Chapter 22 – The Dress Makes the Man
After bowing to Meiling on his way out, Kyouichi had to push the borrowed fishing boat back into the water. The thick mist from the morning had significantly lifted and it was now possible to see the lake's shore from the island. Once the boat was again floating on water, he got on and with a few hard strokes of the oars, he picked off from the island's shore. He was more relaxed now that he left the mansion and that the mist over the lake was now rather thin. He leisurely rowed the boat at a slow pace, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. However, something unusual caught his attention. He could hear two childish voices from somewhere, but as he looked around, he couldn't see anyone. It sounded like two girls arguing about something. He sopped rowing and focused his senses to hear what the voices were arguing about. Finally, as he looked up, he could see two faint silhouettes floating above the lake. As he took a better look, he saw that the two figures were fairies. One in a blue dress and the other one clad in red and white. They didn't even notice him as they were arguing.
"W-Whaat?!" called one of the fairies.
"That's right, I haven't forgotten!" replied the other one. "You destroyed my house the other day, didn't you? So I declared a war on you! Which I just remembered now.
"Wait, so perhaps the one who declared the war on us…"
"It was me! And now you're gonna die!"
"Huh? So you mean it wasn't Marisa-san? Too bad…"
"It's a good thing I remembered! Now today will be the anniversary for my declaration of war!"
Right after that, the two fairies began their battle. One of the fairies conjured up a widespread barrage of bright yellow shots of energy while the other one launched icicles in a straightforward rapid-fire stream. This lasted for over half a minute as the two kept shooting and missing or dodging away if a stray shot or two headed their way. The icicle-shooting fairy seemed to have the edge in this battle. Her attacks were more accurate and when she was overwhelmed by a dense barrage of light, she stopped her attack, stretched out her hands forward and a white shimmering light appeared in front of her as she charged up her energy. Just when the yellow wall of shots was about to make contact with her, the ice fairy activated her power and a chilling wave erupted out of her palms, freezing all the energy shots in front of her and as the frozen bullets were hit by those behind them, they also stopped their motion and joined the frozen ones in a chain reaction that spread all the way back to the other fairy.
"Aaaack!" cried the red-white fairy as she felt the frostbite on her palms.
The mass of frozen bullets burst in a loud crashing sound equivalent to the sound of breaking glass. Hundreds of small ice fragments scattered everywhere and hit the lake's surface like a hailstorm. The red-white clad fairy didn't falter and wasted no time to charge up another attack, this time forming a sphere of larger yellow and orange energy balls around her body and sending them off to all directions. As Kyouichi saw what was about to happen, he panicked and tried to row the boat away as fast as possible. Luckily, the outburst of yellow shots spread wider and missed the boat by a few meters. This time, the ice fairy didn't have as much luck. As she used another quick-charge freezing wave, several of the orange fireballs continued in their flight.
"Kyaaah~!" screamed the ice fairy, confirming that she's been hit.
Kyouichi did what he could to get out of the scene of their battle, but the boat didn't move very fast.
"That's it!" shouted the ice fairy. "I'll freeze you like a frog!"
She drew something out and held it above her head.
Kyouichi interrupted his rowing to look up once more. "Oh… That looks like a Spell Card. I've never seen one those in action yet…"
"Ice Sign "Icicle Fall"!" declared the ice fairy and with a bright blue flash, the Spell Card in her hand dispersed into blue sparkles. Behind her appeared a few shining blue lights out of which flowed unsteady rhythmical streams of magical ice shards directed not at the other fairy, but launching sideways. However, as the first burst spread wide enough, the ice shards changed their heading and closed in on their target in slow half-circle waves. The fairy in red and white looked surprised at first, but she managed to cleverly dodge the first two waves with little effort. She closed in on her ice-powered opponent and stopped just a few meters in front of her.
Kyouichi's eyes widened in panic as he saw the wave of icicles that missed its target dangerously closing in on his boat. "This won't end well…"
It was too late to move out of the way. Impact was imminent. Kyouichi could only do as much as cover his head with both arms. He heard a series of splashes interjected by a loud crack. Kyouichi was unharmed, but the boat was hit. As he straightened up and lowered his arms, he noticed a bubbling sound which drew his attention to his feet. Looking down at the boat's bottom, he saw a single hole through which the water flowed into the boat.
"Oh, great! I'm sinking." he grumbled as he tried to plug the hole with his foot. He tightly grabbed the oars again and hurried to the southern shore of Misty Lake. Meanwhile, the ice fairy's Spell Card ended. The other fairy was unscratched and all she had to do was stand right in front of her enemy and wait.
"Ahahahaha~!" she laughed amusedly. "And THAT is what passes for a Spell Card? Ahahaha~! How pathetic. Now it's my turn!"
She drew out her own Spell Card, showed it to her opponent and declared: "Sun Sign "Aggressive Light"!"
Apparently, this fairy had powers related to sunlight. Right after the declaration of her spell, the air in front of her was filled with unguided bright orbs of light combined with rapid narrow beam-like streams of smaller projectiles. The ice fairy just barely dodged the rays and in panic, she drew out another of her cards. Fortunately for the outsider, this attack was more directed at its target, so the boat was safe. However, with a hole in it and slowly filling with water, it was a bit too late. Kyouichi's foot only managed to slow down the flooding, but he estimated that he should make it to the shore anyway. That estimation changed instantly when the ice fairy declared another of her Spell Cards in a desperate act to survive the sun fairy's barrage.
"Freeze Sign "Perfect Freeze"!"
It suddenly became very cold. Every single energy projectile including the bright fireballs was frozen solid, hanging there in thin air for a couple of seconds without motion. Even as the sunlight fairy fired new shots, they just froze instantaneously. In the following moment, the ice thawed and all the bullets were set back into motion, but this time their heading was erratic and unpredictable.
Kyouichi only managed to utter a swear word as he helplessly watched a few of those projectiles heading his way ram into the fishing boat and add a couple of more holes in its hull.
The water was flowing in fast. He was no longer curious about the outcome of the fairies' duel. He needed to row hard and fast. He tried to hold both his feet on the holes, but it did little to prevent water from flowing in. He was still more than 200 meters away from the shore.
Huffing and puffing with each stroke of the oars, he felt his feet and the lower part of his hakama getting wet. As the boat gained more and more water, it became slower. With all his effort, Kyouichi still managed to close the distance between himself and the shore to something around 150 meters, but he was already knee-deep in water by now. He resignedly let go of the oars and shrugged.
"This boat is going to the bottom…" he muttered to himself as he looked up once more to the fairies that caused the boat to sink.
It appeared that the ice fairy was victorious, since the other fairy was nowhere to be seen. She either fled or was eliminated. It didn't unsettle Kyouichi's mind, since he knew that the fairies get reborn right after they suffer mortal injuries.
"Well, little ice fairy, I hope you're happy now… Mizuto's going to kill me for this…" he commented as he was standing up. Fortunately, one of Kyouichi's few talents was swimming, so he wasn't as much worried about drowning, as he feared Mizuto's reaction when he finds out that he managed to get his boat sunk. He found this situation somewhat tragicomical. He smirked at the thought of how this all happened and as he whistled the melody from the movie Titanic, he prepared himself for the unpleasantly cold water, in which he would be forced to swim soon. As he began to feel that the boat's bottom was going down, he took one deep breath. With a last few bubbling sounds, the fishing boat disappeared under the lake's surface, leaving the outsider to swim on his own.
"Damn, is it cold…" he commented as he was trying to stay afloat. "I just hope that no lake monsters live here…" However, his worries were soon dismissed by a logical assumption that if the lake was truly a home to any dangerous creatures, there wouldn't be any fishing colony here in the fist place.
Swimming in a kimono wasn't exactly easy, but this wasn't the first time he was forced to swim with clothes on. He was a good swimmer and 150 meters wasn't a very big distance. He didn't hurry to the shore, though. Instead, he used slow strokes in combination with slow breathing to save his strength and prevent getting a spasm in the foot. In less than 3 minutes, he was already climbing up the lake's shore. He was wet from head to toe, but he didn't want to see Mizuto to ask for some spare clothes. He was too scared to see him and tell him that he has one less fishing boat. He didn't think that the fisherman would buy his story that the fairies sank it, despite it being the truth. Just as he was thinking what to do now, he saw a Ryuuken patrol leaving the colony.
"This is my chance." he thought to himself and hurried to follow them. "Maybe if I won't say anything, he won't find out… But I think it's just a matter of time until he finds out… I should apologize to him… and pay him for a new boat…"
As his guilt and fear wrestled inside his head for supremacy, he quietly followed the relieved Ryuuken out of the colony. He was walking 10 meters behind them, too embarrassed to be walking there with them in his soaked clothes. The guards looked back at him a couple of times and had a good laugh at him as his clothes were dripping water even after 20 minutes of walking.
Meanwhile, Mizuto returned on one of his boats to the shore after catching quite a lot of fish. He docked his boat at one of the piers and after taking a better look, he noticed that both of his two other boats were tied to the pier. "Hmph I guess Kyouichi-kun already got his business settled… Okay… Time to cut these fish up…"
After he got off of the boat with a net full of fish hanging over his shoulder, he greeted a fellow fisherman, who was nervously walking around and muttering something.
"Hey, there Kenjiro-san… How's your work today?"
The elderly fisherman gave him a sidelong look and frowned. "Ah man, this is such a pain… Some of those young anglers must have borrowed my boat again. I can't see it anywhere."
"Pfff, kids these days…" stated Mizuto as he passed his friend by.
"I wonder what are those goddamn Ryuuken doin' if the boats just keep disappearin'."
By now, Kyouichi was already a long way from the colony, still falling some distance behind the small squad of warriors. He blamed himself all the way for not avoiding the battle between the fairies.
"At least I didn't lose Patchouli-sama's amulet…" he muttered, grasping the object in his palm. "Let's just hope you'll bring me more luck at getting me home than you brought me at getting across that lake…" he whispered, addressing his words to the ornate amulet.
An hour and a half has passed since he left the fishing colony and he was starting to feel hungry. Furthermore, the wet clothes were chilling him. He was prepared that the Ryuuken would take a break at the crossroad, but to his surprise, they didn't stop and continued on their way… to Kazemura.
"Hey, wait, wait, waaaait~!" called Kyouichi after the Ryuuken leader. "Aren't you guys going to the Human Village?"
The Ryuuken officer let out an amused laughter. "No, you dimwit. We are assigned to Kazemura. The next patrol headed for the Human Village departs the fishing colony in two hours from now."
"What?! Damn! What should I do now?"
"Well, you can either come with us, or stay here and wait for the next patrol or head to the village on your own. You choose…"
Kyouichi considered his options for a while and finally made a decision. "I'm going on my own."
"Suit yourself." shrugged the Ryuuken indifferently and commanded his men to follow his lead.
For some reason Kyouichi had the confidence that he wouldn't be attacked by any youkai on his way to the village. He continued his way at a brisker pace, to warm up a bit. He still had Reimu's blessed amulets in case some hungry youkai would get in his way. Cursing the life in Gensokyo, the fairies and even the youkai of boundaries, he made his way through the foothills on the northeastern side of the Forest of Magic. He didn't encounter any youkai all the way. After another hour, he came to a crossroad in front of the stairway to the Hakurei Shrine. As he looked up the stairs, he saw the shrine maiden sweeping.
"Hi, Reimu~!" he called at her and waved his hand.
The shrine maiden waved back as she saw him and made an inviting gesture. Kyouichi was tired and hungry, so he thought he'd stop by for at least some soup. As he stepped up the stairs towards Reimu, she noticed that his clothes were drenched.
"Hello, Kyouichi. I haven't seen you in quite a while... Why are your clothes all wet?"
"You want to hear the short version or the whole story…?" replied the outsider with a bitter tone, but with a pleasant smile.
Reimu stopped her sweeping and invited him to the shrine. She was curious about what happened, and so, Kyouichi told her the whole story including the letter, his trip to the lake, the short stay in the Scarlet Devil Mansion and his way back. Reimu listened carefully and with great interest while she made him some tea. Suika was also at the shrine, and just like Reimu, she asked a whole lot of questions. Kyouichi explained Patchouli's plan to find Yukari using the amulet and that someone would have to go to the underground and meet a certain youkai who can supposedly pinpoint Yukari's location.
"I see…" muttered Reimu and nodded understandingly as she observed Patchouli's amulet. "I guess it's time to visit the Palace of the Earth Spirits again."
"Hey, Reimu~. Give me, give me…" asked Suika childishly for the communicating amulet.
As the shrine maiden sighed and obliged, the little oni took the amulet, shook it in her palm, tapped it with her finger and spoke to it: "Heeey~! Yukariiiin~! Are you in there~?"
Reimu gave her a questioning look. "Uhh, Suika? I hate to break it up to you but, I don't think that Yukari is actually IN the amulet."
The oni didn't listen to her and kept on talking to the amulet. "It's me, Suika~. And Reimu's here too… Come on, say something. We want to see you again. Come out already~!"
As expected, there was no response coming from the amulet and Suika sadly lowered her head as she gave up her attempt.
"Reimu~! I want to see Yukari again~!" she whined as she was returning the amulet to the shrine maiden.
"I know…" muttered Reimu, tracing the ornaments on the amulet with her finger. "Me too…"
"So, you're going to the Former Hell again?" asked the oni.
"I don't really want to go there…" pouted the shrine maiden and took a sip of tea from her cup. "But if that girl can really help us find Yukari… I'll go."
"And what about Marisa-san?" asked the outsider.
"Yeah, we'll get there faster if we go together." thought Reimu aloud. "We'll need some time to prepare for the trip"
"Thank you, Reimu. Take the amulet then and let me know what you found out once you're back." Kyouichi requested from her. "I better hurry to the village or I'll be late for work."
"Wait a minute." she halted him by grabbing his hand. "You can't go to the village in those wet clothes."
"It's not like I have a choice. Besides, I walked all the way from the lake in these…"
"No. You need to get changed or you'll catch a cold." protested the shrine maiden. "Wait here."
She went into the shrine and after five minutes she returned with another cup of hot tea and some folded clothes.
"Here… And take these too…" she handed him two white pills.
"What's that?" he asked as he mistrustfully observed the drugs.
"It's a cold preventive medicine from Eientei." Reimu explained and passed him the cup of tea.
"Okay…" shrugged the outsider and swallowed both pills, washing them down with tea. "So, have you found any clothes I could get changed into?"
"Yes." smiled Reimu and unfolded the clothes which she brought. "They may be a bit small for you, but…"
Kyouichi spat out the tea in laughter as he saw them. "What?! Miko clothes?! That's not gonna happen!"
An hour later after waking up from a sudden blackout caused by the medicine he took, Kyouichi was already groaning in displeasure as he was looking down at his chest and tucking onto his new shrine maiden's attire. Suika who was standing behind him was covering her mouth as she giggled. "Oh, Kyou-chan… You're so cute~!"
"What the hell did you do to me?!"
He stood up slowly and walked up to the mirror hanging on the wall. His jaw dropped from the shocking image staring back at him from the mirror. "W-Where are my normal clothes?"
"They're drying up outside, of course." replied Reimu who just entered the shrine. She put on a wicked smile and she couldn't manage to hide her chuckling.
"I can't show myself like that in public…" said Kyouichi, refusingly shaking his head as he watched his new image reflected in the mirror. "At least you could spare me from this hair ribbon…" he muttered as he was untying the big red ribbon from his hair - the same kind that Reimu had in her hair.
"What are you doing? You look so good in it~! Miko-miko Kyouichi~!" laughed Suika, holding her stomach.
"Just look at me! I'm a freak! And you, Reimu…" he threateningly pointed his finger at the shrine maiden. "Those pills were no cold medicine, were they?"
"Oh, but they were… They're just a bit strong and have a little side effect. They put you to sleep for a while."
"What time is it anyway? I need to get to the village and go to work."
"I don't have any clocks at the shrine." shrugged Reimu. "But it's sometime around noon I guess…"
Kyouichi finally untied the red ribbon from his hair and quickly thought what to do next.
"My clothes are drying outside and the walk to the village takes over a half an hour… If I go now, I just might make it to the bookstore on time. And when I get to the village, Minako-san will surely give me some normal clothes… Alright, I better get going." he said reluctantly, hoping that nobody would see him like this.
"Okay, then. I'll go with you." Reimu volunteered herself and told Suika not to break anything while she's gone. "Come on, Kyou-chan~!" she teased him as she giggled at how ridiculously her own clothes looked on him.
"Yeah, ha, ha~… So damn funny." grumbled the outsider as he followed Reimu out to the shrine yard.
They didn't even get halfway to the torii when a rapid clicking sounded from behind, followed by an amused call: "Ayayayaya~!"
Kyouichi froze on the spot, trembling from embarrassment. "Oh, no…! Not her! Anything but her!"
A sudden gust of wind blew from behind them and a renowned tengu reporter made her appearance. "Oh, this will be a scoop." she smiled wryly and rubbed her hands. "The Hakurei Shrine has a new shrine maiden…"
Another series of pictures was taken from all angles as Aya excitedly flew around them.
"Aya-san, please… give me that camera…" Kyouichi tired to desperately negotiate with her.
"No can do~!" sang the tengu teasingly and snapped more shots of the embarrassed outsider.
"Reimu, please tell her something." he turned to the shrine maiden in hope of her support.
"Let me know when the next issue comes out." called Reimu at Aya, hiding her giggling with her hand.
"You'll be among the first ones to get the new printout." smiled Aya and waved at her before she jetted off into the sky again.
Kyouichi stood there dumbfounded, blinking a few times before managing to find the right words to describe his feelings. "Someone… kill me, please."
He could already see the looks on all the people's faces when they read the next issue of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. If his appearance in the news during the hanami from two weeks ago didn't make him famous, this doubtlessly will. However, the correct word in this situation would be "infamous".
"Damn… So this is what Remilia meant when she said that my life will get really interesting?" asked Kyouichi himself. "She should have told me frankly that it will suck like hell…"
"Oh, don't worry." Reimu tried to cheer him up. "People will forget about it… eventually."
"Just when I thought I was going to like the tengu girl… And she does this to me…"
They walked down the set of stone stairs, ready to turn left and head towards the village when they both noticed rhythmical drumming sound like a horse gallop.
"Oh, please, no more witnesses…" whined Kyouichi, covering his face with his palms.
However, he was curious who could be riding down this road, and so, he uncovered his face to look. Reimu also prepared herself, reaching her hand inside her sleeve, ready to unleash her amulets. However, as soon as they both saw a human figure riding from the north on the back of a brown horse, they felt relieved. At least Reimu did. The horseman's clothes bore the hallmarks of the Ryuuken militia and he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. As he spotted Reimu and Kyouichi, he pulled the reins, making his horse slow down gradually and stop. Judging by the stripes on his shoulders, Kyouichi knew that this young rider had the lowest ranking among the warriors. He was definitely one of the new recruits. The way he was unsteadily balancing on the saddle of his horse revealed that he couldn't have been in the service of the militia for too long. He looked like a scout or a messenger. Even though he saw Kyouichi in his ridiculous outfit, he maintained a serious face. Then he curiously raised his eyebrow and asked the dumbest question he could.
"Which one of you is Reimu Hakurei?"
Kyouichi put on a half-surprised, half-angry smile with his lips slightly agape and the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Which fist would you like me to hit you with first?" he asked jokingly, showing off his clenched fists.
"Yes? What is it that you need from me?" asked Reimu curiously.
"There's some trouble in Kazemura. The village has been attacked by a swarm of aggressive fairies. We're holding them off, but there's too many. We need your help as soon as possible." explained the messenger.
Reimu opened her mouth in slight surprise and nodded. "Okay then, I'll be right there." She then turned to Kyouichi and apologized. "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to walk you to the village. You should wait at the shrine with Suika until I get back."
Without even saying goodbye, she took off from the ground and headed north. The Ryuuken messenger turned his horse around in the meantime and off he went, heading north as well.
Kyouichi was again left alone. He unbelievingly stared into the sky at the flying shrine maiden and shrugged helplessly. When he looked down, he noticed something shiny lying by his feet.
"Huh? What's this?" he asked as he looked at the shiny round piece of metal. "Oh… Don't tell me…" he didn't even finish his sentence. He knew that it wasn't a coin. It was Patchouli's magical amulet used for communication. Reimu must have dropped it as she soared up into the sky. He picked it up and scratched the dirt off its surface.
"Epic… This is just… epic." he grumbled as he realized that he'll have to visit Reimu again to hand her the amulet. Hopefully, she won't go into the underground before she realizes that she no longer has it. Kyouichi immediately got an idea to give the amulet to Suika, but the drunken little oni would probably lose it too. He decided to keep the amulet until his next meeting with the Hakurei shrine maiden or optionally, Marisa. Right now, he had other things on his mind. First: to get a move on to the Human Village and second: to get changed from Reimu's outfit into something more masculine.
He trotted at a moderate pace down the road to the village. The sooner he'd make it there, the lesser the chance that he'd encounter something dangerous. He jogged all the way to the village. It was exhausting, but he forced himself to keep the pace up until he was within the outer premises of the Human Village. As he expected, he saw two guards stationed at the northern end. He decided to stray from the road and make a detour to avoid being seen by them. His plan worked. He managed to sneak into the village undetected. Pressing his back against the wall of one of the houses and peeking around the corner, he waited for the right moment when there was nobody on the street. Then, he darted across to the other side and right into the Saitou residence.
"Whew…" he exhaled with relief as he closed the door behind him. "That was close."
He tiptoed to the guest room to undress himself from the shrine maiden's clothes. Minako was home on her lunch break and she noticed some noise coming from the corridor.
"Huh? Kyouichi-kun, is that you?"
Kyouichi quickly hid Reimu's clothes under his futon before Minako entered his room.
"Oh, you're home already? And… did you take a bath?" she asked him with a surprised expression.
"Ehh… yeah." he lied to save himself from embarrassment. "But I accidentally got my kimono wet… Do you have any spare clothes for me?"
"I'm sorry, Kyouichi-kun." Minako bowed in an apologetic manner. "I've taken all the clothes from the guest room to the shop already… But I'll take a look inside the wardrobes and see if I have something you could put on…" she said and left the guest room.
"Anything will be better than what I was wearing just a moment ago…" murmured Kyouichi quietly and let out a relieved sigh. Minako fell for his little lie, but Mizuto probably won't.
"I better think of some really good excuse to explain why I didn't return with his boat."
In a minute, Minako was back in the guest room, handing him her old yukata with a regretful look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kyouichi-kun, but Mizuto's clothes are all dirty so this is all I can give you at the moment."
Kyouichi raised his eyebrow. "A yukata?"
Truly, Minako's pink yukata with purple flower pattern and a bright red sash wasn't exactly masculine. Kyouichi seriously thought that walking around the village in Minako's yukata or Reimu's attire wasn't so much of a difference, but now, he had to choose the lesser evil.
As Minako helped him tie the sash into a knot behind his back, Kyouichi shook his head while looking in the mirror. He still refused to accept it as real and thought it was just some kind of bad dream.
"Say, Minako-san. What's the time?" he asked her to divert his attention from the silly young man dressed in pink yukata staring back at him from the mirror.
"Half past one." she replied nonchalantly as she finished tying the sash.
"Already?! I better move it…" he commented and after thanking Minako for her kindness, he gathered all his courage and stepped outside.
As he walked down the street to the marketplace, he attracted a lot of attention. He could literally feel everyone's eyes staring at him as he walked through the crowded center of the village. He managed to swallow his embarrassment and walked all the way to the Starlight Glyph, just as if he was wearing his usual kimono. He entered the bookstore as nonchalantly as ever and as he approached Daisuke sitting behind the counter, the man immediately stood up
"Oh, good afternoon! Welcome to the Starlight Glyph! Have you come to buy a… wait a second… Ishimaru?!"
In the meantime, Kyouichi heard the shop's door open behind him as some customer entered right afterwards, but the outsider only looked at his boss, sighed with contempt and shook his head. "…Don't ask…"
Daisuke's face showed an expression of utmost surprise and disbelief as he pointed his finger at Kyouichi. "Y-Yu…Yu-u-ka…"
"Yes, a yukata…" nodded Kyouichi affirmatively, looking down at his stylish wear. "I've been so enthralled by the atmosphere of the upcoming summer festival that I just had to express my emotions… So yeah… I've come here in a yukata today." he explained with sarcasm laced on his words.
He didn't even finish his sentence before Daisuke walked backwards into the printing room with droplets of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kyouichi called behind him. "Aren't you even curious how my today's trip to the mansion went?"
The only reply coming from the printing room was the sound of the running printer and the rustling of paper.
Kyouichi shrugged and crossed his arms. "Hmph… Fine… Be that way… I wouldn't tell you if you begged me!"
Suddenly, a gentle female voice sounded from behind him: "Good afternoon~ ."
A little surprised, he turned around to the familiar voice and smiled joyfully. "Yuuka-san! A good afternoon to you as well." he bowed and greeted.
The flower youkai closed her eyes, widened her smile and also bowed gently. Even though Kyouichi never had the time to talk to her much, Yuuka was one of the people (or in this case, youkai) he liked the most. She was always so polite, always smiling and always so calm. He knew that she preferred solitude, but she didn't avoid social contact either. Now she was standing inside the bookstore for the second time.
She curiously rolled her eyes up and down, looking at Kyouichi's borrowed yukata. "Is there a summer festival already~ ?"
"Not really…" Kyouichi shook his head. "I… just… went for a swim in the Misty Lake, you see…"
"In your clothes?"
"Well… yes." he shrugged embarrassedly and changed the topic. "Anyway, what brings you here today?"
"Oh, I've saved up some more money to buy another book I saw here the other day~ ." she replied sweetly.
"Very well, then. Let's see…" he led the way to the encyclopedia section until he stopped at a part of the bookshelf dedicated to books about plants. "Here we are. Can you see that book you mentioned somewhere around here?"
Yuuka slowly shifted her head from one side to another and pointed at the book that caught her interest.
Kyouichi picked it up for her and checked its title. "Hmm… Herbalism in a Nutshell by Eirin Yagokoro… This book is quite in demand here. Just over the last week, we've sold over 10 copies. I haven't read it myself, but I guess it must be good."
"I'll take it then~ ."
"Anything else?" Kyouichi asked her before returning to the counter. "Do you also grow tea in your garden, Yuuka-san? Or fruit trees?" he wondered as he raced through the titles of the other books.
"No, but perhaps one day I will."
He led her back to the counter where she paid for the book. As she was about to leave the shop, she stopped on the doorstep and added teasingly: "Nice yukata…"
Kyouichi furrowed his brows in annoyance and replied. "Trust me, compared to what I was wearing just a half an hour ago, this is quite ordinary."
Yuuka giggled amusedly. "I wonder what that was… Goodbye, Kyouichi-san. And stay out of trouble~ ." she gave her usual friendly warning before she left.
"Yes, goodbye." he called after her. "And watch out for crazy fairies…" he added in jest.
As the lovely flower youkai left, Kyouichi grabbed Daisuke's ledger from one of the counter's drawers. He checked how much money he earned over the last two weeks and tried to calculate how much he would need to pay Mizuto for a new boat. Suddenly, Daisuke walked out of the printing room, pretending that nothing happened.
"What's wrong with you, Shimizu-san? You disappeared just like that again… I'm the one who's supposed to be handling the copying and transcription and you're supposed to be dealing with the customers." Kyouichi pointed out, wondering why was his boss acting so strangely sometimes. "You've had countless youkai customers before, so what's eating you again?"
"Nothing, nothing…" denied the storekeeper, but Kyouichi could tell that he's not willing to tell him something. "I just had to refill the ink tank on the printer…"
Kyouichi didn't mean to pry, though. He rather changed the topic to his most recent mishap and asked his boss for some advice on how to tell Mizuto that he was partially responsible for sinking his boat.
"Well, if I were you, I would tell him the truth." said Daisuke after hearing out Kyouichi's version of the story.
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that… And I also think that's the right thing to do, but…"
"Always better than if he'd find out on his own."
"I bet he already had..." sighed the outsider with self-concern. "Well… I guess I've no choice. I'll confess."
"Yeah, you do that…" approved Daisuke and handed him a box of books for copying. "Now, let's make five copies of each so that we wouldn't run out."
The rest of today's shift went on as usually. There were over a dozen customers throughout the day, Kyouichi was keeping an eye on printing and he also took care of some business correspondence. By the end, he swept the shop clean and finally went home, mentally prepared to confront Mizuto with the unpleasant truth. He was physically exhausted and he at least wanted to ease up some weight from his mind. As he entered the house of his caretakers, he was greeted by the head of the family. Oddly enough, Mizuto seemed to be in a good mood for some reason.
"So, how was your day, Kyouichi-kun? And what on earth are you wearing? Are you advertising Minako's shop or something?"
Kyouichi took one deep breath of self-encouragement and explained everything.
"…I know it sounds ridiculous and that you don't believe me a single word, and I don't blame you, but that's how it happened… I'm sorry… I was going to tell you, but I was worried that you'd be mad at me. I'll pay you for a new boat with my own money. Just give me some more time."
Mizuto silently stared at him with eyes widened from surprise and a tension-strained face. His mouth slightly opened and it took a while before he spoke.
"What are you talking about, Kyouichi-kun?"
Kyouichi's heart skipped a beat as he heard Mizuto's reaction. "What do you mean what am I talking about? I just told you the whole truth…"
He seriously expected a slap or some harsh scolding, but to his great surprise, none of it happened. Mizuto shrugged and smiled. "I've seen all of my boats docked at the pier…"
"What?!" asked the outsider unbelievingly. "In that case… I must have borrowed someone else's boat!"
"Now that you mention it, a colleague of mine complained about his boat disappearing again… I guess he must have meant the one you accidentally borrowed and that got sunk…"
Kyouichi was relieved that Mizuto's property was unharmed, but on the other hand, he'd just have to go and apologize to someone else.
"But don't worry about it," Mizuto continued, "Kenjiro-san had all of his boats insured against damage and theft, so he should be compensated for his loss."
"And how is he going to prove that his boat got sunk?" wondered Kyouichi.
"He doesn't have to." explained the fisherman. "The Ryuuken guarding the colony are held responsible for the safety of civilians as well as their property and they write daily reports about the state of every person and item. If anyone has something to explain, it's them."
"But that still makes me guilty of borrowing his boat without permission."
"As it is also my fault for not telling you which boats were mine exactly." retorted Mizuto, accepting a part of the guilt. "But we can both save us some trouble if we just leave things as they are. Kenjiro will get his money and the Ryuuken will keep a better lookout. You should be happy that you didn't drown yourself and not worry over some stupid boat."
Kyouichi exhaled heavily with relief.
"Seriously, Kyouichi-kun… You should take things easy. Anyway… I'm dying to hear what happened in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. How does it look from the inside? Did you meet the vampires?"
The outsider explained everything in detail, while he was stuffing himself with fried chicken.
None of the Saitous said a single word to interrupt him. Kyouichi said that there may be hope for all the outsiders to be sent back home soon if everything goes as planned.
"Wow… So you met both of the vampires?" inquired Mizuto after Kyouichi's monologue was over. "Weren't you scared?"
"Well, I did feel a bit unsettled when talking to Remilia-sama." admitted the young outsider. "At first I thought she'd be kind of childish and all, but… Well, maybe she is indeed like that, but not all the way through. She is surprisingly wise and serious. And when she started talking about fate and stuff... That was just weird. But she's got the sweetest little sister. She didn't see many humans before because Remilia doesn't let her out much, or at least that's how I understand it… Anyway, back on topic, this here amulet is supposedly used to communicate directly with the legendary youkai of boundaries."
Mizuto raised his eyebrow as he inspected the ornate round medallion-shaped amulet made of silver and gold. "Yukari-sama?"
Kyouichi nodded. "Yes, but like I already said, Reimu dropped it when she hurried to help the Ryuuken at Kazemura… I wonder how she fared today… If the village became so dangerous, I'm kind of hesitant to go there, but… I also feel like I should."
"You're not planning to enter that underground realm on your own, are you?" wondered Mizuto.
Kyouichi chuckled and shook his head to reassure him. "I'm eager to return home, but I'm not suicidal. I'm going to give this little trinket to Reimu or Marisa and let THEM handle the rest. And if this whole amulet business brings no fruit, we'll go through the shrine's gateway whether elder Fukukane likes it or not."
"So you're going to leave us soon either way…" stated Minako after she had enough of being silent the whole time.
"So it seems…" muttered Kyouichi, feeling a hint of discomfort. "It all gives me a mixed feeling. I don't even know if I'm looking forward to it or feeling bad about leaving all the nice people I met here, never to see them again… I just… don't know…"
Then, Chitose said something very nice and comforting. "Maybe you can make an agreement with Yukari-sama so that you could come back to Gensokyo for a visit every once in a while. That way everyone could be happy…"
Kyouichi couldn't help but smile at Chitose's cute naivety and optimism, even though he could never make himself believe in something like that.
"Thank you for the dinner…" he said while standing up from the table. He picked up his plate and volunteered to wash it. Minako protested at first, but the outsider insisted.
Since it was weekend coming, he figured, he should head to the shrine to hand over the amulet to Reimu. That way he wouldn't have to take a day off or skip school as he did today. He could also choose to give it to Marisa, but since he had no idea where she lived, Reimu was the only option. Furthermore, he wanted to return her the shrine maiden's outfit that she and Suika made him wear today and also, get back his own clothes that were left out to dry. And finally, he could also ask her about the situation in Kazemura. The plan for the weekend was decided. As for today, Kyouichi had burned out his entire energy reserve. Only courtesy prevented him from laying down on the kitchen's floor and falling asleep there. He bid the Saitou family good night and dragged his feet to the guest room. He slumped himself over the futon and closed his eyes.
"Ahh… so comfy… Time to pay a visit to the dreamworld again…" he thought to himself. "Hey… didn't Yuuka-san say that she comes from dreamworld…?"
As he was thinking about it, he gradually passed out.