This isn't entirely new to the internets, so I'm slightly hesitant, but I guess I'll just leave this here.
~~~
Kaguya blinked as she rose. New experiences were, of course, to be treasured when you would exist until the universe suffered full entropic failure and ceased to be, which was why she would allow the occasional indignity if Tewi's antics were properly amusing.
This, however. This was no mere jest. She could tell without having to extend her senses overmuch that not only was she no longer within the halls of Eientei, but she was outside the Hakurei Border itself. No simple feat, as she had lain down to sleep within both.
Her mind flicked thoughtfully through potential suspects as she rose and, judging correctly from the size of the small bedroom that nobody would be coming to attend to her, dressed herself appropriately, her Impossible Requests lifting gently off the drawers nearby to float around her.
Eirin, Reisen, and Tewi were immediately struck off the potential list, as with the many other youkai rabbits of Eientei. After a further moment, she reluctantly removed Moukou's name as well, concluding that she had no hand in it. The other immortal preferred more... visceral games, and had she made her way undetected into the very heart of Kaguya's abode, she certainly would not have done anything but immediately struck out at her in her moment of slumbering weakness. No, leaving her alone and confused in a place she had never seen, while an intriguing psychological tactic, was not something that she would have thought up on her own.
That left the two most likely suspects as the collective members of the Moriya Shrine, who had demonstrated a habit of compulsive meddling in others affairs, and Yukari, who admittedly had regularly demonstrated similar habits. However, which of them were to blame was proving to be a troublesome question. Certainly, Yukari could have easily plucked her out of her home and deposited her elsewhere with a Gap, but then the Shrine had also demonstrated the ability to traverse the border unaided simply by arriving in Gensokyo. It was, she decided, a question she would have to ponder another time, as there was simply too little evidence to base a firm conclusion and accusation upon, yet.
Finding herself suitably garbed and armed to meet the day, she left the room and descended the stairs to the ground floor, intent on speaking with the people whose home she had apparently intruded upon in her slumber. The woman she saw seemed surprised to see her.
"Ah? Kaguya, sweetie, you're already up? Usually you like to sleep in as late as possible, and then have to run to make it to school on time. Did you decide you wanted more time to eat breakfast, honey? Oh, what are you wearing? You'll have to change into your uniform soon, dear."
Kaguya hesitated. This... this boded ill. The woman was addressing her as though she were her own daughter. Naturally, and without thought. Not a good thing at all. Was Yukari capable of tampering with the minds of others? Were any of that shrine? She was forced to admit that she didn't know.
xxx
The day had been one long string of confusion for Kaguya. An awkward meal with 'parents' and a 'little brother' who she had never before seen in her life had been interspersed with curious comments about her wardrobe. But none, she noted, about the Requests floating about her person. It was as though they did not see, or were not capable of seeing, the items of power.
Upon finishing the meal, she was instructed to change into what she understood was official attire for communal tutoring, and for the moment seeing no other recourse but to play along with whatever bizarre game was currently being enacted, she did so. She did regret it, however. The... uniform, such as it was, was quite similar to Reisen's own chosen attire, a short, thin skirt and a blouse with hardly any sleeve to it. A commoner or soldier would think nothing of the revealing attire. Kaguya, being of noble birth and accustomed to heavy, concealing kimono and robes, felt shamefully exposed in the outfit, as though she had chosen to parade herself about in no more than undergarments.
She concealed her distaste as best she could, helped along by the fact that nobody spared so much as a passing glance to her display, which she was paradoxically both relieved and incensed about, as she made her way to the institute of learning to which she had been directed.
It had been a bizarre sort of day even after then, as the classes seemed to operate on a specific social order and structure of which she was supposed, from their perspective at least, to be perfectly well aware, and she was uncertain for some time where she was meant to stand. She was not well pleased as the tutoring progressed, and the character of the person she was known as in this place was revealed through social interaction and testing of the pupil's knowledge.
Kaguya Horaisan was not at all pleased, for it seemed that Tsukino Kaguya was well known to be an uprightly cheerful and friendly, but completely empty-headed girl.
It was not so much to the first that she objected, having been reliably informed that her own personality was quite pleasant, but the second simply would not stand. It had been over a thousand years since she had been tutored in any formal way, of course, but the maths and sciences that governed the world were much the same as those she recalled being taught, and the indescribable expression on the tutor's face as she marked those papers was something akin to driving daggers of flame deep into the princess's stomach. She knew this full well, having experience to base the sensation against.
Worse still were those subjects in which she was not particularly good... the histories and such that she had seen pass but had little cause to learn much of, and so were, by her standards of expectations, completely abysmal. The tutor's expression had not been in the slightest different from any of the others. What that meant was that the poor grade, to her, was equally unbelievable coming from Kaguya as the excellence she could display in other areas, and as such...
She seethed, privately, over that realization for the rest of the day, even as she paused later to sharply chide some delinquents who were tormenting a stray cat.
Removed from her home, placed in a position where she was expected to behave as an airheaded and petulant child by all those who 'knew' her, and subtly punished through social distancing and whispers when she did not live down to this expectation... New, interesting things were all well and good, but she had had quite enough of whatever warped and twisted game was being played.
And now the cat was speaking to her. Which was not in and of itself unusual, as Kaguya had made excellent conversation with a number of cats previously, but never while they wore the form of a beast, and she had received no more than a blank stare when she had offered that the cat change forms and make herself more comfortable as they spoke. And really... the cat wasn't a particularly gifted conversationalist. It had pressed a horribly gaudy trinket upon her, insisted that she was some 'Sailor Moon', whatever it may mean by that, and urged her to go out and hunt some manner of monster that it had apparently 'sensed'.
She had gone, but chosen not to partake in the silly activation phrase and posing that the cat had instructed her to perform, electing instead to simply fly. The cat had boggled at this, and seemed to only just notice the artifacts floating about her, something she took note of and filed away. When she arrived, she was spectacularly disappointed as well, as she had been hoping for a rousing battle to alleviate the stress of this new situation. Instead, this Youma creature had disintegrated to ash at the first glancing shot she had launched to get its attention, before she had planned to introduce herself.
It was so...
"Frustrating, isn't it?" A voice called out from above and to the side. She turned to look, seeing a woman dressed in a man's tuxedo and ornamental mask, carrying an umbrella, green hair topped with a plaid top hat. She cut an interesting figure, to say the least.
"We've never met." The woman continued, a grin widening across her face. "But I have heard of you, Kaguya-hime, of Eientei. That alone convinces me... that you are in much the same situation as I."
Green hair and plaid. That struck a chord in Kaguya. She was sure there was something about... ah. Yes, she recalled now.
"You are... that flower youkai. Kazami Yuka." She said, without an ounce of uncertainty in her voice.
"Oh! You know me as well! I'm honored, pri-n-cess... and that confirms it. Ah! How wonderful. It has been two months.... two long, painful months, nestled deep in the heart of this teeming hive of humanity. For a short time, I had considered despair... trapped and alone in this fresh hell of poisoned air and earth covered in stone... until I realized how truly pointless it was. As pointless as it would be to slaughter this entire morass of wasted flesh, or to try to leave for more comfortable environs."
Her smile grew further, and twisted.
"I have, of course, tasted the fruitlessness of both endeavors. No matter how many I kill, or how far I stray from this place... should I merely lay me down to sleep, I arise afresh, here once more. There is no escape... it is maddening."
Kaguya frowned at this new information. In all honesty, she hadn't actually considered yet the two possibilities that Yuka had brought up. Good to know, though, in any case. She would be happy to allow others to make the mistakes for her to learn from.
"But now, the rules of the game are finally coming clear." the youkai continued. "There is no penalty to the killing of these creatures. Neither is there sport or satisfaction, with them so unforgivably weak. But now... now, there is another piece. Come, Princess Kaguya! Show them to me, your brilliant danmaku! And in turn, this rage, frustration, and insanity... I shall lay it all bare before you, to lose myself in the joy of the combat I seek, if only for a moment!"
"Oho! I was wondering when you would get around to asking." Kaguya chuckled, as the two floated slowly upwards in the sky. "In truth, I had a similar proposal on my mind myself!"
xxx
In the morning, tabloids were running headlines on the strange, unannounced firework display of the previous night.
~~~
Yes. Touhou Moon. Why? Why not?
