Blink

Marisa Kirisame was excited today.

But of course though, today began just like any other. Wake up, get dressed, get breakfast, get ready, grab the Hakkero, grab her broom, and then take off! As the chilly Gensokyo air ruffled her large witch's hat, the blonde quickly went over her plans for today.

First on her to-do list was the traditional visit to the Hakurei Shrine to bother Reimu for snacks. After that, a trip to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to "borrow" some books, then an unexpected drop-in to Alice's home for lunch! Today was going to be great.

Ah, there it was: the shrine. Nimbly dodging under the big red torri, Marisa allowed her broom to drift slowly to the paved ground and made sure her feet were touching the stone pate before slipping off her broom. "Yo Reimu!" The witch hollered, as was the tradition every time she came.

And indeed, the sliding door to the inside of the shrine moved as a black haired girl poked her head out to identify her visitor. "Oh. Hey Marisa." Reimu Hakurei sighed and opened the door wider. "Come on in, I guess."

"Sweet, thanks!" With that, Marisa stepped over the threshold and laid her broom on the wall next to the door. She also took off her large witch hat and shoved it under her arm, a show of at least some decency as the witch sat down on the shrine's floor.

As for Reimu, the miko dipped into the shrine's meager kitchen to grab a bowl of oranges, placing them on the low table between the two youkai exterminators and sitting down to match her friend's position. "You know Marisa, at this rate, I WILL run out of funds to keep me going."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll donate something." Which she never did, and both girls knew that. Reimu would always find something at the bottom of her donation box (possibly given by that gap hag), Marisa would claim that it was her, and all would continue on like this autumn's day. The two were perfectly happy as they quietly snacked on the oranges between them.

Then Marisa's perfect day was shattered when Reimu casually remarked, "You haven't blinked once today."

"Eh?" The blonde stuttered, trying to hide her panic. "What do you mean Reimu?"

"I thought something was off when you first came in. Your aura was...stronger. At first, I thought it was just my tired eyes, but now...I'm sure." The shrine maiden closed her eyes and slumped in her position, crashing back against the building's floor as she sighed. "You...you've become the full youkai magician haven't you?"

Immediately, a torrent of apologies spewed out of Marisa. "Reimu, I didn't mean to! I...I just found this cool tome from Patchouli and opened it, it had some kinda cool potion in it, and I thought, 'Hey, it would be cool to make this!' and I made it and I drank it and then Alice came over-"

"No need to explain yourself Marisa," Reimu tiredly said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine with you becoming youkai."

"What?!" The witch jumped up, nearly flipping the table of oranges as she pointed at the miko. "But isn't your job to exterminate people who become youkai?! Why aren't you attacking me now then?!"

"Is that what you want?" The blonde flinched at how callous those words sounded as the shrine maiden looked into Marisa's unblinking golden eyes. "Do you really want to fight me?"

"Heck yeah I do! And let's not bother with danmaku rules, let's go all out! I brought my Hakkero-"

"Marisa. You're trying to provoke me into exterminating you for real." Now, Reimu's voice was layered with pity and understanding as she stood up and grabbed her friend's shoulder with both hands. "And I understand why you want to."

"What? Me wanting to be exterminated? Don't be silly-"

"You want to die." All the bravado rushed out of the witch as her shoulders slumped and her head fell downwards. "You...you don't want this immortal life."

"No...no, I don't," Marisa whispered, choking on her words. "I...I don't want to blink anymore Reimu. I'm terrified."

"Why?" That one damned question. That one simply inquisitive word.

"Because I don't want to let go of you." Finally, the blonde raised her head, her eyes puffy from trying to be brave. "I...I'm scared of this immortality! I don't want to loose value for human life, and if I blink even for a second-!"

"It's alright," Reimu reassured, hugging her companion as her own tears leaked out. "Human life...to immortals, it's just a blink of the eye right? But you can't go on forever not blinking. Marisa."

"Please. No."

"Blink."

With that, the youkai witch Marisa Kirisame closed her eyes and opened them.

The young, youthful shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei was no more. Now, standing in front of Marisa Kirisame was the revered and ancient Reimu Hakurei of Gensokyo, an elderly lady who still had the same smile as the day the witch blinked. A flood of memories flew past her mind, just brief glimpses at what the blonde witch and the black haired shrine maiden had done in the last few decades.

And yet, as Marisa remained her eternal teenage self, Reimu grew old. Her body slowed, her eyes lost some of that luster, and her skin grew gnarled. Her hair grew grey and her life force grew weaker everyday. Reimu Hakurei was dying everyday.

But still, the blonde witch visited. Barged into the shrine, demanded snacks, and just talked with the elderly lady as they casually ate together. Those days, however, were coming to an end, and Marisa's magic knew it.

"How was it?" Reimu rasped, her voice now husky from all those years of yelling and shouting at those troublesome fairies. "How was blinking?"

"It's...it's not so bad," The blonde admitted, sniffing as she allowed the older human to hug her. "I...I could get used to it."

"Good. Now, blink again."

This time, when Marisa Kirisame opened her eyes, she was standing in front of a gravestone.

The funeral was a sad affair for all. Humans and youkai alike turned up to pay their final respects to one of the biggest cornerstones of Gensokyo. Even Yuuka had turned up to plant some flowers on Reimu's grave. Everybody had something to say about the last Hakurei shrine maiden.

Then panic came in when Yukari mentioned that she wasn't sure how long she could keep the Great Barrier up without Reimu. She would try looking for a substitute, but everybody could already tell that the blonde youkai spent more time trying to convince the shrine maiden to become a youkai so as to keep everyday the same. But of course, Reimu rejected the offer every time.

And now, the residents of Gensokyo were leaving. Sanae and the Moriya gods had already vanished, back into the outside world most likely. The oni were getting ready to live underground indefinitely. The celestials were sealing up Heaven.

As for Marisa...

"Hey." The blonde witch in a black and white outfit turned to see another blonde witch, this time in a blue and white dress. Alice Margatoid. "Patchouli is all ready with the spell. Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, I...I'm just visiting her grave one last time."

"I see." Alice then too bowed her head as she paid respects to the deceased shrine maiden. After a while, they both eventually raised their respective heads and turned away from Reimu's grave, walking together through the Forest of Magic to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Neither of them were really in the mood to fly as they took their last stroll through their former home. "You have everything packed?"

"Well, I took everything that wasn't nailed down," Marisa responded with a cheeky grin. "Where do you think the spell will take us?"

"I hope Makai. Mother would be glad to welcome us all back."

"Eh, I don't look forward to Yumeko everyday though."

"I do suppose that is quite...discouraging." Alice grimaced, then snapped her fingers as she reached into her dress and pull out a doll. "Oh, and here, I made this for you."

"For me? You shouldn't have," Marisa joked as she took the porcelain figure and looked at it, Immediately, all the breath left her body as she recognized who it was.

Reimu Hakurei.

"I thought that having this would keep you sane," The doll-maker casually remarked, tapping the locked book at her hip."Just don't go and Master Spark whatever moon we get to, alright?"

"Oh...okay." Marisa was half-listening at this point as she hugged the doll, remembering just how much Reimu meant to her. How much her life changed because of a single blink.

Then, with a deep breath, the blonde witch blinked.

A/N: Part of my headcanon says that Marisa will one day become a full youkai witch, and I was inspired by the quote "To immortals, human life is but a blink of an eye." So I took it quite literally and wrote this.