A/N: Alright, thanks for deciding to read this little project of mine. So far, I haven't written all that much, but I do hope that you will enjoy it. I am not the most knowledgeable in the field of Touhou, so if anything about the characters seem off, feel free to criticize. I would like to improve~
For some time now, the weather had been awfully bad in Gensokyo. It had been pouring down without end for nearly two weeks. The Forest of Magic had almost turned into a swamp with all the additional water, which could no longer be absorbed into the ground. The Youkai Mountain had slowly started to erode due to all the water running down the mountainside. Even the Scarlet Devil Mansion was threatened by a flood approaching from the Misty Lake because of all of the extra rain water.
It was at times like these that the Senzu Ferryman, Komochi Onozuka, truly appreciated her ability to manage the width of the river. The only thing bothering her at the moment was the constantly falling rain. Yes, even a shinigami could get wet. She let out a sigh.
"I wish I could've stayed at home."
Her boat moved closer towards the bank, the bank far off the edge of Higan, the Netherworld. She picked up her sickle as she closed in on the bridge on the riverbank. Just then, she noticed a figure lying just beside it.
Komochi quickly jumped off the boat as she reached the bridge and hurried to the strange character's side. As she sat beside the figure, she noticed that it was covered in mud from top to toe. That made her reluctant in touching it.
"Hey, are you all right?"
The figure did not appear to react to her call. It was completely out cold. She then decided to try to shake it. She grabbed the figure by what appeared to be its shoulders and turned it around.
"Can you even hear me?"
As the body was turned around, it became obvious that it was a boy, probably a human boy. His hair was dark, but the color was difficult to determine from all the mud. He did not appear to be very old, probably in his late teens. In such a situation, Komochi knew that there would only be one thing to do.
When Komochi arrived at Hakurei Shrine with the mud-covered boy, the shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei, merely stared at her with a blank expression. Fortunately, she was not alone that day. Marisa Kirisame, the human witch from the Forest of Magic had been at the temple the same time and was enjoying afternoon tea with the maiden of the shrine. That was, until the shinigami interrupted them.
"You found him at the Sanzu River?"
The three girls managed to clean up the boy a bit before putting him down on a futon outside the entrance. From there, they could watch the boy while drinking tea. Reimu was still very curious about him.
"What is he?" Reimu asked curiously.
"A lost soul perhaps? Maybe he tried to swim across the river," the witch replied, sharing her thoughts on the subject. She lifted the cup and drank a bit of tea. Truth was, she was just as curious as her friend, but she was surely better at hiding it.
"Well, I tried to exorcise him, but I couldn't. So I'm guessing he's pretty much human," the ferryman shot in with her part of the story.
"A very dirty one. Eww."
Marisa shot a glance at the boy, who still seemed to be in a deep slumber. The girls continued to converse and they gradually lost their attention of the stranger lying on the futon.
A couple of hours passed and Komachi ended up leaving the shrine. Even so, Marisa decided to stay, as she was still very curious about the stranger.
"When do you suppose he'll wake up?"
"Don't know, don't care."
The two girls were once again sitting at the table, having a small conversation. Just then, the boy moved a bit, letting out a low moan. Then, his eyes slowly opened. Both of the girls instantly turned towards him.
"Look Marisa! He's waking up!"
"I can see that for myself, you know."
Surprisingly, the young boy did not seem to be bothered by the dried mud, still covering him. He just sat up on the wooden floor with a blank look in his eyes.
"Where…"
The witch and the shrine maiden glanced at him from their position of the table. Neither of them was able to mutter a word.
"Where…"
With a straight face, the boy turned towards the two girls. Without changing his expression he opened his mouth.
"Who the hell are you?"
That phrase caught both of them off guard. It was rather difficult to take the boy covered in mud seriously, but no one could have foreseen what he said.
"Eh?" Marisa exclaimed, feeling offended by the young boy's words. Reimu did not seem to notice any change. With a wide smile, she stood up and went over to the boy. She then stretched out her arm towards him.
"Reimu. Reimu Hakurei. I'm the priestess of this shrine."
"I see… Mizuki."
Before taking the shrine maiden's hand, he pointed at himself to let them know his own name.
"No last name? That's sort of unusual." The witch raised herself from the position at the table and went to her friend's side.
"The name's Marisa Kirisame. Nice to meet you."
The boy, Mizuki, nodded at her, still looking rather dumb-founded. Just then, Marisa had one of her brilliant ideas.
"Hey, if you could go get cleaned yourself up, and then we'll tell you everything you want to know, okay?"
The boy shrugged with a smiling grimace.
"Well, sounds like a plan. Better than being dirty, right?"
After getting himself cleaned and dressed in new clothes given to him by the shrine maiden, Mizuki joined her and the witch inside the shrine.
They both then explained the situation to him. That it had been raining for a while so that the rivers and lakes were about to flood and it might be the same case where he came from. Therefore, he had ended up in the river and drifted into their country, Gensokyo, a land where youkai, humans and even gods lived side by side in peace and harmony… or rather, almost, though they decided to leave out that bit.
After having it all explained to him, Mizuki seemed rather out of it. The girls were both getting worried.
"What is it? Are you homesick?" Reimu handed him a cup of tea which the gray-haired boy accepted. He simply shook his head.
"No, that's not it… I just don't remember anything other than my name," Mizuki mumbled quietly, looking down.
Marisa looked as if she nearly choked on the cookie she was eating.
"Nothing? Not even where you're from, your friends… even your family?"
Mizuki shook his head once again and looked down into his cup of tea, calming himself by inhaling the scent of it.
"Nope, nothing at all. Hell, I might as well be a "nobody" anyway."
The three of them sat in silence for a while, just staring down. That was, until the shrine maiden patted the boy roughly on the back.
"Don't worry about it, you can just stay here!"
Mizuki spilled his tea and jumped up as the hot substance went through his clothes and in direct contact with his pale skin. Only then did he react to the words of the shrine maiden.
"W-what do you mean "stay here"? "Here" as in "Gensokyo"?
"Well, I was more thinking "here" as in "Hakurei Shrine", but I suppose that is the same thing. So yeah!" Reimu grinned and nodded, as if to show that she found her own idea great.
Marisa sighed, but was unable to hide the little smile growing on her lips. She then spoke directly to him.
"I guess that means you'll be a fellow inhabitant of Gensokyo then."
"Which means we'll be friends. Right, Marisa?"
Reimu turned her head towards Marisa, who merely nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that's cool with me. He seems okay."
Mizuki could not help but to laugh at the two girls. Not that he thought they were funny, but because they were both such amazing people. Inviting a complete stranger inside and offering him to stay. To even call him their "friend" without knowing anything about it.
"Thanks you guys. Really."
The witch pouted at his words and put her hands on her hips.
"That would be "girls" not "guys". But you're welcome."
The three of them spent the rest of the day sitting there, talking and laughing as if they had known each other for ages. Just like friends were supposed to do. But in the midst of it all, one could not help but to wonder… what kind of fate would await the young boy in the illusionary wonderland of Gensokyo?