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Enjoy.
-Three Days Later—
Laughter and cheers echoed through the halls of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, something not heard in many, many years. Only this time, it came from far more than just the usual four residents.
"Hahaha! Oh, what a story that was!"
Yuugi was laughing uproariously from her seat at the head of the table. Various other oni were laughing alongside her when they weren't busy filling their faces with booze. From her spot beside the towering oni, Satori rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well, it certainly wasn't a laughing matter at the time…" she said.
Following Satori finally managing to get Okuu back to her normal self, Reimu brought the group to Eientei for treatment alongside Suika. Once there, she proceeded to scold the lot of them for so long that the moon had risen high in the sky by the time they left. Except for Koishi, who spent the whole time playing with Suika and the earth rabbits while her sister and pets were subjected to Reimu's lecturing.
When she was done with them, Reimu personally escorted them back to the entrance to the Underworld, where she promptly banned them from surface world for three months, one for each of them who caused trouble for the humans. Orin and Okuu were disheartened while Satori took it in stride, and with that the four youkai traversed the long tunnels back to the subterranean world they called home.
It took a couple days to settle back into life at the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Because of the burns on her hands Orin couldn't go back to ferrying corpses for a while, Okuu spent most of her time serving as Orin's hands, and Satori had her hands full with getting Koishi readjusted to living underground again. Once they had managed to get back to some semblance of normal, or as close as they could manage given all they've experienced in the past few days, Satori made good on her promise to Yuugi and paid her a visit, only for the boisterous oni to immediately declare that the party be moved to her palace.
Which is how Satori found herself sitting at a large table hastily set up in the main hall, sat between Yuugi and Koishi, with Orin and Okuu next to them along the side of the table, with a whole host of oni filling the rest of it, either drinking to their heart's content or playing with her various pets. She had just finished regaling Yuugi with the story of how her adventure had gone, much to her delight.
"To think," Yuugi said, refilling her dish with beer. "That all of this had been a misunderstandin'."
"Please don't remind me…" bemoaned Okuu, looking embarrassed as she helped Orin take a drink of sake.
"Hey, don't be so down on yourself. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, you just need learn to how to ignore 'em."
As Yuugi took a drink she kept her gaze on Okuu, and Satori didn't need to read her mind to know what she was thinking.
"I've forbidden Okuu from using her powers for as long as our banishment lasts as punishment, so don't even think about asking for a duel."
"Well can you blame me? That stunt you pulled in our duel forced me to drop my Dish, and here is the one you copied the power from right in front of me!"
"Yes, but you'll have to wait and ask her again at a later date."
"I still can't believe you did that, Miss Satori," Orin chimed in. "To copy Okuu's powers like that when you haven't even tried it before. And when we aren't even around, either!"
"I wasn't thinking very clearly at the time. You had to be there to fully understand how desperate I was."
"I wish I was there!" Koishi exclaimed. "I want to see you and Yuugi fight!"
"Sorry Koishi, but that was an experience I don't plan on reliving any time soon."
"Aww…"
Koishi deflated a bit.
"So," Yuugi said, looking Koishi over. "You're Satori's little sister, huh?"
"Yep!"
And just like that she bounced back.
"No!"
Satori threw her arms around Koishi, giving Yuugi a stern look.
"I don't care what you say, I will not let you fight Koishi!"
To Satori's surprise, Yuugi let out a thunderous laugh.
"Haha! Look at you, being protective of your little sister. You're too adorable!"
She gave Satori a slap on the back, nearly sending her flying into the table. Instead, she doubled over, Koishi lightly rubbing her back as she recovered.
"Oh, seeing you two makes me wish I had a little sister. Closest thing I got is Suika. I swear she gets even more drunk than usual when we get together, like she knows I'll keep an eye on her."
She paused, taking a drink.
"Now that I think about it, I should invite her to join us next time."
Satori, still reeling from Yuugi's 'pat' on the back, could sense Orin and Okuu tense up at the suggestion, their minds replaying the events of their encounter with the small oni.
"I don't think that would be wise. Orin and Okuu has a poor first meeting, after all, and it'll be bad if things spiraled out of control down here."
"Okay, then let's go and visit her! Once your three months are up, the five of us will go to the surface and have drinks with her there!"
She turned to address Okuu.
"And while we're there, you two can have a rematch!"
Okku floundered at the suggestion.
"I-I don't know. I mean, Reimu will probably be mad if she finds out we're fighting again, and she can be scary when mad…"
"Don't worry about Reimu, I'll handle her. She still owes me a rematch, too."
She cracked her knuckles as she said that, earning a few nervous laughs from the three other youkai. For her part, Koishi wasn't paying it any mind, instead grabbing her sister's cup of sake when she wasn't looking and quickly chugging the contents. Almost immediately she broke into a fit of coughing, spraying the drink all over the table and startling Satori.
"Koishi, what are you doing!?"
She began patting her back as her sister continued to coughed.
"But I wanted to try your drink…"
"Let me guess," said Yuugi. "You only drink wine?"
Satori answered for her.
"Actually, she's never been one to drink alcohol."
At this Yuugi looked taken aback, unable to process what she was hearing.
"What!? She doesn't drink!? Unacceptable! This must be addressed this instant!"
She grabbed the Hoshiguma Dish and began filling it up posthaste. Satori wanted to object, but she could see in Yuugi's mind that there was no stopping her. So instead she sighed, grabbed her cup, and prepared for a long night of drinking, a slight smile on her face.
Several hours later, the laughter of the palace was gone, replaced by the sounds of several dozen oni snoring. They were all around the hall, some curled up on their sides and others slumped over the table, all sleeping soundly after a night full of drunken revelry. Yuugi had simply laid back on the floor and passed out, her arms wide and snoring especially loudly.
Amongst them all sat Orin, not knocked out like everyone else. It wasn't because she didn't like alcohol, she just couldn't drink as much because her hands were still wrapped in bandages, the burns gained from when she grabbed Okuu's control rod. She relied on Okuu to help her, and as the hell raven became more and more intoxicated, it became harder for her to bring a cup to the kasha's mouth. So while everyone else got drunk until they passed out, Orin was only lightly buzzed at most.
Okuu, much like Yuugi, was sprawled out on the grown beside her, wing and arms spread wide. She had been a little down ever since they had returned from the surface, but as she drank with the oni her spirits rose again, until she was cheering and laughing right alongside them. Orin was a little worried she might let loose with her powers by accident, as even without her control rod to channel them there were still a few tricks she could do, but thankfully no such thing occurred.
Orin leaned over the table and smiled a soft smile.
Satori and Koishi were curled up on the ground, Koishi nuzzled up to her sister and Satori holding her in her arms, both passed out with little smiles on their faces. True to her word, Yuugi made sure that the Koishi got her fair share of alcohol, and Satori, being the good elder sister she always tries to be, shared in all her drinks until they got equally drunk. Unlike Okuu, they did fool around with their powers, with Satori hypnotizing oni into doing silly tasks and Koishi using her perception powers to make herself disappear and reappear at various points around the table.
It all made Orin feel very warm inside, aside from the booze. The past few days when they got back weren't exactly the best. Aside from her hands and Okuu's low spirits, Orin could see that Satori, for all her elation at having her sister back, was struggling how to adjust to her personality, or lack thereof. For Orin, to see the three most important people in her life smiling and laughing without a care in the world, even if it was from being utterly drunk, was the best feeling in the world. It made her hopeful that, someday, they can all be truly happy together once again
So, with a last, gentle smile to her sleeping masters, Orin laid down on the feathers of Okuu's wing, careful not to hurt her friend. As she did so Okuu turned over in her sleep, draping her other wing over the kasha as she curled up to her friend. Orin smiled and leaned into her embrace, the heat emanating from inside her lulling her to slumber.
Orin closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, content in the fact that finally, after so many years, her family was whole again.
Well, this is it, the end of the story.
Thank you to all who followed along and left reviews, it made writing this all the more enjoyable. The four members of the Komeiji family are my favorite of all the Touhou characters, and this was my tribute to them. I sincerely hope that all of you who have read this, be it now or in the future, enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will probably look this story over in the future some day and do a more thorough check form spelling errors I undoubtedly missed, so if this pops up on the front page every now and that, that's why.
Anyways, for the final time, thank you for reading, please feel free to leave a review, and do take care.
Until next time!