Sweet Dreams

[Esifex]

This update was a splendid one~
I confess that I imagined this in Colonel Campbell's voice.

The scary thing is, so did I.
I have a talent for making things unnecessarily dramatic, as I am a...
say it with me now, Kimiko - LARGE HAM. It really is as fun as other hams seem to be having when being hammy. You should try hamming it up sometime

Anyways, I'm really hoping Renko doesn't fall asleep right after like, falling through a crack into Gensokyo, and ends up missing out.

{Edit} Oh no fair yours got to second page before mine did and it was entirely my fault. *hangs head in shame*

[Alfred F. Jones]

But what's with the sudden random insertions of Japanese words? The only reason I even understand some of the story is because I'm in my fourth year of Japanese and know some of these words.

I try to hide it as best I can, but I am an extreme stickler for accuracy, especially historical accuracy. I fully respect artistic license, but I try to minimalize the extent of its use. The only Western equivalents I would use for the term honden, for example, would be something along the lines of "inner sanctum", "inner shrine", or, worse yet, "holy of holies" from Deuteronomy, the last of which is used to refer to the residence of the Ark of the Covenant that the High Priest could only enter once a year. None of these really convey the same meaning as honden does in Shinto; "inner sanctum" just sounds incredibly lame, "inner shrine" doesn't make much sense, and "holy of holies" brings in all sorts of strange connotations with old-school Judaism that I'd rather avoid (monotheistic and polytheistic terms don't mesh well, I've realized). I think the closest equivalent would be "santuario", but that's in Spanish, so. :/

I hate the fact that I do so much research to write fantasy-genre fiction sometimes. >_>

{Edit} Oh no fair yours got to second page before mine did and it was entirely my fault. *hangs head in shame*

>:3

[Dorian White]

Things will becoming more and more absorbing now, you really know how to bond your readers.

[Furienify]

The only Touhou fanwork I've ever bothered to click on, and damn did I make a fine first choice.

[Esifex]

Lower your standards a bit, Furienify :v

Leavin' the rest of us wannabe authors out.

Try giving Reborn in Gensokyo a read.

White Rose of Chirieden, Rou's Random Shorts.

They're all good reads and well-written; this isn't a festering pit of slashfic and Naruto/DBZ/Touhou (ohgodivecreatedamonster) crossovers.

[Gpop]

White Rose of Chirieden

One of the very few I ever cared about.

[Furienify]

I've always been leery of fan works on principle, for some reason! :V Worried it would ruin the original material, likely. But I'll take your word for these.

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Yeah, this place seems to have higher standards in general. At least you weren't here for Pedonymous's fic ...

[Hideki]

What's also kinda nice is that shipping fics, while present, aren't quite the focus as with other places.  I don't mind shipping too much, but seeing a romance shoehorned awkwardly into an otherwise decent piece of fiction kinda ruins it for me. :/

[Esifex]

Fascinating debate on shortfics as it is, this WAS originally a story.

I'd be perfectly happy to start a thread on the merits of original storylines, but lets try to hold off on derailing a story.

Please continue with Sweet Dreams :3

OH AND THESE POSTS DON'T COUNT TOWARDS PAGE THREE, MEANEYFACE

[ruro]They most certainly do, especially since I'm not deleting them. :3[/ruro]

Enjoy them while they last, meaneyface. I shall wait until you approach page 3, then I shall condense all the contents of my posts into one and delete the leftovers! Mefefefefefeefeeee

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

You're a loony.

[Tengukami]

What I like about Renko is she's sort of a medium figure in Touhou - a human in the outside world who's good friends with someone who can see the Border. I think there's a lot of potential in this piece.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Last night, I came home at around 5:30 PM. Without even having time to change into my pajamas, I fell asleep at 6:00 PM and did not wake up until 7:00 AM this morning. That's thirteen solid hours of sleep. And that's not the first time something like this has happened to me.

The terror of knowing that you're sleeping your life away is something I hope no one else on this forum ever feels-- and at the same time, I wish that everyone would understand it, so that people would understand what it means to physically feel and know that you are running out of time in your life.

Take that into context when you read this.


Chapter Five

Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, three minutes
? WARNING ? LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR LEFT FOR TODAY ? WARNING ?

-----

I put the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind. ?Wait? so this house is a gateway to Gensokyo??

Maribel shrugged. ?Well, we don?t have to think that every single crack to another world is to Gensokyo. I have some reason to think that there are other worlds bound to Kyoto through various gates? but this shrine?s cracks definitely lead to Gensokyo.? She hummed for a moment. ?Not sure how to explain it to someone who can't see it, but it's pretty easy to tell by sight if a crack leads to Gensokyo. These are definitely holes in the barrier separating that world from ours, though.?

?So... Sanae?s been lying to us.?

?Of course she has.? Maribel pointed at the wall, at a crack I could not see. ?That doesn?t look like Sendai, does it??

?Oh, I was worried I was the only one who had seen through that.?

Maribel stuck her tongue out at me. ?I'm not stupid, Renko.?

I took off my hat. ?Sorry for thinking it.?

She glanced at her watch. ?12:31... oh, damn, we've spent a lot longer here than I thought we would...? She opened her mouth and yawned. ?I'm exhausted...?

?Should we call it a night and go home?? I asked.

?Yeah... yeah, that sounds good.? Maribel began to look a bit unsteady on her feet. Was she really that tired?

I nodded. ?Let's go, then.? I glanced over at the entrance through which we had come in. ?You know what, I'm going to hop down myself and then I'll be down there to catch you if you need it.?

?Sure.? Maribel nodded, her head rolling forward a bit. ?Sounds good.?

Yeah, she wasn't going to last much longer. I sighed and pulled the screen off of the entrance. Down there, the flashlight Maribel had left was still lighting up the room. The platform was steady.

I glanced back up before I took the jump. The slitted red eyes of the snake eyed me, and the snake itself was coiled and ready to pounce if I made a mistake in its eyes.  Maybe my nerves were just shot to bits, but I had an uneasy feeling that it was watching me.

Next to that, the frog didn't seem as intimidating. At the same time, I took note of the additional design behind the frog that the snake did not share. I was certain that I was starting to get sleepy myself, because for some reason the black wavy decorations behind it seemed to come to life for a half second. I wondered what they were doing there for a second, and then I remembered that Sanae herself had once told me about how Suwako had subjugated Mishaguji-sama, and that the story of her conquering the dark gods of old had been passed down through the ages. The dark tendrils back there must have been its influence.

And then I looked up, over me. Above me, somewhere where I could not see but Maribel could, there was a rope placed as a seal on the Moriya Shrine's gate to Gensokyo. It was bitter for me. I was a scientist, a born skeptic. I needed to prove to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that this fantasy realm that Maribel talked to me about was real. I wanted to find unequivocal proof that Gensokyo existed, and what better way of doing it than by going to visit myself? But without strange eyes like Maribel's, I would never be able to see the truth for myself one way or the other, and the idea of that hurt me.

I remembered the flash of green that had revealed the true form of the cracks in the boundary not more than a few minutes ago. Would I ever see that again? Would I ever get the chance to prove to my doubting mind that Gensokyo was real?

?Renko?? Maribel asked, and I blinked.

?Sorry, I got distracted.? I tried to smile at her, but it was faked. I hoped that she wouldn't notice in the dark. ?Okay, let's go.? I swung my legs over the opening and jumped down.

The wooden platform must have been nailed to the floor from below, because it didn't budge a centimeter when I landed on it. I reminded myself that I might not be as lucky the next time, and that I should remember to bring stronger boots later.

I hopped off the platform and stood on the dirty tatami next to it. ?All right, Mary,? I called up. ?Toss me the flashlight.?

She did so. I set it down pointing upwards so I could see Maribel clearly. I opened my arms to her. ?All right, jump down.?

Maribel nodded, closed her eyes, and jumped. She landed, but she lost her balance. She gave a small cry and began to fall backwards, but I reached out in time and yanked on her dress, and she fell on me.

?Mary, wake up!? I scowled as I lowered her to the ground. ?You could have gotten seriously hurt!?

Maribel looked up at me, then her eyes lost focus and she began to slip in my grasp. ?I... guess.? She yawned. ?I'm just so tired...?

?Well, you'll wake up soon with the cold air in your face.? I got her to her feet again and picked up our stuff, not letting Maribel take her own backpack. She was drowsy enough as it was. ?Come on.?

This seemed to galvanize Maribel. ?Right, going.?

She followed after me again, her unsteady steps falling on the tatami behind me. We made our way through the shrine in reverse, retracing our steps. Maribel was getting progressively exhausted. She fell through the wall at one point, tearing the paper door separating the dinner room from one of the guest rooms. I went back and picked her up, then helped her walk to the exit.

I did feel sorry for her. We had been going to sleep late at night for the past week or so, except for just last night. It must have taken a much bigger toll on Maribel than on me. Her sleep deficit was catching up to her.

?All right, here we are.? I slid open the last door and let in a full blast of the cold nighttime breeze. It wasn't terribly cold, but it was fresh enough that it brought Maribel back to her senses. She looked up and around at the Moriya Shrine grounds, her eyes refocusing on the torii gate. I led her out and walked along the path with her, the two backpacks' weight on me slowing me down more than I would have liked.

?What time is it?? she asked, yawning again.

I looked up at the sky. ?12:38. AM, I guess.?

She nodded and lay her head on my shoulder as we walked to the entrance to the grounds. ?You're really really weird, Renkobon,? she murmured in that charming way that sleep-deprived people do. ?Your eyes see all sorts of funky things.? She giggled.

I tried to laugh it off. ?Yeah, Okazaki-sensei thought it was funny too when I first showed her. She made me have a showdown with an atomic clock once. It only beat me because I take some time to pronounce a number.?

But her words stung more than she knew. Certainly my eyes were strange in their own way. But her eyes could see something that had been denied to me: the truth. I could believe the things that Sanae and Maribel brought to me-- oak leaves in the spring, cherry blossoms in the autumn, and the like-- but the fact remained that I had never seen Gensokyo with my own two eyes, and I was beginning to think I never would.

We made it to the shrine outer gate at 12:40 AM. There, our two bikes were waiting for us. Maribel motioned for me to hand over her backpack. I didn't want to, but I saw that she had gained some energy with the fresh breeze in her face, so I handed over my lighter backpack and kept hers.

?All right, let's head home.? I kicked up the brake of my bicycle and took off, circling around once to see that Maribel was steady on her bike. She seemed to be fine now, so I stopped my spin and rode off, Maribel behind me.

[Alfred F. Jones]

The ride back was quiet. The neighborhood was as quiet as it had been before. If we had stayed the entire night in the shrine, I doubt anyone would have taken notice. No one visited the shrine anymore, anyway. No one would have taken notice that there had been an intruder or two.

I did wonder if Sanae would return to the shrine, though. Speaking of... Maribel had said something earlier that bothered me now.

?That doesn?t look like Sendai, does it??

Certainly, the cracks were to Gensokyo. But really, wasn't it a bit of a stretch of logic to think that Sanae had gone there, and lived there? I knew she had never gone to Sendai, but immediately going from ?Sanae didn't go to Sendai? to ?Sanae moved to Gensokyo? was kind of out there...

Yet, it matched up with everything we knew. Sanae had always had a knack for falling into cracks in the border. I recalled the sketch she had drawn after one particular expedition, the ?Youkai Mountain?. It was the most detailed sketch in the whole notebook for one reason: she fell into that location so often that she always came back with more things to add to the drawing. It was slightly crazy, but what if Sanae had chosen to run away to Gensokyo and take up permanent residence there? It wasn't entirely out of the question, at least.

There was one thing to consider, though. Gensokyo was sealed for a reason-- to keep the youkai safe from the increasing power of the humans. I had once managed to get some books from Okazaki-sensei's library on local mythologies that dealt with precisely this issue. Though the legendary Hiziri Myouren, Hiziri Byakuren, and other saviors of youkai had popped up in the myths from time to time, the humans had always defeated them and continued to drive the youkai into the shadows. Gensokyo had been created as a refuge for them, from humans. How did a human like Sanae manage to fall into Gensokyo (in a place called Youkai Mountain, no less!) and not get eaten or tortured or killed or all three? She wasn't exactly the sanest person I knew-- she had a sci-fi otaku streak a kilometer wide-- but even then, not panicking when she saw monsters was very different from being able to stay alive for months. Unless, of course, she had managed to win the protection of a very formidable guardian, which was unlikely at best.

Operating on the assumption that she had in fact gone to Gensokyo and not just to some place that wasn't Sendai, how had she managed to survive in a world like that? And just as importantly, how had she gotten out? Was she intending to return? Could she bring us with her?

I was pondering these things for a few moments as I neared the top of a small incline, back to school. My eyes caught sight of the stars and automatically forwarded the time to me: 12:47 AM. I wondered if Maribel would have any insight on the matter; she had kept to herself the entire way back to the universit--

It was a quiet street, so the sound of Maribel's bike crashing against the pavement was loud enough for me to notice.

?MARY?!? I cried out, wanting to turn around. But then the hill pulled me back down. I acted against my instincts and took the risk, turning around completely to see Maribel's sprawled form lying on the ground, and her bike's wheels spinning in the air next to her. I thought I saw a stain of dark liquid under her, but the nearest streetlight was a ways off, so I couldn't see well. Her left leg was pinned beneath her bike. She wasn't moving.

?MARY!? I called out, riding my bike down the hill and braking as soon as I reached her side. I ran off of my bicycle, throwing off my backpack, and rushed to her, pulling her bike off of her. She was bleeding from a rather nasty wound on her shin; it wasn't particularly deep, but I would have to disinfect that as soon as we got back to my room.

I picked up Maribel's head. ?Mary,? I said. She didn't reply. Her eyes were closed. For a moment, my heart stopped. Had she hit the ground in such a way that she had hit her head and injured her back? Was she--

?Uhhh.? She groaned, at least. I let out a sigh of relief, even though I hated myself massively for not insisting on wearing a helmet. She could have died right there.

?Mary, are you all right?? I asked, but she only groaned again and lowered her head. I kept her head up and moved closer to her mouth. She was still breathing. I put my hand on her chest. Her heart was fine. So she wasn't dead, she was just... sleeping. Had she fallen asleep on her bike?

This was my fault. I hadn't wanted to waste any gas driving tonight because I was looking forward to watching the autumn leaves with her tomorrow, so I had planned for bikes tonight. If she hadn't been on a bike, she wouldn't have hurt herself.

I felt tears sting my eyes, but I rubbed them away. There was no point beating myself up right now. I would save that for later, in the privacy of my room. Getting Maribel someplace safe was a higher priority. But how could I move her? We were ten minutes away from the university, with two bikes and two backpacks. I could not carry all this; I was exhausted myself, and while I wasn't going to fall asleep on a moving bicycle, I didn't want to take any more risks tonight.

I thought of my cell phone. Could I call Okazaki-sensei? Of course I could. She would be more than willing to give us a ride-- but wasn't Sanae staying with her? How would I explain why we were out here so late at night around the Moriya Shrine? No, calling Yumemi was out of the question. We could not let Sanae know that we knew her secret. I would have to handle this myself.

Could I sit Maribel in my lap and hold on to the handlebars around her? There were few enough cars in this neighborhood that I might be able to get away with that, but I did not want to risk her falling again. And I could not simply leave our backpacks; they were full of too much information to risk losing, and some items in there, like Mary's exorcism charms, would prompt people to ask too many questions. But I could not think of any way to hook up her bicycle to mine and make it carry our things.

In the end, I decided to triage Mary's bike. I picked it up and set it on the sidewalk, propped up against the wall of a residence. I hoped it would be still be here when I returned for it tomorrow, but it would not be a huge loss if it were not. As for our backpacks, I had to abandon one of them. I took all of her things out of her pack and stuffed them into mine; my backpack was sturdier and slightly larger, and since it all fit into mine, it was a success. I reluctantly put this on her back; I would have preferred to carry it myself, but I would be carrying her, and that would be difficult enough.

Mary's leg kept bleeding. I pulled off my tie and wrapped it around the wound, forcing it to act as a bandage.

As for Maribel herself, I had to choose a rather... unsavory solution. I used some duct tape, taken from our supplies, and tied her hands together around my waist so she would stay on the bike. I set her down on the seat, moving forward so I could ride myself. The combined weight of our backpacks and Mary may have not been that much, but I was almost as sleep-deprived as she was. I didn't have much strength left.

It took some time to get this all set up. It was 12:54 AM when I finally managed to get moving again. I took a deep breath and with a grunt of effort, I set off, riding uphill with Maribel tied to me and a too-large backpack and gravity weighing me down. Somewhere in my head, my mind came up with the perfect equation to determine the force I needed to get up this angle with all this weight, disregarding friction. I just hoped I was capable of it.

The hill wasn't all that steep anyway. It just seemed so much higher with all the weight on my back. I did manage to make it to the top of the hill, and then I realized I could have theoretically just carried Maribel and set up everything up here. I cursed myself for being so shortsighted. What was wrong with me? My concern for my best friend was overriding my logic.

Again, I reminded myself to not beat myself up about this just yet. I had to get Mary someplace safe first.

The rest of the path would be easy from here, since there were no more hills or bumps up ahead. Thank god for the wheel. It truly was humanity's greatest invention. But the next time we went on expedition, I promised to myself, we would use my car.

Mary's head rolled onto my shoulder as I rode. I noticed that her head was bare. I must have missed her hat when I picked her up. It had been dark, it would have been easy to miss. I was half-tempted to go back and get it, but I decided I would just grab it when I went back for her bicycle tomorrow.

I rode through the streets at a sluggish pace, back to the university. At 1:09 AM, I finally made it back to the baseball field where I had met Maribel earlier. It was still some distance from here to the middle of campus where my dorm was. I was exhausted.

I rode my bike over the packed earth, hoping the bumping wouldn't make Maribel fall off. But the duct tape held, and I made it to the dorm building entrance. My legs were sore from all the pedaling and my arms felt like they were going to fall off. I wanted to bring the bike inside the building, so it would be just a little bit easier, but it probably wouldn't fit in my room.

I left the bike unchained outside of the building. I undid the duct tape around Maribel's hands and pulled her arms up. She was still sleeping. I pulled her arms over my shoulders and picked up her legs so that she was riding on my back. I looked down at the ground, where I had tossed the heavy backpack, and groaned. I kicked it along as I opened the dorm entrance and turned a left.

I had never been so happy that I had managed to nab a first-floor dormitory when I registered for classes this year. It was 1:15 AM when I finally managed to open the door of my room and drop Maribel onto the closest bed. I tossed the backpack off of my back, immediately feeling lightheaded and woozy. Drained, tired, and dizzy, I collapsed onto the bed next to Maribel, having only enough time to pull a blanket over the both of us before I passed out.

-----

Confirmed total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, one minute (as of Oct. 18 2009. 12:46 AM)

... damn. It just keeps going down, faster and faster each day. At this rate, I do not have much longer to live as a normal person. Before the end of this week's fall break, I'll be asleep more hours than I'll be awake, and then...

I've been lucky so far that this began to happen to me when I was already nineteen. My older brother came down with it in middle school, my older sister in high school. They never had a chance to do what they wanted. I had hoped that perhaps the sad fate of my family had skipped me. My father wrote in his will that he hoped the stain in his blood had passed me by. My mother, on her deathbed, had also said she wished she had been able to spare her children and that if nothing else, she was happy I would live the rest of my life without it.

But it seems that was not my fate.

Oh well. It doesn't matter. I've done all I can do with this life I've been given. All I have yet to do is tell Renko about... this thing that's destroying me, and tell her how much she means to me. I don't want to have to do this, but I must. I want to spare her the pain, I really do. I'm actually surprised she hasn't noticed yet. She's usually so observant... but she's been distracted lately, trying to find the truth, feeling bad that she cannot see the borders the way I can. Oh, Renko, if you only knew what price this ability has been bought for!

We're going on vacation, starting tomorrow. This is good; I want to spend my every waking moment now with her, with nothing separating us, no border between us. Perhaps I can work up the courage to tell her then, under the falling autumn leaves of Heian-Kyō, what is happening to me, what my unique blood really means-- and how much I will miss her.

I don't have time for politeness or caring about sensibilities anymore. I do not have much time between me and sleep never-ending. I have accepted my fate, will accept my fate with all the grace I can-- but I will not accept keeping Renko in the dark any longer. She must know the truth, and soon, or it will be too late.

- Maribel Hearn, Oct. 18 2009, 6:23 AM (Estimated time left: Two weeks)


And now for some news: I think I shall have to take a break from this piece. Updating White Rose reminded me how much I enjoy my pastime of making Koishi's life miserable, and quite frankly, I'm stuck on this particular piece of plot in Sweet Dreams. Moving this fic into its second phase is not looking like it will be easy, and I really want to go back to White Rose for a little while. So please don't expect an update on this next week.

See you folks later, and thanks for reading! o/

[Sana]

...So today, I learned "galvanize" can be used for things other than chemistry, and duct tape should be carried around everywhere. :S

No Renkorenkorenkomary next week is saddening, but I guess it's to be expected when you're writing multiple things at once...

[Alfred F. Jones]

...and duct tape should be carried around everywhere. :S

When was the last time you were in high school? You should carry that shit around EVERYWHERE. It's invaluable. >:|

[Sana]

Hey, I was only in high school...7 months ago! And I never needed duct tape in high school because I never had to carry unconscious people on my back while biking. >:<

[Alfred F. Jones]

We must have gone to very different high schools, then.

(btw, Renko's uni is similar to mine in one respect: At my school, all you had to do was go around the back and yes, it was like you were back in late 1800s Colorado, horses and all. Fun times!)

[Chaore]

With Sana there.

Also, Interesting turn of events, if not entirely unexpected.

Frankly, I should have seen this coming, myself. :V

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

... *facedesk*

That's it, I'm outta here. *sfx footsteps, door slam*

[Yamachanadu]

Ouch, you wound us Ruro

[Tengukami]

It'll all be fine once Maribel wakes up in her true form.

[nintendonut888]

And the story takes a turn for the depressing. Still good though.

[Solais]

Mary and her family was Yukari's Avata--

* Solaiston Beam is brutally murdered with books.

Anyway, I really like this piece, I wonder how it will end, hope it will be a Good satisfying ending.

[Serp]

The best Good Ends are the ones that have been hard-earned through the protagonists' sweat and blood.  I'm still hoping for Renko to pull an Emiya Shirou here.

[IcedFairy]

I knew I should have hunted this place down earlier.  Good to see another piece of yours Ruro.  Boarder futzing at it's finest.  This could turn out very badly, but I see hope here.  I'm rooting for the two!

So Mary's condition is related to her bloodline, I wonder....

And now to go through 6 more pages of fics.  I really should have come here earlier...

[Alfred F. Jones]

Oh my god. It's been way too long. Curse you, writer's block!

Wednesday update, and a late one indeed. It's been a while since I've disciplined myself like this, updating weekly. I've fallen out of practice. It'll take a while to get back to constant writing, the way I was before. Please be patient with me, dear readers, because your writer not only happens to be a busy college student, she's also a complete idiot （?・ω・｀）

I won't delay you any longer. Here's the next chapter.


Chapter Six

Confirmed total average waking hour capacity: Sixteen hours, one minute

-----

I woke up and I groaned. Then I remembered that I was on break, and I didn?t have to wake up early and dash off somewhere, so I sighed with some relief.

Then I noticed Maribel. I vaguely began to remember what had happened last night-- and so I remembered that Mary being awake was a very good thing.

She was sitting on the bed, the backpack that I had had to cram our stuff into next to her. She was turned away from me, and she was leaning forward, writing something in a notebook. I wanted to surprise her with a hug, so I crawled forward on the bed, noticing that I had been too tired to change into decent pajamas last night, and came up behind her. I sat back on my knees so that I overlooked her shoulders, ready to tacklehug her.

I did manage to catch a glimpse of what she was writing in her notebook: it was a series of numbers, arranged in two columns, copied from what seemed like scrap pieces of paper scattered over her lap. Vaguely, I wondered what use a psychology major would have for number lists, but that was irrelevant. First things first, after all.

So I threw my arms around Maribel. ?Good morning!?

?Ah!? Maribel looked startled; I hadn?t managed to do that good of a job concealing my noise as I approached, but she had been so absorbed in her writing that she hadn?t heard me coming. But the look of fear and surprise on her face soon wore off, and she smiled back, brushing the scraps of paper into her notebook and setting it down on the backpack. ?Hey, Renko.?

?Are you feeling all right?? I asked. Now the memory of last night was becoming clear to me. I hugged Maribel to me, happy to feel her safe in my arms. ?You fell pretty hard last night.?

?Oh, yeah,? Maribel replied, trailing off. She scratched her cheek with one hand. ?Sorry about that. I guess I must have fainted or something.?

?No, you didn?t.? I still remembered how my heart had leapt out of my chest and into my throat when I saw Maribel?s body lying on the ground like that last night-- and the relief when I realized that she had been fast asleep. ?You fell asleep, not fainted.?

When Maribel had woken up earlier, she must have been the one to open the windows and let the morning sunshine in. So there was enough light for me to see her face turn-- pale? What the hell for? Maybe she was embarrassed, but how could anyone be embarrassed for their sleeping habit-- oh. Maybe it was that...

 ?Ahahaha, that?s silly. Who ever heard of someone falling asleep while riding a moving bicycle??

But I already understood. I turned to her.

?It?s fine, Mary. I just figured out what you?re hiding.?

?Wh-- WHAT?!? Maribel stammered. She looked horrified at my discovering her secret. ?Wh-- how did you-- what did you--?

I shook my head. ?Did you really think I wouldn?t have figured it out by now? All the signs are there. You shouldn?t have tried to keep it a secret, Mary.?

She turned to me, putting her hands on my arms. ?But-- no, what--?

?You should have told me right off, before we went on expedition last night,? I went on, staring her down. ?What if something had happened? You could have gotten seriously hurt, and you almost DID get seriously hurt!?

?I?m so sorry,? she began, her eyes shining. ?Renko, I?m so sorry... I knew I should have told you from the start??

?It?s all right, Mary,? I assured her, clasping her hands. ?I completely understand.?

?Y-- you do?!? Maribel exclaimed. She began to smile a bit. ?R-really??

?Sure.? I returned the smile. ?That?s what friends are for.?

?Oh, thank you, Renko!? She pulled her hands out of mine and embraced me. ?Thank you so much!?

I patted her back. ?It?s the least I can do. So you don?t have to worry about a thing.?

?Oh, thank yo--?

?Because I?ll drive your car, just so you can get more rest.?

?Eh?? Maribel sounded surprised.

?That?s the least I can do, isn?t it? You?ve been putting up a brave front this whole time, but now that I know you?re severely sleep-deprived, you don?t have to hide your sleepiness in front of me any longer.?

Maribel released me from the hug and backed up. ?What??

?I?ve already driven your car before, you know,? I replied, hoping to settle her fears. ?I?ve got no problem with driving it to Ryōan-ji if you want to get some sleep in the back.?

?If you want to slee-- hah,? Maribel laughed. She sounded a bit angry for a moment, but it was gone quickly. ?Oh well.?

I frowned. ?Really, you should have told me this ages ago. I would have helped you out any way I could.?

Maribel paused for a moment. Then she got a strange look in her eye that I couldn?t immediately place and slowly took hold of my right hand. ?Do you really mean that??

?Yes,? I said, hoping my voice sounded firm. ?I do.?

Her other hand did not take hold of mine, but rather, she raised it up and put it on my shoulder, then ran it through my messy bedhead hair.

?Thank you,? she said with a smile. There was something about that smile that made my face feel hot, but I had no idea why. Even then, the sensation of her hand in my hair felt great, so I didn?t move her hand.

?I care for you, Mary. If I can help in any way, just tell me.?

?Okay then,? she agreed. I saw a faint blush come to her cheeks too. It made me smile to see her that happy.

Mary's lips parted, and for a half-second, I thought she was going to say something--

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

?Ah,? I said, feeling the haze in my head clear once and for all. ?It's 7:00 AM. G'morning, Mary.?

She hesitated for a moment, but then she smiled and nodded. ?Good morning, Renko.?

Remembering what time it was reminded me of what day it was, and I slapped my own forehead for my sleepiness-induced stupidity.

?It's Sunday,? I said, forgetting the actual date for a moment.

?October 18th,? Maribel clarified. ?We should be leaving soon, shouldn't we??

?Hm.? I fiddled with my tie, refocusing my mind on what needed to get done today. ?We're going to the Ryōan-ji temple for vacation, right??

She nodded, her blonde hair falling forward off her shoulders. ?We've still got to pack, though.?

I also nodded, but there was something that was bothering me that I couldn't quite put my finger on. ?Maybe we should get breakfast first, though.?

?I'm not sure what place is open this early,? she replied, wrapping one of her locks of blonde hair around her finger without seeming to notice. ?Maybe we could find a food stand.?

My eyes fixated on her finger, and then I had it.

?Mary, can you do me a favour?? I asked.

?What is it?? she asked as I stood up and undid my tie, then quickly unbuttoned my own shirt and tossed it to the side. ?Re--Renko! What are yo--?

?Last night, I had to leave your bike out on the street,? I replied, cutting her off as I reached into the small dresser where I kept my clothes to grab a shirt. It was a black dress shirt, which I was fine with. Dress shirts were my preferred shirts, and I threw it on, then undid the buttons on my black skirt while I turned around to grab a skirt or pair of pants, whichever met my hand first. ?And your backpack, too. I have to go pick it up before we leave and I forget all about it.?

?Re--Renko, put something on!? Maribel stammered as she pulled a pillow up to her red face.

I frowned at her. ?I am putting something on,? I said, kicking my skirt off while I buttoned up my new black shirt. ?I can't go out wearing the same clothes I did last night.?

?Bu--but we're riding in my car, aren't we?? she attempted to ask in a clear voice, but she was nervous. I could see why she may have been a bit embarrassed, since I was stripping down in front of her, but really, we were best friends. We'd both seen each other wearing less before, and besides, we were both girls, so what was the big deal?

I was tugging on a pair of gray pants as I answered, ?Yes, but I can't just leave your bike behind--? and then I remembered something else, so I pointed at Maribel's bare head. ?And I can't leave your hat behind, either.?

?Ah,? Maribel gave a small gasp as she touched the top of her head. ?I have some other hats, though...?

?Yes, but that one's your favourite, isn't it?? I buttoned up my pants and pulled on a pair of black tennis shoes, all the better for moving quickly. ?Sorry I had to leave them behind last night, but it was hard to carry you and all our stuff back here. I'll go grab 'em.? I tied up the tennis shoes, stood up, and reached over to the hook on the wall where my ties hung. ?If you can pack up our stuff in the meanwhile, that'd be great.?

She nodded, slowly pulling the pillow away from her face. ?Right then. Are you going on foot, Renko??

?Makes it easier to just ride your bike back here,? I explained, straightening my tie and adjusting my clothes. I reached over to the dresser where I had left my keyring and cell phone and nodded to Maribel. ?Well then, I'm off,? I said, pulling my hat off of the top of my desk chair. ?Back in a half hour.?

?Ah--? she was about to say something, but I was already halfway out the door.

But she was my best friend, so I couldn't just be a jerk and walk out. I popped my head back in before I had closed the door. ?What is it, Mary??

?Oh--? she seemed surprised that I had noticed. Maybe a bit nervous. She bit her lip.

I waited patiently, noting the digital clock behind her. 7:04 AM.

?I'll tell you later,? she said, waving me off. ?When we've got more time. Remind me later, okay??

I nodded, tipping my hat to her. ?Back in a bit, then.? I left, locking the door behind me.

-----

[Alfred F. Jones]

With the sun shining the way it was over the distant cityscape, its rays of light warming the cold morning air, it was hard to believe that not a few hours ago, I had been wandering around in a shrine and encountered powers and mystical things so strange and shrouded in mystery that I may as well have been in a prior century.

There was a bit of fog, but the sun was dispelling it. I wasn't in any particular rush, because there weren't too many people walking around in this neighborhood so early in the morning, but I didn't want to slack off either, so I went at a decent fast pace. The steady rhythm of my feet lulled me to thinking, and without music to distract me, I began to wonder about last night.

It all seemed so... surreal, like it had happened many years ago, to some other girl who was not me. But no, I had definitely seen, even for just a half-second, the hairline-thickness cracks in the boundary that separated Gensokyo, the world of illusion, from mine.

But it was just so impossible to believe. I couldn't believe it. I was too much of a skeptic for that. Yes, there were some miraculous coincidences that had allowed me to hope for a moment that Gensokyo existed-- and there was the small matter that Maribel said Gensokyo existed, and I could not bring myself to doubt her-- but still. I needed to see it with my own two eyes, inhale its breeze, touch it with my hands, feel its existence as I could feel the pavement beneath my feet.

By this time, I was starting to confuse myself. I couldn't figure it out; didn't I want to visit Gensokyo? Didn't I want to believe as desperately as anything? I was being erratic, wasn't I? One moment, I believed in Gensokyo beyond a shadow of a doubt, and the other, denying what little evidence I could find.

I wished.... gah, this was hard to put into words. I didn't want to think of myself being this selfish. But I was.

I wished I had Maribel's eyes, so that I could see the truth of Gensokyo's existence.

I felt guilty about thinking she was lying. She couldn't be lying to me. What she said was too complex for any one imagination. The visions she saw, the dreams she had, the cracks she had peered through-- all internally consistent, if a bit unbelievable. And yet there was a nagging, paranoid part of me that wanted to go further, see it for myself, not having to rely on the word of people I trusted-- and wasn't thinking that way a betrayal of Maribel, in a way? I was saying that I didn't trust her enough to just accept what she said.

But still... was it so selfish to want to experience Gensokyo myself, without someone having to hold my hand to do it? To be able to believe in it, without any doubts?

Truth be told, that was why I was coming out here this early in the morning. In the sun of the daytime, I could fool myself into thinking that last night had never happened, that I had never made my way to the honden of the Moriya Shrine, that I had never found the statues of the frog and the snake, that I had never been so close to a crack in the boundary of Gensokyo, enough to reach out and touch it...

I took a deep breath and climbed the slight hill. On the other side, there would be the proof I needed.

Finding the bicycle and backpack I had left on the street where Maribel had fainted would put an end to those doubts. If I could go back and find them, I could confirm the events of last night, and no longer be able to deny that we had been in the Moriya Shrine, and that I had seen all those things, that my mind wasn't just so desperate to believe that it was making things up, that I really could some day go to Gensokyo--

When I reached the top of the hill, I looked down, and let out a sigh of relief.

There. I walked down to see it. There it was. Maribel's bicycle, that I had had to leave last night. Maribel's backpack, which I had been forced to leave behind. Proof that I had been where I was last night, that it hadn't just been a dream.

I allowed myself a smile.

Then, there was hope I could go to Gensokyo someday...

Thankfully, the bike and backpack were in perfect shape. The bike had stayed where I had left it leaning against the wall of a house, and the backpack had been hanging off of one of the handlebars. The morning dew hadn't been enough to leave any lasting damage. In fact, the seat had dried just enough for me to wipe it off and sit comfortably on it. Maribel's bike was taller than mine, but not by much; I got used to the feeling fast enough, and throwing the backpack over my shoulders, I began to pedal my way back to the hill, and back to school.

I didn't remember until halfway home that I had not seen Maribel's hat, but by this time, I was so hungry that I didn't care to go back and search for it. An animal had probably picked it up. Oh well. I shouldn't have expected to save everything.

The bike and backpack were all I needed for proof. I gripped the handlebar, trying to control the wide smile that was spreading over my face as I realized-- Yes, despite my doubt, skepticism, despair, there was proof, evidence, a basis for this wild hope, the hope that one day, I, Renko Usami-- I could someday go to Gensokyo!

-----

Estimated total average waking hour capacity: Fifteen hours, fifty-one minutes

End of Chapter Six.


In the interests of full disclosure, I must say this: No one should expect me to write anything halfway decent anytime soon. :V I've still got to get back to the swing of things... Please be patient with me!

[Yamachanadu]

Good job ruro!  Don't worry, you'll snap out of it, hopefully without resorting to sleep deprivation like I am.  Stupid essays.

[Iced Fairy]

Ah, I'd been looking forward to seeing more of this.  Worth waiting for even if it isn't on a weekly basis.  Alas poor Renko, your logical deductions will get you nowhere.  Well not for a while at least.  I wonder how my guesses will pan out.

...  I should write something with those two.  Another thing for my list...