> Smile.
> "You got it."
> Take her hand.
> Oh...oh...oh God, here they come again.
> Crying start, smiling stop.
> Throw our arms around Renko and hug her tight.
> "I'm...so happy...so happy I have you..."
>You take her hand and start to held toward the back, then start crying again. You throw your arms around her and declare your happiness. "I am too, Mary," she says. "I am too. Now come on, save your breath. We have much better things for you to expend it on."
>The two of you return to the bedroom, and in the fading light of the the sunset you make the house yours as officially as you can without a deed being involved. You take it more slowly this time. Without the flowing adrenaline of before, the tenseness of an upcoming big day, or the significant risk of being caught in the act, you're able to have a fairly relaxed pace of it; taking your time and properly enjoying each other. It's special, to say the least. Also, once it gets dark, neither of you have much better to do as you never picked up any candles or the like.
>The next day is a significant shopping day. Not having anything for breakfast spurs that on. You scour the village, checking the various stories and find which ones are willing to allow you a little credit. Thankfully, some of the grocers are willing to be understanding, and allow you a couple days worth of food. You also manage to secure some bowls and cups, as well as a good brazier and a wok. Marisa makes good on her promise, loaning you an old chair, some tea, some coal, and an old kettle. Mystia also seems a bit sympathetic, loaning you a few spare pillows and some rice. You also splurge a bit and obtain some drapes from Shou's Clothes, which are oddly tiger striped but the proprietor is willing to let go cheaply for the assistance you gave Byakuren the past couple days. You find she, the oddly familiar tiger-striped woman, is one of Byakuren's followers and main sources of income. Perhaps it is a bit unnecessary, but the bare windows are just depressing.
>The rest of the day is spent looting the tables and cabinet out of the Lunarian outpost, then after a break, gathering mushrooms for Marisa. You find the faeries are not quite so helpful as they used to be, having moved on to new things, but they don't give you a hard time and are willing to point out where they saw patches of phantom mushrooms. At one point, Hatate approaches you, asking for an interview. She gushes that you've given her the highest selling edition yet! As well, she gives you copies of all her photos from the invasion, many of which were unprinted. Renko is exceedingly pleased with them. That evening, as you are cooking for first actual meal in your home, you receive your first guest. Answering the door, you find it is Alice. The rest of the evening goes by uncomfortably as you dance around the subject of what happened over tea, while she talks about some of her experiences with enchanting magic and things she's done. In the end, though, you have the feeling she isn't angry enough with you to burn your house down and everything in it, and is kind enough to direct her dolls to take care of the dishes for you.
>The next evening, Remilia, Patchouli, Sakuya, and Meiling stop by for tea, bringing Flandre and Petite with them. Thankfully, this isn't quite so tense, with Remilia being a gracious, if self-centered conversationalist, Sakuya expertly taking care of things, and the rest being good company. Flandre, much unlike your experiences with the shadow who called herself this one, seems to be a fairly normal if especially bright little girl. She finds the fact that you are Renko are a couple to be absolutely adorable and can't stop squealing over the two of you. Things go pleasantly well, in fact, until there is a knock at the door and Yukari invites herself inside for the promised dinner, happily seating herself between you and Renko and throwing her arms around you both. Things are still civil, and there doesn't seem to be any bad blood lingering in the air despite Yukari, but the mood definitely shifts a bit. You really do not want to know what Yukari and Petite had a wished conversation in the corner toward the end of the day, while you and Sakuya helped tidy up. As for Sakuya, if she is upset with you, it does not show at all.
>Taking with the blacksmith again, you find she is having success smelting the metal and over the course of the next few days, she mints 3644 new coins from the resulting metal. After taking her share, you are still left with enough to obtain good furnishings for your home, food, clothing, and have a small amount left over. You also begin to look for a job, and soon find yourself picking up a few ☼ here and there by running errands for people. You start to feel confident your finances, and begin looking for small things to make you home more of a home; decorations and books and the like. Renko, for her part, takes mushroom foraging to the next level, using her faerie contacts to find useful things and sell them in the village. Between the two of you, you think you'll do alright.
>There's a lot for you to adapt to. Learning how to make fires without matches or lighters (you learn not to put them all of them out very quickly), cleaning with a broom rather than a vacuum, doing laundry without a machine, and so on. But you adapt, a bit at a time, and with a little help from your new friends as they come and visit. As much as you hate to admit it, Yukari is exceeding helpful despite her tendency to invite herself over whenever she pleases and hug you in ways which are much too personal for your liking, or whisper things that are just a little too frank into your ear. But she is very helpful in figuring out how to do day to day things. You find you don't often have days to yourself as people such as Nitori, Utsuho and Parsee, Marisa, and at one point even Yuka drop in to visit and see how you are doing. Nitori reports she has more or less finished her plans for the jet, while Utsuho and Parsee report things are going quite well between themselves and Yuugi. Sadly, it doesn't seem Satori was able to do much with Koishi, but the visit seems to have done her quite a lot of good. Yuka leaves you a number of autumnal flowers, which do quite a lot to spruce up the yard. As well, faeries seem to invite themselves over whenever they take the notion, sometimes wanting to help. Sometimes deciding to help without telling you. At least, that's what you tell yourself when you wake up one morning and find a ten foot long picture of a turtle painted on the side of the hose.
>Days flow into weeks, and you find yourself growing more and more comfortable with life in Gensokyo. Once you feel comfortable with your day to day life, you start to think further ahead. The university has finished, and you quickly apply to lecture on the outside world. It is taken under consideration, and you eagerly await the university committee's reply. You also begin to consider your magic anew. Weeks have passed, and as far as you can tell, neither you nor Renko have lost your humanity. As for Renko, she sets her sights on the next big opportunity, just as soon as she can figure out what it is. Perhaps investing that persistent rumor of the Brocken Spectre?
>You have gotten a Happy End!
>
>Credits:
>Original Inspiration: TranceHime
>Art, Programming, Music, Typos, Database Errors: Purvis Hobotech
>Great Player: You!
>And then, to all the wonderful players, I give the fear of eternal life.
>See you next time.
