Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Age 6

Month 2

“The Adafurui was once an influential family that served one of the Greater Lords of Japan back in the Feudal Era.” My father narrates as he plucks the biwa he is playing, playing small notes as he continues with his story. “For many generations, they have been one of the Greater Lords’ and the people’s favorites, the Adafurui’s kindness, and generosity knew no bounds. But one day,” He strums a menacing jingle. “They were a target of a vengeful spirit rampaging across the lands. They were cursed with an insufferable and painful sickness when they reached the age of fifty. This illness was not contagious, but their clan was soon dismissed from their wealthy status, caused by the Greater Lords fearing for their own safety. The clan searched desperately for a cure, scavenging the lands for medicine, rituals, or anything to break the curse. But they failed.”

Father then plays a hopeful tune before continuing. “But when all hope was lost for them, they found a wandering doctor. Desperate, they asked for his aid. They showed to him one of the sick, and by merely touching the sick’s head with his palm, the ill man’s breathing labored, his coughing fit came to a stop, and for once after five years of suffering from the curse, the ill man slept like a baby.”

“The Adafurui clan celebrated, they have found a cure! However!” Father hits the biwa to get my attention. “The doctor did not celebrate with them. When he cured the sick man, he sensed that things would not be so simple. He warned the family that he will return the next time one of its members reached fifty, before disappearing. There was no trace of him to follow, or to learn more about.”

“Seven years have passed, and tragedy struck once again.” Father continues. “Someone had aged fifty and is now suffering the same illness. And true to his word the doctor returned, right at their doorstep. With no hesitation, they let him in and he treated the sick. Just like last time, they were cured and the family cheered. The doctor’s face however was locked into concern. His worst fear has been confirmed, and he shared the heavy news to the clan.” Playing a depressing tune to set the mood, Father continues. “The curse targeted the entire Adafurui Clan, even future generations would suffer from this illness. The room went silent, everyone realized that their family must suffer till their clan would eventually die out. But the bad news was not the only message he came to deliver!” Father strums a joyful tune. “The Doctor revealed himself to be the Mythical Kirin! He offered to send one of his offspring to take care of the family until the bitter end.”

“Was he my great-great-great grandpappy?” I ask in wonder.

“Yes my dear,” My Father smiled at me before returning to his story. “The Adafurui’s were astounded by this revelation! They pleaded that they were not worthy of such an offer from such a sacred creature! The Kirin, however, begged to differ. Over the past seven years, he observed Adafurui’s kindhearted nature, always giving and helping others even after the Greater Lords abandoned them. He deemed their kindness worthy of his attention and believed that such a pure family should not suffer such a travesty at old age. So, he sent one of his children, Lin Satsuki, a half-human and half-kirin, to treat the family.”

“Great-great Grandpa!” I shout with glee as a small laugh came from the man laying down on the bed beside Father.

“Ah she’s so full of energy,” The man on the bed says. “What a delightful little girl you have there.”

“She sure is,” Father replied as he ruffles my head. “Moving on, Lin Satsuki arrived the next day. They were given their room, and not long after, he became part of the Adafurui family while tending to the sick.” Father looks outside the window. “Soon, he had to go away from home to start their own family, then they had a child, your great-grandfather. Lin helped his son to be just like him as he grew up. But soon, Lin had to go to a place above the clouds.”

“Goodbye, great-great grandpa Lin...”

“Haha, do not be so sad,” Father reassures me. “Your grandpa is still watching us, even until now, with his son and the rest of our long family line.”

“Rin, dear!” I hear Mother calling me in the kitchen. “Have you finished your homework yet?”

“Not yet!” I reply, looking at my father expectantly to see if he could bail me out by telling more stories.

Instead, he smiles. “Go on dear, you don’t want to disappoint Miss Kamishirasawa tomorrow?”

I shake my head. Next to my parents, Miss Keine was the last person I wanted to disappoint.

Father smiles before turning me around and leading me to the exit.

Age 16

Month 4

On my sixteenth birthday, my parents took me to a Prismriver concert! We even got to see them up close! I love Lunasa and the way she plays her violin! She looks so graceful yet so delicate... Definitely my favorite from the group!

“Do you want to play an instrument like the violin?” Mother asks, prompting me to nod in answer.

“Fufu, I’m sure me and your father can work something out!” I let out a small “Yes!” in excitement.

When we come back home, Father kneels down and holds me by the shoulders.

“Rin, I have a present for you!” He pulls out a long and oddly-shaped present. “Open it,” He suggests.

I take the time to carefully remove the wrapper and soon have a wide smile on my face once I see my present fully unwrapped. “A Violin!” I thought, then I soon spot a paper attached to it, reading:

“Happy Birthday Little Rin. Your father and I used the entirety of last week to pick out the perfect instrument for you. Hope you’ll bring a lot of passion to our lessons in the future.”

 –Lunasa Prisimriver

I look up at my father with a smile so big it almost hurt. I then leap at him for a hug.

“Oh, thank you, father!” I couldn’t believe it, personal lessons with Miss Lunasa herself!

“Haha, happy birthday once again little one.” My father greets me. “But what you got was not a violin, but an Erhu. Me and Lunasa chose it for you to stay in our more cultural roots.”

He then ruffles my hair before speaking again. “Soon when you reach twenty, me, you, and mom will perform together, celebrating the beginning of your training.”

Oh right, my training to become an aid to my older sister’s family! Not that I was a daughter of the Adafurui family. Me and my family used to live inside their house before we got our own home. During my stay, I’ve called and treated the Adafurui’s latest daughter, Kouko, as my own sister.

“When do I start meeting up with Miss Lunasa?” I ask my father.

“Next week Monday,” He says before grabbing the erhu and its bow. “But for now, focus on your studies. I’ll make sure you don’t break your present before lessons start.”

I groan. But what’s the point of studying now when what I’m learning can’t possibly apply to my task in the future? I don't voice my complaints, however, instead, I wave goodnight and drift into sleep.

The next week after school ended, Father takes me to the abandoned mansion near Misty Lake. I admit, I was scared going near that mansion, even though Father reassured me that was where they “lived,” which makes sense since I always hear music coming from it.

We walk up to the entrance of the mansion. Father knocked on the door three times with its knocker, and it slowly opened by itself. A cold waft of air greeted us, along with a ghostly blue mist that escaped from the house before dissipating in the air. I swear I could hear the melody of that infamous organ piece Miss Lyrica always played every time they do Halloween Concerts.

The music stopped after ten seconds, which caused Father to chuckle.

“Oh Lyrica, you’ve always loved how dramatic the opening of that piece sounded.” He smiles to himself, before holding my hand and walking in.

Of course, I was dragged into the mansion as well since my father was holding my hand despite every part of my body not wishing to do so. And just to confirm anyone else’s suspicion the mansion was hunted (and absolutely was) the door slams shut the moment we entered, causing me to flinch.

Father didn’t seem to mind though, as he leads me through the broken-down and overgrown mansion with familiarity. Almost as if he has been invited to this place several times before.

We make our way through two flights of stairs, several hallways, a banquet hall, and finally, a large auditorium.

“Woah,” I say to myself when I saw the auditorium. But that single word didn’t do any justice to how it looked. Not even the best description I could come up with can do it justice.

The best I can say is that while the auditorium has fallen into pieces, mother nature must have favored this mansion as a large tree and its branches wrapped around several areas, holding the roof up as if it was the only thing left from stopping this place from crumbling down. What used to be where people sat has been displaced by large roots in the perfect shape to be sat on. But the main focus was on the stage. The entire stage has been overgrown by plants, but the very center was kept clean while a hole in the roof turned the moonlight into a spotlight pointing right at the center.

On the stage itself are the three Prismrivers, practicing their music together.

Me and Father walk up to the nearest tree root and sat on it listening to their rehearsal, an upbeat and energetic tune but it feels like it's missing something.

Once they were finished, Father stands up and claps in ovation. But the sisters themselves seem a bit displeased at their performance.

“You’re close to finishing Easygoing Egoist!” Father speaks to the girls. “But it seems like you need that one more thing to make that song truly pop.”

Miss Merlin and Miss Lyrica wave at my father, while Miss Lunasa approaches us.

“Thank you Futsuno,” She greets my father before looking at me.

“So,” She then smiles at me. “Are you Rin? Your father has told me a lot about you.”

I nod, unsure what to reply with. It feels weird that my number one idol is only a forehead taller than me.

“Not much of a talker huh?”

“Perhaps she is stunned by your elegant performance earlier? Or maybe her mind is running around, unsure what to do being so close to her idol.” Father suggests.

I elbow your father’s arm in retaliation to that very true response.

Lunasa laughs at the interaction. “Come now, Rin. Let’s start your lessons now shall we?”

“Yes, Miss Lunasa!” With my erhu and its bow in my hand, I followed Miss Lunasa to the stage.

Age 20

Month 4

It was once again, my birthday. But it was a very special one. Today was the day me and my parents would perform together in the Prismriver Auditorium with the Prismrivers themselves. I would be playing the erhu, my father with the biwa, and my mother with her koto while the sisters played with their signature instruments.

The members of the Adafurui family would be coming as well (at least the ones who weren’t bedridden), so I’ve been spending the last week or so perfecting the music piece I was going to play with Lunasa just to impress my sister.

When I was told I would be playing with the Prismrivers as well, I almost slapped myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. If sixteen-year-old me had received this news, I was pretty sure I would have fainted right then and there, in front of my father and the sisters.

So when I met up with Father around 5 PM, I was undoubtedly excited. Father told me to invite anyone I wished to come to see the performance, so I went around to invite Miss Keine and the several friends I’ve made during school.

The plan was to pick up Mother at home, then get the Adafurui family, then meet up with Keine’s group on the path that leads to Misty Lake, then head to the Prismriver Mansion.

That plan quickly fell apart when me and Father saw smoke coming from the direction of our home.

Father took to the skies and flew towards the smoke, while I had to cut through a dense thicket as I had not learned how to fly yet. I tripped, fell, cut, and bruised myself along the way, but that did not stop me. But what did stop me, however, was the sight I was greeted at when I cleared the thicket.

Our house had been demolished; its remains were burned to the ground. My father was facing a long-haired blonde youkai with a simple black vest and skirt, wearing a white blouse underneath and a red tie as well. Her mouth, hands, and clothes were all stained with blood. I then focus my attention on something behind Father. It was a half-eaten human wearing familiar clothing. Her entire body was covered in blood and a koto lay right beside her. That was when I realized something horrible.

“Mother...?” I whispered to myself before recklessly charging toward her corpse. “Mother!”

Father and the youkai were taken aback by my sudden appearance. “Rin, run!” My father ordered before the youkai charged in. He then channeled pure spiritual energy into his fist and stroked the youkai’s stomach, causing her to scream in pain before running away as father chased after them.

Now I was simply left alone in the burning ruins of our house with the half-eaten corpse of my mother. What was supposed to be a day of celebration has turned into a day of ruin. I sat down in disbelief and hugged the half-eaten body of my mother.

Chapter Text

Age 20

Month 4

It has been a week since the death of my mother, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. Ever since our house has fallen to ruin, Father and I have moved into the Adafurui’s abode. The various friends I have made along the way have given us gifts and offered us condolences. Father was very happy to know that a lot of people missed mother. That little incident has caused enough commotion for a bounty to exterminate that blonde youkai because apparently, that youkai has taken and ruined the lives of several other villagers. Mother’s death was the turning point.

But something in me despised the notion of having a bounty set up. Every so often I would glare at my father, mentally chiding him on why he couldn’t have finished that youkai off. That one punch to the stomach he landed on the youkai inflicted immense damage and caused it to flee. If he was strong enough to do that, it would have been easy for him to exterminate that girl. But no, when he returned from his chase, he told me she got away. His voice hid something from me as if there was a reason she escaped, and he felt guilty about it.

That bounty is a reminder to me that he had failed to exterminate the youkai that took something so important to us.

Month 7

I’ve been getting worse. Mentally. For the last three months, I’ve been pushing everyone away from me. My father, the Prismrivers, Miss Keine, and even my own sister, Kouko.

“Rin my dear, you can’t keep locking yourself up in your room. Please just give me a chance to-“ I shut the door in front of my father’s face.

When taking a solemn walk through the village, I ran into a disguised Miss Merlin. “Oh, Rin! Over here!” She ran towards me. In response, I started walking a bit faster. “Ah, wait! Rin!” I looked behind and gave a short wave before making a break from her. I was not going to wait around for her to suggest listening to her music to give me a superficial sense of joy.

“Rin! Riiin! Miss Rin Satsuki show yourself right now! Please, don’t try to make your father worry even more!” Miss Keine yelled. This time, I ran away from home after an argument with Father. Foolishly, I ran into the bamboo forest. Yet somehow, Miss Keine has found her way through here calling my name. She brought along my former classmates as well, as I could hear their voices far away, presumably they were circling the edge of the forest. Leaning on a piece of bamboo, I cried myself to sleep, only to later wake up in my bed, as I could hear Miss Keine and my father arguing.

“Sis, please...” I could hear my sister gently thumping the door. “Open up, it’s me... Your sister, Kouko.” I bit my lip. I want to open the door, I despised the thought of locking my sister out. I’ve shared so many memories and secrets with her. She has been there for me every time. But now, here I am, refusing to answer the door. As I lay down on my bed, I hear a sigh from the door and footsteps receding. I blink away a tear, as I try to go to sleep.

Month 9

I spend days using my mother’s biwa, teaching myself to play my mother’s part. To eventually take in the melody I would never hear again with my erhu.

My father has been trying to start my training. He knows my mind is not ready for this, and he clearly does not want to proceed with this. I’ve overheard his conversations with Miss Keine, saying he wishes to postpone my training, but something about the Adafurui Clan needing two Satsuki’s to care for them soon. Mastery of the Satsuki arts requires at least thirty years of training at the very minimum.

I wish I understood why the Adafurui needs two Satsuki to take care of them soon. Kouko’s mother is about to reach fifty, so perhaps some extra manpower is required, but Father has dealt with four generations of the clan alone. Can’t he just deal with it alone as I try to recover from grieving?

Month 11

For the first time in a while, me and my sister started talking. A more proper conversation than just the one-off “How are you feeling.”

We were sent away to do some groceries, and on our way to the village, she asked “How are your koto lessons?”

“I-it’s fine,” I answered with a wavering voice, unsure where she was going with this.

“Is that so? Then perhaps you could play a simple song now?”

“You know that I’ve only been practicing one song.”

“Sure but,” she stopped midway to wave hello at the people guarding the entrance to the village. “You must have learned something else right? There’s no way you practice an instrument for seven months and not have a grasp at playing other songs.”

“Well, then go get me some sheet music for it, and perhaps I could play some songs for you,” I suggested.

We continued in silence. We didn’t speak to each other again until we left the market with the groceries in hand.

“Haaa...” Kouko sighed. “Come on Rin, you used to be so talkative before.”

I looked away and down at the ground in response. “You know why I don’t speak to people as much anymore...”

“Yeah, I do. But you need to open up to people more. You shut yourself away from Miss Keine, your idols the Prismriver, your father, and even me!” She put her hands on her chest while making an offended face.

“You also need to start your training with your father-“

“No.” I bitterly cut her off.

“Ouch,” Kouko murmured. “At least talk to your father, he’s been worried sick for you. Set aside whatever grudge you have for him and meet him face to face.”

“You knew about that?” I glanced at her.

“Yeah, it was pretty obvious. The several glares you have directed at him, your refusal to engage in any conversation with him by just walking away.” She sighs once again. “At least pretend you’re listening to him rather than just walking out of the room.”

“I wish it was that simple...”

“It can be that simple!” Kouka perked up. “I know you also wish to talk to him. You’ve been eavesdropping on his conversations, trying to go through the several books he has published, hoping to learn more about him. You’ve also been writing in your diary how you want to reconnect with him and the others.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve been going through my diary?” Now it was my turn to look offended.

“Sorry about that. Couldn’t help myself, but you shouldn’t have left your room unlocked and left the diary right there in the open.”

I lightly punched her shoulder.

“Ow,”

“Privacy, please. But ugh, you're right. I do want to talk to others once again, but I can’t just hold a conversation when they inevitably go, ‘Oh, are you sure you’re okay now with what happened months ago?’ I don’t want people to treat me as if haven’t recovered from it. I have, and they need to move on.”

“But has anyone asked anything similar to that so far?”

I thought about it for a quick second. “No, not really.”

“Then YOU’RE the one that needs to move on.” Kouko poked my chest. “If you keep worrying about scenarios like those, you won’t be able to escape until the grief of your mother’s death has left you.”

“Me?!” I said in disbelief. “All right then, if you really think I’m the cause, how do you propose to set me straight?”

Kouko grabbed me by the shoulders. “Talk.”

Admittedly, that sent a shiver up my spine.

“T-talk?”

“Talk to me, tell me your problems.” She said looking directly at my eyes. “If you want to get out of this state of depression, then you’re going to need someone who understands your problem to get you out.”

“I-“ I held back a sob. “Can we do this sitting down?” I requested.

“Sure, I know a quiet spot in the village.”

Kouku led us to a significantly less crowded area in the village. The only notable feature was a bookstore called Suzunaan.

Kouko then sat me down on a nearby bench. “All right then, do your thing?”

“What thing?”

“Talk.”

I sigh. I talked about how excited I was for my 20^th birthday. How I practiced hard with Lunasa and her sisters (because if Lunasa alone taught me, I would have been depressed back then) to perfect my part of the concert. Father and Mother played their own assigned parts to me separately, only leaving me to wonder how beautiful our performance have been. But when Mother died, my heart was crushed. When Father returned from chasing the youkai away and told me she got away, I felt angry. He had the capabilities to kill that girl, but he failed. When I learned that a bounty was made for that youkai because she has been terrorizing the lives of others, my anger towards him grew knowing he could have avenged the others. I also had a suspicion that he was hiding something from me, a reason why that youkai escaped. And soon, in an attempt to try and cope with my mother’s death, I started playing her koto to learn her song.

“I’m pretty sure the first part of solving your current dilemma is to face your father head-on,” Kouku suggested. “You suspect there is more than meets the eye to that youkai’s escape due to how he spoke about it. That means he feels guilty about it. Maybe if you’re willing to talk about it, he could tell you the truth.”

“Then what’s the next part?”

Kouko shrugs. “I don’t know. Perhaps reconnecting with your friends and acquaintances? Some of our previous classmates really miss you...”

“...Fine, I’ll consider it.” I stood up.

“One last favor before we go?” Kouku requested.

“What is it?”

“Could you please start your training soon? For my sake?”

“Why?”

“Well, I want you to be the one who takes care of me when I soon reach fifty...”

I didn’t even consider that at any point in my life that my beloved sister would soon be inflicted by the illness the family was cursed with.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” Kouko grimaced. “I wish I forgot as well, it would have been nice to forget that I’ll be trapped in a sickbed when I grow old.” She stood up after that, and in return, I lunged in for a hug. “Woah there! Almost made me drop the groceries!”

“I’ll promise you something Kouko,” I whispered to her. “I assure you, that you’ll still be able to see the blue skies and the green grass when you reach fifty. I’ll master my Kirin powers and let you escape that bedridden fate your family has always suffered.”

I could feel a tear drop onto my shoulder. “Thank you, Rin.” Kouko whispered back before we free ourselves from that hug.”

“So,” I cheerfully pick up the groceries I was carrying. “Shall we go?”

Kouko smiled at me before wiping away another tear. “Yeah, let’s.”

We walked away with our groceries in tow.

I hoped facing my father would be just as easy to face my sister, but I was terribly wrong. Right after me and my father sat on a chair after telling him that I was ready to talk to him, not a single word has been spoken for five minutes. That was when father decided that the silence was deafening and went first.

“So, how was your day with Kouko?”

“Fine...” I tried to make eye contact, but I just turned my face away. Damn myself, why must it be so hard to look at Father’s eyes.

Father sighs. “Look, Rin. Dear. I understand if you’re not yet ready. We can do this another-“

“No.” I brought myself to face him. “There won’t be another time.”

Father simply just looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

“I want to say that I... I...” I shook my head. Struggling to form a careful sentence in my head, I decided to let it all out naturally. “Ever since Mother’s death, I’ve always been angry with you.”

Father slowly nodded.

“When you returned to me after chasing the youkai and told me you failed to kill her, part of me despised you for letting the youkai who ate mother get away like that. You and I know that you had the power to exterminate her. That punch in the gut you did prove it.”

Father stayed silent, still listening.

The silence was unsettling, but I continued anyway. “It always felt like there was a reason as to why you let her get away. The way you looked and spoke to me told me you were hiding something. Soon, the bounty for that youkai came-“

“Rumia,” Father suggested. “Call her Rumia.”

“...When the bounty for Rumia came, I soon learned that many others had lost their lives to that fiend. I then grew disappointed in you. You’ve lived in the village for so long, you must have known about this Rumia for some time now and knew what she has done before. So why didn’t you kill her when you had the chance?”

Father heaved a long sigh as he cupped his hands over his face.

“Ever since you were born, I’ve been growing weaker and weaker,” Father admitted. “When the first child of a Satsuki is born, the parent– The half-kirin side– starts to slowly lose their powers. We are completely stripped of our powers when we reach our fiftieth year after the eldest is born. Might as well be a slow-aging human at that point.”

“But you were still strong a few months ago,” I commented.

Father shook his head. “That surge of strength came from my anger. It was a one-time thing... As I chased after her, I could feel my strength ebbing. And that was when she came in and stop me...”

“She?”

“Yukari Yakumo,” Father grumbled. “You’ll meet her soon enough. She stopped me from chasing Rumia down even further before I could get myself killed.”

“Who is this Yukari?”

“You haven’t read the Gensokyo Chronicles yet?” Father raised his eyebrows at me. “Yukari is the youkai of boundaries, the creator of Gensokyo.”

THE Creator of Gensokyo?! “W-Why would such a great figure would look out for our safety?”

“It has something to do with our family. And us being half-kirin... Mostly us being half-kirin,” He admitted. “We are the last trace of the Kirin youkai that Yukari is aware of, and she would like to have someone be their living reminder that they still exist.”

A scowl formed on my face. “And she didn’t bother protecting Mother?”

I could see a hint of anger flash in his eyes. “No,” Father answered. “She wasn’t a Kirin in any way, she wasn’t included in her field of... ‘protection.’”

At that moment, both of us silently agreed that the disdain we felt for Yakumo was warranted.

“So anyways,” I looked around starting to get a bit unsettled by the silence in the room. “Could I... Start my training now?”

Father’s eyes lit up. “C-Could you?! I mean, yes! You can!” He calmed himself down before continuing. “Ahem, sorry. But are you sure you’re ready for this?”

I nodded.

Father reached in for a hug, only to be stopped by the table in front of him. So instead, he left his chair, came to my side, and hugged me.

“Tomorrow morning, that’s when we start,” He says as he patted my shoulder. “Now, get ready for bed. You’ve earned yourself a need to wake up early in the morning.”

Chapter Text

Age 23

Month 5

You know the phrase, “easier said than done?” Is there a phrase that is the opposite of that? Because if such a phrase exists, then it applies to flight. I don’t know how but in two days I found myself clumsily floating in the air, and on the next day, I was able to fly through the air and only crashed into at least seven trees.

BONK

...Make that eight.

“You’re getting the hang of it quite fast,” Father said as he helped me up. “Even faster than me when I first started my flight training.”

I took his hand and dusted myself off once I got myself up. “I did not believe a single word when you said ‘Oh don’t worry, you’ll get this down in a week!’ Yet here I am.”

“What did I say?” Father smiled.

Father has only taught me how to treat basic wounds and illnesses using my kirin powers for the first two years. Only now we have started on the next phase, using these powers for battle instead of healing.

“But why focus on combat now?” I asked Father. “I feel like we should focus on the healing aspect of my powers. The part that matters for the Adafurui clan...”

Father shook his head. “This will only take a short while. It will only be just the basics. Dodging, and when to attack. Besides you need to defend yourself just in case I...”

He didn’t finish that sentence, but I knew what he was going to say. “Just in case I die.”

Last year, his powers have started to slowly drain. I could hear Kouko’s grandfather coughing much more violently than usual, and he looked much worse now than before. Not only that, Kouko’s mother is nearing fifty as well. Father himself is starting to look tired as well, so I worry about what happens when he starts treating Kouko’s mother as well.

And then there’s him worrying about his death. Father seems to believe that once I’m ready to be his successor, Yukari may no longer act as his bodyguard.

Despite the numerous horrible and deceitful deeds he has described Yukari doing, I don’t believe she will forsake my father anytime soon. He’s still a half-kirin, a remnant of a dying race.

“Anyways,” Father continued. “If that ever comes to pass while you’re still training, you should approach your teacher, Keine, to hand you a copy of one of the Gensokyo Chronicles. I can’t remember which volume was it, but one of them has details about our training and details about the ritual we perform to first suppress the Adafurui’s curse.”

“Now,” Father starts floating up. “For you to control your movement while flying at high speeds, I’ll start shooting some basic danmaku patterns at you while we race to the village and back home. This will also help you grasp the concept of dodging mid-flight. Ready?”

I rose to his height and nodded my head.

“Three,” Father counted down. “Two, one... GO!”

Father zipped away with such speed, it made me wonder if his ability to fly had nothing to do with our kirin blood- it would explain why he hadn't fallen on that department. I quickly chase after him and once Father realizes I was not catching up to his speed anytime soon, he slowed down to my speed.

“The first volley!” Father warned before shooting out single shots of danmaku aimed at me. I adjusted my body to lean left and right when I needed to dodge. It wasn’t long before I started to feel confident before a bullet I failed to notice hit me by the side, causing me to lose some altitude before catching myself from falling to the ground. As I regained height, I took a look around and saw that Father has started firing danmaku way to my left or right, with no way of hitting me before somehow bouncing towards my direction, aiming for my sides. To adjust for this, I had to speed up or slow down to avoid it. I endured at least twenty seconds of constant dodging, getting hit two more times in the process before Father finally stopped.

“That was the FIRST VOLLEY?!” I complained. This was too difficult for a first-time experience.

“But it didn’t hurt right?” Father asked for confirmation.

He was right, it didn’t hurt. All three bullets that hit me did was knocked me in a certain direction. To this, I nodded at him.

“Good, good! Now, onto wave two: Lasers!”

He fired his lasers the same way he did at the first volley, straight at me. Then he started to do that same bouncing trick again. I was able to successfully dodge the attacks all the way until the end. Before I could gloat about how easy that was, I sensed I was trapped in a largely invisible sphere. I looked around to see what would happen when suddenly a laser appeared right behind me which I was able to, fortunately, dodge in time. That laser to my dismay didn’t disappear. Instead, even more lasers started to appear, slowly forming a tangled mess of static lines. When lasers didn’t appear anymore, they then started to move. I could sense the sphere rotating in various directions. How am I supposed to dodge this?! I dodged at least two lasers before colliding with one. The laser felt like an intense pressure of water, pushing me along its line before I eventually got thrown off it, only to fly into another laser which dragged me in the opposite direction. This process happened at least several times before a laser eventually took me out of the sphere. I guess my father couldn’t see how poorly I was performing as I caught glimpse of him in shock and concern as I start to plummet to the ground, extremely disoriented. I heard my father shout something, but I was too dizzy to process what he said. I didn’t even realize what was going to happen to me, that I was going to fall flat to the ground and presumably break several bones in my body with a slight chance of living.

That was when my surroundings suddenly shifted into a black swirling purple void. My focus slowly regained as I continued to fall when suddenly, the void was filled with large, red eyes staring at me. That DEFINITELY put my wits back as the numbness in my mind suddenly turned to immense fear. I didn’t understand what was happening, and looking around didn’t help because right behind me, I was falling into one of those large eyes. I started screaming at the top of my lungs as I close into the center of the eye. And right when I was about to crash in it, I closed my eyes and...

I heard a phwip as if someone had caught me and someone saying “Oof, I was not ready for that...” I open my eyes to see that I was now in the arms of a beautiful lady wearing a two-tailed hat with short blonde hair.

“Ah,” The lady noticed I was staring. “Are you okay little one?”

“I-I uh, er, YES! I-I mean yes, I am.” I stuttered, convincing myself that I was not blushing.

“Ah, I see.” She smiled. Okay, I was definitely blushing. “Then let’s get you on your feet, shall we?”

She says “feet” but we were still in the air, so I clumsily got myself to float the moment she let go of me.

I scan my surroundings and first took notice that I could see my father up ahead arguing with someone that had long blonde hair and a deep purple dress and was wearing a... Nightcap? I turned around to face my savior only to get distracted that they had nine absurdly fluffy and comfy-looking tails. My viewing experience was eventually interrupted when I heard the lady clear her throat to get my attention.

“A-ah, sorry. What’s your name?” I asked as I try to focus on her eyes and not her tails. Bad move, as I start admiring her beautiful yellow eyes.

“Ran Yakumo,” Ran answered as she bowed before bending a bit to meet my eyes at eye level. “You must be Rin?” She continued and gave me a gentle smile after.

“I... Uh... Y-yes, I am!”

I mentally slapped myself before realizing that her last name was something important.

“Y-Yakumo?!” I asked incredulously. “As in, Yukari Yakumo?!”

“Correct, I’m her shikigami.”

I look back at my father arguing with the blonde lady in the distance. While I couldn’t be certain from afar, I was sure that it was the youkai sage herself with her long blonde hair based on Father’s descriptions.

Ran sighs. “Yes, that is her in the flesh. She’s still in her bedwear because she was in a hurry to teleport here once I informed her that your father had started training you intensely. Come,” Ran beckoned. “Let’s see what they’re arguing about.”

“...Why do you insist on that notion?! I swore that I would protect you and your family-“

Father then cuts Yukari off. “PROTECT?! You weren’t there when Hideko died!”

“But I WAS there.” Yukari countered. “Yes, I was late but I still showed up. How was I supposed to get there on time?! I was sleeping when Ran told me what happened!”

“Ahem.” Ran intervened, getting the attention of both of them. Father immediately calmed down once he saw me, while Yukari’s face settled in a split state of calmness and anger. That and it also looked like she had just woken up from a nap.

Yukari herself looked like what Father had described. A beautiful mature look with golden hair. However, he also said that anyone can sense an aura of calmness with a small imposing feeling when near her. But she did not radiate that calm and imposing aura but instead seemed to be pissed off and hurt.

“Ah, hello there. You must be Rin?” She asked me with an unnerving smile on her face.

Before I could even answer, Father cut me off. “Rin, do not listen to a word that youkai says.”

Yukari promptly drops her calm façade and returned to arguing with Father. “Look here Futsuno, I’m trying to paint myself a good image to your daughter. Could you at least grant me that chance?”

“No. Not while I’m here.”

“Wh, I- Gah! Ran! Take her away to the village! I cannot let out my fury while Futsuno’s child is here!”

Ran in turn looks at my father, seeking approval.

“Just go,” Father answered. “She’s safer in your hands than your master.”

Ran nods before creating what seems to be a tear in space-time. “You first,” Ran offered to me. So I stepped in while looking at Father and Yukari with a worried look on my face.

When we arrived in the village, Ran was now dressed in what seemed to be a high-class suit dress and wore glasses. She has removed her two-tailed hat and unfortunately made her tails disappear. A shame.

Oh well, she’s still as stunning as before.

As we walked through the village, several villagers gawked at us which made me quite uncomfortable.

“I try to make myself look like I belong...” Ran grumbled. “Yet they still draw attention to me.”

I wanted to suggest wearing something less flashy, but that might mean she would wear normal human clothes instead of that outfit. Gods I loved what she was currently wearing.

Eventually, we stopped in front of a small restaurant.

“You are hungry, right? After all that training?” Ran asked, which in turn made me nod in response. “Good. This restaurant serves the best mapo tofu.” She declared as we went in.

“Ah Miss Ran!” A man cooking meals behind a counter greeted us. “You want the usual?” The man took a quick glance at us. “Oh, you have someone with you? Want to make it double?”

“Yes please,” Ran answered.

“The usual spot?”

“Indeed. I would like to have a private conversation with my companion.” She then raised her hand.

“Alrighty then.” The cook answered as he threw a key towards Ran’s opened hand. Ran caught it and then led me to a door which she unlocked with the key. The door led us upstairs to a room with a wide-open window that contained a large table, four chairs, a very comfy-looking couch, and a shelf lined up with books and newspapers.

“Are you a VIP in this place?” I wondered aloud.

“You could say that,” She made her way to the couch and sat on it. She then combed the top of her head with her hands, which made a pair of fox ears appear before taking in the comfort of the couch. “Come, have a seat.” She patted the sofa, inviting me, so I waddled my way to the sofa. Once I sat down, the softness and comfiness of the chair overwhelmed me as I sank into its cushions.

“How are you?” Ran asked.

“I-I’m fine...” I mustered.

Ran edge towards me with a concerned look on her face. “Are you sure? You spent your sweet time screaming your lungs out inside the gap.”

“You heard that?!” I could feel the embarrassment causing me to blush.

“Oh yes, I’ve had the bottom of the gap opened and I heard your scream of terror loud and clear.” She chuckled. “Although that’s the expected reaction of someone going through my Mistress’ gap the first time. Those eyes unsettled me the first few hundred times I went through them.” Ran returned to her original position. “But I got better.”

The room was silent for a while. Ran used her powers to grab a book from the shelf to read before offering me a book she thinks I’d like. I accepted, and for the next ten minutes or so, we spent the time reading.

After those ten minutes have passed, someone knocked on the door. It was the cook from earlier, carrying two platters on a large tray. He then placed the platters down on the table.

“Thank you.” Ran said as the cook leaves the room.

“No problem,” The cook answered back as the doors closed on him.

“Shall we?” Ran offered her hand to me like a gentleman.

I mentally screamed. She definitely knows I’ve developed a crush on the short time we’ve met.

I accepted her hand and stood up, convincing myself I had a straight face as she guided me to the table.

As I sat down, I examined the food presented to us. On one hand, there was a bowl of mapo tofu. In the other, was a saucer filled with a long, thin, yellow, and crusty kind of food. I took a single piece with my chopsticks and ate it. It was salty, but the flavor it left behind was quite something.

“Mmm! What’s this?” I asked Ran.

“Those are fries. An appetizer in the outside world. I taught the chef how to make this kind of food with the cooking materials Gensokyo only has access to as thanks to their hospitality. It was a bit harder than expected, but he eventually mastered it.” She eyed me as I started stuffing my mouth with fries. “Ah, seems like its addictive flavor has already gotten to you...” Not even in a minute, I’ve eaten all the fries on the saucer. I made a note to myself to return to this restaurant someday.

“You can have mine if you want.” Ran offered as she pushed her saucer of fries towards me. I couldn’t say no to that, so I grabbed the saucer and started eating once again.

“So... What has your father told me about my master?” Ran asked as she started eating her mapo tofu.

I stopped eating and stared at the fries intensely as if a piece suddenly tasted different from the rest. “Father was very vocal about your master,” I answered. “Father called her liar, a promise breaker, someone who looks down on others, a control freak... A lot more words... That I can’t recall at the moment.” I return to my regular scheduled devouring of fries.

“Sounds like knows a lot more about Lady Yukari than I expected if he’s able to slander her like that.”

“Uh, you won’t tell your master I said that right?” I asked, hoping this won’t get him into more trouble.

“Oh no, it won’t matter if I did anyways. I imagine that your father has unleashed his fury towards her now that you’re no longer in the scene.”

“Uh, he WILL be okay after his argument, right? He’ll return in one piece and... Hopefully not dead? Father said your master was not an easy one to anger. She definitely looked angry before we came in.”

“Honestly...” Ran studied the tofu she had caught with her chopsticks. “I’d like to say he’s pushing his luck but I’m fairly certain no matter how far he pushes Lady Yukari’s temper, he will end up fine. Lady Yukari has been able to withstand his onslaught of... Unsavory opinions he has for at least a hundred and eighty years ago or so.”

“They’ve known each other for that long?” I asked as I started eating my own mapo tofu. I knew my father spoke of Yukari as an old-time enemy but I didn’t expect his hatred started so long ago.

“Indeed they have,” Ran ate the tofu she was studying earlier. “I don’t know the details mind you. At that point, the original consciousness of this kitsune’s body was still in control. Lady Yukari hasn’t chosen them for me to possess.”

“...What?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Technically, this body belongs to someone else. Nor was their name “Ran.” Their consciousness lies deep within my mind, in an endless slumber.

She gave me a crooked smile. “If she was still around, perhaps you might have gotten a good chance to ask them out.”

I choked on my food as she said that. “Gack! Cough, cough! Ahem! Sorry, what did you say?”

“Don’t hide it from me. I’ve noticed your stares and blushes. Unfortunately for you, my heart goes for my Lady, Yukari. However...”

A gap covered Ran’s mouth, then suddenly on my left ear, I heard her whisper in a soft and alluring. “That doesn’t mean I can’t spoil you.”

I could feel my entire face turning red. It did not help to see Ran’s smug face, and while her mouth was still covered by a gap, I could tell she was giving a sly smile.

Ran stood up and walked to the exit. “I’m going to go order some food for some feline friends in Mahiyoga.” She spoke as if she wasn’t playing with my feelings moments ago. “You better finish up your meal, because I’m taking you home after this.”

All I could do was sit down and eat in silence. The best thing I could do when my heart is being attacked by several conflicting emotions.

After eating, we went through a gap Ran summoned and found ourselves in a seemingly abandoned village. Ran called out “ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps” and suddenly, cats started appearing from everywhere, encircling Ran and begging for her attention as she sets down the food she had ordered earlier. I got to pat a brown cat wearing a tiny green paper hat before we left.

We then arrived at the Adafurui’s abode. Around the same time, another gap showed up with Father exiting from it. He still had a sour look on his face as I could see Yukari peeking out from the gap, still talking to him, who seemingly have calmed a lot down from earlier. Father then saw me, causing him to rush at me with a relieved face. I noticed that Yukari has made her exit when Father hugged me and showered me with apologies and questions if I was okay or not.

After reassuring him I was fine, Father faced Ran.

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

“No problem, Mister Satsuki.” Ran smiled. “Your daughter is quite cute. It was a joy to be around her.” I glared at Ran calling me cute, but no one seemed to notice.

“You are far more kind than your master. How did she ever summon a shikigami like you...” Father mused.

Ran shrugged at this. “Ask the mistress yourself.” One of her ears suddenly twitched towards the east. “Ah, it seems like Lady Yukari requires me to go fetch some items from the Outside World. I have to go now.” She gave a small bow as a gap appeared behind her. “Farewell, Mister Satsuki and little Rin,” she bid farewell as she entered the gap and disappeared.

“What’s for dinner?” I asked Father.

“Hah, let’s find out together. Kouko’s mother didn’t reveal anything to me before we left.” He stated as we walked towards the main door.

As we entered the house, I wondered what Yukari and Father argued about earlier... Ah well, I’ll ask him another time. He won’t be in the mood to talk about her at all for a while.

Chapter Text

Age 29

Month 8

Kouko and I went to the Hakurei Shrine. I’ve been to the shrine before, back when mother was alive, but never again after her passing. Something felt vastly different. I asked Kouko if she felt anything different, but she simply shook her head (on the sidenote, Kouko’s body has been growing old while my body’s aging seemed to have significantly slowed down ever since I reached 20. I still look the same as I did nine years ago, and I find that somewhat disturbing. Seeing my acquaintances growing old and older, while I stay the same. Wonder if this is what Father and Miss Keine felt growing up...).

After saying our prayers and donating to the shrine, I hear a voice behind me.

“Are you Miss Satsuki?” Someone called.

I turn around and I see a woman that seemed to be roughly four years older than Kouko, which means they were around thirty-four.

“I am,” I bowed, showing respect to people older than me. Kouko did the same but I could tell she was starting to panic for some reason.

“Ah, greetings then. I’m Sendai Hakurei, the current Hakurei Shrine Maiden.” She smiled. “Your Father has said a lot about you.”

I thought I heard Kouko let out a short whimper, but I realized that was me. I’ve never seen the new Hakurei Shrine Maiden myself, but I’ve heard how she exterminates youkai through brute force and unarmed combat. I’ve also heard how ruthless she could be. I know my family line is one of the good youkai so I know I’m safe, especially if Father has talked about me with her, but seeing her personally scared me.

“H-He has?”

“Well, he said that to my mother before time made her weak, causing her to retire. I just simply eavesdropped...” She took a glance at us before sighing. “Please relax yourselves, I promise I won’t bite. All half-human half-youkai villagers are safe as long as they don’t do anything out of line.”

She looked at us for a response, but we simply stayed quiet.

“I, uh... Have tea?” She offered.

“I-I appreciate the offer Lady Hakurei,” Kouko answered as she straightened herself. “But uh... I have some other business to take care of...” Out of her pocket, she reveals a small tiny ring box.

Wait, ring box?

“You’re going to propose to him?!” I exclaimed. A few months ago, Kouko had fallen in love with one of the teachers at the school, and they have been going out together since.

Kouko blushed at my response. “Yeah, I have dinner plans tonight.”

“Ahem,” Sendai cleared her throat. “As a shrine maiden, I wish you good luck with your proposal. And if you ever need a shrine to celebrate your marriage, you know where to go. That said, I won’t keep you here, you can leave if you want.”

“You have my thanks, Lady Hakurei!” She slipped the ring box into her pocket. “Come now, Rin. Let us-“

“Not the half-kirin,” Sendai stated with a demanding voice, causing us to flinch. “I mean, not Miss Satsuki. I want to have a chat with her.”

“O-oh, I see!” Kouko gave me her ‘good luck, and please come back alive look.’ “Well, I’ll let you have her. Anyways, see you around Rin!”

“Wh- I- Hey, Kouko!” Too late, she was already dashing down the staircase.

“So then Miss Satsuki,” The shrine maiden smiled at me. “Care for some tea?”

The tea was marvelous. I’ll give her that. The interior of the shrine was quite simple but quite charming.

After taking my third sip, I asked the obvious. “What did you want to talk about?”

“About you of course. More specifically how you’ve been. Ever since Mother retired back to the village, your father hasn't shared any stories about you with me when he visits the shrine. The last I heard of you was when Yukari started complaining about how reckless your father was when you started your first combat training.”

“Ah... That incident. Yeah, supposedly I would have died that day if Ran wasn’t there.”

“After that incident, what else happened?”

“Training resumed, except this time Yukari took over the combat training. She felt she could not trust Father to train me after that event. Her training course was a lot less overwhelming...”

I took my fourth sip of tea. “And then, all focus shifted to learning the in and outs of medicine, then learning how to use my kirin powers for curing diseases and expelling curses.” I summoned a talisman out of thin air with 冴月 written on it, meaning Satsuki.

“That can hurt youkai,” Sendai noted. “The spirit power in it is as strong as mine when I channel the Hakurei God’s energy into my fist.”

I winced. If the talisman I summoned is on-par with the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s fist, then I could not imagine how painful any youkai being under Sendai’s wrath would feel. When I threw a talisman at a cute karakasa obake who surprised me, she did not react well to that.

Had to hide her after she passed out from screaming in pain. When I came to check on her, she had disappeared. I hope she survived our encounter and didn’t get exterminated. I often find that tsukumogami in that village, trying to scare the villagers. She was one of the few youkai the villagers didn’t mind hanging around in the village, so the Hakurei Miko gave her the pardon.

“Yeah,” I snapped out of my memories. “I’ve seen them in action...”

“I can see why Rumia is so determined to wipe our families away from Gensokyo...”

“Rumia?!”

“Yes,” Sendai grimaced. “She has fought both of our families before, targeting the older members. According to my mother, my grandmother was killed a decade after she retired, and your grandfather’s father was a victim of her attacks as well. Yukari says our families once teamed up to kill her. They only managed to critically wound her before they needed to retreat.”

“I thought my family was a line of doctors, not exterminators.”

“Hieda no Anana’s final rendition of the Gensokyo Chronicles claims that your family used to partner with my family when it came to dealing with dangerous youkai.”

“Anana... Anana... The seventh incarnation of Hieda no Are?” I deduced.

“Correct. Now, getting back on track with your life story...”

I told her how my life has been, up to the present.

“You performed with the Prismrivers?” Sendai asked for confirmation of what she just heard.

“I did.” I smiled, reminiscing about the cheering of the crowd. “That was a good day...”

“Interesting. I expected that you would learn an instrument, but not play together with the Prismrivers.”

“Do you attend their concerts?”

Sendai shook her head. “No, I don’t. Used to back when I was a kid, but the moment the role of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden got passed down to me, I did not have the time for anything.”

“I see...” I looked out the window and noticed it was dark outside. “It’s already night?!”

Sendai chuckled. “You know what they say, time flies when you’re preoccupied. You’ve told your tale and I’m satisfied. You can leave.”

I stood up and bowed before making my way to the exit.

“Actually,” I said aloud. “Can I come by again for some tea?”

Sendai nodded. “You’re a guest as far as I’m concerned. Feel free to say hi if I’m in the shrine.”

I nodded back as I exited the shrine and flew back home.

Chapter Text

Age 33

Month 2, Day 17

Miss Ran, Merlin, and I got together for a shopping trip. It took some convincing for Merlin to meet and hang out with the sage’s shikigami, but all tension disappeared the moment we entered a tailor’s clothes shop.

“Merlin over here!” I called the trumpeter. “Aw, this would look perfect for the ensemble!” I held up three dresses, each in black, red, and pink with a bow at the collar, trimming, and frills at the bottom.

“No thanks!” Merlin replied. “We already have too many clothes with slight variations stored in the wardrobe! A bow and some frills are not enough to make an impactful difference.”

“Can I take a look at the red one?” Ran asked, so I handed her the dress. “Hm, yes.” She remarked while examining the dress. “This is certainly the correct size for her once she grows a bit bigger...”

“For her?” I questioned.

“Do you remember your favorite cat out of everyone from Mayohiga?”

I nodded.

“Well turns out she transformed into a bakeneko while I was not watching. I have taken her in like a caretaker, but right now she is currently running around the house naked whenever she is in human form, and we do not have any clothes that match her size.”

“Do you not know how to sew?” I wondered.

Ran’s face darkened. “Why did I not consider that...”

“Perhaps you’ve been spending too much time with me?” I smiled. “Perhaps you decided to not bother with sewing clothes just so that you could see my face when we met up today?”

The smug look on my face was suddenly ruined when Ran ruffled my hair. “Don’t think you have won over me yet, Satsuki.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I fix my hair as I laughed at the interaction right before Merlin let out a groan.

“If you invited me just to third wheel then I’ll gladly see myself out if you want to.”

“Oh, you know I won’t hurt you like that!” I reassured her. “Besides, we’ve only just begun today’s shopping spree!” We walk towards the counter to pay for the clothes Ran has chosen. “If it pleases you, we could head to Mahiyoga after this and pay a visit to the litter.” Ran offers to Merlin before looking at me. “Besides, that bakeneko seems to miss you.”

Merlin sighs as she pulls out her wallet. “Fine, I’ll stay. But I’m paying for the clothes since I’m third wheeling.”

“Good girl,” I whispered, only for Merlin to elbow me in the shoulder as we left the store to continue our day of shopping.

It is 4:32 PM. The sun is beginning to set. It has been roughly three and a half hours since my daughter, Rin, left the house to enjoy her time in the village with some of her close acquaintances.

I was merely walking down the trail that led to the Adafurui’s abode after collecting some medicine when suddenly, I felt a presence. A familiar and disturbing presence. I gently place the bag down and ran straight into the forest.

I could hear someone chasing me through the thicket, so I ducked and weaved through the trees until I found a wide clearing. I stopped there and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And that was when she revealed herself. The Youkai of Darkness walked into the clearing and kept her eyes on me. I ready myself, feeling the pure, divine essence of a kirin flow through my hands, an essence that would cleave away any impurities.

The youkai summoned her moonlit blade and charged.

According to Ran, it is currently 4:35 PM. We traveled to Mayohiga using Ran’s gaps, and the moment we arrived the entire population of the village surrounded us.

“My gods.” Said Merlin, aghast. “You told me that the only things living in this village were cats, but I thought you were joking.”

I held a cat up in the air. “I wasn’t.” I took a glance at Merlin who awkwardly kept her legs in the air to avoid the cats. “Uh, you aren’t afraid of them. Right?”

“N-no!” Merlin squeaked in response.

I stared at her.

And she stared at me back.

“Y-you’re a ghost.” I try to hide and push down the laughter.

“Y-yeah.”

“You also had a chance to say no to Ran when she asked you at the last moment if you really wanted to come.”

“How could I say no to the Sage of Gensokyo’s Shikigami?!”

I rolled my eyes. “By simply saying no.”

“Oh quiet you!” Merlin slapped my shoulder, causing me to release the laugh I was pushing down.

“Hahahaha! Hahahaha... Ha...” I look around our surroundings, realizing that Ran has seemingly disappeared. “Hey, where’s Ran- BLUGWACK!” A figure tackled me to the ground from behind, causing me to fall face-first into the ground. “Ow!”

“Miss Satsuki, Miss Satsuki! It’s me, Chen!” The person currently doing all fours on my back exclaimed. “P-please get off my back.” I whimpered. “It hurts.”

“O-oh! Sorry, Miss Satsuki!” The figure jumped off, allowing me to stand back up. “I’m sorry Miss Satsuki! Chen didn’t mean to hurt ya...”

I stood up and dusted off the front of my clothes. I turn around and face my assailant. “Chen” has black cat ears, gold earrings, and two tails sticking out of the dress Ran has bought for her. Seems like Ran could not find any footwear for her yet, as she was barefoot. She also wore a very familiar green paper hat that was too small for her.

“Are you... The cat I played with the most?” I asked.

“Yep!” Chen enthusiastically replied. “It was me! Chen! I turned to a youkai one day and now here I am!”

I smiled as I reached my hand to her head. Seemingly by instinct, Chen leaned forward and allowed me to ruffle her head.

“It really is you.” I mused.

“Yep!”

“So, Ran has been taking care of you ever since you became a youkai?”

“Ran-sama has been really good to Chen! She also plays with Chen a lot! Chen also lives with her now!”

“Aw, I wish I could have kept you.” I joked.

“I could make that happen.” Ran’s voice sounded behind my back. “She has been quite handy after all.”

I free Chen from my hand’s fury as I faced Ran. “Nah, I was only joking. Father might allow it, but the rest of the Adafurui would freak out with a fully fledge youkai in the house. My sister may be the only one who wouldn’t mind.”

“M... Miss... Miss Ran...  Rin... Help...” A voice tried to call for us. We scanned the area and soon spot a pile of cats sitting on top of Merlin.

“M-Merlin?!” I ran towards Merlin and started shooing the cats away while laughing to my heart’s content. Once an arm was freed, I grabbed it and started pulling her, prompting the cats to jump off her body. Her face can only be described as someone that has been exposed to an onion’s fumes for an hour. That is to say, someone trying to cry with dried-up tiers.

“Stop laughing!” Merlin begged as I tried to catch my breath. “The moment you got tackled by that bakeneko, the cats pounced on me!”

“Why are you this scared of cats?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe it’s some cat-related trauma my alive self had?!”

“Oh, this would never be not funny.”

“Oh shut up!”

“Girls.” Ran interrupted the atmosphere with her cold, piercing voice. “Something urgent has come up. We need to go.” Ran states before opening a wide gap.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked.

Ran sighs in regret. “I wish there was an easier way to say this, but there isn’t.” She looks behind her shoulder. “Eight minutes ago, your father had initiated combat with Rumia and has been left injured. Lady Yukari is currently holding her off. Let us go. If I can assist my master and call in Lady Hakurei, your father may survive this.”

It’s 4:40.

I have been leaning behind a tree ever since that hag stepped in to defend me. I can’t believe it; she actually did come for me. If I survive this, I must never let Rin hear this, or else she will mention this event to me every time I speak ill of Yakumo.

But that’s only if I survive. I can feel my energy slowly fading, my kirin essence being taken from me and presumably flowing into Rin, empowering her while making me weak. Why must my clan distribute the heir’s powers this way?

I take a peek from my hiding spot and watch what is unfolding. The hag was staring at the youkai of darkness. Her pink umbrella matches the same level of intimidation as Rumia’s blades.

“Out of my way Yukari,” Rumia growls. “I don’t care if you have a contract of sorts to protect him.” She twirls her blade. “He’s dead meat anyways” Rumia dashes towards Yukari, swinging her blade wildly. But Yukari simply separates the area where she was about to get sliced with her gaps, allowing her to dodge it. She simply yawns before she stomps through a gap, which leading foot straight toward Rumia’s unguarded gut, sending her stumbling away.

“Come on Rumia, you have seen my fights against sword wielders before.” Yukari yawned. “You must have seen this trick before.”

“And you should know that was just a warning shot.” The darkness youkai shoots back. “You’ve seen my true speed.”

“Then come at me,” The Gap Hag taunts.

With blinding speed, Rumia closes the distance between herself and Yukari. She uses her free hand to grab Yukari’s face and slammed her head towards the ground. Yukari grunts in pain upon impact.

Yukari slips into a gap and appears behind Rumia, who immediately faces her opponent.

“So, you do intend to harm me to reach this pitiful goal of yours.” Yukari covers her face with a fan. “Shame it has come to this. I would have preferred you stayed on my good side.”

Yukari opens several gaps around Rumia which fires a stream of lasers. Rumia dodges, blocks some of the lasers with her sword, and occasionally transforms into a goop of darkness to slip through tight areas. She eventually reaches Yukari and brings her sword onto her, only for Yukari to hold it back with a single hand. She smiles with full confidence, but that smile quickly shifts to surprise as her hand begins to crack and leak out Rumia’s darkness. She swiftly let go and kicks Rumia in the back, causing her to stumble forward. Yukari then stabs Rumia with the front end of her umbrella, piercing the youkai. Rumia coughs out some of her black goo before grabbing Yukari by the shoulders, setting her in place, then lunges in to rip off a chunk of flesh from Yukari’s neck with her sharp teeth. Yukari shrieks in agony as she pushes Rumia down into a gap with her before it closes, leaving the battlefield empty.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally release my breath. Only now I have realized how outmatched I would have been against Rumia. And she already rendered me in a badly injured state without using her true strength.

I looked at the sword wound located on the side of my stomach. I was bleeding out, slowly but surely. I use my ebbing strength to rip off one of my sleeves in order to bandage it. This will set my demise a bit further back. I stand up and begin walking away from the clearing, only to stop when I notice that a barrier of darkness has been set up, preventing anyone from leaving.

That crafty youkai! I would need the gap hag’s assistance to get out. I limp towards another tree when suddenly I hear a gap open behind me. My instincts immediately led me to draw my powers into my fist and punched toward the gap. I was greeted by a shocked Rumia, taking the brunt of my punch while being held still by Yukari. The punch sent both of them back inside the gap before it closes.

I sighed. That hag took advantage of my instinct to punch whatever comes out of her gaps.

Not long after, a gap appears in the center of the clearing and drops Yukari out of it before closing.

“Yakumo!” I run towards the youkai sage. “Where is that youkai?” I asked as I examine her current condition. She seemed to have replaced the portion of flesh that Rumia bit off, but everywhere else in her body were stab wounds of a sword and some other sharp object. “W-what happened to you?”

Yukari sits up and faces me. “G-Glad to see you care Futsuno.” She glances at her wounds. “She’s still a problem...” She limps upright with the use of her umbrella. “Rumia has gotten considerably stronger last time we fought.” Yukari touched one of the gaping holes in her body. “It seems like I won’t be able to hold her back longer. Rumia won’t kill me, she knows I’m essential for Gensokyo’s survival. But once she incapacitates me, you’re dead.”

I shook my head. “You are the Sage of Gensokyo, the Manipulator of Boundaries. No one should be stronger than you.”

“Ha! Maybe back then, but Rumia seems to be intertwined with the concept of darkness. She’ll only get stronger over time. We need either pure or holy spiritual powers to even hurt her.”

I look at my hands, still surging with the kirin’s essence. “And I’m the only one who has access to that.”

“Yes, until Sendai arrives. I have instructed Ran to inform Hakurei about this. But for now...” She opens a gap that black tentacles crawl out of, slithering into the ground. “We need to rely on your draining essence.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Rumia emerges from the gap, lunging toward us with several tentacles following behind her. Yukari uses her powers to intercept the tentacles following Rumia, severing them before using her umbrella to block Rumia’s advance. The sage summons swords to pierce Rumia from the back. Yukari allows me to advance forward to begin my assault on the youkai of darkness.

With each and every strike, Rumia screams in agony and pain. I continue my barrage, only to stop for a moment to realize that she has stopped screaming. She had her eyes closed and her face was showing pure focus. I look Yukari in the eye, both of us realizing that Rumia was simply biding her time, and my attacks were not strong enough. The next thing I see was the void as Yukari pushed me into a gap, closing as the other side was suddenly filled with darkness.

Ever since Ran took us to where the battle was happening, me and Merlin tried our best to get through the barrier of darkness. Our best attempt was when I placed one of my powered-up talismans onto the barrier, and that only gave a brief opening too small to go through before closing up. Ran has disappeared to fetch Sendai, but she or the shrine maiden has yet to show up.

So now, here we are, with Merlin and I sitting down a reasonable distance away from the barrier as she tries to console me.

“Your father will be fine,” Merlin says. “I’ve seen him in action before, he can get out of this. Especially if the youkai sage is aiding him.”

“Thank you for your reassurance,” I say shakily as tears ran across my face. “But this is the same youkai who took my mother away. The same youkai my father has feared.” I draw upon my previous conversations with Sendai regarding Rumia. “If the Satsuki and Hakurei Clan, two of the most spiritually powerful humans in Gensokyo failed to exterminate her, then whom to say my father and Miss Yukari can?”

“Rin, I need you to stay positive for me. If you don’t, then I will bring out my trumpet if it means I can keep you happy.”

I snorted a laugh. “Talk about threatening me with a good time.”

“See? All better.”

We waited for a couple of minutes before we could see Ran and Sendai descending from above. We flew up to greet them, but we could tell from afar that Sendai seemed to be quite angry.

“...Sendai? Are you okay?” I asked while we approached.

“I wish I could say I was Rin.” Several talismans encircle Sendai’s body. “But hearing Rumia ambushing your father ruined my day.” The talismans then formed a big square in front of her as she prepares a punching stance. “Dream Sign!” She punches the center of the square. “Mystic Sealing Square!” She unleashes a barrage of punches toward the square before finishing it with a kick. Once the kick connects, the square is sent flying toward the barrier, and it pierces through the barrier, leaving a square-shaped hole in it. It quickly begins to fix itself, but Sendai flew fast enough to slip in. We tried to catch up, but the barrier closed.

“Damnit!” I slammed my fist into the fixed barrier. “Ran! Get us in there!”

Ran shakes her head. “I cannot. Her barrier seems to be affecting my ability to enter the barrier. I cannot seem to even use Lady Yukari’s gaps. It makes me wonder how Lady Yukari got inside.” Ran notices my distraught face. “Do not worry. Not a lot can get past Lady Yukari’s guard. Your father will be safe.”

Somehow, I didn’t believe that. I look at the barrier once more and decided to focus. I scour my inner self trying to find some convenient untapped power I have yet to unleash.

And then I found it.

Spiritual Energy surged from my body. My senses heightened, and my strength grew. I feel like I could do anything, like for example, rip this barrier apart.

When I pushed my hand toward the barrier, the area folded as if it was a gelatinous substance. I then used my other hand to grab the barrier and began to rip it open. Slowly but surely, I could feel the barrier weakening, and soon, I ripped out an entrance as the barrier collapsed.

With the black barrier gone, I could now see the main battlefield and its participants. Sendai was facing off against Rumia, the former was yet to be even scratched while the latter had several parts of their flesh searing with burns and smoke.

I drew my attention to the people behind Sendai. One of them was Yukari, who noticed me and had a fearful and distraught look on her face as if she was scared to see me. I then look at the person who lay down next to Yukari, and my anger exploded.

Father lay motionless on the ground; a sword has been driven through his entire body. His face was filled with shock and terror.

Now I understood why my powers suddenly skyrocketed. Father was dead. All of his remaining power had transferred to me, and he still had a lot left.

I flew towards Rumia with incredible speed and landed the first punch. She staggered backward, clearly not expecting that attack. I threw my punches wildly, putting all of my strength and momentum into each and every blow. Perhaps it was because she was weakened and wounded, but I hit every strike. I threw in one last punch, sending her flying, but causing me to fall to the ground. My burst of immense strength was gone. I could no longer see Rumia in front of me, but I hope my assault had killed her.

I had done what I could, and then the world faded to black.

Chapter Text

Age 33

Month 2, Day 19

Two days.

I have been told by Kouko that it has been two days ever since I blacked out after fighting Rumia.

Two days after my father’s death.

“Did she die?” I ask my sister, who seemed uncertain whether to be relieved or afraid that I have woken up.

“P-pardon?”

“Did. She. Die.” I firmly grasp Kouko’s shoulders. “Did Rumia die.”

“Rin...” Kouko tried to look at my face as she continued. “She did not.”

I let go of Kouko as I stood up from my sick bed, only for Kouko to wrestle me back to bed. “Let go,” I demanded. “I need to leave.”

“No.” My sister keeps me down in bed. “I won’t let you."

I squirm in an attempt to escape her hold. “Kouko let me go! I need to avenge Father!”

“No! You will not leave this bed for this madness!”

“Madness?! My Father was killed by that blasted youkai and she isn’t dead! What I seek is justice!”

Kouko slaps me in the face. “I’m not letting you run off to gods knows where in an attempt to avenge Mister Futsuno.” Sister then aggressively shakes me back and forth, with tears tracing down her cheeks. “I’m also not letting Mother’s only caretaker go and die.”

“Oh no,” I said to myself. Fear and panic start to swell within me. “B-But I don’t know how to treat her yet!”

“Go get Miss Keine!” Kouko yelled. “Ask her to give you access to the Gensokyo Chronicles! Remember what your father has told you!”

“Kouko!” Kouko’s father said with a clear voice as he peeked into my room. “Let Rin please rest. You will only make things more difficult for her.”

“B-But mother!”

“Kouko.” Mister Adafurui glared at her. “Let me talk to her.”

“Tsk.” Kouko gets up and leaves the room while her father approaches me.

“I’m sorry she led you to a rude awakening.” Mister Adafurui opened. “You know she means well.”

“No,” I shook my head. “She is right. Kouko made me focus on helping your wife instead of seeking revenge.”

“Do you still wish to pursue that desire?” He asks.

I reply with a grim look on my face. “Yes, I do. But that can wait.”

Mister Adafurui smiles. “I’ll have some food brought to you so that you can return to your rest. Seek out your teacher once you have the strength to do so.”

I nod.

“Good.” He got up. “See you tomorrow, Miss Satsuki.”

Day 20

The next day, I got up, had breakfast, and left for the village after saying goodbye to the Adafuruis.

I made my way to the Temple School to see Keine before school started. I then spot her at her desk.

“Miss Keine,” I greeted her.

“R-Rin?” She stumbles in her chair as she got up. “I-I am sorry for what happened to your father. We haven’t had his funeral yet because we were waiting for you to regain consciousness and-“

I cleared my throat. “Thank you, Miss Keine. But I’m here to ask if you could give me access to the older iterations of the Gensokyo Chronicles. It’s for Kouko’s mother.”

“Oh, right. Poor girl.” Keine looks at the clock, revealing it was 7:57. “I need to go, class is about to begin. I shall speak to the Hieda Clan about this. Meet me after school so we can discuss this later.”

“Wait, about Father’s funeral...”

“Ah,” Keine stops in her tracks. “Yes, well you must talk to Sendai about that. Now, I shall see you later.” And just like that, she left the room.

I leave the school and start flying toward the Hakurei Shrine, readying myself for the serious conversation that awaits me.

I arrive at the shrine to see Sendai sweeping the grounds. She then greeted me with a composed face before inviting me into the shrine. When we sat ourselves down, I asked the first question.

“My father.” I started. “How did he die?”

Sendai sighs. “He was bound by Rumia’s tentacles. She was somehow able to restrain Yukari the same way as well. Rumia stabbed him right through his stomach when I tried to intervene, leaving her vulnerable to my onslaught. When I finished, that was when you charged in.”

I process the information given to me slowly, before proceeding to the next question.

“Did I kill the bastard?” I ask.

Sendai shakes her head. “We could not find her remains. Either you completely purified her...” She takes a good look at my face. “Or she escaped, alive and healing.”

My anger came to me slowly, like water being boiled. But eventually, I slam the table with my fist in frustration.

“What of my father’s funeral?”

“Your call.”

“Sunday, then.” I stood up from my seat. “Thank you for discussing this with me-“ Sendai suddenly grabs my arm and dragged me to her side.

“Rin, I can tell you’re hurting inside.” Her eyes turned from a shrine maiden in duty, to that of a friend. “Don’t go. Not yet at least. Tell me how you really feel.”

I quivered, weighing on my choices to decline or let her play psychiatrist. I then decided to surrender to her side, feeling tears slowly come down my eyes.

“Father... He... He was everything I wanted to be. Someone caring and compassionate with others. To carry the burden for the sake of others. When I finally accepted him back in my life after Mother’s demise, I felt like I was whole again. But now...” Unconsciously, I lean onto Sendai’s shoulder. “I feel empty, despite knowing I still have a duty to uphold.”

“He was quite the man to look up to, you know?” Sendai strokes my hair. “According to my grandma, he had set up a clinic to help others in the village and dealt with the villager’s youkai problems. All while dealing with the Adafurui’s curse.”

I sniff away my tears. “Why has he never told me about his life stories...”

Sendai releases a small laugh. “Well, perhaps because you never asked. Now, about your duty...”

Somehow, Sendai managed to put my head on her lap. “Well, it’s about my sister and her mother.”

“Her name was Kouko, yes?”

“Yeah...” I looked at my hand before continuing. “Her mother was under Father’s care, so when I woke up and tried to find Rumia... She didn’t take it well.”

“So, what will you do to ease her?”

“Before I came to you, I asked Miss Keine to see if she could give me access to the previous versions of the Gensoko Chronicle. I... I was told that the Satsuki family’s techniques were recorded on them. I’ll know if Miss Keine succeeds in the afternoon.”

Sendai looks down at me. “I can help her.”

“Can you?” I ask for confirmation.

“I am the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. I have access to the Chronicles to aid me in any need of extermination.” She says with calm confidence. “If Miss Kamishirasawa is unable to procure the Chronicles, then I shall step in.”

I smile at Sendai. “Thank you.”

“Now, get up, Satsuki.” She sat me upright. “You’ve yet to meet your friends, correct?”

I nodded.

“Then go, they have been worried for you.”

I sat up, said goodbye to her as I exited the shrine, and flew away. Feeling much better, I head toward the Prismriver’s Mansion

Upon arriving at the entrance of the mansion, I use the knocker to knock on the main entrance three times. And just like every other time, the door opens as a cold breeze hits my body as blue ghostly tendrils spread outside. Lyrica’s rendition of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor boomed from within the mansion for ten seconds till it ceased.

“She will never stop with that musical piece huh?” I commented before entering the mansion as the doors closed behind me.

Roaming the halls, I then enter a room that had the most spiritual energy, seeing the Prismrivers practicing their instruments before stopping when I take two steps into the room.

Lunasa puts down the cello she was playing earlier and stands up and bows. “Hello Rin, how are you?”

“Hello, Miss Lunasa.” I bowed in return. “I’m doing well.”

“Are you sure? Your Father’s death... Rattled all of us.”

I nodded in response. “How are the three of you holding up?”

“We’re fine, Rin.” Merlin answers. “The Adafurui asked us to play music for your father’s funeral.” She musters a smile. “Merlin and Lyrica have it easy with their instruments, but my preferred instrument isn’t really known for sad music pieces.”

“Our performance will first start sad, then move on to uplifting music in the middle, then finally ends with a hopeful tune!” Lyrica added.

“Thank you.” I nodded. “All of you.”

Lunasa glances at the window, where the light of the sun shines through.

“Want to stay a while for some drinks?” She asks as a bottle of wine and four wine glasses float into the room. “We could tell you stories about your father’s journey to mastering the biwa.”

“Heh, I’ll take you on that offer, but no drinks for me.” I pull a chair towards me as I sat down, and begin listening to Lunasa's story.

It was time to say goodbye to the Prismrivers.

The clock in the room said it was 4:00 in the afternoon, around the time school finished. I thanked the sisters for telling me more about Father’s past before bidding them farewell and leaving.

When I arrived at the village, I could spot Keine waiting outside at the entrance of the Temple School.

I land right beside her.

“Miss Keine,” I bowed. “Were you able to get me access?”

“I did.” She replied. “But they will only allow you to read the previous iterations of the Gensokyo Chronicles inside the Hidea Household. So, it’s best if you brought along some paper to take down notes.” She grabs ten pieces of ½ sheet of paper and a pencil and gave them to me. “You would need these.”

I nod, grabbing them.

“By the way, Rin. When will your father’s funeral be?” She asks.

“Sunday this week.” I keep the paper and pencil in my pocket, with the papers folded to fit in. “Thank you, Miss Keine.”

“No problem, Rin. Let me accompany you. The guards won’t let you in even if you say that I was the one who sent you.”

We then left the school and make our way to the Hieda Household. After Keine spoke with the guards, I was let in by myself. One of the caretakers led me to the room where all the previous versions of the Gensokyo Chronicles were written. I first grabbed all renditions of the chronicles under Hieda no Amu and checked if any of them contained information regarding my ancestor’s rituals. Found nothing, then moved to Anana’s works. With their books, I found the information I needed and began writing them down.

According to the footnotes, Anana had added the Satsuki’s various rituals to allow the public to take a glimpse of what performing advanced exorcism was like

The rituals and spells ranged from things that were already taught to me by Father to ones that seemed too complex and advanced to understand.

I came here to only learn how to treat the Adafurui Curse, but I decided to write everything down since it would aid me in the long run.

On the final page, what was needed to treat the Adafurui Curse was there. It involved a long series of incantations and dances. After completing the ritual, it seems like I’m going to grow a horn...?

I then should proceed by cutting the horn off, grinding it to dust, then sprinkling the dust into a custom-developed medicine that was dubbed the “Unicorn’s Spit”, then let the victim take a sip. Supposedly a single sip of this miracle medicine will keep the curse’s effects at bay for a year, and once that year ends, the afflicted should take its next sip. A single cup of this medicine is enough for 15 sips, which means 15 years before I need to grow another horn via the ritual.

Hmm, no mention of the content of the medicine.

I spot another footnote at the end of the details. According to my ancestors, certain few needed to use the ritual to regrow the horn. Instead, they could grow another one if they so desired. One thing consistent with the lucky few is that they gained their full powers early due to the deaths of their half-kirin mother/father while they were still training.

I did not like reading about this.

After carefully checking each and every one of the books for any updated information, I took my notes and stepped out of the room. It had already turned to night, so the caretakers offered me to eat with them, so I complied. After eating a satisfying meal, I flew back home.

On the way, I made a mental note of what to do next:

1.) Ask Kouko’s mother when Father performed his ritual to learn how much time she has and how many sips of the medicine are left.

And 2.) Find someone who could tell me the contents of Unicorn’s Spit and how to brew it.

I pray that someone in Gensokyo knows about the medicine. It would be incredibly lucky if I ran into someone who has the slightest bit of knowledge of this old piece of history.

I arrive at the Adafurui Household, with Kouko waiting at the entrance.

“I see you have been busy.” My sister commented as I opened the door.

“Yeah, I was.” I peek through the door, scanning if her mother was anywhere nearby. “Where is your mother? I need to ask her a question.”

“In my parent’s room. Resting.”

“Thanks, sis.”

I go through the living room, greet Kouko’s father who was washing dishes, then made it to the parent’s bedroom.

I open the door to see Miss Adafurui laying in bed, reading a book with a candle as her only light source.

“Miss Adafurui?”

“Ah, hello Rin.” She places the book on a nearby shelf. “How can I help?”

“Could I ask you a question?”

“Yes, you may.”

“When was the last time you took a sip of medicine my father gave you?”

Miss Adafurui enters a thinking pose. “Do you mean that special medicine he brewed? What was it called...”

“Unicorn’s Spit?” I suggest.

“Yes, that one. The last time I took a sip was I believe... Last year in the seventh month?”

“And do you remember where he placed the medicine?”

“...No, last year was the last one. I drank all of it.”

Five months. That's how long I have before the medicine wears off.

“Anything else you need Rin?” Miss Adafurui asks.

“No need, I asked for all the things I need. Thank you.”

She nods in response as I closed the door. I go to my room and head to bed.

Day 23

Sunday. Father’s funeral begins at 5:00 at the cemetery located outside the human village.

To my knowledge, Keine, the Prismrivers, the Adafuruis, and most of Father's still-living acquaintances will be attending while Sendai will be the priest who will chant a sutra and lead the funeral.

At four in the afternoon, we dress up in black clothing and headed to the cemetery.

Once we arrived, I spot Yukari and Ran at the back end of the gathered crowd. I excused myself from Kouko and her family and walk towards them.

“Miss Yukari, Miss Ran.” I bow. “It has been a while.”

“Good afternoon, Rin,” Ran greets me. “Yes, it has been a while. You have never bothered to come to Mahiyoga.”

“Sorry, I was immediately put to work by my sister...” I notice the bakeneko wasn’t around Ran. “Didn’t bring Chen?”

“No. She’s too young for a serious event like this.”

“Ahem.” Yukari clears her throat. “Rin, let me apologize for failing to protect your father.” She proceeds to grab a fan to cover her mouth. Her eyes told of a sad and sorry emotion. “Rumia... Was much stronger than I could manage. Even when I set my goal to kill her, she overpowered and incapacitated me.”

Yukari looks at me, studying my face. “Do you wish to know of Rumia’s fate?”

I gave it some thought. “Perhaps after the cremation. I don’t wish to get angry during this solemn day.”

“...I understand.”

Suddenly, a sad tune began playing. I glance towards the side of the coffin to see the Prismrivers performing. All of them were wearing black dresses except for Lunasa who wore a suit. Their clothes were accented with their colors as well, and they had gotten rid of their hats. They all had their signature instruments, which meant Merlin was able to figure out how to use her trumpet for this kind of music. And I have to say, she was doing well.

“Go,” Yukari ushers. “The funeral is about to begin.”

I nodded before making my way through the crowd. Sendai was now right beside the coffin with her eyes closed. She then pushed her hand out with a stop sign, and the Prismrivers stopped playing.

Sendai begins chanting a sutra as I, the only family member, offered incense for the urn. I then return to my place as Sendai continues her chant.

Once the chant ended, a good amount of the guests’ placed flowers onto the casket before the cremation began. At this point, most of the guests had left, with only those I am familiar with remaining. Sendai also gave the go for the Prismrivers to start the next part of their performance, so a slow and uplifting tune begins playing.

The remaining people stayed for the cremation, sometimes engaging in small talk.

Once cremation finishes, I was called upon to begin picking out the bones and placing them into the urn. Since this usually was meant for more than one person, Sendai allowed me to call others to aid me. I chose my sister and Lunasa to help me.

After picking and placing the bones of Father into the urn, we proceeded inward to the cemetery, where Father’s grave was built, right beside Mother’s.

We place the urn inside the grave, then two men placed the cover on top. The flowers and incense from earlier were placed on top of the grave, and Lunasa and Kouko left to let me be alone.

“Mother...” I looked at her grave. “Thank you for taking care and granting my wishes back when I was a child. You may have been unable to see our faces before you died but... I know you kept watching over us.”

I then turn to my father’s grave. “And you, Father... I know I was a bit harsh on you after Mother’s death, but you have led me to meet a lot of my closest friends. Thank you for doing your best in aiding me to strengthen my power.”

I stood up. “May the two of you live on in Heaven, and let your next life be better.”

I turned around and walked away.

Chapter Text

Age 33

Month 5, Day 12

This year has been a busy one from what I can tell.

After the funeral, Yukari informed me that Rumia had survived. Chen supposedly spotted her inside a cave while she was roaming outside of Mayohiga. Yukari herself checked the cave out and confirmed she was still hiding out there. They exchanged threats before Yukari walked away.

“Why didn’t you try to kill her?” I asked, furious and confused that no form of combat happened between them. “To avenge Father?”

“You see Rin...” Yukari began with an exasperated tone. “Rumia is the youkai of darkness. At first, that is what she was, someone who can control darkness. Back then I could have easily exterminated her, but she was none of my concern. Not only that, but she also operated outside of Gensokyo’s area. So, when she heard of my plan to create a haven for youkai and the supernatural to live on, however...”

Yukari shook her head. “She has been intertwined with the concept of darkness. And as you know, darkness is not bounded by anything. It has no limits. It is something that will continue to exist for eternity. There are only two ways left to hurt her. The counterpart of darkness, light.”

“And what is the other?” I queried.

“Pure, divine power.” Yukari placed her eyes on me. “Something very few humans and youkai has access to. For example, you and your kirin lineage.”

I end my reminiscing there, as I reach my destination. The edge of the bamboo forest.

I have struck a deal with a rabbit who lives inside it, claiming she has a way to develop not only the medicine I needed but also every other medicine I can think of.

Obviously, I didn’t buy it. So to gain my trust, she asked me to name one of the obscurest form of medicine I can think of that wasn’t Unicorn’s Spit, and she would bring it to me in a week. I agreed, and to my surprise, a week after that encounter, she handed me the vial of medicine I requested.

I of course immediately took it home to see it was genuine by brewing up my own version of the medicine if it was genuine. After some careful judgment, I deemed it to be the real deal so I took her offer.

That said, the trade was quite sketchy. All I had to do was give her one of my talismans that were enhanced by my essence, then she would give me not only 15 doses of Unicorn’s Spit but the ingredients and instructions on how to make them. It felt too good of a deal. I’m not even sure how a youkai like her would be able to handle my talisman.

I then spot the rabbit emerging from the forest of bamboo.

“Hello, Miss Inaba.” I greet her as I hold out the enhanced talisman. “I’m ready for my deal.”

“Aw come on Rin! We’re past speaking to each other on a last-name basis! Just call me Tewi!” Tewi is carrying a bag of sorts. She then proceeds to take out an empty container and another container filled with liquid and a note attached to it.

“Now,” She opens the empty container. “Put your talisman in here! No way I’m touching any of that!”

I roll my eyes as I do what she says. She then places the container inside the bag before handing me the container with the note.

“Why do you even need my talisman filled with my kirin essence anyways?” I ask as I grabbed the container she was offering.

“Mmmm. Let’s just say the one who brewed this medicine had some interest in you!” She replies. “Welp! That’s the transaction completed! See ya!” And just like that, she marched back into the forest.

Someone is interested in me? Hmm, not really the time to have new acquaintances. I guess I should avoid Tewi for the time being if she gets sent to find me.

I turn around and walk back to the village.

Upon arriving at the village with the canister being held in between my arms, I pull out a note Kouko has given me:

“Hey sis, could you go buy some teriyaki at Terry Aki’s stall and give it to Fujima once you grab Mother’s medicine?

I would do this myself for him every day but I’m not feeling well today. Thanks in advance.”

Hm. Before I left the house, Kouko hesitantly gave me this letter. She said it was nothing when I asked if everything was fine, but now I’m worried. I should probably check on her when I arrive.

I move to Terry Aki’s stall to purchase his world-renowned teriyaki... All right, perhaps there may be better teriyaki in the outside world, but he is the village’s number one.

After waiting a bit in the line and purchasing some teriyaki for myself and Fujima, I head towards the Temple School, knock on the door that leads to the teacher’s room, and let myself in, where I walk to the table of a man with slick hair and wearing a suit.

“Hey,” I set down the teriyaki and the medicine container on his table and grab a vacant chair to sit on. “For you, an offering from your wife.”

“Oh, hello Rin.” Fujima, Kouko’s husband, greets me as he eyes the teriyaki. “Why didn’t she come here instead?”

I shrug. “She says she isn’t feeling well. And I was already heading outside so I guess she just passed her duty to me.” I take a bite out of the teriyaki I bought.

“I see.” He does the same with his teriyaki, chewing and swallowing it before he continues. “What’s in the container?”

“Medicine, I got it from a rabbit.”

“...A rabbit?” He asks.

“A youkai rabbit from the bamboo forest.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Keine stand up and begin approaching me.

“Could you repeat that?” She asks.

“A youkai rabbit from the bamboo forest?” I repeat.

Keine sighs as she puts her hands on her forehead. “What kind of shady deal did you go through to get your hands on this?” She grabs and holds the container.

“I gave her one of my spiritually enhanced talismans in exchange for Unicorn’s Spit.” I summon one of said talismans, prompting Keine to back off a bit due to its pure nature. “She also said whoever brewed the medicine was interested in me.”

“Would this youkai rabbit be Tewi Inaba?” Keine inquires.

I nod. “Do you know her?”

Keine proceeds to mutter an old Japanese cuss word. “Rin, for your sake, please do not seek her out ever again. Meeting her associates would cause you more trouble than good.”

“Why do you say this?” I ask.

“Tsk. Trust me when I say that you are better off not knowing.”

Fujima stands up. “Miss Keine? This isn’t like you. Usually, you would provide a clear reason as to why one shouldn’t do something.”

Keine shakes her head. “Fine then. Rin, those who live in the bamboo forests are either maniacs and people exiled from the village. Getting involved with them would not end well.”

“People are living inside the bamboo forest?” I question. “Why have I only heard of this now?”

“The same goes for me.” Fujima follows up.

“Because most of the villagers usually believe it when we say that the bamboo forest is a dangerous place.” Keine answers. “Easily capable of getting the most experienced adventurers lost, often leading them to be missing and presumed dead. It's rare that anyone that runs in is found again." She looks at me. “No one asks for any deeper reasons.”

Fujima glances at me. “Why did Miss Keine look at you when she said that?”

I sigh. “Back when Mother died, I ran into the bamboo forest to try and escape heading home. Cried myself to sleep before finding myself back home.”

“I have said this countless times,” Keine starts. “But you were extremely lucky that we were able to find you.”

“And you were also lucky that you were able to find your way back.” I counter.

“That, I cannot deny.”

I roll my eyes before taking my second bite of the teriyaki. “Whatever you say, Miss.” I look at Fujima. “Hey, are you able to make it home tonight?”

Fujima glances at the clump of papers on his desk. “Maybe. I just need to finish grading these papers and I’ll be able to head home.”

Delighted by the answer, I picked up the medicine container and faced Fujima and Keine. “Well, I’ll be going now. Goodbye for now Fujima, Miss Keine.” After bidding them goodbye, I leave the Temple School and begin walking home.

“She also said whoever brewed the medicine was interested in me.” I recounted as I stand at the edges of the bamboo forest, waiting for her to pick me up.

Why must those in Eientei have an interest in Rin? As her former teacher and close friend, I must tell those Lunarians to keep away from her.

“Keine! You called?” A voice interrupts my thoughts. Fujiwara no Mokou emerges from the bamboo thicket as she approaches me.

“Hello, Mokou. Yes, I did. I need you to take me to Eientei.”

“What’s the emergency this time?” Mokou asks. “Another student got sick with some ailment or something?”

“No. It’s about an old student of mine.” I answer. “Do you remember when a blonde girl that looked to be in her late teens ran into the forest thirteen years ago?”

Mokou pauses. “Yeah, I do. You called me in to come to find her. I remember because not a lot of humans in the village have blonde hair. What’s wrong? She ran back inside again?”

I shake my head. “No, far worse. Today she had just told me that she made an exchange with Tewi for medicine, with Tewi hinting to her that Eirin is interested in her.”

“Why would the doctor have any interest in a normal villager?”

“She’s no normal villager,” I inform her. “She is the descendant and heir to the Satsuki clan. Which means she is half-kirin. As you have probably heard, a kirin’s essence is that of divine purity. Keyword, purity.”

“Are you thinking that the doctor wants to get her hands on her?” Mokou asks with her eyebrows raised. “Simply because she could be related to the moon?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “Which is why I need to ask her myself.”

Mokou grumbles. “Fine, let’s go then. I just hope Kaguya isn’t awake right now.”

Mokou guides me throughout the forest and eventually to the gates of Eientei where two rabbit youkai stand guard with their spears.

“Halt.” Rabbit Guard 1 speaks. “You know the deal, Miss Fujiwara. Stay behind the front gates.”

I bid Mokou a temporary farewell as Rabbit Guard 2 opens the gate for me as I head inside. Upon entering Eientei, I spot a rabbit I have never seen before. She has long purple hair and wears a black suit. Upon seeing me, she freaks out and retreats deeper into the building.

That was quite something. I ask a nearby rabbit to fetch Eirin for me as I sit down on a chair. Eventually, Eirin arrives with the purple-haired rabbit in tow, constantly in anxiety.

“To what do I owe your presence, Miss Kamishirasawa?” Eirin greets me.

I stand up and bow. “Miss Yagokoro. Nothing much. Only a brief discussion.”

Eirin sighs. “Keine I am quite busy at the moment. Perhaps this can wait for some other day? I understand that you came all this way just to talk to me, but I really have no time to spare.”

I nodded. “I understand, but why I came here involves what is making you busy.” I pull up a replica of Rin’s talisman that I drew when she left the school. “Perhaps you recognize this talisman?”

For some reason, the rabbit behind her squeals when I showed the talisman, but Eirin simply looks annoyed. “Please do not tell me she is under your protection.”

“She was one of my students, Yagokoro. And one of my close friends.” I state. “Tell me why you have displayed interest in her.”

Eirin sighs. “Udonge, you may leave us. We are about to bring up topics you may not be comfortable with. Specifically, your old home.”

“Y-Yes Master Yagokoro.” She opens a nearby door.

“Oh, and please ask Tewi or any other of the rabbits to bring in the container with the talisman to me, please? Eirin added. Udonge nods before exiting the room.

“Who is she?” I ask. “And what does her old home have in relation to our conversation?”

“A runaway.” Eirin answers. “Specifically, from my old home as well. The Moon.”

Month 7, Day 12

This is it. Today is the day I perform the ritual. I was hoping it could have been pushed back a week or so, but no. A few days ago, Ms. Adafurui started to occasionally feel sharp pains all over her body and has been getting worse since. Kouko has been getting frantic over this. I had to leave the house so I could prepare myself a bit more by practicing the dances the book described.

“No, Rin. Not like that. Raise your left arm by a bit.” Ran instructed, helping me with this last practice session. “Okay good, yes. All right, now make sure you let your feet land as gently and delicately as possible when moving around... Very good! That this cycle is finished!”

“How was that round...?” I ask, tired.

“Not even close to perfection.” Ran states as she pulls out a bottle. Its label is in another language I don’t understand and has an orange liquid inside it. “Drink this.” Ran says as she throws the bottle to me.

I caught it and took a sip. It resembled the flavor of orange juice. “What’s this?” I asked.

“A drink from the outside world.” Ran answers. “Helps you recover more energy during work.”

I stare at Ran before taking a long sip of the bottle. “Well, it tastes good enough. But are you sure such a drink can exist?”

“Rin, do I need to remind you that coffee exists?”

“Coffee is a horrible beverage,” I respond with a frown. “It was bitter and unpleasant. Everyone in Gensokyo agrees on this. Even Father, who was closer to the time when it was traded in Japan, disliked it.”

“Well, you best be prepared when Yukari brings in coffee from the outside world,” Ran warns. “She seems to have turned into an addict ever since she went to this country called the USA.”

I wave her warning away. “What is she going to do? Force every eatery to start selling this?”

Ran shakes her head. “No, she will give the farmers seeds to plant it, leaving instructions on how to grow and how to brew it. And when the farmers like it, they shall continue growing it and start selling the beans to people who run eateries while giving them instructions on how to brew them.”

“And what if they don’t like it?”

“Oh no worries, they will.” Ran says with confidence.

Knowing full well that arguing something like this with her and her master would be just a waste of time, I roll my eyes and drink down the remaining liquid of the bottle.

“Whatever. Let’s continue practicing.”

“Very well then. And...” She raises her arm up before chopping it downwards. “Begin!”

2:37 PM

From dawn to this, I’d say this was a reasonable amount of time of practice before being interrupted.

“Rin Satsuki!” Sendai yells as she drops down from the sky.

Without skipping a beat, I greet her. “Oh, hey Sendai.”

“Your sister demands your presence!” She states. “She needs you to perform that ritual of yours!”

I utter a curse. “Seems like my time here is up.” I faced Ran. “See you, Miss Ran. And make sure to give Chen those treats I bought her!”

Ran waves goodbye. “Of course. Now, off you go.”

I take to the skies with Sendai joining me. “So, how is Kouko’s mother holding up?”

“Not well. The pain is now constant. Your sister didn’t give me much of a detailed description of what’s happening to her mother, however. She just said she is in constant pain, and she is suffering.”

“I’m sorry what?” I stare at her, deadpan. “She wasn’t even anywhere near like that before I left the house!”

“Well, that means we need to go faster. Before it gets worse.” Sendai takes hold of my wrist and sped up, reaching speeds beyond me. It doesn't take us long before we reach my home. Fujima is waiting at the entrance.

“Rin!” He approaches us and once he reaches us, he respectfully bows at Sendai. “And Lady Hakurei as well. It is an honor.” Sendai waves in response.

“Where’s Kouko?” I ask.

“Tending to her mother.”

I mentally give myself some encouragement. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Fujima and I runs into the house, while Sendai followed.

“Kouko! Miss Adafurui!” I shout as I barge into the room.

“Sis!” Kouko grabs me by the shoulder. “Do something! Do whatever you need to do!” She points toward her mother, who is moaning in pain.

“Fujima! Help me put her bed at the center of the room!” I order him as I position myself at the up end of the bed. Kouko’s husband rushes to the other end and lifts it. We carry the bed to the center of the room, then I order the couple to carry the desks outside. Once I am done, I tell them to leave us be, so they do.

I approach Miss Adafurui with a towel soaked in chloroform. I then place it on her nose, encountering great resistance.

“Miss Adafurui! Please, you need to be asleep for this so I can concentrate!”

With her frantic eyes, Kouko’s mother looks at me. She calms herself down, and breathes, putting her to sleep.

Alright. One part is done. Now to open my bag and grab the supplies needed to...

“Oh, for gods’ sake!” I say in annoyance. I’ve forgotten my bag back at Mayohiga!

“Looking for this?” A familiar voice asks.

I turn around to see Yukari, peeking through a gap and holding my bag. “Ah! Yes! Thank you, Miss Yukari!” I take the bag from her.

“Come on now, Rin. It’s a big day today. Don’t make any more mistakes now~” Yukari teases.

“Yeah, yeah! Now get out!” I push her back into her gap without any trouble. Surprisingly, it closes as well.

I open the bag and take out the incense, candles, several talismans, a matchbox, and lastly the container of Unicorn’s Spit, a ceremonial knife, and a mortar and pestle required for the ritual. I place the talismans down in the shape of a unicorn, then put down the candles on each corner of the shape. I use a stick from the matchbox to prepare the incense, and now, the ritual truly begins.

I held the stick with only my thumb and pointing finger. I then bend down slowly and gracefully towards the first candle, swiped the stick across the candle’s wick, and it comes ablaze. Deep within me, I could feel something awakening, but it was only faint. I then slowly moved on to the next candle, performing delicate steps, making sure my feet stay on the talismans. Eventually, I reached for the candle and lit it just like the last one. I repeated the process for all the remaining candles, each candle I light up makes that feeling deep within me stronger.

When I finish lighting up all the candles, I returned to where the incense is. I pick it up by its chain, and return to the first candle I lit. I begin by slowly twirling around, spreading the incense around the area. After doing so, the feeling inside me starts slowly moving upwards. I dance my way towards the second candle, spin around with the incense, and the feeling of it moving upward in my body increases. As I continue along, at the fifth candle, that feeling reach my forehead. At the sixth candle, however, I feel a sharp pain coming from the area. It feels like something was piercing through my forehead from the inside. I brace the pain and move on to the seventh candle, where once I spin, the pain intensifies further. I tell myself to suck it up and continued, but blood coming from my forehead made it difficult to concentrate.

When I twirl at the second to last candle, I can see a sharp, white, thin cone enter my field of vision. My face at this point is covered in blood. I look at a nearby mirror to be greeted by someone who looks like a youkai who has just finished their biggest meal. I shake that analogy out of my system before moving on to the final candle.

After spinning at the final candle, I dance my way to the medicine container, open it, and grab the knife, mortar, and pestle. I place the knife at the beginning of the horn and pray to whatever kirin that this ritual was dedicated to ensure that I don’t cut my face from doing this. I hold the pointed tip with my other hand as I put the knife above the horn and...

SLICE!

The horn comes off, and I feel a wave of excruciating pain surging through my body. I feel like I could collapse from the pain at any moment. For as long as the rest of the ritual took, I felt like the most miserable person in the world.

But somehow, some unknown force simply refused to let me collapse. Something pushing me onward. I look at the horn I had just cut off. My horn. The area where I cut it off was bleeding immensely. I also felt much more blood trickling down my face. I looked in the mirror and saw that where the horn once stood, was now a section of it constantly dripping blood. My tears made it look like I was crying blood.

Doing my best to ignore the pain, I put the horn onto the pestle, raise the pestle, and slam it downwards. The horn broke extremely easily. I slam the pestle down a second, third, fourth, and fifth time. Completely reducing it to glittery dust. I take the mortar to the medicine and sprinkled the dust onto the medicine. The medicine began to sparkle, and its color was constantly shifting. I thought to myself that no sane person would drink something like this, but I digress.

I took out a cup and used it to scoop up some of the medicine. I then take it to Ms. Adafurui, who was still sleeping. I let her take a whiff of the medicine and she slowly began to stir. When she awoke, she looks at the cup expectantly. I guided the cup towards her, and she took one single sip. Suddenly, her entire body relaxed, and she fell asleep.

I congratulate myself. I have done it! But... Ugh. Not sure if I could move much longer. I slowly make my way to the door and open it. To my surprise, the living room was full of people I knew well. From the Yakumo’s, Prismriver’s, Keine, and so on.

“Oh... Hello... Everyone...” I try to utter. But it feels like my voice was too weak for anyone to hear me at all. But to my surprise, they all turn to my direction. Several of them were in disbelief when they saw me. Several more were ready to leap by my side.

“The... Ritual... Is complete...” I say before my strength finally fails me as I sail toward the floor.

Chapter Text

As my former student begins falling towards the floor, her sister got off the sofa and runs towards her hoping she could catch her before she could reach the ground. Realizing that she might not make it in time, Kouko dives towards her, hoping that would be enough.

It wasn’t.

Instead, Rin fell through a gap, and it closes right before she got to fall in as well, leaving her to hit the floor.

Ouch.

Kouko gets up and turns around to see the person I trust the least to handle her sister. She was carrying the unconscious Rin with her arms and smiling at her.

“Miss Yakumo, please set her down,” Kouko asks the boundary youkai, I can tell she was trying her best not to tremble in her presence.

“Well, perhaps some folks here should stand up so I could place her down on the sofa.” She says as she looks at Fujima and the Prismrivers.

They all stood up in response, allowing Yukari to open a gap and gently placed Rin through it. Once it closes, I look at where Fujima and the Prismrivers once sat, and behold, Rin was on the sofa.

Kouko looks at her bloody state with full concern. “A towel, now,” she orders.

Her father hands her one, and she begins wiping off the blood on her face. It seems like she was accomplishing nothing however since blood keeps bleeding out from the center of her forehead. At least now that she was laying down, the blood is dripping onto the sofa and not down on her face.

Kouko then suddenly presses a finger into Rin’s forehead, and it seemed like she noticed something odd. When she touched it, I realize that what she is touching is elevated from Rin’s forehead.

“Is this...”

“The horn she grew.” I finish, quite concerned. “I have seen the aftermath of her father’s rituals. But whenever he walked out the room, the bleeding was not this bad.”

“Perhaps because it was her first time?” The shikigami kitsune suggests. She has hidden her tails and ears for the sake of passing off as a human for Kouko’s father and Fujima. “There are many troubling things that happen when you do something difficult for the first time.”

“Will she be okay?” Kouko asks.

“I don’t know.” The shikigami admits. “Neither I nor my master have ever needed to treat her father. He always walked out okay, just like what Miss Kamishirasawa said. Usually, the best person to ask would be someone involved with ritual, however...” The kitsune looks at Sendai.

Sendai shakes her head. “I know nothing of the procedures. I regret that I can’t aid Rin here...”

I soon realized that I was facing a dilemma.

So, it has come to this? Was that Lunarian that certain that this would be the outcome? That we would be faced with a situation that none of us can solve?  I do not wish to hand her over to them, especially after what Eirin told me about what she could be. But... What if it’s the only other way?

Kouko curses in anger. “That cut horn is still bleeding. Is it possible to die from blood loss from a body part you never had before?”

“Oh yes absolutely.” Yukari states. “I’m speaking from experience. Not the part where I die, however.”

“Not helping...”

“It seems the teacher has a possible answer to this,” Sendai speaks up, putting everyone’s attention on me.

I was taken aback for a quick moment before regaining my composure. “Lady Hakurei, please never do that again.” I face them, uncertain. “I can think of one person, but I have been sworn in utmost secrecy to never reveal their location. You could say she’s a doctor.”

Fujima raises his eyebrow. “Miss Keine, this doctor can’t be the one you told me and Rin to avoid. The one hiding out in the bamboo forest? Where are maniacs and criminals exiled? You can’t possibly send her there after that warning!”

“Hang on what is this about exiles being sent to the bamboo forest?” Yukari asks. “This is the first I’ve ever heard of it because I personally deal with the exiles, and I don’t always send them there. And even when they do, they should be dead by now. Courtesy of the youkai that lives in there.”

“That was a lie I made to keep curious villagers away from the bamboo forest when they got too close, Yakumo,” I answer.

“Frankly, this lie can be applied anywhere else in Gensokyo.” The sage replies. “You can say the Forest of Magic is inhabited by witches. The mountains can hold humans who have murdered their kind, fighting tooth and nail against the tengu in the area to survive.”

“But enough about that lie. Now, who is this doctor hidden in the bamboo forest? And you claim they can treat Rin somehow? Now do tell. Someone this special can’t escape my attention.”

“I can’t tell. Only they decide when they wish to reveal themselves to Gensokyo. And I will keep that secret as well.”

“Hm. So be it.” Yukari steps down to my surprise. “I’ll find out for myself later. Nothing can escape my curiosity.” She then opens a gap. “This takes you to the main entrance of the bamboo forest. Take Rin and find your way to wherever this doctor is.”

I pick up Rin from the sofa and look back to the crowd. “Hopefully, I’ll be back with her later tonight. But for now, please pray for her safety.” I then step through the gap.

“Mokou!” I call out to her outside her hut. “I need you to be your guide again!” Using one arm to carry Rin, I use my other arm to knock on her door.

“I would head to Eientei myself but I’m carrying someone, and I need your protection!”

No response.

“Mokou!” I continue to knock on the door, however, she doesn’t respond.

In frustration with her possibly being asleep like a rock, I gently kick the door.

Three seconds later I hear distant sounds of fighting to the left.

“Kaguya! I will rip out your spine when I’m done with you!” I hear Mokou’s voice.

“Why can’t you be more original with the ways you kill me?!”

“I don’t need to be original! Your suffering will be the same- GWAH!”

Upon hearing an incoming object. I take three steps away from Mokou’s hut. Something then proceeds to crash into it, demolishing the shed. I can see Mokou with a huge hole in her stomach.

Someone then lands on Mokou and begins punching her in the face repeatedly. After this, she then... Oh. Oh my. Well, that certainly was an original way to kill someone. Quite gruesome as well.

I clear my throat, and it grabs the newcomer’s attention. “Princess Kaguya.”

Kaguya looks at me. “Ah! Hello Miss Keine!”

“By any chance, could you guide me to Eientei?” I glance at Rin, whose forehead was still bleeding. “I’m carrying someone who needs Eirin’s assistance.”

Kaguya slings Mokou’s corpse over her body. “That’s a lot of blood.” She observes.

“Yes, it is.” I say blankly.

“Well, let us proceed then.” Kaguya begins walking while balancing Mokou’s corpse on her body.

Honestly, I wish I would have been much more fazed by Mokou’s current condition, but I have gotten desensitized thanks to the constant bloody battles they have engaged in. I just silently follow Kaguya.

When we reach her mansion, the guards said nothing and saluted at Kaguya before letting us in.

“Eeeeriiin I’m home!” Kaguya exclaims as she casually drops Mokou’s body. I wince when she hits the floor. “Oh, and Miss Keine has come to see you!”

Kaguya proceeds to head deep within Eientei, presumably to her room.

Eirin shortly enters the room and notices the slowly regenerating Mokou. “Princess...” She mutters as she picks up Mokou and places her on a set of chairs. “I shall have one of the rabbits bring her to a room. Not Udonge however since her PTSD would trigger...”

Eirin faces me and sees Rin. “Hello again, Kamishirasawa. May I assume that she’s Miss Satsuki?”

I grimly nod.

“Let me see how she is.” She opens her arms, waiting for me to give her Rin.

Reluctantly, I hand Rin over, but not without a warning. “Whatever you do, do not perform any weird experiments on her. Do so, and our pact of secrecy is over.”

“You do realize nothing is stopping me from killing you?” She retorts with a smug look on her face.

“I dare you to try and kill me. When you do, powerful forces already knew that I am visiting someone from the bamboo forest. If she is as important as you claim, a descendant of one of the capital’s leading figures, then you should be aware that this world’s most formidable youkai would be watching over her as well.”

To my delight, Eirin shows a face of annoyance. That bluff only had half the truth, so I am glad that it worked. The only powerful youkai protecting her would be Yukari, and I am confident that name should ring a bell for her. I was not born when Yukari led her Lunar Invasion, but I know well enough that it failed horribly. But her name should elicit a reaction, but I shall hold her identity back for now.

“...Fine. I shall believe your claim. I will not perform any experimentation towards Miss Satsuki here as long as Eientei remains a purified land. As proof that I do not breach our deal, I shall treat her right here.”

She snaps her fingers as two doors open. Rabbits come out of the doors with two stretchers. One of them loads Mokou’s corpse onto it and heads back inside while the other group of rabbits sets the stretchers and sets some medical supplies down. Eirin places Rin down on the stretcher later.

I sigh. I take a seat on a chair as I watched the operation. Eirin asked some questions about her, so I answered her.

“What of her family?”

“They have sadly passed away," I answer. "Her mother was killed by a youkai when Rin was twenty."

“And what of her father?”

“He was the one with the kirin bloodline. He died this year, stabbed by the same youkai who killed her mother.”

Eirin gives the girl a sympathetic look. “How has she felt about this?”

“Obviously quite upset. But her sister set her straight to continuing her father’s duty.”

“Sister?”

“The eldest of the Adafurui’s, a daughter, was born around the same time as her. They have regarded themselves as sisters ever since. Everyone in the village does, even though they know they aren’t related by blood.”

“I see...”

After an hour of back-and-forth questions, Eirin holds a circular, bloodied object near her face, observing it.

“This is the cut part of her horn,” Eirin announces.

I stand up in response. “What does her forehead look like now?”

“Come take a look.” She beckons me to come take a look.

I come forward, and Eirin allows me to look at her forehead. It was like she never did the ritual. Her face was clean, and the area where the horn originally was just normal skin.

“Huh... What will you do with the horn?”

“Keep it for examination, of course,” Eirin says as she drops the horn into a plastic bag.

“Fine, you can keep it. Can I take her home now?”

“You may.” Eirin looks towards a door. “Tewi, lead Miss Kamishirasawa back to the village.”

Tewi opens the door and jumps out of it. “Alrighty, Eirin! Now Sensei, let us move!”

I am going to headbutt that rabbit hard enough one day that she would learn to stop calling me that.

I pick up Rin from the bed. “Thank you, Miss Yagokoro. Oh, and please take care of Mokou for me.”

“No worries, we shall make sure she doesn’t wake up by burning Eientei down.”

I sigh as I head outside, following Tewi into the bamboo forest.

After getting out of the bamboo forest, Tewi returned to Eientei. So after going through the village, I was now walking through the path that leads to the Adafurui household.

“Uh... Ha...” Rin starts shuffling in my arms. I decide to pause on a tree to see if she would wake, sitting down and putting her head on my lap. While waiting, I look up at the sky and see the moon half full. Its position suggests that it would be around 9 PM.

“Unh... Miss... Keine...?” Rin asks.

“Ah, hello Rin. How are you?” I reply, stroking her blonde hair.

“I feel...” She puts her hand on her forehead. “Like I’m missing something.”

“It must be your horn. I have had someone remove it. What else do you feel?”

“...Tired...”

“You’ve just had quite the nap and you’re still tired? That ritual must have taken quite the toll on you.”

Rin makes a small smile. “Well, if the Chronicles were to be believed, I don’t think I’ll ever need to do it again.”

I smile back at her.

“How is Kouko’s mother...?”

I shake my head. “Truthfully, I don’t know. I took you away to be treated minutes later after you collapsed.”

“I... I need to go and see if she’s all right...” She tries to sit up but fails and ends up back in my lap again.

“Don’t rush yourself. No need to worry, I can carry you back home.”

Rin sighs as I pick her up again. “...Only this once I will allow this.”

I did a small laugh as I take her back home.

Chapter Text

Age 34

Month 1, Day 2

Rushing Kouko to the best clinic in the village was not how I expected to begin the new year. Fujima and I take sis to the clinic’s reception. I set Kouko on a chair as Fujima speaks to the receptionist.

I look at Kouko’s current state. Her breathing is labored, and her stomach seems to be a bit swollen. All me and Fujima know before rushing here is that Kouko was feeling several aches and pains in the lower half of her body. She has also vomited several times as we head to the clinic.

Fujima returns to us. “Alright, the receptionist said that they have admitted others with Kouko’s symptoms before and they said they need to do a test of some sort.” Fujima picks up Kouko as a nurse approaches us and guides Fujima somewhere in the clinic.

I approach the receptionist. “Excuse me, Miss, do you have any idea what’s wrong with my sister?”

“I do,” She answers. “Assuming that man that took your sister deeper into the clinic is her husband, most likely she’s pregnant.”

I- what?! “Pregnant?!”

“Yes, that is my guess, Miss.” She observes my face. “My, my, you are quite young to be an aunt. Hope things go well for you.”

I decide to ignore her assumption of my age. “What happens next?”

“I’m no professional lady, so don’t trust my words. But usually, at this point, there should be downtime for at least 6 months or so as the mother rests before the baby comes out.”

I calm myself down as I return to my seat. All I can do is just wait until Fujima returns...

“In... Ri...” A voice calls to me. I slowly stir from my slumber as I unwrap my arms from my face.

“Hey... Rin? Ah, you’re up.” Fujima says as I rub my eyes.

I look around and see that we are still in the clinic. Judging from the color of the light outside and the shadows, it was probably around three in the afternoon.

“Fujima...? Oh, is sis okay...?”

Fujima sighs and smiles as he sits beside me. “She is. In fact, I have news to share with you and Kouko’s parents later.”

My smile slightly faded. “Come on, don’t make me wait!”

“Heh. Sorry but this news is a bit too large for one person.”

I sigh. Oh well, it’s probably related to what the receptionist told me. “How long until you tell us?”

“When they release Kouko from her room. Don’t know when though.” He slumps deeper into the chair. “I’m aware that you have places to go today. I’ll stay here so that you can go do your thing.”

I greet him with a skeptical look. “Aren’t you supposed to be teaching in the Temple School?”

“Miss Keine went looking for me earlier and found herself here while it was lunchtime. I explained to her why I wasn’t at school, including that big news.”

“Oh, so your senior gets to learn about this ‘news’ and not me, your sister-in-law.” I joked.

Fujima laughs nervously. “Well, I needed a good reason so that Miss Keine won’t just drag me back to the school. News of that was enough for her to back off.”

“Hm. Fair enough.” I stand up from my seat. “Well, I’ll be going now. See you Fujima.”

Fujima bids me goodbye as I exit the clinic.

After grabbing my erhu and its bow from home, I set off to Mayohiga.

Flying to Mayohiga has gotten easier the more I return to this place. Back then, I either had to rely on Yukari or Ran to take me, or get there through sheer luck. But I have gotten to know the way to this spot well ever since Chen made me race her from my house to this place. I lost horribly since I didn’t know the way, so I had to just keep on tailing her.

“Rin-saaaaama~!” I hear Chen’s voice behind me. “You actually came!” Chen hugs me from behind and rubs her cheek on my arm.

I sigh, smiling as I ruffle her hair. “Of course, I came. I promised Ran I’d teach you the basics of dodging.” I grab Chen by the shoulders and bend down to meet her eyes. “Besides, you’re adorable and my favorite. I can always dedicate some time for you.”

Chen gives a huge grin in response.

“Alright, but before we begin, where’s Ran?” I look around. “She was supposed to come here and watch over your training.”

Chen shrugs. “Ran-sama says she needs to do something important. She says we can go ahead with my training if you want to! Ran-sama thinks you’re strong enough to protect me!”

Strong enough...? While yes, my spiritual power is comparable to Sendai, I don’t have the experience to back it up. Most youkai I’ve exterminated were ones a low-grade exterminator would fight.

That said if it was Ran, the gap youkai’s shikigami who said that... “Sure, let’s get your training started!”

 I dash away from Chen. “As you know, you’re already strong enough to deal with people trying to fight you with their fists.” I mimic someone punching as an example. “But what you need to focus on now would be flight combat.” I throw a normal talisman toward Chen at full speed, who easily dodges it. “That was simple, right?”

“Very simple!” Chen agrees.

“Now, what if I throw multiple ones at you?!” I grab more talismans and throw them toward Chen. I make sure that enough difficulty was present by alternating between aiming directly at Chen or predicting where she was heading.

Chen continues to dodge my attacks and seems to be easing into my current pattern. Realizing I need to change things quickly, I imbue a slight bit of my essence into my talismans in order to get creative with my attacks.

“Chen! Here comes an attack that requires you to dodge in several directions!” I warn her as I throw a set of talismans that formed a square. Whenever the talismans come near Chen, they explode into small bullets, which means Chen needs to decide where to dodge to not get hit by a stray bullet.

She kept up a good pace until I started throwing more talismans much more frequently. Finally, a bullet hit her left arm and it disappeared. Chen hissed at her arm and began licking it.

I fly towards her. “Err... Chen? You alright...?”

“Nuh-uh! It hurts!” Chen complains. “Why you gotta use dangerous bullets!”

“Er, sorry Chen...” I position myself to look like I’m sulking. “M-my bullets are usually dangerous towards youkai. I-I tried making them the weakest I could!”

Chen looks at me confused. “C-Chen’s not mad at you!” She approaches me. “Chen’s just not strong enough yet! Come on, let’s go practice more!”

Too easy. Bless her kindhearted soul.

I look at her with a smile. “Well, if you say so.”

For the next thirty minutes, we continue Chen’s training. She seems to have improved her reflexes enough to properly adjust her position while dodging mid-flight, so I had to end the session here since it looks like it was getting too easy for her.

As we descend back down to the ground, Chen’s ears twitch in the direction of the forest.

“You hear something?” I ask.

“Yeah... Grr... If it’s that wolf again...” Chen begins walking toward the forest.

I follow her and as we reach the edge, one of the bushes rustled. We can then hear growling from the bush.

“Chen...” I ready myself to dodge whatever leaps out of the bush.

“Oi Kagerou! I told you to stay away from my home! Ran-sama already chased you away before! She can do it again!”

The growling stops. “Hmph! Serves you right-“

Suddenly, a woman with wolf ears pounces toward Chen, pinning her down. Her eyes are filled with crazed hunger and her mouth is barred with sharp teeth. Her nails are long and claw-like, and one of her hands is pressed on Chen’s chest, the nails digging into her clothes. Chen struggles and tries to swipe at her attacker with her claws, but the wolf is far enough for Chen’s claws to not reach her.

“R-Rin...! Sama...!” Chen pleads, causing me to recover from my shock.

I summon a talisman and throw it toward the assailant. The talisman lands on the side of the wolf’s torso and as result, she screams in pain and gets off Chen. To my surprise, the girl stands up and dashes towards me with her claws ready to scratch me. I raise my arms to deflect the incoming slash, and when she closes the gap, she swings her arm at me, colliding with my arms.

Pain flares in both my arms. I can easily tell that the scratch has left deep wounds in my arms. I enhance my fist with my aura and throw a punch at the girl, who then immediately backs away from me before getting hit.

Chen then pounces onto the girl’s back and begins to claw at her. “Rin-sama! Throw a talisman at her while Chen keeps her busy!”

Reluctantly, I conjure a talisman and dash toward the wolf. I then channel a large amount of energy into the talisman and stick it onto the girl’s stomach. Chen swiftly gets off as the wolf howls in pain. Ha! That should be the end of that youkai!

But instead, the wolf pounces at me and pins me down, her claws sinking into my shoulder. Damn it! Why hasn’t this youkai been subdued?!

“Kagerou, let her go!” I hear Chen yell as she tackles the girl off me.

I stood up in pain, groaning. I try to think of reasons why the wolf can withstand the divine essence of my aura. She should be a youkai. No human should be able to move and have nails as sharp as that. I wrack my brain for any possible solutions as Chen and the girl engage in a standoff. If spiritual damage isn’t enough, then maybe I need to inflict major physical damage...

I glance at my erhu’s bow, more specifically its strings. “Yeah, I can work with that.” I pull out the bow and hold it in my hands as I stare at it intensely. I could feel my aura slowly engulfing the bow. Strangely, it feels like the bow itself is becoming part of my body. I then focus the aura on the strings. If my aura could strengthen the strings enough, it could act like a sword. Whether it would be able to cut anything is something I’m unsure about.

After enhancing the bow, I run to the wolf and yell at her to grab her attention as I swing my bow at her. She raises a single arm to block my swing, but to my pleasure, the bow began cutting into the wolf’s arm. The girl immediately backs off and growls at me, but before she could retaliate, a hand chops the edge of her neck, causing the wolf to collapse.

I look at the newcomer, a girl with red hair and eyes with a blue bow that has red trimmings. She wears a simple black long-sleeved shirt and a red skirt. Her neck also has a suspicious line marked on it.

“Who are you?” I ask her, warily.

“Her friend.” The newcomer sighs as she picks up the wolf. “She must have been inflicted by the Hunger...”

“The Hunger...?”

“A rare phenomenon occurring to youkai who haven’t eaten or refuse to eat human meat in a long while. Often leads said youkai to lose control of themselves and hunt for food till they had their fill or get knocked out.” She jostles her friend in place. “Didn’t know it could happen to half-youkai as well...”

Wait, half-youkai?

I look at the wolf again and observed the area where my bow cut her. Her arm is bleeding red blood. Gods... That explains why my aura did not immediately take her out. She was half-human.

“This ‘Hunger’ you speak of can affect half-youkai as well! Then why haven’t I been affected by it?”

The newcomer looks at me. “What other half are you then?” She asks.

“Kirin.”

She mutters a curse. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome, so I’ll give you a guess. Probably because kirins don’t typically eat human flesh. Anyways, I’m leaving now.” The girl flies into the woods while carrying her friend.

I then collapse to the ground, kneeling. I detach my sleeves to look at my arms to see that they were bleeding badly. The shoulder where the wolf sank her claws into me turned my clothes blood red.

“Gah... Chen... Help me stand...” I reach out to her.

Chen hastily comes to my side and helps me stand and we begin walking toward Mayohiga.

“So, you know that wolf...?” I ask. “You were shouting a name at her...”

“S-she was Kagerou,” Chen replies. “Chen often sees her around this area looking for food. One time, she ate one of the cats so Ran-sama had to chase her away.”

“What is a half-breed doing all the way over here...?”

“What’s a half-breed?” Chen asks.

“Like me,” I answer as we stumble along. “Half-human, half-youkai. But someone like her should still live in the village. Half-breeds are generally accepted into the community. If they weren’t, people like me or Miss Keine wouldn’t really have a place in it.”

Chen sets me down in one of the abandoned houses. I grab a chair from inside and drag it to the entrance before sitting down on it.

“Gah... Why didn’t I bring my medical supplies today...”

“Are you gonna be okay...?” Chen worries. “C-Chen could try and find Ran-sama!”

“No...” I tell her. “Stay here and protect me... With that short boost of adrenaline ebbing away, my brain isn’t able to convince me that it doesn’t hurt as bad.” I mutter a curse. “How did that lady get her nails to be so sharp...?”

“I-Is there anything I can do Rin-sama?” Chen asks.

“You can try to find any cloth in any of the houses,” I say as I straighten both of my sleeves. “My sleeves aren’t enough to bandage all of the wounds.”

Chen nods and runs off, going from house to house.

I sigh as I begin tightly wrapping the sleeves around my left arm. Just as I deducted, both sleeves were only capable of bandaging a single wound. Thankfully these wounds were purely physical and weren’t imbued with anything nasty or else my kirin-half wouldn’t be able to completely heal these off. But gods it will take a while for a complete recovery.

“I found some!” Chen exclaims as she returns with several articles of clothes. Unfortunately, all of them were exceedingly dirty.

“Chen, is there any clean water around here? Like a river or something?” I query, hoping there would be one so that Chen would be able to clean it.

To my dismay, she shakes her head. “There’s a fountain in the middle of the village, but it has green things floating on it.”

“Geh... Never mind then...” I remove the rest of my upper clothes from my body. “Can you cut this in half?” I ask Chen while holding the shirt in front of her.

“Uhhh, sure?” Chen grabs the shirt and puts it on the floor. She then reveals one of her claws and uses them to cut the shirt apart. She then gives me the cloth and watches as I bandage my other arm and the bleeding shoulder.

“Alright, now we wait for Ran...” I lean on the wall and briefly shiver. “Gah, and hope she comes soon because it’s cold out here without proper clothes.”

Chen transforms into her nekomata form and proceeds to set herself on my lap. I sigh in contentment as I pet her away until I fall asleep.

I wake up lying on an unfamiliar bed. I look around to see a window that showed the view of rectangular structures with lights plastered everywhere, as it was night. I then look down to see I am wearing a white t-shirt with the kanji written “I ♥ East Capital”

...What the hell was I wearing?

I look at my arms to see that my arms had their bandages had been replaced with new ones. While I can't see what has happened to my wounded shoulder, I can assume it had received the same treatment as well.

I stand up from my bed and carefully move my arms. Seems like my youkai regeneration has already kicked in, I could move them with slightly less difficulty than earlier.

I move around the room to see if I could find my erhu and its bow but to no avail. So instead, I exit the room and I see Ran who is sewing clothes similar to mine.

“Ah, hello Ran.” I greet her. “Where am I...?”

Ran looks up at me and smiles. She stands up and held me by the chin, her eyes staring right at me. “Seems like you have been getting used to just call me by name. Good, formalities between us are no longer needed.”

“Come on Ran, you know your teasing doesn’t work on me anymore.” I wave her hand away from my chin.

“Fufu, well if you say so. Now as of where we are, this would be Lady Yukari’s abode.” Ran motions her hand to one of the windows, which shows a birds-eye view of Gensokyo. She then waves to another window that showed that strange sight from my room. “This place is located in between the Hakurei Barrier, so what you’re seeing in this window is the outside world.” Ran looks out the window. “Well, wherever in the outside world Lady Yukari wishes to view. Now, we are currently viewing Tokyo.”

“East Capital...” I mutter while looking at the ridiculous shirt I am wearing.

“Well yes, that is the literal meaning of Tokyo.”

“Alright, then what’s with this absurd shirt I’m wearing?”

“Aww, but that kind of shirt is quite fashionable in the outside world!” Yukari says as she holds my shoulder from behind.

I jump a bit as I turn around to face Yukari. “Gah! Oh, it’s just you.”

“It’s just me? How rude!” Yukari playfully replies. “Besides, I had nothing else to dress you up when Ran brought you in here topless. Every other article of clothing I have in this household is either too small or too large for you!”

“You say this is fashionable in the outside world...?” I judge the shirt once again. “Then they have poor taste.”

“Anyhow, what happened to you?” Yukari waves at my bandages. “We tried asking Chen of what happened but she’s still asleep.”

I sigh as I begin retelling Kagerou’s attack.

“So, the youkai has named that phenomenon the ‘Hunger’” Yukari muses. “We’ve been aware of that issue for a while now but never gave it a name. But to think that it affects even half-youkai...”

“Lady Yukari, what shall we do about the half-breeds that live in the village then?” Ran asks.

“Nothing for now. We’ve had half-breeds whose youkai side often preys on human meat for those who have lived in the village for a while and they’ve yet to succumb to this ‘Hunger’.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Whatever half-breeds live in the village are safe for now.

“Right, now that you’re up and running, Rin, perhaps we can send you home now?” Yukari suggests.

“Ah, right!” I suddenly remember Kouko. “I’m expecting some very important news later, so I need to be home now.”

“Very well then.” Yukari opens a gap. “Oh, and here’s your erhu.” She then takes my erhu out of a gap.

I grab the erhu. “Where’s the bow?”

“Unfortunately, it broke.” Ran answers. “We found that its strings were completely ruined, and the frame’s quality has completely dropped. It snapped in half when I grabbed it.”

“Might be an opportunity to find someone who can do a special request...” I recall the villagers talking about a special blacksmith hanging around on the outskirts of the village. “Anyways, thank you, both of you, for putting me under your care.” I put one foot through the gap. “And don’t forget to tell Chen I’m fine now,” I say before stepping completely through the gap.

“My husband allows you to leave the clinic to go do your own thing, and you return with your arms in a mess?!” Kouko says as she fusses over me, unwrapping the bandages and making sure they’ve been treated properly. “And you’re also wearing that absurd shirt as well! Who even gave that to you?!” She forcibly takes off the shirt which then reveals my bandaged shoulder. “Your shoulder as well?!”

I sigh as I allow Kouko to go over me. “I really can’t say this is nothing so you and Fujima can spill the news huh?”

“Of course not!” She finishes unwrapping the bandages and observes the scars on my arms and shoulder. “Good gods... Rin the hell have you been up to?! What youkai have you pissed off to get these wounds?!”

“She was a half-breed like me...” I try to rebut.

“Then why did you two even fight?” She rummages through my medical bag to grab a fresh set of bandages.

“According to the friend of that girl, she was inflicted with something called ‘Hunger.’ A phenomenon where youkai who refuse to eat human meat will lose control of themselves and will continue to hunt for food until they get the meat they search for or fall to exhaustion,” I explain as Kouko rebandages me.

“W-wait a moment, a half-breed got inflicted by that as well?” Kouko asks with uncertainty.

“I know what you’re thinking, but no. I won’t just suddenly attack you and rip the guts of my loved ones.” I joked. “Yukari says all the half-breeds whose youkai side primarily eats flesh have yet to fall victim to it. Another reassuring factor was that the girl was completely separated from the village. Chen says she has seen that girl multiple times along Mayohiga.”

“This fight took place in Mayohiga?” Sis says as her voice gets slightly angry. “Where was Ran? Or maybe even her master! Didn’t they promise to be watching over you?!”

“Ran was away dealing with something important...” I say, raising my arm so that Kouko could properly rebandage the wounded shoulder. “Yukari... I don’t know.” I admit. “No one knows what she does honestly, but she probably has a good reason for not watching. Maybe she was with Ran?”

Kouko did not seem happy with that answer. “Guess that explains why you were wearing that awful shirt...”

“She said it was fashionable in the outside world,” I say fashionable with air quotes. “Pretty stupid fashion if you ask me.”

“Agreed.” She has finished bandaging me, so she grabs one of my clothes and tosses it to me so I could put it on. “While you’re changing, can I ask where your original clothes went?”

“Got ruined during the fight. I took them off so that I could use them as makeshift bandages.” I answer as I finish putting my clothes on.

“Just great... The tailor we asked to make your clothes is currently taking a break, so a replacement may take a while.”

“I don’t think we need to wait for a replacement,” I say, recalling what Ran was sewing. “I saw Ran sewing clothes that looked similar to mine. I think she’s prepping up a replacement.”

“That’s something to look forward to.” Kouko makes sure that my sleeves were properly tied up. “Alright, I think you’re ready to hear the news. Let’s head to the living room.” She extends her hand to me.

I take it and she pulls me up. We make our way to the living room where Fujima and Kouko’s parents were waiting.

“Ah! Rin, are you okay?!” Kouko’s mother asks. “When we saw those bandages we were worried sick for you!”

I smile. “No worries Ms. Adafurui, your daughter already gave me quite the talk.”

“Well, that’s how she is.” Kouko’s father replies with his own smile. “She can give quite the earful.”

I sit down beside Kouko’s mother as she and Fujima get ready to tell the news.

“Alright dear, what was it you wanted to tell us?” Ms. Adafurui asked.

“Well...” Fujima holds his wife on the shoulder, smiling as he looked at her. “Kouko here is now...”

Kouko pulls out a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a note from a doctor stationed at the clinic we took Kouko to. “Today, we have learned that I’m pregnant!” She hands the note to her mother. Me and her father leaned into Ms. Adafurui to read the content of the note.

“To whom it may concern, this note contains my professional opinion of Miss Adafurui’s status. After some careful analysis of her, I can say for certain that she would be in pregnancy for two months now. That said it would be best for you to inquire from a midwife for a second opinion, but for now, let me congratulate you for this eventful part of your life.”

The note ends with the doctor’s name and signature.

We look toward Kouko and Fujima to see them looking at us in expectation. I did the only thing that felt right to do. I jump right into her arms and give her a hug. “Congrats sis.”

“Heh... Thanks...” She holds onto my body even tighter. “So when will it ever be my turn to congratulate you for bearing a child?”

She catches me completely off guard with that question. “I... Sis come on you can’t ask me that question when you know that the only person I had an interest in was Ran.”

Kouko frowns at my answer. “Just make sure I’m still alive when you get married.”

“It can’t be that long until I find the love of my own life,” I reply.

“Let’s hope so.”

We release each other from the hug and I sit back down.

“Do you have any names for our grandchild yet?” Ms. Adafurui asks. “In eight months or so, they shall be birthed into this world.”

“Not yet Ma,” Kouko admits. “But me and Fujima have been thinking about one ever since we got out from the clinic.”

“Well, I’m sure the both of you will come up with something special.” Mr. Adafurui says.

Kouko and Fujima nods.

“Well, that’s everything we have to say.” Fujima begins. “Anything else anyone wants to add?” He looks at everyone in the room, and all of us said nothing. “Well! I guess this wraps up this top- Ow!”

Kouko elbows his side. “Come on, you aren’t a teacher for today.”

“Heh. Yeah sorry. Well, I guess we can move on to dinner then?”

Kouko’s parents stand up to this.

“Yes, we shall.” Ms. Adafurui stands up and heads toward the table to begin serving out the plates.

“Let’s go help her out shall we?” I suggest as I head to the dining area.

After preparing and eating dinner, we spent some more time discussing possible names for Kouko and Fujima’s child before splitting off to head to bed.

Chapter Text

Age 34

Month 2, Day 4

I have been waiting for this day.

Last month, the day after my skirmish against that wolf youkai, I left the house to find that special blacksmith the villagers have been talking about. It took some time, but eventually, I found him.

When I came in, the blacksmith watched as I began explaining what I wanted from him- an erhu bow that could double as a sword. He mused on the idea for a while, finding it intriguing, but rejected it after pointing out how stiff and unnaturally my arms moved. He told me to return when my arms had returned from my wounds, before he would begin smithing.

Annoyed and disappointed, I left to find any other possible smiths that could do my commission but everyone I asked rejected it because my request was out of their capabilities. I had to wait an entire month for my wounded arms and shoulder to fully heal.

But now, I stand in front of the smith’s workshop. I walk into the workshop where a tall old man with long swept-back white hair and a white beard is. He wears a green, white hakama and a coat, and a translucent white phantom accompanied him.

“Mr. Konpaku, how do you do?” I greet him as I bowed.

He glowers at me before nodding. “Your arms have healed.” He says with a booming voice.

“So it has,” I say while freely moving my arms. “I take it that I’m now eligible to have my request taken?”

“That is what I said.” He begins going through his workshop and pulls out a wooden bow without its strings. The handle has two separate engravings consisting of my last name and the blacksmith's. It also has engravings that makes it look like a handguard while the end of the handle has the head of a kirin. The rest of the bow seems to remain unchanged.

“I thought you would wait until my arms healed?”

“No... This is only a reference.” He lets the wooden sculpture stand. “One is needed to ensure perfection.”

“...How long will this commission take?”

“You know how the best blades can take more than eighteen months.” He brings out an extremely bright block of silver steel and a bunch of string. “However, I have already made preparations in advance. With the help of certain connections, I have acquired the sturdiest wood for the frame and the sharpest of strings. However...” He looks at me as if I forgot to bring something. “If you wish to play the most beautiful of sounds with this, I will need to modify your erhu. These special strings will only cut your erhu’s cords.”

I mouth “oh” and look at the exit, signaling if I could leave.

The smith sighs and waves a hand towards the exit.

I left the workshop to quickly retrieve the erhu. By the time I return to the blacksmith, the smith has begun smelting down the block of silver.

“Place the instrument down on my desk.” The smith says without looking at me. “For now, you may leave. Return within five months for lessons.”

“Lessons?”

“At that time, I would have created a suitable substitute for you to wield.” He then glances behind his shoulders, looking at me. “I can tell you would just blindly swing your weapon when I complete my work. An insult to my craftsmanship...”

Harsh...

He grabs the erhu and begins removing its two strings. “With that substitute, I shall teach you the several sword arts I have learned throughout the year.”

“Would sword arts even help with such a peculiar weapon...?” I ask, unsure of his plan.

“...Some of them.” He grabs the string he pulled out from earlier. Upon closer inspection, the string seems to be much more special than it looked. I could sense some eerie aura emanating from it. “I will teach you techniques that will only use one side of the blade.”

The smith then proceeds to place the string on the erhu. He then does the same to another piece of string before returning to work quietly. Deciding that as a sign I should go, I leave the workshop

Month 7, Day 10

Today is the day when I was supposed to return to the smith to check on the progress of my bow and receive combat lessons. However, that agenda has been briefly postponed when Fujima and I needed to take Kouko to the clinic again.

When Kouko finally got a room to herself, I said goodbye to the couple and headed to the smith.

Upon arriving at the smith and stepping inside, I hear a small shriek from the workshop. I run towards the source of it and see a familiar blue girl that has an umbrella hanging on her back. But why she was familiar is something I can’t remember...

“E-eep! Mr. Youki! A mean girl has shown up!” The girl fearfully yells. “H-help me!”

I look at the girl confused, and soon the smith shows up.

“Tatara... What is it...?” Konpaku emerges from the depths of the workshop. He annoyingly looks at the girl and then at me. “Ah, Satsuki. You came.”

“Y-Youkiiii!” The girl’s eyes dart around the room, constantly looking at me and Konpaku.

The smith sighs and looks me straight in the eyes. “Satsuki, what did you do to Tatara...?”

I raise my arms in defense. “Nothing! I don’t even remember her at all!”

“Liar!” The girl says while struggling to take her umbrella from her back. “Y-You! You almost killed me!”

“Satsuki. Explain.” The smith glares at me.

“No, seriously!” I plead. “I don’t remember her!”

“That one time in the youkai trail!” The girl pulls out her umbrella and aims it at me like a sword. “I-I just approached you and you almost killed me with one single talisman!” The girl accidentally opens her purple umbrella, revealing a single eye and a large tongue, and causes her to stumble.

Seeing that umbrella and hearing the girl’s story reminds me of something that happened... Five years ago?

Wait... Oh. Ooohhh. Now I remember.

“You’re that karakasa obake that tried to scare me!” I realize. “And when I threw that talisman at you... You... Uh, I thought I accidentally exterminated you.”

The girl sticks both her and umbrella’s tongues at me after recovering from her stumble.

“Um... Sorry?” I try to apologize.

Konpaku sighs for the second time. “Tatara, pay no heed to the girl. Just focus on your work.” The smith then looks at me. “As for you, Satsuki, follow me.” The smith walks outside of the workshop, and only now do I realize that he carries a wooden katana on his hips.

I quickly glance at the karakasa obake who pouts at me before continuing her work. I then proceed to follow Konpaku out of the workshop.

When I exit the workshop, I spot Konpaku standing at the edge of the forest. The wind then sways his ponytail as the leaves rustle.

“Satsuki, are you ready?” He says without looking at me.

“Um, Mr. Konpaku, I thought you were going to give me a substitute to use for practice?”

From his hakama, Konpaku pulls out an erhu bow. He then throws the bow at me and I catch it in response.

“Here is the substitute. The string is made of silk from tsuchigumos, durable enough for our training.”

I nod as I swing the bow around. “So, Mr. Konpaku, your first name is Youki?”

“Indeed.” Youki proceeds to carefully swing his wooden katana. “So, here is lesson one...”

I spend the rest of the afternoon learning from Youki. I learn how to block and when to swing, but I’m nowhere near fast enough to block anything in real-time.

I sit on a nearby log, sweat dripping down my forehead. Youki sits down beside me, observing me.

“Where did you learn to use a sword?” I asked my mentor.

“...Self-taught. Stole several sword arts when I wandered Japan before being employed as a gardener.” Youki looks up to the sky, his eyes distant.

“A gardener?” I look at him, raising an eyebrow at his occupation as a gardener.

“Do not look surprised. I was a man of many trades.” He stands up. “That is all for today. Return tomorrow if you are available.” He takes the substitute bow and begins walking back to the workshop. “That is all.”

I wipe the sweat away from my forehead before flying up to head back to the clinic.

Landing at the entrance of the clinic, I walk in and head straight to the receptionist. “I’m here to see my sister.”

“Name?” The receptionist asks.

“Kouko Adafurui.”

“...And your name?” She looks at me while writing on a clipboard.

“Rin Satsuki.”

“Ah, the step-sisters.” She then writes my name down. “Go down this hall,” She points at the hall to her left. “After passing four doors, enter the room to the left. That’s where your sister is.”

I thank her before leaving the room and going through the hallway. After passing four doors, I knock on the next room to my left.

“Who is it?” I hear Fujima’s groggily muffled voice.

“A kirin?” I answer.

“Ah,” The door opens, revealing a very tired Fujima. “Hello, Rin.”

“What happened to you...?”

“Ah... Me...?” He rubs his eyes. “Well, Miss Keine brought in all of my student’s homework I gave them yesterday and...” Fujima opens his mouth and releases a long yawn. “The quiz I was supposed to give to my students today. Thought the quiz would be moved to another day but Miss Keine decided to play substitute so she made the kids take the quiz today.” He looks at the corner of the room, where piles of paper are stacked on top of each other. “Yeah, I’ve been busy checking and correcting them...”

“...Do you need some help?” I ask with full concern.

“No, no...” He sighs. “I had some help.” He opens the door further and reveals a woman sleeping in the corner.

“Who is she?” I ask.

“The midwife assigned to help with the delivery.” He sighs as he moves away from the door, revealing Kouko lying on the bed, sleeping. Her large stomach looks ready to give birth.

“Aren’t the midwives supposed to be awake all the time in case their time comes...?”

“Yeah...” Fujima admits. “Might have made her work overtime by helping me...”

I sigh as I enter the room and stand beside my sister and gently place my hand on her chest. “May the gods keep you and your baby safe...”

I take a glance at Fujima. “So where do we sleep? On the floor like her?” I look at the sleeping midwife.

“Yeah,” Fujima sits on the floor beside me. “Annoyingly, they don’t have any chairs so we would just have to make do.”

“Well then,” I sit beside him. “Goodnight Fujima.” I lean on his shoulder to get comfortable, and slowly I begin falling asleep.

Month 7, Day 11

I wake up to see the midwife intensely watching over Kouko. Fujima is still asleep leaning on my shoulders, so I carefully move his head down onto the floor so he would still stay asleep.

“How is she?” I ask the midwife.

“Still asleep. It’s fortunate that nothing happened when I helped her husband...” She takes a glance at me. “And you must be her sister. Rin, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” I look at the clock. “Gods, I slept until ten?! I have to go!” I slide the door open. “Take care of my sister and my brother-in-law for me.”

The midwife nods as I close the door.

I enter the blacksmith to see that umbrella tsukumogami still inside, constantly hammering hot steel. I also spot Youki sitting down and drinking tea.

As I walk towards Youki, the tsukumogami sticks her tongue out at me when I pass her by, but I simply ignore her.

“You’re early.” Youki remarks as he sets tea down before standing back up. “Let us begin.” He walks outside of the workshop, so I follow him and we begin my training...

Three hours in, I bat down fruit being thrown at me one at a time. Youki is teaching me how to deal with deflecting and cutting down projectiles. He says that I could even do this against magic attacks if I imbue my aura into my weapon, but that’s for another time.

“Stop!” Youki shouts, so I ease myself down, ignoring the rumbling in my stomach. “You’ve tired yourself much faster today, and your movements are slow. Have you eaten anything before you arrived?”

I hold my stomach in response. “Now that I think of it, no...”

Youki sighs. “Return to the workshop with me.” With immense speed, he picks up all of the fruit I have deflected. “I’ll cook something for you and Tatara.”

I nod and I follow him back into the workshop.

“Tatara,” He speaks to the umbrella youkai. “You may take a break for now.”

The tsukumogami shows a hint of disappointment before nodding. She takes the metal she was hammering into a container of water to cool it off before stretching her arms and heading to the table Youki was sitting on earlier where he drank his tea.

Before I could follow him deeper into the workshop, Youki stops in place. “Go have a chat with Tatara. Can’t have you messing with my kitchen...”

I want to object and say that no talking will probably ever happen, but he closes the door on me before I could say anything so I sigh and return to where the tsukumogami is and sit down across her.

“Hey, uh...” I try to start a conversation, but the umbrella youkai actively avoids looking at me. “Can we like... Remedy what happened between us?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Um... Anything at all?”

Still no response from her.

“Sigh...” I put my arms and head on the table and begin tapping to a beat.

“Hey...” The youkai starts. “Is that beat from the Prismrivers?”

I slowly look up at her before nodding. “Yeah...”

“So... Are you a fan?”

“Oh, fan is an understatement. I know them, personally.” I flaunt.

“What?!” She stands up and slams her hands down on the table in excitement. “No way! No fan has gotten personal with them!”

Ignoring how she worded that sentence, I continue. “When have you started attending their concerts?” I ask her.

“Erm, eight years ago?”

“Shame, you would have been able to see me perform with them if you had become a fan much earlier.”

“Wh?! The Prismrivers have never collaborated with anyone! You’re lying!”

“Don’t worry, I can prove it,” I say with smug confidence. “I can bring over a piece of paper with signatures of every Prismriver tomorrow to prove it. I’ll even give it to you~”

“Ha! I bet you won’t even show up tomorrow!”

We spend the rest of our time talking about the Prismrivers while waiting for Youki. Youki soon arrives with a bowl of fruit salad; we can smell a captivating aroma coming from it.

“Eat up,” Youki says before setting the bowl down with plates and dining ware and heading to the workshop to continue Kogasa’s work.

“So,” I begin grabbing some fruits from the bowl. “How did you meet Mr. Konpaku?” I ask the girl.

“Ah! Mr. Youki found me one-day smelting needles and decided to bring me into his workshop! I’m grateful honestly, I have something to do for once!”

“What were you doing before then?” I ask her before taking a bite from the food.

“Aimlessly scaring humans, smithing for money... That was it honestly.”

“Smithing for money? Why do youkai need money...?”

“To live in the village of course!” The girl bites an apple in half. “Rent is tough.”

“Live in the village...?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m aware some youkai can enter the village if the Hakurei allows it. I know you were one of those youkai, but live in them? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

The girl simply shrugs in response. Seems like she doesn’t know why she’s welcomed to the village...

“Huh, actually something has occurred to me. We haven’t said our names.” I realize. “My name is Rin Satsuki, what’s yours?”

“Kogasa Tatara!” She exclaims.

“Then nice to meet you Kogasa,” I say before we return to chatting with each other.

Once we finished chatting and eating the salad Youki cooked us, Kogasa continues her work while Youki and I return to deflecting fruit. Time flies by and soon, night falls. I take my leave and return to the clinic to see how Kouko is doing.

“Ah, the stepsister has returned.” The receptionist says once I enter the clinic. “Just in time as well, something special has just happened...”

!!!

I rush to Kouko’s room and forcefully slide the door open. To my delight, I see Fujima carrying a baby wrapped in white cloth crying, with Kouko looking at the newborn smiling.

“Kouko!” I exclaim. Rushing towards Kouko and Fujima’s side.

“Haha... Glad to see you made it sis...” Kouko says weakly. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

Fujima gently hands me the baby, who is still crying. I put my finger on the baby’s lips, and for a brief moment, he stops. I smile before the baby begins crying again and I laugh in response.

“Have you given him a name yet?” I ask.

“Hakai.” Fujima answers.

“Scary name, but if you think that’s fine, then Hakai it is.” I gently hand over Hakai to Kouko. “So, when are you released from the clinic?”

“Tomorrow, if I feel all right. But enough about me, what have you been doing sis? Haven’t seen you since yesterday. I know you were supposed to head to that blacksmith to make that special bow of yours.”

“Hm... Well, I guess we can talk about that.” I spend the rest of the night telling Kouko what I have been doing. From training with Youki to reconciling with Kogasa and making friends with her.

After this, we make ourselves comfortable in the room before falling asleep.

Month 7, Day 12

I stand in front of Youki’s workshop, with a piece of paper containing Lyrica and Merlin’s signatures. I couldn’t get hold of Lunasa because according to her sisters, an old acquaintance needed her for her musical expertise in stringed instruments. I guess Kogasa would just have to make do with two autographs for now.

I enter the workshop once again and scan the area. I spot Kogasa working on the smithy while Youki and Lunasa examine my erhu on the table.

“Hey,” I approach Kogasa while waving the paper with the autographs in front of her. “Got what you wanted.”

“Ah! You really weren’t lying!” Kogasa exclaims as she puts down the metal she is hammering and I give her the paper. “Sweet! Now I have all three autographs of the Prismrivers!”

“You got Lunasa’s when she arrived?” I ask.

“Yeah! Even got her to confirm that you did know her and that you once performed with them! You must be really talented Rin!”

“That’s nice... But...” I glance at Lunasa and Youki. “What is she doing here?”

“Oh! Mr. Youki brought her here for help! Must be something to do with that instrument! Don’t know why Mr. Youki needs to deal with instruments though...” She wonders.

“That instrument is mine, and it’s called an erhu by the way,” I answer Kogasa. “I gave Youki my erhu because he says it needs to be customized in order for it to sound the same as before when he finishes my bow.”

“...Bow?” Kogasa looks at the piece of metal she was hammering earlier. “I’m smithing a bow?” Kogasa goes underneath the smithing table before revealing a large black object that had the features of an erhu bow carved in it. “This is a bow?” She asks. “It looks nothing like one.”

“It’s the bow of an erhu,” I inform her, also noticing that what Kogasa was hammering had a similar shape to a bow. “But... Why is it carved into this... Black object?”

“It’s a mold, Satsuki.” Youki interrupts us, walking to us with Lunasa by her side. “I was considering using one to make your bow, but when I brought Tatara she insisted to forge it herself.”

“Molding doesn’t bring out an object’s true potential when it comes to smithing!” Kogasa exclaims. “Sure, it makes things a lot easier to create several objects at once, but the end product has horrible quality!”

I give Youki a glare in response to this. “Hey, the price you gave me was pretty hefty so I’m expecting something high quality.”

“...I wasn’t aware of the inefficiency of molds until Ms. Tatara enlightened me,” Youki admits.

“You were rumored to be an extremely skilled blacksmith in the village,” I say with hesitancy. “S-Surely someone like that should be aware of this!”

“...” Youki stays scarily quiet, so I decide to move the topic along.

“So uh, Lunasa!” I greet her. “H-How are you?”

“I am well Rin,” Lunasa replies without skipping a beat. “What about you? I heard that you got in a fight with a youkai which resulted in some wounds.”

“...Yeah, it wasn’t fun. That encounter was the entire reason why I’m here. It ruined my erhu’s bow...” I say in distaste, remembering when I retaliated by swinging my bow at the werewolf.

“And that is why I was called here.” Lunasa replies. “Youki requested my aid in order to help him tune your erhu to fit with your custom bow.”

“So, when your sisters said you were called by an old acquaintance for your string expertise,” I look at Youki. “They meant Youki?”

“Indeed.” Youki answers. “The Prismrivers were hired several times by my Lady to perform in Hakugyokuro when the cherry blossoms were falling. I’ve come to know them quite well over the years.”

“Youki and his Lady have been an incredible host,” Lunasa adds. “Oh, and please tell your master I said hi, and that my sisters and I await the next cherry blooming session.”

“...” Youki falls silent once again.

“...Let’s leave this conversation here then,” Lunasa responds. “Youki, now that Rin is here, will you proceed with her training?”

Youki silently nods before facing toward the exit of the smith. “Let’s go.”

I follow Youki through the exit. He then tosses the substitute bow at me, and once again I prepare myself for my next lesson.

Age 35

Month 1, Day 4

A few months have passed since I began training with Youki. Slowly but surely, I have been making amazing progress according to Youki. Today was the final test, a duel with Youki himself with my brand-new custom bow.

Kogasa has finished forging the bow since November, but Lunasa had to make sure my erhu and bow played their notes correctly. Kogasa then upgraded my erhu free of charge making it even more durable. A “combat erhu” she calls it, saying that if I ever needed to smack someone, my erhu could do the trick.

Both the upgrade and fine-tuning pushed my musical weapon’s completion back a bit. When Youki told me it has been completed yesterday, I was quite eager to get my hands on it.

“Sis!” Kouko calls me while I am getting ready to leave. She holds her son, Hakai, in her arms, soothing him. “Be careful ‘kay? Just because you’re about to earn yourself a brand-new weapon doesn’t mean you should be cocky with it.”

I smile at her. “Don’t worry sis. My mentor has thought me well.”

Kouko nods at this with concern as I step out of the house and begin my flight toward Youki’s workshop.

...Only for a barrage of bullets to appear to my left, prompting me to dodge right which led me straight into a gap. On the other side of the boundary, I crash land on the floor, and I am greeted by Yukari looking at down me with her familiar smug face.

“Gah... Yukari what do you want?” I complain while getting up from the floor. “I have a schedule for today...”

“I am quite aware of your agenda for today,” She says as she watches me stand up. “Ran, you can give her our gift now.”

“Yes, Lady Yukari.” I hear Ran respond from the distance. She then emerges from a room with a familiar set of clothes in her arms.

“Are those... My clothes?” I ask, wondering what Yukari is up to.

“Indeed they are!” Yukari answers by grabbing the clothes from Ran and unfolding it, revealing the clothes fully. It is a replica of my usual clothes with one new addition being a kirin icon at the backside of the dress. Another new thing is that a hood is now attached to it. Other than that, everything else was physically the same. Magically, however...

“This piece of clothing has been woven with tsuchigumo silk,” Yukari continues. “On top of the extra protection that alone will give you, magical stones have been embedded inside for both protection and automatic repair whenever it gets damaged.”

Yukari hands me her gift, allowing me to feel the texture of my brand-new clothes. It feels very different, but it’s also just as light as my other clothes. “How much extra protection are you talking about?” I wonder aloud.

“You have a duel with Youki today, no? If you get careless and mess up, this gift will protect you.”

“How did you know that?” I raise an eyebrow at her. “I never told you about this.”

“Hm, hmmm~ I wonder how I did!”

I roll my eyes in response to this.

“Lady Yukari and Lady Yuyuko are good friends.” Ran answers. “Lady Yuyuko is Youki Konpaku’s former master, so that is how they know each other. Yukari also supplied Youki with some of the materials needed to make your brand-new bow.”

Once again, I make an eyebrow at Yukari. “How much do you know?”

“Oh, sweetie I know everything.” Yukari brags. “Now, into the wardrobe you go. Time for you to get changed so we can send you on your merry way.” Yukari pushes me into a room and closes the door on me. I sigh as I begin taking off my clothes to change into the new ones. Once I am done changing, I step out of the room to reveal my brand-new clothes being worn.

“Huh, this is much more comfortable than I was expecting,” I comment while moving my body around.

Yukari and Ran smile at me while I’m examining the clothes before opening a gap.

“Now, this gap will take you to Youki’s workshop,” Yukari explains. “We and some friends of mine shall be watching over your duel. Oh, and you can leave your old clothes to us, Ran will take them back to your home.”

“Do well Rin, we have placed bets that you will succeed.”

“Oh, please don’t put that pressure on me,” I say before stepping through the gap.

The gap, as Yukari said, leads to Youki’s smithy. I walk into the workshop to see Kogasa talking with all of the members of the Prismrivers. Merlin and Lyrica were chatting up a storm with the umbrella while Lunasa plays my erhu with its brand-new bow. The melody she plays is in perfect tune, showing off that she has perfected making my erhu sound just like it has before.

“So, the guest of honor has arrived,” Lunasa says after finishing her performance. “Are you ready for what is next to come, Rin?” She asks as she offers my bow and erhu to me.

I take the instrument and begin playing a short tune to truly see if the erhu is in working order, and it was. “I am. But what’s the rest of the family doing here?” I glance at Merlin and Lyrica.

“We were commissioned by one of our usual commissioners to play music over your duel with Youki.” Lunasa answers. “I’ve also heard that she and some of her friends would be coming to watch the duel as well.”

“Those friends might be Yukari... She quickly kidnapped me to give me this brand-new outfit.” I show Lunasa my back to showcase the added kirin icon. “Supposedly this thing will protect me from being harmed.”

“Well, your clothes do cover everything on your body,” Lunasa observes. “It would function well as armor.” Lunasa kneels down and examines the lower part of my body. “Was your skirt replaced as well?”

“It was, yes,” I reply.

“Why did she give you this exactly?” Lunasa questions me as she stretches parts of the fabric.

“...I don’t know actually. I’ll ask her after this duel.” I scan the smith in search of Youki, but he isn’t around. “Where’s Mr. Konpaku?”

“At your usual training spot. He was talking to his former master earlier. Not sure what he’s doing now.”

I nod at her before exiting the smith. I then see Youki pointing his sword at a woman with short pink wavy hair and wearing a sky-blue kimono with a cherry blossom as its design.

“Lady Saigyouji, I can assure you this will be over in a moment,” Youki warns his opponent. “I can already tell that you have forsaken that training regime I gave you a long time ago due to the way you’re holding your blade.”

“Oh please, Youki! You underestimate me!” His opponent says with a playful attitude, clumsily holding her sword. “Besides, you may treat this as warmup if you wish.”

They then stare at each other in silence until the woman dashed toward Youki swinging her blade around. Youki parries and deflects every attack thrown at him before using his speed and technique to disarm the woman and stabs her straight through the chest as blood bursts from her chest. The woman then falls to the floor and lays still while Youki simply sheaths his sword.

W...Wait. D-Did I just witness a murder?!

“Y-Yuyuko-samaaaaaaa!” I hear a voice scream in panic. I turn around to see a girl around her twenties with white hair rush towards the fallen woman. The girl wears a vest and skirt with similar colors to Youki’s outfit. She also has two sword sheaths on her back. One is long and empty, while the other is short and has a blade still attached to it. She shakes the corpse to get a response but receives none, so she hesitantly grabs the woman’s sword and points it toward Youki.

“G-Grandpa! How could you!” The girl yells at him. “You suddenly disappear from Hakugyokuro, and when we finally find you, you kill our master?!”

Youki simply sighs and walks toward the girl and the corpse. “Youmu, you should know by now this is merely one of her tricks.” Youki picks the corpse up by her shoulders, ignoring the threats from the girl to stay away from the body. “Lady Saigyouji, if you don’t stop playing dead, I can guarantee you won’t be receiving my cooking tonight.”

Suddenly, the corpse’s eyes flutter open, and the woman’s eyes give Youki an annoyed face. “But that’s half of the reason why we came here in the first place!” Upon receiving a response, Youki releases the woman from his grip.

“Yuyuko-sama!” The girl cries in joy and hugs the woman. “You’re not actually dead!”

“Aw, don’t worry Youmu. I’ll never leave your side.” The woman replies and hugs her back.

Youki once again sighs in response to this. “Youmu, are you not aware that ghosts do not bleed? Surely Lady Saigyouji has made several mistakes that should have wounded her already if she was truly a human.”

“I...” The girl stops hugging the woman. “Oh... Yuyuko-sama! You meanie!”

“And as for you, Lady Saigyouji. What gave you the bizarre idea to fake your own death? Were you merely trying to elicit a reaction from Youmu? Shame on you.”

“Ah, Eto... bleh.” The woman makes a cute pose to excuse her actions.

Like a disappointed father, Youki puts his hand on his head and starts grumbling before calling out my name.

“Satsuki.” He says in a commanding voice, releasing me from my shock from the events that happened. “Stay here and entertain my guests while I fetch them tea.” He walks into the workshop without a word, leaving me with the two girls alone.

“So, you must be Rin Satsuki, correct?” The woman with pink hair approaches me. Her sky-blue kimono has been stained with the fake blood she has used for her trick from earlier. “Yukari has told me a lot about you~.”

I bow at her. “Please to uh... Meet your acquaintance Miss...?” Frankly, I am extremely unsure of how to act around her.

“Aw, no need for formalities!” She exclaims. “Call me Yuyuko! The Mistress of Hakugyokuro.”

“...Since Yuyuko-sama allows you to act informally around her, I won’t cut you.” The girl with the bob-cut hair says as she sheaths the sword she was holding.

“Oh, please Youmu!” Yuyuko scolds the girl. “Threatening someone just because they would disrespect my name? That’s... Hm...” Yuyuko puts her hand on her chin. “That’s a good way to scare someone actually...”

“Ahahaha...” I laugh nervously at Yuyuko’s scheming.

“Hm... Oh right! Rin, this here is my gardener,” She bends down and puts her arms around the girl. “Meet Youmu Konpaku!”

While blushing at Yuyuko hugging her, Youmu bows at me.

“Konpaku?” I realize. “Wait, I remember hearing you call Youki ‘grandpa.’ Are you...?”

“I am, yes. I’m his granddaughter. He trained me everything I know of in wielding a blade.”

“I guess that means both of us are his pupils.”

“...? Are you saying grandpa abandoned his duties to go teach this... This... Nobody?!” Youmu says in disgust, eliciting an offended reaction from me as well.

“I’m sorry you can’t just call someone a nobody.” I retort. “I don’t know what kind of bad blood you and your grandfather had, but you can’t call me a nobody just because you’re angry at him.”

“Hmph!” Youmu crosses her arms. “I don’t see how someone as young as you would catch his attention anyways. Especially since he was supposed to be teaching me instead!”

“I- You’re awfully rude for serving someone of high class!”

Youmu sticks her tongue at me, only for Yuyuko to smack her with a folding fan.

“Youmu! It seems I haven’t given you enough lessons to be a proper lazy yet. Perhaps Ran shall be a perfect teacher for you.” Yuyuko scolds Youmu even more. “Now, apologize. Both for calling Rin a nobody and even bringing in her age into this.”

“...I’m sorry, Rin.” Youmu apologizes in the least insincere way she could manage.

“Youmu,” Yuyuko says in a more serious voice.

Youmu sighs before bowing to me. “I’m very sorry for what I have done, Rin. And what I’ve done is inexcusable. I hope you accept this apology.”

“Apology accepted,” I say. “But first let me ask, how old are you Youmu?”

“...Twenty-three.”

“Then that would be Miss Rin for you. You know, as they say, treat your elders well.” I say smugly.

“Why, how old are you anyway?” She asks, most likely expecting me to say a number lower than her age.

“Thirty-five. Just like your lineage, I’m only half-human. My other half is a kirin.”

“T-Twelve years older...” She begins considering this new piece of information. “Well, sure then, grandma. I’ll treat you with respect.”

“Ack! Y-You...!” Defeated, I slump my shoulders and sigh.

“Oh my, already bested by little Youmu here are we?” I hear Yukari’s voice behind me, with the sound of Chen and Ran arguing accompanying her.

I turn to see Yukari smiling at me while Ran is trying to get Chen out of her large tails. Behind me, Youmu bows at Yukari while Yuyuko waves at her.

“...Hello Yukari,” I say in an annoyed tone.

“It is the second time you’ve seen me today and you’re already annoyed,” Yukari observes. “Well, I suppose I have that effect on people.” She glances to the side to see Youki stepping out from the blacksmith with a tray holding nine teacups and two teapots. Kogasa and the Prismrivers are also trailing behind him.

“It seems that everyone is here,” Youki announces as he observes the area.

“Indeed,” Yukari replies while opening several gaps that drop two tables on two different sides, one side has five chairs to sit on while the other has six. “Rin, you may sit with the Prismrivers and that tsukumogami.” She says while pointing at the table with five seats. “We have something to discuss with Youki and Yuyuko.”

Youki nods at me to go sit with Lunasa and the others while he sets the teacups and teapots down, so I do.

“So, how has it been?” I open. “More specifically, for Merlin and Lyrica. It’s been a while since we’ve last talked.”

“Yeah,” Merlin agrees. “The last time we got together was when you asked us for signatures for Kogasa.”

“Again, thanks, Rin, for doing that for me,” Kogasa says with a smile. “I didn’t think I’d ever meet the Prismrivers in person! I thought I would just be one of your many fans, only a single drop in that vast sea...”

“Using analogies today, are we?” I observe. “I’m assuming you’ve just met Lyrica today. Don’t tell me her way of speech has already influenced you.”

“Oh, you say that as if that’s a bad thing,” Lyrica responds. “Analogies are like a box of chocolates, perfect for any occasion and always a treat.”

“You used that defense the last time I questioned your usage of analogies.” I roll my eyes. “So, do you three ever think I’ll be able to perform back on stage after this day?”

Lunasa pours everyone a cup of tea before answering. “Well, if you are willing, then there is a high probability that you may. But the two of us must spend some time honing your skills again. It has been months since you last played an erhu, no?”

“Mmm.” I sip from the tea and nod to her question. “Hopefully it lasts only for a week or so. I have so much time on my hands since I don’t have a job yet.”

“If you don’t have a job, then how were you able to pay for this custom commission?” Kogasa asks.

“...Out of the Adafurui’s pockets,” I admit, only for the group to stare at me. “What? Can’t I use the savings of the household who might as well adopt me?”

“What happened to the money you gained from our first collab?” Merlin raises her eyebrows at me.

“Spent them all way before that! ...On two expensive bottles of sake.”

Merlin groans in response. “I didn’t even know you drink alcohol. You rejected every offer to go drinking with us!”

“In my defense, you three drink it for the taste. You ghosts don’t get drunk because of your immaterial nature. I don’t want to pass out in front of you three drunk while all you three aren't even tipsy.” I look towards the other table where Youki is having a heated discussion with his granddaughter. “And I don’t go drinking with Yukari because Yukari. The only times I drink are with my family or Miss Keine. Responsible people if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, and you suggest the three of us are irresponsible?” Lyrica sticks her tongue out. “That’s like-“

I put my finger on Lyrica’s lips, shutting her up. “Not another analogy, please. Anyways, no that’s not what I meant. Lunasa’s the most responsible while Merlin can hold a substantial amount of responsibility, and Lyrica is the youngest sister who places all responsibility she bears onto her other sisters.”

“...I hate how you’re right,” Lyrica says in defeat.

“Anyways, other than buying expensive sake, what have you been up to Rin?” Merlin asks me.

“Well...” I begin recounting what has happened to me after I recovered from doing my first ritual for Kouko’s mother.

“Satsuki,” Youki calls me, interrupting the conversation I was having with the others. “It is time.”

I look towards Youki to see him standing up, his arm resting on the hilt of his blade. “Oh, yeah, hold on.” I give my erhu to Lunasa while keeping its bow on me. “Hold this for me please.” Lunasa nods as she holds onto my erhu as I walk towards Youki.

“Are you sure using a real blade will be safe...?” I ask, worrying for my safety.

“No worries, I will be careful. And I also trust that you are far more capable of defending yourself, unlike my master.”

I glance at Yuyuko, who is simply eating rice balls at the side.

“And besides, how do we truly test all you have learned without the danger of death?” Youki finishes, and then, the Prisimrivers begin playing intense music.

Suddenly, Youki dashes towards me and swings his blade at me. I didn’t even see him unsheathe it. Fortunately, I manage to bring up my bow to block the strike. Instinctively, I use my free hand to reach toward Youki’s blade, engulfed in my aura to protect my hand from the sword. However, Youki pulled away before I could do so and quickly unleashed a flurry of light strikes. I try to block and parry everything he throws at me, but I am unable to do so. Soon he manages to strike my defense in a way that makes me unable to guard against the next hit. Youki then strikes me while I am wide open, so I expect to begin bleeding, with a clean-cut tearing through my clothes and into my body. But instead, I only get knocked back with my clothes still intact. I could see a wide “scar” of light across the clothes before it eventually fades away.

“Wh?! I’m... Fine?” I look around, extremely confused until I see Yukari and Ran seemingly complimenting themselves. “Oh right, my clothes, they've been upgraded...”

“This duel has another purpose,” Youki begins. “It is to test that new armor the Yakumo family have woven for you.”

“She told you?” I ask, cautiously gripping my weapon just in case he decides to attack right after he answers.

“Indeed. I had my doubts that a mere piece of clothing would be able to withstand a cut from my blade. But now that I am certain, I must applaud Lady Yukari and Miss Ran’s work. But for now...” He then stops speaking.

Realizing what is about to happen, I hold tight to my bow as Youki runs toward me. He swings his blade with swift movements, and I greet his strikes with my own. I notice that his attacks are much slower than his previous assault, allowing me to properly match Youki’s speed.

As we exchange blows, we soon engage in a blade lock. I continue to push forward when suddenly Youki’s resistance against me came to zero. Youki sidesteps as I begin to stumble forward. Realizing my mistake and fearing the worst, I focus all my aura on my back, expecting Youki to strike me from behind only to just simply fall onto the ground.

“Pweh!” I spit out the dirt that enters my mouth from the fall before standing up. I see Youki plainly looking at me with his sword still trained at me.

“Did you think I didn’t sense that enormous spiritual presence you focused on your back?” Youki asks me. “Yukari told me you were already capable of manipulating your aura to certain parts of your body. Tell me, will you push that ability of yours to the limit?”

What he said last... Felt like a challenge to me. He wants me to push my creativity with my powers in order to win this duel.

Slowly, I even out my aura to cover my entire body before focusing some of it on my legs. “Please let this work,” I thought to myself before running towards Youki with much greater speed than I have ever achieved. I then focus my aura on my arms before striking at Youki, our weapons clashing together before we begin exchanging blows. This time, Youki has begun using his original strength from the first assault to keep up with my attack. I let out a small smile, now knowing that I have found a new way to experiment with my abilities.

“You weren’t lying when you said that girl could be the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s soon-to-be partner-in-crime,” Yuyuko says while observing the battle.

“I wasn’t,” Yukari responds. “But for now, she isn’t ready to be one yet. Her aura may be on par with shrine maiden’s, but she’s nowhere near Sendai’s physical prowess.”

“...Do you ever think she shall be a threat?”

“A question you asked me back when I first formed the Hakurei Barrier, regarding the Hakurei Mikos.”

“And your answer back then was ‘no,’” Yuyuko continues. “You confidently said that you have them right where they are needed and said that they will never go against your actions as all you have done is for the sake of Gensokyo.”

“There have been a few exceptions,” Yukari answers. “Some did oppose me, and some had to die by my hand, but all in all most of them have stayed in order. But for little Rin here? Hard to say.”

Yukari and Yuyuko continue watching the battle. At this point, I have pushed Youki to stay on the defense.

“Have I told you where the Satsuki came from?” Yukari asks Yuyuko.

“No, you haven’t,” Yuyuko replies in intrigue. “Go on, tell me.”

“Ever since I welcomed the Satsuki into Gensokyo, I always knew of the purity their aura contains but I never much thought about it. When I came to invade the moon alongside the other youkai, I felt a familiar presence that participated in our slaughter.” Out of a gap, Yukari pulls out a broken Tsuzumi drum. “When Matara was gravely wounded by that fighter and saw what he looked like, both of us soon realized why that presence was familiar. It was the original Qilin that gave birth to the Satsuki.”

“Not a kirin?” Yuyuko raises a small eyebrow before taking a bite out of a rice ball.

“No, a qilin. I assume he was only a kirin when he traveled to Japan and returned to a qilin when he left.”

“What did you and Matara do when you returned from the moon?” Yuyuko queries with her mouth full.

“Matara wanted to kill the Satsuki, worried they might be lunar spies. I was able to convince her that they weren’t a threat, but she said she would keep watch on them. She did, but soon she cut off all communication from us and hasn’t been seen ever since.”

“I know Ibaraki was part of that invasion, how did she react to this?”

“You know how that oni is, she grew to become a pacifist and a kind-hearted person.” Yukari returns the drum before pulling out a pink rose. “Despite how much it annoyed her to agree with me, she decided that they weren’t a problem as well. She also became acquaintances with the Satsuki Eldest at that time but soon she locked herself away in that mansion of hers in the mountain.”

“And that leaves you and Tenma being the only remaining active sages. Does he know about the Satsuki?”

“No, he didn’t participate in the Lunar War so he never found out.”

“So, after that long explanation, do you think Satsuki will ever be a threat?” Yuyuko asks once more.

Yukari begins focusing on the battle again. “...No. Not because I have them under my control, but because I have in good faith that she is simply a resident in Gensokyo doing good.”

“I see...” Yuyuko stuffs one more rice ball into her mouth before putting her attention on the duel.

Panting, I hold my weapon close to me. Youki is doing the same as well, but I can tell he has exhausted far more strength than I have.

“It is... Impressive on how formidable you became after I challenged you to use your abilities.” Youki compliments me. “It has been a long time since someone has pushed me to my limits. Your skill with the blade still needs some more refinement, but that shall be refined over time.”

“How long are we going to go at this...?” I ask in my tired state.

“Almost finished. Just one more trial for you to overcome.” As he says this, his phantom half floats beside him and begins morphing into... Himself?!

“What the-?!” I try to say as a reaction to this power, but I was cut off when the two Youkis charge at me from two opposite sides and swings their blades at me.

In response, I raise one arm covered in aura to intercept one blade and use my bow to intercept the other. My weapon blocks the latter side, but unfortunately, things did not go well with my arm. Gravity decided to be my enemy as it causes my sleeves to slide off, leaving my left arm exposed. Upon collision with my naked arm, the sword clashes with it as if it was another blade as well. I can only understand that focusing a substantial amount of my aura on my arm made it as hard as steel. It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt, however. I could feel the sword ever so slightly inching into my skin and eventually blood begins to leak from that area.

Upon acknowledging that I will get harmed even further if I keep this stalemate up, I transfer all my aura into my arm and begin pushing both my arm and bow against the Youki's blades. Soon, I am able to repel the two gardeners away and dash back to regain my bearings.

I look at my arm to see how deep the cut is and fortunately, it didn’t get too deep. I then stare towards Youki and his ghostly clone, who is also watching me intently. Sneakily, I conjure three talismans and hide them in my sleeves before I dash toward the twins. I infused my aura with the bow before swinging at the original Youki. The original dashes backward while the ghostly Youki attacks me from my blind spot. I then let a talisman from my free arm fall to my hand and throws it toward the ghost half, causing it to paralyze the ghost and temporarily staggering Youki as well.

With the window of opportunity opened, I grab the ghostly half with my free hand and slam it down by infusing my hand with aura. After this, I throw the remaining talismans at the phantom half right before the real Youki recovers from his stagger and attacks me from behind. Thankfully, when the talismans hit the phantom half, Youki stops and screams in pain before I peel off the two talismans. Youki then falls to the ground, but he uses his sword to keep him from falling onto the ground.

“Gah... Hah...” Youki pants. “This is the first you ever used your talismans... It slipped my mind you could do this...”

“I almost forgot I could do this as well...” I responded. “I was thinking to myself... ‘Do I have any tricks up in my sleeve?’ When you cloned yourself.”

“Geh... Well... You won... This duel...” Youki promptly collapses to the ground, unconscious.

“Congratulations, Satsuki.” Yukari congratulates me, slowly clapping her hands. “It seems your training has paid off. Although...” She then grabs the arm that was cut, examining it. “It seems we have missed an oversight when designing your clothes. We would have to take this back to the drawing table before you could fully use it. Perhaps by adding some straps onto the sleeves may help...”

“By the way, why did you give me this armor?” I ask Yukari, still exhausted.

“Simple, I just want to keep you safe.” Yukari states. “Gensokyo has been getting much more dangerous over the years. It doesn’t help that Rumia is still out for you.”

“That’s awfully thoughtful of you,” I remark. “Well, if you say so...” Behind me, I could hear Youmu desperately trying to wake Youki up. I sigh, before heading back to Kogasa and the Prismriver’s table. As I approach, they begin congratulating me.

“Good job Rin!” Merlin shouts at me.

“Hey! Hey! How was the bow?! Amazing right?!” Kogasa perks up.

Lyrica plays a quick riff. “And so, this dance of master and apprentice has come to a close!”

“Quite a step you’ve just taken Rin, what will you do now?” Lunasa asks as I sit down and slump onto the table. “But ah, yes you must be tired, no?”

“Yeah... I am...” I reply. “Why is fighting tiring...”

“Well, that’s how it always is when fighting!” Someone barks at me from behind. I turn around to see Youmu glaring at me. “Stand up! I’ll avenge grandpa and show you that the things that cannot be cut by my Roukanken, are next to none!” She pulls out the long sword from her sheaths. “It can even cut that special armor you’re wearing!”

“...No.” I return to slumping on the table.

“Wh?! Oi get up! Get up!” With her free hand, Youmu tries to pull me away from the table, but I simply keep still. “I... Will... Beat... You... With the... Limited training I’ve received...!”

The others at the table simply watch Youmu’s attempts to get me to stand up without saying anything.

“Youmu!” I hear Yuyuko say before hearing a “phwip” and a short “Ow!” from Youmu. “Let the lady rest! We came here to simply watch Youki’s duel, let’s not cause any more scenes.”

“B-But Yuyuko-sama-“

“No Youmu. Behave. It seems I must extend some effort for once in making you behave.”

I turn around to see Yuyuko grabbing Youmu by the collar and heading to a gap Yukari has opened.

Before they go through, Yuyuko faces me. “It was very nice to meet you Rin. It’s rare for us to leave Hakugyokurou, so meeting the girl Yukari has been constantly talking about is quite the pleasure.” Yuyuko looks at Yukari to bid her farewell. “We’ll be going now Yukari. See you~” She then steps through the gap with Youmu and it closes.

I sigh before slumping onto the table again as my eyes slowly close, and I drift into sleep.

Chapter Text

1993

Sendai Hakurei

Month 2, Day 18

Sitting on the veranda, I calmly sip on my tea as I hear my daughter, Reimu, play within the insides of the shrine. It is a peaceful afternoon, and I know that it shall be soon interrupted by an intrusive presence.

“Sendaiii~” A voice calls me from my left. I look toward the source and see Yukari stepping through a gap. “How are you this fine afternoon?”

“Simply splendid,” I reply, still sipping my tea. “Everything today is going according to schedule.”

“Oh, how smart you are.” Yukari sits beside me and grabs her own cup of tea from a gap. “Well, what do you expect me to report for today?”

“Something that involves me doing dirty work, once again.”

Yukari’s face suddenly turns serious. “Indeed.”

I sigh. “I’ll go get Rin after this then.”

“Oh no, it’s best you don’t bring her for this one.” Yukari covers her mouth with a fan. “Ever since she obtained that new erhu and bow five years ago, she's served well as your partner and student. You two have dealt with dangerous forces together, and have embraced a lot of pain and suffering, but I am certain that she isn’t ready for this task.”

“You always say this, but I bring her along anyway and she’s able to prevent a crisis I wouldn’t be capable of halting.” I counter. “What makes you believe this one will different?”

“Rumia.”

I stare at her. “That’s even more reason to bring her along. But why? You have kept her whereabouts unknown to me for so long ever since Rin pushed her back, even the several times she has assaulted humans. Why do you want me to hunt her down now?”

“Because Sendai, she is about to meet with... Unpleasant friends of the past.” Yukari carefully sounded the last part. “Have I told you the tragedy of Mima the Vengeful?”

“Yes, you have...” I slowly realize where Yukari is going with this. “No... You say Rumia will be attempting to reach her?”

“Only a guess, but yes.” Yukari gazes toward the shrine’s torii. “Rumia has been awfully silent lately. I wouldn’t have been concerned about this silence, but Ran has reported that she has overheard her saying ‘Go to Genmukai, the stones will recognize me and inform...’ before she was spotted and was quickly chased away.”

“Genmukai? But isn’t that here?” I wonder as this is the first time I have ever heard of it.

“No, this is Gensokyo,” Yukari informs me “Which means Land of Fantasy. Genmukai means World of Fantasies.”

“Not much of a difference,” I say, sipping my tea once more.

“Moving on, Genmukai is locked between Makai and our world, but it also leads to another place, Reimaden.”

“The place you say Mima ran off to when she thought she had killed off her generation’s Hakurei clan,” I say remembering the story Yukari has told me before.

“Indeed. Ah, I would imagine she would be quite upset if learns that she had a baby hidden away, and with two of Gensokyo’s sages currently missing, it would be quite troubling if she arrives.”

“Alright, alright.” I finish drinking my tea before setting it down and standing up. “I’ll go deal with her. Where is she?”

Yukari smiles at me. “Go southwest for seventeen minutes and you will see a cave. Enter it, that is where she resides.”

“How do I know if that is the correct cave?”

“You’ll know.” She answers, causing me to grumble.

“And why do you suggest not bringing Rin? You have yet to answer that.”

“Please, Rumia is the killer of her parents. Do you really think she would be able to keep her emotions in check when she faces her? Besides, she’s still in a weakened state. You are more than enough to seal her away.”

“...I’ll do something far worse than sealing her.”

“Ooh, torture!” Yukari perks up. Well, I’m interested to see how you handle that. But for now, tata~!” Yukari falls into a gap, leaving me alone.

I slide the shrine’s door open, and I could see my dear Reimu playing with her toys. “Hey, dearie!”

Reimu looks at me upon hearing my voice.

“Mama has to go for some errands today!”

“...Again?” Reimu says dejectedly.

“Yes, again. Don’t worry dear, I’ll be quick.” I come to her and kiss her on the forehead. “Don’t get into any trouble now.”

Reimu nods. “Okay...”

“Good girl!” I step out of the shrine and wave goodbye before closing the door. I take to the skies and fly southwest.

After some time, I find a cave protruding from the surface within the middle of the woods. As Yukari said, I got here in seventeen minutes. I land before its entrance, and I could see several seals covering the walls of the entrance.

“Aura Seals...” I realize. “So that’s how she’s been hiding her presence from my ability to sense auras.” I look around and see several of the same seals plastered around the trees. “...I’m also now noticing I have been unable to sense the aura of any creatures for a while now. How far did she place these seals?”

After monologuing, I begin chanting a sutra that would dispel advanced seals. Upon completion, the seals around the area begin burning away.

I am then overwhelmed by a malicious, evil, and dark presence. Gods... Has she been hiding this much power? Yukari was wrong about her still being weakened. This aura is similar to what Rumia emitted years ago. Never mind bringing Rin because she might react emotionally to this fight, this battle will kill her.

I take a deep breath, before entering the cave. Trekking downwards, I observe several traces of dark stains across the walls, and inky water flowing deeper into the cave. And the smell. At first, it was just the faint scent of a rotting human, but the deeper I go, the stronger the smell gets.

I then find myself in the cave’s antechamber. Its walls are lined up with skeletons and uneaten corpses. The ceiling had uneaten corpses hanging from the ceiling, and worse, I could tell they were fresh.

“That bastard...!”

Suddenly, I hear a laugh coming from the main room. Cautiously, I walk towards it, expecting an ambush as it is pitch black.

“So, Hakurei,” I hear a raspy voice echoing through the room. “Do you like the decorations I have placed? I had to quickly go out and obtain some brand-new ceiling décor when I found that kitsune eavesdropping.”

“You sound awfully different from the last we met,” I comment. “Show yourself Youkai of Darkness!”

“Oh, you can’t see me?” Rumia taunts. “That’s a shame, I prepared this special form just for you!”

Suddenly, I could feel the floor beneath me begin to shift towards the center of the room. I take flight to stop myself from being swept away and watch in anticipation as the light slowly seeps into the chamber, revealing a woman with a large coat that had yellow eyes sprawling over it. The woman’s clothes had gold linings that have a different language engraved on them. The woman’s face, however, is unmistakably Rumia’s European look, and her golden hair remains all the same.

“How do you like it, Hakurei?” Rumia says, jarringly using her normal voice again. “This is what I was supposed to wear when I visit Mima, to remind her of how we first met, but it seems I won’t be having that chance anymore.”

Darkness surrounds her, and suddenly she is back to her normal clothes.

“Are you ready, Sendai?” She asks, summoning her two great swords. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I don’t want my commute to Reimaden to be interrupted by Yakumo and the Tenma.”

Calmly, I position myself to my fighting stance. Legs apart, both hands clawed at Rumia, and my body facing her. “Come at me, monster of darkness. You may not be from here, but I will exterminate you like the others!”

Rumia runs towards me, but before I could intercept her, two tendrils appear behind me to strike me from behind. Swiftly, I pull one to the ground and stomp on it, disintegrating it. For the other tendril, I pull it in front of me as Rumia swings at me to block her attack. However, she causes the tendril to disappear. With my aura, I cover my arms to block the strike. As my arm and the blades collide, sparks fly out. Rumia looks at me with glee before she backs off.

After repositioning myself, I dash towards Rumia and grab one of her swords and pull it toward me. Rumia wasn’t expecting that, so I easily got the sword. With my two hands, I use the sword to swing at Rumia, who quickly blocks the strike, but I let one hand free and punch her stomach with it. Rumia staggers backward allowing me to plunge the blade into her which I infuse with my aura before unleashing a barrage of punches at her.

Rumia flies toward the wall, but instead of a satisfying CRASH, Rumia melts into a puddle before impact and upon hitting the wall, the puddle of darkness surges toward me. It jumps at me, so I try to split it apart with my hands, but it instead causes it to latch onto my body. It then throws me up toward the ceiling, sending me straight through the cave’s ceiling and into the sky. Rumia then separates from my body and reforms back to her normal self before spiking me downwards back to the earth, leaving a crater when I hit the ground.

“Gah... Why does she pack the punch of an oni...” I complain as I get up from the ground as Rumia flies towards me. I then ready myself as Rumia finally reaches my vicinity, sidestep her attack, and grab her entire body before slamming her onto my knee. She screams in agony as I throw her down to the ground and begin a flurry of kicks at her before tossing her up in the air and continuing my attack with a barrage of punches before ending it with a last punch, sending her flying towards the thicket of trees.

I fly toward the area I launched Rumia to find her and make sure she stays down. Following the destruction of trees, I find the impact where Rumia has crash landed to be empty. Suddenly I hear the short sound of leaves rustling behind me, so I turn around to see Rumia charging at me with a sharp, crooked, and large black claw on her left arm. I brace myself for her attack only to instead to be grabbed by the claw. She then exerts force onto the claw, crushing enough bones for it to be audible for Rumia. To this, she smiles at me before doing the same thing two more times before rapidly spinning around and throwing me back to the ground.

Upon crashing, I feel extremely disoriented. I try to move but my bones scream in pain even when I’m barely exerting any force. Rumia then lands beside me and picks me up by the chokehold.

“When Mima and I are done with you, everyone you care for shall die as well. Your mother, the villagers, Yukari, Rin,” With each name, she increases her grip on my neck, and my anger begins slowly surfacing. “Mima and I shall destroy the Hakurei Barrier, and once again the world will remember what it was like to be hunted down by creatures of the night. While Mima settles her plans with humanity, I’ll regain my rightful place as the Queen of Darkness.” Rumia continues to monologue. “But of course, we have to deal with one more person before we proceed with all of that. Your daughter, Reimu.”

“You... Won’t...!” Despite the protests of my arms’, I agonizingly grab onto the wrist of Rumia’s large claw. “Touch...” Slowly, a familiar dark power begins emerging from within me. “My daughter!” Cracks begin forming on Rumia’s claw. Rumia, whose surprised expression gives me pleasure, adds even more force to her grip, but it was too late.

Rumia’s claw completely shatters, only leaving her regular arm. I then release a radial blast emotion that uprooted the trees around me and sends Rumia flying. I stand, ignoring the screeching of my body. A glowing black kitsune mask with a red motif floats across my face, and I put it on. My body and clothes are covered in the same glowing black color with a red motif. Slowly, I walk toward Rumia who is slowly getting up, her face is full of fear and determination.

“Fantasy Nature...” Rumia says as she summons her two great swords once again. “The ultimate expression of a Hakurei’s strongest emotion. Ah, I’ve done it now have I? This is a fight I cannot win, nor can I run from.” She laughs as if she has nothing to lose. “So, bring it Sendai! Show me how you felt when the world fears every fiber of your being!”

Rumia begins running toward me with reckless abandon. Before she could strike, I sense her summoning several tendrils behind me. They grab me and leave me wide open as Rumia swings at me. I then easily break free from my bindings and block her attacks with only my finger. With immense speed, I thrust my hand into Rumia’s chest and pull out her heart. Several cords are still attached to it, but I simply crush it with my bare hands. Rumia looks at me with shock before switching to a smug expression.

“Ha... Ha... That wasn’t even fair... But unfortunately, you can’t... Get rid of me...” With the last bits of her strength, she puts her mouth towards my ears and whispers, “Darkness is eternal, and so... Am I...”

Rumia then falls to the ground and lies unmoving.

I could feel my transformation slowly wearing off. The mask disappears into black flames, and soon I’m back to my normal form.

“She’s right, you know?” Yukari says behind me, but I don’t turn around to meet her eyes. “Now that she’s become the physical concept of darkness, she is unkillable by default. She can only now be restrained and weakened by seals.”

“Is everything that she said true...?” I ask, hoping for her to say no.

“What? For her and Mima to break the barrier and rule dominion over the human race?” Yukari answers with a question. “Why yes, it is. Those two are not youkai by nature. They are beings from Europe, and human perception does not weaken them. But over the years, exorcisms from the Catholics have forced them out of their homelands and into here, Gensokyo.”

Yukari walks towards the defeated Rumia, her fan is once again covering her mouth. “Gensokyo accepts all, and that is a cruel statement that we must all live by.”

“Not unless you kill the Hakurei Shrine Maiden...” I mutter.

“By the way, how was it?” Yukari asks me, studying my injured self. “Reawakening Fantasy Nature? It has been a long time since you’ve used it. I’ve never seen you activate it ever since you met Rin and became friends with her.”

Before I could answer how I felt when activating Fantasy Nature, my knees begin buckling under my weight. Pain travels through my entire body before I fall to the ground, passing out onto the soil.

“Hmm... Well, I suppose having your bones crushed several times will do that to you.” Yukari says before snapping her fingers, to which a gap opens, and Ran steps out of it. “Ran, take Rumia inside the cave near the Hakurei Shrine and place some seals around it. We have to make do with our youkai seals for now.”

“The one with the gateway to Makai?” Ran asks for confirmation.

“Yes, that one.”

“It shall be done, Lady Yukari.” Ran bows before picking up Rumia and taking her through a gap.

 Yukari looks at Sendai’s crippled state, deciding what to do.

Yukari knows that the best healer to take Sendai to would be Rin, but Yukari wants to avoid using her services. Rin will obviously ask questions as to why her mentor and partner in youkai extermination is so badly wounded. Rin must not know about Sendai’s encounter with Rumia, at least not right now. Rin would most definitely begin a manhunt and when she finds Rumia, she might be too reckless and not realize that Rumia is now unkillable.

No... Even when she realizes she can’t kill Rumia, that won’t stop her. If Rin begins treating Rumia as her little stress reliever, the Rin everyone currently knows will be replaced with a sadistic girl who is unable to fully grasp the satisfaction of having her revenge. An external factor is required to make Rin back off from ending Rumia, but what is needed for that, Yukari wonders.

“Lady Yukari” Ran announces her presence. “It is done. I’ve also spoken to Rin while passing through the shrine.”

“You... What?!” Furiously, Yukari turns around to quickly smack Ran with her fan. “What did you two talk about?!”

Ran briefly flinches when struck by the fan. “She just asked me if I knew where Sendai was, so I just said she was with you. She was also playing with Sendai's daughter before that.” Ran shrugs. “It seems like she got good around kids thanks to babysitting Chen and her nephew.”

Suddenly, an idea pops into Yukari’s head. “Ran, are we still funding that university hospital in Tokyo?”

“Yes, we are, what do you wish to do with them?”

“We’ll send Sendai to be treated there. Tell them that if everything goes well and she stays asleep during her stay, I shall triple their funding.” Yukari says with a smirk slowly forming on her face.

“And what shall you be doing in the meantime...?”

“Set up some opportunities!” Yukari summons a gap and walks halfway through it. “Tata~!” She waves goodbye before stepping completely through it.

Ran sighs before picking up Sendai, brushing the dirt off the latter’s face, and steps through a gap herself.

Rin Satsuki

Day 20

Flying through the sky, I feel the refreshing breeze go through my clothes while I rush towards the Hakurei Shrine. Yesterday, I had heard the news that Sendai has vanished. Visitors who prayed there reported that only Reimu was in the shrine, and Sendai was nowhere in sight.

I land at the shrine’s entrance, quickly drop some money into the donation box and make my way to the shrine’s veranda. Before I can knock on the door, I hear someone inside walking around and groaning in hunger.

“Reimu?” I say before knocking at the door. The groaning and walking stop before someone rushes toward the door. It opens, with Reimu looking at me expectantly.

“Riri!” Reimu greets and hugs me. “Do you... Know where mama... Er...” She struggles to form words.

“Went?” I finish her sentence, causing her to nod. I stroke her hair to calm her down. “She’s dealing with work Reirei,” I say, recalling what Ran had told me two days ago. Looks like whatever Yukari had taken Sendai away for must be something done in the long haul. “How about I cook some food for you? You must be very hungry.”

Reimu nods to this, so I head inside the shrine to cook up a meal for Reimu.

After lighting up the stove, I crack two eggs, place them onto a pan, fry them, then begin cooking some rice. Not long after I grab two bowls from the cupboard, fill them with rice, and place the fried eggs onto them. I then use chopsticks to mix the bowls and egg before taking the bowls to Reimu. She takes a bowl and grabs the chopsticks and begins messily eating the food.

I laugh at her messy display before I grab the bowl and begin feeding it to her. Happily, she accepts my feeding and enjoys the food.

“So Reirei, are you okay with me living with you while your mother is gone?” I ask her while she slowly chews on her food.

“Myesh I...” Reimu swallows her food. “It’s okay!”

“All right then,” I reply. “After this, I’ll go back home to get my things. Maybe I’ll even get Hakai to come to play with you.”

Reimu lights up at this and begins aggressively nodding while the chopsticks were still inside her mouth. I’ve brought Kouko and Hakai over before to the shrine sometimes, and the latter always plays together with Reimu.

After feeding Reimu and eating my own egg rice bowl, I briefly bid Reimu goodbye and tell her to stay inside before flying back home. I land at the entrance and enter the door to see Kouko playing with Hakai.

“Hey sis,” I greet her.

“You came back faster than I thought you would.” My sister replies. “So, you found Sendai?”

I make my way to Hakai’s side and ruffle his hair, which makes him smile as he shows me the show he is playing with. “No, Yukari must have taken her away for something else.” I play with the toy Hakai showed me before giving it back to him as I stand up. “Reimu is all alone in the shrine, and I have volunteered to live in the shrine with her.”

“Are you sure you don’t know anything about what Sendai’s doing?” Kouko questions. “You are quite close with the sage and Sendai.”

“No, unfortunately,” I reply before I head to my room and begin packing my stuff. Ranging from clothes, personal items, and some items like toothbrushes and so. I also grab my medical bag and my bow and erhu, which I named “Musashi” and “Tianhua,” the names engraved on the bow and instrument alongside the “Satsuki” and “Konpaku” engravings.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Kouko asks while holding Hakai while they stand at the door of my room. “Hakai doesn’t mind, right dear?”

“Uhuh! I wanna play with Reimu!” Hakai answers.

I smile at Hakai while I finish packing. “Of course, I already planned to ask you two to come with me before I leave.”

“Alright them, we’ll get ourselves ready.” My sister says before she and her son leave the room.

After I finish packing, I quickly lit some candles for the mini-shrine I set up for my parents before picking up the baggage and waiting for Kouko and Hakai. When they finally finish, we head out of the house and begin walking towards the shrine.

When we arrive at the shrine, I call for Reimu and she exits the shrine before spotting us and rushes to Hakai to begin playing together. Meanwhile, me and Kouko set up some chairs to sit on and watch as the two kids play together.

“So, how are those Chinese lessons been going?” Kouko asks me

“Yīqiè shùnlì,” I answer, flawlessly pronouncing the different language. “That means, everything is going smoothly. Miss Keine has been quite patient with me, so it has been a less-stressful experience.”

“I’m surprised Miss Keine even knew Chinese, but it makes sense considering not only she teaches but investigates history as well. The several Chinese scrolls in her house weren’t just for show...”

In the background, Hakai and Reimu begin chasing each other, with Reimu being the “it” in this game.

“Yeah.” I continue. “Gods I hope the lessons would be worth it. Would suck if those scrolls I got from Yukari would be stuff I already knew about.”

“Oh yeah, that. Why did you grab those scrolls?” She asks with intrigue.

“Yukari says those were old scrolls created by my old ancestor, Lin Satsuki. Supposedly, she says that it has a lot of information not recorded in the Gensokyo Chronicle so yeah, that got my attention.”

“Ehhh... Wait, you haven’t begun reading it?” Kouko looks at me confused. “You can already read it, no?

“I can read it, but I’ve been busy. You should know.” I pull out a flier from my bag. It shows a logo of a kirin with a drawing of my upper torso with my bow and erhu visible. The words “Satsuki Clinic” is written on top of the paper and are bold. “I’m setting up my own clinic.”

“Following your father’s footsteps.” Kouko nods. “You sure you’ll be able to handle it alone?”

“I’ll be fine,” I say with confidence. “The clinic won’t be that big. Besides, my first patients will be children. I’ve again, been working with Miss Keine so that the school would consider doing health checkups on the students and they would do it in my clinic.”

“You’re owing Miss Keine a lot of favors...” Kouko remarks. “By the way, where exactly in the village will your clinic be?”

“Not really in the village. It would be very close to one of its exits. Allows me the chance to renovate the place if I ever want to expand it without needing to consider any neighbors.”

“So... Land not covered by the village?” Kouko frowns at me. “Please don’t tell me you plan to purchase that land with my family’s money.”

“Hahaha.” I laugh sarcastically. “No, Miss Keine is covering for that.”

To this, Kouko glares at me. “Sis... Come on.”

I raise my hands in defense. “What? Come on I’ve worked out deals with her! This will greatly benefit the village! ...Once the clinic gains enough popularity.”

Kouko facepalms to my response. “I should have forced you to grab a job. You can’t keep freeloading on other people...”

“You say that as if I don’t get money from my adventures with Sendai,” I reply.

“I don’t even mention that because you almost always spend it on alcohol on the same day,” Kouko answers back at me. “Honestly the number of times Sendai had to carry your drunk body back home is shameful.”

“Ehehe...” I rub the back of my hair nervously.

“Rin, if you’re going to be taking care of Reimu while Sendai’s gone, you need to manage your finances and stop drinking so frequently.” Kouko begins lecturing me. “Sendai won’t be here to bring you back home when you go drinking. The last thing little Reimu over there needs is her caretaker not there to kiss her goodnight just because she got knocked out by spending the night in the bar.”

“Okay, okay!” I sigh, defeated. “Fine, I’ll stop buying booze...”

“Oh and to make sure you keep your word on this until Sendai comes back; you are not allowed to grab some cash from me.”

“Wh- Oh come on!” I complain. “I don’t even have money on me as of the moment...”

Kouko gives me an annoyed look before going through her purse and handing me 200¥. “This is all you get from me, alright?”

Disgruntled, I accept the money and sigh. “Well, this is at least something... Could buy at least four days’ worth of food.”

“Well, you better make some money before that runs out.” Kouko proceeds to laugh before focusing her attention on Hakai and Reimu, who have switched up their game of tag to an intense match of rock paper scissors.

I pocket the money before standing up and heading toward the two kids to join in on their fun. Well, this should cheer me up a little bit at least.

Soon, night falls and Kouko and Hakai had to go.

“Come on Hakai, say goodbye to your aunt and Reimu.” Kouko says to her son.

“Bye-bye Aunty Rin, bye-bye Reimu...” Hakai says gloomily. “Ma... Are you sure Aunty Rin can’t just bring Reimu to us so that we’re always together...?”

“Heh,” I let out a small laugh before kneeling a bit to meet Hakai by the eyes. “Sorry Hakai, but the shrine can’t be left alone. It’s important someone here keeps it safe. But no worries! You can ask your mother anytime if you want to visit us, alright?” I say while smiling at Kouko.

“Don’t give me that innocent-looking stare...” My sister mutters before embracing Hakai. “Yes dearie, I’ll take you there when I can.”

Hakai whispers “Yes!” in response to this.

“Now Reimu,” I gently push her in front. “Your turn to say goodbye.”

“I... Er... Good... Bye?” She begins struggling to make sentences again. “Hakai and... M... M...”

“Miss Kouko,” I finish for her, causing Reimu to nod at the mother and son.

“Thank you, Reimu,” Kouko pats her head before putting her mouth close to my ear. “Say, when Sendai comes back, please convince her to enroll Reimu in school. She and Hakai are at the same age, but Reimu is behind in speaking and most likely in learning as well.”

“I’ll tell her about it,” I promise her. Kouko separates from me and begins walking home with her son. A talisman I attached to her bag shines brightly, erecting a barrier around the two to ward off any youkai from attacking them.

“Well, this was a fun day, wasn’t it Reimu?” I ruffle Reimu’s hair, causing her to giggle.

“Yes! It... Uh... Was! Was fun!”

“Hehe, all right little one. Time to head back inside.” I guide Reimu back to the shrine, ending the first day of me living with Sendai’s daughter.

Day 26

Following the routine I have made for myself, I get up from my futon as my back makes some very concerning sounds before heading to the kitchen to cook some food. After making breakfast, I woke up Reimu from her slumber so we could eat together, but not before I tied her red ribbon for her. I don’t know why, but she always makes a fuss whenever she isn’t wearing it when she’s awake but will gladly take it off before sleeping.

I mean, I can’t blame her. I don’t feel like myself whenever I don’t put on my red ribbon as well.

We eat together and once we finish; I wash the dishes and after that, I bring Reimu around to help me out with doing chores such as sweeping the shrine grounds or setting up the laundry. Regardless of what we do together, I always teach Reimu some things here and there like: “This is why we clean our surroundings,” or “It’s important to keep yourself healthy,” things like that.

After those chores, I cook lunch and after we eat that meal, I once again wash the dishes before proceeding to the next part of this routine.

Normally I would stay in the house and play with Reimu to keep her company and greet the very occasional visitor, but I’ve expended all the cash my sister gave me yesterday, so I would have to perform some extermination requests if I wanted to have some spare money in my wallet.

I tell Reimu to make sure she stays inside the house before I leave the shrine and fly toward the village with my trusty medical bag and erhu. There’s always someone in there who needs an exterminator’s help to deal with youkai, and quite recently it became easier to look for requests ever since the Hieda Clan set up a board for villagers to post requests about anything. It helps that the board has its own dedicated section for youkai-extermination problems.

Landing where the board was, I browse its contents and found a request that caught my eye.

“Amanojaku sighted near me and my friend’s house! Please come deal with her!”

–Tatara Kogasa

Kogasa has youkai problems...? Not sure how I feel about a youkai asking a youkai exterminator to exterminate a youkai. Eh, whatever.

I grab the paper that had the request written on it and upon examining it more closely, Kogasa has also written down the address to her house.

After asking some villagers for directions, I reach the address written on the paper to find a simple house located at the corners of the village. I guess it’s isolated enough to not warrant too much attention.

I make my way to the front door and knock three times. “Hello? Is this the abode of Ms. Tatara?” I shout, waiting for an answer but receiving none, so I continue to knock. “Helloooo? Ms. Tatara?”

“Ugh, whose asking?” I hear the muffled voice of a girl inside the home.

“Satsuki Rin,” I answer. “I came here because of a request Ms. Tatara posted on the board the Hieda clan had set up.”

After some silence, the voice speaks again. “Sorry, you got the wrong house. But I did hear our neighbors talk about an amanojaku breaking into their home.”

“Oh, thanks for your help anyway,” I answer, a bit embarrassed about knocking on the wrong house. But before I could leave for the next home, I hear a familiar voice from inside the house.

“Hey, Banki? Who was that at the door?” The familiar voice asks.

“It was nothing. Just some guy who got the wrong house.” The voice from earlier responds

“Ehh? If that’s so, then it wouldn’t be that bad to show them some directions!” I hear footsteps rushing to the door.

“Wh– Kogasa wait there’s no need to–“

Suddenly the door bursts open, causing me to flinch as the familiar turquoise tsukumogami appears from the door frame. “Hello! Need some help finding someone?” Kogasa cheerily says before realizing who she was greeting. “Ah! Rin how are you!” She extends her arms for a hug, so I gladly accept it.

“I’m fine. You?” I ask her in return before separating from her.

“Well, I wish I could say the same but...” She frowns.

“You have an amanojaku problem?” I suggest.

“Yeah! That! So, you were the one who accepted the request?” She asks.

“Yeah, that’s me but...” I try peeking behind her to see the inside of the house. “Who else lives with you? Someone tried to turn me away.”

“Eh?” Kogasa turns around. “Banki? Bankiiii?” She calls, but no response. “Huh, that’s weird... Follow me.” She heads inside the house, motioning me to follow her so I walk inside.

Examining the interior, the living room has been turned upside down. So many shelves, various objects, and even kitchen utensils are all laying on the floor. The walls also have sustained damage from magical bullets... Lasers from what I can tell. The only thing that is left intact is a very accurate mannequin that holds a black and red long-sleeved shirt, a red and blue capelet, and wears black boots. The only thing missing from the mannequin would be its head.

“Um, there doesn’t seem to be anyone here,” I comment, as Kogasa stares intently at the headless mannequin.

“Banki!” She proclaims at the unmoving mannequin. “Stop hiding down here! Our help has arrived!”

“Kogasa I don’t think talking to a statue would-“

“Koochie koochie koo!” Kogasa begins tickling the statue and to my surprise, it begins moving frantically as if it is responding to Kogasa’s assault.

“Aha... Ahahaha!” I hear a voice echoing through the room. “No...! Wait...! Kogasa please stop-Woooaaaah!”

“Ow!” I say when something hits my head from above. I then look down to see a head with red hair staring at me. Her familiar face begins screaming. I scream in response as I bring out Musashi and swing my sword at the head, sailing toward the redhead.

SMACK!

My arm gets knocked back when Kogasa swings her umbrella at my arm, disarming me from my weapon.

“Rin!” Kogasa shouts at me. “You can’t greet every youkai that surprises you by trying to exterminate them!”

“Okay! Okay!” I raise my hands. “I’m sorry, the head just... Startled me...”

“I was worried about this...” The head says as the “mannequin” picks it up and places it on her neck. “This is why I tried to turn you away... Student of the Miko.”

“Eh? You’re a student?” Kogasa asks. “I didn’t know you returned to school.”

I flick a finger at Kogasa’s forehead. “No Kogasa. She means I’m training under the Hakurei Shrine Maiden as a youkai exterminator... Anyway, who’s your friend here...?” Curiously, I set my eyes on the person in red. I didn’t know there was another fully-fledged youkai living in the village other than Kogasa.

“Come on Banki! Introduce yourself?” Kogasa urges her friend, who sighs in response.

“You can call me Sekibanki. A rokurokubi living in the village disguised as a human only wishing to live a peaceful life...” She introduces herself.

“Have we met before?” I ask her. “You seem familiar, and I can’t remember why...”

“...I stopped a fight between you and a friend of mine.” She reluctantly answers. “...The werewolf.”

Ah, now that she’s said that it makes sense. She was the one who knocked out that half-breed who attacked me and Chen.

“Where is she now?” I inquire.

“Not relevant to why you came here.” She immediately answers.

“Alright then...” I back down. “So, what actually happened to cause all...” I wave my hand across the messed-up home. “This.”

“Well...” Kogasa speaks up. “Me and Banki were just sleeping together when suddenly we heard a loud CRASH! We wake up from this to see a youkai rummaging through our house! We tried to ask her to leave politely–“

“Which was not the wise thing to do when facing an amanojaku.” Sekibanki interrupts.

Kogasa sticks her tongue at her before continuing. “But she then had the nerve to say ‘Aw, we’re all youkai here! Nothing wrong with sharing, right?’” She mimics with a rough and grouchy voice. “And then she continued to steal our stuff! Banki quickly attacked her, but she then got away!”

Probably what caused the damage to the walls. “Did you see where she went?”

“She went over the walls of the village,” Sekibanki answers. “I tried to chase her down, but I lost her when she went through the tree line.”

“Alright then, you’re coming with me Miss Sekibanki.” I grab her by her cape and drag her out of the house while she tries to free herself.

“Damnit let go! What do you need me for?!”

“Well, I won’t know which part of the forest she escaped to if you don’t show me where.”

“Agh, damn it! Fine!” Sekibanki manages to wave my arm off. “But we won’t be flying our way there. I don’t want the villagers to learn I’m different.”

“You’re already living with a tsukumogami that almost everyone in the village knows about. You’re already different.” I counter. “Whatever, let’s do it your way.” I let Sekibanki lead the way before I march onward.

“Haaang on! Wait for me!” Kogasa calls as she sprints to us before slowing down to a walk.

The three of us make our way out of the village on the ground, and once we got far enough, we take flight as Sekibanki leads us to where she lost the amanojaku.

“This is the place,” Sekibanki states as we land. “She ran through here, which made me lose my will to press on.” She points to a specific area where several bushes and branches have been torn and snapped off. “Can I go now?”

“No, you’re staying,” I answer her.

“Nothing’s stopping me from leaving.” She counters.

“Well, unfortunately for you, you aren’t a youkai who’s allowed to live in the village. Help me out here and I’ll keep quiet about your existence from Sendai.”

Sekibanki mutters with an annoyed tone. “Fine. Lead the way then.”

I trudge onwards, using the tracking skills I have learned when Sendai and I hunted down several youkai we were pursuing who escaped to any leafy terrain.

Following the trail of footprints and snapped branches, we soon stumble upon a piece of torn clothing.

“Stand back,” I tell my companions as I take the torn cloth and conjure a transparent box to seal it in. I then begin focusing, drawing my aura to the piece of fabric. Soon I could see trails of impurity similar to the cloth emerging from the box, giving us a way to go.

“Woah...” Kogasa stares in wonder. “How did you do that?”

“A trick I learned when Sendai and I needed to find a youkai that left not a single track to follow, except for some fur. Was able to track them down and kill them.”

Behind me, Sekibanki shudders at this. “Why did I agree to this...”

“So, how did you two meet?” I ask the two while following the trail of impurity.

“Not important–“ Sekibanki tries to say before getting cut off.

“Ooh! I can answer this!” Kogasa beams up. “Back when I was trying to scare humans walking through the youkai trail when suddenly I came face-to-face with a red floating head! It scared the daylights out of me!”

I glance over my shoulder to look at Sekibanki. “So, you’re a nukekubi?”

“No, a rokurokubi.” She answers.

“Ah. Well, continue on Kogasa.”

“So, after that...”

I continue listening to Kogasa’s story as we go through the forest. It’s amusing how getting scared by someone led to Kogasa gaining a new friend and a new place to stay after she got kicked out of her old home when she couldn’t pay rent.

Eventually, our surroundings begin to darken as the sun hides behind the earth. We’ve been following this trail for a while now...

“Are you certain this thing is effective?” Sekibanki questions me. “I hope we aren’t just walking around in circles.”

“It is, I swear on it,” I respond, my legs starting to feel sore from walking this long. It doesn’t help that we are now walking uphill. “Besides, this is the first hill we ever came across. So it’s definitely not taking us on a loop...”

“Hm, for some reason the air of this place feels quite different?” Kogasa wonders aloud. “Like its... A bit holy I guess.”

“Holy... Uphill...” The rokurokubi thinks to herself. “Hang on, did she head toward the Hakurei Shrine?”

A shiver crawls down my back as I think of Reimu being completely alone. “Please don’t joke about that.”

“What’s wrong Rin?” Kogasa looks at me concerned.

“Húndàn!” I swear as I place the box inside my pocket. “To the skies, now!”

We fly up, and Sekibanki’s guess was correct as we spot the Hakurei Shrine right in front of us. I could spot several figures roaming the shrine as well.

When we land at the entrance, I sprint toward the shrine ignoring the people roaming the area, who tries to stop me when they saw me.

“Hey wait! You’re not allowed to go through here!

“No wait, let her through she was the one taking care of the shrine maiden’s kid before she disappeared!”

“But protocol says–“

“Excuse me!” I run past one of the villagers and make my way to the entrance of the shrine. “Reimu! Reimu are you here?!”

“Unfortunately for you, she isn’t.” A mature voice echoes through the room. I turn in the direction of the voice to see an endowed woman with red hair, red eyes, and an expensive-looking purple kimono. She was also holding some tobacco. “As of today, Reimu Hakurei has been kidnapped by wanted youkai Seija Kijin, an amanojaku.”

“Who are you?” I ask the newcomer, gripping Musashi. “And what are you doing here?”

“Please, no need to pull out your weapon Miss Satsuki. I am Kotohime,” She bows “A princess who also manages Gensokyo’s police force.”

“...Alright then.” I remove my hand from my weapon. “If that is all, I’m chasing this Seija down.” I pull out the box again, and soon trails of purity begin swarming across the room. One of the trails eventually leads outside the shrine.

“Fancy tool you got there Miss Satsuki,” Kotohime compliments me. “But I’m afraid just simply chasing her down won’t do you any good.”

“How so?” I ask her.

“That girl is always on the move, and if you try to simply follow her trail you’ll be touring across the entirety of Gensokyo before even catching her.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” I come closer to her and put the transparent box in front of her face. “This is the best I’ve got at tracking that amanojaku down!”

“We wait.”

“Wait?! Reimu’s life is on the line!”

“Look, Miss Satsuki, I understand your concern but-“

“Lady Kotohime!” A guard slides the door open. “We caught the repeat offender and her friend!” A bound Sekibanki and Kogasa enter the room, with the former looking very irritated, while the latter looking like she was about to begin crying.

“Hey leave them alone!” I run to them and cut off their binds. “They’re with me,” I say to the guard, glaring at him.

“I... Uh... Sorry miss. But that red one has been- Gah!”

I interrupt him by throwing a talisman that narrowly missed his face as I get Kogasa up. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah... I am...” Kogasa proceeds to help Sekibanki up.

“Thanks...” She replies to Kogasa’s help.

“Miss Satsuki, I’d have you know that interfering with our work and making threats at police officers is... Not advisable.” Kotohime states as she sets her tobacco down. “Normally as the protocols I’ve laid down stated, I would have ordered your arrest but that wouldn’t be the best decision to do.”  She readjusts her kimono. “But whatever. Toyami, you may leave us.”

“Y-Yes Ma’am.” The guard leaves the room.

“I honestly hoped I wouldn’t be meeting you this week...” Sekibanki grumbles at Kotohime. “Your officers are too rough...”

“Oh please rokurokubi, if we never come across each other every week or so I would have my boys chase you down to ensure you aren’t planning anything malicious,” Kotohime replies.

“Ugh, so you two know each other? I heard the guard calling Sekibanki a ‘repeat offender.’” I ask them.

“I wish we didn’t...” Sekibanki grumbles once more.

“Well, I can’t say I’m protecting the village if I don’t have eyes on all the youkai that live in the village undercover...” Kotohime quickly breathes on her tobacco pipe. “So yes, I do know the redhead and her true identity.”

“Whatever. Let’s move on.” Sekibanki says, wanting to change the subject. “So the amanojaku got in here? What did she steal?”

“She kidnapped Reirei–“ I stop myself. “Sendai’s daughter!”

“You two must have gotten quite close if you are calling her that now,” Kotohime observes. “But yes, Reimu Hakurei has been kidnapped by Seija Kijin.”

“That’s terrible!” Kogasa speaks up. “How can I help?! As scary as she may seem, I’m grateful for Miss Sendai for allowing me to stay in the village.”

“And perhaps you should not squander that opportunity by living with an illegal resident.” The princess responds. “Anyways, no there isn’t much you can do to help. Seija Kijin is a crafty and resilient youkai. She always finds a way to weasel out of dire situations and will then proceed to do a stunt that will land her in even greater dangerous situations.”

“And what do you want Rin to do?” Sekibanki asks with one of her eyebrows raised.

“To wait,” Kotohime answers again. “Knowing her, she will eventually use Reimu Hakurei to gain an advantageous position to bargain. It won’t be long until she sends a message that shall reveal her intentions.”

“Waiting is the last thing I want to do,” I respond. “The longer that amanojaku has her, the higher the chance Reimu gets hurt!”

Kotohime sighs at this. “Trust me when I say that this is the best option. If you pressure that youkai enough, she might consider Sendai’s daughter as too much of a risk that outweighs any benefits she has planned from obtaining by using her to get the upper hand. She might ditch the girl in an unsafe environment, or just outright kill her.”

“Tsk... Fine.” I suddenly move close to Kotohime, pointing my finger at her and nearly touching her face. “But I’m only waiting for a day or so before I go try to find her myself.”

“That’s an ample amount of time to warrant that. I won’t stop you when that time comes.” Kotohime puts my finger away from her and begins walking to the exit. “If that is all, then I shall take my leave now. Everyone!” She calls to her officers. “We’re done here. Let’s head back to the village.”

“Yes, Lady Kotohime!” The officers respond.

“Farewell for now Miss Satsuki. Let us hope the next time we meet; it will be about saving the future Hakurei Shrine Maiden.”

And with that, Kotohime leaves the shrine alongside her crew.

“Gah... Damnit!” I throw my bow and instruments to the ground, both of which harmlessly bounce off the floor completely intact. “Did she know I wouldn’t be around in the afternoon? How?!”

“...Should we leave?” Sekibanki asks, seemingly unnerved by my current display of emotions.

“Unless there’s anything you wish to add, then go.” I wave them away.

“Come on Kogasa, let’s go.” Sekibanki leads Kogasa by the hand and starts walking away.

“Ah! Okay then. Bye Rin!”

Once they left, I slump on the table, worrying about what horrors Reimu is currently being subjected to.

Later that night, somewhere in Youkai Mountain

“Shameimaru!” A girl with two small horns, black hair with white highlights, and a single red highlight in front of her bangs shouts at someone’s home. “I know you’re in there!”

No response from anyone, however.

“Shameimaru! Open up!” The girl begins aggressively banging on the door!

“Would you stop that atrocious knocking!” A voice is heard from the house. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

The door opens and reveals a woman with a red tokin and black hair. “What do you want Seija? It’s past midnight.”

“A business proposal of course!” Seija answers. “How would you like to be one of the first persons to report I have stolen the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s daughter!”

“When have your proposals ever been... You what?!” The tengu interrupts herself. “Seija, you kidnapped Sendai’s daughter?!”

“Indeed I have!” Seija proudly proclaims as she sets down a large bamboo container she was carrying and opens it, revealing a bound Reimu sitting in the fetal position, struggling. “This would make quite the article, no?”

“Quite the article?” The crow asks incredulously. “No Seija, an article like this would make Gensokyo riot! The Hakurei Shrine Maiden has been missing for at least a week, and now you steal her daughter?!”

“Eeexactly!” Seija replies energetically. “This revelation would tremble the villagers to the core! They’ll do anything to get her back!”

“No! You’ve gone too far with this!” Shameimaru raises her hands in surrender. “Our deal is over! Your stunts have just been getting more and more insane and I want none of it!”

“Awww, come on Shameimaru. It doesn’t even need to be something to report!” Seija closes the container containing Reimu. “Just print out a bunch of papers stating my terms, distribute it across the Human Village, and this’ll be the last you see of me. I promise!”

“Gah! Fine, fine! This will be our last job, okay?” The tengu accepts Seija's terms.

“Ha! Don’t worry, after this, I won’t need you anymore anyways. Now, about what's actually gonna be in the paper...”

The tengu has finished printing out all of the papers needed to spread information around the human village. The papers read:

Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s Daughter Kidnapped!

Yeah, that’s right! I, Seija Kijin, have kidnapped the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s daughter! I’m aware that her mother is nowhere to be seen, so I took the liberty of snatching her daughter away! How nice of me!

But don’t fret! You can have her back as long as you give me these items!

• Miracle Mallet of Issun-bōshi
• Sword of Kusanagi
• Ghastly Send-Off Lantern
• Four-Foot Magic Bomb

You have three days to present these items to me! Meet me at the entrance near the bamboo forest to find me after those three days. Failure to meet this deadline and the kid gets it, ya hear me!

The tengu sighs as she tidies and collects all the printed papers into one single stack before exiting her home.

“One last job, and it's over...” She mutters before taking to the skies, heading towards the human village as dawn soon approaches.

Chapter Text

1993

Day 27

I wake up from my futon, rubbing my eyes before standing up. I head to the kitchen to cook breakfast for Reimu and myself, and after that, I move to Reimu’s room to wake her up and...

Oh, right. She’s... Not here anymore.

I sigh and decide to eat by myself, wondering what I was going to do with the extra meal.

Suddenly, the door forcefully slides open, with someone breathing raggedly as if they ran their entire way to the shrine.

“Rin...! Pant... Satsuki...! Pant...” I hear the exhausted and angry voice of my sister. “Do you have... Any idea what has happened in the last few hours?!”

I turn around still sitting on the chair to see Kouko keeping herself standing up by holding onto the door with one hand while clenching a piece of paper in her other hand.

“No... I’ve just woken up...” I reply.

Angrily, Kouko stomps toward me, strong enough that a cup falls over and begins rolling off the table. I catch it before it falls off and place it back on the table.

“So, you haven’t seen this paper?” Kouko begins spreading the paper out, its wrinkles are still very much visible thanks to her gripping it. She then puts the paper in front of me to show me its contents, so I begin reading it.

“Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s Daughter...” I read aloud before taking the paper out of Kouko’s hands and reading it silently.

“Uh... Sis...?” Kouko speaks when she sees my hands start to tremble. “Hey, are you alright...?”

“...Alright?” I finally speak up. “No... I’m not alright.” I rip off the section of a paper and slam it on the table. It shows a photograph of Reimu tied up, trapped in a cage. Her face has streaks of tears running down her chin. “That húndàn will get what’s coming for them...” I glance at the other half of the paper I ripped off. “Seija Kijin... When I get that two-horned bastard... Where did you get this?” I ask Kouko, waving the paper.

“...These papers were found scattered everywhere around the village.” She answers as she sits down on a free chair. “At first, it was just a rumor that Sendai Hakurei had disappeared, but now the entire village knows she’s gone, and her daughter was kidnapped, and everyone is up in arms. It has been a long time since the village was this worked up.”

“The whole village knows?!”

“Yes... They do. Before I left the village, I saw the village’s police force rallying people up, calming them down.”

“Gah! Kouko, we’re leaving to see Kotohime!” I cover the extra meal I cooked with a plate before slinging my erhu behind my back.

“Who is Kotohime?”

“A princess who commands the village’s police. I met with her yesterday. She came to the shrine after the amanojaku kidnapped Reimu.” I step out of the shrine and glance over my shoulder. “Are you coming?”

“Yes, yes, I am.” Kouko swiftly walks to me. “Ugh, I already ran my way up here, now I have to make my way down...”

“Not going on foot,” I reply to her complaint. “It takes too long.”

“Eh? What do you mean we won’t be going on foot-“ I interrupt her by taking to the skies, leaving a wave of dust that she has to swipe away. “Cough, cough! Gah! Why ask if I’m coming if you won’t accompany me...”

When I arrive at the village, I come to realize that Kouko was not exaggerating when she said that “everyone” in the village was up in arms about this news. The main street is packed with villagers while the other streets are mostly occupied as well. But the most crowded section of the village is where a stage has been erected in front of the Hieda Household. On the stage, I could see Kotohime giving a speech.

“...And regarding whom shall we send to deliver these items to the amanojaku...” Kotohime stops her speech, noticing I was flying down to land beside her. “Ah, here she is. Miss Satsuki! Just... Land over here.” She waves at an empty area beside her.

I take on her offer and let my feet touch the ground beside her. “Kotohime, what is this...” I wave across the crowd. “What is this about?!”

“Someone needs to keep the village in place when there's a crisis. They need a leader to keep them in order!” The princess replies. “I cannot let them go try to find the items listed in Seija Kijin’s request! It is far too dangerous! But I’ve assigned some of my forces to go seek out these items.”

Kotohime pulls out the paper that has the demands of the amanojaku. The Miracle Mallet has a circle drawn beside it, while the Sword of Kusanagi is crossed out.

“We’ve acquired the Sword of Kusanagi from Keine Kamishirasawa, who gave us the sword immediately.” Kotohime continues. “We also have found the Miracle Mallet as well, but its owner does not wish to part with it.”

“How do you know the Miracle Mallet is the real thing?”

“...We cannot ascertain if it is the real Miracle Mallet, but we had numerous people sensitive to the supernatural who can sense massive energy residing within the Mallet. However...”

“Its owner wants to keep it... Tsk. Where do they live?” I ask her. “I’m willing to do some ‘convincing.’”

“Now, now Miss Satsuki.” Kotohime holds my shoulder. “We don’t do force around here when it comes to the village’s residents. But ah...” She puts her mouth close to my ear and begins to whisper. “Since you are not ‘one of us,’ I suppose I could let you at them.” She then tells me where the current owner lives before returning her attention to the crowd.

“Everyone! As I was saying, Miss Satsuki over here shall be the one delivering these items to the amanojaku! My forces shall search for the rest of the items, so please do not head out of the village to do so yourself! We already had three villagers killed who tried to look for them!”

While Kotohime makes her speech, I exit the stage and head to the address of the owner of the Miracle Mallet.

Since the streets are full of people, I take flight to find the house. When I find the address of the house, I fly down while putting my hood on to let any onlookers know that this was “Hakurei” business before landing in front of the home’s entrance.

“Helloooo! Is anyone home?” I shout at the house while knocking.

No response. Tsk. Should have asked Kotohime who owned the Mallet...

“If you don’t open this up, I will enter forcefully!” I try to warn people inside, but decide to give up and open the door and enter. “I’m coming in!”

Deciding to play it safe, I let my aura spread out in a circle with a diameter of three meters. With this, I would be able to sense and detect anything around me, including things behind walls. I had dubbed this technique as “En” and with it, I could see a person hiding behind a wall holding a mallet with a lot of concentrated energy ready to strike down anyone who walks through.

“Tsk. No one’s home...” I say aloud, hoping to let the ambusher think I have let my guard down as I walk past the wall he was hiding from and after seeing this opportunity, he leaps out and swings the mallet over his head to attack me.

Swiftly, I dodge his strike and punch him in the gut, causing him to crumple to the floor, still conscious and gripping the mallet.

“Alright, mister. How about you hand me over that mallet?” I crouch down to come closer to him. “I’m giving you the chance to give me that mallet still conscious. If not, however... Well, perhaps a nice nap would suit you.”

“...Bastard...! You’ll never get this mallet...!” The man answers me. “It’s a treasure my ancestors got from the Inchlings...! I don’t care if you’re the White Silence or not! You’ll... Have to kill me if you want this mallet!”

I sigh at this response. “Sorry, but killing humans is not what I do.” I attach a talisman to him, making him twitch rapidly before passing out. I grab the mallet from his unconscious body before standing up.

“Sigh... It’s not often anyone from the village gets to see this side of me...” I talk to myself before leaving the home. Perhaps I could have tried a more peaceful approach, like convincing him that it was for the greater good of Gensokyo, but I preferred getting this done as soon as possible.

The crowd is beginning to thin out when I walk out of the house while deactivating En. Seems like the commotion has died down, so I’m assuming that Kotohime’s speech has finished. Especially since I could see her waiting outside the home for me.

“I see you have acquired the Mallet.” The princess comments. “So how badly did you rough him up?”

“One punch to the gut, and a talisman that would knock him unconscious,” I reply as I hand her the mallet.

“Well, under normal circumstances I would have you arrested for assaulting and stealing from someone...” She examines the mallet. “But these are no normal circumstances, so I’ll let you off the hook.”

“Please don’t tell me that letting me ‘off the hook’ for offenses is a way for you to accumulate favors.”

“Smart girl, it is indeed a way for me to do such a thing.” Kotohime places the Miracle Mallet inside a sack. “You now owe me two favors.”

“Bleh, remind me to never be near you whenever I hunt down a youkai in a village.”

“Bah, don’t worry. I shall only ask for your help when we deal with the youkai living in the village misbehaving.”

We continue some aimless chatter until we arrive in front of the large building with guards stationed in front of a gate.

“Well, I shall see you when soon Miss Satsuki,” Kotohime says after chatting with the guard. “I shall call you when we get ahold of the other two items, but for now... Take care.” Kotohime goes through the gate and into the building. The guards then promptly block the gate to show that no one else is allowed inside.

“Well... What to do now...” I wonder to myself as I sit on a nearby bench.

“Ugh... Gah... There you are...!” I hear Kouko’s voice approaching.

I look in her direction to see her drenched in sweat and extremely tired. “Oh... Hey sis.”

“Don’t... Hey me... Phew!” Kouko sits beside me to the right to rest. “Gah... I’m too old to run this long!”

“Oh please, I can run much faster and longer than you and I’m only a year younger than you~” I tease her.

“Ugh... Don’t brag about your heritage... So, what did Kotohime say...?”

“I’ll be the one who will bring the ransom items to that amanojaku...”

“Makes sense, as you’re taking care of her while Sendai is gone.” Kouko puts her hand over mine and squeezes. “What else did she say?”

“...Two items have already been acquired. Turns out Miss Keine had the Sword of Kusanagi, and she willingly gave it to them. Next was the Miracle Mallet, but its current owner was... Less willing.”

“So, you forced him to hand it over?” She asks me. “As the White Silence?

I nod, realizing that I still have my hood on, so I take it off. “Yeah... As the White Silence...” I reply, my thoughts slipping into my youkai exterminator identity.

The White Silence, the title the villagers have dubbed me. The name itself feels like a secret identity, but the truth is most people can easily recognize who I was since my hood doesn’t cover my entire face and my blonde hair is also visible. I also didn’t make any real attempt to hide this other identity of mine.

Where Sendai was often seen as the straightforward, brutal, and destructive youkai exterminator, the White Silence was seen as the careful, precise, and more sociable sidekick of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. Because of the village’s general fear and dislike of Sendai’s methods, I’m usually the one who asks questions to gather information from the villagers, which also leaves me to do less pleasant interrogations of unwilling villagers.

“...Rin? Hey, Rin.” My sister snaps me out of my thoughts by shaking me on the shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I take her hand off me. “I’m fine, just replaying some memories in my head...”

“Uh-huh... Well, someone on the other side wants to talk to you?”

“What do you mean the other side—”

“BOO!”

I jump in fright as I turn around and instinctively throw a right hook at whoever frightened me, and to Kogasa’s dismay, she gets knocked to the ground but fortunately gets herself back up quite quickly.

“Geh! No matter how fulfilling it is whenever I scare you, the tradeoff is never worth it!” Kogasa complains with a very annoyed voice.

“Ah... Sorry, sorry, Kogasa. I—”

As I brace myself for Kogasa’s torrent of complaints, Kouko smiles at the spectacle before clearing her throat to gain our attention.

“So, Miss Tatara, what did you want to say to my sister again?” She asks Kogasa.

“Ah, right!” Kogasa replies as she pulls out the ransom letter and points at the Ghastly Send-Off Lantern. “I think I have an idea of what this might be!”

“You do?” I ask in intrigue.

“In fact, I used to use it in scaring techniques!” Kogasa beams. “I left it in the cemetery after my last run of scaring people in the Youkai Trail!”

“What does the lantern do exactly?”

“Allows someone to be invisible! A ghost, perhaps! I’ve used it to surprise some people by just randomly tapping their backs or licking them!” Kogasa twirls her umbrella around as its tongue flails around and flings its saliva around.

“Bleh!” I cover my face and begin wiping off the saliva that got on me, while Kouko is just complaining about how disgusting it was to have saliva all over her. “Kogasa please... I haven’t even bathed today... At least lick me instead of flinging saliva on me.”

“Wording...” Kouko mutters as she tries brushing off drool on her clothes.

“Eheheh... Sorry!” Kogasa apologizes. “Anyways, wanna head over to the cemetery?”

“Yeah, let’s go...” I take a quick glance around us to see passing villagers making quick looks at us. “I would prefer if the villagers would stop staring at us for being wet.”

“Wording!” Kouko repeats as she elbows my side. “Let’s just go.” She stands up and sighs. “Lead the way, Miss Tatara.”

“Alright then! Follow me!” Kogasa says as she begins cheerily walking down the street as we follow her along.

Upon arriving at the cemetery, I could sense the spiritual energy that lingers in the air. No doubt countless spirits and other youkai that hunt in graveyards are active in this region. Since it was still day, however, what I could sense was nowhere near the amount that happens during the night.

“Ugh...” I suddenly cover my nose from a very unpleasant smell. “I think a nuppeppō was hanging around here last night because... Gah, that smell!”

“Off to a great start by being greeted by this foul odor...” Kouko replies with a handkerchief covering her nose. “Miss Tatara, have you gotten used to this scent or what?”

“Ehh, more or less,” Kogasa answers. “I found it unpleasant at first when I first created this humanoid body of mine, but I eventually got used to it.”

“Wait, so the umbrella came first before the body?” I ask as we walk through the cemetery with Kogasa still leading us.

“Yep!”

“So... That umbrella you carry now is what you used to look like?” I scan the area just in case there are any youkai feasting on the corpses under the graves.

“Nope. I looked a bit different back then, but when I made this human form, I modified myself to make myself look scarier!”

“Ehhh? So, can other karakase obake can make a human form?” I ask her, curious about the new information I received.

“Yep! But most of them don’t really care about interacting with humans other than scaring them.”

“I see...” I say absentmindedly as I spot a child-like figure with red skin, long ears, and long, beautiful hair trying to dig up a grave. “Uh, Kogasa, hold that thought for a second.” I split off from Kogasa and Kouko and make my way toward the graverobbing youkai. Judging by its appearance, I deduce the youkai is a mōryō, a youkai that feeds on corpses.

Since it hasn’t noticed me yet, I throw a talisman at it which causes the creature to violently twitch and cry out a guttural noise before collapsing. I then walk at its unconscious body, move it away from the grave, and use an aura-infused Musashi to cut it in half. Under the influence of my kirin aura, the mōryō’s corpse begins disintegrating, and soon, it disappears.

I then kick messily kick the dirt that was dug up by the youkai back into the grave before returning to Kogasa and Kouko, both of them just watching my actions.

“I’m back,” I say while attaching Musashi to my side.

“So... Is... That how you normally exterminate youkai?” Kogasa asks in an unnerved voice.

“Kogasa please, no need to make yourself feel more uncertain towards me,” I assure her. “You’re my friend! Besides your too cute for your own good.”

“Eh... If you say so.” Kogasa replies, not quite reassured by my answer. I would have tried to push forward on making her feel better, but Kogasa suddenly perks up upon seeing something. “Oh! I think that’s it over there!” She points at an inconspicuous hanging lantern which is positioned like... Well, a regular lantern. Nothing about it seems to be extraordinary or suspicious.

“Kogasa? That’s just a regular lantern.” I observe.

“Well, that’s why it’s still just sitting there in plain sight! The lantern looks like a normal lantern!” Kogasa goes ahead to pick up the lantern.

“Yeah but, I can’t even feel any youkai energy residing in— Woah!” Suddenly, the lantern begins absorbing large amounts of youkai energy out of nowhere, as Kogasa suddenly disappears from mine and Kouko’s view. Right when the lantern felt like it was going to explode from absorbing this much youkai energy, it swiftly released everything it had been absorbing, with Kogasa still being completely invisible.

“Miss Tatara?” Kouko speaks to where Kogasa’s last known location. “Are you still there?”

No response. Kouko and I turn our heads around to figure out where Kogasa went. After a few moments of searching, I decide to activate En just in case Kogasa is within my three-meter radius. With this, I feel two pairs of feet touching the ground. One of them belongs to Kouko, who is too preoccupied with searching for Kogasa to not notice I am staring at her. The other set of feet is a few inches away from Kouko. I could see an outline of Kogasa positioning her umbrella for its tongue to line up with my sister’s face. Realizing what was about to happen I let out a small chuckle which catches Kouko’s attention.

“What are you laughing at?” Kouko glares at me. “Now’s not the time to be grinning like a madman—”

SCHLUUUURP! The tongue of Kogasa’s umbrella brushes against the left side of Kouko’s face. This causes said side to become wet with saliva.

“Ough! Bleh! Gah, what was that?!” Kouko says in pure shock and disgust as she begins wiping off the saliva on her face with her clothes. Her state of shock then shifts to annoyance when she sees me laughing at her. “Agh! Rin what was that?! You clearly know something since you laughed before this happened!”

“Pahaha! Sorry, sorry! Okay Kogasa, you can make yourself visible now.”

“Awww, you can see me?” Kogasa complains as she suddenly snaps back into view with my eyes, so I deactivate En. “And I thought this lantern was foolproof!” Kogasa jostles the lantern around to keep it on her shoulder.

“Well, it would be foolproof for mortal eyes...” I head to Kouko’s side to pull out a towel from my pockets to wipe her face. “But with a handy technique of mine, I could see an outline of you preparing to lick my sister— Gah! Ow!” I grimace when Kouko elbows me in the gut.

“For the third time today, wording!” She growls.

“Do you want me to clean you up or what?!” I say while fussing over her hair.

“Wh– Hey don’t touch my hair like that! You’ll ruin it!” She waves away my hand, but I hold her wrist to keep it in place so I can continue working on it.

“Well stand still! I’m doing my best here without a comb!”

“Pffft!” Kogasa snickers at the scene. “You two are really close, huh!”

“Nothing closer than a sisterly bond!” I reply as I finish wiping off all the saliva from the left side of Kouko’s face before deciding to annoy her by wiping her front face to continue “cleaning” her.

“Rimph... I swearmm...! To the gods if you don’t stop, I’ll– Mmmph!”

“Aaaand viola!” I take my towel away from Kouko’s face and put it back in my pocket as I look completely proud and satisfied while my back is turned on her.

“Miss Tatara if you could please lick this...” Kouko presents her hand in front of the tongue of Kogasa’s umbrella.

“Uhhh, sure!” Kogasa agrees as she licks Kouko’s hand, which causes her to briefly shiver.

“Hey, sis!” Kouko calls me, so naturally, I turn around in response.

“Yeah? What is it– Gwah!” Kouko sticks her slimy hand into my face and rubs it all over, covering my face in saliva. “D-damn you...!”

“Fufufu...” Kouko smirks. “Well, now we’re even.”

“Bleh!” I pull out my towel again to wipe my own face from the saliva. “Ugh, anyways, we’re done here, right? Let’s take this lantern back to Kotohime.” I say as we begin walking to the exit.

“Um... Um...!” Kogasa speaks up. “Do you think I’ll be able to get this lantern back?”

Me and Kouko exchange glances before looking back at Kogasa.

“No worries Kogasa, I’ll make sure that amanojaku won’t get away with all the items the village has worked to get,” I reassure her.

“There is no way my sister here shall let that youkai walk free after kidnapping Reimu.” Kouko backs me up. “Now, let’s return to the village. It’s about to be noon, and I still need to cook a meal for Hakai and mom and dad...”

“But isn’t Fujima home...? It’s a Saturday.” I ask upon exiting the cemetery.

“He’s on overtime preparing papers for upcoming exams for the students... I hoped the school would let him off thanks to the unexpected news so he could take care of Hakai...”

“Geh... Alright, sis, you head straight home. Kogasa and I will drop the lantern off.”

“Yeah, sure. You two have fun.” Kouko waves goodbye as we split up upon reaching a fork in the road. Kogasa and I deliver the lantern to Kotohime before splitting up to deal with some personal matters.

Later that day, as noon turns to nightfall...

“Yo Akiko! Are ya here?” Seija shouts in the middle of the forest, constantly jostling the bamboo container to discomfort her hostage, Reimu.  “Just checking up to see if yer holding your end of the bargain!”

“Kahahaha! What do you take me for, Kijin?” Seija hears a voice from the sky, as a figure drops onto the ground, holding two blood-stained cutlasses as a youkai eagle with an eyepatch lands on the figure's shoulders. They have the same kinds of horns as Seija but have long red hair with multiple black highlights, and one single white highlight. “An opportunity waster? Ha! Our clans may not see eye-to-eye, but I know when someone has a ‘bad’ idea!”

“Good, good!” Seija smiles in glee, her sharpened teeth in full view. “So have you found out where the Four-Foot Magic Bomb is?”

“I have.” Akiko pulls out a map, where a dotted trail leads towards an X written in bold on the map. “X marks the spot, as they say!”

“Good, good!” Seija snatches the paper from them. “And did you warn the Outcasts?”

“Yes, ma’am! I told them that our ‘friend’ the White Silence shall be paying them a visit.”

“Kehehe... Well, you know what to do, Akiko! Send the White Silence this tip of ours and get into position.”

“With pleasure.” Akiko leaves the area with the eagle accompanying them, leaving Seija alone with her hostage.

“Alrighty!” Seija says as she drops the container to the ground, prompting sounds of struggle from within. “Gah, shut up!” Seija commands as she kicks the container, which makes it quiet. “I already taped your mouth shut! Don’t make me hang ya upside down!”

Seija pauses at her own comment before her eyes begin shining. “Actually, that’s exactly what I’ll do!” The amanojaku pulls out some rope and duct tape from her pockets as she creeps toward the barrel.

As usual, night moves on in Gensokyo, no matter who suffers.

Chapter Text

1993

Day 28

Today, my peaceful sleep is interrupted by someone pounding on the door.

“Miss... Satsuki... Gah... Please... Open up...!” I hear a pained and muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Still quite sleepy and wishing I was still asleep, I make my way to the entrance, ready to yell in their face for visiting the shrine at such early hours.

My annoyance quickly dissipates when I open the door to see Kotohime drenched in blood and covered in wounds. Behind her is a trail of blood, with the bodies of her subordinates scattered across the shrine’s grounds.

“Ah... Miss... Satsu...” Kotohime begins listing forward so I catch her before she hits the ground.

“What happened to you?!” I try to ask her as I rush to my futon to place her down. “Kotohime, what happened?!”

“Amano... Jaku attack...” Kotohime then violently coughs out blood before passing out.

“Wángbā dàn!” I cuss as I go grab my medical bag and begin treating Kotohime to the best of my abilities as a medic. Even with my skills and powers, it takes an hour before I manage to stop the bleeding and cover her up in bandages.. Only after do I realize that she was holding a crumpled piece of paper. I could only see the word “White Silence” on it, so curiously I remove it from her hand, spreading it out on a flat surface and reading it:

Hello, White Silence. Did you like my little “present”? I bet that so-called police officer came in decorated with a red coat of paint and a brand-new set of clothes following the trend of “Sword Holes.” Haha! The Four-Foot Magic Bomb resides in the Magic of Forest, protected by several village outcasts armed with dark magic.

Come find it there if you wish. But know you will have human blood on your hands when you choose to pursue this lead. But you don’t need to! At the cost of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s daughter! A bargain, right?!

The letter abruptly ends there. The paper isn't torn or anything, it simply ends there.

But ignoring that observation, I crumple up the letter before throwing it on the ground. I grab Musashi and Tianhua from the floor before walking to the exit. I quickly glance at Kotohime, worrying if she’ll be fine alone before stepping through the door.

I am quickly reminded of the numerous corpses scattered on the floor. Another surprise was seeing Chen on the scene as well, kneeling in front of one of the bodies trying to shake them awake.

“Chen?” I call her as I kneel beside her.

“...Rin-sama... What happened?” Chen frowns at me, worried. “Why are they dead...?”

My anger quickly dissipates at the way she speaks with such concern and care.

“I... Chen, let’s just clean them up first...”

One by one, we stack the bodies up against each other. We also spot several bodies up the stairway, so we bring those back as well. After placing some seals on the corpses to prevent them from decomposing or being attacked by stray youkai, I ready myself to take flight before Chen tugs on my sleeve.

“Erm... Rin-sama? What happened?” Chen asks me once again.

“This was the work of that amanojaku, Seija Kijin...” I reply to her.

“Eh? N-Not Yukari-sama?”

I cast a suspicious glance at her. “Why would Yukari... Do this?” I wave at the pile of bodies.

“Um... I remember Yukari-sama once threatened their leader! A girl with long red hair, that’s what she looked like!”

“...Why did Yukari threaten them?”

“Yukari-sama said she was threatening Gensokyo’s balance or something when they started dealing with youkai matters!”

“How are humans meddling with youkai threatening...? No, never mind that.” I put that line of thought behind me. “If you will excuse me, Chen, I need to go.”

“Eh?” Chen looks at me with curiosity. “Can Chen come?”

“Sorry Chen, but this may involve fighting...”

“Ooh! Ooh! Then let me come!” Chen rubs her cheek on my hand. “You’ve trained me well! Come on! I can fight!”

“Eh... Fine.”

“He, he! I’ll make sure you’ll be a proud mentor!” Chen smiles with glee as she pulls her claws out and swipes them across the air.

“Well...” I glance at the numerous bodies. Creepily enough, a good chunk of the bodies had their faces forced into a smile. “For their sake, let’s finish this fast so we can tell their families what happened.”

Chen and I take flight from the Hakurei Shrine and head to the Forest of Magic.

“By the way, why were you at the shrine?” I ask Chen during the flight. At this point, we are quite close to the airspace of the Forest of Magic.

“Ah, Chen heard you were taking care of Miss Sendai’s kid!” Chen exclaims. “So, I wanted to come play with them!”

“Ah... So have you not heard?” I look at Chen with a frown.

“Heard what? Chen hasn’t heard anything yet!”

“...It’s nothing, really.” I guess Ran or Yukari hasn’t told her anything yet. Actually... “Hey Chen, have you seen Ran or Yukari?”

“Ehhh... Nah. Chen hasn’t seen any of em!”

“I see...” Suddenly, I sense a cluster of magical power emerging from the woods, aimed directly at us. “Chen, dodge!”

Suddenly, a laser beam emerges from the trees and heads straight at us. Chen and I veer away in opposite directions, but before we can join back together, I sense even more magical energy down below scattered across the forest.

“Even more?!” I exclaim as a torrent of laser beams is shot out from the tree line. We continue dodging for several seconds before I manage to regroup with Chen.

“Nyah! What do we do Rin-sama?!” Chen asks in a panic.

I put on my hood before replying. “We dive into the tree lines. Be ready to fight some humans when we head down. And remember, do not kill them.” I emphasize the last sentence, since I'm not sure if Chen would let them live.

“Okay and no worries! Chen won’t do any killing!”

“Good. Now, dive!” I dive into the trees and land on the ground, surprising a group of humans covered in maroon cloaks.

“It’s her! The White Silence!” One of them exclaims as they begin chanting with their palms facing me. Magic circles appear on their hands, and orbs of magic emerge from them, heading straight at me.

I bring out Musashi and slice a magical orb in half, splitting it apart as it explodes. I then quickly conjure and throw a sealing talisman at the magician, ridding them of their magical capabilities and removing their only means of attack.

“We have her surrounded! keep the pressure!” The magicians say as several of them begin firing several bullets at me.

I quickly take off my armored clothes and make them float behind me to serve as a shield to block enemy bullets heading to my back as I focus on deflecting the assault in front of me. From time to time, some of the magicians stop firing to quickly drink a glass bottle filled with blue liquid. I use this chance to reduce my attackers as I throw some talismans at them. Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my back, so I turn around to see a small hole in my clothes and quickly realize the magic stones engraved in the clothes are starting to weaken. The tsuchigumo silk can only withstand so much constant fire as well.

I quickly put on the armored clothes once more, taking a few hits before finally deflecting the bullets and taking care of the remaining magicians.

“Gah... Hah...!” I pant. “I didn’t know the Forest of Magic housed magicians...!”

“Hey! I think she’s over there!” I hear someone exclaim. “The others have been knocked out as well! Damnit!”

“Tsk...” I look at my clothes to see how they were faring. Other than the one hole from earlier, two new tears have shown up while I was putting it on. Slowly, the fabric regenerates thanks to the magic stones no longer being under constant pressure to protect it. “Armor isn’t ready yet...”

“Ah, there she is!” The same voice says to my left. I look in their direction to see a magician readying up a spell, only for a red arrowhead to hit him on his head, causing him to stumble before falling to the ground.

Chen then appears above the trees and pounces onto the human. She briefly walks on his back before getting off to regroup with me.

“Rin-sama! Are you alright?” She asks me, focusing on my damaged clothes.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” I ruffle her head. “But we’re not yet done. Watch out, there’s more coming at us.”

We hear more people rushing towards us, and the sound of yet more footsteps in the distance.

“Chen,” I face her. “You hide in the trees and knock out stray humans while I deal with the rest of them, okay?”

“O-kay!” Chen cheers as she dives into the bushes and up into the trees before moving ahead of me.

“Wh– Hey! There’s something in the trees!” I hear one of the magicians shout in the distance. “Shoot it! Take no chances!”

Ah damnit...

I begin running in Chen’s direction, making sure not to trip on the several roots of the trees as I come closer to the magicians, where at this point, I could hear magic being cast and being fired.

Soon, I come face-to-face with my first human, whom I slap a sealing talisman on and knock out with a punch. Before the magician hits the floor, I launch three talismans at three other magicians in the area before knocking them out the same way.

“The White Silence!” I hear another magician shout. “Damn it! Stop focusing on the trees, get her instead!”

“Why are all of you so desperate to fight me?!” I try asking before deflecting their attacks. Repeating what I have done before, dodging and avoiding their attacks before sealing their magic away by throwing more sealing talismans. Occasionally, Chen attacks a magician from behind and knocks them out, causing confusion among the wizards and allowing me to seal their magic away during that opening.

As we advance forward, the magicians begin thinning one by one until soon everyone has either surrendered or been knocked out. As Chen goes ahead to scout out the area, I grab one of the magicians who had surrendered for questioning.

“Name. And why did your group suddenly attack me?” I sit her down beside a tree, away from the other people who have surrendered as I put Musashi’s strings onto her neck.

“Tsk...! Taniguchi Yukiko” She answers. “And... And...!” She opens a part of her robe to reveal an insignia on her shirt. “You were quite lucky you chose to interrogate me first.”

“...Sorry, but I don’t understand what that insignia means.”

“This is the insignia of the Gensokyo Police Force. Surely you must have heard of it since you are the White Silence?”

“You're one of Kotohime’s?” I say as I remove Musashi away from her neck.

“Yes. She sent me here to spy on the magicians living here. I don’t know why you’re here, but I’d be willing to offer any assistance. But I can assume that you’re here for the Mahō Misairu.”

“Mahō Misairu...” The name meant Magic Missile, but perhaps it had other names as well... “Does the item have other names? Like Four-Foot Magic Bomb?”

“Ugh, that stupid name again... No, but she called it that. But Mahō Misauru is definitely four feet long.”

“Okay good, good... So why did the magicians here attack me?”

“Yesterday, an amanojaku attacked the magicians before leaving them a warning that their ‘friend’ the White Silence will come in to slaughter the group and take the magic missile.”

“Tsk... First Seija Kijin nearly kills the entirety of the GPF and critically wounds Kotohime, now she tricks others to try and kill me...”

“I’m sorry, that amanojaku did what?!” Yukiko stands up in response. “But why?! She wouldn't unless they did something to antagonize her while I was gone.”

“That amanojaku kidnapped Reimu and set up a ransom for her return. The Four-Foot Magic Bomb is the last item she wants.”

“Reimu is...?”

“Reimu Hakurei... Sendai Hakurei’s daughter...” I answer her.

“L-Lady Hakurei’s daughter has been kidnapped?! What has Lady Hakurei been doing about it?”

“Nothing. She has been missing for a while now. I’ve... Been taking care of Reimu while she was gone. Two days ago, when I went out to earn some money to buy some food for the two of us, that was when that amanojaku...”

I couldn’t finish that last part of the sentence, but thankfully Yukiko seems to understand where I was going with this.

“...I see. Let us head back to the magicians now. They worry too much whenever a member of theirs disappears from the group. They prefer to stay together since youkai often pick them off.”

“...Okay.” I offer her my hand to help her stand up, and she takes it. After getting up, both of us head back to where the surrendered magicians were. They were gathering all the magicians I have knocked out in one spot. I let Yukiko be as I play a high pitch note on my erhu to turn the magician's attention to us.

“Everyone, your attention,” I call them. “Have any of you heard the news about the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s daughter?”

Most of them whisper to each other, but none of them answer.

“Geh... I guess not...?”

“Well, some of us knew the Hakurei Shrine Maiden has a daughter, but none of us have heard any news of it,” Yukiko answers. “Why ask us this?”

“Well, to put it bluntly, she has been kidnapped by an amanojaku,” I state, eliciting more whispers from the crowd. “The amanojaku goes by Seija Kijin, and she has set up a ransom in exchange for her release. She asked for several items, one of which are–“

“Mahō Misauru.” Yukiko answers before facing her fellow magicians. “The White Silence here claims that she isn’t related at all to that amanojaku that attacked us yesterday. I believe her, considering that she has yet to kill any of us in retaliation.”

“It’s nice that you trust her, Taniguchi, but what are you getting at?” One of the magicians ask her.

“Well, let’s give the White Silence the Mahō Misairu.” She replies. “There shouldn’t be any problem with that, no? Especially since it’s for the sake of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s daughter.”

“You should know that we already have a deal with Lady Scarlett, young Taniguchi.” An old wizard tells her. “If we back out from our deal now and give it to the White Silence, we won’t be able to get those wonderful books!”

“...Who is this Lady Scarlett?” I inquire.

“A devil from the outside.” The old man answers. “She says she was scouting out Gensokyo when she found out about Mahō Misairu.”

“She called that artifact Magus Erado.” Yukiko recounts. “She said it holds immense magical power, which is true. Mahō Misairu is a very precious artifact the first magician found when he was expelled from the village.”

“How precious are those books she’s offering for the Four Foot Magic Bomb?” I ask as a plan begins forming in my mind.

“Extremely precious!” The old wizard answers. “She showcased the knowledge hidden within those magical tomes, and with that knowledge, we could actually go by a week without one of our kind being killed by youkai!”

“Alright then. Just go with the deal as planned.”

“Eh...? But don’t you need the bomb so you can exchange it for the daughter of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden?” Yukiko asks.

“Yes, I do. But no worries, I have a plan to get it back...”

“White Silence,” The old man confronts me. “Are you planning to attack her after she receives the bomb–“

Suddenly, a bloodied and wounded person missing the lower half of his left arm bursts into the scene, extremely frantic. “The ama... Amanojaku...! They're... back!”

“Kichirou!” Yukiko rushes to the injured man as I follow her from behind. “What happened?!” She asks the man as she sits him down.

“The... amano... ja...” The magician begins speaking, but soon falls silent. I put my hand on his neck to see if I can sense a pulse, but to no avail. His face slowly shifts into a smile, just like Kotohime’s subordinates back at the shrine.

“He’s dead,” I announce. “Are there any other magicians missing from this group?”

“T-There are currently eighteen of us here. We’re mi-missing seven as of the moment, excluding Kichirou...” Yukiko responds, going through the man's pockets and taking something away from it. “Ki... Kichirou should’ve been with the others...”

I nod in response. “I’ll go find this amanojaku. Everyone else here must stay together, got it?”

Yukiko nods as she watches me run off into the woods.

Following the trail of blood that the magician left behind, I soon find myself in an open clearing where I count at least five bodies sprawled on the ground, with one person extremely wounded with sword cuts standing listlessly at the center.

“Hey!” I shout at the wounded man as I place my hands on Musashi. “What happened here?”

The man briefly stops idling around before slowly walking in my direction.

“Hey! Don’t come any closer and answer me!” I warn him.

The man suddenly bends over forwards at an unnatural angle. His head nearly touches the ground before it snaps toward my face and he charges at me.

“Tsk.” I easily sidestep the man’s rush and wait for his next move. “Running at me like that isn’t a wise choice with those wounds. Just stay still and lie down, I’m not your enemy.”

The man slowly turns around, still bent at that strange angle. Suddenly, the man uses one of his hands to plunge deep into one of his wounds near his waist and pulls out a curved blade. He also does the same with his other free hand on the opposite side of his waist and pulls out another bloodied blade with the same shape.

“...I’ve seen worse.” I pull out Musashi as the wounded man charges toward me. With his twin blades, the man clumsily swings his swords, so I easily dodge it once more before landing a swift punch onto his gut imbued with my aura.

The man stumbles backward before twitching violently. His body stretches, ripping off to reveal a slightly smaller individual still holding the two blades. Blood splatters around the field as the man falls to the ground, undoubtedly dead.

“Bweh! I shouldn’t have bothered disguising myself to begin with!” The newcomer complains as they straighten their long red hair. They look androgynous, not particularly male or female.

“...You wore that man’s skin just like the folktale of Uriko-hime,” I observe. “So you must be that amanojaku that told the magicians about me.”

“What? Not even freaked out after seeing me bursting out of a human’s body?” The amanojaku asks. “Come on, I was expecting ‘cheers!’, ‘applause!’, and ‘excitement!’”

“I’ve been working as a youkai exterminator for five years, I’ve seen worse. Now, your name before I kill you.”

“Keh! Call me Akiko! The amanojaku who turns agonizing frowns upside down!”

“...Kotohime’s guards and that magician all had smiles on their faces when they died...”

“Yep! That was me! And now it’s time to give you that smile! The White Silence shall fall here today!”

Akiko charges at me as she swings their swords in a pincer motion, leaving them wide open. After jumping over their body to avoid the swords, I throw a talisman that they, unfortunately, manage to cut in half before it hits them.

Upon landing from my jump, I focus all of my aura towards my legs to greatly enhance my speed and manage to end up behind Akiko’s back before sticking a paralyzing talisman to their nape, causing Akiko to violently twitch just like when they were hiding inside the body of the magician.

“H-How w-were you a-able to m-m-move that fast-t?!” Akiko stutters before falling to the ground.

“What? You didn’t expect the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s apprentice to be just as fast as Sendai herself?” I stand on Akiko’s back as I grab their hair and pull their head from the ground.

“Kahaha... I got nuthin to say to ya... She didn’t share any details...”

“The note you made Kotohime ‘deliver’ to me says otherwise. You wouldn’t have known about the Four-Foot Magic Bomb.” I put Musashi’s strings to Akiko’s neck. “So once again, speak.”

“Well, what’dya want me to say?”

“Where is Seija Kijin?” I say as I let my aura flow through Musashi, burning the amanojaku’s skin.

“Gah! Wrong question! She moves anywhere! Anywhere she wants, ya hear me!”

I let Musashi’s strings slide through the youkai’s skin, provoking her to unleash a torrent of curses. “How about the kid’s current condition?”

“I...! I...! I don’t know! I... Gah!” Akiko curses even more when I let Musashi’s strings go even deeper. “A-All I know is she keeps the girl in a tiny container! T-T-That’s it! She also ties her up and beats her whenever–“

Akiko’s answer is cut short when I slice their head. I sigh as I drop the head to the floor as I ready myself to purify her corpse.

CH-CHIK!

I hear a foreign sound from the woods and see a faint purple glow before a loud bang suddenly echoes through the forest and a purple bullet zips into my shoulder, knocking me back, but thankfully my clothes are able to protect me from receiving any harm. The bullets didn't feel big, but with that much speed, it probably would have gone right through my shoulder without my clothing, judging from how much it knocked me back.

“Who’s there?” I ask as I activate En to be able to precisely feel the speed of any incoming bullets.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Four more bullets come in my direction, but when they enter my three-meter range of En, their immense speed quickly overwhelms me. I am only able to deflect one single bullet before the other three all hit my clothes, knocking me down.

“I said who’s there?!” I say as I stand up, touching where all the bullets hit.

“...Protective clothing, enhanced speed, carries a unique weapon...” I see the source of the voice as a tall person walks towards the clearing from the woods. “And has just decapitated a random person after torturing them for information.”

I stay silent as the figure eventually enters the clearing with a buckled tunic, a wide-brimmed hat, and a long cloak, all of it black and red. She also has long red hair and a pair of black bat wings sticking downwards from her hat. She holds a small metal box with a tube facing away from her face with a rounded object sticking out on both of her hands. She is also pointing the peculiar objects right at me as well, and something tells me those were what fired those bullets...

“Name, before I turn your head into one fine red mist.” The newcomer orders.

“And so the roles have changed...” I mutter. “No, you give me your name before I exterminate you here and now.”

“Lass, you are not in the position to be asking that. Especially not when you just cut some poor mook’s head off.” Purple magic circles appear on the tips of the strange objects' rounded ends.

“...I’ll admit that act does not look good for my image from an outsider’s view. Because I’m on official business, you can call me the White Silence.”

The lady smiles at this. “Just what I needed to hear.” The magic circles brighten as She presses down on the strange devices. The magic circles brighten and several purple bullets shoot out in a series of BANG!'s. The moment the first bullet hit the very edge of my En, I soon realize that facing the assault head-on would be foolish, so I deactivate En and focus my aura on my legs to dodge with a hard right and behind the trees.

As I run through the edge of the clearing using the trees as cover, I continue to deflect any bullets that could hit me, but her aim is frustratingly on point as one of her shots could occasionally slip through my defenses and hit my clothes. During this, I notice that the lady sometimes pauses her attack to quickly do an interesting motion of dropping some rectangles from the devices before inserting some new rectangles and once again firing more bullets. 

While I carry on dodging and deflecting the bullets, I take note of the loud sounds being emitted by the device as it sounds familiar to something I have heard of some time ago. This is when I recall a guard in the village that owned a gun, which makes me think that my attacker is also using a similar weapon. This leads me to believe that the interesting motion she does whenever she stops firing her weapon would be the equivalent of reloading a gun.

But the difference between the guard's gun and my attacker's is it is smaller, has superior firing speed, and has the capacity to fire more bullets and the latter uses magic to fire instead of gunpowder.

However, it still has that one flaw a gun has. The need to reload. So my only opportunity to strike back is to charge at the moment she reloads. Now all I need to do is count how many times she fires her guns before needing to reload. After she finishes the current cycle of firing, I begin counting.

One... Four... Eight... Sixteen... Twenty-eight... Thirty-two...!

Thirty-two! It takes thirty-two shots in total before she needs to reload! With this knowledge, after she reloads, I begin counting her shots once more and the moment she fires her thirty-second round I charge straight toward the woman, catching her off-guard. I swing Musashi down at her, and she quickly combines her guns together. They merge into a larger object that looks like an elongated version of her previous weapon and holds it above her head to block my attack, bringing us into a form of a blade lock.

As I bring more force to my weapon, cracks begin forming on the woman’s weapon, so I begin pressing ever onward when suddenly my opponent splits her weapon in half and sidesteps to throw me off balance as I continue to send my weapon down to the ground. I slowly turn my eyes to my opponent, and she opens her mouth. Her tongue shoots out like a tendril, piercing my hands and making me drop my weapon. I grimace in pain as I hear the noise of my attacker’s weapon shifting. I look at the assailant as she points a completely different weapon at me. It's similar to her smaller guns from earlier, but it now looks chunkier and bulkier.

“Bang.” The woman says before a magic circle appears at the front of the weapon, and it fires a bullet condensed with extremely high magical energy right towards my head. I can almost feel time slow down for me. My instincts begin rapidly directing all of my remaining aurae to my head to ensure I give the bullet as much resistance as possible. As the bullet hits the edge of my aura, I could feel its immense magical energy even more as it threads closer and closer. The closer it gets, the more it feels like time slows down giving me time to start thinking about those I’ve met and cherished. Kouko, Hakai, the Prismrivers, Ran, Yukari, Chen, Sendai... Reimu... Reimu... Rei... Mu...

No! I can’t fall here! Reimu still needs me! She still needs to be saved! If I have time for these thoughts, then I have the time to–

As her opponent falls to the ground, the woman fires at Rin three more times at her body. The stronger bullets go straight through her enchanted clothing, allowing the bullets to go pierce Rin's torso before she finally falls to the floor. The gunslinger walks toward her latest kill to take a proper look at her appearance as blood drips from her forehead and. Blonde hair, obviously eastern... She wears a red ribbon that has two cherry-like hair ornaments attached to the ribbon... Wears white clothes with a hood attached and has black strappings on her sleeves for some strange reason... And lastly a long red skirt.

Suddenly, something catches the woman’s eye. She sees the girl’s clothes in the chest area moving up and down at a rhythmic pace, which usually means...

“So she’s alive...” She remarks as she points her gun once more toward Rin’s head. “However, that shall soon change.” She puts her fingers on the trigger and prepares to fire, but the moment she applies the tiniest of force-

“Lady Scarlett, halt!” An old man says as a group of magicians rush to the clearing. “There has been a misunderstanding!”

“What do you mean?” Scarlett asks. “This is her, isn’t it? The White Silence that would come to slaughter your tribe for Magus Erado. The figure that you told me about through the Iris Scroll message.”

“We were lied to! Tricked!” The old wizard pleads. “That amanojaku lied to us! She hasn’t killed any fellow magicians!”

“Oh please,” Scarlett waves across the clearing of dead bodies. “I found this scum in this clearing of corpses and saw her decapitate a poor magician after interrogating them.” She points to the person she’s referring to, only to see that their corpse is slowly disintegrating, emitting an impure aura.

“That’s them.” Yukiko points at the crumbling corpse. “The amanojaku who attacked us yesterday. The White Silence must’ve killed them.”

“Hmph. As if such a revelation matters.” Scarlett points her gun at Rin again. “She’s already near death’s doors. I’m just giving her a faster way to meet Charon.” Scarlett pulls the trigger, but the bullet ricochets upon colliding with a pink barrier littered with hearts that has just been formed in front of the gunslinger’s eyes. Scarlett fires her gun three more times in annoyance, but it’s all for naught as they just simply bounce off the shield. One of the bullets nearly hit one of the magicians as well. “Which one of you fuckers placed this barrier?” Scarlett says as she now aims her gun at the magicians.

“N-none of us Lady Scarlett!” The old wizard replies. “If you may hear us out, that wizardry does not even resemble our magic!”

“Hey! Don’t shoot anyone!” A short, young, girl says after stepping into the clearing. She has long blonde hair, a red-and-white dress, and a red bow in her hair. She also has a pale cat hanging on her shoulder, his head being the only body part properly visible.

“Mrooooow...” The cat meows.

“Ah! And Socrates says no swearing!” The girl exclaims.

“You... Who are... You...?” Scarlett asks as she slowly aims her weapon at the newcomer. “It’s one thing to block my bullets. It’s another to have a barrier be left unscathed from them.”

“Ah! My name is Ellen Fuwafuwaatama Aureus!” She proceeds to grab her cat from her shoulders and holds him to the sky. “And this is Socrates!”

“Meeeeoooooorwwww.”

“And he says hi!” Ellen joyfully translates.

“You named a cat after that philosophical geezer?” Scarlett wonders, slightly baffled by this. “Tsk, no matter. Shall we see how fast I can riddle your body in holes?” The gunslinger brings up her second gun before firing all of her bullets at Ellen, who brings up a barrier similar to what protected Rin. Just like before, the barrier remains completely undamaged after Scarlett’s onslaught.

“Ilíthio paidí...” Scarlett mutters to herself as she holsters her guns.

“Hey! That was very rude!” Ellen sticks her tongue out. “I wasn’t even finished yet! One more person still needs to introduce herself! Come on kitty~” Ellen turns her back against Scarlett, but her barrier remains just as strong. After poorly making sounds to attract a cat, the bushes part to reveal Chen.

“Stay away from Rin-sama!” Chen hisses at Scarlett. “Chen... Chen... Chen will make sure you’ll regret it!”

“...Chen...” The gunslinger begins going through her memories. “That... Is the name of the feline Ran Yakumo says she takes care of.”

“Grr... You know Ran-sama? Then Ran-sama will know about this! Chen will tell her! Ran-sama won’t like hearing about this!” Chen threatens.

“Woah there, little kitty!” Scarlett puts her arms out in response. “Now, no need to tell your master about this. Let’s all just... Calm down and talk this out!”

“Why are you suddenly this submissive to this mere bakeneko...?” Yukiko mutters.

“Were you not listening to me during my first visit, magician?” Scarlett shoots back. “I came to Gensokyo to find the person responsible for this place so that my Mistresses can get permission to live here. Yakumo was the only one I could find, and if they get a bad impression on me then they’ll get a bad impression of my Mistresses, and then negotiations may not work in our favor.”

“Hellooo?” Ellen interrupts, waving a single hand in the air with her toes tiptoed. “We’re still here! Now, not only I came here to save Miss Rin, but I’m also here to get the Four-Foot Magic Bomb!”

“Ah great, another one who calls it that...” A random magician rumbles.

“Are you here to claim Mahō Misauru for the ransom?” Yukiko asks Ellen.

“A ransom for the bomb we made a deal to exchange for books?” Scarlett glares at the magicians. “Did you make a deal behind my back? And thought you lot could withstand my fury?”

“Gods forbid no!” The old wizard pleads. “We’ve only heard of this ransom today!”

“What is this ransom about then?”

“The daughter of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden has been kidnapped, and several items are asked for her freedom,” Yukiko answers. “Mahō Misauru is one of them.”

“Gah! Miss Sendai’s daughter has been kidnapped?! Chen was planning to play with her today after this...” Chen says with disappointment.

“Hakurei... Hakurei... Tsk. I feel like I should know what that name is.” Scarlett grumbles to herself.

“The Hakurei Shrine Maiden is the one who protects Gensokyo from all the youkai!” Chen exclaims. “Yukari-sama leads over them! Rin-sama is good friends with Miss Sendai and Yukari-sama!”

“Great... Another reason not to kill the blonde bastard...” Scarlett briefly glances at the unconscious Rin. “And the magic bomb is one of the items needed for the ransom... Gah! Fine, give them the bomb. If I take the bomb away, then my Mistresses would not like to hear I’ve doomed the daughter of Gensokyo’s heroine.”

“Wait, then what about the books you promised?!” The old wizards panic.

“Oh, these?” Scarlett pulls out several tomes, and all the magicians are transfixed by them. “Eh. Deals off so you won’t be getting them.” A small portal opens that reveals a library filled to the brim with books, while a purple figure in a chair looks at the portal as Scarlett tosses the books inside to the rest of the magicians' horror.

“Koa, I did not give you the ability to create portals to the library just to carelessly drop books–“ The purple figure begins, only to get cut off when the portal closes.

“Nooooooo!” The old wizard falls to his knees and punches the ground. Some of the magicians seem like they are ready to start attacking, while Yukiko slowly makes her way behind the trees.

“Hey... If you decide to go through this, all of you shall be wiped out.” Scarlett warns the magicians.

“No... It’s not worth it...” The old wizard tells his comrades. “We’ll just have to face our battles head-on. Like what we always had... Let’s go...”

The old man heads back to the forest as the rest of the magicians follow suit. Meanwhile, Yukiko reemerges at Ellen’s side.

“Lady Ellen, here’s a report about the magicians so far...” Yukiko gives Ellen a piece of paper, and the latter pockets it. “I’ll head back to them now...”

“Ah, before I forget, Kotohime said you need to return now!” Ellen replies. “Something bad happened to the rest of our friends, as well as Kotohime herself...”

“...I’ve heard.”

“Now, miss devil. Can you please step away from Miss Rin?” Ellen asks Scarlett.

“Tsk. Have it your way kid. I’m returning home now.” Scarlett opens a big portal leading to that library from earlier and steps through it. It closes as she begins picking up the books she dropped in earlier.

Chen approaches the unconscious Rin Satsuki and picks her up as Ellen removes the pink barrier. Chen examines her friend, looking at a still bleeding section where Rin was shot.

“Um... Will Rin-sama still be okay...?”

“Allow me!” Ellen happily skips forward as her index finger lights up in a pink color. She then puts her said finger on the bullet hole to cause a pink plug to cover up the hole, stopping the bleeding. “Um... This can only stop her from hurting for a while so... We'll still need a doctor!”

“Lady Ellen, the effectiveness of a doctor dwindles the longer we linger. It is best if one of us goes ahead. Especially since walking through this forest is a challenge in itself.”

“Chen doesn’t need to walk! Chen can fly! Chen will fly to the village to find a doctor!”

“...Yes. That can work.” Yukiko admits. “But you are a youkai who is not listed as ‘safe’ so any guards stationed in the village would try to attack you.”

“Allow me, again!” Ellen exclaims as she pulls out a pin with the Gensokyo Police Force insignia on it with Ellen’s signature and attaches it to Chen’s hat. “Good thing I remembered to bring this pin today! Now you can enter the village with no problem!”

“...Be sure to say you’re there looking for someone to treat the White Silence. Just in case some of the guards question you further.” Yukiko advises. Chen nods at this before flying off with her friend in her arms.

“Now, do you want me to carry you as well once we get the Four-Foot Magic Bomb?” Ellen asks Yukiko in glee.

“...No thanks, Lady Ellen. Let’s just stick to walking.”

Later that night...

Seija has been kicking the trunk of a fallen tree for the past few minutes, disregarding the pain that comes with kicking a solid piece of bark. One of Akiko's cutlasses is sticking out of it, and Akiko's youkai eagle watches over her, observing its brand-new masterm

“Damnit Akiko! You were the strongest in your clan! Gah!” Seija does one last kick before unsteadily walking back to the cage she has placed her hostage in. Her original plan to hang Reimu upside down failed when her prisoner stopped crying and somehow managed to free herself.

“Ugh... After tomorrow, the both of us shall get the last laugh...”

March, Day 1

As I walk through the woods, I follow what feels like the immense aura of Sendai. Making my way through several branches and stray youkai, I finally reach my destination.

In front of me is a large cave carved into the mountain. Several Hakurei Talismans are plastered throughout the walls, keeping the inside of the cave dimly lit, and suppressing whatever was hidden inside. I enter the cave to find and slaughter what has tormented me since their death.

Upon turning a corner, the cave opens up to a large chamber with a strange structure inside. But my attention is on something... No... Someone else.

I could only see their figure, as they are covered by shadows, but I’m sure they are the one.

I pull out Musashi, and charge toward them.

Suddenly, I sit upright as my head and torso begin throbbing from pain, and inevitably feel confused about my current whereabouts. Wasn’t I just in a cave? And who was I about to kill...?

I soon realize that I’m on a bed and conclude that I must’ve been dreaming. I put my hand on my forehead and begin massaging it, feeling a layer of bandage on it, trying to see if that would ease the pain as I groan. I also notice that I'm wearing a hospital gown, and underneath that, I could see bandages wrapping around my torso.

“Good afternoon, Miss Satsuki.” I hear Kotohime’s voice to my side, prompting me to slowly turn around and face her. “Are you feeling better?”

On an opposite bed, Kotohime has taken off both her purple and white kimono and instead now wears a simple shirt, revealing several bandages wrapped around her arms which lead into her torso. Considering the last time I saw her; her body had several sword cuts before I treated her.

“Ugh... What happened to me...?” I say while still massaging my forehead. “Last thing I remember was that I was fighting this tall redhead who used a strange weapon before she shot me in the... Gah!” My head and body ache even more at the memory.

“You lost that battle, according to Taniguchi,” Kotohime says, observing my actions. “Scarlett, the demon you fought, would have finished you off if Ellen didn't step in in time.”

“Kuh... How far did that bullet pierce my head?”

“According to the doctor, the bullet was able to make it to the very edge of your skull before disappearing.” The princess answers me. “If it had disappeared just a tad bit later, it would have shot through the skull and into your brain. Who knows what would have happened to you if that occurred? You were also shot three more times in your torso. Lastly, it is said that those bullets left you with a nasty curse that the doctor was unable to completely dispel."

“Gah... So, I was taken to a doctor, and I didn’t realize it...? How long was I out?”

“Two days. It is now the day of the exchange.”

I swiftly stand up in response to this, causing my head and body to ache even more. “I… Gah…! W-What of the Four-Foot Magic Bomb? And wasn't I supposed to be the one to deliver the items as well??”

“Ellen and Taniguchi were able to recover the bomb after a confrontation with the magicians,” Kotohime reports. “As for the exchange, I’ve sent Taniguchi to do the honors while you continue resting. Ellen's trailing in case something unexpected occurs.”

“Tsk. No more resting for me…” I slowly make my way to the door.

“Miss Satsuki. You need to stay and rest more. Your head is still in pain is it not?” Kotohime herself begins standing up from her bed and walks toward me.

“I can’t trust one of your people to go save Reirei!” I answer back. “She has been stuck with that amanojaku for days and from what I know, she’s been bound and beaten by her captor!” I recall what the sword-wielding amanojaku told me. “She needs someone she knows to be with her!” I grab onto the doorknob and begin slowly opening the door.

“No, Miss Satsuki,” Kotohime responds as she closes the door on me. “Trust my subordinates. Taniguchi proved her worth when she dealt with those magicians alone to grab the bomb. Even I had my doubts that she truly fought them off by herself until Ellen corroborated her feat.”

“It doesn’t matter how worthy or capable she is. This is a personal matter, Kotohime.” I swat her hand away from the door. “And you know can’t stop me, Kotohime. Those wounds of yours were quite serious when I treated them. It’s a miracle you’re already able to move around.” I open the door sone more, and the room I see makes me realize where I was resting. Several Chinese and Japanese scrolls hanging on the walls. A desk filled to the brim with textbooks and papers… And lastly, the interesting scent of bamboo. This is the house of my old history teacher, Miss Keine.

“It is indeed a miracle, Satsuki,” Kotohime agrees. “It is a miracle that Miss Kamishirasawa knows of a doctor within the Bamboo Forest that was able to sew my cuts and wounds together and enacted the proper procedures necessary in order to deal with those bullet holes In your body. That very same doctor told Miss Kamishirasawa that you needed more rest since the lingering effects of the curse would put you out of commission even longer.”

“…A doctor in the Bamboo Forest?” My mind wanders to the distant past. “Back then, Miss Keine warned me to never interact with Tewi’s associates that reside in that place. Why would she take me there if…?

I shake myself away from that train of thought to focus on more pressing matters. “Sorry Kotohime, but my mind is set on this.” I close the door and leave the house, walking onto the street. Several villagers look at me before moving on to continue with their day.

“But if you’re truly leaving, then here,” Kotohime says as she catches up to me, holding the black-red cloth that was once a part of Seija Kijin’s clothing. “You need this to find her, no?”

I nod as I take the cloth from her and encase it in a transparent cube once again. A trail of impurity emerges from the box and begins heading towards the east.

“Then I’ll see you later. With Reimu by my side.” I take to the skies and begin following the trail of impurity, praying that I make it in time.

As Yukiko follows the amanojaku with a sack containing all the ransom items to a brand-new location, several thoughts pop into her mind. “What must I do when she inevitably breaks the deal?” “Is Lady Ellen still following me?” “What circumstances is Lady Hakurei’s daughter in?”

The last question is answered when Seija leads her to a clearing where a contraption lies in the middle. It holds a figure suspended in the air over a layer of spikes. Upon closer examination, Yukiko realizes the suspended figure was Reimu hanging upside down, tied up and her mouth taped while an eagle is perched on top of her. Some magical energy begins leaking out of Yukiko as she clenches her fist.

“Hah! Hold that feisty energy of yours,” Seija warns as she makes her way to the contraption. “You don’t want the girl to die on spikes now do we?”

“...”

“Eh! Tough crowd!” Seija leans on the contraption and gestures for Yukiko to hand over the items “Come on! Toss it over!”

Yukiko slowly walks toward Seija but stops when the latter picks up a cutlass and puts it on a rope that holds Reimu in the air.

“I said, toss it over. Take one step closer and the kid gets it!”

Yukiko looks Reimu in the eyes, her eyes are dried up from constantly crying, but it seems tears are still able to leak out.

“Tsk. Fine.” Yukiko throws the sack of items in Seija’s direction, and it lands on her feet. Seija opens the sack while keeping one hand on the cutlass, ready to cut the rope as she rummages through the sack.

“Let’s see ‘ere... Miracle Mallet... Ghastly Send-Off Lantern... The Sword of Kusanagi... And the Four-Foot Magic Bomb! Perfect!” Seija lists all the items before pulling out the sword and sheathing the cutlass. “Ciao!” The eagle flies down and uses its talons to cut the rope before flying away with Seija.

As Reimu begins falling toward the spikes. Yukiko sprints toward Reimu, conjuring a magic lasso and throwing it toward her, trying to catch her before she falls to her doom. Unfortunately for her, the lasso misses Reimu and sails over her.

Yukiko starts cursing to herself as Reimu comes closer and closer to the spikes only for a gold blur to intercept the girl before landing beside Yukiko.

“Take this and go!” Rin says as she throws the transparent box containing Seija’s thorn cloth at Yukiko.

Yukiko catches the box and observes as a trail of impurity emerges from the object.

“I said go!” Rin says once more as she begins untying Reimu.

“I can’t fly!” Yukiko says in frustration before remembering Ellen has been following her. “Ah! Lady Ellen! Where are you?!”

“Here! Here!” Ellen says as she lands between the two and Yukiko tosses her the box. “Wooow! So, this box can help track people down~? Cool!” Ellen returns to the air and begins following the trail of impurity.

Yukiko sighs for a moment before focusing on Rin. She's untying Reimu, who's crying even as Rin tries to calm her down.

“Now, now Reirei... It’s okay now...” Rin says as she finishes untying Reimu and embraces her. “Now, let’s remove that tape, shall we...? Gah...” Rin holds her forehead before putting her other hand on the tape and begins gently pulling it off. Reimu doesn't take too well to this and swats Rin’s hand away.

“Hey... It’s for your own good Rei...” Rin puts her hand on Reimu’s head and begins stroking it. “Please... Let me...” Rin starts swaying side to side and her words begin slurring.

“Lest... You...” Rin falls to her left and remains lying down on the ground. Reimu begins immensely panicking as she goes to her caretaker’s side and starts trying to shake her awake. She tries to use her mouth to wake Rin, but when she remembers that her mouth is sealed by tape, she begins trying to rip the tape off.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Yukiko moves to Reimu’s side to stop the child from accidentally harming herself. The officer then holds Reimu’s arms in order to stop her, causing resistance from the young girl. “Let me remove the tape for you, okay?”

“Mmmm! Mmmm!” Reimu tries to move away from Yukiko but is unable to do so.

“Why must I be the one with children...” Yukiko holds Reimu down and slowly removes the tape as she struggles. After being released, Reimu punches Yukiko on the cheek before rushing back to the collapsed Rin.

“Tsk. Ow...” Yukiko rubs her cheek and glances at Rin, wondering how she was able to get here without passing out until now. Kotohime had told her before she left that that demon had inflicted her with a curse, and if she tried to push herself, it wouldn't end very well.

“My oh my, it seems like this little fiasco has finally closed its curtains?” Yukiko hears an intimidating voice to her left. “Well, it seems like little Rin over here has finally exhausted herself.”

Yukari Yakumo bends down beside the collapsed Rin. Her pink umbrella covers Reimu and Rin from the light of the setting sun. Reimu doesn’t react to her presence for some reason.

“You are... Yakumo?” Yukiko stands up and begins slowly backing away. Her legs begin trembling from being in the presence of the boundary youkai. Reluctantly, she brings out her magical lasso once more.

“I see that that little princess has been recruiting more and more capable humans. Despite my warning,” Yukari responds to Yukiko’s actions. “Turn away human, these two are now underneath my care.”

A large gap opens beneath Yukari and the others, and all three of them begin sinking into it. Yukiko simply watches them disappear into the ground before the gap closes.

“Miss Yukiko~” Ellen lands behind Yukiko who stands staring into an empty field. “I’m baaaaaack! Huh? What’s wrong? And where’s Miss Rin and the daughter?” Ellen looks around the clearing. All that remains are the two of them and the contraption that hung Reimu in the air.

“...Ah, Lady Ellen. Miss Rin and Lady Sendai’s daughter have been taken away by the youkai sage.”

“Ehhh? Why does she care about those two?”

“I don’t know... Anyhow Lady Ellen, what of that amanojaku? It appears that you don't have any of the ransom items..”

“Ah! Well while I was chasing her down, I was able to land a few hits on her, and she dropped some of the items!” Ellen puts one of her palms on her chin. “I think she dropped the sword and the bomb!”

“Then what happened to the lantern and the mallet? And where are the dropped items?”

“Ehhh... You see...” Ellen touches the tips of her index fingers together. “After that, After that, she used the lantern to become invisible. That special tracking device Rin made would’ve led me on her, but the cube disappeared for no reason! She then got away because of that...”

“That must’ve occurred when Miss Satsuki collapsed...”

“As for the dropped items, I couldn’t find them...” Ellen sighs. “Well, what do we do now, Yukiko?”

“We must report back to Lady Kotohime of what occurred here. She will be intrigued about the boundary youkai’s interference.”

Yukiko and Ellen begin walking in the direction of the village, the former disgruntled that they have failed to either capture Seija Kijin or ensure that all the ransom items will be returned to their owners. Meanwhile, the latter happily skips beside Yukiko, as if she has swiftly forgotten what happened moments ago.

As a tall figure slowly approaches the mouth of a cave, another figure awaits her arrival, holding a parasol above her head despite it being night, nor there being any rain.

“So, have your concerns been sated?” Yukari asks the approaching miko. “I told you they would be resting at ease. I also expected you to bathe and dress while you were gone, but I guess you haven't, since you're still wearing those hospital gowns.”

“Resting yes, but most definitely not at ease,” Sendai answers her. “Rin has bandage wrappings on her head, I feel a blighted essence coursing through her body, and I couldn’t even wake her up when I was there. And as for my daughter, she’s bruised and beaten, looks like she hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for a few days, and her face shows signs of constant tears. Yukari, what the hell happened to them while I was out of commission?”

“I shall leave that explanation to Rin when she awakens,” Yukari responds as they begin walking into the cave. “I bet the two of you will spend some time in that bar to talk things out, and she will be drinking a lot during that conversation.”

“Ugh...” Sendai groans at the thought of that future confrontation. “I should find a way to keep her from drinking alcohol whenever she gets incredibly frustrated or angry... Now, let us replace those seals.”

The two women walk deeper into the cave, and eventually, they make their way into a large chamber that contains a strange mechanism.

“The gateway of Makai...” Sendai mutters to herself before turning her attention to a figure bound onto a stalactite. “How confident were you to chain Rumia right beside a means of escape?”

“...Hah. This was just a way to taunt her. Ran and I constantly keep watch on her just in case she manages to break away from our seals. There have been a few close calls, but we were able to keep her still.”

“Close calls my ass...” Rumia grumbles as she stares down at the two women. “I easily escaped from my bindings each time, only to get beaten to a pulp by you and that stupid fox. You just wanted me to kick me while I was down, weren’t ya?”

Yukari smirks at Rumia’s annoyance. “Well now, it would have been no fun if only Sendai had the satisfaction of repeatedly striking you down. Think of it as payback for Futsuno.”

“Bah! Why do you care about the Satsuki line so much anyways? Oh, and how’s the dead man’s daughter holding up– GAH!” A gap appears above Rumia’s gut before a foot comes through and stomps on it.

“Thank you, Yukari.” Sendai takes her left foot out of the gap before it closes and begins walking toward Rumia. Swiftly, the shrine maiden replaces the youkai bindings with Hakurei ones. “I wish you luck whenever you attempt to escape in these.”

“Tsk. I don’t need no luck– GUEH!” As Rumia jolts forward at Sendai, the bindings strike her with divine energy, shocking her for a few moments. “Haaa... Haaaa... Cacas capitibus...”

“I believe that translates to ‘You shitheads.’” Yukari informs Sendai. “Do with that information as you will.”

Sendai begins channeling her Hakurei aura into her fist before sending it toward Rumia’s face. Upon connecting, the latter’s visage is morphed into a black gooey substance, imprinting the shape of Sendai’s knuckles. Sendai removes her hand from Rumia’s warped head and shakes off the gooey substance that got onto her fist. Rumia’s body begins spasming and twitching in reaction to the divine energy being distributed to her physique.

“Is it too much to hope that she’ll remain like this for the rest of the week?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but yes. While your divine aura will briefly slow her down, once it fades away Rumia will slowly regenerate. That face of hers will be back by tomorrow.”

“Tsk... Get out. I’ll be putting up the other seals.”

“As you wish,” Yukari gaps out of the cave, leaving Sendai and the faceless Rumia alone.

“Enjoy that immortality you’ve obtained, creature of darkness.” Sendai begins setting up the seals in the cave and makes her way toward the exit of it. Several Hakurei Seals are plastered around the cave’s walls, giving a faint glow during the dark night.

Sendai takes a deep breath before heading back to the shrine. When she slides open the door, she enters the shrine and checks on where she last saw Rin and Reimu, both of them still sleeping on Sendai's bed. It seems that Rin had briefly awoken to move closer to Reimu to give her a hug before drifting back to sleep.

Sendai stares at the two for a few minutes before silently grabbing a futon and spreading it out in the living room. She then tucks herself in, shortly drifting away to sleep.

Chapter Text

March, Day 4

On the Hakurei Shrine’s veranda, Reimu Hakurei is enjoying her time playing with a toy her mother brought after being away from home for several days. Or was it weeks? Reimu doesn’t know exactly, she just knows that her mother was gone for some time, and now she’s back.

Reimu is just playing with her toys and minding her own business when suddenly, she hears the chime of a bell unfamiliar to her. The shrine has several wind chimes hanging around, but the chimes she is hearing sound small and rings much more frequently than the wind chimes.

Looking around, Reimu tries to find the source of this ringing, but to no avail. She then looks back at her toys to suddenly find a tiny fox with beautiful golden fur and nine tails looking at her. It also has a collar with a bell attached to her.

“Uwah! Hello miss!” Reimu says, holding her hands out to let the tiny fox stand on her palm before bringing her close to her face. “What are... Doing here?” She continues, struggling to properly speak Japanese as she hasn’t been properly taught how to do so, only relying on her mother and Riri teaching her words here and there.

The fox squeaks and begins rubbing her small head on Reimu’s cheek, causing her to laugh. Reimu begins petting the fox before suddenly, it jumps off Reimu’s palm and heads to the back of the shrine.

“Hey...! Wait!” Reimu says before getting off the veranda and chasing after the fox, slightly limping from injuries she could not remember acquiring.

The fox heads through the tree line, using her many tails to guide Reimu. Reimu enters the forest without a second thought and follows after the fox, thinking it is a fun game.

Soon, Reimu finds herself standing in front of a large cave that sticks out from the mountain behind the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu is afraid of entering due to how dark and scary the place looks from the outside, but suddenly, she hears the distant chimes of the fox’s bell. Excited, Reimu runs inside to chase after the fox.

Going through the cave, she finds many different slips of paper stuck onto the walls, somehow keeping the cave lit. The papers have writing on them, but Reimu can barely read them.

“Ha... Ha... Haku... Hakurei?” She reads. “Hakurei! Hakurei!” Reimu begins cheering after reading her last name. To her, this must mean her mother must be near here! Perhaps it could be the place where her mother hides all the good food! Or maybe her pretty masks? Either way, it’s exciting for her to be here.

Eventually, the tunnel opens to a large chamber, and in the distance, Reimu can see a strange structure. Curious, Reimu walks closer to it to inspect it, but before she can get close, she hears something moving around.

Reimu then moves her attention to whatever is making that noise and sees someone tied up on a piece of metal. She slowly walks toward the individual, who is making grunting and pained sounds. Reimu begins seeing what the person looks like. A woman with short blonde hair and a black vest.

“H-Hello...? M-M... Miss?” Reimu begins, afraid of the girl but somehow sympathetic. The girl’s current state and appearance feel like something she has experienced before, but she has no memory of such a situation happening to her. But she knows for certain that the girl is definitely hurt.

The girl, whose binds wrap around her head and middle torso begins struggling even more. She tries speaking but her mouth is covered by tape. Reimu stacks some nearby debris in order to be tall enough to take the tape off. However, when she grabs the tape, she loses her balance and falls, forcefully ripping the tape off. The girl screams in pain, causing Reimu to hide behind a stalagmite.

“Gah... Hah...” The girl pants. “Hey, little one.” She looks at Reimu. “I’m hungry, care to climb up again?”

“Hungry...?” Reimu repeats. “You are... Hungry?” As a lightbulb lights in her head, Reimu rushes out of the cave, much to the dismay of the girl.

“Wh- Little one! Come back! I promise I won’t- GAH!” The girl gets shocked by the bindings thanks to her moving too much, releasing a pained scream from her. “Ugh... Just needed you for a snack...”

Expecting that the small girl in red and white would never return, the bound blonde sighs in disappointment.

But to her surprise, minutes later the girl returns with two servings of onigiri in her hand. Reimu stands on top of some scattered debris once again to feed the blonde, who tries to avoid eating it.

“No, you blasted child! I want you as my SNACK- MMPH!” The girl is interrupted when Reimu shoves the rice ball in her open mouth. Reimu then steps down from her stand and sits down on it before taking a bite from her onigiri.

The girl spits out her snack, which hits Reimu’s head. Annoyed by this, Reimu picks up the rice ball and tries to put it in the girl’s mouth again.

“No! I don’t want that kind of food, I need- GROWL ” A sound can be heard from the girl’s stomach. Reimu then uses this opportunity to shove the onigiri in the girl’s mouth and pushes it deep inside. This time, the girl decides to chew and swallow it this time.

Satisfied with this, Reimu plops back down and begins eating her onigiri.

“Look, kid.” The girl begins. “I want a different kind of food. Like... Like...! Like–“

“Reiiimuuu!” A voice can be heard from the outside of the cave, interrupting the girl once again. “Wheeeereee are youuuuu! Mama’s worried for you!”

To this, Reimu stands up in a panic, knowing that it’s her mother who is calling her. She quickly finishes her rice ball before running towards the exit, but waves goodbye at the girl before leaving, leaving the girl with only silence for company.

“...Has Sendai not told her about me? Even when I threatened to kill her?” The girl wonders before cackling. “Hahaha! Well then, if she comes back tomorrow, perhaps it will be her last...”

Day 5

Reimu came back, this time with sushi.

“Oh no, you are not feeding me- Mmmph!” Reimu playfully and forcefully places a bite of sushi into the girl’s mouth, who then spits out the sushi straight toward Reimu’s forehead and sticks her tongue as well.

Suddenly, Reimu’s eyes begin tearing up. “I... Bwuh... Waaaah!”

As Reimu begins crying, the girl expected to feel some form of pleasure, but instead, she feels empty and sighs. “Ugh, could you at least put up some kind of fight?” The girl pleads, but the only answer she gets is Reimu’s cries. “Gah... Alright, alright. Hey, kid.” She says, switching to a more apologetic tone. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it.”

Reimu continues crying, to the girl’s dismay.

“Can’t tell her to shut up or else she cries even more and annoys me further.” She thought. “Hey, kid, I’m still hungry, can you still feed me?”

To this, Reimu slowly calms down. “Still... Hungry...?” She says, eyeing the girl. “...Okay!”

With that, the girl surrenders to being fed by Reimu, who is smiling at this turn of events.

“At least it’s better than having nothing.” The girl says to herself, as she chews on her food keenly observing Reimu’s joyful smile. An emotion she thought she had lost long ago beings resurfacing just looking at Reimu.

Soon, Reimu hears the calls of her mother and waves goodbye to her friend.

“...What a strange kid.” The girl observes. “...What a nice kid.” She decides to correct herself.

Day 13

It has been several days since Reimu and the girl met each other, and ever since that day, Reimu has been bringing in snacks for the girl.

Today is ever so slightly different, as Reimu brings in a whole meal instead of some snacks. Reimu places a bowl of tonkatsu ramen beside her friend’s feet, which confuses her as she's still bound and can't move

“Uh, do you plan to feed me that...?” The girl asks, unsure of Reimu’s intentions as she places down the chopsticks before heading toward the girl’s bindings and touching the binds. “Hey, wait- what are you doing?!” The girl begins struggling, afraid that Reimu might trigger the binds’ divine shock.

Dread fills the girl's mind and she begins struggling even more, only to fall to the floor, narrowly missing the bowl of food.

“Pitoo! Ugh,” The girl spits out a rock. She looks up and realizes she no longer feels the restricting presence of her binds. “I- I’m free?!” She gets up and pats her body to confirm the binds are no longer there. She turns around to see Reimu smiling at her, holding the binds in her hands.

“Oh, you’ve made a big mistake girl.” The blonde says as she folds her legs, ready to pounce at Reimu and devour her. Any moment now, the daughter of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden shall be gone.

All she has to do is jump, and she could torment Sendai even more.

...Any moment now.

She takes one step toward Reimu. Yes, slowly she will make her way toward the girl and end her. When she takes enough steps, the girl kneels to reach Reimu’s height and asks, “What’s your name, girl?” Even though she already knew what it was.

“Ray... Moo...” Reimu shakes her head. “Reimu... Hakurei!” Once correcting herself, she smiles, and the girl smiles back.

“Ah, what the hell am I doing? I don’t know why, but I can’t find myself harming this girl.” The girl sighs in defeat.

“What... Your name?” Reimu asks.

“You can call me Rumia,” She answers.

“Room... Ruu...” Reimu tries to say with difficulty. “Roomia?”

“Wow, Sendai needs to send this kid to school.” She thought. “Close enough.”

“Roomia! Roomia!” Reimu cheers before grabbing the bowl of tonkatsu ramen and giving it to her.

“...Heh, thanks.” With the chopsticks, Rumia begins eating her meal as Reimu stares at her, full of curiosity.

As always, the time for Reimu to leave has come. Over the days, Reimu has learned to estimate what time her mother would call her, so she now goes home on her own accord before her mother would look for her. She leaves the cave and expects to see her mother back at the shrine.

But unknown to her, Sendai has been waiting this entire time near the cave, hidden. She waits for Reimu to fully leave before entering the cave herself.

Upon entering the cave, Sendai expects to see a Rumia that was still bound. She did not expect to see Rumia leaning on the stone she was supposed to be bound to, holding the bindings, and looking Sendai straight in the eye.

“Are you gonna do this or what?” Rumia asks Sendai, throwing her the binds. “Cute kid by the way, but she could use some schooling.”

WSendai dashes towards Rumia and punches her in the gut with with a divine aura-imbued attack, before unleashing a barrage of strikes and throwing her to the ground.

“How did you make it out of your bindings? Sendai asks as she puts Rumia in a chokehold.

“Gah... Your kid... Undid them...” Rumia croaks.

“W-What?” Sendai’s grip on Rumia slightly weakens. “Lies! Reimu hasn’t shown any traces of spiritual powers!” Sendai punches Rumia in the face.

“Guh... I ain’t lying. The kid really did get rid of the bindings. If I had the strength to get rid of those bindings myself, I would be long, long gone.”

“Tsk.” Sendai punches Rumia five more times in the face, rendering the creature of darkness immobile and unconscious. Sendai redoes her binds and adds even more bindings to make any further attempts of escape even more difficult. Sendai would need to think of a more permanent solution to hold Rumia down, but she will have to return to the shrine before Reimu gets suspicious of why her mother wasn't in the shrine.

Sendai heads back to the shrine to prepare her daughter some dinner.

Day 14

Reimu is getting ready to prepare snacks for Rumia, with Rin helping her out.

“So Reirei,” Rin says in a kind and hushed voice. “Who is this friend of yours?”

“Roo... Roo... Roo!” Reimu says cheerfully, forgetting the last half of Rumia’s name.

“Roo, huh?” Rin wraps up a bento box before giving it to Reimu. “Make sure you give this to Roo and say that I said hi, okay?”

Reimu takes the bento and smiles at Rin. “’ Kay!”

“Now get going,” Rin leads Reimu out of the shrine. “Your mother and I are going to have a little talk with each other.”

Reimu nods to this before leaving the shrine and making her way toward the cave.

Rin waits for Reimu to leave the area before sliding the door closed. She sighs and makes her way to Sendai.

“Alright Sendai,” Rin starts the conversation. “You’ve been stalling from giving me any answers for the past few days. Tell me what happened when you disappeared.”

“But first, are you sure are you fine?” Sendai puts a palm on Rin’s cheeks. “That cleansing ritual still hasn’t gotten rid of the curse energy in your body. And it’s only been a few days since you’ve gotten those bullet holes.” Sendai gently puts her hand on a bandage wrapped around Rin’s forehead. “I personally believe that you should stay in bed.”

“Once again, you’re stalling.” Rin takes Sendai’s palm off her head. “No more delays, spill it.”

Sendai sighs. In her mind, she begins recalling what Yukari has told her to do when Rin starts asking questions. And that is to tell her a detailed story of her being sent to the Outside World to deal with a powerful youkai who has influenced more of Japan’s superstitious communities to stay strong in the Outside World.

“Fine,” Sendai begins. “It begins like this.”

Reimu excitedly enters the cave to give Rumia her food. She rushes in, only to see her friend tied up and beaten.

“R-Roo?!” Reimu drops the bento and runs to Rumia and begins removing her binds. “Whud happen, Roo?!”

“Gah... Hey kid, nothing really... Is that for me?” Rumia says, eyeing at the bento box.

Reimu ignores her and begins coming to conclusions. “Mama did this to you! I’ll... Talk to her! Yes!”

Reimu finishes unbinding Rumia and hastily leaves the cave.

“Ah! Wait, kid!” Rumia tries to stop her, but Reimu ignores her once again. “Geh... This won’t end well...” Rumia thinks, before opening the bento and begins eating the contents inside.

“Oh please!” Rin shouts. “Yukari getting incapacitated during this fight? That’s impossible!”

“No, Rin. It is entirely possible. Y-You’ve already seen youkai that could put Yukari down!” Sendai counters, her words filled with hesitation and uncertainty.

“Sendai,” Rin holds Sendai’s hand and squeezes. “You are a really, really, bad liar.” She looks at Sendai apologetically. “You’ve never been able to lie in front of anyone without leaking any hint of hesitation in your voice. You also tend to stutter when trying to lie, struggling to make stuff up on the go. So why does this lie sound like it’s something that has been thought of in advance?” Rin lets go of Sendai’s hand. “Is it perhaps, because Yukari created this lie for you to tell?”

“I...”

Rin sighs. “Sendai, please. What actually happened?”

“Gah... I’m sorry Yukari...” Sendai mutters. “What happened was–“

“Mama!” Reimu interrupts, storming into the room and begins tugging on Sendai’s sleeve. “How dare! You hit Roo! And tie her up... Again!”

“...Tie her up?” Rin says while looking directly at Sendai. “Reimu, why would your mother tie your friend up?” Rin’s voice begins shifting into a more aggressive tone.

“I... Dunno!”

“Reimu,” Rin begins gently stroking Reimu’s purple hair. “What does your friend look like?”

“Uh...” Reimu begins struggling, trying to think of words that would fit her friend’s description.

“Now, now, sweetie!” Sendai hastily says. “It’s no problem if you don’t know how to say what she looks like! We just haven’t taught you those words yet!”

“Nuh-uh! Roo’s hair is... Yellow like the sun!” Reimu exclaims. “And her... S-shirt...? Black as night!”

Sendai and Rin fall silent at this.

“U-um... Mama...? Riri?” Reimu tries to speak to them.

“Sendai,” Rin says forcefully. “Where did you hide her?”

“...Rumia is in the cave nearest to the shrine.” Sendai solemnly answers, praying her answer is as vague as possible.

“Thanks,” Rin grabs her musical weapons before leaving the shrine in search of the cave.

Reimu meanwhile, didn’t like Rin’s tone. And since she had spent almost a month with Rin taking care of her while Sendai was gone, she knew when Rin was angry. Hurriedly, she separates from Sendai and runs off to the woods.

“I- Reimu, come back!” Sendai tries to call her back, but Reimu has already disappeared into the forest.

Using a shortcut, Reimu is able to get to the cave before Rin, and she hurriedly runs to Rumia.

“Woah kid! Slow down!” Rumia says when Reimu stops in front of her, out of breath. “What’s wrong?”

“Riri...!” Reimu says, panting. “Riri is... Coming...”

“Riri?” Rumia asks, confused. “Who is she?”

“My... My... Other mother?”

“That doesn’t help” Rumia gently holds Reimu by her shoulders. “What’s her last name?”

“Last name...?”

“Yeah, last name. Like how your last name is Hakurei. What is Riri’s last name?”

“Uhhh... Sa... Sa...” Reimu struggles to say. She has only heard Rin’s full name once when her mother introduced her. “Sa... Tsu...”

“Satsuki?” Rumia finishes, hoping Reimu would say no.

“Maybe? Something... Like that.”

Rumia groans in annoyance. “Alright, kid. How about you...” She points at the strange structure that resides in the cave. “Hide behind that thing. Okay? I’ll have a small talk with Riri.”

Reimu nods before hiding behind the structure. At this moment, Rumia hears footsteps coming from the cave’s entrance, so she positions herself to lean on a stalagmite, looking cool and suave despite her torn clothes.

“Hey,” Rumia says, when Rin enters the cave, catching her attention.

“You!” Rin exclaims before charging in with Musashi. Rin swings, cutting the stalagmite in half as Rumia dodges out of the way. Rin backs away after missing her attack. “So, my suspicions were right! I don’t know why Sendai hasn’t killed you yet, but I’ll finish the job!”

“...We could talk about this, Satsuki. For once, I’m open to negotiations.” Rumia raises her arms to form a welcoming stance, smiling. She studies Rin for a few seconds and senses a familiar energy emanating from her, something different from her kirin aura. Something more... Demonic.

“Negotiations? Ha... Both of us have a reason to cut each other throats. Why must you seek diplomacy now?”

"Even in my current state, you will eventually grow tired. Fighting me shall be a battle of attrition."

“Oh please. Just shut up and die.”

Rin dashes toward Rumia and swings at her once more, only for Rumia to dodge to the side once again before backing up. This process of Rin attempting to slice Rumia in half while the latter dodges repeats for a few moments until Rumia senses a burst of aura radiating from her foe. Rin’s overall speed increases as a result, forcing Rumia to summon a sword out of the shadows to block Rin’s Musashi as she has grown too fast for Rumia to dodge confidently.

“Getting faster...” Rumia mutters as she continues parrying Rin’s attacks.

Rin continues with her assault, each strike stronger than the last. She also now pushes her weapon into Rumia’s sword every so often, trying to see if she could break it in half. Eventually, Rin gives herself quick bursts of speed with her aura to suddenly appear at Rumia’s side and bring Musashi down at her. Rumia tries to block this attack with her arm, but it leads to it getting sliced off. Rumia briefly winces in pain before dashing away, using her other arm to confirm that she has indeed lost a limb.

“Bloody hell... What has that hag been feeding you to gain Sendai’s speed...” Rumia moves her remaining arm around before dissolving the sword she has summoned in place for a zweihander, wielding it as if it was just a normal sword. Her strength is slowly returning, but she knows it wouldn’t help against someone who could match Sendai’s speed. Not until she has regained all her strength.

With her immense speed, Rin closes the gap between her and Rumia and clashes Musashi with Rumia’s weapon. Thanks to the much larger sword, Rin is forced to keep her distance as she tries to find an angle where Rumia’s zweihander won’t get in her way. If Rin had a much more normal weapon, she would have been able to do swift stabs. But alas, that isn’t possible due to Musashi’s design.

As the two slowly keep exerting more and more effort to keep up with each other, Rumia notices that the familiar energy she sensed from Rin earlier has been slowly growing, and it wasn't her kirin aura. Not long after, she could feel Rin’s strikes growing weaker by the second.

To Rumia, Rin was starting to move sluggishly as it becomes much easier to block her attacks. She also didn’t put much force into swinging Musashi, and her kirin aura is beginning to dim.

From Rin’s view, she could feel her strength being sapped away. The world began to slowly darken and blur as she continues to push onward. Soon, she finds herself kneeling in front of her adversary. Taking rapid breaths, unable to have the strength to keep moving.

“Wha... What is... What’s happening to me...” Rin says as she gasps for air, grasping her chest as she feels blood leaking from her bullet wounds, opening up due to her intense motions. She’ll have to sew the wounds back together if she gets out of this battle alive.

“That curse flowing from your body is draining your strength,” Rumia informs her as she drives the edge of her zweihander into the cavern’s floor and leans on its handle. “It’s meant to weaken its target to render them useless if they somehow lived her barrage.”

“...Her... Barrage...?” Rin tries to stand up once more but is unable to. “Don’t tell me that móguǐ was one of yours... That... Devil...”

“Yeah. She used to work for me. Didn’t think I’d cross paths with her anytime soon.” Rumia lifts her zweihander from the ground and places it on her shoulder as it slowly dissolves into a shadowy mist. “Go home Satsuki, if you know what’s good for you.” Rumia turns her back on Rin and begins walking towards the Makaian gateway.

“Tsk... I’m not going to let this chance presented to me... Slip away!” Rin pulls out a scroll from her pockets and unrolls it. When the end of the scroll hits the ground and makes a thud echo across the cave, Rumia looks back to see if that was Rin collapsing. Instead, she finds Rin reading the contents of the scroll.

“Cóng tǒngzhì tiānguó de shǒudū, wǒ hūhuàn èr gē...”

Upon hearing those lines, a memory is brought to Rumia’s mind. Back when she and Mima enacted their revenge against the Hakurei. Mima faced the shrine maiden by herself, while Rumia was tasted with drawing the attention of the other youkai exterminators, so that they couldn't interfere with Mima's battle. As she slaughtered the exterminators, one of them sat and chanted those lines while their allies died under her hand. If Rin completed that chant...

“Wǒ qíqiú nǐ cìyǔ wǒ suǒ xū de lìliàng...”

“Damnit Satsuki!” Rumia dashes at Rin with her hand reaching out, hoping she could grab her before she could finish chanting.

“Yǐ kèfú wǒ miànqián de zhèxiē kǎoyàn!”

A surge of divine energy is released from Rin’s body, lighting up the entire cavern with her pure, white aura. When Rumia comes close to her, Rin steps to the side to grab Rumia’s arm with both of her hands and brings it down to her knees. The sound of Rumia’s arm snapping echoes around the room. Rin then throws Rumia away into the cave’s wall, shaking the entire cavern.

“Gah... Not again...” With her other arm now rendered useless, Rumia struggles to get herself up. She looks at the newly empowered Rin. She still looks the same, but a white horn now pierces through the bandages on her forehead. “Where the hell did you learn that trick...? Thought it was lost to time since none of your predecessors used that stupid power boost against me.”

“Quiet.” Rin grabs Rumia by the neck and punches her three times in the gut. The third strike goes through Rumia’s stomach, and Rin throws her away again, this time straight into the Makai gateway. Rin slowly approaches her target, feeling tired after every single step. The power boost seems to have not dispelled the curse. Unsure if Rumia would die off after that attack, Rin wonders if she would have enough strength in her to finish the job...

Reimu was horrified when she saw Rumia slam into the side of where she was hiding. No, horrified would be putting it lightly. She was traumatized. She guessed as much that Rin was angry at her friend for some reason, but she didn’t think the two would fight! Reimu debates if she should reveal herself or keep listening to Rumia’s instructions to stay hidden. But as Rin comes closer to them, she decides to step out and stop her other mother.

“Riri...! Stop!” Reimu goes between Rumia and Rin with her arms out. “Y-Y-You’re hurting Roo!”

“R-Reirei?” Rin stops in her tracks, upon realizing that Reimu is in her way. “W-W-What are you doing here?”

“...Kid... I told ya... To stay... Kuh... Hidden...” Rumia gasps for air. Rin’s aura courses through Rumia’s body like lightning, her whole body screaming in pain, but she kept that to himself. Even trying to speak was too much.

“I... I... I... I...!” Reimu glances at Rumia’s wounded and bruised status. Instead of what would normally be red blood, black fluid flows gushes out of her opened stomach and through her sliced-off arm.

“Don’t look!” Rin covers Reimu’s eyes to stop her from looking at Rumia’s injured body.

“L-L-L-Let me... Go!” Reimu squirms to try and get out of Rin’s grasp but to no avail. “Riri...! Y-You...! Uwaaaah!” Reimu begins crying.

Rin keeps Reimu close to her. She looks at Reimu and Rumia, knowing she has to make a decision. End Rumia now or tend to Reimu first. To her, the choice was obvious.

Rin carries Reimu at chest height at keeps her face away from Rumia. She glares at Rumia before turning around and walking away, her strength continuing to seep from her body. She could only get so far until she is forced to put the crying Reimu back down. She walks a few steps ahead, bending her body forward and reaching her hand out towards the exit, hoping to have the energy to at least make it out of the cave. However, she falls to the ground, succumbing to the curse.

Reimu looks up upon hearing something fall to the ground. Her crying briefly calms to a halt when she sees Rin on the ground.

“Ri...Ri...? Riri!” Reimu runs to Rin’s side, stumbling and tripping over the cave’s uneven terrain, earning herself a few wounds and bruises along the way. “Riri!” Reimu shakes Rin with all her might to wake her up, but it proves to be pointless. Reimu buries her face in Rin’s clothes and resumes her crying once more. She feels like something like this has happened to her before, but she couldn’t remember when and how.

Behind the two, Rumia remains motionless nearby the gateway. She wishes to stand up and head to Reimu’s side, but she can’t. Both the Hakurei and Satsuki’s divine aura feel like a constant jolt of electricity that surges through the body. It would kill most youkai to experience Sendai or Rin’s power at full force.

But Rumia however, is stubborn. She tries to move her arm at first, trying to ignore the stream of pain. Upon being able to slightly move her arm, her thoughts of being in excruciating agony are interrupted when her ears pick up the sound of footsteps.

“...Rin? Reirei?” Coming from the entrance, Sendai’s voice echoes through the cave. Rumia stops moving when Sendai enters the cavern, running to Rin and Reimu upon spotting them. “Reirei! Dearie!” She kneels beside the two.

“Mama...!” Reimu looks up at her mother, trying to wipe her tears away. “Riri...! She- She f-f-fought with... With... With Roo! And...! And...! And...!” Reimu returns to crying, so Sendai hushes her and keeps her close to her body.

Sendai looks at Rumia's wounded body and can see the girl of darkness eyeing her. When Rumia slowly moves her body, Sendai throws a piece of paper that lands close to Rumia’s neck, causing her to stop.

“Read it later.” Sendai carries Rin in one arm and picks up Reimu in the other. “I cannot see what value Yukari sees in you, but I shall go along with her plans.”

Sendai walks out of the cave, leaving Rumia behind with the paper.

As Rumia’s body slowly regenerates, trying to overcome Rin’s aura, Rumia picks up the paper and unfolds it. The contents of the paper are written in English, as Rumia has only learned to speak Japanese, not read it.

She takes time in the shadows, reading Yukari’s letter to her.

Sendai places Reimu in her room. She has fallen asleep after exhausting herself, crying. Sendai then places seals and talismans around the shrine in order to deter youkai from breaking in. Rin had told her about when an amanojaku kidnapped Reimu for ransom, and how it earned the two of them different injuries.

Sendai then leaves the shrine, with Rin on her shoulder still knocked out. Sendai is unsure if Rin still having her horn would be a problem. Rin had only done this once before, letting a horn emerge from her forehead to create medicine for Kouko’s mother. When that happened, Rin cut it off and an absurd amount of blood began leaking out. Fortunately, Miss Kamishirasawa was able to take her to a special place for Rin to be treated at. Sendai is now making her way to the village to visit Keine to see if she could take Rin to that doctor once again.

Sendai arrives at Keine’s doorsteps, the villagers looking at her in intrigue. Only recently the Hakurei Shrine Maiden has resurfaced after being missing for so long and she has yet to make any official comment about Reimu being kidnapped.

Sendai knocks on Keine’s door and calls out her name.

“Miss Kamishirasawa! I require your assistance!” Sendai calls. “I-It’s Rin. She needs that special doctor you know.”

The door slides open, revealing Keine in her usual outfit, but she seems to be quite tired. Her posture isn't straight... her hair is messy and unruffled, and her eyes have eye bags.

“...Ah, Lady Hakurei... What... Ahhhhh-hhaaaaa...” Keine yawns. “What brings you here?”

Sendai moves her shoulder a bit, jostling Rin around.

“Hm...?” Keine rubs her eyes. Her vision eventually clears up and sees Rin on Sendai’s shoulder. “...Ah? What happened to her?” Keine asks as she lets Sendai inside to put Rin down. She notices that Rin has gotten herself a brand-new horn. “She performed the ritual...? Why? There was no need to do so yet. Her sister is still quite far from reaching fifty.”

“She did not perform the ritual. She read this instead.” Sendai pulls out the scroll Rin used for her incantation.

“...That’s the scroll the boundary youkai gave Rin. The reason she asked me to teach her Chinese.” Sendai hands Keine the scroll, so she unwraps the scroll to read its contents. “...Essentially, these scrolls are prayers directed to a ‘Second Brother’ located in a Capital that rules the heavens. Must’ve been referring to the Lunar Capital...” Keine mutters the last sentence quietly enough for Sendai to not hear clearly.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing of importance.” Keine sits Rin upright. “So, you wish to take her to that doctor in the bamboo forest?”

“Indeed. I want that horn to be removed. I am unsure if her having it for a prolonged duration would affect her negatively, so I want it gone.”

“I can understand your concern, Lady Hakurei. Rin was one of my students and still is, so I wish to learn why she did this.”

“I am afraid that information must remain a secret.”

“...Understandable.” Keine picks up the unconscious Rin, and heads to exit. “And Lady Hakurei?”

“...Yes?”

“Welcome back.” Keine exits her home, leaving Sendai alone in the teacher’s house.

“Ha...” Sendai sighs before departing from the house herself and returning to the shrine.

Keine makes her way to Eientei with Mokou’s help once more.

“Thank you for the help again, Mokou.” Keine thanks her friend.

“Nah, it's okay. I must say though, this kid’s getting a lot of visits to the Lunarians.” Mokou observes. “Is she really that important?”

“I wish she wasn’t...” Keine admits. “She has grown to be a respectable figure in the village as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden’s partner.”

“Oh? So she’s this White Silence figure I’ve been hearing about?”

“...Unfortunately, yes. This means she puts herself in danger more often than I wish her to. Just like what happened a few days ago...”

“Yeah, she was hurt pretty bad then. You also brought that princess from the village as well.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me about her.”

Rabbit guards begin running out of Eientei with their spears drawn and aimed at Mokou. A figure emerges behind the rabbits with long black hair and wears a pink shirt with many bows.

“Fujiwara no Mokou! The Princess wishes for your corpse!” One of the guards yells at them.

“Tsk... Guess this conversation ends here. See ya Keine.” Mokou puts her feet ablaze before dashing into the bamboo woods.

“Oh you aren’t escaping me that easily!” Kaguya says before she gives chase to Mokou. The rabbit guards proceed to sigh and glance at Keine.

“The girl needs treatment again?” One of the guards says. “Haa... Head in Miss Keine.”

Keine gives them a short nod before entering Eientei itself and begins waiting in the main room. She sets down Rin and eventually, Eirin arrives at the room with a purple-haired rabbit in tow.

“...Already?” Eirin sighs upon seeing Keine and Rin. “At this point, it feels like you're taking advantage of my free healthcare.”

“You’ve never offered me any free healthcare before.”

“I didn’t, but since you continue to keep this place secluded in secrecy, we can say that this is our way of repaying you.” Eirin glances at her companion. “Udonge?”

“Y-Yes...” The rabbit responds timidly.

“Please bring a stretcher here.”

“Y-Yes...” Udonge shakily bows her head before leaving the room.

“That rabbit is much more nervous than usual.” Keine remarks.

“I have already explained to you her possible connection to the Moon, yes?” Eirin answers. “It appears that Udonge has learned about that and is quite nervous. If she were still on the moon, Satsuki here would be able to boss her around for being a descendant of a powerful figure in the capital.”

“That ‘possible’ has turned into reality,” Keine says as she brings out the scroll Sendai gave her and unrolls it. “She supposedly chanted this, causing her to regrow that damned horn.”

“...Yes, it has indeed turned into a reality.” Eirin examines the scroll. “Are you sure it was wise to show this to me?”

“...As payment for your services.”

“Well, if you wish.” Eirin stands up when Udonge enters the room once more with a stretcher with a set of medical tools on top of it. Udonge hesitantly moves the tools around, preparing them for the surgery. “So I assume you want me to remove the horn?”

“Yes, please. While I’m not certain if there are any negative effects of her keeping that horn, it's best if she continues to look human.”

“Ah, so discrimination does run in the village.” Eirin calmly states as she begins slowly cutting off the horn. Blood begins pouring out from the cut.

“Don’t call it that…” Keine sighs, putting her elbow on her legs, and rests her chin on her palm. “But yes, that’s still an issue.”

“Well, I’ll make sure that she does not have to go through that. Just sit back and relax teacher. Now that I’ve done this before, I’ll do this twice as fast.”

Sendai places the sleeping Rin down on a futon. Keine had returned her to Sendai at the former’s request so she could watch over her. Sendai needs to make sure that Rin does not reveal Rumia’s existence or location to anyone she knows. Yukari wants to keep Rumia’s location as quiet as possible until her “plan” succeeds.

After she sets Rin down, Sendai heads to the room and falls asleep with Reimu at her side once more.

Chapter Text

March 16

Two days.

It has been two days since Rin was knocked down by her stunt against Rumia. When Sendai told her about this, Rin only had one question in mind that she needed to ask.

“Is Reimu safe? And what did you do with that… Murderer!” Rin grips her fist hard enough that her nails begin cutting into her skin, causing blood to leak from her hands.

Sendai sighs. To her, this is more trouble than it is worth. Convincing Rin to keep her desire for revenge in check sounds like an impossibility. Sendai just wishes that whatever the outcome is, it's something that lines up with Yukari’s goals. She did say that Rin’s greatest weakness would be Reimu. So Sendai must use that to her advantage, even though the same weakness applies to her.

“Reimu’s safe. don’t worry.” Sendai answers her. “If anything, she’s much more worried about you. Being asleep since yesterday has worried her greatly, and she fears that it's all her fault that you’ve ended up in that short coma. I’ve tried getting her to calm down but…” Sendai looks away. “She refuses to listen to me whenever I bring you up.”

“...Where is she?” Rin stops clenching her fists and her voice softens ever so slightly. “I’ll go talk to her.”

“She’s in her room.” Sendai grabs Rin’s bloodied hands and wipes the blood off with a cloth she grabbed from RIn’s medical bag. “Expect her to bring up her ‘friend’ the moment you speak to her.”

“...Fine.” Rin brings out two bandages and uses them to cover her bleeding palms. “And after that, we talk.” Rin walks out of the room, leaving Sendai alone.

“Just like a mother putting her child as her number one priority,” Yukari says as she puts her head through a gap. “To those who didn’t know any better, they might’ve mistaken the two of you as mothers caring for a single child.”

“What do you want, Yakumo?” Sendai scowls at her unwanted guest.

“My, my. Already feisty huh?”

“It should be obvious why that is.” Sendai continues. “Keeping Rumia in that location… Letting my daughter make constant contact with her…”

“If this doesn’t work out, no worries. We can return to our original plan of sealing her away.” Yukari reassures her. “But that is only an if. This scheme of mine will work.”

“What’s even the point of this?!” Sendai begins raising her voice. “As far as I can tell, this could lead to my friendship with her slipping away!"

“Hah. Figure it out yourself. Telling you would ruin everything. Tata~” Yukari slips into a gap, waving goodbye.

“...Damnit!” Sendai kicks the wall before leaving the room. She then comes into the sight of Reimu sleeping in Rin’s lap smiling while the latter combs the former’s hair. “At least it went well between the two of them.”

“I overheard your voice while you were arguing with Yukari,” Rin says upon noticing Sendai’s presence. “Be lucky that the walls weren’t thin enough to hear your conversation with her.”

Sendai stands still for a while before she responds. “So what did you tell her?” She looks at the sleeping Reimu.

“Told her that I’m sorry for attacking her friend and it was a misunderstanding.” Rin looks away from Sendai. “...And that she’ll come with me to apologize to her friend for my actions.”

“Y-you’re not serious right?” Sendai asks in disbelief. “You? Apologizing to Rumia? Why did you make such a promise, knowing that such an apology can never be genuine?”

“...Whatever makes her happy.” Rin looks down at Reimu’s sleeping face. “I’ll never forgive myself if I’m the one that makes her cry.”

“...Well, make her smile then.” Sendai kneels and pats Reimu’s head. The two of them stay by the child's side for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 18

Rin and Reimu walk into the cave where Rumia was sealed at. The two hold hands as Rin makes sure that Reimu doesn’t trip herself on the cave’s flooring.

“What am I doing?” Rin thought to herself. “Even if it is for Reimu’s happiness, I can tell that this won’t lead to the sincere apology Reimu wants to hear from me. Sigh…”

As the two of them make their way to the cave’s chamber, Rin spots a figure in the distance sitting down at the base of the Makai Gateway, staring straight at them. When the two of them finally reach the chamber, they could see Rumia smiling at them.

“Hey, kid!” Rumia greets Reimu. “Been a while huh?”

Rin observes that Rumia has been shackled with a ball and chain on all of her limbs plastered with seals, allowing her freedom in her movement. Only if she’s willing to exert her strength to move.

Rumia then casually stands up and stretches her back as if nothing was weighing her down. “So, brought your mama here for today huh?”

Reimu gives Rumia a smile before separating from Rin to go to her friend while Rin simply looks away, trying to push down any malice and contempt she holds for Rumia while Reimu is still nearby.

Reimu ushers Rumia to come closer to her so she could whisper something. After doing so, Rumia looks at Rin before facing Reimu again, nodding at her.

“Riri!” Reimu calls to Rin, motioning her to come to them. “Come over… Here!”

Rin sighs before slowly walking towards the two as her right-hand grips her left arm. Every step she takes towards them feels heavier than the last. Part of her just wishes to stop and turn around. But instead, she continues forward, embracing herself for what comes next and readying her “apology.”

“Ya sure you wanna go through with this Satsuki?” Rumia asks the approaching half-kirin.

Rin doesn’t reply to Rumia’s question and instead stares down at her.

“U-Uh… Ri…ri…?” Reimu looks at Rin nervously.

“...M-Miss Rumia–” Rin begins.

“Stop.” Rumia interrupts her before looking down at Reimu. “Hey kid, why don’t you leave us adults alone? This requires some grownup talk.”

“A-Are you… Sure?” Reimuu looks at Rumia worryingly. “Y-You two won’t fight?”

“Naw!” Rumia ruffles Reimu’s purple hair while she carefully moves her hand in a way that the iron ball won’t accidentally hit the girl. “It would be fine, right Satsuki?”

Rin quickly smiles at Reimu and speaks to her with a hushed tone. “Yes Reirei, we’ll be fine. I promise.”

“I have an idea. How about I…” Rumia begins forming small figurines made of her icky darkness and hands them over to Reimu. Rin notices sweat dripping down Rumia's head, as if creating such simple shapes nearly exhausted her. “Go play with them kid, while we talk.”

“...Okay!” Reimu takes the figures and heads to the opposite side of the Makai Gateway, hidden from Rumia and Rin’s sight.

Rumia then suddenly falls to the ground, gasping as sweat trickles down her forehead. She extends her arm to Rin to see if she would help her up, but she instead glares at her.

“Yeah, I expected as much,” Rumia grumbles as she leans on the gateway’s base.

“Talk,” Rin commanded her.

“About what?” Rumia snarkily replies.

Rin simply gives her the death stare in response.

Seeing that trying to convince her otherwise would be useless, Rumia gives in. “Ugh fine. Look, it was never in my plans to befriend the kid. She just happened to stumble into this godforsaken cave.”

“This curse your minion inflicted me with. How do I get rid of it.”

“You can’t,” Rumia states. “Unless you ever meet Scarlett again and convince her to dispel it, it is impossible to remove a Makaian curse. At least to my knowledge.”

“Then we’re done. Rei–”

“Slow down there Satsuki.” Rumia interrupts Rin again. “I can tell you still have some things to say about me. So why don’t we just get this over with it?”

“What else do I have to say to you,” Rin says coldly. “You’re nothing but a stain in my life. Muddying whatever you touch.”

“Glad to know I was a big impact on your life,” Rumia says jokingly.

“And why do you act like you don’t have anything against me? Against my bloodline? I thought you wanted to take revenge against the Hakurei and the Satsuki.”

“My thirst for revenge ended at your father Satsuki. While I was infuriated at you for ruining the moment of me basking in your father’s death, I can understand the need for revenge.” Rumia grins.

“You’re walking on thin ice, youkai of darkness,” Rin warns her as her left-hand curls into a fist.

“Let me tell you something Satsuki.” Rumia struggles a bit to get herself up. “Despite what the world has told you about me, I’m no heartless bastard. I’ve had my own grievances in my time before Gensokyo, as a ruler.”

Rin stares at her, waiting to see where Rumia’s story goes with intrigue. A monster like her? A ruler?

“I won’t go into much detail, but I lead a group of people that wanted power and infamy alongside another individual. We were nobodies at first. But as we slowly rose to power, taking over mere villages to conquering kingdoms… We felt unstoppable.” Rumia smiles as she begins remembering her past deeds. “Soon we were our own kingdom, prompting us to become its queens. And when you acquire such responsibility through sheer force, people are willing to take that role for themselves.”

Rumia then snarls as she forms a sword through her darkness and slams it to the ground for dramatic effect despite the effort it took. She could already feel her strength sapping away. “A lot of who I believed to be close confidants turned their backs on us. Even newcomers that earned our trust and respect were only in it to dethrone us or were spies from other kingdoms. All of them died by our hands, save for a select few who stayed loyal to us such as Scarlett and her siblings.” Rumia dissolves her sword into the shadows. “I had to deal with lots of betrayal and revenge–”

“Stop.” Rin interrupts her. “This reeks of a script.”

“...Good.” Rumia pulls out a piece of paper and crumples it before throwing it away. It sinks into a puddle of darkness, disappearing into the shadows. “Following the advice of those who think they could control me is annoying.”

“Who gave you that script?”

“She wants to keep that a secret. But at the very least, I could now give my own answer to your question: And why do I act like I don’t have anything against you?” Rumia sits down once more, leaning on the base of the gateway. “I like the kid. I didn’t realize it till now, but she reminds me of someone I looked out for while I was queen. Someone so innocent born in the middle of a kingdom of murderers and warlords.”

“So is that all? Is it simply because Reimu reminds someone you once knew?”

“Yep. If upsetting you upset the kid, then I’m fine dropping my idea for revenge. Killing off the retired Satsuki and Hakurei was starting to get old.”

“So that's it?” Rin frowns. “Just like that, you drop your ideas for vengeance for a mere child?”

“Hey, would you want to beat me to a pulp again and betray your daughter’s expectations?”

“Tsk… She isn’t my daughter…” Rin mutters.

“Might as well be. She even considers you as your other mother.”

“...Don’t think this will be the end, youkai of darkness. Just because you’ve given up on me, doesn’t mean I’ll give up on making your life miserable.”

“Whatever suits ya Satsuki.” Rumia snaps her finger, which then causes the sound of an entranced Reimu to echo through the cave’s chamber. Footsteps can be heard as a black arrow appears from the side and evaporates into the shadows. Reimu then appears into view with her arms stretched out. Seems like she was chasing the black arrow. “We’ve finished Kid. Say hello to your ma again.”

“Riri…!” Reimu runs towards Rin and embraces her. “Did you two… Makeup?”

“Yes Reirei,” Rin answers with a soothing voice. “We have. Now, let’s head back to the shrine and–”

“Can I… Play with Roo?” Reimu interrupts her. “It's been a while since we… Played…”

Rin looks at Rumia with a distant stare. Rumia answers back with a look that said: “Your call, Satsuki.”

“...Fine. But only if Riri gets to watch, okay?” Rin slides her palm off Reimu’s head.

“Yay!” Reimu jumps up and down at the response before heading to Rumia to play with her.

“It has been seven years since she killed my father.” Rin thought to herself as she watches Rumia form several toys made of darkness for her and Reimu to play with. “And twenty years since I saw her ate my mother. Is it really possible for an individual such as her to be so caring?”

Rin then pulls herself away from her thoughts when she hears the giggles of both Rin and Reimu. She looks up to see the two of them playing peek-a-boo with each other.

“...I will never know. While I could never forgive her for those crimes… Perhaps I could tolerate her being with Reimu…”

The hours go by and eventually, they had to head home. Rin and Reimu part ways with Reimu zipping ahead in happiness.

“Satsuki.” Rumia calls out to Rin.

“What is it?” Rin replies without looking back.

“If it eases your soul, bring yourself or Sendai whenever the kid wants to visit me.”

“...” Rin simply walks away, following Reimu out of the cave’s exit.

Chapter Text

March 30

Rumia

Rin took Rumia’s advice. For the past two weeks whenever Reimu came to play with Rumia, either Rin or Sendai tagged along. There was no clear pattern on who Reimu would bring along. Sometimes no one would accompany her at all. Rumia isn't sure if this was because neither of Reimu's mothers was available at those times, or because they had begun to trust her more with her child. Regardless of the truth, Rumia appreciated the alone time she had with the kid.

But when they did come along, Rin often stood in a corner of the cave and simply watched Rumia and Reimu, only participating in their play sessions whenever Reimu prompts her to. Sendai on the other hand, doesn’t seem to mind joining in on the fun they were having. Rumia doesn’t know why, but she assumes that she hasn’t wronged the shrine maiden in any major way. The last Hakurei Rumia claimed had been Sendai’s grandmother, and Sendai herself was too young to remember what she was like anyways. 

Anyways, today is a day when Reimu came alone. The child shared a recent experience with her friend Chen, a bakeneko. The youkai took her to Mayohiga to show Reimu the numerous cats in the area, and she felt it was like a paradise to be swarmed by such furry creatures.

“Just like that girl… She has a thing for cats as well…” Rumia says to herself, recalling the child she once looked after that Reimu reminded her of.

As far as things went, this was a normal day for the both of them. As Rumia watches Reimu walk out of the cave, she prepares herself for her isolation in the dark. She would normally shut her mind off and meditate to pass time till the next day. But as she sits down and closes her eyes, she hears the distant sound of hooves hitting and striking the ground.

Suddenly, a scream reverberates through the cavern and Rumia’s eyes jolt open. For a brief second, she could see Reimu’s silhouette panicking at the cave’s exit before a horse-shaped shadow goes past her, and the child is gone.

Rumia stands up in the realization of what just happened and rushes to the cave’s exit, only for a barrier to appear in her track. Silhouettes that resemble Sendai and Rin fly past the cave, with another figure trailing them, and Rumia now knows that the situation is truly dire.

She looks at her chains and decides that whatever pain she would have to endure would be worth it to ensure Reimu’s safety. She puts her hand on one of the sealing talismans and an electric shock of divine aura courses through her. After removing just one of the seals, Rumia feels like she has already exhausted all of her strength. But she pushes onward.

One by one, she peels off each talisman plastered onto the ball and chains. When done, she collapses from the amount of divine aura surging through her body.

“Gah… Stupid seals…” Rumia grumbles as she crawls toward the barrier. “Damnit kid… Had to go get yourself kidnapped… Ugh…” Rumia struggles as she makes herself stand up. How long has it been since she saw Reimu get taken away? Nine minutes? Ten? Whatever. All Rumia knows now is that she needs to get up and shatter that barrier into pieces if she wants to go help out and save Reimu.

When she gets up, she conjures a blade and begins stabbing the barrier with it. Thankfully, the barrier doesn't release any godly lightning when it. Rumia is able to chip away at it while the rest of her power slowly returns.

Eventually, Rumia regains enough strength for her to put a single hand toward the barrier and begin charging. Dark energy swirls toward the center of her palm before she releases a blast of energy toward the barrier, shattering it. Rumia then runs out of the cave and is greeted with fresh air and the setting sun. She scans the ground for tracks and sees a trail of horseshoe marks, and Rumia begins her chase.

Rushing through the forest, Rumia follows a path that shows clear signs of battle. Fallen trees, arrows plastered across the ground, divine aura being felt throughout the air… Whoever Rin and Sendai were chasing, they must've been quite the brave youkai to kidnap their child while being followed by them.

Soon, Rumia slows herself down as she hears the voices of Rin, Sendai, and another person arguing with someone. She hides behind a large tree and examines the situation.

On one side, Rin and Sendai are kneeling, visibly injured. Rin looks like she’s about to do something stupid while Sendai yells at her to not do it. A familiar girl with blonde hair accompanies them as well, looking nervously at the two.

On the other side, Rumia sees the body of a large white horse covered with gold armor. But as she looks up, she notices that the upper half of the creature is human and also wears armor.

“A centaur.” Rumia quietly hisses. What was a centaur doing in Gensokyo? She and Mima didn’t bring other monsters along with them to find a haven to escape to. Those European creatures should not know this place existence!

…Then again, Rin did say she encountered Scarlett, her old underling, quite recently…

Rumia puts her attention towards the scene once more to try and find where Reimu is. She then sees the child tied on the centaur’s horse half. Tears run across her face as she looks at her two mothers, begging for their help.

What the hell is happening here…?

Rin Satsuki

A few hours ago…

Rin and her sister Kouko are eating snacks in the restaurant Ran took her to when they first met. She'd even been offered access to a VIP room, as thanks for exterminating a disguised youkai a few years ago who'd caused trouble after the chefs had gotten their order wrong.

Sendai had only recently allowed her to return home, and only after Rin swore she wouldn't tell a single soul about Rumia's current situation. Rin hopes that taking her sister to a pleasant restaruant as a VIP would maybe lessen her anger towards Rin due to her disappearing for weeks.

"I should ground you for disappearing on us like that," Kouko grumbles as she munches on some fries. "Do you realize how worried Hakai has been about you? I had to keep telling him you were away on a business trip of some sort for nearly an entire month now!"

"Already not going well…" Rin thought. "I'm sorry… I just didn't think I'd be put down by those injuries for so long…"

"Oh right, those injuries that nearly cost you your life!" Kouko exclaims. "You should have been resting! Taking your time! But no, you got up anyways and overextended yourself!"

"And what if I did take my time resting?" Rin snaps back. "Reimu would have died that day if it weren’t for me!”

“Ah… Then… Sorry.” Her sister quickly retracts her statements after hearing that. A long silence follows the two, as neither of them can speak up after that spat.

TThe silence is broken when someone knocks on the door, followed by it opening. The restaurant owner pokes at the door's side with a nervous face.

“U-Uhm... M-Miss Satsuki?” The owner calls her.

“What?” Rin immediately replies while staring at the owner.

“L-Lady Hakurei wishes to speak with you.” The owner’s nervousness intensifies.

“Where is she?”

“Here, actually… I don’t know how she knew you were here!”

Rin and Kouko briefly exchange glances, coming to a silent agreement.

“Let her up here,” Rin tells the owner, who disappears behind the door.

Moments later, Sendai walks into the room and senses the current atmosphere. “...Did I arrive at a bad time?”

“How did you find us here…” Kouko grumbles as she returns to munching on her fries.

“A maidens intuition.” Sendai simply replies.

“Well, what are you here for then?” Rin asks her. “This better be important…”

“I can tell that I arrived while the two of you were having a spat… Anyways, it’s business. Some villagers came to the shrine to tell me that there's this strange youkai that has the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a man raiding some of the more distant settlements, leaving very few survivors.”

“Well,” Rin quickly stands up, picking up Musashi and Tianhua. “Then we have to go. We can't risk more villagers getting hurt.

Sendai nods. “Good. Then let’s go–”

“No,” Kouko speaks out, causing Sendai and Rin to freeze in place. “I forbid Rin from going.”

“Wh– But sis! People are in danger!”

“No, Rin! I know that you’ve been dabbling in dangerous scenarios lately and I don’t like it at all! A few weeks ago, there were reports of you being carried by Miss Keine into the bamboo forest! Some witnesses even said that you had a horn on your forehead!”

“Kouko,” Sendai steps forward. “I can explain all of this later. But right now, I’ll need the help of my trusted partner to end this as quickly as possible.”

“Were you even able to lift the curse placed on her?” Kouko glares at Sendai.

Sendai doesn’t respond to this, confirming Kouko’s suspicions.

“Then no. Until you could dispel that curse from her body, I forbid Rin from joining you as the White Silence. Besides, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden used to work alone, right? Being alone won’t be a problem now, will it?”

“I–”

“Sendai, stop it.” Rin stops the shrine maiden. “It’s no use trying to get my sister to budge. Besides, she has a point. The curse is limiting my fighting capabilities. Perhaps… It's best if I take it easy. Be in touch with the village again and begin the planning stage of my clinic.”

“Well… If you say so.” Sendai sighs. “I’ll go deal with this alone, I guess.”

"Good riddance." Kouko mutters.

"But with that said… Sis, could you just allow me to be the White Silence just one more time?" Rin pleads. "Would you rest well knowing that people died today, and you had the power to save them?"

"Turning your back on me at the last second?" Kouko chides her. "Seriously?"

"Please…?"

"Ugh. Go." Kouko waves her away. "But make sure you return to me safe and sound. If you come home even with a tiny scratch on you, you'll be stuck with chores for the next two weeks."

"Geh… Let's hope this youkai is a pushover then." Rin pulls out her wallet and hands Kouko two hundred yen. "Use this to order whatever else you like. Sendai?"

Sendai nods at Rin. "Let's go."

As they approach the last known location of that human-horse youkai, the two youkai exterminators see smoke rising through the air. As they get closer, they see the entire settlement is ablaze and can sense magic at play.

"When was the last time we saw an entire village being wiped out…?" Rin wonders aloud with a worried tone in her voice.

"Four years ago, when a baby ōmukade saw a stray settlement and thought of it as an easy meal," Sendai answers back before her eyes begin focusing on two figures. One sitting down, leaning on a wooden post and another lying down beside her. “Down there.”

Rin looks down and sees a familiar figure with red hair. “Kotohime…?”

As they set down on the ground, battle noises can be heard deeper within the settlement. As they set down on the ground, battle noises can be heard deeper within the settlement- swords clashing against a shield, magic being unleashed. Rin then gasps at the sight of a heavily bruised Kotohime and a Yukiko lying down on the ground with a spear embedded in her gut, hyperventilating while her face shows her in pain.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Rin exclaims as she rushes toward the two. “Kotohime! Yukiko! What happened?”

“Ah… Satsuki…” Kotohime coughs. “We meet again with nearly all of my men dead once more.”

“What happened here?”

“Well… We were marching near the road of this village when… Gah…” The princess groans. “When suddenly, a strange youkai charged through us and began attacking that village. We tried our best to take him down but…”

“And it led to this…” Rin looks at Sendai. “You go ahead. I need to fix these two up.”

“Don’t take too long then.” Sendai leaves Rin behind and heads into the village’s center.

“Alright Yukiko, brace yourself as I remove this spear from your stomach,” Rin warns her patient as she puts her hand on the spear’s shaft. Yukiko braces herself and Rin pulls the spear from her body. She pours a vial of liquid into the opening before gently lifting Yukiko and wrapping bandages on her stomach to prevent her from bleeding out.

“Ah…! Blasted–!” Yukiko struggles to sit upright beside Kotohime. “Agh!"

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Rin asks her. "Also once you find yourself comfortable, stop moving. That tonic I poured over your wound was just painkillers."

"I've… Read your file…" Yukiko answers as her breath slowly stabilizes. "You give the injured highly potent painkillers… Before hiding them in a secure location so you could treat them better… Once our surroundings are safe and you've dealt with the enemy…"

"Kotohime, what about you?" Rin offers the princess a medical tablet. "As far as I can tell, you were just simply bruised up. Swallowing this tablet can mitigate some of the pain."

Kotohime takes the tablet and swallows it. Rin then gives her a canteen of water to wet her throat as well and offers Yukiko a sip as well.

"What happened to the people living in the village?" Rin begins asking questions. Depending on Kotohime's answer, it might take a while before she could aid Sendai.

“We were able to get some of the survivors out, but… Most of them were slain moments before we got here.” Kotohime tries to straighten her body. “That youkai… It was unlike anything I’d seen. It swatted my men away like flies.”

“So everyone on the force is down?”

“No…” Yukiko answers. “L-Lady Ellen is the only one left remaining. It seems she recognizes what our foe is.”

“How so?”

“I do not know of the details.” The magician admits. “But there is a chance that it might be a creature that does not belong in Gensokyo.”

“Meaning?”

“The Outside World,” Kotohime replies. “Ellen was an outsider who came to Gensokyo not long ago. One can say that she’s the strongest magician in present-day Gensokyo.”

“I see…” Rin stands up and readies herself. “Well, I have to go see how Sendai’s–”

GOOOOOOONG!

A loud noise reverberates throughout the area, causing Rin to stumble to the ground as the ground briefly shakes.

Rin gently stands up in confusion. What on earth caused that?

Sendai Hakurei

A few minutes ago…

Sendai runs deeper into the village center, scanning her surroundings to see if she can find any survivors in this burning settlement. But alas, all she can see are the bodies of fallen warriors who have either been sliced in half by a large sword, killed with their own weapons, became a pincushion for arrows, or were crushed by something heavy. Just when she begins thinking that everyone's dead, she sees three figures up ahead.

One of those figures would be the youkai, a large figure whose lower body is a horse, and the upper body is that of a human. He is covered in gold armor and holds a large sword and shield with both hands while a bow is slung on his back.

The other two figures are human. One of them, unfortunately, is stabbed through by the centaur's sword while the other, a girl, watches in horror.

“Do you really want to meet the same fate, Aureus?” The youkai speaks with a deep and imposing voice, asking the girl as he slides the corpse off of his sword. “You didn’t come to this place just to die by my blade now, did you?”

The girl he was talking to sticks her tongue out. The youkai scoffs before lifting his sword at her and swinging it downward. Sendai acts quickly by intercepting the blade with her mere hands, causing the youkai to grunt in surprise.

“Mi-Miss Shrine Maiden?” The girl gasps.

“Get out of here!” Sendai tells the girl as she pushes the blade away before punching the youkai’s armor hard enough that it gets pushed away. “Kids like you shouldn’t be here anyways.” She turns around to face the girl.

“Watch out!” The girl exclaims as she heads in front of Sendai and puts her arms out. A pink barrier forms as the youkai's blade swings at them, bouncing it away.

“Tsk!” The youkai backs away after this interruption.

“You can use magic?” Sendai looks at her savior.

“Yes, Miss Shrine Maiden! I’m Ellen Fuwafuwaatama Aureus! One of Kotohime’s friends!” Ellen exclaims when suddenly a cat appears on her fluffy golden hair. "Mrrreeeowww." The cat meows.

"And he's Socrates! My cat!" Ellen introduces him.

“Huh? A kid like you is friends with that woman?"

“Hey! It’s rude to assume someone’s age!” Ellen then drops the barrier as she’s distracted. The youkai uses this chance to draw his bow and fire several arrows at once in rapid succession. Sendai uses her reflexes to deflect the incoming arrows. She grabs the last volley of six arrows, three in each hand, and throws them back at the youkai like needles. However, the youkai merely blocks them with his shield before slinging his bow to his back and drawing his sword once more.

"Can you fly?" Sendai asks Ellen as she keeps her eye on the youkai. "You need to flee."

"No way! I'm not running away!" The magician huffs as she puts her hands on her waist. "I don't remember why, but this fight is personal!"

"I was not asking." Sendai then charges toward the youkai with great speed and throws a punch with all of her might as the youkai raises his shield once more. When the two connect, a large shockwave emerges from the impact, blowing the spectating Ellen away. Cracks begin forming from the ground as Sendai continues pushing her fist into the shield. However, the youkai then gains a burst of strength out of nowhere and deflects the shrine maiden's attack. The youkai thrusts his blade toward his opponent but Sendai sidesteps his blade, grabs the youkai's hand, pulls him towards her, and uses her knee and elbow to crush his arm.

"Agh!" Sendai grunts as she immediately backs away from the youkai. Her elbow and knee she used for that attack throb in pain after clashing with his extremely sturdy armor. "What are you?!"

"Hah. You're quite formidable for a mere human woman." The youkai compliments her. "What is your name?"

Sendai notices that his mouth does not match the words he is speaking. "Sendai Hakurei. It is rare to meet youkai that have not heard of me before."

"Ah, so you're one of the humans that the local monster populace fears. With how pathetic they were, I could see why." He muses. "So where's the other one? That 'White Silence?' I suppose he would be sneaking around, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike." The youkai surveys his surroundings before shouting, "Where are you, you coward? It should be a man who relishes on the battlefield! Are you so weak that you would hide behind a woman?!"

Sendai clutches her first and grits her teeth. A misogynist, huh? Such a thing was a rare breed in Gensokyo. Equality for both genders became the norm long ago when Yukari and a previous Hakurei Shrine Maiden got sick of that mindset and sought to deal with it.

"Pah. I guess they thought I would be weak enough to only send you. No matter," The youkai begins trotting towards Sendai. "He'll be eager to come once he's caught wind that you've become my slave."

His trot shifts into a gallop as he lifts his sword in preparation. Sendai readies herself to dodge out of the way when suddenly pink chains erupt from the ground and begin wrapping around the youkai's body, keeping him in place.

"What is this trickery!" The youkai shouts as several talismans fly towards the youkai and stick themselves to his armor at several spots. Sendai then feels something land behind her and begins walking.

"This should soften up that armor of his," Rin says as she walks to Sendai's side. "Now let's knock him down while Ellen still has him chained!" Rin readies Musashi.

“Wait.” Sendai lowers Rin’s weapon. “Let's leave him alive. We need him to answer some questions about what he is.”

“Ellen can tell us plenty about what he is,” Rin responds. “If even an innocent girl like her wants him down, then perhaps it would be best to get rid of him now.”

“This is the first time we’ve seen a youkai like him. It would be best to keep him around just in case more youkai like them show up.”

“...Fine.” Rin places Musashi to her side and brings out Tianhua and holds it like a baseball bat. “Then let’s make sure he won’t be able to move after this.”

“Hah. Been a while since I’ve seen you use the instrument itself as a weapon.” Sendai says as she enters a fighting stance.

The two girls dash toward the chained youkai. Sendai takes the front side of the youkai while Rin takes the behind. Sendai unleashes a series of punches and kicks while Rin repeatedly smashes her erhu down onto the armor, both of them concentrating on one single area to ensure that their attacks eventually get through. Eventually, both sides begin denting the armor.

The youkai begins slowly shaking, but his two assailants don’t seem to notice. In the distance, Ellen senses something this wrong and flies toward the two to warn them about it.

“Hey! The two of you need to stop!” Ellen exclaims. “He’s about to burst out!”

“Huh?” Rin looks at the magician. “But don’t you have him wrapped in your–”

The pink chains suddenly shatter as the youkai howls as he stretches his arms out and begins running away from the battlefield.

“He’s getting away!” Rin exclaims and the two of them give chase, with Ellen following them along.

Reimu Hakurei

Minutes later…

As Reimu walks towards the cave’s exit after chatting with Rumia, she hears the noise of something galloping towards her. She turns around to see a monster charging at her. She screams in fear before it scoops her up, ties her up with rope, and leaves her hanging on the monster's side.

Reimu then hears the sound of Rin unleashing a barrage of Chinese curses and slurs at the monster while it keeps galloping through the forest. Occasionally, the monster would make sharp turns which allows Reimu to see who is pursuing them. She spots Sendai, her mother, Rin, her other mother, and a girl with blonde hair that looks a few years older than her.

At times, the monster would quickly turn around and draw his bow to unleash a volley of arrows toward his pursuers in an attempt to throw them off, but the girls just dodge and continue to give chase.

During the chase, Sendai feels one of her seals being deactivated. She looks in the direction of where Rumia's cave and realizes what's happening.

"Hey watch out!" Rin calls as she pulls Sendai to her side, just barely scratching the bark of a tree. "This isn't the time to get distracted!"

"Rumia knows," Sendai replies once she finally begins focusing on what's ahead of her. "She knows Reimu's been kidnapped."

"WHAT!?" Rin yells. "Do you mean she planned this–"

"No!" Sendai shouts back. "She must've seen Reimu getting picked up by that youkai! Reimu was exiting her cave right before she was taken! She has begun trying to remove her seals!"

"Agh! We deal with her later!" Rin replies in frustration. "Right now, we're going to get Reimu back!"

"Hey! Who were you two talking about–?" Ellen begins to ask but is interrupted when Rin and Sendai pick up even more speed and get further ahead. "Ohhhh…!"

Reimu doesn't remember how long she has been strapped onto the monster's body. All she knows is that she was crying and praying that she wouldn't fall off.

That is when they come to a stop in a clearing and the monster takes her off his body and brings her face-to-face. Reimu nearly cries once more upon seeing the face of her captor.

"Silence, child. Unless you no longer wish to live." The monster warns her, but she didn't obey. "Typical humans…" The monster places her on his back and makes sure that it would be impossible for her to fall off. He needs the child as a bargaining chip to ensure he can get some leverage from his pursuers. It hurts his pride that he must negotiate with women to let him go, but he was not expecting such ferocity from them. If they had broken through his armor earlier, he might've not survived the ordeal.

Then he hears the noise of the grass rustle, and soon Sendai, Rin, and Ellen emerge into the clearing.

"Ladies," The youkai announces as he grabs Reimu from his back and places his sword at the edge of her neck. "Stay where you are, lest you want the child to lose her head."

Rin and Sendai give the youkai the death glare. "Let her go, you cowardly scum!" Sendai commands him. "Or we will make your death as painful as possible!"

Meanwhile, Rin closes her eyes and begins chanting in Chinese when suddenly an arrow grazes her cheek and begins leaking blood.

"I know an incantation when I hear one." The youkai says as he puts his bow down and points an arrow at Reimu's neck. Sendai is astounded by how fast the youkai managed to take his bow out and sling it over his sword and shield. She didn't even see it happen. "I don't know what language you were speaking, but I suggest you don't try that again."

"Mister Centaur! Please let go of Miss Shrine Maiden's daughter!" Ellen pleads. "Please, I know your kind are savages, but they're not heartless!"

"Wait, this girl is your daughter?" The centaur double takes on Reimu and Sendai before giving out a haughty laugh. "Ahahahaha! I've acquired an even greater asset!"

"Let. Her. Go." Rin grits her teeth as she wipes off the blood on her cheek. "She's already been through so much in the past few months."

"In one condition!" The centaur's lips slowly widen into a wicked grin. "Become my slaves! Put yourselves in your rightful place! If you truly value your daughter, you'll do anything for her safety, correct? I'll make sure the four can be put to good use!"

Rin feels her anger skyrocket and she can no longer contain it. Just before she is about to lose it and recklessly charge forward, Sendai stops her in her tracks, holding her back.

"Don't Rin! He's too fast for us to act rashly!" Sendai tells her as she tries to keep Rin in place.

"But if we don't do anything, Reimu's dead!" Rin counters as she tries to free herself from Sendai's grasp. "Besides, he can't be THAT fast."

"Agh, this isn't like you! It should be me making cloudy judgments and you making me reconsider! Not the other way around!" Sendai struggles to keep her friend back.

"Tick tock ladies." The centaur tells them. "If you don't decide soon, then the child–"

To the centaur's side, the bushes begin rustling before a dark blob launches itself toward the centaur. The monster quickly brings up its shield and stops it dead in its tracks. The black goo drips down to the ground, making its way to Reimu. It consumes her, then surges towards the girls.

"No! Not again!" Rin breaks out of Sendai's grasp and throws talismans at the goo. "I'm not letting this happen again you hēi biǎo zi !" It dodges her attacks and when it reaches them, it spits out Reimu toward Rin. The half-breed panics and stumbles forward to catch the girl as the dark goo transforms into Rumia. Sendai is in shock at her appearance, while Ellen frowns at the newcomer.

"Y-You…!" Rin glares at the darkness youkai with conflicting emotions. "Why did you break out of your seal!"

"Is that really what you should be concerned about, Satsuki?" Rumia asks as she summons her dual claymores. "Go keep the kid safe."

"Tch!" Rin looks like she wants to protest, but decides to follow her nemesis' directions and flies out of the woods.

“Well, now that she’s safe…” Rumia rests one sword on her shoulder while she points the other toward the centaur. “Sendai, you ready to trash this guy?”

Sendai cracks both her neck and knuckles before entering a fighting stance. “Didn’t think I would be partnering with you anytime soon but… Yeah. Let’s.”

Rumia takes a glance at Ellen. “Fluffy, set a barrier around us.” Rumia then sets her sights back on the centaur. “Don’t put it down until one of us drops dead.”

Rin sets Reimu back down on the shrine. The girl tightly hugs Rin’s legs, seemingly unable to let go as she continues crying.

“There, there…” Rin sits herself down and begins brushing Reimu’s purple hair with her hand. “You’re safe now Reirei…” Again… She says to herself in disgust. What has Reimu done to deserve this much trauma in a single year? “Come on Reirei, do you want some of Riri’s delicious egg rice?”

Reimu lets go of Rin and looks her in the eyes before slowly nodding. Rin holds Reimu’s hand and guides her to the kitchen. Rin seats the girl onto a chair and she begins cooking.

The two of them remain silent until Rin finishes cooking. She places two bowls on the dining table beside each other and fills them with rice coated with yellow egg yolk and sits down beside Reimu.

"Itadakimasu," Rin says as she begins eating

"Idatakimazoo." Reimu copies Rin before eating as well.

As Rin eats her meal, she begins reflecting on what has happened within these past few weeks.

First, Sendai disappears to fight Rumia, to keep her from getting out of Gensokyo and calling a friend of hers. "Mima", apparently a feared and frightful magician who was Rumia's partner.

Upon learning of Sendai's disappearance from Reimu, Rin took it upon herself to take care of the girl. As days pass, the two have gotten attached to each other. Even more than they used to before Sendai's disappearance. Back then, Rin was just a friend of Sendai who often gave gifts to Reimu.

When Rin left the Hakurei Shrine to raise money for groceries, Reimu was kidnapped by the amanojaku Seija Kijin.

Outside of Rin's thoughts, she snaps her chopsticks when she recalls the amanojaku's name. Upon realizing this, Rin grumbles as she stands up to replace them. Reimu simply ignores this event, as if she's lost in her thoughts as well while she eats her food, little by little. Once Rin returns with a new pair of chopsticks, she returns to her navel-gazing.

Presumably with the aid of a tengu, Seija announced her terms to the human village for Reimu's release. With the help of her friends, Rin gathered all the items Seija asked for, but she suffered fatal wounds upon encountering a devil that used to be Rumia's underling. She was also inflicted with a curse that weakens her whenever she uses her powers.

She then saved Reimu from a premature death after Seija double-crossed them, but Rin collapsed afterward.

For at least ten days or so Rin was put into a coma before finally waking up in the Hakurei Shrine, but she was still bedridden for three more days. During this period, Sendai performed rituals on her to dispel the curse inflicted on her, but it was all for naught. The next day, she was finally able to begin moving and aided Reimu in creating a snack for a new friend she made.

This friend turned out to be Rumia. Rin fought her hardest against her and even used an incantation that boosted her capabilities, but she succumbed to her curse and allowed Reimu to witness a gruesome battle between her and her new friend.

Two days later she confronted Rumia once again under the guise she would apologize to her for Reimu's sake, and she gained knowledge of why Rumia was acting friendly towards her. This was also when Rin started tolerating Reimu being with Rumia, and perhaps the time when her grudge against her softened ever so slightly.

For a few weeks, she remained in the Hakurei Shrine unable to leave until she convinced Sendai to let her go, but only under the condition that she wouldn't tell anyone anything related to Rumia.

This brings us to today when she encountered that foreign youkai. Ellen told her that it was a centaur. A creature that originated from the region the magician was born in. Somewhere in the Outside World to the West.

During this encounter, the centaur kidnapped Reimu and used her to try and get some leverage. Only for Rumia to show up and save her while Rin hastily assumed that Rumia ate her. Rumia then handed Reimu over to her, and Rin flew away from the battle.

Rin stares at the empty bowl ahead of her. She remains in her chair motionless, trying to resolve the conflict within her mind. She believed her disdain for Rumia would be eternal, unshakable. She thought that when she eventually crossed paths with her once more, she would chase her down till the ends of the earth to slay her.

But now Reimu shows up and Rin's contempt for the youkai of darkness is being challenged. She could tell that Reimu and Rumia's friendship is genuine during the times she watched over them and that Rumia is willing to risk herself for Reimu's safety– as shown when she broke out of her seals when she saw Reimu getting kidnapped.

What should she do…? Should she let go of her hatred towards Rumia for Reimu's happiness? Or does she cut the youkai down, for the sake of her mother and father?

Reimu slides the shrine door open when she hears her mother call for her. She's been trying to get Rin out of her trance-like state for a while but nothing seemed to be working, so she's glad that her mother got home.

So when she sees who's behind the door, she smiles to see not only her mother there but her friend Roo as well!

"Roo! Roo!" Reimu jumps up and down, signaling Rumia to pick her up.

"Hey, kid." Rumia picks Reimu up and raises her up. "How ya doing? Feeling better?"

"Mmm!" Reimu nods. "You… Saved me!"

"Ah, don't sweat it, kid." Rumia places Reimu down. "So where's your other ma?"

"Um… Riri? She's…" Reimu turns around and points at Rin silently staring at her empty bowl. "Don't know… Why she's… Like… That?"

Rumia looks at Sendai who mouths at her "Do what you came here to do." So Rumia walks towards Rin and places her hand on her shoulder.

"Hey."

In response, Rin briefly jumps in her seat before turning around and throwing a punch at whoever frightened her. Rumia simply takes the hit, unfazed by her actions.

"...Did I scare you?"

Rin backflips over the table and upon landing, summons several talismans. "What are YOU doing here?" She hisses. In the background, Rin can see Sendai and Reimu heading outside. When Sendai realizes Rin's watching her, she gives her a brief look of worry before shutting the door.

"To talk and apologize," Rumia answers her as she leans on a wall. "I figure you'd want one."

"What, you're going to apologize for killing my parents? Sorry, but don't think it would be so easy for me to forgive you."

"Well, guess I won't bother with that then."  Rumia creates a miniature centaur with her powers and places it on her palm. "No, I'm here to apologize about him."

"Was he… Was he one of yours as well?" Rin begins raising her voice. The urge to go punch Rumia begins to grow, but she does her best to keep her desire in check.

"He used to. He was one of the many warriors within the kingdom me and Mima ruled. His armor had our logo on it, so he was one of mine unless he stole the armor from the centaur who originally wore it."

"Why do you keep insisting this kingdom of yours exists? A monster such as you is only fit to rule a pack of bloodthirsty individuals." Rin scowls.

Rumia simply shrugs as she closes her eyes. "I'm guessing you want proof. And if that's the case, just go meet up with Fluffy."

"Fluffy?" Rin asks incredulously. "Are you messing with me?"

"Are you more familiar with Ellen Aureus?" Rumia opens a single eye. "Blonde girl, wears a red headband, the color of her clothes are red and white and looks and acts like a kid?"

"How do you know her?"

"Remember when I told you about a kid I used to look after that Reimu reminded me of?" Rumia crushes the centaur figurine and it shifts to Ellen's image. "That's her."

"You're joking… A kid like her? Raised by you?"

"Hey, I know it's hard to believe. That the two people who made her who she is today could be considered bad influences."

"Hah… A bad influence is an understatement."

"We're getting off-track. Back to the centaur… I'm sorry for what happened. You and Sendai had to see your daughter being taken hostage."

Rin remains silent, waiting to see how Rumia plays this out.

"And… Sendai's thinking I'm an alright girl to hang around with now. She wants me out of the cave."

"...What?"

"Yeah."

"She wants you out of the cave?"

"I promise I won't do any harm. Besides, not like I'm truly free. This is just a change of prison for me. I aint allowed to leave the shrine. If you agree with this, Sendai's going to set up barriers to prevent me from leaving."

"Yeah, but keeping you in the cave is–"

"More dangerous for your kid whenever she comes alone." Rumia counters. "Both of us don't want to see her hurt. Consider this. If I move into the shrine, Reimu won't ever be alone and would be under my protection whenever you two are away."

Rin falls silent to weigh her options. Tomorrow, she would be retiring the White Silence persona until they can find Rumia's underling to dispel her curse. And she would also be focusing on opening her clinic now that Sendai has returned, which means Sendai would be operating alone. Leaving Reimu to fend for herself at the shrine.

"Gah, fine." Rin dispels her talismans. "I'll allow it. But if you show even the slightest signs of running away or hurting Reimu, I will end you."

"Hah. Like that would ever happen." Rumia makes her way to the room's exit. "Oh, and Satsuki?"

"What."

"Thanks for giving me a chance." Rumia heads out of the shrine to see how Reimu is doing.

"Haaaa…" Rin sits down, staring at the empty bowl once more. "What am I doing…"

March 31

Rin and Kouko ascend the shrine's stairway. They are here to transfer the last batch of Rin's items back to the Adafurui household. Rin really wanted to deal with this herself, but Kouko insisted that she must speak to Sendai since she owed her an explanation of reports of Rin being carried by Miss Keine into the bamboo forest. Unwilling to upset her sister even further, Rin gave in and brought her along.

"You got here by foot?" Sendai wonders when she sees Rin finish climbing the stairway. "But why– …Oh." The shrine maiden notices Kouko trailing behind Rin.

"Have fun." Rin puts her hand on Sendai's shoulders and firmly grasps it before moving along. When she reaches the shrine's sliding door, she could hear Kouko's voice slowly rising. Rin takes a quick glance to see her sister slowly backing Sendai into a tree with her mere words. The half-kirin chuckles, remembering a time when Kouko would clam up whenever she was within Sendai's vicinity. But when Kouko got to know Sendai better when both of them began raising babies, she seemed to lose all of her fear of her and wasn't afraid to lecture her if Sendai did something wrong.

Rin enters the shrine and hears Rumia and Reimu's laughter throughout the shrine. She sighs as she heads to the room she resided in to grab the last box containing the items she has brought over to the shrine. She picks the box up and heads to the exit, only to see Reimu and Rumia blocking the door. The former looks quite gloomy, which makes sense considering one of her mothers is about to leave the shrine.

"Come on, ya ain't gonna say goodbye to your kid, Satsuki?" Rumia asks her.

"..." Rin kneels down to match Reimu's height and combs the child's hair with her fingers. "This isn't a permanent goodbye Reirei. You know this as well, right?"

Reimu slowly nods. "B-but… Riri is still… Leaving…"

"Hey, don't be so down. How about this? Riri will come to the shrine every Friday and Sunday. Deal?" Rin holds out her pinky.

"...Deal!" Reimu holds her pinky out as well and the two forms a pinky promise.

"Good girl." Rin smiles at Reimu before standing up with the box in-between her shoulders. She slides the door open and steps out of the shrine and sees Kouko approaching her while Sendai is leaning on the tree from earlier. Looks like Kouko didn't show any mercy during their conversation.

"Hey," Kouko says as she continues her stride toward Rin.

"Hey…?" Rin responds nervously as Kouko gets closer. "Hey wait why do you look mad at–"

Slap!

Kouko slaps Rin in the face and draws her in for a hug. "Damnit Rin. Why didn't you tell me you were dealing with your parents' murderers?"

"Not here. Not in front of Reimu."

Kouko glances up to see Reimu watching the two of them from the shrine's veranda. "Fine." Kouko gives Reimu a short wave before letting Rin go. "Let's go."

Rin and Kouko set off from the shrine. Rin takes one more look at it, wondering if she made the correct choice of letting Rumia free from her prison.

And then, she turned away.

Chapter Text

December 31

"Are you really serious about drinking with me around?" Rumia asked Rin as she downs some liquor. She, Rin, and Sendai are on the Hakurei Shrine's roof drinking alcohol while they wait for the village's annual fireworks show. Reimu on the other hand is inside the shrine, already asleep.

"First time for everything," Rin says as she sips some sake, staring into the distance. "Never thought the day would come."

"Seriously? You haven't even forgiven me for–"

"Rumia." Sendai glares at her. "This is her way of showing she can tolerate your presence. No complaints."

"...Ay," Rumia chugs on some liquor once more. "That's fair."

"So it's now the end of the year." Sendai breathes a sigh of relief. "How's life at the clinic, Rin?"

"Decent… I guess I wished I had more patients coming in." Rin shrugs as she takes another sip of her sake. "Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with the clinic's current performance. But I feel like I'm just not treating enough people to make proper use of my medical skills."

"That just means people ain't getting themselves hurt or sick! Be glad about that!" Rumia reassures her. "Also means Miss Punchy here's doing a great job of keeping youkai like me in check."

"Pffft. Miss Punchy?" Rin looks at Sendai. "I guess it suits you."

"Ah quiet." Sendai frowns with her eyes closed. "Even Reimu's calling me that now."

Sendai's friends laugh as they continue their conversation to pass the time till the fireworks start. As the moon slowly reaches its peak, they hear the sound of the shrine's sliding door opening. Rin offers to check it out and she later brings a recently awakened Reimu to the roof.

"Ah, couldn't sleep kid?" Rumia asks the girl.

"Yaaaawn … No…" Reimu leans on Rin's side. "Not… Really… Bad… Dream…"

"What kind of bad dreams dear?" Sendai asks her child with concern.

"Angel… And de… Demon?" Reimu struggles to speak. "T-they break shrine and… And…" Reimu whimpers as she tries to recall her dream.

"That sounds prophetic…" Rumia grumbles. "Not good."

"Well, you're in luck. The fireworks are about to begin." Rin informs the child as she wraps her hand around her, trying to soothe her."

"...Fireworks?!" Reimu exclaims as her eyes fully open. "Boom, boom?"

"Yes, boom, boom," Sendai repeats. "Now don't fall asleep, Reirei, or you'll miss it."

"It would be impressive if she does." Rumia comments. "Especially since the boom, booms begin right about…"

1994

January 1

"Now."

In the distance, a red streak of light rockets into the skies before exploding into a beautiful cluster of red sparks.

Shortly after, several streaks of red and white lights soar into the air before bursting into a glamorous display of colors. Reimu's eyes light in excitement as she continues to watch the display of lights.

"Happy New Year, kid."

February 28

Rin brings out a small wooden hammer from a drawer and heads to her patient.

"Are you sure doctors use something like that?" Ellen squeaks. "I don't think they do."

"Well, what did doctors from your original home do?" Rin asks the magician, who is seated on a tall chair. "Now, relax your leg. Don't worry this won't hurt at all."

Rin places the face of the hammer over Ellen's left knee and gives it a light tap. Ellen's leg immediately twitches in response.

"See, that didn't hurt at all now did it?" Rin heads to her table and begins scribbling down some notes.

"Well, we never had a doctor." Ellen puts a finger on her chin. "It was more of a priest who wore black and covered his face with a rectangular black cloth that had a red cross on it."

"A priest as a doctor?" Rin snorts. "What's he going to do? Pray that they get well?"

"Actually, yes!" Ellen exclaims.

"W-what?" Rin stops writing and looks at Ellen. "You can't be serious."

"But I am!" The magician insists. "Just one prayer and whoosh! A white aura surrounds the sick and boom! They're cured!"

"Are you sure you aren't making this up?" Rin asks with a skeptical face before resuming her writing. "Kotohime has told me that you're quite prone to memory loss."

"Hey! That's mean! Friends talking about me behind my back!" Ellen pouts. "And no, I'm not making this up! Ask Lady Rumia! Or Lady Mima if you ever find her!"

"Bah, I need to see it to believe it. No way a random priest can say prayers and bring a sick individual to perfect health. If such a man can exist, Gensokyo wouldn't need clinics like mine."

“I can volunteer! I know a few healing spells or two!” Ellen smiles in glee. “Just let yourself bleed a little bit!”

Rin frowns at Ellen’s suggestion. It's quite unnerving for her to hear Ellen say that with such optimism.

“Ah, whatever. Even if it doesn’t work, a little cut won’t be too difficult to heal due to my body.” Rin sets down the pen and paper and brings out Musashi. She places the bow's strings on the dorsal side of her left hand and gently applies force to it. A small cut appears.

“Now,” Rin puts the bleeding hand in front of the magician. “Do your thing.”

Ellen covers Rin’s hand with her own and chants out “ Curatio: Sanatio Cantus.” Pink light seeps out of the covered hands as Rin and Ellen feel magic flowing through their hands. When Ellen releases Rin’s hand, not a single trace of the cut remains.

“I…” Rin puts her healed hand to her face. “I-It actually healed,” Rin says in disbelief. She swiftly uses an empty piece of paper and uses her left hand to write down some letters to see if her hand fully healed.

“So, how did I do?” Ellen asks proudly. “It went well, right?”

“I guess so.” Rin holds up the paper which contains a poorly written kanji. “I don’t see any difference from how I usually write with my left hand.”

“Were you expecting to write better after that?” The magician asks. “It's a healing spell! Not an enhancement spell!”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that there’s a spell that can make me left-handed as well?”

“Uhhh… Maybe?” Ellen shrugs. “I don’t really have a spell for that.” She then examines the kanji even closer. “What does it say?”

“Hm?”

“The kanji.”

“Oh,” I turn the paper around and look at it. “This kanji (麒) means kirin.”

“Ooh! So the monster part of you?” Ellen asks in excitement. “My old home had a plentiful amount of demihumans.”

“‘Monster’ sounds a bit more ruthless than youkai, but yes.” Rin sets the paper down and picks up the paper she'd written on earlier. “Anyways, your examination’s finished.” She says as she pulls out a can full of candy, lollipops, and chocolate. “Pick one.” Rin holds the can in front of Ellen.

“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Ellen pouts while she shamelessly rummages through the can and fishes out a handful of candy.

“Wh– Hey!” Rin takes the can away from her. “You may be my last patient for the day but come on! I was planning to split those up between Reimu and my nephew!”

“Heehee!” Ellen grins as she covers her catch with a magic barrier and hides it within her fluffy hair.

“I– Ah, whatever.” Rin gives Ellen the paper written with notes. “Give this to Kotohime when you get… Actually, where do you live?”

“I bunk with Kotohime!”

“Where does Kotohime live?”

“Our former headquarters.”

“Former headquarters…?” Rin wonders what Ellen meant by that. “Oh, you mean the police force she’s leading? Wait, former?”

Ellen sighs. “Yeah, she closed it… No more group of good guys to save the day…”

“Huh? Why?” Rin asks with intrigue. She hasn’t heard of Kotohime’s whereabouts for a while. The last thing she knew about the Police Princess was that she was visiting several families.

“Uhm…” Ellen looks down. “Visiting the families of her dead subordinates to tell them what happened to them got to… Her…”

“Ah…” Rin recalls the corpses she piled onto the shrine when Kotohime came to tell her about the Four-Feet Magic Bomb. Her mind then shifts to when that centaur attacked. Seeing several bodies sprawled onto the ground is a sight not one can easily forget. “...Is she doing well?”

“Not really…” While still looking down, Ellen turns her head opposite of Rin's location. “I… Don’t want to talk about it.”

“Maybe I should visit her one day. It's not like I know her personally, but she does care about the village’s safety. I can respect that.” Rin thoughts to herself. “Well if you wish, you can go now.”

“Oookaaay.” Ellen hops down from her chair and walks out of the clinic. Before Ellen walks out of view her cat, Socrates, pops out of her hair and gives out a brief yawn before idling there.

"Right, now to close up shop."

Rin moves around the clinic returning several items to their original locations. After this, she slings her erhu to her back while slotting the bow onto her right waist as if it was a katana. She then puts the can filled with candy into her medical bag, slings it onto her shoulder, and leaves the clinic.

As the light of the setting sun hits her face, she turns around and locks the entrance with a key before flying towards the shrine. All she's going to do is give Reimu half the remaining candies inside the can.

As Rin lands on the shrine's grounds, she senses the eerie feeling of isolation. When she enters the shrine, she is unable to feel the presence of anyone else indoors.

"They must've gone outside. Hope they don't get into too much trouble." Rin thought. If the Rin from last year ever felt this emptiness within the shrine, she would've been furious that Sendai allowed Rumia outside without telling her. The agreement of Rumia being forbidden to leave the shrine fell apart only after a week when Reimu convinced Rin and Sendai to let Rumia come with her outside the shrine.

And by convince, Reimu making a very big deal out of it until Rin and Sendai gave in to her desires

Rin grabs the candy can out of her bag and places half of its contents on the table. She also pulls out the paper with the messy kirin kanji and places it beside the pile to signify who its from.

"Rin?" The half-kirin hears the exasperated voice of the shrine maiden behind her. "Oh thank the gods you're here!"

"Hm?" Rin turns around to see Sendai running towards her. "Oh, Sendai. What is it? And why do you look like you flew over the entirety of Gensokyo?"

"Because I have!" Sendai complains when she reaches her. "Reimu and Rumia have disappeared and I have been flying around Gensokyo trying to find them!"

"What?!" Rin snaps. "How did you let this happen!?"

"I left the shrine to deal with something! I was not expecting to find the shrine empty!"

"Agh!" Rin drops her bag onto the floor and runs past Sendai.

"Where are you going?"

"Mayohiga!" Rin answers before taking to the skies.

"Tch." Sendai does a running start before transitioning to a high jump, sending her to the sky as well. She then shifts to flight to catch up with her half-kirin. "Why there?"

"To see if Chen can find a cat that has seen them," Rin replies. "You continue your search! This may take a while."

"Yeah, okay." Sendai nods. "The only place I have yet to go through would be Youkai Mountain. I have been avoiding that place due to the tengu."

"Go. If both of us don't find anything, we regroup at the shrine."

Rin and Sendai split ways. The former begins speeding up, praying that Chen hasn't left Mayohiga for whatever reason. When she sees the village, she lands on the main plaza and readies herself to shout.

"CHEEEEEEN! Are you here? CHEEEEN!" Rin yells as she walks through the plaza.

Dozens of cats appear out of nowhere and surround Rin, meowing for food since they recognize her as someone who visits often.

“Not now…” Rin grumbles as she lifts herself above the ground to save her the trouble of trying to navigate through the sea of felines. “Cheeeeen?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Rin just barely hears Chen’s voice amid the cats’ constant meowing. “Agh! Maru! Blacky! Get off of me! Rin–sama needs me!”

Shortly after, a cat with brown fur and two tails leaps toward Rin. It then morphs into Chen, but her green hat seems to be missing.

“What can Chen do, Rin-sama?”

“Reimu’s missing. Have any of the cats here seen her?” Rin asks. She's aware that the cats of Mayohiga often wander quite far, so she hopes that they could have seen Reimu somewhere.

“What?! She’s missing?!” Chen exclaims before turning to her fellow felines and begins making cat noises towards the rest of the cats.

If the cats weren't loud earlier, this time they were as they all meowed in unison to reply to Chen. Rin feels the need to go cover her ears during this.

"They say they'll answer only if Rin-sama will feed them!" Chen tells her.

"I'll give them food later. Tell them that's a promise."

Chen relays the message in cat-speak while Rin impatiently hovers in the air.

"Apparently, they saw a kid with long purple hair and a red ribbon thirty minutes ago!" Chen exclaims.

"That's great! Where did they spot her?"

"Chen believes they saw her at a cave near the Hakurei Shrine!"

"Wouldn't that mean…?" Rin then shakes her head. "Was she with someone?"

Chen turns around to talk to the cats again and later shakes her head.

"I'm guessing no then. Thanks, Chen." Rin approaches the youkai and pats her head. "I'll come back with some treats for the village. See you later."

"Bye Rin-sama!" Chen smiles. "And go find Reimu for me!"

Rin lands at the entrance of the cave that once held Rumia. If Rumia and Reimu are in the cave, then good. The worst thing she could do was begin arguing with the darkness youkai. If Reimu's alone and Rumia's missing, then Rin shall interpret that as the latter trying to run away. Even though that assumption doesn't feel right.

Rin runs through the dark cave's tunnel, using a pair of talismans she summoned to act as a dim light. The seals and talismans on the cave had been removed when Rumia moved to the shrine so she should be cautious for any youkai that might've settled there. But as of right now, Rin couldn't afford to care for her safety when Reimu's life is potentially on the line.

This is when she hears Reimu's voice.

"Roo! Roo!' Reimu's reverberated cries echo through the passage. "Roo come… out!"

Upon hearing this, Rin's running shifts into flying as she speeds through the tunnel until finally entering the cave's main chamber. But since it is still pitch black, Rin enhances the talismans she conjured to produce more light and scatters them throughout the cave.

With the cave slightly lit up, Rin notices that the center of the cavern is still covered in darkness. She throws a talisman toward it, and it unleashes an explosive spark upon contact. Rin hears the sound of Reimu whimpering.

"Reirei? Are you here?" Rin calls out, trying to find Reimu. She then activates her En, so she could at least have perfect awareness within a five-meter diameter. "Riri's here!"

Rin then feels Reimu's figure enter her En's range, walking towards her.

"Over here Reirei, just keep walking forward. Follow Riri's voice." She guides the girl while also approaching her. Eventually, the two of them meet up with the dim lighting of one of Rin's talismans giving enough light to let the two see each other.

"Riri…!" Reimu meets up with her other mother. "Roo! Roo is… Trapped!"

"Trapped?" Rin wonders. "What do you mean trapped?"

"Follow me!" Reimu holds Rin's left hand and guides her toward the center of the cave, where the pitch-black area was. "She was… Here…!"

Rin draws Musashi from her waist and slowly walks towards the darkness, being careful of what it can throw at her.

"A snake… Grabbed Roo and… And…! Trapped her!" Reimu sputters.

"Trapped her?" Rin questions. "And a snake youkai–?"

Suddenly, a tendril lunges toward Rin and binds her. Rin drops Musashi in surprise as she gets pulled into the darkness, unleashing a flurry of Chinese curses.

"R-Riri?" Reimu calls out upon hearing Rin's struggle. "Riri?!"

Rin slowly rises from the cavern's floor. Her face has some small cuts thanks to the rocky terrain, but the rest of her body was protected by her armored clothing.

"Ugh…" Rin stands up and observes her surroundings, but there isn't much to observe. Everything she looks at is just pure darkness as if she found herself in the void.

At least she isn't alone, as Rumia seats in front of her on the floor.

"Satsuki, glad you're awake." Rumia greets her.

"Tsk. What? You're going to kill me now or something?" Rin guesses as she tries to grab Musashi, only to realize that she must've dropped it when she was grabbed by that tendril. So instead, she pulls out Tianhua, her erhu.

"Quite the opposite," Rumia answers grimly. "I need you to seal me away."

"...Huh?" Rin responds bafflingly. "You’re joking, aren't you? You've been having the time of your life with Reimu. You've also reunited with Ellen as well."

"Believe me Satsuki, I wish I was joking. But…" Rumia stands up. "Lately, I've been getting the urge to lash out and begin attacking anything I see. I'm hearing a voice that compels me to eat anything within sight."

Rumia begins stepping away from Rin. "And what that voice says has been getting quite compelling." Rumia growls. "I've been able to resist these temptations for a while. But now?" The Queen of Darkness conjures her dual claymores once more. "It feels like my body's moving all by itself against my will." Rumia lets out a sister snarl. "But I damn know for sure that this is what I've been waiting for."

Rin grits her teeth as she steps backward. An immense aura eminates from Rumia, an aura that Rin can only describe as Complete Darkness.

“Ready yourself Satsuki!” Rumia arches back and lets out a cackling, distorted laugh. “For you shall be the first I slay to satiate this insatiable hunger!”

Rumia wildly charges towards Rin with her blades so she rolls out of the way to avoid the attack. Rumia does this action two more times, but when Rin sidesteps the last attack she brings down her erhu on her head, knocking her down. She then picks Rumia up via chokehold and throws a punch with her other hand infused with her divine aura which sends the woman flying.

Before hitting the ground, Rumia performs a roll maneuver that immediately puts her upright. She then throws both of her claymores toward Rin who dodges the first weapon, but is then forced to deflect the other sword with her erhu.

Rin briefly examines Tianhua for any damages and spots a deep cut on the erhu’s bridge. Rin curses silently. While Kogasa was nice enough to enhance her erhu with the leftover metal from forging Musashi, it wasn’t a complete overhaul. While Rin wields Tianhua as a hammer, it was never meant to be more than a less lethal tool- not a weapon for opponents wielding their own.

Rin then hears Rumia release a bloodthirsty howl. She looks up to see Rumia charging in with reckless abandon once again. Rin slings her erhu to her back before placing herself in a stance. When Rumia gets close enough, Rin lets her aura engulf her body as her legs and back suddenly bend down before unleashing a powerful punch forward with her right hand, landing the counter hook.

This sends Rumia to the ground, but unfortunately, she gets up faster than Rin had hoped.

“Agh…! I spent a good amount of my energy on that one punch…! And that’s not afll. I can feel that stupid curse creeping onto me once more. If I try to use more of my aura to keep her down, I’ll succumb to the curse and I’m dead. My aura doesn’t even seem to faze her as much! It’s like she’s no longer receptive to pain.”

Rin begins backing up when suddenly she feels a tendril holding Musashi rising behind her within the range of her En. She turns around just in time to see the tendril swing her weapon at her, ducking backward to just narrowly avoid getting beheaded. Rin lunges forwards and grabs the tendril, allowing her aura to flow into the tendril until it explodes and launches Musashi into the air.

Rin then senses Rumia entering her En, dashing in with her swords. So right when Rumia slashes forward Rin performs a high backflip and catches Musashi mid-air. When Rin touches the ground, she immediately raises her bow to block an incoming strike from her opponent. With the two of them engaging in a blade lock, Rin then boosts her power with her aura to push Rumia away before rushing in, summoning two talismans in her free hand. She throws the talismans at her foe which stuns her in place, allowing her to unleash a series of rapid gashes, slowly whittling her opponent down until they turn to bits and pieces.

When Rin finishes her onslaught, the only thing that remains of Rumia is chunks of her body scattered around where she last stood. Rin turns around, and her face winces when she sees Rumia’s remains sinking into darkness.

“Agh… Of course, it isn’t over.” Rin takes some deep breaths. “So from what I can observe, she’s been attacking me with no regard for her safety, and her skills with blade seem to have deteriorated. What else I can tell is that she seems to be possessed by something. Something wild. It's reducing her situational awareness.”

Rumia's head then rises from the ground. Then her body, then her legs. Her hands have now morphed into sharp shadowy claws that nearly touch the floor.

This is… Far too familiar.” Rin does a quick look through her memories and her mind brings up the scenario of when she first encountered the phenomenon known as the Hunger. When she fought with that rokurokubi’s friend, that human-wolf girl. "So is this what I'm dealing with right now? A Rumia possessed by the Hunger? Great…"

Rin and Rumia begin circling their arena, waiting for each other to make a move. Rumia goes first as she dashes towards Rin and begins wildly slashing at her. The latter brings up her weapon and uses its frame to block her attacks the best she could, but a few attacks get through her and Rin's clothes sustain some damage.

As Rin's getting pushed back, she conjures and places down several talismans along the way, creating a specific pattern to aid her. When she places the last talisman, Rin willingly takes a hit to run toward the center of the pattern. After passing through the center, Rin turns around and holds her gaze at Rumia. Rumia then reaches the center and suddenly she gets shocked by Rin’s divine aura.

To this, Rin kneels to the ground and closed her eyes, and begins chanting.

“Cóng tǒngzhì tiānguó de shǒudū, wǒ hūhuàn èr gē wǒ qíqiú nǐ cìyǔ wǒ suǒ xū de lìliàng, yǐ kèfú wǒ miànqián de zhèxiē kǎoyàn!”

Just like before, a surge of divine energy engulfs Rin, and a pure light dispells all the darkness from the arena. Finally able to see the battle, Reimu hides behind the pillar in horror as she sees Rin and Rumia fighting once more.

Rin stands up, with a horn protruding from her forehead once more, and glares at Rumia, who has recovered from her paralysis.

Rin thought a similar outcome would occur when she takes hold of the overflowing power within her. She would briefly have the strength to completely overpower Rumia before succumbing to the curse, but this time she would spare enough of her strength to get her and Reimu out of the cave.

Her expectations are immediately shattered when Rumia closes the gap between them without her noticing. Rin raises her elbows to block Rumia’s attack, but her foe grabs her arm and shoves it away before stabbing her claws into Rin’s gut, cleanly piercing through Rin’s protective clothing. Rin looks at Rumia in shock before punching her in the face, separating them.

But this is only a short reprieve for the half-kirin as Rumia immediately charges in once more, but this time Rin is ready for it. She ducks and deflects Rumia’s attacks until she finds an opening by grabbing Rumia on the shoulders and headbutting her. Rin’s horn pierces through Rumia’s head, crumpling the monster to the ground as Rin steps back, gasping for air while she puts her hand on her new wound.

After watching Rumia lay immobile for a few seconds, Rin looks around the cave to see if Reimu is still inside. Upon spotting a red ribbon hidden behind a stalagmite, Rin begins limping towards the rock to grab Reimu and get the both of them out of the cave.

When Reimu peeks out of the stalagmite, Rin gives her a pained smile and waves at her. But before Reimu could raise her hand and do the same, her eyes are filled with fear as she notices something approaching Rin from behind.

“R-R-R-Riri…!” Reimu tries to warn her, but it is too late. When Rin turns around, Rumia’s large claws stab through her gut once more, causing her to drop her weapon again. Rin coughs out blood as Rumia carefully observes her next meal, raising her in the process.

“Satsuki, is this all you have to offer?” Rumia taunts her prey, who struggles in the air trying to escape her predicament with her fading strength. “Really, I thought you were better than this. But oh well.” 

Rumia rips off the clothes on Rin’s right shoulder before biting into it. Rin screams in pain as she feels her flesh being torn off. Rin glances at her bitten shoulder and coughs out even more blood in response. She does her best to use her left arm to free herself, but it's no use.

“Tasty,” Rumia admits. “However, your squirming is ruining the mood so…” Rumia drops Rin to the ground and puts her shoe over her face. “Goodbye.”

Suddenly, someone punches Rumia with such force that it sends her straight into the cave’s walls. Rin looks at her savior and sees Sendai lift her from the ground, with a face that displays unbridled rage.

“Sen… Dai…” Rin calls out to her as she uses her left hand to touch the shrine maiden’s face. “Rumia is… Affected by the Hunger.” Rin then gasps for air. “Knock her out and… She’ll… She’ll return to normal…”

Sendai heads to where Reimu is hiding and places Rin down there. She looks at Reimu and sees her extremely distressed, an emotion no child should ever experience. And now, she’ll have to further increase her daughter’s emotional baggage.

“Reimu, dear. I… I need you to carry Rin out of here.” Sendai asks her. “Please…?”

Then, Rin groans as she struggles to sit upright only with her left arm. “I can move. I… I can move…” Sendai helps her friend lean onto a stalagmite. She also picks up Musashi and gives it back to Rin. “Go… Fix her…” Rin uses the rock as support before holding Reimu’s hand and she begins slowly limping away.

“Reirei… Stay… Close to me..” Rin says as she drags an unwilling Reimu toward the cave exit. The half-kirin takes a glance behind her and sees Sendai and Rumia exchanging blows. Rumia then dashes in with her claws, but when she gets too close Sendai performs a crouching right cross punch towards Rumia’s midsection, knocking her down.

“Good… It looks like… Sendai’s winning… I’ll have to come back for her later.” Rin thoughts to herself as she and Rumia reach the cave’s exit. “We’re… Free…” Rin mutters as she begins to slightly tilt forwards.

Feeling Rin’s grip on her weakening, Reimu yanks herself away from Rin’s hand and runs back to the cave. Only for a thud to stop her in her tracks. She turns around to see Rin on the ground as blood trickles to the ground.

"Ri… Ri…?" Reimu slowly approaches her fallen mother, ignoring the blood around her. "Riri! Riri! Riri!"

Reimu tries to shake Rin awake, but she gets no response. She decides that the best way to get Rin to safety would be to drag her to the shrine. So she (thankfully) grabs Rin's left wrist and begins walking forward.

As she trudges through the muddy ground Reimu begins to tire, so she stops for a while to rest. This is when she hears the sound of bushes rustling around her. Reimu gets up and begins timidly walking towards Rin as she's afraid of what might pop out from the foliage. When the rustling noises begin heading towards her, Reimu braces herself as the bushes part ways.

"Ah! Reimu!" Chen exclaims as she approaches the two. "I-Is that Rin-sama?!"

Reimu breathes a sigh of relief at the appearance of her friend. "L-Lady Chen! Riri! She… Got hurt!"

"It's Miss Chen, Reimu. And even so, we're friends! Just call Chen, Chen!" Chen says as she props Rin up to a tree and notices the strange shape of Rin's right shoulder. "D-Did a youkai do this?"

"I-it was Roo! Roo did this! Don't know… Why… B-But Roo d-did this!"

"I don't know who this Roo is, but that doesn't matter!" Chen lifts Rin into her hands and rests her on her shoulder. "What Chen thinks that matters is getting Rin-sama to safety! Follow me!”

Chen and Reimu go through the forest as fast as they can without Reimu being left behind. After what feels like hours, they finally reach the shrine where a small group of people have gathered.

“Hey! Is that a kid over there?” Ellen asks as she points at Chen and Reimu emerging from the treeline. "It looks like she's carrying someone as well!"

"Is that… The cat?" Kouko squints. "Wait, she's carrying Rin!"

"Reimu is with them as well. Let us meet up with them." Keine suggests as she moves forward.

When the trio reaches Chen and Reimu, they move Rin into the shrine and place her on a futon. Keine does her best to administer first aid while the others stand by and watch.

"This might be the worst she's gotten…" Kouko mutters. "Boosting her powers and sustaining those injuries while under the effects of the curse… This might be more painful than when she was shot in the head…"

"It looks like Rin-sama got into a fight with an animal! Chen can tell that she was stabbed by long claws and that something bit off part of her shoulder!"

"Agh! What mess did she get herself into!" Kouko hisses as she impatiently taps the floor with her foot.

"It sounds like Lady Rumia and Miss Rin got into a fight…" Ellen solemnly relays after talking with Reimu. "And right now, Miss Shrine Maiden is fighting with Lady Rumia…"

"Please confirm if I did just hear you say 'Lady Rumia.'" Keine requests as she bandages Rin's bitten shoulder using the bandage from Rin's medical bag. "You're telling me that monster who killed her parents did this?"

"W-what! L-Lady Rumia d-did that?" Ellen quivers in place.

"Miss Keine!" Kouko whispers to her teacher. "Don't say stuff like that! She was raised by Rumia and Mima before she arrived in Gensokyo."

"Pardon? Mima as in, the spirit that terrorized Gensokyo with Rumia?"

"Yes, her!"

"A girl like her?!" Keine looks at trembling Ellen. Her puppy eyes reach the were-hakutaku's heart, but she shakes the feeling off. "Impossible. The books say that those two were ruthless individuals."

"Well, it turns out it is possible since Rumia gets along with Reimu pretty well."

"Excuse me?" Keine glares at her. "This is no time for jokes."

"Ah… Right, you must not be aware of what occurred last year."

"I don't like the sound of this." Keine begins wrapping bandages around Rin's torso. "Tell me."

Kouko looks at Ellen and Chen. "Can the two of you watch over Reimu for me, please?"

"You hear that Ellen?" Chen confronts her. "Let's go!" Chen drags Ellen into where Reimu is resting.

"So, do you want to hear the short or the long version?" Kouko offers.

"Long. I need a firm understanding of the matter."

"Alright then…"

Kouko proceeds to explain how Rumia ended up as Reimu's close friend and how it led to Rin tolerating her presence. Keine's face displays dismay and agitation throughout the recounting.

"Tsk. I'm disappointed in both of them." Keine comments. "Did they really choose Reimu's happiness instead of her safety?"

"That's what sis claims," Kouko says as she looks at her unconscious sister. "I frankly believe someone else is involved that led the two of them to accept her."

"I share the same opinion." Keine picks Rin up from the floor. "Now, I need to take her to…" Keine falls silent as she looks to her right. She squints, waiting for something.

"Miss Keine–?"

"Quiet." Keine interrupts her. "I sense something."

As the two of them stand still, Kouko wonders if her teacher is just hearing things when suddenly Rin jolts awake, causing Keine to drop her.

"Agh!" Rin groans in pain. "Reimu…! Where's… Reimu!"

"Woah, woah." Kouko kneels down and holds Rin's left hand. "Sis, it's fine. Reimu's in the shrine, safe and sound."

"Kou… Ko…?" Rin looks up to see her sister's blurry face. "Reirei… She's safe…?"

"Yes, she is." Kouko and Keine help her to a chair. "So there's no need to worry. Just rest for now."

"But… I must worry…" Rin mutters, taking deep breaths every once in a while. "Sendai's fighting a… A Rumia driven by the Hunger."

"Relax, Rin," Keine advises her. "Lady Hakurei is a fierce warrior. She will be fine. Have faith in her."

“No…!” Rin stands up and shambles towards her bag and begins searching for something as the sounds of glass clanking against each other are heard throughout the room. “Where is it… Where is it…!”

“Sis, settle down!” Kouko slowly walks to Rin’s side. “Sendai can take care of herself. She was able to deal with Rumia before right? Then surely–”

“Found it!” Rin exclaims as she pulls out a bottle labeled “Unicorn’s Brew,” a tonic she created, and begins chugging down its contents. Rin’s posture straightens as she slams the bottle to the table and begins walking towards the exit.

“Wh–, Rin Satsuki, stop right there young lady!” Keine yells as Rin walks out of the shrine and takes flight. “Tsk. Kouko, look after the kids. I have to follow Rin to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”

“Yes, Miss Keine!" Kouko responds as she watches Keine take to the skies.

"Rin! If you keep pushing yourself, you're going to bleed out!" Keine tries to reason with her student. "Turn around and come back to the shrine with me!"

"After I bring Sendai back home!" Rin responds, clutching her hand on where Rumia stabbed her. "I'm not coming back until I do so!"

"Gah, stubborn child! Fine! Then I'll accompany you to ensure that you stay safe!" Keine follows Rin as they begin descending once they get closer to the mountain.

"Getting closer…" Rin says when they reach the ground, right in front of the cave's entrance. "This aura…"

"I can sense that two powerful forces clashed together from within the cavern's depths," Keine observes. "I know for certain that one of them belongs to Lady Hakurei, but something about it feels different. Like a tint of anger has made its way into it."

"What you might be picking up is Sendai in her Fantasy Nature form. That must mean she won but…" Rin stares into the dark tunnel. "Something… Doesn't feel right."

"Shall we proceed?"

"..."

Rin begins walking into the tunnel while Keine follows her. As they walk deeper, they feel Sendai and Rumia's auras clashing interchangeably. This gives Rin some hope that Sendai is still alive but worries her that Sendai has yet to calm Rumia down.

Then, the auras shift from clashing to each other to merging. They become one, but Sendai's aura begins weakening while Rumia's only grows stronger.

"Why does it feel like… Something terrible has occurred…" Keine mutters.

"Don't entertain that thought." Rin snaps as they delve deeper.

Eventually, they can only feel Rumia's aura throughout the cave before that too begins fading away.

"Agh! Damnit!" Rin begins running while Keine chases after her. "Sendai! Rumia! If I don't see either of you in the chamber, what am I going to say to Reimu?!"

Finally, the two reach the cave's antechamber. Several cracks, gashes, craters, and fallen stalagmites and stalactites are scattered across the cave. The Makai Gateway has also suffered heavy damage, but the portal itself remains intact.

"I don't see anyone else here…" Keine whispers.

"Sendai! Rumia! Where in gods name have you two disappeared to!" Rin calls out, separating herself from Keine.

The were-hakutaku goes on her own search knowing that the cave is empty from what she can tell. Curious about the Makai Gateway, Keine approaches it with great intrigue. She had once read in an old rendition of the Gensokyo Chronicle of how Makai and Gensokyo once traded goods with each other. But that was a bygone era, and no one knew why the two lands stopped interacting with each other.

As she circles around the base of the gateway, she hears the whimpering of a young girl around the corner. She turns around to see a girl with short blonde hair, a black vest and skirt, wears a white blouse, and a ribbon tied to her hair.

"That matches Rumia's description." Keine thought. She approaches the girl but is then stopped by a purple umbrella that suddenly blocks her way.

"Don't touch her, half-breed," Yukari warns the teacher. "I'll deal with her."

"Yukari Yakumo." Keine glares at the boundary youkai. "Why are you here?"

"To clean up an error, and to deliver Rin the truth."

"Truth?" Keine grits her teeth. "What truth?"

"One carefully edited truth. It is the best way to lie, after all."

"What could you possibly mean by that?"

Yukari bends down and carries the small girl. "On how I forced this girl into two mothers' lives by letting their daughter befriend her."

"So that child you're carrying is…"

"Indeed." Yukari straightens the girl's ribbon. "This right here is a Rumia with her powers and memories freshly sealed away. The amulet is a gift from the Hakurei Shrine Maiden before her passing."

"Lady Hakurei is…" Keine says, distraught.

"Yes, Dead. With a capital d."

"What lies do you plan to tell my student?"

"No lies. I plan to tell her the truth, but not the whole truth. I'm definitely not telling her I'm the reason why Rumia and Reimu befriended each other. She would blame me for Sendai's death and lose trust in me!" Yukari says the last few words of that last sentence with an exaggerated tone. "And I can't have that. Especially when Rumia being possessed by the Hunger was not within my calculations."

"Why are you telling me this? Nothing is stopping me from telling her the truth."

"Oh, but there is, Miss Kamishirasawa. My shikigami has heard rumors of an immortal human constantly dueling with a princess that holds otherworldly beauty. Both individuals are said to live in the bamboo forest, with the princess said to live in a mansion older than Gensokyo itself and guarded by rabbits. It would be a shame if I delve deeper to learn the truth of this secret of yours."

"Tsk! Don't you dare–"

"Let's not also forget that your life would be at stake as well." Yukari hums. "Oh, what would those poor parents tell their kids when their beloved Miss Keine is wound up dead in a ditch, her body decorated with swords and spears piercing through her body."

"You… You monster…" Keine says, appalled.

"'Monster' sounds a bit more ruthless than youkai, but yes. You can describe me as one." Yukari admits. "However, what did you expect? That is what we are."

"Miss Keine…?" The two can hear Rin call out solemnly. "M-Miss Keine…? Where are you…?"

"Ah, here she comes.” Yukari opens a gap and puts Rumia through it. “Over here, Rin!” Yukari yells to get Rin’s attention.

“Y-Yukari? Is that you?” Rin stammers. “Wait, where’s Miss Keine?”

“She's with me, Rin. We’re just having a chat.” Yukari says as she gives Keine a playful stare, while the were-hakutaku simply glares at her.

“Ah… Good…” Rin comes into view as she clutches her stomach. “Yukari, if you’re here, then that must mean you know what happened to Rin and Rumia, right?”

“I indeed do…” Yukari opens a gap wide enough for her and Rin to walk through. “Come along Rin, we have lots to discuss.”

“Uh… Sure.” Rin says as Yukari lets her enter first. Rin takes a glance at Keine, who ushers her to go. “I’ll see you later, Miss Keine. Tell my sister that I went with Yukari.”

Keine nods, and now it's Yukari's turn to enter the gap. Yukari takes one step into the gap before confronting Keine once more.

"Oh, and Miss Kamishirasawa?"

"What is it, Yakumo?" Keine scowls at her.

"I suggest that later down the line, you should clue Rin in on enrolling her daughter in your school soon."

"...Daughter?" Keine asks incredulously. "What do you mean by Rin's daughter–"

"Oops, I've stayed for too long. Tata~"

And with that, Yukari steps through the gap and it closes, leaving Keine alone in the cave.

"Gah," Keine grumbles as she pulls out a cigarette and a matchbox. She doesn't usually smoke, but Mokou has been quite insistent that it's a great stress reliever and regularly gifts her both items. And she's right.

Keine puts the cigarette in her mouth and strikes a match onto the matchbox to light it. She then places the flame on the tip of the cigarette and it lights up. Keine breathes in the smoke before sighing.

That Boundary Youkai better not lie about anything too drastic…

Chapter Text

March 7

Rin walks up the stairs leading to the shrine, with her bag slung across her shoulder. She has just finished working at her clinic, even though she was advised to rest and take it easy until her wounds were healed. But to Keine and Kouko's dismay, Rin has brewed several tonics that allowed her to have the strength she needed to keep working. If she doesn't continue working, how else would she be able to support herself and her daughter?

Rin takes the last step, and now she's finally at the top. With the shrine in view, Rin walks to the entrance. She slides the door open and calls out a name.

"Reimu? I'm home!" Rin steps into the shrine. "Reimu…?"

Rin walks around for a few seconds until spotting long purple hair hiding behind a cabinet.

"Oh, dear!" Rin says with a playful and exaggerated tone as she slowly walks toward the cabinet. "Where has my little Reimu gone?"

On cue, the hair behind the cabinet begins vibrating with the sounds of suppressed snickers accompanying it.

"Got you!" Rin exclaims as she grabs Reimu and lifts her up, causing the girl to squeal in delight. "There you are!"

"Mama… Found me…!" Reimu giggles as Rin sets her down.

"Yes, mama did. Now…" Rin opens her bag and rummages through its contents until she pulls out a ribbon with a red-white color scheme. "Stay still."

Rin takes off Reimu's old plan red ribbon and replaces it with the new one she brought.

"There. Now go look in the mirror and tell me if you like it."

Reimu nods and makes her way to the toilet. Shortly later, she returns with a smile on her face.

"I like… It!"

"Heh… That's good." Rin ruffles Reimu's hair. "Take care of it. It once belonged to someone special, okay?"

"Okay!"

Rin smiles as Reimu moves along, not bothering to question who originally owned her new ribbon.

"It belonged to your real mother." Rin thought. "It's what she wore when she was your age. Your grandmother wanted you to have it… I too, wanted you to have it. Wear it proudly, please."

And with that, Rin sets her bag down and heads to the kitchen.

"So, what would you want for dinner?"

"Seems like she has adjusted to being Reimu's mother," Ran says as she closes the gap that was spying on the inside of the shrine. "And it appears that the sealing ritual worked."

"Not sealing, Ran." Yukari corrects her. "That ritual only repressed the child's memories. If she ever comes face-to-face with that amanojaku once more, or if she encounters Rumia in her unsealed form, then her mind shall begin to remember."

"Are you certain it was the right call to tell her that Rumia's seal is unbreakable and that it may last forever?" Ran questions her master. "We know that it shall eventually wither away. And while the strength of a Hakurei utilizing Fantasy Nature is near unstoppable, it is still breakable."

"If I told Rin that there is a chance for Rumia to break free from the seal without the Hunger possessing her, she might try to break Rumia out while Reimu's mind has not yet developed enough to handle the trauma associated with Rumia. It would break her."

"Fair enough. But do you really trust Rin to raise the next Hakurei all by herself?"

"What makes you say that? You trust her, so why shouldn't I? After all, she has already proved her worth as someone who cares deeply for the child and would be willing to do anything to protect her."

"I… Uh…" For once, Ran struggles with her words.

"What? Chen got your tongue?" Yukari teases the fox.

"No, sorry. It's just that it's usually you or me that raises the next Hakurei Shrine Maiden whenever the mother has passed on."

"Hah. Then I guess Rin shall be the first to break that norm." Yukari opens a gap that reveals Rin cooking a meal while Reimu imitates her mother. "There is a first for everything, after all."

Yukari closes the gap, while the mother and daughter laugh at their activities.