Chapter 1 : Welcome to Gensokyo!
This wasn't what I expected, and from the face of the young maiden pinned down under me, she didn't expect this as well.
Before we start, we should probably get done with the exposition part right? Well, for starters, my name's Evan, human enderman messenger extraordinaire. What do I do for a living you ask? Well, I deliver messages. Yeah, that's it.
"Y-y-yo-y-you…"
Hmm? The girl under me is trembling for some reason, and from the way how her brown hair casted a shadow over her eyes made me fear for my life for some reason.
"YOU PERVERT!"
That was pretty much the last thing I heard before my vision turned bright for a second, before darkness eventually took over. Not the best way to start huh?
_
My head hurts, and by Notch I really wanna know who owns the truck that just decided to go Zombieland Saga episode 1 on me. Fourth wall breaking aside, I eventually opened my eyes to see a brown wooden ceiling that looked a bit run down for some reason. My eyes closed on instinct however when the splitting headache returned full throttle, making me groan as well.
"So the pervert's awake."
I heard a feminine voice say, making me turn my head to see the same girl that I accidentally pinned to the ground. If she weren't looking angry at the moment, I would've thanked her for breaking my fall and preventing me from suffering any severe damage on my bones. Granted, that possibility would be null, but you get the point.
"Hello there." I decided to try and be cordial in the conversation as I made a gesture of a half-assed greeting to the girl using my right hand, and from the look of disgust she had, I'm already assuming that she wasn't amused.
"Shut up perv, now tell me why I shouldn't sic my gohei on your sorry ass right now." Well ain't she feisty.
Deciding to not aggravate her even further, I decided to just say what was on my mind at the moment with all of the politeness I could muster from all my being.
"Cuz my ass is too sexy?" Ahhh, Yolo.
This reply made her recoil in disgust before slapping my head with her stick. The pain was there, but my headache felt more painful at the moment, so I wasn't really affected by it. Anyways, I turned my attention to the girl again, focusing more on her physical details. Get your minds out of the gutter please.
She was a visibly young girl, probably my age if not a bit older. She had an admittedly cute face with a pair of reddish brown eyes. She also had brown hair that reached up to the middle of her back, and that's just when it was tied up as well. She wore what seemed to be a miko outfit, but change the red hakama for a red skirt instead and have the sleeves detached instead. She even have a cute bow on her hair, which was obviously used to tie it up.
She's, by far, a bae material if I'm right, and she's currently staring at me with disgust. If I were a masochist, then I would definitely be writhing on the floor in pure ecstasy right now, but unfortunately, I'm no masochist soooo… GG I guess.
Anyways, I decided to become more cordial as I slowly sat up from the futon that she allowed me to borrow, at least she has some conscience within her.
"I'm sorry, I was just kidding. By the way, hi! My name's Evan." I said with as much energy as I can muster, which wasn't a lot mind you. The fact that my head's being fucked by a splitting headache wasn't helping either. Regardless, I made my apology and greetings genuine, so that's a plus.
She didn't expect me to apologize though, as I have noted from her slightly surprised face. She eventually recovered before hiding her true feelings behind a mask of total apathy. It would seem that she's still mad, oof.
"Whatever perv. Now get out of my futon, I wanna sleep." She said to me, making me blink from what she just said. I was sleeping on her futon? I couldn't help but feel important now for some reason.
I didn't delve into it much longer however as I slowly but surely got out of the futon. I wasn't really in the condition to stand right now, so I just simply raised the blanket before rolling out of the way. I heard the telltale sounds of shuffling cloth, making me assume that she already went ahead and made herself comfortable.
Then silence ensued. Not that I mind the silence though, in fact, I enjoy it. Not sure about miss bae material beside me though.
Aaaand she whipped me again with her gohei. Ouch.
_
Time eventually went on, and my body finally recovered enough to allow me to stand properly and walk around. I decided to have a little tour inside the abode of miss bae material, and what I saw made me blink and pity her.
Her house, if you can even call it that, is nothing more but a rundown shrine at this point, with the whole area fifteen meters around the shrine being covered with nothing but foliage. I have a feeling that this place was far bigger before, but that's just my assumptions taking over. I also decided to take a look at the praying area of the shrine, and there I saw a little donation box sitting there.
Being the non-religious, but good Samaritan I am, I decided to thank miss bae material with a little donation of a million gold pieces… Just kidding, I'm not going to waste a quarter of my whole savings for a single donation.
Instead, I decided to just place a lone gold bar on the donation box instead. My curiosity eventually took over as I took hold of the donation box before shaking it, only to hear nothing.
That… was depressing.
I eventually returned the box back in its place, opting to just go outside and explore some more. I already know that this place isn't in any of my maps, so my eagerness to explore made me move. I first decided to leave the shrine first, but a sudden sound of wood sliding on wood made me stop. The aura behind me felt very, very eerie. I slowly turned my head to see miss bae material kneeling in front of the donation box, I was just standing behind her, so I don't know if she's staring at the donation box or to the gold bar that I placed on top of it.
I simply turned my head back forwards and silently teleported out of the area. I have a feeling that I would get skinned in some way by miss bae material back there if I stayed.
I then found myself out of the shrine grounds and on the long-ass stairway that led all down a small mountain. I'm not really in the mood to do a thousand step marathon, so I just decided to teleport my way down the small mountain. All while remembering some details on the way down.
It took some time, but I eventually found myself on the bottom of the stairs, making me raise both my arms in mock success. This was a recurring thing that I'm used in doing for the rest of my sixteen years of existence, and I'm rambling again, great.
After ceasing my internal monologue, I started to walk forwards, making sure to follow the ever plot convenient dirt road that led to some walled village. The village isn't too big, but not too small either, kinda like a so-so size, if that term even exists. The guards on the gate however weren't so-so when it comes to sudden aggression, as they suddenly pointed their naginatas at me.
"Okay, I know I picked the wrong house and I'm a fool, so chill!" I exclaimed while raising my arms in the air in surrender.
The guards seemed confused at what I just said, but they didn't drop their guard. Tch, killjoy guards.
"Who are you, and what are your intentions?" The guard wearing samurai armor… scratch that, they're all wearing samurai armor, but this one has a katana instead of a naginata however, so at least he's not too generic.
"I'm just passing by sir." I simply replied with a blank face, the kind of face that shows that I don't have anymore fucks to give.
The guards didn't seem content with this however as they just became even more alarmed and on guard. What is with me and samurai anyways? Am I like, a ronin to them or something? Granted it is true, but still.
"What's going on here?" Yet another feminine voice said behind the guards, but it definitely didn't sound like miss bae material's voice.
The guards turned around before they started to part away to show a woman, not a girl, but a woman this time, and wow, she too is a total bae material.
She had a face of a presumably twenty year old woman with straight blue hair, with two strands framing her face. She wore a primarily blue colored dress with white sleeves on them. The ends of the skirt was colored white as well, with the blue part creating a pattern on the white part. Let's just say that I'm bad at describing things okay? Okay.
She also had light reddish brown colored eyes, which looked odd yet somehow fitting for her.
And now she's staring at me with said light reddish brown colored eyes, and I could've sworn I saw a small spark of confusion overcome those pretty eyes of hers.
Also, that's gotta be the most weirdest hat I've ever seen. It looks like little building. But then again, it doesn't look weird on her sooooo okay I guess?
"Keine-san, this, well… I presume he's a youkai ma'am, but I'm not entirely sure though." The katana wielding guard said in confusion as he looked at me again with a face of confusion.
I simply kept raising my arms though, since having multiple naginatas pointed at me was not really giving me the go signal to do something to explain myself, let alone open my mouth for that matter, and this seemed to have made miss bae material #2 sigh in exasperation as she said something to the katana boi.
"Are you sure Keine-san? He could be a youkai for all we know." Jeez this guy's paranoid, though I can't really blame him. I'm not really a saint either to be honest.
"I'm sure, and you already know what I can do, remember?" Miss bae material #2 said with a smile that said something along the lines of "I can take care of myself".
The guard simply sighed at this as he raised his right hand, which made the other samurai lower their naginatas, which in turn, made me lower my arms to my sides before inserting my hands on my pockets. This gesture made miss bae material #2, who was apparently named as Keine, look at me with a sort of nostalgic look, but as quickly as I noticed it, it was gone. Weird.
She then faced me entirely, a scrutinizing look present on her face as she looked me up and over. I just stared back, letting my natural ability just take over as my dark purple eyes started to figuratively pierce her being, and judging from the slight unease I'm seeing in her eyes, it meant that my staring capabilities are still functional.
"Well now, aren't you going to introduce yourself to us first?" Miss bae material #2 aka Keine asked me with a gentle yet slightly stern tone. The kind of tone that a teacher would have for her little student. This suddenly made the perverted side of my brain to send me images of miss Keine wearing a lewd looking modern teacher's outfit. I immediately squashed those images however, I was not in the mood to imagine cultured stuff.
I simply decided to do the exact same thing I did with OG miss bae material as I introduced myself with the usual energy on my voice.
"Hi! My name's Evan, human enderman messenger extraordinaire!" My introduction was definitely not what both the blue haired woman and the guards had expected judging from the slightly surprised looks on their faces. Yeah, I get that most of the time, you can even ask OG miss bae material for further proof.
Miss Keine was the first to recover as she looked at me before asking another question.
"I know that this question might get repetitive, but what are your intentions in coming to this village?" The way she asked me nearly made me shout "Babe! I came here for you!", but I was thankfully quick witted enough to reign that thought and squash it again as I gave her my honest answer.
"Well, I'm looking for a place to stay on for the night. But since I don't seem welcome here, Ima just go look somewhere I guess." I said genuinely, totally not trying to guilt trip anyone here, nope, not at all.
"Well, if it's shelter you're looking for, then I can help with that." Miss Keine said suddenly, and boy did the guards look a bit guilty. Heh, guilt tripping.
I just tilted my head at this and looked at miss Keine with a look of interest. She seemed to have caught on to my stare as she elaborated on what she meant.
"Come with me, I have someone who could help you." She said to me before giving a pointed look at the samurai guards, making them nod. Seeing this, she then turned around and started to walk inside the village, making me follow her in turn.
The both of us spent several minutes walking inside the village, and since miss bae material #2 here isn't starting any conversations, I decided to spend the several minutes to take a look at the village.
The place was definitely a picture perfect image of a peaceful village, with children running around playing, wives walking around probably to buy foodstuffs from the shops around, and the usual presence of guards who were on patrol. I noticed the stares that some guards had sent my way, which made me sigh a little bit in turn. I know that I may act like a social person, but lemme assure you, I'm not. There's a reason why endermen don't like it when someone stares at them.
"This is the place." Miss Keine said as she stopped in front of what seemed to be a apothecary of sorts. I took the time to look it over, and despite how small it seems, it was actually well kept. I just simply stared at miss teacher bae in confusion, making her look back at me before explaining.
"The owner of this place is a friend of mine, he should be able to help you out." She told me, making me wonder what kind of person this friend of hers is. I wasn't able to dwell on it for too long however when miss Keine suddenly went up to the door before knocking on it.
"Alright, alright! Hold up for a sec! I'm comin'!" A gruff and masculine sounding voice hollered before the door opened up, showing a man who could easily pass off as the buff and gruff kind of dad. "Oh it's you Keine, what do you need?"
Keine simply smiled at the man before looking at me, she then looked back at the man before she opened her mouth.
"I need your help with something." Keine said to the man, making the dude raise an eyebrow. Whether by interest or something else, I will never know.
"I already have a feeling that it includes this young lad right here." The man said as he looked at me, the stare wasn't really frightening, it's like being stared at by my dad all over again… nope, not gonna open that can of worms.
I decided to just be quiet however, as I simply waved at the man. This made him raise an eyebrow before looking back at miss Keine.
"Well, you're right about that Kirisame-san." Miss Keine said, but the man raised his hand to stop the woman from continuing.
"Didn't I already said to just simply call me by my first name? Come on Keine, you talk like we're not friends." The man said in a light tone, a definite oddity considering his big ass form, but then again, I can be pretty different as well, so I'm not really allowed to criticize.
Keine simply smiled at this before continuing however.
"Anyways, this young man here needs a place to get shelter from. Judging from his clothes and mannerisms, I already presumed him to be an outsider. It will be a huge help if you were to take him in." Keine explained to the man, making him close his eyes as he held his chin in thought. Wow, we have the same habit as well! I'm starting to like this guy.
It took the man some time to think on it, but the answer that left his mouth was the words that eventually started the big change in my usual life.
"Eh, why not? I'll need some help on the place anyways."
_
When I had said "big change in my usual life" I wasn't kidding.
After taking me in and saying goodbye to Keine aka Miss teacher bae material #2, the man, who introduced himself as Yusuke Kirisame, had started to tell me some things about the shop of his, mainly the rules and things that I should and shouldn't do. I simply sat there and absorbed all of the things he said, before he eventually let me take the room that was just next to his.
When I had first entered the room, I wasn't expecting the odd look it had. It was a bit messy, and it definitely wasn't touched for a long time, almost as if the previous owner didn't use it for many years now. When I had asked Yusuke about it, he simply told me the previous owner's name before leaving it at that. I decided to not inquire more, since I already knew that the subject about this room's owner was a sensitive one. I may be a slightly perverted dumbass, but I know when and when not to ask about something.
Currently, I am outside of the shop with a broom in hand as I was currently sweeping the ground clear of any falling leaves. I found out that the season was currently autumn, which was a definite proof that I'm not anywhere near my place, since it was summer there as far as I remember. I even returned some of the greetings that some villagers would give my way, and some of the kids would even ask me to play with them. The villagers here are quite friendly I would say, but Yusuke had told me of a group of villagers that aren't as friendly as the rest.
The Secret History Organization, a small, but significantly powerful faction of the village's council. A group that is very dedicated on the search of Gensokyo's history and to the eradication of all youkai. Yup, these guys are pretty much Nazis.
I was even told that these guys would go as far as lynching off some of the weaker youkais just for fun, something that didn't really sit well with me, and judging from how Yusuke agreed to my sentiments, I was inclined to say that he too has a hate for these asshats.
I eventually returned to my duty of sweeping the ground clear of fallen leaves. Winter was coming soon, so Yusuke took it to himself to be the one to fetch firewood along with other villagers, leaving the apothecary for me to take care of. It wasn't a hard job to maintain the shop if I were to be honest. I just have to clean up the place and make sure that the meds that Yusuke was selling were still intact, and safe from any grubby hands out there.
"Oh, hello there Evan-san." And cue the usual greetings miss bae material #2 would give me.
I simply turned my head to acknowledge her before raising my right hand to wave at her, this had been a recurring thing for miss bae material #2 aka Keine, she would visit the place and would take a look at me to make sure that I was being accommodated properly, much to Yusuke's chagrin.
I also found out from Yusuke that Keine is actually a teacher in the nearby school, making my assumptions surprisingly true for once.
"Hmm? Is Yusuke-san out?" Keine asked me, making me nod in confirmation. I wasn't really in the mood to talk due to this one annoying leaf that keeps on getting blown away. Freakin' hell! Just stay still ya little bastard!
While I was busy trying to conquer the little leaf, I saw Keine look at me with an unreadable expression. This in turn spurred me to ask whatever it is she wants.
"Yes Miss Keine? Do you need something in particular?"
My question seemed to have snapped Keine out of her stupor as she suddenly shook her head no.
"N-no, nothing, just checking on you." Keine said with a small stutter, something which made me narrow my eyes discreetly. I may be an idiot, but I know when something's up.
"Miss Keine, is something up?" I asked the teacher. Yup something's definitely up.
This reply of mine eventually caught the teacher in a corner, and despite this, she still tried her best to hide whatever it is that she's hiding. Alrighty then, time to go bad cop on this bish.
"Miss Keine, you do know that lying is a bad thing right?" I started as I begun walking up slowly towards her, dropping the broom I held in the process.
This seemed to have been effective as Keine started to back away slowly as well, with each step I make, she also steps back. It didn't eventually take long until Keine was effectively cornered on the shop's wall. This didn't make me stop however as I kept up my stride until I was literally just inches away from her, and oh Notch I'm really enjoying the blush on her face. Looks like this teacher ain't the dominant type.
"You do know that, riiiiggghhht?" I prodded her once again, even making sure to very much emphasize the last word on my sentence.
And as expected, Keine started to sweat a little, her seemingly calm expression being slowly ruined by the ever present twitch of her eyebrows. She eventually let out a sigh of defeat as she begun to talk.
"Alright Evan-san, you got me. The truth is, I was trying an experiment of sorts." Those words didn't sit well with me, and from the way Keine looked worried, she might've caught on what I felt about the matter.
"Before you make accusations, please hear me out first. You see, the man you're living with, Yusuke… He may not look like it, but he's a broken man. Not only did he lost his wife, but his daughter had also ran away from him, this in turn, made him more reclusive." Keine explained to me. But it didn't really change anything in my mind however, since I already knew that something was up with the old guy. What I'm more concerned, and aggravated about here, is the fact that I'm being used.
And let me tell you this. I. Hate. Being. Used.
"So, you are saying that I'm being used as a lab rat of sorts?" I asked with a formal tone, and from the surprised look on her face, she obviously didn't expect what I just said, nor the seemingly cold way of saying it.
"No! Of course not!" Keine exclaimed, but this didn't made me stop however, as I backed off from her.
"Ma'am…" I noticed her flinch at the more formal way I called her. "…I'll be blunt with you, I hate being used for something I don't agree on, nor to something I wasn't made privy to."
With the statement and point given to her, I immediately picked up the broom that I dropped before walking back inside the apothecary. I didn't even bat an eyelash on the blue themed teacher that stood stunned behind me. I didn't even give her a small glance, after I closed the door.
She should've at least asked.
END