The next morning went like the last one: I woke up, bathed, and slipped into some clean clothes. When I went downstairs, Masato was waiting for me, apparently eager to give me my next cooking lesson: breakfast.

"Good morning," he said to me.

"Good morning, Kirisame-san," I bowed.

Masato chuckled. "Still very polite, eh? Although I guess only two days here in Gensokyo wouldn't make you rude just yet."

I eyed the skilled already on the burner. "More cooking lessons, I presume?"

"Precisely," Masato answered. "Then, after breakfast, I wanted to go over the terms of you living here and working for me. Would've done it yesterday, but I didn't want to overwhelm you."

"Understood," I said.

After breakfast, we had about a half hour before the store opened up for the day. Unlike Outside world employers, his terms were relatively flexible: I had to work for him at least thirty hours a week, but there was no real schedule to speak of. He told me he would do this to give me freedom to explore the area and get to know people, but if I was here at the store I had to be working during store hours. He would pay for groceries for both of us, but it was up to me to shop for and/or gather them, which counted as work hours; he also gave me instructions on how and where to harvest wild plants. I would also get a percentage of the profits as pay, in addition to the room/board and groceries. The store was closed on Sundays, but if I needed hours I was free to clean up the shop and run errands for him. These terms seemed simple enough, so after negotiating some minor adjustments (being well-versed in law has its advantages), we signed off on it.

Like yesterday, I started out sweeping the front area and outside. Today, the clouds were thinner, and sunlight was peeking through them, but there was still plenty of snow to go around, more snowmen to build, snowballs to throw. It really was endearing to watch the kids have fun, here in the countryside where there was no internet, no video games, really no trace of modern culture, but the children made the most of what they had. Perhaps, I realized, their childhoods were more fulfilling as a result.

I wished I could have enjoyed the simple pleasures of tobogganing down a hillside, perhaps with the plus-sized Dragonite plush I once owned as a kid.

A mother and her child came up to the door just as I was finishing up and heading back inside, so I let them in. The mother picked out a basket while the child found a small wooden toy. Just after they left, a man came in looking for clothes for his daughter; he gave Masato some money in addition to the clothes she had outgrown. Then a woman came in to buy a pot, another man dropping off kimonos, and yet a third man exchanging a smoking pipe for parts to repair a cart. This was the typical scene that played out in Masato's little emporium which had a bit of everything, and by all accounts it was a very successful business.

Around lunch, I was busy sorting clothes by size when the door rang. In walked an older girl or young woman wearing a rice hat, a heavy lavender-colored dress and a wooden crate on her back. Her most striking features, however, were her lavender hair and piercing red eyes. For some reason, I felt extremely uneasy looking at her eyes, even though she didn't seem at all menacing, prompting me to avoid them even if it meant being a little rude.

She walked up to the counter, where Masato greeted her. "Ah, Reisen, welcome."

"I appreciate it," she bowed. She looked over to me. "Did you get a new employee?"

"Oh, yes," Masato said. "He just came here recently from Outside. I'm helping him get used to things."

Reisen sighed. "Oh great. Is she fooling around again? I hope not, she really needs to stop." She reached into her crate and pulled out a bag containing powder. "Anyway, here's your medicine."

"Thanks." Masato gave her some money and put the powder under the counter. Reisen bowed again before exiting the store.

Once she had left, I came up to the counter and asked Masato, "who was that woman just now?"

"Oh, her? That's Reisen. She comes into town a couple times a week selling medicine. She works for the doctor at Eientei, and comes here so that villagers don't have to brave the Bamboo Forest just to get their medicine."

Eientei… wasn't that the place Keine mentioned when she led me here to the village a couple days ago, I wondered?

"I think Keine mentioned that place to me," I said. "What sorts of medicine does the doctor sell?"

"Everything you can imagine. She's really talented." He took the bag of powder out from under the desk. "This stuff really helps me manage my arthritis. I'd be even more of an old, achy mess without it."

"But you don't seem that old…"

Masato laughed. "Well, I'm glad you think so. I guess Kirisames don't have the best health."

I smiled and nodded. Somehow, though, I could tell that there was a pain in his laugh, as if suggesting there was a reason other than age for his aches and pains. It made me even more curious about this man's past, and it reminded me of that drawing I found yesterday…

For lunch, Masato helped me make some sandwiches. We were enjoying them with some rather juicy apples, when the door creaked open.

"I'm sorry, but the store is closed for-" Masato started to say, before a red-and-white yin-yang orb floated up to us. It hovered just in front of the table, before it stopped spinning and showed an image of Reimu's face.

"I'm done with my chores," Reimu said. "Do you have time to come up to the shrine today and let me teach you Spell Cards?"

I looked at Masato, and he nodded. "If it's the shrine maiden, I'll let you go take care of it."

"Thank you," I said.


After lunch, I threw on a jacket and some snowshoes before heading up the path to the shrine. Again, I was careful passing by the Netherworld Portal, trying to quickly move past it just in case the key activated again. Once I was safely clear, it wasn't too much further to the bottom steps of the shrine. I took off the snowshoes and ascended the steps up the hill, passing under the grand torii which marked the shrine entrance.

Once at the top, I was met with a modest shrine, with a kagura-den and Shamusho off to the sides, a Haiden ahead of me and the Honden enshrining the kami just behind it. Reimu was out in front of the Haiden, waiting for me eagerly.

"You made it," Reimu greeted. "Hope the walk here wasn't too hard."

I looked around briefly, then told her, "you have a wonderful shrine."

Reimu visibly blushed. "Oh, uh… thanks," she smiled. "I… don't get compliments very often, to be honest."

"...I see."

She came up to me, and handed me a blank deck of cards.

"What are these for?" I asked.

"I'll get to that part," she said. She stepped back. "So, the first thing we need to do before I can teach you how to actually fight is to get you in the air."

I stepped back in surprise. "You mean, flying?"

"Exactly," Reimu nodded. "All spell card duels are conducted in the air. Like I said yesterday, anyone can learn how to fly, at least enough to conduct these duels. It isn't really that hard, but you do need to focus if you don't want to fall out of the air in the middle of a duel."

I was still struggling to wrap my mind around the idea of flying, much less how to do it and fight at the same time. But, one thing after another, I reckoned. All I could do right now was listen to what Reimu had to say.

"Alright, what should I do first?" I asked.

"Close your eyes and concentrate," Reimu instructed. "Try to imagine yourself levitating off of the ground."

There's no way it could be that easy, I thought. How on Earth can one just will themselves into the air? By sheer force of anger alone? Having such high contempt toward their opponent that they just end up levitating like a Dragon Ball character?

Either way, I had to get myself flying, somehow. My lesson couldn't continue until I did. So I closed my eyes, held out my arms and tried to envision myself lifting off of the ground. Soaring through the sky like an eagle, majestically commanding the vast, open space above the ground, a domain ruled by birds and where humans looked up to, desiring to free themselves from the chains of gravity, to fulfill the desire and destiny to reach the stars…

*phft*

I opened an eye and saw Reimu corpsing. "What's so funny?" I asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she dismissed, still chuckling. "It's just… you're flapping your arms right now."

I looked at my arms and… oh. Somehow, I had subconsciously started flailing them up and down like wings. I'll admit, straight-laced as I tried to project myself, more often than not I wound up looking and acting like a clown. Openly gushing about children's anime on live TV when I went off on a tangent, bumping into people on the street awkwardly, going into three separate rooms to get coffee, cream and sugar because I couldn't look around and see where everything was, and that wasn't even counting my behavior in the Metaverse where I had a tendency to CHEW THE SCENERY AND SHOUT AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS WHILE SLAUGHTERING MY ENEMIES AND THEN TAUNTING THEM BY MAKING OVER-THE-TOP JOJO POSES!

...sorry for shouting like that, I just wanted to illustrate how I felt at times. Anyway, back to the task at hand. I put my arms down and focused. Really focused, like what a monk sitting on a remote Himalayan spire might do for several hours a day. This time, I cleared my head of any thoughts and purely focused on levitating. Hopefully, I could awaken something within me that would allow the magic filling this fantasy realm to flow through my body and allow me to become one with it, giving me the power to defy natural and physical law and soar with the wind.

It took a few moments, but eventually, I could feel the weight easing from my feet, until, finally, there was nothing under them.

I opened my eyes, and looked down. Looked down at my feet, and the ground they were most definitely not touching. Now, human instinct at this point would be to panic and flail about, since humans are not supposed to simply levitate in the air. We are not flying creatures. But I realized that panicking would likely cause me to fall to the ground, so I fought the butterflies in my stomach and the trembling in my fingers and toes. It wasn't much, perhaps half a meter, but there was no mistaking it: I was floating.

It seemed so surreal that it made even my Metaverse escapades seem "real" in comparison.

Reimu had no words. She just stood there, looking at me with a blank expression and studying me. Of course, I realized that since she could fly herself, and that she'd seen other people flying perhaps countless times before, then a flying person probably wasn't very interesting to her. For me, however, it was an enthralling experience, much like a child taking their first swim or driving a car for the first time. For a few moments I just floated there in place, taking in the novel state of levitating off of the ground.

I thought about how I could gain altitude, and actually move around in the air. After all, my legs were of no use, and unlike a bird I had no wings with which to guide my movement. And I certainly didn't have jets like a plane. Not knowing what to do, I looked up and imagined myself going up. Then, just like that, I actually did go up, slowly. Interesting, I thought. I looked down, then imagined myself going down, which caused me to descend.

Alright. I at least had vertical movement figured out. Now, for horizontal movement. I lifted up into the sky again to distance myself from the ground and any obstacles, then focused on my next objective: moving forward in a straight line. Like before, I tried to imagine myself going forwards, but that by itself didn't do anything: I soon figured out that I had to slightly angle my body forward as well, much like a Segway, and that the more I tilted my body while focusing on movement the faster I went; I could even lean backwards to reverse myself. I then realized I could pivot my body in order to go in other directions. I also found that I could influence my up/down speed by thinking about moving faster or slower, and combine this with lateral movement to go faster still. All told, I found that flying involved a combination of focused thinking and subtle physical movements. It was a lot simpler than I imagined it to be.

I looked around at the new perspective I had. At the height of the tops of trees, I could see far off into the distant valley below, the mountains behind me, the emerald carpets of forests, and a blue, hazy lake with some sort of structure on the far shore, all buried under a white, icy veil of snow. Down below, Reimu seemed very small as she looked up at me, floating in the air with my arms to my sides. Oh, what a difference a few feet in height makes in your perception of the world.

I smirked. With the ability to fly realized, I had a whole new world to explore, and many, many perspectives I wanted to see. But, Reimu wasn't done with me, and I knew I could practice this any time. So, slowly, I made my way back to the ground. My landing was… a little clumsy, but I quickly steadied myself and regained my composure.

"So," I asked her, "how did I do?"

Reimu slowly came up to me, clapping her hands. "That was impressive, for a first-timer," she said to me.

"Really?" I asked. "It… honestly didn't seem that hard. I just had to focus on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go…"

"No, really, it was impressive. Most people don't figure it out that quickly. I mean, it took me weeks back when I was little to pull off what you did just now, and flying is my ability!" Reimu smiled. "I knew it. You've got some real potential. Any doubts I had after yesterday are all gone. I think we can move on to the next lesson."

"Fighting?" I guessed.

"Yep. You've got it. My own special brand of dueling called the 'Spell Card System,' although a lot of people around here also call it 'Danmaku' because it involves a lot of bullets."

I tilted my head to one side. "Bullets?"

"Bullets, although not bullets from like a gun," Reimu clarified. "Laser bullets. Allow me to demonstrate." Reimu walked away from me toward the torii before she manifested two spinning yin-yang orbs from her person, then levitated up into the air before taking aim at a large boulder and pointing her gohei at it. As soon as she did that, the orbs began to orbit her at a fast speed, and a stream of crimson needles bombarded the rock, seemingly fired from the orbs she commanded. In addition, various glowing laser dots spawned from her figure, floating out in all directions before disappearing after travelling a short distance. It was a powerful display, much like whenever I directed a Megidola into a group of foes standing in my way.

Afterward, Reimu came back down and faced me. "That was a non-spell," she explained. "It's a basic shot pattern which you can string together on the spot from ambient magic."

"I see," I noted. "So you can just focus all the magic around you and turn it into energy bullets?"

"Essentially," Reimu said. "It's much easier if you have some sort of object or weapon that you can channel it into, and easier still if that object itself is enchanted and can do the channeling for you, like my gohei and my yin-yang orbs, but if you get really good you can do it with just your bare hands." She came closer to me. "Would you happen to have something like that on you right now? It'd make this lesson a lot easier if you did…"

I fumbled around to see if I had something in the satchel I had been given that I could use as a sort of weapon, when my hands clutched what felt like a gun. Pulling it out, I saw that it was, in fact, the pistol I had manifested yesterday in front of the Palace.

Reimu jumped back. "Is-isn't that the gun you got yesterday?"

"It would seem so," I said, inspecting it. "But, you should be fine. It's only a model, not an actual-"

Then when I pointed it at the boulder Reimu had been firing at and "pulled" the trigger, all of a sudden a stream of blue kunai-shaped bullets streamed out from the barrel. I recoiled back in shock and dropped the gun, since I wasn't actually expecting it to fire anything.

"..." I stood there staring at the gun, before picking it back up, this time being more careful with handling it.

"...don't tell me… is that gun magical?" Reimu wondered.

"...it certainly seems like it," I noted.

"But, weren't you firing actual bullets from it yesterday?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not exactly." I presented the gun to her. "As I said, this gun is a mere model, as you can see. But the Metaverse is shaped by cognition, so if a shadow thinks a toy gun or sword is real, then they function as real, causing them to shoot real bullets. Of course, like real guns, they can run out of 'ammo' and of course you can't reload a toy gun, but every new enemy you encounter expects it to be loaded so it will 'reload' then."

Reimu scratched her head. "That's… very strange, but I'll take your word for it." She looked at the gun again. "Doesn't explain why it can shoot Danmaku here in the real world…"

"I have a theory," I said. "You saw how this gun manifested from blue flames, as did the knife, yes? That must mean the gun's very existence is magical, since it appeared from nothing. Even outside the Metaverse, if there's magic in the air then it's no surprise that it can channel it quite easily. Thus, it can fire 'Danmaku' since that kind of magic is what it can call here." I then decided to put my theory to the test by floating back up into the air - it didn't take as much concentration this time around, now that I had done it once before. Once I was at a safe height and distance away from Reimu, I aimed the gun and started shooting. I held the trigger for a good few seconds, but it never stopped firing. I then decided to get creative, first by waving the pistol around a bit to create waves in the continuous line of fire, then whipping it around so as to create a pattern of blue kunai bullets encircling me and partially compensating for the very narrow single stream of kunais spewing forth from it.

I touched back down on the ground once I was finished. Reimu was visibly impressed by the display.

She smiled. "Heh, looks like you've got a pretty good head-start! Looks like we can really move through this lesson quickly!"

"I appreciate your compliment," I bowed.

"Looks like you reeled in a good one there, Reimu!"

I looked at Reimu's face, her smile turning into a tired frown as her eyes slowly closed and her shoulders slumped.

"...how long have you been up there, Marisa?"

I looked up at the roof, and saw a blonde girl in a black jacket and, oddly, a frilly pointed hat lying on the roof of the shrine kicking her feet around in the air. "Oh, about the last 415.7 seconds, why do you ask?" She then got up, slid down the roof on her boots and somersaulted into the air, landing on her feet with her hat floating back down upon her head moments later. She had a toothy grin and yellow eyes which conveyed an unnatural air to me. She also seemed rather smug and confident.

She walked toward me, where the height difference between me and her was noticeable - she was perhaps a little over a meter and a half. Despite this, she just came up to me and put a gloved finger under my chin, while I stared down awkwardly.

Marisa whistled. "Geez, Rei, didn't think you'd be able to pull in any guys, much less tall, handsome gentlemen like this one."

"T-t-that's not it at all!" Reimu stammered, her face flushed with red; meanwhile I just rolled my eyes as once again, my inadvertent womanizing powers warped the minds of any females within my vicinity. "I'm merely teaching him how to duel, that's all!"

"Ya sure?" Marisa sneered. "I've never taken 'ya for someone who'd go out of her way just to teach people danmaku, 'specially not this looker over here. 'Ya sure he didn't just come up to 'ya one day and strike a ~pose~ while shedding sparkles and-"

*WHACK*

"That's quite enough!" Reimu barked angrily as she hit the top of Marisa's head with her gohei.

"Owowow… alright, fine, sheesh, you win." Marisa wandered around for a bit while pressing the spot on her head where she was smacked. She then looked at me and asked, "who are 'ya anyway?"

"Oh, my apologies," I said. I bowed, "my name is Goro Akechi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Marisa-san."

Marisa chuckled and smirked. "Oh really? You must be an outsider. That's clearly a Tokyo accent, and nobody calls anyone 'X-san' 'round here." She removed her hat and bowed, "name's Marisa Kirisame. You'd better remember it!"

...wait, I thought. Kirisame? Were she and Masato related somehow? But… he didn't mention anything about relatives… What about that drawing I found? Could it have been hers?

I shook my head. Now probably wasn't the best time to bring it up. Instead, I just smiled back, "It's good to meet you, Marisa."

Reimu sighed. "Well, if Marisa's here, I should probably go heat up some tea. Wanna join, Goro?"

"My thanks," I said. The three of us went inside the shamusho.


Unlike most shamushos, which function as administrative offices for the shrines, this one was more like a house, which made it apparent to me that Reimu lived here in addition to working here. There was already a warm kotatsu laid out in front of us, so me and Marisa made ourselves comfortable while Reimu went to boil water and steep tea for us.

"So are you really from Outside?" she asked me.

"Of course I am," I said earnestly. "Your deduction is spot on."

"Oh, pleeeeease, you tryin' to seduce me or something?" she teased. "You're actin' waaay too polite and formal for that to be how 'ya normally talk to people."

I chuckled. "Well, I was a celebrity detective out there. Perhaps it's just my nature."

Marisa laughed. "Maybe it is. There's lotsa dangerous youkai livin' here, but I bet yer looks alone could kill 'em! Maybe you should come along with me and Reimu when we go out solvin' incidents!"

I cocked an eyebrow. "'You and Reimu?'"

"Yeah, we solve incidents together, ain't that right?" She looked over at Reimu who was standing over a kettle.

"More like you tag along most of the time to loot whoever it is I'm setting straight, but yes, you could call it that."

Marisa pouted. "Aw, c'mon! What about when I distracted Suwako for 'ya while you dealt with Kanako? Or when I finished off Okuu after her suns knocked 'ya down? Or back when Seija tried to mess things up and there was that taiko drum girl who came outta nowhere and tried to beat us up? Or that one time at the mansion when Sakuya got drunk offa Oni mash and-"

"Alright, you've made your point," Reimu grunted as she poured the tea out into cups for us and walked over to the kotatsu.

"Are you two going to be okay?" I asked half-sarcastically.

Reimu shook her head. "It might not look like it, but we're close friends," she said. "We've known each other since before I was the shrine maiden here. Her being here uninvited isn't strange at all."

"Why don't we just drop the pretense and have me move in?"

"Shut up."

Reimu set the tray down, and each of us grabbed our respective cups. I wanted to break the ice and started to say something, but Marisa cut in before I could.

"So, Goro," she asked haughtily, "whaddya think of the Ordinary Magician of Paradise over here?"

I studied her for a second, then said, "you seem like the type of person who carries no regard for the rules and who says and does whatever you want without thinking about how others feel about it."

"Well, I'm glad you - HEY! YA DON'T GOTTA BE SO BLUNT ABOUT IT, IDIOT!" Marisa shouted over the table while Reimu was struggling not to laugh so hard.

"What's so funny?!" Marisa protested.

"Because it's true," Reimu giggled. Meanwhile, Marisa just crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out. These two truly did have a unique friendship, I thought to myself.

Eventually, Marisa looked back at me and said, "well, now I know not to ask ya about your opinion. You don't got a filter."

"I could say the same," I snarked. "But, trading barbs won't get us anywhere. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Oh, right," Marisa said. "Well, like I said, I'm a witch livin' in the Forest of Magic. My specialties are mushrooms, stars, light, high explosives and booze."

"Don't forget about 'borrowing,'" Reimu added.

"Ehehe… well, like I keep tellin' Patchy, I'll return them when I eventually blow my house up and there's a big, huge crater where I used to be."

"I see…" I noted.

"Yup."

"...are you perhaps the daughter of Masato Kirisame, the man who took me in and who I'm working for so I have a place to live?"

Marisa was silent.

"...I'm sorry, did I… hit a sore topic?" I asked.

Marisa slumped. "...so Keine was right," she sighed. "He did give my room away. Figures. Just proves he doesn't care about me anymore."

"I beg your pardon?" I said.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Marisa responded.

Reimu put her hand on Marisa's back and said softly, "you know, Goro is living in your room. I think he has a right to know at least a little about your situation, since everyone in town knows."

Marisa took a sip of tea. "Alright, I guess." She looked up at me. "My dad, you see… well, when I was little, I ran away from home."

I was surprised. "Er, why?"

"He was always keepin' me from doing magic," she said. "He told me it wasn't proper, that I was gonna get myself killed summoning demons and fightin' monsters, but I didn't want to hear any of it. So one day I just up and left. That's why I'm where I'm at now. But I don't care. That ain't my home anymore. I live in my own home and made my own damn family outta my friends. Still doesn't fix the fact that I had a rough-ass childhood. Couldn't even go outside to play with the kids 'cause he was always makin' me do work, and even when I did all the kids just treated me like some kinda weirdo. That's actually how I met Reimu, both of us are weirdos with no one else to turn to."

Rough childhood… I looked down at the table.

"...somethin' the matter?" Marisa asked.

"...to be honest, I had an exceptionally tough childhood as well."

"Oh?" Marisa asked. "How so?"

"It's a long story," I dismissed. "You wouldn't be interested."

Marisa loomed over the table. "Nuh-uh. You listened to my story, now I wanna hear yours! You're not allowed to be gloomy around me!"

Heh. Just as I thought. She really did have a forceful personality. Whatever she set her mind to, she would do it. Well, I supposed I had no choice now but to tell her the same lie I told everyone else.

"Oh, if you insist," I said. I looked down. "...the truth is, I'm an orphan. My parents both died when I was young."

"...ah, I see… That must've been hard on ya, losin' your parents when you were that small. And they don't treat orphans too well out there, do they?"

I shook my head. "No, no they don't, because of how family laws work. I spent most of my childhood passed around from one foster home to the next, but no one would adopt me, take me in permanently. I didn't really have friends growing up as a result; anime and video games were about the only escapes I had. But I always did very well at school, and I was blessed with excellent detective skills, which got me noticed by the Special Investigations Unit who hired me as a student detective. It was a brutal schedule, balancing that and schoolwork, but it allowed me to live on my own and control my own life. Still… I do regret never having the opportunity to make real friends when I was young."

I looked at Marisa… and she smiled lightly. "Guess you, me and Reimu have a lot in common," she said. "My dad's still around, of course, but other than that they're all dead or missing somehow, and we've had to strike it out on our own, in different ways. My mom actually died when I was still a baby, so I never knew her."

I turned to Reimu. "And you?" I asked.

Reimu looked downcast. "I lost my mother in a bad thunderstorm back when I was twelve; I've had a fear of lightning ever since. And my dad… I actually don't even know who my dad is, or if he's still around, since mother never spoke about him, wouldn't even talk about him."

...I certainly knew how that felt, not that I could reveal it to them right now.

It was then that Marisa perked up and poured herself another cup of tea. "Well, enough doom and gloom," she chirped, "let's talk about something else. So…" She looked at me. "You're a detective?"

"Oh, yes," I smiled. "I was sometimes referred to as the 'Detective Prince' out there because of my ability to bring down seemingly unsolvable cases, which brought me much media attention and an army of fangirls."

All of a sudden, Marisa snorted and banged the table laughing. "Ahahaha! Of course you would! 'Army of Fangirls!' A guy like you on TV all the time, I wouldn't doubt it!"

"...yes, well… it was an inconvenience more often than not," I sighed.

"Oh, so do you not like cute girls?" Marisa said, shooting up. "Are ya into older women? Or maaaaybe your g-"

"I am not," I insisted.

"Please forgive her," Reimu apologized. "Marisa here doesn't know the first thing about love and thinks hand-holding is extremely lewd."

"H-HEY! DUMMY!" Marisa shouted as she tried to clamber over to Reimu, before I steadied her with my hand on her forehead.

"Please calm down," I said to her. "You can roughhouse her when we put away the tea."

Me having my hand on her head seemed to have an effect, since she instantly froze with a blank expression, and I swore I could see a light blush on her face.

"Hmph. Fine," she pouted, sitting back down and crossing her arms. "So," Marisa asked, "how did you get here to Gensokyo?"

"It had to do with a series of events surrounding a case I've been investigating for quite some time," I said. "In addition to my regular cases, I had been working to take down a corrupt politician running for Prime Minister." I hesitated for a second, then continued, "his name is Masayoshi Shido. He's as corrupt as they get: taking bribes, giving bribes, blackmail, threatening rival politicians, and even ordering hits through his Yakuza connections. Had he won the election, he would have imposed his ultra-nationalist, corrupt ideology upon the nation. That I couldn't allow, so I spent a great deal of time gathering evidence of his crimes so I could hopefully bring him to justice."

"Shido…" Reimu mused between sips. "You know, Sumireko comes up here to visit whenever she's trapped in Gensokyo in her dreams. Recently she's been venting about some guy by that name running for prime minister who's really popular and everyone loves him, but she says she knows the truth about him and that he's 'really shitty.' For sure, we're always concerned about what the rest of Japan is facing, but what happens out there doesn't really affect us here." She took another sip. "But, it would definitely concern you. I just didn't think I'd meet anyone doing something about it."

"I see," I said. "I didn't know you were already aware of Shido. Masato told me about Sumireko as well. I'd like to meet her at some point."

"I'm sure you will," Reimu replied.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway, another case I was working on involved a group called the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts, whose crimes have become legendary for being as bizarre as they are impossible to trace. These thieves gained their notoriety from stealing the hearts of corrupt individuals, and would send them calling cards, which was usually followed a few days later by that individual confessing all of their crimes. Given my record, I took it upon myself to solve these 'unsolvable' crimes, and managed to determine that they were a group of high school kids."

"Which is funny 'cause you're a high school kid yourself," Marisa added.

"Yes, and generally speaking, impulsive teenagers aren't very good at covering up crimes which they commit. Once I had built up enough suspicion of them, I trailed them to the main courthouse in Tokyo, and was approaching them when something strange happened: the world seemingly twisted and distorted, and before I knew it the courthouse had turned into a casino, and the kids were all wearing strange costumes."

"Wait, what?" Marisa asked, puzzled.

"Trust me, I had the same reaction," I said. "Of course, I demanded an explanation, and they all freaked out realizing a detective had managed to follow them into where they did their dirty work. Soon, they told me everything, about how that location was called the 'Metaverse,' how the casino was a 'palace' which represented a person's distorted desires, and how they wielded the power of 'Personas' to make their way through that Palace."

'...uh, you kinda lost me there, bro," Marisa said. "Could you explain what all that actually means."

"Certainly," I nodded. "So…"

I then spent approximately the next half-hour explaining to Marisa what the Metaverse was: a cognitive world where all the things humanity believed in and perceived were given form, and whose form was freely molded by those ever-shifting cognitions. I explained to her how Palaces formed, what shadows were, and how one awakened to Personas, including a made-up story about how I had awakened one when I was attacked by shadows in Sae-san's palace. Marisa was a little slow to follow it at first, but soon figured it out and found it highly intriguing, especially when I got to the part about stealing treasure. I also talked a little about how the Phantom Thieves got their start, including their conflict with Kamoshida; needless to say, neither was too happy to hear about it.

"Okay, what the fuck?" Marisa said angrily, pounding the table.. "That middle-aged guy was RAPING high school girls? How the hell did he get away with that?!"

"He just had that much power and influence at the school," I answered. "The principal was complicit in covering up his crimes too, due to the prestige the volleyball team brought to the school."

"Unbelievable," Reimu scowled with an icy glare. "I can't believe it's possible for someone to get away with that shit just because they're in positions of power. Actually, if I had a choice between that gym teacher and Tenshi right after she wrecked my shrine that one time, I'd have spared Tenshi. I hope he eventually got what he deserved, because that's complete and utter bullshit."

"He did," I said. "In fact, his crimes were what caused the Phantom Thieves to band together in the first place, since all had suffered at his hand, and one had the power of Persona as well. He recruited the other three, took down his Palace and stole his treasure, which in our world turned into a gold medal similar to the first one the gym teacher had ever won. A few days later, he confessed his crimes and turned himself over to the police. His trial recently concluded: he got thirty years to life, the Olympic Committee rescinded his medals and awards, and he'll have to register as a sex offender upon release, if that ever happens. For sure, his life is pretty much in ruins now."

Reimu smiled, and Marisa smirked. "You know… when I think about it," Reimu commented, "those kids are technically criminals, but their victims are also criminals who are worse than themselves. I am the Hakurei Shrine Maiden and have to uphold the laws of this land, but I do respect vigilante justice if the system itself isn't fair and just. Besides Marisa here, I've been joined by many others in resolving incidents, most of whom I've defeated in duels in the past, all acting because they have a stake in the outcome. And you, and those kids, all of you were given a special power to bring justice to those defying justice."

...If only I could truly say that about myself…

"Indeed. So, returning to the main point, I had them prove their justice by reforming her to be a truly better prosecutor; the last I talked to her, she talked about wanting to switch over to being a criminal defense attorney. I made it clear to the Thieves that I had dirt on them, but if they promised to help me bring down Shido then I would let them off the hook. Luckily, Shido just so happened to be their next target, so I allied with them to send the ship sinking - literally, since his Palace was a cruise ship. Things went fine at first, until we took the treasure and the Palace began to collapse. In the chaos and confusion, I got split from the rest of the group, and while trying to find another way out, the ship exploded, knocking me out and causing the Palace to disappear."

I paused for a moment, then continued, "anything from our world still inside a Palace or any other part of the Metaverse when it ceases to exist disappears from the public's cognition permanently. That's what happened to me: I disappeared from the public's cognition. I don't know what would have happened otherwise, but since this place, Gensokyo, a land of the forgotten, exists, I ended up here."

Marisa was stunned.

"Wow," she said. "That's… a lot more intense then most of the ways people end up here, like getting lost in the forest, getting gapped here by Yukari or whoever or even just wandering through weak spots in the Barrier, like Muenzuka. So, you literally just stopped existing as far as the public was concerned, and that's how you got here?"

"Human cognition is an incredibly powerful force," I explained. "It shapes the world in more ways that you would believe. It shapes this land, too, from what I can piece together. A place where myths and legends come alive, all brought forth by human belief and perception, and destroyed just as easily."

Marisa flopped back onto the ground, arms spread out. "Geez, you just got here a couple days ago and you already have a better understanding of how this place works than a girl who's lived here her whole life."

Reimu smiled. "I think it's just as well. He's in a much better position than most Outsiders. Strong, smart and observant. That's why I'm teaching him Spell Cards, because I think he'd be great at helping solve incidents."

"I don't doubt that," Marisa said, "but what does his Metawhatever powers have to do with danmaku?"

Reimu paused for a bit, before answering, "well, because… It's an Incident."

Marisa shot back up upon hearing that. "Oh really?" she grinned. "Now you've got my attention."

"At least one of these 'Palaces' exists right here in Gensokyo," Reimu explained to her. "I've seen it."

"Whoa, really? You've been there? How'd you get there?"

I produced the Metaverse Key that I had. "This key," I explained. "I woke up yesterday and found it beside me. Using this, we can enter the Metaverse and Palaces. In the Outside world, I used a phone app, but it must have taken this form upon coming here. We accidentally set it off yesterday. Reimu was talking to me about someone named 'Yuyuko,' who lives in the Netherworld, and how you could get there via a portal just off the trail here. We happened to say the Palace keywords, causing the portal to turn into a massive, traditional castle. Shadow guards attacked us, but I was able to summon my Persona to dispatch them."

"Speaking of key," Reimu said while searching inside her dress, before placing a key, similar to mine but red, onto the table.

"Where did you get that?" I asked her, intrigued.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just woke up with it this morning. Actually, before I contacted you, I went down to where the portal is as a test, and I can use it to get in and out of that place on my own."

"Interesting," I thought. "Perhaps when I brought you into the Palace, something decided it wanted you to have the ability to enter the Metaverse even without me around, so it gave you that key."

"But what god or force would do that?" she asked.

"Well, I met the person who gave me my key in a dream, a strange long-nosed man…"

"Was he a tengu?" Reimu asked me.

"...I'm not sure, maybe?"

"...well, I guess it doesn't matter, although if he gave you that key, he might want all of us to do this mission. I'd like to meet him at some point if it's possible." Reimu turned to Marisa. "Did you get all that?"

"Eh… kinda," Marisa shrugged. "So basically, Yuyuko's got one of these Palaces and you wanna bring it down?"

"Yes," I responded. "That Palace's mere existence suggests 'Yuyuko' is committing injustices in reality, and I'd wager her Palace is far from the only one here."

Reimu rubbed her chin. "Well, now that you mention it, she does often overwork poor Yomou, who often complains to me that Yuyuko seems like the Netherworld exists solely to keep her childish desires and huge appetite sated. If destroying that 'Palace' would cause her to change her ways, I'm sure the spirits there would appreciate it."

Marisa got up and grinned. "If it's an incident, I'm down for it. Haven't had a real incident in over a year, just some things with Kosuzu here and there, and I do like a challenge. Can't get better as a witch if I'm not facing new opponents stronger than me."

"Then it's settled," I declared. "Shall we start tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," Reimu said. "I don't have to start setting up for the New Year's festival for a couple days." She glanced over to Marisa. "You will help me out, am I right?"

"...yes," Marisa groaned.

"Splendid," she smiled. "And then Goro, if you're free to help out too I'd greatly appreciate it, but I'll understand if you can't."

"We did make a deal, didn't we?" I answered.

"Doesn't mean I own you. Masato does," Reimu chuckled.


Once it started getting dark, I said my goodbyes and left the shrine, with Marisa following me out the door.

"Can we walk and talk for a bit?" she asked me.

"Of course, what is it?" I replied.

"Well…" she paused for a moment. "So, you're really livin' with my dad, huh?"

"It would seem so…" I looked at her, her expression clearly downtrodden. "So, you haven't tried to make up with him?"

"Why would I?" she replied. "He doesn't like me bein' a witch. I'm sure he didn't even mention me to you."

"No, he did not," I said.

"See? He doesn't even care about me anymore. Not that I need him, since I got Reimu, Alice, Kourin and some other friends. Kourin in particular didn't mind me being a witch, and sorta picked up the slack raisin' me after I ran away."

"Who's 'Kourin?'" I asked her.

"That's Rinnosuke. I call him Kourin 'cause his shop's called Kourindou. Me and Reimu are his best customers. He's a half-youkai; he used to live on the Outside, but he lost his memories about it somehow after he got here. My grandparents found him, taught him how to live here and make a living, and eventually my dad started teachin' him how to run a shop once he inherited it, although they don't talk much nowadays. He's been in my life since I was a nugget, he's super cool and his shop has all the strangest things."

"I see." I paused for a moment. "And you said your mother died when you were very young?"

"Well, yeah… to be honest, I don't know much about her, other than that she was a kind, beautiful woman according to my dad. There was a bad flu outbreak in the village not long after I was born, and, well, we lost her to it. But, you lost both your parents when you were little."

I knew I had to come up with an explanation for how my parents died, even though the truth was only my mom was dead while my father was, well, Shido. So I came up with a plausible explanation. "To this day, I'm still not entirely sure what happened, since it happened while I was so young. The killers were never brought to justice, but the Tokyo police told me they think the Yakuza were somehow involved. Needless to say, I've brought down several of them as a sort of proxy revenge; in fact, I once exposed a whole Triad operating out of Odaiba. I hope someday the killers will be found and punished."

"Yeah, I've heard the Yakuza is nasty," Marisa said. "Gensokyo had a few members within it when the Barrier was erected, but they were all quickly dealt with by the Sages, and to this day Yukari and a few others have a pact to zap any Yakuza that show up here. I've heard they're powerful, though, and you can't really beat them 'cause they're so big."

"They are, that can't be argued with. But, I've been able to do so much on my own that the SIU wanted to promote me once I was done with school, even while I would be attending university. Obviously, now that will never happen, but instead I hope to apply my skills here and help keep order and peace."

"You're not the least bit interested in tryin' to get back?" Marisa wondered. "Most Outsiders try to find a way back anytime they come here. Outside sounds like it really needs 'ya still!"

"Yes, but it's like I said: I got wiped from the public's cognition. Even if I did return, I doubt anyone would remember me. I'd have to rebuild my life from scratch. I think it'd be easier just to establish myself here at this point."

Marisa shook her head. "You're really takin' this situation in stride. I like that." I just nodded, still unwilling to reveal why I was adapting to my new situation well.

We walked past the spot where the Netherworld Portal was, when Marisa asked me, "hey, this is where that 'Palace' place is, right?"

"That's right," I answered. "This is the location it is projected over within the Metaverse."

"...can 'ya show me it real quick?" She asked. "I wanna see what I'm dealin' with so I can prepare myself better. Plus, I'm kinda curious what it actually looks like."

"Certainly," I said. I pulled out the key and got ready to say the keywords, only to see a keyhole manifest in front of me. Sticking the key into the hole triggered the distortion which whisked us away to the Metaverse and the massive castle resting beyond the chasm.

Once the castle fully manifested, Marisa took it in. "Whooooa… that place is really big and crazy." She then turned around to me, and jumped back a bit. "Wait, what? Your clothes, they're like… like a secret agent outfit! And the hell's with that mask?"

Ah. It seemed I was already in my Metaverse outfit. "This is the outfit I don in the Metaverse," I explained. "It reflects my ideal of what a hero is. The mask is how I summon my Persona; it's the form it takes when it's not active. If you awaken a Persona, you would get an outfit and a mask, too."

"I don't think I need one," Marisa boasted. "As long as I can fly, and I got my Mini-Hakkero here, I bet I could kick those shadow's asses." She then jumped on her broom and tried to fly, only to find that she couldn't. "Wait… huh? I can't fly? What the heck?"

"Reimu had a similar problem," I said. "She couldn't use any of her powers here for some reason."

Marisa was clearly annoyed. "Hmmmmmm… can't use magic here, for whatever reason. Does regular magic not work, or does this place shut off special powers, or-"

Suddenly, Marisa was grabbed by a shadow guard who proceeded to run down the bridge to the castle.

"EEEK! HELP ME!" She screamed.

Damn it, I thought. I show her the Palace for one second, and already the shadows are on us, again. I shook my head, I had no choice. She would probably get killed if I did nothing, and it would be on my head. So, I sprinted down the bridge after the guard, right into the looming, sinister castle within which dwelled the distorted heart of a ghost princess.