Author's Note: What am I even getting myself into!? This is quite the hassle for just trying to get used to typing this directly into the Fanfiction site. I may end up losing all of my work someday. Also, this is very badly written, but I'm not sure why. I'd like some constructive criticism, perhaps.
Like the rest of the strange carts on the black path, it grumbles and sputters as if complaining about its current conditions. I look up to see that the door into the big box on wheels had opened. Sitting in a seat was Mamizou, the troublesome tanuki that "accidentally" destroyed my bar, in a useless disguise.
"Why're you here?"
"Oh, you recognized me! I'm here merely to drive this bus. I was hired not too long ago."
"That's the name of this huge box? A bus?"
"That's correct, kid."
"Watch it. I'm thirty two."
The strange man speaks up. "You know her?"
I respond, "Yes, she was the one who always used to get into fights at my bar and destroy the whole place, even when she wasn't drunk. And she'd always say that it was an accident!"
The tanuki grins. "Ah, those were the good times."
Before I can punch her, the man asks, "You owned a bar, literally the center of all news and information, and you don't know what a bus, a microwave, and a phone is?"
"Yes."
The bloody dog barks, "I've lived in that same area for over 20 years and I know all the technology!" I throw a punch at her, but she blocks, saying with mock surprise, "Oh, my! You know it's not nice to hit girls."
"Shut up!"
The man seems to be at a loss of words, so he forcefully drags me to a seat in the rear end of the bus. Seeing this, Mamizou yawns, turns around to where her seat is facing, and proceeds to press a slab of metal with her foot, closing the door and barrelling the bus forward.
Finally appearing to know what to say after a few minutes of silence, he inquires, "You come from Japan, where there's a lot of buses and such, even in the countryside, but you don't know what a bus is?"
I answer with another question. "Can we speak outside of this bus?"
"Sure th..."
Nevertheless, that blasted tanuki interrupts, "He comes from a place that used to be Japan, but is now secluded. It's closed off from the rest of the world because someone wasn't in their right mind when they decided to cast a spell or some magical shit like that."
I feel my anger rising. "Can you just shut up?"
"No."
Confused, the man begins by trying to clarify automatically. "So… You come from a place that has a legend that it was separated from the rest of the world…."
"Gensokyo. It's a large area, but it's small compared to the world. It's literally a fantasy land," Mamizou explains, "That has monsters in general, a small population of humans, mythological Japanese creatures, giants and inchlings, spirits, faeries, devils, vampires, and magicians, to name a few."
"Shut up, Mamizou!"
"A place with a lot of monsters and few humans? Is it a real place, and is that even on the map?"
"Yes. It's real. But only a small number of people know about it, so of course it wouldn't be on any mainstream maps."
"I swear to the Hakurei god that you…!" I stopped, composed myself, and continued calmly. "Just keep quiet, alright?"
"But he already knows now."
"That's because of you!"
"Oh, well..." That dog will surely meet her doom someday.
"Why'd you tell him?"
"He seems trustworthy."
"Butー"
"Are you saying that he's not trustworthy?"
That beast! "Er… Yes? No? I still barely know him!"
The man joins the conversation once again. "Speaking of which, what's your name?"
"Mamizou."
"I'm talking to the young man here."
Masaru… Would Victory work? "Victor. What's yours?"
"Tyler. By the way, Miss Mamizou, didn't our stop just pass?"
"You didn't say where you were headed, so I just kept on going."
"And no one got on or got off?"
"The streets are deserted. This bus is also deserted."
"Well, anyways, can you go back to the last stop or at least drop us off over here?"
"I can't go back. This is a one-way thing, and if I'm seen going backwards, people'll get confused. So I'll drop you guys off here, then! See ya."
The doors open, so we get out and immediately make our way towards the last bus stop. At once, a gap appears underneath the bus and swallows it. Seeing this, the man turns towards me, pointing to the empty space where the bus once stood and calmly asking, "Victor, does this happen every day in Gensokyo?"
Well, he knows about Gensokyo already… might as well tell him what he wants to know. "Yes."
"So what was that, young man?"
"The gap that took the bus?"
"Is that what you call it? A gap?"
"Yep."
"What causes that?"
"Just a youkai."
"Oh. So are there different types of youkais?"
"Yes. And also, perhaps you could say 'youkai' instead of 'youkais.' It's the preferred use."
"Ah, sorry." He turns a corner, and I follow suit.
If there is such a thing as fate…
I remember one part of the human village that looks almost exactly like this area. It has a bread store to the left of a general store and two rows of houses lining the rest of the block. To the right are a clothing shop, a sweets stand, and three more tightly-packed rows of houses. To get to my house, I'd turn left from here...
The man and I turn left.
Then I'd continue down the road and turn left again...
The man and I turn left once again.
Then after four buildings, I'd arrive...
The man and I continue for five buildings, snapping me out of my slight trance of remembrance.
"Here we are!" The home before me is bright white, with neatly trimmed trees, perfectly spherical bushes, and uniformly tall grass. We walk on a red brick path leading up to the door, and he pulls out a bundle of keys from a pocket, jamming each one into the keyhole until he seems to find the right one. He twists it around and pulls it out, proceeding to open the door.
"You can keep your shoes on." Ah, I'm wearing shoes. Although I usually go barefoot, I recall that I was to be more civilized in order to attend a special event in which the new Hakurei Miko would be announced; Reimu apparently has a child now. It's meant to be quite a large event for Gensokyo as a whole, since most people support Reimu for her impressive success at implementing the spellcard rules and maintaining relative peace within the human village. And without a doubt, I'm missing the event! That old lady probably gapped me here. Does she think that I'll get in the way of the ceremony? I'm not at all a dangerous person; I have no fighting skills with my bare hands, much less with a weapon.
I enter the house. Unlike the outside, the inside of the house is dusty and cluttered, reminding me of the junk shop. There are many phones of different sizes lined up on a table, connected to the same wall by some black and white ropes.
"Mary, he's here!"
A cheery blonde woman in a frilly purple dress pokes her head out from behind a pile of wooden figures. "Hmm? Oh, my. Quite a handsome young man you brought here! You say he comes from Japan?" Then directed at me, "I'm his wife, as you may already know. My name is Maribel, but you may call me Mary. What's your name?"
They look remarkably similar… Or is she… I speak before Tyler does. "Yukari? Is that you?"
"Ah, you, too? Over the years, so many people have mistaken me for that person, yet I still don't know who she is! She must be famous or something along those lines, but a simple web search doesn't show much!"
"Oh, sorry. Um, my name's… Victor."
"It's alright. Nice to meet you! But your name doesn't sound Japanese. I think Masaru would fit you better if you had a Japanese name." Right on point!?
"He's not from Japan, but from a place that was originally part of Japan," he casually states. Spreading the word, now, are we?
"Ah… is it… Gensokyo?"
And the man loses his aggravatingly calm manner. "You knew about this? How… You didn't tell me..."
"Ah, I've always wanted to tell you, but you were either busy, busy, or busy."
"How'd you know about this place? I've heard that it was only known to some people outside of the area."
"Why can't I be one of those people? Well, I was in a little sealing club at my high school in Japan with my best friend. Remember I told you about that?" Tyler nods hesitatingly. "So one day, we discovered that we could go to this fantasy land by dreaming. Oh, did you know that 'Gensokyo' in Japanese literally means 'Land of Fantasy' in English?" Tyler blinks and takes off his hat. His enthusiastic wife continues, "Isn't that nice? And it sure has a very fitting name! It has so many nice people there and a lot of beautiful landmarks and scenery, so I still visit it every now and then."
"So I can't fly there and take him there."
"Well, you can take him to Japan to get him closer."
"Oh. Then how will he get to Gensokyo from there?"
"Either by some magical force or by dreaming and finding a way to stay there permanently. Without dying, of course! This is an extremely dangerous feat."
"I'll take him first thing tomorrow morning, then. And since it's getting a tad late, can you show him to the guest room so he can rest up?" At this, Mary stands and directs me down the hall and to the second polished wooden door on the right.
"And the restroom is right next door! I'll supply you with a new toothbrush, some toothpaste, and some clothes, so don't worry about that. Besides, we have plenty of supplies! Sleep easy, got it?" She's always smiling, which forces me to smile in return.
"Yes, thank you very much!"
"Good night! Good luck tomorrow!"
"Thank you for accepting me. Good night!"
