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Chapter eight! Serious developments!
I hope the title wasn't too much of a give away… Enjoy.
Ch. 8: Stolen before delivery
"And to what… do I owe the pleasure?" Remilia asked in an unpleasant tone. Seated opposite her, out on one of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's many balconies, sipping milk tea with great pleasure was Yuyuko.
Again.
"Hmmm? Wasn't it you who gave my dear Youmu permission to come over whenever she wanted?" Yuyuko continued sipping the milk tea.
This was already getting tiresome, thought Remilia. Youmu, she could stand. The little swordsman's coming and goings did not really affect her daily affairs, or Sakuya's performance. Youmu did not visit often or for long anyway, and Sakuya on the other hand seemed so much more cheerful, her work quality actually improved. Besides, Remilia enjoyed watching their interactions from the sidelines. It was like some sort of fictional love comedy…
The issue was, each time Youmu visited, Yuyuko came along. If Sakuya was the oblivious male lead and Youmu the loving young girl, then Yuyuko must be the bloody in-laws…
"Mmm?" Yuyuko said, as she studied Remilia's face. Remilia had been showing a multitude of expressions along her train of thought… "What's the matter, dear Sis?-"
"I'm not your in-law," came Remilia's dry, instant reply.
"Oh? You caught onto my drift so fast?"
"Do you seriously want to see your servant marry my servant…?"
"I'm already trying to pick an auspicious date. 3"
"Yuyuko…"
"It won't be long now Remilia…" Yuyuko smiled. "That day of union will be such a happy day…"
Remilia looked to the side and smirked. Yuyuko, you dreaming ghost, you're waaay off the mark…
"Yuyuko, you want to see your dear Youmu progress through love and life, yet not once will you let her come visit Sakuya on her own?" asked Remilia. "Or are you lonely without her?"
"Oh no!" Yuyuko said. "Well, admittedly I do get lonely, but I would also love to watch the drama that I helped orchestrate…"
Remilia found one additional reason to dislike her in-law…
"Well, I grow tired of this," Remilia got up.
"Where are you going?" asked Yuyuko.
"Hakurei Shrine, for a visit…" Remilia stretched her wings and jumped onto the balcony railing.
"Oh… and what about, you know, the 'black-white' issue?"
"That is no longer an issue to me," muttered Remilia. "And that doesn't mean I don't have the right to visit an old, dear friend now do I?" Remilia said. "Let's just hope Reimu is not too preoccupied at the moment to entertain lonely me… Keep your fingers crossed," and with that, Remilia took off.
"Good luck!" Yuyuko wished Remilia.
"Oh! And you can stay if you want, just don't wreck anything!" Remilia shouted back as she flew into the distance.
Yuyuko smiled as she watched Remilia fly away. Who knew that even a half-century old vampire had the capacity for love in her veins? But… Yuyuko looked sadly at her reflection in one of the Mansion's many full length French windows. For creatures like her, creatures that had extremely long life-spans, love was… tricky. And even if they managed to find a suitable partner, well… Yuyuko thought of Yuraki wistfully…
Which was why she was so eager to see a blossoming, successful love between Sakuya and Youmu. Granted, Youmu and Sakuya had a disparity in lifespan as well, but no where as great as that between… say… the red-white and the scarlet vampire, thought Yuyuko sadly. Young Youmu had a chance. A chance to love the person of her choice… Even the vampire had evidently given up…
Somewhere in this castle, Sakuya and Youmu were probably enjoying each other's company. Yuyuko closed her eyes and wished with all of her undead heart, which was regretfully much more generous than that of most living, that nothing of harm would come to Youmu.
Back inside the Mansion's kitchen, Youmu was seated at the table, while Sakuya was busy preparing tonight's dinner. Youmu had on earlier visits offered to help Sakuya with the chores, but Sakuya had insisted that she was a guest, and that a guest could not be expected to do the Mansion's work.
As such, Youmu usually spent most of her short visits simply chatting with Sakuya, watching her as she elegantly did her duties. Even in work, Sakuya kept her poise and composure, Youmu thought as she stared at Sakuya in a slightly longing manner. Sometimes, Sakuya did allow Youmu to help her. Sometimes they had little danmaku duels, where Youmu would usually lose, though she was quickly catching on to Sakuya's favourite tricks and tactics. Sometimes they would simply have fun teaching each other random things, like kenjutsu, or even knife twirling.
"Senpai, you're a surprisingly good singer!" Youmu had once complimented Sakuya, after Sakuya accidently let slip a tune while she was cleaning the Mansion.
"Oh, please!" Sakuya had blushed.
They even once went on a grocery trip together, since Sakuya had work to do, and Youmu might as well clear the week's groceries along the way. All in all, Sakuya and Youmu had grown really close, and had even shared secrets with each other.
"Mmm…" muttered Youmu as she laid her head on the table.
"Oh? Are you tired Youmu?" asked Sakuya as she cooked.
"Oh, not at all!" Youmu said, raising her head to look at Sakuya.
"Well, would you like to stay for dinner?"
"No thank you."
"Hmmm?" Sakuya said. "You never ever accept my offer to stay for dinner. Do you dislike my cooking?"
"Oh no!" said Youmu. "It's just that I need to return home and prepare dinner for Yuyuko-sama myself."
"Yes, well, I suppose Oujousama would not stand for it if it became a habit for your master to stay for dinner each time as well."
"Yes, and I have a funny feeling that Remilia-sama only tolerates my visits for my help with the gardens…"
"Shhh! Don't let Ojousama hear that, or we'll both be in trouble!" Sakuya and Youmu both exchanged giggles.
"Hey, Youmu," Sakuya said after a while.
"Yes?"
"Remember what we were talking about the other day?"
"What thing?"
"You know… that thing…" Sakuya blushed.
Oh… Youmu blushed as well. Just the other day, the two had been discussing about their observations of life in Gensokyo, and somehow the conversation came to revolve around love in Gensokyo, about who was in love with who, what were the signs, what were the possible developments and other gossip.
"Now that we've talked about it," Sakuya had whispered, "Girl-girl relationships are rather common, aren't they?"
"Yes… even Yuyuko-sama is in one…" Youmu had whispered back.
"So… you still haven't told me of your view on such relationships," Sakuya said hesitantly back in the present.
"Um… Me? Well, I already said I was unsure about such things, right?" Youmu lied. There was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to be involved in one, but she felt she could not share this with the very girl she was in love with, since she was afraid it might put her off.
"Well… um, what if I… wait…" Sakuya stopped cooking for a moment, and turned to face Youmu. "Youmu, promise you won't tell anyone else."
"O-Okay… what is it Senpai?"
"What if… what if I said I actually liked a… liked a girl?"
Youmu stood up, her eyes wide. Senpai liked a girl? Wh-Who…? Was it…? Youmu's heart skipped a beat. "Senpai, who is it?"
"Promise you won't tell anyone-"
"I promise! Who is it?"
"W-Well, you won't believe it, it's really odd really…"
"It's alright, you can tell me!"
"Well," Sakuya blushed a bit. "I've liked her for some time actually."
"Who?" Youmu almost begged.
"Ki-Kirisame Marisa."
…
Youmu did not believe it.
Okay, first off, who here hates being left with a cliff hanger? *Sees many hands* *Starts apologising profusely*
Secondly, this is the part where I'm trying to weave my two stories together. Yes, this, and Love Coloured Spark. I've got the big plan, I'm just a little muddled on the details. So please be patient.
Also, I may not be able to write as often now for undisclosed circumstances. (Am I a student? Are there exams coming up? I don't know…) Hopefully I'll still have time to write, you know, just to relieve stress. So maybe I'll be back much sooner than expected.
