Note: This work of fiction contains elements from ZUN's Touhou Project. I do not own these elements. My desire is to support the Touhou Project fanbase, not to claim ownership to Touhou Project nor degrade official Touhou Project media.
-A Good Deed-
One day in Gensoukyou, in the afternoon, Reimu and Marisa were hanging out with some snacks on the front porch of the Hakurei Shrine. Talking about various random topics as friends do, they notice that, coming up the steps of the shrine, was a possible source of donations.
"...wait, someone's coming up!" said Reimu.
"Oh, it's Cirno."
"She won't donate, so what's the point..."
Cirno noticed Marisa and greeted her.
"'sup Mari!"
"Hey, Cirno! What brings you by?"
Instead of continuing, Cirno walked up to the donation box, and gave it a 500 yen coin. She clapped and prayed, before turning to leave.
"Sorry, gotta run! See you 'round, Mari!"
As she ran down the stairs, Reimu sprang up and feverishly opened the box. Marisa continued.
"...okay that was weird."
"Cirno donated?! To me?! What the hell is going on?!"
"She's never donated to you...I thought she didn't even have money."
"This much?! My god!"
"Wasn't that nice of her?"
Reimu held the coin in her hands, dreaming of what she could buy with it.
"I...can finally afford hot cross buns..."
Marisa went on.
"You okay, Reimu?"
"Yes, Marisa...yes, I'll be fine..."
"...so at this point, we must ask ourselves 'why did this happen?', right?"
"Yes, that is the question...why did she do this? We must take into account that she cannot contribute to society in any conceivable way enough to get a single yen...and...also even if she got one...all of Gensoukyou can agree to the fact that she is a complete idiot...enough to waste it on loan sharks or perhaps leaving it on a stump to tie her shoes...and forgetting it as she proceeds to freeze yet another frog..."
"Maybe it was just a good deed..."
"Yes! To donate this to me...she must show compassion and empathy for her fellow human...she must have a measurable level of love...one that surpasses her own desires to buy something for herself...but Marisa...we must also ask that maybe this was not a good deed..."
"No?"
Reimu continued on. One could see the gears turning to develop the reason for this act by Cirno.
"No...she plans this in advance...for some prank or a part of some vast conspiracy that I do not yet know about...maybe she plans to trick me later on...or she feels sorry for me...well, I do not need her pity...I do not eat my friends' foodstuffs and my own breadcrumbs to get pity from an absolute moron..."
"So what will you do? Personally I think we should just let her be...just enjoy her act of generosity and buy something nice with it."
Unfortunately, Reimu had other ideas.
"No, Marisa...we cannot let sleeping dogs lie and let this pass by...for there is something within me...something beyond my moral fiber that tells me to find exactly why she did this...we must head to the lake, Marisa! We must solve this mystery!"
Marisa felt an impetus to find the reason why Cirno did this. However, being Marisa, she had other plans.
"But I had something to do with Alice..."
"Alice? Who cares about her..."
"...well, I suppose we can figure this out before I visit her place..."
"Very well, then! To...the misty lake!"
After a mild walk to Letty's house, Reimu and Marisa stood at the humble cottage, prepared to find out more.
"At last!" said Reimu. "Cirno's house! Marisa?!"
"What?"
"We must find the truth! Only then can our souls find peace!"
"...so are you going to knock on the door or do I do that for you now?"
With confidence, Reimu knocked on the door. Letty, after a few seconds, answered it.
"Yes?"
"Oh! Good day, Letty Whiterock!"
"...good day, Reimu Hakurei!"
"Marisa and I are looking for Cirno! Is she home at the moment?"
"Oh, I'm sorry but Cirno is playing with Mystia and Rumia at the lake right now. Do you need her for something?"
"She donated 500 yen and we were just wondering why." said Marisa.
Letty changed her expression to one a bit more puzzled.
"...wait, what?"
"Yeah! It's surprising, right?" said Reimu.
"Wow! Cirno gave money...away?" said Letty. "It doesn't sound like her..."
"I know! It's very concerning!"
"For Cirno to do that..."
Marisa came in.
"Well, we'll go to the lake. Right, Reimu?"
"Yes! We will do exactly that! Thank you very much for your time, Letty!"
"Oh, you're welcome! Have a good day!"
Reimu and Marisa then proceeded to walk to the lake. Still thinking about what has just happened, Reimu continued.
"Drat! Our quest has as of now become empty!"
"...'quest'? We've only been to one place, Reimu."
"Every journey begins with a single step!"
"Yeah, yeah...so what are you going to do exactly? Accuse her? You'll hurt her feelings."
"I...do not care about something so trifling!"
Marisa was speechless. Reimu continued.
"Besides...do you think she's smart enough for that?"
"Well...to understand your accusation? Sure, I'm very certain that she has to deal with that quite often."
"Aren't you concerned about this?"
"Not really. Just enjoy it! Really, I'm enabling you but I'm sure you can do this one thing. Embrace it! Enjoy this charity!"
"Well, I can't do it! I have to know! For Cirno to do this gives me great concern over her ulterior motive!"
"So we've settled on that?"
"My mind is truly troubled over this...I must find out, Marisa! I must!"
At the lake, they see Cirno, Mystia, and Rumia playing tag by the water's edge, simply having fun. Reimu, however, added to this.
"There they are, Marisa...frolicking and gamboling like morons..."
Marisa let Reimu continue.
"Cirno!"
Cirno, in her playtime, noticed Reimu.
"Hey, how's it going, miko? Got any donations, idiot?!"
Reimu, from the insult, shot out.
"Shut up, you blithering moron! I'm here for one thing only!"
Cirno decided to ignore her and continued to play. Reimu, of course, did not take this quietly.
"Hey! All of you, listen to me! Cirno!"
"What..."
"You know exactly what!"
"Sorry, no I don't..."
"The 500-yen coin! The 500 yen that you donated to me, Cirno!"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Don't play dumb with me! You donated 500 yen to me!"
"So what?"
"...so what?! Why would you donate that to me, you idiot?!"
Cirno stopped for a bit, as she could see the beginnings of Reimu walking in to what Cirno wanted.
"Well, that was the reaction, after all..."
"What?"
"Yes...the intended reaction was to confuse and bewilder...to give a sense of wonder..."
"Well, it worked!"
"It sure did! Thanks for making my day, idiot!"
Fully ensnared, Reimu fell to her knees. What Cirno did proceed to fill Reimu with a sense of loss and embarrassment. Cirno, laughing at her as her friends continued to play, added to this immensely as Marisa said
"Come on, let's go back, Reimu...let's go back..."
The defeated Reimu got up and left with Marisa. However, Reimu had one more thing to say to Cirno.
"Cirno...damn you, Cirno...damn you to hell, Cirno!"
A few days passed after the event, letting Reimu think and worry about what Cirno did to her. Embarrassed, Reimu let the confrontation get to her over the passing days, giving her many thoughts, conflicting, on what to do next. She decided to nap for a while. Unfortunately for her, Yukari had other plans.
"Hello, my sweet..."
"Agh! Don't scare me like that!"
"But I live on it! I thrive on it..."
"Well, that's nice to hear...how are you today?"
"Oh, this and that...overall, a nice day."
"Well, what are you doing, bothering me like this..."
Yukari turned her head to notice that Reimu had framed Cirno's donation onto the wall.
"Why is this coin on the wall? Aren't you going to spend it?"
"...you see, Yukari, I can't do that...that coin was given to me by Cirno..."
"Oh! That was nice of her."
"But she gave that to me only to see me yell at her like an idiot...I fell right into her trap...so embarrassing...how could I possibly spend that?"
"Simple...all you do is take it out of that awful framing...spend it on some nice pastry...or save it to buy something even nicer in the future..."
"...I can't...my principles forbid me..."
"...well some people don't have principles...maybe you can be like them..."
"That's nice and all but I can't...I can't let that idiot get the upper hand...so I've immortalized my mistake to prevent future ones."
"You're always so dramatic, Reimu."
"What are you telling me, Yukari?! To not be dramatic? I don't even know what I've been doing lately...all I see is Cirno laughing at me!"
"Well, it will be hard, but you can always get your revenge."
"Revenge? How do I do that? What's the point, even?!"
"Revenge, Reimu! If you get your revenge, all will be well. The feeling in your heart will be balanced again, because you would have settled the score. It can be simple, like throwing a pie on her smirking face...you can trip her legs as she walks...you can sabotage her recital by the ever-present thumbtack..."
"...are you doing all right, Yukari?"
"A bit too much, do you think?"
"...a little."
"Well, I'm just giving you ideas, Reimu! I don't want to see you like this, so sad, so wistful..."
"That's nice of you, but I really don't feel like it. The risk is too great."
"But it'll make you feel better..."
"So what do you want me to do? Risk it? I don't feel like it..."
"But that's why people gamble, and all of that...they want to feel the risk, like a rush of energy, the kind that you can only get from putting everything that you have on the line!"
"...you're going to say that I can only risk to get this revenge of mine, yes?"
"Well, yes...to get your revenge, you have to risk things...for that is only way..."
"You don't even sound like a real person anymore."
"It would make you feel better, yes?"
"...I suppose it would, but...I...I can't think of anything like that."
"I'm sure you feel that only because you're sad; if you give yourself a while, I'm sure you'll think of your revenge."
"So, can you give me some time, then?"
"But can I watch you for while? I want to watch you think, Reimu...you know...see those little gears up there turning and working hard..."
Reimu got up.
"Well, I guess I'll be on the porch then...", she said.
At Marisa's house, Marisa and Alice were enjoying some afternoon tea by the sunlight. Unfortunately, this bliss was to be shattered by Reimu, as she proceeded to run to and bang on the door.
"Marisa! Marisa! I've got it!"
"...doesn't she knock?" said Alice.
Marisa got up and opened the door.
"Marisa! Thank goodness you're here! I understand now! I get it now! Yukari has shown me the way to redemption!"
Marisa, knowing Yukari's penchant for mind games, responded.
"...Yukari? She probably just messed with you..."
"It's revenge, Marisa! Sweet revenge!"
"Reimu? Are you okay? At least sit down..."
Reimu noticed Alice, trying to hang on to the last shards of the previous peace.
"Oh, Alice! Thank goodness you're here!"
"...really? How...nice that that is the case..."
"Yes, Marisa! I got it! I am going to exact revenge on that sniveling child!"
"Reimu, I think Yukari's wrong here, as always..."
"But it makes so much sense!"
"That's because you've got some delusion up there..." said Alice.
"I got it! I'm going to hide in a tree with some nice maple syrup...I've rigged Tewi to lead her under my branch...when I see her miserable head, I'll dump it all over her! That's it! She'll be sorry she ever donated to my-"
Marisa noticed some flaws in Reimu's revenge.
"Reimu, come on...that's what you shouldn't do..."
"...what?!"
"You should keep your dignity..." said Alice. "Why stoop to her childish ways?"
Marisa continued.
"She's right, you know. I mean, come on! You frankly sound like a child yourself!"
"You two! Listen! She's insulted me! I have to insult her to settle the score!"
"No you don't! Don't do this!"
"But she'll win if I do nothing!"
"Reimu...this is very difficult, to take this path, but it's what should be done. Do nothing and you'll feel regret, but eventually you'll feel better!"
Alice gave her two cents.
"Marisa, just stop. Reimu's going to do whatever Yukari told her! I mean, look at her eyes...they've got Yukari's passion in them..."
"But you need to help stop this, too!" said Marisa.
"Don't look at me! I just came for some tea. Reimu has something crammed in there every day to either make money, or exact revenge. Don't bring good people into your convoluted problems!"
"Well isn't this nice!" said Reimu. "See ya, I'm going to take my revenge now!"
Marisa and Alice saw Reimu leave with a slamming door.
"...sorry, Alice."
"It's fine. She's your friend, I just deal with her in my own way."
Reimu ran to Eientei in its forest. Possessed by the prospect of getting revenge on Cirno, her eyes burning with passion, she shouts for Tewi.
"Tewi!"
Reisen, on the porch, answered this.
"Oh, it's Reimu. Tewi's been talking about you!"
"She's got my syrup, of course! Is she in there?"
"Yeah, she's getting it ready...can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead!"
"Why are you going to dump a vat of syrup on Cirno? What will this solve, exactly?"
"She donated just to catch me in embarrassment!"
"I know that already. Why don't you just not stoop to her level?"
"...why is everyone telling me that?!"
"Because it's the right thing to do?"
"I'm not arguing with you."
Reimu proceeded to barge into Eientei.
"Tewi! Tewi! Come on!"
"Yeah, yeah, stop yelling! I'm coming already..." said Tewi.
"My revenge must be grand and swift, you know!"
"Yeah, but you've got my money?"
Reimu gave her the requested cash.
"Here, just come on, now!"
Reimu and Tewi went to a forest path by Cirno's house. Finding a choice tree, Reimu climbed to a good branch, and shouted to Tewi.
"...okay, I'm up! Give me the bucket!"
"...got it?"
"Got it!"
"Okay, you're going to have to give me ten minutes for me to bring her over here."
"Yes, yes, just go! Go get her!"
"Okay, you'll be fine up there?"
"Just go!"
"Fine, fine!"
Tewi then proceeded to head to Cirno's house. For the plan, she was home then.
"Hey, Cirno!"
"'sup, Tewi?"
"I found some nice candy in the human village! Come get it with me!"
"What kind?"
"...what did I just say? It's candy, Cirno! Cheap too! C'mon!"
"'kay!"
Behind Cirno, Daiyousei noticed the two preparing to leave.
"Where're you two going?"
"To the human village to get some candy!" Cirno said.
As they prepared to leave, Reimu was in the tree with the vat. Since Reimu doesn't climb trees often, she was getting uncomfortable with her sitting position. After a few more minutes, she had some discomfort in her legs, and later felt them falling asleep. She decided to peer over the part of the path that she could see, and saw nothing. Feeling frustrated, she shifted around on the branch, thinking about when on Earth Cirno would be under it. During this shifting, some of the syrup got on her hands. As soon as this happened, she saw a caterpillar near her foot. It was a disaster in progress. When the three finally got near the tree, the worst happened.
"No...hah! No way! It's Reimu!" said Cirno.
"So...you couldn't stay up there?" said Tewi.
Reimu had fallen from the tree. She was covered in the syrup as well, and was injured in the process.
Reimu was brought to the hospital, and soon after had her leg up in her bed. Alone with soon-ending stillness, she heard Marisa talking to Eirin about which room Reimu was in. Soon after, Marisa opened the door and came in.
"Hey! You doing all right?"
"I'm fine. The worst is my leg here..."
"Yeah? The left?"
"It's broken."
"...so you fell?"
"Yeah, I fell."
"Do you need something? I can get something-"
"No, it's fine...I'm okay. It hurts still, a bit...but..."
"So I'm going to stay for a while! That's great, right? I got a story here...or three. I bought some cookies in the gift shop! And I-"
"Marisa, it's fine. I'm not a child."
"And I'm going to stay for an hour. Like, at least. The fact that no else is here makes me very mad; is Suika sleeping one off or something?! I mean, my god, what is wrong with these people-"
"I think the best thing right now is some peace and quiet."
"Well, about that...I brought someone else with me."
Reimu got a bit of anxiety.
"...who?"
"I think you should talk to her for a bit."
"Marisa...who is it?"
"It's Cirno."
"...I really think talking to Cirno would bring nothing good to this problem-"
Ignoring her, Marisa called for Cirno to come in.
"Hey, pegleg! Mari told me everything!"
Reimu said nothing.
"So...cool splint...I'm going to sign the cast when it comes out!"
"That's...nice."
Reimu decided to talk a bit more about the situation.
"So do you know why I'm here?"
"Yeah! You tried to one-up my awesome prank! Well, guess what? You got nothing!"
"I admit it was stupid."
"Yeah! Stupid! Stupid!"
"No, I was wrong to exact revenge and-"
"Exactly!" Cirno continued.
"Cirno. Cirno!"
"What?!"
"You donated to me. I know why you did it. But...I'm going to tell you something. I moved on. I don't care why you did this to me anymore. Thank you for donating to the Hakurei Shrine. Your donation will make the shrine the best in Gensoukyou."
"I donated for a prank!"
"I don't care anymore."
"I don't care what you did with the money! It was money well spent to see you fall before me You are an idiot! An idiot!"
"Cirno...thank you for giving me your money...you could have spent that money on something for yourself...but you gave it to me. For you to give that money to me...it was very nice of you...and I will appreciate it for as long as I live. Thank you, Cirno. Thank you."
"...what are you talking about?! Stop, just stop it! Stop it now!"
"Do you see what I did? I won, Cirno. In the end...I won."
Reimu continued talking to a speechless Cirno.
"I fell for your prank. We all know that. It took you probably all year to come up with it. And you felt so high up because I felt so low...but your bullying made me stronger...and in the end...I moved on...you did not, and that makes you the queen of nothing. The funniest thing about all of this is that you can still be proud of your accomplishment...but you are so undeniably stupid that you cannot make heads nor tails of what I am even talking about anymore...I won. I...won."
Still speechless, Cirno got a bit of wisdom form Marisa.
"...what do you say, Cirno?"
"...I...I'm...not sorry! Yeah! That's right! I don't know what you're doing...but I'm not going to apologize! I never apologize! Reimu, I will not forget this...I will never forget this! Never!"
Cirno, running off, left Reimu to end.
"...such an idiot."
"Well, she is Cirno. Our Cirno."
"Why are you talking about her like she's our daughter?"
"Because it makes me feel better..."
Marisa noticed Reimu's blush.
"Looks like someone's embarrassed!"
"I'm...I'm not embarrassed...go console Cirno out there."
"Okay, fine! Such a drama queen you are..."
"Don't...shut up...I'm not a drama queen. Where did you learn that term anyways?"
"You think about that while I go talk to Cirno."
"...fine..."
Reimu got a bit more comfortable in her bed, and decided to nap for a while while Marisa left for Cirno.
-End-