Gensokyo my Beloved

by Fonzi the Survivalist

It's late spring, year 125 in Gensokyo when a mass spiriting-away of outsiders takes place. The Hakurei shrine maiden thinks this is just a minor incident, easy to resolve. But is it...?

17. Hanami

Chapter 17 - Hanami

Although it wasn't even a week since his spiriting away, the following days were starting to become a routine for Kyouichi. Waking up, going to school, then going to work and then spending the rest of the day with some random leisure activity, mostly reading the chronicle for more references to the border youkai.

His wounds were by now fully healed up and he didn't even know he ever had them.

Midori Iwakami was indeed very thankful to hear that she could move in to Naota's house, giving Kyouichi a big hug and over a dozen thankful bows. To his surprise, she got accustomed to her new home very quickly. Daniel and Sayuri were still accommodated in the Ryuuken barracks, but never actually complained about it. The school which they all attended reminded him very much of his days at the grade school back in Sapporo. Once praised for good work, other times scolded for slacking off. He even learned first-hand what Midori meant when she spoke of Keine-sensei's unconventional corporal punishment. As she was checking if the students had done their homework and figured that Kyouichi had forgotten about it, she surprised him without a warning with a semi-painful headbutt. However, he managed to learn another couple of interesting facts about Gensokyo, namely the history of the Human Village, a little more about the tengu community in conjunction with some more information about their newspapers.

As for his part-time job at the bookstore, it went on without any greater difficulties. Once he was done with Yagokoro-san's old manuscripts, the bulk of his job was now focused on mechanically copying the Gensokyo Chronicle. Surprisingly, the old kappan printing machine was still working as it should, which sparked the shopkeeper's curiosity. He suspected that it works so well because of Kyouichi's familiarity with the technology of the outside world and its similarity to its kappan counterpart. Kyouichi, however, told Daisuke that he only operated the machine according to his instructions. There were a few occasions when Daisuke had to take care of some business and left Kyouichi to tend to the shop alone. It was okay, because the shop didn't have all that many customers. Twenty people a day was an average number of customers and that wasn't a problem even for Kyouichi to handle. He even managed to sell a couple of books during Daisuke's absence. Most of the time, however, he could just idly sit at the counter and look outside the window as he awaited his employer's return. Watching people passing through the street, the children playing games, and the other shopkeepers taking a breather outside of their shops has become a sort of pastime. He even memorized a couple of folks who regularly passed through this street. One of the more memorable ones was a mysterious young lady with her emerald-green hair, wearing always the same red plaid skirt and a matching waistcoat on top of a plain white shirt and a small yellow neckerchief, similar to Reimu's. In fact, from a distance, her whole attire was quite similar to that of the Hakurei shrine maiden and he almost mistook this person for her if it hadn't been for the green hair, and the white parasol this lady always seemed to carry around. She was also quite taller and more developed than Reimu. Almost every day, she would show up during the afternoon, coming from the western road and visiting a flower shop. Kyouichi would bet his entire week's wage on his guess that she's a youkai. She always left the flower shop with another bunch of flowers in her hand and headed back where she came from. Kyouichi's curiosity urged him more than once to go out of the bookstore and meet this young lady, but in the end, he decided not to.

---

As a couple of days passed, it was already Friday, the 4th of June. Precisely one week since Kyouichi's spiriting away. It was on this day that Reimu had planned to hold the late spring flower viewing at her shrine. He was impatiently waiting for his another school lesson to end as he was trying to imagine what sort of guests would be there at the hanami. With the sound of the bell, he hurriedly packed up his books and headed straight home to have lunch as usual.

"Hi there, Kyouichi." Mizuto greeted him as he opened the kitchen's sliding door. "Will you lend me a hand with preparing the dinner? We're having two important guests today after all."

"Sure, I can." replied Kyouichi, putting the handbag on the floor. "At least I can pick up some cooking skills from you."

"I believe Minako would be a much better teacher, but even I can teach you a few recipes."

"What about the lunch? Need any assistance?"

"No, no," Mizuto refusingly shook his head, "it'll be ready in a few minutes. It's a rather western-style dish…"

The fisherman then returned to the stove, putting something into a frying pan, making a loud hissing sound as the ingredient touched the boiling oil. Kyouichi curiously peeked over his shoulder to see what's being prepared.

"Fried cheese and french fries?" he raised his eyebrow in a curious expression. "Now that's an unexpected change of cuisine."

"It's simple, it's fast and it's good…" responded the fisherman as he flipped one of the blocks of cheese in the pan.

"Mmm-mm." hummed Kyouichi in delight. "Nothing like a nice, big, delicious portion of unhealthy high-caloric goodness…"

"Now that I think about it," continued Mizuto, "I guess you'll be still at work by the time our guests will arrive, so I'm on my own with the dinner preparations."

"Nah, Shimizu-san, will probably let me go home earlier as usual."

"Alright then. I'm counting on you."

---

After the meal, Kyouichi still had some time to laze on the futon in his room. As he did so, he also decided to resume his study of the chronicle.

"Man, there's so many books…" he pouted as he stared at the huge pile of literature. "When the hell am I gonna read them all?"

As he was thoughtfully looking at the whole anthology of the chronicle, he became curious about the other titles which Akyuu recommended to him. He took one of the thinnest books in the pile and briefly observed its cover.

"What's this?" he wondered. "Perfect Memento in Strict Sense? What a weird name for a book…"

The author of this title was none other than the ninth incarnation of the Gensokyo chronicler herself and the very first page notified, that it was, in fact, a part of the Gensokyo Chronicle compilation. In the lower right corner of the first page, there was printed "Test printout – not for sale yet, last update: 30th of Shimotsuki (November) 124, Starlight Glyph Publishing".

"So this is actually a part of the ninth volume? No wonder it's so thin… Akyuu must be still working on it. But wait a sec. She said that all the books were a part of the chronicle and the 9th volume should be the last one… So how come there are 21 books in total?"

After double checking the titles of the whole pile, he slapped his forehead with his palm, since he figured out the reason for this irregularity.

"I see now… The first volume took up 3 books, the second one 2, the third one took up 3 again and so on…"

The longest volume was the 6th one, containing 4 books, whereas the shortest was the final one, with only the unfinished version of Perfect Memento in Strict Sense so far. At first glance at its pages, the book reminded Kyouichi of some sort of encyclopedia dealing with various youkai and locations in this land. It was written in a considerably different style than all the other parts of the compilation he had read so far. The text was much more simplified and easier to read even for the less academic types. Furthermore, it was illustrated, unlike the previous titles.

"Hey, this one seems quite handy." he murmured to himself. "Let's see if it says something about any areas outside the barrier… Wait a minute… I remember now. Yes. This is that book that I raced through while I was at the Hieda house. It had an article about the Palanquin Ship Incident."

As he found the Locations section of the book, he came across only those areas that were within the barrier. That was no surprise, since Akyuu was the first incarnation of the child of Miare to be born after the year zero. It would be quite needless for her to describe anything that lies beyond the Great Hakurei Border.

"Man, I'm so dumb!" he suddenly exclaimed when a thought crossed his mind. "If Akyuu remembers everything from her previous lives, she then must remember something about the surrounding areas of Gensokyo! Why did I only not ask her about that when I visited her yesterday?"

He slammed the book shut and nervously started to walk around in circles around the room. The mere thought that he might have some reasonable chance to get out of Gensokyo just as soon as his theory would be confirmed, made the outsider quite excited.

"Okay, okay, just calm down…" he thought to himself. "Today's the hanami and before that, she'll come over to the Saitous. I'll just ask her as soon as I meet her…"

Having settled with this thought, he decided to go to work, even if it was still more than an hour too early.

"Huh? Leaving already?" wondered Mizuto as noticed him putting on his sandals at the door.

"Why not? If I expect Shimizu-san to let me go home earlier, I should as well start working earlier today."

"Oh, I see. Well then, do your best!" called out the fisherman as Kyouichi was opening the main door, ready to take his leave. "And don't overwork yourself there! Save some strength for helping me with dinner!"

"Don't you worry about me!" called Kyouichi back, "It's not like I'm working on a field or something."

Indeed, the work of a bookstore assistant was a walk in a park in comparison to many other forms of manual labor. The hardest thing about it was the cleaning, but Kyouichi was certain, that in a matter of a few days, his body would get at least a little back into shape, and he wouldn't find it so tiring anymore.

---

"Good afternoon, Shimizu-san." greeted the outsider as soon as he entered the shop. "Ishimaru reporting for duty… a bit earlier today. Umm… Shimizu-san?"

The storekeeper was nowhere to be seen and Kyouichi thought that he must have left the store to take care of some other urgent business and in his haste, he forgot to lock the door. That, however, was not the case, since Kyouichi could hear some strange noise coming from the printing room behind the counter. A moment later, Daisuke Shimizu's voice called out:

"What? Ishimaru? Boy, am I glad you came…"

Kyouichi slowly walked into the printing room to see the storekeeper helplessly staring at the printing machine. "What's wrong, boss? You seem rather desperate."

"Disaster!" he called out melodramatically. "…And just when I thought that this machine could last at least until the end of the week…"

"Oh, I see. It broke down again, right?"

"Please, Ishimaru-san! You gotta help me!" begged the storekeeper with trembling voice as if he was about to start crying. "Without the help of this printer, my work… and yours too, will become significantly harder. And my business will suffer…"

"But what can I do about it?" asked Kyouichi. "I'm no technician, you know."

"But, but… You're from the outside world. You have plenty of gadgets like that in the outside world. You must be familiar with technology and stuff… You…"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have about as much knowledge about the kappan technology as you do. And I'm being overconfident…"

"But… please. At least take a look." urged Daisuke. "Perhaps you can figure out the problem if I couldn't…"

"Sheesh… Who does this guy think I am? Some Japanese version of McGyver?" Kyouichi sighed and reluctantly stepped toward the broken printer. "Are you always so helpless, Shimizu-san? From what you told me, this certainly isn't the first time this machine had a breakdown."

"That's true, but I'm afraid it's serious this time…"

"Serious? How so?" inquired the outsider.

"When I turned it on to make a copy of just a few pages, there was this loud bang… and then… and then smoke started coming out of it…" explained Daisuke, trying to calm himself down.

Kyouichi at least checked if any of the switches on the machine still worked by pushing them randomly. He then pulled a few of its levers back and forth, and after seeing that nothing was happening, he gave the old printer a few smacks and kicks.

"Yep, it's broken alright…" stated Kyouichi after his "expert" analysis of the machine.

"Damn it!" cursed the storekeeper. "I've already wasted so much money on repairs…"

"Why don't you just order a new one?" Kyouichi suggested. "There must already be better, faster and more reliable printing machines than this one…"

Daisuke quietly stared at the wreck of his old printer and nodded silently. "Yeah… It seems I don't have any other choice. To to tell you the truth, the machine's heyday was long since over by the time I bought it from the kappa. It seemed like a good bargain at that time and I have to admit that it had served me well over many years. It broke down quite often, but the repair costs were fairly low, so I decided to keep using it… But now, it seems it's reached its limit. Gonna have to buy a new one."

"So, I guess I'll be transcribing things manually for now, right?"

"No." rejected the shopkeeper. "You're gonna have to take care of the shop for me again, while I go and order some high quality printer. This might take some time, but you already know what to do. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Alright, I know the drill." Kyouichi reassured him. "I'll try to sell something… if I'll have any customers, that is…"

"Thanks again, Ishimaru. You're quite a reliable assistant, you know…"

Kyouichi smiled. "Just doing what I have to… And, Shimizu-san, before you go, I have a little request."

"What is it?"

"I arrived an hour earlier, as you already noticed and I'd like to go home an hour earlier as well. It's only for today."

"Oh, but of course." approved Daisuke almost immediately. "I'll try to hurry then. Do your best until then."

---

With that said, the owner of the Starlight Glyph took his leave and Kyouichi was once again left with the full responsibility for the bookstore. He took a seat on a chair, rested his feet on the counter and crossed his arms as if he was now the big boss. Of course, if anyone caught him in this position, be it Daisuke or some potential customer, I'd be quite embarrassing. That's why he kept a close eye on the situation outside the shop through the window. He was sitting there for quite some time, observing the street, but nothing particularly interesting was going on.

"Oh man, this is getting boring." he muttered. "I ought to help me pass the time by reading something. But what?"

He stood up from the chair and began browsing through the tall shelves of the bookstore to find some book he might be interested in reading. At first he thought he'd look for the chronicle, but he soon recalled that both Akyuu and Keine-sensei mentioned that the chronicle is only in the process of being published and copied, and therefore, is not available for sale yet. Although, he did remember copying a part of the chronicle just yesterday, Daisuke apparently already took both the original and the copies and put them somewhere safe. Kyouichi then decided, that he'd just randomly take the first book that would catch his attention. The book he picked up from one of the shelves was a rather thick one and it had a nice and colorful cover. It was some sort of botanical encyclopedia, titled The Universal Guide of Flora.

"Well what do you know… this book has pictures in full color." commented Kyouichi as he randomly opened it approximately in the middle. "This... this must be a book from the outside. Interesting. I might as well take a better look at it…"

---

He took the book to the counter, where he sat down again and started reading from the beginning. Every few moments he looked outside the window to check if Daisuke wasn't coming back or if any potential customers weren't about to enter the store. He was quite fascinated to find a book from the outside world in this bookstore. All the more when the book was full of high definition pictures in full color, which Daisuke's old scanning and printing machine couldn't even dream of copying. It was rather strange that this rare piece was sitting among the other books designated for sale. It was really unlikely for Daisuke to be selling a one-of-a-kind original without at least making several copies, even if only in black and white. As he read page after page full of in-depth information about various exotic and common plants, he again paused to check the situation in front of the shop. And then he saw it again… To be more exact, he saw HER again. The green-haired parasol-wielding flower lady was again on her way out of the flower shop just across the street. Kyouichi at first only hesitatingly stared at her through the window, but then he put the book on the counter, stood up and walked out of the shop, stopping at the doorstep. He kept watching as the familiar, but still unknown lady was slowly walking past him, not paying attention to anyone or anything around her. She seemed satisfied though, as she was carrying another bunch of flowers and humming some unknown, but somewhat cheerful melody with a lovely voice. He still thought it would be weird if he just stopped her to ask who she was and who does she buy flowers for every day, so he again just watched her leave the village and head further west. Kyouichi kept staring at the western road even when the lady was already out of sight, as he was indulged in another one of his usual reveries. His brief spacing-out was interrupted as he heard the squeaking sound of a door opening. He turned his head to the right and saw a man in green working outfit stepping outside of the flower shop. He stretched his arms above his head and then his head from side to side. It looked like the flower shop's keeper was taking a short break. Kyouichi looked at the man for a while, and then he closed the door to the bookstore and slowly approached him.

"Umm…good afternoon." he greeted shyly. "Would you mind if I asked you something?"

"Hm? Why no, I wouldn't mind…" replied the man. "What would you like to ask?"

"I was just wondering… Who was that lady in red plaid clothes just now? I've started working part-time in the bookstore over there just this Monday you see, and I've seen her almost every day visiting your shop… Oh, and to clear up any misunderstandings, I'm one of them outsiders who got here a week ago…"

"Oh, that youkai lady? She comes by almost regularly, but it's only in certain times of the year." explained the florist. "Her name's Yuki… or was it Yuuko? I'm sorry, I sort of forgot…" he lowered his head in slight embarrassment.

"Could it possibly be Yukari?" asked Kyouichi curiously.

"Hmm… could be…" shrugged the man phlegmatically. "I'm only certain it starts with "Yu". Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm looking for Yukari Yakumo."

The man suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh, no… that lady is most certainly not the youkai of boundaries. Even if her name really is Yukari. She's just some lesser youkai… at least I think so... But I don't really know."

"What can you tell me about her then?" Kyouichi interviewed further.

"Well, like I said. She comes to buy a whole bunch of different flowers almost every day. Especially during spring and summer. And she keeps wearing that same red plaid skirt and waistcoat all the time…"

"Do you know why does she buy flowers so often?"

The florist thoughtfully scratched his chin. "I… honestly have no idea… She's a youkai. They're all weird in one way or another. If you like her, why don't you ask her that yourself when she comes by next time?"

Kyouichi snickered quietly. "I'm not looking for a date. I just wanted to clear up some facts."

"Well, all I can tell you is that she's really nice, extremely polite and always smiling when she comes to buy some flowers." said the florist. "But sometimes I get this eerie feeling in her presence… almost intimidating. I can't put my finger on it… But otherwise, she's really sweet. Just between you and me, if I wasn't married then I'd…"

"O-kay, I think I get the picture…" said Kyouichi, cutting off the florist's last sentence. "She's not Yukari Yakumo. That's all I needed to know."

"That she isn't." the man shook his head. "At least from what I've heard, Yakumo-san wouldn't bother WALKING to the village or even BUYING things. If she wanted something, she'd just… you know… take it."

"And you haven't happened to encounter her during your life by any chance?"

"Nope, I can't say that I have… Or at least, not that I'd know about it." replied the florist. "I guess she doesn't need flowers too much, hehehe..."

"So… you believe that she exits, I take it…"

"Sure, why not?" shrugged the man. "I guess we wouldn't learn about her back then at school if she was just a myth…"

"Yeah, I guess so…" admitted Kyouichi while nodding agreeingly.

As he turned back for a while, he noticed someone walk into the bookstore. "Okay, I guess I have some customers. Thanks for your time, mister."

"Sure. No problem."

---

Kyouichi then hurried back to the bookstore where some customer was already browsing through the books on the shelves.

"Welcome to the Starlight Glyph. Sorry to keep you waiting…" he apologized as he entered the shop.

"Hm? Are you Shimizu-san's…" asked an elderly man in a tattered gray kimono.

"Yes, new part-time assistant." Kyouichi answered immediately. "He's out at the moment, but if you need help with anything, don't be afraid to ask."

"I see… I'm just looking for some interesting novel." explained the customer. "I've got a lot of free time on my hands since my retirement…"

"Ok then, please help yourself."

After about 5 minutes, the elderly man walked up to the counter with a book in his hand, ready to pay for it.

"I'd like to take this one." he said as he put it on the counter.

Kyouichi opened it on the last page, where Daisuke penciled prices on all the books in his shop.

"That will be 2000 yen."

The man in gray took out two paper notes, each worth a thousand yen.

"Thank you very much and have a nice day." said Kyouichi and noted down the transaction into the shop's ledger.

"Aye, a good day to you too, young man." bowed the customer and with his slow pace, he left he shop.

---

Again, Kyouichi was left alone, so he again resumed reading the encyclopedia about plants. He read almost 50 pages until Daisuke, his employer finally returned.

"So, Ishimaru, has everything been okay while I was gone?" he asked before the door even closed behind him.

"You could say that…" replied the part-time assistant. "There's been only one customer, but he bought a book for two thousand yen."

"That's good to hear." said Daisuke as he took out some document from his inner pocket and put it in a drawer under the counter.

"What about you, Shimizu-san? Did you order a new machine?"

"Yeah. And it took some time too. Hopefully this new model will be worth the investment."

"I'm sure it will." said Kyouichi. "Anyway, now that you're back, I guess you'd like to take the counter under your control again."

"Oh, right, right... That's my job after all." smiled the storekeeper. "And it seems you got used to that as well. You've even started to read books in your leisure, just like I do." he pointed at the botany encyclopedia that Kyouichi was reading.

"Oh, yeah… It just caught my eye. This book I mean. May I ask where did you get it?"

"This one here?" asked Daisuke, picking up the book and observing it closely. "This one's from the outside world."

"Yeah, I thought so, but how did you acquire it?" wondered Kyouichi. "Do books from the outside world just randomly keep appearing in your shop?"

Daisuke chuckled. "Oh, but of course not. Don't be silly. This one here I ordered from Kourindou. They sell various goods, but it's not here in Human Village. Often times, they offer goods from the outside, but since we in Gensokyo have no idea for the use of all those strange contraptions, nobody really buys them. Well, books are of course a different matter. I regularly check their inventory for some interesting pieces of literature, such as this. But sometimes I just have to haggle for a few minutes, as the shop's owner sometimes doesn't like to part with some of the books."

"So they deal with goods from the outside world?" asked Kyouichi. "I wonder who supplies them."

"Good question…" murmured Daisuke, scratching the back of his head. "My guess is that he gets his goods from folks like you, who get spirited away to Gensokyo every now and then."

"Hmm… I wonder if I could sell my cell phone there." speculated Kyouichi. "But you're selling an original… without making a copy?"

"What do you think I am? A fool?!" asked Daisuke, slightly raising his voice. "No, in fact, I got a whole box of these books, all in full color. But hey, maybe you're right… maybe the new printer I ordered will be able to make colorful copies. That would be great."

"And when is that printer supposed to arrive?"

"I'd say within 3 days." replied the storekeeper. "That means there's a good chance you'll be able to try it out right after this weekend."

"Alright." nodded Kyouichi, his eyes meeting Daisuke's. "So, got any tasks for me?"

"You know what? If you clean this place up a bit, I'm gonna let you go after that. You've already pulled a major part of my shift, so it only seems fair, doesn't it?"

Kyouichi bowed thankfully and went to grab the mop and a bucket. "Thanks, boss. This is actually one of the easiest part-time jobs I've ever done and I've been doing plenty."

"Well, it's a bookstore, so there's not much manual work here." shrugged Daisuke.

"So what you're saying is that you don't usually do much work around here?" asked Kyouichi a little daring question as he began mopping the floor.

"Haha!" chuckled Daisuke. "You're not too far from the truth. Back when I opened this shop, I used to work alone. It was basically the same as now – copying, writing, translating and selling. But when my business picked up a bit, I often needed to visit other villages. The new post office made that a bit easier now, but as you could have noticed, I often have to leave the shop. That's when I wrote a requisition form to the village hall to hire an assistant. And that's when I met Hiroto, who is now recovering from that youkai attack I mentioned before… Well, more like he attacked first."

"Was he armed?"

"No, not with a sword or a knife. Only with his overconfidence, short temper and dim wit."

"Did he use magic then?" wondered Kyouichi, getting done with one section of the shop's floor.

"Naturally, all of Gensokyo's natives have some innate magic abilities. A legacy from times long ago when men and youkai were at war… But Hiroto… that fool wants to become a Ryuuken and he always has to keep proving to himself that he's worthy, so he attacked a youkai only with his bare hands." said Daisuke and slapped his forehead at the thought of his assistant's folly. "A suicide attempt if you ask me, but I guess idiots are lucky and the youkai left him only with one fracture. Not even a veteran Ryuuken warrior would dare to fight a youkai barehanded and without magic."

"If he wants to be a Ryuuken, why didn't he join them yet?" Kyouichi couldn't understand. "Why does he work at the bookstore?"

"Where should I begin…?" murmured the storekeeper thoughtfully. "Have you heard about an old carpenter, Naota Tanisake? He's one of the oldest outsiders in the village."

"Naota?!" Kyouichi looked quizzically at his boss. "Yeah, I know him personally, but what does he have to do with all this?"

"Well, you see, Hiroto wants to follow in his father's footsteps." explained Daisuke with his typical gesticulation. "His father is a well respected Ryuuken captain, so he wanted to be like him."

"I see nothing wrong there…"

"While Hiroto is a good fighter, he never was much of a thinker. Ever since he started attending school, he had problems. There's a custom that in order to join the Ryuuken militia, one has to either take a special course at the school or get an approval from any of the master craftsmen in the village after some years of work. The Ryuuken aren't just a bunch of armed men trained to fight youkai, but they are also adept in many other trades as well. Since his grades at school were below average, taking the advanced course for the aspiring Ryuuken was out of question. He had to choose some crafting guild and get educated as an apprentice. But he apparently didn't have the skills or patience to finish his apprenticeship, so he dropped out of school with only elementary education. His only chance to get among the Ryuuken was to personally apply for work at one of the master craftsmen's workshops. You see, it's not that important for a Ryuuken to know a craft, as it is important to have some discipline and work under a master craftsman helps to build that discipline. But none of the masters would hire him. Nobody except one…"

"Naota Tanisake…" completed Kyouichi.

The storekeeper nodded. "That's right. Since he was an outsider, he didn't hold much regard for our local customs and took young Hiroto as one of his apprentices."

"So how did he end up at your bookstore?"

"Well, he was doing fine at Tanisake's workshop, but only until about one month before he was supposed to get his approval. He got into a brawl with another one of Naota's students for something and he hurt him badly. He was immediately arrested and put to trial. If he was sentenced for his attack, he would spend a good couple of months in a cell, but Naota, as the only other witness, spoke in Hiroto's favor and said that the other student provoked the fight. I wasn't there, so I don't know the truth. But whether Tanisake spoke the truth, or if it was just a convenient calculation on his part because of Hiroto's father's influence, the trial found both of the brawlers partially guilty and let them both go only with the punishment of a monetary fine of 50 000 yen. Immediately after that, Naota retired, leaving his workshop in charge of his eldest apprentice, Mamoru Endou, the elder brother of the one who had the brawl with Hiroto. Naturally, Hiroto had no chance of getting an approval from him, so he left the carpenter's workshop for good."

"And that's when he became your assistant?" asked Kyouichi, who had already cleaned a half of the shop's floor by now.

"Yes. Since all the masters in the village had their capacity full at that time, Hiroto had to cope with the work in the bookstore, waiting until one of the masters will have a place to hire new apprentices. So far, he had no luck. In fact, he just keeps getting into more trouble."

"Hmm… now that I think about it, Naota did say that a certain Ryuuken still owes him a favor." recalled Kyouichi. "Is Hiroto's family name Yukiyama?"

"Yes, Yukiyama Hiroto is his full name." confirmed Daisuke.

"Well that explains everything then…" he remarked with an entertained smirk.

"Did Tanisake tell you about that?"

"No, he just mentioned that Yukiyama guy owing him a favor."

Not long after hearing Daisuke's story about his injured assistant, Kyouichi was done with the mopping and Daisuke let him go home as promised. Kyouichi bowed to his boss and bid him a nice weekend before he left the bookstore and with a brisk pace, he marched home. Since he didn't find any other shoes or sandals at the door of the Saitou residence, he assumed the guests haven't arrived yet.

---

"I'm home, Mizuto-san!" he announced his arrival and walked into the kitchen.

Mizuto was just unpacking some freshly bought groceries and putting them on the table.

"Welcome back. So, are you ready to help me with this?"

"Sure. Just tell me what to do and I'll try to do my best."

Mizuto gave Kyouichi a whole multitude of minor tasks from peeling and slicing onions, slicing eel, boiling rice stewing vegetables and flavoring them with spices. Although Kyouichi wasn't very good at cooking, under Mizuto's supervision, he did rather well.

Approximately one hour later, they could hear someone knocking at the door.

"Oh my gosh, they're already here!" said the head of the Saitou family with a bit of overexcitement in his voice. He nervously walked up to the door, swallowed his saliva and opened it.

"Mi-Minako?!" he gasped in a surprised shock. "You got me thinking that the guests have already arrived."

The fisherman's wife made a gesture with her head towards two heavy bags she was holding, asking Mizuto to help her with them.

"I closed the shop earlier and went to buy some drinks and snacks." she explained as she passed the bags to her husband.

"Isn't that a tad too much?" asked Mizuto as he felt the weight of the both bags in his hands.

"Well… umm… some of that is for the kids too."

She then started to show signs of overexcitement as well, as she barraged Mizuto with trivial questions.

"Have you made the dinner already? Have you cleaned up the house? Have you taken the trash out? And I hope you're not going to wear THAT when our guests come…" she pointed her finger at him.

"Oh damn… I forgot to change!" exclaimed the fisherman who was still dressed up in his fishing outfit. He immediately hurried to the guest room to get changed into something more appropriate.

"Here, Kyouichi, help me unload the bags and get me some plates and bowls for the snacks." asked Minako for Kyouichi's assistance. "And the white porcelain cups too…"

Kyouichi was glad to help her and did as she asked. Meanwhile, Mizuto walked into the kitchen, wearing his dark red kimono. The same one as he was wearing when Kyouichi first met him. He got changed just in time, as there was again another knocking on the door.

"That must be the guests!" he excitedly called out and hurried to welcome them.

However, as he was about to reach for the door to slide it open, the person who was knocking already beat him to it and opened the door herself.

"I'm home…"

"Chi-Chitose?!" Mizuto yelled the one-worded question as he was gawking stupidly at his daughter.

"What's wrong, dad?" asked the girl nonchalantly, giving him an asking look.

"What's wrong with ME?!" he called out through his laughter. "More like what's wrong with YOU?! You never knock when you come home and suddenly, when one day in a few months we are expecting guests, all of you guys start knocking…"

"What? Guests? Oh…. Today's Friday! Reimu-sama's coming for a visit! I almost forgot!" called out the daughter of the Saitous, in an almost panicking tone.

"Not just Reimu-san, but also Hieda no Akyuu-san." Minako informed her, making the final preparations on the kitchen table. "And where's your brother?"

"Oh, he's just chatting with his friends outside, he should be here anytime…"

Just as Chitose finished her sentence there was a third knocking on the door of the Saitous.

"Well, I guess he's already here."

"Why does even my son have to knock on the door of his own home?" murmured annoyed Mizuto under his nose as he walked up to open the door. "Why the heck is everyone in this family knocking on the door today?!" he blurted out the question in an annoyed tone, expecting to scold his unsuspecting son, only to be surprised to see someone else.

Reimu Hakurei looked up at the fisherman with a mixed expression of surprise and embarrassment, with her mouth slightly open as she smiled and took one nervous step back.

Hieda no Akyuu, standing right next to her, hid behind the shrine maiden, clinging to her red skirt and frightenedly peeking from behind her.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry!" he apologized immediately and bowed several times. "I thought it was my son… Please, come in, come in!"

After but a moment of hesitation the two guests slowly walked into the house and proceeded to the kitchen where the rest of the family short of Tadao-kun was already waiting.

---

"Welcome again to our humble home, Reimu-san." greeted Minako with a bright smile. "And I believe this is the first time for you, Akyuu-chan. Please make yourselves at home, we'll be serving dinner right away."

Right after Minako and Chitose welcomed the guests, the shrine maiden and the chronicler took their seats at the table, where Kyouichi, although rather informally, greeted them as well.

"Good afternoon, Reimu-san, Akyuu-san." he smiled and nodded.

Reimu smiled back, but gave him a questioning look. "You call her Akyuu-san?"

"Anything wrong with that?" Kyouichi wondered.

"No, just a little… strange." replied Reimu, turning to Akyuu. "Since she's so little and cute, I call her Akyuu-chan." she explained while smiling brightly and hugging the little chronicler.

"But technically, she's much, much older than you or me." reasoned Kyouichi. "Besides, I don't think we're that familiar with each other yet…"

"It's okay." sounded Akyuu all of a sudden.

"Huh?" Kyouichi quizzically tilted his head to the side.

"I'm okay with being called like that." said the 9th child of Miare. "In fact, I like it."

"See?" said Reimu again, "Now why don't you call her Akyuu-chan as well?"

"Well, if Akyuu-san… I mean Akyuu-chan says so…" Kyouichi corrected himself, feeling a bit awkward while doing so.

"See, it didn't hurt, did it?"

"And is it okay for me to call you Reimu-chan then?" he asked jokingly.

Reimu blushed in her cheeks. "Well… umm… errr…." she stuttered embarrassedly.

"…Since you're young and cute as well…" continued Kyouichi without paying attention to her reaction.

The shrine maiden continued to stutter, unable to find words for a straight reply. "I… umm…"

"Don't worry~!" Kyouichi calmed her down. "I was only joking. I would call you so only with your permission, Reimu-san."

Reimu's face color returned back to normal, but she still avoided Kyouichi's eyes and instead was focused on the empty bowl on the table in front of her.

In the meantime, Tadao-kun just arrived home… and he didn't knock. As he saw the full kitchen, he figured that everyone was waiting only for him. He hurried to wash his hands and as he shyly greeted everyone, he took the last vacant place at the table, by his father's side.

"Finally, everyone's here, it's time to eat." said Minako and began serving the soup into everyone's bowls. "I'm not too sure if will be good, since Mizuto cooked it all…"

"Hey!" called out the fisherman, feeling offended by his wife's remark. "What was that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah, and I helped him…" murmured Kyouichi. "...Which could make things even worse, so be warned…" he added in jest.

Right after that, Minako, the two Saitou siblings and both guests exchanged their mistrustful looks before they began eating.

"Itadakimasu~!"

---

Mizuto and his wife excitedly interrogated their guests while they were eating. Kyouichi thought that they'd be polite enough to let them finish their meals at least, but they just kept asking them more and more questions. And since both Akyuu and Reimu kept answering to the best of their knowledge, Kyouichi figured it'd be ok to ask his question.

"Umm, Akyuu-san, may I ask you something too?"

"But of course." smiled the chronicler and took a sip of lemonade. "Ask away."

"I kind of feel embarrassed that I forgot to ask you before, but you do remember the surrounding areas of Gensokyo, right? I mean outside the barrier. What's the nearest town or village in the outside?"

Akyuu looked surprised for a moment as she remained silent, thinking about something. Then she spoke. "To be honest… I only dealt with the history of Gensokyo itself, so I can't really tell you much about that." She then looked down and kept murmuring as if to herself: "I really didn't start with the chronicle all by myself. I was born here, so I wasn't there when the first village was founded. All the information regarding the history before my time I gathered from numerous informants. They gave me the basic material needed to start a chronicle… and Yukari-san of course. She gave me that idea and told me about my unique ability. There's no one in Gensokyo who knows more of the outside world than her… and the spirited-away outsiders like yourself."

"But Gensokyo had no real boundaries back then. You have to know at least where in Japan it lies, right?"

"Before the first barrier? You mean the Youkai Expansion Project? That was a long time ago, Kyouichi-san. The outside world has doubtlessly changed a lot since then. So I'm not sure if anything I tell you will be of any help. I haven't heard of any towns that were closer than a hundred kilometers from the approximate area of Gensokyo I'm afraid."

Kyouichi disappointedly exhaled as his hope was again reduced to but a tiny spark. "Well then, what about the geographic features?" he asked with a lack of certainty in his tone. Anything that could help…"

"Well, I can tell you that the approximate location of Gensokyo in the outside world would be somewhere in both the Yamanashi Prefecture near the Yatsugatake mountain range and the Nagano Prefecture. Lake Suwa lies several tens of kilometers that way…" she pointed at northeast, "and a part of it was also taken to Gensokyo after the Great Barrier. And that's about all I know… I'm sorry."

"Lake Suwa! I know that!" exclaimed Kyouichi, again full of hope. "I haven't been there myself, but one of my friends has and told me about it. There's definitely a lake resort there. In which direction did you say it was?"

"Somewhere over there…" she pointed again, giving the approximate direction. "But it's still very far away. And I wouldn't rely on my approximate directions if I were you. I may remember everything, but I'm still just a human, not a compass. Unless you know exactly where you need to be headed and are well equipped for a long walk through very difficult terrain, I certainly wouldn't recommend you going anywhere."

"I see…" murmured Kyouichi in disappointment. "Thanks anyway."

"Don't worry, Kyouichi, we'll find Yukari so that you outsiders can all be sent home." Reimu tried to cheer him up. "There's a good chance that she'll come to the hanami. She just loves to show up at parties… Especially when she's uninvited…" she added with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"That's right." Akyuu acknowledged Reimu's suggestion, taking a brief look at the shrine maiden. "I have to agree with Reimu-san. It is in your best interest not to leave Gensokyo through the shrine's gateway. The elder certainly didn't request Reimu not to let anyone out for no reason."

"So you even know about the elder's orders?"

"Request would be a better word, since he has no real legal authority over the Hakurei shrine maiden." explained the little chronicler. "And yes, I know about it. This is a small village and word here spreads faster than a wildfire."

Kyouichi frowned. "Man… I've only found out about it by chance that I know Reimu-san. Fukukane should have sent an informing letter to each of us outsiders if he wishes us all to abide by his "requests"."

Akyuu shrugged as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. "My guess is that he thought it would be enough to inform Reimu-san about this to make sure she wouldn't let any outsider cross the border via the shrine, should any of them, like you, ask her about that. Apparently he dreads the outside world about as much as he fears the youkai of this world and he didn't want you to get lost out there. Other than that, he probably didn't want to inform the outsiders that such possibility even exists in order to protect them and not to give them any false hopes of return…"

"Well, it's a little late for that…" remarked Kyouichi mockingly.

Akyuu gave him a concerned look "You told the other outsiders about it?"

"Hey… Like you said: Word here spreads faster than a wildfire." retorted the outsider. "Yeah, I told them about it and they are fully aware of how dangerous it would be to just take a random direction and follow it… Don't worry, Akyuu-san, we're not stupid enough to attempt a blind expedition like that. Without any solid lead like a map, we're not going anywhere."

"That's a smart decision." nodded the 9th Are maiden.

Reimu giggled quietly. "…You said "Akyuu-san" again…"

Kyouichi shrugged with a smile settling on his face. "What? We're having a serious conversation here… It would be funny to address her as "Akyuu-chan" when we're discussing serious issues." As he spoke, his smile gradually faded into another concerned frown. After a few seconds of pause, he exhaled heavily and nodded, as if in agreement to the chain of thoughts whirling inside his head. "But who knows… Maybe… Maybe over time we'll grow so desperate that we will do whatever it takes to get home… Even if it means heading out from the Hakurei Shrine without any guidance…"

Reimu put on an unusually serious face and looked Kyouichi straight in the eyes. "Look, Kyouichi… The elder's request is only there for your safety, but if you really want it, I could let you all cross through the gateway to the outside. Even right now. I don't mind or care. It's at your own risk, however. I don't really care about what happens to you afterwards. You must be absolutely sure about this, understand?"

"I understand… and thank you." replied the outsider and bowed to the shrine maiden. "For now, I still think it's better to stay in Gensokyo… But when my desperation gets the better of me…"

"You know where to find me…" Reimu finished the sentence for him and again, her serious face was replaced by a carefree, smiling one.

"Yeah…"

"You should at least wait until Yukari makes contact with any of us, so we could talk to her about it." Akyuu continued. "Although it is rather rare to have her visit… Perhaps Reimu-san is graced by her presence more often."

Reimu shrugged. "That's really hard to predict… She sometimes shows up at the shrine once every day, or once every week, or just twice a month… Sometimes she doesn't come for several months."

"And when did you see her last time?" wondered Kyouichi.

"It's true that I haven't seen her for over half a year now, but that's because she hibernates during winter… I think."

"But we already have summer knocking on our doors."

"Well, either she's just taking her time to visit me, or she's intentionally hiding because she knows that I'll beat her up for causing an incident." said the shrine maiden in a nonchalant manner. "But a hanami should work well enough to attract her. Then we might get some answers from her…"

"How will she know that there even is a hanami taking place?" asked the outsider.

"Trust me, she knows just about anything that goes on in Gensokyo. She might as well be watching us right now and laughing at our stupidity and we wouldn't even know…"

"Heh… Big Brother's watching you, eh?" remarked Kyouichi with a faint smirk. "Or Big Sister in this case… But just hypothetically, if she caused an incident, how would you find her?"

The shrine maiden was suddenly in a loss for words. "Well… that is…"

"You said you dueled her once, didn't you? Where did you find her then?"

"That was in the Netherworld… But that's not where she lives. Nobody knows where exactly she lives… I'm not really sure I'd be able to find her if she wanted to stay hidden."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring…"

"Fortunately for us, Yukari is more of a protector of Gensokyo, who occasionally plays the role of troublemaker… And whenever she makes one of her pranks, she always tends to reveal herself in the end, so that saves me the trouble of looking for her. If your spiriting away was one of her pranks, then she will certainly show up… eventually."

"What if she's the one in trouble?" speculated Kyouichi.

Reimu and Akyuu exchanged their amused looks before the shrine maiden replied. "Yukari? In trouble?" she snickered, "Impossible… Well unless she stands against ME in a fight… or the Lunarians maybe… I heard that she got beaten by one of them… but so was I when I come to think of it…"

Kyouichi looked puzzled. "What's with the Lunarians anyway?"

"Oh, that's a long story, but in a nutshell, Yukari plotted a plan to take revenge for her defeat from over a thousand years ago when she tried to invade the Moon. We… That is me, Marisa and some other folks were a part of that plan too. We made it all the way to the real Moon, but only I got the chance to see the lunar capital, unfortunately…"

"Wait a second…" Kyouichi interrupted her. "Are you telling me that you've been on the Moon?"

"I just said that, yes…" confirmed Reimu, wondering, what could be so strange about it. "I had to convince everyone that I was able to call on the power of the gods to clear up some misunderstanding to calm the moon-people down… I don't really know… I never was too much into politics anyway."

"But there's no air on the Moon…" he tried to argue with common sense.

"It was quite similar to Earth over there… Well, anyway, there are these two very powerful Lunarians, the Watatsuki sisters, who are now sharing the role of the previous Moon princess. We only wanted to take a little tour around the Moon, but one of those sisters, namely Watatsuki no Yorihime, stopped us and said that we can't go into the capital. So we proposed a Spell Card duel to decide if we could at least take a little souvenir from the Moon. However, Yorihime's power is that to call on the powers of the gods into her body, and it was no problem for her to handle all four of us… If I practiced harder, maybe I'd be able to do that one day as well…"

"Was Yukari there too?" asked Kyouichi.

"No. She used us as a distraction to get the attention of the lunar army, while she tried to steal something from the lunar sage's house… or so I've heard. But she fell into a trap that sent her back to Gensokyo, where Watatsuki no Toyohime, the second of the two sisters was waiting for her. Now I really don't know the details, but Yukari supposedly lost to her… or gave up without even fighting… I don't know, I wasn't there to see. I just heard it from her shikigami… that supposedly no one from Earth can stand against a Lunarian in terms of power. Still, it sounds kind of fishy coming from a youkai such as Yukari… She's been known to lie and deceive others every so often…"

"So she failed to take her "revenge" I take it?"

"Actually… She did manage to outwit the Watatsukis in the end… thanks to a third party… Her best friend also made it to the Moon somehow and while both of the lunar princesses had their hands full, they had a priceless bottle of a thousand year old sake stolen from them…"

"What?! Sake?!" exclaimed Kyouichi in an expression of both amusement and disbelief. "Hahahahaha! So she invaded the Moon for a bottle of sake?! That's just the most ridiculous thing I've heard."

"The Second Lunar War wasn't about the sake, as it was more about Yukari proving to the Lunarians that she can just as well be viewed as equal to them… Or perhaps she had some other goal, which none of us even know about… I don't really know. Anyway, the point was that only the Lunarians could probably pose any trouble for her."

"I've heard different opinions though…" remarked Kyouichi. "Are you sure she didn't just lose on purpose?"

"I can't really say… All I can tell you is that both her and the Lunarians are exceptionally powerful. It's possible, though… The first war she led was pretty much also lost on purpose… And even after the second one, mind you, it really wasn't a war, it's just called that way... Well even after that she seemed to achieve her goal… whatever it was."

"So, both of her "defeats" were actually victories?" wondered Kyouichi while scratching his head.

"I guess they were…" estimated the shrine maiden uncertainly. "Anyway, it's very doubtful that Yukari wouldn't show up because she was in trouble. She can basically handle any kind of situation and what's more, she doesn't even need her full powers for it. I bet she's just having fun now, watching a bunch of unsuspecting outsiders wandering aimlessly around Gensokyo, trying to figure what to do next. And when she gets tired of it, she'll show up and return you all back to where you were taken from."

"I just hope it won't take her too long." remarked the outsider, looking blankly into the ceiling.

"Well then, let's go to the shrine and wait for the guests to gather." suggested Reimu. "I personally think that the boundary youkai will show up there too. I have a good intuition."

Kyouichi looked back at her and smiled. "Yeah. I've been looking forward to the hanami for this whole week. So why the hell should I feel depressed now, right? Let's go."

---

After that, they stood up from the table, thanked for the meal and took the bags full of snacks with them. As they opened the main door of the Saitou residence, they could see that the sun was slowly, but certainly setting, so without any further ado, they set out on their way to the Hakurei Shrine. They left the village through the northern road which gradually sloped slightly uphill. The Ryuuken stationed at the northern end of the village didn't even try to halt them, so the trio could leave without any delay. The road to the shrine was long, but to Kyouichi's eyes it looked safe. There was nothing suspicious about it. Besides the three of them, there was not another person to be seen far and wide and the young outsider began to wonder if all the rumors about the roads being dangerous were actually true. As they walked, Reimu and Akyuu were talking about their daily lives. Kyouichi didn't talk much, as he was just walking there with them and admiring the landscape. He did notice, however, that the shrine maiden seemed to like Akyuu a lot. Considering her claims of meeting her only once before, she treated her very nicely. She held her hand like she was her little sister, although Akyuu was technically way older than her. After well over 30 minutes, they reached the crossroad, just about 100 meters in front of the Hakurei Shrine. As Reimu helped Akyuu to scale the stone stairs, Kyouichi tightened his grip on the bags with snacks and followed them up. Just as they walked under the torii, a boisterous girl's voice called at them.

"Oi, Reimu! There you are! And you brought some guests already, ze…"

It was Marisa Kirisame, the self-proclaimed "ordinary magician" in all her black and white glory. It looked like she just arrived at the shrine recently, judging by the fact that she was still sitting on her flying bamboo straw broom.

"Hi, Marisa!" Reimu called back at her. "Have you been waiting long?"

The witch girl shook her blonde head. "No, I just got here. Brought some drinks too…" she pointed at a bunch of bottles standing near the donation box. "Oh, Akyuu-chan, what a surprise! Nice to see you again, ze… And you too, Kyouichi."

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Marisa-san." replied the outsider as he put down the two bags next to the donation box. "I met your father the other day… He sends his regards and would like to know how you're doing and all…"

"Whaaat?! You met dad?" asked the surprised magician. "What did he say?"

"He said that he misses you and asked ME of all people to tell him how are you doing. He'd really like to see you again sometimes… I know nothing about how well you get along with each other, so it's okay if you refuse to see him… I'm not here to judge."

"Of course I like my dad." replied Marisa. "It's just… I really can't stand his new wife… I do see him from time to time to check on him, but only when that harpy's not around…"

"So, are you going to see him again in the near future?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. I'll stop by tomorrow. And… thanks for telling me, Kyouichi."

He smiled warmly and nodded. "No problem, Marisa-san. By the way… where are the other guests?"

"They'll yet take some time. Since I told them we're having an evening hanami this year." answered the miko instead. She entered her shrine and came out after a moment with a stack of plates in her hands. She put them carefully on the wooden porch of the building and started counting off on her fingers.

"…eight, nine and ten… That's the expected number of people for today. Still, I took out some extra plates just to be sure."

"Do you need any help with anything, Reimu-san?" Kyouichi offered his help.

"If you asked me that two days ago, I'd give you a whole pile of work, but now… all the preparations have been already done. All that's left is to light the fire over there…" she pointed at a pile firewood surrounded by a circle of stones in the shrine yard. "And put some blankets around, so we could sit on the ground."

"I'll get the blankets." volunteered Marisa and disappeared inside the shrine afterwards.

"Guess it's up to me to light the fire then…" frowned Kyouichi in displeasure of this task falling onto him. He unsteadily grabbed two thin wooden sticks from the firewood pile, braced them against the pile of dried-up leaves underneath and started to rub them against each other in hope of creating the igniting spark. Akyuu was there, crouching near the fireside and cheered him up to do his best. After some good 5 minutes of rubbing the sticks, Kyouichi was about to resign his attempt. Oddly enough, both Reimu and Marisa were taking their time to get out of the shrine as well. It was good, since the outsider didn't want them to see how incompetent he was.

"You can do it, Kyouichi-san~!" little Akyuu cheered on.

Kyouichi released the two sticks from his tired hands and wiped off the sweat from his forehead, pouting in frustration. "Akyuu-chan, you're really sweet for cheering me up, but… I've never ever even tried to light a fire like that before. I'm no good at all."

"But the sticks already started smoking."

"I'm tired… my arms are dead. I'm not used to physical activity. Not after over 6 years without any training."

Akyuu apparently initiated her "ignore" protocol, as she just kept cheering on. "Fight~! Fight~! Don't give up~!"

After a while of looking at her, Kyouichi sighed and reluctantly took the wooden sticks to try and light the fire again. Akyuu was just too adorable for him to let her down, even though he was convinced he'd just end up failing again.

"Oh! Look, look, a spark!" exclaimed the little chronicler, pointing at the wooden sticks. "Keep up~! Keep up~! Do your best~!"

Kyouichi clenched his teeth and started to rub the sticks faster. Now that he saw some result of his work, he was determined to finish what he started. Soon after, several more sparks appeared between the grinding sticks. Although his hands were about to fall off, he endured it, and at long last, one of the sparks set the dried-up pile of leaves on fire.

"Oh my god, I think I actually did it!" exclaimed the outsider in amazement from his own success. "I made fire! Hohohooo~! I can't believe it! I made fire with a bunch of sticks!"

"Hooray~!" called Akyuu while clapping her little hands. "I knew you could do it."

"All thanks to you, Akyuu-chan." he praised her. "Ever thought of being a cheerleader?"

"Hey, what's all this commotion about?" sounded Reimu's voice from behind, as she just emerged from the shrine. "Oh look, you already made fire. And I was just about to bring you some matches and old Bunbunmaru pages…" she announced nonchalantly looking down at the mentioned items she held in her hands.

Kyouichi's mouth gaped and the left corner of his mouth twitched in a funny, confused expression. As he slowly turned to the chronicler with that same expression still on his face, he asked her in the same nonchalant manner: "Umm, Akyuu-san? Is it a serious crime to kill a shrine maiden?"

Reimu's carefree smile froze for a moment, but after seeing Kyouichi smile right afterwards, she understood that he meant it just as a joke.

"I was wondering why you weren't coming in to get matches…"

"How the hell should I've known that you even have them?"

"Hmph, I thought you knew…" Reimu defended herself. "I used them in the Ritual of Passage to take you to the outside world on the first day we met."

"You really think that I pay attention to and remember such details?!" asked Kyouichi with a raised voice.

"You don't…?" replied the shrine maiden with a question and an innocent tone.

The outsider shook his head, looking down and chuckling. "I think you're confusing me with someone else…" he suddenly grabbed Akyuu by the hand and knelt down next to her so that their faces could be on the same level. He looked up at Reimu again, his index finger pointing at his face and then moving to Akyuu's. "It's quite understandable, since we do look so much alike, but I really can't remember everything. Sorry."

"Hahahah!" sounded Marisa's ringing laughter. "Hey, this outsider's funny. I like that…"

Reimu turned to the witch and crossed her arms. "What's been taking you so long, Marisa? I've only asked you to fetch some blankets."

"Oh, I was… uhhh… just browsing through your bookshelves for a while…" replied the magician with a suspicious-sounding excuse.

Reimu disapprovingly shook her head. "You're unbelievable. Not only do you steal books from Patchouli, Alice and Rinnosuke, but now you want to rob a poor shrine maiden?"

"How rude." pouted Marisa in denial to any of her friend's claims. "First of all, I BORROW the books… Second, I was just looking at what sort of books you read, that's all. And finally, just because you lack donations doesn't mean you're poor, so don't give people misleading information."

"Oh, look who's talking!" responded the shrine maiden with a sarcastic tone on her lips. "Your "borrowing" is no different from stealing and that's exactly what you do! You take and never return. And you even have the gall to call me a liar! You've really crossed the line here…"

Kyouichi figured this conversation is heading in a dangerous direction, so he stepped between them. "Hey now, girls, just calm down, okay? You're friends, damn it! You certainly don't want to start a fight now, do you?"

"No, but I simply won't let some klepto-witch tell me that I give people misleading information when she's spreading outrageous lies herself… On top of stealing stuff." responded Reimu, with a calmer voice.

"Fufufufu…" Marisa snickered mischievously and gave Reimu a gentle nudge with her elbow. "Geez, Reimu, It's so amusing how I can get you all worked-up so easily… Can't you take a little teasing? Besides, I DO return the stuff I borrow… just not as early as expected."

Reimu could only manage to maintain her agitated expression up for a few seconds, before she returned to her usual cheerful self.

"Well then, if you want to "borrow" something from me then ask me beforehand, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I got it. No borrowing without asking you beforehand." repeated Marisa. "You didn't have any books that caught my interest anyway."

"Well, I don't have any magic-themed books in my little collection, so tough luck." said Reimu and turned on her heel to return the matches and old newspapers back to the shrine.

Marisa watched her back until she entered the shrine building and then she turned back to Akyuu and Kyouichi with a carefree look on her face.

"Do you often argue about stuff, Marisa-san?" asked the outsider suddenly, trying to pry a little into their private matters.

The witch shrugged and took her big black hat off her head. "C'est la vie, Kyouichi-san, c'est la vie… We're friends, we argue, sometimes we fight, sometimes we don't talk to each other for some time and then we're best friends again… That's how it goes. Reimu's been one of my best friends for quite some time now and we've been through a lot together, but… like I said, we sometimes don't see eye to eye. But I guess that's only natural. She often acts like she doesn't care about other people much, she seems like she's self-centered and materialistic, that she doesn't like any youkai in general, but I, of the few people in Gensokyo know that the real Reimu isn't like that at all."

"What's the real Reimu like then?" asked the curious outsider.

"Well, the real Reimu is… Reimu." answered Marisa without giving any real answer.

"You called me?" asked the shrine maiden, who again got out of her shrine, this time, with about a dozen wooden drinking cups.

"Huh? Oh… no, no. You must be hearing things." replied Marisa denyingly.

The shrine maiden either seemed to have fallen for that little lie, or she pretended like she didn't care and continued to put the drinking cups neatly in a line on the elevated wooden floor of the shrine, where the donation box was also standing.

"Well, I should finally put those blankets on the ground." recalled the magician and began doing what she said. "Say, Reimu, why aren't we going to sit behind the shrine, like usual?"

"Well, I just thought that since we aren't expecting too many guests today, we might be having the flower viewing in the front yard. The back yard is usually reserved for larger festivals and such…"

"Well, I don't really mind. I was just curious." said Marisa while putting the first blanket near the fireside, but not too close.

"The cherry trees are basically the same here as the ones in the back, so it makes no difference for our hanami." Reimu continued explaining while filling the clay bowls with various snacks.

Once Marisa was done with arranging the blankets around the fireside, she ran to Reimu and helped her with serving the snacks.

"I think we're all set now…" announced the shrine maiden when she placed the final bowl of snacks on the blanket. "Hmm… I still think we should have pillows to make the seating a little more comfortable…" she speculated.

"It'll yet take some time before our guests begin to arrive." murmured Marisa. "At this rate I might start eating all this stuff before they even show up…"

As Akyuu and Kyouichi picked their place to sit on one of the blankets, the outsider's eyes were locked on Marisa's broom, which was resting on the ground beside her.

"Oh, right… I should put this away somewhere." she said as she grabbed her means of transport.

Kyouichi was quick enough to catch her by the apron before she walked away with it and gave her a questioning look. "Uhh… Marisa-san…?"

"What's wrong?"

"About that broom of yours…" he spoke as he carefully observed it, "…can it carry more than one person?"

Marisa grinned, showing her teeth. "Sure… Want to go for a little ride?"

Kyouichi mirrored her grin. "Can I?"

"Of course~!" she sat astride on the broom, still leaving enough room for one person to sit behind her. "What about you, Akyuu-chan? Wanna come along?"

The chronicler put on a bit frightened smile and shook her head. "Ehehe… I think I'll pass, thank you…"

"Suit yourself~. Well then, Kyouichi, what are you waiting for? Hop on!" she gestured with her hand and put her witch hat back on. As Kyouichi obliged and assumed a sitting position on the broom behind Marisa, he could faintly hear Reimu's voice gradually getting more audible as she again exited the shrine.

"I didn't even know I had so many old pillows in my storeroom…" she panted as she carried a stack of pillows in her arms which was taller than her and obscuring her view, just like the other day, when Akyuu tried to bring an entire Gensokyo Chronicle compilation to the living room in one go. As she caught a glimpse of what Marisa and Kyouichi were about to do, she dropped the pillows on the ground out of shock.

"M-Marisa? What are you trying to do, murder our guest from the outside world?"

"Just taking him for a little ride, ze." replied the magician with her typical speech quirk at the end of the sentence. "I bet he never gets to experience something like that in the outside world."

"Kyouichi, if you hold your life dear, you should get off that broom this instant!" the shrine maiden warned him.

"Oh, c'mon… What's there to be afraid of? I won't fly very fast." Marisa reassured her friend.

"Marisa's right." confirmed Kyouichi. "There's no way I'd experience something like that in the outside world, so I want to try out what it feels like to be flying."

"Hey, if you fall to your death, don't expect me to be crying for you." said Reimu, trying a different approach to convince him.

"Dying by falling or by the hands of some youkai… Does it really make any difference?" remarked Marisa jokingly. "At least let the outsider have some fun in Gensokyo, while he still lives."

Kyouichi let out a weak forced laughter. "Gee, thanks for seeing my future so bright, Marisa."

"I know how to fly, but I still wouldn't sit with you on that broom even if you paid me." said Reimu bluntly.

"Yeah, right..." snickered Marisa, covering her grin with her hand. "You'd do just about anything to get more donations." she then turned her head back to Kyouichi and with a hushed voice she added: "If you ever earn some money here, try donating 10 000 yen to Reimu. Then wait and see what happens, fufufufu…"

"Has anyone ever told you that your jokes aren't funny, Marisa?" asked Reimu with an unnaturally calm voice, but the little vein popping up on her forehead gave away her current emotions quite well.

"That's because that wasn't a joke," replied the witch, provoking her friend some more. "10 000 yen miko…"

"Say, Marisa." spoke Reimu again with her intimidatingly calm voice. "How would like to have a yin-yang orb for a face?"

"Oooooh~! She's scaaaaryyyy~!" called out Marisa mockingly. "Hurry, let's go before she gets really mad!"

Without a second of waiting or warning, she took off from the ground, almost making Kyouichi fall over from the sheer force of acceleration of her flying broom.

"Whoa! Watch it!" yelled the shocked outsider, trying to maintain at least some balance as he watched the shrine below him getting ever so smaller.

Reimu put her hands to her mouth to amplify her voice as she called out: "And no acrobatics, okay? We want to have a hanami today, not a funeral!"

---

Marisa and Kyouichi rocketed upwards and the outsider was starting to understand that Reimu's concerns about Marisa's flying were not unfounded. However, the feelings he had from the moment they took off were so mixed, he couldn't even tell if he was more scared or excited.

"Woohoohoohooooo~! Okay, come on, how cool is this? We're flying~!"

"Hold on tightly, Kyouichi!" called Marisa through the howling sound of wind.

"I'm trying!" replied the outsider trying to hold the broom more tightly.

"Not the broom! Hold me around the waist!"

"Like that?" asked Kyouichi as he unsteadily put his arms around her, feeling the sensation of something soft.

"Uhh, Kyouichi-san… my waist is a little bit lower…" informed the witch, her voice trembling slightly from embarrassment.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" he apologized as moved his arms lower and tightened his grip. Since he was quite taller than Marisa, he felt that his arms were a little too low to maintain proper balance, but he just had to cope with it.

"So what do you say, Kyouichi?" asked the witch once she stopped ascending and began to level the broom into horizontal position. "Do you like flying?"

"Oh my god, this is awesome!" exclaimed the outsider. "If I told my friends about it, they'd think I'm crazy. Well, not that I could blame them…"

"Hehe… It's their loss that they haven't been to Gensokyo yet." replied Marisa cheerfully and kicked her broom into higher gear. Kyouichi looked from side to side and figured that Marisa was heading somewhere towards the Youkai Mountain.

"Ungh… big… hat… blocking… the view…" he muttered as he was trying desperately to see what's in front of them. He only managed to get a few brief glimpses of the landscape ahead, as he peeked around Marisa's black pointy hat. Then he got a silly idea…

"Hey! What are you doing?!" called the surprised magician in response to the sensation of having her hat removed from her head. She turned her head back to see the outsider contently smiling with the large witch's hat adorning his head.

"I couldn't see anything in front so…"

"Well, I guess I can forgive you this time since you're new here, but for the next time, never touch a witch's hat without permission, okay?" said Marisa with a serious tone, but her mischievous wink suggested that she was just kidding. Kyouichi was, however, more concerned about the safety of the flight.

"Okay, okay… sorry. You can scold me all you want once we land, but for now, just please, keep your eyes on the… uh…"

"What? The clouds?" asked Marisa in jest. "Don't worry~! I learned to fly before I even learned to walk, ze. I could fly to my home from here with my eyes closed."

"I believe you, so you don't have to demonstrate that right now…" replied Kyouichi, wishing for Marisa to look forward while flying. As if she could read his thoughts, the blonde magician returned her look again to the 12 o'clock position and started humming some melody.

Gensokyo from a birds' perspective was even more amazing a sight to behold than it was from the hill where the Hakurei Shrine was located. The treetops - sporting all shades of green in contrast to the smooth-looking light-green grasslands, the roads and beaten dirt paths - forming the long and thin lines stretching as far as the eye could see, the tiny colorful dots in the distance, being the rooftops of houses in the Human Village, the vast yellow-green crop fields – now, just tiny squares and rectangles in the distant valley, the Bamboo Forest of the Lost - forming a giant dark-green ocean of trees on the horizon, and almost too far away to see - a line of hills overlooking the mentioned forest from the south. Separated from the crop fields by another forest – the Forest of Magic, taking up an enormous area, was another vast crescent-shaped field dyed bright yellow by the plants growing there. The large lake at the foot of the Youkai Mountain, known as the Misty Lake, was now clearly visible, since the usual mist around it had lifted completely, revealing a small green island in the middle of it. On that island, a single large-looking building could be recognized. Focusing his sight some more, Kyouichi could even make out the tiny brown dots on the southeastern side of the lake as the fishing colony, where Mizuto usually went to do his work.

"By the way, where are we going?" asked the outsider suddenly.

"To the lake, as you can see. We're going to check if Remilia isn't already on her way to the shrine…" answered Marisa.

"Remilia? Who's that? One of the guests?" wondered Kyouichi.

"Remilia Scarlet. She owns that big house in the middle of the lake over there…" she pointed forward.

"Is that the…?"

"Scarlet Devil Mansion…" continued Marisa. "It's much larger than it looks from the outside, believe me…"

"Why would someone build a mansion on an island in the middle of the lake?" pondered Kyouichi aloud.

"Build? Oh, no… That mansion wasn't built here. It was spirited away from the outside world, from some place called Europe or something like that…"

"I've heard some rumors about some vampires living there in the mansion too…"

"Why, yes. Remilia and her sister ARE vampires, so yeah."

The magician's reply really freaked Kyouichi out. "Wait a sec. You invited vampires to the shrine?!"

"Only one of them. But you can relax; it wouldn't be the first time. Remilia can be quite reasonable… most of the time."

"So, you're saying she's not dangerous?"

"Ehh… no, she can be very dangerous, but we're on rather friendly terms with her, so she has no reason to harm us…" Marisa reassured him.

"Well, maybe she won't harm you, but…"

"Calm down, Kyouichi. She won't try anything funny with me and Reimu around."

"If you say so…" muttered the outsider.

"It's true that she drinks people's blood, but she's got a light appetite, so her victims almost never die." continued the witch and began to descend lower.

"Won't they become vampires then?"

"No, I think that only happens when a vampire drinks all of the victim's blood, but I'm not too sure about that… Otherwise we'd already have an army of vampires in Gensokyo instead of just two and that would be very bad. If you do ever get attacked by her and there'll be no one to help you, well just calm down. Let her take a few pints of blood. Don't struggle. You could just make things worse."

"I… I'll keep that in mind…" replied Kyouichi with a silent and trembling voice. "But how did you even become friends with a vampire?"

"It's not like we're that great friends exactly. At least not as good as for example: me and Reimu or Alice, or Patchouli, but we get along. As to how we got to know each other… well, suffice to say that she caused one incident about eight years ago and Reimu and I had to resolve it. That's how we met Remilia and the rest of the mansion's residents."

"So you battled against her?"

Marisa shook her head. "Reimu did… But I had the pleasure of meeting her adorable little sister and played some danmaku with her. Now that I think about it, it was the first youkai incident where Reimu's Spell Card Rules were applied… Hard to believe that so much time has passed already…" sighed the witch nostalgically as she drove her broom ever closer towards the Misty Lake. "Ever since, Remilia hasn't caused any trouble, and she was surprisingly friendly to us, so we've been invited to her mansion a couple of times and she's been invited to the shrine several times as well. She sometimes even goes to the village if she becomes bored, but usually she just sends her maid to do the shopping."

"Anything else I should know before I meet her?" asked the outsider nervously.

"Well, hmm… yes. Don't look down on her for her childlike appearance." advised the magician. "She doesn't look any older than Akyuu-chan, but she's well over 500 years old and hates it when someone thinks of her as a child. She sometimes still does behave like a child, though. Being selfish and curious and all, but if you can get along with human children, you'll get along with Remi just fine… Just be polite like you always are and don't make fun of her. She may not look like it, but she's one of Gensokyo's most powerful youkai. She naively thinks that there's no one superior to her, which of course isn't true, but one always has to be careful around her. If you somehow made her angry, I'm afraid that even me and Reimu wouldn't be able to guarantee your safety…"

Kyouichi nervously swallowed his saliva and remained silent. Suddenly, he wasn't looking so much forward to the hanami anymore. His thoughts were focused on how to act as politely and gentlemanly to all the other guests at the hanami just to ensure his own safety from harm. He silently observed the land below and the distant lake drawing closer and closer, all the time holding his arms tightly around Marisa's waist.

---

"Well here we are… the Misty Lake." announced Marisa as she just reached the lake's shoreline. Even though she was flying really fast, it took her quite some time to reach the lake from the shrine. Kyouichi's rough guess was something over 20 minutes. It turned out, that the lake wasn't as close to the foot of the Youkai Mountain as it seemed from the distance. The mountain was distanced from the lake by still well over 5 kilometers to the northwest and was surrounded by a range of smaller mountains.

"On colder mornings, this lake is enveloped by a veil of thick mist, limiting the vision below 10 meters, hence the name Misty Lake." explained the witch like an experienced tour guide. "Originally, the island in the middle, unofficially referred to as the Scarlet Island, wasn't a part of the lake and was spirited away to Gensokyo along with the Scarlet Devil Mansion sometime between 116 and 117. Some sources claim that Remilia is not the original owner of the mansion, but no one can confirm that. In 117 Remilia Scarlet created a dark-red magical mist, blocking out the sun for a very selfish and childish reason – so that she could freely move around Gensokyo even during daytime. Fortunately, thanks to the newly introduced Spell Card Rules it was relatively easy for even an ordinary human, such as Reimu and myself to get to the bottom of this incident and effectively resolve it before any innocent humans were harmed…"

"I'm not really sure if I'd call you or Reimu "ordinary humans"." remarked Kyouichi.

"Well… ordinary by Gensokyo standards." Marisa corrected her statement. "But trust me; I really doubt I'd be able to stand against some really powerful youkai in a real no-holds-barred battle. Reimu is a different story... However, with danmaku in its current form, the fights are so much more fun. It doesn't matter if you challenge a fairy or a tengu. Anyone can challenge anyone and win. You have to think strategically, have good timing and dodging skills instead of relying on sheer power. The best thing about the rules is that they've reduced the mortality rate of humans to minimum. It was truly one of Reimu's best ideas she ever had… Almost makes me wonder if it really came out of her head in the first place."

"I was wondering…" said Kyouichi after Marisa finished her sentence, "You say that Reimu came up with the Spell Card rules, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And that they are some sort of bilateral contract between humans and youkai…"

"Where are you getting at?" pondered the witch.

"It just comes odd to me that all the youkai of Gensokyo would gather at the shrine to be introduced to the new system and agree to it. If I understand things correctly, you say that this Remilia Scarlet was already fighting according the rules before she even met you or Reimu. I just don't get it…"

"Oh, well… Yes. You're right." affirmed Marisa while slowing down the speed of her broom. "Introducing the rules wasn't a matter of just a few days. I think she mentioned something about an ancient artifact, supposedly a part of the Hakurei clan treasure, like her magic yin-yang orbs. I think she used that object as a sort of seal for the contract, but I can't really talk about details when I wasn't there personally. She just told the rules to a narrow group of youkai, who spread the word all over Gensokyo, giving other youkai the necessary time to make their own Spell Cards and adapt to this system. In my opinion, even this process was mostly carried out by Yukari. You see, even before Reimu actually met her in person, Yukari must have known about Reimu. She is an ancient being who was here long before Gensokyo got its name. She probably knew the entire Hakurei lineage and secretly watched over Reimu long before the two of them met. When Reimu came up with the rules, Yukari saw it as a good idea and helped her inform everyone in Gensokyo and other parallel plains about the Spell Card rules. I guess that's how Remilia and every other youkai Reimu hasn't met before were already familiar with the system."

By the time Marisa finished her little speech, she reached the so called Scarlet Island and Kyouichi could now clearly see the mansion in all its glory. It was a really huge European-styled aristocratic residence with many dark windows, one massive wooden main door and a tall clock tower, jutting out above the rest of the building. The mansion had a large garden or a park with hedges, fountains and white alabaster statues. The whole compound was surrounded by a tall, black iron bar fence with one gate. Kyouichi even vaguely noticed someone standing at the gate - probably a guard. Marisa descended even lower, to the height of somewhere around 20 meters and made one full circle around the entire island.

"Well, I don't see her anywhere… I guess she'll come out after sundown, which shouldn't take too long."

"I don't see any boats around the island…" Kyouichi pointed out after a while of silent observation. "How do they get their supplies?"

"There's no need for boats, since they can all fly." explained Marisa tersely.

"I should have guessed…"

"Okay, Kyouichi, let's get back to the shrine." suggested the witch. "I don't want to wait here until Remilia decides to step out of her mansion… Maybe Alice has already come to the shrine in the meantime…" she thought aloud and turned her broom to face the southeast.

"You keep mentioning this Alice quite often. Who is she?" asked the outsider as soon as the broom was set into motion again.

"She's one of my best friends… you'll see her soon enough."

"Not a dangerous youkai, I hope…" added Kyouichi jokingly.

Marisa gave a simple reply: "Youkai – yes, dangerous – no. She was originally a human, but became a youkai after extensive study and practice of magic…"

"Could you become a youkai too?" wondered the young outsider.

"There are many ways to become a youkai, so yes." responded the witch while nodding. "Even you could become a youkai, hypothetically…"

Kyouichi shuddered to think about that possibility. "God, I hope I won't…"

Marisa again turned her face back to look at him. "Why not? That way you'd significantly reduce the threat of being attacked by other youkai. Although, on the other hand, some of the humans wouldn't be very pleased to see you… But being a youkai has many other benefits… You become healthier, stronger, faster and you'll live much longer… perhaps even forever… I wouldn't mind becoming a youkai magician like Alice and Patchy."

"But I would…" said Kyouichi scornfully. "Because that would mean I'd never be able to leave Gensokyo and return home. And I'd become hated by many humans in the village… I'd probably become an outcast… a very lonely person. And I'd rather die now than to live an eternity in hiding and isolation."

"That's not true." protested Marisa, again turning her face forward. "Well, maybe except that part about returning home… If that's what you wish for the most, then you really shouldn't become a youkai."

"I don't plan on becoming one." murmured the outsider.

Marisa giggled quietly. "I figured as much… Wish I could do something more to help you guys return home, but my specialty is destructive magic, not transporting, ze…" after a brief pause, she sighed. "You outsiders have it very tough in Gensokyo… No magic, no way of defense, life in constant fear… Those who can get used to living here are truly worthy of admiration in my opinion."

After those words, Kyouichi's mind immediately recollected the image of old Naota Tanisake, known as being one of the oldest living outsiders in the Human Village. He couldn't help but to silently agree with Marisa's words. This man must have been through so much in his life that he truly deserved a medal for even surviving here up to now. Kyouichi, however, was not too sure about his ability and will to adapt to the life in this world, that's why his main ambition and driving force was the goal of returning home to Tokyo, where he felt he belongs.

"I have nothing against you, really…" he spoke suddenly, making the broom pilot turn her face back again. "…but I don't want to end up living here. If I could really choose, then I'd prefer not to live in Gensokyo. And so would all the other outsiders that I've met."

"And if you couldn't choose?" asked Marisa curiously.

"Then so be it… But I need to try all possible options, before I can reconcile with settling down here." answered Kyouichi as he noticed the beautiful sakuras on a hill not too far away, and somewhere amidst them, the dark-green tile roof of the Hakurei Shrine. The sun was only minutes away from setting completely, so it was already getting dark by now.

"I just hope your looking for answers doesn't get you into too much trouble, ze." said Marisa as she slowed her broom down until it gradually stopped and remained hovering above the shrine yard. "It would be so much easier if we knew where the hell does Yukari live, but we don't…"

---

The witch then began to slowly descend until her and Kyouichi's feet were firmly standing on the ground. Some unknown, high-pitched girl's voice coming from the shrine's porch called out: "Hey, Reimu, Reimuuu~! They're here~! Marisa and that other human are back~! *hic* Hi, Marisa~!"

"Hi there, Suika." greeted Marisa as she got off the broom along with her passenger.

Kyouichi curiously stared into the shadows, trying to adjust his eyes to the dark environment and locating the source of this voice. After a moment, he made out a silhouette of a small person, sitting with her back rested against the donation box.

"Suika? Who's that?" he whispered a question at Marisa.

"Every guest invited is more or less a friend of either me or Reimu." explained Marisa. "I'm not going to introduce them all to you. You go and meet them yourself. Come on, don't be shy…" she encouraged him by tapping a few times on his back.

"Well, okay…" muttered the outsider nervously as he took a few shy steps forward towards the girl's silhouette. He had to acknowledge that Marisa was right. If he wanted to learn something about Gensokyo and its residents, he couldn't rely on being spoon-fed with information by her, but he had to go out there and actively meet new people and make new friends by himself. As he drew another step towards the shrine, the sliding doors opened, revealing Reimu and letting the light inside, made by many portable oil lamps fall upon the small girl's silhouette.

"Where in Gensokyo have you two been?" asked the shrine maiden rebukingly while crossing her arms. "I was starting to think that you kidnapped him…" she said while pointing at Kyouichi, but looking at Marisa.

"Don't worry. I don't resort to borrowing people… yet." remarked Marisa jokingly. "I'll just stay at borrowing books."

"Well, Kyouichi, you can congratulate yourself for surviving a flight with Marisa." said Reimu, this time looking at the outsider.

"Kyooou*hic*chiii~…" sounded the little girl's high-pitched voice suddenly. "Niccce to meet *hic* youuu~!"

From what the outsider could tell, this girl was as drunk as a… as an oni. Upon closer look, however, Kyouichi gasped from shock. The little girl leisurely sitting at the donation box had a pair of long, straight horns resembling wooden branches coming from the sides of her head, decorated by colorful ribbons. Other than that, her appearance wasn't much different from a human. She was about as short as Akyuu, had very long, knee-length ginger hair, tied up in a loose ponytail, closer to the ends of her hair than to their base. Her eyes were brown, and her look was anything but sober. She wore a light-pink tattered blouse with its sleeves apparently torn off and a long purple and pink wavy skirt. Another strange thing about her were the weird accessories she wore attached on short, but strong-looking chains. Two linked to each of her wrists like some sort of shackles and two linked to her dark-purple belt. A small red pyramid accessory was attached to her right-hand chain, a yellow sphere was attached to her left wrist, a blue cube to her waist, and a strange purple gourd, shaped like two unequal spheres grown together. Kyouichi didn't know it was actually a gourd until the girl picked it up and took a couple of gulps from it. The outsider looked up at Reimu with a confused look.

"This girl… is she… really…?"

"An oni?" said the shrine maiden, finishing his question. "Yeah, that's Suika… Say hello, you drunkard!" she called at the little oni girl while kicking her gently.

"B-b-but I did*hic*… I ssaid, niiice to meet youuu~! *hic*" replied Suika while massaging her right elbow. To Kyouichi, her voice sounded funny, but cute at the same time.

"Oh… yes, I'm sorry." he apologized and bowed two times to the little oni. "Ishimaru Kyouichi. It is a pleasure to meet you, Suika-san." said the outsider as he shook hands with her.

The girl smiled brightly and nodded. "Ibuki Suika." she said her name without any problems and stretched out her hand with the purple gourd forward. "Want some sake?" was the first thing she said after her simple introduction.

"I think I'll yet drink enough sake tonight, but thank you…" the outsider kindly refused.

"You mean that cheap watered-down excuse for a sake, that this penny-pinching shrine maiden keeps buying?" asked Suika impertinently, pointing backwards with her thumb at Reimu. "I'm offering you some REAL oni sake… If you don't want to insult an oni, you won't refuse, will you?" winked the ginger-haired girl.

"…I wonder what happened to your drunken voice…" remarked Kyouichi in a by-the-way manner as he took the gourd being offered to him. "Just a little gulp can't hurt…"

He took a little sip of the sake from the gourd out of courtesy. What he got to get a taste of, however, had to be absolutely the best, most flavorful and refreshing sake that ever met his tastebuds. No exaggeration. It was a taste, which he could only describe by one of his favorite words borrowed from the English language and often used by the western members of the Internet society.

"Epic…" exhaled the outsider after enjoying the taste fully. "Truly delicious."

Suika raised her eyebrow. "What?! Only one gulp? What are you, a fairy?! Drink like a man!"

"I just didn't want to drink all your precious sake and leave none to you…" Kyouichi tried to pardon himself, which inspired Suika to burst into jolly laughter.

"Drink all of my sake…! Ahahahahahaaa~! That's a good one!" laughed the oni girl while knocking her fist against the donation box with surprising force.

"Hey, watch it!" called Reimu at the laughing oni. "You'll break my donation box!"

After Suika had calmed down a little, she took the gourd and said: "This is a very special gourd, human of the outside. This is one of the greatest treasures an oni can have. You see, the sake from this gourd… never runs out. As long as I have fresh water, anyway..."

She then raised the gourd above her head, opened her mouth wide and started pouring the sake down her throat in a steady stream to demonstrate her magic gourd's infinite sake reserve. The outsider stared in amazement as the sake kept flowing on and on for 30 seconds, one minute, two minutes…

"How does it all even fit inside her?" wondered Kyouichi while scratching his confused head.

As he was about to start cheering for her and clapping his hands, Reimu scornfully stopped her.

"That's enough, Suika. Can't you wait at least until all the guests gather?" sighed the shrine maiden.

"But it's taking them a bit too long." retorted the oni, but obliged to Reimu's request to stop drinking. "Maybe I should help them… gather.*hic*"

"Just let them come naturally. We don't need you causing another incident here…"

"So the guests aren't here yet?" asked the outsider, shifting his eyes to the shrine maiden.

"No, only Alice and Suika have arrived, while you were having your little sightseeing with Marisa." answered the miko and looked back into the shrine. "Alice, Akyuu, come, let's wait for the rest of the guests outside, okay?"

Kyouichi was rather curious to see this Alice person, so he remained standing at the shrine's door. Soon after Reimu called at them, light and rapid sounds of footsteps could be heard coming towards the door.

"Oh, Marisa-san, Kyouichi-san… You're back." said Akyuu as she came out of the shrine, smiling brightly as ever.

"Why were you two waiting inside the shrine?" Kyouichi asked her.

"I just wanted to take a look inside the Hakurei Shrine for a bit…" explained the chronicler. "…and then Alice-san arrived, so we stayed inside the shrine for a little longer…"

"Good evening." sounded a lovely, but unfamiliar girl's voice from the shrine's doorway.

Kyouichi looked up to see the greeting person stepping outside. She was about as tall as Reimu and Marisa and seemed to be around their age. She had pale, but smooth skin, shoulder-length blonde hair accessorized with a thin red headband. Her eye color was an unusual ochre hue. Her stature slim, but curved on the right places. She wore a western-style light-blue dress adorned by a couple of frilly pink ribbons. She almost looked like a life-sized doll. In one of her hands she held a black book of some sort, bound by two intersecting red straps, sort of like a gift box.

"Good evening." bowed Kyouichi to the girl as he greeted. "My name is Ishimaru Kyouichi, an outsider. Pleased to meet you, uh... Alice-san."

The girl smiled shyly, and stepped forward to shake her hand with him. "Yes, my name is Alice… Alice Margatroid. Nice to meet you as well."

"Yo, Alice, long time no see, ze~!" called out Marisa once she put away her flying broom.

Alice frowned, seeming a bit annoyed. "We see each other almost every day, Marisa… But hello to you too…"

"Have you two met yet?" asked the witch, looking at the only male person in the shrine yard and then at Alice again.

"Yeah, we know each other's names now…" acknowledged the outsider.

"Alice-chan's a little too shy, but she's very nice otherwise…" explained Marisa openly, as if her friend wasn't even there.

"Th-that's not true…" protested Alice, but her face blushed for some reason.

"What's not true?" teased Marisa. "That you're nice? Well, I guess you do remind me of Reimu sometimes…"

Poor Alice looked even more embarrassed and lowered her head to hide her blushing face.

"What was that supposed to mean?!" responded Reimu angrily giving the witch a menacing gaze. " Are you trying to pick a fight again, Kirisame?!"

"See what I mean?" giggled Marisa as she sneakingly pointed at Reimu with her thumb.

"I just wonder if it isn't you who makes other people react that way…" remarked the outsider.

"Hehe… Well, there might be something right about that." admitted the witch, putting on as innocent expression as she could muster. "Sorry, Alice. I was just kidding… And put that Spell Card down, Reimu, please…"

"Seems to me, that's the only thing that works on you these days…" muttered the shrine maiden with a crooked smile. "I really admire Patchouli for having to put up with your antics every time you visit the library… She sure knows how to keep her cool."

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that anymore." disagreed Marisa with her tone unexpectedly turning serious. "Last time I tried to borrow one grimoire from her, she literally Royal Flare'd me out of the mansion. Had to buy a new hat, ze…"

Reimu curiously tilted her head to side. "Really? You must have really pissed her off then…"

Marisa thoughtfully scratched her chin. "Hmm… Maybe I borrowed more than just one book from her… apart from the one she was reading at that moment… And maybe I accidentally knocked over her teacup and spilled hot tea on her clothes and some scrolls… But otherwise, I think she really went a little overboard there."

"And I wasn't there to see!" called Reimu, pretending disappointment. "Damn it…"

"Anyway, I'm sure she'll forget about it… some day." said Marisa, with a carefree smile.

"Okay, guys, why don't we sit down by the fire already?" suggested the shrine maiden, gesturing with her hand towards the blankets surrounding the fireside.

"Good idea." agreed the blonde witch and took a seat on one of the blankets. All the other hanami attendants joined her right afterwards. Kyouichi ended up sitting next to Suika by his left side and a vacant place by his right side.

"Hey, how about some more sake~?" offered Suika, holding up her magic gourd, looking at the outsider.

"The point of a hanami isn't to get drunk you know…" Reimu lectured her.

"Shhh~, Reimu…" Suika hushed her, putting her index finger on her own lips. "I'm making new friends here… Don't take her too seriously, Kyouichi. She may be putting on her holier-than-thou attitude now, but she'll just end up getting drunk like the rest of us here, just watch…"

"Well excuse me…" sounded Reimu, apparently offended by Suika's blunt remarks.

Oblivious to Reimu's protests, Suika put her gourd into Kyouichi's hands and prompted him to drink with a wide smile on her face.

The outsider shrugged indifferently and this time, took several big gulps of sake before he returned the gourd to its rightful owner.

"Thaaats more like it, Kyouichi~!" the oni girl praised him and took just about as many gulps from her gourd again. "Ahhh…. Hey, hey, Akyuu-chan, Akyuu-chaan~! Have some sake~!"

The little purple-haired chronicler put on an expression very similar to the one she had when Marisa offered her to fly on her broom – surprised, frightened and adorable at the same time.

"Umm… thank you, Suika-san, but I'm too young to drink sake."

"Nonsense~!" exclaimed Suika and disagreeingly shook her head, her horns swinging dangerously close to Kyouichi's eyes.

"Careful, Suika. Some people here would still like to have both of their eyes intact after the hanami…" mumbled the outsider with a completely calm tone while leaning away from her.

The oni obviously didn't seem to notice him, as she kept persuading the Gensokyo chronicler to have some of her sake.

"Don't tell me you're too young. You've been here for over a thousand years."

"But not in this body…" opposed Akyuu – futilely.

"Just a little~!"

"No."

"Come on~!"

"No!"

"Yes, say ah~!"

"N-ungh….!" Akyuu's protests were silenced by the purple gourd being forcedly stuffed into her mouth by the stubborn oni. Suika let the poor chronicler go only after she took 5 big gulps and started coughing.

"That's far enough Suika!" yelled Reimu, threateningly and pointing her gohei wand at her face. "Are you alright, Akyuu-chan?"

The chronicler showed a thumbs up gesture before she managed to catch her breath again. "Ah, hah, ahh… Yes… I'm fine… ha…" she replied while panting, with a frightened voice, but a strange sparkle of excitement could be seen in her eyes.

"Don't tell me you didn't miss that taste since your last incarnation as Hieda no Aya…" said Suika while giving her a friendly tap on her shoulder. "That ought to give you something to really remember, hahaha!"

Reimu pityingly embraced Akyuu and gently patted her head. "There, there, Akyuu-chan… It's alright now. The evil oni will leave you alone, if she knows what's good for her…"

"Thank you…" sounded the muffled voice of the chronicler. "Thank you, Suika-san for reminding me the taste…"

"Whaaaat?!" gasped the confused shrine maiden in shock.

"And you too, of course, Reimu-san, for comforting me…" added Akyuu immediately.

"Look at what you've done, Suika." the shrine maiden began scolding the oni some more. "You made her drunk and now she's spewing nonsense!"

"But she liked it…" opposed Suika, still feigning innocence. "She was just too shy to ask…"

"Well, don't do it again!"

"Okay… I got a new drinking buddy over here anyway…" shrugged Suika and turned to Kyouichi. "Hey, how about a drinking contest?"

"Unfortunately for you, Suika, this human is smart enough to know better than accepting any challenges from an oni." Reimu tried to turn her down. "There's no way any living thing could out-drink… "

"Sure! Why not?" Kyouichi cut Reimu's sentence, agreeing to Suika's fun-sounding competition.

"…or maybe he's just another idiot…" muttered Reimu as she disapprovingly shook her head.

"That's the spirit!" cheered Suika. "Okay, I may be a little unequal opponent for you, so to make things fair, we're each gonna drink the same amount of sake – let's say:15 cups should be enough for starters…"

"15 cups?!" called out Reimu, just barely able to believe it. "That'll knock him out cold…"

"Oh, I can't wait to see this…" grinned Marisa as she rubbed her hands together.

"Alright, Marisa~! You'll be the judge~!" decided the little oni. "If Kyouichi can manage to drink all the 15 cups without spilling a drop, he wins. If he gives up, he loses. It's as simple as that."

"What's the prize then?" asked the outsider.

"Prize? Hmm…" Suika paused to think for a moment. "…the prize will be… Reimu~!"

"Hey, I'm not a prize!" protested the shrine maiden.

"Yeah… Reimu would be a little hard to carry around." stated Kyouichi with a serious face. "I don't even have enough room for her on the shelves in my guest room… Try thinking of some other prize, Suika-san. It doesn't have to be a tangible prize."

The little oni frowned in a thoughtful expression and muttered: "Well, Marisa can't be a prize, since she's already a judge… Then there's still Alice and Akyuu…"

"Don't make prizes out of people, Ibuki!" Reimu shouted at her.

"People are no good? Well, that leaves us with only one option – Alice-san. She's a youkai so that should be…"

"Cut it out already! You're not funny anymore!" the shrine maiden chided Suika's stupid ideas.

"Okay, I guess we can do without prizes… just a little fun challenge... Are you okay with that?"

The outsider nodded silently. Suika then poured the sake into two cups, one for Kyouichi, one for herself. "Alright. On your marks, set, go!"

The first two cups were emptied in a flash by both contestants, and subsequently refilled, while Marisa the judge kept a close eye on them to make sure none of them was cheating.

After the fifth cup, even Reimu was beginning to amusedly observe this little contest and started cheering for both Suika and Kyouichi. The drinking cups were rather small, so Kyouichi thought it shouldn't be much of a problem to drink 15 of them. However, as the 10th cup of sake went down his throat, he could feel that his stomach was becoming full, his mind and vision, hazy. Suika's sake was very tasty, but at the same time, it was stronger than normal.

"Hahaha!" he could hear Marisa's boisterous laughter as she was watching his desperate face expression. "Looks like he's had enough already… Well, I know I would…"

On the other hand, Akyuu-chan, intoxicated by the fair amount of alcohol she was more or less forced to drink, kept cheering for the outsider. "Fight~, fight~, don't give up now~!"

Even the seemingly shy Alice looked like she was having fun watching the human and the oni drink cup after cup of sake and trying not to spill a drop. Kyouichi saw as Alice took out a little doll out of nowhere and put it on her shoulder like a pet parrot. At first glance, the doll looked like a completely ordinary child's toy – about 20 cm tall, a dark-red dress with a white apron, very similar to Marisa's outfit. She had blonde hair adorned with a large red bow, almost like Reimu and a smaller bow of matching color around her neck. Her blue eyes seemed somehow odd, though. Kyouichi didn't pay much attention to Alice's doll, though, since he already had to drink his 12th sake cup to the bottom. As soon as the doll stared moving on its own, however, the outsider almost spat out the sake on Suika.

As soon as he stopped coughing, he immediately asked Alice: "Is that… a fairy?!"

The doll-like figure continued to clap her tiny hands as though she was cheering for Suika and Kyouichi.

"Oh, no…" smiled Alice and gently shook her head. "This is my doll, Shanghai… Say hello, Shanghai." She turned her face to the doll and the doll turned to her in response.

Then the little doll turned back to Kyouichi and Suika and put on a silent smile. Kyouichi stared in amazement, as he had never ever seen a doll which could not just move on its own, but act so lifelike, he could mistake her for a living being. Shanghai could even change her face expressions and make any movements like a real living person. As Alice prompted her to say hello, the little doll took a slide down her dress and walked slowly towards the outsider. She put on a shy expression and lowered her head. She stopped just a few centimeters in front of him, slowly raised her head to look him in the eyes, smiled brightly and bowed deeply.

Although he was basically drunk already, Kyouichi could still tell that the doll before him was masterfully crafted, with every miniscule detail painstakingly shaped to resemble a living person.

"Awww… So cute~!" cooed Kyouichi as he watched the doll bow to him elegantly. He carefully stretched out his right hand, took her tiny palm between his thumb and index finger and gently shook it. "Hello, Shanghai. I'm Kyouichi, nice to meet you…"

The doll nodded and smiled again. Then she returned to Alice in one big leap.

"Where did you get that doll, Alice-san?"

"I made her myself." she replied with a modest tone. "My entire house is filled up with many similar dolls, but Shanghai and Hourai are my favorite ones."

"You… made that doll yourself? So you animated it with magic or something?" inquired the outsider, who almost forgot he was in the middle of a drinking contest with Suika.

"Well… umm… I guess you could say that." said Alice hesitantly. "My dolls can't move by themselves. I control them with invisible magic strings… But I wish they could be like real living beings, able to move and act on their own. In fact, I've been trying for years and years to make such dolls, but I guess I'm still just an amateur when it comes to magic. It will take a lot more research and practice."

"Hey, Kyouichi-kun~!" sounded Suika's voice. "You can ask all the questions you want… AFTER we finish our drinking… uhh… your drinking contest."

"What do you mean MY drinking contest?" wondered the outsider.

"Because for me this isn't any challenge." explained Suika, stretching up her flat chest proudly. "I am an oni. For me, 15 cups of sake is like one teaspoon for a human. I merely wanted to see if you could drink at least that much."

"You'll see soon enough." responded Kyouichi and kicked the 13th cup of sake into himself.

Suika smiled widely. "Alright~! Keep at it! Just two more and you pass the test!"

With that said, Kyouichi nodded and finished off the final two cups of sake trying not to show any signs of weakness.

---

"Yaaaaay~! You did it. Congratulations~!" called Suika loudly while cheerfully shaking Kyouichi's hand. "You're now one of my official drinking buddies~! Just like Yukarin~!"

"Yu-Yukarin?!" repeated surprised Kyouichi.

"A contraction of Yukari-chan…" muttered Marisa with a dull voice.

"I'm not retarded, you know…" frowned Kyouichi at Marisa, who just explained an obvious fact. "But is she referring to THE Yukari?"

"There aren't that many Yukaris in Gensokyo… I personally know just one." said Marisa with a casual tone.

"Yakumo-san." sounded Suika again. "But I just call her Yukarin, since we're old friends. I'd like to introduce you to her sometime…"

Kyouichi's heart skipped a beat. "You're Yukari-sama's friend? That's great! I need to find her as soon as possible and ask her if she'd return me back to my home."

"Alright~!" smiled the oni girl. "I'll arrange a meeting then."

"And when are you going to arrange it?"

"That depends on when Yukarin decides to visit me." answered the little youkai.

"I already told Suika about the situation with the outsiders, Kyouichi, so she'll let Yukari know to send you back." said Reimu seriously.

"So you don't know where she lives either…" he disappointedly sighed while looking at Suika.

"Not exactly." shrugged the oni and wetted her whistle by another dose of sake from her gourd. "She said that she lives somewhere on the border between Gensokyo and the outside world, but it's not around the Hakurei Shrine, that's for sure…"

"That's about as vague as saying "somewhere on Earth"." stated Reimu mockingly. "I guess she doesn't have many visitors."

"It just occurred to me… You say that this shrine lies on the easternmost edge of Gensokyo and is basically a part of the Great Boundary itself, right?" asked Kyouichi suddenly.

"Yes, and?" Reimu raised her eyebrow.

"That would mean if I went anymore eastwards from this location, I'd literally hit the boundary itself, right?"

"Ehehehe." giggled the shrine maiden while shaking her head. "No, this boundary, you see, is not as clear and solid as most people would think. Sure, you could go east from the shrine and you could go on and on for days, months even years if you'd like… But you'd only see an illusion of a world lying ahead. A world that seemingly goes on, but it's a world without any villages, towns, without people or youkai… or even animals. It's just an illusion. And once you'd decide to turn back, you'd figure that you only distanced yourself from the shrine by a little. That part of the barrier between this shrine and the outside world is the so called "field of illusion". Its purpose is to trick the mind into seeing and believing that nothing but endless wilderness lies ahead, whilst in reality, it's only a couple of meters away from the outer boundary."

"So there's no invisible wall?" asked Kyouichi.

"No, I think the boundary is entirely magical and ethereal, powered by the divine magic of the human priests and by powerful youkai magic. But Yukari said it consists of many separate layers, so perhaps there is even a physical one. I find it quite complicated to understand it myself, much less explain it."

"And the barrier wakens greatly every sixty years…" Said Suika all of a sudden, immediately gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh… Y-yes." confirmed the shrine maiden with a surprised look on her face. "…The Flower Viewing Incident…" she muttered thoughtfully.

"Well we ARE having a flower viewing just now…" said Kyouichi. "Was there any incident during a similar event?"

"Well, five years ago, in spring, there was this unnatural outbreak of flowers blooming all over Gensokyo."

"Ah, that was very beautiful…" reminisced Marisa with a spacey look.

"But not natural." continued Reimu with her little history lesson. "Anyway, I first thought it was a work of some youkai again and went to investigate. But that phenomenon turned out to be of a different nature. The outbreak of blooming flowers was caused by the souls of the dead from the outside world. The barrier was significantly weakened and the dead souls from the outside literally invaded Gensokyo. They possessed the plants and those began blooming all over the land… wherever there was a piece of ground where something could grow, there were flowers…"

"So what caused the barrier to weaken?" asked the outsider. "The spirits?"

"The spirits caused the flowers to bloom all over the place, but the Great Boundary was weakened due to the sixty year cycle… as I was later told."

"The sixty year cycle?" repeated Kyouichi while raising an eyebrow.

Reimu nodded. "Yes. According to several youkai that I uhh… interrogated, a very similar event happened over 60 years ago."

"Yes, there was a huge flower outbreak precisely 65 years ago." confirmed Hieda no Akyuu.

"…That was in 1945… The end of World War 2…" thought Kyouichi aloud.

"Yes, I've learned there was a war in the outside world at that time." continued Reimu. "That would explain the immense number of dead spirits from the outside world flocking to Gensokyo, but…"

"…No similar event happened in 2005." the outsider finished the sentence. "Sure there were some natural disasters, but nothing of such magnitude as the Second World War."

"That's right." confirmed the shrine maiden. "Yukari herself later told me, that the Great Boundary undergoes the 60 year cycle during which it weakens and lets in the spirits from the outside to be taken across the Sanzu River. It's much easier to access the Netherworld, Heaven or Makai from Gensokyo than from the outside world… In fact, I've been to Netherworld recently…"

Kyouichi's jaw dropped slightly in a surprised expression. "Really?"

"That reminds me… Where are the rest of our guests?" asked Marisa suddenly. "Didn't you say we were expecting 10 people, including us?"

"That's right…" muttered Reimu while thoughtfully putting her index finger on her chin. "We're still expecting 4 more people... I mean… guests…" she corrected herself.

---

As soon as she finished that sentence, she could hear some voices coming from the western end of the shrine yard getting louder and accompanied by footsteps as they walked up the stone stairs. Everyone's looks were focused on the paved stone road and the red wooden torii gateway. Soon after that, 4 persons appeared, still indulged in a lively conversation. And they were all female. Kyouichi turned his surprised face to Reimu and whispered: "Whoa… I didn't expect to be the only guy invited."

Marisa made a sudden silent gasp as if something just came to her mind. "Oh… He's right… I could have invited Kourin too…"

The shrine maiden just shrugged at them before she stood up and walked up towards the late-arriving 4 guests to welcome them.

"Who the hell is Kourin?" Kyouichi asked the blonde witch.

"Another one of my friends. He owns a shop not too far from my home… Aww… I feel guilty for not inviting him, even though he prefers to keep to himself." replied Marisa with embarrassment in her voice.

By now, Reimu was already leading the remaining 4 guests to the fireside and offered them the remaining sitting place on the blankets around it. All the four guests were young ladies and they all looked… strange to say the least. Even though Kyouichi was already well aware that he was in Gensokyo, he still stared at the new guests with his eyes wide open. One of them was short, like Suika or Akyuu. She had short light-blue hair and red eyes. She was wearing a pink dress with red trimming and a matching pink mob cap on her head. From her back jutted a pair of large black batlike wings. She looked childish, but elegant and mature at the same time. From what Marisa told him, Kyouichi easily deduced this girl to be the vampire, Remilia Scarlet.

She was just telling something to her maid – a tall, beautiful young lady, no less elegant than her mistress. She looked around as old as Marisa, Reimu and Alice, although, she was slightly taller – the tallest girl in the group, in fact. Her hair was silver, with two long braids on each side of her face tied with green bows. She had dark-blue eyes, which were now paying attention to her mistress. She was wearing a dark-blue French maid's outfit with knee-length skirt and short sleeves and a white apron. On her head, she had a frilly white maid's headband. If it wasn't for her unusual hair color, an outsider could simply see her as a waitress from one of the maid-cafés which are so popular in Japan. But even so, they could think she's a cosplayer, rather than an actual servant.

The third of the guests was a much stranger sight to behold. She was also rather short - taller than Suika, Akyuu and Remilia, but shorter than everyone else. Her hair was also silver, but almost white in comparison to the maid, whose hair was more like gray-silver. She had a childlike face with dark-blue eyes. She was clad in a dark-green and white short-sleeved dress with some strange white patterns around the edges of the skirt, which remotely resembled the "yang" part of the yin-yang symbol, save the black dot in the middle. Her hair was decorated by a black ribbon with its knot part placed slightly off-center on her head. Kyouichi could see two black sword sheaths affixed behind her back. One longer and one shorter, for the two swords she was equipped with. The longer sword sheath was decorated by a real pink flower tied to the end, and the sword's hilt had a pink cherry blossom insignia. However, the strangest and the most eye-catching part about this girl was a white formless ghostly phantom silently hovering by her side. Kyouichi could suddenly feel that he got goosebumps just by looking at it. Everyone else didn't even pay the slightest attention to this apparition, as they all greeted the girl with friendly smiles on their faces.

"Am I the only one who sees it?" wondered Kyouichi in his thoughts.

He was feeling genuine fear, nevertheless, he had to admit that the girl in question was very cute and seemed very friendly as she was bowing to the other girls, smiling and greeting them politely. He anxiously stared at her for a moment and wondered, who or what could she be. Just as he thought he was starting to get used to the sight of the phantom floating near her, he shifted his look to Reimu's fourth and final guest .As he saw her, he instinctively reached for Suika's gourd, who didn't have any objections, and drank the sake in big gulps, like a thirsty desert wanderer who just found an oasis after three days without drinking.

"Oh-hoooo, Kyouichi! Do you really want to challenge me in drinking?" asked the surprised oni.

"No… *gulp, gulp, gulp* I just need more alcohol in my system to consider what I'm seeing here as normal…"

"Who do you mean in particular?" Suika asked him to specify.

"Well… Come to think of it… Just about everyone…" he answered slowly, feeling his tongue starting to become numb.

"Hehe~! Consider it a psychological preparation for your meeting with Yukari." giggled Suika with her ever-cheerful smile.

Kyouichi didn't respond to her words. His eyes were still locked on the fourth girl… She was about as tall as Reimu or Alice. She had shoulder-length wavy pink hair and eyes of the same color. She looked like she could be 20, give or take a year or two. Her skin was pale and there was something very odd about her. Almost as if she had some kind of inner glow. Apart from the fact that she was basically levitating several centimeters above the ground, there were several smaller ghostly phantoms floating around her. Her attire was a beautiful light-blue and white kimono with a dark-blue trim. On her head, she had a mob cap with a white transparent veil in the back, and on the front side, a hitaikakushi – a triangular piece of cloth with some odd red spiral insignia. She was incredibly beautiful. Easily, one of the most beautiful girls Kyouichi had ever seen. That is not to say that the other girls at the shrine were not pretty, but this one was standing out.

"Um, Kyouichi-kun... You're staring." remarked Suika with a hushed but amused voice.

"Yeah…" muttered Kyouichi without paying any mind to what Suika just said as he kept staring blankly at the beautiful girl.

She gently bowed to Reimu smiled and greeted. "Good evening, Reimu-san. Thank you very much for the invitation. Even though we've already had a hanami a month ago, why should I refuse the opportunity to enjoy it again at the shrine? Right, Youmu?" she turned to the white haired girl and put her hand on her head.

The girl with swords silently nodded and blushed a bit.

"Okay, then…" said the shrine maiden. "Since all of the guests are here, why don't you take a seat?" she gestured with her hand towards the free blankets with pillows.

The four late-arriving guests assumed sitting positions around the fire. The white haired girl with swords sat down by Kyouichi's right side. It was only once all the guests were seated when one of them noticed the outsider. Or to be more exact, said something.

"I smell… some unknown human…" said the vampire girl, sitting opposite of Kyouichi.

The outsider smiled and showed a peace sign, trying to at least look calm in contrast to his current thoughts and feelings. Most of the other guests shifted their attention to him.

"Oh… I knew it." continued the vampire as she stood up to see more clearly.

"Ish-Ishimaru Kyouichi. I'm pleased to meet you, Scarlet-sama." he introduced himself rather timidly and bowed deeply.

"Oh my… How polite. And he even knows who I am…" she noted with a wry smile. "Remilia Scarlet." she said her name and straightened up with pride. "The most powerful, fastest and smartest youkai in Gensokyo. Direct descendent of Vlad Tepes, known as Dracula."

"Oi, oi…" responded Reimu to her obvious exaggeration, if not blatant lies.

"Say, human…" Remilia continued without interruption. "What blood type are you?"

Before Kyouichi could even react to this awkward question, Reimu gave the vampire a warning look. "Don't get any ideas!"

"What? It's just a normal question." pouted the vampire girl, facing the shrine maiden. She then sat back on the blanket and whispered something to her maid.

Although it was a relatively normal thing in Japan to ask about someone's blood type, which some people considered as a sort of horoscope, but coming from the mouth of a vampire, the question got an entirely different subtext.

"Here, have some snacks instead." Reimu offered her a bowl of salted agemochi.

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl in kimono called out joyfully: "Oh look, Youmu~! Snacks~!" her eyes were almost shining with obsession.

"Uh… yes, Yuyuko-sama, I can see that." replied the girl sitting next to Kyouichi with a slightly nervous voice.

"But there's too little…" continued the kimono girl, with her sweet, calm melodic voice.

"Too… little?" muttered Kyouichi quietly, but the white haired girl still heard him and turned to him with an embarrassed smile and giggle. To Kyouichi, there was more than enough snacks in all the bowls for 3 hanami evenings, and yet this slender young lady sid that there's not enough? The outsider thought that there would be even more guests… But Reimu clearly said she was expecting 10 people, her and Marisa included. And there already were ten people… and youkai sitting around the inviting warm fire. Did this pink-haired lady really have such a big appetite? The answer came as soon as he asked that question in his own head. The pink-haired girl took the bowl of agemochi right out of Remilia's hands, and turned over its content into her mouth in a second. She kept satisfyingly munching the snacks for a few seconds and swallowed them. The vampire stared at her with her mouth ajar, unable to find any words.

"Good thing we thought ahead, right, Youmu~?" said the pink-haired girl with a sweet smile.

The white-haired girl with swords, whom she addressed as Youmu sighed with a slightly annoyed expression as she was standing up. "Yes, my lady, just a second…"

Suddenly, a delayed thought found its way in Kyouichi's drunken mind to the zone of curiosity. He turned to his left and leaned backwards. Over Suika's back, he tapped Reimu's shoulder. The shrine maiden turned her curious face to him.

"What is it, Kyouichi-san?"

"Umm… What's with that pink-haired lady, if I may ask?"

"Oh, that's Yuyuko. She's a real gourmet with a huge appetite. She often gets excited when it comes to food and snacks… and even sake."

"Yuyuko, huh?" repeated Kyouichi her name. It sounded strangely familiar.

"Yeah." whispered the shrine maiden behind Suika's back. "I guess you already know that our little Suika-chan here is an unmatched capacity when it comes to drinking sake." she patted the little oni's back, who in surprise, turned to her with a confused face. "Well, then Yuyuko is an unmatched capacity when it comes to eating."

Kyouichi turned again to look at the beautiful young lady in kimono and then at her presumed servant, Youmu, who just showed up with her hands lugging two huge baskets. She then began unloading them onto whatever space that was left on the blankets. The contents of both baskets were all perishables ranging from meat, through various kinds of cheese and fish to sweet desserts.

"Her name…" spoke Kyouichi again after a while, "it's just like of that noble girl I've read about… Sa… Saigo…" he stuttered as he was trying to recall the name from a history book and Akyuu's chronicle.

"Saigyouji." said Reimu to refresh his memory.

"Yes… That was the name…" muttered the outsider with a spaced-out look. "Is she her descendant or does she just share the same name?"

Reimu looked at him confusedly. "What are you talking about? There's only one Yuyuko Saigyouji in Gensokyo and she's sitting right in front of you." she spoke quietly over Suika's back.

"That's ridiculous!" opposed Kyouichi, not paying any more mind to keeping his voice low. "Yuyuko Saigyouji died over a thousand years ago! She committed suicide!"

Reimu also raised her voice in an almost angered response. "Well then why don't you go and explain it to her?!" she called out loud and gestured with her hand towards the girl in question.

The pink-haired beauty shifted her big eyes from the food to the arguing couple and put on a surprised smile. She looked perfectly alive, healthy and full of energy.

"Oh, my… There is a new guest here this time~." she chimed with a cute daydreamy voice.

"Only now you've noticed, Yuyuko-sama?" her servant Youmu asked her with a half-surprised, half-embarrassed tone.

"A very good evening to you, Ryuuken-san~! My name is Yuyuko Saigyouji and I am most pleased to make your acquaintance~!" she nodded and smiled with a smile that could make the North Pole melt. Every bit about her was lovely - from her face, body and clothes to her voice and extremely polite manners. It was enough to make Kyouichi speechless and his heart race like mad.

He returned back to reality only after feeling repeated sensation of Suika nudging his ribs with her elbow. "Hey, Kyouichi-kun, say something…"

"Oh! Umm… Yeah! Kyouichi… Ishimaru Kyouichi… The pleasure is all mine!" he spoke up quickly with obvious panic. "And I'm not a Ryuuken. It's just a kimono that looks similar to their uniforms."

"Yes, Kyouichi-san's an outsider and is a part of the reason why I invited you to the hanami…" Reimu explained to Yuyuko.

"Oh, my~!" smiled Yuyuko joyfully. "You wanted to arrange a date for me~? How sweet of you, Reimu-san~!"

"Eh? No, no, no, no, no!" disagreed Reimu while vigorously shaking her head. "You've got the wrong impression. He's here because he wants to return home and the fastest solution would be to ask Yukari about sending him back… But I haven't seen her for a longer time now and I was wondering if you, as her best friend, might have seen her recently."

"My, my~! He wants to meet Yukari-chan to take her on a date to the outside world? How romantic~!" said Yuyuko while hiding her blushing face behind a decorated folding fan that she carried with her.

"Hey! Are you even listening to what I'm saying?!" asked the shrine maiden, raising her voice again. "He is a misplaced human. He and a band of other outsiders were spirited away to Gensokyo on the same day and they all want to return to their homes. I suspect Yukari did this, so I want to talk to her and convince her to return those people back, understand?"

"You don't like it in Gensokyo, Kyouichi-san?" asked Yuyuko, tilting her head to the side.

"It's not a matter of like or dislike… Gensokyo is not my home. That's all there is to it."

"But if Yukari took you here, she must have done so for a reason." said Yuyuko with a more serious tone, but still with a spacey look.

"It wasn't just me, but probably tens, maybe even hundreds of other people." remarked Kyouichi, trying to speak slowly and audibly. The sake he drunk was taking its toll on his senses, but he could still at least think straight. "Only about 20 of them were officially registered, but since a whole train got spirited away, there could have been considerably more people."

Reimu joined the conversation again. "I don't really care about Yukari's reasons if she really caused an incident. I need to stop her and make her undo all the chaos she's made. And I'm asking you for help. Or do you want me to suspect you for collaborating with her?" she asked Yuyuko and gave her and unpleasant stare.

"But, Reimu-san, I haven't even seen her ever since last year's autumn…" replied Yuyuko calmly.

The shrine maiden put on a surprised and concerned expression. "That long, huh? Almost the same as me… I haven't seen her for over six months."

"Come to think of it, me too~." said Suika with her voice sounding drunk again.

Remilia Scarlet took a calm sip from her drinking cup and waved her hand indifferently. "Bah! Who cares about her? At least now I have a good food supply with all those outsiders…" she smiled wryly and licked her lips.

Kyouichi gulped nervously. "I… think I should be going now…"

"You'd be actually putting yourself in greater danger if you left the shrine now…" Reimu pointed out. "But it really surprised me that even Yuyuko hasn't seen Yukari for such a long time…"

"Yes. I've been wondering what she might be doing if she hasn't come to see me for so long." confirmed Yuyuko as she turned to her armed servant. "But thanks to my cute Youmu, I don't feel so lonely~." she smiled and embraced Youmu lovingly.

"Yu-Yuyuko-sama…!" called the white-haired girl, her face blushing with embarrassment.

"So, you're Yukari's best friend, huh?" asked Kyouichi after a while of processing his thoughts. "The same Yuyuko Saigyouji as in the chronicle. Unbelievable…"

Yuyuko widened her smile as she let go of Youmu and nodded. "Yes~. It is thanks to Yukari that I am who I am."

"So that means you're a…"

"A ghost, yes." answered Yuyuko almost casually. "A dead spirit, eternally bound to the Netherworld and the Saigyou Ayakashi."

"She isn't just an ordinary spirit from the Netherworld." Marisa completed the information. "She is the princess of the Netherworld."

"I still don't see what's such a big deal about it." murmured the vampire girl with a smug tone.

"So how come you're now in the world of the living?" inquired Kyouichi.

"Well, hehehe~… I think I once asked Yukari-chan to weaken the boundary between the Netherworld and Gensokyo… But I forgot what for."

Reimu sighed in annoyance. "That was because over six years ago, you caused an incident."

"Precisely on the 21st of Yayoi, 118." specified Akyuu with a textbook precision.

"Yayoi…That's March, right?" asked the outsider just to make sure. "Ten days before the New Year…"

"That's right." nodded Reimu and continued. "It was a time when spring in Gensokyo should normally start, but… it didn't. Everything was still buried deep under a cover of snow and it was chilly outside just like in the middle of winter. That made me suspect that we had another youkai incident on our hands. As I went out to look for clues, it turned out that the very essence Gensokyo's spring was being siphoned away in a stream towards the sky. I followed the trail of flowing cherry petals until I reached a gigantic gate-like barrier in the sky with four massive stone pillars standing on clouds before it. It looked too strong to be opened by magic, so I flew over it…"

"What a useless barrier…" remarked the outsider as he chuckled weakly.

"Perhaps it would be completely impossible to bypass if it weren't for the strange things that were going on then." Reimu kept on explaining. "So there I was, flying over the great unknown barrier and I found myself facing a hill as tall as the Youkai Mountain, if not even taller and a set of stone stairs, like the ones leading to my shrine were leading all the way up. I saw the stream of cherry petals flowing to the top of that hill so I kept on flying. I noticed that there were a lot of spirits flying around as well and soon after, I even got attacked by some of them. Those were no problem, but as I was getting closer to the top, I met these two." she pointed at Yuyuko and Youmu. "Well, only Youmu-san first… She kept saying something about gathering the essence of the spring and the plan coming close to success before she attacked me… I so-so managed to drive her back… and headed on to deal with her mistress…"

"So you battled against Yuyuko-sama?" asked Kyouichi in disbelief.

"Of course!" confirmed the shrine maiden in a matter-of-fact manner. "She was stealing Gensokyo's spring in order to revive a body buried under a huge cherry tree which never blossomed fully."

"The Saigyou Ayakashi…"

"Yeah, that. She tried to break the seal on that youkai tree in order to bring that person back to life."

"Wait… wasn't it Yuyuko-sama herself who was buried under that tree?" wondered the outsider.

Yuyuko giggled innocently. "Yes, but I didn't know about it at that time… I just found some old scrolls in my library, indicating that there was someone buried under the largest cherry tree in the garden - the only sakura which I have never ever seen blooming for as long as I've been there. In those scrolls, an interesting passage was written: "The girl who bares witness to death, at the time of the Saigyou Ayakashi's full bloom, shall be bound by mortality. So that her soul may rest in peace within the Hakugyokurou, I will seal the cherry blossoms, and make it the barrier. My wish… is that she will never again reincarnate, and never again suffer pain…"."

"Was that part… about you?" asked Kyouichi.

"Yes, written by Yukari herself. But as I mentioned, I wasn't aware of the identity of the author or the buried person."

"Didn't you remember anything?"

"Dear, Kyouichi-san…" giggled the ghostly girl, her face blushing slightly. "I don't even remember what I had for breakfast today."

"Breakfast?" asked Kyouichi, raising his eyebrow. "So even ghosts need to eat?"

"Umm… I don't know… I do feel hungry… But it's more like a desire to eat something tasty." replied Yuyuko slowly, thoughtfully trying to explain her habits. "I still don't remember what I had for breakfast today~."

"So you have an amnesia or something?"

Yuyuko shook her head gently. "I wouldn't say that. After all, I was able to recall events from time when I was still alive. I remember all sorts of different things from the distant past, but somehow… I just don't pay so much attention to trivial details. When you're alive for so long, you end up forgetting even the important and memorable things…"

"So you tried to resurrect a person - that is yourself, without the knowledge that it was actually you, right?" recapitulated Kyouichi.

"Apart from that, I was also very curious to see the full bloom of the Saigyou Ayakashi, so I asked Youmu to start gathering the essence of spring… I read further in the scrolls that making the youkai sakura bloom fully, would break its seal and revive the buried person."

"But unfortunately… or should I say fortunately," continued Reimu in Yuyuko's stead, "I found her just in time to put a stop to her plan and make her return the stolen spring back to Gensokyo."

"However, Reimu-san's interference only shortened the inevitable…" spoke Yuyuko again, "Because even without her, my plan could never succeed. My powers are to invoke death, not to revive… I guess that's why Yukari didn't even bother to tell me: "Yuyuko-chan, what kind of nonsense do you think you're doing?" Instead, the shrine maiden came. She saw me as the mastermind behind an incident, and I saw her as a source of the last few drops of the essence of spring, so… naturally, we launched spells at each other."

Kyouichi again began to chuckle in amusement and turned to Reimu. "Hahaha! Is there anyone in Gensokyo you haven't fought against yet, Reimu-san?"

The shrine maiden thoughtfully put her finger on her chin and hummed. "Well, there's Akyuu-chan…" she replied with a smile as she gave the little chronicler another sweet embrace. "Then you, for instance…"

"Let's keep it that way, please…" said the outsider with a worried smile.

"And most of the people in the village…" continued Reimu after a while of hard thinking.

"And what would happen if Yuyuko-sama's plan would have succeeded?"

"Well, I'm a ghost, so it would end my existence." answered Yuyuko as simply as possible.

"But your soul would be again bound to your body and you'd live again, no?"

"Maybe so, but that would also mean that the Saigyou Ayakashi would bloom again, and started killing people again… Even if I managed to resurrect my own body, I'd probably die again right afterwards, and my soul would be consumed by the youkai sakura. But as I already said, I never had a chance to succeed in the first place. I just wasn't aware of it."

"I just find it amazing to see that almost all of you girls were actually once Reimu's enemies…" remarked Kyouichi and had some agemochi. "To me, you all look like a band of good old friends."

Reimu shrugged and smiled. "Most of the folks in Gensokyo are actually nice... when they're not causing any trouble, that is…"

"Reimu-san is known for getting along with people." explained Yuyuko.

"And its fun to have friendly battles with her every now and then." added Remilia, who's been mostly talking to her maid and to Suika, Marisa, Alice and Akyuu so far.

"I see…" said the outsider understandingly. "So, Yuyuko-sama, you said you asked Yukari to weaken the barrier between the Netherworld and Gensokyo, so that you could take the essence of the spring?"

"Oh~! Yes, I think that's it." chimed Yuyuko cheerfully as if she just recalled it now.

"Why did she even agree with it?"

"Maybe because we're best friends… Or maybe because she knew about my plan being a failure all along and didn't even bother telling me… Perhaps she intentionally wanted me to burn myself and learn from my own mistake." reasoned the ghostly princess.

"So the barrier is still weakened?" Kyouichi kept asking question after question.

"Yes~. After my plan to break the Saigyou Ayakashi's seal had failed, I explained to Reimu-san, that the barrier separating this world and the Netherworld was severely weakened and too many spirits were again aimlessly wandering the world of the living. I told her about Yukari as the only person who could fix this problem…"

"So that's when you fought against Yukari, right, Reimu-san?"

"Yes, yes, like she says. But Yukari never sealed the barrier off completely… sloppy youkai…" she murmured the last two words under her nose.

"That's why it's still possible for a few select spirits to visit the world of the living and for the living to visit the Netherworld without having to die." explained Yuyuko with a serious look, but always smiling. "I put Youmu in charge of guarding the barrier so that the souls or people without permission couldn't enter or leave the Netherworld just as they please."

"And who exactly is Youmu-san?" asked the outsider, turning to the cute white-haired girl next to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Youmu embarrassedly smiled, as she apologized. "We didn't even have a proper introduction…" she cleared her throat stood up and bowed. "Youmu Konpaku - a loyal and faithful servant, gardener, bodyguard and swordsmanship instructor of the Saigyouji family. Pleased to meet you."

Kyouichi picked his butt off the blanket to stand up. "Likewise." he bowed with respect. "I'm Kyouichi Ishimaru, but you already know that…"

"Never mind." smiled Youmu gently. "People should always have a proper introduction, even if they know each other's names." she said as she shook hands with Kyouichi.

"Whoa…" groaned the outsider to a surprising sensation. "You feel just like a living person… Except that your hands are cold."

Youmu suddenly blushed and looked down. "I'm not a ghost like Yuyuko-sama…"

"You're not?"

"I'm… I'm a…" she spoke with hesitation. "…a half-ghost." she murmured quietly as if she was ashamed of it.

"So that ghostly phantom floating behind you is…"

"It's me…"Youmu nodded and lowered her head. At the same time, the phantom behind her also seemed to be looking down.

Kyouichi was in a loss for words for a good couple of seconds. Even though he heard countless stories and watched countless movies about ghosts, he never heard about half-ghosts before. And now… one example of such a being was standing right in front of him. Furthermore, she was a very cute half-ghost.

"Well, that's about all I can tell about myself…" said Youmu humbly and bowed once more, before she sat down again.

"In that case, I think I still didn't introduce myself to that pretty young miss over there…" he looked at Remilia's maid, who turned her slightly surprised face to him.

"Even if I don't plan on staying in Gensokyo for too long, I have to agree with Youmu-san here. People should properly introduce themselves when they meet the first time, even if they'll never see each other again." he stood up and walked up towards the silver-haired maid.

She also stood up and gently dusted off her uniform, carefully measuring him up with cold eyes. After the outsider bowed to her and repeated his name to her, the maid nodded without expression and in a formal tone she introduced herself. "My name is Sakuya Izayoi – chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and a part-time incident resolver."

She didn't seem to be in a very friendly mood so Kyouichi didn't ask her any more questions. Or perhaps she just didn't trust strangers easily and Kyouichi could understand that. It was already a big enough surprise that most of the people he met so far treated him friendly.

"I'm very satisfied with Sakuya." explained her mistress. "She's a perfect maid. Her cooking is the most delicious in all of Gensokyo…" she said while praisingly tapping the maid's shoulder.

That was perhaps so, but Kyouichi couldn't shake off the feeling that she'd probably poison his food from the way she looked at him. Or was he just being paranoid? He simply couldn't yet make any opinion about her. And he didn't actually care.

"I'll probably never see any of these people ever again. I'm planning to leave Gensokyo after all…" he thought silently. "But for that I need their help…"

He looked up again at Yuyuko, who was now feasting on everything edible within her reach.

"I'm guessing you don't know where Yukari lives either…"

"Huh?" the ghost princess looked up and wiped off a grain of rice from her lips. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, but then she smiled sweetly again. "Yukari-chan? Why, she lives in Mayohiga, of course~." she replied cheerfully.

The unexpected answer made the surprised outsider choke on the snacks he was just eating. Fortunately, Suika noticed this and gave him a few good hits on the back.

"*cough-cough-cough* Damn…! Suika… You pack hell of a punch!" he groaned in pain as he was catching his breath again.

"Did you hear it, Kyouichi-san?" asked the little oni who had just about the same surprised expression as the outsider. "Did she just tell us where Yukarin lives?"

"Mayohiga…?" repeated Reimu with her mouth opened and eyes widened.

Everyone just silently stared at each other with dumb looks, trying to process what they just heard. Everyone except Yuyuko who nonchalantly resumed eating the snacks, and Youmu, who looked like she had at least a vague idea about what her mistress was talking about.

"I've heard that name…" mumbled Reimu quietly. "It definitely sounds familiar."

"Where is this Mayohiga, Yuyuko-sama?" asked the outsider finally.

The pink haired princess looked a bit confused for a moment before giving another surprising reply. "I'm sorry, I don't know…"

"Whaaat?!" called everyone simultaneously.

"I've been there many times, but I don't know the way." Yuyuko tried to explain.

"Are you THAT forgetful?!" Reimu asked her angrily.

"No, my dear Reimu-san, I can't possibly know the way to Mayohiga, because Yukari always took me there through a gap." replied Yuyuko calmly, unfazed by Reimu's raised voice.

"But I could tell you how Mayohiga looks. And even what furniture Yukari-chan has."

"So that Mayohiga is a village of some sort?" asked Kyouichi.

"Yes~. It is a village where there are no people. Yukari lives in the largest of the houses with her shikigami."

Reimu gasped suddenly as if she had just realized something important. "I… I think I might have been there too…"

"It's a very lovely and peaceful village…" continued Yuyuko with a daydreamy voice.

"Wait a second…" Kyouichi interrupted her. "Did you say, you've been there too, Reimu?"

Reimu delved deep into her thoughts, trying to recall the past. "I… I vaguely remember flying over a village of some sort when I was looking for clues during the Perfect Cherry Blossom incident… I think it was just before I found the entrance to the Netherworld in the sky… And before I had a run-in with Alice… So I guess I was heading through the Forest of Magic…"

"Then how many villages are there in Gensokyo?" asked Kyouichi.

"There should be 6 villages, including the Human Village." said Akyuu thoughtfully. "And Mayohiga would make it the seventh, but we don't even know if it's in Gensokyo per se."

"Yukari said it lies on the boundary itself…" Suika reminded them.

"Then it must be somewhere in the field of illusion." contemplated the shrine maiden. "But that's hardly a solid lead for us."

"But you said you've been there, haven't you?" the outsider asked her.

"I'm not even sure about it." argued Reimu, apparently confused about the whole matter. "I guess I just found it by chance. I think if one is determined enough, he or she can eventually reach Mayohiga even despite the mind-confusing effect of the boundary. But it's just a theory."

She sighed and drank a cup full of sake in one go. "We're not any closer to finding Yukari just by knowing that she lives in Mayohiga…"

"No need to feel so blue, Reimu-san…" Yuyuko comforted her. "If Yukari ever comes to visit me again, I'll let her know about the people from the outside world."

"She's right." said Marisa suddenly. "We can't really do anything to make her show up when we want to. Let's just enjoy the hanami, like we do every year."

Reimu lowered her head in disappointment. She was intensely thinking about everything concerning the boundary youkai to the point when her head started to hurt. It's true that Yukari had always been unpredictable, but at the same time, Reimu felt like she knew her well enough to at least have a rough idea of what to expect from her. One of those things was an assumption that she was friendly to the people she was already familiar with and that she frequently, although irregularly, visited her friends and attended nearly all parties and festivals. The more Reimu tried thinking about it, the less certain she was about her own opinion. She couldn't tell if she should find Yukari's long absence as something that was to be expected, or something suspicious. She was even starting to doubt her own ability to resolve incidents. But… she had no choice at the moment. She had to admit Marisa's words – there's nothing she could do. At least not now. If anything should happen, there were at least more people, youkai and ghosts in Gensokyo who were now on a lookout for the missing youkai of boundaries and that alone increased the chances for a smooth resolution of this new incident.

"You're right, Marisa. She'll show up… some day…" she nodded reassuringly.

"Of course she will, ze! Cheer up, Reimu!" Marisa tapped her shoulder.

"You want some of my sake, Reimu-chan?" said Suika, generously offering her gourd.

"Yes, I think I'll have some." smiled the shrine maiden and drank a decent amount.

---

Then, the actual hanami party started. No more serious talk about incidents from the past, no more history lessons, lectures or warnings, just a joyful and cheerful atmosphere of a pleasantly cool late-spring evening. Sake was flowing like a river… at least down Suika's throat, but others drank a decent amount as well. Eventually, Kyouichi's nervous feelings faded completely away. Marisa started singing some unknown songs. Her singing was terribly off due to her drunken state, but everyone was having fun, so it didn't really matter. Then Remilia asked her maid, Sakuya to sing something as well.

"Me? Sing? Are you serious, my lady?" she asked with a humble and nervous voice.

"Yes. Why don't you show that witch how singing should be done?"

"B… but mistress… I… don't really think I can sing…" said Sakuya bashfully and blushed.

She was actually kind of cute. At least when she was talking to Remilia.

"Come on, Sakuya, sing already! That's an order!" insisted the vampire girl.

The maid blushed even more, but she obediently nodded. "Very well… If that is what you wish, my lady…"

She took a silent deep breath and began singing.

"Sakura, sakura

noyama mo sato mo

mi-watasu kagiri

kasumi ka kumo ka

asahi ni niou

sakura, sakura

hanazakari… "

It was a popular traditional Japanese folk song about the spring and cherry blossoms. Sakuya sang very beautifully and everyone just silently stared at her in amazement. Her voice was trembling a little, because she was nervous, but she put her heart into the song and the result was simply sublime. Kyouichi never thought that a song which he heard a zillion times could sound so… refreshing. Sakuya sang it in a slightly different melody than the original version, but that was not the only thing that appealed to the outsider. This maid had a natural talent.

"…Wow…" uttered everyone in awe after Sakuya finished the last strophe.

"That was… beautiful…" said Kyouichi while clapping his hands.

"That's my line…" said Remilia, who probably didn't even know until now that her maid was actually a very good singer. She wiped a tear forming in the corner of her eye with a laced handkerchief and gave Sakuya a very serious look. "Sakuya…"

"Yes, mistress…?"

"From now on, you're going to sing to me every day before bedtime."

The maid lowered her head, trying to hide her blushing face and silently muttered: "As you wish, Remilia-sama."

"My… What a pretty song~." said Yuyuko-sama with her eyes closed. "And so appropriate for a hanami~. Would you like to sing something too, Youmu?"

"Eeeeh?!" called out the surprised half-ghost, showing both of her palms and shaking them refusingly. "No, no, no… I won't sing. It's embarrassing…" she blushed even more than Sakuya when she was asked to sing and even her ghostly half seemed to have slightly changed its color. "Your voice is much more beautiful than mine, Yuyuko-sama…"

"That's not true…" said the ghost princess, disagreeingly shaking her head. "Your voice is very beautiful and cute, Youmu~. But if you don't want to sing, I'm not going to force you."

Youmu sighed with relief and took a sip of sake from her cup. Perhaps there were even more good singers in this group, but it appeared that no one except Marisa and Suika were actually in the mood for it. And so, they started telling jokes.

---

"Hey, hey,…" called Suika, waving her arms to get some attention. "How many fairies do you need to make their total IQ equal 50? All of them! Hahahaha!"

The joke was terribly lame, but everyone laughed anyway, since their mood was uplifted by the intoxicating effect of sake.

"Oh, I know one too…" said Marisa, raising her hand. "A vampire kid runs crying to his vampire mom from school. "Mom, mom! We need to go to the hospital, hurry!" "What's the matter, son?" asks the mother. "I need an urgent tongue amputation!" cries the panicked kid. "Why on Earth would you need that?" wonders his mom. "Because… because my teacher told me today that I've got the gift of the silver tongue!"

One lame joke after another… Still, everyone was laughing heartily.

"Can I tell a joke too?" asked little Akyuu-chan, shyly raising her hand.

"But of course you can, ze!" affirmed Marisa. "Quiet everyone, Akyuu-chan wants to tell a joke too… Go ahead, Akyuu-chan."

The little chronicler waited until everyone was quiet and spoke with a little shy voice. "Okay… umm… Oh, sorry… I forgot…"

…

…

…

Everyone stared at each other blankly for a couple of seconds, before they realized that the joke was already told.

"Hahahahahaa~!" Marisa burst into laughter. "That's a good one! You're so forgetful, Akyuu-chan… Hahaha!"

Of course, a chronicler who was known to remember everything could only joke about forgetfulness. It was a very entertaining evening, especially interesting for the outsider. But one thing he wasn't too sure about was the hanami itself.

"Umm… I hate to be a spoilsport, but… weren't we supposed to be watching the falling cherry petals on a hanami?"

---

As if waiting only for his call, a gentle gust of cool evening breeze scattered a flurry of beautiful pink cherry blossoms from the nearby sakura trees, which showered the whole shrine yard. Even though it was dark, the light provided by the fire and a couple of bamboo torches in front of the shrine illuminated the whole spectacle well enough.

"So pretty…" whispered amazed Remilia.

Youmu anticipatively raised her right palm to her eye height and caught a single sakura petal, clasping her hand gently, but tightly. She had her eyes closed and it looked like she was making a wish.

Alice did something similar, although for catching the cherry petals, she used her magically controlled doll, Shanghai.

Yuyuko-sama also took a break from eating to look around. "It's interesting that the cherry trees in Gensokyo are still in bloom. We already have summer in the Netherworld…"

"That's because the spring arrived a bit later in Gensokyo this year." reasoned the black-haired host of the hanami. "Wouldn't you happen to know anything about it, Yuyuko?" she looked at her suspiciously.

"You can remain calm, my dear Reimu-san. I don't make the same mistakes twice." replied Yuyuko reassuringly.

"Yeah, it's the same in the outside world. Not just Gensokyo." confirmed Kyouichi, dissolving Reimu's suspicion towards Yuyuko-sama.

Suddenly, the gentle breeze gradually grew stronger, creating a brief cherry petal storm, making everyone at the shrine close their eyes before it stopped.

"What's with that sudden wind?" asked Marisa, holding on to her hat, so it wouldn't get blown away. "Could it be this year's first storm?"

"You can hardly have a storm without any storm clouds, Marisa." retorted Alice with a bit of sarcasm in her tone.

As the witch looked up to the dark sky, the moon in its last quarter phase reflected in her eyes.

The few clouds which could be seen were moving too slowly, considering the strong wind blowing from northwest at the shrine yard. It was as if the sudden gust was pinpointed at the Hakurei Shrine.

Suddenly, a bright flash of white light temporarily blinded everyone, who was looking at the sky like Marisa.

"What the hell?!" cried the magician, covering her eyes.

"Ayayayaya~!" came an unfamiliar girl's voice from somewhere above. "What do we have here?"

"Oh, good grief…" grumbled Reimu while rubbing her eyes. "What is she doing here?"

"Why the grumpy attitude, miko of the Hakurei Shrine?" asked the unknown voice in response. "I was just on my way home when I noticed some lights at the shrine, so I came to look, and what do you know… It seems you're having some sort of party!"

"Yes~! We're having a hanami!" called Suika with her high-pitched voice. "Won't you come and join us?"

"Oh, Suika-san, good evening." the unknown girl greeted her. "Oh… and even Remilia-sama and Yuyuko-sama… and the 9th child of Miare… wow. Such celebrities… This will make a headline."

Another sequence of bright flashes accompanied by clicking sounds followed.

As soon as Kyouichi finally regained his sight, he looked upwards to see this unexpected visitor. However, all he managed to make out was a dark slim silhouette of a young female floating high above the shrine. She appeared to be holding something in front of her face and she slowly began to descend.

As she touched the ground, the light from the fire revealed her appearance. She had semi-long black hair and red eyes. Her clothing consisted of a simple white blouse and a short black skirt. She also wore a pair of black knee socks and bright red geta shoes. On her head she had a small red tokin with two strings adorned with white feather puffs. The thing she was holding in her right hand was a camera of some sort and a notepad in her left. She also had a bright orange leaf-shaped fan hanging around her wrist by a string. Kyouichi's basic knowledge about youkai immediately associated this girl to the tengu race.

"Alright, Aya, come and take a seat." said Reimu to the tengu. "I guess I should have expected a few uninvited guests after all."

"Oh, thank you very much, Reimu." bowed the tengu girl thankfully. "But look at this gathering…" she paused to take another picture, "...forgive me, but I just can't help it." she said with a smile and kept snapping more shots of the guests. That's when she noticed someone she never saw before.

"Oh… Who's that handsome young man over there?" said the tengu, looking at the only male guest of the hanami.

Kyouichi turned his head to look behind him, to see what handsome young man she was talking to.

"Yes, I meant you." she said to the outsider, giggling amusedly.

Kyouichi turned back to face her and pointed his thumb at his chest and mustered an asking look.

"Yes, you." nodded the girl with the camera. "You're the only handsome young man here at the moment."

"Really?" asked the outsider silently. "In that case…" he slowly took his glasses off his face and made an offering gesture. "…Here. I'm sure you might need these more than I do…"

The tengu suddenly began to snicker, gradually shifting into hearty laughter. "Ahahahahaha~! And he's even quite funny… Don't worry. I have very good eyesight as well as hearing… What's your name, stranger?"

The outsider put his glasses back on and bowed respectfully. "Kyouichi Ishimaru. Pleased to meet you."

"Are you from the village, Kyouichi-san?" inquired the curious tengu.

The outsider shrugged. "More or less… I'm from a village called Tokyo."

"Aaaah, Tokyo. A nice quiet little… Wait a minute… There's no such village in Gensokyo! Are you… from the outside world?"

"Yeah… An outsider." confirmed Kyouichi. "Sucks to be me, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I see… An outsider…" repeated the tengu girl thoughtfully. "How long have you been here? I don't think I've seen you before."

"A week."

The girl scribbled something into her notepad and looked up at Kyouichi again. "Mind if I made a little interview with you?"

"Uhh… sure, why not?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" sounded Reimu, disapprovingly shaking her head. "You want to ask him a ton of questions and he doesn't even know your name?"

The tengu girl gasped. "Ayayayaya~! You're right! I completely forgot… My apologies, Kyouichi-san." she cleared her throat and struck a sort of fashion model pose. "Aya Shameimaru, a friendly tengu reporter and journalist, at your service."

Kyouichi's jaw dropped a little, as he most certainly already heard and read that name. And more than once. "Aya-san…! The journalist and editor of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper…"

Aya smiled sweetly. "Oh, have you already read some of my newspapers?"

"Uhh… not really." confessed the outsider. "But we're just learning about the tengu at school. We were even supposed to bring a few old issues of some tengu newspapers to school for homework, but I forgot… Ouch…" he rubbed his forehead upon the recollection of Keine-sensei's punishment.

"Well, to tell the truth, Aya's articles are not always truthful." remarked the Hakurei shrine maiden.

"Still, Bunbunmaru is the best selling newspaper in Gensokyo and I'm proud of it." said Aya, proudly raising her head. "Now, how about that interview?"

"Okay, Aya-san, but you do realize that I'm drunk?"

"Obviously not too much since you can still lead a conversation." Aya pointed out. "Okay then…" she sat down on one of the pillows between Remilia and Yuyuko, turned to a new page in her notepad and began the interview.

"Okay, so I know your name and that you're an outsider who's been in Gensokyo for one week…" preambled the tengu reporter. "Can you tell me your first feeling when you found out that you've been spirited away?"

"My first feeling… Well… fear, panic, anxiety, confusion, bewilderment, hopelessness…"

"Those are all negative feelings, Kyouichi-san… Surely there must be something you found pleasant here, no?"

"Well, it's true that I've been looking forward to this hanami, but otherwise…"

"Oh, that's right, the hanami…" Aya cut off his sentence. "How did you even get an invitation? It's not likely Reimu-san invites strangers, much less outsiders."

"Oh, that's simple, ze." sounded Marisa suddenly. "He donated nearly a thousand yen to the shrine on his first day in Gensokyo. Still not enough to earn the special miko service, but it's a good start, ze…"

Just as Marisa finished that sentence Reimu conjured up a tiny white danmaku sparkle and launched it straight at Marisa's face.

"Kyaah~! That tickles…"

"Oh, I see now…" muttered Aya and she wrote a couple of lines into her notepad. "I've done several interviews with outsiders over the past 125 years, but none of them were too willing to answer my questions."

"Um, Aya-san?" asked Kyouichi when he got an idea.

"No need to be so formal, Kyouichi. Just call me Aya, or Aya-chan."

"Well then, Aya, have you heard about the recent incident in Gensokyo?"

The tengu reporter's eyes narrowed as she leaned closer. "New incident?"

"Yes." confirmed Reimu, shifting Aya's attention to herself. "A large number of outsiders have made their way into Gensokyo from a place far away. Tens, maybe hundreds. All on the same day."

"This is really interesting." remarked the tengu as she scribbled more notes. "What do you plan to do about this, Reimu?"

"I want to talk to Yukari."

"I don't see the problem. Isn't she your friend?"

"She isn't any closer friend to me than you are." retorted the miko with a bitter tone. "And yes, there is a problem. No one has seen her ever since last autumn."

"Hmm, that's really strange…" muttered Aya, not even bothering to look at Reimu as she kept writing. "I already have an idea for a new article – The great youkai of boundaries – missing."

"I bet she's just hiding and having a laugh."

"Or maybe she needs help." speculated Aya and kept on writing a made up story about Yukari being kidnapped.

"She will need help when I get my hands on her." grumbled Reimu.

"But what if Aya is right?" wondered the outsider. "You said yourself that Yukari's ancient even for a youkai. What if she died or something?"

"Oh~! That's even more dramatic!" Aya called out, crossed out a few lines of her text and began editing her story. "This is gonna be the article of the month! Has the powerful mistress of all boundaries finally passed on? Read all about it…"

Aya's words made a sudden and powerful impact on Reimu's emotions. "That's crap!" she screamed furiously. "There's no way! Impossible…"

Aya was slightly shocked by Reimu's sudden outburst of anger. She put down her pen and looked straight into the shrine maiden's eyes. "Why would it be impossible? Even youkai have their lifespans. Well… some of them don't. I wonder if Yukari's one of them immortal ones… But if she really died, that would be…"

"Yukari Yakumo is NOT dead!" shouted Reimu, smashing her clenched fist against her knee.

"That's right~!" called Suika resolutely.

"I can only agree with Reimu-san here." said Yuyuko with a rare serious expression on her face.

"How can you say that with such certainty, I wonder?" asked the reporter, giving Reimu a provocative smirk.

"The barrier, Aya! The barrier…!" replied Reimu with a wild gesture. "The barrier draws magic power from Yukari herself. My ancestors who helped to create it made only one portion of the Great Boundary. The major part, however, was done by Yukari and strengthened over the years by several other youkai. If I died, the barrier COULD collapse, but if Yukari died, the barrier would surely fall. And since I can sense the barrier's power strengthening, I can most certainly say that Yukari is doing just fine."

"Oh, I see…" muttered Aya and nodded understandingly. "Those are some strong arguments against my story… Too bad… I guess I'll just have to redo it into something less interesting… Come to think of it, it really wouldn't surprise me if a youkai with such powers really was immortal."

"You could make yourself useful by helping me find her. If you think you can…"

"Oh~! A challenge! I like that. And I take it!" said Aya excitedly. "My intelligence gathering skills are the best in all of Gensokyo!" she stated while striking another funny-looking action pose, but the very next second, she returned her body to normal standing position upon realizing something. "But… uh… where do I start?"

"You're the reporter, you stupid crow! Figure something out!" shouted Reimu back at her.

"Just kidding…" smiled Aya suddenly. "Of course I have a plan. I'll write an article about the outsiders and tell some of my friends to be on a lookout for Yakumo-san. We'll be monitoring the entire Gensokyo and as soon as we see her, I'll let you know, Reimu."

"How are you going to monitor the whole Gensokyo?" asked Kyouichi.

"I'll answer you with a question: What's the first thing you notice when you come to Gensokyo?"

Kyouichi pulled his lower lip in a thoughtful expression. "Hmm… The first thing I noticed…" he mumbled as he looked around him. "Oh, yeah – there sure is a lot of girls here! Not that I'm complaining or anything, hehehe~!"

"Uhh… well, I actually meant the Youkai Mountain."

"Oh, the mountain…"

"Besides, Gensokyo's population is pretty much 50 – 50 gender-wise." remarked the crow tengu.

"So what's with the mountain?" wondered the outsider.

"You're not too bright are you?" smiled Aya as she curiously raised her eyebrow. "It's the best vantage point in Gensokyo. We, the tengu can see perfectly even over great distances, so it's easy for us to monitor things happening at the Misty Lake just as well as near, let's say, Muenzuka or, for example, the Nameless Hill, which lie beyond the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Even at night, we can see perfectly, so if Yukari-sama appears in the open, we'll know. We can't see Eientei, though, but I'll be sure to inform them to keep a lookout."

"Okay… I appreciate your help, Aya-san. Thank you." bowed the outsider thankfully.

Aya made a brushing-off gesture "Oh, don't mention it. If my newspaper can contribute to resolving an incident, it will become even more popular. But don't get me wrong. I don't do this just for personal gain. Reimu-chan is a friend to me… despite the way she usually acts. And friends are supposed to help each other."

Reimu was silent for a while, but as the other girls resumed their idle chatter, she muttered a barely audible "Thank you, Aya…"

---

The mood at the shrine gradually returned back to cheerful and carefree. Aya was so excited to interview everyone that she couldn't decide whom to ask first.

"Do you even realize what great honor it is that you're sitting here with some of Gensokyo's most powerful and influential people?" she asked the outsider.

"It sure is." nodded the young man. "I'm glad to have met you all. It's even… hard to believe."

"Oh, come on~! We're no celebrities." said Suika while shaking her head.

"Speak for yourself, oni." said the childish vampire, Remilia. "The outsider should be aware who's he dealing with."

"My, my~! It's an honor to be with someone from high society~!" said Yuyuko as she looked admiringly at Remilia.

"Uh… Yuyu-sama…" sounded Youmu while tapping her lady's shoulder. "You're from high society as well… You're a princess."

Aya decided to interview Remilia first, while the others just quietly listened and enjoyed the snacks and drinks. Some were paying attention to the interview, some were looking upwards and admiring the slowly falling cherry blossoms. All of a sudden, Yuyuko-sama clapped her hands and pointed at the sky.

"Oh, look, look~! It's Lily White~! Ahh… so cute~!"

Even Remilia and Aya focused their attention to the dark evening sky, looking at the direction where Yuyuko's finger pointed.

Then, for a brief moment, even Kyouichi took a glimpse of a small dark figure flying over the shrine yard, leaving behind a trail of bright pink sparkles resembling cherry blossoms, which slowly faded and disappeared in the darkness.

"Lily-chan, Lily-chan~! Come here~!" called Yuyuko with her sweet voice.

"Who's Lilly White?" asked Kyouichi, still scouring the sky and the sakura treetops.

"She's a fairy who announces the arrival of spring." explained Youmu. "It's a bit unusual to see her here since the spring is almost over."

"D-did you say fairy?" asked the outsider, unable to hide his worries.

"Are you trying to tell me you're afraid of fairies?" asked Suika. "Ahahahahaha~! You're a funny human."

"There's nothing to laugh at, Suika-san~." said Yuyuko while raising her finger like a mother telling her child not to misbehave. "Everyone has some sort of phobia… Youmu-chan, for example, is afraid of ghosts~."

…

A dead silence came about. Youmu's ghostly half again began to gain a pinkish hue as she lowered her head, letting her short white hair hide her face.

"Huh?" uttered Kyouichi with a dumb expression.

"Myon~." sounded Youmu's desperate voice.

"She's afraid of ghosts? But Yuyuko-sama is a ghost as well."

"B-but… Yuyuko-sama's different… Besides… it was just one instance when I got really frightened…" mumbled Youmu quietly. "I normally train my swordsmanship on ghosts that wander into Hakugyokurou."

"Maybe because she's too afraid of them, so she keeps driving them off." remarked Yuyuko teasingly.

"You slash ghosts with your swords?" asked Kyouichi in amusement.

Yuyuko gave him the reply instead of Youmu. "Yes, they're very special swords. The longer one is called Roukanken. It was forged by youkai and it can cut through nearly anything – even ghosts. Youmu keeps saying that it can kill 10 ghosts in one slash."

"What happens to the ghosts that get uhh…"killed" or whatever?"

"You can't kill a ghost, but the Roukanken can actually make them simply reincarnate. The shorter blade, Hakurouken can cut through people's confusion. It can be only used by the members of Konpaku family. If it hits a human, it will cause discomfort and a little bit of pain. When used on ghosts, it will make them achieve enlightenment – meaning they permanently enter the afterlife in Heaven or the Netherworld if they like."

"Permanently?" asked confused Kyouichi. "What do you mean?"

"The Netherworld is something like a temporary place for souls that await reincarnation, but many souls just like it there so much that they completely forget to reincarnate and settle there. I keep telling Youmu that she shouldn't practice on ghosts, but she just doesn't listen. But otherwise, she does almost everything I ask."

The half-ghost girl slowly raised her head. "You saw me practice, Yuyuko-sama?"

"Yes." nodded the beautiful princess of the Netherworld. "Almost every morning… You're very devoted to your duties and to your training, Youmu…"

"Umm, well…" Youmu faltered for a second, "It's not that I intentionally disobey your requests, Yuyuko-sama, it's just…"

"That's okay, Youmu-chan…" Yuyuko put a comforting palm on Youmu's head. "Everyone has some sort of phobia…"

"I guess so…" muttered Youmu thoughtfully and raised her eyes again to the dark sky to watch the fluttering cherry blossoms.

"Yeah, and I had an unpleasant experience with fairies, so I get nervous whenever I see one." confessed Kyouichi.

"You don't need to be afraid of Lily-chan~." reassured the ghostly princess. "She's a cute little fairy who heralds the arrival of spring. Oh…! Look, there she is again~!"

As Kyouichi looked up for the second time, he saw a clear image of a fairy who was about the size of a pre-teen child, dressed in a white one-piece dress with red wave pattern outlining the edges and a matching hat. She had long blond hair and a pair of white feathered wings, like a little angel. She was flying over the shrine yard and releasing streams of those glowing pink cherry blossoms from her palms.

"Her danmaku is so pretty~!" cooed Yuyuko delightfully.

Lily made a circle above the gathered people in front of the shrine and drew a pretty flower-shaped pattern with her danmaku that slowly fell to the ground. Kyouichi wondered if the fairy was welcoming the late arriving spring or saying her goodbye for this year. In any case, the spectacle she provided was truly beautiful and Aya didn't hesitate to take a few pictures of that light show.

"Oh, this will be a nice addition to my collection." said the tengu reporter as she was checking the pictures she just took. Her camera was something like a smaller version of the once popular Polaroid cameras in the outside world, so it printed out pictures almost immediately after the shot was taken.

"Oooh~! And this shot is even more interesting, hehehe~." she turned the next picture towards Akyuu, Reimu, Suika, Kyouichi and Youmu. Somehow she managed to capture the exact moment when Lily was positioned right above the camera's finder, revealing the fairy's undergarments.

Reimu gave Aya a scornful look while she covered Akyuu-chan's eyes. "Put that thing away you perverted tengu."

"It will be a nice addition to my other collection." grinned Aya mischievously as she put the pictures into her folding portfolio.

---

Even though Lily White disappeared quite a while ago, Kyouichi still curiously stared into the night sky, but the only trace of light he could see was that of the moon and the stars. He shrugged and lowered his head back into default position. The hanami went on almost until dawn, when the first guests began to depart or fell asleep right on the spot. One of the first to leave was Remilia, who announced that she was getting tired. She was probably unamused to just sit there and stuff herself with snacks or perhaps disappointed that she couldn't bite Kyouichi in the neck with so many witnesses around. After she bowed to everyone at the shrine she took off into the black sky, followed by her trusty and loyal maid, Sakuya. Soon after their departure, Akyuu-chan seemed to have nodded off from the sake right on Reimu's lap. The shrine maiden was overjoyed to have the cute little chronicler rest on her thighs, but she couldn't stay in that position all night. Marisa was trying to make Alice drink some more sake, but she only managed to spill it over herself. The witch had obviously drunk enough for today. Yuyuko was of course perfectly fine and sober, since she was immune to all the negative side effects of overeating or drinking too much. Youmu was a different story, though. Her body was apparently much more prone to the intoxicating effects of alcohol than that of a normal person. She was trying her best not to fall asleep, bumping her head several times into Kyouichi's shoulder and again straightening herself up and apologizing herself. Alice seemed to be fine and she was answering Aya's questions. Suika had surprisingly passed out; her body slumped on the blanket, her arms stretched out to sides and her chest heaving up and down in a slow rhythm. Even oni had their limits and Suika drank enough sake tonight to fill up two bathing tubs. As for Kyouichi, he knew that he drank more than a healthy amount of sake, but he didn't feel like losing his consciousness over it. That feeling lasted only until he stood up to relieve his legs from the stiffness of sitting for hours in the same position. His head became clouded and the whole world was spinning in a dizzying motion.

"Ungh! Bad idea…" he uttered as he fell on his butt. While he was sitting he didn't feel so dizzy.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked the shrine maiden with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh… I thought it was high time I went home too… But the way I see it… I'm going to have to crawl to the village."

"Have you lost your mind?! You'll get yourself killed if you go alone and in this state."

"Aren't you… ugh… coming with me? *hic*"

"No way! You're staying right here until morning… Or until you sober up."

"But where will I sleep?"

"In the shrine, dummy. Just like everyone else."

"Everyone else?"

Just as he asked that question, he felt something heavy falling into his lap. As he looked down, he saw Youmu, who just like Akyuu and Suika, succumbed to the alcohol and tiredness and was now peacefully sleeping.

"Is there even enough room in your shrine for all of us?" he asked facing the shrine maiden again.

"Of course there is." Reimu reassured him. "But if you have any strength left, I'm going to need your help bringing the sleeping ones inside."

"I think I can help you… Just give me a minute, okay?"

Kyouichi took several slow deep breaths, carefully grabbed Youmu and slowly stood up so that he wouldn't get dizzy.

"Are you feeling alright?" Reimu asked him as she took the sleeping chronicler into her arms and slowly carried her into the shrine.

"I guess so… I must have gotten up too fast that time, so my head began to spin. But now I feel alright."

"Just like a prince carrying the Sleeping Beauty~." stated Yuyuko-sama as she watched the scene with amusement.

"Aren't you going to help me put her on a futon, Yuyuko-sama? She's your… err… Youmu after all…"

Yuyuko only giggled behind the fan and said: "Please take good care of her."

"I've already set the futons up in the shrine" announced Reimu, taking slow, careful steps. "Just follow me."

Walking carefully so that he wouldn't wake Youmu up, Kyouichi made his way safely inside the shrine, where he already saw over a half a dozen futons stretched out all over the main room.

"You can put her over here." whispered the shrine maiden, pointing at a futon right next to the one where Akyuu was sleeping.

Kyouichi gently put Youmu down, unstrapped the swords from her back, put away her shoes and covered her up. Her ghostly half was curled up on the floor next to her, as if it was sleeping as well.

"Okay, now to bring Suika in."

Kyouichi quietly walked out of the shrine, ready to carry Suika in his arms. As he stepped outside, he took some more deep breaths of the cool fresh air which helped him fight away the drowsiness at least a little.

"Did you take care of Youmu?" asked Yuyuko with a wry smile.

Kyouichi supported the sleeping oni's head with his left arm and her legs with the right one.

"She's sound asleep and should be okay by morning." replied Kyouichi as he lifted Suika from the blanket. "By the way, do ghosts even need to sleep?"

"I guess they do. I go to sleep just like I always used to." answered the princess of the Netherworld.

"I never thought ghosts could eat, drink and sleep." thought the outsider to himself as he carried Suika towards the shrine. Aya, Marisa and Alice were also looking tired, yawning every moment.

"I think we should call it a day and have a nice long sleep until noon." suggested Marisa.

"Yeah, I think I've burned up my energy for today." said Aya, covering her mouth while yawning.

"I think I'll stay here over the night too…" murmured Alice as she stretched her arms up.

Kyouichi stopped just a few steps in front of the doorway to the shrine.

"This will be a bit tricky…" he thought as he saw that the oni's horns would collide with the doorframe if he took another step. He could ask Reimu to open the door wider, but the shrine maiden was nowhere to be seen. Kyouichi just approached the doorway diagonally, letting Suika's right horn in, then carefully spinning around his vertical axis while taking a step inside, thus successfully taking her through the doorway. He put her on the next vacant futon and covered her up.

"Whew… this reminds me of one of my earlier part-time jobs with a moving company…" he muttered to himself, looking around the shrine to see where Reimu disappeared to.

The red skirt landing on top of the folding screen in the corner of the room answered his question. Reimu was just undressing herself.

"Have you brought Suika in already?" asked Reimu's voice from behind the folding screen.

"Yeah, somehow." replied the outsider. "Now we still have to clean up all those plates, bowls and cups we were using."

"Just bring them in and put them next to the stove, we'll clean them up tomorrow." said Reimu nonchalantly and she hanged the upper part of her shrine maiden outfit over the folding screen. "I'll come and help you as soon as I get changed."

"Alright." said Kyouichi and stepped outside the shrine, ready to bring in the dishes and cups.

Surprisingly, Yuyuko-sama was the first who took the initiative in cleaning the shrine yard up and she had already put all of the plates on a stack. Kyouichi thanked her for the help on his and Reimu's behalf and took the stack of plates back inside. The other three girls quickly finished their drinks and snacks and joined the cleaning up, but not without noisy laughter and clumsy drunken steps. Just as Kyouichi brought in the first stack of plates, Reimu was already dressed in a pure white long nightgown. Without her red ribbon in her hair, Kyouichi almost didn't recognize her. She just walked right past him and out of the shrine.