Chapter 4
An Angry Yukari
"Morning." Homura says while approaching Sayaka and Madoka. She rubs her eyes and yawns.
"Eh, you okay, Homura? You look awful." Sayaka says.
"Rough night. Hardly slept at all." Homura says.
Madoka says "Did you and Marisa not get along? I have room at home, if you need her to leave."
"No! I mean… no, Marisa and I had an argument, and when I was about to throw her out, that Yukari showed up in person. She wants Marisa to stay with me, and I'd… I'd rather never meet her again." Homura says.
"Whoa, that scary?" Sayaka says.
"Y-yeah… I'd have gotten plenty of sleep, had I not been too afraid to do so." Homura says.
"W-what did she do?" Madoka says.
"Not much… there's just… something about her. Just the fact that she was there made me afraid…" Homura says.
Really? That is interesting indeed. says a voice inside the girls' heads.
Oh, hello Kyuubei. says Madoka happily.
Hello, Madoka. Now, Mami has already told me some, but what can you tell me about these people from 'Gensokyo'? Kyuubei says. Madoka and Sayaka tell him what they know, with Homura adding a few comments. Homura leaves out, however, Marisa's bit about not caring about any of the girls. Hmm… I will have to look into this more. You said these 'youkai' are similar to witches, correct? Kyuubei says.
Supposedly. However, Yukari is apparently a youkai, and she looks human and can speak, unlike witches. Homura says.
And where is this Yukari now? Kyuubei says.
I don't know. When I left this morning, she was gone, or at least, she wasn't visible. Homura says. Marisa, though, ought to still be there.
Hmm… I think I will go and pay her a visit. Kyuubei says.
Be careful, okay? She seems a little… trigger happy. Sayaka says.
"I don't get it. Why do I gotta stay cooped up in here? The world can't'a changed that much in a hundred and whatever years since Gensokyo got sealed away." Marisa says to no-one in particular.
"Because you cause a mess every time you leave your house even in Gensokyo." Yukari, who is presently half out of a gap and upside-down, says.
Marisa jumps and says "Gyach! Geez, Yukari, can't'cha ever just talk ta people normally?"
"Of course I can." Yukari says indignantly.
"Name one time. And bein' too tired ta be annoyin' don't count." Marisa says.
"Well, there was… um… The thing that Suika started. I didn't do anything during that." Yukari says.
"Yeah, if ya count makin' it half early evening and half midnight as 'nothing'. Face it, you like showin' off just as much as I do." Marisa says with a chuckle.
"Well, there was that… uh… Oh yeah! That time I confronted Tenshi after she rebuilt the shrine! Ha!" Yukari says.
"Yeah, and then you blew up the shrine. That also don't count as nothin'." Marisa says.
"Fine. If you don't want me here, I'll leave." Yukari pouts, ducking back inside her gap and closing it.
"Wait… ugh, now I'm alone again. Damn." Marisa says.
Are you the one known as Marisa Kirisame? a voice in Marisa's head says.
"Eh? Who said that?" Marisa says. A small white creature walks out of the shadows.
I did. I am known as Kyuubei. Kyuubei says.
"Oh, I was expectin' somethin'… a little more… not tiny. But yeah, I'm Marisa. Whadd'ya want?" Marisa says.
Firstly, I would like to offer you the choice I have offered to the other 5 girls you have met since your arrival here. Would you like to have one wish, any wish, granted, and become a magical girl in turn? Kyuubei says.
"Nah, I'm good. My life goal was to learn magic, and I'm sure the natives've already told ya what I can do with that." Marisa says.
Yes. They also mentioned how reckless you are with it. Kyuubei says. But you really have no wishes? No desire for world peace? To end famine? To prevent death? the creature says.
"Well, world peace'd be boring, ending famine'd just make everybody fat, and when ya can just visit the afterlife, death ain't quite as big a deal anymore. Besides, I know some people who can't die, and they just do the same thing day after day. Seems pretty boring to me. So nope. No wishes for me." Marisa says.
Not even to just get back home? Kyuubei says.
At this, Marisa laughs. She says "Look, I don't mean ta be rude or nothin', but even if you could do that in such a way that Yukari couldn't stop you, what's ta stop her from just sendin' me back out here?"
If you truly do not have any wishes to be granted, then may I ask about the second reason I came here? Kyuubei says.
"Yeah, what?" Marisa says.
This 'Yukari'. May I speak with her? Kyuubei says.
"Oh, her? Ya just missed her. She left just about a minute before you showed up." Marisa says.
I see… Do you know any way I might be able to contact her? Kyuubei says.
"Nope. I know she did somethin' with Reimu's balls a while ago, when we went to hell, but I wasn't in direct contact with her ever." Marisa says, snickering a bit when she said 'Reimu's balls'.
She contacted someone through their reproductive organs? Kyuubei says.
This, of course, causes Marisa to fall to the ground laughing. After a few minutes, she regains her composure. She says "Nah, it's just a joke some of us got, since she uses these big yin-yang balls as weapons. Course, we never say it in front of her. That'd just be suicide." Marisa says.
I… see… In any case, how do you talk to her if you need to? Kyuubei says.
"Well, normally, ya gotta either just say her name real loud, or wait 'til she shows up ta talk ta you." Marisa says.
Well, as you can see, I cannot 'say' anything. Could you try to get her attention for me? Kyuubei says.
"Sure. Oi, Yukari! Ya got a thing that wants ta talk with ya!" Marisa says. She waits a while, then says "Guess she don't wanna talk to ya. She said she ain't gonna protect me, but every scrape I've got myself into so far, she's showed up. Well 'cept that one with Homura last night. Anyways, I feel like she's got a close eye on me, so she must just not wanna talk to ya."
She didn't show up last night? But Homura said she did… Kyuubei says.
"Not while I was awake, she didn't." Marisa says, shrugging.
Hmm… Interesting… Marisa, would you mind telling me what happened last night? Kyuubei says.
"Sure. Far as I can remember it, me and Homura got into a fight 'cuz I went overboard yesterday. I told her to shove it, and she didn't take it too kindly. I told her to deal, and she jumped at me. I hit her with a little blast a' magic, and told her to go ta sleep. She grumbled somethin' and I went ta sleep on this couch." Marisa says.
I see. Thank you for your time, Marisa Kirisame. Kyuubei says.
"Wait, before ya go, I think I get ta ask you some stuff now. What kind'a magic are those soul gems, anyways? I've never seen anything quite like 'em, and I've seen just about everything." Marisa says.
I would prefer not to answer that question, Marisa. Kyuubei says.
"Okay, then. What exactly are witches? I live in a place full'a monsters, and I ain't never seen somethin' like that before." Marisa says.
Witches are the embodiment of the negative emotions of humanity. They must be destroyed, or else they will continue killing until nothing is left. And the only ones who can kill them, or so I thought up until this point, are magical girls. Kyuubei says.
"Yeah, I already heard all that from the girls. What I meant is, where do witches come from? And no 'when a mommy witch and a daddy witch' bull. Where exactly do they come from?" Marisa says.
When the suffering of humanity due to their emotions becomes too great to contain, a witch is born. Kyuubei says.
"Yeah, 'cept that's not exact enough." Marisa says.
I would prefer not to go into more detail. It is rather gruesome, after all. Kyuubei says.
"Okay, fine. One last question. Probably. Depends on your answer. Anyways, what happens when a soul gem gets destroyed?" Marisa says.
I would prefer not to answer that question, Marisa. Kyuubei says.
"Why?" Marisa says.
Because I would prefer not to answer that question. Is that all? Kyuubei says.
"It depends. What happens if I blast you?" Marisa says with a wicked grin, holding her reactor in her hands.
I do not understand. Why would you wish to do that? Kyuubei says.
"I dunno, maybe 'cuz you're gettin' all those girls to sign contracts without tellin' 'em the full details of it? That might have somethin' ta do with it, maybe." Marisa says.
If you really must know, a duplicate puppet for me to control would be sent, and I would tell the girls that you are a sociopath who is even more dangerous than the witches. I imagine that is not something you want to have happen, is it? Kyuubei says.
"Hey, I don't got any problems with you tellin' 'em the truth. Keeps 'em on their toes." Marisa says, still grinning.
(Youtube video: "Touhou Remix #45 (Metal) Necrofantasia")
"As much as I agree with you, Marisa, I don't believe doing such a thing now would be a good idea. Anyway, I also have some questions to ask of this Kyuubei creature. Also, Marisa, you're going to have to relay his answers to me. I don't want him poking around in my head. Might not be good for him, you know?" Yukari says, from nowhere.
"Yeah, I get ya. Ah, he says he can't actually read minds, though. It's just telepathy, I guess. Not like Satori or nothin'." Marisa says.
"And how do you plan on testing this claim?" Yukari says.
"Well, if you was there last night, I think you'd know." Marisa says.
"Ah, yes. I remember. Alright, I will trust him." Yukari says, exiting a gap, then proceeding to sit on said gap.
"I never did understand how you use those things as chairs." Marisa says. Yukari merely shrugs.
"Anyway, Kyuubei. What exactly are those soul gems? I know I've seen something similar somewhere before, but I can't quite remember where." Yukari says.
As I told Marisa earlier, I would prefer not to answer that question. Kyuubei says.
"You appear to be misinformed. I was not granting you a choice in the matter." Yukari says.
Again, as I told Marisa earlier, this is but a puppet of sorts that I am in control of. You cannot threaten me from this location. Kyuubei says. Yukari tilts her head, then snaps her fingers. Kyuubei begins writhing in pain.
"And as I told you, you appear to be misinformed. I was not granting you a choice in the matter." Yukari says. She leaves the creature in its miserable state for a few moments before she snaps again. "Now, what exactly are those soul gems? You can answer, or we can play again." Yukari says.
Kyuubei gets up shakily, and then says I will not tell you. All of us are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. You cannot threaten, coerce, strong-arm, bribe, or in any other way convince me or anyone else to tell you. And if you insist in meddling further, then we will be forced to kill you.
Yukari's eyes narrow, and the temperature of the room drops drastically. Marisa slowly backs away from the youkai, and starts shivering uncontrollably. The room goes dark, and the temperature spikes. Marisa coughs, and manages to say "Y-Yukari… I-it's too hot… I-I can't breathe." Yukari waves her hand dismissively, and the temperature around Marisa becomes normal suddenly. Marisa collapses, taking large breaths of air.
Yukari speaks, but it is not with her normal voice. The sound made is deep, yet screeching, it is distorted and garbled, yet still perfectly understandable. It is as far from both 'human' and 'kind' as possible. It is a sound that by itself can induce nightmares. It is simply indescribable. This voice says "YoU aPpeaR tO Be MiSinFOrmeD. I Was NoT GrantiNg yOu a ChoIce In ThE MaTTeR." The young witch faints, and Kyuubei tries to hide behind some furniture, which promptly vanishes. "AnsWeR." the terrifying voice demands.
I-I will n-not a-answer. W-we a-are not a s-spec-cies t-that f-f-feels f-fear, o-or any o-other e-emotions. Y-your t-th-threats w-w-will n-not w-work o-on me. Kyuubei says.
"WeRe I noT hUrrIEd, I woUlD Find yOUr dEfIancE AmusInG. As iT is, iT iS merElY AnnOyIng. AnSweR." Yukari says. Kyuubei begins writhing in pain again. This time, the creature screams, in its own way.
H-how am I… s-s-suppos-s-sed to t-tell… to t-tell you w-when y-you a-are doing s-such a t-thing… a t-thing to me? Kyuubei says.
"ThE saMe wAy yOu jUSt asKeD tHAT." Yukari says. She waves her hand, and Kyuubei, despite still feeling immense pain and terror, is able to speak normally.
We take the souls of the girls we make contracts with and place them in the gems. That way, the girls are more resilient than ordinary humans, a necessity when fighting witches. As such, when a soul gem is destroyed, the owner dies. And when one turns completely dark, the owner transforms into a witch. Please, Mistress Yukari, let me go. Kyuubei says.
The room returns to the way it was before Yukari entered, and the gap youkai smiles warmly. "Thank you very much. Have a good day." she says pleasantly, re-entering her gap. Kyuubei flees the room.