Disclaimer : Touhou and all its characters are belonged by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I only own my OCs and this story. Any similarities on any parts of the story with another fanfic are unintended.

Chapter 14 : True Feelings

"A Matsuri?"

The sun had set. Almost instantly after me and Aya entered the middle room, Reimu starts the meeting. Aside the three of us, she also invited Alice, Marisa and Suika. Currently, we were sitting around the table in the middle of the room, accompanied with a cup of tea each. Mia currently in the kitchen, making us some dinner.

"Wait. You mean, you've never heard of it before?" asked Alice with an eyebrow raised.

"Nah, it's not like that. I know what it is, just haven't been in one." I waved my hand. "I guess I just haven't dig your culture deep enough, is all."

Matsuri is a Japanese word for festival. As far as I know, Japan was filled with all kinds of it, unlike some country which only celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Ramadhan, or something like that once a year. Almost all regions in Japan have different kinds of matsuri, some might have different types based on the season. There's just so much of it, I can't even bother myself to look up to Google and actually learn about them.

"This summer, just like another summer every year…" said Reimu, continuing her previous explanation, "…the village will hold a summer matsuri this weekend. As the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, I was asked by the village chief to be on the lookout."

"*chuckled* Yeah, 'asked'." Commented Marisa.

"Guess she couldn't just pass up the opportunity, huh." I chuckled. "Well, if it means I could eat something a little bit fancier once in a while, then no objection from me."

Reimu frowned slightly at her, before she let out a sigh and continued. "That's why I called you all here today. I want you to help me on the lookout at the matsuri."

There was a pause after she finished her explanation. It was obvious that everyone was feeling confused. It took another couple seconds before someone responded.

"Um, Reimu?" asked Marisa while she raised her hand. "Not sayin' it's a bad idea, but… why-ze?"

"What Marisa meant…" Alice added, "…is we didn't see any reason as to why this particular matsuri needs to be guarded. Almost every year, the matsuri's surveillance were quite lax, and I haven't heard any major incident occurred. So why did you just suddenly decide to take an action?"

As a response, Reimu took a roll of paper from her right sleeve and lay it down in the middle of the table for us to see. It was a map, showing a rather crowded area filed with many small to medium-sized buildings. There is, though, at least 2 or 3 which were bigger than the rest. Another particular characteristic of the map was that it has quite a wide road, compared to the buildings surrounding it.

"This is… the Human Village map?" I asked.

Reimu nodded while circling a rather large are within the map with her hand. It seems to be one of the main roads which connected to the center of the village. The other end of the road was connected to a river.

"With the increasing amount of participants, this year's summer matsuri will be at least twice bigger than before. They were afraid that even with the amount of guards available, it won't be enough to support the entire matsuri." She said.

"Even if they somehow put all of the guards, the village would be impervious to any attack from the outside." Commented Aya, stroking her chin in thought. "This doesn't look good."

"An' don' let me start with their strength." Added Suika, finally spoke after being silent the entire meeting. "The boys lack trainin', they can't even shoo a bunch o' stray *hic* cats!"

"I guess that's because youkai attack has been decreasing as of late, isn't it?" Wondered Alice.

I slightly ignored the chat while looking at the map. I noticed that there's one building which looks familiar to me. The building was at least twice the size of the others, complete with a slightly vast track of land surrounding it. Connecting the dots with my memories, added with a compass on the side of the map, I finally realized.

"This is… the school? So that means the matsuri will be held right beside it?" I wondered.

"Moreover, the village's current situation right now is nowhere near the words 'calm'."

As Aya said that, she reached to an object inside her shirt pocket. As she put it on the map, we realized that it's actually were pieces of black-white photograph. She scattered it around for us to see. One look and I quickly realized the meaning of the content.

X+X

One quick glance and I realized that Yanto knew about these pictures.

"Just yesterday, someone reported that a gang of criminals were wiped out unconscious by unknown individual or group. I quickly flew there to take these pictures first-hand. Weirdly enough, most of them didn't appear to be badly injured, only some were having a rather shallow blade-like scars on their arms and feet. They also felt a pain on the back of their head, so that might be the reason why they're unconscious."

This morning, Aya came to me and showed me the pictures beforehand. She was also the one who passed the village leader's message from Keine to me. Luckily, that was after Yanto went to buy some groceries, so he wouldn't know about it.

"W-Who did this to them?" Asked Alice while she held a picture.

Aya shook her head. "Nobody knows. The victims all said that they 'forgot' or 'didn't recognize' their attacker."

Should I ask him? Or should I wait for the time being?

"Wait a minute-ze." Marisa cut in. "They 'said'? What's that mean?"

"It means that they didn't actually forgot."

All of us averted our gaze to the door inside. There, Mia came in with a tray of food for us.

"Whaddya mean-ze?" confused Marisa.

"Well, first I'll admit it was just my deduction." She said as she put the tray on the table. It consist of several plates of vegetables, fishes and rice. "It was just too weird for me that they all said they didn't know who attacked them. Well, except if it's actually a youkai's doing."

"That's why I believed that they didn't actually 'forgot', but somehow forced to admit otherwise." She continued.

"I was just getting to that part." Aya said, her visage turn to one more serious than before. "When I interviewed them, I could feel that they're actually scared to say something. Unfortunately, I was in front of the village leader that time, so it's impossible for me to prey it by force."

"W-What happened to them now?" asked Yanto, his visage changed slightly.

"They've taken into custody. It turns out they were the village's most wanted criminal, guilty of some cases of robbery, pillaging and the most recent… unproven rape case." She answered.

Everyone's gaze were noticeably hardened.

"Wait… then, why isn't there any effort to bring them down?" asked Alice. "A group like them shouldn't be that hard to found, right?"

"That's because the lack of evidence." I answered. "I would be happy to just jump there and finish them off. Unfortunately, without proper evidence it'll be easy for them to be free from jail again… which they already did several times before."

"If that happens, they could frame their attacker for false accusation, or worse… planned assault!" Mia said.

Well, they didn't call the place 'Human Village' for nothing. They have their own rules, just like another place on earth. As much as I hate it, I couldn't just go against it.

"Luckily this time…" Aya informed, "…they didn't seem to acknowledge their attacker, or simply decided not to tell us anything about it. Moreover, they suddenly decided to admit their wrong doings in the past, making it possible to get them into jail after all this time."

I could see everyone's visage changed slightly. Some were shocked, some were relieved, some were confused.

"Well, that guy sure leave 'em some fright, if that's what happened." Commented Suika. She grinned after a chug of sake. "I'm beginning to like the guy more n' *hic* more."

"W-Wait right there… if that's so, then doesn't that mean the culprit still roamin' out there?" Marisa asked while she raised her hand.

"The culprit was the least of our worries, as a matter of fact." Said Aya. "Since this gang is one of the strongest in the village, they acted as 'underground' protector – or 'backstage', 'fake', whatever you call it – for most of the store around the village, especially in the market area. They basically collect protection money from each store as a payment for, well… protection, against another gang who wanted to do them harm. Since now they're out of commission, then…"

"The other gang members will be free to do what they want!" Alice gasped.

"That's where we come to help." I stood up. "This weekend, we suspected that the other gang will make their move, so it's up to us to keep an eye on them."

Everyone sported a thoughtful expression. It was clear that they were considering this plan inside their head. Suddenly, a person raised a hand.

"Then… I have a plan." Proposed Yanto.

It's already night, and everyone already went back home or fell asleep.

The plan was pretty simple, actually. I even embarrassed to call it a plan. Basically, each of us will patrol the matsuri according to each of our own ability. Me, Mia and Reimu will patrol the land by walk, since it'll be easier to identify every person we encounter. Plus, Reimu said she'll gather another enforcement tomorrow to help us covering the area.

Marisa said that she and Alice might not be able to help us at all. Alice will be busy performing a doll show at the center of the matsuri, and Marisa will act as her helper. If that so, then so be it. Alice's stand will be our main rendezvous point where we'll meet, exchange info and such. Marisa could also help on the look-out when her hand's free, since it'll mostly be a one-man show. Also, Alice's ability might help us one way or another on a later date.

Aya's flying skill is very important. Having an eye in the sky means we could cover wider area faster. Suika could also help by becoming mist. But, since mist will look weird on a hot summer night, I suggested her to stay behind Alice's stand for most of the time. She could still help by sending an army of mini-oni around the matsuri.

Nobody seems to object my suggestion. Though, some of them also added their own thought in the bowl. In the end, we decided to end the meeting with a plan on our head. But…

"*sigh* One problem after another…"

I never thought what I did would backlash this much. At first, I only wanted to get back Akyuu's purse and dad's watch, is all. Okay, maybe I get a little overboard with making them unconscious, plus forced them to admit their past mistake. But, think about it. They're the one who took me and Akyuu's stuff, so it's up to me to get it back, right? Moreover, they also trapped me that day, and even went as far as giving the first punch! I guess it's only fair for me to give them some payback, right? Right?

Ah… who am I talking to anyway?

Makes me wonder, though. Keine didn't tell me anything about the incident when I went there this afternoon. Being the village's so-called protector, she should've known about this event. Maybe I could ask her later.

"Hey."

I looked to my back and saw my cousin, standing behind me. On her hand is a tray with two cups of tea.

"Can't sleep?" She asked. "You'll catch a cold, sitting on the porch this late at night. Not to mention you're not wearing your hoodie."

She put the tray in front of me, then took a seat on another pillar, facing me.

I smirked. "There's no way I'm gonna catch a cold in this kind of weather. By the way, why're you still up?"

"I could ask the same to you." She smiled. "Guess the meeting's still on your head, huh? I guess I couldn't blame you for that."

*sigh* As expected of my own cousin. She understand me like the back of her own hand.

"Or is it what happened yesterday, what you're really thinking?"

"…eh?"

"Oh, come on… don't give me that look." Mia smirked. "You really think no one would find out? You should've look at yourself in the mirror that time, when Aya showed us that picture."

Oh… my… god…

"Dammit…"

"So, mind telling me the truth?" she asked.

I couldn't held back a face-palm. Sh*t. Why should Mia knew of all people?

"Before that…" I looked at her from within my finger, "…did anyone else know?"

"Entah." She shrugged, shaking her head while doing so. "But judging from their face, I'll say probably Reimu and Suika noticed it."

Oh… god… that's the second face-palm.

"*sigh* Fine already…"

X+X

In the end, he told me what exactly happened that afternoon. Akyuu's purse, his father's watch, and lastly, the alleyway incident. He told me loud and clear, even I have to remind him not to wake Reimu up.

Yanto… he's always bad at lying. No matter how small or insignificant it is, you could always tell if he has something in his mind. When Yanto finally decided to tell the truth, he'll explain it like there's no tomorrow. Every detail he could say, he'll say it. Deep down, I knew he never liked to lie.

After he finished, I couldn't help but smiled. "*sigh* If that's so, then it's okay. After all, the one in the wrong were those guys. Just imagine it like you brought down God's judgment for their wrong doings."

His head slumped down in exasperation. "Please, don't say it that way…"

Oops, maybe I went too far with my analogy. "L-Look. What I meant is, stop blaming yourself already. They stole Akyuu's purse and the watch, so it's only normal for you to want it back."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it was right to give them some beating… even though it feels good as hell…" he answered, his face still looking downward.

Oh god… 'it feels good'… that was so like him. Okay, okay… time to get serious.

"Yanto, look at me."

"Hmm?" he raised his head.

"I got a question for you. Do you like it, living here?" I asked.

Not-so-unexpectedly, his face turned to one of annoyance. "This kind of question again? Please, get more creative."

"What's wrong with asking that?" I scolded him.

"Nothing, nothing." He dismissed, his face went even more annoyed. "I like it here, okay? Now, I'm not gonna tell you the details 'cause you know I'm suck at it. Moreover, I'm not really in the mood so you just gotta be satisfied with that. Okay?"

Hearing it, I realized he couldn't be more honest than that. For you who wanted to understand men, then let me give you an advice: the simpler his words are, the more likely he's telling the truth.

Or maybe in this case… the more annoyed he becomes.

"Hmm? What's with that smirk?"

"O-Oh, it's nothing, really." Phew, almost lose my control there. "By the way, have you found another clue?"

"Not even a dust." He shook his head. "You know, I'm starting to doubt that she's here. It's even more likely that she's never even there in the first place."

I raised an eyebrow. "You mean, 'never exist'? Why is that?"

"Well…"

…

"So, have you found anything, Yanto-sensei?" asked the purple-haired chronicler.

The sun was almost set. After the interview, Akyuu handed me a copy of one of her chronicles. It was filled with detailed biography of all the villagers who lived from at least 20 years ago until today. Keine figured that maybe my sister once lived in this village some time ago, but already left before I came here. Thus, she asked Akyuu to widen the search gap.

The chronicle she gave me were quite different from the one she made. Apparently, it was arranged by members of her household before she was born. When she had matured enough, the task to complete it was handed to her. The difference from her own creation lies on its content. This particular chronicle only dwells about things that happened in the village. The contents were also more formal than her writings – according to her, since I don't understand kanji. Maybe that's why ZUN never released something like this.

"Should I help you read it? I could give you a brief description if you want." Offered Keine.

Let out a tired sigh, I closed the book and handed it back to Akyuu. "The picture alone were already enough. Thanks, but… even with that, I doubt I could find her anyway."

The two looked at me questioningly.

"You see, I already had some hunch ever since your first word when you handed me this chronicle. What's did you say again, to be precise?" I asked.

"Um…" pondered Akyuu. "That is… 'it's quite rare for a lost infant to be found stranded in Gensoukyou'?"

I nodded. "That alone already made the possibility smaller. Plus, Keine also said the number of stranded human is decreasing as of late, right?"

The silver-haired teacher nodded. "Right. Though, that doesn't mean your little sister isn't one of them."

"I'll admit that's true." I turned to the chronicler. "Akyuu, you explained earlier that you put the first date of sighting – for Outsider – right below their names, right? I kind of made a mental-mark inside my head to double-check them."

"Yes, though…" she mumbled slightly. "…you know the kanji, Yanto-sensei?"

I shrugged. "I remembered it."

Keine widened her eyes in a slight shock. "You have photographic memories too, Yan- I mean, sensei?"

"Nah…" I shook my head. "It's just… I kinda have some knacks with patterns. Anyway, that's not the problem. After I checked them all, connecting it with my little sister's possible age when the time of their first sighting, made me realize that the chance are becoming even smaller than before. Then, comes the main problem."

The two waited attentively for their answer.

"Their hair in the picture… no one matches my mother's description."

…

"Okay, okay, stop right there." I held my hands up. "Their hair? You sure that's your only clue?"

"Well, if mom's said was true, then yeah." He nodded. "I mean, people with mom's hair color were already rare in Indonesia – not counting the tourist – let alone in Japan. Okay, I admit we're in Gensoukyou, and all of Gensoukyou's denizens have weird hair color and so on and bla-bla-bla whatever." He trailed. Then, his face becoming more serious.

"Think about it. Just how much is a chance of a foreigner in Japan get stranded here?"

"Ugh… you're right…" I admitted. No matter how much I hate to admit it, he's right. "Still, what about hair-coloring?"

He just shrugged in silence, sign of unsure.

"I expected as much. Well, I guess… there's no point of thinking about it too much." I dismissed.

As I looked to the side, I noticed that the moon's in perfect position for night-viewing. Not too high, not too low, radiating the shrine just right. Even though it's not full moon or even crescent moon, it still looks beautiful.

"I never noticed it before…" I trailed. "…but the moon here looks really stunning, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" He agreed, looking at the same view. "No pollutions, near-zero lights… you can't ask more than this."

I glanced at his face, just enough to see his expression. His complexion was calm, more so than the usual. There's no annoyance, scowl, or the usual stoic frown from after that day. No smile, no laugh, just… a serene silence.

"You do like it here." I remarked.

He closed his eyes. "I can't say no to that. Some said that the shrine has this kind of air around it which makes it calmer than-"

"No, not that." I cut in. "Here. You like living in Gensoukyou, more so than the Outside."

He paused while looking at me. I couldn't really tell his expression. Shortly, he answered. "That was… too obvious."

"So, you don't want to come back with me after the matsuri?"

"Guess not."

"No matter what?"

"…yep."

"…no chance?"

"…nope."

*sigh* I should've known.

"H-Hey, Mia? You going to sleep?" he asked.

"No, I'm taking my sword. Just stay here and prepare your own."

X+X

This is almost a routine when we were younger.

"Come on, Yanto! Show me what you got!" I slashed my katana towards his head.

"Fine, fine!" He skidded left while parrying it with his karambit.

Ever since we were small, we always have a spar whenever we could. Before school, after school, before dinner… I guess after dinner's the time for homework. Anyway, there isn't a single day when we didn't train.

"Let's see how fast you've become!" He proclaimed as he thrust his keris towards me. I simply shifted my body so that his arm missed my stomach.

I scoffed. "That comes from someone who stopped fighting ten years ago!"

With my left hand, I held his arm in place while my arm swung sideways, aiming for a hit. He parried it again with his karambit.

He smirked. "Looks like we're on a tight spot, both of us."

*SMACK!*

"GAH!"

Luckily, his face isn't secured from my foot. He took a couple of step backward while rubbing his face in pain.

You might think it's slightly crazy and dangerous. Two teenagers suddenly unleashed their weapons towards each other with no prior reason. No body protection, no supervisor, no medic, and don't even think with their unique shape Yanto's weapon couldn't be lethal. Well, what could we say? We have grown to it. Or should I say, grown with it.

"Hey…" he called, "…it's not like I never train again after that!"

"Hoo…" I narrowed my eyes at him. "So you're saying that, after you run away from home, you still have the guts to actually touch any blade?"

He widened his eyes. "Okay, okay, just calm down…" he held his hands in a placating manner. "Look, Mia… I know you still sour because of me just leaving so suddenly. I'm sorry if I someho- WHOA!"

X+X

Her sword moved so fast, I didn't even noticed before it appeared one meter in front of me. Luckily I was fast enough to jump back. I could see her gripping the blue katana tight- no, tensely. Her upper face's concealed by the tree's shadow. Her chest moving up and down, her breath's ragged.

When she looked up, I was shocked to see her actually crying. Tears were already running on top of her cheek. My eyes widened from the sheer emotion she showed.

"Sour? SOUR?! YOU F*CKIN' CALL THIS SOUR?! YOU… PIECE OF SH*T!"

Out of nowhere, she swung her blade towards me. Multiple times, her aim becoming more random by each slash.

"I'm not SOUR… I'M MAD! MAD AT YOU WHO JUST… JUST… GONE!"

She continued her slash. Her eyes were closed so she couldn't see where she's going. Yet, her body keeps walking towards me.

"Mia…"

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I FEEL!"

I couldn't bear watching her like this.

"Stop, please…"

"SHUT UP! SHUUUT UUUUP!"

I can't take it anymore. What happens next, it's as if reasoning just left my head. When she held her hands high, I took the chance to kick her katana, forcing her to drop it. Then, I ran towards her and tackled her down.

*THUMP!*

If anyone saw us now, it would look like I was going to rape her. Even so, I don't care. What's on my head is the fact that I just made my family… my cousin cried. I've hurt Mia. She looks to be in so much pain. Her tears were still running down, her face is a combination of pain and anger and… sadness…

…oh f*ck…

"Why…*sniff*" She cried. "Why did you run away?! Does living with me *hic* not enough for you?! Answer me, Kak Yanto! ANSWER ME!"

"That's the first time she called me that… since we're little…" My eyes widened.

Mia tried to suppress her cry by shielding her face with her arm, even though it didn't do anything. She sniffled, wailing for at least three minutes.

When I thought she had calmed down, I carefully positioned her to sit on the grass. Mia looked at me angrily with her red, teary eyes.

"What?" She questioned, albeit with a little shout. "Are you going to just… say 'I'm sorry' again, just like… every time?!"

I took a deep breath before I looked at her. "Honestly, I don't know what to say. Back then, I only want to find my sister. I don't have any intention to leave you alone."

"Then… it's the same again this time, huh?!" She scowled. "You… *sniff* you gonna stay here while I *hic* go back home, alone again… Is that it?!"

"Mia, I-"

"SAY IT ISN'T SO!"

The guilt I've felt from the start, it keeps growing each second. There's no mistaking it, I'm the one at fault. I was the one who ran away from home, trying to find my sister and parent's whereabouts. Three years later, after I reunited with my parents, I managed to be in the same school as her, though we lived in separate house.

Long story short, Mia changed. She rarely smiles like she used to, sometimes even looked at me with a scowl on her face. Mia became more serious, although still sociable with the others except for me. I sh*t you not, but I can count how many times we have a chat in a week with my fingers. I sh*t you not, but I can count just how many of those chat were some useless greetings. It's as if we've never even met before.

Now she's the closest to me she has ever been, literally begging me not to leave her alone. It's my fault for making her cry.

No matter what's the reason, it's still wrong.

"Mia…" I wiped her tears with my right thumb. "I can't come back with you."

"But why?!" she cried.

"There's, um… there's something, how should I explain it… um…" Damn, it's hard to find the right word! "A-Anyway, there's something I have to do here, it's extremely important… and it's not about my sister at all, it's much more important, you get it?"

She still had that same expression on her face, if not worse.

"Look. I can't explain it to you what the heck it is 'cause it's top secret, okay? All you need to know is that it's important."

Still the same.

"The point is, the point would be that- oh, for f*ck sake, I hate my explaining skills!"

Slowly, I pulled her into a hug. I also rubbed her back to calm her down. "Mia… me living here doesn't mean that I won't come back."

"*sniff* You won't?"

"Well, I'll admit I'll be busy here, but that beside the point." I shrugged. "I mean, you are my family, and I can't simply leave you alone, now can't I?"

I broke the hug and gazed into her red, teary eyes. "How about this? In at least a month, my college will start. I'll go back to finish my last semester and maybe I'll meet you sometimes. How's that sound?"

I could see her expression lifted slightly. "You sure with that? Won't you make Yukari angry?"

Almost instantly, the said gap youkai showed half of her upper body through her, well, gap.

I could only smirked. "*sigh* Panjang umur…"

"Well, I don't know about that, Mia." Yukari answered. "I mean, going in and out every day does sound a little bo~ring and counter-productive."

"I only got one more class to finish before I can graduate." I explained. "So in theory, I'll only go to campus at least once or twice a week."

Yukari pulled her 'thinking' face, as if considering my suggestion. "Well, if you put it that way… maybe I could fit it in my schedule."

"There's a cake shop near campus."

"Okay…"

"Which also serve ice cream, soft-serve."

"Mm-Hmm…"

"With hot chocolate imported from Belgium and Swiss."

"Deal."

I looked back to Mia, already stopped her crying. "See? Wasn't so hard after all."

X+X

I… lost… In the end, I couldn't bring him back with me.

"Come on, stop crying… okay?" He pleaded while his finger wiped the tears in my eyes. "What will John said if he found out you cried like this? Won't be a joke, right?"

But… I guess it's all right.

"Fine." I tried to smile. "Only if you buy me those cake too."

"Heck no. I barely got any money left outside."

"Tsk. Cheapskate."

"Fat-ass."

"Wanna die?"

"Gori… sorry."

A calm Friday afternoon.

There is nothing unusual happening inside the Human Village. The villager, which obviously human, were doing whatever they were doing just like every other day. Buying groceries, selling groceries, cooking, eating, walking, sitting, not sitting… but that's beside the point.

You might notice that the Human Village in Gensoukyou, compared to another village in any part of the world, has a very distinctive difference. One being the assimilation between the culture from the inside and the technology from the Outside. Having almost zero connection with our world, the people's only knowledge comes from stuff which found themselves stranded in, whether it's on purpose or not.

Now, I will take an example on how different the village is on the medical section. Today, you could almost find at least one drug store – the legal one, of course – on every big road in a city. In the normal village, there still at least one inside each village. If it doesn't happen, you could still find some first aid kit inside a small hospital.

In more 'remote' village, most people don't have that convenience. In order to get a medication, sometimes you have to look for herbal inside the forest, not to mention having a decent knowledge regarding which one could cure you and which one could give you a rash on your butt. It is literally finding a hay in the needle-stack.

In Gensoukyou however, something a little different takes place. Just like another common village, there are doctors who takes care of people's health problem and also sold drugs and such. Still, their skill and technology couldn't compare with modern day's engineering. That's where the lunarian shows up.

Yagokoro Eirin, The Brain of The Moon, provides varieties of drugs, ointments and any other medical elixir – not the Hourai Elixir, of course – which she made by herself. Then, she sell it to villagers who really needs it. Sometimes she also make vitamins and cough syrup. You couldn't just keep a living with money from extreme medical situation, now can you?

Other times, she also treats people just like a doctor was supposed to. In order to do so, the patient must travel deep into the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Of course, one should have strong enough body constitution to venture without getting lost. Sometimes the white-haired girl comes to help, sometimes she doesn't. So, what happens to people that, let's say, isn't strong enough to go there?

Fortunately, Eirin have a solution right under her bed. Eientei have multitudes of bunnies, some of them were smarter and more capable than the others. One bunny which became her assistant and also apprentice, takes the roll of delivering the medicine to the village. She also sells them on the street. Of course, walking around the village as a youkai might bring some unwanted attention. So, she goes there with disguise. Simple.

Today as usual, you could see her walking on the street, carrying a big wooden box filled with medication of the sort. Purple-ish Japanese male clothes, added with bandages to cover her visible arms and legs to the toes, makes you wonder just how could she manages to hide her assets. Hair tied to a bun, topped with an ajirogasa to cover her long, rumpled bunny ear, and even the white-wolf tengu would recognize her as an ordinary, humble peddler.

"The sale's going pretty good today." She mumbled happily. "I guess I could take a breather for the day."

The humble peddler walked to the gates of the village, onwards the Bamboo Forest. On her journey, she casually mumbled things to herself.

"I wonder what's for dinner today. Hopefully today's carrot will be delicious. Oh! If I walk faster, maybe I could have some lunch as well! Carrot stew, here I come!"

And so she did. Nearing the forest entrance, she slowed to take some breath.

"Thankfully, Mia already healed for the most part. If she didn't, I still have to deliver her medicine today again. How troublesome…" she let out a sigh.

"But man, Yanto sure is weird." She trailed. "How could he knows about all of us if we haven't even met before?"

"Could you repeat that last part?"

Jerking her head to the left, she found the last person she wanted to meet that day. Resting her body on a bamboo pole, she folded her arms on her chest, smirking haughtily while doing so.

The peddler swallowed her saliva, trying to calm herself. She pulled down her ajirogasa, covering her face. "I-I'm sorry miss, but we already ran out of-"

"Cut the chit-chat and let's get straight to the point, shall we…" The person straightened her body. "Reisen?"

Reisen's façade became serious. There is no point for another bluff, seeing this person already knew about her identity.

"Well, I can't say I'm not surprised seeing you here." She put down her box, took off her hat and released her long, light-purple hair. "Sakuya."

"What is it that you want?" she asked.

"I need to know what you know." The maid answered. "What is it did you hear about him?"

The rabbit slightly surprised, curious as to why the maid in front of her wanted to know such information. Nevertheless, she didn't care. "Sorry. A doctor as well as her assistant shouldn't reveal their patient's secret."

The maid anticipated this. It wouldn't be easy to prey any information from a former Moon Defense Corps Rabbit. If things go south nevertheless, there's one thing she could do.

"Then, how about a Spellcard Battle?" Sakuya proposed. "Surely your master wouldn't give you much of a scolding if you actually lose. Then again, Spellcard Battle was and still a legal way to finish a conflict in Gensoukyou. Ah, but that doesn't mean that I looked down on you in any way."

Reisen gave a thought for a second. She didn't want to have any duel at all, be it physical or the usual bullet hell. If she tried to run away now, there's a fair chance of it will be developed into a battle.

She could try to hide into the Bamboo Forest, but there's a problem: Sakuya is blocking her entrance. Even if she used her power over insanity on the maid, she could easily stop the time and aim for a hit. The odds are not on her today.

The rabbit let out a sigh. "Very well, I accept." She straightened her stance. "Before that, out of topic."

"Hmm?"

"How many people have you stabbed with that knives of yours?" she asked.

The maid smirked.

"Can you recall every plate of fried rice you've had in your life?" she retorted.

"Ten." The rabbit answered casually. "I prefer carrots, actually." She then pointed her index finger towards the maid, mirroring a gun.

"At least, Yanto used some carrots for the side dish."

What? I'm still alive, you ask? Well, if getting myself under piles and piles of campus work, then yeah, I'm alive.

Back to the topic, how you doin' my good reader? I hope things have been good for you. Since I heard a lot of people moaning about how 2016 is one of the worst year ever and hoped it to quickly went away, I figured to give you one last chapter before the new year. Hope it could release some of your stress or whatever. If however, your stress keeps growing because of it instead of reducing, NormalMortal holds no responsibilities considering the matter. Please remain seated and consult to your personal advisor to get some personal advisories regarding your personal issues which doesn't really have to be issued, personally.

…um…

…what's this about again? Oh yeah, the chapter.

I guess you could see where's this story is going, after you looked the first part of the chapter. Maybe the matsuri chapter will come in another two or three chapter after this. Hopefully I could finish it faster than before. Hopefully.

Now, about Yanto's college. I actually remembered it some time ago, but only able to write it now. This way, he won't have any problem with his education, plus I could possibly getting one of two chara to come to the Outside. I figured I could make something interesting out of it, but that's for another time.

Yanto's past is actually far more complicated than what he explained above. I wouldn't open it soon, though. I still have plan for upcoming chapters.

I noticed that the chapters were becoming too OC-centric as of late. My first intention was to getting know each chara one by one, but I guess I went too far. I will try to make it not too OC-centric on the upcoming chapter. Please bear with me.

For the starter, I planned to make my first ever danmaku battle in this story. But before that, time to re-read some other fan-fiction for reference.

And with that, ends my last chapter in the 2016. Happy new year, everyone. Thanks for all your support this year. I hope there'll be no more gorillas sacrificed next year. Hopefully his soul rest in peace, for he died for our sins.

…I'm getting sidetracked again, didn't I? Well, whatever.

With that, NormalMortal, signing out!