This is a story with characters and tropes from ZUN's Touhou Project. While the story is of my creation, the above are integral components, and as such no ownership claims are to be misconstrued from this narrative; it is a contribution to the fanbase, and nothing else; no other gain is desired.
I humbly ask of you to consider Gensokyo as more urban, in this story, than how it really is, as there are many technological aspects, such as cars and phones, involved here; this liberty was taken to make the story more conducive.
I thank you for reading this.
A Scarlet Dinner Outing
It was a very peaceful evening. Well, not of the ordinary for Gensokyo, considering how peaceful it can be; especially given the Scarlet Devil Mansion's locale, by their serene lake, now so still it could be mistaken for stone. It also reflected a rather austere sunset; quite in such a way, considering its normal brilliance. Nevertheless, the sun was progressing into the horizon, slowly but surely, as the above peace lazily gave way to its appropriate nightly life. However, this was a process over the hours, not the minutes.
Inside, Sakuya was not quite herself; quite contrarian, she was very tired. Dinner was not even being prepared, as Hong Meiling and Remilia were at their dinner table, pathetically whining while Sakuya was behind in her obligations.
Patchouli came in from her library. "Huh. I don't smell anything…is dinner even getting ready yet?"
Meiling retorted as a child would. "No! We're still waiting! I'm hungry…"
"Me too," Remilia concurred.
"Well, this is surprising. Usually something's in the oven or-"
"I'm sorry, everybody."
Sakuya sat down at their table dejectedly and wouldn't even look at any of them. Indeed, times have been problematic as of late; what with all of the chores that had to be done, and what with all of the chores that had to be done because Meiling forgot her share, it was busy already. Additionally, there were the problems of The Scarlets' homework, hampered by their procrastination, and all of the distractions from their uninvited guests (Marisa mainly), that would bleed her sleeping hours dry. It had all culminated into this tardiness, which would have been worse if it wasn't for Sakuya's resilience. Of course, Meiling couldn't think of that. Patchouli did, however.
"I need a bit more time tonight...I can't even think about what to make."
"What do you have in mind?"
"I-"
"Just think of the first thing. What are you thinking about right now?"
"Well, I can't answer that, because we can't eat what I was thinking about."
"…we haven't had pot roast in a while."
"I can't make that! It'll take too long..."
"Well, just something fast. Leftovers?"
"Flandre won't like it; we have them too often."
"Well, maybe I can try my hand at something. It isn't that big of a deal, right?"
And with that, right after her sentence left the air, Meiling stood up and left.
"...I guess it is. Maybe we should go out to eat tonight."
"What?! Do you think that they'll like anything out there?"
"Just think about it. I've got some granola that we can snack on while you decide. Besides, I'm not that hungry. I don't know what those two are whining about; Koakuma's trying this new game, and Flandre's still sleeping. So we'll be fine."
As Patchouli retired to her library, Sakuya thought about how long it was since their last restaurant visit; they had a good time, and there were no dishes to be her companions, no cleanup, nor anything else of the sort. It was a bit of a vacation. She wondered why it was so long since their previous outing. Perhaps it was centered on her focus to please her houseguests, but in that vein, she forgot about how she felt, herself. It was clear as day at this point. Well, clear as evening, rather.
"Flandre, wake up…"
"…mmh…Sakuya? What time is it…is dinner ready yet?"
"Well, I decided to take us all out to eat. It's been a while, so-"
"Really?!"
She was happy about it, which was the opposite of how Sakuya thought she would respond.
"Where're we going?!"
"I decided to leave it to Patchouli, as it was her idea. She's finding a place."
"Koakuma, did you find a place yet?"
As she was closing the library up, Koakuma lamented at her phone. "No, your Wi-Fi's bad."
"Well, that's not good…hmm…I remember a place that just opened."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it got good reviews. Burger Barn or something."
"…I don't think that Sakuya will like a place with such a silly name."
"Well, people really like it. It should be busy, but the food's good, so that's all that matters, right?"
"…we haven't had Western food in a while...I guess it'll be fine."
"See? Sakuya needs this respite to get back to her normal self. It'll be a nice outing! And, it was…"
"Your idea."
Patchouli was getting a bit too prideful of this.
"I guess we're taking the Discovery. It'll be crammed, that's for sure."
"Well, when you got 6 people…"
Patchouli turned all the lights off and locked the door.
"While we're waiting, I can show you how to beat that level, Koakuma."
"…and I forgot my game. Can you open the door, again?"
"…"
"Please?"
"…fine."
As they approached their vehicle of choice, Meiling happily began another embarrassing conversation. "Shotgun!"
"Meiling, of course you will be."
"All right!" She did a groaner of a pose to accent that. However, it took only a look of Sakuya getting in the driver's seat to dash that enthusiasm.
"…what?"
"You said I'd be driving!"
"…that's not what 'Shotgun!' means."
"Yes, it does!"
Patchouli and Koakuma helped to get The Scarlets in the seats behind.
"Meiling, 'Shotgun' means that you want the front passenger seat."
"It does?! I don't believe you!"
"Well, that's what it means."
"Well, I'm driving!"
"Too late."
"Miss Dictionary! Look that up! That cannot be true."
Ignoring her contrived nickname, Patchouli responded. "Look, I think she's going to take off if you don't get in."
She did so. "…I still want you to look it up."
And with that, the Scarlet's chariot departed and got on the road.
"Patchouli, where is this 'Burger Barn'?" Sakuya asked as she drove onward.
"Don't worry, I'll show…Meiling."
"What?"
Meiling had rather blatantly snatched Patchouli's phone from her.
"Give me back my phone."
"No! I'm riding shotgun, so I get to decide where it is!"
"…you're an idiot."
"…how do you look up anything on this…"
"Meiling. If you give me the phone, I'll show you where it-"
"Burger Barn! Where…is…Burger Barn?!"
Patchouli, and the rest of them, were completely speechless.
"…you have to turn on the voice recognition first; you can't just yell at it. Give it to me and I'll show you how."
"OK."
Patchouli, after getting her phone back, typed in the location with ease, and got the route up. Naturally, she kept it.
"You see?"
"…"
"Don't make her mad," Koakuma added, to alleviate this burgeoning tension. "Why don't you show me how to beat that boss?"
"Good; a third victory!"
As Flandre happily took in the outdoors through her window, Sakuya drove on, thinking about how long it was since their last jaunt, replete with the charming and harmless bickering and other miscellany that their cohorts gave to one other. They were stuck in the mansion all day; a change of scenery was just what she needed to get back this nostalgic feeling.
The restaurant was deafening; even from their first opening of the entrance's doors, the lively atmosphere struck them as a brick wall. Not only that, it was one of those types of restaurants that had various pieces of knickknacks and garbage tacked onto the walls as an aesthetic. All of the tables were taken, and the bar was packed as well. However, a bit of a luck was blessed upon them, as they were able to get one of the remaining booths.
"I'm going to the bathroom!"
"Flandre, we haven't ordered yet," Remilia said.
"I'll have what you're having! Bye!"
"Flandre!"
Meiling took on a motherly tone, which seemed rather off-putting, as she tried to reassure Sakuya. "She'll be fine."
"Meiling, no. She needs to come back; we need to order right away."
"No, look! See?"
They looked on as Flandre easily found the restrooms, despite the maze of tables and people; what with the gigantic sign for it that was designed to look like a motel's from the Googie era, it was easy.
"She'll be fine. Now, menus! Hmm…what to get, what to get?"
"Well, this is very big," Sakuya remarked as she opened hers up; the menu was spiral-bound, with categories tabbed and filled with far too many colors than it deserved. "Koakuma, what are you getting?"
She and Patchouli had their game consoles out, and she was eating some of Patchouli's granola that she took with her. "I don't really feel like eating that much."
"If you don't stop eating that, you won't be able to keep your appetite."
She paused the game and looked at the menu for a few seconds. "I guess the chicken salad?"
"And an Asian salad," Patchouli added.
At that point, they received their waitress. "Good evening! My name is Mystia and I'll be your server...oh! It's you all!"
After a pause, Sakuya was the first of them to venture into this. "Aren't you... supposed to be running your own restaurant?"
"Well, yes, but I needed some more cash, and some...space, so I decided to place it on a hiatus, of sorts. But this place is booming, right? I mean, it's like this all the time; they're hiring anybody to keep up with these crowds! I'm really raking it in...anyhow, I need to place your orders, right? Can I get you all started with some appetizers and some drinks?"
As if there no perceivable break existed after that question, Meiling shouted, "Yes! I want jalapeno poppers! Six of them!"
"All right, any drinks?"
"Your finest grog, please!"
"Meiling," Sakuya demanded, "You cannot drink."
"Why not?!"
At her puppy-esque pout with that reply, Sakuya declined to fight this one, and added her water and The Scarlets' as well. Koakuma and Patchouli wanted some sodas. Mystia concluded their first meeting, after writing their orders down thoroughly. "All right, thank you very much! I'll be back in a bit."
"Actually, can we order the main-"
She left. A bit too fast, at that. After she dashed away, Sakuya turned menacingly to Meiling.
"Well, thank you very much."
"What?"
"Because of your appetizers, we have to wait on you before the rest of us get to eat."
"It's not my fault! You didn't order them fast enough!"
"She left so fast! Do you think I could have stopped her?!"
"Yes!"
"…whatever."
"And I'm not sharing, so you can forget about that!"
Sakuya then gazed at the crowd surrounding them. Everyone was having the time of their lives; they were talking, laughing, and the only silence that could be granted from their sea of noise was when they were eating or drinking. Meanwhile, she had two nerds playing some random game, an overly happy, soon-to-be drunkard, a disinterested Scarlet and another absent. Her table felt unique amongst all the merriment.
"Remilia, are you doing all right?"
"I'm good, Sakuya. I'm very happy that we're doing this."
"...really?"
"Well, yes; you work hard every day...sometimes too much. You need a day off, or...you needed one weeks ago. This is overdue."
"OK..."
"Let me guess..."
"Yes?"
"You aren't in control of this, so you're worrying."
"But...I'm not worrying!"
She could tell that she was lying. "Look, just relax. If you're in control, you are, but with that, you're going to run yourself ragged. If you're not in control, you can relax, but other people will do the thing you would do, like getting Meiling's fried cheese... green things that I don't know what they are."
"But the picture looked good!" was all Meiling could contribute to this.
"However, when you let others do things, you need to trust them. If you don't, you're going to worry, no matter what. Just don't fret about this, and take the night off." She could see Mystia arriving with their drinks. "Don't worry so much, Sakuya."
"OK! Here's your drinks." She placed them all down to their respective patrons. "And here's your jalapeno-"
Meiling wouldn't even let the plate touch the table. She grabbed the entire appetizer, and then proceeded to violently devour every single one of them in an atonal and certainly uncomely manner, all within what seemed to be only a few seconds, and without utensils. "All right! Thanks, lady!"
"You're...welcome? Anyway, now that you've got your drinks, what can I get for you all?"
"Cheeseburger! With! Extra...bacons!"
Sakuya hid her face with her labyrinthine menu, in embarrassment, as she continued to decide what she wanted.
"I'll have the chicken salad, please."
"And an Asian salad."
"...I guess I'll get fish sticks."
"Remilia, Flandre doesn't like fish sticks," Sakuya said from beyond her muffled face.
"Well, I like fish sticks, and she said that she'd want whatever I chose."
"But she doesn't like fish sticks."
"OK! And you, miss?"
"...umm..." She struggled a bit further. "...I can't decide."
"Would you like some more time?"
"No! I...would...like...the spaghetti and meatballs."
"OK! Sounds good! I'll get these orders placed right away; it'll just be a short wait. Thank you all!" She then dashed away into the maelstrom of people and tables.
Sakuya turned to Patchouli. "Got any of that granola left?"
"Sure."
"And where's Flandre?"
They felt sobriety to the fact that Flandre hadn't come back yet. Meiling, beginning her imbibed sojourn, shrugged it off. "She'll be back, she'll be back..."
"Meiling..." said Sakuya, with increased unease.
"Well, I got nothin' else if you're gonna to be like this!"
"I'm worried, Meiling."
"No, no, no! Just relax! It's not like she's lost!"
"You need to listen. She has not come back yet, and I am worried-"
Their argument was interrupted by a harsh series of beeps.
"And...now there's a fire in the kitchen," Remilia gave in a sardonic tone.
"That's not-"
Afterwards, a rather indifferent voice came on the restaurant's PA. "Excuse me, all Burger Barn patrons. We have a situation in the women's restroom...there is a child who is unable to open one of the stalls. If you have recently sent a child to our restrooms, please go there immediately. Thank you."
As the restaurant returned to its normal racket, their booth was dead silent. Well, until Sakuya rose up and bolted to the restrooms, stumbling after her ankle had hit the table's post.
Patchouli looked up with an expressionless face. "Well, this is going great so far. I'm going out."
"But the food will be here soon," Koakuma insisted.
"I need a break from all this noise. Don't worry, I'll be back."
As she left, Koakuma continued with the remaining two. "I hope this'll go OK...I'm hungry now..."
Meiling didn't really care, as she was full, sleeping happily for the time being, and Remilia was merely sipping her cold water, after throwing the lemon slice floating on the top of her glass into Flandre's. "She can have two lemons...I hate when they do this."
"It's meant to fancify the fact that they got the water from their tap, you know."
"...hmm..."
Silence then descended onto them, as if they had ran out of things to discuss. Koakuma went on with her game, and Remilia knocked the ice around in her drink before flicking droplets of it onto Meiling's snoozing face. It wasn't until a few minutes later before she continued from where they left off. "Oh look, they're back."
Sakuya returned, comforting a sniffling Flandre. She put her back in the seat adjacent to Remilia's before explaining to the rest of them.
"The lock wouldn't open...I can't believe that happened! I had to literally wrestle the door open with all of my strength...what kind of stupid lock...she'll probably be like this for the entire night!"
"Yay! I got two lemons!"
"That's right, because you deserve mine, also."
"Thank you, Remi!"
Patchouli found a nice spot to look out onto the night sky, amongst some shrubs on a curbside. While the mirth continued inside, it was still a bit loud by where she was. Thankfully, it was muted enough for her to press on with her game.
However, her eyes were drawn to a familiar face that walked up to the entrance near her. She got up, not more than 15 minutes after having previously sat down, and caught up to her.
"Marisa?"
"Hmm? Oh, Patches! You're here, too?"
"Yeah, me and Sakuya and the rest of them."
Reimu was with her. "Yeah, yeah, that's nice...can we go in now?"
"Don't be rude!"
"Well, you're treating us, and I'm ready to go, so let's go in!"
"You..." she continued with Patchouli. "You know, Yukari tagged along, too."
"...huh."
"Yeah, she's up ahead of us. You wanted to try this place, too? Looks delish, right?"
"I wanted to try it after I found the high reviews, remember? When I showed it to you about a few days ago?"
"Oh, but this wasn't that one!"
A wave of anxiety began to creep up onto Patchouli. "...what?"
"No, I mean...you showed me this place that had, like, 4.7 stars? But it wasn't this one."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it was Burger Shack. I thought you were going to go there!"
"..."
"Marisa," with Reimu tugging at her sleeve, "Can we go in now?"
"All right all right, don't be impatient. Anyhow, nice to see you, buddy! See you back in there!"
Patchouli proceeded to take in the cicadas' nightly songs, all the while thinking about how she had chosen the wrong restaurant. She ultimately dashed the idea of going out for a breather, and headed back in, regretting her leaving while Sakuya was rescuing Flandre, along with all else that had happened.
When she came back in, she noticed that Remilia, Koakuma, Flandre, and of course Sakuya, were completely listless. Meiling was similarly listless as well, but this was because she was continuing to nap away. "Sakuya, I'm sorry I left. Is Flandre all right?"
"Oh? She's fine...but the food's taking forever...do you have any more granola?"
"...no."
"Well, that's great," Sakuya remarked, obviously without really meaning that. She looked at Meiling, or maybe "leered" would be a more accurate verb. "Meiling? Meiling! Wake up!"
"...what do you want?"
"Why are you sleeping..." she muttered furiously.
"What do you want me to say? I'm tired..."
"Well, the food's taking too long. We're starving here!"
"What d'ya want me to do about it? Y'all should've ordered appetizers, like me!" G'night!"
"Sakuya," Patchouli said in a concerned voice, "You're not looking well."
She was right. Sakuya was getting jittery and certainly less reserved, far distant from her usual manner. "Well, it's because I'm tired and hungry because I'm waiting on this food!" Her disjointed speech was further corrupted when she gazed, all around her again. "I mean, look at everybody! They're all eating, and we're not!"
"Look, just relax...I got something to distract you."
"What?"
"Look over at the bar."
"What the...oh."
"Yep. We've got Reimu, Marisa, and Yukari here."
Marisa seemed to know that they were talking about their party. She waved stupidly at them, and was yelling something, yet no one at Sakuya's range could hear any of her words, given the commotion between them. Sakuya finished her glass and looked at Patchouli, gravely. "I think we need to leave. They're probably going to destroy this place in a half-hour."
"No, no..." she faltered while considering that they all should go to the "correct" restaurant instead, while also considering admitting to them all her mistake. She batted away that set of mental gymnastics with a simple fact. "We ordered the food. We should wait."
"Well, it's taking too long."
"Look, maybe they need to make it from scratch. That shows it's not frozen, right?"
"Fine..."
"So, it'll be worth the wait."
"Fine...I suppose..." she said reluctantly. With that, she sat back in her chair. However, one could easily tell that Sakuya was still eyeing the crowds, and keeping track of the waitstaff as they doled out their food in a flash. She was further frustrated by seeing Mystia doing all this to all of her other tables, and never coming back to their own. Everyone else with her was getting further tired and hungry from their wait. Nevertheless, she held out.
Even with their combined effort, it grew further clear that their food was not coming their way. Flandre was vocal about this, to a fault. "Sakuya...I'm starving..."
"I concur," Remilia agreed, "They're taking too long."
Koakuma added a bit of attempted relief to it all. "I don't know...maybe they're short-staffed?"
Sakuya, further in descent, blasted back. "But, again, look at everybody else! I counted five...count 'em...five instances of people ordering their food, and getting it far faster than the amount of time our airhead of a waitress took to give Meiling her appetizer!"
"Is everything OK?"
Sakuya proceeded to turn behind, to begin with her aforementioned airhead of a waitress. "Look, I'm really sorry, but can we check on the status of our food?"
"Sure! What did you order again?"
"I ordered spaghetti and meatballs. She wanted a cheeseburger with, and I'm quoting here, 'extra bacons', those two ordered a chicken salad and an Asian salad. And two fish stick dinners."
"What?! Why did you get fish sticks?! I hate fish sticks!"
Sakuya continued, "And that's it, really. I apologize, but we're just starving here."
"I'm really sorry about that; usually the orders get done by now. Let me check back in the kitchen to see how it's going-"
"What's that?"
"What?"
Sakuya looked at Mystia's order pad, with a keen eye, as she noticed one page, a bit wrinkled, tucked behind the back of it.
"Is that our order?"
"What are you...no!"
"Well, thanks to your pen's ink, I can see that's our order. Did you forget to give it to the cook?"
"But...no! I...how can you read that?"
"Well, when you've been without food, your senses only kick in when they really need to. Like when you get your unforeseen strength when you need to run away from hungry ghosts!"
Meanwhile, in Hakugyokurou, Youmu was trying to find some tissues for Yuyuko's sudden sneezing.
Sakuya's table was getting silent during this confrontation; out of fear, save for Meiling, who was still out of it. Suddenly, Sakuya swiped her pad away. "What does this even say?"
"Hey! Give that back!"
Sakuya fought off Mystia's grasping hands while she looked at their order. Other than the table and order number, she noticed some interesting details:
"Snooze: Cheeseburger w/xtra bacon
Lesser nerd: Chicken salad
Greater nerd: Asian salad
Scary vampire: 2 fish stick
Padded maid: Spaghetti/meatball"
With that, Remilia looked at the wrinkled flap of paper and started laughing hysterically. It seemed as if, despite the restaurant's barrage, Mystia only heard the silence from Sakuya's lifeless, piercing stare.
"...you see, I do this with everybody...I'm not good with remembering...so I write the order down with a...trait that I see from the person..."
It didn't seem to help.
"...I'm going to take this to the back...we'll make it right away...please..."
With Sakuya's return of the paper, and Mystia's subsequently sheepish exit, Patchouli, sitting up from her hazy slouch, posited an exit. "Look, we should just go home."
"..."
"Let's just microwave something. She's going to spit on our food at this rate! Look at us!" She was right. Sakuya was barely hanging on. Meiling was sleeping soundly. Koakuma was a slumped-over shell. Flandre, dull from hunger, had her head on the table, with the ice and lemon slices from her now fallen glass of water littered all over her face. Remilia was converting her hunger into crass sarcasm.
"Let's just go home, everyone."
"Oh, but do not worry!"
It was Marisa. "I have noticed your desperation, and swindled some peanuts from the bar! Here you go!"
She threw the bowl of legumes on the table, but with so much force that the entire thing broke, spilling all of them.
"Marisa?"
"Yes, Patches?"
"You're an idiot."
This fact was certainly confirmed by the time Marisa heard her name. Not only heard, but screamed, all throughout the restaurant, even louder than the others there, which certainly quelled the entire place down to a lower roar. She knew who it was immediately.
"...I am, indeed."
She slowly turned away.
"I need to go."
She, towards the entrance, walked away solemnly. Remilia turned to where she was going to find the source of all the yelling. It was Alice.
"Oh no, she didn't get invited. Wonder how she found out?" She turned to her table and continued, "You know what? I'm friggin' running on empty here, and she obviously messed up, but you know, it wasn't worth snatching the notepad away, Sakuya."
"...I am hungry."
"Well, you really embarrassed her. So what if she makes fun of people when she takes orders? As long as no one knows, and she remembers who gets what, who cares if she insults everybody? Our food's probably being made right now, so if we all can just wait a little bit longer, we'll be full and out the door!"
To that, Patchouli countered.
"You saw her. I can guess she told them to make it as fast as possible. They'll probably not cook it all the way, and you could get sick. How about that? Also, she probably hates us now! They could be spitting on our food or who knows what else! How about that?!"
Remilia sat back a bit, and thought about what Patchouli had just said. It truly looked like she was humbled, despite the fact that she was in the right about what Sakuya did to Mystia. She looked blankly at her table, with a air of resignation.
"Let's go."
And with that, they all rose in unison. Well, except for Flandre, who was tired beyond all expression as Remilia lifted her up, and Meiling, who rose when Sakuya bonked her head. As Meiling whined about not getting her cheeseburger with "extra bacons", Sakuya turned back to the table, and slapped onto it more than enough money to cover what they ordered already. They left, hungrier than ever before, reduced to a slouched gait. Into the night, they all, slowly, got into their car, and drove away.
Meanwhile, while Yukari and Reimu were happily off the rails, Marisa was trying to coax Alice, who was deservingly mad. None of them had even noticed Patchouli, Sakuya, and the rest passing them by.
"Why do you keep doing this to me?! Why do I get left out all the time..."
"Alice, I called you multiple times, and you didn't answer."
"Don't give me that! You could've come to my house! Just because I'm busy with my dolls doesn't mean I can't answer the door!"
"How did you even know I was doing this?"
"Hourai has a camera, Marisa. I have her spy through your windows to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen! Then I can let you go do what you wanted, and then expose you in front of those two morons!"
The said two morons were not really able to hear their insult, unfortunately.
"What can you do to fix this, Marisa?! What can you do?!"
Marisa was clearly avoiding her wrathful eyes. However, this led Marisa to notice the now empty booth which once held our hapless group. By it stood Mystia, arms full. She had her answer.
"Wait! Over here!"
"What are you on to now?"
"I...she can't...Alice! Come with me! Get those two!"
Marisa ran off, darting around the restaurant's various obstacles with perfect precision.
"What are you doing...hey, you two!"
The pair were very, very beyond her imperative. "Arright, Yukari...what...is your favorite color?!"
"Blue! No, yellow! Ahhh!"
Alice grabbed them hastily. "Come with me."
"All right! Road trip!"
"I call shotgun!"
"But it's not Tuesday, ha ha!"
At the empty table, as Mystia turned to leave, Marisa ran up to her. "Wait! We're here!"
"...what?"
"Don't take all that back! Give it to us!"
"...I don't know about...excuse me?"
"No, no, I talked to Patchouli! She said we could do this! Look, everybody! A cheeseburger, salads, pasta...fish sticks? We'll take care of it!"
Reimu, half-soused, looked at Mystia, and all of the food. "All...right! But if...we eat this, I'm still...not paying!"
Marisa pressed on, "Look, if they didn't eat it, then it'd be thrown away, right? What a waste, right?"
Mystia contemplated for a brief span of time. "...I guess it's fine, as long as the bill get paid..."
"OK, then we're fine! Everybody! Look at all this. Delicious, yes?"
As Mystia put everything down around the smashed peanuts, she picked up the money left by Sakuya. It was a generous sum, despite how little they actually ate.
"...this was a good night...oh wait!"
She grabbed the spaghetti and meatballs from Reimu, who, still a bit wonky, was not happy. "Hey! That's mine!"
"Trust me...you don't want this...everything else is fine, but this is not."
"OK, whatever!"
Marisa felt pretty good about herself. She made Alice happy, as well as prevented food waste, which is an endemic problem in modern society.
"All right, everybody! Let's eat!"
The ride back was as silent as could be; even Patchouli's console, normally lit up and spewing out all manners of sound effects, was equally mute. However, she did resolve it all.
"Sakuya?"
"...yes, Patchouli?"
"Remilia was wrong on this one."
"...really?"
"Yeah. 'Don't worry!', she was saying. But she needs to accept that some people like to be in control, as they do it out of care."
"...I guess."
"But if you're going to continue this way of life, and get stressed about it, then we need to pitch in more."
"..."
"We were too lazy; I certainly can do more, at least. In the morning, I'll make breakfast for you, and for everybody. Koakuma can help out to make sure Meiling likes it. And I'll help with the homework more often."
"...where is all this coming from?"
"Consider it as an apology...'cause I picked the wrong restaurant."
They both paused for a bit, before Sakuya responded.
"...but what about after it?"
"I need to make an effort to help out more. We all do. The mansion's too big for you on your own. Your resilience can only take you so far, and we can't take you for granted. I know you don't believe me...but please give us a chance to make your life easier. You deserve it, much more than this waste of a night out."
"...thank you, Patchouli. But..."
"What?"
"It wasn't a waste. Please don't think that."
"..."
"So do you think the Scarlets will be on board?"
"Of course not."
"And Meiling?"
"That's not going to happen; she's hopeless."
Sakuya laughed for a bit, and sighed afterward. "But you and Koakuma will be more than enough."
"...thank you, Sakuya."
"No...thank you."
With that, they continued onward. The night was in its full resplendence by now, and by the time they got away from all of the chaotic nightlife, and by their lake, and by their home, they could see the stars again, and the moon shining upon the still water. Sakuya smiled at all of this, despite her gnawing hunger; she had got what she wanted after all.