Reborn in Gensokyo series (RiG4 has begun!)

~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore

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Mima:
Chapter 20

I?d let a few minutes pass before I started to move away from the study to check up on the chase from before. The house was in surprisingly good condition, compared to what I had imagined? I had somewhat expected the mansion to be wrecked with depressed looking fairies already working on the repair job, but minus the odd scorch mark on the wall and a burnt up tapestry or painting of some sort, it wasn?t that bad.

Well, I am surprised.

I wondered down the hall, smiling at my prediction being half-right due to a fairy frowning while working on a scorched part of the wall. Continuing on, I reached the front door, which appeared to be hanging from their hinges, presumably from the force of Marisa when she rocketed into them during her escape. Whatever the reason, the doors were stuck and weren?t willing to open, with normal force anyway.

With a good kick, I?m sure it?d open.

?1? 2?-?

Wait! What if Yuka?s on the other side?

At that point my head enacted the scene of kicking the door down, sending Yuka flying in the process, followed by me being chased down and blown away, much like how she just murderously chased after Marisa.

It?d be wise to check for her.

I walked up to the door and began to try and see Yuka through one of the many dents and cracks in the door, to little success. ?Looks clear? Let?s g-? The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor after a sharp impact to my face.

What the hell was that?! Wait, it?s not like I can?t guess?

Looking up, I found myself unsurprised to see Yuka, having just kicked the door down from her side.

Yuka looked at me with a strange look, ?What are you doing on the floor??

?Don?t act like you don?t know.? I groaned, nursing my nose, out of the corner of my eyes I noticed noticing my nose was bleeding, as signalled by the blood covering my hand.

Yuka merely smiled, ?I have no idea what you?re talking about.?

Without any prompting from the master of the mansion, a fairy flew up to me and held a piece of cloth of something like that against my nose.

Why would I not be surprised if chloroform was on this cloth?

Looking at the scene bemused Yuka gave a sneer, ?Humans, what weak beings, one little strike to the face and they need help.?

Thanks for those valuable words of encouragement, Yuka.

Getting up from the floor, taking and holding the piece of cloth to my nose and sarcastically spoke to Yuka, ?I gather you got rid of the witch then.?

?Oh yes, she was too much in a hurry to see that mentor of hers to put up a good fight.? Yuka jokingly lamented.

Haven?t you had enough fights yet!?

Thinking of Mima, I remembered about asking Akyu about her, next time I see her. ?Where will we be going today?? I asked, sounding like I knew everywhere in Gensokyo.

?The flower field.? Yuka spoke simply.

?And?? I urged with a notable touch of worry in my voice.

?Just the flower field, the shrine maiden has asked me to make displays for tomorrow?s party.? Yuka smiled. ?You can go where you want though.?

That was the answer I was waiting for, a free ticket to the village. ?So, are we leaving now?? I questioned, while moving the blood-covered cloth slightly to check the wound but the still-flowing blood caused me to replace it immediately.

?If you want.? As usual, Yuka turned around and began to walk at her own pace, ignoring me AND thus making me have to catch up with her.

Much like the night before, the walk from the mansion was much shorter, Elly was again sitting outside her house doing nothing, greeting Yuka as she passed, ?No luck on that witch, Yuka? You?ll get her one day.?

Yuka gave a mixture of a sneer and a growl and continued walking past Elly, ?I guess you?re well acquainted with Marisa then?? I questioned once we were away from Elly?s house.

Yuka sighed, ?Yes, ever since the shrine maiden and her barged in and she stole one of my spells, she?s been coming back and trying to steal even more.?

?Ah, she mentioned something like that to me.? Something clicked in my head from last night when the vampire talked about Yuka using Marisa?s spell. ?She stole that? big laser spell, right??

?That?s right.? Yuka answered.

Before I could ask about the spell she wants to steal, I saw we were already at the portal, and Yuka had already walked though.

I noticed that my nose had finally stopped bleeding so I put the cloth I was using away and sarcastically mumbled, ?Thanks for waiting.? After which I strolled through the portal and into the brightness of the flower field.

Yuka had already started manipulating the flowers, grouping them together and sorting them into patterns, as you expect in flower displays. I waited around for a few, uneventful minutes and eventually decided to move on. ?I?m going to go off for a bit then.?

?Suit yourself, don?t get killed.? Yuka spoke menacingly with her back to me. Without another word, I started to walk to the village, wondering if Yuka had said something with good meaning for once, but knowing her it could mean the complete opposite.

---

Mima:
Chapter 21

Checking behind my shoulder every few minutes, it eventually became clear that Yuka really was intent on doing the work and not planning anything else, mostly involving me. The walk was overall uneventful, I expected something as little as a sighting of Cirno but there was nothing of the sort, I could only guess she?d gone to challenge that frog god again.

This time around the village was actually busy, presumably they must have seen Yuka coming since she wasn?t exactly the type of person to blend into a crowd. The villagers didn?t take notice of me much until I was in the outskirts of the village, then the strange looks and whispers began.

They probably remember me with Yuka or something.

The villagers mostly ignored me except monitoring me out of the corner of their eyes until as the time before, Keine emerged from a building and saw it was me, as she approached she called, ?Hello again! Good to see you?re alright!? Keine took a quick look around and spoke in a quieter tone, ?I was quite worried leaving you with her. I thought you might get killed or- Oh, your nose! What happened!? Did she do it?!?

I?d forgotten about my nose for a moment, no doubt it had a layer of blood around it giving it away to Keine, ?It?s nothing? I merely had an encounter with a door? that was moving.? I answered vaguely.

Keine looked at me sceptically for a moment before shaking her head, ?If you say so.? Keine looked away in thought for a moment before turning back to me, face back it?s friendly self, ?So, what are you here for today??

I shrugged my shoulders, ?Nothing in particular, Yuka?s in that field of hers making flower displays or something for a party.?

?Oh yes, that?s tomorrow isn?t it?? Keine replied.

?Yeah, so are you going too?? I asked for the sake of asking.

Keine nodded, ?Yes, they?ve stopped by here a few times for preparations, so I ended up getting invited, it sounds like quite the crowd is going to be there.? Keine paused again before speaking, ?If you?ve got nothing to do, would you like to visit Akyu?s again, seeing as you seemed to enjoy it last time??

I answered with a nod, ?Sure, I?ve got a few questions to ask anyway.?

Keine smiled, ?Okay then. Let?s go shall we?? Unlike Yuka, Keine waited for me to start moving before she did. As we walked, Keine spoke. ?So, what do you think of your stay in Gensokyo so far??

I couldn?t think of a suitable word to describe things, ?I don?t know really, things are quite confusing when you?re dealing with youkai, gods and vampires all in the first day.?

?Gensokyo is indeed an overwhelming place? Wait? Vampire!? You didn?t encounter the one that escaped last night, did you?? Keine suddenly went alert.

?You mean Flandre?? I laughed weakly, ?Encounter? it was more like a meeting that put me seconds away from being killed by her. If it wasn?t for Yuka, I?d be dead.?

?You?re very lucky; she?s the last person I?d expect to save someone else.? Keine replied sounding slightly surprised.

?Yeah, I was quite surprised, but I know she was after a fight with Flandre anyway, so she had another reason.?

?So, she must have won otherwise you wouldn?t be here, looks like there more good in her then I thought.? As she finished, I saw we were finally in front of Akyu?s house, as I approached the door, Keine spoke from behind. ?I?ve got a few things to do, just go on in and I?ll be back later on. See you later.?

?Alright then, bye.? Keine smiled and walked off, somewhere else in the village. I turned and looked and the door, and knocked on it. There was no response, so as Keine said I walked in.

Around the corner, just like last time, Akyu was sat at the table, writing. ?Hi, Akyu.?

The purple haired girl looked up from her work, ?Oh, hello again. Nice to see you haven?t been hurt, or worse.?

I laughed, ?Well, things have certainly tried to do so.? I explained the story of Flandre to Akyu, who I noticed was writing the story down as I spoke.

?That vampire is quite the handful at times, for the most part she stays at the mansion but there?s always the odd occasion that she breaks out, and then there?s always trouble. It?s quite fortunate you didn?t get harmed.?

As the conversation slowed down I looked around the room when I saw a painting of the Hakurei Shrine, ?I remember now, I have a question.?

?Oh? What is it?? Akyu looked at me inquisitively.

?Who?s Mima? I met her yesterday and there?s no record of her in the book you lent me.? I queried.

?Mima, you say? Are you sure it was her? She?s been missing for quite a while now. It was probably just Marisa Kirisame playing a prank.? Akyu replied.

?No, it was her, I met Marisa this morning and she was overjoyed to hear the news, plus they looked completely different, Mima had blue clothes and long green hair while Marisa wore black and was blonde.? I objected.

?Well, that sounds like her. Where did you see her?? Akyu asked curiously, pen in hand.

?At the Hakurei Shrine, she appeared there a while after we got there, and she started to annoy Reimu on how she?d become the deity of the shrine.?

?Interesting?? Akyu was writing everything down, ?Very interesting, looks like I?ll have to make a new article soon, if she?s become the Hakurei deity then it?s vital I write about her.?

?So, she wasn?t a god once?? I asked.

?No, in fact for a long time she was opposed to the Hakurei bloodline to the extent of trying to kill them along with the rest of mankind.? Akyu went on to explain.

I was quite surprised, ?She was? I figured she was evil somehow due to her magic, but I didn?t think she was that bad.?

?Yes, she appears all over Gensokyo?s timeline appearing and trying to kill the current Shrine Maiden, failing each time though it didn?t seem to deter her. She just wanted ?Revenge for her death? and to resurrect herself. However during the last time she appeared, she just seemed have given up on what she aimed for so long and settled down.? Akyu jotted something down in the book, ?After her final attempt she became friendlier to everyone, mainly staying around the shrine she once hated, and then when the Makai accident occurred, she wasn?t seen again.?

I interrupted the explanation, ?Makai incident??

?A few years ago there was an incident where demons were entering Gensokyo in quite large numbers, in the end it was discovered they were arriving from Makai, Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Yuka Kazami and Mima ventured into Makai and put an end to the case, though Mima hasn?t been seen by anyone since then, until now.? Akyu played with the pen around her fingers, ?I can only guess that she stayed in Makai and became a goddess with the help of Shinki, who?s the goddess there.?

?And so, just like that, someone who was once pure evil became the goddess of a shrine which stands for good, or so I?m lead to believe??

?Like I said, Mima changed, it wouldn?t be surprising to hear she?s forgiven whatever happened to her and no longer wants revenge or to be reincarnated, I guess being a god is better than that.?

?I see...? I paused for a brief moment.

Mima must have honestly changed then, she didn?t seem that bad when I met her, more mischievous then evil.

I queried Akyu again, ?One last thing then, what reason did Yuka have for going to Makai, she doesn?t exactly seem like the kind of person to team up with Reimu to fight evil.?

Akyu looked up again, ?She never said herself so there?s only guesses, some say she went for the fights, some say she went to chase after Marisa Kirisame? She has quite the hatred for her since Marisa stole one of Yuka?s favoured spells, Master Spark.?

I laughed, ?Yeah, I?ve experienced that hatred up close when she caught Marisa trying to steal another spell but the other theory sounds about right too.? As the conversation ended, Akyu looked back to what she was working on, I took that as an invitation to get a more recent copy of the book then I had and started to read.

---

Mima:
Chapter 22

It?s quite amazing how much time can pass when you find a good book; looking up to the clock I saw that the time had already passed 3 hours, the clock showing it was now 4 o?clock.

Keine had come and gone, although she was reluctant to leave me alone. It took a good deal of convincing her that I was honestly all right after scaring her with my encounter with Flandre. Akyu, as always, noted what I explained, maybe because I?m from the outside, I?m not sure.

I wasn?t too sure what possessed me to do it, but I decided that I was going to go exploring again but this time it would be outside of the village, maybe it was overconfidence since I knew the majority of notable beings in Gensokyo now although but that doesn?t mean I can fight them off or anything.

?Well, I?m going to go and explore for a while, I might be back later on and if not then I?ve probably been dragged off by Yuka.? I laughed, ?Or killed.? I chuckled weakly at my addition to the sentence.

Akyu, as usual looked up at me, ?Okay, be careful. See you next time!? Akyu spoke optimistically.

Why do things feel like I?m going on a suicide mission? Wait, it probably is suicide.

Standing up I waved goodbye to Akyu and made my way outside. ?So, where should I go?? I said to myself as I looked around. Unfortunately, my choice was narrowed by the fact that the village was surrounded by woods on every side.

Not much of a choice, I guess.

To no surprise, I decided that if I was going anywhere, it would be into the woods. Choosing to enter at an angle which went alongside and in close proximity to the flower field, it would allow me to at least attempt to flee to Yuka in the case that everything went bad.

I?m all for exploring, but it?s not like there?ll be anything interesting in these trees.

As I somewhat expected, the forest has a chilly atmosphere, and was also quite dark to my dismay. Walking in the same angle I entered, I was able to remain in sight of the light from outside. I began wondering about what I could possibly hope to find during this exploration, since in my mind a forest never seemed like a thing to hide something interesting, just creepy.

Without warning, the surroundings suddenly got a lot darker; looking up and around, even the light was the outside was nowhere to be seen.

What in the world is going on? Oh wait, it?s not like I don?t know, it?s something life-threatening.

Almost on cue, I could just make out a patch of the floor began moving towards me, the buzzing and hissing made it clear that it was actually a swarm of insects, heading for me.

Run!

My mind screamed continuously as I followed the order until I realized that in my panic, I?d lost all bearings and the darkness certainly wasn?t giving any clues regarding my position. As I ran in an unknown direction, the noises got louder, which means they?re either catching up or there?s even more of them, either way I wasn?t planning on finding out and pushed myself to run faster.

The area began to get even darker, so I decided to run to the side, hoping that it would take me out the forest, or at least get lighter, but to little prevail. Another problem is that I can?t run forever, already I felt myself tiring and getting slower.

This darkness is getting to the point where I can?t see anyth-

A familiar feeling in the form of a tree, struck me in the face causing me to fall backwards to the ground, as I fell I recalled the incident with the door earlier. Wondering how intact my nose was, I lay half-dazed on the forest floor, wondering why I hadn?t been surrounded by a swarm of vicious flesh rending bugs yet; again on cue there was a noise, but not what I was expecting.

Giggling?!

?We got him!? Someone sung out loud.

?Great work team!? Another voice called.

?Yeah!? A much higher pitched and immature sounding voice shouted.

?What are we waiting for? Let?s get him!? The sounds of footsteps got louder and louder signalling their approach until the same voice as before cut in, ?Hey wait, I think I know him.?

It can?t be, can it? Oh, the irony.

?It is you!? A familiar voice shouted at me, ?Of all the people to catch, it?s you!?

?You know him, Cirno??

Just as I thought.

?Yeah, I met him yesterday, he?s not bad for a human, and he hangs around with that Yuka, she?d kill us if we did anything.?

?Who?s Yukaaaaaaa?? The immature voice called again.

?Don?t you know anything?! The one that uses all the flowers and tries to beat us up when she sees us!? Another voice snapped at one questioning Yuka.

?And the one who beat Cirno yesterday!? I heard Daiyousei add.

?Shut up.? The voice of Cirno interrupted.

A more serious sounding voice spoke, ?Well, what do you want to do with him??

?Eat hiiiiim.? The squeaky immature voice said.

No, no, let?s not.

?We can?t eat him if he?s Cirno?s friend... and if it was annoy Kazami.? Spoke another serious sounding voice.

I like that answer, go for that one.

Finally, my head had stopped hurting enough for me to lift it from the ground and actually have a look at my would-be attackers. As their voices, and the presence of Cirno suggested, it was a group of younger looking youkai.

The first had fairly short pink hair and strange ears protruding from them, wearing a burgundy and white dress decorated with pink ribbons, which snaked down the dress, she also wore a matching coloured hat on her hat, which sported wings or something resembling them. Her final noticeable feature, were the purple and pink wings, resembling a birds, on her back.

The next youkai was a more childish looking one, presumably the immature sounding one; she wore a simple black shirt and dress over a long sleeved white blouse, which contrasted with her bright blonde hair. In her hair was a small red ribbon, though it looked like it had suffered some wear and tear through the years.

The final newcomer had her back turned to me, but from what I could make out she wore a white shirt and blue trousers, reaching to her knees, though most of her appearance was blocked by her black cape. Hidden among her greenish-blue hair were two antennae, which suggested that she was the one controlling the bugs from earlier.

I had hunches on who they are, having read the book not long ago, however probably due to the fright and possible concussion of head butting a tree, I just couldn?t remember at that moment.

---

Mima:
Chapter 23

Pushing myself off the ground, I leant back against the tree I had previously encountered face to face and noticed my nose was pouring with blood once more.

I watched as Cirno marched up to me, hands on her hips, ?Why the heck are you here?? She asked.

?I want to ask you that too.? I groaned.

Cirno sighed slightly, ?Isn?t it obvious, playing with my friends unlike you!? Cirno looked back at the group, where a couple waved back. ?But this is a place for youkai, not for a weak human like you! Even Daiyousei could beat you up!? Cirno laughed.

?Hey Cirno, that?s not very nice.? I heard a timid Daiyousei object.

?Unless you want to get killed, you should get out of here.? Cirno announced, trying to sound much more formidable then she was.

?Well then? Where can I get out? Thanks to you and your little squad, I have no idea where I am and which way I?m meant to be going.? I complained.

A grin appeared on Cirno?s face before she ran over to her little group who then huddled together and began whispering.

Obviously, no good is going to come from this.

The group nodded together before Cirno ran back up to me, ?We?ll show you the way out of the forest.?

?Oh, that?s good, I was think-?

?If... You beat us at a game.? Cirno interrupted me.

I knew it. Nothing is ever easy.

?Fine? What game?? I said, with a slight sigh.

Cirno continued to mischievously grin, ?Anything, you can choose.?

?And what if I lose?? I questioned cautiously. ?You and your friends kill me or something??

?No, we play again, and again, and again, until you win!? Cirno scolded me.

Just what I wanted, to be playing games with Youkai continuously for my freedom.

?So? any game?? I asked.

?Yep!?

Without thinking I immediately blurted out, ?Fine, we?ll play tag.?

?Okay!? Cirno shouted, already running off.

Eager to win, I started to sprint after Cirno and relieved to see I was catching up; Cirno was just in my reach when I heard another shout, ?Now!?

At that moment, everyone flew up into the air several metres out of my reach and began giggling. ?Catch us if you can!? One of the girls taunted, as I stood on the floor baffled.

There?s no point playing this, there?s no way I can reach them and even if I climbed a tree, it?s not like they can?t just fly away.

In what must be the shortest game ever, I announced my loss. ?Alright, alright, you lot win, let?s play the next game.?

The girls slowly floated down, laughing and whispering in each other?s ears the topic most likely being how useless I was at that game. Cirno laughed again and sneered, ?Pick something that?ll last a bit longer, I don?t want to have to go easy on you!?

For obvious reasons, I found the fact a fairy was laughing at me quite irritating so I began to put thought into the next game.

Something without chasing, what wouldn?t they be good at? I looked at the group again and something struck me, the majority of them weren?t exactly camouflaged, even Rumia (Who I suspected it was) though fairly well blended in black, had a head full of blonde hair which stuck out like a sore thumb, add the various bright blues and greens and pink from the others, and the idea emerged.

??Hide and seek.?

?Huh.? Cirno looked puzzled for an unknown reason.

?Hide and seek, I?ll give you time to hide and then come and find you, but as soon as I find you, you?re out, no chasing or anything like that.? I grinned.

Cirno looked up at me stubbornly as though she was working something out, as you?d expect she didn?t figure anything out and she soon returned to her overconfident smile. ?Fine then, get counting? and don?t look.?

?Whatever.? I turned around and leant face first against the tree I had head-butted from earlier and as I did I heard the sounds of footsteps decreasing in volume could signalling I was alone.

Well, at least that means no one is going to smash my head against this tree while I?m not looking.

Since Cirno gave me no exact number to count to, I counted to ninety nine before beginning my search. In my head, I was expecting to turn around and see at least one straight away, but that wasn?t reality, there wasn?t anyone to be seen, but I also realised then that there was no time limit on the game; I had all the time I wanted to find them.

Beginning my search I wanted down the most obvious route, following the sounds of the footsteps from earlier and it wasn?t before long I noticed patches of blue among the green leaves of a bush. I walked over to the overgrown plant and pulled some of the leaves away revealed a startled looking Daiyousei.

?Oh? hello...? She spoke quietly. ?I guess I?m out then??

?Yeah? Tough luck?? I replied sympathetically, for some reason.

One down, four to go!

Not far away from Daiyousei, I noticed in the corner of my eye some white in an otherwise brown tree, after a moment of staring, I could make out the shape of Wriggle Nightbug, lying on top of the branch.

Thank god these youkai are distinctive enough to remember the names.

?You can come down, Wriggle.? I smirked. Unhappily, Wriggle hovered down from the tree branch, and it almost felt like she was missing a buzzing noise when she flew.

?It took Cirno ages to find me up there.? Wriggle complained.

Ha, not me.

A few more minutes passed before I found the next target; I noticed that in the middle of an area without much cover from the trees, there was an odd shadow, right in the middle. Looking up, in the worst place for hiding in the air imaginable was an orb of darkness, which must be Rumia.

After shouting her down, much like the others, and waiting for her to tease the others about lasting longer than them, we set off to find the final two, Cirno and who I presumed was Mystia Lorelei, if I remember right, she?s a Night Sparrow with a large love for singing.

Despite her wearing bright pink and Cirno wearing bright blue, they were surprisingly difficult to find, even after what felt like 10 minutes of searching.

Looks like I?ll have to play dirty.

I walked a few more steps forward before turning around to the group following me, and spoke in a much louder voice than usual.

I hope she doesn?t outright swoop down and rip my throat out for this.

?You know, I don?t think that Mystia can sing very well at all, she vastly overrates herself, in fact I think I can sing much better!?

All I got from the others were strange and confused looks, ?I don?t even know why you hang around with her, if I had to listen to her all the time, I think my ears would bl-? I was suddenly interrupted by a force colliding with my back sending me to the floor.

Turning around to see who did it, I saw a furious looking Mystia looking at me, ?What are you talking about, I can sing much better then you?ll ever be able to you useless human! I don?t know why I shouldn?t just kill-?

?You?re out.? I interrupted Mystia?s high pitched, almost screaming rant and was promptly followed by the laughter of the others.

Giggling, Wriggle spoke, ?Mystia, you just gave yourself away, you could have won!? before laughing even more. Mystia looked embarrassed and stood behind the others.

?Don?t worry Mystia, I didn?t mean what I said.? I apologized, thinking it?s better to make peace rather than have a youkai hunt you down in the future.

?Okay? sorry?? Mystia spoke quietly, still bright red with embarrassment.

?So, it?s just Cirno herself left.? I spoke while walking away from the others, in a fashion much like Yuka.

However the problem arose that no matter how long or hard I looked, there was no sign at all of anything blue. Even my bluff about finding a pond full of frogs failed to draw her out of her hiding place.

Even more time passed to the point the sky was starting to due and lose its colour, and I found myself explaining my story to my followers, ?And then Akyu and Keine explained how I?m not from Gensokyo, and that I might one day return to-? Once again, I found myself interrupted as I tripped through a pile of fallen leaves.

?Watch it, you big idiot, you could-? Just as sudden as the voice started, it stopped.

Bingo.

I started to brush the leaves away with my foot revealing Cirno looking at me. ?Idiot, if you didn?t stand on me you?d never have found me.?

I thought it was quite impressive that Cirno had spent something like an hour buried under a pile of leaves, ?Well, you were the hardest the find, if that?s any consolation.?

Cirno sneered and smiled slightly, ?That?s because I?m the best!?

?So, about the way out of here?? I went straight to the point.

Cirno laughed, ?That?s easy! It?s over there.? Cirno pointed in a direction and began walking in that direction and in no more than 10 seconds later I could see the exit to the forest.

?See you later, we?re going back in the forest, the night?s just beginning you know!? The ice fairy ringleader spoke.

?Yeah, see you later.? I answered, and after exchanging farewells with the others I left the forest leaving me not too far away from the flower field.

---

Mima:
Chapter 24

As I had noticed earlier, the sky was starting to get darker now, checking Yuka?s pocket watch it told the time as a few minutes before 6 o?clock.

Damn, I got stuck playing children?s games for longer than I thought.

Strolling down to the flower field I noticed there was no activity or movement in the flower field.

Oh great, she?s already gone on without me.

Thankfully, it wasn?t exactly difficult to find the way back home, this time.

For a moment I wondered how Yuka could make the so-called flower displays yet the flower field looked completely unchanged or possibly grown even more flowers, until I remembered Yuka?s powers probably allowed her to create new flowers out of nowhere. Thinking about that made me realize that since the flowers weren?t here, there?s a good chance she?s taken the flowers, or making them at the shrine.

Either way, I wasn?t going back into that forest to get roped into another game, so I decided to go in the portal and return to the mansion, which would be much safer. I hope.

Since there was no point hanging around, I started to enter the portal and see if Yuka is back when I heard, in the usual cheerful voice, ?Hi!?

Speak of the devil.

?I was wondering when you?d get back.? Yuka spoke in her uncaring voice.

I looked at her quizzically, ?You?ve been looking for me??

?No.? Yuka started laughing, ?I?ve been with Reimu making those flowers like I said.?

Why did I know that would be the answer?

?Although, I did see you playing around in the forest when I flew over.? She added, quickly.

?You could have stopped by, I was stuck in there! Forced to play games to get out!? I almost shouted at Yuka.

?Well, you looked like you were having fun, so I thought, ?Why intervene?? and continued on my way.? Yuka?s face was wearing that menacing grin again.

I grumbled to myself for a few seconds before asking casually, ?I gather you got the flowers done then??

?With plenty of time left, I spent most of the day drinking tea with Reimu.? Yuka continued smiling at me. ?You should have come along.?

I have a sarcastic look, ?I already told you. I was stuck in that forest for hours.?

?Well? you shouldn?t have got lost in the first place.? Yuka laughed.

I merely gave an evil look of my own at Yuka before walking into the portal and emerging on the other side as usual.

A few metres up the pathway, I decided it would be best to wait for Yuka, who emerged a few seconds later, smiling even more. Arms crossed, I waited for her to parade by before joining her at her side. ?So, that festival or party, or whatever it is tomorrow. What?s to be expected??

Yuka shrugged carelessly, ?Who knows? Drinking, talking? I guess dancing if you?re into that. With that Oni in charge the only thing for sure is drinking.?

I thought back to how Suika was when I saw her, my memories recalled that she was drinking alcohol every other moment, ?Ah, but didn?t Mima seem like she was going to do things as well.? I added.

?Like I said, drinking, talking, probably some music also. I should expect even you humans have parties like that.?

?Well, yeah, we do.? I replied.

?Well it?s the same, only the fights are much more fun.? Yuka got an evil look in her eye.

I wonder what part Yuka goes for.

?So, there are a lot of people going?? I asked for the sake of wasting time.

?Oh, not that many. I think Reimu mentioned about ten were invited last year.?

?Ten? That?s not that much.?

Yuka quickly started talking again, ?No, but an extra fifty or so turned up on top of that. So I would say it?ll be about the same this year.?

Suddenly the thought of a nice peaceful afternoon shattered as a huge crowd of people appeared around the shrine in my mind. ?As a complete guess, I gather most of the others are going to be youkai??

Yuka nodded, ?That?s how it usually is.?

Great work from the supposed youkai hunter, instead of destroying them she?s inviting them to parties, what?s she going to do? Poison the sake?

Continuing up the patch, I ended up explaining the events in the forest to Yuka, who merely laughed every time I mentioned an event where something went wrong for me, which was quite a lot of the story. As we passed by her, it was apparent that Elly was sleeping on the job considering she was collapsed out on a sun lounger.

As the story finished, the chilling silent returned, so I started to talk once again, starting with a curious question, ?So, uh, do you photosynthesize or something??

Yuka looked at me and gave me a rather odd look.

?I just wondered, being a flower youkai you might photosynthesize or something, and that?d explain why you have your parasol, to stop getting hyperactive, or gaining any unwanted weight? or something?? I started to question my own questioning.

Yuka replied with a sigh, ?I?m not a flower youkai as you think, I am a youkai with the ability to manipulate flowers, not a youkai who was formerly a flower.?

I paused for a moment, ?So by just ?a youkai? you used to be a human once??

Yuka made a noise of some sort, confirming the accusation, but not sounding too happy about it.

?What about your life as a human, Keine said that Youkai remember their mortal lives.? I asked, wondering if I was asking questions on thin ice.

Yuka sneered, ?I left my memories of my humanity behind a long time ago... I don?t want anything to do with that corrupt world.?

It doesn?t sound like you have.

?Everything that could be wrong is wrong in that world. I?d love nothing more than to destroy it myself.? Yuka continued.

Okay, she?s starting to sound insane, again.

Trying to take things of the subject, slightly, I interrupted, ?So, why am I here then? You know well enough I?m from? that world.? I paused, wondering if Yuka would just turn around and hit me after what she was just ranting about.

Instead, she merely looked amused, ?Why not??

I merely sighed before continuing on, ?Well then, at least you know what your name was.? For a moment, names ran through my head of what Yuka?s name may have been, presuming she changed it when she became a youkai.

?Haru.? Yuka chirped.

I merely looked puzzled, ?Haru??

?You were just talking about a name.?

?What, that?s my name from the other world, or one you just made up?? I was getting more confused by the minute.

?I made it up, why would I know about something from your world??

I looked at Yuka for a moment before shrugging my arms; ?You have a better idea of things then me.?

?Of course I do.? Yuka bragged, before reaching and opening the mansion door.

I swear that mansion sneaks up on me.

Following Yuka into the mansion, I wondered about the name she?d just given me.

Haru? Can?t say I?m particularly fond of it. Well, as long as it keeps her happy I guess.

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