So chapter 2 immediately, before it will be a bit slower. It's to make something clear.

To Derago first: I will promise I won't abandon the story, but I won't promise I will update it frequently. Time is not something I have plenty of, and there are stories waiting for me to update.

To Guest: Believe it or not, I'm still writing the next chapter of 'that story'. But I'm still not able to somehow make it... not cringy to read. Not even myself could re-read it, the owner of the story =.=. So IF you like it... somehow, then thanks. But... I might have to take it down and rewrite the whole thing. Not very sure to even myself. Also, thanks for the other compliments.

So with that out of the way, here's the main part!

"Then, is there a chance I could return to the battlefield?" Ghost asks, hoping he could get out of here as soon as possible so that he could kill that man, or at least help his comrades doing so.

Youmu considers how to answer him... then she says: "I'm sorry. I hope there's a chance for you, but if the letter is true... even if we want and we can, it would upset a lot of people that we don't want to oppose against."

Ghost saw that coming, but he refuses to submit to it. "For my comrades, I could do..."

"That's not what I meant." The young girl interrupts him. "It's not about your will or strength... Please, sit down and look after Lady Yuyuko for me when I make some food." The girl heads to the kitchen, leaving the revived soldier and a whining lady behind.

Ghost sighs and sits right next to the lady. 'Just my luck. I can't just rush out there, this is an alien and possibly dangerous place, if that girl has a sword to protect her lady and herself. I have my guns, but with no ammo, and yet my knife is still in good condition. Just what did this person want to me when he revived me? Just for some twisted sense of humor?'

A hand suddenly waves before his face gaining his attention. He turns right to see the lady being recovered from that self-flash. The lady tilts her head and asks: "Who are you, mister?"

...Didn't both of them find me?

Then she exclaims, a bit too cheerfully: "Oh right! You were the man with that mask and glasses!"

Either she's pretending to be dumb, or she truly is dumb.

She then whines: "Why didn't you carry any food with you? All I find was those cans, and all they did was blowing smoke to my face and blinding and deafening me!"

Wait, she thought those two were canned drink and food... to be fair, they look like ones, but there's a warning on the smoke... that's written in English. Silly him.

It would be unwise to be mean to the host, though. "I'm sorry, Madam. I was in a short fight, so there's no need to bring food with me. But don't worry, the Youmu girl is preparing some now."

And that's all it takes for the woman to be cheerful again. "Really? Yay!"

... 'That is an one eighty there.' That's all Ghost could think of.

"By the way." Yuyuko changes the subject. "We haven't introduced to each other. My name is Saigyouji Yuyuko, and I'm the owner of this place. What's yours?"

... Youmu is having a hard time if this one is the owner. "I am Simon Riley, callsign Ghost. You can call me whatever you want."

Yuyuko tilts her head. "Ghost? Why do you have that name, mister Riley?"

Ghost: "Oh, it's because of the mask."

Yuyuko: "Oh that's right. I thought it's because you are a ghost like us."

Ghost chuckles. "Maybe that's a literal name when I have..." Then he gets the words through his head. "What do you mean by 'like us'?"

Yuyuko giggles. Then, white balls start floating around her, making Ghost back off in surprise. "Well, it's because we're ghosts. In literal senses."

The soldier instinctly grabs the knife. Is that woman trying to trick him? A ghost, she said? Even if that's the truth, then that means he's in Hell! What kind of person revived him and then just threw him right where a dead person should be?

Noticing Ghost tenses up, Yuyuko assures him: "Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you. We accepted the plead..."

"If you are a ghost..." Ghost speaks out his thinking. "Then that means we're in Hell..."

"Oh, no. We are not in Hell." That confuses him. "This place is Hakugyokurou, a shrine in Netherworld."

"...First, I'm not going to remember that name. Second, wasn't Netherworld as bad as Hell?"

"The Outside World must have lost a lot of cultures if you think like that." Youmu comes in with a plate in her hand and... another big white ball having one on its head, both filled with food. A little silence as the plates are placed on the table, then a second later Yuyuko basically inhales, not eats, as much food as she can.

Ghost looks at the woman in disbelief, then turns to Youmu. "Mind elaborate why she called you and herself ghosts?"

The young girl points to the white ball floating next to her. "That's because we are really ones. Well, i am a half ghost Youkai, while lady Yuyuko is fully one."

Ghost briefly looks at the woman, who is inhaling food. Then he asks: "Youkai... what does that mean?"

Youmu: "I guess I could say Youkai are supernatural creatures. Anything that lives long enough or has gone through some special events can turn into one."

Ghost: "... So if I die and get revived... I am a Youkai now?"

Youmu: "You are still human. There are no changes on your body."

Ghost: "Physically or mentally?"

Youmu: "Depends. If you lose your head but you survive, it means you have turned into a Rokurokubi. Or..."

Ghost interrupts her: "I think I get the picture. Thanks." Then he smacks his hand to his face. "Now I know why I'm being here instead of any other places."

Youmu tilts her head curiously. "And that is..."

Ghost: "Right, you didn't know my name yet. Simon Riley, or Ghost in battlefield."

Youmu takes the introduction... and giggles. "How irony."

Ghost: "It is. Anyway, could it be possible that other ghosts live here?"

Youmu: "This place is for sightseeing, not for living. But it's common to see another ghosts around here."

Ghost: "I see. And... about my weapons. Did you pull out all bullets?"

Youmu shakes her head. "That was what we planned to do, but it has no bullets from the beginning. But it's for the best. The Maiden of Hakurei wouldn't like a person with a gun going around and killing people."

Ghost raises an eyebrow. "I'm a soldier."

Youmu: "That doesn't stop you from shooting people."

Ghost: "...point taken. But then, the guns are useless now."

Youmu: "Unless you use Danmaku. *Sigh* Lady Yuyuko, why?"

"But food made by Youmu is delicious!" Ghost turns to his right to see the owner of the place munching food with a happy expression. He looks at the table and gasps in surprise: ALL THE FOOD IS GONE! "Do we have more?" YOU JUST... ATE THEM, AND YOU WANT MORE?

Youmu sighs again. "I made them for our guest too... sorry about this, Ghost."

Ghost waves his hand nonchalantly. "It's fine, I'm not hungry anyway."

Youmu nods apologetically. "Thanks. I'm heading out again, you can come with me while I explain things to you."

'Now that would be nice.' "Thank you. But... I would like to have my suit back. I feel a little exposed in this."

'Flashlight, radio, watch... some of them are burnt a bit, but still usable."

Ghost, in his default outfit, walks with Youmu out of the shrine after saying their goodbyes to the owner, who just slept after being full of food. He's checking the equipments for the last time.

"So where are we heading to first?"

"Maybe we're getting to Alice to fix the burn on your outfit first. Then to the human village..."

"There is a human village?"

"It's not recent, mind you. It existed from the beginning along with Youkai."

"Oh...okay... So about being isolated..."

"We're in Gensokyo, a place isolated from Japan and the world. Since people from Outside World have stopped believing and fear Youkai, their lives are being in danger. This place is for that reason."

"Then a human like me shouldn't be here..."

"Don't worry. It's not that dangerous with the Spell Card Rules. It's for people who don't have much of physical resistance to stand a chance against the stronger Youkai."

"But if the others could still kill me..."

"Don't worry much. That sounds problematic, but with a skilled soldier like you, you could work something out."

"I... guess so. By the way, what is Danmaku?"

*SHIIIING!* Youmu draws her sword out with fast pace, with surprises Ghost, and a Danmaku wave energy flies off and hits the wall nearby, causing an explosion.

Ghost stares blankly at the damage. It's worse than when you throw a bomb into the wall! "You said... it's for us to fight back...all Youkai uses this?"

Youmu sheathes the sword back. "It's not as deadly as you thought. Yes, it explodes, but it's not lethal. Of course, if the opponents really desire to..."

"... Can I block it?"

"I suggest to dodge. That's most of us would do."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Maybe during the trip you will find out more. Oh right, hold my shoulders."

Ghost is a bit dumbfounded. "Why?"

"You want to fall?" Immediately after that Ghost loses the steps...

And now he finds himself free-falling to his death. After being burnt, he's not surprised that he's going to die again. 'Great. I should have taken her advice.'

Then, someone grabs him and he stops falling. He turns to see Youmu floating in the air, with no support. "I should have warned you earlier that Netherworld is up on the sky."

"At least you saved me, so thanks. But... is that because you are a ghost that you can fly?"

She shakes her head. "No. Once you're familiar with this place, you will see that most of us will travel by this way. Even some human could."

Ghost sighs. "Magic. I don't know if I could comprehend that."

"At least it will keep you safe... you didn't look so spooked."

"I have trained with SAS members before. Free-falling is not something new to me."

Youmu raises her eyebrow. "You don't have anything to stop your fall just now."

"I died, remember?" They then land on the ground, and apparently they're inside of a forest. "Where are we?"

"Forest of Magic. Two of my friends live here, one being Alice."

"People live in this place?"

"Only those two. But the reason for the others not living here is because, this place is very dangerous for those who are not familiar with magic. We should move fast."

Ghost, obviously not wanting to face any unnecessary dangers, nods as he follows the young girl. During the walk, he asks: "So those two are Youkai as well?"

"*Head shake* Not both. Alice is a Mage Youkai, while Marisa is a human who can use magic in ridiculous level."

"How ridiculous? Like your performance back then."

"Worse." That makes him shiver. Worse? That kind of bomb is not enough?

"But don't worry. They won't hurt you... unless you give them a reason to."

*BOOOOOOOOOM!* Both of them turn to the source, and see a plliar of smoke flying up. Youmu sighs. "Typical Marisa."

Ghost blinks. "Wait, you mean that happened frequently?"

The girl nods. "Yes. Marisa likes to experiment... by the way, always keep an eye on her. She intends to 'borrow everyone's things until she dies'."

"...That's stealing."

"Yeah, we all know. But it's a fair game here, so it's not too much of a problem."

Ghost looks at the smoke again. "Should we go there first? To make sure she's fine?"

Youmu: "To be honest, I don't want to. But you do need to know who's friend and who's foe."

More walking, and they reach the destination. Ghost is a bit of surprised after looking at the house. He was expecting it to be made of wood, but he is looking at a design of the old Western house. He asks Youmu: "Marisa is from Western?"

Youmu shakes her head. "I don't know, but definitely not from there. This is not her original house. She lived in the human village before moving to here."

"Ah, I see." He then looks at the smoke coming out of the house. "We should head in and take her out now. Those smoke could suffocate her."

Youmu: "She's very strong, those smokes are nothing to her. But I agree with you." The two move to the door, and she reaches to the doorknob... only to pull out immediately. "Hot."

Ghost: "Then we just have to..." Something is slamming into the door, forcing the two to stand back and prepare their sword and knife. A few more slams and the door is kicked open, the frames flying off as well. Then, someone is carrying the witch out of the house. Based on the person's outfit, it looks like a soldier... that Ghost knows.

"Damn you Marisa! I told you it's a bad idea!" The person then lets the witch lie on the ground once they're in the safe distance.

"Hey, that's why we're experimenting!" The witch retorts back. Then she notices Youmu standing there. "Hey Youmu! You saw the explosion?"

Youmu sighs and releases the grip on her weapon. "I'm sure everyone here has already familiar with your working already."

The person looks at the girl first. "So you are this crazy witch's friend." Then he turns to Ghost... and his eyes widen. "GHOST? YOU ARE HERE TOO?"

And all Ghost could do in his surprise was to shout out his comrade's name: "ROACH? YOU TOO?"

Chapter 2 end!

Yeah XD Ghost in a place filled with ghosts. That's why.

And because of that, you might understand why Roach was with Marisa. I won't spell it out loud in this chapter.

Yeah, I'm not letting them using real bullets. I let them hold their guns because the ammo could be replaced with Danmaku, one way or the other, in the future.

That's it, for now. I will see you... in a month or so. Bye bye!