Apologies for taking so long. Writers block is a hell of a thing. I would sit here and nothing would come out, or, if it did come out, it would only be a sentence or two. The month before I submitted it to the beta readers was quite different, as I broke out of it for a brief period. I want to thank them for coming back to this, to beta read again. And I want to thank you guys, the readers, for coming back to this, for the PM's of 'when are you bringing out the next chapter?'. For caring.

I also want to thank /v/ and the Soku threads for helping me in my lore. Just throwing that out there. Thank you, Anon.

Continuing with our running gag of "OH NOES THIS IS THE LONGEST ONE I'VE WRITTEN"...yes, this is. Even my beta readers complained about it.

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.

Beta Readers for this Episode:

Another Duck

Nerdfish

werewolf2005

"You sure?"

"I know heat. I've lived long enough to know this, y'know?"

Keine just tiredly shook her head. "Why didn't anybody notice her missing?"

"Dunno." It was a good question though - why wasn't anybody watching their child on such a dangerous night? Mokou snuffed out a cigarette, as the two of them made their way to the family home of Chitose. They stopped several meters away from the front door. "But poor girl was dead before midnight. Her body was so cold, even with this summer heat."

"And you're sure about this? That youkai Rumia had nothing to do with it?"

"Ya saw the bite marks, those were done long after Chitose died." Mokou brought out her cigarette pack, noticing that she was down to her last one. "If the shadow youkai was the one to do it, I'd be out there burnin' her. From what I could tell n'all, she avenged her. I just dunno if Chitose suffered or not..." That's all I can pray for.

"Hopefully, it was quick and painless... But by all accounts, considering that youkai breached the village and we only lost one person, we were lucky..." Keine let out a sigh.

Mokou felt the dread, of what was about to happen; where the two of them would have to do the part of their jobs that they didn't like.

The crying, the denial, we'll have to take them to see the body...

"Keine..."

Keine didn't turn to Mokou, she just had a sad expression on her face. "Yeah?"

"No matter how many times I do this, it never gets easier." She lit her cigarette. "It just gets harder."

"I know."

"I thought you quit."

Nitori looked up, seeing Aya grinning at her. The two of them were alone in the entryway. The kappa took a puff of her cigarette, before speaking. "I did...yesterday was supposed to be my last day..." And then all this happened.

"Picked a hell of a time to quit smoking, right?"

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"At least you're alive for you to enjoy it." Aya's grin widened. "You carried yourself quite well in a fight - more so than I thought a kappa could. Thought you'd use more tools - it's the only way you kappas know how to fight anyways." Nitori glared at her, and Aya's eyes narrowed, still keeping her grin. She obviously said that to rile up the kappa. "Ayaya. No offense, of course."

Nitori took a long draw of the cigarette, the familiar heat and sensation entering her lungs, and decided not to give Aya the pleasure of responding to that. The kappa let out the smoke as a fairy maid rushed by, carrying something in her hands. Then there were more fairy maids, each of them doing the same thing. Nitori then saw all the non-maid fairies just rush out of the mansion, flying out of there as the sun was starting to light up the pre-dawn sky. The kappa then noticed Aya pick up her things, and get her camera ready. The tengu walked to the open door.

"You leaving already? I thought you wanted to interview the ones who resolved this incident. They'll be here soon, I think."

Aya still kept her grin. "Ayayaya. Maybe, but this incident had to have devastated some parts of Gensokyo. I know where to find the people to interview, but getting the shots and stories while they're still fresh won't last that long." Aya balled up a fist and raised it into the air in an overly dramatic pose. "It should be the priority of every reporter to get the juicy shots while they can for maximum impact and drama! I'll sell hundreds with such photos!"

Nitori wanted to roll her eyes. Aya was a decent enough person...just...kind of selfish when it came to her paper. Funny thing is, she's one of the more tolerable Tengu, besides the white wolves. No, wait. That's not funny - that's just freaking sad. What was even sadder was that the kappa were pretty much second class compared to the 'high and mighty noble tengu'. The kappa took another puff. "All right, just...be careful out there."

"When am I never?"

"One of these days you're going to rile up a lot of people, and they'll start shooting at you."

"Ayaya! They'll never even hit me if they were to do such a thing!"

"Not even if the miko created a spell card just for the sole purpose of taking you down?"

"Not even then!"

It had to be over. After that ghost woman blasted away the moon, everything calmed down. The howlings stopped, the pain stopped, and it felt like the incident was resolved - Lyrica didn't feel the burning youkai desire anymore that occurred during the incident.

The Prismrivers sat there, as did the others, soaking up the light of the full moon, as did the others. It felt good, right, and soothing, like a massage. Lyrica felt inspired to play, but nothing in particular. It was the same for Merlin and Lunasa - the three sisters just jammed on their instruments, with no real idea what they were playing. It still sounded good, almost jazzy, with Merlin taking the lead. Lyrica smiled as she watched as the fairies left the shrine one by one - Lilly White took off when the fake moon was gone and the rest followed, save for that Daiyousei and those three fairies who were always together. Didn't they say their names earlier? Luna, Sunny, and Star? Lyrica remembered the names, because the fairies remarked that their names resembled the buttons the Prismrivers had on their hats as well. The moon for Lunasa, the sun for Merlin, and the shooting star on Lyrica. They all sat around the Prismrivers - the bug, the bird, the fairies, and the time traveler - all of them were listening to the music of the poltergeists.

I think everything is alright now. Everything did feel at peace, a stark contrast to what happened over the last several hours. The time traveler, Mikuru, who had been so timid since she met the Prismrivers, had appeared to be at relative ease. There wasn't any more tension in her - she was allowing herself to relax. But THAT one thing pisses me off about her... Lyrica decided to try to ignore the better developed part of the human's body. It wasn't easy, though.

The oni came out of the shrine, wiping away at her face. She let out a loud burp upon reaching the group, which was somewhat of a cue to stop playing. Those three fairies left after that, Daiyousei stayed behind. Lyrica noticed that the sky was getting brighter and brighter - that the sun was about to rise. The night was clearly coming to an end, and the incident had been settled. Isn't thiscliché? The sun begins to rise as the trouble ends. Writers love to do this kind of representation and stuff, don't they? Or is it symbolism? Yeah. Symbolism.

"Well, I dunno what Mima did exactly, but it worked," Suika shrugged. "She doesn't even know what she did, I think - she's out. Drank way too much. Too bad, though, since I felt like drinking with the one who saved us all! Since I can't do that..." Suika then patted - pretty hard - on Mikuru's back. "You helped us! Helped me! That makes us friends!" Grinning from ear to ear, the oni brought up the gourd to the human's face. "Drink with me, human!"

Mikuru, rubbed her now sore back, blushed, and let out a little squeal. "Ah! No, I can't! I mean...I...uh...I don't mean to be rude, but I can't handle alcohol!"

Suika raised an eyebrow, her voice dropping her cheerful tone. "Human, when an oni offers you a drink, you drink until you're plastered." Suika's cheerful tone came back. "And then you drink some more!" She then put the gourd to Mikuru's lips, pouring some into her mouth - and using her hand, covered said mouth, until Mikuru swallowed it. The time traveler began to cough, obviously not used to that oni's sake. Lyrica of course laughed at this.

"Ha! Lightweight!" The oni grinned at that reaction, noticing that the bug was laughing too. Suika's attention was then on her. "Same with you! You fought alongside me, so now we drink until the sun rises, as comrades!" Wriggle's eyes widened, and she tried to get away, but was easily caught. She suffered the same fate - sake poured down her throat. The other two, Daiyousei and Mystia, went along with it, as it appeared that nobody had any other choice. The oni then turned her attention to the phantoms. "How about you Prismrivers? Wanna drink with me? First to pass out loses!"

Lyrica's smile dropped, as must have her sisters. ...No...you didn't just do that. The three sisters glanced at each other, silently asking if they actually heard that. Lunasa was the one who spoke with a somewhat bewildered look on her face. "...Did you just...did you just challenge three Irish girls to a drinking contest?"

"Because that would be a big mistake on your part," remarked Merlin as the sisters began to stand up, "Miss Oni."

"Ah. You're Irish." A mischievous smirk formed on the oni's face, as well as a sparkle in her eye. "Don't worry, I won't hold that against you. Here, I'll drink some more so I'll be extra drunk." She chugged for a few seconds, and wiped at her mouth. She flashed a grin at the poltergeists, offering the gourd to them. "Now you three'll actually have a chance against me!"

Oh hell no.

She awoke, feeling full. Her body hurt, but not from any exertion. She knew where she was: on the Hakurei Shrine's grounds. The holy power was hurting her. Instintively, she moved, to somewhere away from the shrine. She sensed that her friends Wriggle and Mystia were nearby, but that wasn't her priority. She went out the back way, to the closest border of the shrine. When she crossed it she felt relief, as the holy power no longer held her down. She looked back to the shrine's grounds, wondering if she should at least let her friends know that she was okay...but there were two pressing issues on her mind. It was almost daytime and she would be probably hunted for eating that child.

I'll apologize to them all later. Right now I need to hide.

Rumia took off towards Youkai Mountain, hoping to find sanctuary in Youkai Forest, which was the darkest place in Gensokyo, barring underground...

She then stopped over the lake, as she remembered something. She had blacked out back there, during the night. When she heard her friends in trouble, she felt something overtake her, and next thing she knew, she was laying in the shrine, full and drifting in and out of conciousness until she woke up.

No...it wasn't something...it was her...the thing inside of me. What did she make me do? The shadow youkai couldn't remember. Rumia tried to touch the oblivion charm that was tied onto her head, but couldn't. However, she felt its power. It's getting...weaker. That...that light did something to it. Made it weaker...it might break one of these days, and...she'll be out.

That little voice that had appeared in her head ever since meeting that boy. A voice that was struggling to get out.

Perishable Night

Episode 10

["Undo"]

"The concept of good and evil doesn't apply here. For her, it must be the ultimate way of paying her respects. Times change, and people and lives become richer. It's only sadness that never disappears, it merely takes a different shape. Had they never gone beyond the simple relationship of hunter and prey, she wouldn't have to know that pain. And yet...

How many more humans will she meet?

How many more lives will perish before her eyes?

Compared to hers, the human existence is brief and brittle. Why couldn't we all be given the same time to live? Why can't we be together forever?"

-Keine Kamishirasawa, after seeing Rumia eat a child, from the doujin: "Those who Await the Dawn", by Mikage Sekiza.

We killed them, the Sky Canopy Domain members. Nagato said that the danmaku appeared to damage not only the interfaces, but the entities themselves - they died as soon as their bodies were destroyed. It wasn't like with Asakura where her interface body was destroyed, but her entity self remained - both the Sky Canopy Domain interface and entity expired. In a way, interfaces are like avatars with the entities controlling them. Puppets and puppet masters. This was Nagato's explanation, not mine. But that's for later. Speaking of puppets, Nagato would later restore the only one of our group to have a mortal wound...Shanghai. Alice, with tears in her eyes, would be overjoyed, hugging Nagato, thanking her, again, all later. I don't know if Shanghai, with its limited intelligence, appreciated it, even though it did a curtsy to Nagato.

Anyway, back to where I left off. The princess had no room...well, a livable room, unless she wanted to sleep in the 'new courtyard'. Remember how parts of the ceiling pinched, trying to get at Cirno? While it didn't get the little fairy, it got most of the furnishings that belonged to Kaguya, (save for whatever was left under that ceiling part that was just flung off, which was a single book case and a table) so she had pretty much nothing. Nagato said she couldn't make repairs as the Lunarian magic and seals were interfering with most of her "higher level functions". Her words, not mine. Anyway, the Lunarians had no intention of breaking or lessening those seals at all as Eintei would be exposed on some level to anybody watching Gensokyo. Again, their words, not mine. Keeping something that big hidden required such precautions, I suppose.

I should know how hard it can be to keep things from other people, after all, so this was nothing new to me.

Remilia arrogantly offered one of her more lavish guest rooms for the princess, which was graciously accepted. I just think the vampire wanted to impress our new Lunarian allies with her home, though I did hear Remilia quietly ask Nagato to repair the mansion of any damages the night may have caused. Yeah, that would be bad...to have the Princess see that mess in the front yard, or the dining room for that matter. Tewi stayed, saying that the bamboo forest would always be her home, and that she and the rabbits would fix up Eintei. And then they came out of nowhere. So many rabbits, and rabbit youkai. Immediately, they began work on cleaning up the mess. As we left, I noticed Tewi eyeing a corner of the room, and I thought she was pondering whether she should make a new trapdoor.

Yukari was still quite weak, only able to make short-range portals, so all we were able to do was 'jump' from location to location. We startled three fairies doing as such, and I recognized them - they were the same ones who followed us for a bit during the Spring Snow incident. Huh. They survived. They took off before anyone could say or do anything, so we quickly left them to continue on our way.

It didn't take long to reach our destination - we hit the Hakurei shrine first, to pick up Mikuru. Upon getting there, we found an unusual scene...well, I consider it unusual, especially since Mikuru was with such an unusual crowd. The Prismrivers, Suika, and Mystia were on the porch in front of the donation box, drinking from the oni's gourd. From what I could tell, it had to be some sort of drinking contest. Suika was hammering them down, while it appeared that Mystia had raised the proverbial white flag. The Prismrivers were loopy, swaying from side to side, having trouble standing, and their cheeks were all red. As I said, Asahina was with them, and Suika was teasing the time traveler into drinking. Wriggle and Daiyousei were sitting there too, the bug holding onto her head like she had a headache and her face red from possible alcohol consumption. The firefly was the first to notice us - her antennae perked up.

"It's over?" asked Wriggle.

It got everyone's attention, and they turned to us. Mikuru ran to us as she was happy to see the Brigade. "Kyon!" She embraced me, and went to the other Brigade members as well. "Koizumi! Nagato! You all survived!" I noticed that she had the unmistakable stench of alcohol on her breath, and her cheeks were as red as Reimu's outfit. Man! Smells like you drank straight from a rubbing alcohol bottle!

Like I did, Koizumi reeled back from the breath of the time traveler. "Ah, Miss Asahina...uhm...yeah, we survived." He raised an eyebrow. "Been...celebrating without us?"

Looks like it.

Mikuru blushed even harder, covering up her mouth. "Oh! Sorry!" she mumbled from behind her hands, "I was offered a drink, and I can't say no to an oni, apparently." She let out a little burp, and was swaywed. Nagato immediately went to her side and helped her stand. Otherwise, Mikuru would have fallen over.

I shot a glance over at Suika, who was still drinking. She's been drinking from that gourd almost non-stop. Shouldn't it run out soon? Then again, who knows - maybe it's infinite or something. Also, I hope it wouldn't be my turn to drink with the oni. I didn't need another hangover, thank you.

Wriggle had stood up, her eyes on the vampire. The firefly took a deep breath, before speaking. "So, we done?

Remilia gave a little shrug before waving her hand. "Go, if you want. You've served me for the night, as requested. I guess I'm done with you." Remilia flashed me one of those mischievous grins, before returning her attention to Wriggle. "Just don't go attacking my servants, and we should be okay, little bug."

Wriggle didn't need any other explanation. She started walking as soon as Remilia said "Go". As she passed me, the firefly made the point to bump into my shoulder with hers, giving me a nasty look as she did so. I stared back at her, unsure whether I should say something. Chances are, whatever I would say would only make her mad at me. Also, why was she mad at me?

Well, I did tell Remilia that it was okay to smack her. But Nightbug did try to eat me, so it was kinda justified. Looks like she's going to hold a grudge against me. Great. I didn't give Wriggles grudge against me much thought beyond that, and neither did Wriggle. She paused when she saw Cirno among us.

"...Cirno?! What the hell?!" The bug called back to the group at the shrine. "Mysti! Cirno's here and she's all right!"

Interesting. Cirno has a weird circle of friends. A bug, a bird...who else?

The bird's eyes widened as she staggered to her feet, slowly making her way to the ice fairy. Soon, Daiyousei, Wriggle, and Mystia were at the ice fairy. Cirno went on some bragging tirade with her friends, saying how she was the one who saved us all, that everyone owed her. I thought one of my companions would say something, but they didn't. Maybe we were too tired to put up with the stupidity of this particular troublesome fairy.

Then again, her spell card has saved my life twice. So weird. Such a weak, near-useless spell card, and it's saved Gensokyo a few times. Marisa looked at the bird youkai with an amused face - I'd later find out that Marisa and Reimu were regular customers of the bird's stall. Isn't it weird that two professional youkai exterminators eat at a youkai's establishment?

Reimu was looking around her shrine, apparently pleased by how most of the trash was gone. Heck, the stalls were gone too. Only the mark of a campfire, as well as some danmaku scarring, were present. A genuine smile formed on her face as she turned to the oni. "Wow...didn't think you heard me."

The oni, who had gotten up and moved to the middle of the grounds, with her eyes on Yukari, did a double take, as if she wasn't expecting to be spoken to by the miko. "What?"

"I asked you to clean up the shrine, and you did it. I thought you weren't going to do a damn thing."

Little does she know that it was a complete mess a few hours ago. Also, that brought up a question - when did the oni find the time to clean up?

Suika just burped. One of the Prismrivers, Merlin, collapsed, apparently having enough of the sake. The other two had to sit down, with Lyrica holding her head. The oni then took a few more steps towards us, her eyes on Yukari.

"What the hell. I come back to party with you, and you disappear on me for two weeks, getting me to take care of this shrine." Suika took another pull, and then stared at the three aliens we had with us, barring Nagato. The oni blinked, her face going blank as she drunkenly pointed at our alien allies. "...Yukari...are those...Lunarians?"

Yukari spoke quickly, as it seemed as the oni was getting angry over seeing those three. "Things have changed, Suika. I know you don't like their kind, and quite frankly, neither do I-"

Damn. Blunt.

"-But the situation has called for us to be allies, at least against the cause of this previous night."

Suika didn't say anything, just angrily drank some more, glaring at Kaguya in particular.

If the princess saw the glare, she possibly didn't care for it. Kaguya had moved to the center of the shrine's grounds, staring at the main building. The princess seemed pleased with it. "So this is the Hakurei shrine. It's pretty." She turned her head to the doctor, a smile on the face of Kaguya. "Eirin, we've lived here for so long, and this is the first time I've seen this place."

"You know the precautions we take, Princess..." Eirin stared up at the sky for a few seconds, and then shot a glare in Reimu's direction. "...the precautions we'll always have to take." The doctor glared at the miko, with obvious resentment, before her face recomposed and she sighed, the doctor rubbing her temples'. "Damn it all...we were so close to being free forever."

"We can survive, Eirin. We have been surviving and hiding for centuries."

"I was just so tired of hiding."

"Well," said Remilia. "Gensokyo is the place for hiding, doctor."

To tell the truth, I started to feel a little guilty about the whole thing. Mikuru burped in the few seconds of silence after that, as I started to wonder if this was a good idea, you know, to have Kaguya out and about. The oni was quick to identify her as Lunarian after all, which could be a problem for someone on the lamb, you know. If a drunken person could do that, then if a Lunarian agent was already in Gensokyo, they'd already be found out.

"Where's Lady Mima, ze?"

The oni nodded. "Inside. Passed out." Suika drank again. "She did save us. You guys saw what she did?"

"That Twilight Spark was amazing," said Alice. "I've never seen such a display of raw destructive power before, even though I've seen her a few times."

"Hey, she trained me, ze."

"I couldn't even measure the scope of that power. That Twilight Spark genuinely surprised me." That was Nagato.

"Yeah...but...I have to seal her back up," said Reimu as she made her way to her shrine.

"Really?" Koizumi rubbed his neck, still wearing his smile. "She saved us, Miss Hakurei. Doesn't she deserve something for that?"

Reimu stopped, and turned her head, an impassive look on her face. On top of that, she looked tired, like I'm sure most of us felt. I did, anyway. "Maybe so, but I have to seal her back up. It's part of my deal with her."

Sad, really. Mima happened to be the savior of Gensokyo, and our savior. So much for her being the terror of Gensokyo - she just made a better hero. On the plus side, I'll remember her.

Koizumi simply nodded, before turning his attention to Gensokyo. He let out a stifled yawn. "We got lucky, you know."

I turned as well, looking out at the land. The sky was getting brighter and brighter, and dawn would be upon us in less than half an hour. Gensokyo actually seemed at peace, despite it still being somewhat dark. Again, I helped save this land.

"I do know that," said Yukari. "If Mima hadn't done what she did, we'd all be dead by now. Suou planned for that night like a professional, countering most of my own plans and designs, but we got away with a victory somehow." She let out a chuckle. "Chaos."

"You sure you didn't plan for it to happen like that?" That was Yuyuko, who wasn't smiling. She raised an almost accusatory eyebrow at the demon. "Because I know you. You leave a lot to chance, but not for stuff like that. You usually have everything planned, even the chaos, to go into your favor for something that serious."

"You think too highly of me, Yuyuko." The demon wagged a finger. "And besides, I was legitimately surprised over the awakening of the Ayakashi during your incident. I never planned for that to happen - it reacting the way it did to the power of the SCD." Yukari gave me, Marisa, and Sakuya a nod. "You all handled yourself better than even I thought, dealing with such a random event."

"Power?" I asked.

"It will be explained later. Not now. I'm a little too tired to-"

And of course she got interrupted.

"Suika...what the hell is this?" Reimu was standing there at the front door, her attention on the inside. I saw her grip tighten on her gohei. She stepped in, and kicked out a few empty bottles, to emphasize what she found.

Oh, right. The bottles...and Reimu's alcohol collection.

Suika was in trouble. Reimu had brought out the Fantasy Seal spell card, as she turned and began a slow walk up to the oni, a terrifying smile forming on her face. The miko's eyes screamed 'you're going to get it now!' The oni began to back up, towards us. "Suika...I thought I told you to clean up and not to make a mess of my home." Already the rest of us were silently moving away from the soon-to-be-targeted youkai as she neared our group.

The oni rubbed the back of her head. She tried to cover her fear with a smile, but her true reaction was obvious. "Aw, come on. The rest of your shrine is in decent condition. Howzzit we just say we're even?" Suika then noticed that everyone had abandoned her. A flash of anger, of betrayal, and then worry went through her eyes. Eventually she reached the top of the staircase and stopped.

You're on your own here. I'm not getting in between Reimu and one of her targets.

"There is no 'even'." The Fantasy Seal card began to glow. "I told you to make sure my shrine was in presentable condition."

Suika laughed and waved her hand in the air, dismissing that. "It's okay, nobody comes up here anyways."

Reimu paused, and activated the spell card. Suika realizing that she should not have said that, covered her mouth with both hands, but it was a little too late. She didn't even get the chance to apologize. I took cover, as did everyone else, leaving the poor oni to her multi-colored homing-danmaku fate.

[SPELL CARD: DREAM SIGN "FANTASY SEAL ~ CONCENTRATE"]

Ouch.

And the subsequent tumble down the stairs didn't help the oni's predicament.

Reimu stayed behind to clean up the shrine (and got Suika to do most of the work), but the miko rejoined us at the mansion later that day after she did as such and rested. For some reason, Cirno and Letty stuck with us, not going home, as did Alice, Marisa, and the Ghosts - the Prismrivers went to their homes, however, to sleep off their drinking. They also looked defeated - I never found out why.

Yukari was breathing heavily by the time we made it to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. We went through one last portal, ending up a ways from the front gate, before Yukari collapsed - Ran and Chen had to catch her. Before we could say anything, or attempt to help her, the demon motioned us to go on ahead.

Remilia smartly sent Nagato first, along with Sakuya (to make use of that time stopping perk, and by the way, Sakuya regained her powers, thanks to those awful Mushroom things) to use her data manipulation to repair the SDM, in order to impress her visitors, I suppose. And it worked - by the time we got to the grounds, the mess from the party was cleaned up.

We found a few maids going inside, I guess since they no longer had anything to clean up. Four people were on the front porch: Meiling, Koakuma, Patchouli, and Nitori. The kappa was smoking a cigarette. Interesting that a water goblin smokes. Patchouli had a large welt on her head, which Koakuma was applying an ice bag to. Meiling was in a simple white tank top and green sweat pants. Why did she change her clothes? ...and why can't I look away? The tank top was really stretched over her...well...assets. It pretty much left nothing to the imagination. I could only see more two ways - if she wet it, or if she - Wait, why am I focusing on what Meiling is wearing? Patchouli is injured! Damn my male priorities. I had to force myself to avert my eyes.

...But still, thumbs up.

Remilia stalled when she saw them, but then cleared her throat, and asked her guests to not move from the front gate (which was broken down for some reason), leaving Sakuya with them, as the rest of us moved to the SDM's porch. Remilia went to Patchouli first, and knelt next to her friend, looking over the head wound.

"Damn, Patchi. What happened? Was it that bad? You okay?"

"Yes it was, and I'll be just fine when Kyon heals me in a reasonable amount of time." The librarian eyed the damage to Remilia's dress. "...And I should ask the same for you. I haven't seen you torn up like that since we got to Gensokyo."

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

That's somewhat of a lie.

"Right..." Patchouli's nostrils flared a bit, and her brow furrowed, as she stared at the red covering Remilia's dress. "...Remi...is that Sakuya's blood I smell on you?"

"Yeah..." Remilia's wings sagged a bit. "It's complicated."

"You went feral, didn't you?"

Remilia clenched her jaw, before answering. "...Yeah..."

Why is it whenever someone usually says 'it's complicated', someone gives a simple one-sentence account or summary of it? Just something I'd like to know. Sorry for breaking the story here. It's just on my mind.

Patchouli scoffed. "Yeah...nothing you couldn't handle." I think she would have shaken her head, if it weren't for her injury. During all of that, Koakuma had gone back into the mansion, and had brought back a few more vials. She went up to me with a worried look on her face, but didn't say anything. There was nothing to say, as I knew what she wanted me to do: heal her master.

It didn't register with me that I was going to regret drinking it. Damn my helpful nature. As soon as it touched my taste buds, I regretted downing that vial, because finally, after that entire night, my stomach and body had enough of whatever chemicals were in that. My body began to tap out. I excused myself and ducked behind a nearby bush.

If this were any other situation, I would have been horrified that I was vomiting a red, thick liquid - it was all of the liquid that I had downed that past day, so there was a lot. My nostrils stung afterward, and all I could smell was cherry blossoms, a smell that I had gotten tired of. I came back around, wiping at my mouth, tears in my eyes, before I went about tagging the girls that needed healing.

That sucked! I never want to smell cherry blossoms ever again!

While I was, of course, grateful for the healing properties, I had to gripe. "Yukari...Marisa...Alice...Patchouli...I really do wish you could have made this easier to down. This stuff is horrible."

"I'm sorry," Patchouli's voice dripped with sarcasm as her welt went down. "Next time we'll add some flavoring so it suits your taste. Maybe cookie flavored? Would you prefer oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip?"

Okay, fine. Be that way. Sorry I asked.

"Geez, Patch." Marisa clicked her tongue. "Never seen you this ticked off before, ze."

I'll say. She's venting up a storm.

"That's because you're usually gone by the time I find out you've stolen more of my books." The librarian clenched her teeth, crossing her arms and let out a grunt. "This just has been a very bad night for me, I'm ticked off that my library got destroyed, and-"

"Hold on." Remilia glanced at everyone. "The library got destroyed? Someone got in?"

The guard pursed her lips, shifting where she sat. "We got overwhelmed, milady." said Meling.

"Who in the world could overwhelm you?" I asked.

And then Yuka Kazami came stumbling out of the front door.

Oh. Well, that answers that.

"Oh, my," gasped Yuyuko. "Miss Kazami..."

Her dress and vest were slashed up, she was bleeding from multiple wounds, her hair was messy, and half-caked in blood. The only thing that didn't have damage was her parasol. Nitori and Koakuma jumped to their feet, giving Kazami a wide berth. Patchouli simply slid over on the step she was sitting on, while Meiling just sat there, an impassive look on her face. The youkai of flowers took a few staggering steps forward, and fell down the steps, landing at Remilia's feet. The vampire snorted, a half-grin forming - she was pleased to see Kazami in that state.

"Ha! That's what you get for messing with the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"Milady, I have to inform you." Meiling shot a glance to Patchouli, who merely did a somber nod. "Kazami...she broke the gate, broke into the house, attacked Patchouli, Koakuma, and I. ...Then she nearly killed your sister."

What?!

Remilia's body froze upon hearing that. She slowly turned her head towards her chief guard. "Re-repeat that."

"She nearly killed your sister, Milady."

In an instant, I knew what was going to happen. I quickly told Mikuru that she would have to go inside soon. In her drunken state, she just sleepily nodded, smiling at me. I don't think she knew what was about to transpire, which was probably a good thing. However, in my sober state, I knew.

Remilia's voice went to a whisper, but her wings started to shake. "...How..."

"Induced accelerated flower growth in her lungs." This was Patchouli. "I've never seen anything like it - she just breathed on Flan, and plants began to grow from within."

Good Lord. I had always wondered how flowers could be used as a weapon, how Yuka could be more of a threat than just her physical presence and strength...but like that? That's just...insane.

"...She's okay...right? You saved her?"

"Yes, Milady. Lady Flandre is all right."

"Wasn't anything I couldn't handle, Remi. Flan is just fine."

Remilia slowly nodded, and stood there for a few seconds. The vampire's face had no emotion, but her shaking wings belied her composure. She turned her head to Sakuya. "Sakuya, please show our guests their room".

The maid did as such, going back to the gate, and escorting the Lunarians inside the house, Sakuya shooting me a worried look as she closed the door. The Ghosts, Marisa, and Alice looked at each other, and apparently silently decided to not be at that scene as well - they too went inside. I asked Alice to take Mikuru in as well, who did as such. Thank you so much, Alice. As for me, I don't know why I stayed out. I think part of me wanted to attempt to reign in Remilia, as stupid as that sounds.

As soon as the door closed, Remilia walked up to the downed Yuka. She stood over her for a few moments.

I knew what the vampire was going to do, and I wanted to avoid it. "Remilia-"

"If you're going to ask me to show her mercy," Remilia quickly said, "Kyon, I'll gut you for even thinking it."

That shut me up about that. Neither Nagato nor Koizumi said anything, though the esper did have a grim look on his face, his eyes averted. Remilia kept looking down at Kazami. Eventually, the youkai noticed that someone was near her, and looked up. As soon as she did, Remilia started kicking and stomping on the downed youkai, screaming obscenities.

"You stupid bitch! You make me step aside?! You try to take my servants?! You try to take Patchi?! You try to take my sister?!"

The vampire kept at it, just screaming and screaming up a storm that would make a sailor blush, while attacking Yuka. The flower youkai was obviously weak, as she couldn't defend herself against this assault.

Could anyone blame the vampire for doing what she was doing? Thing is...there was something I needed to tell her.

"Milady."

Remilia quickly whipped around, the rage on her face focused on me. "What did I tell you, Kyon?!"

Of course, that intimidated me, but I pointed up. Remilia looked - the rays from the rising sun were touching the mansion, and it was slowly creeping down. It would be on Remilia in about a minute at the rate it was going. You need to get inside now. She blinked, and started to take deep breaths. Eventually, she appeared to calm down, and then she looked back down at Yuka. The vampire spat on her, before storming into the mansion. As the vampire passed her guard, Meiling spoke up.

"Lady Flandre is in her room, being tended to by some of the maids. She's healing just fine, milady."

"Even though she's your little sister, remember, she's tough," said Patchouli. "She's a Scarlet."

Remilia glanced at both Meiling and Patchouli, not saying a word, but still appearing to convey some silent message. The vampire then disappeared inside mere seconds before the sun had fully risen, bathing the entire yard in its rays. My eyes drifted down to the body of Kazami.

In a way, I guess I understood her anger. I mean, if someone told you that your sibling almost died, and 'here is the person who almost did it', what would someone do? I myself would probably go Remilia's route if someone hurt my sister like that. Just saying.

...Actually, not 'probably'. I would go ballistic if someone ever laid their hands on my sister. I'd end up in prison.

Yuka let out a choking noise from the ground, a small puddle of blood forming beneath her. She was shaking, and trying to get up, but couldn't. Remilia really went to work on the youkai of flowers.

"Kyon...could you...could you heal Kazami?" That was Yukari, who I turned to.

"Uhm...I'm actually afraid of what Remilia might do to me if I healed her." It was true. Don't know what the vampire might do if she found out that I healed the woman who almost killed her sister. And besides, Patchouli, Koakuma, and Meiling were still there as witnesses, as well as the Kappa.

"Yuka's an old...well..." Yukari gave me a small, tired smile. "Well, 'friend' is too strong a term...let's just say we've bled on the battlefield together multiple times, both on the same side and against each other. She has also done me favors. Could you please be a dear and revive her?"

You're war buddies and old rivals? Right then I thought maybe I'd get lucky and dream about that when I would leave Gensokyo.

I turned to the ones on the porch, in case they had any oppositions to my doing so. Meiling just shrugged, and Patchouli and Koakuma simply went inside, Patchouli stating "Do as you wish." Nitori didn't appear to care.

I had to swallow another vial...twice. I was coughing up a storm, trying to retch, but my body didn't want to, even though it felt like it wanted to. Isn't that the worst? When you have to throw up but your body won't let you?

Her wounds healed up, and Kazami slowly got up off the ground, staring right at me, with some weird glare - it wasn't like she appeared to be angry at me, just angry in general.

"Not necessary, human. I would have gotten up just fine."

I know you Gensoko flower handlers are awesome, but you were down and out just now. I didn't respond to her verbally. She was looming over me, and I felt fear. She was trying to intimidate me, and frankly, it was working. I already fear you. No need for this, you know.

"I warned you about the night, Yuka," Yukari chided.

Kazami took a few seconds to dust herself off and straighend up her damaged clothes. "I didn't know how bad it would have gotten..."

"Neither did I. Now just go before that vampire sends someone to finish you off."

Yuka nodded, and began to walk off of the grounds. As she passed me, she paused, glancing at me.

And what she said sent chills down my spine.

"Too bad you don't have that cherry blossom aura about you right now. Those vials give an artificial aura. Not my tastes."

Without saying much else besides a "See you around, little boy", Kazami left the grounds. I don't know how I kept my composure, trying not to be too disappointed, or even show such disappointment. In the corner of my eye, I could see Koizumi giving me quizzical look, as was Nagato. I decided not to tell them then and there, and debated on whether I should tell them at all.

Yukari was helped inside by Ran and Chen, and Nitori got up as they got in the door. She smiled at me.

"Friend, that was a very intense night."

"Yeah, tell me about it." A thought popped into my mind. "Was the money worth it, Nitori?"

Her smile widened as she took a final puff of her cigarette, flicked it, and stepped on it, letting out the smoke from her lungs. "I made out like a bandit." She rose her arms in victory before she went inside as well. "I'll be the richest kappa in Gensokyo!"

Lucky you. I returned my attention to Meiling, as everyone else had gone inside, leaving the Brigade and the Gate Guard there on the porch. From her seated position, she started to stretch her legs. Oh so glorious legs. I had to focus on her legs. Her stretching stretched the tank top even further. Glorious tanlines! Stop it!

"You okay?" I managed to ask.

"Kid, I need a vacation. That night was just...I don't know. Just kind of much."

I tiredly nodded. My body was beginning to shut down too, getting ready for a well-deserved rest.

"So you guys resolved the incident?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Meiling stood up, stretching again. I was able to see her abs as she did so. She really is fit. I guess she noticed me looking at her, because she chuckled, a sly smile washing over her face. She didn't say anything, and waited for us to start leaving - Koizumi and Nagato both went in, but Meiling kept me out for a statement.

"You really need to stop your wandering eyes. I mean, I don't mind it, but others might get the wrong idea. If I've noticed it, others might have."

I went red in the face, letting out a sigh. "Sorry."

"Don't be - like I said, I don't mind it. Then again," she used her index finger to bring up my chin. "Then again, you're a healthy teenage male in the midst of beautiful girls. All those hormones in you are going wild, aren't they?"

I quickly debated on telling her, but I eventually decided to. "It's been difficult at times."

She ran her fingers through my hair. "Just cool yourself down, kid. You'll be fine."

I hope so. Damn hormones.

Getting to the rooms was uneventful, thanks to a fairy maid I managed to flag down and lead us. By then, I was somewhat able to memorize the path from the lobby to where my room was. Thankfully, the Brigade members each got their own rooms, in the same hallway my room was in, as a matter of fact. I wonder why I didn't get my own room the previous night...then again, I did kinda try, but couldn't, due to Flandre. I plopped down on the bed after locking the door (thankfully someone had repaired it), and rested briefly. Then I quickly got up to brush my teeth, as I could still taste some of that bile I had from throwing up. Yeah, nasty, but I didn't want to have that acid in my mouth, damaging my teeth. And then I went to bed.

...Which is what I want to say. I didn't sleep well, and for a reason I'd never thought would be a problem. My thoughts kept going back to the SCD member I killed in the stead of Suou.

That SCD member was an enemy. She was willing to kill all of us, as she agreed with Suou. Yet...

It just bothered me. As I tried to sleep, I'd wake up every hour with the image of her face as I killed her stuck in my brain. I had taken a life. I had taken a life and I couldn't get her face out of my mind. She was as surprised as I was when she was teleported in front of me. A quick shot of fear, and then pain, before she became nothingness. ...I took a life, and I stared into her eyes as I did as such.

Remilia was wrong. Kills like that aren't a treat. They're a nightmare.

What does it mean to take a life? What does it really mean? Well, the end of someone's story. And what is someone's story? I've said it before - you are born, you learn, you grow up, you find a mate, you have children, you grow old, and assuming that something drastic hasn't interrupted that process, you pass on. I had disrupted that process. Granted, it was interrupting an alien's tale, but that doesn't matter. I had ended someone. They no longer existed because of me...especially after what Nagato had told me, that they really did cease to exist. It wasn't like a human soul, as I had come to learn in the past few months really did go on...but...

I'm just rambling, aren't I? That's because it really bothered me.

I would tell myself that she was an enemy - that what I did was justified - that I shouldn't let it bother me. But then another side of me said that she was not my target, that she had given up, that she was, for all intents and purposes, an innocent in that moment. At the end of that exchange, I'd only end up angrier and angrier at Suou for doing that. It kept happening - I would wake up, grumble over my thoughts, and go back to sleep (or attempt to). Having hour-long intervals of sleep is not good, and by the seventh time, I was nearing my physical limit of it.

I guess I should be glad that I have a conscience that was beating me over the head with what I did. Otherwise, I'd be a sociopath. If I didn't feel something over taking a life, then there would be something very wrong with me. I don't know how soldiers do it. Or...or maybe they don't even know how to really deal with it most of the time. In war, an enemy is an enemy, and you kill them or they kill you. Maybe that's the way you try to deal with it, maybe that's the way it is. But I'm no soldier, and what I was in wasn't really a war. It was a battle, yeah, but...no.

No.

No, it wasn't a battle. It was an act of revenge towards someone, and I only ended up hurting someone else who didn't deserve my ire. Maybe that was it. Maybe that's why I hated myself for that moment. An innocent paid the price for my moment of anger. And of course, I only got angrier at Suou for putting me in that position. What an evil thing to do all around. But I still hated myself for it...for giving in to such anger. My thoughts went back to when I wanted...to...strike Haruhi... Well, I didn't want to. It was a reaction. I have anger issues, don't I? I am so willing to hurt other people in moments of anger. As time went on, I had decided that I would need to work on that, to not be that kind of person...because where would it stop if I didn't do something about it? If I really did end up hurting someone I cared about in such a moment...I'd never forgive myself. I don't think I would. Then I'd only get angrier, and lash out more, rinse, wash, repeat, until I was nothing but an ugly person on the inside.

Again, way too heavy for a mere high schooler.

I pondered all that before I tried to go to sleep for the eighth time while drinking a glass of water. It was already well past noon when I made a final attempt to get more than an hour of sleep, which of course, fell through, but for a peculiar reason. You see, the eighth time I woke up, I found myself in a peculiar scenario.

It was Marisa straddling me. Her smiling face was close to mine. Before I could react, she gave me a kiss.

Not a bad way to wake up.

That lasted for a while. Her warm lips on mine, eventually her tongue exploring my mouth, and I found myself being grateful that I brushed my teeth beforehand. It took a lot of will power to not use my hands to hold her closer, or to use my hands for...other things. All I could do was hang onto her hips. We broke the kiss so we could catch our breath, her flushed red face was grinning that toothy grin. My face burned as well. We silently stayed like that for a while, her sitting on top of me, and me just laying there. Already the thoughts of what was keeping me up were beginning to fade away.

She really is such a beautiful, wild girl.

Marisa let out a quick sigh, with that mischievous smile on her face. "Told ya I'd hold it to you, even though it's reversed, ze."

I inwardly chuckled as I remembered her promise...well...I think it was my promise. Actually, not a promise at all. I just said 'Tempting, but maybe later.' "I suppose I'm flattered that you think of me as some sort of Sleeping Beauty."

"I got tired of waiting for you to do something about it, ze."

I raised my eyebrow. "I don't know what kind of guy you think I am, but I'm not someone who goes into a girls room while they're sleeping." Then a thought crossed my mind. "How did you get in my room?"

Unapologetically, she responded, "I picked the lock."

I noticed that the door was ajar - Marisa hadn't even bothered to close it. You really are a little thief. "So what kind of girl does that make you then?"

"A girl who likes doing whatever she wants, ze. And that's why you're crazy about me." The witch laughed at the look that had crossed my face. Marisa brushed the hair off my forehead, her smile softening. "You look tired."

"I am."

"Didn't sleep well?"

"No..." I rubbed my eyes, ending up pressing my palms into my eyelids, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "It's just been on my mind, you know."

Marisa's face saddened a bit. "Your first kill."

I stared up at her. "Yeah." At least she understood my predicament.

I then noticed that the window was open as well - Marisa must have opened it when she came in. There was a slight summer afternoon breeze coming in, gently moving her long golden hair as she sat on top of me. Such a moment made me feel at peace.

However, it also was making my body...react.

What am I supposed to do? I had a pretty girl, who had slyly broken into my room while I was sleeping, and who was at that point straddling me on a bed. Her body was pressed up against mine for an extended period of time. I had woken up to that, and I'm a guy after all. It was like some setup for an ero-doujin...uhm...not that I read those or anything.

Marisa's eyes widened as she felt my reaction, and then she turned sly. She was still a little embarrassed about it though, as her face flushed a bit. "You...your...thing..."

I wanted to cover my face with the pillows, as my cheeks burned. "Sorry about that."

"Can't say I blame you, though." Another grin. "You have an awesome girl on top of you, ze."

I was doing my best to resist this ultimate temptation. It was taking a lot of willpower to...not do anything. Part of me was saying 'take advantage of the situation!' You have a girlfriend, you idiot! Do something here! Stop this! "Can you...get off of me?"

A sparkle shined in her eyes, as she leaned close, and whispered to me, as her lips were mere millimeters from mine. "What if I don't want to?"

So many thoughts flashed through my mind, the possibilities. But before what she said could make my body react even more or before I could come up with some sort of response, we heard the door open up, and our heads turned to it. There stood Sakuya, carrying a platter in one hand and some towels draped over the other. The maid's eyes widened when she saw the scene before her, and her mouth opened slightly. I guess since the door was open, she thought it would be okay to come in.

My face was also burning up from the embarrassment. I didn't want Sakuya to see my...reaction to Marisa, though I was grateful for this interruption.

For a while, it appeared that the maid didn't know how to react to this - either to respond as a friend, or as the maid of the home I was in. She then cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and appeared to "reset" her face into composure.

The three of us shared a little uncomfortable silence, to say the least, until Sakuya broke it. "I'm...I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Sadly, no, ze."

Damn, Marisa. Though part of me had to agree with what Marisa said. But again, I was grateful.

Sakuya glanced out into the hallway, and then came inside the room, setting down the tray on a table, all the while apparently struggling to stay composed. "I brought some fresh towels for you, and a light breakfast - it's 'French day'."

It was a croissant and a cup of espresso. Well, at least I'd enjoy the later dishes of the day. Sakuya kept staring at Marisa. "You haven't had breakfast either, right?"

Marisa shook her head, and in an instant Sakuya had another croissant and espresso, which she set on the nightstand. Again, time stopping is such a usefull ability. Sakuya then said not to mind her as she went about getting the things from my hamper, though she did give Marisa a look.

"You know he has a girlfriend, Kirisame."

"I'm not doing anything bad, ze," she said as she got off of me. "Just sneaking a kiss."

I took the time to tactfully use the covers of the bed to hide my own 'incident'. Didn't want Sakuya to see it through my clothes.

...You know what, why am I telling you this? This is embarrassing. I'll stop with that. Though I will say that I calmed down within a minute.

"Doesn't look like 'just a kiss' to me." Sakuya's face flushed a bit, and she regained her composure, clearing her throat. "And considering that Suzumiya almost destroyed the world merely because she thought Mikuru was getting too close to Kyon...I think it does qualify as 'bad'."

Both Marisa and I got our breakfast, and sat there on the bed as we started to consume them. In an attempt to forget what just happened to me, my mind wandered to the dream I had, again the image of that interface was haunting my mind. I didn't even notice that Sakuya was then standing close to me, with a saddened look on her face.

"I've seen that look before."

For a heartbeat, I panicked. I was unsure of what she was talking about. "What look?"

"You regret your first kill."

Oh. Oh yeah, that. I forced a small smile, glancing over at Marisa, before I took a sip of espresso. Mmm. Hazelnut. " Is it really that obvious?"

"Very. But it's understandable." The maid gave a single nod, as she went about straightening up the towels, and spoke from the connected bathroom. "Truth be told, when I made my first kill, I threw up right after." Sakuya tilted her head, and through the doorway, I could see the corner of her mouth turning down. "Then again, my first kill was a vampire, and I didn't really stab it right...so it lingered a bit, screeching, trying to claw at me, and I had to repeatedly..." Sakuya shot a glance at me, before shrugging, letting that explanation go. "I...well...mine was messy, and I'll leave it at that. So yeah, I was uneasy about it."

Now my mind is going to fill in the blanks of your first kill. As if I needed those kinds of thoughts.

"But I'm sure it's easy for you, ze."

Marisa, what the hell?! I shot her a nasty look.

The witch shrugged, saying "Hey, she told us 'More people have said that and been killed than there are thorium decay products' when we first went up against her during Scarlet Mist. Her words, not mine."

I looked over to the maid, who merely nodded, confirming it. I had to keep myself from reacting to that. If I remember correctly, Thorium has eleven products. So she's killed over eleven people just over her job. Jeez, Sakuya. What the heck?

"Anyways, sadly...it does get easier, for some people." Sakuya had gathered my worn clothes, and held them as she spoke. "There were some hunters I knew that regretted every kill they made, despite their targets. Others, like me, grew accustomed to it. In our minds, we were justified in taking lives...the lives of monsters, and most of them were monsters in every sense of the word. Maybe that's why it was so easy for us. For me. Me...I don't feel anything when I kill anymore. I'm...numb to the negative feelings of it."

"You don't get enjoyment out of it, do you?" Because I hope you retain some semblance of humanity.

"...Honestly...I do, in a way, get some enjoyment out of my prey. All these insane youkai...I think I'm insane as well. I shouldn't enjoy it, but I think I do."

"How can you be insane?" You don't seem that bad of a person, even though I've seen you kill.

Sakuya pursed her lips for a few seconds, and averted her eyes. "I think I told you...or maybe I didn't...anyway, I personally prepare most of Milady's dishes." Her voice lowered to a near-whisper. "Namely...her red trim dishes."

It didn't take me long to realize the significance of what she said. Oh. Marisa, who was taking a bite out of her croissant, slowly brought it out of her mouth and set it down on the night stand. I had also suddenly lost my appetite. Damn it all, that was under 'things I'd rather not know!'

"You cook...human." It was hard for me to even say those words. I kept on finding out things about people that I didn't want to know - their violent sides.

Sakuya gave us a blank stare, but with some sort of sickly sweet smile. "You'd be surprised to find how easy it is to get used to doing that. But don't worry. I wash my hands. I wouldn't be a good cook if I didn't."

Sakuya would make a terrific youkai, instilling fear in other people. And I hoped this was one instance of people from Gensokyo messing with me for the sake of messing with me.

How many humans have to die in order to fill their bellies?

I mentally shook, as that was Suou's whispered voice in my head. I don't think the others heard it. So either I was going insane myself, part of me agreed with her, or Suou just sent me a message. I kept quiet about it, rejecting what she said, only due to the anger I had over her.

And for some reason, I...accepted it after hearing that voice, that rejection, of what Sakuya did. Looking back on it now, it was due to my defiance over what Suou did to overlook what Sakuya did. Sitting here now, after the fact, that's a big thing. Well...I mean, it's not like she goes out and murders people for those red trim dishes, right? She just...gets shipments of dead people...and...cooks...them... What the hell am I supposed to say here? Yeah, finding that out about her gets me weary of her, and it's something I couldn't ignore, but...for some reason. I could kind of understand. She's a friend, an ally, and again, for some reason, some unknown reason, I kind of accepted it. That's screwed up. How can someone ignore that? How could I?

Maybe I am complicit for turning a blind eye. Was Suou right?

Anyways, back to what was being said.

"So I think I would be classified as somewhat insane." Sakuya nodded to the window, as if referencing Gensokyo. "You and I grew up in different worlds, and this is the world I'm in. The reality is, I'm a bit envious of you. I do enjoy my life, but looking back on what I've done...I do feel bad about some things...not all of them, but some."

I guess Marisa accepted Sakuya's statement of washing her hands, because she was back to eating her croissant. "Different worlds, ze. We're raised in a more violent world than Kyon was raised in, y'know?"

Sakuya had to have gotten tired of holding those clothes, as she set them down. She tilted her head. "And what was yours, witch?"

"Huh?"

"Your first kill, since we appear to be on the subject."

"Mine? Some dumb-ass youkai who tried me, ze. Got me real good before I killed it, and I'd show the scar..." Marisa elbowed me in the ribs. "And I think you'd like where the scars were, but you healed them up."

Dammit Marisa. Where would those scars be? Calm down!

"As for when, I think it was at the end of my first week on my own. I was..." Marisa furrowed her brow. "Geez...I was eleven. Stupid mistake on my part in the first place, ze."

I just stared at her for a few seconds. "You were on your own at eleven?" She simply shrugged.

Before we could go down that path of conversation, we heard a creak, and from the open window came Reimu. She stared at all of us.

This is one of the more interesting mornings...no, wait, it's afternoon. Well, more interesting...uhm...'times that happened after I've woken up' I've had in a while. I don't know how to word that any better.

"Hey." Reimu's eyes kept going from person to person. "Sorry about not using the front door - I saw the window open so I decided to come in. I'm not...interrupting anything, am I?"

This isn't going to turn into a running gag, is it?

"No, Reimu." Sakuya disappeared and reappeared with another croissant/espresso combo, before handing it to the miko. "Just having a conversation about first kills."

As weird as a conversation that is.

Reimu hungrily ate the croissant and drank down the espresso, faster than I would have bothered to. She let out a satisfied sigh, putting down the cup. "Not a usual conversation, I suppose, but all of you already know of my first kill." Reimu's emotion didn't change from a casual one. "In fact, that whole day of killing. So I think I got you all beat. Anyways..." Reimu nodded at me. "How you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess. Just..." I smiled a weak smile. "Just can't believe we survived another incident. Or actually, that I survived another one." I always find a way, it seems.

Reimu leaned against the wall, a small smile forming. "You keep handling yourself quite well with them. First with Yuyuko with your quick thinking, you saved Marisa. And then when you and Suou disappeared, I thought the worst, until you came back with her bleeding all over the place. I think you'd make a decent youkai hunter."

I had to keep myself from laughing awkwardly out loud. "I doubt it." Though I'm flattered that you think I'd ever stand a chance against these things.

Reimu wagged a finger, her smile quite warm. "You countered a non-human with their weakness. That's what being a youkai hunter is all about. When you know their weaknesses and how to exploit them, you don't have to be terribly afraid of them. They are afraid of you."

"Thanks for the compliment, but I think I'll leave that to the professionals like you girls. I'm too scared of those things to be a good hunter." I took a small comfort in being praised by a professional youkai hunter like Reimu, however.

Reimu extended her arms. "Kyon, I'm afraid. When I go up against those things, I have fear in my gut - and it's that fear that kicks in my survival instincts, my intuition." She pointed at Sakuya. "I'm just so in tune with it, that sometimes I'm able to even begin dodging an attack before my opponent can commit to it."

Sakuya blinked. "...so that's why..."

"I'm not cheating - I'm just in tune with myself." Reimu flicked her hair, a confident look on her face. "I only look like I'm cheating."

We heard a knock on the door. It was Youmu, with Myon peering over her head. The gardener showed confusion at seeing all of us in the room.

"Uhm...I'm...not...I'm not interuppting anything, am I?"

This is a running gag! Also, why are there girls coming into my room? ...actually...why was I complaining about that? As a guy, why should I ever complain about that? Because, you damn idiot, you have a girlfriend. How many times do you have to remind yourself? You're here having all kinds of male fantasy thoughts. ...Point taken. Also, I'm a bad person, aren't I? Thinking thoughts like these for these girls who are my friends. Again, damn you libido! Focus!

Sakuya had disappeared and reappeared with yet another croissant and espresso, which Youmu took, but didn't eat or drink.

Marisa, however, showed that she was upset that she couldn't be alone with me. "Oh sure, let's invite everyone in here." Marisa's head perked up, as she leaned towards the door. "Hey, anyone else out there? We're holding a party right here in Kyon's room! All girls are welcome!"

I couldn't help but bring my palm to my forehead, my blush coming back. Youmu merely looked out in the hall, and back into the room, still confused. But there was also something in her eyes, and the way her body was a bit tense - she was anxious, it seemed.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

She nodded, holding onto her breakfast, not eating. "This incident resolving business is harrowing, to say the least."

"Also, some sort of theme going on, isn't it?" I said that, because a thought popped into my head. "The starters of incidents end up helping in resolving the next incidents." I looked to Reimu. "Right?"

The miko blinked, before tilting her head. "Uhm...actually...yeah." She glanced to Marisa. "That is weird, isn't it?" Marisa gave a shrug, before the miko returned her attention to the gardener. "By the way, Konpaku, you were quite good, even when using that smaller blade."

"And she got shot." I turned to Youmu. "Even now, after all of that, I still can't believe you were able to stand after being shot. You really are tough."

Youmu raised a single finger in the air, as she began a quote. "'Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.' Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It's the samurai way. I've always liked that saying, and, on the lighter side, I'm kind of the exception to it. I'm half dead already."

Was that her attempt at some humor?

"It's a lot of work to do that, being her warrior and her gardener, but being able to create such beauty for Lady Yuyuko, to be in such a paradise...it really is soothing." Youmu placed her breakfast on a table, her shoulders sagging and her voice softening. "Especially when it's for her..."

Huh?

Youmu pursed her lips, before asking the following: "Can you all leave us? I have something to ask Kyon."

Of course all of us balked at that. That's out of nowhere.

Youmu's eyes were pleading. "Please."

I was kind of weirded out, but I was also curious as to what could get Youmu like this. If she wants to tell me something, then it might be serious. Also, again that whole "people tell me their secrets" thing still holds up.

Reimu shrugged, and went out the door. Sakuya stalled for a bit before giving a curtsy and doing the same. However, as the maid left, she grabbed Marisa by the ear, and dragged the witch out. All for the best, I think. I don't think Marisa would have left under her own will. The door closed behind them.

Youmu and I were alone in the room, she remained silent, and her lowered face got ever-so-slightly redder. Even Myon appeared to be blushing.

"What's wrong, Youmu?"

She sighed, her hands shaking as she took a sip of espresso. She wasn't looking at me. "Ah, life is so much simpler when I am wielding my katanas. I know what to do with those. Other things are just so...difficult."

As she put down her cup, she focused her attention on me. "Look. There is a reason why I wanted to talk...and it just has to be you. I think. I just feels...okay? I don't know. I mean, I don't know many people, as most of my time is spent in the afterlife, so I don't have anyone to talk to about this kind of thing, not even the Prismrivers...and even now I'm not sure if I should be telling you this." She held onto her head, her anxiety coming to full force. It was cute to see such a warrior like her this flustered in a way. "I don't know. Part of me doesn't want to do this, but another part of me feels like I need to get this out."

She then tried to speak again but blushed instead. Why are you so cute like this?

Part of me wanted her to get it out already, as she was taking a while. But another part of me saw that she had a lot of difficulty to even do this. After another moment of her internal struggles, and seeing that it was very difficult for her, I stood up from the bed. "Youmu, if you don't want to, then it's okay. Don't force yourself. ...But, Youmu, why tell me something like this if it bothers you to this extent?"

"Because of that vampire. She said you're easy to talk to. And even though you and I haven't had much contact with each other, I find myself agreeing with her. You seem like a decent human."

Remilia... I'm not some talk show host or something. I sighed, but out of my frustration with the vampire. "Look. Don't force yourself, okay. If you're not ready to say whatever it is you want to say, then you don't have to."

Youmu again took another moment, before nodding, and went for the door. She had easily given up. Myon, however, was staying. The two looked at each other, Youmu showing anger at her ghost half for not going with her. Myon simply got near me, still facing its human half. I don't know if the two were silently arguing with themselves. Huh. When she argues with herself, she really does argue with herself.

The door opened, and in walked Reimu and Marisa, both hooking their arms around Youmu's so she couldn't get away, and leading her to the bed, all three of them sitting on it. What the hell? Sakuya was also in the hallway, shaking her head.

"You girls are horrible."

Reimu shot her a smirk. "You were the one who first pressed her ear against the door. You're obviously interested in what she has to say."

Gossip queen. Sakuya didn't respond, just came in and stood there.

The miko turned her attention to the gardener. "C'mon, Youmu. What did you want to tell him?"

Youmu, who got wide-eyed, got even redder. "I...ah...I..."

"What the hell girls?" I exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you're not interested either, ze."

"Well, I am, but that's not the...ah screw it." I'm a horrible person too, so again, screw it. "Uh, Youmu, I think it's okay." I looked to the other girls. "Right? I mean, at the very least, we're allies here." I received various nods from the three, leaving Youmu to get redder in the face. I, for one, was interested in what she was going to say. It must have been something that was really bothering her.

Reimu patted Youmu on the back, after the miko and the witch unhooked their arms. Reimu made a smile I never seen grace her face before. "C'mon...when you visit my shrine and hang out with us, you are always silent. It's about time you say something about yourself."

"B-but I have nothing to say...usually..."

Holy hell she is so cute this way. Youmu looked so vulnerable. It was obvious she could just stand up and get away, and why shouldn't she? If she was more than human, well, half-human half-ghost or whatever, doesn't that make her stronger? She supposedly can slash at a quarter of the speed of light, according to Sakuya, and that obviously takes strength and technique. Yet, she still didn't try to escape. Myon was fretting about, as if it didn't know what to do. It 'looked' at me, and all I could do was shrug. Sorry.

"I think I..." Youmu obviously was uncomfortable with her predicament, but was going through it anyway. "I don't know if I can even say it." Her speech got faster. "I've been in situations where I felt the fear of complete death, yet the thought of losing Lady Yuyuko scared me more than anything else. Seeing her get shot, seeing her almost being taken over...it was almost too much to bear." She looked up at me. "And thank you, by the way, for helping her both times. Thank you all."

"No problem. But, Youmu, what are you trying to say?"

"Yeah. Spit it out, ze."

We all were pretty much leaning closer, the four of us wanting to know what Youmu was trying to tell us.

"I've never felt this way..." Youmu gritted her teeth, closing her eyes.

Then came a bombshell.

"IthinkI'minlovewithLadyYuyuko."

The gardener's face went the deepest red I had ever seen, and she covered her face with her hands, shaking. It took me a few seconds to process what she told me. And then a few more to process what it meant.

Youmu...just came out to us. Okay then. I've...never had that happen before. I didn't know what to do about it.

"Oh...Oh. Oh. Uhm...Oh. Okay."

Sakuya just blinked, slowly nodding. Marisa was just silent as she sat on the bed, eyebrows raised, as was Reimu. The miko showed no emotional response though. It seemed that they took it better than me. It's just that I wasn't expecting it.

But, seriously, nobody gives out an instruction manual on how to handle something like that. At least...I don't think they do. Do they? Not in my experience. I mean...I guess I'm okay with such a thing. If one is not trying to make me uncomfortable with it, that is. But, to be honest...double standard here: as a guy, I'd be more okay with it being between two girls than two guys. I know, I know, I'm perverted. It's just my personal preference. I like girls, and girls liking girls is really cool in my book. I suppose I don't harbor any hatred if it was the other way around. I don't go around hating on such people, if you're starting to think that. I'm sure there are girls who are into that kind of stuff too, of the idea of guys and guys, while kind of weirded out of it the other way. So, don't judge me, because I'll try not to judge you, or something. I probably could have worded that better, but that's the gist of it. Overall, I guess I'm okay with such a thing in general, unless, of course, you try to make me uncomfortable with it. I'll react to it, just out of that discomfort. But again, I don't go around hating on people for that. I personally think that people who make it a point to go around hating that stuff are only doing so because their own lives are empty.

I tend to ramble, don't I? And I'm sorry for going in circles a bit on that subject, but that's kinda my stance.

Anyways, back to what Youmu was saying.

"I can't believe I said it out loud, but it's been eating me up these past few months!"

And you needed someone to talk to, which happened to be me. I was kind of glad that the girls were there, because I don't know how I would have reacted to this solo. Again, one of the weirder timeframes that I've woken up to.

Reimu just patted Youmu on the shoulder, the miko having a softened look on her face. "Uhm...have you told her?" The miko even sounded supportive, a tone I haven't heard from her before. This was the warmest I've ever heard Reimu.

She stared at her wide eyed like she was crazy, and Myon flew around, acting hyper. "Are you mad? Of course I haven't told her! How could I? I mean...we're both girls. And I don't understand my feelings. And it's so improper! A servant falling for her master. That's not supposed to happen! How can I tell her that I love her-" She went red again and her hands covered her face one more time. "Ah! I said it again!"

There really is a big difference between 'Samurai Youmu' and the real one. This one is a lot cuter.

"So, you're going to not know, or not let her know?"

Youmu shook. "I'm...I'm afraid..."

Give her a target to slash with her katana, she's fearsome. Otherwise...man - Youmu is a study in duality. Human and Ghost. Gardener and Warrior. Cold as steel as a killer and easy to fluster when it comes to love. Watching her be like this was kind of heart wrenching, especially since she saved my life a few times. By all intents and purposes, she was a friend in need of help, and the gentleman in me rose up to try to end her suffering.

I let out a sigh. "Well...since you came to me, I'm just going to give you my thoughts." I took a few seconds to quickly piece together what I could say to her. Hope this works because I am completely winging it here. "Thing is, you live longer than a normal human, right?" She did say she's over three times as old as Sakuya. "You'd have to live with not knowing whether she does love you even longer than a human."

Reimu cut in. "Conversely, if she turns you down, you'd have to live with that too just as long."

Pretty big negative, I guess.

"Yeah. And I'm possibly not the best guy in the world to come for this kind of advice, but all I can say is that the only chance you have at happiness here is telling her. I know you said that the way of Bushido is to choose death...but choose life here." I don't know. That was my attempt at being clever.

"What if she turns me down?"

Marisa sat there on the bed, legs crossed, espresso in hand, as she finished it. "And what if she returns your feelings, ze?"

Youmu actually went paler than I even thought possible for a ghost to be. "But...why would she fall for me? I'm just-"

Hell no. With the tone she had, I knew she was about to try to justify why someone wouldn't like her. I took a step forward, raising a finger. "Stop. Don't sell yourself short. Look at you. You're beautiful, you're obviously a hard worker, and pardon my French," Even though we're speaking Japanese, "But you are one of the most badass girls I'll ever come across." Youmu didn't react to it, but Myon appeared to be nodding in agreement, turning to its human half. The two halves glanced at each other. "Now, I may not know if...Yuyuko...well, to put it bluntly, I don't know if Yuyuko swings that way, but...I mean, you were willing to end the world for her." Even though I hated that I was needed for that. "That says something, doesn't it? That says a lot on what you are willing to do for her. You're loyal to her. That's not a bad trait."

"Tell me, Youmu..." Finally Sakuya had joined in the conversation. "When you were doing the Spring Snow incident, was it out of duty, or something...something else?" I turned to her. The maid gave a micro shrug. "I didn't go down easily during the Scarlet Mist because I was defending my family."

"I thought you were just stubborn," said Reimu. "Or just a pain in the you-know-what."

"Well, there's that too. Both of them, in that case." Sakuya smirked, before returning her attention to our ghost friend. "Youmu?"

"...I...I don't really...I don't really know. Maybe both." Youmu took several moments of silence, her face belieing her internal debate on what she did. When she was done, she looked to Myon, who also looked to her. Myon nodded. "...I didn't just do it because of my servitude...I think I did it for her approval...so she could...look to me more..." Youmu's eyes widened with realization, and her face went red again. "By the Gods. I really do love her. I'm in love with her." She glanced to all of us. "You're...you're not going to tell her, are you?

"I think this is something that you need to do on your own, Youmu."

She grit her teeth and her body was getting tense. She then stood up, shaking. "I...I..." She then quickly bowed, and just as quickly spoke. I became awash in disappointment, as I could easily see that she had given up. "Thank you for listening to me, but please just forget what just happened." She then left the room. Myon stalled, looking at us for a second, I want to say 'apologetically' (hey, I don't know how ghosts convey emotions, I'm just guessing) before rushing to join her human half.

The four of us were left rather breathless at what just happened, the event that just transpired in that room.

"She's not going to confess, is she, ze?"

Reimu slowly shook her head. "No...no I don't think so." The miko leaned back, an unapologetic look on her face. "Almost makes me feel bad for putting her on the spot like that."

"Sakuya, you're not going to say anything, are you?"

"Kyon, I'm not one to spread around gos-"

"Liar!" exclaimed Marisa.

The maid shot a nasty look at the witch. "Then I'd better not catch you saying anything either."

Meanwhile, I just rubbed my temples, still trying to process what went down. I mean, I was not prepared for something like that. Who is? All I could do was hope that Youmu would find the courage to go through with it. She at least deserved happiness.

I also get the sense that some of you might be wondering about how my thoughts are on this, or my reaction to what she said. I personally haven't had much experience with such a thing, of friends like that, so I'm just new at this. Forgive me if I kind of overreacted to it. I didn't expect it, and it's new to me. That's it. Like I said, I'm cool with it, I guess.

All right...I'm going to drop it now.

"If I may ask," said Sakuya, returning her attention to the miko, "Why are you here, anyway? Why sneak into Kyon's room like this witch?"

Reimu raised an eyebrow at Marisa, who gave an unapologetic grin.

"Because my intuition told me that you guys would be in here. I wondered why." The corner of the miko's mouth curved down. "Really, Marisa?" After the witch didn't respond, the miko shook her head. Reimu then got up and stepped back to the window, pulling back the curtain. "Have you guys looked outside?"

From where I was standing, I could see it. Over the wall of the grounds of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where I could see part of the lake, a mountain, and forests...it was brown. Dead trees and plants. These dotted the landscape of Gensokyo from my window. This was not the Gensokyo I saw the previous day - some of it was simply dead.

Sakuya took a few steps towards it, her face in a state of shock. "My God...I didn't even notice that. I've been busy..."

'My God?' Did she...

Marisa interrupted my thought, as she began to stare as well. "Damn. Remilia was right. The fairies really are nature."

Reimu's voice softened. "Yeah. If we hadn't done anything last night...Gensokyo would be completely dead by now, and there might have been more casualties..."

"More?"

The miko slowly nodded, her back to us. "Just wanted to let you guys know two things." Reimu slightly lowered her head as if she almost didn't want to say what she was going to say. "Besides this, outside...Uhm...they found...they found the little girl. She...she didn't make it."

We fell silent, and I felt immense sorrow go through my body. Ah geez...a child died. A child was killed. And again I blamed Suou.

"According to the one who found her, and I think it was that Mokou person, because of the body temperature, the girl was dead before anybody even knew she was missing. Dead before midnight even. There was nothing we could have done. The youkai who did it was already dealt with though, so...yeah. Nothing else we can do or could have done." Reimu slightly turned to us, with pursed lips. "I'm uh...I'm going to have to meet up with you guys later because I have some things to take care of regarding her cremation in a while. I just finished purifying her body, but I have some more things I have to do. I wanted to let you know what's going on."

We didn't say anything. We were processing what we heard - a child had died. No matter how you look at that, that's always a hard thing to bear. I guess there was some sort of cold comfort that the one who committed such a heinous act was dealt with.

"Who was it?" asked Marisa.

"...Chitose."

Marisa's shoulders sagged, her face saddened. She then went to pick up her hat and broom, which was on and against the nightstand, respectively. She rushed to the window, and then turned back to me.

"...I knew her." She smiled a weak smile at me. "I...gotta go. I gotta see her family."

"By all means, go ahead." I'm not going to keep you from that.

Within a moment, the witch and the miko took off from my window, leaving me and Sakuya in the room. I stared after them, the two defenders of Gensokyo. I felt kinda sick over the whole thing, seeing it affect them like this.

A kid died. A child's life just...done. My anger over what Suou did only increased. She caused this. She's to blame. No matter what she can say, no matter what explanation she'll try to come up with, she did this. She's responsible for this.

And then...I heard a whispering behind me.

"God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives, and by Your command we return to dust."

My eyes widened as I stared at the silver cross that the maid was holding in her hand. "...Sakuya..." I didn't say anything else as she finished her prayer. She then tucked it back into her uniform, and gave me a nod.

"I thought you..." I shouldn't even bring that up. "Nevermind."

"Youmu wasn't the only one who had some sort of self-realization, it seems." Sakuya went about regathering the espresso cups and my laundry. "I was contemplating it after the shrine... And then...when I was dying..."

Remilia...

"...I found myself praying." A serene look washed over her face. She seemed to have a peace about her. "I've been in a few bad situations since I started working here, and that was the first one where I prayed. And I felt at peace."

"...A little faith in this kind of world can't hurt, right?"

Sakuya gave me a warm smile. "No, it can't."

A thought popped into my mind. "You going back to that isn't going to cause problems, right? In this house, your cross hasn't caused anyone problems, has it?" Because this is the Scarlet Devil Mansion, after all.

Sakuya paused for a second, and averted my gaze. "Well... I...uh...kinda wore it into the library earlier."

I scratched my head, unsure of what that meant. "What's wrong with that?"

"...Koakuma reacted to it."

Oh.

"She...uh...screeched and hid behind a bookcase."

You have to admit - that's kind of funny. "She's all right, right?"

Sakuya nodded. "I should have remembered what she was before walking in there. She screamed so loud, I'm surprised that you didn't wake up."

"It really is easy to forget what she is, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I just should have remembered. I put it under my uniform, and she was alright. But the look on her face was priceless." She took a step to the door, and didn't turn to me as she spoke. "Thank you, for not giving up on me."

"I did kind of give up on you, you know. At the shrine." Don't praise me on that.

"Well, then thank you for not giving up on me up to that point."

And with that, before I could respond, Sakuya left the room.

No Sakuya, thank you. Seeing her reestablish her faith kind of uplifted my spirit, which is what I needed after hearing about the little girl.

Even though I had woken up from broken sleep, I felt tired over what just happened. All of that. What a whirlwind. I had to sit down, holding onto my head, trying to deal with everything that was laid on my lap in the past few minutes.

What a place Gensokyo is.

I think I dozed off, as I came to a half-hour later on my bed, to the door opening. It was Alice, Mikuru (who appeared to have gotten over being drunk), and Nagato, along with a repaired Shanghai. Alice was overjoyed, as I stated before, and was hugging Nagato over it. The doll came up to me, and curtsied. The girls wanted to show me Shanghai and also see how I was doing. Turns out that Marisa and Alice both took Shanghai to Nagato to see if the doll could be repaired, and in the middle of it, Marisa disappeared.

Alice also remarked that while Shanghai was a great servant and capable fighter, she wasn't a battle-ready doll. The puppeteer said that she would have to work on making one that was.

I told them where Marisa had ended up and I told them what happened since, including the death of the little girl and what happened to Gensokyo, which I showed them. The four of us were at the window.

Alice just brought her palm to her forehead, a tired look crossed her face. "I didn't even know the girl. It's going to be a bad time to be a youkai near the village, and a bad time for me. I have some supplies to buy, and I'll have to deal with them..." Alice looked out the window, towards the village, an unblinking look on her face. "I know it sounds kind of selfish of me to think that way, but...I don't feel any sorrow for that little girl for some reason." She stared into her hands. "Maybe I really have lost my humanity."

"If you had," responded Mikuru, placing her hand on Alice's shoulder. "You wouldn't have taken measures to protect me."

Alice didn't respond, just kept looking out toward the village.

"Hey. Nagato." She turned her head to me. "Can something be done about this, you know, to repair this damage to Gensokyo's nature?"

She blinked. "Possibly. I'll see if I can request assistance regarding that."

I nodded, then looked around. Where's Koizumi? I went out to the hall, looking up and down it. "Hey, where's Koizumi? Is he still asleep?"

"I think you should know what Koizumi did."

Mikuru's eyes widened. "Miss Alice! Don't! Please! Nothing good will come from telling Kyon!"

Alice shot the time traveler a glance. "He deserves to know."

"What happened?"

Mikuru protested again, but Alice continued. The puppeteer didn't appear to be taking any pleasure from saying this - this was cold hard facts from her. "As Marisa and I made our way to Nagato's room earlier, we met Koizumi coming out of his room. He...well...there is no better word for it. He confronted Marisa, telling her that she should back off from you."

A pang of anger shot through my body. "...What?!"

I went to his room, shoving open the door, with Mikuru trying to catch up to me and calm me down. Koizumi wasn't there. Nagato told me that he left for the human village to get his "date" out of the way, as we didn't know if we would be leaving soon or not, since Ran had apparently came by and said that Yukari would get us out of Gensokyo as soon as she had the power to do so, which could even be as early as that evening. It took me a while to calm down, but eventually Mikuru managed to do so. I still felt like punching him in the face though.

Truth is, I wanted to be the one to tell Marisa to back off. For him to go around me just set off some kind of stupid anger. You know the kind - you're angry when you shouldn't be. Looking back on it now, I would slap myself around for being such an idiot, but that was my mindset. I was angry at him for no good reason, and that anger would carry for a while. But he was right in doing what he did. I would thank him later, but I was just being stupid.

The rest of the day was quite peaceful, as I hung out with Alice, Shanghai, Mikuru, and Nagato in the library with Patchouli and Koakuma for the most part. A chat with Letty, who was still in the mansion. Me going back to work as a reshelver. Part of me wanted to test the cross thing with Koakuma, but I decided against it. I didn't want to cause her pain just for a laugh. Poor girl.

On an interesting sidenote, I also got to meet death, a shinigami, if you could believe that.

But, alas, it would cut into my story here, so I'll have to come back around to them. You should be used to it - I've jumped around in my storytelling before. But don't worry - I will get back to that at a later time.

It turns out that Kaguya had called for a dinner. The Lunarians had remained secluded in their guest room all day, but they wanted to have a dinner. Remilia obliged, and we were to dress nice. I found out that some of the fairies were great tailors - just from my laundry, they were able to create a decent-looking suit in my size. Simple gray, but it was nice. I stood there in front of the mirror in my room, impressed with how well the suit fitted my body. Sakuya may have said that the fairy maids are pretty bad at their jobs, but they're damn good tailors. They didn't even have to measure me. Same thing with my Brigade associates - a gray suit for Koizumi and gray dresses for Mikuru and Nagato. Seeing Nagato in a dress was kind of nice.

What wasn't nice was that when I saw her again, she was arguing with Remilia.

Getting ahead of myself. Anyways, I met Mikuru and Alice in the hallway - the puppeteer was in a sapphire blue dress that looked really good on her. Shanghai was with her, who greeted me with her usual silent curtsy. The three (four, counting Shanghai) of us made our way to the first floor. In a sitting room adjacent to the dining room, there was some raised voices, which included Nagato. Both she and Remilia were in a heated debate over something. Marisa walked in as we did, wearing a different witch's outfit, not that different from her usual one, and joined us in the room. It looked a little fancier, with some frills. Her buttons were also stars. I guess it was a formal witch's outfit? I dunno.

"Things okay, Marisa?"

"Yeah. Not much else to do from this point on." Marisa was obviously talking about the girl and trying to remain her usual self. "It was good to see her family again though."

We returned our attention to those in the room. Remilia was wearing an extremely deep red dress, and the way it shimmered in the light made it look like someone had found out how to make a clothing material out of blood - not dried, but liquid. It really looked nice on her, even for a twelve year old's body. Now that's a weird observation. Patchouli was there, wearing a dress that was the same color as her normal clothes. Whereas her normal outfit barely showed any skin, Patchouli's milky white skin really stuck out to me. Neither had their hats, though Patchouli had a golden crescent moon accessory on her hair. There were servants, including Sakuya and Koakuma, in the room as well. The vampire merely laughed at what Nagato was saying - when the interface saw me, she approached me, a small irritated look on her face.

"She wants to get your blood, and was asking me if I could help get it. I said no, of course."

Dammit Remilia. I was about to tell Nagato to not mind whatever Remilia was saying, but the vampire butted in.

"It's what I am."

Nagato turned to face the vampire. "I thought he was a friend of yours."

"Servant, friend." Remilia wagged a finger. "Either way, he's human, and he has what I need." Remilia extended her hands, with a smile that made my skin crawl. "Oh, Nagato. I embrace what I am, and I won't apologize for it. I am a vampire, I like his blood, and I want more of it."

That's not something one wants to hear everyday.

The vampire then noticed Alice. "Remember, Miss Alice, if you won't embrace what you are, nobody else will do it for you. You saw how Kamishira...Kamishura...ah, her last name is too long. Keine. You saw how Keine had to react in public to you. This is what and who you are now, so accept it, embrace it, and have the time of your now-long-life, or be miserable." Remilia turned and pointed at Nagato. "Embrace what you are. A mere observer." Remilia took a second to take sip of red liquid from the wine glass, and kept up her smile afterward. "All you will do is watch. All you can do is watch. Watch as he falls for Haruhi. Watch as he will grow old with her, marries her..." Remilia grinned a toothy grin, her blood-covered fangs glistening in the light, as she swirled the glass slightly. "Procreates with her. You'll have to watch that."

Whoa there!

"That is, if it gets to that point, Kyon. Just because she likes you doesn't mean that it'll happen. I can see the chains of fate surrounding you - there is actually a chance you and her won't be together, but thankfully, some of those end amicably, with no negative damage in the way of closed spaces and such." Remilia took the time to drink from the wine glass and I noticed that it wasn't thick - it was red wine.

Is she getting a bit tipsy? Is this why she's more blunt than usual?

"Remember - I can control fate, somewhat. It takes more power than it's usually worth to see those chains of fate, you know, so I don't do it for many people. And it takes even more to enforce some of those chains." The vampire stepped up to Nagato. "You're an idiot, Nagato. You tried to interfere with Haruhi's love for the boy, and failed. And then you push away someone who fell for you. Granted, it may not have been for pure reasons, but he fell for you. And you didn't allow yourself to enjoy the moment." Remilia jabbed Nagato's chest after putting down the glass. "You have nobody to blame for your own misery but yourself, Nagato. You put yourself into this unwinnable situation where you must suffer watching everyone else have a good time and you don't have one yourself. Hundreds of years living the same two weeks over ad nauseam."

Remilia's face no longer showed any anger, or emotion for that matter, as she stepped closer, to the interface, until they were nearly nose-to-nose. The vampire flatly spoke.

"I can see the chains of fate around you, Miss Nagato. Most of them will leave you with an empty bitter feeling of resentment. Some will lead to your lonely and pitiful demise. Very few will actually leave you happy. While it is commendable that you are so dedicated to your work, I suggest you start doing some things for yourself unless you want to 'malfunction' again, because there is a chance you'll do it once more. I can see it right now plain as moonlight." Remilia motioned to Nagato the both of them. "For unnatural beings like us, Miss Nagato, life is too long to waste on feeling only bitterness." The corner of the vampire's mouth went up in a smile, as she flicked her hair. "Be like me and have some actual fun with your powers. What's the point of us having our powers if we don't let it go to our heads every now and then? Really. What's the bloody point? Just...I don't know...find a corner of the universe and just break things. Not to the extent of Flan, of course, but do something to let out all that stress and tension that you have built up inside you."

Nagato's face was impassive, it had no emotion, though her eyes were slightly widening. Mine were too, as I couldn't believe the gall Remilia had to say all of this. In some sort of sick way, however, I kind of agreed with what she was saying. I dunno, but if I was in Nagato's position...maybe I'd be taking this to heart. I mean, Nagato lived for hundreds of years because of that endless summer. She essentially is a youkai. And why not take advice from a youkai who is blatantly doing well for herself?

Remilia flicked her hair, her grin coming back. "Hell, you know what? Why don't you find that boy you turned down, and just 'jump his bones'? Give him a night to remember; for you both to remember. Might do you some good to get rid of all of your pent-up frustration." Remilia's eyes went over to me, and then back to Nagato, her grin widening. "Actually, if you're bold enough, jump Kyon's bones tonight. I'm damn sure the both of you would enjoy it."

I heard Marisa utter under her breath: "If she does, she'll only get interrupted."

Again, several thoughts flashed through my mind. I cleared my throat before speaking. "Now, see here, Remilia...and...are you drunk or something?"

Content and triumphant with what she said, and ignoring me, Remilia returned to trussing herself up with Sakuya, smirking. Nagato just stared after her, the human interface's shoulders sagging.

"I'm sorry. i have to apologize for my idiot friend here." That was Patchouli. With her hands on her hips, she glared at Remilia. "That's not the way to act, you know."

Remilia returned the glare. "Patchi, you've known me for how long again? You know that this is how I am. And what are you, my mother?"

"Well, someone has to reign you in. You can't go around doing whatever you feel like." Patchouli smiled at me. "Right?"

"Considering that this is my home, that I worked, scratched, clawed, and killed to obtain, protect, and make prosperous, I'll do what I bloody well please in it." Remilia smirked at her friend. "Or have you forgotten that I gifted you that entire library? That I am the true owner of every book you read in there?"

"That statement would have more weight if you actually cared about that witch stealing 'your' collection...as she's breaking in to your property to do so, I might add."

"Not my fault Meiling or Sakuya can't do their jobs of keeping Kirisame out when she's not wanted."

Sakuya didn't respond to that, but I did see a flicker in her eyes. The maid's eyes went like daggers in the direction of Marisa, who had a big grin over this whole show. She was enjoying this.

Nagato's head was lowered ever since Remilia finished her rant. I walked up to her. "You okay?" I said that because I could see that Nagato was shaken up by what Remilia said. It was that obvious.

"Yes."

"You don't look it."

"I never meant to hurt anyone with what I did. Changing the world. I just..."

"You don't have to apologize, Nagato. You never had to."

"You got stabbed because of me. I can't let that go. Every time I go back to that memory, I remember seeing the two of you, one down on the ground writhing in pain."

Man this whole time travelling thing messes with you.

And I would have said more to Nagato, except that Koizumi walked in, smiling his smile.

I saw red. That stupid anger rushed forward.

Next thing I knew, I was being held back by Nagato and Marisa, as I was almost right in Koizumi's face. I had managed to grab him by the necktie. I was giving him a few choice curse words. "You had no right to say-"

He raised his free hand, as his other hand held onto his tie to make sure I didn't rip it off. "Easy there."

"Koizumi, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Kyon! Easy!"

"Don't fight!" squealed Mikuru. "Please don't fight!"

Nagato pried my hand open, releasing Koizumi from my grasp. She then lightly shoved me away, making sure that she was between me and Koizumi to keep me from trying anything. I was just so mad at him for confronting Marisa.

Koizumi straightened up his tie, his face impassive. He had to redo it as he spoke to me. "You think I enjoyed doing that, saying things like that? I don't want to be the bad guy here. I know you care for Miss Kirisame here, and you take issue with what I said to her...but the reality is I'd do it again. I'd repeat what I did today in a heartbeat. I don't take any positive feelings out of it, but I'd do it again. It's just the situation I'm in here. If I don't try to step in and insure that something drastic doesn't happen, it'll be on me if things go out of control. Because I'm here and I can't just walk away from an obvious threat." He gave his fake smile to the witch. "No offense Miss Kirisame."

"Don't worry about it, ze. Then again, you're right when you say that I'm a threat." She slyly smirked at the esper.

"You're not helping, Marisa." said Alice. "Don't make this worse."

Koizumi's smile widened, but his eyes narrowed. "You don't know how dangerous this is."

"You don't live in a dangerous world. I know how dangerous it is, ze. And I know more danger than you'll ever know, even with your Celestials. I have to deal with that thing over there and numerous other things." Marisa said that as she pointed at Remilia.

Nagato then stepped in between Marisa and Koizumi. "Let's not get into a contest of who goes through more."

We heard a tink - it was Remilia finishing her wine and somewhat forcefully putting down her glass. "She's right. We're about to have dinner with some very new people, and we can't embarrass ourselves in front of them. I refuse to be embarrassed in front of such royalty - I'd never let myself live it down."

Patchouli smirked at me - the smirk of someone about to spill a secret. "Remi here hates being shown up by anyone with a higher stature than her. She's petty that way. She gets off on impressing those above her on the social ladder."

"Patchi..."

I was taking deep breaths. I was still mad at Koizumi, but I had to get my mind off of wanting to hurt him. I looked around for the other vampire. "Where's Flandre?"

Sakuya had picked up the wine glass on a tray, handing it off to a maid, who left the room with it. "The young mistress is still being looked after, upon milady's orders. Young Lady Flandre will not be attending this dinner."

Patchouli sighed. "From what I can gather, the plants took root in almost her entire respiratory system, and such a thing would have killed a normal human outright."

Jeez man. As if I needed another reminder to not tick off Kazami.

"She's all right, right?"

"She'll recover. She's been in worse shape, and just bounces back. Literally. She'll be back up to her bouncy psychotic self in no time." Remilia looked to all of us, the corner of her mouth pursed. "I know you guys have some issues, but it's okay. In fact, I'm glad. I just want you all to be getting the arguments out of the way right now, all of our tensions. I don't want any during dinner. I will not be embarrassed tonight, so get anything and everything off your chests right now." She went up to all of us, still speaking. I smelled the alcohol on her breath as she passed me. "Are we okay now? Nagato, I just told that to you as an ally. You need to do something for yourself now and then. Marisa, you stop trying to jump Kyon's bones. Koizumi, just smile and shut up. Mikuru, you sit there and look pretty. Alice, do what you do. Everyone else on their best behaviour as well. We're going to make a damn good impression in front of this princess, damn it. Nothing will go wrong here, understand?"

"And your talk of wanting to drink Kyon's blood?" asked Marisa.

Remilia wagged her hand dismissively as she made her way to the dining room. "Just did it to rile up Nagato. I'm okay." She turned to us. "Are we good?"

Stop talking about eating or drinking me so casually! I begrudgingly said okay, as did everyone else.

"Sakuya." Silently, the maid went about going over the vampire for one final check, making sure her dress was in the utmost of presentable order. When it was obvious she was, Remilia threw open the doors to the dining room, where we saw all kinds of maids standing at attention along the walls, ready to serve. "All right. Now. Let's eat, be civil, smile, and pretend that everything is okay."

"Like an esper." I heard Marisa mumble.

Remilia let out a laugh, and Koizumi didn't say anything.

Youmu and Yuyuko were the first to come down in their usual garb, fresh from Hakugyokorou. I guess Yuyuko had a spare Hitaikakushi somewhere, since she lost hers in Eintei. Come to think of it, there were a lot of lost articles of clothing in Eintei, and we didn't go get them. Reimu's sleeves, Yuyuko and Yukari's mob caps, I think, hairbands...

Anyways, enough about clothes. Youmu had her best stone face on, but in her eyes she appeared uncertain when she saw the rest of us. I managed to whisper to her that I didn't say anything and nor would I. I guess it relieved her. Letty would also be there, but she stood in a corner of the room with Cirno. The two said nothing during the dinner - they were just there, Letty wanting to talk to Yakumo personally, but also needing the ice fairy to be there. Cirno was too busy eating ice cream to join in. She seemed happy about it.

Reimu then showed up looking tired, but she seemed to be awash in relief with the prospect of one of the SDM's dinners. I couldn't blame her. She stated that the body of the girl was getting ready for cremation and that everything was in order. It was some sort of comfort, that her body was being prepared, even though I already knew her spirit was okay.

Well, I did mention that I met a shinigami after all. But I'll get to that later.

Things got off to a rocky start - when the Lunarians came down, we could see that Reisen, who had gotten a new suit, was visibly armed - her jacket was open and we could see the holster with the pistol. Remilia pointed out that there was no reason for this, but the doctor was adamant about the safety of the princess. This can get ugly real fast... Reisen stood behind the two, in a soldier's 'at ease' stance. Meiling was called in, and she did the same behind Remilia. Youmu did as well behind Yuyuko, but with her two blades - I guess she already got it back from Yukari. Already there was a bit of tension in the room until both Ran and Chen came in. The two Yakumo servants then said that they would explain a few things and were to tell the tale of Haruhi to our Lunarian allies, in quick form, to get them up to speed. Thankfully the Prismrivers were there too (man the dining room was crowded, even though it was big), and they played a nice song that I listened to as I ate.

As for what I ate...

A French dinner at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I was really looking forward to that ever since Sakuya said it was French day, and what was presented did not disappoint.

Salade aux Lardons, which is a salad with fatty bacon and a poached egg in it. A bacon and leek Quiche, which looked like a pizza. Chicken Fricassee with Tarragon sauce, which was good, and I could taste the white wine that it was cooked with. Beef Burgundy, which was awesome. Coq au Vin, which is a chicken stew that was amazing even though it looked simple. And the dessert! Vanilla Creme Brulee! Baked custard!

I love the cooks here. And I love French day. I was in some serious culinary heaven, being fed food of the Gods. At least, that's what my taste buds were telling me. There were other dishes, but those were served on platters with red trim...so I won't mention them here, as much as it breaks my heart. And it also kinda breaks my heart to know that Sakuya most likely prepared those dishes herself. Man am I glad I got stuck as a librarian assistant. I would hate myself for working in the kitchen here.

And again I heard Suou's whispered voice, but I ignored it, as I came to a revelation: I had left the pumpkin charm on the nightstand in my room. I asked a fairy to retrieve it from my room, and when I got it in a few minutes, the voice stopped. Damn you Suou for trying to do this to me.

Anyways, I expressed the honor it was to be dining in the presence of a living Japanese legend after Ran and Chen's explanation, which was quicker than I thought it would be - they had finished by the time the beef burgundy was served. Kaguya was kind of surprised that people from the outside world remembered her tale. She had a far-away nostalgic look in her eyes.

"Ah...it's nice that I'm remembered, even though my story is quite romanticized. Time can cause embellishments, especially for such a fantastic event surrounding my beginning days on Earth.

Mikuru was obviously excited about who Kaguya was - she sat there like a child in complete amazement ever since she learned who we were eating with. "Tell them! Tell them what it's like on the moon." Her eyes showed genuine happiness.

Wait...what? "Wait, wait. What are you talking about, Asahina?"

Mikuru turned to me, opening her mouth to say something. Her eyes went wide as she then blushed, saying that she messed up, that she accidentally gave away classified information. She held onto her head and fretted in her chair.

I'd later learn why - in the future, the Lunarians would make themselves known again and become an off-world power with the chance to visit Luna.

That's right. Humanity would get to go to the moon and see the Lunarian civilization in the future. Amazing, isn't it?

Some of you might be wondering, also, why Mikuru was able to let that slip. I was too. She's supposed to be conditioned to not let slip classified information. Then again, it wasn't that she let it slip - she asked someone else to give the information. I guess that's how she got away with that.

Anyways.

"For the most part, we try to live simple lives." Kaguya's eyes went over the rest of us. "What you saw of my quarters at Eintei was Eirin's doing, of her wanting me to have nice things. I never lived that nice before."

Eirin interjected. "There's nothing wrong with it, Princess."

"I just think you go overboard sometimes. I don't need much." She savored the bite of Beef Burgundy that she had. "Mmmf. Delicious." She patted her lips with a napkin, ever-so-delicately, before giving Remilia a satisfied nod. "But I think I need cooks like this. Mmm. This is superb, Miss Scarlet. But, I digress. Our society does live simple lives, but the culture, the art, the music, everything about it is wonderful."

Eirin shifted in her seat with a wistful smile on her face. "There is no place on Earth that is as wonderful as the capital city of Luna. That's my honest opinion." She sighed, staring into a glass of white wine. "Even after all these years, it still breaks my heart to not be in my homeland."

"Yakumo had some choice words describing your culture, ze."

Marisa, there is no need to start anything, you know. Remilia shot the witch a nasty look.

Eirin, who was about to take a sip, paused, and I saw her grip tighten. Her face remained composed, however. The doctor then smiled again, this one had to have been forced. "I don't care what the sukima has told you to poison your minds. Whatever it was, it was of her opinion, and it was wrong."

I don't know if Ran or Chen took offense to that. If they did, they didn't show it.

"Can I ask you something?" This was Koizumi, and he was speaking to the princess. "About the impossible requests? Why did you do that? Why allow them to fail like that?"

"Yes...one of the points of my story." The princess didn't look pleased over this. "You see, the arguments and fighting amongst them was so intense regarding winning my hand in marriage. There were actually more than five princes - the rest died in violent acts when they fought over me. I stopped them cold, in the only way I could think of at the time. I had no intention of marrying them because I knew that my people were coming, and I didn't want them hurt because of me.

"So you hurt them...through other means?"

"I'm sorry that one lost his life, and two others were ruined financially, but it was a better alternative than all of them killing each other over me."

Ran nodded. "And then the Lunarians came back for her. Of course, as Lady Yukari said, Eirin betrayed them, and fled with the Princess."

Eirin's eyes narrowed, her face still composed. "I didn't betray them, fox. I simply chose my loyalty to the Royal family over those guards."

Ran appeared to realize that she offended the doctor, and then bowed and apologized. She then straightened back up, and looked over all of us. "If you would like, I can answer questions now. Lady Yukari has instructed me to give you answers in her absence about the events of last night."

I slightly raised my hand. "Question, if I may." I still had one of the extra vials that Koakuma gave me that morning, and I brought it out. "Why doesn't this explode when I ingest it? If it becomes a grenade when I shake it and break it, why doesn't it explode in me?" It was something that had been bothering me for a few hours when I realized it. I should be grateful that it didn't, but still, I wanted to know.

"I can explain that. Look at the vial closely. Notice another layer of glass within it?"

I held it up at the light. Sure enough, there was a clear layer surrounding the red liquid

"There is a small, fully contained layer within the glass to hold another liquid, one that you can't drink, that you shouldn't. If you did, you wouldn't be here. Those vials were designed by Lady Yukari to hold a catalyst layer, to allow it to explode when it comes in contact with the agitated red solution - hence why you have to break it for it to explode. It's not unlike a glow stick you humans use - shake it, snap it in half, and the two liquids within react to each other, creating light. Or, in this instance, it creates a magical catalyst that produces danmaku."

Oh. Okay. At least I knew why my stomach hadn't exploded. That's some sort of relief I guess.

"Miss Ran, I have one." It was Patchouli. "Why didn't Flandre destroy Kazami? It's been on my mind. I've seen Flandre get angry to a degree, and just utterly destroy what was causing her grief. Yet, she was at her angriest this morning. Why didn't Kazami just vaporize?"

"The fake full moon, to my understanding, did not only hinder Lady Yukari. It hindered all the youkai, made us more manageable for the planned sweep of Gensokyo by the Sky Canopy Domain after they dealt with your group. That is what Lady Yukari said was going to happen. The moon's effect dulled our senses, made us physically and magically weaker, and would have been more prominent, if not for Miss Sakuya's stopping of the moon."

Sakuya had paused as she was placing the next course before us. Remilia noticed it "You may speak."

Sakuya gave a nod, turning her head towards Ran. "And when I released the moon, that effect got stronger?"

"Correct. And that's also why Kazami didn't flat-out kill the younger Scarlet with her true form Master Spark." Ran looked to Remilia. "Both were weakened, yes, but Kazami had the experience over your sister."

Koizumi was completely right. We were lucky. All of these factors coming together, and we got lucky with them. The only casualties were fairies, some youkai, a girl, and a whole bunch of SCD members. It could have been a lot, lot worse.

Remilia leaned back in her chair, a glass of blood in hand, looking somewhat relieved. "That explains a lot. If my senses were dulled, then no wonder I couldn't detect the rabbit when she was sniping at us."

I think I saw Reisen roll her eyes over that. I couldn't tell.

Lunasa slightly raised her hand. "May I?" After getting confirmation from Yuyuko to go ahead, she stated the following. "It also explains why the oni wasn't as effective, and why she got overwhelmed when she assisted us at the Hakurei Shrine."

"So..." Patchouli had a look of dread on her face. "And when Kazami punched me..."

"You'd be dead if she was at full strength," said Ran. "Because she was weakened, you survived it, even in your normal weakened physical state, you survived."

"It weakened all of us, especially to the point where not even that oni could destroy the fake moon." This was Lyrica. "Suou was quite thorough."

Man...she really planned this. If it wasn't for Mima...wait. I straightened up in my seat, rubbing my chin. "No. No. If she was thorough, then why wasn't that Mima person affected?" I turned my head to Marisa. "And just who is she?"

"My old mentor, ze." Marisa grinned. "She took me in when I ran away from home and taught me most of what I know about magic."

"Mima was one of my oldest rivals, ever since I was ten, ever since that day." I blankly stared at the miko, who impassively nodded. "Yes, that, even though she had nothing to do with it. She wanted the power of the Hakurei for herself, but I beat her numerous times. The last time she lost to me, I sealed her up in my shrine, but I let her out every full moon. I even let her out one time to assist me in an Incident."

She helped in an incident? That had to be weird. I realized something - no wonder Reimu did find it weird to have people she'd fought with before later join her to resolve incidents. It's happened before.

"Why let her out?" asked Remilia.

"So I can reapply the seal again. She's prone to escaping the regular seals - it actually takes a specific seal to hold her, and it doesn't last very long. I'd hold her forever otherwise."

I scratched my head. "But why wasn't she affected?" Out of all of them, why her? I'm grateful she saved us, but how did that happen? How did this factor happen?

Ran answered me. "It's probably because she was sealed. Her aura is weaker when she is locked away, and Suou must have come across her in that state."

Alice slowly shook her head. "A simple oversight. How can an entity commit a mistake like that?"

"It's not unheard of for us to make mistakes." Nagato looked to all of us. "We are not perfect. I forgot to reconstruct my glasses upon losing them." She turned to me. "Ryoko Asakura left a little bit of code open for her own closed space, enough to where I was able to exploit it and ultimately to save you. And Kuyou Suou made one oversight on a single youkai. That was all it took."

And also the mole on Asahina. A single oversight. Mikuru brought up the snow mansion as well.

"That's why she wasn't affected by those waves of power off the moon then." This was Merlin. "She was walking around just fine while the others were in pain."

Ran nodded. "The data wasn't calibrated correctly for her. Magic isn't some 'I say or do this and it happens', and neither is data. You need to know what you are doing, what you are altering, how you are altering it, and multiple other concerns. It's not a simple thing." The fox looked to me. "Let me put it in a way you can understand, human. It's just like writing code for a computer: you need the specific command to get it to do what you want it to do. Only those of us who have practised it tirelessly make it look easy - a hacker who can effortlessly break into a computer's security system, or a magician who can cast fire with a flick of their wrist and an utterance of the spell. Programmers make programs where all you have to do is double click on an icon to perform an action, or, to make it more personal, someone went and made that website program. All you had to do was drag and drop to make the Brigade website, but someone made that program to make it easy for you. In a way, casting magic is akin to altering data, hence, the miko having to reseal every month to use that specific seal. It does what it's supposed to reliably, but it doesn't last long."

...So I guess Nagato's "bogus magic" is actually real magic then? I brought out Cirno's spell card, looking it over. "I guess...spell cards are like programs then? Pre-programmed spells that are activated by activating the card."

Ran gave me a nod and a smile. "Now you're getting it."

Remilia licked her lips after taking a sip of blood. "So, Suou went around gathering data on all of the youkai in preparation? When was this, exactly?"

"It happened during the Mesmeric Mist, when we were all preoccupied with other things. Lady Yukari didn't notice it until it was too late. And it was then that she had Miss Hakurei begin her training."

"So that's why she disappeared on us two weeks ago." Reisen softly said that, as if she had realized it. I barely heard her.

"Suou only had a three day window to scour Gensokyo and prepare for last night. Lady Yukari was preoccupied with the incident while it was happening. If it were any other time, Lady Yukari would have prevented Suou from doing anything." Ran blinked, pursing her lips as she returned her attention to me. "As for who Mima is, I myself do not know. There are few conjecture and rumors regarding her origins, including that she is from Hell itself, or she is a vengeful spirit of a murdered master magician. According to that rumor, she was part of the original group sent out to Gensokyo to cleanse the area, but she was murdered by humans for some unknown reason. And so she haunted the Human village ever since."

Damn.

Marisa smiled. "That's my favorite origin story for her, ze."

Yuyuko patted the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "Does she actually know who she is, or was she like me?"

"Like you, Lady Yuyuko."

"Ah." Yuyuko sighed, then noticed the confused look on my face over this. "A problem with dying, child. For the most part, you forget who you are when you begin your afterlife. Eventually some do find a way to remember, but you're lucky if you can remember who you are right after you die. Others, like me, don't find out who they are."

Great. First I find out that the afterlife is real, but now I find out that I may not even be conscious to enjoy it.

"Question, if I may, about these entities." Kaguya stared intently at Nagato. "About your kind. You're aliens, right? But what exactly are you?"

Nagato paused, and then straightened up in her chair, her face in her usual neutral expression, as it had been for most of the dinner. "What you see before you is my human interface - a manufactured physical body that I use to interact with this world." Nagato nodded at Alice. "To put it in simple terms, I, the puppeteer, am controlling this puppet before you all. I speak through it, I see through it, and the like. We are connected - what this avatar feels, I can feel as well. Sensations are nearly in sync. The real me is not here, but I am controlling this artificially made body directly. The real me is made up of a collection of data and are vaguely humanoid in shape. However, as you have heard from Miss Ran earlier in her explanation, there are ways to disable both me and my interface."

"And it's the same for this...Sky Canopy Domain, right? They have interfaces too?"

Nagato nodded.

"How in the world does danmaku damage them?"

"It's not just them." Ran's eyes fell on Nagato, as if expecting something. Nagato paused, staring at Ran. "We know about it." Ran gave a nod. "Please show them."

Nagato stood up, and began remove the part of her dress that was covering her arm. She then showed us her arm, where she got struck by Mystia's spell card the previous night.

There was a big bruise there, the skin purple and black, and the texture was akin to burned skin. A round of gasps came from the table.

I jumped from my seat upon seeing that, feeling all kinds of emotions: fear, a bit of disgust, concern, all of that. I rushed to her, as did the rest of the Brigade - we gathered around our interface friend. "Nagato! Are you-" I quickly brought out the vial I had, popping off the cap. "Let me heal you!"

She grabbed my arm, keeping me from downing the vial. "You did heal me. Right before we entered the Princess's room for the second time, you healed everyone, including me. It didn't work. Not only is my interface damaged, but I took the damage as well. If you could see the real me, you'd see the same injury on my real 'body'. I don't know how, but as I stated, I am directly in sync with my interface. Using the puppeteer model, it's as if fire traveled up the string and damaged me, but didn't destroy the string."

I didn't know what to think, I just fretted. I had healing abilities, but I couldn't even heal Nagato when she needed it the most - when it hurt her the most. I felt completely useless again as I stared at her injury. Nagato then quickly readjusted her dress so we wouldn't see it, and asked us to sit back down. Mikuru gave her a hug, and then did as asked. Koizumi simply nodded and went back to his seat. Me...it took me a while to go back. It made me sick to my stomach, not being able to help Nagato. Again, I felt worthless.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"...Because even though you healed me, it didn't work on it. There was nothing you could have done for it anyway, and I didn't want you to fret over something you have no control over."

I wanted to say something to prove her wrong, but the reality is, what could I have done? She's right - I would have been worried sick all night over her injury. Nagato's head lowered and she asked me again to sit down, which I reluctantly did.

Remilia's eyes began to widen, as she realized something. In fact, I realized it at the same time. "Good Lord. Flan would have killed you yesterday. You would have been pounded into non-existence with that Taboo card."

I felt the dread in my stomach over that, and I gulped. Thank you, Remilia. Thank you so much for saving Nagato's life.

We in the dining room remained silent, as we all stared at Nagato. She eventually spoke. "From what I can gather, danmaku is an electric disrupted - hence the 'shock' one gets when one comes in contact with it. It's no mistake that you feel that - yet it appears to be somewhat broad, in the sense that it not only shocks you with static and an electrical charge, but also disrupts one on the bioelectrical level."

We then looked to Reimu, the one who made up the game. She slightly raised a hand. "Hey, I actually didn't make it up myself. That kind of knockout magic had been in the Hakurei family for a while. I'm not even sure who made it in the first place."

Knocks out biological things, but it kills entities. What the hell. In the back of my mind, I thought of intelligent design, that someone had to have made it happen like that. I don't know why, but that's what my gut was telling me.

"When a human is knocked out, there is a bioelectric reaction." Nagato calmly took a sip of her tea. "I may have only studied danmaku in the past day, but I believe this is how it works. Danmaku does this, disrupts the biological electricity, forces a knockout simulation, yet doesn't do permanent damage, leaving no lasting negative repercussions besides an ebbing soreness, numbness, and drowsiness. A knockout without the lasting neural damages a normal knockout brings. However, danmaku appears to completely disrupt my kind, and Suou's kind. As for how, I don't know." Nagato then nodded at Letty. "It doesn't just disrupt entities, it disrupts influences, and data. We've seen it."

Ran explained to our Lunarian friends there. "During the Spring Snow incident. Letty Whiterock, the yuki-onna here," Ran referenced to her, "Was given powers by Suou, and it spread to Lady Yuyuko and Cirno, like an infectious virus. It caused the ice fairy to be more aggressive and powerful. It also made Lady Yuyuko lose some of her inhibitions, getting her to be more brutal with her plans for that incident." Yuyuko lowered her eyes, ashamed. Ran continued. "However, it was leached into the Saigyou Ayakashi, giving it power and waking it up. It adapted, becoming in-tune with it. Since it had the Sky Canopy Domain influence within it, Danmaku was effective in bringing it down."

No wonder mere knockout magic was so effective against that evil thing!

"Are you healing at all?" squeaked Mikuru, who appeared to be on the verge of tears over this. "Will you be all right?"

The interface lightly rubbed her injury. "I appear to be slowly healing. But you shouldn't worry. The bruise was all over my arm before I went to bed, and as you can see, it's smaller as of right now. It also seems that the longer I stay in Gensokyo, the faster it heals. It appears to be another aspect of the Gensokyo effect."

Why wasn't it as bad for Suou...of course. She's been in Gensokyo longer. She said so - she had time to adapt, unlike the others, thanks to that Gensokyo effect. That's why she didn't just die like the other entities. She had a resistance to it, even though it was still deadly for her. But now I gotta be careful. Man...if I had used a vial offensively near Nagato last night...or if I had convinced Sakuya to get Nagato to touch a danmaku knife...I would have killed her, or really hurt her. I don't think I would or could have lived with that.

Hearing about Nagato's situation kind of put a damper on the meal. We remained silent as we ate our next course. Even the music that the Prismrivers had played was melancholy. I couldn't take my eyes off of Nagato, my mind running with what could have happened the previous night.

She knew. She knew it was deadly, but she still fought. She could have died in that 4-on-4 match at the end, but she still fought. Why? Why put herself through that? Just to help out?

Maybe she realizes what Gensokyo can mean for her kind. I dunno. I'd never find out why Nagato went through with that battle when there was such an obvious danger for her safety. She would never tell me, nor anyone else. I guess...she had her own personal reasons? What kind of reasons would she have? Again, that question I'd never get an answer to.

Finally, Kaguya broke the silence as we got to the Coq au Vin. "It actually gets worse, the thing with that other interface." Kaguya sipped her tea. "Her plans. Kuyou Suou, or whatever you called her. She's-"

Marisa waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah we know, ze. Trying to make the youkai feral, trying to commit fairy genocide, and attempting the complete and utter destruction of Gensokyo. All that cliché bad guy villainy stuff."

Kaguya stopped and grimly gazed at the witch. "It gets worse."

"How?" Alice asked. "How could it have gotten worse than that?"

I almost didn't want to find out how worse it could have gotten.

"You know our past, right? Because of the Sukima? The gap youkai?" After receiving confirmation, the princess continued. "This girl, this Suou, showed up out of nowhere a month ago, giving us information. Kuyou told us, briefly, what was going on in the outside world and what my people know. The Lunarians know of the war occurring on Earth over a 'Haruhi' and a 'Sasaki', but they remain neutral because it does not concern them. Kuyou asked Eirin if she knew how to win favor with the Lunarians so that their group might become allied with them. For the lack of a better term, Eirin told her where to stick it. ...Actually, that is the term Eirin used - as crude as it was." Kaguya coyly smiled at the doctor. "Really, Eirin? All of the bamboo in the forest?" Eirin didn't answer, so the princess went on. I heard Marisa try to stifle a snicker. "Anyways, Kuyou then started supplying us with supplies, still asking. Eirin started to listen to her."

Koizumi gave a disapproving sigh. "Why accept her gifts, doctor?"

Eirin casually raised a finger, pointing it at the Yakumo servants. She looked disappointed with herself. "Because the only person I can rely on is the Sukima when it comes to my advanced medical supplies. It's very difficult to acquire the complex chemicals necessary to perform my studies and tests otherwise, especially since I'm in hiding." She swirled her wine glass. "Using strictly botanical ingredients can only get me so far. Given time, yes, I can concoct most of what I need with the ingredients within Gensokyo, but again, that takes time, and leaves me exposed to interested eyes."

"And you didn't want to be indebted to Yakumo anymore, right?"

"Correct."

And look where it got you. I really shouldn't blame the Lunarian for looking for an easier solution. She didn't know how bad Suou would have been. But then again, there is an old saying: of being weary of Romans bearing gifts and such. I don't know.

Remilia slowly shook her head. "Pride's a hell of a thing, isn't it doctor? Clouds our judgement."

One of Chen's ears flopped down, a look of concern on her face. "You haven't used those gifts, doctor? You haven't given those drugs to the human village, right? Because they can use nanomachines too."

Oh God...

Thankfully, Eirin stated that she kept them in storage until she was sure that they were safe gifts. "Even though I'm in hiding, I have a reputation to uphold as the greatest medical mind to exist. I refuse to have any of my treatments to be tainted." She leaned back in her chair. "I'll simply dispose of them when I get back home."

Well, that's a relief. Man. Another plan by Suou. If those things had hostile nanomachines in them, and the human village was given tainted medication... I shivered at what might happen.

"It...gets worse."

How can it get even worse, Princess?

Kaguya leaned forward in her seat, looking gloomy. "When I was under her direct control, I...heard things. Our minds were connected, I believe. I was able to see her goals, which was how I was able to tell you all it was a trap when you freed me." Kaguya took a moment to finish her tea, which Reisen then refilled. Then the Princess dropped two bombshells. "Suou tried to pry for the formula of the Hourai Elixir, and when that didn't work, she wanted to deliver us to the Lunarians, as a gift to win favor with them. To gain an allegiance."

I held onto my head as if I had a migraine, which I think I did, but out of frustration. It hit me. What Suou had planned.

The princess looked over to Reisen, who was wide eyed and had almost dropped the teapot. "She was also planning to have you as a third present, the deserter brought to 'justice'."

Immortality. I remembered Yakumo's words - about a hundred immortal soldiers. What about immortal interfaces or data entities? Suou could command an army that can't be stopped if she got her hands on that elixir. Good Lord.

As for the second part, well, I didn't even want to believe that such a scenario was even fathomable. An alien race comes down to Earth to wipe out the S.O.S. Brigade, and all of the organizations attached to them. That was one scenario I could have done without even thinking of, one scenario that shouldn't even happen. Seriously, what the hell. But...that was the worst case scenario, should that have gone through, which it thankfully didn't. Heck, there was no guarantee that even if they did get the three Lunarian fugitives, that they wouldn't have done anything.

"It was her backup plan since she couldn't get the Hourai Elixir."

Koizumi had lost his usual smile, as he knew the implications of that. "Immortal hostile interfaces would be problematic, of course. And if the Lunarians joined the Sky Canopy Domain, that would be problematic for all of us, assuming they are as powerful as they are said to be. Nagato?"

"That theory appears to have some merit. My superiors have not been forthcoming with information regarding the Lunarians, and this morning was the first I've learned of their existence. However, from what I can tell, it would be problematic if the Lunarians did join the Sky Canopy Domain." She stared into her hands. "As you have seen in Eintei, the Lunarians have a way to weaken my kind, as I had been having problems with my power. I wasn't as effective within Eintei."

"Sorry about that," said Reisen.

"Your organizations would have trouble with the Lunarians," Ran said to us, "that is, if they didn't wipe you out in one blow."

So...we'd have an actual alien invasion to come and put down Haruhi, as well as all of us. This is like some bad Sci-Fi story. It'd be cool if they joined us instead, but I'd be just as happy if they just remained neutral. I don't need to deal with a race that stopped the combined might of humanity and youkai. Again, that is if they agreed to, so it would have been a worse case scenario.

I turned to Koizumi in a somewhat daze, as my head was swimming with all of that information. "We really were lucky. There were so many ways last night could have gone bad."

"Luck and determination." remarked Youmu. "And possibly the blessings of the Gods themselves." I saw Meiling slowly nod in agreement, her eyes averted.

I should seriously play the lottery. The odds just came up good for us. As dessert came, I leaned back in my chair, going over everything in my mind, even more in disbelief that I survived the previous night. We should not have come out of that incident alive. None of us should have. I glanced over everyone, and it appeared that they too had the same realization - some just slowly shaking their head like Meiling, that look of realization in their eyes. Suou had plans on top of plans - weakening the youkai, turning the youkai against the fairies to kill off Gensokyo, to kill off the humans, increasing their aggression, trying to get the Hourai Elixir, trying to give tainted medication and chemicals, controlling the Lunarians in an attempt to kill us, setting a trap for all of us (and she had us in her grasp), outnumbering us, making sure that we couldn't destroy the moon that was giving her the advantage in battle, and even when that didn't work, she was going to take the three Lunarians as a gift to try to forge an alien alliance so she could wipe us out on a later date. And every single one of them fell through in the end, or at least didn't do the damage she wanted. I'm buying lottery tickets. That's all there is to it. Then again, knowing my luck, I just used up all of my luck last night.

I know I said I wanted to avoid alcohol, but right then and there I asked for a glass of red wine, which I chugged down. It was a situation where I was driven to drink. Hell - there was a round of wine refills at the table, as most of our allies did the same as me. Some of them even went for another glass or two. In Reimu's case, three. I even saw Sakuya sneak a drink.

Thankfully, the taste of the dessert seemed to have lightened the mood. We were soon getting lost in the wonderful taste of the custard. It was good enough to make that tension just start to ebb away.

After our enjoyment of dessert, Kaguya resumed our conversation, her brow furrowed. "Suou planned to take us along with her when she teleported out, but...she didn't. That's what I've been wondering since this morning. Why didn't she enact her plan?"

"Because I blocked her."

We turned, and saw Yukari Yakumo standing in the doorway. She looked tired, but she was wearing a white dress with an orange and purple yin yang symbol on it. She slowly made her way to an open seat (Flandre's), and sat down. Remilia appeared to take offense that someone was sitting in her sister's seat.

The demon didn't care about the glare she was getting. She smiled at the vampire. "I'm here for a little food. I'm a bit peckish."

Remilia gritted her teeth, trying not to yell at Yukari, though her wings were shaking. "You could have called for room service. My maids would have happily served you."

"Oh, and miss out on the atmosphere and the wonderful company?" Yukari said that as she smiled directly at Eirin. The two stared at each other, Yukari smiling, while Yagokoro simply remained calm. "That's why I was drained this morning, and didn't fight you, doctor, even though I badly wanted to knock you out myself. I used my energy to keep her from teleporting the three of you out of Gensokyo and into SCD hands. I blocked her. I wasn't about to let her have any kind of victory at all."

Everyone turned to the Lunarians. Eirin was the first to speak. "...I suppose I should thank you on our behalf." The doctor paused, pursing her lips. "Again." Eirin appeared to begrudgingly say that.

Only an idiot wouldn't figure it out by now - these two hate each other.

"Again, doctor, as much as we have our differences, I do appreciate your medical expertise in my Gensokyo. Nothing will change that. I despise you on a personal level, and your kind, but your expertise is the greatest in existence, and I'd be stupid to ignore that. I wouldn't let anyone deny Gensokyo such a brilliant mind."

And Yukari goes and blatantly says that she hates her. Backhanded compliments much? Please...let's not fight.

"Miss Yakumo," said Remilia angrily, "If you're going to cause trouble or start a scene, please leave."

"Oh, little vampire, I'm just having a bit of fun. My brand of fun." The demon smirked before taking a bite of Beef Burgundy. After she chewed and swallowed, she grinned at the vampire. "Besides, I don't have be the one to do that. Your sister is about to embarrass you right now."

What?

The next instant, the doors opened - forcefully. Again, that same stupid door fell off its hinges. This is like some running gag!

Flandre was there, in a nightgown. The smile on her face showed that she was amused. She spoke, her voice a bit raspy. "Remi! I finally get it! You were talking about virgins! That's it, wasn't it? You paid for a virgin and got a non-virgin instead!"

Suffice to say, anybody who was drinking something at that moment spat out. Including me.

So much for a normal dinner.

Remilia was not happy. But Yukari seemed to be having a ball over this predicament. She happily twirled her fork as she watched Remilia get out of her chair and talk to her sister in the hall. The demon then turned to us after a moment of enjoying her meal. "Well. Now that that's all happening, hello again."

"You okay?" That was Yuyuko.

"I'm fine. I rested all day, and I think I have enough energy to teleport our Brigade friends here back to the outside world where they belong. And it'll have to be done soon." She took another bite.

Kaguya blinked with an incredulous look on her face. "Why so soon? I'm just getting to know them."

Before anyone could speak, a low rumbling was heard and felt. The chandeliers shook slightly. "Ah, not again." I remarked as I started to back my seat away from the table.

"That's not Flandre," said Remilia as she and her sister walked into the room. "What was that?"

"Suzumiya." Yukari casually took another bite.

"W-w-what?" stammered Mikuru.

"She's unstable. I would have liked more time, but due to her entire Brigade disappearing, and being gone for the past two days, she's reacting to it in an intense way, worse than she did in April." Yukari looked to all of us. "I need to get you guys back pretty soon, or I risk something bad happening to not only Gensokyo, but the world. I recommend you get dressed back in your attire that you came in with." The ground rumbled again, but Yukari remained calm. "And again, soon. We have time, but...I don't know how much. Maybe half an hour. Maybe."

How the hell are you so calm about this?

While it was nice to spend some downtime in Gensokyo, I knew the bad implications of what could happen if Suzumiya was 'unstable'. We quickly excused ourselves and rushed back to our rooms, thanks to another maid there to quickly guide us. My clothes were ready, lying on the bed. I found that, again, the master tailors and seamstresses of the Scarlet Devil Mansion were indeed masters - the danmaku scarring, the damage, the tears, the blood, all were gone from my school clothes. It looked as new as when I first got it. I dressed as fast as I could, and as I finished up, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it.

"Hey."

It was Reisen. She stood there at the door, an unsure look on her face.

I wasn't expecting to see her - I was kind of taken aback.

"I just need to know. I mean, the fox said it, but I need to hear it from you. Is it really true? The whole Suzumiya thing? Is that what's really going on out there in the outside world?"

We're at risk of the world being remade, and you're asking that? But I did answer her.

"Yeah. I don't know what else to say. But yeah, it's what's happening. And sadly, our war has spilled out into this world."

Reisen scoffed at that, but it appeared that she believed me. "That's just so unbelievable. A single little girl having that kind of power."

I stepped out into the hallway as the rest of my Brigade associates were coming out of their rooms. "Well, it's actually two little girls."

She let out a small chuckle. "Ah, yes, forgot about that."

"Also, two little girls who can control the world as opposed to a magician immortal alien princess and a genius immortal doctor?"

Reisen gave a small shrug. "True. 'Grass is greener', or something along those lines, I suppose." She looked to all of us. "You guys are strong. You civilians...you kids just standing up and defending the world."

"It's worth defending." said Mikuru. "Past, Present, and Future."

"It's not fair to ask kids to have such responsibility, but you guys are doing it. It's such an honor, and so commendable."

"Thank you, Miss Reisen." Koizumi gave a little bow. "It's our purpose, it seems, and I'm more than happy to commit my life to it."

"It doesn't feel like it's an honor at times," I remarked. "But thanks anyway."

Nagato gave Reisen a nod.

She walked with us on our way back to the dining room. She had her hands in her jacket pockets. "...Just...thanks. Again. I've seen the outside, and know what would have happened to us."

"Thank you."

One of her ears bent. "Even though I shot at you guys?'

I smiled. "Yeah, despite that."

She let out a laugh. "Ah, yeah, I just wish we all could have maybe gotten to know each other better," she looked to my Brigade associates, a warm smile on her face. "You guys come into our lives, saved us, and just as quickly have to leave already. It's like something out of a-"

"A fairy tale."

She gave me a smile. "Exactly. It's just...too bad. You guys saved our lives."

In the short time I've spent with her, I could tell already that Reisen was a warm and caring person, despite being a trained killer as well. Such a beautiful bunny woman has such a wonderful personality.

As we continued our way back to the dining room, Reisen listened to some more stories of Haruhi, as told by Koizumi, who was happy to share said stories. I kind of zoned out, as I had already lived through it before. I was starting to regret being able to go home already. Yes, that's stupid. I've complained, stressed, and all of that for the past two days, but it's that same 'now we're going home say goodbye to this place' type deal. At least I didn't have any luggage to take back with me...right? I quickly checked my pockets, finding that I had everything on me when I entered Gensokyo, including my nekomata trinket. I also had the pumpkin charm as well, so I was good there, and I still had Cirno's Icicle Fall. I would keep it. Anyways, few things bite more than coming home from a trip to a distant place only to find out that you left something behind.

As we got there, Letty was next to Yukari. "But you promised me, Yakumo. You promised me her head on my pike."

"We did the next best thing, Whiterock - we made her a failure in the eyes of her people."

Letty pounded her fist onto the table, enraged. "It's not enough!" She brushed her hair away, pointing to the scars. "She has to answer for this! I lost the sight in my eye because of that bitch! She used me and I became like this!"

Yakumo didn't answer, but turned to us. Letty noticed us, and dragged Cirno with her back to their corner. Poor Cirno didn't appear to know what was going on - she was obviously only there to give Letty a cold zone. And yes, I noticed it - getting nearer to the ice fairy made it colder.

I of course felt bad for Whiterock. Even though it was Reimu who did the disfiguring, it was Suou who caused everything to be set in motion. I would be enraged too if I was in her position.

Yukari noticed us as well, giving all of us a smile. "Are you ready to go back to two days ago?"

A slight rumbling was felt again, almost as a reminder of what would happen if we said 'no'. Thank you, fate, for making our decision for us and getting us to leave Gensokyo quickly. So, of course we said yes.

Everyone stood up save for Yakumo, turning to us. It was goodbye time again, but this was rushed.

Patchouli stepped up to us, and I sighed. "As always, Patchouli, thank you. For everything, again. You've done so much to help us."

"You shouldn't really be thanking me."

"Why not?"

The corner of Patchouli's mouth turned down, a guilty look in her eyes. "Reality is, I only wanted you as a guinea pig."

Huh?

"You arrived here at the mansion, out cold. You were supposed to wake up, and I was going to use you to test a few things. Spells, potions, seals, that kind of deal. Then, when I was done with you, I'd give you to the Scarlets." She referenced to them, of course. "You would have died in the end. We aren't particularly hospitable to outsiders, you know. You would have died if you had woken up, but by the time I figured you weren't waking up, Remi had taken to you being her personal drinking fountain, so we kept you. Then...you became interesting."

The Paranormal Border. And also, Rumia was right.

"And when you became interesting, you became a curiosity. And I don't kill off my curiosities. So don't go thanking me like I'm some charitable person. I'm not. Far from it. Like Remi, I have a rather evil streak in me. Even Meiling - she's the one who has orders to bring incapacitated humans in here for those kinds of purposes."

How lucky am I? I have got to have some deep-running luck. That, or fate smiles on me. No, not smiles - flat-out toothy-grins at me, while laughing maniacally. If I wasn't knocked out, and if I didn't get that Paranormal Border, I'd be dead by now. Hell, I'd be dead by now if a lot of factors didn't come into play. I tried not to let it get to me. "I think you're lying a bit. I know for a fact that you're a better person than you're saying you are." I turned to Meiling. "Same with you, even though I've seen the both of you kill." I pointed at Remilia. "As for you..." She smiled, obviously expecting some praise. "...No, you're exactly what I think you are."

She frowned. "And what's that?"

"If I told you, you'd gut me."

She glared at me for a second before throwing her head back in laughter. "Ah, I'll miss you too."

I grinned. "Same here, Mistress. I'll miss you too."

Flandre, of course, hugged me quite hard. When she broke it up, and I regained my breath, I rustled her hair, saying how it was good that she was recovering so quickly.

"I drank some of your blood! It was delicious!"

I didn't need to know that.

"It tasted like the blood Remi usually drinks, you know, the vir-"

I quickly covered her mouth.

The rest of the Brigade were saying their goodbyes to everyone else, so I'll just put down my own. Koakuma of course, expressed her gratitude for being there for this, for helping with the incident, and of course healing Patchouli.

"Wild one, eh kid?" Meiling said that as she rustled my hair.

"Yeah. Just wish it could have been in a peaceful time."

"Don't we all."

Sakuya gave me a brisk hug, and I could feel the cross beneath her outfit. "I think that it's a good thing that you regained your faith."

"I think so too. Again, thanks for hanging in there for me."

"Despite your threatening to stab me."

She smiled. "Yeah. That too."

Reimu stepped up to me, wearing a crooked smile. "Well, I guess you have to go do your part to save the world, by going back to your normal lives."

My eyes went over to Yakumo, who was still sitting down eating. "It's all we have to do, apparently." I shrugged. "For now."

"Yeah." Reimu's eyes went to Yakumo too, and then back to me. "It really was good to see you again. It's a little comforting to know that I'm not the only one saving the world on a regular basis - and since the world hasn't been destroyed yet, nor Gensokyo, I guess the both of us are doing our jobs."

Both Alice and Shanghai did a curtsy. "We appreciated our time together."

"You may be a youkai, but there is still a human heart in you, Alice. Don't forget that. You aren't a monster."

She gave a small smile. "It's still taking some getting used to though, especially the nightmares."

"You'll get through it. Remember: you're a youkai. You're tougher now."

The Prismrivers, Youmu, and Yuyuko bowed. The ghost mistress then spoke. "It was an honor to fight alongside you in battle, and a bit exhilarating. Thank you for helping Hakugyokorou redeem itself, and thank you for allowing me to redeem myself as well...as well as for not allowing me to be taken by Suou."

"Not a problem. I just remembered that I had that charm."

"Obviously you still see me as a threat."

I didn't want to offend her, but I told her the truth. "You have to admit, instant-death powers are kind of intimidating."

She giggled at that. "Ah yes, quite." Again she bowed. "May we meet again, but in a more peaceful setting."

I shot a glance at Youmu, who also did a bow. Please find the courage to do it, Youmu. You deserve to know.

I didn't have much to say to Letty, but Cirno grinned at me, the confidence on her face baffling me. "Eye hear ya used the copy of my spell card! You're smart - copying me!"

I rustled her hair, thanking her for the spell card (even though we didn't borrow it or anything, we got a copy), and it felt like I stuck my hand in an open freezer. I thought that ghosts were cold to the touch - Cirno felt icy. How could a humaniod have such a temperature?

Impossible? Screw impossible.

Reisen gave me a quick salute, to which I fumbled one back. She grinned at it, showing me the way to properly do a military salute. Eirin stood there, arms crossed, her face in that same composure I've noticed that she's had for the most part. She waited until the rest of the Brigade were finished. "Brigade, if you can, can you do us a favor?"

"What is it?"

She let out a slow sigh, looking tired. "End this war in your own world. Please. End it quickly. That Suou person is a fanatic, and I've lived too long to know that her kind only ends up destroying the world, despite what they claim about saving it. She's powerful, yet blinded by her beliefs - a dangerous combination." The doctor shifted. "Don't let this continue. It can only get worse, despite Yakumo embarrassing her. Suou will come back if she's not stopped, or at the very least find others to fight for her. She put too much effort into last night just to be shamed and tossed aside - she will try again."

"Oh, but shaming people is just so much fun." That was Yukari, still eating, still regaining her strength.

I didn't want to agree with Eirin, but she made perfect sense. Suou put too much effort and planning into all of that to just quit. She wasn't willing to die, but willing to sacrifice others. I realized that Eirin was right - unless Suou was stopped for good, this would only continue. Also, Yukari, what the heck?

Kaguya gave us a nod. "It's a shame that our time together was so short, but sometimes, in life, you only get a short amount of time to spend with someone. It's a more prominent problem with being immortal, I suppose." Her smile was sweet. "I wish you luck, Mr..." She blankly stared at me, obviously forgetting my name. I told her, to which she smiled. "Ah, what a lovely name."

"You can call me 'Kyon' if you want, Princess."

"And you can call me Kaguya. All of you can."

I'm on first name basis with the Lunarian Princess?! Awesome. I bowed to her, and she nodded in approval.

And last...was...her.

Everyone else had said their goodbyes to each other, leaving us to do it. I took a deep breath as we cautiously approached each other. Marisa looked over my shoulder, to Koizumi. "I don't mind what he said, you know. Besides, if he was really threatening, I'd blow him away in a heartbeat."

"I don't doubt it."

"I just wish I could spend more time with you, ze." Her eyes went to Koizumi, then back to me, as she grabbed both of my hands. "Sorry about, you know, trying to do something when you woke up. It was just impulsive."

"How was that impulsive?"

"I just broke into your room to see you."

"Why?"

"Because I felt like it, ze. Like I said...impulsive." She said that with no shame. "Didn't really go into your room with a plan...well, maybe to take a memento of yours." She stepped closer to me, her eyes narrowing, and she blushed. "But seeing you sleeping...I couldn't help myself."

I gulped.

And yes, I failed to tell her to back off. I'm an idiot. Sorry, Koizumi.

Yakumo had gotten up, finishing her plate. She then cracked her knuckles, smirking, and waved her hands. A portal appeared on one of the walls, just as another rumbling occurred. The demon stretched. "Ah, there we go. Got enough energy to do this, I think." She turned to us. "Are you ready?"

A round of "yes"'s and we stepped up to it. Mikuru was afraid of it, but I placed my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I've done this before."

She gave me an unsure nod, still timid about it. We stepped in, into Yukari's realm, and looked back to the group of people we had spent the past two days with, giving a final wave, to which they returned, as the Yakumos stepped in as well.

"Wait." Marisa took a few steps towards us. "Yakumo, will we get to see them again?"

"You know my policy, Kirisame."

"But-" It appeared that a light bulb went off in Marisa's head. "But can we visit them?"

My jaw dropped. Are you crazy - yes you are. I keep forgetting.

"Why not?" Remilia tilted her head, a coy smile forming. "I mean, Miss Yakumo, it's obvious that even you can't uphold your policy. It seems that fate dictated that the Brigade would come into Gensokyo. I don't mean that all of us should go to the outside world, but why not a few?"

The Gensokyo group turned their attention to the gap demon, who appeared to be mulling it over, deep in thought. She then shrugged. "I'll think about it. It's certainly within my power to do so."

Marisa's eyes brightened, and she gave me a thumbs up as the portal closed up. "I look forward to meeting you again, ze!"

I didn't know what to think about that. Even if I put forth the effort, I couldn't have.

"Now, I must warn you. The combination of-"

Yeah. I blacked out. Again.

What transpired next felt like a dream - it was so surreal. From what I could gather, I was talking to Yakumo in an semi-unconcious state. My vision was blurry, but from what I could gather, I was on the ground, with Yakumo standing over me.

Yukari...who was Byakuren Hijiri?

Where did you hear that name?

The dreams I've been having regarding Gensokyo and its past. I had one of you, of you waking up after being tortured by the Lunarians.

She was the sister to Myouren Hijiri, that famous Buddhist monk. She had a vision, she was my inspiration. Of course...her vision had it's own flaws - requiring everyone to be Buddhist. I decided that a country free from religion, but allowing the freedom of religion, was the way to go. A land of the gods, of youkai, of humans, but no one faction has the advantage - we are equal. I make sure of that, and I have the miko to do so as well. We are free to pursue our freedom, our lives, and our happiness. The faith and fear that flows within Gensokyo is enough to sustain everything indefinitely. It's been as such since 1885.

Why did that little girl have to die?

While this is a free world, this is also a hard world for little things. Gensokyo can be unforgiving, but so can the humans. It sickens me, though. Somebody should have been watching her, been taking care of her. Instead, now, they'll use it to go on a crusade to pin the blame on something other than their own failures. Typical humanity. And the worst part is that they won't learn from this at all. It will happen again and again, like it's happened so many times in the past. Generation after generation of passing the blame while more die. And like the idiots they are, they'll sit there wondering why it keeps happening, all while pointing the finger at everything but themselves. If it were up to me, I'd make a self-contained world of nothing but youkai. But it doesn't work that way. We need each other, despite all of our differences. But just because I need humanity doesn't necessarily mean I like everything about them. Present company excluded, of course. I've had to learn to tolerate them, a rather difficult thing to do, especially since I spent my first two hundred years just killing humans.

Why were we brought into Gensokyo?

I think Gensokyo really is alive in some way, and sensed what Suou did during the Mesmeric Mist. It acted in self defense, protecting itself, like any other living thing. It brought in the Brigade, and from the looks of things, it worked. That is just a theory. I myself don't really know why you were brought in, but I can tell you that I wasn't the one who did it.

I need to know.

What?

Are you behind this?

Behind what?

Everything. Everything went in our favor for this incident. But what about Nagato's evolution? The fact that danmaku turned out to be a serendipitous weapon against entities? The entire Gensokyo effect?

Yukari took a moment to answer me.

I don't know if I am.

What?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

The 'dream' was fading.

A secret that not even Ran knows.

What is it.

Remember. I can move through other existences...I think there is another me in play...from her own world...

July 14, 2004

Next thing I knew, there I was, coming back to conciousness with a start, back in the local library, propped up against a library shelf. I took some deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I let out a long sigh.

Another...Yukari? Well, according to the theory of multiple existences, of multiverses and such, there are other versions of people in slightly different lives. I knew this was possible. Leading up to Suou and Fujiwara's attempt against Haruhi, the incident concerning Yasumi...there was another me, from an existence that was similar to my own except that his didn't have any attempt against Haruhi or Nagato's.

And we melded.

So...there is another Yukari, but this one might be meddling in the affairs of this existence. I couldn't tell if our Yukari was upset about it - when she spoke to me, she didn't sound like it. She just stated it. At least our Yukari was helpful. This other Yukari...might be moving in the shadows. But again, for what purpose? What is she doing? So, my instincts were right. It was Yukari...but just not our Yukari.

Argh! This is too much for me right now! I rubbed my temples, both trying to fully wake up from the portal/time travelling, and also from the headache of trying to understand what might be going on. Another few deep breaths later, and I was getting my mind on something other than the prospect of a second Yukari.

Again, out of Gensokyo. Interesting that Gensokyo itself called for me...not just me...wait, where's Nagato?

I tuned around, searching. Nagato wasn't there. Where is she?

My heart rate picked up, and I moved. I turned the corner, wondering if I'd have to search the library again when I almost bumped into her.

Nagato was leaning her back against the book shelves, just staring at the floor. She blinked and looked up into my eyes when I rounded the corner. She didn't say anything, just kind of gave me a look - it was unreadable. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Well, Kyon, that whole experience was unique."

"That's one way of putting it."

"Koizumi Itsuki was right. This is a wondrous world we live in. There was so much of it that even I didn't know...and I thought I knew everything, when I only knew what I was allowed to know."

I shrugged. "The way of the world, I guess."

After all, I didn't even know that there were alien agents within the governments of the world. Hell, do I really have to go into what I didn't know before meeting Suzumiya?

She nodded, and stared into her hands. "I don't know how to proceed from here. The Gensokyo Effect has changed me. My evolution has given me some interesting quirks. I appear to have more fluid social responses, better data management, amongst other things."

I decided I'd tell her about the second Yukari later. Not then. "At least some things haven't changed about you. You're still Nagato Yuki. And that's a good thing."

"Looking back on it all, I must have been quite the weirdo, being so stoic."

"I think that was part of your charm." She raised an eyebrow at me, and I saw a little blush come to her cheeks. It was true, after all. There was no denying that there was a charm to her quiet nature. "Taniguchi rated you pretty highly, actually."

As did I.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Then again, he did fall for Suou, so he obviously has no taste. But...also again, he's so desperate for any female companionship that any girl would have done."

"Yeah...yeah poor guy. Ah...poor five-minute guy."

"He really was that five-minute guy. I have access to video files, if you'd like to watch. I'll find a way to show you. It was amazing how quickly he screwed up." She gave me a miniscule smile. "Might just be a world record. I don't know."

I couldn't help but smile too. Nagato had tried to make light of the situation, and I liked it. Seeing her like this is different, but I could get used to it.

"I think I'll pass. Sounds funny, but it might just be too depressing to watch him fail."

Taniguchi sneezed.

"To tell the truth, I was surprised to find myself automatically responding. Blushing, facial expressions, physical reactions. I never was made for such social interactions."

"Designed solely for the observation of Haruhi, if I can say that."

"Yeah."

"But it isn't surprising. I mean, people say that the human brain is like some sort of computer, right? Having automatic responses shouldn't be too weird." It was my way of trying to understand the situation she was in. As I've said before - I don't know how it is to be Nagato.

"Correct. For example, people automatically blush when embarrassed. Adrenaline is released during embarrassment, causing vasodilation of the veins in the face. Then adenylyl cyclase takes effect, causing the blood to flow more freely, resulting in a blush. It is automatic in a human body. A command. Output data responding to input data. That's all it is."

I paused at that. "A little bit too technical for my tastes, but whatever. So, shall we get going?"

I turned to leave, but Nagato had held onto my sleeve. I turned back to her, about to ask her what was up, and was greeted with a quick kiss. Her lips were extremely soft and a little cool. It was so quick, I wasn't sure if it actually happened. After it was done, Nagato stared into my eyes as I stood there dumbfounded. Her face turned a bit red.

She was blushing from embarrassment. And I think I was too.

"...And..." I swallowed hard. "What was that for?"

"I just wanted to see what was so special about it. Kissing, I mean."

"Okay then." I didn't really know how to properly respond to that.

Nagato blinked a few times, before responding herself. "I think I enjoyed it."

I did, too.

She gave me another one, just as quick.

She slowly nodded afterward, a small smile forming, and her face going even redder. "Yes...I did enjoy it." She took a moment to recollect herself. "What was the name of your friend again? I think I might give him another shot."

"With or without being able to see your data link?"

"I would like for him to like me for me. Not because of a glitch."

"Good. You deserve a guy who loves you for being you. You deserve a guy who will worship you for the wonderful person you are. You deserve to be happy, Nagato."

She blushed again. "Thank you."

One thing I should note here: Nagato couldn't check out a book. Why? Because her library card was in her wallet, and her wallet was missing. Instantly my thoughts went to a certain blonde haired witch who was also an admitted thief. Really, Marisa? You steal Nagato's wallet?! I'd later learn that it was Marisa.

We had left the library in silence and stood outside for a few minutes. Not doing anything, just standing there, watching the people pass by on the sidewalk. If anyone would have looked towards us, they might have thought we were on a date. An awkward date, with the way the two of us were blushing and unable to look at each other.

I kissed Nagato. Well, actually, she kissed me. I hope this doesn't complicate our friendship.

"It wouldn't have worked out between us, would it? In that alternate reality?" Nagato wasn't looking at me.

"I would have known it was a lie. That would have bothered me, to tell the truth. That, and I had grown accustomed to my way of living, in some sick way. Some part of me actually enjoys this stuff. But what isn't a lie, Nagato, is that you are my friend." As I spoke, I couldn't bring myself to look at her face in my own embarassment over our kiss. "Alternate reality or not, I wouldn't change that, not in a million years, worlds, or existences. You will always be my friend."

She didn't say anything but gave a single nod. I watched as she then disappeared into the crowd of people, on the way to her apartment.

I won't trade this life for anything. Ever. My friends, my experiences. I really do love it all.

Stuff like that was worth fighting for. Worth getting off your butt and doing something about it. Worth it, even for normal people, because that's what they have in life. You have the people around you, you have your life, and while you may not make an impact in the world, that shouldn't stop you from enjoying your life while you still have it. You may not have a deep impact on the world itself, but you will have an impact on the people you meet and the friends you make in the short time that we have on this Earth. Because that is life. We as humans are social animals, and the connections we make are what matters, despite what other people say. Our lives must impact other lives before we pass on. Because reality is, we'll all have to make that trip into the afterlife one of these days...

I'm getting too deep, aren't I? Or maybe not deep enough, because most of what I thought there seems to be cookie-cutter pseudo philosophy that one would find on message boards by people who think they're smart. That kind of B.S.

I let out a long sigh, finding myself alone in the pedestrian traffic outside the library, wondering what to do with myself for the rest of the day. Why not go out and buy a nice snack or something? A little reward for surviving that? I have earned that. Couldn't argue with that logic. I was in the mood for some chocolate anyways. And besides, I deserve a reward, even if it was small, for making it through another trip through Gensokyo.

A little something to enhance the enjoyment of that moment of my life. Nothing wrong with such a thing.

Yet again, I had a blast. Yet again, such an adventure. And this time, I actually got to meet the Princess Kaguya, of all people.

But before that...

I went back inside the library, finding Kunio's book exactly where I left it. It was open to a passage, not one that I had left it to, as I do remember closing the book before getting up to look for Nagato. Yukari again. But which one? Don't need that headache! I read the page it was open on before closing the book.

"In Yamada, on the coast, a wonderful scene appears every year. It is said that it is usually the image of a foreign country. It is like some unknown capital with many carriages in the streets and people coming and going. It's quite amazing. It is said that, from year to year, the shapes of the houses and other things do not change in the least."

Never change, Gensokyo. I checked it out. I think I'll give this a harder study.

-entry-

- Marisa Kirisame has apparently stolen this individual entity's wallet {CONFIRMED}. The loss of material report is as follows:

-1 (One) Female Standard Ice Blue wallet

-2,061 (Two Thousand and Sixty One) Yen

-1 (One) Two Thousand Yen Note, 1 (One) Fifty Yen Coin, 1 (One) Ten Yen Coin, 1 (One) One Yen Coin

-1 (One) Library Card from [REDACTED ADDRESS]

-1 (One) North High Student ID of "Nagato Yuki"

-1 (One) Bus Pass

-1 (One) 2" x 3" Photo of S.O.S. Brigade members, taken during Ski Trip. Date: 12/31/2003

-1 (One) Paper Clip

-1 (One) Spare Key to Individual Entity's Apartment

-1 (One) Cloth for Cleaning Glasses (Have not used this item since Human Interface Ryoko Asakura's attempted murder of [NAME REDACTED] "Kyon")

-1 (One) Minimized copy of the S.O.S. Brigade Logo (embroidered patch) 1.5" x 1.5" Colors: Green, blue, red.

-1 (One) Slip of paper received from student Taniguchi - possibly his phone number

-1 (One) Snowflake Charm, 1" diameter. Made of plastic. Color: Blue

-1 (One) Receipt for Snowflake Charm - Cost of item: Two Hundred Yen

- UPDATE: Individual entity believes that the reason the wallet was stolen was because of the group picture. Marisa now has a picture of [NAME REDACED] "Kyon" in her possession.

-uploading file-

"Makai Incident" (unofficial name)

- 2002. Youkai and spirits began to pour out of Makai, so Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame went in. However, Mima and Yuka Kazami lent a hand as well, and the four joined forces. One of the adversaries there was a one Alice Margatroid, who was defeated by Reimu. The four continued on their way, battling it out with the entities of Makai, before meeting the master - Shinki, the essential Goddess of Makai. A youkai civilian travel company had posted up a travelling package to go to the world of the living, which was the reason why youkai were pouring out of Makai. However, it had quite a negative effect - the entities were causing havoc in Gensokyo, so the four had to stop it. They defeated Shinki to put a stop to it. After the incident, Alice showed up, challenging Reimu a second time, this time as a Youkai. She was defeated again.

- Additional note: the Miasma in Makai leeched into Reimu and Marisa, making the two fourteen-year olds stronger in the magical arts. Reimu gained the ability to fly, and did not need Genjii any more.

=RESOLVED=

-File Catalogued by Emiri Kimidori

-end file-

-Personal Statement:

-This individual entity is unsure of how to proceed from this point on. I have achieved some form of evolution, being able to create matter, data. But I am afraid. Afraid that my evolution means that we will no longer have to observe Haruhi Suzumiya. I am also unsure of my behavior, of what the Gensokyo effect has done to me, or what it means. Individually, I would like to stay with the group called "S.O.S. Brigade" for the foreseeable future. However, I do realize that my loyalty to my kind has to take precedence. I held back only because of my admin, but there is no reason to anymore. Any further time wasted not having this data would only serve to hurt and/or hold back my kind, and I do not want that.

-Data has been uploaded to superiors regarding evolution, as well as the damage data, to both of this entities bodies.

-Objective Complete: Achieve Evolution.

-N. Yuki

-end entry-

-logoff-

Taniguchi bashing is so much fun, as you will see in the next episode, whenever that's done. I can see why people like superstarultra enjoy bashing that idiot. Speaking of him, there is a youtube video floating around, "Haruhi Stole the Precious Thing", of Taniguchi being a dork to Alice's theme. Basically, it's Taniguchi doing "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing". So weird.

"Wa wa wa wa waaa wa wa waa wa wa waa wa."

Read and Review. Lady Yukari demands it!