(in which we speedrun the fluffle sniffing competition)

January 3rd, 2016. FuckTop McGop was shot dead, man. Found behind a bush, dead with his neck snapped.

"Chicago…" I heaved a vitriolic, disgusted sigh. "And I've had a belly full of it."

Genkan gave me an innocent stare, as I stood behind a navy-tinted window in the lonely back corner of an Eientei furniture shop.

"The DA, the city hall, even the cops on the beat. Paid, to turn a blind eye…!" I slowly gained a more excited smile as I turned towards her!

Genkan drifted out of frame! Oh no! Oh, she was coming in through the side door. She took the fedora off my head. "On second thought, maybe these hats are as dumb as you say they are."

We're out buying furniture! After the big ass fuck kabungle, we ended up going to bed at like noon so... now it's night.

The bunny-eared clerk drowsily waved her head around, watching us browse the infinite shelves of couches, chairs, and other shit.

"If I'm dressing like this, perhaps I could use an actual suit…" Genkan considered. She was still in her punk getup of two big ol' ponytails, a half-on lunar jacket and her cow bikini. Despite it being a renegade jacket or something we got ignored when we went in here. Maybe it was just that late at night that nobody noticed or cared.

Reachin' into my bag, I reached for my money 'cause it was on the back a' my mind, and— what…!

All of a sudden, Yukari Yakumo sprung outta my bag!

"Hello, shitass!" She leaned on the edge of a gap, staring past me, looking immeasurably smug!

fwiiish! Genkan wordlessly sprayed ice on her face, thrown into a panic!

"What'd I do…!?" I held my arms up! "I am sorry Discord Moderator-sama I do not want to be groomed! I will not be raped, I refuse, no!"

Yukari blinked at me! "Aa—"

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Genkan took a frying pan from the shelf nearby and went fuckin' crazy with it! She's beatin' the shit outta Yukari with it!

"Now you've done it—" Yukari was suppressed back into her gap! Ooh, it zipped up…

For a moment, all was quiet. "I have— killed the evil?" Genkan looked unsure despite her announcement!

Yukari leapt from around a shelf, wielding a frying pan of her own! "Boo!"

KLAACK! KLAACK! KLAACK! They began clashing pans together! Oh my god they're loud!

"Hey!" The bunny clerk was moving for us! "What're you fucking idiots—…"

Yukari slowed, one arm on her hip as she used the frying pan like a rapier to parry Genkan's attacks, all while giving the bunny clerk an owl-eyed stare. I like how she didn't even hafta face Genkan to half-heartedly guard her attacks.

The clerk's legs gave out from beneath her, and she fell back onto her ass!

Klack! With a decisive, eat-shattering impact, Yukari spun around, the force of her twirling parry blowing the head off of Genkan's frying pan. It fuckin' flew past us, oh god!

Genkan stared down at her frying pan's handle with wide-eyed disbelief, spooked!

I came up to Yukari! "Alright, whaddaya doin'...!?"

"You know how you had four million yen, right?" Yukari asked me!

Oh. "Yeah?"

"And you know how you spent ten million on your silly boat?"

Uh oh. "Wait…" How much money did I have now!?

She handed me a receipt! "You owe me~."

The receipt read: "TOTAL BALANCE: YOU OWE ME. ~Y. Y."

"What!" Oh shit!

"But that's okay!" She held her hands up! "You just have to—"

fwiiish. Genkan gently blew frost into her face.

Blinking rapidly, she continued. "You just have to—"

FWASH. Yukari was frozen!

With the frozen Yukari still before us, Yukari somehow appeared again, leaning into my face from somewhere to my right! "You just have to do me a favor. Okay?"

fwish. The previously-frozen Yukari shattered into snow, ceasing to exist, revealing that there was no longer a Yukari on the inside. Strange how it looked like she was still trapped. That a trick of the light or somethin'?

"Hooh? ...What kinda favor?" I was curious!

She gave me a suitcase! "Be a dear and put this in guard tower 6BC. That's 6BC. I'll write it down for you, on your arm, so you can't forget, in permanent marker. Don't worry, when the skin cells flake away, they'll fade." What!

"Son—"

"Joking! It comes off in the shower."

All of a sudden, Yukari pressed her breasts to my back! "You take those, right?" She took a deep sniff of my hair oh god. "No shampoo. You smell like dandruff and shit, dear. But that's okay. I know I already gave you beauty products, but while I'm here…"

She swayed around me, reached behind my right ear, and drew a shampoo bottle! "Merry Christmas, fleabag." It was even tied up with a bow and everything!

Genkan glared at her! "You… you awful thing."

Yukari clicked her tongue! "Tragic, I know. By the way, I think this shower will fit your cave nicely." She suddenly drew a picture of a shower, literally I mean she pulled out a sketchbook and began drawing! "Tada~! Here…"

Holding up a catalogue and her sketchbook, Yukari displayed both to Genkan! "Pretty similar, right?"

"...Huh?" Genkan was confused!

"The drawing and the shower in the picture I mean…" Yukari rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, I'll pay for all of your housing expenses as long as you do me a favor every now and then. Deal?"

"No deal," Genkan protested! "We're not doing your dirty work. We will not fight for you."

Yukari shook her head. "Oh, my dear, it's nothing like that. All the things that I want you to do are… things very much up Brad's alley of interests. Such as this briefcase. You simply must deliver it to guard tower 6BC. That's 6BC. Say it with me Brad—"

"I get it…!" Son!

"Fufufu! Grand." She's so irredeemably smug! "You must not give it to anyone who asks for it, even when you arrive. You will set it down in pure silence, and that will be that. If it's not only you and your darling, you won't get my help."

"Why not do it yourself?" Genkan asked the good questions!

"I can't tell you." Yukari shook her head. "I'm very sorry. Just because it's business doesn't mean I have to be a jerk."

Genkan was still opposed. "You're being a jerk right now."

Coming up to me, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and her boob pressed into my arm! "We can be friends, dear! Great friends, if you choose! Just not best friends. You could never be my best friend. Don't take it personally."

...She put too much weight onto me, and I began stumbling to the side! Genkan came up and peeled us apart!

"Mmm…" Yukari hummed peacefully. "If you turn me down, you can go handle your cash deficit problem elsewhere. I won't make you pay me off. Just know that you're B- R- O- K- E."

Genkan glared! "I cannot speak English."

I raised a finger! "That spelled broke! As in, in the red. Outta cash! Overdrawn at the bank!"

"I don't get it. I thought…" Genkan took a pause. "Brad? You weren't paying careful attention to how much money we had, were you?"

"He was not!" Yukari put her arms on her own hips! "I know he didn't ask me to, but I pitched in as well."

"Why?" Genkan demanded!

"Because I wanted your dear boyfriend to win against your snow sister. Not that he needed the help, in retrospect. At the time, I doubted him. His fear was showing. You could smell it, couldn't you?"

Genkan inhaled to firmly retort, but just didn't, thinking better of it. Her lack of a retort prompted Yukari to look dangerously smug. "Power is a necessary evil. Consider it a gift."

"A gift… we didn't ask for." Genkan tried to argue with her, but didn't really have much voice behind her complaint.

"Do not worry: you will receive no more surprise gifts from me if you don't want them."

Smiling, Yukari looked at me. "Now, when I look at you, I see no fear. How was your time staring into the mirror? It's not something I'd recommend you do too much."

"No fear?" I questioned that! "Lemme tell ya, when ya came outta my bag, I was afraid!"

She rolled her eyes! "I said I saw no fear, not that you weren't afraid. Everyone's afraid. Even a social interaction can be a battle. Isn't that right? Just the other day, you and Genkan fought a decisive battle."

"Why do you know that?" Genkan felt called out!

Yukari had the smarmiest fuckin' smirk. "I think a better question to ask is what would have come of you both if Brad hadn't uncrossed the wires. If he hadn't untied that knot in your panties, perhaps."

Genkan glared. "What… do you mean?"

"I'm saying you could have tricked yourself into being paranoid of him. Into, perhaps, doubting him. Can't you see? If you were not persuaded into thinking clearer about yourself, who knows what could have happened?"

...With that, Genkan swallowed, unable to retort.

Yukari's smile flattened out. "Be a better girlfriend."

"You—" Genkan looked attacked. "How dare you?"

Yukari gained a faux British accent. "Oh, I can't believe you've done this."

Genkan took Yukari's cursed energy as a warning sign. Despite that, she boiled her question down to its simplest essence. "Why?"

Yukari pursed her lips. "Why ask why?"

"Why not?"

"Well, why… why?"

"Huh?"

"Why ask why?"

"Because…"

"Why, why ask why? Why even? Tell me, why?" The word "why" began losing definition and my brain began hearing it more as sounds rather than as a word!

"Um…" Slowly, Genkan began to glare again, all snuggly-like this time.

"Do you like when I say 'why' Brad? The way my lips purse as I ask why?" Yukari pursed her lips together as if to kiss. "Why? Why? Why?"

She stepped up to me, circling me, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"Why? Why? Why?" She leaned around either ear, alternating, making the noise! Until, finally, "Why not?" Her tongue practically clicked to announce the "t" sound at the end, in the core of my ear.

"Son." Yukari is too much! "Freakin'...!"

"Fufufu." Letting go of me, she slid back a little.

"Stop putting your hands on him." Genkan pointed at her!

"Oh!" Yukari smirked, holding her gloved hands up! "My. I was wondering when you'd take exception."

Genkan held her black bangs-accented glare. "It's creepy."

Yukari nodded. "Mmm? Well, you're creepy." What a counter-argument!

"...Perhaps. Actually, yes. However—"

"It's just an honest discourse, one creepy girl to another." Yukari began to walk towards her! "Give me a hug, dear. Come here. Bring it in."

"What? No." Genkan held up her broken frying pan handle! "I will shove this into your eyes."

Yukari held her arms open, walking closer to her! "Now, watch closely Brad."

thump. Promptly, Yukari accelerated and glomped Genkan. And, uh… it was some strange energy!

Genkan twisted mid-embrace to look at me, lookin' creeped out!

Yukari licked her cheek. "Aaa." Genkan gave me a haunted expression! After the lick, Yukari turned a smug look to me. "How about it, Brad?"

"How about what…!?" Son! "Stop lickin' my snow cone!"

"I hate both of you." Genkan's brows raised in incredulity! "Brad, get this thing off of me."

"Can't we share?" Yukari leered! "You take the other cheek."

I took a spatula from the shelf nearby! "...Here, Genkan, I'll help!" After waiting out an awkward delay, I put the spatula between Yukari's boobs.

She jumped when the cold metal touched her skin… but she just kinda let it happen anyway.

Twisting, Genkan took the spatula, and—

RIIP. In the process of yanking it out, she tore Yukari's dress open by accident.

With raised brows, Yukari held her hands to protect her cleavage. "...I don't even know what to say. Actually speechless. You've really done it."

Now free from her grasp, Genkan held up the spatula. "...Thank you?" She wasn't sure if she should thank me or not!

A question passed my mind while Yukari was here. "Hey. Yukari."

"Don't 'hey Yukari' me after what just happened." She began to smile ominously!

"Do you think it's more important to think for the future, or live in the moment?"

Yukari had a dry expression. "Asking hopelessly abstract questions is my thing, dear."

"I was just curious on account a' you bein' like, half-immortal. How's that work? Are you gonna die of old age at some point?"

"I'll die when I choose to die. Probably. There is only so much being alive that a living being can take. Even ideas violently collapse at some point."

Yeah thanks! "Cool. So like… how's future-proofing work for a thousand— I mean, an up and coming seventeen year old like yourself?"

Yukari rolled her eyes. The fact I got her to roll her eyes at her own joke was impressive. "I don't. ...That's a lie. There are some things I apply myself towards."

"Such as?"

"Most of them are secrets you don't deserve to know. Though I will say— I really enjoy living in the moment more than planning."

Huh? "Really? Aren't you like, the cloaked schemer? The Xehanort to Reimu's Sora? The Joker to Reimu's Batman?"

Yukari smiled intensely! "When did I become her arch-enemy?"

Hehah! "Point taken! But uh…"

"You know, I really don't try as hard as you might think. Like—" She paused, turning to the bunny girl who was still just nearby. With a snap of her fingers, the bunny girl just fell asleep.

"Nnh." She loafed out, oh god.

fzzt. Nearby security cameras audibly and visibly malfunctioned.

"I solve my problems indirectly. That is why I'm having you do this errand, with placing that briefcase case at tower 6BC. I'll explain only this errand. It's a small domino effect. There are places I just can't be, and times I just can't be in. You are acting as the aside who will produce a circumstance in someone else's story. From their perspective, they will never know who you are, why you are doing what you're doing, or how significant what you are doing really is."

She walked between me and Genkan. "I would like a future where youkai and humans can co-exist peacefully."

Huh. "S'that so?"

Yukari stared at the floor. "Although… everyone has their own problems. I will be honest: fixing the mortal torment is not my passion. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a professional. I'm not even as powerful as I'm made out to be. I simply want a world… that makes me feel young again."

"Young?"

Her purple eyes were damn sharp. "I am beholden to my interests. Much like you."

Genkan looked at me, unable to find something to say, but clearly willing to speak. I grinned at her!

"Alright, I get it." I held a hand up! "You like pulling strings to get what'cha want instead a' just askin'. But why not just ask?"

"To raise someone to be the person I want them to be would take years. To simply… push them in the right direction? Only a few hours. Sometimes this does involve my words. Other times? It's as simple as making someone arrive early or late. I'd love to say I'm a people person, but it's more like I'm a people person with the people I like… which is not many of them."

I smirked. "Considering you're telling me all this, I can't be too high on your shitlist."

She had this smug-ass smile. "I don't mind you. If circumstances were different, perhaps we could get to know each other. I'm simply very very busy."

Genkan interjected! "Why must you of all people have this morbid fascination with my boyfriend? Have I not suffered enough?"

"Tsk." Yukari clicked her tongue. "I'm not out to steal him, you paranoid stalactite. He's simply proven himself to be quite open-minded for a human, is all. Placed in quite a unique situation, too. Not dissimilar from a few other humans that I'm fond of keeping company."

fzz- fzzt. The cameras turned back on.

Suddenly, Yukari projected a darker aura, just for them. "If I were you, I'd be making as many friends as possible. Life in a small neighborhood and all."

Genkan was still distrusting. "I've heard the stories about you..."

I brought up something I remembered. "You know, a few months ago, I always had a mini-heart attack when you showed up."

Yukari smiled aggressively! "As you should."

fzzt! The cameras fizzled and sparked again, their electricity cutting out.

Then, she sighed, dropping some of her animosity. "Sorry. I don't want anyone peeping in on our conversation. I didn't mean to be so imposing. Go on?"

Genkan interjected! "Brad— she scares the hell out of everyone. Her presence overwhelms Maria. Hana cries. My whole body stops in place when I realize she's there. If you're so scared of her too, why don't you show it?"

Oh. "'Cause I stopped bein' scared of her a while ago. I mean, she's still intimidating, but it's no longer like, oh god please send help."

"I said many funny things too, didn't I? Without getting into specifics." Yukari smiled awkwardly. "I don't have time to be an icon through respect. Fear suits me just fine. Here in Gensokyo, one comes to realize… anyone who's anybody is capable of conquering their fears. Those who can't realize that are only so useful as people."

Genkan made a damning announcement! "I'll never not see you as a monster."

Yukari smirked. "This is the woman you love, Brad. Do you see that?"

Genkan took offense! "What do you mean by that?"

You know what? "I do. But that's why I love 'em. They're learning. An' I'm learning too! I've got some issues with sittin' down and committing to things. Genkan's committed a little too much to certain things. But, as long as we approach our trials with an open mind, and aren't freakin' killed, I think we'll get along just fine."

Yukari accepted that answer. "Mmm. Personally, I wouldn't have invested that time. I've learned long ago not to let myself get too close to my characters. To not let them control my sense of morality. In fact, that was the first lesson I taught myself."

Hmph. "The ability for me to live differently is always there, in some far off place, time, or fuckin' reality. Personally, I can take comfort in how small mine is, and how good it feels. I've always got the choice to be alone, but that doesn't mean I should be. It's not a bitter sacrifice. I love my friends, and they love me."

"Mmm…" Yukari closed her eyes. "I suppose that's where you and I differ. Are you sure you can trust them? Or do you think, one day, when the opportunity arises, they'll abandon you for their own benefit?"

"Sure doesn't feel like that right now. But if it ever has to happen, I'll be okay with anything they choose to do."

Yukari snorted. "Such courage. Hopefully you don't end up eating those words."

"I'm ready for whatever sacrifices need to be made. I meant what I said."

Smiling, Yukari nodded. "You're stronger than I am, then. Or perhaps more foolish. I'd say I don't envy you… but in a way I do. It's why I watch others' stories. It's why anyone watches anyone."

"Can ya really call that envy? Sounds more like escapism to me."

"Escapism is a kind of envy, isn't it? Envy for a time you aren't in?"

"If you say so."

Slinging a parasol she got outta nowhere over her shoulders, she turned away from us. Her heels clicked against the tiled floor as she began to leave.

But then, she paused, twisting towards us. "Oh, I'm sorry. I've forgotten my manners."

"Uh huh…" Somehow I doubt that!

"Thank you both, for the pleasant conversation. Here..." She took out her well-decorated paper fan.

Fwish! She tossed it through the air, and it became two. Genkan's eyes widened when they came at her like an attack!

clack, clack. She caught both fans… but even after succeeding the QTE she was still lookin' a little bug-eyed!

"I know you didn't ask me to give you a gift, but here." She winked. "If you need them appraised, go sniff some dust. Don't worry about me; I keep spares of all my favorite mundane things."

Aw. "We gotta sniff a fluffle."

"Whatever way your story ends, enjoy it while it lasts."

With that, Yukari visited a gap, and was gone.

...Genkan looked at me. I looked at her!

"How did you just know what to say to her?" Genkan was very clueless!

"It's not hard. Like, actually! She's got a lotta fluff t'her but she's not actually thinkin' that hard. Some of the ideas she uses are pretty abstract though."

"I refuse to accept that you're actually just better with people than me." Genkan began to smile! "It's impossible. Not after the weeks of debauchery you've pulled."

Oh! I think I know! "Talking to Yukari's like talkin' to a hostess at a nudie bar. She's all polite and will give you kisses and stuff, but she's not your girlfriend. Except instead of a stripper, she's a mom, and instead of kisses, she just smiles at you. Like a mom."

"Dangerous." Genkan decided! "That's extremely dangerous."

I shrugged! "A little! But she's not out to play, that's kinda just how she is. She's like, an advanced form of asocial schizoid, like me."

...When Genkan thought about it, she nodded. "That really puts things into perspective. How did you figure that out?"

I beamed! "It takes one to know one! See Genkan, ya might be asocial, but you're not a schizoid!"

"Schizoid…" Genkan echoed the sentiment with a big smile. "What a word."

Guess we're gonna hafta deliver that freakin' briefcase before we can actually make our purchases. "Let's get outta here, Genkan. I am going to regain the trust of our shareholders."

"...I'm not sure what that joke is supposed to mean."

"Hazelnut fluff." I wanna find a hazelnut fluff. "It'd uh, take a while to explain!"

While we moved to leave the shop… which strangely still had its cameras out, and the clerk was half-dead on the floor, Genkan grabbed my shoulder.

"Hoh?"

"I'm not a bad girlfriend, am I?"

...I just gave her a look. "I love you. I couldn't tell you how many doubts I had in my mind when I first, you know… expressed my feelings for you. Just sayin'. Kinda funny for you to like… think you'd disappoint me, when that's basically what I was afraid of at first with you. I did not know what the fuck I was doing then, but it just kinda makes sense now. So, don't let Yukari's words get to you too much."

"Too much? ...What was she trying to tell me?"

"She just wanted to say… you should try not to get depressed about little things like that. 'Cause those really are little things to get hung up over. You should enjoy the little things, instead a' bein' afraid of them."

"Funny way for her to put it."

"She's a funny kinda person. Pro'lly does a way better job at bein' scary than she should."

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

click. click. click. With the briefcase held in my bag, I crawled along a pipe structure which hung over a really tall Eientei hallway. "And that's how shareholders and business stocks work!"

Genkan was floating next to the pipe. "...I was expecting something more pessimistic."

"I mean, I have some pessimistic opinions about business, but we don't really know a better way to make money circulate without someone getting too much power and going insane. An' that's less of an outside world problem and more of a human— er, a people problem."

Standing up on one pipe, "Hyup!" I leapt to another! "Oof!" Holy shit!

Genkan suddenly had another question! "I stopped paying attention to where we were going. How did we get here?"

"...In retrospect, I shoulda been asking someone where that guard tower was." I am totally freakin' lost. "Maybe I just wanted to do urban parkour while talking about economics."

Entering a crawlspace only accessible by crawlin' on these pipes, I proceeded through an asscrack of Eientei, until I entered some kinda sealed room!

Well, it was less "sealed" an' more just "locked." Some bunnies were having a meeting here.

...Or, uh, it was less of a meeting, and more like they were all being lazy. Two of 'em were sitting by a heater, and two more were just standing around a computer screen.

"Hup!" Breaking my fall with a second jump, I landed loudly in the middle of the room!

They all turned to me!

"Greetings, comrades! What is up, fellow kids…!?" Man, I wish I had a silly backpack to adjust!

After I spoke, most of them just kinda relaxed, not really stressin' at my presence. How strange. Ya'd think a guy falling from the ceiling would be cause for alarm… or maybe stumblin' around like an idiot actually did a good job of dissuading them. Where the hell in Eientei am I?

"You…" A bunny girl with neon green hair furrowed her brows at my presence. "You're… him."

"Hoh?" Someone recognizes me?

"From when we were under attack." She stepped up to me. "Just seeing you brings back some bad memories."

"Who're you again?" Do I know her?

"You likely don't remember my name… but I remember yours. You're Brad, and you're a human."

Hoh, hoh. "I have seen many human beings and I am one of them."

"I'm Furuta. Remember when you drove that floor cleaner around? Yeah. I was with you for that."

Oh, shit! "Ooh!" I remembered her now! "Holy shit. I forgot that like, even happened. Didn't you get disemboweled?"

She snorted. "...Uh, no. Mentally maybe."

Lookin' around at the sleepy, lazy bunnies, I was curious. "Why's uh, everyone so chill? I thought I'd get shot in the face for turnin' up in some locked room…"

"Huh? The door's not locked, jackass." Oh!

creak. With pristine timing, Genkan calmly opened the door, drifting inside. Man, her punk getup is incredible.

"But who~ the hell is she?" Furuta pointed at Genkan!

"Oh, that's my girlfriend." I broke the news to her casually.

"Girlfriend…" Furuta looked slightly disturbed. "Right. Good for you. She looks just as stupid as you."

I expected Genkan to be offended, but she just ignored the insult. Hoh. Wait, hold on…

Fwi- Click! Shifting into my Kaguya outfit with my black wig, I stood before her! "Tada! Hey, does Eientei do voice training? And is there like a cool mask I can wear so I can imitate Kaguya!?"

Furuta sighed, tilting her head back. "Master, just kill me now…"

Genkan brought something up! "I'd never questioned this, but what is your fascination with crossdressing?"

Oh. "I am, was, and will be a huge pervert."

"That's it?" Genkan pursed her lips, which looked funny when framed by her big black twintails and that deep green suit jacket.

"Furuta, find me a voice trainer." I wish to sound womanly. "Actually, before that, where's guard tower 6BC?"

"Two floors up, forward, left." Furuta just told me for no reason! "And shut the fuck up. I'm not your maid. And— voice training takes like, weeks. Just get a cheap voice changer."

Aw, cool. "Thanks." I turned towards Genkan to leave, but she innocently body-blocked me by accident. "What…"

"Why do you want to imitate a girl so badly anyway?" Furuta was curious!

"Me and my girlfriend are sex maniacs and want to suck a cock together." I just said the first thing that came to mind!

Genkan interjected for that one! "That is not true. I'm drawing the line there. What even possesses you?"

I tried to get past Genkan, but she was still in the way! I started to run in place to get past her, but— what…! When I tried to get past her, she began to like… pretend to float towards me, as if accelerating, but she wasn't moving! How's there wind blowing through her hair when she's not moving!?

"What I'm really curious about…" Furuta came up to us! "Is how you two even work. As a pair. Why are you boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Genkan paused. Then, she gave me a brief look. A look of subtle, playful mischief. "Clearly for the amazing sex."

"I'm filthy freakin' rich," I told Furuta.

"He's building me a gazebo." Oh, right, she had a thing for gazebos!

"Uh…" Furuta scratched at her own hair, behind her bunny ears. "Whatever."

Genkan finally moved outta the way! "I'd have questions about how the both of you know one another, but at this point I think I can guess."

Furuta let out a breath. "Really? How?"

"...I don't think I can put the feeling into words," Genkan realized.

I had a strange idea, all a' sudden. "Actually, yo, y'know where we can get food!?" We might as well get some eats while Yukari's payin' the tab!

"I'm not a tour guide. Go find someone else."

"Aaw, c'mon. For old time's sake? We can buffer the floor again!"

"Get out of here!" Wahaha!

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

We arrived at guard tower 6BC. Taking out the briefcase I had, I began to climb the stairway. There was a weird feeling in the base a' my gut…

Fwi- Click. Switched back to my camou-kimono while we scaled the tower, as it got colder. Gotta get this thing patched up at some point...

"What a huge tower." Genkan lamented the absolute scope a' all this plaster an' bricks. Check out the size a' this lad! "Must this thing be twelve stories tall? How do they hide structures like these so well?"

It got so bad that I just started usin' my gravity boots to keep myself from gettin' winded. "I dunno. It's tall as fuck. Fuckin' tall."

Passing so many bleak, dimly lit stairwells, we surpassed the scent of hazy rubber and cement which permeated through the lower air. Near the top, we could smell water and snow.

Emerging from the stairway, we ended up outside, underneath a shingled roof. "6BC" was printed on the steel beneath us. Snow gently fluttered down around us, the passing cloudy weather dispensing a few flakes.

"Guess this is where we drop it off…" It felt wrong bein' up here. I looked around at nearby guard towers and rooftops, and…

Wow. From up here, you could see a lot of things you weren't meant to see.

Overlapping courtyards. Twisting halls which spiralled into the sky in some places. Multiple floors to what are supposed to be ground-level courtyards, extending into the sky. It's like we were outta bounds.

When I looked around, I saw many, many hitches for sniper rifles along the rails of the tower here. Yet, there were no guns just laying around… and even stranger, no signs of life.

"You seem weirded out," Genkan recognized.

"Aren't you!?" I gestured at all the weird shit! "Look at that! Dude, they've got basement floors in the air!"

"...That's fair." Genkan looked more encumbered after I pointed out the premise!

Taking out the suitcase, I began to lower it…

And then I turned around! An' there was no one.

I spun three-sixty repeatedly, stared up and down and all around, put the case on my head, an' then put it under my ass and sat on it!

"I don't think she told you to flatten it." Genkan sassed me!

"I was expecting us to encounter the secret boss fight for actually goin' along with this. Just keepin' my eyes out! I mean peeled."

...For some reason, Genkan's expression defaulted to standoffish. Yeah, she's right, this place has weird energy.

Leaving the case where I sat on it, I stood back and let it be. Feels weird to just… leave it here, but getting the funds to buy cool furniture would be nice.

...Man, I got so much furniture in my bag already. Makin' a house a home seems like a difficult exchange when I think about it. Not 'cause of the interior decorating, that's the easy part.

"D'you think we should make like, actual walls and carpentry? In the cave?" I asked Genkan about it. "Feels strange to put the walls just inside the cave when it already has walls… but… I dunno, the rocks and ice seem bad as insulation."

"Insulation?" Genkan doesn't even know, oh god. "What do you mean?"

"...Insulation is like, a buffer added to the walls of human homes to retain heat."

"Do human village homes even have that?"

"That's— a good point, I don't think they do, an' that's a serious problem…!"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to do," Genkan decided.

We took it slow on the way back.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: MARIA'S PERSPECTIVE ====

"Mmm…"

Mom settled into the same chair she'd been using since before she got freaking murdered.

I shut the front door. We'd just come back from the snowy world outside. Back here in our wooden hovel. It's not much, but… it's home alright. Can't imagine Brad and Genkan living in a home this small, especially with me. That'd be so awkward.

My mind drifted to yesterday, when we poked around at Hana while she sat on Brad's waist. It was so… confusing, but at the same time, so sweet. I guess sweet's the best word for it.

I'm hoping some time away from them will make me less perverted. Some time to myself, to figure out my feelings. Maybe Genkan will forget this fascination with teasing me that she's adopted. It's nice, but so frustrating. I just wanted to wash her!

...Not that washing Brad was the end of the world, but it was so cursed that I couldn't help but burn like a candle the whole time. This is why we fantasize about things instead of actually doing them.

"I don't think my flesh will hold."

Mom's words shock the blush from my face.

"Some things are starting to rot. I can hardly help you with cooking anymore…"

Oh. So that's what this was about. I considered this. Switching gears, I took a breath. "We can get you somewhere. We can keep you alive. We can… prolong this body."

"I never thought I'd become something akin to a lich." Mom closed her eyes, sighing. Undeniably, she'd become a little… putrid. "I'm just barely over thirty. Why, just a few years ago, I…"

"We can go to Eientei, or something. They can probably keep a, um… a zombie alive."

"They probably could. But…" Mom gave me a smile. "Don't you think it's time you moved on?"

I was braced for a question like that. "Nonsense… mom."

"You already have such amazing friends. In all honesty… I don't know what to live for anymore. There's so many things I can't do now. For all of your life, I lived for you."

I swallowed. "I may not be able to visit you often… I might find my own life to live. But I'll never forget you. And— what happened to you… was just..."

When I find whoever killed you, their death will be instantaneous. I'd make them suffer or something, but that's unrealistic. It'd probably blow up in my face just before I'd land the final blow. No, I had to kill them, plain and simple. Brad and Genkan would understand. Even if they disagreed, they'd… listen. They'd forgive me.

In the mirror realm, one of Brad's mirrors mentioned a "Matt" who had likely killed my mom. This lined up with my mom's description of a blond man.

Does Brad know something I don't? I'm sure he'd tell me if I pressed him.

"I just feel like I'm somewhere I shouldn't be," mom announced. "Like I'm out of my depth… or time, or… whatever."

"I'm sure you could find something to enjoy," I told her. "You're an awesome magician, right? Was that all for nothing?"

"I wasn't always a magician. In fact, I'd only picked up magic in the years I had you."

Huh? "What do you mean?"

"I began learning when you were young. To protect you. To protect us. I knew it was a hopeless effort, but it gave me comfort."

"Hopeless? How?"

"Because there would be no stopping circumstance. My magic was useless in the face of what happened. I knew a day like that would come, but I didn't know how soon, or why, or how."

I was reminded of Brad's silly assertion of "If I die, I die, yo." I forget how seriously I may have taken it then… but I know Genkan took it pretty seriously. And with time, I came to realize that he was fully serious. He had no entitlement to survival, even if subconsciously he would try.

"I worked at the Golden Grin," Mom told me. "I was a hostess. That's where I met your dad."

Huh? "You told me you were a baker?"

"Because what could a child do with that knowledge? It was easier to not answer those questions. With baking, it's easy to look like you know what you're doing. Soon enough, the act became a passion… and then I really was a baker. I was not always a baker."

This… is nonsense. I kinda smiled, but I was in disbelief. "I— I don't know if I believe you?"

Mom stood up. She promptly slid her pants down. "Then explain this."

There was a tattoo with cursive English, just above the waistband of her black panties, reading "Lucky you".

What? "You could've just had that put on you, or something."

She pulled her pants back up. "Ask anyone over the age of twenty at the club about the woman with this tattoo. They'll tell you about Sally. ...The last thing I wanted was for you to walk in my footsteps."

I opened my mouth—

"I don't have to worry about that now, do I?" She smiled.

A breath escaped my mouth. "Not anymore. You know, when you died… I'd considered it. If I had known, I might not have, as like… a point of pride."

"That's funny."

"But then Brad showed up, and I got the dumb idea to run off after him."

Mom snorted. "If it happened as you said, you could have just as easily jumped ship into the arms of traffickers."

"I don't know about that. I could kinda tell Brad wasn't that sort of person. And Genkan…"

"Emanates a kind of innocence, doesn't she?"

"Sort of. She's pretty huffy, but she's become really nice." We're all useful and useless in our own ways. I'm not very social. Brad's… weird, and Genkan is violently innocent. Hana's peacefully innocent.

Anyway, "Let's go to Eientei." There's no distracting me off this point, mom.

She let out a breath, knowing her plan was foiled. "It can wait." I'm still not sure why she's so hesitant about going.

"No, it can't. I'm not letting you die."

Mom sighed. "It's just…"

"You will find something to live for." I don't know why I said that like a command.

Mom chuckled. "Will I?"

"Yeah."

"What gives me the right over others' dead loved ones?"

"The moment that a fucked—" I didn't notice when I swore until I said it! "A fucked-up necromancer brought you back from the dead without your permission and tried to use you to kill me. That's what gives us both the right to have this. I don't know about you, but we deserve something to show for that."

"...I suppose. It's not quite often people are haunted by literal apparitions of dead loved ones." Mom closed her eyes. "I guess we'll go."

I stood up. There would be no telling Brad or Genkan about this journey. This one was for me and mom alone. This was our problem.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

Mom and I were crouched next to a snow bank. We watched a hopeful fluffle paw its way out of the snow with both its front fins. It had all the grace of a newborn… something. To that end, the fluff along its head was rather… incredible. In the same way that a young kitten looks awed or "blown away" by everything.

"They are pretty cute." Mom admitted.

"Right? They have no right looking so cute when they're basically dimensional mice. Or— ants. Or like… if I remember right, as monkeys are to humans, these things are to kappa. They've even got the primal instinct to invent and learn. They're just… these things."

The cute fluffle looked up at us, as if perceiving the world for the very first time. "call me cool math games"

Standing up from the snow bank, I stared at the double glass doors which lead into Eientei's front lobby. We had to walk forever to get here, but it was an eerily quiet trip.

It was just becoming night when we started. We didn't really have any regard for the dangers of the trip, but… nothing got in our way, so I guess it was fine. On account of my mom being undead, she didn't have to think much about the strategy of these things herself anymore. As for me, I'm sure there's somewhere decent to sleep here.

"What's our goal again?" Mom wondered. "Simply to preserve my existence?"

"...Well, duh."

For some outlandish reason, Mom was put off by the idea. "This feels… shortsighted."

"I don't care. I love you, mom."

That seemed to shock her out of whatever logic she'd worked herself into.

We approached the front desk. A purple-haired bunny girl was there to greet us. "...Oh. It's you. Maria, if I recall."

Huh? "How do you know me?"

"I'm Reisen. I've seen you run around with Brad." Oh, huh. "...And I take it that's your mom. You're here about her uh, condition."

Woah. "That's…"

Mom spoke up. "Isn't it a little rude to be that forward about the formalities of this? At least pretend you don't already know."

"Probably. Look, it's just after New Years and I really just don't care anymore." When she mentioned it, I realized how tired she looked. "I know why you guys are here, and I can hook you up. After all, it's part of an ongoing investigation."

"Investigation?" Me and my mother both questioned that.

"Yeah. The clinic's had their eyes on a series of events in the village, and your mother's murder was one of them. Normally I wouldn't be talking about this with you, but the cadaver's right here and everything."

"Don't call me that." Mom gave her sass back. "We came for help, not for your attitude."

"Who killed mom?" I got straight to the point.

Reisen raised a brow. "What's your intention?"

I opened my mouth, planning to say "revenge," but the word just felt so stupid I couldn't say it. "I wanna… get even." Mom gave me a strange look.

Reisen snorted. "I wouldn't recommend that."

"Why?"

"I've already said too much," Reisen decided.

"No. Tell me." I wasn't gonna let a lead just go.

...Reisen licked her lips, and took a breath. "Fine. We'll make a deal."

Huh? "A deal?"

"We help your mother, or I tell you who killed her."

Huh?

I looked at Mom. She like… nearly gave me a smirk.

"That's… that's stupid. Why can't we do both?"

Reisen was honest. "Because I don't think you're anywhere near ready to handle something that hard. You could get killed."

"Just give me it— so I can decide for myself! Don't make me choose!"

Reisen wasn't having that. She gave me a really put-off look.

"Please…" I huffed. "I'm not letting this world get away with what happened to mom."

Mom sighed. "Maria. It's not your duty, to—"

Brad flashed across my mind. "I don't give a fuck about duty! This isn't just me to you, mom. This is personal. I've had it up to here, with that fucking village."

Mom's brows were furrowed, but she had nothing to say.

I shook my head. "I've learned magic— so I could have the power to make a difference. Because I knew it was a road few in the village could ever walk. The power of the mystic gives strength to those without guns or swords.

"I didn't learn magic for your reasons, mom. I didn't learn it to defend myself. I learned it to blow other people the fuck up."

I looked Reisen in the eyes. I knew about her power, and I didn't care. "What happened to mom… pissed me off. Personally. And I want to settle the score. I wanna show that idiot what happens when you cross me."

Reisen began to move around the counter. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Her purple nails traced the marble counter's surface, as she rounded it and came up to me.

She stared down at me. She was so much taller. I glared back up.

Brad showed me the other two days... what power really was.

Power was doing anything to make a change. Being willing to do anything. Magic rewarded those willing to do anything. The mystery of magic was in others' insight. If you just suffered through magic solely to get power alone, you'd get some, sure, but it'd blow up in your face eventually. You get out what you put in.

Power wasn't just about toughing it out. It wasn't just about making a comeback. It wasn't about slowly suffering through magic. It was... about collecting knowledge. Putting pieces together. Enjoying the work…

I thought of Brad, and realized: it was about knowing how to take an asskicking. It was about knowing how to be okay with being looked at like an idiot, especially when you know you aren't one.

Revenge is stupid. I know I'm being a little stupid. But I just can't get it out of my head. I just can't leave it alone. I hate the idea that stupid fucking idiots can change my life for me. It makes me so scared. Scared for Genkan and Brad, scared for Hana, scared for mom…

If change happens to include revenge, that's how it has to be.

Brad showed me, if someone was willing to do anything, they can become more than the world thinks they should be. The world thinks me and my mom are just some victims. I'm so fucking done!

"I'm not afraid." I got so close to Reisen that my chin practically pushed against her bust.

"Idiot." Reisen's frown began to tighten. "You don't have to announce it. We all know you're afraid. Everyone is. We know you're trying to live despite it. It's not clever. Get over it."

"Yeah? Well— you seem to think you can just, get in my face and I'll back down. I won't."

"I see. Just wanted to know if you realized how serious this is."

"Nothing could be more serious." I'm not backing down!

"...Come on." Reisen moved for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"We're taking this outside."

What?

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: REISEN UDONGEIN INABA'S PERSPECTIVE ====

Maria Yamada. A sixteen year-old girl from the Human Village. An aspiring magician with a truly voracious ambition.

We stood outside Eientei's front doors, standing in snow lit by the dreary copper lights of the outer walls. You'd think we'd upgrade those. Master was quite particular about the low-power lights back when we were in hiding. Now, they don't quite make as much sense, but it's too much work to change all these wall-embedded lamps.

"You… want to fight?" Maria furrowed her brows, processing my request.

"Yep." I began to get worked up, stretching my neck, then my arms. "Haah…"

She bared her teeth. "Why? Why about this?"

"It doesn't matter how bad you want it. If you really want your revenge, you'll have to beat me. The thing that lies past me is even tougher. If you knew only that, you'd throw yourself at them and just die. If I kick your ass here, you'll get to retry later when you think you're ready."

Maria's body tensed up. She was ready to fight. I could tell she'd already made her decision.

I smiled. "You've got guts. I'll give you that. For a human, you've got serious guts." I don't let it show, but I'm… kinda baffled. Where did a single lonely human villager get all of this courage and wrath from?

Maria's eyes were incredibly hard, unbefitting for such a soft face. "Fine! Fine!"

She spun around, drawing a staff from the crude storage backpack she had. Her black dress spun around, and the black rose in her hair glistened.

"I'll make you kneel before me." She began to grin back at me. "The human village— will know my power. And—… I'll make you tell me who killed my mom."

"Stop talking and get on with it." I intentionally agitated her.

Her eyes flared. She held up her iron lantern-styled staff. A red energy bubbled up inside the glass and cast-iron cradle.

"Fira!" She committed to the fight, attempting to scorch me.

I'm fighting her hand-to-hand so that this would be fair, or as close to fair as it could be. Because... it's really not fair. She's a human. I'm… me.

Woosh! Bypassing the homing fireball was as simple as walking towards Maria at an angle.

Maria inhaled sharply. "Blizzara!"

FWISH! The shotgun spread of ice wasn't any more intimidating. I twisted so I'd be thinner, slipping between the flying ice chunks.

"Thundara!"

zap. I noticed the sky crackle.

THWASH! THWASH! THWASH! Three lightning bolts struck. Before each one could land, I was already out of the way, because I'd realized where they would cast. Lightning travels instantly, but Maria's magic itself does not.

She twisted ninety-degrees to her left, noticing me still walking closer.

"Waterra!" Twisting, swirling water rushed to defend her. "Take that!"

GLOOP! A massive orb of water came for me.

woosh. Dropping onto all-fours, I thrust my body under the projectile entirely. When I stood up, I was in Maria's face. Her eyes shot open wide.

THOOM! My knuckles met her jaw when I unleashed an uppercut. I flew a meter into the air. She flew even higher.

Thud! She suffered a three-four meter drop onto her butt, landing two meters away. She was stunned with shock from the blow.

I sighed. "I could've dodged all that in my sleep."

She rubbed her jaw, and began to stand back up. "Yh— you…"

Stepping up, I took her staff from her arms. Her brows snapped up, and she gasped. "Aa—"

THUMP! With one thrust, I planted the butt of the staff into her gut. "Uuh!" She cringed.

Tossing it aside, I took her by her collar.

"Haah!" With a smooth twist of my own waist, I threw Maria over my shoulder.

Thud! She bounced against the floor on my other side. "Uhah!" Snow and leaves got stuck to her dress and hair.

"The cross you seek is a heavy burden to bear." I hated to sound like my master for this, but it was true. "Are you sure you can take it?"

She began to get up again, her face all red. "I'm—…" She noticed her staff on the floor where I left it.

Snapping into a roll in the snow, she picked up the staff, aiming it at me. "Fira!"

Fwoom! The fireball came out at me point-blank. Even then, avoiding it was as easy as leaning out of the way.

THUMP THUMP. Weaving down, two hooks to either of Maria's ribs. She stumbled back whole meters.

"Thu— thundara…!"

THWASH! THWASH! THWASH! With a few swift motions, I found myself behind her, the three bolts meant for me wasted on the snow where I used to be.

WOOSH! I unleashed another uppercut as a follow-up from my maneuvers, but Maria managed to stagger out of the way, displaced by the air being pushed by my own body. I forgot how light she was.

FWISH! For a moment, gold heat flashed from my body, then it hue-shifted to red.

"Hraaah!" With just my left arm, I unleashed a devastating attack, spinning around and accelerating towards Maria. It was such a stupid technique.

Maria wisely ducked the flailing arm, but my midsection met her so hard that she was displaced and sent rolling. "Aah!"

Whipping my left arm back, curling my whole body one-eighty, I unleashed a truly inhuman, cartoonishly wound-up punch in her direction.

WHIR. The blow passed before her face. My knuckles were level with her eyes.

WOOSH! The mere air off the thrust of my fist sent Maria sliding back onto her butt in the snow. "Wah…!"

"Heheh…" I teased her to show just how hopeless this was. "You're light as a goddamn feather."

Maria huffed, working up a glare again. A big bruise formed on her chin. "You're a jerk…"

"Yeah?" I let my eyes flash red. "I'm more than that. I'm a killer."

Fwish. The heat rolling off my body flashed gold.

WOOSH! In the next instant, I was before her with an uppercut. Maria barely leaned out of the way.

"Aaa!" Despite that, because I'd leapt with my uppercut, the mere momentum of my body bowled her over as one of my legs brushed her chest in passing.

With a sigh, I reached down, pulled her up off the floor, dusted her off, and—

WHAM! —hooked her one clean across the face.

She staggered, kneeling onto one knee, but bounced back into standing.

THOOM! I uppercut her again. She went down instantly. Her eyes fluttered from the floor, and she began to struggle back to her feet.

"We're done here." The gold energy in my body flared.

Maria glared back. "Nn— no, we're—"

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Weaving down, I rapped eighteen consecutive hooks across her ribs.

Her eyes were so wide as I stood back up—

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Alternating legs, I worked nine fully horizontal cross kicks into her stomach.

I reeled my arm back for a final face-centered hook…

Maria barked out blood. "HRAAH!"

FWISH! Blue light flashed from her body, and she thrust her staff up.

FWOOM! A laser of fire was projected from the staff. It burned into my energy shield, and I had to bail on my attack.

KRING! KRING! KRING! Glaciers of ice began to erupt from the floor, trailing after me.

ZAPZAPZAPZAPZAPZAP! Electricity arched down from the sky, forming a defensive barrier around Maria. Not that I was going to act on it, I was too busy running from the creeping ice.

VRRRRR~! The thin fire laser crept counter-clockwise as I ran a clockwise circle around Maria.

"Haah…" Maria loudly exhaled, and her body unleashed a huge waft of blue heat.

FWAASH! A bright white light erupted over her head, along her iron staff's tip.

"Firestorm!"

KABOOM! BOOM! BAM BOOM! The air began to erupt and crackle around me, exploding errantly. Snapping my gaze around, I could detect the flushing magic and where the wells of heat would begin.

"Ice Storm!"

WOOOSH! The blue heat from Maria's body flattened out along the snow, flakes exploding everywhere. The air itself began to chill.

KRING! KRACK! KRING! Similarly, icicles began to form in the air, expanding and freezing the air around them, becoming deadly alchemical mines in mid-air.

"Thunderstorm!"

krrk. The air hummed with death.

THWASHKABOOMBOOMTHWASHBOOM! The roar of a million bolts dropping down was deafening. They struck the mid-air icicles and curled around the dying wells of mid-air fire.

The orb of holy magic which hung in the air over her began to bubble from all of the applied elements.

Maria's hair stood on end.

"Weak-hearted rabbit! This is…" Her voice hummed with violent magical energy. Her cute brown hair flashed with black and white streaks before returning to normal, and the violent magic bomb over her head began to shimmer. "REAL POWER!"

I floated into the air, off the floor. The holy orb expanded.

Time stopped. I could just sort of feel it. All of the combined magic unleashed a terrible power.

Temperature shock. The fire, the ice, the lightning, all infused into such a tight space, into the air itself, unleashed a force which could separate chemicals.

CRAACK! The glass of the door into the clinic shattered. Just another Tuesday for this poor doorway. What wasn't completely typical was the fact the metal frames themselves shattered, as did the window frames.

Maria stood over a platform of dirt and snow. All around her, a miasma of solids, liquids and gases mingled. The snow was all gone, but even the stone, dirt and bamboo around her had become a volatile alchemical mixture which soon solidified along the floor. When it cooled, it was all grey, if the materials hadn't just outright vaporized into nothing.

When the magic was dissipated, Maria looked up at me with slight dismay. I simply pretended to stand on the air over her.

"I think your cool attack has a blind spot," I tilted my head… just to be a jerk.

Maria fell backwards, onto the solidified mixture behind herself. It made a plastic-like sound when she landed on it, and it buckled a little, letting her sink in. "Oo— oh…"

"Get it all out of your system?"

She looked up at me, and sighed. "...Yeah."

Taking out a Staminan X, I descended from the air to give it to her. It was like a healing potion.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: MARIA'S PERSPECTIVE ====

...I held a bag of ice to my head once we were back inside. The medicine she gave me helped, but ouch.

Mom clapped a little. "Nice magic. You've grown so much."

"Ye— yeah, thanks…" I was supposed to like, win that, you know.

But um, Reisen's right. I'm not ready to fight formidable opponents one-on-one. In many of our recent fights, important foes just… had so much strength. They'd just eat spells. Reisen was no joke… in fact, I don't think I hit her at all.

Reisen settled her elbows onto the counter. There was now a terrible draft running through the lobby. "I think you've realized why just going nuts and just unleashing your frustration isn't realistic."

"You're right. I've still got a ways to go," I sighed.

"What's your decision?"

"Just help my mom already. I'll be back for more information… when I'm ready for it."

Reisen smiled at that. "Sounds like a plan. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. It's just easier for both of us this way. Wouldn't want you getting yourself hurt. Next time you come here, expect to be able to put up a fight when I'm just fighting hand-to-hand."

"I— I see. Say… did I hit you? Even once?"

Reisen nodded. "I got careless and got licked by that fire beam when it first came out. That was it."

Just what kind of magic had I cast? I just kind of… channeled the elements. In my rage, I just went wild. Instead of aiming it at Reisen's core, I aimed it everywhere and detonated as many fireballs as I wanted.

There was one big downside: those big radial spells looked amazing, but I could tell they weren't nearly as effective as a focused attack. If I'm casting just for an elemental effect it's probably good enough, but…

Actually, before that, I unleashed that tri-elemental attack. That was cool. The ice part was inspired by Genkan and Shimokoa. Flame Laser, Ice Needle and Thunder Lattice. Even magically-generated physical attacks aren't really my style, but… freezing things is harder than lighting them on fire, so hitting stuff with ice is so much easier.

The mana bomb I used at the end was just to overcharge the elements around me. To, you know, maybe hit Reisen. I hadn't realized that she could just fly. I broke my limit to unleash that attack… so when it was over, and totally missed at that, I was spent.

clack. clack. Clack! Huh? A loud smacking sound came closer, down a nearby hallway.

Me and mom turned, and we saw Brad moon-jumping towards us, nearly banging his head on the hallway ceiling each time. As if recognizing a prior mistake, when he neared the doorframe between the hall and the lobby, he made sure not to jump into it.

"Hey," he raised his voice, "Wanna listen to some tunes?" He gave us the most exaggeratedly inquisitive expression possible, holding up a tape and a tape player.

click! When he inserted the tape without permission, it played some kinda abstract techno music. He looked absolutely shocked for some reason, while swaying his head aggressively to the beat.

"Huh?" I just registered the fact he'd walked up to us.

Genkan passed by us, before slowing to a stop. "Oh. Maria. We're heading home. We've ordered multiple shipments."

"...Shipments?"

"We ran up a tab and have ordered eighteen tractor trailers worth of goods!" Brad announced. "We're gonna hitch a ride on the motherload!"

"Eh?" I smiled cluelessly. Tractor trailers? Tractors?

"Why are they called tractor trailers?" Genkan was curious. "Why not just 'trucks'?"

"That's a good question that I don't know the answer to!"

Reisen interjected. "Probably because there are trucks smaller than trailers. Like pickup trucks. Guess you wouldn't know that."

Brad saw my mom, and then looked at me, and then looked at the doorway. "...Where'd the door go? We weren't even here that long!"

"It's being refurbished," I explained.

Brad chuckled. "Woohoo! Well, ya look busy, so…" Still not used to saying "goodbye", Brad pivoted around and just took off.

Genkan gave me a pleasant smile, and a wave. "See you later. Good luck."

"Goo— good luck?" I'm not sure why she offered it, but I appreciate it regardless.

Reisen began to talk to us about what we'd have to do. Me and mom… we had to make some decisions. It was literally a matter of life or death, after all.

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: BRAD'S PERSPECTIVE ====

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. A symphony of trailer truck warning sirens went off, as they all drove in the air over the cave, trying to drop shit off on the lawn.

"What have we done?" Genkan stared up at the mass of red rear lights and glowing chrome headlights in the evening sky. "This is chaos."

"Ooh my god." I was just freakin' dazzled by the visuals. "Genkan— we gotta build a concrete obstacle course in the sky. Just to capture the essence of this whirling mass of fucking trucks. This is like an urban nightmare."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. They were so fucking loud too!

"I'm going to be hearing these things in my sleep." Genkan had to raise her voice!

SHOOF! The combined sounds of their exhausts all huffed in a discordant rush!

VUUU! One of them honked their horn!

"You know— on the outside, these things can't fly, so a crash involving one of them is usually always catastrophic!"

"Good to know!" Genkan had to yell back to be heard! "I couldn't have guessed— that they were worse on the outside!"

"I say this 'cause like, I imagine people have nightmares like this!"

"I couldn't blame them!"

So, we didn't just order furniture, see...

THOOM. THOOM. THOOM! Some of the trucks began to drop off big ass stacks of materials. Woods of all sizes, shingles, other shit.

It took a whole like, hour or two for them to drop everything off, but me and Genkan were so starstruck by the visual that we just watched it happen.

Patatat! Patatatat! Some fairies from nearby began attacking the cargo trucks!

PI~CHUN! PI~CHUN! Oh my god they got fucking erased. They got shot up. Killed in a drive-by! Imagine dying to tractor trailer drivers…!

Pi~chun! One of the fairies flew head-first into the bumper of a truck and fucking destroyed herself.

Shfff. The final truck let out its enduring sigh of exhaust, before pivoting around and taking off into the evening sky.

Me and Genkan were left with a lot of shit. Furniture, materials, appliances, just, all kinds of shit.

"...This is going to take forever." Genkan was sobered by the pile of things. "Furthermore… where do we even begin building? Would you rather we expand onto the lawn out here? Or should we build into the cave?"

The cave into the inner cave where Genkan lived was an S of ice and stuff. "Maybe we oughta do a bit a' both. Especially 'cause… y'know, how much does your cave help with the summer?"

"I seal the whole tunnel, but that's not exactly necessary. As long as it's deep enough. Women in the snow village have powerful magic which keeps the village cold, and they stay indoors quite often as well."

"How deadly is the heat?" I forgot…

"We grow weaker, until we're about human strength. It's also very uncomfortable. It's not impossible to survive, but… you know how it goes."

Ah, yeah. "Yeehaw. Anyway yeah, I think it'd be freakin' ridiculous if like, halfway through a nice lookin' house, there's just this big-ass S-shaped tunnel, and then it returns to being a normal house on the other side. We also need like, a real bedroom, but we also need that stupid bed ice hockey room still. Or maybe we should just make another one!"

I snapped my fingers. "But, actually, we pro'lly oughta get a hand for building this shit."

"From who?" Genkan wasn't sure who we'd ask! "If you've forgotten, the human village has entirely forgotten how to build real houses… and the forest youkai aren't much better."

Aah. "But what about the snow village? They had actual houses there."

"...You have a point. In fact, negotiations with them should be easy."

Ho ho. That's an idea! Well… "Until then, uh…"

"What do you mean, until then? Won't we do that now?"

"I mean…" I gestured to all of this shit! "I feel like we shouldn't just leave all this shit out here in the open!"

"That's… a good point."

"Hey." Uh oh. The curious locals have already arrived! Some orange-haired fuckin' cat lookin' ass dude showed up! "What's all this shit about?"

Genkan sighed. "It's none of your— mmh." Reaching out, I covered Genkan's mouth. She glared at me, and became aggressive! "Omh!" Wha— ow! She gently bit my hand!

"Yeeow!" I flailed my hand around! "Genkan, why!?"

"What was your plan…!?" Genkan beamed back at me! "I was telling this cat thing off. Why did you stop me?"

The cat man was still angry! "Can you two stop fuckin' clownin' around?"

Steppin' before Genkan, I held my hands up! "We're starting the Ocean State Job Lot."

"The what?"

...Aw! Ha-chan drifted up to us, lookin' snug in her kimono!

When Ha-chan got near, I put a hand on her back and corralled her into the forefront! "This is one of our leading sponsors! Hanabelle Barbarabelle!"

Ha-chan stared at the cat man, before beaming! "Hi! I'm Hana!"

Orange-haired kitty man folded his arms, looking pissed. "Here's the thing: me and my boys, we hang out 'round these parts, the northern woods. Would look damn stupid if you had some whacky fuckin' pile of shit on what's basically our lawn. Why don'cha go move into that village a' your kind up north? Or build in the damn field? Why here?"

"This is my family home," Genkan declared! "I will not surrender it. You will have to kill us."

...After a moment, I smiled sheepishly. "The Ocean State Job Lot is a hard environment to grow up in."

"Kill ya, huh?" The cat man exhaled. "I'll do you bitches better. If we can't find an agreement, me and my boys'll just come take your shit. By force."

Fwi- Click! I dunno what came over me, but I just summoned the pistol we stole from Seiga, and I pointed it at him. "Genkan, get the shotgun."

fwish! Genkan generated her shotgun, pointing it at 'em with me!

He stared down the pistol's silencer, and slowly twisted his head. "...Think I see how it is. Look, I was never sayin' you two can't do this. I was just thinkin', if you do something for us... we'll be inclined to do a few things for you."

Hoh? "What kinda things?"

"You've got outsider tech in that pile. I'm thinkin' like… if you let us use a few a' those things. And that gun ya got..."

"Short answer: no. Long answer: noooo. I am not in the mood for your kitty cat bullshit. Get offa' my lawn." I thrust the pistol at him gently!

"Hhh…" Hissing, he put his hands inside his fuckass lookin' cargo jacket. "It's just easier if we don't hate each other, y'know?"

"I don't want you people in my house." Genkan gave her own terms! "It would also be easier if you went away and never came back."

"We don't hafta be in your house. We just want some nice things in exchange for you havin' your property on our turf. We'll give you protection."

I shook my head! "Is this Gensokyo's idea of telemarketers? I don't care how many cats y'send, I'm gonna send 'em all to Mars!"

Kitty man let out a huff! "You'll fuckin' see. You can't just do us like this. I'm giving you idiots a chance."

"Look…" I put on my best bullshitting voice. "When the Ocean State Job Lot opens, you'll have a lot of opportunities! I will bring business back to the Forest of Magic! You'll get to buy and sell wood! Yehah!"

Cat man just walked at me even though I was holding a pistol at him oh god—

Ha-chan got into our way, smiling at him. "Heeey! I'll tell you what! When my cafe opens, I'll give you a... free coffee! Yeah!"

"Cafe?" That got his attention! "...You guys're opening a cafe?"

I held my arms out. "It's the Ocean State Job Lot. Like, duh."

"...Hmm." He folded his arms again. "You know what? Free coffee for me and—"

From the dark a' the woods behind kitty guy, a new cat man emerged! And, he's huge, oh my god.

Fuckin' Garfield here twisted to face 'em, his ears twitching. "Oo— oh! Boss!" Boss!

He was over six feet tall, dressed in all black. Unlike this raggedy side-character lookin' ass Garfield lookin' ass cat, this guy just screamed "main character."

"When the aether darkens, 'tis an omen that snowfall draws dear..." Oh no, he's retarded. His hair was short and white, and I immediately noticed his fluffy ears. His black coat had grey fur along the cuff, all flared out. Dangling from either his ear or his hair was a huge gold-cyan tassel, glittering in the moonlight.

shoof. In his right hand he had a black-white platinum pimp cane, which he pressed down into the snow.

And— in his left he had a fucking bird perched on his arm, oh my god.

"'Tis an omen that snowfall draws near." Genkan corrected him. "Isn't that right?"

The silver-haired cat man stared back stoically. "...Personally, I prefer 'dear.' It pairs well with draws and darkens."

"Aah… suh— sir!" The orange-haired cat in rags saluted the big man! "I was just checkin' out this disturbance, sir!"

"I see that, Matsuhide. You may go."

Matsuhide bowed before him, and promptly took off for the woods.

Big boss man sauntered towards us, his face inexpressive. "Do you have a place where we can sit and talk?"

"Oh my god." I beheld his fuckin'... what's that, an eagle? "You should let a fluffle perch on your forearm."

He gave me a stoic-ass look. "A fluffle is not a bird."

"Fluffles are totally birds. They're sand birds. Like partridges." I held my face closer to the bird as it darted its head around…

pap. Ow! "Aaaa~!" The fucker pecked my face! It fuckin' pecked my face! "Aah!"

"Brad…" Genkan chuckled pitifully. "What did you expect?"

The silver-haired cat god nearly smiled. "Excuse my pet. He has a distinct craving for the flavor of bullshit."

Silently, Ha-chan came up and pet the bird. An' the bird just let her do it! What! "Aww…" She appreciated the bird! "Ooh!" It leapt into her arms, and she held it!

"Ah. Hey." He clicked his tongue in a specific way. "Toshi. Back." The bird did not obey, staring back at him from Ha-chan's arms. "Toshi."

"What do you want from us?" Genkan asked! "We're not interested in you freeloaders and thieves."

"We are the Ocean State Job Lot," I reaffirmed the premise, rubbin' my nose!

"If you were, I would know. The forest's cats and I run a trading company. I know you're just building a house… and I don't seek to get in the way of that. I just want to talk."

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

Back inside the ice cave, we sat at the coffee table. Big kitty man panned his inexpressive gaze around, taking in the kitchen counter we'd unceremoniously plopped in the corner of the cave common room awhile ago. Y'know, this guy kinda reminds me a' Alucard from Castlevania. Big coat, silver hair, stoicism. Just has that air about 'em.

He was scooted way back from the table, both arms mounted on his black-platinum pimp cane. "I take it you don't do tea here?"

"I don't usually have guests," Genkan made an excuse for herself.

He nodded. "You." He meant me! "What's your name?"

I wasn't sure if I should troll 'em or not! "Brad. Bad. Be rad."

"I see. And, what are you two to one another?"

"Lovers." Genkan announced it plainly!

Closing his eyes, lookin' more tired than anything, the big cat in charge nodded his head as if drowsy.

I had my own question! "What's your name…!?" He's kinda asocial for a boss man, so I asked him his name!

"Silver."

I'd rag on the unoriginality, but I dunno, it also fit for a woods-born cat dude. "Silver, aah? Silver ass gorilla."

"So…" Genkan edged the conversation along! "Um…"

"Do you need assistance in building? Storage?" Silver was strangely accommodating.

"Why would you help us? People seldom do things from the good of their heart."

He blinked twice, real slowly, lookin' so relaxed. "I knew your mother."

"Oh?"

"I hadn't realized she had her daughter here. The least I can do is offer my shoulder. Though…" He eyed me! "I hadn't expected you to take after your mother."

Genkan found that strange. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"...Nothing important."

"That's not an answer."

For some reason, he almost seemed uncomfortable. "Your mother didn't believe in reserving love for only other snow people."

Genkan snorted. "I doubt my sisters even socialize outside of the local village. We're not a people's people."

"Exactly." With that, he leaned back into his seat. He was so much bigger than the basic chairs we currently had in here! "Color me surprised that you found a human lover."

"...You knew my mother, then. Could you… tell me about her?"

He shook his head. "That's not what I'm here about."

"You can't just bring it up and—"

"Would you like my help with the construction? You won't have to spend anything. With all the materials here, I can cover the labor myself."

Genkan was curious. "Who are you to the forest's cats?"

"A friendly face… and also an opportunity. They listen to me."

"...Is my mother alive?"

"Yes."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. She was always such a free spirit."

Genkan accepted that. "I see. She can't be too far. Gensokyo is only so big."

Aw. "Genkan, we gotta get hardhats. You'd look very cute in your kimono with a hardhat on."

"No. I'd look stupid." Genkan declared! "You just want me to embarrass myself."

Silver idly stared along Genkan's shoulder-hung jacket and risque cow bra. "I think you're doing a fine job of that already. I mistook you for a city girl at first, before realizing Gensokyo didn't have those."

...Actually, wasn't Sanae doin' construction? "Yo, do you know anything about Moriya Construction?"

"They've got their hands full with the village," Silver told me. "But, yes, I do. They're a political front for the goddess Yasaka to spread her influence to the village in a tangible way the humans can recognize. It's a cut above the efforts of the other faiths to simply control crime and safety, I'd say. Especially since crime and safety are so relative."

...His words were cryptic at first, but then I realized. "'Cause peace is an illusion under the need for fear, right?"

"Right. Because if humans stopped believing in nothing, Gensokyo would cease to be anything."

It felt so silly. "I think you can believe in things without fearing them. Hell, that's why we appreciate stories an' art. They make us imagine. We consent to them being fantasies so we can escape into them without confusion. So we can dream as we please, even refine it so it's almost so real you can taste it."

Silver actually smiled. "So you aren't just a bullshitter. That's a load off my shoulders."

"Hoh?"

Standing up, he began to move. "We can get started building whenever you two want. My boys have nothing better to be doing right now."

"Ah…" Genkan got up, giving her own midriff a strange look. "We don't even have any plans for what the house will look like."

"You both can think about it when I get a crew out here. No time like the present, as they say."

"I… guess."

"Yo, hey," I held a hand up! "We ain't gonna be owin' you any favors, will we?"

Silver held a hand up lazily. "Nothing like that. But…"

Pausing, he stopped near the entrance to the exit tunnel. Ha-chan was there, holding the bird close to her face.

"Toshi." Silver snapped his fingers. "Come back. Toshi."

"Hmhmhmhm." Ha-chan's giggle was stifled by bird. "It smells like bird."

"Please let my bird go."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO: MARIA'S PERSPECTIVE ====

Mom's treatment had begun… but I couldn't be in the same room. Somehow, we were seen personally by Yagokoro.

She'd told me that the operation would be a specific and arduous one. It would involve flesh grafting, organ replacements, and… a lot of things that I didn't understand. She told me she had experience with the undead as well as the living, so I didn't have to be worried.

The end goal was to give my mother a semi-permanent lasting body. She told me she wasn't supposed to do things like this, that something called the "ministry of right and wrong" wouldn't like it, but she also said it wasn't too big of a deal.

We discussed solutions. Like, we could've made mom a lich for real… or we could've done something else. Eirin wanted to make a self-sustaining ecosystem, a body that was almost alive, out of what was left of Mom that was still good. Eugh. Makes me sick to my stomach to even think a person's insides are spoiling like bad food.

But basically, Mom's mind was all here, but Eirin said it was good we saw her, and not just 'cause mom was rotting. She said it was bad to use a dead brain for too long. She told me, mom existed by spirit, but the spirit could be malformed when interacting with the dead mind, because the soul took the body's shape.

I asked, "If people get old, why do their spirits resemble when they were younger?" She said it's because the body remembers. But it's different for mom right now 'cause she's dead, and the current dead body doesn't remember anything. A dead brain doesn't think, and the personality it used to have is erased completely once it stops transmitting thoughts for good. That's not good.

I wanted to discuss payment, but Eirin said she had it under control, and I shouldn't have to worry about it. And, well, I had to trust her. She's not just a doctor, she's the doctor.

So I sat alone, in a waiting room. The bamboo outside lost its deep blue midday haze, and gained a pitch black visage as evening sat in.

Life's crazy. I let my head lean back against the bleak hospital wall.

When you're just waiting in places like these, you feel so small. Like when I was with my foster parents, and I'd spend days just sitting in my room, waiting for time to pass, waiting for life to get better. I'd rather see the warm walls of Marcus' shop then, even if I had to do work back then.

Has Brad ever had to do this? ...It's in a moment like this that I realize how stupidly close our party is. I think about them all constantly, even when I'm not with them. I miss them every moment we're apart. Is that healthy?

The will to do anything… but just what is it I'm willing to do for what I want?

Before I met my new friends, I was probably one of many villagers with… something empty in her heart. But now revenge seems so silly when I can just spend time with them. I'm never gonna forget when Brad showed up at my foster home and was just a menace. He really wasn't having any of their crap.

"Doctor dynamite superteeth." I muttered that old joke to myself.

...Oh! I just realized I wasn't alone in the waiting room anymore. But most of the new people waiting were fluffles.

One wasn't a fluffle, however. He sat next to me, staring at me directly.

"...You're Gage." I immediately didn't trust him.

"Heey, name gets around huh?" He smirked. "What's your name, pretty thing?"

"None of your beeswax, bub."

"Heheh. I gotta say, you're damn cute. What're you doing sittin' around here?"

"I'll call for help if you don't leave me alone."

Gage's smirk grew. "I am help."

Uh huh. "What do you want?"

He shook his head, sighing. "I don't want anything. It's just—"

"how may i be of assistance" There was a large fluffle before us! It had gotten up from the seats across from us.

I played along. "Take him away, boys."

The fluffle faced Gage. "may i take your order"

"Fuckin'..." Gage cracked his neck, glaring at the fluffle. "I was just wonderin' if you were free to hang out. Don't gotta bite my head off."

"You mentioned something about Shimokoa last time I saw you."

Gage paused. Then, he realized. "You… you were part a' that team that fucked my squad."

"Yep." I gave him a confident look.

He picked me up by the collar of my dress.

Bam! "Eee!" He pushed me into the wall. Adrenaline ran up my body.

"Explain what happened. Now." Gage held his face close to mine.

"Wh— why should I?" I reached into the side of my backpack. Any surface of it was able to interact with the contents, so...

"Or I'll beat the shit out of you."

"Then— beat me!" My heart pumped hard as I glared back. He wasn't going to just—

BAM! My vision blurred when he hit my head against the wall.

BAM! BAM! BAM! "Stu— stohp! Sth—" Saliva drooled from my mouth as I spat out my pleads.

BAM! "Stop it! Please—"

He threw me to the floor. When I pushed against it, he stamped his boot into my back. I hissed, trying to get free, but it was too much.

"Tell me who you were with," Gage demanded. "Tell me where they live. And I'll make this easy on ya."

I took the taser from my backpack while I was against the floor.

KaKaKaKa! The business-end loudly clicked to life when I squeezed it. "Thu— Thunder!" Since I was in no position to stab him with it, I used magic.

BAM! BOOM! BAM! The LEDs of the room exploded into electricity, and it arched down in spots that weren't so useful because of it.

The volume made Gage jump— and that was all I needed to twist and stab the taser into his leg.

ZAZAZAZAP! "Gghkhghk—" He practically leapt away from me, staggering back in the room's now-dim light. A few of the ceiling lights survived, so we were still able to see.

Springing back to my legs, I rushed him before he could recover.

ZAZAZAZAP! I thrust the taser against his exposed abs.

WHAM! Gah! He still hit me!

"Waterra!" While I staggered back, I cast magic from the tip of the taser.

KZZZT! KZZZT! The water whirling up at the taser's tip was charged.

CHOOM! Ultimately, the magic misfired as a glowing orb of plasma towards him.

FWAM- SPLAASH! Upon impact, the electric globe exploded into dazzling, sparkling water.

ZZZZ- ZAAP! Zap zap! Gage was lit up like a Christmas tree, beautiful streaking lines drawn across his entire body.

...thud, thud. He fell to his knees before me, then onto his face. "Fuh… fuck."

While I felt myself calm, one of the fluffles nearby became quadrupedal and began cautiously sniffing at my shoes.

"Lot of help you things were." I gave the fluffle before me a sarcastic expression. "Can't you help a girl out?"

"my demons" The fluffle sniffing me smelled like peanuts. "little little way"

"where" One of the seated fluffles had a completely irrelevant reaction.

"fido"

"nomenclature"

The fluffle sniffing me spoke again, "stools"

"Okay…" What strange things.

I crouched before Gage. He really wasn't even close to being as tough as Reisen. "Do you know Shimokoa? I never got an answer to my question."

"Ye— yeah. Yeah, I do. But I'm guessin' the chick with you wasn't her?"

"She wasn't. She was someone Shimokoa used to know."

"I… see."

Slowly, Gage began to get up. "I'll remember this…"

"You better. Next time I won't stop at frizzing your hair."

He stopped to glare harder, before stomping out of the room.

How long have I been waiting here? ...Ugh. I regret tossing that ice bag for my head now.

shoof. The door opened again, and some plain-looking bunny girl came in. She had a tray of snacks. "...What the hell happened here?" Oh, right.

I looked around at all the wet lobby seats, and the broken lights. "...Uh." I put away my taser. "That's a great question! I think it's like, being fixed."

"Ah…" She looked suspicious of me, but didn't question it. "I've been asked to distribute snacks to guests in waiting rooms this evening. Would you like something?"

Oh? How nice. "...Sure."

==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====

END OF CHAPTER 124

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

a very narratively-driven chapter, this one…

it capitalizes on a few desires i've had, namely one where yukari was utilized more like a normal character. i've kinda come to a realization about how to utilize yukari in better ways, and that kinda got put into motion in the last matt-maribel chapter.

that doesn't mean we'll be seeing a lot of her though, 'cause that's not really her deal. it's just that we've been in gensokyo so long and made such an impression, we can't help but pass her by once or twice… or rather, to pique her curiosity

that's the thing about her: she's got a player character's charisma, but she's also a dungeon master. you don't see the scripts she authors, and she's got a whole lotta heart. however, through being unable to be everywhere at once, she chooses to be nowhere at once.

i'd like to think that she sometimes shakes things up and gets a little bored of that… but because she lives so ambitiously, you won't see her make little habits like that.

this chapter's a strange one because it's going to be the first of perhaps a few chapters which portray a somewhat more abbreviated timescale. in this case, i managed to naturalize it with perspective swapping, allowing me to cut out stuff brad and genkan were doing that would just take time… and while i could've still shown those things and used them for scene-setting and character purposes, I THINK READERS KNOW how brad, genkan, maria and hana get down well enough.

this isn't to say they won't have some vibes in future chapters, but rather that i'm storing them for strategic use. this chapter itself had a rather slow pace because of the time we spent with yukari, and it's not exactly a follow-up to the things learned previous chapter, but in order to reach the cooldown/follow-up execution we needed to normalize the timescale

and i figured a reflective conversation with yukari would be both a nice hook and a good way to reflect on the knowledge experienced in the previous chapter's climactic struggle

we also get more maria! and this time, she tackles some conflicts. while brad and genkan live life as toons, she took some time out to get her pressing issues sorted. they're not exactly FUNNY HA HA events but i think they carry enough novelty and intrigue that readers will be interested in them the same way brad enjoys maria's company.

things have gotten a little weird, 'cause brad has become his own character much more than he is a self-insert, and i feel like that alienates part of my demographic who hasn't the imagination to enjoy more character-focused narratives.

i'm capable of enjoying lots of stories as escapism due to their own unique presentations, and that presentation itself is escapism to me, it lets me escape a much flatter and automated world usually regardless. but some of my readers i don't think really care for a brad with his own goals and desires, especially when those get in the way of the adventure

they're not entirely wrong, but i also think committing to this uncharted territory, where many writers had long given up their self-insert projects, is an adventure in and of itself.

one day i may comb over all of FG and make some of the more middling "well-written but still too slow" or "well-written but ultimately pointless" scenes more substantial, exciting, funny or meaningful, but that will be after it's finished

for now we'll just enjoy the ride

as always, see you all next time!