SO THERE I WAS… PUTTING THE STORY IN A POINT OF VIEW FORMAT!

Chapter 1

Fish out of Water

Ever had one of those days where you go out to meet a friend and you run into some thugs, say something to them and get chased, then find yourself in a place that looks like it is stuck in the eighteenth century?

…Yeah, me neither… This place was… weird, to say the least. My name is Samuel, and I came to Japan to meet up with a friend, and now I am in some backwater village that looks like it's from the Edo period of Japan. Well, sort of. Aside from the villagers who were dressed up in kimonos, there were people who came from where I was from. You know, reality? There were hipsters, businessmen, people in Visual Kei, and even some Japanese high school students. The entire scene was one big anachronism.

"Dear god…" I grumbled as I dusted myself off. Sighing, I walked towards one of the male villagers and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me," I began trying to be as polite as I could. "But by any chance, do you know where I am?"

The man turned around and raised an eyebrow at my question. "Excuse me? I don't understand what you are saying… uh, I am sorry but I need to go help Ms. Kamishirasawa deal with these people." He said, as he walked away to a woman in a blue dress.

Well, I know one thing for certain… They speak Japanese here, so I am screwed. I turned and walked in the other direction, trying to figure out what to do in this situation. "Alright Sam, just calm down… no one understands what you are saying, and the reverse also applies… But surely of all the people that aren't native to this place, at least one of them has to understand a bit of English… right?"

Damn, I must look like a freak for talking to myself. Not that it matters, since no one can freaking understand me! I stopped for a moment and realised something; I might get caught up in a fight of some sort, so I'd need something to defend myself. I mean, just in case some people try to talk to me like last time… I want to be able to defend myself. Putting it on my to-do list, I walked down the dirt road and looked around this strange land.

I'll admit this place was absolutely stunning. Blue skies, green forests and air as fresh and crisp as the mountains. This place was free of pollution and it both bothered and eased me. I know it makes no sense, but for a city slicker like me it feels unnatural to be in a place without industrialisation. I need sleaze around me, or I feel out of place.

Ahead there was a crowd all pushing against each other, shouting in Japanese. Of the little that I could speak, I was able to understand that they were either rioting because they wanted to know where they were… or they were all screaming for some fast food. My guess is the former. Looking around for a weapon, I found a thick stick that was perfectly suited for beating people… you know, in self-defence?

I navigated my way through the crowd to see what was going on. In the centre of the commotion, there were two girls trying to do… something. One was holding a pen and talking to everyone. She had black hair, and wore a relatively simple ensemble with the only thing that stood out were some weird Japanese sandals that had a thin wooden base, which seemed impossible to stand on. The other girl had blue hair, and donned a blue rain jacket. She was cowering behind the other girl, afraid of these newcomers.

Apparently, one of the little I could make out a riot was about to break out. When one of the men in the crowd freaked out and charged the girls, the black haired one grabbed her friend, and flew away.

…

"…Wait, what? Since when can people fly?" I wondered aloud. The crowd chased after them, all looking as though they were about to kill someone. As they ran into the forest, I chuckled as I continued down the path to follow them. Maybe I could figure something out from them when they all calmed down. Humming a tune in my head, I closed my eyes and made a straight line to where they were going. I must have not been paying attention, cause I just tripped over something and landed face first into the dirt road. Getting up, I scowled to see the assailant of my foot. It was… weird.

The thing I had tripped on looked like a handgun, but at the same time didn't. It lacked a magazine, and the barrel had a weird cone at the end with an opening that was barely a meter in diameter. The thing shouldn't be able to fire with a build like that. But that wasn't the weirdest part. No, no, no… the weird part was that the handle, barrel, as well as that cone, all appeared to come off. If I had to describe it in a word, the thing looked like a toy. It couldn't work. It shouldn't work. It was probably a piece of junk!

Still, I picked it up. Walking down the dirt road, I examined this weird piece of shit some more. As a wind blew by, blowing my hair back I let out yet another thought. "I wish I had a cigar… I'd probably look like some badass cowboy."

The crow tengu Aya Shameimaru had just escaped a crowd of rioters. They were dressed in clothing that seemed to come from the outside world, so she flew in to ask them some questions for her newspaper. Looking at the girl who had come with her, the kappa Nitori Kawashiro was panting. "Hey, Nitori? Why are you so worked up? I'm the one who had to carry you…" she said, scratching her head.

Nitori looked up to the tengu girl with eyes filled with fright. "A-Aya! What were you thinking? I was just there to talk to Akyuu about a product my family was building for her, and you just got me in the middle of some riot! You know I am very shy…" she said, backing away from her 'friend.'

The news reporter chuckled lightly at the words, but stopped herself when she noticed something wrong with Nitori. "Uh… Nitori? I think something fell out of your bag."

The blue haired girl tilted her head in confusion. Looking over to her backpack, she noticed that one of the side pockets was open. She let out a gasp as she reached in to check if anything was missing. When her groping hands could not find anything, the colour drained from her face.

A few hours had passed since I found this weird gun. The sun was beginning to set and things were getting a little dark. I found myself sitting on a rock on the outskirts of that village, just looking at the gun. A few observations on it showed that there was a dial with the numbers zero through nine on it. The nine was circled for some reason, but I am guessing that its because that is as high as it goes. Lying down, I looked up to the orange sky and realized something. It was cold out. Shuddering from the lack of heat, I got up and was about to make my way onwards until I was interrupted.

"Hello," said a voice behind me. Turning around I saw a man who looked a year or so older than me. He was dressed in relatively normal clothes, aside from that really thick winter jacket. "Do you know what this place is?"

Frowning, I held my hands up and shook my head. "Sorry man. I don't speak that much Japanese." I explained, embarrassed slightly by the fact I was in a land where I couldn't understand anything.

"How about English?" he asked.

Eyes widening, I jumped up at his words. "Hot damn! You speak English!" I cheered, as I grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled. The man's face was totally stoic, but judging by the look in his eyes I could tell he was not amused. Quickly letting go, I chuckled. "Uh… yeah… so, what were you saying?"

The man blinked and let out a yawn. His expression unchanging, he repeated his question for me. "I was wondering if you knew what this place is. You know… where are we?" Shocked by his eloquence in a language that was probably foreign to him, I blinked. It took me a moment before I could answer his question with a simple shake of my head. "…I see. Later." He said simply, turning around with a hand wave. With that, he walked out into the distance.

Sighing, I got up and walked in the direction opposite of that man. My first real communication since I landed in Japan, and it ended as quickly as it started… weird how something like that can mean something to a man, isn't it?

Getting bored, I held the gun up. Wanting to see if it could do anything, I turned the dial to one and aimed to a dot in the sky. The moment I outstretched my hand, something weird happened to me though. Lines appeared in my vision, pointing to the dot and at the end of each line was a number. Eighty-two, thirteen, ninety-nine… all of this made me go dizzy for a moment. Shaking my head, I put the cross of the gun towards the number that line that said 'thirteen.' With a single motion I pulled the trigger. What happened next… was a shock.

The gun fired. A green burst of energy shot from the nozzle, traveling roughly thirty meters. The dot in the distance moved wildly, and I could hear a loud scream. My legs trembled after the dot continued on its. "Shit… it actually works."

Well… this was weird. A toy gun that fires green lasers like a mecha. I think I have stepped into some weird anime. I took a deep breath, and slowly made my way down the dirt road and into the forest. Now that I had a way to defend myself, I was fairly confident that I could go in and out of that place unscathed. I mean, if all I got to worry about are a bunch of backwater villagers, this gun should be able to scare them away without me even needing to hurt them. Perfect!

"Oh no, oh no, oh no…" muttered Nitori, as she looked around the human village. The sun had set, and she was having trouble finding the thing she had lost. She had spent the last twenty minutes groping around, finally giving up. She turned to the west, and ran towards the mountain in the distance. Cursing under her breath, she was only hoping that Reimu could help her.

She ran for a good twenty minutes. Reaching the entrance of the Shrine, she heard a lot of commotion. People were arguing. Gulping, the shy kappa slid the door open. Reimu held her gohei up in the air, chasing after Yukari. "You damn gap! What the hell did you do?" cried the shrine maiden as she swung at the youkai.

"Ah, Reimu take it easy. I was drunk, so I had no idea that something like that would happen!" she insisted, using her gaps to evade Reimu's attacks.

Nitori coughed, trying to break the fight up. When the shrine maiden noticed Nitori, she had a look on her face that showed absolute irritation. "Nitori, I am a little busy at the moment… this had better be important." She said, a look of contempt sweeping over the poor kappa.

"Uh… yeah. Reimu, I am missing something important. A special prototype the kappas have been developing." She explained. Looking at Marisa who was eating snacks with Suika, she pointed to the mini-hakkero reactor tied to her waist. "We copied the design of Marisa's hakkero, and are currently trying to develop something similar to that. We finally got a working prototype, and my uncle asked me to take it to Eientei for testing under the chief pharmacist."

Marisa got up, a look of horror on her face. "You guys stole my hakkero?" she asked, enraged by the fact that someone did to her, what she had been doing to many others.

Nitori jumped back at the outburst of her ally. "N-no… we just observed the way you used it, and are trying to create a device that can replicate it's effects for people with no magical capabilities… but that isn't the point. It' s gone missing, and I'd like you to find it Reimu." She begged. "That device is extremely important, and could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. Please get it back!"

The Hakurei shrine maiden crossed her arms and sighed. "…I'll get it tomorrow. I'm tired from having to deal with all those people that thishagbrought in from the outside world…" she said, as she turned to Marisa. "Thanks for helping."

The witch got up and walked to the door. Adjusting her hat, she flashed a peace sign to her friend. "No problem. I'm sure you'd do the same for me, right?" she asked rhetorically, as she grabbed her broom. Stepping past Nitori, she waved a hand. "Later!" she called out, as she zoomed off to her home.

Nitori watched the witch fly away. It was then that she felt something push her out of the shrine. "I'll get you your device back. Go home." She said, clearly out of energy. Closing the door in front of the kappa, Reimu walked to her room to get ready for bed. As she passed by the youkai of boundaries, she stopped and sent her a cold glare. "Yukari, you had better fix everything." She warned, as she went to hit the hay.

Yukari smiled, as she opened a gap. "No worries Reimu. Everything will be fine in the next day or so." She said, as she stepped into the gap that lead to her home. "I wouldn't have done this if I knew it wouldn't."

I walked down this forest, bored out of my mind. The batteries on my iPod were almost dead, so I put it away. I haven't eaten anything all day, and my stomach began rumbling. Suddenly, I caught the scent of something cooking. "…I smell roasted lamprey."

…

Don't ask how I know what it smells like.

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