Sorry for the missed update. AP Exams will suck out any energy you have. This probably won't be the last time we have schedule slip, either; I'm taking the AP Biology exam on Monday, so don't be surprised if I don't update then.

Now, let's see how Reimu's doing, shall we?


Chapter 7 ~ Iris


"Better, m'lady," Genji remarked as Reimu managed to dodge the pebble he threw...

...only to still be hit by a splash of water.

"But still not fast enough."

This had been going on for the past few months. After quickly learning ho to truly use the yin-yang orbs, Genji was trying to teach her how to fly.

She grasped the basics easily enough, but she was way too slow. According to Genji: "The Hakurei miko must be able to survive encounters with anything that might do her harm. Since you can't block an attack, what with being a human, you have to be able to dodge. If you're too slow, you can't dodge. So, while you can fly, you'd be killed by anything faster or smarter than the average fairy."

After that particular lecture, the miko in question thought she heard a childish voice shout out, "A fairy? But eye'm the strongest!" At this point, she thinks it was a trick of the wind. Who confuses eye for I, anyway?

Regardless, this had been the routine for the past five months. Wake up, tend to the shrine, check for (nonexistent) donations, learn to fly, get thoroughly beaten by a flying turtle, go to sleep, lather, rinse, repeat.

Even the fact that she was being beaten by a turtle was only a boring fact of life at this point.

'I wonder how Marisa's doing?' the miko wondered to herself, taking off again.

/-\-/-\

It was a peaceful day in the Forest of Magic...

*BOOM!*

...until something exploded.

"Again." Mima said to her protege, who was working on her control.

The witch in question focused magical energy into her wand...

*BOOM!*

...only for it to blow up in her face. Again.

"Maybe a wand isn't for you." The evil spirit said with a sigh, "Our only option is to see if there's something available at Kourindou..."

"I'm all for that, ze." Marisa said, wiping soot off of her face, "Anything for a break, I say."

/-\-/-\

There is a little shop on the edge of the Forest of Magic that sell all kinds of things. From magic supplies to anything from the outside world, if it isn't there, then it doesn't exist. Either that, or the owner hasn't found it yet.

This is Kourindou, owned by an oddball salesman named Rinnosuke Morichika. Collector is probably a better term, but he prefers shopkeep.

He also happens to be hated by almost everyone in Gensokyo due to his heritage. His father was a shopkeeper much like himself. An overall boring man, who whiled away the time by counting his profits and stocks. But his mother?

She was a youkai. Not a powerful one, at least at first glance, but a civil one. One of the few civil youkai in existence, in fact.

She was unjustly sealed away by a young Sendai, and he hasn't seen her since.

But getting back on track, humans hated him because he was part youkai. Youkai hated him because he was part human. And since he was the only one of his kind, he lived in solitude.

He enjoyed solitude; no one tried to kill him for who he was. And he still got customers!

One of them was a chronic kleptomaniac, but he wasn't about to complain. His other main customer did manage to pay for or return what she stole.

"Wonder if Kourin has anything new, ze?"

Speaking of those two, one was a blonde witch and the other was a green-haired evil spirit.

Two characters who we all know so well.

"If he does," Mima says with a sigh, "DON'T take it. We need to pay for it."

"Yeah, yeah, yea- what's that?"

"That, my kleptomaniacal customer," Rinnosuke said while gritting his teeth, "is the mini-hakero. It is an easy-to-use magical focus. And since you're going against your father's wishes and I don't particularly like him, it's yours."

"Really, ze?"

"Yes, it is. Besides, even if it wasn't, you'd steal it anyway."

"It's not STEALING, Kourin. It's borrowing until I die, ze."

"I'd pay for it, you know." Mima states, reaching for her wallet...

"Then that will be twenty-million yen, please."

"...On second thought, we'll take you up on your offer."

"Wise choice," the half-youkai said with a chuckle.

/-\-/-\

"This thing works MUCH better than that stupid wand, ze!"

And so it did. What used to explode in her face became a laser beam of utter annihilation.

"Say, Miss Mima..."

"Hmm?"

"Let's pay Reimu a surprise visit, and give that test you were talking about with baa-chan, ze."

"I can agree with that plan. After all..."

With those words, she draws her staff.

"I want to face her myself!"

/-\-/-\

"Why do I suddenly have a feeling of dread?" Reimu asked Genji on their way to the village.

"I don't know, m'lady," Genji says with a shiver, "but it can't bode well for us."

And the took care of their chores, unaware of what was to come...


More plot than anything else, but this should be enough set-up for the next arc. Also, Cirno voice cameo for the win. Review, follow, and see you Monday... ish.