ZUN owns Touhou.
Proofreading done by WillieG.R (owner of Minako), Captain Vulcan (DV author and owner of Iga, and I think Miki and Tate), Kaiser Dude and Achariyth1 (DV author).
Chapter 1
"...Lord Hieda..."
I perked my head up when I heard my family's name called, but then I recognized that the man who had said my name was speaking to my father. I should have known.
To be honest, I was not paying attention to the discussion. I was sleep deprived and it already felt like this meeting has been going for like seven months. Due to protocol, I wasn't allowed to plant my face to the table. And sleeping while sitting up with my eyes open, while possible, was not easy for me.
"And that is why I believe that the youkai are becoming increasingly resentful of the spellcard system," said the mayor. "This is why I believe that we need to better prepare the town guard and anyone who ventures outside the village's limits."
"The Magicians, Were-Youkai, Rokurokubi and those elitist races of the mountain aside, I can agree with you," said my father. "There was a fight in the middle of the village the other day involving a racist one-eyed youkai and a Kappa. The former caused injury to a bystander because he refused to fight using a spellcard. He was sealed away, yes, but the cost of property repair and medical treatment wasn't exactly cheap."
Normally, such meetings would never happen. Why? Because I could be doing important stuff like recording Gensokyo's history or, better yet, living my life the way I want to! Hell, I'd rather be reading that book series about humans having poorly depicted sex with sparkling vampires that Kosuzu wrote than be here, and that's saying something. I would be the president of the hate club if my duties as the Ninth Maiden of Are didn't get in the way.
"No, those mountain bastards are up to something," Yumetsugu accused. "They took a picture of my daughter naked and put it in their newspaper!"
If I recalled correctly, there were multiple newspaper companies on the mountain. That said, you shouldn't generalize an entire culture because of something one small group of one specific mountain race did.
"No one's paying attention to your daughter. Everyone's too busy looking at the shrine maiden." The discussions the meeting had were silly at best.
"That's why we need more human magicians in the village, to ensure protection against the monsters who may decide to turn on us!" said Yumeta.
"Agreed, we need to push for an education that incorporates magic besides the bare basics," said Yumetsugu.
"A family's secret arts are their secrets to keep. Besides, we have powerful humans and were-youkai living here who are capable of dealing with such threats," the mayor said.
"They can't be trusted," Yumetsugu said. "If they're not inconvenienced in the slightest, they won't do anything unless they're being paid!"
"You're only saying that because the history teacher did not return your feelings for her," the mayor said. Just to convey how stupid I think all of the bickering beforehand was, I wanted to stand up and shout "Remember the Vampire Incident!" Yeah, I'll say it RIGHT NOW!
My body didn't move. Akyuu, you coward.
"Well I think we all agree that we need to strengthen the watch guard regardless with the increase in theft," said Yumeta. Of course he would say that with how his meat shop was robbed not long ago.
"Agreed," the other three men said in unison. Well, maybe not in unison, but I was tired enough to have thought that.
"Akyuu, you look like you have something important to say," my father said to me. "What is on your mind?"
"It is nothing," I answered with a sigh. I refused to contribute to the time spent on this sham.
...
"Akyuu, it's time to wake up," a familiar voice said. I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw a woman whose wavy light-brown hair reached her shoulders. Under her apron was a white kimono that had a picture of me sewn to the left breast, and she stared at me with brown eyes.
"Please, one more hour, Minako," I said as I closed my eyes and buried my head back into my pillow.
"Long day, yesterday?" she asked. "It'll get better, I promise."
"Better? How much better?" I lifted my head from my pillow, but I did not look at her. "I need to research and write, but due to various complications, I'm expected to adhere to society's expectations as all nobles do."
While harsh when necessary, Minako wasn't as absent and apathetic to my feelings as the other maidservants. What exactly was it I heard from Himeko the strict maidservant yesterday? 'Mistress, it is time to go to the meeting.' 'Mistress, it is time for you to write.' 'Mistress, it is time that you stop reading those books you like.' Hah, the joke was on that woman, NOBODY in their right mind liked Kosuzu Motoori's Moonlight. Although the mental image of the werewolf in his human form wasn't bad. Unfortunately, the closest thing to Kouta Koizumi in real life was Kagerou Imaizumi.
I could hear a third person entering my room, probably that stricter maidservant. "Mistress, it is time you took a vacation."
Wait, what? I heard the Himeko's voice, but I was certain she just said something she'd never say.
I looked over to see both maidservants. "Can you repeat yourself?"
"I've noticed that you've been stressed of late and I was thinking that you needed a day off. Perhaps the new hot-springs are just what you need. We all could use some winding down." Himeko turned to Minako. "Don't you agree, Minako?"
"Hot springs? I would love to come," Minako answered with a brighter smile.
"I would love to go too," said Nagisa, another servant, as she walked in. "Up, Lady Akyuu; you want to have fun too, right?"
"Of course I do," I said. "But what about today's work schedule?"
"We've been making it a point to do enough before today so that we'd have a whole day free. Besides, all you have planned today is more research and writing. Someone is bound to try adding more work for you today."
"Point made," I said as I got out of bed.
"If we're going to linger among the populace, we'll need to dress as plain as possible so we don't draw unwanted attention," Minako pointed out.
"True," Himeko agreed. "But we can't leave looking like slobs. What if one of us meets a real hunk?"
"Oh, like that Tate guy?" Nagisa asked. "I would love for someone like that to sweep me off my feet."
Tate, I remembered him from that night I spent with Iga. He was the tall and broad member of Miki's circle of friends. Did my maidservant know what sort of man he was involved with?
"It's alright, a lot of men look past what a woman's wearing, whether they're distracted by an exposed thigh or using their imagination," Minako said as she lifted up one of my cheaper pairs of clothing and handed it to the second maidservant.
"Minako," Himeko spoke up, "Men aren't the only reason we should dress up."
"I-...Wait, what?"
"Does this one suit your taste, Lady Akyuu?" Nagisa asked me. The dress was black, designed to expose my shoulders and everything below the middle of my thighs, and had a neckline so low that you would see the top of my breasts if I wore it. In short, it was the sort of clothing I would wear if I was trying to seduce a man.
"No," I told her.
"Oh right! We need to go make the arrangements for the trip," Minako said, leaving the room with Himeko.
"Mmhmm," Nagisa replied as she went to grab another set of clothes.
Something felt wrong while I was being dressed. As a noble, I got used to being dressed by others, so that wasn't it. It was the lack of subtle attempts to let one's hands wander. Normally Minako would jump at the chance to dress me then try to perform lewd acts on me whenever I wasn't armed with my pen. But the maidservant tending to me at the moment was Nagisa; Minako let one of the other ladies-in-waiting do the job without even speaking up. Did something happen?
"What about this one?" Nagisa asked. This new dress was long enough to cover my knees. It also covered my shoulders, and its neckline wouldn't go past my collar bone.
"Perfect," I reply. It wasn't my style, but it would be perfect to sneak around outside of the mansion in if no one would expect me to wear it.
...
It did not take long before we left the Human Village. The road we were going down was surrounded by trees, but open enough to see a wild animal from at least a dozen meters away.
We didn't walk down the road for long before we came across a boy on the same road. He appeared to be a teenager, attractive, albeit not as much as Iga, but his facial features were uncommon to any human in Gensokyo.
If he was a human, wasn't he hot in those clothes? Not including the black trench-coat, he was mostly wearing black. And that hat he was wearing, (a fedora?) also wasn't something you'd see on a human living in the village.
"Gary," Himeko said, "Do you mind being a gentlemen and make sure no one tries to stalk us?"
Gary... That name wasn't Japanese, Chinese, French or even Dutch.
"The pleasure is all mine," he said with a smug smile. He twirled a key shaped object the size of a sword as if to illustrate how he would ensure that we would be undisturbed. "Nothing is going to get past me."
The strict maidservant, Himeko, suggesting we cut back and relax; Minako moving slower than normal and not jumping at the chance to dress me; and now a human from the outside world who thinks he's bad enough to fight anyone.
Something wasn't right here.