Chapter 2

Sakuya resumed time again once she had cleaned and washed Reimu, stripped her clothes, and were both now inside Reimu's room of the Hakurei Shrine. Putting her stopwatch away, Sakuya folded her arms and stared at the naked shrine maiden. Reimu noticed her through unfocused eyes and grinned sloppily.

"Heyyyy, Alice. Sincccce where were you soooo tall and prettyyyy?"

Sakuya grimaced and pulled out her stopwatch again to stop time. She really didn't have the patience to deal with a drunk miko.

Sakuya walked over to Reimu's closet and opened them. She was disappointed to find several identical shrine maiden outfits and sleep robes. The drawers similarly held identical bloomers, miko sleeves, and Reimu's weird side hair covers. As Sakuya closed the drawers, she was forced to conclude that Reimu simply didn't have any sort of casual clothes or yukatas to wear. She grimaced again at the thought that she would have to create a whole outfit for Reimu.

A small part of her wondered why she was even doing this and not simply dressing Reimu in her typical outfit. It would be so much easier to do so than making an outfit on-site. She didn't even have any fabric, knitting tools, or string to work with; all of the things she needed were back at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Of course, she could pop over to the mansion and get them, just as she had earlier went to the Hakugyokurou for Yuyuko's and Youmu's clothes, but was it still worth the trip?** Would Reimu only wear it once for this occasion and never again, making the trip pointless and materials worthless? Or would it at least be worn every once in a while in appreciation; in that case, Sakuya was much more willing.

Sakuya sighed. She wasn't Reimu, and so she did not know what the shrine maiden's thought process was like. But she wasn't exactly wasting time either by standing around. As she pondered on what to do, Sakuya suddenly remembered that the miko had mentioned Alice.

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The Seven-Coloured Puppeteer blinked. One second, she had been engaging in a riveting conversation with Marisa, and in the next she found herself tied up in sitting position inside the Hakurei Shrine. In front of her was an irritated Sakuya, a naked Reimu, and a bound and gagged Marisa. Shanghai and her other dolls was nowhere to be found.

"Uhm…" Alice was at a loss for words.

"Heyyy, there are two Alice'sss now," Reimu unhelpfully supplied.

Sakuya pocketed her stopwatch and knives before scowling down at her.

"Let me make this clear. I'll overlook the fact that I found Lady Patchouli tied up to a tree and mouth-gagged, you tongue-kissing Marisa in front of her, and your dolls pointing lances at Lady Patchouli's head lest she summons magic and anyone else who dares enter your special 'vicinity' for another time. I am not pleased, but I will nevertheless overlook it in deference to the current issue I have on hand," she said.

The elegant but dangerous maid tilted her head at Reimu. "I want you to make Reimu an outfit."

Alice looked at Sakuya and noticed her very intense glare back at her. Oh damn, she was serious.

"Er, what kind of outfit?" The puppeteer asked. Sakuya pursed her lips.

"Anything that is not of Reimu's typical shrine maiden uniform. One that matches the special occasion that we have today."

"Do you have any kind of yarn, string, or fabric I can work with?" Alice continued. Sakuya shook her head. At that gesture, Alice felt indignation rise up in her.

"How am I supposed to make an outfit without anything!? And why did you pull me into this? I know full well that you can make entire outfits for Remilia and Flandre in no time, so why can't you-" Alice argued. And she should have argued some more, if not for a knife that had appeared under her chin and stopped her from speaking.

"Why, you ask? Because I said so," Sakuya said slowly. "And if you keep protesting, then I will make sure that you will never be able to speak or taste again, and you will still make Reimu's outfit."

The knife remained for a few seconds before withdrawing, and Alice's shoulder's slumped down in relief. She took a few shaky breaths to steady herself again.

"…Does Reimu have many ribbons, at least?"

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All the humans and youkai at the party, in some manner, will not admit to one another that Reimu's outfit had been…different. Yes, it drove some of them (cough Yukari cough) to go insane and spurt blood literally everywhere and on everyone, and it could have indirectly contributed to the overall incident. But, as mentioned before, no one was willing to admit that they had been enticed, attracted to, seduced, captivated, etc. by Reimu's new attire.

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It was half an hour when Sakuya and Alice finally stood back, exhausted from their work. The drunk shrine maiden would not stop moving around and kept asking what the two Alice's were doing, so they bound her to a chair and gagged her. Had it been the regular Reimu, she would have just magically undone them. But as it was a drunk Reimu they were dealing with, she was substantially weaker and not in the least bit functional. Marisa had been propped against the opposite wall to spectate the proceedings.

"Do you think that's enough?" Alice said wearily.

"It'll just have to do," Sakuya answered back.

There wasn't much they could do with only Reimu's ribbons. They tied up Reimu's hair in a bun secured it with a bowtie ribbon, made a cheongsam out of ribbons by masterfully tying them without showing any knots, and made her wear a pseudo-panty made out of ribbons.

All in all, though, Reimu looked spectacular in their hack of a job.

"…I've been wondering, but why couldn't we have just stopped time and get more material from my own home or the mansion? It's not like that would have been a problem," Alice said slowly as the realization dawned on her. "And why were we only using her ribbons? I mean, we could've used more of her clothing in more creative ways than this!"

"[Because that's boring! And no one likes boring!]"

"Oh, right," Alice said absentmindedly.

"[You know, I think she still looks too dressed up. Why don't you try and remove a ribbon or two?]"

"Alright," Sakuya subconsciously agreed. She stepped forward and pulled away on of the ribbons of Reimu's cheongsam.

"[Teehee! Strip her. Strip her down till she anything but ribbons!]"

And so they did. They began to undo their masterful work, pulling away red strips from various areas. Marisa's eyes widened, and she started to protest the display.

"Mmph mmph MMPH!"

But Alice and Sakuya paid no heed to her. They pulled ribbons away till only a long ribbon strip covering Reimu's breasts and two tied ribbons covering Reimu's lower parts were left.

"[Ahhh, so close. Only a few ribbons to go before she is free!]"

Both Alice and Sakuya reached for the two sets of ribbons. But just as their hands touched them, there were interrupted.

"Excuse me, have you seen Reimu anywhere…," a new voice asked. The duo froze. Slowly, they turned their heads towards the entrance of the room. A bright red Udonge met their eyes with one hand on the doorway.

"W-what, what is going on here – "Udonge's voice rose, but she was swiftly cut off. Reacting to her voice, Sakuya had stopped time, bound and gagged the rabbit, brought her in, and closed the door. She let time flow again, and Alice jerked in surprise.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Mmph mm!" Udonge added in protest.

For once, Sakuya was at a loss for words. She didn't know what had possessed her to silence the rabbit servant.

"Uh, uh," she stammered out.

"[Oh no, now we have to strip the rabbit down too…]"

"Right, we were about to do that," Sakuya said, her mental will latching on to the first available suggestion.

"Wait, we were about to do what?" Alice replied in confusion. Udonge looked at them, confused at their unbalanced conversation.

"[Oh yes. Reimu shouldn't be alone in her ribbons. Let the poor rabbit join her!]"

"I see," Alice said, following the strange logic. Her arms joined Sakuya's, and together they reached towards the bound rabbit. In panic, Udonge turned her Lunatic Red Eyes on them. Alice's and Sakuya's hands froze, and slowly their eyes turned red, signifying insanity. They quickly stood up.

"Well, we're all done here," Alice said chirpily.

"Yes. Now all that's left is to show Reimu off," Sakuya added.

With that goal in mind, they left Udonge alone, unbound and ungagged Reimu, and dragged her back to the party. For a few moments, it was silent in the room. Marisa looked at Udonge, and Udonge looked back at Marisa. Then a blue and green clothed figure appeared in the middle of the room.

"[Oh poo! And I was so close too!]" Koishi fumed.

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Satori Komeji had opted not to go to the Hakurei Gathering. Although she occasionally attended the parties held at the Hakurei Shrine, the amount of people and minds she accidentally reads gave her headaches. And given that the Hakurei Gathering seemed to be an official party, there were likely going to be record amounts of youkai present at a youkai exterminating shrines. Thank you, but also no thank you. It was much more preferable to be in front of a warm fireplace, reading a book, and softly petting her cuddly cat Orin.

This was how Koishi found her older sister many hours after the party.

"Onii-channnnn!"

Satori looked up and smiled. "Koishi. How are you?"

The younger satori bounded over and plopped next to her older sister. Orin mewed and jumped onto Koishi's lap, ecstatic to see her other master back home.

"I'm happy! Guess what I saw today!"

"I don't know. What did you see?" Satori replied, inviting the girl to speak. It was not often that Koishi came home, but when she did, Satori always gave her younger sister her whole and loving attention.

And so Satori listened with amused expression as Koishi relayed her tales of ribbon clothed shrine maidens and insane maids and puppeteers.

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While Alice and Sakuya had been busy putting Reimu's ribbon outfit together, the party had progressed merrily on its own. The youkai got drunker and more boisterous with each downed cup of sake, wine, or alcoholic drink. And with the help of Yukari's gaps, there was an endless supply of food and alcohol available. So by the time it came for the raffle an hour in to the party, the youkai were a thorough mess.

Yukari was a little nervous, as Reimu was nowhere to be found. But they had gone over the possibility that if either of them were not present, they should still go ahead with the raffle. So the blonde haired, intimidating youkai, with the help of a portable microphone (Kappa Technologiestm), cleared her throat to draw the attention of the drinkers.

"Ahem. Hello Gensokyo! I hope you are enjoying the first ever Hakurei Gathering, put by our lovely shrine maiden Reimu! And if not, I hope you are at least enjoying the limitless alcohol that I'm providing!"

There were many cheers at the first part and laughs at the second. Yukari continued to speak, "In short while, we'll be having the raffle for tonight's party! Our dear shrine maiden seems to be missing at the moment, so in the meantime, I will be acting as your very own special host!"

"What do we have as prizes, you might ask?"

With a flourish of her arm, and several things fell onto the ground from overhead gaps with large thumps!

"There are a number of things. Barrels of sake, raw materials for building or magical use, magical tomes and books that have never daylight, etc.," Yukari relayed off. "These are available for eight randomly drawn winners. For the next five winners, I'm introducing a new prize, personally maintained by yours truly."

A couple of gaps appeared in front of the crowd showing different locations and landmarks of Gensokyo.

"Gaps that go to anywhere in Gensokyo. Fancy a trip to the Underground Hot Springs? Merely step through a gap, and you are there! Or perhaps you want to go to the Human Village for whatever reason. You can get a gap to there too!"

A murmur of interest rose for the gaps. Gensokyo was a massive area and a pain to travel anywhere within a short time, even with flight. Noticing that she had now fully captured the youkais' attention, Yukari pressed onward with her finisher.

"But gaps to anywhere in Gensokyo pale in comparison to what we have as a grand prize. For one very lucky winner, the first prize is-"

"Reimu!"

"Reimu?" Yukari repeated puzzled. She turned her head towards the voice and gaped. Standing in front of her and everyone else was a scandalously dressed shrine maiden, who wore only ribbons around her chest and lower parts. The shrine maiden herself looked perplexed from seeing many of the youkai sitting and staring in front of her. Before anyone could react, Alice and Sakuya had run up beside her.

"Reimu! Don't just run out suddenly yelling for your mommy. We're supposed to show you off!" Alice accused.

"Yea." Sakuya agreed. Then without any warning, she cut off Reimu's ribbons with deft knife slashes. "There we go."

What followed was absolute chaos. Everyone started to scream in drunken exclamation, delight, or shame at the nakedness of the shrine maiden. Many like Keine Kamishirasawa had turned their faces from the nudity, but many others like Suika cheered at the new entertainment in front of them. The drunk tengus tried to whip out their cameras or phones to capture the legendary image of a naked Reimu, but they accidently fumbled and stumbled around and into the wolf youkai group sitting next to them, inciting a minor conflict.

The situation worsened when every single gap that Yukari had opened started to spew blood. And not a little of it, but bucket loads of it. Yukari had collapsed and gone catatonic with a blissful expression on her face and a huge bloody nose. And that translated into her losing control of the gaps and making them spew blood.

So now, everyone in the party save for the individuals standing under the Hakurei Shrine were covered in blood, and that caused even more screaming and confusion.

"Could this get any worse?" Someone groaned out. And apparently some kami/god had answered, because no one could have predicted what would happen next.

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The arguments and verbal warfare had finally reached a breaking a point for everyone. Spell cards were swiftly drawn from various hands, hats, clothes, and gaps in response to their antagonists, accusers, or foes. For a tense few seconds, there was no movement. Then pandemonium erupted for the second time at the Hakurei Shrine.

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Back inside the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa and Udonge looked at each other with widening eyes as they started to hear the screams and yelling from outside. Koishi had disappeared soon after Alice and Sakuya had left with Alice, but as they couldn't see or perceive her presence, it didn't matter to them.

Marisa quickly tried to think of a plan to get them out of their current plight and had a sudden idea. While Sakuya had gagged and bound her, she had not disarmed her. Her mini-Hakkero was in one of the front pockets of her dress apron, and if she could somehow reach it with her bound hands behind her, she can get them both out. She quickly wiggled around to get Udonge's attention.

"Mmph mmph!" She said through the gag. "Get over here!"

"Mmm?!" Udonge looked at her in confusion. "What?!?"

"Mmm mmph mm!" "If I can get my mini-Hakkero out, I can get both of us free!"

Obviously, they couldn't understand each other, so instead Marisa dropped onto the floor and wiggled over to Udonge, who was still lying on her side. Once lying directly in front of her, Marisa moved and gestured her head down towards her lap.

"Mmm!" "Roll my mini-Hakkero out!"

The tied up rabbit followed the witch's movement and saw a bulge in the apron. After a quick decision, she kneed upwards with her bound legs towards the bulge.

Luckily for her, she hit the bulge. Unluckily for her, she hit the trigger for the shoot button on the dangerous furnace/laser weapon. Moreover, because she hit it rather hard (and because she wasn't Marisa, who was the only one who really knew how the damn thing worked), the mini-Hakkero was set to 'Final Spark' instead of 'Master Spark.' So instead of just one giant white blast, it was a very long and very colorful blast.

As everyone outside continued to yell or scream, the Hakurei Shrine suddenly exploded. A colorful but very large beam pierced the sky from inside the shrine, and every single youkai and human dropped what they were doing and flew or ran for cover and pieces of the Shrine fell down on them.

The first ever Hakurei Gathering suddenly concluded with a bang. And only one tiny being, who had been mindlessly drifting by the trees when her master, master's lover, and master's enemy had suddenly disappeared from sight, saw it all happen from start to finish.

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Yes, Shanghai, the small and irresistibly cute doll of the seven coloured magician, surmised, they were all idiots. Including her master. Don't get her wrong, she endearingly loved her master and would obediently serve her till death do them part. But she was still an idiot for also getting involved in the mess. Shanghai glumly thought that she will have to show her displeasure to her master by misplacing a slipper somewhere else or "forget" a command or two in the next few days.

As she watched the youkai and various people argue about whose fault it was for the incident, her dark eyes slowly drifted towards the unconscious individuals on the ground. Poor Reimu.

When Reimu woke up, she wasn't going to be mad. No, she was going to be furious. She's going to wake up finding her shrine destroyed, the humans who had probably heard and watched the incident thereafter likely more afraid of her than ever, and naked. But worst of all? Her donation box and whatever money she had would be gone. And it would be the youkai and her master on which she will induce her fury and punishment upon.

But in the meantime, she had to concentrate on dodging the hundreds of thousands of bullets that were suddenly appearing all around her. Shanghai mentally sighed one final time before readying her lance in defense of her small and master-less self.

If only she had been ordered to stay home like Hourai had been.

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A/N Hi hi, long time no see! I'm very sorry I haven't been posting chapters or even fics lately. I got caught up in life and couldn't really find time or motivation. But I really wanted to get a fic out for the holidays. However late that was would be :(.

*There is a moment in the fic where Remilia is involved in the incident. To clarify, Remilia Scarlet has the ability to manipulate fate. However, according to one source, the Touhou wiki, it is not clear if Remilia can consciously manipulate fate because of the lack of evidence. Or another way to put it, there is no way to tell if her ability manifests through will, words, or by vicinity.

It's a pretty grey area, so I just went with the 'can mistakenly change fate with a single or few words' approach.

For this fic, Remilia mistakenly said that she had a funny feeling and that the party would be a 'life changing event'. So, she dooms the party way before it begins and realizes her mistake in the aftermath. And I guess by extension she also manipulated the fate of everyone who went to the party. We already read what happens.

The party certainly was a life-changing event for all of them. Reimu, because she is a victim of many circumstances, and the party-goers (youkai and all associated humans), because Reimu was going to beat their arses and behinds later.

Ah, what a way to be; a vampire who can accidently manipulate fate. Kind of like Sagume Kishin's ability.*

**I had a little trouble writing this part. I am not Sakuya, so I don't know what her motivations entirely might be. I imagine that her devotion to Remilia and Flandre is why she is very willing to create whole outfits and clothing for them, but she is reluctant to do the same for Reimu because she is not quite besties with her.

The easiest route to take is to get Alice to make Reimu's clothes, as again, Sakuya is not fully invested to help Reimu. But with two people with brains, the work is theoretically easier to complete or achieve.**

Here's to the New Year! Happy Holidays!