2/3

Marisa zoomed down from the sky on her broom. The trees of the forest around her were blanketed in white snow, and her house was very nearly obscured by a thick blanket of snow and icicles.

"I can't believe it," she sighed. "Reimu wasn't home, Alice wasn't home, not even Youmu was home. And I can't even check if Goro is home, either." She landed, her boots sinking into the snow, and took out a knife, which she flipped and twirled around in her hand. "At least Sakuya was nice enough to leave a present for me. She doesn't give up her knives too often." She fiddled with the lock on her door, opened it, and went inside.

Inside the house, it was completely pitch black. "Dang. Didn't think it'd get this dark. Can't see anything." She got out the Hakkero. "Today's my birthday, and nobody's interested in helping me celebrate." She sighed again. "Guess I'll just stop by the Shrine later to see if Reimu's home and-"

She activated the lights, at which point everyone else popped out of their hiding spots, confetti and string flew everywhere, and they shouted "WELCOME HOME!"

"W-WHOA!" Marisa stammered back, her arm's flailing.

I walked in from the back with a large, decadent cake in my hands. "Happy birthday, Marisa!" I smiled.

Nitori giggled. "Boy, you should have seen the look on your face!"

"W-w-wha… you guys! W-when did you-"

"Remember that key to your place you lent me that one time?" Reimu said, spinning said key around her finger. "So I thought we'd throw you a surprise party!"

Marisa paused to think, then laughed. "Aw man, you're the best, Reimu!" She ran over to glomp Reimu right up. "And the rest of 'ya!"

"Mmm-hmm," Alice nodded. "Happy birthday."

Alice helped Youmu prepare a grand dinner, including a turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and even vegetarian options for Byakuren. All of us, the Day Breakers plus Alice, sat around the table which we had set up, with Marisa getting the best seat.

"You guys…" Marisa blushed. "'Ya didn't hafta do all this just for me…"

"Everybody loves you," Byakuren said, "even if you don't realize it."

"Plus, you're cute," Reimu said.

"Extremely cute," Nitori said.

"Indeed," Alice said. "You are quite cute."

Marisa at this point was pulling her hat over her face again.

I decided to chime in, "I think you are a very hard worker, strong-willed and able to do anything you set your mind to. And, you are a valuable asset to our team, as well."

Marisa looked at me from under her hat. "Stop it, it's embarrassing when you praise me like that…"

All of us laughed, only mostly at Marisa's expense, as we passed around the food. Reimu, of course, had the most on her plate, taking one of virtually everything on offer, and was fixated on sucking down her plate while the rest of us ate more modestly.

"Just let her be," Marisa said. "This is probably the most home-cooked food she's seen in one place in a long time. 'Sides, she needs the calories to keep up her figure."

"I thought this was your birthday party," Alice said. " Her's is next month."

Mamiko raised her hand. "I still don't quite understand. What is a 'birthday?'"

"It celebrates the number of years it has been since the person celebrating their birthday was born," I explained. "Twenty-seven years ago, on this day in 1990, Marisa was born. It is customary that close friends and family of hers help her celebrate, and give her gifts as well."

"I see… then, what would my 'birthday' be?'"

"Your birthday… that's a good question. We of course don't know what day you came into being as a shadow, so…"

"Why don't we just say the day you possessed your body?" Alice suggested. "After all, that is the day that 'Mamiko Shinshou' as you currently are came into being."

Mamiko thought for a moment. "I suppose you are right… 'I' was 'born' on that night…"

"Right," Alice nodded. "Now, based on what we know, you came into my house at some point on the night of the 13th of last month, before midnight. So, we'll say January 13th is your birthday."

"January 13th…" Mamiko nodded. "I accept it. Although, now I wonder, what are all of your 'birthdays?'"

"Well, obviously today, February 3rd, is mine," Marisa said.

Reimu looked up from her food. "And mine's next month, the third of March."

"May 1st," said Alice.

"Based on the clues I've gathered, October 12th," said Nitori.

"It's been over a thousand years since my birth, but converted to the current calendar, April 14th," said Byakuren.

"August 6th," said Youmu.

Finally, I spoke up, "and my birthday is June 2nd."

Mamiko nodded again, then looked at Marisa. "I see. Happy birthday, Marisa."

"Don't mention it," Marisa waved. "Now then, let's dig in!"

"Hold it!" Nitori reached into her bag, and pulled out a large bottle of sake. "Scientifically formulated to be the best damn sake you've ever drunk!"

"I will refrain, of course," Byakuren said. "But, this is a special occasion, so I will not object to the rest of you partaking."

"ALRIGHT, SWEET!" Reimu immediately took the bottle and filled her glass right up to the brim, then chugged it all at once. "BOOZE!"

"Uh, Rei, 'ya know since I'm the birthday girl, I-"

"Forget it," Alice dismissed. "You get that girl near alcohol, she goes absolutely nuts. Unbecoming of a Shrine Maiden, and yet…"

I poured myself a glass and took a swig. It gave a bit of a "bite" on the way down, causing me to grimace.

"Strong stuff, eh?" Nitori remarked. "I based it off of a formula I found for 'Eye pee aye' I found in Muenzuka once."

I looked at the sake again. I remembered IPAs from when Sae-san would sometimes order them from that one conveyor belt sushi bar that featured American beers; if I recall correctly, Elysian Space Dust was her favorite. I politely pushed the glass aside and continued with my meal; at one point, when Reimu's glass was empty, she took mine and chugged it, apparently not caring that a man had drunk from it previously.

Once dinner was finished, we moved onto the cake, a decadent chocolate-and-more-chocolate monstrosity topped with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, as well as twenty-seven candles which Marisa tried to blow out, before simply getting her Hakkero out and letting out a compressed air blast to do the job instead. We made small talk over the cake, and handed her our presents. Mine was a stack of silver plates Masato allowed me to take off the store shelves. Byakuren offered a dharma doll. Youmu gave her what she explained was a rare Netherworld lotus flower. Alice offered a doll in Marisa's visage. Nitori gave her some sort of gadget, a device she claimed could help her in her chemistry experiments. If Reimu had a present for her, she was drinking too much and getting too hammered to coherently tell us what it was.

Later in the evening, once all the cake had been eaten and all the presents given, we all resolved to go our separate ways for the night. Well, most of us at any rate.

"Mayybe it'z the sakie, but I feel like Mariza izz cuter than normal," Reimu said drunkenly. "Juzt come over here and gimme a hug…"

Marisa pushed her away. "Go home, Reimu, you're drunk."

Reimu slumped on Marisa's shoulder. "...zzzzzzz…"

"Oh my God," Marisa facepalmed. "Goro, can 'ya help me with this one?"

"Help you… with what?"

"Gettin' her home, of course, 'ya dingus."

"Can you not do it yourself? Prop her up onto your broom?"

"Nah, she's heavy as fuck," Marisa said. "Most of her body's muscle, 'cause she trains all the time. So I can't haul her around for nothing. You're a big, strong guy, I bet it shouldn't be a problem for you to help me out."

"Well, alright." I came over to help haul Reimu out of the house, and…

"...oof!" Marisa wasn't kidding: Reimu was heavy for her size, and I could feel the rock-hard musculature of her figure. Carefully, the two of us worked together to prop her up on Marisa's broom, and we flew through the frigid, snowy night back to the Shrine.


Even though it was only seven o ' clock, Marisa decided it would be best to put Reimu to bed. So, she changed Reimu into her robes, found her futon, and slipped her under the covers.

"There," Marisa said. "Don't drink your brains out next time." She turned to me. "I'll have to tell Nitori to leave the booze behind next time. I think Byakuren had the right idea."

"Does Reimu have a tendency to do that? Binge drink, that is?"

"Look, she's broke and lonely most of the time," Marisa explained. "If she gets her grubby paws on quality sake, she drinks like there's no tomorrow. She keeps sake around, of course, but it often tastes like piss, and she tends to rely on Yukari to get her the good stuff, and during the winter when Yukari's hibernating…"

"I think I understand," I said. I threw my jacket back on. "But it still isn't healthy for her to drown her sorrows in such a way like that."

"No it ain't," Marisa sighed. "But again, like I said, she gets lonely a lot. That's mainly why I come to visit her so much. No one comes to her shrine, save the occasional youkai who barges in and decides they're her roommates, which causes the place to have a reputation as a "youkai shrine."

"Then, why doesn't she get a boyfriend?" I suggested.

"It ain't that easy. She's the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, which makes her tough to date by definition. She was raised and trained to be a hardass, since 'ya pretty much hafta be in order to face down youkai on a daily basis. Furthermore, even without that she's forceful and has an iron personality. She always has to be in control, and will stop at nothing to make sure that stays the case. Basically, ANY man would have to play second banana in the relationship, and I hope I don't have to tell 'ya that very few, if any, guys in the Village would be willing to put up with that. Then there's the issue of lineages."

"Lineages?" I asked.

"Yeah, so, long ago, the Hakurei family had a spell placed on them by Yukari that ensured that they could only ever give birth to girls, who also take the Hakurei family name. Obviously, that creates the issue of men who don't have brothers not wanting to enter into a relationship with the Hakurei, since their family names would end with them as a result. Because of that, very few Hakureis have entered into marriages with men, and even fewer stayed married for life. Most of the time, Yukari has to find 'conscripts' in the Village for breeding stock, and has even been known to turn to abducting Outside men for the same purpose. Actually, it ain't uncommon for Hakureis to essentially live their lives alone, except for their daughters, just because they don't form relationships. If anything, Reimu's a big, fat exception, but even then, I can't see her gettin' with a guy. And it doesn't help that, despite her young looks, her age makes her 'over the hill' for most guy's tastes, since a lot of them don't want a strong, mature girl who actually has a spine and can stand her ground, unlike many of the Village girls."

"Both of you are two years older than even Sae-san, whom I've seen being pressured by her bosses and others into marrying because of her age," I said. "The way I see it, one should not be forced to find someone they want to spend their lives with. It should happen naturally."

"Oh yeah, and what kinda girls are you interested in?" Marisa asked.

"What kind of girls... if I had to say so, those with a strong work ethic, a strong will and resolve, and who will keep their distance when I need it."

"So basically, either one of us," Marisa said.

"Er… and who also stands for the truth."

Marisa stared at me, while Reimu snored.

"...heh… is that so?" She tipped her hat, then zoomed off on her broom, hollering, "keep chasin' that truth, but remember what I told 'ya!"

...did I say something wrong?

I shook my head. It didn't matter right now. Before I left, I made sure the door was locked, so that no one came and tried to attack Reimu while she was inebriated, then headed back home. I went to bed early, so that I could be well-rested in the event we were called to action.