Yet another crumpled paper was carelessly tossed to the waste basket. While it didn't quite reach its destination, it did at the very least make it into the general area. But even if it had made it to the bin it would have just slid out anyways, as the basket was already overflowing with many drafts of various stories. These stories varied from covering mundane events of no particular importance to those more noteworthy. However it mattered not what subject these papers covered, as they all found their way to the same place in the end…

Hatate sighed in exasperation as she ripped out another sheet of paper from her typewriter and crumpled it in her hand in dissatisfaction. How many drafts had it been now? Five? Ten? Thirty? She had lost count.

The aspiring reporter reclined in her chair in defeat and let out a moan. She had been at it for hours, yet nothing came to her. Her writing felt mediocre at best…Perhaps she really wasn't cut out for the reporting business. After all, she hardly had a reader to her name. She saw more people using her papers as flyswatters and fish-wrap than as reading material…

The girl then painfully hammered her head into her desk and let out a muffled moan of frustration. These stories just weren't cutting it for her…She needed a good story, one that was engaging and interesting. Something that would set her paper apart from the rest of the gossip rags flying about the city...Though scoops of the grandeur she was thinking of only came once in a lifetime…or at least a human's lifetime.

The exhausted tengu snuck a peek outside, it looked like she had pulled off another successful all-nighter and she still had nothing to show for it…She was beginning to think maybe she ought to go and scan one of the various newspapers in the city for any job-openings. Or she was, until a gleam of light that had reflected directly into her eyes.

Hatate flinched and covered her eyes from the various colored lights assaulting her eyes. It was at that moment she looked down at the source of the light that her eyes lit up. Red-dress…blonde hair…and wings that were every color of the rainbow…

Hatate skeptically wiped her eyes out and gave herself a tiny prick to check if she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating…She found that to her good fortune, neither was the case! It really was her! There was no mistaking it! The reporter then giggled to herself as she snatched her thoughtography camera along with a fresh notepad and pen before dashing out the door.


The three had finally reached their destination, the Tengu village…Though it looked much more like a city than it did a village. The architecture of the settlement was far more advanced than that of the Human Village, but still far from as much as the Kappa's vast underwater settlement. The ground was covered in mosaic tiles; there was also a dazzling fountain in the center of the town-square with a crow and wolf tengu statue being its centerpiece. The city was truly a sight to behold.

Thankfully, the tengu's approach towards outsiders didn't seem to be enforced at all in the village, as the three had yet to be jumped by any guards. The villagers also more or less ignored them aside from a few whispering to one another and pointing in their direction. It looked like the three could finally rest easy for once…

"Ooh…A fountain!" Flandre cheered as she looked at it excitedly as she dug through her pockets. The vampire eventually pulled out a single rusted coin out and ran to the fountain.

Meiling only smirked as she followed closely after her, with a slightly perplexed Koishi following along as she chomped down on one of the sweet potatoes they had received from the Aki sisters. The two reached the childish vampire just in time to see her flip the coin into the fountain.

"Huh? Why're you tossing your money into the fountain?" Koishi asked in between bites of her potato, "How're we s'pposed to buy any treats if you're tossing your money away all willy-nilly?"

"It's a bit of an old tradition, it's said that if you drop a coin into a fountain your wishes will come true." Meiling explained.

"Ohhhh…I knew that!" Koishi said sheepishly, "So…Any wish will come true if I just toss some money in here?" the satori asked as she pointed to the spring.

The gatekeeper nodded, "That's what they say anyways, there's no guarantee it'll actually be granted, but there's no harm in trying."

Koishi then dug through her own pockets and plucked out her own coin and unceremoniously dropped it into the fountain. She then clasped her hands together as if she were in prayer and shut her eyes. After a few moments the girl's eyes popped back open and a small smile began to grow on her face.

"So what did you wish for?" Flandre asked eagerly, "Did you wish for a new hat or some shoes? Ooh or maybe some new toys?"

Koishi smirked at the question, "Sorry, I can't tell you, otherwise it won't come true!"

Flandre puffed her cheeks out at the satori, "Awww…Don't start being a stick in the mud now…"

The Chinese youkai smiled at the two's exchange. After spending the past two days running from prospective bounty-hunters and fighting for their lives, she was happy to see that the most they had to worry about today were wishes. While she knew the rest of their journey would obviously not continue to go so smoothly, it was nice to have a break from it all…

"Miss Flandre! What's your impression of Gensokyo so far!?" someone suddenly shouted to Flandre. The vampire turned her head into confusion, only to be blinded by a sudden flash of light.

The blonde girl squealed in surprise as she began wiping her eyes out, but more and more flashes continued to blind her. Meiling quickly stepped in front of her, shielding her from the camera flashes protectively.

"Hey Miss Scarlet, what's your favorite color?" a prospective reporter asked as he began to snap more pictures of the dazed girl.

"Miss Flandre, where did you get your dress from?" another asked.

"Are the rumors about you and Meiling being in a relationship true?"

"Where did you and Miss Komeiji meet!?"

"Is it true you're dating Flandre, Miss Komeiji?"

"Can you give me some details about your daily routine Miss Meiling?"

"So, what's the story with your wings Miss Flandre? Did you make them yourself?"

"Are you single!?"

They hadn't even been there for a minute and these reporters were already beginning to wear on Meiling's last nerve…While normally she had unrivaled patience, she felt a strong urge to practice up on her martial arts on the nearest reporter…

Suddenly, out of the blue, a purple blur single handedly mowed down all of the reporters in sight as if they were bowling pins. The perpetrator was a young woman looking to be in her late teens. She wore a white blouse and a purple checkered skirt. Her chestnut brown hair was tied in two long pigtails and had a small purple tokin hat resting upon her head. She looked like she had just run a few miles non-stop, as she was panting heavily.

"H…Hatate Himekaidou, Kakashi Spirit News! You're one Miss Flandre Scarlet, Hong Meiling and Koishi Komeiji, right!?" the girl asked excitedly.

Meiling simply stared at the reporter, being both a little impressed and terrified at how...devoted she was to her job to the point she'd simply run over anyone who got in her way. Flandre and Koishi remained silent as they both were still busying themselves by wiping the cameras obnoxious flashes out of their eyes.

The silence was finally broken by Koishi, who had finally recovered her sight "Umm…Are you a street-performer or something?" the satori asked.

"St-Street perfo-Don't be silly! I'm Hatate Himekaidou of Kakashi Spirit News! Hahaha…Surely you've heard of my newspaper? Right…?" The three girls simply exchanged looks with one another, each looking to the other as if one of them had the answer. "Ummm…N-Never mind…" Hatate sighed, "Anyways, I have a small proposition for Miss Scarlet and her party of two!"

"Why's it Flanny and her party of two…? When'd she become the main character?" Koishi muttered as she gently kicked one of the reporters that had fallen victim to Hatate's charge.

Either no one heard Koishi's comment or everyone simply chose to ignore it as Meiling stepped forward, "Proposition? What sort of proposition…?" the gatekeeper asked warily.

"H-Hey now there's no need to treat me like I'm some sort of crook or anything like that! I just ummm…W-Well if you're not too busy…Er, w-would you…" Hatate began as she began to twiddle her thumbs nervously.

"Would you…?" Meiling asked with slight impatience.

"Oh, would you please let me interview you!?" Hatate cried as she bowed onto the ground, "Please! I'm begging you here! Please, please, please! I'll do anything! ANYTHING!"

Flandre remained silent, thinking carefully about Hatate's offer, "…Anything…?" the vampire asked.

"Anything! You name it and it's yours! Well…Almost anything…"

The vampire went back to silence, mulling her choices over. One couldn't simply turn down an offer for anything after all…She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Koishi creep up towards her. The satori then whispered something incoherent into her ear; Flandre immediately erupted into a fit of laughter and nodded in response to whatever Koishi had said.

"Okay, if you treat us to lunch I'll do your interview thingy." Flandre finally answered.

"Alright…I understand I'll just-wait, say what now?" the reporter asked in disbelief, "Did…Did you like, really just say yes…?"

Flandre nodded in confirmation, "Uh-huh, sure did!"

"…Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" Hatate cheered as she squeezed Flandre into a painfully tight embrace, "It's a deal! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so happy I think I could kiss you!"

Meiling slowly crept up to Flandre and whispered, "Flandre, are you sure about this…? I'm not sure this is a very good idea…" the gatekeeper dreaded what sort of questions Hatate would be asking Flandre…If this reporter was anything like Aya, or even any of the unconscious reporters surrounding them, she dreaded to see what the article would say in comparison to the answers that were actually given…

"Don't be a worry-wart China, I'll bet this interview thing will be lots of fun!" the vampire replied cheerfully, "Um, just as long as there aren't any cameras anyways…"

Meiling simply nodded and didn't question her any further. If it made Flandre happy, she wouldn't have any objections to it. Though she would most definitely be keeping an eye on what Hatate wrote, the last thing they needed was unsavory rumors spreading about Flandre…

"Hey um…I love hugs as much as the next person, but you're kind of making it hard for me to breathe…" Flandre said to Hatate, who still had her arms wrapped around the vampire.

"O-Oh right! S-Sorry my bad!" Hatate said sheepishly as her face turned red from embarrassment, "A-Anyways, I'll treat you to anything you want! The tengu village only serves the finest of meals, so if you see anything that you like, just say the word! Now lead the way!" the reporter said as she waited for Flandre to lead the way.

Flandre pondered the thought for a moment before walking off towards nowhere in particular, with Meiling, Koishi and Hatate following closely behind. The vampire scanned the various food-joints in the village; looking for anything that looked appetizing…Nothing had caught her eye yet. Honestly, she wouldn't even begin to know where to start when deciding what meal to have. After all, for as long as she could remember, the food had always come to her, not the other way around…And many of these meals looked…unfamiliar to her. There wasn't anything resembling the meals she was accustomed to in sight.

Meiling seemed took notice of the vampire's confusion, "Flandre, if you're having a difficult time deciding, may I recommend trying some Sashimi?" the gatekeeper suggested.

"Sashi-what now …?" the vampire asked curiously, unfamiliar with the meal.

"Sashimi," the getekeepr corrected, "Its raw fish with soy-sauce! It's pretty good!"

"Bleck! Raw fish? That doesn't sound tasty at all!" Flandre said in disgust.

Meiling thought for a moment, "Well…Then how about some Sukiyaki? It has beef, vegetables, tofu and some vermicelli in it. There's someone selling it right over there!" the gatekeeper said excitedly as she pointed toward a nearby stand.

Flandre glanced at the stand and immediately shook her head in rejection. Hatate then spoke up, "Y'know, there's this nice place that serves some killer tempura! It's really cheap too…"

Flandre pondered the idea, being unsure of the suggestion. Koishi then gave her own suggestion to the picky-vampire, "Hey Flanny! Why don't we just go and try everything?" the satori said with a devious grin, "You're definitely bound to find something tasty then!"

Meiling nodded in agreement, mostly because she wasn't the one who had to pay the bill. "That's not a half-bad idea Koishi. We may as well try as much cuisine the village has to offer while we're here…" she said with a smirk.

Hatate felt a sense of dread emanating from her wallet in reaction to the suggestion, "Wha-What? N-No! S-Seriously, the tempura here is divine! I mean, it's so good I have it for all my meals! Not to mention it's you know…affordable…"

The reporter's words fell on deaf ears however, as Flandre grinned. "That sounds like a great idea Koishi!" she cheered, "I wanna go to the best restaurant in town Miss Reporter!" the vampire said as she tugged on Hatate's skirt excitedly.

The tengu let out a depressed sigh, "Okay…Right this way…" Hatate murmured sadly, kissing all the hard-earned cash she had saved up goodbye.


Hatate was beginning to wish she had offered something a lot less…expensive to the girls. At this point, her wallet was nearly empty…Flandre had ended up shoveling down meal after meal…But Koishi…Koishi practically inhaled a week's worth of food! She understood that youkai had a much larger appetite than humans did, but it didn't make the pain of her loss sting any less. Even Meiling ate quite a bit…Hatate was really dreading to see how many zeroes were going to be on her bill…

"Ahhh…I haven't eaten like that since we left the mansion…" Meiling sighed in content, "Thanks for the food Miss Hatate! It was delicious!"

"Y-Yeah…" Hatate murmured despondently.

Koishi picked at her teeth with a tooth-pick, looking like she was finally satisfied. "Yeah…It was crazy good! Thanks for the food!"

Looking like everyone had finally finished eating; a small smile of relief grew on the tengu's face. Now it was the moment she had been waiting for, if everything panned out, the bill would be no problem to take care of after this… "Now, Miss Scarlet, if you're finished eating, I'd like to begin the interview now." Hatate said as she cracked open her notepad, with her pen hand itching to write down everything Flandre had to say.

The vampire let out a sigh as she rubbed her stomach, "Sure, ready whenever you are! Oh, and you can just call me Flandre y'know!"

The blue-blooded vampire's response was peculiar in Hatate's eyes. Being the descendant of a noble vampire family, she hadn't expected Flandre to be so…straight-forward. She felt like the exact opposite of her sister, who demanded respect with her mere presence...However, Hatate didn't mind skipping the formalities, and it made her feel all the more at ease speaking with her.

"Oh, well um…Alright, Flandre it is then! First of all, welcome to Kakashi Spirit News!" Hatate chirped with newfound enthusiasm, "Now, I'm sure our readers are dying to know what you have to say! So without any further ado…Question one!"


"How did it feel Miss Remilia, to find that your younger sister was suddenly missing, only to have it revealed that she was taken away by your very own gatekeeper?" Aya asked, awaiting Remilia's answer with barely suppressed anticipation.

Remilia paused, as if considering her response, "I felt…betrayed. Not only had Meiling deliberately disobeyed me, but even my own flesh and blood went against my wishes." The vampire answered, "I just want those two back here as soon as possible…Only lord knows what sort of mayhem Flandre will unleash without me watching over her…"

Aya slowly nods in understanding as she quickly jots down the vampire's response, "I see…But may I point out that little in the way of mayhem has occurred since your little sister left? To date, there have been no reports of collateral damage caused directly by your sister…" the reporter pointed out.

Remilia's confidence wavered at Aya's point, but she quickly regained her composure and countered, "Yes, it would seem that way. But do keep in mind that my sister has some…issues, controlling herself. I didn't lock my sister away without reason, Shameimaru, it was for her own good." The vampire said sternly.

Aya began to jot something down once again and dropped the subject. "Next question…"


"How did it feel, after over four-hundred years of solitude, to finally be free from the basement?" Hatate asked, patiently awaiting Flandre's answer.

"How did it feel…?" Flandre repeated, "Well…it felt…good. It was amazing; everything was so pretty…It was even better than the pictures I saw in books! Oh and everyone was really nice too!"

Jotting down her response, Hatate follows up on her question, "Speaking of which…Could you name a few? People you've met, I mean."

"Uh-huh! Well there's Alice…She acted really grumpy at first, but she's actually really nice! And there's Moky, she's really cool! Then there's Kogasa, Tenshi…Oh, and Koishi too!" Flandre said fondly as she looked at the girl in question, who seemed to be day-dreaming at the moment.

"Ah, it seems like you've met quite a few people!" Hatate said with fascination, "Speaking of which, how did Miss Komeiji end up joining you in your travels?"

"Well…"


"So Miss Remilia, Gensokyo has become a lot more active since you posted that bounty on Flandre. Why did you decide to respond to the situation in this way?" the tengu inquired.

Remilia almost appeared to have foreseen the question, as she answered almost immediately. "To put it simply, a bigger net catches more fish, in this case, the fish being my sister and gatekeeper. Despite acting like an oaf, Meiling isn't quite as dumb as she appears to be. She knows how to avoid unnecessary attention, which makes tracking her and Flandre difficult, to say the least." The vampire said confidently.

Aya once again jot something down in her notepad, just as she had done after each of Remilia's responses. "I see… Well anyways, here's my last question!"


Hatate quickly wrote down Flandre's retelling of her and Koishi's meeting, absorbing each and every detail with interest. "Wow, that's one crazy meeting! To think, such a great friendship could be born from such misfortune! It's kind of like…poetic in a sense!" the tengu chirped happily, "Thanks for sharing your story with us! Now, for my next question, and umm…Feel free to not answer it if it's too personal but…What went through your mind when you found out your sister, Remilia, put a bounty on your head?"

Flandre paused a moment, her heart dropping at the question. "I...It felt…" she murmured, trying to gather her thoughts.

"It must have hurt, to have found out that the only family you had would do something like that to you…right?" Hatate asked with sympathy.

The vampire nodded weakly, "Y-Yeah…It hurt lots…It still hurts a little." Flandre said, "But…I know Remi only did it because she's worried about me…Why else would she do something like that?"

Meiling cast the young-mistress a concerned gaze, "Flandre…"

"Alright, thank you for sharing Flandre." Hatate said gratefully, "I know it mustn't have been easy…Anyways, on a lighter note, what do you think of the Youkai Mountain so far? I hope our guards didn't pose too much trouble for you and your friends!"

Flandre immediately perked up at the question, "The Mountain is great! Everyone here is really nice, and the view is really great up here!" she exclaimed, "Oh…But there's one thing that's been bugging me…"

"Eh? What's that?"

"Well…A really nice lady-Miss Hina-told me there's a big bully named Kanako hogging all the faith on the Mountain." The vampire explained, "And Hina says that if she and her friends don't get faith soon, they're all gonna go poof!"

The reporter was hesitant to write the vampire's answer, Kanako's influence on the Mountain was second only to Lord Tenma's. The Goddess would have her wings if she did anything to besmirch her name…But in the end, she scribbled it down, "Uh-huh…Well, Lady Kanako has been expanding her influence a lot lately…I'm sure she'll slow things down soon enough though!" Hatate said reassuringly.

"She better…" Flandre muttered under her breath.

"D-Don't worry about it, everything'll be fine! I Promise! Anyways…It looks like we're at our final question!" the reporter announced, "I'm sure everyone has anyone wants to know this…If you had the opportunity, what would you say to your sister now?"


"I…I'm not sure I quite understand the question…Could you please repeat that?" Remilia asked quietly, she hadn't expected a question quite like that…

"Sure, the question was: If you were given the chance to say anything, and I mean anything to your little sister, what would it be?" Aya repeated, "I mean, there must be a lot you'd want to say to her, am I right?"

Remilia could only manage a weak nod as she thought about the question carefully. It was such a simple question, yet she couldn't form a response…It was as if her mind had shut-down… "I-If I could say anything to her…I...I would…"


"I…I'd tell her not to worry." Flandre answered, "I'd tell her that I'm a big girl, and she doesn't need to worry about me and…and that I love her!"

Hatate writes down Flandre's final response and smiles happily at the gold written down in her notepad. After the next article of Kakashi Spirit News was printed, she knew it would be the talk of the town, she just knew it! "Thank you for your time Flandre! I really, really, REALLY appreciate it!" Hatate gushed, "But um…If you guys don't mind would you all like, be alright with taking a picture with me?"

"Yeah!" Flandre and Koishi responded together without even blinking an eye. The two had obviously forgotten the incident in the town-square fairly quickly.

Meiling was a little less enthusiastic about the prospect, "Well…I suppose a simple picture couldn't hurt…" she answered.

"Awesome! Thanks sooooooo much guys!" Hatate chirped. The reporter quickly dug out what looked like one of the cellular-communication devices humans in the outside world often times used and pointed it towards herself, "Okay, now everyone just squeeze together here…" the tengu lightly tugged Meiling closer to herself before facing back towards her strange looking camera. "Alright, everyone say, 'Fuzzy Pickles!'"

As soon as those words were uttered, a flash emanated from the camera, blinding the three. Hatate however, appeared to be completely unaffected by the camera's bright flash and gushed at the picture on her screen as soon as the picture had been taken. "Oh…My…Gosh! Everyone's totally going to flip once they see this!" Hatate squealed in excitement as she hugged the phone-like camera to her chest, "Thanks so much for everything guys! You're the best!"

"Ouchy…Man, my eyes haven't felt like this since I had that staring contest with the sun…" Koishi whined as she wiped the flash from her eyes.

Meiling was left unaffected by the flash as she simply blinked a few times rather than clawing at her eyeballs like Koishi was at the moment. "No problem. But I have to ask that you don't print this story until we've put the mountain behind us for a fair amount of time." Meiling requested, "It'd be a little troublesome if anyone looking for some quick coin found out where we were from a news article…"

"Oh yeah, no sweat! I mean, I gotta find some page fillers before I even think of writing the article up anyways!" Hatate laughed, "Don't worry; I'll make sure you're long gone before the article is even on shelves! Tengu's honor!"

Meiling nodded, trusting the girl would keep her word, "Thank you for your cooperation. I and my two young friends here really appreciate it!" the Chinese Youkai said gratefully, "Anyways, we really should be going now. It'd be best if we don't hang around in such a public place here for too long…Alright Koishi, lead the way!"

Koishi simply looked at the gatekeeper in confusion, "Huh? Why am I the leader all of a sudden?" the satori asked, "Aren't you the one with the map?"

"Well, we are going to Former Hell…I mean, don't you know the way from here?" Meiling asked, now somewhat concerned.

"Oh right! Follow me guys! I'll lead us to the Underground…Just as soon as I pick up its scent…"

Now Meiling was very concerned, "R-Right…You…You work on that Koishi…" the gatekeeper said weakly, "Anyways, I suppose this is farewell Hatate. I wish you the best of luck in the future!"

"Bye Hatate!" Flandre chirped as she gave a small curtsy to the reporter, just as a true-lady would do.

The reporter replied with a nod, "Like, thanks a lot you guys! Here's hoping everything'll be smooth-sailing on your end!" Hatate said with a two-fingered salute.

"Hmmmmm…It's…This way!" Koishi exclaimed as she began to walk to wherever her nose lead her. Flandre and Meiling quickly followed after her, with their next destination being uncertain as they left Hatate and the Tengu Village behind them.


AN: Boy, it's good to be back! It feels like so much has happened since my last post! I mean…The full version of DDC came out, (Live long and suck it Seija.) I finally managed to unlock Extra mode in a TouHou game, I FINALLY got a job, among many other things that you guys don't care about!

So anyways…I apologize for how long this chapter took to write. I mean, I started this a long time ago…I think a little before September, actually. To be honest, I restarted this chapter at about three-thousand words because I hated the beginning. Then school started, and I've been doing a lot of writing for a Creative Writing class…so to put it simply, I've been busy juggling a lot of things, with my hobbies and personal life.I promise I haven't been doing anything though, I was also writing another, future project that'll be posted here in the far future… (Like whenever Colorful Days finally comes to a close.)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter though, with all its crazy parallelism and junk. Because this chapter is one I've been looking forward to writing…I just hope it didn't make it too confusing, with all of it's jumping around. Hopefully the line breaks will make things clear though…

With any luck, the next chapter won't take quite as long…Hopefully. Because after this upcoming chapter, we're kissing this Mountain hoopla goodbye! Until next time! (Happy Birthday to me!)