My exams have ended. Much to catch up on, thus the update speed shall be slowed. Pretty cruel to do this when things are coming to a climax. XD

"Boss?" I call out as I enter the store. "You in there?"

"Oh, Ikuto!" The heavyset man emerges from a door that leads deeper into the place, greeting me with a jovial voice. "Haven't seen you for a while!"

"I'm not always doing deliveries, you know." Taking a seat at the counter, I reach over and shake his hand. "How's the wife?"

"Himeko-chan's doing fine! She'll be back in no time! And who's this?"

"This is Youmu, she's the girl I'm seeing." I introduce my blushing date.

The man managing this inn was the last outsider who chose to stay in this village before I did. From what I know, he came at least twenty years ago, but decided not to travel back for reasons he didn't share. Anyway, he's established himself pretty well in the village, running a bar that doubles as an inn... that mainly sees two types of clientele, outsiders, and couples. Due to his wide connections to most of the village, he's like the go-to guy for small jobs and stuff, which is one of the reasons why everyone just calls him Boss. I got to know him when I delivered some pain-relief meds for his wife.

I'm on my fourth week with Mokou now, and sometimes, I play the more accessible guide to Eientei if someone leaves a request with Boss. It seems kind of unethical to take money for something that Mokou does for free, but of course, she's not always easy to find. Other times, I take on delivery jobs to earn a bit of extra income. The reason for that is also the reason I came for today.

"Ah, so this is the lucky girl, huh?" Boss digs below the counter. "Yep, here's the thing you asked for!" He sets a box on the counter in front of us and opens it.

"Ikuto! It's beautiful." Youmu breathes.

What's in the box is a small brooch that I saw but was unable to buy at that time due to a lack of cash, and the jeweler didn't take credit, so I asked Boss to help me get it first. Certainly, the white and pink gems arranged in the shape of a flower reminded me so strongly of Youmu that I had to get it.

"Here's the payment we agreed on," I put the cloth pouch filled with money on the wood counter, "You aren't going to count it?" I ask when he simply tucks it into his pocket.

"I know I can trust you. Go on," Boss gestures towards Youmu, "Put it on for her."

Where should I... ah, her hair ribbon. Youmu holds still while I affix the brooch to the black ribbon, where it stands out. "I picked a brooch because I didn't want it to interfere in case you had to fight."

"Thank you, Ikuto." Youmu hugs me around the waist.

Boss clears his throat. "Fight? A sweet girl like this?"

"Geez, Boss, you didn't notice the swords?"

"Ah, sorry. I was more taken with her cuteness."

"You better not let your wife hear you say that." I warn.

"Beautiful women are to be appreciated!" He declares.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, thanks for the help. I have to be going now."

"Got it! You two have fun on your date now!" He waves as we leave. "And Ikuto! Drop by once you're done, I've got a job for you!"

My time in the world of the living is much more fast-paced than it was in Hakugyokurou. I've met nearly all of the others that are related to the Human Village, even the more reclusive ones like Alice and Sanae, though the time I spent interacting with them is relatively short. Usually, this only happens when I'm staying with Mokou, because I'm usually too busy when I'm residing at Eientei. And Mokou always prefers to be left alone, though I'm gradually starting to increase our time together.

However, every time Youmu comes, I make sure that I'm free to spend time with her, no matter whom I'm staying with. It's clear to some of the others that we're in a relationship, but somehow, it doesn't seem like that prevents them from interacting with me as usual. Marisa and Suika are prime examples of that, and Youmu doesn't appear to mind, though I make sure to pay attention to her. Even though there's also someone else now...

"What's this? A date?" Aya's voice comes from above.

Speaking of Aya, she tracked me down to Mokou's house during the third week there. By then, I'd already burned through my past irritation with her, so it wasn't too bad, especially since she stuck to the 'no interviews until the end' deal. However, she exploited a loophole...

"So, Youmu, what do you think of the gift your boyfriend gave you?"

That's right, our deal was only to not interview me. But the people around me were still fair game to her. And I couldn't do a thing about it, since I was the one who named the terms, not unless we renegotiated the conditions, and I bet she'll tack on some outrageous demand in exchange.

Most of the people around are distancing themselves from us. Tengu reputation, probably. "Aya-san, give it a rest, will you? At least show some consideration and ask afterwards."

"Oh come on! Just a bit of juicy info, how about it?"

I step between them. "Aya-san, please. You..." Wait, I remember Rinnosuke saying something about this. "It's the tengu newspaper competition, isn't it?"

"Yes! That's why I need some good articles!"

Grr... no wonder she's more overbearing than usual. "Did you ask Reimu about her recent trip to the underground? I hear she and Satori had a fight."

"That's not as interesting as what's taking place right now!"

Youmu's drawing her sword. "Ikuto, please move aside."

"Ayaya~" The tengu tucks away her notebook and grabs her fan.

"Stop it, you two. Don't fight in the village." I look at Aya. "When exactly is the competition?"

"It's starting next month."

Already? Damn, how should I handle that... "Look, either you can waste precious time trying to get stuff out of Youmu, or you can go talk to someone else first and come back later. I can tell you for sure that there's no way we're going to say anything right now."

Aya gives me a calculating look. "...if that's what you say, then I don't have any choice, do I? Fine then, I'll come back later."

I sigh as she takes off, and look at Youmu when the half-ghost pulls on my sleeve. "Good thing she backed off then, I have no idea what to do if she hadn't."

"Thank you, Ikuto. I think she only did so because you asked politely without losing your temper."

Taking her hand in mine, we resume walking again. "It's natural to protect the one you love, right? And about Aya... that's probably because she's just a tengu."

The rest of our time together passes uneventfully, with the usual promise to meet up the next time she comes when it's time for her to leave. After a light lunch, I head out of the village and make my way to Reimu's shrine.

Similar to my visits to the village, I only visit the shrine when I'm staying with Mokou. The last time I went, I had a grill cookout with Marisa, Reimu and Suika, with me providing the meat, Marisa providing the mushrooms and the griller, Reimu the vegetables, and Suika, of course, the sake. Pretty fun time that was.

"Yo, Reimu, Suika." I greet the two girls.

"Hey there~" The drunk oni waves at me without moving from her side-lying position.

"Want some tea? Marisa just left." Reimu stares at me hopefully.

Probably because I do this every time. I think to myself as I drop a few coins into her donation box. "No, I'm fine. I'm not staying long. Another all night round of drinking, Suika?"

"Of course~" She takes another swig from her gourd.

"Really, this oni is just hopeless." Reimu sighs.

"I like her though." I grin while tugging gently on a lock of Suika's orange hair.

"Ehehe~" Suika raises her gourd into the air. "We should have another party~"

"No! I still haven't cleaned up the mess from the one we had!" Reimu snaps.

"You had a party here? I didn't know." Probably because no one comes to invite you when you're living in the Bamboo Forest.

"I brought them together." Suika lies on her back and sticks her hands up. "Parties are fun~"

"Sounds like you did a drinking game."

She lets her hands fall out to the sides. "Ah ha~ thanks for teaching me that~"

"Just don't put too simple a condition so you can drink all the time." I poke her nose, and she tries to bite my finger.

"RRAarr... ya woke the scary oni!" She grabs my arm and nibbles on my finger.

I look at Reimu, who has an exasperated smile as she watches me play around with the oni. "What?" I ask, feeling Suika's warm, small tongue around my finger as she gnaws lightly.

"I was just thinking you adapt to Gensokyo very well."

"Maybe it has to do with how much I like this place?" As I reply, I poke Suika's marshmallow-like cheek with my other hand. "Tickle~"

The oni giggles when I run my finger underneath her chin, and releases me. "It also has to do with how much people like you too." Sitting up, she turns around, crawls closer to me and pokes my cheek. "You would have been abducted by onis if you lived long ago."

I pay back her bite. "Oh 'eally?"

"Maybe I should abduct you?" Suika grins.

"Okay, okay, enough playing around." Reimu taps both of us on the head with her gohei. "If you're not going to help me clean, then please leave." The way she's smiling as she says that takes most of the bite out of her words.

"Alright, I have to go do some work." Sticking my finger in my mouth, I taste the remnants of sake on it. "Oh yeah, what about that matter with Tenshi?"

"I've reinforced my shrine again, but I won't actually do anything unless she causes another earthquake. Thanks for the warning."

"Not at all, it's just something I heard from a friend. I'll be going then."

"See ya, Ikuto~" Suika mumbles from her splayed flat position.

It's so easy to forget that she's an oni when she's like that. Still, I rub my arm, that strength is no joke. Better go see what's the job Boss has for me. On my way back to the village, I finally get the rock down to a quarter of its original height.

"Ah, it's actually a simple delivery job." Boss hands me a slip of paper with the request's details. "Their usual deliveryman's not well, and none of the others want to do this."

I scan the paper. "I can see why. Not many people here actually want to visit that place."

"You're one of those I can think of who do."

"Oh well. I'll take it. The goods I have to deliver are at the store this time?"

Boss nods. "It's quite a big load."

"Alright. I'll head straight back home afterwards, so see you some other day."

"Will do."

At the furniture store, the shop owner thanks me profusely and shows me to a handcart loaded with chairs and tables. I try to lift it up at first, but the weight is too much. Turns out it's actually quite light once I turned off the belt, which made me feel a bit stupid.

I didn't see any sign of Cirno on my way to the destination, nor did I encounter any youkai, probably because I've beaten down another three since the time I met Cirno. Speaking of that ice fairy, I met her two more times, and she's been improving constantly, even forcing me to switch to my right to deal with some of her new attacks. Of course, when I've had enough, I feign defeat, and leave with her celebrating... and me laughing afterwards.

The bridge tiles are a bit uneven, so I have to struggle a little to control the cart. But eventually, I reach the island it connects to... and the Scarlet Devil Mansion. At this range, I can see that it's actually quite big, though the inside is reputed to be even bigger. And up ahead, next to the gates, is a human figure, slumped on a chair with a nodding head.

Hong Meiling. It's my first time seeing her, I think to myself as I look at that flowing red hair and green clothes, she's actually... pretty good looking. Though the drool is... I smirk as an idea pops into my head.

She doesn't wake up when I approach, so I can leave the cart nearby while I crouch next to her.

Let's see, what was the name again? Ah yeah. "Taisui Xingjun is coming!" I whisper softly in Chinese.

"Huh? Wha-? Taisui Xingjun?" She mumbles, "You're back again? I will beat you as many times as it takes..."

"What nonsense are you speaking, Meiling? It's me, Sakuya." I switch to Japanese to say.

"Hah... I know you're a fake..." Meiling shifts her body slightly, "You're just another youkai sent by the Taisui Xingjun!"

"Meiling," I'm totally making stuff up about Sakuya's character here. "You're a wonderful gatekeeper, but if you don't stop this, I'll get mad."

"Huh? I am?" She snorts in her sleep. "No, you're a fake for sure! The real Sakuya doesn't have a chest that-"

A knife flashes past my eyes and sinks into Meiling's head. "Excuse me, may I know who you are and what you're doing with our gatekeeper?" A clear, cool voice asks from the side.

"Oh, Izayoi-san, is that you?" I look at the chief maid of the mansion, adrenaline still running through my veins. "I came with the furniture you ordered. As for what I'm doing," I glance at the twitching figure next to me. "I was trying to wake her up. By the way, is it really okay to do that to her?"

"Hm." Sakuya stares at me for a while before tucking the knife in her hand away and shifting the bag she carried around in her arms. "She's a youkai, so she will recover soon enough."

"Okay. So... do you need me to bring the cart in?"

She blinks. "Oh, Ikuto, I didn't realize it was you. What are you doing delivering the furniture?"

"The usual guy couldn't come, and apparently I'm the only one that's willing to come." I walk over to the cart and lift up the handle. "Do I bring it in?"

"If you don't mind." Sakuya nods at me and leads the way into the mansion, but pauses to pull the knife out of Meiling. "Don't sleep on the job!"

"Ow ow ow~ I'm sorry, Sakuya-san." Meiling clutches the part that was stabbed and whimpers. "Who's that?"

"The furniture deliveryman. I'm bringing him in." Without waiting for a reply, the maid passes through the gate.

"Hello." I greet Meiling as I walk past.

"Hello..." She responds curiously, but doesn't stop me.

Sakuya leads me around to the back, where there's a ramp for me to pull the cart up and into the mansion. Instantly, I can tell the difference in space between the interior and the exterior, as the hallway extends further than the distance I walked along the outside.

"This way." Sakuya shows me into a storeroom, and directs me to unload the furniture.

"Excuse me, Izayoi-san?" I ask her halfway through the job.

"Yes?"

"Did Remilia ever ask about me?"

"My lady?" She frowns for a moment as she thinks. "She did mention she was curious to know the sort of person you were, but didn't say anything more than that."

"So... should I go and say hi or something?"

"My lady will be asleep at this time, but I will tell her that you came by. Is there anything else?"

Well, maybe it's a good thing... I'm not sure if Remilia will react well though. "Then... what's your opinion of Yukari's idea?"

"You're referring to yourself?" Seeing me nod, Sakuya crosses her arms. "Seeing as you don't mean my lady any harm, I don't mind it if you come and stay here."

"Even though there's her?"

"Who might you be referring to?"

"That blond girl that Marisa told me about." Another lie, of course.

"I believe that's just an inherent risk."

I unload the last table and dust my hands. "Guess I'll have to play it by luck when the time comes then. Thanks for answering my questions."

"You're welcome. I trust you can make your own way out?"

"Yes, I'll be fine..." Or not.

A young girl dressed in red with bat wings and blue hair stood in front of us. "Sakuya, have you bought the things I asked for? And who is this?"

"I have placed them in the dining room, my lady." The silver-haired maid extended a hand towards me. "This is Ikuto, he has just delivered the new furniture to replace the ones Flandre-sama destroyed."

Huh, Sakuya's not carrying that bag, she must've stopped time and dropped it off. And I had the feeling that Flandre was responsible... That or Marisa. But right now, I better make this first impression count.

"Good afternoon, I'm Ikuto." I greet Remilia. "I heard you would be sleeping at this time."

"Sometimes I rise early." The vampire shrugs. "So you're that human. Who are you staying with now? That reporter hasn't been doing a good job of reporting your whereabouts."

"I'm currently residing in Eientei. As for Aya, I have an agreement with her that she will only interview me at the end of my stay."

Both of them seem to be surprised at that piece of news. "That's impressive, how did you manage that?"

"I just... uh, presented the offer so that it would appeal to her."

"I see..." Remilia approaches me. "So, will you be staying with us next?"

Maybe I should try some flattery here. "I'm afraid not," I tell her, going down on one knee so that she's higher up than I am, "But I look forward to the time I can spend in the company of your beautiful self."

"Oh? You are quite smooth with your words." She reaches out and cups my chin. "What is the reason for not doing so?"

"..." Damn, those red eyes are piercing my soul. "There is someone I have to repay beforehand."

"Sakuya."

"Yes, my lady?"

"I wish to go out, go get the parasol." Remilia turns back to me. "You have an interesting fate, Ikuto."

"I do? Apart from being brought in to follow Yukari's plan, the rest of my life seems quite normal."

"Would you like me to tell you what it is?"

She's definitely up to something. "If a pretty lady like you would be so kind."

"You won't ever break a bone."

What? "That seems rather normal. By the way, I haven't caught your name yet."

"It is rare for a human to suffer no broken bones in his entire life. As for my name, I am Remilia Scarlet, which I'm sure you already know."

Well, it does explain my life without that level of serious injuries. "A pleasure to meet you, Lady Scarlet."

Remilia giggles, "It's been a while since anyone's called me that. Let me hear you say that again."

"Of course, Lady Scarlet." Have to remember, she's like a child in character.

"My lady, I've brought your parasol." Sakuya is standing there with what Remilia asked for.

"Let's go pay a visit to Reimu." Remilia glances back at me. "Come by for a visit sometime, Ikuto."

"Of course."

Before they leave, I catch Sakuya giving me a nod with a small smile. Seems like I managed to clear that first impression nicely, even if the Scarlet Devil just left without much of a farewell. Retrieving the cart, I make my way out of the mansion, where I can see their figures flying in the direction of the shrine.

She didn't think I meant Reimu, did she? Ah, no use worrying about it, let's just put the cart back. I stop outside the gate and introduce myself to Meiling, who's quite friendly.

"Oh, so you're that human? I read about you from the newspaper that came with the manga from the tengu."

Huh, the tengus print manga too? "Yeah, I'll eventually be staying here sometime. I'll be in your care when that time comes."

"Sure, no problem."

"Okay, I better be going. Try not to fall asleep again, okay?" Picking up the weight again, I head back towards the village.

"Haha, no way, I won't!" Meiling waves goodbye, but when I look back from the end of the bridge, I can see her silhouette's nodding off again.

After dropping off the cart, I take a few minutes to boil off the ice melt from clashing with Cirno along the way back. Mokou's temperature control is really very convenient; the heat doesn't bother me so much, and it helps me take on Cirno without being affected too much by the cold she gives off, such as using a heated up Future Gazer to melt through her attacks instead of cutting through them.

Mokou's not at home when I return, but that's normal for her. Instead, I start cooking dinner for three, since I made sure to invite Keine when I passed through the village. Despite trying to refrain from enlisting her help to get close to Mokou, it was just too easy to talk to Keine...

"I'm back." Mokou comes in through the door.

"Welcome back." She's finally using that greeting now. "Keine's coming by."

"She is? You invited her again?"

"Yeah. Pass me the plates over there, please."

She does what I ask. "Here."

"Thanks. So, what did you do today?"

"Rescued a few villagers from youkai, and led some more to Eientei."

She's talking more. It's working, Keine. "Wait... you fought Kaguya again, didn't you."

"None of your business." She looks away instead of her usual hostile glare.

"I'm making it mine." Washing my hands, I grab her arm and stretch it out, revealing the blood-bordered hole just below the shoulder.

Mokou yanks her arm free. "You know I regenerate."

Somehow I feel like Katsuragi Keima (1) by doing this. "That doesn't mean I don't worry when you get hurt, Mokou."

"...you don't need to." She mutters, but still doesn't meet my eyes.

Okay, I think maybe I pushed enough for today. "Go change, Keine will be here soon."

"Whatever..."

That last response wasn't as strong as it usually was... Sometimes, I wonder if it's ethical to use this method to try and mend her relationship with Kaguya. If it backfires... I turn at the sound of a knock on the door, and open it to admit Keine. "Evening, you're just in time, Keine."

"Where's Mokou?"

"Changing." I lower my voice before continuing, "She fought with Kaguya again."

"Is it working?" She responds in an equally low voice.

I shrug. "I think so."

Hearing Mokou's footsteps, I turn to see the immortal in a new white shirt I bought for her. Her expression's grumpy, but it brightens a little when she sees Keine, and she hurries to set out dinner. Unlike me, Keine has known Mokou for a long time, so she's obviously closer.

To explain what we have going on here, me and Keine are working together to 'rehabilitate' Mokou. Based off what I learned from Keine and Akyuu, Mokou's had very little experience with kindness from others, especially since those she's saved are in awe of her powers. Plus with her loner attitude, hardly even anyone dares to. That's when I came in; staying directly in Mokou's house means I interact with her when she's around, getting to know her character and basically letting her get to know me in return. The final aim of this plan is to help her get along with Kaguya, but currently that result looks far off.

First I started off with my typical polite, non-interfering treatment, but later, once Keine knew what I intended, she helped me to work my way into Mokou's good graces. What I did next was to apply the simple cooking technique of making use of a contrasting flavor to enrich the desired one. With Keine providing the 'soft' treatment to my 'hard' one, we keep Mokou off-balanced, enhancing the effect I'm having on her. Okay, so maybe that's stretching the definition of 'contrast'...

"The children are really liking the changes I made with your suggestions, Ikuto." Keine tells me as we're eating.

"Really? I didn't think it would be that effective..." I turn to Mokou. "Was Keine's teaching really that bad?"

"How would I know?"

"She's your friend, isn't she?" Making use of the placement of the pot to hide my finger, I signal Keine.

"Mokou, you can tell me. Was my teaching style that bad?"

"...it's a little boring."

Keine looks down. "I see..."

"Don't worry, you got me and Mokou to help you." I sling one arm around Mokou's shoulders. "Right?"

"Mmm... right." She twitches, but doesn't actively shrug me off.

"Thank you, Mokou, Ikuto." Keine reaches for the bag she brought with her. "So, can I ask for your help once we're done eating?"

This is where the answer tells us whether we're on the right track.

"Sure, Keine. Though I don't know how much help I'll be."

Actually, once we've start working together, she turns out to be quite good at fixing the problems that Keine and I miss, even some that we didn't do on purpose. When Keine finally leaves, it's so late that even I'm yawning uncontrollably. I turn to set out the futon, but Mokou's already done it, and has her own blanket.

"Here," She pats the futon, "You always put the blanket on me, so I'm returning the favor with this."

I nod sleepily. "Thanks, Mokou. And good night."

It appears that the cycle is permanently stuck on three days. Iku doesn't come every time, but each time she does, Komachi and I just include her without any reservations. The activities we do are like that of children's, yet there's also a bit of the element of maturity. With Komachi usually providing any tools we need, we're playing games, learning new meaningless ways to pass our time, or just talking to each other when we gather.

"..." Komachi stares at my face, trying to read any clues in my expression as her hand hovers over my cards.

Eye flick to the right.

"This one!" She snatches the one I glance at, and her face freezes immediately. "Gah, not again!"

The redhead scrutinizes her cards once more, before shuffling them and holding them out to Iku. The oarfish youkai strokes her finger along the cards and back again, and finally slides the leftmost one out. After looking at the one she drew, she laid it out with the last card in her hand to win the game.

"Ahh! That's the fifth time, Iku!" Komachi tosses her cards down. "How do you do it?"

"She reads the mood, Komachi." I answer for Iku. "No matter how still your expression is, you're giving it away without knowing if you can't control your emotions."

"Shit!" The shinigami stands up. "Alright, Iku, what do you want me to do?"

The winner of our game touches her chin as she tries to come up with something we haven't already done. "I confess, it is getting progressively more difficult to think of an original punishment game."

"Yeah." I agree with her. We've done actions... wait wait, there IS something. "Oh yeah, there's something else besides actions."

"What might that be?"

Minutes later, Komachi's fuming as she sits there with a curling handlebar mustache painted on her face, while Iku and I try our best to hold back our laughter.

"I'm going to get the two of you back for this. Especially you, Ikuto." She glares at me.

"Bring it on!"

Next game, a game of bluff with single card plays forbidden. This time, we agree to restrict our punishment games to a certain type for each game, and the one for this game is 'speech alteration'. Despite her earlier vow to get revenge on me, Komachi clearly wants to hear Iku talking weird too.

"Eight pair!" I slap it down as urgently as I can.

"Seven pair!" Komachi covers my lie straight away.

Iku puts down another two. "Eight pair."

"Bluff!" I take the two cards and turn them face up. "Take the pile, Iku."

"Once again, I am but a party of one." Iku says to herself sadly.

Of course, once she loses that round, it becomes a free-for-all. Iku has the advantage with her mood reading, but Komachi actually uses her distance manipulation to prevent either of us from calling a bluff so she can do it first. I can counter the mood reading by killing my emotions before I throw out my cards, but there's just no way to beat that distance manipulation. Needless to say, all of us lose a few times.

"Thizz kind of gamez would have zeemed ridiculerzz to me before, Hinanawi Tenshi." Iku stifles a giggle at hearing herself speak.

Iku's style of speech with exaggeration of the letter 's', and ending her sentences with 'Hinanawi Tenshi', equals awesome. "But eet ees fun, right, says Ikuto as Ikuto grins." And I'm talking like one of those Misaka clones. (2)

"Nngh, that's right, nngh, this is, nngh, really funny -degeso! (3)" Komachi finally breaks down and starts laughing out loud again, which makes us laugh as well.

Finally, we take a break after a few more games, with all the punishment rules lifted, and any paint marks washed away. Iku had cat whiskers and a circle around one eye, I had a goatee and a super thick uni-brow, while Komachi received a star in the middle of her forehead to complement her mustache. Good thing the river water could be used to wash the ink off.

"So how's Tenshi lately?" I ask Iku while lying down.

"The Eldest Daughter seems to have developed a taste for throwing the pits from the peaches down at the tengu."

"Ah, I read about that in the newspaper. Did Aya go up to stop her or anything?"

She shakes her head. "No, none of the tengu were particularly bothered."

"Do you want me to go beat her up for you?" Komachi offers.

"I appreciate the offer, but her behavior does not warrant any punishment. Yet."

"Can't wait for the time when she remembers about me." I say sarcastically. "Iku, when she does, and she causes an earthquake in an attempt to get me to go to where she is, please tell her that I can't fly."

"I will convey it to her when the time comes." Iku smiles. "After a suitable chastisement."

"Send her to me first, so I can give her a piece of my mind too."

"Of course. I wouldn't want to disappoint a friend's request."

Iku's fitting in really well now. Oh, there it is. "I'm going now, girls. Iku, make sure Komachi does some work."

"Farewell, Ikuto." Iku inclines her head towards me.

"Yeah, see ya next time!" Komachi picks up her scythe. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!"

I encounter Reisen as I'm passing through the Bamboo Forest on my way to restock the groceries in Mokou's house. The medicine case she's carrying tells me that she's working on deliveries again, and as usual, I accompany her since it's along the way and all.

After that reveal by Eirin, she treated me like someone to be avoided, and even during the restocking trips, she used her power to hide from me, prompting a bunch of questions from the houses I visit. I managed to deflect them by saying stuff like 'we're splitting up the workload', or 'I'm supposed to try doing it myself', but eventually my conscience stopped me from leaving her alone, and I cornered her after dinner just before I moved to Mokou's a few days back.

"Reisen, please, stop avoiding me like this and tell me the truth." I begged her after bringing her to one of Eientei's lesser-used areas. "Is it really that hard staying around me?"

"No..." She refused to look me in the eye. "But... you already have Youmu... and Master..."

Damn, damn, damn! I was hating myself then. "But you're hurting yourself because of me, can't you see that!"

"Then stop being so kind to me!" She snapped back. "You'll just hurt me more!"

I grabbed her wrist to stop her from running away. I have no idea what to say here... this is like some screwed-up love scene, but I'll just tell the truth. "I can't do that. Reisen... I don't want you to regret anything."

"Regret? I-"

"Look at me. Please." I stared at her until she met my eyes.

Slowly, as the lunatic effect spread through me, I started telling her the secret I told Youmu before. At times, she looked like she wanted to say something, but kept silent. When I finally finished, Reisen was shaking.

"I'm just an idiot for wanting those I care about to be happy, aren't I?" I asked quietly. Ignore the urge to kiss her... ignore the urge to kiss her... ignore the urge to kiss her...

She finally looked away. "Yes, you are."

I released my grip on her and stepped back. "That's all I have to say. I can't do anything else now."

"...tell me, does that Youmu know about this?"

"She does." I told her how Youmu reacted as well, in extra detail thanks to the unrestricted feeling caused by her eyes.

"...First, I'm going to do what she should have done."

The force of her slap made me stagger, and the pain's enough to make me tear up. But when I looked back at her, Reisen still stood there, with a tearful smile.

"And now, I can do what I wanted to do." She wrapprd her arms around me and pressed her face into my chest, which caused her ears to brush against my face.

After a few moments, I returned her embrace. Then groped her butt because my sense of self-control finally lost out to the lunatic effect. Ended up having to evade her for another hour because of that.

But it worked, and now, Reisen and I are closer than we were before. Youmu knows about it, of course. I made sure to tell her when I met her yesterday, and all she said was 'I expected that', and asked if I did 'that' yet, which I responded with 'no'. Just in case though, I bought her that brooch, and I'm planning something else...

"So, how are things back at Eientei?"

"Master and the princess have been discussing you." Reisen's hand twitches.

I reach out and hold it. "Huh? What are they saying about me?"

She blushes. "They said you were quite the ladykiller."

"Me? I look pretty ordinary compared to other guys in my world, not to mention I never had a girlfriend compared to some of the other people I know."

"Master predicted that you would say that." She giggles.

What the heck? "Is she some kind of seer to predict that?"

"But you know, she also said that it's probably because you act introverted too much. If you didn't tell me about your character, I would have thought that was nonsense."

Ouch. "...that's some crazy reading. What else did they say?"

"...Master said she believes you can do what you're planning, and she was discussing with the princess about how to reward you if you can pull it off."

"I bet she didn't say what I was planning out loud, did she?"

Reisen shakes her head. "I don't know what you're going to do, but please, be careful."

"Things are looking unclear from now on though... Nothing else to do but to leave it to luck, fate and guts."

We separate at the entrance to the village to do our respective tasks, and once I'm done, there's nothing else left to do. So on an impulse, I head over towards the Forest of Magic to give Rinnosuke a hand once more. As usual, no youkai comes attacking... if I don't get better training, I'm going to get myself trounced against a stronger opponent. Cirno's good to train with, but she's too easily suckered...

"Rinnosuke-san~!" I knock on his door and call. "You in?"

"Oh, Ikuto? Yeah, come on in. Glad to see you again."

I open the door to see the silver-haired spectacled shopkeeper seated behind the counter with a book open in front of him. The shelves around him are filled with all manner of odds and ends, some of which would be normal items in the modern world, others I've never even seen before in my life. As expected of the super-hoarder...

So far, I've only been here once, out of curiosity, but he already knows about me from Aya. He thanked me for helping her improve her articles, and immediately asked for my help in figuring out how some of the items in his collection work. I managed to explain only an old computer and cell phone before I realized that I was late for Tewi's training, and left quickly with my apologies. He's a bit forbidding at times, but that's probably because he was too preoccupied with something else. Overall, he's a nice guy.

"So, what do you need?" He greets as I put my basket near his counter.

"Where are the stuff that you usually put aside for Yukari? I think I'm going to need one of those..."

"There, over to your right." Rinnosuke doesn't make a move to get up.

"In exchange, what do you need me to explain the use of?"

This time, he does move. Going over to another shelf, he takes down a laptop and puts it on the table. I walk over to examine it, and flinch when I see its blue surface and brand name.

"When did you pick this up?"

"About a week ago. What's wrong? I identified this as a 'laptop', but it's quite similar to the 'computer' that you explained to me before." Rinnosuke flips it open, revealing a keyboard with a plastic protector on it. "It's got a keyboard, but no mouse. Really, I still don't understand why that thing's called a mouse."

I run a finger along the part below the keyboard, feeling the dried up sweat there from the user's hands. The screen still has the plastic taped to it. "A laptop is a miniaturized version of a computer. It's got its own power source, and instead of a mouse, you have this touchpad right here."

"Oh, so does that mean I will finally get to see how these things work?" He asks eagerly.

I shake my head. "Definitely not. This laptop hasn't been charged, that means its power source hasn't been renewed," I explain on seeing his puzzled expression, "for at least four months already."

"Four months? How can you tell?"

"Because it was mine. Normally, if it runs on its internal power, it lasts for around... eight hours? I can't recall. But even if it's not used, leaving it untouched for all this will still have the same effect."

"I see... so I won't get to see how this works." Rinnosuke looks at me. "Do you want it back?"

"No need. It's not like I can use it while I'm here. If anything, just leave it with Yukari when she comes by." I close my laptop. "But I'll just explain some of what I know."

I show him the battery and the webcam, as well as the ports it has. But without any cables or a screwdriver to open it up, there's not much else I can do. Once that's done, I go back to searching through his stuff, looking for a certain item. I'm deep inside the place when the door suddenly bangs open.

"Yo, Kourin!" A high-energy voice echoes through the store.

I hear Rinnosuke sigh. "Marisa, I told you not to barge in so many times already."

"Ahh, don't sweat the small stuff -ze!"

"I'll brew some tea, so just wait over there and don't touch anything. Ikuto, you want some too?"

"Oh, Ikuto's here?" Marisa sticks her head into the aisle I'm in. "Ah, so he is! Whatcha' doing?"

"Seeing if Rinnosuke-san has something I'm looking for..." I turn back to the shelves.

"What? What? Anything Ikuto looks for has to be interesting -ze!" She skips over to me and looks at where I'm looking.

Then I spot it. "Ah, there we go. Next we need..."

"We? Who else are you talking about?"

"That's a secret." I scan further down. "Rinnosuke-san, do you have those things that are..." I think of how to describe it for him. "About the half the size of that bag you carry, with a long cable extending from its top?"

"Hm? Sorry, I didn't catch that." He sticks his head around the corner. "Couldn't hear you from the kitchen. What was it you were looking for?"

I repeat my request. "You keep them apart from these things, right? They're called controllers."

"Controllers? I seem to recall... there are quite a few of those, over in the next aisle if I'm not wrong." His head pulls back. "The tea will be ready soon, you want to drink them out here?"

"Sure -ze!" Marisa answers cheerfully. "So, Ikuto, what's that you got there?

There's that boisterous attitude of hers again. I sigh. "I'm not sure I can explain it to you."

"Of course you can, Ikuto." A familiar voice interrupts.

Marisa spins around to look as I stiffen, seeing the figure of Yukari Yakumo appear at the entrance of the aisle. With her open parasol idly spinning behind her and blocking the light, it was nearly impossible to make out her features. But she's dressed in her old clothes, a purple one-piece and gloves that go up past her elbow.

"Long time no see, Yukari." Not since you dropped me off at Eientei.

"Yes, it's been a while. You're not going to ask if I overslept?"

"Nope. What I'm going to ask is-"

She closes her parasol and plants it on the ground in front of her. "For an item, am I right?"

"Spying again?" Marisa asks.

"My~ how could you say that?" Yukari covers her mouth with one hand and chuckles. "Of course I spy. There's just so much interesting stuff to see."

Uwah, blatant admission. "So? What is it you want? In fact," I frown, "What exactly were you thinking, putting my laptop here?"

"What's a laptop?"

Both of us ignore Marisa. "Another test. I must say, you passed it once again."

"Test after test... really, you should be a teacher." I walk past her. "So, do I get any reward for passing?"

"Of course, there is something you want, am I right?"

"What? What?" Marisa continues to bug us. "Tell me what that is -ze!"

"It's just a toy, Marisa. I doubt it'll interest you at all." I find three of the controllers I want, plus a different kind that is still compatible. "Yukari, you've been reading me pretty well so far, so why don't you tell me what I want?" Actually, it seems like everyone else has been doing the same.

"I'm sure one of them is this." Yukari pulls out a white rectangular case with a familiar cover.

I stare at it. "You're right, but that's... that's not something you could have figured out... not without knowing my interests..."

"Ufufufu~" Yukari minces closer and sets the case on the counter. "As for the other thing... I will hand it over... if you show me satisfactory results."

That laugh tells me she's not going to say anything... as usual. How long has she been spying on me? And how long before that? "Fine." I put all the items I gathered on the counter next to the case, before picking up my laptop and holding it out to her. "I'm sure you won't mind holding on to this."

"I've brought the tea." Rinnosuke came out with four cups on his tray. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Don't think so -ze." Marisa grabs a cup off the tray and seats herself on one of the piles. "Hmm, found anything interesting, Kourin?"

"Not really." He glances at the laptop I'm holding out to Yukari. "Just something that someone brought me."

"Then I'll take this in exchange for that." Yukari takes my laptop and slips it into one of her gaps. "After all, you wanted two items, but I said a reward, didn't I?"

Aggravating as always, plus that attention to details. "So... are you going to have some tea with us?" I ask as I take a cup.

"I'm afraid I must refuse." She shook her head in Rinnosuke's direction. "Some other time."

"I'll have another then!" Marisa holds her hand out for another cup, and Rinnosuke hands it to her with a sigh as Yukari walks out of the place through a gap.

"A game?" Rinnosuke says to himself as he touches the case. "But it doesn't look like any game that I've ever seen."

"It can only be played under certain conditions. So, may I take these?"

"Feel free." He puts it down and crosses his arms. "Just come by more often, there's still a lot of things that I'd like you to help me figure out how to use, like this."

He pats a gray item that's like a giant ring mounted on a small can.

"That's a fan. It doesn't have any blades, but that's what it is. And it doesn't run without power." I tap the first item I picked. "I won't be able to carry all these with me right now, do you mind if I leave them here first?"

"No blades? Odd, I wonder how this works..." He examines the fan curiously, then looks up. "Ah, don't worry about those, I'll make sure to keep them separate."

"Thanks." Putting down my cup, I head for the door with my groceries.

"Going already? See ya then -ze!" Marisa waves.

That night, I finally manage to persuade Mokou to try sleeping in a futon. Given how uncomfortable her usual sleeping position is, she takes unexpectedly long to fall asleep. But once she does, it's into a very deep slumber, so much that she doesn't wake when I shift a few strands of her hair away from her face. She looks so vulnerable when she's like this instead of her usual sit-against-the-wall self.

Sparing one last glance for her, I take out three small pieces of paper and set them on the table where a single pencil's already waiting. On the first, I write down 'Fate'. The second, 'Luck'. And the third, 'Guts'. Then I put them together face-down and shuffle them randomly until I can't tell which is which.

I didn't really want to decide like this, but I can't see any definite end with the way I'm going. The question is whether I'm making a big mistake by doing this. I take out the key from my pocket and stare at it. Unlocking the future, huh. Fine, let's go ahead with this.

In one swift motion, I snatch up the middle card and read the text that's written on it. "...guess I was fated to draw this." I murmur to myself, before crumpling it up tossing it over my shoulder to burn in the coals.

(1) The absolute Capturing God from The World God Only Knows. Now on its second anime season.

(2) The clones from Railgun and Index, they have a habit of describing their words and actions in third person.

Reisen's pretty considerate of other people, isn't she~ Too bad Ikuto often feels like teasing her after a dose of her Lunatic Eyes.

Ikuto's got a plan to reconcile Mokou and Kaguya, and as you can tell from the last part, it's a very slipshod one. Of course, most of my readers should be able to guess what two of those three cards stand for. As for which one he drew, that will remain a secret for now.