Chapter 3: The Home of Books
The new morning has arrived at Kourindou. Nijiko is already shown to be awake and is seen meditating with her palms facing together. She is now wearing a new outfit: a lavender and white kimono top with long sleeves and a shorter dark purple skirt. She completes this outfit with long white socks and wooden sandals. The Sun warms her face as she is concentrating. A small rainbow-colored sphere lits up between her hands, but it quickly disperses into colorful sparks.
"Man, I thought I would get it this time..." Nijiko groans. She stands up, while recollecting what happened to her in the last few days: At first, she followed a Bakeneko, which caused her to be spirited away into this strange world called Gensokyo. Then she was attacked by a darkness-controlling Yokai, then saved by a witch and a shrine maiden. Then on the next day, she got to stay at this shop called Kourindou in exchange for her work to its half-Yokai shopkeeper. Then she was shown by the witch and her Magician friend, how to use Magic; turning out that she would be capable to do such thing. And she accepted it, since its a way to protect herself from harmful Yokai.
The witch, Marisa turned out to be surprisingly friendly and outgoing person, despite her quirks and her casual attitude. The shrine maiden, Reimu was helpful as well, but she seemed to be annoyed by the situation and gave quite an unpleasant vibe. As for Rinnosuke, he gave off the aura of a nonchalant person, who seemingly does not care the things happening around him, but according to Marisa, he has a good heart. Then there was Alice, who proved to be so far the most normal person Nijiko encountered in Gensokyo, despite her actually being a Yokai Magician. And Yukari... Nijiko decided to not to think about her right now.
Finishing her meditation session and reminescing, Nijiko walks back into the shop. She goes into the kitchen and begins to prepare the breakfast. She is surprised by the fact, that despite being half-Yokai, Rinnosuke prefers full meals, just like any other human.
"Good Morning." Rinnosuke shows up as soon as Nijiko finished making the breakfast.
"Good Morning, Morichika-kun." the girl smiles. "Breakfast is ready."
Without a word, Rinnosuke sits down to the table, and so does Nijiko.
"Thanks for the food!" both of them begins to eat with silence.
"I wonder why is Morichika-kun so quiet." Nijiko glances at the shopkeeper.
"Is something wrong?" Rinnosuke asks.
"Nothing at all!" the black-haired girl smiles.
After breakfast, Nijiko cleans the dishes, then begins to sweep the interior of the shop. As she is doing so, her gaze stops at a book laying on the table.
"Hey, isnt that..." she picks it up. "Its the Adventures of Tom Sawyer!"
"Oi, you know that book?" Rinnosuke asks. "Of course you know, since you are from the Outside World."
"It was one of my favourites when I used to be a kid."
"Well, then your task today is to bring that book to Suzunaan. It is a book renter and bookshop in the Human Village, specialized on books from the Outside World. I have promised Kosuzu-san that they would get any book if I find one."
"Leave it to me, Morichika-kun!" Nijiko eagerly steps out of the shop, but then stops and turns to her employer with an awkward smile: "I dont know where the Human Village is..."
"Here you go, a map of the surronding area, so you wont get lost." Rinnosuke hands a map to his assistant, then points at the bike Nijiko used on the other day. "Although the Village is nearby, use that bicycle to traverse faster. I saw you using it yesterday, so..."
"Thanks a lot, Morichika-kun!" Nijiko smiles and hops onto the bike, while putting the book into her bag.
"Just be sure to return as soon as possible!" the half-Yokai shopkeeper says as he sees Nijiko cycling away.
"Sure!" she briefly waves back, before continuing her way.
...
As she rushes through the terrain on her bike, Nijiko glances at the forest farther away from her. According to Marisa, this is the Forest of Magic, where she and Alice live. However, it is filled with large mushroom and other plants, which fill the air with poisonous spores. Those spores are lethal for an average human like Nijiko. However, Marisa apparently gained resistance to their poison, to the piont that they are barely effecting her.
"I hope I can visit Kirisame-san one day.." she ponders.
Luckily, the bicycle was a mountain bike, suited for the terrain near the forest. It carries her fast, and soon she manages to arrive at the Human Village. It looks like a traditional Japanese village, directly from the Meidival times.
"So this is the Human Village..." Nijiko gets off from her bike and begins to push it next to herself, heading to the entrance.
Suddenly, she feels a presence. Nijiko turns around... nobody there.
"BOO!" a figure suddenly appears out of the nowhere behind her.
"KYAAH!" Nijiko screams in shock, jumping back and dropping the bike in the process.
"Got ya!" in front of her stands a female figure, almost as tall as her. She has red hair, blue eyes and wears an off-shoulder dark green kimono with purple floral patterns and a purple obi. However, what is weird about her, that she has short antennae on her forehead, an orange-colored shield-like protusion on the back of her head instead of hair, reaching down to her shoulders. Then as if it was the continuation of said protusion, she has wide, beetle-like elytrae on her back, reaching down almost towards her ankles. They are wider than her body. Nijiko inmediately knows she has just bumped into a Yokai.
"Please, dont eat me!" she braces herself in fear.
"Cassida! How many times I told you stop scaring humans near and within the Human Village!" an another female voice speaks up.
"Come on Keine-san, you are such a joy-killer!" the Beetle Yokai named Cassida says and flies off, opening up her elytrae revealing transparent wings.
"Are you okay? " A woman approaches Nijiko. She has brown eyes and silver hair with blue highlights. She also wears a dark-blue dress with short white sleeves, with a red ribbon tied around her collar. The woman completes her outfit with white socks, black shoes and a strange hat resembling some kind of building.
"Yeah, thanks. " Nijiko says as the woman helps her up.
"You are lucky that Cassida is just jumpscaring people, otherwise she is harmless. By the way, what are you doing outside the Village? You are a human right? I have not seen you around here before." the woman says, taking a good look at Nijiko, then her bike. "Plus, what is that thing you ride on?"
"Well, I have just got a work as an assistant in Kourindou and this is my first time visiting the village. Morichika-kun told me to deliver a book to a book-renter shop called Suzunaan." Nijiko explains. "And this is called a bicycle."
During this, Nijiko realizes that inhabitants in Gensokyo might be unfamiliar with tools from the Outside World.
"So Morichika-kun did, huh?" the woman briefly takes on a thinking expression. "By the way, if you are looking for Suzunaan...
She proceeds to give directions to Nijiko.
"Thanks a lot!" Nijiko bows. "Umm..."
"My name is Keine Kamishirasawa." the woman says. "Just call me Keine, because my family name is too long to remember."
"Oh, I will keep that in mind. Nice to meet you Keine-san. My name is Nijiko Akimitsu." the blackhaired girl replies. "Thanks a lot again."
"You are welcome, have a nice day." Keine lets Nijiko to enter the village, while glancing after her. "Hmm, what made Morichika-kun to employ an assistant?"
...
Once inside the village, Nijiko looks around. A lot of people can be seen on the streets, most of them are wearing traditional kimonos. Some of them passes Nijiko, one or two even wondering at the bicycle she pushes. Thanks to the instructions from Keine and few other people in the Village, she manages to find Suzunaan. It is a traditional-looking Japanese book-renter shop.
"Excuse me!" she enters.
"Can I help you?" A girl greets her. She has amber eyes and light red hair tied into short twintails, adorned by bells. She wears a chequered, longs leeved kimono top over her white blouse, a yellow apron and a long red skirt.
"Yes. Morichika-kun told me to deliver this book." Nijiko takes out the book from her bag.
"Oh, the foreign book Morichika-kun promised me to send over!" the girl claps her hands together with glee and takes the book. "And its Tom Sawyer!"
"You can tell without looking at it?!"
"Yep! I can decipher books just by touching them. My name is Kosuzu Motoori, by the way."
Nijiko is surprised at meeting an another human with a special ability, other than Reimu and Marisa. Then she recalls the shrine maiden mentioning, that having an ability like hers is pretty normal in Gensokyo.
"Nice to meet you, Motoori-san! I am Nijiko Akimitsu, currently assistant in Kourindou." Nijiko introduces herself as well.
"Wow, I have never thought that Morichika-kun would employ an assistant." the girl, named Kosuzu remarks.
"Yeah, I was very surprised as well when I got the job. I am very grateful to him. He may be a bit dense, but according to Kirisame-san, he has a good heart. " Nijiko remarks and looks at the books all around.
"First time here? You are free to look around."
Nijiko accepts the offer and begins to look around in the shop. She is surprised, how many books are here from the Outside World, her home. At least she knows now, where to go if she wants to read a certain book she would miss otherwise.
"Wow, it is like a home for books!" she remarks.
As Nijiko is looking through the shelves, one particular book catches her attention. It seems to radiate a strange aura.
"Hey, Motoori-san!" she says.
"Yes?" Kosuzu looks up, now wearing her round-framed glasses to read the book she got.
"Is that normal for a book to radiate a strong aura?" Nijiko asks.
Hearing this, Kosuzu gulps, putting down the book she was reading and runs to her, grabbing the one from the shelf. She frantically looks around.
"How could you tell it has an aura?" she asks.
"Well, I can see them... " Nijiko smiles awkwardly.
"Wow, you can see auras?! So cool to have an ability like that!"
"Oh, thanks..."
"Oh my, how could I be so careless!" Kosuzu now runs into her room, taking the book with her. "I almost left this Demon Book among the normal books. And it was my newest one, too."
"Huh? What was that?" the black-haired girl asks.
"Well, it was a Demon Book. Most of them are written by Yokai and some of them are even said to contain one being in slumber... they are quite dangerous, unless being handled by experts like me."
"Oh..."
"Say, Akimutsu-san, do you like books? " Kosuzu tries to change the topic.
"Well, yes. I like to read if I have a chance." Nijiko replies. "Currently, I am reading a book about Magic."
"Wow, you study Magic?"
"Yep, since I am learning to be a Magician. Kirisame-san and Margatroid-san are helping a lot. According to them, I have to read and study a lot. Honestly, I feel like I have to come up with an everyday schedule regarding my work and studying."
"Well, it is not an easy thing. Especially if you are reading about a topic you like, time can pass really fast. "
"I know the feeling." Nijiko sweatdrops, while grinning awkwardly.
Suddenly, foosteps of running can be heard and none other than Marisa rushes into the store. She seems to be quite worn out, judging from her torn clothes.
"Nijiko-san, Nijiko-san!" she runs to Nijiko excitedly. "Finally, I have managed to find you, ze! "
"Kirisame-san! What happened to you?" Nijiko gasps.
"Nothing special, I just obtained the book you need, ze." the witch pulled out a maroon-colored book from her pocket. "This will help you to more understand magic symbols."
"Oh, thanks." the black-haired girl accepts the book.
"Kirisame-san, dont tell me that you stole from the Scarlet Devil Mansion yet again." Kosuzu says.
"Dont worry, I have just borrowed it, ze." the witch grins.
Nijiko sweatdrops. She almost forgot that Marisa is known for her habit of stealing anything that catches her fancy.
"Just like that Demon Book you took a week ago." Kosuzu glares.
Marisa ignores her and turns to Nijiko.
"So, what do you think, ze?"
"Well... I guess it will be useful." the heterochromatic girl replies. "After I have finished with this, I swear I am going to send it back where it come from..." she also says in her head.
Nijiko then stands up, ready to leave.
"Lets go, Kirisame-san." she says. "Morichika-kun is probably waiting for me."
"If you ever drop by, feel free to visit us again. " Kosuzu tells Nijiko.
"Sure! Have a nice day, Motoori-san!"
"And good luck for learning Magic! " the redhead responds as Nijiko and Marisa leaves the shop.
"See ya, ze!" Marisa also waves goodbye.
Nijiko grabs her bike, while the witch picks up her broom, then they proceed to head towards the entrance. At the same time, a human girl passes them. She has purple eyes and shoulder-lenght purple hair with a pink flower-shaped ornament. She also wears a green kimono top with yellow, floral-patterned sleeves and a red hakama skirt.
"Huh, who is that girl?" she turns around, looking at the leaving Nijiko.
"Oh, Akyuu-chan!" Kosuzu notices her friend arriving. "She is Nijiko Akimitsu. The new assistant of Morichika-kun and appearantly a friend of Marisa-san."
"Nijiko Akimitsu? Never heard about her." Akyuu replies. "And you say, she is employed by Morichika-kun?"
"Yeah, at least thats what she said. Also, she has a vehicle that I have only seen in certain foreign books"
"Hmmmm." the current Child of Miare thinks. "Can it be... that she is from the Outside World?"
...
"So, what do you think of the Human Village, ze?" Marisa asks as they leave the village.
"The people are sure friendly and helpful. Especially Motoori-san." Nijiko responds. "I wish it could be said for the Yokai as well..."
"Ya know, there are actually Yokai who are quite friendly even to humans, but thats a few." the witch responds. "The relationship between us was always a sensitive topic, ze."
"Huh, it seems there are so many things about Gensokyo I dont know..."
"Thats right. And I am gonna help you to know more, ze!"
"Thanks, Kirisame-san!"
"You dont have to be that polite to me. Just call me Marisa, ze."
"Okay. Because you are so nice to me, I will call you Mari-san!" Nijiko smiles.
"Huh, I like that nickname." Marisa looks at Nijiko. "You know what, Nijiko-chan? Lets race to Kourindou, ze!"
The witch inmediately mounts on her broom and soars away.
"Hey wait! Mari-san!" Nijiko cycles after her friend as fast as she can.
As they are going away, a familiar figure is observing them from the bushes. It is none other, than Cassida.
"Heh - heh, It seems I have finally found my perfect target." she says with a playful grin.
How is Nijiko going to fare further down the line? What kind of adventures as awaiting her? And what is the prankster Tortoise Beetle Yokai planning?
To be continued...
Author Note: And there is the third chapter. I have more ideas how to continue, but I have to put them into order, so it will took a bit longer to the next chapters to come. Especially considering I have to avoid rushing the story.