Kaimonkyo: Land by the Waves
Prologue
As nostalgic as it was, Reimu could not help but smile at the irony of the situation. Seven months ago, Shiko was out to get all youkais regardless of whether or not they were posing a threat to humans. Now, she had mostly scaled back her youkai-exterminating activities and took up a more laidback attitude instead. Had it been any other day, Reimu would be having some tea and chatting with youkais that visited. Now that she was a youkai, it felt like bittersweet irony. She would have laughed at the thought of it.
But deep down, she was glad that everything was alright for the time being. Reimu, Marisa, and Shiko were seated by the table. The shrine maiden was pouring tea for her two guests. Shiko had a sour look on her face, though she did her best to hide it under a forced smile. After she had poured the tea, Shiko went to the kitchen to grab some steamed buns. When she came back with a plate of buns, Shiko served her guests one each.
"How come I don't see you serving me steamed buns when I visited you?" Marisa asked while looking at Reimu.
"That's because a certain somebody keeps getting to them before me," Reimu replied with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, it has to be those blasted fairies," Marisa said. She rubbed her chin and pretended to be thoughtful.
Shiko sat down next to Marisa and grabbed a bun from the plate. "She wouldn't admit I gave her a good beating."
"A shrine maiden after your own heart, Reimu," Marisa said with a chuckle. She rubbed the back of her head and winced in pain.
The shrine maiden smiled and took a bite. Marisa had been a good friend to her, and at the same time, she had been a mentor as well. She drops by the shrine rather often, sometimes to warn Shiko of incidents and joining on youkai hunts, other times just to chat and annoy her for the fun of it. It irked her at first, but she got used to Marisa's antics. Reimu on the other hand was still a total stranger. The only times she saw the former shrine maiden was when an incident crops up, the most recent being a string of feral youkais terrorising the human village.
Shiko looked at Reimu while slowly chewing on her food. She was too busy talking and laughing with Marisa to notice her stare. Only when Reimu turned around to drink her tea did she notice Shiko looking at her. There was a look of suspicion in her eyes, and Reimu frowned at her in return. Both glared at each other for a bit until Marisa decided to wave her hands in front of their faces. Shiko was the first to break her gaze. She took another bite from her bun.
"Why are you here?" Shiko asked after swallowing her food.
"Am I not allowed to visit the shrine I once worked in?" Reimu countered.
"You don't usually come here unless there's something important. So what's going on?" She looked at Marisa. "You know something, don't you, Marisa?"
Marisa looked away while scratching her chin. "I don't know whatcha talking about, Shiko."
"Don't play dumb with me. Reimu doesn't come to the shrine unless there is something important at hand. I'm sure you know something about that." Shiko poured more tea for Marisa, but she stopped short of pouring some for her youkai guest. "Right?" she asked while looking at her.
When Reimu did not answer, Shiko sighed furtively and poured tea into her cup. Aside from the chirping birds, rustling leaves, and the sound of a bamboo tube striking on rocks, the shrine was as quiet as it could get. Shiko took her seat after she finished filling Reimu's cup, and her hand reached for another bun. But when she felt an empty plate instead, she glared at Marisa, who was busy licking her fingers. She shrugged when she saw the shrine maiden looking at her with a disapproving expression.
Before Shiko could chide her, Reimu took a sip from her cup nodded softly. "You're right, there's something I need to tell you," she said. "I thought Yukari was joking at first."
"What do you mean?" Shiko's expression softened into one of curiosity.
"Do you know why Gensokyo was created?" Reimu asked.
"Gensokyo's a sanctuary made to shelter youkais, and to maintain their existence," she answered quickly and tersely. "Do you doubt my training?"
Reimu frowned at her. "No, I'm not doubting anything. But did you know Gensokyo isn't the only youkai sanctuary?"
She had expected a surprised reaction from Shiko, but all she got was a nod and a shrug. "I suppose it's plausible that there's more than one sanctuary around here," Shiko said as she leaned forward. "But what's that gotta do with us?"
"A few days ago, Yukari told me to look into an important issue for her. She said her friend requested some help."
"And I suppose said friend is from the other youkai sanctuary?"
"She's learning fast," Marisa joked, and earned her a tap from Shiko's purification rod.
"Yes," Reimu said with a nod. "You're right. As much as I don't wanna leave Gensokyo, I still owe Yukari for saving my life. Plus, I agreed that I would be her teeth and claws, her final say in things."
"I didn't know Yukari had friends outside of Gensokyo. Makes you wonder what else she's hiding underneath that smile," Marisa said.
"You'd be surprised," Reimu said with a grin. Her thoughts wandered off to them time when she and Yukari had a date in the outside world. Her blush caught Marisa's attention, and she cleared her throat loudly. Reimu gasped in surprise and looked at Shiko "...erm yeah."
Shiko crossed her arms. "Leaving soon?"
"In two hours," Reimu answered. "Just wanted to inform you...and remind you that as long as you abide by the spellcard rules, you're less likely to get killed by youkais. It's there for a reason."
"I don't think the same can be applied with the feral ones, though I'm glad Eirin found a cure for the feralness. I was starting to miss Mystia's lampreys," Marisa said.
"Please don't remind me," Shiko muttered while closing her eyes and pinching her nose bridge.
The Feral Youkai Incident had a rather lasting impression on Shiko. The time she took Reimu's words to heart, she had to reverse it because some of the youkais went about killing humans. It was not an isolated case either, and it involved dozens of known youkais. At first, Rumia went about snatching people up. Then, the feralness eventually spread Mystia, Aya, and even Nitori herself. While Eirin was successful in creating a cure to reverse the feralness, Shiko was haunted by the conflictions within her.
Reimu was right. Youkais needed conflict with humans to survive as much as they needed to eat humans to sustain themselves effectively. That much Shiko understood. But having to exterminate some of them ate at her emotions, especially having to exterminate some youkais that frequented the shrine and having gotten acquainted with. Most of the spellcards she knew were aimed at exterminating them outright, but to Shiko's credit, she came up with a spellcard of her own that proved to be rather useful.
The Spirit Sign "Compassion Cage" (夢符「同情檻」) was developed as a result, allowing Shiko to seal a youkai's power without harming them and effectively rendering them helpless. The spellcard was more of a situational thing than a proper spellcard for danmaku, but it served its purpose. This not only saved the lives of many youkais, it helped Eirin obtain a cure by synthesising essences extracted from them. It earned her praises, but Shiko still felt unhappy about saving youkais. Should she really care so much about youkais? They attacked humans, and that was one thing that never changed. But then Reimu came and changed her perception drastically. Why?
"Good, I'm glad we understand each other then," Reimu said with a smile, her words bringing Shiko back from deep thought.
"Whatever," Shiko said with a dismissive wave. "Just do whatever you need to do."
"And I will. Keep Gensokyo safe for me," Reimu said softly.
"You can count on us, Reimu. We'll make sure Gensokyo remains safe and sound. No red mists or nuclear birds are gonna get by our watch," Marisa said while patting her chest confidently.
"If she stops trying to nick books from Patchouli," Shiko added under her breath.
But Marisa heard what she said. "Hey, it's called 'extended borrowing'."
After a short and quick lunch, Reimu went back to the Yakumo homestead while Marisa opted to remain at the shrine to chat with Shiko. By the time Reimu took off, Aya had dropped by to spy on the new shrine maiden again. After making it back to the mansion, she found Ran waiting for her at the entrance, and Yukari was nowhere to be seen, most likely sleeping in her room like she usually does in the day. Reimu went about packing some clothes and necessities into a bag, preparing for a journey alone to another sanctuary.
As far as Reimu was concerned, the other sanctuary was also watched over by a youkai similar to Yukari. While Yukari had the power to go anywhere she please, she could not simply create a gap in a foreign barrier without the consent of the other gap youkai. If all went according to plan, Yukari's letter should reach her counterpart, and Reimu's attempt to open a gap to the other sanctuary should be allowed. That was 3 days ago, but the young shikigami wondered if the other youkai got the memo.
In her mind, Reimu started imagining what it was like in the other sanctuary. Was it like Gensokyo? There was lingering doubt in her. The chances of other sanctuaries adopting a similar non-lethal rule were about 5 percent. It took her considerable effort to implement the rule and get everyone of them to obey it. Despite the odds, most youkais and humans abided by it. The same can't be said of a certain divine spirit though. Still, it was a good result in the end.
"Reimu, can I have a word with you for a moment?" she heard Ran's voice outside her room.
She opened the door, and the kitsune was standing in front of her and smiling respectfully. "What's wrong?" Reimu asked.
"I just wanted to give you some advice before you leave," Ran answered. "May I?" She made a gesture indicating her intention to enter.
"O-oh, of course."
After closing the room door, Ran took a seat on the bed while Reimu went to the closest to grab some books. "Before that, Chen wanted me to give you this."
Reimu turned around to see Ran holding what looked like a bamboo stick with paper streamers on it. She went over to her, took it, and examined every inch of it. A frown developed on Reimu's face, while Ran merely smiled at her. "It's a bamboo stick made to look like my gohei."
"Yep, it is."
"It doesn't do anything."
"So does a gohei when wielded by someone who isn't a miko," Ran said. "It only works because one believes in what it does. Some objects like the mini-hakkero are inherently magical, but objects like the gohei are just...objects."
"And you're saying if I believe it'll work, it'll work?" Reimu spun the stick but dropped it onto the floor. She quickly picked it up.
"That's up to you to find out. As odd as it is to see a youkai carrying something that resembles a religious object, I think Chen's just trying to make you happy, Reimu. You've been a good caretaker to her, and she wants to repay the favour," Ran said kindly.
"I see," Reimu said. It made sense, and Reimu's heart tingled a little at Chen's little gift. "But I'm sure you're not just here to give me something."
Ran's expression hardened slightly, and she stood up from the bed. "The task you're about to undertake will be dangerous. I won't lie, but I've calculated the chances of success to be around 15 percent."
"That's not very promising," Reimu muttered. "But what am I up against anyway? Yukari's been pretty vague about this task."
"Put it this way. Imagine Gensokyo, but five times more chaotic. There are no spellcard rules in place to ensure non-lethal fights."
"I had a feeling you'd say that," Reimu said.
"If you don't intervene in time, there is a 90 percent chance that this youkai sanctuary will disappear for good, and all spiritual beings in it wiped out or severely weakened. I have asked Miss Yukari for clarification on that matter, but she won't say anything more. My best educated guess here is that you're on a peacekeeping mission on behalf of her," Ran answered.
It did not make sense. It never occurred to Reimu that youkais did peacekeeping. If anything, they thrived on conflict, and the ones in Gensokyo were no different. Unless said sanctuary was experiencing a full-scale war, she could not understand why she should even bother. Even a war counts as a conflict, and the youkais should have no problem with that. Again, Gensokyo was no stranger to wars as well, if one counts the Fairy Wars as a proper war in the first place.
It left more questions than answers, and even Ran's answers could not satisfy her. Nevertheless, Reimu said nothing but nodded her head a few times. After thanking Ran for her insight, she finished up with her packing. Her bag was simple and small, and she had only two pairs of spare clothes, Chen's gohei replica, some old books, and a packet of incense sticks. She was not sure if the incense sticks would come in handy or serve any purpose in this task, but it would not hurt to bring some just in case she wanted to offer some prayers to the gods there.
Yukari had already provided Reimu instructions on how to gap to the other sanctuary the night before, but she had other things to settle first. She returned to the Hakurei shrine and went to look for Shiko. But the shrine maiden was not around. Sighing, Reimu walked over to the offering box and looked into it. It was empty, and she chuckled. Some things never change. She rang the bell, dropped a sack of koban into the box, bowed, and prayed. At this point, there was no use trying to pray for a response from the Hakurei shrine gods. They were silent, and had always been silent. Reimu was used to it, but she tried anyway.
"Still trying?" she heard Shiko's voice behind her.
Reimu remained in her spot for a few seconds before bowing again to conclude her prayer. "Trying to remind myself of a past I can't have ever again," she said melancholically.
When she turned around, she saw Shiko getting off Genjii. The old turtle smiled at Reimu warmly, and she returned the smile as well. Without thinking, she ran up to him and gave him a tight and long hug. Shiko could see tears streaming from Reimu's eyes, and for a moment, she thought she saw a faint violet glitter in it.
"I never took you for an emotional person, Reimu," Genjii said.
"Never thought I'd see the past being played out again, gramps," Reimu replied with a sob and a smile.
"I heard you're leaving Gensokyo for a while," he said in a slow and deliberate pace. "Shiko's been worrying."
For the first time, Reimu gave Shiko a surprised look. The shrine maiden frowned and looked away, but the blushes on her cheeks were evident. "Hey, I'm just concerned, okay?"
Reimu wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why're you out with Genjii anyway? I thought you could fly on your own."
"I could, but gramps wanted to talk to me about you. So we went flying all over Gensokyo just for that," Shiko said.
"What did you talk about?" Reimu asked while looking back at the old turtle.
"A little friendly parental advice," Genjii replied enigmatically. "That, and I wanted the glowing moss off my shell. I don't know why you even let that Kirisame girl talk you into putting that on my back."
Reimu lowered her eyes. "...sorry."
Genjii sighed and smiled. "Someday, Reimu, I'm sure Shiko will be like you. Why, I'm inclined to believe she may be your long lost sister. Your personalities are rather similar."
While Shiko creased her mouth, Reimu rolled her eyes. "You're not the first to tell me that."
"Well, I don't wanna keep you from your task. You should get going," Genjii said while moving past them and headed back to the pond behind the shrine.
With Genjii out of earshot, Reimu turned to Shiko and said, "I sometimes forget he's even there."
"You're terrible," Shiko said curtly.
Reimu scowled at Shiko and crossed her arms at the remark. Unexpectedly, Shiko shot towards Reimu and gave her a hug instead. Caught by surprise, she did not know what to do, but the shrine maiden quickly let go of her before she could respond in kind. She felt cold, the heat in her body non-existent for she was a youkai. But there was a heartbeat, a reminder of what was left of her humanity.
"Be safe out there, okay? Just...come back alive. Don't make me hug you for nothing," Shiko said with a frown.
"I'll be fine, Shiko. You better keep Gensokyo safe for me, and please, don't go beating youkais up without a good reason."
"Shut up."
Reimu chuckled at her reaction, and immediately stopped. Being around Yukari had made her pick up some of her traits, and she was not sure whether she was comfortable with that or not. After saying her goodbyes, Reimu opened a gap when she was right under the shrine gate. Giving the shrine one last look (with Shiko still standing in front of the donation box looking at her), she took a deep breath and walked into the gap.
After the gap closed behind her, Reimu's began recalling Yukari's instructions on how to gap to the other youkai sanctuary. It was an uncertain method; something Reimu suspected Yukari had came up with on the fly. She mooted the idea of utilising public transportation in the outside world, but the gap youkai said it was urgent, and travelling in the outside world would take a while.
"First, find coordinates at latitude 32 degrees, 36 minutes, and 38 seconds North. Longitude is 129 degrees, 46 minutes, and 54.8 seconds East," Reimu recited. "Then, initiate handshake with foreign barrier."
Given the upgrades given to her by Yukari, she found it easy to determine where to go. But it was rather far away, and even within the gap dimension, it was taxing on her to reach such a distant location. But Reimu willed herself to go forth, ignoring the weakness she was feeling in her body. It felt like half an hour went by, but there was no way to tell time accurately within the dimension. After a while, she reached what felt like an impassable barrier. With her enhanced senses though, she could see the barrier itself, and it shimmered like a bubble in the sea of non-Euclidean space.
"This has to be the place," she said to herself.
The handshake was nothing more than a tap on the barrier, something to inform the other side of a guest. Each tap sent a rather strong ripple throughout the entire thing, and Reimu winced at the sight of it. If there was someone in charge of maintaining the barrier, they would definitely have felt that. Reimu waited, five minutes went by, but she did not receive a feedback. She tapped her right foot impatiently, the scowl on her face growing deeper. Before she could bang on the barrier again, a barrier gap opened in front of her.
It looked almost like Yukari's gap, but the edges were less refined, and lacked the trademark bows that tied each end of the gap. It was like staring into space but without any stars or planets in it. Reimu peeked into it out of curiosity, but before she could register what she saw, a person climbed out of it and closed the gap behind her. Reimu thought she looked almost like Yuuka, but with longer hair and wearing Patchouli's nightgown. In her right hand, she had a sake bottle.
"Tch, how typical of Yukari," she said with mock disappointment. "Well, more for me."
Reimu gave her an irritated glare, but the youkai seemed to ignore her. Instead, she down the while bottle of sake until there was nothing it. Seeing that there was nothing left, she tossed it aside and let the empty bottle float in gap space. The smell of alcohol was strong, and if she had horns, Reimu would have mistaken her for an oni.
"It's never like her to do things herself anyway," the youkai said with surprising clarity despite looking drunk.
"Can you focus for a moment?!" Reimu said angrily.
"My, such temper," she said plainly. "You must be hungry. Come, let's fix you up with a nice bowl of ramen and meat. You want the liver or the heart?"
"...do you mean humans?" Reimu asked with a feeling of slight dread in her.
The youkai waved her hand as if to dismiss her concerns. "Pfft, what else? There ain't cows here thanks to those thieving tengus. Bird-brained magpies, the lot of them."
Reimu had long accepted the fact that she had to eat humans for proper sustenance. Other animals worked too but they do not satisfy her needs as well as human flesh does. But she never went beyond eating blood cakes provided by the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Still, the youkai instincts at her made her mouth water at the thought of human flesh. It took a lot of willpower to banish the thoughts, but the youkai seemed to have noticed her inner conflict.
"Bah, let's have some soba instead," she said. "Oh, yes, how rude of me." She slapped her forehead and took a lazy bow at Reimu. "Aohara Chizuru, youkai of dimensions, architect of the Akami Barrier." When she looked up, she smiled at Reimu with a glint in her eyes. "Welcome to Kaimonkyo."
Author's Note: I've not written fanfiction in a very long while, and I'm rather glad to be back with some ideas to write out. If you have read UnmovingGreatLibrary's fanfic "Teeth and Claws" (a super good fanfic in my opinion by the way), you'll notice that I'm basing this fic off it. It's not a sequel; it's more of a side story. And yes, I wrote this with permission from UnmovingGreatLibrary. Trying to write in the original style is hard, so forgive me if it does not feel as smooth or seem entirely in-character. I do my best to be as close to canon as possible though, but I will write it in my own style (with references to some of UnmovingGreatLibrary's style haha). I'm pretty sure I've made blunders here and there, so by all means, point them out so I can fix them in future chapters. Other than that, I thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to ZUN, ideas from Teeth and Claws belong to UnMovingGreatLibrary.