Chapter 2 – Neither the First, nor the Last
There were no paths to be seen, so Kyouichi just had to make one. He stopped every few minutes to check if he was heading the right way. Even though the mountain was really huge, it was quite hard to see with all those trees blocking the view. Furthermore, it was getting darker.
Kyouichi checked the time: 19 : 04.
"Damn! Less than one hour of daylight left. But how come it's already so late? When I got on the train it was barely past 6 p. m. Was I really knocked out or something?"
He speeded up a bit. If he wouldn't be able to reach the mountain, he would have to make shelter in this forest. He shuddered to think that he would have to spend a night in the forest and become prey of wild bears or whatever beasts that might have been dwelling here.
As he walked, he noticed what noise he was making with each step he took. The dried up leaves and small fallen branches crackling under his feet gave away his presence from even far away.
He stopped to check his heading again and to rest up a bit. The forest terrain was difficult to traverse even for an experienced hiker, let alone for a lazy, untrained indoor type such as Kyouichi. Sitting down on a large fallen branch, he muttered to himself: "There's no way I'm going to reach that mountain today."
"If only I could find a better vantage point, maybe I would find some other significant landmarks besides that mountain. But where the hell am I? This is nowhere near Tokyo and THAT is definitely not Mt Fuji. Has the whole world gone crazy, or is it me who's going crazy? Oh look, I'm talking to myself now... That's the first sign of going crazy."
Understanding that sitting and talking to himself was not going to help him in any way, Kyouichi stood up. He picked up a fairly straight wooden stick he saw lying on the ground, next to where he was sitting. What was once a part of a tree branch could now serve as a walking stick.
"I better look for some tall hill nearby, so I could get a better view." thought Kyouichi aloud.
He turned right and saw just the hill that could have a decent view of the surrounding area. It was still approximately 1 km away, but compared to the distance from the mountain, it was much, much closer.
Kyouichi started walking towards that hill with the help of his recently acquired walking stick.
It was already getting dark, but he knew that he would be able to reach the top of the hill before the evening falls.
As he walked towards his goal, he had this eerie feeling of being watched by someone. He didn't shake off that feeling even after stopping to look around.
"I'm just being paranoid." he thought to himself.
And so, not paying any more attention to his uneasy feeling, he reached the foot of the hill.
Looking up the hill, he could see some tiny dancing lights in the distance. Thinking that the lights were fireflies, he continued to climb uphill. The climb was more tiring than he thought and Kyouichi started panting for air.
"Damn, I need to start doing some exercise." he complained about his poor stamina.
As he was nearing the top of the hill, he saw, that the dancing lights were rather large for fireflies. Also, the feeling that someone was just looking over his shoulder still lingered inside, in fact, stronger than ever.
"Almost there…" he motivated himself.
Just a couple of meters, just a few steps... Goal! After a hard struggle, the top of the hill was finally conquered. The view from there was quite spectacular. Not only could he see the mountain more clearly, he could also see, that there were huge waterfalls coming from the foot of the enormous mountain. As he looked at the other side, he could see the small meadow, where he started his bizarre journey through the unknown land. It was now very far away and Kyouichi himself was surprised that he managed to walk such a distance in just an hour.
His attention, however, was immediately captivated by one of those lights that he saw earlier.
It just dashed in front of him and then soared up into the sky. Turning his head to follow the light, Kyouichi saw a small group of those lights, swirling around in the treetops. He tried to focus his sight to identify the mysterious light source, but it was already too dark to see anything but the silhouettes of the trees and the lights themselves. As he took a step towards the tree with the lights, he tripped over a rock and almost fell down. Kyouichi still maintained his balance thanks to the walking stick. The noise he made, however, seemed to have caught the attention of those weird lights. Several of them flew right towards him and hovered around him, as if they were scanning him. Now Kyouichi saw vividly, that the lights were emitted by something he had never seen before. He gazed with his mouth open at one of those creatures. It looked like a miniature of a girl, or like a doll with insect-like wings. It even had miniature one piece dress. In both of its hands were some glowing spheres which were the source of that light.
From all the fantastical creatures Kyouichi ever heard of, these beings were a textbook example of fairies. Stunned by this unbelievable sight, he just stood there without motion for a few moments. As soon as he took a step, however, the fairies attacked. One of them threw the shining spheres at the surprised Kyouichi.
"Aaaargh!" he screamed in pain as both of the spheres hit him directly in the chest. The hit was strong like a punch of an average adult man and it slightly burned too. Soon after, all the other fairies started throwing these energy spheres one after another, as they kept reappearing in their hands. Kyouichi was heavily bombarded by the shining orbs. Not needing much time to think, he just started running to find some cover. He wanted to get down from that hill, so he dashed for his life to the edge of the hilltop, when he suddenly stopped. And a good thing he did, because this side of the hill was much steeper then the one he used to climb up here. He wanted to find another way down, but before he could turn back, he was hit from behind by another barrage from the fairies, sending him down the steep hill in an uncontrollable fall.
"Noooo!... Ugh!... Dammit!... Whoa! That was close!...Oh, fuuu….!" he covered his head just like during the earthquake in the subway and endured the fall until he finally stopped.
He groaned in pain as he was slowly standing up. His t-shirt was riddled with numerous holes and tears after the unpleasant fall and the fairies' attack. He reached his hand underneath the t-shirt. When he pulled it back out, it was covered in blood.
"Youch! I'm all messed up." he said as he tore his t-shirt into straps, so he could use them as bandages.
He tied the makeshift bandages around the most serious wounds, when his eyes saw something which raised his spirits high.
"Is that… a path?" Kyouichi couldn't believe his eyes. Although it was almost completely dark outside, this was without doubt a path. It was the first sign of civilization he found in this wilderness.
"Wherever it leads, I'm sure to find some settlement if I follow it." he encouraged himself to take the path in one direction or another.
With each step he took, he could feel the pain of his wounds and bruises. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, beat up and cold, because he sacrificed his t-shirt to make bandages. However, his mind was only focused on following the path.
After about ten minutes of walking, he saw a wooden signpost in shape of an arrow with something written on it. Taking out his cell phone to cast at least some light on the sign, he could read the writing: To Hakurei Shrine.
"Hakurei Shrine? Never heard of it." muttered Kyouichi. "But if there is a shrine, that means there has to be a village or a town somewhere nearby."
Not wasting any more time, he continued to walk further down the path. After about 15 minutes, he walked up to a crossroad with another wooden signpost, but he wasn't curious about reading it, since in the distance, he saw a set of stone stairs, leading up a hill to a large torii illuminated by the moon.
"This must be the entrance to that shrine." he thought as he carefully walked up the stone stairs. He tried to make as little noise as possible in order not to provoke any fairies which could be lurking everywhere.
Upon reaching the top of the hill and passing under the torii, Kyouichi found himself in a well maintained shrine yard with a small Shinto shrine in its center. He cleansed himself at a small stone temizu water basin standing near the torii gateway before he entered the sacred shrine grounds. First, he took a wooden ladle with his right hand, pouring water on his left hand, then switching hands and then rinsing his mouth. Finally, he took the ladle in both hands and tipped it over to spill the water over the ladle's handle to cleanse it. Once cleansed, he could now enter the sacred grounds. He slowly walked towards the shrine. There was a large wooden donation box placed in front of the shrine's entrance. Kyouichi took a look inside, but the box was empty.
"Maybe the donations were already taken by the priest…" thought the young wanderer.
But the whole place looked deserted. The priest of the shrine was obviously not around at the moment. Despite this fact, Kyouichi stepped to the altar, threw all the coins he had in his pocket into the wooden box, bowed twice, rang a bell, clapped his hands twice and prayed.
He prayed to the shrine's deity and asked for help. Help to survive and to find some shelter for the night.
When he was done, he bowed once more, turned back and headed down the stairs and back to the crossroad. Shining the cell phone generated light upon the sign, he could see four arrows pointing in 4 different directions: To Hakurei Shrine, To Forest of Magic, To Youkai Mountain and To Human Village. There was also an indication that there used to be more signposts, but some of them were missing.
Someone scratched words: "keep out" under the sign showing the direction to Youkai Mountain.
"Human Village?" chuckled Kyouichi. "Aren't all villages inhabited by humans?"
Although he found the name of the village funny, to say the least, he also knew that this village may provide just the shelter he made his expensive prayer for.
He silently walked down the path, illuminated only by starlight and the moon. He kept walking, and walking and at long last, he saw many flickering lights in the distance. Those weren't fairies, because these lights didn't fly around erratically. Despite his pain, which hasn't eased up one bit, he started running towards the village.
"I made it! I made it!" repeated Kyouichi as he entered the village.
It still wasn't that late evening, so the streets were still quite lively, with plenty of people walking around, chatting with each other, drinking sake and preparing food...
"Food!" a heavenly smell of roasted meat, fish, freshly boiled rice and other delicious things hit Kyouichi's nose. He hurried to some random person who was preparing some food and started explaining his situation:
"E-excuse me…I-I think I'm lost, but that's not important now… I'm starving. I would give you everything I have for just a bowl of rice."
The person was a young, black haired man, wearing a dark-red kimono with yellow zigzag pattern on the edges of the sleeves. He could be 30 years old, or so Kyouichi thought. He was sitting on a stool in front of a nabe pot, waiting for its content to cook properly.
The man measured Kyouichi up with his dark eyes from head to toe, with an expression of surprise on his face.
"Could you possibly be…." started talking the man in red, "an outsider?"
"Well, I'm not from this village, if that's what you're asking." replied Kyouichi, not quite sure what the man meant by "outsider".
"Like I said, I'm lost. I have no idea where I am or how I ended up here."
"You must have come from the outside world then." said the man as he took two pairs of chopsticks and offered one pair to Kyouichi.
"Here, eat up and don't be shy to ask for seconds." smiled the man as he invited Kyouichi to have some nabe with him.
"Thank you very much, kind sir." Kyouichi bowed down to the man as he accepted the offer and sat next to him on the ground.
"I'm Mizuto Saitou, by the way…"
"Kyouichi Ishimaru, pleased to meet you, and once again, thank you for the food."
"You're welcome." Mizuto made a gesture towards the nabe.
"Itadakimasu~!" said both Kyouichi and Mizuto at the same time and started eating.
"Ahhhh~! That sure hit the spot!" said Kyouichi after eating a satisfying amount of nabe, patting his belly.
"Would you like some more?" asked Mizuto.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you..."
"Yes?"
"What is this place and what did you mean when you said that I must have come from the outside world?" Kyouichi started interrogating. "I am still in Japan, aren't I?"
"Well, yes... and no." replied Mizuto, having problems to find the right words.
"You are now in Human village, in Gensokyo."
"Gensokyo? A fantasy land?" wondered Kyouichi.
"Quite a fitting name for these here lands. You see, this was once an ordinary place, which was a part of Japan... Well, maybe not so ordinary, as it was heavily populated by youkai, hence the name Gensokyo."
"Youkai? I thought those only existed in myths." Kyouichi just couldn't believe what he was being told.
"Well, looking at your injuries, I'd say you already had the pleasure of meeting some of them." stated Mizuto and continued explaining. "Yes, youkai do exist and most of them, by nature, attack humans, since they are their most favorite food. The humans living nearby, or those who were trying to pass through were often attacked and eaten. At first, it was only taken as a bunch of rumors and folktales to scare children, but as more and more people were mysteriously disappearing, people started to believe them. They sent messengers to all nearby towns to ask for help. Not long after that, whole regiments of warriors, priests and exorcists started coming to help the troubled villagers. The youkai presence was indeed confirmed and these warriors and exorcists went to battle. The battles turned into a long war, with each side struggling for victory. Since the war took so long, the soldiers and priests settled here and founded their own colony, even bringing their wives and families to live here. Since the youkai were not organized, they only attacked by small numbers, so as long as there were patrols in the villages, they were relatively safe. As the battles went on, the humans started to gain more and more power, which developed into magic abilities and they could seriously challenge the youkai. However, even youkai grew ever stronger, so the tide of war was constantly shifting from one side to another. Knowing that the youkai could never be completely exterminated, the high priest of the Hakurei clan, along with other high priests, have decided to create a magic ward to seal off the youkai infested land to prevent them from attacking the humans. They prepared for some powerful ancient ritual, when the most unexpected thing happened."
"What happened?" asked Kyouichi.
"A youkai of immense power appeared before them and offered them truce and help with the creation of this ward. At first, they were reluctant to cooperate with this youkai, but it was also obvious that if she wanted to betray them or kill them, she would have done so long ago without any problem. The sealing ritual required one of the priests to be the center and remain within the sealed area, while 11 other priests would form a gigantic circle around the central priest. Several other powerful youkai also took part in reinforcing the barrier. Nobody knows how large was that circle in diameter, as no one can say with certainty, how large Gensokyo is exactly. The high priest of the Hakurei clan offered himself to be the in the center, since he was born here, in the village near the shrine founded by his ancestors. The ritual itself did not take place at the shrine as you'd expect, but in the very middle of Gensokyo, which is an area further to the west. The shrine of the Hakurei lies on the easternmost border of Gensokyo and is supposedly a part of the Great Boundary. As the priest began to perform the ritual, the youkai also cast a spell or something. They say that there was a mysterious bright light shining from the earth towards the sky, slowly broadening and forming an enormous circle. It was probably much larger than expected, because the circle swallowed up several of the surrounding villages as well. It is also said, that in the very moment when the circle was complete, a dragon could be seen flying in the storm clouds above. That was the creation of the Great Hakurei Barrier, the year zero and the beginning of Gensokyo as we know it today. The dragon was and still is worshipped as a deity by humans and youkai alike. We even have a great statue of the dragon just down the street. Anyway, after that, the youkai entrusted the maintenance of the Great Barrier to the Hakurei priest as well as responsibility for the safety of humans within Gensokyo. The youkai sage explained that she cannot keep other youkai from attacking the humans for long, because she needed to take a long rest after casting such a powerful spell. The Great Boundary not only prevents the youkai, but also humans from passing through it from both sides, or so should it be." Mizuto paused himself to drink some water.
"If that's so, then what am I doing here?" asked Kyouichi after hearing the history of this strange land he was now supposedly in. Although he usually didn't pay much attention during the history lectures at his collage, he was now absorbing every single word. It was just too fantastic not to pay attention to.
"Well, even though the barrier is a very powerful one, it is far from perfect. I'm no expert on this matter, but from time to time there have been cases of objects, humans and youkai crossing the barrier from the outside world. You see, this barrier is more than just a mere magic wall forming the border of Gensokyo. It is a boundary between two different realities, or so I've heard. You could say that Gensokyo exits within a different world, a different dimension."
"Then how come I managed to cross the border?" Kyouichi demanded an answer.
"Like I said, I'm no expert, but either you just managed to find a gap in it, or you posses some magic power, or… you were spirited away by some youkai." Mizuto started naming some explanations. "You're neither the first, nor the last person who came from the outside. I know several of them myself. However, few are those who actually managed to survive and made it to the village. From some tales I've heard, that when a human is spirited away to Gensokyo, he or she may appear anywhere within its boundary, and believe me, most of Gensokyo's locations are deadly dangerous for an outsider... You can consider yourself very lucky, my friend."
"Lucky?! You have no idea what I've been through." Kyouichi was slightly agitated by Mizuto's last remark. He didn't consider himself lucky at all. "First I nearly died in an earthquake, then I found myself in the middle of nowhere and wandered for hours without knowing where I was going, then I was attacked by some fairies or something, making me fall down a steep hill and messing myself up. Sure, I was lucky to find the village, but…"
"Indeed, you were very lucky to encounter only fairies." Mizuto stood up, walked into his house and then came back out with some water, cotton wool and some medical ointments.
"Fairies are the weakest of all youkai inhabiting Gensokyo." continued Mizuto with explaining. "They are also the most thriving, numerous and diverse kind of youkai."
He then asked Kyouichi: "Please, put down those bandages and let me take a look at your wounds."
"Sure." nodded Kyouichi, unbinding his makeshift bandages. "Please, continue. Tell me everything I should know."
"I really don't know all that much, but I'll do my best to explain what I know. However, if you'd want some more in-depth information about the village, Gensokyo or the youkai, then I suggest you should talk to someone else." Mizuto soaked some of the cotton wool in the water and started washing Kyouichi's wounds. "I'm just a simple fisherman."
"Were you born here?" asked Kyouichi, slightly clenching his teeth as the wounds still hurt.
"Yes, I was, and I have spent most of my life here in this village. This is after all, the safest place for humans in all of Gensokyo. I live in this here house with my wife and children."
"So, that nabe was meant for them, right? I'm sorry, I wouldn't have…"
"That's ok, lad, like I said, there is still plenty for everyone." Mizuto interrupted.
"And where do you go fishing? I haven't seen any rivers or lakes nearby." Kyouichi continued questioning the fisherman.
"There is a small stream just south of here." Mizuto pointed at the opposite side of the village as Kyouichi arrived. "However, if you really want to catch something bigger, then Misty Lake is your best choice. I even have a fishing hut there."
"Misty Lake? Where's that?"
"Well it's too dark to see it now, but the lake lies near the foot of the Youkai Mountain."
"That's quite far from the village." stated Kyouichi, staring at the dark silhouette of the distant mountain. "Isn't it dangerous there?"
"Of course, it's dangerous. That's why we fishermen are always accompanied by a few warriors and youkai fighters. You see, all of Gensokyo's human inhabitants are descendants of the families of warriors, priests and native villagers of this land. Of course, there are a few outsiders as well." Mizuto smiled at Kyouichi as he dipped one piece of cotton in some unknown ointment.
"And when was this Gensokyo created? You mentioned something about year zero or something."
"The year zero only marks the creation of the Great Hakurei Border. Gensokyo itself is much, much older than that. I really don't know what year it is in the outside world, though." frowned Mizuto, taking the soaked piece of cotton and started applying the ointment on the wounds. "This might sting a bit."
"Yoooouch!" screamed Kyouichi from the searing pain. "You call that "a bit"?"
"But Gensokyo was sealed precisely 125 years ago, so here it is year 125."
"That means it happened in year 1885 by our date." muttered Kyouichi to himself. "But according to the old calendar, the new year started in April, so it could have been in 1884…But how come there is no knowledge about this in the outside world?"
"There isn't?" asked surprised Mizuto, pausing to think for a while. "Hmm, well, I'd say that everybody who knew anything about the creation of the barrier was sealed within it."
"Hmm... 125 years. That wasn't so long ago."
"No, but like I said, there is much, much more to the history of Gensokyo, long before it was sealed. But I never was too much into history, so I really don't know much about it." Mizuto was still wiping Kyouichi's wounds.
"Really? You seem quite knowledgeable." said Kyouichi through his teeth while enduring the pain of disinfection.
Mizuto chuckled. "Oh, no, no, no. I only like to collect legends, folktales and other stories. We fishermen really like telling and listening to these stories to help pass time. I never really paid much attention to history during my school days."
"Tell me about it…" replied Kyouichi, smiling.
"There. Your wounds are treated." said Mizuto, who was now binding Kyouichi's disinfected wounds with some proper bandages.
"Thank you very much, Saitou-san."
"Just call me Mizuto, like everyone does."
"Ok then, Mizuto. Thanks for taking care of me." Kyouichi bowed down to show his thanks as soon as he was all patched up.
"You should rest a few days. Don't do any hard work and you should heal up in no time."
"Yeah, I shall."
"So, is there anything else you wanted to ask…?" asked Mizuto, but before he finished his sentence, a young woman stepped outside from his house. She was almost as tall as Mizuto, had short dark hair and she was wearing a dark flower patterned kimono.
"Should I help you with that nabe? Oh, we have a guest? Good evening." she smiled and bowed to Kyouichi. "My name is Minako Saitou, pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. I'm Kyouichi Ishimaru and I come from the outside world, as I have just found out." said Kyouichi also bowing down.
"Minako, my wife works here in the village as a tailor." explained Mizuto.
"Oh, my…" called Minako. "You were spirited away from the outside world? That must have been a terrible experience for you. I'm glad you made it to the village safe and sound. If you like, you can stay in our house for the night."
"That is very kind of you, thank you." thanked Kyouichi.
"I'll just take the nabe inside. The kids are already hungry." said Minako as she took the nabe pot and entered the house.
Kyouichi then spoke again after a moment of silence. "Tell me something about the village."
"The village is the largest human settlement in Gensokyo. It has something over 2 000 inhabitants. Humans and youkai live here in peace... most of the time."
"Youkai live here in the village?" asked Kyouichi surprised by Mizuto's words.
"Indeed, they do. Know that humans are in minority here in Gensokyo. Also, it's not like all youkai are hostile, bloodthirsty monsters that eat humans. Some are really friendly too."
"Like the one who assisted the priest of the Hakurei clan with the barrier?"
"Oh, you mean Yukari Yakumo... Well, I... really don't know anything about her besides the legends." Mizuto looked a bit embarrassed by not being able to answer Kyouichi's question.
"What sort of legends?" Kyouichi kept bombarding the fisherman with more questions.
"Well, the legends about Yukari-sama are about as many as there are inhabitants of Human Village. Most of them say that she has been around for thousands of years and that she disappeared after the creation of the Great Hakurei Barrier. To where? Nobody knows. I have even heard tales that some people have seen her or even met her in person, but the stories are as doubtful as some of their tellers. They were all like "my friend's friend once told me" kind of thing. Personally, I'd say that over 80 percent of those legends are all made up."
"So what you told me about the creation of the barrier was also just a legend?"
"Oh no, that really happened." continued Mizuto.
"What about that youkai?"
"Yukari Yakumo really did exist. There are even historical records about her. If you're interested, you could take a look around the archive here in the village. Sure, there are people, who claim to have met her, but since they have no proof about that, it is not certain whether or not these stories are true. I really can't say. I haven't met her or anything."
"And... what happened to the Hakurei high priest?" Kyouichi wanted to know more.
"The priest died of old age. Obviously."
"I figured as much. But who is now responsible for the safety of humans and the maintenance of the Great Barrier?"
"His great-great-granddaughter, Reimu Hakurei. She is the last living descendant of the Hakurei clan. She usually hangs around the shrine where she lives, but she also shows up down here in the village every once in a while."
"I've just been to the shrine." said Kyouichi looking at the direction of the road leading to the shrine. "The place looked deserted."
"Then you must have come while she was out somewhere." shrugged Mizuto.
"I see."
"Rarely anyone from the village visits the shrine these days since the roads are too dangerous, but if you want to know more about the barrier, then you should go talk to her. Also, see that old man wearing overalls?" Mizuto pointed at an elderly man sitting by the campfire with a bottle in his hand. "He's Naota Tanisake, a friend of mine. Like you, he is an outsider, but he has lived here for as long as I can remember. He has a lot of experience and can tell you a lot about life in Gensokyo from an outsider's perspective."
"Then I'll go talk to him." said Kyouichi while standing up.
"All right, then I'll go and help Minako set up the guest room for you." Mizuto shortly after stood up and went home.
Walking about 50 meters down the street to the campfire, Kyouichi could see the old man more clearly. He was wearing white, short sleeved shirt and brown working overalls. His balding head still had some gray hair. He was apparently drinking sake and wasn't indulged in conversation with anyone else by the fire. Kyouichi just greeted him as he would greet anyone.
"Good evening. I'm Kyouichi Ishimaru. Are you Tanisake Naota-san?"
The man lifted his head and Kyouichi could see that he was drunk.
"Whaddya want, runt? I don't take apprentices." said the old man with a gruff voice.
"Mizuto said you could tell me a lot about life in Gensokyo as an outsider."
"Oh, did he? And why would that interest you so much, kid?"
"Well just a few hours ago I was somehow taken to this place from the outside world."
"What did you say?" upon hearing those words the old man put down his sake bottle, stood up and took a close look at Kyouichi.
"I said that I'm an outsider too." repeated Kyouichi louder.
"You... You're all patched up in bandages. I thought that it was just some crazy fashion trend of the young generation, but those are bandages." the man's voice suddenly became more serious and friendly.
"It's not every day that an outsider, especially so inexperienced makes it safely to the village. No offense. Please, come sit here by the fire." Naota offered a place for Kyouichi to sit.
"Thank you." Kyouichi sat down on a log next to the old outsider.
"I am Naota Tanisake, but you already know that right? Hehe. Want some sake?" smiled Naota as he picked up his half empty sake bottle.
"No, thanks." Kyouichi declined the offer. "I'd like to know something about this place."
"No doubt, no doubt." he took a few gulps of sake from his bottle. "The most important thing you need to know: Don't ever leave the village alone unless you have to or are able to defend yourself."
"But I have to return home." argued Kyouichi. "Maybe I'll stay here till I heal up, but then I really have to go back home."
The old man frowned. "You really don't get it, do you? Once inside the barrier, there is no way back. Didn't Mizuto tell you anything?"
"But if there is a way in, there has to be a way out."
Kyouichi's mood suddenly changed to bad, when he heard that he probably won't be able to make it back home.
"That's what every outsider thought when they got spirited away here, but the barrier doesn't work that way."
"What do you know?! Have you ever been to the edge of Gensokyo?! Have you ever tried to return home?!" Kyouichi asked with a raised voice.
"Not me, but I know several people who did try and none of them ever succeeded. They said that they were wandering for days, thinking they are going straight, but they kept coming over and over to the same place again as if they were walking in circles. Eventually they all gave up on that idea and returned to the village. They were all exhausted and disoriented. However, they all got accustomed to life in Gensokyo sooner or later."
Those words were like a cold shower for Kyouichi. The thought that he would have to live here from now on for the rest of his life was too great a shock to believe. He just couldn't admit that he was stranded here; that there is no way back home. What will happen to him now? It will take days before his mother returns home and finds out that he is missing. And even if the whole country sets out to look for him, they won't be able to find anything.
"Why? Why was I spirited away to this place?" asked Kyouichi, not directing the question at anyone in particular.
"It was probably the meddling of the border youkai." came an unexpected reply.
"Border youkai? What border youkai?" Kyouichi wanted to know at least where he should direct his anger, if nothing else.
"The very same who helped to seal off Gensokyo." answered old Naota with a hint of anger in his voice. "Yukari Yakumo."
"What? But didn't she disappear forever after the barrier was formed?"
"That's only one story out of many. But I have met her personally some 20 years ago."
"Oh, really?" asked Kyouichi with a bit sarcastic tone, obviously not believing the old man's story. "And what did you do?"
"Nothing really." replied Naota plainly. "I didn't know who she was back then, but she said that I have surprisingly got used to living here in Gensokyo, or something along those lines. She just vanished after that and I haven't seen her ever since, good riddance. By the time I told this crazy story to one of the locals, he said that I have probably met Yukari Yakumo, the youkai of boundaries. After that I did a bit of research on the myths about this youkai and some of them claimed that she can freely travel through the barrier to the outside world and back. Also, it is said that she sometimes takes random things and even people from the outside world here to Gensokyo, just for fun."
Kyouichi suddenly felt a tiny bit of hope.
"If that's true, then this Yukari can also return things and humans back to the outside world, right?"
"Maybe. But she's a youkai, and she doesn't seem to have the slightest intention of returning the ones she spirited away back to the outside world. Youkai can never be trusted. They are unpredictable and their way of thinking is almost impossible to comprehend. Another problem is that no one knows where she lives or where she might show up. Most of the villagers have lived their whole life without ever seeing her."
"Damn!" cursed Kyouichi, as even his tiny bit of hope was shattered.
"Get over it, kid." Naota tried to comfort him. "Even if you do encounter her, which I hope for your sake you won't, you would most likely not be able to convince her to take you back though the barrier."
Kyouichi let out a heavy sigh. To start a new life... To find a new meaning to life... To find new friends... To find a new home... To be able to take care of oneself... All those things he needed to find and achieve to survive here flooded his mind.
"Say, kid," Naota broke the long silence. "What messed you up so much?"
"Huh? Oh, that. I'm not quite sure myself, but those creatures looked like fairies or something." Kyouichi wanted to talk to take his mind off his hopeless situation.
"Fairies did THIS?" the old man looked at Kyouichi as if he was just fooling around.
"Well, just a small portion of the wounds are caused by the fairies. The fall down a hill was more serious, though."
"Hmmm…" the aged man looked concerned. "It is quite unusual for fairies to be so aggressive."
"What can you tell me about them?"
Naota took another few gulps from the bottle. "They are like insects of Gensokyo. You can find them basically everywhere. However, they are mostly attracted to places where there are people, like this village, for instance."
"What?! They are here too?!" Kyouichi nervously started to look everywhere around as if he was expecting an ambush.
"Relax, kid." Naota calmed him down. "Most of them are harmless. The fairies are a physical manifestation of all sorts of natural phenomena, so there are many, many different kinds of them. They look like tiny humans and have wings, but their abilities and behavior differ from location to location. They like playing pranks on humans, so if you're not careful enough, they may steal food right from your plate, hide your daily used objects around the house or put salt in your tea when you're not looking." chuckled Naota as he recalled those things happening to him. Kyouichi smiled weakly and kept listening. "That happens to me even today." complained Naota. "People say that fairies aren't very clever, that they aren't more intelligent than animals, but of course, there are exceptions. Some of them are at least as intelligent as humans and can even speak our language. If you ask me, they all just pretend to be dumb, but they know all too well what they are doing, those little tricksters. Recently, the First Fairy Post Office has even been established here in the village." said Naota while pointing at some distant buildings of the village.
"The... what?" asked Kyouichi, not sure if he had heard the man right.
"My reaction exactly when I was first told about that idea. Apparently, one girl from the village really loves fairies and she somehow managed to befriend some of them. She was supposedly just leaving some food outside of her house for them. Then she started feeding them from hand. Eventually, more and more fairies kept coming to her and over time, she managed to tame them and teach them various things. Today, she runs the First Fairy Post Office and despite much skepticism from the villagers, the post office works surprisingly well. Until then it was believed that fairies cannot benefit humans in any way, but I guess times are changing."
Kyouichi was scratching his head. "This is some crazy-ass world I got myself into…"
"I felt the same way, kid. But it really isn't all that bad here. Even with all the youkai, life here has its charms."
The two of them were just sitting there silently, staring into the fire. After a few minutes, Kyouichi stood up and bowed to the old man.
"Thank you for time and your company. I think I should go to Mizuto's place and get some sleep."
"Good night, kid, and if you need anything, this is where I usually hang around." said Naota waving to Kyouichi as he was leaving him alone by the campfire.