Oops for the delay.
Dinner's done, and it's teatime. A perfect time to talk more details of the history.
"So there's nothing particularly strange about the attack?"
"From what I have learnt and observed, the only strange thing was your disappearance. The wild Youkai back then seriously hated you and the Miko back then, and they sent small waves to attack you time-to-time. The last one was indeed the biggest one, but it shouldn't be a match for both of you."
"Shouldn't be." Kuro repeats what Ootengu said. "Meaning there's something in the dark."
"Unfortunately, there's literally nothing that can decipher it." Keine continues. "Or at least, things that we can do so. There are objects placed off-set around Gensokyo, but we found no connections between them. Though some of them might just be items stranded from the Outside World."
"If you and Yukari don't claim the first and second spot of the 'most mysterious figures in Gensokyo', I don't think anyone dares touching that." Masato snickers. "Hey, young lady, do you perhaps have something to deal with it?"
"If even miss Keine can't, I doubt I have any sufficient ideas to…" Akyu flips another page while answering the question. "…Do you think Kazami can help?"
For a moment, the 'High Lord' stiffens up, and Aya asks: "Hey, what's wrong?"
"…Just something in the past." Remembering that a certain 'Kizami' is still locked up, he eases up. "Her last name is one word off from a name I hate. Anyway, why do you think she can help?"
"She's one of the Old Youkai…"
"Quick question: Old Youkai and New Youkai?"
"No, Old and Young."
"She's murdering you if she hears that."
"I know." Akyu then continues: "Considering that she's a Youkai related to plants, one of her 'creations' might have witnessed it."
"She didn't go off her own garden that much, right?" Reimu argues. "And, no offense, but with how hot-blooded he is during battles, I can't see her and him getting along."
If it's a comedy show, all of them could see an arrow with 'hot-blooded' sign stabbing on Kuro's head.
Masato, seeing his weird smile and expression, chuckles again. "That hurts, huh? Especially from her."
"It does."
Ignoring Kuro's statement, Ootengu then suggests: "The Old Hell might hold some clues. From what I remember, you travelled there a lot."
"…Could be." Dropping the silliness, he replies. "I didn't check the place throughout since I thought I just had normal business here."
"Or Celestials." Asano has another suggestion. "Or some of the Gods around here… Right! I almost forgot! Byakuren Hijiri! She and miss Keine are the two that us villagers can stay safe around the most."
"How often do we actually see her around?"
"…You have a point, Yadama. But, it's still worth a shot."
"How many ancient deities know him, actually?" Reimu brings up a different question. "Yama knows him, Yukari… well, she's a different case. Keine knows him. Akyu knows…"
"Only the previous lifetime."
"That still counts… how far was that 'previous lifetime'?"
"…"
"Speaking of Celestials…" Kuro then asks. "One of them broke the Shrine, wasn't she?"
"No? If anything, they avoided my home like plague. Only Tenshi came by before and…"
"…And?"
"…Nothing. It's just as bad when Marisa head-dived into the Shrine when Yukari was cursed by you. With more holes, that's all."
"Kay…" Kuro reluctantly accepts it. "Ancient beings… I don't think I should wake anyone up…"
"Or Mima." That earns Aya a slap of talisman to the face. "Just a suggestion."
"…Now you're saying that…" Reimu takes a few seconds to remind herself of the event. "I think she said something along the lines of 'being mad with my parents'. Maybe they fought?"
"Okay, I think the road is getting thinner and thinner." Placing his elbows on the table, Kuro puts his head on his hands. "I guess we should just stick to the still-hot evidences… After I talk with the Leader Candidates."
"Then we should take our leave and not waste your time further." To no one's surprise, Ootengu quickly stands up and heads to the nearby balcony, followed by the Tengu reporter. "I wish you a goodnight, High Lord, miss Keine and others."
"To you as well." He nods at Kuro's reply and flies away.
"See you all around!" Aya, with her usual happy expression, says her goodbye and follows her superior.
"I suppose I will take my…"
"You can stay here, High Lord and Hakurei Miko." Funai interrupts. "We have ordered the servants to clean up the rooms for two of you."
"That… *Sigh* Thank you." Kuro decides not to argue. He really doesn't want people to do anything special just for him, but they tend to do EVERYTHING before he could even say a word about it.
The others then starts returning to their home, leaving Masato and Keine with the father and daughter.
"…You two will leave, or…"
"Of course. I have my own house that's not far away." Masato waves his hands in disregard. "Never feel okay staying here. Unless you guys invited me of course, but that's also rare."
"Because of its origins, or…"
"Nah, just general."
"I have some papers to work on. I will see you two soon."
And that leaves the Miko and the High Lord behind.
"…When you're done with the cleaning, you can leave. And the night patrols, be observant and careful of dark corners." The first order's for the servants who start doing the last cleaning as the two head to one of the balconies, and he says the other to the guards.
"…If you need something, call us."
"We would like you to focus on your job first, but thanks for the suggestion."
"Yes sir!" With the guard being done talking, he leaves the room and lets the family stay there for their own private moment.
"…You are already used to it." Reimu states. "How many villages have you gone through as 'High Lord'?"
"Oh please don't, not you too." Kuro groans as he rubs his face with his hands. "It's not about me being High Lord. It's more that I would either replace or help alongside ones like you and deal with problems. It's EXTREMELY rare that I rule a city…"
The two then watch the roads in the village starting to turn dark, with only a few light torches being carried by the soldiers or some big stationary ones. The Miko notices the man's eyes turn soft as he watches the sleeping village below him…
"…A peace of mind." He then speaks up, and for a rare moment she feels the tiredness of an old man in his voice. "I have told you about how I know this world… moments like this…" He gestures his hand down to the village. "Are always what I'm aiming for. No disturbances. No evilness. No overwhelming chaos…"
"…Yeah, it's peaceful." Reimu can understand as she leans on the bars. "Still, what's hidden behind shadows is what we need to look out."
"…As someone whom I deeply respect said: 'We get dirty, and the world stays clean'. Someone has to do the deeds, and I chose myself to be the person. Even when someone else's destined for the works, I would replace them if it costs too much for them."
"…Even your life? Your past?"
"Yes." Rubbing the rings in his left hand, Kuro sighs and continues: "…Even if it means creating distrust to my allies… or even destroying population…"
"…I don't think I can bring myself doing so…"
"And so are your brother and sisters. And that's why I'm still here… They're willing to kill a corrupted being with no problems, but a person mixed of black and white… I'm still glad I taught them to hesitate, otherwise…"
"You don't?"
"I do, most of the times. Dealing a corrupted being, best way to deal with is to bring it down, even if…"
"How about you? You are corrupted yourself."
Kuro sighs again, but turns to Reimu who's smirking to him and gives her another smirk in return. "You DO understand what I mean by 'corrupted'."
"I do. Just want to find a way to cheer you up, by your own ways."
"…True. Thank you." Patting the girl, he glances his eyes back to the village… "…To be honest, I'm a little surprised how little you resemble your mother."
"What? You expect me to be hardworking?"
"Well, your eldest siblings inherit a lot from theirs. The third one has her mother's personality and colors of favorite. You… hm, maybe she's a reincarnation, so the rules don't apply so well."
"From what I heard, she worked very hard and tried her very best…"
"And that's true in her past life. But, she's extremely timid, unlike you. Unless she's pushed a bit too far."
"So you have problems with her in the past?"
"Her other dimension's counterpart. She herself had mixed feelings when I turned into a… well, for you, a deity."
"And that was… like, hundreds of years ago?"
"To me. I think it's just a few decades to normal people."
The Miko then notices something strange under the torch in one of the roads. "Hey, did you see something?"
"I do… a mouse, I think." Kuro is now focusing on the off-set individual. "A certain mouse Youkai…"
"It's Nazrin, then." Reimu relaxes. "Don't worry. I think she's just heading to her house and feeding her mice."
"…And if I remember right…"
"…Hijiri." The two turn to face each other, and they nod at the same time.
The next morning
"Coming, coming…" The mouse Youkai groggily walks to the door. She just barely woke up when someone already knocks on her temporary house in the human village. "Aya, if it's you, I'm kicking you out of my house instantly… Like, really…" However, when she opens the door, the color on her face drains a bit. "Ah… Reimu… I didn't think you would be so early…"
"Your fault for wandering too late at night." The girl grins as Nazrin sticks her tongue out while scratching her head nervously. "Anyway, did the ship land or it's still flying around? We need to talk with Byakuren."
"…We?" The girl then notices a man leaning on the outer doorframe while listening to the two, and he waves his hand to greet her when she turns her face to him. "Eh… who is this? Another Outsider who wants to be her follower?"
"That's my father."
"Oh, your father…. YOUR WHAT?" If the appearance of the Hakurei Miko knocking on her door is not enough to fully wake her up, that information does the work. "Hold on! Since WHEN?"
"For two days. It's day three now I think." Reimu raises three fingers up as she says so.
"I hate you." The man facepalms.
"Love you too. Anyway, can you lead us to her?"
"…Let me wash my face first… and breakfast… and dress up…" Closing the door, Nazrin heads back and does what she says, but her mind's already confused at the new information.
"…We broke her."
"I broke her. You did nothing."
"My influence counted."
…
"Here we are."
"That… are more Youkais than I expected." Upon landing on the front of the Myouren Temple, Kuro takes a look around and comments. "In the morning, I mean."
"You would be surprised on how Byakuren and Keine influenced them to be pacific." The mouse Youkai replies, then says under her breath: "Can't still believe he's Reimu's father…"
Ignoring the girl, Reimu notices some of the Youkais starting to eye Kuro with curiosity on their faces. "Not every day they see an Outsider with your outfit."
"I'm just that odd. Even in the Outside World's standard." He then notices a trio exiting the main temple and heading to them. "Uh…miss Nazrin, you know them?"
Snapping out of her mind, the mouse Youkai manages to see the trio in time and calls out: "Oh, it's Shou, Ichirin and Minamitsu… oh no."
"Oh no?" Both Reimu and Kuro repeat.
"Nazrin! Where were you yesterday? I thought it's your schedule to guard the temple!" The tiger Youkai shouts as she detects the mouse Youkai who's now hiding behind the Miko. "Your mice won't starve to death for one day!"
"I… sorry, I was just a bit excited that I got a delicious dish that…"
"No excuses!" Shou then notices the Miko standing between the two with a poker face. "Ah, Reimu. May I ask why you are here so early?"
"Recognize him?" She points her thumb to the right, where Kuro is standing.
The trio turn and take a good look at him…
"…Did you manage to find a necromancer?" Ichirin asks, not expecting him to stand before them.
"Nope. But, you know him?"
"…Who else than him that managed to break Hijiri's seals and placed an even stronger ones on top?" Sensing danger, Kuro quickly raises his palm up in time to block a strike from Shou's spear tip, though that pushes him away a distance equal to the length of the spear. "I guess you're real deal if you manage to react to that."
"And if I'm not?" Pushing away the spear, he questions.
"Then you're just an evil-doer and your death is justified."
That scares the mouse Youkai, but the Hakurei Miko is completely unfazed. "Just like last night with the Ootengu, huh? If he did do so, then Hijiri would know him, right?"
"Briefly." Minamitsu replies. "At least thanks to him, we had the locations of the seals. What caused us time was to break his."
"…Want to bet how many Celestials you pissed off?" Reimu cheekily asks as Kuro walks back to the group.
"A thousand, both in Yen and the number of Celestials."
"Dealt."
"You all head inside first. I…" Shou then grabs Nazrin's collar, which causes the latter to yelp. "Need to punish her for neglecting her work."
…
"So… eh… should I give you an apology for re-sealing you?"
"Don't worry, I do not hold grudges against you for that."
The group heads to where Hijiri is mediating, and they wait a bit until the woman finishes her course. They then gather around a table and Kuro starts their talk.
"Do you know why I actually did so? Even for myself, it's an excessive move. The previous seals couldn't be that bad."
The unsealed monk turns to the ship ghost, and Minamitsu answers: "That seals seemed to be timed ones, and the strongest we have faced so far. We attempted to break it but none worked until it was weakened by itself."
"Was it the time 'I' disappeared?"
"No, it's only a few hours before we resurrected Byakuren." Ichirin replies.
That makes Kuro turn his face away while covering his lower face with his left hand to not show the others what he is thinking.
"I think he has the answer for his question." Unfortunately, Reimu needs only two days to remember his habits. "Did he tell you something before he sealed you?"
"He's a strange one. He did so just to say sorry on behalf of those who sealed me before him."
"…Was he drunk?"
"Must be." Kuro returns back to the table…
"You weren't, mister Kuro." And slams his head on the table, as usual. "Jokes aside, yes, you did leave me a message. But that's the warning about the Miko's revival."
"…And I said to be impossible to stop it, didn't I?"
"You caught on quickly. And there's another thing. You told me about a… My apology, but I do not really know what it is. Something-mage... Anyway, this 'mage' could uncover what you have hidden around Gensokyo."
"…Is it Techno-mage?" That earns Kuro a surprised nod. "…No, even Techno-mages couldn't break my spells if I actively didn't want them to be analyzed."
"How many of these Techno-mages do you know?" Ichirin asks. "And what's that?"
"Techno-mages, for you all to understand, are Kappas amplifying their inventions with magic… Wait a second, aren't Kappas Techno-mages already?"
"They don't have that much of magic. Only enough to be a Youkai." Reimu adds. "But then, those ones in the newspaper are…"
"Not them. They just used magic differently… Sakuya's watch COULD be counted as Techno-mage device, since it uses magic to operate. But unless she reveals where she got it from… For Ichirin's question, I would say not many."
"Do you think one of them can break the mystery?"
"…The thing is that, it COULD be a troll to myself, since I apply a lot of science knowledge to use magic."
"So it's back to zero." Reimu groans. "At least this time it doesn't end up with a Danmaku fight…"
Kuro then notices the two helpers of the monk start raising their weapons up, with one of them having the pink smoke behind her making an angry face. "…Can I run?"
"Be my guest."
With the Miko's agreement, Kuro instantly kicks himself off the table just in time the other two attack him. He quickly runs off while his 'opponents' rush against him while firing Danmaku to him.
"…So that's the real face of the High Lord." Hijiri giggles as Reimu takes a sip of tea. "I did try convincing him to join the Buddhism, but he declined and called himself an atheist."
"He's a god himself. Why would he need to follow another?" Reimu says, then both giggle. "But, did he really do all of that just to speak something that mundane?"
"…Of course not. However, since he's reunited with you… I can only tell it to you…"
…
"You done?" Holding two katanas in his hands, Kuro pants heavily as he asks his opponents, who are also exhausted. Smoke emits from where the Danmaku hits the ground, which is also blackened because of the explosions.
"…How… even when it's just Danmaku…" Minamitsu says between the breaths. "You can float like Reimu?"
"Well… I learnt that from many. Phasing through attacks, I mean." Dispatching the weapons, he straightens himself up. "So… this is for making your job harder?"
"Yes." Ichirin replies when she's able to control her breath. "Call it petty revenge, if you will."
"You have no ideas how many times I got randomly attacked because of stuffs that are stupider than petty revenge." He then sees Reimu and Byakuren walking out of temple. "Hey, uh… shall we return back to the village? I almost forgot about the leader things."
"Shouldn't you clean this mess up first?"
"Uh, Reimu, they started it."
"You sure?"
"I am su… Oh please, don't count what I haven't done."
"Based on my time, yes, it counts."
The others chuckle as Kuro groans at how Reimu addresses the matter. Though, they know not to actually mess with him when they see a clock appearing over his head, and he makes a hand movement (not the whole arm) that resembles turning the clock's hands counterclockwise, and the clock does exactly that and everything that's damaged by the battle is reverted back to its previous state.
"Happy?" And the whine comes back. Which only earns him a thumb-up. "Do you need anything, miss Byakuren?"
"Ah, don't worry. You can go now. Say hello to Keine if you meet her."
"Will do." With that, he and Reimu start flying away and heading back to the village.
"…Having fun, I see." The monk giggles as the two walk to her.
"Feels like fighting ten people at once." Ichirin comments. "One moment he's swinging swords like Youmu, the next he throws Sakuya's knives, and then that Doll-maker's dolls, and so on."
"Just be lucky he didn't pull out that witch's huge laser. That thing's not fun."
"By the way, did you tell Reimu about…"
"Ah, I did. She took it quite well… Let's get back to our usual schedule, shall we?"