HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S YUI!

I'd like to extend my heartiest birthday wishes to the father of our fandom - ZUN himself - and this here is my quick tribute to the big guy. So please, enjoy this cute and fluffy MuraNue love story to your heart's content~!

Spring in Gensokyo. A season of rebirth, new life, and sakura viewings. Winter this year had run longer than usual, but came to a close in due time, and was promptly disregarded once the last of the leftover snow melted away and the sakura trees started coming into bloom. And the Myouren Temple and its resident Buddhists were no exception to the rule either. For many, simple things were on the mind. The passing of the seasons, seeing to visitors to the temple, and keeping those who would harm it or its denizens away. The standard fare. But some had more on their minds than others. Indeed, for some, other thoughts took hold right now.

"Hmmm..." She'd been staring at it for maybe an hour now, but it was far from the first time she took a look at it. At first she was beet-red and beyond flattered, then it became simply a feeling of appreciation, and now mostly curiosity. In the hands of one Murasa Minamitsu was this curious thing that had appeared in the Myouren Temple's mailbox about a month ago. Addressed to her, from a secret admirer. Whoever they were, they made a point of keeping their handwriting so bland and precise that there was no reasonable way of tracking it back to its owner. A few more letters had since shown up in the same mailbox, with the same handwriting and lack of a return address.

KNOCK, KNOCK! Murasa's pondering on the matter was cut short by the sound of somebody at the door of her room. Promptly stuffing the letter back in a drawer under her clothes with the others, Murasa got up and opened the door. This face wasn't one she was surprised to see in the least. It would probably be a bigger surprise if she didn't show up.

"I'm here to bug you," this very expected guest said. Nue Houjuu. Definitely not among the local Buddhists – and if she were than she was definitely not among Byakuren's particular brand – but she was a faithful follower and Myouren Temple resident regardless. She showed up at Murasa's room at least daily to "bug her", but it mostly was just her hanging around not really doing much. If this was some form of friendship, it was a relatively odd one. As expected from the undefinable girl that is Nue.

Murasa, for one, never had any reason to object. It wasn't like Nue really caused any harm while hanging out. Besides, it was a good time to vent whatever pent-up steam Murasa had built up since Nue's last visit; even if she probably wasn't listening, it was good to be able to pretend that somebody was so as to make it easier to vent when needed. As a ship ghost without a ship, Murasa was pretty easily-frustrated for a Buddhist. Today was another day she would vent to Nue. But this wasn't going to be frustration or anger. "Come on in," Murasa said, stepping out of the way to let Nue in. "I gotta tell you something."

"Tell away, Captain," Nue said, going straight for the closet and using the usual nickname she addressed Murasa by. It probably had to do with Murasa being a captain in life, but the specific reason Nue chose to use that nickname – any nickname, for that matter – was a mystery, as was the standard Nue fare.

"So a letter showed up for me a month ago, from a secret admirer. At first I just thought maybe it was a joke or something, but then more started showing up. I even got another one yesterday. Weird, right?"

"M-hm, it's weird. Ooh, this dress is cute; you should try this on more often."

"They said to meet them tonight...I'm actually pretty nervous. What if I don't like them back? I wouldn't want to hurt someone's feelings if they felt that way about me. But I don't want to lie and say I do like them either if I don't like them! What if it's some creepy old dude or something?"

"You're one to talk, Little Miss Ageless. Hey, these boots are adorable! Can I try them on sometime?"

"Knock yourself out. It probably seems stupid for me to be worried about something little like love, doesn't it? Just a few centuries ago, I was raiding cargo ships, taking seaside villages for myself, and being hailed as the scourge of the seas...and now I'm dead. My heart doesn't even beat, so why am I so worried about somebody else's heart?"

"I like a colorful wardrobe, Captain, but orange isn't your color. Stick to green and stuff like that, okay?" To any onlooker, Nue probably seemed more concerned with Murasa's choice of clothing than her little dilemma. Murasa included.

"Hey, pay attention this time alright? This is pretty serious to me."

"I'm listening," Nue said, continuing to shuffle through the contents of Murasa's closet. "Oh, that explains a lot."

"What should I do? I should go see this secret admirer, right?"

"Definitely go see them!" Now Nue actually seemed to be paying attention. "You'd probably hurt them even more by not showing up. At least if you show up and say you don't like them, she can at least tell herself she tried."

"She? My secret admirer's a girl?"

"Oops, I let something slip," Nue grinned deviously. Making her way to the door, the undefined trickster said with an equal amount of deviousness "Well, I'd try not asking around the temple if I were you. Wouldn't want your admirer knowing you know who she is, would we?" With that, she stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"..." Asking around the temple? Something's up, Murasa told herself. Or rather, someone. And she was determined to find out who. Sure, patience was a virtue and all that, but in Murasa's case, due to her past, the temple often allowed some space for the rules to be "bent". Grabbing the trusty anchor at her side – the one she went nowhere without – Murasa set out into the corridors of the Myouren Temple herself. It was time to get to the bottom of things!

"A secret admirer? Nobody I know about," Ichirin had answered. Unzan had nothing to say on the matter.

"If you find out who she is, let her down easy if you have to," Byakuren had answered.

"I don't have time to get wrapped up in the trivial things around here. I have my master of all people to watch after," Nazrin had answered.

"They live here; I know it. But I don't know who it is," Kokoro had answered.

"You have a secret admirer? That's sweet," Shou had answered.

"It's me!"

"Really!?"

"...HA! Gotcha," Kogasa beamed. "So, um...how does a secret admirer work anyway? Why not a surprise admirer?"

"Surprise admirer?"

"Yeah. Like, pretend it's not you then SURPRISE! It was you the whole time!"

"...you just might be onto something," Murasa said. She definitely wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but Kogasa had gotten the wheels in Murasa's head turning. Only one person left to ask. Right back to who this all started with.

"It's me," Nue answered. "You can feel free to believe that if it helps."

"...so it's not you?"

"I didn't say that."

"So it is you."

"Didn't say that either."

"Well which is it?"

"Can't tell you that, Captain."

"And why not?"

"SECRET admirer, stupid! SECRET! It's supposed to be a secret! And if I went out and told you who it was, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it? And I never said your admirer lived here anyway, did I? All I said was that you shouldn't be asking around here...which you did." At the very least, Nue seemed to be getting a chuckle out of this. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. That has always been Nue's way of doing things.

"Fine, I get it. Should I go get that dress you said was cute for when you confess later?"

"Yes plea-NO! Dammit, now you know don't you!?"

"Maybe~" Now it was Murasa's turn to play the "Nue game". "I can't be sure of anything of course – maybe I don't even think it's you – but maybe I'm certain that it could be you."

"Actually don't wear that stupid dress at all! Pink is too girly for you anyway!"

"What do you suggest I wear?"

"Nothing!"

"..." That wasn't quite on the long list of answers Murasa had expected. For a few seconds, complete silence filled the general area Murasa and Nue were standing in. Unless one were to count how the two of them turned red enough fast enough that you could practically hear it happen. "S-So, uh...that's how you like your confessions, is it? That's...pretty kinky, I gotta be honest."

"Shut up! I just blurted the first thing that came to mind, okay!? Wear the stupid dress if you want; wear it and take it to the bottom of the ocean with you!" With that, Nue sprinted down the hall, red as a fire truck and faster than she'd moved in quite some time. In that moment, a few things became obvious to Murasa. Among them, the identity of her no-longer-secret admirer. Also among them was that Nue cheated at sprinting; turning one's arms into legs was an unfair advantage.

The time had come. Night had fallen over Gensokyo, and behind the Myouren Temple was a sole sakura tree. And beneath that tree was Murasa. Contrary to Nue's questionable fashion advice, she was indeed wearing clothes for this occasion. Specifically, the short pink dress Nue had picked out from the closet earlier that day. Matched by a pair of boots similar to her usual ones, but white instead of black. Best to go with a brighter ensemble for a love confession, Murasa had figured. Knowing who her admirer was though, "confession" probably wasn't the best word out there.

The sound of footsteps behind her was what caught Murasa's attention. This was it. Time to face her admirer. Brown hair, glasses, a big bushy tail...wait...this wasn't Nue. This was Mamizou. Murasa inquiring about creepy old people came back to mind. So was it really not Nue after all? Now that she thought about it that way, it was kind of upsetting. No matter; it wouldn't be right to just run if somebody other than who she was expecting showed up. "Hi there, Mamizou."

"So you showed up after all." Mamizou's tail was swaying from side to side as she stepped up closer to the ship ghost. "You got my letters?"

"Every single one. Read them all too. I have to say though...you're the last person I expected to see here tonight."

"Oh~? Am I not good enough for the young folk of today?"

"No, that's not it! I just...maybe...have somebody I like too." Turning around and resting her forehead on the tree, Murasa continued "Yeah, I guess that's the right word. We spend a lot of time together, and things are always more interesting with her around, for better or worse. I thought maybe she was the secret admirer this whole time...guess not, huh? That was pretty stupid of me, I guess."

"Keep going. Please."

"Well..." Either paying no mind to or just not caring about the tears welling up in her eyes, Murasa continued "It's weird, actually. Earlier today I'd asked her, what do I do if this person likes me, and I don't like them back? I never thought I'd be the one who wasn't liked back...it stings a little, to be honest. For a while there, I even thought she was this secret admirer, instead of you."

"Really, now?"

"Yeah. She really knew how to trick me into thinking that it was her. And once I thought about her being my admirer, I figured hey, maybe that's not so bad after all. That was when I realized I like her back. That Nue...she's a completely unique kind of monster, isn't she?" Murasa had even picked out clothes Nue thought was cute, just for the occasion on the assumption that it was in fact Nue who was her secret admirer. But it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Tell you what," Mamizou said, stepping up behind Murasa and wrapping arms and tail around the ship ghost. "It's late right now. Tomorrow, dress up cute and tell Nue how you feel. I won't get in your way if she's the girl you really want, but make sure you're certain before you do this."

"I'm sure of it."

"Then get to bed. You have a confession to make tomorrow." With that, Mamizou released her grip on Murasa, nudging her toward the temple. It wasn't until Murasa was inside that Mamizou spoke to herself for a short moment, taking off her glasses and morphing her tail into what appeared to be six smaller tails that then crawled up her back, becoming wings. "Yeah, she'll accept. She'll definitely accept your feelings, Captain." Then with a devious snicker, the not-so-tanuki girl said "I finally got to see her teary-eyed!"

Morning had come to Gensokyo, and the Myouren Temple. Today was another day, but for Murasa Minamitsu, this wasn't just any day. Today was the day she'd make her move, as per the advice she'd been given the night before. Sprinting toward Nue's room with her trusty anchor in tow, Murasa practically knocked the door off its hinges as she swung it open, completely forgetting to knock or even announce her presence. Only to find the room empty, devoid of almost anything out of the ordinary. A futon, and a small table. It was what was on the table that caught Murasa's attention. It seemed to be a piece of paper. Curiosity struck. Murasa picked up the paper and began to read it over. The handwriting was so bland and precise that there was no reasonable way of tracking it back to its owner.

Dear Murasa

If you're reading this, get out of my room. I'm helping Kyouko sweep up the grounds today; she's taking care of the front, and I'll be dealing with the back. If you need me, check behind the temple.

Nue

Behind the temple? Right, then. Phasing through walls in the typical manner of a ghost until she was out back, Murasa looked around. Nue said she was helping sweep up back here, right? Either she was lazy or she lied. But she was there, under the same sakura tree Murasa had taken a quick trip to last night expecting Nue to show up, facing away from the temple. Stepping up behind the undefined girl and gripping her tight in a sailor-tier bear hug, Murasa said "There's something I have to tell you."

"Oh, that," Nue grinned. "I know. You told me everything."

"...huh?"

"Did you REALLY think Mamizou was your secret admirer?"

"..."

"You thought it was Mamizou?"

"Yeah...I think with my eyes, y'know?"

"Well, it was me! Nue! Don't start thinking some other girl is into you, okay? You're mine to like. And I'm all yours to like, too."

"...you're a completely unique kind of monster, aren't you?"

"Of course. I'm your monster from now on. Unless everything you said last night was a lie, that is~"

"As if."

A few seconds passed silently. Just a few, until Nue spoke up again and broke it. "You're crushing my ribs, Captain."

"Sorry," Murasa said, letting go of Nue. For somebody that had a tendency to carry an anchor around, Murasa often forgot her own strength. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine. But how about you? Wasn't there something you had to say?"

"Huh? ...oh, right!"

"Well~? Go on, say it already!"

"Okay. Here goes. Nue..."

Hehehehehe, I had some fun writing this. A sly and manipulative tsundere Nue is cute, and Murasa might have a little inkling of tsun in her too. I suppose this is the start of me making a comeback, maybe? Possibly? I'm unsure. For now, we have this cute little story, and that's what counts :)