The dark space surrounding the void appeared to be endless. The faint outline of millions, if not, billions of inactive screens made up the bulk of the void's area. There was no visible light source to be found so it was not clear where was up or down, left or right. A faint whirring could be heard filling the void, mechanical in nature. Then, in what appeared to be centre of endless emptiness, a beam of light shone from above. It could not be determined how far up the light came from but it did show that the area where the woman sitting on a chair could be seen in the middle of the spotlight was the ground. The woman, who appeared to be a long-haired blonde in her mid-20s, was dressed in an elegant purple gown with a white parasol rested by her side. She was relaxed in her posture, reading a newspaper whilst having one leg rested on the other, absent-mindedly flipping through the pages. Then, her eyes glanced over her paper, looking at nothing. With a quiet "Ah.", she put away her paper on the floor and brought out a pair of glasses from thin air to address no one.

"I apologise for my rudeness, everyone. I did not notice you were there," she said with a calm smile. The silence of the void grew. "Now, now, calm down. I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here and how you got here in the first place. I brought you all here today because what I am about to show you will amaze you." Snapping her fingers, the billions of screens came to life and began to circle around the space of the void, their light illuminating the floor even further. And yet, there was only the woman.

"Ohoho, you must think I'm crazy, aren't you?", she giggled with a hand over her mouth as though she were a giddy high-school girl. "Oh, stop it, you! Calling me a high-school girl, you're making me blush!"

At this point, the air of friendliness dissipated from her as her eyes morphed to that of a cunning fox. "I know what you're thinking. I may not be able to read minds but I can see things beyond this realm. Were you thinking I was talking to an audience of zero? No, no, no. I was addressing you. Yes, you. Person looking at me right now. I know you're there. With my ability to manipulate boundaries, I can easily blur the line between perspectives and from I see, I have an audience."

She then stood up, slung her parasol over shoulder and covered her mouth with an open purple paper fan. "My name is Yukari. That is all you need to know for now but I am sure you fully know who I am. If not, why are you here? Speaking of which, that brings me back to what I wanted to explain earlier: the 'why' in 'why you're here'."

She began to slowly pace up and down the void, the spotlight following her with every echoing step. "I brought you all here because you were people who knew of Gensokyo's existence. To those of you who do not know, Gensokyo is this mystical land protected by a powerful magical barrier that hosts many youkai and items forgotten by the world outside. I should know; I created that land. Now, many of you will have heard of the many interesting adventures the inhabitants of this land have undergone. However, this is the main course of events that could be said to be the 'proper' timeline for us."

She leaned forward as if get a better look at her 'audience'. "Ara~? This sounds confusing, you say? Fret not, imagine this; with every decision made or forgone, a new set of timelines are created. Similarly, for every action or event that has been done or taken place, there will exist a world in which an entirely distinct set of actions or events have been set into motion." The woman named Yukari then pointed towards the dizzying array of screens circling around the void with a smile. "These screens are basically those worlds taking place right now as we speak. Each screen represents an instance of Gensokyo that exists because of these possibilities. There's a Gensokyo in which I do not have the same abilities as I do now and be a useless bum in a decrepit apartment. There's also a Gensokyo in which Gensokyo was never a magical place to begin with but instead an actual city in Japan. But, the place we are in is not Gensokyo but is a dimension that lies in a gap between these instances. However, this too, is an instance of Gensokyo due to the decisions I have made in bringing you here."

"That is indeed correct!", replied a similar feminine voice. Without warning, it appeared that the endless void of spinning screens was replaced with the stage setting of a 70s television commercial. Where there were an infinite number of screens was now inside of a technicolour glass screen of a cathode-ray operated Sony television with Yukari still in it. However, the voice also came from Yukari who was now clad in tight purple bell-bottomed jeans and a white short-sleeved turtleneck sweater that hugged her figure. With her hands on the TV whilst looking into a broadcasting camera, she grinned wide. "What you are seeing here is also an instance of Gensokyo! Don't worry darlings, you're all in there too! I've just decided to be a gal and brought your focus of consciousness into this instance; the 'you' in the void instance is still with the 'me' of that place, listening to her long-winded exposition dump on how Gensokyo works. But don't worry, y'all got little old me to hang out with and teach you some groovy sci-fi theories!" Her sweater did little to minimise the effects the laws of physics were having on her chest with every excited movement she made.

"But!", she exclaimed, sitting on the TV with one leg crossed over the other. "Getting into the nitty-gritty of it all is plain boring. So, why don't I just show you instead!" She then lowered her hand to the TV dial, her smile still there. "What I am about to show you is one of many instances of Gensokyo. Think of it like a TV show. So just sit back, relax, and welcome… to the Void."

Storekeeper Cirno

"Come on, Cirno! You promised that you'd pay up because you lost the bet!"

"Nuh uh! I don't wanna! Ah told you that I did not wanna go through with it anyway!"

"So, I guess what everyone said was right; you are an idiot."

"Rumia! Stop it! That's mean and you know it!"

"Ah'm not an idiot, dummy! I'll prove it to you!"

"Oh yeah, how? Getting a job?"

"Yeah! I'll get a job and ah'll show you that ah am smart enough to beat you!"

SMACK!

The alarm clock was silenced with a quick smack across the room by Rumia. The youkai of darkness stared blankly at the ceiling, her mind remembering that one confrontation she had with the ice fairy. At the time, Cirno, Daiyousei and Wriggle were playing by the Misty Lake like they always did. All went by without incident until Wriggle suddenly decided to make a bet. From where they were, they could see the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gate and, by extension, the gatekeeper, Hong Meiling. Due to her tendency for falling asleep on the job, it was quite amusing for the band of misfits to see the head maid of the mansion appear from nowhere and chase Meiling around. Interestingly, she never appeared in the same spot a certain number of times and she always appeared in a set number of locations which meant that it was predictable but had enough of a degree of uncertainty for it to become a gambling game.

Oddly enough, everyone but Cirno agreed to the bet. Now that she thought of it, it was strange for Cirno to behave that way because she was the one who would jump into a stupid plan head first. Noticing this, Wriggle persuaded her to join in. Cirno conceded with a heavy sigh but with the condition that she never actually consented to the bet. It was fun. Everyone picked a spot and betted with the sweets they had on them. Even Cirno appeared to enjoy it as she racked up a pile of sweets from three consecutive high-stakes wins. However, the fight happened after Cirno wanted to leave after winning. Everyone was upset because she was about to walk away with most of their sugary possessions. Rumia, too, was swept up by the fervour of contempt they had for the ice fairy. Then, after much discussion, which Rumia was not part of for some reason, Wriggle challenged Cirno to a simple bet: if she could find and freeze a frog within the next 2 minutes, she could keep everything. Confident in her skills, Cirno accepted. However, it proved difficult for her to find even a single frog which, now that Rumia thought about it, seemed odd but sweets were on the line so no one pointed it out. And she failed, thus leading to the verbal fight Rumia kept seeing in her dreams. After that, the ice fairy flew away in tears, swearing to never play with them again. Rumia, along with the others, thought nothing of it.

Five years had passed since then.

Everyone felt bad after Cirno did not show up three days after the fight. To make things worse, Wriggle then admitted that she rigged the game by using her ability to communicate with bugs to get insects to lure frogs away from the Misty Lake to ensure her victory. Since then, her guilt never fully went away. Rumia assumed that was probably the reason that the fight kept replaying in her dreams. She looked at the picture of the gang smiling together on the drawer in front of her. A sigh escaped her lips; she never got the chance to apologise.

She got out of her bed and groggily picked up her alarm clock from the floor. 6:52. She then walked down to the kitchen and checked her fridge. No food either. She grumbled at her own mistake at forgetting to get groceries the weekend before. However, she noticed a flyer stuck to the door of the fridge. 'Grand opening of Mysty Mart, huh?', she wondered. Mystia, who had been talking about expanding her business, had started her own chain of convenience stores last year. There were only two at the moment—one in the Underground and one in the Forest of Magic—but with the inclusion of this newly opened one in the Human Village, that made three. 'I guess I could get my breakfast there.'

15 minutes later

Fully dressed in her black vest and dress combo with a red bow-tie, she made it to the convenience store. She grew to be rather tall and slender over the years which made her happy because she finally looked less like a little girl despite being hundreds of years old. However, the rest of her friends seemed to grow apart over those years as well. Such was the reality of growing up. Daiyousei decided to live up to her title of Great Fairy by training to be a pro martial-artist with Meiling and Wriggle went away shortly after the fight. As for herself, she worked as a host at a host club. Even though only men became hosts, she was passable enough as one that the club owner let her work. The fact that she looked good in a proper two-piece suit complete with a blood-red necktie meant that she was one of the more popular hosts, much to her confusion and damage to her ego as a woman. She thought for sure that her new grown-up form would make people see her as more of an adult, which they did. Just not the way she had hoped it to be. Well, girl's got to eat somehow. She let herself chuckle a bit at the thought of the disappointment the ladies that frequented the club would have had if they found out that she was actually a poor woman barely able to pay the rent on time.

She snapped out of her internal word vomit when she heard the cheery jingle of the convenience store as she stepped through the automatic glass doors. "Welcome to Mysty Mart!", said the sweet voice by the cash register. Turning her head in response, Rumia found herself gaping in shock at the sight of the person behind the register. Six floating icicles behind her back, blue eyes and cool azure long hair, there was no mistaking it; it was Cirno!

"Rumia, is that you?", she asked in a genuine tone of surprise!

'Argh! The pure words of intrigue, it hurts!', thought Rumia as she clenched her chest. "Yeah… it's me, Cirno. How're you do-!"

The air in her lungs escaped as Cirno jumped over the counter and tackled her in a bear hug. "Oh, Rumia! It's been so long! How have you been!", Cirno exclaimed excitedly.

"Y-yeah… I'm good, Cirno, I'm good,", groaned Rumia. "So, can you please move? I know that you know that I know that you're happy to see me but I'm hungry and I kind of want to buy some breakfast here." The ice fairy's face flushed red and apologised profusely. However, her frantic apologies were unheard as Rumia spaced out, thinking about her own apology that she never had the chance to say. The ice fairy was now here in front of her but she needed to find out when would be an appropriate time to have a chat with her.

"…so, how about we do some catching up now? It's not supposed to be my shift today but I'm just here to step in for a co-worker to pick up some new stock. Besides, it's about 7 in the morning and there shouldn't be a lot of people coming in at this time of the day."

'Well, that solves that problem,' thought Rumia. "Sure, I was just about to ask that as well."

"Okay! Sweet! I'll just go make some quick checks by the register so that everything's in order when I handle your purchases," said a happy, now that Rumia noticed it, taller, more mature Cirno. Even the brash hot-headed fairy could not escape being tempered by growing up it seemed. Her speech sounded proper as well.

Rumia shook her head. She was now looking over the hot meals offered and spacing out was not an option she would consider to be breakfast. In choosing between the grilled Mysty-Mart eel and the crispy piping-hot crab-cream croquette, her mind began to wander again. 'Damn it. Why do I keep worrying over this?! She said she would want to talk after I buy breakfast. But… what do I say then? Does she even remember anymore? What if I mess up my words or forget what I wanted to say when we get there? Crap. All this thinking is making me nervous. Talking to her now would be the best course of action because I would then be done with it and walk away. Yeah. That sounds right.'

"I'd recommend the croquette, Rumia. It's nice and crunchy, it'll definitely give you that jumpstart to your day!", boomed a loud voice.

Rumia let out a yelp as she was snapped back into reality again. "Yeah, that sounds like a nice meal, alright. I'll take your word on it."

"Cool! Would you like anything else?"

Crap. I have come to the purchasing part without realising it! It's now or never now. "Cirno, it's a bit awkward to say this now but… I just want to say…"

"That you're sorry, right?"

The eyes of the darkness youkai shot wide in shock. "What?"

"You wanted to say you're sorry, right, Rumia?", Cirno asked, her face downcast contrasting with the happy-go-lucky personality she had earlier. "You didn't have to say anything for me to know. Did you think that I wouldn't notice with you walking around aimlessly with sunken eyes?"

Rumia was at a loss for words. She did not know what to say. Her mind blanked out but this time due to this sudden turn of events. "Y-yeah, Cirno, so do you-?"

"I forgive you."

"…huh…?"

"I said, I forgive you, ya dummy!", cried Cirno, her tears pitter-pattering on the counter. "I've done so on the night of the day you said those mean things to me."

Rumia said nothing. Her mind could not comprehend how the ice fairy had already forgiven her a long time ago. She tried to think of an answer but nothing came out. Before she knew it, streams began to flow down her face as she smiled. "Ah…. ah…. ah…AHHHH!"

"Why… Cirno? Why?", sniffled Rumia. "You've gone and proven me wrong and got a job. Why aren't you mocking me for my words?"

What the ice fairy said next broke the last bit of the dam holding back Rumia's feelings: "Because we're friends, aren't we?"

The youkai of darkness was reduced to a sobbing wreck. Ugly crying. The ice fairy, wiping away her own tears, embraced her friend in a compassionate hug.

Bonus

After having a friendly talk reminiscing about the good old days and trash-talking their own jobs, Rumia and Cirno were pretty much friends again. In what she considered to be an act of compassion, Rumia added a bottle of royal milk tea and a toy gun. Why the toy gun? So, she could pretend to shoot the annoying ladies that craved her attention at the club she worked at. However, there was one problem: she did not have enough money. She also was not familiar enough in this part of the Human Village to know if there was a bank nearby. The Mysty Mart here did not have an ATM yet too. This was a crisis.

"Man, how embarrassing…", said Rumia while scratching the back of her head. "Cirno, could you tell me where the nearest bank or ATM is? I'll come back as soon as possible."

With a wide smile, Cirno said, "Sure! It's right next to my house!"

Huh?

"Very funny, Cirno. So, if the bank is next to your house, then where exactly is your house?"

"Right next to the bank!"

'…'

"...what?"

'...'

"Rumia, why are you shoving the toy gun into your mouth?"

A/N: Hey there! I've been of this concept for a while now because I thought that it would be great to take the 'drabble' format and gave it a touch that I thought would be perfect for Touhou. It's basically where I take an interesting idea, silly or serious or whatever, and write it in here while at the same time making it part of a 'story' of sorts as well. I hope you guys like it!