A few months ago, there was an incident in Gensokyo involving the return of the rule-breaking Celestial Tenshi and the cold-hearted manipulation of newcomer Hata no Kokoro. Emotions ran haywire across all of Gensokyo. Humans were more aggressive than normal, the Scarlet Mistress was literally dying of laughter, and the maiden of the Moriya shrine turned against her own goddesses and tried to obtain dominance.
The leaders of the Taoist and Buddhist factions tried to intervene in this affair alongside the local Hakurei shrine maiden and human magician, but they too failed to match Tenshi's strength! But after all the betrayal that was revealed before her, the emotionless menreiki struck back against her manipulator, taking her down and restoring peace to Gensokyo once more. Tenshi was sent hurtling back to the heavens with her tail between her legs, and no one has heard from her since!
Local Hakurei shrine maiden took credit for the success of this resolved incident, but when asked to comment on her incredible defeat she assaulted the interviewer with one of her patented Yin-Yang orbs! …The talented interviewer in question is fine, thanks for asking.
In other news, renowned Youkai criminal Seija Kijin is still on the run…
"Tee-hee…" An alluring, mature chuckle slips from the lips of a female Youkai whose age could be described as immeasurable despite her physical appearance being that of a middle-aged human woman. In her right hand was a piece of newspaper titled "Scarlet Masquerade Resolved by it's Stoic Instigator?!", and in her left was a curved wine glass filled with a succulent red liquid. The woman, clothed in a deep purple dress and a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon, sat atop a curved, red gap in the middle of a partially cloudy sky with a light smile on her face.
As the woman finishes reading the newspaper, she casually opens another gap to the right of herself and puts the article inside of it, keeping her hand inside of there for a few more seconds so she can draw out a pink lace parasol that she unfurls and holds over her shoulder to block the sun from reaching her body. As one gap closes, another one opens to the left of her, and after bringing the glass of wine up to her face and taking a sip the woman gently places the cup back where it belongs via the newly opened gap.
She then rests her freed up hand on the edge of her gap, a gentle breeze blowing her dress to the right as she glances down upon the mythical land of Gensokyo. From how high up she was, she could see many familiar places. The Bamboo Forest, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the Hakurei Shrine and the Human Village were some of the most familiar places to her, and she glanced at them with a fond smile.
A few seconds later, another presence floats beside this mysterious Youkai. It was a nine-tailed human-like fox wearing a blue and light purple dress with blue print on the front and a two-tailed hat adorned with many amulets. The fox folded her arms inside of her sleeves and glanced briefly at the other Youaki with her yellow eyes, showing a hint of bewilderment as to what she was doing. "Lady Yukari…Are you reminiscing again?" The fox chose to inquire in a subdued tone of voice.
"Ran, I didn't expect to see you back so soon. I would assume you have news for me?" Yukari ignored the question asked of her by her shikigami servant and brought up one of her own without moving her head to look at the fox. Ran flinched for a moment in surprise, but then delicately explained while closing her eyelids "My efforts to find the tanuki have so far been unsuccessful. I have checked 73.45% of possible hiding spots in Gensokyo, but will resume my search momentarily."
"The tanuki is certainly not going to reveal herself so easily, but it is important that I speak to her. If you cannot find her on your own, Ran, then I suspect that she'll be forced out of hiding soon enough…" Yukari spoke cryptically of things to come, as Ran has come to expect, and after nodding her head the fox asked "Lady Yukari, it has been some time since the menreiki lost control of her emotions and threatened Gensokyo because of it. Is it really imperative to find the tanuki and address her about her chosen method of helping the menreiki out?"
Yukari then turned her head to look at her shikigami, folded the parasol up, and with one hand she swung the parasol in an arc and smacked the fox hard against her forehead. The pain causes Ran to yelp for a moment, but Yukari does not go any further than that single attack before she spreads the parasol back out and looks back down at Gensokyo. "I love this world we live in, Ran. I have loved it for thousands of years, and I wish to love it until my life is snuffed out." Yukari finally answers the fox's earlier question in an affectionate manner towards the land.
"That is why it imperative that everything goes according to plan for the foreseeable future, Ran. The menreiki is crucial for the protection of our world. The Celestial has seen why first-hand, but the full extent of her powers is known only by you and I. The tanuki may see us as enemies, but she is a wise soul and may come to temporarily align her goals with ours if we play our cards right." Yukari then goes on to answer the other question, but not because Ran mentioned it.
Ran nodded her head even though her forehead was throbbing in pain, and said in a delicate tone of voice "Then I shall depart. I will report to you again in a couple of days." Ran then flew off to handle her designated affairs, and once she was out of earshot Yukari's expression became a little more nostalgic before she commented "So here we are again…I wonder how things will turn out for us this time, Hata no Kokoro?"
Touhou Project Masquerade Arc Story 2: Empathetic Masquerade
Chapter 1: The Menreiki, Hata no Kokoro
In the celestial land of Bhavaagra, things have been rather peaceful for the past few months. The Celestials have been able to relax and meditate in peace, reaping the bounty of heaven's fruits and soaking in the light of their planet's sun. What's that, you say? You curious to know what happened to the mischievous child of heaven, Tenshi Hinawani? I assure you, she has not died or been sealed away, something like that wouldn't happen in Gensokyo these days.
Rather, Tenshi has become distracted by someone interesting that she met during the last incident she caused. And that certain someone was the expressive poker-faced Youkai, Hata no Kokoro. This strange meeting between Celestial and Youkai began with Tenshi manipulating Kokoro into doing terrible deeds to the denizens of Gensokyo. So why is it that Kokoro would bother with the Celestial after all that? Well if you're asking that question, then you need to go back and read the first story. It's never wise to start with the sequel first.
On this particular day, the blue-haired Celestial strolled through Bhavaagra, using her orange multi-functional blade the Hisou no Tsurugi as a cane that she grasps at the top with both hands. She was wearing her usual white blouse, blue dress and apron, and if that wasn't enough she could be easily recognized by the peach-topped black hat on her head. Tenshi had a smile on her face as she whistled her way through the heavenly lands, and she did this out of happiness instead of mischievous intent.
After moving for quite a bit of time, she stopped in place before the entrance of Bhavaagra, which could be identified by part of the Youkai Mountains poking through the clouds from down below. She expected someone to arrive from the surface of Gensokyo, and prior narration should make it obvious who she was expecting. The clouds rustled slightly, signifying that someone was just about to finish climbing up to the very top.
As Tenshi finished whistling and dispelled her Hisou no Tsurugi, her eyes glistened with anticipation and she kneeled down to reach for the hand of the person coming up. But when the hands poke through and grabs hold of Tenshi's own, the gentle rattle of a chain and the strength of the person's grip turns the Celestial's expression swiftly to that of annoyance. Reluctantly, Tenshi pulls up on the person despite the pain being inflicted on her delicate arm, and up comes the tiny night parade oni herself, Suika Ibuki!
Suika lets go of Tenshi's grip and launches herself into the air, the Celestial being thrown onto her buttocks from recoil as the oni lands on the ground with an unnecessary amount of force, which quakes the area around her as she nonchalantly raises her arms up and exclaims "Ten seconds up the mountain! Almost a new record! This is a cause for celebration!" The oni quickly falls onto the left side of her body, a drunken blush appearing on her face as she pulls out a chained gourd and places it up beside her mouth to let sake flow between her lips.
Needless to say, Suika wasn't one for neatness, and the sake quickly spilled onto both her tattered sleeveless shirt and into the clouds underneath her. After getting back onto her feet, Tenshi turns around and fiercely glares down at the oni, her foot impatiently tapping down for a few seconds before she briefly bent down and flicked one of Suika's horns to try and grab her attention. Even deep into sake as she was, Suika chose to stop and address the matter of Tenshi's impatience.
Lowering her gourd in front of her chest, Suika turns her head to glance up at Tenshi before saying to her in a youthful stupor "Tenshi! I didn't notice you there for a moment! Want a drink?" The oni raises her gourd up in offering, but Tenshi folds her arms together and says in a firm tone "You keep spilling all of your sake like that and soon Gensokyo will be experiencing a sake rain. So if you're going to drink, can't you do it on a stone pedestal or something?"
"Hmmm, a sake rain…That doesn't sound half bad. Reimu would consider that almost as much of a blessing as a donation!" Suika rubs her bottom of her chin in contemplation of that idea, and then proceeds to start drinking again without a care in the world. Tenshi cracks a ferocious grin and proceeds to say "You're really testing my patience, oni."
Suika pulls the gourd from her lips and lifts it towards Tenshi, saying to her in a merry tone of voice "Well if you're feeling tense, then just have a drink to melt your worries away. Besides, I thought you'd be acting a little nicer by now after everything that happened recently." The Celestial raises the right part of her lips along with twitching her eye, pointing out to Suika promptly "The day I'm nicer to you will be a terrible day for me."
"…So I guess that's a no on the sake?" Suika purposely ignores Tenshi's response and then shrugs her shoulders, going back to what she was doing before, causing the Celestial to sigh and comment as she relaxes her expression "I just don't know why you are still here. Is there really that much for you to do in Bhavaagra, or are you just sticking around to keep rubbing things in my face?"
Suika pulls the gourd from her mouth with a loud "Pop!" and then wipes her lips before stating "Tenshi, you should know me better than that after the last few years I've been around. I love to have a good time, and here I am able to do so! Besides, it'd be a waste of good property if I just vacated it." Tenshi then creaks her eyelids open slightly to glance to the side and murmur "Even though it's not your property to begin with…Can't believe I haven't been caught on that still."
"Didja say something?" Suika asked, and Tenshi immediately took advantage of the oni's stupor to say "Nothing at all, just go back to enjoying your sake." "Will do!" Suika exclaims, and lifts her gourd up high to dump tons of sake into her mouth. The Celestial then groans and decides to ignore the oni for the time being, even if Suika wouldn't ever give her the same treatment. She then turned around and continued to wait for Kokoro to show up.
It took another five minutes of patient waiting before another hand reaches up into the clouds. Tenshi smiled slightly and then helped the person climb into Bhavaagra. This time she got the right person, the lavender haired, blue plaid blouse wearing young Youkai known as Hata no Kokoro. Beside the girl's blank expression was a mask representing a young woman, which portrays the emotion of joy for the girl.
Kokoro stood atop the clouds and looked up at Tenshi's smiling face, which only further increased the joy she was feeling, even if her expression naturally did not change to show that. "Tenshi, you appear to be doing well." Kokoro says in an observant tone of voice, and Tenshi pats the girl warmly on the head before ruffling her hair slightly and saying "And you appear to be doing the same. It's been a couple weeks since I last saw ya, so why don't we go somewhere else and catch up?"
Kokoro tilts her head, a mask looking like an open-mouthed monkey appearing beside her as she asks "What's wrong with talking here?" Tenshi then flings her right thumb over her shoulder to point out Suika's presence in the area. It didn't take long for Kokoro's mask to change back to the previous one as she comments "I see…This must be what Mamizou referred to as a third wheel…"
"Ummm, I guess so? Well, whatever you just said, it basically equated to 'Suika's annoying, let's get going', right?" Tenshi didn't recognize the phrase Kokoro mentioned, but the way the Youkai nodded her head made it clear that she at least understood what it meant. "Alright then, I got a great idea for a conversation spot. Follow me!" The Celestial make a sharp turn to the right and then starts to walk forward, and Kokoro picks herself off the ground and floats off just moments later. Though she does glance back at Suika for a brief moment.
The oni stops drinking from her gourd in order to murmur to herself "Can't believe that all it took for Tenshi to stop causing incidents was to find her a friend…Though I got to say that it was probably the most unorthodox friendship forming experience I'll ever see." Suika then glances down at the clouds, getting a rather interesting idea in her head as she uses her powers to open a hole below her so she could plummet back into Gensokyo while laying on her side and drinking sake.
Back with Tenshi and Kokoro, the Celestial glanced over her right shoulder as Kokoro followed her close behind. It just seemed like yesterday that the two had formed a sisterly bond, what with how easily the memories of times since flow into Tenshi's mind. She specifically remembers introducing Kokoro to her parents, who actually let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that Kokoro was a friend instead of a tool for a prank…It was a good thing for Tenshi that her parents didn't recognize the Fuku no Kami mask of laughter beside Kokoro's face after they made that comment.
The best part of this bond between Tenshi and Kokoro was that the Celestial has not felt boredom at all since the last incident she caused. This lack of boredom came from listening to what Kokoro had to say about the events in her life. It was interesting to see how a Youkai, especially a newborn like the menreiki, perceived Gensokyo and it's inhabitants. Plus, Tenshi wanted to help Kokoro learn to open up more with her own emotions instead of relying on the masks that make up her being, but all things considered that wasn't a goal unique to the Celestial.
Tenshi and Kokoro then arrive at a thicket of peach trees, where the Celestial turns around and quickly plops onto her rear beneath the cracked shade of two of them. Crossing her legs and putting on a smile, Tenshi says "Come on Kokoro, sit down, I'll get you a bite to eat. You're probably tired after climbing the Youkai Mountain." She gestures in front of her to give Kokoro a suggestion on where to sit down, and the menreiki kneels down in front of Tenshi.
The Celestial then summons forth her Hisou no Tsurugi and glances towards the upper right tree, extending her blade out to gently poke into one of the many peaches on the branches. She then lowers her arm and decreases the length of the blade to put the fruit in front of Kokoro's face. The Youkai flinches for a moment, but then grabs the fruit from the blade and moves it towards her mouth.
Kokoro takes a tiny bite from the peach and slowly chews it, her cheeks puffing up slightly as her mask changes to that of the Hyottoko. "You enjoying the peach?" Tenshi asks as she leans one hand against her chin. Kokoro nods her head, and then rests the peach atop her face-holed skirt before commenting "That was the first time I have ever eaten a peach. I don't think there are any peach trees in Gensokyo."
"Well, there's more than enough of them up here…Much to my chagrin…So if you want to eat anymore, just let me know." Tenshi says, taking a moment to mutter out her annoyance before swiftly slipping back into her previous conversation. "So anyways, how have you been holding up lately? Are your Noh plays still going strong in the Human Village?" Tenshi asked to get things rolling, leading to Kokoro's mask changing to that of an old woman to represent melancholy as she mentions "Tragically, it seems the humans are no longer interested in watching the Hopeless Masquerade play. So right now I've been forced to take a break to try and figure out another play to perform."
Tenshi's eyes widen for a moment, but then her expression changes to subtle disappointment as she says "Awww, that sucks. But hey, at least I got to see a couple of them before you had to stop for now." The Celestial tries to put a bright spin on things, and that seemed to work in Kokoro's favor as her mask changes to the Hyottoko and she nods her head, saying to her friend "That's right. I do recall seeing you twice."
"Hehehe, I'd have come a couple more times, but then that crazy shrine maiden started showing up to watch you and well…" Tenshi lingers on the end of her sentence with a nervous chuckle, followed by Kokoro stating "You didn't want to cause any trouble. I'm proud of you for admitting that, Tenshi." The Celestial quickly takes two of her fingers and playfully pokes Kokoro on the forehead, saying to her in a humored tone "Hey now, I'm supposed to be the older one here."
The Fuku no Kami mask appears to show that Kokoro was humored by Tenshi's response, and after a momentary pause Tenshi gestures forth with her right hand and suggests "Say, your first play was based on an incident, right? Why don't you make another play based on the recent incident with that inchling?" "…Inchling?" The term was unfamiliar to Kokoro, who tilted her head with the monkey mask appearing beside her. Tenshi levels one hand right in front of her knee and explains "An inchling is about this tall, but they look a lot like a human otherwise. Apparently a single inchling caused a lot of trouble with this hammer that grants wishes, but now she's living in that crazy shrine maiden's home."
"I see." Kokoro stated plainly, but then tilted her head to the other side and asked "But wait, how do you know all this?" Tenshi jokingly replied with "I'm more surprised you don't know, don't you read the tengu newspaper? That's how I learned about the incident." Kokoro shook her head and stated "I do not have any money on me, I cannot get a newspaper…Plus I heard the tengu who writes the paper tended to spread misinformation."
"Well that's not completely off, but yeah, if you need any money for a paper of your own don't be afraid to ask." Tenshi offers, but this is then followed up by Kokoro asking "But wait, why would a tengu deliver a newspaper up here?" The Celestial nonchalantly explains to the Youkai with her eyelids shut "Well, you may not know this, but the tengu who wrote the newspaper is responsible for me finding you all those months ago. So in exchange for not telling everyone that she was technically an accomplice, she would start delivering the paper up here for me. Not like a lot of people needed an excuse to hate her more, from what I understand."
Kokoro's mask changes to that of the Hannya to show slight anger, and in a tone meant to berate she says "Tenshi…" Tenshi opens her eyes and quickly states "Hey hey now! I'm not causing any trouble, it's just a little bribe, that's all." Kokoro slaps one hand against her forehead and lets out a sigh, and then proceeds to think to herself "Well I guess it could be worse…"
The menreiki then decides to leave things be regarding Tenshi and her bribery and move on to another subject. "So Tenshi, what else have you been up to?" Kokoro asked, her mask reverting to that of the old woman in the process. The Celestial shrugs and says with a neutral expression on her face "Can't say much has happened in the last couple weeks, but that's to be expected up here. At least knowing you'll be coming around helps to alleviate the boredom. I'm just glad Iku agreed to be the messenger between us."
"You know Tenshi, you could also just come down to Gensokyo and visit me." Kokoro suggested in an honest tone of voice, and the Celestial nervously chuckled before admitting "I considered that, but it'd be rather awkward to go to the Human Village after that incident. If you got any other suggestions, I'd be happy to try and work something out." Kokoro taps one finger against her cheek and thinks things through for a few moments, and then answers Tenshi with "How about the Myouren Temple?"
Tenshi's eyes widen and she glances at Kokoro in disbelief while stating sarcastically "Yes Kokoro, that wouldn't be at all awkward for all parties." "Tenshi, I'm sure mom would forgive you for everything you did if you just gave her a very, very…very, very sincere apology." Kokoro tries to reassure Tenshi that everything would be ok with an apology, but the way she hammers it in ends up having the opposite effect.
The Celestial continues to widen her eyes while exclaiming in surprise "MOM? You're starting to call her MOM now?! I know her and the Taoist decided to 'adopt' you together, but you really shouldn't be calling her a mother considering she didn't…You know?" Tenshi makes a rather detailed popping noise afterwards, but Kokoro just tilts her head and summons the appropriate mask for her confusion. Tenshi then sighs and says "Never mind, you're too young for that."
After Tenshi lifts her head back up, Kokoro starts to say "If I'm considered to be her adopted daughter, and you and I consider each other to be sisters, then wouldn't technically she be your mom as well?" The Fuku no Kami mask appears beside her face, while Tenshi blushes slightly and exclaims "Not in this lifetime, Kokoro! Besides, I already have a mother of my own, you met her before."
Kokoro continues to innocently joke around by stating "I guess you would be the rebellious daughter then." Tenshi appeared to not be humored by this point, and with a stoic face the menreiki said to her "I was just joking around, Tenshi." The Celestial sighs and says "Kokoro, I appreciate you trying to learn how to tell jokes, but you do realize that it's hard to figure that out sometimes, right?"
The menreiki was about to gesture towards her mask, but then finds that it has already changed to that of the old woman, meaning her point would be made moot if she decided to say anything. Kokoro then sighs herself, and there was a bit of awkwardness between the two before Tenshi decided to ask "Anyways, on the subject of your 'mother', have you been seeing her at all in the last couple of weeks?"
Kokoro nodded her head, and then went on to explain "I will be going to see her later today as well. It's nice to go there and speak with all of the other Youkai leaving in the temple, and mommy always treats me fair. Plus, she's a great cook." "A great cook, eh? You'll have to sneak me up a meal from her sometime, it'd be a nice change of pace from the endless supply of peaches." Tenshi suggest with a slightly mischievous chuckle, and Kokoro went on to say "Or you could-"
"I'll take the offer into consideration, alright Kokoro?" Tenshi stopped the menreiki midway through when she realized what she was going to say, and Kokoro's mask changed to the Ko-omote as she nodded her head in an appreciative manner and stated "Thank you, Tenshi." The Celestial then tilted her head while once more leaning one hand underneath her chin for support, pondering things for a few moments before she outright said "Alright, enough about that pure as pure can be 'mother' of yours, weren't you also starting to go to that mansion where that Librarian almost killed me? Can't believe I'd ever say that…"
"It's been going fine. Come to think about it, I also have a session with them later on, and I plan to go there after I see mom. My two visits don't tend to cross on the same day often, but it's not hard to manage it." Kokoro explains, showing maturity in her commitments as she spoke of them. "So between me, your 'mother' and the vampire mansion, you got a busy day ahead of you." Tenshi says in an understanding tone of voice.
"Mmm-hmm…So my apologies if our visit has to be short today, Tenshi." Kokoro says while bowing her head forward. "Hey, that's fine with me, just so long as you promise to come back here again soon." Tenshi says while standing back onto her feet, feeling a bit of soreness in her legs due to how long she had been sitting for without moving them. Kokoro rises up moments later and floats above the ground and then says "Don't worry, I'll come back pretty soon."
Tenshi ruffles Kokoro's hair with a smile on her face, and the menreiki then turns around and prepares to head off. Before she goes though, the Celestial looks down and sees the bitten peach lying atop the clouds. Swiftly summoning forth her sword, Tenshi pokes the peach and then says "Heads up Kokoro!" Once Kokoro turns around, Tenshi flicks the peach through the air so the Youkai can catch it in her hand gently. Then after dispelling her sword the Celestial waved Kokoro off without saying another word.
Kokoro nods her head in an appreciate manner and then leaves to go back to the entrance of Bhavaagra while innocently chewing on the peach. Back in the peach tree garden, Tenshi rubs the bottom of her chin and then ponders to herself "Hmmm…Going down to Gensokyo to see Kokoro, eh? I'll have to keep that in mind."
Back with the menreiki, she ends up at the tip of the Youkai Mountain she climbed up to reach Bhavaagra, by that point leaving only the pit from her peach in her fingers. She tosses is nonchalantly over her shoulder and then drops down the hole remaining from Suika's earlier stunt. As the Ko-omote mask appears beside her, Kokoro begins her flight through the sun drenched land of Gensokyo, heading to the Myouren Temple to meet up with her "mother" for the day…
Next Time: The Not So Loyal Buddhists!