I wish to take this time to apologize to Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats for stealing his joke sort of.

I also wish to take this time to express my apologies for Perishable Night taking this long to finally finish. I never intended for it to go like this.

Though on the other hand, I guess I can be glad it worked out this way. One of my beta readers wrote up a new series within the canon of this one. They asked me to read through it, and I could not put it down. I loved it.

With their permission, it will be the next series. The next 'season', albeit a very short one. Four episodes.

Kyon thought he was done. He's not. It's about time someone took advantage of the rules...by breaking them.

So an incident way down the line is just going to force its way into this.

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:

Another Duck

Smooglii

Time skips are quite tricky, aren't they? When they are used, you lose track of the people within the story. Things happen off-screen, page, whatever, and you need some exposition to even catch up with what has happened. They can even be jarring, disorienting at first, but they'll make sense when you see the bigger picture. It's kind of nice, though. Not the disorienting, I mean, but the time skips. You get to watch the characters grow, see what they've done, etc. I remember it was nice to watch Goku's son Gohan grow up in Dragon Ball Z, that you got to see him grow from a child to an adult, and eventually becoming a father himself.

That's kind of like life, really. I mean yeah, life is full of these kinds of people, actually. How many times have you come across a person you haven't seen in days, weeks, months, or even years? It happens. And you spend a little time playing catch-up with them.

But...this isn't part of that. I can't exactly skip forward to that point in time just yet. I have a few gaps I need to close here, some loose ends I have to tie up, so I'm going to take this time to fill them. I do remember that I owe you a little about the Gensokyo girls visiting us. Like I said, they posed as "Koizumi's cousins" from the rural parts of Japan. I also owe an explanation of that Komachi person. I mean, I really do need to explain that - as she turns into a rather important figure later, especially with her ability. Even though it was a rather quick experience, it's not every day you meet up with an actual shinigami.

Most of what I'm going to say here is, for the most part, things that happened before that extra with Mokou. For the most part. You see, I... I had an incident right after getting back home and contemplating the whole nuclear apocalypse thing. I'm talking about the day right after. I suppose I should have known it was coming, that someone would take advantage of everything that had been going on. Heck - I'm surprised nobody else has attempted to do such a thing, that it has taken this long for someone to do what they did. Thing is, I was completely blindsided by it - it just happened. She had planned it decently too, taking me up in a whirlwind that was that day, and I didn't have a chance to react until later.

Thing is, even that single day event back into Gensokyo would be important, with far reaching implications.

But that's another story. For now, it's time I finally closed the book on the events that surround the Endless Night.

Perishable Night

Episode 14

["Untold"]

"My mistress gave me a bowl when I became her shiki.

Now I've given one to mine in turn, and there is another space at our dining table.

In the beginning, all that was given was a single bowl.

But what I was given, and what I have given is so much more than that.

And now, I will savor my blessings..."

-Ran Yakumo, from the doujin "Bowl of Mayohiga", various artists

September 2nd, 2004

The edge of autumn was felt in Gensokyo, the cool seasonal breezes already making their debut amongst the remains of summer.

A ten year old girl was in her room, finishing up writing on her scrolls at her table. A knock rapped on her door.

"Enter," she said, not looking up from her work.

In came a servant. "Your tea, young Lady Hieda."

"Thank you. Please place it on the table." The girl gave her family servant a nod, and he quickly bowed and left. He closed the sliding paper door, and went on his way to his other chores.

Hieda no Akyuu sighed as she began to roll up the scrolls she had finished that day, making sure the ink was dry beforehand. It was time for afternoon tea, and she was looking forward to the outing her family was to have later - shopping, the usual business meeting, and finally ending with a discussion with Hakurei about the fall festival, and what would be needed in terms of funds. After putting away the scrolls, she quickly glanced at a mirror, making sure her short purple hair and her yellow yukata were presentable. Being a noble, she had to hold herself to a high standard after all.

She turned around, and suddenly there was someone in the room with her.

Someone she hadn't seen in well over a century.

"Hello old friend."

The little girl blinked, surprised to see the demon.

"By the gods. Yukari?" She stepped closer. "What are you doing here?" Akyuu pulled Yukari away from the door. "You know what'll happen if the rest of the village sees you here after what you did to Fujiwara! What if-"

Yukari smirked. "Your servants are on the other side of the grounds, and your family is out conducting business. This was the perfect time to show." She motioned to the teapot on the table. "May I join you?"

The girl paused, before smiling. Her body relaxed. "Of course. It's just been prepared."

Yukari reached into a portal, producing her own tea cup as she sat down with Akyuu. "If it's the usual red tea, I'd be delighted. Or have your tastes changed since your last body?"

Akyuu smiled and raised a finger. "Interesting thing - my tastes don't change. No matter how many times I'm reincarnated, I still like the same things."

"At least it's consistent. It'd be a bother to live...how many lives is it now? This is your ninth incarnation, right?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Yes, it'd be a bother to live loving a type of food in one life to only hate it in the next."

The two of them silently enjoyed their first cup together.

"You really caused an uproar a few weeks ago. Killing Fujiwara that many times was a bit much."

"I'm just doing what I need to to survive."

"I like her, okay? She really helps out around here, and all the children look up to her." The girl took a sip. "Have you at least made nice with her?"

Yukari waved her hand. "Of course I did. I don't need an immortal on my case."

"Speaking of that, of surviving, I'm impressed that you managed to keep Gensokyo going. I was sure your little project would fail."

Yukari frowned. "Thanks for the confidence."

"A world of youkai and humanity living together. It shouldn't be working." The girl leaned in closer. "You know, when I was working for the Yama in-between lives, she kept saying that this would fail."

"Yet here we are." Yukari raised an eyebrow. "And this is coming from the girl who gets reincarnated here again and again. For someone who doesn't have much faith in Gensokyo's current state, you sure like getting reborn here."

Akyuu scoffed. "I know. At least I've been lucky to stay in the same family." The girl ran her finger on the empty teacup's rim. "Yukari, this still feels nostalgic, for some weird reason. You, me, sitting at a table enjoying this type of tea." She poured the next cups. "How many times have we done this for a thousand and two hundred years?"

"It has been a while, Akyuu." Yukari brought the cup to her lips, savoring the smell. "How have things been?"

"The usual. Died. Worked for the yama until I could get reincarnated again. Not much has happened since I was born, but it's always disorienting having to wait for my body to regain the strength and ability to walk and talk again." Akyuu furrowed her brow, looking away. "And the experience of being birthed is very traumatic too," she quietly said.

Yukari blinked. "I can imagine." She stroked her chin. "I haven't even considered that. Wow."

"It's not pleasant." Akyuu tapped her finger on the table, her eyes averted. She quickly spoke, eager to change the subject. "So, how about you? What's been happening this past century in your life?"

Yukari spread her arms. "You see the fruits of my labor before you. Gensokyo has been relatively successful. It's a lot more work than I intended, but it's very satisfying." Yukari's eyes brightened. "Ah, yes, I got a new shikigami. Her name is Chen and she's a nekomata. She's so cute~! You have to meet her!"

The girl sighed. "You and your beast girl servants." Akyuu paused, tilting her head. "With all you've done, I haven't seen you since my last life. I was wondering when you'd get to me."

Yukari wagged a finger. "Ah, but I intended to visit you in two years - that's what it would have been in the original timeline." Yukari took a sip. "As for recent events, I know you get the Bunbunmaru, so you have a grasp of what I've been going through."

"The Bunbunmaru... Timelines, goddesses, creation. It's hard to separate what's fact and fiction again. That Bunbunmaru has been spouting some fantastical stories about a Haruhi Suzumiya." The girl took a sip. "Either Aya has finally gone completely mad with all that information that swims in that tengu brain of hers, or-"

"It's actually true."

Akyuu paused mid-sip. She was genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"I know, right? Shameimaru isn't blowing things out of proportion for once."

"I swear," Akyuu rolled her eyes. "I don't even know why she tries to be a journalist. She forgets events every year. Just stuffs her head with so much useless information."

"Such is the life of a sub-par journalist. Did you know she completely forgot Ran's name earlier this year? If only she had your perfect memory. Such a thing is helpful when you live for as long as the two of us."

The noble sighed, her cheerfulness gone. "Right. My memory. And we get down the the matter at hand, don't we?" She put down her cup, looking disappointed. "When I saw you, I was hoping this would be a social call. I should have known better."

Yukari grinned. "What? It can't be both social and business?"

Akyuu shrugged, grinning as well. "You do have a habit of combining the two." Both of them shared a chuckle, keeping their eyes locked. "Yukari?"

"Yes?"

"I can tell when you're worried. I know your tells. Our souls have been alive for the same amount of time, after all. The only people who would know you better would be Saigyouji or Ran, or even that oni I've seen you hang out with a few times. So I need you to tell me what you want."

"Right to the point as usual."

"I do have a limited time in my reincarnated bodies, after all." Akyuu put her hands on her hips. "I don't have time for your games. That's why I hate it when you do this."

"Yes, quite." Yukari dropped her smile. "I need information, as usual."

Akyuu sighed again, getting up and going to her scrolls. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything. This may or may not be important. It's just a gut feeling. A lot of things haven't been adding up lately, and my thoughts keep drifting back to the so-called 'beginning of time'."

"Ran, the tengu, or you yourself don't recall it?"

"You're the one with the best recorded history of Gensokyo - even Keine uses your records from your past lives."

"You just missed her, actually - she was here."

"I know. Again, I avoided it. I don't want to be admonished for visiting the residential district. That's against the rules she set up." Yukari finished her cup, and gave her host a solemn look. "Akyuu, I come to you because of your historical accuracy. If I wasn't concerned, I'd go to Shameimaru. I really need this. I trust your words the most."

Akyuu narrowed her eyes, smiling coyly. "You are such a flatterer when you need to be."

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"Of course it is." Akyuu paused, thinking. "Ah, according to Bunbunmaru, that would be when that Haruhi gained her powers...when was it?"

"It would be the Outside World's July the 7th, 2000."

"Okay, so that would make it recent...back four years ago..."

Yukari got up, joining the girl. "Is that the newest edition of the Gensokyo Chronicle?"

"Yes, the one for my lifetime. The ones for the others are stored away." The girl let out a disappointed groan. "Ah, I think one of my servants went and rearranged everything again after cleaning. Things aren't where they are - this might take a bit."

"It's okay. I was going to ask this in two years time, but might as well ask now. When the time comes, may I look through the chronicle before you publish it?"

"Of course. When have I never allowed you to do so?"

"When we first met."

The two grinned at each other.

Akyuu returned her attention to the scrolls. "Okay, this is the year...Ah, no, right year, wrong month."

"So how long you think you have this time?"

The girl continued her search as she spoke. "I just turned ten, so I should have the usual twenty more years in me before I die and we start this all up again."

"I kind of pity you, that you can only live for a brief thirty years at a time." Yukari shook her head. "It's just not fair. I was hoping you'd find a way to live longer. How many times have I encouraged you to go see Yagokoro? I'm sure that she'd be more than happy to help out such a unique case."

"Oh I've tried everything. Better diets, exercise, pumping medicine into myself. I just drop dead after thirty." The girl turned her head to the demon. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you something. You know I don't live long. Why do you insist on not contacting me until I reach double digits?"

"Because you are owed a happy childhood. When I show up, it usually means bad things."

"I can't argue with that. Alright...'July'." She opened the scroll, looking over the early days. "...Here. Hmm."

Yukari followed Akyuu to the table where the girl set it down. The girl had a concerned look on her face. "What is it?"

Akyuu furrowed her brow. "That's...interesting. There were complaints from the kappa at Genbu Marsh on that date - all their electronics failed. Also, it looks like most of the electronic equipment that made it into Gensokyo faltered. Even here in the Human village"

"At what time did this happen?"

"Very late at night...actually near midnight, which is why it was noticeable. The electronic lights went out."

"It was just electronics?"

"Mmm-hmm. Some got fried and didn't work any more, but the rest just flickered." Akyuu crossed her arms. "Wait a second."

"What is it?"

Akyuu's smile dropped, as did her good mood. A serious look crossed her face. "My current father got upset the flashlight he bought from Rinnosuke stopped working on that night. We couldn't fix it. At least that's...that's what a memory is telling me. But I can remember clear as day that never actually happened." Akyuu paused, bringing her hand to her head. "What? That doesn't make any sense. I have two memories of that time? How is that possible?" Akyuu stared at Yukari. "Yukari...what is going on? This is the first time this has happened to me."

Yukari was silent, staring at the chronicle. The demon appeared concerned. She let out a long sigh, before softly speaking. "It's not just you. Some people I've been talking to have second memories of different events in their lives." Yukari crossed her arms as well, not looking pleased. "...To tell the truth, I was afraid of this. I was just following a hunch I had. Something definitely had to have happened at the 'beginning of time' to do this. These secondary...these shadow memories are troubling. It's like someone or something is rewriting the past."

"Like Keine?"

"What she does is temporary. This appears permanent, yet imperfect - when Keine does it, it doesn't allow the original memory to shine through when the effect is active. There is also the fact that she can't hold that effect indefinitely." She shook her head. "No, my friend, this is something entirely different." Yukari rubbed her chin, her brow furrowed. "This has been bothering me for a while now, the way memories appear to be altered, for me, and for everybody. Even that person who tried to destroy Gensokyo was affected by this. And since you said it affected you, then I know it's not just people in Gensokyo - it's effecting people in the outside world, even. We really may have an outside force altering events."

Akyuu blinked. "Uh...huh. This sounds really complicated."

"It is. If what I'm thinking happened actually happened, when we might be dealing with multiverse manipulation on a grand scale. It might even concern time travel and other such manipulations on the very fabric of our reality." Yukari paused, and slightly smiled over what just came out of her mouth. "Yes, that's very complicated. I'm not even sure if I can fully grasp it myself. Which again, worries me. Such things are so delicate, that it won't take much to unravel reality. We might be even flirting with paradoxes. This is very dangerous territory."

Akyuu's face was dumbstruck. "Okay then... So...something I can understand? What was the event that caused those electronics to fail?"

"Ah right, that." Yukari put her hands on her hips, tilting her head in thought. "Hmm. If I didn't know any better, it sounds like an EMP occured on that date. That's interesting. Very interesting..."

I had a dream. About Gensokyo, of course. Why else would I be telling you about it? This is a story about my encounters with Gensokyo. This was at the beginning of August, and it was a simple dream.

My dream consisted of me in a field in between four things. A lake, a forest, a farm, and a road that led to a village. Instantly I recognized the location, as I'd been through there before - it was Gensokyo, on the path to the human village. It was daytime, a bit warm, as the sun was mercilessly pounding away on my body. At least, that's what my dream was telling me. I didn't exactly feel it - but my dream was telling me that it was warm.

Of course, I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or was I transported. Man, what kind of world do I live in when I can't even place trust in my dreams?

Anyway, something began to happen. A gust of cold autumn wind came out of nowhere, from the direction of the lake. It was quite forceful, making me take notice, and turn to its direction. What I saw...flying over the lake, two figures - women. One with short blonde hair, wearing a long red dress, with the bottom cut out in leaf patterns. She even wore a leaf charm in her hair with a headband. The other had dark blonde hair. She wore a yellow blouse with a red dress, which had a wheat pattern on it. She wore a red hat that had grapes on it.

As they neared, I could see another wave of wind following them due to the waves of the lake. The coldness reached my dream body, and the two landed in front of me. Seeing them up close...they were beautiful. Like, otherworldly beautiful. The feeling of serenity around them was very calming. They either couldn't see me or didn't care that I was there, as they turned to each other with smiles, and nodded. The leaf girl headed towards the forest, while the wheat girl headed to the farm. Not wanting to be left alone, and not feeling any hostilities from them, I followed them at a distance. The wheat girl simply walked, barefooted, through the field. When she reached the middle of it, she slowly raised her right hand. In response, something interesting happened - the dirt in the field began to shift, and crops were growing. Various things: pumpkins, squash, leeks, all that. It was like watching one of those sped-up time lapse videos, you know, the ones of a plant growing, except that this happened for the entire field. The leaf girl was waving her hands around, as if she were flinging paint. In response, the leaves of the trees were changing colors. Red, yellow, orange. The colors of fall. Not long after, all the visible leaves were no longer green.

They just created fall. I was dumbfounded, and even in my dream my heart fluttered, as I had an idea of who they were...what they were. I tried to call out, but I couldn't. I guess it was one of those "you are merely observing this" dreams.

The two women, satisfied with their work, looked to each other. After another nod, they went their separate ways - leaf girl into the forest, and wheat girl towards the farms of the village.

These had to be the twin Aki sisters. The Twin Goddesses of Harvest and Leaves; of Fall itself. If what Meiling and Sakuya were talking about were correct, then they just had to be.

I had dreamt that I saw two actual gods.

I myself would never get to meet the Aki sisters, however. I called Nagato right after waking up from it, looking for answers. Nothing really came of this - but it was the first time that I saw, even in dream, an actual god. Well, two.

It's just very interesting that Gensokyo needs outside forces to change the weather. Lilly White to bring about the change from winter to spring, and the Aki sisters to bring about the change from summer to autumn.

I would have loved to meet them, but alas, I never would get the chance.

But why would I tell you this? Well, it was my 'alarm' for the Gensokyo girls to show up in my world. Because they showed up, right when Nagato got back to me with the information.

What a way to kick off summer vacation.

August 2nd, 2004

It was an exceptionally hot day, of course, but I wasn't mentally prepared for what happened that particular day. Not too long after I called Nagato about the dream, I got a call from Koizumi, saying that we had certain 'guests' ready to hang out with the SOS Brigade that day.

I nearly dropped the phone in surprise. I mean, Summer break had just started, and already I was going to hang out with the girls again. Seeing as my family had nothing planned, I quickly got dressed proper, and said my goodbyes. It didn't take me long to reach the designated meeting place - the cafe. Haruhi had decided that we would spend the first real day of Summer break together doing whatever came to mind, and wanted all of us to get there at noon. She 'allowed' us to sleep in on the first day of Summer break. My hero. I'm not being sarcastic here - I loved it. But since we had 'guests', the rest of the Brigade decided to get there much earlier. Also, by being the last person to arrive, it would mean that Haruhi would have to pay for everything, which was fine by me.

Hey, she makes me pay for a lot, she can do her part for once.

I wasn't expecting to see the girls in their usual outfits - they'd stand out like a sore thumb, but I did attempt to scan the crowd to see if they were outside the cafe. I even looked through the window, but alas, I didn't see them.

It crossed my mind that there was the possibility that Koizumi was pranking me on this. And if he was, I'd have words with him later. Deciding to get away from the scorching morning heat, I went in. Man, if it's this hot this early, then how bad is it gonna be later in the day? It was a real scorcher. I'm talking about another forty-five degree Celsius weather day. Yes, like that day when I got out of Gensokyo a second time - it was easily reaching that. As soon as the air conditioning of the cafe hit me, I felt awash in relief. Oh, this feels so good. But I couldn't stand there in the entryway like an idiot - I saw Nagato at one of the larger booths, much larger than the usual one the Brigade sat at. The cafe was surprisingly empty - Emiri the only other visible person around. Well, she works there, so that's understandable. Working during Summer vacation? That sucks. I nodded at the interface before I made my way to the other interface.

"So?" I asked as I sat down, expecting an answer already.

"Hmm?" Nagato blinked. "Ah, right. Yes, you were correct. Those were the Twin Goddesses of Fall."

I smiled and slowly shook my head. "That's...wow. That's just unbelievable. Actual gods."

"You're talking about the Aki sisters? From what I hear, they aren't that powerful." Emiri had joined us, pencil and order slip ready. Again, she works there. "The lack of faith they receive has really weakened their influence and power. Supposedly they could change the season for the entire world. Now they can only change where they physically visit. Their influence has drastically shrunk." The green-haired interface blinked, staring down at her order slip, before looking back up with a waitresses smile. "So what can I get you?"

"Just the coldest thing you got. Heck, actually..." I paused, thinking it over. "Actually a root beer float sounds really good right now."

"That sounds good too." Nagato nodded in approval. "I believe the others would appreciate it." She turned to Emiri. "Would you bring everyone else one as well as they join us?"

Emiri nodded and went to place the order.

"I really do need to think about getting a job." I glanced at Nagato, who said that. She was staring at Emiri. "I originally never planned to do anything, you know. I was just..." She shrugged. "I was created for the sole purpose of watching over Haruhi for the duration of her high school years. There was...is, well both. There are no plans past that for me."

I hadn't considered that fact. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. My superiors never planned on me getting an actual career here on Earth, but since Haruhi has grown quite attached to me, it's looking like a more permanent situation. I've already accomplished so much for my race, and it looks like we are in agreement that more can still be learned from her." She looked to me. "I don't know what I want to do with my human life during my observation of her."

"Huh." I crossed my arms, pondering this. "Well, you're definitely going to have to get something, a job to pay the bills. You can't really cheat your way through your adult life, otherwise people will start asking questions." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I mean, look at how many flags Ryoko's disappearance raised with Haruhi."

Nagato smiled over that. "Not my cleanest work."

"But seriously, you were only supposed to be here for high school?" That's sad.

"That was the plan. Like I said, it was the sole purpose of my creation. Someone else would have taken over on the college level." Nagato tilted her head, looking out at the restaurant. "I just managed to get too close to Haruhi. Now I'm a part of her life."

"You're a part of our lives, Nagato. I'm glad you're sticking around."

She lowered her head and blushed a bit.

"But I don't know what could be good for you. I mean, you're a legitimate whiz with computers, though I guess that would be 'cheating' on your part."

"Not really. I can hack though my interface at believable human speeds."

"Hacking a game while it was being played is achievable?"

She smiled. "I didn't disobey you." She actually giggled. "Besides, the coding of that game was child's play. They did nothing to protect their files - they had all their files not in a proprietary archive file, but in zips. I opened the client's scripts, changing the variables within the game, and forced updates so it applied to all the players. The netcoding they set up between our rooms was a joke too, and-"

"You completely lost me," I nervously chuckled. "No idea what you're saying."

The two of us smiled at each other.

I leaned back in my chair, just continuing to feel the cold air wash over me, and looking forward to the drink. My mind went back to what Emiri just said - that those two gods were weak.

That's just sad. Such powerful beings, beings who changed the season for humanity no less, and one being the freaking goddess of harvest...they get reduced to that.

"I've never come into contact with a god." I noticed Nagato was staring out the window, and it appeared that she was thinking what I was thinking. "Not counting Haruhi Suzumiya, that is. I just wonder what kind of data we could get from such beings." She paused. "If Gensokyo hadn't taken them in, they probably would have faded away."

I had to agree with her. "Yeah. Yeah, Gensokyo does some good. I can complain all I want-"

"And you do." Nagato smirked.

I smiled back. "Haha yeah. I can complain all I want, but there is the yin to the yang of the issue. For all the negatives, there are positives." I straightened up in my seat. "Yukari had asked me when she was in disguise - how many have been lost over time? I don't think I can fathom that, how many were lost due to disbelief alone. But on the flip side of that, I think the question is - how many have been saved? How many paranormal lives have been saved because there is a Gensokyo?"

"That's a good question."

I froze for a second, before I turned around. Reimu! The shrine maiden was wearing a sleeveless red sun dress, and her usual ribbon and hair tubes.

The miko shrugged, smiling. "I don't really have the numbers on me. But I'm sure someone has the numbers somewhere."

I got up and embraced Reimu. "Reimu! I never expected to see you so soon."

"I know, right? Yukari all of a sudden said that today was a good day for this. Despite the heat." Reimu smirked, a finger twirling one of her hair tubes. "I had considered not coming but Yukari said that food was guaranteed."

As she said that, Emiri had set down a number of root beer floats. The miko's eyes widened.

"What...what are those?" Her eyes sparkled with fascination of something obviously delicious.

I couldn't help but smile as I motioned her to sit down with us. "Root beer floats. Vanilla ice cream in root beer soda."

She stared at one in particular that was appealing. The caramel colored soda glistening, the ice cream floating, beads of water already forming on the glass, and the foam was especially big on the top. "Can I?"

"Yeah, we ordered them."

Grabbing it, and using the straw, Reimu had her first float. The first long sip, and she gasped, her mouth agape. "Oh, it's so cold and sweet! That's amazing! I've had ice cream before, but not root beer."

"Don't drink too fast, or you'll get a brain freeze," I laughed. "You don't want to suffer through one of those."

She kept at it, taking sips and looking to be in complete bliss. "Oh, that's so good." She then slowly cringed, and held onto her head. "Okay, ow. Yeah, brain freeze. Ow."

I just shook my head. "I told you." I then looked around, not seeing the others. "Where is everyone else? And who else is here for that matter?"

"Oh, uh, Koizumi wanted to - ow - get us situated with the clothing. Ow." Reimu flinched, but she was determined to enjoy her drink. "Marisa, Sakuya, and Youmu are here."

Those were the only ones who could make it on that day. Alice was busy working on her newest creation, a certain battle-ready doll, the Scarlets couldn't come because of the sun, of course, and...I forget the rest. Well, the ones who were more 'older' looking didn't show because they would not have fit in as well with our group.

Reimu kept talking "Ah, I would have - ow - worn my regular clothes, yet Yukari was kind of adamant about - ow - us fitting in." She referenced to her clothes. "I just got something simple."

"Well it looks good on you."

"Thank - ow - you."

"Slow down with that."

"I'm not - ow - gonna let pain - ow - stop me."

"Man I hope you got some for us too, ze."

I stood up, turning to the group. Koizumi and Asahina were there, along with the other girls. Sakuya, Youmu, and Marisa, each wearing sundresses as well - blue, green, and black respectively. Koizumi later told me that they just wanted something simple, and breathable in this heat. Understandable, but really? Only Youmu and Reimu had their usual head gear - the half-ghost with her black hair band and ribbon attached to it. Sakuya and Marisa were hatless. Also...

After greetings, I looked around Youmu. "Where's your other half?"

As if to show me, Myon faded in pretty quickly from above Youmu, before fading out. "I was told that I need to keep it hidden for this."

Understandable. We don't need Haruhi to see an actual ghost.

Marisa gave me an especially long hug. She smiled at me. "Kyon, the outside world is just amazing! There are so many people."

"It's probably jarring for you, and this isn't even Tokyo. That city is even more populated."

This would be quite a shock to a person who has come from a place with a relative handful of actual humans. I hadn't considered that.

"And the buildings are just so tall, ze."

"It's ridiculous -ow- that humans could -ow- build anything that big."

"You haven't seen the tallest buildings in the world then, or some of the more impressive feats of human engineering." Nagato nodded. "The Great Wall of China, while not tall, was a building of such a massive scale that it's the only man-made structure visible from space."

"Okay, that's insane," Reimu said.

"I guess that's the price someone pays for living all their lives in such a small place," remarked Sakuya. "These poor girls don't get out much."

"Uhhh...hi?"

We turned, and there was Haruhi. My blood ran cold for a second, because she had shown up pretty early too, and I was hoping to get some more time with the Gensokyo girls.

Haruhi was kind of amiss on how to react here. I could see that she wanted to do either of two things - shoo these girls away, or to be a bit tactful here. She searched the Brigade's eyes for an explanation of this development.

"Oh, uh, these are my cousins."

It took everything I had to not give Koizumi a dumbfounded look. Really? We're doing the 'they're my cousins' thing? Is this all the thought you put into this?

Then again, what else can we say to justify them being here?

Pointing at the girls, he introduced them. "This is...Sakuya, Marisa, Youmu, and over there is Reimu." The miko was finishing up her float. Koizumi turned to Haruhi, smiling. "They're from the countryside, and are on summer break as well."

'Cousins from the country'! This could not get more cliched. I was actually enjoying this. This only works in manga and anime.

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot that they were coming today, so I decided to bring them along." He dropped his smile a bit. "I...I hope you're okay with this. They are family, after all."

Everyone's eyes were on Haruhi, waiting for her reaction. When she still didn't talk, and she was looking directly at me over this, I had to say something. I got up, and lead her away. "Excuse us a moment," I said to our guests.

When we were a few booths down, I turned to her. "Hey, come on. It might be fun."

"I wanted to spend time with you guys today, not..." She looked back at the table, and let out a quick sigh. Again, she was doing her best to not look too disappointed. "You know, something for us." She finally allowed her disappointment to show. "This is Mikuru's last year. This is our last summer with her." She shook her head. "After this...that's it. I wanted this day to be, you know, ours."

...I had no idea. I felt a little bad about the whole thing. Especially since she was showing me this rare side of her.

She was right. This would be the last summer we'd have with Mikuru. Just another reminder that time moves on. I mean, next year, it would be my final year. Then college. Then... the real world. My childhood was officially going to end. I'd be a legitimate adult.

That's pretty sobering, isn't it? The realization that you're going to have to grow up, that, yes, it's a great event, but you'd be leaving behind the part of your life that you've always known, to a much bigger life - your life.

I had to say something at that point, though. I couldn't leave Haruhi hanging like that.

"Just do this for Koizumi, okay? These girls don't seem that bad." I shrugged. "He made a mistake - so what? Besides, don't you owe him a bit? He's always jumping through hoops for you." I grabbed one of her hands. "Come on - it'll be all right, I think."

Am I really defending Koizumi here? Also, I really do need to get an acting award. I don't know how I keep pulling these off.

Haruhi gave me a stare, wanting to know if I was serious. A few seconds of searching my eyes, and she ended up smiling. "No, you're right. Koizumi's always doing these things for me." She closed her eyes. "Fine." She opened them as she leaned in. "But I have a punishment ready for him for dropping this on me unannounced. This was supposed to be a Brigade day."

"That's all I'm asking for." Well, minus the punishment.

...Or maybe not.

September 2nd, 2004

Nitori looked to her guest with a nervous smile, as another grumbling kappa approached the object. "You saw that, right? It worked."

The wolf woman sighed, crossing her arms. She stood there for a while, in her white armless vest and black skirt, pondering what she just saw. "Well, yeah, you turned invisible for like three seconds. And then it stopped working." She shook her head. "Was that it? I don't know why you called me here for this."

Nitori spread her arms. "Imagine, Momiji, if you were able to be invisible when you were on guard duty." She pointed at the white wolf. "Nobody could see you coming, and you'd always get the drop on intruders."

Nitori and another kappa were hard at work on the newest prototype of her stealth camo. It was another one of Nitori's secret engineering feats, and it showed promise in testing. As this was the early stage prototype, it was kind of bulky. Her friend Momiji was in the area, so Nitori called her in to show it off, and it actually worked this time.

"It's kind of unnecessary, isn't it?" asked Momiji. "Especially since I could still smell you when you were invisible."

"Of course - it's just optical camo - bending the light around the user and the object."

"Nitori, man, I don't know," the young kappa spoke from underneath the prototype. "Something's wrong here. I keep hearing a noise from down here when you turn it on. I told you from the damn trial runs."

Nitori bent down. "What are you thinking?"

"I might have to take off part of the case here and see what moving parts are hitting what." He paused. "I know I heard the clanking from down here."

"But you saw it, right? It worked! It actually worked this time!" Nitori beamed.

"This time?" Momiji snorted. "How many times have you failed?"

"More than you can count." The male kappa sighed." Yeah, but this isn't viable. People who use this thing will want to be invisible longer than that. Three seconds isn't much time to get much done. And I don't know how you expect to shrink this bulky thing down to a portable unit in a few years.

"I expect to get it done in less than two years." Nitori lit a cigarette. "You saw it. The thing works. All we gotta do is work out the kinks for thing, do some more research, and we'll be on our way to optical camouflage for everyone."

"I'm sure Miss Nitori will find a way - she is one of the most brilliant engineers I've ever come across."

The kappa underneath the prototype sat up in surprise, and ended up banging his head on the metal casing. He muttered curses. Momiji quickly grabbed her buckler shield and scimitar. Nitori whipped around, seeing the sukima there in her shop. "Ah! Miss Yakumo!" Nitori froze for a second, unsure of what to do. Eventually she gave a slight bow. "Ah, hi? Er...what can you do for...ah! I mean! What can we do for you?" Nitori was red in the face.

Yukari looked down at the feet sticking out underneath the object. "You okay down there?"

"Yeah...just...got a welt that's the size of a grape..."

Yukari nodded to the white wolf. "Miss Momiji."

The tengu nodded back, lowering her weapon. "Miss Yakumo."

The demon returned her attention to the engineering genius. "Miss Nitori, I need some information."

"Uhm...okay?"

The demon explained about the date of July 7th four years prior. She wanted to know if anything happened during July the 7th four years ago. Nitori nodded at the end of it all.

"Yeah, that's what happened."

Yukari rubbed her chin. "So everything stopped working?"

"Twelve millimeter hex." The kappa underneath reached out his hand, and Nitori passed the tool. The hand disappeared back under, and cranking noises were heard as he spoke. "Well, not really. Just anything electronic. Engines and stuff worked just fine. But it really sucked because we had to find new parts for our generators and stuff. Batteries, lights; if it needed power, it just stopped working. We had to make all new equipment from scrap. Pain in the ass, but what are you gonna do?"

"We also suffered from that." Momiji, with her arms crossed, nodded towards Youkai mountain. "A small number of electronics in the tengu village also failed that day."

"That's because most of that village cups the mountain itself, and is therefore shielded." Yukari knelt to the working kappa. "I've always wondered why you kappa use so many electronics when you live in water. It's kind of dangerous, isn't it?"

Nitori waved her hand dismissively. "Oh it isn't much trouble for us to waterproof anything electrical. Kind of necessary with our lifestyle."

"Why are you asking about this four years later?" The working kappa paused as a metal noise was heard from underneath the prototype. "We've recovered from it. Old news."

Nitori was wringing her hands, eager to get the demon moving along, but also uneager to offend her. "Is that all you needed to know? When our batteries died?"

"Have you ever heard of an EMP?"

"What's an EMP?" asked Momiji, interrupting.

"...I think so..." Nitori answered Yukari. "That's...that's an..." She paused, taking the time to answer Momiji. "An electromagnetic pulse, right, Yukari?"

Yukari stood up. "Mmm-hmm."

Now Nitori was intrigued. "Is that what hit Gensokyo that day?"

"It sure looks that way."

"Geez, no wonder our electronics fried. And I heard that even the human village was effected by it."

The male kappa stopped working. "EMP? That doesn't make any sense. Isn't that what happens when a nuke is set off?"

"...Exactly... Speaking of." Yukari stepped up to Nitori. "Do you have anything that would shield an item from such a blast? Well, not a nuclear blast. An EMP."

Nitori gave a nod. "I think so. Why?"

"I intend to... shield something." Yukari reached into a pocket and produced a coin purse. "I intend to buy some materials."

August 2nd, 2004

"It's been a while," said Sakuya, looking over the crowd.

It was already too hot to do anything else, and it was already hotter than that day after getting back from Gensokyo. We tried going to an arcade, but it was just so packed with people that were out on their first day of summer break as well. The lines for the games were staggering. I'm not kidding you here - there were at least five people around each machine, and the most I saw for one was about twenty. It was busy. We did try the crane machine though - Youmu won a little ghost plush. How fitting. Haruhi was livid that she wasn't getting anything, though, pumping in money and almost getting to the point where she was howling about the crane being unable to pick up her target. Koizumi and Asahina were busy trying to keep her quiet and not make the scene get out of hand.

I looked to Sakuya, wondering what she meant.

"It's been so long since I've seen this many people. Even when everyone in the human village turns out to a festival...it still doesn't even begin to compare to the metropolitan pockets of humanity."

"You miss this world?"

She nodded. "A part of me does. Then again what I knew of this world was being on the streets and hunting vampires." The maid sighed. "I never got to live this kind of life. You know, have a real childhood." She smiled as she leaned against a change machine. "I don't regret it. It was what I knew, it was how I lived."

"At least you'll get to enjoy yourself today."

As Youmu was the only one who had any luck with the crane machines, and we didn't want to waste all of our pocket money this early in the day - like Haruhi pretty much did, we milled about in the arcade killing time, watching others play the games, before we decided to do something else.

The heat bore down on us the instant we left. It had to be well over forty five Celsius, or a hundred Fahrenheit, by that time, so we couldn't bear being on the street for too long.

"This concrete just makes the heat worse," remarked Sakuya. She patted her forehead with a handkerchief as she looked towards the sun. "It feels like I'm being baked."

"I can see why one would intend to stay inside. This is the type of day to just stay cool." Youmu looked to the sky. "It's too bad really. It would be a perfect day for an outing if it wasn't for the blistering heat."

"I know!" Haruhi grumbled, fanning herself. "This totally ruins my plans for today."

I noticed that the heat wasn't that bad for Youmu, that she looked relatively fine. Then I understood it - she had an invisible Myon right above her head. She was beating the heat with her own cool soul.

I hope Haruhi doesn't stray too close to Youmu - she's gonna notice that cold effect.

In fact, it appeared Reimu remembered that ghosts were cold, and was keeping close to the gardener. Eventually, the other Gensokyo girls seemed to remember it as well, and crowded around Youmu. Youmu realized what they were doing and got this immensely annoyed look on her face. I gave them a raised eyebrow, shooting a glance over to Haruhi, to remind them of who they're with. Begrudgingly, the girls peeled themselves off of Youmu, but kept close.

Anyway, they were right about the day - there were just a few clouds up in the sky, and yeah, it was beautiful. It's just that the heat was too much.

Ugh. I love summer, but I could do without the days like this. Thankfully Asahina had brought enough sunscreen for all of us.

"I think I know why we came here this day," Whispered Marisa. "I don't think anyone would be getting anything done back home, ze."

The miko heard us and loudly spoke. "Yeah, can you imagine how bad it would be back home though?" asked Reimu. She was using her sundress to fan herself. "Ugh. I'd be outside in the sun sweeping by now. Even if I was inside, my shrine doesn't have air conditioning. I wouldn't be able to escape this."

That's got to be horrible for her. Having nowhere to go but just try to find a way to keep cool in her shrine? I mean, I've been to her shrine during a spring day, and it got quite warm in there. That was spring. It would have to be like an oven on a day like this.

"Shrine?" Haruhi perked up, turning to the miko.

I think everyone's heart skipped a beat, as we all stopped. Reimu paused, shooting me a quick glance. Hey, you were the one to tell her that.

"Yeah, I'm a shrine maiden where I come from."

Right, right, there should be nothing to worry about. Being a shrine maiden is quite a normal-

"So what do you do, perform exorcisms and stuff?" Haruhi bounded closer to Reimu, obviously excited. "Seal away evil spirits, perform miracles, that sort of thing?"

Someone do something! We're treading in dangerous territory!

Nagato came to the rescue. She tugged on Haruhi's shirt, and pointed at the building we were in front of. It was the movie theater we went to the previous year during the Endless Summer event. Haruhi gasped when she saw what movie was about to be playing in ten minutes.

Alien. Awesome.

Yes, Ridley Scott's 1979 classic. One of the definitive movies of the sci-fi horror genre, in every aspect, even considered one of the greatest movies of all time. From the visuals of H.R. Giger, to the acting chops of Sigourney Weaver. Everything about this movie is great. I've seen it eight times already.

In case you didn't catch on, I really like this one.

"Oh, I don't think my cousins have seen this." Koizumi nodded to Nagato as a thank you for bailing out Reimu with that. "Haruhi, would you like to see it?"

Haruhi had already forgotten what she was going to say to Reimu, and gawked at the poster for the movie. "Oh I would love to! I've never had the chance to see it in the theater." Haruhi gasped again. "Oh, this is a dubbed digital remaster! That's it - we have to watch this now!" She grabbed me and we went up to the box office.

I had no objections, especially if it meant we would get out of this heat.

I noticed Youmu, still clutching her plush, stare tentatively at the poster. "Uhm...what kind of movie is this?" She actually sounded really concerned about this. Nobody answered her, however.

"Well?" I turned to Haruhi, who stood there, looking at me. She motioned to the teller. "Nine tickets to Alien." She then gave me a nod.

"What?"

"Pay for them."

Oh you gotta be kidding me. The look on my face showed my reaction to that.

Haruhi frowned and whisper-shouted at me. "Come on, Kyon, don't be stingy!"

I whisper-shouted back. "I don't have the money for this! I never expected to pay tickets for nine people!" I mean, I wouldn't mind it for these girls, but I didn't have the money for that! "Just who do you think I am? I'm not rich!"

"Don't be rude, Kyon! Cough it up!"

"You cough it up!"

She grabbed my shirt and brought me closer. "I had to pay for everything at the cafe!"

"It was your fault you showed up late!"

She blinked, and got really angry. "That's not my fault! You guys rush to these places now so you don't have to pay! I should have gotten up really early!"

Koizumi gently separated us. 'It's okay. I've got this."

Stop looking so smug when you say that.

Haruhi quickly gave me a punch in the arm. Ow!

After we got our tickets, and hit the concessions (with Reimu asking if they serve more root beer floats and ending up disappointed), we found the theater itself to have few people. And we got lucky - prime real estate. Oh yes, perfect seats. Middle of the theater, so you can see the entire screen without moving your head to a side. I was ready for this. Digital remaster, surround sound, and perfect seats. This was gonna be awesome.

"This is one of my favorite movies." I turned to the Gensokyo girls, grinning. We had just left the concession stand. "You guys are in for a treat. A lot of people consider this being one of the greatest movies of all time."

"Really?" Sakuya raised an eyebrow. "All right. I'll hold you to that."

Making sure Haruhi was out of ear shot, I asked them. "Have you seen movies before?"

Youmu and Sakuya both nodded. Reimu and Marisa could only say that they heard of them.

"Milady owns a projector in the theater on the grounds."

I stared at her. "Wait, you have a theater?"

She nodded. "You never went there?"

I shook my head, wondering how big that mansion really was, and then I turned to Youmu.

"Ah, Lady Yukari brings over a TV and a movie player every now and then, so yeah, I've seen them." She paused, and timidly shifted. "What kind of movie is this again?"

She looked really worried. A thought crossed my mind. "It's a sci-fi horror movie. A classic."

Youmu turned even paler, eyes widening. "Ah...ah...a horror movie?"

I stopped. The way she was acting gave me a little concern. "Is that a problem?"

"...No..."

"It's just a movie."

She clutched her plush harder. "...I know..."

I didn't know whether to push it, but...come on. This is a tough girl, right? She didn't say anything else, and I realized something. They may not know Sci-Fi.

"This is Sci-Fi, so uh... You do know what that means, right? I have to ask, otherwise you'll be confused." Reimu was the only one who appeared to not know, so I continued. "This is fictional advanced technology, usually set in the future. Just a heads up."

She nodded, though I don't think Reimu completely understood it. Marisa would be the one to fill her in on that. That's when we got into the theater proper.

By the way, I took this time to drop an ice cube from my drink down the back of Haruhi's shirt as payback for the punch. She yelped, turned around, and glared at me. I merely smirked at her.

"You two must be really close," remarked a passing Sakuya. I easily saw the grin on her face over that.

Yeah, our relationship has gotten us closer to the point where I could...uh...theoretically get away with this type of stuff. The Haruhi I initially met wouldn't have put up with it.

I, of course, sat with Haruhi, and Koizumi was on the other side. The brigade took up five seats in the row, and the Gensokyo girls were right behind us - Marisa seated right behind me. She was obviously miffed when Koizumi sat next to me, I guess blocking her from trying anything.

Smart, actually. I think that Marisa would have tried something despite Haruhi being right there.

Before anything else, I leaned over to Haruhi. "Truce for the movie?" I was fearing payback for my payback, and I didn't want to be on guard during the film. I knew her. The way she had glared told me she was going to try something.

She appeared to think it over, but thankfully she chose enjoyment over revenge. "I'm not gonna do anything during this movie."

Youmu started to look worried. "Uhm...this isn't going to be scary, is it?"

"Youmu, this is a sci-fi horror movie." Youmu...are you scared?

She just got really pale when she heard that. "...oh..." She sank into her seat, her body tensing up. Part of me started to regret doing this on her behalf, with the way she was acting. She kept quiet, however.

The movie started, and I allowed myself to relax.

During the time when the Nostromo landed, on the alien planet, and the crew members were exploring the alien ship, I heard a quivering, someone making small noises. I looked to where Asahina was, and sure enough, she was scared. But I kept hearing it from elsewhere. I casually looked over to Youmu... and she was shaking like a leaf. She was sitting in her seat with her knees up, arms around her legs, wide eyed at the screen. She looked absolutely terrified.

Oh my God she really is scared.

I nudged Koizumi, who shrugged when he noticed it too.

Reimu leaned close to the gardener. "Youmu, are you okay? Because you looked scared."

"I'm...I'm fine."

Marisa noticed that I was looking at them. "Kyon, you're not gonna believe this, ze, but Youmu is a scaredy cat."

"I am not!"

Someone from a few rows behind shushed us.

Sakuya smirked. "You're scared of monsters and ghosts."

...what?! But...she's half ghost.

I think Sakuya knew what I was thinking, because she mouthed "I know."

Huh. Really? This girl who can slice an opponent into ribbons is this timid? I've seen this girl cut up youkai without a second thought. Man that really explains that samurai mode you go into and the metaphorical mask. Youmu really is a tale in duality.

I don't know who was more timid - Youmu or Asahina. But we were well into the movie, so there was no turning back at that point.

September 3rd, 2004

"You do know the rules, right?" Ran stepped closer. "You know what you're doing? Modifying the TPDD is against Miss Asahina's advice. She said it might cause problems."

Yukari was hunched over at a table, working on the time travel device she had. "I know it might, but I'm about to try something very risky, Ran. If I go back to that time, I risk frying the time traveling device if it gets hit with the EMP, and I'll be stuck there. This does not look shielded to survive such a blast. If I didn't do this, it would mean I'll have to show up a few seconds after the EMP has dispersed. That means that whatever caused this may get away." Yukari began to reassemble the device. "According to the kappa, this should be the material needed to shield it from the blast. I've also went through the wiring and coated them in that plastic she gave me. I'll be able to actually be there at ground zero without any fear."

"Getting stuck back in the past is not an option, I take it."

Yukari grinned to her servant. "Not unless you want to retroactively serve another me in the past four years."

"Right." Ran gave a nod, a somber look on her face. "So it isn't an option."

"But even with this protection, this is going to be a delicate situation, especially since I have this item. If I were attacked and were to lose it... Well, I could cheat, but it'd be risky. I could show up really early to set up, and hide the device in my realm so it won't be effected by the blast, making this all moot, but I want to keep my footprint as minimal as I can. I can only show up close to the event - I can't even be there for a full minute. If my younger self gets curious that I put something in our realm, it might cause trouble, or even a paradox."

"And of course that would defeat the purpose of you trying to keep Gensokyo alive."

Yukari smiled. "Yes, quite. I don't want to risk anything here. If I mishandle this, I'm going to be spending a very boring four years avoiding the past me." Yukari shook her head. "No, the best option would be to show up, quickly observe, and leave. Whatever happened has happened. This is just going to be purely a recon mission. So that means I can't interact or do anything when there." She finished with the device, and turned to her servant, expecting something. "So..."

Ran bowed. "Ah, right." The kitsune brought out some notes. "Let's see...Hakurei and Kirisame should be busy that day. Even if they got curious, it would take them at least several minutes to investigate, but due to the blast, someone is going to be investigating. I estimate...you might just have a thirty second window after the event before anyone nearby could reach you. Less if a tengu is the one investigating, especially Aya...but thirty seconds minimum for just about everything else."

"So I do have less than a minute, right?"

Ran furrowed her brow as she flipped a few pages. "Yes, if you plan on only getting there fifteen seconds before the event, you'll have the thirty after - you need to get out of there before forty six seconds pass. Again...Aya would be a huge problem." Ran shook her head. "I don't have her schedule for that day."

"She really is more trouble than she's worth at times."

"She's the one I'm worried about for this. We don't need her snapping photos of you and causing a ruckus with your past self. Hopefully she's asleep or otherwise busy, otherwise she'll be right on you. However, there is an even bigger problem. If you're saying that the past was changed, then we Yakumos might be investigating this as well, even though I don't remember the event clearly."

Yukari sighed. "Right. I have to avoid my other self at all costs."

Ran lead her master to a table with a map of Gensokyo, which Chen had set out. "Going over the information you provided, it seems Genbu Marsh got hit with that EMP harder than any other location, which means it was on that side of Youkai mountain, but also enough to where the human village could be affected by it. The Scarlet Devil Mansion got hit too, but they didn't have much in the way of electronics back then. And...the Tengu village got it, but only a certain portion." Ran pointed to a certain location. "If I had to guess, it should be right here, about..." Ran paused, taking the time to write it down on a notepad, calculating it. "About a hundred meters into the sky, give or take five meters. I can not get it any more accurate than that. And the best place for you to set up would be..." Ran tapped on a point of the map, on Youkai Mountain. "Here, at this vacant plot."

"Isn't that the one you're saving for that new shrine?" asked Chen. She got a nod in return.

Yukari was always pleased with the efficiency and strategy of her servant, but she was occupied with something else - the location of the event itself. "I'll be damned." Yukari stared at the map, a cold sweat breaking out. "That's the location of the blowhole."

August 2nd, 2004

Youmu appeared traumatized. She was silent after the movie. This awesome butt-kicking badass samurai girl...was reduced to this. She is just so vulnerable at times that it just makes her so cute.

"It wasn't that scary, was it?" It was up to Koizumi to be the comforter, as he was her 'cousin'.

Youmu didn't answer.

"Well, regardless, that was awesome." Sakuya was obviously satisfied with it. "It kept up the tension throughout the movie, and it solved a problem I have with most western horror stories."

"Right," Reimu nodded. "Like 'why don't they just leave'? They couldn't leave - they were in space."

Youmu just sighed.

"Aw come on, don't be such a downer, ze. You gotta admit, that movie was awesome." Marisa quickly dropped her smile. "Though I do have an issue with it. That was horrible."

"What was?"

"That alien thing. That...weird spiderish thing. The one that laid an egg inside of that guy."

"The face hugger?" Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "You talking about the face hugger?"

"It's not a face hugger. It's...nasty."

"How so?"

"Well...it lays its stuff in your chest, right?"

"Yeah."

"And a baby pops out, right?"

What is she getting at?

"Doesn't that mean...it sticks its...you know...down your throat?"

It took us a few seconds to realize what Marisa was saying. You know, I've never thought of it that way before. And looking back on it now, I wish I never did.

Maybe that's why I never made the mental connection of how that worked. Because when you think of it, you don't want to know how it worked. I've seen that movie multiple times, and my mind must have put up some sort of mental block on that process, because I never gave it much thought. "Face Hugger gets you, you die from a chest bursting alien." That's how I viewed it. How it came to get in your chest...again, I never gave it much thought.

But I was then.

"Oh...oh God! That's horrible!"

"Yeah, as if dying by having your chest burst open isn't bad enough, ze. You also get a face and throat full of alien wang as it pours its liquid down your gullet."

I almost gagged right then and there. Marisa, I did not need that image in my head! Unfortunately for me, my brain picked that time to try to fathom the taste of that stuff going down why am I thinking of that?! What the hell is wrong with me?!

That's...that's nasty! Ugh!

That's...there is no other word to describe that than 'horrible'. Just horrible. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

And while I was distracted by that, Haruhi put the popcorn bucket over my head, which meant I had whatever popcorn she didn't finish as well as unpopped kernels and kernel shards sticking to my hair and going down my shirt. It also meant I would smell of popcorn butter for the rest of the day. The act surprised me, so I stood there with it on for a few seconds before I quickly shoved it off. I glared at her, to which she winked and gave me a mischievous smile. When I smiled back, I could see her eyes sparkle. She knew.

Oh it's on.

July 7th, 2000 - "The Beginning of Time"

Yukari's heart was in her throat. It had been a while since she felt this excitement and tension.

At least this still works, I think. The lights are still on for the thing.

Yukari had arrived fifteen seconds before the event, on a plot of unused land up Youkai Mountain. Well, unused for her time, and this time. She picked that land since nobody had any business to be there. She smiled as she thought about the goddess who was bidding for it, and the shrine that was planned to be brought there.

It will certainly make things interesting. Okay, first things first, I need to do what I came to do.

Quickly taking note where the blowhole would be, she knelt behind a tree, watching the point from which Ran said the event would originate. She knew that as soon as it happened, she had thirty seconds. She also had a high speed video camera that was also shielded - it cost her a lot, but hopefully it would do the job the kappa said it would. She aimed it at the point, making sure the shot was wide enough to handle the five meter margin of error Ran gave.

Four...three...two...one...and-

A bright flash occurred for a split second, lighting up the sky like daylight. It was so intense, that Yukari had to quickly shield her eyes or risk blindness. In fact, she was affected by it, and lost her sight for a few seconds.

Damn it! I didn't anticipate this!

She rubbed her eyes, knowing that she had less than half a minute before someone would show up. Grabbing the camera, went up into the air, her sight returning to her quickly, and searched. She had definitely felt a strong presence, but it wasn't anything she could have fathomed.

Whatever had done that was long gone. And it gave Yukari chills.

I've never felt anything like that before. The scary part that it almost felt like her own power. Like it was a partial Yukari. It was just...different. Full of sorrow, anger, hatred, and rage. It was almost overwhelming as the light itself. She also felt something else - helplessness.

Whatever it was, it was scary, and powerful. Way more powerful than even Yukari. Might even surpass the Yama with that power.

But all of that was gone just as quick as the flash of light. Yukari didn't know where to look, and sighed. She felt grateful for Ran suggesting a camera - it obviously was the wise choice.

Okay. This is serious. Also, my time is up. Yukari could already sense others making their way to her location. Quickly making her way back to the plot of land, she hid behind the tree and activated the time travel device to go back home.

She was right. There was another her, but she never felt that level of power when she sensed the other Yukari.

Something was definitely amiss.

August 2nd, 2004

We wandered for a bit, looking for a place to eat, when Koizumi pointed out that we were near a Pizza Hut, and that we should have some. Considering how expensive pizza is here in Japan, I told him he was a bit crazy (not exactly what I said, but you get the picture), but he insisted. He even insisted on paying, which made me take back what I said.

That organization of his must pay well. Pizza here is not cheap, especially if it's delivered.

We walked in, and it was packed. Thankfully, or luckily, I don't know, there were two tables next to each other that were big enough to accommodate all of us. We got our table, and Koizumi went up to order. Marisa was especially happy, as the special that day was a mushroom-lovers pizza. All kinds of mushrooms - button, shiitake, and the like, packed onto a large pizza. Koizumi ordered two, one for the S.O.S. Brigade, and one for the Gensokyo girls.

We spent the time waiting for the food listening to Reimu going over a miko's duties again, and Haruhi listening to every word with such zeal. Haruhi had reignited her conversation with the miko about her shrine duties.

When did Haruhi get so obsessed with shrine maidens? No seriously, that was a good question. At least Reimu knew enough to not let on what she really did, and at least Haurhi didn't pester her with-

"So you ever perform any exorcisms?"

Damn it all.

Reimu's face went blank for a quick second before she smiled again. In that second, Reimu eyes went to Koizumi, as if asking "what should I do?" I guess Reimu came up with an answer pretty quickly. Meanwhile, Haruhi hadn't thrown in that question as a throwaway - she was genuinely interested in hearing the answer. Haruhi's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"Why...yes, I have been asked to perform exorcisms, and I've performed them to the best of my ability."

Tread lightly here, Reimu. Don't need to feed her imagination any more than it already has been. I didn't want to wake up the next day and find out that the whole city needed exorcisms.

Although if I was a betting man, I'd guess her imagination would only make even more beautiful girls. Case in point, the four girls of Gensokyo before me. But I'm getting sidetracked here.

"Spirits do exist! What kind of spirits do you get rid of?" Haruhi had moved closer to Reimu. "Evil? Just normal spirits?"

"I do believe in both good and evil spirits in this world. It's what I deal in after all, isn't it?"

"So what do you do...ah...Sakuya, right?"

Sakuya was caught off guard - Haruhi had focused on Reimu for so long, that nobody expected this sudden shift. "Ah...domestic. I'm a maid."

Well, Sakuya isn't lying.

"Really? A maid?" Haruhi put her arm around Mikuru. "The Brigade has their own maid-slash-mascot right here!" Haruhi used her free hand to rub her chin. "I'm trying to picture you right now as a maid..." Getting up, and walking around, Haruhi squinted, tilting her head, looking at Sakuya from different angles. Mind you, Haruhi still had her arm around Asahina. "Yeah...yeah that look does totally look good on you!"

You have no idea.

"Maybe we can have some sort of maid contest, to see who is the better maid!"

Mikuru slowly removed Haruhi's arm. "Uhm...I think Miss Sakuya would defeat me easily."

Haruhi then turned her attention to Youmu, silently staring at the half ghost. Konpaku just blinked for a few seconds before she realized she had to say something.

"I know I may look like this, but I'm a..." Youmu paused. "I'm a little older than I look, actually."

How old is Youmu anyway? She said she was 'at least three times' as old as Sakuya. So that makes her, what, over sixty? Well, in reality, considering how old some of the youkai are in Gensokyo, Youmu is still pretty young in comparison. The youngest youkai would have to be Alice, right? She's our age and she force-turned herself into a youkai.

"But I work as a gardener."

"Really?" Haruhi didn't appear to be interested in that, but she continued. "I bet you're glad you're out of this heat, aren't you?"

That would be true, if Gensokyo and Hakugyokorou shared the same weather. I was pretty sure that they didn't. Maybe the same season, but that was it, from my experience anyway.

Marisa didn't even bother waiting for Haruhi to speak - "I just do a lot of things. Whatever interests me."

Then we got the pizzas. Of course, Marisa loved it, and I found it better than I thought it would. Truth be told, I have never had so many mushrooms on pizza, and found it quite tasty.

"I need to learn how to make pizzas. Yuyu..." Youmu paused, catching herself. "Er...my family would love it."

We all shot her a glance. Haruhi didn't notice that rise in tension right there, as she was still enjoying her slice. She spoke after finishing it.

"Shouldn't be too hard, Youmu. Just got to get a stone oven, the right dough, sauce, cheese, and whatever you can put on it."

"Like what?"

"Just whatever. Pizza can have just about anything on it and still be called pizza."

"Ew, ze." Marisa was looking over at the ingredients board. "They can put pineapple on pizza? That's just nasty."

Reimu was of course enjoying this. "I think anything can be on a pizza. Crispy on the bottom, greasy, a bit of fluffiness inside, the sauce has a small kick to it, and the cheese. Oh the cheese. I've never had this type before. I'm in love with this stuff!"

I sat back, looking at all of them. I don't know what I expected from a visit like this. Maybe a part of me wanted something exceptionally fantastical to happen, but this was fine too. That despite all their powers, they are still human beings. Normal people, who happen to have paranormal powers and upbringings, who rise up to do extraordinary things.

This really was nice. All of us, with our connections to each other, are able to just relax and be normal, even if for just one night.

I'm perfectly happy with this outcome.

September 4th, 2004

"Okay, so this is it?" asked Yukari.

"Best I could do." Nitori didn't take her eyes off the monitor. "It didn't take me long to figure out this program, but I'm kinda still new with computers. Gensokyo has not gotten too many of those, well, not enough for me to really mess with them. Got my hands on a few, but not this model. I don't think I was able to use this software to the best of its abilities."

"You're the best we got, Kawashiro."

Yukari had returned from the past with the footage, but even looking at the recorded video, it wasn't clear what had come through. It was just a bright flash. The Yakumos didn't know where to proceed with this, until Ran suggested using computer programs to clean up the video.

The demon was still trying to catch up with these computers - in her opinion, it was always important to stay current with human technology. But the kappa had already proven to be pretty proficient, and already better than Yukari could have been. Nitori was the tech genius of Gensokyo, and she kept proving it. Yukari had given the kappa the video, and the equipment to clean it up to see if anything could be recovered. Within the day, the kappa had called back, and there they were.

"I just gotta ask - what exactly is going on?" When the Yakumos remained silent, the kappa sighed and spun in her chair to face them. "Look. I-I know you're paying me well, but I gotta ask, because this stuff is scaring me." Nitori crossed her arms. "I'd like to be in the know."

"It's not for you to-"

Nitori hovered her finger over the delete key.

Yukari paused, before her eyes went pitch black. "You sure you want to do that?"

Nitori cringed, but kept steadfast. "I saw it, okay?" She looked scared, but not at the current situation. "I had to in order to contact you guys. I saw what you were looking for. I need to know how bad this is."

"You will ask no such thing from Lady Yukari," Ran began to chastise. "You are in no position-"

"Ran." Yukari's eyes returned to normal. Her shoulders sagged. "Ran, it's okay." Yukari stepped up to the kappa. "You're not going to believe what I have to say."

"Try me."

Yukari told her what was going on, the implications, time travel, everything. At the end of it, Nitori's jaw was hanging open.

"So...the whole Haruhi thing is for real? Aya's imagination isn't acting up?"

"You were there at the Scarlet Devil Mansion for most of these events. You saw it, you were there. How could you not know what was going on?"

"I kept to myself. I-I got paid and I kept to myself," Nitori squeaked. "A-and Aya is Aya. Most of the stuff she prints out is pure garbage."

Yukari sighed. "Look. The reason why I'm telling you this is because you will be a part of the Underground incident. Like it or not, you're going to be thrown into the deep end of all of this. Speaking of which, I'll rely on you to ensure they are properly equipped for that."

"Do you realize-"

"You'll be well compensated for your time, of course." Yukari gestured to the monitor. "Now, if you will? The reason why we're all here?"

Nitori tentatively stared at Yukari, unsure of what to say, before she relented. Hitting a few more keys, she backed away from the monitor to give her guests a better view. "That's it. I ran it through all the filters I could, done everything I could with all the settings, cleaned it up, re-enhanced, ran it through the filters again, but the bright light for the most part damaged the camera. It can't get clearer than this."

On the monitor, a blurry, humanoid-looking figure made of pure light was seen. Yukari leaned closer, trying to see any distinguishing features - but there were none. "By the Gods. There's someone in that."

"For about half a second, that thing appears, and it appears that it does nothing. But the next half..." Nitori pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. "The next half, this happens."

It was a Yukari portal, clear as day. It had the ribbons, but the eyes were shut. The rest of the second was the being going into the portal, and it closed up.

"For one entire second, that thing just appears out of nowhere, as if it popped into existence, then it escapes." Nitori pointed at the screen. "Just, totally out of nowhere. It doesn't originate from anything, it just begins its existence, and it coincides with the time you mentioned."

"The beginning of time," Yukari mumbled to herself. "I was able to go back a bit further before that, but that being matches the precise time when Haruhi and Sasaki got their powers."

"Yeah, but that's not the insane part." Nitori made the program go back to when the person popped into existence. "See there? The distortions." She pointed in a circle surrounding the person - obvious 'ripples' could be seen, almost as if reality itself was water. "For the half a second it just floats there, it sends out those ripples." Nitori went frame by frame, showing that it didn't stop. Thousands upon thousands of ripples were in each shot, originating from this creature. "Then when it's done, it escapes into that portal. The whole process took exactly one second to do." Nitori let out a sigh, and sank back into her chair looking immensely tired as she rubbed her eyes. "I don't know what the hell that thing is, but it scares me. That has got to be pure energy."

Yukari stood there, thoughtfully rubbing her chin. Ran moved next to her. "Lady Yukari? What do you think it is? And what do you think it did?"

The demon remained silent, just staring at the frozen frame of the being.

"Lady Yukari?"

"...I don't know. I just don't know any more. I had thought it was simply another me, but...that? I don't know." She shook her head. "I had hoped to be wrong. By the gods, I had hoped to be wrong. But something came into our world and may have changed reality." She turned to Nitori, extending her hand. "Please keep quiet on this, and I'll need the data back."

Nitori complied. "So what now?"

"Now?" Yukari gave a slight shrug. "I don't know. I just don't know. I don't know where to go from here."

"What about the interfaces?"

"...Yes...yes that would be wise. I'll have to contact Nagato."

August 2nd, 2004

"That was amazing! You have such a great voice!" Haruhi put her arm around the ghost, and ruffled her hair. "You little artist! What the hell is a singer like you doing wasting your time tending to flowers?"

Youmu quickly got out of Haruhi's grip, readjusting her hair and hairband. "It's nothing, really," she said, blushing. "I just...I just do, I guess. I mean, I just have that voice. I have no problem being a gardener."

We had come out of a karaoke bar, and the sun had already set by then. Time really flew, faster than I thought it would. I had considered that the Gensokyo girls would have a lot of issues with it, in the way that they never heard most of these songs, and I was correct for the most part. The whole time in there, Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya all had trouble with the songs, especially Reimu. She uh...how do I put this?

Reimu doesn't quite have the voice for singing. And if she did, she was hiding it really well.

But anyways, these were modern songs, so they had real trouble singing to them. However, Youmu just simply shined. At first, Haruhi pushed Youmu into singing, since she was so timid (kind of a sadistic side of Haruhi showing there), but Youmu just blew us all away with her performance.

Yuyuko was right. Considering she comes from the afterlife realm of artists, I guess it was safe to say that Youmu is an artist in her own right.

Haruhi kept pushing her to keep going. Youmu sang pop hits, theme songs, obscure songs, all perfectly until our time was up. The end of our time was capped with Youmu acing 'Zankoku no Tenshi no Teze', the Neon Genesis Evangelion theme. All of us were singing along with her.

We had a blast. The perfect end to such a day.

Mikuru said that she had to get home, so our outing had to end. I didn't get to say the goodbye I wanted to the Gensokyo girls, though they each said that they had a wonderful time. I mean, that's all I could ask for, right? But yes, they would have to leave.

I don't know what else I could have asked for. They visited us, nothing weird happened, and we had a fun time. We did what we set out to do. It was nice.

Haruhi and I went home together. Not a block away from where we separated from the group, Haruhi turned to me.

"You know...I think that Marisa likes you."

I stopped. For a second, I struggled to speak, but I said "Uh...what do you mean?"

Haruhi had a coy smile on her face. "I saw her. The way she was eyeing you." She then remained silent, waiting for my response.

Why are you putting me in this minefield situation? Dammit, why do my social interactions have world breaking consequences if I screw them up?!

"I didn't notice." That didn't seem to appease Haruhi, so I just relented. "She seems nice, I guess."

Haruhi shook her head. "If I didn't know any better, I swear she was longing for you, for like a while now, and not just today." Haruhi narrowed her eyes - I could see a hint of jealousy in them. "I mean, it's not like you met her before, right?"

"Well, no. I never seen her before today," I lied. "And Koizumi said that they were from the Nagano prefecture, I think?" Koizumi did say that at the cafe. I looked into her eyes, and decided to push back. "You're not jealous, are you?"

Haruhi's eyes widened, and she blushed for a second. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm not - ah!"

I grabbed her around the waist with one arm and brought her closer - I was still carrying a cup from the karaoke bar. I could smell the slight sweat on her due to how hot it still was that day. I could feel her breath on me. "I can't believe you're such a jealous girlfriend," I said, smirking. "I mean, what guy in their right mind would leave you?"

Haruhi had put her hands up on my chest to push me away, but she just kind of left them there. She stared up at me, looking so vulnerable.

I could see it in her eyes. You really are jealous. You really are worried that I could leave you.

...kind of like the way she's worried about the Brigade. Mikuru is going to leave at the end of the year. Things are going to change - people will leave in your life. The shift out of high school is a pretty big shift.

I told her as such, about Mikuru. "You really are worried, aren't you?"

She sighed. "I just...things change. I have such a great time with you all, and part of me doesn't want any of that to change."

Please don't do that again. The last time you had that feeling, we repeated summer endlessly.

She put her forehead on my chest. "Starting the Brigade...I didn't find what I wanted to find...but I found you guys," she softly spoke. "We've made so many memories together. And now Mikuru is getting ready to leave us. It really is coming to an end. It's not fair. It sucks." She sighed into my chest. "I guess that's life though."

This really is a rare side of you.

"I hear you," I said, patting her head. "I want some things to never change too." I paused, and a grin formed on my face. "But she does seem nice enough, you know? Maybe I could have her as my girlfriend under different circumstances."

Haruhi brought her head up quickly, wide-eyed, until she saw my grin. Before she could unleash a tirade, I kissed her.

We held each other during that long kiss, and I swear the world seemed to stand still.

I know this shouldn't have been on my mind, but it was tough to say who was the better kisser. I had more with Haruhi, obviously, but I guess since ones with Marisa were so rare in comparison, that they were elevated to that level.

Ah, this shouldn't be the type of thought I should be having while kissing my girlfriend.

After breaking the kiss and the embrace, Haruhi gave me a sharp shove. "Jerk." She was still miffed about my declaration of a theoretical attachment to another girl. "I ought to give you a punishment for that."

I began to pass her. "What, like this?" I said as I poured the contents of my cup (it was just ice water) down her back, and I took off in full sprint. Payback for the payback for the payback, and I had caught her when her guard was finally down.

She chased me down a few blocks for that one.

But she's right. These cherished moments are ones that you wish never ended. Moments like these make the hardships worth it. And the knowledge that you might never experience moments like them again due to changes in life is kind of heartbreaking.

Again, that's life. No changing that.

Now, the meeting of the shinigami Komachi Onozuka just kind of happened. It was out of nowhere, and just as quick, she was gone. I also got a taste of her power, and understood how powerful she was, as did Meiling, who was also present there. Even though it wasn't that long ago, I forget why I went out there to talk to Meiling. For the life of me, I can't remember. I guess because the event was so jarring that it changed the situation.

July 16th, 2004

"Hey, Meiling!"

Meiling was at her usual post of the gate, propped up, by the way, though not her usual stance. She was looking off to the left, at something.

I wasn't sure if she heard me, so I spoke up. "Meiling?"

"Shh!"

She motioned me to get over where I was, and to be quiet. I did as such, and when I got near, she pointed out.

"There's something there. By the lake."

"'Something'?"

Sure enough, there was a woman sitting there by the lake, looking out to it. She had two ponytails in her shoulder-length red hair, and was wearing a white dress with a blue vest over top. But the most prominent thing about her was the weapon that was propped up against her.

A scythe.

"Who is she?"

"Don't know kid. Don't even know what she is. I've never seen anything like her."

A bit annoyed, I raised an eyebrow at Meiling. "You know, maybe I lack the 'youkai-vision' or whatever you girls have to tell each other apart, but she looks like a normal human to me."

"Heh. Yeah that's true. But for me to explain it would be difficult. I've just never seen anything like her. Take my word for it - she's definitely something. She arrived about an hour ago and has just been sitting there."

"Have you tried calling out to her?"

"First off, I don't know what she is, again. And second, she's not trying to get in my yard, so I really couldn't care."

I turned to the guard. "You obviously care enough to call me over to look at her."

Meiling shot me an annoyed glance. Then when she returned her attention to the person, her eyes widened. My eyes followed, and I saw that the woman wasn't there any more.

Where'd she go?

"You two do know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back, right?"

We turned around, Meiling getting into a fighting stance - the woman was right there at the fountain, sitting on its edge.

That was quick, almost instantaneous. The woman herself...Wow. Very beautiful. And her body is...perfect. Just staring at her was making my...well, let's just say it was making my passion go through the roof. The woman easily surpassed Meiling's and Adult Asahina's bust sizes, which was no small feat itself. Curves in all the right places, smooth legs. This was a woman. The definition of a woman guys would come up with in their heads to fantasize about.

She also had an obi belt with a coin tied into it that I didn't see until that point. And with her, along with her scythe, was a small formless ghost, kind of like Myon, but again, smaller.

Meiling's fists tightened, and I could feel that she was angry that someone had dared to step into the yard uninvited. The woman just yawned, either not impressed or caring about Meiling's disapproval of the situation.

"You have five seconds to get off this property before I tear-"

The woman had gotten up, and with a single step, ended up at Meiling's side. The Scythe was near Meiling's neck, and it might have gone through if Meiling didn't catch it. I could see Meiling's arms struggling to keep it from cutting into her.

What the hell?!

It was the weirdest thing. It wasn't like she teleported there. It was as if the area around her "rubber-banded", bringing her closer. It looked like some special effect from a movie...off the top of my head, think "Matrix". She had closed the distance instantly and without much effort on her part.

Yeah, pretty much like what Suou did. Almost.

The woman smiled. "Oh I'd like to see you try against me."

The woman then moved her scythe away, and took another step to a few meters away from us. She just stood there, seemingly amused by this. Meiling looked a bit flustered at this new person, but she still kept her fighting stance.

Already I knew this woman was powerful, that she was beyond either of us. The way she was able to just move was insane.

"If you wanna go, we'll go," said Meiling. She shot a glance at me before returning her attention to this woman. "But let him get safely inside."

I appreciated the thought, but I kept staring at the scythe. Yeah, I was scared, but part of me had to know. I just had to know who this new person was. A thought popped into my mind. "What are you? Or, who are you? Okay, well, both."

This can't be...this just can't be a... I just couldn't get it out of my head what this woman could be. It brought fear, but also fascination. I mean...could this actually be-?

She gave a slight bow. "My name is Komachi Onozuka. I am a shinigami."

Death. This is Death. And what a body Death had. An actual physical embodiment of Death. What a revelation. And again, what a body. I still can't get her physique out of my mind.

Meiling appeared to keep her composure even after hearing this. "What business do you have here, shinigami?"

"Oh, business? I have no business right now. I'm just..." Komachi yawned and stretched. I realized something - she wasn't yawning out of dismissal of who was in front of her. She appeared tired. She's just lazy. "I'm just kinda on break." Her eyes narrowed. "Then I heard you two talking about me. Like I said, it's rude." She noticed me eyeing the ghost she had with her. Her eyes brightened up. "Oh, her? Yeah, this poor girl." Komachi caressed the ghost. "Got ate last night, it seems. I found her soul wandering about. Kinda broke my heart, you know."

...Is that the girl then? Was that Chitose? I had no reason to believe otherwise.

Komachi didn't make another move - the earlier 'attack' just appeared to show her level of power and superiority over us. She just stared at us, smiling an assured smile. And yes, I know Meiling is an amazing fighter, but to fight against Death herself? That would be suicide in every sense of the word.

"If you wanna make the first move, I'll let you amuse me for a while."

Meiling had not changed her stance - she was still ready in case Komachi tried something. "You're boring, shinigami."

Meiling, are you trying to get killed? Of all the times for someone from Gensokyo to get antagonizing, you gotta do it with a shinigami?!

If Komachi took offense to it, she didn't show it. In fact, her smile got even bigger. She then slowly (and normally) made her way to us, stopping about a meter away.

She just had this calm air about her, like she didn't have a care in the world. It was kind of soothing. I didn't notice that Komachi was staring directly at me. It was as if she was staring into my soul - and who knows, maybe she was.

"Huh. Interesting." She showed a slight interest after a while. She looked back to the SDM itself. "Very interesting." She let out another yawn, and returned her attention to us. "You might call me boring, but it's just that nobody can really excite me or get my blood pumping." She grinned a maniacal grin at us, her eyes going pitch black - she went youkai. "Besides, mortals, you'd be bored too if you did what I did."

She then closed her eyes and reopened them, back to normal. "I'm sorry, I gave you my name, and I don't know yours."

Since Meiling didn't appear to be very friendly at the moment, I gave Komachi the name of the guard's.

"His name is Kyon." Meiling said before I could say mine.

Dammit Meiling!

"Kyon, is it?" Komachi slowly nodded. "I'll have to remember that."

"Why, I'm not on any of your immediate lists, am I?" Because I would really not to be on such a thing.

Her eyes widened a bit. "What? Oh, no. No, I think you misunderstand. I'm not a proper proper shinigami. I don't actively hunt down souls. I was demoted to Sanzu ferrywoman a long time ago." I guess she knew what I was thinking, because she nodded at me, saying, "Yes, I'm the last thing you see right before you're judged." She then slowly...and sultrily raised her arms, to let me see her body. "Great, isn't it?"

I...could not disagree with her. She has the biggest bust I've ever personally seen. Her cup size was way above a mere 'D'.

And demoted for being lazy? Really? Well, the more I looked at her, the more believable such a thing seemed. Like I stated, she seemed really laid back, more so than Reimu was at her shrine. She really did have a calming personality. And with an ability like hers, this shinigami wouldn't have to put much effort into doing anything. It's like she could control distance itself. Which, by the way, actually turned out to be the case, I'd later learn.

"Hey, teasing him with a body is my job."

Dammit Meiling!

Komachi chuckled, as did Meiling, who was easing her stance. Yes, this woman didn't feel like a threat, though I felt she was a different kind of threat. A teasing, laid back one.

"So...you're not a real shinigami?"

"Oh I was the original Death, but I got busted down for being too lazy." She stretched again. "Really, it was because I was too good at my job."

Well, with that, of course it would be easy for you. You'd cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Nobody could escape you. Meiling's reflexes solely kept her from being sliced open by that weapon.

"I just came to Gensokyo to take in the sights, take a break, maybe catch a quick nap." She then referenced to the little ghost. "But then I met her, and she was talking to me for the past thirty minutes, so...here I am." Komachi shrugged. "Ah well, I get to bring back a soul, so I don't think I'll get into too much trouble."

"You've been sitting there for an hour." Meiling said, arms crossed.

Komachi's eyes widened. "Wait what." She turned to the clock tower the SDM had, and her body tensed. "Aw crap! I'm gonna get yelled at for sure!"

The next instant, she moved, going past us, and out of our view. And just like that, she was gone.

Meiling and I stared at the spot where Komachi was, dumbfounded.

"That was...that was certainly something." Meiling shook her head. "Kid, I don't know what the hell that was all about."

"Neither do I." I turned to her. "But still - Death?! An actual shinigami?"

"I know, right? Genoskyo is awesome!" She paused, and then raised her eyebrow. "So...what did you come out here for?"

I tried to answer her, but as you already know, I forgot. Oh well. I'm sure it wasn't important.

September 6th, 2004

"We have a problem, Ran." It was evening at Mayohiga, and Yukari was looking out the window from her chair. Ran stood on standby with a wine bottle. "At the beginning of time, I felt it. Hatred, anger, sorrow, helplessness. But that EMP covered up something else. I can't prove it, because I couldn't test it, but I could feel something else. All those feelings, and everything that accompanied them, overwhelmed me. Looking back though, there was definitely something else. That EMP blast went and effected everything. I thought it was only limited to the area that we guessed it to be, but it also passively spread around the world, and the universe. I just talked to Nagato about all this - the data that was given off by this new being wasn't noticeable by any data entities because it was covered up by a bigger surge of power."

"When Suzumiya and Sasaki got their powers, right?"

"Correct. Like the time quake they committed, the surge of data, call it what you will, this one reached all of existence like theirs. It was perfectly timed. The event happened at the exact same time Haruhi and Sasaki exuded their powers. This other me went and did something during that event and added something into it."

"Haven't you dealt with your other selves before?"

"Yes, but we have an unspoken rule. Even if we do visit other planes of existence, other dimensions, we are not to interfere in any that aren't ours." Yukari took a sip of wine. "This one...this one is interesting."

"You haven't met this particular one, have you?"

"No. No, but I can feel her presence sometimes. She has...poked her head out, so to speak, during certain events. She is aware of me, and all of my attempts to get to her, but she has been one step ahead."

"Lady Yukari, I have a question. You think she caused this EMP to give danmaku these properties?" Ran refilled her master's glass. "I still find it interesting that danmaku has become a bane of one of the more powerful races that we've come across."

Yukari took a minute to think that over, staring into her wine glass. "Possible. Actually... actually that makes sense. If I were another me, I'd know that the interfaces would be a problem. In fact, rogue ones are. To force a weakness on them, yes, that's exactly what I would do in such a situation. And if these things are data based, essentially bio mechanical, then an EMP should be their weakness, right? That would make sense. And to use an EMP to cover its tracks, to prevent recording via unshielded cameras, and to act as a possible defense in case someone tried to investigate, well, it would make sense to do that. We can't prove any of this though."

"What about going back in time and having your young self use danmaku against an interface? Before the change happened?"

Yukari smiled at her servant. "I...that would be tricky. Getting my past self involved would complicate things, and might cause me to paradox. Also, I do not believe any interface would want to do such a thing. It might strain our relationship for even asking. It would be akin to me asking Kyon if I could take him back in time to shoot him with a weaker bullet to see what would happen." Yukari laughed. "And I don't think he'd appreciate that."

"What about combining the worlds, like you suggested happened? Combining two existences together like this?"

"As far as I know, none of my other selves have that kind of power. I do know if I were to attempt such a thing, it would work at the cost of my body's destruction. I can manipulate a lot of boundaries, but bringing two worlds into one would be as if I tried to create a world from scratch." Yukari shook her head. "Yes, Ran, I am powerful, but even I have my limits." Yukari got up, and went to the window, looking out at both Mayohiga and Gensokyo. She took another sip. She put the glass down on the windowsill, and leaned against the frame. "What are you plotting, other me?" She said at a mere whisper. "Why are you manipulating things in a world that isn't yours? You know the agreement we set for ourselves. What is your endgame? Do you even have one? Or have you already accomplished things and I haven't seen it yet?"

"Lady Yukari, if I may?"

Yukari didn't respond for several seconds. "Go ahead."

"There are an infinite number of existences out there, correct?"

Yukari instantly knew where this was going. "...Theory of Probability?"

"Yes. An infinite number of monkeys, in front of an infinite number of typewriters, working for an infinite number of hours...and one of them will eventually type up the entire written works of William Shakespeare."

"...The Theory of Probability."

"Or in this case...it produces an anomalous Yukari. A rogue."

Yukari downed the rest of her glass. "Yes..." She thought about it. "I figure that's true. Despite the peace I have with the other me's, there eventually will be one among the multiverses who doesn't follow the rules. It would explain one of me actually having the guts to attempt a melding of the worlds, the border between existences being blurred like that. But it should have destroyed her body, unless she was very powerful." Yukari sighed. "And why ours, though? Why make this type of world? It doesn't make sense - if it were up to me, I would have made Gensokyo the dominant side of this. But Haruhi and Sasaki have all the power, and from the looks of things, this Gensokyo is attributed to them."

Yukari sighed, leaning against the wall. "It's heartbreaking, Ran."

"What is?"

"All this time, I believed that Gensokyo was Haruhi's creation. Now... now I'm thinking it's not. I've been thinking this through over and over, of why someone would bring these two worlds together, and how they would do it. Manipulation of a border isn't simple - you need to know what and how to manipulate to make them meld together. If Haruhi isn't really connected with our world, why include hers as well? And why such a combination? And again, how?"

Ran gave a nod, with a serious look on her face. "I wonder about that problem as well. What are the benefits, and what do they have in common that would really allow them to be brought together?"

"Closed space." The two turned to Chen, who said that. "If the two worlds really are separate, then they share one thing in common. The existence of closed space. It's exactly how Gensokyo exists, right?"

Yukari and Ran shot glances at each other. Ran appeared impressed by her servant's observation. "Gensokyo's very existence..." She patted Chen on the head. "Very good, Chen!"

Yukari's eyes brightened as she realized it. "That's why they were brought together. They had something in common. They have the exact same rules. You're able to pass through even if it's there, and you can still slip into it. Two planes existing in one place. That's closed space. That's Gensokyo. They were able to be brought together because they share the exact same border..."

But what does it all mean?

August 13th, 2004

This happened right after the next incident. No, not the underground incident, but the one after I got back from the Mokou thing. I finally gave Nagato the complete rundown on what happened, and what I did. I know Yukari would not have appreciated it, but I didn't care - it was partly her fault anyway that the whole thing happened in the first place.

It was late in the evening, and we were on our way up in the elevator to Nagato's apartment. We were luckily alone, so we were able to talk freely. "You need to improve yourself if you're going to survive these encounters, especially in a danmaku battle," said Nagato. "You got hit too many times when you shouldn't have."

I sighed. "You didn't see how insane those spell cards got. Taboos were everywhere. I never expected to be on the causing side of an incident, for crying out loud."

"Each spell card is survivable. If it wasn't truly survivable, then it would not be able to be activated. That's the first rule for an official spell card." She gave me a disappointed look. "Also, you were not the main target, so there is no excuse for you getting hit by the strays."

Really, Nagato?

The elevator doors opened as we reached the floor. Continuing to find ourselves alone, we kept talking.

"I could have helped you." Nagato brought out her keys as we approached her door. "I don't know why you keep doing this, keeping me in the dark while something is going on and later filling me in."

"I was her prisoner! She had my..." I paused, not wanting to get into an argument with Nagato. I was still frustrated, and I didn't want to take it out on her. "Look, what's done is done. I had to do what I had to do. I'm not proud of it, but it's in the past now."

She opened the door and we went inside. She turned her head to me, smirking. "Don't you mean the future?"

"Seriously, when the hell did you get so snarky?" I sat down at the table, burying my face in my hands. I was still flat out mentally exhausted from what just happened. Nagato prepared tea, which we silently enjoyed. It soothed me, allowing the tension to ebb away.

"That's why I came here. I want you to help me train." I put down my cup. "I'm tired of this, of being this useless person on the field. The only thing I have going for me is the Border."

"How, exactly, am I supposed to help you?"

"I don't know. Dodge better? Get more endurance? I mean, you were able to help Mokou." I shrugged. "Something like that."

She frowned. "Realize that Mokou had years of magical battle experience beforehand. I merely helped her memorize the patterns for five spell cards."

Damn it... yeah, that's true. Mokou had Kaguya, an expert magician, as an opponent for a long time. That still didn't deter me.

I clasped my hands. "Nagato, I'm begging you here. If that underground incident is going to happen, I want to be ready."

Nagato sighed, closing her eyes. "Fine." She shrugged. "When have I ever said no to you?"

"When I asked you and Koizumi to take Shamisen at the lodge."

Nagato blinked. "Oh. Right. Well that was a different situation." She then got up.

I was about to pour myself another cup, and then I stopped as I stared at her. My eyes widened. "What, now?"

She nodded.

I wanted to protest, but I couldn't. It was what I was asking for.

As I got up the room shifted. Remember how when Asakura changed the classroom? Nagato did that, but expanded the space, giving us a gymnasium sized space in her apartment.

"Didn't I ask you to warn me before you do stuff like that?" The transition of course startled me.

"This should be enough." She looked around at her handiwork. "Something really quick to make sure you have the gist of dodging the basics. Most common shots are aimed spread shots, designed to back you into a corner if you move too far for each shot." Nagato was doing something to the walls, I guess making sure they would be suitable to take danmaku. Remember - danmaku interrupts interfaces, their influences, and constructs. "The best thing to do is to not lose your head. If you have the time, take a few seconds to understand the card - it can really help." She rubbed her chin. "Yes, just some of the basics. I should be able to recreate some of the spell cards I have observed, and create a few more that should be helpful in situations if we are to continue to do this."

"And what about the physical stuff?"

"Exercising?" Nagato slowly nodded. "Yes, that too, but you'll have to do that on your own time." She thought of something, then turned to me. "How about this as a goal? 58 sit ups a minute. A 300 meter dash below 41 seconds. 71 push ups without stopping. 1.5 mile run in less than 9 minutes. Try striving for that.

Just hearing that made my muscles sore. "What is this based off of, some sort of torture exercise?"

"It happens to be the American FBI fitness test. Those are perfect scores."

"Yikes." Geez, I didn't know those guys were that hardcore. Fifty eight sit-ups in a minute? That's just a little over one a second.

"At the very least, strive for a passing grade, and maintaining that when the time comes. The perfect score is just a goal at this point. It's easier for humans to exercise when they have an actual goal set in mind, or so I've read." She crossed her arms. "However, fitness isn't the only goal. To be effective in dodging danmaku, you need to be able to move your body, and have total control over it. You need stamina and agility."

"What, like gymnastics or dance?" I didn't see myself as the dancing type. I never... I never really was a good dancer. Traumatic memories of family dances still haunt me.

Nagato was silent for a while, thinking it over. "I think..." She circled me, looking over my body. "I think... Huh." She stopped right in front of me. "Something to improve your footwork and hand-eye coordination. Possibly Tennis."

"I'm not too good at it, but that sounds okay." It would be good to pick up a sport anyway.

She tilted her head. "Maybe another thing then? Have you heard of that thing called 'parkour'?"

"Yeah, I've seen a few videos online. People doing urban gymnastics, being able to run up walls, alongside walls, wall jump, bound from rooftop to rooftop, rolling when they hit the ground." To tell the truth, it does fascinate me. Some of these people are crazy enough to do handstands on ledges dozens of stories up. I don't think I'd ever want to get to that level, but something as cool as parkour sounded appealing.

Who knows. This might be fun.

Nagato approached me, and started going through my pockets.

"Nagato? What-"

She brought out the Asakura spell card. My heart skipped a beat.

Oh hell no.

"Whoa, whoa Nagato. There is no reason to-"

[SPELL CARD: "DELETED ONE"]

Well, no turning back now, and this sure as hell isn't going to be fun.

Asakura stood before us. She beamed at the both of us, before stretching. "Oh, you have no idea how good it feels to be let out of that thing!"

I took a few steps back. "Does she really have to be here?"

"I altered the properties of this area." Nagato stepped up to my former classmate. "Magic in this area is infinite right now, and she should be able to be active for as long as I maintain it." The two interfaces stared at each other, Asakura giving an amused look to my friend. I think they were communicating or whatever, because Asakura started to beam.

She grinned at me. "I get to shoot at him today?" Her smile widened even more, and she said that in such a pleased voice.

Nagato, if you're really offended over me not telling you what was going on, I said I was sorry!

And the smile on Asakura's face...

Really? Is this what I'm going to have to go through here? I quickly looked for a way out of the apartment, before I realized that there wasn't one in this state.

"That does not fill me with much confidence."

For the next four years, I'm going to train my body, and my abilities.

"The most I can do is knock you out, so I can't kill you even when I try."

I've seen what comes in those four years.

"'When?'"

I told myself, didn't I? I said I was going to be ready for this thing, and do whatever it takes. This could be fun, actually.

"If. I meant if."

...or not.

"Okay, I really don't have much confidence in you." It didn't matter what I said - already the air around her began to be covered in spinning danmaku knives. I shot a glance at Nagato, who simply gave a nod to Asakura to begin.

Man, what the hell.

But this is going to have to be done. The fate of the world is at stake. And history is full of normal people training themselves to be able to rise to the occasion, and being able to do so. Such people change the world.

No matter the hardship, I won't let it end. This world, as weird and fantastical as it is, is worth defending. I've already decided that, and I refuse to back down...

...even if it means I'll have to face Asakura as my danmaku trainer.

...why is she my danmaku trainer? I never asked for this!

But I sorely wanted to prevent what had happened to me earlier that 'day'. I did not want to be put in that position again. Nagato was right - I got hit too many times, and I wasn't even the main target for those. I had learned a bit from that experience, one being that I can't afford to put this off. If a person knows that they are going to fight, then they better know how to fight. Skill was the ultimate factor in danmaku. In my case, I had to learn how to dodge more effectively.

Still though...Asakura?!

The next four years are going to suck.

It's difficult to say what is more heartbreaking.

The idea that I may not be around with the subject Haruhi Suzumiya, or that this world isn't what we thought it was.

My superiors ultimately have not come to a final decision regarding my observations, whether I shall continue my vigil or not. While it does appear that I shall stay with the Brigade, it is still not final, and that does scare me. I enjoy my time with Haruhi Suzumiya and the others. Life is more interesting with the people I have surrounded myself with. For three years I had little contact, and since then I have experienced things that I would not give up for the world.

Yukari Yakumo contacted me recently, stating that this world may not be what was projected by her. I think it was tougher for her, because she was led to believe that Gensokyo was created by Haruhi Suzumiya. But it was also tough for me. I am inclined to believe her. It makes me wonder, however - if this isn't created by Haruhi Suzumiya, then who is it created by? There are a lot of questions that arise from such a situation, but one comes to the forefront. What do I do with this information? Do I tell my superiors? Because if Haruhi Suzumiya did not create Gensokyo, then how did I achieve this evolved state? If it wasn't Haruhi Suzumiya who did this for us, then then it brings up an interesting point. Why stay here? Why observe Haruhi Suzumiya when someone or something else allowed us to evolve?

This brings up a dilemma. I do not wish to leave the Brigade. Nor do I want my kind to waste their time.

I do not know what to do with this knowledge.

It was so much easier to just believe that Haruhi Suzumiya created Gensokyo. But that is not the case.

I consider telling the truth to my superiors, but there is a factor that prevents me from doing so, and it ultimately solves my dilemma. There is no hard evidence against Haruhi Suzumiya creating Gensokyo. All the evidence points to her creating it.

I do not know how to describe it, other than just a feeling. Yukari Yakumo says that it is due to something she calls 'Shadow Memories', where one has two memories of the same event. According to Yukari Yakumo, a small number of people from Gensokyo have been reporting such a thing, and according to [NAME REDACTED] "Kyon", Kuyou Suou suffered from it.

I suffer from it as well. That is why I am inclined to believe Yukari Yakumo. I know of Gensokyo's existence, yet I have clear memories of it not existing. It is difficult to comprehend such a contradiction when it lives in your memory.

But I ultimately have no real evidence. It doesn't appear that my superiors suffer from these 'Shadow Memories'. Not everyone has these.

I do not know what to do, and I do not know what to make of this situation.

It all points to that creature that Yukari Yakumo showed me. It had to have altered something during the data explosion, but again, there is no hard evidence.

I have nothing.

I wish I knew what to do here.

-N. Yuki

So...Kyon has to learn how to DODGE!

See you in the next series, a collaboration from Smooglii and myself.

14.3

=Read and Review! Lady Yukari demands it!=