Interesting Trivia: the creators of Churuya (Tsuruya's smoked-cheese obsessed chibi-version), circle Utsura Uraraka and artist "Eretto", have done a number of Touhou doujins as well in the same style, as well as other Haruhi doujins.

A connection that the Haruhi Suzumiya series has with Touhou Project. That fandom again.

And yes, Another Duck, Lilly White should have been there...if things were still going along the normal timeline...remember, according to the Touhou Wiki, the events of PCB took place on March 21st, 2004. And yet, there they are, April 2nd.

It's almost as if someone is...interfering...with events.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa. Touhou Project is owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own neither. This is a fan fiction of those works.

[This Chapter has been Remastered]

Beta Readers for this Episode(Alphabetical Order):

Serendipital

superstarultra

Koakuma walked down the hallway, humming a tune to herself. She stretched as she paused at a window, gazing out at the snowstorm. Really coming down out there. Lady Patchouli and Miss Sakuya were right - this winter has gone on far too long. I'm lucky I'm inside. I'm lucky I have a roof over my head. And I'm lucky I got friends in here, too.

The Assistant Librarian smiled, already looking forward to the warm meal she prepared for herself and Lady Patchouli. She had prepared the udon noodles with stir fry vegetables, and she thought that this time she got it right with the soy sauce. Lady Patchouli has really taken a liking to this Japanese dish. Udon was a good food – had a decent protein, iron, and fiber content. Lady Patchouli needed a lot of help with her poor health, and Koakuma had to make sure her master ate right.

Right before she turned to fetch her master, she caught a glimpse of someone in the reflection. She whipped around, and saw in the shadows a girl with long black hair. Koakuma stared at her, her body tensing.

"...Y-you..." Koakuma stammered, unprepared to fight, but she knew she would have to. "W-who are you? You aren't supposed to be here!" Koakuma quickly ran through her memory of offensive spells, but couldn't focus on which one to use in this situation. This had surprised her, and she wasn't ready.

The girl stared back with no emotion. She wore all black, and had really long hair that went down to her ankles. The two stared at each other for a minute, the experience unnerving Koakuma. She could tell that something was not right about this, that this girl was bad news. Koakuma was worried that she would have to fight, but the girl instead darted down the hallway, and around the corner. She was fast - faster than a human. Koakuma reluctantly gave chase, shouting out, "H-hey! Guards! Someone's in here!"

When she turned the corner, Koakuma didn't see the girl anymore. Who was that?! The lesser devil turned, looking for the closest guard, or perhaps she would be lucky and run into Meiling if she wasn't posted outside. Koakuma knew she had to get someone to deal with an intruder in their home.

Meiling couldn't believe it. She had heard about a possible intruder, and was called over there when her gate shift was done to check out a noise. Someone had thought they heard glass shattering.

She entered the room, expecting an intruder, but saw the cracks on the glass, and the cracking of the wall above. Those cracks quickly spread to the ceiling, and to the rest of the walls. The structure began to groan and shake.

Meiling was horrified upon the cold realization of what was about to happen.

"Oh, crap."

Need to get everyone out of here.

Meiling ran, shouting to the mob of servants that had gathered to see what was going on.

"Move, move, move!"

The east wing was collapsing. More servants were lost. They had thought they had repaired it, reinforced it with magic, but the snowstorm had gotten worse than anyone could have ever predicted. A lone fairy maid ran towards Meiling from down a hallway as she was directing servants where to run to.

"Wait! Please! Wait!"

Meiling turned, seeing that the hallway was collapsing around the fairy. The chief guard ran towards the maid, shooting away some of the falling debris with some of her magic. A beam came down, right for the fairy. This is gonna be close! She did a sliding catch, holding up a beam that would have fallen on the poor maid.

"Go!"Meiling managed to speak, her body under intense pressure.Now!"

The fairy quickly nodded and ran. Meiling tried to get away, but more weight was added to the beam as the hallway continued to collapse around her. Clenching her teeth as her knees stressed to keep the weight up, she couldn't help but smile, her muscles starting to scream at her from the strain.

"Heh. So this is how it is then?" Survived Remilia. Survived Flan. Done in by a house. Isn't that just fine and dandy? There was one comfort that Meiling started to allow into her head as her knees buckled. At least I managed to save somebody.

"Meiling!"

Koakuma appeared from around the corner. Using her magical power, she shot off some of the debris off of the beam, alleviating the weight for a microsecond. It was all Meiling needed as she dashed from under the beam and ran, the beam barely missing her as it almost instantly came back down. The hallway followed suit within seconds.

"Move!"

Remilia sipped her tea in her throne room, the roar of her mansion collapsing, echoing, shaking the chandelier above. The vampire let out a sigh. She was wrong about the long winter not being a problem, and she hated being wrong. It was all she could do to keep herself composed. She felt the anger within herself, but she kept it at bay.

She had made a mistake, and it cost lives. That wasn't lost on her.

The roaring had stopped, replaced by the sound of the snowstorm outside. She could still hear yelling, screaming from within the mansion. She sensed the lives lost, the beating hearts stopping, more of her servants gone. She clenched her jaw because she knew what was coming, again dreading hearing the numbers. Remilia put down her tea, and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before someone showed up.

Two quick knocks on the door.

"Enter."

Remilia didn't open her eyes as the fairy maid quickly entered.

"Mistress Re-"

Remilia cut her off, narrowly opening her eyes. "How many?"

The fairy maid couldn't answer - it seemed that she was a bit stunned at Remilia's bluntness.

Inwardly, the vampire sighed as she closed her eyes again. They can call me an ice-hearted bitch for all I care. I still have to remain composed. I have to set the example. I am the head of this mansion. They look to me for guidance. "I asked how many."

"We...can't account for fifty..."

It seemed the maid was reluctant. The fairy swallowed hard, obviously tense.

"You can spit it out, can't you?" Remilia hastily said. "How many are missing?"

"...Fifty...including Lady Patchouli."

Remilia's eyes opened - she felt the blood in her face drain, felt an icy feeling shoot through her body. No...it can't be... The library and her room are in the west wing...but...where's her heartbeat? Her familiar heartbeat...

She's not in the west wing.

Remilia sat there in silence.

The maid tentatively stepped closer, an unsure look on her face. "...Mistress?"

"You may go now."

The maid bowed before she quickly exited. Remilia sat there, blinking a few times, her grip on the armrests tightening. Her mind went back to what Patchouli said the day before:

"The snow storms are actually getting worse, Remi..."

She told me. She told me, damn it.

Remilia snatched up her tea cup and threw it at the wall. The pitiful shatter didn't satisfy her.

Neither did the next few minutes of screaming obscenities and tearing up the room.

[Imperfect Cherry Blossom]

[Episode 8]

["Cut"]

=Spirit Battle on the Staircase of Hakugyokurou=

"The girl lived in the world after death.

She was half-phantom and half-human..."

Touhou 7, Perfect Cherry Blossom - Stage 5

Meiling had moved fast. As soon as the collapse was finished, she stopped running away, and ran back. She made it to the new outside, an alien outside created by the collapse. It wasn't the whole east wing, thankfully, but a good portion of it, at least a third. She lifted a few pieces out of the way, calling out to anyone beneath it all. Lifting a wall, she found a fairy maid, barely alive, her body somewhat mangled from the debris that were on her. Meiling called out for someone to get her out of there. The small contingent of fairy guards began to pour out of the mansion, determined to help their chief, as did the fairy maids. They got that injured fairy out of there, and Meiling dropped the wall.

One saved. Need to save more.

She stared out to the wreckage. The snow was piling on the debris, already burying the pieces. Meiling took a deep breath, trying not to lose heart. Finding anybody under all that was going to be a nightmare, especially since the storm was dulling her senses.

Can't think about that. Get out there, damn it. You're supposed to protect everyone in this mansion. It's your purpose.

She steeled herself, determined to save more, despite the wind picking up, the storm getting even heavier. She focused, ignoring the icy sting on her skin as the blizzard continued its assault. Meiling decided that saving only one wasn't going to cut it.

I'm not gonna give up. Hang on, everybody.

We were before the rift. Marisa tried moving near it, but it caused a lot of turbulence, so we backed off a bit. What kind of disturbed me was that when we got close, the light from within seemed to reach out to us, almost to the point where it enveloped our bodies. I didn't think we were quite ready to go to the afterlife yet. Man, I still can't believe I was there, right in front of a way into the realm of the dead.

Part of me didn't want to go in. Part of me was curious, wanting to actually see the afterlife for myself. I mean, after all, it's the afterlife. This was one of the most important questions that mankind has had for itself, whether there was something after death. Obviously, it was something I was interested in as well.

I just never expected to be in a position where I could see it for myself. On the precipice of perhaps the discovery of a lifetime, for me to be able to understand and see the validation of religion in person? It… it was scary. I didn't know what to expect, or if I should have expected anything. If I went into the afterlife with expectations, and if those would shatter, would it damage me? Would it essentially make me depressed to my very soul if it wasn't what I thought it was?

This was one of the few occurrences where I'd welcome Koizumi's philosophical discussions. He'd be able to partition all of this for me to comprehend.

To say that I wasn't emotionally or spiritually prepared for this wouldn't be far from the truth. I mean, could my own personal beliefs be challenged? Would I want them to be challenged?

...Thing is… this looked like it was our goal for the objective I had to accomplish in order to get back home. I would have to deal with it. Suck it up and deal with whatever I discovered in there.

Who knows – if I go into that with an open mind, maybe it'll be eye opening for me.

While I was having my own internal debates, Reimu was interrogating the Prismrivers. "So...what's exactly on the other side?"

"Hakugyokurou, the realm of the dead reserved for artists," said Lunasa.

"And it has the best cherry blossoms in existence!" Merlin added.

"It's so beautiful there," chirped Lyrica.

Reimu nodded, closing her eyes. She knew we weren't going to get much else from them about that, it seemed. Even when we asked about the "Essence of Spring", they didn't offer much than a vague meaning.

I guessed Reimu wasn't going to ask any more questions, so I asked one instead, especially since I needed to distract myself from my negative thoughts. "So what're your stories?"

"Hmm?" Lunasa eyed me. "Us?"

"You're… asking us?" Lyrica raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. What happened? You ghosts have an amazing talent for music. That is, when you're not trying to kill people." Namely us.

Merlin twirled her curly hair, giving me a small grin. "Well, we're not ghosts, per se. We're phantom copies."

"'Phantom copies'? What's that supposed to mean?" So, what, you're made?

Lunasa, the obvious leader of the group, smiled a rather sad smile. "We had a fourth sister, Layla. Apparently, our father died, and our original selves went our separate ways. Layla stayed behind, unable to leave the family home, and, well, she missed having a family. Eventually she cast a spell," Lunasa referenced to herself and her sisters, "Creating us. We were perfect copies of her sisters as she remembered them, and we lived with her until she died."

You were made. "And your original selves?"

"Oh, they died a long time ago as well. But eventually we too had to leave the family home, and wandered for a bit. That is, until we came across Lady Yuyuko."

That's...that's actually kind of sad, really. Wow. Everyone in here has a story to tell. Those unaccepted by the outside world...

Hearing that name again, Reimu tilted her head. "Yeah, you mentioned her earlier. Who is she?"

Merlin, picking up a piece of her broken trumpet, glanced up. "She is the mistress of Hakugyokurou, for as long as anyone up there can remember."

Lunasa nodded. "Yeah, I think like a thousand years."

This time Sakuya asked a question. "But why has she stolen spring from Gensokyo if Hakugyokurou is already famous for its cherry blossoms?"

The sisters shrugged. "We don't know." That was Merlin. She then stared at Lyrica, as if silently asking if she knew anything else.

"Maybe to...increase the quality of the flower viewing?" Lyrica shrugged back, unable to give anything more than that.

Lunasa pursed her lips before giving us their apparent final answer. "We're sorry, but we just serve her, and she kept us in the dark about this stuff, which is actually unusual. We haven't seen her act like this for the whole time we've known her. But the gardener would know more."

And with that, the Prismrivers went back to salvaging their instruments. The four of us looked at each other, and back at the rift. Sakuya wiped the sweat from her forehead, the light warmth that was seeping from the rift hitting us.

"Well, now," Sakuya said deadpanned, "If you woke me up this morning and told me I would be in the afterlife by nightfall, I would have said you were crazy...and possibly slashed your throat."

Yeah, that's nice to hear. My inner voice dripped with so much sarcasm it almost hurt. But again, I was thankful that she's on my side. I stared at the rift for a while before speaking. "Can't believe this is for real. A way into the afterlife."

I saw Reimu nod in agreement before she ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. And we gotta go in there."

Marisa nervously chuckled before answering. "Yeppers, ze."

"And if the Ice-Bi..." Sakuya paused. I could see that she was still angry over the fact that we had Whiterock earlier and didn't do anything. "If that yuki-onna was right about Yuyuko's power-"

Reimu cut off Sakuya. I, for one, wasn't liking the maid's tone either - it was obvious she was beginning to have a little doubt. However, it didn't help that Reimu was apprehensive about it as well. "She was just trying to psyche us out, I hope."

As the girls spoke, I shut my eyes taking that all in. To tell the truth, it felt like we were nearing the end of a video game, where we knew that the final boss was around the corner somewhere. But this final boss, and the power she was said to have...I couldn't help but let out a sigh myself, the fear in the pit of my stomach forming.

Not only will I have to deal with a revelation, but also a really strong enemy. "How in the world can we stand against something like that? Killing us by merely willing it?" What kind of enemy are we going to have to face, if we're crazy enough to even face such a thing?!

"She's in Gensokyo. She has to apply to the rules of Danmaku."

"And if she doesn't? Reimu, if she doesn't?"

Reimu closed her eyes, her face understandably serious. She knew the implications. How anyone could not fear such a thing would make them completely insane. "Then we're all in very big trouble."

That's an understatement. The only hope we have of winning this is a mere game. Because otherwise, we show up, drop dead, and game over. I started to appreciate the game of danmaku. Besides being pretty, and awesome to watch, it really gave everyone a chance to win against those vastly stronger than them. She'd better be willing to play, otherwise we'll have to bail quickly. I didn't think we could win a legitimate fight against that.

"Well, if we die," Sakuya scoffed, a wry look crossing her face, "We won't have far to go to enjoy the afterlife, because we'll already be in it."

I guess that was some form of cold comfort, even if Sakuya blatantly forced herself into saying it. I don't know if it was for her sake or for ours.

Marisa took out a flask and took a swig from it. She handed it to me. "A little mushroom vodka. Might take the edge off."

I blankly stared at her for a second, before staring at the flask. "You know, you shouldn't be driving. Or flying. Or whatever. And no thanks. And is everything mushrooms with you?" Really? I mean, you seem like you don't let a lot of things get to you, but really?

She cracked a smile. "You know it! And suit yourself if you don't want any, ze. You gotta learn to trust the fungus, Kyon."

Considering you said that they could be hallucinogenic, I'll pass.

She offered it to Reimu and Sakuya, who each did take a bit. I could tell they didn't like the taste.

After smacking her lips to get rid of the taste, Sakuya spoke up. "Well, we ready?"

The miko nodded, the steeled gaze returning to her eyes. "This has to be done. Winter has gone on for too long, Kyon needs to get back home...and people are dying down there. We need to do this. But…" She turned to us. "If you want to turn back now, now's the time. I won't blame you."

That was out of nowhere. Seriously, we came all this way. Then again, we didn't really have an idea of what we might be facing at the end of this adventure.

Sakuya stared at Reimu like she was crazy. "I came this far, Reimu. I'm not turning back now."

"Well, I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Sakuya rolled her eyes before closing them and pinching the bridge of her nose, clearly annoyed by that. "Look. This winter has claimed some of my maids, and I've expressed my concerns with Milady. She has ordered me to end this, and I will follow those orders." A small smile crept on Sakuya's face as her eyes opened and met with Reimu's. "What about you? Do you want to turn back, miko?"

It was Reimu's turn to roll her eyes. "Ugh. You still don't get it, do you? I'm the Hakurei shrine maiden. I resolve the incidents of Gensokyo. It's my obligation to do this. My bloodline. My purpose."

The two stared at each other, I guess waiting for the other to say something. I broke the uneasy silence. "Uh, Marisa? What about you?"

"Huh? What?"

"Do you want to turn back now?"

She flashed me a huge grin. "Kyon, I got nothing better to do today, ze. So of course I'm going in there. What about you?"

I'm actually liking your blunt personality. A little refreshing. "I need to see this through. Whiterock got me involved, so I'm going to see this through."

Truth is, part of me wanted to stay out there on the platform, away from all of that. But what I said was true. Being used like that just pissed me off. I mean, yeah, I knew that if I helped out Sakuya, then the Scarlet Devil Mansion would work on getting me home, but I really did need to end this incident.

How dare you, Whiterock. How dare you do that to me.

And seriously, what was the alternative? I escape, and... Gensokyo froze over? Would I be able to live with myself if I bailed on a fantasy land I had no part in? I considered it, but... I don't know.

Reimu loudly spoke, her voice a bit commanding, breaking me from my thoughts. "Okay, enough chitchat! Let's do this!"

A sense of unease overtook me as we approached the rift, and the air started to shudder around us, trying to push us back. The broom shook and jolted everywhere, making it tougher to hang on. Letting out a quick sigh, Reimu went in first, disappearing into the light.

This is for real. We're going in there. Ah, man, this feels like being next in line for an intimidating roller coaster!

Sakuya followed, and her body disappeared into the light as well. Marisa shot me a glance, an unsure smile on her face. "Yo - we ready?"

I didn't verbally answer her. I simply looked back out to the expanse of clouds that laid beneath the floating platform. The snowstorm roared, like a hungry monster. I felt the anger over whoever was doing this - whomever stole spring for themselves. What a selfish act, and childish, too. Like a villain from a children's storybook - someone being selfish and childish and stupid and all that. Wanting spring all to themselves.

Then again, I would find out the real reason behind it all in just a short while. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

...Gotta see this through...

I gave Marisa a nod, and we went towards the tear. The light enveloped us, warm, greeting. The air pressure increased, making my ears pop a bit.

It was dark, a blue light barely giving us visibility. Fog everywhere, and a huge stone staircase. There was an unnerving silence to the place, where every sound we made was amplified and you could hear a faint echo. At the top of the long staircase was a light that invited us towards it.

This was the afterlife. I was in the afterlife. And it began with a literal staircase into the heavens. Imagine that.

I was seeing it with my own eyes. There is somewhere to go after one dies. The full implications of that would not hit me until much later, mostly because I didn't want to dwell on it. I couldn't. I had decided to go into this completely open to whatever I was to experience. Or… maybe… maybe I just couldn't really dwell on it. I did have some expectation, but no, it was a staircase. That's what I was looking at. Pretty normal.

"Wow." I was saying that about the lighting. The otherworldly colors were rather calming and a sight to behold.

"We're in the afterlife and all you can say is 'wow'?"

Sakuya, I've been through a lot in the past year that has made me question reality on more than one occasion, not counting what's been going on with me for the past twenty-four or so hours. Forgive me for being burned out. I even told her as such.

"I'm just kind of overwhelmed and a bit burned out. The last two days have been a whirlwind for me. Fairies, vampires, witches, you being a time-stopper, magicians, phantoms and ghosts...and not to mention what's happening to me. So much has happened."

"Still not over yet!"

"That's the problem."

Maybe I was burned out. I went into it thinking it'd be some mind-breaking revelation, but no, I was there. It was something I could comprehend. I wasn't disappointed, nor was I in utter awe. One moment I was in the world of the living, the next I was traveling in the afterlife.

I have to be jaded to this stuff. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. I had just hyped myself up for this and boom. It happened. I was there. Maybe I was a little disappointed, but more in myself for my reaction after getting in. This was supposed to be a big deal, and yet…

Forget it. I didn't want to dwell on it any more than I had to. If I did my thoughts would just go in circles.

We had some time to kill flying up that large staircase, and we were taking it a bit slow, because of the fog and all. Marisa and I were at the front on the broom, me lighting the way with the flashlight. I had this feeling that we were being watched by something from within the fog, as did Reimu, so we didn't want any surprises. That was pretty much confirmed when we heard someone speaking from within the fog. It was hard to hear, but I think it said "come closer and I'll behead you all."

I hoped I misheard that. More and more, this looks like the right way.

Another thing to note here - ghosts were passing by us on the sides, not attacking, just...heading up, up into the afterlife. I wondered who these artists were that died, and were making their way to their final destination.

It was taking a while of going up the staircase, and since we weren't being attacked, I told the girls the story of when I was at the end of the world with Haruhi.

Well, because Sakuya wanted to hear about it. All of a sudden she had asked me while traveling up that staircase about that part of the story. I didn't mind. Honestly I was getting bored just staring into the fog, and I needed something to stimulate my mind to keep myself from slowing down – I knew the adrenaline-fest I had with the Prismriver battle would cause a crash if I didn't stay mentally active. I couldn't afford being sluggish since the battles seemed to escalate in ferocity as the day went on.

Anyways, the story - Sakuya heard it a bit at dinner the day prior, but I went into detail. Reimu's eyes were widened by the end.

"So what did you do?" Reimu seemed genuinely interested in how I got out of the situation of several celestials bearing down on Haruhi and I as the world crumbled around us.

"Well, I just kissed her." I felt a slight blush when I blurted that out. Looking back on it, it really was kind of a personal moment between me and Haruhi. I blushed more because I had also told the girls that in that moment I had told Haruhi that she looked so good in a ponytail that it was almost criminal. Marisa smirked at me, asking if she wanted me to put her hair in a ponytail.

Okay, Marisa is also a teaser. Dammit.

Reimu's dumbstruck face was priceless. Made me wish I had a camera. "...What?" She certainly didn't expect that.

Though to be fair, when I was in that situation, I'm sure it left me with such a face as well. "I kissed her, then I woke up in bed." I think I had fallen out of bed, right? Yeah, I did. Landed on my back and had utter disbelief over what I had experienced. "I thought it was all just a dream, but when I went to school, she was wearing a ponytail. Koizumi then told me that it did in fact happen, as did Nagato and Asahina."

It wasn't lost on me that after that bit in closed space, Haruhi appeared at school with a short ponytail. Haruhi… I felt a stronger resolve to get through this and get back to the Brigade.

Marisa chuckled a bit. "Heh. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. You were given such obvious clues, ze. I'm kind of disappointed it took you that long to figure that one out. Then again, it took you a while to figure out Haruhi likes you."

Don't insult me, Marisa. I don't know about you, but it was my first end of the world. And whether Haruhi likes me or not is none of your business, is it? Even if it was the business of my Brigade associates. I again thought about them, and what they had to have gone through in the past four months without me. They really must have kept Haruhi together somehow.

They're resourceful. They always have been. Maybe… Perhaps there was some time travel usage? I knew I was to use time travel again, as I had to in order to save myself from getting stabbed by Asakura in that alternate world Nagato created. The Brigade could deal with just about any threat.

Sakuya smiled a rather dreamy smile, shaking her head. A little sparkle in her eyes shined. "Such a simple act. And how romantic, in a way - a kiss saving the world. Too bad Haruhi thinks it was only a dream."

Didn't figure Sakuya to be into the romantic stuff. Though I personally wish my first kiss wasn't under duress like it was, with the fate of the world behind it.

...Actually, that's… kinda screwed up, isn't it? My first kiss had the weight of reality being remade if it didn't happen. I felt a sort of regret that it wasn't a normal first kiss. Though it was certainly a memorable one - can't argue that.

Reimu nodded a bit before giving her thoughts. "Yeah, but if she found out that it wasn't a dream, then it would have caused more problems. I have to say, Kyon, your three friends and their organizations are justified in doing what they are doing. They need to keep the girl placid. I mean think about it. If the outside world disappeared, would Gensokyo disappear as well? That is, if she is what she is. Either way, wow, Sakuya's right - it's a bit romantic. The world ending around you, and you kiss her. That saves the world."

"So, Kyon," Marisa quipped. "How was it?"

I didn't understand what she meant by what she said, so it took me a few seconds to respond. "Uhm, what? How was what?"

She shot me a "are you serious" glance. "Damn. You are dense."

Screw you, Marisa.

"How was the kiss?"

For that, I kept silent. Besides, it wasn't something I really felt like talking about, as I had already parted with enough personal information. Apparently, Marisa found my silence to be her answer, as she turned back to face the front.

"That good, huh? Heh."

I'm glad she didn't turn around. My red face would have given it away. Thinking about it now though, yeah. It was a good kiss, I suppose. As good as kisses can get when the world is ending around you. I remember I got caught up in the moment and threw every ounce of passion I had into it. Maybe that also helped.

We didn't say anything for a while after that story, my burning red face over my realization I had essentially told other girls about my own first kiss experience. Is that appropriate? I mean, they did ask, but, I don't know. I really didn't.

Out of nowhere, Marisa started talking again. Made me wonder - was she afraid of silence or something? Pressure of speech and whatnot? "You know, I wish you two didn't give Reimu such a hard time. She's not really like this, you know."

Annoyed, Reimu responded. "Marisa..."

The witch ignored her as she continued. "Really, she's only like this when she's out resolving incidents or dealing with youkai, ze. She's actually one of the laziest persons I've ever met."

"Marisa!"

The witch pointed a finger up in the air, waving it, to emphasize what she was saying. I think she was enjoying this, because her voice got louder, to make sure we heard it. "We just spend our days lazing around her shrine, talking about unimportant stuff, doing nothing, drinking." Marisa was obviously giving Reimu a hard time, and getting a kick out of it. "If it weren't for incidents like this, she would never get around Gensokyo, ze. She doesn't like doing her job as a miko, even. Hell - she won't even leave her house. It's tragic, really."

That sounded somewhat like the S.O.S. Brigade. We, or actually, I, would just sit around that club room, and unless something interesting happened to get me up and about...wow. They're like me. Or I'm like them. Doing nothing when not fixing the world. Maybe I was reading too much into that. But then again, I actually do leave my house, so I suppose I have that one up on Reimu.

Reimu flew ahead of Marisa and glared at the witch, arms crossed, obviously pissed off. She glanced at Sakuya before continuing her stare down of her friend.

"Well," Marisa smirked as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I just don't want them to think you're a bad person, ze. You're not. A little lazy, but not a bad person."

I heard Sakuya give a little giggle before Reimu spoke.

"Marisa, it doesn't really matter what they think of me - "

I think you're lying a bit there.

" - I'm just doing what I was born to do."

By then I think I'd given up on really trying to keep them from arguing with each other, so I said the following somewhat halfheartedly. "Girls, can we have a change of subject? I'd rather you didn't tear each other apart when there are things out there that would gladly do it for free."

Sakuya chuckled, crossing her arms, pleased that she was seeing this flustered side of Reimu. "No, please. Marisa, continue. So tell me more about Reimu here. Something I don't know."

The miko shot a nasty look at the maid as the witch happily replied to Sakuya's request.

"For one thing, Reimu only gained the ability to fly before the Scarlet Mist Incident. Before that, she rode on a flying turtle."

Sakuya and I glanced at each other, our eyebrows raised, before looking at Reimu, who was wide-eyed. Flying turtle? Did I hear that correctly?

"Red-White, you rode on a flying turtle?"

I saw Marisa shrug. "Don't knock it. Sad part is, she still whooped my butt in danmaku battles with that turtle, ze. 'Oh' for three. I've never beaten her."

Seriously?! Flying turtles?! I know I had experienced some wondrous things, but even hearing that made me want to burst out laughing. Is Reimu friggin' Master Roshi from Dragon Ball?! Is she a turtle hermit?! My mind conjured up the image of the serious Reimu on a big turtle as it flew in the sky and it was just so silly to me. I don't know why I found that especially hilarious.

What was also funny to me was that Marisa admitted to never beating turtle-riding Reimu. I held back on laughing at that, not wanting to offend Marisa.

Reimu's face, however, was as red as her outfit. "Okay! Change of subject!...the...the spring. Kyon, those Prismrivers talked about the essence of spring within you, so, uh, is that what this is all about?" Reimu desperately looked to us, hoping we'd talk about something else. "Alice talked about it, but...what does it really mean?"

The witch shook her head, holding back at laughing. Sakuya had a big grin, and shook her head as well before speaking, giving Reimu the change in subject she wanted.

"Well, Lady Patchouli thought it was magical, maybe it's nature itself?" Sakuya shrugged, not understanding what that meant – she was just relaying information. "She said it was a vast amount of power, or was it just simply a different type? She herself didn't truly know. Kyon?"

I considered giving Reimu a hard time, but I let it go. "Well, I don't know, I'm not even going to venture to guess what it really is," I said. "I leave that sort of thinking to Koizumi, really. He usually takes the time to sit down and explain his theories on what's happening." I paused, then muttered. "I'd say it saves me a lot of headaches, but it sometimes causes me more."

Marisa turned her head to me, grinning. "Heh, sounds like a good friend, ze. But anyways, that barrier's power. Well, like I said, it's very unusual. If I had to make a guess, it borders the line between magic, and...something I can't describe." Marisa let her face get more serious, as she was obviously thinking hard on this matter. "Something more powerful...power...blessed...possibly holy power?"

"Well," I said, "I think that was what Reimu said it probably was."

Reimu put her hands on her hips, appearing insulted. "It's not 'probably', Kyon. I know it is."

All right. Fine. Take it easy.

"Lady Patchouli said it hasn't been seen since the end of a monastery."

Marisa turned her head to Sakuya, confused, at least what I could see of her face from the back of her broom. "'End of a monastery?' What's that supposed to mean, ze?"

"Lady Patchouli said that a youkai wiped out a monastery a long time ago, a thousand years. Though if it is holy power as Reimu suggested, then it really can't be copied by Milady or Lady Patchouli. They tend to specialize in the darker arts."

Hmm. Bad guys as good guys. The Scarlet Devil Mansion sure was interesting. I couldn't help but wonder how they were doing back in the realm of the living as I gave my thoughts on this. You know, usually I'm the one who had to ask questions, but at that point, things were beginning to fall into place. Some of these things were making sense in a way, becoming clear.

"But for it to come from the cherry blossoms that are coming from the afterlife, well, it makes no sense unless..." I paused for a few seconds, thinking. Monastery. A youkai wiped out a monastery a thousand years ago, and I'm having a barrier of some kind that was used by said monastery activate on me when I collect cherry blossoms. The barrier has not been seen since that time...which means only those from that place knew how to make it. But what does that mean then? Someone up here is from...is that it? "Is there a connection we're not getting here? Someone from the monastery has to be up here as well..." Another pause, as I rubbed my chin. "That's the only way I see it working, right?"

Marisa glanced back at me, giving me a nod. "I guess that makes sense. Yeah. That's the only way that makes sense."

From ahead of us, there came a voice, I think the same voice I heard from before - about the beheading. "Ah, the boy. Just who I needed. I shall drain every drop of spring from him!"

A Japanese teenage-looking girl, wearing a dark green skirt, a white shirt, a dark green vest, and with shortly cut silver hair (with a black ribbon and hair band), stared down at us from above with her steel blue eyes. She appeared to be about my age. She had two sheathed katanas - one long, one short, and what looked like a formless ghost that was hanging around her, sometimes wrapping around her body.

This girl was actually quite pretty, in the same way Nagato was. Heck, she pretty much had Nagato's petite body type. She also seemed very mysterious, especially since she had that ghost with her.

Marisa tilted her hat in a greeting. "So I take it you're the gardener, ze?"

The girl locked her eyes with mine for a few seconds, before staring at my companions, her emotion unchanging. "Give me the boy."

I'd rather you didn't have me. However, I do want to ask this: why am I in a situation where pretty girls want me, but I have to say no? Oh, right, their master can will people to death. Ah, well, just my luck I guess. And what lousy luck, I might add.

The gardener drew her short katana. The girls got ready for an attack, but the girl in green simply stayed above us. She then began to slash the air itself, leaving a visual ripple - the ripple solidifying and turning into danmaku, forming right above us. She did this multiple times, put away her katana, and crossed her arms as it all rained down.

You have got to be kidding me. Slashing the air? Well, anything can slash air. It's just that I don't know how to really describe what she did.

[SPELL CARD: DREAM SIGN "DUPLEX BARRIER"]

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "MASTER SPARK"]

We glanced back up as the danmaku dissipated from Reimu and Marisa's attacks. The gardener was gone from her location - we saw her outline in the mist further up the stairs.

We heard her call out to us. "Just leave the boy here and you can all go. It'll be much easier that way."

Why am I so special?

I think Sakuya got fed up with all of this. We started early in the morning, after all, and our overall progress was slow. Hell, I was a bit fed up, too. I mean, I was frozen that day.

"I'm getting tired of this!" She flew ahead, yelling out. "Come on out, Gardener!"

We followed close behind, ascending the staircase. It was quickly getting warmer and brighter as we went up.

Reimu wiped her brow and threw off her scarf. "Feels just like how a spring day should feel."

We're going the right way. We've got to be.

Mystia was washing her dishes when she looked up and out the window. Nothing but white. Annoyed with the way her windows fogged up easily, she wiped at them.

They didn't clear up. Still white. She swallowed hard, realizing that it wasn't fog.

No...no please.

Sticking to the shadows, Mystia avoided her friends that were at the kotatsu, and went checking the other windows. Only the main window near them wasn't fully covered. They didn't notice yet.

Going to the door, she tried it.

Snow rushed in when she opened it a bit, and even with her youkai strength, she had trouble closing the door. She backed away, sighing.

Snowed in. We're snowed in.

Unless she broke through the main window, they'd be trapped.

Even if she did though, where would they go? All the other shelters surrounding them were snowed in as well. The nearest place would be the human village or the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And she doubted they would really be welcome at either place at a time like that.

Mystia did a mental check. Have enough firewood for a few days, could start burning furniture if it gets beyond that. Food...it'd be enough for her alone for a few days. But she had four other mouths to feed.

Stay in there, stay warm, but run out of food if it doesn't clear up. Go out, forgo warmth, take her chances out there.

Either way, high chance of...

This is really, really...really bad.

The youkai woke up, sensing something. She heard voices, and could tell it was Yuyuko again.

She's talking to the spring fairy...but what is she saying?

She tried hard to make it out, but couldn't. Then, silence, silence in the house where she was held. She sensed the ghost mistress moving again, this time...

The door opened. The youkai stood up, but couldn't attack the ghost - she was too constrained to do anything, really.

Yuyuko floated in, smiling. "Have a nice nap, Miss Kazami?"

Kazami let out a strained sigh, letting her captor know she wasn't pleased with seeing her. "I'd have a nicer nap if I was back down in Gensokyo among my flowers."

"Well, I am sorry. We needed your assistance. If you, the famous youkai Flower Master of the Four Seasons, Yuuka Kazami, had assisted us more effectively by making the tree bloom-"

Yuuka smirked. "What if I told you that I never really tried?" The ghost paused, smiling. The youkai grinned in defiance. "What are you going to do, Yuyuko...kill me?"

Yuyuko kept smiling, tilting her head. "No...I'm not a monster. I just need that tree to bloom again. And did I not say that if you and the spring fairy helped it bloom, you would be able to go home? I do intend on keeping my word, Miss Kazami."

Kazami nodded slowly, getting more and more angry by the minute. Damn it. Lilly White needs to be down there, ending winter. And you're keeping her up here with me. And that tree...

"You never spoke to that plant," Kazami said, "did you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I tried talking to it. And it responded." And I wish I didn't.

The mistress of Hakugyokurou's eyebrows rose, but her smile remained the same. "Oh, really? Humor me. What did it say?"

Kazami sighed, lowering her head as she began to pace in her room. "That thing is a youkai. It has a consciousness...and I don't scare easily, mind you. But that thing...what it said to me just shook me to the core. I'm glad you haven't been able to awaken it, that you won't. Because even though it pains me to see a plant in a state like that...this is one time where I can make an exception. I hope you never get it to bloom."

Yuyuko's smile widened. "Well, that 'hope' will be dispersed. We fixed the spring bleeding effect, and we now have enough spring coming to us to get it blooming again." Yuyuko clasped her hands, beaming. "You see, all the lost spring was gathering inside a young human male, and he's being brought to me as we speak."

Yuuka stopped with her pacing, whipping her head up, scowling. If that thing wakes up… It took a minute for her to compose herself, not wanting to show too much negative emotion to her captor. Kazami did her best to smile back. "Not that I care about a human, but what do you intend to do with the boy?"

"Sadly, I lack the means of extracting the essence of spring from a human, so I'm afraid that I'll have to kill him to get it out." Yuyuko gave a slight shrug. "The fairy could extract it, but she hasn't been cooperative as of late, so it seems that his fate is sealed. I don't wish to kill anybody, but I need to do this."

You stupid bitch. You're gonna get us all killed just to satisfy your curiosity. "Don't do this, Yuyuko. Don't do this."

Yuyuko turned and left, saying the following to her captive. "It will be done, Miss Kazami. I will get the Saigyou Ayakashi to bloom, and then you can be sent home. It will all be over soon."

Yuuka lowered her head, pissed off, but also afraid. That things that tree said...it tried to get into her mind, to get her to help it awaken, but she didn't want to - she resisted it. She scoffed as she sat down on the floor, closing her eyes to meditate. She allowed her mind to wander away from her situation, and she found herself thinking of the two humans who beat her. The only two humans who beat her.

Silly game, danmaku, but it was enough to knock her out. She smiled as the thought crossed her mind that they were out there, possibly trying to find out the cause of the winter. Marisa Kirisame, and Reimu Hakurei. The only two humans who dared to take her on and actually win.

They had to be out there. Had to be looking into this. It was the only thing Kazami could think of as she sat there, until she heard a noise.

Is that Lilly White? Is she crying?

We went up the staircase, Sakuya shouting at the gardener to come out.

The girl in green stepped out from the fog up ahead. She was pacing back and forth on one of the steps.

Sakuya landed a few steps before her, quickly turning to us as we landed as well. "This gardener is mine!"

She turned back to the girl, whose eyebrows raised in response to hearing that, obviously annoyed by what Sakuya said, but keeping her face rather unemotional. "'Gardener'? I am not a mere gardener. I am Youmu Konpaku, personal attendant to Lady Yuyuko."

So this is the second in command then? Semi-final boss?

The gardener/swords woman, Youmu, glared at each of us with narrowed eyes. Her tone was dead serious. Youmu kept pacing, keeping a hand on each of her sheathed blades, never taking her eyes off of us.

I have to say - even though she appears to be not much older than me, she's intimidating, for a rather small-ish girl.

Sakuya cracked her knuckles, loosening up her body - it appeared she was itching for a fight. "Finally, we've reached the source. It took us a whole day to get here."

"In coming here, humans, you have exercised great composure," said Youmu. She pointed up towards the light at the top of the stairs. "This is Hakugyokurou. The deceased live on in this place. Acting on the common sense of the living will land you all in a mess."

Preaching to the choir here, gardener. I know common sense has no place in my life. After all, I'm flying around with a witch on a broom in a land of fantasy. Common sense dictates that isn't possible in the first place, yet here I am.

Sakuya shouted out at Youmu. "The dead do not speak! Now, return the spring you stole!"

What kind of line is "the dead do not speak"?

Youmu paused before speaking, closing her eyes for a few seconds. "Hold on a bit."

I suppose that's as good a confession as we'll get for now. Sakuya crossed her arms. She was obviously losing patience. And again, so was I. Why is everyone so difficult in here? Oh, right. If it is a world made by Haruhi, then I answered my own question.

"That's a little bit too long, and I don't care for your reasons!" Sakuya all but shouted. "I'll say it again - return our spring!"

Youmu kept pacing, apparently acting like she didn't hear Sakuya. For some reason, Konpaku kept her gaze on me. She then flatly spoke. "Soon, the Saigyou Ayakashi will reach full bloom. That could never happen with a normal spring."

What?! What did she say?! The Saigyou Ayakashi?!

"I said I don't care."

That was Sakuya. At that point, I was in a bit of shock.

"The large amount of spring you brought here with the boy would bring the Saigyou Ayakashi to full bloom," Youmu said, looking up the stairs for a moment.

What the hell. What the hell is this? I couldn't bring myself to speak. No way. The papers... I wasn't liking what this girl was saying. Large essence of spring within me? This is the power I have? And the Ayakashi!?

Marisa tapped on my shoulder. "Hey...hey Kyon, you all right?"

She showed concern, I guess noticing my reaction. All I could do was weakly nod at her, even if it was a lie. No, if that's true, then this just got way more serious.

Reimu glanced at me, tilting her head. "Spring...the Prismrivers said the same thing...no...can't be."

Yeah...how can it be inside of me? Silly, right? I'm just overreacting. Please tell me that there isn't something that serious at play here.

Sakuya continued her shouting. "Are you even listening to me? We've traveled through that cold only to find such a selfish idea!"

Youmu stopped her pacing and extended her right arm, referencing towards the end of the staircase. "But it's warm here, isn't it?"

"That's enough already! Dead people have no mouths!"

Youmu slowly nodded, narrowing her eyes. "Indeed, dead people have no mouths. Perhaps I will consume the minuscule warmth of your spring, before consuming his." Youmu said that pointing at me. This gardener was all business, showing a focus unlike I've ever seen. Her seriousness reminded me of Nagato when I first met her.

Sakuya sighed, drawing her favorite utensils. Negotiating wasn't getting anywhere, so there was only one option, it seemed. "I wonder, can my knives even cut such a ghost?"

I hope they can, Sakuya. I hope this is all just a coincidence...and I hope we don't find out that what this gardener is saying is true. But spring? Is this it? Is the spring of Gensokyo gathering in...no. That's stupid. How can the spring of this place be gathering inside of me? What am I, some container or something? Nothing is special about me. Why me? I mean, I gather the cherry blossoms, yeah, but...Is that it?! But what does that mean then?!

A world of making the impossible possible. Which would mean such an idea wasn't silly. It was plausible. Do I have the spring of Gensokyo inside of my body?

I didn't even know such a thing was possible. To be fair, in the past two days (perceived by me), a lot of things that I would have thought impossible months ago have turned out to be realized in their own way. Of course, going back even further would widen that even more. In the past year for me, ever since starting high school, reality has turned into such an interesting showcase of the fantastical, to put it mildly.

Youmu's eyebrows rose, as she went into the air. Sakuya followed. The three of us remaining on the ground took a few steps back.

Youmu drummed her fingers on the handle of her sheathed katana, locking her eyes with her soon-to-be opponent. "Cut. Cut? You think you can cut me, human, with those trinkets?" Youmu slightly bared her teeth at being challenged. "Don't you know what I have in my possession? The katana lost in legend, owned by a powerful youkai who slaughtered all of her foes, feared by armies of men! My family acquired it, and we have used it to defend Hakugyokurou since then! Do you not know the name of the blade you are about to be slain by?!"

My heart skipped a beat as the gardener drew her katana almost instantly. If I blinked, I would have missed it. The blade was impressive - long, ornate near the handle, and it looked razor-sharp. Just the blade alone was intimidating.

And it was a weapon wielded by an enemy.

Why are there a lot of cutting implements in my life? Sakuya, I hope you know what you're doing here!

"The things that can not be cut by the Roukanken katana," shouted Youmu, raising her katana, "forged by youkai...are close to none!"

She didn't waste any time using a spell card.

[SPELL CARD: HELL REALM SWORD "200 YOJANA IN 1 SLASH"]

Large purple and white danmaku appeared behind Youmu and rained down on Sakuya. She slashed the air, though if you blinked, again, you would have missed it. The distortion of the slash created some more shots, which targeted Sakuya along with the larger ones. Sakuya tried attacking, but Youmu's other hand reached for her smaller sword, and yet again, in the blink of an eye (Why is she that fast?) she slashed away any knives that came even remotely close to her. Youmu's blades were breaking up the knife danmaku Sakuya was firing.

Another question here: why is this gardener a master swords woman? Then again, the gardener of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is very deadly as well. Is this a recurring theme in Gensokyo? If you deal with flowers, you're a bad-ass?

The spell card exhausted due to Sakuya's dodging, Youmu shot out two columns of dense danmaku, leaving space in the middle. Sakuya had to go there.

"Just where I wanted you." Youmu moved fast at the maid, swinging her blade.

[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PRIVATE SQUARE"]

Youmu backed up, not wanting to get fried by the barrier Sakuya erected.

"Not bad!" She continued backing up, slashing away at the knife danmaku thrown at her, though it was a bit too much as she had to start dodging.

I shouted up at my maid companion. "Keep it up, Sakuya! Knock her out!"

"Not bad at all! Haven't had such a good projectile block workout in a while!"

Sakuya kept up her attack, and Youmu kept backing up, into the fog. Soon, we couldn't see where the girl was.

Out of nowhere, Youmu jumped down behind Sakuya, landing on the stairs before us. The gardener ran right for me.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap!

Suffice to say, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"No, you don't!" That was Reimu. Like you would have seen from an anime that had a shrine maiden, Reimu had thrown some amulets, which stuck to the ground, surrounding us. A barrier had gone up, but not one of the spell card ones. Youmu ran into it like she ran into a wall. Stunned, the gardener glared at the miko. Reimu scowled at this display of Youmu's, and spoke with anger in her voice.

"You wanna play for real, ghost? I can seal you away. No. You're playing danmaku right now. If you want to get serious, I'll oblige. But I promise you - you won't like it."

Youmu was about to say something, but jumped back, as Sakuya, still with her danmaku barrier active, dropped down in front of her.

The maid chuckled, playfully twirling a knife in her hands as she stared down her opponent. "Trust me. You wouldn't like it if the miko got serious."

I glanced at Marisa, who simply smiled and shrugged. At that point I had a newfound respect for Reimu.

The gardener's eyes narrowed as Sakuya's spell card wore off, and brought out one of her own. "Fine. Fine. If we're playing this game, then let's see you avoid this one, maid."

[SPELL CARD: BRUTE SWORD "KARMIC PUNISHMENT OF THE IDLE AND UNFOCUSED"]

That's a nasty-sounding spell card.

Youmu took a deep breath, holding her katana up at the sky, focusing. Sakuya shot-

Youmu was then at a different location, her sword out in a slashing motion. That was near instantaneous! Ten slashes appeared in the air between her original position and where she was at that point, and again each slash rained down their danmaku. Before they moved too far, Youmu did it again, and again, back and forth, each time adding ten more slashes. I was right - it was a nasty spell card.

Sakuya had to use another spell card of her own.

[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PERFECT SQUARE"]

With the breathing room afforded by her second barrier spell card, Sakuya stepped up her knife throwing. Youmu had to go on the defensive again, her danmaku unable to affect the barrier surrounding Sakuya. With both swords slashing, she kept knocking away the knives, though a few got through, as cuts appeared on her dress.

"You got her on the ropes, ze!"

Youmu responded to what Marisa said, shouting. The gardener had a bit of desperation in her voice.

"You think you stand a chance in our realm? You are the invaders! I'm defending my home! I won't lose!"

[SPELL CARD: HUMAN REALM SWORD "DELUSION OF ENLIGHTENMENT"]

She held up her spell card, the anger in her eyes burning. "I can't lose!"

I think this girl has some issues.

The second the maid's spell card ended, Youmu activated her own. Again, she disappeared in the fog, and reappeared behind Sakuya, slashing at the air along the staircase. She then went back to her original place before Sakuya, and shot danmaku.

That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that the slash behind Sakuya began to spew danmaku as well. Sakuya was stuck in a crossfire, and out of barrier spell cards. Man, this one's even worse than the last one.

Youmu had some very intense attacks. While the Prismrivers tried to overwhelm with sheer firepower, Youmu attacked from all angles, it seemed.

I watched as the maid twisted and turned her body in midair as she whipped her head from front and back to see where the next shot would come from. She kept dodging, but just barely. Her dress was being torn up here and there. And I don't know how she did it, but she outlasted the spell card. She dodged for well over a minute.

Sakuya turned to Marisa. "Black-white! I need a little boost! I have an idea!"

"Got it! Barrier going up!"

The witch tossed up a few cherry blossoms, activating my barrier.

For a second, Sakuya was right next to me, hand on my shoulder, then the next she was back out on the field right in front of Youmu with the barrier. The maid motioned for the gardener to attack her. "Come on, gardener! Let's see that katana of yours!"

Youmu moved forward, slashing at Sakuya, only for the sword strike to bounce off. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as her beloved katana failed to cut through the barrier. I shrugged, silently telling her "that's what you get for messing with us". Sakuya used another spell card during that split-second Youmu was off-balance.

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "INDISCRIMINATE"]

Surrounded by knives, Sakuya moved forward to Youmu, the knives randomly firing. Youmu had to keep up her defense, she was showing that she wasn't expecting it from the maid. The gardener's defense was impressive, using both swords to knock away most of the knife danmaku. By that time, worry had set on her face. Youmu knew she was in trouble.

[SPELL CARD: HEAVENS SWORD "FIVE SIGNS OF THE DYING DEVA"]

A few more parts of Youmu's dress were slashed. Gritting her teeth, she again launched into another spell card. She used both swords, slashing the air in front of her, creating more of those slash rifts that created more shots, which were even more dense.

"Is that all you can do, gardener?" taunted Sakuya. "Slash at the air?"

"Just give the boy to me and I'll end it quick!"

"End?"

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "KILLING DOLL"]

"You're right! It's time to end this!"

Sakuya's essential calling card brought out the familiar spinning barrage of knives, which went right for Youmu. The gardener began to swing her katanas-

And she yelped as she was knocked back, hit by most of the knives, overwhelmed. Her own spell card ended, and she fell to the staircase, rolling down a few steps before stopping. Sakuya landed near her, arms crossed. Sakuya's maid outfit was a mess, but still intact, as some of Youmu's attacks had gotten way too close.

The maid brought out a knife and twirled it in between her fingers, letting out a playful whistle. "Cool. Looks like these knives actually work against ghosts. Maybe because they're silver?"

Either way, they're effective, Sakuya.

Youmu slowly propped herself up, shaking. "I'm...half non-ghost...you know. But the mistress of this realm is...is a full ghost. Do you expect to be a challenge...using those trinkets for weapons?"

She was a challenge for you, Miss Konpaku.

"Wait, why are we already talking about that battle?" Sakuya turned to us and sighed. "Well, we're done here, let-"

As soon as Sakuya had turned her back, Youmu quickly got up to her feet, and picked up her blade from the ground. Damn it, Sakuya, you need to stop turning your back on your enemies!

"Sakuya watch ou-" Before I finished that shout, the maid whipped around, blocking the katana with her knives.

"Hey! Gardener! I beat you fair and square!"

The blatant rage in Youmu's eyes told the tale. "Enough! I've had it with this game! I'll never let you attack Lady Yuyuko!"

They went at it. Sakuya with two knives, and Youmu with her katana. It was surprising that something that could "slice air" couldn't cut the silver knives Sakuya had. It was unreal to see such a thing, however - a maid wielding knives fighting a girl in a green dress and a ghost hanging around her wielding a katana, on a staircase in the afterlife. You can't make this stuff up.

"Hey," said Sakuya as she blocked a swipe by Youmu, "Reimu?"

*clang*

"What, you need help?"

*clang*

"No, just wanted to-"

*clang*

"-tell you that you were right."

"About what?"

So...when that katana hits knives, it goes "clang"? How...ah, forget it. Not gonna ask why or how knives are able to block a katana. It's happening right in front of me.

*clang*

"Just in case I-"

*clang*

"-didn't make it, I wanted to set-"

*clang*

"-the record straight."

Interesting conversation I'm witnessing. Sakuya backed up from Youmu, keeping her distance as they held their weapons at each other.

The maid spoke fast, as she stood in a stance, ready to parry the next attack. "I was a vampire hunter. Lady Remilia was to be just another prey."

Geez. So it was for real. She actually was a vampire hunter.

"Yet I lost." Sakuya circled around Youmu, not wanting to be stationary and thereby giving Youmu a chance to disappear into the fog again. "She gave me two choices. Serve her as a human, or serve her as a vampire. I kept my humanity; I chose this path and haven't regretted it." Sakuya shot a glance at Reimu to make sure she was listening. "Lady Remilia isn't the monster I thought she was. And I would gladly die for her. She gave me a home, a family in her ranks. I finally felt what it was like to be part of a family."

This appeared to be a recurring theme for people in Gensokyo, it seems. My mind went back to what Remilia said: the last harbor for the paranormal, for those unaccepted by the outside world. All I could do was stare at Sakuya - all I could do was wonder how it was like for her.

"I was shunned for my abilities. People didn't understand what I was, so I tried hunting those that would hurt them, looking for some sort of belonging." Sakuya frowned. "They still didn't give it. But Lady Remilia, she showed me humanity. That's what you gotta do, Reimu. Give them a chance. The youkai are more human than humans."

Huh. Remilia has a habit of making the strong either her servants or her allies.

Youmu kept her sword pointed at Sakuya during that whole monologue. "Very touching, maid. I ,however, won't give you such a choice."

Youmu moved forward to strike, but feigned going one way. Sakuya didn't see it in time, and got slashed in the back when Youmu struck with her smaller blade while trying to correct herself. A small bit of blood came from the cut, but it wasn't spurting. Youmu didn't cut her deep.

"Sakuya!"

The maid stumbled forward, clenching her teeth, and blood began to seep through the cut in her outfit. I took a few steps towards her as she glared at me. "Kyon, stay back!"

Youmu quickly turned and struck again. Sakuya barely turned in time, reacting slower, and almost losing her knives as the katana made contact. Youmu brought down her blade on Sakuya again, who managed to get her knives up to catch it. She fell to one knee as Youmu struggled to keep pushing down.

"Maid...nobody invades my home…" Youmu's whole body tensed as she put her whole body into pushing down on Sakuya. "I'm gonna cut you...cut you into pieces..."

Dammit, someone help her!

"Hey...Reimu…" Sakuya struggled to say.

Reimu and Marisa brought out their weapons - amulets and that octagon thing, respectively. "Sakuya! Back up! Let us blast her!"

"No...Reimu...is...is she in clear...violation...of the danmaku laws?"

"Yeah, but-"

Sakuya was down to both knees, clenching her teeth. "So...does that mean...I can use my full power..."

My eyes widened as Sakuya began to chuckle. A confused look came over Youmu's face as Sakuya grinned. Was she actually-

"Gardener, do you know what one of my favorite things to do with my prey was?" Sakuya stared right up into Youmu's eyes. "Do you know what it was? When they thought they had won? What I sprang on them?"

Youmu's eyes narrowed as she kept pushing down on Sakuya. Then her eyes widened a bit. The maid was pushing back up, and smiled a wide, toothy grin - it looked so menacing in the afterlife light.

"Letting them think they got a good hit on me, and feigning being injured."

Youmu, you are in so much trouble.

Sakuya stood up, kicking Youmu in the gut, knocking her back. The gardener gasped, stumbling back.

"Now, my little gardener," Sakuya ran her tongue over one of her knives. "It's my turn!"

Youmu dashed at Sakuya, who stood there, smirking. The gardener slashed empty air when Sakuya disappeared at the last second.

"What the-" Youmu almost flung herself off the staircase with her momentum.

"Over here."

Youmu quickly recovered, and slashed at Sakuya who was at the gardener's left, but then she was behind her.

"You made the big mistake of pissing me off."

Youmu turned, only to see Sakuya do a rapid disappearance and reappearance act in front of her. "How..."

This is so freaking awesome!

Sakuya stood to Youmu's right side, holding up her pocket watch. Sakuya's face showed her confidence - she knew Youmu wasn't even going to touch her from that point on.

"Hmm...if I had to make an educated guess-"

Again Youmu slashed at nothing but air. By that time I was grinning like an idiot at this display. Youmu obviously didn't know who she was dealing with, that she couldn't win. Sakuya, behind the gardener again, continued.

"-I'd have to say your slashing speed is at a quarter of the speed of light. Impressive."

How is that possible?

A world created by Haruhi. Duh.

Another slash at the air, and another. Youmu kept looking around trying to guess where Sakuya would pop up again.

"Too bad it isn't instantaneous though. Then I'd be in trouble."

"Where...how…" Youmu was wearing herself out - she was breathing heavily, trying to keep up with the maid who was popping in and out of thin air. And not to mention Youmu lost a danmaku battle. Aren't they supposed to sap your stamina? She stumbled after yet another miss.

"Tick tock, Youmu. Tick tock."

Really, Sakuya? A time pun?

Flustered and exhausted, Konpaku's hands started to shake, trying to keep hold of the sword. "Stay...stay still!"

"Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"

Angry, Youmu instead went for me again. Well, in my general direction. Before she even went two steps, Sakuya appeared at her side and tripped her, disappeared, then reappeared standing over the gardener, arms crossed.

Sakuya showed a bit of mock pity at her opponent. "Well, you were the one who wanted to go down this path, little girl."

"I'm not a little girl! I'm easily three times your age!"

The maid disappeared as Youmu tried to slash from the ground. At the apex of the slash, Sakuya reappeared and kicked away the blade. It clattered down the staircase, landing at my feet. The maid then had her knife drawn at Youmu's throat, the maid placing her knee on the gardener's chest.

"Time's up," Sakuya coldly spoke.

The gardener stared up at her superior foe, wide-eyed and out of breath. I was out of breath, too, because that whole display was beyond awesome. Man, Remilia has got to be really skilled in a real fight in order to take on a time stopping vampire killer and make her submit. And something like this was how I expected someone who could stop time would fight. It wasn't fair, which is kind of the point. If it wasn't for danmaku, I doubted there would be few people besides Remilia who could take on Sakuya seriously.

It was a while before Youmu spoke, tears rolling down her cheeks, gritting her teeth. She was defeated, and she knew it. "I...I failed my mistress. Go on. Do it."

Oh. Oh that's right, she… she wanted to… My brain had caught up to me, realizing what would have happened if Youmu won. Youmu was treating the fight like a life or death situation, yet-

Sakuya merely shook her head. Youmu, not wanting that response, shouted at her. "Just do it! Get it over with! I failed her! I failed...and after everything I've done" Youmu's voice had dropped from being commanding. She sounded vulnerable. Exhausted. "...Stealing spring...everything I've done to Gensokyo...just put me out of my misery...please."

Youmu is...sorry?

"You sound just like me when I was in your place. At least I didn't break your ribs."

Grinning, Reimu responded to that obvious jab at her by Sakuya. "I'd have a witty response, maid, but not right now."

It was hard for me not to smile at that. Even Reimu could have a sense of humor.

Sakuya tried not to smile at that, but wasn't doing a very good job at it. "Hmm. Yeah. Anyway. Youmu, you need to understand something. The rules of danmaku are there for a reason. It's taken me some time to understand them myself. Mostly because now I appreciate them as opposed to the alternative."

Marisa had already given me some cherry blossoms and I went up to place my hand on Sakuya. She sighed in relief as her back healed. "Ah, yeah. Yeah, that's it. Thanks, Kyon."

Don't mention it. I caught sight of her wound closing up. I don't think I can get used to that.

"Anyways, Youmu. I've seen a lot of death in my life already, and I just barely turned twenty. But your patterns...I'm impressed by them. And I respect your tenacity to protect your mistress and your home, because it matches mine." Slowly, Sakuya was moving the blade of her knife away from the throat of Youmu. "Which is why I have to do this. Why we have to do this. Why we need to challenge your master. My master has ordered me to end winter, and I do intend on completing my task."

That, and we need to get me home.

"I have failed my master before, Youmu. But she has forgiven my failures. I know it hurts to disappoint someone you care about, but we can't help it sometimes." Sakuya sheathed her knife, not taking her eyes off the girl she had down. "Don't be like this. It's not the end of the world. Your master truly cares about you, right?"

The gardener slowly nodded. As did I. I think I finally understood why Sakuya still held a grudge against Reimu. It wasn't that she was beaten, or had her ribs broken. It was the simple fact that Sakuya had failed to stop those who wished to challenge her master.

You know, the people in here can be difficult to understand, but there is a way to understand them, I suppose. I don't know. Just a random musing.

Sakuya responded to Youmu's nod. "Then she'll forgive you. I can attest that you did your best against me."

The maid got off Youmu's chest, pulled Youmu up, and stretched. "Ah, it felt good to let loose. I've forgotten how it was to be in a battle like that."

Again, I'm glad we're on the same side, and that you didn't go through with killing me to fix spring. I never would have stood a chance.

Reimu approached Sakuya, arms crossed, a knowing smile forming. "So...vampire hunter."

The maid scoffed, a sour smile on her face, as she straightened up her outfit. "You just won't let that go, will you?" Sakuya sighed, looking up at the sky, or the afterlife equivalent of the sky. "Yeah. Yeah, I was like you. And now I serve what I hunted." Sakuya turned her head to Reimu, with a wry smirk on her face. "So? So what if that happened? So what, miko - you afraid you'll lose to a youkai and have to serve under them? Let me tell you - it's not so bad. I have a roof over my head, I have clothes on my back, I'm developing my powers under their guidance, and I rose through the ranks of servitude to become the head maid. And they don't look down on me for being the only human there." Sakuya dusted off her dress, looking away from Reimu. "Like I said, I haven't regretted it."

I guess it depends on the youkai you serve, doesn't it? But wow. Vampire hunter serving a vampire. Sakuya is such an interesting person, possibly one of the most interesting if not the most interesting person I've met, and I've only known her for two days.

Marisa put her hand on Reimu's shoulder, patting it. "Reimu, you gotta loosen up a bit on everyone, you know? Sakuya's all right, ze."

"You say that," Reimu said as she turned her head to the witch. "But doesn't she chase you down when you sneak into their library?"

Marisa grinned. "Maybe. But still - some youkai are all right. Even us humans who serve or have served a youkai are all right, right? We're not all that bad. Why else would you let me hang out with you, ze?"

Marisa served a youkai!? That brought up an interesting thought - did Marisa and Reimu have to face each other then if that was the case? Was their initial relationship somewhat like Reimu's and Sakuya's?

Reimu didn't have anything to respond to that, and seemingly satisfied, Sakuya turned to the gardener.

Youmu stood there for a bit, staring into the maid's eyes, before kneeling at Sakuya's feet. "Very well. You may proceed to meet her." She looked up with a pleading face, her eyes filled with worry. It was as if she took off the mask of intimidation - this was the real Youmu, it seemed. "And truth be told, I hope you all can stop her. She hasn't been the same since she listened to that yuki-onna."

I shook my head, getting angry again. Whiterock. I also shook my head at the whole "she was about to kill all of us but now is like this."

So much like an anime.

"Letty. What has she done?"

Youmu stood up and faced me as Marisa returned her sword. The gardener took a moment to wipe away the remnants of the tears on her face, trying to regain composure, before explaining.

"Well, there is one tree in a massive field in front of our home, a tree that remains dead amid Hakugyokurou's impressive rows of cherry blossom trees. It's been there since before I was born - as long as Lady Yuyuko has been here. A gigantic cherry blossom tree: the Saigyou Ayakashi."

Cherry blossom tree. It's a damn cherry blossom tree. The Saigyou Ayakashi is real, just like in that story. It just had to come to this, didn't it? Why else would I get a blatant clue like that?

Also, Marisa was right. I am dense. I don't know why, but sometimes I needed help from others to put things together. I mean, I take a little pride in figuring some things out on my own, but there were obviously things that were just out of my reach. Sometimes some things passed by my senses that I never fathomed unless I had it explained to me. Though it's not like I'm totally ignorant or a complete idiot - I was able to figure out Sleeping Beauty after all. Maybe I am just a partial idiot.

Not going to lie though – on this I should have figured it out sooner. Just like Sleeping Beauty, I had it spelled out for me in the beginning with hints from others, and pages of papers explaining the legend to me right before I went on this adventure had to have some meaning. If I met myself from that morning, I'd give him a smack for not putting two and two together right away. Suffice to say, this was a blow to my mental ego.

I couldn't help but sigh before I spoke. "A youkai cherry blossom tree of immense power, charming people to sleep under it, taking their lives. A sacrifice was performed a thousand years ago, putting it to sleep."

The four girls slowly turned to me, Youmu bewildered. "But...but how do you know that? The fate of it is obscure, even in Hakugyokurou!"

I shook my head, understanding that this really was for real. We just had to raise the stakes, didn't we? I cry foul. I could have had an easy adventure of bringing back spring to a fantasy land, and instead I get an entity that wants to consume lives. There was no singular curse word strong enough to embody my frustration, mostly at myself.

Sakuya approached me, confused. "Where did you hear this?"

I brought out the pages and handed them out. I completely forgot I had put them in my jacket the day prior. It was bad enough that I didn't make the connection, but I had the papers with me. I had them with me. There was no excuse for my stupidity. "These were left in my room back in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Papers describing this legend. I didn't think anything of it," Which I hate myself for. "And wondered who left them for me." I watched as they read the papers, understanding dawning on their faces when they saw what was on them. "But yeah, the Saigyou Ayakashi - as it took their lives, the tree eventually became a youkai, gained sentience, and it extended its power to have more people go. It drove people insane, making them view the blossoms it bloomed, charming with its beauty. And killing. Killing and gaining more power. Until somebody was sacrificed to seal it away."

I have to say, it does feel a bit weird to be the one explaining things. I'm usually the one on the receiving end of these. Ah, well.

"It was a thousand years ago…" I raised an eyebrow at Youmu as she lowered her head, knowing that she had something to add about that. "Lady Yuyuko wants to revive that person."

Good Lord. "What? Why!?" I did my best not to yell at her.

"She wants to remember her time." Youmu rubbed her left elbow, looking away from us. "She's been dead for a thousand years, and has forgotten who she was when she was alive. The yuki-onna convinced her that the best way to remember would be to bring the sacrifice back to life and meet with her. That's why we've stolen spring...she..." Youmu's eyes widened, seemingly realizing something. "Of course! Lady Yuyuko didn't have any idea on how to awaken the tree. Whiterock had to have been the one who suggested we steal the essence of spring to do it...Damn it."

Oh, you have got to be kidding me! I wanted to scream and pull my hair out. Letty was the one pulling the strings all along! She confessed to us at the beginning of the day, and we didn't do a damn thing to stop her! It was that easy! For once in my life it was that easy! That stupid yuki-onna got me involved just so she could have an extended winter! That's why I'm here! Just so she could enjoy the freaking cold! And we let her slip through our hands not once, but twice!

For once. For once. Everything was presented to me at the beginning but I was too stupid to get any of it! I don't know what was worse – my own self loathing, or the notion of some big evil from the past that was about to awaken.

Actually why am I focusing on myself? There's something that could threaten the world here. I had to stop being selfish and focus on where I was.

Youmu stared at me, her expression a bit unreadable. "The spring that has been gathering in you, human. For some reason, the spring we have been giving the Ayakashi has been bleeding out in the form of the cherry blossoms, and it has been going into you. I don't know why."

I am some sort of container. I have the spring of this place inside of my body. But, Jeez...I've been gathering the cherry blossoms of the actual Saigyou Ayakashi.

I actually didn't know what to think of that. I still don't. According to this girl, the spring of Gensokyo really was inside of my body. Funny - I didn't feel any warmth inside of me. "So...how do you guys intend on getting the spring out of me?" I assume that's what your goal is, right? It's got to be a goal.

Youmu didn't answer - she just lowered her eyes. I swallowed hard at that, because I had an idea what that meant. She confirmed it. "...Death would be one of the ways to release the spring from your body. There are other methods, but we lack them."

If Haruhi showed up with some asinine ploy of hers that would take me away from this insanity, I would have been all for it, no matter how crazy it would have been. Perfect. Just perfect. I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning. People wanting to kill me to solve their problems. What did I do in a past life to deserve all of this? What God did my ancestors offend to make me suffer so much?

"That would be bad, ze. Reawakening the person under the tree." That was the witch - Marisa must have had the paper with the fancy handwriting. "Says here that the only way to revive the person is to have the Saigyou Ayakashi bloom again."

Reimu's eyes widened as she grabbed Youmu's shoulders. The miko shouted at the gardener. "She actually wants to bring that thing to life? Just to meet someone? People are dying down there all for a selfish reason? And more people can die because of it?"

Youmu's mouth went agape, her lips quivering while she was being shouted at. Seemed like that when Youmu wasn't being intimidating, she was actually quite sensitive. "Lady Yuyuko has been obsessed over it! She's not like this! She's not a bad person! It's the yuki-onna! She did something to my master, I know she did! But I can't disobey my master!" Youmu appeared to be breaking down. Tears were forming in her eyes again. "She's so intent on doing this that she had me steal all the spring from Gensokyo! I tried to explain it...tried to wake her up...You don't know what it's like to..."

Youmu dropped to her knees, her hands to her face, letting out a small sob. Even though she was an enemy a while ago, I could see where she was coming from. She had to follow the orders of the one she served, even though she had doubts of what she was doing.

Sakuya's brow furrowed as she stood there, nodding. "It's like the puppeteer said. Getting someone to steal spring from Gensokyo, and making sure that the last part needed was in the outside world, hidden, unable to be the vessel for the cherry blossoms and not gathering spring in turn. Thus, winter in here goes on forever. Letty's been planning this for a while, it seems. And she was telling the truth when she said there's a worse alternative."

Letty's plan was thorough. If I hadn't come in, we wouldn't be in a situation where the tree could come back. It may have been better for the world, but not for Gensokyo, if I didn't come in at all. I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated and scared at this situation. "She took a big chance though. Eternal winter, or everything dies by the Ayakashi? Reckless. Shouldn't even be worth it." That's a huge gamble. I don't think I would take those chances myself. I turned to the miko. "But, Reimu, even if it gets blooming again, then won't it just stay up here? I mean, right? It won't hurt anybody?"

The miko spoke as she read through the papers she had. Her expression showed she knew the seriousness of the situation. "Well, Kyon, if it's a youkai, then it might be able to pick itself up and go to another location. All it would have to do is make it back to Earth, and that would be it. I don't know how strong it is or what it can really do; these papers don't give out that kind of information. I mean, who knows." Reimu's eyes skimmed over the page she was on before closing her eyes and sighing. "Maybe it would charm a phantom or a ghost or I don't know what to help it. But all it would have to do is make it back down to Earth, and yeah, checkmate." The miko turned her head towards the direction we came from - the direction of the realm of the living. "Consume Gensokyo, then when the barrier fails and the outside world is open to it, there goes everyone out there. Unless it reaches the outside world first. Such an evil thing can't be allowed to exist."

I hoped that the Data Entities would be able to combat it if it got that far. Right? They should. If it got out there, they'd consider it a threat to Haruhi, so they'd focus on it, right?

"This is heavy, ze." Marisa was reading over Reimu's shoulder as she spoke. "Driving people mad so it can consume them. But it'll only effect the area of the outside world it's in, right? Nobody else will see it?"

Oh, hell. I wished that was the case. I shook my head. "I don't know if you girls have television or the internet here, but it's easy to share and view photos or videos in my world." Way too easy for pictures on the internet to spread. I know this. "If this thing can charm people to get other people to view it, then it would have to get itself shown on television or its picture posted up on a major internet website. And then its image would spread like wild fire all over the world, everyone wanting to allow themselves to be consumed. Jeez. Everything's going to end if it gets out there."

I was realizing it as I was saying it. With something like that, technology and picture/video sharing would be the downfall of mankind. Humanity would be killing itself with that. The enormity of the situation was hitting me harder than the time I went into the end of the world with Haruhi. Man, this threat is way worse than the prospect of a mere rewrite of reality! This is an ending of reality. Can't believe I'm missing the simplicity of Haruhi's closed spaces! Also, by the confused looks on their faces, I think it would be safe to assume there is no internet or television in Gensokyo.

Youmu was still on her knees, hands over her face, shaking. Her voice reflected that. "...What have I done...I couldn't bring myself to stop her...and I still can't...I kidnapped the Spring Fairy...and the youkai of Flowers to help...but..."

Wait, wait - spring fairy? This was the first I was hearing of this.

"Spring Fairy?" Sakuya asked. "You mean Lilly White? She's a myth! A mere children's story!"

Youmu shook her head while she was trying to regain her composure. "She's real, maid. We have her."

Ah, they're talking of things that I know nothing about again. Kind of frustrating...

I guess she noticed the confusion on my face, because Sakuya explained. "Children's story here in Gensokyo. Lilly White is supposed to be a fairy that brings spring to the land every year. There are a few stories of kids going on adventures to free the fairy from evil wizards and such who want winter to last forever... But it's stupid...a mere fairy...?" Sakuya gave a small shrug. "I don't believe it myself."

Looks like we're actually living that out. So a spring fairy. Huh. Fairies have that kind of power? I still wasn't too sure on the roles of fairies in Gensokyo. Cirno seemed to be an exception, because otherwise they were pretty weak.

Marisa rubbed her chin, glancing over at Reimu. There was something behind her eyes, well, both Reimu and Marisa's, as if they both were a bit afraid of something. "Youkai...Hey, Reimu, it couldn't be, could it?"

Reimu's jaw clenched, as she stared at Youmu. "Gardener...you didn't get...Yuuka Kazami?"

"I don't know her name. I was just instructed to get her...oh...what have I done..."

When they were done talking of things I didn't know about, I had to speak what was on my mind, and what I hoped had to be on their minds as well.

"So, what girls? Do you go on without me?"

They remained silent, although Reimu started to slightly nod. I mean, it was the most logical solution, right? In all the mangas, there is usually one stupid character that is needed by the bad guys to carry out some sort of prophecy or whatnot, and their presence only ruins the chances of the good guys, because they "have" to be there to prove themselves or whatever. Then their stupidity causes them to get caught, or they get someone killed. It's one of the more annoying...tropes? I think that's the term I'm looking for. It's one of the more annoying tropes in stories that really tick me off, and I refused to be that idiot.

Then again, I was that idiot, as I already had a chance to not go as far as I did at that point.

"I mean, if the remaining spring has been gathering in me," I said, "And...and if I'm needed to revive this thing, then shouldn't I be as far away as possible?" This was the most logical plan I could come up with, that I bailed. If I was needed for this end of the world goal, then I would have to leave.

The looks on the faces of the girls told me that they were agreeing with me. Before Reimu could speak, we heard a voice echo from around us.

"That would be inconvenient for me, young man." It was a woman's voice. My blood went ice cold, as an idea of who it had to be.

Youmu appeared to have recognized that voice. "My lady?"

I was right. Ah, hell. Lady Yuyuko. The one who can induce death.

Out of nowhere, a mass of glowing crimson butterflies swarmed us, picked us up off the stairs, and rushed us to the top. And don't ask me how they picked us up. They just did. Even I don't know the logistics of that. We didn't even have time to fight back against those things. No matter how much I struggled, I felt myself being lifted to the top, where the light overwhelmed us, and-

Hakugyokurou. It was night time, the same as it was when we had left the realm of the living. The sky reminded me of closed space, but it was more… appealing, is the word I'm looking for. I would have enjoyed the walkways, the perfect rows of cherry blossom trees, pink and red as far as the eye can see. How the otherworldly light reflected off of everything. The zen gardens, the ponds, and the actual gardens. This realm was a garden paradise. Fields of flowers, sakura trees...

I would have enjoyed it, if I wasn't scared out of my mind. I knew what was happening. Who picked us up. Where we were going.

It wasn't hard to figure out. Youmu said it - a massive field in the center of Hakugyokurou, with a big house at the edge of it, and a large dead tree smack dab in the middle. It towered over everything in that realm of the dead, the empty branches clawing up to the sky. We were dropped onto the field, right in front of the tree, right in front of a woman floating there before it. It felt like I was having a panic attack, even though I've never had one before. This shouldn't be happening!

"Hello, humans. My name is Yuyuko Saigyouji. Welcome to Hakugyokurou."

Oh, God help me. God help me, I am that idiot.

She took a deep breath of the cold, letting it concentrate in her body. She enjoyed the wonderful cooling sensation it made, knowing that it could be the last night she could enjoy it.

Letty Whiterock stood on the top of a large tree in Gensokyo, head hanging low. Those idiots doomed everyone just to eliminate her season. To invalidate her season was to invalidate her, and it always made her sad to see people hate winter. It was the only time of year she could live, the only time she could be out. During all the other seasons, she had to hibernate, find somewhere cold, and sleep until winter rolled around.

But why was she so enraged? The puppeteer told them where to go, and Letty couldn't contain her anger. She had to do it, had to make her pay for being the one responsible. The one who lead the boy into the hands of Yuyuko. And in reality, the puppeteer was the lucky one.

Letty let out a sigh as she enjoyed the way the wind carried the snow. She reached out and held a snowflake. Each one individual. Each one precious. Each one unique.

The snow is so beautiful. Clean, uncompromising, and cold. And now it's all going to disappear. Those damn idiots.

She had hoped that she could scare them away. Scare the boy away with what she was told to say to him to make him go home. But they didn't listen. They wouldn't. Too idiotic because they hated her season, and hated her.

Again, she could feel the rage building. It wasn't like her. She knew that the seasons had their purpose. She knew. But what was going on with her was different. Her own actions scared even her, despite the trade off she made to gain more power, to gain her season.

The girl with the long hair...

The one who came to Gensokyo from the outside world, and did something. Did something to her. Ever since she met that little girl, Letty had been having problems, unable to control herself. But it was amazing. The increase in power. The prospect of an eternal winter. The girl gave her the instructions on what to do, how to go about doing it, and it was like a God send. All Letty had to do was cast the spell, or as the girl called it, data alteration, she was given on just anyone from the outside world. And Letty could have unending cold.

"And now I have to realize that I doomed the world..."

...

...no.

...they doomed it.

...they hate me...hate me and my precious season...

...even...even if they triumph over Yuyuko...they still need to die.

Yes.

Each and every one of them.

She had to protect her right to live, to be out. They were the enemies.

The girl with the long hair. Her image burned in Letty's mind again, reminding her what to do. What needed to be done.

Kill them.

Kill this product of Haruhi Suzumiya. Freeze it. Cover it in snow.

It didn't even register to Letty that she didn't know what that really meant. She had deduced who Haruhi was, because when the little girl with the long hair spoke of a "Haruhi", the image of "Haruhi" flashed through Letty's mind. Haruhi was that girl with an aura about her, yes, but what made her so special? She was just an unusual person in a group of unusual people, with only one normal person in the bunch. What made her any different from the other unusual ones?

It was just pure luck that she came across that specific girl.

Kill everyone in here.

In the back of Letty's mind, it didn't make sense. Why the boy? Why was the boy allowed to live? Why keep him alive? He was with them, those that hated her!

What made him special?

Kill everyone in here...

Kill him?

Immediately the image presented itself again, burning pain seeping through. She grabbed her head and doubled over.

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

Why is he so special?

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

Why should I let him live?

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

Why does that human need to live?

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

I'm not getting an answer.

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

I deserve an answer.

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

I demand an answer.

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

After everything I've done for you, I think I deserve a reason for your actions! I need to know! Why is he so special?!

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

Answer me or I'll make you pay for it.

Don't kill him. Need him alive.

I'll kill him then. How would you like that?

The image burned.

It was worse than the other times when she questioned the thoughts being pushed into her mind. She fought it. She struggled. It hurt, but she pushed back. A pain shot through her mind, the image ingrained with the simple message of "Kill". She clenched her teeth, the pain unbearable.

Enough! I'm not...stop it! It hurts! It hurts! Stop letmegoIcan'tstandthisanymoreIcan'tstanditit hurtsithurtsithurtsithurts!

Letty used all of her power to push the image out of her head, but doing so felt like an icicle raking across her mind. The image was gone, but was instead replaced by pain. She couldn't think anymore, her thought process gone, replaced by pure pain. Her screams and wails were lost in the snowstorm's roaring.

Then there was nothing. No pain. No thoughts. Just the last message in her brain. The only message in her brain. The only thing that made sense to her.

Kill.

Letty stood up, as if her head was clear again, even though it wasn't. Something was different, her mind going in one direction.

Kill.

A flash of an image went through her mind. Of a boy she saw. A normal, Japanese male. Standing in the snow with four other people.

Kill.

The boy.

Her memory came ebbing back, but there was only one thing on her mind. The only thing that made sense to her at that point.

Kill the boy.

Letty was done enjoying the snowstorm. She had to get up there.

The vampire woke up, noticing the vibrations. She laid in her bed, staring up at the stone ceiling, Something was wrong. She sensed suffering, pain, and death.

Patchi was among those suffering.

Why is Patchi hurt? What's hurting her?

The vampire sat up. She stared at the large wooden door. She felt like she wanted to nap again, but she could sense Patchi's heartbeat.

She's bleeding out. She's gonna die.

She shook her head, trying to clear it up. Her breathing became shallow.

Patchi is hurt. Focus. Focus. Patchi needs to be saved. Patchi is gonna die.

Flandre Scarlet got out of bed and left her room, all of her senses focused on her friend.

Can't let her die. Nothing should hurt Patchi. I like Patchi. I'll be sad if she dies.

-begin-

Conditioning failed.

Tool LETTY WHITEROCK broken.

Ready to receive consequences should Subject [NAME REDACTED] "KYON" die.

Plan to destroy product GENSOKYO of enemy Target HARUHI SUZUMIYA goes as predicted despite losing control over Tool LETTY WHITEROCK.

SCARLET DEVIL MANSION Sabotaged - interfered with "magical" barriers, and weakened structural integrity.

HUMAN VILLAGE Sabotaged - removed all firewood.

[DATA CORRUPTED] Sabotaged.

Unable to Sabotage MAYOHIGA.

All objectives completed.

Still unsure of power of Unknown Entity SAIGYOU AYAKASHI.

Should it revive, could be a possible fall back to rely on to destroy product GENSOKYO.

Will combat if necessary if it proves to be a threat to our interests.

-Kuyou Suou

-end-

Youmu is one of my favorite characters in Touhou. :)

Ah, yes. Sky Canopy Domain.