Disclaimer: Finally cleaned my brain from the floor... what a mess that was! Touhou belongs to Zun.
A/N: Ahh, I feel so much better now! I feel as though I could continue for another 100 chapters, at this rate! In fact, at the rate I'm going with the plot, or lack there of, this story may end up being 100 chapters... and this one was, like, double the size of the previous chapters! On with the show!
Yukari: Ufufu...
Author: You know, you don't have to laugh at my outstanding clairvoyance.
Yukari: Ohh, yes. Sadly, you will only be able to enjoy that clairvoyance for a short while longer, though.
Author: Hehe... heh... ...Wait... Yukari, what do you mean by that?
Yuuka: So, Yukari, how are those children of yours?
Yukari: They are hardly my children, but they are well.
Author: Y-Yukari?
Yuuka: Well, you have raised them from their youngest stage of life, have you not?
Yukari: Well, I suppose that could be said, yes. ...You are about to compare them to your sunflowers, aren't you?
Yuuka: Ohh, you know me too well~
Author: Hey, uhh... Yukari?
Yukari: I honestly do not see the appeal of flowers.
Yuuka: I honestly don't see the purpose of pets.
Yukari: Although, I suppose there are exceptions.
Yuuka: Ohh? Let me guess: violets.
Yukari: Ohh, you got it in one guess! Good for you.
Yuuka: An I suppose some animals do serve purposes.
Yukari: I believe I know well this answer: honey bees.
Yuuka: My, we know each other so well, do we not? Of course, humming birds are also quite lovely. In general, anything that pollinates flowers is some way, shape, or form, is in my book of creatures I do not mind so much.
Yukari: It must be a small book.
Yuuka: You underestimate the number of creatures that make up the ecosystem that supports those that pollinate.
Yukari: Thorough, I see.
Author: ...I'm being ignored, aren't I?
Author: Gods do I not feel satisfied with the edit of this chapter, but trust me, it's a marked improvement over the original.
Sunset, Cirno's house:
"Mmmn... Huh?" I said with a groan, feeling deathly cold. Ohh yeah, that's normal now. Right.
...I was wondering why it didn't feel concerning.
Nobody was around, and it felt alien to not be by Cirno's side. It also felt alien to be frozen to the wall. How does one even wind up in such a situation?
"Cirnooo!" I called out, hoping she might hear me. Nobody came, and it was starting to get a bit lonely. Never once had I been alone while I had been in this world, I realized. Whether being taken care of by the Yakumos, or being trained by Cirno, I'd never once been alone, as far as I remembered.
Without even realizing it, I had begun to rely on my master. I don't know what I would do, or where I could go, if not for the help that Cirno had given me. Heck, I might have simply drowned in the lake had she not caught me like she had! Maybe I should be more grateful of my master. She lets me stay in her home, shares her bed, lets me partake in the meals she has with her friends, and even helps me in ways I would never be able to repay.
Just as that thought had brought a tear to my eye, which quickly froze and fell to the floor, the door to the little house burst open. In came Aya, with Wriggle over her shoulder, and two halves of a dead horse in each hand. Aya propped the horse halves up against the wall, and waved to me.
"Hmm? Are you alright? Why are you stuck to the wall like that?" Rapidly inquired the curious crow, taking out a pad and pencil. There was a hint of something in her eye that I didn't know what was.
She must be thinking Cirno, and I had a fight, which ended with me like this.
"Ahh, yeah, I'm fine. Just... chilling..." I answered, with a lopsided smile. My back was killing me, but I seemed fine. Last thing I remembered was a horrible pain in my back, along with the wind rushing passed me, before my memories faded to nothing. Just how did I end up like I currently found myself?
"How did you end up like this, though...?" Asked Aya, who was mostly just talking to herself. Starting to write on her pad, the paper smoked at the speeds she wrote.
"Is that so~?" Asked a ball of darkness from over tengu's shoulder, before it floated over to me, covering me entirely. Much slurping was heard over the next several minutes, while Aya simply stood there with a brow risen. After a second, she began writing.
When the darkness faded, I was laying on the ground, my clothes and hair once more disheveled, and my body trembling. However, this time I had a light blue blush across my cheeks, and was panting lightly as well. Rumia simply smacked her lips like she had just had a tasty meal, before her eye met the horse, and her cheeks darkened with a black blush. Rumia seemed to have... fallen in love with the dead horse. Or to be more exact, its meat, and the quantity there of. Black drool began to drip from her mouth in great quantities, like watered down tar, before she began to tremble with joy, looking toward Aya with hungry eyes. Aya jumped slightly at the sort of eyes the tiny youkai of darkness had given her. A combination of gratitude to the point of tears, total adoration, and a hint of lust were all thrown in with all the hunger in her gaze. All of this was over the horse she had brought with her, of course.
"...Are you alright?" Aya asked, suddenly several feet closer to me, poking me with the butt of her pencil. The noises she had heard from that little bubble of darkness while I was within it weren't the best way to prove one harmless. Rumia began to grin slightly, and the area around her began to dim, while she slowly walked towards Aya.
Before Aya knew it, Rumia had charged, only to be stopped by the hand of Wriggle on her collar.
"No! Bad Rumia! Bad!" Scolded Wriggle. Thwacking her friend on the back of the head, she sent her off to go sit at the table. With a sigh, Wriggle helped me up, before patting the dirt from my clothes.
"Ehehe, sorry about Rumia, Usag- Err, Usagi? Hellooo?" Began the bug, before she noticed I was looking through her at nothing in particular. Wriggle snapped her fingers in front of my face several times, before I finally snapped back to reality.
"Hwah! Wha- Huh? Ohh, hello Wriggle! Pl-pleasant day, isn't it?" I asked, seemingly having forgotten that It was now nearly night. Wriggle gave me a strange look, before she opened her mouth to speak, when the door flew open, revealing Cirno and Mystia, along with two additional guests. I guess someone had realized that an entire horse would be too much for us alone — probably Mystia — and had brought more mouths to feed. In the doorway was the red-white and a girl in a white... black... witch outfit? Why does that seem oddly familiar? Wait... White-black? That is the monster that kills fairies like it's nothing? Even if she looked far from intimidating, I began to shake noticeably when the girl looked me in the eye, before a grin split across her features.
It somehow felt fake. As if a pretty front was put up so as to make her seem friendly.
"Heya! Don't think I've seen you around these parts before!" Shouted the Black-white, whose grin only widened further, making my jaw hurt just to look at it. I timidly waved to the fairy eradicator, who looked at my wings with interest. As she spoke, Mystia walked by us while wielding a butcher's knife with a grin, and Cirno walked off to converse with her other friends.
"Ohh, what's this? I've never seen such interesting wings before, ze~! They look like they would float away and fire at foes! Looks like the little scarlet's wings have competition for the title of 'most useless looking for flight, yet most decorative!' So, what's the name, and why have I never seen you around?" The sheer energy behind the statements of the witch before me made me think her to simply be insane, as if she were a grinning lunatic. However, the statements themselves all seemed to compliment me, so I didn't particularly mind talking with a lunatic. An 'Is that so~?' could be heard from the other side of the room.
"U-umm, my name is Usagi, from the outside world, and what did you mean by 'float away and fire upon your foes?' I didn't even know one could fire things from a wing... Also, why do you say ze...?" I asked, while trying to not offend the witch. She simply kept on grinning, and chuckled some.
"Ze? I don't know what you are talking about, ze~! And what I mean, ze, is the shape looks like you could totally fire lasers, and other nice things like that! Perhapse use the inner edge, and fire a number of lasers inwards, amplifying the effect into a nice wide laser! Also, I've never heard of a fairy coming in from the outside, ze~!" Shouted the excited witch, while making gestures like a big explosion.
"Err, I'm no expert in such a thing, but wouldn't one need a lense to magnify light? What would firing lasers at a single point even accomplish...?" I asked the ordinary witch, while mulling over the things she said. How does one even fire lasers? Let alone from a wing...
"Oho, so you think you know more about lasers than me? I'll just have to get a giant lense from Nitori, and prove you wrong, now wont I?" Stated the Black-white with a bit of venom in her voice, her seemingly permanant grin spreading to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if she swallowed her food whole, like a snake.
"Just don't fire towards anywhere that might be missed, when you do, alright...?" Asked the Red-white, with a sigh. The witch simply chuckled at the request.
"No promises!" Energetically shouted the blonde witch.
Soon enough, Mystia had finished roasting the horse, while Cirno set up the ice table once more. When we all sat down to eat, those who didn't sit at the table of ice were rather packed like sardines. To either side of Aya, who was jotting down the details of marisa's plan to fire a spark into a giant lense, sat Wriggle, and the one whose heart had only today fallen to her charm, Rumia. Wriggle raised an eyebrow at her friend being suddenly fine with having to be pressed against the crow's wing. Mystia sat down plates for all those who were within the small shack of a home, with Rumia's being an entire leg simply handed to her, which she happily ripped apart with her mouth full of nothing but razor sharp, shark-like teeth. By the end, the horse was picked clean, save for organs, and it didn't take long for Rumia to eat those. Where the tiny youkai kept all that food was beyond me, but if she had room, why stop her? The shrine maiden had been second place in the impromptu eating contest.
"Well, see ya, Cirno! Havn't had food that great since the last incident feast!" Shouted the witch, who was patting her belly with a happy look on her face. The shrine maiden simply nodding in agreement with her friend's statements. The two of them flew off first, followed by Wriggle, who was lovingly holding Aya's hand. Aya didn't particularly mind the idea of taking the bug with her in the least, due to having had their afternoon enjoyment cut short. At the same time, Mystia dragged Rumia off, saying something about eel, before they took off. All those that were left were myself, Master, and the shy Deiyousei, who I have rarely even heard a peep from.
"U-umm, C-Cirno, would It be okay if I stay here for awhile, again? I kinda got chased off by a horde of youkai from where I was staying." Asked the young fairy to Cirno, who couldn't resist the charms of her shy little friend.
"Alright, but the bed will be a bit cramped, and you might catch another cold!" Teased my master. She sure had a way with words to make things not sound very appealing, but it would seem her friend was quite desperate.
"Th-that's fine, Cirno. It's better than trying to sleep in the trees and getting eaten again..." Replied the little fairy, with a shiver at the thought of what that had felt like.
"Lets go for a swim! Usa probably could use one, as her wings are a bit stained with blood! You gonna join us, Dai?" Asked my master, to her shy little friend. The little fairy's face lit up with a deep red blush at the thought of being seen by their new friend, myself.
"N-n-no...! No, I'm fine. Plus the waters get so cold at night! p-plus I'll need all the body heat I can get If I'm to sleep next to the two of you..." Stated the shy, yet seemingly rather logical fairy.
"Suit yourself! C'mon, Usa, let's go for a swim!" Shouted Cirno, who still wanted to swim, regardless of if everyone would join her. After we had gotten back from a nice long swim, we had found Deiyousei already asleep, with a couple blankets wrapped around herself, to help defend her body heat.
We decided it would be best if I slept by her, as My body temperature was a great deal higher than Cirno's.