My life has been busy. Sorry for not updating more and I could make up a thousand excuse but I'm too lazy to. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter and leave more reviews! It'll make the next chapter come faster! Its true. More revies= my self esteem goes up= less mistakes= more confident= types faster= more chapters with less mistakes being updated fast.
Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou…..unless I'm dreaming..then I own everything. :D
Chapter 13: The old woman, the fox and the cat. (Alt title: Having Fun again)
"Flandre….Flan-Chan…" Sakuya opened the door to the basement and peeked in, squinting in the dim light that the basement yielded. She finally caught sight of the glowing jewels that illuminated the small figure slumped on the basement floor. Sakuya sighed and walked into the basement before sitting down next to the sleeping child. She patted Flandre softly on the head, playing with her messy blond hair. She did so and gazed at the pile of books strewn all around the room as her eyes began to adjust to the dark. "Aw, Flandre, your really trying so hard…" Sakuya said as she watched the little girl yawn and turn over on top of a book she had been reading right before she fell asleep.
"Hey Saky!" Flandre rushed to Sakuya as she opened the huge library doors. "Look Saky! Look! I found a book about unbreaking!" Flandre said waving a blue leather bound book as she jumped up and down making her 'wings' make a nice clinking sound. Sakuya glanced at the medical notebook then turned her gaze to Patchouli with a questioning look. Patchouli didn't look up from the book she was engrossed in, but she replied all the same with a nonchalant voice, "She asked me if there was anything to learn about doctors or unbreaking things, but don't look at me-cough cough- It was Koakuma who helped her find the book." She said, never tearing her gaze away from her precious book. "Yeah, Saky! Koa is nice!" Flandre said still waving the book around in the air. Koakuma simply smiled and bowed in a polite manner flapping the wings on her head and those on her back. "Hey Saky! Can I get more books like these? Then I can learn unbreaking faster and go see Big sis!" Flandre asked tugging at Sakuya's apron. "Sure, Flandre….I'll help get you as many books as you like…" Sakuya said patting Flandre affectionately on the head. Flandre beamed a smile up at Sakuya that resonated all her hope and dreams.
Ever since that day Flandre had been asking for books non-stop and had been leaving the mansion less. She would spend all her time in the library quietly reading the medical books and asking questions of anything she did not understand. Although Patchouli enjoyed the silence she was now usually given she found herself missing the cute little energetic girl that would so often distract her from her reading by asking a strange question or simple teaming up with Koakuma or Marisa to tease her lightly. Koakuma in a way understood Flandre's little obsession with learning the method of 'unbreaking', she had seen it happen so many times with Patchouli, but she couldn't help but worry that Flandre was going too far. Meiling felt lonely without Flandre's company and although she told herself she would get used to the silence again she just couldn't adjust back to the gloomy mornings without Flandre there to ask another childishly cute question about gardening. She fell back into her habit of sleeping on duty, but Sakuya couldn't blame her. Without Flandre there to keep the sleepy gardener awake, she would have almost no choice but to sleep and let her dreams save her from a boring gloomy time. She even couldn't find the joy in gardening without Flandre there to praise her about a simple thing such as helping a flower bloom. But never the less she couldn't bear to let Flandre's hard work in the garden all go to waste and she never failed to make sure that Flandre and her plants were all well watered and sheltered from the harsh weather. She tried to break out of her gloomy tired self by holding onto the hope that Flandre would snap out of her obsession with her learning.
Everyone felt gloomy without Flandre to brighten up their time, even the maids there felt somewhat bored without Flandre there to run through the halls and constantly question them about almost everything she saw. But out of all the inhabitants of the mansion the one who missed Flandre's bright aura the most and still constantly worried for her was none other than Sakuya Izayoi. The maid mostly felt worried for Flandre's well being what with her constant reading and neglect of her own self's well being. She had watched the little girl slowly waste herself away in that basement and had been the one to clean up the uneaten food she had served for her. This had to stop. She couldn't simply sit back and watch Flandre turn into a thin former shadow of herself. "I can't let you become like that Flandre, it would hurt everyone not only yourself.." Sakuya sighed into the cold air of the basement room. Flandre stirred , sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Hmm…Saky?" Flandre asked as she opened her sleepy eyes and saw the maid sitting there with a lost expression on her face. "Hm? Oh, Flan your awake." Sakuya said breaking out into a smile and tousling Flandre's hair. "Ah! Saky, I fell asleep!" Flandre jumped up and grabbed the book she had been reading and began to flip through its pages, her eyes scanning every word, her brain trying to asorb every detail. Although Sakuya was happy to see the fierce determination in Flandre the sight made her heart sink a little. She too stood up, but in a slow calm manner, and walked over to Flandre. She gently and slowly took the book away from Flandre and stared down into the little girl's eyes with a sad smile.
"Ah, Saky? What is wrong?" Flandre asked looking back into Sakuya's eyes with a questioning look. "Flandre….don't you think your…..trying a bit too much?" Sakuya said while she began to pick up all the books strewn across the room. "….What does Saky mean?" Asked Flandre as she simply watched in silence. "Flandre…..I know you want to learn as fast as you can, but…your….overworking yourself…you need to rest..have fun." Sakuya said as she stacked the books into a neat pile. "But Saky, I need to learn how to be like doctor Erin! I need to unbreak things! Than Big sis will let me play!" Flandre protested and proceeded to reach for another book to read. Sakuya stood infront of the pile of books and bended down until she was at Flandre's eye level. "Flandre…Your already learning so much….why just yesterday you were learning about how to heal broken arms….you told me all about it and I'm so proud of you for learning it to quickly, but…..you need to have some fun Flandre…look…everyone in the mansion misses you…they all understand what your doing, but they can't help but wish you would go play with them again….Even Saky wants you to stop learning and have some fun." Sakuya finished her small speech to Flandre and simply looked sadly upon her waiting. Flandre stared at Sakuya for a while and let her brain slowly process what to do. Her scarlet eyes which had become dim and clouded from reading so much suddenly shone brightly again and she smiled and nodded at Sakuya. "Okay Saky! I wanna go see Patchy and Koa and China and Susan and Lilian and-" Flandre was suddenly cut off by Sakuya. "Susan?...Lilian?..." She asked raising an eyebrow. "The other maids! Their so nice! Oh oh! And I wanna see Alice and Mary and Reimu and-" Flandre continued on in an excited high pitched voice. "Okay! Okay Flandre…we'll go see all of them today…they'll all be glad to have you back to your old self." Sakuya said and Flandre grinned flashing her sharp white teeth. "I'm glad to have me back too Saky!"
The green clad guard was happily snoozing on duty when suddenly two knives flew past her. She continued to sleep when suddenly she was awakened by a blunt painful hit to her arm. "Gah!" She jumped up in the air and turned to see who had hit her. She was in a fighting stance until she realized it was Sakuya standing there with a annoyed and impatient look. "Sleeping on duty again Meiling?" She asked in a dull tone with two knives in her right hand. "China!" Flandre called as she happily skipped out of the mansion to Sakuya's side. "Ah, Hi Flandre." Meiling said instantly brightening up. "Oh, your going to love the plants now. Their all almost ready to bloom." Meiling opened her fingers up imitating a flower blooming and Flandre laughed and jumped up and down in delighted ecstasy. Then she stopped and stared at Meiling's arm. "China! China! You have a buise!" Flandre shouted trying to remember the name for the purple swelling spot on Meiling's arm. "Ah, Its nothing. It'll heal." Meiling said casually shrugging. Flandre suddenly jumped up and down excitedly, "I can help it heal China! I'll help it heal!" Flandre rushed into the gardens and Sakuya and Meiling followed curiously wondering what Flandre was up to. They saw the little girl rush through several flower beds before pulling up a strange green plant. "Here China! Here! I saw the picture in the book and it says you have to mash it into paste! It'll help heal you!" Flandre said handing the little plant to Meiling. "Ah, Thank you Flandre. I'm sure it will do wonders..now don't you want to come see your plants?" Meiling asked hoping to change the subject to gardening. To her happiness Flandre nodded excitedly and skipped ahead of them into the garden. Meiling followed happily after while Sakuya simple watched them and smiled to herself.
"Reimu! Reimu!" Flandre tackled the shrine maiden into a lung damaging hug as soon as Marisa's broom was a few feet away from the ground. "Ah! Flandre! Its good to see you again after such a long time!" Reimu wheezed out as soon as she caught her breathe from after escaping the hug. "She was so excited to come and see you ze. As soon as I flew into Patchy's library she hugged me and demanded to play checkers with me ze. She's getting better at the game too da ze." Marisa said as she dismounted her broom and looked around the shrine. Reimu smiled and shook her head, "Alice isn't here now, but she's been looking for Flandre these past few days." Marisa looked away from Reimu hiding her blush and tried to sound uncaring as she said, "Ah, it's fine ze…..Maybe I'll go look for her and tell her Flandre is here ze…." Marisa got onto her broom and it rose up into the air. Reimu giggled, "Take as long as you need with your Alice.". Marisa felt her face turn as pink as a cherry blossom and she took off without another word. "Reimu! Reimu! What do you mean that Alice is Mary's?" Flandre asked curiously. Reimu laughed again and patted Flandre on the head. "Nothing Flan…it doesn't mean anything…yet." She added smirking at Marisa's fading figure in the distant sky. "Does Mary love Alice?" Flandre suddenly asked. "Ah-uh….Well, Flandre…love is a strong word…" Reimu trailed off unsure if she should rat out her best friend's love interests to the little girl. "So does Mary love Alice?" Flandre asked again staring at Reimu. The shrine maiden simply smiled and was about to answer when a voice interrupted her.
"Chhhhhheeeennn! Wait for me!" The fox youkai called to the little cat youkai who was running towards the shrine. "We have to get there before Yukari! If we beat her there then we'll win the bet!" The cute little cat youkai called as she continued running towards the shrine. "Ah, She will never learn that no one can beat the Youkai of boundaries in races." A velvetly voice said from behind Reimu and Flandre. Flandre jumped up surprised, but Reimu simply turned around to face the blond haired woman who was yawning and twirling her umbrella. "Hello, Yukari." She said in a dull somewhat expecting tone. "Ah, Hello Reimu." Yukari said while fanning herself with her fan. "Chhhhheeen! Look out!" The fox youkai's voice shouted at Chen who had tripped on a rock and was about to crash into Flandre. "Gahhh!" Chen cried out and Flandre was unsure what to do. They both ended up on the floor , dizzy and dazed. Yukari could not hold back a laugh which made the fox youkai, better known as 'Ran", give her a displeased look. "Chen! Chen! Are you okay?" She asked picking up the still dazed cat youkai off the floor. Reimu similarly helped Flandre off the floor.
" Who are you?" Was the first thing Chen asked after her fall. Flandre stared back at Chen who looked almost as young as her. She hid behind Reimu feeling somewhat shy at seeing someone who was almost her height and as young looking as her. "Ah, Flandre….don't be shy…Go say hello.." Reimu said as she beckoned Flandre closer to Chen. "Ah….I'm Flandre! Who are you?" Flandre asked loudly gaining some confidence and becoming her usual hyper self. "My name is Chen!" The cat youkai replied back proudly, her twin tails held high. Flandre stared at both Chen and Ran not sure on what to say. Ran bent down next to Chen and said. "Ah, Chen why not you go play with Flandre for a while I talk to Reimu?" "Okay!" Chen replied happily before grabbing Flandre and the two began to play like they were old friends. Reimu smiled at them before turning to Ran. "And what did you want to talk to me about?..." She asked. "Ah, its about the little vampire girl….Master knows what has been going on.." Ran said quite causally. "Oh….She found out?" Reimu said feeling laid back and relaxed mainly because she had been expecting this. "Of course she knows! My Master is the greatest most powerful Youkai in all of Gensokyo and she-…." Ran trailed off when she realized Yukari was sitting at the shrine's porch gently sleeping away. Meanwhile Reimu's gaze had trailed off to look at Flandre and Chen playing together. "Looks like Flandre has found a playmate that is close to her…child like ways." Ran followed the shrine maiden's gaze to the two. Chen was teaching Flandre a dance and singing happily and soon Flandre joined in and they were both dancing and singing happily. Ran froze at the sight and suddenly there was a rush of blood coming from her nose. "C-Chen….So Kawaii…." Was what she uttered.
Reimu sighed and handed Ran a cloth marked "in case of Ran". While Ran tried to control her bleeding Reimu sat down next to Yukari and watched the two dance and play. "Ah, isn't it nice to be so young?" A velvety voice said beside her. "Hmmm…I thought you were asleep." Reimu said not turning to look at the smiling Yukari. "Ah, so I've learned about all that's been happening… Yawn." Yukari continued on. "So you decided to come down and tell me about this?" Reimu asked in a flat tone. Yukari smirked and leaned in closer to Reimu. "You mean I can't just come and see my favorite shrine maiden for fun?" She said and Reimu felt herself blush. "So I've heard that Marisa and Alice seem to be getting along well together….so when are we gonna show them how well we've been getting along eh?" Yukari asked leaning in closer to Reimu. The shrine maiden was as red as an apple, "I-I don't know what your talking about!" Reimu got up and walked away flustered while Yukari simply laughed before falling back asleep. When the youkai opened her eyes she found Flandre staring up at her with a curious look in her eye.
"Hmmm? What is it?" Yukari asked yawning and stretching. "Whats your name?" Flandre asked curiously and Yukari replied without much care. "Its Yukari, Youkai of boundaries." Flandre tilted her head and asked, "Whats a boundary?" "Ah, your still too young to understand….you'll learn when your older okay?" Yukari said rolling over to return to her nap, but Flandre was not done questioning her. And so, Yukari;s nap was interrupted by Flandre the whole time. But Yukari did not mind, in fact she kind of enjoyed Flandre's company, no one had ever been so interested in learning about her and it was not about learning about her past or her powers, but it was instead learning about her like a friend. She enjoyed speaking about herself, after all who doesn't? Soon, the foggy mist started to clear and just in time Marisa had returned. "You were gone a long time, what happened?" Asked Reimu and Marisa blushed slightly. "Ah….Alice couldn't come ze….she had things to do ….so I stayed to help her a bit ze….." Was the witch's reply and Reimu smiled at her friend. "While you were gone those three colors showed up…." Just than Ran tapped Reimu on the shoulder and she turned around to face the fox youkai who was holding a slightly bloody cloth up to her nose. "We'll be going now." She said and than called Chen to her side. Flandre skipped over after Chen and came to Marisa's side. "Mary! Mary! Its so fun! Chen is a good dancer and she's gonna teach me her dance! Its fun! Reimu! Reimu! Can Chen come back and play with me?" Reimu looked up from the pleading face of Flandre to Ran who in turn looked at Chen. "Please Ran? Can I come play with Flan-chan soon?" She asked and to which Ran smiled and nodded. Reimu patted Flandre on the head, "Ah, it looks like you'll be dropping in more often….and I'll need to stock up on more handkerchiefs."
Back at the mansion in the basement, Flandre was telling Sakuya all that happened that day. The maid listened with her undivided attention to Flandre who was alternating between eating her lunch and talking. "Oh, one more thing Saky! Ran was wearing perfume and it was sweet smelling just like strawberries!" Flandre said biting down into her cake. Sakuya raised an eyebrow and then asked, "Ah, Flandre…when did you smell her perfume?" "I smelt its when red things came from her nose…I read about it,….its called…blood! Right Saky? You needs it to live!" Flandre said happily and Sakuya simply nodded and patted Flandre on the head. "Its nice to know your learning so much, but…remember to rest okay?" She said simply as she stood up and said goodbye to Flandre before exiting. She had some thoughts on her mind. Ah Flandre…..are you ready to learn about it?...Your so innocent…how will you react when you learn the truth about what you are…and what you need to survive? But…..I can't keep you in the dark forever…and if you really want to see Mistress again…you have no choice but to find out…Its not fair for you…why is fate so cruel to people like you?...Oh well, I cannot change fate…but I can still help you cope better with it flandre….and maybe Remilia will see what its been like for you…and see that your really fit to be called her sister…. Sakuya let her thoughts trail off into happier scenes of the future that she hoped for and that with a little effort might just come to life for little Flandre.
To be continued….the next chapter is gonna be interesting cause- *Falls into a dark abyss*
Still got a few chapters more, its not the end too soon! Also I hope you liked the litte ReimuXYuakri bit. ^^ More to come soon! I think this is my longest chapter so far…Maybe….Anyway leave reviews! I can't wait for you all to read the next chapter. Also for those who want to see the dance Chen thought Flandre XD .com/watch?v=FpOXJmp1RKw