Chapter 1
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All around me, I saw the projectiles whiz by. They were beautiful, but thrown with a sense of poor judgement. There was a bright flash of light, and I had the girl by the collar of her shirt. The battle was over before it even started, I thought. But, despite her defeat, the insolent intruder's green eyes defied me still.
"Our shrine is a million times better than yours," she snarled. I felt my eye twitch. I brought her closer to stare directly into those venomous and hateful eyes.
"Is that so?" I said coldly. "Then go and tell your Goddesses this: 'Welcome to Gensokyo.'"
I raised my other hand. Her eyes widened, and the world blinked into darkness.
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Fwap!
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"Ow!" Reimu Hakurei felt something papery hit her face. She bolted up in her futon and swatted the intrusive thing away.
"Reimu, it's time to get up," said a falsely sweet voice. Rubbing the afflicted spot, Reimu glared at the voice's owner.
"Did you have to wake me up with the fan, Mom?"
Fwap!
Again, Reimu was met with the paper side of the instrument, although softer this time. But before she could grab it, the fan was pulled back and folded up, revealing a blonde-haired woman in a purple dress.
"Of course, dear." She said. "Without it, you wouldn't have your Mommy to wake you up. Every. Single. Day~"
Reimu nearly (but figuratively) vomited. She grabbed her pillow and threw it at the offending adult. But instead of colliding, it passed through a gap filled with eyes and landed on top of Reimu's head.
"Now, that wasn't nice," The other woman said.
"Ugh, get out of here!" Reimu nearly shouted. Hearing her daughter's naturally rebellious attitude up and ready, Reimu's mother readjusted her ribbon laced mobcap, made a small satisfied sound, and turned to make Reimu's lunch for the day.
Exhausted, Reimu fell back onto the lopsided pillow and closed her eyes. She didn't need to look at the digital clock near her head to know that it was 6:45 a.m. on the dot. Like any other dreaded school day, Reimu thought. Only a month and a half into the new semester at Genso High, and she was already tired of the routine. Get up early, go to school, return home, perform shrine maiden duties, do homework, study for any upcoming test, and repeat. She longed for the summer days where she lazed around, not caring one bit about life.
But, like any good and responsible child, she dutifully engaged in the monotonous cycle of learning. And like any good and responsible mother, Reimu's mom woke her up to make her go to school. Except she had the audacity to do it in the most irritating ways (For example, two weeks ago, she had been gapped out of bed and dumped in front of her school fully clothed, school backpack ready, and lunch in hand. That would have been good for Reimu, if not for the fact that it happened literally four hours before the school opened. Needless to say, she didn't speak to her mother for a few days after that).
Why did my mother have to be her, Reimu blearingly thought. The famous Yukari Yakumo. The self-proclaimed seventeen year old (?) who had captivated her hometown Mayohiga with her dedication as a shrine maiden when she was younger. The same person who had declined world-wide fame and instead chose to settle down in Gensokyo to raise a family of her own. Now just a mother who constantly doted on and teased her daughter. That Yukari Yakumo.
Ugh, just thinking about her maiden name made Reimu feel ill. Not to mention, they didn't even look alike. Reimu greatly suspected that her black hair and looks came from her father. But he had apparently disappeared when she was just born. Yukari wouldn't talk about him and always feigned innocence whenever she tried asking about him.
Well, whatever, Reimu thought. She couldn't remember his face, nor had he been a big part of her life. But her mother was always there for her, it seemed like. She was there when she first tripped and scratched her knee, comforting the young girl. She was there when Reimu came crying to her room because of the earth-shattering loud thunderstorm that night. She was even there when Reimu was appointed to be the first Hakurei Shrine Maiden, personally bestowing her gohei and charms onto her. Inside, Reimu felt a little bit of warmth creep into her heart in gratefulness for her mother.
"Reimu, it's 7:15 a.m. If you don't hurry and get ready, I'll eat your breakfast again~"
…And what little warmth she had was instantly replaced with hatred. Reimu groaned and began fumbling around for her signature red ribbon.
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"Wow, Reimu, you look worn out already."
"Shove it, Marisa."
Reimu was now sitting at her assigned desk at the back of Classroom 1A with her head in her arms. Marisa Kirisame, the blonde hair witch-in-training/friend, was also sitting in front of her and looking back. Around them, the other students milled about and chatted with one another, waiting for the first bell to ring. Marisa grinned and ruffled Reimu's head.
"Just saying. Ms. Kazami's not going to be happy if you're still like this later, ze." Reimu raised her head slightly.
"Wrong. She only cares that you aren't dozing off in her class."
"What? No way! Did you see what happened to Wriggle after she didn't do her homework last week?"
Before Reimu could reply back, the bell rang. She lowered her head again as the first class of the day began. With boring History. As Keine Too-Long-of-Last-Name started to lecture, she dozed off into her daily nap.
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"Must be nice being able to sleep and be ignored by the teacher," Marisa remarked.
"Being liked by nearly every one of them helps," Youmu Konpaku commented, and the tall girl next to her with rabbit ears sticking out of her head nodded in assent.
Reimu finished off her juice box and threw it in the trash can behind her. When she woke up again, it was already the end of 2nd period and the beginning of the mid-morning break. Their other friends, Youmu and Reisen "Udongein" Inaba walked over from their seats to talk with Reimu and Marisa.
"Not if you had my life," she said. "Does getting woken up in the worst ways possible by a lunatic of a mother, going to school only to get homework and tests, and having to act as the current shrine maiden afterwards sound nice?"
Marisa shrugged as Udonge spoke up.
"Honestly, I prefer that compared to how I get treated at home. If I'm lucky, my Master will forget to mix experimental drugs into my lunch." She sighed pitifully. "She never forgets."
Marisa turned towards Youmu.
"How about you, Youmu?" The white haired girl shrugged.
"I cook, and she eats." The blonde haired girl looked back at Reimu.
"See, Reimu? Servant life sucks hard, ze."
"I'll believe it when I experience it," Reimu said, rubbing her eyes.
Above them, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next session of classes. Youmu and Udonge went back to their seats, and Reimu and Marisa prepared themselves for a long Math period with Ms. Kazami.
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"I swear, that woman deserves every single title that we give her," Marisa grumbled.
"What, you mean 'Yuuka the Destroyer' and 'Ultimate Sadistic Creature'?"
"Those, and much more."
Reimu smirked at the blonde-haired girl.
"I told you she only cares about you paying attention." Marisa merely ate her sandwich faster.
It was now lunchtime. Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, and Reisen were eating at their favorite spot on the rooftop of the school. It was their special place, where they were able to escape the confines of the classroom and watch the grounds of the school and surrounding buildings from above. Patchouli Knowledge and Alice Margatroid, their other friends from another class, were also there. Reimu picked a piece from her bento and chewed on it, savoring the taste. At least her meals made by her mother weren't bad. As she ate, she listened to the others talk.
"Yo, Alice, can I get a drink from your thermos, ze?"
"S-sure, Marisa."
"You can also drink from mine, Marisa!"
"Hey, Youmu, did you understand what Ms. Kazami was saying?"
"Nope."
Hack! Cough, cough! Udonge started to choke after eating a tiny piece from her bento. Literally green in the face, she pulled her bottle of water and a few pills from her backpack and drank the healing mixture.
"Ugh…"
Presently, all conversations converged towards a single, recent event.
"Hey, did you hear? Mokou was confessed to yesterday! But she turned him down!"
"Well, of course. Everyone knows she's in love with the History teacher, ze."
"Almost like how you and Ms. Kazami are, right?"
"Hell no!"
"Yea, Marisa is in love with-" Both Alice and Patchouli started to say and stopped. They glared at each other while the blonde-haired girl in question looked at Reimu with a sly glint in her eyes.
"What you think, Reimu?"
"Good for her," Reimu said simply. Marisa feigned shock.
"What, that's all? No outspoken, outraged reaction from our resident shrine maiden? Mokou probably broke that poor sap's heart!"
Reimu snorted at the idea of Mokou Fujiwara actually caring about that kind of stuff. Breakings hearts, that was.
"Maybe Reimu's in love with someone," Udonge teased. Reimu looked appalled.
"Personally, if I were to fall in love (which, by the way, is impossible), I would prefer someone who was caring, thoughtful of others, and can cook," Reimu said. "None of which any guy here can do."
Alice put a finger to her chin in thought.
"Actually, I think there is someone like what you described in our class."
"Eh?"
"Oh, but she isn't a guy. Her name is Sanae Kochiya. A lot of us think she's the most caring out of all of us. Also one of the better students who can actually cook a meal."
"Huh…"
"Wow. If she can cook, then I think I'm in love, too, ze!"
"Wait. I can cook just as well or even better than her, Marisa!"
"M-me too!"
"What? I've seen you in Home Econ, Patchouli. You can't cook!"
As the doll-maker and purple magician squabbled over the blonde-haired witch again, the conversation again moved on to other unimportant things.
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Reimu always looked forward to the class periods directly after lunch, as she had Physical Education. Yuugi Hoshiguma, the PE instructor, did not care what they did as long as they were moving around and getting exercise. And for Reimu, that meant being able to fly and play danmaku.
She loved to fly more than anything else. It was the way the wind blew around her and senses of thrill she got in her stomach. Though, if she had to put it, she was not as elegant as Alice was or as fast as Aya Shameimaru. However, she was the best at dodging, and she often played as dodger/attacker while her opponents streamed projectiles at her. After an hour, Ms. Hoshiguma blew the whistle, and the fliers settled back down onto the ground. Reimu had worked up a light sweat after flying and dodging for so long, so she took a quick rinse in the showers before heading to her last period of the day.
Although Reimu was grateful that the class was not graded, she never quite saw the importance of Home Economics. She always questioned for whom was she cleaning and cooking for. Certainly not for the guys, and it didn't help that they always acted bizarre whenever they made something (senior student Rinnosuke Morichika, for instance, had been permanently banned from the school's kitchen and labelled a pervert by all of the female student body after harassing several classes). Maybe for her own benefit, but she liked to think that she was already able to live alone and take care of herself. Anyways, the good parts about the class were that most of the class time was spent waiting for the food to finish cooking or baking, and she was able to take home whatever she made. Only on occasion were they lectured for the full hour about the importance of cleanliness or bacteria.
Today, they were going to bake some cupcakes. Using the school's large kitchen, they quickly made the soft and smooth batter and poured it into the provided molds. As they waited for them to puff into small and delicious edibles, Hijirin Byakuren lectured them for about half of the class period about keeping a workstation clean before and after using it. For the rest of the period, she let them talk or do homework. By the time the class was over, the cupcakes were done baking. Reimu thought hers turned out ok. At least, they tasted and looked good. Marisa's batch, though, was burnt to crisps.
"Aha, must've turned up the heat to high," she said.
And so Reimu's day ended amicably well. She now stood with Marisa, Youmu, and Udonge outside of the kitchen. They chatted for a little while as the streams of leaving students passed them steadily. Finally, they felt like it was time to go.
"See you tomorrow Reimu!"
"Bye, Reimu!"
Reimu waved goodbye to her friends and turned around to go in the other way. The Hakurei Shrine was in the opposite direction of the residential district and school, and so on days when she didn't hang out with Marisa and some other friends, she went towards the school's smaller entrance to get home in a slightly faster manner. She raised and jiggled the small, clear bag of cupcakes and smiled a little; she had a late night snack to look forward to, provided that her mother didn't get to them first. As she was staring at them, she heard a noise.
Fwisshh!
Someone ahead of her had accidently dropped a large stack of papers, scattering them across the floor. Being the only one around, Reimu went to help and knelt down near the spilt paper. She saw that they were tests from Classroom 1b; it was the class both Patchouli and Alice were in. She gathered up a large amount and stacked them back into a neater pile.
"Ah, th-thank you," she heard. Reimu saw that it was a girl who had dropped them. She had long, green hair with a strange frog and snake hairclip set. Her face was also red from embarrassment.
"Do you need help carrying it?" Reimu asked.
"Oh, if you would, please! " The girl said. Reimu nodded. After gathering about half the paper, she followed the girl towards her destination. It turned out to be administration office. Not seeing the secretary present, the girl and Reimu decided to put them into the teacher's slot and go. Once outside, the green-haired girl turned to Reimu and bowed.
"Thank you so much for helping!"
"You're welcome," Reimu said, she turned to go.
"Um, if it's not a bother, may I ask what your name is?" Reimu paused and looked back at the girl.
"It's Reimu," she said. The girl smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Reimu. I'm Sanae," she said.
"Sanae…Sanae Kochiya?" The girl nodded.
Huh…, Reimu thought. She opened her bag of cupcakes and fished out one of the small treats. She held it out the other girl, who looked at it in surprise.
"Nice to meet you, too, Sanae."
Hesitating a little, the green-haired girl took the cupcake and thanked Reimu again. Reimu nodded, and she finally went on her way.
Sanae watched as Reimu walked down the hallway. As the black-haired girl turned around the corner and disappeared from sight, she bit into the cupcake.
"Oh, sweet!"
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