Chapter 3: Respite(
AO3 Mirror)
Two weeks later. 12th April 2008.A beautiful blue sky covered Gensokyo. Marisa watched it from the Hakurei Shrine porch, enjoying the early spring sunlight warming her legs. She?d spent most of the morning cleaning up the damage in her home, and was glad to get outside and away from it all. Two weeks had passed, but there was still no end to the damp and rot and general wet smell that lingered around the ground floor. The water had seeped into her trunk, as she feared, and most of her grimoires were ruined beyond repair. The books she?d borrowed from Alice and Patchouli weren?t looking any better, but they didn?t have to know about that. Not yet.
That fateful night, Yukari had pulled them into a gap, and dropped them off at the Hakurei Shrine. Marisa had wanted to stay with Reimu, but Yukari had ordered her to head home. ?Stay away for a while,? she?d told her, prising Reimu out of her arms, ?or else.? Marisa had put up a fight, of course, but it was no use. Seconds later, she was teleported outside her house.
?Not like I had the time anyway,? Marisa muttered to herself. ?A while? had turned out to mean ?however long it took for Reimu to be let out of the hospital.? Marisa had tried approaching Eientei a few times, when her patience grew thin, but was always turned back without even a glimpse. ?She needs rest!? Eirin would say, and shoo her away. One evening Reisen had frog-marched her off the premises, into the bamboo forest, and the two had gotten lost for three hours.
As the fortnight stretched on, cleaning had become a welcome distraction from the mess of thoughts and feelings running through Marisa?s mind. The terror of almost losing Reimu, the humiliation of Sanae being the hero, the surge of love and relief she?d felt as she held her friend? The emotions seemed to strengthen as time passed, and she almost felt afraid of facing Reimu again. Marisa would lie awake at night, worrying about her. Was she bored at the hospital? Was she in pain? Would she be herself when she came out? What if she was brain damaged, or paralysed, or in pain for the rest of her life? She even rented a few books on thunderstorms, and pored over the sections dedicated to lightning strike victims. She felt pathetic.
And now, rumour had it Reimu was well enough to leave the hospital. Marisa had flown over to the shrine that morning, unable to wait any longer. Of course, Reimu hadn?t returned yet. Any other day, and Marisa would?ve wandered off somewhere else, but she needed to see Reimu smile. Regardless of how they acted around each other from now on, Marisa needed to know Reimu was okay. So she waited, for hours and hours and hours.
A crunch of gravel. Marisa glanced up, only to see Sanae waving at her beneath the torii gate. She waved back, smiling to hide her disappointment.
Sanae placed a small bag on the porch and looked around optimistically. ?Is Reimu-san here? I brought her some snacks.?
?Nope.? Marisa reached for the bag, hungry. ?I?ll look after them while she?s gone.?
?Um, you don?t have to, it?s okay.? Sanae snatched the bag away. She still wasn?t sure how to handle Marisa. ?Do you know when she?ll be back??
?No idea.?
?I hope she?s okay...?
?She?s Reimu, she?ll be fine. Now tell me about the culprit.? Marisa leant forward. She hadn?t seen Sanae at all for the last two weeks. They?d both been busy. ?Who was it? Anyone we know??
?I?m glad you don?t think it?s our shrine,? said Sanae, smiling sadly.
?Obviously. What would you get out of flooding Gensokyo? You?re not desperate for faith or anything.? And the Moriyas wouldn?t kill Reimu, no matter how bad things got between them. ?So who duunit??
??It was a young dragon god. I didn?t have time to talk to them. We fought using spell card rules, and I won. I actually won.? Sanae?s expression brightened. ?Against a dragon!?
?Great.?
?And afterwards, this woman in purple showed up. She said she needed to deal with the dragon, pushed me away and suddenly I was back in my room!?
No prizes for guessing who that was. ?You?ve never met Yukari before, have you??
?She showed up at our shrine a few hours later. She told me you and Reimu-san were safe, and asked me to explain what I did.?
?So what did you do?? Marisa wanted to know. ?To save Reimu, I mean.?
?I didn?t use a miracle to bring her back to life. That would?ve been impossible for me. I used a miracle to make the CPR work, if that makes sense.? Sanae grinned. ?I used the faith you gave me to increase its odds of working. And that brought back Reimu-san.?
?Right?? Marisa wasn?t quite following her.
?If you hadn?t been there, Reimu-san would probably still be dead.?
?If you hadn?t been there, she?d definitely still be dead. I don?t know any of that stuff.? Marisa felt her heart sink. She?d been trying to forget that fact. ?But hey, I don?t mind taking all the credit. Reimu can owe me one.?
??Marisa-san.?
She sounded serious. Marisa readied herself. ?Yeah??
?Are you in love with her??
?What? Love?? Marisa laughed. ?No wa-?
?I heard all your prayers. I mean, I know you probably didn?t realise it, and maybe I should?ve warned you first, but since I?m a god I need to know what people are worshipping me for, so??
She heard all that? Marisa felt her face go red. ?Don?t listen in on that stuff!?
?I?m sorry! It was an emergency!?
Marisa looked away, mortified. ?Urgh??
?Anyway! I should try talking to the Hakurei god while I?m here!? Sanae stood up, eager to change the subject. ?Um, the hall of worship?s behind the donation box, right??
?I think so. Might be another storeroom though, it?s hard to tell.?
?All right, excuse me.? Sanae trotted over. Marisa watched her, and hoped Reimu would be back before sunset. Her nerves were killing her.
*****
?Frankly, I?m amazed,? said Eirin Yagokoro, tossing her notes onto the desk. ?I?ve never seen a human get hit by lightning mid-flight and live to tell the tale, let alone one free of serious neurological damage.?
?She was revived by a miracle worker,? replied Yukari Yakumo. ?I?d expect nothing less.?
They were sitting in Eirin?s surgery, the sunlight pouring in through the round windows. The weather had been fair ever since the rain stopped, and Yukari found it a welcome relief. Doctor Yagokoro was the best in Gensokyo, but was clearly not happy to be alone with the gap youkai. A shame. Yukari had thought she was intelligent enough not to hold petty grudges. The Lunar War was quite a while ago, after all.
?We?ve kept a close eye on her, as you requested. No visitors, no one who might confuse her. She says she?s not in any pain, and can move normally, if a bit slowly. Her burns will remain as scars, of course, but that?s a small price to pay considering what happened.?
?Of course.? Humans were weak. A small knick to the skin could stay with them forever. Yukari forgot that sometimes.
?I could remove them, if I had the equipment,? said Eirin, with a sigh. ?I could do a lot of things if I had the equipment.?
?I?m sorry Gensokyo isn?t quite as advanced as the Moon,? said Yukari with a smile.
Eirin ignored that. ?There?s a strong possibility there are complications we aren?t aware of yet. Some symptoms take weeks, months, even years to show themselves. Make sure she knows to come see me immediately if her condition changes.?
?She will.?
?Now, as for payment??
?Ah, yes. As we discussed.? Yukari pulled a thick brown envelope out from her dress. ?All in cash.?
Eirin took the envelope and slid it into her desk draw, not bothering to look. ?Keep a closer eye on your shrine maidens, if they?re that important to Gensokyo. If you knew she was going to be struck, you should?ve stopped it before it happened.?
Yukari didn?t let the surprise show on her face. The Brain of the Moon was observant, after all. ?I have my way of doing things.? She stood up. ?Where is she??
?In the waiting room.?
Reimu was sitting in a chair, expressionless. She was clean, wearing her usual shrine maiden attire, and wore a brand new, bright red ribbon in her hair.
?Shall we go, Reimu??
They stepped out of Eientei, into the bamboo forest. The air was crisp and cool, and singing birds fluttered through the trees. Already, Yukari could tell there wasn?t something quite right with Reimu. She was walking slower, less steadily than she used too. She looked afraid.
?Why do we have to walk?? Reimu asked.
?Because I want to talk to you,? answered Yukari. ?And because you aren?t allowed to fly for another week. Remember??
?Seriously??
?Does walking hurt??
?I wouldn?t say it hurts.? Reimu winced, giving the truth away. ?It just feels weird. I?d rather fly.?
She had been lying in bed for two weeks. She was bound to feel some discomfort. ?You will in time.?
Yukari knew which way to go. The forest didn?t disorientate her. She led the way, Reimu stepping carefully over fallen bamboo branches beside her.
?What do you want to talk about??
Yukari looked at her. ?Did you do anything to anger your god that night??
Reimu frowned . ?I don?t think so.?
?Nothing out of the ordinary? Such as, I don?t know, moving something in the sanctuary??
Reimu stopped walking. Yukari stopped too, and they stared at each other for a moment.
??I didn?t have anywhere else to sleep that night.? Reimu mumbled. ?I moved the table to make room on the floor, so I could put my futon down there. That?s all. But there wasn?t enough space anyway, so I decided to go investigate the rain instead.?
?And did anything topple over on the table??
?Yeah, the mirror did. Why??
Yukari sighed. ?I didn?t realise your shrine maiden training was this terrible. You understand what that mirror is, correct? It is the sacred object your god resides in. By knocking it over and failing to put it back in place, you enraged them, lost some of your luck, and got hit by lightning.?
?I don?t need a lecture right now.? But Reimu hung her head in shame. She knew she was in the wrong.
?You are the only Hakurei descendant left in Gensokyo. The border will become unstable if you die, and we have no one to replace you. I have a
back up of sorts in place, but there is only so much I can do. I cannot watch over you twenty-four-seven.?
?If the god had talked to me, I would?ve known it was angry,? said Reimu, ?and then everything would?ve been fine.?
Yukari didn?t respond to that. She turned and started walking again. Reimu followed behind her, annoyed.
?What do you mean by a back up?? she asked. ?A back up shrine maiden??
?If only.? Yukari smirked, and said nothing more on the subject.
*****
Marisa and Sanae were waiting at the shrine. Yukari watched as the two of them dashed over. Sanae pulled Reimu into a fierce hug, and Marisa grabbing them both, grinning like an idiot. Yukari slipped away and walked to the back of the shrine, leaving the three of them be. Reimu deserved some time with her friends. The main room was visible through a crack in the shouji screen, and looked immaculate. It had taken Yukari and Ran a lot of time and effort to clean, but it was the least she could do to quell the anger of the Hakurei God.
She sat down on the porch, exhausted. Reimu was alive, and seemingly unharmed. Yukari was relieved; if Reimu had died again, she would have needed to cross the boundaries of time and space once more. Crossing the boundary of time was especially dangerous; Yukari rarely did it, and for good reason. One wrong step, and she could rip a hole in the space-time continuum. It was an emergency measure only.
Going back five seconds or five hundred years required the same amount of effort. She could have turned the clock back and grabbed Reimu before she was hit by lightning, but something that direct would cause a time paradox. How would her future self know to go back in time? If she needed to change things, it had to be something subtle. Something plausible from the very beginning.
Like ticking yes instead of no on a residency application form. She had gambled on the Moriyas, just as her instincts told her, and it had paid off. Gensokyo was a better place with their shrine around, and Reimu had made a new friend in the process. She was a fool to reject them in the first place. Perhaps she would be more open to newcomers in the future.
Now back to the matter at hand. Yukari pushed the tip of her parasol into soft earth, and spoke out loud. ?What you did was despicable,? she said. ?I have half a mind to never speak to you again.?
Silence.
?When did you become so bitter? You know better than anyone the importance of your shrine maidens. We can?t afford to lose Reimu.?
Silence.
Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Yukari tried a different approach. ??I suppose there?s a chance you failed to protect her for a different reason. Perhaps your lack of worshippers is taking a toll on you. I can believe that girl?s got by through luck up until now. But rest assured,? and Yukari stood up, ?I will not tolerate this if it happens again. We all have our roles to play, and you must perform yours.?
Silence. Of course, Yukari hadn?t heard the Hakurei God talk in centuries. She sighed, and opened a gap home. She was tired. She wanted to sleep. ?I will not forget this,? she said, as she stepped through it. ?Don?t you dare let her die again.?
The gap closed behind her.
*****
Marisa and Sanae made a big fuss of Reimu. They chatted, shared the snacks Sanae brought, and exchanged stories. Sanae did most of the talking, telling Reimu what happened the night she was struck by lightning ? and Marisa was relieved she left out the embarrassing parts.
Well, most of them.
?See-Pee-Arr?? Reimu frowned. ?Never heard of it.?
?It?s really important,? gushed Sanae. ?It saved your life!?
?You save people?s lives by kissing them,? explained Marisa, trying not to laugh.
?No, you don?t!? Sanae looked alarmed. ?If you see it as kissing you might hesitate, and then it?ll be too late.?
Reimu looked away from Sanae, red in the face. Marisa felt a pang of jealously. Did Reimu remember the mouth-to-mouth part? But if Marisa had been in Sanae?s position, she knew she definitely would?ve hesitated.
Another reason Sanae needed to be there.
?I?ll collect the plates.? Marisa stood up, and started picking the empty plates up from the porch. She wished Sanae would leave, and let her chat to Reimu alone.
And as if on cue, Sanae gasped. ?Oh, is it late afternoon already? What time is it, Marisa-san??
Marisa glanced at the clock in the main room. ?Nearly four pm.?
?I need to get going.? Sanae scrambled to her feet. ?I told Kanako-sama I?d be back before dusk.?
Sanae was gone by the time Marisa returned from the kitchen. It was just Reimu, sitting on the porch chewing on a wooden skewer. They were alone again, at last.
?So,? said Marisa, sitting next to her and making an effort to act natural. ?You pissed off your god, huh??
?Basically.? Reimu tossed the skewer aside. ?I?m going to have to do all these rituals to make it happy again.?
?Sounds like a mean god though. I mean, letting you die and all.?
?I doubt it did that on purpose. It just gave me less luck.?
They sat in silence, Marisa tapping her foot, Reimu staring at the ground. Something about Reimu had definitely changed. It was in the way she sat, the way her eyes darted at the slightest movement. She was nervous about something. Uncomfortable.
Of course, Marisa knew there was no way Reimu wouldn?t be affected by what happened. She?d died, and had stayed dead for several minutes. Three-hundred-million volts of electricity had shot through her body in seconds. The burn on her right shoulder was visible through her sleeveless top, and would probably be there forever as a scar. A reminder to all of Reimu?s fragility.
Reimu saw her looking. ?Impressed? That?s not my only injury.?
Marisa felt herself blush. ?Well, uh, I mean? it stands out.?
?That?s where the lightning entered my body.? Reimu turned, and untucked her blouse from her skirt. There was another burn just above her left hip. ?And this is where it left.?
?Ah? right.?
?I also hurt my leg when I landed. I didn?t break it though, somehow.? She sighed. ?I need to get a new purification rod. And replace the needles I lost. What a pain??
Her weaponry was lost on Youkai Mountain. Getting it back would be a nightmare. Marisa thought of the hat that?d blown away too, hidden somewhere amongst the forest. All lost, along with their old selves.
Maybe that wasn?t such a bad thing, though.
Marisa had lost years of research, and Reimu had lost her confidence, among other things they couldn?t possibly know about yet, but they were both alive. Both here, sitting on the shrine porch as always, staring at the grounds and chatting. Their way of life was more precious than Marisa had ever realised. The thought that she?d almost spent her future without Reimu, sitting on the porch all alone by herself, made her want to cry.
Something clicked inside her. Marisa shuffled closer to Reimu. She couldn?t waste time now. Humans died so easily. Reimu could be snatched away from her again one day. She had to live in the present.
She wouldn?t hesitate this time. She would be like Sanae, and take the initiative.
With a shaking hand and a pounding heart, Marisa took Reimu?s hand, and leant forward.
?Marisa?? Reimu didn?t back away. Their lips brushed; a light kiss, too soft to make an impression, yet more than enough to change everything.
Marisa pulled away seconds later, embarrassed. ??I love you,? she murmured, afraid to look at Reimu. ?I thought you were gone for good.?
Reimu?s cheeks were bright red in shock. But finally, she smiled. ?Thank you,? she said, barely above a whisper. ?For saving me.?
Marisa shook her head, her heart sinking again. ?Sanae?s the one who saved you, not me.?
?I?m not stupid.? Reimu grasped the front of Marisa?s top. ?I came back because of you, Marisa. I heard your voice in the darkness. I?m not done with you yet.? She touched her cheek. Reimu?s hand was soft, warm. Human. Alive. ?Maybe I love you too.?
They kissed again, over and over, until the spring sunlight dimmed and the clouds reddened like autumn leaves.
The End
If I shout loud enough, maybe my feelings will be heard. It?s past 7am, and this is hungrybookworm! Those of you who read
The Fall will remember me talking about a sad reimari story where Reimu gets hit by lightning and dies. Well, this is it! Finally done after a year in the making.
I originally thought of writing this in May last year. I wrote about 2000 words of a first draft, then got depressed due to real life things and switched to
The Fall instead. Around January this year (2015) other real life things made me decide to pick it up again. Funny how that happens! I originally wanted to post it in late February. That was doable, right?
Nope.
This story was hell to write.
Total hell. I decided to be clever and do a
Sliding Doors style thing with Reimu living if Sanae?s in Gensokyo, so I had to write her dying twice (ask any writer and they?ll tell you death scenes are extremely difficult to do), make sure I didn?t repeat anything in both halves, then explain what the hell just happened to the poor readers. The version you?re reading now is my fourth attempt. The second and third attempts had about 7000 words of Reimu and Marisa sleeping in the shrine?s sanctuary and hanging out together, because I thought it?d make Reimu?s death have more impact. But it was boring, so I cut it. I think I threw out about 15,000 words total. Ouch.
But it?s here, it?s done. I can only hope it?s not confusing. There are a few things in this fic I kept deliberately vague ? such as whether the Hakurei God let Reimu die on purpose ? so sorry if you feel bothered by the lack of answers. It?s nice to keep things vague sometimes, though? The Hakurei God is such an arse in my stories! Sorry Hakurei God. Please don?t curse me.
Acknowledgements time. Firstly, a huge thanks to the amazing amemenojaku/Furu for providing pictures for this fic! There?s no picture for Chapter 3 because there wasn?t originally going to be a Chapter 3, haha whoops! Just use your imaginations. Also thanks to Rabbiteclair/UnmovingGreatLibrary for giving me some extremely helpful advice, and being a great friend to complain and ramble to. Also thanks to Brook/wrigglenightbug for telling me to get to work, lol. Also thanks to all my tumblr followers, and anyone who came here via my Japanese twitter! Sorry it?s all in English.
I?d also like to acknowledge the influence of Zounose?s
RAINFALL and Chapter 24 of
Wild and Horned Hermit. If you want more information on lightning safety, I recommend giving the
NOAA?s page on lightning a read. The survivor stories hosted on there were extremely helpful to say the least.
Okay this is long enough already! Thanks for reading, and I?ll see you next time!