Chapter 14: Spring, Part 2

Renko hummed quietly to herself as she glided through the sky towards Mystia's stand. Helping Akyuu write her article had been fun, and while Akyuu had insisted on leaving out her human origins and trying to make her sound more mysterious and dangerous, overall, she felt like it was a pretty good representation.

The sun had gone down, and the sky was growing dark, but several lanterns kept the lamprey stand well-lit.

"Hello, Mystia," Renko said as she landed, tucking her wings in against her back.

"Hello, Renko!" Mystia looked up, and raised an eyebrow, looking at Renko's wings. "…You know, I'm not going to give you a discount for pretending to be a bird youkai."

"I'm not pretending. Um, can I get a lamprey, please?" Renko said. She walked over and took a seat, and demonstrated by stretching one wing out and flicking her ears.

Mystia's eyes widened in surprise, and she stared as Renko tucked her wing back in and fluffed the feathers once so they would flatten out nicely. Slowly, though, a grin spread across her face.

"Wow, Renko, I didn't know you had it in you. Finally realized being a youkai is way better than being a human, huh? Or just a lucky encounter on your end?" Mystia set about starting a skewered lamprey on the grill.

"Um, more the second one. It wasn't really a choice," Renko said with a half-shrug.

"Mmh, still, good for you. I like your wings, feathered wings are clearly the best. What kind of youkai are you, actually? Can't say I've seen wings like that before," Mystia said.

Renko blushed faintly at the praise. She had to admit, her feathers were really neat. They seemed like the sort of thing someone might make jewelry out of.

"Thank you. I'm an Elux Lucis, according to Hieda." Renko straightened up in her seat a bit proudly as she spoke.

"I have no idea what that is, but it sure sounds cool," Mystia said. She turned the lamprey over to cook on the other side and lightly dusted it with seasoning.

Renko giggled, and fished some money out of her pocket to pay for her meal. She handed the coins over to Mystia.

"I think it's pretty cool, actually. Of all the things I could have ended up as, it's probably the best one," she said.

"I agree," Yukari said, stepping smoothly out of a sudden rip in reality. Behind her, Ran followed, and at the kitsune's heels was a two-tailed brunette catgirl with an orange-red dress and a green mob cap.

Mystia stiffened slightly on seeing her. Yukari stepped forwards, and put her hand on the seat beside Renko.

"May I?" she asked. Renko blinked a couple times, but nodded, and Yukari sat beside her. Ran and the catgirl filled in the other seats.

"Good evening, Lorelei. We'll take four, please. Two for me," Yukari said.

"They're not small, you know," Mystia said. She quickly started on the order, even so.

"I know. Sleeping through a whole season tends to leave me fairly hungry when I wake up, though," Yukari said.

"…I didn't know you hibernated," Renko said. It did sound like the kind of thing Merry would do, though. Mystia handed Renko her grilled lamprey, and Renko took it with a delighted smile.

"So, how are you liking being a youkai?" Yukari said, hungrily eying Renko's meal.

"It's, uh, different. I like the wings. I don't like how everyone in the village kept looking at me," Renko said. She took a bite of her fish, and was suddenly reminded of just how hungry she was. She had to restrain herself from attacking it with her teeth.

"They do look very nice. May I touch them?" Yukari asked. Renko gave a half-shrug. She trusted Yukari not to pull the feathers out or anything. Yukari reached over and gently ran her fingers along the arm of Renko's wing, then down the flight feathers. Her touch sent a pleasant shiver through Renko's body.

As Yukari pulled her hand away, Renko relaxed slightly. She felt pretty good, all things considered.

"Hiya, Lady Yukari's Renko friend! We haven't met. I'm Chen," the catgirl said, leaning around Ran and waving excitably.

"She's my familiar. She wanted to go with me to pick you up when we met, but I thought it would be best if she stayed home," Ran explained.

"Um, hello, Chen. It's nice to meet you," Renko said. She quietly resumed eating, while Yukari happily accepted a lamprey from Mystia and proceeded to bite about half of it off at once, bones and all. Ran sighed and tried not to watch. Renko wasn't surprised in the least, but winced slightly at the crunching noises. Ran and Chen got their grilled fish next, and Yukari tore the other half of her lamprey off its skewer just in time to set the stick aside and take her second.

"This lamprey's really good, Mystia. I love fish!" Chen said between bites. Mystia smiled proudly.

"Of course it's good. My lamprey stand is the best food stand outside the Human Village. Maybe even the best in Gensokyo," she said.

"I agree," Yukari said after swallowing her mouthful of fish. "We'll have to come by again."

Mystia paled slightly, but stayed quiet as Yukari ripped her second lamprey in half. Renko delicately picked the last bits of meat off the bones of her own lamprey. She hadn't meant to eat so quickly, but it had just tasted so good, and she had been hungrier than she'd thought.

Yukari glanced at Ran, who quietly took out an embroidered silk pouch and handed over a handful of coins to Mystia. The bird youkai's eyes lit up as she accepted the payment.

"Well, thank you for your business," Mystia said, eagerly putting the coins away.

There was one last snap of bones, and Yukari set her second skewer down, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Ahh, just what I needed," she said.

Renko giggled quietly. Not eating for long periods, and then eating way too much, way too quickly… That was certainly a Maribel sort of thing to do.

It wasn't too much longer until Ran and Chen had also finished their meals, and Renko found herself getting up to leave as Yukari and the two beast youkai did.

"Bye, Mystia, see you," Renko said. She waved with one hand, and Mystia returned the gesture.

"Ran, Chen, you two can go on home. I think I'll escort Renko home. After all, it's polite," Yukari said.

"You don't have to," Renko said.

"Yes, but I'd like to get to talk a bit anyways. Unless you don't want me?" Yukari said the last part teasingly.

"Ah… In that case, um, sure," Renko said, smiling. Even if Yukari really should have asked her and told her what she was asking before turning her into a youkai, she was still her friend. Her much older, youkai friend… but still. The fact that her appearance had changed so little really did a lot to help Renko cope. She could almost pretend that other than the fact they were both youkai, everything was the same.

Ran and Chen took off, and Renko fluttered her wings and lifted off. Yukari easily matched her pace, and glanced admiringly at Renko's wings. It was dark out, and the light of the nearly-full moon made Renko's wings shimmer.

"That look really suits you," Yukari said. Renko looked back over her shoulder. While the stars on her wings didn't tell her anything about where she was, she had to admit that without that, the shimmers did make it look like she had wings made of shining light.

"Yeah… I think so too. Um, Merry… You really should have told me what you were planning, though," Renko said. "I'm not exactly mad at you, but… This is a pretty big change, to not actually let me know what you were asking."

"It worked out, didn't it?" Yukari tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, but still. Merry, please tell me things, I don't like being left out, and then you expect me to like what you come up with… I usually do, but there's still a chance I won't," Renko said.

Yukari lightly scratched the back of her head.

"Ah…" She looked up at Renko. "…you're right. I will be sure to ask you about these things in the future. Or, if I really want to surprise you, I'll ask someone close to you what they think you would say. Is that acceptable, Renko?"

Renko smiled. Good, it seemed that she was still willing to listen to her.

"Yeah. Thanks, Merry."

"Of course." Yukari glided along quietly for a bit, simply letting the wind ruffle her dress.

After a minute of quiet, though, Yukari spoke up again.

"Ah, Renko? Ran said you agreed very quickly and came willingly." Yukari stared off at the sky, as if considering how best to continue. "…You could have resisted. But she barely had to try. Am I truly that important to you?"

Renko fluttered her wings in a sudden turn, and darted at Yukari. From the way she shifted to face her, Renko knew she hadn't caught her off guard.

She threw her arms around her in a hug anyways.

"Merry, I'd hardly spent a day without you since we met. Well, except when you were in the hospital that one time… and that was awful! Aside from my cousin, who's, um, kind of a jerk, you were the only person I could talk to about my ideas that magic was real. And, you were a really good friend, you really helped me be less shy. I was so worried when you went missing…" Renko tightened her hold on Yukari. She hadn't been quite as consciously aware of scents as a human, but Yukari smelled distinctly of some kind of sweet flower she couldn't quite place.

Yukari giggled quietly, and ran her fingers through Renko's hair, poking them just under her hat. Renko blushed, but didn't have the heart to object. After all, it felt very nice, especially when she started idly scratching just behind one of Renko's feathered ears.

"I'm touched." Yukari lowered her hand, and Renko let go and fluttered back slightly. Her cheeks still felt warm. "Really, I am. In all this time, I've met only a very small handful of beings who have any particular attachment to me as a person. And every single one of them is important to me."

Renko smiled shyly. If Yukari still cared about her that much, it was no wonder she had wanted to make her a youkai.

"At any rate, though, we should probably get you home. Margatroid is probably wondering where you are," Yukari said.

"O-oh, right!" Renko took off again, and Yukari continued to match her pace effortlessly. With her newfound speed, it wasn't terribly long before she landed on the grass outside Alice's house. The warm glow of candle-light lit the windows, and Alice looked up from her workbench and waved. Renko waved back as Yukari landed beside her.

"Well, I have things to attend to tonight… I'll have to take my leave. But, for such a close friend, I have something I'd like to give you," Yukari said.

"Please tell me it isn't another unexplained species change," Renko said. She was only mostly joking.

"Nothing of the sort, no." With a flick of her wrist, Yukari produced a black key that was strung on a long red ribbon tied in a bow. "If you go to Mayohiga, it's on the border of Gensokyo if you turn 37 degrees south from your current position and fly straight, and use this on any door, you can come by my home. Just, ah, do keep in mind I am nocturnal. I'll instruct Ran and Chen to treat you well if you turn up while I'm asleep, of course."

Renko nodded, with a small smile on her face. Then Yukari playfully dropped the key down the front of Renko's shirt, and she squeaked and flushed bright red. Before she could recover, the blonde youkai stepped back and vanished into a gap.

Renko stood there, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened, for nearly a full minute before going inside.

"Aaaah!"

"Ahahaha! I'm the strongest!"

Renko's job delivering mail in the village had gone smoothly, despite the occasional odd look. Then Renko had decided to fly to this Mayohiga place, just to memorize where it was.

The problem started when she had to fly over the Misty Lake to get there. She dropped sharply to avoid a snowball from the ice-winged fairy chasing her.

She hadn't even agreed to a snowball fight.

"Hey, stop flying around all crazy! I'm trying to hit you with snowballs!" Cirno said, and launched several more.

"I don't like getting hit with snowballs!" Renko flapped her wings frantically, darting left. One of the snowballs splattered on her wing, and she cringed at the sensation of damp coldness creeping between her feathers.

"Heads up! Love Sign 'Master Spaaark'!"

A brilliant rainbow laser shot out from the side, and Cirno failed to get out of the way in time. Renko shielded her eyes, but the intense noise and the way the air itself shook still got through. Once it faded, the fairy drifted to the ground, dazed and slightly scorched.

Marisa flew over on her broom with a grin.

"Yo, Renko! Nice wings!" Marisa said.

"Thank you!" Renko fluttered her wings twice to dislodge the snow. "I see you're really enjoying getting to fly again."

"Yup! Figured it's been way too long since I flew around and saw everyone. I even visited the underground earlier, ze," Marisa said. "What are you up to?"

"Um, I'm trying to go to Mayohiga," Renko said.

"You're lookin' for Yakumo on purpose after she turned you into a youkai? Tryin' to fight her or something? You're gonna lose, ze." Marisa tilted her head.

"No, no! Um. I'm not going to actually visit her today, but, um, she invited me to come over and hang out sometime." Renko shyly scratched the back of her head.

"…Oookay. Well, I guess I already knew you had weird taste in friends since you're chill with Satori. Hey, look what I found while I was flying around yesterday," Marisa said. She pulled out a purple stone sphere that gave off an eerie glow.

"Oh, um, what is it?" Renko quietly inspected it.

"No idea! But it's glowy, and more importantly, it's got a ton of magic in it. Gets even more when it's exposed to dumb rumors, like haunted school stories. I'm gonna use it to power something really cool." Marisa twirled the orb on the tip of one finger, where it somehow balanced.

"Oh? Like what?" Renko tilted her head.

"That's a secret, but it's gonna be the best. Anyways, I need to get some more stuff in order to pull this off. I'm breaking into Patchy's library to borrow a copy of the directions, that's why I'm here, ze," Marisa said. She tossed the orb up, caught it on its way down, and pocketed it.

"Good… luck?" Renko had the feeling that trying to discourage her would be completely ineffective.

"Thanks! And good luck with your date, ze!" Marisa waved, preparing to zip off.

"It's not a date! W-Why would you even say that?!" Renko sighed, and waved. Marisa took off, and Renko hovered in place for a bit before continuing on.

Renko landed on one foot on top of a signpost, holding her wings out for balance. She had always wanted to do this sort of thing, and nobody was around to scold her.

Mayohiga was a fairly normal-looking village, smaller than the human village, but still and quiet. The only sounds were the quiet noises of nature from the surrounding forest. Not a single human or youkai could be seen in the streets, but a few cats, ravens, and other animals sat under porches and on rooftops here and there.

Renko turned her gaze to the sky. It was easy enough to memorize her coordinates if she looked back into Gensokyo. The sky beyond Mayohiga held no stars, and if she squinted a bit, she could make out a hazy red-violet swirling in the near distance.

That had to be the Great Hakurei Barrier. Yukari had said this was near the edge of Gensokyo, after all.

Renko hopped down, and walked around, looking at the clean but untouched buildings. A stray cat wandered up, and looked up at her. She bent down to pet it, and smiled—it was soft, and started purring as she stroked it.

"Hey, kitty friends!" A familiar voice called. The cat took off running, and the other cats in the area followed. Renko curiously followed the voice and the cats to find Chen with a bag of dry cat food in her arms, surrounded by cats. Chen easily clawed the sack open, and set it down before the swarm of cats could overtake her.

Chen looked up, noticed Renko, and her eyes lit up with recognition.

"Oh! Hi, Lady Yukari's friend!" Chen gracefully jumped over the gathered cats, flipped in the air, and landed on her feet.

"Um, hello, Chen," Renko said.

"What's up? I'm just feeding my kitty friends. Lady Ran says I shouldn't do this too often, but every once in a while, well." Chen had a friendly smile on her face, and a cat that had already eaten its fill rubbed its cheek on her leg and meowed. She knelt and scooped the cat up in her arms before standing up straight.

"I just came here so I can memorize where it is, and, um, come visit later. Yukari gave me a key…" Renko shuffled awkwardly and hoped she wasn't blushing simply from remembering the circumstances.

"Oh, neat! You know, if you ever need advice from another youkai who isn't super old, I was never a human or anything, but I can do my best to tell you what you need to know," Chen said, smiling.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything, um, super important I should know?" Renko said.

"One of the most important things to remember is that your youkai powers are basically use-them-or-lose-them! What can you do?" Chen asked.

"Um… well, I can still tell exactly where I am, at all times, by looking at the sky, and I can cast spells, and I can fly…" Renko looked up sheepishly.

Chen nodded, contemplating this.

"…Okay, no offense, but that's kind of lame. How are you supposed to be a proper memorable and scary youkai if you're basically a fluffy magician who doesn't get lost?" she said.

Renko's ears reflexively tilted down and to the sides and she glanced down.

"I know it's, uh, not very impressive…" she said.

"No, but you probably have some kind of species thing you can do! I know that Lady Ran's main abilities are calculation stuff, but she can still summon foxfire and shapeshift like any kitsune. We just have to figure out what you've got," Chen said. She circled Renko, and set the cat in her arms down before lightly tugging on Renko's feathers.

"What are you doing? That kind of hurts," Renko said. Her wings flinched away, tucking in against her back.

"I'm looking for a loose feather. I'm not as good at divination as Lady Ran, but I can probably still figure out what you can do if I get one," Chen said. Renko frowned, but let Chen run her hands through her wings until, with a twist and only a pinprick of pain, Chen triumphantly held up one starry, iridescent feather.

"Here we go! Alright, let's see here…" Chen took a few steps back, and Renko turned to watch. Chen conjured several small white magic circles, with the feather suspended in the center of one. She stuck the tip of one finger in her mouth while she manipulated the circles with her other hand. Renko watched complex symbols spin around the feather.

"…Well, I'm not completely sure, but do you know any light or star magic?" Chen dispelled the circles, and caught the feather out of the air.

"Yes, I do. That's what my teacher has mostly been getting me to work on lately," Renko said.

"Cool. Okay, let's have a danmaku battle! We'll use spell card rules, but make up patterns as we go. I'll go easy on you, don't worry," Chen said, grinning.

"Um, okay…" Renko fluffed her wings slightly.

"Three hits each, and loser buys the winner a small bag of sweets. Sound good?" Chen asked. Her twin tails swished.

"Yeah." Renko nodded. Her budget, limited as it was, could allow that if she lost.

"Alright! Let's fly up some so we don't scare the kitties." Chen leapt up into the air, and Renko flapped her wings and took off after her. Soon, the empty buildings were a good ways below them, and Chen was floating across from Renko. Several of the ravens had moved to closer rooftops to watch.

"You ready?" Chen called. Renko tucked her wings in to make herself a smaller target.

"As ready as I'm going to be," Renko said.

"Alright, three! Two! One! Go!" On 'go', Chen took off through the air, flying around in an almost-random bouncing pattern and firing bursts of danmaku in every direction around her every few moments. Renko quickly gathered her energy, and conjured several star-shaped bullets. They took much less energy than she was used to, and she blinked a couple times before grinning. She had a lot more to work with now, it seemed. She stayed mostly in place, weaving around the incoming bullets, and channeled star magic into rings of danmaku bullets that were loosely aimed at Chen. Meanwhile, she took careful aim and fired a circle of lasers around Chen. Chen was moving too fast, though, and in the instant between creating the lasers and fully sending the energy through, she had already escaped the laser circle.

Renko took aim again, but suddenly Chen zipped past her, expertly weaving between Renko's bullets while keeping her path mostly straight, and Renko tried to dodge, but several of Chen's bullets struck at once. She let out a yelp of pain and stopped firing.

"Don't just stand there and get hit, Renko," Chen said, sticking out her tongue teasingly. "C'mon, have some fun!"

"Okay, okay…" Renko sighed, and spread her wings. She needed them if she wanted to match Chen's mobility. Chen took off flying again, and this time, Renko kept an eye on the catgirl and deliberately flew away, not letting Chen get close. Chen responded with aimed lasers, and waves of danmaku that spread like ripples from the lasers.

"Aaaah! That doesn't even make sense!" Renko cried as she ducked under several bullets. She quickly tried to think of how to retaliate.

…Well, if Chen could make her bullets appear some distance away from her…

Renko focused intently, trying to create a grid of incomplete, harmless lasers around the area, centered on her. Her aura flared and expanded, scattering bits of Renko's energy throughout the stretch of sky.

Quite suddenly, Renko was intensely aware of where each and every danmaku bullet was, where Chen was, without even having to look. She reflexively darted up to avoid a laser from the side that wasn't quite in her field of vision. She simply knew exactly where everything was around her, and when it would reach her.

Renko flapped her wings, smiling in delight at this new awareness, and continued to stay out of the dangerous range of Chen's attacks. She conjured a grid of harmless white lines through her aura, and fired off aimed lines of star bullets from three random points around Chen. If Chen was headed towards a laser too quickly, Renko poured more power into it to create a sudden obstacle. Meanwhile, being able to simply know where each bullet was made dodging almost a second thought.

It was only a minute or so before Chen let out a cross between a yelp and a meow, and rubbed one of her tails where a bullet had struck her. Renko stopped firing, and the lasers vanished, but she didn't pull her aura back in yet.

"Wow, that came out of nowhere! Figure out a new trick?" Chen asked.

"Yeah! Um… It's sort of a wider-range version of my ability. It makes dodging a lot easier," Renko said.

"Nice! Let's see what other tricks you have!" And with that, Chen went zipping around again.

Renko giggled, and kept careful track of Chen and her bullets, while the catgirl fired off rapidly-moving storms of bullets that resembled fireworks from all around.

She glanced at her own wings, since she didn't actually need to look in order to dodge now. She hadn't tried any light magic since becoming a youkai, that seemed like a good idea…

A pulsing wave of multicolored light, harmless but slightly disorienting, flared around Renko and slowly expanded. Renko blinked a couple of times. She hadn't meant to make it so big. As it expanded, Renko willed the magic to shift.

The lazily-expanding wave suddenly crystallized into so many tiny danmaku slivers Renko couldn't even attempt to count them, and exploded out so quickly that Renko's awareness made her dizzy from trying to track them. Chen cried out in alarm, and then again in pain when one struck her side.

"That, uh, worked a lot better than I expected. I think I'm a lot better at light magic," Renko said. She shook her head quickly to clear it—she was starting to feel a bit lightheaded. She was using a lot of energy in this little sparring match.

"I'll say. Makes sense you'd be good with light, huh?" Chen shook herself off. She took a breath to steady herself, and Renko wondered if Chen was feeling as tired as she was.

"Yeah, it does. Let's… Let's keep going, okay?" Renko said. Chen nodded, and started off again. Renko fired off a few smaller light spells, sending out pulsing flashes of light that shattered into aimed streams of bullets. Chen was much faster at avoiding these, though, and Renko had to weave around interlaced lasers and streams of aimed bullets while trying to hit her. She'd have to catch Chen off-guard if she wanted to get another hit.

Renko wobbled a bit in the air while trying to dodge, and braced herself before the bullet struck her wing. She had been fully aware she was in its path and she wasn't going to be able to dodge, but that didn't keep her from whimpering and dropping a foot or so in the air when it struck.

"Looks like the next hit decides the match!" Chen bobbed excitedly in the air. Renko noted with some dismay that she didn't look tired at all.

"Right." Renko took off flying again, more than a bit unsteadily. Chen didn't let up in the slightest, and darted around trying to box Renko in with lines of bullets that spread out into waves as they went. Renko carefully crafted a sphere of concentrated light magic energy while moving, not staying in one place long enough for Chen's bullets to get too dense around her.

She whirled around in the air after a wave of bullets skimmed past. This was the last trick she had up her sleeve, and if it didn't work, she was going to lose her first match as a youkai.

If it did, Marisa would be proud of her.

"Light Sign 'Aurora Beam'!" Renko declared, and fired off a massive rainbow laser. It was absolutely an imitation of the infamous Master Spark, but the waves of light that rippled off of it were distinctly different. The energy from Renko's aura that had expanded to give her a sense of the area evaporated to fuel the laser almost immediately.

"Kyaaa!" Chen tried to dive out of the way, and failed completely. Renko dizzily fluttered to the ground. She lifted a hand to her head, and had to use her wings for balance even though she was standing on the flat ground. Chen soon joined her.

"Okay, that was totally a rip-off of Kirisame's… Hey, are you okay? You look pretty pale," Chen said, tilting her head.

"No. I think I overdid it…" Renko shook her head to help clear it.

"Ah… Sorry about that, I didn't realize a short duel like that would use up so much of your energy. You should probably go home and get some rest," Chen said.

Renko nodded.

"I… I think I'll do that. I'll see you around… I mean, this isn't the last time I'm going to come by," she said.

"Alright. I'll see you later!" Chen waved as Renko flapped her wings and took off. She still felt a bit dizzy, and magically exhausted, so she eased off, using as little magic as possible to fuel her flight and relying mostly on her wings to carry her.

Renko landed on her feet in front of Alice's house, and nearly stumbled. The door swung open, and one of Alice's dolls saluted her as she walked in. That meant Alice was home, and she glanced around, looking for the puppeteer. There was a faint sweet smell in the air.

"Hey, Renko!" Marisa said from one of the chairs. She was grinning despite the fact that her dress was badly tattered, her clothes and hair were singed, she was holding a rag against her bare shoulder, and a thin trickle of blood was running from under the red-soaked rag. Alice was seated next to her with a mix of concern and exasperation on her face.

"E-eh? Marisa, are you okay…?" Renko asked, tucking her wings against her back and walking over.

"I'll be fine, ze. Pissed Patchy off stealing this," Marisa said, and held up a thick book with her free hand. "She didn't mean to knock a bookshelf over on me. She totally meant to set me on fire though."

Renko frowned, not quite reassured, and took a free seat.

"So how'd your trip to Abandoned Catville go? Gonna guess it wasn't too peaceful from your aura," Marisa asked. It took Renko a moment to realize what she meant.

"Um, it was okay. I ran into Chen. She was nice, and we had a duel so I could try and learn more of what I can do now that I'm a youkai. It was fun, and I won, but I'm…" Renko rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "…really tired now. I was thinking of taking a nap."

"Renko, you're very low on spiritual energy, you shouldn't go to sleep," Alice said with a frown.

"Huh…?" Renko blinked a couple times, and tried to sense what Alice was talking about.

It took a moment, but she realized with a jolt that she could barely feel her own aura at all, and it had retracted to almost a fine film of energy over her skin.

"Yeah, that ain't healthy. You should probably…" Marisa frowned and looked over at Alice. "…Uh, Alice, you think she knows about…?"

Alice's frown deepened slightly.

"Probably not. Er… Renko, you're aware that most youkai eat humans, right?" she asked.

Renko caught the implication at once, and stiffened up.

"…Y-you're not… what, do I have to…?" The thought of actually eating a person, like Marisa, or herself only a few days ago, made her squirm uncomfortably in her chair. The fact that it didn't make her as sick to her stomach as she would have expected didn't help at all.

"It's… not necessarily required to live, but it's the best way for a youkai to regain a lot of strength quickly, and there are only a few types of youkai that can completely go without it without being in fairly poor health," Alice said. "Of those, I can only think of rabbits, oni, and youkai magicians. Even some of the more generally benevolent types still need the occasional bit to stay in top condition."

"I-I don't want to eat a human!" Renko's wingtips fluttered anxiously, and she glanced at Marisa in the vain hopes the witch would say something to reassure her.

Marisa studied Renko's despairing face for several seconds.

"Y'don't have to eat a whole person. I've seen how it goes, ze- for some youkai, a bit of blood's enough. If it wasn't for the fact Alice would probably kill me, I'd offer to cut a little piece of the bruised part of my shoulder out for you," Marisa said.

Renko paled and drew her wings up around her head, squeezing her eyes shut and trying desperately to pretend that Marisa hadn't just implied-offered to let her eat part of her. That wasn't okay. There was no way that was okay.

Maybe Alice would say something reassuring…

"Actually, that isn't that bad of an idea… I'd rather you not make your injuries worse, but that gives me a better idea," Alice said.

Renko whimpered into her wings. There was a clinking noise from somewhere in the kitchen.

After a minute, something lightly poked Renko's wings. Renko took several deep breaths and parted them just enough to peer out. A blonde doll in a very bright cyan dress, Orleans, was hovering beside her with London a bit further away, holding a teacup. Whatever was in it smelled very sweet, and Renko suddenly had a bad feeling about what the scent from earlier was.

"Please tell me you didn't just fill a teacup with Marisa's blood and offer it to me," Renko said in a shaky, high-pitched tone.

"Sorry, but we just filled a teacup with Marisa's blood and are offering it to you," Alice said.

Renko folded her arms on the table and planted her face into them, letting out a high-pitched noise that sounded like a dog's whine.

"I'm not going to drink Marisa's blood," she said. Even with her face buried in her arms, though, she could still smell the blood. It smelled way better than it had any right to, faintly metallic but sweet in a way that actual sweet things weren't.

"Aww, c'mon, we put it in a teacup just for you. And if you don't drink it while it's fresh, it's going to get all clotted. You don't want to let my blood get all chunky and gross, right?" Marisa poked Renko's side with her broom.

Renko willed herself halfheartedly to feel sickened by the idea, but couldn't actually make herself, not with the scent of blood in her nose. It was starting to make her feel hungry.

"Renko, please, we just want to help you, and while I know it's not easy… you're a youkai, this is part of your nature now," Alice said. "Once every so often, human-eating youkai get a delivery of a ration of human appropriate for the energy they use. You don't want to be freaking out when you're weak and you need it…"

There were a few solid minutes of silence.

Renko quietly sat up, wings drooping in defeat behind her. "…and this is what she wanted for me… Yukari eats humans too, doesn't she…?"

"Absolutely," Marisa said.

Renko wordlessly took the teacup of blood. The surface had started to clot over, and she cringed a bit, poking at it with a fingertip. It broke up with a few small jabs. If Merry could get so used to humans being food that she didn't even consider it a problem when she'd decided Renko should be a youkai too, she supposed that drinking a teacup of freely-given blood from a human who wanted to help and had already been bleeding wasn't even morally questionable.

She tried not to think about it much harder, and closed her eyes as she took a sip.

Author's Notes

This one's a bit long. But, we're quickly approaching the final arc of the story. I'd say there's going to be one more intermission before we get into the home stretch.