Reimu followed the silver-haired girl as the two jumped from roof to roof, now wearing her ceremonial shrine maiden's garb, instead of the school's cheap knock-off, and watching the girl's long hair fly in the wind.
"So how do we find these Youkai then, Youmu-San?" The newly christened Tenshi asked, trying to keep in step with the girl, and avoid tripping on the slightly slippery rooftops.
"The phones that each Tenshi is given also doubles as a method of tracking down Youkai which need to be brought to justice, rather, the ones that have considered, or have already done heinous acts, such as killing someone," The swordswoman explained.
"Really?" Reimu asked, pulling her phone from the pocket she'd found conveniently sewn into her skirt. as soon as she took hold of the phone, she could feel it gently pulsing, much like her spell card, but this felt more urging.
"It pulses more ferociously the closer we are to the Youkai we have been assigned to hunt, and it changes it's speed as we get on the correct path to finding them," Youmu stated.
"So you mean if I turned say, left, then it would slow down?" Reimu asked, receiving a nod of consent. The girl returned the tool to her pocket, surprised that she hadn't crashed into anything while distracted, which brought up another thought, "How have I not crashed into anything yet, when this is my first time doing this?"
"Not even Yukari-sama has found an explanation for that, to be honest," Youmu admitted sheepishly, "It seems to simply come naturally when a Tenshi's power awakens, and no one has ever been concerned enough to study it in depth."
Reimu nodded as she continued to follow her friend, partner, and mentor, hoping she knew where she was going. The pair stopped on a roof a few blocks away, and Youmu pulled out her phone.
Reimu nearly toppled over the edge of the building at the sudden stop, but managed to right herself, and turn to her mentor, "Is this the place?"
"No, it's the strangest thing but it would seem that we've lost the trail..." Youmu admitted, "This is odd, we've never simply lost a trail before..."
"Could it have something to do with my emotional attachment to this case?" Reimu offered, but the younger girl shook her head.
"We have to take into account that these Youkai are working as a pack, and yet managed to sneak onto school property, which is overseen by many Tenshi most of all Yukari-sama, unnoticed, and got away," Youmu supplied, "Perhaps their powers include scan dampening, it would explain a few things."
"So what do we do boss?" Reimu asked, kicking her feet over the side of the roof as she looked up at the moon, not noticing the way her partner's face went bright red at the title.
"F-for now we might as well call it a night, and I will talk with Yukari-Sama tomorrow about the case. You should head home anyways, it is hard for new Tenshi to get used to our unusual hours, and as I understand, you already get very little sleep," Youmu advised.
Reimu nodded in agreement, and prepared to run off, when a piercing scream echoed from down the street, causing both girls heads to snap up.
"Someone's in trouble!" Reimu cried, and charged off, ignoring Youmu's shouting to wait.
Quickly clearing the distance, Reimu came to a stop overlooking an alleyway, where what appeared to be a wolf man was standing over a young woman, with it's claws raised above it's head, ready to kill her.
Finding an unknown bravery, even though her legs were shaking as she flashed through memories of the last few days, Reimu shouted out, "Oi, leave her alone!"
Catching the attention of the monster, it's head turned to regard the shrine maiden, and it snorted as it regarded her, "Doesn't look like much, quite a tasty morsel you lot will be," it growled out, before jumping at the wall and rebounding, coming flying up at the girl.
"Oh shi-" Reimu jumped out of the way of the attack, and watched as the creature continued flying towards another nearby rooftop, it's claws digging into the shingles below and causing them to fly up in all directions.
Reimu found herself mildly grossed out by the drool dripping from the wolf man's maw as he stared at her, but cleared her throat and managed to find her voice, "Creature of hell, I will not let you hurt that girl," as she said this, she found previously unknown information coming to mind, and she held out her hand.
in between each finger, she found paper talisman appearing, and the girl took a tight hold of them as she stared down the beast.
The two seemed to be in a perpetual staring contest, until the beast snarled at her and pounced, forcing Reimu to dodge again, but this time she swung her arm, sending the paper talisman flying at the beast. She was pleased when each found their mark, and caused the beast to cry out in pain from the holy power stored within.
"A lucky blow, but it will be your first and your last, whelp!" The beast shouted, and Reimu gasped as the creature disappeared.
"Reimu-Sempai, you shouldn't have rushed off ahead," Youmu warned as she finally appeared, only for Reimu to have to push the girl out of the way of a claw which came from the darkness. Reimu didn't come out of the exchange unscathed, a few shallow cuts opening in her chest, and she tumbled onto her back.
In a blink the creature was upon her, drooling down on her as his claws were poised to deliver the killing blow, "Tasty morsel, just Die!"
and then a spray of blood showered down on the shrine maiden, causing her to flinch.
The creature remained stock still for a moment, before it's head slumped down, all life gone from its eyes, and it's arms went slack, giving Reimu the chance to crawl away from the fresh corpse.
"As I was saying Reimu-san, you shouldn't rush ahead on your own," Youmu chastised, standing behind the creature, one of her swords plunged through it's torso, right through the creatures heart. She quickly withdrew the blade, allowing the monster to fall lifelessly to the ground where Reimu noted with detached fascination it began to disintegrate. Youmu seemed uninterested in this, and pulled a silk cloth from her pocket, beginning to clean her blade with it.
"I-I'm sorry," Reimu replied, still wide-eyed after realizing she had once again almost had her life taken by a monster.
"It is okay for you to be worried about civilians, Reimu-sempai, but we are assigned partners for a reason," The girl continued, elegantly returning her blade to it's sheathe with a flick of her wrist, before giving her friend a small smile, "I do not know what I would do if I had to tell Yukari-sama that my partner died on her first night."
"I will do my best not to disappoint on future missions," Reimu assured, climbing back to her feet and wiping the blood from her face as best she could. She was startled as she noticed the wide smile the samurai was giving her, "What?"
"For a first showing of your powers, you did not do half bad Reimu-san," Youmu admitted, "Very few Tenshi at your level would have been able to sense an attack coming, and even fewer would have the grasp on their powers that you seem to have. That was the first time you summoned your Ofuda, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I just suddenly knew how to, and then they appeared," The older girl explained, "It was almost like I already had the knowledge, it had simply been locked away somewhere in my mind."
"That sometimes happens," The younger replied, "Some people believe that our powers come from our ancestry, such as Yukari-Sama's ability of astral projection or my own family history as Samurai and swordsmen, but others don't seem to add up, such as Kazami-sensei's mastery over flowers and the earth."
"W-wait a second, Yuuka-sensei is a Tenshi?" Reimu asked, receiving a nod.
"You wouldn't expect it from her, but Yuuka-sensei is one of the most powerful Tenshi to have awakened, which leads at least Yuyuko-sama and Yukari-sama to believe that she has a very long family history, and that perhaps one of her extended ancestors might have been an earth or harvest goddess."
"Wow..."
"It is quite a lot to take in," Youmu said, "Now, seeing as how we've had some fun tonight, I will see you tomorrow at school Reimu-san. And please remember, if you hear anyone screaming or calling for help, do not engage."
"But what if they really need our help, and it's a Youkai?" Reimu asked, not feeling well with leaving someone to possibly die.
"Do not worry, even if it doesn't seem like it, there is always a Tenshi out there, ready to help those in need," Youmu said, "We may be few in number compared to the Youkai, but we do not shirk on our duty."
"Alright..." Reimu wasn't sure if she could believe the younger girl, but considering how honest Youmu had been with her so far, she didn't think there was any reason to not trust her word.
"Goodnight Youmu-Chan," Reimu said with a small smile, waving to the younger girl before bolting off back towards her house.
"Goodnight Reimu-Kun," Youmu whispered, blushing as she looked up at the moon, and her wispy self circled her head.
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Reimu awoke with a groan the next morning, feeling more sore than she had ever before, but was startled as she came face to face with bright blue eyes.
"Hi Reimu-sempai!" Cirno shouted at her, causing Reimu to jump out of bed in shock.
"Holy crap Cirno, what was that for?" The shrine maiden shouted back, attempting to stop her racing heart. The young girl sitting on her bed cocked her head to the side and began to blink at her, making her anger melt away at the pure cuteness.
"Letty-Nee-San said to come and wake you up, since we need to leave for school soon," The younger girl explained, making the older sigh in annoyance.
"Would you please go and tell your older sister that having you scare the living daylights out of me every morning is not a pleasant way to wake up," Reimu grumbled, and was surprised at the nod she got in return. Watching as Cirno jumped off the bed and darted from the room, Reimu didn't have much hope for the girl remembering her message by the time she got down the stairs. Cirno may be adorable, but she was still an idiot.
Quickly changing into her uniform, Reimu hurried down the stairs, where she found her familiar group seated around her kitchen table, eating her groceries.
"I've said I'm sorry a hundred times now Alice-Chan, how many more times do you need to see me grovelling before you forgive me!" Marisa cried in mock despair, though everyone knew she was simply faking it to try and earn pity.
"I'm thinking 900 more times ought to suffice," The blonde doll maker replied, taking a sip from her tea, "This is very good Letty-Sempai, would you mind sharing the recipe?"
"A thousand times? Honestly Alice, it was just one doll!" The black-white complained, before slumping in her chair like a spoilt child, but was ignored.
Seated next to the doll maker was the purple-haired library ghost, Patchoulli, who, as always, had a book open on the table, while half of her attention was taken by a similar cup of tea, "I must agree with Alice, you make a very good cup, though perhaps not as good as Sakuya-san."
"Oh, thank you both," Letty replied, keeping her attention on the stove, where breakfast was cooking, "Ah, good morning Reimu-san, nice to see that Cirno-Chan managed to wake you up before we were late."
"Letty, next time you want me up at a certain time, come and do it yourself, instead of sending your midget in to scare the daylights out of me, please," Reimu muttered, grabbing a chair next to Marisa, and half slumping over the table.
"Long night, Hakurei-san?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"Hai, I was up all night studying again, trying to make heads or tails of another set of books I dug out of the Storehouse with Youmu-San's help," Reimu covered, surprised at how quickly the lie came to mind, but knowing she couldn't tell the girls the truth.
She did note with some amusement how one of the girl's fairies seemed to look perplexed, while the other was glaring directly at Marisa, but decided not to bring it up. Being able to cheat and see Alice's emotions through her fairies was already pushing it, and she didn't know the girl nearly well enough to talk to her about something so bizarre.
"Aww, more boring books written in that funny language Reimu, how lame!" Cirno complained, but was stopped by a hand on her head, belonging to her older sister.
"Now, now Cirno-Onee-Chan, what Reimu chooses to do with her time is up to her, just like you enjoy spending your time down by the lake with your friends, catching frogs," Letty gently chastised.
"Speaking of that squirt, have you ever ran into problems dealing with Sanae's crazy Aunt? The one who's all against animal dissection?" Marisa asked, cheerfully taking the plate Letty was now offering her.
"I am not a squirt!" The girl immediately shouted, "But um yeah, we sometimes see Suwako-Baa-Chan down there, but she says as long as we don't hurt the frogs she won't yell at us. Rumia doesn't like it though because she's always talking about how good they taste," all of the girls looked away in disgust at the thought of the oddest member of Cirno's group, while the blue-haired girl dug into her breakfast.
"Speaking of that family, I have not seen Sanae-san around the school since that day you were nearly attacked at the shrine Reimu-san," Patchy spoke up, "I wonder if her disappearance might have something to do with the failed attack."
That was when Reimu remembered Yukari's warning the other day, about how they had been investigating how those Youkai had snuck into the school, and how Sanae had practically sent her to them.
"I-I'm sure that she's just fine, and will be back in a few more days," Reimu said, laughing and sounding unconvincing, even to herself. The other girls simply gave her a look, before returning to their own breakfast.
"By the way, thank you for inviting us over today Letty-Sempai, you really didn't have to," Alice said, making Reimu raise an eyebrow, forgetting about her worries.
"Oh, it was no problem, the more guests the better," The older girl replied, aware of the look she was being sent, and promptly ignoring it, "and besides, you are both friends of Marisa, which makes you welcome."
"Friends is stretching it a bit," Alice commented icily, and Reimu noted how both of her fairies were staring intently at the monochrome thief, and laughed.
"Oh C'mon Alice-Chan, don't be like that," Marisa replied weakly, reaching out for the girl's hand, but flinched away as a fork was stabbed into the table inches from where her hand had been previously.
"Don't you Alice-Chan me Kirisame," Alice said coldly, and stormed from the room, though she stopped a moment to give the other girls a small curtsey, "Thank you for the meal Letty-Sempai, Reimu-San, I will see you all at school."
Once the door slammed, Marisa let out the breath she had been holding, and slumped in her chair, "That girl is scary sometimes."
"It's any wonder she's so angry at you, you did orchestrate the destruction of one of her precious dolls," Patchy commented, and received an indignant squawk from the blonde.
"Hey, you took part in that prank as well, don't act like you aren't at least somewhat at fault," Marisa tried to defend herself.
"The only reason that I was involved was because you lied to me," The violet-haired girl answered, and closed her latest encyclopedia with a quiet bang, before pushing out her chair and leaving without even a goodbye.
"Oh my Marisa but you do pick the strangest love interests," Letty commented, before returning her attention to the after-breakfast cleanup.
"Hey, I never said I loved either of them, don't be putting words in my mouth, Sempai or not," Marisa shot back, but went ignored. Cirno began laughing at the other girls expense, while Reimu sighed.
She had some very strange friends.
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Chapter 3 complete
I would like to bring to everyone's attention a couple matters, and a small quest for assistance for future chapters.
Y'see, I'm not Japanese (I'm Canadian), and most of my knowledge of Japanese words and phrases come from Anime and manga, which is all mostly self-taught.
Therefore, I'm still a bit unsure of certain Japanese suffixes, and the internet just doesn't seem to have the answers I'm looking for. So here's what I would like you to do to help.
I have been using suffixes like -Chan, -San, -Kun, and -Sempai, as well as what I'm sort of sure are the Feminine suffixes for siblings -Onee (older sister), and -Nee (younger sister), but I have never been 100% sure on the definition of some of these, and where they are appropriately used.
From what I know so far, San is a suffix applied to people you respect, and those you see as your equals, example, classmates. -Sama, on the other hand, applies to people of nobility, or great respect, such as Yukari, who is the principal, the top of the school food chain, and Yuyuko, who Youmu works for, and therefore highly respects.
This is where I start to lose information. I know that Nee and Onee are feminine suffix applied to a big sister/little sister, but I have never been sure of the order, That is, I get them mixed up in the definition. Chan is another one, all I have been able to figure out is that it is an affectionate term given to those you care about, but from what info I've found online, it seems to be a term used mostly towards children, such as calling a child kiddo in other languages.
The only thing that contradicts this is Persona 4, where the -Chan suffix seems to be used as an affectionate term among the main cast, and they all use it to refer to each other either teasingly or literally. Or maybe I'm remembering the game wrong (It was a lets play).
-Kun is the one I have the most reservation in using, as from what I have learned, it seems to be a term used only for those you love, or have a high affection for, like Girlfriends/Boyfriends, thus my hesitation.
If anyone can shed some light on the proper use of these suffix, I'd most likely love you forever, and if you can offer a few others that I'm unaware of/didn't list, It would help a lot with future chapters, as I'm trying to remain as true to the series heritage as I can, by applying the Japanese suffix and terms to their speech.
Also, am I the only one that finds using -Chan sounds a little condescending? I don't know, when I hear it spoken it sounds insulting. Maybe that's just me.
Ja Ne!