(Notes: Even an eerily calm youkai like Yukari must have a breaking point, right? She was (probably) human once, after all...
I've written a lot of fluff lately, so I wanted to try something mean.
This fic was inspired by things like the lonely vibes in Yukari's character themes and wondering what could push Yukari to her breaking point. This is my first seriously canon-divergent fic so I have taken liberties with some characters and abilities while keeping mostly in-character.
It should be plenty clear and enjoyable enough to casual fans and maybe even non-fans, but those who have a basic knowledge of Touhou lore will get more out of it. It's not directly related to 15.5/AoCF, but knowledge of that game's plot will help too.
It's not a shippy fic, but I tease some popular ships for fun (YukaRei, ReiMari, YukaYuyu). That said, Tenshi and Shion will be making shippy appearances.
Lastly, there will be a glossary of key terms at the end of each chapter. Enjoy!)
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What does a youkai who sleeps so much dream about?
"Master Yukari, don't you think it's time you woke up?"
"Hm? But I'm not asleep." Yukari told Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine whom Yukari had grown particularly fond of over the last decade or so. "And why are you calling me Master all of a sudden? What a peculiar girl you are."
For a brief few moments, the two women giggled and smiled gently at one another, enjoying the tranquil quiet of Hakurei Shrine together on a beautiful summer day. Spending time like this was fine once in a while, wasn't it?
"Master Yukari." Reimu insisted. Her lips moved, but this was not her voice. "Spring time has come."
Yukari felt a warm wind shaking her shoulder. This was...
...
Sleepily, Yukari Yakumo opened her eyes. Her room was only dimly lit, but her faithful kitsune shikigami, Ran Yakumo, was unfortunately insistent that Yukari not spend another day in bed. Not even one more day.
The sensation of reality penetrating your dreams and the line between the two blurring together would always be a surreal one, but for a youkai as long-lived and long-slept as Yukari Yakumo dreams had become inconsequential.
How many dreams had she had in the three to four months she was asleep this time? How many dreams had passed and been long-buried in her mind by the time the New Year rolled around, let alone March, when she typically woke up?
"Your tea, Master Yukari." Ran entered the room again, leaving a tray of Yukari's favourite springtime tea. The aromatic scent was enough to help rouse Yukari's head and mood somewhat, after sleeping for so long.
"Thank you." Yukari sleepily but sternly responded. Ran allowed some more light into the room and bowed gently, before leaving and setting about other chores.
As usual, Yukari was a little groggy after waking. 'How should I punish that shikigami for waking me in such a rude way?' she pondered, unreasonably.
It would take a few minutes, or hours, for the resentment of being woken to fade. This was why Ran typically left Yukari to herself after waking her. Like clockwork though, a nice pot of tea and a warm breakfast were enough to soothe Yukari's spirits.
"So, my dear Ran... did I miss anything interesting through the winter?" a notably more cheerful Yukari asked a few hours later. She had changed out of her sleep-wear into a deep purple gown, which the sleepy youkai had likely slept in before anyway. "Have the cherry blossoms bloomed yet?"
"Fortunately the winter has been uneventful, Master Yukari." Ran calmly reported, smiling. "I was able to wake you promptly this year, so the cherry blossoms are still a week or so out, by my guess."
The kitsune seemed almost a little proud of herself. Yukari smirked at her, but gave a small bored sigh anyway.
Chen, Ran's own cat shikigami, was curled up sleeping precariously on a pile of Bunbunmaru Newspapers that had stacked up over the winter. It was always amazing to see a human-shaped cat curl up so small without toppling the pile of papers over.
"Let's see if that tengu has written about anything interesting at least..." Yukari lazily cut a gap in the air and effortlessly pulled one of the papers from the pile. The snoozing shikigami and the other papers were left completely undisturbed.
Yukari's eyes glazed over as she scanned the front page, then a few of the inner pages. A little truth here, a little exaggeration there, but overall a whole lot of nothing.
"Supposedly, the autumn mushrooms continued growing for a few weeks longer than usual last year." Ran chuckled to herself, bemused at Yukari's futile search for points of interest.
"I can see that." Yukari mumbled, eyeing the all-too exciting headline for herself. Enough of that. She tossed a newspaper into a gap in the air, a gap leading to who-knows-where.
Yukari Yakumo was an interesting and unique type of youkai called a 'gap youkai' - possibly a self-given title. She had the ability to manipulate the boundaries of reality itself, and could easily open a hole in space to almost anywhere she wished.
This lazy youkai also happened to be one of the most fearsome and influential youkai to ever exist, having had a direct hand in the separation of Gensokyo from the Outside World, as well as having involvement with most major events in Gensokyo's history.
She truly loved Gensokyo though, possibly more than anyone else. Whatever the reason for this, Yukari made it something of her life's work to remain well-informed enough to oversee and manipulate Gensokyo from the shadows.
To put it another way, if Yukari's far-reaching information network hadn't given Ran anything interesting to tell her, it was unlikely the relatively sensational tengu newspaper would tell her anything valuable either.
"Will you be going out, then?" Ran asked politely, scooping Chen up off the pile of newspapers and plopping her gently onto her bed. Chen mumbled irritably, but quickly forgave her master and fell asleep again.
Yukari stood up and stretched, yawning again before picking her hand fan up from the kotatsu. "I suppose..."
Then her face relaxed into a smile. "I think I'll pay an early visit to our favourite Hakurei shrine maiden." she cut open a gap in the wall and stepped through it like a door - her own little brand of humour.
"Hakurei shrine maiden?" Ran chuckled. "Ha ha, very funny."
"Be wary of your snark this year as always, my shikigami." Yukari pointed her fan commandingly at Ran, as she sank back into the gap and out of sight.
Ran raised an eyebrow and frowned, before shaking her head and returning to her mundane duties.
...
Yukari opened a gap in the wall of Hakurei Shrine's living area and confidently strode through it like a doorway, hoping to surprise the shrine maiden with her uninvited entry. To her disappointment though, the room was dark and empty.
'She must not be in.' Yukari thought, pouting to herself. She headed to the side doors to allow some light and air in and prepared to make herself at home as she waited for the maiden to return.
The door seemed stiff and took a bit of a shove to open. When it finally budged it kicked up a huge amount of dust, getting up the dignified youkai's nose and making her sneeze in a most undignified way. She became suddenly aware of a thick, musty smell in the air.
"Oh, Reimu..." Yukari said aloud as she rolled her eyes. She knew the maiden was lazy at times, but this was ridiculous. She opted to wait outside instead - on the shrine's roof.
Hakurei Shrine really did look shabby this spring though. Had Reimu had a bad winter? Yukari floated around the shrine, giving it a quick look over, to see spiderwebs, dirt and rotting vegetation all over the courtyard and shrine building. In fact, the plant-life nearby appeared to have become surprisingly overgrown.
Yukari pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation and took a deep sigh. 'There's no way Reimu has been this lazy, the fairies must have stepped up their pranks.' She thought as she crossed her arms. 'I wonder if that girl has been getting too soft...'
Taking in another look at the shrine, she groaned and rolled her eyes melodramatically. Hakurei Shrine was incredibly important to Gensokyo - so it was important to Yukari too.
Seeing it in this dishevelled state was admittedly irritating, so rather than wait for the shrine's keeper to return she decided to go out and seek the maiden instead.
Her quick flight from Hakurei Shrine to the Human Village resulted in no luck, and Yukari was increasingly not in the mood to search the entire village looking for the girl either.
She figured a much quicker solution to catch up with her was to simply ask the shrine maiden's best friend - Marisa Kirisame.
Unlike Hakurei Shrine, The Forest of Magic seemed the same as always in that it was predictably unpredictable. In a place so drenched in dangerous youkai and a thick magical miasma, uncertainty was just the norm here.
Marisa's home in the forest being a dishevelled mess was also the norm, as was Marisa seemingly not being home.
Even so, it didn't take Yukari long to track the magician down, who was gathering mushrooms nearby. Marisa wore a long black coat, and a tall witch hat adorned with a white ribbon as always. Her frizzy blonde hair ran down her back and bounced as she carefreely popped mushrooms into her pack.
It almost relieved Yukari to see Marisa being so predictable, given how irritated she felt about the state of Hakurei Shrine. In her silent gratitude, Yukari decided to be a little less intentionally frightening than usual.
Just a little, though.
"Good morning, dear Marisa!" Yukari waved merrily as she sprung forth from underneath a mushroom Marisa had just picked.
Marisa visibly jolted a little but was able to very quickly regain her composure. She sighed and sheepishly grinned at the youkai. "G'mornin' Yukari, you're gettin' pretty creative with these gaps lately huh."
Yukari giggled, making the gap big enough to rise out of and sit comfortably on the edge of. "Don't let anyone ever tell you you can't teach an old youkai new tricks."
"You? Old? Whaaat?" Marisa exclaimed in a comedic monotone.
"Now now." Yukari crossed one leg over the other and fanned herself proudly. "If you're going to compliment me, you must learn how to do it properly."
Marisa scoffed and returned to picking mushrooms. "So, what's up with you today Yukari? You're pretty early this year, you need me for somethin' again?"
"Aha, you guessed it." Yukari flopped over and floated on her front, leaning on her hands. "The truth is Marisa, I cannot find our mutual friend anywhere and the shrine is a mess. I was simply wondering if you knew where she had gotten to!"
Marisa raised an eyebrow and scratched her head in thought. "Uh, y'mean Sanae? I'd be surprised if that Moriya Shrine was a mess, it's always so nicely kept!"
Yukari rolled her eyes. This wild goose chase was beginning to become irritating. "Very funny. I, of course, meant the Hakurei Shrine."
"That haunted shrine?" Marisa giggled. "What about it? You're bein' extra weird today."
'I'm being extra weird?' Yukari thought, staring at the girl intently.
"Marisa." she finally decided to ask directly "Where is Reimu?"
Marisa stared back, locking her eyes with Yukari's. Her brow furrowed.
"S-sorry uh... who?"
A carefree but visibly confused Marisa sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
Despite Marisa's carefree tone and mannerisms, her words had awakened a quiet, nameless fear in Yukari's heart - the kind of fear she had not experienced for centuries.
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Glossary:
Hanami - the cherry blossom viewing festival
Danmaku - "bullet hell", bullet barrage, bullet curtain, fire curtain etc. The genre of shootemup Touhou falls in
Shikigami - A summoned being whose power is tied to that of its master. Sort of like a witch familiar. In Touhou, a shikigami can have originally been an independent being who made a contract to become a shikigami.
Kitsune - Japanese word for fox, but often used specifically for fox-youkai like Ran
Tengu - a goblin-like youkai, often anthropomorphic crows
