Rainbow: And now for something a little different.

Star: Touhou? That's an odd choice for you. I mean I know you like the games, but I thought that you preferred to leave series like that to the artists.

Rainbow: Well, I guess I do enjoy the art stuff more than the fanfiction out there for Touhou, but I still think that there's plenty of great written stuff as well. And I can't really draw, so…

Star: Okay, I get your point, but what's your idea even?

Rainbow: Well, I've always had a soft spot for Domestic Touhou.

Star: What does that even mean?

Rainbow: Well, you know, like pairings that are kind of settled. Not so much drama or passion, but just kind of comfortable, like Yukari and Ran!

Star: But isn't Yukari like an abusive master Ran in the canon?

Rainbow: Yeah, I know. It really bothers me that Yukari doesn't know how good she's got it! Ran's a caring, hardworking, powerful shikigami for her, and Yukari abuses her all the time! Plus, Ran is super cute and fluffy! So it just got me thinking about how much would change if Yukari lost Ran…

Star: Undoubtedly, just fine.

Rainbow: Yeah, well, let's just start the fic already!

It was a gray day in Gensokyo. A light rain was falling, rolling off windows and down roofs. A mist was gathering. It swallowed up every feature of the land and coated everything in a soft white blanket.

Yukari Yakumo knew something was different when she saw Chen.

"Good morning, Yukari-sama." Chen bowed her head then proceeded to walk off to the kitchen once she had woken up her master.

Yukari blinked. Chen was never so reserved, and usually Ran was the one to rouse Yukari in the morning. "Good morning, Chen." But Chen had already left the room.

Breakfast had proceeded as usual, with the exception that Ran did not arrive to eat.

"Do you know where Ran went?"

Chen stiffened. "Ran-sama went out." Yukari tilted her head in confusion. Honestly, Ran thought she could do everything, didn't she? Yukari sighed. She would have to discipline her shikigami again.

Thinking back on it. Yukari Yakumo would realize that that morning Chen had looked taller and that her lisp was gone. But she didn't, and the day continued.

As the day progressed, the mist thickened, and the rain started to beat harder. Yukari looked out from the porch into the yard. The ground was slowly but surely turning into mud. A thick, inconsistent slurry. The weather made her yawn. It was monotonous and soul sucking. At least it gave her an excuse not to go out, though she briefly considered visiting the shrine maiden to see if she could rouse some life out of the girl.

"I think it's best if you stay here, Yukari-sama." Chen bowed her head after saying her piece and continued on with the laundry, as if sorry that she had been bold enough to give her master a scrap of advice.

Yukari nodded. There was no rush.

The weather didn't agree.

A little past noon, the tempest hit Mayohiga. Lightning and thunder flashed and danced about. The rain had started a small flood. Yukari thanked the raised floors that kept the inch of water that had developed below from ruining everything in the house. Chen didn't seem to care either way. Yukari supposed that the weather had gotten to Chen too.

"It's alright, Chen. There's no need to be afraid of a little thunder and lightning," Yukari teased.

Chen opened her mouth to say something, but then her eyes darted past Yukari, and she stopped.

"Hm?" Yukari glanced behind her. Three shapes were darting through the storm towards the pair. Yukari turned around fully and waved. "Well look who came to visit!"

The trio arrived in a few minutes. They didn't bother going under the roof, nor with even landing.

"Well don't be strangers. You girls, can enter. As long as you take off those clothes. I don't want you dragging the storm all the way through my house."

"Shut it." Reimu glared down at Yukari. "And fix what you've done." Yukari found the end of a very wet gohei in front of her nose

"What?" Yukari tilted her head. "I'm sorry, girls. I'm not in the mood to play danmaku today-"

"She said to shut it, you hag." Marisa level her Hakkero at Yukari. "We're not playing around."

Yukari held her hands up. "I'm sorry. I really am! But what exactly are you accusing me of? I've been here all day." She still had that same smile on her face.

"Don't play dumb. I'm not in the mood for it, and neither is my mistress. You said we'd have a safe haven as long as we followed your rules. Well, we've followed your rules and now your silly border is falling apart. We're telling you to fix it."

Yukari shrugged. "I really don't have a clue about what you girls are on about. You can ask Chen. Maybe Ran has been neglecting her duties. You should have a talk with her. Besides," Yukari narrowed her eyes. "My border is perfect. The boundary between Gensokyo and the human world isn't absolute, but there is no possibility of it failing while a Hakurei-"

"Show her." Marisa turned towards Reimu.

Reimu's eyes didn't move off Yukari. Neither did her gohei. The arm that wasn't clutching the purification rod lifted itself up. Reimu's white sleeve fell away.

Yukari didn't believe it.

"That's right, isn't it?" Reimu didn't narrow her eyes, but suddenly Yukari felt her gaze intensify. "The great Hakurei Boundary can't fail while there's a Hakurei Maiden. No. That's a lie you've been telling everyone after you made a contract with my God." Reimu lowered her arm. "Youkai live in opposition to humans. That's why we exist in the bounds of something as phantasmal as Gensokyo. If Gensokyo must exist as the hope of Youkai, then the Hakurei Maiden must live as the hope of Humans, but if my heart is what beats life into this world, then why is this world rejecting me?"

"…"

"This is an incident. Don't deny it. Especially if you don't know what's causing it."

Chen stood up. "I think it's best if you all leave."

Sakuya glared at her. "We'll leave once this incident gets resolved."

"No." Chen started walking out towards the trio. "You will leave right now. You are disturbing my master."

"Your master is the reason Reimu is dying! Tell her to get off her lazy ass and-"

Chen leveled her gaze at Marisa. "All humans die. That is simply their nature." Yukari blinked. Chen was definitely taller than before. She almost looked to be around Ran's height. "If you really care so much about her, take her home and spend her last moments with her."

Chen turned to Reimu. "Yukari-sama and I appreciate the effort you've made, Reimu-san. We will start working on it right away, please go home and rest. The strain of trying to do anything will only worsen your condition."

Reimu tensed.

"Fighting will do you no good, and it will certainly not help us." Chen turned away from the trio. "Please leave before I make you."

Sakuya shrugged and turned towards the other two.

Marisa glowered and propped Reimu over her shoulder. "C'mon, let's get you home."

The trio left.

Yukari was still stunned.

"Yukari-sama, you will catch a cold if you stay out in this weather long enough, even if you are under cover. Let's go inside." Chen offered a hand to Yukari and hoisted her up onto her feet.

Yukari remained slack fisted, but allowed herself to get up. "Chen… What is goi- Where's Ran?"

Chen whirled around and looked Yukari dead in the eye. Yukari noticed for the first time how sharp Chen's eyes had become and how tall she had gotten. They were almost eyelevel. Cat-slitted eyes boring into purple.

"Where's Ran?" Yukari repeated. Where had she gone, surely she had something to do with whatever was going on. Was she the reason everything was going haywire? Yukari had a brief flash of anger. She would have to beat that fox for overstepping her boundaries again then-

Then Yukari looked into Chen's eyes and a cold something dropped into her stomach. Something was sinking. No… What if Ran while repairing the boundary-?

Chen led Yukari.

They stopped in front of Ran's room.

Originally, Ran had slept with Yukari, but over the years, Yukari had kept kicking her out, sometimes in favor of meeting and talking to someone else in private. Ran had naturally migrated to a room close-by, but far enough to be respectfully far away enough from her master.

"Ran-sama is in here." Chen gestured to the sliding rice paper door.

"I though you said-" Yukari turned slightly to face Chen.

"Ran-sama is out."

Rainbow: And we'll cut it here!

Star: That may have been the most confusing unexplained thing I've ever read.

Rainbow: Don't worry, I'll fill out the details later. Actually, I think I hit everything I wanted to do in this chapter!

Star: You know not explaining things is not good writing, it's just lazy.

Rainbow: Oh, c'mon! I just wanted to get the ground work out for this. I actually kind of like how this is working out. I think it's working out to be like "Redemption," maybe I just write those kind of stories, but I think I want this one to be a little more mystery and tragedy. I think Touhou gives a great set up to those kinds of stories. Gensokyo's a really happy place, but there are a lot of mysteries, and if you start thinking about time, a lot of things become quite sad.

Star: Like what?

Rainbow: Well, like how do Shikigami's actually work, and is there a line of succession through them if the master dies. I think the fact that the protagonists are human is also pretty heartbreaking when you consider how fleeting they are in comparison with everything else. But I guess I'll talk about that stuff later. In the meantime, I'd really appreciate any feedback and comments!

Star: Wow, smooth transition. We'll probably get a lot of constructive criticism for that one.

Rainbow: Hey!

Star: Anyways guys, thanks for reading. If you managed to enjoy this, leave a review, and we'll see you in the next chapter.

Rainbow: Wait, that's my line!