Hmmm… Only one review… And I thought I would be able to attract people if I put effort into making a long first chapter with the best quality I can make… Guess isn't as populated as it used to be…

Here's hoping that more people will read and review this story…

Chapter 2
Trip to the Outside World


Yukari, Sanae, and Shingyoku stepped out of the former's gap and found themselves in the countryside. Not too far away, they could see some people gathered together. "That's got to be the one," said Yukari.

"Wow! I can't believe I'm back in the outside world!" said Sanae while looking around the place, not listening to Yukari as a result. She stretched her arms and took a deep breath. "The air sure is fresh! It's as good as Gensokyo's!"

"That's because we're in the countryside, where the air is fresh compared to cities," Yukari told her, and then she turned to Shingyoku. "Since you're unfamiliar with everything out here, you should avoid doing and saying anything unnecessary as much as possible. Also try to act natural to everything you see. I know there are many things out here that will surprise or confuse you, but since we don't want people giving you strange looks because of your behavior, try to pretend that all that you see is nothing special."

"I will," said Shingyoku with a deadpan face.

"I think he should do fine," Sanae told Yukari. "Honestly saying, it doesn't look like he's good at making expressions nor does he looks like the kind of person who would be surprised so easily." Then she said to Shingyoku, "No offense…"

"I am not offended in any way," said the gatekeeper.

"Well yeah, he's actually that kind of person…" said Yukari. "Anyway, let's go over there and see if we can learn anything."

The trio headed over to where the people were. The people were gathered around a yellow line set up by the police, and on the other side of the line was a white string tied by their ends to form a circle and placed on the ground.

Taking a look at the white circle, Yukari asked a person next to her, "Excuse me, sir, what is happening here?"

"A dead body was found here," replied that person. "That white circle is where it used to be. They've taken the body away so that autopsy can be performed on."

"I've seen the body," a woman close by said after hearing him. "It's all shriveled up like it turned dry. It's really creepy…"

"Oh my… What could have possibly caused that kind of death…?" asked Yukari, pretending to know nothing.

"It looks almost as if a blood-sucking creature sucked out her blood…" said the woman.

"Maybe a vampire did it!" said Sanae.

"I normally wouldn't believe you, but seeing how that corpse looked like, I'm inclined to agree with you…" said the woman. "I'd rather think that some dangerous person drained her of her blood or something like that… That sounds more realistic."

"Whoever did that must be sick out of his mind…" said the man. "The killer must be an insane cultist trying to appeal to his made-up god or something by doing this."

"Does anyone know where this woman lives?" Yukari asked them.

"Yeah, she lives in that house over there," replied the woman while pointing to a house in the distance. "There are police investigating that place at the moment to see if they can find out more about this."

"Thanks!" Yukari said to her, and then she turned to leave, telling Sanae and Shingyoku to come along. "Let's go over there and see if we can find out anything, shall we?"

They made their way to the house, and it was just like the woman said, police were investigating the house. They had yellow lines set up all around it so that people couldn't cross over. "They're obviously not going to let anyone go in there…" said Sanae, looking at the house.

"Nothing is stopping us from taking a peek, though," said Yukari before making a small gap appear in front of her eyes. When she looked through it, she was able to see the interior of the house from the ceiling. The gap moved around so that she could see different parts of the place. There wasn't anything peculiar, other than a messy dinner table, evidence that someone had been using it.

"Saw anything?" Sanae asked her.

"Can't say I found anything useful…" replied Yukari.

A policeman investigating the house saw the gap, so Yukari closed it fast. The policeman thought he saw something, but since he couldn't see it anymore, he decided to shrug it off as seeing things.

"Oopsie… Almost saw me there…" said the demon.

"How about we just ask? I'm sure they're willing to spare some info if we offer to help. It's easier that way!" suggested Sanae, and then she turned to a policeman standing behind the line. "Excuse me, officer, have you found anything peculiar in there? Like anything that can help find out who that woman's killer is and where he went? We're willing to lend a hand in this matter if we get to learn more information."

"Until we find out more evidence, all information is to remain confidential," the policeman told her. "I appreciate you wanting to help, but I believe that it's best that you leave things to the police."

"Please… I'm very good at solving incidents! You can trust me in getting this sort of thing done!" begged Sanae.

"Please leave things to us," the policeman insisted.

"We'll let them do their job for now," Yukari told Sanae. The group moved away from the place, and then Yukari said she'll try to take a peek in there again. She opened up a smaller gap that only allowed one eye to look through. She carefully scanned the place to make sure that nobody would see her.

Her eyes eventually fell upon a couple of policemen standing in front of a map taped to the wall. There was a pin at one part of the map and a red "x" marked on a location close to it. "I have a feeling that the culprit has headed over to Tokyo," said one of the policemen. "The pin here is where we currently are, and that 'x' must be marked by the killer."

"What makes you so sure?" asked the other policeman.

"You see this red marker on top of the drawer?" asked the first policeman, and then he opened the drawer. "There are other markers in here, yet this red one isn't put inside. This implies that someone used the red one. Considering that the culprit likely used the dinner table and didn't clean it, he must be a messy person who doesn't tidy things up and therefore didn't put the marker back in its original location after using it."

"The owner of this house might have used the marker herself…" said the other policeman.

"I'm sure we'll find out the truth after we check the fingerprints on this marker," said the first policeman as he picked up the red marker using a handkerchief and then put it into a plastic bag. "I have a hunch that my theory is correct."

After hearing all those, Yukari made the gap disappear and then told Sanae and Shingyoku, "Looks like I found out something."

"What did you find out?" asked Sanae.

"It's just a theory, but it does make sense if you think about it," said Yukari. "I believe the people we are looking for must've gone to Tokyo. That place is close to here, and what better place to cause trouble than in the capital of Japan?"

"Sounds plausible!" agreed Sanae. "Let's go there as soon as we can!"

"I can easily get you there using my gap," said Yukari.

"Your ability sure is handy for traveling anywhere, isn't it?" asked Sanae.

"True, but I may have problems using it to go to places I have never been to before or don't know what they look like," said Yukari. "Let's do it in a place where nobody will see us."

The trio went somewhere far away from everyone else, and then Yukari opened up a gap for them all to go into. While they were inside the gap, Yukari told the two, "I'll be letting the two of you go on your own now."

"You sure you don't want to stick around to help?" asked Sanae.

"I don't see this as something big enough to warrant my help," Yukari told her. "This has always been my way of doing things. I wouldn't have asked you for help if I didn't believe in you. I'm sure the both of you are more than enough to get this done. I will contact you every once in a while to see if things are going smoothly, so rest assure that you are getting support from me to some extent."

"Please rest assure that we will find the convicts in the shortest time possible," Shingyoku told her. "You do not have to have any worries about us."

"Right! Leave it all to us!" said Sanae with confidence.

"Seija's the kind of person who likes to make herself known, so I'm sure you'll eventually come across news about her one way or the other," Yukari told them. "Again, remember to refrain from using your powers unless necessary. We don't want to cause any unnecessary ruckus with what you are capable of."

After Shingyoku and Sanae assured her that they wouldn't, Yukari opened up a gap for them to go through. When the two exited the gap, they found themselves on a pavement with houses and walls on both sides. "Hey look! We're in a neighborhood!" pointed out Sanae. "Brings back memories of when I was younger!"


Yukari reappeared outside Kourindou, and Kanako and Kotohime were already gone. In place of them, Reimu was standing there, tapping the ground with her foot over and over, as if she was expecting the demon to show up. "So… they're in the outside world now?" asked the shrine maiden.

"Where else can they be?" replied the demon. "I'm sure they'll do fine."

"Yeah, Sanae is pretty good at what she does, so I'm sure she'll do fine," said Reimu. "Seija really isn't all that tough once you actually get in a fight with her. She's mostly all barks and no bites… Can't really say anything about Elis, though, since it's been a while since I fought her and even saw her… She wasn't that much of a challenge when I fought her back then, however."

"Some people become stronger from losses and even during times of suffering," said Yukari. "Elis is one of those people. I dare say that the Elis now is nothing like the Elis you faced that time."

"Tell me about it," said the shrine maiden.

"I dare say she is at a level where she can go toe to toe with Remilia," said Yukari in a serious tone, "but as long as they don't face her in places with no sun, she won't be able to go all-out."


After the bus arrived at its stop, Sanae and Shingyoku stepped out of it and onto the sidewalk. The former looked around with a happy expression at the city square, which was bustling with people. "Haven't seen this sort of scene in a long time! It sure brings back memories!" said the wind priestess. "I'm going to make sure to have a lot of fun here before going back home!"

"Miss Sanae, we must do our duty fast," Shingyoku told her.

"Don't worry about that," Sanae told him. "I'm sure we'll run into them one way or the other soon. Until they make themselves known, let's have some fun first! Now that you're in the outside world, you shouldn't miss out the opportunity to experience everything fun this place has to offer! C'mon! Let's go to a department store! I'm sure they have a lot of fun stuff there!"

Shingyoku was going to say something about their job being their priority, but Sanae grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the nearest department store before he could finish his line.


Tearing out the piece of paper that came out from the machine, a bespectacled girl with brown hair looked at the number written on the former before turning to look at an electronic board on the wall. This caused a look of frustration to appear on her face. "I have to wait fifty numbers…? Ugh… How long is that going to take…?"

There was nothing she could do about this, so the girl, Sumireko Usami, went to look for a chair to sit down and wait for her turn at the counter. She was running errand for her mother, who told her to go to the bank to store money. The bank was so crowded today that there were no chairs left to sit on, so there were several people standing. Even walking through the place was hard because of the number of people.

"What's with today?" Sumireko grumbled in frustration. "Why are there so many people here at the bank today? I was hoping that things would go smoothly and end fast… I don't think I'll be able to get back home within an hour at this rate…" She looked at the board and hoped to see the numbers change fast, but she stared for more than a minute and the numbers didn't change at all. "Oh please… Work faster, can't you?! Don't keep your customers waiting!"

Sumireko had no choice but to wait, and because there was nowhere to sit, she leaned against a pillar and then took out her cell phone to play games on it to pass time before it was her turn.

As she was doing this, a group of six people with their heads covered in black cloths came into the bank, carrying with them guns. One of them fired at the ceiling right after coming in, frightening everyone. "This is a robbery! Every one of you! Don't move!"

Everyone raised his or her arms into the air in fear, while the robbers went to the counter to demand money. The sole guard of the place was shot down before he could do something about them.

"Great… Just when today couldn't get any worse…" Sumireko grumbled with her arms in the air. She wasn't as scared as other people, because she was capable of defending herself using her psychic powers. However, she didn't really want to attract too much attention with her ability, so she tried to think of some way to get out of this problem without attracting attention.

Two particular people in the bank didn't have their arms raised into the air. Instead, they watched from the corner of the room with crossed arms while leaning against the wall. It was Seija and Elis. "What did I tell you about this kind of place being a magnet for trouble?" the former said to the latter with a smile.


TO BE CONTINUED