Maiden's new Tenant
3 : Witch's cleanup party
Let us celebrate, for we are strong.
[]
Oh the peaceful Hakurei Shrine!
"GRR… I still can't believe I gave in like that. UGH!" Grumbles Reimu as she paces back and forth in front of the shrine, and she's got LOTS of reasons to be pissed. First of all, she gave in and let Marisa hold a PARTY in HER shrine over such a small achievement as CLEARING her yard and even then, it took her DAYS just to do that small job; all the less of a reason to party for, she reasoned.
(Yet another) Flashback-
"Pleeaaze~? Reimu, Puh-Lease? I'll keep it a small affair, ze." Pleads Marisa with puppy-eyes in front of Reimu, who merely looks to the side and says "Ugh, Get out of here! My shrine is not a bar. You know."
"Please, Reimu~! You know that the Human Village's bars are never good places to party in. same with the Forest of Magic, ze. Please?" pleads Marisa some more.
The red and white's eyes twitch in annoyance as crosses her arms and says "Uh-uh, Nada, No."
Marisa stares Reimu in the eye for a few seconds, and it seems like she is about to give up when an evil twinkle flashes in her golden eyes and, with a teasing tone, she says "I'll have them give you donations, ze."
In an instant, Reimu's eyes twinkle and she dreamily says "Why~ Wouldn't I~?"
The black-and-white pumps her fists, flashes the victory sign, and then exclaims "I WON!"
The resident shrine maiden snaps back to reality and then, realizing what happened, stammers. "Ah- I- I didn't- ah, Alright, But keep it clean."
Suika materializes between the two and, flipping a thumbs-up at the black-and-white, cheers "You did it!"
The two party-lovers then high-five "Yeah!", they say at the same time.
Back to present…
Some distance away, having set the shrine for the witch's guests (which meant cleaning it until the entire shrine literally sparkles in the bright sunlight), Meibilin looks at Reimu as a bead of sweat rolls down her face. "Uhm… Don't worry too much, Miss Reimu. It's bad for thy health. Besides, she did say she'll keep their merrymaking clean…."
Reimu turns to the second (temporary) shrine maiden and, waving her arms furiously, says "I know, but…!"
Meibilin waves her hands up and down at the distraught miko, saying "Calm down, Miss Reimu… Calm down, please?"
Before the miko could respond, a black blur lands in front of the shrine, generating a wind that lifts the two red-and-whites' skirts lightly
As the two push their skirts down before they completely fly high, they turn to see Marisa on the last step of the stairway, leaning on her broom like a cowboy as she holds her hat down dramatically, Michael Jackson style and save for a small peek of what appears to be a grin, covers her face… LIKE A BOSS!
Okay, that was lame… anyway, Marisa, after lifting her hat slightly to reveal a smart grin on her face, she says "Hello there, ze~! Is ze place all set to go fa' me party?"
An awkward silence fills the shrine for a few seconds as Marisa looks at Reimu expectantly while the two maidens do the same and stare at Marisa in the eye, Reimu with an unimpressed look and Meibilin with a blank face.
All of a sudden, Meibilin starts clapping as she closes her eyes, her face transforming into a very… very.. VERY sweet smile while she says "That was a wonderful entrance, Miss Witch!" while Reimu adds under her breath "if there were others to see you at least~"
A vein appears on Marisa's face as she glares menacingly at the one-yen maiden, asking "and just WHAT do you mean by THAT?"
Reimu turns her head away as Marisa says so, whistling "I said no~thing, nothing, yea-", and that was when she saw the smile on Meibilin's face. She could picture the world's best flowers blooming beside the other maiden and still not match the smile, which, to her eyes, sparkles. In an instant, Reimu arcs her back, stiffens, and falls to the ground, shivering as if she was just dipped into Cirno's Bubble bath, but a look on her cherry face is enough to tell that she's not really cold.
Marisa notices the smile as well and immediately collapses, her face just as red as Reimu's silly smile plastered all over it.
Hearing the dull thud of two bodies falling to the ground, Meibilin opens her eyes, notices the lack of any standing living beings and, tilting her head to the side, innocently asks "Is anyone there~?"
She is answered by a familiar presence, a certain heaviness in the air and, right before her very eyes, Suika materializes beside the fallen Marisa, who she thought had left, having failed to realize who the two bodies were.
The second shrine maiden waves casually at Suika, who waves casually back as laboured breathing comes from behind the small oni. Just as she shifts her gaze beside Suika, a figure finally takes the last step to the top of the stairs to stand beside Suika, failing to notice the black and white lump underneath her and resting her foot squarely Marisa's chest, forcing her breath out as a small smiling spirit leaves the witch's gaping mouth.
"That… was some mountain, Suika!" says the woman, to which the small oni replies "Nah, that was just a hill there Yuugi."
Yuugi Hoshiguma, former deva of the mountain along with Suika, she has sunset-coloured eyes, long blond hair and a single red horn growing out of her forehead. However, unlike the shrine oni, she appears to be well-developed, with curves hotter than the sun and very firm and beautiful mountains of faith the size dreams are made of.
She wears a white blouse with puffy sleeves, decorated with red with red at the borders and a transparent blue skirt with red lines running vertically over tight black boxers, which for some reason, shows a peculiar bulge. On her wrists are two shackles with broken chains still attached, mirroring the ones on Suika.
On her hands, she carries two barrels of what smells like very high-quality sake.
Shaken from her earlier collapse by the weight on her chest, Marisa Kirisame desperately tries to tell Yuugi to just REMOVE THAT DANMNED FOOT FROM HER BLOODY CHEST by attempting to claw the endowed oni's quite muscular legs, but fails to raise her hand all the way to it, much less evoke even a light reaction. She tries to scream, but apparently is out of air.
Suika, being closer to the ground than the larger oni, swears she could hear just a slight stir in the sand. "Hey, Yuugi, you hear that?"
"Huh?" asks the taller oni as she crouches, placing even more pressure on the black-and-white's poor chest and threatening to reduce her own mountains to the flatness of a toddler. Worse, the larger oni's buttocks is pressed up on the witch's face, silencing her and well… it's an oni's arse for God's sake!
Meibilin points at the poor witch under the oni's feet and, Suika, realizing the source of the noise, points to our poor celebrant as well and, Yuugi, feeling the stares on her skin, jumps back, finally freeing the poor witch and allowing her squished soul to return to her mouth.
Somehow recovering from four broken ribs and a crushed mouth, Marisa jumps up, Yuugi noticing her for the first time, the oni saying "Oh, Hello there Marisa. Where were you?"
The witch points an accusing finger at the breasted oni and says "That's for YOU to say! You crushed my lungs with your foot and my jaw with your ARSE!"
Yuugi stares blankly at Marisa, at her own hand, back to Marisa again and, after a few seconds of concentration, blankly says "I must be drunk", before gulping down a small bottle of sake she bought with her. "Say, where's my sake dish?"
"What the…" grumbles Marisa, but is cut when Suika says "Hey~ you kept it in your pocket, remember?"
The two oni stare at each other for a few seconds before Yuugi says "Nah, you must be drunk. My skirt has no pockets."
"In your panties then" replies Suika.
Yuugi taps her nether regions lightly twice, (don't ask) reaches into and rummages around it, pulls out her sake dish, removing the bulge on her boxers and, as she stares at the shiny ceramic, says "Would you look at that…"
"We're both drunk!" Suika proudly declares.
Having recovered just as Yuugi pulled out the red dish out of her very underwear, Reimu face-palms and says "Ugh~ I can't believe you two… so early, the party has not even started yet, and you are drunk."
Marisa, Yuugi, Meibilin and Suika turn to the now-awakened shrine maiden and the witch says "Oh hello there Reimu!" at the same time as the two oni thump their chests with their left hands, which they then raise in double victory signs as they proudly declare "That's what we oni are!"
Reimu sighs and then turns to look at Meibilin, who is sitting on the shrine porch, looking at Reimu quite seriously and a few seconds pass before she says "I'll be going to the Human Village. Is there anything you want, miss Reimu?"
Raising her eyebrows, Reimu says "Ah… err… the shrine is clean already so…" "SAKE~" cuts in Suika and Yuugi at the same time, earning them a fleeting death glance from the Miko, making the two oni shiver in fear.
"Sake it is then" says Meibilin. "Ciao" she sings as she runs down the heavenly steps down the hill.
As the two oni and the blond witch watch the white-haired red-and-white run off, Suika turns to Marisa and says "Oh, that's right… We have the sake but no food."
"I already took care of that, ze~!" says Marisa as she beams at the small oni, and at the same time, they hear the flapping of wings and a certain musical voice.
"Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms
Covering the mountainside
Chin-Chin~
As far as you can see
Are they mists or clouds?
Chin-Chin~
Fragrant in the morning sun
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms
Flowers in full bloom
Chiiiiin~"
Hearing the ever-familiar phrase, Reimu falls over, groaning. "Great. Mystia Lorelei. Who let the perverts out?"
Marisa points to herself and, grinning, proudly says "I did!"
Still on the ground, groaning, Reimu says "Lovely. It just has to be the Perverts and the Strange ones… why me? Why, oh why, oh why~?"
The witch pats her miko friend on the back, saying "Cheer up, will ya? It's a Party after all!"
At that exact moment, the singer, Mystia Lorelei lands a bit to the side of Reimu, putting down a small cart she was carrying.
Mystia is a night sparrow youkai with grey eyes, curly pink hair, owl-wing like pointy ears and a pair of wings with light-pink feathers with purple highlights and a matching leading edge and bone.
She wears a long-sleeve brown dress with pinkish-white sleeves and many wing-like buttons adorning the front and ending into a short skirt on the lower edge. On her head is a matching brown cap that has a wing-like ornament adorning the top, and lower down, wears knee-length boots over white socks.
"And here comes our chef" says Marisa as she places her hands on her hips.
"Ah, Marisa-san" says the night sparrow as she wipes her forehead. "Looks like I came early. Can I get my pay in advance?
"Oh, sure", says Marisa as she rummages inside her hat and then pulls out several coins "Here, ze."
"Um, so I'll buy this… and this… and this… right?" mumbles the hovering Meibilin as she examines a piece of paper she holds in her left hand. On her right, she holds a black pen with the stamp 'Tengu HeavenPens©' on the upper side and 'Black first grade Ink ©NitoriTek'. Written on the paper, in serif italic is "Shamisen – O; Sake – O; Oil –O"
The village is already in sight, thanks to the speed she gained in training for a week. Despite her speed however, she could not at all fly: the best she can do at the moment is to hover at most three feet.
She stops for a while, takes a deep breath, and then says "I don't even feel tired yet. I must be doing great", before continuing her flight…er, hover to the village.
Unbeknownst to the cute girl, a shadow stalks her some distance away and glares at her with glowing eyes. A sudden flash of light and the sound of film reeling reverberates though the wooded path and the figure disappears just as Meibilin turns around.
"Uhm… Is someone there?"
Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Yuugi, Marisa and Suika have set a large square mat near one of the many sakura dotting the shrine. On the shrine's porch, Reimu eyes the three picnic- err, partiers and Mystia, who is cooking her specialty lamprey near the shrine's paved path.
"Ah, you can't imagine how messy the place was, ze!" says Marisa as she spreads her arms for effect. "But I worked hard unlike a certain maiden and earned around two million yen from selling those things to Kourin. That's what I call income, ze!"
Reimu, several feet away, hearing the reference, falls over and, a shadow covering her face, mumbles "I'll kill you Marisa… I'll kill you…"
As Mystia places several sticks of her grilled lamprey near the three sake-drinkers, Suika says "So unlike ya, huh, Marisa? Ya'd normally keep those things there. What happened?"
Marisa picks her chopsticks as she says "Nah, I only sold the uninteresting ones, ze~", and, shoving a slice of grilled lamprey into her mouth, she sighs, saying "Reimu! Come here, ze! The food's delicious."
"Right…" Reimu hoarsely mutters as she looks up weakly at the picnickers. "I guarantee it, ze!" the black-and-white says.
"Don't count me in. I'm worthless" says Reimu in monotone, with a sleepy face. "I'm just a bum, am I not?"
Before Marisa could respond, a screech fills the air, coming from the direction of the Human Village. "AYAYAYAAAA~!"
Reimu snaps awake and, facing the direction of the scream, says "Wha-", but is cut short when a black blur smashes against her, also coming from the direction of the Human Village, creating a large dust cloud as the maiden breaks through the shrine's porch.
The dust cloud clears a second later to reveal Reimu lying flat on the ground, arms and legs sprawled to her sides, her mouth agape and eyes spinning. On top of the maiden is a strange girl with black wings, short red hair and wearing a dirtied white business shirt with puffy sleeves and a tie, a short black skirt, a red tokin, a black notebook and camera on hand, her mouth agape and eyes spinning, just like the maiden.
The short-haired girl incoherently mumbles something about trident, surprise and Hatate.
The black and white flies over to the crash site, followed by the two oni and, seeing the girl on top of Reimu, says "Woah! Aya! What happened to you?"
Immediately, the two recover, and the first thing Reimu says is… "GET OFF ME YOU DAMNED REPORTER!"
"Ayayayaya~!" mumbles the Aya as she jumps off the oni maiden and crouches on the clean porch to her side, her clothes somehow clean again, her position showing her magnificent, sexy legs and white panties.
That reminds me… I still have not introduced her, have I?
The girl is Shameimaru Aya, A crow tengu known as Gensokyo's fastest and has red eyes that can see clearly at speeds way beyond mach 5. She runs Gensokyo's most notorious newspaper, the Bunbunmaru, which is known to and famous for having lies and Aya's own opinions mixed with the actual facts, which are then exaggerated a hundred times.
As the red and white is lifted from the hole by Suika, Marisa asks the tengu "What happened to ya, Aya?"
"Ugh…" groans Aya as she scratches her head nervously. "This is what happened…"
Girls are explaining…
"Is someone there?"
Meibilin stops hovering and starts walking slowly towards the human village as she eyes her surroundings warily. From behind her come a few more shutter clicks and fleeting flashes.
As the cute girl turns around, but sees nothing but a leaf floating to the ground. As she eyes her surroundings once more, a few more flashes flash from several different points around her.
"This isn't funny… someone there" says the now-shivering temporary miko as she turns around again.
"Ah! Hello!" rapidly says somebody from behind her. "Care to give me an inter-", but is cut when the jumpy, cute and terrified girl screams in shock, involuntarily reaches for her trident and smacks the person behind her with such force that the trees near her bend slightly to the side and the person, Aya, is sent flying all the way to the Hakurei Shrine at terribly high speed.
"AYAYAYAAAA~!"
Meibilin calms down instantly, tilts her head to the side and, placing her left pointer finger to her lips, asks "Is someone there?"
Girls are finished explaining…
"Well, you deserved it" says Reimu, who has joined Marisa and the two oni to their small picnic along with Aya.
The tengu, a shadow above her and whimpering with downcast eyes mumbles "Yeah… I guess I do."
Marisa, who is squatting beside Aya, smacks the tengu on the back and then says "Cheer up, and welcome to the feast, ze!", making Reimu chuckle as the Red-and-White says jestingly says "Yeah right… feast… more like a picnic."
"I heard that, ze", says Marisa as she gulps down some sake, courtesy of Yuugi, who says to the tengu "Yeah, why don't we have a drinking competition, just like the old days before we oni left the mountain."
"Indulge" says Mystia from behind the witch as she places a large platter of grilled lamprey on the mat. "My best it is, Chiin~"
"Thanks" Marisa says as she puts an entire slice into her mouth while Yuugi and Aya stare at each other's eyes, sparks dancing between them. Just in front of them are two sake bottles, both full to the brim from the sake that Suika somehow poured from the barrels without spilling a drop.
"Ready?" says Yuugi as she grabs her bottle.
"Ready when you are, oni" replies Aya as she uncaps her bottle. At that exact moment, Suika scatters a few uncooked rice grains between the two as she says "For our two competitors… grab your equipment."
"…GO!"
On the small oni's word, the larger oni hurriedly pours sake onto her dish, drinks it clean, pours, and then drinks again. Aya, on the other hand, is chugging the sake straight from the bottle.
Keeping their distance, Reimu, Aya and Mystia stare at Aya and Yuugi with disbelieving looks as the two go at it. After half a minute, both sake bottles are tossed to the side, empty, as Suika grabs one of the Sake barrels and the pours the contents onto small cups that the two pick up, drink, and then put down as soon as they fill up. After a few minutes, Suika switches to the second barrel, but just before she could pour from it, the two slam their fists on the ground and say "THAT'S IT!"
Without thinking, Aya and Yuugi punch small holes on the barrel and then stick their lips to said holes, drinking the sake inside furiously.
By now, the three spectators' eyes have turned into dumb circles and their mouths into rough boxes as they stare dumbstruck at the two's stunts. Without thinking, Marisa says "That's an indirect kiss…"
Turning to face the witch, Reimu says "Yes, I know."
For a few minutes, the two competitors gulp down the sake as fast as they could and when the trickle finally lightens, they smash their heads inside the barrel and then lap up the remaining sake like crazed dogs, ending up doing something quite perverted when the barrel is completely drained. Noticing what they are doing, the two girls blush terribly behind their drunken faces and then try with all their might to get their heads out of the barrel.
From outside, the two look like a frog as they pull their heads back, yet failing somehow and ending up jumping up and down, turning them, in Reimu's eyes, a chimera clown as they thrash around wildly like a rodeo horse.
The spectators, along with Suika, who joined them in staying away to avoid being kicked by the raging barrel-oni-tengu horse, lie on the ground, trying their best not to laugh, yet obviously failing as they grasp their stomachs, their faces red and twin waterfalls spilling out of their eyes. Marisa in particular has gone even farther, even pounding and rolling on the ground.
Finally, the two break free of the evil barrel's grasp and then turn away from each other, holding their hands over their mouth and tears welling up in their eyes.
The spectators and Suika stop for a moment, stare at the drunk two and then laugh even harder.
The tengu and the oni stare at the crowd of four rolling on the ground laughing, but before they could say a word, from the shrine's gate comes Meibilin, calling out sweetly, "Miss Reimu~ I'm Ba~ck!"
The six immediately stop laughing and turn their heads to face Meibilin, who has just finished climbing –or more like floating up- the stairs and is walking towards them. On one hand is a small bottle of coconut oil and a gourd of sake, and unto her back, a Shamisen and its pick. She raises her free hand and waves casually at the group while smiling sweetly. "Hi~"
Yuugi and Aya's face turn even redder than drunk red and fall over while Marisa and Reimu fall over and spurt twin nosebleeds. Suika and Mystia, on the other hand, are blushing heavily, but otherwise are unaffected and return a casual wave.
A few minutes later, Marisa, Reimu, Yuugi and Aya, having recovered, sit in a circle on the mat, along with Suika, Mystia and Meibilin, all eating the grilled lamprey contentedly except Meibilin, who is practicing something on the shamisen and Mystia, who keeps on looking at Meibilin and her shamisen.
After playing one more bar of a certain tune on the Shamisen, Meibilin stops and mutters "Just like the Kujapi… I wonder how they sound so alike: they look quite different… they both have two stings, but…", she thinks for a while and then adds "nah, this is good. At least I know how to play it."
On the side of the mat opposite of Meibilin, Aya looks at the cute girl nervously, trembling slightly as she shoves a lamprey into her mouth, but looses focus and letting the fish slip off her chopsticks and back unto her plate.
Meibilin notices this and asks "What is the matter, miss…"
"Aya" says, trying to pick the slice of lamprey she dropped earlier, but keeps on failing as her shaking hand keeps on making her miss the morsel.
"Aya", Meibilin repeats. "What is thy woe, Miss Aya?" asks Meibilin, resting her chin on her wrist.
"Ah… err… nothing" says Aya as she waves her hands in front of her while thinking 'Didn't she know who she threw all the way here earlier?'
"Ahahaha~ Ya sent 'er flying all ze way here, ze!" says Marisa as she stabs (yes, stab) a lamprey with her chopstick.
Reimu, to her side, thinks 'who in the world taught this girl how to use chopsticks?'
Meibilin, realizing what she has done, prostrates and says "Forgive me Miss Aya… It was an impulse, honestly!"
Aya, seeing the girl in front of her, sighs and tries to speak, but ends up spitting choking sounds instead as she forgot to swallow the lamprey that she finally devoured and now is stuck in her throat. "Gahk~ Acht~ Ack~ Ighichagh!"
The tengu instinctively reaches for the nearest liquid and drinks it greedily. However, it turns out to be sake and screams as the unexpected bite of alcohol hits her still-throbbing throat.
Ignoring the tengu's plight, Mystia taps the temporary miko on the shoulder, whispers something into her ear and then walks away with her.
The remaining four stare curiously at the two as they leave before returning to the food. After a few seconds, Reimu stops, taps her stomach, and then says "I'll get fat…"
After a few seconds, the Mystia and Meibilin return to the scene of the picni- err, feast and then Mystia declares, "We'll hold a performance. Is that alright?"
Marisa's hand immediately reaches for the sky. "I vouch for a performance"
"Good. Ready?" says Mystia as she turns to look at Meibilin.
"Ready."
"This will be good", says Reimu as she sees Meibilin and Mystia play a few lines on their respective Shamisen; Meibilin's is black with a pure white front and a pure black pick while Mystia's is brown with a bird-feather decorated front* and a floral-decorated pick.
After a few seconds of strumming on the Shamisen, Meibilin then opens her mouth and starts singing in a high tone.
Sakura sakura
Noyama mo sato mo
Miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka
Asahi ni niou
Sakura sakura
Hana zakari
Meibilin then plucks a few more notes and then Mystia continues.
Sakura sakura
Yayoi no sora wa
Chin~ Chin~
Miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka
Nioi zo izuru
Chin~ Chin~
Izaya izaya
Mini yu kan
Chiiin~
The two strum the last few lines and then bow at their spectators, who then clap at the two.
"Spectacular Performance" says Marisa, then Reimu, turning her head away from Mystia, adds, under her breath "But the bird is still perverted."
"Ah, a good party" says Yuugi as she eyes the sky, "But I think I'll have to go home—the sun is already high in the sky."
"See ya, Yuugi!" says Suika as she waves her arms at the oni.
In an instant, Reimu's aura bursts in flames, making The black-and-white and the remaining oni feel shivers running up their spines.
"YOU. SAID. THAT. YOU'LL. DONATE!"
"Waa~!" Screams Marisa and Suika as the latter turns immaterial, leaving the former cowering for her life as she runs to the donation box, carrying a large bag of coins she hopes will calm Reimu down. She looks at her back and then…
OH BLOODY MOTHER OF ALL THAT'S HOLY! IT'S ONI MIKO REIMU!
To her luck, Marisa manages to spill at least 500 yen into the box just before the oni miko reaches her, the red-and-white returning to normal and jumping on the donation box with a drooling mouth as soon as the sound of coins reach her ears.
"Take it. I have more to spare and besides, I really don't need money, ze." Says Marisa as she lays her back against a tree several feet away, her face failing to hide the lingering traces of fear that she felt. "I'll be leaving, ze!"
Thirty metres away from the shrine, Mystia is already carrying her beloved cart away, humming happily at her day's net income. However, back on the ground, at the shrine, Meibilin wipes her forehead at the messy grounds.
"Ah, it seems like I have a lot to clean up, then, huh?" she says to no-one in particular.
Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice
Meibilin, belongs to Zurocha
Broken Down 2012:06:20;水曜日;UTC+8
Written by: Zurocha, the Blood-Tea-Lovin' Vampire of Ragnarök
Assists: None
Special Credits: None
Author Notes
So, how is Marisa's little Picni- err, Feast?
I originally wanted Komati to be here, but nah, it would seem like I am rushing if I introduce her so early. I mean, she's a shinigami for Shinki's sake!
I also wanted to add more events, double the amount in fact, and that would have made this a 10K word chapter, but I decided to cut it short due to lack of motivation and the fact that I kept on being disturbed. I did not even write that much of this yesterday. I would have wanted Sakuya in here too…
Mystia&Meibilin pairing, eh? Well, they both are good singers and cooks… fits'em. Oh, and I suggest this: never EVER sneak up on Meibilin, or face the same fate as Aya. Poor wind god girl… and to think that I am listening to her theme (in traditional Japanese instruments) right now… hnnn…
Oh, and that song is Sakura Sakura, the traditional Japanese Rhyme. I love it… I even sung it once in front of my classmates as a part of my English Oral Recitation/Project on folk songs.
So, what do you think so far?.
Foot-notes, etc.
*The "kawa" of the Shamisen. Usually white.