I woke up from my deep sleep, the room empty except for me. I saw my wound had completely healed. Eirin entered the room.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. How long was I out of it?"

"Four days."

"Wow. Did you have to do anything while I was unconscious?"

"No, it was quite impressive how your body knew to stay asleep until you had healed."

"Yeah. Is it normal for me not to feel hungry or anything?"

"The Hourai Elixir also effectively eliminates the need for sustenance. You're basically self-sufficient."

"Is that all, or does it have any other effects? I'm amazed that so little of it was enough to do all of this."

"That's basically all of the effects I can think of off the top of my head."

"So... Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"The past few days have been quite uneventful."

"Good, has anyone seen anything of the monster?"

"No, it hasn't appeared since you fought it."

"That's fortunate. No need to have any chaos while I'm sleeping. I presume the others have returned to the mansion."

"They are at the Scarlet Devil Mansion at the moment, but they have visited daily. Another gentleman about your age visited as well, he said his name was Jakob."

"Oh, yeah. I know him."

"I hoped so. The residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion are going to arrive soon for today's visit."

"That's good. So, nothing at all happened? No other problems?"

"No, everything has stayed in order."

"Should I even try to stand up?"

"You've healed very well, you probably can without difficulty."

"Alright." I climbed out of bed, feeling a slight ache present in my ribs, and where my wound used to be. I managed to stay on balance. "Well. I guess I'm fixed up then."

"To put it that way, yes." I stretched my arms for the first time in nearly a week. I enjoyed being able to sleep for so long, as my family would have thrown everything they could at me to wake me up, like one time when my mother used a spray bottle to wake me up to go to school. Coincidence or not, I had to be removed from school due to illness that day. I was glad that Eirin was okay with me sleeping so long, along with everyone who visited me during my slumber, because I had just made a record for the longest time I had ever slept uninterrupted. I stared out the window, seeing the bamboo forest that surrounded Eientei. It was sunny, and midday.

"What a lovely day it is."

"We're still just at the high point of Autumn. It is quite lovely, isn't it?"

"Yeah, more than it is at my home. I'd take this view any day. You know, thinking about it, I'm better off here in Gensokyo. I don't think I need to go back to the outside world any time soon. Here, it's good to know that I matter, I never realized that much in the outside world."

"The outside world seems to have degraded a bit culturally, hasn't it."

"Well, actually, I like to think that not the whole world is like that. It was just that one party really."

"Regardless, I've seen enough of the outside world for a good while."

"I can't say I blame you."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that you were in the newspaper."

"Huh, is that so? Might I ask what for?"

"It was about your conflict with the monster."

"Huh."

"It had a picture of you in it."

"May I see the newspaper?"

"Of course." She briefly left the room, and I turned back to the window. Eirin returned shortly after, and handed me the newspaper. I saw where I was. I wasn't in a tiny side article like I was once before for that science project from seventh-grade. I was in the headline.

"Well... Finding it didn't take much effort." I noticed the picture. Taken from above at an angle, it was me fighting the monster in close quarters. I noticed the wide exit wound positioned between my shoulders. "The picture really shows my wound. The exit is nearly though my neck. I thought it would have been a bit lower. All I know is that it looks pretty bad."

"It was very brave of you to fight such a formidable creature."

"If I found it, why would I let it escape unscathed?" I replied with a smirk.

"You didn't leave the fight unscathed either unfortunately."

"Eh, acceptable damage. It's better that I get hurt than to let someone else be killed."

"I know that mindset of yours. I share it as well. Next time something seems to be wrong, you can summon either Kaguya or myself, and we'll be happy to help you."

"Thanks. Oh, and another question. If Gensokyo will collapse when Reimu dies, why don't we give her the elixir?"

"She believes immortality will corrupt her soul."

"This is an incorrect assumption, is it not?"

"Indeed it is, immortality binds the body to the soul. It prevents it from dying, as one's spirit is not able to die under normal circumstances, and the elixir prevents even those circumstances from killing one's soul."

"I imagine I'll get a philosophy lecture if I were to ask what those circumstances were."

"It would not be easy to explain."

"Then I'll just leave that where it is. Do we have any idea when the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion will arrive?"

"They should be arriving any moment now."

"I should probably change out of this shirt." I had been wearing it for four consecutive days, and it soaked up a lot of the blood and sweat. Same story for my pants." Luckily I had left my backpack with Kaguya, and knew where to find it. I went to retrieve it. Kaguya was still in her room. I picked up my pack.

"I see you finally woke up."

"Yeah, don't know how I slept so long. All I know is that I broke my previous record."

"I could guess that much."

"So, did anything happen while I was out of it?"

"Nothing of great importance."

"Good to know that no problems have presented themselves. I'll go change." I did as I stated, and switched out for another outfit, discarding the damaged and bloodied one. I waited for my friends to return. I then came to a realization. "I really do have a lot more friends here than I did on the outside. I don't think I have met anyone that I haven't gotten along with."

"You're just that kind of person. You're hard to fight, because you don't give anyone a reason to fight you."

"I try not to."

"That's a good thing about you. You don't seek out conflict."

"Why would I?"

"Don't worry, I'm not saying you should."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to think that way."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't be that person."

"I trust that. You've been a good friend, I know you wouldn't try to turn me into something I wouldn't want."

"I'm glad you trust me. Anyway, is there anything else you would like to discuss."

"No, I just need to get out of these clothes... Fortunately I have a bunch of outfits' worth. Anyway, I'll be going now."

"Goodbye Jacob."

"Goodbye Kaguya." I left the room, went into another, and quickly changed my clothes. I went back to the clinic to wait. I sat on the side of the hospital bed I was previously was recovering in. I waited, anticipating their arrival. Before I knew it, hours had passed, and nobody had arrived. Eirin entered after some time.

"Has nobody visited?" She asked with worry showing in her voice.

"Nope... Do you think they forgot?"

"I don't know. They said they would visit again today, I don't understand why they didn't..."

"Maybe I should go check on them tomorrow. Something might have happened. I hope you don't mind if I stay here for one more night."

"That's fine. When do you expect to leave?"

"First thing in the morning. Hopefully everything is okay... Then again, it's probably nothing. If I was in decent condition they probably could tell they didn't need to check up on me."

"Regardless, sorry that nobody showed up..."

"It's alright. Anyway, goodnight Eirin."

"Goodnight Jacob." She left the room, and I dozed off.