Parasol of the Glazed Moon

[Nat Tea]

Chapter 1

On a dark and stormy night, a green-haired woman stood under the charcoal clouds. Her red plaid vest fluttered in the atrocious weather, as with her long skirt of the same pattern. Even with the parasol she carried around, the storm was awful enough to actually moisten her white dress shirt.

The sunflowers in the field around her swayed as the gusts of wind blew westward. The woman's parasol managed to keep some of the rain off her, but it still couldn't stop the etnire downpour. She wanted to check on the sunflowers to see if they were holding up well in dire conditions. The wind didn't stop her at all as she strolled through her garden.

At once, something catches the lady's eye: a strange umbrella. She presumes that it probably tumbled in from the crazy weather, but that did not matter as it was in her territory and it was the owner's fault for losing the item in the first place. It was stuck in a net of vines and almost ready to let go, so with a mad dash, the woman started running towards the umbrella. She accidently skidded on the incredibly slick grass past the umbrella, but at the last moment, turned around quickly and grabbed the umbrella with her right hand while her left carried her parasol. Unfortunately, this threw a lot of sludge up from the ground and created quite a mess on her clothes.

The umbrella's fabric was the color of an azure blue, that of a sapphire. The handle was made of an interesting type of wood, but to her, it was just probably oak. The only point of interest that made this umbrella different was the keychain attached to it, a golden crescent moon with three sunny yellow five point stars of varying sizes.

"The sunflowers are okay, I guess," She switched the items between her hands and examined the new treasure she obtained. "but, this umbrella. If I had left it there and just went back home, I'd never know what this was all about." A quick head tilt. "Doesn't look special to me, but I'll still see if it does anything fabulous."

She swung the umbrella around three times, but to no avail, it didn't do anything fascinating. However, the moment the lady opened the umbrella up, she discovered what was so fantastic about it.

"Heh." She scoffed. "So...

You can see the stars and the moon on the inner linings of the umbrella when it's open, even when they are veiled in clouds."

The woman closed the umbrella and raised her parasol up. She was concerned about her clothes since the dirt that got on her outfit started to smell intoxicating, like...

"Hey! Yuuka!" A call rang out as a blonde-haired woman ran towards this Yuuka, her curls bobbing in the torrent of rainwater. Her capelet resembled more of a round white flower than anything else, her crimson dress moved in the wind, and her straw hat did keep her head dry... though it wasn't as good as Yuuka's parasol.

Yuuka grimaced with her red eyes refocusing. "Elly, did you have to go and get me? You're going to get as wet as me."

Elly handwaved it off, then moved around Yuuka and felt her up on her hip. "Come on, you know how I like it, don't you, Yuuka?"

"Hey, Elly," Yuuka turned towards the direction that Elly came from. "No time for that. Maybe later."

Elly pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I want to take a hot bath and get this mud off of me." Yuuka started walking back home.

"Wait, wh-wh-what?!" Elly jumped as she didn't notice that the place where she touched Yuuka was actually one of the parts where the sludge had ended up. Her attempt to land properly from the surprise failed miserably as she slipped and flailed her arms wildly landing in the watery floor. With some effort, Elly placed her arm on the ground and pushed herself back up. "Ugh..." She tried her best to get the rain to wash off the stuff, but... "It really smells..." With a quick glance, she saw Yuuka nearly gone in the distance and did her best to catch up to her.

The clouds were still angry, spitting on the garden and slamming everyone with a furious current of wind...

...

The wooden door creaked loudly. Within the vicinity of the residence sat a blonde-haired girl, her wings flapping in excitement. She got up from her cushion, her hair swinging from one side to another, and looked over to see who came in. Her maroon skirt moved forward, then back again, while the ribbon in her hair bounced back.

"Yuuka?!" She stepped back as the dreary-eyed Yuuka stepped in with her parasol and her new loot. "If you're here, then where is..."

Yuuka stepped to the side and placed her two items in the closet; a few seconds later, Elly entered the mansion and had decided to pass out in front of the entrance.

The door slammed shut and Yuuka's eyes darted over to Elly's tired body. "You're going to clean that up, you know." She slowly made her way to the bathroom.

The girl trotted over to Elly and took ahold of her hand. Soon enough, Elly was on her feet again, but barely.

Elly patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, Kurumi, can you clean that up for me?"

Kurumi pouted. "Uhh...ummm..." Elly had just ruined her pristine white shirt's shoulder.

"Pretty please?" Elly's grin was slightly obnoxious.

In the end, Kurumi decided, "I guess so."

"Good!" Elly clasped her hands. "I'm going to go take a bath now!"

Kurumi was confused. "Wait, but isn't Yu-" It was too late as Elly threw her hat onto the hat rack and sped off with muddy footprints for every step she took towards getting closer to Yuuka. "I should get to the cleaning then." She walked over to the cleaning closet and grabbed the scrubbing brush and the bucket.

She filled the bucket with water in the kitchen and went up to where Elly decided to fall over with the bucket ready and the brush in her hand. She dipped the brush in the bucket and started to wipe the spot with a good amount of hard work.

Thunder roared outside the mansion for the first time this evening and suddenly, Kurumi remembered that when she saw Yuuka, she caught a glimpse of something she didn't see when Yuuka left the mansion to check up on the field: the new umbrella. She stared at the closet where Yuuka put her things away.

What if...?

[Vicks]

Well written. This has caught my attention, I'll be looking out for updates for this story

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Hmm, curious! I await what happens next.

[Nat Tea]

Chapter 2

In her head, Kurumi played around with the idea. In the end, even if it's Yuuka's treasure, she still decided that she should swipe it from the closet when she got a chance.

But first, this mess had to be dealt with. She continued her task at hand while listening to the yelling echoing in the mansion from the bathroom.

"Eh, Elly, you're still not finished with the laundry?!"

"I'm sorry, Yuuka! You'll just have to... wear your old clothes!"

"Whatever! Just get me the clothes!"

"Yes, m'am!"

Kurumi sneered. "At least they're having fun." She had finally finished the scrubbing and the floor left a sparkle, an impressive sheen to her eyes. "Anyways, now..." Kurumi grabbed the supplies and put them back in the cleaning cloest. She pouted as she looked at her shirt's dirty shoulder, then turned around and stared at the closet with Yuuka's things again, grinning.

Momentarily, Yuuka stepped in front of Kurumi, her skirt now replaced with pants of the same pattern. Kurumi continued to grin, pretending to be smiling about Yuuka's... new outfit.

"You look like your old self again, Yuuka~!" She commented.

Yuuka frowned with a blush. "It's a bit tight now... I want my normal clothes back, but this will have to do."

"Where's Elly anyways? I thought she..."

"She's showering right now." She turned then started walking up the stairs. "Go to sleep, Kurumi. I hope she finishes the laundry tomorrow. I'm going to get things done now." With that, Yuuka disappeared from sight.

Once again, Kurumi's grin spread across her face. "Here we go!" She opened the closet, scanned inside and grabbed the umbrella, then flapped her wings and flew back to her room with as little noise as she could manage. The door closed. Kurumi thrusted the umbrella under her bed. She then slid off her skirt's straps and unbuttoned her dress shirt, then opened her closet and took a new shirt from the pile and put it on. Kurumi flung the dirty shirt into the basket, got her skirt back on, and hopped into her bed and wrapped herself in her blanket. "I'm going to have to go out early if I want to play with the umbrella." She closed her eyes with a smile. "Ahh..."

The next morning...

Yuuka rubbed her eyes, still having a hard time with the pants. "Hey Elly, are you around?"

Elly popped in from around the corner as Yuuka descended from the stairs. "Ye- what happened to you?!"

"Oh, nothing. I just fell asleep on the desk again." Yuuka's eyes opened wider, then narrowed. "Is the laundry done yet?"

"Yep, Yuuka, it is!" Elly presumed that she wanted her to get it and ran off.

Yuuka walked slowly up to the closet and opened it wide. "Okay, I better get outside and check on those sunf-"

Elly found the clothes and stopped beside Yuuka. Yuuka's face looked terrible, one of her eyes twitching wildly.

"Master Yuuka? Is something wrong?" Elly waved her hand in front of Yuuka's face. "Umm..."

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-"

...

"uck!" The girl pointed. "It's a duck!" She walked alongside Kurumi, with blonde hair that is shorter than Kurumi's hair. The girl wore a black shirt, black skirt, and a  neck ribbon. Her red hair ribbon bobbed as her hair moved.

Two ducks waddled up to the girls, quacking.  "I told you this would be fun, Rumia." Kurumi giggled.

The air felt cool, the aroma of the morning after the rain breezing around. Dew glistened on the sunflowers around the two as they strolled around, the same way that Yuuka did from last night.

"You're right, Kurumi." Rumia kneeled down and petted one of the ducks. "They're so cute!"

"I still don't like that I have to avoid the sun to have fun." Kurumi stood near Rumia, for it was dawn and the sun was peering from the horizon. You see, Kurumi is a vampire that does not react well to sunlight, but however, Rumia produces a constant aura of darkness that manages to act as a defense, absorbing the light.

"No, no, it's alright!" Rumia disagreed with Kurumi. "You're a fun person to hang out with! Really! Yuuka, however..."

"Yuuka's a nice person to be around." Kurumi smiled.

"She's scary though..." Rumia sat up and watched the ducks waddle around.

"I guess so." Kurumi strolled over to the second duck. "Hey, can you hold this, Rumia?"

"Yeah, sure!" Rumia held the umbrella for Kurumi as she picked up the duck.

Kurumi made weird faces at the duck. "You're so funny! Quack quack!" Suddenly, the duck decided to flap its wings and fly away, unfortunately slamming into Kurumi's face during takeoff. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?!"

"Yeah." Kurumi rubbed her head. "Just a bit of a tumble."

"If you say so..." Rumia handed the umbrella back to Kurumi. "Did you ever find out what this does?"

"Not yet," Kurumi got herself ready. "but I guess we'll find out now!"

"I wonder if it can shoot lasers!"

"Probably not, it's not Yuuka's parasol."

Kurumi pushed the umbrella open. At first glance, the umbrella just provided a shadow and that's all...

She pouted in disappointment. "What was all the commotion about th-"

Rumia pointed towards the umbrella. "Whoa! Look there!"

Kurumi looked at the umbrella's inner lining and saw its magnificent quality. "Wow!

You can see the stars past the sun's rays!"

Rumia jumped in glee. "Awesome! We can gaze at the stars any time we want!"

Kurumi flapped her wings in excitement. "This umbrella is so cool!"

...

A silver-haired lady looked at the sunflower field. Her braids swung in the morning breeze. The lady wore a French maid outfit with a scarf around her neck. "I've got some free time, so I should smell the flowers sometimes." She started moving towards the field. "It's my day off anyways."

The sunflowers were tall, towering over the grass on the floor. She looked around and saw the excellent condition of all the plants around her. "I guess I could tell Lady Remilia how the woman who lives here makes her flowers grow so bright." The woman walked around some more and started to hear voices. "Huh? People? Here? I thought this place was empty."

She ran over to the source of the noise and there, she saw Kurumi and Rumia. Rumia pointed towards the umbrella and Kurumi announced the umbrella's ability. A gleam of light shone in the woman's eyes and without hesitation, her eyes instanteously turned scarlet.

Time froze. The woman ran towards Kurumi and took the umbrella right out of her hand. Time resumed.

"H-Hey!" Kurumi yelled. "Give that back!" She didn't think about the consequences and flew outside of Rumia's darkness towards the woman. A scorching sensation went throughout her body and she screamed out in pain, falling onto the ground.

"You dummy!" Rumia glared at the lady. "Take this! Moonlight Ray!" Two beams of energy fired off from her palm.

One of the beams managed to graze the woman's shoulder. "Tch!" She scoffed, but she escaped with the umbrella.

Rumia ran over to Kurumi and picked her up. "You don't look okay, Kurumi..."

Kurumi smiled once more. "Don't worry about the umbrella. That burning just catches me by surprise..."

Rumia started to walk back to Yuuka's mansion carrying Kurumi.

"I forgot to ask... where'd you get that umbrella from? Isn't it yours?"

"No, I stole it from Yuuka's closet."

Rumia looked frightened.

[Alfred F. Jones]

"I wonder if it can shoot lasers!"

I laughed.

Okay, caught up with this! And I will definitely look forward to more. :3

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

My favorite part was the scene-transition. |3

[Iced Fairy]

Vampires + Sunlight = hilarity.

I'm especially curious as to how far that unbrella will travel.  And how much damage Yuuka will wreck in it's path.  Or maybe Kurumi and Rumia will go on tour....

[Nat Tea]

Chapter 3

A tall figure loomed over Rumia and Kurumi. Despite being in an aura of night, the figure's crimson eyes pierced the darkness.

"You two are in big trouble." She growled.

"...Yuu-Yuuka?" Kurumi looked at Yuuka's eyes. Rumia unconsciously dropped Kurumi on the floor with a thud and looked behind her.

Rumia turned her back on the eyes and excused herself. "Hey, Kurumi, I have to g-"

"You're not getting away." Yuuka grabbed Rumia by the scruff of her shirt and held her up. "You've got some explaining to do." Yuuka glanced at Kurumi. "You too."

...

After the explanation, Yuuka decided to let Rumia go. However...

"Kurumi..." Her parasol hovered over Kurumi, still lying on the grass. "You should have asked for the parasol, you know?"

Kurumi pouted. "I knew you weren't going to let me borrow it anyways, so why bother?"

"Well, of course I was going to say no, but it's better that you'd actually try instead of just outright stealing it from the closet."  Yuuka tilted her head. "It's like... you don't trust me or something."

"I do trust you though!"

"You do know what you did wrong, correct?" Yuuka grasped Kurumi's hand and picked her up from the ground.

Kurumi nodded slowly. "...Yes."

"I'm sorry, but I have to discipline you." Yuuka flapped her hand.

Kurumi looked at Yuuka. "So what are you going to do to me?"

"Eh, I'll just keep you in the mansion for a day. You just have to think about what you did, alright?"

"...Okay." Kurumi became teary-eyed over the whole incident.

Later, when they arrived back home...

"We're here." Yuuka collapsed the parasol and placed it back in the closet. "Now, Kurumi, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but you have to take responsibility for other people's stuff, especially if it's your master's stuff." Yuuka hugged Kurumi with a small smile.

Kurumi was still upset, but she felt better after Yuuka's hug. "Thanks."

Yuuka decided to go take a nap. Kurumi headed to her room and sat on her bed.

"So..." She wondered. "If I can get Master Yuuka's umbrella back, I might be able to make her feel better as well!"

Kurumi snuck downstairs and rummaged through the closet.

"Yuuka's parasol... I need that, definitely. And... a guitar? I might want to have that." She got herself ready with the things she thought she needed to tackle the maid and get the umbrella back. With guilt, she looked back at the rooms before her. "...I'm sorry, Yuuka."

The front door opened, then closed shut.

Elly was barely awake when she heard the slam. She then went over to see if Kurumi was awake yet and checked her room.

"Hmm, I guess she did go for a walk today. I'll probably tell Yuuka when she's awake."

...

The maid ran out of the sunflower field with the umbrella intact. She opened the umbrella and pointed it towards the sky. "I guess those brats were right... The stars are are visible as at night inside this." She collapsed the umbrella and moved towards a red mansion, unlike the one where Yuuka and her friends live in.

This mansion, however, is surrounded by a body of water. The maid knew to just make a big leap over and land right where she needed to be. Her skirt unknowingly flapped intensely, but the only person who would be there to witness it is a red haired woman, dressed in forest green with a golden star on her similarly colored hat. This lady, however, is asleep, resting peacefully in her nap... until the maid kicked her face into the dirt.

"Wake up, gatekeeper! You're supposed to be alert and ready for any intruders!"

The gatekeeper mumbled, but got up anyways. "Sakuyaaa. You don't have to be so rough."

"Are you kidding me?" Sakuya scowled. "If anyone does get past you, you're going to get punished, Meiling!"

"Okay okay! Whatever..." Meiling sat back on her stool again. Sakuya didn't think it was worth the time to repeat what she said and immediately headed to the room of her mistress.

Tap tap tap tap tap. Even in the bright rays of noon, the red mansion was quiet as ever. Many maids did pass by Sakuya while she ran, but it was a pleasantly silent day today.

The door to her mistress opened slowly. The cabinets of the mistres were well organized and the canopy bed was maintained excellently. The girl in the blankets of the bed was going to sleep through the entire morning, but Sakuya had an urgent message for her.

"Lady Remilia! May you please awaken? I have something important to show you!"

The girl rolled over and opened her eyes of scarlet. Her blue hair looked very messy from her sleep and her vampire wings flapped twice before she sat up. "What is it, Sakuya? It's still sunny outside..." She yawned.

"Well, here, Lady. I want you to tell me what you see inside this umbrella."

The umbrella was opened and Remilia looked at the stars through its magic. She was speechless.

Sakuya waved her hand in front of Remilia. "Lady, are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. This object... I can see its immense power!" She collapsed the umbrella and handed it back to Sakuya. "Have Patchouli analyze the item to see if it holds more latent powers stored inside. I would love to deem it... the Treasure of the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"

"Yes, Lady Remilia!" Sakuya held the umbrella and walked towards Patchouli's location.

Remilia smiled with her hands clasped together. "That umbrella... It's more powerful than my custom parasol. When we find out its true powers, we vampires will be able to play in Gensokyo any time we want!"

"The Magic Library Voile..." Sakuya arrived at her destination. She opened the doors slowly, then closed them again. "Hey Patchouliii, are you around?"

A distance away, there is a small yelling. "Yes, Sakuya, I am over here!"

Sakuya ran over to Patchouli and found her behind one of the bookcases. "Nice to see you." Patchouli's purple eyes did not contain much light, but she was always conservative with her expressions. Her purple hair flowed past her hips, tied at their ends. She seemed to always be in a nightrobe of sorts, with her hat carrying a crescent moon symbol.

"What are you here for?" She rolled her eyes. "You do not usually have business here."

Sakuya opened the umbrella and handed it to her. "Lady Remilia wants you to analyze this further and see if you can discover anything significant about it."

"I guess if Remilia wants me to. What is so special about it anyways?"

"Look up."

"You can see the stars from here." Patchouli smiled slyly. "Interesting magic, but that is not a very difficult trick to pull off."

"Anyways, see you later, Patchouli Knowledge. I've got work to do."

"As do I." Both of them turned around and went along with their business.

A long red-haired girl with devil wings sprouting out of her head walked over to Patchouli. "Do you need any help?"

"Yes, in fact," Patchouli turned towards her. "I do. Find me information on illusion magic. Books on the moon and the stars will be helpful as well. Thank you."

"I'll do my best!" She ran off and turned to the left.

Patchouli, meanwhile, was confused. "Why is Remilia fascinated with this? It is just an illusion, that is all. It is not l-" Unfortunately, during her monologue, she accidently stepped on a book and fell over. "Mukyuu!" The umbrella jumped, then floated down beside Patchouli. She picked it up and realized something weird.

"Wh-what? Did the stars just... realign?" She moved the umbrella and surely, it happened again.

"The umbrella will always accurately depict the locations of celestial bodies no matter what?!"

Patchouli pointed the umbrella to the ground and surprisingly, the moon showed up in the umbrella. "...How?"

Suddenly, the wall pounded. Then it pounded several more times. At that moment, the devil girl came running back with several books in hand.

"Patchouli, I've got what you ne-" Finally, the wall gave way with a massive shock to the entire library. "Kyaa!" The girl fell over and dropped all her books on Patchouli. Patchouli moved quickly, collapsed the umbrella, and pushed the books aside. In her purple eyes, she saw the worst sight she could have imagined.

A blonde haired girl rode in on a broomstick through the hole in the wall. Her braid swung back and forth, tied with a red ribbon. She grinned and showed with her two fingers on her right hand a V sign, the other hand holding onto the broom.

"Yo!"

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Betcha five bucks Marisa's the next person to get the Awesombrella.

[Vicks]

Betcha five bucks Marisa's the next person to get the Awesombrella.

Pfft, that's like betting that night comes after day.

[Nat Tea]

Chapter 4

The blonde-haired girl sat on her broom hovering above the two ladies. She took a look around and grinned while the sun shined through the gaping hole in the wall.

"I know what I want to get tod-" A look at Patchouli and something catches her interest. "An umbrella? Patchouli, do you seriously go outside in the rain?"

Patchouli placed the umbrella to the side. "Marisa, you rat! Get out!" She yelled.

"Too bad, because you won't be needing that! Really!" Marisa's left arm arced up with a ball of energy. "So, anyways!" She held onto the broom and it started to glow. Blue thrusters started sparking behind Marisa as she reared back.

"Here I go, Stardust Reverie!" The thrusters went on full blast, flaring up with stars flying everywhere and giving Marisa the speed of a shooting star. Her sticky fingers allowed her to swoop down and snatch the umbrella. Patchouli's hair jumped and books fell off the bookcases as Marisa zoomed past her with a gust of wind. Marisa then turned the broom around, slowing down for the moment.

"Neat." Marisa remarked. She opened the umbrella up and pointed it at Patchouli. "I wonder if I can fire those giant sparks like Yuuka usually does." She swung the umbrella with mighty force. "Hi-yah!" She yelled, but sighed with an air of disappointment. "Awww."

"Stop playing around and give that back to me!" Patchouli knew that she couldn't let Marisa or the umbrella disappear.

Marisa smirked. "Make me!"

"Koakuma, get going." Patchouli then moved her palm towards Marisa. "Okay, you leave me no choice...

Noachian Deluge!" Suddenly, a large volley of water droplets sprayed forth and flew straight at Marisa.

However, Marisa just yawned as the bullets harmlessly exploded off the umbrella. "Come on, I've got an umbrella. Like *that's* going to do anything!"

"Now! Saint Elmo's Pillar!" And with that, a large ball of fire materialized and shot towards Marisa.

"Shit!" Marisa remarked as the fiery projectile slammed into the umbrella with a loud bang. She flinched... but the only thing that happened was that she was pushed back slightly; the umbrella took the full brunt of the force and the result happened to be a small sear on the outside.

Marisa's eyes sparkled at the prospect of this. "Wow!

This makes a nice damn shield!"

Patchouli snarled. "You rat..." She was breathing heavily. "You're not getting away!"

Marisa saluted to Patchouli cheerfully. "I was going to grab more books, but you're starting to annoy me now and that noise probably just called the crazy maid over, so see you later!" The thrusters started again and Marisa disappeared into the distance through the hole she made.

Koakuma returned to Patchouli with a shock. "Pa-Patchouli!"

"Ugh." She mumbled. "I'm going to get you one day, Marisaaaa..." She then passed out.

...

Marisa hovered down towards a little shop near a forest. A man with white hair, glasses, and strange blue and black clothes was sorting through the inventory in the storage room.

"Hey, Kourin! How's things?" Marisa jumped off the broom onto the ground.

"The usual." The man scratched his head. "Can't you just call me Rinnosuke for now? There's a customer in there right now."

"Boring!" Marisa handed to Rinnosuke the umbrella. "Anyways, I'd like you to identify this for me."

Rinnosuke looked at it in confusion. "It's... a parasol."

"Yeah, and?" Marisa was excited to know what it could really do.

"It shades you from the sun. That's all I can tell about it."

Marisa fell over comically. "That's not what I want..."

Rinnosuke examined the parasol closely. "I still don't get why you're so interested in it, but maybe Akyu might know. She knows a lot about history, so she might have the information you're after."

"Alright, well, see you later Kourin!" Marisa took the parasol back and got on her broom.

"I just said that you should call me Rin-" A gust of wind as everything was once again blown back by Marisa's takeoff.

Marisa landed in front of Akyu's house and stood the broom up. There was a sign near the door that read:

DO NOT DISTURB
WORK IN PROGRESS

Nonetheless, Marisa decided to ignore the warning and slide open the door. A girl with short purple hair and a flower was busy brushing the latest notes of history onto a scroll.

"Hey Akyu!" Marisa waved. "Can you help me?"

Another lady with two tone colored hair of white and blue was sitting nearby working on papers with problems on it. The test that she was currently grading had many red marks on it. Without making a sound, she sat up and walked towards Marisa.

"Hmm?" Marisa saw her approaching.

The lady grabbed Marisa by the shoulders and reared her head back.

"Hi Kein-"

...

Elly knocked on Yuuka's room door.

"Master Yuuka, I've got something to tell you about~" Elly said in a singsong voice.

Yuuka turned in her bed and mumbled. "Bbmhhm, don't touch me there, you old hag..."

Elly decided to just open the door and bother Yuuka in person. She grinned as she tries to pet Yuuka, but unfortunately got a fast jab to her face.

Yuuka yawned as she sat up. "Oh." She glanced at Elly, still smiling even though the blow managed to knock her to the ground. "Stop lying around. You went into my room for something, you moron."

Elly got up and rubbed her cheek. "Nice hit! But still, I should tell you about this."

"About what now?"

Elly shrugged her shoulders. "Kurumi left her room."

"Even if she was grounded, she probably needed to go to the bathroom anyways." Yuuka rolled her eyes. "I think what I need is a good session with my guitar." She left her room with Elly following.

"Grounded? What'd she do?" Elly inquired.

"She stole something from the closet without asking. You know how I feel about that. Not fun."

"...Yeah. For a change of topic, I haven't heard you play guitar in a long time."

"Me too." Yuuka opened the closet. "That's why I'd like to hear myself play as w-"

Elly looked inside. "Hey, your guitar's not here... and your parasol." She backed up silently. "Uh..."

"Okay." Yuuka took a deep breath. "Elly, hold down the fort for me, okay?"

"Yes, Master Yuuka!"

Yuuka went over to the front door and opened it. "Kurumi, don't be stupid." The door closed shut.

...

It was late afternoon and Kurumi had arrived at a small store on the outskirts of a forest. She opened the wooden door and a bell above her rang.

"Welcome to Kourindou, an antique shop on the edge of the Forest of Magic." The man adjusted his glasses. "I'm Rinnosuke Morichika and how may I help you?"

"Ummmm..." Kurumi had lost her train of thought due to the heat outside and droned on, but finally remembered what she was after. "Yes! Do you have any blue parasols?"

Rinnosuke looked confused. "Why are you so specific about it? Do you like that color?" He pointed at the parasol Kurumi was using to keep the sun away from her. "You already have one, don't you? I don't get why would you need another."

Kurumi wrapped the parasol. "I'm just borrowing this." She started to twiddle her thumbs. "Well... there's a certain umbrella I'd like and I would think you would have it. That's all."

"I'll go check in the back then." Rinnosuke assured her and left through the back door.

Kurumi sat down behind the counter and strummed a few strings on Yuuka's guitar, then started to read a computer magazine in which she had no idea what it was trying to say. She got to an article about web logs when Rinnosuke returned from the storage room.

"I'm sorry," Rinnosuke apologized. "I couldn't find anything to the description you were looking for."

Kurumi sighed and placed her head down. "Now what?" She mumbled.

"Why don't you visit the human village and see if it's there?"

"I guess so." She stood up, turned around, and waved. "See you later, mister!"

"...Sure."

Kurumi opened up the parasol again and flew towards the village. She landed in front of the entrance and walked inside.

The village was bustling with many humans and a few youkai passing by each other. It was an exciting place, with conversations everywhere and things happening. The sun was starting to hide behind the horizon.

Kurumi's attention was caught by a woman with long white hair tied with paper amulets. She always had her hands in the pockets of her red slacks and her shirt was always dirty. Kurumi couldn't take her eyes off of her because she was so different than everyone else.

Unfortunately, Kurumi accidently ran into a familiar person. She shook her head and was going to apologize to the person she bumped into.

The person dashed back. "It's you!"

Kurumi flapped her wings and got up on her feet. "Don't be like th... wait,

the maid?!"

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Ohhhh dear. X3