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Ch. 14: Full-mast flags

"Sigh... Yuugi, Yuugi, Yuugi..."

"I'm sorry."

"Never mind, doesn't matter..."

Yuugi and Suika sat at the front porch of Reimu's house in uncomfortable silence. They were moaning for the loss of innocence to yet again another of Yuugi's antics. Some distance from where they were, out in the front yard, a lovely Kochiya Sanae, her long green hair flowing with the blades of grass, was seated beneath a tree, her knees drawn up to her chest, absentmindedly and rather nervously twiddling her thumbs.

"Suika... She keeps looking over this way," Yuugi noted rather anxiously.

"I wonder why," Suika mockingly speculated.

"She can't think I'm serious," Yuugi insisted.

Suika looked at Yuugi with an exasperated look, "Are you serious?"

"Of course not!"

"No, what I meant was, did you seriously not know if Sanae thinks you're serious? After all you just did?"

"... Suika."

"Yah?"

"Just... Just give me your gourd." Suika passed Yuugi her gourd, and Yuugi took a good long swig from it. Ahhh... Seriously, a person's one true love should be alcohol and nothing else. It never fails to comfort, and it always willingly accepts a person's true feelings.

Not to mention it also damages one's mental acuity and liver health. (a/n: I do not endorse binge drinking)

Suika looked at Yuugi as Yuugi drowned her sorrows and smiled. Really, it was not this oaf's fault, but... ah...

"Hey, pass me back the gourd."

"Glug glug glug... Here."

"Thanks, glug glug glug... Heee! I hereby swear my eternal love to alcohol and alcohol only!"

"Haha... Suika you clown... Ah! Oh no, Sanae's coming this way... Wh-What should I do?"

Suika got her gourd out of her field of view to see Sanae walking with a decidedly decided expression on her face making a bee-line straight to an extremely anxious Yuugi.

"Yuugi-san," Sanae serenely greeted.

"H-Hi!" Yuugi greeted without her usual confidence or charisma.

"I uh... I'm just going to go back in and talk to Reimu-san for a bit," Sanae explained, "Then I'll be back out to join you," she smiled, before heading back into Reimu's house.

"..." Yuugi stared after Sanae, completely lost for words.

"You're screwed," Suika offered as comfort. Yuugi's anxious face twisted into a fearful one, and her eyes glazed over slightly. Suika studied Yuugi's expression with some worry. Was Yuugi really that traumatized? What was she staring at anyway... oh... oh dear...

Out on the horizon, a tiny green ominous speck that grew all too quickly in size and resolution. Fair skin, complemented with fair blonde hair. Pointy ears. Brilliant emerald eyes. The beauty of anyone's dreams. Of Yuugi's dreams, come to put Yuugi out of her misery... utterly, completely, irreparably...

"Hi," greeted Mizhuhashi Parsee, Yuugi's de facto girlfriend. "You haven't come to see- I mean, annoy me for some time. So I figured you'd be here with Suika. What's been going on?"

"... You're really screwed," Suika uttered to an apprehensive Yuugi in a most confidence inspiring manner.

"Reimu," Sanae greeted a Reimu still seated at the table, dropping the honorific she usually attached.

"Wow, that was quite the turn of events wasn't it?" Reimu responded without turning around to face Sanae. "Who could have guessed Yuugi was attracted to you? Although quite frankly I'm not surprised at all," Reimu spat out the last sentence. Her voice remained calm and smooth, but was there a hint of venom in it…?

Sanae ignored Reimu's words and sat next to her. Reimu startled a little as Sanae firmly placed one hand on her exposed shoulder and turned her to face Sanae. "Look at me Reimu," Sanae said steadily.

"Wh-What?" Reimu turned around, blushing slightly at the sudden gesture and looking a little uncertain.

"I have something to tell you," Sanae lowered her voice.

"Huh?" Reimu became apprehensively. What was going on… Why the sudden…

"I liked you." …seriousness…?

Reimu, in one of those rare instances, forgot to maintain a perfectly stone cold composure as her lips parted slightly and her pupils shrank a little. What was… Wha…! S-Sanae liked me? Wait... liked me?

"S-Sanae..." Reimu stuttered a little. "What do you mean by... 'Liked'?" she asked, although her heart already knew the answer.

"That's just it," Sanae bowed her head.

"... H-How long?"

"... For quite some time now," Sanae smiled, tearing a little. "But... I guess it would have never worked between us, huh?"

"Wait…!" Sanae had a crush on her all this time? But… but I thought… Were my feelings actually reciprocated all this time without me knowing…? Gugh…!

"It's alright," Sanae continued, "I know I'm not the kind of person you like, so..."

"No… Wait! I-I mean… Yuugi!" Reimu bit harder on her lip. "W-What about Yuugi?"

"I guess she got to me first," Sanae continued smiling. "So... I'm sorry, but I know this way is better for us."

"No..."

"And uh, I just felt you had the right to know," Sanae stood up, "Seeing as you were my very first crush."

"Wait! Sanae..."

"It's kind of silly isn't it? How people can be so afraid of betraying another's feelings when those feelings don't even exist," Sanae's eyes began to tear a little as she looked at Reimu. Even now, her heart still tugged a little at the sight of the red-white miko. "But I really wasn't the right one for you after all, I guess, huh?"

"That's not true-"

"So um, I'm going to talk to Yuugi-san now," Sanae smiled warmly before getting up to walk out of the house. "You're a strong, beautiful girl, so I just know you'll be able to find a more worthy special someone."

Sanae then turned to go meet her newfound love. Reimu may have tugged at her heartstrings, but this particular lady, this Oni had her entire heart firmly in her grasp. Sanae smiled a little bitter-sweetly at the death of the relationship that could have been but never was, but remained confident in having made the right decision. For you… no… For us…

"Wait!" Reimu uttered, her hair flowing after the motion of her turning head as her gazed tried to chase after Sanae as she stepped out of the door and onto the veranda. I... I... I was too afraid to show it... too shy... I actually liked you too... Reimu lifted a hand and pulled her other arm close to her body, her face tilted downwards, her eyes hidden by her brunette locks of hair.

Yuugi... Her grip on her gohei tightened.

...!

"Yuugi, what are you up to now?" Parsee's eyes narrowed as Yuugi suddenly flinched and slapped a wide palm to the back of her neck, almost knocking Suika off the front porch in the process.

"N-Nothing..." Yuugi rubbed the back of her head nervously. An ominous chill had just crept down her spine... Yuugi didn't really like the prospect of things-

"Hi," Sanae greeted again as she emerged from the house. She nervously but sweetly smiled at Yuugi. "I uh... huh? Parsee-san?" Sanae turned to face the recently noticed third stage boss.

"Sanae-san?" Parsee returned the greetings with identically modest surprise. "And what are you doing here?"

"Well... It's kind of... complicated," Sanae shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, um, first off," she turned to Yuugi and took a deep breath. "I uh," Sanae stuttered a little, "I uh... this is my first time, doing this sort of thing you know... But um, I don't mind," Sanae smiled as she clasped one of Yuugi's large hands in her own small, delicate ones.

In front of Parsee.

In front of Parsee.

IN FRONT OF- PFFFT! Suika spewed out the sake she had been downing, then proceeded to down some more in order to calm her nerves and soothe her guts. Yuugi, who was not in the slightest bothered by her suddenly sake-soaked body, and did not have the luxury of an unlimited gourd of sake at hand, audibly swallowed as anxiety chocked her. Did... Is... No wait Sanae YOU CAN'T I WASN'T SERIOUS PARSEE'S HERE-

"First time doing... what...?" Parsee's voice lowered as she inquired out of curiosity with a tinge of possessive menace, her eyes staring fixedly at the joined hands of Sanae and Yuugi. That last line from Sanae was clearly addressed to her de facto girlfriend, not to mention that Sanae was holding her de facto girlfriend's hands.Bolded. Underlined. Italicised. Brought to the attention of Parsee.

"So? First time doing… what…?" Parsee repeated her inquest.

"NO WAIT I CAN EXPLAIN-"

"Oh boy..."

"First time being involved in a relationship I mean," were the three lines uttered simultaneously.

To Parsee's ears, Sanae's soft elaboration of what she meant by far drowned out Yuugi's roaring and Suika's nervous quip.

"Re-la-tion-ship?" Blood slightly drained from Parsee's pale face, making her look that much more beautiful. Like an elegant nightshade, or blood-faded, razor-sharp obsidian. Is… is someone challenging me for Yuugi? For Yuugi? As much as she hated to admit... she would never, EVER let anyone else take her-

"YUUGI!" Reimu slammed the doors of her house wide open, feet shoulder length apart, gohei in one hand, yin-yang orb in another. A confused blue-green miko, a furious red-white one, a shaking bridge princess and two Onis, one chocking on sake and cautious, apprehensive amusement and the other on raw dread were assembled on the porch.

"Yuugi..." Reimu panted slightly, her eyes now shining brightly with determination with an added dash of killing intent. "Sanae comes with ME!"

"... What... the hell...?"

"... Suika, your gourd..."

"... Here Yuugi... You can hang on to it for the rest of your life... sorry about the sake…"