Chapter 2: New Workplace, New Magic

Following from the last chapter, Reimu, Marisa and Nijiko finally arrives at Kourindou. It a large house with a red, curved roof, as well as an another building which is used for storage. Nijiko is utterly surprised to see the large amount of items placed on the front yard. They are mostly TV-s, but there are other items as well, such as a bicycle, a radio and a large briefcase.

"Hey, all of these items..." she says.

"Yep, Kourin has a lot of things originated from the Outside World, ze." Marisa says.

"Kourin? I thought his name is Rinnosuke..."

"It is just a nickname Marisa has for him." Reimu adds.

The three then enters the shop, with Marisa casually kicking the door open:

"Yo, Kourin!"

"Ah, it is you two." A man shows up. He has short silver hair, golden eyes and wears a pair of glasses. He also wears black and blue clothes. But what catches the attention of Nijiko, is the large heap of items behind him.

"Rinnosuke-kun, can you fix my clothes?" Reimu asked. "I have got into a danmaku battle with Aya."

She then shows that her skirt is actually torn.

"I see. So its just the usual." Rinnosuke says with a straight face.

"Wow, what a large heap of goodies here, ze!" Marisa also notices the large mountain of items and inmediately rushes to it. "Lets see if there could be something which could catch my fancy."

"Marisa, watch out!" Reimu calls out, as her friend pulls out an ormamented walking stick... only for the heap to crumble down onto her!

"Kirisame-san!" Nijiko exclaims in worry, as everyone jumps back.

"Man, this is such a mess!" Marisa pokes her head out among the items around her.

"And you are the one talking?" Reimu snarks.

"I just got a large amount of new items recently, no big deal." Rinnosuke shrugs.

Nijiko then walks towards the pile and picks up an old mobile phone:

"Wow, I used to have one of these!"

"Really Young Lady?" Rinnosuke notices Nijiko. "Well, that is..."

"A Nokia C2 mobile phone!" the black haired girl suddenly says. "It was used a lot until the more modern smartphones with touch screens took over."

Reimu, Marisa and Rinnosuke are all glancing at Nijiko. The girl sweatdrops in a comical fashion as a result.

"Did I... say something wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing at all, we are just surprised about your knowledge of that thing, ze." Marisa says.

"As expected from someone from the Outside World." Reimu remarks.

"Did you just say... she is from the Outside World?" Rinnosuke asks.

"Yep! Her name is Nijiko Akimitsu. Yukari brought her into Gensokyo just on the other day. We are on our way to bring her to the Human Village." the shrine maiden informs the half-Yokai shopkeeper.

"Say Kourin, ever thought to have an assistant, ze?" Marisa suddenly brings it up.

"Hey, where did that come from?" Reimu asks, being equally as surprised as Rinnosuke.

"You know, the mess here is now bigger than ever. You should really use some assistance to at least have a little room in this shop." the witch says, while winking at Nijiko.

"Not that your house isnt a trash heap." Reimu remarks then looks at the interior. "Although I can see what you are trying to imply."

She then looks back at Nijiko, who is eyeing the pile of items with a kind of a sad look. The shrine maiden could tell it reminded Nijiko of her home.

"I can handle this myself perfectly fine." Rinnosuke says with a straight face, but an annoyed tone can be felt in his voice. "Now lets fix these clothes, then go to mind your own business, girls."

He then beckons Reimu to come with him, as Nijiko and Marisa stays outside.

"I guess I did not make I good impression." Nijiko frowns.

"Kourin is always like this." Marisa replies. "He tends to pretend to not care, but trust me, he is a good person at heart, ze."

"I see." the heterochromatic girls walks to the bicycle placed to the wall of the shop and grabs its steers. "To be honest, after I saw all of these items, it reminded me of my old home and a weird sense of safety came to me."

She then proceeds to ride on the vehicle. Marisa looks on as Nijiko does some circles at the front yard with the bicycle.

...

Meanwhile inside the shop, Rinnosuke is seen fixing the skirt as Reimu took on a change of clothes similar to her original one. The half-Yokai shopkeeper glances out of the window, seeing Nijiko to ride the old bike.

"So you say, I should employ her as an assistant." he says. "I thought you would take her to the Human Village."

"That was my original intention. However, I saw in her eyes how she was glancing at all of these items from the Outside World." the shrine maiden replies. "Of all places to Gensokyo, Kourindou might be the closest place that might offer what she has gotten used to at her original home."

"I can tell there is an another reason, as well." Rinnosuke looks at Reimu.

"You got me." Reimu says. "This girl has an innate ability, and quite a high amount of Spiritual Power. I am planning to keep an eye on her due to this potential, so I want to have her on a place I know well."

"I see. Since your relationship with Keine-san is not the best." the shopkeeper sighs. "Alright, I am going to employ her, but I wont take any responsibility about her."

...

An hour later, Reimu finally returns. In the meantime, Marisa is shown demonstrating her Magic to Nijiko.

"Wow, this was so awesome!" Nijiko exclaims.

"The flashier the Magic, the best, ze!" Marisa grins, then she seems Reimu. "Ah Reimu! I am showing Nijiko more of my Magic! "

"Oh, about Nijiko. She wont going to the Human Village" Reimu says.

"Huh, what?" the black haired girl is shocked.

"Rinnosuke-kun has decided, he would employ you as his assistant." the shrine maiden said.

"Hey, this means you are going to have a place to live which doubles as a workplace! Congratz, Nijiko-san!" Marisa grabs Nijikos hands, causing her to blush.

"So you are Nijiko Akimitsu-san." Rinnosuke comes out, walking to our heroine. "My name is Rinnosuke Morichika, your employer from today. I expect hard work from you."

"I promise I wont fail you, Morichika-kun! Thanks for having me." Nijiko bows.

"Alright, here is your first task." Rinnosuke tells her. "Clean up the mess Marisa left behind."

Reimu gives a sharp glare to Marisa, who just shrugs:

"Sorry, I have a meeting with Alice."

The witch hops onto her broom, and flies off.

"She should have taken more responsibility for her actions." Reimu sighs.

"Dont worry Hakurei-san, I can do this!" Nijiko says, then her steam goes off a bit as she looks at the large pile. "I suppose..."

...

It took some hours, and came the late afternoon, when Nijiko was finally able to clean up the pile and make it into a bit more organized.

"Here... " she wipes the sweat off of her forehead. "Now it looks like it has finally some kind of shape."

"Oh, you have indeed cleant it up... " Rinnosuke remarks as he looks at what Nijiko did.

"I have organized them according to their utility." Nijiko says. "It is a great help, if you are looking for a specific item, Morichika-kun."

"I have to say, I am actually impressed. " the half-Yokai shopkeeper replies, walking to one of the piles. "So these are the tools for communication."

"Yes, the different kinds of of phones and walkie-talkies."

Suddenly, they heard the door open.

"Kourin! Nijiko-san! We are here!" the familiar voice of a certain witch can be heard.

"Its Kirisame-san!" Nijiko excitedly runs to the front door.

Once there, she finds Marisa, accompanied by an another girl. She has short blonde hair, blue eyes, and is dressed in a white and blue dress. Her dress has a pink ribbon tied around her waist, an another around her neck; and also has white frills. She also wears a pink frilly headband. Accompanied to her is a floating doll in similar clothes, but it has long blonde hair tied with a red ribbon and also wears an apron on her dress.

"You must be Nijiko Akimitsu-san. My name is Alice Margatroid, pleasure to meet you." the girl says and bows to Nijiko.

"Nice to meet you, too!"

"And this is my doll, Shanghai." Alice introduces her doll.

"Wow, cute!" Nijiko looks at the doll. Shanghai appears to be blushing from the compliment. "Is she... really alive?"

"Via my Magic." Alice replies.

"Alice here is a fellow Magician from the Forest of Magic, where I live, ze!" Marisa states. "I use Light and Heat Magic, she controls dolls. I have invited her over to help me to teach you some Magic."

"Honestly, I would never thought you would ever teach someone Magic. While it may sound simple, Magic is actually really complicated. Do you think that Akimitsu-san here would have the mental and spiritual capability for that? " the doll-controlling Magician asks.

"I am completely positive about that." the witch grins.

"Thing is, at first I would like to ask, Akimitsu-san." Alice turns to Nijiko. "Do you want to be a Magician?"

"If that means I would be able to protect myself, yes." the black-haired girl says with determination in her eyes. "Also, I am willing to learn more if that benefits me going forward. Whether it be about Magic or... Gensokyo itself."

"Huh, somebody is really eager! I like it, ze!" Marisa remarks and turns to Nijiko. "Very well, at first we must find out what kind of Magic you have affinity for."

"Affinity?"

"The kind of Magic that would come to you naturally. As for Marisa, it is actually Water, although she prefers Light more." Alice tells Nijiko.

"Cuz thats flashy, ze! " the witch exclaims.

"So how can I... find that out?" Nijiko asks.

"You have your inner Spiritual Power right? " Alice asks, to which the black-haired girl nods. "Then as the first step, concentrate and try summon it. Clear your mind and free yourself from any mental block."

"Alright." Nijiko nods. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and concentrates. Both Marisa and Alice feel her Spiritual Power to flare up.

"Now put your hands together and contrate your power into one spot." Marisa instructs.

Nijiko does so and takes an another deep breath. Suddenly, a tiny point of light flares up between her hands.

"There it is, ze!" the witch exclaims in joy.

"Huh?" Nijiko opens her eyes. However, with that, her concentration is broken and the tiny point of light dissipates into rainbow-colored sparks.

"Marisa!" Alice yells at the witch. "You have broke her concentration!"

"Dont worry, at least we found out that her affinity is indeed Light." Marisa retorts.

"Although something about it felt a bit... different." the doll-controlling Magician remarks.

"So have I... failed? " Nijiko asks, being worried.

"No, it was opposite! Even though to just for a moment, but you managed to summon your Magic, ze!"

"However, you must read, study and practise a lot in order to become a fully-fledged Magician." Alice adds.

"You would need some books... " Marisa ponders, then grins. "Leave that to me, ze!"

"No, you are not going to steal from the Scarlet Devil Mansion again!" the doll-controlling Magician yells at her again.

"Then try to stop me, ze!" the witch already flew into the sky on her broom.

Nijiko just watches in shock as Alice summons her dolls and engages with Marisa into a danmaku battle in the sky.

"So, this is danmaku..." she remarks as she looks at the dazzling display of the danmaku bullets, coming from the battle of the two Magicians.

...

Unbeknowst to them, Yukari is observing them from her own pocket dimension.

"My, my, this girl is already stirring up a little heat." she remarks, holding her fan in front of her face.

"What are your plans regarding this girl, Yukari-sama?" an another female figure asks, who is standing next to Yukari. She has yellow eyes, short blonde hair and nine fox tails. She also wears a long-sleeved white dress with purple collar and cuffs, an indigo tabard and a white two-tailed hat to hide her fox-ears.

"You will see everything in time, Ran." Yukari says in a mysterious manner. "For now, lets just let the events unfold."

To be continued...

Author Notes: I would have not expected that my story got follows already. Stay tuned, because Nijiko is bound to learn new things as she practises her newfound Magic, meets new people and continues her work at Kourindou.