couldn't oblige her ally's request, since she was currently in a trance, when all her effort and attention was focused on fueling her spell until she ran out of energy. Although she managed to keep the barrage up for quite a long time, once it was over, Koishi emerged unscathed.

"Hey, hey, girls~!" Koishi called at them and waved her hand as if to let them know she's alright. "How about I showed you another one? This one is really pretty if I do have to say so myself?"

Drawing another card out and flashing it to her opponents, she declared: "Instinct "Re

[Fonzi]

Chapter 34 ? Thirteen

After just about five minutes of flight Sakuya called out: "Oh, I see one!"

"Wait, Sakuya, don't?" Reimu tried to tell her not to waste the sedatives on some random fairies that weren't even crazed, but she was too late. Sakuya was lightning-quick and surgically precise with her throwing. She flung one syringe at the distant fairy figure and in just a few seconds, the little youkai was falling down in a spiral motion.

"Your precision is admirable, Sakuya, but I think I forgot to tell you that we're hunting only the crazed and aggressive fairies?"

"Ehehehe~?" the maid let out an innocent giggle. "Sorry?"

"Ah? Never mind." said Reimu tapping Sakuya's shoulder. "At least we know that the sedatives work. But now we only have five syringes. We shouldn't waste them like that."

"Wait, shouldn't we at least take a look at that poor fairy that Sakuya-san just shot down?" suggested Alice.

"Hmm? I suppose we should?" shrugged Reimu and propelled herself towards the estimated crash site of the tranquilized fairy. "Where did she fall?"

"Oh, there she is?" said Nazrin as she found the little youkai lying on the ground with a syringe jutting out of her shoulder. The rest of the girls flocked around her and formed a circle.

"Well I'll be?" said Marisa with an amused smile. "It's Cirno. Nice shot, Sakuya."

"Cirno, huh? Doesn't she usually hang around the Misty Lake?" wondered Reimu, watching the ice fairy's chest slowly heaving up and down.

"Well, we're not that far away from the lake after all?" Alice pointed out, since the lake was indeed just a few kilometers away from the girls' current position.

"I wonder if she was also affected by this strange madness?" murmured the shrine maiden. "She's one of the toughest fairies I've seen so far, but still?"

"Are we just going to leave her lying like that?" asked Alice whose soft heart felt compassion even for fairies.

"No problem, I can take her?" said Byakuren, pulling out the syringe from Cirno's arm. "Aww? She looks cute when she's sleeping?"

Byakuren picked the fairy up from the ground and her gentle motherly expression quickly changed into a shocked one.

"Aaah~! She's? s-so c-cold~!" she exclaimed, quickly putting the fairy back on the ground.

"Hehehe~!" Marisa couldn't hide her amusement. "Well, duh? She IS an ice fairy after all. On hot summer days like this, being near an ice fairy feels really refreshing, doesn't it?"

"But she's too cold to the touch?" added Byakuren and thoughtfully glanced at her crew. "Murasa, you can't feel cold. Why don't you pick her up?"

The ghostly girl looked back at her with a questioning expression. "Do we really have to take her with us, Byakuren-sama? You've heard the shrine maiden. We're supposed to take only the enraged fairies."

"But we don't know if she was or wasn't enraged." argued the monk. "We should take her anyway? It's better to err on the side of caution, right?"

"Yes, let's take her to Eientei." agreed Reimu. "Perhaps we can even learn why some fairies are immune to this lunacy? if they indeed are."

Minamitsu let out a sigh of reluctance. "Alright, I'll take her then."

"Let's keep flying, then. It's still a fair distance to Kazemura?"

With one fairy specimen acquired, the girls continued en route to the remote mining village where a small population of yama-bito and an even smaller population of humans lived peacefully. Even at their top speed, they didn't reach the village sooner than 20 minutes.
"Oh, so that little settlement is Kazemura, right?" asked Nitori who never ventured into this part of Gensokyo before.

"I bet there's some treasure in those mountains just waiting to be found?" murmured Nazrin whose heart was pounding with excitement.

"But I doubt they have any books worth borrowing." remarked Marisa as she looked at the simple wooden cottages, unaware of the fact that the yama-bito are culturally highly developed race of youkai with special interest in all things historical. Their literature too was highly valued not just among historians, but among their common folk as well.

"Okay, everyone, we should concentrate on the task at hand." Byakuren shook the other girls out of their reveries.

"But where or how are we supposed to find the crazed fairies?" asked Sakuya. "I've been to this village several times already, trying to investigate the source of their attacks, but I wasn't able to find anything."

"Oh, I might have an idea." said Shou, the tiger-youkai as a thought crossed her mind.

"Shou-san?"

"We'll split up and search a wide area. If any of us finds anything?" she pointed her index finger at the sky and launched a small, but brightly shining red danmaku shot which jetted upwards with a high-pitched whistle, leaving a long, bright tail of light and exploded into hundreds of smaller red sparks like a firework. "Then we'll signal the others."

"Oh? That's a good plan." agreed Sakuya. "But I don't have any explosive throwing knives which I could use as a signal."

"That won't matter if you'll be with someone who can use flashier danmaku. Nobody said that we should split up to individuals, Miss maid."

"Call me Sakuya, please."

"I think we should split into pairs or trios, since our count is an odd number."

After a while of deciding of who should team up with who, the girls split up, ready to make a wide-area sweep in search for crazed fairies. In the end, Ichirin wasn't teamed up with anyone, because she already had Unzan as a companion, who was very useful especially for searching assignments.
"Aww? I wanted to be teamed up with Alice~." pouted Marisa as she followed Reimu over the dense forests in the mountainous area near the mining village.

"No. She's too soft on you and you have a bad influence on her." retorted the shrine maiden coldly. "You'd probably talk her into sneaking into Kazemura to slack off?"

"Since when did you turn into a satori, Reimu?" asked the witch with an amused voice. "But I really find this strange about you?"

"What?"

"That you're usually the one who's lazy, except when some incident stirs up. Then you're all hyper all of a sudden."

"I'm a shrine maiden, Marisa, in case you haven't noticed this little detail yet. And a Hakurei shrine maiden to boot? It's my job to resolve incidents. If I was lazy during times like these, Gensokyo would be in all sorts of trouble."

"Okay, okay." Marisa admitted. "I suppose you're right? But how are we supposed to find the fairies? You know that they can hide their dwellings with magic so that no human can ever find them?"

"I know about that, Marisa. However, we're not looking for their dwellings, but the fairies themselves."

"For being the most common youkai in Gensokyo, they're sure hard to find in these woods."

Suddenly, Reimu stopped in midair and raised her left hand to give a silent halt signal to Marisa.

"What is it, Reimu?"

"Shhhh~!" the shrine maiden hushed her as she focused her ears to the subtle sounds of the forest. Except for the sounds of blowing wind and an occasional crackling of some thin branches, all was quiet. Then, all of a sudden a loud fluttering sound came from the more distant trees.

"Ambush~!" called Marisa, immediately grabbing onto her mini Hakkero. However, as no fairies showed up, she began looking at all directions with a confused expression.

"Yeah, a bird ambush?" chuckled Reimu, pointing forward towards the large flock of birds that took flight simultaneously.

"Something apparently got them startled? Let's head to where they took off from."

Just as Marisa was about to make a move, she noticed a bright purple flash in the sky with the corner of her eye. "Look, a flare!"

"Looks like somebody had more luck than us." commented Reimu as she turned to the shining purple danmaku orb. "Time to go~!"

"Hey, wait up a bit!" called Marisa before she jetted after her friend to catch up with her.
Since Marisa didn't have her broom with her, she wasn't much faster than the shrine maiden, but she still had no problem keeping up with her. Both girls followed the flare that was already beginning to fade, wondering who fired it. After no longer than two minutes, they already saw several distant figures quickly flying towards them. As they drew closer, Reimu and Marisa recognized them as Satori, Koishi, Sakuya and Minamitsu. It seemed they were fleeing from something.

"Satori, were you the one who launched the signal danmaku?" asked Reimu as the girls got within earshot. The young youkai seemed somewhat frightened and the other girls' expressions were rather startled as well. "What's going on? What are you fleeing from?"

"That?" replied Captain Murasa, pointing a thumb over her shoulder.

Marisa and Reimu hovered up a little so they could see over the other girls' heads. What they saw in the distance made them open their mouths wide. It appeared as a huge black cloud rising from the distant forest, but upon closer look, the cloud was actually an incredibly huge swarm of fairies that was apparently chasing the girls who fled from them.

"Now THAT is a lot of fairies?" said the blonde witch with a hint of respect in her usually confident voice.

"Where did they all come from?" wondered the shrine maiden.

"We can try to figure that out later, Reimu? How can we stop this huge swarm?"

"Well, for one thing, there's thirteen of us instead of just three like at Alice's house."

"Yes, but where are the other girls?" asked Marisa, turning her head around as she looked for the rest of their allies. "So far it's just you, me, Sakuya, the Komeijis and Captain Murasa.

"Then fire another signal shot." suggested Sakuya, we better be facing those fairies in full strength. This looks too much even for the six of us."

Without much hesitation, Satori launched another upward bright purple shot into the sky. Its explosion was a loud and clear signal to the other girls to immediately regroup and prepare for battle.

"Spread out, everyone!" Reimu ordered the other girls to assume a wide formation.

The fairies were still far away, but it wouldn't take them longer than a minute to reach the girls.

"Spell Cards at the ready~!" called the miko as she drew out one of her own cards. The other girls nodded and prepared their spells to counter the first wave of the fairy swarm. Just about two kilometers now separated the girls from the overwhelming army, consisting of over a hundred thousand little youkai. Marisa's grip tightened around her mini Hakkero. Sakuya took out three syringes out of the box, ready to hit three separate targets. Even if she wasn't as accurate as she used to be, she would have no problem landing a hit against such an incredible number of hostiles.

"Reimu-san?" asked the maid before the fairies got within range. "I'm not planning to run even if we tranquilize the necessary number of fairies."

Reimu remained silent, swallowing her saliva in a nervous manner. She had never faced so many enemies before and despite her seemingly unwavering self-confidence, she couldn't help but to feel uneasy about the upcoming skirmish. However, Sakuya was right. No matter the odds, they couldn't just leave this fairy swarm run rampant and cause even more severe attacks on Gensokyo's villages and forests. They had to be stopped here and now.

"Come on, Reimu, just stay calm?" she encouraged herself in her mind. Only Satori could hear her. "Compared to my battle with Yukari, this is nothing? I can't afford to show fear in the eyes of any enemy. I should be an example worth following. I better not show any weakness here in front of my allies."

As she thought this to herself and watched the black cloud of fairies grow ever larger and drawing ever closer, she could feel someone put a gentle hand on her shoulder. As she turned around she saw Satori, looking back with her usual serious face.

"Don't worry, Reimu-san? We're here to back each other up."

"?Satori?"

"If you could read my mind, you'd see a certain level of fear as well." admitted the older of the Komeiji sisters. "But even so, I am not going to back away? Like you, I also need to be an example worth following?" she smiled and glanced at her little sister. "This really isn't the right time to show our fears and weaknesses. This is a time to show our danmaku."

"I'm with Satori." Marisa agreed, placing her Hakkero in front of her lips. "We need to show these little pests some Master Sparks, ze!"

"And some knives." added Sakuya.

"And hearts~!" said Koishi.

"And anchors?" Murasa concluded with a sly grin.

The fairies were close; only five hundred meters away from the six girls who were determined to stop them. The first wave already began sending their first unguided shots against the heroines, missing them by several meters.

"Not yet?!" called Reimu at her allies, so they wouldn't activate their spells prematurely. "Not yet?!"

The swarm was almost upon them, but the girls all wanted their spells to be as effective as possible. In order to take down as many fairies as they could, they needed them to come even closer and once they were close enough, an incredible display of lights and colors started.

"Now!"

Marisa went for her old faithful Master Spark, which took out several hundred fairies at once, cutting through the huge mass like a hot knife through butter. Satori unleashed a card she called Recollection "Terrifying Hypnotism". The constant circular outburst of yellow projectiles combined with thin red beams shooting to all directions and complemented by semi-homing streams of large violet bubble-like orbs managed to keep the swarm at bay for at least a while. The girls wanted to avoid getting surrounded and so, they flew backwards while showering the fairy swarm with normal danmaku. The not-too-intelligent fairies fell for their diversion and began pursuing the girls who now split up, each heading to a different direction. Thus, they managed to separate the swarm into six smaller, but still overwhelming clusters. As Satori's spell ended, she was already being backed up by her sister who launched the same card as she used in today's game against Alice, Marisa and Nitori. She technically covered a part of the sky with a pattern made of pink hearts. Any fairy that came into contact with one of the projectiles went down like a swatted fly. Reimu used her "Spread" version of her "Fantasy Seal" when the cluster that went after her nearly got her surrounded. It didn't take out as many fairies as she'd like, but at least she managed to stay unharmed. She then continued bombarding the hostile youkai with her homing amulets.

"Harbor Sign "Eternally Anchored Ghost Ship"!" sounded Captain Murasa's voice, declaring one of her strongest Spell Cards.

In a bright flash of bluish light, 12 ghostly anchors appeared around her and with the speed of cannonballs they simultaneously shot out to their respective directions. The effect was devastating for the nearest fairies, which were instantly knocked down from the sky. Those that were missed by the anchors were quickly shot down by the trail of blue danmaku, which each of the anchors left behind. As the deadly anchors were slowly returning to their originator, the blue trail of bullets continued outward, hitting even more of the crazed fairies.

Sakuya figured it would be a good time to tranquilize some of these little youkai, so without hesitation, she threw three syringes at once. Each shot managed to perfectly find its mark. In a matter of seconds, three fairies were slowly descending to the ground, too weak to continue the fight. Sakuya hurried up and caught them in midair. However, with her hands full, she could hardly fight back.

The fairies took notice of this and didn't hesitate either to exploit Sakuya's momentary weakness.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all~!" exclaimed the maid while fleeing from a large cluster of fairies and an even larger cluster of their danmaku. The extra weight she now carried slowed her flight down by quite a bit and it was no surprise that the fairies managed to catch up to her and bombard her without mercy. Surprisingly, though, their primary target was not Sakuya, but the fairies she had tranquilized. All three of them were literally assassinated by their own kind and left nothing but a small white cloud of glittering smoke as they died.

"What the??!" Sakuya couldn't understand what just happened. It was just as if the fairies were killed on purpose. As if that mindless swarm knew that they should kill the captives so they wouldn't get betrayed by them. Sakuya now only had two more sedative syringes and not a tiniest room for error. Despite their obvious madness, these fairies now behaved in a strangely coordinated and organized manner, as if they had a single collective mind. This was definitely different from the few times when they attacked the Scarlet Devil Mansion a couple of months ago. The maid drew out her throwing knives instead of her last two syringes and rained death upon the legions of fairies. Every time she ran out of knives, she just stopped time for a while and picked up her knives back to use them again and again. When fully focused on her task, even the super-dense danmaku waves couldn't hit her.

For several minutes, the girls were putting up a solid fight against the overpowering odds, but the tide of battle was slowly turning towards the inevitable. They were growing tired and they were starting to run out of Spell Cards. Satori, Minamitsu and Marisa even got hit a couple of times and their fighting ability was thus slightly impaired. Even though they brought down thousands of fairies already, it still seemed like the swarm didn't get any smaller.

"Not good?" murmured Reimu desperately. "This is my last Spell Card. If I use this, then all I can do afterwards is use ordinary danmaku."

By this time the swarm of fairies managed to surround all six of the heroines, sending barrages at them from every side.

"I think you ought to use it and cut us a way out of this situation." Marisa suggested, cursing herself for even considering the idea of running away from a fight.

"Actually, I might have one crazy idea?" said Reimu as she watched the fairies quickly closing in on her and her allies. "When I use this spell, get ready to fly full speed towards Kazemura."

"You want to lure the fairies to the village?" asked Sakuya in disbelief. "A swarm of this size could level it in a matter of minutes!"

"But there's always a regular crew of Ryuuken stationed there. It's our best bet."

"You were right, Reimu." nodded Marisa as she blasted her beam-like shots everywhere. "That really IS a crazy idea? I say we battle them right here."

"Fine, but if we all die here, I'll know who to blame for it?" shrugged the shrine maiden while raising her last Spell Card above her head.

"I don't feel like moving to Yuyuko's place just yet." Marisa expressed her determination to survive this battle.

"Then you better do your best once this thing runs out of power?" Reimu told her while gently waving the card in her fingers. "Fantasy Heaven!"

"Now let's see if those dumb fairies can stand up to this!" Marisa commented with an evil looking grin. She knew all of Reimu's spells, but this was one of those she has seen just a few times. Reimu rarely ever used it because it was simply too powerful. As the card disappeared in Reimu's hand, she closed her eyes and her whole body became transparent ? almost as if she was just a phantom. At first, many colorful lights appeared around Reimu's phantom form, just like during her more common Fantasy Seal. However, what followed afterwards could only be described as total and utter annihilation of any hostile target within a hundred meter radius. If one could imagine a long-lasting explosion of magic, emitting countless bright projectiles of different colors, each of which homed in on its target, then one should have no problem imagining the amazing effect of this spell. What's more, Reimu was rendered completely invulnerable to any form of harm, as any shot the fairies would hit her with just normally passed through her transparent body. No matter how hard the swarm tried to get closer to attack the girls, they stood no chance to avoid the homing colorful danmaku which instantly turned them into dust. While Reimu was fueling her spell, the other girls didn't linger and with their combined effort, they wreaked havoc upon the persistent little youkai with non-declared danmaku patterns. The swarm was significantly weakened, but as Reimu was starting to slowly shift back into material form, there were still enough fairies to overwhelm the six heroines. And when the moment came and Fantasy Heaven ended, the real hell began for the three humans, two youkai and one ghost who were still surrounded and attacked from all directions. Even with their maximum effort, they failed to blast a way through the ranks of enraged fairies and had no way to lure them towards Kazemura as Reimu suggested.

"Oh, crap!" cursed the blonde witch as her arm received a stinging shot from the side, which she had no chance to evade. "We're screwed!"

"No, we're not, this is fun~!" rejoiced Koishi who was having a good time evading the chaotic and random patterns of magic bullets. Even when she got hit enough times that would make a normal human hit the ground, she just giggled and fired her own danmaku back. However, her attacks were not very accurate.

Minamitsu was the only one of the group who didn't need to worry about dying, but the magic shots fired by the fairies left a painful sensation each time they hit her ethereal form. She kept on returning fire bravely, despite making a painful grimace.

"If this keeps up? I won't? be able to? fight? anymore."

Even when all the girls have used up all their Spell Cards, Sakuya still had one "ace in the hole" she decided to use in this dire situation.

"Everyone, listen up!" she demanded attention in the middle of a raging battle. "I can make the time for us to move faster for about ten seconds. When I say "go", we must break through their ranks and get as far away from them as possible. Then we can assault them at long range while driving the swarm in circles. We're faster than them so we can outmaneuver them easily."

"Sakuya?" Marisa threw an angry-looking glance at the maid. "Why didn't you say so sooner, dammit?! Get us out of this mess!"

The silver-haired maid took a deep breath as she clutched her silver pocket watch with her left hand. Then she made a slow movement with her right arm, as if she was drawing an invisible circle around herself. Once she made one full turn, she suddenly snapped her fingers and exclaimed: "Go!"

It was as if the time was slowed down to such extent that the danmaku fired by the fairies was now moving at only 10 cm/s. It wasn't just the magic shots. The whole world seemingly slowed down except for the six girls who heard Sakuya's signal, and without any hesitation flew directly at the dense cluster of fairies, easily avoiding every obstacle in their way while enjoying the sweet feeling of blasting their enemies in slow motion. It was during these few seconds that Sakuya took her last two syringes and injected two random fairies with the sedative. Before the flow of time returned back to normal, all six of the girls were quite far away from the zone of immediate danger. Sakuya now carried two stunned fairies in her arms.

"Wooohooohohooo~!" Marisa exclaimed with excitement. "This was the coolest experience since the first time I flew on my broom! Man... I think I should redirect my studies towards temporal magic."

"I never studied magic too much." shrugged the Scarlet Devil Mansion's head maid with a modest expression.

"Then you're like Reimu? Born with talent, but hates training, ze? Am I the only hard-working one around here?"

"Maybe you should try working as a maid at the mansion for a week or two and then try saying that again with a straight face?"

"Uhm? I hate to interrupt you two," said Reimu and pointed at the distant swarm, "but we still have a few million fairies to deal with."

"Don't exaggerate." Marisa brushed her off with almost nonchalant tone. "There's not that many of 'em? Looks like they still haven't figured out where the hell did their targets disappear to, hehe~."

"But now I won't be much of a help with these two in my arms." said Sakuya, beckoning at the two fairies she was now carrying.

"Oh? Then we better start barraging them now, while they're still far away." suggested the witch and took the honor of being the first one to start the long-ranged attack against the fairies, firing her standard magic missiles. As soon as her projectiles traveled the necessary distance and dissolved a couple of fairies into magic dust, the entire swarm was again set into motion, flying towards the source of this attack.

"Don't just stand there; let's give them hell, ze!"

Any girl who didn't have her hands preoccupied with carrying tranquilized fairies has joined Marisa's attack. The most successful was, of course, the Hakurei shrine maiden with her homing amulets that were strong enough to bring down one fairy per shot and precise enough to score one hit per shot.

"How many damn fairies do you think are there?!" Marisa asked the other girls just to keep the battle atmosphere a bit less tense.

"We've got most of them with Spell Cards, but I'd say still over ten thousand?" estimated Sakuya who had to throw her knives ballistically to hit her targets over such a long distance.

"Whoa? Where did you put those two fairies, Sakuya?" asked the surprised witch after she realized that the maid was already raining sharp metal upon the incoming swarm.

"Down below us? I just couldn't stand the idea of being the useless one around here." she replied with a smile.

"By the way, weren't you also carrying Cirno, Murasa-san?" Reimu pointed out once she realized it.

"Yes, I was? I put her down on a meadow near that Kazemura village before we split up to search for fairies. Looks like we've found more than we bargained for?"

"Let's just hope none of our specimens will get killed before we're done with this fight."

And finally, the remnant of the huge fairy swarm was again close enough to be dangerous for the girls. Perhaps they managed to lower the fairy count down to 8 or 9 thousand, but here they were again, still numerous enough to shoot the girls down? or worse.

"Scatter~! Don't let them surround us!" yelled the miko as she propelled herself full-speed backwards while not stopping her amulet barrage.

It was in this moment when a sudden and massive colorful salvo arrived from somewhere above and made short work of the nearest fairies that were about to catch up with the fleeing girls.

"What the??!" Marisa opened her eyes and mouth wide in surprise. As she looked up at the sky while shielding her eyes from the sun, she noticed seven distant humanoid silhouettes blasting their magic at their enemies.

"It's the second half of our search party~!" she exclaimed, feeling a sudden wave of relief. "Damn? What took them so long?!"

Now the fairy swarm was being heavily assaulted from two sides, their numbers were diminishing rapidly. Surprised by this unexpected turn of events, the desperate swarm split up into two roughly equal groups. The first group kept pursuing Reimu and company, while the other fairy horde changed their target to the girls led by Byakuren. It seemed that the Buddhist monk and some of her team members still had a few spare Spell Cards, which under her orders, they effectively used to maximum effect. Five thousand fairies have been crushed in only one and a half minute.

Meanwhile, Reimu's team had to rely more on their flying and dodging skills. They led their pursuers in circles while causing heavy casualties. In essence, they had the situation already under control. They just needed a bit more time to neutralize the fairy threat than Byakuren's team.

"Don't worry, we're here already~!" Byakuren called at Reimu's team as she came to her aid in dealing the final decisive blow against the final remnant of the once great fairy army.

When there were just a few hundred of little winged youkai left, they began to scatter and flee to all directions, as if their sense of self-preservation had kicked in only now.

"They're fleeing~!" called Alice as she was shooting the retreating fairies from behind with a beam emitted by her doll.

"Oh, no, you won't?" Reimu released more of her homing amulets which finished off every single fairy before they could get away.
Finally? The battle was over and a deep silence has settled over the pine forests near Kazemura. The magic dust the fairies left behind after their death covered the treetops like a thin layer of silver snow. Everyone was exhausted, but still alive and in most cases unharmed.

"AHAHAHAHAHAAAA~!" Marisa bellowed in a manic laughter that echoed all over the highlands. "How do you like that, you idiotic fairies, huh?!"

"Speaking of which? Where's Cirno and the other two that we managed to tranquilize?" asked Reimu, looking at everyone present.

"Oh, just wait here a moment." said Sakuya as she disappeared and reappeared with two of the mentioned fairies in her arms.

"Good?" Reimu nodded, barely giving any praise as she turned her look to the ghostly girl, Minamitsu Murasa. "Do you still remember where you stashed the ice fairy?"

"Sure. Just follow me?" she replied tersely, leading the way back to the mining village.

"By the way, Byakuren, what took you five minutes to come to our aid after Satori launched two signal shots?" Reimu raised a question at the monk girl.

"I'm sorry, Reimu-san." she bowed apologizingly in the middle of flight. "We too were ambushed by a very large group of fairies over the forest west of the village. We've come to assist you as soon as we could."

"I see?"

"Don't worry, we didn't let any of them get away." added the monk after seeing Reimu's frowning face.

Reimu briefly glanced at her and mustered a weak smile. "Good job? You did really well? All of you girls did a great job. Now let us take the fairies back to Eientei."

"I put the ice fairy down on that meadow." sounded Minamitsu who pointed forward at a nearby grass field a couple of hundred meters away from Kazemura.

"Oi, Reimu?" Marisa spoke to the shrine maiden. "You better hold onto your clothes, because they look like they're about fall apart any moment, ze."

It was no wonder since she was still wearing the same miko dress since yesterday, which already got torn up during the battle at Alice's house. A few new tears and holes were added during today's battle as well. Reimu now looked more like a homeless beggar than a shrine maiden, but Marisa's clothes weren't in any better condition either.

"Take a look at yourself first, Marisa?"

"Oh? uhh? That's just? the latest fashion trend in Gensokyo, haha~!"

"Yeah, right?"

"Ah? There's that ice fairy, see?" Murasa gestured towards the little bluish figure curled up on the grass, sleeping like a baby.

"You're the only one who can carry her without getting frostbitten, Murasa-san, so please pick her up." Byakuren asked her in a respectful manner, even though she was basically her superior.

"I know, Hijiri-sama, you don't have to tell me?" replied the ghost as she lifted the sleeping fairy from the ground and floated up again, continuing her flight with the other girls to Eientei.

"You've helped us a lot, Byakuren." Reimu again expressed her thanks. "You don't need to go with us all the way to Eientei. You can return to your temple if you wish?"

Byakuren looked at her confusedly. "So? after such a long and hard battle you're telling me I'm no longer needed?"

"No, that's not what I meant?"

"You've done your part so now you can just go home? Is that what you meant to say?"

"No, Byakuren, you've got it all wrong?" Reimu shook her head denyingly, but got interrupted again.

"Do you really expect me to leave my work half-done and go to sleep with my mind at ease? Do you seriously think I'd be able to rest while knowing that entire Gensokyo is in danger? If that's the case, then you truly know nothing about me yet, Reimu of the Hakurei clan?" said the monk with intimidatingly determined and serious voice. "This incident concerns us all. I will accompany you and help you until it gets resolved and I won't take "no" for an answer."

"Okay?" said the shrine maiden with a weak chuckle. "I see you're just as fired-up as I am? But now I'm also hungry and tired? I could eat even Marisa's tamagoyaki."

Alice covered her mouth with her palm as she chuckled at Reimu's remark.

"Really? Why don't you come over to my place then? I can make some for you?"

"How about we just returned to Eientei already?" asked Alice. "Aren't you curious what will Satori-san find out when she reads the fairies' minds?"

"I already tried taking a look, but I can't see their thoughts clearly?" said Satori as she examined the sleeping fairies. "A sleeping mind is somewhat harder to read for me?"

"Let me take a look then, onee-chan~." Koishi volunteered her assistance and took a look at the fairies' subconscious. "Hmm? It seems the two small ones are having a dream about a danmaku battle? And the blue-haired one is having some nightmare? A giant toad has swallowed her? Oh no~! I don't like seeing people having bad dreams!"

"That won't help us in tracking the culprit behind this incident." frowned the disappointed miko. "We ought to wait until they wake up."

"Knowing Eirin-sama, I'm sure she has some drug to neutralize the effect of the sedatives and wake the fairies up." thought Alice aloud.
After a long flight on a hot summer day, the girls have finally reached the bamboo forest. The only relief from the hot sun was the pleasant cool air around Cirno, so the girls took turns at flying in close formation with Minamitsu who was carrying the ice fairy.

"A few more flights like this and I think I might actually memorize Eientei's exact location in this damn forest." jested Marisa as she followed Nitori, who was leading the way to the well-hidden mansion, guided by her tracking device.

"You know what they say; practice makes perfect." replied Alice as her stomach made a growl. "?I hope we'll get something to eat; I'm starving."

"Tell me about it. I could eat a whole chicken, ze."

"Ahh~. Here we are at last." Nitori exhaled as soon as she spotted Eientei. "This way, this way~!" she waved her hand and landed on the ground.

"Oh, thank goodness?" muttered Sakuya. "My arms are dead from carrying these two?"

[Fonzi]

Chapter 35 ? The Source of Madness

"My? You don't look too well?" stated Eirin as soon as all the girls have gathered on the third floor corridor of Eientei. "But you've brought some fairies as I see? Follow me then. We'll need to strap them down in case they'll still be aggressive when they wake up."

The Lunarian doctor walked into a nearby room equipped with beds with leather restraints. Once the fairies were all strapped to their beds, Eirin took out a small flask filled with some colorless liquid and filled three syringes with it.

"This ought to wake them up in a few minutes." she explained as she injected the little youkai with the drug. "I'm quite curious to see this unnatural behavior of the fairies? By the way did you have any luck in looking for this Satori-san you mentioned earlier?"

"I'm right here." murmured the quiet girl as she gently waved her hand above her head so that Eirin would notice her more easily.

"Oh?" the Lunarian blinked a few times in surprise. "My apologies then, Satori-san. My name is Eirin Yagokoro, pleased to meet you."

"Satori Komeiji."

"And I'm Koishi~!" the little sister introduced herself with a cheerful tone. "Satori's my big sister."

"So? you're the one who can?"

"?read people's thoughts, yes." the young satori finished Eirin's sentence. "And I can see you have doubts about it, Eirin-san."

"Well, I'm aware that Gensokyo is full of youkai with various abilities, but I'd just like to be sure? I'm also quite curious to see how your power works? Mind if I?"

"Give me a test?" Satori read the doctor's intention. "Please, go ahead."

Eirin was already quite impressed that Satori could guess what she had planned for her, but she was curious and proceeded with giving her a little test.

"Okay, Satori-san. Tell me what number I'm..."

"Four." came an answer before the question was even finished.

"?thinking about?"

"You still think that was a coincidence, don't you?"

"Hmm? how about we try again?"

"Seven hundred and forty-eight." said the mind-reading girl with a stoically calm voice.

"And now?"

"One thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine? Is that a year of a certain event?"

Doctor Yagokoro smiled in amusement and admiration as she thought up another number for Satori to guess. "How about now?"

"Minus five billion, nine hundred and twenty two million, seven hundred and thrity-one thousand, two hundred and ninety-three? point zero, zero, zero, seven, two, one, one, five."

Eirin was astonished. She turned her amazed look at the other girls in the room only to see a shrug from Reimu and Marisa.

"Well, Eirin-san? Are you satisfied? Can we get back to the important stuff?" asked the impatient shrine maiden. "You can play mind games with Satori later."

"Just one final number." Eirin insisted on continuing the test, trying to trick Satori by not thinking about any number.

"Kaguya Houraisan? But that's not a number, Eirin-san, is it? No? That's? a name? of your mistress. A moon princess? Interesting?"

"Satori-san? I? You've left me speechless." stuttered the Lunarian after Satori again answered correctly. "You've passed with flying colors."

"Obviously! She's a satori, ze." Marisa couldn't forgive herself not giving a remark about everything.

"I believe we can all consider your observation of the fairies' minds as trustworthy, Satori-san." said Eirin, throwing a brief look at the beds to see if the little creatures haven't woken up yet.

"Can't we just slap them over a few times so they'd wake up faster?" asked Reimu who was growing tired of waiting.

"Now that wasn't very nice of you, Reimu." Alice looked at her scoldingly. "The fairies have feelings too."

"Nobody ever gave me donations for being nice to youkai. I still think they should all be hunted down without exception."

Marisa cleared her throat loudly to give a hint to her miko friend that saying such things in a room full of powerful youkai could be hazardous to her health. Even Ichirin's cloud companion threateningly shook his fist. The unpleasant looks of the youkai girls who frowned at Reimu's last remark were suddenly shifted to the beds, because the fairies were slowly waking up from their narcosis.

"Oh, they're waking up?" Alice took a few steps closer to the beds.

The two fairies that were captured during the recent battle began stirring in their beds. One of them had a bright-red dress and orange pointy wings, the other one had light-brown dress and branch-like wings. As soon as they opened their eyes, they tried to stand up, but of course, they were tightly secured by the leather straps. Eirin cautiously approached them to take a closer look at them. As soon as the fairies saw someone approach them they both began struggling violently in attempt to set themselves free.

"Well, well, well? What do we have here?" murmured the Lunarian as she watched their reaction. "It seems they're still pretty feisty?"

After the two fairies were fully awake, the third one began to come back to her senses as well.

"Mmnnmf? Let me go, you stupid frog!" she spoke, still half-asleep, trying to move, but without success.

"Did she just call me a stupid frog?" asked the surprised doctor.

"No, Eirin-san." replied Koishi, gently tapping her finger against Cirno's forehead. "She's just having a bad dream.

"Oh? I see. Well, then we better help her wake up."

"Leave it to me~!" exclaimed Nazrin, the mouse youkai, quickly grabbing a small vase from one of the night tables. She took out the flowers and trotted to Cirno's bed, ready to pour the water over her.

Before Byakuren noticed her and realized what the mischievous mouse girl planned to do, she was too late to stop her. "No, Nazrin! Waaait~!"

Nazrin had already splashed Cirno with all the water in the vase. As soon as the water made contact with the fairy's body, however, it formed a layer of ice over her face. Now poor Cirno couldn't breathe and was struggling even harder to free her hands from the straps.

"It just occurred to me?" spoke Marisa in a nonchalant manner, even as Eirin and Alice were trying to remove the ice from Cirno's face. "?but how does Cirno drink if everything she touches turns into ice?"

"Do fairies even need to eat or drink?" Reimu asked another question with the same level of indifference to the dramatic situation in the room.

"Hmm? Good question. I think I'll ask Patchy about that if I see her, ze."

In the meantime, Alice finally managed to melt the ice by a weak version of her standard attack. Cirno could finally breathe freely. She was now awake and very confused.

"Huh? What?? Where?? What happened? Where am I? Who are you all? And where's the giant toad?"

"Good morning, Cirno-san." Eirin greeted her warmly. "I understand your confusion, but please calm down."

"You know me? I don't remember you at all?"

"We told her your name, you idiot!" answered Reimu. "You are now inside Eientei and that lady is Eirin-sensei?"

"Uh-oh? It's the evil miko?" murmured the ice fairy in a barely audible voice.

Eirin nodded with a smile and continued explaining. "I'll get right to the point? If you look to your right you may see two other fairies who are, as you can see, not very? cooperative."

"Wait a second." Cirno halted her, as she needed a bit more time to process her thoughts. "What's Eientei?"

"The house of eternity. It is the permanent residence of princess Kaguya here on Earth. It is also a place which I and countless moon and Earth rabbits call their home. A couple of centuries after its establishment, I've decided to provide medical care to Gensokyo's inhabitants, so now you could think of Eientei as a sort of hospital for both humans and youkai."

Captain Murasa giggled and raised her hand. "That's discrimination! Hehehe~!"

"Well, it's true that we've had a ghost here a couple of years ago, but she didn't come here for medical treatment? Anyway, this is where you are right now, Cirno-san."

"Why am I here?" Cirno inquired, taking a confused look at the two other fairies who were still acting aggressively.

"Thank Sakuya for that, ze." said Marisa as she pointed her thumb at the maid.

"There's a disease spreading among the fairies." the immortal Lunarian went on with her explanation. "Or perhaps I shouldn't call it a disease, because the cause isn't bacterial or viral, but magical. In other words, something or someone is affecting the minds of Gensokyo's fairies and driving them insane. We know for certain that this behavior disorder spreads like a disease, but we don't yet know how or why. Another interesting fact is that it doesn't affect all fairies and that's what I'm also trying to do a research on."

"Wait? You think I'm sick too?" asked the ice fairy. "You think I'm crazy or something?"

Marisa laughed heartily. "No, we don't THINK you're crazy. We all know you are."

"I still can't believe she kicked your butt in a danmaku fight?" Reimu whispered to the witch.

The magician gave her a sharp glance with a frown. "?shut up. If this goes public, my reputation will be screwed."

She was lucky that Satori wasn't looking at her at the moment.

"Don't worry, Cirno-san." Eirin comforted the fairy. "The fact that you're talking with us instead of trying to freeze everything in the room is already a proof that you have not been affected by this craze."

"Actually, that was her first idea when she woke up." Satori informed her. "To freeze us all?"

"See? I told you I'm okay?" said Cirno in an almost boastful tone. "I won't get driven mad like the other fairies, because I'm the strongest!"

"I suppose we can let her go then, right?" Alice suggested, looking at Eirin's face to see if she'll approve of this idea.

The Lunarian took a while to think before she made a single nod. "I suppose?"

While the puppeteer was unstrapping Cirno, the ice fairy took a slow look at everyone in the room.

"Wooow? So many people?"

"Most of them are youkai actually?" Marisa corrected her.

"Are you girls having a party or something?" Cirno asked with a carefree tone.

"Hehe?" Reimu laughed weakly. "You've almost guessed it. We're currently in the middle of resolving the incident that causes the fairies to go insane. The real party starts in eight days at my shrine ? the long-awaited Tanabata festival."

"Yaay~! Festivals are fun~!" rejoiced the ice fairy. "Cirno wants to come too!"

"Don't look forward to it just yet." Eirin brought her back to reality. "I need to keep you her for a couple of days for observation."

"But? But you said I'm healthy! Why can't I go home?"

"Because you may be immune to the madness and if you really are, I'd like to learn why so that we could perhaps develop some sort of countermeasure."

"That won't be necessary if we can find the culprit behind this and stop them." argued Reimu, confident that she'd be able to resolve this incident on this very day. "All we need now is to know what is driving the fairies mad. That's why we've brought Satori here."

"By the way, Cirno?" Alice spoke to the fairy as she was unstrapping her left arm from the bed. "Have you come into contact with some of those crazed fairies recently?"

Cirno shook her head. "No, I haven't seen any crazy fairies. But maybe Dai-chan has? I've been playing with her for the last couple of days. Maybe she has seen some of them?"

"Daiyousei?" Reimu raised her eyebrows. "Your fairy friend?"

"Yes? But I haven't seen her today, so I went to look for her a bit further from the lake."

"There were several big forest fires in Gensokyo yesterday? You sure you haven't noticed anything suspicious?" Alice continued the interrogation as she finally set Cirno free from her restraints.

"Of course I've seen the fires~! But ice fairies and fire don't go well together, so I hid myself home."

"I was looking for you yesterday for over fifteen minutes. I was hoping to find you so you'd help put those fires out with your powers?" pouted the blonde puppeteer. "Where exactly is that home of yours?"

"Ha~! As if I'd tell you! That's a secret!"

"Not anymore." said Satori quietly with an expressionless face. "She lives on the southwestern shore of Misty Lake in a burrow covered by willow trees and magically camouflaged. A place that maintains the same cool temperature all year around, making it an ideal shelter for an ice fairy? She has a single bed made of dried-up leaves and she furnishes her household with her self-made ice-sculpted furniture in winter."

Cirno gazed frightenedly at the mistress of the underground palace, wondering how could she know such confidential information. "W-who? are you?!"

Satori smiled and bowed gently. "Satori Komeiji, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"That's my onee-chan~." added Koishi with pride in her voice

"Getting back on-topic?" Eirin again became the center of attention as she spoke, "?could you please try to recall the recent couple of days, Cirno-san?"

"Sure, I remember?"

"Good." the Lunarian didn't let her finish. "Now can you tell us, Satori-san, what do you see?"

The purple-haired girl nodded and looked carefully with her third eye at the fairy who was recollecting the fragments of the recent happenings.

"?."

"Well?" asked the doctor after seeing that Satori was quiet for a while.

"I see nothing out of the ordinary." spoke the satori after a long pause. "Even that fairy friend of hers seemed to behave normally? for a fairy that is?"

"So perhaps Cirno's not immune; she just hasn't come into contact with any of the crazed fairies?" Reimu stated her opinion.

"Well then, let's get to the thing that we've all gathered here for?" said Eirin and gestured towards the two other fairies who showed obvious symptoms of this magically-induced insanity. "What do you see in the minds of our other two subjects, Satori-san?"

Satori's third eye shifted its pupil to one of the captured fairies and scanned her mind thoroughly. As she peered into the fairy's confused and enraged mind, Satori's own mind became blurry and an unpleasant throbbing pain spiked up inside her head.

"Aaaah?" she moaned as she grabbed her aching head. "Uuuunf?" She began breathing hard as droplets of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Oh my? Onee-chan, are you alright?!" called Koishi, hurrying to her sister's side.

"Satori-san!" exclaimed Eirin at the same time, making it just in time to grab the girl, before she lost balance. "Turn away! Don't look into their minds, please!"

But Satori didn't oblige. She just grabbed Eirin and Koishi tightly by their arms to support herself and kept staring at the crazed fairy. "?s-s-something t-t-o write?." she uttered as if she was in some kind of trance. "?round circles? sharp edges?spirals and loops?.words?. names?.numbers? Aaaah! It hurts!"

"What was that, Satori-san?"

"She's losing it." commented Marisa. "We better get her out of this room?"

"I think she wants us to give her something to write on?" speculated Byakuren who was just close enough to hear the satori's nearly incomprehensible muttering.

"?a faraway land? lies closer then one step away? See with the eyes of your enemy? Yaah~! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! KILL!"

Satori's manic scream really scared the hell out of the other girls in the room, Eirin included. Even the Earth and Moon rabbits that were flying on the third floor's corridor stopped for a moment in shock and then hurried away from the room where the screams were coming from. Eirin was just about to take the poor satori out of the room, but the short girl pushed her away with surprising strength.

"?Hurry!" she screamed with her eyes wide open and her hand trembling uncontrollably. "?pen, brush, pencil, chalk, charcoal? anything!" she demanded.

As Byakuren helped Eirin stand back up on her feet, she took her notepad with a pen and passed it slowly to Satori.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the Lunarian protested. "I'm going to need those notes?"

Satori ripped the notepad out of Byakuren's hands and crudely grabbed the pen with her shaky hand. Not even looking at what she was drawing or writing, she began making intricate and complicated pictograms of some sort. When her hand came to the edge of Eirin's notepad, she began writing on the floor. It looked like she was writing a text, because she drew all the pictograms in a single line. After about thirty seconds, she dropped her pen and turned her face down. She was breathing hard like after a marathon, but she was finally regaining control over her senses.

"Onee-chan, onee-chan? Are you okay?! Say something!"

"?hah? hah? haaah? What happened? And why am I sitting on the floor?" she asked with a confused look.

Koishi quickly stepped in front of her sister to block her view of the crazy fairies. "You dove into their minds and then you drew something, look?" she pointed down at Eirin's notepad and the floor where Satori wrote the strange pictograms in her trance.

"Oh? I see?" she muttered while grabbing onto her sister's hand and slowly standing up. Her mind was still hazy, but she still vaguely remembered what she saw.

"So what did you see?" Reimu impatiently demanded an answer. "Do you know what or who is behind this? Is it Yukari?"

Satori glanced back at the shrine maiden to once again see the mental image of Yukari Yakumo as Reimu remembered her and then shook her head. "No I didn't see her. But these symbols? They were the most prominent thing flashing up in the minds of these poor insane fairies?"

"Really?" asked Marisa with a smirk. "I thought the most prominent was the "kill, kill, kill" part."

"This isn't a laughing matter, Kirisame-san." Eirin gave her a scolding gaze before lowering her head down to observe Satori's writing. "Have any of you ever seen such symbols?"

"Nope?" shrugged the witch, and looked at the other girls to see any of them have any clue about the weird symbols. None of them appeared to know what the symbols meant, though.

"I think we better call Patchouli here. She's a bookworm; she knows all sorts of languages. If anyone can decipher these letters, it's her."

Eirin nodded and without a moment of hesitation, she left the room, not saying a word. All the girls exchanged their confused looks and formed a circle around the place where Satori drew the pictograms.

"What if we interrogated those two fairies?" suggested Reimu, throwing a menacing glance at the mentioned fairies. "Perhaps they'll reveal who their master is after a little torture?"

"Reimu-san? You're scaring me, you know?" sounded Sakuya, taking one step back away from the miko out of caution.

"How can you be so cruel?" asked Alice, looking Reimu straight in the eyes.

"Hmpf? I think the question is: How can YOU be so soft, Alice? Especially after what those annoying, and now even dangerous pests have done to your house?"

"Seriously, Reimu-san?" Byakuren joined the conversation. "I don't think torture is the best way to go?"

The shrine maiden exhaled and shook her head. "Sheesh? you guys? Couldn't you tell I was just kidding? Besides, I doubt these wild fairies can even speak."
In the meantime, Eirin returned to the room, followed by Patchouli who was still dressed in white doctors' uniform. She stopped for a moment to give all the girls in the room a once-over and then walked up to the writing on the floor.

"This is it?" said Eirin tersely, tapping her foot gently against the floor to direct Patchouli's attention to the line of unknown symbols.

The youkai sorceress widened her eyes in surprise as she witnessed the signs. "Now this? is quite surprising?" she muttered as she made an underline of the text with her finger.

"Ha! I knew it!" said Marisa, beckoning at Patchouli. "You recognize these symbols, right? So what's so surprising about them, Patchy?"

"The thing that I can't understand them." replied the librarian surprisingly.

"Oh? Wait? What?"

"I've never seen such language before, so I presume that this may be a code of some sort."

The fact that not even the notorious know-it-all could read what Satori saw in the minds of the crazed fairies was just as surprising as it was disappointing.

"Oh, great." grumbled Reimu. "Now what?"

"I do have quite a number of books in my library written in unknown languages left for translation, but I haven't gotten to studying them closer. Perhaps if I focused my time on researching these symbols, I'd be able to learn something? But then again, my research could also end up in failure. It's a 50 ? 50 chance."

"I'm almost afraid to ask you this, Patchouli?" said Reimu with a concerned tone. "But how long would this research of yours take?"

The purple-haired sorceress hummed, lost in thought. "Well? As soon as I do my job here, which could take up to five days, I could get to translate those foreign books? And since there are over two hundred books that I planned to translate, I'd say it could take over a year and a half."

"A YEAR AND A HALF?!" exclaimed the shocked shrine maiden so loudly that her voice could be heard even from the floor below.

"Ah?" Patchouli suddenly raised her index finger again as she got an idea. "?I just recalled I also have quite a collection of books dealing with cryptography? However, my theory is that these symbols that Satori-san has scribbled here are an ancient arcane incantation. A spell that alters the mind? I better look into some of my eldest grimoires in my library too?"

"Still? This will take so long?" Reimu lamented as she crossed her arms. "This isn't how I thought it would go?"

"Don't worry, Reimu." Marisa stepped close to the miko to comfort her. "If it's Patchouli, I'm sure she will find something. For now, we've no choice but to trust her. She will do her best, right, Patchy?"

The sorceress nodded, but a strange look of anxiety and uncertainty settled on her face. She felt that too much responsibility now rested on her shoulders and she was worried that this burden is a bit too much for her to carry. On one hand she felt the need of assisting Eirin at Eientei, and on the other hand she felt a pressing urge to find an answer to the source of this new and serious incident.

"I'll do my best? But I don't know myself? What should I do first?"

"Whatever you consider as appropriate, Patchouli-san." replied Eirin, giving her a freedom of choice.

"Look, Patchy, we've handled a lot of fairies today?" said Marisa with an unusually serious tone. "Even if we haven't stopped the source, it will take a lot of time before the crazy fairies will dare to make another attack. If you want to help Eirin and her patients, then do so?"

"But Marisa?" sounded Reimu to make a counter-argument. "We've battled hundreds of fairies yesterday? And today? today we've faced an army of them? There were so many? I don't even want to think what awaits us tomorrow."

"We've all managed to stop them, even if there was so many of them. If need be, we can handle even more, ze? I'm sure we can think of something to stop this?"

Reimu rubbed her forehead with her fingertips and nodded. "Yeah? We'll think of something?"

"Now, how about we let Eirin-sensei and Patchouli do their work and finally get something to eat?"

Eirin smiled lightly and gestured towards the door. "Please, be our guests? The dining hall is on the fist floor and if you lose your way by any chance, you know where to find Reisen, right? She'll point you wherever you may need to go."

"You've heard the lady. Let's go get some grub, ze." said the witch with a more lighthearted attitude as she opened the sliding door and waited for the other girls to go with her. Slowly, the room has become much less crowded as the group of hungry humans and youkai left and headed down the corridor, hoping to find Eientei's dining hall.
"Hmph? This isn't like one of those usual incidents that we could get resolved within one day, is it?" said Reimu quietly, as if she was just saying her thoughts aloud. "And there I was, thinking that the mass spiriting-away of the people from outside world was serious? This is one of those times when we could all use a little help from Yukari? Just a little hint? Why isn't she here? Why??"

"Get a hold of yourself, Reimu!" Marisa gave her friend a moderate palm-smack on her shoulder. "I'm serious? The last thing I want to see is you depressed."

"Marisa."

"Sure, it would be nice if that youkai helped us out for once? But it seems that ever since the Imperishable Night, she's become completely indifferent to almost all happenings in Gensokyo. And recently to all the happenings in Gensokyo? But we can do this even without her. We can protect our Gensokyo by ourselves and we've just proved it again today and yesterday. So don't lose faith in yourself, Reimu? It doesn't suit you at all?"

"Who says I'm losing faith? I'm just annoyed that's all. And now you're starting to sound annoying too?"

"Hehehe~! Now you sound more like yourself again! Now? where did Eirin say this dining hall was again?"

By now the girls have just walked down the stairs to the first floor and wondered which door led to their desired destination. It didn't take a genius to figure out, as they could see some of the rabbits exiting one door with plates of food in their hands, making deliveries to all the rooms with patients.

"Oh, look, look?" Nazrin pointed at one of the doors. "See those rabbits leaving that room? They've got food! Let's go there! I'd like to have a cheese dish, please~!"

"Nice observation, Nazrin." Shou praised her mouse youkai friend and together with the rest of the band, took steps towards that door. Once they reached the door and opened it, they saw a large room furnished with many large tables, all of which were cluttered up with food ingredients or cooking utensils. Several separate fireplaces were heating cauldrons with soup and sauce, while many smaller stoves were preparing all kinds of different foods. Dozens of busy youkai rabbits dressed in little white cooks' uniforms were doing all the necessary tasks to prepare enough food to feed all of Eientei's residents as well as patients.

"Wait? This is no dining hall, it's a kitchen." said Reimu after a while of looking around. "Let's try the next door."

However, some of the girls have already entered, as if they couldn't wait to get their meal.

"Hey, are you listening?! This is the kitchen~! Helooo~!" called the shrine maiden, waving her arms to get some attention, but without much success.

"I can see that, Miss Obvious." Marisa returned a sarcastic reply.

"Then why are you still hanging around there, dummy? Want to steal something? Or are you just THAT hungry?"

"Just checking the place up a bit, ze? What's wrong with being curious?"

"?So that's how it looks like in Eientei's kitchen, huh?" muttered Sakuya who also got carried away by her curiosity and entered the room to take a better look around.

"Oh, great? Now you too?" Reimu looked questioningly at the maid.

"I see?" Sakuya continued admiring the kitchen, not paying any attention to Reimu's protests. "It's a bit smaller than our kitchen, though."

Marisa was more curious about the various foods that were being prepared there. "Hey look, Sakuya, these rabbits are making some omuraisu?" Then she walked up to one of the cauldrons and took a whiff. "And this delicious smell can be nothing other than miso soup?"

Now even the maid was curious how the rabbits cooked the meals. After a while of looking at what ingredients and inappropriate methods the rabbits used, Sakuya opened her mouth in a funny-looking shocked expression. "What are they doing?!" she called while flailing her arms.

"Uhh? Cooking?" asked the witch, not certain as to what Sakuya meant by her question.

"This? this is a disgrace to cooking!" she exclaimed while pointing at a group of Moon rabbits who were preparing curry sause. They all looked startled by this unexpected visit and subsequent criticism. Two of the rabbits even bumped into each other as both of them had their eyes focused on the maid who was scolding them.

"This is all wrong?" she hurried to the table to show the rabbits how to cook properly. "This meat isn't even cut-up properly? And you put too much oil into the sauce? And oversalted it too? And you?" she pointed at one particular rabbit cook. "Don't stir it so fast; you'll spill the sauce all over the place."

"Umm?. Sakuya?" Marisa tried to calm her down, but her attempt went unnoticed.

"Here? Let me show you how it's done?"

Sakuya was determined to take the matters into her own hands and show these inexperienced rabbits the true art of cooking.

"Oi, Sakuya? Come on! Let's go find this dining hall already." the witch tried to persuade her. "I don't mind if our meal won't be top-notch."

Only now the maid snapped out of her reverie and looked at her. "Huh? No way! You go on without me? I have an incident to resolve here?" she said with a cold-blooded look in her eyes as she reached and grabbed one of her throwing knives. She raised it above her head as if she was about to throw it or declare a spell, but instead, she used it to slice an onion into tiny bits. Her skill was truly a marvel to behold. The onion was chopped perfectly in less than two seconds. Marisa immediately thought that Sakuya was demonstrating her time-manipulating powers.

"Heh? Good luck then?" chuckled the blonde witch, slowly walking out of the kitchen. "But don't take too long with cooking, because we're all hungry."

"The meal will be done shortly." replied Sakuya, who already began preparing a new meal. All the rabbits in the kitchen stopped working and gathered in circle around her, watching the real master at work.

"Come on, Marisa. If she wants to stay here, I don't care?" Reimu called at her friend and waited until she walked out of the kitchen. "Okay? I believe we've missed the dining hall just by one door, but?"

As the shrine maiden looked left and right, she suddenly realized that the other girls were no longer there on the corridor.

"Whoa! Where did everybody go?" she wondered. However, Alice was at least polite enough to leave Shanghai wait for the other girls. The magically-controlled doll made "follow me" hand gesture and through a door that was slightly ajar, she flew into a room. The witch and the miko followed the doll and upon opening the door widely, they found themselves in a very large room with a single table that stretched well over 30 meters in length. Some of Eientei's rabbit residents were enjoying their lunches that were being brought in through a door leading directly into the kitchen.
"I wonder what's on the menu?" murmured Marisa, looking at others' plates.

"Whatever Sakuya cooks for us." Reimu gave a reply with a light giggle.

"Yeah? That's right. I just hope it won't take her too long."

"Sakuya-san isn't going to eat with us?" asked Alice curiously while calling her doll back to herself.

Reimu replied with a shrug. "She said the meal would be ready soon, so?"

Not even getting to finish her sentence, the elegant maid walked gracefully out of the kitchen, carrying several plates at once, followed by a small crowd of rabbits who carried the rest of the plates with food.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." she said with an apologizing tone, serving her own version of curry to all the girls who were sitting at the table.

"Now THAT was fast." noted Reimu who almost refused to believe that the maid actually managed to make all of that food from the scratch literally in a blink of an eye.

"Hahaha~!" Marisa made a hearty laughter. "That's Sakuya for you? Oi, Sakuya! Did those rabbits learn something from you? Or did you just make it so fast that they only saw as food suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"

"I froze time and taught them how to make a GOOD curry step by step? Whether or not they learned anything from my demonstration is still questionable, though."

"Mmm~." hummed Alice as she took a whiff of the pleasant smell. "This smells very good, doesn't it, Shanghai?"

Her doll leaned over the plate making a gentle head motion, as if she was actually taking a whiff as well and then she turned back to Alice, nodding repeatedly.

"Oh? You think it looks delicious too? Well, then we better start eating before it gets cold, right?"

Alice politely waited until Sakuya and the Moon rabbits served the meal for everyone and until Sakuya herself took a seat at the table.

"Before we indulge ourselves in this tasty-looking curry, I'd just like to say one thing?" spoke Byakuren as she stood up. Everyone's glances were now directed at her person, wondering what the monk had to say. "?Thank you for the meal, Sakuya-san!" she uttered and bowed to the maid.

This caught Sakuya off-guard, since she wasn't used to hearing thankful words from anyone besides the Scarlet sisters and Patchouli. The maid blushed in her cheeks and resolutely shook her head.

"It was nothing? You don't really need to thank me so?"

"Oh yes, we do!" Alice seconded Byakuren's opinion and also stood up to bow and express her thanks. Like a domino effect, all the other girls followed suit and thanked Sakuya for her hard work, not just with cooking, but also her assistance in the most recent battle.

The silver-haired girl now sported a bright pinkish blush on her face and an expression of slight embarrassment, but inside her heart, she was very happy to get such an acknowledgement.

"And now, I would also like to say a few words as well." Reimu suddenly demanded attention.

"Huh? Reimu?" Marisa raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't worry, it will be short, since I bet you're all as hungry as I am?" she said in unison to the growl of her stomach. "In spite of the recent unsettling events that we were all forced to deal with, I would officially like to invite you all to the annual festival which will, as every year, take place at the Hakurei Shrine on Tanabata. I hope to see you all there? And get ready for a Spell Card tournament. That is all, thank you."

"Reimu-san?" sounded Nue with a raised hand.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I will gladly accept that invitation? If you can defeat me in a battle right now." she said with a wide grin.

The miko was struck dumbfounded. "W-W-Whaaaat?!" she exclaimed her question. Eientei's dining hall was large enough, but it really wasn't the most suitable place to hold a duel. Normally, Reimu wasn't afraid to go up against any opponent, but now, hungry and exhausted as she was, she would surely lose to even a much weaker opponent. Not to mention that Nue ranked among Gensokyo's elite in terms of power. The fact that this girl still donned a carefree smile even after dealing with thousands of fairies and receiving countless hits from danmaku projectiles only proved her incredible endurance. And now, she proposed a duel against Reimu, as if she didn't have enough battling for today.

"Juuust kidding~ !" she chimed merrily and sat down. "Of course I'll gladly go to see the festival with Byakuren-sama and everyone?"

Reimu exhaled with relief and a bit of annoyance. "Geez? Such Yukari-like jokes really aren't funny?"

With that said, the shrine maiden again seated herself at the table and unable to resist the unbearably pleasant smell spreading from the food in front of her, she grabbed her chopsticks and declared: "Let's eat already!"

"Itadakimasu~!" sounded the mixed voices of all the other girls and the feasting began.
Sakuya reaped another wave of praises after all the girls have finished their meals. Shou and Alice even stared asking her about the exact ingredients and procedure she used to make such a sublime combination of flavors.

"Aaahh~?" Reimu gave out a satisfied sigh. She wiped off a grain of rice off her lips and with evident reluctance, she stood up from the table. "Umf? Now if only someone was so kind as to carry me back to my shrine?" she muttered a wishful thought.

In the end, Reimu had to fly home by herself. After the lunch, the large band of girls split up into smaller groups, each taking separate ways. Byakuren and her loyal youkai followers returned to the Temple of Myouren, Satori headed back to the Palace of the Earth Spirits, after a long time being accompanied by her sister. Marisa accommodated Alice at her house and Sakuya, having fulfilled her part for today, returned to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Nitori said her farewell too and flew towards the base of the Youkai Mountain, where her home was located. Patchouli, of course, remained in Eientei, trying her best to be of any assistance to Eirin and the many patients with various different problems.
As the tired miko finally landed in the shrine yard, her heart was pleasantly surprised to see Suika basking in the sun on the porch, sipping from her endless gourd and relaxing.

"Yaaay~! Hi, Reimu~!" she clumsily stood up and ran with her arms spread wide to welcome her human friend.

"Huh? Suika? When did you??"

"Reimu, Reimu, Reimu, Reimu, Reimuuuu~♥!" rejoiced the little oni as she threw her arms around the slender waist of the Hakurei shrine maiden.

"Hey! Calm down, Suika!" she tired to free herself from the tight embrace, but she was no match for the raw strength of an oni. Even though Suika was incredibly strong, she was also careful, so that she wouldn't accidentally hurt Reimu.

"Look? I'm glad you came back again, but please? Let me go? I'm very tired? I need a bath and fresh clothes."

"How about some sake~?"

"Are you even listening?!"

"Huh?"

Only now the oni noticed Reimu's tattered clothes and bandaged wounds. "Whoa? What happened to you, Reimu?"

"That's a long story and I'm too tired to explain everything to you now? Could you at least make some tea for me while I take a bath?"

"Of course~♥! Let me take care of you." she released Reimu and hurried inside the shrine to boil some water for the tea.

"Wait a second?" Reimu halted her just before she entered the shrine. "Where have you been? Do you even know there were several forest fires recently?"

"Yeah? I noticed the burned area near the shrine as I was returning here? But I don't know what really happened. I was in Heaven, so I didn't know what was going on."

"Heaven? What were you doing up there? Having another drinking session with the Celestials?"

"Heeeh? How did you know?"

"Geez? You're so easy to see through?"

"But that's not the only thing I've been doing there~. I also told them about Yukari and that she went missing, so Hinanawi-san ordered a thorough sweep of Heaven? But they couldn't find her? Guess we'll have to go looking for her elsewhere~."

"Really?" asked the shrine maiden, slightly surprised by Suika's helpful act. "So she's not there either, huh?? I wonder if the upcoming festival is going to change anything?"

"Oh~!" the little oni exclaimed as she got an idea. "When you mention the festival, perhaps I could do the same thing I did back then? You know? Turn myself into mist and spread my presence all over Gensokyo. That way if Yukari would appear, I'd be the first to know?"

Reimu sighed with a sad scowl. "I know how you miss her? I feel the same way, but you've heard Satori when she checked that amulet, right? She said that Yukari's not in Gensokyo? Besides? We have other things to worry about."

"Other things?" Suika repeated with a curious look.

"I'll explain everything? Just? not now. I need a rest?" said Reimu in a strained, almost whispering voice.

"Don't worry, Reimu. Like I said, I'll take good care of you~!" Suika reassured her with a bright smile. "Go take a bath. I'll make you some tea and get you some clean clothes?"
Once the miko got out of the bath, her body wrapped only by a towel, Suika was already waiting at the table with two cups of steaming-hot tea.

"You look like you've been through a tough battle, Reimu?" noted the oni. She couldn't have guessed it better.

"Fairies?" murmured the Reimu with a sleepy voice and without waiting for the tea to cool down, she took a sip. "Yaah! It's hot!"

Suika giggled amusedly. "Of course it is~! I just made it? But did you just say "fairies"?"

"Mhm?" muttered the shrine maiden and resumed cooling her tea by gently blowing at its surface.

"So there was another attack of the fairies?" Suika asked to make sure she understood the situation correctly. Despite having drunk enough sake today to kill an elephant, she was unusually sharp and her voice and face seemed rather sober.

"Those forest fires I mentioned earlier? They were caused by several fairy attacks."

"Whoa~! Really?" exclaimed the little oni in surprise. "This is getting really serious? Was anyone hurt more seriously?"

The miko gently shook her head. "Fortunately not. But you should have seen what happened today?"

"What, what?" Suika excitedly demanded an answer.

"Imagine an army of fairies? So many, that if they were to stand next to each other, they'd completely cover up an area as large as the Misty Lake. We've just fought against such an army today?"

Suika looked genuinely surprised. "Where was that? How come I haven't noticed this?"

"Near Kazemura?" answered Reimu, finally having cooled her tea to a drinkable temperature. "It's quite far from the shrine so it's natural you didn't notice?"

"So you escaped from them, huh?"

The miko reacted with a raised voice. "Escaped?! We've shot down every single one of them!"

"You and Marisa?"

"No, not just us? There were others too? Like Byakuren-san and her band, Satori and her sister, Sakuya, Alice and Nitori too?"

"Oh! I see now? You were teamed up, huh?" muttered the oni to herself and took a light sip of her tea. "I wish I was there to see and fight in that battle? But it looks like you already got that incident resolved without me?" she said with slight disappointment in her eyes and voice.

"I wouldn't look so uptight if I had it all resolved." frowned the shrine maiden as the burden of an unresolved incident still bothered her mind. "We might have stopped an army of crazy fairies, but we haven't found out what their source is? Even if Patchouli is working on it, it will take her a very long time to figure it out?"

"Hmm?" Suika hummed as she brainstormed for the most reasonable options in order to help Reimu, but no good ideas were coming her way. "I wish I could do something to help you~?"

"All we can do for now is to be vigilant, I'm afraid?" sighed Reimu with contempt. "We'll need to be checking the forests in northeastern Gensokyo regularly, so the fairies wouldn't have the chance to amass themselves into an overwhelming army? The best thing would be if we could evacuate all fairies from that area, but that's a task near impossible."

"Yeah?" Suika agreed with a nod and finished her cup of tea, immediately flushing it down with an ample dose of sake. "I might have an idea, though?" she said with uncertainty, because the idea that she just got could bring more harm then benefit.

"And I'm desperate enough to believe you?"

"Well, I guess there's no harm in just saying it?" shrugged the horned girl and started explaining. "I could use my ability to gather, focusing my attention to the critical area and lure all the fairies to another location?"

"That's?!" Reimu widened her eyes suddenly. "That's actually one good idea from you after a long while?"

"But?" Suika interrupted her halfway through her sentence, raising a finger. "There's a little problem with that~."

"What? You're too drunk to do it?" Reimu started picking fun at her. "Or too sober perhaps?"

"No, I feel fine, thank you~." smiled the oni girl while shaking her head. "The thing is, I might stir up a hornet's nest by doing that? It wouldn't be good if I lured thousands of crazed fairies to an area near Human Village, would it~?"

"Well? That certainly wouldn't be a wise thing to do?" acknowledged Reimu. "Being responsible for bringing a disaster to the Human Village wouldn't really help my reputation with the locals."

"That's why I said it was just an idea; not a suggestion~."

"Ahhh~. I'm so tired I can't even think straight." murmured the miko resignedly as she yawned.

"Then you should go have an afternoon nap. Don't worry, I'll watch over you~." said the oni with a reassuring smile.

"Mmmhmm?" came an agreeing response from the sleepy human girl, who had conveniently placed her futon near the table and lied down without even dressing up into any clothes after her bath.

"Hey, Reimu, Reimu? You should at least put on your nightgown; you'll catch a cold if you sleep like that."

"Mamfmfrrmrmn?" Reimu replied with an incomprehensible mumbling, as she cared little about anything else but rest right now.

Suika covered her up with the futon cover and ran a gentle stroke over her head. "Sweet dreams, Reimu~." she whispered. "I'll watch the shrine for you?"

?

Watching the shrine, as Suika put it, meant that the oni would lie down next to Reimu and pass out right on the floor, making muffled snoring sounds. Both girls were lucky that they had no other visitors at the shrine on that afternoon and could sleep peacefully for as long as they wanted.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 36 ? The House of Eternity

The heaviness of the hot summer air? The muffled sounds of footsteps that echoed in the distance, breaking the otherwise perfect, tranquil silence? The darkness that lasted long enough to seem natural? The taste of nothing but wet dust? The smell of bamboo and medicine? The uncomfortable ache of lying in the same position for God-knows-how-long?

Those were some of the feelings he woke up to. Feeling some sense of touch coming back into his limbs, Kyouichi lightly stirred inside his bed. To be exact, he didn't know where he was lying. He still had a hard time trying to figure out who he was in the first place. As he tried opening his eyes, he noticed that his sight was blocked by something? something he had wrapped around his face. He slowly brought his hands to his face to identify the rough texture of a bandage. His memory was still hazy, but a little flashback made him recall being hit in the head really hard. With his fingertips he gently moved a piece of bandage away from his eyes, making himself a narrow visor. The first idea that crossed his mind as he saw the wooden interior of the room was a guess that he was at the Hakurei Shrnie, but as he looked left and right, that thought was quickly dismissed. He still had no idea of his new whereabouts, so he tried to gather enough strength to his limbs so he'd be able to stand up.

After something over a minute of mental preparation for this outstanding feat, he managed to lift himself into a sitting position. His head hurt really bad, but so did over 70 percent of his whole body. Just as he sat up, his bed made a loud creaking sound which didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh~! What do you know? Another one's waking up, huh?" sounded a slightly hoarse male voice from somewhere further in the room.

Kyouichi cleared his throat, which hasn't been used for some time, in an attempt to react to the voice. "Wh-? Who's there? Uh?. Damn it? Where am I?"

"That voice? Ishimaru, is that you?"

He found it really surprising that somebody could identify him just by hearing his voice, even when Kyouichi himself had close to no clue about who does the other voice belong to. His mind had a really hard time trying to think straight. It was almost as if he was drunk, but somewhat different.

"Who's there?" he repeated his first question, holding onto his bed with both hands, while taking small, unsteady steps to see what's behind the folding screen standing next to his bed.

As he could finally peek around the folding screen, he saw a remotely familiar face of a young man with semi-long black hair as he was sitting on another bed further in the room. Even though Kyouichi was certain that he has seen this guy before, his confused mind could barely put two and two together.

"Aha!" exclaimed the young male, pointing his finger at Kyouichi. "I knew it was you, club prez!" he said with a teethy smile. "Man, you should see yourself in a mirror?"

Even stranger was the fact that the man could identify him despite the fact that Kyouichi's entire face was bandaged. The way he addressed him almost immediately rang Kyouichi's bell. "Club prez? Wait a second? No way? you're?"

"Ha! It's no wonder you're having trouble remembering my name after such a hit in the head?" remarked the young man who could be two or three years older than Kyouichi. "Well? not that I've seen that incident, but I've been told what happened to you?"

"?Asakura-san??"

"Whoa! Cool! You remember!" smiled the man. "Yeah, it's me, Soudai Asakura? To be honest, I never thought I'd meet you here, hehe~!"

"Soudai?" Kyouichi muttered the man's first name, already knowing that he's one of the Transfer Students' Club members and that he worked with the local woodcutters.

"That means I'm now in?"

"Intensive Care Ward, third floor, Eientei in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost?" Asakura answered quickly, before Kyouichi would hurt his head with excessive thinking.

"Eientei, huh??"

He really wondered about the "intensive care", though, since besides the few patients lying in beds, there was nobody else in the room right now.

"Yeah? It's a really big house? By the way, how do you feel, man? They told me you got a really unlucky hit in the head. Eirin-sensei was even worried you'd end up with lasting brain damage."

Even the name of Eirin sounded familiar to Kyouichi's ears, but he knew that he hasn't met her before. After a little while of logical association, he remembered that Eirin Yagokoro was supposedly a Lunarian who lived at Eientei, providing medical services to everyone without discrimination. And that she was really good at it too. He worked on transcribing some of her manuscripts after all?

"Say, Soudai?" mumbled Kyouichi through the bandage on his face. "How long have I been out cold?"

"You should probably ask someone else? I don't even remember when they brought you in."

"Uhhh? God damn it? I feel like I was eaten by something and vomited out?"

"It must be the all those weird drugs they use here." explained the other outsider. "I myself don't feel like dancing right now?"

Soudai rubbed his own head in a pained expression and curiously looked up at Kyouichi, who was now unsteadily heading towards the door. "Hey? Hey, dude, where do you think you're going?"

With his hand already on the door, he slowly turned back and with a bit of embarrassment, he asked: "Do you know where I can find toilets here?"

Soudai chuckled amusedly. "I'm not too sure about this floor, but there most certainly is a restroom on the first one."

"M-kay? Thanks." he replied groggily, sliding the door open and dragging his feet out of the room.

"Yeah? Good luck trying not to break your leg!"
By now, the freshly woken outsider was already headed down the corridor, supporting his body by bracing one hand against the wall as he went. Several Moon rabbits who were passing along the same corridor just confusedly stared at him, but still minded mostly their own business. Kyouichi trusted only his instinct to follow the rabbits until, with a bit of luck, he found a staircase leading both up and down. He wasn't even that much surprised to see the busy Earth and Moon rabbits running all over the place. His only thought now was to successfully climb down the stairs to the first floor and find the restroom. After more than two minutes of carefully stepping down each stair, he finally made it to the ground level.

"Uhh? Finally? Now? Which of these doors leads to the restroom?" he asked himself after a while of scouting both sides of the incredibly long corridor. As he saw the doors which all those rabbits used to come and go through, he figured that they probably weren't taking food or medical supplies out of the restroom? No. The most often used doors must have led to some other facilities of this immensely large building. Therefore, Kyouichi tried opening one of the doors that weren't used by any of the rabbits for a longer while. He immediately noticed that the room he peeked into was an office of some sort, but there was nobody there? Nobody with the exception of a short girl with white rabbit ears, short black hair and a pinkish dress. She looked just like one of the other rabbits, only somewhat larger, though that still made her size small enough to be comparable to a pre-teen child. She was sitting on a chair and building a house out of empty medicine boxes. She certainly didn't look like an employee.

"Uhh? Hello?" Kyouichi sounded timidly, immediately getting the rabbit girl's attention.

The girl looked back with a very curious, almost freaked-out look in her eyes. No wonder after seeing some stranger in a patient's robe with his face completely covered by bandage.

"I just wanted to ask? Where can I find men's restroom around here?"

The girl continued to stare in silence for a while, but after a moment her expression changed into a smile. A very mischievous smile at that... However, since Kyouichi didn't have his glasses on, he didn't really notice.

"The eleventh door to the right from here~." replied the rabbit, rubbing her hands under the table.

"Oh? Okay? Thank you very much?" Kyouichi mumbled a few thankful words, bowing down once before closing the office's door. Right after that, the rabbit girl began giggling for reasons known only to her?
Walking slowly and counting the doors he passed by, the outsider finally reached the count of eleven.

"Restroom at last?" he exhaled heavily as he grabbed the door by its depression and slid it open.

A cloud of warm steam welcomed him as soon as he opened the door to a room that most certainly wasn't a men's restroom. There was a large ofuro, lots of aromatic candles and flasks with bathing oils and salts. And just at the edge of the bathing tub, standing with her back turned at the door, was a single tall and slender female figure with milky-pale skin and a veil of glossy straight black hair that reached below her waist. She was just discarding the last piece of garment that covered her body, before she was about to step into the warm water. Kyouichi didn't know who she was, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was a truly a beautiful sight. Her figure was sheer perfection. Other words attempting to describe the flawlessness of her body would be meaningless here. Just when Kyouichi thought that the most beautiful girl he met was the ghost of Yuyuko Saigyouji, now he started to have some doubts. He began to wonder why does Gensokyo have such an abundance of beautiful girls. He nearly forgot that he wasn't invisible and that if the girl he was glaring at for almost half a minute now turned around, she'd spot him right away. Almost as if reading his thoughts, the beautiful girl really did turn around? It took a while for her to even process the fact that she wasn't alone in there. Her instinctive reaction was to use her arms to cover her most intimate parts. However, it was just a little too late. Kyouichi had seen EVERYTHING? She was even more beautiful from the front. Still looking puzzled, she stared at the intruder silently with her dark-brown eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Sorry, wrong room?" muttered Kyouichi in a phlegmatic voice before taking a step backwards and closing the room's door. A couple of seconds after he did so, he heard a terrified scream coming from the bathhouse.

"KYAAAAAAAH~!"

The girl screamed so loudly that any birds that were roosting near Eientei immediately took flight.

Not a second later, a huge barrage of multi-colored danmaku riddled the bathing room's door with numerous holes. Fortunately for the outsider, he had already moved on from the door, further searching the corridor for a men's restroom. However, since he knew that this attack was meant for him, he tried to hurry and get away from that place as quickly as possible.

"I'VE BEEN SEEN~!" echoed the unknown girl's voice all over the Eientei's main corridor. "EIRIIIIIN~! HEEEELP~! THERE'S SOME PERVERT ON THE LOOSE~!"

"Uh-oh? This won't end well if I stay here?" thought Kyouichi as he hurried to open the nearest door to hide himself. He just hoped, he wouldn't enter any similar room and get himself into even bigger trouble.

He slammed the door shut behind him, figuring out that he ended up in some sort of storeroom or pantry, where large bags of various staples were taking up most of the room's area. He flattened himself against the wall, waiting until his rapid, shallow breathing would settle down a bit. He could hear the sounds of rushing footsteps on the corridor and some unfamiliar woman's voice calling: "My lady, are you alright? What happened here? Why is that door full of holes? Were you attacked? Was it Mokou?"

"FAR WORSE~! SOME MASKED PERVERT WAS SPYING ON ME WHILE I WAS GOING TO TAKE A BATH~! THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING~!"

"Man? With body like that, I don't know what does she have to be embarrassed about?" said Kyouichi under his nose as he eavesdropped on the conversation.

"A pervert? Could you describe that person a bit better?" asked the other woman.

"Like I said, he was masked, so I don't know what he looked like. But I think he was one of your patients, Eirin. Why can't you just keep them under control?"

"I apologize, my mistress, but? wasn't it also partly your fault for not locking the door, or at least hiding it with magic?"

"Uuu~? But it was your idea to turn this place into some pseudo-hospital?" replied the black-haired girl.

"Pseudo?? I'm trying my best here. Only thanks to our hard work has this place become the largest and most well-equipped medical facility in the entire Gensokyo. Besides? you always complained to me about feeling lonely, mistress. You even used to get excited every time we had a new visitor?"

"Maybe so, but this is just too much? What is with all these people anyway? We've never used to have so many sick and injured ever since we took shelter here to hide from the lunar emissaries."

"I know? But please bear with it. We're all experiencing breaking events, but it shouldn't be long before I manage to get all of our patients recovered. Then things will be back to normal again."

"Bear with it, you say? How can I just sit around and "bear with it" when there are so many patients that they're starting to invade my privacy?!"

"Princess?"

"I've just about had it with being useless? If it means that this place will once again become peaceful and quiet, and that no masked perverts are going to sneak up on me anymore, I'll do whatever necessary to help you, Eirin!"

"Are you really certain, my lady?"

"Haven't I said it clearly enough? I want you to accept my help? That is an order."

"But mistress? You barely have any knowledge or experience with medicines and treatment."

"Uuuu~?"

"However, I could always use another nurse."

"I'll do it!"

"But you'd basically be doing tasks that the other rabbits do around here? Such work is way below your status, princess?"

"You think I can't do the work?"

"No, I didn't say that; it's just? unexpected of you."

"That's YOUR opinion, Eirin. Now? get me a uniform and tell me what should I help you with!"

The woman that was addressed as Eirin giggled. "Okay, mistress, follow me then. And know that you can quit whenever you feel like it?"

Sounds of distancing footsteps indicated that the two females were heading down the corridor. Kyouichi still didn't dare to leave his hiding spot until he was certain that the coast was clear.

He didn't even want to think about what would happen to him if the two ladies would catch him. Leaving the pantry and closing its door, he resumed his search for the toilets which he needed to use really soon. The method he used was the same trial and error one. After about fifth attempt, however, he finally found it.

"Bingo!" he rejoiced after finding the right facility.
After using the toilet and washing his hands, he again carefully peeked out around the corridor to make sure he wouldn't run into that black-haired girl he saw earlier.

"Damn? Would it really kill the folks living here if they marked the doors with signs or at least some numbers?" he muttered to himself as he headed to the stairway. "Didn't that bunny girl say it was supposed to be the eleventh door? I mean? she missed by at least seven doors? Unless?" only now did Kyouichi begin to wonder if the girl didn't misguide him on purpose. "But even so? that sight was well worth it, hehe~?"

After quite a while, Kyouichi returned back to the third floor, but now he forgot which room was the Intensive Care Ward.

"Ah? god damn it? why didn't I memorize how many doors I passed by before I went downstairs?" he blamed himself as he walked onward, guided only by his rough guess. Fortunately, he saw Soudai's head peeking out from one of the rooms. He probably wanted to go somewhere as well.

"I'm back?" Kyouichi nodded to him as he returned back to the ward. "Hope nobody's been looking for me while I was gone."

"Nope. I've been watching the corridor for a while and nobody even stopped here to take a look? For being placed in the Intensive Care Ward, the staff sure does a good job at not giving a damn about us."

"Maybe they're too busy." reasoned Kyouichi as he slowly walked back to his bed. Since he overheard the conversation from a while ago, he had a good reason to assume so. "Besides, this may not be the only Intensive Care Ward in the entire building."

Soudai made a quiet and slightly pained chuckle. "Well? I see you're still perfectly in possession of your faculties. Even after such a strong blow."

"Oh, am I? You still haven't asked me my full name yet? I'm having trouble to recall." jested Kyouichi as he was halfway to his bed.

"Hehe? it's written on the card on your bed in case you've forgotten it."

"Ah? I see the card, but I can barely read the sign? Where the hell are my glasses, man?"

"I'd check that night table near your bed if I were you." Soudai gave a little advice.

"Damn! You're right. They're on the night table."

"See?"

"Yes. NOW I see." nodded Kyouichi once he put the glasses on. "Wish I had these on when I saw that beauty?" he thought to himself with a bit of regret.

"Hey, have you seen your face yet?"

"Uhh? No."

"Then take a look. The mirror's over there." Soudai gestured towards the corner of the room where a round mirror was affixed to a wall.

Kyouichi was curious to see how much bandage he had on himself, so without further ado, he proceeded to the mentioned mirror. After a while of silent observation he nodded to his reflection.

"My entire face? and upper torso too, huh?" he whispered to himself. "Cool?" he stated with sarcasm and assumed a mock fighting stance while still looking in the mirror. "Vengeance of the White Shinobi~! Haiii~yah!"

Soudai let out another amused chuckle. "More like The Mummy Returns?"

This time it was Kyouichi who couldn't hold back his laughter. "Phahahaha~! Yeah? except that mummies don't wear glasses? At least I haven't ever seen one wearing them, hahaha?"

"Oh, you're laughing now, but will you still be laughing when they put those bandages down from your face?" asked the other outsider in a suddenly much more serious tone. "From what I've heard, your face was peppered with wooden splinters. I hope you're ready to live with the fact that your face might not look the same again."

Soudai was just teasing a bit, since he also knew about the fact that Eirin managed to treat Kyouichi's facial wounds so well that he won't even have any scars left. Nevertheless, he wanted to see what would be his reaction to this false news which would surely unsettle any normal, healthy person. To his surprise, Kyouichi's response was rather unexpected.

"Meh? So what if my face now looks like as if someone ran over it with a cheese grater? Even ugly people get eaten by youkai. They don't discriminate? And if you meet one of them man-eating ones, your beauty won't help you much."

"That's? true." nodded Soudai agreeingly. "But you can relax, friend. I'm just pulling your leg. I've heard Eirin-sensei earlier that at least your face should make a full recovery. She wasn't too sure about your brain, though?"

"So you were just kidding?" asked the younger outsider and for a moment he turned away from his peer. "Hmm? I wonder how long?."

Before he even got to finish his sentence, the door of the ward suddenly opened and inside rushed a tall girl with long purple hair and a pair of rabbit ears. The expression she made immediately after seeing the two patients standing and casually talking was just as surprised as Kyouichi's who has seen her for the first time. But of course, due to the bandages he had all over his face, only he knew what face was he making right now.

"Oh my! You woke up!" called out the girl and eyed both patients carefully head to toe.

"Uhh? Yeah, I guess so?" mumbled Kyouichi through the bandages while bowing slowly. "Name's Ishimaru? Nice to meet you, Yagokoro-sensei."

"Eh?" the surprised rabbit girl blinked a few times before denyingly shaking her head. "No, no, no? I'm not Yagokoro-sama."

Soudai quietly chuckled behind Kyouichi's back. "That's Reisen, dude. She's a Moon rabbit."

"How should I know? I just woke up? I've never even met the person yet."

"Yes, my name's Reisen?" nodded the Moon rabbit instead of bowing. "Reisen Udongein Inaba? It's a mouthful, I know?"

"Are you a doctor, Inaba-san?"

The rabbit girl still had a bit of panicked look in her eyes. "No? No, I'm just a nurse? In training, that is? I-I don't even know what I should do now? I better call Eirin-sama. Please wait here, okay?"

Without waiting for any reply from either of the two humans, she left the ward to inform Eirin about the new situation.

"Oh, you don't need to worry, Inaba-san?" said Kyouichi as if Reisen was still in the room. "I'm not leaving the safety and comfort of this room."

"It was about time someone took notice of us, eh?" asked Soudai as he turned away from the door. "Well? Better get back to my bed."

It wasn't long before the ward's door opened again, but instead of Eirin, Reisen returned alone.

"I'm sorry, but Eirin-sama is currently busy with a surgery, so I guess I'll be the one tending to you two for now."

"Hey, no sweat, Reisen? I'm feeling quite well today." replied Soudai as he waved his hand. "But I'm not too sure about my pal here? He still looks a bit groggy."

"Very well." nodded Reisen and proceeded to take a better look at Kyouichi first. "So? Ishimaru-san?"

"Yes?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Could be better; could be worse?" the outsider gave another one of his uncertain replies. "Say, Inaba-san?"

"Could you please just call me Reisen?" requested the Moon rabbit as she walked up to Kyouichi's bed.

"Okay then? Reisen? May I ask a few questions first?"

"S-sure. Go ahead." she stuttered for a moment, but agreed to answer.

"How long have I been here? Unconscious, I mean?"

"Today would be the third day of your hospitalization. When they brought you in with that Ryuuken warrior you were in pretty bad shape. Eirin-sama worked her entire night shift stitching the wounds on your face. She joked that at least you didn't need any anesthetics?"

"So Eirin-sama has a good sense of humor, huh? But? did you say I was brought in with a Ryuuken?" wondered the young outsider, trying hard to recall the moment before he woke up in Eientei. "Was it possibly Takamori-san?"

"Yes. Lieutenant Akiyoshi Takamori was brought in along with you by a small group of other Ryuuken? They were saying something about an ambushed caravan en-route to Human Village from Kazemura, if I recall correctly."

A flashback in Kyouichi's memory replayed a scene where Takamori was fighting a Spell Card duel against a youkai known as Otoya. Judging by the fact that the young Ryuuken lieutenant also ended up in Eientei, Kyouichi figured that he had lost that duel. "Is? he okay?" he asked after a while of thinking.

"He woke up on the same day he was brought in here with minor injuries. He's currently recovering at the Rehabilitation Ward and should be discharged shortly?"

"So he's fine? That's good to hear." exhaled Kyouichi with relief.

"Now it will be me who's going to ask questions." said Reisen, taking a moment to read the notes on Kyouichi's patient card. "Are you felling alright? Any pain or feelings of nausea?"

"You've guessed that quite well, Reisen? Oh? and I'm also really, really thirsty and hungry."

"I understand. It's no wonder after three days? I'll have food sent to the ward right away. Don't you also need to use the toilet?"

Kyouichi silently blinked a few times at the Moon rabbit nurse. "Where have you been ten minutes ago, Reisen? No, I already found the toilets on my own, thank you?"

"I'm sorry, Ishimaru-san?" apologized the Moon rabbit. "Normally, Eientei isn't always this busy, but we've had a massive influx of patients in the last few days? Eirin-sama will take care of you as soon as she's done with the surgery. In the meantime, I'll go send you something to eat? And don't worry about your face." she gave a comforting smile as she was leaving the room. "A couple of more days and you'll be as good as new."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second~!" Kyouichi shouted at the leaving Moon rabbit. "How long exactly do I have to do this mummy cosplay? And how am I even supposed to eat?"

Reisen covered her lips with her hand as she giggled. "No worries. You can remove a patch of the bandage from your mouth just like you did around your eyes? As for your first question, Eirin-sama said that she'll remove the bandages in three to four days from today."

As the Moon rabbit was about to close the door, Kyouichi halted her one more time. "Reisen-san!"

"What is it?"

"Please? Tell Eirin-sensei that I thank her for taking care of me."

Another smile came from the lunar rabbit as a reply. "Oh, you'll have plenty of opportunities to tell her that yourself, Ishimaru-san. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go downstairs to order you some lunch? Oh, and don't be surprised if somebody else will come here to take a look at you later? Other than me and Eirin-sama, I mean? Well, I better get going already. Stay in your beds, you two, okay?"

The next second after saying that, she was already gone. Again, she didn't even wait for the two patients to say anything.

"Well, at least we get the bed-and-breakfast service." murmured Soudai with a hint of sarcasm. "Better than living in the Ryuuken barracks, don't you think?"

Kyouichi was concerned with his own problems. He moved a piece of the bandage away from his mouth so his words could be more audible. "So? three to four days, huh??" he repeated what Reisen told him.

"Hey, Kyouichi, are you listening?"

"Huh, what?" the younger outsider turned his face at his older friend and stared at him confusedly.

"I said that it's better here than living with the Ryuuken."

"Uh? yeah? So you're also living in the barracks, huh? I haven't heard much praises on living conditions there? But? I assure you? You won't have to put up with living in the barracks for much longer."

"You're talking about your plan to leave Gensokyo through the Hakurei Shrine, right?" asked the older outsider.

"Yes? I remember you were absent when we were discussing the date marking the beginning of our journey? the first of Kannazuki? We're saving up money to buy us all the necessary food and equipment? Actually, that's the part of the reason why I ended up here."

"You rode with the trading caravan to earn some extra yen, right?"

"Yeah? I rode with the caravan to? Oh, damn it!" he exclaimed upon sudden recollection of his business in Kazemura.

"What's wrong? A sudden pain surge?"

Kyouichi shook his bandaged head. "No? I just remembered something."

"Like what?" inquired Soudai.

"I? I need to send my report to the Scarlet Devil Mansion about my little snooping around in Kazemura." murmured Kyouichi to himself, but Soudai heard him anyway.

Soudai already heard about that place from school and several other sources and knew that it was considered quite a dangerous place to be. "Scarlet Devil Mansion?!" he repeated with disbelief. "So you're trying to tell me you've had some deal with the local vampires?"

"Yeah? I got this offer to look for anything suspicious in the mining village? I didn't really find anything, but I had fulfilled my role and now I need to send a report as soon as possible."

"Did they threaten you or something?"

"Not directly? But I certainly don't want to get on Remilia's bad side. Besides, the money she promised in return will greatly help our cause. Damn? I hope the postal fairies visit this place too?"

"I'm afraid any activities of the First Fairy Post Office in Human Village will be temporarily shut down until further notice?" sounded Reisen who just entered the ward, carrying two bowls with food on a platter.

"Reisen-san?"

"Due to the recent fairy incident, the Ryuuken militia decided to close the post office and put all the postal fairies under quarantine here in Eientei."

Kyouichi was already confused enough as he was, let alone now when he's heard of some recent incident. "What exactly happened?"

Reisen took a deep breath and sighed. "I really don't know the details myself? It's been nearly two weeks since I last left Eientei, but I've heard this: Supposedly there's something in Gensokyo that's driving the fairies insane?"

Kyouichi gasped just as he heard Reisen say that. "Just what I've been sent to investigate?" he thought.

Reisen ignored his reaction and kept on explaining. "A couple of days ago, several postal fairies returned to the Human Village that were under the same spell as the other insane fairies and caused some serious chaos in the post office. Even its owner, Kurohana-san ended up here?" she gestured to the bed standing right next to Kyouichi's, separated by a folding screen.

"Huh? Ai-chan?" asked Kyouichi as he tried to stand up from his bed to take a look, but Reisen gently pushed him back down.

"Please, don't strain yourself, Ishimaru-san. Besides? Kurohana-san is sleeping now, so we shouldn't disturb her." she added while lowering her voice a little. "Here." she said as she passed him a bowl of soup. "You have to eat something to regain your strength faster?"

"Thank you, Reisen-san?" Kyouichi happily accepted the bowl and began hungrily sipping its content.

"And one for you, Asakura-san?" said Reisen as she walked up to the other patient's bed, serving him some fresh soup.

"Thanks, Reisen."

"What? what about my things?" asked Kyouichi after he finished his soup. He recalled visiting a certain youkai alchemist and buying several healing potions which he was now tempted to use. "Where are my clothes and my backpack?"

"Oh, you mean the big brown leather one with a bento box, a bunch of notebooks and wine bottles inside?" asked Reisen to make sure she had the same backpack on her mind.

Kyouichi's heart started beating a bit faster. "Ehh? yes, yes. That's the one."

"It's safely stored in our deposit just behind the reception office." replied the Moon rabbit reassuringly. "Your clothes too, of course? Don't worry, they'll be returned to you as soon as you get discharged."

"But? there's something I need to look at."

"I'm sure it can wait for those three to four days, Ishimaru-san. We've got some regulations here, you know, and one of those regulations says that any patients' belongings should be returned to them only when they get discharged."

"Damn?" cursed the young man in his mind. "Well? Guess I have no other choice but to wait."

"Is there something troubling you?"

The outsider sighed and shook his head. "No? Not really?" he lied and resignedly buried his head in the pillow.

"No need to worry, Ishimaru-san." said Reisen as she took the empty soup bowl from his hands. "We've had patients with much more serious injuries and we've managed to get them back up on their feet. You should be glad that you'll recover in just a few days. And who knows? Maybe you'll even grow to like it in Eientei."

Kyouichi waited until Reisen did a quick check-up of the other patients and left the ward. When she was gone, he got back up on his feet and walked slowly towards the door.

"Where are you off to now, King Ramses?" inquired Soudai as he saw Kyouichi leaving the room without saying anything.

"Just going to take what belongs to me. If all goes well, it may even benefit you? a bit."

"Huh? Just what exactly are you up to, Kyou?" asked the older of the two with a wry smile.

"You'll see." replied Kyouichi as he opened the door and peeked out of the room.

"Don't get yourself into any trouble, okay?" Soudai gave a warning. "If you do, don't expect me to defend you."

Kyouichi's response was a short chuckle. "Wish me luck."

After that, he snuck out of the ward and closed the door behind him.

"Hehe? Not the one to care much about authority issues, are you, Ishimaru?"

It's not like Kyouichi was rebellious by nature, but given his current situation and state of mind, the darker side of his ego has won the internal conflict this time and so, the young outsider resorted to this solution?
"So? the first floor reception office, huh?" he murmured to himself as he went to the staircase, feeling that the numbness in his limbs is slowly but certainly going away.

Half of the way he at least looked like he knew where he was going, but once on the first floor, he hopelessly turned his head left and right, trying to figure where the reception office was. Fortunately, somebody just opened a door at the very end of the corridor, letting a beam of faint daylight enter the building.

"Okay, so there's the entrance? Logically, the reception office should be right next to it? Or nearby?" he thought and headed towards the end of the corridor. The busy Moon and Earth rabbits that were running and flying all over Eientei paid him almost no mind. Kyouichi just hoped he wouldn't run into any of the doctors here, because they would get suspicious. Pretending like he was just looking for a restroom like a while ago, he inconspicuously made his way to Eientei's main entrance. From behind one of the doors, he heard some voices? One of them was Reisen's, the other one Kyouichi didn't recognize.

"Ah, welcome Kurohana-san? I'm sorry about what happened to your daughter, but you needn't worry. Eirin-sensei has informed me that she'll make a full recovery by the end of this week?"

"So? can I at least take a look at her?" asked the other female voice.

"Why of course you can. Just hold on a bit? I'll take you there right away?" answered Reisen and after that, Kyouichi could hear footsteps nearing the door.

"Oh crap!" he uttered in panic. He needed to hide and quickly. The first idea he got was to go outside and wait until the coast is clear. Taking no chances, he darted for the exit, opened the door and closed it quickly, but silently. He did so just in time before Reisen, who just left the reception office, noticed anything strange.

"That was close?" sighed the outsider and as he turned around, he spotted the familiar rabbit girl in pink dress. She was apparently playing outside ? juggling a bunch of cotton sacks filled with rice. She was a terrible juggler, but it seemed she was having fun. Then her and Kyouichi's eyes met?

"A..." the rabbit girl uttered a single vowel sound as she saw him. One of the rice sacks she forgot to catch landed on her head. Her expression was tinted with a bit of panic, a hint of guilt and a speck of mischievousness. Now that Kyouichi got a better look at her, he noticed she was wearing some sort of carrot-shaped pendant around her neck. She was definitely the one who misled him to walk into the bathhouse when someone was just about to take a bath.

"YOU!" he exclaimed, pointing his finger at her. She must have taken it as a sign of aggression or something, because she immediately started running into the deep, dense bamboo forest.

"Hey~! Wait a second~!" Kyouichi gave out a futile shout as he tried to follow her. The rabbit girl was a bit too fast for him to catch. "I said WAAAAAIT~!"

By now the frightened rabbit girl was already gone, and Kyouichi out of his breath.

"I *huff, huff* wanted to? *huff* thank you?" he wheezed, but nobody could hear him. His real intention was truly to thank this mischievous little rabbit for letting him see what he certainly couldn't see every day.

"Drat? she runs too fast? ahh never mind? But? where the hell am I now?"

Only now when he stopped to look around did Kyouichi notice his surroundings ? bamboo, bamboo and more bamboo. Luckily for him, he didn't run off too far from Eientei, so he had no problem returning there after simply turning around.

"So this is the fabled bamboo forest where people get lost? Heh? and smack in the middle of it ? this?" he gestured at the huge mansion of Eientei as he was getting closer to its entrance. Why would anyone build this huge mansion right here, isolated from any settlements was a question which the outsider was pondering all the way back. Besides being a former ninja hideout or something, its location didn't make much sense to him. Once he was at the main entrance he slid the door just enough to allow him a peek inside. Besides a few youkai rabbits, there wasn't anyone else in the corridor. He didn't wait long and took his chance. Just upon entering the building again, he tried opening the door to the room where he heard Reisen's voice from? It opened up without much effort. Inside the room was a tall counter with a paper plaque with a single word "reception" written on it. A bunch of notepads and writing brushes were lying atop this counter along with a few houseplants in vases for decoration. Another doorway in the back indicated another room behind the counter and that's where Kyouichi went. The back room was a bit larger than the reception office itself, its walls lined with wooden lockers numbered from 1 to 200.

He exhaled heavily as he confusedly stared at all the lockers. "Now? which one of these lockers holds my stuff?"

He tried opening a random locker just to see what's inside, but the sturdy wooden container was apparently locked.

"Damn!" he cursed and tried his luck with several other randomly picked lockers, but ended up with the same result.

With the time running out, he became more nervous and desperate. Reisen could be back any moment now. If she has taken Mrs. Kurohana to see her daughter, she has surely found out that Kyouichi was missing. The young outsider only hoped that his older friend will think of some clever excuse as to why he isn't in his bed.

"Keys? Where are the keys?" he asked himself, hurrying back to the reception office to take a better look. It didn't take much effort to find a board with several rows of numbered keys hanging on wooden pins, as it was just behind the reception counter.

"Alright? here are the keys. Now just to figure out which number I'm looking for? Think, think, think!" he urged himself as he was running out of time.

Then his look fell on one of the notepads on the counter. "Hmm? let's see?"

The notepad was a chart filled with dates, names and numbers. Kyouichi raced through it while looking for his name and after a brief moment he found it.

"Oh, here I am? Date ? Minazuki 27? Number ? 370?" he blinked a few times at the number to make sure he sees it well. "370? What does that number stand for? There's only 200 lockers here, so it has to be? Hmm? I'd say it's the number of the room I was placed in?"

His guess was confirmed when he found the same number next to the names Asakura and Kurohana.

"Heh? guess they DO mark their doors? but I wonder how?"

There were no more notes in the chart that would indicate which locker holds any of the patients' items. Kyouichi desperately looked all over the counter and grabbed another of the notepads. He slapped his forehead right after he read the title ? deposit room logbook.

It was another simple chart with names and numbers of the locker in which their belongings were stored. His name was associated with the locker number 62. Without any hesitation, he took the right key and hurried to unlock the locker with the same number on it.

"Yes!" a single word of rejoice escaped his lips as he saw the familiarly looking backpack resting on top of his folded black-white kimono. He grabbed the backpack and opened it up to look inside. Everything was still intact and in its place. Kyouichi took out the notes he made during his time in Kazemura. He took just a while to check if he got all of them out of the bag. He then decided to try out one of those healing potions he bought from Xeng. If what the old immortal youkai alchemist said was true, just one of these bloody-red potions should be enough to restore any light injuries on his body. That would mean that even his facial wounds would disappear in a matter of seconds and Kyouichi would no longer need to have his face bandaged. However, since his instinct told him not to linger any longer, he just took one of the smaller bottles out of the bag, closed and locked the locker's door and returned the key to its place.

With rolled notes under his arm and the potion bottle in his hand, he walked out of the reception office in a very nonchalant manner. He was even slightly surprised that he didn't see Reisen returning to the office yet, which was quite fortunate. After no more than two minutes he was already standing at the door of the Intensive Care Ward and peeking in to see if there wasn't anyone else in the room besides the patients. He did see some unknown person in the room standing at one of the beds, but he only saw her back. Not knowing what to think and do, he hesitated to walk right in.
"Oi, Kyouichi~! Is that you?" called Soudai who noticed somebody peeking into the room. "It's okay, just come in?" he gestured with his hand. The person standing at the bed curiously turned around and Kyouichi could see that she was a lady, probably 30 years old with long crimson hair, dressed in a dark western-style dress. The young outsider shyly opened the door and walked in, bowing to the lady who he assumed to be Kurohana-san. Her daughter Ai definitely took after her.

"Good afternoon." he greeted and immediately threw a questioning glance at Soudai. "Wasn't Reisen-san here a while ago?"

"That she was." confirmed the older of the outsiders. "I told her that you got a diarrhea from the food and that you needed to use the toilet again? She seemed too busy to even process what I told her, though, because just as soon as she led this young lady here, she disappeared somewhere again."

"Oh?" Kyouichi exhaled with relief. "I see? Thanks, Soudai."

"Don't mention it?" smiled the other outsider and shifted his look at the bottle Kyouichi was holding. "More importantly? what did you bring? Wine? Are we going to throw a little party or what? You know that you shouldn't combine medicine with alcohol, right?"

"This IS the medicine." Kyouichi corrected him while stretching out his arm with the bottle. "I bought this from a certain alchemist as part of the supplies we need for our journey back home. But I suppose now would be a good time to see if this healing potion even works?"

Soudai raised a suspicious eyebrow as he leaned a little closer. "Mmm? well I don't know? It still looks like red wine to me."

"Well? you'll see in just a moment that I'm not kidding you." said Kyouichi with a strong belief that the healing potion is going to work, but just a moment later, doubt began settling inside his mind.

He removed the cork seal on the bottle with the help of his teeth and the bottle made a distinctive popping sound. Both Soudai and Kurohana-san were curiously staring at him, waiting until he takes a sip of the bottle's content. Suspicious like with everything new, Kyouichi first took a few whiffs of the potion. Then he shrugged his shoulders and took a modest gulp of the red liquid.

Savoring the taste and trying to find something to compare it to, the young outsider was silently thinking for a moment.

"So? feel any difference?" inquired Soudai.

"?This really does taste like wine?" muttered Kyouichi to himself. "Hope I haven't been swindled?" he didn't really feel any change when he swallowed the potion.

Soudai was trying to hold back his laughter. "I can't believe you're such a sucker, Ishimaru! Getting tricked like that? that's something I'd expect from an elementary school kid; not you. Buying stuff from some charlatan alchemist? You should have demanded to see the potion's effects on spot. Ask him to cut his wrist and then let him drink that stuff?"

"You don't understand." Kyouichi defended himself. "That guy's immortal, dude! He cut off his own head, damn it, and in just a few seconds, he grew a new one! Even if these so-called healing potions would work, I'm afraid they would have no effect on him. But I really didn't expect him to deceive me like? Urrgh!" he exclaimed with a sudden sensation of heat spreading over his face.

"What's going on?" asked Soudai upon seeing Kyouichi's reaction.

"?my face?!"

"What about it?"

"It feels like it's on fire!"

"Oh my, should I call the doctor?" asked the worried-looking Kurohana-san.

Kyouichi resolutely shook his head. "No? no, there's no need to? hyaaaaaa! Aaargh? damn it..!" he fell on his back and started clawing at his face through the bandages.

Even Asakura now looked shocked to see a friend rolling on the floor in agony while furiously scratching his face.

"Oh no! This looks serious!" he uttered as he shifted his look to Kurohana-san ? the only non-patient in the room. "I've seen something similar in Higurashi? and it didn't end well? You better call Eirin-sensei right away!"

The young Mrs. Kurohana didn't quite get Soudai's reference, but she nodded and hurried out of the room, calling for any doctor within earshot. "Doctor~! Doctor~! We need a doctor~!"

Then, all of a sudden, Kyouichi stopped thrashing about, because the sudden heat began to go away and was followed by a strange tingling feeling and numbness spreading all over his body.

"Oh my god, he DIED!" panicked the older outsider, clumsily standing up from his bed and hurrying to offer his help.

By the time he made it to Kyouichi's motionless body, all the tingling, pain and numbness were gone and the younger outsider casually stood up and dusted off his patient's robe as if nothing happened.

With his mouth opened wide, Soudai glared at him, having trouble to process his thoughts into words. "W-what?! When?! You were? But then you? You feel alright, pal?"

"Never felt better~!" replied Kyouichi rather cheerfully.

Even Kurohana-san could sigh with relief that no doctor was needed after all. Kyouichi reached behind his head and slowly began unwinding the bandage?

"It's kind of hard to breathe with this thing on? seriously?"

"Wait!" Soudai tired to halt him. "You heard Reisen, didn't you? You're not supposed to remove that bandage until 3 to 4 days?"

However, Kyouichi turned a deaf ear to Soudai's words and continued unwinding the white bandage from his head, slowly revealing his forehead, then his eyes and nose?

"Whoa? I guess? you really didn't need to wear that thing after all?" remarked Soudai as he saw Kyouichi's unscratched face.

Once all the bandages were removed from his body, he hurried to take a good look at himself in a mirror.

"?" he stood in silent awe, seeing that his body was perfectly healed up. Well? almost perfectly, because as he checked his left forearm where he got bitten by Rumia a couple of weeks ago, the scars were still there. As for any of his more recent injuries, they were gone without a trace.

"I told you this stuff was gonna work." he said to his older acquaintance, gesturing at the potion bottle standing next to his bed.

"But Eirin-sensei had her bit of work with your face too, you know?" Soudai reminded him, still being skeptical about the effects of the potion.

"I know she had." Kyouichi acknowledged with a nod as his steps headed back to his bed. "And I am most thankful to her for that? The potion only speeded things up a bit. And it's good to know that it works the way it's supposed to?"

Soudai raised both his eyebrows in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?! What about those strong side effects? I was thinking that you got the last stage of Hinamizawa Syndrome a while ago."

"You watch too much anime, Doctor Asakura." Kyouichi jokingly retorted as he closed the potion bottle and hid it under his bed. "So what if it hurts a bit? No pain, no gain? It's the same as with disinfection? Would you like a sip?"

"Uhh? no, thanks? I'm glad my injuries are almost all haled up. I don't need any suspicious potions."

Kyouichi shrugged. "Well, suit yourself? By the way, I think I forgot to ask you how you even ended up here."

"Me? Hehe~! You could say it was goddamn luck how I got here. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this lovely conversation."

"I'm a curious person, Soudai. Saying something like "it was goddamn luck" is hardly going to satisfy my curiosity."

"Alright, alright?" Soudai chuckled weakly. "So there I was, working with the woodcutters in the bamboo forest ? a day like any other? We even had a pair of those Ryuuken fellows to watch over us in case things would get dangerous."

"If the forest's so dangerous, why don't the woodcutters gather bamboo wood only from the edge of that forest?"

"Yeah, a smart person would say the same thing." nodded the older outsider and continued retelling his story. "But some of the more speculative woodcutters say that the bamboo from deeper within the forest has much better quality. They even claim it has magic properties. That's basically why the woodcutters prefer to venture a bit deeper into the forest, thinking that no harm can come to them when under protection of the Ryuuken? Just relax, they said. If any youkai would show up, the warriors will drive them away. Ha! What a load of crap?"

"So, I'm guessing that some youkai did show up?" assumed Kyouichi.

"You bet? Well, actually, it didn't, because this particular youkai or spirit or whatever it was, was invisible."

"Invisible? Oh damn, that sounds dangerous."

"Damn right, it was!" confirmed Soudai, taking a quick look at his stomach and rubbing it with one hand. "Ever heard of Betobeto-san?"

"You mean the sounds of footsteps without any visible source?"

"Yeah? I've heard something like footsteps just a while before we got attacked. I thought it was just one of the woodcutters or Ryuuken, but then one of the men suddenly collapsed, holding his shoulder that was cut by something sharp. The Ryuuken were quick to react, but not quick enough to protect me from getting the next hit, or should I say, a whole combo. Blood just sprayed out of me and I passed out from shock. The next thing I remember was waking up, being carried by some mysterious girl with very long light-violet hair and red eyes? I only caught a glimpse of her face before passing out again."

"Long light-violet hair and red eyes?" Kyouichi repeated thoughtfully. "You mean Reisen-san?"

"No. It wasn't Reisen? Her hair had a much lighter shade of violet and she had no rabbit ears? Whoever she was, I doubt she was a human. After all she carried my unconscious body alone and I weigh over 75 kilos? Anyway, I later woke up here. Met Reisen and Yagokoro-sensei. The first few days were the worst. They had to keep me drugged constantly so I used to pass in and out of consciousness a couple of times a day? I had completely lost my track of time. Fortunately, now I feel much better and sometimes, I'm allowed to take a little walk outside every once in a while. It won't be long before they'll send me back to the village? Hey, maybe I'll get discharged on the same day as you will."

"But I'm completely fine now." objected Kyouichi, pointing a thumb at his face. "I might as well start packing up. There's no need for me to be here any?" his sentence got cut off just as somebody entered the ward. It was a tall young-looking woman with long silver hair and a peculiar red-blue outfit that remotely resembled a nurse uniform.

"Oh? a good afternoon to you, Kurohana-san." she greeted casually, since Mrs. Kurohana was the first person she noticed.

"Yagokoro-sensei." replied the mother of one of the patients. "Good day to you as well."

"Hello, Eirin-sensei?" sounded Soudai from his bed, nodding to greet the Lunarian doctor.

"Ah, Soudai-kun? Are you feeling well today?"

As Kyouichi silently measured up the woman, he thought to himself: "So this is the famous Yagokoro Eirin? For someone who's several millennia old, she looks too pretty? Ugh? What am I thinking? I better greet her politely too?"

"Umm? Good afternoon, Yagokoro-sama?" he greeted shyly, just like every time he met someone new.

Eirin turned her surprised face to him and blinked, as if to make sure she was't seeing a mirage.

"Ishimaru-san? I heard from Reisen that you woke up, but why did you put the bandages down?" then she shook her head as if to gesture she takes back her last question. "More importantly, how come you recovered so fast?"

"Uhh? thanks to your umm? expert treatment?" shrugged the outsider as he told a little lie.

"It? can't be?" objected Eirin as she took steps to Kyouichi's bed and scanned his face. "My herbal regenerating balm works great, but not that fast? Did Reisen give you any medicine recently?"

The outsider decided to play dumb. "Maybe? I don't know?"

"This is really strange?" the doctor scratched her head thoughtfully.

"I'd really like to thank you for taking care of me, Yagokoro-sensei?" thanked the outsider. "After reading some of your manuscripts and transcribing them, I've always wondered what you looked like in person. It is a real pleasure to meet you." he bowed deeply even when he was sitting in his bed. "How much do I owe you for treatment and when can I go back to the village?"

The silver-haired doctor giggled weakly. "Take it easy now? First off, I'm fine with being called by my first name. Secondly? what manuscripts are you talking about? And finally, even despite your miraculously quick recovery, I'd like to keep you here a bit longer for observation? As for the money, you don't need to concern yourself with that right now?"

"But, but? I'm already healthy?" protested Kyouichi who wanted to be out of this place as soon as possible.

"The strong occipitofrontal trauma caused by a direct hit of a danmaku projectile might have triggered an endorphin rush, resulting in a sudden pain relief?"

Kyouichi confusedly stared at Eirin with his mouth ajar, barely understanding half of what she just said. "I? I'm sorry, Eirin-sensei, but I don't speak Lunarian?"

"In other words?" continued the doctor after another giggle, "?you may still not be as fit and healthy as you might think. And even if you are, I'm going to find out how is it possible. Don't worry, though, a couple of more days and we'll send you back home? or to the place where you currently reside. We'll move you to rehabilitation ward along with Asakura-san. Take your time to relax and recover properly?"

"You don't understand? Time is a luxury I don't have." objected the outsider, looking pleadingly into the Lunarian's gray eyes.

His serious expression only managed to elicit another amused giggle from Eirin. "Ah~. You're so funny, Kyouichi-san." she patted him on the head like mother pats a child who said something too mature for his age. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I? I need to send or deliver these papers?" he reached for his notes from Kazemura and waved them gently, "?to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"What's this?" asked the Lunarian, taking the notes from Kyouichi's hand and briefly racing through them. "Are you some sort of archeologist or surveyor?"

"No? Just a hired man sent out on an investigation. And I'm already late with my report for Remilia-sama."

Eirin's face turned to serious again as she returned the notes to their owner. "What would the vampire hire somebody else for? Especially somebody from outside the border?"

"Haven't you just read my notes? It's all there? I was to take a look into a certain matter involving fairy attacks."

"That incident?" asked Eirin with a little raised voice. "As far as I've heard, Kazemura is currently among the most dangerous places in Gensokyo. The source of the fairy madness is said to be somewhere near that area? Furthermore, while you've been lying unconscious, there have been several simultaneous fairy attacks on random locations, reaching as far as the forest near the Hakurei Shrine. The resulting forest fires could have caused catastrophic damage, if it weren't for the initiative of several brave humans and youkai."

The news of the recent forest fires left Kyouichi flabbergasted for a good moment, allowing Eirin to make a quick check-up of the other patients in the ward, especially Ai, who needed to have her bandages replaced again. Poor girl has suffered some bad burns that must have been painful to bear even with anesthetics. Kyouichi felt sorry for her, even when he met her only once and spoke with her just briefly. The same pity he felt for her worried mother, even when Eirin was persuading her that everything will turn out well for Ai-chan. Then he returned to his previous thoughts and timidly asked: "Umm? Eirin-sensei?"

"What is it, Kyouichi-san?"

"I know you're busy, but? could you please send some of your rabbits to deliver these notes to the Scarlet Devil Mansion? I couldn't care less about the fairy incident, but this is really important both to me and Remilia-sama?"

The Lunarian froze in motion for a moment as she glanced at him, then she compassionately nodded. "Very well? I suppose I could employ one of the rabbits with this task. But I have my doubts about this? If your notes are so important, shouldn't they be sent to the Hakurei miko instead?"

"Perhaps they should, but the shrine maiden is not going to pay me for it. Besides, I'm not too confident to say she'd be able to make heads or tails out of these notes? But somebody more knowledgeable, like Remilia-sama or Patchouli-sama would be more likely to know how to use these findings to make further progress?"

"Aah~. Patchouli-san." said Eirin, as if she had recalled or realized something. "Well, that solves our problems?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're in luck, Kyouichi-san. Patchou

[Captain Vulcan]

I still have a lot to catch up on. But I feel sorry for Kyouichi and at the same time jealous of him. What he saw is something that is rarely seen by the eyes of men.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 37 ? A Living Legend

After two days on the ward his sympathy towards fairies has grown by yet another little bit. He even dared to play some games with them and gave them simple riddles to guess. The most enthusiastic person to guess the riddles was Cirno, but of all the fairies in the room she managed to guess correctly the least times. Kyouichi could never hide his amusement at how childish, yet adorable this ice fairy could be. When he later apologized to her for being mad at her for sinking his borrowed boat at Misty Lake, she didn't seem to care the slightest bit. However, when he gave her his after-meal dessert, which was a part of the lunch on that day, it was a completely different story. Her way of accepting the apology was somewhere along the lines of: "Hmph? I just might spare you from the wrath of my icy danmaku for today, human, but if you want to prolong your puny existence, you better give me more next time~!"

Coming from someone else, Kyouichi would most likely frown at the person, but in Cirno's case, he couldn't help but to smile. Especially when in the following moment Cirno flew back to her friends, joyfully calling: "Yahay~! I got an extra muffin~! Yummy~!"

"Muffins aren't bad?" commented Moe as she was eating her share, "But Ai-chan's homemade cookies are the best. I wish I could see Ai-chan again?"

"I wonder how she's doing too." murmured Kyouichi thoughtfully.

"We could ask Reisen about her." Soudai gave a reasonable response. "On another note, I wonder when will Eirin-sensei give us permission to return to the village. It's been two days already and she hasn't even shown herself in this ward ever since."

His remark was correct indeed, because the only person who checked on them from time to time was Reisen. Since Eirin was the only one who decided whether the patients should or shouldn't leave Eientei, nobody was certain when exactly she'd give them that permission.

Almost as if the patients' wishful thoughts were to be answered, someone opened the ward's door and entered. It still wasn't the mentioned Lunarian doctor, nor was it her apprentice Reisen. It wasn't even the temporary doctor, Patchouli. The person entering the ward was a slender young female with long, straight, slick and glossy black hair that was styled in a hime-cut. She wore a white uniform, very similar to the one that Patchouli was dressed in. Although still not knowing her name, Kyouichi recognized her right away and his heart skipped a beat from the shock.

"Holy crap! That's the girl I stumbled upon when I accidentally entered the bathing room?" he thought to himself as cold sweat dripped down the side of his face. It seemed to him that she was a part of Eientei's staff and he dreaded the thought that she would recognize him as her unwanted voyeur.

"Good day to you all." she greeted formally and closed the door behind her.

As she was nearing the patients' beds, Kyouichi was trying to pretend that he was sleeping, concealing his face with the covers, all the while thinking: "I'm doomed?"

"I've come to do a regular check-up in Eirin's stead." the young doctor explained her arrival and with a somewhat grudging expression, she began examining the patients one by one.

"Alright, you seem to be recovering well, Takamori-san." commented the new doctor and walked up to the second bed. "Next up is? Asakura-san. Stand up, please?"

"Oh, damn?" cursed Kyouichi under the bed covers, brainstorming for a way to avoid being killed in the following moment. "What do I do now?"

"Good. You may lay down again, Asakura-san." said the doctor's voice, and after a moment of silence, her steps were headed towards Kyouichi's bed. "Who's next? Hmm? let's see? Ishimaru-san, is it? Huh?" she questioningly tilted her head to the side as she saw that the patient was "fast asleep". "Is he still sleeping?"

"I doubt it." replied Soudai nonchalantly. "We were talking just a while ago?"

Kyouichi angrily clenched his fist and softly hit his forehead with his knuckle. "Damn you, Asakura! Damn you~!" he thought to himself.

"Hey, Ishimaru-san, wake up~!" said the doctor gently. Kyouichi was still petrified and didn't move.

"Ishimaru-san! Ishimaru-san! Come on, wake up already!" she raised her voice and attempted to pull the covers down, but the outsider was clenching them tightly like a vice.

"Here, let me help you, miss." Soudai gentlemanly offered his help, stood up from his bed and with one swift pull, he successfully seized the covers and revealed Kyouichi who was apparently faking his sleep.

"Hey. What are you doing, pal? It's just a regular check-up. There's nothing to be afraid of." he said a few words of comfort. "Plus, the doctor is a real beauty? Now get up already!"

"But I don't want to~!" protested Kyouichi as Soudai yanked him out of the bed. He was now standing in front of the young doctor and thought that she'd recognize him immediately, but she only gave him a confused look.

"If you keep acting so strangely, Ishimaru-san we'll have to keep you here even longer." she made a joking threat and smiled.

While Kyouichi was standing still like a pillar, all pale from stress, he couldn't help but to wonder why this girl didn't recognize him. Then he realized it.

"But of course! I had my face all bandaged-up." he thought as he exhaled with relief.

"Come on, step a little closer, Ishimaru-san." the doctor requested, readying her stethoscope. "You're making the other patients wait."

Relieved that the young doctor didn't know that it was him who saw her in the bathing room, Kyouichi now acted like a completely different person. As he walked up to the doctor, she measured him up and with a curious face she asked: "Why were you looking so strangely at me? As if you had known me? Have we met before?"

Kyouichi shook his head so profusely and vigorously that his own ponytail slapped him a few times. "No, no, no! That's impossible!"

"Really?" asked the doctor. "Impossible you say? Is this your first time in Eientei?"

"Yes. My first?"

"Okay? Could you turn around, please?"

Kyouichi obliged and turned around while the young doctor listened to his heartbeat with the stethoscope.

"Umm? I'm recovering from an injury; not a disease. Why listening to my breathing?"

"Because Eirin told me to check up everyone in that way?" replied the young lady with reluctance in her voice, which made her sound rather unprofessional. "She said to give all the patients a thorough check-up just in case?"

For a while Kyouichi just did as the doctor told him and breathed deeply as she moved her stethoscope to different spots on his back.

"So? is my breathing and pulse okay?"

"I guess so." replied the doctor, letting Kyouichi turn his face to her again.

"I knew I was healthy all along. May I ask when will we finally get discharged?"

The black-haired doctor blinked her dark-brown eyes a few times and shifted her thoughtful gaze away from Kyouichi's face. "Hmm? I don't know. Eirin's been busy with surgeries and medicine production and hasn't told me anything about that matter."

The way she mentioned Eirin's name without any honorific made the outsider think that this young doctor had about the same authority as her silver-haired colleague. However, her demeanor, her attitude and even the way this young beauty carried herself made him think otherwise.

"You don't know? Aren't you a doctor too?"

"I'm just doing what a nurse does." the young female corrected him.

"Ah, so you're a temporary staff member like Patchouli-sama, right?"

"Uhh, yes, something like that." she nodded and a slight blush showed on her cheeks. "Reisen is now busy with office work, so I'm checking on the patients now."

"So I guess we'll have to keep waiting some more? Great." frowned the outsider and sat down on his bed.

"Wait, I'm not done with the check-up yet."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry? I just spaced-out a bit." he apologized and stood up again, letting the nurse or doctor or whoever she was finish the check-up.

"By the way, I believe I didn't catch your name, Miss?."

"It's on my ID-card." she replied and pointed at the small card pinned to her chest.

Kyouichi leaned a bit closer so he'd be able to read the tiny kanji characters on the card.

"Hou-rai-san? Te-ru-yo?" he syllabicated slowly.

The girl immediately pouted and furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I'm Kaguya~! Ka-gu-ya~!"

"Oh? Well, that's another way to read it? Sorry for messing up your name, Kaguya-san."

"Yeah, nice to see somebody new checking on us." said Soudai with a smile. "Nice to meet you too, Kaguya-chan."

"...chan? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" the girl asked a bit incredulously.

"Uhh? A cute temporary nurse of Eientei?"

Soudai's wrong guess made Akiyoshi let out an amused chuckle, but otherwise he didn't say anything.

"Haven't they taught you anything about Eientei at that school in the village?" Kaguya asked both outsiders.

"Well? umm? We haven't yet learned about Eientei at school." Soudai explained his lack of knowledge. "I just know some vague information about this place from the villagers and a little bit from Reisen and Eirin-sensei."

"Huh? You haven't learned about Eientei yet? And you still go to school? At your age?" Kaguya could hardly believe Soudai's words.

Lieutenant Takamori chuckled again and finally spoke up. "You'll have to forgive these two, Kaguya-sama. They're outsiders, so naturally they don't know everything about Gensokyo and its important locations and people. But to be honest, it really surprised me as well to see you working as a nurse."

"I've already explained my will to be useful to Eirin and I really don't want to go over all that again?" muttered the black-haired nurse and again glanced at Soudai and Kyouichi. "So, you two are outsiders as well?"

"As well, you say?" Kyouichi repeated her last words. "Have you had more outsiders stay in Eientei lately?"

"More than I care to count or remember." replied Kaguya disdainfully. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't know me?"

"Hmm?" Soudai hummed, thinking hard. "Well? Takamori-san addressed you with the "sama" suffix, so you must be someone important? My guess is that you run this place."

"Very good, Asakura-san." she praised him with a smile and nod.

"Whoa, really? It was just a wild guess?" admitted the older outsider. "So technically, you're Eirin-sensei's superior, right?"

"Yes. I'm the proprietor of Eientei, but that's not all there is to my status." she winked as if prompting the outsiders to keep guessing.

"In that case, forgive my rudeness, Kaguya-sama, for addressing you improperly." Soudai apologized to her.

In the meantime, Kyouichi's brain kept coming up with many, many varying ideas as to who exactly this person might be. "Hmm? Kaguya, Kaguya, Kaguya?" he kept whispering her name and put into association with the Lunarian race. "You're Kaguya? Wait... Not THE??!"

Kaguya's smile widened and eyes closed in a silent response.

"Who? What?" Soudai uttered with a confused face.

"The Kaguya? from Taketori Monogatari (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter)? Kaguya-hime? The Moon princess?" Kyouichi spoke slowly, as if he was unable to believe his own words.

"Say what?" sounded Soudai's surprised voice again. "Look, I know that we're in Gensokyo and all, but this is just ridicu?"

"Wonderful~!" chimed Kaguya's cheerful voice, cutting off Soudai's last word. "You guessed it correctly after all? Who would have thought that an event from over 1300 years ago would survive for so long in the memories of Earth's people even outside of Gensokyo's barrier?"

"Oh-my-gosh~!" exclaimed the younger outsider in a state bordering with overexcitement. "That's incredible! I loved that story when I was a kid, even if it's a sad one? I even cried when I heard it for the first time."

"I wonder how does today's version of that story sound?"

"Sure, I can tell you if you got time, but? If you're truly the person from that tale, shouldn't you be??" he pointed his finger upwards, indicating the Moon.

Kaguya gently shook her head, making her beautiful hair sway from side to side. "I guess the story differs from the reality after all." she commented. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to listen to stories or to tell them. Eientei may have the capacity to accommodate even thousands of people, but there's only one Eirin. I don't know what's going on out there, but the number of patients we've taken in has by far exceeded our standards. Humans, youkai, natives, outsiders? We've got them all and they're all in need of treatment, as you can see."

"But I already made a full recovery." Kyouichi pointed out.

"Yeah, me too." Soudai seconded. "If you're Eirin-sensei's superior, couldn't YOU give us the permission to go?"

"While it may be true that Eirin serves under me, I highly respect her, so I wouldn't do anything she would disagree with. Besides, this is HER line of work, so she has the final say about all matters regarding medicine production, distribution and direct treatment. I assure you that as soon she has time, she'll come to see you and discharge you, should she consider your condition as completely healthy. But you are at least allowed to move freely around the first and third floor of Eientei, or to go out for some fresh air. However, you shouldn't stray too far from Eientei, lest you want to get yourself lost in that big bamboo forest."

"Eirin-sama already told us that we can stroll about the first and third floors." recalled Soudai. "Though she never said what's on the second one?"

"The second and fourth floors are the living quarters of the resident rabbits, Eirin's quarters, and of course, my private chambers." answered the princess.

"It just comes to me as rather strange for the Intensive Care Ward to be located on the 3rd floor?" Kyouichi pointed out. "Wouldn't it be more convenient for it to be on the ground floor? That way the patients that would require immediate treatment or surgery wouldn't need to be laboriously carried up the stairs."

"The operating room is indeed down on the ground floor. Once their condition is stabilized, the patients are taken up to a respective ward on the third floor by the rabbits..." explained Kaguya and took another look into her notepad after she finished checking up Kyouichi. "Alright, next up? Moe-san?"

"Yes~!" chimed the gentle fairy and floated towards Kaguya.

While she was checking up the fairy, Kyouichi's mind drifted again to Ai Kurohana. He was really curious to know how she was doing and how long she would have to stay here. Since the only person in the room who might have an idea about that was Kaguya, he asked her.

"Kurohana Ai-san, you say?" the princess repeated the girl's name.

"Yes, please tell me how Ai-chan is doing~!" Moe also begged her for the answer.

"I'm sorry?" Kaguya apologetically lowered her head. "Since I'm not a regular staff member, as you already figured, I don't know all the patients by their names." she stopped examining the fairy for a moment to look into her notepad containing the names of patients she was supposed to check up.

"She's placed on the Intensive Care Ward." Kyouichi tried to help her remember. "A girl around the age of 15, crimson hair? Suffered multiple burns?"

"Ah? That explains why I don't know her?" noted Kaguya to herself. "This is my second day on the job and mostly my work consists of only the simplest of tasks, such as doing regular check-ups."

"So you don't have any medical experience at all?!" asked Soudai whose facial expression already went through several degrees of surprise and confusion.

"I am a princess." Kaguya emphasized. "Naturally, I have minimal medical experience. I decided do this job of my own free will, for which you should at least show some gratitude? Eirin gave me a quick course so that I could do my tasks well? Nobody died or complained? yet."

"That's? relieving to hear?" nodded Soudai with a worried smile. "And we ARE thankful to you for volunteering yourself as a part-time nurse, Kaguya-sama."

"Very well?" shrugged the proud Moon princess and resumed her work. "So as I already explained, it's not that hard to figure that Eirin wouldn't let me work on the Intensive Care due to my lack of experience. Guess that's why I don't have the name Kurohana anywhere in my list? I'd suggest you ask either Eirin or Reisen."

"Or we could just go and visit Kurohana-san ourselves?" speculated the older outsider.

Kaguya made a disagreeing hum as a response. "It'd be better if you didn't. It's not allowed for patients to visit other wards than the ones they are assigned to. People may visit the patients only during the visiting hours and only with the approval from a qualified doctor, which I'm not."

"Now I'm quite confused." admitted Soudai. "Who's really in charge of this place? You or Eirin?"

"I'd really like to let you visit your friend, but? like I said, I respect Eirin's word."

"Never mind, Kaguya-sama?" Soudai waved his hand. "Thanks anyway."

In that very instant, Kyouichi snapped his fingers and with his eyes and mouth opened wide, stared into the ceiling as if he remembered something important. Soudai noticed his reaction and raised an eyebrow. "What's up, Kyouichi?"

"My healing potion?" he whispered a barely audible reply.

"What?? Oh~! THAT! What about the potion?"

"Shhhhhh~!" the younger outsider hushed him as he didn't really want his little trip to the reception office to go public. "Not so loud, damn it!"

"Hm? Did you need something, Asakura-san?" asked Kaguya who heard him say something, but was standing too far away to make out the words.

"Uhh, no, nothing, nothing?" he denyingly shook his head as he lied.

As Kaguya shrugged and continued checking up the other youkai patients, Soudai and Kyouichi both exhaled heavily.

"So? What did you say about that red stuff?" Soudai whispered his question to his neighbor.

"I hid the bottle under my bed, but I forgot to bring it here."

"Ah? So it's still there in the "Not-So-Intensive-Care-Ward", huh?"

Kyouichi nodded once. "I need to get that potion back?"

"What's your suggestion then? You've heard Kaguya-sama, didn't you? We're not allowed to visit any other wards but this one?"

"Yes, I caught that part. Thank you for reminding me." replied the younger outsider with a calm, but agitated tone. "Now let me think, okay?"

Soudai didn't heed his friend's request and turned again to Kaguya, who was now checking up Wriggle.

"Umm? Kaguya-sama?"

"What is it?"

"If I got discharged from Eientei and wanted to visit someone who's on the Intensive Care Ward... When are the visiting hours?"

Kaguya sighed and nodded understandingly. "I understand your concern for your friend, Asakura-san? Once you get discharged, you can visit the patients every weekday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m."

"Oh? Okay, thank you very much?" he bowed thankfully. He didn't really have any friends on that ward besides Kyouichi. To him, Kurohana Ai was just another patient and he already heard Eirin say countless times that she'll make a full recovery, but it will take some time. The only reason he asked this question was to find out when it would be possible to enter the ward. Right now, however, it was already past 5 p.m., so Kyouichi would just have to wait and pray that no one would notice the bottle with suspicious red liquid under one of the beds.

"Tomorrow's your chance, Kyouichi?" he whispered with a mischievous grin.

The younger outsider nodded and was already mentally preparing himself for another little sneaking mission. He still had no idea how he was supposed to carry it out, though.

"Well, it seems you're all in good health?" summarized Kaguya as she finished her check-up with the last patient. "I hope Eirin will make some time to have a look at you too? You're not the only ones who can't wait for you to get discharged."

"Yeah? I can understand that." said Lt. Takamori. "With so many patients in Eientei, your servants have barely enough time to tend to your needs, Kaguya-sama. Guess that's why you're working as a voluntary nurse?"

"You're half right about that, Takamori-san." acknowledged the Moon princess. "Another reason why I got into this is the lack of privacy. The other day when I was about to take a bath, some masked pervert walked into the bathing room and stared at me? The rudeness?"

"Now what kind of brazen bastard would do that??" asked Soudai. "I'd like to congratulate him?" he whispered silently, so only he could actually hear it.

"I've been asking myself the same question?" replied Kaguya with a thoughtful expression. "Must have been one of the patients? Probably already got discharged?"

Kyouichi nervously gulped and wiped a few droplets of cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to have any comment about this matter in order to keep the truth hidden and his hide in one piece. He's heard quite a few things about the Lunarians and how powerful they are. He really wouldn't want to get on their bad side and for the sake of this, he had to stay quiet.

"Well, anyway, my work here is done?" said Kaguya and was ready to leave the room.

"Wait, Kaguya-sama~!"

"Huh? Ishimaru-san?"

Kyouichi hesitatingly looked into her eyes and shyly asked: "Can I ask you one more thing before you leave?"

Kaguya returned a curious look. "What would it be?"

"?Can I get your autograph, please?"

"My? what?"

"Come on, you're Princess Kaguya from Taketori Monogatari? How many outsiders can brag about having met you in person and owning your autograph to prove it?"

"Actually, quite a number of outsiders have already met me in person." she led him out of fallacy. "However, you're the first one to request an autograph from me?"

"I want one too~!" Soudai joined the imaginary waitlist for Kaguya-hime's original autograph.

For a moment, she was hesitant, but she found the fact that somebody would ask her for an autograph quite flattering.

"Very well?" she nodded with a smile and ripped off two sheets of paper out of her notepad, jotting down her name on both of them. "Here you are?"

"Thank you very much, princess." said both outsiders almost in unison.

"You know, I rarely missed an opportunity to talk to outsiders, but the time is really pressing? Perhaps we can have a conversation when you visit us next time."

"No, I'm afraid this is the first and the last time we see each other." said Kyouichi and glanced at his friend who nodded agreeingly. "We're returning home in three months? It's been a great pleasure meeting you, nonetheless."

"You're leaving Gensokyo?" the princess curiously tilted her head. "Is that even possible?"

"Sure is." confirmed the younger outsider. "Reimu-san will take us across the barrier. From there on, we'll be on our own, but I think we can make it if we're well supplied."

"But? you said you'll be leaving in three months? A lot can still happen in those three months. Perhaps this won't be the last time we'll see each other."

Kyouichi gave out a soft chuckle. "Hm? I'd rather not get seriously injured again? But now that I think about it, perhaps you'll also attend the upcoming Tanabata festival, right?"

"The festival?" Kaguya repeated.

"Yeah? I'm really looking forward to it. I know all of you in Eientei are very busy these days, but perhaps things will change until then?"

"I'll think about it." replied the Moon princess without any false promises and opened the sliding door. "I'm not even sure if I should say "farewell" or "until next time"?" she said with a giggle.

"Let's make it a "goodbye" then?" suggested Soudai. "That sounds neutral."

"Very well. Goodbye to you all?" said Kaguya with a gentle nod and left the ward.

Soudai immediately looked at his paper sheet with the princess's autograph and grinned smugly. "Who would have guessed it? The legendary Moon princess Kaguya? She's really very beautiful, just as the story said."

"I can only confirm that?" remarked Kyouichi and also checked his paper with Kaguya's name. "But you better not start anything with her? You know well how that story goes, don't you?"

"Yeah? The Five Impossible Requests, blah, blah, blah? I wonder how much of that tale is actually true."

"I'd be eager to know that as well." admitted the younger outsider. "But this thing here?" he waved the paper with autograph in his hand, "This is quite a souvenir to bring home from Gensokyo?"

"You got that right!" agreed Soudai. "This has an immeasurable value!"

"Hmph~! My autograph would be at least as valuable as hers~!" sounded the childish voice of Cirno, the ice fairy.

"Huh? Cirno-chan?" both outsiders turned their gazes at her.

"Can you even write?" Kyouichi asked her, because he wasn't too sure about it.

"I bet she can't?" murmured Soudai.

They got a reply as they would expect from Cirno: "Of course I can write, you dummy and idiot!" she exclaimed agitatedly.

"No, no, no?" Kyouichi interrupted her. "He's the dumb one; I'm the idiot? Don't get us confused!" he jestingly corrected her.

"I know all the kana characters and even alphabet letters~!" declared the ice fairy with pride.

"Wow! This fairy has potential?" said Kyouichi with an acknowledging nod.

Soudai let out an amazed whistle. "That's quite something? For a fairy, I mean."

"That's because I'm a genius~!"

"In that case, could I have your autograph too?"

"Huh? You really want it?" asked the ice fairy in disbelief, even if it was her who suggested the idea in the first place.

"Yes, I do?" the younger outsider gave an affirmative nod. "Getting an autograph from a fairy is quite a rarity too."

"Yaay~! I'm a celebrity now~!" rejoiced the fairy and started to fly around in circles to express her emotions.

Soudai and Kyouichi exchanged their confused looks and after shrugging they asked Lt. Takamori to lend them his pen and sacrifice two blank pages from his little diary.

The Ryuuken lieutenant reluctantly obliged while muttering: "Why are you spoiling that fairy anyway?"

"Because we're two strangers on an unwanted tour." replied the older outsider and passed his blank diary page to Cirno. "Everything we see here, we don't see where we come from? Why not take some souvenirs while we're still here?"

The ice fairy took the page and the pen and with a bit shaky and clumsy grip, she scribbled her name on it.

"Chi-ru-no? There. Aren't you honored to have my autograph?"

Soudai checked the paper to see the fairy's name written in hiragana as well as Romanized.

"Thank you? But it seems you misspelled your name with the Roman letters."

"No, it's correct~!" Cirno insisted.

"But you've written "Cirno" here?"

"Because that's my name. It's spelled "Cirno" and pronounced "Chiruno"."

"Oh? I see now?" he nodded understandingly as he examined the fairy's crude handwriting.

"Don't forget about me, Cirno-chan?" said Kyouichi as he passed the piece of paper to the ice fairy to sign.

She again sloppily scribbled her name on it, and with a smiling face returned it to the outsider.

"Now I'm a famous fairy~!" sang Cirno happily.

"Now, you say? So you're trying to say you weren't famous until now?" Kyouichi teased her a bit.

"Of course I was famous even before then!" pouted the fairy.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember reading an article in the news about an ice fairy being eaten by a giant toad or something?" said Akiyoshi.

"T-that's a lie~!" Cirno immediately denied, but her slightly trembling voice and a little stutter made everyone in the room doubt the credibility of her claim.
As the hours went by and the evening fell, the cheerful atmosphere on the Rehabilitation Ward had died down a little. The youkai girls found entertainment in telling scary stories, Lt. Takamori decided to go out for some fresh air and the outsiders were plotting how to retrieve the healing potion from the intensive care without getting caught.

"You really think it will be that easy?" Kyouichi asked his older acquaintance. "There's always bound to be someone accompanying the visitors during the visiting hours."

"I wouldn't say that with such certainty." Soudai opposed. "Remember last time when Mrs. Kurohana visited her daughter? Reisen did only as much as show her the way to the ward and then she was gone again? I say all you need to do tomorrow is to wait for the right opportunity."

"Hmm? Even if you're right, I still think it's risky."

"Look, all you're going there for is to take that stupid bottle; nothing more. A simple task. In and out; no one injured."

"Perhaps I'd draw less suspicion if I could get dressed into something? normal." Kyouichi kept thinking aloud.

"Hey, I got another idea." Soudai declared with a raised finger. "We could ask one of them to do it for us?" he sneakily pointed at the group of fairies and two non-fairies behind Kyouichi.

The younger outsider didn't even look back. He just rolled his eyes and tapped his finger twice on the side of his head, silently saying "Are you out of your mind?" to his older friend.

"I might as well go after Eirin and tell her: Excuse me, but would you mind bringing me a bottle of potion, made by a shady immortal youkai alchemist who hates Lunarians with a passion, which I smuggled into the Intensive Care Ward, but forgot it under my bed? Thank you very much?" he said with intended sarcasm.

"Hmm? You're right. I think we should just stick to the original plan and wait for an opportunity." concluded the older outsider. "Perhaps I could even distract Eirin or Reisen or whoever will be there, so that you'd have a clear path."

"Simple?" remarked Kyouichi after a while of thinking, "?yet clever."

"Good? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep now?" said Soudai as he yawned.

"It's still rather early." Kyouichi stated after a glance out of the round window.

"I know. But those fairies always wake up so early and become noisy. It's impossible to have a peaceful morning with them on the ward? Good night."

Kyouichi once again took a look at his two papers with autographs from Kaguya and Cirno, folded them up and put them away on the night table.

"Well then? I better go catch some z's too if I want to be fresh in the morning?" he thought to himself as he decided to call it a day.

[Fonzi]

Announcement:

Only now I noticed that some of my longer chapters were cut-off when I first posted them. I don't know what is causing this problem, but I apologize for this inconvenience. I have already fixed all the chapters and will take extra caution to avoid posting cut-off chapters in the future. Simple editing seemed to do the trick. What saddens me, though, is that nobody warned me about it, even after over 700 hits. A little feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 38 ? A Lost Umbrella

Just as Soudai had predicted, the first ones to wake up were the childish and energetic fairies. Their chattering could be heard as soon as the first rays of sun seeped through the natural cover of bamboo surrounding the building of Eientei. At first they weren't too loud to wake up their roommates, but that didn't last too long.

"Waaah~! Where did Kogasa-chan go~?" exclaimed Sunny as she realized that one of the beds was empty.

"Oooh, you're right, Sunny~!" confirmed Luna. "She's not here. Did she tell you where she was going, Wriggle-chan?"

"No, she didn't tell me anything." replied Wriggle's voice. "We should tell Eirin-sama?"

"Maybe she just needed to use the restroom." reasoned Star. "There's no need to cause a fuss."

"But, but..." Cirno joined the discussion, but forgot what she wanted to say.

"She'll be back in a few minutes, you'll see." Star reassured everyone. "Let's play something until then."

"What, what~?" Cirno was apparently eager to play.

"Tag?" suggested Sunny and looked at the expressions of other girls.

"We've played that yesterday." Luna reminded her. "How about a pillow war?"

"Pfff~!" scoffed the ice fairy. "That's no fun in comparison to danmaku."

"But we're not allowed to play danmaku inside, Cirno-chan." said Wriggle.

"Which is why I'm already growing sick of this place." murmured the disappointed ice fairy. "There aren't even any frogs to freeze?"

"I say pillow war is almost as good as a practice of danmaku?" Luna insisted on her idea.

"No, it's not. It's boring." Cirno disagreed with her.

"Maybe you're just afraid you'll lose~!" the moonlight fairy taunted.

"Oh yeah?! I'll show you that I'm the strongest pillow fighter~!" Cirno accepted the challenge. "Bring it o?" *thud* her last word was silenced by a swift strike of a pillow flying from Luna's hands.

Madness ensued. Pillows were flying around like danmaku and the fairies' laughter and screams echoed throughout the ward. It was therefore only a matter of time before one of the pillows missed its intended target and hit one of the sleeping humans.

"Oh, for crying out loud?" thought Kyouichi to himself as his dream was interrupted by a sensation of being hit in the head with something soft. He opened his sleepy eyes and slowly sat up, looking around.

"Okay, which one of you threw that pillow?"

Wriggle and four of the fairies pointed their fingers simultaneously at Sunny who was now floating by the door with an innocent look on her face. That was all that Kyouichi wanted to know. He grabbed the pillow that hit him just a few seconds ago, cocked back his right arm and heaved the pillow with full strength at the culprit. Sunny was quick, though, and she managed to move out of the way with little effort. But just before the pillow would land harmlessly on the sliding door, someone just had to be there to open it and catch it in their face?
"Unf? w-what's going on?" sounded a surprised mature female voice that could belong only to one person?

"Oh my god, Eirin-sama, I'm so sorry~!" Kyouichi immediately bent forward in apology. "I didn't mean to?

"Ishimaru-san? Why are you throwing bed pillows?" she gave him an accusing glance.

"The fairies? They started a pillow fight and hit me while I was sleeping. I just wanted to return the blow and then?"

"?I opened the door?" Eirin finished the sentence and giggled. "I see? But still, that was rather childish of you, Ishimaru-san."

"I'm sorry, Eirin-sama? Are you alright?"

"I am." she replied as she picked up the pillow from the ground and entered the ward. "In fact, I've got some good news for you all?"

"Yes?"

"Good news?" Soudai immediately sat up, eager to hear what Eirin had to say.

"I'm all ears, Eirin-sama?" said Akiyoshi as he focused his attention at the Lunarian.

"Can we use danmaku indoors now?" Cirno tried to guess what the good news was.

"No, no, dear Cirno-san?" smiled Eirin as she lightly shook her head. "I'm finally done with all the surgeries and finally have some time to take a look at you. If your results are good, you may even get discharged and be on your way home."

"That's great news, Eirin-sama!" rejoiced Soudai. "But Kaguya-sama had already checked us up yesterday."

"Yes, of course." nodded the silver-haired doctor. "I gave her that assignment after all? According to her, your physical condition is as good as healthy. However, there are still a few tests I'll need to put you through before I let you go home?"

"Tests?" Kyouichi repeated with a worried expression.

"No need to worry. These tests are completely painless, although a bit time-consuming? But before we begin, does anybody know where Tatara-san is?" asked Eirin after she noticed the absence of one of the patients.

"We don't know?" shrugged Sunny Milk as she briefly glanced at her friends' equally clueless faces. "Kogasa-chan wasn't already here when we woke up."

"I thought that she needed to go to the restroom, but she's gone for quite a while now." explained Star.

"Well, if she won't return when her turn comes, I won't be able to tell if she's really healthy." said Eirin with a concerned tone. "I'm talking about her magical health? Anyway, the first on my list is Takamori-san, so could you please follow me to my office?"

Akiyoshi was on his feet in an instant. "Of course, Yagokoro-sensei."
Soudai and Kyouichi curiously watched as the Ryuuken lieutenant left the ward along with Eirin. As they exchanged their looks, both of them thought that the day when they get discharged from Eientei was today.

"Say, Kyou, how about we go fetch that potion of yours now? It seems Eirin will be busy for the next couple of minutes."

"It's morning, man? The visiting hours start in the afternoon."

"I think you're not fully awake, dude." Soudai said with a louder and more serious voice. "Why the hell do you want to wait for visiting hours?! Just go there now. There's hardly anyone there watching over the ward anyway."

Kyouichi's eyes widened as soon as he realized that Soudai was most likely right about this.

He got out of his bed and walked up to the door.

"Aren't you going with me?" he asked as he turned back to see Soudai still sitting in his bed.

"What for? It's your potion. You've brought it there, you've forgotten it there; you go get it."

"Heh? Alright." said the younger outsider after a weak chuckle.
He opened the door and peeked out on the corridor. Since it was early in the morning, there were just a few youkai rabbits running their menial errands. Kyouichi stepped out of the room and headed towards the Intensive Care Ward. He still remembered the way, since Patchouli led both him and Soudai from there to the Rehabilitation Ward three days ago. When he found the right door, he rubbed his palms against his robe to wipe off the sweat as well as to relieve a little bit of stress.

"Okay, this should be smooth and easy?" he thought to himself and opened the door.

"Aw, damn it!" he cursed in his mind as soon as he did that, because Reisen was there in the room, changing Ai's bandages.

"Who's there?" she asked as she turned around to look who opened the door. "Ishimaru-san? Is something wrong? You shouldn't really be here, you know."

"I was just? uhh?" he stuttered as he tried to think of any justifiable reason for his visit. "I wanted to see how Ai-san is doing."

Reisen raised her eyebrow. "Kurohana-san? Well, to be honest, it could be better. But I suppose it could be much worse too?"

Kyouichi found Reisen's serious tone rather unsettling. "Is she? really going to make a full recovery?"

"That she is." confirmed the Moon rabbit and resumed her work. "Eientei isn't known as Gensokyo's finest medical facility for nothing. Although I have to admit, burns are some of the nastiest injuries. Their treatment is lengthy, and requires a lot of work as well as resources? Bandages, regenerating salves and of course, sedatives to ease the pain... It might take yet another week before we won't need to use sedatives on her."

"Poor Ai-chan? Be strong?"

"If she wasn't, she probably wouldn't make it through her first night here." commented Reisen, still fully focused on her work.

"Her condition seems too serious to be caused by fairies?" Kyouichi contemplated. "Or am I wrong?"

"Fairies can be surprisingly strong. And when driven by this mysterious rage, their battle prowess seems to be increased? at the cost of their resurrection speed. I hope the shrine maiden can put things back to normal soon."

While Reisen was talking without keeping an eye contact with Kyouichi, the young outsider thought that he should take this momentary chance to snatch the potion bottle from under the bed. He made a few silent steps towards the said bed when the Moon rabbit unexpectedly turned her face at him.

"If Kurohana-san is your friend, I can fully understand how you feel, but please... I must ask you to leave this ward. We could both get into trouble if Eirin-sama sees you here."

Kyouichi clenched his right fist out of frustration that his plan failed, but obliged Reisen's request.

"I understand? Sorry to bother you, Reisen-san." he apologized and left the room.
"So how did it go? Do you have it?" Soudai immediately inquired as soon as Kyouichi returned to the Rehabilitation Ward.

"Do you see any bottle in my hands?" replied the younger outsider with a question, not waiting to hear an answer. "Reisen was there. She sent me right back."

"Bummer?" stated Soudai tersely as he shrugged. "Seems you'll just have to wait until she leaves the ward then?"

"We don't even know when Eirin comes back to call another one of us for the tests." argued Kyouichi.

"Oh, yeah? The tests. I wonder when it's my turn?" murmured the older outsider thoughtfully.

"So? we just wait, huh?" Kyouichi asked himself as he sat down on his bed.

The waiting turned out to be longer than expected. It was almost noon and Eirin still hasn't come up to call another patient. Soudai was so bored, he stated to play some silly word games with the fairies and Wriggle, while Kyouichi just woke up from a short nap.

"She still hasn't shown up, has she?" he asked his friend.

"Yeah, it frustrates me too." Soudai admitted his displeasure. "What kind of "tests" is Eirin going to perform on us anyway?"

Kyouichi jokingly pantomimed pulling a draw cord while imitating sounds of a two-stroke engine, typically used in gas-powered chainsaws. Then he ran the imaginary chainsaw across Soudai's neck with a manic expression on his face.

"Crap! Don't scare me? But even if you were right, it certainly wouldn't take her THAT long, would it?"

"I guess she'll experiment with all sorts of weird drugs on us before that part." Kyouichi kept on joking.

"Cut it out already! I'm already nervous enough?"

"Hehe? Well, jokes aside, I honestly have no idea what will Eirin do to us once she call us."
Just as soon as Kyouichi said that, the Lunarian doctor returned to the ward. "I'm back?" she announced tersely.

"Speak of the devi? I mean? we were wondering when you'd come back, Eirin-sensei." Soudai quickly corrected himself as he welcomed the doctor.

"Yes, nice to see you too, Asakura-san."

"By the way, where's that Ryuuken?" he wondered.

"Takamori-san was discharged a while ago and is now probably half-way to Human Village."

Eirin's words again filled Soudai and Kyouichi with anticipation and as both of them were envisioning themselves packing their stuff and leaving Eientei, the Lunarian doctor checked her list.

"Um? Tatara-san hasn't returned yet?" she forwarded the question to the group of fairies and the youkai firefly.

"No." the fairies synchronically shook their heads. "It's really strange, isn't it?"

"I hope Kogasa-chan is okay?" said Moe.

"She must have gotten lost." reasoned Sunny. "This building is so easy to get lost in."

"Hmm?" Eirin put on a concerned face. "I really don't have the time to look for her, and Reisen too must be already cursing me for giving her more and more tasks? Could I ask you to find her for me?"

Kyouichi raised his eyebrow as he pointed his thumb at his chest. "ME?"

"If it's not a bother to you? I'll tell some of the rabbits to look for her, but I'd greatly appreciate your help too. In the meantime, Asakura-san, you're next. Please come with me."

"Sure?" he tentatively stood up and as he walked closer to Eirin, he gave Kyouichi a glance that had "it's been nice knowing you" written all over it.

"What's with that look, Soudai?" Kyouichi teased him. "Aren't you glad we're finally going to get out of this place?"

"I? I guess?" he spoke with uncertainty. "But on the other hand?."

"Let's go then, Asakura-san. There's yet much for me to do." Eirin called him and impatiently tapped her foot against the wooden floor.

"Yes, Eirin-sama?" he docilely answered her call.

Before the silver-haired doctor left the ward, she turned once more at Kyouichi and with a single nod she added: "I'm counting on you to find Tatara-san?"

Before the young outsider could give her a reply, she closed the door. Now it was just him and a bunch of young youkai girls on the ward.
"Sheesh? Why should I of all people go looking for some lost karakasa?" he asked himself. "She probably got bored of this place already and left on her own. Smart girl..."

He really didn't feel like scouring Eientei for the missing youkai when Eirin herself said she'll task her rabbit servants to do so. However, since it was already one hour past noon, he wanted to give his potion retrieval plan yet another try. Now he at least had an excuse when any of the staff members of Eientei catches him in the Intensive Care Ward. He'd just say that Eirin asked him to look for a missing patient. With new hope and courage, he crackled his knuckles and without saying a word to his youkai roommates, he left the room. With confidence, he walked the long and faintly illuminated hallways of the house of eternity. He opened the door of the Intensive Care Ward, and with surprise he found nobody inside besides the patients.

"That's weird?" he thought. "The visiting hours already started and there's nobody here yet?"

This was exactly the opportunity he was waiting for. He hurriedly walked up to the bed where he was laying a couple of days ago. He bent down and looked under it to see the small glass bottle, still mostly full of bloody-red healing potion. It was untouched, just a little dusty after standing there for over three days. Kyouichi grabbed it and wiped the thin coat of dust off its surface with his patient's robe.

"Finally?" he muttered to himself, content with his own success. He concealed the bottle under his robe and headed right for the room's exit. Then with his right hand on the door, he turned back and his gaze stopped on the bed of Ai Kurohana. He just stood there, motionlessly for well over thirty seconds, lost in deep thought. His eyes trailed off back to his potion bottle and returned back to Ai. A serious inner conflict was now taking place inside his head and his heart. In the end, the kind part of his self won and as the young outsider nodded to himself, he took slow steps towards Ai's bed.

"Ai-chan?" he whispered to the sleeping girl whose body was mostly covered with bandages. He gently placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair. "You really don't deserve to be in so much pain?"

He reopened the potion bottle. "But you're not going to suffer much longer?" he gently lifted Ai's head, opened her mouth and poured in a small amount of healing potion. He knew that swallowing was one of the basic human reflexes, like breathing, and that Ai would be able to drink the potion even while sleeping. After he gave her the first dose, he waited a moment, but when he saw no reaction, he gave her another gulp.

"I hope this stuff works on burns too?" he murmured to himself as he lightly shook the bottle in his hand.

A reply to his question came shortly afterwards, as Ai's upper body jerked up lightly. It looked like some sort of spasm and it repeated itself multiple times. Kyouichi's mind was now starting to panic. "Oh damn! I hope I didn't poison her or something?"

After a minute, Ai began to stir about in her bed, weak moans escaping her mouth. Kyouichi then realized that he himself was going through quite an unpleasant moment after he had a taste of this potion. The feeling was something between intense itching and burning on the wounded parts of the body. Then after a while the pain should fade completely away and the recipient's wounds should be closed and healed. While Ai was going through this unpleasant state, Kyouichi grabbed her by the hand to at least subconsciously tell her that she's not alone.

"Hang in there, Ai-chan? Just a little longer?"

Ai thrashed about and groaned. Her grip around Kyouichi's hand had tightened up to the point when it became painful, but the outsider ignored it. Then when her trembling subsided and her breathing slowed down, Ai's eyes slowly opened. She held her hand up to her forehead, because her eyes were very sensitive, even to the dim light inside Eientei. After a couple of incomprehensible moans, the crimson-haired girl whispered: "I-is this? heaven?"

Kyouichi let out a relieved snort and smile finally returned to his face. "Sorry, but no." he replied to Ai's question. "Heaven can wait?"

"W-who's that?" she asked confusedly, her eyes were still only adapting to the light.

"I am? a friend."

"Mmm? a friend you say?" whispered the girl. "That's? a vague answer?"

"We've met only once, so "friend" may be a bit of an exaggeration." Kyouichi admitted.

"Your voice?" Ai murmured slowly. "I know? I've heard it somewhere."

"Don't talk now? Just relax." he tried to put her mind at ease.

"And your hand?" she continued whispering, "?it feels so warm?"

Only then the outsider realized he was still holding Ai's hand and he immediately let go.

"Where? are you going?" she uttered a question as she felt that her hand was no longer being held.

"I'm right here."

It took about a minute for Ai to adjust her eyes to the light and she was finally able to see who she just talked to.

"This? is Eientei, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"And you are? Shimizu-san's? new assistant?" Ai muttered as she recognized Kyouichi's face.

"Was." he corrected her.

"Sorry? I? forgot your name?"

"Ishimaru Kyouichi." he reintroduced himself to the girl.

"Now I remember? You sent a letter to the Scarlet Devil Mansion? And you said how fairies are dangerous."

"And it seems you've found that out the hard way."

"I? I still find it hard to believe. I thought I knew everything about the fairies? For them to do something like that is just?"

"Perhaps you know all about the normal fairies." Kyouichi interrupted her. "But now there seems to be some malicious magic at work that is making them violent?"

"If that's true? that means? the Ryuuken must have? killed them all?" spoke Ai with a sad voice even though she knew that the fairies cannot be killed permanently. "Even my dear Moe-chan? Even she had turned against me? I know it wasn't her fault? But now I'm very worried about all my darling fairies."

"Moe is now in the Rehabilitation Ward along with me." he comforted Ai's troubled mind. "She's okay now, but doesn't remember anything? Just like all the fairies affected by that magic?"

"Moe-chan is okay?" she asked with a louder and stronger voice, as if the fact that her dearest fairy was alright gave her new strength.

"That she is." Kyouichi reassured her. "And I've heard that the rest of your fairies are fine as well, although they must be on a different ward? Anyway, how are you feeling, Ai-chan?"

"Me? Uh? a little strange, but it doesn't hurt."

"I'm glad to hear it." he smiled at her. "I'm sure Moe-chan will be overjoyed to hear that you finally woke up."

"My dear Moe? I hope she's not blaming herself for what happened to me?"

"I already told you. She doesn't remember a thing from that incident."

"I see?" she nodded and slowly turned her head to left and right, examining her surroundings. "By the way, Kyouichi-san... What are you doing here anyway?"

This question caught the young outsider off guard and he had a hard time trying to formulate a coherent answer.

"Well? You see? Ehehehe~?"

"You're not working here, are you?"

"What? No, of course not." he nervously shook his head and hid his potion bottle behind his back. "I? uhh? I was accidentally hit by a stray danmaku shot. That's how I ended up here."

"In that case, is it really okay for you to be here?"

Again, Kyouichi was taken aback from how sharp-witted this young girl was. Indeed she had a point, but the young outsider knew exactly what to say.

"Doctor Yagokoro asked me to look for someone? A patient? she's a youkai, short light-blue hair, carries this big unfashionable umbrella with her?" he explained and stretched out his arms when he emphasized the size of Kogasa's umbrella.

"Really? Well? in that case, I'm afraid I won't be much of a help since I just woke up." said Ai and giggled weakly. "But? it's rather strange?"

"What is?"

"That you were here with me when I woke up? holding me by the hand?"

Kyouichi quickly made up a lie. "I uh?. I was checking your pulse? because you looked like you were having a seizure or something? then you suddenly stopped moving?"

"A seizure?" repeated the girl in disbelief. "I don't know? But I remember having a bad dream? I was stuck inside a burning house, you see, and just before I was engulfed in flames, I woke up."

The outsider wiped off a few freshly formed droplets of sweat from his forehead. A part of him felt guilty for causing Ai more pain by giving her the potion and not even telling her the truth, while the other part of his soul approvingly nodded to his action.

"Well, I'm glad it was just a dream? I should probably get going already, seeing as the girl I'm supposed to look for is not here?" he intentionally changed the topic and backed one step away from Ai's bed.

"Does Yagokoro-sensei really trust her patients so easily to make them look for other missing patients?" Ai asked nonchalantly and Kyouichi could feel that her suspicion towards him is growing. He didn't lose his cool, though.

"If she and her staff weren't so busy, perhaps they wouldn't be asking me. Furthermore, Kogasa-san, that's the girl's name, was one of my roommates. She's been missing since early morning."

"Oh my? I hope nothing bad happened to her."

"Oh please." Kyouichi dismissively waved his hand. "Don't be so na?ve? The young karakasa probably just got tired of waiting and left. You see, all of us who were moved to the Rehab Ward were in good enough condition to be discharged, but Eirin-sama insisted to keep us for further observation and some tests. Says she wants to be sure that we're all 100% healthy? Just between you and me, I think she's taking her job a little too seriously."

"So? are you going to help her look for that missing girl?"

"Well? yeah, I guess." he answered after a moment of hesitation.

"Alone? Hasn't Yagokoro-sensei asked your other roommates too?" Ai curiously kept asking.

"Well that's the thing. We were only three humans on the ward. One was already discharged and the other one is now down in Eirin's office undergoing a series of tests? I was the only human left."

"What about your youkai roommates?" the girl wondered. "Didn't you say that Moe-chan is one of your roommates too?"

"Well, yeah? the rest of my roommates are all fairies." replied the outsider with a hint of disdain in his voice. "And one is a youkai firefly or something like that? Not much of a difference, if you ask me."

"Why don't you ask them to help you then?" she suggested.

Kyouichi scoffed at her question. "That's just ridiculous on so many levels."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for instance," said the outsider as he stretched out one finger for each reason he named, "the fairies would sooner laugh at me than agree to help me. Secondly, they aren't the most trustworthy candidates for this task. They'd most likely get themselves lost or break something along the way. If they were reliable, Eirin would ask THEM to search too, which of course, she didn't. And finally, I've heard there's supposed to be a Quarantine Ward around here somewhere, where Eirin keeps the possessed fairies in isolation so she could study them closely? Now just imagine what would happen if any of the healthy fairies would accidentally stumble into that ward and come into contact with their crazed relatives? Total chaos, that's what!"

"Hmm? good point." Ai acknowledged. "But don't you also think that something as dangerous as a Quarantine Ward would be separated from the rest of the wards and secured against unauthorized entry?"

Kyouichi couldn't hide his amazement from Ai's brilliant reasoning. She was most likely right about her last statement, although given how easily Kyouichi managed to sneak into the Reception office a few days ago, he wasn't all that sure about Eientei's security. Nevertheless, he thought that it would be nice if he managed to solicit the help of fairies and muster up a coordinated search party. They'd just search those floors and areas where patients are allowed to move about, and if their search turned out fruitless, they'd just return back to their ward and wait for Eirin.

"So?" he finally spoke up again after a long moment of silent thinking. "Let's say I'd give your idea a try? How would I even manage to get the fairies to listen to me?"

"Oh, that's easy." replied Ai with a cheerful expression. "The fairies are all very playful creatures that love playing games."

"Uhh? yeah, I've noticed that." nodded the outsider as he recalled what his fairy roommates did most of the time when they weren't eating or sleeping.

"All you have to do is to tell them that you're going to play a game with them. Also, if you have anything tasty to offer as a reward to the winner, you've got yourself a cooperative team of fairies."

"That simple?" asked Kyouichi with a surprised face.

"That's right." nodded the redhead with a sweet smile. "Fairies are actually very easy to befriend. Just try my advice and see for yourself. And since Moe-chan already knows you a little, the other fairies might be swayed more easily."

"I see? I'll give it a try then."

"The only problem is? Where are you going to get something delicious in this place?"

"Oh, there's a big dining hall downstairs that also serves as a cafeteria. I'll ask if I could get some snacks?" thought the outsider aloud.

"Good luck then, Kyouichi-san." said Ai as she showed a thumbs-up.

The outsider bowed thankfully and when he was already standing at the door, he threw one last glance at the crimson-haired girl in bed.

"You must be hungry too, no doubt." he assumed. "I'll tell the rabbits to bring you something to eat."

"O-okay?" she replied shyly. "Thank you very much."
A few minutes after he left the Intensive Care Ward, he was now standing in line in Eientei's great dining hall, waiting for his turn to order. Being a patient in Eientei had its perks too. He could get three meals per day and as much tea as he wanted. However, if one would like to have seconds or some snacks, he'd have to pay for it.

Finally it was Kyouichi's turn. He ordered a small bowl of yakisoba for himself and a bowl of miso soup for Ai. He also asked if they had any sweets for sale. The youkai rabbit that was serving the meals brought a sack of biscuits, a pack of candy that was apparently from the outside world or from Kourindou and a bar of chocolate. For a moment, the outsider was scratching his head as he was trying to decide which of these snacks should he buy to offer to the fairies, but when he was taking too long, the people behind him were starting to become nervous. He noticed this and shrugged.

"Ah, what the hell, I'll take it all "

The rabbit girl surprisedly blinked at him a few times, and then she smiled and rubbed her hands as if she had just made the best transaction of her life. Since the outsider had no cash on him at the moment, like most of the patients, the rabbit marked his order into something that looked like a ledger. The sum he owed for the snacks would therefore be added to his hospitalization bill, which all patients paid when they got discharged.

"Thank you." he thanked the youkai rabbit as he took the platter with his lunch and snacks.

He slurped up his yakisoba in a mere minute and he was already headed back upstairs, carrying the sweets and hoping that Ai's advice would prove useful. When he opened the door of the Rehabilitation Ward, he was met with a surprising sight.

"Soudai? What are you doing here?" he asked his older dark-haired friend.

The young man just shrugged with a crooked scowl. "When Eirin-sama was checking me up, Reisen suddenly rushed into her office and called her to the Intensive Care Ward? She said it was urgent, so Eirin sent me back here to wait? again."

Kyouichi immediately understood that this sudden commotion that Soudai was talking about was actually his fault. He made Ai drink the healing potion, Reisen had found her awake, and now the Moon rabbit had to interrupt Eirin's work.

"What's with that look, Kyou?" Soudai's question snapped him out of his reverie.

Kyouichi had honestly no idea what kind of expression he had on his face when he realized what kind of chain reaction he just triggered. It must have looked really awkward, though.

"Nothing?" he denied by shaking his head. "I? I just hope nothing bad happened?"

"Yeah, me too." said the older outsider wishfully. "Because if something bad happened, that would mean we'd have to stay here even longer, until Eirin has time again."

As Kyouichi made a nervous gulp, he was at least comforted by the thought that Ai's condition got considerably better. Therefore, it shouldn't take Eirin too long before she resumes her previous task of examining the patients from the Rehabilitation Ward.

It took no more than ten minutes until Doctor Yagokoro showed herself at the mentioned ward. Kyouichi managed to stash his half-empty potion bottle again under bed and was in the middle of negotiations with the fairies when the silver-haired Lunarian doctor entered. She had a strange look on her face that radiated concern, confusion and a little bit of guilt.

"I'm sorry." she bowed in apology to everyone. "It seems that I'm going to have to postpone your check-ups until tomorrow."

"What? Why?!" Soudai demanded an explanation from her.

Eirin threw a piercing glance at Kyouichi for some reason. She then took a deep breath and began explaining.

"Another patient has woken up at the Intensive Care?" she started vaguely.

"Isn't that good news?" asked confused Soudai.

"Why yes, of course it is." agreed Eirin and thoughtfully rubbed her chin with her fingertips. "But the strangest thing is that Kurohana-san has woken up from a state of deep narcosis."

"O-kay, that really IS strange, I'll admit?" nodded Soudai and let Eirin continue.

"Ai-chan has woken up?" Moe's eyes flared up with hope and happiness. "Yaaay~! Can I see her, can I see her?" she asked pleadingly, but the Lunarian just brushed her off.

"Kurohana-san has been hospitalized a week ago with 3rd degree burns over 60% of her body. I'm using a traditional Lunarian procedure that can effectively treat even such injuries, but like everything, it takes its time to work. I've estimated Kurohana-san's treatment to take at least two weeks, but? what I saw a while ago could be only described as?"

"A miracle?" Soudai tired to help her find the right word.

"An anomaly." Eirin used a more scientific approach to name this unusual development. "Not only did Kurohana-san wake up on her own, but her burns are now almost completely regenerated?"

"Any idea on what might have happened?" wondered the older outsider after a while of silence.

"I'm yet planning to give Kurohana-san a thorough check-up, but right now?" she paused herself and shook her head lightly. "?I cannot explain her rapidly improved condition."

"Perhaps Kurohana-san is a youkai." speculated Soudai, but wasn't really serious about his statement.

"If that was the case, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised, but? she's a human, just like you or Ishimaru-san? And speaking of you, Ishimaru-san," she shifted her glance to the younger of the two outsiders, "your sudden recovery is not exactly what I'd call standard either? If I were to jump to conclusions, I'd even say there's some connection between your and Kurohana-san's cases."

"Well~?" Soudai spoke up while putting on a wry smile, since he now figured what was going on. Before he could say another word though, Kyouichi pierced him with a murderous stare.

"Yes, is there something you'd like to say, Asakura-san?" asked Eirin.

Soudai, who noticed Kyouichi's threatening look just shook his head in response to the doctor's question. "No, nothing? Nothing at all."

"I'd once again like to apologize to you for this inconvenience, but I'll definitely try to make it up to you tomorrow." promised the Lunarian after repeating her apology. "Oh, and have you tried finding Tatara-san yet?"

"Uhh? no." uttered Kyouichi sheepishly.

"In that case, I'd also like to ask you to try and look for her... You too, Asakura-san. If you won't find her, I'm going to have to cross her out of my list of patients."

"Say, Eirin-sama?" Kyouichi addressed her and asked her a question: "Did it ever happen that your patients just ran away? Or left without saying anything?"

The silver-haired lady frowned and sighed. "Yes, unfortunately? It happens sometimes? Usually it's humans who are in bad financial situation and are afraid that they won't be able to pay for our services. But we at Eientei don't work that way?"

"What do you mean?"

"While it's true that we normally expect some sort of financial compensation for our work, we are very? liberal towards our patients and customers. Even when people have no money to pay for the treatment or medicine, I can patiently wait until they can pay for their debt. Whether it is a week, a month, or several years, it's all okay with me."

"You trust people so easily?" Kyouichi couldn't believe her words. "And you haven't been swindled even once?"

"It's not the money that I really care about, Ishimaru-san? If you or Asakura-san are currently short on funds, don't worry, you can pay later personally or you may pay Reisen when she'll stop in the village to sell medicine."

"But I DO have enough money to pay for your services, Eirin-sama." objected Kyouichi. "Although, I have to admit, I don't know the price yet?"

"I think I have it somewhere in my files here." Eirin wetted her lips with her tongue and began browsing through the pages of her notebook. "Let's see? Ishimaru, Ishimaru? Ah, there you are? Your bill for the hospitalization will be? 5 825 yen."

"Per day?" asked the younger outsider.

"No, in total." the doctor corrected his false assumption.

"That's dirt cheap!" exclaimed Kyouichi, as if he was just being insulted. "I've been here for six days. There must be some mistake?"

"There is no mistake." giggled Eirin, insisting on being correct. "To you outsiders, our prices may seem a bit different in comparison to your hospitals."

"That's not a "bit different", Eirin-sama, that's like comparing a dorm to a 5-star hotel!" Soudai shared the same opinion as his younger peer. "By the way, how much do I owe you?"

Eirin again flipped a couple of pages in her notebook in diligent search for Soudai's name. "Well, since you've been here considerably longer than Ishimaru-san, and your condition was much more serious, your bill will cost you? 24 550 yen."

Soudai made a silent whistle. "Well, that's certainly more expensive than his?" he beckoned at Kyouichi, "But still, it's much cheaper than I had expected."

Eirin just shrugged. "I keep my prices low so that people of all social classes could afford our services? Now, will you please help me looking for Tatara-san?"

"Sure, I'll go looking for Kogasa-chan." agreed the older outsider. "But what if we won't find her?"

"Once you're done with your search, just stop in my office, I'll be there examining Kurohana-san. Whether you find her or not, please just let me know."

"Whatever you say, Eirin-sensei." said Soudai and rose up from his bed, ready to go look for Kogasa immediately.

"If all goes well, I'll be able to examine all of you tomorrow, but I need all my patients accounted for." said Eirin from the doorstep, just as she was leaving the ward.

"Alright, alright, we understand?" replied Kyouichi with evident annoyance in his tone, because he thought the Lunarian just kept repeating herself.

"You don't have to be so grumpy at me, Ishimaru-san." she reacted with a peaceful smile. "It's not my fault that Tatara-san is missing?" and with that, she left.
"It's not my fault that Tatara-san is missing?" agitated Kyouichi mockingly imitated Eirin's voice. "Pfha! Aren't YOU responsible for your patients?" he asked the no-longer-present doctor a question that was not meant to be answered. "Seriously? Why should WE be the ones looking for the missing patient when we barely know this building's layout? I think I'm going to complain to her manager?"

"What's got you so worked-up?" asked Soudai with an amused grin. "We're just going for a little stroll to kill some time."

"Well, if you put it that way?" shrugged the younger outsider and took a deep breath to calm down again. For a long moment, there was complete silence in the ward and even the playful and cheerful fairies were mutely staring at the two humans standing at the door and thinking about their situation.

"So? we're staying here another day, huh?" Wriggle broke the silence with a non-directed question which she didn't receive an answer to.

"You gave it to that girl, didn't you?" Soudai asked as he lifted his gaze to Kyouichi's face.

Kyouichi knew that he was asking him about the healing potion and Ai Kurohana and he simply nodded to answer. He expected to take verbal bashing from his older friend for delaying their discharge from Eientei's care due to his actions. What he didn't expect was a friendly tap on his shoulder and Soudai's approving nod.

"You did a good thing, Kyou? I would have done the same? if it was someone I know, that is?"

"You're? not gonna scold me, or even complain?"

"Hey, I may not look like it, but I have a heart too, you know." Soudai remarked jestingly. "She must be special to you? Kurohana-san?" he stated, this time with a serious face.

"Huh? Don't know where you gather that nonsense from?" Kyouichi denied sternly.

"Just a guess." shrugged the older outsider with an innocent smile that was quickly replaced with a timid look. "Oh, sorry? I forgot that you're after Patchouli-sama?"

Soudai's wrong assumptions made Kyouichi plant his palm on his forehead and sigh. "Look, Asakura? How should I put this so even you'd understand?" he asked him a rhetorical question. "Ai-san isn't any more special to me than you are, but I know her and she needed help, so I did what I thought was the best? I'd do the same for you and I'm even not in love with you, believe it or not?"

The older outsider burst into laughter. "Ahahahahaha~! Alright, I get it now! You have a point? Still, I just wanted to know how you feel about her?"

"Friendly at best?" Kyouichi gave as short and simple answer as possible.

"And what about Patchouli-sama?" Soudai persistently inquired.

To answer this question, Kyouichi hesitated. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel any attraction towards the purple-haired elemental sorceress, but after giving it some rational thought, he knew that he should avoid any and all feelings of affection towards all Gensokyo residents, since he knew he'd be leaving this place in a relatively short time.

"No? I don't love her." he spoke up with a certain degree of determination, as if he was trying to convince himself about this fact.

"Really?" Soudai wasn't ready to believe him just like that. "I see that you hesitated."

Kyouichi didn't want to discuss this matter any further. "Could we please change the topic?"

Soudai obliged with a muffled chuckle. "Alright? So, that red potion is actually quite effective, isn't it?"

"It's a miracle in a bottle, baby?" agreed the younger outsider. "If anyone will get injured during our exodus from Gensokyo, we'll just let them have a sip of that stuff and they'll be as good as new. No cumbersome first-aid kits, no need for any medical experience and hopefully? no danger of overdose. Perhaps I should have bought even more."

"How many bottles do you have?"

"Four more bottles of the standard potion and three bottles of concentrated potion."

"I'd say that's quite enough." estimated Soudai, "Unless you're planning to drag us through a war zone or something."

"Or unless something nasty happens to us before we leave this youkai realm?"

"Oh, I'll be damn sure to be more careful and pay more attention to my surroundings from now on." declared the older outsider, hoping that this was his first and last visit to Eientei in his life.

"Yeah? I'll try that too." muttered Kyouichi with a lowered head.

"Anyway?" Soudai again broke the silence, "How about we go looking for Kogasa already?"

"Huh? Oh, damn! I almost forgot about that?"

"You'll take the ground floor while I scour this one, okay?" suggested Kyouichi's friend.

However, the younger human already had a different plan on his mind. "Wait a minute." he grabbed Soudai's sleeve. "Let me talk to the fairies for a moment."

"Are you sure you want THEM to tag along?" Soudai raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, but it's going to take us much less time if we search as a team."

"Do as you like?"

Kyouichi quickly returned to his bed and from a night table he took all the sweets he bought down in the dining hall.

"Umm? dear fairies, can I please have your attention?" he asked as politely as he could. "We're going to play a game?"

"Yaaay~! What game, what game~?" Cirno asked excitedly.

"Can Moe play too?" sounded Ai's fairy and hovered a little closer to Kyouichi.

"Me too, me too~!" exclaimed Sunny Milk and her two friends followed suit.

"Okay, now calm down a bit?" said Kyouichi once the fairies have gathered around. "Uhh? you're not interested to play, Wriggle-chan?" he asked the green-haired youkai girl who stayed behind her friends and silently stared at the scene.

"But you only addressed the fairies?" she pouted, as if she was insulted or even discriminated. "I'm a firefly, you know."

"Very well, then all the fairies AND youkai fireflies in this room, please gather around. We're going to play a game of hide and seek." announced the outsider like a teacher in a kindergarten.

He was met with a wave of mixed reactions from his little audience. "Hide and seek? How about a danmaku hide and seek?" suggested the ice fairy.

"But the game is fun even without danmaku, Cirno-chan?" argued the dark-haired Star.

"Who's going to be "it"?" wondered Luna in the meantime.

"I want to play catch instead?" muttered Wriggle.

"Yes, yes? I thought some of you might protest, and for that reason, I've brought this." said Kyouichi and gestured at the small pile of sweets sitting right next to him.

"Cookie time~!" Moe exclaimed joyfully while she closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide, expecting to be fed. "Aaaaaaah~."

"Now hold on a minute there, Moe-chan. This is the prize for the winner?" said Kyouichi and he soon regretted those words when he saw Moe's disappointed look.

"Hey, hey, don't give me that look, please?" he begged her, but the fairy's expression remained the same. Kyouichi could resist her endearing look no longer.

"?Alright! I suppose I could give you all one biscuit as a sign of good faith. But just one, okay?"

"Yaaay~!" sounded a unanimous cheer of the youkai girls as they stretched out their hands, expecting to receive a sweet snack. Once Kyouichi shared his biscuits with them, he resumed explaining.

"Good? Now that I got your attention, I'm going to explain the rules, because this isn't going to be an ordinary game of hide and seek."

"So who's going to hide and who's going to seek?" asked Wriggle the firefly.

"We are all going to look for Kogasa-san."

"Oh, so you wanted to look for Kogasa-chan? You should have just said so from the start." said Sunny with a straightforward attitude.

"So? is that a yes?"

"Of course it is~!" she confirmed and threw quick glances at her friends who also nodded agreeingly. "Kogasa-chan is our new friend and we too are worried about her."

"That's right." Star Sapphire continued, "But this Eientei is so far the biggest house I've seen. We could get lost if we go search for her just like that?"

Both humans were surprised by Star's reasonable remark. "That's right." confirmed Kyouichi with a nod. "Therefore, in order for us not to get lost, we need to assign different roles to each of us..."
It took over five minutes of explaining that the only areas they'll be searching are the first and third floor. The group of two humans and six youkai girls split up, each taking one of the two respective floors.

"So? All I have to do is to stay here in front of this door?" asked Luna whose role was to serve only as a marker for other search party members. She was stationed in front of the door of the Rehabilitation Ward and the look on her face was filled with anything but excitement. "This is the most boring version of hide and seek I've ever played."

"Look at it this way?" Sunny tried to cheer her up, "You're going to get some extra snack and you barely need to make any effort for it."

"Yes, just let us know if you see Kogasa-chan passing through this corridor by any chance." said Star and darted off to the opposite direction of the corridor as Sunny.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" asked Kyouichi while raising his hand up to signal his teammates.

"I'm ready~!" Sunny waved her hand.

"Me too~!" Star shouted, but her voice could barely be heard from the other end of the corridor. Her tiny waving hand was the only thing the outsider noticed from her reply.

"Let the search begin!" he declared loudly, and as agreed upon, he started checking the rooms from the northern end towards the south. Sunny was checking the adjacent corridors and rooms all the way from east to west and back. Star took the search from south towards north and was supposed to check all the rooms along that corridor up to the Rehabilitation Ward where Luna held a vigilant patrol. Since the fairies could fly, they were given more ground to cover than the two humans. While Kyouichi and the so-called Three Mischievous Fairies were scouring the third floor, Soudai, Cirno, Wriggle and Moe were doing the same on the ground floor. Their job wasn't any easier, since most of the places were off limits to patients. However, they all asked any Eientei staff member they encountered that they were looking for Kogasa, thus increasing their chances of finding her, provided that the karakasa was still inside the building. After more than 30 minutes of diligent search, the two teams looked everywhere where they were allowed to move and their search ended without success.
"So? I'm guessing you had about the same luck as I did?" assumed the younger outsider when he met up with his three fairy teammates in front of their ward.

"I've looked everywhere, even under the patients' beds, but I didn't find her?" reported Sunny with a disappointed frown.

"I have the ability of sensing all living creatures within certain radius?" informed Star while putting on an expression of embarrassment, "but there are just so many of them here that I couldn't tell them apart? Rabbits, humans, youkai, fairies? The only difference I can detect is the size."

"I didn't see anyone else passing through this corridor all the time I was standing here." pouted the unamused Luna. "Perhaps Cirno-chan and the others had more luck than us."

"We'll wait for them inside the ward then. They should be able to find their way back." suggested Kyouichi and opened the Rehabilitation Ward's door.

He was a little disappointed with the result of his search, but that's what he expected in the first place.

"Well, we did what we could, didn't we?" he stated as he sat on his bed. "I guess you can have the rest of these snacks now for your efforts?" he muttered as he reopened his sack of biscuits.

"Huh? What the??!" he uttered in confusion, since there were no more biscuits inside. Instead, he only found one piece of folded paper.

"What's wrong?" Sunny asked curiously.

Kyouichi gave Luna a suspicious stare. "Did you? help yourself to my snacks while we were looking for Kogasa?"

"Eeeeh?! What are you accusing me of?" the moonlight fairy defended herself.

"Of this?" replied the outsider as he turned his biscuit sack inside out, only to litter his lap with biscuit crumbs.

Sunny and Star gasped in shock. "What happened to the snacks?"

"Why don't you ask your greedy friend here?" Kyouichi gave Luna another unpleasant stare.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" she claimed being innocent, but had a very poor alibi to back her claim up. "I was standing in front of the door the whole time."

"Exactly!" exclaimed the outsider, making the accused moonlight fairy flinch a little. "You were here this whole time while we were searching high and low for the missing karakasa. You were in a perfect position to seize the opportunity and eat all of the biscuits."

"B-but it really wasn't me~! Honest?"

"And who else could it have been, if not you?" Kyouichi continued to prosecute. "Weren't you the one keeping watch on the corridor? Because if you did, there's no way anyone could simply sneak inside without passing right around you."

Luna's eyes blinked a few times before they began to produce tears. "I? I don't know who did this, but I swear that it wasn't me~!"

A sudden sound of the sliding door opening distracted everyone for a moment.

"?So she's apparently not on the ground floor, that's for sure." announced Soudai's voice before the young man entered the ward along with Cirno, Moe and Wriggle. "Uhh? did we miss something?" he asked when he noticed Luna wiping her tears and Kyouichi angrily staring at her with his arms crossed.

"Not much? Just a certain fairy who munched up all my biscuits."

Soudai's reaction was an amused laughter. "Well, you should have put your sweets somewhere safer then."

"Yes, that's right~!" Luna seconded. "If you hadn't left your sweets here on your night table, they probably wouldn't get stolen."

"Aha! So you're confessing your theft!" Kyouichi pointed his finger at her.

"Confessing my butt!" the fairy angrily jabbed back. "I already told you that I didn't steal your snacks!"

"Sorry, but somehow I don't buy that." the outsider refused to believe her. "Why else would you three be known as "The Three Mischievous Fairies"?"

"So now you're accusing Sunny-chan and Star-chan too?"

"No. I'm just saying that your claim is hardly believable." stated Kyouichi and looked at the other fairies in the room. "I was going to share all of those snacks with you girls, but now I can't? If it was your doing, then you haven't just robbed me, but also your friends, and I'm not too sure if they'll sympathize with you."

"Huh? Luna stole OUR shares of snacks?!" exclaimed Cirno in disbelief. She was easily swayed to the accusing side. "This is an outrage~!"

"And such sweet and delicious biscuits they were?" commented Moe sadly.

"Hey guys, forget the biscuits." Soudai stepped in to resolve the situation. "You still have a pack of candy and a bar of chocolate right here?" he grabbed the mentioned chocolate and opened the wrapper. "Or? I should say "had"?" he stated as he revealed an empty box of tablets with approximately the same parameters as the missing bar of chocolate.

"So you stole the chocolate too?" Kyouichi again frowned at the moonlight fairy.

"None of this is my doing~!" Luna denyingly shook her head. "It's all a conspiracy~!"

"Indeed? A conspiracy against me!" said the young outsider and grabbed the empty tablet box from Soudai's hands.

"What about this pack of candy here?" asked the older outsider and took it to have a closer look. It was obvious that the packet was already opened and filled with colorful marbles instead of candy. "Hmm? I think we have a serial prankster on the loose." stated Soudai and spilled the marbles on the bed covers.

Even Kyouichi wasn't too certain anymore if this all was the work of Luna Child, but so far the fairy barely had any redeeming evidence to her name.

"And what was that piece of paper that fell out of the biscuit sack?" asked Star Sapphire ? probably the smartest of all the fairies in the room.

"What paper?" asked the outsider and drew his attention down to his feet. There, lying on the ground was a small folded piece of paper, just as Star said. Kyouichi barely remembered taking it out of the sack and paid it no mind, but now, the small scrap of paper was the most interesting object in the entire Rehabilitation Ward. Everyone watched closely as the outsider tentatively picked it up from the floor and unfolded it slowly.

"It's a message of some sort?" he said as soon as he saw some scribbled kana and kanji characters.

"What does it say?" asked the golden-haired Sunny.

Kyouichi loudly read the short text on the paper: "I have taken your precious red wine and hidden it somewhere inside the mansion. If you want to find it, follow the clues I've left on messages like this one~. P.S. Thanks for all that candy, it was delicious~."

Instead of a signature, the author of this message had drawn a cutesy girl's face with short hair and a pair of bunny ears.

"Huh? Her again?" muttered the surprised outsider.

"See, what did I say? It wasn't me~!" concluded the accused Luna and crossed her little arms.

"That rabbit?" Kyouichi confusedly shook his head. One thing he really could not understand was how the rabbit girl managed to sneak past Luna who was supposedly guarding the ward's door. "If it really was her then how did she??"

Then he felt a gentle breeze on his face and he immediately glanced at his right side to see one of the round windows opened. "Oh? but of course." he nodded understandingly as he walked up to the window and peeked outside to look around. There really wasn't much to look at, though, besides the impenetrably dense bamboo thickets surrounding the entire mansion.

"What did I ever do to her?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled his head back inside. "And what's the first clue I'm supposed to look for? She didn't give me any hint in this message?"

"Who are you even talking about, Kyou?" asked Soudai with a clueless look.

"I'd like to know that myself." replied the younger outsider. The only thing he knew about that prankster of a rabbit is what she looked like and what her voice sounded like.

"Damn it? this is the last thing I needed." he cursed and bent down to look under his bed.

The rabbit girl didn't lie. The potion bottle was missing and in its place there rested another small piece of paper. Without hesitation, Kyouichi grabbed it.

"I think I've found the first clue." he announced as he was standing up.

"What does it say?" asked Soudai and peeked over his shoulder.

"Everything has its beginning and so does this game. Winner will gain neither glory, nor fame. You will only get back what was taken from you and for that, you must begin your journey anew. On the place where we first met, behind the sile

[Fonzi]

Chapter 39 ? Follow the White Rabbit

Kyouichi trotted briskly downstairs, and without thinking, headed for the mansion's main entrance. As he opened the main door, he stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air, looking around.

"This is where I met her?" he thought to himself. "Now I'm supposed to look for some small waterfall, huh?"

And so, the young man made one full lap around the entire mansion of Eientei, keeping his eyes and ears open for any signs of waterfall, but the dense bamboo forest was deadly silent. It took him over thirty minutes to return back in front of the main entrance, disappointed at his inability to find the next clue. Then he realized an important detail, which he didn't take into consideration.

"Oh gods, am I an idiot or what?!" he exclaimed into the silent dusk of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. "This isn't the place where I first saw Tewi! It was one of the offices on the ground floor!"
He made haste back into the main corridor, but stopped shortly afterwards, because he couldn't remember which one of the myriad doors led to the office where he met the mischievous rabbit for the first time. Then he remembered the prank she had played on him, by sending him into the wrong room at the wrong time.

"The bathing room." he muttered and kept on running, keeping his attention focused at the left side. The door to the mentioned room was quite easy to notice, because it was brand new and its shade was slightly lighter in comparison to the other doors. The old door had to be replaced after Kaguya made Swiss cheese out of it with her danmaku.

"Now if my memory still serves, the office where I first met Tewi is the eleventh door to the left from this one?"
And so, he slowly counted the doors as he was returning all the way up to eleven. He opened the door and immediately recognized the layout of the furniture in this particular office. It didn't even surprise him anymore that the room wasn't locked, despite the fact that there was nobody inside. This was definitely the place. He recalled as Tewi was sitting behind the table and playing with empty medicine boxes. However, Kyouichi now wasn't too certain what kind of "waterfall" was he supposed to look for. Besides some unknown liquids in the medicine jars placed on one of the shelves, there really wasn't any water in the room. It was just an ordinary office with a couple of chairs, two tables, a bunch of shelves and display cases, a single bed, one round window, several lanterns, a few houseplants to decorate the environment, along with some oil paintings depicting various landscapes?

"The pictures!" Kyouichi got a sudden idea and turned his head frantically as he was looking for a picture that had a waterfall. Within five seconds, he found a small, inconspicuous picture hanging just a few centimeters to the left of the office's door. It depicted a mountain stream, flowing from atop of a tall gray mass of rocks. It was no masterpiece, but it was tasteful and fitting as a room decoration.

"The silent waterfall?" he murmured as he observed the picture closely. "Tewi's message said to look behind it? The next clue must be behind this picture."

As he looked behind the picture, another small piece of paper has fallen down and landed by his feet. Not wasting any more time, he read the next message.

"Pretty easy, wasn't it? Now it's time to turn up the heat. If you want to know what to do next, you better hurry before you forever lose the text. A place that's always busy, where guests are not meant to go, you'll find it with burning sensation, if you're not too slow. Better run now, I hope you'll make it, if not? well then? bon app?tit~!"

Kyouichi quickly brainstormed the most possible options, but only one seemed to be the most plausible.

"Bon app?tit, you say? Is she sending me into Eientei's kitchen? By the looks of it, it seems that the message is hidden inside one of the ingredients for today's dinner? Well, here I go?" he shrugged and hurried to the door where the main dining hall was located. By applying even minimum logic, it was more than obvious that the kitchen's door was right next to it. Despite being normally off-limits to visitors the door opened up just as easily as any other door in this mysterious mansion.

"Hmph? I guess that to Eientei's residents, security is about as familiar a concept as natural death to domestic poultry?" he remarked sarcastically as he barged into the kitchen.
Just as Tewi described, the place was bustling with activity as dozens of Earth and Moon rabbits were busily preparing the ingredients for today's dinner course. For over ten seconds, none of the rabbits even noticed him, but once his presence became obvious to the cooks, some of the rabbits gathered around the outsider, trying to send him back where he came from.

"Excuse me, but you shouldn't be here~!" explained one of the rabbit cooks.

"The kitchen is off-limits to patients." another youkai rabbit completed the information.

"Please turn back and return to your room." the third rabbit demanded while waving a wooden ladle in her hand. Despite her attempt to look and sound intimidating, she looked endearingly childish.

Not needing much time to think, Kyouichi drew out the message left by Tewi and showed it to the bunch of spectating rabbits, like a policeman showing his badge.

"I have an official order from your boss, Tewi-sama to make an inspection here." he made up a lie, making his voice sound important while holding back any signs of snickering. He bit his lip in hope that the rabbit cooks would fall for it?

All the rabbits stood in silence with their mouths ajar. Kyouichi could only imagine what they could be thinking right now. For a moment it looked like they were going to drive him out of the kitchen by force, when suddenly?

"Mmm? okay?" nodded one of the rabbits and stepped aside from Kyouichi's way. "We really didn't expect Tewi-sama to send someone for inspection."

One rabbit's reaction caused a domino effect with the other rabbits, and within seconds, there wasn't a single rabbit in the kitchen who doubted the credibility of Kyouichi's claim. They all returned back to work, tying to make the best impression, but the only thing that the outsider thought about was to find the next message.

"?you'll find it with burning sensation?" he murmured the line from the paper found in the office. "What does that mean? Should I look for it in the oven?"

And he really did look into all the places that generated heat. The rabbit cooks were giving him sidelong glances, but avoided direct eye contact when Kyouichi looked back at them. He searched all the possible places that came to mind, but found nothing. He was getting more desperate by each second.

"Alright, everyone," he again centered the rabbits' attention at himself, "stop working for a moment."

The cooks and kitchen helpers obeyed, but were now looking at him with even more mistrustful eyes than before. Kyouichi had issued this order just so he'd buy himself some time. When no rabbits were working, it meant that the next Tewi's message wouldn't end up being destroyed in the cooking process.

"Is there something wrong, mister kitchen inspector?" asked the rabbit chef.

Kyouichi was silent for a moment as he threw nervous glances all over the kitchen, as if in hope that he'd notice a piece of paper somewhere.

"Hello? Mister?" the chef rabbit waved his hand to get the outsider's attention. "How long are we supposed to wait? If we don't hurry and prepare the food soon, everyone will be nervous. We understand Tewi-sama's directives, but we don't want to get into trouble with Her Highness, Kaguya-sama."

"What food are you preparing for today's main course?" asked the outsider.

"We're making a shabu-shabu with various different dipping sauces and seasoned rice." answered the rabbit.

"Is there going to be a hot, spicy sauce too?"

"Of course."

"May I take a look at the spices then?"

"Go ahead? They're lined up on the top shelf over there." the chef gestured at a line of bamboo spice containers.

Fortunately, the outsider was tall enough to reach the topmost shelf without the need to stand on a chair. He walked up to the shelf and began checking the content of each and every spice container, he even tested whether the paper he was looking for wasn't buried deeper within the particular spice. After checking the last one, he shook his head, feeling a mixture of confusion and frustration. He knew that he was at the right place, but looking at the wrong things. He really couldn't understand what Tewi meant by the line: "?you'll find it with burning sensation, if you're not too slow."

He was almost certain that he knew what to look for, and yet, it seemed that he got once again tricked by the mischievous Earth rabbit.

"So? can we return to work already?" the chef nervously stepped around from left foot to right, eager to finish what he and his team started.

"I? I..." Kyouichi stuttered for a moment before he waved his hand and sighed. "I guess so?"

He almost accepted the fact that he'd lose this little game and that he wouldn't get back what Tewi took from him.

The rabbits have already resumed their tasks in the meantime, but the chef wanted to satisfy Kyouichi's curiosity about today's dish.

"Some of the meat slices are going to be seasoned with shichimi spice before boiling. Eirin-sama likes spicy food."

"Yeah, that's good to know." grumbled Kyouichi upon hearing this trivial information, but the next second he realized that perhaps somehow Tewi managed to hide her message somewhere on the slices of beef.

As unlikely as that sounded, Kyouichi was desperate enough to give it a try. He started to examine the meat. However, there were simply too many meat slices for him to check in a short time. Again, anxiety and frustration continued to grow inside his chest as not even the 25th beef slice held any indication of hiding Tewi's next clue. The cooks were already starting to serve the food into dishes and the young outsider knew that he was running out of time. It would not be accepted well if he once again interrupted the rabbits in their work, so he just speeded up his search. Not even the 40th piece of meat yielded any positive result and Kyouichi was about to give it up, when suddenly one of the rabbits that was serving the meat seemed to have torn something away from one beef slice and looked at it in confusion.

"What's this? paper doing on the meat?" she murmured and discarded the object into a waste basket. "If mister inspector saw this, he'd scold us?"

Kyouichi noticed that with just the corner of his eye and immediately turned his head in that direction.

"What was that you just found?!" he asked the young rabbit maid with a heightened voice.

The surprised rabbit flinched for a moment, and then she denyingly shook her head with a sheepish smile. "N-nothing." she gave a stuttered reply.

"I saw you find something on that piece of meat. What was it?"

"It was nothing; just a little paper ? probably from the wrapping." insisted the rabbit. "That meat piece is clean now. I threw the paper away?"

"WHERE?!" shouted the outsider.

The nervous rabbit pointed her shaky finger at the waste basket. "T-there? Please don't yell at me."

Without another word, Kyouichi leapt to the waste basket and started to dig around in its content like a homeless man. The spectating rabbits exchanged their surprised and confused looks. None of them dared to say anything.

"Salvation~!" cheered the young man as he found a piece of wet paper with Tewi's handwriting in all that garbage. "Thank you, all Shinto gods! Thank you, dear rabbits! Gotta run now, see you later~!" he bowed hastily and hurried out of the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind him.

Shortly after Kyouichi left, the rabbit chef bewilderedly shook his head. "What was that all about? First some crazy knife maniac maid shows up and starts cooking here, now Tewi-sama sends us this weird guy? What's next?"
Meanwhile the outsider unfolded the paper with fading Tewi's message and read it.

"You made it in time; you've found the right place, but don't slow down and keep up your pace. To find the next clue will be a bit trickier feat. Better get going now, time to move your feet. The message keeps moving from one place to another, carried by a guest of Eientei; see if you can find her. She's not a patient now, but used to visit as such. She prefers to stay indoors and not go out very much. A nurse who works from morning to noon; look for a veil of violet hair and golden crescent moon."

"Okay, that definitely sounds like Patchouli-sama?" he figured out easily. "So she has the next message without even being aware of it, huh? That shouldn't be so hard, provided that I know where to look for her?"

And so, the outsider directed his steps towards Eirin's office where he hoped to find someone to ask where to look for the temporary doctor. He knocked on the office's door and let himself in.
"Please excuse me?" he bowed apologetically before he even noticed whether there was anyone in the office at all.

"Yes? How can I help you?" sounded Eirin's voice from behind a screen and her head peeked out to take a look. "Is there anything you need from me, Ishimaru-san?"

"Sorry to interrupt your work, but? Do you know where can I find Patchouli-sensei?"

"Aaah, you couldn't wait to be with Patchouli-san again? I see?" she nodded understandingly and smiled.

"Why do you keep implying that we have anything to do with each other?" muttered the annoyed outsider.

"Hmm? Well then why else would you be asking me where to find her?" retorted the Lunarian with the same wry smile.

"It's just? business?" Kyouichi gave an avoidant reply.

"Whatever you wish to call it?" she remarked with a giggle. "Patchouli-san works every day from early morning to noon due to her health condition. Since it's already afternoon, she's most likely taking a rest in her room. It's a small study here on this floor. It's, if I remember correctly, the 57th door from here on the left side of the corridor."

"Fifty-seventh? Okay, I hope I'll get it right?" said Kyouichi as he was about to leave the office.

"Wait a minute. I better take you there myself." Eirin unexpectedly volunteered.

"Aren't you busy?"

"I am. But it's just another check-up." she gestured behind the folding screen. "I'm checking whether Kurohana-san here requires any further treatment."

"Ai-chan is here?"

As a response, the girl's crimson-haired head popped out from behind the screen. "Oh, Kyouichi-san, good afternoon~!" she greeted cheerfully, "It seems I'll get to go home soon."

She certainly looked a lot better than a few days ago.

"And what about our final check-up?" Kyouichi asked the doctor.

"Patience, young one. I'll be on it as soon as I get the results of Ai-san's check-up, which may yet take a few hours."

The Lunarian then put her notepad on a table and told Ai to wait for a moment. "Alright, let me show you the way." she gestured to the outsider and he followed her out back to the main corridor. After more than a two minute walk, Eirin stopped at one of the doors and tilted her head to the side.

"This is the place." she announced and gently knocked on the door. "Let's see if she's even there in the first place?"

She opened the door and announced her arrival: "Sorry to intrude, Patchouli-san, are you here?"

"Eirin-san?" sounded the quiet voice of Scarlet Devil Mansion's librarian and resident elemental sorceress.

"Ah, so she's here after all." whispered Eirin and smiled at the outsider. "I don't mean to interrupt your well-deserved rest, but you have a visitor."

"A visitor?" asked the voice of Patchouli, followed by a short pause. "Okay?"

"Very well then. I'll get back to work then." said Eirin and gave Kyouichi a rather mischievous wink. "Good luck?"

"What does she mean "good luck"?" he wondered silently as he watched her returning back to her office. He then turned at the door and walked into the study.
The room was not larger than Eirin's office. However, most of the furniture consisted of bookshelves. There was only one table at the window and a single bed in the corner. Patchouli was sitting at the table so her back faced the door. Since her work for today as a doctor was over, she was dressed up in her typical attire. Even during her free time, she preferred to indulge herself in reading Eientei's literature. As Kyouichi entered the room, the girl didn't even bother to turn around. She just raised her hand and with a nonchalant tone she addressed him, thinking that her visitor was someone else?

"I was wondering when you'd come here again, Sakuya. Tell Remilia that I'll return back to the mansion tomorrow evening. You can pack up my things, since you're already here. Oh? and please bring me some tea. Some dessert would be lovely too?"

"I'm afraid I won't be visiting the Scarlet Devil Mansion in the following days, but I suppose I could at last fetch that tea for you." replied Kyouichi with an amused chuckle.

His voice was definitely not the one Patchouli had expected to hear. She froze in shock on her chair, slowly turning herself around.

"Ishimaru-san??"

"Sorry, I should have at least greeted you when I walked in." he apologized for surprising her.

"No, it's fine? I should have at least taken a look at who my visitor is?" she admitted to be partially at fault. "I truly didn't expect you to visit."

"Yes, I should imagine? Hope I'm not disturbing your work."

"I only work until noon, so in my leisure, I'm trying to piece together the information you gathered from Kazemura and the text written by Satori-san while she initiated a mental probe into the mind of one of the affected fairies?"

"Any progress?"

Patchouli sighed and gently shook her head. "Minimal, I'm afraid? Aside from what I already knew, I had only managed to contemplate one possible last-resort solution to this? unpleasant incident."

"Really? What kind of solution?" inquired the outsider.

"Well?" she muttered quietly, as if she was shy to give the answer. Kyouichi leaned a little closer so he could catch whatever she was going to say. Finally, the sorceress spoke up again: "If we manage to confirm that the ruins discovered in Kazemura quarry pit are truly the cause of these unsettling events, we could simply ask the villagers to bury them again, cutting off their influence on the local fairy populace. However, that may turn out to be more complicated than it sounds. Like I said, it's just as a last resort?"

"Why would it be so complicated to bury those ruins? Just take a dozen of men with shovels and?"

"First of all," Patchouli cut his sentence off, "we're not even certain whether the ruins alone have any direct effect on the fairies and whether burying them would amount to anything, other than shutting down the very reason of Kazemura's existence. Not to mention that the history-obsessed yama-bito, who make up over 50% of the village's inhabitants, would be by any means willing to surrender one of their greatest discoveries along with the source of their income. Should it prove to be necessary to take such a dire action, it would most likely mean the end of Kazemura, forcing its inhabitants to relocate. I just hope that we won't be forced to make that decision."

"I see?" said the outsider once Patchouli made things a bit clearer for him. "So you want to go and take a look at those ruins personally?"

"Yes. Not only to investigate their connection to the fairy incident, but also to record and document them in order to preserve the memory of their existence, should we decide to bury them forever? However, I'm reluctant to go there alone. No. I need a team of people or youkai I can trust ? someone who knows about ancient civilizations as well as someone who can fight well. Also, it would be good to have someone, besides me, who knows a thing or two about arcane arts? But that's nothing that you need to concern yourself with, Kyouichi-san."

The human again chuckled with amusement. "I don't meet even one of those three requirements? But, I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out, Patchouli-sama? Now, how about that tea?"

The purple-eyed youkai sorceress looked at him surprisedly. "Do you really want to go and bring me some tea?"

"Sure, why not?" smiled Kyouichi. "After all, I did come here to ask something from you, so I suppose I could at least do something in return? I'll be right back."

Before Patchouli managed to say anything, the young man made himself scarce, headed for the great dining hall where everyone could ask for as much tea as they could drink, without any extra charge, of course. In less than five minutes another knock sounded on the small study where Patchouli spent her free time in Eientei. Kyouichi had brought in two wooden cups with steaming hot tea.

"Thank you very much." Patchouli courteously thanked and gently nodded her head as she accepted the cup.

"No problem." replied the young man with a smile, taking a light sip from his cup. "Hmm? could use a bit more sugar, though?"

The sorceress also followed suit and after she had savored the not-so-perfect taste of Eientei's blend, she put the cup on the table and folded her arms over one another, looking at Kyouichi with an intense gaze. "Now? What can I help you with?"

"Ah, yes?" Kyouichi nodded and took out Tewi's last message. "Do you perhaps know someone called Tewi Inaba?"

"Tewi?" Patchouli repeated the name and her eyes widened a bit, as if she indeed knew someone like that. "I? did see her a few times when I visited this place. She's an Earth rabbit with substantial authority in Eientei. However, her demeanor would suggest otherwise. Her personality is rather? fairy-like, for the lack of better term?"

"Yes, I've found out? the hard way. Now that rabbit has something that's mine and I'd like to have it back."

"Come to think about it, Marisa also has some things that are mine and I'd like to have them back? But, you already know what she's like?"

Kyouichi knew that she was talking about her books, which Marisa liked to borrow and never return, and he couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Why don't you do the same thing to her then? Give her a taste of her own medicine?"

Patchouli only disapprovingly shook her head while frowning. "Me? Stealing from Marisa? I will never lower myself to HER level." she emphasized with a disdainful tone.

"But that wouldn't be stealing." argued the outsider. "You'd be merely getting back what rightfully belongs to you."

"I'm afraid that doing that would only fuel the fire, encouraging the witch to "borrow" more books and more often than before? Anyway, I believe that this conversation has gone off-topic again?" she remarked nonchalantly. "You mentioned Inaba Tewi, right?"

"Well? yeah?" Kyouichi's response was a bit delayed.

"Can't say I've seen her in the past few days, so you're probably asking the wrong person?"

"Believe it or, not, Patchouli-sama," he interrupted her suddenly; "you CAN help me, even if you probably aren't aware of it."

She gave him a puzzled gaze. "What do you mean by that?"

"You probably already know Tewi-san a bit better than I do and you also know what sort of a trickster she is."

"So far I've been lucky to avoid being targeted by her." murmured the sorceress and gently knocked on the wooden table. "Guess I'm an uninteresting person for her, which suits me just fine."

Kyouichi made a crooked smile, not too sure what he should say about Patchouli's last statement. Regardless, he continued explaining.

"So this Tewi somehow thought that it would be a blast if she took one of those potions I bought in Kazemura and left me a message with a proposal to play a game of following her clues in order to get it back. And so, here I am with the next clue leading directly to you?"

"Me? But I already told you that I haven't seen?"

"And I already told you that it doesn't matter." he cut off Patchouli's objection and passed her Tewi's last message. "Take a look. She doubtlessly means you in this riddle? Saying that you carry another riddle without your knowledge? Uh? no pun intended."

Patchouli accepted the paper and observed it with a mixture of curiosity and mistrust.

"Umm? Ick? Where has this thing been?"

Kyouichi chuckled embarrassedly. "You probably don't want to know."

She made something that looked like a very miniscule shrug and quickly raced through the short rhymed riddle. Then she suddenly snorted, as if she just got insulted.

"Hmph? So what if I prefer to stay indoors?" she commented one of the lines. "If I read my books outside, they could easily get damaged? Why, just a few hours in the sun and the pages would turn yellow? And I do go outside. During the past three months I've been outside at least once." she said that in a prideful manner, as if she just beat her own personal record.

"Whoa?" uttered the amazed outsider and nodded with respect. "And I thought I was bad?"

"In fact," Patchouli continued without paying heed to Kyouichi's last comment, "I've been outside last week when Marisa told me about the forest fire."

"Ah, but of course!" Kyouichi snapped his fingers. "Kogasa-san told us all about it! How you and Marisa combined your magic with her to put out a huge fire in a matter of minutes? *sigh* If only I was there to see it?"

Patchouli blinked a couple of times, her face barely conveying any emotion, but somehow she felt a sort of heartwarming feeling that her good deed has not gone unnoticed and that at least someone openly appreciated it.

"Kogasa-san, huh?" she whispered the karakasa's name. "She really saved us then?"

"Yes, she may have a good heart, but damn? That habit of hers?" said Kyouichi as he replayed the scene when Kogasa "surprised" him in his head.

"My? Just look how we always keep digressing from the topic." Patchouli remarked with a gentle smile. "So, if I understand this correctly," she gently waved the message in her hand, "Tewi has hidden a message in one of my pockets, huh?"

"So it seems." confirmed the young human.

Without further ado, the young youkai sorceress stood up and started tapping her hands over her pockets to feel if there wasn't any paper hidden inside them.

"Hmm? My pockets are all empty." she announced the negative result.

"Perhaps that sneaky rabbit didn't place that message inside your pockets?" said Kyouichi thoughtfully and measured Patchouli's short, but shapely figure from head to toe.

The girl's face suddenly turned a light shade of pink. "W-what are you hinting at?"

"Hmm? how should I put it as mildly as possible?" muttered the outsider and took a deeper breath. "Undress yourself."

"WHAT?"! she exclaimed with a surprisingly loud voice, which immediately caused her asthmatic attack to kick in. Kyouichi figured that his joke was most inappropriate and as he apologized to her, he quickly opened the room's door, ready to run and call doctor Yagokoro for help. However, patchouli raised her right hand, halting him while her left hand reached for the top drawer of the table she was sitting at and grabbed an inhaler. After taking a deep breath through its mouthpiece, her labored, wheezing breathing returned to normal and she sighed with relief.

"I'm very sorry, Patchouli-sama? Even though that was just a joke, I should have thought about your health condition?" Kyouichi repeated his apology.

"Whew? so it was only a joke?" the purple-haired girl whispered to herself.

"Are you sure I shouldn't call Eirin?"

"I'm alright now." she calmed him down. "You just? uh? startled me. And you're not even a karakasa?" she remarked jokingly.

"All I meant was to tease you a bit?" muttered the outsider, looking down in guilt.

"But?" sounded Patchouli again, pausing herself for a long while, "you're probably right."

"About what?"

"That I have to check my clothes thoroughly?" she specified and a blush settled on her cheeks again.

"Eh? You're serious?" Kyouichi raised his eyebrows.

Patchouli took her hat off and shook it up and down in hope of finding any hidden papers that Tewi might have planted there, but to no avail. Then she raised her look at Kyouichi once more and nodded. "I guess it can't be helped? I'll have to take my clothes off after all."

Kyouichi widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to manage a single-word reply. He was struck dumbfounded and kept staring at Patchouli for over 15 seconds with his mouth ajar.

Patchouli in turn tilted her head to the side and nervously tapped her foot against the floor. Both of them were silent for a while.

"?"

"Why are you still sitting here? Get out of the room!"

"Huh? O-oooh, yes, yes, of course!" Kyouichi quickly, but clumsily stood up from his chair as he was returned back to reality. "Damn it?" he whispered in disappointment as he was leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
After waiting for over 20 minutes on the main corridor of Eientei, even Kyouichi's otherwise patient soul was starting to grow impatient.

"Oh come on? What's taking her so long?" he said to himself as he was walking back and forth in front of the door of the study. He bent over closer to the door in hope of taking a peek inside, but the door's design simply didn't allow it. "Sheesh! Why can't these doors have keyholes to peek in through? *sigh* I hope you're watching me from somewhere, Tewi, and having a good laugh? Just pray that I never find you."

Finally, the long wait ended when the study's door reopened and Patchouli stepped out fully clothed again. She silently shook her head when Kyouichi asked her what she found.

"In that case," said the young man, "Tewi must have hidden the message somewhere in your white uniform?"

"Hmm?" the youkai bookworm hummed and turned her face to a small pile of clothes lying on the bed in the room. "Should have thought so in the first place?" she muttered and slowly proceeded to search her borrowed uniform. "What's this?" she asked as she pulled out a paper card out of the pocket. "This must be what you're looking for?"

Patchouli stepped closer to Kyouichi and passed it to him. The outsider instantly recognized Tewi's handwriting.

"For finding the clues you sure have a knack, just track down the last one and don't hold back. The end draws near, your goal is in sight, give you a reward I just might. Once upon a time, in a bamboo stalk was found, on a shining night an infant, to life on Earth was bound. A silver platter full of tasty treats hides the last clue and towards your goal it leads?"

Kyouichi was starting to get a feeling that Tewi's riddles were gradually making less and less sense. Then Patchouli leaned over his shoulder to take a look at the text and make a quick analysis.

"Well, Tewi is obviously hinting at the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." she said without thinking. "And the "shining night" written in hiragana here, when written in kanji, makes up the name "Kaguya"."

"O-kay? so the next clue will be probably somewhere around the Moon princess?"

"On a silver platter of some sort, apparently?" concluded the librarian.

"But? Damn?" Kyouichi cursed again when he realized a problem. "She can't seriously want me to barge into Kaguya-sama's private quarters. I'll get killed!"

"Hmm? Perhaps we could ask her for permission then?" Patchouli suggested.

"And how do you suggest doing that?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Princess Kaguya has also volunteered to do the job of a nurse until the number of patients in Eientei decreases to? acceptable levels."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." nodded the outsider. "She's come once to our ward to check on us. But what if she is currently not working and staying in her quarters? Without any special permission I'll never be able to even get near her."

"Fortunately, I'm a bit more informed about this matter." said Patchouli and her lips bent in a light smile.

Kyouichi copied her smile and asked her to explain. "I'm all ears."

"You see, Kaguya-sama, as a voluntary nurse doesn't have her shift as long as other regular staff members. The same goes for me. However, while I work six hours from morning till noon, the princess has her shift from noon to evening, which means?"

"That she's now on duty?" Kyouichi finished Patchouli's sentence.

"You should be able to find her in one of the wards, tending to the patients, but I can't exactly say which one."

"Finding her is one thing, but how am I supposed to persuade her to let me inside her quarters?"

"Kaguya-sama's superior status gives her freedom to do her voluntary work for only as long as she sees fit. I believe I would be able to help you persuade her?"

"You'd? really do that for me, Patchouli-sama? Even after all the trouble I just put you through?"

"There's actually something I wanted to discuss with the princess regarding the fairy incident so I'm doing this for my own benefit as well."

"So are you coming with me then?"

"Yes. I believe I can get much more information about certain matters from her than from these books." acknowledged the sorceress and emptied her tea cup in one go. "We should probably ask Eirin or Reisen where to find her?"
And so, Patchouli and Kyouichi have gone to Eirin's office together to ask her about Kaguya's current whereabouts. The Lunarian doctor was already alone in her office, standing over some sort intricate laboratory apparatus and diligently examining the content of one of the vials.

"Sorry to bother you again, Eirin-sama." Kyouichi apologized right upon entering. "Can I ask you something?"

"And how can I help?" she turned around and saw that Kyouichi wasn't the only person who entered, "?you two? Would you perhaps be interested in buying some of my... special medicine?" she asked and made yet another mischievous wink at her guests.

"What's she talking about?" Kyouichi whispered his question to Patchouli.

The purple-haired elementalist didn't seem to have a clue either as she only shrugged in response.

"Oh, you know?" Eirin widened her smile, "aphrodisiacs and the like? I've got all that can make a young couple's life more? interesting."

"When will you cut those jokes out already?" Kyouichi asked with a chiding tone. "We've come to ask you where to find Kaguya-sama."

"Mistress?" the doctor connoted. "For what business?"

Patchouli opened her mouth to respond, but Kyouichi was faster. "You see, Patchouli-sama here said that she wanted to discuss something with her about the recent incident and I just kept her company on the way to your office?" he told a half-truth. "I'll be going back to the ward right afterwards."

Patchouli realized that the young outsider was merely trying to cover up his true intention just to make sure Eirin would have anything against him meeting the princess. However, Eirin's reply came as a surprise to both her and her human acquaintance.

"Well, she's on her "duty", as you may know, but in which ward can you find her exactly at this time is beyond me? She could be anywhere on this or the third floor? But once her shift's over, she's in her quarters as usual. Do you want me to pass on the message to her or??"

"Uh? No, no?" Patchouli shook her head. "We? we'll find her somehow, thank you."

"Suit yourself?" shrugged the Lunarian and returned her attention to her mini lab.
"Oh, great..." muttered the youkai girl as the door to Eirin's office closed behind her. "It seems like we're going to be looking for a needle in a hay sack."

"Ha! I've had my share of scouring Eientei in order to find someone." said Kyouichi with an annoyed voice. "Even though I've had the fairies helping me?"

Patchouli let out another thoughtful hum and stayed quiet for nearly half a minute. Then she snapped her fingers with an idea popping up in her mind.

"Fairies... That's it!"

"Huh?"

"Well, not exactly fairies, but youkai with similar attributes ? the rabbits!" Patchouli excitedly elaborated her idea.

"Hey, easy now, Patchouli-sama. Don't get another asthma fit?" Kyouichi jestingly calmed her down. "What was that about the rabbits?"

"Eientei is full of Earth and Moon rabbits who serve under authorities like Tewi, Eirin and ultimately ? Kaguya. I'm sure that when the princess desires something, the servant rabbits respond immediately to cater to her every whim. They have to know where exactly their mistress is, regardless of the time. They can lead us directly to her!"

Kyouichi raised his eyebrow, as he was quite skeptical about the idea. "And they'll just show us the way if we ask them nicely?" he said with sarcasm. "Yeah, right? Like they'd let any outsiders disturb the princess without invitation."

"I've been in Eientei more times than you have, so I know that the princess is rather easygoing." argued the sorceress. "She doesn't mind visitors. On the contrary, she welcomes them."

"Yeah? That one time I've talked to her, she said otherwise?"

"Must be because she has seen too many patients lately. However, when we were sorting medicine the other day, she complained to me that being a nurse is no fun at all? I'm sure she wouldn't mind taking a break."

Kyouichi nodded after a long pause. "Okay. I admit you have to know Kaguya-sama more than I do. Perhaps you're right about her, but I'm still not too sure about the rabbits? I highly doubt they'd just take us directly to her. IF they even know where she is at the moment?"

"Trust me, they are intelligent creatures. I've read many books about them. Similar to the tengu race, they too have their hierarchy and they have a highly developed communication network within their society. Information, regardless of the content, becomes generally known in a matter of minutes to all of the rabbits living in one community. They love to gossip, just like the tengu."

Kyouichi let out a whistle of respect to both the rabbit race and Patchouli's knowledge. "Almost like a living Internet?"

"Internet, you say?" Patchouli turned her purple eyes at him. "I saw a book with that term in its title in Rinnosuke-san's shop, but I haven't read it yet?"

"Eh? never mind." the outsider dismissively waved his hand. "Let's get back on-topic."

"Yes, we should find us a servant rabbit first."

"There's one." Kyouichi pointed forward as one of the rabbits just exited one of the rooms, carrying something small in her hands.

Patchouli nodded and engaged her magical hover mode, since she wasn't a big fan of physical activity. Kyouichi trotted behind her, trying to keep up with the sorceress as she was approaching the unsuspecting youkai rabbit.

"Umm? Excuse me for a minute~!" she called with her subtle voice at the long-eared youkai. "It's urgent."

The female rabbit servant curiously tilted her head to the side and stopped just a second before Patchouli caught up to her. The elemental wizard elegantly descended back to the floor and bowed to the surprised rabbit. "I have an important business with princess Kaguya. Could you? tell us where to find her?"

The rabbit girl stood there with the same bewildered expression for a good while. Kyouichi sighed and placed his palm on Patchouli's shoulder, silently shaking his head. "Just as I thought? These young rabbits are about as competent as?"

He cut off the rest of the sentence in a surprised reaction to the rabbit's sudden take-off. She even gestured to them to follow her and so, without any needless words they hurried up after her. She flew fast and didn't turn back. To Kyouichi's surprise she didn't stop at the stairs to go up, but continued her flight onwards and at one of the crossroads she turned to the right.

"Could you? please? slow down a bit~?" Kyouichi called at her in between his huffing and puffing, since his legs were no match for the speed of her flight.

"Hurry up, Kyouichi-san!" Patchouli urged him to keep up. "She went that way!"

Kyouichi had lost sight of the rabbit, but at least Patchouli was considerate enough to stay a couple of meters behind. Due to all the sudden turns the servant rabbit made, she almost even eluded Patchouli.

"I think I know where she's going." the purple-haired sorceress informed the outsider. "Looks like the princess is sorting the freshly made medicine again? The rabbit is headed for the pharmaceutical department."

"I? hate? running?" wheezed Kyouichi as he was running out of breath.

A couple of more seconds and he could finally come to a halt when he saw the rabbit floating in front of one of the doors, as if hesitating to enter. However, she seemed to have overcome her doubt and entered the room in the very next moment. Patchouli shrugged and followed suit with Kyouichi in tandem. Together they entered a big room that resembled a smaller warehouse. Thousands upon thousands of boxes with medicine of all varieties were neatly placed on tall shelves, ready to be distributed. Some of the medicine was placed on wooden pallets, fresh out of the lab and yet to be sorted? And near one of those pallets, sitting on a comfortable-looking chair with one leg folded over the other and a cup of some refreshing beverage in her hand, was one very relaxed Moon princess.
"Sorry to intrude~!" Patchouli politely announced her arrival, which had startled the black-haired beauty into jumping on her feet.

"W-what?! Who?! I? I'm not slacking off~!" she immediately began to pretend that she's working before she lifted her gaze up at her surprise visitors. "Huh? Patchouli-san? And? umm? Outsider-san?"

"Well, what do you know? Who would have thought it'd be that easy??" Kyouichi commented the success of Patchouli's idea.

"Yes." nodded the sorceress. "Sorry to bother you while you're on duty, but? I had something important do discuss with you. If you don't mind, that is?"

"Mind? No, no, of course I don't mind." Kaguya shook her head and her expression changed to make her look somewhat guilty. "To be honest? I'm glad you showed up, Patchouli-san?" A deep sigh escaped her lips. "I deluded myself into thinking that I can help Eirin as a nurse? But this job is not easy at all. I'm already tired of it and I haven't been doing it for even a week."

"Oh, tell me about it." said Patchouli with contempt. "Although I did get to put some of my knowledge to good use, I'm not cut out for this kind of work. I prefer the library."

"I can totally understand what you mean." the princess sympathized with her. "But at least I learned my lesson from it."

"Yes, me too." nodded the sorceress agreeingly.

"I knew you were a kindred soul, Patchouli-san." Kaguya smiled at her. "You know what? Why don't you follow me so we can discuss whatever you'd like in better comfort?"

She took her drink and led the way out of the room.

"Oh, is he coming with us too?" she asked and beckoned at Kyouichi.

Patchouli had already prepared an explanation. "This is Ishimaru-san? My friend Remilia had hired him to take a look around Kazemura and take notes of anything suspicious regarding the incident with the aggressive fairies. It is because of this trip he took that he ended up here. He's made an important discovery and after the trouble he went through, I think he at least deserves to know what's going on here."

"O-okay, Patchouli-san, I was just curious." shrugged the smiling princess.

She gracefully walked along the confusing and endlessly long corridors until the group had reached the familiar staircase. From there she headed her steps upwards to the top floor ? the one that was out of bounds not only to regular patients and visitors, but pretty much most of Eientei's staff.
"It's not every day that I let my guests here, but? I just feel like taking a break from this boring work."

"We're both very honored to be invited to your quarters, Kaguya-sama." said the outsider and bowed to the princess.

"Oh, now I remember~! You're the one that asked me for my autograph, right? The one from the Rehabilitation Ward?"

"Uhh, yes that would be me."

"I wanted to ask you about the current version of the Taketori Monogatari that's being passed on in the world beyond the barrier? I'm pretty sure it had diverged from the original ? the true story of what happened."

"Well, if you have the time to listen, then I will gladly tell you, Princess, but I believe Patchouli-sama has more important things to discuss."

"But of course." said Kaguya and stopped in front of a door that looked just like any other in Eientei. She placed her slender finger over it and a silent click could be heard as the locking mechanism was magically disengaged.

"So, welcome to my little kingdom." she gestured into her living quarters and entered as first. "It's nothing in comparison to what my chamber on the Lunar Capital was, back when I was still an official princess, but to tell you the truth, I like it much more here on Earth?"

"Wow?" uttered the amazed outsider.

"Amazing..." whispered Patchouli in awe.

For both of them this was the first visit to the otherwise forbidden chamber of the legendary Moon princess. However, Kyouichi's amazement was amplified simply because he was an outsider and that he never even dreamt of being where he was now and meeting people and youkai he has met so far. The fact that he was still alive after more than a month in this world was a miracle by itself.

Both he and Patchouli were now admiring the luxurious interior of Kaguya's private quarters.

Vast, spacious and bewildering? Those were some of the many words one could use to describe the interior of this place. Traditional Japanese furniture made of the finest polished mahogany was only one small part of princess's luxury. She seemed to be fond of reading, or at least had a taste for using books as a part of decoration, because there were two massive bookshelves on the left side of the room, separated by a doorway leading further into other chambers.

"As you can see, I don't have a throne or anything as you might have expected." Kaguya explained as she led the way towards a large low table topped with various dishes with desserts, fruits and decorative houseplants. "I really prefer to sit on the ground like so?" she suddenly dropped to a sitting position on one of the comfortable cushions at her table.

"Or sometimes," she continued, "I just lay comfortably down on the side like this?" and she did exactly as she said. She then elegantly ripped a single gape berry out of the cluster on one of many plates and savored it slowly.

"So, what do you think?" she asked both her guests. "Are you impressed?"

"Totally?" uttered the outsider who was still studying his surroundings with his mouth agape.

Patchouli seemed to be a bit less impressed due to the fact that she spent most of her days living in the no less luxurious Scarlet Devil Mansion, but she had to nod in acknowledgement.

"Well, if you asked Remilia, she'd probably say something like: "Pfffha! You call that impressive?" But I have to admit that it pretty much rivals our mansion. The only major difference is the style."

The princess smiled. "I see. I haven't really seen what your mansion looks on the inside, besides the foyer and the dining hall, so I can't really judge that? Seems like yesterday when I first heard the news of if appearing in the middle of the lake. Heard there was some strange red mist too?"

"Yes, that would be her doing." Patchouli indirectly referred to Remilia Scarlet and her reckless attempt to make Gensokyo a vampire-friendly place even during daytime.

"Oh, by the way? why am I still wearing this nurse uniform?" Kaguya asked herself, looking down at her chest. She slowly and reluctantly stood up, as if it consumed all of her energy and after stretching her neck left and right she turned again to her guests.

"Alright?" she exhaled heavily. "Please excuse me for a moment while I change into something more comfortable. Why don't you two sit down somewhere?" she prompted her guests, because both of them were still standing. "I'll be right back and bring you some snacks. Please don't eat those on the table, okay? I really like those?"

"?and hate to share." added Kyouichi, as if he was finishing Kaguya's sentence when she was already gone.

Patchouli shrugged in response. "Princess-like manners, I guess? But here's your best chance to get the next message, Kyouichi-san."

"You're right!" the outsider called out spontaneously, because the sheer magnificence of Kaguya's living quarters made him forget what he had come here for in the first place. He once again took out the piece of paper that Patchouli found in her uniform and unrolled it. He reread it a few times and then shifted his attention to the great table in front of him.

"A silver platter full of tasty treats hides the last clue and towards your goal it leads?" he repeated a line from the short text left by the youkai rabbit. "Damn? all of these platters are silver! My, what a specified hint, Tewi-san? Again, we can't help it, but to look everywhere."

"Somehow I doubt it's hidden among the fruits, though?" stated Patchouli as she watched the outsider picking through the grapes, apples and oranges.

"Please?" he looked at her pleadingly. "Can I ask you for assistance one more time? The princess can return any minute and I don't have enough time to check every platter. I need you to help me."

"But I already am..." said the sorceress. "I'm helping you by logically eliminating the least probable places."

"Hmm? I guess that IS some sort of help? But rather than telling me where not to look, could you please tell me where would you look first?"

Patchouli took a deep nasal breath and slowly scanned the surface of the table from left to right while humming quietly.

"How about that bowl with fondue?" she pointed with her hand and resumed her "scanning".

"Fondue?" Kyouichi repeated as he gazed at the said bowl. "You know, Tewi had already hidden one of her messages on a piece of meat. I somehow doubt she'd be so? unoriginal to make the same thing twice."

"Really?" Patchouli raised a surprised eyebrow. "In that case, it can be really anywhere? Perhaps even in that salad over there?"

"That really didn't help us at all." grumbled Kyouichi and randomized his search.

"Or maybe?" continued the purple-haired elementalist, "maybe Tewi simply put her message UNDER one of these silver platters."

"Now that's an idea!" called the human and started to lift the platters to look under them, but his luck remained to be poor. Meanwhile, Patchouli stood up and sneakingly walked towards the doorway between the bookshelves and focused her hearing sense to check whether the Moon princess wasn't about to surprise them. She could hear muffled sounds of rubbing cloth and a silent creaking of wooden floor somewhere far. Then she heard Kaguya's voice saying something.

"Mmmf? How? am I? supposed to? put this? on? Umf?"

Apparently the princess had a bit of a difficulty putting on some part of her usual attire without the assistance of her servant rabbits.

"Hey, Patchouli-sama, where are you going?" Kyouichi called at the librarian. "Now is not the time for studying books! I still haven't found anything and need your help!"

The girl nodded with a wry smile. "I think we still have some time before the princess returns? Hey, how about that platter with mochi? Isn't that a card over there?"

She pointed at a tall pile of rice cakes and a small paper card leaned against it. Since Kyouichi was sitting at the opposite side of the table, he couldn't see it, but as soon as Patchouli informed him about it, he looked around and grabbed the said card. For a moment he felt like he was about to celebrate, but as soon as he noticed what was written on it, his hopes diminished again. The card simply said: "Do not touch! Yes, that goes for you too, Tewi!" The text was written by none other than Princess Kaguya herself.

"Hmm? I guess she really must like these..." stated Kyouichi while gesturing at the cakes.

"That warning is like an invitation for Tewi to do something funny." remarked Patchouli after reading the card.

The outsider carefully lifted the platter and looked under it. "Ah~? Nothing? As if that was anything surprising."

"Then we have no choice but to take this pile apart." said the youkai sorceress. "But knowing Tewi, she most likely wants you to get into trouble by having to look inside the rice cakes for her message?"

"You mean she slipped a message inside the mochi?" he asked in disbelief. "Like a fortune cookie?"

"Something like that." nodded Patchouli. "Try poking a toothpick into one to sense if there isn't any? foreign object inside?"

"Your idea is brilliant, Patchouli-sama, but I see no toothpicks." retorted the outsider with a hopeless face.

"Then you have to eat them to find out?" said Patchouli nonchalantly and again slipped away to the bookshelves and checked if she wouldn't hear Kaguya's footsteps. After focusing her ears, she could hear the princess still grumbling over her clothes.

Kyouichi hesitated for quite a while, but he finally made that hard decision. He took the topmost mochi and stared at it intensely. "I guess she won't notice when there'll be one mochi missing?"

He opened his mouth and took a careful bite from the rice cake. It was like any traditional Japanese rice cake ? sweet, sticky and chewy. A real jaw killer. Kyouichi felt like he had enough after eating one. Not that he disliked mochi. On the contrary, he actually liked them, but he considered all that chewing required to eat them as quite annoying. After a long minute he finally managed to swallow the first rice cake, but as his luck would have it, he didn't find anything inside.

"Damn you, Tewi!" he uttered as he took the second cake and stuffed his mouth with it. "Omnomnomnom nomnomnom~ ?"

While Kyouichi was battling with a whole platoon of rice cakes, Patchouli peeked in a bit further and managed to see the half-naked Moon princess standing in front of a mirror in another room as she was putting on a light-pink shirt? with problems.

"Don't worry~!" she called out to the guests. "I'll? be? ready? sooon~!"

Patchouli couldn't help but to giggle. "Kaguya-sama, the head does not go through the sleeve~!"

When Kyouichi heard that, he straightened up in shock. "Mnf?*gulp*. What are you doing?! Now she'll be here sooner!"

He grabbed yet another rice cake from the platter and started chewing vigorously. He already ate two and found nothing. While he was chewing, however, he did feel something rough rub against his tongue. His eyes widened up. He stuck out his tongue a bit and salvaged a thin piece of paper from his mouth with his fingertips.

"Ow yeaw~! Finawy~!" he cheered as he put the paper on the table and stuffed the rest of the rice cake into his already full mouth. Now all he needed was to rearrange the mochi pyramid in a way that Kaguya wouldn't notice anything missing. However, he could already hear the princess's footsteps drawing closer, accompanied by her distant call. "I'll be right there~!"

In the nick of time he managed to make the mochi pile look almost untouched along with the warning card, but his mouth was still filled to the brim with the last mochi he ate. Kaguya was already there, dressed in a bright-pink shirt with many white bows along the buttons and a long dark burgundy skirt with yellow bamboo and flower pattern decorations and a wide frilly white hem. Her skirt was in fact so long, that it completely obscured her legs and feet and she dragged it behind almost like a wedding dress.

"Are you sure that this is more comfortable than what you were wearing a while ago?" Patchouli asked her with an uncertain look.

"Oh, it's comfortable, alright." said the princess with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Just a bit hard to put on?"

"Ever thought about unbuttoning that shirt before putting it on?" Patchouli continued to tease her.

"And risk breaking my nails? No way!"

"Considering that you regularly have to recover from total obliteration, that was a poor excuse, Kaguya-sama?"

The princess resignedly sighed and nodded. "Fine? So I just don't want to unbutton it all the time? What a pain?" she then brought her attention to Kyouichi, and the fact that his cheeks were strangely bulging out didn't escape her. It took her no more than a second when she looked at the platter with mochi to notice that something was out of the ordinary. Her reaction, however, was not an angry outburst. Instead, she smiled and nodded understandingly.

"Ishimaru-san?"

"Mmmnfmnfmm!"

"What's that you're eating?"

"Mnf? Nuffin?"

"I'll give you ten million yen if you can whistle right now."

Kyouichi took a deep breath through his nose and attempted a whistle, but all he managed to do was to make himself look hilarious. He repeated the process yet several times, only to fail again and again and making Kaguya laugh louder and louder. Patchouli too had to hold back her urge to laugh so she turned away for a while. Once the princess's hearty laughter subsided she took the warning card into her hand and shook her head lightly. "Some people just don't listen, do they? I thought you outsiders could at least read?"

Kyouichi finally managed to swallow the last remnant of the rice cake and

[Fonzi]

Chapter 40 ? Truth Exposed

"So?" Patchouli turned a curious face at the outsider as they walked down the empty long corridor. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Kyouichi grinned slyly and drew out the last Tewi's message from the sleeve of his robe. "Here it is?" he waved it gently and spread it open to read it.

"Hm?" Patchouli smiled and grabbed the piece of paper right out of Kyouichi's grasp. "It turned out we didn't need it after all?" she muttered and with a little bit of her magic, she burned the paper strip on her palm into ash, right in front of Kyouichi's surprised eyes.

"?"

"In fact, we didn't need any of them from the start?" added the sorceress as she wiped the ashes off her palm.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" the outsider shouted out his question as he lifted the girl with both his arms, shaking her lightly back and forth.

The sorceress sighed. "Please, put me down." she demanded with a completely unamused tone. "You really didn't need to follow Tewi's messages in order to find her."

Kyouichi calmed down a bit, and as he realized that he didn't want to end up in the same way as the last Tewi's message, he slowly and carefully put the youkai librarian down.

"Why did you burn it?" he muttered as he was looking down at the floor. "What do you mean I didn't need to follow the messages?"

Patchouli first picked up her hat from the floor, which fell down from her head after Kyouichi shook her up. Once she put it back on, she let out a silent giggle, which comforted the outsider into thinking that the young youkai had some kind of plan.

"I knew about it all along, but sometimes, I tend to forget? However, Kaguya-sama made me remember it?"

"Remember what?" asked the confused human.

"The fact that the rabbits can communicate with each other telepathically even over great distances."

"I still don't see how is that going to lead us to Tewi."

"Isn't it obvious? We'll just have to find an Earth rabbit and ask them about the whereabouts of their leader."

"And you believe that any of those rabbits are going to rat out where their leader is hiding?" Kyouichi was again overcome by his own skepticism.

"Of course." said the sorceress bluntly. "All we have to do is ask the right question."

Patchouli's face brightened up with a wry smile. "Now, let's find an Earth rabbit?" she suggested and resumed her hover-flight along the corridor.

"How do we even recognize an Earth rabbit from a Moon rabbit?" wondered the outsider as he followed her.

"The ears, Kyouichi-san, the ears?"

"The ears?" repeated the young man, wondering what Patchouli meant.

They reached the staircase and walked all the way down to the ground floor where they were sure to see dozens of busy rabbits. Once there, Patchouli pointed her finger at a group of rabbits and explained.

"The ones with the thin, rumpled ears are the Moon rabbits, like Reisen-san. The ones with the fluffy downward ears are the Earth youkai rabbits? Now, let's ask them about Tewi-san."

"I seriously doubt this is going to work?"

Ignoring Kyouichi's remarks, Patchouli halted one of the passing Earth rabbits.

"Excuse me, but Kaguya-sama has asked us to call Tewi-san to her quarters. She said she had something important to tell her? Do you know where we can find her?"

The rabbit silently stared at her for a while before she bowed and turned her face away and stayed motionlessly in this position for nearly a minute.

"We might have fooled one rabbit when we were looking for Kaguya, but Tewi's not that stupid?" commented the outsider.

The Earth rabbit finally ended her telepathic communication and turned her face to Patchouli.

"Tewi-sama says that she'll see the princess in a moment. She says she just needs a little while until somebody comes to pick something up from her? She didn't say who, though?"

Although the rabbit had no clue, both Kyouichi and Patchouli figured that Tewi was simply waiting until the outsider finds her and receives back his potion.

"But if Kaguya-sama needs to speak with her immediately, she can find her on the second floor in the conference room?" added the rabbit in a by-the-way manner.

Kyouichi's jaw dropped upon hearing the rabbit tell them exactly where Tewi was waiting. He turned to Patchouli and gave her a deadpan serious stare. "Patchouli-sama?"

"What is it?"

"You? are? a? freakin' GENIUS!" he exclaimed with excitement.

"I don't really see myself as a genius." replied the librarian modestly. "More importantly, you better get going and find the conference room before Tewi-san gets bored and moves to somewhere else.

"You're right, time to give her a surprise visit. Let's go!" he called at her, but Patchouli remained standing and shook her head.

"No, Kyouichi-san. I'm not going with you. Since you already know where she's hiding, you don't need my help anymore. Besides, the second floor is out of bounds to guests. I'm not going to risk getting into trouble for your sake? no offense."

"I understand?" nodded the outsider as he took a step back. "Thank you anyway. You've been an awesome help. I guess it's time to part our ways then, huh? Goodbye, Patchouli-sama, and good luck with helping resolve the fairy incident."
As he wished her good luck, Kyouichi waved his hand at her one more time before he left the corridor and ran up to the forbidden second floor of Eientei. He didn't care about the fact that he was breaking one of the internal rules. After all, he's already broken quite a number of them during his stay. Once he was up on the second floor, he was met with another complex system of corridors and unmarked doors.

"Oh, crap!" he muttered a curse under his nose as he realized that he had no idea where the conference room was. What's worse, some of the rabbits that were just flying along the corridor spotted him and hurried to meet him.

"You there~!" they shouted at him from a distance. "The patient wards are on the third floor! Please turn back! This area is for Eientei residents only!"

Kyouichi's brain now struggled to quickly come up with some excuse. When the rabbits stopped a few meters in front of him, they once again repeated their warning.

"I know?" said the outsider and bowed to them apologetically. "But I've been tasked by the princess to meet someone in the conference room?"

The rabbits silently hovered in mid-air, apparently not falling for Kyouichi's cheap lie. They both exchanged their looks before looking again at the human intruder.

"Leave this place at once, mister?" one of them ordered coldly.

Kyouichi had no choice. He nodded and turned around in disappointment, ready to take the stairs down again. Just as he put his foot down the first stair, however, the second of the two rabbits called out.

"Wait a minute!"

"Huh? What is it?" the surprised outsider turned around, curiously staring at the pair of rabbits.

"I? uh? I just checked that information with other rabbits and? it seems that Kaguya-sama has indeed sent a human to meet someone in the conference room."

"R-really?" asked the other rabbit incredulously. "Are you sure about that?"

"I just said it, didn't I? This human is here on Kaguya-sama's behalf."

Kyouichi was in a loss for words. He could only speculate that the Earth rabbit halted by Patchouli really fell for the lie and telepathically spread the false rumor to some of her friends.

"In that case?" said the less trusting of the two rabbits, "we apologize for our rudeness, sir. Please, let us show you the way to the conference room."

Without a word to say, Kyouichi followed the lead of the two rabbits. After a short while, the two youkai rabbits stopped and gestured at one particular sliding door. "This is the conference room. Once your meeting is over, please leave this floor the way you came. We cannot have the patients wandering about, unless they have a good reason?"
"O-okay?" said the outsider, still unable to believe the favorable development of the situation. He tired to regain his courage and composure and quietly slid the room's door open. The pair of rabbits who escorted him all the way here was already on their way, apparently busy with some other assignments. Shrugging his shoulders, Kyouichi stepped into the conference room. A single large table surrounded by over twenty cushions was taking up the center of the room. Lined along the walls were several cabinets and bookshelves accompanied by houseplants and decorative paintings. But most importantly, at the other side of the room, kneeling on a cushion and with her back turned at the door, was the person Kyouichi was looking for ? Tewi Inaba. It seemed she didn't even notice him come in. Instead, she looked as though as she was looking into the neighboring room through a hole in the wall and giggling quietly. Kyouichi had caught her completely off guard. He tiptoed all the way to the leader of the youkai rabbits and nonchalantly spoke up.

"Is there anything interesting going on in the next room, Tewi-san?"

"Waaah~!" exclaimed the shocked rabbit as she rapidly turned herself around to face the source of the voice.

"Well, well, well? We meet again at last? Tewi-san." said the outsider with an intimidatingly calm, drawling tone and flashed a dark smile at her.

The youkai rabbit girl was still too shocked to manage a reply and she just silently stared at him with widened eyes and trembling ears.

"What's the matter? Aren't you even going to greet me?" Kyouichi continued teasing her. After all, he did want to give her some sort of punishment for stealing his belongings and the fact that he now had her backed against a wall and sweating nervously brought him quite a satisfying feeling. He decided to keep his act up for just a bit longer.

"Well, no matter? I can make do without your greeting, however, not without an adequate? compensation."

"Y-you're here for your red wine?" uttered Tewi nervously. "Ehehe? it's right there in the next room."

"That's good?" Kyouichi gave her a praiseful nod. "But regardless? I cannot leave things as they are and just happily walk away, oh no?"

"W-what do you want to do?" the black-haired prankster asked with a shaky voice.

"You've been a bad girl, Tewi-san? Certainly not setting an example for the other Earth rabbits under your command?" Kyouichi continued enjoying Tewi's insecurity. "Your little game could by many humans, as well as non-humans, be considered as an act of thievery? A punishable act, so to speak?"

Tewi nervously swallowed her saliva as she stared at the target of her pranks ? now, the predator that caught its prey. "P-please don't hurt me."

"Letting you go without any form of punishment would only be a reward to all the thieves around the world? And you, Tewi-san, after all you've made me go through, definitely deserve to be punished?"

"I'm sorry~! I'm sorry~!" the frightened Earth rabbit covered her face with her arms and began sobbing, thinking that Kyouichi was about to hit her. But that didn't happen.

"Oh? You think your punishment will be a physical one?" Kyouichi asked her calmly.

The rabbit responded by lowering her arms and a curious stare.

"Reisen-san has asked me to bring you to her, should I find you? She told me to leave your punishment up to her? And that's just what I'm going to do."

"Yaaaah~! No~! Please, let go~!" Tewi protested as Kyouichi forcefully grabbed her little wrist. She squirmed and struggled, yanked and twisted, but her muscular strength was no match for that of an adult male human. It was at this moment, when Kyouichi realized that he had probably gone too far. He didn't release her, but instead tried to calm her down.

"Hey now? Don't worry. I won't do anything to you? Just calm down, okay?"

"I? Let go? I'll defend myself with danmaku~!" she threatened.

Out of fear of her magical power, Kyouichi quickly took a hold of her left wrist as well and secured her arms behind her back with a steady grip.

"Nooo~!" she screamed in protest. "Don't? Don't take me to Reisen? We? we could make a deal? Just don't turn me over to her?"

"Calm down I say?" Kyouichi repeated his words. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Then let me go~!"

"Not before you calm yourself down, Tewi-san." the outsider stated a condition.

At first, Tewi seemed to ignore his request and continued her attempts to break free from his grip, but after a minute of pointless struggle, she lost her will to resist and she finally relaxed her body.

"Okay. I'm going to release you? But you must promise me that you won't attack me afterwards or run away."

"Just let me go already." she grumbled in irritation.

"That doesn't sound like a promise."

"Fine? I promise."

"Promise what?"

"Uuu~? I promise that I won't attack you or run away. Are you happy now?"

Kyouichi remained silent for a moment. "You know what? I think I better take you to Reisen after all?"

"Nooo~! Please, don't be so cruel~!" cried the rabbit, but didn't struggle anymore. Perhaps she was already tired of it. "I'm sorry for stealing your wine. I won't ever do it again. Just don't tell Reisen."

Finally, Kyouichi let her go. "And I'm sorry for scaring you so much." he bowed to her in apology.

This surprised the Earth rabbit even more. "Eeh? You? weren't going to tell Reisen?"

"Actually, I was? But I changed my mind."

After a good while of complete silence, Tewi slowly lowered her head. "Thank? you? But? why did you change your mind?"

"I've already given you the punishment." answered Kyouichi plainly. "And I'm afraid I've scared you a bit too much. And even though Reisen personally asked me to, I'm not going to turn you over to her? Instead, I'd like to give you a chance? as a friend." he added with a smile.

"As a friend?" Tewi repeated incredulously.

"That's right. A friend. A person who is there for you during fun times as well as times of need."

"You're? not really angry at me for taking your stuff?"

"A little bit." admitted the human. "But I've already forgiven you. Now? how about we started our meeting anew?"

"Okay then." Tewi nodded agreeingly.

"Good afternoon to you." Kyouichi greeted and bowed politely to Tewi. "My name is Kyouichi Ishimaru. Pleased to meet you."

"Umm? My name is Tewi? Tewi Inaba." the rabbit introduced herself a bit shyly. "Good afternoon?"

"That wasn't so bad." Kyouichi smiled at her encouragingly. "Friends?" he asked as he extended his hand towards her.

After a hesitant moment, the rabbit girl slowly took the human's hand into hers and gently shook it. "F-friends?"

"You don't need to be so shy, Tewi-san. I'm just an ordinary human. I should probably address you Tewi-sama when I come to think of it?"

"No? Tewi is okay?" muttered the rabbit, with a little more confidence resounding in her voice.

"Very well then, Tewi?" said Kyouichi as he measured her up for a moment. "It's good to have a new friend in Gensokyo?"

"I? uh? I didn't see that reaction coming from you?" admitted the rabbit honestly.

"Say, Tewi? Why did you choose me for your prank anyway?"

"Well?" the Earth rabbit paused herself in thought. "When I first saw you, I couldn't help but to try pulling something funny on you, hehehe?"

"And thus, you misguided me to the bathing room instead of men's restroom." Kyouichi commented, chuckling in retrospect of this event. "And at the worst possible time?"

Tewi also couldn't hold back her giggle. "Tehehe~? So? did you get a good look?"

"Yeah? A second longer and they'd be scraping my remains off the floor and walls? But it was still worth it? Actually, the next time I met you, I wanted to thank you for arranging it?"

"Huh? The next time?? You mean outside, right? I thought you were so angry at me that you were going to strangle me? So I ran off."

"Which I find a little strange." admitted the outsider. "If I'd really threaten you, you'd just make short work of me with magic? Right?"

"Well? I prefer to avoid violence if possible, so if there's any danger, I, more often than not, simply run."

"So? what made you want to play another prank on me later?" Kyouichi inquired.

"Because as I hid in the forest, I was still watching you." the rabbit girl answered. "I saw you do something? interesting. You sneaked into the reception office? So I thought to myself that I better keep an eye on you. I followed you in and watched you take something from one of the lockers. At first I thought you planned something evil, but it turned out that you were just taking some of your own stuff to your ward. So then I thought: what an interesting person? Not caring about some rules and doing things his way? So then, when you were moved to the other ward and no longer wore the bandages, I was secretly planning to play a little game and see if you really had what it takes to break Eientei's internal regulations. It sure was fun watching you? But sometimes you just took too long and I was getting bored. I was almost caught at the beginning when that fairy noticed me standing behind the door, hehe. That was a close shave?"

"But apparently you didn't keep a constant watch of me, since I caught you here?" remarked Kyouichi as he looked around the spacious conference room.

"That's right?" Tewi made a bit embarrassed nod. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't?" spoke the young man truthfully. "It was thanks to the brilliant mind of Patchouli-sama that I found you."

"Patchouli? From the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Hmm? maybe next time I should play a similar game with her?" muttered the mischievous rabbit to herself.

"Please, don't." Kyouichi pleaded her. "She's busy with lots of important work. She's even working to resolve the incident with crazed fairies. The last thing she needs is to be disturbed?"

"Then I guess I'll just have to make do with Reisen." shrugged the youkai rabbit.

Kyouichi raised an eyebrow. "Reisen? You were begging me not to turn you over to her just a while ago and yet you're not afraid to keep playing pranks on her?"

"Hehe~!" Tewi giggled smugly. "Reisen will never catch me. She's too lazy to even give it a try."

"Or too busy to even bother?" the outsider said a more probable reason for Reisen's passive attitude towards Tewi.

"So? now that you've found me, I guess you want your stuff back." Tewi quickly changed the topic.

"I'd expect no less."

"Then follow me." the rabbit gestured and opened the door. "It's all there in the room behind that wall?"

"What do you mean "all"?" wondered the young human. "Didn't you just steal my po? uhh? I mean... red wine?"

"Oh, so I can keep all those snacks and candy?" asked the girl anticipatively as she led the way.

"Wait a sec. You still have the snacks? I thought you ate them all."

"Of course not." she shook her head denyingly. "I only had a little bit of each? Just look at me. I'm barely half your size. Do you really think I'd manage to stuff myself with so many sweets?"

"Well? With youkai, you never know." shrugged Kyouichi as he followed her. "For example: I know a girl who's about the same size as you and she can drink up several barrels of sake in one go."

"Whoa~! Really? She could even rival the oni!"

"Actually, she IS an oni."

"Eeeh? Well in that case, there's nothing to be impressed about." Tewi waved her hand. "If she was a human and could drink the same amount, now that would be worth admiration."

"There's no human dead or alive that could drink that much, though?" remarked the outsider after a weak chuckle.

"Yes, I thought so? And there's no rabbit dead or alive that could eat as many sweets as I've taken from you? Anyway, here we are. It's right inside this room. Just follow me?"
Kyouichi was still proceeding rather cautiously, not fully giving his trust to the youkai rabbit. He waited until she opened the door and entered first, so she couldn't lock him in from the outside.

"Why are you standing out there, Kyou-san?" she called him impatiently. "Hurry, hurry? before Eirin comes back?"

"Huh?" the outsider was met with another surprising fact. "Are you trying to tell me that we're now in Eirin-sama's bedroom?!"

"That's right." the rabbit replied innocently and bent down near the bed, reaching for something.

"It's rather modest?" Kyouichi commented the room's furnishing. "But that's not important now? You hid my things in Eirin's room? If she'd find them before me?" he left the sentence unfinished, because even a mere thought about that unsettled him.

"Why are you so pale all of a sudden?" wondered Tewi as she gave him a quick once-over. She then pulled out a half-empty glass bottle with the dark-red potion from under Eirin's bed. "Okay? and now the sweets?" she muttered to herself and stepped up to a small cabinet with several drawers. She opened the topmost drawer and started to dig around a bit.

"They should be somewhere further in the back?" she explained and began discarding all the things that were getting in her way.

Kyouichi's jaw dropped in shock as he watched Tewi nonchalantly discard various pieces of Eirin's underwear from the drawer onto the ground.

"Where the hell did you want me to dig around?!" he asked her scoldingly.

Tewi ignored him completely and continued her search until she recovered all the things she had hidden inside the drawer and passed them to their original owner.

"Thanks?" he nodded as he received back his snacks that were all wrapped up in rice paper. "Now hurry up and clean up this mess you just made." he nervously urged the rabbit.

As Tewi was leisurely picking up the scattered undergarments, she let out her typical mischievous giggle and waved one of the panties in front of Kyouichi.

"Hey, hey, Kyou-san? Want a little souvenir before you go home?"

"P-put that thing back where it belongs, damn it!" he turned away in embarrassment. "I can't believe you expected me to search that drawer?"

"Aw, come on~! It's not half as perverted as staring at a naked girl in a bathroom." remarked the Earth rabbit teasingly.

The outsider sighed with contempt. "That's a low blow, Tewi."
Finally, when the youkai rabbit put everything back into the drawer, she and her new human acquaintance quickly and discreetly left the zone of certain death ? that is Eirin's bedroom. As they walked along the hallway, headed for the stairs, Tewi noticed that Kyouichi was tightly clinging onto the bottle, as if it was of some special importance to him.

"Is that wine really that expensive?" she asked curiously.

Unwilling to give a truthful answer at first, Kyouichi took a moment to think before he nodded and gave a reply.

"I? I'll let you in on a secret, Tewi."

"Hm? A secret? What kind of secret?"

"This thing here?" he gently tapped his finger against the bottle, "is no red wine."

"Not wine? Then what is it, Kyou-san?"

Kyouichi took a deep breath and briefly explained the origin and effect of the mysterious red liquid in the bottle.

Tewi was apparently amazed. "Eeeh? Really? That's interesting?"

"?and that's why I was so worried about it being discovered by Eirin-sama?" Kyouichi went on explaining. "If that happened, she'd surely want to know where I got it from and even if I told her the truth, she could suspect me from collaborating with an enemy of the Lunarians. In regard to Eirin-sama and princess Kaguya, I definitely don't wish to be associated with that alchemist?"

"Ohh? Now I understand why you were so eager to play along." nodded the rabbit girl understandingly.

"I'm glad everything was resolved discreetly and peacefully in the end."

"And I'm glad that I made a new friend." said Tewi and showed a cute smile.

"As a friend I ask you to keep this secret just between us. At least for the time being?" Kyouichi requested her. "So far everyone believes this thing is ordinary red wine. I'd like them to stay in this belief."

"I get it?" said the youkai rabbit after she nodded once. "I'll stay quiet about this? Even though it would help Eirin-sama a great deal if she could make her medicine just as effective?"

"I'm aware of that too." said the human and hushed his voice when they reached the staircase. "But I don't want to be involved in this. Not even partially. You may tell Eirin everything I just told you? AFTER I get discharged from Eientei."

"I see?" said Tewi after a thoughtful moment. "I think that would be the best course of action."

"Luckily, you won't have to wait too long. I should get discharged today, if all goes well. Which reminds me that I better hurry back to my ward. I spent too much time wandering around Eientei and I might have even missed my turn for the final check-up."

"Okay then, Kyou-san." smiled the mischievous rabbit and bowed. "I'll keep watching you. If you'll need something, just give me a signal~."

And so, Kyouichi parted ways with his new friend and hasted up the stairs to return to the Rehabilitation Ward.
As he entered the familiar room, he was quite surprised to see Soudai, all dressed-up in a dark-gray kimono with thin vertical yellow stripes, sitting on the bed with a small cotton backpack lying by his feet.

"What the??"

"Oi~! Ishimaru~!" he greeted his friend by flashing a peace sign. "You certainly took your sweet time? Get a load of this ? I'm finally discharged! Eirin-sensei checked me up and said that I have fully recovered. I can finally go back to the village~! Wooohooo~!" he called out cheerfully.

"T-that's? great news?" said Kyouichi after a moment of processing the information. "But what are you still waiting here for?"

Soudai was a bit surprised by his friend's question. "Huh? Have you forgotten? We're in the middle of the blasted Bamboo Forest of the Lost, man! I don't even know which way to go, let alone have the guts and skills to go alone. I believe the same goes for most of the humans? But soon there should be another Ryuuken patrol stopping by. We'll return to the village under their protection. However, it might take yet a few hours. Maybe Eirin-sensei will even give you the final check-up and discharges you as well. That way we could go together."

"Wait a sec." Kyouichi halted him for a moment. "Where is Eirin-sama now? Shouldn't it be my turn for the check-up now?"

"Yeah, that's true, but since you were nowhere to be found, she began checking up the fairies? Now that you mention it, I think she murmured something about you taking your time with Patchouli-san or something? Then she called four fairies at once. I guess they take less time to check-up."

"Hmm? I was wondering why this place seemed so strangely quiet." the younger outsider mumbled as he took a better look around. Besides the two of them, there was only Moe, Wriggle and Kogasa in the room.

"When did she call the fairies for check-up?"

"About an hour ago?" answered Soudai. "By the way, where have you been this whole time? Did you finally find what you were looking for?"

With a dull expression on his face, Kyouichi showed him the potion bottle and walked up to his bed to hide it. On one hand, he was glad that he managed to retrieve the potion, but on the other hand, he was angry at himself for taking too long and missing his turn for the check-up.

It would probably make no difference anyway; since the Ryuuken patrol was due to arrive to Eientei approximately one hour before sunset and Kyouichi knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to the village, even if he was now officially discharged like his older friend.

After all the walking around Eientei, his feet were quite tired, so he decided to take a quick nap until Eirin calls him for the mentioned check-up.

Without most of the noisy fairies in the room, it was now actually much easier to fall asleep than usual. Soudai respected his friend and just quietly waited on his bed, reading an already outdated issue of Bunbunmaru, which Lt. Takamori left here before he was discharged.
"We can go home now~! Yaay~!"

The loud and mirthful cheering woke Kyouichi up from his short slumber. As he opened his eyes, he saw a small group of excited fairies announcing the news of their discharge to their friends.

"Hey, hey, Wriggle-chan, Kogasa-chan, Moe-chan, we can finally go home~! But don't worry, we can wait here until Eirin-san lets you go home as well." Sunny said to the other girls.

Eirin Yagokoro was also there in the room, watching the happy reactions of the fairies for a while before she took a gander at her list of patients.

"Ah, there you are, Ishimaru-san?" she addressed the outsider without even making eye contact. "Do you know that you missed your turn once?"

Kyouichi was still a bit groggy after waking up. "Mhm?" he uttered and nodded affirmatively.

"I already managed to check up several of your roommates."

"Yes, I know?" said the outsider as he was getting up on his feet.

"Well then?" said the Lunarian doctor as she was turning towards the door, ready to leave. "Let's not waste our time with needless words. Follow me to my office, please?"

"Yes, doctor?" replied the young man and followed her out of the Rehabilitation Ward.
None of them said a single word for the whole time as they walked down to the first floor to the office. When they finally reached their destination, Eirin asked Kyouichi to sit on one of the chairs and wait while she prepares all her necessary equipment.

The waiting made Kyouichi quite nervous, as he had no idea what sort of tests he was about to undergo. When he saw Eirin placing a few vials and needles on the table, his nervousness increased even more.

"So, you're going to take a blood sample too?" he asked while trying to make his voice sound calm.

"What's wrong, Ishimaru-san? You don't like the sight of blood?" she replied with questions.

"I hate needles?" grumbled the outsider and turned his face away from the tools on Eirin's table. However, the saying "out of sight, out of mind" didn't apply this time.

He could hear Eirin's giggle from behind his back. "You're more scared than the fairies I just checked up? Don't worry. I'll just take a few milliliters. I'll be done before you even feel the pinch."

"If you say? ack!" Kyouichi was suddenly surprised by a stinging pain on the inner side of his left elbow as Eirin proceeded to take the blood sample. "Hey, you should have at least given me a warning!"

While the blood was slowly dripping into the vial, Doctor Yagokoro distracted Kyouichi's attention from the unpleasant feeling by a question.

"So? Did you have a good time with Patchouli-san?"

The awkwardness of this question has set quite a chain reaction in Kyouichi's head. "Uh? well? we were actually with Kaguya-sama for a while and?"

"Huh? With the princess? Ooooh?" she let out a surprised-sounding sigh.

"What do you mean "Ooooh"? Just what the heck are you imagining, Eirin-sama?"

"Aaaand done?" announced Eirin's mature voice after a couple of seconds and Kyouichi felt the needle being removed from his vein. "Now, before I run this sample through a series of tests, let me take a look at how you've healed?"

She grabbed a device that resembled a monocle and held it up in front of her right eye, closely observing the outsider's face from all angles.

"Mmmhm? Mmmhm?" she hummed and nodded to herself.

"Is that a magic detector, Eirin-sama?" asked Kyouichi, since the device she observed him with very much resembled his own detector of magical energy.

"No, Ishimaru-san. This here is one of my own inventions. It lets me see beneath the epidermis and even deeper up to the skeleton?"

"Like an X-ray?"

The doctor giggled amusedly. "You mean that primitive bulky scanning device that works on the principle of short wavelength electromagnetic radiation that the humans of the outside world use? No, no? Instead of emitting any form of harmful radiation, this device uses the photons from natural light to scan all sorts of materials. It only receives and amplifies those photons and depending on their wavelength, it creates an image. Natural light already has the necessary wavelengths and intensity to literally shine through us. However, only a miniscule portion of these photons actually shine through. This monocle is sensitive enough to capture even those? And it lets me see? that your brain, your skull, your facial muscles and your skin have recovered wonderfully from all the injuries that you sustained?"

"Does that mean I finally get discharged?" asked the outsider impatiently.

Eirin smiled warmly and nodded. "Unless I find a deadly amount of toxins, bacteria, viruses, leukocytes or other harmful elements in your blood sample, you'll be free to go?" she remarked jestingly and winked. "Until I'm finished and get the results, though, you'd do best to wait up in the Rehabilitation Ward. I'll try to analyze your blood as quickly as possible?" Just as she said that, she took the two vials with Kyouichi's blood and put them on a stand next to her intricate laboratory apparatus and began preparing bottles with unknown chemicals to begin the tests.

"Very well." said the young man as he stood up from the chair and stepped up to the door. "Keep up the good work, Eirin-sama?"

"Will do?" muttered the Lunarian, not even turning around to see her patient off, when she called out to him once more. "Umm, Ishimaru-san?"

"Yes?"

"When you're on the ward, please tell Moe-san, Nightbug-san and Tatara-san to come down here so I can check them up as well." she requested. "This constant running up and down the stairs is tiresome and time-consuming? Thank you?"

"Sure thing, no problem." shrugged Kyouichi and left Doctor Yagokoro's office with a strange feeling of anticipation and relief.
"Well? here I am again." he plainly announced his arrival to the ward.

"So you survived the autopsy, as I can see." joked the older outsider, Soudai Asakura.

"Yeah? By the way, Kogasa-san, Wriggle-san and Moe," Kyouichi called out to the three youkai patients, "Eirin-sama is calling you to her office for the last checkup. Uhh? You do know the way to her office, right??"

His question was silenced in a cheerful reaction of the fairies. "Yaaay~! Soon we'll be able to leave together~! See you soon, Wriggle-chan~!" Cirno excitedly called at the youkai firefly.

"Hang in there, Kogasa-chan~!" Sunny was encouraging the youkai umbrella. "And don't be afraid of the needle~!"

"I hope you get as good results as I did, Moe-chan~!" echoed the voice of Luna.

"Oh, so it's finally my turn, huh?" muttered Wriggle as she was flying out of the room.

"It was about time?" said Kogasa as she grabbed her eggplant-colored umbrella and hurried to follow Wriggle.

"I hope I can see Ai-chan after this?" Moe said her wishful thought out loud as she was the last to leave the Rehabilitation Ward.

Strangely enough, even with the noisy bunch consisting of Cirno and the Three Mischievous Fairies, the ward was rather quiet this time? at least in comparison to previous days. It looked like everyone had just about enough of this place and thought of nothing else but the moment they would leave. The minutes were passing by very slowly and the impatience grew stronger in each of the patients. Half of an hour seemed like an eternity to everyone. That's when the ward's door opened and the trio of youkai girls who have returned from the final medical examination has entered. They most likely didn't know the results of their checkup yet, so they were, like everyone else, told to wait here in the ward. What surprised Kyouichi the most was the fact that Eirin bothered to come here again as well, in spite of her previous complaints.

"Okay everyone, just hold on a couple of more minutes while I get the results?" she addressed her words to Kogasa, Wriggle and Moe who responded affirmatively.

"And you?" she suddenly turned to Kyouichi with a strangely serious face. "About your results? There's something I need to talk to you about." she announced with her arms crossed over her chest, not giving any details.

"My results?" repeated Kyouichi confusedly. He had a really bad feeling that he couldn't put his finger on. "What about them?" he demanded to know.

"Follow me to my office?" said the Lunarian sternly, not even adding the polite "please" to her request.

Kyouichi hoped that he was just being paranoid, so he at least kept his cool on the outside. His mind was a different story, though.

"H-here?" he said to the group of fairies as he reached for the sweets from his night table. "I've found them after all?" he forced a smile and passed the sweet treats to the nearest fairy, which was Cirno. "And share equally?"

As he exchanged one brief look with Soudai, who was just as confused as Kyouichi, he left the ward, following the silver-haired figure down the corridor.
He repeated his questions about his test results, but Eirin only brushed him off by saying that they'll talk about it in her office.

The young outsider could feel his nervous heart beating faster and anxiety putting an imaginary wrench on his throat.

"What could be wrong?" he kept asking himself in his mind. "Do I have some serious illness? Whatever it is, it's serious enough for her to only talk about it in her office?"

He tried to shake off his paranoid thoughts, but they just kept coming back. When they were finally down in Eirin's office, she let Kyouichi enter first. Then she closed the door behind her and gave the young man a piercing glare.

"Have a seat, Ishimaru-san?"

Without delaying, Kyouichi did as he was asked and with curious eyes attached to the doctor, he anxiously awaited what she had to say.

"So?" she spoke up as she put her hands behind her back and began walking back and forth. Instead of a nurse or a doctor, she now resembled a policewoman during an interrogation. "What's your trick?"

Needless to say that Kyouichi was confused by the question. "T-trick? What are you talking about, Eirin-sama? I thought you wanted to tell me my results?"

"There's no use playing dumb now, Ishimaru Kyouichi-san." she retorted sharply. "I've figured it all out?"

"F-figured it out?" he repeated confusedly.

"At first I paid it no mind? But when I gave it some thought, it all made sense to me? And now, after I've tested your blood sample, I got the confirmation of my suspicion?"

Kyouichi now got the hint where she was getting at, but he still didn't say a word and waited until the Lunarian doctor gets a bit more specific.

"Your miraculously fast recovery coupled with a similar case occurring to Kurohana-san? I could tell something was not right from the very beginning?"

"Oh crap?" cursed the outsider in his thoughts. "Looks like she found out about the potion I tried so hard to keep a secret?"

"While at first I believed that Kurohana-san's case could have been caused by her inherited magical ability and the gift of healing magic, it turned out to be a false assumption. You were in relatively close contact with her, so after her recovery I assumed that some of her healing powers made their way to you? But none of that was true. Kurohana-san does not possess any healing abilities and is a 100% human with no youkai blood coursing in her veins. Even more suspicious were you, however? With all your facial wounds gone basically in a flash, I couldn't help but to wonder what could have speeded up the healing process so much. As an outsider, any form of magic presence within your body is out of the question. Now it became all clear to me? After the blood tests, I've found miniscule traces of an unknown substance attached to some of your blood cells. The same kind of substance I've found in Kurohana-san's blood. Nobody else but the two of you was positive on this chemical. And so, the radius of my suspects was narrowed down to two people. Then I took the circumstances, in which your respective recoveries took place, into consideration and by logical elimination, I've arrived to a conclusion that the one and only true suspect? is you, Ishimaru-san." she stopped and stared intensely into his eyes. "While Kurohana-san basically woke up from deep narcosis, you have been, according to Reisen, awake for quite a while before you removed your bandages. The only explanation for this is that you used SOMETHING to treat your wounds and then, several days later, you used the same SOMETHING on Kurohana-san? You don't need to worry about any sort of punishment, Ishimaru-san. There's just one thing that I want to know? What did you use? What is? your trick?"

Kyouichi was worried that it would come to this and now it really has. Right now he was solving an inner dilemma whether to tell Eirin the truth and risk the consequences, or to lie to her and try to play the innocent and risk Eirin seeing through his lies? and then risk the consequences. Either way, none of the two options seemed too attractive to the outsider at that moment. He couldn't even predict which one of these two different paths led to the "lesser evil".

"Please be honest about it, Ishimaru-san." Eirin's plea had a strangely dark ring to it. "I would very much not like having to pry this information out of you forcefully?" she added a threatening remark as she drew a single narrow syringe from behind her back. The faint light in the room gently illuminated the needle as Eirin pushed the piston a bit to make sure there would be no air bubbles in the injection.

Kyouichi nervously swallowed his saliva at the sight of the syringe. Thoughts of a daring escape were now flooding his mind.

"This drug is a psychotropic serum that makes the recipient fall into a deep state of delirium, making the mind easily manipulable." explained the Lunarian as she stared at the injection. "In other words, a truth serum. Unless, you want me to inject this into your system, you better start explaining?"

"W-what about your Hippocratic oath, Eirin-sama?"

"That applies only to human doctors, Ishimaru-san."

Kyouichi was now cornered, with no other options left but to do as he was asked. He decided that he'd tell her the truth. He opened his mouth to talk, but in that very moment, like a divine intervention, there was an urgent-sounding knock on the door of the office.

The distracted Lunarian doctor turned her face towards the door. "Ahh? What is it now??"

She discreetly hid the injection and slowly walked up to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming?" she called at whoever was standing at the other side of the door.

"Eirin-sama, Eirin-sama~!" sounded the stressed voice belonging to Reisen.

"I'm a little busy right now, Reisen?" said Eirin sternly as she opened the door to her.

"I'm sorry, Eirin-sama?" the Moon rabbit quickly bowed in apology, "but one of the patients in the Intensive Care Ward suddenly started choking and requires your immediate attention!" she explained in a panicked manner.

The silver-haired woman was struck dumbfounded for a moment before she made a single nod. "Understood?"

She returned to her table, from which she picked up her leather doctor's bag and hastily threw in a bunch of medicine flasks to make sure she wouldn't run out. Kyouichi silently stared at her, then at Reisen, unable to make heads or tails out of this situation. He slowly stood up from the chair and returned his gaze to the doctor.

She gave him a faint, but insidious smile as she was closing her bag. "It seems that duty calls me yet again. You may return to the ward for now. We'll talk again? Ishimaru-san." she announced with an icy voice and broadened her smile.

They all left the office and the young human watched as the doctor and the nurse in training hurried up along the hallway and disappeared behind the corner. He was still trembling from the stress he felt in the office a while ago. He certainly didn't want to see Eirin again. That's when he got a crazy idea.

Not willing to believe that he would carry out what just spawned up in his mind, he hesitated, but not for long?
He dashed off to the reception office, knowing that neither Reisen, nor Eirin would be there. He quickly opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. After grabbing the keys to the locker containing his belongings, he hurried to the locker room and opened the mentioned locker labeled by the number 62. As he took all of his things out of the locker, he could hear a faint rustling sound coming from behind him. He stopped and remained silent for a moment.

"Hmph? Must be my imagination?" he thought to himself, but then he remembered something, or to be more exact ? someone.

"Tewi? Is that you?" he timidly called out into the reception office while he was closing and locking the empty locker.

The response wasn't delayed by more than a second. "Tehehe~ !" sounded an immature girly voice from behind the tall reception desk and a pair of white rabbit ears poked out. "I've been watching you, like I said? I guess you needed a little help a while ago?" she commented as she came out of her hiding.

"You saw what happened?" Kyouichi asked as he was changing from his patient robe to his normal clothes.

Tewi stared at him curiously, lost in thought for a moment. "Mhm?" she nodded. "Looks like your dark little secret is a secret no more?"

"She doesn't know any of the details yet." said the outsider as he fastened his black hakama. "Though it wouldn't take long before I'd spill my guts to her? Willingly or otherwise?"

"I know." Tewi smiled mischievously. "That's why I caused a little? diversion, hehehe~."

Kyouichi surprisedly raised his eyebrows. "That emergency call was your doing?"

"I just made one of the patients inhale a little bit of pepper. Nothing too serious?" shrugged the Earth rabbit with an innocent expression.

"I see? So that's what's caused all that commotion." muttered the human as he finally finished dressing up.

"Yes." confirmed the youkai rabbit, not letting her curious eyes off him. "But now I have to ask you? What are you planning to do now?"

"This may sound really crazy, but?" Kyouichi made a short, thoughtful pause. "I think I better? just leave right now."

"Oooh~! You're running away?" asked Tewi as sparkles of excitement flared up in her eyes.

"Well? Yeah. Sort of?" shrugged the young man as he was checking the inventory of his leather backpack.

"That sounds like fun~ !" she chimed happily. "I'll help you?"

"You will?"

"If you need some more time, I could distract Eirin and Reisen for a while? But?" Tewi's face suddenly turned more serious. "?you do know that it's dangerous to go through the forest?"

"Yes, I know. I'm still willing to risk it, though."

"But? do you even know which way to go?"

"Hmm?" hummed the young man thoughtfully. The rabbit girl did have a point. Kyouichi truly had no idea about the exact whereabouts of Eientei. Besides the fact that it was located in the vast bamboo forest, he had no leads to hold on to.

"I could take you to the village, but we'd have to go right now." Tewi informed him.

Kyouichi still planned to take that half-empty potion bottle from the ward, though?

"No? I still need to fetch that bottle."

"In that case, I'm going to have to cause another distraction. However, I won't be able to escort you through the forest then. Are you sure this is what you want, Kyouichi?"

Another tough decision to make and so little time to do so.

"Never mind? I'll think of something... But I'm taking that potion with me. All of it." said the outsider after deciding.

Tewi nodded understandingly. "Alright? I'll go and distract those two for a while. That should buy you enough time to pack up everything you need. However, once you leave Eientei, you'll be on your own and I'm a little worried?"

"You're not the only one?" said Kyouichi, admitting his fear, but decided to leave anyway.

"That's right~!" exclaimed the rabbit girl suddenly as she got an idea. "I'll charm you."

"Eh? charm me?" repeated the human nervously.

"My ability is uncanny luck. I'm not just lucky myself, but I can share some of that luck with others? usually those that I like." she revealed an interesting fact about herself. "With just a little blessing, you'll be able to make it through the forest without encountering any dangerous youkai. Please show me your palm?"

Kyouichi timidly opened up his right hand, showing his palm to the Earth rabbit. Tewi in the meantime assumed a position that resembled praying, with her hands clapped together, her head lowered and she was whispering something. When she was done, she likewise opened her right hand and gently slapped it against Kyouichi's.

"Huh? A high-five?" asked the surprised young human.

"There? All done." announced Tewi with her cute smile. "The best of luck is now with you? for a while."

"O-oh? Thanks? I think."

"Good. Now, enough lollygagging. It's time to carry out the Great Escape from Eientei, hehehe~!"
And so, Tewi and Kyouichi hurried up to the third floor where they parted their ways. Tewi disappeared in one of the many patient wards and Kyouichi returned to the Rehabilitation Ward, ready to take back the last item and say his goodbye to his roommates.

"Ahh~! I see you got discharged as well?" remarked Soudai as soon as his younger friend walked in. He was apparently fooled by the fact that Kyouichi was wearing his ordinary clothing.

"Soudai?" Kyouichi stopped for a moment in front of him. "I? I haven't been discharged?"

"What? Is there something wrong with you?"

"No. I'm leaving? To be more exact, I'm running away?" he announced honestly, letting everyone in the room know about his plan.

Soudai was taken aback by this surprising announcement. "W-what? what the hell?! Have you lost your mind? Why are you running away? The Ryuuken should be here soon to escort us to the village."

"I have very little time to explain." replied the younger outsider as he bent down near his bed and grabbed his potion bottle. "Eirin found out about this?" he said as he flashed the bottle.

"So?"

"She wanted to inject me with some shady drug that would make me tell her everything? I'm telling you, that woman is scary!"

Soudai could hardly believe his friend's words. "Eeeh?! Are you serious?"

"Nobody's going to give me any damn truth injections? I'm out of here!"

"Daaamn~! I knew it!" cursed Soudai as his face turned paler. "I knew you should never trust aliens?"

"They're Lunarians, you know?" Kyouichi corrected him.

"They're just aliens with a fancier nickname. Shit? and gods only know what sort of experiments they would put me through? A medical check-up? Yeah right! Maybe they're just extracting biological data from us humans, so they'd know how to kill us more effectively?"

"Uhhh? dude?" Kyouichi tried to halt him. "I think you're taking that a bit too far? Besides, you've already been checked up."

But Soudai kept on explaining his theories. "Or maybe, they're planning to clone an army of mindless warrior-slaves to conquer the Earth!"

"Trust me, if they wanted to conquer the Earth, they'd have done so millennia ago, without any resistance."

"I think Earth is just like a big laboratory for them to test their experiments?"

"Well? Perhaps that part is not too far from the truth?" shrugged Kyouichi, but then he remembered that he was in a hurry to get out of here. "Anyway, that's not the issue right now! I need to get out of here before I cross my ways with Eirin again."

"Wait!" Soudai grabbed his shoulder. "I know that your plan reeks of suicide, but? Damn, don't leave me here~! I don't want to be lobotomized!"

"Lobotomized?" repeated Kyouichi and chuckled with amusement. "Look, calm down. They're not THAT kind of aliens. There's no danger for you here? It's just me that Eirin wants to interrogate. You don't really have to go with me."

"Oh no!" Soudai steadfastly insisted. "You're not going to talk me out of it now! I'm not taking any chances! I'll go with you? even through that cursed bamboo forest!"

Kyouichi really didn't have the time to convince his friend otherwise, so he just shrugged to his decision and nodded. "Very well. You've made your choice? Not sure if the wisest one in your life, but? it is your choice? Grab your stuff and let's roll!"

"You don't have to tell me that again!" nodded the older of the two humans and threw his unread newspaper into his bag. "Human Village, here we come!"

Encouraged by the approving reactions of the fairies and youkai in the room, the two of them opened the door and bid their youkai roommates farewell.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 41 ? The Great Escape

"This is one of the craziest things I've done in my life?" commented Soudai as he trotted behind his friend.

"I told you that you could calmly stay and wait for the Ryuuken?" retorted Kyouichi as he turned left towards the staircase.

"Screw the Ryuuken, man! If they couldn't have protected me during work, they probably wouldn't be able to protect me even now? We'd just attract more unwanted youkai attention as a larger group?"

"That's an interesting change of opinion, compared to what you told me earlier?"

"Well, okay, I admit. I'd rather be leaving this place in their escort, since now I'm scared shitless to even go near the bamboo forest after what happened to me? But after hearing your story about Eirin and her shady injections, I got quite a strong urge to leave this place at all costs. Besides, letting you go into the forest alone would be? uhh? irresponsible. As your senior, I have to take the responsibility? and protect you, if need be." said the older outsider as he followed Kyouichi down the stairs. His words didn't sound convincing at all.

"Oh, so you took the responsibility for me." said Kyouichi with sarcastic tone. "That's reassuring? So you'll lead the way to the village?"

"Uhh? I? What?"

"Do you know which way we need to go to get there?" Kyouichi glanced at him briefly.

"Well, no, but neither do you? Oh, crap! How the hell are we even gonna get out of this goddamn forest?!" exclaimed Soudai in panic. "We should search this place a bit? There's gotta be a map around here or something?" he gave himself false hopes.

"As far as I know, Gensokyo doesn't have any official maps?" said the younger outsider, bursting Soudai's bubble.

"Then what do you suggest we do now, Mr. Know-it-all?" Soudai asked sarcastically.

"Give me a minute to think, will you?"

"Oh~! Sure? Stand around with hands behind our backs and wait while the aliens catch us and feed us to their pet mutated chimeras?"

"Where did that line come from?" asked Kyouichi after an outburst of laughter.

"Well, what else would you call those humanoid abominations with rabbit ears?" asked Soudai. "Some of them were quite sexy, though?" he murmured to himself.

"Earth and Moon rabbits? And I highly doubt they're carnivorous?"

"That's exactly what they want us to think!" continued Soudai with his crazy talk.

Kyouichi turned the topic to serious again. "Anyway? We both know that the Human Village is located north from this forest, right?"

"That's true," admitted the older of the two, "but we also both know that the forest stretches all the way from southeast to the western part of Gensokyo. At one point it's even connected with the Forest of Magic. If we headed north, we could end up anywhere between the Forest of Magic and? What was that place called again?? Road of Reconsideration? yeah, that's right?"

"Beggars can't be choosers." retorted Kyouichi. "We'll just have to take that risk. We'll keep heading north until there'll be no more bamboo obscuring our view. Once we're out of the forest, it shouldn't be so hard to determine the location of the village. There's a vast valley of crop fields between the village and the Forest of Magic and there also should be a road connecting these two locations. I once walked down that road from Kourindou, so I remember?"

"O-kay? I guess that sounds like a plan. Just one more thing? How the hell are we going to know which way is north?" wondered Soudai. "You have a compass or something?"

"Compass?? That's? that's a great idea!" exclaimed the younger outsider and praisingly tapped Soudai's shoulder. "We'll make a compass!"

"How, you genius?"

"Follow me! I think I just might know how?" said Kyouichi and hurried to Eirin's office, hoping that he'd find all the necessary things there.
"Hey, where are you running to? Wait up a little~!"

As expected, there was nobody inside the office and everything was left exactly as Kyouichi remembered it.

"Just what are you up to again, Ishimaru?" Soudai curiously watched his friend who was nonchalantly browsing through Eirin's lab equipment, as if it was his own.

"You'll see in a moment?" replied Kyouichi as he took one of the Petri dishes and put it on the table. He then took one random bottle filled with some unknown liquid and poured it into the dish.

"I sure hope one of us knows what you're doing? Oh, wait? Now I see?" nodded the older outsider understandingly. "Now you're going to magnetize a needle, right?"

"Exactly." affirmed Kyouichi and took one of the syringe needles and began rubbing its tip against the cotton fabric of his kimono. "Let's just hope this trick works in real life too?"

"You'll also need to put it on something that floats?" Soudai reminded him.

"Yes, I know that needles don't float on water." sounded Kyouichi's sarcasm again. "Hmm? how about the cork from this medicine bottle?"

"Yeah, that might work?"

And so, with Soudai's assistance, Kyouichi placed the magnetized needle on top of the cork and made it float on the liquid poured in the Petri dish.

Both humans held their breath for a while as they watched with great anticipation whether or not was their little experiment even going to work. Then after a few seconds?

"It's turning!" Soudai couldn't hide his elation. "It rally works! It's going to show us north!" And the needle really did make almost a 90 degree turn before it stopped. The makeshift compass was made.

"Alright!" nodded the younger outsider with a prideful smile as he stretched out his arm in the direction where the needle pointed. "We'll need to go straight that way and we mustn't make any turns or detours."

"Going straight in one direction? Yeah, I think I can handle that." nodded Soudai in agreement, and together with his friend, he left the office, ready to head out into the wilderness.
Just before they reached the main entrance of Eientei, Kyouichi suddenly stopped.

"Why are you stopping, Ishimaru?" Soudai growled at him.

"You know? It's true that we are running away? But?"

"But what? Just get a move on! We don't have much time before sunset and you DON'T want to be in this forest after sunset, believe me?"

"Don't worry, this will only take a minute." Kyouichi reassured him and one last time entered the reception office. "We have to keep in mind that Eirin saved our lives? We should at least pay for her services."

"Hmmm? I? uh? I guess so?" shrugged Soudai. "But I don't have enough money on me to fully cover my hospitalization."

"Then give her what you have and I'll pay the rest for you." the younger man volunteered. "Do you remember how much do we owe to Eientei?"

"I think about 25 thousand." replied the older outsider with a bit embarrassed tone. "And you? approximately 6 thousand, if I remember correctly. But I only have 7500 yen right now. Are you sure you want to pay the rest of my bill?"

"Sure, I'm sure!" responded Kyouichi with determination. "But I'll expect you to pay me back later."

"Uhh? yeah. Sure, I can do that? as soon as I find myself a new job here?"

"Come to think of it, I'll need one as well." remarked the younger outsider as he reached inside his pockets.

And so, both outsiders had put together enough money to pay for Eientei's services and left them on the reception desk along with a short letter addressed to Eirin.

"Alright, finish writing that letter already, you novelist!" Soudai urged his friend. "We've got a lot of ground to cover in a pretty short time!"

"Got it!" responded Kyouichi as he finished the last sentence and put down the writing brush. "Time to hit the road? or? the forest floor, for that matter, because I really doubt we'll find any roads here?" he added a humorous remark. "Do you still remember where the compass pointed to?"

"Yes, it was that way." Soudai stretched out his right arm to the said direction. "Come on already~!"

Obedient to his senior's command, Kyouichi followed Soudai out of Eientei and with a brisk tempo, they walked northwards.
"*whistle* This forest is much larger than I thought." commented the older outsider as he marched on. An hour has already passed and the two of them were still surrounded by thick bamboo with no end in sight. What's worse, the daylight was becoming dimmer as the sun slowly, but certainly neared the western horizon.

"Are you sure we didn't stray from our course?" Kyouichi asked him.

"I've tried to keep going as straight as I could, but it's possible that we might have a few degrees divergence? Though I can assure you that we are NOT walking around in circles? I hope?" he murmured the last words inaudibly.

"Say, Soudai?" Kyouichi addressed him after another longer moment of silent walking.

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do when we encounter a youkai?"

Soudai shuddered a little upon hearing that question. "Don't even SAY that word here, damn it! I'm trying to convince myself all the way, that with positive thinking, we won't encounter anything? So don't try to invoke any misfortunes upon us, okay? I'm serious."

"Well, I did receive a kind of a blessing that should grant good luck for a while." Kyouichi recalled. "Unless it was just another mischief on Tewi's part?"

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Soudai gave him a curious look. "Isn't Tewi that thief who stole your potion?"

"Yup." nodded the younger human. "But she's friendly? And it was her, who just helped us escape by distracting Eirin and Reisen."

"So that's how it is, eh?"

"She said that she has the ability of uncanny luck or something like that." Kyouichi kept explaining. "Don't know what that means exactly, but if it's true, it should keep the dangerous youkai out of our way for the time being?"

"How long exactly?" inquired Soudai.

"Uhh? I have no idea?" Kyouichi shrugged embarrassedly. "If it wears off after an hour, then we've got a problem?"

Soudai suddenly stopped and looked his friend straight in the face. "We are NOT going to encounter any damn youkai! Understand?!"

"What makes you so certain?"

"Because if we do, then we're both screwed!" exclaimed Soudai with a mix of anger and fear in his voice.

"If you keep yelling like that, then we'll be screwed for sure." Kyouichi tried to hush him.

"Shut up, Ishimaru! I'm done talking to you? Just keep going and pray for an end of this goddamn forest!"

"I only brought it up so we'd stand at least a bit of a chance if that happened?" muttered the younger outsider.

"Oh? And what are we going to do when we meet one? Throw sand it its eyes? Or are we going to beat it with bamboo sticks? The only chance we two have against a youkai is to run. And even that chance has only about 30% success ratio?"

"That's true, but I have something that might increase this chance by a few more percent." said Kyouichi and pulled out the five ofuda amulets he bought from Reimu quite some time ago.

Soudai took one in the hand and gave it a once-over. "What are these? More good luck trinkets?"

"Close, but no?" Kyouichi shook his head. "I've bought these from the Hakurei shrine maiden? She uses those amulets as a sort of weapon against the youkai. She said that it causes them pain upon contact. However, they also disperse upon contact, which makes them a one-time means of defense? And I've only got five."

"Hmm?" Soudai made a doubtful scowl at the amulet in his palm before he turned his face to Kyouichi again. "Fine? Give me two of those. I'll pay you back later when I earn some money? IF we make it to the village alive, that is?"

"What happened to your belief that we're not going to encounter any youkai?" Kyouichi asked him teasingly.

"S-shut up? Better safe than sorry? That's what my dad always told me? That and "never trust an alien"."

"Your dad met aliens?"

"Hell if I know!" shrugged the older outsider. "Just keep going and stop making stupid remarks."

"Alright, but you started it." Kyouichi talked back. "That stuff about aliens, I mean."

"That's because I really didn't expect the kind-looking Eirin-sensei to try something like that... And all for some stupid healing potion... And since the two of us are friends, she might have even attempted to pry the information from me if you left Eientei on your own."

"Hmm? I haven't thought about it that way." admitted Kyouichi. Soudai might have had a good enough reason to go with him after all.

The older outsider slowed down his pace as he kept looking closely at the two ofuda amulets that Kyouichi had given him.

"They look a bit? weathered. Are you sure that the shrine maiden hasn't sold you some rejects?"

"Ehh, yeah? There's quite a story behind that, ehehe?" Kyouichi let out an embarrassed chuckle as he recalled his first visit to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the subsequent "boat incident" that occurred to him on his way back.

"I hope they're as effective as you said they were." said Soudai with doubt in his eyes. "Maybe I should stick one of them to my chest to help ward away the youkai, eh?"

That's when Kyouichi remembered another important thing that could help them avoid danger.

He reached inside his pocket to take out a small magnifying glass-shaped object ? his very own magic detector.

"Hey, what's that thing you got there?" Soudai turned at him with a face full of curiosity.

"This may help us perhaps even more than those amulets."

"Is it a weapon or something?" guessed the older of the two youths.

"No. This?" Kyouichi stretched out his arm to let Soudai have a closer look at the eye of the detector, "?is our youkai radar."

"Huh? And you're pulling that thing out of your pocket just NOW?!"

"Shhhh?" the younger lad hushed his friend, so that his voice wouldn't attract any youkai in the area. "If you keep yelling out like that, I'm leaving you're here!" he threatened him with a hushed voice."

"I was just expressing my displeasure of you not using that thing sooner. What would happen if we ran into some of those nasty creatures?"

Kyouichi realized his mistake and accepted Soudai's complaint. To make himself look less guilty, he flashed a smile and shrugged. "I guess we were? lucky?" he emphasized the last word, hinting at Tewi and her temporary gift.

"Sheesh?" Soudai shook his head, unable to understand his friend's carelessness. "Fine? From now on, keep your eyes on that thing and give me a shout at the first sign of danger."

"Of course I'll keep a lookout." affirmed Kyouichi. "But about that shouting part? uh? I think I'll just give you a silent tap on your shoulder instead. We don't need the whole forest to know that we're here."

"Alright, alright. Do as you see fit. Just keep us out of harm's way, will ya?"
And so, the journey through the forest continued with Soudai still leading the way, trying to stay fixed on heading directly north and Kyouichi right behind him, keeping an eye on the magic detector.

The use of that little device was not as easy as Kyouichi had thought it would be. Since the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was naturally enchanted and full of magical beings, there was a strong magical resonance, rendering the detector less trustworthy. It was picking up positive, if somewhat faint readings even from the very bamboo trees. Spotting a youkai among that field of yellow dots could be a bit tricky.

"Any danger ahead of us, Kyouichi?" Soudai murmured at his companion.

"None that the detector would see." came a reply from behind his back. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think I see something ahead of us?" the pathfinder pointed directly forward. "There, about 150 meters? Looks like? a house maybe?"

Kyouichi focused his eyes right above Soudai's index finger and in the distance he saw a trace of brown among the ocean of dark-green.

"Good eyes?" he quietly praised his senior. "I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, but we need to go in that direction, lest we want to lose our course."

"So? you're saying that your little gizmo doesn't pick up any youkai in there?" Soudai asked once more to make sure.

"Unfortunately, the detector's scrying radius is only 50 meters, so I cannot say unless we come closer."

"Only 50 meters?" asked the older outsider incredulously. "That's too little! You could barely call it useful."

"However," Kyouichi continued, "it also has an alternate mode?"

He put the glass right in front of his eye and looked ahead. He was able to see the magical auras more clearly and into greater distance, but he still didn't see anything suspicious.

"It looks like there's no danger ahead, but let's just proceed slowly and quietly here." advised the younger of the boys.

"Okay? We'll keep going." nodded Soudai. "But somehow, I don't have a good feeling about this. So far we're not even sure if it's a house."

With mixed feelings of paranoia and curiosity, they slowly and quietly approached what they thought was a small house. Once they got close enough, they figured that they were right. It was a small wooden cabin. Kyouichi's magic scan revealed nothing suspicious around or inside this small hut, but the two outsiders still proceeded with caution.

"Don't know about you," Soudai whispered to his comrade, "but I think it would be best if we just ignored it and kept on going. I'm not going to knock on the door and risk figuring out that we stumbled upon the home of a vicious youkai."

He had a point. Neither he, nor Kyouichi could be completely sure whether or not was it safe for them to let their presence be known to whomever lived in there. The hut's location was a suspicious factor enough. They crouched down when they were just a few meters away from the mysterious dwelling. Once they passed under the windows, they straightened up again, and hastened onward. That's when suddenly a bright-orange flash of light coming from the nearby bamboo thicket diverted all of their attention.

"What the hell is that?!" whispered the older outsider frightenedly as he froze in motion.

Kyouichi likewise stopped as soon as his friend did and took a glance at the light source through his magic detector. It flared up just as brightly as the fiery light itself.

"Oh crap?"

"Oh crap?" repeated Soudai. "What do you mean, "oh crap"? Don't tell me that?"

"We've run into something very powerful?" Kyouichi quietly finished Soudai's sentence, confirming his greatest worries.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 42 ? Fire Demon of the Bamboo Forest

"Shit?" Soudai muttered a curse. "I told you I had a bad feeling about this. Why didn't you keep your eyes on that damned detector of yours?" he scolded Kyouichi.

The younger outsider blamed him in return. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go with me. You've negated my good luck blessing."

"What in the world are you accusing me of?! You're the one to blame here!"

"I'm not going to repeat myself?" Kyouichi hissed with anger. "Keep your voice down or we're finished? Let's just lay low for a while and hope it will go away without noticing us."

"Yeah, that would make sense, but only in case that thing wouldn't see us from the start." retorted Soudai with sarcasm. "Because it seems to me that it's coming our way?"

And he was right. The bright fiery light was apparently becoming brighter as its source was getting ever so closer to the two scared humans. They needed to make another tough decision without wasting any time.

"Stay hidden or run?" Soudai whispered a question.

Kyouichi didn't respond. He kept nervously staring at the detector in his sweating palm, watching as the huge flashing dot was approaching the center of the glass. Definitely not a good sign for the two of them?

"Stay or run?" Soudai repeated his question with a more urgent tone.

No longer looking at the detector, Kyouichi now gazed ahead at the flickering fiery light that penetrated the shoots of bamboo. It appeared that there were two sources of this strange light hovering close to each other, slowly flapping up and down in a synchronized rhythmical motion. Kyouichi had no idea what they were and he didn't even want to know. In the next moment when the lights got even closer, both outsiders could see something between them?

It was a human-shaped figure.

That's when Kyouichi finally found his lost voice. Turning to Soudai he whispered: "With all my optimism, I'd say we're pretty much screwed?"

"?" Soudai responded with a silent stare, thinking that he's living his last moments.

"Run, damn it, RUUUUUUN!" Kyouichi shouted as he instinctively grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt, urging him to stand up.

Both of them sprinted for their lives, as fast as their legs allowed them. No longer caring whether they were running north or not, they dashed and slalomed through the bamboo trees, not even thinking about slowing down or looking back. Panicked and desperate, it was only a matter of time before one of them would trip over something and fall down.

"Gaah! Shit!" Kyouichi let out a pained shout.

Only then Soudai stopped and turned around to see what happened to his only friend in this ominous forest.

Kyouichi was already standing up from the ground, ready to sprint another mile if he had to. He was so thrilled from the adrenaline rush that he didn't even notice that his knee was now bleeding from the fall. Although he could tell that his running wasn't as fast and comfortable as the moment before his accident.

As he was catching up to Soudai who was nearly 20 meters ahead of him, he called at him.

"Hey! I'm fine, just keep on running! Don't stand there like a moron!"

But Soudai's feet were still nailed to the ground, as if he was waiting for his friend to catch up.

"Are you deaf?!" Kyouichi shouted as he reached his position. "Run!"

Soudai, however, didn't move even after his friend got ahead of him. He just stared back at where they were running from with eyes focused into distance. Kyouichi thought that he fell into some sort of trance, so he stopped and tried to snap him out of it. For a moment it seemed that they shook whatever they were running from off their trail, but the younger outsider didn't want to stand around. He gave his older buddy a semi-powerful palm smack on his back.

"Aaagh! Hey! What are you doing?" Soudai grumbled in displeasure.

"That's my line!" Kyouichi bellowed at him. "Have you lost your will to live?!"

Soudai again turned his face away from him, staring again into the distance. "Is? is that?? No?, can it really be??"

"I'm gonna count to three and then I'm leaving you here!" Kyouichi gave him a warning.

Not even when given an ultimatum would Soudai listen to him. Just when his younger companion was about to fulfill his threat, he heard a distant voice calling at them?

"Waaaaait~!"

It was a human-sounding voice that could belong to a young female. Both outsiders exchanged their surprised looks in the next moment.

"Stop~!" the voice sounded again, being a little louder this time.

Kyouichi's paranoia kicked in again. "Don't listen to that voice! It wants to lure us do our death!"

"Call me crazy, but I think? I've heard that voice before?"

"What?" Kyouichi couldn't believe him. "Heard it before?? You mean like your dead relative or something? Because if so, then we better resume our athletic course out of this goddamn place!"

"No? I can't quite remember, but it definitely sounds familiar. Who was it?" he asked himself as he kept staring in the direction where the voice came from.

"Somehow, I don't think I want to know." grumbled young Kyouichi with a tragic scenario playing inside his mind.

"Just hold on a bit and let me see that person." requested Soudai.

Unwilling, but obliging, Kyouichi stood by his side, even when all of his instincts were screaming at him do otherwise.

"F-fine?" his voice shook with a blend of anger and fear. "But if we're going to die now, I swear to every god I know that I'll be haunting you in your dreams forever?"

"And? how are you going to do that when I'll be dead too?" Soudai retorted with a bit of black humor.

"Well? uhh? then I'm gonna? I'm gonna? errr?" Kyouichi was unable to come up with any witty remark. "Aw, forget it! Let me at least make one last prayer?"

As soon as he said that, a human-shaped shadow appeared just several tens of meters in front of them, slowly and silently gliding through the air and becoming clearer. While Kyouichi had his eyes closed and muttering some sort of prayer, Soudai was more curious than scared.

He watched the shrouded figure approach him the whole time and was soon able to make out its features. As the voice suggested, it was a female figure with youthful appearance. She had very long, ankle-length light-purple hair. She wore a simple light-brown shirt and a dark-red pair of loose overalls. This unusual piece of clothing for a girl was even stranger due to the numerous rectangular red and white paper amulets that were randomly attached to it, probably as a form of decoration. Her impressively long hair was likewise tied by another number of these paper charms that highly resembled the ones Reimu Hakurei used as weapons. Even her shoes that matched the color of her pants seemed to be decorated by the same amulets.

She approached the two humans slowly, as she observed them curiously.

"You two must be from the village." she stated matter-of-factly.

Kyouichi interrupted his prayer and timidly opened his eyes. The young female floated even closer and slowly descended to the ground. She then looked left and right, as if to check if there wasn't anyone else besides the two lost-looking humans.

"Sorry?" the girl suddenly apologized, "I must have startled you a while ago?"

Soudai now realized why she seemed so familiar to him. He gave Kyouichi a gentle elbow nudge and whispered: "Dude! That's HER!"

The younger outsider looked puzzled. "Uhh? you two? know each other?"

"That's the girl who saved me?" Soudai elaborated. "She must have carried me all the way to Eientei?" He then turned to this mysterious young female and bowed slowly. "Eh? Thank you very much, young miss? I partly owe you one for still being alive."

The girl's face suddenly brightened up a little as she also seemed to remember Soudai's face.

"Ah~? I remember now. I found you wounded and unconscious lying on the ground. It looks like they managed put you back together, though. Sorry again that I scared you like that?"

Kyouichi slowly gathered the courage to speak to her as well. "Umm, excuse me, but what do you mean? We were scared by something else? A horrible, fire demon-like thing. It was chasing us just a while ago, but? I guess we lost it."

The girl let out a giggle. "Fire demon? You mean this, right?" She again floated up to approximately 5 meters above the ground and spread her arms wide.

A sudden bright-orange flash appeared behind her and in the next instant, a pair of large, intimidating wings made of pure fire grew out of her back.

This shocking revelation made both outsiders take two big steps back and open their mouths wide.

"W-what are you?" Kyouichi asked a bit crudely.

"Don't worry." the girl calmed them down. "I won't hurt you." Her ominous fire wings, however, made her words sound anything but convincing. As she saw the reactions of the two humans, she again made her wings disappear and once more descended to the ground. "I only use these to scare weak youkai away and as a light source in this dark forest?"

Both outsiders still wore the same freaked-out expressions, despite the fact that this young lady didn't seem to have any harmful intentions.

"The name's Fujiwara." she lightly nodded as she introduced herself. "Fujiwara no Mokou. Don't worry; I can get you out of this forest?"

"My name's?" Soudai was about to introduce himself in return, but Mokou raised a halting hand to cut his sentence.

"I don't care who you are? I don't really like to get involved with the affairs of you village folks." she said a bit coldly.

"Aww~? But I wanted to introduce myself to you?" pouted the more outgoing Soudai.

Mokou shrugged her shoulders with an indifferent look. "If you insist?"

Soudai's face brightened up with a smile as he got the chance to introduce himself. "I'm Asakura Soudai," he bowed once and pointed a thumb backwards at his friend, "and the shy one's Ishimaru Kyouichi?"

"Who are you calling a shy one?" he gave him a weak prod in the shoulder, although he had to admit that in comparison to Soudai, Kyouichi really seemed rather reserved.

Ignoring his friend's remark, the older of the duo went on with the introduction. "?and we're not your typical village folk per-se. We're from the outside world, you see?"

Kyouichi, who knew all too well how dangerous it can be to tell this information to a complete stranger in Gensokyo, angrily growled into Soudai's ear. "Why don't you tell her your shoe size too?"

His friend looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What would I want to tell her that for? That's completely irrelevant to our situation?"

The young Ishimaru sighed resignedly. "Asakura, you're such a dumbass sometimes?"

"Uhh? please excuse my friend here?" Soudai again gestured at him like at some object, "he's a little nervous when dealing with the members of the opposite sex. He may be adult, but still not quite matured, you see?"

As Kyouichi listened to him, his facial expression was at first the same as Mokou's ? unamused and frowning. Now he was staring daggers at him, his hands twitching a bit, as if in an attempt to strangle.

Soudai's lips, however, kept spewing more unnecessary and irrelevant words, much to Kyouichi's and apparently also Mokou's displeasure. "By the way, I'm 25 and single? Uhh? just in case you'd like to know. I have a younger brother, but he's an ass? Damn? now that I think about it, that little bastard must be hogging my PC all for himself now! Probably got it infected with all sorts of Trojans due to his dilettante manipulation and constant downloading of hentai and eroge? Not that I don't do the same, but hey, I at least know which sources are reliable."

While Kyouichi's hand slap against his own forehead echoed throughout the forest, Mokou, with an unchanging deadpan expression and crossed arms had next to no clue what this ridiculous human kept talking about.

"So? uhh? where was I again?" asked Soudai, who seemed to have completely forgotten that he was running away from this girl in sheer terror just a few moments ago.

Kyouichi clenched his fist and gently knocked it against the top of Soudai's head before he began telling his whole biography to this strange fiery girl.

"Ow? What was that for? I'm just being sociable." Then he suddenly gasped, as if he realized something. "Oh! Now I get it? Sorry, I forgot you had a thing for purple-haired girls, right, Kyou?"

"Soudai, please? Just? shut up already." Kyouichi begged him with a pleading gesture.

"Okay?" shrugged the older outsider nonchalantly.

"Finally?" muttered Kyouichi with relief.

Mokou spoke up again after being the silent sufferer for a while. "Very well? Now that you've told me all this trivial information, which I don't give a damn about and which I'll forget sooner than the sun sets, we could have already been on our way to the village?"

"See? I told you that this youkai lady isn't interested in any of your nonsense." Kyouichi provokingly spoke to his companion.

Mokou's face suddenly darkened with a scowl and her dark-red eyes narrowed. "Youkai? Youkai? Hm? I guess? I guess you're not exactly wrong about that?"

Kyouichi raised a questioning eyebrow. "Excuse me if I said something? inappropriate?"

"Perhaps I've changed so much from the way I used to be that people mistake me for a youkai? Can't say I blame them."

"If you're not a youkai, then?"

"I'm a human? Was." she suddenly corrected herself. "Perhaps a little bit of me still feels that way. Maybe a small trace of my former self still lives on inside me? and will live on? forever?"

"Forever?" Kyouichi repeated as a lot of questions came to his mind. "You're immortal? too?"

Mokou lowered her head and sighed with contempt. "You said "too"? So you must have met HER?" she said the last word with emphasized disdain. "You two are on your way from Eientei after all?"

"Excuse me, I'm a little lost here?" Soudai waved his hand to get some attention. "Who are you talking about?"

Kyouichi knew only about one resident of Eientei who openly proclaimed to be immortal. "Houraisan Kaguya-hime?"

"The Moon princess?" asked his older friend. "Uhh? why yes, we met her, alright. Both of us even got her autograph, see?" he searched his pocket and flashed a piece of paper with a signature. "Oh, wait? That one's from Cirno-chan? Ah, yes? this one? See? It's authentic!" he boastfully smirked as he showed Mokou his autograph card.

This time it appeared that Mokou was staring daggers? Not at Soudai in particular, but at the autograph card. Her breathing suddenly became more shallow and frequent, as if something had just angered her, but the mysterious girl managed to keep her cool. "Don't go exhibiting that thing so openly, young one? Something bad might happen to it?"

"Hmph? Okay?" Soudai shrugged and folded the card up, putting it back into his pocket.

"So if you've met that person," Mokou continued after a pause, "she must have told you a lot of interesting things?" she again laced the word "interesting" with an apparent dose of contempt.

"Uhh? well? not that much really." said Soudai after scratching his head. "She was a bit too busy to tell us anything more interesting than the fact that she was getting tired of all those patients? I guess that included us too."

"She? Busy?" Mokou asked incredulously. "Are we still talking about the same person?"

Soudai looked a bit puzzled for a moment before replying. "Why, yes? I'm talking about Kaguya-sama, of course? Ahh~, she's so beautiful? But as I said, she was too busy, because she was assisting Eirin-sensei with tending to the patients? But I'd watch myself around that doctor lady if I were you? Just saying?"

Mokou blinked twice and nodded. "I see? That's a bit? unexpected."

That's when Kyouichi stepped back into the conversation. "However, I've had the rare privilege of being invited to the princess's quarters where she told me quite a bit about her past?"

Soudai opened his eyes wide in an incredulous stare at Kyouichi. "What?! When did it happen? Why wasn't I invited as well?"

"Because you weren't around at that time."

"That's just not fair?" pouted Soudai with a regretful face. "We'll talk about that later, Ishimaru?"

"Yes, yes, Soudai? Later." Kyouichi nodded agreeingly as he brushed him off.

"So?" Mokou glanced over to the younger human. "You've heard her story? So you must know well who I am."

Kyouichi bent the side of his lips and raised his eyebrows, looking puzzled. "Uhh? No, I'm sorry, I don't know who you are, Fujiwara-san? Are you somehow related to Kaguya or??"

"So she hasn't even deemed me worthy of mentioning, huh?" Mokou cut off his question with her own. "Hmph? I'd think she'd have at least enough respect to say a word or two about her arch nemesis."

"Arch nemesis?"

"Yes?" she drawled as she affirmed. "From time to time she sends assassins to get me if she's too lazy to go after me herself? But no matter how hard she tries, she cannot kill me. No one can?"

"So? does that mean you're another Hourai victim?" Kyouichi asked, referring to the elixir of immortality.

Mokou chuckled bitterly. "Nicely put? A victim? All those who ever drank of the elixir are nothing short of victims. Sometimes victims of our own folly, or curiosity, or despair? Our punishment is to live on and suffer in our fleshy husks for all of eternity."

"So you drank the elixir?" muttered the outsider. "What was your reason? No. More importantly? how did you get to it? And why does Kaguya hate you?"

Again Mokou gave out a weak chuckle, this time less bitter-sounding. "Kaguya doesn't hate me any more than I hate her. Our hatred is mutual. We often fight to the death. There's barely any greater satisfaction for me in this accursed life than to bring her as much pain as I can."

"That's horrible!" sounded shocked Soudai. "What has the Moon princess done to you?"

"It's thanks to her that I'm stuck in this undying, unaging body. I should have been dead, resting in peace for over thirteen centuries? if only she wouldn't have come down to Earth."

"Would you care to tell us more?" Soudai asked her to elaborate.

"It is not a story I often tell to strangers. And it's not very short either."

"So? uh? how far are we from the edge of the forest?"

"If you could fly like me, I'd say not too far." replied Mokou, looking somewhere into the distance over Soudai's shoulder. "But on foot? It's still quite a way."

"How about you told us a bit about yourself as we go then?" Kyouichi proposed a suggestion

"If you care to know that much about a person you're likely not to meet again, then fine." Mokou accepted. "Follow me then. The village is this way."

The immortal girl took the lead, heading in different direction than the two outsiders originally followed. Kyouichi and Soudai could only wonder where they would have ended up if they continued in their northbound course out of the forest.

"So?" Mokou resumed her speech. "You've heard the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, right?"

"Sure thing. It's a well known folktale after all." nodded Soudai, even though he only had the outside world version in mind.

"I have." confirmed Kyouichi tersely.

"Good." said Mokou as she walked onward. "Then you know well about the Five Impossible Requests, which that damned Lunarian used to reject all her suitors."

"Yes, go on?"

"One of those requests was to bring her the Jeweled Branch of Hourai."

"Oh, I would bring her ten Hourai branches if I could marry her?" murmured Soudai with a daydreamy look on his face.

Mokou scoffed at his remark. "Yeah? My father used to think the same way as you do now."

"Your father?" repeated both humans at the same time.

"Yes? Kuramochi no Miko, also known as Fujiwara no Fuhito? Believe it or not, I was born in a wealthy family."

"So your father was one of Kaguya's suitors?" asked Kyouichi.

"That's right. But as the Five Impossible Requests are called impossible for a reason, he naturally failed in his quest. That's when I decided to exact revenge upon her. I swore an oath to make her life as miserable as I could. But for a long time, I couldn't find any way to confront her personally. However, one day I caught a rumor that she planned to give some sort of present to the very emperor of Japan. I later learned that the emperor has ordered one of his servants, Iwakasa, accompanied by a group of soldiers to take Kaguya's gift to the very summit of Mt. Fuji for some odd reason?"

"The Hourai Elixir?" Kyouichi completed the information.

Mokou nodded. "I had no idea what was the content of that jar that was carried by the soldiers, nor the reason why they carried it there. My mind was set solely on revenge against Kaguya. I secretly followed the group all the way to Mount Fuji, which was said to be the tallest mountain in the country. My plan was to steal that jar if it meant meddling with Kaguya's intentions. Of course, I had no idea how would I steal that jar from the soldiers, but that didn't matter to me. After several days of following them and hiding like a bandit I grew very tired. By the time we've reached approximately four fifths of the mountain's height, I had collapsed from exhaustion. However, the man called Iwakasa knew that I had been following him and the soldiers. When I was at the limit of my strength, he walked up to me, bringing me food and water?"

"How nice of him." stated Kyouichi and let Mokou continue her story.

"That he was? After saving my life, he was trusting enough to let me go with him to the top of the mountain. When we were finally at our destination, I asked him why he was climbing all the way up to the top, even though he should be the one asking me that question. "Men have to obey their orders." he simply told me. I told him an absurd tale that I was following them, because I was a bandit, which actually wasn't far from the truth, since I did want to steal that jar. That only managed to elicit the soldiers' laughter. Even if I was what I had claimed to be, what threat was a single young girl to a band of armed soldiers? Iwakasa then ordered the soldiers to put the jar down on the ground. As I wondered what they were going to do next, they began tying a ribbon around it. They said that would make it easier to fling it far away and that they planned to toss the jar into the volcano's crater. I had no idea why would they do that. I thought that perhaps the emperor wanted to spite Kaguya too. Hmph? I had gone through all that trouble of following the soldiers and climbing up that mountain just to steal the jar, but all I could do then was sit by and watch what would happen to it? Then as the soldiers approached the edge of the crater, this strange woman appeared out of nowhere?"

"Oh, don't tell me that Yukari had her hands in this too?" Kyouichi interrupted the narration.

Mokou gave him a questioning look. "Who's Yukari?? Oh, wait a minute? Ahh~, but of course, I remember now? But no, that woman wasn't Yukari. It was the goddess of Mt. Fuji herself."

"Goddess of Mt. Fuji? You mean Konohana-Sakuya-hime?"

"That's what she introduced herself as." Mokou affirmed. "Princess Sakuya? Her sudden appearance had changed everything. The soldiers were taken aback. Some of them even bowed down before her. She said that it was her divine power that kept the volcano from erupting and she had told the soldiers not to throw the jar into the crater. Then Iwakasa told her that by the order of the emperor he was obliged to burn the contents of the jar in the sacred fires of Mt. Fuji. The goddess was, of course, not very happy to hear that. She gave him a warning that should he toss the jar into the crater, the volcano will resume its activity and not even she would be able to contain it. She said that the jar contained power even greater than that of a god such as her. Then she asked Iwakasa whether he even knew what's inside it.

None of the soldiers could actually answer that question. Even I knew only that it contained something that was left behind by Kaguya as a gift. And just as Princess Sakuya was about to answer her own question and reveal the jar's secret, Iwakasa halted her, telling her that she couldn't tell that to the soldiers. The goddess disagreed, saying that the soldiers deserved to know the truth after climbing all the way up here. She said that the jar contained the elixir of immortality. The soldiers couldn't believe their own ears. To think that by following Iwakasa's order they'd commit something to anger a god. In addition, the jar that they carried themselves all the way to the top contained the elixir of immortality? I was surprised too, of course. That such a thing even existed and that Kaguya had left it behind? And that such a thing was right there before me. The revelation had caused a great deal of unrest among the soldiers. As they found themselves unable to move, they couldn't throw the jar into the volcano. Despite this, Iwakasa attempted to light the jar on fire, but for some reason it just wouldn't burn. Having run out of reasonable options, they decided to spend the night on the mountain's summit, trying to figure what to do next. Princess Sakuya was originally a water deity with power to ward off fire. That's probably why Iwakasa's attempt to burn the jar ended up in failure. I had spent the remainder of the evening trying to get some more details from Iwakasa about his orders. I wanted to know why he had come all the way here to dispose of the elixir of immortality. He explained that the jar was a Hourai jar and its content, the Hourai Elixir. Kaguya Houraisan had probably left it behind before she returned to the Moon as a token of gratitude to the old bamboo cutter who had raised her, as well as the emperor, whose heart she had broken?"

"Perhaps she should have apologized to all of those who were turned down by her." speculated Kyouichi as he tried to keep up with Mokou's brisk pace of walking through the forest.

"An apology would have been a good start, but it would hardly make up for the pain she had caused not just to me, but dozens of other people?"

"So? wait. Are you saying you wouldn't hate Kaguya if she let your father marry her and became your stepmother? Is that really what you'd like?"

Kyouichi could only see her long veil of hair sway from side to side as she shook her head disagreeingly. "No? The fact whether or not she would let my father marry her was of no consequence to me. There is a big difference between turning down a proposal and sending people on a fool's quest, dishonoring them and even sending them to their death. Had she turned down my father with the tiniest speck of respect, I would have lived a happy life of a wealthy aristocrat's daughter and we wouldn't be having this conversation?"

"So your family pride is to blame too, huh?"

Mokou shrugged. "Perhaps so. I have always kept convincing myself that all the pain I had felt at that time was entirely her fault and that conviction fueled my lust for revenge."

"But thirteen hundred years have already passed since that event!" Kyouichi remarked. "Don't you think that's a long enough time for even the greatest of enemies to set aside their differences? I'm not talking about being friends? just? leaving each other alone and living your own lives, you know?"

"No." she replied coldly. "I don't expect anyone to understand? The two of us have already caused so much anguish and suffering to each other that we're stuck in an endless loop of mutual hatred. Killing Kaguya every time I get the opportunity is the only thing that brings me satisfaction in this accursed life. I'm fairly sure she'd say the same thing about me. And we'll hate each other even after all life on Earth will fade away."

Kyouichi frowned with great disdain at her ice-cold words. "Geez? Soudai was right. That's just plain horrible! Is there no way you could end your feud?"

"It's no use, young human." the immortal shook her head again. "There's no turning back for either of us, so please don't try to understand. I don't need anyone's compassion or understanding? Don't try to be a saint and give me lectures about the error of my ways. I don't believe my attitude towards Kaguya will ever change and vice-versa."

"I guess we better not get involved ourselves in certain matters." said Soudai to his friend with a concerned tone. "Besides, I still want to hear the rest of her story? What happened next? How did you get to drink that elixir then, Mokou-san?"

"Indeed? Some matters are better off left as they are." Mokou agreed with the older of the outsiders at least this time. "Now, returning back to the events that forever changed my life? Kaguya's adoptive father was an old man and said he did not want to live forever. The emperor likewise refused her gift, saying that he had no wish to live an eternity in a world without her. That's why he ordered his men to carry the elixir all the way to the top of Mt. Fuji and burn it. It was difficult for me to understand that the old man and the emperor would refuse such a thing. Iwakasa seemed to have anticipated the same level of doubt from the ranks of his soldiers. Worried that they'd be unable to carry out their order had they known the truth, he decided to keep the contents of the jar a secret. What if they were to catch each other in attempt to steal it and end up killing each other? What if someone would secretly replace the real elixir with a fake one? Those were the things that worried Iwakasa, so it was in his best interest not to tell the soldiers the details of their mission. As the night fell upon the mountain's summit, we all formed a circle with the jar in the middle. One could already tell the huge tension and mistrust spreading among the soldiers just by watching them guard the jar ? always in pairs. Nobody fully trusted anyone at that moment. I was reluctant to fall asleep too, but the weariness of climbing the mountain has finally got to me. Then a voice woke me up? It was the voice of Princess Sakuya. I opened my eyes and was met with a grisly sight. Dead bodies of the soldiers lay scattered across the campsite in pools of blood. Only me and Iwakasa were left alive. Princess Sakuya told us that the men started killing each other. However, that just didn't add up. Some of the bodies were not just slashed or stabbed, but even burned to crisp. It must have been a very fierce battle and there was simply no way me or Iwakasa could have slept through that massacre."

"So? could it be that??"

"Yes." Mokou nodded before Kyouichi even formulated his question. "It was without the slightest doubt Princess Sakuya who had killed them all. All except me and Iwakasa... I was quite sure that she let us live only because she had some intentions with us later. Iwakasa then knew that he could no longer fulfill his mission and he believed what the goddess had told him. She then said that the elixir was simply a tool to deceive foolish humans. Even though nobody said anything about it, all those around it fell into misfortune. She approved of Iwakasa's intention to get rid of the elixir, but she also clearly said that such a task was too much even for her, and that he should forget about throwing the jar into that mountain. Iwakasa then explained his mission to the goddess that he was supposed to take the elixir to the place closest to the Moon and burn it there. "Is there any place closer to the Moon than this? Any mountain taller than this one?" he asked her. Princess Sakuya answered that she knows of such a place. Located northwest of Mt. Fuji, there was supposedly even a taller mountain called Yatsugatake. She explained that Mt. Yatsugatake was the home of her elder sister, Princess Iwanaga - the goddess with the power over immortality and the unchanging. She said that the best place to dispose of the elixir would be that mountain. "But Yatsugatake isn't taller than this mountain, is it?" argued Iwakasa. But Princess Sakuya corrected him. "No, it was once in fact much taller than this mountain." She explained that long ago, there used to be a great dispute among the two sister deities?"

"Yes, I've heard that legend before." said the outsider.

"No doubt?" agreed Mokou. "But that was the first time both me and Iwakasa had heard about that. Anyway, the fight between Princess Sakuya and Princess Iwanaga is not that important? The important thing was the fact that we were told that the distance to the Moon may be somewhat shorter from the peak of Mt. Yatsugatake. Iwakasa then decided to immediately travel to that mountain to burn the elixir there. The goddess of Mt. Fuji disappeared as suddenly as she appeared, and as the new day dawned, we were already descending down from the summit. Iwakasa just kept on going forward, never even stealing a glance at me, not saying a single word for the whole time of our descent."

"Was it then when you seized the elixir?" Soudai asked impatiently, earning a frowned gaze from the immortal girl.

"It was all like a daze?" she continued after turning forward again. "It was all weighing heavily on me? The persistent silence, the unchanging scenery and the pointlessness of our ascent to Mt. Fuji? I kept switching my attention from the jar on Iwakasa's back to the steep rocky slope along which we were descending. Indeed, I remembered my original objective and the reason for following him in the first place. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to fulfill my goal. But even with these thoughts in mind, I bore no ill will against Iwakasa. He was, after all, the man who had saved my life. Could I have really brought myself to stealing the jar and simply run away? However, I simply couldn't get one thing out of my head. The words that Princess Sakuya said... It seemed no matter how little I'd care for the consequences, everything would somehow turn out over the course of eternity? Immortality? Before I even knew what I was doing, I had pushed Iwakasa down the steep slope in our path, took the jar and ran?"

"You killed him?" Soudai couldn't believe her words. "How could you?"

"I regret that I killed the man." Mokou admitted. "But I no longer cared about anything? I became what I am now. Later, when I learned that Kaguya, in fact, never returned to the Moon, I ran all the way here, to this very bamboo forest, to Eientei. No longer afraid of anything or anyone. I didn't have to worry about starving or about feral wild animals, or about the youkai. I could finally begin my payback against Kaguya. And I've been doing so for the past three hundred years? As for the Yatsugatake Mountain, you may see it as soon as we get out of his forest."

"You mean the Youkai Mountain?" asked Kyouichi. "Because I really don't understand how it can still be standing tall after Princess Sakuya broke it down to a smaller mountain range."

"Well, after that event, Princess Iwanaga grew tired of her younger sister's attitude, so she moved here, restoring her mountain in secrecy. Since she had the power over the unchanging, Mt. Fuji had lost its inextinguishable flame, which is why it is no longer an active volcano. And Gensokyo's Youkai Mountain is thought of as the original form of Mt. Yatsugatake before it was torn down." explained Mokou and concluded her story.

It wasn't long after that when the two outsiders noticed their environment getting a little brighter.
"We're getting close to the edge." announced the immortal. "We're almost out of the forest. From there on you'll go alone, but it's quite a safe area and the village is plainly visible, so you don't need to worry about getting lost."

"Excuse me if I'm too curious, Mokou-san." Soudai sounded timidly. "But? Why did you save me back then? And why are you helping us now?"

She turned back at him with a faint smile. "Because it's a part of what I do. Feuding with Kaguya, exterminating youkai, helping lost and injured humans and running a yakitori stand?"

"A yakitori stand?" he asked her with an amused tone. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I sure could go for a nice crispy yakitori right now?"

"Well that's a pity." Mokou shrugged. "I'm not opened today. But if I was, I probably wouldn't have met you and the two of you would be probably still hopelessly wandering around the forest."

"That's? true." Soudai had to admit. "Anyway, what's with those wings that you had? Where did you get such magic?" he kept inquiring.

"Over the course of my prolonged, unending life, I had encountered and battled countless youkai. Some killed me on spot, others I managed to drive away. Eventually I discovered that some of their power was transferred to me. It's basically the same way as with all of Gensokyo's native human inhabitants. However, whereas it took many generations of warriors and their families to gain enough power to rival the youkai, I never died, and so, the power had accumulated within me. Now, after over thirteen centuries I am able to defeat even the most powerful of Gensokyo's youkai. I can basically keep on fighting until I can no longer take the pain, and to that I've developed quite a resistance? My forte is manipulation of fire, as you might have noticed."

"That's awesome." Soudai remarked admiringly. "So perhaps even people like us could once gain some little magic power if we lived here long enough, huh?"

"That's doubtful." the immortal girl gave him a disappointing answer. "Well... Perhaps if you fought against the youkai every day and didn't get yourself killed, then perhaps in several decades, you could pick something up, but as I said, that's highly improbable? However, if you had any children born here, their chance to gain some powers would be slightly greater. And the next generation would be even more likely to learn some magic."

"That's? an interesting fact to know." said the older outsider with a hint of disappointment. "But not that it really matters if we're going to be leaving Gensokyo in three months, right Kyouichi?"

"Yeah." his younger friend affirmed.

"Leave Gensokyo?" Mokou asked with a genuinely surprised tone. "Isn't it going to be a problem with the Great Barrier in the way?"

"That's a longer story." Kyouichi gave an avoidant reply. "And I'm not in a mood to retell it again."

"Neither do I have the time to listen." noted the immortal pyromancer. "Look ahead. There's the end of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost." she pointed forward towards the beams of daylight that seeped through the last stalks of bamboo in their way. "And this is where we part ways." Mokou stopped and turned at the two mortals who followed her.

"You're not coming to the village?" Kyouichi asked her.

She shook her head in a negative response. "My home is here in this forest. In fact, I believe you must have passed by it just before I saw you running away from me."

"I see?"

"Life in isolation is my fate. I simply prefer it that way? I hope this was the last time I had to help you. You'd be wise not to wander into this forest again."

"Uhh, yeah, we'll try." Soudai reassured her.

Mokou paused for a while as she thoughtfully scratched her chin. "I'd ask you to say hello to Kamishirasawa-san for me, but you probably don't know her?"

"Kamishirasawa-san?" he repeated. "You mean Keine-sensei? Of course we know her. She's our teacher."

Mokou raised her brow. "Really? So she teaches you Gensokyo's history, huh?"

"That's right. And geography and a thing or two about the various youkai races... Is she your friend?"

"She's the closest person I have that still lives."

"Hmm?" Soudai seemed to be surprised. "I wonder why she never told us anything about you."

"Maybe because she didn't want to, you genius." Kyouichi jabbed at him. "Mokou-san's past and even her present life is not exactly? sinless. Keine-sensei most likely doesn't want to be openly associated with her or it could hurt her reputation?"

"I guess that makes sense." the older outsider admitted. "Don't worry, Mokou-san, we'll keep your relationship with Keine-sensei a secret from the public. We'll tell her that you send your regards."

It was probably the first time when both outsiders saw a warm, pleasant smile from this lonely immortal girl. "Thank you."

"No, we thank you." Soudai expressed his gratitude and together with Kyouichi, he bowed to her. "I wish your grim life would change for the better, but? that depends only on you and your choices. Farewell then."

And so, as Mokou silently made her goodbye nod, she floated up, spreading her fiery wings and disappeared into the deep dusky forest. The two outsiders were left without a guide, but they no longer needed one. The end of the forest was in their sight. With their spirits bolstered again, they jogged on towards the fading daylight?
"Holy shit, I think we actually made it!" Soudai expressed his joy as he was greeted with an open land.

"Bamboo Forest of the Lost, eh?" Kyouichi looked back at the mentioned forest. "Well, not anymore!"

"I think I can see the village!" called Soudai as he covered his eyes, which were still only adjusting to the brighter environment. He was pointing towards northeast at the distant formation of buildings.

"It looks like we're south of the crop fields." stated the younger outsider as he figured out his whereabouts. "Mokou-san changed our course? So if we kept heading north as we planned?" he paused as he stretched out his arm and roughly measured the northbound heading. "We'd probably end up somewhere near Kourindou? That Eientei is quite a distance from the village, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I wish I knew how to fly too?" said Soudai and resumed his walk towards the Human Village.

The farmlands belonging to the territory of the Human Village were stretching along the vast valley directly north of their current position. It wasn't hard to see the unmistakable architecture of the Temple of Myouren and the local cemetery lying no more than half a klick southwest from the said temple. The setting sun spreading its rays over the sky, painting the sky from orange to blue, was drawing long shadows of everything it shined on. With great feeling of relief and elation, the two misplaced humans were making their way towards the safest place in Gensokyo for the likes of them.

"I guess you could say we were lucky that we ran into that Mokou-san." said Soudai after spending some time in silent thinking.

"Maybe it was part of Tewi's good luck blessing." Kyouichi speculated. "While I'm not too sure what to think of Mokou, we both owe her one?"

"Well, we'd probably manage to find our way out of the forest anyway." shrugged the older one. "But we'd be quite a bit further away from the village. Not to mention that we could run into something really malevolent? like that invisible youkai that got me the other day."

Kyouichi sighed with relief. "Yeah? It's a good thing everything turned out okay and we got out of the forest unscathed."

"Uhh? Kyouichi? What about your knee then?"

The younger outsider only now brought his attention to the tear on his hakama, soaked with a little bit of blood. "Huh? Where did that come from?"

"Geez? Straight out of Eientei and you mess yourself up again." Soudai shook his head.

"Well, if I noticed it just now I can't be that serious, can it? Besides, I've got this?" Kyouichi reached into his backpack to draw out the bottle with potion that caused him so much trouble.

"Aw man, not this crap again?" Soudai frowned disapprovingly.

"One day, Soudai, you may need it too. It's quite convenient not having to wait to heal up naturally?" retorted his friend and took a light sip of the bottle's content.

Just as he expected, the wound and the area around it became increasingly more sensitive to the pain, which soon turned into a burning sensation. With gritted teeth he endured the unpleasant feeling until it faded away. As he pulled up his hakama to check on his knee, there was no trace of any injury.

"Even with that potion, we still better just be careful." Soudai gave a friendly advice. "I mean, look? You've already nearly wasted one bottle. At this rate you'll have nothing when the day of our return journey comes?"

"Then I guess I'll better pay a visit to Xeng-san once more." replied Kyouichi with an easygoing attitude. "Hmm? Now that I mention him, I think he had hinted to me that there were three more immortals besides him who live in Gensokyo? Guess that means I've already met them all."

"And that reminds me?" Soudai paused himself and cleared his throat. "How the hell come were YOU invited to Kaguya-sama's private quarters and I haven't?!" he yelled at him his question.

"It was all a sort of lucky coincidence." the younger outsider smiled sheepishly as he tried to explain the situation. "I'm sure she'd invite you too if you were there with me?" he tried to cheer him up, but that only helped to frustrate Soudai even more.

"Damn! Damn, damn, damn~!" he angrily bashed his fist against his palm. "Why didn't I go with you?"

"Sheesh, dude, calm down? You were most likely being examined by Eirin when that happened."

"Damn? Even if you say so? If I had known about this, I'd let some of those fairies to be checked up before me."

Kyouichi chuckled amusedly. "Would you? What happened to your "never trust an alien" creed?"

"Uhh, well? Erm?"

"Kaguya is just as Lunarian as Eirin and from what I've heard, those folks up there don't think of us humans or youkai as anything more than means to an end? That's part of the reason why they wanted to brew the elixir of immortality. To manipulate and to deceive."

"I just hope they're not planning an invasion or something?" muttered the older outsider.

"Well, it's not that they couldn't, but they see Earth as a very "impure" place to be, so it's more like they don't want to be here? Eirin and Kaguya are different cases, though, since they're both exiles." explained Kyouichi.

"No doubt because of conducting illegal experiments with shady drugs."

The younger outsider let out a weak chuckle at Soudai's last remark, despite the fact, or maybe because of the fact that it wasn't too far from the truth.

"That's not funny, Ishimaru. I'm being serious right now, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah?" Soudai was again brushed off by his friend. They walked the rest of the way to the village quietly.
As they reached the central market district, if one could even dare to divide such a small village into districts, Soudai suddenly stopped and looked at his companion. "Well, it's been quite some adventure during those past few days, wasn't it?"

"Yeah?" sighed Kyouichi with a tired voice. "One hell of an adventure, alright?"

"One can only hope for things turning out a bit better when we make our return to the outside world." commented Soudai and turned away from Kyouichi to one of the streets to the south. "I'd even call you for a beer or two, but right now, a good sleep and a good dinner is all that I'm thinking about? See you next Tuesday then? Club prez?" he smirked weakly as he said the last words to his friend. Of course, by next Tuesday he meant the regular weekly meeting of the so-called Transfer Students' Club held at the school library. Kyouichi's hospitalization made him miss the last one, but Soudai was absent for over two weeks. They both had some catching up to do and? new information to learn. However, to simply see each other again, they wouldn't have to wait until Tuesday, since they'd simply go back to school again tomorrow.

"Ah, that's right?" said Kyouichi as he remembered something. "You live like most of the folks from outside? In the militia barracks, huh?"

"Yeah? It's no Hotel Ritz, but we can get by. We pretty much don't need to worry about most of our living needs, be it food, lodging or clean clothes, but we take shifts with menial tasks like cleaning and cooking? All the things that the warriors don't like doing very much."

"Do you get along well with each other?"

Soudai shrugged with an ambiguous expression. "So-so, I guess? I can handle cleaning duties. I'm not that bad of a cook either? At least good enough for the standards of their mess hall. However, some of our folks don't like it there at all. Especially that girl? You know, she's your deputy in terms of our club's hierarchy? Iwakami-san."

"Midori." Kyouichi nodded, as he knew the person well. "Yeah, she told me about her problem long ago. I had already asked a? err? a friend of mine to let her stay in his house. She's been living there for almost as long as you've been absent and she seemed to like it there? oddly enough."

"Huh? Why oddly enough? Who is that so-called friend of yours?" asked the older outsider a bit pryingly.

"Well, uhh? He's?" Kyouichi had a bit of a difficulty choosing the right words, since he couldn't tell himself what exactly his relationship with the old Naota Tanisake was. "I guess I COULD call him a friend even if I don't agree with some of his opinions or his lifestyle. His name's Tanisake Naota and if he wasn't almost 80 years old, he could be our club's president."

"An outsider, huh? I see then?"

"Yeah." Kyouichi went on describing the old man in more detail. "An ex-carpenter. Partly self-taught. Got spirited away by the end of the second war? Ehh? The Second World War, not the Lunar one?" he specified, so that there wouldn't be a misunderstanding. "Now that he's in retirement, he's living his days peacefully here in the village, drinking sake and meeting his old friends. I think he's lived alone. I've been to his house once, but there wasn't anyone there besides him... But that all changed now that Midori moved in."

"So that's how it is??" Soudai nodded understandingly as he listened. "But you sounded like you don't trust him enough?"

"Well?" Kyouichi shrugged. "As I already said, he drinks sake. A lot of it, actually. And he's sometimes? quite prejudicial. He doesn't seem to trust strangers easily and he stays away from any and all youkai. Honestly, I didn't think he was the best person for Midori to take example of, but? I guess I was wrong."

"Really? Why?"

"Don't get me wrong. I never said that he's a bad person or something. He has his good points. While Naota barely has more than a handful of friends in the village, he seems to be more open towards outsiders. We are all pretty much peers in Gensokyo after all? He showed the same level of openheartedness to Midori as he did to me. Not only that, but he seemed to limit his sake consumption and he also seemed to have? softened up a little? I don't know? maybe it's just me, but I think that he likes to take care of people in need. He even seems to be a bit? overprotective sometimes? he's been giving me all sorts of patronizing lectures? even slapped me a few times when I did something he deemed wrong."

"Hmm? Maybe he's just taken a liking to you." speculated Soudai with a thoughtful face. "Perhaps you remind him of someone close to him??"

"I don't know?"

"Or perhaps he sees his younger self in you and doesn't want you to the same mistakes that he did."

"Yeah, perhaps so." admitted Kyouichi. "He's been a sort of a father-figure to me here in the village besides Saitou-san. He's got a lot of flaws, but? I can't help but to like him. And Midori never complained about him either. I just hope things haven't changed since then."

"Maybe you should pay him a visit again soon? Perhaps you might even want to introduce me to him." Soudai suggested nonchalantly.

"Yeah, you're right? I'll go see him again. As soon as I rest up a bit from our... "adventuring"."

Soudai laughed softly. "Then we should already stop standing around here, blocking the marketplace and go get some rest? Until next time then, Kyouichi."

"Yeah, be good, man?" the younger outsider informally saw his older friend off and casually waved his hand as he departed.
Leaving the still-crowded marketplace behind, the young Ishimaru entered the familiar street in the northern part of the village where the family of his caretakers ? the Saitou family, had their residence. While he couldn't wait to see their faces again, a part of him was worried what their reaction to his week-long absence would be. Would they welcome him with joy and relief? Would they scold him and punish him? Or would they simply say "welcome home" without asking any questions? The answer to that question didn't matter to Kyouichi that much. The Saitous were almost like his family and no matter their reaction, he'd still return to them.

"I'm back?" he timidly announced his arrival as he let himself inside the house.

At first, there was no reaction, since there was nobody in the hallway, but as he opened the kitchen's door, he was greeted with Minako's astonished face.

"Ah~. How nice to see you again, Minako-san." he smiled at her warmly.

"Kyouichi-kun! Oh my god, are you alright?" she began asking him, as if she was his real mother. "What happened to you? I heard that you were taken to Eientei, but? When were you discharged? And? my? Look at your clothes? Don't worry, I'll mend them for you. More importantly, you must be hungry, right? Why don't you come in and have something to eat? You can tell me everything once your stomach's full."

"Easy there, Minako-san." Kyouichi gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, as you can see."

"But we were all so worried! When I heard the news that a caravan from Kazemura was hit and that several people were hurt, I almost passed out?"

"I'm sorry to make you worry so much, but? Really, you should also take it easier on yourself. It's not like I'm really your family or anything."

"How can you even say that?" asked the mother of the Saitou family, barely able to believe her ears. "You may not be my own, but me and everyone else already takes you as a part of our family."

Kyouichi frowned and gave Minako a serious look in the eyes. "You're already well aware that I'm not staying here forever. In fact, no more than three months. I've told you about that, didn't I?"

Minako copied his frown as she nodded. "I know? But still. It's not going to be so easy for me to say farewell to you."

"Time can take care of any heartache, Minako-san. And you are a strong woman. I bet you won't even remember me in a few years."

"Please, say such words no more." Minako pleaded him. "Just? please?"

"As you wish." the outsider obliged and said nothing more on this topic.

"Please, have a seat at the table, I'll tell Mizuto and the children that you've returned from Eientei." said the tailor and disappeared behind the corner. Her hasty footsteps echoed as she walked down the narrow corridor of her house to inform the other family members of the good news. Not long after that, her footsteps sounded again, accompanied by those of the rest of the Saitou family as they rushed into the kitchen where Kyouichi was already comfortably seated by the table.

"Kyouichi~!" sounded the deep voice of Minako's husband, Mizuto. He sounded quite thrilled as he greeted the outsider with a smile. "Glad to see that you're still in one piece. I knew that we can always trust the folks at Eientei with saving our lives, eh?"

"Ehh? Yeah?" the outsider replied hesitantly as he camouflaged his mistrust towards the mentioned institution.

"Onii-cha? I mean? uhh? ehehehe... Kyouichi-kun," the firstborn daughter, Chitose corrected herself as she welcomed him. "Welcome back. I've heard what happened. Did you really stand face to face against a vicious youkai?"

"Well, uhh? I don't know what you've heard, but it was more like I was just cowering behind?"

He left his sentence unfinished, since Tadao, the youngest child of the family interrupted him with a greeting of his own. "Good to see you again, Kyouichi. I'm interested to hear something about Kazemura. Did you see that latest archeological discovery they've made there?"

"Why, yes, I have actually?" Kyouichi began to explain, but was cut silent again by Minako.

"Kyouichi-kun has been through a difficult day, no doubt, so I think you should let him eat something first."

"Yes mom~." replied the Saitou siblings in unison and assumed seats at the table along with their father.

After Kyouichi filled his stomach to the point of satisfaction, he shared some his recent experiences with the curious children as well as their parents. Naturally, he didn't tell them everything, especially the parts regarding his daring escape from Eientei. In other words, he made up a few lies as he retold his story. After that, there was a session of questions and answers about the specific parts of his past several days. Their conversation went on until the late evening. Kyouichi had a feeling that his life in Gensokyo would again slow down and his days would be again peaceful, if somewhat stereotypical. However, he still had a few problems on his mind that he yet needed to sort out. One of them included finding himself a new job, since he decided to quit his old one in the bookstore. While he still had enough money saved up to live without worries for a week or two, he didn't simply want to waste it all on food and drinks. After all, he and all of the outsiders that joined the Transfer Students' Club, had some common responsibility. They all bound themselves to contribute a certain sum of yen to their fund in order to supply themselves for the hard journey that awaited them, and even as the club's president, Kyouichi was not excluded from this obligation.

When he returned to the guest room, which mainly served to store Minako's tailoring needs and materials, he almost felt as if he was returning to his own room in his own apartment in Tokyo. He already got used to this house and he couldn't deny it.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 43 ? Counterfeit Excuse

The morning came rather quickly, or so it seemed to Kyouichi who had a feeling like he's only had about 1 hour of good sleep. He had a bit of a hard time recalling what day it was today and what books should he put in his backpack. It was already the 5th of Fuzuki (July) and it was already looking like one of his typical days in the village. After hasty preparations and light breakfast to start the day, he left the house together with the Saitou siblings and was on his way to school. Not long after that, he was already greeting his fellow outsiders in the hallway.
"Oi, good morning, Sayuri-san, Midori-san and you too Dan-san?" he greeted three familiar faces. As soon as they greeted him back, he felt a surprising smack on the shoulder and heard yet another familiar voice: "Whazzup, man~?" The voice belonged to none other than Kyouichi's acquaintance from Eientei, Asakura Soudai. The dark-haired young man was grinning at him with an almost mischievous expression. "Almost forgotten what this place looked like, eh?"

Kyouichi let out a light snort. "Yeah? It almost seems like I haven't been here for a long time. I wonder if anything changed during those days of our absence."

"It's good to sae you both back, guys, but you all need to work hard to catch up with the lessons." Midori informed them.

"Oh, Midori? Why so serious so early in the morning?" Kyouichi tried to tease the younger girl a bit.

"We're having a test tomorrow, so of course I'm serious." Midori maintained her tone and expression.

Soudai's and Kyouichi's reactions were identical. "Eeeeh~?!"

"A test? Tomorrow?!" Soudai repeated. "You can't be serious!"

"Ask Keine-sensei then." shrugged the short-haired girl, pretending to be indifferent.

"Geez? I guess she's not kidding." he commented as he beckoned at her.

This news didn't seem to have unsettled Kyouichi, though. "So what? I've only been absent for a week. I can catch up with that. Keine-sensei couldn't have given you too much to study in that time?" he speculated reasonably.

"Speak for yourself, Ishimaru!" Soudai exclaimed at him with a worried look. "YOU have been absent for a week. I have been absent for over two weeks! There's no way in hell I'll be ready for tomorrow's test!"

"Oh for crying out loud, people!" Kyouichi also raised his voice, addressing the words to every other outsider within earshot. "Why do you even make a fuss over some stupid test? We will all be back in Tokyo in three months anyway. What does it matter if you'll pass with flying colors or fail epically? It makes no difference. The only reason we still gather here is to coordinate our return journey. Nothing more; nothing less."

Midori clapped her hands in a mock applause with an unamused expression. "Bravo?" she saluted with a strong hint of irony in her voice. "Now I dare you to repeat those very words in front of Keine-sensei."

Kyouichi remained unfazed by her remark. In fact, he chuckled to it. "My conviction is stronger than a hakutaku headbutt?"

That comment managed to break Midori's serious mood and caused her to giggle heartily. "I've missed that humor of yours during the last week?"

"Hey, I'm glad to see you again too."

Midori smiled weakly. It was almost a bit sad smile that wasn't compatible with her usual energetic personality. "You're going to need that strong conviction and a bit of humor too, for I'm afraid things aren't going as well as we had planned?"

Kyouichi's smile gradually faded to a frown. "You're talking about our club, aren't you?"

A single nod from Midori was the answer.

"Oh, boy?" sighed the young man as he prepared himself mentally for some bad news. That's when Midori smirked again. "Don't worry. It's nothing tragic, just? a bit? inconvenient." she chose the word carefully. "I can tell you later. Now, let's get to the classroom already."
They made it all just in time before the teacher's arrival. The silver-haired half-youkai woman casually greeted the class, and without any further ado, she asked the class representative to collect homework from the students.

Kyouichi threw a puzzled glance at Soudai, then at Midori. "Well, of course I don't have it." he whispered to her.

"Then it's not me you should be talking to." she brushed him off rather bluntly.

"Um? excuse me, Keine-sensei." Soudai was the first to raise his hand. "I apologize for not having my homework as I was hospitalized in Eientei."

"Yes, me too?" Kyouichi also raised his hand.

Keine didn't look surprised or relieved to see two of her absent students back in the classroom. She just nonchalantly glanced over her list of students and scribbled something into it. "Ah, yes. Asakura-san and Ishimaru-san? Welcome back. You know that I never let any undone homework without some sort of punishment, don't you?"

"I think you didn't hear me well, sensei." Soudai spoke louder, as if a little angered. "I just said that we were recovering from some serious injuries in the House of Eternity. We were under a curfew? sort of. And we weren't visited by anyone that we know from school, so naturally we couldn't have even known about any homework."

"That's all true." admitted Keine with a nod. "Then may I see your excuses?"

"Uhh? Beg your pardon?" Soudai smiled dumbly.

"A written document signed by the doctor as a proof that you were in Eientei this whole time." the teacher elaborated.

Soudai opened his mouth, but no words came out. Of course neither he, nor Kyouichi had anything of that sort, since they basically ran away.

"This is a bummer." he whispered to his younger comrade.

However, young Ishimaru didn't give up on their defense. "Are you trying to tell us that we're lying?" he forwarded the question at the teacher.

"I would not dare make such an accusation, but such are the rules in this school." the teacher explained calmly. "Any absence of a student should be noted and excused by either a doctor or your caretaker, if the reason for absence was other than illness or injury. If I let you slip without an excuse, it would be very unfair to all of those students who had to present an excuse in the past."

"I? But? You must have been informed about our situation by someone. Even my classmates here know that we were both hospitalized there?" Kyouichi retorted, but he had a feeling that he was losing this argument.

"Yes, I was, but rules are rules. Now, do you have that excuse or not?"

"Duhh?" uttered the young outsider with a hopeless expression. He was desperately trying to brainstorm for any alternative that could serve as a proof that he and his friend have spent the recent days in Eientei. As he turned his face to Soudai he got a sudden idea.

"Hey, dude, do you still have that bill that says how much we owed for Eientei's services? That should be a good enough proof, since it was signed and it also has a date written on it."

Soudai's face immediately brightened up with hope, but faded to a frown in the very next instant. "No. We don't have that. Eirin never? uh? had the chance to give it to us."

"Damn?" Kyouichi whispered a curse.

"It's highly unlikely that Eirin-sensei wouldn't give you any document on the day of your discharge. Or have you possibly discarded your excuse by mistake?" she gave both students a suspicious look as she asked her question.

The outsiders exchanged their glances before they turned to their teacher again.

"Sorry, sensei, we don't have any?" Soudai was about to admit the truth together with his friend, but Kyouichi interrupted him.

"We don't have them here with us. Could we? uhh? bring them to you later?"

Soudai's surprised face was simply priceless. "Say what? Just what are you up to again, Ishimaru??" he whispered quietly so only Kyouichi heard him.

"You've got time until noon." Keine was willing to give them a chance. "You'll find me in my office. Otherwise, I'll just give you some extra assignments, as I already said."

"We'll be there with our excuses." Kyouichi promised with a firm and convincing tone.

"Uhh? yeah, what he said." Soudai seconded, although with significantly less convincing voice. He still had no idea what plan his friend had and his uncertainty was apparent.

"Now, putting that little problem aside," Keine again spoke up, this time to all the students, "it's high time we started this lesson. Books, page 74. We're going to talk about religion and deities as the gods also reside in our little wonderland."
As the teacher began the lecture, Kyouichi was paying little to no attention. He was contemplating about what Midori said to him earlier. There was apparently some kind of problem going on in the Transfer Students' Club. So much could be expected, but it still wasn't pleasant to hear bad news right after recovering from an injury. Kyouichi had certainly thought that people would feel at least a bit of concern and compassion for him, but the reality differed from his expectations. Nobody seemed to care that much to see him or Soudai back in the village. When he gave it some thought, though, it was actually quite natural. Everyone had enough of their own problems to worry about.

He didn't even realize when the lesson ended. He was just shaken awake from his thoughts when the students began standing up and strolling about around the school corridors, as they always did during break. As he glanced into his notebook, he saw nothing but empty blue lines on a field of pure white paper. He didn't even take any notes today. But that didn't concern him at the moment. He turned back over to look at Midori, who was just switching her textbooks.

"So?" he tentatively spoke up to her, "What did I miss while I was gone?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too?" Soudai immediately pulled his chair towards them as he heard Kyouichi's question.

"We've had lessons about a youkai race called satori; we've had something to read about a place called the Nameless Hill and on our history lesson we learned about an event known as the Youkai Expansion Project?" Midori began naming the content of last week's lessons.

"I was more curious about the happenings in our club, Midori-san?" said Kyouichi. "Besides, I have already MET a real satori and I've read about the Youkai Expansion Project in the chronicle? So all that I have to catch up with is to learn something about that Silent Hill place?"

"Nameless Hill." Midori corrected him with a smirk. "It's supposedly somewhere south of this village and that big bamboo forest."

"Whatever." Kyouichi wasn't curious about geography lessons right now. "What was that bad news you wanted to tell me earlier?"

"Ah, that? Well, you see, when you were at our club's meeting the last time, we've had 18 active members, including you?"

"And?"

"Now this number is down to 13."

"Whoa!" Soudai exclaimed. "So five have died?"

Midori gave him a sidelong glance. "No, Asakura-san. They have left our club of their own free will."

"What made them change their minds?" wondered the club's president.

"Well," Midori's lips bent in a crooked smirk, "word has it that they have? found someone and have decided to stay here for good."

"Found someone?" Kyouichi repeated cluelessly.

"Yes, someone they've fallen in love with. At least such are the rumors. Love can make people act so irrationally?"

"Exactly what I've been trying to avoid this whole time." commented Kyouichi.

"Oh yeah?" Soudai seemed to have a different opinion. "Tell that to someone who'll believe you."

Kyouichi let out a weak chuckle. "It's true that I've met some girls that I've grown to like a lot, but? No. I have to stay neutral. Falling in love and staying here would probably be a decision I'd later be regretting for the rest of my life."

"I wish those five people who left us would think like you?" Midori sighed with contempt.

"Well, it's their choice and I accept it. I'm not going to try and convince them to change their decision."

"The saddest thing about it is that their relationships might not work out well and by the time they realize their mistake, we won't be here anymore." the club's vice-president commented.

"In any case, everyone already knows that Reimu can take people back to the outside world, so they can always attempt to return home individually."

"True." Midori admitted. "However, that's not all of the club's problems."

"Oh, great?" Kyouichi snorted. "What else?"

"The sudden decrease in the members' numbers has resulted in the decline of morale. In other words, the remaining members are starting to question the purpose of this club. Arguments have become more frequent and little progress is being made regarding our plan."

"I told you that we're not going to look for Yukari anymore." Kyouichi reminded her.

"I'm not talking about that old youkai. I meant our fund."

"What about our fund?" Soudai asked before Kyouichi.

"You, Asakura-san, are a part of the problem regarding our fund." Midori informed him.

"What did I do?" he asked defensively.

"You were absent two weeks, so all the members expect you to pay your due contribution. The same goes for you, Kyouichi, however you are only one week late?"

"Sure, I can pay up right tomorrow." he nodded agreeingly, since he had enough money saved up from his part-time job. "I don't know about Soudai, though?"

"Well? I still owe Ishimaru quite a bit, but I'll do my best to pay in the near future." promised the oldest of the three.

"Also?" Midori continued, "You all know Yuujin-san quite well, right?"

"Oh, that prick?" Soudai spoke without reserve. "I hope he's one of those five who left the club. But then again, who would be interested in him?"

"I'll have to disappoint you, Asakura-san."

"Just call me Soudai. Sheesh?"

"Well, then? Soudai?" Midori changed the way she addressed him. "As you know Yuujin too, he's having serious doubts as to where this club is coming to. He especially spoke about you, Kyouichi, that you are not a competent person for the status of the club's president. Of course I defended you and told him what I think about him?"

"I? uh? appreciate that, Midori." Kyouichi bowed thankfully, looking a bit surprised that she actually spoke in his favor during his absence.

"Don't mention it." the vice-president waved her hand. "I just hate it when people trash talk about someone who's not even there to defend himself. Besides, it was YOU he voted for."

"Well, I guess it's about time I took reins of our club under a tighter grip then." Kyouichi was thinking aloud.

"We don't want any dictatorship or tyranny, though." Soudai added jokingly.

"Right now, it seems our biggest concern is our financial situation." Midori knew exactly which way the wind blows.

"Why?" Kyouichi couldn't understand. "If all the members have been paying regularly, we shouldn't have any financial problems."

"That's what I thought too, but it seems that due to the recent forest fires, the prices of certain goods and commodities have gone up."

"That still shouldn't pose any problem. We have all calculated our fund to be sufficient to afford us everything we need and even leave us with some emergency reserve."

"Well, I guess you know what you're talking about." shrugged the short-haired girl. "But in any case, we'd have a much better idea about our financial standing if we knew exactly how big our expenses will be."

"Hmm? So we'll need to elaborate an accurate list of items that we'll be buying."

"I thought you already had that planned up in detail, prez?" remarked Soudai.

"No, Soudai, no I didn't." Kyouichi opposed him. "And even if I had, the situation has changed and now there's just 13 members, so our shopping list should also change accordingly."

"The chief secretary has a different opinion about the matter, though." Midori pointed out. "Nagahashi-san stated that we should still purchase the same amount of supplies as we would have if there were 18 people traveling? A certain reserve in case of emergency, he said."

"Still, I believe we will all be able to fulfill our goals and make our return journey as we have all agreed upon, on the first of Kannazuki." declared the president with firm belief in the club's success. "I'll try to work something out at home and we can devote the time of our tomorrow's meeting to elaborate our list of necessary supplies."

"As you say, Kyouichi." said Midori with an agreeing nod. "I hope that things will turn out for the better in the end? Oh! Which reminds me? Nagahashi-san had a very? interesting idea in case our financial situation worsened."

"Really? Like what? Rob a bank?" jested Kyouichi.

"Close." Midori smiled wryly. "Well, in essence, it's exactly like a robbery anyway? He spoke about taking a long-term loan, like a mortgage or that sort of thing, but we'd never pay back, since we'd already be back in the outside world."

"Ha!" Soudai expressed his approval with a wide grin. "That guy's a genius! Why didn't we think of this from the start and are working our assess off just so we could scrape together a handful of yen for our supplies?"

"For a whole list of reasons." explained the energetic tomboy. "The most obvious one is probably the fact that none of us outsiders have any permanent residence. The village council wouldn't be willing to offer any loan to someone who can simply decide to move from one household to another if they got the idea of never paying back. However, if at least one of us had some kind of immovable, that would be a different story?"

Just as Midori finished her sentence, Kyouichi was reminded of the old abandoned hunter's lodge standing alongside the western road just several hundred meters away from the farms and the Temple of Myouren. He heard that the village council wanted to raze it, since there were no people interested in buying it. Nobody could blame them, since it was in desolate condition, but that seemed like a perfect opportunity for the young outsider. Its price would probably not be very steep, and if he somehow arranged to make it his permanent residence, he could afford to ask the village hall for additional loans. All he had to show them would be a document about a regular income. In other words, he needed a full-time job. The idea seemed so good that his heart began to beat faster, just by thinking about it. An easy way to ensure the club's financial strength? That's what he thought about the old, falling-apart building on the outskirts of the Human Village. He was seriously contemplating about buying it.

"Thank you very much, Midori!" he bowed deeply to the surprised girl. "And Nagahashi-san too? I just got a splendid idea."

"Eh? What?" the vice-president was puzzled by Kyouichi's sudden change in behavior.

"Oh, Ishimaru and his ideas?" Soudai commented as he beckoned at him. "Speaking of which? I wonder what sort of idea you had in mind when you lied to Keine-sensei about our excuses from Eientei."

"Oh, that's right." Kyouichi returned back to reality. He took his backpack and searched its content, drawing out a piece of paper. "You still have Kaguya-sama's autograph, right?"

"Why yeah. And?"

"We're going to forge an excuse using that signature." he explained plainly.

Midori disapprovingly shook her head. "If you put the same amount of effort into studying that you put into cheating, you'd be a number one student?"

"Who cares about that?" Kyouichi laughed her off. "I'm just improvising, that's all?"

"You want me to devaluate my precious autograph from Kaguya-himesama?!" Soudai asked in disbelief. "No way!"

Kyouichi feigned indifference. "Oh well, suit yourself. It will be just you who's going to have to answer to the were-hakutaku for not having an excuse."

"But using the princess's signature??" Soudai protested. "That's preposterous!"

"Why?" asked the younger outsider as he already began dipping his writing brush into a flask of ink, ready to make a fake document. "Kaguya is the head of Eientei after all. Her word is even greater than Eirin's, so I don't see a problem."

"That's not what I meant!" exclaimed his older friend. "This is my ultra-rare, one-of-a-kind, legendary autograph from princess Kaguya! I'll never meet her again and never get the chance to ask for another autograph if I defile this one. I? I can't bring myself to destroy a signature of such an extraordinary being?"

"You'll still have Cirno-chan's autograph?" Kyouichi said with utmost indifference in his voice.

"How can you even compare some fairy to a beautiful legendary lunar princess?!" Soudai burst out his question at him.

"Shhh~." he was hushed by Kyouichi who was already writing tiny kanji characters onto the piece of paper with Kaguya's autograph. "I need to concentrate, Soudai. It's got to look official?"

"Oh, I can't watch!" he moaned and looked away, as if the mere sight of the autograph's devaluation caused him pain. "It's not gonna work, Ishimaru, I'm telling you? Keine-sensei would never fall for some amateurish forgery like that. She must have already seen thousands of excuses from Eientei, whereas you haven't seen even one! And yet you think you can fool her with an improvised fake?"

"Well? yeah." affirmed the younger man bluntly as he painted the words as beautifully as he could. He had some skill from his part-time in Starlight Glyph, so the text that he was writing right now really invoked a sort of official-looking impression. It took him quite a few minutes to formulate the text of the "document". He paused many times to rethink his phrasing and expressions, so that the words would look believable. He tried to recall and copy the way in which the Moon princess spoke. It wasn't typically spoken modern-day Japanese. Her expressions and even syntax of her sentences was rather archaic, but still understandable. In such fashion, Kyouichi endeavored to write himself a fake excuse that would look just as if it was written by Kaguya-sama herself. Even Soudai shut up when he saw the finalized version of the forgery and was now silently staring at the piece of paper, intermittently switching his look from the text to its author and back.

"Ishimaru? You're starting to scare me. Perhaps even Keine-sensei won't see anything suspicious about it."

"That's what I'm hoping for?" said Kyouichi. "Kaguya-sama was working as a temporary nurse, so why not?"

As Soudai stared at the finished document, he suddenly changed his opinion. "Say? how about you made one for me as well?"

Kyouichi gave him a crooked smile. "For you, a special deal? 2500 yen."

Of course, his friend wasn't very agreeable. "Are you kidding me?! I already owe you over 10000! And I'm still without a job? Have mercy! Please??"

"I wonder what made you change your mind all of a sudden." he remarked teasingly.

Soudai looked at him with a hopeless face. "Oh, come on! Don't be a smart-ass bastard, Ishimaru. I'm already in enough trouble as it is. I don't need any extra problems with Keine-sensei."

"So? Are you willing to sacrifice your precious autograph from Kaguya?"

Soudai clenched his fist as he had to resolve his inner dilemma. "Aaaaargh~! Damn it!" he shouted as he lightly smacked the desk. "Why does everything have to come with a price?"

"So is that a yes?" Kyouichi impatiently drummed his fingers over his desk, waiting for Soudai to hand over his autograph from the Moon princess.

"Damn this?" Soudai quietly cursed again as he was reluctantly reaching for the piece of paper with Kaguya's signature. One last stare, as if to say farewell to it, and he finally passed it to his friend.

His face looked determined, although a bit twisted with despair. "Get it over with? And quickly if possible, for I'm afraid my heart won't be able to take it?"

Kyouichi didn't wait too long before he took the paper out of his hands and began making a second forgery. "Do you really like Kaguya so much?" he asked while he was writing.

"This isn't just a matter of liking her." Soudai tried to explain his feeling. "I have never even imagined that I would have ended up in this place and meeting the people that I have met?"

"Yeah, you're not the only one." Kyouichi referred to not just himself, but every single outsider who made it to Gensokyo in its history.

Soudai continued. "And when we figured out that the nurse in Eientei was actually the Kaguya-hime from that old folktale, I just couldn't believe it? Then you asked her for an autograph and I thought to myself: "What a great idea!"."

"What are you guys talking about anyway?" Midori felt hopelessly lost in their conversation and none of the two gentlemen bothered to explain it to her.

"So now... when I thought I'd have some unique memento from my unbelievable experience?" Soudai went on, ignoring Midori's question, "I now sacrifice it just because I'm lazy to do some extra homework? I feel? somewhat? disappointed."

"Keep your chin up, Soudai." Kyouichi tried to console his friend. "It's not like your "memento" as you called it, is completely destroyed."

"I guess not?"

"And besides, we've got three whole moths ahead of us! We're sure to meet many interesting people here before we leave for good? The Tanabata festival is nigh. You said you're going too, right?"

"That I am." confirmed the older of the two young men.

"Me too!" Midori again tried to get their attention. She too had planned to visit the shrine on the 7th of Fuzuki. There were rumors that during the summer festival, almost two thirds of the village's populace went to the Hakurei Shrine to celebrate. Kyouichi could honestly not imagine so many people gathered there, but since it was more or less an old custom, it was most likely not a problem for the shrine yard to contain so many visitors. Midori had even bought herself a yukata for this special occasion. Only three days remained until the big event and many people around the village talked of nothing else recently.

"Oh, so you're going too, Midori-san?" Soudai looked at the club's vice-president.

"Of course I am." she pouted as she rested her hands on her hips. "What did you think? That you're the only two exclusive guests of the shrine?"

"No, of course not, Midori-san. We're both glad that you're coming with us, right Kyouichi?"

Kyouichi was just about to finish making a copy of the fake document. "Sure? I had even planned to visit you and Tanisake-san today and ask you if you were planning to celebrate the festival or not."

"Really?" she looked at him with a bit of doubt. "Aren't you just saying that to comfort me?"

"No." smiled the young long-haired man when he wrote the last word of Soudai's excuse. "It's the truth. I need to have a word with both you and the old man?"

"Well, I'm already here, so what you wanted to talk about?" wondered the curious girl.

"Every conversation is more pleasant over a cup of tea. Besides, the recess is almost over, so we don't have much time left to talk right now, Midori? Here you go, Soudai." he passed the excuse to his older friend. "I tried my best."

"Thanks man!" Soudai rejoiced as he received back his altered autograph card from Kaguya.

"Fine." shrugged the vice-president. "I'll tell Naota-san that you'll be coming for a visit today."

"Thank you, Midori." Kyouichi gave a thankful nod to her.

"No problem?" she mustered a light smile and returned to her desk.

"Say?" Soudai suddenly spoke up again. "It just occurred to me? Keine-sensei is most likely Mokou-san's friend, isn't she?"

"So?"

"And Mokou-san isn't on the best terms with Kaguya-hime?" continued the older outsider with slight concern in his voice.

Kyouichi raised his eyebrow at him. "And your point is??"

"Well, I don't mean to sound like a paranoid pessimist, but what will Keine-sensei think when she sees this? She might despise Kaguya just as much as Mokou-san."

"Do I look like I give a damn about that?" asked the younger man dismissively.

"But?"

"Of course I can't predict what Keine-sensei's reaction will be. All I can do is hope that she'll believe it to be authentic? Fortunately, these papers are large enough to write in some text above the princess's signature. The fact that Keine-sensei hates Kaguya or not should not be a factor at all? I hope?"

"Well?" Soudai took a deep breath. "We'll see in a minute."
And just as he said that, Keine-sensei appeared in the classroom for the second time today to begin another lesson. Kyouichi had given Soudai a silent signal and they both stood up from their seats and stepped up to the teacher's desk with their forged excuses in their hands.

The were-hakutaku eyed them both with a curious expression. "What's this? I thought you said you didn't have your excuses with you?"

"We didn't, but we fetched them during the recess." Kyouichi quickly made up a lie.

"Did you?" she glanced at him with untrusting eyes. "You certainly got yourselves a move on? Please, go ahead. Show them to me."

Both outsiders exchanged their looks, and with their fingers crossed, they presented their forgeries to their teacher.

"Hmm?" hummed the half-youkai woman as she observed the documents lying in front of her. Both implied an unprecedented emergency situation and staff shortage in Eientei, due to which even Kaguya volunteered to apply whatever minimal knowledge and skills regarding medicine and treatment she had in order to help. That was what Keine had deduced from the formal and brief text and the title "temporary nurse" under Kaguya's signature. She nodded understandingly and again scribbled something into her class register. It seemed that she believed the documents to be genuine.

"Hmph?" she scoffed as she gave the papers a second glance. "That's so like her? To smear a huge signature all over an official document just to show everyone who's boss? Here, you can have these back... if you need to show them to your part-time employers." she said as she returned the papers. Soudai almost failed to hold back tears of joy as he was allowed to keep the princess's signature even when it was devaluated by Kyouichi's scribblings.

"Very well?" spoke the teacher again. "You are excused for not having your homework and to make things fair, you'll be writing the scheduled test on 11th of Fuzuki, which is next Monday. Now, unless you have anything else to tell me, you may return to your desks."

"No, that's all. Thank you very much, Keine-sensei." both outsiders bowed appreciatively.

A great burden just fell from their hearts as they now both had some time to catch up with their classmates on all the lessons that they've missed. With content smiles they took their seats, ignoring the cold gaze of Midori who didn't approve of their actions at all. What kept her quiet, however, was the fact that she knew that both of them were staying in Eientei for some time, but didn't have anything to prove it with.

The lessons went on like during any other day. This time even Kyouichi was taking notes properly. Even though he didn't consider studying Gensokyo and its various youkai to have any practical value for him, he at least changed his viewpoint and now saw it as a sort of pastime. Not for a moment was he willing to accept the idea that he would stay in Gensokyo permanently like some of his club members have decided to. He was more or less already envisioning himself back home, surrounded by the noises of the big city, reuniting with his family and all the people he cared for and returning to the lifestyle of a world which he was born into.

"I'm just on a three-month tour in a land of fantasy?" is what he always kept telling himself whenever he was in doubt of his future.
Now that the classes were over, the large group of outsiders referred to as "transfer students" was slowly dispersing, leaving only the regular students to stay for additional lessons. Soudai and Kyouichi were just packing their things up when Midori approached them.

"I just got an idea? How about you both stopped by for a visit today?"

Her invitation came as an unexpected surprise to Soudai. "What is this all of a sudden, Midori-san?"

"I just thought you two would be interested to copy my notes from the last week's lessons."

"What? Am I dreaming? Do my ears deceive me?" asked Soudai in jest. "Iwakami Midori, the prudent hard-working student is letting US copy her notes just like that? There has to be some kind of catch?"

"There's no catch. Just doing what a friend should be doing?" she said with a soft smile.

"That's? very commendable of you." replied Soudai, unable to change his surprised face.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to fill you both in on the situation in our club in greater detail." Midori explained another intention behind her invitation. "In exchange, you guys could tell me what in the world happened to you for you to end up in Eientei."

"Then make a lot of tea and be prepared for long stories, because we have loads to tell you about our recent experiences?" Soudai gave a warning.

"I look forward to it then?" said Midori once she packed up her books. "See you in the afternoon."

[Fonzi]

Chapter 44 ? Paying a Visit

A couple of hours later Soudai and Kyouichi met up once more in the marketplace, deciding to buy a little present, so that they wouldn't come for a visit empty-handed. They didn't need to think for too long about what to buy. Naota liked sake and Midori liked sweets in general, so they bought her some cookies at one of the stands. Kyouichi again couldn't resist buying a taiyaki when he was already there.

"M-kay?" he nodded as he munched on his snack, "We've got all we need. We can see old Naota and Midori now?"
Without a word, Soudai followed him all the way to the house where the old carpenter from the outside world lived. After knocking on the door they could hear Midori's voice calling out: "I'll be right there~!"

Not a moment later, she was already welcoming them and inviting them in, as if she was the lady of the house.

"I'm just helping Naota-san with making dinner, so if you don't mind coming to the kitchen?"

"Why would we mind?" Soudai asked her and followed the girl along the corridor into a small, but nicely furnished kitchen. It was obvious that Naota had invested quite some money into his household. It was no wonder since being a skilled carpenter was a well paid job. The old man welcomed both guests with a nod as he was standing over a pot of soup. "Ah, well if it aren't our two patients from Eientei... Welcome to my house, youngsters. Just wait a few more minutes, will ya? The soup's almost done? Midori, please?" he looked over to the girl who now lived in his house, "pour something for our guests, okay?"

"Sure, Naota-san." Midori obliged. "I'll make some tea right away."

"Tea?" repeated the old man with a scoffing laughter. "No, open a sake bottle! One of the more expensive ones, alright?"

"As you say?" Midori shrugged and left the kitchen.

"But we've brought you some sake too, Naota-san." argued Soudai as he gestured at the bottle in his hand.

"Have ya, now? Let's see? Ah? Amaterasu's Silver? my favorite brand. You sure knew what to buy for me, lad."

"Well, I'm glad that you like it, but you should probably thank to the one behind me, since he told me what you drink?" Soudai pointed a thumb at his friend who was already sitting at the table. "By the way, I'm Asakura? Soudai Asakura. Kyouichi's and Midori's friend? I'm also from the outside world."

"Aye. Midori told me about you? I'm Tanisake Naota." he said as he took a light slurp of the soup from his ladle just to know if it tasted as it should. "I heard that both of you kids got into some serious trouble and had to be taken to Eientei."

"Uhh? yeah, well?" Soudai stuttered as he tried to come up with some funny reply.

"I guess I can now shake hands with both of you and say "welcome to the club", hehe?" chuckled the old man.

"So you were there once too, huh?" Soudai asked nonchalantly.

"If only once, my son! But, that was long ago, and I'm sure you're not in the mood to listen to my stories anyway."

"It's true that we both have enough of Eientei, but I'd like to hear some of your stories, Tanisake-san."

"I'll give you "Tanisake-san"?" Naota scowled at him. "Friends all call me Naota."

"I see? Didn't mean any offense, Naota-san." Soudai apologized.

"I suppose you haven't come to visit me for no reason. Am I right?"

Soudai embarrassedly scratched the back of his head. "Well, actually? We both came here so that we could copy Midori's notes from the lessons that we missed? But of course, I'd like to get to know you too, Naota-san." he quickly added as he saw the old man's frown not going away.

"Well, then let me know when you two are done with copying those notes so that we can finally have a drink and swap a few stories!" said Naota and took the soup pot off the stove.

"Will do, Naota-san, will do." Soudai promised to him and then he took a seat at the table, opposite of Kyouichi.

Midori was back with a sake bottle, but as she saw her two classmates sitting at the table and readying their notebooks, she figured that it was not yet time to drink.

"Alright, you two." she said as she put down the bottle in front of them. "I'll be right back with my notebooks? This might be a good chance for me to remind myself what we studied in the last two weeks, because unlike you, I have to write the test tomorrow."

"Thanks again for your help, Midori-san." Soudai called after her when she left the kitchen once more. "And good luck with your test tomorrow."

"Why bother wishing her good luck with a test?" Kyouichi asked jestingly. "She's Midori! She's one of the best students in our class. And even if she didn't prepare for the test, I'm sure she'd wing it without any problems."

"Just showing her a gesture of my appreciation, Kyouichi-kun." explained his older friend with a smile. "She's a great friend? I mean? she could have told Keine-sensei that our excuses were fakes, but she didn't. And now she's willing to let us copy her notes."

"Guess you're right." Kyouichi admitted. "And she's even been in charge of our club for a week?"

"Here I am~!" Midori announced her return and smacked four notebooks on the table. "So? Which subject should we go over first? Geography is quite easy? Or would you prefer to get the harder stuff over with first?"

"Geography's easy, you say?" Soudai gave her a puzzled look. "Let's do the easy stuff first then."

"As you wish~." Midori quickly opened one of the notebooks and put it up in the middle of the table, so that both of her friends could read its content. "Soudai-san, you missed two lessons, so in your case you'll need to copy the notes about Misty Lake as well as the Nameless Hill."

"Oh, I could tell you a thing or two about the lake." said Kyouichi with a bit of sarcastic tone, as he recalled his wet experience on his way back from the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Dude! I envy you? You've been to places? And me? I've been mostly stuck in the village and later in Eientei?"

"There's not much to envy me for, though. Just look what happened to me when I was returning from Kazemura? And as for Misty Lake, I almost drowned in it?"

"Really?" asked both Midori and Soudai.

"Well, not really, but I can tell you that it's really cold to swim in it in the morning? And my little swim was followed by another? incident, when a photograph of me appeared in one of the local newspapers?"

Soudai didn't know what his friend was talking about, but Midori on the other hand, burst into hearty laughter.

"Ahahahaha~! So that's how you've become known as miko-miko Kyouichi? Hehehee~!"

"Turned out that I shouldn't have given into persuasions and simply kept my wet clothes on." Kyouichi commented while Midori was still laughing. When she finally got over her laughing fit she tapped Kyouichi's shoulder. "Okay, okay, sorry? I know it wasn't a pleasant experience for you but?" she interrupted her sentence with more snickering, "I'll never forget about that picture! It was priceless!"

"Gee, thanks?" annoyed Kyouichi grumbled under his nose.

"So anyway? I think it would be better if you both copied the notes about Nameless Hill first, so you wouldn't have to wait for Soudai to copy the notes about Misty Lake."

"Fair enough." acknowledged the older of the two males. "So? Nameless Hill? Is that really a name of the hill, or simply a reference to a location that was not named?"

"The former." replied Midori tersely and seriously.

Soudai made a snort. "That's? rather weird. It's as if I was called Anonymous? Which I am on many discussion forums on the net? But mostly, I just give myself some random nickname."

Midori exchanged her look with Kyouichi and asked him: "Does he always keep saying stupid things like that?"

"No, Midori, he usually says far crazier things to digress from the discussed topic."

"Ha! Aren't you two doing the same right now?" Soudai returned the blow. "So? What's so special about that hill that has no name?"

Midori sighed. "Only goes to show that you're not paying attention, Soudai. I already told you that the hill does have a name. It's called Nameless Hill. Savvy?"

"So why is it called like that?"

"Do you really expect me to spoon-feed you with all the information? It's there in the notebook. All you have to do is read it."

At first, Soudai looked at her with a serious scowling face, but in the next moment he chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I like that tsundere personality of yours, Midori-san."

"Don't treat me like an anime character." She pouted at his remark and stood up from the table. "Anyway? I still need to help Naota-san with the dinner. If you'll see something in the text that you won't understand or can't decipher, then let me know?"

"Don't worry," Kyouichi reassured her. "I've seen much worse handwriting?"

"Hmph?" Midori again pouted her lips and turned her back on the two boys. She still remained in the kitchen, though, just as she said.

"Way to give a compliment to a lady, Kyou-kun?" Soudai muttered to his friend.

"You know, hearing that from you doesn't have a very convincing effect." retorted the younger outsider.

"Hey? What was that supposed to mean?"

"Soudai, please? just focus on the matter at hand, will you? We've got tons of notes to copy and we ain't got all day."

"Okay..." Soudai shrugged as usually when someone reminded him that he was talking too much.

Finally their conversation was halted and replaced by silent scribbling of their quills as they read and copied Midori's notes into their own notebooks.

Both of them were learning new information as they read about a place called Nameless Hill. According to the text, the place was a meadow on a small mountain located opposite of the Youkai Mountain. It is a field overgrown with violet lilies-of-the-valley.

"Lilies-of-the-valley, eh?" Soudai repeated as he wrote down the notes. "Aren't those flowers usually white?"

"Hmm?" Kyouichi thoughtfully hummed. "Convallaria majalis? was it?" he murmured as he tried to recall what he read about it in the encyclopedia back when he still worked at Starlight Glyph.

Soudai blinked in a clueless expression. "Say what? Are you trying to cast a spell or something?"

"No, that's the Latin name of the plant." Kyouichi answered. "Indeed, its flowers are usually white, rarely pink. This is the first time I've heard of violet lilies-of-the-valley?"

"Oh? And since when were you a botany expert, Ishimaru?" Soudai jabbed at his friend.

"I've read a book recently? In that bookstore I used to work at. It was from the outside world, so I read it a bit."

"I see?"

"Anyway? if that place is on a mountain opposite of the Youkai Mountain, it means it should lie somewhere beyond the Bamboo Forest of the Lost."

"Ughhhhh~!" Soudai shuddered as chills ran down his spine. "Don't even say the name of that damn place! I think I've developed an aversion to bamboo thanks to that forest."

"Whatever?" Kyouichi again shifted his gaze to Midori's notebook. "Back to reading?"

And thus, both young outsiders learned that the field of violet lilies-of-the-valley was called "Nameless Hill" because it used to be a place where unwanted newborns were abandoned and left to die among the lilies' poison. Their bodies were subsequently either cleaned up by youkai or they were adopted by the youkai before they died and were raised to become one of them. This dark history from the pre-Hakurei Border era made this place rarely if ever visited by humans in the present days. Furthermore, at some point even most youkai have ceased to show up here as often as they used to, rendering this field to be nearly forgotten by the contemporary Gensokyo and becoming nameless in a more literal sense of word.

"Almost makes me wonder why we are learning about a place that nobody visits and has no major purpose in Gensokyo?" remarked Soudai as he made the final dot after the final sentence.

"Maybe because of its history?" mused Kyouichi.

"Could be..."

"Keine-sensei said that some youkai doll likes to hang out around that field?" sounded Midori as she was slicing up vegetables.

"A youkai doll?" both boys glanced at her curiously.

"Yes, a tsukumogami." she confirmed. "She's supposedly very dangerous for humans."

"Tsukumogami? An object that became a youkai after reaching its 100th year of existence? So she's like Kogasa-chan, huh?" Soudai recalled the youkai girl he met at Eientei.

Of course, that name didn't ring Midori's bell, since she never met the karakasa. "Don't know about any Kogasa-chan, but that doll on Nameless Hill is one of the major reasons why humans rarely ever go there."

"Well, at least we've met a much friendlier tsukumogami? Okay, let me copy the info about Misty Lake now."

"Then I'll take a look at the Youkai Typology." said Kyouichi as he grabbed another notebook from the small pile.
And so, they continued with their work, filling more and more pages with text as they went. In the end, Kyouichi didn't learn much new information about the satori race. According to Midori's notes, seeing a satori on the surface was considered as extreme rarity, if not an impossibility. Like the oni, they too were once feared and hated by the humans and have chosen to isolate themselves from the society, taking refuge in the underground. Even there their numbers remain scarce as they live their lives isolated not only from most of other underground-dwelling youkai, but also from the members of their own kind. The reason why these creatures tend to be loners is not their aggressiveness, but their innate mind-reading power. In fact, the satori are rather timid and reserved by nature. They like peace and harmony and highly respect other living beings despite being a powerful race of youkai. It is out of this respect for the minds of others that they choose to avoid contact with other intelligent beings. On the other hand, simple-minded and instinct-driven animals tend to be attracted by them and it is said that many satori have animal shikigami.

After nearly an hour of writing, the two boys finally finished copying Midori's notes.

"Phew?" Soudai exhaled out of relief as he put down his quill. "I hope all this work will be worth it?"

"If you take your time to reread those notes and try to comprehend them a bit better, then it surely will pay off when you'll be writing the test." answered Midori who was now cleaning the kitchen up a little, since she was already done with making dinner. "So you're both finally done, as I can see? How about some pork cutlets? There's plenty for all of us?"

The answer from both boys was as obvious as one could expect. "Of course, we'd like some!"

"So? Have you thought of what you wanted to add to our club's shopping list?" Midori got right to the point as soon as Kyouichi finished his meal.

"Right? We better get that over with first." he replied as he put away his plate and ripped off a blank page out of his notebook.

"Don't look at me like that." the vice president frowned at his reluctant attitude. "It was your idea in the first place."

"I know, I know." Kyouichi repeated and with a sigh he began writing down a list of necessary supplies. "Let's see? We'll need tents. Since there's 13 of us, I'd say we need at least four." He jotted down a number next to the word "tents".

"Wouldn't it be better to simply buy one big tent for all of us?" suggested Midori.

"A large tent for at least 13 people would be a bit too cumbersome to transport as well as to pack and unpack. Remember that we're not in the outside world anymore and the tents available here aren't as light and convenient as the modern ones with aluminum components and polymeric waterproof fabric. Unless you feel like dragging a 100 kilo tent across mountainous terrain, we should not buy one."

"Alright, I get your point already." Midori cut him off before he'd continue with further arguments. "But then again, do you really think that four smaller tents are going to be lighter than one large one?"

Kyouichi didn't really know that much about tents for a confident answer. "Hmm? Maybe; maybe not. The point is that it's much more convenient to carry four small burdens than lumber around with a big one. We'd probably need a handcart to move it around and we'll need carts for other supplies? And I didn't even mention that in case something happens to one of the tents, we'll still have three left."

"True, but then some of us won't be able to sleep at night." remarked Midori with a smirk.

"Of course some of us won't be sleeping at night!" retorted the president of the club. "We'll need someone to watch over the campsite at night too, so we should have people take turns to keep a lookout? at least in pairs."

Midori shrugged, having admitted that Kyouichi's reasoning was rational after all. "Very well? Four tents it is."

As Kyouichi was scribbling some additional notes into the list, Soudai slowly raised his hand like a timid young pupil in front of a teacher. "May I say something as well?"

"As long as it's on topic?"

"Just occurred to me? That you're making a list in order to assess our club's future expenses, right?"

"Good morning, Asakura-san." Midori jokingly remarked, since she had thought that the purpose of that list was as obvious as it could get.

"But?" Soudai continued, paying no mind to Midori's sarcasm, "do you guys even know how much does a tent cost here? And other items too? We should first learn the exact prices from the shops before we can start calculating."

"Wow?" Midori uttered in a state of slight surprise. "He actually said something reasonable for a change."

"That's why we're only making a rough version of this list right now." explained Kyouichi. "Once we have an exact idea about what we're going to buy, learning the prices of each individual item won't be a problem."

"Ahh, I see? I thought you wanted to make the definite list right here and now."

"Well, I estimate that we should have the exact sum elaborated by the end of this week."

"Knowing how much money we'll need to be ready for our return journey should calm things down a bit in our club?" Midori stated. "It may turn out that we'll be able to leave Gensokyo much sooner than expected."

"Or much later?" Soudai presented an unlikely, but quite possible worse case scenario.

"Don't be such a pessimist." Midori pouted at his words.

"Hey, I just remembered something." Kyouichi again recalled what Midori told him earlier today. "You said that we could get a loan from the village council, right?"

"Only if any of us would own some real estate and have it as their permanent residence." the vice president specified.

"I just got this interesting idea?"

"We're listening."
And so, Kyouichi briefly explained his idea to buy the falling-apart shack near the Temple of Myouren using the money which the club has accumulated so far. The said shack would then be written as the place of his permanent residence and that way he could ask the village council for a loan.

"Dude?" Soudai halted him suddenly. "I hate to be a killjoy, but seriously? Do you really think that buying that house will come cheaper than our traveling supplies?"

"I?" Kyouichi suddenly doubted his own idea. "I don't really know that. But that shack is in a terrible condition. I'm sure its price can't be too steep. I'll need to visit the village hall to learn its exact price? That gives us another reason to complete our list and calculate the final sum."

"Yeah, and we both need to find ourselves some work."

"So you all kids are serious about leaving Gensokyo after all?" the sudden sound of Naota's voice surprised the trio of classmates.

"Naota-san?" Midori uttered as she turned her head to the left.

"Sorry?" the old man lightly bent forward in apology, "but I couldn't overhear that little conversation you were having? About buying a hunter's cabin in order to get your hands on a loan from the council?"

Kyouichi wasn't very happy that Naota was now aware of their plans. "Geez? For an old man, you sure have some good ears?"

"Well, you weren't exactly keeping your voice too low either, kid." the retired carpenter retorted with a weak smile.

"Guh?" Kyouichi reluctantly had to admit that Naota was right.

"What would you kids say if I told you that I could help you acquire that old cabin?" came a surprising offer out of the blue.

"C-come again?" uttered the confused young outsider.

Naota widened his smile into a sly grin. "Let's just say that the owner of that hut was one of my friends. He's probably dead now, though? Anyway the thing is that I've been considering buying off his cabin myself in order to collect his belongings so that I'd have something to remember him by? You see, he simply took off on a journey one day and never returned. All of his things inside his cabin were left untouched. I had a feeling that something wasn't right when he hasn't returned even after several months. Now, it's been two years since I had seen him last. Like I said, he's most likely long dead, but somehow I always kept hoping that he might return any time? Heh, that's probably the reason why I still hadn't bought that cabin when the council assumed its ownership and offered it for sale. But now that I've heard about your clever little idea, I can't help but to feel that now is finally the time to do it?"

"So, what are you planning to do exactly?" Kyouichi asked hesitantly, almost as if he was afraid to hear Naota's answer.

"I'll buy it? and write your name as its owner."

"What?! I?" Kyouichi was obviously taken aback by Naota's offer, but he knew that everything had its price. "What do you expect from me in return then?"

"Hmm? Good question. What DO I want in return?" spoke the old man to himself. "Nothing actually?"

Kyouichi stared blankly at him, still paralyzed by his own disbelief. "N-nothing? Umm? how much sake have you drunk today, Naota-san?"

"None yet." the old man smiled at him. "Which reminds me that it's about time to open our first bottle, don't you think?"

"I don't understand? Why are you willing to do this?"

"Because it's convenient for me. You'll leave a testament when you leave Gensokyo, in which you'll state me as the heir of the cabin. No matter how suspicious will that sound, the council will have no choice but to acknowledge it. And while everyone will believe that you died, I will again legally become the cabin's owner... Then I'll probably sell it back, but in order to increase its value, it'd have to be renovated?"

Everyone kept staring at Naota in silent awe as he explained his idea to the group of young outsiders.

"That? actually makes a lot of sense." murmured Kyouichi as he gave Naota's words some thought.

"And you will help me with its renovation, Kyouichi? That is what I want from you in return. What do you say?"

The young man took a while to process Naota's offer. It seemed almost too good to be true, but he knew that an opportunity like that does not arise every day and that it would be a sin to let it pass him by.

"I? Of course I'll help you with anything regarding the cabin's renovation." he wholeheartedly accepted the terms of the old man's offer. "But?" he suddenly raised a finger, "you know that I'm not very skilled at manual work."

Naota only scoffed at his remark. "Than take that work as an opportunity to learn something new, kid."

"I'm at a loss for words, Naota-san? It would seem that no matter what I tell you now will fully express my gratitude."

"Hey, don't go all emotional on me, kid. Like I said, I'm doing this for my own benefit as well. Buying off the cabin will be killing two birds with one stone."

"Ishimaru?" Soudai suddenly spoke up again as he turned at Kyouichi, "you one lucky son of a gun? No. I think we're all lucky this time. And all thanks to your acquaintance. Naota-san, we owe you a big one!"

"Glad I could cheer you young folks up a bit. How about a toast to err? commemorate this event?" asked Naota as he was already holding a full bottle of sake in his hand.

The three young outsiders exchanged their meaningful looks, but none of them had anything against a bit of sake.

"Cheers~!" echoed the voices of four people along with the clinking of their sake cups as they had their first dose of alcohol today.
They moved from Naota's kitchen to much greater comfort of armchairs in his living room. Everyone's mood seemed to have improved, now that they had some real hope of early return back to Tokyo. Naota, on the other hand, was glad that he finally made a decision he's been postponing for nearly two years.

"Man, I knew that coming over to visit Naota-san today was a good idea?" said Kyouichi after he finished another cup of good sake. "Now if only finding a new job would be so simple?"

"I'm sure there are some folks in the village that could use an extra hand." Naota reassured him. "You could always just check out the village hall and see what jobs are available."

"Yeah? I just hope I'll be qualified for at least something? Unlike my part-time job, I'll need some specific skills to apply for a full-time job, won't I?"

The old outsider shook his head. "Not necessarily. It depends on the work. Why, you could even ask Shimizu-san to accept you as a full-time assistant and you'd be doing just what you used to do in that bookstore?"

"Not gonna happen." Kyouichi resolutely disagreed.

"Hm? What's wrong, kid?" Naota asked curiously, since he had close to no idea about Kyouichi's reason for quitting his job at Starlight Glyph. "Had enough of books?"

"Haven't I told you already? I had a run-in with one of your former apprentices? Yukiyama Hiroto."

"Huh? Hiroto? What happened?" It seemed that the old man really didn't recall what Kyouichi had told him earlier.

"Don't you remember? It happened on that rainy day? And I'm fairly sure I clearly told you that Hiroto started the fight? But of course, you were more concerned by the fact that I was talking to Yuuka-san."

"Who's Yuuka-san?" Soudai whispered a question at his friend.

"Not now, Soudai." Kyouichi again brushed him off.

"Of course I was concerned." Naota grumbled back. "You never know whether the local rumors about youkai are true or not until it's too late."

"So, she's a youkai, huh?" Soudai murmured to himself as he kept on listening to their conversation.

"Oh, come on!" Kyouichi gave Naota a condescending look. "If she didn't show up when she did, well? I'd probably have the opportunity to see Eientei a bit sooner. It turned out that the ones we should be wary of the most are us, humans?"

"Hmph? You know? You're probably right." Naota nodded to Kyouichi's last statement. "I might have overreacted back then? I don't know any youkai personally, but I have my own reasons. Perhaps you won't have a reason to avoid every one of them like I do? I'm sorry to hear that Hiroto picked a fight with you too. One would think that after all those incidents he got himself into, he'd learn his lesson."

"He hates all outsiders. No exceptions. He even said that about you. Working with him was like a punishment. I'm telling you, the best thing I could have done was to quit working in the bookstore."

Naota let out a sigh of contempt. "If only I paid you a bit more attention then?"

"And you'd do what?!" Kyouichi angrily shouted back. "Look? There's no reason for you to take any responsibility for me or Hiroto. Our little dispute is over, because I'll do my best never to cross paths with him again. Live and let live? I do hate him, but I'm not that big of a bastard to try and sue him now. Hatred will only bring more hatred and I don't feel a need to drag my ass over law courts. If someone else sues him for something, or if he gets himself killed by some youkai, fine. I don't care. My point is? I'm not going to work at that bookstore as long as he is working there too."

"Then I wish you luck in finding a more suitable workplace, kid. If the village hall won't help, just ask the people. There's always something that needs to be done around the village and people aren't all xenophobes."

"Maybe so, but I doubt they're going to employ someone without any practical skills."

"Surely you must have some kind of talent." said the old man to boost Kyouichi's confidence.

"Talent? Me?" he chuckled, "Well, sure? I can swim pretty well. I can even swim a 30 meter distance underwater. But I guess there are no sponsored swimming competitions in Gensokyo. What a pity? Hey, maybe I could do a lifeguard at the fishing colony?" he added with a sarcastic tone and laughed at his silly idea. "Yeah, right?"

"That can't be the only thing you're good at." said Naota seriously. "Perhaps there's something that you've always wanted to become?"

"Hmm?" Kyouichi scratched his chin as he thought. "Well, besides swimming, English is my biggest forte, but here? Quite useless I'd say. The only foreigner I know here is Dan and he probably knows Japanese better than English?"

"English? Really?" Naota seemed to nod admiringly. "The last time I heard that language was when I watched the news about Americans dropping their bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Not long after that I found myself here? Anyway, you should be glad that you know a worldwide-used language."

Indeed, English was one of the few things which young Kyouichi was good at. He didn't travel anywhere outside of Japan, but he was still heavily influenced by the western culture. Songs, movies, books, comics, PC games and the Internet ? all of these things helped him learn English ever since he was a grade-schooler. And unlike most of his classmates, even his accent sounded like that of a real American speaker and nobody could make fun of his "Engrish" in class or anywhere else.

"I still believe that the knowledge of another language would best suit a job in a bookstore." muttered the old man under his nose.

"Heh? And I once dreamed of becoming a voice actor." continued the long-haired youth. "I can sort of imitate some voices too? Perhaps even sing when I'm drunk enough."

"Oi, really?" Naota grinned widely. "Then have another one, sonny!"

And Kyouichi's cup was again full of sake and he didn't hesitate to drink it.

"So? Let's see if you can sing, kid. Come on."

Kyouichi was a bit embarrassed, but he didn't mind if those laughing at him would be his friends. "Alright then?" he straightened up and cracked his knuckles, "but what should I sing so that even you'd recognize it, Naota-san?"

"Maybe some oldies?" said Soudai, even though his suggestion was pretty obvious, since Naota lost contact with the outside world in 1945.

"Hmm? Besides the folk songs, the oldest songs I know are those from Elvis?"

"Heck, I don't care what you sing; I just want to hear you try." Naota shrugged indifferently.

"Yeah, do Elvis!" Midori cheered him on.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this?" Soudai crossed his arms and threw a doubting glance at his friend.

"Then here goes nothing?" Kyouichi wasn't really serious about it and only wanted to have some fun. He took a deep breath and put his semi-clenched hand in front of his mouth, as if holding an imaginary microphone and started singing and imitating: "Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go~♪. You have made my life complete, and I love you so~♪?"

"Dude, that doesn't sound like him at all!" Soudai interrupted him before he even got to the second strophe.

"What do you mean?" Kyouichi asked jokingly, because he knew that Soudai was right. "You ever heard Presley singing?"

"I did. And I'm saying this because NO ONE can compare to the King!"

"Pretty good." Naota gave his little praise, "Even though I don't know any "King"."

"Eh? You don't know Elvis?" Soudai looked unbelievingly at the old man.

"Of course he doesn't." said Midori matter-of-factly. "Elvis was only 10 when Naota-san got spirited away? As for your singing attempt," she turned over to Kyouichi, "Sure? No one can compare to the original, but it wasn't bad. Not good enough for a standing ovation, but a tad better than some of the so called "popular singers" that you can see nowadays?"

"Uhh? why thanks, Midori. And you're right? I better leave singing to those who actually CAN sing. I just wanted to have some fun, that's all. I hope that Elvis isn't rolling over in his grave due to my performance?"

"Guess not, but? I don't think you'll make a living out of it here in Gensokyo." Soudai expressed his opinion.

"Yeah? My earnings would be about as high as Reimu's donations." he commented as he laughed. "Well, so much for my useless talents. I will have to make do with any job opportunity that I'll get. Guess we'll pay the village hall a visit tomorrow, eh, Soudai?"

"The sooner the better." he agreeingly nodded in response.

"Now?" Naota sounded again as he was already pouring another round of sake for himself and his guests. "I've been holding my curiosity on a tight leash for quite a while now, but now that we've put all the mundane talk behind, it urges me to ask you two about what made you visit, or to be more exact, be carried to Eientei."

"Well?" said both young outsiders at the same time, as each had their own story to tell. They both began laughing at their identical and simultaneous reaction.

"Alright, you first." Kyouichi left Soudai the privilege to start. "You're my senior after all?"

"Then let me wet my whistle first." said Soudai and emptied another cup of sake, which seemed to have elicited a pleased smile on Naota's face.

"So? There I was, on my way with the rest of the woodcutters to the bamboo forest like every morning?"
It took over half an hour for him to fully recount his frightening experience from over two weeks ago in the dreaded Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Despite his humorously toned narration, everyone got goosebumps as soon as he got to the thrilling part when the whole group of workers became the target of a youkai attack that was only preceded by rustling sounds of disembodied footsteps on the forest floor.

"Damn? I think I got attacked by the same thing once when I was about your age." remarked Naota with a serious face. "Nearly got killed that time? It was also in the same forest and pretty much at the same kind of work."

"Maybe it's a guardian spirit of the forest that attacks those who chop down bamboo trees." guessed Midori.

"You know? This attack?" Naota paused himself for a moment and shook his head, as if he was disapproving something. "It only shows us all how stubborn people are. Even after the same situation happens time and time again, there will always be those who keep doing it... until it kills them. I too was once young, inexperienced and foolish. Even more so than you, kids? I thought that because we were a group and escorted by Ryuuken, we couldn't be attacked by any youkai. I quickly learned that Gensokyo doesn't work that way. One would have a hard time finding common sense even here in Human Village. Everything beyond its premises only goes gradually crazier? As soon as I recovered from that attack, I've been hearing more and more stories from people who worked outside the village about their experiences and dangerous youkai encounters. Statistically, nearly two thirds of people who ever ventured outside the village were attacked by a youkai at least once. It didn't take much time to tell myself that going so deep into the forest wasn't really worth it. Ever since then, I stopped gathering materials for my work, and instead, started buying them. Sure, it wasn't cheap, but at least I didn't have to risk my neck. And once I mastered my craft, the extra expenses didn't even matter anymore. I had enough money to afford three fine meals a day at the Uzume, the finest clothes and the best sake in the village? But?" he let out another heavy sigh, "no money can buy you happiness, or love? or? a human life."

"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Naota-san?" wondered Midori after the old man went silent, just blankly staring into his half-empty sake cup.

"Hm? Oh? no, no?" he quickly shook his head, as if he was just woken up from a nap. "Just got a little lost in thought for a moment?"

"Really?" she leaned a little closer to take a better look at him. "Seems like you recalled something sad?"

"It's nothing, lassie. Don't worry about it." He denyingly shook his head and finished off the rest of the sake in his cup. "And what about you, Kyouichi? I only heard a short version of what happened to you on your way to the village. Care to tell me your version of the story?"

It was obvious that Naota intended to change the topic of the conversation to divert the attention from his own problems which he wanted to keep only to himself.
Now it was Kyouichi's turn to talk and so, he explained the details about his journey to Kazemura and back and how he ended up in Eientei. Of course, he omitted the part about the visit he paid to the immortal youkai alchemist.

"So that's how it was, eh?" Naota nodded as he was already opening a new bottle.

"Hmph?" Kyouichi smirked weakly after finishing his story. "I'm a little surprised that you haven't slapped me yet. Or even scolded me for being foolish and irresponsible?"

"Because this wasn't your fault. You were on a caravan escorted by warriors. You were careful, just really unlucky. And from what you told me about your injury, it's really a miracle that you recovered completely. Eirin-san sure is amazing, eh?"

The two young men again glanced at each other with the same thing on their mind.

"Err? well?" Soudai had very mixed feelings about Doctor Yagokoro now.

"Soudai?" Kyouichi quickly put a palm on his shoulder and gave him a silent stare. He didn't wish to reveal the fact that they both literally escaped from Eientei before they were officially released.

As if he could read his mind, Soudai slowly nodded and remained silent.

"What? What? Did I say something wrong?" Naota couldn't explain the boys' strange reaction to Eirin's name.

"Oh, nothing~." Kyouichi denyingly waved his hand and faked a smile. "Sure, Eirin-sensei is really something? Right, Soudai?" he winked at his friend as a signal for him to play along with his little charade.

"Uh? Yeah?" he replied unconvincingly. "Say, Naota-san? You seem to have an issue with all youkai, but you're completely fine with aliens?"

"Hahahaha?" Naota was quite amused by his question. "At least the Lunarians don't eat our flesh mixed with ramen."

"Oh, so they prefer to spit-roast it instead, huh?" asked Soudai mockingly, which only made Naota laugh even louder.

"If that were true, people would rise up with torches and pitchforks and burn Eientei to the ground instead of visiting it regularly for their medical needs, which is really admirable due to the fact that they all technically risk their lives on their way to Eientei and back."

"Tell me about it?" murmured Soudai under his nose so that Naota couldn't hear it.

"Well, now that I've heard you all tell me about your recent experiences, I suppose it's only fair if I told you some of my own stories from when I was young. That is? only if you're interested."
And so, as the Monday afternoon gradually shifted to evening, the old mater carpenter began telling stories of his first days in Gensokyo, his first youkai encounter and first near-death experiences. However, as he went on, and as he drank more and more cups, he digressed from his stories to local gossip, his hobbies and his favorite brands sake. And even though nobody paid much attention to him anymore, they let him talk until he ran out of sake and had nothing more to say.

It was already late evening anyway and the sun had set behind the horizon several hours ago. It was just about time for the guests to leave, and so, Kyouichi and Soudai finished their last drinks and thanked both Naota and Midori for their hospitality and assistance. Tomorrow would be another important day when the next steps of the Transfer Students' Club would be decided and when Kyouichi and Soudai would see if there are any suitable job opportunities for them to apply for.

When they were already standing at Naota's doorstep, Kyouichi looked at the old carpenter one more time with a question on his lips.

"I probably know what your answer is going to be, but I'll ask anyway? Are you going to visit the shrine during the summer festival?"

The answer that came from Naota was as blunt and clear as he had expected: "Not a chance."

Of course, festival means lots of visitors and lots of visitors means a significant number of them being youkai. Everyone was already aware of the old man's attitude towards youkai, so his answer didn't really cause any level of surprise.

"Alright then?" chuckled Kyouichi as he was turning his back to the house and its occupants, "See you again soon, Naota? And you even sooner, Midori?"

"Yeah, stay out of trouble, kid." the retired craftsman bid him goodbye. "The same goes for you?" he addressed the second sentence to Soudai who only nodded in response.

As the door of the house finally closed behind them, the two young men were slowly heading up the street until they reached a crossroad leading to the marketplace, where their ways would part.
"Hey, Kyou?"

"What?"

"So who exactly is that Yuuka-san that you mentioned?"

Kyouichi let out a sigh and answered with a question. "Persistent with your questions, are you?"

"Is she pretty?"

"Geez? How I knew you were going to ask that?"

"Is she?" Soudai didn't let himself be brushed off this time.

Kyouichi knew that Soudai would not leave without getting an answer, and so he answered, simply and truthfully: "Absolutely beautiful."

"Ohoho~! Really?" he grinned widely. "Then I gotta see her too? Where does she live?"

"Don't know." Kyouichi shrugged. "Not in the village, that's for sure. She just said that she originally comes from a place called Mugenkan... Get this? there are apparently several other worlds like Gensokyo that exist independently, but are somehow accessible from here."

"So how have you met her then?"

"Used to see her nearly every day visiting the flower shop opposite the bookstore where I worked. One day I simply greeted her as she was leaving and? well, that's it."

"At the flower shop, eh?

"Yeah, usually around noon."

"When we're all either at school or work?" Soudai pouted disappointedly. "I only hope that there will be any work for us in the village? Preferably one that doesn't require us to leave the village."

"We'll just have to see and find out. See you in the morning." Kyouichi waved at his friend and continued onward to the house of the Saitou family.

"Sure?" said Soudai and made a turn to the left, headed for the training grounds of the village's peacekeeping force known as the Ryuuken. It was a place where all those outsiders, who were unable to find any other place to stay in the village, were accommodated.

The night sky was clear and the air was pleasantly warm. Everything suggested that the weather would remain the same even on the day of the Tanabata festival, but in a season like summer and in a land like Gensokyo, one can never know?

[Fonzi]

Chapter 45 ? Could be Better; Could be Worse

The following morning didn't start off too well for Ishimaru Kyouichi. He drank a lot with Naota and others yesterday and his head reminded him that with strong throbbing pain.

"Oh, man? If only I could skip school today?" he wishfully thought.

But no matter how much he despised getting up early in the morning, he had a responsibility on his shoulders. As the elected president of a club that he had founded nearly a month ago, it was his task to make a list of necessary items which the whole club, or whatever was left of it, needed in order to survive in the mountains as they'd make their way to any nearby human settlement in the outside world. With great surprise he just found out that as he got distracted by the conversation with his friends and Naota yesterday, he didn't even finish that list. What's worse, the club's meeting was soon to start and he just barely got out of his futon. As he was eating toasts with his one hand, he was hastily scribbling down additional items to the list, including clothes, food and water supplies and medicine. Of course, he didn't have enough time to calculate how much of each commodity would the club need, so he was at least content with the fact that he even made the list.

"Are you going to look for work today, Kyou-kun?" Minako curiously asked as she watched him folding up a piece of paper and putting it inside his leather backpack.

"M-mf? Wyea?" mumbled the youth incomprehensibly with his mouth full.

"Then good luck. And don't pick anything too hard or too dangerous, okay?"

"I'll try." he reassuringly nodded as he was standing up from the table and thanking her for the meal.
"Damn?" he cursed quietly as he trotted down the street. "Why am I always late for the club meeting?"

As soon as he saw the clock on the school building, however, he exhaled with relief and slowed his pace down, because he still had over 15 minutes left.

"Heeey, Kyouichi~!" a girl's voice called from somewhere behind him. "Wait for me~!"

"Ah, good morning, Midori. I was in a bit of a hurry, since I thought I was going to be late."

"Which you usually are?" she teasingly pointed out.

"I know, that's why I wanted to break my streak of late arrivals today."

"Have you brought that list with you?"

"Yeah? But I'll leave the calculations to somebody else. I've just named what I thought we'd need the most."

"A small, but very important step towards any kind of positive progress for our club?"

As the two of them finally made it inside and headed up the stairs to the library, they could already see a bunch of their fellow club members waiting in front of the locked door.
"Okay, everyone, make way~!" Midori called out with her arm stretched up, holding a key to the library.

Kyouichi followed her and greeted everyone with silent nodding. As soon as Midori opened the door and the group began pouring into the library, Kyouichi noticed that there were several papers stuck to the door. One of them was a notice about the opening hours of the library, the other was some kind of child's drawing with two girls standing on a meadow and the last one was a newspaper cutout?

"Oh? Don't tell me? Not again?" he stopped in front of the door with a frowning face. It was the front page of an old issue of Bunbunmaru where Aya took a shot of him in Reimu's outfit. "What the hell is this doing here?!" he asked loudly so that everyone could hear, but the only response he got was a unanimous laughter.

It seemed that Midori was the only one who was considerate enough not to laugh. "Sheesh? I mean come on, people!" she gave the other club members a disdainful look. "This was funny perhaps two weeks ago, but it's really starting to get old!"

She unstuck the newspaper cutout from the door and waved it over her head. "Whoever keeps doing this should seriously reflect upon their actions."

Another wave of laughter ensued. Kyouichi just resignedly waved his hand and entered the library, pretending that he didn't care anymore.

"This? really? needs to stop?" spoke Midori abruptly as she was sticking the paper back to the door as soon as Kyouichi shifted his attention elsewhere. Everyone who could see her was trying their best not to give her away by another outburst of laughter. As soon as she was done and closed the door, the laughter subsided and was replaced by a quiet chattering among the seated members of the club.

Kyouichi was expecting a much tenser atmosphere, but it seemed that everyone was quite open to the idea of his list. He also added that anyone was free to add more items to the list, should they think they would prove necessary for the journey.

"?And now that we've cleared up what things we are saving our money for, I believe it would be a good time to plan on HOW we are going to undertake our journey. Namely, how we are going to move our supplies and ourselves to the Hakurei Shrine without drawing any suspicion from the militia. As you all well know, the elder has decisively stated his disagreement with the notion that any outsiders should be allowed to leave Gensokyo via the shrine's gateway due to possible dangers, which he didn't specify. And while you all know what I think of his "safety precaution", it would be in our best interest to make our departure from Gensokyo in secrecy."

"That's easy to say, but how are we going to transport all our supplies to the shrine without being noticed by the Ryuuken?" asked Sayuri with a raised hand.

"At first I thought we could use the caravan wagons to smuggle the supplies to the shrine, but as all caravans are always escorted by an armed patrol, this idea is out of question. There's always a stationary patrol set up at each of the roads leading from the village, usually consisting of two sentries. Their job is to keep an eye on everyone and everything that comes in and out of the village. However, outside the village is a different story?"

"Where are you getting at?" sounded the voice of Yuujin, who was surprisingly quiet today.

"Has anyone of you heard of a shop called Kourindou?" answered Kyouichi with a question.

A mixture of whispers echoed over the room, but nobody apparently heard of that place.

"It started originally as an antique shop at the edge of the Forest of Magic, but nowadays it offers a variety of items that have found their way to Gensokyo from the outside world. This includes clothing, food and snacks, electronics, power tools and even literature."

"Wow?" uttered Midori admiringly. "I wonder if they also have the latest volume of One Piece manga."

The club members chuckled at her remark.

"Jokes aside, this mixed goods shop is the perfect place to start looking for our traveling supplies. It's quite a way from the village and the Ryuuken patrol that road only scarcely. It's also easy to get to the Hakurei Shrine from there. And as the summer festival is going to take place at the shrine very soon, I'm going to take it as an opportunity to try and convince Reimu-san if she'd let us use her storage shed to temporarily house our supplies."

"And what if this Kourindou place won't have all the necessary things?" Daniel raised a good question.

"Mmm? Yes, it's a very likely outcome."

"Then we'll just buy the rest here in the village." Midori answered his question, but Dan already had a counter-argument.

"And how are we going to smuggle those things past the Ryuuken?"

Kyouichi didn't dare to answer that question, since there were several factors in play, the development of which he could not yet predict. "I did say once that we could simply attempt to sneak out of the village from anywhere where there are no roads, but if we'll be forced to carry a large amount or a particularly heavy burden, we might get suspicious in the eyes of common villagers who could subsequently inform the militia and that's not what we want."

"I also recall you said something about possibly bribing some of the guards." the blonde-haired foreigner reminded him his own words.

"That was merely a suggestion?" replied Kyouichi. "A sort of last resort kind of solution? And quite risky at that, because we have no idea of knowing how the guards will react to a bribe offer."

"I've heard that the Ryuuken are among the most well-paid professions to be had in the village." Hikaru contributed his bit of wisdom to the discussion. "They say that the only more lucrative positions are those of the village council and the elder? This means that we're either going to have to dig pretty deep in our wallets if we are to make them interested, or not even attempt such a thing at all."

"Then how about we ask Reimu-san to buy those things for us?" Sayuri thought up an interesting solution. "The Ryuuken wouldn't be suspicious of anything if Reimu-san simply bought the supplies and had them delivered to her shrine?"

"That? is a very clever idea, Hayashi-san." Kyouichi gave her an approving smile. "But it has a bit of a flaw?"

"A flaw?" Sayuri questioningly tilted her head to the side.

"I know Reimu-san a little better than any of you and? Well? let's just say I'm not sure what would happen if we suddenly gave her all of our club's funds."

"You're worried about her embezzling our money?"

Kyouichi let out a weak chuckle while denyingly waving his palms and shaking his head. "No, no, Sayuri-san? It was more of an inappropriate joke on my part. Reimu would most likely slap me if she heard me right now? I think it's an idea worth trying out. I'll have a word with her and see if I can convince her to assist us. Guess that means that coming to the shrine for the festival has turned out to be a personal obligation rather than just a pleasurable waste of time."

"This time I'll be there with you as well." said Midori with a light smile, indicating that she was looking forward to the mentioned festival.

"The festival is such a big event, that most of the people in the village don't even go to work." stated Yuujin in a by-the-way manner, "Which means that most of us hard-workers will have a day off as well? I might as well take a look at that shrine too."

Of course, since the festival was going to be a much grander event than the little hanami session which Kyouichi experienced a few weeks ago, all visitors were welcome and didn't need any invitation. It turned out that each of the remaining club members was going to join the villagers on the 7th of Fuzuki to be a part of the Tanabata festival and at least enjoy their otherwise not too bright time in Gensokyo.

As the club's meeting was drawing to its end, Kyouichi bowed to the other members, thanking them for their attention and loyalty to the club and let everyone do whatever they wished until the school bell rang, announcing the beginning of their classes. It seemed that everyone decided to take this little amount of time to go over their notes from previous lessons, because they were going to write a test today. Only the club's president and one certain Soudai Asakura could sit calmly in their chairs with their hands behind their heads and their legs rested on top of a reading desk, as they were both excused for being absent due to their hospitalization in Eientei. If Keine-sensei saw them now, however, things would most likely turn out much worse for these two?
As the final lesson was over, the students were slowly leaving the premises of the school by smaller groups. One of those groups consisted mostly of outsiders. As they were leaving the corridors, their faces were an abundant mixture of emotions, like mirrors of the feelings that each single one of them had from writing the test. Some were more than pleased with themselves and expected to get a high score. Others were donning faces of indifference, taking things easy no matter what the outcome. However, there were a few among those students whose disappointed frowns and angry scowls foreshadowed their failure.

Kyouichi only hoped that he wouldn't be copying the same face in a week when it would be his time to write the same test. As he curiously wheedled the information out of Midori about what questions the test consisted of, she elegantly brushed him off by telling him that it's for his own good that he should take his time and study for the test properly, just like everyone else.

Since the school was over for today, Kyouichi didn't waste any time and together with his friend, Soudai, he decided to check out the selection of available jobs in the village hall.

"I swear its eyes were different when I passed around it yesterday?" Soudai commented the color of the eyes on the bronze dragon statue standing just several meters in front of the village hall. It appeared that they were now glowing in a cold bluish light. Kyouichi, who knew what purpose those two gemstones had, wasn't very happy to see their current color.

"I just hope this impending rain isn't meant to fall on the day of the festival?"

"Huh?" Soudai gave both the statue and Kyouichi a confused look. "I didn't know that the dragon statue was actually a barometer."

"More than that, it is also a worshipping idol and an indicator of unusual incidents, or so I heard? But if all those crazy things that are going on in Gensokyo right now still aren't enough to affect the dragon's eyes, then I don't even want to know what sort of things had to be happening here when they turned red."

"It probably rained fire." Soudai joked as he was opening the main gate of the hall. "Or maybe blood?"
"Aaah, long time no see, Ishimaru-san." the friendly voice of the village elder, Toshimi Fukukane greeted him as he entered his luxuriously furnished office. Kyouichi was really surprised that the elder still remembered his name.

"And you must be Asakura-san, am I right?" he glanced over at Soudai who entered just after Kyouichi.

"Why yes, I haven't changed my name yet." Soudai jested even when confronted with such an authority as the village elder.

"Hehe, I see?" the bearded man chuckled lightly. "So, how can this humble old man be of service to you today?" he asked while bowing down.

"Two words, Fukukane-san. New job?" said Kyouichi very tersely.

"Got tired of working at the bookstore, eh?"

"No comment."

"That bad, huh? And what about you, Asakura-san?" the elder measured Soudai up. "Are you also looking to try a different career? Or is it something else?"

"The same as my friend here."

"Then let me take a look at what sort of part-time jobs are available for you?" said the elder with a smile as he turned his back to the two outsiders, searching the shelves on his wall.

"Actually, I'd like to get a full-time job." Kyouichi specified his request.

"Oh? Are you serious about that, Ishimaru-san? Don't you still have a school to attend?"

"Ugh? well?" Kyouichi was in a bit of a loss for words. The elder was right. There most likely weren't any full-time jobs that offered a flexible work time like he had at the bookstore. He was now seriously considering the thought of quitting school.

"And if you're thinking about quitting school, than I regretfully inform you that elementary education is compulsory and governed by the law ever since year 92." added the elder, as if he heard Kyouichi's thoughts. "However, there are some jobs that wouldn't conflict with your current timetable. Although, with your level of qualification and education, I'm afraid the selection will be extremely poor?"

"If there is such a job, I'll take it? I'll take anything? Unless it's something dangerous, that is."

"Hmmm?" the elder only let out a low humming sound as he was browsing through the papers. "I have one... oh, here's another one? aaaand? it would seem that's all that fits the bill?"

"So what are our two only options?" Soudai beat Kyouichi in asking that question first.

"Oh, so you're interested in working full-time as well, Asakura-san?"

"If it wasn't obvious from the early part of our conversation, then now I'll make it clear: Yes!" replied the older of the outsiders with resolve in his voice.

"In that case, gentlemen, your two options are: A ? a position of a dishwasher in the tavern Uzume, or B ? a position of a supplementary labor force at the village farm. I know that they don't sound very appealing, but this is all I can offer, given the circumstances." The elder frowned with compassion, although his polite manners seemed to be a little forced. Whether his compassion was sincere, or if he was merely faking it, was of no importance to either Soudai, or Kyouichi. The two young outsiders now stood before yet another important decision in their life. To pick the lesser of the two evils.

"I think the choice is quite obvious." stated Soudai with a bitter smile on his face. "Who would want to slave away on the fields? Thank the gods that there aren't any automatic dishwashers in Gensokyo."

Kyouichi, however, wasn't as absolutely certain about this decision as his older acquaintance was. "And? what sort of work would I be doing if I took the position at the farm?" he asked the elder.

His question apparently came as a great surprise to Soudai. "Eh? You're seriously considering the farms? Do you know how hard it is to be working there?"

"The offer doesn't specify the tasks or the exact working conditions, I'm afraid." replied Elder Fukukane negatively. "It only states the payment of 400 yen per hour and that it has a flexible work time?"

"That's not bad at all." said Kyouichi. "It's a 100 yen per hour more than I earned at the bookstore."

"Ha, I bet the position at Uzume pays at least as well as the one at the farm." Soudai opposed him.

The elder, however, wiped his self-confident smirk off his face. "Unfortunately, Asakura-san, it appears that Uzume tavern is only offering 350 yen per hour for this position."

"Look, Ishimaru?" Soudai placed a hand on Kyouichi's shoulder and seriously gazed into his eyes. "Those numbers may look more attractive to you now, but think of it in the long run. While I'll have a nice and easy job at the tavern, you'll probably be on the verge of exhaustion, cursing the day you were born after the first week at the farms. And besides, Midori-san works at the tavern too. We'll have someone to talk to when we won't have much work to do?"

Kyouichi knew that his friend only meant him well, but he was thinking about things from a completely different point of view.

"You may have a point, Soudai, but please hear me out as well? This job? the farms?" he stole a quick glance at the elder, who was now a bit preoccupied with his myriad documents. "This is perfect for our? interests?" he said with a hushed voice.

Soudai wasn't in a mood to interpret his friend's subtle hint. "What the hell are you even tal?" he stopped himself suddenly before finishing the sentence. It seemed that he got the idea now, although with a bit of a delay. "I? I guess so? Never thought of it that way? But even so? the work is going to be hard."

"Do you want to go home or not?" Kyouichi whispered just loud enough for Soudai to hear his question.

"Ugh? I do, but?"

"Then I believe you know what to choose."

Soudai inhaled and took a longer moment of deep thinking before he exhaled again. "I hope we're not going to regret this, Ishimaru." Turning at the village elder, he nodded and cleared his throat to get his attention. "We'll take the work at the farms, Fukukane-san."

"Will you?" the elder finally shifted his gaze from his papers to his two visitors. "Then you know the drill? Your signatures here, here aaaand here?"

[MaJO]

I really like how you are updating almost daily now.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 46 - Tanabata

Kyouichi and Soudai were a little relived to know that their work didn't start immediately, and they both had some free time to enjoy the festival. And as the big day was finally here, they both put on their best clothes and decided to wait for Midori in front of Naota's house. Another good thing was, that the dragon statue's forecast of rain was most likely not meant for today, as the skies were clear and blue, and even in the morning, the temperature was pleasantly warm.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~!" called out Midori's voice as she opened the door. She changed almost beyond recognition. Her hair was now trimmed by a pair of decorative chopsticks and she was clad in a green yukata with darker green leaf and pink sakura pattern.

"Oh~! Wow? Midori-san?" Soudai opened his mouth in awe when he saw her. "Is that really you?"

"Who else would I be?" she retorted and closed the door behind her. "Looks like most of the people from the village are already headed for the shrine?"

"And I don't even see any Ryuuken?" remarked Kyouichi as he watched the crowd of people slowly moving up the street, planning to take the northern road out of the village to get to the shrine.

"Well, since the natives are all capable of magic, they have more than a chance to defend themselves from any possible youkai attack." Midori speculated.

"I've even been to the Temple of Myouren this morning." Kyouichi informed his friends. "Byakuren-sama gave us another one of her blessings that would make us less likely to be attacked."

"Really? Why didn't I go there too?" Soudai asked himself as he followed the crowd, slowly nearing the northern entrance of the Human Village.

"Hey, don't worry. Once we're at the shrine, we won't need to worry about dangerous youkai anymore? I hope?"

"I'm curious to see this Hakurei person." said Midori. "She seems to be quite popular around the village."

"Apparently being popular doesn't necessarily mean that her shrine gets many visitors during normal non-festive days."

"But you've been to her shrine several times already, haven't you, club prez?"

"Because I was more curious than wise. I've learned my lesson, though?" said Kyouichi and rolled up his left sleeve to reveal his scars ? the memento of his injuries caused by a young youkai of darkness. "But back then I didn't have these?" he took out a few of Reimu's amulets from his pockets. He never had to use them ever since, but he always had them in his pocket just in case?

"Is the shrine a long way from here?" Midori asked, apparently much less worried about any possible dangers.

"About a half an hour of walk. But at this pace, I don't know? Perhaps it might even stretch to a whole hour."

"Well, it's not like we're in a hurry anyway, right?"

"Hey, Kyou, we're probably going to spend a lot of cash at them stalls, right?" Soudai lamented over his lack of finances. "Could I? borrow some from you?"

"And what do you think? That I've got a money printer in my pocket? I've already given you quite a bit for your hospitalization." It wasn't that Kyouichi wouldn't like to lend some more money to his friend, but he was also getting worried of not having enough money himself.

Midori sighed in response. "You're so helpless, Asakura? I suppose I could spare a coin or two?"

"Midoriiiii~!" Soudai couldn't hide his happiness and the best way he could think of to express it was giving Midori a tight hug.

"Ughhh? Excuse me? Can I breathe?" the yukata-clad vice-president struggled for air.

"Thank you so much, Midori-san! I'll pay off all my debts to the last yen. It's a promise!"

"Hey, calm down, you two." Kyouichi threw a quick look over his shoulder to see what Soudai was doing.

"I'm pretty calm." replied Midori as she got finally released from Soudai's grip. "Not sure about your friend here, though."

"Oh, and one more thing?" Kyouichi raised a finger to give his friends a little warning. "If any stranger starts asking you who you are, do not, I repeat: DO NOT let them know that you are an outsider."

"Eeeh? Why would we want to keep that fact a secret from others?" Midori didn't understand.

"Because you never know if the person you're dealing with is not a hungry man-eating youkai, Midori-san. For such individuals, we, the outsiders, are like free pizza."

"I don't think that any of the dangerous youkai would dare to even go to the shrine, now that it's crowded with people?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Midori."

"Fine?" shrugged the girl indifferently. "So I'll just pretend to be one of the natives then."

"Yeah, you do that? I'm only saying this, because I once let that fact slip out of my mouth, and the youkai who I was talking to happened to have a taste for some human flesh?"

"But you're still alive, I see." Soudai pointed out.

"I wonder myself how I managed to talk my way out of that one?" Kyouichi chuckled as he was recalling his little encounter with Mystia, the night sparrow. "Oh, yea, and the other day, Soudai too let this fact slip out of his mouth in front of a complete stranger. Needless to say that I wasn't very happy about it?"

"Me? When?" Soudai looked cluelessly at his younger friend.

"It happened just a few days ago and you've already forgotten? Why when we met Mokou-san, of course!" Kyouichi refreshed his memory.

"Ah, that? But she wasn't a youkai."

"Yeah, but what if she was? How could you trust her so easily?"

"Well, because I remembered her bringing me to Eientei. She couldn't be a bad person if she bothered to drag me all the way there."

"Hmm? Okay, you have a point, but still? Be careful who you spill your guts to, okay?"

Soudai made a funny grimace, mimicking a thoughtful contemplation. "It's going to be hard, but I'll try?"

"You can fully trust Reimu, though?" Kyouichi added as a matter of fact. "Not too sure about some of her acquaintances, but? the shrine maiden is on our side."

"Hey, hey?" Midori again called for attention and changed the topic of the conversation. "I've heard that there's going to be some new attraction this year."

"Really?" Kyouichi curiously raised his eyebrows. "I don't know anything about that?"

"Guess we'll see when we get there." said Soudai.
After something over 45 minutes, the long line of villagers has finally reached a well known crossroad, just several tens of meters in front of the stone steps leading to the Hakurei Shrine.

"Are we there yet?" Soudai impatiently demanded an answer, since he couldn't explain why the mass of people in front of him suddenly slowed down.

"Pretty much." replied Kyouichi tersely. "We'll just take a turn to the right and we should already see the shrine's torii."

And when the outsiders finally scaled the stairs and walked under the bright-red torii, they found themselves in a very crowded shrine yard.

"Whoa!" uttered Soudai as he tried to stand on his toes and look into the distance. All he could see, however, was the shrine's tile roof. "There's barely enough room to move around here?"

"How many people do you think are here?" wondered Midori.

"Well, the village has something over 2000 inhabitants, but surely not all of them are here?" said Kyouichi as he tired to make his way to the shrine. "However, I don't think that I'll exaggerate when I say that one half of today's visitors are not human?"

"So where's the shrine maiden?" asked Soudai as he followed his friend closely, so he wouldn't get separated from him in the crowd.

"I don't see her yet? Right now, I'll be happy if I'll see anyone familiar besides the two of you."

And as Kyouichi kept slowly progressing forward, prodding and pushing other shrine visitors and subsequently apologizing to them, he suddenly felt that his stomach hit something hard and sharp?

"Ungh~! Youch! Damn it? What the hell??!"

"Kyah~! Hey~! Watch it!" sounded a high-pitched girl's voice from somewhere close by. For some reason it sounded very familiar and Kyouichi immediately turned his attention to its source?

As he looked down, he noticed a short ginger-haired girl with a pair of branch-like horns coming out of the sides of her head, decorated by several ribbons. Not another second was necessary for Kyouichi to recognize this girl. It was Suika Ibuki, an oni who could be often seen near or inside the Hakurei Shrine. She was one of Reimu's closer friends, but prior to that, she was once a source of an incident that forced the shrine maiden to stand against her in battle?

"Oh~!" Kyouichi's face brightened up when he saw her. "Sui-chan~!"

Suika's expression followed suit as she recognized the person who just bumped into her. "Haha~! Kyouichi~!" she exclaimed with a joyful face and raised her infinite sake gourd into the air like some sort of greeting. "I see that you recovered from your injury?"

"And I see that word travels fast around Gensokyo."

"Reimu told me? Anyway? tt's festival~! A festival~! Let's drink and eat and drink and drink~!"

"Who's this?" Soudai whispered into Kyouichi's ear as he saw Suika. "I like her attitude, but? is she even allowed to drink?"

"Oh, this is Suika. Suika, this is Soudai and this girl is Midori? basically the same species as me ? a human from the outside." Kyouichi introduced his friends to Suika and vice-versa.

"P-pleased to meet you?" uttered Midori somewhat shyly.

"Wait a sec?" Soudai gave his friend a confused look. "You told us just a while ago that we shouldn't go revealing our identity as outsiders to anyone and now you?"

"Relax, Asakura? You can trust those that I trust? And I do trust Suika."

"O-okay?" he shrugged and kept curiously admiring Suika's most distinguishing mark. "So, Suika-san is?"

"She's an oni, so she's perfectly fine with drinking." Kyouichi explained briefly. "Besides, her age doesn't quite match her appearance?"

Suika confusedly tilted her head. "It doesn't? This is how most oni look like when they're around my age?"

"And? how old are you, Suika-san?" Midori got a bit curious.

"That's a se-cre-t~!" the oni replied with a smile.

"So?" Kyouichi resumed his conversation with her. "You said that Reimu told you about my injury? How does she know about it then?"

"Because she's been there too~. In Eientei, I mean. Hey? how about a drink?" she generously offered her gourd to the trio of outsiders.

"Wait? She's been there too? What happened to her?"

"Oh, she's not hurt or anything. She's just been working on that crazy fairy incident and to find out what was wrong with them, she agreed to catch some of those fairies and let Eirin study them? Guess that's when she saw you laying in one of the beds? Now, have some sake~!"

"Sure!" Soudai happily accepted the offer, but Kyouichi halted his hand reaching for Suika's gourd.

"Not so fast, buster! Remember. We're on an important mission here today."

"Eh? We are?"

"Of course we are? Say, Suika, do you know where we can find Reimu? There's something important that we want to ask her? Then we can drink."

"Oh, come on!" Soudai called out in protest. "It's just a bit of sake. It's not like I'm gonna get drunk from a few cups?"

"Trust me." Kyouichi gave him a serious look, "This sake is unlike any you have ever drunk before. You'll get a taste and you'll end up asking for more? and more? and more. And it's much stronger than your typical sake too."

"Oh, boy~!" Soudai rubbed his palms in anticipation. "Fine, so let's get the serious business over with first. Then I want to taste what kind of sake the oni drink?"

"Reimu's in the back, a little busy with organizing the tournament, but if it's really important, then you should meet her right away."

"Organizing the tournament, you say? What sort of tournament?"

"Oh, you haven't heard yet, huh? This year, to sort of advertise her shrine and the Tanabata festival itself, Reimu has decided to organize a fancy danmaku tournament."

"But? that requires quite some room, doesn't it?" Kyouichi pointed out.

"Sure, that's why she's in the back of the shrine. There's certainly more room than here, even with all those stalls."

"It's going to be quite a challenge getting there, though?" said the outsider as he looked around, seeing hundreds of people gathered in front of the shrine.

"Don't worry~!" Suika cheerfully smiled and waved her hand. "I'll take you there soon enough? Why don't you grab my hand and follow me?" she offered her right hand, which Kyouichi accepted without much hesitating, but he'd never guess what Suika would do afterwards.

"Hold on tight~!" she chimed happily and leapt into the air.

"Just a second? Waaaaaaaaaiiiiii?!." Kyouichi's scream faded into distance as Suika literally took him over the shrine's roof in a single bound, holding him only by one hand.

"Soudai and Midori were quite shocked by Suika's stunt as well, and were only hoping for their friend's safe landing once he disappeared behind the roof.

"You think we should follow him?" Soudai raised a question at Midori, his eyes still focused on the sky.

"We could try, but? We're not in a hurry anywhere, are we?"

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I don't know? Have fun, maybe?" she asked in a sarcastic tone. "It's a festival? the like of which we won't ever experience again. Let's enjoy it to the fullest! Here, I'll share some money with you, as promised?"

"Ah, almost forgot about that, hahaha~!" Soudai laughed embarrassedly, but he gladly accepted Midori's offer. "Thanks again, vice-prez?"

"I'll expect every single yen back, though?" she gave him a cold and menacing glare.

"Hehe? Of, course, of course?" he laughed nervously and nodded repeatedly. "Like I said, I always pay my debts?"

"Good for you."

And as the two of them were slowly proceeding towards some of the stalls that lined the boundaries of the entire shrine yard, the young Asakura spoke up again.

"Man? I sort of envy Kyouichi?"

"Hm? Why?"

"?I want to be kidnapped by a cute oni girl too!"

Midori sighed in response. "Boys will be boys? Let's go buy something to eat, shall we? All this walking has made me hungry."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Hakurei Shrine, Kyouichi was slowly standing up from a crouching position ? the result of his and Suika's not-so-soft landing. Luckily for him, he landed on his feet and even managed to avoid falling on the ground right afterwards due to the force of momentum.

"Nice landing there~?" Suika praisingly smirked.

"It would be a pity if I got my freshly washed clothes all covered in dirt, so I gave it my best? I thought that when you said "follow me" you meant "follow me"? "

"Why waste time and patience in a slow-moving crowd of people when you can travel faster?" retorted Suika with a question. "Anyway? There's Reimu." she pointed at a red-white clad, dark-haired girl standing near a wooden stage, looking at something that resembled a notice board. Suika gave Kyouichi an encouraging tap on his shoulder, even though she had to stretch up a little to reach it, and with words: "Drink with ya later~!" she sent him off after the shrine maiden.

The area behind the shrine was truly much larger in comparison to the front, and even with all the people constantly flowing there from the front yard, there were plenty of vacant square meters and there was nobody standing on the stage yet.

Since she was facing the notice board, Reimu didn't notice Kyouichi approaching her. The outsider wanted to surprise her a little, so he quietly walked up to her until he was standing right behind her back. As he glanced over her revealed shoulder, he saw that Reimu was looking at something that very much reminded him of a spider chart, like the ones that are often seen at various sports events. It consisted of many branches, gradually thinning on the way to the top, ending with only one empty colon which would contain the winner's name. At the very bottom of the pyramid, there were over a dozen names and it seemed that Reimu was momentarily in a process of adding new names to the list of competitors. What Kyouichi found rather strange, however, was the fact that the shrine maiden's name didn't figure in the chart. On the other hand, he could clearly see that her friend, Marisa Kirisame was already listed there.

"A good day to you, Reimu-san." he greeted her politely and pleasantly.

The shrine maiden responded by a quick glance over her shoulder with a completely unamused face before she turned her attention back to the chart in the very next second.

"Sheesh? What's with that formal attitude?" she grumbled under her nose. "You're about to ask some favor from me, no doubt?"

Kyouichi was taken aback by Reimu's not-too-pleasant reaction. "Guh? Cold start, huh? I hope nothing bad happened to you since the last time we've seen each other."

He honestly expected a bit warmer welcome from someone he thought was quite cheerful and friendly, and who he hasn't seen for a while.

"Not really?" she replied without even bothering to turn around. "If you don't count the zillion fairies that wanted to kill me, then no? Nothing bad happened to me so far."

Interested to find out the reason behind Reimu's cold attitude, but careful not to pry, Kyouichi decided to change the topic by asking her an innocent question.

"So? You're organizing a danmaku tournament, huh?"

"Yeah? It starts in the evening, so you ought to do something to kill time until then."

"Aren't you going to compete too, Reimu?"

Reimu sighed and lowered her head, as if the question caused her annoyance. "I don't know yet?"

"Why not? Wouldn't you want to promote your fighting skills in front of such a large crowd to attract even more visitors next year?"

"I just think it would be a hassle to compete in the tournament and coordinate it at the same time." explained the shrine maiden, still holding the writing brush in her hand.

"Ha? Oh, come on? You could just ask somebody else to coordinate it."

"Like who? Marisa? She's going to compete too, so I doubt it?" Reimu answered her own question. "Or Suika? Yeah, right? She'll get roaring drunk before the tournament even starts. Out of question? Besides, some of the competitors aren't even here yet, so I have a bad feeling that this tournament ends up in a fiasco."

"But you just said yourself that there's plenty of time until it begins." Kyouichi opposed. "As for the coordinating part: why not ask someone who is NOT going to compete?"

"And I'll ask you again: WHO?"

Kyouichi smiled suggestively. "You were right at the beginning of our conversation?"

"Hm? What are you talking about now?" she gave him a confused look.

"I actually did come to ask you a favor."

Reimu smirked for the first time today in front of Kyouichi's eyes. "Hmph? I've been doing the job of a shrine maiden for quite some time. I can already tell when someone comes to me just to chat and have some tea, or to ask for assistance."

"That's more like it?" the outsider widened his smile in response to Reimu's. "A smile suits you much better than a frown, Reimu."

"Does it, now?" she asked a bit teasingly, but her faint smile still remained on her face. "So what is it that you've come to ask?"

"I've come to ask if you'd let us use your storehouse to store some of our traveling supplies. It would be of great help if you did. In return, I'd volunteer myself with helping you coordinate that tournament of yours. A favor for a favor. What do you say?"

Reimu let out a chuckle of doubt. "You? Do you even know the fundaments of Spell Card rules and danmaku duels?"

"Not much, but I'm a fast learner." Kyouichi still insisted on helping Reimu out a bit.

"Not to mention," Reimu continued, "this tournament is going to have slightly different rules from typical duels."

"Please, tell me more about the tournament."

The shrine maiden took a deep breath. "If you insist? Fine? So, the tournament consists of four categories: duels ? that's the main event, survival ? the goal is only to dodge a Spell Card attack and stay unhit for as long as possible, then there's team duels ? the same as normal duels, except the competitors fight 2 versus 2, and finally, the visual contest ? simply put: the most beautiful Spell Card pattern wins."

Kyouichi let out a whistle of admiration. "I'm guessing this is going to need more than just one arbiter or referee or whatever term you prefer? Especially those team battles."

"That's self-evident, isn't it?" replied the miko bluntly. "And if it was that easy to find any suitable candidates, I would have done so long ago."

"You could still at least give me a try, though."

"Look, I don't think that you're the right person to?"

"Ayayayaya~!"

Reimu's and Kyouichi's conversation got suddenly interrupted by a very distinct call and voice that could only belong to one person.

"Good afternoon~! Gensokyo's number one reporter, Shameimaru Aya is here~!"

A brief glance at the sky revealed a floating figure of a young-looking female crow tengu, Aya, armed with her ever-present camera and notepad. Even now she held her tool of trade in front of her face, briefly snapping shots of the whole area, then focusing mostly on Reimu.

"I was wondering when you'd show up?" Reimu greeted her without any polite phrase.

When Kyouichi saw her, his instinct drove him to take a few steps to the side and hide himself behind the notice board out of fear of becoming a victim of another one of Aya's articles.

"What's the matter, Kyouichi-san? Why are you hiding from me?" wondered the tengu reporter as she descended and touched the ground.

Kyouichi figured that his pitiful attempt to hide from the eyes of a tengu was of no use, so he just resignedly lowered his head and stepped out from behind cover.

"It's not like I'm going to eat you~." said Aya with an innocent smile.

"That's the least of my worries?" murmured the outsider with mixed feelings in his heart.

Fortunately, Aya's camera lens seemed to avoid capturing his image and remained focused on the most prominent person of the day ? Hakurei Reimu.

"I've come a bit later, because I've just been at the Moriya Shrine." Aya explained her delayed arrival. "Sanae-san's just as busy as you are with all those visitors, even though there are almost no humans among them, but that's understandable? Her shrine is a lot harder to get to for humans."

"So? are you going to make a report and return to the Moriya Shrine or are you going to stay for a while?" asked Reimu.

"I'll stay. You've gone as far as organizing a danmaku tournament this year. I simply cannot let a chance to make an exclusive scoop about this event just slip away like that, can I? I'll leave the Moriya Shrine to Hatate and her Kakashi Spirit News. She doesn't need to fly too far from her home to get there."

"Moriya Shrine??" Kyouichi repeated the name of apparently another place of worship in the Shinto religion that existed in Gensokyo besides the well known Hakurei Shrine.

"Yes, the second of the only two shrines standing in Gensokyo." Aya offered an explanation. "It stands on a plateau on the Youkai Mountain, a little higher than my village. The waterfalls that come from the nearby lake go all the way down, forming a river that flows into the Misty Lake. Since today is the Tanabata festival, the shrine gets a lot of visitors, but like I said: barely any humans."

"So this? Sanae-san is?"

"Kochiya Sanae. Gensokyo's second shrine maiden." Aya answered before Kyouichi even formulated a proper question. "She keeps up the peace, resolves incidents and fights against troublemaking youkai just like Reimu does? Oh~! That's right? She's an outsider, just like you. Perhaps you'd get along?"

"Really? An outsider? But you say that she fights youkai and resolves incidents?" Kyouichi found Aya's statements rather contradictory to what he's been told by everyone.

"Yes, but she's special, you see?" added Aya with a raised finger. "She's a distant descendant of a goddess and has inherited quite some magical potential. I think that's also the reason why she moved from the outside world to Gensokyo."

"And the first thing she did was showing up at my shrine, telling me to close it down?" said Reimu as she was recalling her first encounter with the girl in question. True, their relationship has changed for the better later on, but like with nearly all of Reimu's friends, Sanae also had her dispute with the Hakurei shrine maiden.

"Why would she do that?" wondered Kyouichi.

"A long story..." Reimu dismissively waved her hand, apparently not being in a mood for storytelling.

"Anyway, since I'm here for the tournament, I have a little bit of a dilemma right now?" said Aya while scratching the back of her head.

"What? You want to compete or just take pictures?" the miko asked her.

"That's the dilemma, Reimu? I'd sure like to try my luck and see how well I do, but then who would be taking the pictures? Sure, I've taken countless shots of various youkai and humans as they unleashed their danmaku at me, but? You know, I'd also like to have a picture of me taken while dueling."

"So, should I write your name in?" Reimu prepared her writing brush and again turned to face the tournament chart.

"Hmm? Okay then~!" Aya decided after a while of thinking. "I can still take plenty of pictures when I won't be fighting."

"And when you will be fighting, then I suppose I could snap a few shots of you?" Kyouichi wanted to be a solution to Aya's dilemma. "But I guess you're gonna just say no like Reimu when I offered her assistance with organizing this tournament?"

"Eh? I think that's a good idea?" said the black-haired reporter. "You must know how a camera works, right?"

"Ehh? yeah? unless yours is some special kind?"

"Well, you could say it isn't your ordinary human-brand camera, but it takes pictures in the same way as any other one that you've seen. Just push the big button on the top side while holding a steady focus on your mark with the finder~? So I'll let you borrow it for the time when I'll be dueling. Anyway, why would Reimu refuse your help with organizing the competition?"

"Because I don't really know the rules of danmaku duels? She'd surely like to compete herself, but with things as they are, there wouldn't be any judges to decide the winners and losers and keep the competition fair and square. And there should be more than just one person doing this, so I thought I could help a bit? But I guess I'm not cut out for this kind of thing?"

"Oh? Why not?" Aya curiously tilted her head to the side. "The rules are not that hard to learn, even for someone who is not capable of magic. We could be a part of the tournament staff together, I don't mind. Why don't you sign up for the tournament as well, Reimu?"

The shrine maiden only shook her head lightly in disagreement. "Even if we DID teach Kyouichi the rules and even if you would be a judge, Aya, we'd still need more people. I don't think that I could manage being a contestant as well as a judge at the same time. Besides, that should not even be allowed?"

"Hmm? well, that's true." agreed Aya after a moment of thought. "Unless all of the contestants would partially be judges at the time when they won't be dueling?"

"Yeah?" Reimu gave out a hopeless sigh. "I guess I'm not going to? Wait a second?" she opened her eyes wide all of a sudden, as if someone just spilled a bucket of cold water on her head. "What did you just say?" she leaned her face close to the tengu reporter.

"Ehe~? What do you mean? That all the contestants should take part in organizing the tournament?"

"Exactly that!" exclaimed Reimu while pointing a finger right at Aya's nose. "That might actually work? somehow."

"See? I sometimes get good ideas too~." Aya smiled warmly.

"We'll need to let all the contestants know about this before the tournament starts."

"Leave it to me, Reimu-san~!" Aya energetically raised her hand, as if ready to take off. "Oh, but before I go, I guess I should ask you who the contestants are."

"Here?" Reimu passed her a folded piece of paper. "It's the list of all of those who should be competing today. But not all of them are here yet?"

"Not a problem for the fastest flyer in Gensokyo~!" said the tengu reporter with a boastful smirk. "Let's see? Mmhm, 24 contestants? Should take about an hour to inform them all..."

"That's some bold estimation?" noted Kyouichi.

"Well, by the looks of this list, I'm likely to find the contestants together in smaller groups on various places. Like these for instance?" she briefly showed him the list. Some of the names were already familiar to the outsider; the others were not. "These 6 girls will surely be together in the Temple of Myouren?"

"Ah, yes, Byakuren-sama?" Kyouichi recognized one name, "I think she's still giving her blessings to the people who are leaving the village to go to the shrine."

"See? One hour might even be an exaggeration. Why would I be wasting so much time anyway?" Aya muttered the question to herself. "I still want to have a few drinks with Suika-san after all."

"Oh, but of course." Reimu waved her hand, as if she was already trying to tell Aya to get going. "You drunkard of a tengu?"

Aya just giggled at Reimu's remark. "Just hope not to see your own drunken face in the next issue of Bunbunmaru, Reimu-san~ ."

"Yeah, yeah?. Just go and inform the contestants about the new terms, will you?"

"I already said that I would?" the reporter soared slowly upwards. "See you soon~!"

And in another second, she was gone. It almost reminded Kyouichi of Sakuya's ability to teleport. Aya was truly lightning-quick. His eyes barely caught the direction in which she flew.

"Yeah, take your time, Aya." muttered the miko as she put away the writing brush, ignoring Kyouichi and heading towards the shrine to take a seat on its elevated wooden floor.

"Oh, hey, wait a minute, Reimu. Reimu~! Hey!" the outsider called as he trotted after her. "You still haven't told me if you agree with helping me~!"

He followed her and sat down next to her ? not too close; not too far.

"So? can we use your storehouse?" he repeated his question after a while of looking at her.

For some reason, Reimu still seemed somewhat apathetic and just sat there with a blank expression, staring into the crowd of people.

"Hey? what's wrong with you, Reimu?"

The shrine maiden responded with nearly a three second delay. "Huh? What? No? nothing, nothing? What are you talking about?" she denyingly shook her head and smiled, but Kyouichi could see that she was faking it.

"Who are you trying to fool, Hakurei?" he asked her with a more serious tone.

"It's nothing, okay?!" retorted the miko loudly.

"Can't tell me, huh? Fine? Suit yourself." Kyouichi crossed his arms and looked away from her. "But I ain't leaving you alone until you give an answer to my previous question."

"Fine?" muttered Reimu almost inaudibly.

"What was that?" Kyouichi put a palm to his ear so he could hear her better.

"I said fine. You can use my storehouse? Hey? What do you want to use it for anyway?"

"I can see that you're not being yourself today, Reimu, so I'll repeat it for you?" smiled the outsider and explained his intentions with Reimu's storehouse. At least she paid attention to his explanation and nodded understandingly several times as Kyouichi went over the details of his plan.

"So you're going to stash your traveling supplies from Kourindou in that storehouse?"

"Yes, that's the idea I had?"

"I don't really mind, but that means I'll need to make some room in my storehouse? Clean the place up a bit and? It's out of question today?"

Kyouichi laughed heartily after hearing that. "Nobody ever said that you should get it done today, Reimu. There's still plenty of time until the end of summer."

Reimu exhaled with relief. "Oh, good? I honestly couldn't even imagine myself cleaning that place up today."

Kyouichi was glad that his negotiation attempt with the shrine maiden wasn't in vain, but he'd feel even more at ease if he knew what was bothering her today. For a while he just sat there with her, quietly watching the ever-shifting crowd of people gathering in the back yard of the shrine.

"Hey?" he suddenly broke the silence again. "Since it's Tanabata today, I was wondering if you had also set up a wish tree for tanzaku papers."

"Mhm?" Reimu nodded. "Want to write a wish?"

"Yes, I'd like to."

"Alright, come with me then." said the black-haired shrine maiden while standing up. "It's right there in the front, close to the donation box. Haven't you noticed?"

"With such a crowd, I'm glad that I at least noticed where the shrine was standing."

"So, the bulk of the villagers has already arrived, huh? Good? Follow me."

"Hold on?" Kyouichi suddenly stopped and gave Reimu a worried look. "It's going to be a bit of a problem getting to the front yard? I hope you're not? going to? uhh? do what Suika just did?"

"What are you talking about?" she looked at him confusedly and opened the back door of her shrine. "We're going through the shrine, of course."

"O-oh! Through the shrine? Hehe? yeah, that's a good idea?"

"And don't forget to take your sandals off." she called at him after she entered the building.

"Yeah, yeah?"
As the two of them emerged from the front door, they found themselves right in front of the donation box and the immensely long line of worshippers waiting to pray. Even the shrine maiden herself was surprised to see so many people gathered in her shrine yard. As soon as the people saw her, they started calling at her, greeting her, and saying various words of praise. On one hand, she was happy to have so many visitors, but on the other hand, she was also equally annoyed. She has just come out to show Kyouichi where she had the wish tree set up, and now she didn't know who she should respond to first.

"Okay, everyone, please excuse me, I still have a lot of work to do." Reimu announced to the shrine visitors and beckoned at Kyouichi, giving him a signal to keep following her. And he did so without a word. There, just a few meters away from the shrine, stood a branched bamboo shoot with numerous colorful paper strips tied to it. According to the custom, people would write their wishes onto the papers and tie them to the wish tree in hope that their wish gets fulfilled. As he walked with Reimu towards the tree, he could hear her muttering?

"Man? Just look at that bunch of hypocrites? They barely ever visit the shrine and now, they're acting like we're all best friends? Seriously?"

Kyouichi couldn't suppress a chuckle after hearing her complaint. "And isn't it hypocrisy when you put up a cheerful, friendly face in front of them when you don't even care about them?"

"Don't act like you always understand everything, Ishimaru Kyouichi." she retorted with a hint of anger. "If I acted like a jerk in front of all these people, they wouldn't visit my shrine at all."

"So you're admitting that you're usually acting like a jerk?" he asked her provokingly.

"Like I just said: don't act like you understand everything?"

"I don't. That's why I'd appreciate a little explanation for your current behavior? Is it your typical behavior, or has something happened to you recently that triggered it?"

"Here, take this..." She passed him an ink-coated quill and a thin red paper strip called tanzaku that people use to write their wish on. She probably did so just to silence him for a while and to avoid answering his question. It seemed to work? for the time being.

"Ah, thank you~!" he smiled, grabbed the paper and scribbled down his most desired wish.

"May I take a look?" Reimu peeked over his shoulder.

"Sure, why not?" shrugged Kyouichi. "It's not like it's a big secret or anything?"

"I wish to return home?" the shrine maiden read the short wish aloud. "It must be really nice?"

"What?" the outsider didn't quite understand her last comment.

"To have a family?"

"Well? it's not a complete family that I live in, but? at least they're all alive."

"Good for you. I barely even knew my family? Died when I was just a little kid?"

"What happened?"

"Don't really know that myself, but what else than being killed by youkai comes to mind? Before the Spell Cards? well? you know how things went in Gensokyo?"

"It must have been really tough for you. Who took care of you after that?"

"Funny?" Reimu let out a bitter chuckle. "I don't even know. I can only recall my past as far as when I was five or six? And by that time I was already working as a shrine maiden. Not hunting youkai yet, but selling ofuda, trinkets, doing basic blessings, basic exorcism? Paradoxically, I used to get more visitors back then and sometimes even at the shrine on the other side?"

"You mean the one standing in the outside world?"

"That's right." she confirmed. "It used to have visitors too once upon a time? Sometimes people would even leave food and sake as offerings, which sometimes found their way to this shrine here, in Gensokyo, at times when the barrier was shifting. That way I didn't need to buy as much food and I could drink sake without anyone's permission."

"Hahaha~!" Kyouichi was amused by Reimu's attitude. "Naughty, naughty Reimu? Well? not that I wouldn't do the same?"

"Anyway? Since you've already put your wish on the tree, let's move on before this crowd surrounds us." she commanded and headed again for the back yard, but this time around her shrine.

Kyouichi again obediently followed, and as he walked, he curiously observed the whole setting of the festival, the people's clothing, the food at the stalls and even the decorative lanterns?

"Is that why you're so weird today?" he threw another question at the miko. "Because you miss your family?"

"No?" exhaled the exasperated shrine maiden. "That's not it?"

"Then what is it?" thought the outsider quietly. Apparently, Reimu didn't want to share her problems with him, so he didn't even bother asking about it any more. But even if he couldn't get an answer out of her, Kyouichi was determined to at least help her take her mind off whatever was troubling her.

"Say, Reimu? Don't you think there are a bit too many food stalls standing here?"

She shrugged at the question. "Don't know? But we're expecting Yuyuko to visit as well?"

"Yuyuko-sama?" Kyouichi immediately changed his carefree expression to a worried one. "In that case, there's hardly enough!"

For a second, he thought he could hear Reimu snicker at his remark. Once they were again in the back yard of the shrine, Kyouichi suggested another idea to her.

"About the tournament? I figure I could call some of my friends and ask them if they'd like to be a part of the staff too. I'm sure at least a few of them would like that?"

"What friends?"

"Outsiders, just like me. They've nothing better to do here anyway."

"If you could convince more people to help, then maybe I could try and explain the rules of the tournament to you. I just hope that you and your friends will be able to comprehend them."

"We've already had the basics covered at school and during my previous visits. Even saw a couple of duels firsthand. Have more faith in us outsiders, Reimu? We're all humans after all. We can adapt fast and learn new things. I'll be back soon?"

"I'm not gonna hold my breath, but? do as you wish."
Fifteen minutes later, Kyouichi was already marching towards the designated location where Reimu was still making preparations for the upcoming danmaku contest. Six eager people followed him. Iwakami Midori, Asakura Soudai, Hayashi Sayuri, Daniel Morrison, Saitou Chitose and Hieda no Akyuu. He managed to find all of these people in the crowd with a certain deal of luck. Not all of them were outsiders, but he knew them well enough to trust them, and they knew him well enough to agree with his suggestion. Now they all stood before Reimu, offering their help with managing the tournament.

"That was rather fast?" the shrine maiden commented with a hint of surprise reflected upon her expression.

"Ahaha~! Reimu-samaaaa~!" Chitose couldn't hold her excitement back any longer. As a great admirer of the shrine maiden, it didn't take any convincing for her to agree with helping her in any way she could. Reimu, however, apparently had some misgivings regarding the team that should be managing the tournament.

"Umm? I still don't think that this will work very well."

"You can never know that unless you give us a try." said Kyouichi and gestured at his group of friends.

"And? Akyuu-chan?" Reimu was puzzled by the young chronicler's presence in this group. "Do you really want to help with the competition too?"

"My work is to record history of Gensokyo. And you, Reimu-san are now making another mark in it. You just might have founded a new Tanabata tradition. It would be my pleasure and honor if I could be a witness to your innovative festival attraction." explained Akyuu with a smile on her face.

"Furthermore," Kyouichi continued, "Akyuu's special ability makes her more than a perfect candidate to be one of the judges. And even if we forget some of the rules that you'll be explaining to us, she can simply remind us any time?"

Reimu took a while to consider her options, but in the end she accepted everyone's assistance. Perhaps her desire to compete as well was greater than her doubts.

"Okay, everyone, I? I'm glad that you're all willing to help me with this?"

"No problem, Reimu. We're sort of just paying off a favor for you taking us across the barrier when we'll be ready? Oh, by the way, Soudai, yes, you've guessed it. This is our salvation, Hakurei Reimu."

"She's beautif? err? I mean? Pleased to meet you, Hakurei-san." Soudai bowed to the shrine maiden.

"I'm not really used to being called by my family name." said Reimu.

"Hey, Ishimaru?" Soudai whispered to his friend. "?you never said that she's so beautiful?"

"Well? she is, I'll admit." Kyouichi murmured his reply back. "Shrine maidens are often very attractive?"

"You think it's like one of the hiring criteria?"

"Hehe? could be?"

"Hey, you two?" Midori reminded them of her presence. "Have some manners? Sheesh? Please, forgive them, Reimu-san. Uhm? by the way, I'm Iwakami Midori. Nice to meet you in person."

"Likewise." the miko replied tersely.

"So, how can we help with this tournament?" Midori asked her.

"First we need to wait for all the contestants to arrive. Then we can start explaining the modified rules. Basically, you'll be in a role of judges, but it's not as easy as you'd think. You'll need to look sharp and have a constant overview of the situation even with all that chaotic danmaku flying in all directions? I hope you can handle it."

"We'll give it our best, Reimu-san." Midori showed a thumbs up.

"Then find something to do to pass the time. The tournament starts in the evening and I don't even dare to estimate when the contestants arrive."

"And when they arrive?" Soudai asked.

"Then there's going to be a call for judges, followed by a danmaku signal?" Reimu pointed her finger at the sky and demonstratively launched a white, brightly glowing shot of divine energy upwards that burst into several fragments each of different color.

"Wooow!" exclaimed the young Chitose. "Once more, once more?"

Reimu paid her little attention and went on with her explanation. "If you won't hear the call, then you'll see this? If you do, gather here and you'll receive your detailed instructions. Don't be late and don't disappoint me?" she added the last sentence like some sort of warning.

"R-Reimu-sama?" Chitose probably never saw the shrine maiden so deadpan serious before, and truth be told, neither did Kyouichi, but for now, he knew better than to provoke her with further questions.

"Come, Chitose? Reimu is not in her best mood today, so let's just leave her alone for now and give her time to finalize the preparations."

"Kyou-kun? What's wrong with Reimu-sama?"

"No idea." he shrugged. "Guess that's not for us to know? Come on? Let's go."
And so the group has again dispersed into the crowd, leaving Reimu to do her work? whatever that was right now?

"So? that was the shrine maiden that is going to get us out of here, huh?" Soudai asked as he and his few friends got mixed into the crowd again. "Pretty, but a little bit too? I can't even find the right word? Serious? Strict? Bossy maybe..?"

Kyouichi shook his head. "She's not usually like this. Something must be bothering her, but what, I have no idea."

"Haven't you talked to her about it?" Midori spoke up. "Aren't you friends with her?"

"Friends? Yeah. And I've known her for how long? A month? I've got childhood friends who I know better than their parents do, and still we don't share all of our problems with each other? Asking her didn't get us anywhere. One month is just too short period of time to label someone as a close friend."

"But you've known her for as long as we know each other and I wouldn't hesitate to call you two my close friends?"

"Actually, I've known her for a few days longer than I know you, Midori, but I don't really consider myself as one of her close friends."

"A friend in need is a friend indeed." Dan mentioned an old saying.

"True?" Kyouichi admitted. "And in this aspect, Reimu truly is a friend by helping us? The actual reason why I dragged you guys into this tournament business is so that I could at least somehow repay her for her willingness to help us? And to take her mind off her problems? Whatever those may be?"

Soudai gasped and mockingly made a shocked grimace. "Did you hear that, Midori-san? We've been tricked into this! Just kidding, of course? I'm 100% with you on this one, Ishimaru. Who knows, maybe if we'll prove to be good tournament judges, we could make Reimu-san a little happier?"

"I still think you should try talking to her and find out what the problem is." said Midori with concern.

"Easier said than done, though?" retorted the glasses-wearing young outsider. But Midori's suggestion did give him an idea? While he had doubts that he could make Reimu talk, he could ask one of her closest friends to do the talking instead.

"You know what? You're right? I need to find Marisa."

"Marisa?" Soudai blinked in confusion. "Who's he talking about now?"

Not bothering with any explanation, Kyouichi simply prompted his friends to follow him and help him look for a person they didn't even get a basic description of.

"No, seriously? Who the hell's Marisa?" Soudai couldn't rest until he got an answer, which came surprisingly fast.

"Ah, there she is!" Kyouichi called out and pointed at a familiar figure with blonde hair, dressed in a black and white witch outfit. She was currently standing near one of the food stands, having a lively conversation with the vendor.

"THAT is Marisa?" Midori raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "She? she's dressed like witch?"

"Not just dressed. Marisa IS a witch."

"Wiiiiitch~!" Soudai jokingly exclaimed in response.

"Yeah, don't startle her." Kyouichi played along. "Everyone, kill your light!"

"What are you talking about? What light?" Midori didn't get the reference.

"Obviously, you haven't killed enough zombies in your life, Midori-san?" Soudai chuckled at her reaction.

"Oh, you're talking about some game again, aren't you?"

"No, real life." he retorted with sarcasm. "Of course we're talking about a game?"

"Alright, enough fooling around." Kyouichi got serious again. "Let's go greet her."

And as he said so, he moved onward to meet her.

"You still haven't explained who she is and why were we looking for her." Midori reminded Kyouichi as she tried to keep up with his brisk pace.

"Maybe she's Reimu-san's friend." Soudai made a guess.

"I applaud your sharp wit and perception, detective Asakura." Kyouichi jokingly confirmed the correctness of his guess.

"Whoa! Really?" he couldn't believe it himself.

"Hi there, Marisa-san~!"

The magician quickly turned around as he called her name and her reaction was similar to Suika's, or the opposite of Reimu's?

"Ohoho~! What a surprise? I thought you were still in Eientei, Kyou." she stepped a bit closer to have a better look. "Um? and it's a good thing that you still remember me, ze? After being hit in the head and all... By the way, have you met Reimu yet?"

"Uhh, yes. Unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately? Why? Something bad happened between you?" Marisa looked at him with puzzled face.

"Heh? I was kind of hoping you could tell me. She's been acting weird from the moment we met today."

"Really? I've talked to her several times today and she seemed okay to me. Haven't noticed anything weird about her, ze?"

"Hmmm?" Kyouichi was surprised by Marisa's words. "Well, if you haven't noticed anything, then whatever happened to her must be something very recent?" he speculated.

"And? how was she acting weird exactly?" the witch wanted to know more.

"Well, for example, she hasn't even greeted me when we met, she's been spacing out and she seemed kind of? distant. Something's troubling her, but when I asked, she just brushed me off, saying that nothing's wrong."

"Maybe she's just nervous about the success of the tournament." said Marisa.

"Maybe that's all there is to it, but I wanted to ask you if you would please talk to her. Don't be too pushy or straightforward about it, but I guess you know her much better than I, so I don't even need to tell you that?"

"Okay then? I'll try to find out what's bothering her and help her if I can. Thanks for telling me."

"No. I thank you." Kyouichi bowed to the blonde girl. "If there's someone who can make her talk and help her, it's you, Marisa."

"Hey, what are friends for? I'll talk to her, but I wouldn't worry about her too much. If you'd know her a bit longer, it wouldn't surprise you that she's sometimes grumpy, insensitive or even outright cold. Couple that with a bit of arrogance and overconfidence and you'll get something very close to Reimu when she's dealing with youkai or people during an incident resolution."

"Aaah?" Kyouichi nodded understandingly. "So maybe her mood has something to do with the current incident. She hasn't resolved it yet, has she?"

"No." Marisa let out a sigh as she shook her head. "Not that there's been any trouble since our Grand Fairy Regulation Initiative near Kazemura, but I highly doubt that's the last time we've seen any crazed fairies. I'd be sleeping better at night if I was certain that we've dealt with the problem, but I'm afraid we only managed to delay another attack?"

"Wait a minute? What's the Grand Fairy Regulation Initiative?"

Marisa giggled. "Oh, sorry? I thought just about everybody in Gensokyo knew about it already. It happened several days ago. Around the time when you were brought to Eientei, I think? Byakuren came up with the fancy name when Aya was interviewing us. In short, it involved us ? that is me and Reimu and eleven more girls, and just about every single fairy that lived near the quarry village. It was a tough battle. Our original intention was only to bring a few live specimens for Eirin's research, but our presence near Kazemura must have caused the crazy fairies to go into an all-out attack. But that's not entirely a bad thing. We somehow rallied together and exterminated them all, so there shouldn't be any fairy attacks for at least a couple of days. But since we still have no idea what the source of their madness is, it's just a matter of time before we get to fight the swarms all over again."

Kyouichi let out a weak whistle. "Sounds like Gensokyo is going through some hard times."

"Yeah? One would think that with all the past incidents, this is just a minor annoyance, but it turns out that the supposedly weakest youkai are causing the biggest of problems, ze?"

"But you can resolve this situation, right?"

"Sure. Once we get any solid lead where to start looking? So far it all depends on the efforts of Eirin and Patchouli, but how long it will take them to yield any results, I dare not say."

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised why Reimu is acting like that." Kyouichi noted.

"Reimu isn't always very friendly. To be frank, I'm a bit surprised she accepted you so well when we first met. But I'm guessing that your donation had something to do with that. Otherwise she'd just tell you something like: "Aw, damn those annoying outsiders?" or something like that? Not that I'm a shining beacon of politeness or anything, hehe~. Guess that goes with the line of work that we do. You won't drive away any youkai with nice words."

Even though the outsider had a different opinion and experience to back it up, he just remained quiet and nodded.

"Don't worry?" Marisa smiled reassuringly. "I'll try to figure out what exactly is on Reimu's mind."

"Or at least keep her mind focused on something else?" added Kyouichi.

"That shouldn't be a problem. She's got a tournament to run after all. Hope you'll come to watch. I'm going to compete too, ze?"

"Not just watch, but I've already volunteered myself to be one of the judges. Along with these people here?" he pointed his thumb backwards at his friends.

"Really? Wow? I didn't expect that?" said the witch as she eyed the group of outsiders. She then leaned closer to Kyouichi and whispered: "You really care about Reimu, don't you?"

"Don't get any false ideas. I'd be equally worried about any of my other friends."

Marisa chuckled in response. "Is that right? Well, no matter? it's nice of you to try helping her. I'm sure she means well, but she's got a lot of things on her mind today. I'll let you know when I manage to cheer her up a bit. See you around~!" she raised her hand and headed off towards the shrine, disappearing in the crowd. And just when Kyouichi was wondering what he'd do next, somebody called at him.

"Hey! Are you going to block my lamprey stand all day, or are we going to do business?"

He instantly recognized the voice, and as he turned around, he only now noticed that the vendor, who Marisa was talking to just a while ago, was none other than Mystia Lorelei, a youkai night sparrow.

"M-Mystia-san?!" he almost jumped from the surprise. He knew that this particular girl, although harmlessly-looking, was a predator that sometimes preyed on humans. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm selling fried lamprey. Only 200 yen." she added with a warm, but deceptive smile.

"Oh, Kyou?" Soudai tapped gently on Kyouichi's shoulder. "You know this girl too?"

"Yeah, but I wish I hadn't?"

"Why?"

Before Soudai got his question answered, Mystia impatiently drummed her clawed fingers on the counter of her stand. "So, are you going to buy some or not? There are others waiting in the line behind you, you know."

"We're not hungry, thank you!" Kyouichi hastily answered, bowed and was already dragging his friends away from the lamprey stand. "Come on, people why don't we go play some games while we're here? Or maybe buy some souvenirs??"
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Daniel asked.

"To put it simply; stay away from her."

Soudai chuckled as he tried to guess. "What? She didn't try to kill you or something, eh? Hahaha? Haha? Ha?"

But after seeing Kyouichi's deadpan face, his laughter subsided and he copied his friend's nervous expression. "Don't tell me that I

[Fonzi]

Chapter 47 ? Let the Festival Begin!

Once they all found some place to stand, they focused their ears at what the shrine maiden was saying.

"And so? I'd like to welcome you all to the annual Tanabata festival, here at the Hakurei Shrine. This year, as you might have already heard or read, I prepared a spectacle that will hopefully become a traditional part of this festival for the next years to come. Yes. I'm talking about the Hakurei Shrine's Summer Danmaku Tournament, which I hope you'll all enjoy. But before we begin the tournament proper and other performances that you'll see here today, it is my duty and pleasure to officially begin this year's Tanabata with a traditional dance to express gratitude to all the gods that we were given yet another chance to gather here and celebrate. So? without any more unnecessary words, let the 125th Tanabata Festival begin in all its glory~!"

A loud applause and cheers echoed all over the shrine yard as the young black-haired miko raised her gohei over her head. The drummers began to make a rhythm, joined by the melodic sounds of koto, and finally, the high and low-pitched voices of flutes blended into the mix to form one wholesome body of music that was playing during Reimu's beautiful ceremonial dance. With graceful movements full of symbolism, she used nearly every square meter of the stage in her choreography. It seemed that her circular motion was meant to symbolize the Great Hakurei Border and the creation of Gensokyo, or perhaps only Kyouichi's imagination was too wild. In any case, Reimu's dance was a lovely spectacle and once it was over, a loud applause spread all over the shrine yard.

"Reimu-sama is amazing~!" sounded a girl's voice from somewhere nearby.

"Huh, Chitose?" Kyouichi turned his head in the direction of the voice he just heard. "There you are?"

"Ah, Kyou-kun~!" the young daughter of the Saitou family cheerfully waved back at him. "Isn't Reimu-sama wonderful?"

"Yes, that she is?" he nodded affirmatively. He didn't admire her just for her looks, but for what she was doing and for the fact that she was willing to help him leave Gensokyo. Chitose apparently admired her even more.

"I hope you're not sad about not becoming one of the tournament judges, Chitose-chan?" Kyouichi spoke to the girl who was now like his little sister.

The girl shook her head in negative response with a bright smile adorning her face. "Being here to see Reimu-sama is enough for me~!"

"Her dance was beautiful indeed?"

"Now, according to the program, Alice-san's Magical Bunraku is up next." said Chitose as she looked into a leaflet she was holding in her hand. "Alice-san is amazing too. I've seen her show last year and it was breathtaking. She controlled over 20 dolls simultaneously! And each of those dolls performed something different. That takes some real skill."

"And magic proficiency?"

"Of course. Alice-san is a magician after all."

And just as the crowd's applause for Reimu faded, the shrine maiden announced the following performer.

"Thank you, thank you? Now that the festival is opened, what would it be without Alice's Magical Bunraku? This time, the Gensokyo's most talented puppeteer has prepared a show that slightly hints at what will be taking place on this stage later this evening? This time, her show will feature an incredible number of 50 dolls, all of which were handmade by her, and unfortunately for all her fans, are not for sale. Too bad? But I digress. Ladies and gentlemen, humans, youkai, gods, ghosts, fairies and other undefined beings, I present you Alice Margatroid~!"

Again the crowd wildly cheered and applauded as the young short-haired blonde in light blue dress with pink ribbons was stepping up to the stage and taking place by Reimu's side, followed by a plethora of her magically controlled dolls.

"Yes, thank you?" said the dollmaker as she bowed to the audience. "As Reimu-san already suggested, this time, I've prepared a performance with more than twice the amount of dolls that I used last year. I hope that you'll like it. The performance is called War of Heaven and Hell."

"Music, start~!" Reimu called at the musicians that were standing just below the stage.

After that, the shrine maiden stepped down, allowing Alice to use its entire area for her performance. Despite being the person who pretty much organized the entire festival, she didn't know exactly what kind of performances were going to take place on the stage at the back of her shrine. That's why she was also waiting in anticipation for what Alice had prepared this time. She only vaguely heard from Marisa that Alice's performance was going represent some sort of battle, but no further details?

As the crowd's cheers went silent, Alice raised her left hand and 25 dolls from the group flew to the right side of the stage. As she raised her right hand, the remaining half of the dolls took their position on the left side of the stage. At first, it was hard to tell which side of the "battlefield" represented Heaven and which was supposed to symbolize Hell, since all the dolls were wearing the same dark-blue dresses with white aprons. That all changed when Alice snapped her fingers on her left hand. The respective group of dolls instantly changed their dresses to dark-red with black aprons and red headbands with tiny demonic horns. Each doll now had a pair of demon-like wings and held miniature black pitchforks as weapons. Their hair-color also changed to either red or black to match their dresses. For some reason they reminded Kyouichi of Patchouli's familiar, Koakuma.

Then the puppeteer snapped her fingers again, this time on her right hand. The opposing side of the dolls changed to resemble little angels. White dresses, small feathery wings and headbands with tiny halos attached. They were armed with tiny maquettes of flaming swords made of hardened paper. The only thing that these dolls kept from their previous appearance was their hair color.

Now that the scene was set, Alice raised her hands slightly higher, giving command to both armies to take off from the stage and hover roughly one meter above it. To the melody of the music playing, Alice waved her hands in the air like an orchestra conductor and her dolls began their performance in response. It all looked like synchronized swimming; only that it was synchronized flying. A spectacular ballet in midair with both sides performing their movements in different formations and patterns, but in the same tempo. This part was probably meant to represent the "peaceful time" before the actual battle.

Then the two factions slowly drew closer and closer to each other until one of the angel dolls and one of the devil dolls collided. At that moment the music stopped and both groups of dolls froze in motion. After a brief pause, the music changed to a bit more serious tune. The two dolls that bumped into each other exchanged their stares followed by the devil doll mimicking an angry reaction. The angel doll tilted her head to the side in response. The devil continued her angry gesticulation, waving her tiny fist at the little angel. The white-clad doll only scratched her head, as if unable to understand what the other doll was so angry about. This seemed to have provoked the devil doll into pushing the angel, making her hit another doll belonging to the faction of Heaven.

Now there were two angles involved in this trivial incident. The two of them decided to teach the little troublemaker from Hell a lesson, and in joint effort they returned the push. The little devil flew some distance and bumped into two of her own kind before she stopped. Needless to say that the two devils in question didn't leave this situation without a response. Together they flew towards the two angels and provokingly poked them with their pitchforks. The angels answered by a light poke with their swords. Not long after that the conflict was gradually joined by more and more dolls, escalating into a full-scale incident.

The first of the devil dolls gestured saying something angrily at the group of angels while raising her weapon high, then turning to her own kind and rallying them back at the end of the stage. Similarly, one of the angels raised her sword and turned back, rallying her sisters on the other side. A war was declared. Now, instead of pretty formations, the opposing armies arranged into ranks and files, and slowly drew close to each other to the melody of a military marching song. Finally the two groups were about to meet. They pointed their weapons forward and at the change of music, they engaged each other in a furious battle.

Well? furious was perhaps an exaggeration. The dolls might have represented two warring factions, but their battle was rather cute than violent. At first there was chaos on the battlefield, but then the music became more melodic again and the dolls all began "dancing" with their opponents. Each angel held one devil by the hands, they made several turns, then exchanged a few blows, all of which were blocked. This theme repeated itself for a couple of times, before the musicians switched the tempo to a fast one, again resulting in a chaotic melee.

One of the angels who lost her sword in a fight was attacking a devil doll with her fists. On the other hand, one of the disarmed devils was perched atop one of the angel dolls, looking like she was trying to bite her. The panicked angel ran back and forth while flailing her arms desperately. Another pair of opponents was struggling to get their horns and halo unstuck from each other, while some combatants were using their wings to exchange slaps.

Some of the dolls have "fallen" in this battle, with fire swords and demonic pitchforks stuck under their armpits. Several of the dolls pretended to be injured, holding a certain part of their body, as if in pain, and not continuing the fight. The remnants of both armies again flew back from each other, then as they reached the ends of the stage, they unleashed their danmaku. The audience seemed to like this performance very much. The devils had their shots colored in red and orange, while the angels fired blue and white magic bullets. Again, Alice's amazing dexterity made her battling dolls move to the tempo of the music in beautiful patterns, like she did at the very beginning of her show. Except this time, her dolls were now firing danmaku at each other. Even more amazing was the fact that Alice calculated the timing of the dolls' actions so precisely that their danmaku barrages never hit any of the dolls, flying right through the gaps in their formations. A clockwork precision on Alice's part. Even as the dolls' formations and their danmaku patterns kept changing, they never hit each other. Kyouichi thought that such coordination could be only achieved by using a computer program, so he was naturally amazed by the puppeteer's talent. But then to everyone's surprise, Alice made her dolls actually hit each other.

From the remaining armies of Heaven and Hell only a handful of dolls survived the final danmaku salvoes. It seemed as though they even ran out of their magic and stopped shooting. They descended to the ground, mimicking movements, as if they were panting for air out of exhaustion. Since none of the remaining dolls had any will or energy to continue in their war, two negotiators from each world tentatively approached each other, while other dolls formed a circle around them. The two dolls in the middle slowly extended their hands to each other and after a short dramatic moment, they shook their hands as a sign of peace.

After this moment, the other dolls raised their hands up, celebrating the end of their war. The angel dolls then "resurrected" their fallen warriors and the devil dolls did the same. Once all of the 50 dolls were up and standing again, they threw away their weapons and gathered near Alice. The youkai girl passed them a small box and had her dolls open it. Inside were miniature tables, chairs and tea sets. The dolls quickly arranged the tables and chairs and took their seats. Now instead of a war, the devils and angels were having a tea party. And as the music was getting to its finale, the dolls all stood up from their tables and formed a long line as they stood next to each other, holding their hands and bowing to the audience.

A great applause for Alice followed.

"Amazing~!"

"That was incredible, Alice-san~!"

"So cute~!"

"Great show!"

Those were just a few shouts of praise coming from the crowd of spectators. Even Alice herself seemed to be surprised to receive such an applause.

"How does she even do that?" Midori couldn't understand the secret behind Alice's skill.

"Magic?" Kyouichi came with the most obvious of answers.

"Duh?"

Now that her performance was over, Reimu again stepped up to the stage to announce the next performer.

"And that was Alice and her Magical Bunraku! Now to take a little break, and ease up the stress, we're going to enjoy the soothing sounds played by the popular band from the Human Village that you may know well from the tavern Uzume. Presenting the Flawless Raindrops!"

The majority of the people apparently knew this band of traditional musicians and gave them a loud, cheerful welcome as they stepped up to the stage with their instruments. After a few minutes of tuning, they began playing a beautiful and soothing melody that just perfectly fit the festival atmosphere. Kyouichi took his time to listen to two or three of their songs, but his feet were already tired from the constant standing and he decided to find some place to sit down. He figured that the shrine's elevated floor was just the right place to take a rest. As he made his way to the shrine, however, he saw a person which he didn't quite want to encounter. And that person noticed him as well?
"Reisen-san?"

"Well hello there, Ishimaru-san." the Moon rabbit greeted with an amused smile. "So, how was your walk through the bamboo forest?" she teasingly asked him about his escape from Eientei, though she didn't seem to be upset about it.

"Look, I had my reasons for that?"

"According to the letter that you left us, you acquired some kind of medicine from some hermit alchemist."

"I didn't want Eirin-sama to interrogate me like a prisoner. I know that the alchemist in question may be responsible for the greatest leak of top secret information in the history of the Lunarian society. I simply didn't want to be seen as an enemy in Eirin's eyes."

"And so you ran away."

"Yes, I ran? I can understand Eirin's interest in the potion, so I at least left the letter describing its origin. If she really wants it so badly, let her deal with the alchemist herself. I don't want to be involved. I'm just a customer."

"Rest assured that Eirin-sama doesn't see you as an enemy. Neither does she see herself as a part of the Lunarian society anymore. But you are right; she was very interested in the potion. And very surprised when she found your message? and even money for your hospitalization."

"That potion could help save more lives if Eirin-sama knew how to make it or at least, could buy it? That's why I decided to reveal the truth. Now it's all up to her and that half-snake. Though I honestly can't imagine them cooperating?"

"Only time will tell..." Reisen remarked wisely. "By the way, what about your friend?"

Kyouichi looked at her, puzzled. "My friend?"

"The one who escaped Eientei with you? Asakura-san."

"Oh, him?" Kyouichi nodded. "We both made it safely to the village somehow. He's here too. Although he? ehh? overdosed himself with alcohol. Now he's sleeping in the shrine. Hopefully he'll be fine before evening."

Reisen scoffed lightly and reached into the pocket of her shirt. A moment later, she pulled out a thin paper bag filled with some kind of powder and gently shook it as she held it between her fingers. "This should do the trick."

"What's that?"

"A remedy that suppresses the effects of alcohol intoxication. Just mix with water or tea."

Kyouichi was both amazed and amused by this Moon rabbit. "Do you always carry medicine in your pockets Reisen-san? And such a specific medicine at that?"

"Not really, but this is a festival after all. I know all too well how things go at festivals. Having a good supply of this remedy is a must."

"That's very predictive of you."

"Not predictive; preventive. I already have some experience with festivals and excessive alcohol consumption that you people seem to be so fond of? Here, take it. Say hello to your friend for me when he recovers." said Reisen and passed Kyouichi the bag with the remedy.

"Thank you, Reisen-san."

"No problem." smiled the Moon rabbit.

"By the way, Reisen-san? Where's Eirin-sama?"

"She's still in Eientei, tending to the last few of her patients. She should be here to watch the tournament, though. You wanted to talk to her?"

Kyouichi profusely shook his head. "No, no, no? I just want to avoid her if possible."

"I already told you that you don't need to fear her."

"I'd rather not meet her anyway. I'm not in a mood for being interrogated."

After a longer silent pause, Reisen nodded. "I understand? But I can do little to help you avoid her. She's coming to the shrine in a few hours, so keep that in mind. Fortunately, it's easy to hide in this huge crowd, so you're not likely to run into her anyway."

"Yeah? Thank you again for the medicine in Soudai's name. Now excuse me, I'll go and see if it can actually help him even in his current condition."

"In that case, see you later, Ishimaru-san."
And after the young outsider bowed to Reisen, he hurried to the shrine with a remedy for his drunken friend.

"Soudai~! Oi, Asakura~!" he shouted at the sleeping young man just as he barged into the shrine.

"Why are you yelling like that?" Reimu scolded him right away.

"I've got a remedy for him and I need him to drink it."

"Where'd you get a remedy?" asked Marisa who was standing at the table and mixing the dough for the dumplings in a big bowl.

"I met a rabbit from Eientei."

"Reisen?"

"Yup. She really got me when she pulled this out of nowhere." Kyouichi showed her the bag with the drug. "Could I ask you for another glass of water, Reimu?"

"Sure. It's up in that cupboard. And? you already know where the well is." the miko lazily directed him from her comfortable sitting position at her kotatsu.

As Kyouichi fetched the glass from the cupboard, Reimu yawned and looked again into her tournament chart. "Since Reisen is already here, I guess I should write her in? Has anyone seen my brush?"

"I haven't?" Marisa replied negatively.

"Somehow I doubt that you'd say otherwise even if you knew where it was." Reimu jokingly poked at her.

"I didn't steal it." the witch steadfastly insisted. "Maybe Akyuu confused it with her own and took it."

"Akyuu-chan, huh? Well, if it's her then I don't mind it? that much?"

"By the way, Reimu? How long are you going to stay under that kotatsu? If you're so worried about me messing up the dumplings, you should lend me a hand."

"What could you possibly mess up at making dango? Seriously? You'd have to be Cirno to ruin it now."

"Was that supposed to mean that you're not going to help me at all?" asked the blonde.

"You did everything just as I told you so far, right?"

Marisa nodded twice.

"And you used no other extra ingredients than the ones I told you to?"

Again the magician nodded repeatedly while staring at her best friend.

Reimu blinked in slight confusion. "Wait, was that a "yes, I did use extra ingredients" or a "yes, I didn't"?"

"The latter. I used only what you told me to."

"Than the dumplings should be just fine. All you have to do now is to shape the dough into dumplings, boil them, skewer them and add topping. How hard can that be?"

"But there's a ton of this dough! It'll take me long before I shape it into balls... Or perhaps I should make one huge dango and throw it into boiling water as it is?" the witch speculated.

"Just do it how it's supposed to be done. You don't have anything else to do right now anyway."

"Well, if you're not going to help, that surely means I can eat all these dumplings myself."

"If you're in a mood for making another batch afterwards, fine by me?" muttered the tired shrine maiden and stretched herself on the floor with two thirds of her body hidden under her kotatsu.

"Tsch? Is she trying to teach me how to cook by letting me do everything by myself?" grumbled Marisa quietly as she began the chore of shaping the huge mass of dough into small ball-shaped dumplings.

"I'm back?" Kyouichi announced his return, holding a glass filled with fresh water from the well. "Now to see if this magic powder can work its magic on this human wreck here?" he beckoned at the sleeping Soudai, who in response, mumbled something incomprehensible out of his sleep.

"Hey, don't worry, Asakura, I only meant that as a joke." said Soudai's friend and tore open the bag of medicine which he received from Reisen. He then emptied the content of the bag into the glass of water and watched the fizzy reaction that it made.

"I hope it's not one of those shady medicines with some radical side effect like that cold medicine you gave me back then." he addressed his words to the relaxing shrine maiden.

Reimu, however, completely ignored his teasing remarks and was just rolling over to the side.

"Oi, Reimu? Are you sleeping or what?"

"Ah~! There it is!" she suddenly exclaimed and opened her eyes wide.

"What is where?" Kyouichi asked in confusion.

"My brush! I dropped it over there, near the door." she pointed her finger near the rear entrance of the shrine. "Somehow, I doubt that Akyuu-chan would confuse my brush with hers, since she remembers everything perfectly? Could you pass it to me, Kyouichi?"

"Sure? Just say the magic word." the outsider smiled nicely at her.

Reimu blinked a few times, trying to figure what he meant by that. "Umm? Spirit Sign "Fantasy?"

"No, no, no?" he quickly interrupted her before she said the name of her favorite Spell Card. "The OTHER magic word."

"Then? Dream Sign "Evil-Sealing Circle"?" Reimu named another of her Spell Cards.

Kyouichi sighed resignedly. "You know what? That's close enough? Here you go." he amusedly smiled as he passed her the brush.

"Ah, thanks? Now what was I supposed to do again?" she paused for a moment to search her brain for the memory of what she intended to use the brush for in the first place. "Ah, that's right~! I wanted to add Reisen's name into the list?" she rolled over to her stomach, grabbed her chart and the brush, ready to write Reisen into it, when suddenly? "Does anyone know where have I put my ink flask?"

"She's hopeless today?" muttered Marisa from the table. "Maybe Yukari stole it from under your nose just to spite you!" she called a humorous remark at her.

"I wish you were right, Marisa?" sighed the miko and finally forced herself to abandon the comfort of her kotatsu and stand up on her feet. Even though she knew that Marisa was only joking, Reimu would feel much more at ease if she had known that Yukari has not completely abandoned Gensokyo after all. However, the reality spoke to the contrary now, and Reimu had no other choice but to silently deal with it.

"Now I see it. It's over there in the corner. How silly of me to leave it there?"

"If you'll be absent-minded like that for the whole day, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for you to participate in that tournament after all?" Kyouichi expressed his concern.

"I'm not absent-minded, I'm just?"

"Oh, yes you are." he didn't let her finish. "I bet you don't even remember what's today's date."

"Of course, I do? it's? wait a second? one, two, three? Oh, nice try there, Kyouichi. Everyone knows that it's Tanabata!"

"I was asking about the date, though, not the name of the holiday."

After another moment of brief hesitation Reimu exclaimed: "The seventh of Fuzuki! Do you take me for an idiot or what?!"

"No, I just feel like something's bothering you and without you telling me what it is, there's nothing I can do or say to help."

"Then resolve the fairy incident for me, will you?" she teasingly asked him. "What? You still here? I thought you wanted to help?"

Kyouichi realized that this conversation is not going anywhere and definitely resigned his attempts to help Reimu snap out of her bad mood. "O-kay, forget I said anything?"

Instead, he now shifted his attention on giving Soudai the alcohol remedy.

"She's just tired after patrolling the northeastern part of Gensokyo to make sure that the fairies aren't massing for another attack." Marisa entered the conversation, explaining the behavior of her closest friend to the outsider.

"You were patrolling?" Kyouichi raised his brow as he glanced once more at the shrine maiden. "That must have been exhausting."

"Less exhausting than having to stand against half a million fairies in a battle to the death." replied the last living Hakurei in Gensokyo.

"I was surprised too when she told me." admitted the blonde witch. "But, when I think about it, Reimu's always restless when there's an incident."

"And this one is taking me the longest time to resolve." Reimu added with a lowered voice.

"You're wrong, Reimu." Marisa corrected her. "The one with the long-lasting winter took you over two months. And the one with the weakened border between Gensokyo and the Netherworld still remains unresolved for over six years!"

"Now you make it sound like I'm incompetent or something." grumbled the displeased shrine maiden.

"Not at all, Reimu. All I'm trying to say is that some incidents can't be solved in a single day. Some can't be solved by a single person. And finally, some incidents, even resolve themselves."

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about now, Marisa?"

"Just hinting at the facts? We haven't seen a single crazed fairy ever since that day when the forest fires broke out. Maybe that was it for the whole incident, however anticlimactic it sounds? Maybe the culprit was one of those many fairies and we got her in that battle."

"Have you eaten some of those weird mushrooms that grow in your forest again?" Reimu asked her as she tapped her finger at her own head. "Just because there hasn't been any attack in a while, doesn't mean the incident is over. On the contrary, I think it's just the quiet before the storm. Bigger storm than we've seen a week ago. That's why I decided to make regular patrols to prevent another large-scale attack. I don't want my shrine to be burned down like Alice's house."

"In that case, you should probably ask some of the girls to make regular patrols as well. Just as a precaution until Eirin and Patchy learn more about the nature of this incident." advised Marisa.

"I already told Aya and she was all hyped up about it as usual."

"So you told her about it before you informed me?" Marisa was a bit surprised by Reimu's answer.

"The tengu have better eyes than humans. That's why I told Aya first."

"Hey, I'm not going to lose to some tengu. You can count on me patrolling around Kazemura as well, ze? We'll keep the fairies in check if we don't give them any time to regroup."

"I'd rather be going right after the person responsible for this," admitted the shrine maiden, "but this is all we can do for now? Okay, let me roll some dumplings too."

"Oh, so you're going to help me after all? I had already given up hope?" jested Marisa.
Meanwhile, Kyouichi was trying to make Soudai drink the remedy. "Hey, wake up, Asakura. I've brought you some medicine."

As expected, Soudai was too smashed to react to mere words of his friend, so Kyouichi lightly slapped his cheek to bring him back to his senses.

"Mnunmf? What the hell d'ya want? Can't you see I'm meditating here?" sounded the hoarse voice of Soudai, who at least showed some reaction to the slaps on his cheek.

"Good, you're still alive." Kyouichi smiled at him wryly. "Here, I need you to drink this."

"Wha?? Is that you, club prez? Sorry, I haven't found any new info about *hic* Yakumo Yukari?"

Again, Kyouichi couldn't hold back and amused chuckle. "You got my identity right, but you're in the wrong timeline. We're no longer looking for her?"

"Eh? How long have I been hybernatin'?"

"Three or four hours maybe?"

"Hey? club prez? Where the hell am I? Eientei?"

"No. Hakurei Shrine. It's Tanabata festival, remember? Now come on and drink this already, I ain't got all day to waste on you?"

"Drink? Hell no! I've had enough sake!"

"It's not sake, you blockhead. This remedy should make you feel better. Or put you out of your misery?"

"I *hic* suppose it can't get much worse than this? Give it here?"

And as Soudai slowly forced the dissolved remedy down his throat, Kyouichi made sure that he drank everything in the glass.

"Well done, Soudai, your momma would be proud." he mockingly applauded. "Now, I'm not sure how long it will take for this thing to take effect, so you can return to what you were doing."

"Mhm?" murmured Soudai with a sleepy voice as he returned to his previous horizontal position.

Kyouichi waited for a while, but after seeing no change, he figured that the medicine needed some time to kick in, and decided to leave his friend alone for now.

"Hey, Ishimaru?" the drunken outsider uttered at him, just as he was about to exit the shrine.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Thanks, man?"

Kyouichi smirked lightly. "Hm? Just hurry up and recover while this festival still lasts. After that our fun times are over and it's just blood, sweat and tears from then on?"

By his last words, Kyouichi was merely referring to his and Soudai's new job, which as they both could guess, was not going to be easy. That's why enjoying this festive day to the fullest was one of the top priorities to these two humans from the outside world.
Not longer than fifteen minutes, Soudai sat up, and with sober senses, he scanned his surroundings. The interior of the room seemed vaguely familiar to him, as did the pair of a blonde witch and a black-haired shrine maiden who were rolling dumplings.

"Oh, looks like he's already awake." stated Marisa nonchalantly.

"Oh? my? god?" uttered the outsider as he was slowly beginning to recall how he ended up here.

"Nah, you can simply call me Marisa." joked the blonde witch and with great amusement watched the expression of Soudai's confused face.

Soudai certainly felt better physically, but now he was starting to feel miserable in his heart.

"Damn! I sure got myself smashed? Where's that little horned one?"

"Suika? Somewhere outside?" shrugged Reimu. "But I think you better stay away from her for your own good."

"Don't have to tell me that again? And where did Ishimaru go?"

"I'm not his babysitter. Why don't you go look for him in that crowd outside?" the shrine maiden suggested bluntly. "More importantly, you should at least be a bit grateful for me letting you sleep here?"

"Ehh? Sure. Yes! Of course I'm grateful? uhh?" he paused in a desperate attempt to remember Reimu's name. "?Miss shrine maiden?"

"It's Hakurei Reimu. Try to remember it?" she poutingly re-introduced herself.

"Ah, yes, yes, I haven't forgotten your name, Hakurei-san, ehehe~? Sorry for causing you trouble."

"If you're really that sorry, you can make up for it by helping us roll these?"

But before Reimu finished her sentence, Soudai was already on his way out of the shrine and with words: "Please excuse me, I'll be going now?" he took his leave and wanted to reunite with his classmates and fellow club members from the outside world.

"That was one smooth escape he just made." giggled Marisa just as Soudai walked out through the door.

"Less talking and more rolling, Marisa."

"Yeah, yeah?"
Evening was slowly but certainly falling and Gensokyo was gradually being immersed into deeper dusk. Reimu lit the lamps inside her shrine before she resumed making dango with Marisa. They both still had a lot of work, having processed only about one half of the huge mass of dough. These dumplings were supposed to be for all of Reimu's guests, so she needed to make an appropriate amount. Marisa was already growing more tired and frustrated from the monotonous activity and so was the shrine's resident. They reluctantly glanced over at the remaining mass of dough in the bowl, and with heavy sighs, they kept making more dumplings, not caring much about their size or shape anymore. That's when they heard a knock on the door.

"Sorry to intrude~!" greeted a well known girl's voice as soon as the door opened. A short, silver-haired young female clad in green entered and bowed to the two girls she saw inside.

"Youmu~!" Marisa exclaimed and her face brightened up. "Man, am I glad to see you! Please, please, come right in!" she invited her, as if the shrine was her home. "We need some assistance here, you see?"

"Oh, hi there, Youmu." Reimu simply nodded, since bowing would require more energy.

"Oh? You're making dango? Sure, I'll help. Let me just put my swords down somewhere?"

And as Youmu was unstrapping her sword sheathes, Marisa began asking. "Where's Yuyuko?"

"Lady Yuyuko is just outside, taking a good look at the whole shrine yard. She's really excited and full of energy today? I'm having a tough time keeping up with her, so I thought I'd take a break here."

"I wonder what she's so excited about?" said the witch. "It's the same scenery as every year: tons of people and youkai, lots of flags, lanterns, wish trees, performers on the stage, food stalls everywhere?"

"Yes, THAT is probably her main reason." nodded the smiling half-ghost girl.

With a valuable reinforcement to the dango-making team, the remaining mass of dough was turned into neatly-shaped dumplings in no time.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Youmu!" Marisa appreciated the extra help. "Without your help, we'd be rolling these till midnight."

"Why didn't you start making them earlier then?" Youmu scratched her head.

"Ask her." the witch pointed a thumb at Reimu.

"I was busy with other things, okay?" the shrine maiden defended herself. "Come on, Marisa, let's put the first batch into the pot. We don't have much time before the tournament begins."

"Ah, yes, about the competition?" Youmu wanted to know a little bit more about it, since she wasn't there when Reimu explained the details. "Have all the contestants arrived yet?"

"Not sure." shrugged Reimu. "Maybe they're here and having fun outside like your mistress, or maybe they still haven't arrived. I hope for the former, though?"

"I think I saw Hijiri-san outside when we arrived here. But besides her, I didn't run into any familiar faces."

"Well, at least someone showed up."

Not long after Reimu said that, another person entered her shrine, not even bothering with such trivialities as knocking.

"Oh, there you are, Youmu~♪." called the sweet voice of Yuyuko Saigyouji, the ghostly princess of Netherworld. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Yuyuko-sama? I already told you that I was going to greet Reimu-san."

"When was that, I wonder~."

"Just the moment before we split up." the half-ghost replied with a smile.

"Okay? So now I can definitely write Yuyuko into the list as well?" the shrine maiden absentmindedly murmured to herself.

The pink-haired ghost girl suddenly widened her eyes and took a few whiffs of the air. "Oh my~. Are you girls cooking something~?"

"They're making dumplings." her loyal gardener explained tersely.

And after Yuyuko curiously peeked over Reimu's shoulder into the pot and at the pile of freshly rolled dumplings that were only waiting to be boiled, she couldn't help but to ask a very important question.

"It seems that you've made a lot of dango this year, Reimu-san? But aren't you going to make some for yourself as well?"

"As if they were all for you!" retorted the outraged shrine maiden.

"Oh, so is this the prize for winning in that tournament of yours~?"

"No."

The ghostly princess looked disappointedly at her. "Why not?"

"Because these dumplings are for ALL the guests. Besides, nobody but you would be interested to win such a prize."

"And? how many guests are you expecting?"

"If all the contestants arrive, that should be 26. Plus if that bunch of outsiders decides to stop by here again, that should be about 30 or more." Reimu made a rough calculation.

"All these dango? divided by 30?" Yuyuko grudgingly imagined how many dumplings would that make for one person and the result didn't please her at all.

"Luckily we thought ahead, right, Youmu~?" she sweetly addressed her multi-purpose servant.

"If you're referring to that big food basket, Yuyuko-sama, I've left it just outside the shrine next to the door? But haven't you eaten enough food from all those stalls that you visited?"

"I was only having a little taste?" Yuyuko smiled innocently.

"I'm not sure if ordering an extra large menu from each of the vendors could be considered "having a little taste"." remarked Youmu satirically.

"Wait?" Marisa halted the conversation. "So you're telling me you've only had one menu from each of the stalls? Are you on a diet, Yuyuko?"

"Not to worry, Marisa-san~. It's only early evening. I'll pay the stall vendors at least one more visit today."

"You must be a real celebrity for them."

"They are all very nice people~." acknowledged the ghost. "Mystia-san even let me have two portions for free? Then she said she had something urgent to do and disappeared somewhere. I wonder what business she had. She looked kind of nervous."

"Well, she better be there when the tournament begins, or I'm disqualifying her from all the categories." said Reimu while stirring the dango in the pot. "Have you prepared the toppings yet, Marisa?"

The witch was arriving just on time with large flat platters full of various toppings for dumplings. "Coming right up, ze!"

Soon, with Youmu's help, Reimu and Marisa finally finished their work.

"Phew?" the blonde witch wiped sweat off her forehead. "It's finally done."

"And just in time too?" added Reimu. "Fine? Everyone, follow me!" she commanded and headed for the door. Only one hour remained until the official beginning of the danmaku tournament and Reimu didn't even know if all of the contestants were here. She needed to make sure.
A band of actors dressed up in some fancy outfits, wearing youkai masks was just stepping down the stairs as they were leaving the stage after their act. Reimu figured that before she gives the signal to summon the contestants, she should at least go up there and announce the next performer. Looking into the program, she saw only one colon that remained before the main event.

"Wait here for a moment." she told the trio of girls as she hurried up to the stage.

"I wonder who's going to be up next~." sounded Yuyuko with her eyes anticipatively focused on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for my absence, but now that I've done everything that I should have, I can fully concentrate on hosting the festival properly. Coming up next is a group that needs no introduction. But in case you've been living under a rock, have just recently been released from the depths of Makai or recently spirited away into Gensokyo, that by some chance you DON'T know who I'm talking about, let me tell you~! The band that plays music that is able to touch your very soul. A group that can play any kind of music without sounding unoriginal. Lunasa, Lyrica and Merlin! I present you the Prismriver Ensemble~!"

A tremendous applause swept across the area near the shrine as everyone cheered for the arrival of the famous trio of poltergeist musicians.

The ghostly princess excitedly clapped her hands. "Oh look, Youmu, my favorite performers~!"

And shortly after Reimu's call, three figures ascended above the crowd and above the stage. As they floated towards the center of the stage, they performed a little air show, by flying in a symmetrical formation and spinning around one central focal point, all the while facing the same direction. And once they made it to the center and into the light of torches and lanterns, they became fully visible. One interesting thing about them was the fact that none of the girls were holding their instruments. Instead, they floated in front of them, similarly like Youmu's ghostly form always accompanied her physical one. On the left side of the stage stood the eldest of the sisters, Lunasa, the violinist. She had short blonde hair and was dressed in her typical black band uniform with white and red trim. Her hat, which was also part of the uniform, vaguely resembled Keine-sensei's in its shape and its color matched the uniform. Its tip was also adorned by a small red crescent moon decoration. Some people who saw her for the first time could confuse her with Rumia? The middle of the stage was occupied by the middle sister, Merlin, the trumpeter. The tallest of the girls had short light-blue hair and her band uniform was light pink with black and blue trim. Her pink hat sported a small blue sun-shaped decoration and her brass instrument was mysteriously hovering by her side. To some people she looked very similar to Remilia Scarlet? Finally, the right side of the stage belonged now to the youngest of the three, Lyrica, the keyboardist. Lyrica's hair had a very light shade of brown. So light, that from certain angles it looked as though she had white or silver hair instead. The band uniform which she was clad in was red with black and pink trim and her red hat held a green comet-shaped decoration attached to its tip. Her instrument was the most modern in the band. A floating winged keyboard with her initials written on it.

"Doesn't that remind you of something, Reimu?" Marisa asked her friend as she watched the band's descent to the stage.

"Yeah?" the shrine maiden tersely agreed. "Just like during the incident with missing spring. Except back then they were also littering the sky with their danmaku? Now that I think about it, that was the first time I met you two." she turned her face at Yuyuko and Youmu and smiled weakly.

"That's right~. They were invited to play at Hakugyokurou, but they never arrived. Instead, you showed up and did what you did?"

"Did you really expect that nobody would mind having winter all year round?" Reimu asked, still looking at the person responsible for the said incident. "What goes around comes around, as the saying goes?"

"Oh, I think you're misunderstanding me, Reimu-san? I already told you several times that I'm glad you showed up and stopped me from doing something? unwise. It's funny how life can turn things around, isn't it? Because of my curiosity and forgetfulness, I planned on doing something very foolish, unaware of the possible outcome. In order to achieve that, I needed the essence of spring, but I couldn't get enough of it in the Netherworld. Then I asked Yukari to weaken one boundary for me and she did exactly that... It turned out that the very means to my goal turned out to be the biggest flaw in my plan, as it allowed a living trespasser to enter the world of those who are dead. But a flaw in an already flawed plan is actually a fortunate occurrence. One that I wasn't aware of until I was formally defeated. Of course, then I remembered a lot of things and so, I'm actually grateful for you daring to stop me back then. Thank you, Reimu-san~♪." the cheerful and whimsical Yuyuko then took Reimu into a sweet embrace, simply because she felt it would be a fun thing to do.

"Kyaah~! Hey! What are you doing?!" asked the surprised shrine maiden as she unexpectedly found herself in Yuyuko's grip. But even though her words sounded like a protest, her body didn't put up much of a resistance. That was because this situation reminded Reimu of someone close to her. She remembered this kind of surprise hug from behind and couldn't hold back a smile as she recollected the memory.

"Have we come here to reminisce about past incidents?" asked the ordinary magician. "How about we just enjoyed the show?"

"That's right~!" agreed the pink-haired princess as she released Reimu. "But I wonder who made the request to invite the Prismriver sisters here?"

Reimu looked at her with crossed arms. "What do you mean "who"? How many hosts do you think this festival has?"

"But they usually play at youkai parties and accept invitations from humans rather rarely." argued Yuyuko.

"That's because not all humans take the experience from hearing their music too well." Youmu complemented the information.

It seemed that this bit of information was unknown to even the host of the festival. "Really? I didn't feel bad when I was listening to some of their songs."

"Well, I've invited them countless times to perform for me." said the ghost. "And they told me that the tones they play are not real, but simply phantoms of sounds. That's why they are not perceived by ears, but by the soul. However, Lyrica-san's keyboard is different. You can perceive its sounds with your ears? I recall them saying that some human listeners experienced states of depression and melancholy during their live performances, while others were said to display signs of hyperactivity similar to getting drunk. They said that their music should not be listened to by children and those with faint hearts."

"Oh?" uttered the shrine maiden with a strange feeling of guilt building up inside her. She certainly didn't want to endanger the human portion of the shrine visitors by subjecting them to this kind of music. "Maybe I should have given a warning about that?"

"I'm sure most of the people here are grown up and healthy enough to listen." Marisa tried to ease up the tension.

"And what about Akyuu-chan?"

"Well, technically, Akyuu-chan's spirit is over a thousand years old, so she should be just fine, ze."

"Oh? You're right." Reimu nodded affirmatively and exhaled with slight relief.

And once the audience was getting tired of cheering and clapping, the three poltergeists began their intro.

"Good evening, everyone." the eldest sister greeted politely with her mellow voice. "It is a great pleasure to be performing for such a large audience. Since the festival's tournament is going to take place on this stage in an hour, we decided to compensate for this by playing the second half of the concert after the competition. Tonight we will also play a few new songs featuring a popular vocalist, Lorelei Mystia-san."

The crowd went wild again as Lunasa made this announcement. It would be for the first time that the Prismrivers performed with someone else and everyone was filled with anticipation. However, for now, the trio of phantoms proceeded to play their songs without any vocal support, just as they had it written in their schedule.

"Let's start with the concert, shall we?" sounded the voice of Lunasa and her floating violin suddenly played a short melody.

"I am Lunasa Prismriver, the leader of this ensemble. My violin can outclass even the famous Stradivarius in terms of sound quality. Please enjoy its melody."

Yuyuko spread open her paper fan and covered her soft giggle with it. "And they always say these kind of lines before each of their live performances~."

"Makes you wonder if there's any truth to those lines." remarked the down-to-earth half-ghost.

"Well, it's true that I have no idea how would a Stradivarius violin sound like in the first place?" the Netherworld's princess admitted and returned her attention to the stage.

Next, the audience could feel the resonance emitted by the floating trumpet belonging to Merlin. After playing a few tones it went silent again, allowing its owner to say a few words as well.

"Greetings! I'm Merlin, and like my big sister said before me, I'm very excited about playing for a big crowd like this. Hope you'll enjoy the sounds of my trumpet, despite it being the phantom of a fearsome instrument that has taken the blood of many jazz trumpeters in the past." she added with an uncanny smile.

The crowd responded with another wave of applause, some of her fans even called out her name repeatedly.

"And finally?" sounded the shortest and the youngest of the band and her instrument played a short melody made of some very unique sounds. "I, Lyrica, will play my keyboard, a phantom of an instrument owned by once a famous artist who created new sounds that were too peculiar, so the keyboard never sold and fell into obscurity. I hope that won't be the case when I start playing it, though, hehehe~!"

"Let's prepare the atmosphere for the danmaku tournament and set the mood just right." spoke the band leader again. "Here we go?"

Despite being a solely instrumental band, the popularity of the Prismriver Ensemble was unrivaled in all of Gensokyo. Even those who saw their performance for the first time in their lives quickly understood why. It was the feelings that their music brought. A well balanced blend of calm, but passionate melody from the violin accompanied by the dynamic and fresh tones of the phantom trumpet, completed by the catchy rhythm of unique sounds played by Lyrica's keyboard? All of these things worked together to make the audience get the feeling of overwhelming awe. The feeling could be perhaps compared to a sudden takeoff into the sky during a thunderstorm, then falling full-speed down into a raging ocean and immediately ascending again. Truly an experience to remember, not just for the first-timers.
After the first song ended, Reimu snapped out of this trance-like feeling and realized that she wanted to summon the contestants. She launched a signal into the sky that for a moment got everyone's attention. Some spectators even mistook it for ambient effects for the concert of the Prismriver Ensemble and began cheering for the trio even louder.

"Now this will be fun?" muttered Marisa to her best friend. "?if nobody will show up when the tournament begins."

"That won't be fun. That will be a fiasco." Reimu corrected the statement.

"Then the four of us would need to have several rematches." Marisa kept joking around even despite Reimu's frown.

Fortunately, the shrine maiden's signal was well interpreted after all and some of the tournament participants began gathering.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Remilia as she arrived to the designated spot. "Why have you called us here so early?"

"Because I need to see if everyone who signed up for the tournament is actually here."

"Oh, I see?" the vampire understood Reimu's reason for concern and turned around, urging someone to hurry. "Come on, Patchy, Reimu needs to see us all?"

"So she's finally here." the shrine maiden commented the arrival of the youkai sorceress.

Marisa's reaction was slightly more cheerful, if not a bit exaggerated. "Patchy~! Come here, you?!"

"Yaah? Marisa?" the short girl struggled for air. "Let go of me."

"Yes, let go of her." Alice's voice from behind Marisa's back seconded Patchouli's request.

"Alice-chan~!" Marisa threw her arms around the puppeteer instead. "Good to see you again?"

"Hey? We've been away from each other for only a few hours, you know."

"Maybe it's Marisa's tactic to soften some of the girls up, so that she'd have the advantage in the tournament." Remilia made a humorous speculation. "Too bad that won't work on everyone, eh?"

"What is it Reimu~?" Suika came running to the stage with a curious look. "Is it time for another round for everyone?"

"It seems she has already forgotten that she actually signed up for this contest too." Remilia giggled at the oni's question.

"Good evening to you all." came a greeting from a more mature-sounding voice. Byakuren Hijiri has just found her way to the stage, followed by some of her loyal youkai companions.

"Ah, hello, Byakuren? and company." Reimu greeted everyone and ticked off their names on the list she was holding. "So there we have, Shou, Minamitsu, Ichirin and Nue? What about that mouse?"

"Nazrin's with us too, but she decided not to compete." the youkai monk explained briefly.

"I see? Well? what about the others?" she asked and took a careful look everywhere around.

"Boo!" a sudden call spooked the surprised shrine maiden into jumping. "I surprised you, didn't I?"

"Don't? do that? again? Kogasa." Reimu threateningly glanced over at the youkai umbrella, and with slightly unsteady hand, she ticked off her name in the list.

"Hehe~! I'm not hungry anymore?" said the smiling teal-haired girl with dichromatic eyes.

"Being hungry is truly one of the worst feelings in the world?" declared Yuyuko and turned her attention to the basket of food that was resting near the back entrance of the shrine.

"Resist the urge, Yuyuko-sama." Youmu tried to tame her whim. "You're not really hungry, you know?"

"Sorry if I arrived a bit late?" another voice could be heard nearing the group. "And good evening to you all?"

"Oh, Kamishirasawa-san. Good evening." Reimu raised her head and bowed to the teacher, despite the fact that she never attended her school. Everything that she knew, she learned from her parents and from life itself. That, however, didn't change the fact that she respected Keine and her job. "You're not late, but I need to make sure that everyone who signed up for the tournament is actually here."

"Is that so~?" sounded a childish voice coming from somewhere left of Reimu's position.

Rumia, the little youkai of darkness appeared almost as suddenly as Kogasa. Why was she even here boggled everyone's mind. She was standing there with her hands spread wide, wearing a happy smile.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Reimu couldn't believe her eyes. "You're not welcome here."

"What do you think she is doing here, you IDIOT~?!" another childish voice, belonging to none other than Cirno, the ice fairy shouted daringly at the surprised shrine maiden. "She came to sign up, of course!"

"Yes, Rumi-chan is our friend." declared the just-arriving night sparrow, Mystia. "Why shouldn't she compete when we can, huh?"

"Shut up!" Reimu rudely silenced both of them before turning her angry gaze at Rumia. "So? first you go hunting for humans right here at my shrine and then you just nonchalantly come here, as if nothing happened?"

"But I'm not hungry today?" the little red-eyed blonde defended herself.

"That's not the issue here! You crossed the line and right now, I'm using all of my willpower to keep myself from exterminating you on spot!"

"But the human ran away?" Rumia tried to make herself sound less guilty.

"Only after he fought for his life to shake you off."

"I don't understand?" the puzzled darkness youkai scratched her head. "I was only told that I shouldn't eat humans from the village even if I defeated them in Spell Card duel? But that one was not from the village. Smelled differently? No Spell Cards? Weak and tasty? Just like the ones I always used to feed on?"

Reimu wasn't as much displeased by Rumia's mass murder confession, as the fact that Rumia made her shrine yard her new hunting spot. It was like the worst kind of insult for the shrine maiden. "If I ever catch you hunting near this shrine, I'll tie you to a tree and make you eat Marisa's tamagoyaki for a whole month!"

This rather? unconventional threat elicited uncontrolled laughter from some of the girls who were watching the scene, while a certain ordinary magician pouted in response.

After a while, Marisa cleared her throat and decided to resolve this situation peacefully, which was quite unusual for her. "Hey, Reimu? Why don't we let this cannon fodder sign up too? I mean? she'll get beaten up anyway. Either way she'll get what she asked for."

"Hmm?" the red-white couldn't really argue with Marisa's idea. It took her a good while of hesitation, but in the end, she gave in to her friend's advice. "Very well?" she snorted as she picked up her list and a writing brush, as if she couldn't believe that she was doing this? She wrote Rumia into the list of contestants. "You're lucky that the number of our contestants is odd and that we need to make it even. You're in the tournament now? Hope you're ready." she leaned over Rumia's not too tall figure and grinned almost wickedly.

Rumia, however, despite being just a child by youkai standards, didn't have a very long list of things that she feared and the shrine maiden's current facial expression was not on that list.

"Yaaay~!" she again cheerfully spread her arms wide, like some sort of victory pose and put on her typical childish cutesy smile.

"Yaaaaay~!" her fairy and night-sparrow friends joined the cheering.

"What's all this commotion about?" an unexpected male voice diverted everyone's attention.

Kyouichi Ishimaru, a human outsider arrived to the scene, lured by Reimu's signal danmaku.

"Oh? uh? hello, everyone?" he bashfully greeted the gathered contestants. "Sorry to bother? I just saw your signal and wondered if you didn't make any sudden changes to the program." he explained to Reimu. "I know that you no longer need volunteers, but I just got curious, you see?"

In the meantime, the three young youkai girls took this momentary situation to their advantage, and with hushed giggles they disappeared somewhere in the crowd.

Reimu sighed and gave him a short briefing of the situation.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 48 ? The Tournament

Once all the contestants lined up on the stage, Reimu stepped forth to make another announcement.

"Dear shrine visitors, this is it! The moment you've all been waiting for! The danmaku tournament begins right here, right now!"

The crowds went wild again and Reimu had to wait almost half a minute before they calmed down, so that her words could be heard.

"Don't be sad that the Prismriver sisters have left the stage! They will be back after the tournament! Now, even though I'm the host and at the same time a tournament participant, I assure you that there will be no foul play during this competition. All rules must be strictly kept and anyone who breaks them, myself included, will be disqualified immediately! Each participant who will not be currently dueling will be one of the judges. Before any of these "judges" will detect that any of the tournament rules have been violated, they must first consult our main judge! Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the main judge of the tournament, Gensokyo's chronicler with infallible memory ? Hieda no Akyuu~!"

Another wave of applause came from the mass of the shrine visitors as they greeted the main judge. The little chronicler trotted towards the stage and with a bit of trouble, she climbed up the stairs. Once she reached her goal, she stepped up next to Reimu and bowed to the audience.

"And now, let me introduce the contestants themselves~! Marisa Kirisame, Alice Margatroid, Remilia Scarlet, Sakuya Izayoi, Meiling Hong, Patchouli Knowledge, Reisen Udongein Inaba, Eirin Yagokoro, Satori Komeiji, Utsuho Reiuji, Cirno, Mystia Lorelei, Rumia, Youmu Konpaku, Yuyuko Saigyouji, Byakuren Hijiri, Shou Toramaru, Minamitsu Murasa, Nue Houjuu, Ichirin Kumoi, Aya Shameimaru, Suika Ibuki, Keine Kamishirasawa, Kogasa Tatara, Yuugi Hoshiguma, and of course, me, Reimu Hakurei. All of us are going to do our best to win. So? without any more unnecessary delays, let the tournament begin~! The first is the Spell Card Survival discipline, in which the opponents take turns in using their Spell Cards. The one who manages to stay unhit for a longer period of time than their opponent will be declared the winner. And our first match will feature? Reisen Udongein Inaba and Sakuya Izayoi! Everyone else, assume your places! Contestants, wait for the signal!"

All of the girls except Reisen and Sakuya have left the stage and took their seats on various places around the stage, while Akyuu was returning back to the shrine along with Reimu and Aya. And once even the main judge was seated, Reimu fired a signal amulet into the sky to start the match.

While most of the outsiders were standing in the crowd, Kyouichi and Soudai decided that they'd simply stay near the shrine, since they could at least sit down on its elevated floor. It wasn't a bad choice, since they could discuss the course of the tournament with some of the judges.
The first match of the tournament has begun. First, it was Reisen's turn to call out her Spell Card and Sakuya's time to evade it for as long as possible. Both of them ascended roughly 20 meters into the air and Reisen drew out her card.

"Visionary Wave "Red-Eyed Hypnosis (Mind Blowing)"!"

Sakuya drew back a bit, and waited for the first bullet barrage to appear. It wasn't long before a multitude of super-dense rings consisting of purple and blue glowing projectiles appeared around the Moon rabbit. Then Reisen also threw in two wide intersecting wave patterns into the mix and sent her bullet-rings outwards. And just as the maid was preparing herself to squeeze through the narrow opening in the ring-shaped waves of danmaku, the bullets suddenly became transparent and the rings rotated, resulting in the change of the bullets' directions.

"What is this trickery?!" uttered the confused head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The sudden change in the pattern has taken her off guard, so she chose to fly yet another couple of meters backwards. She couldn't even use any of her own Spell Cards now, since in this discipline, that would be the equivalent of giving up. She simply had to time this right. Again, the bullet rings became semi-transparent and spun in different directions. Sakuya was hesitant to test whether or not were these magic bullets harmful during their shifting phase. She wanted to play with absolute certainty. She focused all of her senses to the maximum, and when the bullets became bright and solid again, she darted through one of the narrow gaps between them and overcome her first wave. However, the Moon rabbit had already summoned another group of rings and waves that were closing in on Sakuya's position. Again, the maid held her breath and used the exact moment after the bullets materialized to squeeze between them.

The crowds cheered and applauded her skill, but now Sakuya was literally surrounded by purple shots. Reisen kept increasing the bullet density and the frequency of her waves, leaving ever less and less room for Sakuya's movement. Time went on and even when the maid has weaved through several waves, it was only a matter of time until she'd make a mistake.

"This is impossi?" Sakuya closed her eyes before the bullet ring would hit her, but she didn't feel anything. "Huh?" As she reopened her eyes, she saw that the rings were just shifting and the bullets became transparent.

"Just an illusion?"

She was lucky to learn that the bullets were harmless during their shifting phase and she now had to use that short moment of time to take a much safer position in the pattern.

"Wonderful, ladies and gentlemen!" Aya made the commentary of the duel. "It seems that Sakuya-san has learned the trick to survive this seemingly impossible bullet pattern! But how long will she be able to withstand this attack without sustaining a hit?"

Now that the maid already knew an exploitable point of Reisen's pattern, her racing heart has calmed down a bit and she was able to evade all the projectiles without any panicked movements. And finally? the moment has come and Reisen's Spell Card has ended.

The crowds cheered as loudly as when they were welcoming the Prismriver Ensemble.

"A-ma-zing~!" Aya called out and joined the ovation. "Sakuya-san did it! She survived the entire Spell Card! A wonderful performance by the Scaled Devil Mansion's chief maid! She was almost caught up in one of the waves, but she managed to find a way to deal with this intriguing pattern. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it's Sakuya's turn to declare a Spell Card and Reisen's turn to dodge! And even though Sakuya has set the bar pretty high for her, let's all cheer for Reisen! Go for it!"

Sakuya reached for her Spell Card and called its name. "Maid Secret Skill "Marionette"!"

The card in her hand turned into several throwing knives and she flung them at Reisen without warning. The rabbit moved sideways, but the knives that Sakuya threw were no ordinary daggers. They suddenly stopped, changed their color to blue, magically multiplied and created a narrow fan-shaped spreading pattern. What's more, it appeared that Sakuya was still holding some knives in the same hand. And another throw directed at Reisen?

This time the knives changed to red and created a wider cone than the blue ones.

Reisen tilted her head, curiously looking at the knife-shaped danmaku which was still hanging in thin air without motion. Then out of nowhere appeared a mass of green-colored daggers, aimed at random directions and all the knives were set into motion simultaneously.

The pattern was dense and chaotic, but the Moon rabbit didn't lose her head. Calmly and with slow movements, she moved to the sides just to stay in the safe zone. But then things got interesting. As Sakuya repeated her attack, she stopped time for a brief moment. Everything and everyone was motionless. She hurled another two volleys of knives at her opponent and randomly changed some of the knives' heading. Then the flow of time was resumed. To Reisen and everyone else, it looked as though the knives just kept appearing out of nowhere.

The second danmaku wave was a bit trickier, because some of the knives that were already in flight also changed their color and direction, adding to the dangerousness of this Spell Card.

"What the??" Reisen turned around in surprise as a green knife flying from behind her just grazed her long ear.

It turned out that even the knives that missed her were still a threat and Reisen had to cope with watching Sakuya's attacks as well as her own back.

Aya was providing commentary for the duel: "What looks like an easy card is actually quite a bother! You can tell from Reisen's hasty movements and constant head-turning that she's having some problems with Sakuya's Marionette! No wonder, since Sakuya always keeps stopping the time for a brief moment and changing the trajectories of her flying daggers. This card has no template pattern! It's quite random and you can never tell whether the knife that just missed your head is not going to stab you in the back in the next second! Good luck, Reisen!"

Reisen was performing something that resembled an aerial ballet, because she always had to turn around and check whether some of the knives were not heading her way. And just when she made sure that the green daggers would not hit her she could again shift her attention to?

"Ack!"

"A direct hit~!" Aya announced as she saw one of Sakuya's red knives making contact with Reisen's torso and subsequently disappearing. "The first match is over! Sakuya Izayoi wins by 1 : 0 on Spell Cards and by 45 : 32 on seconds! Despair not, Reisen-san, for you still have three more disciplines to show everyone what you've got! As for you Sakuya-san, congratulations on winning your first match of the tournament!"
Sakuya ended her Spell Card and descended down onto the stage together with the Moon rabbit.

The maid extended her right arm to her "Good duel, Reisen-san."

She nodded and accepted her hand. "Good duel, Sakuya-san."

"This is the true spirit of sportsmanship, ladies and gentlemen! This is the attitude that we all hope to see during this entire tournament. Now, since I'm a crow tengu who cares about others, I'll save Reimu-san from marching up the stage and announce the names of our next duelists in her stead! No need to thank me, Reimu. What are friends for, right? Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a match between? well? you're probably not going to see anything at all, folks, because our next contestants are Mystia Lorelei, the night sparrow and Rumia ? the youkai of darkness. I wonder how are the judges going to assure the fair-play during this particular match? Well, it will certainly be interesting to have these two young youkai in a danmaku battle."

"Damn?" only now Kyouichi realized it. "That's the youkai that almost killed me the other day? Well, actually both of them wanted to, but at least Mystia was more? reasonable."

"That little girl?" Soudai threw an incredulous glance at his friend. "So she's dangerous?"

"Sometimes I really fail to comprehend Gensokyo's logic? Why is Reimu calmly letting a vicious monster like her and that hell raven even come to the shrine?"

"Don't worry, you two." said the crow tengu reassuringly. "None of the human-eating youkai who have come to this shrine today will eat anyone. They only attack lonely and lost humans. And only when they are sure that these humans are weaker than they are."

"Which we most certainly are." remarked the younger of the two outsiders.

"That's why people like you should never go anywhere alone." said Aya. "Even if it's just a few meters away from the village or this shrine... I hope you learned from your unpleasant experience, Kyouichi."

"Uhhh? yeah? sure." he gave a very unconvincing reply, as he replayed his and Soudai's trek through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost in his mind. Considering the likelihood of encountering some dangerous youkai on their way to the village, they had to be extremely lucky that the only person they met was Fujiwara no Mokou. Surely Tewi's good luck blessing was not just a fraud. But good luck never lasts too long and any human who was not born in Gensokyo should know better than to travel around the eastern wonderland alone.

"Even if you are not native to this world," Akyuu wanted to add her grain of wisdom, "Rumia-san is rather easy to trick and to run away from. And in daytime you can notice her from even far away."

"But I was attacked at night. Just on the stairs to the shrine yard? I never saw her coming. Why aren't youkai like her being exterminated?"

"But they are." Akyuu gave a surprising reply. "By the definition of the Spell Card Rules, an extermination of a youkai is a strictly temporary matter. It simply means that a youkai is defeated in a formal duel."

"So the rules also protect youkai from permanent extermination?" asked Soudai.

"Naturally. Otherwise they'd hardly be accepted by the youkai populace if the treaty would provide advantages for only one of the two parties. And secondly, decades of human-youkai conflicts and skirmishes have already proven that the youkai are not at all easy to dispose of permanently."

"I see." Soudai and Kyouichi nodded almost in unison.
"And the battle is about to begin!" Aya returned to her role of the tournament announcer. "Mystia-san is going to be on the attacking side. Oh? wait a minute? Reimu? Where are you going?"

The shrine maiden flew over to the two youkai girls and appeared to be explaining something to both of them for a while. Then as both Mystia and Rumia nodded, Reimu touched both of their heads with the tip of her gohei and a strange sound similar to a chime could be heard.

"Ah~! Now I see?" Aya nodded understandingly. "Reimu-san has put a magical chime barrier on both of the youkai! Now, even in complete darkness and night-blindness, everyone will be able to tell when one of them gets hit!"

Reimu returned to her privileged spot and gave the signal to begin the match. Mystia already had her card in her hand.

"Hawk Sign "III-Starred Dive"!"

"And just as we all thought!" the crow tengu commented, "Mystia-san resorted to a card that utilizes her song and we all know what her song can do!"

Aya seemed to have quite a bit of insight about the Spell Cards of other youkai. At least she knew what the card was going to do just from the name. And truly, not too long after the night sparrow declared her attack and sent out a burst of white orbs in a circular pattern, she began to sing. Though too far to clearly hear the lyrics, Kyouichi and pretty much everyone else who didn't cover their ears were beginning to notice that their vision was gradually becoming dimmer. The initial burst of white orbs was not even targeted at Mystia's opponent, who didn't even have to move. However, the orbs have left a trail of smaller purple projectiles that have created a symmetrical star-shaped pattern around the night sparrow and a true magical crossfire has started. By this time, Rumia's vision was limited to only several meter radius and she had to evade projectiles coming at her from two sides. Sometimes several waves blended into one and the youkai of darkness had to retreat and wait until an opening appeared.

Otherwise the card was not all that difficult. Rumia was pretty much used to limited vision and could easily move out of harm's way just by trusting her hearing sense.

Now, Mystia's card was intensifying and the patterns were becoming more frequent and the bullets even faster.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'd really like to comment what's going on above the Hakurei Shrine's stage, but even with my sharp tengu eyesight, I can barely see Reimu-san and Akyuu-san sitting next to me. But since we haven't heard the sound of magic chime, I'm guessing that Rumia-san is doing really well so far?"

After a few close calls, Rumia was still holding on as the last seconds of the night sparrow's Spell Card were ticking away. But then a ringing sound echoed throughout the darkness?

"Aaaand that's a hit, if I'm not mistaken~!" Aya exclaimed and turned her glance to the shrine maiden who nodded affirmatively. "Yes, even Reimu has confirmed it~! Rumia got hit by Mystia's Spell Card after 38 seconds~! That's enough, Mystia-san, save your vocal cords for your performance! Now it's your time to endure some danmaku~!"

And as the night sparrow finally stopped her song, everyone's vision returned back to normal.

"Now that we can finally see," Aya continued, "It is now up to Mystia to dodge her opponent's Spell Card. If she can stay unhit for longer than 38 seconds, she will win the duel. But what kind of card has Rumia-san prepared for her? Are we even going to see it, or are we going to be? left in the dark again?"

"Ready?" Reimu called out at the two youkai above the stage. After getting their nods of confirmation, she launched her usual red burst of amulets into the sky to start the second stage of their duel.

The spectators could already see the blonde girl in black and white dress raising her Spell Card-wielding hand over her head.

"Living Darkness "Searching Hands"!"

"Oh, my~!" an excited smile grew on Aya's face. "A new Spell Card from Rumia-san! I'm really curious to see what it does!"

Rumia's card seemed to be swallowing up the surrounding light, forming a sphere of darkness, just as Kyouichi saw her do when he barely escaped her. Mystia wasn't stupid enough to remain hovering close to the no-light zone. She distanced herself from Rumia and prepared herself for whatever this new Spell Card would throw at her. For the first few seconds, the swelling of the orb of darkness was all that was happening, but then came the danmaku.

A quite? intriguing danmaku, to say the least. A thick solid-looking line of shadow with five extended appendages projected from the mass of darkness, like a sinister shadowy hand, reaching out for Mystia. The next moment revealed several more of these "searching hands" extending towards the frightened night sparrow in attempt to grab her and drag her into the center of the impenetrable blackness.

"This is a very original-looking danmaku! Pardon me, but I just have to take a few pictures of it?" Aya quickly grabbed her camera and began snapping. "The black color of the projectiles is not making things very easy for Mystia-san, but make no mistake, dear human minority, a night sparrow's eyes can see much better in the dark than yours!"

Mystia was doing her best to stay away from the dark hand-shaped danmaku, but as time progressed, the shadow arms that were extending, grabbing and retracting, have now created a web that inhibited the night sparrow's maneuvering space.

"I think I'm going to have a little interview with Rumia-san after this match regardless of the result! This Spell Card could even attempt to enter the Visual Contest! Who knows? Perhaps it will! But more importantly, Mystia only has to keep up for several seconds to win! I'm counting down~! Ten, nine, eight?"

Now Kyouichi realized that he wouldn't be much of a help to Reimu as one of the judges, since the danmaku that he saw just now was so dense and perplexing, that he couldn't tell whether or not was any of the "shots" hitting its intended target. So far, none of the official judges made any notion that Mystia had come into contact with any of Rumia's creepy danmaku. Reimu's magical chime also remained silent, confirming that the night sparrow was doing a good job at evading the opponent's Spell Card.

"Three, two?" Aya was counting down the last seconds, "one? Aaaand we know the winner!"

The darkness generated by Rumia's card was gone with Aya's announcement, revealing the blonde youkai girl with her arms still spread wide.

"Is that so~?" she asked as she turned at the tournament announcer.

"Yes, Rumia-san, it is so!" replied the tengu loudly. "Honor to you, but the spoils shall go to the victor! Ladies and gentlemen, Lorelei Mystia-san moves one step up the tournament ladder after this performance! Rumia, you shall now join the ranks of the judges until the end of this discipline? Nevertheless, yours was a very interesting Spell Card, so make sure you'll be ready to be interviewed!"

"Right now?" the confused little youkai of darkness tilted her head to the side.

"No, not now, Rumia-san. We're in the middle of a tournament. Wait until the end of the Survival category."

"Oh? Okay~." She replied with a nod and like a cheerful fairy, she playfully left the stage, joining the other girls who were waiting their turn.

"And now, dear shrine visitors," Aya spoke after clearing her throat, "coming up next, we have yet another interesting match. On the left side of the stage, or to be more exact, on the northern end of the stage, we have... a youkai who likes to leave the fighting to her ever-present follower... Now, I'm not sure if this should be considered a 2 on 1 match, but since nobody has any objections against it, I present you? Ichirin Kumoi from the Temple of Myouren!"

The girl, whose clothing resembled those of a nun hovered over to her place, followed by a pinkish gaseous mass with a face of a bearded old man.

"And her opponent? you know her, you love her, you wouldn't have this tournament without her? Reimu Hakurei~!"

And the shrine maiden reluctantly stood up, slowly flying towards the stage.

Being Reimu's friend and fan, Kyouichi called after her: "Good luck, Reimu~!"

Reimu didn't even turn around. She just flew over to the stage and stopped several meters in front of her opponent.

"Since Reimu's going to duel now, it's up to someone else to start this match." said the tengu reporter as she was standing up and pointing her leaf-shaped fan at the sky. "Ready, set, go~!"
"Try to be a bit more challenging than the last time on that flying ship?." Reimu taunted her opponent before she floated upwards.

Ichirin had the privilege of taking the first turn, and she already had her Spell Card prepared in her hand.

"Tell that to the hand? of Unzan!" came a witty retort from Ichirin. "Barrage "Cloud World Kraken Strike"!" the nyuudou-manipulating youkai just issued an order to her companion to begin the assault.

The cloud entity suddenly began swelling in its size and materialized its two fearsome clenched fists, giving the Hakurei shrine maiden a mean stare.

"I eat youkai like you for breakfast." murmured the shrine maiden with an unamused tone.

That seemed to have provoked the youkai cloud into attacking. He shifted his presence to the side of the stage and sent his huge fists flying fast at Reimu. Just when the miko evaded the first two blows, the nyuudou had already materialized another fist, making it seem that he had more than just a pair of them. Although large and quick, Unzan's fists were the least of Reimu's worries at the moment, since each punch has left a trail of scattering purplish orbs in its wake. Soon the air was dense with danmaku shots, giant fists and Unzan's angry-looking face. Making contact with any of the three mentioned things would result in Reimu losing the match, so the black-haired miko had to keep her senses always sharp and her reflexes as quick as possible.

"Ichirin-san? uhh? I mean Unzan-san is attacking Reimu with his really big fists, much larger than Rumia-san's Searching Hands. However, Reimu knows exactly what to do so far. Staying away from the fists and weaving through the trail of danmaku that they leave. That's exactly how this Spell Card should be faced? Ooooh~! That was a close one, Reimu~!"

One of the huge cloudy fists just grazed by her so closely that the wind shockwave has made her do several aerial flips. During the time when she lost control of her stability, a few of the energy orbs missed her head, arm and torso by mere centimeters, almost leaving marks on her red and white outfit. Finally, the shrine maiden managed to regain her bearing just in time to avoid a direct hit from the nyuudou's massive fist.

"Reimu was incredibly lucky, ladies and gentlemen~! For a second there I even thought that she was knocked down, but she's still holding on!"

Ichirin focused her power to intensify the Spell Card's danmaku, even if it meant that her card would end sooner this way. In a duel, she certainly showed no remorse or respect.

"Is that the best you can do?!" the shrine maiden swaggeringly taunted both Unzan and Ichirin, even if her voice was barely audible in the dense danmaku barrage.

Ichirin's patience was running out along with her magical energy. She wanted to teach Reimu a lesson in humility. With her last reserve, she pointed her golden ring-shaped object towards Unzan to boost his performance.

"Knock her out of the shrine yard, Unzan!"

The cloudy giant brightened up and literally showered the air with his fist barrage.

"O-kay? Things just got serious!" said Reimu to herself as a group of lightning-quick fists zoomed over her head.

The attack grew from intense to insane. No longer focusing on making slow, precise evasions, Reimu had to use her full speed to stay away from danger.

"Would you look at that, ladies and gentlemen!" Aya was on the edge of her seat as she commented the duel. "This is a difficulty level bordering with foul play! A danmaku barrage should always leave at least some opening for the opponent to evade it, however, this attack is as dense as it gets~! You can see Reimu-san is desperate to stay away from all that chaos, but where to fly when you're completely surrounded by walls of danmaku?"

Reimu found herself trapped by a dense cluster of purple orbs that blocked her escape from behind and her left side, while the hail of fists was closing in on her from the right.

Seldom did the Hakurei shrine maiden feel this desperate. No longer was her mind trying to think of taunts for Ichirin and Unzan. Now, she was more or less preparing to humbly accept the inevitable? Another fist appeared several meters in front of her, ready to finish her off. Not a split second later, the fist jetted off at Reimu at incredible speed.

?

Reimu closed her eyes and put her arms in front of her face as she braced herself for the mighty impact. An impact that could shatter buildings? An impact that? never came.

"What the??" she hesitantly opened one of her eyes and peeked over her own arm.

Unzan was staring back at her, his face marked with slight disappointment.

"Holy Kanako-sama~!" Aya cut off the brief silence. "Ichirin-san's Spell Card has ended just before it hit our tournament host~! Reimu, you lucky human! You did it again! Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen~! Sometimes I wonder what deity is actually worshipped at this little shrine. Perhaps it's even dedicated to a certain curse goddess that takes away all of your misfortunes, hehehe~. Nevertheless, Reimu was extremely lucky to survive this brutal onslaught from Unzan. Now, let's see if Ichirin-san can survive the shrine maiden's retribution!"

The crowds apparently loved dramatic matches, since the applause after Reimu's performance lasted over a minute. Many of the fans kept calling out her name as they raised their hands into the air to show their support.

"With so many supporters I can't help but to wonder why are Reimu-san's donations always so low and so rare~!" the tengu poked fun at her friend.

"And I wonder why has your doubtful little newspaper become so popular recently!" Reimu jabbed back at her.

"Because I write about interesting and unusual things that attract attention, Reimu-san? But now is not the time to discuss the success of Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Pick a Spell Card and let the match continue~!"

"Sure?" the miko muttered under her nose as she was sifting through the Spell Cards in her hands. "Now what should I use? Fantasy Heaven? Naaah? that's too exhausting. But perhaps this one?"

"Are you ready, contestants~?" Aya asked both girls hovering above the stage.

Unzan, who was now shrunk back to a less fearsome size showed the tengu a confirmatory thumbs-up, while Reimu just impatiently called: "Yeah, yeah, just give the signal already!"

Aya's fan sent out a bright bluish crescent-shaped wave into the sky and the second round of the third match has begun.

"Border World "Hakurei Danmaku Bounded Field"!" Reimu exclaimed and activated her card.

Ichirin backed away warily as any smart person facing a Spell Card would, but was this a good move with this particular card?

In a flash of white and red light, a large bluish square boundary appeared around the shrine maiden. Ichirin also noticed another even larger square of same color spreading wide over the shrine yard.

"I know this Spell Card," Aya noted with a wry smile, "but does Ichirin know how to deal with it?"

Of course, this was Ichirin's first time she faced Hakurei Danmaku Bounded Field and didn't quite know what to expect. All became clear soon enough?

As Reimu lifted her arm, a super-dense octa-directional stream of red amulets was released and slowly rotating clockwise. At the same time, a four-directional stream of white ofuda erupted from the Spell Card, spinning slowly counter-clockwise. Ichirin noticed that the streams only reached as far as Reimu's inner square boundary before they vanished into thin air. But as she kept her eyes on the shrine maiden, she noticed that the amulets didn't really disappear. They were literally teleported and projected inwards from the huge outer boundary of the spell. Like tongues of fire lashing at her from the front and from behind, these red and white ofuda streams were brushing against each other at the point of the inner square, leaving momentary openings. Ichirin flew towards the wall of the inner boundary and just as one stream passed by, she dove into the square. She had to retreat almost immediately, though, as when the white amulet streams spinning in the opposite direction were working like some kind of star-shaped scissors. The area behind the youkai girl was no safer. She had to constantly keep moving in and out of Reimu's inner boundary to stay safe. And just when she thought that she had the card all figured out, the shrine maiden threw in several white energy orbs into the mixer. While their density was sparse at best, they proved to be a very unpleasant hindrance to Ichirin's evasion plans. Her nyuudou companion didn't mind the barrage as the amulets were harmlessly passing through his miasmatic body. However, Ichirin was just having an adrenaline rush of her life. Even though the tournament was just an innocent game, she was on edge, as if her very existence depended on the result of this match.

After evading a dangerously aimed white orb, she propelled herself forward into the area edged by the purple square. Immediately, she was forced to dive backwards to avoid being met with the white ofuda stream.

"Ichirin apparently got the hang of it!" echoed Aya's voice over the back yard of the shrine. "The Hakurei Danmaku Bounded Field forces one to constantly keep using the boundary and that's what Ichirin-san is doing right now. If she can keep this up for 25 seconds, Reimu's Spell Card will end."

Ichirin, Unzan, the crowd of spectators and even Reimu herself were all holding their breath as the seconds slowly ticked away. Byakuren's disciple didn't allow any of the danmaku shots to get near her and Unzan helped to warn her from the amulets that were coming from behind.

"Three, two, one? Poof! What a spectacular display, ladies and gentlemen!"

All the amulets turned white and returned back into the shrine maiden's open palm, regaining the form of a Spell Card.

"Both Reimu and Ichirin have managed to survive each other's Spell Cards! But there can be only one winner in a danmaku fight. The match goes on with Ichirin-san choosing another card! Until one of the two gets hit, the duel will continue!"

And after the tengu shot her signal into the air, Ichirin Kumoi was declaring another Spell Card.

"Hand Strike "Fist Smash"!"

By that order, Unzan literally split himself apart and formed two giant fists aimed at each other. The fists then accelerated forward and clashed with incredible force. The resulting impact has created two symmetrical circles of purple energy orbs. And as the danmaku rings were slowly expanding and breaking their symmetry, Unzan's fists appeared several paces further from Ichirin and closer to Reimu. They met each other with another thunderous crash, resulting in more purple danmaku in the air. In this fashion, the fist clashes continued proceeding ever closer to the shrine maiden. Reimu had certainly seen more difficult cards, but she was aware that she shouldn't underestimate her opponent. All she had to do during this attack was to occasionally move away from the giant fists of the nyuudou and deal with a few stray danmaku orbs after the smash.

"I honestly expected something a bit more difficult from Ichirin-san, but it's her choice." Aya remarked as she watched Reimu dance among the lights. "But what's this? Ichirin-san is moving in to flank Reimu! And Unzan is apparently shifting his fist smashes according to her position!"

Now the cloud-like youkai was clashing his fists from all different angles, giving Reimu the challenge that she asked for. As expected, Aya took out her camera whenever she saw some new danmaku pattern and began taking pictures.

"Do you put pictures of danmaku in your newspaper Aya-san?" Kyouichi forwarded a question at her.

"Hm?" uttered the crow tengu with her eye looking through the lens of her camera. "Well, sometimes I do, but this is simply a little hobby of mine. Here?" she passed him some sort of book. "That's my danmaku portfolio. I've gathered these over the last few years. Some of them are a bit amateurish, I admit? Especially those with my own danmaku obscuring the view. My hobby sometimes became dangerous and I was forced to fight back, you see?"

As Kyouichi briefly browsed through the pages filled with all sorts of colorful danmaku patterns, he couldn't hold his mouth closed.

"You must know a lot of Spell Cards, Aya-san."

With a hint of annoyance, Aya let out a soft sigh. "When will you finally drop that "san" suffix when addressing me, Kyouichi?"

"Sorry? If it annoys you that much, I'll stop it right away? Aya?"

It almost felt a bit strange to him when he said her name without an honorific.

"It doesn't annoy me per se, but I'm much more comfortable when I'm addressed more familiarly. I'm only formal when I'm making interviews for my newspaper."

"Alright?" he returned a smile and continued watching the duel between his favorite shrine maiden and the nyuudou master.

It seemed that Ichirin was trying to confuse Reimu by constantly changing her position, and thus, the angle of Unzan's attacks, but so far, the red-white was not hit by anything. Then all of a sudden?

Aya threw a surprised glance at the chronicler sitting right next to her. "Akyuu has raised a red flag! What did she see that I didn't notice?"

Not long after that, the tengu spotted several other red flags popping up from the other side of the stage and fluttering in the light breeze, signifying that someone broke the rules.

"Contestants, stop the duel~!" Aya shouted at Reimu and Ichirin. "I was a bit too busy taking pictures to notice any violation of the rules. May I ask what exactly happened, Akyuu-chan?"

"Kumoi-san has moved beyond the designated dueling area and is thus disqualified from the Spell Card Survival category." explained the Gensokyo chronicler.

"What an unexpected turn in the course of this tournament, ladies and gentlemen! Ichirin-san might have actually stood a chance but she has taken her flanking tactics a bit too far? She basically defeated herself right now. Reimu, on the other hand, certainly didn't disappoint her fans. She is even one of the top candidates for the winner of this tournament, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anything can happen in this tournament yet!"

A mixture of cheers and whistles was echoing all over the place as the two contestants were leaving the stage. Unlike the first duel between Sakuya and Reisen, they did not shake their hands after the match. They simply turned away from each other and headed in opposite directions.

"Congratulations, Reimu." Aya welcomed her friend who took her seat next to the main judge without as much as a reply. Despite being victorious, her attitude still seemed rather aloof.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." sighed the shrine maiden and waved her hand at Aya's question.

Though sensing a certain degree of doubt in her voice, Aya didn't really have the time to pry an answer out of her friend. The tournament needed to progress further and so, Aya returned to her role.

"And the Spell Card Survival continues, ladies and gentlemen! And our next two opponents are? Meiling Hong and Kogasa Tatara! May the best dodger win!"
And so as the two mentioned youkai were moving through the air to meet in a formal duel, Kyouichi curiously continued viewing Aya's portfolio full of Spell Card photographs. Soudai was also looking at the pictures with great interest.

"Hey, wait a minute?" Kyouichi's eyes widened in surprise at one particular picture. "Is that Kazami-san in this picture?"

"Hold on?" Aya asked him to wait a minute, because she was just about to give a signal to Meiling and Kogasa to start the duel. After she launched her characteristic blue wave into the air, she sat down and looked at the picture that Kyouichi was pointing at.

"Aaah, yes? So you've heard about her, eh? That one was especially hard to get, but she can't fly very fast, so I managed to take a few shots."

"I haven't just heard about her." Kyouichi wanted to correct Aya's assumption. "I've met her personally?"

"Too bad I can't see much of her through all that danmaku?" Soudai commented with a sad frown.

"You met Yuuka?" Aya's expression became rather serious in contrast to her usual cheerful attitude. "It must have been when she was visiting the flower shop in the Human Village." she stated with a nod of understanding.

"Yes? yes, you're right." Kyouichi confirmed. He was a bit surprised that Aya knew about her visiting the flower shop. "Are you a friend of hers?"

A very amused laughter came from the crow tengu reporter. "Oh, that's a good one! If we were friends, Kyouichi-kun, I certainly wouldn't have received THAT kind of welcome from her?" she gently tapped at the dense danmaku pattern on the photograph with Yuuka Kazami.

"A little word of advice to you," she continued in a more serious tone, "don't get in her way. She doesn't like humans much, even if she looks like one."

"Well, I've heard that she didn't have many friends from our race." Kyouichi recalled one of the idle conversations he had with the flower youkai. "And I've heard that she likes danmaku battles? Say, Reimu, why wasn't Yuuka-san invited to the tournament?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed loudly, as if Kyouichi's question was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard.

"Hmm? I guess you're right." Kyouichi admitted after a thoughtful moment. "Yuuka-san probably doesn't like crowded places? What a pity? I'd really like to see her dueling."

"Be glad that she's not here." said the crow tengu. "Seriously?"

"Whatever?" shrugged the outsider and returned the portfolio to its rightful owner.

As he returned his attention to the duel above the Hakurei Shrine's stage, he only saw Kogasa rubbing her stomach in a pained expression, most likely after receiving a hit from Meiling's danmaku. The duel ended with no big surprises. The Scarlet Devil Mansion's gate guard has made short work out of her opponent and survived her Spell Card when the karakasa girl was on the offensive.
The rest of the duels in that discipline played out in similar fashion. Some ended surprisingly quickly, others lasted longer than expected. Then came an event that surprised almost everyone ? Reimu Hakurei was defeated in the semi-final against Alice. The other pair that managed to fight their way up to the final four was Sakuya and Yuyuko; the former ending up as the victor.

In the final round, the spectators witnessed an intense duel between the puppeteer and the maid, which ended after 4 rounds. The ultimate survivor and the winner of the first discipline was finally known?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the first Spell Card Survival champion, and her name is Sakuya Izayoi! Well, it's not her real name, actually, but since nobody knows what she was called before she began working for the Scarlet vampire, Remilia gave her a new job and identity! Congratulations to you, Sakuya-san! And I apologize for defeating your mistress a while ago? We've seen some really interesting battles, but the tournament is far from over! Coming up next is the Double Duels discipline. But make no mistake, folks! The teams are also completely random and you most likely won't see two friends or a master/servant fighting on the same side. The rules for this discipline are simple. Each team can use up to three Spell Cards and each contestant gets eliminated after receiving three hits. The tricky part about the Double Duels is that if just one of the team members gets eliminated, the respective team loses automatically. Also, should the team use up its final Spell Card without eliminating the opposition in the process, they will also be declared defeated. And I should also mention: watch out for that friendly fire, dear contestants~! Getting hit from your partner counts the same as getting hit from your opponent in this discipline~! Now, let us welcome our first quartet of double duelists: Eirin Yagokoro and Cirno will face off against Satori Komeiji and? Oh my, I should hurry to the stage! I'm in team with Satori-san!"
"Well, Cirno-san, it seems that we're a team now." stated Eirin with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hmm?" the ice fairy thoughtfully observed her new danmaku partner. "I'm small, so I'll be a bit harder to hit? But you are quite big? especially here?" she shamelessly floated up and poked Eirin's breast with her finger.

"Kyaaah~!"

The Lunarian's expression in that moment showed signs of shock, embarrassment and anger at the same time.

"Just wait a couple of decades and you too will be a bit easier to hit in that area?" she made a humorous retort about Cirno's breast size.

On the other side of the stage, Aya and Satori were having a short discussion about tactics.

"So, since I'm a faster flyer, it would be better if?"

"Okay?" nodded Satori who had already read Aya's thought.

"Uhh? Fine, so as for the choice of Spell Cards we should?"

"I know?" muttered the purple-haired youkai girl.

"Good, good?" Aya grinned sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm glad that we can understand each other so well. But we should also be careful about?"

"But of course."

"And don't forget about?"

"Yes, yes?"

"Guh?" Aya had given up her attempt to give advice to the young satori, as she was well aware that whatever she was thinking about was well visible to her third eye.

The match was about to begin.

"Guess I'm the one to start this show off again?" muttered Reimu with an annoyed tone as she reluctantly stood up from the porch. "On your marks! Ready! Fight!"

A burst of red ofuda painted a pattern on the night sky and the showdown began.

During the first 30 seconds of the match neither of the teams resorted to using a Spell Card. Probably because they were worried about wasting them needlessly. Cirno decided to take an offensive role while Eirin provided fire support with her longbow. Any arrows that she shot quickly turned into a spray of red magic bullets that were keeping the opposing team at bay.

The ice fairy opened her palms and hurled streams of sharp icicles, as if she was holding a pair of automatic weapons. The crow tengu proved to be a spectacular dodger and despite her rather unfortunate defeat in the Survival category against Shou Toramaru, she was evading every shot with her impressive agility. At the same time she was sending her characteristic wave-shaped danmaku at the other team. Satori was keeping a reasonable distance from the enemy and every few seconds she emitted a blast of red and blue magic bullets and orbs that has created an intricate symmetrical pattern with narrow openings.

And just when one of those waves got close to the ice fairy, she grinned slyly and used her enhanced freezing power.

Satori immediately sensed the danger of Cirno's intention and warned her danmaku partner: "Aya-san, get away from any of my projectiles!"

The crow tengu accelerated forward like a jet fighter and safely eluded the area flooded by Satori's danmaku.

Cirno froze the dense pattern of bullets and the chain reaction has been sent all the way back to the young Satori, who quickly dove sideways to escape the icy trap. By this time, Aya has already flanked Cirno, who just barely dodged her danmaku salvo. Eirin was just readying her bow to target the attacking tengu, but her speed was no match for Aya's. With a hit-and-run strategy, Aya struck the Lunarian doctor with one of her waves and retreated to Satori while grazing by Cirno's rapid-fire icicle counterattack.

Eirin figured that she had to surprise the enemy with a change of tactics, and so, she boldly hovered forward and changed her target from the elusive crow tengu to the less experienced and weaker-bodied Satori. But the mind reader saw her coming before she even made her move.

"Eirin-san is after me!" she warned her partner about the upcoming situation and Aya didn't hesitate to fly to Satori's aid.

And as the immortal doctor of Eientei closed the distance between her and her target, she launched a cascade of blue shots and huge greenish orbs that seemed impossible to dodge.
"Whoa! She's powerful?" stated Kyouichi as he observed Eirin's danmaku potential.

"Hey, Kyou?" Soudai spoke to him. "Do you still have that magic detector thing that you used in the bamboo forest?"

"Why yes?" the long-haired outsider nodded affirmatively. "Good idea, Soudai! Let's see how powerful these ladies are?"

And as he grabbed for the said object in his pocket and put it in front of his right eye, he felt like looking through a kaleidoscope.

"Let me see too!" Soudai was already taking the detector out of his hand. "Ooooh~! This is so cool! Look at all those colors!"

Satori was shining in a purplish light, while Aya's white aura was quite brighter. Cirno had a bluish radiance about her and Eirin's glow, which was the brightest of them all, shined in several different colors of the visible light spectrum.

"Hmm? well according to this little gadget of yours, I'd bet my money on the alien?" Soudai commented as he stared at the battle through the glass. But basing his opinion simply on one's raw magical potential could be quite misleading in danmaku battles.

The battle went on and just before Eirin's barrage would bury the poor satori girl alive, Aya darted in, grabbed her from behind under her shoulders and rocketed away from danger.

"What an amazing teamwork?" Reimu murmured to herself as she watched Aya's heroic rescue maneuver.

"Aaand? let's take a look at you, Reimu-san?" Soudai, still mesmerized by the magic detector's alternate mode, continued observing the people around him.

Reimu's divine power showed up as white, mist-like blur with occasional red spots showing up here and there. Surprisingly, her glow wasn't even much brighter than Satori's.

"Interesting? And how about, the main judge?" he shifted the glass to focus on Hieda no Akyuu and revealed just a few weak sparkles of violet color flaring up around her head.

"Not much for danmaku battles, I see? And you, Ishimaru?" he finally moved the detector to scan his friend, "You're just plain boring!" he exclaimed and chuckled as he didn't see a single speck of light around his body.

"Just give it back here before you break it or something?" Kyouichi was already demanding his detector back.

In the meantime, the double duel was just heating up? Or to be exact - freezing down?
"Freeze Sign "Perfect Freeze"!" Cirno decided that now was the right time to utilize her Spell Card.

With immediate effect all the danmaku projectiles that were in flight froze in midair, while Cirno's palms projected a fan-shaped cluster of blue icy orbs that were sent off against Aya and Satori.

"Thank you very much." Satori thanked her savior as she dragged her away from Eirin's barrage. But now that this barrage was frozen, Aya let go of her and readied herself to attack Cirno.

"No, Aya-san!" Satori halted her in the last second. "Don't fire any danmaku while the fairy's Spell Card is active. It would all turn against us."

"But our enemy is also susceptible to friendly fire." Aya opposed with a wry smile blooming on her face. "Let's do this together, Satori!"

Again, she held the young youkai with one of her hands and helped her fly at speeds that Satori would not be capable of. At the same time, both of them fired their danmaku at Cirno while making a big loop around her. Aya needed to be careful so that she wouldn't leave the dueling area and get disqualified. Both she and Satori were firing their danmaku, but Cirno's spell immediately froze all of their shots in place.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Aya-san?" Satori questioningly glanced at her teammate.

"You can simply call me Aya." said the reporter with a reassuring smile. "Just leave it to me..."

Aya flew fast, not letting go of Satori and made one full circle around the ice fairy, all the while evading Eirin's attempts to shoot her down.

And as Cirno's Spell Card ended, all the frozen projectiles were set into motion again, but no longer flying in their original direction. A true chaos ensued. Dozens of colorful orbs, bolts, pellets and lasers scattered randomly and threatened both teams.

"Hold on tightly, Satori!" Aya told her companion as she made a series of daring and risky evasive maneuvers that would make a normal human's head spin.

Poor Cirno realized with shock that she was in the middle of a danmaku storm, partially due to the effect of her Perfect Freeze. She evaded several shots, but caught one in the back of her head.

"Ack~! You stupid danmaku! Hit them; not me~!"

But Crino wasn't the only one in trouble.

"Whoa~! I doooont feeeel soooo gooood, Ayaaaaa~!" Satori desperately called out as Aya was driving her through the shower of magic shots.

"Now you're mine?" Eirin waited patiently for the moment when Aya was weaving through the narrow spaces between the danmaku projectiles to release her arrow.

And as the missile pierced the air in its flight, just before it reached the pair of a crow tengu and a satori, it dispersed into multiple shots.

"Damn it!" a curse escaped Aya's lips as she felt a sting on her left thigh. Her partner also got the taste of Eirin's danmaku, taking one shot in her arm. Now the score of both teams was even, with each contestant taking precisely one hit.

"Are you alright, Satori?" Aya checked the condition of her partner, still holding her tightly in flight.

After Satori's confirmatory nod, she asked her another question: "Do you know what I'm thinking about right now?"

The mind-reader's third eye shifted upwards and processed Aya's train of thought. She was now fully aware of the tengu's next plan without her having to say a word.

"I'll do my best." murmured the purple-haired youkai after becoming aware of Aya's next move.

"Let's do this!" Aya called out and soared up into the sky.

"Where are they going?" wondered Cirno as she watched her opponents quickly increasing their altitude. "Isn't that against the rules?"

Eirin thoughtfully gazed into the sky. "The dueling area is only limited by vertical boundaries, so I suppose their move is not breaking any rules? I wonder what they're up to."

"Aren't we going to follow them?" Cirno impatiently asked her partner.

"I'm not sure? Maybe that's exactly what they want? And maybe they're about to perform a high altitude dive-attack, in which case we better prepare some countermeasure."

"Oh, look here they come!" the fairy called as she pointed at the sky at a blazing white line shooting downwards.

Erin drew out her Spell Card, preparing herself for the moment when the enemy team would get within her range.

"Move a bit further away from me, Cirno-san."

"Alright!" the fairy did as she was asked and split up from her teammate.

"Just come and get us, Shameimaru-san." Eirin muttered to herself just when the enemy team was nearing their position.

"Awakened God "Memories of the Age of the Gods"!"

A beautiful colorful spectacle was triggered by Eirin's Spell Card. A huge fan of very large red orbs was making the area behind Eirin a zone of certain hit. However, with greater distance they spread further apart from each other and created quite wide safe zones. On the other hand, the front side of the attack began with a fan-shaped stream of smaller red bolts of magical energy. Then in an instant, several bright blue orbs of light appeared in front of the Lunarian in a regular symmetrical formation. The next moment, Eirin shot a laser-like beam out of her palm into the nearest of these blue orbs, which worked like mirrors, splitting the beams into two and sending them directly into the next group of orbs. The result was resembling a giant magical spider web or a genealogical tree that spread far and wide in front of her. She thought that her card would surely hit someone from the opposing team, but it wouldn't be Satori if she didn't have her mind read beforehand.

Just in time, she managed to warn her tengu partner that the Lunarian was trying to mar their plan with one of her Spell Cards, and so, the fastest reporter in Gensokyo, changed the direction of her flight by 180 degrees. In other words, she instantly stopped and soared back upwards.

"They're getting away again!" Cirno shouted at Eirin who was in the middle of her Spell Card trance.

By this time, however, both Aya and Satori were far out of reach of her danmaku.

Cirno was desperately staring as the enemies were retreating and as Eirin's Spell Card was going to waste.

"Uuuu? What do I do?" she struggled to think of something, but she couldn't follow the fleeing tengu and satori, because she'd surely get hit by the Lunarian's danmaku in the process.

Meanwhile, Aya stopped ascending and gazed at the light show several hundred meters below her feet with amusement. Danmaku shots could travel great lengths too, but at this distance, they were so inaccurate that they hardly posed a threat for Aya and her partner from the underground.

"All we have to do now is to wait until her card ends, hehehe~."

"And then we repeat the attempt, right?" asked Satori.

"We're even on hits right now, but unlike them, we still have three cards left. If we can provoke them into using another card and survive it, we have this battle won."

"I hope you're right?" said the mind-reader with a hint of concern in her tone. Even though she was able to read thoughts, what she was about to do was a surprise attack and she couldn't quite predict how her opponents would react to it.

Erin's Spell Card didn't score a single hit against Aya and Satori, and in fact, it nearly managed to shoot Cirno.

"Hmm? I might have underestimated our opposition." said the Lunarian as she observed the resulting situation. Not even her brilliant mind was enough to outwit the combination of a super-fast flyer and a youkai that could see her brilliant mind like an open book.

For Satori, this battle was an invaluable danmaku experience, teaching her a lot about tactics as well as teamwork.

"Now is the time." Aya whispered into her ear, letting her know that their offensive move was about to begin.

A single nod from Satori, and Aya was already looping downwards, accelerating into incredible speed.

"Let's go after them!" Cirno wanted to make her opponents pay for their insolence and flew upwards to meet them.

"Wait, Cirno-san!" Eirin tired to halt her, but seeing as how the fairy wouldn't listen to her, she was more or less forced to follow her and make sure she wouldn't do any foolish fairy-like mistake.

Two teams were closing in on each other in a dangerous speed. If they were to accidentally crash into each other, the match would end up in a tragedy. But Aya was too skilled a flyer to allow such a thing. Just before meeting the enemy team, she let go of Satori and continued on without her, jetting past both Cirno and Eirin.

Thinking that Aya was still holding Satori to help her fly faster, both the ice fairy and the doctor from Eientei targeted their non-card barrages at the tengu.

That's when Satori, who remained unnoticed, took her chance. Observing the minds of both of her enemies, she channeled her third eye and cupped her hands together. Beams of bright light were seeping through the tiny gaps between her fingers and changed its colors from red to blue before fading into darkness.

As the young satori maiden opened her palms, a freshly created Spell Card rested in her hand.

Such was the extent of her innate ability. She could create Spell Cards based on the experiences of her opponents. While not being exact duplicates, these replicas reflected the danmaku patterns that her opponents have seen or used in the past. Like this, she was able to create a card consisting of both Eirin's and Cirno's danmaku. And she didn't waste a second to declare it.

"Frozen Arcanum "Hourai Ice Cream"!" she read the card's name out loud. "Hourai Ice Cream? Where do these names keep coming from anyway?"

A phantom image appeared right above Satori's head, looking like Princess Kaguya with blue hair and wings like Cirno's. Her dress also resembled that of the ice fairy. The phantom seemed to be channeling its energy into Satori's spell.

A multi-layered ring consisting of magic bullets of varying colors formed itself around Satori and several streams of rapid icicles burst outwards, while spinning slowly around. As the rings expanded layer-by-layer, they froze in place and began falling chaotically like large colorful snowflakes.

"What the??!" Eirin surprisedly lifted her eyes up and saw Satori and the phantom of Cirno/Kaguya hybrid floating above.

The new Spell Card caught her completely off guard and she failed to evade one of the icicles that hit her hard in the head.

"Unf? Ow?"

"Don't worry, Eirin~!" Cirno called at her while charging her power up. "I'll show her who's the strongest!"

Just when the confusing danmaku was about to drop on her, she focused her freezing power and waited for the right moment when the pattern became as dense as possible.

"Freeze~!"

A series of crackling and hissing sounds, characteristic of rapid freezing echoed in the sky. The denser the bullet formation, the more of them got frozen. And since this new Spell Card was really difficult, the ice wave got all the way to Satori. All of the frozen

[Dumanios]

Read through the whole story over the last few days. I must say, it's one of the best fanfics I have ever read.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 49 ? The Main Event

After the short break, Aya again returned to her role of the tournament announcer and she was just announcing the names of the contestants for the first match.

"So, let's not delay the show any longer! But due to unexpected occurrences, there has been a slight change of duelists in the first match. Instead of Hijiri Byakuren, we'll see a match between Reiuji Utsuho and Mystia Lorelei. Three Spell Cards, three hits to win. The main event has begun! The stage is yours, contestants, let's get it on~!"

After firing her signal danmaku into the sky, the hell raven and the youkai night sparrow took off into the air and unleashed their danmaku at each other. The match was quite boring, though. It ended in less than a minute, in a way that pretty much everyone predicted. Utsuho single-handedly won the duel without getting hit even once. She even apologized to the night sparrow for eliminating her so early. Mystia had probably seen it coming anyway, and with no hard feelings, she rejoined her friends in the crowd.

"My, my?*yawn*? how unexpected." Aya commented while feigning a very unamused attitude. "Reiuji-san has won the match? Tell me folks, but honestly? Did anybody think that Lorelei-san would win? Come on, raise your hands. Don't be shy?"

A few hands were raised from the crowd of spectators, but definitely not many of the shrine visitors thought that the night sparrow would stand a chance.

"And now, folks, it's time for a more interesting match! In a duel where speed and reflexes mean everything, I, Aya Shameimaru will go up against one of the Double Duel champions, Konpaku Youmu~! Again, I apologize to you for not being able to comment this match while fighting, but I believe that words won't be necessary here! Sakuya-san, you better stay by Akyuu's side just in case we'd need you to replay this match in slow motion again."

"Enough talking, Aya." Reimu silenced her. "Get on the stage already."

"Impatient, are we?" the tengu teased her a bit. "Have no fear! Aya-chan is here~!"

Aya boldly flew over to the stage, where Youmu was already waiting for her.

Reimu gave the signal and the danmaku fest started.
Youmu drew out her Roukanken in a blink of an eye and intended to land the first hit in the first second. Aya's speed, however, was at least as high as Youmu's and her katana only managed to cut the air where the crow tengu was standing.

Immediately thinking of a counterattack, Aya waved her hauchiwa fan and sent a trio of intersecting wave-shots at Youmu, who was just in a vulnerable position.

*clash*

The half-ghost's sword sang a high-pitched tone as she blocked the incoming shots that dispersed harmlessly. The crowds were going crazy. Battles like this were always more eye-catching than the "David vs. Goliath" matches, in which "David" was rarely the winner.

"Heh? I feel like Caesar in ancient Rome." Soudai remarked as the battle went on.

"Yeah, except that she is the Caesar here?" Kyouichi beckoned at Reimu. "?and the gladiator in one person. Besides, I doubt that the fights in the Colosseum were as interesting as these."

The fight between Aya and Youmu was very fast-paced, but at the same time, both duelists were extremely careful. It even seemed that they were fighting with a certain deal of foresight. Youmu wasn't just waving her sword around. She created a series of highly precise danmaku patterns that nearly took her opponent by surprise, but Aya could deal well with unexpected situations in very short time. It was just about time for one of the girls to declare their Spell Card, and so it happened?

"Gaki Sword "Storybook of the Gaki Realm"!"

Aya did fire a burst of shots with the intention to interrupt Youmu's card declaration, but the half-ghost made a long dodge with such speed that it almost looked like instant teleportation.

Her sword left a trail of white danmaku that resembled arrow heads. The trail quickly burst into all directions, showering the air with magic projectiles. The bullets moved fast and Aya herself was having a bit of a problem with reading their pattern. Fortunately for her, just when the wall of danmaku got close to her, everything seemed to have slowed down for just a brief moment. Aya hurriedly moved to a safer spot and as the high speed kicked in again, she was ready to perform some fast, but precise dodging maneuvers.

And just as that white bullet hail passed her by, she attempted to return fire. She sent a pair of larger red orbs that were directed at Youmu's position and accelerated very quickly, leaving a glowing trail behind. They almost looked like miniature comets as they flashed through the air. As fast as they were, however, they missed their target as the half-ghost just executed another dodging slash, repeating her Spell Card's pattern over and over again.

The crow tengu reporter could feel her heart race as dozens of white danmaku shots were grazing past her. She had an idea how to deal with this card, but the random bursts of bullets were nearly impossible to predict. That one moment of calm during the bursts barely allowed her any relief from the rush of excitement. Another wave was already coming her way and she needed to stay absolutely focused on the dodging.

"And left, and right, and left again! No!"

She felt that all too familiar burning sensation of a danmaku hit on her stomach.

Reimu nonchalantly made one notch next to Aya's name in the chart and continued watching the duel.

Even after just being hit, Aya needed to keep on dodging Youmu's spell until it ended. Of course, she could still try to attack her or use her own Spell Card, but she believed that it would be a waste to use it right now.

She survived the rest of the card's duration and was ready to repay the hit. She made a quick dash towards Youmu and immediately darted backwards while firing a V-shaped stream of blue and white orbs.

The half-phantom only had to slightly change her altitude to keep herself safe from Aya's attack. Without drawing any cards, she created a pattern made of dozens of green and yellow spheres. The curved streams of these spheres intersected each other on many places and forced Aya to keep moving. But the crow tengu had considerably less problems with this pattern. In just a moment, she made her way close to Youmu's position and greeted her with another salvo of bluish waves. This time, Youmu's sword arm was not quick enough to block them and Reimu could make one notch next to her name as well.

The score was even now. Youmu didn't even seem to want to dodge the last attack. She prepared herself to get hit and already thought a few steps ahead. Not even a second after Aya's wave hit her, she bolted towards her while performing a slash.

The surprised tengu gasped and by sheer reflex she ducked in the last possible moment. A light breeze from Youmu's slash caressed her hair, not even realizing how she dodged it or when did Youmu manage to cut her shoulder with her second, shorter sword.

"H-hey!" Aya jetted away from Youmu and checked her shoulder. No physical wound was found, but she could feel a bit light-headed after being cut by the Hakurouken ? the White Tower Sword.

Not willing to take any chances, Aya decided enough was enough and called her first Spell Card of the duel.

"Wind God "Wind God Hidden Among Tree Leaves"!"

The card whipped up a gust of wind and hundreds of leaf-shaped green shots appeared around the caster, following the perfectly arranged wind currents. The resulting effect was a beautiful circular formation formed by a multitude of smaller circles of this leaf-shaped danmaku, all swirling around and shooting out in all directions. While initially the pattern appeared to be perfectly symmetrical, as soon as the "leaves" burst out, they broke their regular formation and followed random directions.

Seeing as this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought, Youmu was mentally preparing herself to use another card.

"Not just yet?" she thought to herself as she evaded the flurry of green danmaku with relative ease. "Not yet?"

The second and third wave posed no great problems for her, but during the fourth wave, the danmaku streams have spread widely and covered every cubic meter of space. While still leaving openings, this mass of shots incoming from multiple directions was a true challenge for even the best dodgers. Youmu focused and slipped through a gap between two leaves approaching from her left side. In the same moment she turned her head right and found another chance for her to slip through. Again, a look to her left and?

"Now!"

At the very moment that she felt the touch of danmaku on her leg, Youmu declared her Spell Card.

"Hell Realm Sword "200 Yojana in 1 Slash"!"

Reimu was just about to add a second notch next to Youmu's name to note that she's been hit twice, but her quill remained motionless, since the half-ghost's immediate Spell Card declaration nullified the hit.

A mass of transparent violet orbs popped up in front of Youmu, who subsequently drew out her longer sword and slashed through them. Again, it looked like she simply teleported herself from one side to another as she performed her slash. The orbs that were cut by her blade scattered into hundreds of smaller red pellets and burst outwards.

Now, both Aya and Youmu were in their Spell Card trance and the spectators could see a wild and beautiful display of clashing barrages of green and red lights. While they lasted, both spells were pretty much negating each other, not letting the opposing bullet storm to get near their caster. But Aya was aware that her card would end sooner than Youmu's and was already preparing her dodging tactics as she studied Youmu's bullet pattern.

For another 20 seconds, both girls were literally hidden in the clouds of their own danmaku. As expected, Aya's card fizzled out and she had to rely on her flying skills once again.

"Whoa~!"

She evaded the barrage of red spirit fragments just by a few centimeters. She swung her hauchiwa just as she evaded a series of Youmu's danmaku. Her counterattack almost worked, but Youmu just made another slash, traveling over 20 meter distance in the blink of an eye.

Aya's gust of wind missed its mark again and she now had more bullets in the air to dodge.

As she saw that the wave of incoming danmaku was simply too dense, the crow tengu backed away to allow the bullet formation to spread a little wider so she could squeeze through. And as she did that, Youmu's spell has timed out.

"Now's my chance." thought Aya.

"A perfect opportunity." plotted Youmu.

With the dispersing barrage of Youmu's dying spell, both girls sought to execute their plan in order to eliminate their opponent. Youmu dashed forward to surprise the tengu with a melee attack, while Aya propelled herself downwards, evaded the wall of shots and landed on the stage. Using her muscular strength, she took off again heading for where Youmu was floating while she was using her previous Spell Card. She noticed that the half-ghost was no longer there and in that split second she turned around, noticing the defenseless back of Yuyuko's servant.

Youmu thought that she could surprise Aya by flying along with her own bullet barrage and using it as cover, but something was wrong? The tengu was no longer in her sight and that could not be good.

"Too late, Youmu." Aya sent her regards along with a swift danmaku barrage at the unsuspecting gardener.

"And Aya scores a seco..." Reimu was about to announce that the match was tied once again, but something she saw prevented her from doing so.

The half-ghost focused her senses to be sharper than her blades, and as she heard the distinctive sound of incoming danmaku shots, she turned around while performing a blind slash with her Roukanken.

*clash*

Aya quickly figured that her barrage was not going to be enough to bring Youmu down and so, she repeated her attempt in outflanking her. With her speed, which by several times surpassed the speed of sound, she made another fly-by. This time she jetted over Youmu's head while firing a burst of highly accurate magic bolts. Her plan was to fly around Youmu, while assaulting her from all directions, not giving her much chance for evasion or counterattack.

And the half-ghost was indeed in a pinch right now. While she could use her sword for defense, slashing multiple high-velocity danmaku projectiles incoming from all directions was a bit too much for this girl to handle.

Aya was insanely fast in her flight and her flanking maneuvers were getting more dangerous by each second.

Youmu knew that it would be most unwise if she just stood there and tried to deflect all those incoming shots with her weapon. But even when she tried to keep moving, Aya's hit-and-run tactics wasn't giving her many opportunities. She evaded the first stream while cutting through the second, but a third wave was already about to hit her. The half-ghost was seriously considering using her final Spell Card, even if it meant that she would lose if Aya managed to stay unhit over its duration.

The crow tengu was assailing her from all sides with ever increasing speed and more dangerous danmaku barrages. But with her increased speed she needed to fly a longer distance to make a full 180 degree turn. Nevertheless, Youmu could not react fast enough to avoid every shot.

"Oh, well? At least I tried." thought the half-ghost as she noticed another dense salvo of bright-red shots and blue waves with the corner of her eye. She braced herself for the inevitable impact, ready to accept her defeat like a warrior?

"Stop the match, stop the match~!" Reimu shouted as she waved a red flag over her head. And she wasn't the only one raising the flag. From the other side of the stage, several other hands with the same-colored flags popped up.
With freshly made holes into her clothing, Youmu was slowly descending down to the stage with her head lowered in self-disappointment. Aya finally stopped flying like crazy and landed on the stage after her opponent.

Reimu stood up from her sitting position and cleared her throat before making her announcement: "During her last offensive against her opponent, the contestant Shameimaru Aya has left the designated dueling area, and is thus disqualified."

"Wha??" Kyouichi surprisedly blinked at Reimu's announcement.

"Eh?" Aya's reaction was filled one half with disbelief and one half with embarrassment.

"Disqualified?" the surprised half-ghost repeated Reimu's last word with an incredulous look on her face.

The spectators as well as the dueling girls were struck dumbfounded for a few seconds while they were processing their thoughts.

"Ayaya? I messed up there, didn't I?" the reporter of Bunbunmaru News blushed as she scratched the back of her head.

Reimu spoke again after a brief pause: "The winner of the match, is therefore Konpaku Youmu~!"

"I? won?" uttered Youmu after taking her time to let Reimu's words roll around in her head. "Hehe? I won?"

Despite being groggy after taking hits from multiple shots sent at her by Aya, Youmu couldn't hold back a smile.

"It was a very fine battle with you, Konpaku-san." Aya bowed to her, sporting a pretty carefree expression on her face.

"But if it wasn't for the rules, I would have lost." Youmu opposed.

"You still had one Spell Card, left, though."

"True, but I was hesitant to use it. Besides, you also had one more card, Aya-san."

"Well, I don't really mind losing to you, Youmu-san. This way I can stay focused on doing my job of a reporter and take plenty of pictures of this tournament. Good luck in your next duels."

"Thank you, Aya-san." the half-ghost bowed to her and the girls parted their ways, leaving the stage vacant for the next pair of duelists.

As the crow tengu made her way back to her original place on the shrine's porch, Reimu couldn't hide her amused smirk.

"And you almost won the match, Aya?"

"Ehehe~. What can I tell you?" shrugged the reporter of Bunbunmaru. "The dueling area is too narrow."

"You were doing really well in the Double Duels, though. I didn't expect you to do such a stupid mistake." the shrine maiden criticized Aya's performance.

Aya didn't really fret about having lost, even if it was due to her own error. "It's just a game? Anyway, I'm curious about how well will you fare in your match, Reimu."

"It's not my turn yet."

"I know, but I'm still curious to see you duel with Marisa."

"Why don't you announce the next pair of contestants before that?" Reimu passed her the tournament chart.

Aya let out a weak chuckle. "Let's see then?" she cleared her throat as she read the names of the following duelists. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have no excuse for being disqualified in the previous match, but life and the tournament goes on~!"

Another wave of cheers echoed from the crowd of humans and youkai. Many of Aya's supporters started calling out her name.

"But in return? I shall provide you all with plenty of 1st class photographs from this tournament in the next issue of Bunbunmaru! Anyway, the danmaku fest continues and the next two girls have a lot in common. A few minutes ago, you could see a duel of speed. Well, now it will be a duel of raw strength and power. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the two oni ? Ibuki Suika and Hoshiguma Yuugi~!"
From the far end of the stage, two female figures ascended into the air and landed on the well illuminated stage of the Hakurei Shrine.

The tall single-horned blonde girl and the short, ginger-haired oni bowed to the audience and the judges before they turned their faces at each other.

"I'm so happy that you've come to visit the surface world!" Suika expressed her joy of reuniting with her long-time friend.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't even planning it, but Satori suddenly paid me a visit with her interesting request." Yuugi explained the conditions of her unexpected arrival. "I couldn't turn her down when she told me that I could meet you here, hehe~."

"I heard about that." nodded the two-horned Suika. "She was supposed to bring her sister and her kasha along, but they decided to visit the Moriya Shrine."

Their idle conversation got suddenly interrupted by a loud bang and a flurry of red amulets, painting a pattern on the dark night sky. Reimu just gave them the signal to start the duel.

"Aww?" Yuugi pouted in displeasure. "Do we really have to start dueling now? I'd rather have a drinking contest with ya."

"Me too~." acknowledged Suika as she sadly lowered her head.

"Start the duel already~!" a distant shout from Reimu urged the two oni friends to float up and put on a good show for the audience.

"Oh well, this game isn't so bad either." shrugged the blonde oni as she hovered to her position.

"Like old times, eh, Yuugi?" Suika smiled with a nostalgic memory on her mind.

"Remember when we tried to make that super-concentrated sake when we were little?" Yuugi brought up another memory to Suika's mind.

"Pfhahahaha~!" Suika couldn't defend herself from the laughing fit as she recalled that event. "How could I forget? Hahahaha~!"

While Suika and Yuugi were having a good laugh above the stage, the audience and tournament judges were beginning to wonder when these girls would actually start dueling.

"If you don't start in three seconds, you're both disqualified!" Reimu let her impatience be known to the pair of oni.

"Oh well?" Suika regained her composure after the shrine maiden's warning.

"We can still chat and drink after we're done with this duel." said Yuugi and made a circular motion with her right hand, making over a dozen large blue orbs appear around her.

Instead of charging up her attack, Suika was preparing herself to dodge whatever Yuugi would conjure up.

Not having to wait for too long, all of Yuugi's orbs fired blue beams in all directions, just closely missing Suika's left shoulder. After all of Yuugi's orbs have fired their beams, they disappeared for a while before the attack was repeated. In this short moment, Suika charged in, lobbing two fireballs at her opponent with both of her arms.

Yuugi didn't even flinch, even when the projectiles were accurately heading for her position. Her confidence was soon explained by the fact that the circle of blue orbs appeared around her again, serving not only its offensive, but also a defensive purpose.

The fireballs took out two of Yuugi's orbs, but have caused her no harm. The rest of the blue spheres fired their lasers in the same fashion as the first time. This time, however, the pattern was a little easier. After watching the bright beams flashing around her, Suika fired a pair of orb-shaped mist-like projectiles at her opponent. Yuugi finally moved from her place, because she knew what these mysterious magic orbs do. She dodged to her left just in time before Suika's shots reached her original position. But even as she moved away, the misty orbs seemed to have followed her movement, slightly changing their direction. The orbs that were conjured up by Yuugi were about to fire another series of lasers, but Suika's danmaku destroyed several of them before they could fire. Not only that, but the shots continued in their flight, making a sharper turn towards the main target.

"Whoa! Almost made me spill my sake~!" called the blonde oni while making an adequately fast dodge to shake off the persistent danmaku. Even during a battle, she was holding her bright-red tray filled with sake and taking sips from it every few seconds.

"Hey, Yuugi~!" Suika suddenly called at her. "I bet I could make you spill your sake."

"Ohoho~! You're welcome to try~!" she accepted the challenge.

"Okay, Yuugi. Now hold still for a moment?" grinned the ginger-haired oni as she reached for her Spell Card.

"Oni Sign "Missing Power"!"

A purplish light consumed the card in her hand and became one with her body. Almost instantaneously, the otherwise short Suika became a hulking giant.

"Ooooooh~!" Everyone in the crowd spectators and judges couldn't hide their bewilderment from the sight of an oni's power. Suika now measured well over 20 meters in height and the span of her horns almost equaled the width of the large stage. If she wasn't levitating, she'd surely crush the wooden floor of the Hakurei Shrine's festival stage with her feet.

"NOW GET READY, YUUGI?" her voice, loud as thunder, but still childish in sound, resonated over the shrine yard. "HERE IT COMES!"

"Are you going to hit me, or are you just going to waste time talking about it?" Yuugi fearlessly taunted her friend to attack her. "Give me your best punch~!"

Suika knew that she could really go wild with her tremendous strength against an opponent such as Yuugi. She balled her huge fist and readied her massive arm to throw a punch. Everyone at the shrine held their breath for that short moment?

Yuugi just calmly hovered in one place, holding her tray of sake, as if this was just another peaceful moment for her.

"Does she really want to get hit by Suika-san?" Aya couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the scene with her camera snapping pictures in rapid succession.

In the next second, Suika was already swinging her arm at Yuugi.

With force that could shatter an entire mountain range, Suika's gigantic fist met Yuugi's body. The force of impact was so strong that it sent out a mighty shockwave that slightly shook the ground near the Hakurei Shrine and made some of the human spectators lose their balance and fall.

"Kyaaaah~!" exclaimed Reimu who was just sipping her tea and the shockwave made her spill it over herself. "Hot, hot, hot!"

"Are you alright, Reimu?" Aya threw a quick glance at the miko before she resumed snapping shots of the battle.

When the shocked spectators shifted their sights back to the stage, they couldn't hide their amazement. Aya was apparently brimming with excitement as she commented the scene.

"Ayayayaya~! Can it be true?? Yuugi-san bravely took Suika-san's hit!"

The blonde oni was knocked back by nearly ten meters, but she remained floating, and what's more, she was still holding her red tray of sake.

"?OW~!" the magically-grown Suika made a pained expression and began rubbing the fist with which she hit her opponent. "I THINK I PRICKED MYSELF ON YOUR HORN, YUUGI~!"

"Whoa?!" Yuugi shook herself awake after taking a hit that would surely kill any human and send them flying like a cannonball. "Where was I again??"

She looked a bit confused and after shrugging, she nonchalantly took another sip of sake from her tray.

"She didn't even spill a drop, ladies and gentlemen~!" called Aya. "Unbelievable!"

"What do you mean? She spilled everything~!" Reimu exasperatedly retorted as she tried to dry her soaked dress with her handkerchief.

"No, Reimu-san," the tengu grinned at her futile attempt, "you spilled everything."

"I should disqualify them both for that?" grumbled the shrine maiden, not even looking at the battle anymore.

"I'm still amazed that Yuugi-san was pretty much unharmed by that punch. Just as expected from one of the four Devas of the Mountain. But now she's losing to Suika-san by one hit."

And so, the crow tengu marked the hit into the battle chart while the battle between the two oni went on.

As a sign of respect and honor, Suika ended the effect of her Spell Card prematurely and returned back to her original size.

"Nice punch, Suika." Yuugi nodded in acknowledgement. "But this sake is just too good for me to let it be spilled."

"Hehe? They don't call you Yuugi the Strong for nothing." replied Suika cheerfully. "Now it's your turn to take a whack at me."

"What the hell do they think they're doing?" muttered Reimu, who finally resigned wiping her miko dress and returned to her current duty. "This isn't supposed to be a turn-based battle."

"Oh, come on, Reimu." Aya gave her a smile. "It's for the show and entertainment. Let them do their fight their way."

"But? come to think of it?" Yuugi rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "isn't this supposed to be a danmaku battle, Suika?"

"Yes, but now I'm in an unfair advantage. Just hit me back and we can continue this game with danmaku, okay~?"

"I suppose you're right." the one-horned oni cracked her knuckles. "Are you ready, Suika?"

"I was born ready~!" Suika smacked her underdeveloped chest with her fist as a sign of acceptance.

"Then here I come!"

"Oooh~! Wait, wait, wait~!" she interrupted her just a second before Yuugi's fist was about to land on Suika's body. The blonde curiously raised her eyebrow, wondering why Suika halted her. The answer to her question came in form of Suika taking a few hearty gulps of sake from her gourd.

"Aaaah?" she exhaled with a blissful expression on her face. "That hit the spot. Okay, now I'm ready~!"

Not waiting for anything else, Yuugi hovered backwards a few meters and made a brutally-looking charging punch, targeting Suika's torso.

"Umph!" uttered the ginger-haired oni as she was sent backwards by the enormous force of impact. Just barely she managed to regain control of her flight before she got knocked out of the battling area.

"Hahaha?" Suika chuckled as she flew back towards the middle of the stage. "I guess that makes us even then, huh?"

"Not yet?" Yuugi objected as she drew out her Spell Card. "Mysterious Ring "Hell's Wheel of Pain"!"

Immediately after declaring her card, Yuugi spread her arms wide and in a dazzling flash all the danmaku that was just being spawned disappeared harmlessly. "Now we're even." she added with a friendly smile after she just wasted her card.

Being truly even both on hits taken and Spell Cards left, the two oni continued their fight with danmaku. Not that melee hits were against the rules, but they both wanted to show off their magic bullet patterns. After the oni girls have increased the distance between each other, it was more than clear to everyone that an intense danmaku showdown would follow.

Suika created an orb of white light in her hand and threw it at Yuugi like a ball. The orb burst in the middle of its flight, and scattered dozens of small purple objects. It took a few seconds for even the sharp eyes of the crow tengu to identify Suika's danmaku.

"Ayaya, Suika-san is using her gathering and dissolving powers to make miniature replicas of herself and she's using those replicas as a part of her danmaku."

And as the miniature Suikas were littering the air, they subsequently exploded in fiery burst, making the danmaku density even thicker. Yuugi was now forced to move quickly, but very carefully through the clouds of fiery sparks and mini clones of her opponent. But even when under heavy fire, Yuugi was a dangerous adversary. With a just a subtle movement of her hands, she conjured up a huge cluster of two-colored projectiles around herself. The green orbs were immediately sent straight forward at Suika, while the yellow ones were shot sideways. The short oni deftly avoided the spreading cluster of green shots and returned fire. This time she created several large teal spheres and cast them forward in a fan-shaped pattern.

Not long after Yuugi fired her first wave, the yellow orbs which she fired sideways stopped in their flight and changed their heading by 180 degrees. This meant that Suika found herself in the middle of two intersecting salvos of yellow danmaku and had to make a lot of effort to avoid them. On the other hand, Yuugi had to freeze in one place due to the density of danmaku that was sent her way by Suika. She could even feel the warmth of her danmaku grazing all around her body, but none of the orbs hit her. Even when she felt a strong temptation to dive into the middle of the bullet stream and endure the hits, close the distance and fight Suika hand to hand, she knew that such a move would make her lose the duel. She had to devise a plan to score a hit by the means of danmaku. With all the chaos in the air, Yuugi figured it would be a good idea to use a Spell Card, as it would render her nearly immune to enemy fire for a brief moment and further increase the number of her own shots in the air.

"Oni Sign "Supernatural Phenomenon"!"

The Spell Card painted four spreading spiral-shaped strings consisting of hundreds of red magic bullets. They cleared a small area around Yuugi of enemy shots, but appeared to be just a decorative, theatrical pattern to an untrained eye. That changed in the next second as the spirals changed their color from violet to red and all the bullets were sent into motion at varying speeds. The resulting mixed barrage was simply too chaotic and dense to avoid. But Suika was no idiot. She knew that she couldn't just glide through all that curtain fire unscathed, so she declared her own Spell Card just in time before one of those shots touched her.

"Hell "Sigh of Purgatory"!"

After declaring the name of her following spell, her card turned into a bright blue gaseous cloud. Suika then took a deep breath and inhaled the vaporous substance.

"Ayaya, looks like Suika-san's using one of her more difficult cards. But Yuugi-san's card is still in effect. This should be quite a spectacle."

Just after Aya finished her sentence, Suika opened her mouth and exhaled a dazzling cloud burning in bluish fire that spread out symmetrically into several smaller clouds, each leaving a trail of spreading danmaku. A strong smell of alcohol flooded the whole shrine yard after Suika's "sigh".

"Better hold your breath, folks." Aya jokingly warned the audience. "You could get drunk from her breath alone."

For a whole minute and several seconds the people and youkai at the shrine were watching as the spells of two very powerful youkai were clashing and nullifying each other's effects.

The magical projectiles that hit each other in flight created miniature explosions of colorful light accompanied by various noises unlike anything that could be normally heard in the outside world. However, soon the spells have ended and the two oni were left each with just one card. Neither Suika, nor Yuugi wanted to use it, since they'd risk defeat, should their opponent evade every shot of the pattern before their spell runs out of power.

That's when the girls resorted again to normal danmaku attacks, but now they were more intense than ever.

Yuugi, as a show of power, raised her arm and a gleaming stream of yellow light erupted out of her hand, changing direction and bending its shape to a spiral as the blonde oni was beginning to spin around. At first, the narrow stream was no problem to dodge for the shorter oni girl, but after making a full circle, it spread vertically into a solid yellow wall of light, fading away just a few meters away from the safety zone where the spectators and judges were watching the battle. Suika quickly learned that she had to fly as fast as possible in the same direction as the wave of light if she wanted to avoid it.

"Looks like she's using a non-card pattern similar to her Light Oni "Adamant Helix"." noted the crow tengu with her expertise and knowledge of other Spell Cards. "But if she wants to abide the rules, she has to make it easier than her Spell Card version."

Of course, Aya was right, which turned out fortunately for Suika and all her supporters in the crowd. The awe-inspiring wall of yellow light ran out of power just as soon as it would make its second circle around Yuugi and its tail just grazed a few centimeters next to Suika's foot.

And just as the blonde oni was charging up to repeat the attack, Suika closed in on her and declared her final card, giving Yuugi little time and room to move away from immediate danger.

"Night Parade of One Million Demons!"

A tiny dark vortex opened up in the middle of the card and swallowed it in. Then it began rapidly growing in both size and gravity.

"You're taking this tournament seriously, aren't you?" Yuugi asked her a question just before she flew below Suika's feet in order to escape what was about to come in a few seconds.

"This is?" Aya paused herself as she gazed at Suika's card with awe and respect. "This is possibly the most powerful spell coming from possibly the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo?"

"Really?" Kyouichi who was sitting not too far from her asked with a crooked smile. "I've heard about the might of the oni, but ?"

"Aya-san says so most likely because the tengu were once serving under the oni a long time ago?" the usually quiet Satori spoke up to explain Aya's reaction.

"Hey, I'm not exaggerating! Just look at that!" she pointed her finger at Suika's growing vortex that resembled a miniature black hole. Of course, she kept taking as many pictures as she could.

All would indicate that Aya was not too far from the truth. Even if Kyouichi and other outsiders didn't see many powerful youkai dueling each other, it was quite obvious that this card was the epitome of the power of the oni. The "black hole" grew to the size of several meters and everyone who watched the match could feel its power as it sucked all the air from the area, creating strong wind blowing toward its center. Suika, however, appeared to be unaffected by her own power and just hovered a few meters away from the powerful vortex and watched Yuugi struggle with its gravity field. With each passing second the gravity grew ever stronger, up to the point where small objects from all over the shrine yard were being sucked in. Various bowls and bits of food from the people in the crowd were swallowed by the blackness, followed by rocks and branches and other small items.

Just as Reimu refilled her cup with fresh tea, the tea poured upwards and disappeared in the rift.

"My tea~!"

"Ayaya, my camera~!" Aya caught her tengu-brand camera in the last second after it slipped out of her hands. "Everyone, hold onto your small belongings~!"

Kyouichi too had to hold his glasses to prevent them from disappearing forever in Suika's miniature black hole. He could even feel the magic detector in his pocket looking for a way out, so he put his other hand on his kimono and held it tightly.

Even Satori's third eye was attracted by the Spell Card's force and the four cords that held it in place were now stretched like a slingshot ready to fire.

Akyuu, in panic of losing her diary, covered it with her body and lifted her worried eyes to the scene of battle.

"So this is what Yuyuko has for a stomach? I see?" Reimu made an inappropriate joke to vent her frustration of losing all her tea to the oni and her spell.

Just when the power of the vortex reached its maximum within the norms of safety, tens of bright danmaku orbs of various sizes appeared out of thin air, being quickly drawn to the vortex. Yuugi just barely evaded the first wave. Meanwhile, Suika charged up to fire a very large bubble-like orb directly at her. While covering a large area, this orb was moving rather slowly and wouldn't be too hard to dodge on its own. However, in combination with all the chaotic danmaku coming from behind and the powerful gravity field of the vortex, Yuugi wasn't as quick and agile as she would like to be.

"Was that a hit?" Akyuu asked while still covering her opened diary.

Yuugi's body was partially hit by the edge of the orb, but fortunately, only the central area of this oversized projectile was valid to make a hit and cause any damage. But Suika's attack wasn't calming down any moment. On the contrary; after assembling enough of smaller blue orbs that were randomly spawning all over the dueling area, the vortex sent out a spiral-shaped barrage of oval bolts of purple light to further reduce Yuugi's chances of winning.

The blonde oni was bravely trying to cope with all the incoming chaos, but any attempt for a counterattack failed when her danmaku was either hit by one of Suika's shots, or sucked in by the black hole. The two-directional streams of magical shots seemed to have no end. On several occasions it looked like Yuugi was hit, but she was avoiding the shots by the skin of her teeth. Perhaps she was only lucky, or perhaps more skillful then she was letting on. But even the best of luck eventually runs out?

"Ack~!" an unpleasant burning sensation stung the back of Yuugi's neck. "Damn it! I thought I could handle this card!"

"That's a hit, alright." Reimu was finally sure that Yuugi came into contact with her opponent's danmaku.

But Suika needed to hit Yuugi yet another time in order to win. Likewise, Suika was hit only once in this fight, but now she was betting everything on her final Spell Card. Hitting someone multiple times with the same Spell Card was not an uncommon sight in danmaku matches. Especially when a more experienced duelist faced a weaker opponent. But in this duel, both girls were pretty much on the same level.

Suika's card was truly outclassing all the other cards. At least in its duration. From all the cards in the previous battles, there was barely a single spell that lasted longer than 60 seconds. This one was just running its third minute. Even though it appeared to be stabilized and no longer increasing in danmaku intensity, Yuugi was growing rather nervous. If she got hit once, she could get hit again and at any time. That's when she suddenly slapped her forehead.

"Oh my? Am I sober or what~?! I totally forgot that I can also use my last card."

Not taking any chances, or giving any chances to Suika, she drew the last card and called out its name.

"Feat of Strength "Storm on Mt. Ooe"!"

A hailstorm of large blue orbs took over one half of the stage and was partially clearing away Suika's danmaku while some of the orbs were even getting close to hitting Suika.

"And another clash of Spell Cards~!" Aya called out with excitement. "But I think we can already tell who's the winner of this match." she added with a subtle smile on her face.

"Really? Who?" Kyouichi was definitely not as certain as Aya about the outcome of this spectacular duel.

But Aya simply kept smiling and shook her head, refusing to tell him.

"Aww, come on, Aya." he pleaded her, but the tengu remained teasingly silent.

"Just keep watching." she simply told him and turned her face again to the two dueling oni.

"Satori-san? You can see what she's thinking about, right? Will you tell me? please?"

Satori turned her unamused face at him.

"Pretty please?" he added a rather silly grin to his plea.

The mind reader blinked once without changing her neutral expression before she said: "No." and turned her face away from him, following Aya's example.

"Guh?" uttered Kyouichi after resigning his attempt to figure out why was Aya already certain about the winner before the duel even ended. But it soon became clear even to him.

After only about ten seconds of watching, the bluish orbs that were constantly being gathered by Suika's vortex have changed from bright to semi-transparent and the vortex itself was now emitting bright light instead of swallowing it up.

"Aaaaaaand this is it, ladies and gentlemen~!" Aya called out loudly, so that her voice could be heard through all the noise of danmaku. "This battle is over~!"

The black hole-like vortex exploded into million tiny sparkles of light that quickly faded and so did every single projectile of Suika's Spell Card. Now, only Yuugi's "Storm on Mt. Ooe" was dominating the scene above the Hakurei Shrine's stage, raining dozens of blue bubble-like orbs diagonally downwards. The strong wind has stopped and even the gravity returned back to normal. As soon as the 25 judges raised their green flags, even the blonde oni stopped her spell.

"We've all witnessed a fantastic duel between two members of the most powerful race of youkai in all Gensokyo~!" the tengu journalist commented the match. "We've seen both their raw strength and their danmaku capabilities and I have to say, I was moved~! At first I thought Suika-san was going overboard with her exceedingly powerful spell, but Yuugi-san cleverly played a waiting game and waited for the right moment to use her own final card. And since her card started much later than Suika-san's, it was bound to outlast it. Congratulations to Yuugi-san~! And of course, to Suika-san as well~! You both deserve to go further in the tournament, but the matches can have only one winner and that winner is Hoshiguma Yuugi~!"

A loud applause and cheering like after every match was now resonating over the shrine yard, celebrating Yuugi's victory. Both oni girls shook hands and embraced each other after the battle.
"That was so nostalgic~!" said the ginger-haired girl. "I wish you luck in this tournament!"

"Thanks, Suika."

"And don't get defeated by Reimu~!"

"Hehe, I'll try." Yuugi smirked lightly as she descended down to the ground.

"So you've seen it, folks!" Aya was still providing her post-duel commentary. "Even such can be the outcome of a danmaku battle. Please stay with us. After a short break the tournament continues and we're all bound to witness unforgettable duels tonight~! This is Aya Shameimaru and I hope you'll enjoy this tournament until the end~!"

"Finally I can take a short break?" Reimu sighed with relief and for the third time poured tea into her cup. "Ahhh~!"

"Why are you acting to be so tired?" Aya asked with a provoking tone. "You haven't even been doing anything yet, but sitting here."

"As if you were doing any hard labor, Aya?"

"How rude. I was the announcer for the whole tournament." the tengu defended herself. "Can I get some of that tea too? All this talking has made me quite thirsty?"

As the short break was announced, the crowd of humans and youkai was again dispersing all over the shrine yard, looking to resupply food, drinks and snacks.

"How long is this short break anyway?" Asakura Soudai asked the person who organized the whole festival.

"Just about ten or fifteen minutes. We can't afford to delay this competition too much, because there are other things in the program after that." the shrine maiden started explaining as she was serving some of the tea for thirsty Aya.

"And who's going to duel next?" Kyouichi wanted to know.

"Cirno and Byakuren." Reimu replied with an unamused tone. "Why does she always get the easiest opponents? I don't even need to see that duel to know how it'll end."

"Don't get ahead of things, Reimu?" said Aya and sipped her freshly served tea. "But? yeah? I guess you're right?" she changed her mind and agreed with her.

As the girls were discussing the details about the previous and future duels, a sound of footsteps and rolling wheels of a heavy cart being pulled could be heard through the noise in the crowd as it was getting closer to the back entrance of the shrine.

"Ahh, good evening, ladies." a pleasant greeting came from a tall man with silver hair dressed in black and blue kimono. "And gentlemen?" he added after seeing two young males resting on the shrine's porch in the company of four girls.

"Ooh~! Rinnosuke-san?" Aya was quite surprised to see this half-youkai merchant outside of his shop. And so were the other girls?

"Have you just arrived to the shrine?" Reimu gave him a curious glance.

"I was here the whole time." he replied and smiled at her while closing his eyes. "As every year, the festival is an opportunity for me to sell some odds and ends that don't usually sell well throughout the year. But in the end, it's always the food, snacks and drinks that's in the greatest demand?" he gently tapped his hand over the wooden cart with goods that he was pulling around the shrine yard.

"I planned to show myself and greet you ladies a bit earlier, but I thought you'd be busy with the tournament."

"What a good timing!" the cheerful tengu quickly got up from her sitting position and stepped closer to look at the content of Rinnosuke's cart. "I was actually rather thirsty."

"I just served you tea." Reimu reminded her.

"Well, true, but it's a bit too hot. I wonder what beverages you have for sale, Rinnosuke-san? Oooh~! What's this strange container?" she pointed at a small packet of unusual, red, shiny, metallic cylindrical containers that were resting in a small box filled with ground ice.

"Are these drinks too?" she asked and took one out of the box to take a closer look.

As soon as Kyouichi saw what she has taken, he began to chuckle. "So you've found the trick to extract those from that old vending machine in your shop, eh, Rinnosuke-san?"

"Eh? You recognize these, Kyouichi?" Aya, still holding a can of coke, glanced over at the amused outsider.

"Is that a can of cola I see?" Soudai didn't fail to notice the world-famous soft drink that was definitely not produced in Gensokyo. "Where did you get your hands on that?"

"Well, I have this device from the outside world? a vending machine that's apparently full of these. I got a taste of that drink and I have to say it's unlike anything I've tasted before. So sweet and a bit sour, and yet, I can't compare it to any fruit. Its color is like that of a very dark tea? I wonder if I could make more of this drink if I figured out what ingredients to use."

"Wow!" Soudai became just as amused as his younger friend. "But I'm afraid none of us would be able to help you with that? The recipe for that drink is one of the world's greatest trade secrets."

"What a pity." Rinnosuke lowered his head. "I should ask Yukari for another one of those vending machines when she shows up."

"Ah, so that's how you acquired it?" Soudai made an understanding nod. "That Yukari seems like a nice person, hehe?"

"Do you think so?" the owner of Kourindou lightly tilted his head. "Well, she usually brings things that almost never sell, but I have to admit that she's also keeping my business alive."

"But why asking for another vending machine when you could just ask her to bring you a few pallets of cans?" sounded Kyouichi.

"Well?" Rinnosuke thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I wonder if she could bring me a recipe for this new drink from the outside world?"

"Ha! Wouldn't that be awesome? I imagine that would be no problem for someone like her. Provided all the legends and rumors I've heard about her are true?"

Just as Kyouichi said that, a sudden knock on the wooden elevated floor of the shrine diverted his attention. Reimu put down her tea cup a bit forcefully before she stood up.

"Hey, you've been rather quiet, Reimu-san?" Rinnosuke remarked. "Usually, you and Marisa wouldn't stop chatting when you come to my shop."

"I'm going to change my top." murmured the shrine maiden, looking down at the wet spot on her dress where she spilled tea over herself during the match between the two oni. And with that, she walked into her shrine and closed the door.

"Strange?" the half-youkai man shrugged as he watched Reimu disappear in her shrine.

Aya returned the ice-cold can back into the box of Rinnosuke's cart. "Yeah?" she agreed with his statement regarding the behavior of the Hakurei shrine maiden.

Rinnosuke then shifted his gaze to Satori, who was absentmindedly looking at the shifting crowd around the stage. The youkai from the underground briefly returned her glance before nonchalantly turning away, not willing to give answers to any potential questions about what was going on in Reimu's mind today.

"So? how much for one can?" Kyouichi broke the silence with his question and jingling coins in his palm.

"200 yen."

"Whoa? That's rather steep, but I guess that's understandable due to the limited supply. I'll take one then."

"Me too!" Soudai was desperately digging around in the pocket of his kimono to scrape his last coins together. He was already indebted to both Kyouichi and Midori, but that didn't stop him from enjoying this festival.

"Alright~!" Aya clenched her fist out of excitement. "I'll give this weird cold tea a try too. Two hundred yen is not that much."

Rinnosuke was glad to make the transaction and passed the three cans to each of his customers. While Aya and Soudai didn't wait to open their cans and take a few gulps, Kyouichi was a bit more patient and decided to save his coke for later.

Suddenly everyone turned to the sound of the shrine's sliding door opening. True to her word, Reimu was back, wearing a clean top of her shrine maiden's attire.

"The break is almost over." she announced tersely and took a seat on her usual place.

"Would you mind if I rested here for a while?" asked Rinnosuke.

"Not at all. Why are you even asking?"

"Thank you." the half-youkai sat down on the shrine's elevated floor with a sigh of relief. "Ahh? I've been on my feet ever since morning."

"Mmm? This "kokakora" tea is pretty good?" said Aya after getting the first taste of this caffeine-filled beverage for the first time. "So this is what humans beyond the border drink, eh? I hope it doesn't turn me into a human, hehe~."

"You can relax, Aya." Rinnosuke reassured her. "I've already tested it on myself."

"Ah, I see? So it's safe then." smiled the crow tengu and took another gentle sip.

"By the way, Reimu, where's Marisa?" the shopkeeper wondered why the blonde witch wasn't tagging along with the miko as usual.

"You'll see her soon? falling down from her broom." said Reimu rather cold-bloodedly.

"Hm?" Rinnosuke turned his confused face at Aya.

"Oh? She means that she'll be dueling Marisa after the next match." the crow tengu deciphered Reimu's answer.

"Oh. I see now." he chuckled at Reimu's confidence. At least this was in character with her usual self today.

And so, the short break between the matches of the main event of the danmaku tournament was now at its end. Aya took one more gulp of the tasty new drink from the outside world and cleared her throat.

"Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, it's Shameimaru Aya, bringing you the best commentary of the first summer danmaku tournament in Gensokyo~!"

Even with her cheesy-sounding entry, the crowds were still going wild and cheering loudly.

"The tournament continues, but this time, after seeing two duels with relatively even-matched opponents, myself included, we now have a battle that is expected to be rather one-sided. Our next duelists are: Hijiri Byakuren and Cirno~!"
The cheering wasn't as loud as during the previous two matches, but the contestants didn't mind that. From the further side of the stage, two silhouettes, one tall and feminine, the other ? short and childish, flew over to the center of the dueling area.

The ice fairy showed a face full of determination, but was also marked by slight uncertainty. Even though the fairy was aware of the limitations of her own powers and dueling skills, she still managed to hide her fear well from the sights of the spectators and her opponent.

Byakuren, on the other hand, looked as she always did ? calm, elegant, beautiful and with a smile full of warmth.

"On your marks, duelists~!" Aya called at them with her arm raised, ready to give the signal to start the match.

However, Byakuren also raised her arm as she turned her face at the group of judges sitting at the shrine.

"Eh? What is it, Byakuren-san?" asked the tengu.

"I have an announcement to make." replied the spiritual leader from the Temple of Myouren.

"But you're about to beat up? I mean? duel against Cirno! Can't this wait after the tournament?"

"This announcement is regarding this battle, though."

"Oh? Alright, but please, make it quick. Reimu's already giving us both impatient glances."

Byakuren nodded in response and began her announcement: "All that I wanted to say is that I feel very sorry for the battles against the weaker youkai during the previous disciplines."

?

An awkward silence arose after the monk's words. Nobody was sure what to say or think about it. Even Aya took a few seconds of sorting her thoughts before she spoke again.

"Is that all you wanted to tell us, Byakuren-san?"

"And therefore?" Byakuren continued, "I'd like to apologize to all of those youkai who I defeated so cold-heartedly, and to make up for it, I hereby forfeit this duel." she finished her sentence with a radiant smile and bowed to everyone.

Instead of an awkward silence, sighs of surprise and whispers were echoing around the stage. Even Cirno herself opened her eyes and mouth wide upon hearing Byakuren's announcement.

"A? Are you an idiot~?!"

"Are you sure, Byakuren-san?" Aya asked with a serious voice. "You'll be disqualified from this discipline if you make that decision."

"I already made that decision, Aya-san. I, Hijiri Byakuren, forfeit this duel and the Single Duels discipline." said the monk firmly.

Aya, with her mouth ajar, slowly turned her face to Reimu.

"Fine by me." the shrine maiden shrugged indifferently. "One less troublesome opponent to worry about?"

"That was rather cold." stated Aya as she turned her eyes back to the stage. She took a deep breath before she nodded to Byakuren's wish. "I still find it a bit hard to believe, ladies and gentlemen, but you've all heard it yourselves? The head of the Temple of Myouren, Hijiri Byakuren-san is forfeiting the main event of the tournament. What a pity? but the program must continue, and so, Cirno the ice fairy is automatically declared the winner."

Aya had a mixed feeling in her heart about Byakuren's decision. On one hand she was a bit sad that she is giving up her chance to win the tournament, but on the other hand, she was impressed by her kind gesture. For several seconds the entire crowd was quiet until somebody called: "Byakuren-sama is so cool~!"

"Wait? was that Midori's voice just now?" Soudai murmured to himself.

That simple cheer has triggered a chain reaction in the crowd and everyone began to call: "Byakuren! Byakuren! Byakuren!"

Cirno wasn't exactly sure about her feelings either and she couldn't find the right words to convey them. Byakuren was already leaving the stage with the sound of the crowd calling her name and the ice fairy was just standing there and staring at her with confusion.

"Please leave the stage, Cirno-san. You've been declared the winner of this round and will be called for your next battle. But now, let me look into the tournament chart? Oh yes, coming up next we have a match between Kamishirasawa Keine and Remilia Scarlet."

Cirno had no choice but to obey and clear the stage for the following duel.
Remilia ascended above the crowd, made one acrobatic loop in the air and landed on the stage in the next moment, striking a theatrical pose. Even though she didn't win in the previous disciplines, she was doing really well in the tournament. Now, her opponent was the half-youkai teacher from the Human Village who chose a rather unusual way to enter the stage. She simply walked and used the stairs like a normal human.

Kyouichi did recall that she allegedly turned into her hakutaku form on the night of the full moon, but tonight there was only a narrow C-shaped crescent of the Moon visible in the dark night sky. It appeared that even Remilia was aware of this as she made a taunting remark at her.

"What a pity that you can't even fight me with your full power." she finished the sentence with a soft giggle. "Don't worry, I won't give you much trouble. I'll finish you off quickly, okay?"

Keine ignored her remark completely and simply looked at Aya, waiting for her to fire the signal danmaku. She had no respect for anyone behaving impolitely.

On the other hand, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion had no respect for anyone but herself. She smirked at the were-hakutaku as she crackled her knuckles. She was one of the few contestants in this tournament who also resorted to physical attacks in combination with danmaku.

A brief moment of silence dramatized the mood before the crow tengu lifted her hand and sent a clear signal into the sky.

"Aaaaand GO~!"

The vampire flapped her bat-like wings just once to jet into the air and start her offensive by spawning an impressively dense volley of large red bubble-like danmaku, combined with waves of smaller blue energy spheres.

Keine saw the gaps and openings in this pattern and gracefully swam through the air as she dodged Remilia's attack.

The teacher countered with a pattern of her own. She summoned several spirit-like familiars around her body and began weaving a pattern that had the same color scheme as that of her opponent. However, Keine's was not as theatrical; it had its elegant symmetry. Unlike the situations with two clashing Spell Cards, these patterns were not dest

[Fonzi]

Chapter 50 ? The Night is Still Young

Shameimaru Aya for the last time tonight resumed her role of the announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen~! Tonight we've seen battles both even-matched and one-sided, but this time all violence goes aside. The Visual Contest is a discipline where each of the contestants shows off one of their selected Spell Cards and it's up to you, the audience to pick the most beautiful pattern of them all~! That's right, folks, the contestants are no longer judges in this discipline. All the responsibility rests on your shoulders now. After all 26 girls present their danmaku, you'll pick one of these voting cards, write the number of the contestant of your choice, rip the card in half along the designated line and put it into this box. Remember, you can only vote once and only for one of the contestants, so take your time to decide. In the end when all votes are counted and the winner is announced, we will be drawing 10 cards from those that voted for the winner and the owners of the second halves of these cards will win a certain prize~! Now aren't we generous~? Let's not waste any more time then. Contestants, line up on the stage and present your wonderful Spell Cards~!"
And so, the final tournament discipline has begun. All the 26 girls have stepped up onto the stage, which included the tournament announcer herself. The idea behind the whole discipline was already explained. The lined up girls would stand in the back, and the one performing the card will step forth. After showing her card, she would return back to her place. Or such was the original plan?

"Waaaaah~!" a panicked scream of Remilia cut the calm atmosphere and just as everyone turned their heads towards her, the vampire girl had literally disappeared beneath the stage.

"My lady!" Sakuya covered her mouth, shocked at her mistress's sudden disappearance.

Even Reimu opened her mouth wide as she saw it. "Y... Yukari?"

"Uwaaaa~! What's going on?" Remilia's cry sounded from the place where she was last seen.

Everything was explained in the next moment. The section of the stage's wooden floor has begun to fade and a large gaping hole which was made after the final battle of the Single Duels category has reappeared.

"Nope~! Nue Houjuu." laughing Marisa answered Reimu's question.

The hole wasn't deeper than 150 centimeters, but as it was masked by Nue's Seed of Unknown Form, nobody noticed it and whoever walked over it was in for an unpleasant fall.

"Auuu~!" Remilia stretched out her hand out of the hole and Sakuya quickly pulled her out.

"Are you alright, my lady?"

"Ehehehehe~?" Nue giggled bashfully as Reimu turned her infuriated face at her.

"Nue?" the shrine maiden grumbled her name through her clenched teeth.

"Though it was actually Utsuho who slammed Nue against the stage, ze." Marisa added after her laughing fit from Remilia's unfortunate fall subsided.

"Utsuho?" her menacing gaze shifted from the mysterious youkai to the nuclear hell raven.

"Unyu?" Okuu cluelessly looked back at the shrine maiden. "What?"

"You'll fix this stage or I'll make yakitori out of you." the miko didn't ask. She announced it to her, adding her usual exaggerated threat.

"But she made the hole." Okuu tried to shift the blame back to Nue.

"Uhh , girls?" Aya stepped into their conversation.

"I meant both of you!" Reimu completely ignored her and kept staring at the two youkai girls, as if expecting them to get to work immediately.

"Girls?" Aya spoke up softly again, but her tone changed drastically. "Will you shut up for a minute and let me do my job?!"

Everyone fell silent and obediently stared at the tengu reporter.

"Thank you~." she returned to her normal tone. "So? Even with the stage being a little damaged, let us continue with the competition~! As the host of this tournament and festival, the privilege of being the first contestant in this discipline goes to Hakurei Reimu. Step forth, Reimu-san and show us your most beautiful Spell Card~!"

Still throwing sidelong glances at the two youkai responsible for damaging her stage, Reimu stepped forward and readied her spell?
There wasn't as much excitement during this particular discipline of the tournament as during the battles, but the onlookers were always cheering when they could see the girls performing their danmaku art. Some girls chose to use the cards that they already used in battles; other contestants have picked different cards especially for this part of the competition. In fact, there were fewer girls who have used the same spells for this discipline. Some particularly interesting and beautiful cards were made by Yuyuko, Patchouli, Aya, Eirin, Meiling, Kogasa and both oni girls, Suika and Yuugi. Even during this contest, the crow tengu kept taking pictures of the danmaku patterns of all the other girls. And when the last contestant has shown her last card, Aya stepped forward again.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen; thank you, all contestants~! I loved all of your Spell Cards. Especially those new ones. However, some of these were a little too strong to be legal in regular danmaku duels. But since this contest is about the beauty, I suppose a little tweaking to your spells to enhance their bullet density is only a plus. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to vote for the most beautiful Spell Card. You have 30 minutes to place your votes. After that we'll close the voting and declare the winner~!"

It was expected that after Aya's announcement the human/youkai crowd would now begin to shift towards the front part of the stage where the voting box was located.

The tournament was practically over, but for some reason a large group of contestants was still standing on the stage, having a heated conversation.
"So once again, slowly?" Reimu asked Marisa to repeat what she told her "How exactly did this happen?" she beckoned at the large hole in her stage.

"I already told you, didn't I?" the blonde magician crossed her arms. "It was the final duel. Nue got behind Utsuho, but she turned around and they both attacked each other simultaneously. Both were hit, but Utsuho's attack was so powerful that it flung Nue against the stage with enough force to make a hole in it?"

"Eeeh?" Reimu still looked as puzzled as the first time when Marisa tired to explain it to her. "So... umm? who won the final duel anyway?" the shrine maiden asked her out of the blue.

"Nue did. By just a split second, ze. You should have seen it! Oh? and she even got me in the semifinal."

"So you're the Single Duels champion, huh?" the black-haired miko glanced over at the ancient nue, who nodded in response.

"Why are you asking?" she wondered. "Didn't you watch the matches?"

"Eh? No she was? ehh? collecting her donations." Marisa saved her friend from having to explain her absence to everyone who was still standing on the stage.

"Hey~! Don't you worry about this little hole in the stage, Reimu~!" Suika suddenly showed up. Her voice already showed signs of a certain degree of drunkenness. "Remember that time when your shrine was wrecked by that earthquake? We rebuilt it in just a couple of days. Such a small hole in the stage can't take more than a few minutes to repair. Uh? do you have any spare wooden planks, Reimu?" her cheerfully confident tone immediately changed to an uncertain one.

"How should I know?"

"It's alright, Reimu~. I'll take a look into your storehouse, so leave it all to me~!"

"Suika?" Reimu tried to halt the little oni, but she already took off, heading for Reimu's small storehouse standing in the northern part of the shrine yard. "Wait~! Suika~!"

"So anyhow?" Marisa continued the conversation, as if nothing happened, "?you missed a lot of action, Reimu, but? It's alright. I understand? I would be feeling a bit depressed too if you or Alice suddenly went missing."

"What are you talking about?" Alice, who was standing right next to her, raised her eyebrows at her strange remark. Of course, she wasn't there when Marisa and others went looking for Reimu, so she had no idea what was Marisa referring to.

"So~? How about we all gathered at the shrine and finally started the party?" she changed the topic again.

After a sigh of resignation, Reimu consented. "You're right. Let's go, everyone!" she called at the remaining girls standing on the stage and took off towards her shrine. Being hungry and thirsty after the whole day, the thought of finally starting the party at her shrine sounded well to her.

"Hey, girls, wait for me~!" Aya called after them. "I still need to announce the next performance in the program." she then turned to the bulk of the crowd. "So? Even during the break between your voting and the announcement of the winner of the Visual Contest, the program of this Tanabata festival will keep us all entertained~! Ladies and gentlemen? the Prismriver Ensemble returns, featuring Mystia Lorelei as vocalist~! Now this should be interesting, to say the least. Please enjoy their performance~!"

The return of the three poltergeist sisters has caused enough commotion among the shrine visitors to make them briefly forget about the voting. Even the night sparrow, Mystia was flying over to the center of the stage, ready to make her first performance with this phantom trio. But then out of nowhere, Suika landed on the stage, holding a bunch of wooden planks and a box of nails.

"Umm? is she also a part of our performance, onee-chan?" Lyrica asked her eldest sister.

"I don't think there was anything written about a second vocalist in our program." the puzzled Lunasa replied.

"Oh? You girls are performing now?" Suika looked at the three sisters confusedly. "Ehehe~! Don't mind me; this will only take a second? Oh? that's right." she raised her finger as she got a sudden idea. "Wait here, okay, I'll be back in a second."

Suika was lucky that Reimu already entered her shrine, because if she saw her interrupting the program with her drunken antics, she'd definitely give her some harsh scolding, most likely in the form of danmaku.

"Was that some kind of joke??" Merlin exchanged quick glances with her sisters. "Because I don't get it?"

"I'm sure you're not the only one." Lunasa shook her head as she watched Suika flying to the shrine.

True to her word, she was back in a moment. And oddly enough, Sakuya Izayoi, the maid of the Scarlet Devil kept her company on her flight back to the stage.

"What's going on here? Really?" even Mystia was at a loss for words when she watched these two girls literally stealing all the attention from them.

"Okay, Sakuya, do your stuff~." Suika asked the maid to use her time-stopping ability.

A little reluctant to take orders or even requests from anyone but, her mistress, Sakuya crossed her arms as she looked down at the ginger-haired girl.

"I don't recall being in your service, though."

"But Remilia isn't even paying you. Come on? Can't you do me and Reimu a little favor? I'll let you have as much sake as you want." she gently patted her greatest treasure.

Sakuya tilted her head to the side, while eyeing Suika with suspicion. "Is that a bribing attempt?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to fix a hole, which incidentally your mistress fell into? And I don't want to delay them too much?" she pointed her thumb at the Prisimriver Ensemble, "so I'm asking you to use your power to help me."

Reluctant as she was, Sakuya knew that Suika was right. Her mistress really did fall into this hole and she'd actually be doing her a favor by helping Suika fix it.

"Very well." she took her pocket watch in her left hand and snapped the fingers on her right hand. Suddenly the noisy crowd went silent. All the ambient noises ? the rustling leaves on the trees in the wind or the flapping of festival flags, everything became perfectly quiet as Sakuya made the time flow only for herself and Suika.

"Oooh? Cool. So this is what it looks like when the time stops." the little oni slowly turned around as she watched her surroundings being frozen in complete stillness. She found it so mesmerizing that she almost forgot that she wanted to fix the stage. "This is so amazing~! And to think that a mere human is capable of such a thing?"

"Ehm?" Sakuya cleared her throat to remind the oni of her original intention.

But it seemed that Suika didn't even notice that.

"Ooooh, hey, hey, Sakuya~! Look?" she opened her sake gourd and tried to spill some of its content. As expected, the sake remained perfectly still and wouldn't pour out. That's why she made a rapid 360 degree turn with her gourd and created a ring of small blobs of sake around herself.

"So cool~!"

Sakuya watched as the little oni was having fun catching the blobs of sake with her mouth, and a growing feeling of impatience was beginning to fill her heart.

"Hey, Sakuya~! Look, look?" she opened her mouth and swallowed the last sake blob wile levitating a few centimeters above the stage.

"Hey, look over here?" the maid diverted Suika's attention to several throwing knives that she flung at her while Suika was having fun exploring the physics of frozen time. The tips of these knives were pointing at Suika, but due to the flow of time being stopped, they only served as a little warning for the oni.

"How about you got to work already?"

"Oh~! That's right! Let's get this stage repaired!" she declared with an endearingly cheerful voice.

She knelt down next to the damaged section of the stage and proceeded to remove all the broken boards from the wooden construction. Her immense physical strength allowed her to pull out the nailed down planks effortlessly with her bare hands.

"Alright?" she dusted off her hands when she was done. "Now I just need to nail down these new planks."

Sakuya curiously looked at the short oni girl and shifted her gaze slowly to left and right.

"I see that you brought some nails with you, but? you have no tools. How do you want to nail these planks down with no hammer?"

"Hehe~!" Suika giggled while she took the first plank and placed it on the supporting construction of the stage. "Like this?"

She took the nail in her left hand and using the pinky finger on her right hand she simply pushed it down all the way. The 15 cm nail went through the plank like a hot knife through butter.

"Oh? I see." Sakuya gave her an acknowledging nod and watched as the oni girl nailed the rest of the planks down without any tools.

But when she was about to put down the last plank, Suika realized there was a slight problem that her amazing strength couldn't solve.

"Oh no~! This one's too wide~! It won't fit~!"

"Obviously, these planks were not made for this stage." Sakuya stated matter-of-factly.

"But? but? how are we going to fix Reimu's stage now~?"

The cheerfulness in her voice was suddenly replaced by uncertainty bordering with panic.

"You should have brought some tools with you after all." remarked the silver-haired maid.

"We'll need to cut off about five centimeters from this plank to make it fit?" murmured Suika as she roughly measured the plank's width.

"Why are you looking at me? My knives aren't suited for sawing wood."

"I know? But? Oooooh~!" Suika exclaimed suddenly as another ingenious idea crossed her drunken mind.

"So you have an idea?"

"Wait here a moment Sakuya~. I'll be back in a moment~!"

Wondering what kind of idea Suika just got, Sakuya decided to follow her out of curiosity. The ginger-haired oni was apparently headed for the Hakurei Shrine again, probably with the intention to drag someone else into helping her. It turned out that Sakuya's hunch was right, Suika was already leaving the shrine, dragging the motionless Youmu Konpaku who didn't even struggle, since she was like everyone and everything, put into stasis by Sakuya's power.

"Eh? Konpaku-san?" Sakuya turned her head as Suika with Youmu flew past her.

"Hey, hey, Sakuya~!" Suika called after the maid. "Put Youmu in the same flow of time as us, will ya?"

"Uh? I see now?" Sakuya slowly realized what kind of idea Suika had come up with. She pointed her finger at the half-ghost girl and in the next moment, Youmu became "alive" again.

However, the shock from her sudden relocation from the porch of the Hakurei Shrine to the middle of the stage was now more than apparent on her flabbergasted expression.

"A?.ahh?.EEEEEEH~?!"

What she found even more unsettling was the fact that her ghostly half was still floating around her original position near the shrine. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her knees began to tremble. It wasn't long before she collapsed on the stage's floor as her soul hurried to get to her body.

"Oh damn~!" the oni cursed and covered her mouth upon realizing what she has just done. "Youmu~! YOUMU~! Are you alright?"

Youmu was alright, but having her soul too far away from her body could have tragic consequences for this half-human girl. She only experienced a light shock, but both Sakuya's and Suika's hearts were racing in panic, hoping that they didn't hurt her.

"Where?? How?? What happened?" Youmu blurted out questions as she was catching her breath and getting a hold of herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry~!" Suika began repeatedly apologizing to her. "I didn't realize what could have happened?"

"And? what did happen exactly?" the half-ghost gardener was still more than just confused.

And so, Suika began to explain her intentions and the reason why she has taken Youmu to the stage.

"So you just wanted to repair it?" she asked the little oni.

Suika nodded twice.

"And you want me to cut off 5 centimeters from this plank to make it fit?"

Again, Suika nodded her head affirmatively.

"Well? It's not that I couldn't do it, but? you could have just asked me instead of giving me such a shock."

"We're sorry, Youmu~! We only wanted to get it fixed before the next performance so that Reimu wouldn't be mad."

"Fine." the half-ghost, just like Sakuya, wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Show me again how much should I cut off from this plank?"

"About this much?" Suika put the plank in vertical position and put her finger on its top to show Youmu the point where is should be cut.

And the straightforward servant of the Netherworld's princess didn't wait for anything. In a blink of an eye, she drew her Roukanken and made a swift downward slash, missing Suika's finger by just a millimeter.

"Awawa~!" the horned girl exclaimed in shock, immediately retracting her hand, even though Youmu has already cut through the wooden plank. "Do you want to cut my fingers off~?!"

The half-ghost just gave her sly grin. "Don't worry. I'm pretty good at this."

"But you surprised me~!"

"That's for dragging me to the stage when Sakuya-san stopped the time."

"But I apologized~!"

"Apology accepted, Suika-san." said the silver-haired girl and sheathed her long katana.

Since the time was still stopped, the plank didn't fall after Youmu cut it with her sword. After Suika had calmed down a bit, she stepped closer to check out the result of Youmu's work.

"Wow~. So clean and precise?" she commented as she traced the edge of the plank with her fingers. The cut was flawless. But it was not just Youmu's skill alone that made it possible. If she had used any other sword than her youkai-forged Roukanken, this masterful cut would most likely end up in a failure.

"And it even fits perfectly~!" the oni rejoiced as she placed the plank over the rectangular hole in the stage. All that was left to do was for Suika to nail it down.

"And done~!" she dusted off her hands and a contented smile brightened up her face. "Good as new~!"

"I guess we can finally resume the flow of time." said Sakuya.

"Then we better get off the stage first." remarked Youmu.

"We are a good team, eh~?" sounded Suika as she was following the girls in their flight to the Hakurei Shrine.

Once the girls returned to the shrine, Sakuya snapped her fingers one more time, and the flow of time was back to normal.
"Whoa? Suika? Sakuya? Why did you suddenly appear here out of nowhere?" Marisa asked them with a puzzled expression.

"Oh my~! Youmu~! You surprised me." the ghostly princess reacted similarly when Sakuya resumed the flow of time. From her point of view, it seemed that her loyal servant, who was sitting by her left side, suddenly disappeared and reappeared by her right side.

"I was surprised too, Yuyuko-sama?"

Even the Prismriver sisters and Mystia only saw Suika and Sakuya suddenly disappearing from the stage, which was now repaired. They too were surprised, but they now had to focus on their performance, so they just had to pretend they didn't see anything.

And so the poltergeists started playing their instruments without even touching them and Mystia began to sing a song that surprisingly didn't make anyone go night-blind.

Meanwhile the crowds continued to place their votes for the most beautiful Spell Card and a very small group of humans from the outside world stepped inside the Hakurei Shrine.

"Is there still room for a few more people, Reimu?" Kyouichi asked the host of the festival.

"I think so." replied the shrine maiden, who was a bit preoccupied by serving dango to all of her guests.

"Welcome~!" Suika was waving her hand at the outsiders.

"Who are all these humans, Satori-sama?" Okuu didn't hide her curiosity as the group of strangers walked into the shrine and took their seats on the floor.

"What did I tell you about pointing your fingers at people, Okuu?"

"Unyu? I'm sorry?"

"We're all outsiders, Reiuji-san." Soudai didn't hesitate to reply to her. "Oh, and by the way, you were awesome in the tournament."

Satori apologized for her pet's straightforwardness and began explaining what business these humans had with the Hakurei shrine maiden.

Meanwhile, Yuyuko was having a bit of a dilemma.

"Youmu~! Look~!" she addressed her servant while looking outside through the opened sliding door. "The Prismriver Sisters are playing again~! And they even have a singer now."

"So, do you wish to listen to their concert, Yuyuko-sama?"

"But Reimu is serving those delicious dango~. What should I do~?"

"You can simply go outside and I'll bring you the dumplings." Youmu suggested to her.

"Hmm?" the lovely ghost thoughtfully bit her lower lip, still not shifting her gaze away from the performance outside. "But looking at that night sparrow is making me? hungry~."

"Somehow, I kind of expected that answer from you?" Youmu smirked and decided to lend Reimu a hand with serving the dumplings on the plates.

Suika was generously filling the guests' sake cups, Aya joined the conversation between Satori and her pet hell raven, Byakuren was shaking Nue's hand and congratulating her for winning the Single Duels discipline, when Cirno shyly hovered up to her and pulled her gently by the cape.

"Oh? Well, if it isn't our brave little fairy~. What would you like of me, young miss?"

"Well? I?" Cirno nervously looked down, as if she was hoping to find the right words on the shrine's floor. "About earlier?"

"Yes?"

"Well? umm? not that I was afraid to take you on in a danmaku fight, but? thank you?"

The usually loud, playful, carefree and sometimes even a bit aggressive ice fairy was now looking so docile and shy that Byakuren couldn't suppress her joyful smile and the heartwarming feeling that began spreading over her body. Cirno just thanked her for her decision to forfeit the tournament.

"You don't need to thank me at all, my dear. It wouldn't be right if I battled against you."

"But that Eirin was so mean~!" Cirno began complaining to her, despite the fact that the Lunarian doctor was sitting just a few meters away from her. "Even worse than that miko over there..."

"You were saying??" Reimu turned her face to the fairy with her menacing smile.

"Uhh? nothing."

"Should I have your portion of dumplings for myself?"

"You made some for me too?" the surprised fairy slowly dared to look into Reimu's eyes.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't?" the miko teased her with her ambiguous reply, but she did stretch her arms out with the plate of dango in her hands, as if prompting Cirno to take it.

The ice fairy blinked a few times, wondering what trickery was Reimu about to play on her. But after several seconds have passed, Cirno didn't resist her temptation and slowly hovered to the shrine maiden.

"I don't have all night just for you, so hurry up and take it already."

Cirno quickly grabbed the plate from Reimu's hands and tentatively took one small bite from one of the dango. The sweet and slightly sour taste filled her mouth. The dango were delicious and the little ice fairy was now compelled to express her gratitude? in her own fairy-like way.

"Th? thank you... I'll give you a frozen frog in return next time~!" she said with a cheerful smile adorning her childish face.

"I'll pass." muttered the resident of the shrine and returned to tending to her other guests.
A few meters away from that scene, Remilia was amusedly looking into Suika's face as the oni filled her cup with sake.

"Considering what the two of us said to each other before the tournament, we didn't even fight each other in the end?"

"Oh, yes~. We both got eliminated our first battle, didn't we?" Suika recalled.

"Heh?" Remilia let out a weak chuckle. "Even Cirno made if further in the tournament than us? How ironic."

"I wonder if Byakuren-san would do the same if I got her as an opponent."

"But this tournament is just an innocent game compared to real duels." the vampire continued, as if she was ignoring Suika's contemplations. "I can already see that such duels are going to take place in the following months?"

"Eh~? A premonition?" the ginger haired oni curiously titled her head to the side.

"I was just looking at the fate strings of those present here and some of them... no, many of them tell me about impending conflicts."

"Is it somehow related to that fairy incident?"

"Hard to say. But perhaps it is so? Or perhaps it means that we'll get into some serious disputes in the near future."

"Hmph~!" the oni's carefree smile wasn't wiped off her face by Remilia's ominous words. "Well in that event, I'm not afraid to take your challenge again. In a serious battle?"

"Oddly enough, Suika," the vampire continued with a serious tone, "I don't see any future conflicts between us two in particular."

"Odd indeed? Oh, by the way, Remi, can you tell if there are going to be any more fairy attacks?"

Remilia took a quick look at the few fairy guests in Reimu's shrine and shrugged her shoulders. "That I don't know. But at least these girls won't be causing any serious trouble in the upcoming days."

"I see." said Suika after a while of silence and waved her hands in the air to get everyone's attention. "Hey, has everyone got their cup filled with sake~?"

After a wave of positive replies from all the present guests, the little oni raised her gourd high.

"Well then? Let the fun last all night~! Cheers~!"

"CHEERS~!" everyone called in unison and emptied their cups.

After everyone has put down their cup, a very interesting idea raced through Suika's mind when she turned back to Remilia.

"Oh~! This sake is giving me such brilliant ideas~!"

When Youmu heard her say that, she quickly turned her nervous face at the oni and her ghostly half began to tremble in air slightly. However, Suika's idea didn't have anything to do with kidnapping people this time.

"Hey, Reimu~! Would you please pass me that amulet that we got from the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

The look on Reimu's face was somewhat similar to Youmu's. "Huh? What for? Just take some 5 yen coin if you want to do some of those so called "magic" tricks?"

"No, silly~! I want Remi to take a look at it~!"

"Eh?" uttered both girls in unison.

"You stole something from MY mansion again?" asked the vampire with an agitated tone.

"I don't see the point." Reimu hesitated to comply. "If it's from that mansion, then Remilia surely must have seen it already anyway."

"Hey, what amulet are you two even talking about?" Remilia was getting lost in their conversation.

Patchouli, who was so far just quietly enjoying the taste of dango immediately sharpened her senses when Suika mentioned the amulet. The amulet was given to her by the youkai of boundaries personally to serve as a communication device. Although used just once for this purpose, the elemental sorceress believed that it could be used to track down the exact position of Yukari Yakumo if it was given to a youkai with mind-reading abilities. This theory was perhaps based on truth, but it turned out to be of little import, as the mentioned border youkai wasn't even present in Gensokyo. But she knew that Reimu was right. Remilia was the one who suggested locating the boundary youkai by this amulet and she had already seen it many times.

"Oh, the one we gave to that outsider to deliver it to Reimu~!" Remilia seemed to suddenly recall. "Yeah, I've seen it already, Suika. There's no point in looking at it again."

"Oh?" Suika's enthusiasm seemed to have died down a little. "And did you see anything interesting?"

"Hmm? but you know? It might actually not be a complete waste of time to look at it again after all." the little vampire changed her mind. "May I see it again, Reimu?"

"I don't really get what you're hoping to see, but? sure, why not?"

Reimu walked up to a small table in her room, where a small decorative wooden chest was standing. She took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the ornamented box.

Marisa was probably the only one besides Reimu who knew what this box contained. It stored all sorts of items that were used by Reimu's late family, or were simply a memento of the times when they were alive. Old black and white photographs, aged documents, drawings, old-fashioned omamori trinkets, a few rusty coins, a hairbrush, a bunch of writing brushes, and even Reimu's first gift ? a small wooden cat-shaped toy. Reimu could never hold back a smile when she looked at this old toy, marked by tiny bite marks from the times when she was chewing on it as a child. Even after all those years, this wooden cat had survived up to this day, reminding Reimu of her early childhood.

All of these items had little if any monetary value, but to Reimu, they were some of her greatest treasures, the sentimental value of which rivaled even her donation box. And among these treasures, rested the small, circular ornamented amulet made of gold and silver. Reimu took the medallion by the chain and gave it one more look before she handed it over to the vampire.

"Hmm? This is interesting indeed." noted Remilia after taking the amulet from the shrine maiden. She wasn't even looking at the amulet as much as the people and youkai in the room.

"What's interesting~? Tell us~!" Suika was impatiently waiting for the result of her observation.

"At first I thought it was just because me and Patchy are the owners of this amulet, but now that so many of us gathered here, I can see?"

"What do you see?" Reimu prompted her to hurry up with her answer.

"Not just mine and Patchouli's fates are tied to this amulet, but almost everyone else's in this room too."

"And? what does that mean?" the oni demanded an explanation.

Remilia herself wondered about the meaning of this knot of fate strings that loomed over the mysterious amulet. "Actually, it can mean all sorts of things. Good or bad. But you, Reimu, Suika, Yuyuko, Youmu, Aya, Eirin and Kaguya, and even those outsiders over there? our fates are linked to this small piece of metal."

"Why didn't you see this before?" the shrine maiden asked her.

"I can only see the strings of fate within a close vicinity of a person or an object. Sort of like an aura. So even if two things or persons are bound by fate, I cannot see this bond unless the physical distance between them is small."

"I guess that's not such a big surprise, since we're all trying to find Yukari." said Suika. "Perhaps it means we'll succeed, right~?"

"Either that or her scheming will affect all of us." the vampire gave another possible explanation.

"Just as I thought." Reimu let out a sigh. "There was no point in showing it to you again."

"No, but it made me realize something." Remilia gently traced the amulet's surface with her fingertip, "That we should keep it close by in our search for answers."

"We've already discussed the date of our expedition to the quarry of Kazemura with Eirin and Kaguya." Patchouli announced to her. "Akyuu and Keine will join us too. We'll probably take a few days to thoroughly analyze the ruins, so you might come with us if you like."

But Patchouli's offer didn't sound too lucrative for the spoilt vampire. "I would certainly not trade the comfort of my mansion for some inn just so I could watch you digging around in the dirt. But I suppose I could keep you company for a little while."

"Oh, right, you told me about that earlier today, didn't you?" Reimu turned her face to the librarian. "When are we going to go there?"

"It would be best to do so as soon as possible, but I understand that we all need some time to prepare. We'll go there next week."

"Next week, huh?" the shrine maiden stared thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment. "Fine, we'll meet up here then?"

"I want to come too~!" Suika excitedly waved her little arms over her head.

"And maybe we should go too, Youmu." Yuyuko expressed her interest in this expedition.

While Reimu thought that too many people looking for clues would only get into each other's way, the expedition wasn't even her idea, so she remained silent.

Patchouli didn't seem to have anything against a few extra members in her team. On the contrary, she accepted them happily, adding that it wouldn't be a bad idea to get help from other sources too.

"It's very important that our observation is thorough and that we won't miss even the smallest detail." she continued in all seriousness. "Keep in mind that we are looking for the source of the fairy attacks which, as Eirin-san pointed out, is the result of their possession by evil spirits. We are only going to find out whether or not the newly unearthed ruins in Kazemura are somehow tied to this incident or not. Apart from simply studying them and trying to understand the signs written on them, we must look for any sources of power that could attract evil spirits to that area and making them possess the bodies of the fairies. That includes powers other than magic. We should take anyone who has the ability to perceive something with us. Remilia, you're vital to this expedition too. Reimu-san can try to detect any divine powers and?" she suddenly stopped and looked around, as if looking for someone in particular. "?I heard you three fairies can detect any living creature within a large radius of your vicinity." she said while looking at the trio of fairies ? Luna, Star and Sunny.

The fairies were having a much more carefree conversation with their friends, but as soon as the purple-haired youkai sorceress addressed them, they became mute for a while. After what happened to them a few days ago and after they heard the ominous news about crazy fairies rampaging around the northeastern Gensokyo, they now feared that area more than anything else.

"E? ehh? it's only Star-chan, who has this ability."

"But Patchouli," Remilia tapped her friend's shoulder, "I don't think taking the fairies with you would be the best idea. What if they get possessed?"

"Yes, what if Sunny-chan goes crazy again~?" Star Sapphire also seemed to share Remilia's concern.

"In case of any fairy ambush, it would be good to be warned before we get surrounded. And should you become possessed, it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to observe this phenomenon first hand, which would be of great benefit to?"

"NO WAAAY~!" three fairies shouted in unison before Patchouli even finished her sentence.

"Fufufu?" Remilia giggled amusedly. "Perhaps you should have kept that dark little intention of yours to yourself, Patchy."

"We're not going to come with you even if you bribed us with all the sweets in the world~!" Sunny continued to protest. "Uh? well? perhaps that wouldn't be so bad, but? NO~! You can't just force us to come with you and treat us like guinea pigs~! That's against the rights of fairies~!"

"What is there to worry about?" Patchouli didn't quite understand their fear. "You technically cannot die. And what's more, you'll be under our protection."

"Like that's some convincing argument~!" yelled Star.

Patchouli figured that she shouldn't have been so honest about her desire to see the possession of fairies first hand, so she had to choose a different approach.

"Reimu-san is an expert at dealing with evil spirits and exorcism. Am I right?"

The shrine maiden replied positively. "I can even give you a blessing to ward you against the evil spirits, so you should be safe if you'll stay with us."

"Reimuuuu~!" Suika suddenly exclaimed with another brilliant idea on her mind. "That's it! We may actually reduce the fairy attacks or even stop them completely~!"

"Eh? How so?"

"I could use my gathering ability to attract Gensokyo's fairies to the shrine, and you'd just give them your warding blessing."

"Do you even know how many fairies are there in Gensokyo?!" Reimu called out. "My blessings are only good for individuals or small groups. And even if I blessed all zillion of them, that would only be a temporary measure. We need to stop those evil spirits."

"Then wouldn't it be a good idea to have one more shrine maiden in our team?" Marisa suggested.

"Sanae? Hmm?" Reimu hummed thoughtfully. "Definitely not a bad idea considering that we now know what we're really dealing with."

"And one of the goddesses or both of them could be of great assistance too." added the witch.

"And let's not forget about Satori-san." Patchouli looked at the mind-reading youkai, expecting her assistance during the expedition.

The satori from the underground had no qualms about heading out to the mining village. She was even the part of the group that managed to stop an incredible number of possessed fairies a week ago. Her kind heart and desire to help the other girls resolve this incident made her not only agree with joining Patchouli's expedition, but also suggest another member for the team.

"I should also let Koishi know about this trip. It would be good to have her with us."

And so it turned out that the expedition team to Kazemura was not going to be a small group. The younger of the Komeiji sisters would certainly be a valuable asset to this team. Not only due to her power to see the subconscious, but her high-level danmaku arsenal and exceptional physical endurance made her a force to be reckoned with.

"Yeah, Koishi should go with us." Marisa seconded Satori's suggestion. "I wonder how this tournament would have ended if she had come here instead of Utsuho."

The girls from the Temple of Myouren also wanted to offer their help with the resolution of the fairy incident, but after a short discussion, it was decided that they'd focus on protecting the Human Village during the expedition.

"It would be unwise if all of us gathered in Kazemura." Patchouli pointed out, "If the swarms of possessed fairies decided to take their attacks further to the south and west, we'd be leaving those parts of Gensokyo completely unprotected."

"Very well, Patchouli-san." Byakuren nodded. "We'll stay vigilant. I hope your expedition goes well, so that we may really have a reason to celebrate."

"Thank you, Byakuren-san." the librarian bowed lightly to the head of the Myouren Temple. "We shall try. But we can't guarantee our success. Only deserve it?"
After all the details of the expedition were made clear, the rest of the night continued like any good festival should. The girls who were once rivals or enemies were now peacefully talking about their everyday lives, complaining about their work or just joking around. Some of the more curious individuals even began asking the group of outsiders about various things regarding the life of modern humans.

Midori was talking to Byakuren and some of her followers, Soudai gathered his courage and started a conversation with Princess Kaguya and Reisen, and Kyouichi somehow found himself chatting with Youmu and her mistress.

He found that Youmu was probably one of the most down-to-earth girls he ever met. Despite he was always a bit distracted by her ghostly half, talking to her felt so natural and relaxed that it seemed like he was talking to his old childhood friend. Yuyuko, on the other hand, often seemed to escape his rational thinking with her seemingly random and off-topic remarks, but then she always managed to explain what she wanted to say. She was no doubt a very interesting person to converse with.

With good mood the time seemed to flow much faster and it only seemed like a little while has passed when Aya announced that the voting for the winner of the Visual Contest has been closed and it was time to count all the votes. Several girls, including Reimu, have followed the tengu out of the shrine. But the feast continued without interruption.

"Hey~! Why are you talking with the dead, Kyouichi~?" Marisa nonchalantly interrupted Kyouichi's idle talk with the girls form the Netherworld.

"Because I can't do that where I come from, Marisa." he replied with laughter. "Is there something you want?"

"Suika's serving another round, ze. Come join us~!"

"Suika-san's feeling generous today." the ghost princess commented as she floated over to the small circle of people and youkai who were holding sake cups in their hands as Suika was refilling them. "Enjoy your sake slowly, Youmu, okay?"

"I'll only have a little bit, Suika?" Youmu tried to tell her before the oni poured the maximum amount of sake into her cup, but of curse, Suika didn't listen.

"I said I'll just have a little~!"

"It's a festival~! Have as much as you like~!" the cheerful oni ignored her protests.

"But, but?" the half-ghost's voice got drowned in the cacophony of voices as everyone raised their cups and drank the second round.
After no longer than five minutes, Aya peered inside the shrine.

"Hey, everyone, all the votes have been counted. All of you who care to hear the winner's name, step outside~! Oh, and Suika? Reimu wants you to make more tea for everyone."

Some of the girls left the shrine to hear the official announcement, but some remained inside the shrine, even though they were participating in the contest.

"Hey, it's not like I'm expecting to win it anyway?" murmured Suika as other girls were leaving the shrine.

"Same here, ze?" added Marisa, who was reluctant to stand up from the comfortable cushion. "I'll just leave the door opened and watch it from here."

"I didn't even compete, so I'll just stay here and have these delicious dango." said Tewi.

Just a few girls were occupying the interior of Reimu's shrine. Kyouichi was about to step outside as well, when he overheard Suika saying something to Marisa.

"So you say Reimu was acting strange today? ?Eh~? And she lost because of that~?"

Kyouichi didn't need any complementary explanations to figure out what they were talking about. And despite the fact he was about to leave, his growing curiosity has pushed him back into the shrine.

"We should do something to get her into better mood~." the oni declared as she patted her sake gourd.

"Not sure if getting her drunk is going to do the trick, though." Marisa gave her a doubting look.

"Of course it will, hehe~! Actually... I set myself a personal objective to get everyone drunk tonight~!"

"Yeah? Well good luck with Yuyuko or Eirin. And Satori will probably just want to drink tea? Not to mention your old friend Yuugi will probably take a lot of sake to get drunk."

"Hmm? Yuugi?" Suika thoughtfully scratched her chin. "I have a great idea~! Wait here while I go find her." she giggled mischievously. "This will be fun?"

As she turned around to head out of the shrine, she noticed Kyouichi standing in the doorway.

"Oh? Did you forget something?"

The outsider shook his head. "I just?" he sighed and spilled the truth. "I overheard a bit of your conversation about Reimu."

"Oh." Marisa nodded understandingly. "No doubt you have a lot of questions?"

Indeed, Marisa couldn't be more correct.

"I'm just a bit confused?" he euphemized his current state of mind.

"What you heard is true. Reimu really does care a lot about Yukari."

"But didn't she once say that she's nothing more than acquainted with her?"

The blonde witch let out an amused giggle. "That she did? Hey, remember that time when you asked me what real Reimu is like?"

"Uhh? yeah." he tried to recall the day when he first flew with Marisa on her broom.

"Well, this is what she's like. Claiming one thing and meaning the opposite."

"A tsundere?" Kyouichi jestingly associated the common anime and manga character archetype with the Hakurei shrine maiden.

"Don't know what that is exactly? But Reimu doesn't despise all youkai as she says. Unless they get in her way or cause trouble, of course?"

"So? why Yukari?"

"Indeed, she wasn't the first youkai Reimu encountered, but she's the one who eventually became the closest to her. Having grown up without parents couldn't have been easy for Reimu and I think that Yukari acted like her parent or her older sister in many ways? Making her train to summon the powers of the gods, teaching her various things, resolving incidents with her, enjoying parties or lonely days with her, and of course even playing an occasional prank on her? Those two are really close. It's not that hard to imagine why Reimu misses her."

"I see." Kyouichi finally got a clearer idea about Reimu's personality and her relationship with the youkai of boundaries. He'd probably never find out about this from Reimu's words alone. For the whole time the shrine maiden was refusing to tell the truth to anyone. Even Marisa, whom Kyouichi thought to be her best friend couldn't manage to pry it out of her?

"Perhaps she didn't want to bother us with her personal problems." Kyouichi thought aloud.

"More like she feels a bit embarrassed to talk about such things." Marisa gave a more plausible reason.
Meanwhile, Suika returned to the shrine along with her old friend, Yuugi. She even caught the last bit of Marisa's and Kyouichi's conversation.

"I always knew that Yukarin likes Reimu~." she stated matter-of-factly. "Actually it's was almost like her tradition to watch over the Hakurei family and help them on occasion. But after the unfortunate deaths of the head priest and priestess ? Reimu's parents, Yukari took pity on her and decided to look after her."

"But they first met six years ago." the blonde witch pointed out. "If Yukari really cared about the Hakurei family, she would have shown up sooner, or prevent Reimu's parents from dying in the first place, don't you think?"

"Her ways are strange even for me to understand." Suika admitted. "But when Reimu became orphaned, she told me this: "It's too early for her to meet me in person, but we will meet soon enough. Either I'll come to her, or she will come to me." So I figured that before they first met, Yukari has not only been keeping an eye on her, but also secretly and subtly helping her in all possible ways."

"And what about Yuyuko-sama?" Kyouichi asked. "If Yukari is her best friend, it must be just as tough for her as for Reimu."

Suika smiled light-heartedly. "She doesn't look too gloomy to me."

"Ah, Yuyuko has known her for hundreds of years and surely there were times when she didn't see Yukari for longer than just 6 months. She's probably used to it." Marisa speculated. "The same could be said about you too, right, Suika?"

"It's true that there were times we didn't see each other for a long time, but I admit, I'd really like to see her soon."

The ginger-haired oni then turned her face to Yuugi.

"So, Yuugi-chan~? As I said, we plan to get this party lively and cheerful, like the ones we used to have."

"Hehe, I'm listening." the blonde oni grinned slyly.

"We know that not everyone is a good drinker, so we'll help them get into the right mood~."

Marisa and Kyouichi exchanged their worried looks.

"To put it simply," said Suika with her index finger raised, "we're going to make a super-concentrated sake~."

"Oh boy?" Marisa already had a bad feeling about this.

"Super-concentrated sake?" the outsider scratched his chin. "Won't that be like? lethal to humans?"

"Nonsense~!" the little oni dismissively waved her hand. "I've already done the math and elaborated an optimal dose of sake required to get an ordinary human into the right mood just from one cup? Okay, Yuugi-chan, let's get to work~!"

Yuugi already had her sake tray full and Suika added a little bit of her own. "Alright~! Now, using my powers of gathering, I'll make this quantity of sake super-dense."

"Super-dense?" the ordinary magician curiously observed the procedure.

It looked almost like one of Suika's Spell Cards. The sake in Yuugi's tray turned into some sort of swirling mist-like substance that began to rotate and gradually shrunk until it was just a tiny ball of mass. Then after a few sparks have erupted from it, it turned into a solid substance.

"Ta-daaah~! It's done~!" the two-horned oni rejoiced as she grabbed the tiny transparent ball.

"Is that something like a bottle of sake in a pill?" wondered Kyouichi.

"You could say that." she replied and a very mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Come on, Yuugi, we have to make more before the girls return~!"

And as the two oni did their alchemy, Marisa couldn't resist the temptation to take one of those suspicious sake pills and take a whiff.

"It doesn't smell like sake anymore? Are you sure you haven't turned it into some kind of poison?"

"Realaaax, Marisa~. We've done this before. You'll get drunk if you eat it, believe me."

"And how do you expect the other girls to eat these? These pills look more suspicious than some of Eirin's medicine."

"Simply. We'll just let them dissolve in their tea." explained Yuugi and chuckled along with Suika.

Kyouichi opened his mouth in awe. "You want to spike everyone's tea?"

"Not everyone's." Suika corrected him. "We'll only slip it into the cups of those girls, who don't like to drink sake very much. Everyone else will get drunk normally."

"Is one of those girls Reimu?" the outsider asked tentatively.

"Reimu usually drinks quite a bit, but in her current mood, it might be better to let her have this." said the short oni while rolling the solidified ball of sake between her fingers. "And since most of the girls are youkai, we should make their doses more? adequate."

And so, they repeated the process of gathering multiple doses for humans into even more concentrated "sake pills" for youkai.

"Okay, be careful not to eat this one." Suika warned the two humans about the recently made sake pellets. "You could overdose yourselves with alcohol."

Suddenly a loud cheering and applause from outside the shrine diverted their attention.
"Congratulations, Marisa-san~! You ranked third in the visual contest~!" Aya apparently started announcing the winners. "Huh? Marisa? Where are you, Marisa-san~?"

"Whoa! Who would have guessed it?" the blonde witch hurriedly stood up from the floor. Not even putting her hat on, she hurried outside to enjoy the brief moment of glory.

Kyouichi, Suika and Yuugi also congratulated her before she hopped on her broom and darted off to the stage.

The two oni girls did not let the announcement distract them from their mischief and they continued making super-concentrated sake candy like a small workshop. Only faint flashes of yellow light coming from the shrine were indicating that something suspicious was going on. Fortunately for them, nobody really paid any attention to that.

"Ah, there you are, Marisa~!" Aya waved her hand at the arriving witch. "Once again, let me congratulate you to your success."

"Thanks for all your votes, ze~!" Marisa addressed those words to all the shrine visitors.

"And that was Marisa-san, and her Spell Card called "Black Magic "Event Horizon"."

The Spell Card was indeed a strong candidate for winning this non-combat discipline. It was pretty much the upgraded version of her "Magic Sign "Stardust Reverie", which she used in battle against Reimu. The Event Horizon consisted of a denser cluster of unwinding spiral-shaped patterns consisting of star-shaped danmaku that changed color as it moved, much like a huge 3-d kaleidoscope.

"To tell the truth," Marisa continued, "I was tempted to use one of the Spark spells, but I thought this one looks really pretty, so I used this card."

"I see." Aya nodded. "Good choice then, Marisa? And now, ranking second in the Visual Contest, with a total of 659 votes?" she paused to dramatize the moment and to tease the audience, "Saigyouji Yuyuko's "Resurrection Butterfly -80% Reflowering-"!"

The applause and cheering was a sign for Yuyuko to elegantly float over to Aya and gently bow to the audience.

"Congratulations, Yuyuko-sama!"

"Thank you, Aya-san, and all of you who voted for me."

The Resurrection Butterfly ? a spell that looked too strong to be used in ordinary danmaku duels. It looked like a one minute long continuous explosion of colorful transparent butterfly-shaped danmaku in a beautiful, symmetrical fashion. Aside from thousands of these ghostly butterflies, the spell implemented beams and the large bubble-like orbs that seemed to be popular among many Spell Card users. And to complete the look, Yuyuko even managed to imply harmless, but beautiful cherry blossoms into the mix. With that, she had herself a rightful second place in the Visual Contest and admiration of many shrine visitors.

"And finally," the crow tengu spoke again to silence the cheering crowds, "who is the winner and the owner of the most beautiful Spell Card? I have the results right here~! Let me tell you, then~! Scoring a total of 731 votes, the card that managed to impress and appeal to the most people and youkai tonight is? "Rainbow Sign "Over the Rainbow" by Tatara Kogasa-san~! I'd say: "What a surprise~!", but I guess it really was a very beautiful spell. Congratulations, Kogasa-san~!"

It was actually quite a surprise that Kogasa was in possession of such a beautiful danmaku pattern. A cascading rainbow-shaped and colored stream of magic bullets accompanied by random, vertically-falling blue shots that symbolized drizzling rain.

"So, how does it feel to be a winner, Kogasa?" Aya immediately began interviewing her.

"I? I? I don't even know?" the blue-haired girl stuttered as she tired to answer. "It surprised me too? ehehe."

Her nervousness has caused some of her supporters cheer for her even more, lending her courage to add a few more words.

"I'm always trying to come up with new ways to surprise humans, so I made a spell that looks surprisingly beautiful."

"And since you're a youkai umbrella, we can all see the connection to the rain too." added Aya.

"Yes, and to see a rainbow without a rain will surprise you, won't it?"

"Actually those blue falling danmaku looked like raindrops."

"Ah..." Kogasa opened her mouth as if she had just realized it now. "So? are you saying I should remove the blue bullets from the pattern? But then it would feel too bland?"

"Hahaha!" the tengu reporter laughed lightly. "That's your card and your choice, Kogasa-san, I can't say that I didn't like it, though."

"Oh~!" Kogasa suddenly exclaimed. "I forgot to thank everyone for their support!"

"Ah, yes, go ahead."

"THANK YOU ALL VERY, VERY MUCH~!" she called out loudly while putting her left hand to her mouth to amplify the sound of her voice. "Thank you for being surprised~! I'll try even harder next time, okay~?" she finished while giving everyone an endearing wink. And as she turned to leave the stage, the large tongue of her purple umbrella accidentally licked Aya's face.

"Ugh? what the??! Ewww~."

"Aah~! I'm sorry!" the karakasa girl bowed to her in apology.

"Just? be careful where you point that thing, alright?" she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

And so, after a couple of more apologetic bows from Kogasa, Aya finally announced the definite end of the danmaku tournament and the continuation of the Prismriver Ensemble concert.

When the poltergeists began playing, all the girls who participated in the tournament gathered in the shrine to have a feast.
By this time the mischievous oni girls have already prepared everything necessary to carry out their plan to get everyone drunk. Kyouichi and Marisa were the

[Fonzi]

Chapter 51 ? Back to Reality

He woke up as usual, sometime around afternoon, but he definitely wasn't the only one who slept in. As he was sobering up, he realized that he had slept on the floor and didn't even bother looking for a futon. He even earned himself a stylish square-pattern imprint on his cheek from the tatami mat.

He could hear a conversation between some of the girls who were already awake.

"We should get ready to leave." said the voice of Sakuya.

"But the sun is so bright outside." her mistress objected. "And besides? Look at Patchouli. In this condition she won't be even able to fly straight."

"Don't worry, my lady, I can help her with that." the maid offered her assistance.

"But who's going to hold my parasol for me?"

"You can guess three times, ze." Marisa told her off while giggling.

"What? Are you offering your help?"

"Uhh? no, I meant that you're going to have to carry it yourself." the witch had to give a complementary explanation after Remilia misinterpreted her last remark.

"Hmm? Well, I've got a better idea. Sakuya, you'll carry the parasol over me and Meiling can carry Patchy."

That's when Meiling began mumbling something in her sleep.

"Mmmm? And who might you be, little girl? Are you lost? Mmmnmfm?"

Apparently, the gate guard was in no condition to fly either.

Why don't you just wait here for your friends to sober up then?" Marisa offered her suggestion, which the little vampire brushed away instantly.

"Because Flandre is alone in the mansion with just Koakuma and the fairy maids. And they can't do anything right."

"Then why do you keep them as maids in the first place?" the blonde magician couldn't quite understand.

"Because they make the place livelier and they can occasionally be useful? when under Sakuya's constant supervision."

"You've been gone for just one night. Why are you so worried about your sister? I bet she's soundly asleep by now."

"Enough questions." Remilia cut her off. "Come, Sakuya. Take the parasol. We're leaving. Patchy and Meiling can come home when they'll feel better."

"As you wish, my lady." the loyal and obedient maid did as she was told and got ready to leave the shrine with her mistress.

That's when Marisa realized something. "Hey, I could come with you and? uhh? help you carry that heavy parasol, ze?"

Both the vampire and the maid exchanged their glances, surprised by this unexpected altruism coming from this witch.

"What's with that idea?" the blue-haired, bat-winged youkai eyed her suspiciously.

That's when Satori joined Meiling in her sleep talking. "?Patchouli's? not in the mansion? Free books? for the taking?"

A shocked smile settled on Marisa's face, as even in her sleep, Satori was able to see right into her mind.

"But? of course." Remilia turned her unamused face away from her and beckoned at her maid. "Let's go?"

Spreading the parasol open before opening the shrine's sliding door, the silver-haired maid was now ready to take flight back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Send my regards to Reimu when she wakes up."

Those were the last words that the vampire addressed to Marisa. As she walked towards the back door of the shrine where Sakuya was already waiting for her, she passed around Kyouichi, who was just barely quick enough to move his hand away from the place where the vampire girl stepped on.

"Don't trip over my fate strings." he muttered jokingly at the passing vampire as he was rolling over on the floor.

Remilia smirked lightly at the remark and continued on her way to her maid.

"Well, then?" Marisa shrugged and waved her palm at the leaving guests. "See you again in Kazemura, I guess?"

Kyouichi could only hear the sound of the door closing and Remilia's voice telling her maid to take off. For a moment, complete silence settled in the Hakurei Shrine, but it wouldn't be Marisa if she didn't break it at some point.

"Damn you, Satori?"

"One doesn't need to be a mind-reader in order to see through your intentions." another voice gave her a reply.

"Oh, Alice. You're awake?"

"Yeah." the dollmaker nodded. "Wow? Look at all this mess." she summed up the state of the shrine's living quarters.

"Well, Reimu won't be bored for at least 2 days with this. Hehe?" chuckled the ordinary magician as she glanced over at the sleeping shrine maiden lying right next to Satori. Both of them still had their yukatas on.

"Shouldn't we at least make it a bit easier for her?"

"It's only polite to help the host with cleaning up." a familiar sweet-sounding voice of Yuyuko joined the conversation.

"Ah, Yuyuko is awake too."

"I just can't sleep well with so many people in the same room. I guess the same could be said about Minamitsu-san. She left a bit earlier?"

"And it seems Eirin is already gone too." remarked Alice after a while of looking around. "I guess she still has some work at Eientei? But to leave her mistress here just like that?" she pointed at the sleeping Kaguya, drooling over Reimu's tatami. "Anyway," she continued, "let's at least clean up this room a bit."

"What's with you and your cleaning urges?" asked Marisa. "Ever since you stared living in my house after yours got destroyed by the fairies, all you ever do is clean up and rearrange my stuff, ze?"

"If I didn't, I'd have no room to sleep." the puppeteer explained her reasons. "Now? first we should take care of these cups and dishes?"

And so, under Alice's management, the reluctant Marisa and the cheerful Yuyuko started cleaning up the messy room.

Gradually their chatter and the noises they made while picking up the dishes have woken up more of the sleeping girls, who joined them.

When it just became too noisy to sleep, even Kyouichi kicked his laziness and forced himself to get up.

By that time the room was almost completely cleaned up and only few of the sleepiest and laziest individuals were still lying in their futons or just pretending to be asleep.

With shock he realized that he wasn't sleeping more than one meter away from a youkai that once almost killed him the other day. And just as he made a few cautious steps backwards away from the napping Rumia, he bumped into someone else.

"Hey, don't just stand there and give us a hand over here!" Midori was quick to give Kyouichi some chores to do.

"Looks like you already cleaned the place up, though?"

"Then take a look outside and marvel at the junkyard that the people and youkai have left after the festival."

Curious to see it with his own eyes, Kyouichi opened the door and took a long stare at the back yard of Reimu's shrine.

"Mother of God?"

Confetti, paper masks, hair decorations, paper cups and trays, a few piles of broken glass, discarded chopsticks and other pieces of litter were dotting the lawn around the great stage.

"And that's just the back yard." Midori added with a bitter smirk.

"Well, I sure wouldn't want to be in Reimu's shoes now."

"Yeah, you already were in her dress, so I can imagine being in her shoes would be a bit too much?" giggled the young female outsider.

Kyouichi slowly turned his face to her with a deadpan expression. "How long are you going to keep reminding me of that?"

"For as long as I'll find it amusing? Now, take a broom and get to work."

"Huh~? I didn't drop a single piece of litter on the ground! Why should I be the one to clean this mess up? And where is Reimu? I won't move a muscle unless she personally tells me to."

"She's sweeping the front yard. And what do you mean? Aren't you grateful for her organizing this festival, letting us eat the food SHE prepared and letting us sleep in HER shrine?"

"Uhh, well? I?"

"Not to mention that she's going to help us return home." Midori continued, making Kyouichi feel more and more guilt for not willing to help her with cleaning up.

"Fine?" he pouted and crossed his arms. "I'll help. But where should I dump all this litter?"

"Oh, just sweep it all into piles and we'll burn what's burnable." Marisa explained.

"Alright, alright?" grumbled the outsider and grabbed the broom that was resting near the door. He had to acknowledge that he should at least get mentally prepared for his new job, which he expected to be physically exhausting. Sweeping Reimu's shrine yard should be a good warm-up exercise.

"Hey, that's my broom~!" Marisa called after him when she realized that her means of transport was mistakenly taken.

"Don't you use your broom for sweeping at all?" Alice asked her.

"Of course not! I don't want it to be all dirty and stinky." That was her reasoning. "Hey, Kyouichi~! Take some other broom, will ya?"

"Hm? Whatever?" the outsider turned on his heel and headed back to the shrine.

After clearing things up with Marisa, he was sent to the storehouse to find one of Reimu's brooms, and once he found it, he could finally start working.
Two hours have passed before he was finished and gathered all the litter into several small piles. Wiping off the sweat off his forehead caused not just by the work, but also by the scorching afternoon sun, he sat down on the shrine's elevated floor where he was sitting during yesterday's danmaku tournament.

"Ugh? I wish it was Kannazuki already."

As he was resting up, he could hear soft footsteps coming up to him. As he slowly turned his head to see who was there, he saw Reimu looking curiously at the swept back yard and her repaired stage.

"Oh? You already swept the back yard? Thanks. You didn't have to?"

After hearing Reimu say that, Kyouichi didn't know whether he should laugh or bang his head against the wall.

"No problem?" he sieved a lie through his teeth and leaned his aching back against the shrine's wall. "Man? a shrine maiden's job is hard?"

"At least someone here realized it."

"I just woke up and I'm already tired. I hope my new job doesn't kill me."

Reimu sighed lightly. "If it's as hot as today, nobody really wants to do anything."

"Not even resolving incidents?"

"There are some things that need to be done whether I like it or not. And resolving incidents is one of those things."

Reimu wasn't usually a very hyperactive kind of person, but when the situation demanded it, it's as if she had received a sudden energy boost. Today, however, looked like one of those days when she'd rather be loafing around at her shrine and drinking cool tea. The festival meant a lot of work for her every year, so it was quite understandable that she wouldn't be exactly brimming with energy once it was over.

"Seriously... littering on the sacred shrine grounds." Kyouichi shook his head over the amount of waste the shrine visitors have left. "You should collect fines from any offenders. Maybe you would have less mess to clean up and you'd earn some extra cash."

That idea didn't sound bad to her. "Ha! Maybe I should."

"It was a wonderful and memorable experience? this festival. I'm glad I could have been here and seen it all."

"Well, it was the first time that I held a danmaku tournament. If all goes well, maybe I'll hold one next year as well." Reimu was contemplating about the future.

"I wish you luck with that. Even when I won't be here to see it." the outsider sent her a smile as he was slowly getting on his feet again.

Having done what Midori told him to do, Kyouichi returned to the shade of the Hakurei Shrine's interior where he saw his few friends from the outside world packing their things up.

"See you tomorrow in school, "transfer students"." Keine-sensei was just leaving the shrine through the front and waving at the small group of outsiders. "And don't forget to study for the test."

None of the so-called transfer students had any words to add to Keine's little reminder, and with mute waving gestures, they saw the half-youkai teacher off.

"Tests?" Kyouichi disrespectfully snorted just as soon as Keine closed the sliding door behind her. "Well, Keine-sensei, at least you have a sense of humor."

"Man, you're lucky that you were sweeping the backyard and didn't have to listen to her lecture about temperance." Soudai looked no less worn-out than Kyouichi. "As if she was the only one sober around here?"

Even Midori donned a face that spoke of experiencing something annoying. "Well, I at least admit that I drank a little bit more than I should."

"A little more?" Soudai's lips bent into a teasing grin. "You were drinking with a tengu and two oni, Miss vice-president." he addressed her by her club title.

From the other side of the room Suika's mischievous giggle could be heard.

"And you were out cold before the festival even started." Midori returned the blow.

While Soudai was formulating his retorts, Midori turned to Kyouichi. "By the way, we've already packed our stuff and are ready to return to the village, so you should prepare yourself as well."

"I haven't even eaten anything since I woke up." he replied in unison with the growling of his stomach.

"If you want some leftovers from yesterday, you can find them in the pantry." said Reimu, who was just rolling up the futons. "But if you're not in a hurry and wait a bit longer, Youmu will be serving lunch soon."

Kyouichi instantly shot a glance in the direction of Reimu's stove when he heard that.

"Youmu-san is cooking again? Oh, happy day~!" he called out with joy.

The half-ghost standing at the stove turned her flushed face at him for a second before continuing her work.

"Folks?" Kyouichi looked at the other outsiders with a serious face. "Human Village can wait. We're staying for lunch."

"We've already eaten, so we're not hungry." Midori took the liberty of speaking for all of the other remaining club members.

"Midori, once you'll get a taste of Youmu's meal, not only will you change your mind, but you'll end up asking for seconds."

"Really?" the girl from outside world crossed her arms and eyed Youmu with a look of doubt. "We'll see about that?"
Thirty minutes later, the remaining guests have gathered around the table and feasting on Youmu's main course. There weren't that many guests left by now. Most of the fairies and their friends have already disappeared somewhere and Byakuren's company was gone since morning. At least now there was enough room around Reimu's table for everyone.

The not-so-hungry Midori was now licking her lips after she finished her portion.

"Umm? Youmu-san? That was soooo delicious."

"There's still some more if you'd like." the half-ghost made an offering gesture at the pot standing in the middle of the table.

"Uh? well just one last bite?" Midori tentatively reached into the pot with her chopsticks when Soudai whispered a not very tactful remark into her ear.

"Oi, oi, vice-prez, you'll get fat if you eat too much."

This earned him a semi-painful elbow in the ribs from her.

"Ugh? now I know why they say "truth hurts"." he joked as he was rubbing off the pain. "Though I can't blame you much. Youmu-san's cooking is awesome."

"Didn't I tell you so?" Kyouichi asked his friends. He too was tempted to ask for more, but he managed to resist. His eyes looked away from the pot and somehow, he ended up looking at Satori. The underground-dwelling youkai, as everyone else, had already changed from her yukata to her usual attire.

And when the outsider already had her in his field of vision, he couldn't help but to recall that funny moment when drunken Reimu confused her with Akyuu.

Sensing a glance, Satori slowly turned her face at him. "Please get rid of that mental image." she muttered and continued eating.

"Hm? What mental image?" Soudai curiously alternated his attention between Kyouichi and Satori. "Is Ishimaru having perverted thoughts or something?"

"Not really?" Kyouichi statred a sentence, but his older friend continued.

"Oh, I see now? You should watch yourself, Satori-san. He has a soft spot for purple-haired girls."

An awkward silence had settled in. Satori, Akyuu and Patchouli exchanged their confused glances.

"You know, Soudai," Kyouichi spoke after a pause, "every joke gets old when it's repeated."

"Hmph? Say whatever you like. You won't fool me."

"Hmph." he repeated Soudai's gesture. "Think whatever you like. But you're wrong?"
After lunch, Reimu's guests were starting to take their leave by small groups. Meiling and Patchouli headed back to their mansion, Satori and her pet have gone home to the underground, Yuyuko and Youmu returned to the Netherworld?

Reimu had just a few things left to clean up around her shrine and for that she didn't need anyone's assistance, but it looked like Marisa, Alice and Suika were planning to stay for a while longer than others.

The vendors of all the stalls in her shrine yard were almost all gone along with their merchandise. Rinnosuke was also most likely back in his shop by now. Even the outsiders had no further business in the Hakurei Shrine and were, in fact, convinced that they were overstaying their welcome. They thanked Reimu for her hospitality and waited for the first Ryuuken patrol to escort them back to the village. They all enjoyed the festival as much as they could, but now it was over and they had to return to their everyday lives.

For most of the outsiders, school was the main concern. However, apart from studying, each of them had to go to work and earn money for their collective cause. For Kyouichi and Soudai it was a time of trial, because they didn't quite know what exactly to expect from their new job. During weekend they were making jokes about it in a tavern with their pints full of beer.
On the next day, the two young men from the outside world were already standing in a line of new laborers at the local farm on the western side of the village, just beyond the Temple of Myouren. They were all waiting for their foreman to greet them and give them basic instructions for their work, since this was the first day at work for several other young villagers as well.

The sky was fully covered by clouds and it was drizzling since morning.

After a short while of waiting, the door of the large farmstead opened and a single figure ? a tall, muscular middle-aged man stepped outside. His clothes were plain and no different from other farmers, but his ragged frowning face evoked a certain level of authority, unlike most of the people working here.

He stepped up in front of the line of the new workers and gave them each a once-over. Then he spat on the ground and made a disdainful snort.

"So? You rabble are what passes for new farm workers? You all look like you barely even know how to hold a pitchfork."

"Ehehe? good afternoon to you too, mister?" Soudai jestingly whispered to Kyouichi.

"Now? since I ain't got all day, I suppose we better get right down to business." continued the foreman as he began slowly walking in front of the new recruits, taking a close look at each of their faces. "I am Izuru Takeda, but soon, you'll be calling me all sorts of other names once you get to know me better?"

"Somehow, I don't get a very good feeling from him." Kyouichi whispered back to his friend as he watched his new employer.

Izuru's introduction speech went on: "Here on the farms, I'm going to be your father, your master, your God? You are to do as I say and no bullshit. I'll be supervising you during your first week. Then some of you are going to be reassigned to other farm honchos? I'm going to turn you lazy-assed maggots into capable farm hands, and I'm gonna do so EVEN IF IT KILLS YOU? Do I make myself clear?"

"He sounds more like a drill sergeant than a farmer to me?" Soudai remarked and he was already beginning to regret his decision of taking this job.

"Sheesh? I'm already starting to miss Hiroto and the bookstore?" Kyouichi murmured back with the same feelings of regret.

"Now? I'm going to give you your tasks, which I expect you to do before sundown? The three of you will tend to the livestock. There's the tool shed and there is the corral? Feed the cows, milk them and clean up once you're done? The five of you?" he took five new workers, which included Soudai and Kyouichi, "? you're going to prepare that field over there for planting. Better start moving already, because you've got a lot of ground to cover. The rest of you are going to take scythes and sickles and you'll help the other workers with harvesting the crops. Now get to work already?"

"Umm, boss?" Soudai timidly raised his hand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Make it quick."

"What about the payment?"

"Ah, right? The money? You'll all get paid by the end of the month, but only if I'll be satisfied with your work. And if you get assigned to someone else, then they are going to pay you your wages? Now get busy!" he commanded and set the whole group of new farm hands into motion.

Soudai was glad that he at least had one friend to talk to and to complain to.
"Damn it? I knew it was going to end up this way? It sucks that we'll have to grind here for a whole month before we can even think about money. This kind of work ain't for us? How exactly does it fit into our plans, Kyouichi?"

"It just does?" he replied unclearly. "But it's a little too early to say how exactly. I'll need to look around a bit first and familiarize myself with this farm."

"Don't tell me you plan on stealing some of the food supplies just to aid our cause."

"Of course not, you airhead." Kyouichi disagreeingly shook his head. "You've heard what our boss said ? after one week we'll probably get reassigned to someone else, which means we'll get at least a little freedom of choice for our new tasks?"

"And what task are we aiming for?" Soudai inquired.

"It would be best if we could be with the suppliers."

"The suppliers?"

"Yes, the guys delivering the crops to the local shops." Kyouichi specified.

"Ah, so we could smuggle some stuff out of the village on one of the carts without making the Ryuuken suspicious?"

"Exactly." confirmed the younger outsider as he entered the farm's tool shed. "You're not as airheaded as I thought you were after all? I've been with a trading caravan prior to our meeting in Eientei and I remember no such thing as the Ryuuken checking the content of each wagon. If we'll be a part of the supplying chain, we'll be another step closer to achieving our ultimate goal."

"Yeah, but what if this guy will decide to keep us on a tight leash?"

Kyouichi was worried about the same problem too, but couldn't come up with any reasonable solution at the moment. "Ehehe? Just think positively, Soudai, think positively?"
A few hours have passed since their work started and the group of five new workers was only half-done with their task. The field seemed much larger to them, now that they had to work hard over each square meter. Soudai and Kyouichi were starting to feel how unused they were to hard physical labor. Both of them were running out of steam, their clothes soaked from the mixture of drizzling rain and their own sweat. The spades and hoes in their hands felt heavier with each passing minute. Being a farmer certainly wasn't a job for just anyone, but since both young outsiders wanted to see their dream fulfilled, they just had to grit their teeth and bear with it?

"Damn?" cursed Soudai as he wiped sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. "Why have I decided to take this job anyway? It would be perfectly fine if you worked here and I worked at the tavern?"

"Because you're a good friend?" Kyouichi grinned lightly.

"Curse you and your persuasive skills, Ishimaru?"

Kyouichi scoffed at his remark. "You said something similar when we were running away from Eientei? You have your own mind, don't you? You considered your options and you've made a choice. Now live with the consequences."

"Meh? I guess I can handle this for a few weeks?" Soudai suddenly changed his attitude.

"See? It's all in the mind, Asakura? But truth be told, you were right? This work is nothing for us city rats."

"We're not used to it. But perhaps after a few weeks?"

"We might drop dead." Kyouichi made a humorous ending to Soudai's unfinished sentence.

By the time they prepared the whole field for planting, the sun was just about to set. Fortunately, it stopped raining and even their clothes dried up a little. However, they were so tired that they could barely stand on their feet.
"Whew? Well, I'll be? We actually made it?" wheezed Soudai as he dragged his feet back towards the farmstead.

"For being blessed with magical abilities, the locals could at least think of implementing some of that magic to ease their work here?" remarked the younger of the two outsiders.

"Then we wouldn't be needed here." Soudai retorted.

"Yeah? I guess so."

When they finally returned the tools to the shed and lined up in front of the farmstead, just as they did when they first came here, their boss was already waiting for them. He impatiently tapped his foot against the ground and had his arms crossed over his chest.

"About time you made it?" he growled at the returning workers. "Tomorrow, you'll be planting potatoes on the very same field that you just prepared. Hope you're looking forward to that."

"Yeah, like to my death?" muttered Soudai under his nose.

"Death would be a welcome redemption from this drudgery." Kyouichi whispered back.

"Hey! You two are a bit too talkative, aren't you?" Izuru noticed their silent communication, even though he didn't hear a single word.

"Aren't we even allowed to talk?" Soudai asked without fear.

"When you have energy to talk back, young one, then you surely have enough energy to do some extra work! That goes for your friend too?" he gave Kyouichi a mean look.

"Oh joy?"

"When you'll be done with planting tomorrow, you'll be taking the freshly harvested crops from the neighboring fields into the storehouse. At least 50 full sacks. That ought to give you some workout? Now go home and have a bit of rest while you can."
The days during the first week of their new job were just gradually getting harder. Working on the fields was just a small fraction of their tasks. They also had to tend to the livestock, help repairing damaged tools, gather the crops, and their personal "favorite" ? they were tasked to shovel manure and use it to fertilize the soil.

Their boss, Izuru, was gradually having ever greater expectations of his new farmhands. Kyouichi and Soudai have even heard rumors that he does that to test everyone's limits and that regular farm workers don't have to work nearly as hard as the recruits in training.

They even learned quite a few nicknames the other new workers have given to their employer, including "Devil's Whip" and "Slave Driver" among the most common ones. As if their work was not hard enough by itself, the capricious weather and Kyouichi's allergy to pollen were making it even more physically challenging. After every shift, the two young men from the outside world had no energy to do anything but having a bath, eating dinner and going to bed.

A tiny spark of hope in their current situation was a chance for them to be reassigned to someone else after the first week. To their great dismay, that didn't happen even when they were leaving the farmlands after the 8th day of exhausting work. Izuru Takeda saw their working potential and decided to keep the two new workers under his wing. However, the gods of good fortune did not abandon the outsiders completely. Even with Izuru as their boss, they received a regular weekly task of supplying the markets and shops with fresh produce. This was essential to their plan, because now they were able to literally smuggle the club's traveling supplies on their cart all the way from the Human Village to Kourindou, which they were also tasked to supply. This, however, required a close and precisely planned cooperation with other members of the Transfer Students' Club, who often played the roles of cart loaders right in the village marketplace. While Kyouichi and Soudai were doing business with the vendors, their friends have moved in various pieces of their purchased traveling equipment and sneakingly loaded it onto their cart. With their supplies loaded, Kyouichi and Soudai then continued on their way to Kourindou, where their supply line had its terminus. Originally they wanted to carry their equipment all the way to the Hakurei Shrine, but that would take them too long and their boss would get suspicious if they didn't return to the farms on time.

To cope with this inconvenience, they paid Rinnosuke to deliver these supplies to the shrine. After a while of negotiating and persuasion, the half-youkai shopkeeper and the two outsiders have reached an agreement.

As for the situation in the Transfer Students' Club, most of its members have ceased all research-related activities and instead, focused on buying the necessary supplies for the best prices. They still had a long way to go, but so far, everything looked promising.

In the meantime, one of Kyouichi's first friends in Gensokyo, the old retired carpenter, Naota Tanisake, had made all the necessary legal arrangements to buy off the abandoned hunter's shack and had Kyouichi sign the ownership papers. But that was just one step out of many. The young outsider still had to visit the village hall multiple times to be officially proclaimed as its owner.

Before that, however, the abandoned shack had to be made habitable again.

During the weekend when the outsiders had no work, Naota invited a few of them for a visit and showed them the key to the mentioned shack.
"So I was thinking you youngsters might want to take a look inside and eventually help me return it back to its former glory." said the old outsider as he was leading a threesome of young people down the marketplace.

"So in other words, you've come to tell us that from today on, we'll be also working during weekends, huh?" Kyouichi asked with a weak chuckle.

"What's with that attitude, young one? When I first told you about the idea, you looked much happier."

"It's just that? our work is already draining all of our energy."

"Well, if you want to get out of Gensokyo sooner, we have to make that old shack at least look habitable so it could be acknowledged as your permanent residence. Once that's over with, you can ask the village council for a loan so you could all buy whatever you guys need to make it home alive."

"I know, Naota-san, I know?" Kyouichi was well aware of the situation, but he wasn't exactly fired-up for more physical labor.

"Alright, here we are." Naota announced the end of their walk when he stopped in front of the mentioned hunter's cabin "Well, it's yours now," he said while beckoning at Kyouichi, "take the key and open the door."

He took the key from Naota's hand and took a brief look at it. A strange mixture of anticipation, happiness, anxiety and reluctance welled up inside him.

After a while he stepped up to the old door and unlocked it.

"Hm? What's this??" he murmured as he gave the door a harder push, but it still refused to open.

"Hyaaaaaaaaargh~!" he slammed the door with his shoulder and finally made the rusted hinges unstuck.

"Anybody home?" he asked in jest as he set his foot inside.

The interior of the cabin consisted of only one room, approximately 6 x 10 meters large, with a solid wooden floor. The small, square windows were letting in only a small amount of daylight, so it was fairly dark inside. However, Naota was already prepared for this and brought a few lamps from his house with him.

"Well, what do we have here?" the old carpenter asked when he lit the lamps and placed them in the darkest parts of the cabin.

With additional light, it was possible to see the furnishing, which has collected a two year layer worth of dust. There was a large table with two pairs of chairs inside. Several old wardrobes and wooden chests were placed along the walls and corners of the room. The cabin also had a fireplace on the western wall and a fairly well maintained kitchen stove with a few cupboards at the northern wall. An old bed was standing in the far corner of the room and the walls were decorated with various trophies of animals hunted by the cabin's previous owner.

Apart from the thick layer of dust, most of the things were also covered by spider webs.

"Wow? I've never seen a house this messy." remarked Midori from the doorstep.

"Don't you worry, young miss." Naota said reassuringly as he was checking the content of the wardrobes and chests. "We're all going to do our best to make this place suitable for living again."

"It's hard to believe anyone was able to live here in the first place?"

"Not all people have high living standards like you, Midori-san." replied Soudai with an intention to tease her a bit, but just after he finished his sentence there was a loud crack and he let out a pained scream.

"Soudai! What's wrong? Are you alright?" Kyouichi called at his friend.

"The floor crumbled under me and my foot is stuck! I could use a little help over here."

"Oh my? you need to lose some weight, man." Kyouichi jested, even when he himself was heavier than his older friend. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there."

"Hmm? so the floor obviously needs replacing too." Naota just calmly stated as he watched Kyouichi trying to pry Soudai's foot out of the crack. "No wonder the village council wanted to level this whole shack to the ground. This will take a lot of work?"

"Umph? Midori! Don't just stand there and help us." Kyouichi called at her, when he failed to get Soudai unstuck.

"Sheesh? Two strong men asking a girl for help? How pathetic?"

Despite her teasing remarks, Midori obliged and went to help them. With combined efforts, they finally managed to pull Soudai's foot out of the crumbling floor.

"Whew? Thanks, guys." he thanked them as he dusted off his leg.

The three young outsiders have moved away from the place where the floor gave way to Soudai's foot and joined the old Naota in browsing through the storage chests and wardrobes.

"So, did you find anything interesting, Naota-san?" Midori curiously peeked over his shoulder.

"Most of the things still look useable." he grumbled under his breath as he was looking at the pile of various odds and ends that he gathered on the table.

Clothes, footwear, cutting tools, plates, pots, even a real working crossbow with a quiver of bolts... Naota has gathered everything that still looked to be of any value.

"We'll need to take everything out of this cabin so we could start working on its reconstruction."

"Say, Naota-san? Can you tell us something about that friend of yours who used to live here?" Kyouichi wanted to know a little bit about the cabin's history.

"Fumiaki Kinjo. I first met him about 10 years ago. He was just a few years older than Mizuto? He used to hunt both in the Bamboo Forest and in the Forest of Magic, but he was kind of weird."

"Weird?"

"He always kept telling me about his adventuring around Gensokyo, that he once went all the way to the shore of Sanzu River, or to the forest under the Youkai Mountain? I never quite understood what he found so entertaining about risking his life on daily basis. And on his travels, he found quite a few interesting items. Just about anything that caught his interest, he brought home. I used to make fun of him that he was acting like a fairy. But I admit, he was about as close to me as Mizuto. Poor bastard? probably became a victim of his own job and hobby. Now this cabin is probably all that's left after him, and since he has no family, it was just standing here without care for over 2 years."

"Was he also an outsider?"

"No, Fumiaki was native. Guess that seeing youkai every day made him think they're not dangerous or something. Oh? that reminds me? He used to keep a journal where he'd write everything that he saw and did every day "

"Maybe these books over here are?" said Midori as she looked into one of the storage chests full of books when she detected movement with the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her head to the suspicious movement that wasn't caused by any of the three outsiders in the cabin.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Soudai asked her.

Then she saw something move again. It happened in a blink of an eye, but she'd swear she saw something small run across the room and hide under a wardrobe in the corner.

"Yaaaaaaaah~!" she let out a squeal. "Was that a rat just now?!"

Naota just shrugged indifferently. "Hmph? could be?"

"Don't know what you're so surprised about, vice-prez. You heard it yourself. This place was without care for over 2 years."

"I'm out of here!" the young girl darted out of the cabin as fast as she could. Once she was safely outside, she wiped a droplet of sweat off her forehead.

"Phew? Filthy, disgusting, stinky and disease spreading?" as she muttered all sorts of adjectives to describe the animal she just saw, she noticed a young female mouse youkai just passing by, heading towards the nearby Temple of Myouren. The youkai girl looked into her eyes with an asking glance.

"You were saying??"

"?Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah~!" another shriek pierced the quietness of the Human Village outskirts. Heavy, hurried footsteps could be heard from outside the hunting cabin before Midori appeared back inside with a face pale with fear.

"Ah, good to see you back, Midori." Kyouichi waved at her.

"So? uhh? what should I help you carry?"
The four outsiders have completely emptied the cabin. All its furniture had to be carried outside, which took them all afternoon.

It wasn't anything easy, but at least nobody was bossing them around.

"Man? I'm beat?" Kyouichi sat down on one of the chairs that he and his friends have gathered outside the cabin with the rest of its furniture.

"Now what do we do, Naota-san?" wondered Soudai.

"We can't just leave all this stuff here. I'll go call some of my old apprentices to carry all this junk to the warehouse and bring all the necessary materials for reconstruction? Now don't take this in a bad way, lass." he turned to Midori. "But this ain't no work for a girl. You might as well go home or do whatever you want."

"Fine." she had no objections. "But if I were you, I'd first do something about that rat problem before proceeding with reconstruction." and with that, she headed back to the village.

"Now you two ought to stay here and watch the cabin and the furniture while I go call some of my old friends to bring a cargo wagon so we could haul all this junk into the village for the time being. Shouldn't take too long." said the old man and followed Midori back to the village.

"Alright, we'll stay here?" Kyouichi replied as he yawned. "It's not like we have much energy to go with you anyway."

The old carpenter was back in 30 minutes and he brought some of his friends. Kyouichi would swear he saw some of them before, but he couldn't quite recall where or when. That didn't really matter, though. They brought a whole wagon loaded with building materials and tools, which they unloaded near the cabin in order to load the furniture. By the time they did so, it was already evening.

"How long do you think it will take us to reconstruct this old shack, Naota-san?"

"By my rough estimate? about a month."

"That's as soon as we get paid." stated Soudai.

"Hey, and what if Kinjo-san is still alive and he'll return here?" Kyouichi asked more out of jest than seriously.

"Then show him your ownership papers and send him to my place to explain where the hell he's been this whole time, hahahaha!"

With the source of natural light necessary for work slowly setting behind the hills, Naota and his band called it a day and headed back to the village. There they stopped a pair of Ryuuken and told them to keep an eye on the "construction site" during night.

"Now how about a few drinks with an old friend after our first day of reconstruction, lads?"

"Ugh? no, thanks, Naota-san." Kyouichi shook his head. "We've already had plenty of that during the festival."

"But that was over a week ago."

"Maybe some other time."

"Alright, boys, I won't force you if you don't want to, but if you change your mind by any chance, you know where to find me? See you next time."

"Yeah, have a good time, Naota-san." the two young outsiders bid him goodbye and parted their ways.

The two of them only helped with the cabin's reconstruction on weekends, but Naota and his old apprentices were working almost every day to make the old abandoned cabin a place suitable for living.
Two weeks have passed since Kyouichi and Soudai started working on the farms. Izuru Takeda was still their strict boss and it seemed that this fact wouldn't change anytime soon.

One day when they were doing their regular supply run from the farm to the village and then to Kourindou, they stopped with their cart by the cabin to see how much work has already been done.

Today it seemed that Naota and his friends have taken a day off, because there were no workers inside or around the hunter's cabin. Kyouichi, however, had a key as its legal owner, so he took the opportunity to take a look inside.

"Urngh? damn it!" he cursed and hit the door angrily with his palm. "It's still as hard to open as ever."

"Hold on, let me give you a hand." Soudai told Kyouichi to step aside and decided to open the door with a tackle.

The door slightly moved, but only by a centimeter. "Guh! What the hell? Something must be blocking it from the other side?"

As Soudai struggled to force-open the stuck door, Kyouichi looked westwards along the road leading to their next stop ? Kourindou. And on that road, slowly approaching the village, he saw someone familiar, who he hasn't seen for quite a while?

"Oh, if it isn't youkai mo? uhh? I mean, Yuuka-san."

"Hm? What?" Soudai gave up his attempts and looked in the same direction as his friend.

"Good afternoon, Yuuka-san~!" Kyouichi waved at the approaching green-haired lady in red tartan dress with a white parasol.

"Why, hello there." she reciprocated the greeting with her usual smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it? No longer working in the bookstore, I see?"

Feeling a bit embarrassed to be talking to her in his dirty work outfit, Kyouichi looked down and shrugged.

"Uhh? yeah. I'm a farmer? So what?"

"Nothing~." she giggled softly.

"Actually, we're not even that." Soudai corrected his friend. "Our boss is a farmer. We're just farmhands. Uhh, I'm Asakura, by the way? Soudai Asakura."

"Outsider?"

"Yes, we're both outsiders." Kyouichi gave a reply instead. "And even if it may not look like it, we're actually working on getting out of Gensokyo even as we speak."

Another amused giggle escaped Yuuka's lips. "Is that right? Are you growing your own food rations on this farm or something?"

"Uhh? not really. It's a bit more complicated? Not sure if you're even interested in the details anyway."

"I'm not in a hurry." said the youkai lady.

The two outsiders then briefly explained their plans to her.

"So this? uhhh? "house" is now yours?"

"Yeah. At least according to papers it is." Kyouichi nodded affirmatively. "I suppose I'll have to act as though as I live in here to be able to ask for a loan."

With a bit of a contemptuous grin on her face, Yuuka expressed her opinion: "There are so many points where this plan of yours can go wrong, but do whatever you think is best."

"We know it's not a perfect plan, but at least it sounds more feasible than finding a youkai of boundaries."

"What may have no logic, reason or rhyme in the outside world may very well be possible here."

"I guess you have a point? Oh, by the way, Yuuka-san. You weren't at the shrine during the festival, were you? Because I don't recall seeing you there."

"No. But I do go to the shrine every now and then. The cherry blossoms in springtime near the shrine yard are quite a spectacle~♥."

"But there was this fancy danmaku tournament during the festival." said Soudai.

"Really~? How lovely~♥. Maybe I should have gone after all?"

"And where are you off to now? Buying flowers again?"

"Not just flowers. I saw this lovely dinner plate collection at the ceramics shop. They have these cute flower patterns, you see?"

Kyouichi had a hunch she would say something like that. "Hahaha~! You really love flowers, don't you?"

"I think you already know that by now." Yuuka started giggling as well.

"Now I also want to set up a small garden near this hut once it gets rebuilt. At least it will fetch a higher price when Naota decides to sell it?"

"By the way?" Soudai interrupted Kyouichi's contemplations. "Didn't we want to take a look inside?"

"Ah, right, we did. But the door seems to be so badly stuck that we can't get it open."

"Maybe I should got to the farmstead and get some tools to pry it open." the older of the two outsiders was speaking out his thoughts.

"Well, I guess I'll be going on to the village." announced the flower youkai and gently bowed with an unfading smile on her face. "See you some other time~."

"Yes, yes, don't let us keep you?" Kyouichi waved at her as she was leaving.

For a while both outsiders watched her calmly walking down the road to Human Village and each of them had very different opinions about her?

"She's truly a beauty," Soudai suddenly cut the silence, "but something about her creeps the hell out of me?"

Kyouichi just stood there with his eyes closed and an adoring smile. "So moe~?."
Since they still wanted to take a look inside the hunter's cabin, but couldn't get the door open, Soudai volunteered himself to fetch some tools to pry the door open without damaging it. However, he was taking a bit too long and Kyouichi was starting to wonder if his older friend wasn't slacking off somewhere. Their time was slowly ticking and the cart with grains and vegetables still needed to be dragged all the way to Kourindou and back.

Even the flower youkai was already heading back down the road from the village before Asakura Soudai returned from the nearby farmlands.

"Still here~?" she asked as she threw a quick glance Kyouichi's way. She was now carrying a bag with a heavy looking box-shaped object inside that jingled lightly as she walked. Apparently, the flower-patterned plate set that she mentioned earlier was now in her possession and she was on her way home with a content smile.

"Yes." he nodded to her question. "I don't know what's taking him so long? He should have been back with the tools 5 times over by now."

"So you still haven't opened the door?"

"No, Yuuka-san. You see, it's already unlocked and it moves a little, but then it just gets stuck. Don't know if it's the rusty hinges or if it's blocked from the other side?"

"Can I take a look at it?" she asked as she gently put her bag on the ground.

The outsider shrugged and beckoned at the cabin's door. "Be my guest." He leisurely leaned his back against the wall and let her inspect the door. Yuuka grabbed the door handle and tried moving it as gently as possible. Something was indeed preventing it from getting open and she figured that it would probably be fine to give it a slightly bigger push. She flexed her index finger, ready to give the door a flick.

Kyouichi didn't really think that this gentle flower-loving lady would help him with the door, so his attention drifted somewhere towards the farmlands, expecting to see Soudai any moment. That's when a sudden deafening racket, as if a lightning struck just a few meters away from him, snapped him out of his lethargy.

"What the??!"

He instantly turned and witnessed the green-haired youkai lady standing at the cabin's door, or to be more exact, where the cabin's door used to be, and sporting an expression of slight guilt or self-disappointment.

Still unable to understand what just happened, the outsider slowly approached the doorway and with gaping mouth, he peered inside.

"Hmm, maybe that was a bit too much of a push." Yuuka uttered with nonchalance, as if nothing that serious happened.

After a while of processing the image of the scene and assessing damage, Kyouichi spoke up.

"Umm? gee, thanks, Yuuka-san? I've? uhh? always wanted to have a back entrance?"

He wasn't sure what spell or force the flower youkai used, but it left quite a mess. A chunk of the door was flung across the cabin with such power that it made a hole in the opposite wall. Luckily, there was no other significant structural damage to the building.

"It's a bit too small to be an entrance?" Yuuka jestingly commented.

"Naota's not going to like this? What will I tell him?" Kyouichi thought aloud, but he couldn't think of any excuse for the current state of the cabin.

"It doesn't look as much work has been done here, though."

"The floor?" Kyouichi finally realized that Naota and his acquaintances have started removing the old, crumbling floor and replacing it with a more durable material ? stone.

"I didn't? really want to break the door?" said Yuuka after a pause. "Or that wall?"

"Maybe I'll just tell him that I wasn't here when it happened."

"When what happened?" Soudai's voice sounded from behind his back. "Whoa~! I guess we're not going to need any prying tools anymore?"

"Asakura! Damn? you scared me!" Kyouichi looked scoldingly at him over his shoulder. "What took you so long?"

"Our dear boss. I was just "lucky" enough to run into him when I went to fetch something to open the door with."

"A spade?" Kyouichi raised his eyebrow at the tool in Soudai's hands. "Anyway? what did the slave driver want this time?"

"I'll tell you, but first explain what the hell happened here!"

"Uhh? vandals."

"Vandals?" Soudai repeated with the same mistrustful look as Kyouichi gave him a while ago when he came back with a spade. "You mean the two of you? No, seriously, what happened?"

"I tried to open it, you see?" Yuuka started to explain.

"I see? Well, now we know that the door wasn't very magic-resistant?"

"Magic-resistant? I don't know. I didn't use any magic~." the youkai smiled innocently.

"Great? I just wonder what excuse you have prepared when Naota-san and the other workers see this." Soudai spoke to his younger friend.

Kyouichi replied with a shrug. "I don't really like lying to people, but I think we better just clam up about it and act as though as we weren't here when this happened."

"I'm sorry?" Yuuka apologized out of courtesy.

"Ah, never mind, Yuuka-san. That old door needed replacing anyway?" said the younger of the outsiders as he walked out of the building and passed closely by her. "?and? a? Achoo~! Ugh?"

"Bless ya?" Soudai murmured with an unamused voice. Due to Kyouichi's hay fever, he has been repeating this phrase a bit too often while the two of them were working in the fields.

"Thanks? Now? what did Takeda want from you?" Kyouichi changed the topic as he wiped his nose.

"From US, actually?" Soudai corrected him.

"I can't wait to hear this?"

"It seems that starting from next week, the village market and Kourindou won't be the only places we'll be delivering the produce to."

Kyouichi shook his head in puzzlement. "What? Where else does that humorist want us to be going to? The Youkai Mountain?"

"No, but you're not too far from the truth." chuckled the older of the two young men.

"Just spill it already." Kyouichi prompted him with an annoyed tone.

"We'll be doing runs to the fishing colony. The guy obviously just wants more profit."

"All the way to Misty Lake? That really is just a few kilometers away from the mountain! That's quite a journey."

"Four hours walk there, another four back?" Soudai specified. "It's no park stroll, but that also means we won't be sweating on the fields so much."

"I can't say I like that? It sounds dangerous."

"According to him, we'll be escorted by the militia on the way to the lake. Though I can't say I was very impressed by their work in my previous job?" he recalled his unpleasant experience that made him stay over in Eientei for over a week.

"Oh well, at least we get to see a bit more of Gensokyo while we're still here." shrugged the younger outsider. "Anyway, we should really get moving and get this damn cart to Kourindou. Besides, we don't want any witnesses seeing us here at the "scene of crime"."

"You're headed to that antique shop~?" Yuuka asked them.

"That's right. That's where I found those hibiscus seeds for you the other day."

"Ah, yes, the hibiscus~. Maybe I should also offer something in return? also to compensate for the broken door."

Kyouichi stood in silence for a while, just looking at the beautiful youkai before he smiled. "You're so nice, Yuuka-san~. I? I?ah?. Achooo!" another sneeze interrupted his sentence. "I'm sorry? Allergy season? Anyway, if you want to make it up, you can give me some tips on how to make a nice little garden for this hut."

"That sounds like a fair bargain."

"But not now. We have no time. Let's get that cart to Kourindou already."

"I'll be also going that way." said Yuuka.

"But we'll have to drag that cart with us, so we'll probably just slow you down."

"I do enjoy slow walks. That way I can take my time to enjoy all the beautiful flowers."

Having no objections against keeping each other's company for a while, they all headed off westwards.
Yuuka started giving Kyouichi some basic tips about gardening, though the outsider wasn't even sure if he'd remember it all. And when she covered all the basics, she started asking?

"?and in that book that I bought the other day, there was this article about various events like the World Floral Expo or the Flower Expo? So humans actually hold these huge events and gather flowers from all around the world so that they could admire their beauty?"

"Uh? well, I've never been to any such event to be honest, but yes, they do exist."

"Ahh~?" the flower youkai sighed wishfully. "I would like to see that?"

"Hahaha~! You'd like to come with us to the outside world, Yuuka-san? Remember, the 1st of Kannazuki in front of Hakurei Shrine?" he jokingly reminded her the scheduled day of departure from Gensokyo. "Though I'm not sure what Reimu would say."

"It doesn't really matter. Yukari goes there every once in a while. She could even take me directly to such an event, but unfortunately, she doesn't seem to be back from? wherever she is."

"I believe Reimu-san is already working on finding her. Apart from trying to resolve the fairy incident?"

"The fairies? they started quite a few fires all around Gensokyo. At first I just thought that it was that eccentric witch who lives in the Forest of Magic and one of her experiments going a bit more wrong than usual. Fortunately, the fires never reached my garden?"

"But I also heard that there haven't been any more attacks after that." said Kyouichi.

"Perhaps, but I'd still be careful around the Forest of Magic if I were you~. Besides, there are much worse things than fairies out there~♥." she warned the two outsiders with a bright smile on her lips.

"Oh, we're always careful. And I also have this?" Kyouichi reached in his pocket to show her the magic detector, but to his great surprise, its whole lens was emitting bright light like a beacon.

"Huh?" the outsider puzzledly stared at the detector in his palm. "Is this thing broken?"

He tried shaking it a little, but the detector was still radiating a dazzling light. "I never knew it also had a flashlight mode? But how do I turn it off? Maybe Rinnosuke-san will know."

Although Yuuka was a bit puzzled and wondered what that glowing object was supposed to do, she didn't bother asking. The road to Kourindou felt much shorter for Kyouichi when he could converse with such a lovely young youkai lady. And when the beauty of Gensokyo's nature made them lose their words, Yuuka suddenly started humming a melody?

"Say, Yuuka-san?" Kyouichi dared to speak after a while of listening. "What's that you're humming? It's quite catchy."

"Lovely Mound of Cherry Blossoms~♥. Do you like this tune?"

"Yes, it really is lovely. I think I heard you humming it once before."

"It's my favorite melody for when I'm returning home~." she explained while smiling.

And so, the nature youkai kept on humming her melody and the two outsiders just silently pulled their cart and listened to her lovely voice until they reached their destination.
"And it looks like we're

[Fonzi]

Chapter 52 ? Assembling a Team

The Scarlet Devil Mansion. An ominously looking structure settled on the island in the middle of the Misty Lake. Its mysterious atmosphere was enhanced by the thick veil of fog that surrounded it every morning. Today seemed like nothing exceptional was going to happen within or outside its walls, but that illusion soon dispersed with the morning mist once Patchouli Knowledge, a youkai sorceress and a friend of the mansion's mistress has finished reading the final book on the pile that Koakuma had brought to her upon request.

"Sakuya." she quietly spoke up to the head maid as she was on her cleaning duty in the mansion's enormous library. "Tell Remilia when she wakes up that today is the day. Tell her that I went to assemble the expedition team and to meet us at the Hakurei Shrine around noon."

"Today, huh?" the maid stopped dusting off the shelves and faced her. "I understand. Have a safe trip, Patchouli-sama. We'll catch up at the shrine as promised."

"I've already waited long enough." the purple-haired librarian murmured as she was putting on her cape, ready to head out. "Now is the time to see if my theories were right."

"Have you learned anything important in those books, Patchouli-sama?"

"I'll tell you the short version of it once we arrive in Kazemura. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go."

Sakuya silently followed her all the way out of the library to the main foyer of the mansion.

"Oh, and one more thing, Sakuya." Patchouli had another request for her as she was opening the door. "Pack some of my clothes and take them with you. We'll probably stay there longer than a day."

A silent bow of confirmation and a gesture of obedience came from the silver-haired maid, which was a cue for Patchouli to take off and fly all the way to the Forest of Magic ? her first destination.
She had a lot of ground to cover today and stopping by Marisa's house was just the first step.

"Oh, Patchy, good morning, ze~!" Marisa's tone didn't hide her surprise from the fact that this shut-in bookworm was now standing at her doorstep. Even Alice, who was temporarily accommodated in Marisa's house, curiously peeked over the witch's shoulder to see who came over for a visit at this early hour.

"Did something happen?"

"She's come to take her books back from you." Alice whispered jokingly into Marisa's ear.

"Good morning, you two." Patchouli greeted them quite informally. "I've just come to tell you to meet up at the Hakurei Shrine at noon, but to make things a bit easier for me, you should go to Human Village first and tell the same thing to Kamishirasawa-san and Hieda-san. In the meantime, I'll go to Eientei and see if the princess still hasn't reconsidered taking the trip to Kazemura?"

"So we're finally going there, huh?" Marisa nodded understandingly. "Reimu was wondering when you'd finally decide to organize that trip?"

Patchouli was well aware that she's been stalling the day of the expedition to the mining village by several days, but she didn't want to go there half-prepared. "I know. But today is finally the day where I hope to uncover the truth behind at least one of the recent incidents."

"That sounds really confident, Patchy. I bet Reimu will be all fired-up to go. By the way? Won't you have breakfast with us?" the blonde girl invited her in.

"No time. And I've already eaten. I'll head off to Eientei immediately. And don't forget to tell Reimu-san that we'll need Yuyuko-san in our team as well."

Not waiting for a reply or even a "see you later" from Marisa and Alice, the one week wizard, as Patchouli was sometimes referred to, took flight again, this time heading to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost and an ancient Japanese mansion located somewhere in its midst.
"Please, come on in." Eirin Yagokoro, the Lunarian pharmacist and doctor reacted to the knocking on the door of her small pharmacy.

A familiar guest stepped inside.

"Ah, Patchouli-san, welcome again." she nodded at her from behind the table. Due to her not too strong constitution and recurring health problems, Patchouli was one of Eientei's regular visitors.

"What can I help you with?" Eirin asked as the young youkai sorceress stepped forward.

This time, however, no sickness or ailment was behind Patchouli's today's visit. "It's about Kazemura. I'd like to speak both with you and the princess."

"You're lucky that we currently have no patients that require non-stop attention." Eirin smirked lightly. "Please wait here, while I'll wake the princess up. It might take a while, though?"

Patchouli didn't want to waste any time, though in this matter, she didn't have much of a choice. She nodded and sat down on the chair for patients and took a health-care booklet from Eirin's table to keep her mind busy until Eirin returned.

The doctor was back in just a few minutes, however, Princess Kaguya sure took her sweet time to roll out of her futon, get dressed and show herself up in the pharmacy.

"Good *yawn* morning~." she sleepily greeted Patchouli as she dragged her feet and wiped her eyes. "Patchouli-san? Eirin woke me up because of you?"

Though the sorceress knew well how unpleasant it was to wake up earlier than intended, when the situation demanded it, she could easily shake off the tiredness. She told her up straight why she came and why Eirin woke her up, without expressing much emotion.

"Eh? Isn't that nice, Eirin~?" smiled the princess after hearing the details. "I can sleep for another 3 hours."

Since Patchouli told her the same thing she told to Marisa and Alice, and previously, to Sakuya, Kaguya figured she could still laze around until noon. But Eirin always knew the right thing to say to change her attitude.

"You have a whole eternity to sleep as much as you like, Princess, but events like these are but fleeting moments that will probably never repeat again."

"I didn't say that I won't go." Kaguya defended her statement. "I'll be there right on time. Just after a little nap?"

"Well, then I suppose you won't mind if I take some of yesterday's mochi and offer it to Reimu-san and others while you'll be napping."

Kaguya already knew that arguing with Eirin was like beating her head against the wall and no matter what she'd say, Eirin would think of a counterargument or some other form of verbal leverage to convince her.

"Geez? you're mean, Eirin~."

It took a while, but both Lunarians agreed to be a part of the team heading off to Kazemura.
Even when Patchouli told Marisa and Alice to go to Human Village and tell Keine and Akyuu to come over to the shrine, she didn't actually trust them. After getting a positive reaction from Kaguya and Eirin, her next stop was the largest human settlement in Gensokyo.

When she arrived there, she first tried checking the Hieda residence, but the only one to answer her knocking was the maid of the Hieda family, telling her that young lady Akyuu has left with some blonde girl.

Smiling and bowing to the maid, Patchouli was glad that she could still count on Marisa and Alice if she asked them a favor. And even when it looked like the two girls were already here, the young youkai sorceress decided to check the Kamishirasawa Academy to make sure they called her as well. It was an odd felling for her, to be walking the streets of the village, among the humans. She's been there just a few times since she barely had any reasons to visit it. This time, she had more than a good reason, though. She knew the whereabouts of just a few important buildings and one of them was the village's only school. That's where she hoped to find Keine Kamishirasawa ? the half-youkai teacher of history and a couple of other subjects. She was among the most important persons for the expedition to Kazemura and a key figure in uncovering the mystery of the ruins.

As Patchouli was making her way towards the school, she passed around the famous dragon statue in the market square of the village. Its blue eyes gave a sign that a rainfall was soon to come. Once she found the right street, a noisy group of human children passed her by.

"Yaay~! School's canceled for today~!"

"If only Keine-sensei would cancel the tests too."

"And our homework?"

"Uh, excuse me," Patchouli stopped to ask them, "but what was that about school being canceled?"

"Oooh.." the children stopped and eyed her curiously. "Who is this purple onee-chan?"

"Did she forget to dress up when she got out of the bed?"

"She must be a youkai~!"

"Don't say that so loud or she'll eat us all!"

"Are you an idiot? Keine-sensei is half-youkai too? Not all of them eat humans."

"So what sort of youkai is she? A kappa? A tengu? No, no? she doesn't look like any of those that we learned about?"

"Mom told me not to talk to any youkai strangers."

As the children were exchanging their thoughts about Patchouli's appearance without any moral restraints, the elemental sorceress was starting to lose her patience, since her question was still not answered.

"I just want to know where Keine-san is."

"She sent us all home when that magician flew into the classroom through the window~!" one of the kids replied.

Patchouli closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Marisa? She hasn't changed her ways at all."

"She kept saying something about Hakurei Shrine, a field trip to Kazemura and some aromatic herbs? Patchouli, I think? It didn't make much sense. That's when Keine-sensei gave us a day off. Isn't that cool?"

After a short moment of awkward silence, Patchouli nodded. "Thank you. That's all I needed to know."

She showed her back to the children and soared up into the air. This time, the Hakurei Shrine was her destination.

"What a weird onee-chan."

"She's a youkai, a youkai~."
The sun was already high in the sky when Patchouli's feet touched the sacred ground of the Hakurei Shrine. It was quiet in the shrine yard and the only evidence of the Tanabata festival that took place here a few weeks ago were the few new planks that were covering a hole in the large wooden stage. Seeing that nobody was outside, Patchouli slid the door open and let herself inside.

"Ah, there you are." Marisa, seated at Reimu's table with a tea cup gestured at her. "What took you so long?" she asked provokingly as she sipped the hot tea. "Even these two made it here before you did."

The witch beckoned at Eirin, who was just digging inside her bag, looking for something and the Moon princess Kaguya, who was lazily lounging at the same table and eating her favorite mochi.

"Ah, please, come, in, come in, don't be a stranger." she called her in, as if she owned the place.

Keine and Akyuu were there too and so were Reimu, Suika and Alice.

"I checked the village too to see if you kept your word." she explained her delay.

"So, now that you're finally here," spoke the resident of the shrine, "Would you mind telling us what are we going to do once we get to Kazemura?"

Everyone was looking expectantly at the young youkai elementalist, but Patchouli didn't want to discuss her findings and plans when the expedition team was not fully assembled yet.

Apart from Remilia and Sakuya, the team still lacked a few important persons.

"Someone should call Saigyouji-san over." Patchouli noted. "And? the second shrine maiden."

"Isn't there already enough of us?" grumbled Reimu.

"Optionally, we could also solicit the assistance of the Komeiji sisters." the sorceress continued, as if she didn't hear Reimu's remark. "Or perhaps even get someone from the Myouren Temple?"

"Why not call over all Gensokyo to Kazemura?" Reimu didn't hold back her sarcasm.

"I am being serious." Patchouli raised her voice a bit. "Without Yuyuko-san, we might as well disassemble this meeting and cancel the expedition."

A moment of quietness passed before Reimu reluctantly stood up from the table and grabbed her gohei. "Fine?" she uttered resignedly. "I'll go get Yuyuko, but someone should go to the Moriya Shrine in the meantime."

"Why are you looking at me?" Marisa asked with the same expression of reluctance as Reimu was sporting a moment ago.

Just as Reimu opened her mouth to list her reasons why she was sending her best friend to the remote shrine atop the Youkai Mountain, a knock on the front door got everyone's attention.

"Must be Remilia and Sakuya." said Alice, and since she was the closest to the door, she volunteered to open it for the knocking visitors.

What surprised her, and pretty much, everyone else, was the face and voice that greeted them as soon as the door opened.

"Good afternoon. Ah, I see Reimu-san has a visit today."

For a while Reimu looked like she was seeing a phantom, which wasn't too far from the truth? "Y-Youmu?"

"Yes. It's me again." the girl with short silver hair bowed once more.

Ever since the day of the festival, when she and her mistress promised to help with the resolution of the fairy incident, Youmu could be seen outside of Netherworld much more often than usual. She's been paying a visit to the village, the shrine and the Scarlet Devil Mansion, asking about the details of the expedition to Kazemura, but nobody could tell her the exact day and hour at the time. Now she was here again, and she made quite a few faces smile by her mere arrival.

"Lucky~!" Reimu joyfully called out and hurried to welcome her. "Listen, today's the day. We need you to bring Yuyuko here. Patchouli insists we take her with us. Don't ask me why?"

Youmu paused for a moment and her deadpan expression didn't allow anyone to guess what she was thinking of. But after a while has passed, her small lips shaped a light smile.

"Finally?"

Not another word escaped her mouth when she saw that the shrine was full of familiar faces. The half-ghost gardener needed no other cue. With a speed that could rival Gensokyo's fastest flyers, she rocketed into the sky, above the thick white clouds that were starting to form since morning.

"That was some quick reaction?" Marisa nodded in acknowledgement and took another sip from her cup.

"Seriously, you should go to the Moriya Shrine in the meantime." Reimu's glance landed once again on the blonde witch.

"Like I said; why me~?"

"Instead of asking you could have already been there and back." the shrine maiden crossed her arms, leaving the door opened for Marisa.

"I've already been to the village with Alice." she opposed. "Why don't you go there?"

But Reimu wasn't willing to lose this argument. "Because your broom flies faster."

"Shrine maidens don't have anything worth stealing anyway?" muttered the witch under her breath.

To everyone's great surprise, the purple-haired wizard stood up with a heavy sigh and leisurely walked towards the door.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, as the saying goes."

"Patchy?" Marisa and Reimu stared at her in awe.

She turned around at the doorstep and gave everyone one more instruction. "When Remilia and Sakuya finally arrive here along with Yuyuko and her servant, don't wait for me. Head straight to Kazemura. I'll explain everything there. Oh, and I almost forgot? I'll need at least one healthy fairy specimen."

"Ah, yeah, I think you mentioned that during the festival." Reimu recalled the discussion from that evening. "I think I know where those three usually hang out."
Without any further ado, Patchouli took flight, heading northwest. She was technically returning back to the mansion, but that was approximately just halfway to her intended destination. Indeed, Marisa would have been there much sooner on her magic flying broom, but seeing as she wasn't very eager to take the trip, Patchouli took over the task. The flight was calm and relaxing to the sorceress and the gentle breeze coupled with the panoramic view of Gensokyo's beautiful mountainous scenery helped her fight away the uneasiness that she felt from the whole fairy incident.

A decent while has passed before she made it all the way to the Great Youkai Forest surrounding the magnificent Youkai Mountain. What she was starting to get worried about now was not the fact that the tengu guarded this mountain from any intruders, but rather that the thinned air in the high altitudes could cause her some serious, perhaps even life-threatening difficulties.

Now was another moment when all those decades of diligent study and practice of elemental magic paid off. By channeling just a miniscule bit of magic, she was able to gather and concentrate a high amount of oxygen from the air and seal herself in a bubble of water. That way she could fly all the way to the very peak of the Youkai Mountain without worrying about her health. She continued onwards and increased her altitude as the mountain sloped upwards ever steeper. Among the trees below her, she could occasionally catch a few glimpses of the kappa, most of which preferred to wear light-blue waterproof clothes. But the busy kappa or their village in the marsh below the mountain didn't interest Patchouli right now. She knew that she was entering a very dangerous territory even for a youkai such as herself. The tengu didn't take kindly to strangers and even their neighbors, the kappa were not allowed to roam the mountain as they pleased. But even despite this isolationist way of life, they did accept a few strangers on their sacred mountain. And some of those strangers were the residents of the Moriya Shrine. Kanako Yasaka, Suwako Moriya and Sanae Kochiya - two goddesses and one shrine maiden, living together under the same roof. Though their history in Gensokyo wouldn't fill too many pages, the events that led to their current way of life could be dated back to over 15 centuries ago. The goddesses themselves were, of course, incomparably older than that, but it was sometime around the 3rd or 4th century where their fates interlaced. The event known as the Great Suwa War was the first time when the goddess of wind and rain first met in a battle against the goddess of earth and mountains, the original owner of the Moriya Shrine. Suwako once ruled over her small kingdom and controlled the Mishaguji ? ancient curse gods that gathered faith by cursing just about everything one could imagine to be cursed. Suwako was the only goddess who was able to tame them and thus, establish her own kingdom and gain quite a lot of faith for herself. However, in that period, the gods of Yamato ? the ancient Japan, invaded her kingdom and declared their goal ? the unification of all kingdoms into one country. The earth goddess did not agree to that and the Great Suwa War ensued. Suwako decided to fight it with the best steel weapons of that time, but Kanako held out a thin vine, and Suwako's entire arsenal rusted away in an instant. The difference between their power quickly became obvious to the earth goddess and she admitted her defeat. She relinquished her kingdom and surrendered her shrine to Kanako. The wind goddess hoped that by doing so she would not only help to unite the kingdoms, but also to gain a lot of faith. What happened in the aftermath, however, was the complete opposite of her plan. Since Suwako was the only one able to tame the dreadful Mishaguji, her defeat and replacement by Kanako have caused a wave of doubt spreading among the shrine's followers. Many became skeptical about Kanako's competence to keep the ancient curse gods at bay and didn't support the new goddess with their faith. Thus, Kanako was forced to depend on the help of her defeated enemy.

Today, barely anyone would call the two deities by any other words than friends. Perhaps some would confuse them for a family, because that's just the way they lived together. And how did the human shrine maiden Sanae fit into all this? She is a distant descendant of Suwako, and therefore, one could say she is a goddess as well. She served as a shrine maiden of the Moriya Shrine in the outside world, but due to the ever decreasing faith in gods and miracles, she and Kanako decided to relocate their shrine to Gensokyo, where at least youkai could still have some faith in them. In 122, the Moriya Shrine has become a part of Gensokyo, situated on a high plateau of the Youkai Mountain along with a part of the Lake Suwa.

As Patchouli was making a recapitulation of the shrine's history in her mind, she began to wonder why she hasn't been halted by a single tengu yet. She was already deep in their territory, and she knew well that the tengu have incredibly sharp senses of sight, smell and hearing. She, of course, already had prepared her replies to any of their possible questions in her mind, and in the worse-case scenario, even to fight her way up to Moriya Shrine. But so far she didn't have to, and she was growing suspicious of this situation. The aralia trees below her were gradually starting to thin and were being mixed with various sorts of coniferous trees. This was a sign that she was already in the higher part of the mountain, but still no tengu patrols anywhere. While she was glad that she didn't have to put up with this annoyance, the sorceress couldn't help but to suspect that something wasn't right.

She followed the shortest aerial path to the shrine, flying over the huge Waterfall of the Nine Heavens that was fed by the Wind God's Lake. This was a place where the tengu patrollers used to hide and ambush any intruders brave or foolish enough to venture there, but Patchouli's ascent up the waterfall still remained unhindered. She just spotted a few water fairies, but they immediately scattered or hid themselves in the waterfall as they saw her. Again, there was no need for Spell Cards. In a few minutes, she reached the top of the waterfall and the beautiful scenery of the Moriya Shrine's plateau unfolded before her eyes.

But it didn't take long for her to notice that the plateau, the paved road to the shrine and the area around the Wind God's Lake was rather crowded for a non-festive day. Still enveloped in her water bubble, Patchouli halted her flight to identify the numerous visitors of the shrine. Her inner question why she wasn't halted or attacked by any tengu patrol was immediately answered. The area around the shrine was simply crawling with dozens of white wolf tengu as well as the investigative crow tengu.

They noticed Patchouli just as soon as she arrived, and quickly set their sights at the sky, gripping the hilts of their blades and preparing their shields into defensive positions.

"You there~!" one of them called out at the hovering sorceress. "Descend slowly to the ground! And no sudden movements! If you try to flee or make anything foolish, we WILL kill you~!"

Alone, she would stand no chance against the whole platoon of tengu, so Patchouli began to descend as she was asked. She wasn't as much scared of them as she was curious. Curious about why the tengu patrols gathered here, as well as about why they asked her to land instead of trying to drive her away. She felt the firm ground beneath her feet again, and with calm gaze she watched as the squad of white wolf tengu surrounded her from every side.

"What's all this fuss about?" she asked them as they pointed the tips of their weapons at her.

"We're the ones who's going to be asking questions here!" the leader of the tengu force shouted back at her. "And it's in your best interest to speak the truth!"

A nod of consent came from the sorceress as a reply. And the white wolf tengu started the interrogation.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Just as Patchouli opened her mouth to give the answer, she heard the typical clicking sound of a camera taking a picture. Obviously, the fact that a group of patrollers has suddenly formed a circle around someone didn't escape the ever curious eyes of the crow tengu scouts, messengers and reporters.

"Ayayaya~! What an incredibly rare visitor! I would never expect to see you here. And what's with that bubble?" the excited voice of Aya Shameimaru interrupted the attempt of her colleagues to interrogate the suspicious intruder.

"Eh? You know this girl?" asked another crow tengu who was also taking pictures, however, using a different device.

"She's Patchouli-san from the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Aya replied while taking an angle shot of Patchouli. "It's rare to see her outside her library, let alone here."

"Suspicious?" the other tengu reporter muttered under her breath, not intending to lose to Aya in the number of pictures taken.

She was a brown-eyed girl around Aya's age in appearance. She wore her long brown hair done up in two side ponytails by a pair of purple ribbons. Like all tengu, her head was adorned by a tokin, but unlike Aya's, the color of hers was matching her hair ribbons. Her top was a short-sleeved pinkish shirt with purple trim around the collar, complemented by a thin black tie. She also had an armband of the same color tied around her right arm. Like most of Gensokyo's female inhabitants, she wore a skirt. It was a knee-length skirt with checkered pattern consisting of black and purple squares. The purple squares of her skirt also sported faint floral patterns. Patchouli also noticed a small brown leather pouch resting on her hip. The tengu girl also wore black thigh-high socks, but she had them rolled down just below her knees. Like Aya, her footwear consisted of a pair of geta with purple straps. The device in her hands that she was taking pictures with differed from Aya's camera in both shape and color. It was thinner, but longer and its color was yellow, contrasted by a red heart-shaped decoration and a small brush hanging down from it by a small chain like some kind of charm.

"Suspicious indeed?" some of the white wolf tengu agreed with her statement about Patchouli. "You still haven't told us what business you have here."

"I've just come to speak with the shrine's goddesses and the shrine maiden." she began explaining the reason for her arrival. "I mean no harm to anyone."

"Aww, Patchouli-san, you missed it all~! This place was quite a battlefield just an hour ago." Aya took one last shot of the youkai elementalist and landed in the middle of the circle formed by the white wolf tengu. "Sorry for the rude welcome? You can all sheathe your weapons. I'm taking over the responsibility for this intruder." she addressed those words to the group of defenders.

"I don't recall Lord Tenma ever giving you the authority to give orders to the white wolves, Shameimaru." the commander of the squad disdainfully growled back at her. "And why are you obeying her, Inubashiri? We cannot trust this intruder. Her time of arrival right after the skirmish is too suspicious."

"Skirmish?" Patchouli raised her eyebrow.

"Playing dumb, eh?"

"No, like I said, I doubt Patchouli-san had anything to do with that?" Aya steadfastly defended her opinion.

Ignoring Aya's remark, the white wolf commander asked Patchouli another question: "What exactly did you want from the shrine's residents?"

"I needed to show them something. Their help would be very important in resolution of the fairy incident. I think I know how to stop it, but I need a team."

Aya knew about Patchouli's plans, since she explained them during the festival at the Hakurei Shrine. She glanced over at the white wolf commander with a crooked grin. "See?"

Hesitant and paranoid, the warrior slowly and reluctantly lowered his weapon and his shield. The other tengu defenders followed suit.

"If you really know how to stop it, we're listening."

"Does that mean I can enter the shrine now?" Patchouli asked with a hint of impatience in her tone.

"Well, Patchouli?" Aya took a step towards the librarian with a pen and notepad in her hand. "I hate to burst your bubble," she poked Patchouli's water bubble with the tip of her pen.

"Mukyu!" the sorceress covered her face as the thin layer of water splashed on her face.

"?but there is nobody in the shrine right now." the crow tengu finished her sentence.

Surprised by the fact that the air was still breathable even in this altitude, and that the residents of the Moriya shrine were not here, Patchouli just stood there silently for a few seconds.

"So where are they? And more importantly, what skirmish are you talking about?"

"The shrine was attacked by a flock of fairies." the brown-haired crow tengu explained. "We came here to help the residents defend it. The shrine took some minor damage, but nobody except the said fairies was harmed. Of course, as soon as I heard about it, I rushed in to write an article about it. I don't usually do field reports, but I don't want to lose to this second-rate journalist here?" she disdainfully gestured at Aya.

"Well, excuse me!" the black-haired reporter crossed her arms and averted her gaze from her rival. "It's a small miracle your newspaper even sold at all when you never even left your house in order to gather information? I bet even Patchouli here goes outside more often than you."

"And can you tell me where the Moriya Shrine residents went after the battle, Miss?"

"Ah, sorry." the reporter with twin-tails bowed in apologetic manner. "Hatate Himekaidou from Kakashi Spirit News."

"I have a few issues in the library." Patchouli recalled the name of the newspaper. Although it was on the fringe of popularity, a few of its printouts ended up even in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's great library. "So you're the editor?"

"Oh~! So you're a reader~?" Hatate did little to hide her excitement. "Ha! See, Aya, my newspaper is just as popular as yours."

"Yeah, fat chance." Aya scoffed amusedly. "If you only keep writing about events that were covered in other newspapers, your paper will hardly interest anyone except historians."

"That's why I started gathering information in the filed."

"So you're that reporter who uses spirit photography as her source of gathering obscure information about past events?" Patchouli curiously measured her up.

"Y..yes, why?"

"You're coming with me." the elementalist flatly stated her demand.

"Eeeeeeeh~?! What do you mean?"

"I want you in the expedition team. We'll go to Kazemura."

"What?" the brown-haired crow tengu was taken aback by the sudden request. "Why would I want to be in your team and go anywhere with you? Who do you think you are?"

"Do you want to contribute to the resolution of the fairy incident or not?" Patchouli retorted with a question.

"Hmm?. It's true that it would be excellent for business," Hatate was thinking aloud, "but I still haven't finished my work here. And I don't follow orders from anyone except Lord Tenma. Unless you prove yourself worthy, I'll just follow you to Kazemura, but I'll do only what I want. Understand?"

"Look, I have little time to play your childish tengu games and doing some silly tests of worthiness." said the elemental sorceress as she opened her grimoire. "Let's settle this with a duel."

A confident smile sprouted on Hatate's lips. "Hm-hmm~! Just what I was going to suggest. Three Spell Cards, no area restrictions. Now show me what you've got."

"Oh my, this is going to be interesting." Aya already had her finger on the shutter of her camera as she was backing away from the two girls in the middle of the circle of white wolf tengu. The armed tengu forces also backed away and enlarged the circle. They were curious whether the intruder from the Scarlet Devil Mansion was any match for one of their race, but none of them was willing to stick too close to the two duelists.

"Oh, oh, let me give you a signal to begin~!" Aya shouted at them from a safe distance. "Wait for it? Wait for it~!"

Aya teased them by making them wait for her signal, and she enjoyed every second of it. She intentionally waited until one girl or another would run out of patience.

Hatate finally couldn't take it anymore. "When the heck??"

"Go~!"
The distracted tengu was at a disadvantage, but she was still faster than her opponent. She instinctively avoided a fireball that was aimed at her face and started her offense with a non-card attack as well. Her response was a repetitive series of cone-shaped blasts of blue danmaku, but she had about as much success with it as Patchouli had with her initial attack.

Patchouli was already distanced enough from Hatate to easily deal with her wide-shot blasts.

"Hehehe?" Aya giggled as she was circling around them and taking pictures from all angles. "Two shut-ins fighting outside the Moriya Shrine? What a scoop!"

To assess her opponent's abilities, the youkai sorceress tried out another one of her non-declared danmaku patterns. She scattered a pack of water-element projectiles in a symmetrical 360 degree outburst, but the gaps between the short streams were too wide to pose any serious threat. Hatate had no problems finding e safe spot, but that was just the beginning. When she saw 8 bright-red sources of light appearing around Patchouli and slowly beginning to orbit around her, Hatate figured that hovering idly in one place was not going to win this fight for her. In the next instant, the lights that circled around Patchouli simultaneously projected dangerous-looking beams that slowly rotated both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

"Aaah! What's this?!" Hatate was trapped between the rays and the remaining water danmaku, quickly thinking of what to do next.

She tried moving up to fly over the rays, but Patchouli shifted the angle of the whole beam-emitting circle to match her position. The rays were closing in on her from both sides, like some kind of giant scissors. She immediately decreased her altitude, but the elementalist simply aimed the whole laser circle lower. Hatate was starting to panic, and she reached for her yellow camera. Just as she thought that the beams would slice her, she focused the lens and took a picture?

A large rectangular white frame appeared for a moment in front of the tengu girl, and with a clicking sound, a portion of Patchouli's danmaku that was in that rectangular area simply burst into white sparks and gathered to the lens of her camera. That made a brief gap in the beams, enabling Hatate to move out of harm's way. Meanwhile, Patchouli and her attack pattern continued. Even though this battle wasn't limited by the number of hits each of the girls could take, the tengu didn't want to underestimate her opponent. In other words, it was a normal three card match that could be won either by making one's opponent run out of Spell Cards, by opponent's surrender, or by a knock out.

In the initial phase of Patchouli's attack, Hatate failed to notice any opening in the pattern so she resorted to using her special camera to protect herself. But Hatate was no fool. She was well familiar with the Spell Card Rules and she knew that every single danmaku attack in a formal duel, declared or not, had to have some sort of opening to offer the opponent some small chance to evade it. The publisher of the Kakashi Spirit News decided to take a better look at the pattern of her opponent's attack, which seemed to have a regular pattern with some small elements of randomness.

She evaded the blue water orbs and slowly cruised by one of the red lasers that was spinning in a counter-clockwise direction. She patiently kept her eyes on Patchouli, aiming her camera at her. She quickly learned that her first reaction was needlessly panicked and foolish. She saw the opening as clear as day. The opposite laser that was slowly spinning clockwise faded almost as soon as it was about to meet with the other beam. All that Hatate had to do was to stream along one of the rays and wait for the right moment to make a dashing maneuver. Not only did she learn about the opening, she also noticed that the pattern slightly depended on her own position and movements. She no longer saw it as dangerous.

However, just as the tengu learned a thing or two about her opponent's danmaku patterns, so did Patchouli absorb valuable information from Hatate's performance against her non-card attack. For instance, she learned that despite being a crow tengu, her movements seemed a bit stiff and clumsy at times. It also seemed that she preferred to rely on her camera that could remove danmaku in its viewfinder and cause significant spiritual damage to the person being photographed. She knew this little fact from one of her less pleasant encounters with Aya which took place several years ago. Her camera could do exactly the same, though it seemed that Hatate was using a more advanced model. A faint memory from one of her few visits to Kourindou flashed through her mind. She saw a few strange devices that Rinnosuke claimed to be very common in the outside world and one of those devices was very similar to what Hatate was using. The owner of Kourindou has called it a cell phone.

But right now, Patchouli had little time to contemplate about the design of Hatate's camera.

"Reporting "Hatate Himekaidou's Reporting Training"!"

The first Spell Card of the match has been declared. Similarly to Patchouli's initial burst, Hatate's spell began emitting high-density, rapid-fire symmetrical bursts of the same blue arrowhead shots that she used when the duel began.

Patchouli ceased her attack to be better able to see her opponent's danmaku.

"Hya~!"

Just a lucky reflex saved her from the first, surprisingly fast barrage that was almost immediately followed by another one.

The sorceress backed away a bit, but Hatate dashed forward just as her spell was shooting another salvo, the result was a nearly unavoidable blue cluster of chaos and the librarian from the Scarlet Devil Mansion could feel several unpleasant stings on her various body parts.

Seeing that her spell was working, Hatate kept slightly changing her position and altering the pattern of her shot bursts.

"Ouch?" another pair of magic bullets landed on Patchouli's arm and torso.

If Hatate was her opponent during the festival's tournament, Patchouli would be defeated by now. But in this duel, it's not the number of hits that counted.

She was in pain, but she somehow managed to keep herself focused on her enemy's movements, and based on those, she could dodge her annoying blue shots. That's when Hatate readied her camera and aimed its viewfinder at her. Patchouli was in a serious pinch?

"Sun Sign "Royal Flare"!" the usually quiet librarian nearly spat out her vocal chords as she shouted the name of one of her most powerful spells.

This battle was evolving too much in Hatate's favor. If Patchouli wanted to win, she had to go all-out against her and this was her answer.

A whirlwind-like explosion of fire erupted a just a few meters in front of the elemental sorceress, spinning and spreading wide, leaving only hopelessly small openings in its pattern.

At least now Patchouli thought she could take a short break from dodging Hatate's danmaku, but the tengu girl just photographed the epicenter of her Royal Flare, giving herself a huge advantage and even braving a counterattack.

Another pair of rapid bullet streams grazed by Patchouli from both sides. Hatate dared to draw a little closer to get a better shot only to get caught up in the inferno that spawned behind her.

"Uwaaaaa~! Hot, hot, hot!"

Not just one, but several of Patchouli's fireballs found their way to Hatate and the panicking tengu forfeited her attack and proceeded to make rapid aerial circles to put out the flames on her shirt.

"Why you little?" she clenched her teeth in an angry expression which was perfectly captured by Aya's camera who kept photographing the whole battle. She stretched out her left arm and opened her palm to punish Patchouli's audacity. A continuous stream of her trademark blue arrowheads jetted out from her palm with a slight spread. Some of the shots were eaten by the hungry flames of Royal Flare, but some of them indeed hit their intended mark. Under the trance of the card, however, Patchouli felt their impact only minimally.

Hatate kept using her "unfair" tactic of eliminating the most dangerous parts of enemy danmaku with her camera and returning her conventional, non-declared danmaku fire.

Like that, she was able to defeat Patchouli's Spell Card like it was nothing particularly difficult.

The sorceress was starting to grow desperate. Even though she used just one card so far, Hatate's camera was the biggest source of her frustration. She tired combining the elements of wood and ground in a non-card attack to take the tengu by surprise, or at least, to create a diversion.

The air quickly became filled with bright yellow orbs representing the earth element and thin leaf-shaped and colored projectiles that promoted the element wood. While the "leaves" were scattered randomly, the "earth" orbs appeared directly above Hatate and started falling down on her like rocks from a cliff.

The tengu journalist didn't see much threat in this attack. She shifted her attention upwards, thinking that avoiding the green shots will be a piece of cake once all the yellow "stones" fall down. As it turned out, that was one of her bigger mistakes during this match.

As the yellow orbs began dropping from the sky and the tengu spectators on the ground used their shields to protect themselves, Patchouli quickly moved close to Hatate and unleashed her second Spell Card, as one could say, right into her face.

"Metal & Water Sign "Mercury Poison"!"

A beautiful, but dangerous formation of blue and yellow orbs began erupting from the picture on Patchouli's Spell Card and formed regular, almost symmetrical, slow-moving layers with intersecting trajectories. Nothing challenging for a calm mind, but since Patchouli was so close, Hatate stood no chance avoiding the first wave.

"Oomph! You'll pay for this!" Hatate's frustration now matched that of her purple-haired opponent. "Far-sightedness "Tengu Psychography"!" she flashed a card held between her fingers.

Hatate again readied her cell phone-like camera and aimed it at the elementalist. With a push of its button, she not only removed a large rectangular field of Patchouli's danmaku, but in that very field, created a mass of her own projectiles. These projectiles were thin and square-shaped, similar to some of Reimu Hakurei's amulets. These "amulets" scattered randomly in all directions, as if blown away by a gust of wind.

The situation turned into a clash of two Spell Cards, as it was so often observed during the Tanabata festival's tournament. However, some Spell Cards were just more effective in certain situations than others. To Patchouli's dismay, it was again the crow tengu and her spell that had the upper hand. Her camera was able to take shots in rapid succession, but in its "thoughtography" mode, the delay was slightly longer. Patchouli's card was rendered completely harmless and in a critical moment the tengu brunette with twintails took a picture of her.

Patchouli stood stunned for a moment, feeling like she lost a decent portion of her strength. She felt dizzy and weaker than usual, and as if that wasn't enough, she was subsequently showered by a flurry of purple charms.

"Hahaha~!" Hatate's laughter echoed in her ears as she was trying to make her vision clear. The tengu was just about to take another picture. One that would end this duel? "And one for the "Loser of the Year" contest?" she jeeringly taunted the paralyzed youkai magician.

Her finger pushed the button. A frame around Patchouli appeared, followed by a characteristic clicking sound. Poor Patchouli was?

"Gone~?" Hatate's eyes were widely staring at the place where the sorceress should have been when the shot was taken, but she managed to dart off just a split second before the camera did its job.

Patchouli somehow snapped out of her dizziness and using the power of the air element, she propelled herself quickly away from danger. She turned her back on Hatate and flew away from her as fast as possible. The match was not restricted by area, so Patchouli chose to make use of it. This was a desperate maneuver and she knew that Hatate wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of it. But that was exactly what she hoped for.

"Where do you think you're going? You can't run away from a crow tengu!"

She chose to end her Spell Card prematurely and decided to pursue her fleeing target, planning to take her out with conventional danmaku. Even when propelled by the wind itself, Patchouli wasn't faster than a determined crow tengu. With the sight of the Wind God's Lake in front of her, she could already see Hatate's short bursts of bullets flying around her shoulders and getting increasingly more accurate as the tengu girl closed in on her prey. Patchouli flew low, just a meter or two above the ground, heading for the lake.

"So, you think you'll use those onbashira for cover?" Hatate ridiculed her desperate escape. "You know, it would be much easier to surrender~! If I knock you out over the lake, you will drown. Not that I care."

Of course, the sorceress didn't heed the warning and continued onwards, until the ground below her became replaced by the mirror-like surface of the sacred lake. Not long after that, Hatake kept her ominous promise.

"Hnnnn~!" a small salvo of shots peppered Patchouli's back, bringing sharp, throbbing pain as their inseparable companion.

With the last ounce of strength, Patchouli glided over to the middle of the lake, where she stopped fleeing and faced her adversary.

"You and I still have one card." Hatate stopped pursuit and halted her fire. "But if you fail to shoot me down with it, you'll lose all the same."

Patchouli didn't need her explanation at all. She just waited for one thing? Hatate herself.

The youkai sorceress opened her tome and raised one hand, ready to cast her final spell. For the whole duration of the battle, she wasn't even sure which Spell Cards to use until now.

Since the conventional spells have not done their job, it was time to bring out the experimental ones. The lake itself was perfect for that. So much water; so much accumulated faith?

"Divine Water "Neptune's Wrath"!"

"I'll show you MY wrath~!" Hatate hurled a brutal barrage of danmaku to finish off the youkai magician.

Patchouli didn't even attempt to dodge it. Over three dozen magic projectiles have rammed into her body, but the spell itself was powerful enough to protect her from harm. But even after she declared her attack, no danmaku appeared.

"Hmph? Think you can just stand there, taking hits forever? Nothing can stand against this camera?"

And so, the crow tengu charged her camera to take the picture. She already had Patchouli locked on, when a roaring splash, louder than the Waterfall of Nine Heavens, sounded below her. Hatate threw her glance down to see a huge pillar of water shooting out of the lake's surface, much like the famous geyser near the Hakurei Shrine. Hatate just barely evaded the watery mass, but she didn't expect that the pillar of water would change its heading, grow five fingers and grab her like a hand of some enormous water giant.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa~!" her terrified scream echoed over the plateau as the huge arm started dragging her down to the lake. She couldn't do anything. Her movement was almost completely restricted, not even giving her a chance to cast her own final spell.

Not long after that, Hatate was dragged under the water, then resurfaced, and again dragged under.

"Waaa~! Stooooop~!" she screamed while holding her arm with her camera stretched upwards.

"Are you giving up then?" Patchouli asked her loudly, before Hatate was pulled down again.

"Stop it already~! My poor camera~! It'll be ruined~!"

And so, the elementalist took it as a sign of surrender and released Hatate from the merciless watery clutches of her spell. She was very tired herself, but she still offered her hand to assist the crow tengu.

"She's scary?" Aya muttered to herself as she took one last picture and hurried to help Hatate get out of the water.
"Oi, are you alright?" Aya asked her colleague and rival once they were all on the lake's shore.

The brown-haired tengu was completely drenched from head to toe, but for some reason her expression was nothing short of happy.

"It's waterproof~! Hahahaha~! The camera is waterproof! Praise the kappa~!"

So perhaps Hatate could have won this match, if she wasn't so worried about her precious little piece of kappan technology. However, now the result was irreversible. Patchouli managed to prove her worth and so, the editor of the Kakashi Spirit News had to keep her end of the bargain.

"What about you, Patchouli?" Aya checked the other duelist. "Are you alright?"

"So tired?" muttered the sorceress with a faint whisper. The battle has put much greater strain on her than her defeated opponent. Now she was starting to wonder if all this was even worth the effort.

"Ah, don't worry, Patchouli-san." the good-natured Aya comforted her. "If you want, I can help you fly all the way to Kazemura? I believe that's where Kochiya-san and the two goddesses went after the fairy attack. Hey, maybe they already managed to resolve it."

Patchouli shook her head in negative response. She highly doubted that the shrine maiden would even know what to do in order to put a definite end to the fairy attacks. Perhaps she could exterminate a few hundreds, but she would only be fighting the symptoms, not the cause.

Aya took her headshake slightly wrong. "Oh, no worries, you don't have to fight me to prove your worth, hehe?"

"Komeiji sisters?" a barely audible sentence came out of Patchouli's lips.

"Huh? Did you say Komeiji? The satori siblings? What about them?"

"It would be good to have them come with us?"

Aya didn't quite understand what Patchouli wanted with the two youkai who lived in the underground, but she tried to help. "So you think that the sisters can help you solve that incident?"

"Yes." the librarian gave a very clear, straightforward answer.

"What?" Hatate gave them both a puzzled look. "But how are you going to call them out? The youkai from the surface can't go underground."

"Hahaha!" Aya had a hearty laugh. "See? If you weren't such a shut-in, you'd learn that pretty recently there was a case where a group of surface youkai entered the underground, seeking the mistress of the Palace of Earth Spirits? The whole thing was a mere agreement between the underground youkai and Yakumo Yukari. And since she's not here, there's nothing preventing youkai from surface to visit the underground and vice-versa."

"I'm not a shut-in!" Hatate pouted at Aya's teasing remarks before she turned over to Patchouli. "Fine? So you won and I'll go with you to that quarry village and do what you need me to do? But if you ask me to start calling you "my lady" or something like that, then you can forget about the deal!"

Hatate's last sentence made Patchouli burst into laughter, which wasn't a very common sight.

"I'm serious?"

"Don't worry?" the laughing sorceress calmed her down. "We already have one very reliable maid?"

"Good for you." Hatate crossed her arms and turned her back on both girls.

"Oi, where are you going now?" Aya called after her.

"Home." she replied tersely. "It feels more comfortable when you're in dry clothes, you know?"

"Oh? alright." the other crow tengu shrugged. "Listen, Patchouli? While Hatate goes get changed. I'll see if I can convince the Komeiji sisters to come with us on our little field trip."

"Huh? Are you serious?" Patchouli didn't expect such enthusiasm from someone who wasn't even responsible for incident resolution.

"Of course I am. There's an entrance to the underground very close by. I bet I'll be back even sooner than Hatate!" and with that confident statement, and a friendly saluting gesture, the reporter of Bunbunmaru took off briskly into the air and disappeared somewhere behind the Moriya Shrine's roof.
Patchouli still needed a while to gather enough strength to stand up, so she just kept waiting on the lake's shore, enjoying the beautiful lake scenery and the afterglow of her close victory.

The white wolf tengu that still crowded the plateau left her alone. Even when she defeated one of their kind, it was a formal duel. The white wolf tengu were raised as warriors, and their sense of duty and honor was not unlike that of human samurai.

Patchouli was no longer seen as a potential threat to their village, so after assessing the damage to the shrine and filing their report for Lord Tenma, they returned to their guard posts, hidden all over the Youkai Mountain.

Finally, the one week wizard was able to stand up. The sky was getting filled with more clouds, but it was still quite hot. Patchouli sought shade at the Moriya Shrine. No longer than ten minutes have passed when she heard Aya's voice.
"Ayayaya~! Hold on tightly~!"

The crow tengu appeared on the horizon, holding both Komeiji sisters by the hands, like a jet fighter carrying two missiles under its wings.

"Slow down a bit~!" Satori pleaded her with closed eyes, except her third one, which she couldn't close.

"Ahahaha~!" Koishi's cheerful laughter accompanied her sister's voice. "Onee-chan, this is fun, isn't it~?"

"That was really fast." Patchouli stared at them in amazement.

"Haha~! Hatate's still not here? What did I tell you?"

"How did you manage to convince them both so fast?"

"Well, you see, with Satori-san, I didn't even have to say anything, she just told me that the resolution of this incident is partially her responsibility? Whatever she meant by that? And with the younger sister? She just said that she wouldn't let "onee-chan" have all the fun for herself? Oh, by the way, wasn't that girl supposed to follow us?" Aya turned her face at both of the sisters.

"Oh~! Over there~!" Koishi pointed at the horizon, not far from the place where they appeared just a while ago. "You're slow, Orin~! Hahaha~!"

A short female figure appeared, huffing and puffing, as if she had finished running a marathon.

"Are you *huff, huff* kidding me?! That tengu flies like crazy?"

The girl had fiery-red hair, styled in two braids on both sides, decorated by black ribbons both on their top and bottom. Her eyes were dark-red and besides her normal ears, she also sported a pair of black cat ears. She was wearing a pretty black dress with green frills and decorative patterns and a pair of black low-top shoes. She was dragging a heavy-looking object in one of her hands, which upon closer look appeared to be a wheelbarrow.

It didn't take Patchouli long to figure out what she was.

"A kasha?"

According to some of her books, the kasha were a type of youkai that appeared during storms to carry the bodies of sinners to Hell. They are said to be cats that have turned into youkai, but unlike their cousins, the nekomata, the kasha are those cats who have fed on the corpses of humans. These youkai delight in stealing the bodies of the dead during funeral ceremonies. It is said that the temples in areas where kasha were believed to live, used to hold two funeral ceremonies. In the first, the coffin was filled with rocks, to prevent the kasha from interfering with the funeral.

"That's right." Aya gave a confirming nod. "Satori insisted that she'd come with us. She's one of her pets too."

"Hmm?" Patchouli hummed thoughtfully. "Good thinking on Satori-san's part. A kasha may be very useful in this type of incident. Pleased to meet you?"

"Ohh? You look a bit like Satori-sama? Only with longer hair~!"

Patchouli and Satori briefly exchanged their looks and shrugged.

"I'm Rin Kaenbyou or Orin if you like? If you have any spare corpses in your household, just let me know and I'll help you dispose of them~!" she introduced herself in a cheerful, manner, not lacking a bit of black humor. This time though, the task for Rin did not require carrying corpses away. As a kasha, she was also able to communicate with the spirits of the deceased. Since the fairies were being possessed by spirits, bringing this hell cat along was not a bad idea if Patchouli wanted to put a permanent stop to this incident. In fact, she suspected that the incident was a result of kasha's meddling, as it was during the so called Subterranean Animism.

"It looks like we're almost ready to go then?"

Just as Patchouli said that, a familiar female voice called a question at them: "So you're already here?"

Hatate Himekaidou was back, dressed in a dry change of clothes. When she landed on the ground, she exchanged long silent stare with the two satori sisters and their pet.

"Oh thank goodness you're finally awake and here!" Aya apparently enjoyed teasing this girl just about as much as a certain ghost enjoyed teasing her gardener. "I was starting to wonder what's taking you so long."

"Haha~! You're slow, tengu onee-chan~!" Koishi waved her hand at the arriving spirit photographer.

Ignoring the young satori's childish remark, Hatate pointed her finger at Aya. "Patchouli-san didn't say she needed YOU to come with her."

"That she didn't. And even if she disagreed, I'd just tag along anyway. This whole incident definitely deserves newspaper coverage, so I'm coming whether you like it or not."

"Not fair?" Hatate made another pouting grimace. "You didn't even have to fight against her."

In jest, Aya asked the librarian: "Do you have anything against my company, Patchouli-san?"

"No."

"Do you want to have a duel with me?"

"Too? tired?"

"See? She has no objections." Aya smiled victoriously. "By the way, Patchouli, can you fly on your own, or should I lend you some support?"

"I'm fine." the sorceress lightly waved her hands and made herself levitate.

"So, should we first go get Reimu and others??"

"No need." Patchouli interrupted her question. "I told them all to wait for me in Kazemura, so I think they're already there by now."

"Very well, let's not delay them." the black-haired tengu girl also kicked herself off the ground and soared into the air. "Don't worry, I'll fly slowly. You girls just go at your own pace, okay?"

A series of affirmative nods from the other non-tengu girls was a cue for Aya to turn to the east and slowly glide from the mountain plateau towards the distant village, where the yama-bito live. In a close formation, Hatate and the other youkai girls followed her lead.

"I wonder if Reimu and Marisa managed to get me some fairy specimens as I asked them?" thought the purple-haired elementalist as she was leaving the Moriya Shrine behind.

[Fonzi]

Chapter 53 ? Storm over Kazemura

It all started subtly, by the end of year 124, when the first group of fairies attacked the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Ever since then, the attacks have repeated with increasing intensity, always stemming from the same direction ? the northeastern corner of Gensokyo. What was first viewed as a mere nuisance, became an anomaly. An anomaly became a threat, and a threat grew into a wide-scale incident that has spread over one half of the small fantasy world, sealed by a powerful barrier. Over the course of 4 months, the rampaging fairies have caused a lot of damage and threatened many lives. However, the ones who suffered the most from this incident? were the fairies themselves. The most common youkai in Gensokyo became shunned, feared and hated, when in fact; they were the victims of something more sinister.

What it was like to live in fear and to be feared at the same time was already well known even to the three fairies of light. Their home was already once destroyed by a forest fire, caused by their own kind. They even had to go through death and rebirth. But despite their small frames, simple minds, childish naivety and humble physical and magical prowess, the fairies were actually very strong creatures. Similarly to humans, or perhaps even better than them, the fairies can quickly adapt and easily cope with even the worst of hardships in short time.

Sunny, Luna and Star have moved not too far away from their previous home. They lived in a treetop close to the Hakurei Shrine. Their relationship with the local shrine maiden was two-sided even before the so-called Fairy Incident broke out. On one hand, the miko was often the favorite target of many of their fairy pranks, but on the other hand, they also feared her retribution.

Today, as any normal day, the three little winged youkai have started a debate on whom to prank and how.

"Hey, how about we painted over the sign on that miko's donation box and turned it into "no donations allowed"?" Sunny suggested an idea as the leader of the trio.

"I'm afraid that in order to do that, Sunny," Star finished the tea in her cup, "you'd first need to know how to read and write. Besides, why does it always have to be the shrine maiden?"

A flustered grimace appeared on Sunny's face. "Well?. You don't know how to read or write either~. And the shrine maiden is the nearest human around." she tried to justify her choice of target.

"Hey, doesn't Cirno-chan know how to read and write?" the third fairy ? Luna recalled.

"That's right~!" Sunny clenched her fist lightly out of excitement. "She knows~!"

"Though I'd still prefer to simply sneak into Reimu's shrine and steal all her coffee beans." Luna added in quiet mutter as she didn't want to invoke an argument with the sunlight fairy.

"Except that Reimu doesn't drink coffee." the dark-haired Star Sapphire pointed out. "And do you seriously want to go all the way to Cirno's place, just so we could drag her here again and have her change the sign on the donation box? We might as well prank Cirno instead. Less flying that way?"

"Aww, what's wrong with you, Star?" Sunny asked her. "We're trying to come up with ideas, but you just keep brushing them off. Well then, why don't you suggest something?"

"Hm-hm-hmm~!" Star closed her eyes and stretched out her chest while giggling smugly. "I may have an idea?"

"Oh, let's hear it then!" Luna's wings twitched with impatience.

But instead of answering, Star suddenly stood up and flew out of their dwelling through an opened window.

"Hey, Star-chan~! Wait~!" Luna followed suit and gave chase to her friend.

"Seriously?" Sunny shook her head in disapproval, but then, as if the cheerful, carefree behavior of her friends was contagious, she took flight as well and hurried to catch up with the other two. "I'll catch you~! Hahaha~!"

Once outside, the black-haired fairy landed on the ground, soon rejoined with her two fair-haired comrades.
"Geez, Star? Tell us your idea already~!" Luna kept circling around her in anticipation.

"I'm also curious to hear if it's at least a little better than what I suggested." said Sunny.

After teasing her friends with making them wait, Star finally pointed her finger in the approximate direction of the Forest of Magic. "Let's go play in the sunflower field~!"

Luna stopped her flight so suddenly; it almost looked as if she hit some unseen solid object.

"?what?"

Sunny blinked twice as she processed the thought. "Sunflowers are so pretty~."

"But Star?" Luna didn't really like the idea. "?what do you want to go there for? There's nothing for us to do there."

"Sunflowers, sunflowers~!" Sunny began to sing merrily, ignoring the conversation between Luna and Star. Of course, a sunlight fairy would love anything relating to the source of her power.

Meanwhile, Star continued to explain her plan. "We'll pick some sunflowers and scatter their petals to create a trail? leading all the way to the Hakurei Shrine~!"

Despite the hot summer weather, Luna suddenly got goosebumps just thinking about it. "Star-chan? You've got a really dangerous idea."

"What did you say about my shrine?" a stranger's voice asked out of nowhere.

"KYAAAAAAAAH~!" the three fairies let out a synchronous scream. "It's the miko~! Ruuuun~!"

"I knew that they had their favorite hangout spot around here somewhere." Reimu smugly gestured at the fleeing trio of fairies with her gohei.

"And it looks like we just caught them in the middle of something." Marisa, who was already seated on her broom, started the pursuit.

Reimu took a pair of her amulets and struck them in midair with the gohei. The charms grew in size and as they began to rotate, they darted after the escaping little youkai A few seconds later, the homing amulets did their job and rendered the moonlight fairy immobilized on the ground.

"That takes care of one?" muttered Reimu nonchalantly as she slowly hovered over to the place where Luna disappeared in the tall grass.

"Oh? ouch? what was that?" Luna didn't even know what hit her. But by the time she regained her senses, a dark shadow projected by Reimu loomed over her.

"Aaaah~! I didn't do anything~! I swear~!" she covered her face with her arms.

But to her surprise, the miko extended her hand towards her. The confused fairy didn't know how to react.

"Or perhaps you like lying there in the grass." the girl in red and white stated in order to prompt the fairy to hurry up and grab her hand.

Finally, Luna got the hint, but her puzzlement didn't shrink at all. "What's going on?" she gazed unintelligibly at the miko. "First you shoot me down and now you're acting like we're best friends?"

"I just came here to talk. It was YOU who started running away." Reimu answered and just as Luna was about to take her hand, she retracted it. "And if you have the strength to talk, surely you have enough strength to stand up on your own."

"Talk?" Luna slowly stood up and dusted off her white dress that was now stained green after the fall into the grass. "A-about what?"

"Oh, I'll tell you? As soon as the rest of your friends get rounded up."

While Reimu was dealing with Luna, there were still two mischievous fairies on the loose.
"You'll never take us aliiiiive~!" Sunny shouted resolutely as she propelled herself across the meadow as fast as possible. Star was in close tandem, hoping that Sunny would know of a better hiding spot.

"Quick, we'll hide in that hedge over there~." she navigated her partner. She was just about to take a dive into the mentioned hedge, when another human popped up from behind it.

"How, ya doin'?" Marisa grinned evilly with the mini Hakkero in her hand.

"Oh, no, Star! We're trapped! What do we do now? Star??" only now the golden-haired fairy noticed that Star Sapphire was no longer with her.

"Now, now? You don't want to complicate it for yourself by trying to run, do you?" the witch asked her while aiming her mini furnace at Sunny's face.

Before she decided whether she should surrender to her, or to risk it and try to run, Marisa caught her with her with her free hand.

"Remember the night of the festival?" she started with an off-topic question. Instead of a response, the fairy was only struggling to free herself from the human's grip.

"Remember what Patchouli said that night?" Marisa put a more specific question.

"Let me goooo~! Luna~! Star~! Heeeeelp~!"

"She said that it would be good to have some fairy specimens in order to better understand the way this incident manifests itself." Marisa answered the question in her stead. "That's right, little one? Today we're going to do a little sightseeing, hehehehe~."
Star figured that like so many times before, when their pranks failed and backfired, it was again her who was the last fairy uncaught. Sensing that her friends were already in a helpless situation, she made a dash into the woods, hoping that the human intruders would not follow her there. She was right. The humans didn't give chase?

"Well, well, if it isn't one of our lovely patients from the rehabilitation ward~." a chillingly sweet voice made Star's little heart skip a beat. A moment later, a certain Lunarian stepped out from behind one of the trees, bow and arrow ready in her hands.

"Huh? Y-you're? Eirin-sensei?"

"Oh, I remember you." a second female voice sounded from behind the fairy. Star made a 180 degree turn and spotted another familiar face.

"You are a cute one~." Kaguya Houraisan, once taking the role of a temporary nurse, now dressed in her typical daily attire, slowly descended down from the treetops. "A princess fairy? You do look a bit like me."

While both Lunarians spoke calmly and didn't appear to have hostile intentions, Star felt a menacing aura from both of them.
No longer than two minutes have passed before Star got reunited with her friends. Now the trio of pranksters was surrounded by an unusual team of humans and Lunarians and Reimu started explaining the whole situation to them.

"We don't want to go to Kazemura~!" the leader of the fairies protested.

"Patchouli said she would need just one fairy specimen, so the three of you can decide who's going to go with us. Willingly or otherwise. You've got ten seconds."

"W-wa-what~?! Then I think Star should go. She always slips off the hook when we get into trouble." Sunny started to negotiate.

"No way~!" Star obviously didn't like her decision. "Sunny should go. She's always so eager. And most of the pranks are her idea. I say she's the perfect specimen for you."

The two fairies in question started a heated argument.

So it was one vote against the other and now the burden of decision rested on Luna's shoulders. "I? I? "

"Time's up!" the Hakurei shrine maiden cut her off before she managed to stutter out the answer. "Pick one of your friends who will go with us to Kazemura OR volunteer yourself and become a martyr in their eyes. Otherwise we'll take all three of you."

"Then I volunteer myself!" the blonde fairy with spiral hairstyle shouted an unexpected reply.

"Eh~?" Sunny opened her mouth.

"Luna?"

"I don't want to see Sunny-chan and Star-chan arguing. That's why? that's why I'm going with you to Kazemura, so they wouldn't have to!"

"Great, that's settled then." Reimu stated emotionlessly. She took Luna's wrist into a tight grip and pulled her away from her two friends. "The two of you can go home."

"But? this IS our home?" Sunny uttered, still in bewilderment from Luna's courageous decision.

With her back turned at the two remaining fairies, Reimu made a saluting gesture as she walked away. "Then have a nice day."

Eirin, Kaguya and Marisa followed the shrine maiden and her captive back to Hakurei Shrine, leaving Star and Sunny alone in their meadow with plenty of time to think about what just happened.

"Star?" Sunny spoke after a long while. Her breaths were loud and heavy due to her accelerated heartbeat. She didn't know what shocked her more - the shrine maiden's sudden ambush or Luna's choice.

With a serious face and a tear rolling down her cheek she turned her face at her dark-haired friend. "Luna-chan is?" she sniffed loudly as more tears began welling up in her eyes. "Luna-chan is? gone!" she cried out and buried her face in her palms.

Star wasn't happy about the outcome of the situation either, and she too was on the verge of crying, but since Sunny had already beaten her to it, at least she wanted to be the calmer one.

"Sunny-chan? Come on? Don't cry."

"They've taken Luna away~!"

"Sunny, listen? Luna did it for us."

"She did it because she didn't want to see us arguing~!" Sunny uttered through her sobs. "Star-chan? I just feel so terrible right now!"

"She did what she thought was the best for us all." Star tried to comfort Sunny's heartache even if she felt a great deal of pain and guilt herself.

"Now they'll drag her to Kazemura!" the sunlight fairy's laments continued. "She'll become just like those crazy fairies that destroyed our home! Just like when? I did? that time? in Alice-san's home?."

"We have no choice but to trust the miko and hope that she's doing the right thing."

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH~! I WANT LUNA BAAAACK, STAR-CHAN~!" a heart-wrenching cry echoed over the meadow. "I WISH I COULD TRADE MY LIFE FOR HERS! I WISH I DIDN'T START ARGUING WITH YOU, STAR-CHAN~!"

This was too much for even the calmer of the two fairies to take.

"Sunnyyyyy~!" she burst into tears, fell on her knees and embraced her. "I'm so sorry? It's just as you said? I'm the one who almost always gets away when you get caught! I'm a coward! And I only think about myself while I'm leaving you two behind? Friends shouldn't do that? Good friends? shouldn't do that. If I could take back those shameful moments? and stay there with you? while you were getting punished. AND TAKE THE SAME PUNISHMENT AS YOU DID! Luna is a much better fairy than I am! I should have gone with the miko, NOT HER!"

"Star-chan?" Sunny tightened her embrace around her. "Do you think? Do you think that Luna hates us? Do you think we can still make things right?"

"Perhaps we should have all come with her? Together forever? no matter what."

"Star-chan?" the sunlight fairy spoke again after releasing the embrace and wiping the tears off her eyes.

"What is it?"

"If I told you that I have an idea? would you listen to me?"

"W-what are you talking about?" the teary-eyed Star tilted her head to the side.

"I? I want to go there?To Kazemura. I want to follow them all. Even if the evil fairies attack us? Even if we will turn and become like them? I want us three to be together? And what happens after that? I don't care?"

"Sunny-chan? I? I'm with you!"

"Thank you, Star." a weak smile appeared on Sunny's face. Even her tears stopped leaking from her eyes and her heart became filled with enthusiasm, as if she was about to plan and execute the prank of her life. "There's still some time? Here's what we'll do?"

?
"Ah, what a great timing." said Reimu when she noticed Remilia, Sakuya as well as Yuyuko and Youmu already waiting at her shrine. Keine, Suika and Akyuu stayed behind to keep them company. "I guess that means we can set out."

"But where's Patchouli?" Remilia asked as she didn't notice the sorceress among the girls that escorted Reimu.

"Good afternoon, Reimu-san~." Yuyuko gave a proper polite greeting.

"Spare the pleasantries." the miko cut her off and turned to the vampire, who was hiding from the sun under a large pinkish parasol. "Believe it or not, your friend went off to the Youkai Mountain all by herself to recruit Sanae and the two goddesses into her team. She told us not to wait for her and head straight to Kazemura, but? I wonder if she's alright. Maybe the tengu have made an example for trespassers out of her."

"Shouldn't we fist check the mountain then?" asked the Scarlet Devil.

"And waste even more time? No. We'll just act as though Patchouli did well and fly to Kazemura. If she won't be there, then SOMEONE will have to go and check the Youkai Mountain." Reimu's gaze trailed off to Marisa.

"Why am I always picked as that "someone"?" pouted the blonde.

"Alright, everyone ready~?" the shrine maiden called out loudly so that all could hear her.

"Reimu, wait." Remilia halted her suddenly.

"Hm? What is it now?"

The blue-haired vampire girl opened her palm and drew a small circle on it with her finger.

"What?" Reimu didn't get her pantomime.

She then pointed at the ornamented wooden box standing on a small table in Reimu's shrine. The one where she kept various mementos of her past and various odds and ends that had great sentimental value to her.

Now Reimu understood what Remilia was trying to say. "The amulet? You really think I should take it with me?"

A double nod with a cute smile came as a positive response from the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Well, if you say so?" Reimu tentatively walked up to her little treasure chest, unlocked it and took the small medallion by the chain. After a while of hesitation, she put it around her neck and hid it well under her dress. "Alright. Does anyone else have anything to say, or can we get moving already?"

"Let's go, ze~!" Marisa was already itching to go. She took flight and so did the rest of the girls, heading off to the distant quarry settlement known as Kazemura.

"Uh-umm?" little Akyuu waved her palm over her head desperately as the girls left her behind. "Excuse me~!"

"And up we go~!" a pair of arms enveloped the little chronicler from behind and lifted her into the air.

"Waaaah~!" the surprised girl let out a scream. "S-Saigyouji-sama?"

"How rude of those girls to forget this lovely child here~." Yuyuko's soft voice sang into Akyuu's ear. "Don't worry, I won't drop you."

The ghostly princess tightly held her in her arms as she followed the other girls in flight to currently one of the most dangerous parts of Gensokyo.
From a nearby thicket of trees, the two hidden fairies watched as a group led by the miko and the witch flew overhead.

Sunny silently nodded at Star, giving her the "go" signal. The two of them took off and kept a low profile, flying below the treetops. A long, difficult and risky flight awaited them, but their decision was firm. Despite fearing the risk of encountering some of the crazed fairies during their flight to the northeastern Gensokyo, Star and Sunny pressed on. Occasionally, Sunny would pop her head up from the trees, to check their heading. Of course, since they had to proceed with caution, move stealthily and avoid hundreds of trees, they couldn't keep up with Reimu and her company, but they at least knew how to get to the mining village.

"Do you sense any suspicious movement, Star?" Sunny asked her partner, referring to Star's unique ability to sense all living creatures in a wide radius around her. Much like a magic detector that could pick up traces of mana from magical objects and beings, Star could detect life force and even learn the approximate size of the creature and its movement. But that's as much as her divination allowed her to see. For example, she could still confuse a crouching human with a lurking wolf or a large bird with another fairy.

"No, the coast looks clear." she whispered her answer back to Sunny. They kept stopping every couple of meters when Star detected some new living entity and remained motionless until Star confirmed that it was safe to go on. And whenever Sunny scouted and checked the course, she relied on her innate ability to bend the sunlight, which could even make her invisible. However, her power was weaker in areas with lack of sunlight and rain also rendered her light-bending useless.

"Oh, no? This doesn't look good, Star-chan." she shook her head disappointedly at the clouded sky. "Looks like there will be rain today. Maybe even a storm."

"How much further to Kazemura?" came the starlight fairy's question from below.

"Not too far. A couple of more minutes and we're there."

The end of the forest was no further than a few hundred meters ahead, followed by vast grasslands, stretching several kilometers, and there, in the distance, the road that snaked uphill and disappeared in a pine forest? the road to Kazemura. The fairies followed the trail, and in approximately 15 minutes, they arrived at their destination.

"I can't believe we're actually here." Sunny muttered as she poked her head out from the treetops.

"Wasn't following those girls your idea?" Star pointed out and also gave in to her curiosity and took a peek at the small settlement and the large quarry nestled in the middle of a mountain pass.

"Yeah, but still? Oh, that group must be the miko and her gang." she pointed at the center of the large oval pit of the quarry. "Luna-chan must be there with them too. Let's take a closer look."

They glided over to the edge of the quarry pit, hiding behind a large rock and spying on the group of girls, which was now larger than the one they followed?
"Wow~!" Marisa didn't hide her awe as she observed the whole quarry. "Look how deep this pit has become! When were we here last time? A month ago? It must be at least three meters deeper than before? Those yama-bito sure made some progress, ze?"

The quarry has indeed changed significantly as the local yama-bito spent over 30 days of hard work in attempt to uncover the site's mysteries. The pit was not only deeper, but also wider and several of the houses were relocated due to its expansion. To move the excess soil and rocks out of the pit more efficiently, the youkai populace of this village has devised a system of ramps and slopes that provided easy and relatively comfortable access to the center of the excavation. They've even established a series of small channels connected to a basin at the edge of the quarry pit to help them drain the unwanted water after rain or from underground reservoirs. But apart from the simple, yet ingenious solutions to their quarry access and water drainage, the most interesting part were the uncovered ruins. Even now, dozens of yama-bito prospectors were busily digging and carrying away the dirt, leaving the elder and the wiser members of the village with analyzing the monuments.

"Those obelisks sure look impressive." Alice commented the unearthed part of the ruins. Six tall ornamented obelisks jutted from the ground, indicating that the monuments were even larger then what met the eye. And in the further end of the pit, between the last pair of obelisks stood a cylindrical tower-like construction that had domed roof, but no doors or windows could be seen yet. Whatever this group of structures was, its purpose was not yet clear to anyone.

"So you're actually here. I thought you wouldn't make it even to the Youkai Mountain." Reimu looked a little impressed when she saw Patchouli sitting on a crate in an improvised tent that consisted of several wooden poles stuck into the ground and a large blanket stretched on top as a roof. She appeared to be writing something into a journal.

"Ah, just about time." she put away the journal and the quill and stood up to welcome all the members of her expedition team. "Welcome to the Kazemura excavation site."

"Uhh? yes, this isn't the first time we're here, Patchy." Remilia pointed out. "Could you move on to the point, please?"

The sorceress remained silent for a while, as if agitated from being interrupted, but she continued with no change in tone or expression. "Very well? The Fairy Incident. Please, everyone gather around and step up closer~!" she called out and fired a small, harmless explosive fire bolt into the air to get attention of everyone in the quarry. Not just the girls took a step closer, but also some of the elder villagers.

"Well, I should have guessed I'd see you here as well." Sanae Kochiya, the shrine maiden of the Moriya Shrine just landed in the quarry pit, accompanied by the shrine's two deities. Her words were addressed to none other than Reimu, though she looked surprised to see the other girls from all over Gensokyo. The two goddesses, however, looked as though they expected this gathering a long time ago.

"Hello, Sanae." Reimu greeted her informally and rather indifferently.

"So? was your shrine attacked too?" the green-haired miko asked her out of sheer curiosity.

"Hm? No? Are you saying that yours was?" Sanae's question unsettled Reimu. "I thought my regular patrols around these parts would prevent further attacks."

"That's right. The fairies have come in a small swarm and started attacking the shrine. At first I thought that a hailstorm has started when I heard the racket."

"But it was no hailstorm." added Kanako. "Though I can feel that we're going to have an intense downpour today. I hope you all packed your umbrellas with you."

"Anyway," Sanae continued, "the fairies behaved very peculiarly. As soon as we went outside to take a look, they started attacking us. But not all at once? They simply attacked by small waves, like they just wanted to provoke us or something. A few minutes later, the tengu guards arrived. Then the fairies decided they were more interesting than the three of us and our shrine. It was like they intentionally wanted to provoke a fight and then lose it."

For Sanae, this was the first time she had to deal with possessed fairies, but Reimu still had the epic battle against a seemingly unstoppable fairy swarm in fresh memory. What concerned the Hakurei shrine maiden the most was the fact that the aerial distance from Kazemura to the Moriya Shrine was about the same as the distance from this village to the Hakurei Shrine.

Sanae gave Reimu a friendly tap on her shoulder. "You should be glad that your shrine is still unharmed. Aya-san told me this wasn't anything new to her?"

"What? Aya is here too?"

"She got here shortly after us along with five other girls. She said the attacks have started months ago, only that they've never reached the mountain yet. So I was wondering why someone hasn't done something about it yet. I just arrived here a while ago, but there is no mastermind to stop. No giant swarm of fairies to fight. But to see so many important figures gathering here?"

"I wouldn't say the words "giant fairy swarm" out loud in these parts." Marisa spoke in a hushed voice and shuddered at the thought. "They say it brings bad luck."

"The truth is, I've been stumbling in the dark as well." Reimu admitted while staring at the ground. "But now," she raised her head, "Patchouli says she's found out something, so? I can't wait to hear her out."

"Shhhh~!" the history teacher from the Human Village has hushed the chattering girls like she silenced a bunch of noisy kids during her class. "Patchouli-san is about to start the briefing."

As the expedition team became quiet, Patchouli cleared her throat and began her speech.

"I apologize for summoning you all to this village so suddenly, but the sooner we start acting, the sooner we can resolve this fairy problem."

"What have you learned, Patchy~?" Marisa impatiently shouted a question.

"Thanks to Yagokoro-sensei's findings we have learned that the aggressive behavior of the fairies is not caused by a drug, a disease, or a spell. The fairies? especially those living in this part of Gensokyo are for some reason being possessed by vengeful spirits."

The gathered crowd resonated with a mixture of murmurs and whispers. "But that's nothing new, Patch?" Remilia wanted to point out, but she was silenced by her maid.

"My lady? Please, let Patchouli-sama finish." It was almost as if their roles reversed for a moment.

"As you all well know," the purple-haired elementalist went on, "vengeful spirits are the restless souls of sinners confined to the Old Hell. Alternatively, a vengeful spirit is born when the body of the deceased is taken away by a youkai before the soul crosses the Sanzu River and receives judgement. These types of spirits can take possession of a living being and affect their behavior. There are records of humans being possessed by the onryou, but the ones who should fear these spirits the most are youkai, such as myself. While youkai mostly have strong physical bodies?"

"In that case, you don't have to worry, Patchy." Marisa jokingly muttered under her nose, poking fun at Patchouli's poor physical strength and constitution.

"?they have very fragile hearts." Patchouli finished the sentence. "While I found no records about this matter in my library, there's a highly possible theory that when a vengeful spirit possesses a youkai, it could completely overwrite their heart. The vengeful spirit would become the youkai's core. Essentially, it would be as if the former youkai died, leaving behind its living body possessed by the vengeful spirit. So remember that even though it's an unconfirmed theory, extreme caution should be exercised when dealing with vengeful spirits."

Patchouli's words have nearly caused a panic among those who heard them. But the sorceress herself seemed to be calm. And she was quick to explain why?

"However, there are certain entities that the vengeful spirits are afraid of in turn. Divine spirits, deities, the servants and vessels for these deities ? the shrine maidens, and even certain youkai. Yes, as ironic as it sounds, there are youkai that the vengeful spirits fear, or are generally harmless to? I'm talking about the youkai that humanity has hated and feared so much, that they've chosen to live in exile in the underground. The satori race? This is the reason why I summoned you here, dear Komeiji sisters."

"When will the fun start, onee-chan~?" Koishi broke the silence of the crowd and got subsequently scolded by her older sister.

"Koishi, it's rude to interrupt someone when they talk. Even when I'm five sentences ahead of what she's saying?"

"Please, step right up." Patchouli called them to step out of the crowd. It took a while, as the mind reader hesitated, but in the end, she complied and took her sister by the hand.

"Just when the hell did she manage to call them up to the surface?" Reimu was in a state of utter puzzlement as she saw the two siblings from the underground standing by Patchouli's side.

"People and youkai of Kazemura~! Of Gensokyo~! We're facing times of trial and if we are to prevail, we must put aside our differences. The hatred that the satori have received is greatly undeserved and condemnable."

"Wow? That's some fancy speech, Patchy." Marisa lightly shook her head in amazement. "Have you been to the Temple of Myouren recently or something? Byakuren could learn a thing or two from that, ze?"

"Those who hate them categorically because they are youkai and because they can read minds are in essence sharing the same opinions as the vengeful spirits themselves. But those of you who know more about Gensokyo's history? those of you who have seen and experienced those times when these youkai were still sharing this piece of land with us and not living in underground like exiles? just how exactly have they been worse then your average "surface-dwelling youkai"? Even the vengeful spirits are viewed with less contempt than some of the underground's youkai. I could name other examples too. But I have digressed? My point is that I ask you not to fear these youkai, for they are not malevolent. They are the key in helping us rooting out and solving this incident just as much as the shrine maidens that you're all putting so much trust into."

The Komeiji sisters have bowed lightly to the whole crowd. "Treat us fairly and we will do the best we can to help."

Surprisingly the two sisters could sense just minimum of the hatred towards them that Patchouli spoke of. The small yama-bito community probably never even met a satori in their life to be able to have any biased opinions about them. In fact, some of the villagers have applauded to Patchouli's words.

"And since I introduced the Komeiji sisters, I also have to introduce their pet ? Kaenbyou Rin. You might well remember the events of Subterranean Animism. The great geyser and the subsequent infestation of the geyser area by Old Hell's vengeful spirits? Merely a distress signal from below caused by this youkai cat? Her ability to communicate with these spirits is surely to be appreciated in our endeavor."

A flash of light appeared in the gathered crowd, and soon after that, a black cat with two tails ran over to the Komeiji sisters and curled around Satori's foot.

"Moving on," the librarian didn't want to waste much time with lengthy speeches, "as you have noticed, I have chosen perhaps a little bizarre combination of members for this expedition team, but know that each of you are here for a reason? Next, I would like to call up, Lady Saigyouji."

A small applause echoed over the quarry pit as the princess of the Netherworld levitated to Patchouli's side.

"Good afternoon, everyone~!" a simple wave of her hand and her smile already seemed to be taking its effect on some of the gathered villagers.

"Saigyouji-sama?."

"Call me Yuyuko~." she asked Patchouli to be less formal.

"Uhh? very well? Yuyuko-sama is also one of the most important members chosen for this team. Not only is she able to communicate with the spirits of the dead, but she can control these souls if she invokes death upon their living husk. This is an invaluable ability that I hope will bring us to the bottom of this spirit infestation."

"I'm looking forward to offering my humble assistance." the ghostly beauty bowed once more.

"Thank you very much." Patchouli reciprocated the polite gesture. "Next up, I'd like to bring your attention to the pair of tengu journalists, Shameimaru Aya-san and Himekaidou Hatate-san."

The two girls quickly landed in front of the librarian and exchanged a few provocative prods as they tried to overshadow one another.

"Thank you, and good day~! Shameimaru Aya here~! Please keep supporting the Bunbunmaru Newspaper~!"

"Hi-umph? Himekaidou Hatate is pleased to make your acquaintance~?Cut it out, Aya~! Ehehe? Anyway, don't forget to support the Kakashi Spirit News~."

Patchouli watched the two rival reporters with her mouth slightly ajar. "Uhh? aside from this little commercial insert, I'd like to point out that Aya-san is not officially a part of this team, but she insisted on coming with us and covering an article about our endeavors? However, Hatate-san's specialization ? the spirit photography is going to be implemented as a part of our research to help us find the source of the vengeful spirits? Now I'd like to explain to all of you why we are even here of all places. What connects the fairy attacks and this village is the discovery of these ruins. The direct connection is yet to be confirmed, and for this reason, the core of this expedition team, which includes myself, Yagokoro-sensei, Kamishirasawa-sensei and Hieda-san will focus on direct archeological research of these uncovered structures. At the same time, I'd also like to thank the chief of this village as well as all its denizens for accommodation and an exceptional 24-hour access to both the quarry pit and the village's archives. Last but not least, I have to once again remind us all that this research is not going to be without risks and danger. I know that the village has been already attacked by the possessed fairies several times, and to cope with this constant threat, I had to come prepared? All those whom I didn't mention so far are also part of the force that will guarantee safety and order while the research is being conducted. Experienced specialists in youkai extermination, Hakurei Reimu, Kochiya Sanae, Kirisame Marisa. Loyal servants of their noble mistresses, Izayoi Sakuya and Konpaku Youmu. The goddesses of the Moriya Shrine, Yasaka Kanako-sama and Moriya Suwako-sama. The former Moon princess, Houraisan Kaguya-sama. The specialist in animation magic ? Alice Margatroid. And finally, my close and long-time friend and a noble lady, Remilia Scarlet? It is a pleasure to be working with you all."

A deep bow from the sorceress concluded her introductory speech. What followed afterwards was a detailed division of tasks for each of the team members for the following days. When Reimu asked how long this research would take, Patchouli didn't give a straightforward answer, but she said that few days should be enough.
As the girls were discussing each of their tasks, Sanae noticed that the goddess of earth, Suwako was looking absentmindedly at the ground.

"Suwako-sama, what's the matter?"

"Haven't you noticed anything strange while standing here, Sanae?" the goddess with the body of a girl in early teens answered with a question.

"I sure have?" the second goddess replied instead of Sanae.

Sanae shifted her gaze from one to the other, having next to no clue about what they meant.

"The soil here?" Suwako spoke after a pause. "It's sullied by a strong negative energy."

"Not just the soil, but the air as well." Kanako added with a concerned frown.

"I don't sense anything." Sanae admitted while shrugging cluelessly. "Except that I feel a little sleepy. Must be because there's going to be rain?"
"I hate rain." murmured the annoyed vampire girl. As a vampire, she had a natural weakness to running water. "Maybe I should have stayed at the mansion after all."

"Don't worry, my lady," Sakuya comforted her, "I've seen the rooms in the local inn and they're not that terrible."

"Don't you sleep in a coffin anyways?" Marisa remarked jokingly. "If you could sleep well at the shrine during the festival, you'll surely make it through one rainy night here as well."

The truth behind Remilia's discontent was the fact that due to rain, she could hardly be of any help to the expedition team. Therefore, she wanted to confirm something before the weather would lull her to sleep.

"Reimu." she summoned the Hakurei shrine maiden suddenly.

"What is it?"

"The amulet; show it to me." she opened her palm expectantly and tapped her foot against the ground while the miko reluctantly removed the mentioned amulet from her neck. Reimu didn't even hope that Remilia's eyes would reveal anything groundbreaking about the amulet other than what was already known. With a clinking sound, the medallion and its chain landed in the vampire's palm.

Without saying a word, Remilia took the amulet by the chain and stared at it like she was tying to put herself into hypnosis.

"See anything?" Reimu asked her even if she could guess the answer.

The older of the Scarlet sisters silently turned around and started walking towards the mysterious tower-like structure.

"Hey, are you deaf or something?" Reimu called after her. Seeing as the blue-haired youkai with eternally young body showed no reaction, she jogged after her. "Hey~! Why does every youkai have such problem with giving a clear answer?" she muttered as she trotted to catch up with Remilia.

The vampire mistress stopped just a few meters in front of the cylindrical monument, shifting glances between the amulet and the ground beneath her feet.

"I feel tired, Reimu?" she uttered out of the blue.

"I wasn't asking about your disposition." said the shrine maiden. "Just where are you going with that thing?"

"Oh, I'm not going any further?" she pointed her finger at the ground. "Down into the earth is where one thin red string leads. One that connects to this amulet?"

"What?!" Reimu's surprise was obvious from both her tone and her facial expression.

"That's all I can see. What it means, though, I dare not even guess."

Standing there motionlessly, like one of the unearthed monuments, was Reimu with an absentminded look in her eyes. Not even she could make heads or tails about the amulet's connection with the archeological discovery in this remote village.

"We? we should tell that to Patchouli and others." she made a suggestion once she snapped out of her brainstorming mode.

"Yes, go ahead." Remilia waved her hand. "Tell them about it? Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to the inn already. I feel somewhat? under the weather."

She handed over the amulet back to Reimu while covering her mouth as she yawned.

"Hm? What's up with you? It hasn't even started raining yet."

"I'll be fine?" she said reassuringly, but her smile was forced, almost pained.

After Remilia left the quarry pit, Reimu hurried to bring the news about the amulet to the team.
"Hmmm?" Patchouli hummed in deep thought. A myriad of various theories and hypotheses started whirling inside her head. "So many possible connections and so many different interpretations? I was discussing the seriousness of the matter with the village chief earlier. The ruins are no doubt a part of this incident, but not necessarily their epicenter. However, their discovery triggered these events? the vengeful spirits. Should the situation call for it, I suggested that it would be best to bury the ruins and seal the quarry pit. Even if it would mean that this settlement would lose its purpose."

"No!" Reimu shouted in protest. "What are you saying? I just told you that this amulet is connected with the ruins. Remilia said it?"

"Indeed, Reimu." the sorceress nodded. "This changes everything. It may be our only lead to finding Gensokyo's missing sage, Yukari. Now I know that we have to keep going forward and let the yama-bito excavate the ruins completely until we know what they are."

"I'm glad that we see things the same, but you said that your research wouldn't take longer than a few days. The yama-bito work fast, but it'll take them months to fully uncover the ruins."

"Months?" Patchouli giggled amusedly. "Why do you think I recruited Suwako-sama into this expedition team?"

"Suwako?" Reimu looked over her shoulder at a small group of girls behind her. "But of course!" she lightly knocked her head with her knuckle. "The earth goddess! She can uncover the ruins in a flash! Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" she demanded impatiently, but Patchouli raised a hand in a "halt" gesture.

"Not yet. We must first wait for the results of the preliminary research. And like I said, that may take a day or two."

"Why waste time with this nonsense when we can get to the bottom of this incident right now?" Reimu couldn't understand Patchouli's intentions.

"For our safety." Patchouli gave a terse answer. "We must learn how to protect ourselves from the vengeful spirits and prevent them from possessing the fairies."

"Is that why you asked us to bring you a specimen?" Reimu pointed her finger at Luna Child, who was held captive by the expedition team. She had no restraints binding her, but there was no need for them. If she tried to run, she wouldn't stand a chance.

"That's right." the elementalist confirmed and walked up to the frightened moonlight fairy.
"Oh, no, they're going to do something to Luna-chan!" Sunny Milk whispered to Star as they watched the scene from a hidden position. "We have to do something~!"

"But what?" wondered the dark-haired fairy.

"I don't know?" Sunny hopelessly flailed her little arms. "I? I'm going to rescue her~!"

"Are you crazy?! They'll catch you too~!" Star shouted after her, but Sunny already took off and flew straight into the middle of the quarry. "Sunny~? Sunny~! You dummy?"

With a reluctant sigh, Star floated up from behind her rocky cover. "I won't let you suffer alone this time?" she swallowed her fear and glided right after her fair-haired friend.

"Let Luna-chan go~!" Sunny shouted at the girls as she prepared herself for attack. "Sunlight "Sunshine Blast"!"

"What?" Patchouli turned around to see who was demanding the release of her test subject. Her eyes spotted a pair of fairies making a fly-by to create a distraction. The target of Sunny's Spell Card, however, was Reimu. The shrine maiden didn't have to do much to avoid it, though. Sunny's card created just a few dozens of ellipsoid bolts of intense sunlight in an unimpressive and ineffective barrage that only managed to lightly scorch a few small patches of soil.

"Run, Luna-chan, run~!" the sunlight fairy shouted at her friend from a distance.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Patchouli watched the two incoming fairies with interest. "More specimens. Or perhaps they're already possessed?"

"We'll see soon enough." said Reimu as she flung a pair of homing ofuda at the bold, but foolish fairies.

"Awawa~! Look out, Star-chan~! The miko is returning fire~! Ack!" one of the amulets silenced her and brought her down to the ground with a light thud.

"Sunny you are an idio?ungh!" the starlight fairy followed the same fate and crashed next to her ally.

"Why was my Spell Card so weak??" wondered Sunny in delirium as she was recovering from the paralyzing effect of Reimu's charms.

"Star! Sunny!" Luna couldn't believe her eyes as she hurried to meet the two stunned fairies. "Is that really you?"

"We? we just couldn't leave you here alone?" chuckled the sunlight fairy as she writhed on the ground.

"Sunny-chan?" Luna was at a loss for words.

"Ah, excellent." Patchouli smiled contently at the trio. "It looks like they haven't been possessed yet. Let's begin with our research, shall we?"

"W-what d-do you want to do to us?" Star's voice trembled with fear as her eyes reflected Reimu's and Patchouli's faces.

"Remilia insisted that I should not take any of her fairy maids to this village, so I had to resort to looking for an alternative. You don't need to worry. The reason why I needed a fairy specimen is to learn whether the shrine maidens, Reimu and Sanae are capable of preventing the vengeful spirits from possessing the fairies."

"Of course I can!" Reimu folded her arms and pouted slightly. "I know several effective apotropaic blessings and chants that ward away evil spirits and misfortune? though I never tried them on a youkai before."

"This is a perfect opportunity to try it, Reimu." Patchouli encouraged her.

"What? Right now?"

"Yes, right now." the sorceress affirmed. "Sanae-san~!"

"Yes?"
After a while of explaining and a bit of arguing, the two shrine maidens finally began to conduct their protective blessings over the trio of fairies. After over 30 minutes of chanting, dancing and blessing, the Three Mischievous Fairies became perhaps the most blessed fairies in all of Gensokyo.

"Phew? that was more exhausting than I thought." Reimu wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Do they serve tea in this village?" Sanae, who was equally tired, asked the head of the expedition team.

"There's only one tavern here, but they should have tea." Patchouli replied.

"So? does that mean we won't be possessed now?" wondered the three fairies.

"I only tried those blessings on humans before, so I don't really know." Reimu shrugged. "I don't even know why you asked us to perform the blessings now. They are only temporary and unless the vengeful spirits attack us or something, we'll never even know whether they work or not."

A faint smile brightened up the youkai girl's face. "Exactly." That was all she said. Her answer left both shrine maidens clueless and nervous.

"Hey, what was that supposed to mean?" Reimu called out. "Are we expecting an attack today or something?"

Patchouli remained silent. She looked around cautiously around the crowded quarry pit and walked up to both shrine maidens. She stopped not even half a meter away from them.

"What's going on, Patchouli?" inquired the black-haired miko. "If you want us to cooperate with you, you better tell us everything."

Patchouli leaned her face between their heads and whispered: "I believe our presence alone is enough to provoke the possessed fairies to attack this village. I don't mean to cause panic among the villagers, but we must stay alert at all times."

"What makes you so certain that we'll be attacked here?" asked Sanae.

"I'm not certain, but it's highly probable." Patchouli corrected her. "The truth is, another fairy attack is vital to this research."

"What?" Reimu thought she heard her wrong. "Are you saying you actually want the fairies to attack the village?"

"Your ears aren't deceiving you, Reimu. The fairy attack is one of our objectives. I'll wait for a few days, but if the fairies won't attack us, I'll ask Suika-san to use her gathering ability."

While Reimu frowned in disapproval of her plan, Sanae jumped excitedly. "Haha~! So this won't be just a boring field trip after all! I was hoping to see some action. Youkai hunting is what I was born for!"

"We'll see if you keep that enthusiasm when thousands of fairies swarm this village." Reimu cooled her down.

"Let them come! I'll teach them a lesson for attacking the Moriya Shrine!"

"We may not have the assistance of the Myouren Temple this time," remarked Patchouli, "but we have the numbers and power to stand against even a large-scale fairy attack. I only ask you to be vigilant and prepared to fight. Now, if you excuse me, I've got other team members to supervise."

The youkai librarian bowed lightly to the two shrine maidens and returned to her provisionary tent. The three fairies of light were there too. Their mood was much happier now. Not just because they were together again, but also because they learned that they were protected by a multitude of blessings. However, Patchouli didn't have much time to pay attention to them. Just as soon as she sat down, Hatate landed in front of her. "Patchouli-san? I've photographed the monuments from all possible angles as you asked."

"Thank you, Hatate-san. Have you learned anything new?"

"With the spirit photography I learned that these structures are approximately ten thousand years old. I sense a strong indication that we're standing on an ancient temple complex."

"A temple, huh?" Patchouli thoughtfully made a few notes into her logbook. "Anything else?"

"Yes, it was built by humans, but not entirely?" Hatate paused herself as she repeatedly pushed a button on her camera to browse between her pictures. "Strong divine power was used in its construction."

"Like the temple of Myouren?"

"The ornaments on the obelisks and the tower appear to be?"

"A star map." said both Hatate and Patchouli at the same time.

"Huh? You already knew this Patchouli-san?"

"I only deciphered a few symbols, but that's all it took to identify their context on these obelisks. Each of the obelisks holds a piece of information about the position of the stars. It's fascinatingly precise for something so ancient? Impressive that you managed to figure that out with your spirit photography, Hatate-san."

Hatate blushed slightly from the praise. "One more thing, Patchouli-san. The base of the ruins is still over 10 meters under ground, but it looks like a volcano must have erupted here and buried the temple, because I can sense that the geological structure radically changes after a few meters."

"That is not a problem." Patchouli waved her hand. Even when the ruins were buried in a mass of rock, with the help of an earth goddess, they could be uncovered without much difficulty. But Patchouli didn't want to proceed to that phase just yet.

"That's all I managed to learn so far." Hatate bowed and took a step back, ready to return to work. "If I find out anything more, I'll let you know."

"Sakuya?" Patchouli wanted to summon the maid, but she apparently wasn't around to hear her. The youkai sorceress only wanted to have a refreshing cup of tea, but since Sakuya wasn't there, she had to overcome her laziness and go to the village's only tavern.
"One oolong tea, please." she placed her order at the bar. Oddly enough to her, the barkeep was a human, unlike most of the tavern's patrons. He mumbled something under his nose as he took the order and placed a water kettle on the stove. As Patchouli waited for her tea, her eyes drifted into one of the tavern's corners where she noticed a few members of her expedition sitting at the table, discussing something. It was Eirin and Kaguya from Eientei and it looked like Erin was just standing up from the table.

Patchouli's curiosity urged her to speak up. "Going to the archive, Eirin-sensei?"

"Hm? Oh, I didn't even notice you were here, Patchouli-san." the silver-haired Lunarian blinked her eyes at her. "Eh? Yes, I'll take a look at the archives and see if I can learn anything relevant." she smiled and with an elegant bow, she left the establishment.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" Kaguya muttered as she looked outside the window, watching as Erin headed towards the village's archive. She let out a heavy sigh. "This village is so boring? Say, Patchouli-san, are you taking a break?"

"You could say that."

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Do as you please." Patchouli gestured at the vacant stool next to her. She was on quite friendly terms with the Moon princess, so she certainly didn't mind her company during her tea break.

"Such a fuss over a few stone pillars jutting from the ground? If it's the source of the vengeful spirits, I'd think we discovered a tomb."

"That might not be too far from the truth." Patchouli admitted and suddenly changed the topic. "She seemed somehow? absentminded today, don't you think?"

Kaguya cluelessly tilted her head to the side. "Hm?"

"Eirin? It's not every day that I've seen her like that."

The Moon princess giggled while giving an understanding nod. "I know, right~? Yes, she was like that since the moment you paid us a visit this morning. She's usually absentminded when she thinks too intensely about a problem? Or when she's telling a lie." she added with a sly grin.

"Telling a lie?"

"Yes. Though it's not very often, there have been a few occasions when Eirin intentionally kept a few things secret from me back in the Lunar Capital, as well as here on Earth. And every time when she lied, she had that strange glassy look in her eyes. It's so easy to tell, hehe? I actually find that trait of Eirin's very cute."

"So, either something is troubling her, or?"

"It was a lie?" to both Patchouli's and Kaguya's surprise, the bartender finished the sentence.

"Pardon?" Patchouli gave him a flabbergasted stare.

"That tall silver-haired lady?" the man specified as he served Patchouli her tea. "She's probably not headed for the archives. She asked me about a certain youkai who lives not too far from here."

It didn't take long for Patchouli to figure out Eirin's intention. "That alchemist?" she asked the bartender.

"So you want to know where to find him too? Heh, I should probably get a cut from that youkai's profit, given how many folks I've guided to his cavern." he chuckled as he made a joking remark.

Patchouli didn't need to ask him for directions, she already had them written in the report that a certain outsider made here over a month ago.

She didn't like the thought that Eirin has gone rogue on the expedition team and was only following her own interests, but perhaps this wasn't all for naught. Patchouli was suspicious of that mysterious youkai alchemist as well, and the only way to find out whether or not he had anything to do with the incident, was to interrogate him. Not even finishing half of her oolong tea, Patchouli stood up.

"You can finish it if you like." she told Kaguya before she left the tavern with hastened steps.

"Wait a minute! Where are you going? Heeey~!" the librarian kept walking, ignoring Kaguya's calls. The door shut behind her, and the Moon princess was left alone again.

"Geez... Why can't anyone stay for a little chat?"
Patchouli took flight straight to the village archive, which was one of the smaller buildings in the village. The elderly yama-bito lady at the reception desk welcomed her, offering additional assistance should Patchouli ask for it.

After briefly looking around the archive, Patchouli noticed Akyuu and Keine, but no sign of Eirin. She asked the reception lady whether she had seen a tall woman with very long silver hair tied in a thick braid.

"I'm sorry, but I can't say that I have, my dear. Unless you mean that lady over there." She beckoned at Keine. "But her hair is obviously not tied in a braid."

"No, that's not Yagokoro-sensei." Patchouli shook her head negatively. "Thank you anyway."
Patchouli's suspicions in Eirin were confirmed. The archive of Kazemura was not her current destination. With a growing feeling that she shouldn't leave things as they are, the one week wizard took off into the air and decided to look for Eirin. With the twin-peaked mountain in her sight, she headed off to find the home of an old youkai alchemist.

According to her notes, the cavern where he lived was located under a hill near a small pond and she just noticed these landmarks lying no further than a kilometer away from her position. She didn't see any signs of the Lunarian anywhere, so she assumed that Eirin was either already inside or she didn't go there at all. Finally, she made it to the hill that fitted the description of Xeng-Yao's home. But getting to the location and finding the entrance were two different things. Even with Kyouichi's notes and superhuman intelligence it took her over 5 minutes of intense search to discover the hidden cave entrance masked by a bush thicket. The truth is, she found it not by her eyes, but by her ears. A mixture of unidentified noises attracted her all the way to the door of

[Fonzi]

Chapter 54 ? Unlikely Reunion

As the next wave of possessed fairies approached the village, Eirin was applying the bandage to Patchouli's wound.

"I need to take her to safety at once!" she carefully picked up the wounded youkai from the ground and headed inside the tavern as the nearest place with relative safety.

But that's when the fairies swarmed the village again.

"Come on you little wimps!" Remilia taunted them as she drew another Spell Card. "Hell Sign "Mountain of a Thousand Needles"!"

She declared her spell, but instead of turning into a massive could of danmaku, the card harmlessly fell down onto the dirty ground.

"Huh?" Remilia blinked at the dirty Spell Card in puzzlement. "Don't tell me that?"

As much as she hated to admit it, her magic was completely depleted and she could no loner fight in this battle.

"My lady," Sakuya took her by the hand, "it's not safe for you out here. You should hurry and follow Eirin-sensei into the tavern."

"Nonsense!" the vampire ripped her hand out of Sakuya's grasp. "I don't need any stupid magic to fight! I'll tear those sorry excuses for youkai apart with my bare hands!"

"Remilia-sama!"

The maid's attempt to make her mistress see reason failed just as terribly as Remilia's Spell Card. The Scarlet Devil took off into the air and engaged the nearest flock of fairies in melee.

Ignoring the pain from taking a portion of their salvo, she grabbed one of the fairies and used her as a living shield to block off the rest of the shots. Her shield was not built to last long, though. After the fairy took a few hits from her own allies, she dispersed into tiny sparkles that were doused by the heavy rain.

"Hyaaaa~!" the vampire engaged another unfortunate fay creature with a powerful clawing attack. The little youkai was slammed against the ground with such force that her tiny body left a small crater. Another swing of her arm, and another fairy was swatted like a fly.

It's true that she wasn't as effective in melee as opposed to having an ample arsenal of spells and danmaku, but she was not intending to retreat from this fight even if Sakuya suggested so. The maid sighed resignedly and took off to assist her.
And while the eternally young mistress of the night was busy with her aerial melee, Reimu decided to provide some additional cover fire for Eirin, who needed to carry the wounded librarian into the tavern. She fended off a couple of smaller groups of enemies with her classic homing amulets, but even with her effort, Eirin was still taking hits. Not long after that, the fairies rallied together into a massive formation. As if driven by a collective mind, they attacked the girls who were in the most vulnerable situation.

"Reimu-san! Watch out!" Eirin tried to warn the shrine maiden who was escorting her, but the giant danmaku barrage was faster than the girl's evasive reaction. However, someone was there to protect her.

Turning around, Reimu noticed that there was a person standing right behind her, spreading her arms wide in a desperate attempt to protect her and Eirin from the deadly hail of danmaku.

"Ka? Kaguya-sanma!" Eirin immediately recognized the princess.

Kaguya didn't turn around; she remained standing there like a statue for a while. Then all of a sudden she fell to her knees and subsequently the rest of her body collapsed forward, digging her face into the soaked ground.

Reimu was at a loss for words. The Moon princess just sacrificed herself for her. Though the shrine maiden knew that she'd soon stand up again, she couldn't help but to be grateful for her selfless act.

"We have to keep moving, Reimu-san!" said the Lunarian urgently. "Princess will be alright, but we must get Patchouli-san inside! Keep those fairies off my back!"

Reimu knew that the situation was very serious, but she still hesitated about using her ultimate combat technique. Instead, she switched her homing amulets with a more direct and faster "Persuasion Needles" that ripped through the thick mass of fairies more effectively. With Patchouli in her arms, Eirin was slowly closing the distance to the tavern. Reimu kept up her step with her, all the while pouring her needle-shaped danmaku at the enemy. But the coordinated fairies were quick to regroup and respond with another devastating barrage.

"Uh-oh? They're turning around. Eirin, hurry up, I'll have to dodge their attack if I want to live!"

"I'm almost there!"

The fairies obviously targeted Eirin, but even so, Reimu was in their way, so naturally, a good portion of the enemy danmaku would hit her too. There was another option that she could do instead of dodging, and that was using a Spell Card. However, she was standing too close to Eirin, so the Lunarian would surely take the damage as well. And the same would go for the wounded sorceress. The fairy swarm was almost upon them.

"Sorry, Eirin!" she shouted an apology while darting off to the side, just to graze by the hideously large danmaku cluster.

As she turned around to see if Eirin made it, she exhaled with relief. The doctor form Eientei took shelter inside the tavern just in time. The building was hit by a multitude of magical shots that significantly damaged its front wall and broke a few windows. Under normal circumstances, the building would most likely catch fire, but in this rain, the fairies would have to try much harder to ignite something. As soon as Eirin put Patchouli down in a stabilized position, she hurried outside to rejoin the team in defending the village. She just saw as the fairy swarm was currently regrouping for another assault. And more were coming from all sides. Much more?

"Patchouli-san is safe for now? Has the princess recovered yet?"

Just as Eirin asked that, she noticed Kaguya slowly moving her arm to support her body and stand up.

Reimu took a brief break from shooting to check Kaguya's status. She appeared to be a bit shaken, but otherwise her body was without a scratch thanks to the Hourai Elixir. Though now she was all covered in dirt, just like Reimu.

"Hey, Eirin!" the shrine maiden called at her. "Have you seen the Three Fairies of Light anywhere?"

"No, but I think they're hiding somewhere inside the tavern. Why?"

Reimu didn't have enough time to answer her question, as the fairies, now with fresh reinforcements attacked again, trying to surround them completely.

"Eirin, I'll use a Spell Card so make sure to keep away from me, okay~?"

The Lunarian hovered back while spraying the area with a wide fan of danmaku as cover fire. Even when everyone in the village was doing their best to eradicate the invaders, it seemed that every fairy in Gensokyo was possessed and bent on destroying everything in Kazemura. They formed a huge sphere around Reimu, cutting off any potential escape routes.

"Reimu!" the other shrine maiden shouted at her. The situation looked hopeless, but Sanae dashed right towards the swarm, ready to create an opening for Reimu with a spell.

"Esoterica "Forgotten Ritual"!"

The Spell Card conjured up ten pentagrams around her. Five red and five blue stars consisting of smaller danmaku shots spread out and twisted, gradually dispersing into a chaotic maelstrom. A lot of fairies were taken out just by the initial wave. Just as the wind priestess charged up for a second wave, she could hear Reimu's voice from below shouting something.

"Fantasy Nature~!"

A bright light shone through the swarm of fairies and soon after, a spectacular show began. Reimu's ultimate spell combined with the flashy pentagram barrage from Sanae gave the aggressors a clear message - this village will not fall this day.

A secret and quite extreme technique, handed down by the generations of Hakurei shrine maidens and priests enabled Reimu to float away from reality, becoming completely invulnerable, while unleashing an unceasing stream of powerful homing ofuda. Originally it was not a Spell Card, because according the rules the Spell Card had to give the opponent at least a slight chance to win. The one who made it into a Spell Card was Marisa by giving it a name. Due to Spell Card Rule restrictions, Reimu agreed to reduce its duration in formal duels to just about 35 seconds. Of course, the current situation was anything but a formal battle, so these restrictions could be calmly ignored. The other girls have added their own danmaku into the fray, disposing of thousands of possessed fairies in a matter of seconds. Even the downpour paled in comparison to the combined danmaku fire. Kazemura became the epicenter of a true bullet hell. Seeing that staying in a tight formation was making them easy prey, the fairies dispersed erratically and attacked everything. Houses, villagers, the tavern? everything except the uncovered ruins.

After Reimu's Fantasy Nature ended, the situation became even more serious. As a retribution, the fairy swarm attacked Sanae right after her card ran out of power. Poor girl had no chance to dodge their counterattack. She fell down, just like Marisa did at the beginning of the battle. Her two goddesses were too far to catch her, but luckily for her, Aya Shameimaru stopped her fall in the nick of time.

"Another wounded!" the tengu reporter let everyone know of Sanae's condition.

"Get her inside the tavern then!" Eirin requested her. "Hurry!"

When a crow tengu hurries, one usually doesn't even notice what happens. Suddenly, Aya jetted off to the tavern with Sanae in her arms, and flew back out empty-handed in the next few seconds.

"How many more of those fairies are there?" wondered the Hakurei shrine maiden. She never thought she'd see more fairies than that time when she was catching live specimens for Eirin's research, but given the current state of affairs, she was convinced that tonight she witnessed the largest gathering of fairies in Gensokyo's history.

"We'll see~!" said Suika with a card ready in her hand.

Reimu's intuition told her the most probable spell that the oni was about to use, so she floated away from her out of caution.

"Night Parade of One Million Demons~!" Suika's voice activated the spell embedded in the card.

Reimu's hunch was right as usual. Suika went for the same spell that she used during the Tanabata's tournament; although that time she wasn't successful against her old friend Yuugi. In this fight, the ability to gather the huge swarms of fairies into one place and showering them with equally huge danmaku barrage was very handy. The card darkened and imploded into a miniature black hole while unleashing an all-directional avalanche of magical projectiles. Again, smaller objects, rocks, raindrops and the fairies were being dragged towards Suika by the spell's gravity field. Even when the fairies struggled and returned fire, their danmaku harmlessly disappeared into the blackness.

"It's working?" Aya stopped fighting and just watched the Spell Card with great respect. The overwhelming numbers of possessed fairies rapidly diminished to the point when they no longer outnumbered Kazemura's population. It seemed that the battle was won. The other girls swiftly finished off the rest of the enemies. Oddly enough, the losing fairies did not scatter or retreat when their numbers were swallowed by Suika's black hole. They remained to wreak havoc to the very end.

"Oh, gods?" Reimu sighed in relief. "Is it all over?"

Seeing no more fairies nearby, Suika dispelled her card and landed on top of one of the ruins' obelisks.

"What are you doing?!" Aya shouted at her. Her superior eyesight enabled her to see the distant fleets of fairies rushing towards the village. "There's another wave coming! Don't stop fighting!"

"Damn it!" Reimu cursed and tightened the grip on her gohei. She was already tired, but she didn't want anyone to notice it.

Remilia, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy taking the fairies on in hand to hand combat and now she was taunting for more. Sakuya took some hits in the battle, but was still in a good condition to continue. But Sanae, Marisa, Patchouli and both goddesses of the Moriya Shrine were unable to defend the village.

The Komeiji sisters were pretty much without a scratch. Patchouli was right. The spirits that have possessed the fairies avoided attacking them directly, and the two satori have taken great advantage of it.

Another one who could boast a perfect condition in this fight was Princess Yuyuko. Being already dead, she didn't have to focus on dodging or hiding. Her servant, however, was not invulnerable and Yuyuko took it upon herself to protect her. For many decades, it was Youmu whose sword was always there to guard the Netherworld's mistress. This time, the ghostly beauty was merely repaying a favor.

Time was short before the next wave of fairies would hit the quarry village, and the girls from the expedition team, as well as the villagers, were running out of magic and ideas on how to stop these attacks.

Eirin might have been the brightest mind of the team, but she already had her hands full with other urgent matters. She was just helping Marisa walk into the tavern before the fight would continue.

But there was someone who came up with an interesting idea.

"I'll try to hide the village and make it seem like it never existed, just like that time when the Moon was replaced with a fake one." the half-youkai teacher from Human Village suggested. At first she was hesitant about using her history-devouring powers, because Patchouli explicitly wanted the fairies to attack the village. But Keine Kamishirasawa didn't know the reason why would the elemental sorceress want such a thing to happen. Now that Patchouli was wounded, and the situation obviously out of control, Keine decided to protect Kazemura by any means necessary. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, like she was praying. She was actually charging up her power in order to devour Kazemura's history. She thought it would be easier than hiding the Human Village during the Imperishable Night incident, since Kazemura was much smaller, but she soon realized, just like Remilia, that in the heat of battle she had used up a major portion of her magic. Her spell faded before it was completed.

"This is bad." she shook her head in self-disappointment and her face reflected worry about surviving the following minutes.

The storm was still raging above them, not showing any signs of calming down. Just like the seemingly endless downpour of fairies that has targeted this small mining settlement.

"Sleep time is over, ladies!" Aya announced with the tone of a military commander. "Here comes the second wave!"

It was bullet hell all over again. The disorganized team of girls was gradually weakening. Soon, Keine ended up just like Remilia ? unable to shoot any more danmaku. A few minutes later, Sakuya ran out of energy not only to use her time-altering powers, but even to fly.

Another Spell Card had to come into play.

"Losing Hometown "Lost Soul's Village ?Suicide-"!" Yuyuko Saigyouji declared it just in time to save Youmu from the enemy storm of danmaku. Several wide waves appeared by Yuyuko's sides, consisting of blue, green and yellow projectiles that had only small gaps between them. As they spread out, they intersected each other, resulting in a dangerous crossfire. To top it all, Yuyuko swung her decorative fan that launched five read beams, each of them deadly to the fairies. As she made a half-spin with her fan, the lasers burned every fairy that they came into contact with. But while Yuyuko and Youmu were winning on one side of the battlefield, the fairies have overrun the village from the other side.

Alice and Reimu used their last Spell Cards only so they could survive the wrath of the possessed fairies. But to defeat them, they'd need much more spells?

Even during the second wave, the swarms seemed to have completely ignored the Komeiji sisters and their pet, Rin. But the other girls and villagers were not spared from their attacks.

Seeing how the fairies were attacking everything in their path save for the ruins, the girls decided to use the obelisks for cover. It worked? to some extent. But it was only a meager help in this desperate situation.

"I? I can't shoot danmaku anymore~!" Reimu lamented as she was trying to catch her breath. Never before she had to fight for so long without rest. "At this rate, the village will be one with these damn ruins."

As she peeked out from behind the stone obelisk, she noticed that the fairies have started breaking into the houses through any openings they could find. And when they couldn't find any, they made them with danmaku. The tavern building was no exception.

"The wounded ones?" she gasped in shock. "Everybody, fall back to the tavern! NOW!"

Reimu was on the verge of ending up like Sakuya ? unable to fly. Now she was only able to fly short distances, so she proceeded to the tavern in a leaping fashion.
Naturally, Aya and Hatate were the first ones to make it inside. When even the Hakurei shrine maiden entered the establishment, she could see chaos and desperation as the other girls and the innkeeper were trying to barricade the windows and fix the door that Remilia removed from its hinges. Not to mention they were doing it while fighting against tens of fairies that have already invaded the tavern's interior.

"Help meee~!" a girl's voice called desperately form somewhere upstairs.

"Get off me!" Kaguya struggled with a fairy that somehow ended up tangled in her long black hair.

"Fire in the kitchen!" the innkeeper's wife ran out of the room, followed by clouds of white smoke. "They're everywhere?"

"I'll take care of that." Suika volunteered to help put out the fire.

"And what are you going to do?" Reimu raised her eyebrow. "Douse it with your sake?"

"No, silly Reimu~! I'll become a thick mist and put it out, but I need everyone to get out of the kitchen."

"The kitchen's empty." the woman replied. "Please hurry before we all burn here to death!"

"Actually?" Eirin muttered as she was checking out Sanae's condition, "We would sooner suffocate from the smoke than burn alive, but that's beside the point."

"Okay, Suika, do what you have to do." Reimu gave her approval. "I'm going upstairs. Who's with me?"

"I'll go." Youmu Konpaku stepped forth without hesitation.

"M? Me too!" Remilia also volunteered to join Reimu, though her voice didn't sound too certain.

"You can't even shoot simple danmaku anymore." the miko remarked.

"Well, neither can you!" Remilia opposed. "But I can still give those fairies the old one-two."

"Fine, let's not waste any more time. Up we go!"
As Reimu and her two teammates ran upstairs, Suika rushed into the kitchen. She was just about to close the door behind her, when she saw a small group of fairies inside.

"Don't shoot us~! We haven't started the fire!" one of them begged with her arms covering her face.

"You?" Suika recognized them at once. "What are you three doing here?"

"It? was Sunny's idea to go here and look for some snacks. Then the other fairies attacked and we were scared so?" Luna began to explain, but the oni silenced her by raising her hand.

"Ok, ok, you can tell me later. For now, you need to get out of here."

"Yes~!" the three fairies replied unanimously and flew out of the smoke-filled room.

"And close the door~!" Suika shouted after them.

The kitchen's door was slammed shut by the last leaving fairy, giving Suika the signal to start her transformation. Density manipulation allowed her to become a cloud of thick mist, much thicker than the smoke rising from the burning furniture. By doing this, she cut off the oxygen supply to the spreading flames, which died out before they caused any serious damage.

At least one part of the problem was solved.
In the meantime, the girls upstairs followed the voice who was calling for help. They opened every door on their way through the corridor until they found the person in a distressful situation.

"Akyuu-chan!" Reimu saw the chronicler hiding under the bed while fairies from the outside were letting themselves into the room through the smashed window.

"I'll get those little pests!" Remilia threw herself at one of the winged creatures and snapped her neck. "Get the girl out of here!"

Youmu went after the other fairies with her katana. With a few quick and precise lunging attacks, she helped the vampire secure the room.

Reimu trotted to the bed and offered her hand to Akyuu so she could get out faster.

"Ah, Reimu-san? Thank you. But is it really any safer downstairs than here?"

"I don't know for sure, but you can't hide under that bed forever. Come on. On your feet?"

As Reimu pulled the chronicler from under the bed, Youmu suggested that the girls should use the mentioned piece of furniture to barricade the smashed window.

"Not sure how barricading one window is going to help us?" muttered the vampire, but she was already lifting the bed up together with Youmu and placing it at the window.

Reimu took Akyuu by the hand and hurried back downstairs. That's when she heard some suspicious noises coming from one of the closed rooms.

"What was that?" she paused for a second to listen. Even Akyuu curiously stared at the door. It sounded like pieces of glass clinking against each other. Reimu pictured a similar scene as she witnessed in Akyuu's room when the fairies have broken the window.

"Akyuu-chan, run downstairs!" the shrine maiden wanted to send her to safety as she put her hand on the door's handle.

Akyuu nodded obediently and left the corridor via the only stairway leading to the ground floor. Reimu recalled that her powers were almost entirely used up, so she called for Remilia and Youmu to back her up while she'd open the door of the room where the noise was coming from.

"Three? two? one? NOW!"

Reimu swung the door open, while Youmu readied her sword for a vertical slash. At the first sign of movement, she commenced her attack, but she realized that the person standing in front of her was not one of the possessed fairies. The half-ghost's blade stopped just centimeters in front of his face.

"You!" Reimu pointed her finger at the surprised man. "You're that youkai who came here with Eirin and Patchouli."

Xeng-Yao, the immortal half-snake youkai alchemist froze in shock at the sight of Roukanken's blade that wasn't far from chopping his face in two. He protruded his forked tongue and touched the sword's tip.

"Umm? why ssssuch hosssstility, young lady?"

"What have you been doing this whole time?!" Reimu barked a question at him. "The whole village is a battlefield!"

"That fact hassssn't esssscaped me, missss shrine maiden. But it takesss ssssome time to prepare these thingssss without proper lab equipment."

"Prepare what?"

Xeng gently patted a large leather backpack that he carried on his shoulders. Its content let out a few jingling sounds, just like what Reimu heard before she opened the door.

"Everything you might need to help you fight."

Reimu, Youmu and Remilia exchanged heir glances before focusing on the alchemist again.

"We have some wounded downstairs. Think you can help them?"

"Think?" he let out a hissing chuckle. "I've got ssstuff that'll get them on their feet again and ready to fight on. If we had the sssame thingsss back on the Moon, we would have taken the capital for sure."

Reimu made a shrugging gesture. "Then don't waste time up here and get busy!" she beckoned to the staircase.

Xeng sighed and calmly walked out of his room. "I'm alwayssss busy?"
The group returned to the barroom of the tavern. Everyone who still had some magic reserve left was fighting the fairies guerrilla-style, shooting though the windows in short bursts and taking cover.

"Here they are." Reimu pointed at the girls lying on the ground. "Marisa and Sanae should be fine, but Patchouli took the worst of it."

"What about me then?" Kaguya remarked sarcastically.

"You don't count." the miko brushed her off.

Xeng briefly looked at the injured girls and started unpacking his potions. "Ahh, the wounded - an inevitability of every battle? Let me take a closssser look at you."

"Hmm? An artery wound. But it lookssss like it's already ssstabilized. Decent work? very decent."

"That's because I treated it." Eirin brought the alchemist's attention to herself.

"I ssssee. Poor Patchouli-sssan? Seemsss the injury affected her vocal chordsss too. But don't worry. We can sssspeed up the healing processss by leapsss and boundssss." He took out a flask filled with dark-red liquid and shook it lightly before opening.

"Wait?" Remilia gripped his hand with strength that would cause pain to a normal human, but Xeng didn't perceive it as pain. "I don't trust this youkai. Just what are you going to make Patchy drink, huh?"

"A sssspecial Earth-Lunarian cocktail with nearly instantaneous healing effectssss. It hurtssss a little at firssst, but I think it'sss a worthy tradeoff."

"So that's what you sold to one of my patients." Eirin recalled the events in Eientei, when two of her human patients recovered unnaturally fast.

"I sssold a lot of variousss potionsss to a lot of people. I run a businesss just like you, and like you I've kept my residence a sssecret from the general population for ssssome time. Now I'm more open. And don't you worry, little vampire girl," he turned to Remilia, "this potion isss for youkai. The potionssss for humansss mussst use different ingredientsss. I'm not going to poissson your friend. Though, I have to admit, I don't sssspecialize in medicine? Thisss isss mossstly Yagokoro Eirin's recipe, ssso if you trussst her, you can trussst me."

"A regenerating concoction of this strong and fast effect would require pure ingredients?" the Lunarian sage reasoned. "Ingredients unobtainable on Earth."

The half-snake chuckled and looked up proudly. "That'sss a little trade sssecret of mine, but yesss, you're right. I would be looking for the necessary ingredientsss for these potionssss on Earth in vain. But there are waysss?"

"So she supplies you?"

"Hm? Who?" Xeng didn't get Eirin's question.

"You know well, who I mean."

"Yakumo-ssama? No, no, no?" he shook his head in denial. "I haven't ssseen her in a very long while. I wonder how she'sss doing. And if she still looksss as pretty as when I sssaw her lassst."

"That's what you say." the pharmacist doubted his words.

"Oh, come now? Haven't we already been through all thisss? Hey! You, girl with that red eye over your chest, look at me? Am I lying?"

Satori fired a flurry of danmaku out of the window before responding to his question. "He's telling the truth. He doesn't have a supplier. His ingredients come from?"

"Alright, alright, alright? That'ssss enough." he raised his voice to silence her before she'd reveal his well-guarded business secret, "there's no need to go into details."

"I think there is." Reimu disagreed. "Otherwise you will remain suspicious."

"Do you want me to help your friend or not?" the alchemist changed the topic, trailing his glance off to Patchouli.

After a while of hesitation, Remilia released his wrist. "?Fine."

"Now why don't you tell us about your way of obtaining those ingredients?" Reimu continued the interrogation.

"If you come to my lab, I'll show you?" he muttered his response as he was lifting Patchouli's head and prompting her to drink from the potion bottle.

"You'll tell us NOW." the shrine maiden didn't let herself get brushed off and demanded an immediate answer.

"I grow the ingredientsss in sssspecial containersss that emulate the pure environment of the Moon. Are you happy now?"

"My, that would be quite interesting to see." Eirin was already making plans on revisiting Xeng's cavernous dwelling to it for herself.

The alchemist ignored her and focused on not spilling too much of his potion while making Patchouli drink it.

"That should be enough?" he backed away from her slowly and watched her reaction.

Patchouli confusedly blinked her eyes and put her hand over her bandaged wound. Not long after that, her eyes widened with the arrival of the potion's negative side-effect. Strong searing pain overtook her wounded neck and the youkai girl started stirring about on the floor. She kicked down a nearby chair as she tried to endure it. Remilia was not pleased to see her in that state at all. But just as suddenly as the pain arrived, it left, leaving only a faint afterglow deep inside the librarian's throat. She tried to speak, but only a faint whisper escaped her lips. It would still take some time before her voice would return back to normal, but at least she was able to stand up again and perhaps even continue to fight.

"Patchy~!" Remilia threw herself at her. "Are you alright?"

The purple-haired girl opened her mouth, but no words came out. However, she was still able to muster a smile. With a few pantomimic gestures she requested for something to write with. Akyuu was willing to rip a few blank pages out of her notebook and even offered her a writing brush.

The first words that Patchouli wrote down were: "Thank you, everyone."

"Patchouli?" Remilia again couldn't help herself, but to tightly hug her friend once more. The sorceress looked a little baffled, but she slowly raised her hand and patted the Scarlet Devil's head. When Remilia finally let her go, Patchouli wrote down: "I'm alright now, but it still hurts when I try to speak."

"Patchouli, listen..." Reimu spoke up to her. "You got what you wished for. The fairies have swarmed the village in tens of thousands. We're cornered in this tavern; we're tired and wounded and we don't know how much more fairies will come even if we manage to beat those that are here. Do you have any suggestions what to do now?"

To everyone's relief, the librarian nodded and started quickly scribbling something on the paper sheet. The curious girls who weren't currently preoccupied with shooting the fairies outside the tavern gathered around Patchouli and impatiently peeked over her shoulder to see what plan she had in mind.

Satori would be able to tell them sooner then Patchouli would write it, but she was one of those girls who were busy with fighting.

When the elementalist was done with writing, she picked up the paper and showed it to everyone.

"The warding blessings have worked with the three fairies of light, as they were not possessed?" Reimu started reading the text aloud. "The vengeful spirits rarely act with such coordination as we've seen here. I suspect that they are manipulated by someone. And that someone is somewhere close by."

"I knew it all along!" Remilia called out. "The culprit is hiding in this village. We should go out there and gather every villager and have Satori look at them to find out who's doing this."

"However?" Reimu continued reading, "it's also possible that the spirits are manipulated by a master spirit? Wait, what?"

Patchouli put the paper down again and hurried to scribble an answer. The sounds of battle, explosions and screams from outside were filling out the otherwise quiet tavern. Patchouli showed the paper to the girls and the shrine maiden took the initiative to read it again.

"In one of the many books on occult ? the Binding of Souls, I found a very interesting passage about necromancy and the art of binding one's spirit so that it wouldn't leave the mortal plane even after one's death. Especially on page 489 where?"

"Umm? Patchy?" Remilia interrupted Reimu's reading and looked into Patchouli's eyes. "Could you be a bit terser?"

"Yeah?" Reimu seconded the vampire's suggestion.

A bashful smile settled on the librarian's face and she lightly bowed in a gesture of apology. She took the writing brush and underlined the key part of the text, showing Reimu what they should focus on.

"In the past, some necromancers undertook a ritual to seal their souls inside their bodies, so they'd achieve immortality."

"Such foolishness?" Eirin muttered and disapprovingly shook her head.

"Sure it issss? an elixir of immortality is a much better method, isss it not, Lunarian?" Xeng-Yao asked her with clear sarcasm in his tone.

"I'd say being a vampire is the best way to go." Remilia voiced her opinion.

"The best way to become immortal is to leave it all to the natural order of the universe and simply die." Yuyuko added her bit of wisdom into the discussion.

Eirin was about to retort, but Reimu graced her and the youkai alchemist with a silencing gaze. When both of them understood that there was no time for their bickering, they allowed the shrine maiden to continue reading Patchouli's explanation.

"With their bodies dead, but their souls still residing inside, they continued their lives as corpses retaining their intellect, memories and abilities. These undead necromancers, commonly known as liches could manipulate other undead and use them as minions, and were even able to re-attach their souls to another dead body as a precaution. They could still be killed if their body took significant damage and their soul could no longer hold it together. In rare cases, a lich could possess a living being, but only if his or her soul was strong enough to take over and dominate its host's soul. That's why they preferred to possess small animals as creatures with weak spiritual resistance. If my theory is correct and we are facing a lich, we must take into consideration that it could be one of those possessed fairies."

"Eh?" the shrine maiden scratched her head. "That's interesting and all, but? how are we supposed to find a lich's spirit amongst the zillions of fairies?"

Patchouli ran out of space to write on, so she turned the paper and started writing the answer on the other side. After a while she showed it to the shrine maiden.

"There are several ways to find this out: Remilia's fate vision, Satori-san's mind reading or Yuyuko-sama's invitation to death? I see. And after we take out the right fairy? What's going to happen? I mean? what prevents that lich spirit from simply taking another host?"

The elemental sorceress nodded repeatedly and dipped her brush into ink again. After a half a minute she presented her reply.

"Unless a lich performs another binding ritual beforehand, slaying its current body will return it to the cycle of death. The sinful spirits usually go to hell or wander eternally on Earth, but they lose their power to manipulate other spirits. Without this power, the fairies will be thrown into disarray. But I already have a better plan than just slaying the master fairy. Yuyuko-sama already knows what to do? Huh? Yuyuko?" Reimu's glance shifted to the ghost.

"Why, yes~." Princess Saigyouji confirmed with a nod. "I'm not afraid to go out there again, but what about the rest of you?"

That's when Marisa's voice diverted everyone's attention. "Ahh? Whoa! What was that drink you gave me?" she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and jumped up on her feet. "I feel awesome!"

"Don't mention it?" Xeng-Yao was satisfied with the result and proceeded to treat Sanae. "Now for the lassst patient? Oh, so she's a shrine maiden too? So we need a potion sssafe for humansss."

"Actually, she's a living goddess." Kanako corrected him. "But otherwise, yes, a human?"

The alchemist paused for a moment, giving Kanako an intense stare. Only now he noticed that she bore signs that separated her from both humans and youkai. "That mirror and shimenawa circle? You? you are a goddess too, aren't you?"

"That's right; I'm Yasaka Kanako, from the?" she suddenly interrupted her introduction when she saw Xeng prostrating in front of her."

"I'm sssory that I didn't notice sssoner."

A little confused, Kanako exchanged her glance with Suwako. "Uhh? Thank you for your gesture, but right now we really don't have any time for this." she prompted him to stand up.

"Please, just help our dear Sanae like you helped the other two girls."

"Of courssse?" he stood up again to prepare a dose for the wounded shrine maiden. "Okay, thisss should be enough? He measured an appropriate amount of potion and made Sanae drink it.

The pain of rapid healing was more intense depending on the seriousness of the injury. Sanae was only lightly injured, though, so her recovery wasn't too hard for her to endure. In a matter of seconds, she was fully recovered and healthy.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure, Sssanae-san." the half-snake mustered a crooked smile. "Now you can fight the fairiessss in full strength again."

"Actually?" Reimu raised her finger in objection. "I ran out of energy? I should rest, but I can't! Look at what's going on outside. And I'm not the only one?"

"Well, why didn't you ssssay so sssooner?" the alchemist pulled out a large bottle filled with a peculiar opaque blue liquid. "Bartender, bring us ssssome shot glasses! Thisss round is on the houssse."

The owner of the establishment thought that Xeng was joking about it, but the alchemist's eyes were staring back at him, radiating an aura of urgency and seriousness.

"Sure, give me a second."

The man reached for a serving tray and loaded it with over a dozen shot glasses.

"Do I get a taste too?" he asked as he put the tray on the nearby table.

"Not unlesss you're going out there to fight."

"What a pity."

When Suika saw the scene, she couldn't hide her curiosity. "Oh~! What drink are you serving?"

"Thisss juice will replenish your magical energy. It's not a medicine, ssso it's sssafe for both humanssss and youkai to drink. Even when you feel exhausssted, the potion will charge you up." Xeng explained as she poured the blue liquid into the shot glasses. "Cheers, everyone! Don't be shy."

"Cheeeers~!" the oni didn't hesitate to have a taste. Everyone else cautiously watched her to see her reaction.

"Awww? What is this~? I can't get drunk from this."

"Hmm?" the alchemist thoughtfully rubbed his chin between his fingers. "Perhapsss I should invent a tastier brand of these magic replenishersss."

Reimu, Sanae and Sakuya were each holding their glass and staring at its content with suspicion. Marisa, on the other hand, didn't have any qualms about trying out new potions.

"Ya, know, I also dabble in alchemy a bit, and I still remember the thrill of my first taste of my first potion from the mushrooms that I harvested in the forest? Let me sample that blue stuff, ze!"

She downed the glass just as quickly as Suika and exhaled deeply. "Hmm? I don't mind the bitter taste, but is this potion supposed to make me feel refreshed? Because I can't say that I feel any diff? oh?" she paused herself in the middle of the sentence as a strong feeling of warmth began spreading from her stomach throughout her entire body.

"And the poison has begun to take its effect?" Reimu remarked jokingly.

"How do you feel, Marisa?" Alice asked her.

"Like I could brawl with an oni!"

Suika crossed her arms over her underdeveloped chest as a sign of accepting her challenge. "Really, Marisa-chan? Shall we go outside then?"

"Eh? that was just a metaphor, Suika." the witch bashfully backed one step away. "But seriously, I feel like Master Sparking some fairies. You should try it too, Reimu."

The black-haired maiden still had her doubts, but she let Marisa convince her. She threw the glass's content into her mouth and swallowed it, without trying to savor the potion's flavor.

"You know," she spoke after she drank her dose, "I'm a shrine maiden, and as such, I use divine powers rather than magic."

"Reimu-san has a point." Kanako nodded agreeingly. "As a goddess, will drinking this potion really help me and Suwako?"

The immortal youkai from China fluttered his tongue in the air as he thought about the question. "That I don't know, Yasaka-sssama. I've never tesssted the stuff on a god before. There are some thingsss that I can put into a bottle and sssome that I can't. You can ssstill drink it if you like, but I can't guarantee it will work."

"Well, it's not like it could kill me anyway." the goddess of wind and rain shrugged and sipped the potion to the bottom. Suwako followed suit and so did Sanae.

Kanako waited for a while for any strange sensations, but she was only met with disappointment. "Well, I can't say it did the trick, but at least it was worth a try."

Likewise, the shrine maidens from both of Gensokyo's shrines felt no difference after ingesting the magic replenishing potion.

"Hmm~." Yuyuko also gave it a try, even though she was aware that it would bring her no benefit. She drank it just for the sake of tasting something new. "I think it could use a little more sugar."

Remilia, on the other hand, felt the magic rush almost instantly. Despite being drained from the rain and hard battle, just one shot glass of the elixir restored her magic to full amount. Almost like after drinking a satisfying amount of human blood.

"Sakuya." she addressed her maid without making eye contact.

"Yes, Remilia-sama?"

"Drink it up and meet me outside."

"Wait, mistress, what are you??"

Before Sakuya could formulate her question, her mistress took flight and exited the tavern through one of the smashed windows.
"Thought you've seen the last of me? Come at me, you fools! "Scarlet Gensokyo"!" her taunts and Spell Card declaration could be heard from outside even through the noises of battle and thunder.

Just as the name of the spell suggested, the card flashed in a bright scarlet glow and launched a spiral of large violet orbs that began exploding from the center and making the neighboring danmaku bubbles follow suit in a chain reaction. Each exploding bubble produced several smaller red fragments that littered a wide area. Although slow in movement, the resulting projectiles were so dense and so numerous, that the fairy swarm couldn't do much to avoid them. And while Remilia was launching wave after wave of decimating magic barrages, Sakuya quickly obeyed her order, drank the potion and hurried outside to add some sharp metal to her mistress's danmaku patterns.
Alice and Marisa didn't want to waste their time inside either, and both of them returned to the battlefield, lasers blazing. All the girls left the tavern with the exception of Reimu, Sanae and the two goddesses. The potion failed to restore their divine powers, so they decided to lay low and protect Akyuu.

Xeng-Yao apologized that despite his extensive knowledge of alchemy, he could not create a drinkable substance that restores divine power. He put away his half-empty bottle and slowly approached the tavern's window.

"Hey, where are you going?" Reimu halted him as he was about to climb outside through the broken window. "I know you're a youkai, but? can you even fight? You don't look like it?"

"I took part in the first Genssso-Lunar war, dear shrine maiden and my reward was a recipe for immortality. I'll be fine."

"Hmph?" she let out a snort of indifference. "I'm not worried about your life. Taking part in a war and fighting in it are two different things. I was just wondering if you had any danmaku to fight the fairies with, considering how you were hiding in one of the guest rooms when we found you."

The alchemist unstrapped two small bulb-shaped bottles from his sash and showed them to Reimu. They were filled with a bubbling liquid of bright orange color. "Thisss is my danmaku." and with those words, he slipped outside into the fray. When he saw a thick cluster of fairies, he flung one of the bottles at them with all his might. With so many fairies, it was quite hard to miss. The flask shattered on the face of one unfortunate fairy and as soon as its content came into contact with water, a violent explosion followed. Over a dozen of enemy youkai were scattered into all directions from the power of the shockwave. The exploding potion also created a small cloud of highly toxic gas that continued to reduce the enemy ranks before it dispersed. He didn't have much combat experience, but with most of the expedition team soaring above, the fairies didn't pay him much attention even when he was throwing his explosive concoctions at them.
Everyone was fighting hard. Even Patchouli didn't hold back and joined her friends in the grand battle, this time paying extra attention to incoming enemy projectiles. With the rain powering the element water, she kept casting water-based danmaku as her basic attack.

The youkai dollmaker got an interesting idea how to aid her allies. With magic energy to spare, Alice summoned a horde of dolls, all of them bearing large kite shields and commanded them to form a protective cocoon around all the other girls. With this additional protection, the girls were effectively breaking the fairies' offensive and began pushing them back beyond the premises of Kazemura.

When Keine saw this, she hurried to Patchouli to ask her how to proceed.

"Patchouli-san?" she interrupted her sentence to fire a burst of shots. "Do you want me to hide this village's history? I have enough magic to do it properly, just give me the signal."

Patchouli locked her eyes with hers and shook her head profusely. She pointed her finger at Yuyuko, then clenched her fist slowly and finally waved both of her hands sideways.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, but I hope you know what you're doing."

The teacher parted with her and continued to chase down the dwindling groups of fairies with the rest of the team.

"Patchouli-san." Satori came flying to the librarian with interesting news to tell. "The spirits? they are returning back underground. All of them are thinking the same thing, like they're driven by something?" She threw a quick glance at Remilia with her third eye to analyze her thoughts. The vampire was still sending the fairies to the ground by dozens with her Spell Card, not having any time to report what she saw. But Satori could see her thoughts and even slightly tap into her fate vision. What she saw warranted Patchouli's highest attention. The fairies each had two particular fate strings that distinguished their fate. One was leading towards the center of the quarry pit and the other one was trailing off somewhere to southwest before fading into nothing. When Satori broke the news to her, Patchouli knew that this was the right time to act. She pointed her finger at the sky and shot a bright-yellow signal bullet. Right on cue, Aya arrived to meet up with them.

"Ayayaya~! You gave the signal, so I'm here!"

Perhaps Patchouli couldn't speak yet, but Satori was there with her to help her convey her thoughts to the tengu.

"Oh, I see? So you've tracked down our primary target? Then we must strike without warning and surprise the mastermind!"

"Let's not forget to bring Yuyuko-sama along with us." Satori reminded her.

"Alright, I'll let her know!" the reporter nodded affirmatively. "I'll be right back."

In a few seconds, she returned along with the Netherworld's princess by her side.

"So we finally rooted out the source~?" the ghostly girl asked when she saw the group.

"Hey~!" another girl's call sounded. "You haven't thought of tracking the culprit down without me, have you?" Remilia Scarlet finally finished her spell and rejoined them, even bringing an extra member to the team. In her arms, a desperate possessed fairy was quivering violently, trying in vain to break free from the vampire's unyielding grip.

"Remi?" Satori spoke out Patchouli's thoughts aloud. She sounded a bit awkward, addressing the vampire so informally, but she didn't have the time to explain that she's merely reading the librarian's mind aloud. "Okay, I see you've captured one alive? Together, we'll find a way to reach the manipulator of these spirits. Lead the way!"

With a slight flap of her bat-like wings, Remilia followed the fate string's trail of the fairy that she was holding.

"Wait~!" Yuyuko called after her, "You're going a little too fast~!"

Soon the girls realized that a significant portion of the fairies that were raiding the village suddenly shifted the center of their attention to the Scarlet Devil.

"Ayayaya~! I think we have company!"

Satori rolled her third eye at the fairies that pursued them. "Just like that time when we were trying to catch specimens for Eirin?"

"What are you talking about?" Aya didn't understand.

"Their thoughts are now focused on eliminating the fairy that you're holding, Remilia-san. Whoever is manipulating these spirits must be aware that we've captured one and is trying to prevent us from finding them."

"Well, tough luck!" Remilia began flying even faster. "They're not catching us!"

"Butterflies, butterflies, pretty, pretty butterflies~!" Yuyuko who was tagging behind the rest of the girls was flying backwards and covering the team from behind. Her trademark butterfly-shaped danmaku was making it hard for the fairy swarm to achieve their goal.

And while Yuyuko was having fun with the fairies, Remilia was only focused on that thin red string that was showing her the way.

"Aya, can you see anything?"

The crow tengu who was holding both Satori and Patchouli to help them fly faster indeed noticed some suspicious movement in the distance. "Keep flying, I think I see another group ahead."

"How many?"

Aya made a quick and rough estimate of the enemy number. "Hmm? About a few hundred."

"Ha! We'll obliterate them in seconds!" declared the vampire with strong confidence.

They pressed on, not afraid to face another battle in this terrible weather. Remilia was again starting to feel her magic quickly draining and she wanted to reach the mastermind before the rain would wash it away completely.

"I can see them." She halted about a hundred meters away from the enemy fleet of fairies.

Satori again looked inside Patchouli's thoughts and figured that the librarian was pretty much about to say the same thing as her.

"Just show us which fairy harbors the leader spirit and let Yuyuko-sama do the rest."

With the captive fairy still struggling in her arms, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion focused her sight at the group ahead and trying to identify which of those fairies was the fate string pointing to. The opposing fairy swarm was much smaller compared to what she faced over Kazemura's quarry. But despite their relatively small number, the fairies attacked with uncanny ferocity. The target was, of course, Remilia's captive.

"Here they come! Spread out and hold your fire!" Satori took the leading role in this fight and issued a command.

"Hold our fire?!" Remilia spewed out. "What the hell is she thinking?!" She just narrowly dodged a straightforward burst of magic orbs that were thrown at her and proceeded to strike back.

"Eat this!" she began rapidly casting danmaku out of her right hand while still clutching the captured fairy tightly with her left arm. Satori and Patchouli noticed that she disobeyed them and started killing the enemies without discrimination.

"Remilia~! Stop!" Patchouli spoke through Satori's voice. Even when repeatedly asked by her best friend, the stubborn vampire continued to exterminate the small winged youkai. Her uncontrollable behavior was threatening Patchouli's plan to end the fairy incident here and now. She was worried that the chance to stop the vengeful spirits would elude her when she already had it within her reach. She swallowed her own saliva and with great disgust over her own decision, she aimed her finger at Remilia's back. A single watery projectile was summoned from her fingertip. It traveled a short distance before it splashed on Remilia's back.

"Kyaaah~!" she let out a surprised shout. The shot was weak and technically harmless to a youkai like Remilia, but Patchouli still winced at the thought that she had to use it against her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the vampire yelled at her. "Have you become possessed too?"

Satori wanted to explain Patchouli's plan to her, but the hostile fairies didn't allow her any time for that.

"Satori-san, look out!" Aya grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her away from an incoming volley of enemy danmaku.

As if things weren't bad enough, another squadron of fairies took advantage of distracted Remilia and attacked the fairy she was holding in her arms.

"Gah! Damn it!" all she could do was to utter a curse as her captive was assassinated.

Infuriated and frustrated, she continued killing every fairy in sight. "NOBODY? MESSESS? WITH REMILIA? SCARLET!" she bellowed as she kept repeatedly flinging smaller versions of her danmaku spear.

"She's completely out of control." was what Satori saw when reading Patchouli's current thoughts. If one of those fairies was possessed by a mastermind spirit and it made another binding ritual beforehand, killing it would not solve anything. On the contrary, it would make things even more complicated, because the girls would have to search all over again. Patchouli and others were just watching helplessly as the Scarlet Devil wiped out half of the fairy swarm. But due to the rain, she could not keep her magic strong for too long.

"Why?" she suddenly turned at Patchouli with a blaming look in her crimson eyes. "Why did you tell me not to shoot them?"

Instead of answering her question, Satori asked her: "You can still see them, can't you?"

"What??"

"The strings of fate." the mind-reader specified. "Even if you lost your hostage, you can still track the position of our primary target from the fate strings of other fairies. If you haven't killed her already?"

When she ran out of danmaku to shoot, Remilia was finally able to calm down and realize the mistake that she was about to do. And even if she slipped and stumbled, she could still help make things right again. With as few words as possible, the satori explained to her the importance of following Patchouli's plan.

"I? I will." she nodded repeatedly. "I can't shoot danmaku for too long in this damn rain anyway. I'll show you which fairy is in charge of all this mess?"

She spread her wings again and soared up, paying close attention to the curving and heading of the enemy fairies' fate lines. The fairies, of course, were still relentlessly assaulting the other girls, but they decided to just dodge and stand down until Remilia designates the main mark.

"Hurry up, Remilia." Aya muttered impatiently as she kept circling around and avoiding shots.

She could already see the massive cloud of fairies that abandoned the fight at Kazemura getting closer to their position.

After about 30 seconds that seemed like eternity, Remilia's unique vision finally saw what she was looking for. At the rear of a small fairy squadron that was somewhat holding back compared to the rest of the fairies, there was an odd one out. There was a huge knot of fate strings spreading out from her head to the heads of other fairies that were nearby.

"That's the one~!" Remilia shouted at the other girls while extending her finger at the target. "The one in the black dress! After her!"

"It was about time!" Aya exhaled in relief from the fact that she could now defend herself and annihilate any other fairies without holding back. Once she swatted down the most annoying and persistent fairies that were attacking her, the reporter took a closer look at the fairy that Remilia was pointing at.

"Why, that's Lily White!" she identified the host of the mastermind of the vengeful spirits.

"Indeed~!" Yuyuko confirmed. "Though not so white anymore."

A blonde fairy with dark feathery wings, all dressed in black was calmly observing the battle from a distance.

"I thought she only appeared in springtime."

"She's truly acting out of character." the ghost remarked as she followed Aya. "Now to see if Patchouli-san's theory was right?"

It didn't take long for Lily to notice the impending danger, so she tired to flee and hide herself among the other fairies that were arriving from Kazemura.

"She's trying to get away!" Remilia alerted the team to the sudden movement of their primary target.

"Let's see if she can get away from me!" Aya accepted the challenge. "Sorry, Satori-san, I'll let you go now so I could fly at full speed."

A silent nod of consent came from Satori, and the tengu girl was already chasing Lily White down like a hungry dog chases after bacon.

Of course, the fairy's maximum flight speed could not compare to that of a crow tengu, and it wasn't long before Aya crossed Lily's path.

"Gotcha!" she grinned ominously. She extended her arms to grab the fairy, but the spirit that possessed Lily White did not want to give up easily.

"What the?? Kyaaaaaah~!"

The fairy that normally announced the arrival of spring surprised Aya with an attack that she'd never expect from her. Out of her palms she fired a beam not unlike Marisa's favorite Master Spark. It was a bit smaller, though, and instead of producing dazzling light it sported a somewhat dark shade of violet.

"Aya~!" Remilia shouted at the falling tengu. Even if she hurried as fast as she could, she would not be able to catch her. She could only watch as Aya's unconscious body disappeared among the treetops, followed by a series of loud snaps and cracks of tree branches and rustling of leaves.

"Aya-san?" Yuyuko uttered her name, hoping that the tengu didn't suffer a mortal wound. But she couldn't go and see if she was okay at this moment. Lily White had to be stopped here and now by any means necessary.

"I'll get you for this, you little bitch!" Remilia's anger again boiled up her vampiric blood. Just like a couple of minutes before when she ran out of magic, she decided to incapacitate the fairy's movement and perhaps give her a weak slap or two, just not to kill her.

This time it was Patchouli who worried about her friend. Remilia fearlessly engaged the black-clad fairy in melee. But to her great surprise, Lily fought back with physical strength that was unheard of for a fairy.

"Take this! And that! And? ungh! What the hell?!" she didn't know whether her opponent was so strong or whether the heavy rain has made her so weak, but

[Fonzi]

Chapter 55 ? What do you mean it's not over?

She stared back with her piercing green eyes, shifting her gaze slowly from one person to another and wondering where they all came from. Her equally colored hair flowed down her back and ended somewhere around her waist, seemingly unaffected by the strong wind or even rain. She looked mature, yet youthful. Comparable to Eirin or Keine.

Dressed up in a blue and white dress and a matching blue cape with tattered edges, fixed around her neck by a yellow ribbon, and wearing a pointy blue hat with a yellow sun pattern, she emitted a strong impression of a magician. A mysterious and eerie white ghostly tail waved down from her waist where her legs were supposed to be, making it clear to everyone who saw her that she was not a living person. In her pale hand, a bloody knife was faintly reflecting the light from the lightning flashes that were still taking place every few moments in the dark clouded sky. Despite everything that just happened a while ago, she seemed completely calm.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Saigyouji Yuyuko." the ghostly princess courteously bowed her head to her.

Some of the girls have seen this woman for the first time, but to Marisa and Reimu, this young lady was already a well known and old acquaintance, for she was Mima ? an evil spirit who could not move on to afterlife due to a grudge. However, she was so ancient that in her countless years spent on Earth, she even forgot who or what she held a grudge against. Even though she did say in the past that she wanted to take revenge on the entire human race, her reason for it was never quite certain. Reimu's first encounter with her took place almost a decade ago, when Mima appeared in the midst of Hakurei Shrine's hokora, which is a miniature Shinto shrine, usually attached to a larger shrine dedicated to the worship of minor folk kami. She was defeated by Reimu and sealed back within the hokora. Some time later, she managed to break the seal and stir up an incident. The second time she encountered the Hakurei shrine maiden, Marisa Kirisame acted as her apprentice, but Reimu managed to deal with both of them. In fact, Reimu knew Mima even longer than she knew Marisa. Mima's second defeat was followed by another sealing ritual into the hokora, only to break free just a month later. She has been seen around the Hakurei Shrine on several occasions, but her relation to the shrine was always a big mystery to Reimu. In the few documents that her ancestors left behind, she wasn't even mentioned. On the other hand, Mima proved to be quite knowledgeable about the history of the Hakurei Shrine, including the exact purpose of the Yin-Yang orbs. One day, however, she simply stopped coming. For several years nobody witnessed her, so it was even rumored that she finally found her peace and crossed the Sanzu River to afterlife. Apparently, these rumors were now swept away as the evil spirit has made her great comeback.

"So it WAS you all along!" Reimu accusingly pointed her finger at the green-eyed ghost.

Mima first returned a gesture of courtesy to Yuyuko and introduced herself before she shifted her attention back to the shrine maiden. "I wonder what you could be talking about."

"How many times do I have to seal you?"

"If you ever knew how to do it properly, even once would be enough." Mima replied with a soft, but cocky smile.

Reimu gripped her gohei tightly out of anger. Even though Mima was defeated, she acted as though as nothing had happened.

"Just one thing before I exterminate you again? Why have you done all this? Because of your grudge against all humanity?"

Mima just curiously tilted her head.

"Answer me!"

But instead of giving an answer, she asked a question: "Just? how did I end up here?"

"It's a bit too late to play dumb, don't you think?"

"No, I mean really? And why am I suddenly surrounded by all of you? I know some of these faces, but?"

"Are you making fun of me?!" Reimu threateningly raised her voice, to which Yuyuko shook her head.

"I'm afraid she can't, Reimu. Once under my control, no spirit can do as they please. She can't even lie."

"Ah, that explains why I feel so calm." Mima nodded understandingly.

"Is? Is that true?" the shrine maiden's voice, now laced with uncertainty forwarded a question at the mind-reading youkai.

"I can only see confusion in her mind. No memories of what happened tonight?"

"It can't be?" Reimu refused to believe. "We've caught her. She was leading the evil spirits to possess the fairies and used them to terrorize Gensokyo. She must be the culprit!"

"Lead an army of possessed fairies, you say?" Mima suppressed a laugh. "What kind of joke have you all played on me?"

"By the looks of it?" Marisa finally managed to speak up in front of her former ally, "It seems Mima-sama has suffered the same kind of amnesia as the possessed fairies that were slain and have resurrected."

"Ha!" the miko scoffed in apparent disbelief. "Even if she did lose her memory, that won't wash the blood off her hands!"

"Uhh? Blood?" Marisa scratched her head. "I never heard that that anyone died during the fairy incident."

"Well, uhh? The blood of those fairies that her undead subordinates have possessed! They're living beings too, you know!"

"Look who's talking." the blonde witch grinned at the great irony of her friend's remark. "Gensokyo's number one activist for the rights of all fairies?"

The flustered miko turned away, mumbling "Sh-shut up?" under her breath.

"Anyway," she quickly regained her composure and again pointed her index finger at Mima. "You need to answer for what you've done."

"Sure, sure?" the ghostly woman yawned in mockery to Reimu's threats. "But first, I'd really like to know how I got from the edge of the Forest of Magic to this place in a single moment? And why is everyone here? And why is there suddenly a thunderstorm?"

Just as she asked that, another loud thunder roared over Gensokyo.

"Is that? Is that the last thing you remember?" Marisa wanted to know.

"I think so." Mima's had an absentminded expression in her eyes as she tried to recall the last moment she remembered.

The ordinary magician hummed and nodded to herself. "Interesting."

"Don't tell me you believe her? Wait? Of course, you used to be her subordinate. So you're siding with her, huh?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Reimu. Haven't you heard what Yuyuko and Satori said? She is bound by a spell to speak only the truth."

"But you also saw what happened right after Yuyuko caught her, didn't you? All the fairies have stopped fighting and scattered everywhere. If that's not a clear proof that she was the one pulling the strings, then I don't know what is. Even Remilia must have seen it clearly."

"Speaking of that, we can try something out and see?" Yuyuko got an interesting idea.

"Like what?"

"If it really was Mima-san who was controlling the other spirits, it means she can still order them around."

Reimu silently blinked at the princess of Netherworld, eagerly waiting and pondering what kind of experiment she was about to demonstrate.

"Now, Mima-san? Call your minions to you." Yuyuko gently spoke an order that her captive could not disobey. Even if she had no idea what she was talking about. Yuyuko simply wanted to try if Mima still had the other vengeful spirits and their hosts under her control.

Mima's lips jerked slightly as she was forced to issue an order that didn't make any sense to her.

"Since when do I have minions?" she asked in her thoughts as her lips spoke the words: "Come to me, my followers!"

A silent moment of anticipation came about, as all the girls were waiting and looking around to see if the fleeing fairies haven't changed their heading to return to their supposed "master".

"Well??" Reimu asked after a few seconds have passed without anything happening.

"Nothing's happening." said Marisa as she scouted the area. "Oh, wait? Some of the fleeing fairies have stopped."

Although not all of them, but some of the still possessed fairies have reacted to Mima's summoning call and began returning to her.

"Ha! There's your proof." Reimu crossed her arms as a sign that she made her point. "She's the mastermind. Can I seal her already? I'm already getting cold standing in this stupid rain."

Even Mima herself found a fact that she had obedient fairies at her disposal as surprising. Though as the little youkai were in flight to her position, some of them reconsidered and again changed their heading into the unknown, forsaking their mistress.

"Maybe the spell is wearing out." Marisa remarked as she observed their unusual behavior.

"Yuyuko's?" Reimu confusedly blinked.

"No, Mima's."

"I didn't cast anything." the evil spirit insisted. "I'd remember it, wouldn't I?"

The summoned fairies began slowly, but certainly dispersing again and before they made it to Mima, only a handful of them remained. They no longer considered her as their master.

"Youmu." Yuyuko addressed her servant.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Please, release them out of their misery."

Without any objections or questions, the white-haired half-ghost bowed. "Yes."

All it took was a few seconds, a few quick maneuvers and a few slashes, and the small group of fairies was no more. The spirits that possessed them finally realized that they weren't safe and began to flee to all directions. However, Youmu didn't let them. Her Roukanken sliced through their ethereal formless bodies, and the evil spirits were thus forced to reincarnate. It was basically an act of mercy, because this way, the souls of these sinners were automatically given a second chance to lead another life, perhaps as better people then they used to be.

Mima hummed to herself. "Interesting sword you have there, young miss." After seeing what it was capable of, she instantly started to ponder if it wouldn't be better to start anew. "If you cut me down with that?" she left the sentence unfinished and visualized what her next life could be like.

"Hmm? Not a bad idea." Reimu also liked the thought that she wouldn't have to put up with Mima anytime soon, but Yuyuko shook her head disagreeingly.

"I'm afraid that sealing Mima-san or forcing her to reincarnate won't resolve anything. In fact, I'm afraid this incident is far from being resolved."

"It can't be!" the shrine maiden refused to believe.

"I wish I could stay like this forever~." sighed Mima with a blissful expression. "I feel so at peace."

"Guess only time will tell." the ordinary magician shrugged. "But if she doesn't remember anything, doesn't that raise suspicion? You know? like someone else manipulating the spirits? including Mima-sama."

"That's what I think too." the ghostly princess nodded affirmatively. "But we really have no other leads, so there's nothing we can do for now."

"Someone controlling me?" The very notion sounded ridiculous to someone as powerful as Mima, though considering that she couldn't recall what happened ten minutes ago, she couldn't exclude it completely. After all, even right now she was also under someone else's control.

"There's still that unearthed temple in Kazemura." Remilia joined the conversation. "We should decide what to do with it. Bury it? Destroy it? Uncover it completely and all its mysteries? Whatever we choose, we better do it quickly."

That's when Reimu recalled the vampire's words, claiming that there is a connection between the communication amulet and the temple itself. And while a part of her would certainly agree with Remilia's first two suggestions, she also wanted to learn what became of Yukari. And only way to find that out, was obvious ? let the Kazemura's miners dig deeper and uncover the whole temple.

But before she opened her mouth to speak, someone cut in with probably the most rational suggestion of the day.

"How about we all went someplace dry, warm and comfortable first?"

"Princess?" Eirin Yagokoro looked over her shoulder.

Kaguya Houraisan, the former princess of the Moon floated behind her, drenched to the last thread of her clothes, which got so torn up in the battle that they weren't leaving much to the imagination.

"N-no, I mean really~." she shivered and rubbed her hands against her arms to make herself feel warmer. "Let's go back already~. We can have this Mima person come with us."

"I agree." Remilia was also reaching her limit. Standing in the rain for a vampire was only one step less severe than basking in the sun, and she started to feel really weak.

Sakuya was at her side with a parasol in an instant. "You've put yourself in too much danger tonight, Remilia-sama. Please grab my hand. I'll support you."

"And what about Patchy?" the little vampire threw a glance at her friend.

Patchouli silently waved back, surrounded in a water bubble, letting them know that she'll be okay.

"And, and? I saw Aya falling down somewhere around there?" Remilia pointed her finger at the estimated place. "Someone should check if she's okay."

"I'll go." Eirin quickly began to descend. "You can go on ahead without me, Kaguya-sama."

The girls have slowly begun to return back to Kazemura, but Reimu remained there until she was sure that everyone from the expedition team was alright. Of course, where was Reimu, there was Marisa. Both of them waited until Eirin poked her head out from the treetops with an unconscious crow tengu in her arms.

"Aya?" she hovered over and took a close look at her. A few thin trails of blood flowed down her forehead and she had numerous bruises, cuts, lacerations and burns scarring her entire body as a result of being hit by tree branches on her way down to the ground. Definitely not a pleasant sight, but Eirin reassured them that such a strong youkai would recover from them completely in a matter of just a few days.

"Maybe we should let her drink some of that stuff that got Patchy back on her feet." Marisa thought aloud as she followed Eirin and Reimu back to the quarry village.
The storm still continued, but now, the only things that were hitting the roofs and walls of the village's buildings were the raindrops. The girls have returned to the damaged tavern and helped its owner and his family to at least put some provisionary covers on the windows to temporarily replace the broken glass. Everyone was soaked, tired, hungry and cold, but now they could finally satisfy all of their needs. They gathered in a half-circle around the tavern's fireplace, where they spread their futons and enjoyed the fire's inviting warmth with a cup of hot tea or other beverages in their hands. While some of them were celebrating their victory, other girls felt that it was too early to party and were intensely discussing the incident and planning their next steps. They've come to a conclusion that Mima was not the cause of the Fairy Incident, and despite Reimu's protests, Yuyuko lifted her spell of domination from her. Right now, the more pressing concern was to decide on how to prepare the village and whole Gensokyo for any potential future fairy attacks.

"So there will be more?" the shrine maiden mumbled as she stared into the fire.

"Probably." Yuyuko gave an uncertain answer.

"At least now Mima won't be leading them." Marisa tired to make the best out of it.

"Are you so sure?" Reimu eyed the evil spirit with doubt. "If she really was controlled by someone else, what prevents them from doing it again?"

"I really wouldn't like that." Mima acknowledged. "What fun is there in wreaking havoc, if you don't even remember it?"

"What if you tried out the same thing you did with the Three Fairies of Light?" the witch suggested.

"That ritual?" Reimu thoughtfully placed her finger on her chin, but then she just burst out in laughter. "What a joke! Performing a ritual that protects from evil spirits on an evil spirit?"

"Well, I'm not a shrine maiden. I was just asking, ze? Maybe Patchy knows something about the matter." she shifted her gaze at the sorceress.

Now wrapped in a blanket and warming herself up by a cup of tea, Patchouli Knowledge tried to speak once more, but the burning pain in her throat only allowed her to utter quiet whispers.

"We are dealing with a being powerful or knowledgeable enough to manipulate the spirits."

"I think we all know that." the blonde witch grinned crookedly.

"Marisa." Alice hushed her. "Let her spea? uhh? whisper."

"I know of one who would fit the description." said the Hakurei shrine maiden. "Powerful enough to make even Mima bend to her will. Although I can't imagine what would drive her to do that."

"If our enemy is the boundary youkai," Patchouli continued in her hushed whispers, "then there is no defense. If not, then we should put isolating any potential spirits from the reach of this mastermind on the top of our priority list. Judging from Mima-san's words, we must assume that the influence radius of this manipulator reaches as far as the northernmost areas of the Forest of Magic, which is almost over half of Gensokyo. However, seeing that Yuyuko-sama was unaffected by this manipulating power, I'm hesitant to draw any definite conclusions. There are several ways to cut ties between controlled spirits and their master."

"Uh-huh, we're listening, go on." Marisa prompted her to continue.

"If we don't wish to fight Mima-san again, we could seal her back in the hokora to protect her from any necromantic attempts to dominate her will."

"Finally, someone who speaks some sense!" Reimu approved of resealing Mima once more, even if she'd just break free again.

"You already released me from that tranquil state." Mima remarked with a sly grin. "Do you really think I won't fight back if you'd try to seal me again?"

However, much to her chagrin, nobody paid attention to her semi-threatening remark.

"Alternatively, we could use Reimu's and Sanae's spirit wards and place them all around the excavation site. That way the spirits that emerged from this temple would be trapped within and unable to make a move. Lastly, we could perform our own necromantic ritual and put every spirit in the area under our control, though in order to do that, we'd need someone skilled in the arts. And I know of no other candidates than Yuyuko-sama."

"Eh~? But I'm not a necromancer, Patchouli-san."

"Maybe not, but you've got an incredible gift, that many necromancers would be jealous of. But of course, I'd also prefer a different way to deal with this problem then to delve into the darker areas of magic."

"That second option sounded quite reasonable." Sanae Kochiya spoke up. "Spirit wards are not that hard to make, and even when they've only got a temporary effect, they should buy us enough time until the temple is fully uncovered."

"True," said Reimu, "but uncovering the temple and learning all of its secrets are two different things. While the former may take only a month, the latter could last for years."

"That, Reimu-san?" Hieda no Akyuu suddenly joined the discussion. "That, you can leave to us." she gestured towards Keine, who nodded in response.

Though doubt still resided in her eyes, Reimu didn't have much of a choice but to put her trust in their words and hope for the best.

"Very well. We'll proceed with placing the spirit wards around the quarry. Maybe I could even make some extra money if I started selling some protective trinkets to the villagers?" the black-haired miko spoke her intentions without any restraint.

And as the plan for the future was decided, the goddesses Kanako and Suwako couldn't help but to remind everyone their concern about the fact that their divine powers were severely weakened just by being present in the village. Kanako even compared her feelings to those she felt in the outside world where the faith in gods was giving way to trust in science and common sense.

"In that case, I think it would be in your best interest to return back to the shrine." Sanae kindly asked the two deities.

And just as the wind priestess was worried about her goddesses, so was Sakuya starting to look more worried about Remilia. The vampire girl was quiet the whole time, looking really under the weather. Oddly enough, even Hatate showed signs of worry about her rival Aya when she watched Eirin treating her injuries.

"She'll wake up soon, right?"

"Don't worry, Hatate-san. Aya-san will yet write many more articles, but we should let her rest."

"See what you did, Mima?" Reimu shot an accusing glance at the ghost, who didn't remember shooting down any crow tengu.

"I wish I could remember that beautiful moment, but I really can't."

"It would be better to have you on our side than against us." Yuyuko spoke to her. "Maybe only the spirits like you are prone to being dominated. But if you were to be judged and moved on to afterlife, then perhaps you wouldn't have to worry about anything like being controlled again."

"Oh, I'll teach whoever did that to me what a vengeful spirit can do." she smiled and looked lovingly at the knife in her hands.

"Harboring grudges will keep you chained to this pitiable existence forever. Wouldn't you want to live in peace?"

"For what I've done, I'd be sent straight to Hell. Or perhaps this is my Hell? But I've already gotten used to living among mortals. I wouldn't mind spending another thousand years here. There are always ways to have fun in this world."

"Well, at least you weren't causing all this chaos out of your own volition."

"Whoever's doing it has some nice sense of humor, I'll admit. But using me like a puppet? that I can't approve of. If not me, then promise me that one of you will give them what's coming to them."

"Our enemy is smart." Patchouli sounded with her barely audible whisper. "The fact that they are able to rid their defeated minions of any traces of memory means that they know how to cover their tracks. But since we already know where the spirits are stemming from, it's already too late for such tactics. Once the temple gives away its secrets to us, it's just a matter of time of time before we end this incident."

Even though waiting another month seemed like an eternity to Reimu, she had to bear with it. At least things were starting to look promising again. Once more, all hopes were placed in the efforts of the bookworm sorceress, a young chronicler and the half-youkai teacher of history.
"Ayayaya~! What? Where?" a call from behind distracted everyone's attention.

"Oh, look, she's up already." Eirin walked up to her to make a check-up.

"Oh?" the crow tengu took in her surroundings and realized that she was no longer outside. "Don't tell me I missed it all."

"You only missed the end, Aya-san." replied the pharmacist. "Here, have some tea."

"What do you mean "only missed the end"? That's the most important part! And I didn't take a single picture."

"Now, now?" Eirin put on a sheepish smile, since she wasn't sure how to comfort her. "You should be glad that you're still here among us."

Ignoring her words of reason, Aya instinctively began searching her pockets. "Where's my camera? Don't tell me I lost it? I'll, I'll?"

"H-here you are." Hatate bashfully stepped up to her, handing over the camera to its rightful owner.

"Huh? Hatate?" Aya measured up the other tengu and her eyes brightened up as soon as they saw the familiar little device resting in Hatate's palms. "My camera! You have it?"

"I kept it safe for you." the brown-haired tengu made an offering gesture.

Aya was usually a very talkative girl, but seeing her rival in journalism returning back her precious camera after keeping it safe has taken all the words out of her mouth for a while. She realized that she hasn't shown any reaction for a few seconds and as a response she deeply bowed and took her camera back.

"Thank you."

"D-don't take this the wrong way." Hatate turned her back on her as soon as the camera was removed from her hands. "You're still a rival to me. But? but I know how awful it is for a journalist to lose her important instrument."

Happy that her tool of the trade was unharmed and charmed by Hatate's very kind gesture, Aya couldn't help but to smile.

"Hatate~!"

"What?!" she gasped from the shock of finding Aya's arm wrapping around her waist.

"Hey, everyone, let's take a picture together!"

"And then let's drink together~!" Suika raised her gourd and began pouring her sake into everyone's cups even without their consent.

"Everyone, gather around, we'll make a beautiful group photo to celebrate our victory~!" Aya called out with renewed enthusiasm. That's when her eyes have caught the presence of Mima "Huh? And? who's that?"

"The mastermind." Reimu uttered semi-seriously.

"Hey, Shameimaru, don't you recognize me?"

It certainly took a while, but Aya really did see her in the past quite a few times. Those were the times long before Reimu's birth and Aya's memories of them were not so fresh anymore.

"Eeeeeh~?! You can't be Mima-san, can you?"

"In the flesh? uhhh? I mean? in spirit." the ghost quickly corrected herself.

"Woooow! I haven't seen you in the longest while! Sorry it took me so long to remember you. How have you been? Still haunting around Hakurei Shrine?"

"Umm, Aya?" Marisa spoke up to the journalist. "This person was the one who knocked you out of your senses."

"Really? I thought it was a fairy."

"And I keep telling you it wasn't my fault."

"But? whatever the case, the incident is solved and we should commemorate this! Come on, let's take a picture with all of us? That goes for you too, mister." She pointed at Xeng-Yao, who was quietly drinking his own brewed spirits in the corner.

"Me? No, thanksss, I don't need any?"

"No talking back~. You've fought with us, so up you go and stand over there."

After a while of arranging the group and setting the timer on her camera's auto-shutter, Aya hurried to take a place as one of the members of the expedition team and put on a bright smile in an attempt to look cute.

"Why do I have to stand next to the Lunarian?" the single male from the group grumbled as he stared at the camera, trying not to show his forked tongue when the picture would be taken.

Even though Aya just woke up and didn't quite understand the situation, everyone stayed quiet about it and let her be in blissful ignorance to the fact that the incident was not yet resolved. At least until her happy mood still lasted. There was a party that lasted till morning and even Remilia, who looked rather sickly has risen her sake-filled cup more than a few times that night.
"Are you really feeling alright, my lady?" Sakuya asked her. "Being out in the rain certainly didn't do you any good."

Lying in her futon, the young vampire lady shook her head. She felt terribly, but so good at the same time. While a strange infirmity took over her body, her heart was singing with joy, because her dear friend was saved. Not only that, but she felt very proud of Patchouli and how well she was handling the whole incident.

"Pa-Patchouli?"

"Yes? I'm here." the elemental wizard sat next to her and listened to what she had to say.

Remilia just reached out her little palm and took the librarian's hand.

"So warm..."

"What is it, Remi?" the purple-haired girl whispered a question.

"I'm so happy, that I have you. Even if you just freeload in my mansion? I'm happy that I've met you and taken you in. You can't believe how proud you make me? leading this team on its way to resolving this incident, when even Reimu and Marisa would just be stumbling in the dark without your guidance."

Patchouli replied with a soft smile. "You're giving me too much credit."

"No. I've barely given you enough credit. But tonight I've realized just how important? how precious you are to me. Losing you? I don't think I'd be able to take that. Even though I'd really like to deal with this incident as fast as possible, please promise me that you'll be more careful from now on."

"I'm sorry too." Patchouli lowered her head in an apologetic gesture. "It's because of me that you dove right into that heavy rain and are now in such a state."

Remilia let out a weak coughing chuckle. "And I'd do it a hundred times more if it was for your sake. I really don't know what I'd do without you. It's a scary thought... You heard what I told you when Eirin was treating your wound, right?"

Patchouli remembered those words well and replied with a nod.

"I really meant them? as I said them."

"?"

"Come closer." Remilia beckoned with her finger. Patchouli hesitated, but leaned a little closer as she asked.

"Closer." the vampire still thought the distance between them was too large. Growing suspicious of her friend's motives, Patchouli said that she can already hear her well enough.

But Remilia was very persuasive. "Come on? Just a little closer."

The nervous sorceress first quickly looked around to make sure none of the other girls were paying attention to her and then she leaned her face towards Remilia's by yet another few centimeters.

"Hehe~." The little vampire giggled impishly as she got her right where she wanted. She put her free hand on the librarian's back and drew her face towards hers.

"Hey, wha??"

"Pat*chuu*li." A short, but sweet kiss was planted on Patchouli's cheek. "I like you so much."

"Silly Remi." Patchouli held back a chuckle. "But now, you're making me worried about you in return."

"It's alright. I'll be fine. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Then you should rest. I'm also exhausted after today. I hope my health won't betray me again."
As the girls went to sleep, the storm calmed down, and by the time they woke up, they sky over Gensokyo was already clearing up from the grey clouds. The village of Kazemura survived, but the nightly battle has certainly taken its toll on almost all of its buildings. Only after waking up, the girls found out how unhealthy it was to fly around in heavy rain for an extended period of time.

Loud coughing echoed in the tavern when Reimu welcomed the new day. And she wasn't the only one. Patchouli and Remilia were now displaying all sorts of ill symptoms from runny noses to high fever. It was unusual for a youkai to be stricken with disease, but certainly not unheard of. In Remilia's case it was fairly obvious that her reckless act of heroism would not end without consequence. As for Patchouli, she was actually used to being sick. Knowing that she would no longer be needed outside in the quarry pit, she took this as an opportunity to keep on studying further information about repelling spirits and counteracting the powers of those who are able to control them.

"My, you don't sound very healthy either, Reimu-san." Eirin remarked as she noticed the miko's abrupt coughing. "Perhaps you should have a rest as well. I'll give you some medicine to sort you out after Remilia-san's checkup."

"I can't *cough, cough* rest. We must set up those spirit wards around the whole quarry to secure it."

"I can do it myself, Reimu." Sanae informed her. "You really should listen to Yagokoro-san."

"I'm *cough* perfectly fine." the red-white shrine maiden insisted stubbornly as she was putting on her daily attire.

Eirin smirked at her reaction, which was pretty much as she expected. She dug around her medical bag for a moment and took out a small box of pills. She then walked up to Reimu, and a little forcefully, stretched her palm open and handed it over to her.

"I'm not going to keep you locked in. I already learned my lessons with patients running away, but please take that medicine. It should cure you in a few hours."

"What a pity?" Xeng-Yao sighed disappointedly, "that those healing potionsss only work on injuries."

"You said you didn't specialize in medicine?" Eirin raised her eyebrow.

"That'sss right. I revel in mixing variousss, I prefer to call them, "utility" potionsss. Sure, I have sssome knowledge of medicine, but mossst of it I obtained from the Lunar Capital. There isss only one universssal medicine that can cure everything? Isn't that right, doctor?"

Of course, he meant the Hourai Elixir - the medicine which Eirin created, but was reluctant to produce and offer it to anyone after her exile from the Moon. Xeng wouldn't have any moral problems with selling the forbidden medicine, if only he hadn't run out of ingredients to make it.

"I will not brew that medicine ever again."

"Yesss, yesss, you and your moral high ground. What would be so terrible about it? Imagine a whole world where everyone could live forever. Where there would be no disease, no deaths. Where any conflicts and wars would be pointless, because nobody could be killed. Where food shortages would not matter, because people would no longer need to eat."

"That's a very narrow-minded idealistic vision. A utopia so unrealistic, that it would even make the Lunar Capital pale in comparison. Because you only see the good points without seeing the whole picture. It would be a world full of endless suffering. You think people would stop fighting? Just look at my princess and her eternal rival. It would completely throw off the natural order. We would offend every single god in existence. The stronger nations would conquer the weak and subdue them to eternal slavery. And that's just a drop in the ocean of problems that would arise if such a world would come to existence."

"That's right." Yuyuko joined the discussion. "The elixir is a bad thing. There would be no new ghosts coming to Netherworld. It would become a dull place."

After Eirin's serious explanation and Yuyuko's rather funny remark, the youkai alchemist suddenly started laughing. "Alright, alright? I wassss jussst joking. But ssselling the ssstuff to thossse few who could afford it? I would have no qualmsss about that."

"I believe we already talked about that in your? dwelling."

"Yesss, we know our opinionsss are different, but thatsss only natural. Besidesss, you know that I can't reproduce the elixir anymore." and as he said that, she tightened the strap on his backpack and put it on his shoulders. "Well, I assume I'm not needed here anymore, but in cassse I wasss, you know where to find me."

"Leaving already?" the Lunarian looked at him questioningly.

"What elssse should I stay here for? I already proved that I'm not guilty of causing thossse fairy attacks. Now if you'll excussse me, I have businesss to run."

He stood up and opened the tavern's door, when he stopped in the doorstep and added: "Good luck with solving the incident." After that, he left the village and headed back home.
While Doctor Yagokoro was tending to her patients, Reimu and Sanae have gone outside and began proceeding according to Patchouli's suggestion.

Spirit wards were specially enchanted blessed ofuda, the purpose of which was quite obvious ? protection from evil spirits. By forming a large circle around the whole quarry pit, the two shrine maidens have created a barrier, through which, in theory, no evil spirits should be able to pass. However, in order to ensure the ofuda would not get worn out or destroyed by the weather, they each needed some sort of protective shelter. That's when the villagers of Kazemura have shown their generosity and offered the two miko their help in crafting wooden hokora to house these warding amulets.

"It would be best if we had some shimenawa rope, but this will have to do for now." Reimu noted as she and Sanae watched the villagers encircling the excavation site with hokora. "I have some stored at my shrine, but barely enough to link two or three of these wards."

"That would surely strengthen the ward." Sanae nodded agreeingly. "But regretfully, I haven't been taught how to make shimenawa. However, I think I could ask Kanako-sama how to make it."

Shimenawa ropes were widely used in Shinto for ritual purification and were believed to have warding effect against evil spirits. Their addition to the hokora would certainly make the barrier more effective. However, even with the whole quarry site perfectly warded against evil spirits, the danger would still remain.

"How's the progress on that spirit ward, girls?" a woman's voice slightly startled the duo of busy shrine maidens.

"Ah, Kanako-sama." Sanae offered a gesture of courtesy to the goddess of wind and rain. "What a good timing. We were just talking about the idea of using shimenawa rope to link each hokora around this pit."

"Ah, I see?" the goddess nodded understandingly.

"But the thing is... I have no idea how to make those ropes." the green-haired girl smiled sheepishly. "It may be a bit improper to ask this, but?"

"I understand." Kanako smiled before Sanae finished her sentence and placed her hand on the miko's exposed shoulder. "I'll teach you how to weave shimenawa."

"Wouldn't it be faster if you made some now and then teach her how to make it?" Reimu never showed much humbleness, even when facing a god.

"It would?" Kanako's smile gained a regretful tone to it. "But it's this place? It's a source of such an oppressive energy that my and Suwako's divine powers were almost completely drained. The best I can do to help you for now is to teach you how to make sturdy and effective shimenawa."

"Please teach us, Kanako-sama."

And so, the mountain goddess began to explain the details of the process of creating the sacred ropes out of rice straw. It took her two apprentices a fair while to grasp the skills, but the girls had nothing better to do anyway. They still needed to wait until the villagers placed the miniature shrines on short wooden pillars all around the mining pit, so learning how to weave ropes was actually a worthwhile pastime.

"Well done." she praised the girls after they finally succeeded in creating their first, two meters long piece of shimenawa. However, there wasn't enough of materials in the village for them to make a rope long enough to encompass the quarry, nor was it a task that could be accomplished within the span of one day.

"You still need a lot of practice, but you'll get there eventually."

"Thank you for your assistance, Kanako-sama." Sanae bowed thankfully.

"Yeah, thanks, I guess." Reimu also expressed her thanks in her own way.

"I feel an obligation to ward this area, so while appreciated, your thanks is not at all necessary, my dear children. You still have a lot of hard work ahead of you after all."

"But thanks to you, we can now make a powerful spirit ward that will protect Gensokyo from the vengeful spirits that reside in those ruins."

"Actually, Sanae?" Kanako's face turned serious. "Even with the shimenawa ward in place, this place will still be far from safe. You both must have noticed that after we defeated the fairy possessed by that dead magician, the major portion of the fairy swarms has fled the battle. As long as they are possessed, they still remain a threat. Even Patchouli-san has brought it up as I was leaving the tavern. The barrier will protect the village as long as it's intact, but it's still vulnerable to attack and easy to destroy. What this village needs is to build up some defenses to protect this spirit ward, because if our enemy has any intelligence, they will attack it using those fairies that we didn't defeat yesterday. But without help from outside, this village can barely defend itself. I'll see what I can do about it?"

"Are you heading back to the shrine then?" asked Sanae.

"Yes. I have to regain my power from the faith of our shrine's visitors. You should also tell Suwako to do the same. She seems to be too carefree about this situation. This place does not do well to the gods. Perhaps because that temple houses a nasty dormant deity that feeds upon these divine powers. Even if that's just a speculation on my part, Suwako should not take this lightly and leave the village as soon as she can."

"I'll try to talk to her about it." replied the shrine maiden from the outside world.

Kanako offered Sanae one more smile before leaving the village. "I'm counting on you." As she turned her back on the two girls, she let out a sigh of reluctance and muttered: "It's going to be a long walk home."

Sanae blinked surprisedly. "Wait, you're going on foot?"

"I just told you. My power is nearly gone. Without it I can't even do as much as fly. And since the two of you also rely on divine powers, you'd do well not to stay in this place for too long."

"We'll keep that in mind." said Reimu to the departing goddess.

Once the miniature shrines were in place, Reimu and Sanae have placed their blessed ofuda inside each of them and created a basic spirit ward.

"I don't know about you, but I've gotten really hungry." the dark-haired girl informed her colleague and headed back into the tavern.

"Wait for me~!" Sanae trotted after her, looking forward to some refreshing meal as well.
Once their stomachs were filled, the shrine maidens have discussed the issues of Kazemura's defense with the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Sanae tried to persuade the earth goddess to return to Moriya Shrine. The little and cheerful kami thought that there was no real danger in staying here a little longer and have fun with everyone, but this time Sanae would not withdraw from this opinion dispute.

"Alright, Sana-chan. I guess I should not leave Kanako alone. I just thought this village is really charming. The surrounding landscape is so beautiful? I just wanted to enjoy this little trip to the fullest, because I'm nut sure when I'll come back here again."

"Maybe once we find out what's absorbing divine powers and stop it somehow, it would be safe for you to come here. Maybe placing the shimenawa around the pit will suffice. But for now, it would be wisest if you followed Kanako-sama's example and regained your powers."

"So you really are worried about me, aren't you, Sanae? How sweet~. I'll be waiting for you home then. You should come back soon as well, okay?"

"As soon as our work here is done, I'll return." promised the green-haired miko.

"Well, then? See you later~." the earth goddess waved her hand on the tavern's doorstep, when she realized that she was missing something. "Huh?" she patted her fair-haired head, "Where's my hat?"

"I haven't seen it." Sanae scratched her head in puzzlement.

"Pyonta~! Where are you~?"

As the girls have carefully looked around the tavern's interior, they managed to find Suwako's unique hat on the ground right next to Suika, who was using it as a stand for her sake gourd.

"Ah, there you are~!"

"Oh, you'd like a drink, Suwako?" the oni looked at her expectantly. But when she saw that the goddess only intended to retrieve her hat, her smile faded a bit. Right after that Suwako left and headed a back to Moriya Shrine.
The afternoon was slowly shifting to evening and the band of girls who formed the expedition team was having another discussion about deciphering the temple's symbols. Meanwhile, Reimu and Sanae were talking with Remilia and Patchouli about their spirit ward. The whole group planned to stay in Kazemura for at least one more day, but the two shrine maidens needed to fly to Human Village and buy enough rice straw to make the shimenawa rope.

"So you're leaving too?" Remilia asked them.

"No, no." Reimu shook her head. "We'll go tomorrow and probably take Suika with us too."

"Hm? Why me?" wondered the horned youkai.

"You'll carry the materials, of course." replied Reimu matter-of-factly.

"I'm not your pack mule~!"

"Think of it as repayment for all the days I let you freeload at my shrine."

"Well, at least it's tomorrow." Suika muttered contently and downed another few gulps of sake and adjusted her position to maximize her comfort. "Today I only want to laze around and drink~."

"More importantly?" Reimu shifted her gaze back at the Scarlet Devil, "I wanted to ask about?*cough-cough*." Her sentence got interrupted by another series of coughs. Eirin's medicine was taking some time to work.

Remilia, who was in no better health condition, chuckled weakly. "Just look at us? Done in by some pathetic rain. Maybe you should just get in a futon and take it easy like me and Patchy. I can send Sakuya to the village to get the materials for you."

"Eirin said the medicine should take effect any moment. Anyway? Remilia."

"Yes?"

"About your ability to see fate strings... What do you see when you look at Mima now?"

"That ghost?" Remilia rolled her head on the futon to glance at the spirit in question. "She was linked with the possessed fairies. The evil spirits were following her will, but?"

"But what?" the miko narrowed her eyes.

"All these strings seem to be severed now. But just as Patchouli says, I also believe that the true mastermind is yet to be revealed."

"I heard the prospectors started digging in the pit again." remarked Sanae.

"And that's where our only remaining clue points to." Remilia added. "Here's hoping that your spirit ward can keep the spirits and whoever is controlling them in check."

"The spirits may be impeded by the ward, but the fairies can still destroy it." Patchouli reminded them.

"Yes, we heard from Kanako. But what can we do? Even if I excel in youkai extermination, and have a whole team to back me up, we just lack the numbers. There's still enough possessed fairies out there to raze this village. They don't even need to fight us. If they focus their offense against the ward, then all that we've done so far will have been for naught. This village needs reinforcements. Badly."

"I'm sure after yesterday's battle, the Human Village will double up on the Ryuuken stationed here." said Marisa.

"That's still not enough." Reimu wasn't satisfied.

"Well, no." the witch admitted. "But it's a start."

"When we go shopping to the village tomorrow, we ought to stop by the Myouren Temple and drag them all here. By force if necessary."

"Oi, oi?"
For the rest of the day, the expedition team was mostly just killing time in the tavern while the more academic individuals were conducting research. It was on the next day when Reimu, Sanae and Suika traveled to Human Village to purchase some quality rice straw for their shimenawa barrier. In the meantime, Eirin made her best effort to treat her illness-stricken patients. While Reimu recovered from her symptoms rather quickly, Patchouli and Remilia were a different story. Remilia never thought that enduring the rain would put her into such a pitiable state, which even Eirin's best drugs failed to alleviate. As for the librarian, her asthma was a chronic condition, but now on top of it, she had to deal with fever. Despite this predicament, she was doing her best to direct her team and study the mysterious tomes that the yama-bito have accumulated in their archive. From 10 hours a day, she now studied only two, but even that was commendable, given her health condition. Eirin couldn't stay in Kazemura any longer. She had duties in Eientei, but she told Kaguya that she could stay longer if she wanted. Knowing that there were still illnesses that her normal medicine couldn't cure, she decided to devote more of her time to research.

As the shrine maidens finished the final touches on the shimenawa rope, the sun was already sinking behind the trees in the west.

"Hey, Reimu, look up there in the sky!" Sanae suddenly pointed her finger upwards, prompting her surprised teammate to look in that direction.

There was a large group of shadows flying towards them from the west.

"Fairies?" Reimu was already reaching for her ofuda, but something about those distant figures seemed different. They were larger and considerably fewer in numbers than the usual fairy swarm. Still, there was about a hundred of them and everything indicated that they were heading towards Kazemura.

When they got closer, Sanae was able to recognize them. "Those aren't fairies. Those are?"

"The white wolf tengu." Reimu completed Sanae's unfinished sentence. "What are they doing here?"

When the whole company of whife wolf tengu warriors landed in the village, their leader flashed an official-looking document to the first villager he saw.

"By the will of Yasaka-sama and by the order of Lord Tenma, we, the White Wolves have come from the Youkai Mountain to assist you with guarding this settlement from hostile intruders.

Reimu scoffed bitterly at their arrival. "Where have they been two days ago when the village really needed some help?"

"It still does, Reimu." said Sanae. "Kanako-sama said she'd help us protect the village. I see now how she meant it. This is her doing."

"I wonder how long they'll stay here."

"I don't know and it doesn't matter right now. Come on, don't laze around and help me hang this rope properly."
And so, the girls have finished the spirit ward and even tested its functionality by asking Mima to pass through. The ghost tried various tricks to get around it, but the sacred barrier didn't allow her any way through. She tried cutting the rope with her knife, but she couldn't even get close to it. She tried flying over it, but it didn't work, as the barrier has formed an invisible pillar that prevented the evil spirits from approaching it from any direction. And if there were some spirits left buried within the ruins of that mysterious ancient temple, they were now imprisoned. Finally, she resorted to magic and with a glorious smile on her face she destroyed a section of the rope with her danmaku.

"Well, thanks, Mima." Reimu nodded to her. "Now we'll have to weave a new one."

"It's not perfect, but at least it should work on the ordinary evil spirits that don't use magic." Sanae made a note to self.

"Well, you have your tengu "friends" here to prevent something like that from happening, don't you?" Mima pointed her thumb backwards over her shoulder at the tengu reinforcements.

Kazemura's elder welcomed the tengu guardians with open arms, even when the white wolves seemed to look down on everyone who wasn't one of them or their superior. This additional protection allowed Kazemura to fully resume its trade with Human Village and the villagers to work in peace without fear. After a few days, only a skeleton crew remained in Kazemura from Patchouli's expedition team. Since no fairies dared to attack the village, there was no longer a need for those who specialized in combat. Only digging, studying and research were important now. Reimu and company were waiting impatiently to hear the latest news on the progress from the excavation and any information that could help them uproot the source of the "Fairy Incident".

This incident was not only a test of their valor in combat, but also a great test of patience and determination.
And while Reimu nearly forgot about it, another parallel incident still remained unsolved in the Human Village. The spirited-away humans from the outside world were working every day to get another step closer to their homes. And they've made quite an impressive progress thus far. But even if they didn't want to rely on anyone else's help, they still needed the Hakurei shrine maiden for one task ? to send them across the barrier. Their preparations were nearing completion and they already had a decent amount of supplies stored at the Hakurei Shrine. But as they often say: "Plans are meant to go wrong."

"Have your read the news?" Asakura Soudai, reading a newspaper asked his friend, Ishimaru Kyouichi as they walked down the village market square on their way to work.

"I'd only take Bunbunmaru if it had some crosswords or something. Not much for the articles."

"Oh really?" Soudai shaped a grin under his nose. "Not even if it had some interesting pictures of, let's say, Patchouli-san?"

Kyouichi blinked at him cluelessly. "What??"

"No? What about Yuuka-san?"

Figuring out what sort of pictures his friend had in mind, Kyouichi failed to suppress a chuckle. "Yuuka-san, eh? Well? maybe? Anyway, why are you asking me in the first place?"

"One of the articles says something about a shrine attacked on top of the Youkai Mountain just a couple of days ago. Doesn't seem too serious, though."

"The other shrine? you mean Moriya Shrine?"

"Yes, that one. Ever been there? The view from up there must be really neat."

"No, I haven't been there. And I doubt any other humans have. You heard Keine-sensei, right? The tengu won't let anyone up there."

"Well, apparently they did let a decent number of fairies up there to cause a stir. And of course, the reporter is criticizing the tengu security measures?"

"Well, the mountain is far away from us. Let's hope the fairies won't take their attacks further south."

"In other news?" Soudai flipped a page of the newspaper, "it seems that our village elder's intentions haven't escaped the attention of the tengu."

"What intentions?"

"It seems that they are going to rebuild the village's fortifications, just like how they were in the times before the Great Hakurei Border."

"What?" the unexpected information took Kyouichi by surprise. "So that's what those workers were measuring around the village the other day? So this village used to have walls before."

"Maybe they tore them down when they needed to build more houses."

"I can't say it makes much sense to me." Kyouichi scratched his head.

"Why?"

"Like why would they want to rebuild the walls? To protect the village? From what? Most if not all youkai out there can fly. Heck, even a decent number of local humans can."

"Hmm, that's indeed true." Soudai admittedly nodded. "I doubt the walls are going to help them against flying creatures. But if the village had them in the past, then perhaps they won't be completely useless? And hear this: the elder plans to finish their construction by the end of this month."

"That's impossible!" Kyouichi shouted out, making the passerby in the marketplace look curiously in his direction. "But? wait? Myouren Temple was technically built overnight, so? perhaps not."

"It's still really strange. And suspicious. It's like the elder was preparing to go to war or something."

That's when a very uncomfortable thought floated up from the bottom of Kyouichi's mind. "Something tells me we're not going to like it."

"I don't like it already, but what exactly do you mean?"

"These walls. If they'll really finish them as quickly as that tabloid says, that could mean trouble for us outsiders sneaking out of here when our time comes to leave Gensokyo."

"That couldn't have been the reason why the council decided to re-fortify Human Village, could it?"

Even to Kyouichi, the idea seemed irrational. For the village elder to frivolously spend the money from his coffers on such a seemingly unnecessary thing, there would have to be some serious reason for this sudden decision. If keeping the outsiders from escaping the village was his only goal, there were certainly cheaper ways to achieve it. But still, Kyouichi couldn't shake off the thought that this was indeed the case and the council's step to ensure that the spirited-away humans would not attempt to venture out of the village without his knowledge and consent. He faced a big dilemma whether to work harder and attempt to re-schedule the day of departure before the construction of walls would finish, or to stick to the original date.

"Now I know what keeps Naota-san's friends who help us with renovating that hunter's cabin so busy every day."

"Surely they were hired to work on those walls." Soudai stated what was pretty much already obvious. "But at least they still show up to help from time to time."
Another routine day of farm work awaited the two, and after half of their strength was used up for the completion of their given tasks, they were once more given the job of delivering fresh products to supply the buyers - the marketplace in Human Village, Kourindou and the fishing colony at Misty Lake. As they were heading out of the village to the antique shop, Kyouichi couldn't miss some unusual activity going on at the place of his previous employment. He saw Daisuke Shimizu, the owner of the Starlight Glyph bookstore removing the shop's name sign from its position over the door.

"Hey there~!" Kyouichi greeted the middle-aged storekeeper by waving his hand. "Been a while, hasn't it, Shimizu-san?"

"Hm?" Daisuke, still in a half-absentminded state, hummed in an asking tone as he heard someone calling his name. Since he was standing on a rickety-looking ladder as he was putting the sign down, he couldn't really turn around to look at who was greeting him. Only once he had the wooden sign firmly in his grasp, he dared to slowly turn his head to cast a glance over his shoulder.

"Oh? Why hello there, Ishimaru-san!" he belatedly reciprocated his gesture of greeting before he began to descend down the ladder's steps. "Indeed, it has been quite a while. In fact, I believe we haven't seen each other ever since you quit working here."

"Uhh, yes?" this time it was Kyouichi who threw an absent-minded stare at the wooden sign in Daisuke's hands. "Just what exactly are you doing, Shimizu-san? And where is your assistant?"

The storekeeper raised his eyebrows. "You haven't heard yet? This shop is going to have a