Who knew transferring universities could be this much of a hassle... orz


"The breeze feels nice…" Yuuka lay on her back, enjoying the afternoon sunset in an open field just next to her beloved sunflower patch. The sun illuminated everything under it in shades of gold and orange, casting a soft glow on her face.

Her leisure was soon interrupted by the black silhouette of a small figure which erected itself over her head, making a stark contrast with the tinted sky.

"What happened to you?" came the indifferent voice of the silhouette which belonged to Medicine Melancholy, who was looking down at the flower youkai that was magnificently covered in scratches and tattered clothing. Yuuka looked like a mess. It was a rare sight.

"Hmm? Nothing special." Yuuka gazed lazily at the small doll youkai above her. "I just ran into some troublesome pests is all."

"Huh." Medicine just looked at her uninterestedly, before deciding to take a seat on the grass beside her. "Your clothes are torn." She pointed out.

"Oh? I'll just get Alice to sew them back up for me then. Fufu."

"I see." Medicine handed her the object she had brought with her. "Anyway, here. It's your birthday, right?" It was an elegant looking white parasol, similar yet not identical to the one Yuuka previously owned.

"Oh my, how did you know I needed a replacement?" Yuuka asked a bit surprised.

"Intuition, I guess." Medicine shrugged.

"Hmm," Yuuka hummed a sound of approval, before giving her old friend an earnest smile. "Thank you. I'll make sure to treasure it."

"You can go ahead and use it however you like. I don't mind." Medicine tried to dismiss the one that was smiling at her teasingly from the corner of her eye.

"Fufu. Now don't say that. What kind of person doesn't treasure the gift of a friend?" Yuuka responded with a slight chuckle.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Yuuka dusted off her skirt as she stood up, twisting her new parasol over her shoulder. It looked like a big beautiful flower, dyed brazen gold under the sunset.

Medicine nodded. Quietly following behind her, the two of them walked down along the radiant field of sunflowers under the warm orange skies of Gensokyo.


"Ow, ow!" Marisa recoiled sharply when the disinfectant-soaked cotton made contact with her open wound. "That seriously stings, ze…" It was just a light gash on her upper right arm. Although the cut wasn't deep enough to be worried about, Alice had insisted on disinfecting it to prevent the risk of running an infection.

"Geez…" Alice pouted as she tended to Marisa's wounds. "Hold still, will you? I can't treat you properly if you keep flailing around like that."

"Oh, sorry," Marisa glanced away, "but it does hurt, you know…" before murmuring a complaint.

It was not just her arm; Marisa's entire body was also covered with several other small cuts and bruises. But thankfully, none of which could be considered serious injuries. Alice felt a pang of guilt upon looking at her friend's badly beat up state. She couldn't help feeling partially responsible for it, considering she did blow up a bomb in their faces. Reimu and Marisa just happened to be collateral damage.

Marisa, on the other hand, was in a world of her own.

'Alice's face when she pouts is too darn cute, ze! Damn, I wanna hug her! Uwah… come to think of it, her face is really close! I bet I could k-k-kiss her, if I just leaned forward a bit... Wait, what am I thinking? Like hell I can do that! …Oh, she smells nice. I wonder if it's her shampoo… Mmm,she smells really, really nice, ze... Gah! Now I feel like hugging and kissing her even more! Graagh! W-What should I do!?'

"Marisa…?"

"H-Huh?!" Marisa was snapped out of her reverie by the sudden proximity of Alice's face to her own. The other girl had leaned in even closer to look Marisa straight in the eyes. Alice's eyes were full of concern.

"W-What is it, Alice?" She reflexively shot up straight, stiff as a board, afraid that her thoughts might have leaked out somehow.

'Uwaah! Soclosesoclosesoclosesoclose!'

"Um, are you all right? Does it still hurt anywhere? You looked kind of troubled, so…" Alice inquired worriedly.

"I-It's nothing! Nothing at all, ze!" Marisa answered reflexively, waving her hands around in defence.

She then noticed that Alice looked kind of downcast, as if holding back on wanting to say something.

Marisa's expression softened. She had an inkling of what the other girl was troubled about. She put a hand on Alice's head and patted her softly.

"No need to beat yourself up over it, Alice. It's not your fault, ze." The gentleness behind her smile coaxed Alice to let it all out.

"Uuu… I'm sorry for getting you involved in this mess, Marisa! Reimu, too… It's all my fault!" she finally poured out what had been eating away at her, with tears in her eyes. She just looked so terribly and sincerely sorry that Marisa couldn't even possibly think about staying mad at her. Not that she even was in the first place. After all, a bomb to the face only proves the saying, 'love hurts'. Because as Marisa said, 'if it doesn't hurt, then it ain't love, da ze!'

"Like I said, don't worry about it! It's an old habit of mine to get myself involved in other people's mess! And I'm pretty sure it's the same with Reimu. It's her job, after all. You know, getting into people's messes and resolving them." Marisa tried to comfort her.

"But it was still my fault that you ended up like this!" Alice continued, still clearly upset.

"Well, it's true that Alice did deal most of the damage…" Marisa admitted bluntly, to which Alice began looking even more distraught. "But!" she quickly added, "You did manage to stop the fight and prevented it from getting worse! I think… Also, this much is nothing, ze! It's gonna take more than a bomb to the face to bring this Kirisame Marisa down! I happen to have the tenacity of a cockroach! Hahaha!" Marisa laughed boisterously, pounding a fist on her chest in a boastful manner to sound as reassuring as possible.

Alice involuntarily let out a small chuckle at Marisa's choice of words. Seeing Marisa's usual energetic self made Alice feel a little better.

"Tenacity of a cockroack, huh? You mean you die when you get whacked with a rolled up newspaper?" interjected Reimu in a mocking tone, who had just entered the room.

"Honestly, if I hadn't put up a barrier in time I would also be looking like that one over there." She gestured her thumb towards the pitiful figure that was covered in bandages and slumped against the wall across the room. Beside said figure was Alice kneeling down with a small first aid kit, being held up by Shanghai and Hourai.

"That was rather considerate of you, shielding only yourself, ze..." the black-white mummy muttered under her breath, glaring daggers at a certain miko.

"Yeah, that happens out of reflex." Reimu just shrugged indifferently before turning her attention to Alice.

"I've finished preparing the bath. You can go take a dip first and loosen up. It's been a tough day. Here," she walked over to her and handed her a towel along with a change of clothes. It was one of Reimu's plain white robes which she wears to sleep.

"I'll put that freeloading oni to work and get her to fix your house. In the meantime, you're welcome to stay here at the shrine," offered Reimu. She was being uncharacteristically hospitable. "Oh, but you can also stay here permanently if you want..." she added after a moment's pause. Perhaps she was being a little too hospitable. She tried sounding nonchalant about it, but truth is she was actually quite hoping.

"T-Thanks…" Alice wasn't sure how to respond to Reimu's sudden display of generosity. "Although, I do plan on returning to my house once the repairs are finished. But thanks for the offer, though..." she smiled timidly.

"Oi. Don't just go casually asking Alice to move in with you." Marisa butted in, unamused.

"Huh? I didn't say anything like that! Cough. A-Anyway, the water will get cold so hurry up!" Reimu chided as she hurriedly pushed Alice outside towards the outdoor bath, while trying to hide the blush that crept up on her face.


I might go on hiatus soon. Probably. I don't know when I can use the internet again. Dorm connection sucks. T_T