Welp, this is the first thing I'm uploading here I guess. A bit late for Christmas itself, but y'know, at least I didn't upload this thing in the middle of July. I feel like the ending I wrote was a little... "blunt", so I'd like some feedback on that, if possible.
I hope you all enjoy this.
Now, as one might expect, Christmas wasn't widely celebrated in Gensokyo. Virtually all of its inhabitants barely acknowledged the holiday's existence, and instead spent the day as any other: the human village's citizens were out and about in the brisk weather, the youkai went about their usual business, and the local incident-resolvers were waiting for something worthy of their intervention to pop up. However, while most of Gensokyo disregarded the holiday, there was one area that was, compared to the rest of the land, filled to the brim with cheer on Christmas Eve.
"Sakuya, are the maids done with the ornaments? I wanna put the star on top of the tree!"
"Well, let's make sure. We don't want you accidentally hitting any during your flight to the top, now do we, Flandre?"
The Scarlet Devil Mansion's head maid, Sakuya Izayoi walked at her usual swift but graceful pace into the neighboring room. For most of the year, this massive room was empty and served little use, but during the holiday season, it housed a titanic Christmas tree. Its biologically impossible size was the result of none other than Patchouli Knowledge, the mansion's librarian. She used her magic to grow it from sprout to its present monstrous size in practically no time. Sakuya looked up at the tree, scanning the air for any of the fairy maids who worked under her. After about a minute of focused searching, she smiled, and walked back outside to Flandre.
"So, can I go!?"
"Yes, you may." Sakuya said, "Now allow me to get you the star. I know this is your favorite part. I'll be less than a moment."
Before Flandre could say another word, time stopped. Everything was entirely still except Sakuya. She made her way quickly to the mansion's library to pick up the enchanted artifact that was the tree's star. On her way, she spotted the mansion's gatekeeper, Hong Meiling escorting its owner, Remilia Scarlet, to the tree room. The librarian's assistant, Koakuma, appeared to be following closely behind Meiling. They were stopped mid-step, as expected. Sakuya paid them no heed and continued moving to the library.
Patchouli had fallen asleep at her desk. Having relatively low energy at any given time, it was little surprise that the librarian had taken a rest after preforming the charms on the star. Upon reaching Patchouli's workplace, Sakuya sighed in annoyance at her coworker's slumber. She strode over to the chair where Patchouli slept, and with a bit of effort, lifted the frozen-in-time librarian over her shoulder. With her free hand, Sakuya grabbed the star-shaped object resting on the desk; seeing as Patchouli had been enchanting the tree's star for years, its appearance was a familiar one to anybody in the mansion.
Sakuya, upon returning to the tree room, placed Patchouli down on one of the ornate chairs next to the wall, and walked back in front of the frozen Flandre. Sakuya held the star out in front of her in a position to suggest that she was presenting it to the motionless vampire before her, and then unfroze time.
"Wow, the star looks even prettier than it did last year!"
"That's what you said last year, Flandre."
"Yeah, I know!"
With that, Flandre took the star from Sakuya's hands and began her flight to the top of the tree. Despite not having functional wings, Flandre could fly just fine, like most of Gensokyo's residents. As she began her ascent, Sakuya called out to her.
"Remember to thank Patchouli when she wakes up!"
"Don't worry, I always do!"
Sakuya watched as her mistress' sister made her way to the top of the colossal evergreen. As she watched, she heard footsteps coming from the next room over. She didn't even bother to check who it was, as she saw Meiling and her mistress during her journey to the library, so instead she just continued to watch Flandre. It was a wonderful sight: the poor girl was barred from leaving her room in the basement on a regular basis, but Christmas was one of the occasions where Flandre was able to come out. The happiness Flandre felt as she soared could practically be felt too by Sakuya as she watched.
Sakuya silently shook her head while smiling, and made her way over to Patchouli. She lightly tapped the purple-clad mage's left shoulder until she saw one of the librarian's eyes open. Patchouli gasped for breath in surprise upon being woken up so suddenly, but she quickly calmed down after taking in her surroundings.
The five present watched as Flandre screwed the star into the apparatus at the top of the tree. While any of the fairy maids who worked in the mansion could have done this, it brought Flandre great pleasure to attach the star. This was especially true when it's taken into account that several years ago, Flandre was barred from helping out with the ornaments due to accidentally brutally injuring several of the maids through haphazard flying and careless magic usage. In other words, the attachment of the star was the only thing Flandre was allowed and able to do to truly feel like a part of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's celebration of Christmas.
During Flandre's descent, the others watched the top of the tree for any sign of Patchouli's magic taking effect. After a few minutes, it began to emit a deep, sparkly teal glow.
Meiling looked at Patchouli inquisitively. "Is that it? It's a little… lacking, especially next to last year's."
"Meiling, I wasn't aware you were well versed in enchanting. Would you like to take my place as head librarian? I'm sure some as skilled in magic as you would have no problem at all organizing all the archives and keeping the mansion's wards active."
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry for saying anything."
"No, no, please, do go on. I'm sure everyone would like to hear what you have to say about what you think of my enchantments and how you could absolutely blow them out of the water with a fraction of my effort."
Sakuya sighed. It was Christmas, and the last thing she wanted to do after bossing unruly fairies around all day was listen to an argument between the gatekeeper and the librarian. "I, for one, enjoy what Patchouli has done for us this year. Now, I think it's time for dinner. Then we all should get to bed for the night. Otherwise, Santa won't be able to deliver our gifts." Sakuya said, raising her voice just enough to make Patchouli and Meiling stop fighting.
"Wait, we should all go to bed?" Koakuma asked.
"That is what I said. No arguments."
Koakuma protested no more. Despite having jobs to finish and general mischief to cause, the little demon knew that when Christmas rolled around, everyone took part in the festivities, and even those with mountains of books to organize were not exempt. There was a very particular way to do Christmas in the Scarlet Devil Mansion – everyone received gifts from "Santa" in an attempt to keep the myth of the man in red and white alive for Flandre. The general consensus was that this ritual kept Flandre as happy and excited about the holidays as she was, and thus each holiday season was dedicated to keeping it going. After all, an appeased powerful youkai is likely a powerful youkai that isn't destroying everything.
As the six residents of the mansion made their way to one the residence's many dining halls, miles away, in the snowy forest that bordered Misty Lake, one of Gensokyo's most interesting and enigmatic denizens was wandering quite aimlessly, just as she normally did. Despite the forest being filled with youkai of at least moderate danger, she came to this particular forest quite often and faced essentially no adversity. This was because of her ability to passively manipulate the subconscious of others to the extent that they are unable to perceive her at all, allowing her to walk directly under the noses of any would-be threats. Unless she was quite literally being stared at, aside from some particularly unusual cases, no one would know of her presence, and even then, as soon as she escaped one's gaze, she would be immediately forgotten. In fact, the only people who could reliably see her were those who were not just consciously looking for her, but who also knew of her sister, Satori – only through viewing Koishi as Satori's sister would allow her to be seen.
Ironically, Koishi Komeiji used this power near-subconsciously. Upon sealing away her third eye, she had also sealed away her conscious thoughts along with it. Most of Koishi's actions were entirely the result of subconscious decisions, and her desire to remain unseen was a result of instinct: seeing as satori as a species are despised by the general populous due to their mind reading abilities, it would only make sense that a satori's instinct would be to hide away from most others, regardless if it was clear that she couldn't read minds. Koishi had been a resident of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, and had picked up her wandering since she had closed her third eye. There was no "stop" or "start", no "picking up" or "putting down"; her wandering was one continuous string of events. Koishi rarely slept, and when she did, it was where she dropped and for rarely longer than a couple of hours. It was always just wander, wander, "borrow" some food while unseen, maybe change into an identical outfit that she carried in her small traveling bag, and then more wandering.
The satori had been in the woods for a good five hours or so. Every so often, she'd find herself on the shore of the lake, and she'd take a minute or two to watch the fairies fire colorful pellets at each other in an attempt to solve whatever petty dispute they were having at the moment. Depending on where she was standing, Koishi would be able to see the faint outline of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She'd been in there a few times, having snooped right under the gatekeeper's nose, but she rarely stayed for too long – she much preferred the open air to the comparatively tight space of the mansion. Regardless, she was getting rather hungry, and having a new place to explore was always nice; after all, the mansion's colossal interior and many windows gave the curious satori much to look for and many places to start looking for it. While Koishi wasn't exactly making a beeline for the red building, she seemed to gravitate towards it as she always did when moving to a destination. Her lack of true motivation prevented her from really having any drive to reach places quickly.
As Koishi left the woods and began walking down the somewhat familiar paved road to the mansion, snow began to fall. While Koishi didn't mind precipitation, on a frosty day like today, she really wasn't in the mood for getting wet. Thus, the closeness of the mansion made Koishi quite happy – she could probably get a bite to eat and spend the night wandering the halls.
When Koishi reached the mansion's gate, the first thing she noticed was the lack of gatekeeper. Meiling was an interesting sort – she'd lean back on the brick wall that marked the mansion's perimeter to give any would-be intruders the sense that she was off guard. Sadly, it happened to be the case that she often WAS off-guard, but as luck would have it, she'd usually perk up if she heard someone approaching on foot. Of course, during Koishi's visits, Meiling never took notice of her, but the gatekeeper was more or less a constant during the satori's occasional stops.
Koishi flew over the gate and started on her way to the mansion's façade. The front door was locked, as always. She looked up at titanic building, searching for an open window. She managed to find one after a few minutes of searching; it was seven stories up, but its curtains were closed, disallowing Koishi from seeing directly inside. Koishi took off from the ground and floated up through the snowy air. She drifted through the window, not even checking what was inside before she did so. Upon entering, she found herself in an empty, dimly lit hallway. Portraits of the mansion's owner and her sister lined the walls, and every so often, a table with an ornate memento resting on it stood. Koishi paid these no heed, and began her previous plan of finding food, and then wandering. She decided that going left would be a good place to start, and proceeded down the corridor.
After around about a half an hour of walking and taking an occasional turn, Koishi had gotten herself basically lost. There weren't any windows visible from her current location, and the only other living souls she had seen in the red halls was a pair of fairy maids making small talk. She was anything but scared - getting lost was practically her specialty, after all. Koishi continued her exploration, hoping to find either something of interest, or something to eat.
About fifteen minutes later, Koishi picked up the scent of something delicious. It was the smell of a banquet fit for someone of high status: Koishi was familiar with the smell, as she frequently ate food of such a caliber during her time at Chireiden. Her feet rose of the ground, and she floated, almost cartoonishly, in the direction she thought it was coming from.
Twenty minutes, four long hallways, and ten opened doors later, Koishi entered the most ornate dining hall she had ever seen. Not even her sister's palace had such a beautiful room; red and gold tapestries lined the bright scarlet walls, and the ground was a soft carpet of crimson and black. In the middle of the room, a mahogany table sat, not just grand in its appearance, but in its size too. It looked like it could seat hundreds, and it just so happened that it was seating hundreds – a host of fairy maids sat in most of the chairs that lined the tables. At the end of the table furthest from the door, eleven people who were very clearly not fairies sat. Between this group and the fairies, five chairs on each side of the table were left empty. This was mostly due to mansion's mistress not wanting any unexpected interactions between any of the maids and her sister because of the possibly destructive results of any said interactions.
Koishi walked to the less populous side of the commotion-filled table. Of course, this was one of the few times of the year the fairy maids got any meaningful amount of free time, and they used this to their advantage – they were able to sit back, relax, and make merry with each other. Koishi wasn't interested in the maids, however: they didn't seem to be particularly fun to listen to during her trek through the mansion earlier. Besides, Koishi saw a very familiar face at her destination.
Koishi had seen each of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's "famous" residents at least once, but she was much more preoccupied with one of their guests. Remilia sat at the table's head: to her right sat her head maid, her librarian, her librarian's assistant, her gatekeeper, and her sister. The ones to Remilia's left were a bit harder for Koishi to attach identities to. The guest nearest to the table's end wore a mop cap and was slouched over onto the table. Next to her sat a guest who sat up straight and a large hat under which Koishi knew covered two massive ears. Next to her there sat a small girl with two pointy cat-like ears who was voraciously enjoying what remained of the feast's first course. Next to her was one of the tengu reporters from Youkai Mountain; they all looked the same to Koishi, and she rarely had dealings with them aside from the occasional ones who tried to take her picture, usually in vain. Lastly, next to the tengu, was none other than Reimu Hakurei herself. Koishi had fought the miko some time back, and had visited the Hakurei shrine several times since then. Koishi knew she couldn't be seen, so she sat down next to Flandre in an attempt to get Reimu to look directly at her. Koishi inconspicuously pulled the chair out and sat down in it as Flandre sipped from her glass.
"Again, I'm so very glad that you all could make it." Remilia said to those on her left.
"No, no, thank you for having us. While it took some convincing to have Mistress Yukari take some time out of her… busy schedule to come here, we thought it would be good for her to get out of the house. Isn't that right, Chen?"
The young nekomata could only nod in agreement while chewing on a large piece of cooked fish. It was fairly clear that she was much more concerned with filling her stomach with the fruits of the sea than she was with engaging in any conversation with anyone at the table. Usually, Ran would have scolded Chen for not making conversation, but it was a special night so Ran ultimately let it slide.
"You know I love coming here, Remi! I mean, this is the only place that anything interesting happens during this time of the year. The whole "Christmas" thing or whatever you've got going on here is something to behold, lemme tell ya. Oh yeah, and that giant tree of yours? Great for ratings, my readers love my yearly picture of that thing. By the way, did I tell you guys about what I saw this morning?"
As Aya Shameimaru rambled on about whatever it was that she saw that morning, Reimu sat still with her usual stern look. Reimu never really knew why she accepted Remilia's invitations; she didn't consider herself to be an enemy of the vampire, but the miko and the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion were far from best friends. To even call them friends at all would be a bit of a stretch.
Koishi sat, half-listening to the side conversation and half-trying to get Reimu's attention. She had stopped worrying about food because she could eventually just grab some off of anyone's plate and they wouldn't notice. Of course, Koishi couldn't do all that much to get Reimu to notice her aside from hoping that'd she'd be directly looked at, and that seemed like an unlikely possibility considering that Reimu's stony gaze seemed to fixated on Flandre, partially as a result of the two of them being seated directly across from each other. As per usual, it didn't even cross Koishi's mind (or subconscious) that revealing herself was a possibility: this was probably for the best, as intruders to the mansion were usually walking knife blocks by the time the head maid was through with them. So Koishi just sat still, swinging her legs to and fro under the table.
Koishi began spacing out while waiting for the shrine maiden to notice her. Thus, it gave her a bit of a jump when she heard a cheery voice from her right asking, "Who are you?"
Koishi turned to her right, and found herself face to face with the vampire she had been sitting next to for the majority of her time in the room. Koishi, feeling no fear, replied in her usual friendly, dreamy tone, "My name is Koishi Komeiji. You're Flandre, aren't you? I think I've seen you around here before; yes, once or twice, I saw you walking with the head maid. How are you seeing me?"
"Of course I can see you – you're right there! How do you know my name?" Flandre said, pointing inquisitively at the satori.
"I've been a… guest here before, and I've heard your name. Most of the time, people can't see me. I guess you're lucky. Or maybe I'm lucky to be seen by you? You sound very friendly."
"You sound really friendly too! Can I be your friend?"
Koishi always hesitated at this part. When children noticed her, (which was a comparatively common occurrence to when adults did) they would often eventually ask to be her friend. As much as Koishi enjoyed making friends, she would only see those children every so often during her travels, and after a few years, many of them would forget about Koishi; some even became unable to acknowledge her existence. However, it was rude to starkly turn down a request for friendship.
"Yes Flandre, I'd love to be your friend."
"Yay! I hope you can stay here for tomorrow – maybe Santa will leave you a gift!"
"…Who's Santa?"
"Oh, Santa's this fat man who wears red and white. He travels all around the world, and he gives gifts to everyone who's been good all year! If you've been good, I think he might leave a gift here for you tonight if you're going to stay."
At this point, Remilia had noticed that Flandre had turned to and was now speaking to the apparently empty seat next to her. "Flandre," Remilia asked, raising her voice as to be heard of the loud ambient conversation, "who are you speaking to?"
"I'm speaking to my new friend, Koishi!"
"Flandre, there's nobody sitting there."
"See Flandre, nobody can see me, just as I said." Koishi commented.
Flandre did a double take, as if to make sure Koishi wasn't a figment of her imagination "What are you talking about? She's right here, and she was just telling me about how nobody could see her!"
Remilia raised an eyebrow and looked at Sakuya for some sort of reassurance. "Mistress, your sister has probably just created an imaginary friend since the last time she was let out of the basement. It would make sense that she would want some company, and honestly I'm almost surprised that she did not imagine one up sooner."
Remilia nodded in understanding and turned back to her sister. "Oh, I see. She's 'invisible'. Carry on then."
The mistress faced her head maid again. "Please Sakuya, tell all the staff about this. If Flandre chooses to talk to someone and she brings up this 'Koishi', I don't want anyone looking at her strangely. It could offend her."
Sakuya nodded, made a mental note to alert the rest of the staff about this new development, and resumed waiting for the next course to arrive. Meanwhile, Flandre resumed conversing with her new friend.
"So, Koishi, where are you from?"
"I'm from Chireiden. It's underground."
"Wait, what kind of youkai are you? I know that oni and satori come from underground, but I've never seen a satori and you don't have horns, so you're probably not an oni."
"Well, I would happen to be a satori." Koishi pointed to her closed third eye "this thing is pretty much a dead giveaway."
"Well, if you're a Satori, what am I thinking of… right now!?"
Koishi look down at the floor, her usual vacant grin giving way to a frown. "Is something the matter?" Flandre asked.
"Well… I sealed my third eye. I can't read minds, not that I'd really want to. I don't really like to talk about it."
"Oh, I'm really sorry for bringing it up then!"
"It's fine. You wouldn't know. The only people I'd expect to know about it are my sister and our pets."
"You have a sister? What's her name?"
"Her name is Satori. She lives back in Chireiden. Many people don't like her because she can read minds. That's… that's why I closed my eye. I didn't want to be hated, and minds are depressing to read anyway."
Koishi seemed quite upset at this point, so Flandre tried to change the subject. "Could you tell me about what it was like in Chireiden? I don't really have the chance to leave the mansion, so I like to hear stories about the rest of the world."
"It was a nice place to live." Koishi began, starting to look a little less unhappy, "There was a lot of space, and while Satori didn't like me to leave, I sometimes went out to the Former Capital. Mostly oni lived there, and they were always too drunk to bother with me, so I spent a lot of my time exploring. Should I go on?"
Flandre, clearly very interested Koishi's tales, nodded. Koishi continued to talk about her old life underground until the meal's second course arrived. Flandre received a plate with a fragrant piece of sauce-covered eel, a pile of assorted vegetables and a rather large mound of white rice. Flandre began to voraciously eat as soon as it arrived. Koishi only could look at the dish, wishing for a bite.
After finishing the eel, Flandre realized that her friend had nothing to eat. "Koishi, did they forget to bring you food? Here, I'll get you some."
Before Koishi could say anything, Flandre called one of the maids in charge of serving the food over to her. "Excuse me, but my friend here didn't get any food. Could you bring her…" Flandre started before looking over at Koishi, realizing she didn't know what to get the satori. "Koishi, what would you like?"
"Just get me what you're having. It looks good."
Flandre turned back to face the maid. "Could you get her some of what I'm having?"
It was clear that the maid was quite confused. Luckily, Sakuya heard this exchange, and got up from her seat to speak to the fairy. Sakuya took the maid aside, and explained the existence of Flandre's "imaginary friend". She then assured the maid that there was far more than enough food to make a plate that would go uneaten, after which the maid hastily made her way to the kitchen.
"Wow, that was really nice of you, Flandre. No friend I've ever had would go out of their way to do something like that for me."
"Well, then those probably aren't the best of friends, are they?"
"Now that you mention it, I guess you're right in a way. My other friends have mostly forgotten about me. In fact, the only ones who really still know who I am are that witch and miko who go around solving incidents. The miko's actually part of the reason I'm sitting next to you – I've been trying to get her attention, but honestly, you're making far more interesting conversation than she probably would."
"Aw, that's really sweet of you!"
As they chatted, a maid walked over to Koishi's seat and placed a plate in front of her. "I hope this 'Koishi' friend of yours enjoys her meal, mistress Flandre."
"Thanks! I'm sure she will!"
The maid fluttered away as Koishi began to eat. Nobody noticed as the food on the plate next to Flandre's began to mysteriously disappear. Even Reimu, who could in theory sense Koishi due to knowing of her sister, was really not paying attention to any of the events going on around her. The dinner progressed from the second course to its third, its third to desert, and desert to its end. For desert and the third course, the maids remembered to bring Koishi a serving, and by the end, she was feeling more well fed than she had in months, if not years.
"Well Flandre, thank you very much for giving me a place to eat, but I really should be going."
"Oh, are you going back to Chireiden?"
"No."
"I thought you said that's where you were from."
"I did. I don't live there anymore. Nowadays, I just wander from place to place. I think it's a good way to make friends."
"Don't you have a place to stay?"
"I don't really need one. I don't sleep all that often, and I take food that people don't need to feed myself."
"That's awful! Why don't you stay with us? You can stay in the guest room with me until the holidays are over."
"Guest room? I thought you were the mistress' sister. Don't you have your own room?"
"About that… I kind of live in the basement. Remilia says I should stay there for my own good. It's lonely down there, but if you stay with us, I'm sure you'll be able to visit every day, especially if what you said about you invisible to everyone is true."
"I don't know Flandre, it just doesn't feel like myself to stop wandering."
"Why do you wander? What are you looking for?"
"I… don't know. I tell myself that I'm looking for friends, but-"
"In that case, you've found one!"
"I guess you're right."
"So what do you say? Will you stay the night?"
Koishi nodded. Her usually blank smile seemed to gain a bit of life as she did. "I knew you'd come around!" Flandre exclaimed.
After this, the Scarlet Devil Mansion's residents wished each other a peaceful rest and headed off to bed, just as Sakuya had ordered earlier in the night. Despite growing weak in the sunlight, the sleeping schedules of Flandre and Remilia consisted of usually sleeping through the night and waking up late in the day. Yukari had warped Ran, Chen and herself back to Mayohiga, and Aya and Reimu had begun the flight back to their respective homes after saying their farewells.
Flandre made her way to the guest room nearest her sister's quarters, which, during the holidays, was reserved for the young vampire's use only. It was a fairly sizeable chamber; it had a queen-sized bed and a large dresser on the wall to the right of the window, which was currently shaded as to prevent its current resident from suffering any of the ill effects that sunlight brought her. An ornate lamp sat on the night table, and to table's right was a separate small corridor that led to a bathroom. Everything in the room was a different shade of deep red, with either black or gold trim, and was illuminated by the dim light of a sizeable gilded chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Koishi had to admit that it was the most desirable dwelling she had stayed in since her time at Chireiden, although that neither pleased nor angered her – the satori's life of wandering had made her quite indifferent to where she was sleeping at any given time.
Koishi walked to the side of the bed and unceremoniously lay down on the ground. She took out her traveling bag, and moved it under her head as if it was a pillow – on the odd occasions she chose to sleep, this was the norm. Currently, her plan was to maybe catch an hour of two of sleep, wake up, grab some leftovers from the kitchen if she could re-find it, and ideally leave through the same side of the mansion as the one she came in through. It wasn't that she didn't like Flandre: quite the opposite in fact. However, despite agreeing to Flandre's request to stay the night, Koishi still felt quite strange about actually staying the night at anyone's house, even a friend's.
It was at this point that Flandre stepped over to Koishi and looked down at her inquisitively. "What on earth are you doing?"
"I'm getting ready to sleep. Isn't that what you were doing?"
Flandre laughed at this, as Koishi looked on, quite confused. "Silly Koishi, the floor's not a bed, and you haven't even changed or washed up yet, and no offence, but you definitely should wash up. You smell really bad!"
It was then that Koishi realized that she was forgetting the standard conventions of going to sleep when one has a roof over one's head. Koishi usually just slept in what she wore during the day, and she didn't really care about how she smelled or whether or not she was dirty – after all, no one could see or smell her if they couldn't perceive her in the first place.
"Alright Flandre, you're right that I do smell a little… off, but as far as I can see, there's nowhere other than the floor for me to sleep, and the last time I checked, the only clothes I carry with me are identical to what I'm wearing now."
"Those clothes really don't look comfortable to sleep in. Here, let me give you this."
Flandre walked over to the dresser and dug around for about a minute. Koishi left her laying down position, and began sitting with her legs crossed as she watched Flandre's search. Flandre turned around, holding what appeared to be an opaque, deep red nightgown of high quality fabric. She held this garment in one hand, and beckoned for Koishi to take it. "I guess it's not really your color, but I'm sure you'll be happier sleeping in this than you would in what you're wearing."
Koishi hesitated for a moment, before asking, "are you really sure you want to give this to me? I'm sure it was fairy… expensive. Besides, I'm probably a bit too big for it."
"Oh Koishi, if you're really going to be this afraid to take it, then think of it as a Christmas gift. Seriously, you're not just my friend, but you're a guest here, and Remilia always makes sure our guests are feeling at home."
Koishi found herself in a similar bind as before – whenever Koishi really needed something, she'd just take it while no one was looking, and on occasion leave something in return. However, she never received gifts aside from the occasional drawing or toy that the children she befriended offered her. This nightgown, along with the hospitality she had received, was far more than anything she was used to. She almost felt as if she didn't deserve it.
Koishi slowly reached out and took the vestment from Flandre's outstretched hand. She muttered a light "thank you" before slowly moving to the bathroom and closing the door behind her. After it had shut, she heard a muffled "don't forget to wash!" from outside.
Flandre was quite happy with what she had accomplished. Aside from the miko and her witch friend, Flandre never had the chance to make friends with any of the mansion's visitors. In the case of Reimu, Flandre could barely tell if the shrine maiden even wanted to interact with her, and in the case of Marisa, the magician's visits were so infrequent and brief that even in Flandre was out of the basement, she often had no opportunity to see Marisa. For the first time in her life, Flandre managed to not just make a friend, but spend an entire meaningful and fun night with her, and even make her feel at home without the help of Remilia.
When Koishi left the bathroom, she noticed that Flandre had changed into a similar outfit as the one she was currently wearing – it was a slightly darker shade of red, and had black trim as opposed to the light red trim of Koishi's. "I'm going to go wash up too, and then we can go to sleep, ok?"
Koishi nodded as Flandre entered the bathroom. She sighed, simply deciding that it would be better to think over the night's events after she made her escape. The satori retook her place laying down to the bed's left. She folded the clothes she was previously wearing and placed them inside her bag. She then placed her hat to the side of herself, and closed the two of her eyes that were still open.
Koishi didn't even begin to fall asleep before hearing Flandre's voice. "What are you doing on the floor again?"
Koishi opened the eyes she could open and rose to her feet, looking Flandre in the eyes. "Aren't you going to sleep on the bed, Flandre?"
"I was about to ask you the same question!"
"But if you plan to have me sleeping in the bed, where are you going to sleep?"
"…in the bed?"
"But I thought I'm going to be sleeping in the bed!"
"Ok, so it's settled, we'll sleep together. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
It took Koishi a second to realize the trick Flandre had pulled. For the first time that night, she decided that there was no point in arguing – Koishi had already been convinced to stay over and accept Flandre's gift and hospitality.
"But… but what about your… wings? They look kind of… sharp. What if I was to accidentally get stabbed by one of them if one of us rolls in our sleep?"
"Look, is something the matter Koishi? Did I accidentally make you uncomfortable again? I mean, if that's actually what you're afraid of, that's honestly… kind of silly. If I'm on my back, the wings are heavy enough to prevent me from rolling, and if you're really that afraid that you're going to bump into the points, you could always sleep right next to me. The crystals and the points will be totally out of your way, and while it won't hurt me if you sleep on them, it won't be uncomfortable for you either!"
"Flandre, the truth is… this isn't something I do normally. I really don't sleep all that often, and when I do, it's on the most comfortable pile of leaves or patch of grass I can find. I pretty much never stay at anyone's house, and when I do, it's only so that I can get a bite to eat and then leave. I'm sorry; it's just that this whole night feels really unfamiliar to me. Even you, my new friend, are really alien – I just met you, and already you've shown me more compassion than I've seen out of anyone I've ever met."
Koishi continued to speak about how her unease for a few seconds, but before she could get that much further, Flandre took a step forward and gave the satori a tight hug. "I think I know why you're so worried." The vampire started calmly, "You've never stayed over at a friend's house!"
Koishi tried to get out of Flandre's hold in vain. "Well, from what you've told me about your time in the basement, you haven't either."
"Ah, but I know you're not afraid of spending the night away from home from what you told me. Obviously, you're worried about the 'staying with a friend' part."
Koishi paused for several seconds before letting out a long sigh. Flandre was right, and it wasn't like worrying further was going to get her anywhere. Besides, Koishi promised herself that she'd worry about the night's events after her escape. But now that she thought about it, did she really want to escape at all? Koishi had certainly taken a liking to Flandre, Koishi's arms slowly but surely rose from her side, wordlessly returning the hug that she had received.
"You're feeling better now, aren't you? I knew it would work! Sakuya told me once that talking to people about how they're feeling can make them feel better. I've never really had a chance to try it, because you know, basement life and everything, but she was right!"
Koishi and Flandre released one another from each other's embraces. Koishi still didn't say anything, but for the first time in what felt like and what probably was an extremely long period, Koishi's spaced-out grin turned into a genuine smile.
"So, Koishi, are you ready to sleep?"
"Yes. After you, I suppose."
Flandre climbed onto the bed, and crawled across its top to the side nearest the door. She carefully got under the covers as she had gotten used to, as not to accidentally tear anything with her pointed wings. Koishi followed suit, settling herself on the other side of the bed. Flandre, seeing that her friend was all settled, sat up, and pulled the low-hanging string from the chandelier, plunging the room into darkness. Flandre then lay back down. "Goodnight, new friend." She said, before shutting her eyes.
It was half an hour later, and Koishi still was unable to fall asleep. She tossed and turned, and although all three of her eyes were closed and despite the fact that she was actually fairly tired, she still couldn't seem to drift into slumber. She was no longer plagued by her previous worries of accepting the hospitality offered to her – so what was keeping her awake? That's what she wondered as she struggled to get some rest. The satori eventually gave up on sleeping, and all but her third eye partially opened. She looked at Flandre's sleeping form, which was quite visible to one who had spent most of her life in a fairly dark place. Koishi's subconscious, despite being freed from the nervousness it was previously filled with, was now swamped with questions – "have I really never been shown this much compassion since I left home? What does Flandre really think of me? Should I manipulate her into telling me? Does she think of me as more than a friend? As less than a friend? What do I really think of her?"
The last of these stuck out like a sore thumb – Koishi thought to herself in the darkness about her feelings for Flandre. Koishi certainly admired Flandre's compassion and outward displays of friendship, but was there something more to that? Koishi wondered to herself if what she was feeling at the moment was love, and if she was, was it right? Koishi had met Flandre literally only hours ago: was it too soon to be thinking about her new friend like this?
Koishi eventually came to a solution. She told herself that regardless of what she was thinking she should do, she was feeling a little cold: yes, a little cold. She asked herself what could warm her up, and the clear answer was the only other living being close by. Koishi knew what she was doing, but tricking herself like this – a sort manipulation of her own subconscious – made her feel more at ease. Koishi slowly shifted herself towards Flandre. Koishi scooted over the vampire's wing, noting that Flandre was right when she said that her wings weren't uncomfortable, and over to Flandre's body. The satori carefully slid one of her arms under Flandre's body and out the other side, and the other arm over her, putting Flandre in a sort of awkward embrace.
The first thing Koishi noticed about her new position was the lack of additional heat she felt – she immediately remembered that Flandre wasn't actually a living thing: she was a vampire. Due to a lack of pulse or true life, Flandre was not nearly as invitingly warm as Koishi had convinced herself that she would be. Regardless of this, Koishi felt something. It wasn't warmth in a literal sense: no, Koishi still felt like she was hugging a corpse, but she began to feel very relaxed. Quickly, Koishi's uppermost eyes closed fully, and soon, she was entirely asleep.
Koishi awoke to the same darkness she'd fallen asleep in. She noticed that her arms, which had previously held Flandre, now lay flat in front of her – Flandre had clearly left some time before. At this point, Koishi's instinct told her that it was clearly time to leave the mansion behind. Clearly, Flandre had forgotten Koishi's existence during the night, and was continuing her existence as normal. Koishi rolled out of the bed and without turning on the light, changed back into her regular clothes. She remembered that Flandre told her to take the gown as a Christmas gift, and for that reason, Koishi folded it up and placed it inside her travelling bag.
Although Koishi had reasoned that Flandre and her weren't meant to be friends, she decided to do something special for the one who had shown her so much hospitality, despite Koishi not wanting to accept it. She opened up one of the two side pockets on the bag and rummaged through it. This was where she kept anything she found particularly curious that she could get her hands on – the object she was currently searching for was a transparent, red, spherical stone she had found lying around during her journeys. She eventually found the small rock, placed it on the room's night table, and walked to the room's window. She lifted up the shades with her hands so that they would lower on their own after she left, and opened the window. Koishi looked down, and upon seeing that this window was clearly not on the same side of the mansion as the courtyard was, Koishi floated out of it, and began to rise. Up and up she went, until she was flying above the mansion's roof. From what she could tell, Koishi had exited through the mansion's back, so she flew over the roof to the front. Finding herself in the courtyard once again, she flew over the gate, and lowered herself down right in front of it. Koishi decided to continue as if she had never stopped in the mansion: the path she was following would lead her through more woods and eventually up Youkai Mountain. As per usual, she had no interest in what was at her destination – rather she just wanted to reach it, and then set a course for a new one.
Koishi barely made it a few steps before hearing someone shouting behind her. "Hey you! Are you that Koishi that the mistress' sister's been shouting about all morning?"
Koishi turned around and saw the Meiling minding her post as usual. "Yes, my name is Koishi, and if you're talking about Flandre, we're acquainted. Why would she be yelling about me?"
Meiling shook her head, mumbling something about an "imaginary friend" before continuing. "Well, she misses you, and we're afraid that she's going to have… one of her tantrums if you don't come back to see her again."
"I doubt she wants to see me."
Meiling raised her voice. "Well, if she doesn't want to see you, then why's she screaming that she 'wants Koishi back' and that she'll break everything if doesn't get her way? Look, you already broke into the mansion and took food from what I understand, so if you don't help us out, you'd be making a very bad move."
"I guess I have no choice. I must ask though, how did you see me?"
"You landed right in front of my face. How could I not have seen you?"
Koishi shrugged, and moved back to the gate. Meiling opened it, and started walking towards the mansion, motioning impatiently for Koishi to follow. The satori decided to wait a little before following Meiling, thinking that the gatekeeper would forget about her existence if she stayed out of sight for a moment. After about five seconds, the gatekeeper turned back around to see if Koishi was still following her. "What are you waiting for? Come on!" She yelled.
Seeing has there was no escape that didn't involve shutting down Meiling's brain and watching her fall unconscious, Koishi quickly started following Meiling's path into the mansion. Koishi thought about how Meiling could have possibly seen her – was it just luck that she was seen? The only people who could see her without issue are those who knew of her sister. But how would any of the mansion's residents know of her sister? That's when it hit Koishi – she remembered telling Flandre about Satori. Maybe Flandre had told everyone about the elder Satori? There was only one way to find out: if the other residents of the mansion were able to see her, then that would be the only reasonable explanation.
Meiling, being a longtime inhabitant of the mansion, was able to reach the tree room without getting lost. Upon entering, Koishi saw Sakuya trying to comfort a distraught Flandre. Meiling went ahead to the pair. "I found the uninvited guest, Sakuya." Meiling whispered to the head maid.
"Flandre, look behind you. We found your friend."
Flandre turned her head to the door. Upon seeing her Koishi standing there, her crying immediately stopped. "Koishi, why'd you go?" She said, as she wiped the remaining tears from her face with her sleeve.
Koishi began to walk towards her friend. "I supposed that you had forgotten me when you woke up. I didn't see you around so, I kind of left. Did you at least get my gift?"
Flandre turned to fully face Koishi, revealing that she held the stone in her hand. Her eyes began to water again, this time out of happiness instead of sorrow. Flandre ran to Koishi, quickly closing the distance between them. Upon reaching the satori, Flandre hugged her tightly, as if to say that she never wished to let go.