Tonight has been the most fighting you've done in decades. You usually make a point of battling alongside every new shrine maiden to get an idea of their strength, anyway, but the fact that the moon was involved this time... well. There was no chance that you were going to sit this one out. Getting to observe Reimu's fighting style from the friendly end was just an added bonus.

Now, though, it's all done, the real moon is back in the sky, and you've allowed time to start creeping slowly forward. It's been a long night, but Reimu is practically bouncing as she opens the door and enters the shrine. Even before she finds a lantern, the full moon gives plenty of light for you to see that she's grinning.

"That wasn't too bad," she says, as she sprawls on the floor.

"You did well," you say with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Huh? I'm fine."

"Are you, now." Now that there's a little more light, you can see exactly how much the unending night has taken out of her. You might have won, but she still has a dozen shallow scratches peeking through tears in her clothes. Hours of flying have left her hair messy, and the exertion has left a grime of sweat drying on her skin. Hmm. "Ran will be here soon with sake, but maybe we should take care of you first. You look like a mess."

She lifts her head just enough to look down at herself, then gives a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm fine," she says, then eyes you irritably. "I seem to remember that you did a lot worse to me that time that we fought. You weren't so concerned back then, huh?"

"Ancient history," you say, with a deliberately infuriating dismissiveness. It's barely been half a year since then. She scowls, but undeterred, you kneel down behind her. "Now, sit up and take off your top."

"... what?"

You give her a reproachful little whack on the forehead with your folded fan. "It wasn't a request."

She holds your gaze defiantly, then sits up with a sigh and starts sliding out of her clothes. "If this is something weird, it's not too late to exterminate you, you know."

Bit by bit, she unwinds her sarashi, and you get a direct look at her naked back. It has a few bruises on it, but at her age, they'll heal within days. More noteworthy is the way every muscle is tensed. Even now, safe in her own home, she's trembling with pent-up energy. She's probably still coming down from the adrenaline rush. It's no wonder—she just fought a Lunar sage and an immortal princess, after all.

Without giving her time to object, you rest your hands on Reimu's shoulders and give them a squeeze. She tenses up until your thumbs press into her back, applying just the right pressure as you rub them in a circle. Slowly, your hands work their way outward, kneading and squeezing the soreness out of the muscles along her shoulder blades. Just as slowly, you can feel her slump down as she finally relaxes. "A massage? Really?"

"Are you complaining?"

"Not really. … maybe you're getting soft, though."

Your first impulse is to tease her right back, but you hesitate as you start working around a dark, fresh bruise. This girl just risked her life to keep Gensokyo safe. Most of the other humans will probably never know, let alone thank her. Under the circumstances, a back massage is the least you can do. "Maybe I am," you admit.

"Hmh." She makes a smug-sounding little grunt and rolls her shoulders as you move down and past them. "I doubt anybody would believe me if I told them about this anyway."

"Well, if another incident started tomorrow and you were too stiff to get out of bed, it would leave me in a bit of a bind, mmh?"

"So the great and fearsome Yukari Yakumo can never own up to being nice, huh?"

You stay silent as your hands work around another bruise. From a collision with her own yin-yang orb during an ill-timed dodge, you think. A little harder and she might have broken a rib; not the sort of thing that ends well when you're flying. It would barely even be unusual. You can remember half a dozen of her ancestors who were dead by this age. The lives of teenage youkai hunters tend to be short and spectacular.

It's only one of the many reasons that it's not a good idea for you to get too close to the Hakurei shrine maidens.

"Reimu," you say, and deliberately inject a little cold venom into your voice. "Please don't misunderstand this situation. I depend on you to maintain the balance of Gensokyo and the barrier. To me, you are only a tool."

You can feel her stiffen up in shock, then wilt slightly under your hands, but all she says is, "Right... of course."

It's better this way, you promise yourself.