From the post office, Yukari retrieved seven packages of various shapes and sizes, along with a twine-bundled stack of mail. When they got back to the car, she surreptitiously opened a gap in the trunk and slipped them inside for temporary storage.

The next stop was the library. Yukari returned a stack of books, and Reimu was left to explore while she hunted down a list of Ran's requests. It was more books than Reimu had ever seen outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and unlike the library there or in Suzunaan, she could actually understand some of the subject matter. Not that it helped her much when she was trying to choose among tens of thousands of unfamiliar books. It felt wasteful to take any of them when she could barely understand what half of them were about, but after some cajoling from Yukari, she chose a few novels nearly at random.

A newspaper stand, where Yukari bought a single copy of everything on offer. A department store, filled with a dizzying selection of items that Reimu had never seen before, where Yukari hunted down a few items from her list of requests. By the time they'd gone through the entire to-do list, it had been nearly four hours since they'd left the barrier. The surroundings weren't any more familiar, but after a day of walking through them, they'd lost some of the threatening edge. They just felt unreal now. There was no way to make the hundreds of buildings and people and cars fit together in a way that made sense.

So, as they settled into the car after one last stop, she had almost forgotten about the other purpose of the trip. She was unprepared when Yukari turned to her. "That's the last of the business. Now then," Yukari said, and slid the keys back into the ignition. "Where shall we go on our date?"

'Somewhere with food' had been Reimu's only answer. On a normal day, she would be long asleep by now. She'd adjusted to the irregular sleep patterns, more or less, but her stomach was still crying out for a meal.

At least it was only mundane hunger this time.

Now, she found herself sitting at a table by a massive window that overlooked small garden, while Yukari patiently fielded their waitress' ever-escalating torrent of chipper questions. "Yes. Yes. This will be fine. Thank you. Two milk teas. Yes. And the Heartful Parfait, please. Yes. Just one. Yes, I understand. Thank you."

The waitress bowed and hurried off, blushing. Reimu's attention snapped back to her immediate surroundings. "... what was her problem?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Yukari said in a teasing, singsong voice.

"Saying it like that doesn't really help me relax, you know."

"Ahh, but you're cute when you get flustered, so either way is fine with me."

Reimu's immediate reflex was to get annoyed at the comment—Yukari had made a game out of embarrassing her as long as they'd known each other—but restrained herself. It was a date. She couldn't exactly hold a grudge against Yukari for complimenting her. "... thanks. I guess."

"You're welcome," Yukari said. She seemed pleased at having her compliment go over well for once, but her smile soon took on the more mischievous bent that Reimu knew meant trouble. "So, since I chose the spot, it's only fair for you to come up with the conversation topic."

"Well—" Reimu froze, as she realized that she had no idea what to talk about. She couldn't talk about anything related to Gensokyo, in case somebody overheard. What did people even talk about on dates? Well, Yukari had called her cute. "Your... outfit looks really nice."

"Thank you. Yours isn't bad, either. It goes well with your eyes," Yukari retorted, without missing a beat.

With her chin resting in her hands, even. She made it look like the most effortless thing in the world. Some competitive streak inside Reimu took it as a deliberate challenge. She couldn't stop now. She had to show that she could be just as cavalier about the whole thing. "... and your hair is really pretty today."

"Yours is too. You should let me curl it sometime."

"Y-you... You're a lot nicer than you let on!"

"And you're kinder. I really appreciate how you're getting along with Chen."

"... your face is really pre—"

"U-um." The waitress' voice interrupted Reimu, and she stopped mid-sentence. She hadn't realized that she'd risen out of her seat and started leaning over the table. She wondered just how much the girl had heard. Plenty, apparently, since she murmured a quiet, "Excuse the interruption..." before sitting a cup of tea in front of each of them.

Reimu was too mortified afterward to respond. She was frozen in place, staring dead-eyed at the tabletop as the waitress sat a jar of sugar and a small pitcher of milk between them. Yukari watched her the whole time, wearing an infuriatingly calm, unreadable expression. After the waitress bowed again and traveled back out of earshot, Reimu allowed herself to slump down.

"You were saying something about my face?" Yukari said, as she stirred some milk into her tea.

"I forget what it was," Reimu said with a defeated sigh. She took the pot of milk once Yukari was finished with it and poured a dash into her own cup.

"For what it's worth, I meant everything that I said."

"... thanks," Reimu said. She fussed over her tea until some of the embarrassment had drained out of her. It didn't take long, thanks to a new distraction: In the waitress' departure, she had left the now-familiar odor of human.

Reimu sipped her tea to get the scent out of her nose. It wasn't that they smelled bad. She just... wasn't comfortable with it. It was a constant, inescapable reminder that she was surrounded by people who were fundamentally no different from her dinner a few days ago. It was the last thing she wanted to think about right now.

"Well," Yukari said, snapping Reimu out of her thoughts. "You look gloomy. Am I that bad at this dating thing?"

"H-huh? Oh, um, sorry." Reimu sat her cup down and added some more milk, trying to pass it off as a temporary distraction. "... I'm not sure what to talk about, though."

"Hmm, well, have you given any more thought to taking the Yakumo name? I think we can safely say that you're part of the family now."

"I—" Reimu began, then froze. "A... family, huh?"

"A family," Yukari repeated. "I know it hasn't been long, but it's the word that fits best, isn't it?"

It had never been a word that Reimu had much use for. Now, considering it, she felt strangely vulnerable. "... maybe," she said, and took a sip of tea to give herself an excuse to stop talking while she got her thoughts back on track. "I haven't really thought about it, but having one name does make me sound like a f—" fairy, another word she shouldn't say out here. "I mean. I do need another name..."

Yukari nodded, but before she could respond, the waitress approached the table again. This time, she was carrying a tray, on which was sitting a single giant dessert dish. It was nearly a third of a meter tall, and it was heaped with practically every sweet thing that Reimu could think of. Layers of ice cream and berries, a thick stripe of fudge near the center, a generous heap of whipped cream on top, drizzled with chocolate syrup and garnished with several more pieces of fruit, some of which she couldn't even identify.

As the waitress sat the thing on the table, Reimu's thoughts whirled through her head. There was no way that all of those berries were in-season. She'd never encountered so much chocolate in one place before. It was the most beautiful thing that she'd ever seen.

And. There was only one spoon.

Reimu watched, dazed, as Yukari scooped the cherry off of the top and popped it into her mouth. "Can you really eat that entire thing?"

"Hmm? No, of course not." With another swipe of the spoon, Yukari got a raspberry, along with a tempting dash of chocolate syrup and the whipped cream it was embedded in. Extending the spoon toward Reimu's mouth, she added, "Say 'aaaaahn'~"

"W-what are you—?" Reimu was interrupted, as Yukari took the opportunity to push the spoon into her mouth. After a muffled protest, she pulled away and chewed. Even though it had only been weeks since the end of winter, the berry was somehow plump, ripe and sweet. By the time she swallowed it, Yukari was humming to herself, sounding entirely too pleased as she considered which bit of the parfait to grab next. Reimu licked some remaining chocolate syrup from her lips and tried to will her own blush away. "Are you going to explain yourself?"

"What's there to explain?" Yukari plucked a graham cracker from the top of the parfait and took a bite. Reimu's stomach threatened to growl as she watched it disappear between her lips. "It's a parfait specifically for sharing."

"They have things like that?"

"If you know where to look. This cafe specializes in dates."

"It..." The implications of that statement slowly bubbled up through Reimu's brain. "So everybody here knows that we're on a date?"

"Probably. I'm sure that they're all very jealous of me."

Reimu leaned closer now, her voice barely above a whisper. "Isn't this kind of thing pretty weird out here?"

"Two girls? It happens more than it used to be, but it's far less common than it is back home."

At least now Reimu knew why the waitress had seemed so embarrassed. She sank down in her seat, finding herself acutely aware of the handful of other couples in the room. Every single other table had one man, one woman. How had it taken her so long to notice?

"Think of it this way," Yukari said. "You're never going to see any of these people again. You don't need to worry about their opinions. Why not relax and do whatever feels best?" She scooped a bite of ice cream, then paused, waggling the spoon in the air in an exaggerated, thoughtful fashion. "Hmm, you know, it could be fun to see how far we can push it... how do you feel about open-mouth kissing?"

"We're not doing that," Reimu said. Reaching across the table, she grabbed the spoon. With Yukari's hand still on it, she guided it to her mouth to steal the bite of ice cream. "You've had enough. It's my turn now."

"Hmm? Of course."

Yukari relinquished her grip on the spoon. Reimu scooted the dish closer and began eating. She made a show of it, taking care to pick the juiciest-looking berries and the thickest globs of fudge, retaliating for every bite that Yukari had taken so far. Yukari watched her across the table, with an indulgent smile on her face. "Can you really eat that entire thing?" she asked.

"I could if I wanted to," Reimu said, and took a few more bites just for good measure. Once she felt like she'd gotten her rightful revenge, she scooped up a bigger spoonful, taking care to get a nice mix of ice cream, fudge, and a blueberry. As casually as she could, she offered it across the table.

"Oh, had your fill?" Yukari leaned forward, and her lips closed around the spoon. Reimu allowed herself to ignore their surroundings and relax. The food was good. As little as she wanted to admit it, she liked the idea of splitting the sundae with Yukari. And after her experience in the human village, a few sidelong glances at a cafe were nothing.

By the time that Yukari had swallowed the bite of ice cream, Reimu found herself smiling. "We, um, we could," she said, doing her best to mirror Yukari's usual confident, playful tone. "We could try a normal kiss, though. If you want."

"Oh? Are you sure?"

"I'm not going to ask twice."

"My, you're just full of surprises." Yukari leaned forward, with one elbow resting on the table in an aggressive posture. "Give me your best shot, then."

Well. It was too late to back out now. "R-right," Reimu said. She took a steady breath, then leaned forward to meet Yukari halfway.

Ignoring the onlookers, Reimu allowed herself to do one more selfish thing. She enjoyed the hell out of it.

By the time that the two climbed back in the car and set off for the edge of the barrier, Reimu was exhausted. It was the late afternoon; normally, she'd be waking up around this time. The day had been full of overwhelming experiences, anyway. Even though she'd barely done anything in the outside world except trail Yukari around and watch her do chores, all of the new sights and sounds were more than she could handle. The rush of emotions in the cafe was just an extra burden on top of it.

But as she slumped into the seat, she was happy. Tired, but happy.

Yukari started the car and pulled onto the road. This time, Reimu didn't get anxious at every oncoming obstacle. She leaned against the door, looking out the window as a parade of foreign objects drifted past.

"You aren't going to fall asleep, are you?" Yukari said. "Carrying you all the way to the border might be hard. You gained a few kilos from the parfait, I'm sure..."

"I'll be fine..." Reimu pushed herself away from the window and sat upright. Watching the oncoming scenery, her evasion instincts kept screaming that she was seconds from an impact. It did help her wake up, even as it left her squirming in her seat. "... hey, Yukari?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for today. I... had fun."

"I'm glad. How do you like the outside world?"

"Mmh... I don't know. It's weird thinking that there's nothing but humans out here. And it's noisy. The food's nice, I guess."

"A fair assessment. The luxuries can be nice sometimes, but it's a spiritually dead place. Those gods and youkai that haven't already disappeared or come to Gensokyo are shadows of their former selves. The outside world is... no place for us."

"Right..." Reimu had heard it dozens of times, from Kanako and Mamizou. Now, seeing it, it felt far more real. "How... long has it been like this?"

"It was a gradual thing. Bit by bit, humanity found ways to explain away the world's mysteries. It left no room for us. Youkai have always come and gone as beliefs change. When we realized that it was getting worse, we created the border, but it took time." Yukari went silent as the car came to a stop at an intersection. The interior was filled with the soft tick of the turn signal, and she gazed out the windshield thoughtfully. After the turn, she continued. "Most youkai that you know lost close friends during that time. The whole world used to be like Gensokyo. Now, it's only us. Entire races of youkai are gone forever."

"... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Gensokyo is small, but it's home. We'll do whatever we need to to keep it running. Besides... you're one of us now."

As the shrine maiden, Reimu had gotten used to thinking of herself as the only thing standing between the human village and the far larger amount of youkai outside of it. It was strange, thinking that that the youkai were the real prisoners. If Gensokyo collapsed, the humans would be survive, after some adjustment. The youkai... she couldn't see much room for them in the jumble of concrete and metal out her window.

She supposed that meant that there wasn't any room for her out here, either. She wondered if there ever had been.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Yukari parked the car in front of the house, and they pulled the tarp over it again. She closed and locked the door. And then, looking back toward the barrier, she offered a hand over. "Ready to go home?"

Reimu hesitated, but only briefly. With a smile, she slid her hand into Yukari's. "Yeah, sure."

This time, they were less hurried as they crossed the empty field. The sun was setting, but in every direction, the glow of electric lights lit up the horizon. She wondered if the stars were even visible from within the city. She would miss them, if they weren't.

Letting her sense of boundaries fade back in, Reimu was able to see the Hakurei Barrier in front of her, a shimmering curtain of pure separation. Yukari released her hand as they approached and dipped a finger into the surface. "Please be prepared. On the off-chance that somebody is following us, we'll be coming out into Gensokyo itself. The Hakurei shrine maiden might come to investigate the disruption."

"Oh. Great." Reimu watched as Yukari teased her finger up and down the surface of the barrier, coaxing it into weakening for a moment. "If she wants a fight, maybe I should just give it to her. Somebody's going to beat her up, it might as well be..."

Reimu trailed off, and Yukari glanced over to her. "Is something wrong?"

"I, um." Reimu laughed incredulously under her breath. "I think I just figured out what I need to do."