A/N: Hello. It's been awhile since I picked this up again. I needed some time off to think about some more Chapter stories. But yay, back to Reimu x Sanae!
*Some information Chapter 4 is based off of:
*Because Reimu and Sanae's relationship had made the front page (and more or less because Reimu was the infamous youkai "exterminator"), the Bunbunmaru newspaper for once spiked in popularity. It drew attention from nearly all of the youkai, and soon many of the Gensokyo humans began hearing rumors about something going on between Reimu and Sanae. After about a week, pretty much every inhabitant in Gensokyo knew about their relationship.
*It's now been a month and a half since Chapter 3. Very early on, Reimu insisted that she and Sanae would take turns getting food from the human village alone. But, as expected, they were still mercilessly teased whenever one of them went to the village to get food. Thankfully for Reimu, none of youkai and other humans dared to visit her shrine for various and understandable reasons (1. Not to incur the wrath of the Red-White, 2. Youkai still visited her shrine in droves, 3. It was far to walk to), allowing her to have a peace of mind. And more thankfully, the teasing had finally died down to friendly and supportive comments in passing in the last few weeks.
Chapter 4 takes place in this period of blissfulness for the red shrine maiden.
Chapter 4
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"Hey, Reimu, what do you think of this one?" Sanae twirled in the green summer dress, showing off the complementing clothing to Reimu.
"It, it looks great on you," the red miko replied. As she spoke, Reimu felt her face burn brightly red from embarrassment. All around them, the other humans and few youkai in the clothing store watched the spectacle unfold out of the corner of their eyes, unable to repress a smile at the two maidens. Oblivious to the glances from the other patrons, Sanae stopped twirling and faced Reimu. She put her hands behind her back and tilted her head a little.
"Only great? Surely there is more you can say about it?" She said seductively. Her green eyes bore into Reimu's in a brilliant and questioning gaze.
"I, I think you look wonderful," Reimu stammered. If she thought that she couldn't get any more red in the face, she was wrong. Sanae giggled, the answer clearly delighting her.
"I mean the dress, silly," she said, and she lightly fluttered back into her changing room, leaving the red miko alone again in the store. Reimu heard a several small snickers come from behind her, making their owner's gleeful observations evident.
Oh Kami, how did she get into this?
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A few hours earlier…
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Reimu frowned at the board in front of her. She hesitantly moved her piece to a spot on it. On the other side, Sanae smiled and deftly replaced Reimu's rook with her bishop.
"Checkmate."
Stunned at her checkmated King, Reimu threw her hands up in the air and fell back onto the tatami mat.
"Arrrrgh! I don't get this game!"
Sanae laughed and pushed the chessboard a little ways from her and Reimu. She crawled over and laid next to her frustrated partner.
"Well, you wanted to know what kind of Outside World games I knew."
"That was before you beat me five times, though," the red miko muttered. Her green lover propped herself up onto one arm and then gently kissed her.
"If it makes you feel any better, I find it rather cute that there is something that you are bad at," Sanae teased.
Reimu flushed slightly red out of shame. She turned her head to not let Sanae see her face and saw that it was near lunchtime on a nearby clock. Sanae noticed where she was looking and stood up. She stretched her arms out, feeling the soreness in her legs and arms from sitting in one place too long.
"I'll go make us lunch," she said cheerily. Reimu murmured, "Ok", and the green-haired miko went to the kitchen. The sounds of slicing vegetables and gentle humming from Sanae were soon heard as she started to prepare their food.
After a few minutes of listening, Reimu returned back to her sitting position and stretched out her own arms in front of her. She and Sanae had spent a good part of the morning talking about the Outside World. Reimu was not intimately familiar with how things were over there, and most of what she knew (or thought she knew) was through Yukari. The blue miko was delighted to share about her previous life, though. It eventually led to a discussion of games that Sanae played and her five consecutive losses in chess. Reimu's face flickered briefly in irritation.
She had never experienced such utter and humiliating defeat in life, and the feeling was downright awful. But, despite having shown several bouts of frustration and cursing during the games, she was not actually mad about losing. It was the exact opposite. She never had so much fun trying out something new and difficult with Sanae. The way that she would knit her eyebrows in concentration and how her eyes lit up every time she took one of Reimu's pieces…It was probably no wonder that she lost five times, distracted by the green-haired beauty in front of her.
"Reimu? Lunch is ready," Sanae called from the kitchen. Reimu realized she had been blankly staring at a wall with a slightly dazed and happy expression on her face. Flustered, she smoothed down her clothes and turned around.
"Ok," She replied back. She flinched, hearing her voice crack a little. Luckily, it did not seem that Sanae noticed, and the green haired girl came back into the living room with a tray of udon filled bowls.
"They're a little hot, so please wait a bit," she said, placing the tray onto the table.
Noticing that there were no utensils on the tray, Reimu quickly nipped into the kitchen and grabbed three pairs of chopsticks and spoons. She went back to the room and placed them by each of the bowls that Sanae had placed for them. And finally, after taking seat beside the other miko, they clapped their hands.
"Itadakimasu." Sanae, Reimu, and Koishi said, thanking the food.
...
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...
Reimu did a double take and looked at her right side. A young girl wearing a wide brimmed hat and a yellow and green dress was slurping the third bowl of noodles down. A floating, closed eye that had vein-like string coming out of it drifted a little above the girl's heart.
"Koishi!" Sanae looked around, confused for a second.
"Eh?"
"Mmm!" Instead of answering the red miko, Koishi Komeiji made a sound of content and continued eating. Reimu raised her hand and then lowered it. Feeling that it was useless to get angry at a crime that was already being digested, Reimu sighed heavily and picked up her chopsticks. Soon, the couple forgot about the intruding girl, and the sounds of chewing and gentle blowing of the hot noodles took over the room. Halfway through her bowl, Sanae decided to raise the issue up to Reimu.
"Hey, Reimu? I think we are almost out of food," she said. Reimu swallowed her current mouthful.
"How are we out already?" She said confused. Meanwhile, the culprit finished her bowl and asked for a cup of tea. Sanae subconsciously poured it for her and set the teapot down. She turned back to Reimu and resumed talking to her.
"I don't really know why, but our food storage dipped a lot this week. It's kind of strange, to be honest."
"Ohhh, that might be because of me," Koishi said happily. She began to get up and leave. Anger flickered across Reimu's face as she consciously noticed the youkai getting up.
"Wait, you." Reimu grabbed the back of the shirt of youkai girl and pulled her into a gripping hug from behind. Koishi, for her part, struggled to get free.
"Sanae, this is why the food's been disappearing."
"Let me go!"
Unlike Reimu, who had the uncanny ability to detect even the sound of money dropping into her donation box, Sanae had a little more trouble focusing on Koishi.
"Oh! The younger Komeiji sister!" She exclaimed when she was able to. Reimu nodded and loosened her grip. Koishi bounded out of her captor's arms and turned around. Even as the girl stuck her tongue out at the red miko, they were forgetting about her being there.
"I guess we'll have to get a lot more food this time," Reimu said. Sanae thought a bit about what the other girl said and smiled.
"I guess so," she agreed, and they went back to eating. When they were done, Reimu took the dishes to the kitchen to wash and let Sanae rest a little. But as soon as she heard the red miko shut the running water off and place the last dish on the rack, Sanae got up and went to the kitchen.
Reimu was drying her hands on the kitchen towel when she felt two arms wrap around her waist.
"Hey, Reimu," Sanae said, her breath tickling her ear. "Do you want to go on a date?"
"Sanae!" Reimu started to squirm and then stopped.
"A date?" She asked, confused at what the word meant. The green-haired miko's smile, which Reimu couldn't see, grew wider. She pulled the other miko closer.
"Yes, a date. In the Outside World, couples would go on dates and do fun things together. I was thinking that, since you said we needed to get more food, we could go to the human village this afternoon on a date and then go shopping afterwards."
Sanae paused and nuzzled Reimu in the back of her neck.
"I would really like it if you came with me, Reimu," she said. "We don't really go out together other than to visit Suwako-sama and Kanako-sama ever so often."
"I…I…," Reimu stuttered into quietness. She froze up as thousand thoughts flashed through Reimu's head with increasing alarm.
Her first instinct was to panic. She would be going with Sanae to the village for the first time in months. Not that that was a bad thing, but the teasing from the other humans! She didn't know if she would be able to stand it again. And what if Aya was flying around the human village? Were they going to be followed around and put on the front page again? What were dates like? How was she going to…
Sanae's breasts pushed against Reimu's back.
"Reimu?" Sanae asked. All thinking instantly froze in the red miko's racing mind. The extremely soft weight and feeling of the other shrine maiden's large mounds slowly began to occupy all of her thoughts.
"I-I'll be ready in a bit," Reimu managed to say. Sanae beamed and hugged her one last time before heading towards their front sliding doors to wait. As soon as she was out of sight, Reimu did a little nervous dance, realized that she looked silly doing it, and stopped. She instead tried to breathe slowly and calm down.
The truth was, she also had been wanting to do something with Sanae for a while. But her nerves kept getting the best of her every time she tried to ask her green-haired companion out. Subsequently, there were many failed attempts over the past weeks in which Reimu would start to ask the blue miko and then do something else entirely. And it did not help that the past teasing from the other humans whenever she went shopping also weakened her resolve.
Reimu smiled faintly to herself; she didn't know if it was a good thing that Sanae was the more dominant and progressive person in their relationship. On one hand, Sanae knew how to persuade her. On the other hand, Sanae knew exactly how to persuade her.
Regardless of what she thought, she needed to get ready. Reimu started to walk back to their room for a quick change of clothing, her heart pounding in anticipation of the next few hours.
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…Thus bringing her to the current situation. Unbeknownst to her, Sanae's definition of a date was like that of a high school girl, with Reimu being the awkward boyfriend in tow. As soon as they landed in the village, Sanae pulled Reimu into a clothing store and started browsing the clothing. And so far, she had put on several outfits that made the red miko speechless (or at least near speechless).
"Reimu?" Reimu jerked out of her terrified stupor and saw that Sanae had come out again. She wore her normal shine maiden clothing again and looked content.
"Ah, are you done?" The green haired girl nodded. She raised up a bundle of clothing, and Reimu saw that it was the green summer dress.
"I really like this one, so I'm going to buy it," she said happily. Lightly humming, she walked towards the cashier to pay for it. Still numbed by the stares, Reimu trailed after her. Sanae paid for the dress with some of her money, and the cashier put the dress into a paper bag for her to carry. Once the exchange was complete, they exited the store. It looked like two o'clock in the afternoon now.
The miko couple began to walk through the streets of the village. As Reimu had feared, the other humans and youkai instantly noticed that the colorful pair were together instead of alone. However, instead of going up and immediately teasing them, they walked on with slight, knowing smiles on their faces. It puzzled Reimu, as it was the opposite reaction she was expecting. After a bit, she decided that she won't question why they weren't being teased and just thank the unidentified Hakurei kami that they were spared of it. She turned slightly to talk to Sanae.
"So, is this what people do on dates?" Reimu asked. The other girl nodded and intertwined her hand with one of Reimu's.
"It's not that bad, Reimu," Sanae said. "Many people do it all the time. You get to be with your loved one and spend some time with him or her."
"But don't we do that already?"
Sanae didn't reply, as she had spotted something. Reimu saw that it was a sweets café of some sort. There were several wooden tables outside of it, and it looked devoid of people. The wooden sign above the establishment read "Sweet Tooth."
"Well, yes, but a lot of people don't have that kind of luxury. And speaking of luxury. Are you hungry, Reimu?" The red miko paused, getting the hint.
"I guess I could go for a little snack before dinner," she said. Sanae smiled.
"Great."
Sanae led Reimu to the café, and they walked inside. It was a very dainty kind of place. There were more tables set up with some distance from each other, and many photos of Gensokyo's landscape hanged on the walls. At the back, there was an old woman managing the counter. A small girl wearing a white apron noticed them and came over.
"Hello, welcome to Sweet Tooth!" she said cheerily. Her eyes brightened.
"Sanae-oneesan!" The young girl ran up to the green-haired miko and hugged her. Sanae laughed and bent down to hug her back.
"Hi, Amy! It's good to see you again." Still holding the miko, Amy noticed Reimu.
"Oh, are you and her going to eat here?" Sanae nodded. The girl immediately scrambled away to get two menus. She gave them to Sanae and beamed.
"Sit anywhere you like. And call me when you want to order!"
"Thanks, Amy." Sanae patted the young waiter on the head and turned towards Reimu.
"Where do you want to sit, Reimu?"
Faced with a sudden decision, the shy, red miko hesitantly moved towards a table near the wall. The couple sat in their seats (with Sanae next to Reimu) and opened their menus. Upon opening hers, Reimu made a small sound, surprised at the number of items that she was presented with. There were many Japanese confectionery and a few Western sweets in the selection. It could almost put Sakuya Izayoi to shame with her own knowledge of desserts.
"Isn't this place nice?" Sanae said. "I met Amy and her grandmother a few weeks ago, when her grandmother was sick. After healing it with a small miracle, they invited me to come here. But I never had the time to go."
"Ah…"
The couple became silent for a few minutes, browsing through the pages. Reimu marveled and drooled at the pictures of each item, despite not knowing some of them. Eventually, she knew what she wanted. She lightly tapped Sanae's hand.
"I'm ready." Sanae smiled and waved at Amy. She noticed and bounced over to them.
"Hiya! What are you getting?"
"I'll have the tiramisu," Sanae ordered.
"The strawberry parfait for me," Reimu said. Amy wrote them down on her notepad and smiled. She gathered up the menus and bowed.
"I'll come right back with your desserts!" The girl replied, and she went to the old woman behind the counter. Reimu watched them chat for a bit, and the grandmother disappeared into the back. She soon came back out with a tray of food. Amy took it and brought their order to Sanae and Reimu. She gently placed each of the desserts in front of them and bowed again.
"Please enjoy, oneesans!" She exclaimed, and she scurried away to give them some privacy.
Reimu picked up her spoon and scooped up a small portion or her parfait. She ate it and made a small, complimenting noise.
"This is really good!" She exclaimed. Sanae lightly dug into her tiramisu and made a similar noise.
"I know, right?"
After a few more bites of the sweet and delicious dessert, Reimu had a sudden idea to tease Sanae. She spooned out a good portion.
"Hey, Sanae." The green-haired girl turned her head at the mention of her name.
"Mmm?" The red miko smiled and help up the spoon.
"Ahh…." It took a few seconds for Sanae to realize what she was doing. She quickly swallowed her current piece of the tiramisu.
"R-Reimu!" She said, flustered by the offer. She looked around nervously. Luckily, it didn't seem that Amy or her grandmother noticed, as both of their backs were turned and busy with something. Sanae turned back to Reimu with a slightly nervous but happy expression.
"Ahhh." She ate the spoonful of food, leaning over to not spill any of it. She gushed at the taste.
"Mmm!" Reimu smiled and returned back to her dish. But it was not over; not wanting to be outdone by the red miko, Sanae sliced a piece of her cake and also raised the piece up carefully.
"Reimu?"
"Hmm?"
"Ahh…" Sanae said, emphasizing the slice. Reimu blushed hard, realizing that it was her turn now to take the bite. And, unluckily for her, someone had noticed. She heard a giggle, indicating that Amy had noticed them. The young girl quickly averted her eyes once she saw that the red miko caught her staring. Reimu looked back at Sanae, who had an amicable and patient expression on her face. Steeling her nerves, she awkwardly ate the piece of tiramisu. It tasted like soft and heavenly chocolate cake.
For the rest of the meal, Reimu and Sanae took turns feeding each other. Reimu was grateful that there weren't any other humans in the store, else she didn't think that she would have been able to power through. As soon as the last bites of the desserts were eaten, Amy came over and cleared away the dishes. After giving them to her grandmother, she walked back to them and hugged Sanae.
"Thank you for eating here, Sanae-oneesan!"
"It was lovely, Amy. Thank you," Sanae said. She took out some money from a hidden pocket in her shrine skirt and gave it to the affectionate girl. Their meal paid, Sanae hugged Amy one last time, and both she and Reimu got up and left the sweet cafe.
"That was really good," Reimu praised once they were outside. She was starting to get the idea of dating, although it made her feel more or less embarrassed inside. Sanae nodded in assent and took her hand.
"It really is one of its kind," she said.
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For the latter part of the afternoon, Reimu and Sanae walked around the human village, enjoying the time outside and being together. Sanae knew the layout like the back of her hand, and they went through many streets and alleyways that the red miko didn't know existed. It soon became apparent that Sanae went through them regularly, as many of the humans walked up to talk to her about various things, such as cured illnesses and faith. It made Reimu feel a little awkward standing as they chatted to the green-haired girl, although they did acknowledge the red miko first. But because of their date, Sanae briefly greeted and politely turned them away, promising to return to talk to them another day.
In a way, Reimu had the chance to see another side of Sanae outside of the shrine. She loved to talk with other people and bring smiles to their face. It was unlike her own self; Reimu was so used to the youkai and being alone, that she seemingly felt much more comfortable around them than around other humans (and it wouldn't be so farfetched to say that she outright avoided them unless they were there to give her donations). And yet here they were, together in a relationship despite being colorful opposites of each other.
At around 5p.m., the miko couple decided to head towards the marketplace to shop for food. Sanae led the way, as Reimu was less familiar with her current surroundings. Eventually, they arrived the square of the Dragon God Statue. It stood formidably in the middle, its white eyes judging all in its field of view. Reimu often used it as a place to land, as it was a large landmark of the human village that you could see from the sky. Passing by it, they soon exited the square on the other side. After a few more streets, they finally came upon the marketplace, where all kinds of food, liquor, and merchandise were being sold.
Upon entering the district, Reimu and Sanae were met with the loud sounds of bartering and sales. As it was close to closing hours, there were still many humans about and rushing to get the last deals of the day. The miko couple carefully picked their way through the crowd and browsed the stalls for their food. After about half an hour, they were done shopping, carrying a few more bags than normal that would last them for a few months (or at least feed more unwanted mouths). They even had received several generous discounts from the venders on their next shopping run as commemoration for coming together for the first time. It was, all in all, a very satisfying end to a wonderful day.
But Reimu felt a little bad. Ending the date with shopping sounded…lame, and Sanae had put quite a bit of energy into their date. Even if the green-haired miko was happy with it, Reimu wanted their first date to end in a better place. The Dragon God statue floated up into her mind as they walked clear of the human crowd.
"Um, Sanae, there is a place I want to go before we leave," She said awkwardly, unsure of how to put the words together. Sanae's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Oh? Where?" She said.
"Um, it's a surprise." The other shrine maiden's expression turned curious, but she nodded.
"Alright, but we should make it quick," she said, indicating that the food that they carried was perishable.
The couple traced back their steps to the square with the Dragon God Statue. As it was approaching dinner time, the area was almost devoid of people, and many of the remaining humans gave wide berth of the statue. Upon seeing it, Sanae laughed.
"Wow, Reimu. If you wanted to come here for a bit, we should have done so before getting the food."
"I, I thought it would be more romantic," The red miko said truthfully. Sanae looked at her and then smiled sincerely.
"Indeed, the perfect way to end a date."
They walked over to where the sculpted icon of the Dragon God stood. Now that she was near it, she could see the well-worn stone and granularity from exposure of the weather. And even up close, it still looked foreboding and imposing. For a few moments, the two girls stared at the statue, lost in their own thoughts about it. Finally, the green-haired girl turned slyly to face Reimu.
"Well, Reimu. You know what happens next, right?" Reimu nodded, all too aware now of what follows in dating. She moved her bags around to have a little more room to move. And then she leaned in to kiss Sanae full on the lips.
They savored in the kiss, each feeling the soft flesh of the other girl. All too quickly, though, they realized where they were and broke off. They both giggled nervously, feelings as though they just committed a crime in front of the almighty Dragon God. But it probably wouldn't have minded; after all, this was Gensokyo. And without another word, they took off and flew back to the Hakurei Shrine to make dinner.
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