Finished in time to save the topic from hitting page 2!
-------
Yukari was half-tempted to lie there and then. Tell Reimu that she was mistaken, that the funeral hadn't happened yet, and that she should just go to bed and stop worrying about silly things like that. Then she saw the copy of the Bunbunmaru sitting in the corner of the room and realised that strategy was doomed from the start.
"...Yes. It was today."
"What was it like?"
Reimu's voice was as neutral as it had been before, even when discussing the death of one of her closest friends. Yukari swallowed, wishing she could just gap herself away and never come back.
But she couldn't. She had reasons to be here, and so she had to wait it out.
"...There was a procession through the Forest of Magic. They carried her through the woods - or at least Byakuren did, she was strong enough that no-one else really needed to help. They put her broom and hakkero in the coffin with her, and everyone gave their own little speech about how she was friendly, and heartwarming, and-"
"You didn't attend, did you?"
Yukari froze.
"W-What are you talking about? How could I-"
"You think I can't see your eyes? You're reading the Bunbunmaru article."
Reimu was, as usual, completely and utterly correct. Yukari had been staring at the paper from the other side of the room, reading it with her superior youkai eyesight. She'd hoped the shrinemaiden would assume that she was simply nervous and didn't want to look her head-on.
"Ah."
What was she meant to do now? She'd been caught in a lie, so the best thing she could probably do was try to make an excuse and retreat.
"W-Well, no. I didn't. I never really knew Marisa, so I didn't think it was worth going..."
Maybe she could pull this conversation onto another subject. A lighter one-
"You're lying again. Your eyes."
Or not.
"...What are you talking about, Reimu? I'm not looking anywhere this time-"
"That's not what I meant."
Reimu sipped at her tea, looking straight through Yukari with a determination that defied her physical age. It was stronger than any expression she'd seen from the human for some time.
"Yukari, I know you. I know you better than anyone. Whenever you lie, your eyes widen just a tiny bit."
She returned to sipping her tea, as if what she'd said was something completely irrelevant. Yukari was speechless. When had Reimu started deceiphering every little tell she had? Did she have nothing else to do now? Was it something to keep her senses sharp?
No. None of that mattered now. Reimu placed the cup on the table, looking straight at her again.
"So there was another reason you didn't go. What was it?"
Yukari looked away, feeling sweat run down her face. She couldn't lie, not now, Reimu would figure her out. But she couldn't tell the truth either - that would give it all away, it would ruin everything...in the end, she settled for a nervous silence. Reimu heaved a sigh.
"Hmph. I expected as much."
Reimu leaned her head over the table, struggling to bend slightly. Yukari pulled her head over to meet it, as Reimu placed her lips against the youkai's ear. The two words that came out were practically silent.
"You're scared."
Immediately Yukari's blood ran ice-cold. She jerked her head back into place, trying to throw a swig of tea down her throat to calm herself down. She was too jittery to even get a decent grip on the cup. Reimu returned to her former position slowly and calmly, clarifying her accusation.
"Death frightens you, doesn't it, Yukari? It's foreign to you. You, an immortal youkai destined to live and die along with Gensokyo."
Every word was a weight, and each one piled up on Yukari without relent. She found her head unnaturally turning to the floor.
"You knew that her funeral was today, and you went out of your way to avoid it. Her death frightened you, didn't it?"
Yukari was the nervous child to Reimu's maternal figure. An interesting reversal of roles, she would have thought were she not on the verge of tears. She nodded.
"But like you said, you didn't really know Marisa. So her death meant something else to you. It reminded you that we humans get old, and we die."
Her eyes grew more intense still, completely out of place in her frail body. For a moment, Yukari thought that Reimu was the young, reckless teenager she still remembered.
"It reminded you of me, didn't it?"
This time Yukari didn't pause, nodding her head obediently. There was no use in hiding anything anymore. She did her best to keep her sobbing as quiet as possible as tears slipped into her tea.
"I...I don't want you to go..."
There was no trace of the cheery old Yukari in her voice anymore, and her words came out in one long, pathetic wail. Reimu nodded.
"...Well, that's pretty damn obvious. Pull your head up, grandma."
The last word took a few seconds to register.
"Ah..."
Carefully, Yukari raised her head and looked Reimu in the eye again. What she saw was the first genuine grin Reimu had pulled in years.
"Good to know I'm still worth something to you even when I'm falling apart, I guess."
She sounded energetic, excited. It was probably exhausting for her to even talk like this, but she was making the effort just for her.
Yukari smiled. For a moment, an instant, she forgot everything. Forgot that Reimu wasn't who she was anymore. That Gensokyo wasn't the same place now as it had been then. Reimu had listened to her, had understood her feeling, now they could do this forever and ever and ever...
"But...maybe I'm worth a little too much to you."
Then, once again, Reimu pulled her out of her daydream.
"W...What do you mean...?"
Reimu cracked her neck, making loud and painful-sounding noises that left Yukari wincing. She grit her teeth, cursing her weak muscles silently.
"I may be an old woman, Yukari, but I'm no fool. I'm still a maiden of the Hakurei border. I can feel the changes being made in it, no matter how small."
Yukari's mouth went dry. She knew what was coming next, but she didn't want to hear it.
"I know what you're doing here every day. You're disturbing my boundary of life and death."
In an instant, everything collapsed.
Her plans. Her dreams. Her love.
Everything.
-----
For some reason, Yukari didn't do what she had expected to do and collapse into tears. Perhaps she had simply been hurt so badly that her emotions had gone full circle. Now it was her turn to stare blankly into Reimu's eyes.
"...How long have you known?"
"Since you started. Five years ago."
Yukari had noticed some time ago that Reimu's natural lifespan was reaching its end. It had been an easy job to make an excuse to visit, and at that time make a simple alteration to her boundary, but out of fear of being discovered she reduced herself to a day at a time. She had hoped the change would be too small for Reimu to notice.
Apparently she'd been wrong.
"Why...why didn't you say anything?"
Reimu was quiet for a moment. She sipped at her tea.
"I didn't know if you were ready for it."
She had taken on the role of lecturing parent once again.
"Me, I've lived a good life. I'm happy with what I've done, and I'm set for passing on. Have been for a while now. The only thing holding me back, really, is you."
Yukari blinked. She was so numb that it was as close as she could get to emotion.
"...Do...do you want to die?"
It came out as a choked cry of desperation. A final, begging plea. Reimu shrugged.
"I died five years ago. You just haven't accepted it yet."
And that, from what it seemed, was the end of the discussion. Reimu returned to her tea, leaving Yukari to think her words over.
For a good ten minutes, neither of them spoke a word.
Then, slowly, Yukari rose to her feet. Her face remained completely blank.
"I think...I should go."
Reimu nodded. She pulled herself up, slowly walking around the table. She came right next to Yukari, looking up at her from her diminuitive height.
Then she wrapped her arms around her.
"Thanks."
Again, Yukari momentarily forgot the passage of time, feeling the young Reimu Hakurei's arms around her waist. She returned the gesture, being gentle as she did so, then breaking off and leaving before the image faded. That was how she wanted to remember her.
Ruukoto was waiting for her outside of the room. Yukari turned to the maid, giving one final order.
"Your mistress no longer needs your services. You may shut yourself down now."
"Understood."
Ruukoto's eyes slowly faded into darkness. She froze in place, becoming a lifelike statue as her systems turned themselves off for the last time.
Then, with a single step into a gap, Yukari was gone.
-----
Reimu sighed.
This day had been long overdue, she knew that. She finished the last drops of her cup of tea.
Disgusting stuff. She didn't know why she drank it.
With some effort, she managed to follow Yukari's path out of the room and continued on to the courtyard. It was a beautiful night, with the stars shining in full force and no clouds in sight. The old woman looked up, fascinated by the sight.
"...It was a night like this when I first met her, wasn't it."
She decided to lie on the flooring and look up at the stars. There were dozens, maybe hundreds to count, each one so small but fascinating. Like human lives, Reimu thought - tiny and seemingly irrelevant, but beautiful nonetheless.
"Heh. I'm getting sappy again."
She reprimanded herself for turning mushy. She'd mellowed in her later years, and to be honest she'd missed her old self as well, but nothing was permanent. Everything had its time.
Even her.
"...Hm...I'm feeling kind of sleepy..."
Reimu felt her eyes closing, her body growing weary. As she passed into slumber, she couldn't help but feel a peaceful finality about the whole thing.
-----
The Bunbunmaru issued a breaking news article as soon as the facts came to light. Reimu Hakurei, old and highly-esteemed shrine maiden of the Hakurei shrine, had died quietly in her sleep.
Aya Shameimaru wrote avidly about her, speaking of how she'd touched every resident of Gensokyo in some way or another. Some would say later it was the most heartfelt piece she had ever written, and that even coming off the press the paper was damp from the tears she cried as she wrote it.
Yukari was still numb as she read the article that morning, having stayed up for the night to keep herself informed. She had expected it, obviously, but it still shocked her to her core. She felt like something had come apart from her - something vital, something she needed to live.
"Yukari-sama...?"
Ran entered the room, her previous sternness gone. She had read the paper before Yukari got a hold of it, and was aware that her mistress had just been dealt a painful blow. She had disapproved of the manipulation of the border, but now that Reimu had passed on she had no time to argue about that. She had a mistress to comfort.
She sat next to Yukari, patting her on the shoulder.
"Chen? Come in here."
Chen answered the call quickly, darting into the room and looking at the pair confused.
"Nya? What's going on, Ran-sama?"
Ran motioned to her tearful mistress.
"Give Yukari-sama a hug with me. She needs it."
Chen nodded eagerly, unaware of the gravity of the situation. She snuggled up on one side of Yukari, Ran holding her gently from the other.
It took a while for her face to show it, but the warmth of her two shikigami slowly seeped through into Yukari. The blank expression gradually turned into a smile, and she wrapped her arms around Ran and Chen.
They weren't going to be around forever.
That was why she had to make the most of her time with them.
-----
"Yuyuko-sama, someone is here to see you."
"Hm? Youmu, who would be seeing me at a time like thi- oh."
"Morning. Sorry I'm late, I got a little held up. So, where's my nirvana?"
------
Now I can stop feeling guilty and WRITE HAPPY THINGS