Hello and welcome to first attempt at any type of story writing! As a casual fan of Touhou Project series, naturally I figured a good starting point would be here. For now, I'm going to stick to bite-sized stories, probably no more than 10 pages in length, to help myself develop skills while also trying to maintain a compelling story. Comments, reviews, suggestions and help of any kind are always welcome and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer and hopefully what I can offer in the future. Oh and I don't own any of the characters of Touhou Project etc etc. That would be ZUN.

1st Verse - Witch's Confession

"Yo, Reimu!

Marisa Kirisame panted as she climbed the stairs leading to the shrine's ground. As she passed the gate, a grin formed on her face upon seeing the red and white clothed shrine maiden who watched the shrine. Part of the smile was ironic, as Marisa wasn't used to seeing someone else with a broom and not carrying her own broom but the other part was the excitement of seeing Reimu Hakurei's reaction to the witch's latest treasure. Marisa stopped herself upon approaching the teenaged girl and took a moment to wipe away the sweat forming on her brow.

"Marisa…not flying today? That's a bit unlike you." A wry smile crept onto Reimu's face as she leaned on the broom she had been using to clean. While not unheard of, the tomboyish Marisa usually wasn't seen without her enchanted broom, particularly of what hobbies she had.

"Haha! A magician's gotta keep herself in shape, ya know? But besides that, I couldn't fly with the haul I got today, ze. See, look, look!" Marisa dug into the pockets of the white apron overtop her simple black dress and quickly pulled out a clear bottle filled with a golden colored liquid. On the front of the bottle was a yellowing label in a language not found anywhere on Earth., be it the outside world or Gensokyo. While the grin on Marisa's face grew to a complete smile, Reimu's expression changed to one of shock and horror, gasping aloud as the broom slipped from her grasp. With widened eyes, Reimu instinctively reached out to grab the flask, only to see Marisa pull it back towards her, tsking at the maiden's impatience.

"Hey now, this wasn't easy to get, and it's definitely no cheap thing either! If you're gonna handle it, don't look so da-ze'd about it."

"…Marisa…that…that was just terrible, even for you." Reimu groaned, brought back to her senses at her friend's comment. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she continued. "But while you're right…can you blame me? I mean…something like that, it's…"

With a quick nod, Marisa brought the bottle closer for Reimu to gingerly grab. As she examined the label and contents within, she swallowed hard, realizing what Marisa had pilfered.

"Is this the real deal? I mean, the bottle, the label and especially the liquid…it's all exactly the same as…"

"The Hourai Elixir," Marisa finished, "I cross-checked the writing on the label." Marisa's already large grin grew even greater as she continued. "It's the real deal, ze."

There was a long pause of silence as Reimu looked hard at the bottle, then Marisa, and then the bottle again. Marisa, who was already long over the shock of having the elixir of life in her possession, spent the time readjusting the white bow on her oversized witched hat until Reimu finally squeaked out once more.

"So…" Reimu coughed lightly and straightened up, carefully cradling the bottle. "What are we supposed to do with this? Nevermind the outrage you undoubtedly caused at Eientei, what exactly can we do with this? I hate to rain on your parade Marisa-"

"Haha, rain on Kirisame's parade, that's a good one Re-"

"Oh for Gensokyo's sake…shut up please! Listen! We couldn't possibly sell this, so I don't know what the point of you bringing this to me-"

"We drink it." Marisa stated flatly, her smile now replaced by a far more serious expression.

"I told you to shut…w-what?!" Reimu suddenly felt the impact of Marisa's words and expression and stumbled backwards, loosening her grip on the bottle, which fell precariously to the ground.

"Ack, you idiot! What are you doing!?" Lunging forward, the witch managed to catch the bottle with her gloved hands before colliding stomach first onto the dirt. After looking up to see the bottle still intact and checking her apron, now covered in dirt, Marisa scowled at Reimu, who appeared to still be dazed by the suggestion.

"What the hell, Reimu, this isn't somethin' that can be replaced!" Seeing her words have no effect, Marisa jumped to her feet and placed a hand on the maiden's exposed shoulder. "Hey, Reimu, listen to me!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" The sensation of having her bare skin touched caused Reimu to jump involuntary, bringing her back from her reverie and straight into a furious rant. "But that's the Hourai Elixir for Gensokyo's sake! The Elixir of Eternal Life! The same one Kaguya and Mokou drank, remember? We won't be able to age! We won't be able to get sick! We won't be able to die, Marisa! We will live forever, that's a pretty long time, you know!? How can we just say 'oh well, it looks pretty tasty, bottom's up'? This is forever we're talking about Marisa, there's no turning back if we drink this, no second chances, no do-overs, no-"

"I wanna spend forever with you, Reimu."

…

An eternity passed as Reimu was again floored by Marisa's words. If this was any other situation, Reimu would have whacked the blonde-haired magician straight in the face with her gohei, but Marisa's expression was so serious, so sincere, that Reimu was unable to do anything except slowly turn pink as her brain tried to process what to say next.

"W-What?!" She finally stammered, as her face quickly turned red. Laughing off her embarrassment, Reimu tried to playing off Marisa's words. "A-Ahaha, you stole that thing just for a stupid joke like that? C-come on Marisa, you don't have to try so hard to make me laugh-"

"It's not a joke, I really want to be with you forever Reimu!" Marisa suddenly shouted, freezing Reimu in place. "Or…" Marisa continued, her voice and head low, "…is it I'm not good enough for you…?"

"E-Eh?! No, no, it's just that…" Reimu suddenly felt flustered at herself for throwing away Marisa's confession and struggled to continue as she noticed tears forming in Marisa's eyes. It was true that Marisa was an extremely close friend to her, but Reimu had never thought of Marisa as anything more than that. Marisa was the witch who either tagged along with Reimu or acted as a rival towards her whenever an incident occurred. For Marisa, the blunt, tomboyish girl to make such a confession…Reimu wasn't sure how to handle it.

"I-I guess I'm just an ordinary friend to ya too, ze?" Marisa choked out between sobs, clenching her dirtied apron with her one free hand.

"M-Marisa, it's just so sudden! I mean, we've been friends for so long and for you to just spring this on me…and we're both girls too, so-"

"So…what?" Marisa looked up at Reimu, who flinched at the tears running down the magician's face. "Does that mean we can't be together? Even though it's Gensokyo…?"

"N-no…but Alice-"

"-is just a fellow magician." Marisa stepped closer to Reimu, bringing herself mere inches from the maiden's face. "Reimu…please…"

Looking directly at the girl, Reimu saw that despite how she acted and her self-proclaimed title, Marisa wasn't what one would call an average looking girl. Her hair, despite being slightly unkempt, was a thick and rich golden color that matched her eyes perfect and her figure, as Reimu had seen firsthand due to sweltering days in the summer, was exceptionally slim and fit, even if Marisa was lacking in an upper body like Reimu. And if nothing else, Marisa was dependable and incredibly trustworthy. If there was ever a life or death situation, Marisa would be the first person Reimu would trust her life to. Looking at it that way…

"I…" Reimu turned her head away uncomfortably at the girl. "...really like you to…I guess..." That was the truth. Reimu definitely liked Marisa. She wasn't sure if she could call it liking in the sense of…well, liking her, but Marisa was at least a true friend to her.

"…you only guess? I…see…" Marisa turned back dismissively. Reimu bit her lip and continued, afraid to hurt that one true friend she had.

"N-No, please, wait!" Reimu put her hands on Marisa's shoulders, who slightly jumped at the maiden's touch. "I…I'll do it…if it's you…I'll do it, Marisa."

…

There was a brief moment of silence where Reimu thought she heard something coming from Marisa's direction, but that thought quickly dissipated as the magician turned back around to face Reimu and swung her arms around Reimu, smiling the entire the time.

"R-Really?! Thank you Reimu!"

"Ahaha…of course!" Reimu laughed nervously as she closed her arms to embrace Marisa. "S-so um…s-should we do it now?"

Marisa pulled herself back and wiped away her tears as she brought the flask back out to hand to Reimu.

"Yeah…I already took some of the elixir myself, so you just gotta take a bit yourself!"

"Ah…ok-wait what?!" Reimu's hand paused mid grab as she looked up again at Marisa, unable to believe what she had heard. "YOU ALREADY DRANK SOME OF THE ELIXIR?!"

"Hehe…surprise!" Marisa nervously scratched her head and looked away at the flabbergasted maiden.

"Y-You idiot, what if I said 'no way' when you asked me?!" Marisa only smiled at the comment, expecting it.

"I knew you wouldn't, ze." Yet again, Reimu found her mouth open but no words able to come out. Trembling lightly with a reddening face, Reimu could only curse at the smiling magician.

"I-...argh damn you Marisa. Give me that!" Without another word, Reimu snatched the bottle from Marisa's hands, uncorked it and quickly swallowed a mouthful of the golden colored liquid, which tasted something like a mix of honey and some kind of vegetable. Curiously, Marisa seemed to be snickering about something as Reimu wiped away the traces of the drink from her mouth. As the liquid hit her stomach, Reimu felt a burning passion for Marisa creep up from her stomach, to her throat, to her mouth and…

…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Falling to ground and coughing violently at the burning sensation invading her entire body, Reimu looked up with tears in her eyes to see Marisa also on ground with tears in her eyes…because of a sudden case of laughter that seemed to invade her…

"M-Marisa!" Reimu hissed as clawed at the ground, desperately trying to fight off the extreme heat. "Y-You…lied to me!"

"Oh Gods, that was too rich!" Marisa howled, still tumbling on the ground. "'I'll do it if it's you, Marisa, pfft-ahahahahaha! A-Aya…did ya get all that, ze?"

"W-*hack*-WHAT?!" Reimu looked up into the sky to see a girl with short black hair and long black wings taking pictures at the two girls lying on the ground.

"You bet, Miss Marisa! It'll be in the front page of tomorrow's paper! I'll send payment for the story to your house tomorrow. Now then…" Aya Shameimaru turned away from the two girls and wove a single hand in the air. "…later, lovebirds!"

And with that, the crow tengu was gone, leaving Reimu and Marisa, who had recovered from her laughing fit and was finally sitting up.

"That was great, eh, Reimu?" Marisa glanced over to see Reimu finally recovering from the spicy drink…and pulling out several spellcards. "…Uh…Reimu?"

"Marisa…" Reimu stood up slowly, her head down and an edge of madness in her voice. Seeing her joke went too far, Marisa laughed nervously and grabbed the handle of the broom Reimu had used from sweeping not five minutes earlier.

"W-well, you probably still have a lot of cleaning to do so um…" Marisa looked at Reimu and then the broom and smiled with closed eyes. "…I'm just gonna borrow this, for life! B-Bye!" Without a word more, Marisa hopped onto the broom and sped away into the sky just as Reimu screamed once more, this time in complete and total rage.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"