The middle of the night was no different from the middle of the day to her. If no one's at the shrine and the cleaning is done, sleep. If sleep won't come, lounge about under the kotatsu until tired enough to sleep. That was not only a daily routine for Reimu; it was her entire way of life. Other than the occasional incidents or house calls from one of her many acquaintances, this went virtually unchanged. To date, few things surprised her at all, oh so few things...
"The bread...gimme...thanks...for the meal..." Reimu shot up with a start, groaning in pain. There was a ring of red marks just below her thumb where she'd tried to eat her own hand. Now too awake to sleep, she shuffled over to the kotatsu and prepared to lounge around like usual, but an unfamiliar tingle went up her spine, telling her to open her front door immediately. Rising to her feet and grabbing her gohei, she rushed to the door and threw it open.
A plinking sound, a ringing bell, outstretched hands came together with a clap as eyes fell shut. A silent, sacred prayer from a dark being. When the eyes opened, they fell upon the visage of a shrine maiden who was starting to look increasingly angry for some inexplicable reason.
"I just woke up and am feeling a bit sluggish, so I'll give you a few seconds to explain yourself before I blast you to ribbons." Reime sighed, so much for late night worshippers.
Launching herself over the donation box, the youkai of darkness wrapped her arms around the shrine maiden's waist and buried her face into her stomach. "I need your help!"
There were few things that ever surprised the shrine maiden. Receiving a donation was one, a donation from a youkai perhaps a little less so, but to be hugged and begged for aid by someone who the only contact she'd really had with was pummeling her, this actually surprised her.
Surprise didn't stop the fist coming down on Rumia's head, however. "Ouch!"
"Get off already! What do you need help with anyway?" Reimu pushed the little Youkai off her waist.
"A mean spirit keeps attacking me in the forest. She won't even say why, but now I can't even go to sleep." The little youkai pouted.
"You're a youkai, you don't need to sleep."
"I do it sometimes, makes me not think of my stomach." On cue, her stomach growled. "I haven't eaten in ten days."
"Yeah, I know what that's like. So I take it you've come here for an exorcism?" The shrine maiden produced several spell tags from her sleeve.
In an instant Rumia was behind the donation box. "Not me! The mean spirit!"
"Fine, I'll take a look. But if I don't find a spirit, don't come to me again." Reimu sighed and closed the shrine doors behind her. "Lead the way."
"This way, this way!" Rumia flew off into the night, her arms and palms outstretched.
.
"What exactly did she look like?" Reimu was assuming it was a she; these sorts of events were never the work of men. They had the sense to keep to themselves in such a place as Gensokyo.
"I couldn't see her. First it was all quiet, and then there were bullets everywhere!" Rumia had a grip on the hem of the shrine maiden's skirt with one hand while the other made a sweeping motion to emphasize her point.
"Right now they're nowhere. Show me exactly where this happened." Reimu really couldn't care less, the only reason she was even going along with this was because she was bored.
"It was around here. I look for food around here, but now I get attacked if I try." The little Youkai jumped at the sound of a cricket.
"Well then, let's see." The shrine maiden began poking around, checking behind trees and rocks, looking inside bushes, and calling out. "Come out here spirit! Stop terrorizing the youkai, that's my job." She noted that the trees and branches were intact, there wasn't any sign of danmaku being used at all. "I think you've been dreaming or something. This was a waste of time." Reimu started towards her shrine.
"No! Don't go!" Rumia tugged on the hem of the shrine maiden's skirt, trying to stop her from proceeding.
With a shove, Reimu sent the little Youkai stumbling backward and started off. "Look, you never saw a spirit, there's no danmaku damage, so you probably ate a bad mushroom and had a bad dream or something. Now please just leave me alone." She stomped off to the shrine, not looking back.
"Sheesh, you're harsh. Poor thing's scared out of her wits and you treat her like a little kid who stole a cookie." A familiar voice from above marked the appearance of a certain witch. "She went through all the trouble of getting money for a donation and all she got were some mean words. Why such a meanie today Miss Meanie?"
"There was no evidence of an attack at all, no danmaku damage, she never saw an attacker, and she's a youkai, who are prone to lying for attention and stuff." Reimu placed her hands on the lid of the donation box. "Besides, a little forest creature like her probably put an acorn in here. Nothing of any worth to me." She pried the lid of the box up to clean out its contents, what she found startled her. A fair sized pile of coins, ranging from 1 to 500 yen in value, sat in the box. The coins were mostly rusted or worn, likely due to time spent in riverbeds or on roadsides, but still had value.
While the shrine maiden gawked at the contents, the witch guided her broom over the box. "You know...a little forest critter like her, that amount is likely all the money she has, maybe all she's ever had. To spend it all for your help, she must really be desperate." Marisa floated down, hopping off her broom when she reached the ground. "Poor thing is now out in that forest, alone, scared for her life, and with no way to pay for food or safe lodgings. The person she had gone to for help dismissed her as a liar and left her to wither away, all alone."
The witch's cold tone was not lost on Reimu, a shiver ran up her spine with each word. "Alright, alright I'll give her another chance. But you're coming with me this time, since you're so determined to stick your nose into it."
"Yeah, I expected that much, don't worry about me. I'll be right behind you Miss Meanie." The witch chuckled.
"Don't run off...and stop calling me that." Reimu grumbled as she slammed the lid of the donation box down. "After such a generous donation I should at least hear her out."
.
The forest was a swirling mass of dark wood and orbs of glowing light. Even as Rumia's heartbeat pounded in her head, she could clearly hear the piercing music in the air. Her flight was made more difficult by the danmaku that did not damage the trees around her. Usually she could rely on the bullets to cut a path through the branches for her to follow; instead they didn't so much as move the branches, leaving her to crash through them clumsily. At first her reaction had been to think that the danmaku were harmless, but when one passed too close she could feel it...they were cold, oh so cold. Whoever her opponent was, they were skilled enough to conceal themselves behind a tree or rock whenever Rumia countered with one of her clumsy attacks. They did this so often that she never saw what they looked like. Hiding behind trees did Rumia no good though, the danmaku coming at her were not impeded by the wood, instead passing through the trees. The air began to chill, becoming damp and sticky; she was getting close to the lake. If she could just get her attacker into the open, maybe she might have a chance.
The bone-chilling music stuck a higher note, the air becoming heavy and thick. From the lake's edge, a new wave of bullets began while that from deep in the forest ceased. On the wind, a quiet voice echoed. "Youkai..."
Rumia could feel the emotion in the voice; it carried a form of anger, or irritation. It seemed to regard her as an obstacle, despite being the one to pursue her and prevent her from eating or resting. She spun midair in an attempt to dodge the new wave of projectiles. She needed only to reach the lake, then she might have a chance. One of her outstretched arms grazed an incoming bullet, the sudden shock from the cold followed by loss of feeling in her arm sent her spiraling downwards for a moment before she came crashing out of the trees onto the lake's frozen surface. In terror she grabbed at her arm, thankfully finding it to still be there, just incredibly numb. A new wave of bullets launched from the trees, making her flee again, heading for the center of the lake in hopes of attracting the local fairy's attention. She looked back behind her and swore she could see someone in the trees.
The music all at once came to a halt, the air now carrying a few select words instead... .
Flower sign: Petal Dance
Rumia knew such words were usually the herald of a spell card, she turned to face the woods and braced for the incoming barrage. Despite her fears, something about the voice was different this time, something about it was more soothing, like the words spoken by a mother to her child. The voice had a disarming effect, making the ring of danmaku that formed around her all the more shocking. They began to circle around her, making no move to actually go after her. A stream of projectiles launched from the tree line towards Rumia in her now small area of manoeuvrability, the little youkai finding herself grazing more than she'd want to, her limbs each becoming numb from the effort.
Far above the forest, a pair of figures floated along while surveying the trees below. "She ran off after I went back, I think we should take this as a sign that it's a prank." Reimu grumbled, wanting to be curled up under the kotatsu rather than out over the forest at night.
"Pranks usually don't involve giving up one's life savings. And something isn't right this time, there's actually some damage down there, in one direction only though." Marisa had a pair of binoculars up to her eyes, looking through the woods for a dark shadow or little girl.
"I still think she's not really in trouble at all. She probably blasted the trees in frustration at me not going along with her joke." The shrine maiden crossed her arms.
"That doesn't look like frustrated damage, more like the pattern used when trying to suppress an opponent." Marisa lowered the binoculars for a moment. "If you're so certain it's all a prank, then why are you out here anyway?"
"Well, mostly because she's the first person to leave a donation of more than one yen in a long time. That, and I think I need to give her a good talking to about what time you're supposed to go to a shrine, as much as I like donations, I don't like going out in the middle of-h-hey!" Her sleeve had been grabbed by the witch and she was pulled close to her face. The binoculars were shoved into her hands.
"I think you're just way too harsh on the little ones, even if she is a youkai. Now take a look at the lakes edge, seems Rumia wasn't pulling a prank after all." Maris pointed far ahead; a faint glow could be seen over the tree line.
Raising the binoculars to her eyes, Reimu could now see someone out on the lake surrounded by what looked like over-sized flower petals being barraged with bullets. "Well I'll be...well, that answers things, I believe her and I'll apologize." She handed the binoculars off to Marisa.
The witch placed her hands on her hips. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Huh?"
The witch put her forehead in her hand and sighed. "Remember what she asked you for? An exorcism? That ringing a bell?"
"But it looks like someone already has that covered." The shrine maiden pointed at the tree line.
Marisa brought a fist down on Reimu's head. "Pay attention! She wanted you to exorcise the spirit that's been attacking her, now go help her out!"
"Ow-ow! Fine, geez, you didn't have to hit me!" The lazy shrine maiden rubbed her head. "Right right, I'll go help her out, you can do something to help too y'know."
"She donated at your shrine, not my store...though if things get ugly enough I guess I'll lend a hand." The witch began to increase her altitude. "I'll be watching from above, so go on and think of me as a guardian angel."
"Riiiight." Reimu shook her head and sped toward the lake, readying a quick barrage to send at the source of the attacks.
As the petals around her faded Rumia spotted the new figure approaching. By this point she could barely move, her arms and legs numb and practically limp, the rest of her feeling so cold. This was a feeling she didn't know from Danmaku, a feeling she didn't understand. Was this how the battles were supposed to go? Now there were two people coming toward her, and she couldn't even lift her arms to fight back. The little youkai drifted down and settled on her knees, her eyes cast towards her reflection in the ice.
"What is she doing?" The shrine maiden picked up speed. From the corner of her eye she could see a glowing figure leaving the tree line. She was just about to reach Rumia when the figure spoke up in a warm, soothing voice... .
Wind sign: Gasping Torrent
A row of spear-shaped danmaku lined up in front of the figure, aimed at the figure sitting on the lake. The sound of someone snapping their fingers was heard and they glowing lances launched towards Rumia, just as Reimu reached her. The spears were faster than most Danmaku, reaching the pair too quickly for escape to be an option. Launching a quick barrage, the shrine maiden placed a defensive seal in front of her and braced for the impact. When the spear hit it fizzled off the seal harmlessly, no impact, but not passing through.
Rumia could not tell there was no impact, all she saw was a spear of light sent speeding toward her and the figure who moved in to save her at the last moment tense up. She'd just been saved from what she was starting to think was more than a simple battle of danmaku.
The shrine maiden grabbed the little youkai and tucked her under her arm, figuring she could handle an opponent who couldn't make her flinch with just one hand. Her theory would now be tested, as the figure before her recited their next spell card.
Flower sign: Blossom Blitz
A swirling vortex of flower petals spread forth from the figure as they moved along the tree line. From Marsia's point of view, it resembled cherry blossoms caught up in a small tornado, if she were to rate it like she'd done for many of the spellcards she'd seen, she'd put it at about three stars reference level. Not bad, but not terribly great either, average at best.
To Reimu, who had someone under her arm, it was a nightmare, the petals slow moving but with deceiving flat shapes twirling about. The little youkai in her arms was alarmingly cold, shivering in her grasp. The shrine maiden had a feeling that wasn't from the frozen lake either. She launched a quick barrage of her own projectiles where she could, weaving about the curious waves of petals. When the spell card came to an end she finally got a good look at her opponent. It was a blonde girl with a large ribbon and cherry pins in her hair, a pink blouse, red skirt, and surprisingly fashionable pink socks. She had no idea who this person was, but part of her felt that she should know them, like they had met before.
Flower Sign: Cherry Flavoured Justice
Those words were familiar to Reimu as well. She couldn't place them, who the words belonged to, but she swore she'd heard it before. The words filled her with one emotion, despite the soothing voice...dread.
From Marisa's point of view it was as if the mystery attacker had exploded in a shower of bright pink danmaku. A swirling galaxy pattern covered the lake as sprays of red spat towards Reimu; every now and then a ring of green would fly out as well. To compound on top of this were random sprays of white bullets in every direction, including upwards towards Marisa. To the witch this was enough; clearly the shrine maiden wasn't going to be able to handle this while trying to protect someone else, so intervention was required. It just so happened she had something that solves any problem like this. Pulling the wooden disc from her pocket, Marisa unleashed the power that had built her reputation.
Love sign: Master Spark
The incredible light falling upon her opponent was welcome to Reimu, if a little late by her standards. Regardless, it had the desired effect as the bullets stopped spraying about. When all had calmed down, she set out toward the perpetrator responsible for this mess. As she moved she hoisted Rumia into a position one might carry their child in, noting that she was still breathing, yet so cold.
The ice where the annihilation of love had struck was shattered, on the edge of the pool of water a girl was pulling herself out of the freezing water. Despite being defeated she still had the unearthly glow to her, and her breath did not create a mist like any other person's would. In her hands was a wooden instrument like a violin, but with only two strings. "Three on one, how...unfair."
"You say this despite attacking this youkai unprovoked. I may not be too fond of her kind, but I can't ignore such a thing. It might cause a stir among others about unequal treatment." Reimu shifted the body in her arms to keep it from slipping from her grasp. "Now, care to explain whay you started all this?"
The glowing girl looked up at Reimu. "Scarlet mist...in the sky. Too dark...to find the source."
"What?" That made no sense to the shrine maiden; the scarlet mist incident had been solved a long time ago. "We already took care of that, the people involved haven't caused any issues since then."
"So long...have I tried to resolve it...I must...join the others...that go to stop it..." The figure began to fade. "Why? Why can I...not find them? Why does...my existence end...so soon?" And she faded away.
"H-hey!" Reimu grabbed at the figure just before it was gone entirely. Passing through where the spirit had been her hand was chilled and quickly went numb. "Just what...what was she?"
.
It was a rare treat to receive a direct invitation to visit the shrine, as the shrine maiden usually only wanted humans to come about. Even if Keine Kamishirasawa did look like a human most of the time, it didn't stop the discrimination from a select few parties outside the village. As she approached the shrine she received a greeting from the witch seated on the front steps, such courtesy was appreciated. Inside the shrine she couldn't help but notice the next room over was completely black despite it being the middle of the day, no sign that the light of the room she was in had any effect upon the light level in there either. Who knows what eldritch horrors were sealed within that room, though she supposed a shrine wasn't unlikely to have such a thing. Still, she found it odd that the door to such a room would be left open when company was expected, most discourteous.
"I'm glad you were able to come along, I have something important to ask you." Reimu stepped into the main room with three cups of steaming tea. "Recently there was someone attacking a local youkai for no reason, but when I was finally able to confront them they faded away. Asking why their existence had to end so soon before they could meet with those who wanted to solve the Scarlet mist incident. I felt this would probably be something to ask you about, you're usually the one to ask about matters of history and existence." Reimu placed the cups down and turned to the open door to the black room. "Come here Rumia, there's tea."
To Keine's surprise, the darkness in the next room vanished and a little girl came out with her arms spread like she was pretending to fly. "Is that so~?"
"Who is this?" The schoolteacher hadn't seen this child before, which meant she wasn't from the human village. "You don't look old enough to have a child."
The sound of laughter was heard from outside, the witch finding some humour in this.
Reimu turned red, waving her hands in front of her. "N-no! This is the victim of the attacks. Rumia, the Youkai of Darkness."
Such a child was a youkai, Keine could scarcely believe it, then again, there was that rabbit she'd had to deal with... . "Back onto the topic at hand then. I'm afraid I know nothing of anyone else trying to solve the scarlet mist incident. The fact that they faded away would likely suggest a spirit or ghost of sorts, but to be stuck in the past like that...most alarming. Was there anything else about this person that was distinct?"
"What's distinct?" Rumia asked.
"Special, weird, take your pick. Stuff that they do that no one else seems to." Reimu answered the question.
"Like a mother and child..." Keine chuckled, so did the witch outside. "Eavesdropping is impolite, come inside and join the conversation or leave."
"Ohh! Her danmaku were all weird!" The little youkai announced.
"Ehh, weird how?" Marisa asked as she finally entered the shrine.
"They were all cold. And when I grazed them I couldn't feel the parts they touched. It was scary because I couldn't move right." Rumia gulped down some tea, sticking out her tongue from the taste. "Oh, they didn't hurt the trees either! I kept hitting branches but they didn't even slow down."
The shrine maiden frowned. "So that's why there wasn't any damage...also explains why I didn't even feel it when I blocked one."
"Hmm, not a normal spirit like you'd find in the netherworld, definitely not. If I had to assume, I'd say it was someone who was erased from history but somehow left part of themselves behind. This likely occurred during the Scarlet Mist incident...I don't remember doing such a thing, however." Keine looked puzzled. "Perhaps we should try asking her? Where did she appear?"
"She only seems to go after Rumia at night. She also doesn't seem to appear if there are others around." Reimu explained as she blew on her tea. "I suppose we could try hiding and use Rumia as bait to lure her out, and then confront her."
The schoolteacher looked at the little youkai, who seemed alarmed at the idea of having to go up against the spirit again. "No...I don't think that's a very good way to go about this. Honestly, the only proper course of action would be for me to consult the Hieda clan and see if they have any knowledge of her. In the meantime, I suggest you watch over this one until a solution is found."
"Hey, you hear that Reimu? You're gonna be a mother!" The witch chuckled, readying to escape if needed. "Don't be a bad example now, y'hear? We don't need little Rumia attacking any Youkai that get in her way, she might get hurt."
The shrine maiden really, really wanted to plant her fist in Marisa's face, but it was exactly like she said. She couldn't be a bad example; she didn't want Rumia causing trouble. "Why don't we have her room up with you? At least you don't have money concerns."
"Oh no, we can't do that. We're having her stay with you to protect her, remember? She'd be in more danger in my house than if she were to go up against that creepy spirit alone." The witch chuckled a little. "How about this, I'll bring you some food so both you and the little one aren't competing over the last scraps of rice. That sound good?"
"I...I suppose I can't argue now. Fine, I'll watch over her for now. But please hurry." She pleaded with Keine.
"Of course, I will be as swift as possible." The schoolteacher assured her. "This should take no longer than two days."
"This should be good. Okay then, I'll go get that food I mentioned." The witch hopped on her broom and took off out the door.
"My, how discourteous." Keine shook her head. "I must bid you farewell. Take care." The schoolteacher bowed at the door. "Thank you for having me." And she was off.
Reimu glanced over to the little youkai, who was resting her chin on the table. "Now, what to do with you..."
.
With a satisfied nod, the shrine maiden stepped back from her work. If she was going to put Rumia to work around the shrine, she'd at least have her look the part. She'd outfitted the little youkai in some of her old clothes, and would have done her hair up in a similar way as well had it not been too difficult to remove her little amulet in her hair. At first she'd thought it was a ribbon, but it appeared that it was wrapped up in a way to conceal it. She figured it had some symbolic purpose, though she could feel something faint from it. Perhaps she would ask about it someday, but for now there was cleaning to be done. Earlier she had given Rumia instructions on how to sweep up properly. She was a little short for the task, but the shrine maiden was confident that she could handle it. While she had the little youkai do that she went to take care of some overdue organizing of the storage shed. Normally she'd lounge about and sleep, but as Marisa had said, she had to act as a role model for Rumia. Perhaps she might even develop into a useful member of society that didn't aim to cause mischief or eat people.
The shrine maiden said she would keep her safe if she was a good girl and helped clean up, so Rumia went about the sweeping happily. The pathway up to the shrine was long and really dusty, but at least she didn't have to do the stairs too. While she was somewhat bothered by the bright sunlight, she wanted to prove herself to Reimu. Humming to herself, she failed to notice the presence on the edge of the shrine grounds... .
"Ooh...this is great, things were slow for the newspaper, but this would make the story of the year. Aya Shameimaru lifted her camera to her eye and focused in on the miniature shrine maiden. She could just see the headline now, "Shrine Maiden adopts local youkai". She would have to do some more eavesdropping though, find out why Reimu took little Rumia in. Did she have a change of heart and accept youkai as equals to humans? Had she been charmed by the girl? Was she being blackmailed into taking care of her? Was this little girl the reason the shrine maiden was actually doing her duties around the shrine? So many questions, she'd have at least one answered before she filled in the blanks with what she figured was the cause. She took a few pictures first, though. Can't have a front page article without an amazing picture! Just as she got the distance right a wind picked up and Rumia lifted a hand to the side of her head. An award winning shot! It was like what you'd see in a painting or cover of a book!
"I heard that! Come out here crow!" Reimu had heard the camera's click just barely over the wind. "No pictures without permission!"
Whoops, seemed her time was up. Since Aya couldn't investigate further now that she'd been discovered, she'd now have to fill in all the blanks. A good story idea was coming to mind just then... .
"The crow makes pictures?" Rumia stopped her sweeping to look up at the shrine maiden.
"Er, it's complicated. I'll explain it to you some other time, okay?" Now how would one go about explaining a camera to someone who barely understood why water bubbles when it gets hot?
Much to Reimu's relief, the little youkai was content with that. "Okay~!" She went back to her sweeping, humming her cheery tune.
The appearance of the tengu reporter only spelled trouble for the shrine and its inhabitants. Whatever the Bunbunmaru's next headline was going to be, she knew it would attract unwanted attention to the shrine.
.
"Shrine Maiden discovered to be mother of local youkai
It was recently discovered by our star reporter that the Hakurei shrine had acquired a new resident, increasing the count to six. At first it was believed that the new resident, a local youkai named Rumia, was simply visiting for an extended period of time. This was not the case as the girl known to locals as the 'youkai of darkness' was seen dressed in the shrine maiden's own clothing from her youth, a practice usually only carried out by mother and child. The shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei, was then seen instructing the youkai about maintaining the shrine grounds, likely preparing her for the duties she will inherit from her parent.
It is unknown who the father of the child is, but it is believed to be a resident of Makai, as the time spent there by the shrine maiden is the only known time where she was away from the watchful eye of the Bunbunmaru news crew.
We will be returning for an exclusive interview with the shrine residents and will have it for your reading pleasure in our next issue."
"Hakurei...shrine..." A figure stood over the newspaper lying in the middle of the road, staring down at the front page illuminated by the glow off their body. "Reimu...?"
.
Reimu and her youkai charge sat with their legs under the kotatsu, sipping tea while waiting for a certain witch to arrive with the food promised that morning. When Marisa finally did arrive she had two large bags of food and a newspaper. "Yo, Reimu, got food for you and your kid."
"Oh, she's mine now?" Reimu sipped her tea, not even looking up at the witch. "You know where the ice box is."
"Of course. Here you go, have something for you to read with your 'daughter'." Marisa snickered and went into the next room. "Oh, this'll be good... ."
"Jeez, she's such a...a...oh come on!" The shrine maiden's eyes had fallen on the headline of the newspaper. "Really? That's what she came up with?" She slammed her drink down on the table. "Rumia, could you be a dear and wait outside for a moment, I need to have an adult discussion with Marisa."
"Is that so~?" Rumia took off out the door with her arms out once again. She really did look like a little kid pretending to fly.
"Just how old does she think I am? When I find that Tengu I—" Rumia could no longer hear the shrine maiden's anger as she stepped out into the night. It was a night she usually feared, the night of the new moon. On this night what little power she had was pretty much taken away. She was a youkai with no outstanding ability on this night, unable to even make a shadow longer. But tonight she had a place to stay, a safe haven that would protect her from vengeful humans and mischievous fairies. Even the spirit that had tormented her lately would not dare come to such a place, right? Rumia sat down on the stair of the shrine, gazing up at the stars as Reimu's muffled anger echoed through the building behind her. She rested on her hands and closed her eyes, taking in the ambience. Over the muffled words from inside she could hear crickets and night birds. It was peaceful, relaxing, it was—in an instant all sound came to a halt except for the shrine maiden's voice. Rumia listened for a moment longer, thinking her ears might be playing tricks on her, but it really was silent outside. She opened her eyes and was met with a horrible sight and sound...
Wind Sign: Typhon's Arrow
The wind before Rumia condensed into a massive arrow, made visible by dust sucked into it. She scrambled off the stairs and rushed off to the side, the arrow shattering the stairs behind her. "Help! Help me!"
Reimu threw the door to her shrine open just as a haunting tune was stuck up by the figure floating above. Each note sent a new wave of danmaku flying at the youkai of darkness, the impacts leaving small craters all over the shrine grounds. Not willing to put up with this she launched herself above the attacker and sent a pair of spell tags at her. They struck her in the middle of the back, forcing her to turn their attention to the shrine maiden.
"Hakurei...Reimu...?" The spirit's body seemed more tangible, as if they were closer to existing now.
"Seems you're a lot more dangerous now. I'm afraid I can't have you throwing such dangerous things around my home, shall we take this up higher?" Reimu's first aim was to preserve the shrine; it had been destroyed just a few too many times for her liking. Her second aim was to lure her away from Rumia; she didn't want Keine to grow mistrustful of her after promising to take care of the youkai.
The spirit obliged her, increasing altitude rapidly. They both went higher and higher until the shrine was merely a speck below. The sky was clear, but with the new moon only the stars would play witness to the coming conflict. "Reimu Hakurei...perhaps...defeating you...instead of the youkai...will grant me...my existence!" On that last word she struck a long note on her instrument, a long line of orbs swinging up at Reimu like a long cutting blade.
As the orbs passed her she could feel the wind behind them, there would be no weightless blows like the night before. "Fine then! If you win I'll let you exist. If I win, you'll leave Rumia and I alone, and never attack the residents of Gensokyo unprovoked! Deal?"
The spirit smiled softly, her bow placed high on the strings. "Very well...it is...a deal!" She drew the bow slowly across the string, creating a sound akin to nails on a chalkboard. Danmaku sprayed in the shrine maiden's direction, scattering randomly as it passed her.
Reimu dived and put herself below the spirit, sending a new wave of tags up at her. This was only a guise to allow her to send off a spellcard uninterrupted.
Prayer: Exorcism
A ring of fire followed by faster spell tags scattered before her, scoring a hit on the target, knocking away the pesky two-stringed instrument. She followed up with a quartet of homing tags and moved to get above her target.
A quick blast of Danmaku dealt with the tags, then she gathered the wind before her once again.
Wind sign: Gasping Torrent
The spears of light from the night before were like ghosts compared to the twisting wind now arrayed against her. Reimu knew that dodging would be pointless, so a quick shield was set up before her as she tried to position herself between two of the spears. One of the blasts grazed the edge of her protection, nearly sending her for quite a flight. "Definitely more dangerous!"
The spirit sent a wave of bullets and began to recite her next card.
Flower sig-
She was interrupted by a kick to the gut. "Oh no you don't!" The shrine maiden backed off and send three pairs of homing tags, followed up with a spell card that usually was a finishing blow.
Divine Spirit: Fantasy Seal
Six huge bullets of light were sent in the spirit's direction, each one ignoring any laws of physics or the like as they surrounded the spirit. As the converged they forcibly began to seal the spirit. "Now leave us alone!" Reimu looked down at the spirit's desperate expression.
"I...just...wanted...to..." The spirit dissipated under the force of the blow.
When Reimu gently glided to the ground she was caught up in a hug from Rumia, the youkai being physically strong compared to a human, despite her size. "You were amazing!" Marisa was behind her, having stayed to watch over the little one.
The shrine maiden had to admit, she wasn't particularly used to sincere praise, usually getting a subtly mocking tone from certain influential figures in Gensokyo. "Uh, thanks...she should leave you alone now. When Keine gets back you'll have to go back to the forest, okay?"
The little youkai lifted her gaze up to look Reimu in the face, her eyes welling up with tears. "B-but..."
"H-hey, don't look at me like that! That was the deal...right? N-no, stop with that look, I can't...Marisa!"
.
"Rin Satsuki...an unfortunate occurrence. It seems that her history was mostly undone by a mysterious event, and only a small fraction of her was left behind. It's likely that she was trying to re-enact the events of the Scarlet mist incident, because those were the last actions she'd taken before her history was lost." Keine sat at the table sipping tea. "So in her own history, she knew you quite well, which explains how she was able to find you here. As for why she knew to look here for Rumia, I blame a certain newspaper."
"Okay, that explains why I felt like I knew her...but I still have questions. First, why was she so powerful that night? Her attacks weren't as ghost-like as they were before; they actually caused a lot of damage." Reimu rubbed her arm slightly to emphasize this.
"I suspect it has something to do with the new moon. The full moon often gives power to living beings and weakens those who are no longer living but have not passed on. The opposite can be said for the new moon." Keine waved her hand dismissively. "That was more or less an issue of ill fortune."
"Okay then..." Reimu lifted her tea up to her mouth, her eyes closed. "...why did it take you two weeks instead of two days to bring me this information?" She sipped her tea again.
Keine nearly choked on her own drink, avoiding eye contact. "I, uh...well that was...I was surrounded by so much of Gensokyo's history...as a history teacher I wanted to know some more and got caught up talking with the mistress of the Hieda clan..." She bowed her head and clapped her hands together. "I'm so sorry, I could not help myself. If you want I can take Rumia off your hands right now and leave this catastrophe behind us."
"Well, I'm happy to put this behind us, but..." The shrine maiden looked over to the door behind the schoolteacher.
At that moment the little youkai in question entered wearing her robes and settled down beside Reimu. "The storage shed is all clean Mama Reimu."
Keine's bewildered expression suggested she wanted answers; the shrine maiden was more than happy to oblige. "...as you can see, she's grown quite attached to me." She patted Rumia's head. "That's a good girl." She grinned back at the teacher. "The certain newspaper mentioned before has spread a few rumours about her and I, and I'm afraid it has even her convinced. Not that I'm complaining, she's a real hard worker, and is quite endearing now that she doesn't try to eat people. Maybe two weeks ago this wouldn't be the case, but this is how it is. Now I must ask you kindly to leave, my 'daughter' and I need to clean up before dinner. And I'm afraid I only have enough food for one guest tonight."
"Very well, my apologies." Keine was red as a beet when she moved to the door. "Thank you for having me." As she crossed the shrine grounds she was met halfway by a smiling witch. "Good evening Miss Kirisame, I take it you are the guest I have heard about?"
"Yeah, I've become something of a food supplier for the two. I'm afraid to see what would happen if both of them were to get too hungry. I'll drop by the school for my compensation later tonight." Marsia moved past the teacher with a tip of her hat.
"I suppose that means she's blaming me...I'm not sure I want to know how she affords that food." Keine shook her head, resigned to her fate.
Behind the shrine Reimu was washing the little youkai's hair when Marisa made her presence known. "Hey there, food's in the ice box. How's the mini-maiden?"
"I've considered properly adopting her, but it makes me wonder...how does a human go about adopting a youkai that could potentially be older than her?" The shrine maiden gently ran her hands through her 'daughter's' hair.
"It's all about mental age I think. If you were enamoured enough with them I'm sure even the Scarlet sisters could be adopted by a human for a period of time." Marisa flopped down on the back stairs of the shrine.
"As if, they're just a bit too demanding and violent for my tastes. Little Rumia here isn't like that at all though, she's well-behaved as long as she's fed, and she's such a hard worker. I think she may be rubbing off on me a little, when I see her working so hard I can't help but join in." Reimu giggled.
"You? Working? Wow, this world never ceases to amaze me. What will you do if you run out of cleaning to do? Start sweeping the roads? Maybe clean up my place?" She wiggled her eyebrows with that last remark.
"I think I might have her practice scripture, prayers, and give her a proper education. Also, I wouldn't let her near your house with a full suit of armour and an emergency escape plan. Too dangerous." Reimu gave the witch a knowing glance. "Seriously, fix that place up a bit before it spawns something truly dangerous."
"Ouch...well, anyway, tonight it's a mushroom feast with chicken. And no worries, I have enough knowledge as a Mycologist to tell if a mushroom is dangerous, this meal is one-hundred percent safe." Marisa jumped to her feet. "I'll go start cooking, should be at least halfway there after your bath, with Ruukuto's help at least."
"Thank you for keeping us fed. I haven't had so much energy on a daily basis before, at this rate little Rumia might start calling you auntie." The thought was amusing.
"Oh come on, I don't come around that often, do I?" The witch leaned in the doorway.
"Auntie Marisa! Auntie Marisa!" The mini-maiden cheered.
The bringer of food looked from the Youkai to the shrine maiden. "Ah, I see...well played Reimu, well played. Now I should go make sure your maid doesn't irradiate the food while I'm out here."
"She doesn't leak!"
"Just being careful!"
"How can you irritate food?"
.
With the full moon in the sky many were in hiding in their homes in an effort to avoid the lunatic rays emitted by the great white orb in the sky. On a hill overlooking the village, however, was a figure with two great horns sitting at a stone table. There she was catching up on a month's worth of work creating certain histories. During a moment's respite from her work, a thought crossed her mind. "Rin Satsuki was it? Maybe...perhaps...yes, I think I will." A wide, toothy grin crossed the face of the were-hakutaku. "What better way to put a stop to a vengeful memory's anger, than to make it more than a distant memory. Now, where did I put my pen?" That night the villagers were left with a feeling of dread as the maniacal laughter of Keine Kamishirasawa echoed through the air.
.
HAHAHA! It is done!
This turned out a lot longer than expected, longer than even Plaything to a Devil. Well, no helping that.
For those who don't know, Rin Satsuki was supposed to be the third playable character in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, but was apparently cut from the cast before release. Associated with her are the attack types "Wind Sign" and "Flowrer Sign". The appearance used for her is a common fan image based on an image from a circle ad for Team Shanghai Alice from the comiket where EoSD was released.
As another note, yes, there are four other residents of the Hakurei shrine, and yes, one of them is a nuclear-powered robot maid. The others are a giant flying bearded turtle that Reimu used to fly on, a playable phantom from the pre-EoSD games (Kana Anaberal), and Marisa's former master, the evil spirit Mima. Expect to see them in my writings soon.
Now, I hope I didn't overdo it with the spellcards, I did do my research on them for this, so I think I didn't accidentally duplicate existing ones for Rin. As for Reimu, the ones she used are official. I just hope they don't seem excessive, the format they are presented in is the one used for two of my favourite stories in this fandom, both excellent works.
Now, all that said, can you figure out the origins of the rather confusing title?
Thank you for reading — The Gunner