Suika peered through the window of the alcohol store. There were so much on sale, and so many different brands right there in the display. And yet, she had to resist. The money Reimu gave her would be enough to get one good-sized bottle, but it wouldn't leave much left to get everything on Reimu's list.
Already the oni started to feel a bit under pressure. Shopping, she had work soon, this is a bit too much for her!
She sighed as she strolled through the market square. Suika shrunk her horns down using her powers and head the tiny thorns with a headscarf, just to make sure that no one would panic upon seeing the horrors of a oni shopping. Some people did give her some weird looks as she passed by them, most likely the ones with somesort of spiritual training or just possessing a general awareness of youkai. Still, as long as nobody doesn't do anything like scream and call for help, things were going well.
Well, at least in terms of getting things done. As for enjoying the day, Suika wasn't having much fun.
Suika looked at what she collected so far. She had gotten all of the items that didn't require an immediate trip back to the shrine; the bread, rice, spices, some tea-bags, and other small stuff. That left the eggs and milk; the items that were either fragile or didn't like being out for long periods of time. She then looked through her money. Yup, just enough for milk and eggs. Maybe if she picks out the small stuff, she could get some candy…
…but it is her first real day as a common law couple with Reimu. If she deviates, Reimu might call off the actual marriage…
Suika huffed as she shot up and raced towards the cold supply store. Finish the chores, head home, unpack…and then relax until work at the mansion. Reimu couldn't complain at that! Suika giggled as she rounded a corner into a alley with great speed…
…slamming right into a taller woman. Surprisingly, the taller woman merely stopped while Suika bounced back onto her butt. Did she run into a statue?
"What brings you here, oni?" Firmly asked the tall woman.
"Shopping." Suika merely replied as she helped herself up.
"Hmm." The voice grunted out. "You best not cause trouble."
As Suika finally looked at the face of the woman she ran into, she recognized it as the stern half-youkai teacher Keine. One of the many firm believers of keeping youkai and humans apart to help maintain the balance of Gensokyo. Someone who's going to most likely flip her lid when she learns about the youkai-friendly shrine maiden having a youkai baby. "I'm just here to shop!" Suika held out her thankfully intact groceries.
"So I see." Keine muttered as she looked over the contents of Suika's bags. What, is she expecting to find to human body parts in them? Suika hadn't eaten a human in years, hell, centuries! The last one transferred a tape worm to her system. "These don't look like traditional oni food…who are you buying for?"
Well, she got straight to the point. Might as well try to be somewhat honest without giving away too much details. "Reimu just asked me to do some shopping for her!" Suika replied. "She trusts me!"
"Apparently so, you haven't bought beer yet." Keine smacked her lips. Seems she couldn't let Suika have anything without adding a comment. "But that does lead to the question as to why the miko has asked you to do her shopping for her…"
"Why so many questions?" Suika had to ask.
"Because as protector of the human village, I do not like when youkai just wander through town." Keine focused a powerful stare right into Suika's eyes, trying to get the oni to back down. "Let alone one disguised. That might even be worse." She thumbed around the headscarf, feeling the tiny horns.
Suika groaned and pushed Keine away. "I'm just doing shopping! You're the more suspicious one." Keine made throaty laugh. "Don't you have class or something else going on?"
"I had another teacher sub for me once I felt the presence of a powerful youkai entering the village."
"Wait, you have other teachers?" Suika honestly questioned.
Keine didn't even bother responding to the question. "Do your business and leave." She pointed a thumb towards the woods. "I will be keeping a eye on you so you don't do something other than shopping." With a powerful gale that forced even Suika to close her eyes to protect them from the sharp winds, Keine flew off and left Suika alone.
"Thanks for nothing!" Suika called up to the sky, despite being unable to see Keine now. She even shook her fist at the empty sky. Might as well make those clouds feel her anger. Still, regardless of how powerful Suika is compared to Keine, she didn't want to the rock too much. Suika quickly went towards the cold store to go and grab the final items…
…only to run into another person. At least this time the other person bounced back instead of Suika. "Sorry!" She called out to the person.
"Suika?" Grunted out a voice all-too-familiar to Suika, one that actually shook Suika. It's Sakuya, rubbing the dirt from the road off her while still sitting down.
"Ms. Sakuya!" Suika exclaimed, quickly doubling back to the fallen maid with a hand outward. "I'm so sorry!" Sakuya groaned as she reached out to grab Sakuya's hand.
A big mistake really. Suika was so shook up by running into her first boss before she actually started her job that she didn't bother to check her strength. Sure, she grabbed Sakuya by the hand with a firm grasp, but when she went to go get the maid back up to her feet, she ended up throwing Sakuya over and back behind her head, leading to Sakuya to fly off until she landed into the conveniently placed fruit-stall. The man running the stall and the passerbys were amazed by how a dainty-looking girl could crush watermelon with her butt.
But all Suika could think about is running. At least she ran off in the direction of the cold store, grabbed her stuff, dump the money off at the counter (Cutting by several people in the process) and running back towards the shrine before Sakuya recomposed herself and got back up to her feet.
Keine sighed as she watched all of this going down. Not even a minute had passed since her warning before the oni caused trouble. Keine almost went off to drag Suika back to the village, but a foreboding aura emitted from Suika's 'victim'. Keine could clearly tell whatever punishment she could dole out wouldn't come close to what Sakuya had planned.
Still, she made a note in her head to keep a eye on the people coming and going from the shrine. Keine could tell that a lot is going there and if anything went down at the Hakurei Shrine, it tends to spread to every corner of Gensokyo…
