So apparently people were made too sad by the last update. Here's to rectifying that. :V
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It was a strange feeling, waking up to the sight of the setting sun.
Koishi had just about collapsed into bed the moment she?d changed out of that horrible bunnysuit getup. She had dreamt - or at least, she thought she had. She couldn?t recall any useful details about the dream, so maybe she hadn?t. It was hard to tell.
For some reason, there was a laugh stuck in her mind for a moment when she woke up. Youthful, but wisened; not so much laughing at her as laughing with her. It drifted away a few seconds later, along with her recollection of it, and passing it off as just a little dream she pulled herself out of bed and stretched. It was a good thing there was no class tomorrow - it was going to take a while for her to get her body clock back in order after a night like that. According to the dim light of her alarm clock, it had just turned five.
?Morning, Koishi-sama~.?
?Um, but Orin, isn?t it evening right now??
?Figure of speech, Okuu. Figure of speech.?
The two pets continued their unintentional comedy routine.
The M-1 Grand Prix was theirs for sure, she could taste it.Next on her list was waking up Sango, who was passed out on a bed in the other room. The dolphin had managed to catch enough sleep to keep functioning through the night, and she?d boasted to Koishi that she?d be fine until this evening, but the sound of the youkai?s snoring had woken the Siren up once or twice. Koishi?s suggestion of moving out of the bathroom had produced immediate and satisfying results, so she no longer had to worry about a slumbering dolphin in the bath when she washed her face in the morning. Koishi paid for this through the inconvenience of walking an extra five steps or so to wake her up in the mornings - she briefly wondered the irony of having to wake up her supposed protector.
Stepping through the corridors, still absently rubbing at her own eyes, Koishi found Sango lying fully-clothed on the bed, jacket and all. Apparently sleep had crept up on her during her guard shift. Koishi made to prod her at the side and bring her slowly back to the land of the living, but an obnoxious buzzing noise beat her to the punch. Sango?s eyes fluttered open, unfocused.
?Uh...whuh? Boss??
Still half-asleep, Sango?s hands started to run across her body in an attempt to find which pocket she?d placed her phone in. A few seconds of rummaging turned up no useful result, but whoever was calling was adamant enough to keep going no matter how long Sango took. The beeping got louder and louder the longer Sango left it unanswered, but she was still too tired to give herself more than a casual inspection.
?Mmh, ?zaround here somewhere...?
Koishi sighed. Nitori was the only person with Sango?s number, and she wouldn?t call unless something really important had come up. For all they knew Sakuya was in danger right now and this was the call for backup, so Koishi couldn?t sit and wait for Sango to wake up enough for it. She reached down, grabbing at the chest pocket the noise was coming from, ready to snatch the phone out and answer it on Sango?s behalf.
This would have been an excellent plan if Sango hadn?t taken that exact moment to sit up.
?Ah-!??
She had grabbed something. Something soft and sensitive, something behind the jacket. Koishi?s face froze in embarrassment, the rest of her body likewise caught in place. Anything resembling logical thought vanished from her mind there and then.
?Ph...phwee...??
Sango seemed more stunned than anything. Her eyes were starting to open up properly now, the sensation of being touched waking her up properly. She looked up for a moment at Koishi, just awake enough to be puzzled by her bright-red face.
She understood why the moment she looked down and saw Koishi had managed to grab at one of her breasts.
?...Ph...ph...?
Koishi felt a hand smack against her face, knocking her a step to the side.
?PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?
Sango sounded like she was on the verge of tears, her hands suddenly running over her chest. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she glared in Koishi?s direction with a look of hurt.
?K-K-K-Koishi-san! What the hell did you think you were doing!? Having your way with a pure, innocent maiden in her sleep!? I mean, I know you think I?m adorable, but that?s just...just...!?
Koishi raised a hand out, looking to get a word in edgeways, but Sango had already started on a barrage of accusations and panicked mutterings.
?No-one?s ever touched me there before! Ever, ever, ever! I was saving myself in case I ever met a guy I liked, but...I?ve been deflowered now! No man?s going to want to touch these damaged goods. Maybe if I was busty like that girl from last night, but no, apparently the youkai gods decided Sango Tororetsu was gonna be born flat! I hope you?re ready to compensate, Koishi-san! I?ll...I?ll sue you! For all that you have!!?
She couldn?t be listening to what she was saying, surely. Now she was just spouting gibberish, her brain overheating as her face went a painful-looking shade of crimson. The beeping from her jacket continued, rising to the point where Koishi swore she saw a vein popping out of her companion?s head.
?You?ll get put into prison, and you?ll never see the light of day again, and-GYAAH, WHAT IS THAT RINGING NOISE!??
Sango rummaged into her jacket with ease now, grabbing at the pocket she?d placed the phone in. She was vaguely aware that her hand was now in the same place Koishi?s had been.
The realisation of the facts dawned on her slowly and painfully.
?...Oh.?
Koishi could see the epiphany in Sango?s eyes, and nodded in agreement. There had been nothing to it; just a simple misunderstanding between two girls. It took a few seconds for Sango?s anger to fully dissipate. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and held it up to the light.
Then, with a look of shame on her face, Sango passed the phone on to Koishi.
?You answer it. I need to go take a quick bath.?
With that, the dolphin rose to her feet and made her way out of the door, starting on her undressing before she?d even made it to the bathroom. Murmurs of ?This wouldn?t have happened if I?d been sleeping in the bathtub!? echoed down the house?s hallways, leaving Koishi almost as nervous as Sango was. Maybe the youkai didn?t get the concept of clothing or things like that, but being touched in sensitive places was a universal embarrassment.
After what must have been a minute of ringing, Koishi finally saw fit to open the phone and put it to her ear.
?Yes, professor??
The voice on the other end sounded frustrated. Given that she?d been on hold for so long, it was understandable.
?Took you long enough. Was I interrupting anything??
Koishi flinched. The professor couldn?t have picked a worse time to make a quip like that, not in the slightest. A few seconds of nervous silence followed, and Nitori?s voice went from grouchy to just plain awkward.
?Oh, uh. Then, well...guess now I?ve got your attention, I?d better give you the lowdown.?
The Siren nodded. Anything to distract her from current events would be wonderful.
?So have you found out some more info on Izayoi??
The annoyed tone made its way back into Nitori?s voice.
?See, that?s the thing. I took a look through my database again, and there?s no history of Izayoi as a family name in Gensokyo.?
Koishi raised an eyebrow. By now she?d come to assume that Nitori was some endless supply of knowledge; seeing something that truly stumped her was a first.
?Maybe she?s a foreigner? Blonde hair and such, and she played the part of the foreign bimbo a little do well.?
?No can do, kid. The Sirens are all girls who were born in Gensouto, and they?ll all be in Gensouto when shit goes down. Or did last night not prove my theory to you??
Koishi nodded along at that, even if Nitori couldn?t see it from the other end of the call. Statistically the odds of finding a Siren at that casino were next to zero, and yet they?d found one just as the kappa had planned. With a result like that, Koishi was pretty much sold.
?OK, fine. That leaves us with Sakuya Izayoi being a pseudonym, right? Can you try and sort it by power and figure it out from there??
?You kidding? Do you realise how many people live in this city, Koishi-san? There are probably two or three families with some form of time manipulation. We can?t just go up to every single one and ask if there?s a daughter in the house with a penchant for gambling!?
She sounded desperate, concerned for Sakuya?s immediately safety. Perhaps rightly so - the mob probably wouldn?t be too happy with their losses, and they?d be out looking for her right now.
?On top of everything else, we don?t know if the Claw are onto her as well. Maybe they had an insider at the casino or something - I can?t be sure, but what matters is that you find some other way to track her down.?
That one left Koishi pausing for a moment. The answer seemed so obvious to her that she couldn?t understand why Nitori was putting the question to her. She became aware that in the midst of all of last night?s action, she?d never had the chance to bring up the errand she was performing for a local bakery. It hadn?t seemed important back then, and by the time she realised it had more relevance than she thought she was too preoccupied to do a thing.
?...I think I might have an idea how to take care of that, professor.?
Nitori let off a little gasp. She hadn?t been expecting an answer from her, at least not right away.
?You didn?t grab some hair from her, did you? ?Cause if so I could probably run a DNA test and-?
?Not quite. It?s a little more...traditional, but it works.?
Nitori seemed outright baffled now. Koishi grinned slightly as she passed the story on, feeling that she?d gained a slight victory over the woman who?d failed miserably to teach her mathematics.
?...I see. Well, I have to say, that?s quite a coincidence.?
Nitori didn?t sound as surprised as she should have been after she?d heard the tale from Koishi. The Siren just shrugged in response, again as if she was talking to someone right in front of her.
?I know. You?d almost think someone planned all this out in advance, wouldn?t you??
She heard a snicker from the other end of the line.
?Just about, Koishi-san. Just about.?
Faintly, Koishi could have sworn she heard a woman laughing to herself as she closed the line, enjoying the sight of a good plan coming together.