Morning had arrived in Gensokyo, with the nocturnal youkai returning to their territories to go back to their slumber until night had fallen once again, and the humans awakening to a new day. Some of Gensokyo's residents however, were having a bit of difficulty waking up this morning.
"Do you think we should wake her up? She's been sleeping for a while now…" Koishi asked as she stared down at a sleeping Meiling. It looked like the gatekeeper wouldn't be waking up anytime soon if her snoring was any indication.
"I dunno…" replied Flandre, looking unsure of what to do. "She's never slept this long before…and she sleeps a lot!"
The two youkai girls had been mulling the idea of rousing the gatekeeper from her sleep for quite some time now, both were lost and had no clue what to do with Meiling still asleep. "Maybe we should dump some water on her, that's what sis does to our cat when she's being lazy…heehee, the look on Orin's face is always priceless…" Koishi said as she giggled at the recollection.
"You have a cat? Lucky, big sis never let me have any pets…" Flandre said with a pout.
"Big sis has a lot of cats, and a bunch of hell ravens too. Heehee, we have one named Okuu that's really funny, she and Orin are my favoritest pets out of them all, they're all so nice and cuddly and soft…" Koishi grew a big smile on her face as she kept going on about all of the pets her elder sister owned. "But…Big sister is the best out of them all…" as she said this Koishi's smile began to falter slightly, "She's nice…she smells really good…she's really pretty…sh-she gives the best hugs in the world…"
"Koi-Koi…are you okay?" Flandre asked as Koishi's voice began to crack.
"I-I'm f-fine…why wouldn't I be…s-silly Flanny…" Koishi replied as she tried to put on a smile, though it was unsuccessful as it turned into a frown and tears began to drip from her eyes.
"…But you're crying…"
"I-I'm not crying…you must be s-seeing things…" Koishi turned away from Flandre and began to wipe the tears from her eyes using her sleeves.
"What's wrong Koi-koi? You can tell me…China says I'm a good listener!"
The satori slowly turned around to face Flandre, her face was red and puffy and was still wet from the tears she was shedding, "W-Well…I…I…" Koishi began to stutter out, "I miss my big sis!" she cried out, hugging Flandre tightly as she began to weep into her. Flandre was stunned by the satori's confession; she had never shown any indication of missing her sister since having met her…although she did mention her quite often. "I miss everything about her…her smell, her prettiness…her everything!"
Flandre felt as though she could relate to where Koishi was coming from, she also missed her older sibling…it had been years since she had seen her. She was saddened that she hadn't spoken to her; much less laid her eyes upon her in so long.
"I know what you mean…" Flandre mumbled sadly. She didn't want her friend to go so long without seeing her sister as she had, or anyone else for that matter. To her, it felt like there was an unfilled gap in her life, she didn't want Koishi to feel the same way about her own life. "If you miss her so much, why don't we go visit her?" the vampire suggested.
"R-Really? But Flanny…what if…what if she doesn't want to see me…?" the satori asked. That wasn't quite the response Flandre was hoping for.
"Why wouldn't she you silly-goose? You're her sister! Of course she wants to see you! She loves you!" Flandre insisted, the little vampire never thought she would have to tell anyone else aside from herself those words.
"But…That moon lady…" Koishi began, turning her head downcast, "She said I was a bad sister…that I left big sis all alone by herself…what if she was right Flanny? …What if I am a bad sister…?" Koishi asked. The satori looked like she would burst right back into tears at any given moment.
Flandre wasn't all too sure how to answer that question…of all the times Meiling had to be out cold sleeping, why did it have to be now? Koishi stared at her friend with wet eyes, waiting for her to come up with an answer. "W-Well…You shouldn't listen to that big mean doctor lady! She's wrong! She's just grouchy and old! Your big sister loves you, and she always will, silly! So let's go visit her, and we'll prove that old moon lady wrong!"
Koishi sat in silence with a look of awe on her face, as she let the vampire's words sink in. Koishi's frown slowly began to shift back into a small smile, "Yeah…your right Flanny. Thanks…" Koishi said she pulled the vampire into a hug, in which Flandre happily returned. "Don't tell China this, but…You're my bestest friend in the world Flanny…I hope we'll always be friends…" the satori whispered into Flandre's ear.
Koishi's words made Flandre form one of the biggest smiles she had ever had in her lifetime, she hasn't had a smile quite this big in a few hundred years, the day when she and her longtime friend Meiling had first met. Though Meiling had always been kind to her, and provided enough friendship for two people over the long years she had known her for, Flandre couldn't help but feel happy that she had met Koishi. She was certainly one of the oddest people she had ever met, but she was also one of the kindest. She was glad she could call the satori 'friend.'
The pair's heartfelt moment was suddenly interrupted, as Koishi's eyes popped open wide, and her mouth opened in amazement. The satori quickly jumped out of the embrace she had been holding Flandre in cried in glee. "Wow! Look Flanny, look! Look at all the sunflowers! They're so pretty!"
Flandre quickly turned around, and found that, as Koishi had said, there was a great field of sunflowers before the pair. The field of the majestic flowers stretched as far as the eyes could see, it looked as if the garden stretched on for miles. Flandre had briefly seen Meiling's garden around the Scarlet Devil Mansion as the she and the gatekeeper had first set out on this adventure, but even her garden paled in comparison to the grand sight before her.
"Let's go take a closer look!" Koishi took ahold of Flandre's arm and began to drag her along with her towards the garden, just as she had done several times during their stay at Myouren temple. Flandre and Koishi then head into the sunflower field, leaving one sleepy Meiling behind as she mumbled something incoherent in her sleep.
Remilia sat within her study, a room in which she now spent a majority of her time in solitude, as she read the latest issue of the Bunbunmaru news with tired eyes. She wasn't all too happy with what she was reading…not one bit. The paper's front page story made Remilia seethe with anger.
Myouren temple assaulted! Local Karakasa gravely injured!
Myouren temple, a well-known Buddhist temple that was established in the human temple soon after the undefined fantastic object incident was resolved by the Reimu Hakurei and her allies, was recently the victim of an attack just a few days ago. The attack was led by Former Moon Princess Kaguya Houraisan, and the Moon Doctor, Eirin Yagokoro, in an attempt to capture the younger sister of the Scarlet Devil, Flandre Scarlet, in an attempt to collect the reward money of a whopping total of one million yen.
In the attack, the temple's graveyard was heavily damaged, destroying much of the landscape in the area. Fortunately, all of the graves in the cemetery were spared by the temple's assailants, all aside from one lone and long forgotten grave. Temple officials are now making way with repairs to the cemetery, and have made arrangements to have the grave that was destroyed replaced.
In the attack, Kogasa Tatara, an unsuspecting and innocent bystander was assaulted by these attackers, and was left in critical condition. After the Moon Princess and her allies were driven off, the karakasa obake received medical aid from both the Head Priestess of the temple, Byakuren Hijiri, and priestess Ichirin Kumoi. Kogasa is now said to be recovering within the temple.
As for Flandre Scarlet and her traveling companions, Hong Meiling, gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and according to recent sightings, Koishi Komeiji, younger sister to the mistress of Chireiden, have long left the temple vicinity. Their current whereabouts are currently unknown at this time.
When questioned about the recent attack on the temple, the head priestess only had this to say. "I'm only glad that no one else was injured in this attack, and that the karakasa under our care is making a swift recovery. I thank everyone who has sent in donations to help pay for the damages, it is truly appreciated, especially with the great amount of budgeting we've had to do recently to stay financially afloat." Unfortunately, that's the only information we received from the head monk, as she had to prepare for the day's sutras, leaving many questions still left unanswered.
When, we here at the Bunbunmaru news tried to approach Kogasa Tatara for an interview, the Bunbunmaru's sole reporter and head writer, Aya Shameimaru, was quite rudely struck upon the head with a broom by a very angry echo spirit and was then told to leave the premises immediately…When approaching other temple residents about these recent events, we received no comment…More news shall be posted as information comes out! Until next time loyal readers!
Article written by Gensokyo's fastest reporter, Aya Shameimaru.
Remilia growled in frustration, crumpling the newspaper in her hands before tossing it aside in her anger. She pounded both of her fists onto the table angrily, "How!? How could this have happened!? How could those imbeciles from Eientei have failed!? Useless lunarians!" She shouted in her rage, knocking a picture of herself and her sister off from the desk in her anger.
Rather than the picture's frame shattering from its inevitable flight to the floor, there was no sound of it breaking; all Remilia heard was light laughter. The enraged vampire looked up and glowered at the one who had decided to join her in her study.
"Greetings Ms. Scarlet, a fine day isn't it?" the woman asked casually as she inspected the picture with interest, "My you two girls sure did look close back in the day…I do wonder what happened…" she remarked to herself.
"What do you want? I'm in no mood for your company right now, you old fossil." Remilia growled.
"Nothing, nothing, I just thought I'd stop by and see how Gensokyo's fearsome Scarlet Devil was doing. You seem to be quite tired dear; I do hope you're getting your eight hours of sleep." Though her facial expression was hidden by the fan the woman kept over her mouth, it was quite obvious the woman had a large grin on her face. The woman placed the picture Remilia had sent flying across the room back onto Remilia's desk gently right before the vampire.
Remilia stared at the picture with a look of remorse on her face before turning her eyes back to the uninvited visitor before her, "Leave, before I have Sakuya turn you into a pincushion." Remilia demanded as she bared her fangs at the woman.
"What's with all of the hostility? I just wanted to chat for a few moments…" the woman said with sarcasm dripping from each and every word. Remilia had the sudden urge to jump up over her desk and strangle the life out of the woman; she was one of the most infuriating beings in this land… "I suppose I'll let your lack of hospitality slide just this once though, my little vampire."
"Hrmph, just leave already if you aren't going to say anything worth listening to you old crone…" Remilia said as she took a sudden interest in the world outside her window. She could see her replacement gatekeeper standing outside with her arms hanging out at her sides, wearing her new black beret as she idly waited for any intruders to come by.
"Old crone!? I'm still a hip youngster Ms. Scarlet! Quite a few men tell me I'm quite the catch…everyone wants a part of little old me!" the woman said with a large mischievous grin on her face as she lightly fanned herself. Remilia's already low amount of patience was beginning to wear thin; lately this woman has been nothing but an infuriating annoyance. "But digressing, I suppose I should get to the point of my visit…" the woman yawned loudly before continuing, "I do hope you remember you and I would be having a little chat with you if your little bounty continued to disrupt the peace within Gensokyo…"
"L-Look here…J-Just wait a while longer and I'll take this bounty down, alright? I just want my sister back within the mansion as soon as possible, and this is just the qui-"
"Calm down my hasty little vampire! Don't be so quick to make assumptions!" the woman cut off with a wave of her hand, calming Remilia down from her momentary lapse of panic. Remilia sighed in relief at the woman's words, "However…I must ask that you stop tampering with fate to further your goal here…I know that you manipulated fate to make those lunarians your unwitting pawns." The woman's smirk disappeared, as did the playfulness in her voice. "That moon princess may be a snob at times, and her pharmacist cold-hearted, but even they wouldn't go to such lengths such as injuring an innocent party to fulfill their ambitions…I hope you realize that I won't tolerate this kind of behavior in Gensokyo…So I give you this warning, Remilia Scarlet, if you tamper with anyone else's fate to get them to do your bidding, there will be some…repercussions. Do I make myself clear?" the woman asked sternly as she glared down at the much shorter vampire.
"Y…Yes…perfectly…" Remilia reluctantly said.
"Good! I'm glad we could sort that nonsense out! Now, I suppose I'll leave you so you may turn in for the day! Buh-bye Ms. Scarlet, I hope we may have another delightful chat again sometime!" the woman said with her usual playful demeanor. The woman waved her hand before her, as her hand passed by, a violet void big enough to fit a person in appeared. Each end of the hole had a red ribbon tying them, as if to keep it from closing. The woman began to slowly stroll to the rift she had opened.
"W-Wait just a moment!" Remilia called just as the lady had taken a step into the void.
The woman slowly turned around to face the vampire, "Yeeeeessssssss, Ms. Scarlet~? Please make it quick, I quite dislike being up at this hour, and would like to get back to my nap…"
"You…You knew I manipulated fate…So do you know why even when I destined the Lunarians to capture Flandre and bring her here…why…why didn't it work?" Remilia asked, swallowing a decent chunk of pride in the process.
"Well Ms. Scarlet, the answer to that question is simple…I don't know." The woman replied casually.
"Wh-What? How can't you of all people not know!? You, the self-proclaimed youkai expert not know!?" Remilia cried in disbelief.
The woman simply shrugged, "Sorry, I honestly have no idea." She said with a smirk, "I also don't know how your sister even managed to make it outside of your mansion, much less her room. It's quite the mind-boggler…"
"Wh-Wha…H-How did you…?"
"Know? Dearie, fate may not be my exact area of expertise, but I can still tell when you've been tampering with it…even if it was over four-hundred and ninety-five years ago." The woman turned away from Remilia and began to head back to her still open gap, "Now, unless you have any more questions, I'll just be on my way now…Good day, Ms. Scarlet." And with that, the woman disappeared into the void, with the hole closing behind her.
As soon as she was finally alone, Remilia slammed her head into her desk and covered her head with her hands. "How…How can this be happening…? How can I, the Scarlet Devil, the mistress of fate itself not be able to manipulate one, single person's fate…especially when that person is none other than my very own sister…" Remilia soon let herself break into tears of frustration, it was no matter to her, just so long as no one was there to witness the mighty Scarlet Devil cry like a mere child.
"Nngh…Ah…Morning already…?" Meiling asked no one in particular as she groggily awakened from her slumber, taking a good look at her surroundings. She lied upon a green grassy field, aside from a patch of grass that had withered and died due to the battle she had with Yoshika. The Jiang Shi surprisingly made a worthy foe…she was so exhausted from the battle that she didn't even bother to set up their tent for the night.
Meiling slowly scooped up her green beret and placed it on her mane of red hair. She looked around; her two companions have seemed to have wandered off in her sleep. "Flandre, Koishi, where are you!?" Meiling called out. Her only response was a soft breeze, blowing her hair gently in the wind. "Come on you two! We don't have time for games, we need to make some ground here, sitting in one spot for too long is just asking for trouble." Meiling was concerned with being attacked by any bounty hunters, after the light show she put on last night, she wouldn't be surprised if one ambushed them at any second…she was actually surprised that they haven't been attacked in their sleep.
Meiling caught the distant sound of some childish giggling, "Ah, there they are…" Meiling mumbled to herself as she turned around to face the direction the noise was coming from. As Meiling took in the sight of where her companion's laughter was coming from, her face immediately turned pale, and a cold sweat went down her face. "Oh no…of all the places they had to go…Why there…?"
Meiling stared at the place before her with fear and dread, though in hindsight a field of sunflowers wouldn't be at all intimidating, in fact it would actually be quite pleasant. But this particular field of sunflowers had quite a nasty reputation, so much that all of Gensokyo's residents gave the place a wide berth. Only the truly foolish would unwittingly go there. The Garden of the Sun was quite a fearful place despite its appearance. Though it wasn't the garden itself that garnered some much fear from human and youkai alike, it was the being that resided within it.
"Blast, it's just one thing after another…I just can't catch break…" Meiling said to herself bitterly as she slowly crept up towards the garden, "Alright calm down Meiling…Just have to go in, get Flandre and Koishi and get out…Easy…r-right…?" despite the reassuring words she told herself, Meiling didn't feel any more at ease than she had moments ago. The gatekeeper cursed her luck as she cautiously entered the garden, with any hope she and her two companions would all make it out in one piece.
Meiling walked through the seemingly endless sunflower field that was the Garden of the Sun for what felt like hours, making her steps as quiet as she possibly could as a precaution. It would be preferable if the garden's guardian was never aware of her trespassing, especially when said guardian isn't particularly known as being merciful when it came to those who so much as laid a hand on her precious sunflowers.
Despite the great amount of sheer terror this place brought to Meiling, she couldn't help but admire the amount of work and devotion given to the plants surrounding her. Not a single plant had any flaws or imperfections whatsoever; they all looked like they received plenty of love and care from their owner. Meiling shook the thoughts out of her mind, now was not the time to be admiring the gardening skills of the caretaker of the Garden of the Sun…Especially when said caretaker would snap her like a twig if she caught her sneaking around her territory.
"Darn it…Where are those two…We need to get out of here right now…" Meiling muttered to herself in worry as she slowly maneuvered her way through the sunflowers, taking particular care not to damage the plants at all. If she did, the gardener would most certainly do the same to her tenfold…and then some.
Meiling found no sign of the two girls' whereabouts, nor were there any sounds to help point in her in the right direction. The garden was almost completely silent, deathly so. The only noise was the rustling of leaves as Meiling slowly trudged her way through the garden.
Soon enough the gatekeeper made it into a small clearing within the garden, it was completely empty, aside from a pale of water sitting near its edge. Meiling took a tentative look around; it didn't seem anyone was here, which was both saddening and encouraging for the Chinese youkai. On one hand she hasn't found her two young traveling companions, but garden's owner also hasn't detected her yet. There was still time to get out with Flandre and Koishi with the garden's caretaker knowing none the wiser.
Meiling took a glance up to the sky above, the sun was now high in the sky…just how long has she been in this damnable garden? As she gazed at the sky, an idea came to her. She decided on flying into the air for a brief moment to get a grasp just how far she had gone into the garden, and see if Koishi and Flandre were anywhere nearby.
Just as Meiling lifted off from the ground, her legs were met with a searing amount of pain, as a pair of tentacle-like vines began to suddenly wrap themselves around her ankles. Meiling cried in pain as the vines cut into her before painfully slamming her into the hard ground below. The gatekeeper moaned in agony as the vines began to lift her into the air by her legs, holding her upside down.
Meiling's vision began to leave her as blood began to trickle down from her head and onto the grass below. But her eyes popped wide open and her skin became white as snow as she saw the figure standing before her.
Staring off into the distance was a green haired woman; her hair was shoulder length and looked well kept. She wore a red plaid vest over a long sleeved blouse, the woman stood under what appeared to by a large pink umbrella. Meiling wasn't sure if she was beginning to hallucinate from the amount of blood loss or not, but she almost swore that the umbrella wasn't an umbrella at all, but was actually a very large flower. The woman simply gazed off to the distance, not even bothering to look at, or even so much as acknowledge the gatekeeper's presence. Meiling gazed upon the Garden of the Sun's owner, and one of Gensokyo's most feared beings…Yuuka Kazami. Even uttering her name sent chills down people's backs, and Meiling could now see why.
Yuuka soon turned her head towards Meiling, focusing her crimson red eyes on the gatekeeper. "My, what do we have here? A trespasser? Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to intrude on someone's property? I do hope you didn't come here to harm my little babies…" Yuuka said as she began to stroke a sunflower with a look of affection on her face, "I do hope you didn't…Or I may have to give you a good talking to…" without warning the vines that ensnared Marisa slammed her into the ground just as they had done before, causing the gatekeeper even further pain, "Well? What brings you here youkai? I'm not known for my patience, so speak."
Meiling tried to speak, but her mouth refused to open. The pain the flower youkai was causing her was too much too bear; it was a struggle just to remain conscious. "…Not going to talk, hmmmm?" Yuuka asked in a bored manner, "Well that's fine…in the end, it really won't matter." The fearsome youkai slowly strolled over to Meiling, holding her face in one hand while keeping a grip on her umbrella with the other. "Now then, let's have some fun, shall we?" Yuuka said as a grin slowly formed on her face.
Meiling's pupils shrunk as Yuuka stared straight into her soul, it looked like this was going to be the end for her…though youkai would traditionally resurrect after being killed, a nasty rumor had spread that youkai who fell by Yuuka's hands never came back from the dead…Though Meiling usually took such rumors with a grain of salt, she couldn't help but believe every terrifying story she ever heard about the flower youkai as she stared into the monster's demonic pair of eyes…Meiling thought she lived a pretty satisfying life, her only regret wasn't being able to keep her promise to Flandre…It looked like the little vampire and satori would have to finish their adventure around Gensokyo by themselves...
"Hey! What're you doing to China you big bully!?"
"Hmmmmm?" Yuuka looked back from the corner of her eye from the sudden noise, diverting her attention from her prey.
Meiling's eyes widened a bit as she tried to see who was foolish enough to try and face this monster. Meiling's entire being filled with dread as she saw that it was Flandre and Koishi.
"You better let China go right now or I'll beat you up!" Flandre threatened as her black staff, laevateinn, appeared in her hands in flaming flash of light. Koishi followed her friend's lead and tried taking on an intimidating stance, though her childish looks made the effort look downright silly.
"Fl-Flandre…R-run…Take Koishi and run as far away as you can…forget about me…J-just go…" Meiling weakly commanded, blood was beginning to rush to her head, making her feel light-headed. She was honestly surprised she managed to stay conscious for this long.
Yuuka slowly turned her back on Meiling to face these newcomers. Yuuka's eyes went wide as she saw that the ones who tried to oppose her were nothing but a pair of children. The flower youkai recovered from her mild surprise and put on a stern expression before slowly making her way to the pair of girls.
Even as Yuuka slowly approached them, the pair of youkai didn't even so much as flinch and stood their ground. Meiling couldn't bear to watch what kind of horrid things that Yuuka would do to them, she clenched her eyes closed and silently began to pray for the two. She just hoped that they would forgive her for not being able to protect them…Though Meiling didn't hear any agonizing screams or cries for help. Rather she heard something that she didn't expect to hear at all…
"Oh my! Well aren't you two just adorable! I could just eat you two up!" Yuuka gushed as she pulled the pair into a big hug.
"Eh!?" was all Meiling could think to say as she watched Yuuka Kazami, a youkai that was feared by all and dubbed as a merciless and bloodthirsty monster, hug both Flandre and Koishi like a mother would her child. Flandre and Koishi also seemed to be surprised as well, as they just exchanged astonished looks as the flower youkai held the pair in an embrace.
Yuuka let the two go, but not before teasingly pinching their cheeks, "You two are just too precious! Now what are you two cuties doing here? Are you two lost?" Yuuka asked in a motherly tone as she crouched down to their height. "Oh! Would you two like some sweets? I'm sure I have some around here somewhere…" Meiling's jaw opened wide as she watched in utter shock as Yuuka dig through her vest pocket, "Aha, there they are…Here you go."
"Um, th-thanks…" Flandre said quietly as she took one of the pieces of candy Yuuka had offered.
"Yeah…thanks…" Koishi said equally as quiet as she timidly took the remaining piece of candy Yuuka held in her palm.
"Now what brings you two dears to my abode? It's not often I receive guests, much less such adorable ones such as yourselves, well aside from my usual little visitor…" Yuuka asked with an adoring smile on her face.
"…Um…W-We just wanted to look at the sunflowers…" Flandre answered timidly.
"You just wanted to look at my garden? How cute!" the flower youkai gushed, "Would you two like some lunch? I'm sure you two are hungry…"
"Ummm…N-No thanks…I'm not hungry!" Flandre hastily replied. Her stomach chose the worst possible time to betray her as a deep rumbling noise echoed throughout the garden. Flandre's cheeks blushed a little as she grasped her stomach, "Be quiet mister stomach…You're going to get me in trouble..." she whispered to herself.
Koishi slowly poked Flandre in the back a few times to get her attention, "Ummm…I'm actually kinda hungry Flanny…Can we please have some lunch…?" the satori sheepishly asked.
"Ahahahaha…You two are just too cute! Don't be so shy now, I wouldn't mind the company…Really, I insist you join me for a good meal." Yuuka said in a hospitable manner. "Plus I'd like you to meet a little friend of mine…she could use a few friends her own age to play with…so please do me the honor and join me."
"Well…Alright lady, I guess I'm kinda hungry…" Flandre admitted in embarrassment. "But you gotta let China go right now, or else!" she demanded, crossing her arms and pouting for good measure.
Yuuka let out a hearty laugh, "Oh, you mean her?" Yuuka asked as she snatched a quick glance at Meiling, who was beginning to look like she would lose consciousness at any moment now. "Oops! I wasn't aware she was a friend of yours…" as she said that, the vines around Meiling unceremoniously let her go, making Meiling fall face first on to the ground. The gatekeeper began to spit out some grass she had managed to get in her mouth and grab her hat which had fallen off from Yuuka's surprise attack.
Meiling looked up to see Yuuka standing before her, holding a hand out to her along with a smile on her face. The Chinese youkai ignored her and simply got up, wordlessly brushing her dress off. Flandre and Koishi soon crept up to her and both gave her a hug, Meiling couldn't help but smile, she was glad the two of them were safe…she would have to give the two a good scolding later for running off...but for now she was just glad they were alive.
"Well, now that that little misunderstanding has been cleared up, let's be on our way now, shall we?" Yuuka asked as she slowly walked at her own pace back to her home within the dense forest like garden it resided in.
Despite the lack of hostility the flower youkai was currently showing, Meiling couldn't help but feel a bit on edge…she refused to let her guard down around this woman. She would have to keep a close eye on her, but for now there was nothing to do but follow her to what she called home. Trying to escape Yuuka in the Garden of the Sun was like counting the grains of sand on the beach, it was a foolhardy thing to attempt. Meiling just hoped that she and her three companions would live to see another day…
A/N: Well there we go, another chapter done and posted! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too with this chapter, I felt really guilty for the amount of waiting I put the readers of this story through for the last one...All I can say is, is that writing two stories at a time is a big pain! I always end up feeling guilty about making the reader's of whichever story wait really long for a chapter that usually ends up being between three-thousand to five-thousand words...Which isn't as long as they should be for the amount of time I keep people waiting. xP
Anyways, my own personal dilemma aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm hoping to do a different portrayal of Yuuka than what is usually seen in these parts...Hopefully the next chapter will come out soon, as I'm excited to write it, considering one of my favorite characters of TouHou will be making an I'm thinking I won't end up finishing it until 2013...
Until next time!