Hey, Readers!: You can always try criticizing me, you know. It helps. A lot. I wonder if anyone's caught on to the chapter titles yet.

Disclaimer here: Touhou belongs to the mortal god of drunkenness himself, ZUN. I also don't own the concepts of tiredness, vampirism, Schrodinger's Cat, or Pride. Enjoy.

[Springtime with Snow – The Oni Village – Evening]

Most cats don't turn into girls, Simon realized, staring up at the ceiling while he tried to sleep. Orin wasn't an ordinary cat, if the twin tails she sported weren't clue enough. God, he was tired. Humans shouldn't be awake this late at night. Humans shouldn't be a quarter mile underground, trying to recover from nearly lethal wounds. Then again, that applied to sane humans, which may have meant that the observation was a moot point, as he didn't necessarily qualify as sane.

Hell, it was funny thinking of just what would happen if he tried to explain his current situation to someone from home. "I was chasing a vampire into another world and got my eyes cut out, was rescued by a magical puppeteer, and then after a huge storm hit, got the shit beaten out of me by an oni." That'd go over well over there. He wondered just how they were doing. Marilyn probably missed him. He'd been gone for a long time now, and he had probably been written off as dead by this point. Disappeared without a trace, and since he officially didn't exist, that meant he never was.

That was a scary thought. Instead of being dead, he'd be left alive while everyone he knew thought he was dead. The idea of Marilyn crying at a funeral... He silently promised himself to return alive, regardless of what it took. A man alive while he's dead. He'd be Schrodinger's human. He chuckled, and finally fell asleep.

[Springtime with Snow – The Oni Village – Early Morning]

Simon woke to feel something pulling at his chest. He looked down to see that Yuugi was removing the bandages that had been tightly wrapped around his entire upper half. "How do I look?" he asked her.

Yuugi glanced at him, surprised that he was awake already, then looked back to what she was doing. "You're alright, there. The ribs have set properly, and the burns are pretty much gone. This will be the last day you'll need your chest wrapped like this."

"That's a relief." he said, leaning back down to stare at the ceiling again. "Say, where did you learn to treat wounds like this?"

"The spellcard rules haven't been around since the beginning of time, you know. Most of us underground were fighters before combat became nonlethal." She pulled out a fresh roll of bandages. "Besides, accidents still happen."

"Makes sense."

They stayed silent for a few minutes as Yuugi finished wrapping him up. "You know something, Simon? I thought you were mocking me at first, back during the fight."

He gave a short, bitter laugh. "I don't know about you, but somehow mocking an oni, of all things, in an otherwise friendly battle doesn't come across as very intelligent."

She stared at him for a moment before chuckling herself. "I thought you were insulting me, by refusing to fly. I hadn't realized you weren't from Gensokyo."

"Ouch. Thinking of it that way..."

"Yeah. It's a pretty cocky way to fight when just about everybody can fly. Hurt my pride a bit."

"That was why you got pissed off. Hell, the only consistent detail in the myths about oni is don't hurt their pride, or they'll mess you up." he paused. "That, and a love for alcohol."

"Damn straight. You didn't exactly make it better with the taking hits head on, and not using spell cards until the last possible moment either."

"I used it as soon as I got it." he shrugged. "I didn't expect to win the fight, to be honest. I've never been great at fights."

Yuugi stared at him for a moment. After blinking she said, "I'm surprised. You fought well."

"Thank you." It wasn't a light compliment. "But yeah, I was fighting an enemy I knew little about on even grounds with an unfamiliar choice of weapon, and looking back, I had a hell of hangover at the time. Not the greatest of ways to ensure victory, you know?"

"Yeah." She walked to the corner of the room, and picked up her sake bowl, sipping from it. She had a lot to think about.

[Springtime – Heaven – The Previous Afternoon]

Reimu pointed her gohei at the celestial in front of her. "Hey, Tenshi! What'd you make the storm for?"

Tenshi ignored her question, looking at the girl behind the shrine maiden. "What's she doing here? You think you needed backup or something?"

Reimu stepped forward, jabbing the gohei into Tenshi's chest. "She doesn't matter. You didn't answer my question. Who told you to create a storm?"

Tenshi smiled. She planned on dragging out the moment as long as she could. This would be a good break from the monotony. "That's a different question, Reimu." Reimu swung the gohei at Tenshi's head, only for the celestial to catch the improvised weapon. "Temper, Temper!" she admonished. "Starting a fight when it's beautiful like this? I accept. Bring it."

Reimu threw danmaku in Tenshi's face, forcing the celestial to release the gohei. "Damn it, we know someone told you to make the storm!" she shouted.

"We?" The celestial asked as she dodged the attacks. "So the tengu is working with you, then?

Reimu screamed in anger, taking out her frustrations from the previous few days out on the celestial. Tenshi grinned, beginning to dodge through the few gaps she saw in the attack pattern.

"STOP!"

Both combatants stopped their attacks immediately, dispelling the danmaku as they turned to face Shikieiki, the Yama of Paradise, who continued speaking, "The celestial was acting on my orders, shrine maiden. Though she went further than I had asked." She looked like a young woman, and she carried a yellow wooden sword in her hands. Her almost childish appearance and voice did absolutely nothing to lessen the effect of the glare she leveled at Tenshi, who squirmed in place.

Reimu stepped in. "Yama, what exactly did you order Tenshi to do?"

Shiki paused for a moment, eventually saying, "I had ordered her to destroy the vampire who had been murdering innocents without harming the one who had entered Gensokyo following her."

"She succeeded in doing that, without killing anyone else, so a storm like that isn't going to happen again anytime soon?"

"Yes. Do not harm the one from outside. That applies to the magicians watching you as well." The Yama responded, seemingly staring at nothing.

[Springtime – Scarlet Devil Mansion Library – The Previous Afternoon]

Marisa, Patchouli, and Alice simultaneously gulped, as Shikieiki glared at them. They'd keep to that simple order.

[Springtime – Heaven – The Previous Afternoon]

She looked back to Reimu and Tenshi. "The outsider is on a path to redemption. You may fight him should you so choose, but do not harm him."

"You mean the human magician Alice had mentioned?"

"Precisely. He has much to learn, and he will be able to do if he isn't harmed."

Reimu nodded, and left, Aya snapping a picture of the Yama before following the shrine maiden. Iku bowed her head as a sign of respect to the Yama before flying off. Tenshi was left alone on the island of heaven with Shikieiki. "I'm not getting out of this easily, am I?" She asked.

Shikieiki glared at her before saying, "We have quite a bit to discuss, Eldest Daughter."

[Springtime with Snow – The Oni Village – Morning]

Satori quietly slipped into the room, shushing mutters from her pets behind her. She didn't want to wake Simon up, as he would normally be sleeping at this hour. Naturally, he was wide awake, albeit lost in thought like Yuugi was. He glanced over at the door, and seeing the familiar purple shape of a girl, smiled. "Hello, Satori."

Satori smiled herself. "Hello, Simon. Why are you awake so early?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep too well. Woke up when Yuugi changed the bandages."

"I see. I brought Utsuho and Rin with me again."

"I know what you're planning, Miss Satori. You're thinking of a way to destroy the knife."

Satori's mouth was open in shock. He couldn't have read her mind, but...

"I don't need to read your mind to read that expression. Besides, I was thinking something much the same. I'll explain shortly." he finished, nodding to prompt her into what she had planned.

She nodded herself, opening the door to allow a twin-tailed cat and raven to fly in. They both quickly turned into their more humanoid forms, confused. She turned to him again. "Explain yourself."

He chuckled for a moment. "Amongst a few others, one of the things that one training to be an investigator learns is reading body language. It's a rather animalistic trait, most people never develop the ability. Your pets," he said, nodding towards Orin and Okuu, "likely noticed what I had; specifically, that you were planning something." Seeing a look of comprehension begin to appear on her face, he continued. "Knowing that you were planning, then, I took the information I had, and put it together. You knew what my stated goals were, I wasn't exactly hiding them. You made a point of bringing me back into health, went into my memories to understand my apathy, and introduced me to your pets, specifically Okuu over there."

Satori nodded, slightly awed by the deductive reasoning. "I see how you figured it out. It looks like you'll have to continue if you want those two to understand it." Yuugi stared at him, watching his movements.

"Alright then. Amongst my stated goals was a want to destroy my cursed knife, an act which requires careful focus, a great amount of power, and runes to prevent the effects of the runes from hurting those around, especially those destroying it." Orin nodded in understanding, having caught on to the plan. He continued, seeing that Okuu was still confused. "The power was the biggest problem. I have a energy collection rune circle set up in my apartment, for emergencies. Activating it would release an incredible amount of energy, enough to overload almost any item, magical or non. With Okuu here, there's a different power source available, albeit one that will require a more complicated runic circle to use."

Utsuho still hadn't caught on to the plan, so Satori decided to help a little bit. "Nuclear Fusion is pretty powerful, isn't it?" she asked.

[Springtime with Snow – Palace of the Earth Spirits – Noon]

"So, let's get this show on the road." Simon said to himself, stretching out muscles which had gotten little to no use the past few days. He jogged to the inner courtyard, mentally designing the runic circle he would need to lay out.

Yuugi had been waiting for him just outside the entrance. "Why are you so willing to destroy the knife? What does it do?"

She wanted the answers before letting him risk the lives of the others. He had left information out, something which didn't sit well with the oni. "I made this knife because I felt that killing would be the only way to help the world as a whole." he said, "It very much represents a dark chapter in my life. I'd like to see it closed today."

"And what of what happens later? Your stint as investigator ends with you no longer killing."

"Not so. The exorcism was how I had interpreted the job. I did things which, looking back, were unnecessary."

"The knife. How is it cursed?"

"Vampiric rune. It drains blood from the target on contact, and the blood it drains fuels it further, making the curse more effective. That combined with the various strengthening and resistance runes, means that it can drain the blood from almost any living being in under two seconds. That's why I'd like to only have Okuu and I in there."

"What?"

Simon looked into her eyes. "If something goes wrong, if my circle fails to do its job, the magical overload will still work. In that case, a supercharged effect of the vampiric rune will pulse out, instantly draining the blood from anyone within a radius of approximately 250 meters. I want you to get Miss Satori, Koishi, and Orin away from here, Yuugi. I don't want to risk anything more than necessary. Okuu and I have to be there, but no one else does."

Yuugi paused, staring at the bandages covering his eyes. The runes along them were glowing faintly. "I'll do what I can. Tell me when." She paused, and he took that as a cue to continue. She turned and yelled at his back, "And take care of yourself, too, ya hear!"

[Springtime with Snow – Palace of the Earth Spirits Inner Courtyard – Afternoon]

Simon finished drawing the last of a series of increasingly complex runes along the edge of the circle. In the middle, he placed the knife, and backed off. Utsuho stood to the side, in a circle of her own. He retreated to a circle directly across from her. All three circles were enclosed by a larger circle, some 10 meters in diameter. He leaned down to the edge of his circle, and activated it.

All of the circles lit up, glowing a greenish blue. Utusho was stunned by the sight. Simon turned behind him, not raising his hands. "Yuugi, get them away now!" he shouted. The oni nodded, picking up Orin, and running outside the palace. Satori followed behind the two. Simon hoped Koishi had the good sense to get away herself. Simon turned to Utsuho. "Okuu, Shoot the knife, as much power as you can! Destroy the knife!"

Utsuho raised her control rod at the blade, taking careful aim, before unleashing a huge bright white beam. As bright as the sun, Simon realized, even taking his bandages into account, he had to turn his head away. The runic circles flared as the knife began to burn. A sudden explosion from inside made a visible shockwave that seemed to echo into the air, before falling back down again. Simon struggled to maintain the circles.

Then it was over. The ripples inside the inner circle disappeared completely, and the knife was no more. "Okuu, you can stop now!" He shouted. Utsuho nodded, and the beam stopped immediately. He raised his hands from the edge of his circle, and sat back, watching the runic circles slowly fade.

"That was pretty." Koishi said from beside him.

"Yes it was." Simon nodded. "I thought I told Yuugi to bring you outside, too."

"You did, She tried, couldn't find me." she said, smiling.

"So why are you still here, watching the whole thing."

"You didn't trust you. I did."

Simon nodded, accepting that answer.

Yuugi ran into the courtyard, barring Orin from following her. "We saw a bright column of power. Lit up the whole caverns, maybe even out to the surface. Is it safe?"

Simon grinned, looking at his arms, and Koishi sitting beside him. "Well, we're not mummified, bloodless husks, so I'm going to wager a yes, there."

Yuugi smiled, stepping away from the door, letting Orin and Satori through, Orin immediately rushing to Okuu. "Sis, I was worried about ya! You alright? It's gone, right, sis?"

Utsuho smiled. "It was pretty! Can we do it again, Simon? Please?"

"Not until I've rested some. That took a fair bit out of me." He staggered a bit as he pulled himself up to his feet, but caught his balance. Yuugi offered him a hand, and he leaned against her. "Thanks for the help."

Yuugi looked at him, before looking back out. "You're welcome. I'll help you back to your bed."

Orin watched the two walk off. "Is bro gonna be alright, Miss Satori?"

Satori smiled, and stroked Orin's hair. "He'll be fine, Rin."