Alice thought she was getting the hang of the outside world. The bustle of people wasn't that new to her, having come from the cities of Makai. She'd already figured out what those lights at each intersection were for, and even though the wares being sold were odd, shops were shops. She was still having a bit of an issue with the currency though. All the prices looked astronomical, until she remembered how huge the numbers on the bills Sanae was carrying were.
Still some things weren't as obvious.
"Hey Sanae," Alice asked as they passed another one of the odd shops. "Why did that hotel have an hourly rate?"
Momiji smirked as Sanae turned bright red. "Well... Uh, you see.... Some people still live with their parents. So if they want, er, privacy...."
It took Alice a few moments to make the connection. Then she shook her head in embarrassment and confusion. People needed to PAY to find a room around here? Then again she might have been forced to similar measures if she'd stayed in Pandemonium. Sighing she began looking at the other shops. "So where are we going to grab a shower cap?"
Sanae thought for a moment. "I think we're a little distant from the department stores, but I bet there's a convenience store that has one."
Momiji raised an eyebrow at the loanword, but didn't ask about it. Instead she pointed at a shop which had a lot of electronic devices stacked about. "Mind if we go in there first? I think it'd have something for Nitori."
?Hm. Maybe I could grab something cheap for Patchouli to investigate as well,? Alice added. ?Too bad Marisa?s got Kourin to steal from or I could handle this in one trip.?
?Sure.? Sanae nodded and led the trio into the store.
?It looks like Marisa?s house,? Alice muttered as she entered the building proper. She?d assumed that the mess outside was more to display products, however the inside was similarly filled with piled boxes. There were walking areas, but they were small and thin. Alice would bet money that Momiji?s ears were folded back under her hat.
Still despite the questionable quarters there were plenty of electronic devices to choose from. Rice cookers took up a good chunk of the front real estate, but toasters, vacuums, and cameras had small enclaves further in, and in the farthest depths the strange assortment of massagers, recording devices and items Alice couldn?t begin to figure out took over.
After a bit of thought Alice discarded the cooking and cleaning appliances from her selections. Sakuya?s skill meant Patchouli didn?t worry about those things, and the elder mage wasn?t interested enough in creating intelligence to want to dissect the self cleaning ones. Instead she picked out one of the recording devices. Even with Koakuma?s help keeping notes on all of Patchouli?s myriad experiments was a Herculean task. Alice figured the purple magician would appreciate any help she could get in that regard. Deciding which one of the devices to pick was a much more difficult job. She picked the one with an ?internal drive? figuring the less pieces the better.
Her decision made, she moved to join Sanae and Momiji as the two looked over cameras. To the puppeteer?s surprise Sanae seemed just as confused as the wolf tengu when looking over the devices.
"I didn't expect the selection to be so limited," Sanae muttered. "Have cell phone cameras completely taken over?"
"Perhaps it's more specialized gear," Momiji asked. "I know Aya complains about the younger tengu not using proper camera technology."
Sanae ran her fingers through her side tail as she considered it. "You might be right. All my friends used their phone cameras after all."
Alice looked over the set. "Well isn't Nitori just going to take it apart anyway? You just need to find something she doesn't already know about."
Momiji chuckled. "That's true." She picked up a box. "I'll take the one that claims it can do pictures and video then."
"Hopefully that bullet canceling nonsense only works with photography and not video," Sanae muttered.
Alice shivered and even Momiji looked pensive. "I'll remind Nitori that there are some scientific problems that shouldn't be solved, even if they can be," Momiji said.
"The rest of the universe thanks you," Alice replied.
They paid for their gifts, then stepped into another crowded store to grab Momiji a 'one size fits all' cap. The wolf tengu snorted at that as well, but didn't question it out loud. Probably because getting a shower cap to fit wasn't a difficult task.
As they escaped the press of the store Alice stretched. "Well then, now that we're finished, let's get dinner."
"Something with a fair amount of meat please," Momiji said.
Sanae looked over at Momiji cautiously. "Um, you don't need, uh, anything special to eat do you?"
Alice swore she could see the wolf tengu's ears twitch under the hat. "I'm a tengu," Momiji said. "I can do just fine with human food. I simply prefer red meat. And if I'm going to be stuck on this trip I might as well make the most of other people's money."
"Oh," Alice couldn't tell if Sanae was disappointed or not. The woman had a great number of quirks apparently. "Alright. Let's look for a steak house then."
They continued down the shopping district, until a large restaurant caught Sanae's eye. "Aha! And we're ahead of the dinner rush," Sanae said.
The trio waited for a few minutes before being seated. Looking over the menu Alice saw a large number of cuts, but she wasn't really sure of the terminology. Makai apparently butchered things differently. In the end she picked something that claimed to be a lean cut. Sanae ordered a more marbled cut, while Momiji ordered the largest steak on the menu, and asked for a full baked potato as a side.
"How do you eat all that?" Sanae asked the waiter hurried off.
"Guarding the mountain isn't just standing around," Momiji said. "I practice sword work every day, and do endurance training every month. You learn to enjoy meals."
Alice raised an eyebrow at that. "I see. I thought you tengu might be naturally skilled like the oni."
Momiji grimaced. "The oni are one of the reasons we force ourselves to train. It takes years of work to become an equal of the weakest oni. If we don't keep ourselves strong they can just walk in and take over."
"And those oni just lay around and drink." Sanae shook her head. "It sounds unfair."
"It is," Momiji muttered. "The worst thing is Aya's almost convinced me that the Devas are deliberately allowing themselves to get soft, just so they have a challenge."
Alice felt her lip curl into a frown. She despised oni for that specific reason. Fortunately the arrival of their dinner interrupted her dark thoughts.
The steak was quite good. Alice rarely ate cow meat in any great quality so it was an interesting change. Shinki had prefered the animals native to Makai, and Gensoukyo really lacked enough cows to go all out. The steak lacked the inherent spiciness of wyvern steak, but the way it combined with a simple layer of salt was great.
Momiji seemed to be enjoying her meal as well, though the wolf tengu's fork use was a little spotty. Then again everyone except Remilia and Sakuya were spotty compared to her mother and Yumeko's standards.
"So," the wolf tengu said. "Are you going to tell us what we're doing here now? Or will Sanae and I be sitting in the hotel while she catches up on her mecha shows?"
Alice sighed. "I suppose I have to explain." She set down her fork and sipped at her wine. "I'm not sure about all the details, but the first thing we're going to do is visit the police and look into missing person reports."
Sanae looked up from her meal. "Eh? Who's the missing person?"
"Me," Alice replied.
She took a deep breath to steady herself and lifted her book bag slightly. "I'm uncertain if you two know, but I was from the outside world. On my fifth birthday I got a book as a present. A magic book." She turned back to the steak, idly cutting it into chunks. "That book took me to Makai and made me the magician I am today. But I always wondered about the people I left behind."
Sanae's eyes widened. "So you're searching for your birth parents."
"Yes." Alice took a bite before continuing. "My divination spells said this is the city I was living in at the time of my transformation. So if there's any records, it will be here."
Momiji nodded slowly. "That makes sense. So what will we be doing?"
"Helping me look through paperwork mostly," Alice replied. "Past that... we'll see."
Her two traveling companions nodded their assent, then they returned to their meals.
As the three finished up, Alice noticed she was still mildly hungry. "That's right. I should buy some snacks on the way back. I'm going to need more food than I'm used to."
Sanae turned her attention over to Alice. "Huh, why's that?"
Alice sighed, "Because unlike Momiji I do have a specialized diet. And ambient magic is harder to come by out here."
"Oh! That makes sense." Sanae fiddled with her snake hair band for a bit, then she sat upright. "Wait, uh..." Sanae looked around before leaning into the table and whispering, "Should we be so open about things?"
"Talking is fine," Alice replied. "No one can prove anything off that. Basically so long as they don't get pictures we shouldn't worry. Or if we start acting like we have a big secret."
Sanae frowned, "I guess." Momiji simply shrugged. The wolf tengu obviously didn't care how big a splash she made.
----------
The warmth of the bath seeped through Sanae's body as she sat in the hot water. Across from her Momiji fiddled with her shower cap, while Alice soaked off to the side. "I missed baths I didn't have to heat myself," Sanae said.
"One of the nice things about what the kappa are doing," Momiji admitted. Alice just hummed in agreement.
Sanae stirred the water a bit with her hands allowing the water to scald her a bit. The constant temperature was something even the hot springs in Gensoukyo couldn't match.
Momiji rolled her arms to work the kinks out. "It seems we didn't need to worry about other guests." The bath had been empty all evening.
"If we hadn't gotten a cap for you it would have been full up," Alice replied without opening her eyes.
"Maybe." Momiji sank back down under the water before standing. "I suppose we might need it tomorrow. Might as well enjoy the relaxation while we can."
Sanae stood as well. They had been sitting for a while. Too much longer and she'd start to get wrinkled. As she walked to the towel racks she heard a long sigh from Alice behind her followed by the sounds of the magician leaving the tub.
As she dried off, she noticed a long scar along Momiji's ribs. She caught herself staring and turned back to the towel rack, but apparently her surprise had been noticed. "Something odd, Sanae?" Momiji asked.
"Nothing, sorry." Sanae worked on drying her hair. "I just didn't realize youkai could get scars."
Momiji chuckled. "Ah. We can, but it takes more work than it does for you humans. The wound has to mean something. Either to our attacker, or to ourselves."
"I didn't know that," Alice said.
"I see..." Sanae finished drying and put on the hotel yukata. "So... this was an important training accident?"
She heard Momiji and Alice put on their own yukata and turned back to face the other women. To her surprise Momiji was frowning slightly. "It wasn't a training accident. A youkai exterminator gave me that wound, with his dying breath."
"Eh?!" Sanae's jaw dropped. Someone had tried to exterminate Momiji? And Momiji had killed them?!
The wolf tengu snorted. "Kids. You forget I was born before the Hakurei Barrier." The woman thought for a moment, then continued her story. "Back when the tengu had many cities in the outside world. My family laid claim to a mountain, but the humans decided they wanted some of our hunting grounds. When we killed some intruders, they sent for some warrior monks. Wandering shrine maidens were more rare in that era." Momiji traced the scar line. "That's when I got this."
"I... see..." Sanae bit her lip at the revelation. Momiji shook her head slightly and headed out of the baths.
Sanae looked over at Alice, but the blond magician just shrugged. Sanae grimaced and turned to follow.
Fortunately the elevator stopped the wolf tengu from out walking her. "Momiji." Sanae saw the tengu's ears twitch. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to pry."
Momiji gave her a sharp look, then relaxed. "You did, but I imagine you actually believed it was a training accident." The wolf tengu glanced to the reception area. "Well, it's not a big secret."
"I'm sorry your family had to go through that," Sanae said.
The wolf tengu seemed to shrug off her dark mood. "It was many years ago. All the humans involved are dead and buried. Don't worry about it."
The ride back up seemed longer than it should have. Momiji and Alice both seemed to wear silence like a cloak, and Sanae couldn't help but fidget. The ding of the elevator reaching their floor was a welcome relief, and Sanae hurried to the room.
Momiji and Alice followed in more leisurely. Momiji began to unfold her futon, while Alice headed over to her bag immediately and unhooked the doll from it. "How have you been, Shanghai?"
Sanae blinked as the doll animated and rushed over to hug Alice. The magician patted the doll and said, "I missed you too. I'm sorry you had to play dead all day."
"Uh," Sanae weakly raised a hand. "Should you really be doing that? I mean, sure we're in our room but..."
Momiji pointed at the doll. "Doesn't it waste magic?"
Shanghai stamped her foot in the air, while Alice turned to face them. "Magic used to animate Shanghai isn't a waste. And I feel odd without her. Get used to it."
"Okaaay." Sanae decided not to question the magician. "I suppose it is cute." Shanghai huffed and turned away from her compliment with a blush. 'How did she make a plush doll blush?' Sanae wondered.
"I suppose a doll to a puppeteer is like a sword to a warrior," Momiji said.
Shanghai put her hands on her hips and nodded proudly at that. "Exactly," Alice said.
Sanae turned to the TV. "We should double check the weather I guess. Don't want to get caught without our umbrellas."
She spent an hour or so watching the news along with Momiji, while Alice sewed a doll outfit with Shanghai's 'help.' It seemed like a slow news day, though Sanae was a little lost. Years of being out of touch had stripped a lot of the context from day to day news events.
When the program was over, Sanae turned off the TV. The comedy show after didn't really appeal to her. She looked over to her companions and found Alice had already drifted to sleep, Shanghai cradled in her arms. Momiji had walked to the small window and was staring outside. Sanae hesitantly moved to join her.
At first she didn't realize what the wolf tengu was looking at. Hiroshima was bigger than her home city, but the lights of downtown were still similar. Then she realized the truth. Momiji had never seen anything like this before.
"Is it always this bright, even at midnight?" Momiji asked quietly.
"Yeah. The streetlights run the whole night." Sanae moved to stand beside the wolf tengu and gazed out on the flickering lights of the city. "It's kind of beautiful, from a distance."
The wolf tengu's eyes wandered over the scene, then glanced upwards. "It is. But it is a fearsome beauty." Momiji shook her head. "To banish the night with lights brighter than the moon. Blotting out the stars with your own lanterns... I think I'm starting to understand why humans rule the world instead of youkai."
Sanae felt her own gaze rising upwards, to the night sky. When she was a child she would have considered this a clear night. Now, having seen the stars in the dark nights of Gensoukyo, the brilliance of the galaxy seemed muted and distant.
She looked back down, to the well lit streets and convenient stores she still occasionally missed. The little things that not only made life easier, but probably saved the lives of many people each year.
"I guess you can't have them both," Sanae whispered quietly.
Momiji started at her words, then looked down at the city again. "Maybe not."
The wolf tengu turned away from the window. "We should probably get some sleep. Finding those records will be difficult." She walked over to her futon and lay down. "Besides, this isn't our world to fix anymore."
Sanae stared out the window mulling over Momiji's words, before turning and heading to her own bed.