Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to Zun.
A/N: Oww, my poor gums... ohh well, new teeth! ...I really hope that I never bite my tongue... On with the show!
Midnight, Hakurei Shrine:
The more I looked about, the brighter the night seemed. It was as though it was day, but I knew that it wasn't. All these new smells drifted on the breeze, as well as a hunger for something I hope to never taste, human flesh. I now knew the struggle that Rumia went through to not eat the pair of Cirno and myself. Cirno smelled... good, for lack of a better word, while Mima smelled... less good, as though I could smell her power, and it factored into her scent. ...Wait, if that were true, doesn't that mean that even as a human, Cirno was stronger than me?
"I think I can forgive you, Rumia, this... hunger, is horrible!" Rumia simply smiled at my understanding. I now knew exactly how hard it was for her to resist her instincts and not gorge herself. It would probably be even harder had the idea of eating human flesh appealed to me.
Mima pouted. Why did I get to be a Youkai, while she was still stuck as a human...? Though it's not like she truely minded. Had she been more honest with herself, she would actually want to stay like this.
The stump of my arm began to tingle, the healed up surface of the stump began to rip itself open. The now open wound began to turn black, the bone extending, growing, forming a black skeletal hand that hung limp which slowly faded to the color of bone. Soon after that, black strands of muscle began to climb the bone, followed by pitch black skin. Huh... I wasn't expecting to get my hand back so easilly.
Cirno happily watched as I regained my hand, her grin growing larger by the second. She could finally look at me without being reminded of her mistake!
"Hum... well isn't that interesting?" Rumia was thinking aloud, while looking at my new hand, which was slowly fading to match my skin. Like most Youkai, she had never met another of her own kind, so it was interesting to watch another Darkness Youkai regenerate a limb.
"Well, now that you're like this, I guess you don't have to come with us to see Patchouli, huh?" Mima had a point, but I wanted to be with Cirno whenever I could, even if it would be a particularly bad idea.
"N-no... I still want to go, if only to be with Cirno!" Rumia sighed. That would be a tall order, had I known what the sun was like with my new form.
"Usagi, you're a Darkness Youkai, not sure how, but you are. It's not as easy as just going! The sun is blinding to me, and it will be to you as well!" Rumia pointed out the unknown flaws in my plan.
"W-well... I could... just close my eyes?" While it was a good Idea in theory, Rumia knew better.
"No, our eyes are that sensative. Further more, we have a trait in common with vamipires... we get horrible, horrible sun burns within only a few minutes of being in direct sunlight. Unless you have some way to shield yourself from the sun, it would be best to stay behind..." I looked at the ground, tearing up. I... wouldn't be able to go? Rumia sighed at how the news was hitting me. She didn't want to see a friend like that, even if we only recently became friends. "...unless I come with you. My darkness is absolute, your skin won't burn, and your eyes won't see any sun at all." A look of gratitude spread across my face, and my eyes shined with joy.
I tackled Rumia in a hug, not knowing my own strength. Even as a Youkai Rabit, I had only been about half as strong as I am now. Rumia sighed, and began to pat my head.
"So, when will we be headed to the SDM? Where should we meet up?" Cirno was the only one still thinking about why we were looking for the spirit turned human.
"Ahh, good question... Perhapse we should see if Reimu is willing to let us stay the night... That way we don't have to meet up!" Mima's idea just got an odd look from the rest of us. Even I could tell that she seemed a bit stingy, not to mention quick to use force. She nearly attacked Cirno that one time, only calming down when she got side tracked by me.
"...How about we all just stay at Cirno's place, not only is it closer, it doesn't involve a potential Yin-Yang orb to the face!" Rumia's suggestion did sound rather good... I mean, I don't know what a Yin-Yang orb is, but it doesn't sound very comfortable to get hit in the face by it.
We all ended up agreeing on Rumia's suggestion, and sticking together. It would be potentially dangerous to leave us alone with Cirno, anyways. Not only were there still hungry youkai about, leaving Cirno alone with not one, but two man-eating Youkai just seemed like a bad idea. Even if I had no intentions of eating such a thing, my body continuously demanded it of me.
On our way back to the rest of the group we came across Yukari, or the upper half of her anyways. She was floating about by way of a gap, probably sitting down somewhere, resting those weary old bones of hers. Had I said that aloud, she might have gut me, so I kept that thought to myself.
"Hmph. Mima." The Great Youkai looked at Mima with disdain.
"Ahh, hello to you too, Yukari." Mima really had no particular reason to hold a grudge, it's not like being human like this was horrible. Infact, she had gotten to drink tea, and eat some food! And taste it! It was incredible what one takes for granted before you find yourself without tastebuds.
"Turn us back already, you meanie!" Cirno, on the other hand, wasn't so happy about it.
"My, my, how rude! I'm hurt... and here I was, about to turn you back, and you go and call me names!" Yukari had no intention of turning her back, but Cirno didn't know that, so why not get some fun out of that?
"W-what? I'm sorry, no, please turn me back...!" Cirno began to panic, looking as though she would cry at any moment, believing the lie without a moments doubt.
"Nooo, you hurt my feelings. Such a rude girl doesn't deserve to be a fairy!" If what Yukari had said were true, no fairy deserved to be a fairy. The words 'polite,' and 'fairy,' should never be used in the same sentance outside of sarcasm or a joke. Heck, Cirno actually kept the fairies in line to an extent! None of them could take her on, and if anyone were to be named Fairy Queen, she would be the best choice, going by strength. Going by actuall brains, Dai, or Luna Child would be a better choice. There was no fairy in all of Gensokyo that was stronger than Cirno, and not even the eight wing, Lily White, could take her on. That was more due to Lily being a spring fairy, or to be more exact, the spring fairy, and having a horrible disadvantage towards the cold of Cirno's attacks, than an actual power difference. If elemental advantage was removed, Cirno was as strong as the herald the spring. Heck, if she was into being annoying, she was stronger enough to become the fairy Herald of Winter, flitting about while firing off danmaku at random every winter.
And with that, Yukari vanished into her gap, leaving us to try and calm down the upset girl, who had thought she had blown her one shot at going back to being a fairy. Before Cirno had a chance to start crying, I had once more pulled her against my chest. Her cries were muffled by my chest, slowly staining the dress with tears. It took all of my restraint to resist that feeling of wanting to take a bite of her, but I would never want to just let her stand there crying... I began to pet her hair, and whisper reasuring words in her ear. The rest of our little group sighed in annoyance at what Yukari had said to the poor girl. There's teasing, and there's being a jerk. Yukari was the latter just now.