Marisa stood over Yuuka with the cap in hand and the wind started to blow and her friends joined. ?Hell yeah, that's how it's done!? She shouted and jumped into the air.
?You've got way too much energy,? Reimu sighed.
?Yeah! I'm pumped up, let's do the Ex-Mission!?
?No, I'm tired and going home,? Reimu turned to Yuuka, ?Hey Yuuka.?
?Can't talk, I'm a flower,? she responded.
?Whatever, just behave from now on,? Reimu said and looked around at everyone and they all started to head off in different directions.
?But what about this Ex-Mission?? Marisa yelled after everyone.
?Do it yourself!? Sakuya yelled back.
?Yuuka?? Marisa asked.
?Can't come, I'm a flower,? she said from the ground.
?Ah screw, I'll do it later,? Marisa said and flew off towards the Magic Forest.
Chapter 15
After Game Tea Party
Earlier that day, work on the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gate was finished earlier than expected. Meiling took a step back and wiping the sweat from her brow she admired her work.
?Look's good!? Koakuma said from the entrance way.
?Ah, sorry about earlier,? Meiling said and looked at the ground.
?Don't worry about it. It was that green shrine maiden, she's so gung-ho if you'd had been there she'd try to 'protect' you from me,? she laughed. ?Oh and I made sure no one touched your sweets. And here,? she held out a key.
?Thanks, but I already have a key to her room,? Meiling said.
?Sakuya had it changed again,? Koakuma said averting her gaze.
?She's been doing that a lot recently. But it doesn't really matter, cause if she wanted to Flandre could just break the door open,? Meiling laughed.
?I don't think it's to keep Flan in,? Koakuma said under her breath.
?What was that?? Meiling asked.
?No, nothing!? She flew behind Meiling and gave her push, ?Now stop chatting and go! It's been too long since you've had any free time inside. I'll stand guard out here.?
?Thank you,? Meiling bowed and ran inside the mansion.
From the outside, the Scarlet Devil Mansion appeared to be a normal sized western styled mansion. However, on the inside was many sizes larger. ?You could fit the entire mansion inside this room,? Meiling thought to herself looking around. She made her way to the kitchen. She felt like eyes were on her at all times, despite the hallways being mostly empty.
?You look jumpy,? a voice said behind her. Meiling jumped back in surprise.
?Oh, Patchouli you scared me,? she said grabbing her chest and breathing hard.
?I'm scared for the future of the mansion when our gate guard is scared of a little anemic librarian,? she forced a cough. ?So are you here for your snacks that Koa won't let me eat.?
?Yes,? Meiling said.
?You know it's not nice to hoard things from your friends. Especially your smaller, anemic friends,? she coughed again.
?Umm...well...I,? Meiling said and started inching towards the kitchen.
?I'm so weak, Meiling!? she fell to her knees. ?My tiny, anemic body won't make much longer,? cough, ?if only there was something sweet that I cou?ouch!?
?Get off the floor and stop acting like an idiot,? it was the charismatic owner of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia. She was standing over Patchy with her fist clenched and she was wearing a maid outfit.
?But-but, the snacks,? Patchy said.
?There's no time for snacks. With Sakuya gone, I'm playing head maid and you're the fairy maids,? Remi said and grabbed Patchy by the back of the collar and started dragging her away.
?I'm sure she meant 'acting' head maid,? Meiling thought to herself as she went towards the kitchen. The kitchen was also fairly large. There were so many counters that navigating by foot would prove annoying. There were three fairly large refrigerators along the opposite wall. She opened the first one and found nothing but meat inside. ?I want that steak,? she thought to herself as she closed the door. Opening the third one she found the sweets she bought. She started to fly back to the entrance, but stopped and turned towards the third refrigerator. ?Nah, I shouldn't open it,? she thought to herself and made her way to the library. She still felt like she was being watched.
The extensive library Voile was located in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and home to many books. There were books as far as the eye could see and bookcases stacked to the ceiling. Farther down in the basement was Flandre's room. Inside the room Flandre was busy drawing with the crayons Meiling brought her awhile ago. She her the lock turn and the door open.
?MEILING!? she shouted and ran up to her and gave her a big hug. She jumped down and ran over to the paper on the floor, ?Look, look! It's you!? She ran over and grabbed more of the papers on the floor and gave them to her. ?See, there's you and sis!? she pointed to the paper. They were stick figures and Remilia was drawn to be as tall as Meiling's knee and the star on her hat was bigger than her head.
She sat down on the edge of Flandre's bed and Flan jumped up and sat on her lap.
?You're really good!? Meiling said with full sincerity, ?these are great.? She was looking through them, they were mostly of Meiling and Remilia. There was one of Patchy with a cake and one of Koakuma juggling books. ?Who is this?? she pointed at picture of someone with a big mouth with a jagged tongue sticking out and mean looking eyes.
?That's Sakuya!? she answered cheerfully. ?Haven't you met her? She's kind of mean and has to have things go her way or she'll yell. She's always yelling at this China person.?
?I,is that so?? Meiling said with a sad expression.
?Yea, if you ever meet this China person you can tell her to stand up for herself, I've got her back,? Flandre said with a determined expression and pounded on her chest. Meiling couldn't help herself, she hugged Flandre tight. ?St, stop it! That's too tight! H,hey are you crying? Are you sad??
?N,no. I'm not sad,? she said wiping her eyes. ?Look I brought you some cake like I said this morning. It's real good stuff too, they were almost sold out but I got the last two!? She reached into the bag and pulled out two peaces of red velvet cake with vanilla icing. Flan's eyes lit up.
?This is good!? she said taking a bite.
?How did you?? Meiling started, but saw that she was eating with her hands. ?Here, use a fork,? she chuckled and handed her a fork. She looked at the fork for a little bit before smiling.
?Here Meiling, close your eyes and say 'Ah,'?
?Alright,? she closed her eyes and Flan grabbed a piece of cake with her fork, ?Aaaaah,? and Flan put the piece in Meiling's mouth. ?Heh, hey!? she said.
?Hahaha, was it good?? Flan asked.
?Yes, but now it's my turn,? she smiled and grabbed a piece of her cake and fed it to Flandre.
They laughed and enjoyed their cake. Flandre yawned and stretched out on her bed when they finished eating. ?I'm sleepy,? she said. ?Umm...could you stay with me?? She turned around with a shocked expression. ?Please?? She was no match for Flan.
?Sure I can,? she said.
?Hooray!? she yelled and jumped under the covers. Meiling crawled beside. ?You're warm,? Flan said with a sleepy voice. ?I stayed up late today cause I knew you'd come back.?
?Yea, I'll always come back,? Meiling said with a smile.
?I know.?
?I heard someone has a birthday coming up,? Meiling said in a teasing tone.
?Whose? Is it yours??
?What, no yours silly,? Meiling said.
?Oh, I guess I forgot when my birthday was,? she yawned and closed her eyes.
?She forgot when her birthday was? That's not right,? Meiling thought to herself. ?I need to do something for her.? Meiling watched over Flandre as she fell asleep.
?...ke up! ...ake up! Wake up!? Meiling heard shouting from somewhere.
?What?? she shot up.
?You fell asleep, Sakuya's coming back!? Meiling looked around and saw Koakuma standing. She looked to the other side and saw Flandre still sleeping.
?Shh,? she put her fingers to her lips and got out of the bed as quietly as she could. They went out to the library and quietly closed the door and locked it. They went out to library's entrance and Meiling waved good bye to Koakuma and went upstairs to the main foyer. There she saw Sakuya talking to one of the fairy maids. She tiptoed past and caught a part of their conversation.
?...kuma ? been givin...key...asemen,? was all she heard from Sakuya.
?Was that fairy maid spying on me?? she thought to herself as she walked back to the front gate. She felt a cold glare above her when she got there. She looked up and saw Sakuya standing above her.
?And just where have you been?? she asked.
?I was inside,? she responded.
?What have I told you about being inside? The Gate Guard should stand outside and guard the gate at all times! There's nothing inside for you anyways!? Sakuya said and vanished.
* * *
At the Hakurei Shrine around that time; Reimu and Sanae were reaching the top of the stairs.
?Suika, you still awake?? Reimu yelled.
?I'm a total night owl ya know?? Suika popped up in the doorway.
?Good job with entrance way, it looks even better than before,? Reimu said.
?Of course, we Oni always do great work,? she said with a proud look on her face. ?Hey is she staying here for tonight??
?Well it is getting kind of late and your shrine is far away, what do you say? Want to stay the night?? Reimu asked.
?Yes!? Sanae answered without a seconds hesitation.
?Whoa,? Suika said.
?Wh,what?? Sanae looked flustered.
?You came off a little too eager,? Suika teased.
The two entered the shrine and went back to Reimu's room. She pulled out a futon from the closet and a couple of extra pillows and blankets. ?Here, you can sleep in my bed.?
?What? I can't possibly sleep in your bed,? Sanae said.
?Don't worry about it, you're a guest here,? she said and flattened out the futon and blankets. She turned off the lights and crawled under the covers of the futon.
?Smells like Reimu,? Sanae said quietly.
?What??
?Uhh, Good night Reimu,?
?Good night, Sanae.?
* * *
Youmu entered the house with a concerned expression on her face. She found Yuyuko in the kitchen fixing a midnight sandwich. ?Lady Yuyuko, did something happen at the gate??
?Nope, why do you ask?? she said putting some cheese on the ham.
?It looks the same as when I left this morning.?
?Oh yeah, we didn't know how to go about fixing it and it wasn't hurting anything so we decided to leave it alone,? she said cheerfully and put a slice of turkey over the cheese.
?That's a little too carefree don't you think??
?If it's not broken, don't fix it,? she said and placed some bologna over the turkey.
?But it is broken!?
?Just a little bit,? she said putting another slice of cheese over the turkey and put the top piece of bread finishing the sandwich and walked back to her room.
?You're going to get crumbs everywhere Lady Yuyuko,? Youmu said chasing after her.
* * *
There was a knock on Alice's door in the middle of night. She rushed down in pajamas and opened the door. ?Marisa!??
?Why do you sound so surprised to see me??
?You knocked,? she answered bluntly ?what do you want so late.?
?My house is still broke. You didn't fix it.?
?Of course not,? Alice sighed. She already knew where this conversation was going. ?Do you want to come in??
?Don't mind if I do,? she said waltz right in.
?If you promise not to take anything, you can sleep on the couch,? she said and disappeared into her room. You could hear the sound of something rustling back there and she came out with a blanket and a pillow. ?Here you go.?
?Can I sleep in your bed??
?Well if you really want to, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the couch. Wait you mean together don't you?? Alice asked.
?Yup!?
?No,? she said and went back in her room and shut the door. Marisa heard the sound of a lock turning.
?Damn,? she thought to herself stretched out over Alice's couch, ?Her couch is even more comfy than my bed!?
* * *
In the Garden of the Sun, Yuuka was on her roof staring at the moon.
?What was the point of all of this?? someone asked from behind her.
?What do you mean, that celestial was annoying so I thought I'd frame her,? she said with a faint smile.
?Let me rephrase that. What was the point of all of this, really??
?What, like I need a reason to cause trouble now??
?It's become that peaceful??
?Yes, too peaceful for Youkai like us.?
?Heh, don't lump me in with you. I don't mind these peaceful days.?
?Is that a lie??
?Who knows, but these peaceful days aren't all that bad. There are smiles all around. Wouldn't hurt you to have a sincere smile every now and again. Bet you'd look pretty cute.?
?Cute!? Who the hell--!? she turned around and saw no one was there. ?Who are you to get on my case about causing trouble when you say something like that and just disappear.?
* * *
?I don't think she's coming back,? a Celestial reported to Iku.
?She's coming back, she said was coming back for the sword!? Iku responded.
?Iku come home already,? Tenshi said.
?I got you ungrounded so you can help me fight that witch when she comes back.?
?She's not coming back!? everyone shouted.