Alright, finally I managed to re-do parts and bits of this fanfic. If you read the older fanfics I made before, you might notice a couple of familiar faces. After taking a long break from posting on , I present to you: Touhou Kuroneko ~ Black Cat of the Outside World.

CHAPTER 1: Diving into the Unknown

In the past, there was a land named Gensokyo, which was inhabited by powerful youkais and spirits. People were sent there to exterminate youkai, and when they succeeded, they live there to watch over the place.

As time passed, the humans who live in Gensokyo distanced themselves from the outside world, making Gensokyo as their haven.

The Hakurei Shrine was established to protect the people of Gensokyo and to watch over the border that lies between the outside world and Gensokyo itself.

With the border in place, the outside world doesn't even know that Gensokyo ever existed. However, even with the border placed, it doesn't mean that some people couldn't cross it.

~Yamato Shrine, Taman Rinting, Malaysia [Night]~

It was the day of the crescent moon. The stars that sparkled in the sky added the beauty to the night. The night was still young, as many would say.

The Yamato Shrine, like other houses in its vicinity in Taman Rinting was still brightly lighted.

However, not everyone chose to stay awake at this particular night. One of them was none other than Amir Hakim – the bearer of the powerful Feline Pendant.

"Thanks for letting me stay, Mrs. Reika."

"Are you okay with that? I mean, your family was taking a long holiday trip…"

"It's okay. I actually insisted on staying." Amir said while grinning. "After all, we had visited that place a number of times, and it's the end-of-year holidays."

She nodded. "If you say so. Good night." Reika said, before she turned the lights off and left the guest room.

As Amir laid his back on the comfy mattress, he snuggled himself in the soft, dark blue blanket that was given by Reika. But, before he could sleep, someone pounced on him. There was a brief struggle before a loud thud and a boyish giggle could be heard.

"I knew it was you, Arikado." He sighed.

"It's still 8, why you're going to sleep so early?"

"I'm going to sleep early because I'm bored. There's nothing else to do other than watching the TV. And I know your brother and his friend are going to hog the TV and watch that football match tonight."

Arikado pouted. "How about some videogames?"

"Not gonna."

"Well, how about we sneak out and go for some stargazing?" Arikado suggested.

"I prefer sleeping than looking at the cloudy." Amir replied as he snuggled back into his blanket.

"Aww, the sky's clear tonight… Please?" Arikado, the fox begged. "Pretty please with cream on top?"

The black cat rolled his eyes away. "Alright. Fine. To the treehouse. But you have to take my shoes first."

"Right on!"

As soon as the agreement was made, Amir threw off his tracksuit and t-shirt before throwing in his 'adventure gear' – a baby sweater worn over a black t-shirt and shorts. He wore a pair of wristbands and socks before he followed Arikado – jumping out of the window of the guest room, which was a storey high.

"W-wait! It-"

Amir landed safely on the ground, as if his fall was cushioned by a mattress.

"Um, scratch that. I forgot that you're a cat." Arikado remarked while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Amir slipped on his running shoes that Arikado had handed over to him before he jumped in one spot twice to make sure the shoes fit snugly.

"What do you know…? It's getting cloudy." Amir said in a matter-of-factly tone as he looked up.

Arikado looked up and saw the crescent moon slowly being 'eaten' by the dark clouds. At this point his ears flattened on his head in disappointment before he let out an audible whine. "…awww…"

The black cat smiled slightly as he stretched himself. "Well, back to the blankets then!" Amir spoke in a half-yelling voice, so that he couldn't alarm Reika.

"Well, I do but…" Arikado stopped in mid-speech. "Wait… Amir, look behind you…"

"What?" Amir whirled around on his heels to see the thing Arikado's index finger was pointing. "Who's that?"

"I wish I could answer that question…"

Despite the moonless night, Arikado and Amir could see a blonde woman sitting in mid-air near the mangosteen tree the two used to climb. Both of them curiously inched closer to the peculiar woman.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Hopefully."

"I don't like that tone."

Before long, she stood on the ground, giving the two youngsters a glance. With a flick of her fan, she created what seems to be a portal. She then stepped into it.

But, as they say, curiosity killed the cat – and the fox in this matter.

"Hey! Miss! Wait!"

Before the cleft closes, the two youngsters quickly ran towards it and dived into it.

~Unknown Area [Night]~

After being rendered unconscious for a while, Amir slowly woke up in stinging pain on his forehead. He figured out that the portal opened somewhere else and he accidentally headbutted a tree on his exit.

When he looked around, he noticed that Arikado was nowhere near him.

"Arikado? Arikado, where are you?" He called for the young fox, but he didn't receive an answer at all.

Despite the massive headache, Amir still managed to stand up.

"Arikado! Can you hear me?" Amir raised his voice and called for Arikado again.

There was a moment of silence until his calls were replied by a loud scream and a thud. Amir recognized the voice's owner right away – it was Arikado. Using his cat senses, he quickly ran towards the source of the voice.

The black cat stopped running once he reached the place where the scream came from. He could sense Arikado's scent, along with other scents he couldn't distinguish.

"Heeey! Arikado! Where are you?"

Still, there was no reply from the fox. Instead, he heard a loud rustling in the bushes, which made him to take caution.

"Show yourselves!" Amir yelled to hide his fear.

And then, what he could see next is spots of bright light before it bombarded on him. Amir staggered backwards and he saw the same bright spots again. This time, he dived behind the trees to avoid of being hit.

This is when he saw Arikado, lying face down on the ground, clearly unconscious. Amir quickly ran towards Arikado to fetch him, but he was stopped as a beam of red light went straight for him.

The beam missed him by an inch but the blue and red fast bullets hit his chest and his arm, the third one made Amir stagger and turn his vision red. The black cat could hear his heart beating at this point.

And then, the fourth bullet hit him in the head again, knocking him out effectively. Amir slumped against a tree and went unconscious.

After a moment of silence, two small female figures with translucent wings appeared from behind the bushes. From their outward appearance, they appear to be fairies.

"I think we got them."

"Don't you think this is wrong? I mean, they are not even fighting back."

"Well, we are attacking them because it's fun~!"

Suddenly, a voice startled the fairies.

"Ara, ara… don't you fairies have anything else to do other than attacking people at random?"

The fairies froze when they recognized the owner of the voice.

"Yu…Yu… Yukari Yakumo…?"

"That's right. Now leave those boys alone or else…" The woman, who was addressed as Yukari Yakumo trailed off her words, threatened the fairies.

The fairies then fled from the general area, leaving the woman Yukari Yakumo and both Amir Hakim and Arikado Yamato. With a flick of her fan, she created a portal, letting the boys sink slowly into it. She then followed the boys, by creating another cleft right underneath her feet.

Yukari gaps into her house, bringing along the unconscious boys. As soon as she set her foot on the floor, she laid the boys on the tatami floor.

"Welcome home, Yukari-sama." A young woman with nine fox tails greeted. "Who are they?" The nine-tailed woman asked when she noticed Amir and Arikado being laid on the floor. But, upon seeing the smile on Yukari's face, she quickly got to the point. "You kidnapped people from the outside world, again?"

"I took a trip to a shrine in the Outside World, but it seems that I attracted its inhabitants along." She said, taking a good look at the unconscious youngsters. "A youkai cat and a fox hanyou… interesting. I didn't know youkai existed in the Outside World."

"What are you planning to do with them then? Shouldn't you be returning them back home by now?"

She smiled. "I'm letting them stay, Ran. How about we clean them up a bit?"

"Eh… sure. I'll be right back." Ran said. Few minutes later she returned with some washing towels and a small water basin. Yukari on the other hand procured some replacement clothes from her portals.

The two women then began wiping off some dirt off the youngsters' skin, before taking off their clothes and putting on the modest brown kimono paired with a hakama.

"That must have been quite an impact." Yukari said, mentioning the swelling bump on Amir's head. A mere light contact was enough to make the black cat squirm. "This might hurt you in your dreams, but please bear with it." She then lightly pressed the lukewarm cloth on the bump.

Few minutes later, they are done.

"Well, that takes care of that. Ran, spread a futon in my room, please." She ordered her shikigami.

An uneasy silence ensued when Yukari finished talking.

"…You're sleeping with them?"

Yukari smiled. "Why not? After all, they look like they really need a hug~"

At this point, Ran gave up. It's really hard to argue with Yukari.

Right after that, Ran took out a futon and laid it next to Yukari's futon. She spread it, putting a blanket and few pillows on it. Yukari walked into her room, transporting both Amir and Arikado with her portals before she slowly laid them on the futon. By the time she's finished, Ran went to her own room.

For a finishing touch, Yukari spread a warm blanket over both black cat and fox, rubbing their ears gently before she changed clothes and went to her usual deep sleep.

Notes: There are no Shinto shrines in Malaysia – I just made that one up for the sake of my old stories.