Chapter 44 – Paying a Visit
A couple of hours later Soudai and Kyouichi met up once more in the marketplace, deciding to buy a little present, so that they wouldn't come for a visit empty-handed. They didn't need to think for too long about what to buy. Naota liked sake and Midori liked sweets in general, so they bought her some cookies at one of the stands. Kyouichi again couldn't resist buying a taiyaki when he was already there.
"M-kay…" he nodded as he munched on his snack, "We've got all we need. We can see old Naota and Midori now…"
Without a word, Soudai followed him all the way to the house where the old carpenter from the outside world lived. After knocking on the door they could hear Midori's voice calling out: "I'll be right there~!"
Not a moment later, she was already welcoming them and inviting them in, as if she was the lady of the house.
"I'm just helping Naota-san with making dinner, so if you don't mind coming to the kitchen…"
"Why would we mind?" Soudai asked her and followed the girl along the corridor into a small, but nicely furnished kitchen. It was obvious that Naota had invested quite some money into his household. It was no wonder since being a skilled carpenter was a well paid job. The old man welcomed both guests with a nod as he was standing over a pot of soup. "Ah, well if it aren't our two patients from Eientei... Welcome to my house, youngsters. Just wait a few more minutes, will ya? The soup's almost done… Midori, please…" he looked over to the girl who now lived in his house, "pour something for our guests, okay?"
"Sure, Naota-san." Midori obliged. "I'll make some tea right away."
"Tea?" repeated the old man with a scoffing laughter. "No, open a sake bottle! One of the more expensive ones, alright?"
"As you say…" Midori shrugged and left the kitchen.
"But we've brought you some sake too, Naota-san." argued Soudai as he gestured at the bottle in his hand.
"Have ya, now? Let's see… Ah… Amaterasu's Silver… my favorite brand. You sure knew what to buy for me, lad."
"Well, I'm glad that you like it, but you should probably thank to the one behind me, since he told me what you drink…" Soudai pointed a thumb at his friend who was already sitting at the table. "By the way, I'm Asakura… Soudai Asakura. Kyouichi's and Midori's friend… I'm also from the outside world."
"Aye. Midori told me about you… I'm Tanisake Naota." he said as he took a light slurp of the soup from his ladle just to know if it tasted as it should. "I heard that both of you kids got into some serious trouble and had to be taken to Eientei."
"Uhh… yeah, well…" Soudai stuttered as he tried to come up with some funny reply.
"I guess I can now shake hands with both of you and say "welcome to the club", hehe…" chuckled the old man.
"So you were there once too, huh?" Soudai asked nonchalantly.
"If only once, my son! But, that was long ago, and I'm sure you're not in the mood to listen to my stories anyway."
"It's true that we both have enough of Eientei, but I'd like to hear some of your stories, Tanisake-san."
"I'll give you "Tanisake-san"…" Naota scowled at him. "Friends all call me Naota."
"I see… Didn't mean any offense, Naota-san." Soudai apologized.
"I suppose you haven't come to visit me for no reason. Am I right?"
Soudai embarrassedly scratched the back of his head. "Well, actually… We both came here so that we could copy Midori's notes from the lessons that we missed… But of course, I'd like to get to know you too, Naota-san." he quickly added as he saw the old man's frown not going away.
"Well, then let me know when you two are done with copying those notes so that we can finally have a drink and swap a few stories!" said Naota and took the soup pot off the stove.
"Will do, Naota-san, will do." Soudai promised to him and then he took a seat at the table, opposite of Kyouichi.
Midori was back with a sake bottle, but as she saw her two classmates sitting at the table and readying their notebooks, she figured that it was not yet time to drink.
"Alright, you two." she said as she put down the bottle in front of them. "I'll be right back with my notebooks… This might be a good chance for me to remind myself what we studied in the last two weeks, because unlike you, I have to write the test tomorrow."
"Thanks again for your help, Midori-san." Soudai called after her when she left the kitchen once more. "And good luck with your test tomorrow."
"Why bother wishing her good luck with a test?" Kyouichi asked jestingly. "She's Midori! She's one of the best students in our class. And even if she didn't prepare for the test, I'm sure she'd wing it without any problems."
"Just showing her a gesture of my appreciation, Kyouichi-kun." explained his older friend with a smile. "She's a great friend… I mean… she could have told Keine-sensei that our excuses were fakes, but she didn't. And now she's willing to let us copy her notes."
"Guess you're right." Kyouichi admitted. "And she's even been in charge of our club for a week…"
"Here I am~!" Midori announced her return and smacked four notebooks on the table. "So… Which subject should we go over first? Geography is quite easy… Or would you prefer to get the harder stuff over with first?"
"Geography's easy, you say?" Soudai gave her a puzzled look. "Let's do the easy stuff first then."
"As you wish~." Midori quickly opened one of the notebooks and put it up in the middle of the table, so that both of her friends could read its content. "Soudai-san, you missed two lessons, so in your case you'll need to copy the notes about Misty Lake as well as the Nameless Hill."
"Oh, I could tell you a thing or two about the lake." said Kyouichi with a bit of sarcastic tone, as he recalled his wet experience on his way back from the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Dude! I envy you… You've been to places… And me? I've been mostly stuck in the village and later in Eientei…"
"There's not much to envy me for, though. Just look what happened to me when I was returning from Kazemura… And as for Misty Lake, I almost drowned in it…"
"Really?" asked both Midori and Soudai.
"Well, not really, but I can tell you that it's really cold to swim in it in the morning… And my little swim was followed by another… incident, when a photograph of me appeared in one of the local newspapers…"
Soudai didn't know what his friend was talking about, but Midori on the other hand, burst into hearty laughter.
"Ahahahaha~! So that's how you've become known as miko-miko Kyouichi… Hehehee~!"
"Turned out that I shouldn't have given into persuasions and simply kept my wet clothes on." Kyouichi commented while Midori was still laughing. When she finally got over her laughing fit she tapped Kyouichi's shoulder. "Okay, okay, sorry… I know it wasn't a pleasant experience for you but…" she interrupted her sentence with more snickering, "I'll never forget about that picture! It was priceless!"
"Gee, thanks…" annoyed Kyouichi grumbled under his nose.
"So anyway… I think it would be better if you both copied the notes about Nameless Hill first, so you wouldn't have to wait for Soudai to copy the notes about Misty Lake."
"Fair enough." acknowledged the older of the two males. "So… Nameless Hill… Is that really a name of the hill, or simply a reference to a location that was not named?"
"The former." replied Midori tersely and seriously.
Soudai made a snort. "That's… rather weird. It's as if I was called Anonymous… Which I am on many discussion forums on the net… But mostly, I just give myself some random nickname."
Midori exchanged her look with Kyouichi and asked him: "Does he always keep saying stupid things like that?"
"No, Midori, he usually says far crazier things to digress from the discussed topic."
"Ha! Aren't you two doing the same right now?" Soudai returned the blow. "So… What's so special about that hill that has no name?"
Midori sighed. "Only goes to show that you're not paying attention, Soudai. I already told you that the hill does have a name. It's called Nameless Hill. Savvy?"
"So why is it called like that?"
"Do you really expect me to spoon-feed you with all the information? It's there in the notebook. All you have to do is read it."
At first, Soudai looked at her with a serious scowling face, but in the next moment he chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I like that tsundere personality of yours, Midori-san."
"Don't treat me like an anime character." She pouted at his remark and stood up from the table. "Anyway… I still need to help Naota-san with the dinner. If you'll see something in the text that you won't understand or can't decipher, then let me know…"
"Don't worry," Kyouichi reassured her. "I've seen much worse handwriting…"
"Hmph…" Midori again pouted her lips and turned her back on the two boys. She still remained in the kitchen, though, just as she said.
"Way to give a compliment to a lady, Kyou-kun…" Soudai muttered to his friend.
"You know, hearing that from you doesn't have a very convincing effect." retorted the younger outsider.
"Hey… What was that supposed to mean?"
"Soudai, please… just focus on the matter at hand, will you? We've got tons of notes to copy and we ain't got all day."
"Okay..." Soudai shrugged as usually when someone reminded him that he was talking too much.
Finally their conversation was halted and replaced by silent scribbling of their quills as they read and copied Midori's notes into their own notebooks.
Both of them were learning new information as they read about a place called Nameless Hill. According to the text, the place was a meadow on a small mountain located opposite of the Youkai Mountain. It is a field overgrown with violet lilies-of-the-valley.
"Lilies-of-the-valley, eh?" Soudai repeated as he wrote down the notes. "Aren't those flowers usually white?"
"Hmm…" Kyouichi thoughtfully hummed. "Convallaria majalis… was it?" he murmured as he tried to recall what he read about it in the encyclopedia back when he still worked at Starlight Glyph.
Soudai blinked in a clueless expression. "Say what? Are you trying to cast a spell or something?"
"No, that's the Latin name of the plant." Kyouichi answered. "Indeed, its flowers are usually white, rarely pink. This is the first time I've heard of violet lilies-of-the-valley…"
"Oh? And since when were you a botany expert, Ishimaru?" Soudai jabbed at his friend.
"I've read a book recently… In that bookstore I used to work at. It was from the outside world, so I read it a bit."
"I see…"
"Anyway… if that place is on a mountain opposite of the Youkai Mountain, it means it should lie somewhere beyond the Bamboo Forest of the Lost."
"Ughhhhh~!" Soudai shuddered as chills ran down his spine. "Don't even say the name of that damn place! I think I've developed an aversion to bamboo thanks to that forest."
"Whatever…" Kyouichi again shifted his gaze to Midori's notebook. "Back to reading…"
And thus, both young outsiders learned that the field of violet lilies-of-the-valley was called "Nameless Hill" because it used to be a place where unwanted newborns were abandoned and left to die among the lilies' poison. Their bodies were subsequently either cleaned up by youkai or they were adopted by the youkai before they died and were raised to become one of them. This dark history from the pre-Hakurei Border era made this place rarely if ever visited by humans in the present days. Furthermore, at some point even most youkai have ceased to show up here as often as they used to, rendering this field to be nearly forgotten by the contemporary Gensokyo and becoming nameless in a more literal sense of word.
"Almost makes me wonder why we are learning about a place that nobody visits and has no major purpose in Gensokyo…" remarked Soudai as he made the final dot after the final sentence.
"Maybe because of its history?" mused Kyouichi.
"Could be..."
"Keine-sensei said that some youkai doll likes to hang out around that field…" sounded Midori as she was slicing up vegetables.
"A youkai doll?" both boys glanced at her curiously.
"Yes, a tsukumogami." she confirmed. "She's supposedly very dangerous for humans."
"Tsukumogami? An object that became a youkai after reaching its 100th year of existence? So she's like Kogasa-chan, huh?" Soudai recalled the youkai girl he met at Eientei.
Of course, that name didn't ring Midori's bell, since she never met the karakasa. "Don't know about any Kogasa-chan, but that doll on Nameless Hill is one of the major reasons why humans rarely ever go there."
"Well, at least we've met a much friendlier tsukumogami… Okay, let me copy the info about Misty Lake now."
"Then I'll take a look at the Youkai Typology." said Kyouichi as he grabbed another notebook from the small pile.
And so, they continued with their work, filling more and more pages with text as they went. In the end, Kyouichi didn't learn much new information about the satori race. According to Midori's notes, seeing a satori on the surface was considered as extreme rarity, if not an impossibility. Like the oni, they too were once feared and hated by the humans and have chosen to isolate themselves from the society, taking refuge in the underground. Even there their numbers remain scarce as they live their lives isolated not only from most of other underground-dwelling youkai, but also from the members of their own kind. The reason why these creatures tend to be loners is not their aggressiveness, but their innate mind-reading power. In fact, the satori are rather timid and reserved by nature. They like peace and harmony and highly respect other living beings despite being a powerful race of youkai. It is out of this respect for the minds of others that they choose to avoid contact with other intelligent beings. On the other hand, simple-minded and instinct-driven animals tend to be attracted by them and it is said that many satori have animal shikigami.
After nearly an hour of writing, the two boys finally finished copying Midori's notes.
"Phew…" Soudai exhaled out of relief as he put down his quill. "I hope all this work will be worth it…"
"If you take your time to reread those notes and try to comprehend them a bit better, then it surely will pay off when you'll be writing the test." answered Midori who was now cleaning the kitchen up a little, since she was already done with making dinner. "So you're both finally done, as I can see… How about some pork cutlets? There's plenty for all of us…"
The answer from both boys was as obvious as one could expect. "Of course, we'd like some!"
"So… Have you thought of what you wanted to add to our club's shopping list?" Midori got right to the point as soon as Kyouichi finished his meal.
"Right… We better get that over with first." he replied as he put away his plate and ripped off a blank page out of his notebook.
"Don't look at me like that." the vice president frowned at his reluctant attitude. "It was your idea in the first place."
"I know, I know." Kyouichi repeated and with a sigh he began writing down a list of necessary supplies. "Let's see… We'll need tents. Since there's 13 of us, I'd say we need at least four." He jotted down a number next to the word "tents".
"Wouldn't it be better to simply buy one big tent for all of us?" suggested Midori.
"A large tent for at least 13 people would be a bit too cumbersome to transport as well as to pack and unpack. Remember that we're not in the outside world anymore and the tents available here aren't as light and convenient as the modern ones with aluminum components and polymeric waterproof fabric. Unless you feel like dragging a 100 kilo tent across mountainous terrain, we should not buy one."
"Alright, I get your point already." Midori cut him off before he'd continue with further arguments. "But then again, do you really think that four smaller tents are going to be lighter than one large one?"
Kyouichi didn't really know that much about tents for a confident answer. "Hmm… Maybe; maybe not. The point is that it's much more convenient to carry four small burdens than lumber around with a big one. We'd probably need a handcart to move it around and we'll need carts for other supplies… And I didn't even mention that in case something happens to one of the tents, we'll still have three left."
"True, but then some of us won't be able to sleep at night." remarked Midori with a smirk.
"Of course some of us won't be sleeping at night!" retorted the president of the club. "We'll need someone to watch over the campsite at night too, so we should have people take turns to keep a lookout… at least in pairs."
Midori shrugged, having admitted that Kyouichi's reasoning was rational after all. "Very well… Four tents it is."
As Kyouichi was scribbling some additional notes into the list, Soudai slowly raised his hand like a timid young pupil in front of a teacher. "May I say something as well?"
"As long as it's on topic…"
"Just occurred to me… That you're making a list in order to assess our club's future expenses, right?"
"Good morning, Asakura-san." Midori jokingly remarked, since she had thought that the purpose of that list was as obvious as it could get.
"But…" Soudai continued, paying no mind to Midori's sarcasm, "do you guys even know how much does a tent cost here? And other items too… We should first learn the exact prices from the shops before we can start calculating."
"Wow…" Midori uttered in a state of slight surprise. "He actually said something reasonable for a change."
"That's why we're only making a rough version of this list right now." explained Kyouichi. "Once we have an exact idea about what we're going to buy, learning the prices of each individual item won't be a problem."
"Ahh, I see… I thought you wanted to make the definite list right here and now."
"Well, I estimate that we should have the exact sum elaborated by the end of this week."
"Knowing how much money we'll need to be ready for our return journey should calm things down a bit in our club…" Midori stated. "It may turn out that we'll be able to leave Gensokyo much sooner than expected."
"Or much later…" Soudai presented an unlikely, but quite possible worse case scenario.
"Don't be such a pessimist." Midori pouted at his words.
"Hey, I just remembered something." Kyouichi again recalled what Midori told him earlier today. "You said that we could get a loan from the village council, right?"
"Only if any of us would own some real estate and have it as their permanent residence." the vice president specified.
"I just got this interesting idea…"
"We're listening."
And so, Kyouichi briefly explained his idea to buy the falling-apart shack near the Temple of Myouren using the money which the club has accumulated so far. The said shack would then be written as the place of his permanent residence and that way he could ask the village council for a loan.
"Dude…" Soudai halted him suddenly. "I hate to be a killjoy, but seriously… Do you really think that buying that house will come cheaper than our traveling supplies?"
"I…" Kyouichi suddenly doubted his own idea. "I don't really know that. But that shack is in a terrible condition. I'm sure its price can't be too steep. I'll need to visit the village hall to learn its exact price… That gives us another reason to complete our list and calculate the final sum."
"Yeah, and we both need to find ourselves some work."
"So you all kids are serious about leaving Gensokyo after all…" the sudden sound of Naota's voice surprised the trio of classmates.
"Naota-san…" Midori uttered as she turned her head to the left.
"Sorry…" the old man lightly bent forward in apology, "but I couldn't overhear that little conversation you were having… About buying a hunter's cabin in order to get your hands on a loan from the council…"
Kyouichi wasn't very happy that Naota was now aware of their plans. "Geez… For an old man, you sure have some good ears…"
"Well, you weren't exactly keeping your voice too low either, kid." the retired carpenter retorted with a weak smile.
"Guh…" Kyouichi reluctantly had to admit that Naota was right.
"What would you kids say if I told you that I could help you acquire that old cabin?" came a surprising offer out of the blue.
"C-come again?" uttered the confused young outsider.
Naota widened his smile into a sly grin. "Let's just say that the owner of that hut was one of my friends. He's probably dead now, though… Anyway the thing is that I've been considering buying off his cabin myself in order to collect his belongings so that I'd have something to remember him by… You see, he simply took off on a journey one day and never returned. All of his things inside his cabin were left untouched. I had a feeling that something wasn't right when he hasn't returned even after several months. Now, it's been two years since I had seen him last. Like I said, he's most likely long dead, but somehow I always kept hoping that he might return any time… Heh, that's probably the reason why I still hadn't bought that cabin when the council assumed its ownership and offered it for sale. But now that I've heard about your clever little idea, I can't help but to feel that now is finally the time to do it…"
"So, what are you planning to do exactly?" Kyouichi asked hesitantly, almost as if he was afraid to hear Naota's answer.
"I'll buy it… and write your name as its owner."
"What?! I…" Kyouichi was obviously taken aback by Naota's offer, but he knew that everything had its price. "What do you expect from me in return then?"
"Hmm… Good question. What DO I want in return?" spoke the old man to himself. "Nothing actually…"
Kyouichi stared blankly at him, still paralyzed by his own disbelief. "N-nothing? Umm… how much sake have you drunk today, Naota-san?"
"None yet." the old man smiled at him. "Which reminds me that it's about time to open our first bottle, don't you think?"
"I don't understand… Why are you willing to do this?"
"Because it's convenient for me. You'll leave a testament when you leave Gensokyo, in which you'll state me as the heir of the cabin. No matter how suspicious will that sound, the council will have no choice but to acknowledge it. And while everyone will believe that you died, I will again legally become the cabin's owner... Then I'll probably sell it back, but in order to increase its value, it'd have to be renovated…"
Everyone kept staring at Naota in silent awe as he explained his idea to the group of young outsiders.
"That… actually makes a lot of sense." murmured Kyouichi as he gave Naota's words some thought.
"And you will help me with its renovation, Kyouichi… That is what I want from you in return. What do you say?"
The young man took a while to process Naota's offer. It seemed almost too good to be true, but he knew that an opportunity like that does not arise every day and that it would be a sin to let it pass him by.
"I… Of course I'll help you with anything regarding the cabin's renovation." he wholeheartedly accepted the terms of the old man's offer. "But…" he suddenly raised a finger, "you know that I'm not very skilled at manual work."
Naota only scoffed at his remark. "Than take that work as an opportunity to learn something new, kid."
"I'm at a loss for words, Naota-san… It would seem that no matter what I tell you now will fully express my gratitude."
"Hey, don't go all emotional on me, kid. Like I said, I'm doing this for my own benefit as well. Buying off the cabin will be killing two birds with one stone."
"Ishimaru…" Soudai suddenly spoke up again as he turned at Kyouichi, "you one lucky son of a gun… No. I think we're all lucky this time. And all thanks to your acquaintance. Naota-san, we owe you a big one!"
"Glad I could cheer you young folks up a bit. How about a toast to err… commemorate this event?" asked Naota as he was already holding a full bottle of sake in his hand.
The three young outsiders exchanged their meaningful looks, but none of them had anything against a bit of sake.
"Cheers~!" echoed the voices of four people along with the clinking of their sake cups as they had their first dose of alcohol today.
They moved from Naota's kitchen to much greater comfort of armchairs in his living room. Everyone's mood seemed to have improved, now that they had some real hope of early return back to Tokyo. Naota, on the other hand, was glad that he finally made a decision he's been postponing for nearly two years.
"Man, I knew that coming over to visit Naota-san today was a good idea…" said Kyouichi after he finished another cup of good sake. "Now if only finding a new job would be so simple…"
"I'm sure there are some folks in the village that could use an extra hand." Naota reassured him. "You could always just check out the village hall and see what jobs are available."
"Yeah… I just hope I'll be qualified for at least something… Unlike my part-time job, I'll need some specific skills to apply for a full-time job, won't I?"
The old outsider shook his head. "Not necessarily. It depends on the work. Why, you could even ask Shimizu-san to accept you as a full-time assistant and you'd be doing just what you used to do in that bookstore…"
"Not gonna happen." Kyouichi resolutely disagreed.
"Hm? What's wrong, kid?" Naota asked curiously, since he had close to no idea about Kyouichi's reason for quitting his job at Starlight Glyph. "Had enough of books?"
"Haven't I told you already? I had a run-in with one of your former apprentices… Yukiyama Hiroto."
"Huh? Hiroto? What happened?" It seemed that the old man really didn't recall what Kyouichi had told him earlier.
"Don't you remember? It happened on that rainy day… And I'm fairly sure I clearly told you that Hiroto started the fight… But of course, you were more concerned by the fact that I was talking to Yuuka-san."
"Who's Yuuka-san?" Soudai whispered a question at his friend.
"Not now, Soudai." Kyouichi again brushed him off.
"Of course I was concerned." Naota grumbled back. "You never know whether the local rumors about youkai are true or not until it's too late."
"So, she's a youkai, huh?" Soudai murmured to himself as he kept on listening to their conversation.
"Oh, come on!" Kyouichi gave Naota a condescending look. "If she didn't show up when she did, well… I'd probably have the opportunity to see Eientei a bit sooner. It turned out that the ones we should be wary of the most are us, humans…"
"Hmph… You know… You're probably right." Naota nodded to Kyouichi's last statement. "I might have overreacted back then… I don't know any youkai personally, but I have my own reasons. Perhaps you won't have a reason to avoid every one of them like I do… I'm sorry to hear that Hiroto picked a fight with you too. One would think that after all those incidents he got himself into, he'd learn his lesson."
"He hates all outsiders. No exceptions. He even said that about you. Working with him was like a punishment. I'm telling you, the best thing I could have done was to quit working in the bookstore."
Naota let out a sigh of contempt. "If only I paid you a bit more attention then…"
"And you'd do what?!" Kyouichi angrily shouted back. "Look… There's no reason for you to take any responsibility for me or Hiroto. Our little dispute is over, because I'll do my best never to cross paths with him again. Live and let live… I do hate him, but I'm not that big of a bastard to try and sue him now. Hatred will only bring more hatred and I don't feel a need to drag my ass over law courts. If someone else sues him for something, or if he gets himself killed by some youkai, fine. I don't care. My point is… I'm not going to work at that bookstore as long as he is working there too."
"Then I wish you luck in finding a more suitable workplace, kid. If the village hall won't help, just ask the people. There's always something that needs to be done around the village and people aren't all xenophobes."
"Maybe so, but I doubt they're going to employ someone without any practical skills."
"Surely you must have some kind of talent." said the old man to boost Kyouichi's confidence.
"Talent? Me?" he chuckled, "Well, sure… I can swim pretty well. I can even swim a 30 meter distance underwater. But I guess there are no sponsored swimming competitions in Gensokyo. What a pity… Hey, maybe I could do a lifeguard at the fishing colony…" he added with a sarcastic tone and laughed at his silly idea. "Yeah, right…"
"That can't be the only thing you're good at." said Naota seriously. "Perhaps there's something that you've always wanted to become…"
"Hmm…" Kyouichi scratched his chin as he thought. "Well, besides swimming, English is my biggest forte, but here? Quite useless I'd say. The only foreigner I know here is Dan and he probably knows Japanese better than English…"
"English? Really?" Naota seemed to nod admiringly. "The last time I heard that language was when I watched the news about Americans dropping their bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Not long after that I found myself here… Anyway, you should be glad that you know a worldwide-used language."
Indeed, English was one of the few things which young Kyouichi was good at. He didn't travel anywhere outside of Japan, but he was still heavily influenced by the western culture. Songs, movies, books, comics, PC games and the Internet – all of these things helped him learn English ever since he was a grade-schooler. And unlike most of his classmates, even his accent sounded like that of a real American speaker and nobody could make fun of his "Engrish" in class or anywhere else.
"I still believe that the knowledge of another language would best suit a job in a bookstore." muttered the old man under his nose.
"Heh… And I once dreamed of becoming a voice actor." continued the long-haired youth. "I can sort of imitate some voices too… Perhaps even sing when I'm drunk enough."
"Oi, really?" Naota grinned widely. "Then have another one, sonny!"
And Kyouichi's cup was again full of sake and he didn't hesitate to drink it.
"So… Let's see if you can sing, kid. Come on."
Kyouichi was a bit embarrassed, but he didn't mind if those laughing at him would be his friends. "Alright then…" he straightened up and cracked his knuckles, "but what should I sing so that even you'd recognize it, Naota-san?"
"Maybe some oldies…" said Soudai, even though his suggestion was pretty obvious, since Naota lost contact with the outside world in 1945.
"Hmm… Besides the folk songs, the oldest songs I know are those from Elvis…"
"Heck, I don't care what you sing; I just want to hear you try." Naota shrugged indifferently.
"Yeah, do Elvis!" Midori cheered him on.
"Oh, I can't wait to hear this…" Soudai crossed his arms and threw a doubting glance at his friend.
"Then here goes nothing…" Kyouichi wasn't really serious about it and only wanted to have some fun. He took a deep breath and put his semi-clenched hand in front of his mouth, as if holding an imaginary microphone and started singing and imitating: "Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go~ . You have made my life complete, and I love you so~ …"
"Dude, that doesn't sound like him at all!" Soudai interrupted him before he even got to the second strophe.
"What do you mean?" Kyouichi asked jokingly, because he knew that Soudai was right. "You ever heard Presley singing?"
"I did. And I'm saying this because NO ONE can compare to the King!"
"Pretty good." Naota gave his little praise, "Even though I don't know any "King"."
"Eh? You don't know Elvis?" Soudai looked unbelievingly at the old man.
"Of course he doesn't." said Midori matter-of-factly. "Elvis was only 10 when Naota-san got spirited away… As for your singing attempt," she turned over to Kyouichi, "Sure… No one can compare to the original, but it wasn't bad. Not good enough for a standing ovation, but a tad better than some of the so called "popular singers" that you can see nowadays…"
"Uhh… why thanks, Midori. And you're right… I better leave singing to those who actually CAN sing. I just wanted to have some fun, that's all. I hope that Elvis isn't rolling over in his grave due to my performance…"
"Guess not, but… I don't think you'll make a living out of it here in Gensokyo." Soudai expressed his opinion.
"Yeah… My earnings would be about as high as Reimu's donations." he commented as he laughed. "Well, so much for my useless talents. I will have to make do with any job opportunity that I'll get. Guess we'll pay the village hall a visit tomorrow, eh, Soudai?"
"The sooner the better." he agreeingly nodded in response.
"Now…" Naota sounded again as he was already pouring another round of sake for himself and his guests. "I've been holding my curiosity on a tight leash for quite a while now, but now that we've put all the mundane talk behind, it urges me to ask you two about what made you visit, or to be more exact, be carried to Eientei."
"Well…" said both young outsiders at the same time, as each had their own story to tell. They both began laughing at their identical and simultaneous reaction.
"Alright, you first." Kyouichi left Soudai the privilege to start. "You're my senior after all…"
"Then let me wet my whistle first." said Soudai and emptied another cup of sake, which seemed to have elicited a pleased smile on Naota's face.
"So… There I was, on my way with the rest of the woodcutters to the bamboo forest like every morning…"
It took over half an hour for him to fully recount his frightening experience from over two weeks ago in the dreaded Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Despite his humorously toned narration, everyone got goosebumps as soon as he got to the thrilling part when the whole group of workers became the target of a youkai attack that was only preceded by rustling sounds of disembodied footsteps on the forest floor.
"Damn… I think I got attacked by the same thing once when I was about your age." remarked Naota with a serious face. "Nearly got killed that time… It was also in the same forest and pretty much at the same kind of work."
"Maybe it's a guardian spirit of the forest that attacks those who chop down bamboo trees." guessed Midori.
"You know… This attack…" Naota paused himself for a moment and shook his head, as if he was disapproving something. "It only shows us all how stubborn people are. Even after the same situation happens time and time again, there will always be those who keep doing it... until it kills them. I too was once young, inexperienced and foolish. Even more so than you, kids… I thought that because we were a group and escorted by Ryuuken, we couldn't be attacked by any youkai. I quickly learned that Gensokyo doesn't work that way. One would have a hard time finding common sense even here in Human Village. Everything beyond its premises only goes gradually crazier… As soon as I recovered from that attack, I've been hearing more and more stories from people who worked outside the village about their experiences and dangerous youkai encounters. Statistically, nearly two thirds of people who ever ventured outside the village were attacked by a youkai at least once. It didn't take much time to tell myself that going so deep into the forest wasn't really worth it. Ever since then, I stopped gathering materials for my work, and instead, started buying them. Sure, it wasn't cheap, but at least I didn't have to risk my neck. And once I mastered my craft, the extra expenses didn't even matter anymore. I had enough money to afford three fine meals a day at the Uzume, the finest clothes and the best sake in the village… But…" he let out another heavy sigh, "no money can buy you happiness, or love… or… a human life."
"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Naota-san?" wondered Midori after the old man went silent, just blankly staring into his half-empty sake cup.
"Hm? Oh… no, no…" he quickly shook his head, as if he was just woken up from a nap. "Just got a little lost in thought for a moment…"
"Really?" she leaned a little closer to take a better look at him. "Seems like you recalled something sad…"
"It's nothing, lassie. Don't worry about it." He denyingly shook his head and finished off the rest of the sake in his cup. "And what about you, Kyouichi? I only heard a short version of what happened to you on your way to the village. Care to tell me your version of the story?"
It was obvious that Naota intended to change the topic of the conversation to divert the attention from his own problems which he wanted to keep only to himself.
Now it was Kyouichi's turn to talk and so, he explained the details about his journey to Kazemura and back and how he ended up in Eientei. Of course, he omitted the part about the visit he paid to the immortal youkai alchemist.
"So that's how it was, eh?" Naota nodded as he was already opening a new bottle.
"Hmph…" Kyouichi smirked weakly after finishing his story. "I'm a little surprised that you haven't slapped me yet. Or even scolded me for being foolish and irresponsible…"
"Because this wasn't your fault. You were on a caravan escorted by warriors. You were careful, just really unlucky. And from what you told me about your injury, it's really a miracle that you recovered completely. Eirin-san sure is amazing, eh?"
The two young men again glanced at each other with the same thing on their mind.
"Err… well…" Soudai had very mixed feelings about Doctor Yagokoro now.
"Soudai…" Kyouichi quickly put a palm on his shoulder and gave him a silent stare. He didn't wish to reveal the fact that they both literally escaped from Eientei before they were officially released.
As if he could read his mind, Soudai slowly nodded and remained silent.
"What? What? Did I say something wrong?" Naota couldn't explain the boys' strange reaction to Eirin's name.
"Oh, nothing~." Kyouichi denyingly waved his hand and faked a smile. "Sure, Eirin-sensei is really something… Right, Soudai?" he winked at his friend as a signal for him to play along with his little charade.
"Uh… Yeah…" he replied unconvincingly. "Say, Naota-san… You seem to have an issue with all youkai, but you're completely fine with aliens?"
"Hahahaha…" Naota was quite amused by his question. "At least the Lunarians don't eat our flesh mixed with ramen."
"Oh, so they prefer to spit-roast it instead, huh?" asked Soudai mockingly, which only made Naota laugh even louder.
"If that were true, people would rise up with torches and pitchforks and burn Eientei to the ground instead of visiting it regularly for their medical needs, which is really admirable due to the fact that they all technically risk their lives on their way to Eientei and back."
"Tell me about it…" murmured Soudai under his nose so that Naota couldn't hear it.
"Well, now that I've heard you all tell me about your recent experiences, I suppose it's only fair if I told you some of my own stories from when I was young. That is… only if you're interested."
And so, as the Monday afternoon gradually shifted to evening, the old mater carpenter began telling stories of his first days in Gensokyo, his first youkai encounter and first near-death experiences. However, as he went on, and as he drank more and more cups, he digressed from his stories to local gossip, his hobbies and his favorite brands sake. And even though nobody paid much attention to him anymore, they let him talk until he ran out of sake and had nothing more to say.
It was already late evening anyway and the sun had set behind the horizon several hours ago. It was just about time for the guests to leave, and so, Kyouichi and Soudai finished their last drinks and thanked both Naota and Midori for their hospitality and assistance. Tomorrow would be another important day when the next steps of the Transfer Students' Club would be decided and when Kyouichi and Soudai would see if there are any suitable job opportunities for them to apply for.
When they were already standing at Naota's doorstep, Kyouichi looked at the old carpenter one more time with a question on his lips.
"I probably know what your answer is going to be, but I'll ask anyway… Are you going to visit the shrine during the summer festival?"
The answer that came from Naota was as blunt and clear as he had expected: "Not a chance."
Of course, festival means lots of visitors and lots of visitors means a significant number of them being youkai. Everyone was already aware of the old man's attitude towards youkai, so his answer didn't really cause any level of surprise.
"Alright then…" chuckled Kyouichi as he was turning his back to the house and its occupants, "See you again soon, Naota… And you even sooner, Midori…"
"Yeah, stay out of trouble, kid." the retired craftsman bid him goodbye. "The same goes for you…" he addressed the second sentence to Soudai who only nodded in response.
As the door of the house finally closed behind them, the two young men were slowly heading up the street until they reached a crossroad leading to the marketplace, where their ways would part.
"Hey, Kyou…"
"What?"
"So who exactly is that Yuuka-san that you mentioned?"
Kyouichi let out a sigh and answered with a question. "Persistent with your questions, are you?"
"Is she pretty?"
"Geez… How I knew you were going to ask that…"
"Is she?" Soudai didn't let himself be brushed off this time.
Kyouichi knew that Soudai would not leave without getting an answer, and so he answered, simply and truthfully: "Absolutely beautiful."
"Ohoho~! Really?" he grinned widely. "Then I gotta see her too… Where does she live?"
"Don't know." Kyouichi shrugged. "Not in the village, that's for sure. She just said that she originally comes from a place called Mugenkan... Get this… there are apparently several other worlds like Gensokyo that exist independently, but are somehow accessible from here."
"So how have you met her then?"
"Used to see her nearly every day visiting the flower shop opposite the bookstore where I worked. One day I simply greeted her as she was leaving and… well, that's it."
"At the flower shop, eh?
"Yeah, usually around noon."
"When we're all either at school or work…" Soudai pouted disappointedly. "I only hope that there will be any work for us in the village… Preferably one that doesn't require us to leave the village."
"We'll just have to see and find out. See you in the morning." Kyouichi waved at his friend and continued onward to the house of the Saitou family.
"Sure…" said Soudai and made a turn to the left, headed for the training grounds of the village's peacekeeping force known as the Ryuuken. It was a place where all those outsiders, who were unable to find any other place to stay in the village, were accommodated.
The night sky was clear and the air was pleasantly warm. Everything suggested that the weather would remain the same even on the day of the Tanabata festival, but in a season like summer and in a land like Gensokyo, one can never know…