Hello, all my reviewers! … I only got one? Nobody loves me. ;-;

Chapter 2

Boy is Now Preparing. Please Read Until He Is Ready

That smell… the fresh aroma of roasted lamprey. It made me feel sick to my stomach. Seafood always made me feel unwell when it was being prepared, so I tried my best to avoid it. I continued walking until I finally found the source of the smell. A small food stand was set up on the side of the road. From it, I could see a girl working the grill, turning over the lamprey as they began to turn a golden brown.

I'll admit that it looked really good; however, I stand by my decision not to eat seafood of any kind. Nope. No way, no how!

…

Damn, my stomach is gurgling. Sighing, I walked to the stand, pulled out a seat, and sat down with my head resting on the table. I raised my hand and held two fingers up. "Two please…" I said, using my limited knowledge of Japanese. Ugh, I wish that guy I met earlier stayed so he could translate for me.

"Alright! Two grilled lampreys coming right up!" said the girl working the stand. It sounded quite pleasant, and relaxed me a bit. For some reason, I felt my mouth contort into a smile of bliss. It was… painful for me, a person who has fun kicking soccer balls at people. I looked up to see my waitress. She wore a simple brown kimono, and a faded blue bandanna over her head. Admittedly, she did look pretty cute, but something seemed off to me.

"…Probably my imagination." I shrugged as I rolled my head over the counter. I began humming a simple song I'd listen to back home, just to calm my nerves. I heard the girl finish her song a few minutes later, and she handed me two of the lamprey on a stick. "Thank you." I said, calmly as I took the food from her. Taking a few sniffs of these roasted parasites, I hesitantly bit into it. It was the best seafood I have ever eaten, but then again, that is not saying much.

The girl turned around to get something from the drawers. It was then that I realized what was wrong with her. That one thing that didn't set right with me. On her back, were two feathery bird wings. Screaming, I jumped off the chair and ran. I ran as fast as I could, trying to leave that… that monster behind me. It was then that my vision slowly began to go black. It became hard for me to see as I began to succumb to this night-blindness.

"Hey! You didn't pay!" screamed the demon. Actually… it sounded more like singing. Shaking those thoughts out, I continued to run forward without a care for my surroundings.

A few moments passed before I ran face first into a tree. I felt the blood trickle down my face and a quick look to my nose showed that it became crooked. "Dammit… Someone help! Ryu! Dhalsim! Ken! Help me! I'll even take Akuma!" I cried, begging the help of fictitious characters.

"How rude! I am not a devil!" sang the girl as a barrage of feathers came from the darkness. My mind barely had the chance to register this absurdity as I ran for cover behind the tree. Gulping, I pulled out the gun and shakily adjusted the dial to four. I had zero visibility, but I had no other choice. I thought that if I focused on the source of the sound, I could hit her.

When the barrage of feathers had ended, I quickly popped out from behind the tree and held up the gun. Once more the numbers and lines popped into my vision, adding more pain to that headache from the run-in to that tree. Moving my arms to the line that had an eighty-two at the end of it, I let loose six bursts from the gun. Out of them, I heard three of the shots hitting the girl because of her screaming. "You! Stay back!" I proclaimed, as I dodged another sudden barrage of feathers.

So many questions ran through my mind. Why couldn't I see? What was going on? Why is does that girl have feathers? Why is she attacking me? These thoughts barely had the chance to register before I saw a barrage of feathers coming in crossfire. "Dammit," I screamed, as several grazed my arm. Grabbing the wound, I bit my lips, "when did she get behind me?"

This was it… I was going to die now. I'm bloody, panicking and I feel as if I will black out any moment. This monster… I have no idea what she'll do to me. Torture me? Eat me? Eat me out? I curled up into a ball, ready to accept my fate. As more feathers scraped against my body, grazing my legs and arms. Each strike felt as bad as a paper cut. The moment I felt the barrage stop, all went silent. Looking up, my vision began to return, and I could see the girl flying about twenty meters away with her arms crossed triumphantly over her chest. This was my chance… all I needed to do was run up close and hit her at point blank range.

Trying my best to ignore the searing pain, I stood up. Quickly adjusting the settings of the gun to seven, I ran towards the girl screaming. When she saw me, she laughed. "Wow, you're an idiot aren't you? This wouldn't have happened if you just paid for your meal." She said, launching another barrage of feathers. My eyes showed me another weird statistic. Instead of showing lines pointing to each target, I saw arrows flash up before me, almost as though this were a game of Dance Dance Revolution. "Fuck it. Weirder things have happened to me today…" I cursed, as I ran forward and followed the directions of the arrows.

To my amazement, not a single one hit me. I quickly closed the gap between us, a weak smile creeping over my face. "This is it…" I began, as I raised my gun. I had a one hundred percent chance of hitting at this range. I didn't need those weird lines to tell me that. Pulling the trigger, I screamed out to her. "Eat this feather fag!"

The blast was immense. Unlike the previous settings, which felt like a paintball and a pistol respectively, this shot felt more like a magnum and had the size of a cannonball. The recoil knocked me back a few feet, as I was unprepared for such a shock. However, my opponent was far less lucky. The blast hit her head on in the gut, knocking her through a few thick tree branches. When she finally stopped, she dropped to the ground mumbling to herself in a delirium. "Oh… that felt almost as bad as Marisa's Master Spark…" she rambled.

My nerves were screaming for rest. I needed to find a place to sleep and get my wounds treated. Holstering the gun in the back of he pants, I limped forward for what felt like a good three hours…

The light of fireflies shone in the forest. The green haired insect Youkai, Wriggle Nightbug was wandering around, looking for her friend Mystia. "Geez… leaving her Lamprey Stand unattended like that," she began, shaking her head at her friend's foolishness. "Mystia? Where are you?" she called out.

By a tree, she saw her friend lying against the trunk in a daze. The Night Sparrow youkai rubbed her head, mumbling something. "Ow… that guy ate and ran, and then he shot me," she grumbled, noticing her Insect youkai friend. Waving her hands, she called out. "Oh… Wriggle, how long have you been here?"

Shaking her head, the green haired youkai flew down and landed. "Long enough to hear what just happened," she stated with a sigh. Kneeling by the night sparrow, she offered a hand to help her up. "You said he shot you… what was his spell card like?"

Taking the hand, Mystia stood up and cracked her bones. "Mmm… He didn't make a declaration, so whatever it was he hit me with, it was no spell card…" she explained. She remained silent for a few moments before the light of realization dawned on her. "Ah! Wr-Wriggle! That last attack he hit me with was about as painful as a hit from Reimu's Dream Seal!" she said, shaking her friend by the shoulders. "We need to tell her right now!"

Wriggle brushed Mystia's hands off and sighed. "I really am not happy to tell you this Mystia, but for one an attack as strong as what you described has to be a spell card, you probably just didn't hear it…" she started, a stern look crossing her face. "Secondly, Reimu is probably asleep. We are Youkai of the night, so by the time we are totally awake, humans probably are getting to sleep. Finally, you have some customers coming to your stand so you might want to get back there." She said. Grabbing hold of Mystia's wrist, she took flight.

Looking down the road, Mystia became more and more confused. "But… I'm positive he hit me with a regular shot…"

It was amazing, really. Despite all the injuries I sustained from that battle, I wasn't bleeding. Sure, the wounds stung, but they didn't hit any veins or arteries. Whistling at my luck, I continued down the dirt road until it suddenly became one of stone. I looked up and squinted to see just what exactly was up ahead. About ten meters away, a giant staircase that climbed up a mountain stood before me. At the top, I could see a structure that resembled an arch of some sort. Finally, some civilization!

I climbed the stairs, step by agonizingly painful step. It took me a good twenty minutes, but I finally reached the top and was greeted by a rather quaint little shrine. Limping forward, I found a nice donation box by the entrance. Chuckling lightly, I reached into my pockets and pulled out two one hundred yen coins. Dropping them into the box, I turned around and sat down. My eyelids grew heavy, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away. Letting out a yawn, I rested against the box to go to sleep.

I made it through my first day here and so far, I have been attacked by a freakish bird girl, walked at least fifteen miles, cut up and still unable to understand a word of what anyone is saying. Just my luck.

…

I hear thumping…

It was a faint noise. A sound so quiet, a normal person wouldn't be able to even notice it. However, Reimu knew she heard it. Getting out of her bed, she walked made her way to the door. Sliding it open, she scanned the area for someone who may be playing some sort of cruel joke. "Alright, where are you?" she asked, tapping her Gohei in her hand, ready to slam it into the skull of whoever is tricking her.

Looking to the donation box, she saw a boy just about to fall asleep lying against it. He had cuts all over him, and appeared to be one of the strange people who Yukari brought in. Storming over to him, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and held him up in the air. "Alright you, what did you do to my donation box?" she asked threateningly, ready to kill him in a moment's notice.

The boy gulped, confused as to what was happening. "Listen lady," he began in a language that Reimu did not understand. "I have been attacked by a demon, barely eaten anything in the last day and have walked a lot. I am tired. Let me sleep dammit!"

Dropping the man, Reimu sighed. Walking to the door, she beckoned him over. "Hm… Alright, I can't understand a word you are saying… Come inside and I'll treat your wounds. When Yukari comes, I'll have her ask you what's going on… She should know a lot of languages, with her being so old…" she said, leaving the door open.

Uh… I don't… I don't even know what just happened, but from the looks of it this girl wants me to… Come inside and live with her. Oh wow, this is the sort of thing every single sad otaku must dream about! Chuckling, I walked in and sat felt my legs give way as soon as I took three steps in.

I then looked around this shrine, laughing at my circumstances. This is my first day in this weird place and my second day in Japan. Nothing can be as weird as this, not even if I were to meet some sort of dragon who wanted to conquer the world.

Yawning, my consciousness had finally decided it was time for me to turn in. With that one yawn, I quickly went out like a candle in the wind.