Hello everyone, Feral Moon here. To those who have decided to pick up this story and read it, thank you very much, and I hope that my ramblings and randomness will be fit for your enjoyment. This is a rewrite of the story I wrote some three years ago or so. It was those moments where I finally had time to write stuff, and actually get something done that, I went back to the old one and said, the heck is this, and decided to go fresh. Since I didn't want to drop that original story idea completely, this is the outcome after some debate.
This is a AU story using Touhou Project as a base, with nothing in particular being canon in any shape or form. ZUN owns the characters, I own the mess of words underneath that makes up the story. Enjoy.
Chapter 1 – Normal fantasy girls and Mornings
"Hmm hm hm hmmm..."
The cheerful humming of a young dark haired girl mingled together with the sizzle of a cooking breakfast inside a small kitchen, drifting slowly through the house to signal another bright start to another ordinary day.
"Hey Reimu! Good morning!"
The front door burst open, disrupting the peace of early morning with a loud enough bang to disturb the neighbours out of their morning drowsiness. With quick, short steps, a blonde in black and white clothes continued her loud appearance with a bold entrance into the room.
Reimu turned from the stove, looking round to see her friend take a seat at the table across the room. "Good morning Marisa, aren't you brimming with a bit too much energy today?"
"Heh? Even though I just came only after an all-nighter?" Marisa asked, and without waiting for an answer, lifted a small backpack onto the table, "Anyways, take a look at this stuff I made last night."
The blonde girl lifted a bulging backpack onto the table, several objects pouring out with a quick tip of the bag.
Reimu glanced down at her dining table, her expression completely blank as she scanned over the many suspicious vials, shifty gadgets, and indecipherable rolls of notes. Without giving anything a second look, the girl turned back to the stove, simply saying, "Clear the table."
"You're not gonna ask about any of these things?" Marisa asked, holding up two of the vials, "C'mon, you know you want to."
"No I don't, now put everything away." Reimu replied impatiently, turning to wait after completing her breakfast preparations.
Marisa gave her friend a disappointed smile, and then proceeded to shove everything haphazardly back into her bag. On the last two vials, the blonde glanced over to Reimu, "How about I just show you a mix of these two?"
Reimu didn't answer and instead moved to set the table, after a short silence, she asked, "Have you tested it before?"
"Oh, well, no." Marisa clinked the two vials together, "I'm sure it'll be alright."
"Fine, but do it outside."
"You can trust me on this one."
"Do it outside."
"Fine fine."
And after a short exchange, the experiment ground moved outside the house.
And also, on a rather different note, the mixture exploded.
Reimu closed the front door on the sizzling mess outside, and walked back to the kitchen. By the time she had reached the table, a younger sleepy brown haired girl in violet pajamas had already seated herself at the table, chewing through breakfast in an half awake state.
"Good mor-fwuaaah-ning onee-chan." the sleepy girl yawned through her morning greeting, her drowsiness still apparent.
"Good morning Suika." Reimu answered back in a tired voice, "Did Marisa wake you up?"
"Mmm, from the talking, " Suika rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, "And then there was the big boom sound."
"It was another one of Marisa's weird concoctions," Reimu said, pausing momentarily before adding, "I'll admit they're interesting when it works."
"Where did she go? I mean, " Suika nodded towards the extra set of bacon, egg, and toast set in front of an empty chair, "That's for Marisa right?"
"Mmhm...go check if Marisa is still where she blew herself up once you're done eating, kay?" Reimu replied.
Suika teetered off towards the accident grounds once all the used breakfast dishes were in the sink. Reimu, who had expected the younger girl simply to lead the burnt black one back inside, barely had time to rinse a single plate before getting called out to.
"Suika, what's wrong?" Reimu asked, finding Suika examining something on the ground just outside the front door.
"There's all this weird stuff out here." the brown haired girl pointed near her feet, where a light blue liquid had dried out.
The two girls looked around at the scene in front of them. The trail of light blue stretched it's way back to the soaked bag, which was surrounded by broken glass, and had a green and purple block of ice protruding from it's inside. Further along, there was a big scorch mark on the pavement where two burnt girls lay face down, neither showing much signs of life.
"There's a second body!" Reimu exclaimed suddenly, startling the girl next to her.
"Geez onee-chan, that was sudden." Suika said, "Shouldn't you be worried about the weird stuff coming out of Marisa's bag as well?"
"Oh that's fine," Reimu casually waved off the need for concern, "Somehow, Marisa never creates anything dangerous, even when she herself has no idea what the stuff is."
"Even the explosion?" the younger girl asked.
"You think I haven't known her long enough to not have been caught up in an experiment before?" the older girl said, stepping over to the two bodies and began pointing stuff out, "Look, apart from stains and burn marks, there's only an unconscious body with no other damages."
"I think that getting knocked unconscious is something to worry about. By the way, who's this?" Suika asked, ignoring the burnt black Marisa on the ground, she stepped over to check on the smaller girl in the red skirt, "Oh."
"Who is it? Oh." Reimu peered down, understanding spreading in her expression upon seeing the twin tailed girl, "She's probably the only one brave enough to approach Marisa during an experiment."
Suika pulled the unconscious girl into a sitting position. With the girl carefully held in place, Suika raised her hand, "Wake up Sunny, " and swung down.
One slap, two slaps, and with a loud cry of, "Ow! Ow!" Sunny began wriggling frantically, her eyes springing open from the sudden shock. The girl forcefully pushed herself out of Suika's arms, squirming her way as far from the incoming third slap as she could.
"What was that for?" Sunny rolled herself back into a sitting position, her hands held to her cheeks in pain as she looked for the assailant of the two hand marks, "Eh? Suika, and Reimu-san?"
"Yo morning neighbor." Suika said.
"Good morning?"
Reimu knelt down in front of Sunny, who was still looking around with a confused look, "Hmm, you seem fine, " Reimu said after a quick examination, "well, dazed I guess."
"What happened?" Sunny asked, "Ah!" and with a sudden realisation, she began looking around frantically, "Marisa, light, big bang."
"Sounds about right. You're okay so calm down, " Reimu said.
"But you got painted pretty well, " Suika added with a laugh, "We couldn't recognise you till we got right up close."
"What do you mean?" Sunny turned a confused look towards Suika, then down to her clothes, "Whoa!"
The twin tailed girl stood up, wringing out her clothes to get a better look. Ignoring the black burn marks, Sunny's white blouse had been peppered with an assortment of blue, red, green, and yellow, as well as a mix of the four colours. Her red skirt, while better off, appeared to have small pieces of the purple and green ice stuck on to it.
"Ew, my clothes are a mess."Sunny mumbled, trying to shake off the ice from her skirt.
"You haven't seen the worse of it, " Suika took Sunny's hand and lead her towards the house, "You need some special stuff to get this all out."
"There's extra towels on the top shelf." Reimu called out to the two girls disappearing through the front door before turning back to the remaining situation, "Well then, time to clean up this mess."
Inside the house, Sunny was left in front of the laundry room while Suika went off to search for towels. When the bundle of towels arrived, the two girls entered the laundry room, the mirror across the room reflected back Suika and her long brown hair standing next to Sunny with her...
"What is this?"
Sunny stared at her own reflection in the mirror in shock. The girl's hair had been dyed into a mix of blue and yellow colour, the only remains of her own natural red hair hidden as a fine line under her hair ties.
"You actually look okay. It's not really that bad" Suika said, handing the distraught girl a clear jar of gel, "You'll need this stuff to get everything out."
"Shampoo?" Sunny took the jar, opening it up and poking it's contents.
Suika stood and stared blankly at the jar for a few seconds before saying, "Marisa's 'It'll get rid of the whole mess somehow, body soap version'."
"As long as it works." Sunny sounded a bit happier, removing her hair ties and letting her blue yellow hair fall to her shoulders.
"Suika?" Reimu's voice called out along with a knock on the door, "Did you find the stuff?"
"Yup, it's the gel right onee-chan?" Suika answered back.
"Yeah, you need to use it with hot water. And then...ah..." Reimu stopped when another knock sounded, this time from the front door.
One pair of footsteps left the front of the laundry room, returning with a second pair shortly after a open and closing of the front door. This time instead of a knock, the laundry room door swung open. A dark haired girl around Suika and Sunny's age walked in with a bundle of clothes, her smile widening upon catching sight of the blue and yellow haired girl.
"Sunny-chan, I brought you a change of clothes."
"Star, why are you here?" Sunny asked in surprise.
"I was thinking you probably got caught in a Marisa explosion, " Star said, her smile unwavering as she handed Sunny the bundle, "I also thought it was about time you were picked up off the street."
"So you picked the easy job and just delivered a change of clothes." Suika said with a shake of her head.
"Star, if you knew I had been blown up, you could have helped me couldn't you?" Sunny asked.
"But your hair really got dyed nicely, " Star said, casually changing the subject, "Should we just leave it like this?"
"Ah, hey stop that!" Sunny cried.
"Wow. It's even smoother than it was before." Star said, running her fingers through Sunny's (accidentally) dyed hair.
"Really?" Suika asked, moving closer to the two girls and reaching out, "Wow, silky smooth."
"Stop it!"
"Ah hey girls, sorry to butt in."
All three girls stopped moving to look up at the blonde head of Marisa poke through the door.
"Heard you got painted pretty nicely," the blonde continued, sliding her way into the room.
"Not as bad as you." All three girls responded in unison.
Marisa stopped and looked straight at the mirror. Rather than the midly interesting paint job Sunny's hair had received, Marisa's current appearance actually looked like she had been caught in an explosion. The blonde hair on the girls head was covered in black marks, along with most of her clothing and also for some reason, her left cheek being the only spot of skin to have been painted black.
"This is what an explosion should do." Marisa pointed out, "The stuff that got into your hair and clothes was from the mixtures that froze over."
"See Sunny," Star pointed happily towards the charred elder girl, "You could have ended up like that, but instead you look perfectly fine like this."
"I'm washing it out." Sunny said firmly, pulling away from Star as fast as she could.
"Alright alright," Suika said, placing her hands on the distressed girl's shoulders and directing her towards the bathroom door, "Our boiler should be working. If it's not, it'll come out real hot then real cold or something."
"Hold up," Marisa dug into her pocket and pulled out a green jar, "You'll need this to get rid of the colour. I'm going to go get food from Reimu, have fun." And with the parting gift, the blonde left the room.
"There's the laundry basket, here's a bath towel," Suika said, holding out a fluffy white towel, "We'll get your clothes clean while you wash up."
"Okay, thanks Suika."
Sunny took the towel and placed it on top of her bundle of clean clothes. The girl took one last look at herself in the mirror, let out a sigh, and proceeded to take off her discoloured clothing. It wasn't until the dirty clothes landed inside the laundry basket that someone spoke again.
"Hey Star, why are you taking off your clothes too?" Suika asked.
Sunny glanced into the mirror again, looking at the reflection of the two girls behind her. Suika's long brown hair was facing the mirror, behind her was Star, standing in her underwear, her dress already neatly folded in her arms.
"Hm?" Star's unwavering smile turned between the two girls, "I thought I would help Sunny clean up (mess with her more)."
"Wait!" Sunny shouted out, "You just spilled some of your inner thoughts right?"
"It'll be hard to clean it all out of your hair by yourself right?" Star continued, "It'll be better to have someone else wash it for you (I can play with your hair more)."
"Star, I can hear two voices from you." Suika said, reaching into a drawer and pulling one more bath towel out, "There's space, so you can go in if you want."
"Thanks Suika," Star removed the remainder of her clothing before moving over to Sunny, "Come on Sunny, let's go mess with your hair a bit more."
"You aren't even hiding your inner thoughts now!"
Suika stepped out of the room, closing the door on Sunny's last call of objection. Turning, the girl stepped away from the sounds of the shower faucet turning, followed by the squeal of really hot or really cold water showering onto someone. Stepping out of the hallway, the sight of Marisa eating breakfast leftovers could be seen with Reimu lazing on the table across from her.
Reimu raised her head slightly with the younger girls entrance, lazily waving and said, "Welcome back Suika, everything okay with the girls?"
"Mmm, sounds like the boiler needs repairs like usual." Suika replied, taking a seat at the table, "Otherwise, you can hear what's happening right?"
"Hey Star! Stop that!"
"You're so cute! I want to take you home with me!"
"I already live with you! Hasn't your character broken too much?"
"Something like that I guess?" Suika said.
"Sunny did get painted like a mascot character," Marisa said, pushing an empty plate to the middle of the table.
"Marisa, come help me with the laundry," Reimu stood up, walking around the table, she hooked her arm around her blonde friend's and pulled her into a standing position, "Suika, could you wash the dishes?"
"Okay onee-chan."
"Hold up Reimu," Marisa twisted her way uncomfortably out of Reimu's hold, "Why do I have to help?"
"Because it's your weird concoctions that created the mess, and it's one of your questionable substances that we're using the clean with." Reimu said firmly.
"But, then you, maybe...Fine." Marisa followed her friend out of the room, giving up on her disjoint argument after a few words.
Loud splashes and voiced complaints from the bathroom sounded around the house, becoming clearer down the hallway after the laundry room door was pushed open and Reimu stepped inside. With a quick glance to confirm the contents of the morning's laundry, the girl stepped across the room and knocked on the glass door of the bathroom.
"Don't go too crazy in there, I don't need any more things breaking."
A cheerful, "Okay," was followed by a less cheerful, "Stop her then!" Satisfied with the response, Reimu turned from the glass door, moving to join Marisa in front of the basket of clothes. Rather than the normal laundry powder, two new bottles of unknown liquids had joined the green jar.
"Didn't you tell me we only needed the green jar?" Reimu asked, picking up one of the bottles and giving it a questioning glare.
"This one mixed with the one you're holding will make cleaning a whole lot easier," Marisa said, confidently popping open the remaining bottle and holding her hand out for the other.
"Have you tested it this time?"
"Of course I have."
After a familiar exchange, the two bottles were brought together, their contents pouring in side by side into a small container. One girl watched nervously over the other's shoulder as the contents blended into a single substance. Marisa lowered Sunny's coloured clothing into the sink, following that action by pouring a fine stream of the new mixture straight on top.
The results showed through the blonde girl's actions, her smile widening as she tipped the container to allow the liquid to flow faster.
"See," Marisa said happily, watching the spots of green and purple fade from the white blouse, "You can trust me with these kind of things."
"Who was the one that self-destructed outside my house?" Reimu asked, letting out a sigh of relief none the less.
A clatter of sound covered Marisa's response as the bathroom door slid open. An extremely pleased Star stepped into the laundry room, followed by a completely red Sunny, from her restored red hair to the red flush all over her body.
"Back to normal?" Reimu asked, running her hands through Sunny's hair, "You seem way too tired to have just had a bath though."
The red girl mumbled something incomprehensible, refusing to look away from the floor at her feet while wrapped in nothing but a towel.
"Hey, what happened in there," Marisa asked, turning her attention away from her own mixture to show some concern, "I don't think taking a bath can do that to someone."
"Just a bit of skin-ship between girls," Star said, shaking off the question with an innocent gesture.
"Hm?"
Reimu looked down to see the rather depressed girl tug on her sleeve. Still without saying anything, Sunny gestured for the older girl to lean down closer to herself, to which Reimu did.
"Uhh..." Reimu nodded with each word whispered to her, a slight frown deepening with each thing she heard, "She's saying she can't get married anymore."
"Star, whatever you did, you've scarred her for life." Marisa said with a chuckle.
"If that's the case, I'll marry Sunny." Star declared brightly.
Reimu and Marisa both gave Star a 'I can't really tell how serious you are' look before turning away, returning their focus back to their job at hand. With the mixture in one hand and the gel in the other, Marisa looked down at the target in need of cleaning.
"At least get her clothes clean okay?"
"Of course, here goes."
And after a short exchange, the mixture and gel poured on top of the remaining dyed clothing.
Just to note, it exploded.
"It's a good thing we're all about the same size huh?"
Suika patted Sunny lightly on the back, the two of them having moved to Suika's room after the latter was put through another bathing process. Sunny, who had finally been relieved of just a bath towel, was now dressed in Suika's white sleeveless blouse and purple skirt, matching Suika's own set up of white shirt and violet shorts.
"I'm hoping to never go through that again," Sunny said as she ran her fingers through her recently 'painted again and restored again' hair.
"Onee-chan washed you up the second time so that was okay right?" Suika asked, "But I haven't seen onee-chan angry at someone like that in a while. Star got caught up in the scolding too, what happened?"
"Green all over the bathroom walls," Sunny said, turning towards the sound of Reimu yelling, "Does this happen whenever Marisa comes around?"
"Mmm, you get used to it after a while, well, it's a normal morning here at least." Suika stood up, stretching her arms high in the air, "I think the washing machines done with your clothes, let's get them hung out to dry and go do something else."
Now if you have actually read my old story, As seen through a clouded mirror, from a long time ago, you might recognise the setting I used, because well, it is the exact same one. And if the setting was unclear, I'm sure some of you thought so, I am sorry, but I was too lazy to actually draw out the setting properly. To be honest, this first chapter took three months to write, writing and deleting every couple of minutes until I finally gave on my logical story forming style to go with, ah heck, this makes sense, write and see what the end product is.
I will say here that I have changed the characters' backgrounds a bit, just so I have more trash to write about, along with the increase of characters in Touhou since I actually sat down and wrote anything like this. Thank you for reading. It is my pleasure if you enjoyed this first chapter. I sincerely apologise if you didn't enjoy this ramble of random ideas and you just burnt your eyes on this. I am sorry my rants are so long.