Chapter 9 – Back to School

As the sun rose again, Kyouichi was awakened from his dream by Minako-san.

"Mmmmm….*yawn*…what?" he mumbled from his sleep.

"Wake up, Kyouichi-kun. You don't want to be late on your first day at school, do you?"

Kyouichi quickly opened his eyes. "Of course I don't, Minako-san… Thanks for waking me… *yawn* …up."

"You're welcome." said Minako with a smile. "Now why don't you take a bath before I prepare the breakfast?"

"Hey, I'm not a 5 year old. I know what to do when I wake up."

"Okay, sorry…" Minako apologized. "It's just that I always have to tell my kids what to do… I'm just not used to the fact that you're a bit older than them."

"Then why did you decide to take me into custody so easily?" asked Kyouichi as he was folding his futon. "It seems that you're already busy enough with your work and your children to be feeding a freeloader like me…"

"It may seem to you that way, but here in the village, there's a policy for those who take outsiders into custody to receive some extra financial support and tax advantages." replied Minako.

"Really? So I'm not a dead weight for you?"

"Really." assured Minako firmly. "And don't you think that we've taken you in only because of these advantages. We are all humans after all and we have to help each other. Especially in times of need."

"Alright then, at least I won't have to feel bad about living here…" said Kyouichi on his way to the bathroom.

"Of course not. Now go and take a bath."


Kyouichi took a quick bath, cleaning himself and drying up immediately afterwards. He got dressed and rushed into the kitchen to have breakfast. The whole Saitou family was again gathered at the table, having breakfast. Minako was making some sushi rolls, the children were talking and laughing about something and Mizuto was reading some local newspaper called Bunbunmaru.

"Oh, it's onii-chan! Good morning." called Chitose from the table as Kyouichi entered.

"Good morning to you all." greeted Kyouichi.

"We'll go to school together, right?" asked Tadao-kun.

"Yeah, but not to the same class I think…"

"I know, but it's a bit funny to see a grown up like you to go to school with us." remarked Tadao.

"I heard that I'm not the only one, though."

"That's right." said Chitose. "There were even much older people than you who attended the school."

"The school is quite fun." said Tadao. "You'll learn a lot about Gensokyo and the youkai and there is a lot of clubs to join."

"To tell you the truth, I never joined any school clubs before…" admitted Kyouichi. "Well, I did some martial arts for a couple of years, but that wasn't a club at our school…"

"Really?" asked Mizuto from behind the newspaper he had stretched before his face. "So you must have a strong body."

"Well, not really…" frowned Kyouichi. "It's been years since I last did any physical activity besides my part-time jobs."

"Why did you quit?" wondered curious Mizuto.

"Because my parents divorced and I moved to Tokyo with my mother. Our financial situation wasn't exactly good, so instead of continuing my training there, I had to find a part-time job to help support the household."

"Sorry to hear that… But knowing some form of martial arts would increase your chances of survival at least by a bit, should you be attacked by some youkai. Of course, if you were attacked by a strong youkai, it wouldn't help you even if you were a master of martial arts and adept in using magic."

"Nah, I don't think there's any need for me to keep training martial arts." rejected Kyouichi. "Besides, I don't think anyone would train me unless I was a Gensokyo native."

"That only applies for joining the militia." Mizuto corrected him. "However, you could train under one of their sensei. Even our Tadao-kun trains there. All you need is some money."

"There we go again – money. It seems that I'll need a lot of money on a lot of more important things than training. And I'm afraid I won't be able to pull it off with just some part-time job."

"Well, as you wish. I'm not going to force you into anything."

"We can talk about this later, Mizuto-san. I have other things to worry about now."

"Okay…" nodded Mizuto and finally put down his newspaper on the table. "Good luck at school and your new part-time job then."

"Thanks." said Kyouichi before he swallowed the last sushi roll on his plate.

"Come on, onii-chan!" Chitose called at him. "We'll show you the way to school."

"I already know where the school is." replied Kyouichi. "But sure, I'll come with you."

He put on his sandals and off he went to school, accompanied by the Saitou siblings.


"I wonder if I'll have to buy my own textbooks too…" thought Kyouichi as he was passing through the marketplace.

He could see many other children who were obviously also headed to the Kamishirasawa School. For Kyouichi it was his first day at this school, but for all the other kids it was just a regular day in the middle of the school year. The good thing was that he only had to go through the last stage of the elementary education, but since the school year already started some time ago, he had to catch up with all the previously lectured lessons.

"Here we are… Kamishirasawa School…" he said in his mind as he was just a few meters away from that building. He took a deep breath and entered the school along with other, much younger students.

He found himself in a small lobby and he watched as the crowd of students gradually divided into several streams, each going in different direction.

"Damn, I don't even know where I am supposed to go."

"The 6th grade elementary class is on the ground floor." Chitose explained. "Just go through that door, turn left and keep following the corridor. The last classroom to the right should be it, right, Tadao-kun?"

Her brother nodded. "Yes, that's where I had my lessons last year.

"Okay, thanks."

"We'll be going upstairs to our classes, but we can meet during lunch break if you like." suggested Chitose.

"Okay then, rendezvous at twelve in the school yard." noted Kyouichi to himself.

"Good luck then, onii-chan. See you around." said Chitose while smiling and waving at Kyouichi as she slowly headed upstairs to her classroom.

Kyouichi smiled back and did a thumbs-up gesture to show that he will try his best. He went through the lobby door and turned to the corridor by his left side, as Chitose told him. He felt a bit awkward and anxious as he made his way through the corridor full of children who stared at him curiously. When he finally reached the corridor's end, he read the sign above the door: A – 6.

"This must be it…" he said while opening the door.


He could immediately see that he wasn't the only odd fellow in the classroom. He saw a whole group of familiarly looking people dressed like ordinary people from the outside world.

They were the same people he saw back at the Uzume tavern. He slowly walked up to them, bowed and introduced himself to the whole group.

"So you too?" asked a young man who could be as old as Kyouichi. He was a foreigner – probably from America or Europe, but he could speak Japanese quite fluently. He had short and spiky blond hair and light-green eyes. He was wearing a yellow tank top with the name of a famous NBA team and black baggy shorts.

"You're just like us. You were riding on that subway train, right?" he asked.

Kyouichi nodded.

"Oh, I think I remember you, young man." said a young lady, looking at Kyouichi. She could be in her late twenties. She had dark-brown straight hair affixed in the back by a pair of decorative chopsticks and she was dressed in a light-pink blouse, dark jacket and knee-length skirt. "You were wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans... and you were already sleeping when I got on the train." she said to Kyouichi as she recalled the event from a couple of days ago.

"Isn't this situation just amazing?" asked another person – a middle-aged man with very short black hair with a bald spot on his head and glasses. He was wearing a dark-grey suit with a red tie. To Kyouichi he looked like a teacher, doctor, lawyer or some other sort of intellectual.

"For years I've read about mythology, ghosts, youkai, magic, UFOs and otherworldly realms, all the while trying to prove their existence. And here I am now… in a land that is like straight out of a fantasy novel."

"That's really great, mister, but not everyone like you is so happy to be here…" said a young looking man in a trainman uniform with an agitated tone. "I have a wife and kids. They… they must think I'm dead by now… I really don't know what the rest of you are planning to do, but I'm going to try and find a way out of this place. I'll read every single book they have here if it can help me get back home."

"Then we have the same goal." said Kyouichi to the trainman. "But I'm afraid it won't be that easy…"

"I think I'd rather die than to be stranded here…" the man continued. "Why does something as unthinkable as this have to happen to me?"

"Oh, stop whining already!" shouted a girl who was apparently a part of the group of outsiders. Judging by her high school uniform and her appearance, she could be 16 to 18 years old. She had short brown hair and eyes of the same color. She seemed a bit tomboyish and was obviously annoyed by the trainman's constant complaints.

"At least we're not dead." she continued. "Sure, most of us would like to get back home, but as this Kyouichi fellow said, it's not going to be easy. But if we really want to get out of this place, then our first step will be to learn something about it."

"This girl speaks some sense." acknowledged the man in the suit. "I'm eager to learn as much as possible about this place so that I'll be able to write a book about it after we'll all manage to return home one day… But that might take years, perhaps even decades."

"And perhaps there even isn't a way out of here…" said the young lady in pink blouse

"Such a possibility exists, indeed." said the man with glasses. "But for now, we'll just have to gather, analyze and consider every bit of information about this Gensokyo if we ever wish to find out whether or not is there a way back to the outside."

"Well, I don't know how much you already know," said Kyouichi while taking a seat at a vacant desk near the other outsiders, "but during the last three days I managed to learn a few things about this place from various people. You see…"

Kyouichi was about to start explaining what he already knew, but he stopped immediately as the classroom door opened and the teacher entered.

Her unusual appearance alone commanded Kyouichi's attention. She was a tall, young woman with long silver hair with a slightly bluish tone and brown eyes. She was wearing a navy-blue dress with short white sleeves and a red ribbon tied at the bottom of the collar. She was also wearing an unusual square-shaped hat, remotely similar to those worn by scholars, only with a small house-shaped extension, decorated by another red ribbon on top.

"Good morning, everyone." she greeted the whole class with a pleasant voice and smile. "Before we start with our usual lessons, I would like to make an announcement. As you can see, we have quite a number of... ummm… transfer students this year."

The attention of every regular elementary school 6th grader in the class now shifted from the teacher to the group of approximately 10 people who "transferred" to Kamishirasawa School from the outside world. A few more outsiders came into the classroom while Kyouichi was talking to the group of those 5 people who were already waiting there.

"These students," she continued, "will be your classmates and friends from now on, so I'd like you all to welcome them among us. I hope you will all get along well with each other."

The teacher then turned around to take a piece of chalk in her hand and scribbled something on the blackboard. She then turned back to the class and took a step to the side, so that the whole class could see what was written there. It was the teacher's name.

"Most of you already know me well... I hope. To all of you new students, my name is Keine Kamishirasawa." said the teacher while pointing at the blackboard. "But you can all call me Keine-sensei. Now, why don't you all newcomers come over here and tell us something about yourselves?"

Kyouichi and all the other outsiders slowly stood up from their chairs and walked up to the blackboard. Kyouichi was standing somewhere in the middle of this group. The man in the suit was the eldest of the group, so he introduced himself as first.

"Good morning, Keine-sensei, good morning, class and good morning, fellow transfer students. My name is Hikaru Nagahashi. I'm 46 years old and before I "transferred" here I used to be a paranormal researcher. I collected and studied all sorts of materials on various paranormal topics such as ghosts, spirits, demons, legendary beasts, magic, extraterrestrial beings and UFOs and so on… But I must say that I hadn't even imagined that one day I would find myself in a place such as this… Gensokyo."

"I'm pretty sure none of us who are standing here ever imagined ending up here, Nagahashi-san." thought Kyouichi as he listened to Nagahashi's brief introduction.

"Ok, thank you, Nagahashi-san." said Keine-sensei as she jotted something down into her class register. "Everyone, say hello to Nagahashi-san."

"Hello, Nagahashi-san~!" choired the children in the class.

Next in line was the tomboyish girl in a high school uniform. She took a step forward and bowed to the entire class.

"Hello, I'm Midori Iwakami, I'm 16 and I was an ordinary high school student before I appeared here… I look forward to studying here with you, but at the same time I wish to return home… That's all."

"Same here, Iwakami-san." thought Kyouichi as he was preparing words for his own introduction.

"Thank you very much, Iwakami-san." said Keine-sensei and again she jotted something down into the class register.

The students greeted Midori with a unanimous "Hello, Iwakami-san~!"

Without waiting, the man in the trainman's uniform stepped forward and nodded to greet the class.

"My name is Yuujin Ueda, I'm 31 and I am an engine driver of the Tokyo underground railways. Frankly, I can't wait to get home… It's been three days already… I just want to find a way back…"

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard that one before." thought Kyouichi. "I too hope to find a way home… only with less whining. Besides, I don't think many folks here even know what an engine driver means…"

Keine-sensei noted down Yuujin's name and the children welcomed him like anyone else.

The next person to introduce herself was the lady who was dressed in pink blouse and gray skirt and jacket.

"Greetings, my name is Sayuri Hayashi… Umm… I better keep my age to myself. I used to work in a travel agency, but then I found myself here… I don't know what else to say… I like children… and I like vanilla ice-cream and I sometimes have a cup of sake… But only occasionally. Oh, and…"

"Yes, yes, thank you. That will be enough for now, Hayashi-san…" Keine-sensei interrupted her. If she didn't, Hayashi-san would probably go on until the end of the lesson. Now it was Kyouichi's turn to say something about himself, so he also stepped forward and a little nervously, he started: "Umm…. Yo! I'm Kyouichi Ishimaru and like all these people, I appeared in Gensokyo three days ago. I'm 22, by the way… and I am… I was a student of anthropology… Learning about people, various cultures and society as a whole. Not very interesting stuff, to tell you the truth, but at least there's no math there, hehe… (okay, I better stop before I embarrass myself too much). Well, that is all. Nice to meet you all…"

The class greeted him as usual and Keine-sensei noted his name down as usual. Kyouichi again stepped back and watched as the foreigner standing beside him stepped forth.

"Hello, I'm Daniel Morrison. I'm 21 and I originally come from L.A., California. I moved to Japan with my parents when I was still in grade school and I slowly got a basic grasp of the language, but I still have difficulties sometimes… Oh, and I don't study at a university or anything… I started working as a car mechanic after I graduated from high school, but I guess you don't even know what that is, do you? Well, never mind… I just hope to return home safely… not that I have anything against you…"

Kyouichi was now lost in thought as he was trying to come up with a way how he could benefit from the knowledge and experiences of all the other outsiders and how his knowledge could benefit others. He didn't even pay attention to the rest of the people who were introducing themselves. As the last person in the group introduced herself, Keine-sensei told them that they could already sit in their desks.


"Now, dear transfer students, I'll be teaching you Gensokyo History, Youkai Typology and Basic Gensokyo Geography. You don't need to buy your textbooks; I've already put them in your desks along with some blank paper sheets to take down notes. You don't need to attend the Math and Japanese Language and Literature classes, but if you'd like to, you are free to join them. In winter, you'll be all doing the tests for your elementary education certificate. You don't need to worry, though; the tests aren't all that hard. However, I expect you to prepare thoroughly for every lesson and of course, to do your homework. You can consult anything you like with me after school. My office is right here on the ground floor… Alright then, let's start our Gensokyo History lesson."

Kyouichi reached under the desk and found three different textbooks and some blank papers, just as Keine-sensei said. He took the book titled Gensokyo History. It was a red, hardback book, which could have about 200 pages.

"Okay, open your books on page 56, we'll continue with the First Genso-Lunar War. But before we start, who can tell me what did we discuss last time?"

A few children raised their hands.

Keine-sensei looked at the students with raised hands and picked one of them to give the answer: "Hmm, how about Takashi-kun?"

"Last time we were discussing the sealing of Saigyou Ayakashi." answered the boy who was sitting right in front of Kyouichi.

"Correct." nodded Keine-sensei. "And who can tell me whose body was used to form the permanent seal on Saigyou Ayakashi?"

Again, a few of the regular students raised their hands, but so did Kyouichi, since he also knew the answer. Keine-sensei wanted to pick one of the 6th graders, but then she noticed Kyouichi and her face made a surprised expression.

"Eh? You know the answer?" she asked uncertainly.

"I believe it was the body of a noble girl named Yuyuko Saigyouji." answered Kyouichi, hoping that he pronounced the name correctly.

A moment of silence came about. Keine-sensei's smiling face turned serious as she stared at Kyouichi with a penetrating gaze.

"…Correct." she acknowledged. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Ishimaru Kyouichi."

Now everyone in the classroom stared at him like at some kind of alien. His unexpected correct answer attracted more attention than Keine-sensei's weird hat.

"May I ask how did you know about that?" asked Keine-sensei after she marked something in her register.

"I read about it in the Gensokyo Chronicle."

"Gensokyo Chronicle? That book is not yet for sale, as far as I know. That means you went to the archive…" deduced Keine-sensei.

"Yes, and Hieda-san even let me borrow the whole compilation."

"The whole compilation? What do you need the whole compilation for? We won't be discussing the history of Gensokyo in such detail."

"Yeah, I told Akyuu-san that I don't need the whole chronicle, just some information about Yukari Yakumo, but she said that it's ok. I don't really plan to read everything in those books."

"You're curious about Yukari-sama?"

"I don't think it should surprise you that much… As far as I've heard, she may be the only means for me and for all of us outsiders to return back home. That's why I'd like to know as much as possible about her."

"I see… Well in that case, you may learn something more about her today, because she was directly involved in the First Genso-Lunar War."

"Really? What, did she try to take over the Moon or something?" asked Kyouichi more out of jest than seriously.

"She did…" replied Keine-sensei seriously. "Open your book on page 56 and we shall finally start with the lesson."

The students did as they were told and Keine-sensei started talking more elaborately about one of the greatest events in Gensokyo's as well as Moon's history. This war was allegedly started by Yukari more than a millennium ago. According to the text in the book and Keine-sensei's explanation, she amassed an army of dangerous youkai under her command with the sole purpose of invading the Moon, which was and supposedly still is inhabited by a race of beings called Lunarians.

They are similar to humans in appearance, but are by far more advanced in both technology and magic than any individual, group or nation on Earth. Furthermore they are said to know the recipe for the so called Hourai Elixir, which grants immortality. It is also said that they keep hiding their presence from the Earthlings by living on the dark side of the Moon and by using cloaking magic. Yukari initiated her invasion by manipulating the boundary between the truth and lie on the surface of the Misty Lake, where the Moon was reflected.

She then opened a gap leading directly to the near side of the Moon. The army of youkai she commanded at that time would probably suffice to defeat any other army on Earth, however, even this army was no match for the Lunarians' advanced weaponry and magic. The whole army was routed within a couple of days, thus making Yukari's invasion a complete and utter failure. The text in the book states that one of the possible reasons for Yukari to lead an invasion was a mere personal greed for superior magic and technology, however, other sources claim that she purposefully lost the war in order to teach all other youkai a lesson not to lead any expansion wars. The latter theory seems more plausible, since it fits into the concept of concentrating the youkai in rather small areas in great density. One such area was Gensokyo. After the "failed" invasion, the youkai were starting to flock to Gensokyo and only attacked humans who dwelled near their territory or were passing through.

"This turn of events eventually led to the creation of the Great Boundary and Gensokyo as we know it today." Keine concluded the lesson.

"So she had this "failure" planned from the beginning?" asked Kyouichi to make sure he understood correctly.

"So it seems." replied Keine-sensei. "She might have had the idea of sealing the youkai from the rest of the world in her mind even before the first written records about Gensokyo came into existence."

"Didn't the youkai she commanded plan any revenge for her betrayal?" wondered Kyouichi.

"To tell you the truth, most of the youkai she commanded still believe that they simply lost against a more formidable opponent and they didn't even think of blaming Yukari for it. Of course, there was a small faction of those who found out about her intention and they didn't take it well, but at the same time, they feared that they might have ended up even worse if they took any hostile actions against her. After all, there were no casualties on neither sides, so the youkai from Earth had nothing to be upset about besides a couple of injuries and bruised ego. Even with all the advantages the Lunarians possess, it's not that easy to kill a youkai. Furthermore, it seems that Yukari-sama also took steps to ensure that there would be no casualties by applying her boundary altering abilities. It's even questionable whether this incident should be called a war."

"A war without casualties… now that's a bit odd, indeed." acknowledged Kyouichi and took down more notes on the paper.

"And it wasn't the only similar incident." Keine-sensei continued. "There was a Second Lunar War, again led by Yukari in 122. This time, however, it was a much smaller-scale incident. It seemed that she lost that one too, but it was the contrary, because she did achieve all her goals she had planned. We will discuss the Second Lunar War later in autumn. Right now, it will be enough if you know what happened in the first one."

Keine sensei looked at a clock hanging above the classroom door. "Alright class, it seems that this lesson is at its end. For your homework, please do exercises 1 and 2 on page 59. If you paid good attention today, you should have absolutely no problems with them. I'll be right back after the break."

The whole class stood up and bowed to Keine-sensei as she went to her office to prepare for the next lesson.


As Kyouichi sat down again and was about to race through the pages of another book, he felt two taps on his shoulder.

"Hey dude, that was quite impressive." said Daniel. "You already seem to know a fair deal about this place."

Kyouichi just shrugged. "Like I said, I only wanted to know as much as possible about Yukari Yakumo, so that I'd know how to deal with her if I ever meet her."

Midori joined the conversation. "Say, and who is this Yukari you keep talking about?"

"All I know is that she's a youkai. And as you heard a while ago, she's ancient and very powerful. There are numerous legends about her in the village. Most people don't even believe that she exists, simply because they had never seen her. However, several people that I've met seem to know her personally and I don't think they have a reason to lie. She supposedly cooperated with the creation of the Great Boundary and she can freely travel anywhere, regardless of this barrier. Furthermore, the Gensokyo chronicler, Hieda no Akyuu confirmed that she used to take things and people from the outside world into Gensokyo for some unknown reasons. However, she also said that Yukari has returned many outsiders back home."

Midori raised her eyebrow, "So you're saying that she teleported us here or something?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that… But she may be our only chance, our only way to return."

Yuujin suddenly smacked the desk with his fist. "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's find her and get the hell outta here!"

"Do you really think…" responded Kyouichi with a stoically calm voice as he slowly turned his face to Yuujin, "…that I'd still be wasting my time here if I knew where to look for her? Trust me, you don't wish to return home any more than I do. At least we have some little chance, and I say that any chance is better than nothing."

"So we're just going to sit on our butts and wait in hope that some magical youkai lady will show up and ask us if we'd like to return home?!" asked Yuujin angrily.

"No, we're going to look for her alright. We'll be gathering information about her - articles, legends, poems, songs, local rumors, whatever… We may learn what places she uses to appear at or what people she likes to visit. Also, we need to make our problem official. The more people know about us and our situation, the greater the chance that Yukari will find out about us. Oh, and if you want to return to the outside world so badly, then you should go to the Hakurei Shrine and ask Reimu the shrine maiden to take you there. But you probably wouldn't know where to go from that place. It's somewhere deep in the mountains with no signs of civilization in sight."

"Oh, this is just great…" grumbled Yuujin. "And I don't know what makes you so sure that this youkai will even want to take us back home if she took us here."

"Are you listening to me at all?!" asked Kyouichi, this time with a raised voice. "I said that the chronicler confirmed that Yukari did return many outsiders back to their homes. Even those she spirited away to this place. Why? I have no idea. I myself have very ambiguous opinions about her and serious doubts whether I should really trust her… provided that I meet her one day. But right now, I don't think we have much of a choice."

The engine driver sighed. "Alright… You have a point, I suppose… But that plan sucks if you ask me."

"That's why I'm not asking you." replied Kyouichi coldly. "I'm going to look for Yukari Yakumo with or without your help and if you think you have a better plan, then let's hear it."

"Just as I thought... So, I presume none of you guys have anything against this plan, right?"

Before any of the outsiders could express their opinion, however, the classroom door opened again and Keine-sensei barged in for the second time to start the next lesson – the Youkai Typology.


Everyone was on their feet as Keine-sensei entered. After they all bowed to her and sat down again, the teacher began the lesson.

"Alright class, today's Youkai Typology lesson will be about some of the friendliest of youkai – the kappa. Open your books on page 44."

Sounds of rustling paper filled the classroom as the students were turning pages to find the 44th page in the book. When everyone finally found the article about the kappa, Keine-sensei started explaining.

"The kappa are a race of river dwelling youkai who formed their own society together with the tengu. In Gensokyo, their natural habitat is at the Genbu Marsh near the Youkai Mountain. Like many other youkai, they look like humans, but they have turtle shells on their back and a plate on their head. They are famous for their skill in various craft and for producing all sorts of useful tools. Their tools are technologically on about the same level as those from the outside world. They sometimes even copy the tools from the outside and combine them with their own technology. Although the use of most of their tools remains unknown, a few noteworthy examples of their engineering endeavors include photographing devices, clocks, voice and image transmitting devices, waterproof clothes and many more. Although they are usually friendly, they seldom show themselves to humans. Therefore, their behavior as well as a great deal of their technology is still shrouded in mystery. They trade mostly with the tengu, but sometimes they are willing to deal with humans too. The kappa aren't very well-versed in battle. When threatened, they usually dive in the water to hide. They are formidable swimmers and they can hold their breath for several hours. However, they don't live underwater, but on land, where they make their tools."

"Umm… Keine-sensei, may I ask something?" asked Midori with her raised hand.

"Certainly, Iwakami-san."

"Why did you say that kappa are some of the friendliest youkai, when they actually run away from humans?"

"They are rather shy, but make no mistake. They do like humans and are curious about them, but they just prefer to stay hidden. However, if they see a human who is in trouble, they won't hesitate to help them. The kappa are friendly in general, but they are more open to other youkai than to humans."

"Have you ever seen a kappa yourself, Keine-sensei?" asked Kyouichi.

"I personally know a few and I can only confirm that they are nice folks."

"And do any of them live in the village?"

"No, they all come from the Youkai Mountain and live there too. Most of you students will probably never see a kappa near the Human Village, but if you manage to earn their trust, then they'll be some of your best friends." replied the teacher. "I've also made arrangements with my kappa friends so that we could go on a field trip to the Youkai Mountain this year. I think they are just as curious to see us as we are curious to see them."

All kids in the class suddenly started whispering: "A field trip? This year? To the Youkai Mountain?"

"Please tell us more about this field trip, Keine-sensei~!" called the younger students.

Miss Kamishirasawa smiled and nodded. "Alright, alright… It was supposed to be a surprise, but now that the cat's out of the bag, I suppose I could tell you more… This autumn, we'll be going on an educational field trip around Gensokyo for 10 days. Among many other places, we will visit the new hot springs resort at the Youkai Mountain. You can really look forward to that, since we will be officially the first human visitors."

Kyouichi raised his hand again. "Wait, isn't the mountain a dangerous place for humans?"

"The kappa and the tengu are expecting us to visit. I'll be going with you so you don't need to worry. We won't be going deep into the mountain, only to the hot springs at its foot. The tengu wouldn't let us go any further anyway, since the mountain is sacred to them. Besides, there are many more hostile youkai than the tengu who inhabit the mountain, so it would be indeed dangerous to venture any further than we are allowed to. It is already a groundbreaking event that humans are now allowed to get near the mountain."

"So does that mean that the hot springs will be open for human visitors too?" wondered Kyouichi.

"That's right." confirmed Keine-sensei. "We are going to be the honored guests."

"But with the roads as dangerous as they are, I don't think they'll have many human visitors."

"The hot springs were built mainly for the youkai living near the mountain, but even humans are welcome there."

"Why would the youkai suddenly want to invite humans to the mountain?"

"To improve the good relationship between us and them, and to make some money. And like I said, it's not in the mountain but NEAR the mountain."

Kyouichi apparently wasn't very trusting. "That still sounds dangerous no matter how you put it. What if the youkai just want to lure the humans out of the village so they could eat them?"

Keine-sensei started to chuckle and gradually burst into hearty laughter. "Well, I don't know what you've been told about the youkai by the people in the village, but I can assure you that neither the kappa, nor the tengu eat humans. And since they don't want their paying guests to be eaten, they have made various countermeasures to make the hot springs as safe for humans as possible."

"If you say so…" muttered Kyouichi with doubt in his voice.

"The trip is not compulsory, so take your time to think and decide if you'd like to go or not. But I highly recommend it. As an outsider, you most likely won't ever wander around Gensokyo alone, so think of it as a chance to see places you normally couldn't visit on your own."

Kyouichi had mixed feelings about this field trip. On one hand he was tempted by curiosity to see the new places and youkai, but on the other hand, he was a bit scared since he didn't know what to expect… yet. He barely yet knew a thing about Gensokyo or the youkai, or his teacher. Perhaps time will tell whether he will decide to go on this trip or not, but at the moment, he wasn't certain about anything. He secretly hoped that he would somehow manage to find a way home before he would have to decide…

"Well, would you look at the time." muttered Keine-sensei as she checked the clock. "I guess that's it for this lesson. Never mind. For your homework, read the article about kappa in your books. Oh, and I believe that our new transfer students aren't yet familiar with the timetable."

She opened a drawer in her desk and took out a paper chart with this year's timetable for the 6th grade. Then she walked up to the blackboard with a piece of chalk in her hand and copied the timetable onto the board:

Monday: history, youkai typology, math, Japanese language and literature, geography

Tuesday: math, biology, youkai typology, Japanese, arts and crafts

Wednesday: geography, Japanese, history, P.E., theory of magic

Thursday: Japanese, youkai typology, theory of magic, biology

Friday: theory of magic, math, history, youkai typology, P.E.

Before anyone asked, she continued to explain. "Since your only three compulsory subjects are history, typology and geography, you only need to note down those subjects. I understand that it's going to be an inconsistent timetable full of gaps between the respective lessons, but since this school is short on staff, we cannot make any special changes to make it more convenient for you. I'm afraid you're going to have to bear with it."

"So this means that we now have a two lessons worth of break." thought Kyouichi to himself.

This reminded him of his inconsistent timetable on college when he just had to find a way to kill time as he waited for the next lecture. He could choose to attend every single subject, but for someone like him, that idea was about as attractive as manual labor in the desert. As he was standing up from his chair and turning back to the group of 5 outsiders, he could see that Daniel, the foreign guy had a raised hand. "Sensei, I'd like to ask…"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to attend the Japanese language classes… I want to improve my Japanese"

"No problem." replied Keine-sensei with a smile. "Like I said, you can attend any other lesson, but you'll be tested only from the 3 compulsory ones."

"Thank you."

"Now, I hope you'll find a way to help you pass the time until our geography lesson."


As the teacher left the classroom, and Kyouichi was about to go on another aimless stroll around the village, someone called his name.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Midori Iwakami.

"Nowhere. I was just going to have a look around the school and then walk a bit around the village."

"Can we come with you?"

"Sure. At least I'll have someone to talk to. Are all of you coming with me?"

Yuujin shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll just go to Uzume and have some coffee."

It seemed that Hikaru-san wasn't in the mood for strolling around either. "Oh, you can go without me… I've seen the whole village already." he said while writing something into his diary.

"Alright then." shrugged Kyouichi as he turned to the remaining trio of outsiders. "Let's go for a little walk."

They left the classroom and proceeded back along the corridor towards the lobby. Kyouichi was observing the bulletin boards on the walls as he walked. Besides various children's drawings and important notices, he stopped for a while at a bulletin board with information about the school clubs.

"What? Are you interested in joining a club?" asked Midori.

"I'm just looking…" he replied blankly as his eyes raced over the information flyers pinned on the board.

There were many information flyers about all the school clubs such as musical club, art club, calligraphy club, cooking club, kendo club, karate club, mahjong club, literary club, astronomy club, theatre club and magic practice club.

"Never mind." muttered Kyouichi after a while of looking. "Let's move on."

As they were leaving the western wing and entering the lobby, he suddenly asked: "Where did you guys appear when you got spirited away?"

"Well, I'm not sure about others, but I think it was somewhere near that bamboo forest. I could just see the village, so I headed there immediately." explained Midori.

"I appeared on some rice field…" recalled Daniel. "Fortunately, it was also near this village."

"I don't really know where I appeared," said Sayuri, lost in thought, "but then I came to some hill, and from there I could already see the roofs of the houses… Oh, yes, I believe I got into the village through that road." she pointed straight forward – towards the southern road, leading eventually to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

"I think I saw you guys at the Uzume tavern two days ago…" remarked Kyouichi.

Sayuri nodded. "Oh, yes, we were there and we were trying to figure out what to do next. I met all the others in the village hall the day before. After we were told about this place and our situation, we all felt like we needed a drink. Honestly, I don't know what to do."


As the group slowly walked around the school building, they found themselves on a small playground, which was still a part of the school property. Since they had no particular goal, they sat on a nearby bench and continued their chatting.

Kyouichi spoke again after a moment: "I've heard that there may be a way for us to get back home... The chances are slim, but if we work together, then maybe…"

"You're still talking about that youkai, right?" Midori interrupted him.

"Well, yes. We'll need to know more about her, so that we could have a clue where to look for her."

Midori frowned and sighed. "Then I'm afraid I can't help you with that… The first time I've heard something about her was on today's history lesson, so I can't tell you anything that you don't already know."

"That's why we must join forces as the outsiders and share all our knowledge about this place so far…" suggested Kyouichi. "But we also need to make our search more… organized. So that we wouldn't look for some piece of information that someone already knows."

"I'm afraid the only time we can be sure to see each other is during the lessons or after school…" remarked Daniel.

"But there's barely enough time to discuss such matters during the breaks…" noted Sayuri.

Midori gave her a surprised look. "Are you kidding?! With our current timetable we'll be having like… 2 hour breaks on regular basis…"

"That's right." acknowledged Daniel. "But as you can see, some of the outsiders just prefer to mind their own business, like Yuujin and Hikaru… and maybe others too."

"There were more than 10 outsiders in our class… we should at least tell them that we're planning to find a way home…" thought Midori aloud.

Kyouichi was brainstorming all the possibilities how to share information with all the outsiders and a way to organize their search for Yukari Yakumo, when he got a sudden idea.

"I got it!" he exclaimed so suddenly that he made the other 3 outsiders sitting next to him flinch for a moment. "A school club!"

"How will joining a school club help in our search?" wondered Midori.

Kyouichi shook his head. "Not joining, but founding our own! Like a club for all the outsiders who want to return home. Everyone who wants to return home will join us and together we will share all the knowledge we gather and use it to achieve our ultimate goal."

"I see…" she muttered and smiled. "Not a bad idea…"

"We should go and talk to Keine-sensei about this." suggested Sayuri.

"And we should make some information flyers or posters about our club too…" added Daniel.

"Alright, we'll stop by Keine-sensei's office after school." agreed Kyouichi. "Hopefully, there is still a room to spare for our club room."

"Alright." smirked Midori while standing up. "Now that we got our plan figured out, how about we discuss the details over a cup of tea… or whatever drinks you guys prefer?"

"Sounds good." agreed Daniel while looking at his watch. "We still have more than one and a half hour left before our geography lesson. We might as well stop by some tavern or café."

"Any suggestions?" asked Kyouichi looking slowly, left to right at his 3 new friends.

Sayuri immediately responded: "Uzume is a very nice establishment, but I've also seen a teahouse near the marketplace where I'd like to go to sometime."

Kyouichi didn't need much time to decide. "Well I'm not sure how would Keine-sensei react if we came drunk to her lesson, so I'm voting for the teahouse."

The rest of the band simply nodded in agreement, and so, they followed Sayuri who led the way to the teahouse.