~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore

All's Fair in Love and Thievery

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Achariyth: Chapter 6: Sunday's Child Since she's met the king of hearts, they call her Sunday's Child. *** Kaguya sat on the High Seat of the newly constituted Court of the Eternal Moon and lusted for a broomstick. One simple hop in front of the kannushi high priest, and the growing list of emissaries, saleswomen, and well-wishers would become irrelevant. Yet Eirin and the whole vale of Gensokyo conspired against her. For once, the various scheming factions of youkai and humans had closed ranks on a single point of honor. The fairy tale princess must have a fairy tale wedding. She never needed a storybook day all her own like the village girls; Kaguya had lived a storybook life of suitors, courtiers, and emperors, complete with the darker moments expunged by the fainting busybodies that turned all tales into safe marshmallow fluff. None of those saccharides ever mentioned that Kaguya had never expected a wedding. Without a holy pact of mutual defense binding all her suitors to support her and her beloved, the ethereal beauty expected to elope on the run. Worse, that pact hadn't helped Aunt Helen after she eloped with Paris. It was Eirin's fault. For the last two weeks, the seneschal had reveled in the bustle of ceremony and pomp that swirled around the growing wedding plans. Every day, Kaguya watched the inaba leave with messages to the tengu, the kappa, the satori, the youkai, the humans, and the heavenly paradises. Each morning, she swore that she would drag Yori to the Hakurei shrine just to end Eirin's maelstrom. Each evening, when she finally laid eyes on Yori, she led him into the nearest dark corner instead. If Eirin hadn't insisted on Lunarian custom and fished the couple from their hiding places, usually in various stages of deshaibille... "You're daydreaming again, sister." Yorihime tapped Kaguya's shoulder. Kaguya's hand snapped out, unfurling a fan in front of her lips. "How much longer must I endure this?" "He'll be here in three hours." Yorihime's eyes danced in the sunlight, belying her stern military bearing. When Eirin needed reliable assistance, she sent word of Kaguya's engagement back home to the Lunar Court. Yorihime and Toyohime had leapt at the chance to help, but as soon as they arrived, the two princesses immediately started their own intrigues: how much time alone could they give the lovebirds before Eirin found them. Eirin turned around at her podium and scowled. The line of supplicants trailed out of the gazebo that served as the Court of the Eternal Moon and wrapped around Eternity Manor's courtyard. Even with the reisens, Toyohime, and that gallant loup-garou winnowing away the frivolous, certain matters could only be dealt with in person. Every delay added to that logjam. Kaguya and Yorihime giggled behind the fan before resuming their placid masks. Eirin shook her head. "Next on the agenda-" A brilliant ray of light fell into the courtyard and widened into a pillar reaching into the sky. A woman fell from the heavens, buoyed by a shimmering veil. Kaguya's fan shielded all but the brightest light from her eyes, but a small gasp escaped her lips. Her people used veils to travel between worlds on silvery moonlight, not golden sunlight. "Be not afraid." The woman's feet settled against the grassy earth. A red-tasseled shawl billowed and furled about her as the light faded. "I am Iku Nagae, Ambassador of the Dragon Place-" Yorihime stepped forward, one hand resting on her sword's hilt. "Is she on the list?" Eirin traced a finger down her sheaf of notes. "No." "Go to the end of the line," the Lunarian sergeant at arms said. "-and Messenger of the Hinanawi clan," Iku said. The stylish woman curtsied, her shawl rippling in the breeze like light across a fish's scales. Kaguya stood up and flicked her fan shut. "Let her speak." She eyed Iku wearily; the dapper woman had the air of a beast youkai. She might be as wild and undisciplined as Tenshi. Drawing in a hissing breath, Kaguya tapped her fan against her left ear. Yorihime nodded and stepped in front of the fairy tale princess, tensed and ready to draw her sword. Iku wrapped her shawl tight against her shoulders. "Grace and Peace be to you, from the Lord of Light and His servant, Lord Nai." Kaguya felt Eirin beaming, even though her seneschal's back was turned. "Be welcome in this place." That lie should make Eirin swoon. Few in Gensokyo understood the proper courtesies, not even the noble Hieda or the royal Komeiji. Kaguya hoped that the fuss over her wedding wouldn't change that. A slight grimace marred Iku's lips. "Princess, you have had dealings with the Eldest Daughter." Kaguya waited, shifting her fan to her right hand. "Lord Nai wishes to inform you that he has sent her with a trade delegation to Atlanta. She should not trouble your wedding." "Should not? Why not won't? Please speak freely. You can forgo the pleasantries." Kaguya ignored Eirin's sharp hiss. "Lord Nai cannot be held responsible if, like some idealistic couples, you delay in the consummation of your marriage." The ambassador delivered her message with a straight face. Biting her lip, Yorihime spun around and walked back to her post. Passing Kaguya, she whispered, "I'm betting that you'll have the dew off that lily before the reception begins." "Not if Eirin has her way," Kaguya whispered back. She smoothed her skirts behind her and sat back upon the High Seat. "Please thank Lord Nai for his generosity." Iku shifted as she stood. "He regretfully must pass two warnings, however. Do not let your beloved take another wife and do not break your vows, or you will find him comforted in the Eldest Daughter's arms." Kaguya flicked her fan open and drew it across her eyes. "I will be his one and only." "And not the other way around?" "I will be the widow Kaguya someday. Yori doesn't want me to pine away eternity in loneliness when that happens." A smile graced Kaguya's lips. "I will leave him with that one romantic illusion." "It does make men easier to deal with," Yorihime breathed. "Very well. I shall impress on Lord Nai the need to marry off the Eldest Daughter." Iku's scarf rippled freely around her. "Although I am afraid that there might not be a dowry large enough." Kaguya hid her laughter behind her fan. "And what news from the Lord of Light?" A sunbeam illuminated Iku and she floated into the air. "A thousand blessings and a single charge. The same charge He gives all His daughters: be fruitful and multiply." Iku ascended into the sunlight before vanishing with a twinkle. Kaguya rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "How many more supplicants must I attend today?" "At least thirty." Eirin waved a sheaf of papers. "More if you let every woman, beast, fish, or fowl rush to the head of the line." As the next saleswoman curtsied her way into the court's presence, Kaguya sighed and leaned over to Yorihime. "Find out where Marisa is." Yorihime smiled and beckoned for an inaba. *** Danmaku streaked down the Village road, nipping at Kaguya's heels. The princess darted through the blooming stars and sparks, clinging to the broomstick in her hands. Behind her, Marisa rode the crest of danmaku, baying as she hurled spellcard after spellcard at the immortal. Panting, Kaguya cut into an alley. "I can't believe you helped her," Kosuzu said. The precocious bookseller sat at a rooftop patio table and sipped her tea. Mamizou sighed and held up a hand. "I helped your brother. If I was on Kaguya's side, I would have warned her that she just ran into a dead end." Bursts of light rippled from the alley, culminating in one final peal of heat lightning. Kosuzu beamed when Marisa sauntered out with her broomstick over her shoulder and brushed dust from her apron. The bookseller stood up and leaned over the railing. Below, Kaguya slipped away, holding the tattered edges of her dress closed. A waitress set a full pot of tea on the table. Mamizou drew in a deep breath and smiled. The high grade gyokuro tea, complete with a milky jade color, soothed any number of hurts. Even Kosuzu had grown accustomed to its unadulterated taste since Yori proposed to Kaguya. Like all worthwhile things, it had taken time. Mamizou poured herself a cup and waited for Kosuzu's return. For her sins, chief of all getting caught, Mamizou kept Kosuzu occupied in the Village whenever Kaguya had to leave Eternity Manor to deal with the various wedding preparations that she had to handle herself. The tanuki didn't mind since the precocious bookseller was youkai-like for a human. It almost felt like she was watching one of her brothers' cubs. Kosuzu settled back in her chair and fixed Mamizou in an inscrutable stare. Mamizou hid her smile with a sip of tea and waited for the constant refrain to sound again. "We could have been sisters," Kosuzu said. "He has a right to be happy too." Mamizou followed the script established over the last week. She had enjoyed the time with Kosuzu, even when the girl's conversation wore a familiar groove whenever Kaguya was mentioned. Slowly, like a hill beneath a glacier, Kosuzu had begun to accept her brother's choice of mate. And it didn't hurt that Kaguya was footing the bill for some expensive teas either. The tanuki sipped her tea again and waited. Kosuzu's next line would be "Don't I as well?" Kosuzu's eyes lit up. "Well, we can still be sisters." Mamizou raised an eyebrow as the corners of her lips tugged upward. Whatever harebrained scheme she had worked over with Lady Akyuu wouldn't split Yori and Kaguya. The diminutive bookseller leaned in. Her voice dropped to a husky whisper no girl of her age had any right to use. "So, tell me about your brothers." Mamizou choked on her tea. *** The morning sunlight poured through the slimmest of cracks in the Yakumo house's shutter and into Ran's slitted eyes. The vixen thrashed in her bed before burying her face into the nearest pillow. Dawn had come too soon. Ran had tossed and turned throughout the night, running numbers and plans and variables in her mind at such a frantic pace that she needed a bottle of the roughest rotgut sake to slow down her thoughts. Marisa had claimed that it would put fur on the fox's tails, but Ran didn't want to move to check. Even when recalculating around the presence of that werewolf and the moon bunnies, her heist plan should have worked. And she shouldn't have woken with the full body ache. Yukari would just have to take care of her own problems for once. The fox closed her eyes and waited for a time when her head quit spinning and her body no longer amplified every whisper and touch into shrieks and sandpaper. Maybe she should- The door scraped open, cutting through Ran's thoughts. Little stocking feet brushed against the mats, pounding in Ran's ears like thunder. The fox tensed and waited; Yukari always saved the most irritating jobs for days like this. A heavy weight plopped onto the vixen's back. Ran bit back a howl and wormed her way onto her back. She blinked open her eyes. For a moment, she thought she was seeing double. Two fuzzy Doomkittens perched on her stomach, looking up at her with wide grins. As her vision cleared, Ran's breath hissed in her throat. The right Doomkitten had chocolate colored mouse ears. "CHEN!" *** "We'll have to give her a new name," Yukari said as Ran left her room. The vixen spun around. Her master leaned against a wall and smiled that maddening enigmatic smile that had become a legend in Gensokyo. "We do have a theme, after all. I was thinking 'Akane.'" "I'd feel better if you hadn't picked that name from a manga." Ran staggered into the opposite wall of the hallway and slid down it. She crossed her arms and glared at Yukari. "Or if I didn't know this was your fault." "You flatter me unduly." "Normally I'd feel it if someone cast a spell like that on my familiar." "You're just mad that you're now a grandmother." "You do realize that makes you a great-grandmother." Yukari chuckled and held out her hands. A small portal appeared above her and disgorged a tidy bundle of black and white clothes into her hands. "Save your breath. You're going to need it." She thrust the cloth into Ran's hands. The fox familiar looked down at the ruffles and frills. "What's this?" "Imagine my consternation when Kaguya told me that my dearest familiar had been caught with her sticky fingers in the cookie jar. Fortunately, she was willing to overlook your indiscretion so long as you provided a service for her." Yukari set a frilled headband on top of the bundle. "Try not to misbehave. Sakuya will have you on a short leash." "Had I known this day would come, I never would have agreed to be your familiar." "What makes you think you had a choice?" *** A troupe of bunnygirls had swarmed the Hakurei shrine for a week. Under Eirin's careful eye, they tacked up a forest of bunting, hauled in beer and sake, cooked hors d'oeuvres and tapas, and set up the tables and benches needed for the guests. Under Reimu's vigil, none of the bunnygirls strayed from the storehouses, lest one summon a handsy god with a taste for shrinemaidens. Finally, the blessed day arrived, along with a myriad of guests and well-wishers. Humans, youkai, beasts, fairies, ghosts, and, last and certainly least, tengu paparazzi, the whole of Gensokyo filed beneath the shrine's red torii gate. Mamizou slipped away from the crowd. She was needed elsewhere, likely to keep Kosuzu and Lady Akyuu from trying to upstage the bride. Besides, the air stank of werewolf. The tanuki craned her head over her shoulder. Sure enough, a pair of dog ears cut through the crowd like a shark's fin. She ducked under the rope divider that gave the wedding party a modicum of privacy and barreled into Reisen. The tall moon rabbit swayed as she held a white dress high off the ground. The fabric looked like it had been woven from moonbeams and was just a delicate. If anything happened to Kaguya's dress, Eirin would make a matching set of mittens out of them both. "I really wish I could have that. Although right now, anything would be an improvement," Reimu said. She steadied Reisen and stopped to work her shoulders as though her shoulder blades itched. For the first time since Mamizou had met Reimu, the shrinemaiden wore the traditional white and red robes of her office. Her telltale bow remained as the only personalization. "There's a reason I wear my normal outfit." "Maybe Kaguya will let you borrow it someday." Mamizou avoided Reisen's red -eyed glare. Huffing, the rabbit scampered off towards the storehouse that Kaguya had claimed for her dressing room. The white train of the dress flowed behind her. "You should have asked for it when you agreed to let her use the shrine." Reimu watched the last of the line pass through the torii gate and sighed. "I should have charged admission." She swept a hand all around her. The bunnygirls had turned her shrine into a ruffled monument to romance and love. "Or rent. I could feel my god seethe with all the rabbits around this week." Mamizou brushed off her coat and adjusted her leaf barrette. "They did a good job though. You should be able to run a tidy little business hosting weddings." Wide-eyed, Reimu shrank away from the tanuki. "Where else could they go? The Moriya shrine is too far away. The Myouren? Shinto is for living; Buddhism for death." Mamizou clucked quietly and shook her head. "At least people will think of the shrine whenever they remember the wedding." Reimu froze as Sanae walked by with a spring in her step. The Moriya priestess had traded her normal modern garb for traditional robes. As her rival twirled towards the shrine, Reimu hissed. "I have to stop her before she dances the kagura." She hurried off after Sanae. "Why's that?" Mamizou hollered. "She's better at it than I am," Reimu called over her shoulder. Mamizou thought about transforming into Reimu and cutting a jig, but settled instead for a beer from the refreshment stand. Weddings tended to make beasts maudlin. A little fire in the belly would stave that away. Kosuzu waved at her from outside Yori's storehouse. Mamizou waved back with her beer. Passing the last stragglers slipping into the back seats, she met up with the bookseller. Someone, likely Kaguya herself, had layered pink over the girl's plum kimono. The symbolism nagged at Mamizou; she would have to ask Nue about it when she saw her. "Are you ready for your part?" Mamizou asked. Kosuzu pouted and planted her hands on her hips. "I'm too old to be a flower girl." She picked up a basket of rise petals and shook it. "But it's too late to change that now. Besides, I'm the youngest of all the sisters. Akyuu's even starting to call me Kosuzuhime." She shuddered and looked around furtively. "I think Kosuzuhime has a nice ring to it." Mamizou struggled to keep a straight face. Kosuzu's eyes snapped wide. "Not you too!" Mamizou wanted to ruffle the flower princess's hair, but it was too close to the ceremony's start. Besides, she had already crossed Eirin once. "Shouldn't you be with Kaguya and her bridesmaids?" "I don't want another etiquette lecture from Yorihime." Kosuzu shuddered before pointing to her brother's storehouse. "Besides, Dad and Yori are talking in there. I want to know what they are saying." "Are your ears burning?" Mamizou quailed underneath Kosuzu's glare. "It's probably a nuts and bolts approach to the birds and the bees." Mamizou winced as the words slipped out. Fortunately, Kosuzu just stared at her. Some figures of speech had yet to make their home in Gensokyo. "Let them have their father-to-son moment." "It isn't fair that they get to keep secrets." Kosuzu set the flower basket down and leaned as close to the building as she dared. Eirin would not tolerate a rumpled kimono at the wedding. Despite herself, Mamizou relaxed her hold over her human form just enough to let her tanuki hearing free. Even then, it took effort to make out voices. Reimu's ancestors had built the storehouse to last. "I'm so proud of you, my son." "I almost blew it thirty times. She's too beautiful. It's hard to ignore that and keep a level head. If it wasn't for your advice, father?" "You did it, though, and you'll continue to. Don't let her outer beauty blind you to the woman within. The easy part's over. You have won your fair princess; now, can you keep her?" "You're worried about the fairy tales? We wouldn't be here if she didn't want to be." "No, just the observations of a lifetime. But that can wait. Enjoy this day?and the night to come. It is for you and her." Mamizou growled and hid her ears. "Let them be." Kosuzu scrunched her nose. "Just a little longer. I think I can almost hear them." Eirin glided through the shrine grounds, resplendent in a purple and scarlet kimono that only high nobles could dream of wearing. "Places, everyone." The lunar sage clapped her hands. Kosuzu groaned, but she grabbed her basket and hurried towards the line of bridesmaids forming outside Kaguya's room. Eirin marched up to Mamizou and pointed to the roof. "That includes you." *** While Reimu purified the Hakurei shrine and the wedding ceremony before the assemblage of Hina Kagiyama, Kanako Yasaka, Suwako Moriya, and the other eight million gods in attendance, Ran crouched on a storehouse roof and waited. One eye swept the skies for tengu and Celestials, while the other watched the pageantry below. "How come she gets to be down there?" Chen whispered in Ran's ear. The Doomkitten's tails flickered while she pointed at Mokou. The proud courtier's daughter sat with the groom's family in her usual collared shirt and pants, cleaned and pressed for the occasion, with the Fujiwara wisteria flower mon crest embroidered prominently on her breast. "Doesn't matter. We have a job to do." Ran tugged on the hem of her French maid's skirt. "Is Akane ready?" The Doomkitten pointed to a set of chocolate mouse ears that poked above another storehouse's roof. "She's watching the reception field." "And you let her be by herself?" "She's closer to the food that way." The Doomkitten shrugged as she scampered to the edge of the roof. Reaching down, she pulled Nazrin up onto the storehouse. Ran sighed and fiddled with her skirt. She had hoped that Akane would help mature the Doomkitten. Instead, the little rat led Chen deeper into trouble, not that the Doomkitten ever needed much incitement. Down below, Reimu finished her ritual and took her place behind the kannushi high priest at the podium. A thin man with glasses who lived in the Hakurei's Outside shrine, he only ventured inside the barrier to officiate over weddings and other ceremonies that need more gravitas than a shrinemaiden could provide, even one as senior as Reimu. "The skies are clear." Nazrin pointed to the clouds. "Then again, any tengu that might have flown overhead is seated in the audience, scribbling away in her notebook." "And the Angel?" Ran said. "No sign of her. Koakuma's detected every Celestial, Angel, and Heavenly present. Yuyuko confused her for a bit. The little demon kept thinking that she was a Dominion." The mouseling peered over the side. The happy couple stood in front of the kannushi; Yori in a formal black and white striped haori hakama and Kaguya in her radiant moonbeam dress and a traditional white hood. "I wish that they would get this over with. The Claw of the Conciliator, the Red Stone of Aja, and the Bead of Lerasium won't find themselves." "You just wish that the wedding was at the Myouren Temple." The mouseling turned towards Ran with widen eyes. "Of course. Don't you?" "I wish them happiness. Otherwise, I want my penance to be over." The vixen tugged at a lace choker around her throat. "You and me both." Mamizou hauled herself onto the roof. "At least the preacher man is keeping it short." "This is my favorite part," Nazrin gushed. The beasts peeked out from their hiding place. Yori sipped three times from a small flat sake cup and handed it to his bride Kaguya, who mirrored his actions. A second and a third cup passed between husband and wife. Behind the newlyweds, the parents drank from the same cups, with Eirin and Toyohime standing in for Kaguya's family Ran melted against the roof, cooing as the public ceremony that bound two hearts into one finished. She always loved wedding, even though most youkai relationships skipped straight to the private, more intimate ceremony. The heart of a fox maiden was given to romance. "What's the big deal?" Chen pawed at Ran's bare shoulder. "I'll tell you when you get older." The Doomkitten sulked against the pitched tile. "You always say that." Ran hushed the Doomkitten with a finger against her lips and pulled herself further over the ledge. Kaguya had insisted on this part of the ceremony. Before the assembly of friends, family, well-wishers, and wedding crashers, Yori lowered Kaguya's hood and kissed his wife. As the cheers dies down, the Doomkitten pawed at the hands covering her eyes. "You didn't have to do that," Ran said to Nazrin. The mouseling smirked and let go of Chen. "She's still just a kitten." Ran bit back a laugh and curled up in her tails, cooing as the new married couple proceeded up the aisle for all to see. "Even though it didn't work out, it was worth it in the end." "Speak for yourself, love freak," Nazrin scolded. "I never got my prize and I'm out an assistant. Next time you get a hankering for treasure, count me out." Grumbling, the mouseling flipped over the roof's edge and dropped to the path below. "Don't you look at me like that." Mamizou held up her hands in a warding gesture. "It was either Kaguya or me. The kid's got a good heart for a human, but I'm glad he chose her. Don't think this was anything more than self-interest." "You can't tell me that you didn't feel anything during the wedding?" Ran stood up and smoothed her skirt behind her. "Last time I checked, my species didn't have an addiction to loving humans. Find yourself a twelve-step program and save yourself some heartache tonight." Mamizou transformed into a bespectacled image of the Hakurei shrinemaiden and dropped over the side. "What's she going to do dressed like Reimu?" The Doomkitten perked up as she watched the disguised tanuki melt into the crowd. "Don't get any ideas." Ran looked down and waited for a moment when no man looked towards the storehouse. "Try to keep Akane out of trouble while I'm working." The vixen glided to the ground. *** Behind the Hakurei Shrine, the Prismrivers played on with no one around but the last stragglers at the wedding reception. It had been hours since the groom had swept up his bride and carried her toward the marriage bed, but the party continued as long as the mountains of food and rivers of alcohol lasted. Sakuya had only just given her army of fairy maids, accompanied by one penitent fox, permission to gather up the stacks of plates, bowls and cups from the tables. Ran hurried as best as she could, constantly tugging the too-short maid's skirt down past her tails. Even after hasty alterations, the skirt couldn't hide just how leggy the golden fox was. She had begged to change into her normal robes, but Sakuya had pushed her back out into the courtyard. Her approach to supervision matched Yukari's: Find the one competent person on the team and work her to death. It wasn't difficult for Ran to work harder than a fairy, so Sakuya demanded more from her. After the twentieth round through the tables, punctuated by turns as the dishwasher, the head maid appeared in front of the fox and grabbed her tray. "I need you to help out at the bar." Sakuya grimaced as the tray wobbled in her hands. "There's still more to do here," Ran said. "True, but I can trust you not to walk away with half of the bottles." The tall maid stood on her toes and looked over Ran's shoulder. A scowl marred the elegant maid's serene face. "I really need to find better help." Ran blinked as the maid vanished. Sakuya reappeared, dragging two fairies behind her by their earlobes. Not for the first time since shimmying into the ruffles and frills of a maid, Ran cursed the alien bunny's meddling. The fox maid hurried over to the bar. Rather than paying for a bartender, it had been left open to be ransacked by the thirsty guests. A sizeable selection still remained, provided a guest wanted something other than beer or sake. Ran had hid a bottle of apple brandy for when she could finally shuck off her uniform. Glass clinked behind the polished bamboo counter. Ran rushed over, planted her hands on the counter and posted herself high over the bottles and mugs. Instead of a snoring fairy slumped over a keg, a grown woman with Kaguya's unearthly presence pawed through the flasks and spirits. "Peach schnapps!" Sandy-blonde hair cascaded past the woman's shoulders as she stood and held a clear bottle up to the last rays of light. Her perfect lips dropped into an adorable pout that set Ran's teeth on edge. "What are schnapps?" Ran sighed and sidled behind the bar. The last time she had seen Toyohime, the moon princess had gloated over her capture. She tapped a small leaf pinned to her hair band and shifted. Without her tails, her skirt finally stopped riding up her thighs with each step. Rooting through the fallen bottles, Ran saved any with more than a swallow of alcohol remaining. The rest clanked into a heavy plastic trash bag. She made an effort to sweep up the top shelf brands before Toyohime started searching again. Not that Toyohime noticed the hands removing bottles from her reach. If it wasn't peach liquor, the princess ignored it just like the blonde servant at her elbow. Ran's hackles rose as the bad of empty bottles grew; no matter what she did, the princess never acknowledged her presence. Biting back angry words, the fox maid worked in silence. There was a chance that a stray word might remind Toyohime of a certain fox and her mistress captured on the moon. Probably not. Even with her mistress's exasperating proclivities, Yukari at least acknowledged her servants as people. Toyohime, for all her presumed nobility, hadn't. "Sis, we're here for Kaguya. You can find peaches at home." A slender woman with a long lavender ponytail walked up and leaned against the bar. "Yorihime, they do such interesting things with them here." "If you wanted peaches, we should have gone to South Carolina. Terrior matters, plus they do amazing thing with rice and vegetables in the Low Country." Yorihime smiled as she remembered an "ice cream" made of rice and herbs. "Must I remind you that our sister just got married, an event just as unlikely as it was joyous?" "She won't retake our family name." Toyohime sniffed at a bottle and grimaced. "Don't push it. Kaguya is still our sister, and her holdings here are more bountiful than our own. We might find ourselves on her lands if-" Yorihime winced and shook her head. Ran's ears perked up. Yukari would want to hear of this. "Is there any bourbon left?" Toyohime shrugged and waved at Ran without looking. "She'll get it for you." Idly, Ran wondered if Toyohime's aristocratic arrogance would survive a bottle smashed against her head. With a sigh, she set out a glass and looked forward to when she could ditch the maid's dress. "Don't bother. I've brought something more appropriate." Eirin walked up and carried a dark wine bottle in both hands. She turned towards Ran and smiled. "Four glasses, please." Toyohime looked over her shoulder. For the first time, she recognized Ran's presence. "But-" "The more the merrier for a celebration," the lunar sage said with a smile. "If you would like to join us, Lady Yakumo, you can dispense with the foxfire. We won't tell anyone of this little indiscretion; least of all your current employer. After all, we have you to thank for this blessed day." Ran set the wineglasses on the counter before shimmering back into her true form. Her treacherous skirt resumed its assault against her modesty. While Toyohime resumed her search for peach-flavored liquor with sneaky glances, Yorihime smirked with mild amusement at Ran. Eirin popped the cork and poured the bubbling champagne into the glasses. True champagne, as Ran's nose told her, not the sparkling wine that the Aki sisters experimented with. After sliding a glass to Ran and her former fosterlings in turn, she raised her glass with a Cheshire cat smile. "A toast to the blushing bride." "It's about time." The moon princesses spoke in unison, matching their mentor's smile as they clanked their glasses against hers. The three Lunarians sipped the wine between fits of giggles. Ran just drained her own glass and hunted through the shelves for a mint. She had no doubt that Sakuya would take a dim view to a maid with alcohol on her breath. "Has anyone seen Reisen?" Yorihime asked. Eirin laughed and poured herself another glass of champagne. "You know how she gets at weddings. I'll have some pennyroyal tea waiting for her, just in case." The Lunarians shared another round of laughter. Groaning, Ran shoved a fistful of mint leaves into her mouth and forced herself to chew. Making a moue of disgust, she spit the leaves into her hand and tossed them into the trash. Suddenly, an electric wave ran up her tails and the vixen froze in place. "You know, last time your mistress visited us, she took something priceless," Toyohime said in her ear. Cringing, Ran craned her neck around. The moon princess, much to Yorihime's apoplectic chagrin, rubbed her cheek against the golden fox's tails. "Perhaps we should return the favor." Wide-eyed, Ran fled, shifting madly. Moments later, a crying fox bounded through the Hakurei shrine and threw itself into Reimu's arms. To the shrine maiden's amusement and then frustration, the shuddering fox snapped at everyone who drew near, until, at the end of the night, Yukari picked her up off of Reimu's shoulders. *** The moon hung high in Gensokyo's night sky, casting moonbeams throughout the vale. One fell through a screen of bamboo leaves into an Eternity manor window, illuminating Yori and Kaguya's marriage bed with silvery light. The couple slept cuddled on one side of a featherbed, wrapped in silk sheets. A light breeze swayed branches into the moonlight. As shadow and light danced across Kaguya's face, she blinked her eyes open and woke amid the rustling of silk on bare skin. She raised her head and looked over her shoulder, beaming at her husband. Reaching back, she slid her hand up his side and wrapped his arm around her. Wriggling closer to her lover, Kaguya rested her head in the crook of Yori's arm and closed her eyes, content. *** Consummatum est.

Achariyth: It appears that a day was skipped in the chapter titles. Allow me to fix that. *** Omake: Wednesday's Child ...Wednesday's child is full of woe... *** The first glow of dawn pushed away the inky darkness, while wind howled past the cracks of Mokou's cabin. The immortal girl shuddered and wrapped herself tighter inside a heavy blanket. The futon beneath her felt like the stone walls surrounding her. Neither protected her well from the sapping chill. She stared at the fading embers in the fireplace and waited for sleep to claim her. She had won, redeeming her family's name at Kaguya's marriage altar, even if none of the hosts of Fujiwara men had dragged the fairy tale princess before it. It had taken centuries, but her alien nemesis had met the demands of honor that her promises had placed on her. But no triumph awaited Mokou. All eyes had remained riveted to the blushing bride. Mokou had never expected glory, but she had wanted some sort of recognition besides the unsettling solitude. Instead, after the wedding, an awkward truce settled between the immortal rivals. Kaguya no longer had the time to deal with her self-declared nemesis, and honor now constrained Mokou from disturbing her. "What do I do now?" The wind held no answer. Mokou closed her eyes and listened to the howling outside. Occasionally, a prayer slipped past her lips. Her grandfather could only manifest at a shrine, however. An eye-searing pink that no god should have ever made crept across the sky. Mokou named it "Kaguya" and turned away from the window. Beneath the sursurating yowls, low murmurs whispered. Mokou bolted upright, wrapping an arm and the thin homespun shift over her breasts. Her free hand groped underneath the mattress and seized a flattened knife handle. With her heartbeat thundering in her ears, she strained for the voices in the wind. A shadow floated past her window. The immortal scooted to the wall and slid to her feet. Crouched next to the door, her knife blade tucked against the inside of her forearm, Mokou waited and wished that her shift covered more of her thighs. She bit her lip as gooseflesh prickled up her legs. Next to her, the doorknob clicked and turned. Wood rasped against wood as whatever stood on the other side of the door played with the medieval lock. Mokou knew she should have bought an Earth Spider-crafted metal deadbolt and chain, but, in the past, Kaguya would have just kicked in the door. The phoenix girl tensed as the door creaked open. No one came through. Mokou poked her head out around the doorjamb only to catch a red blur rush at her face. She dropped her knife and clawed warm soft fur from her eyes. "Put that on." It was amazing how regal Kaguya could sound when she abandoned her taunts and derision. Mokou shook her head free and stared at the fire mink's robe. She had dreamed about holding such finery, immune to her flame, in her idle moments. But gifts from Kaguya always hid a barbed hook. "I don't get it." "Why should I deny anyone the happiness I've found?" Kaguya's smile might have been placid, but her eyes were wolfish. "Really, I should have done this ages ago." "You're not here to kill me?" Mokou flinched away from Kaguya's laughter, still clinging to the beautiful robe in her hands. "Why would you give this to me?" She could have bought Gensokyo with the robe and still have enough to purchase the surrounding forests. "You misunderstand me. I'll want it back. It's been a long, long time since you've worn a pretty dress though." Kaguya looked Mokou up and down before sniffing. "Or any dress at all. Really, Mokou, I would have thought you'd at least try to look your best before meeting your matchmaker." Mokou's eyes flew open and she had just enough presence of mind to shove the priceless robe into Kaguya's hands as she fled past. She made it to the main road before a herd of rabbit girls tackled her to the ground. Normally, when smothered by a pack of youkai, the phoenix girl's temper and flame would flare. But the dozen child-like girls giggling as they held her down were bunny youkai, the cutest of all. Mokou often wondered what her life would have been like if she had found Eternity Manor instead of Kaguya. She also wondered how whoever had perched on her lower back had found that one spot that reduced her to a squealing mess. Fingernails rapped like thunderclaps against wood, and the giggles ceased. A woman with the most elegant kasane layered robes outside of the Heian court stood in front of Mokou, tsking as she stared at the tangle of limbs and lop ears. The immortal hadn't seen wisteria, an almost violet grey that matched Mokou's hair layered over the spring green of new growth, so vibrant since the days when Sei Shonagon wrote in her Pillow Book. A long pink and white bow hung from the woman's pale hair. It wasn't until the woman knelt that Mokou realized that the bow was the woman's rabbit ears slicked behind her. "I had hoped that you would have at least cleaned up by now." Reisen pushed a set of wire frames higher onto the bridge of her nose. "You're the matchmaker?" Mokou shrank under the dog pile of bunny girls and wrenched her eyes shut. "I used to do this all the time for my friends on the moon. I might be a little out of practice, but it's like riding a bicycle." The lunar rabbit tapped a pen against her painted lips. "I've already set up six omiai introductions for today." "So many?" Mokou rasped. Her face turned as pale as her wisteria colored hair. "You didn't notice all the looks at the wedding? Now that the princess is married, you're Gensokyo's most eligible bachelorette." Reisen painstakingly etched a series of characters onto a page of her clipboard. Cringing, Mokou peered over the clipboard's edge, but before she could see what Reisen wrote, the moon bunny tilted it away. "Honey, you're the daughter of the most famous vice-chancellor in history, you've got long luxurious hair when you bother to take care of it, a slender figure, and if the princess is anything to go by, your beauty will never fade. You're a bit standoffish, but that's all the rage these days. Really, it's a wonder you haven't seen marriage offers by now." Scarlet, Mokou's mouth worked but no words came out. "We'll have to do something about your make-up and fashion sense. The princess did bring you her robe?" Reisen took off her glasses and her red eyes shimmered. "Really, this will go a lot easier if you'd just look at me..." *** Author's notes: Thank you to the readers and reviewers for spending precious time reading this short novel. I must thank Mephiles666, Wolfsbane706, and Captain Vulcan for prereading successively lengthening drafts over the last few months. Without them, this would be a poorer work and Mokou would have been completely different. Kaguya is influenced by the version of "The Moon Princess" told by Tetsuo Kawamoto and translated by Clarence Calkins. While the translation leaves a bit to be desired, this version of the Kaguyahime story made it perfectly clear that Kaguya would only go to the altar willingly. Even when it appeared that Lord Kuramochi had fulfilled Kaguyahime's Impossible Request, she still schemed to weasel out of her obligations. And so a simple heist story spiraled into something else, lest it become about a runaway bride. I hope you will join me again for additional tales with the Touhou Project characters. *** Attributions and quotes: Chapter headings are taken from "Sunday's Child", written by Phil Keaggy and Randy Stonehill and performed by Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child. Ran and Mamizou quote from the 29th Maxim of Howard Tayler's Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries. Nanami quotes Lazarus Long from Robert A. Heinlein's Time Enough for Love. Benben's song in Chapter 3 is "Breathin'" by the Asylum Street Spankers. The inaba sing "Women be Wise", written by Sippie Wallace and popularized by Bonnie Raitt. Tenshi quotes from the NIV translation of Mark 4:22. Ran's version of the Heart Sutra is a poeticizing of Edward Conze's translation.

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