"Phew, thank goodness it's finally over." I sigh in satisfaction as I look at my finished homework.
Spending a Friday night's sleep at my university to finish the activities I had to turn in paid out, this time at least. My vision was slightly hazy as my body begged me to have some shut-eye, and I would be more than happy to comply were it not for the fact that it was still dark outside and I had nobody to accompany me on the way back home. At that moment, I remembered why I hardly ever used this study room to get my work done: the internet restricted access to gaming platforms and I wasn't allowed to sleep in it. Wait a moment…
Now that I think about it, those actually were GOOD reasons to use the study room, the "restricted access internet" being especially useful for easily distracted people like me. After packing my stuff, I looked around the room searching for any potential forms of life: only empty tables, chairs and disconnected desktops surrounded me. My wristwatch had 03:27 written on it. I still had some time to kill before the sun rose and I didn't know how to spend it. I could play some offline game on my laptop or my 2DS, but I wasn't in the mood. I could listen to the radio, but there were only music channels and zero news channels at this part of the country.
That left "taking a nap" as the only option. The only people inside this university this late at night are me and a security guard, who is probably patrolling far away, looking for any suspicious activity. Even then, if he caught me sleeping, the worst that could happen would be me getting scolded and having my ID requested for filing a report on how I dared to take a nap inside an empty study room and how my snoring disrupted the study session of absolutely no one in particular.
Setting some of the chairs side by side, I lay my body down on them, my back facing the floor and my hands resting on my chest. With the help of the air-conditioner, it wasn't long before I fell asleep on the makeshift bed of hard wooden chairs.
During my peaceful nap, I felt as if I was floating on air, which made for a relaxing experience. After a while, I wake up slowly, stretching myself, yawning, looking at the numerous eyes in the distance that are staring at me and… I stop everything to let it sink in for a moment, and after a brief pause it hits me. Why were those eyes staring at me? Why am I floating in an empty space? How did get here to begin with?! I try to look around me for anyone who might be nearby, only to find nothing but those eyes staring at my soul. Man, this is Yume-Nikki levels of creepy, but I must stay brave in the face of those eyes that have no face and return my gaze full force! Our looks clash in a battle of endurance, lasting for what it looks like to be an eternity, but it only lasted about 7 seconds before I decided to look away. All the while, they were still at it.
"Tch, tryhards. Sooo, am I going to stay here until the end of time or what?" I say to no one else in particular.
Almost as if to answer my question, a tear is opened out of nowhere, pulling me towards it. There was a beautiful landscape on the other side, which looked nothing like home to me. A vast sea of trees covered the land, save for a few mountains. I am forced through the portal and after exiting it, the force of gravity, which was practically nonexistent ever since I woke up, remembered its role and made me enter a state of free fall. I could only look in horror as the portal I came from closes and I approach the ground at dangerous speeds!
"My Lord, save me!" I cry out in fear, desperation evident in my voice.
I brace myself as branches, both thick and thin, hit me from all sides, rolling me around as I fall through the thick foliage. Once I'm past them, the firm ground greets my back with a heavy impact, making grit my teeth in pain and my vision go hazy.
Laying on the ground now and breathing heavily, I weakly raise my shaking hand and give a thumbs up to the sky. "T-thanks… heheheh…heh…ugh." My hand goes limp shortly thereafter.
How the heck did I get into this situation to begin with? From sleeping in my university's study room to waking up in a dimension of eyes to falling in a forest. I had some weird days in my life, but none were so weird as today. To make things worse, I didn't know where I was and my backpack was nowhere to be seen, not that it would be a good thing if it came with me to this place, since the fall would have most likely broken most if not all of the electronics inside it.
The sound of distant footsteps to my right grab my attention. "…I believe the sound came from here…" I hear the voice of a female approaching. The footsteps kept getting closer and closer until a girl came from behind some bushes. She appeared to be in her early-20s wore a light pink dress and had blonde hair, which came up to her shoulders, a large red ribbon and hair pins garnishing it. Upon finding me, her curious look changes to one of shock.
"Oh my goodness, are you alright?!" She worriedly asks as she rushes to my side and kneels to take a better look at me.
"N-not much, to be honest… Tha-that fall h-hurt quite a b-bit." I manage to speak between deep breaths.
"Hold still for a moment." She gently orders as she feels my arms, legs and chest. "I don't think your bones seem are fractured, so I'll bring you to my house and treat you there. Just hang on, alright?" She picks me off the ground and carries me away bridal style. "Hmm, quite light." I barely hear her mumble to herself.
After a while, the girl tries to strike up a conversation. "So, how did you get here? Humans are kind of uncommon around here."
"I don't think you would believe me if I told you, but…"
She looks me in the eyes, her expression somewhat serious. "You're not going to lie to me, right?"
I slightly raise my hands. "N-no! I'd never do that!"
"Then you can tell me, even if it sounds absurd. I will hear you out, I promise." The look on her face softens with my response as she reassures me with a smile, making me heat up a little. Man, she's really cute now that I've stopped to take a better look at her! Anyway, she quietly listens to me as I explain to her everything about what happened up to this point.
"An empty void with nothing but eyes, huh? I think I have an idea as to who brought you here."
"Really? Who do you think did this?" I curiously ask.
"Ummm, is it ok if we discuss this once you're patched up? Look, we've already arrived." She nods her head ahead of her.
I turn my head to see it and there it was. Her home was a little shack. Its run-down state of preservation indicated how long it had been standing, which can only I presume was a lot of time. The white painting had started to peel off long ago, leaving most of the brown planks exposed. The roof looked like someone had started a garden project on it, but stopped midway through. The glass from the windows were somewhat faded, but still decent nonetheless. In spite of those shortcomings, it managed to retain its "charm", blending in with the forest surrounding it while looking kind of rustic. The girl walks to the doorstep and gently pushes the door open with one of her feet, the hinges creaking as if begging to be drenched in oil. Once inside, she wastes no time in setting me in a bed.
"I'm gonna fetch some medicine. Try not to move for now, you hear me?" She scurries to a shelf, grabbing some pots and comes back, sitting by the side of the bed. "Here, stretch your arms for me." I do just as requested. "This might sting a little. Try to endure it." Some salve is applied on my scrapes and cuts. I wince a bit as they start stinging, meaning the medicine was hopefully doing its job. It even had the refreshing smell of mint! She kept at it until all my wounds were treated.
"All taken care of!" The girl happily announces as she puts away the medicine and sits on a chair by my side.
"Thank you for taking care of me, miss." I smile at her, my pain now almost gone.
"Think nothing of it. I'm just glad you're ok now!" She returns the smile before recalling something. "Oh, that's right! I haven't presented myself yet! My name is Rin Satsuki, nice to meet you!" She bows politely, her hair decorations swaying along with her head.
"W-well, my name is... Nakamura. The pleasure is all mine! Anyway, you told me you know who brought me here. Mind filling me in now?"
She shakes her head. "Not at all. You see, there is this person called 'Yukari Yakumo'. From what I know, she's able to create gaps that act as portals between two places and they're not limited to Gensokyo."
I raise my hand. "Hold on a minute. Gensokyo? You mean I'm not home anymore?"
"I don't know what you mean by 'home', but we're currently in Gensokyo, the land of fantasy."
Gensokyo? Land of fantasy? Is this even Earth anymore? "I don't remember it appearing in any maps I've seen…" I scratch my head in confusion.
"That's because it's not accessible by normal means."
"So I'm in a secret part of the world, in a manner of speaking?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Do you know of any way to go back to the 'outside world'?"
She thinks deeply before answering me. "Nothing seems to come to my mind."
I slump on the bed, groaning in frustration. "Oh great. Now I'm stuck in here too."
"If you want to, you can stay here with me until you find a way back!" Rin tries to reassure me.
"Are you sure about this? I don't want to be a burden to you..." I humbly try to make her reconsider her offer.
"You're not a burden to me! And even if you were to leave, how would you manage to survive out there by yourself?"
She was right about that. I was on a completely different land with no apparent way of returning home. This was probably my only chance of surviving here for now. "Good point. Then I guess I'll stay in your care for the time being. Call me if you need something from me, and…" I bashfully avert my gaze from her. "…thank you for sheltering me."
Rin smiles as she stands up. "Think nothing of it! I'd love it if you helped me with some of the household chores, but for now, all you have to concern yourself with is recovering from your injuries!" She makes her way to the kitchen... "I'm gonna prepare something for us to eat, just wait a moment." …and starts to quietly hum to herself as she walks away. I stare at her back as she leaves the room. Rin had been nothing but nice and welcoming to me since she found me at the forest, going out of her way to treat my injuries and make me feel comfortable overall. From what I've seen so far, she appears to be a very gentle and homely person, not to mention cute; and I have to admit that the personal attention, her gentle touch as she applied the salve and chatting with her was really enjoyable.
Laying in the bed, my thoughts take me home: How would my roommate react to my absence? Did my backpack stay back at the university? There were so many things in my mind right now and they only seemed to increase.
I should just set those worries aside and relax for now. Closing my eyes, sleep easily takes over me after a while.
*** Third person POV ***
Rin happily hummed to herself as she sliced some vegetables, stopping from time to time to think about that young man who was now resting on her bed. How long had it been since she had a guest in her house? Honestly, she not even knew anymore. Ever since "that incident", she had decided to live away from everyone else, and although she didn't regret her decision, loneliness often tormented her mind. Fortunately, she now had found someone to keep her company, and it was a guy, of all people! He appeared to be very polite and friendly and even offered to help her if needed; so many things they could do together! That would have to wait, though; for now, he needed to recover his energies.
*** Nakamura's First person POV ***
I am awakened by the feeling of my arm being gently nudged. Standing to my left is Rin, who's holding a plate and a fork.
"Lunch is ready!" She holds it out to me.
"T-Thanks..." I gladly accept it after shifting myself to a sitting position, still a bit sleepy from the all-nighter.
Steamed vegetables, cooked pork, rice and mashed potatoes. Just the look of it made my mouth water in anticipation and, after silently consecrating the food, I wasted no time in wolfing it down.
"Try to take your time chewing the food properly. A bellyache won't do you any good." Rin points out to me.
"Sorry; the food's so delicious it's hard to contain myself." I praise her cooking skills while eating with gusto.
She giggles. "Well, I'm glad you like it!"
"So, Rin. A few hours back, you said 'youkai'. What exactly did you mean by this?"
"You see, Gensokyo is mostly inhabited by youkai. Compared to them, humans are few and far in between; the only place that has a lot of them is a village a bit far from here.
"What is a youkai anyway? I've heard that term before but never bothered to look deeper into it.
"Youkai can be defined as folklore creatures, supernatural beings and the like."
"Should I be wary of them?" I ask her, not knowing what to expect.
"Some of them do attack humans, so you should be careful."
That's not very comforting... "So, what does a youkai look like?"
"Like humans." Rin points to herself. "I am a youkai, in case you didn't notice; a Kirin, to be more specific."
My face now had a look of disbelief. "Whaaaaaat? No way, you could have fooled me!" Whatever a 'Kirin' is, but yeah… "Hey, can you show me that village you talked about tomorrow?"
She nods her head. "Sure. I have some things I've got to buy there too."
Having finished eating, I return the plate to Rin, who takes it away.
The rest of the day was uneventful and night soon came. Being in a secluded shack in the middle of a forest meant there was no electricity, so Rin had to rely on candles for illumination . Only the sounds of insects could be heard outside, giving me an ominous feeling. There were probably hostile youkai outside the house and, although just thinking of it gave me chills, it'd be wise of me to rest more, since tomorrow would be a long day.
I decide to turn in for the night Laying my head on the pillow, I let myself go to sleep.
I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping and the smell of cooking meat. I look around the room and hear sounds coming from the kitchen; I walk towards it, stopping in the doorway. There was Rin in front of the stove. She apparently noticed my presence, despite my complete silence (some sort of Youkai 6th sense?) and turned her head to look at me.
"Good morning!" She turns her attention back to the food cooking on the frying pan. "Did you sleep well tonight?"
"Yes, I think my scrapes are getting better too." I take a look at my arms, and they are indeed better than yesterday.
"That's good to know, now take a sit. I'm making breakfast for us." She motions to an old wooden table and some chairs.
I pull one of the chairs and sit on it.
*CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK* Holy crap, how old is this thing?! I feel like it's gonna collapse under my weight at any moment! I cringe and try my best to stay still, not wanting to incur its wrath again.
After a while, Rin arrived with two bowls of hot cooked rice and fish, set them on the table and sat on the opposite side.
*CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK* Fuck! That one almost made my ears bleed!
"Come on, no need to be shy. Here!" One of the bowls is pushed near me, along with a pair of chopsticks. I hold the bowl with my right hand and the chopsticks with my left hand.
Now, I may not be very skilled at eating with them, but I'm not helpless either. A fork would be nice, though.
We proceeded to have breakfast. Not a single word was spoken during that time, but it didn't felt awkward at all. In fact, that made for a relaxing experience; the delicious food combined with the silence inside the cabin and the sounds of nature outside only helped accentuate that feeling.
"Hey Nakamura." I turn my head to look at Rin. "Yes?"
"How was your life back in the outside world?" She has a curious look on her face.
"I'd say it was fairly quiet. I was a college student living away from my parents. There's really nothing special about it."
"College? What is that?"
"An institution of higher learning. It comes after school if you intend to pursue a higher education."
"Oh, so that makes you a scholar, right?"
I shrug. "That's one way to put it, I guess. What about you?"
"I used to work as a nurse back in the village far from here…"
I look at my arms and then back at her. "That explains how you were able to treat my wounds without any trouble."
She waves one of her hands in dismissal. "Oh please; those scrapes were nothing. In fact, I find it weird that you only managed to get those after falling from so high."
I fell on my back hard too, you know… "Yeah, I think that was pretty strange." I try to return to the previous topic. "Anyway, why did you stop working there?"
"W-well, I… um…" She nervously averted her gaze to the ground, trying to come up with something to say. I don't think I should have asked that.
"Sorry, that was nosy of me. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to." I stop her before she can say anything more.
"That's fine. Nowadays I live a self-sufficient life, for the most part."
"That must be really hard, depending only on yourself." To say that I was amazed was an understatement. I couldn't ever think of myself living like that.
"You get used to it over time. I even have a small plantation in my backyard." She rises from her seat. "Come on, let's prepare ourselves to go to the village."
I point to myself. "Hey, I'm pretty ready here. It's not like I slept in pajamas or anything."
"Good, then stay here. I'll be right back." Rin walks to the bathroom and closes the door.
I turn back to the table and stare at it. Man, I really wish my backpack was here with me; a lot of gadgets were inside it and they would be really useful at killing my boredom. After a a few minutes, Rin comes out of the bathroom and motions me to follow her. I get up and follow her outside the house.
"So, how long it will take to get there?" I stare at Rin as she starts to lock the door.
"About…" She stops, probably to think about how long it will take. "…no more than 10 minutes, if we go really fast." The door is locked by the time she gives her answer.
Hold on a minute. "Didn't you say yesterday that the village was a bit far from here?" The information simply doesn't add up in my mind.
She turns to me, a deadpan look in her face. "Yes, I did. What about it?"
"How is 10 minutes supposed to be 'a bit far'? I mean, walking fast for 10 minutes is almost nothing." I've walked for much longer than that before.
Rin looks at me confusedly. "Wait, who said we're going to walk there?"
Now it was MY turn to be confused; and even more than before. "So we're not walking there? Hold on…" I stop to think for a moment; meanwhile, Rin keeps staring at me, patiently waiting for a response. After a brief pause, a figurative lamp lights up above my head as I come to a conclusion! "Oh, I get it now!" I smile broadly at Rin, finally figuring everything out. "I had no idea you had a car, Rin!" I confidently point to myself with my right thumb. "If you want to, I can drive you there, no problem. I may not have my driver license with me, but I passed the driving test on my first try, and during a heavy rain!" I approach her face and lower my voice. "Um… the car's transmission is manual, right?"
She looks at me, more confused than before, for a moment and shakes her head. "I don't have a 'car'; I don't even know what that is, much less this 'transmission' thing".
"Then… we're using a bicycle?" Crap, I don't really know how to ride a bicycle! I'll die of embarrassment if I have to tell her that!
She sighs and shakes her head again. "I don't have a bicycle, although I know what that is."
At that moment I reached a certain point. A certain point where I was extremely confused; so confused that I ended up hurting myself in my own confusion.
*SLAP*
I slump my shoulders and look at Rin in defeat. "Ugh… I give up. How are we supposed to get there then?"
She smirks at me… "Don't move, OK?" …then walks behind me and holds me by my underarms.
"Hey, what are you going to d- AAAAAAaaaahh!" I'm taken by surprise as we suddenly shoot to the sky!
"So, what do you think?" Rin giggles as we fly through the air.
"HOLY CRAP, RIN! DON'T LET GO OF ME, I BEG OF YOU!" I yell in fear as I look at the ground far below us.
She bursts into laughter. "Ahahahaha! Don't worry, I won't drop you! Try to calm down, though; I want you to enjoy the trip!"
"How am I supposed to calm down if the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground and becoming a pancake are your arms?!" I ask her, irritated and in a panic.
"Hmm…" She thinks for a moment before coming up with a response. "You should start with deep breaths; those always help. Next, try looking at the landscape; there are so many beautiful things around us I don't even know where to start!"
"Right…" I start with the deep breaths, feeling myself calm down little by little. "Now the landscape..." I remind myself of the steps and look around.
To my right, was small area encircled by purple trees, a road coated in a deep red color leading there. Those colors really stood out from the rest of the land surrounding it, which was grass-green. To my left was a sea of trees, a lone house standing outside the forest, appearing to act as some sort of convenience store by the side of the road. In the distance was a big mountain; it towered over everything around it, had a layer of ice coating its summit and was surrounded by trees at its base. A building of some sorts stood further down the peak. Lastly, a village could be seen in the distance; a wall surrounded it, appearing to offer protection from any potential invaders. This land was truly beautiful; a shame that I didn't have my cellphone with me to take a picture of it. The sensation of flying like this felt much different from watching through the window of an airplane: the feeling of liberty, the air caressing my face... I close my eyes, entering a calm state of mind; it doesn't even feel like I am far from the ground.
"Look! We're almost there!" Rin informs me of our current progress, and I open my eyes again.
I look up at her. "Say, are we going to fly over the wall and land in the middle of the plaza?"
She shakes her head… "Nah, we're entering through the front gate." …and starts lowering her altitude.
We gently land on the stony road, not far from our destination.
"That trip was really pleasant." I'd rather stay on the ground for a while, though.
"Good to know, because we're gonna do that every time we need to come here. Now, let's go." Rin starts walking to the gate, with me right behind her.
Next to the gate was a guard. He was wearing leather armor, had a naginata in his hands, a sheathed sword was strapped to his belt as a secondary weapon and he had a stoic look on his face that turned antagonistic after seeing us approaching. There is no need to state that, but I'll state it anyway: this guy didn't look like the type of person you'd like to get on the bad side.
As we approached the gate, he motioned for us to stop, and we did just as instructed. He walk to us, weapon in hand.
"What business does a youkai such as you have here in this village?" His face had a stern look on it.
I slightly raise my hand. "Um… I'm not a youkai."
His attentions shifts to me. "Yes, I know that. From your clothes, you must be one of those 'outsider'; the one I'm talking about…" He points to Rin. "…is that friend of yours."
Turning my head to Rin, I silently observe as she sighs deeply and attempts to reason with the guard. "I'm here to buy some supplies, nothing more."
He continues to glare at her... "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be allowed even to set foot in here." …and then looks back at me. "Hey kid, you should be careful with her; this youkai will get you in deep trouble one day, maybe even killed."
What the hell? Was this man being rude to Rin just because she was a youkai? It's true that humans are a minority here and are hunted by some youkai, but this is getting ridiculous, even more so because I knew she wasn't the type of youkai to do something like that.
I take a step towards him, annoyed at his hostility. "Is that so? Because I'll have you know this youkai saved my life recently and that she has my utmost trust!" I take a glance at Rin to see her staring surprised at me, then back at the guard.
He just stares at me blankly, and I keep my face serious, unwilling to stand down. All of a sudden, he starts laughing out loud. "AHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh man!" He stops to catch his breath. "Kid, you… you have made my day with that one just now!" He walks back to the gate and opens it, his laughter dying down. "Heh… Here, you may enter the village. But seriously, though! Don't say I didn't warn you." He goes back to leaning against the wall.
Not wanting to stay around any longer, I pass the gate, with Rin right behind me.
** To be continued **
Author's note:
Hello everyone, this is SesameTofu writing to you! I figured I should give writing a try after reading some of the other fics on this site. After a LOT of time spent on writing, re-writing and proofreading the chapter, I decided to post it here.
The "Spirited" part of the title of this fanfic is related to both the protagonist's personality and something that is going to become one of the key aspects of him slowly becoming better over time.
For those that don't know, Rin Satsuki was planned to be the third playable character in "Touhou 6 – the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil", but got scrapped during development due to time constraints. The way she was described in this story is not really her canon appearance. (Those traits actually belong to a Team Shanghai Alice "poster girl" that appeared in a circle cut to promote Touhou 6.) For convenience reasons, I will be using the circle cut girl as her canonical depiction.
This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction and English is NOT my first language, so I am open to constructive criticism on how I could improve this story. I will be releasing one chapter per week to a (currently) total amount of three. After that, I'll decide what to do next based on the reception it gets. That's all for now. Have a nice day!
Writing start date: 09/10/17
Writing finish date: 27/10/17
Post date: 01/06/18 (The time between finishing writing the chapter and posting is the time spent making changes.)
Total number of words in this chapter: 5162