Entry 7: The Great Decider
Hakurei Reimu and Kazami Yuuka stood back to back, panting heavily.
"So," Reimu muttered. "Did we not properly account for their strength?"
"I think we did account for it," Yuuka responded, wiping sweat and blood from her brow. "We just weren't properly prepared for it."
Floating above them was both Yakumo Yukari and Ibaraki Kasen, nearly equally as battered as Reimu and Yuuka, but looking more prepared to continue the fight. Yukari had a rather pensive look to her expression, while Kasen's had a more straight-forward, enraged look to her.
"When will you listen to us, Reimu?" Kasen asked, irritated. "What does it take for you to actually listen to us?"
"Oh, gee. I don't know," Reimu responded sarcastically. "Maybe it's just that us humans don't react well to having our friends taken from us, and being told what to do by people with over-inflated egos. Just a guess."
"Make that 'humans' part to 'people' in general, and you have my reasoning, as well," Yuuka added. "I mean, really, Ibaraki. For a Hermit, you're awfully closed-minded. Even that Toyosatomimi fellow and her followers aren't as bad as you can be, and one of those girls regularly threatens arson whenever she sees me."
"They do have a point, you know," Yukari pointed out. "Almost all of the time you spend at the Hakurei Shrine is spent criticising Reimu's life choices. If I were to be considered 'passive aggressive', then you'd be just plain old aggressive."
"Who's side are you on?!" Kasen shouted.
"Yours," Yukari answered, "but I'll not deny Reimu's points." Yukari then turned her attention back to Reimu. "However, I must still point out the idiocy of this choice, Reimu. As the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, it is your job..."
"... To be impartial, I know," Reimu groaned. "I have to not pick sides when humans and youkai are causing trouble. You both have hammered that into me quite enough. But, just one problem with that logic: You've sealed both of those in there. They were humans and youkai that have done no more wrong than any of the others that call Gensokyo home. Remember the Endless Winter?"
"Of course we remember that Incident," Yukari said plainly.
"Technically your fault," Reimu continued. "And, when I talked about it with Sanae a few years back, she made... comments, let's say, about how that Incident could have, and I quote, 'fucked the ecosystem' of Gensokyo, and that's not mentioning the crop damage caused by an extended winter. And, might I ALSO point out: You haven't done anything to prevent that from happening again, have you? All we've got is Yuyuko's word that she won't."
Kasen glared at Yukari, whom at least had the decency to look sheepish. "It... can't have been that bad, could it?" she tried to wave off. "I mean, there are plenty of time when a season starts off colder than you'd expect."
"Yukari, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt by explicitly not bringing the Saigyou Ayakashi into the discussion," Reimu pointed out. "You know, the literal death tree? Remember that? Just admit you're a hypocrite who made a stupid choice that hurt me and my friends greatly, and piss off."
"You... have a lot of pent up anger," Kasen couldn't help but note. "But, that's no excuse for the fact that your shrine gets so few visitors because of the company you keep."
"You just love to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Reimu asked. "In case you're as blind as a bat, Ibaraki-douji, the 'company' I keep is a mix of both humans and youkai. You know, the 'balance' I'm suppose to keep? Unbiased? I exterminate youkai and humans that go too far, so what more do you want from me?"
"You got those three fairies doing small-time farm work!" Kasen rebutted. "You've literally bribed fairies for food by offering them free pranks!"
"And? It keeps them out of too much trouble!"
"Wait, you did what?" Yuuka asked. "By 'those three fairies', does she mean Sunny, Luna, and Star? You have them doing farm work?"
"Believe it or not, but they took an interest in it on their own," Reimu answered. "And it's only radishes, too. Really don't know where the idea came from, but they seemed invested in it, so I cut a deal with them. 20% of their harvest, and I won't exterminate them for pranks up to a certain level."
"So that's how Hakurei Insurance works," Yuuka said. "Perhaps I should take notes."
A shot, originating from Kasen, struck the ground. "Can we focus?!" she shouted. "Regardless of any of this, we cannot let you keep going with undoing that seal! Who knows what manner of chaos you'll unleash on Gensokyo if you do?!"
"Oh, sure. Four science-types, a few spirits, a god, some demons, a samurai, a vampire, and a witch, to name a few," Yuuka retorted. "Clearly, we can't have any of those in Gensokyo, can we?"
Reimu kept her eyes fixed on Yukari. "And what about you, then?" she asked. "You gonna try and excuse your actions, too? Explain why you're 'disappointed' in me?"
"I did prefix that with 'somewhat', do remember that," Yukari pointed out. "But, if you must know the answer, it's quite simple; I was long under the impression you had come to terms with it. The power that Kirisame Marisa displayed on that day was too great. If she, a child, could display that much power, what's to say that those others might not be able to match it? To ensure the safety of Gensokyo, I took no chances."
"There. You see that, Kasen?" Reimu shouted. "That's proper justification! Sure, I don't agree with it, but it makes sense!"
At this point, Kasen's anger had boiled over, as she unleashed a barrage of bullets onto Reimu and Yuuka, who erected the strongest barriers they could.
"What's your opinion, Yuuka?" Reimu asked. "Think we can win this?"
"Without backup?" Yuuka asked. "Slim at best. The two of us are running on fumes right now."
"Damn it," Reimu cursed. "Come on, Marisa, we're counting on you."
At that moment, something in the air changed. No one could quite say what it was. The only one not to notice was Kasen, who still seemed rather... peeved at Reimu's comments, to put it lightly.
That lapse of judgement would, as it turns out, be her undoing, as something hard struck her in the back of the head.
"Who dares?!" Kasen yelled, glaring back at... nothing. There was nobody behind her.
"How odd," Yukari muttered. She couldn't even feel a disturbance in the air.
It should be noted, first off, that Makai is a place where conventional sunlight doesn't reach. No one, not even Yukari, can say what illuminates Makai, but somewhere out there, there is a light source.
This needed to be pointed out, because right now, at this moment, something had just obstructed that light.
Kasen and Yukari looked up, to the the muzzle of an oversized rifle. Now, when we say 'oversized', we're not just talking four to five times larger than average. This rifle, right now, would have been large enough to blow the Scarlet Devil Mansion off the face of Gensokyo, should it be pointed that way, and take a few kilometres of ground with it.
"... What?" Kasen muttered in disbelief, before the rifle was fired with a force comparable to that of several Master Sparks.
As the dust rose high into the sky from the shot, two figures landed besides Reimu and Yuuka; a familiar Lunar Rabbit and an Inchling.
"Rei'sen? Sukuna?" Reimu exclaimed. "What are you two doing here?"
"Backing you up, what's it look like?" Shinmyoumaru responded. "That old man said we had to hurry, so we guessed it was part of the plan."
"Old man?" Reimu asked, feeling a sense of hope well up inside herself. "Do you mean..."
As Kasen tried to regain composure, she was struck once again by that invisible force. The light in one general area began to shimmer, as the Three Fairies of Light came into existence (observationally speaking, at least), alongside... a spinning turtle shell.
The shell skidded and bounced dramatically across the ground, before coming to a halt before Reimu, who was at a loss for words.
The shell shook, before four limbs stuck themselves out, followed by a head with a pair of bushy white eyebrows and a thick beard. "Oof. I'm really getting too old for this," the turtle muttered. "A decade and then some gives you such a crick in the neck."
Reimu couldn't quite believe her eyes. By all logic, this scene should have made sense to her, but something in her heart made her hesitate, as if this were an illusion that might be broken at a moments notice. "G... Gramps?"
The turtle's head perked up, and he turned around to face Reimu. "Oh my! I almost didn't recognise you for a moment," he said, sounding rather happy. "You've grown quite splendidly, haven't you, Reimu-sama?"
"So, Genji-san's finally awake," Yuuka muttered. "Then, that means..."
Yukari's ears perked up as she helped a peeved Kasen back to her feet. It was the sound of a whole lot of air being displaced all at once.
Instinct took over, and Yukari erected the strongest barrier she could, moments before what could only be described as a tsunami of bullets rained down upon them both.
Reimu and company looked back, through the Door of Memories, to see the source, or rather, sources, of the onslaught. At the forefront was, much to their relief and expectations, Marisa and Alice. And who was behind them...
… if not 'everyone'?
The dust quickly settled, and Kasen charged forward once more, acting less like a hermit and more like an Oni.
This time, she was targeting the fairy trio, swinging her hand wide to strike all three at once, only to be intercepted by, of all things, a katana.
"Well met, Ibaraki-dono," spoke the purple haired warrior known as Meira. "It has been a long time, hasn't it?"
"You," Kasen said, venom permeating her voice. "You and your 'friends' should have remained sealed."
"Two problems with that," Meira said. "First, that would include Hakurei-dono. Second, only a god can decide that, and last I checked, Ibaraki-dono, you are not one." With a powerful swing, Kasen was knocked back a fair ways, and Meira turned, scooping the three fairies into her arms. "Rika, now!"
A heavy sound, like gravel being crunched, echoed from beyond the door, until an actual gods damned tank came into view, with three girls standing on top of it. These three were, in order; Rika, Chiyuri, and Yumemi.
"You got it, Meira!" Rika called out.
"Final system check, all green!" Yumemi shouted, tapping away at a touch-pad.
"All safeties are disengaged," Chiyuri added. "Make the call, Rika!"
Rika grinned, as the cannon of the tank took aim at Ibaraki Kasen. "Probability Buster Hyper-Tank, fire!"
The tank unloaded its round, in what could only really be described as 'the Master Sparks distant, bastard cousin'. Kasen barely had enough time to react, before she was sent flying by the massive blast.
Reimu and company looked on in surprise. "That... wow," Reimu commented. "That was something."
Up in her portion of the sky, Yukari watched in shock at the spectacle that had just unfolded. So, not only had they hijacked her 'one-time only' spell, but they had used that time from then to now to prepare for this very moment? Perhaps, to a certain degree, she was right to be paranoid about them way back when.
"What, not joining the fun?" a familiar voice spoke. Yukari turned around, to be mere milimetres away from a certain green haired ghost. "Yo, Yakumo. Been a hot minute, hasn't it?"
"Mima," Yukari responded. "So, this was your big plan, then?"
"Our big plan, thank you," a new voice added, as a silver haired woman in red, accompanied by a maid, approached.
"Shinki," Yukari greeted. "I don't suppose we can end this amicably, could we? Frankly, I'm not liking my odds."
Two more shadows loomed over her, these ones unmistakably Marisa and Alice. "Aw, that's too bad," Marisa said. "Because right now? We got almost two decades of karma to deliver your way, express shipping."
Yukari weighed her options. She could, theoretically, just open a gap and leave right now, but this was several people who Yukari was against fighting years ago. Now, after they had been effectively training themselves for well over a decade, and Yukari was down any sort of trump card?
Yukari snapped her fan shut, and gave a brave, polite smile. "Well, please be gentle."
Reimu and Yuuka, in the company of Rei'sen, Shinmyoumaru, Genji, and the Three Fairies of Light, watched the ensuing battle from a distance.
"Were we... made redundant?" Reimu asked. "I mean, we were suppose to be the last vanguard, welcoming everyone back with battered, open arms, right?"
Yuuka gave Reimu a slightly concerned glance. "I... never quite took you for a romantic, Reimu."
"Oh, you haven't heard anything yet," Shinmyoumaru said. "You have no idea how often Aunn-chan and I hear Reimu-san mutter sweet nothings in her sleep."
"Ah!" Reimu exclaimed, blushing intensely. "Sukuna, don't say another word!"
"Oh?" Yuuka hummed, amused. "If I recall, though, you and Rei'sen-san share a room, do you not? Wouldn't that mean..." she glanced over at the Lunar Rabbit in question, who looked away sheepishly.
"No comment," Rei'sen muttered under her breath.
"Oh-ho!" Genji proclaimed. "So, Reimu-sama has finally found love! What joyous days! Oh, if only I could have been there to see it happen."
"Say that again?" called Mima, quickly disengaging from the very one-sided battle against Yukari to join the conversation. "Reimu's gotten hitched? With a rabbit?! That's a laugh!"
"Don't you start this, Mima!" Reimu shouted. "Also, hi! Been a while! How've you been?"
"Eh, you know how it is," Mima responded casually, looking back at the battle overhead. "Not the first time I've been sealed for years on end, so I already knew all the tricks to deal with boredom. Plus, had some good company. Marisa been well?"
"A bit in and out of relationships at times, I won't lie," Reimu admitted. "But, right now?" She looked up at Marisa, as she and Alice unleashed a combination Master Spark on Yukari. "I think she's doing fine now."
Far off in the distance, Kochiya Sanae watched the battle unfold in confusion.
"I... think I'm missing some key context here," she muttered to herself. "Who are all these new people? They look like friends of Reimu-san and Marisa-san, but at the same time, they're... not big fans of Kasen-san and Yukari-san."
To confirm her point, Ibaraki Kasen was currently lying in a crater not far from Sanae. "Kasen-san! Are you alright?" Sanae called out. Kasen let out a pained groan. "I'm not sure if that's a yes or a no," Sanae muttered, before moving closer and picking the Hermit up. "Let's get you back home, yeah? I've got to inform Kanako-sama about... all this."
As everything died down, they all found themselves throwing a party at the Hakurei Shrine. You know, as everybody in Gensokyo is want to do.
Marisa, this time around, sat on the edge of the main body of all the noise, watching as friends both old and new got along like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was, among other things, heart-warming.
"Mind if I join you, Marisa-chan?" someone said. Marisa looked to the side, to see Shinki, of all people, standing there.
"Be my guest," Marisa replied. "You're looking well, Shinki."
Shinki giggled as she sat down. "Why, thank you, Marisa-chan. That's nice of you to say," she said. "So, Reimu-san has told me that you and Alice-chan have been having... difficulties, let's say."
"Ah. We're having this conversation, then," Marisa muttered. "It's... hard to say, really. Even though Reimu and Yuuka took our memories of back then, I could still feel the guilt of what I'd done to Makai. Worst experience I'd had was during the UFO Incident, when Byakuren was unsealed."
"Ah, you mean to say that Hijiri-san's been released?" Shinki asked. "How joyous!"
"You know Byakuren?" Marisa asked. "That's a surprise."
"Hijiri-san's been sealed in Hokkai for well over a few hundred years," Shinki said. "Honestly, I was more enraged that humans decided to use Hokkai without my permission, but unfortunately, they took strides to make sure I couldn't undo that seal. I could still talk with Hijiri-san through that door, though."
"Oversight on their part, I guess," Marisa laughed, partly also due to the fact that Yumemi, off in the distance, was trying to hold her drink against Suika, which, as everyone knows, is a recipe for disaster. "Well, if ya want to meet her, just head into the village and look for the Myouren Temple. It's Buddhist, so ya can't miss it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Shinki laughed, before her expression turned serious again. "So, what do you plan to do? About Alice?"
Marisa felt a chill run down her spine. For someone as polite as Shinki, there were only two times when one might drop honorifics; when talking to a close friend, and when threatening someone. Marisa knew that, on some grounds, she might have been considered for the former, but given the situation, knew it was the later.
"Honestly, I don't know," Marisa admitted. "Even though I've merged back with the Shade, I... still feel like me. Still human. Heck, this power that's come back to me doesn't even feel all that different from my baseline now. But... that won't wash away the guilt I have."
Shinki's expression softened, as she pat Marisa on the top of her head. "That you're still able to feel remorse is a good thing, Marisa-chan," she said. "But, I don't think that means you have to push anyone away. Plus, bringing all those people back is easy for me; I am the God of Makai, after all."
Marisa was taken slightly aback, by all three of Shinki's statements. "Wait, what do you mean by that second one?"
In response, Shinki stood up. "Well, I won't spoil too much," she said. "Let's just say that you'll have... company for the next few evenings."
"Um... can you elaborate?" Marisa asked. "Please?"
Shinki walked away, laughing quietly, much to Marisa's concern. Then, off to the side, Marisa noticed someone approaching her; a slightly tipsy Alice.
It didn't take long for Marisa to put two and two together.
Atop the roof of the Hakurei Shrine, two figures could be seen; a ghost and a turtle.
"Almost doesn't feel real, does it?" Genji asked. "You wouldn't think it'd been so long since we last went drinking with everyone."
"I hear ya, old man," Mima replied. "Only feels like yesterday, yet those kids have grown quite a bit."
The two looked to the ground, where the sight of Reimu, Marisa, and Alice, all enjoying the evening, could be seen.
"I am certainly surprised that Reimu-sama wound up falling for a Lunar Rabbit," Genji noted, "but, I suppose there are worse things in the world. Rei'sen-san's a very nice girl."
"Not a big fan or rabbits?" Mima asked.
"Just one particular rabbit," Genji admitted. "Something from a thousand years ago. You know the story of the Turtle and the Hare?"
"Wasn't it 'Tortoise and the Hare'?" Mima asked.
"Same difference, really," Genji shrugged. At least, as much as a turtle could. "It does, logically, make a lot more sense for it to be a tortoise rather than a turtle, but I was there, winning that race against that rather arrogant rabbit. I wonder how she's doing, that Hare of Inaba?"
Elsewhere in Gensokyo, Inaba Tewi sneezed.
Several days had passed since then. In the middle of the night, Marisa woke up, feeling rather restless. She was still not quite use to the new 'weight' that was at her side.
She looked over at the window, as moonlight bled in, illuminating a small, familiar figure.
"What, still hanging around?" Marisa asked quietly. "Well, guess I shouldn't be too surprised, huh?"
The figure, a small, blonde haired girl in blue and white, looked at Marisa with an expression she found surprising; compassion. "How do you do it?" the girl asked. "How do you manage to keep getting back up, with all that weight on your shoulders?"
"That's... kinda hard to answer," Marisa responded. "But, if I were to answer that, I'd say it's because staying down wouldn't do anyone any good."
The girl looked surprised. "Is... that so?"
"That is so," Marisa replied. "I don't expect your forgiveness, you know. After all, you're a extension of my own guilt. But..." she looked down to her side. Down to the sleeping form of Alice Margatroid next to her. "I can keep going, knowing I have hers."
The girl looked down briefly, before looking back at Marisa with a smile, then disappearing. Gone, like tears in the rain.
Tiredness took over Marisa once more, as she quickly fell back to sleep.
Alice, who wasn't quite asleep at the time, slowly opened her eyes to look at Marisa. Gently, she placed her hand on Marisa's arm.
There wasn't a whole lot she could do about Marisa's guilt, honestly. The only change that could come for it would have to be through Marisa's own actions.
But, as she slowly began to drift back into the realm of sleep, Alice made a quiet vow.
"No matter what," she muttered, "I'll be there. Every step of the way."
A/N:
Well, there we go. Kirisame Marisa's Heart completed. A bit messy, I think, but all in all, not a bad run.
The whole 'Tortoise and the Hare' joke probably falls a little flat since, well, Genji is a turtle, but I recently had the thought of him and Tewi being the inspiration for that story, and it was just to humorous to pass up.
Well, I've still got a few other ideas swimming around, so guess I'll see y'all in the next project.