This is my second spanking-themed story in as many weeks, but if you're one of my readers who doesn't have much interest in this particular fetish, fear not! I have no intention of writing spanking stories exclusively - it's just how my inspiration has panned out lately, the fault of whoever is spamming Touhou spanking pics on 4chan's /jp/. This will be my last for a while - it'll be back to good old fluffy, angsty yuri romance and soppy Touhou-waifu stories after this. Enjoy!
Scarlet Discipline by taiyakisoba
It's a difficult job keeping the tray of tea and delicate pastries steady as you walk down the stairs, and you wonder how head-maid Sakuya manages to do it with such grace and elegance. But today it's your job, since she's come down with that most humble of human maladies: a cold.
How did it come to this? Ever since coming to Gensoukyou your life has been turned upside down. After a number of exciting and perilous adventures, you've somehow ended up at the Scarlet Devil Mansion in the employment of the Lady Remilia Scarlet, with the official job description of 'general maintenance'. You've never been particularly handy, but you are good at faking it, and over the past few weeks you've cleaned chimneys, replaced tiles, repaired lead-windows, relacquered bannisters, fixed chandeliers and completed a myriad of other little jobs that the mansion's army of fairy maids seem unable or unwilling to do.
You've seen little of the mistress of the mansion, the Lady Remilia herself, but what you've seen has been pretty disturbing. For one thing, she's a vampire, which is frightening in itself, even if she does have the body of an eight year-old child. Her diminutive frame and the cuteness of her appearance are deceptive, though. She is feared and respected by everyone in the mansion. Your most recent encounter with her was while you were relacquering the bannisters of one of the dozens of stairs that fill every part of the mansion. You'd spent the day stripping the lacquer from it and were just putting the finishing touches on when you sensed someone come up behind you.
It was the Lady Remilia, come to look over your handiwork. A gentle sneer manifested itself on her face as she examined the bannister like a mortician would a body freshly delivered to the morgue.
"You missed a spot," she said, indicating the tiniest spot of untreated wood. She sighed and shook her head with melodramatic disappointment. "Now really, after taking pity on you and taking you under my wing, this is how you repay me? With substandard results and a mediocre work-ethic?"
She swept her hand through the air and brilliant living fire spilled across the bannister, stripping it of all the lacquer you'd spent so long applying. She fixed you with her eyes, those eerily beautiful cat-pupiled red eyes, and the sneer became a supercilious grin.
"Redo it. Properly this time."
She turned and swept out of the room, leaving you to swallow down your humiliation and anger. You'd heard stories of what had happened to other humans who had angered the Lady before, and so you returned to the job, wishing for the first time that you'd never come to Gensoukyou.
But today it's not about relacquering bannisters. With Sakuya sick, you've been given the job of delivering morning tea to Remilia's little sister, Flandre. You've seen her once, when you were refitting the candles in a chandelier in the mansion's massive dining room. Remilia was sitting down to tea, waited upon by Sakuya herself, when a figure, shadowy yet sparkling with rainbow light, flew through the room like a black tornado, sweeping the service from the table and snatching up a cake from right under Remilia's nose just as she was about to taste it.
Usually, Sakuya seems to have control of every situation, but even the tall and stern head-maid was in a tizzy trying to fix the aftermath of this disaster. Remilia fell into a tantrum, smashing the remaining crockery and sobbing and cursing her little sister while Sakuya did her best to calm her.
Flandre was grounded as a result. It seems this happens often, so often that she's more or less moved into her time-out room in the basement.
This will be the first time you've seen it. You're pretty nervous at the idea of encountering her again. It seems just about everyone in the mansion is scared of her. The fairy maids certainly are. As they saw you carrying the tea tray, several of them came and touched your arm, tears in their eyes, telling you to be careful.
It's the sort of attention you're usually happy to get, but it just made you all the more nervous.
...but all those stories about her creepy powers can't be true, right?
There it is. The door. Juggling the tray, you take out the huge ornate key that Sakuya gave you and unlock it.
It opens into a large rumpus-room. There are toys everywhere, stuffed toys and wooden toys and dolls and a little dresser and a rocking horse and a doll's house. At the far end there's a four-poster bed, the sort you've often seen in fairy-tales. The whole room has the appearance of belonging to a rich and spoiled princess, and there she is, sitting on the edge of the bed. She holding a teddy bear and you watch as she makes it dance through the air in front of her face, murmuring some indiscernible dialogue. Suddenly the teddy trembles, then implodes, seeming to cave in upon itself before bursting into flames. It's destroyed in seconds, dropping as ash from Flandre's taloned fingers.
She mutters to herself, dusting the black soot from her red dress in annoyance, and it's then that she notices you. She rises into the air and floats over to you, stopping an inch from your face. It takes all your willpower not to drop the tray as she looks you over.
"You're not Sakuya," she says, her red eyes narrowing in suspicion.
You shake your head. No, you're not. Sakuya is sick, you explain.
Flandre says nothing. She notices the tray in your hands and her eyes light up. She snatches it from you and takes it across to her bed where she devours it like a little kid, shoving cake after gorgeous cake into her mouth until there is cream all around her lips.
You wait until she's finished. You've been told in no uncertain terms that the service must be brought back with you or else the consequences will not be worth thinking about. You don't have to wait long. Flandre soon finishes the cake, drains the tea straight from the pot and then holds out the tray to you.
You walk over and take it from her. She follows your every movement with her large red eyes. They're similar to her sister's, but more innocent somehow. Perhaps it's from being locked up in this room so often. Even though she's 495 years old, she still acts like a little kid. She certainly looks like one, with her flat chest, round childish face and short blonde hair. The red pinafore dress with its vest and the little plain mob hat do little to contradict this image.
It's hard to imagine that she's so dangerous, but there's a definite glint in her eye, a cast to her mouth that, if not really malevolent, is certainly mischievous.
You give your apologies in best amateur butler fashion and turn to leave. You're opening the door when Flandre appears before you, her hand reaching out to close it.
"Can I ask you a question?" she says. The look on her face is innocence itself.
You swallow hard and nod.
Flandre indicates the room with a sweep of her hand. "There are lots of toys here, right?"
You nod again. Your mouth is too dry to form words.
"My sister is very generous, don't you think?"
Is this a trick? You have the horrific feeling that there is no right answer. Probably saying anything will get you eaten. Refusing to answer certainly will.
You say that the Lady Remilia does seem like a generous person. A strange, unsmiling expression appears on Flandre's face.
"All these toys are junk," she says. "They fall apart at the slightest touch. See?"
She flicks her hand towards the doll house, which immediately collapses in upon itself and explodes into a fireball.
Flandre considers you in the light of the dwindling flames. "You're the new human my sister hired, right? I've only ever seen a few other humans. The last ones who came here were fun to play with. They didn't break like my other toys." A smile slides onto her lips. "Do you break?"
You take a step back, but Flandre is on top of you right away. She grabs hold of you and lifts you right off the ground. All those stories of vampire strength were not exaggerated! You feel a magical energy surround you and soon you're spiralling up into the air. You cry out in alarm and drop the tea service, which clatters onto the floor.
Below you Flandre has started to laugh. The crystals on her wings jangle and sparkle with their rainbow light, staining the walls of the rumpus room with their multicolour. The spinning grows faster. Nausea flows through you and you shout at Flan, begging her to stop, but the little vampire just laughs louder.
"Why? You're making such funny sounds! Oh, I hope you don't break too soon."
Then something happens. You feel yourself slow, sense the energy that was surrounding you diminish. Soon you're no longer spinning and slowly float down to the floor like a feather.
You think Flandre must have had pity on you, but when your feet touch the floor again you see her face and realise something else must have happened.
She looks confused and annoyed.
"What's happening? Why aren't you still spinning?" Flandre says, pouting and stamping her foot.
Then the crystals on her wings flash and grow dim, as if someone has flicked a switch off somewhere. Flandre looks at them in alarm and starts swinging them back and forth, but they just jangle uselessly. She turns a glare filled with baleful hatred in your direction.
"What have you done to me?" she hisses.
You step back, saying that you're just a normal human and that you didn't do anything. But Flandre is already advancing towards you. She's grinning from ear to ear, her teeth like the rows of so many knife-points, and she sweeps her right hand into the air.
Your blood runs cold. You've heard of Flan's power, the ability to destroy anything by crushing its weak point.
Her grin widens as she begins to close her hand.
You start to panic as you feel a horrid sensation, like a gauntlet of freezing iron grasping your heart, and you close your eyes and pray that your death is quick.
So this is how your amazing adventures in Gensoukyou come to an end: Incinerated by an irate vampire loli in a basement looked on by an audience of teddies and dolls.
But Instead of being enveloped by a conflagration as you were expecting, you experience the waft of a slightly warm breeze, like that you'd receive standing close to a hand drier.
You open your eyes. Flandre is staring at her hand, opening and closing it, grasping at the air like she was trying to catch a mosquito or something.
"Why! Doesn't! This! Work!" she mutters through gritted teeth. "There was supposed to be a boom!" She glares at you, accusation in her eyes. "Why don't you go boom?"
Relief floods over you and you can't help but smile, a smile that quickly widens into a grin as you watch Flandre get more and more irate, her frowning little face turning red.
Your smile infuriates her further. She drops her hands to her sides, squeezing them into fists in her frustration, like a toddler about to explode into a tantrum.
"What are you smiling at?" she snaps. Her eyes flick down to the teapot on the floor then back at you. "My tea? Did you put something in my tea?"
You start to say something but she's already thrown herself bodily against you and is beating at you with her fists.
It's like being assaulted by a teddy bear. The blows are almost laughably gentle. You let her punch you for a while, but then you start to get annoyed. Why is she trying to hurt you? You had nothing to do with what happened to her, and you tell her the same.
But Flandre is in a full scale tantrum now. She lunges at you and scratches the back of your arm with her talons. There's a sharp pain, and a thin stream of blood appears from the shallow cut. Infuriated, you grab her wrists to stop her from scratching you again. She hisses at you as she struggles to escape your grip, the catlike slit pupils of her red eyes widening in her rage.
Enough is enough. Whatever the hell is happening, you certainly can't excuse this sort of bratty behaviour. You pull the little vampire, protesting and dragging her feet, to her bed and sit down on the edge of it. Keeping hold of both her slender wrists in one hand, you lift her over your knees so that her butt is in the air.
Flandre keeps struggling and starts to kick her legs up and down as well. They get a little close to your face, so you decide that some immediate discipline is in order.
Smack! Your free hand comes down hard, and completely unexpectedly, on the little red promontory of the skirted bottom before you.
Flandre cries out, in a mixture of alarm, pain and confusion. She stops kicking for a moment, but when the pain sinks in properly she starts to kick out again. As she does, the hem of her dress rides up, revealing a pair of white panties with the print of a smiling bear over her butt.
You chuckle at the sight. The terror in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the vampire princess that everyone fears, the beast Flandre Scarlet wears kuma-san pants!
With such an ideal target, you can't resist. Your hand comes down viciously, your open palm connecting with the soft roundness of her bottom. There's a loud slap and it wobbles under the blow.
This time Flandre screams out and her struggling intensifies.
"Let me go!" she shouts. "Let me go, you stupid toy! I'll... I'll..."
Holding her down with your free hand, you warn her to stop struggling or the next spank will be even harder.
Her kicking dies away and she turns her head to look up at you, her eyes glow with hate.
You tell her that she's going to get a spanking whether she likes it or not, but if she keeps trying to fight it it's going to be far worse for her. You point to the hairbrush that is sitting on her little desk, alongside her plastic costume jewellery and other childish accessories.
"If you don't behave," you say. "It won't be my palm next time, it'll be that."
Flan's eyes go wide. Then tears start at the corners of them.
"You wouldn't..." she whispers. "You wouldn't dare!"
You tell her you most certainly would. It's her own fault that she's being spanked.
"Bad girls who try to kill their servants have to be punished," you tell her. "So get ready."
Flandre squirms a little, but it's barely a fight. You decide another open-handed spank should correct her behaviour. You bring it down slower this time, relishing the exquisite anticipation between the raising of your hand and the delicious moment it strikes the soft curve of her buttocks.
You're nowhere near as hard this time, but Flandre starts to sob. You realise the reality of the situation has finally dawned on her, and that she's crying from the humiliation of it.
Well, she's only getting what she deserves, after all. Next time she'll think twice before being such a psychotic little brat!
You follow with a series of these lighter spanks, lighter but still strong enough to raise a nice brand on her skin. You let your hand rest on her butt after the final spank so you can feel the heat emanating up through the cotton of her panties.
Time to check your handiwork, you decide. You slip two fingers inside the elastic waistband of the kuma-san panties and pull them down, revealing a nicely warmed and reddened pair of butt cheeks.
"What are you doing?" cries Flandre in alarm, turning her head to try and see what you're doing. "Don't look at my butt!"
You tell her you're just checking to see that you're doing it right. You let your hand slide over the curve of her bottom. It really is an ideal target for a few more spanks, but Flandre does seem to have learned her lesson.
Suddenly the little vampire starts to struggle again, and this time her desperation gives her extra energy. Her skeletal wings begin to flap, the crystals jangling, and she kicks and punches at your legs. Annoyed, you put one hand against her back and hold her down while your other hand resumes its spanking, this time on her cute bare butt.
The first blow makes Flandre cry out and redouble her struggling, but the rapid series of blows that follow slowly and steadily break her spirit. Her kicking dies away, her wings cease their flapping, and her arms, after a few last powerless thumps against your legs, suddenly fall slack. Flandre bows her head and crying softly submits to your punishment.
You're pleased with the progress you've made. You don't really go easy on her, but you do take a few moments to give her warm little butt cheeks a nice stroking after each spank. The vampire's pathetic cries continue, but soon they take on a different tone. Her crotch is starting to feel warm against the top of your thighs and you wonder if somehow Flandre hasn't started to enjoy the spanking she's getting.
You decided she's probably learned her lesson. With a final loud slap that leaves her butt quivering you bring her punishment to an end. You pat her now bright red bottom and chuckle to yourself. Never has the last name of Scarlet been so appropriate!
You lean down and plant a gentle kiss on each abused cheek. Flandre lifts her head, confused. You pull up her pants and lifting her up under the arms you set her down on her feet again.
Flandre's face is flushed, her eyes puffy and wet with her tears. She stares at you, no longer with the blind hatred you saw before, but with a mixture of nervousness and submission. She rubs at her bottom with a hand and then lifts her skirt and adjusts her panties so that they're more comfortable.
"So, did we learn not to be brat?" you ask her, putting on your sternest expression.
Flandre nods, frowning and still rubbing her butt.
"So you're not going to steal your sister's snacks and throw Patchouli-sensei's books around and attack people who are just trying to help you?"
Flandre stares at the floor, unable to look at you in her humiliation. A dark spot appears on the carpet, then another.
She's crying.
"I can't hear you," you say, not unkindly. She does seem to have learned her lesson.
Flandre lifts her brimming eyes. "I won't do that stuff again," she sobs. "I'll be a good girl. I promise!"
You smile at her. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
You retrieve the tray and tea things and make for the door. Suddenly Flandre is behind you and for a moment you wonder if her tears were all a trick masking a surprise attack.
But instead she just opens the door and holds it for you.
You grin down at her. It certainly looks like the spanking has worked. "It would please me if I can serve you again sometime, my lady."
Flandre looks at you, a look of confusion and suspicion on her face, but then she nods. She sticks a hand down the back of her skirt and grimaces as she touches her tender butt cheeks, absorbed in her pain and no longer noticing you.
You close the door behind you and lock it. Maybe you should talk to Lady Remilia about what's happened. Perhaps she could relent and allow Flandre some time outside, now that her attitude seems to have improved.
But it seems Remilia's already aware of what happened. When you return to the kitchens Sakuya is waiting for you.
The statuesque head-maid lifts a handkerchief to her reddened nose. "Ojou-sama would like to see you right away," she says.
You try to swallow, but your mouth is dry. You're in for it now.
You're taken by Sakuya to the throne room. Well, the throne in it is not so much a throne, more a high chair, but such an ornately carved one, with snarling wolves as the armrests and a bat, its filmy wings widespread as the backing, that perhaps the name throne is an appropriate one. Lounging on it is the Lady Remilia herself. She's sitting in her usual fashion, one foot on an armrest, her body draped across the seat. It's a slovenly position, perfectly befitting her arrogant attitude.
Sakuya is no longer with you as you walk to the base of the stairs before the throne. Remilia stares down at you, her lips curling into a sneer.
"I hear that you had need to discipline my little sister," she says. It's hard to tell what emotion she's feeling from the tone of her voice, but somehow she doesn't sound angry.
You begin to explain what happened, but she raises a hand. "I am quite aware of everything that occurs within my domain and do not require a human to inform me of it."
You shut your mouth. You wonder how you should apologise, and you're still in the middle of deciding the best direction to take, namely the one which doesn't end with you on Lady Remilia's dinner table, when she continues.
"Thanks are in order for your recent efforts on our behalf. It took some courage, no doubt, to teach that little brat a lesson, even if she was under the influence of a sealing potion." She chuckles at your surprise. "Oh, Flan wasn't wrong when she said that someone had put something in her food, although she was wrong to accuse you, of course. It was Patchouli who concocted the potion. She's been working on it for many years now, and I'm happy to see that this one was a success." She sweeps a hand through the air dismissively. "Of course, we weren't sure it would work on Flan. She is incredibly powerful after all, but it was a risk I was willing to take. Luckily for you the potion worked."
You feel yourself filling with rage. So this was all a setup, with you the patsy to test out a potion that might not have worked. You could just have easily been disintegrated, reduced to ash, and the smirking vampire girl staring down at you now would barely have registered the slightest interest in your demise.
You try and keep calm, and ask Remilia why you in particular were chosen. The vampire laughs.
"Well, I could have spanked her, of course, but don't you think it's far more humiliating if a puny human does it?" She claps her hands. "Oh, I so wish I could have seen the look on Flan's face when you spanked her. It must have been delightful!"
You've had enough of being disrespected by the arrogant little vampire girl in front of you. You tell Remilia, politely but in no uncertain terms, that you are terminating your employment with her. You thank her for the opportunity she gave you, but say that you no longer feel capable of the duties that are part of the job.
Remilia seems to take it well. She laughs and nods. "Well said," she says. Then she slides off the throne and comes down the steps towards you. "Although we do thank you for the services you have rendered us, especially the most recent one in disciplining Flan, you are aware that you cannot be permitted to leave this place alive, aren't you? What if you were to tell other humans what transpired here? That a royal vampire, sprung of the blood of Tepes himself, was spanked by a lowly human?" She shakes her head. "I would never be able to live down the humiliation." Her lips curl into a satanic grin. "Oh, I have no issue with terminating your employment, but I'm afraid this termination must also be of a corporeal nature."
You stumble backwards. Remilia floats up to you until her face is level with yours, turning the gaze of her beautiful catlike eyes on you. The strangest sensation grips you, as if all volition is being drawn out of your body. You no longer have any desire to escape from her and stop where you are. Remilia comes closer, draws the back of a single taloned hand across your cheek. Her mouth widens and you see twin canines, long and thin, appear. Her teeth glisten with saliva.
"I will try and make this as painless as possible," she murmurs. "But it has been a while since I've taken my food without it first being prepared by Sakuya. I fear I may be out of practice." She shrugs. "Still, I'm am left with little choice. Steel yourself for oblivion, human!"
Two vampire attacks, twice in one day. God must really hate you. But this time you don't close your eyes: you can't. You can feel Remilia's gaze still drilling into you as she hisses, her head dipping towards your neck almost as if she was going to kiss it.
Then she crashes out of the air with a cry of alarm and lands with a thump on her bottom. The hypnotic spell is broken.
She struggles onto her feet and flaps her diminutive wings, but she seems no longer able to fly. You waste no time. Your first impulse is to escape, but with your heart still burning from the earlier humiliation Remilia forced you to suffer, you change your mind. She's still trying ineffectually to rise off the ground when you scoop her up under one arm and leap up the steps to her throne, two by two.
"Unhand me!" she shouts, her hands battering at your arm. You ignore the blows and sit back on the throne. With you in it, it's no longer the spacious and luxurious seat that a diminutive vampire could feel regal in, but rather a tiny chair. It doesn't matter, though. It'll do the job. And anyway, there's something a little exciting about punishing Remilia while sitting on the throne she's spent so many years bullying and ordering people about from.
You throw her over your lap, her waist balanced on your legs, and you waste no time in giving her an initial spank. It's far more brutal than even the hardest ones you gave Flandre. For one thing, you have a lot of pent-up anger to work through, and Remilia really does deserve it.
The first blow makes her cry out in shock and pain, and she has no time to prepare herself for the next, as you're palm is already finishing its rapid descent, slapping her straight across the butt, setting it quivering.
Remilia starts sobbing and tries to fight back, but the swiftness of how the tables have turned has left her in shock. Her struggling is really little more than squirming as she tries to pull herself off you. You put a stop to it by pulling the hat from her head, grabbing her hair and spanking her a third time.
Remilia cries out again, and this time the pain of the blow draws her out of her shock.
"Sakuya!" she screams. "Sakuya! Heeeelp!"
You realise you probably don't have much time to get your revenge before the head-maid comes to rescue her, so you grab hold of the waistbands of both her dress and her panties and pull them down and off her legs in a single fluid movement. With her butt and thighs now bared, you can't resist taking a moment to enjoy the humiliating scene of a vampire of royal blood, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, lying across your lap with her butt completely naked for all to see.
You waste no time in getting down to business. Both of her cheeks are pink, but they could stand to have a little more of a shine to them. First one and then the other get a special, initial slap which you follow up with a quick squeeze to gauge exactly how soft Remilia's little butt is. It's actually a quite bit firmer than Flandre's, no doubt because the older sister gets a lot more exercise, what with danmaku battles and her various wheelings and dealings in Gensoukyou politics.
There's no manipulation of her enemies through the power of fate for Remilia now, though. All she can do is sob softly, periodically crying out for Sakuya as you slap the recalcitrance out of each butt cheek. Soon they're as red as apples, but the sight only makes you redouble your efforts.
With each blow you tell her in no uncertain terms how much she's disappointed everyone. Despite her royal lineage and proud name, she's been forgetful of her responsibilities as a powerful youkai to whom many turn for protection. She's been acting like a brat, using her power to bully those beneath her. She's been short with Sakuya, someone who's absolutely devoted to her, and needlessly cruel to her little sister.
"It's your fault Flandre is such a terror," you tell her. "You should be a better role model."
Remilia says nothing and just continues to sob.
"But worst of all you were going to eat me. You don't think I can keep a secret? You have to learn that you can't just do whatever you like, you little brat!"
The memory of how close you came to an agonising death reinvigorates your spanking and Remilia is soon crying out again. You feel her bite onto the material of your pants and for a moment you think she's still trying to fight back. But it's just a desperate way to try and lessen the pain. Her mouth jammed with the material, her cries turn to grunts as you vigorously tan her butt cheeks.
With a final spank that resounds throughout the room you stop and lean back, breathing heavily. The wrist and the palm of your hand are both aching. That last frenzied series of blows really took it out of you.
Remilia lies on your lap and makes no move to escape. She's shivering, her little wings twitching spasmodically. Obviously her butt is still smarting. You run a hand across it, feeling the swelling welts that your spanks have brought out. The sensation of that hot, soft curve of flesh under your fingers excites you, and you raise your hand, ready to start anew. Remilia senses your hand rising and she grabs hold of the armrest of the throne, preparing herself for a new onslaught.
"Wait!"
You recognise the voice at once. It's Sakuya. Both you and Remilia look up. The head-maid has appeared at the doorway to the throne room. She approaches with that methodical catlike grace that is her hallmark.
"Sakuya!" cries Remilia, her voice breaking with her relief.
Damn. You probably should have escaped when you had the chance.
But Sakuya doesn't seem angry at you. She just looks at Remilia and sighs before turning to you.
"I think perhaps that's enough. Ojou-sama has clearly learned her lesson."
Dumbfounded by her reaction, all you can do is nod. You were starting to get a little carried away. You help Remilia off your lap and set her down on the ground. The little vampire doesn't even look at you, but after a few shuffling steps forward she remembers that her dress and panties are around her heels and she bends over to pull them up. Then she's throwing herself in Sakuya's arms, the maid leaning down to hug the sobbing vampire to her.
Remilia throws a hate-filled glare back in your direction. "He spanked me, Sakuya. Spanked me, a descendent of the royal house of Tepes! And it really hurt!"
Sakuya nods. "I know he did, ojou-sama. But you did deserve it, you know."
Remilia stares up at her, uncomprehending. "Sakuya? What are you saying?"
The maid reaches into the pocket in her apron and takes out a little vial. "I was the one who put a drop of the potion you had prepared for imouto-sama in your tea. It was Patchouli-sama's idea, but I agreed with it wholeheartedly."
Tears begin to glisten in Remilia's eyes, this time from the pain of betrayal. "But why?"
Sakuya strokes the little vampire's hair. "What the human said is right. You have been a bully. It is one thing to be strict, ojou-sama, and another to be cruel. Patchouli-sama said that she wanted to take her old friend back from the bratty little monster." Sakuya blushes. "Forgive me, ojou-sama, but those were her words."
Remilia clings to Sakuya's skirts. Slowly she nods. "I... Perhaps I have been taking things too far lately. I've forgotten the responsibilities I have to all of you as mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion." She rubs her face in Sakuya's apron. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course I do." Sakuya smiles and strokes the side of Remilia's face, making the little vampire sigh in bliss.
Then the maid slips a fob-watch out of her pocket and presses the button at the top of it. Everything stops, except for you and her.
"I think she'll be alright from now on," she says to you. She leaves Remilia, frozen in the pose of hugging her around the legs, and walks over to you, offering you her hand. "But you really should go. I'm afraid that even though ojou-sama seems to have been calmed down, I'm worried she may still try and get her revenge on you."
You ask her why she's helping you.
Sakuya blushes. "In Gensoukyou, humans have to stick together," she says, and leaves it at that.
She leads you out of the mansion and across the grounds. Everywhere the fairy maids and hobgoblins are standing like statues, frozen in the middle of whatever it was they were doing. It's an amazing ability that Sakuya has, and you're pleased that for once magic is being used to help you rather than harm you.
The maid comes to a stop. "You'll be safe the last few feet," she says. Then she hands you a little object. It's the vial she showed Remilia earlier.
Your eyes are questioning.
"In case you get into trouble," she says. "It can strip the abilities of any youkai, no matter how powerful, so use it wisely. A drop is usually more than enough."
You thank her, but Sakuya just waves her hand. "It's been a pleasure having you work beneath me," she says. "I'll be happy to provide you with a reference when you find another job in the Human Village." Then her eyes take on a dangerous glint. "If I were you, however, I would avoid telling anyone about what happened here today. The Lady Remilia has a reputation to uphold, as you might understand."
You nod. You'd already decided it was a good idea to keep it all a secret. After all, one shouldn't spank and tell, right?
With a final bow the two of you part ways. You're walking out through the front gate when time starts again. The red-pigtailed gatekeeper, Mei Ling you think her name is, changes from a statue leaning back against the wall of her guard post to...
...well, the change is pretty negligible, actually.
She raises her eyebrows as you walk out. "Fired, huh?"
You nod.
Mei Ling chuckles. "Lucky. I wish they'd fire me. This job is far too stressful." She yawns and waves goodbye to you, closing her eyes. But you can tell she's still watching you through half-open eyelids as you walk away.
You don't become the gate guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion by being lazy and stupid, after all.
Soon you're walking along the bank of the misty lake. You take the little vial out of your pocket and turn it over in your hand. Just one drop, Sakuya said, was more than enough. It looks like there are almost a dozen doses in there.
You wonder if you'll actually need to use them though. You don't plan to get involved with any dangerous youkai from here on in. Nope, a nice quiet life in the Human Village sounds like just the thing.
You're suddenly knocked off your feet by something flashing past you. It stops and hovers just over the lake, its wings shimmering, while you lay there in a daze. It's one of those fairies, Star Sapphire you think her name is. She giggles at the shocked look on your face and then flies off.
A heartbeat later two more fairies sweep past you, perilously close. They spin around you, laughing and poking at you, before flying away in the direction Star went. You know they're her friends, but you can't for the life of you remember their names.
You're still getting yourself up off the ground when a fourth flash of colour, this time light blue, knocks you right back down again. You rub your butt and look up. It's that little ice-fairy Cirno, a well-known delinquent around these parts.
You shout at her, scolding her and demanding she apologise for knocking you down.
Cirno blinks at you, then she smiles cheekily. "Apologise to a stinky human? No way!" She sticks her tongue out and pulls the bottom lid of her eye down before turning and zigzagging away across the glittering surface of the water.
You get up and dust yourself off. The vial is still in your hand. Luckily, it's not broken.
Looking across the lake, you see that the fairies are still there, zipping around and causing trouble, and you smile to yourself.
Maybe you're going to need to use this potion sooner than you expected.
The End.