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...?

58. Tea with Yuuka-san

Chapter 58 – Tea with Yuuka-san

The month of Hazuki was slowly, but certainly nearing its end. The grand harvest and the subsequent festival was due to take place in just a few days and by now almost everyone in the village was talking about it. With the fields dyed in golden color of the ripe wheat, or other colors depending on the type of crops, there was not a single idle person on the farms. Even the children were tasked to provide some assistance to their hard-working parents.

The Human Village's agriculture was a mirror to its cultural image. Just as the Japanese houses stood next to their westernized cousins, so did the farm production represent a blend between typically eastern crops and imported ones. The only thing that was missing from the typical Japanese cuisine in Gensokyo was seafood, but even without a sea, one could still find an abundance of freshwater fish at the market.

Soudai and his younger friend had almost forgotten what it meant to have a good rest. Izuru Takeda, their strict boss with high expectations ordered them to load as many crop sacks into his barn as they could per one day. After about 20 runs with their cart to the crop fields and back, they managed to fill up the barn's interior with something over 250 sacks, each weighing approximately a hundred kilograms. Needless to say that after such a day, every single part of their body ached from exertion. At least their boss was satisfied with the result.

---

"Good job, boys, good job…" he praisingly tapped them on their backs when he came over to the barn to check how much work has been done. "The gods have blessed our crops this season. With this surplus we won't starve even if the winter will be as long as the one in 119. Take your deserved rest and your payment. And don't spend it all on booze. I hope to see you here for the harvest feast. It will be the first time for you, right?"

"Uhh… yes." Kyouichi exhaustedly breathed out. "And the last one." he whispered quietly.

"Just don't let him hear you say that." Soudai's hushed voice reminded him.

The payment on the farms was actually worth the hard work, unlike some part-time jobs Kyouichi took back in Tokyo.

On their way to the village, they stopped for a while at the hunter's cabin.

---

"Maybe we'll even get this thing done before we say our goodbye to Gensokyo." Soudai commented the progress he and Kyouichi have made on the roof. Even without the assistance of professional carpenters and builders, Naota-san's guidance was enough to help them get a basic idea of what to do. They haven't done much, and even the little they did was of questionable quality, but they at least wanted to cover up the hole in the roof, so that the next rain wouldn't flood the cabin's interior.

"The difference between our work and that of Naota's friends is like heaven and Earth." Kyouichi stated self-critically. "I'm not sure if anyone would want to buy a house with such a roof."

"Oh come on! Give us some credit. The roof will be done in a few weeks. And we did it all by ourselves."

"Well, it's not like I'm the one who's going to be living in this cabin anyway, so… I honestly don't even care if the roof will be sloppily built or not."

"It will be just fine." Soudai reassured him, but he silently thought just the same thing as Kyouichi.

"Let's go already, I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too."

As their footsteps quietly resonated on the dirt road to the village, Soudai suddenly asked an unexpected question.

"Say, Kyouichi…"

"What is it?"

"Do you already know what will you tell to your family when you reunite with them after over four months of absence?"

Naturally, Soudai caught him completely off guard with that question. Sure, he has thought of his home and family since his spiriting away many times, but he couldn't really find the right words to give an answer. On one hand, he was very much looking forward to returning home, but on the other hand… he was afraid of something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was a feeling that not everything is going to be the same when he comes home. He won't even be able to explain to his mother where he was all this time and why hasn't he even called or left a message. Is she still even hoping for his return? Has she already given up hope? Four months certainly is a lot of time. And a lot of things could have happened in the outside world. That's why Kyouichi's thoughts about home have always brought a mixture of anticipation and unease to his mind.

"I'm going to tell them that I've been taken to a magical land full of youkai, fairies, ghosts and gods…." Soudai spoke when he saw that Kyouichi wasn't answering. "And a lot of really cute and beautiful girls, but I better omit that part."

It was a bit admirable that even in this situation he could still joke about it. But perhaps Soudai's belief in a good outcome was stronger than Kyouichi's.

"Then, I'm going to show them my autograph from Kaguya-hime. And I'll even bring a few old issues of Bunbunmaru with me, so that they'd believe me…"

"Will you?" Kyouichi finally opened his mouth. "Well, whatever sanatorium you'll be placed in afterwards, I'll pay you a visit."

Both of them burst into laughter.

"But seriously…" Soudai stopped joking around. "I think if people will start asking me where I was all this time, I'll just say that I was in a coma and I had no ID on me when I was hospitalized, so they couldn't contact my family."

"That's actually a pretty smart excuse." Kyouichi acknowledged. "Considering it's coming from you…"

"Hey! I heard that!"

---

After a couple of days passed, the day of the harvest feast was almost here. Not much has changed in the village since then. The outsiders held a few more meetings, but they couldn't find an appropriate alternative to Midori's plan. They even tried signing a petition for free passage through the gates for everyone, but it didn't end well. Kyouichi also tried getting in touch with the only Ryuuken he considered a friend - Lt. Takamori, but the man was still assigned to caravan escort and letting people through one of the village's three gates was not in his jurisdiction. The situation looked almost hopeless, but fortunately, someone showed up in the Human Village, bearing some promising news.

---

"Mmm… crunchy, hot and delicious…" Ishimaru Kyouichi took delight in eating freshly baked taiyaki from his favorite stand in the Human Village marketplace.

His friend, Soudai, rolled his eyes with slight annoyance from seeing the same scene for an umpteenth time since the two of them became acquainted with each other. Kyouichi's fondness for the popular Japanese snack was obvious to him since the day they made their daring run from Eientei.

"Come on… Do you have to buy these every time you cross the marketplace?"

"Mmm?" the long-haired male turned his head around with his mouth full. After taking a while to chew and swallow, he took a defensive stance towards Soudai's accusative question.

"I only buy taiyaki once or twice a week. Not my fault they're so good…" he shrugged to emphasize his innocence in the matter and took another bite. "Want some?"

After Soudai showed him his palm as a gesture of refusal, he continued justifying his reason for buying another couple of pieces of the treat even today.

"Besides… Today's the harvest feast. We have no work, we earned quite a bit of money, and we no longer need to spend them on food or traveling gear. Why not sweeten this day up a little? This is most likely our last festive day we get to experience in Gensokyo."

"You'll get fat if you keep up the same trend." the older outsider warned the younger one.

"Who cares?" Kyouichi freewheelingly asked as he took another nibble.

"So you won't mind if girls won't find you attractive, huh?"

"Please!" he waved his hand dismissively. "The girls don't find me attractive either way."

As he said that, he heard someone calling his name.

"Kyouichi! Over here!" a girl in the crowded marketplace waved her arm clad in a white detached sleeve.

"Are you sure they don't?" Soudai gave him a teasing elbow nudge.

"Oh, Reimu!" Kyouichi identified the voice and the familiar piece of clothing. The big red hair ribbon that the Hakurei Shrine maiden always wore guided him like a beacon in the sea of people and youkai that have gathered in the marketplace.

"And there I thought she had already forgotten about us." Soudai tailed Kyouichi's steps while talking to himself.

"Good afternoon, Reimu." Kyouichi courteously bowed to the girl who represented his last remaining hope of returning home. She wasn't standing too far away from the taiyaki stand, but it was still a small miracle that se managed to recognize someone familiar in that crowd. During this special day, the marketplace was bustling with much more activity than usual. There were much more stalls and much more customers, even from the faraway villages. The tengu, the kappa, even some yamba-bito could be sighted among the dominating human populace of this village.

"Three months spent in Gensokyo, and this is the first time I caught you doing shopping here." stated Kyouichi with a chuckle. "How did you even know we were here?"

"Just a hunch, I guess." Reimu smirked lightly. It was more or less a well-known fact that Reimu's luck and intuition was leagues above average, but still, it was a very nice surprise for the two humans to actually meet her here.

"That, and I heard your friend's voice telling you something about eating too much taiyaki, so I figured you'll be here too." she finally gave a reasonable explanation for identifying two ordinary humans in a crowded place. Soudai's loud and slightly hoarse voice was admittedly hard to miss.

"Hey, Reimu-san." he greeted her after Kyouichi. "So, are you here for the feast as well? Or have you perhaps figured out how to help us sneak out of this village?"

Reimu graced him with another smile and extended her shopping bag-wielding arm towards him. "Will you hold this for a second? I need to pay for the groceries first…"

"Uh… sure." Soudai took the bag and held it while Reimu searched her pockets to find her money satchel. She haggled with the stall vendor for a while before she sighed and reluctantly paid the original price for the groceries instead of getting a discount.

"One would think that at a festive day like this, one would be more open-hearted and offer some goods at a cheaper price…" she lamented as she was turning her face back at the two outsiders.

"With increased demand, the prices have to rise as well." Kyouichi explained. "It's one of the fundamental rules of economy. At least they haven't made the taiyaki more expensive today…"

Soudai, having his question unanswered, had to ask Reimu once more whether she visited a village just to do the shopping or she actually had other reasons to come here.

"Ah, yes, I was just about to get to that." said the shrine maiden. "I had an idea that one of those who could help you get past the guards undetected would be Sakuya Izayoi. You know Remilia's chief maid, don't you?"

Both outsiders nodded in unison.

"She was amazing during the Tanabata's festival tournament in the Spell Card Survival discipline." Soudai recalled. "She kept dodging shots like Neo and then she was like "Stop! Dagger time!"."

"Well, I tried asking her for assistance and told her about your offer, but she doesn't care about money at all. I just don't understand her…"

"Wait, you just went home after she turned down your request? Without a fight? That doesn't seem like your style." Kyouichi asked her teasingly.

Reimu exhaled, as if from annoyance, but the smile didn't leave her lips. "Of course we had a duel, but… Like your friend Soudai already mentioned, she's pretty decent when it comes to evading patterned danmaku from Spell Cards."

Kyouichi corrected the position of his glasses. "You're saying that you lost a duel?"

"Well, contrary to popular belief, even I, the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine occasionally lose battles. You could see that for yourself during Tanabata's tournament."

"If she isn't going to help us, why did you even mention her in the first place?" Soudai raised his voice out of impatience.

"However," Reimu smirked slyly, "she cannot disobey her mistress's orders. Remilia has taken into her head that she wants to resolve Gensokyo's problems. Whatever her motives are, she spoke to Sakuya shortly after our match, and now the maid is obliged to lend us her power."

"That's… that's great!" Kyouichi exclaimed excitedly. "Thanks for your effort. Even if you had to suffer a defeat."

"It happens." the miko waved her palm. "The important thing is that Sakuya is going to lead you out of the village and help me with one of my problems. Without having to baby-sit you outsiders, I can fully concentrate on facing the breakout of the vengeful spirits."

"The village council is the one doing the most of baby-sitting for us, but that's beside the point. I was just wondering whether this maid is truly capable of getting us out of here without the Ryuuken taking notice." Soudai raised his eyebrow in slight doubt.

"She can manipulate the flow of time itself. Trust me; the Ryuuken will have no idea that you're gone until it's too late." Reimu promoted Sakuya's abilities. "She will be here on the first of Kannazuki, waiting for you."

Kyouichi still had his doubts and misgivings about Remilia's chief maid, but given the current state of affairs, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Fine, then whom should we pay our money to? You or Sakuya?"

"Me, of course!" Reimu said without the slightest hint of hesitation. "Since Sakuya isn't interested in money and neither is Remilia, since she's so damn rich, I'll gladly take the burden of excessive funds off your shoulders…" she cupped her hands together, as if she was expecting to receive something.

Kyouichi leaned towards her, closing the distance between their faces to just a few centimeters and spoke: "AFTER we manage to reach your shrine on the 1st of Kannazuki, Reimu. After…"

If disappointment had a color, it would probably be brown. Deep dark brown like the color of Reimu's eyes that were staring back at Kyouichi after hearing that she would not get paid in advance.

"Not even a little down payment?" she asked pleadingly, still holding her hands cupped in hope of seeing at least a fraction of the money the outsiders promised her.

That's when Kyouichi got an idea. He opened the paper bag he was holding and placed a fresh taiyaki into Reimu's anticipating palms.

"There you go~!" he flashed a smile bright like a Hollywood movie star.

The shrine maiden puzzledly blinked at the carp-shaped pastry in her hands. "Taiyaki?"

"Yes, it's rally good." The outsider demonstratively took another bite from his half-eaten snack and delightedly patted his stomach. "Mmm… Besides, Soudai here says I'll get fat if I eat these so often."

"And I thought you said you didn't care." the older human was quick to remind him of his own words.

"Still, I might have bought a bit too many this time." Kyouichi gestured to the paper taiyaki bag that still looked decently filled and heavy.

"Were you seriously going to eat all of those by yourself?" Soudai disbelievingly asked as he poked a glance into the bag.

"Actually just two, I bought a few extra ones for the Saitou kids and one for Midori. Go ahead, Reimu, have one, don't be shy."

The shrine maiden hesitantly eyed the taiyaki before taking an equally tentative bite. Even though she really liked sweets, she'd still prefer if it was money she was holding instead.

"And how exactly is Sakuya-san going to lead us out of the village?" Kyouichi suddenly returned to the original topic.

"I just told you, didn't I? She is going to stop the time and get you all past the gates. You'll most likely use the western gate and the western road to get to the shrine, even if it isn't the shortest one. You're much less likely to run into a youkai or a Ryuuken patrol that way. Sakuya said she'll be waiting here for you in the afternoon on the fist of Kannazuki, so you better be there on time."

"We'll be there, alright. The only reason I'm asking this is because I want to have absolute certainty. I don't have the patience for experiments."

"This is no experiment." Reimu wiped the crumbs off her lips. "Did you see how Sakuya repaired the hole in the stage behind my shrine after the tournament?"

"Uhh… no."

"Exactly! You didn't. Because she stopped time. Nobody from the village is going to notice your disappearance. How else do you think she keeps up with her chores of cleaning up such a huge mansion?"

"Ehh… the fairy maids?"

"Was that a joke? Those maids are useless! I don't even know myself why Remilia keeps them. Sakuya is the only competent maid of the house and she uses her time manipulation for both combat and mundane tasks. If you can trust me, I see no reason why you shouldn't trust her."

Reimu's reassuring words certainly left a good impression on the two outsiders as they both nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for making this arrangement, Reimu."

"I won't buy anything for your "thank you"." she muttered and took another bite of the taiyaki.

"No, but you can't complain about poverty either." Kyouichi made a good point. "You're a shrine maiden and you receive rewards for solving incidents. Our presence in Gensokyo is just another incident for you. When you or your friends see us safely out of here, then you'll really see just how grateful we are for your kindness."

With a sigh, Reimu nodded understandingly. "I get it. I'll make sure you reach the shrine safely, but once you're on the other side of the barrier, you're on your own."

"We know. That's what we bought all that traveling gear for… To tell the truth, I'm going to miss it here a bit. But I miss my home even more."

"You're not the only one." said Soudai.

"In the end, it's all up to you to make the decision." said the shrine maiden wisely and finished the rest of her taiyaki. "Just don't tell me you suddenly changed your mind after I went through so much trouble to arrange your escape. Otherwise it's Fantasy Seal for both of you." she added a joke threat.

"Hahaha!" Kyouichi's laughter got drowned out in the ocean of voices in the busy marketplace. "It would have to be some really damn good reason for me to change my mind!"

"Same here." Soudai seconded.

"Then there's nothing more I need to tell you." the shrine maiden took her shopping bag back from Soudai's hands. "See you later…"

"Wait a minute." Kyouichi halted her. "Aren't you going to take part in the harvest feast?"

"I don't plan to. I better be available at the shrine in case of any news from Kazemura."

"That's a pity. I wonder who else we should go there with… Maybe Akyuu. I haven't seen her for a while." the outsider thought aloud.

"That's because she's in Kazemura as a part of the research team. But I haven't heard much information about their progress besides their complaints." Reimu exhaled through her nose.

"What sort of complaints?"

"Oh, you know… how the digging is becoming more laborious and how tired everyone is… They said they've hit a solid rock layer or something and even the yama-bito are having a hard time breaking through. There was only one bit of information from their research report that caught my interest."

"What could that be?"

"The material the temple is made of. They said that it's remarkably durable. As in durable enough to withstand powerful impacts and high temperatures, such as from a volcano eruption. That's the reason why the whole temple is intact even after millennia."

"Well, isn't that interesting?" Soudai looked as though as an interesting idea crossed his mind. "The other day when we visited Kourindou, we learned that…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, Soudai." his friend halted him from finishing the sentence. "I hope you're not suggesting that the diggers in Kazemura should use THAT to speed up their excavation."

"Well, if the temple's walls are as strong as Reimu-san says, and if they use the right amount…"

"Do you really want someone to get killed by your idea?"

Now that the outsiders have started a conversation about something that Reimu had no clue about, the young shrine maiden found it extremely difficult to maintain a facade of indifference.

"What do you mean by "THAT"? What did you say about Kourindou?"

"The shop is full of… umnmmfm!" Kyouichi promptly gagged Soudai's mouth with his palm.

"Useless junk. That's what Soudai wanted to say…"

Reimu obviously wasn't gullible enough to believe that and her squinting eyes were a sign of suspicion. "It sounded like you got an interesting idea. Let's hear it."

Still holding his palm over Soudai's mouth, Kyouichi stood stiffly and refused to give a single hint to what his friend wanted to say.

As the young miko was gradually running out of patience, she reached inside her sleeve and pulled out something that looked like a regular ofuda charm. "Look… We can do this in two ways: Ether you tell me what's in Kourindou or I can beat the answer out of you."

Seeing as how the marketplace was full of people, Kyouichi didn't find her threatening gesture all that convincing. "You wouldn't dare. Look at all these witnesses. If you attacked us now, your reputation as a shrine maiden would suffer."

"Do I look like I care? My shrine rarely sees anyone form the village unless it's some festive event."

"But at least they're not chasing you with torches and pitchforks."

Reimu figured that the crowded marketplace was not the best location for open threats of violence, so she changed her tactics.

"Fine. Have it your way. Then I'm not going to let you out of Gensokyo until you tell me."

Of course, nothing prevented the black-haired girl from simply flying over to Kourindou and figuring it out first-hand form Rinnosuke, who would probably even be glad that someone is interested in buying his multi-purpose clay, but since she had the people with some knowledge already at hand, she intended to get the answers out of them and saving herself the trouble.

"Seriously, why not just tell her straight, Kyou?" Soudai finally freed his mouth from Kyouichi's hand. "If we tell it to someone competent like Reimu-san, she might actually convince that crazy guy to get rid of that stuff."

"Okay, you," Reimu addressed the older of the two, "tell me what's in Kourindou."

"Lots of stuff that goes "boom!"." Soudai tried to interpret the fact that the antique shop is loaded with explosives in a way that even a Gensokyo native would understand.

"Stuff that goes "boom!"?" the shrine maiden tilted her head. "You mean fireworks?"

"No, I mean much bigger "boom!" It's a clay that's used in the outside world by soldiers to demolish buildings for instance."

"And… could it be used for digging too?" Reimu inquired.

"I think that miners are using a slightly weaker explosive called dynamite. The stuff Rinnosuke-san has is relatively safer, but more powerful than that."

"It's very dangerous and Rinnosuke's shop is full of it." Kyouichi raised a warning finger. "He did manage to find a way to make the detonators work, but I doubt there is anyone in Gensokyo who properly knows how to work with explosives. Unprofessional manipulation could cause a disaster and many deaths. I told him to just bury that stuff far away from any houses, but he refused to."

"Who else knows better how to work with outside world's inventions than you, outsiders?"

"Trust me, Reimu, we don't. It's a dangerous weapon and those are only handled by specially trained experts. It's not like you could buy a crate of plastic explosives at your local marketplace."

"Technically," Soudai shared his modest knowledge about the matter, "all you should do is plant the explosive, plant a detonating device with a receiver, arm it, go to safety, and push the button on the detonator, but… that's all just theoretical. I wouldn't dare to touch it myself."

The miko hummed thoughtfully. "If it really is that dangerous, then I should probably not mention it to the girls in Kazemura… But what about Rinnosuke-san? Isn't he in danger?"

"I'm glad you understand the danger." Kyouichi breathed out a sigh of relief. "Yes, even if Rinnosuke knows what he's storing in Kourindou, I can't help, but to think that he is gambling with his life and the lives of any potential customers. He wouldn't listen to us, but maybe… maybe he'll listen to you."

"Then I guess I won't avoid a trip to Kourindou after all, huh? Even when such a device could help the Kazemurans dig through that rocky layer that encases the temple..."

"Maybe it could, but the risk is too great. Even if it would be simple to use, apply the wrong amount and you won't just blow up the temple, but the whole village."

"In any case, I'm going to talk to Rinnosuke-san about those explosives. It's a good thing you told me about it…" said the miko as she withdrew her Spell Card back to her sleeve. "See you on the 1st of Kannazuki, then. Or perhaps sooner… Bye." she lowered her head to indicate a bow and lifted off with her fresh groceries into the sky.

The outsiders looked at her distancing figure in silent awe before Soudai broke the silence.

"She didn't really mean she'd beat the answer out of us, did she?"

"Perhaps not, but something tells me I'd rather not try to find out."

---

After their coincidental encounter with Reimu, the two youths headed off to Naota's house to meet up with Midori, but they only met the master of the house who welcomed them with his usual gruff attitude.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not going to buy any of your… oh… sorry." he paused himself as soon as his aging eyes recognized the familiar faces. "It's you two… If you're looking for Iwakami-san, you just missed her. Try looking at the farms. That's where all the feastin' is going to take place."

"Are you going to go there too?" Kyouichi asked him, even though he could already guess what answer would come out of the old man's mouth.

"I might…" the retired master craftsman replied with uncertain positivism to Kyouichi's surprise. "Most of my drinking buddies said they'd be there, including Mizuto. I just hope not too many youkai will be there this year. Don't understand why they keep participating in human festivals, but with us in the minority, there isn't much we humans can do about it. The fairies are bearable, or so I thought until I read about them in the news. Wouldn't want to live in Kazemura now, even if they paid me… If you'd like, you can come in and have a few drinks with me."

The young men were grateful for Naota's offer, but they kindly turned down the invitation.

"Well, suit yourselves. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of liquor and sake to drink at the feast. I'll come over there later when the sun won't be so strong. Good luck finding Midori in that crowd, boys!" those were the last words of the old carpenter before he closed his door behind the leaving guests.

"It must be pretty hard… Living here all those years with such a strong aversion to all youkai." Kyouichi mused aloud as he directed his steps back towards the marketplace. As he and Soudai could guess, Midori wanted to use today's exceptional opportunity to leave the imprisonment of the village's walls as soon as possible.

"I'm sure he's not the only man in the village who thinks like that." Soudai stated while mustering a shrug.

"Maybe not, but in his case… I don't know. He refuses to talk about it when questioned. Maybe he could deal with this problem much easier if he talked about it with someone."

"He's the kind of person who believes only he knows what's best for him. At least in my opinion."

"I guess so." said Kyouichi. "If he doesn't want to leave Gensokyo with us, then he can't hate it here that much."

---

After a few minutes, the outsiders somehow weaved through all the people in the marketplace and successfully made it to the familiar street, with the Hieda residence, a flower shop, the Kirisame-ya second-hand magic store, and the newly established book renter, Suzunaan, that replaced the former Starlight Glyph. At its end, there was a large gate, casting its shadow on the nearby buildings, and to Kyouichi's and Soudai's surprise, there appeared to be a young Ryuuken guard who kept halting the passerby and checking their identification. The fact that the gates were usually staffed by at least two militiamen at all times was making the lone Ryuuken's presence there look even more out of place.

"I thought they would spare us from this bureaucratic nonsense today." Soudai commented the guard's presence and actions from a safe distance. "Wait… It's THAT guy…" he grimaced with evident contempt as soon as he recognized him.

"You know him?"

"You bet. Osamu Nishio, one of the biggest jerks in the barracks... Remember our conversation with Reimu-san when I mentioned that I wouldn't mind seeing her beat up some of the Ryuuken with her danmaku?"

Kyouichi fished around inside his memory and slowly nodded. "Vaguely."

"Well, this guy would be the first on the list."

As they approached the gate, they could already hear his smug-sounding bossy voice as he halted yet another law-abiding villager just so he could massage his own ego.

"Hey, you there! Anyone passing through needs to present himself with proper identification and you, sir, are no exception!"

"Oh, boy…" even at first glance Kyouichi figured that this man and the likes of him live for the enjoyment of patronizing everyone and overstating the importance of their position. "Should we try another gate?"

"Well, if we just show him our ID, he should let us pass without a problem, but…" Soudai stopped mid-sentence just as he stopped his feet. "Just seeing his face again makes me want to spit in it."

"Woah, Soudai... What did he do to you?"

"Have you ever been bullied at school?" he replied with a question.

"Well, I don't know… maybe a little, but…"

"Because I think this guy must have been bullied, his parents hated him, if he had any and now he joined the militia to take his revenge on anyone he sees. As outsiders living in the barracks, we are obliged to listen to the orders of the Ryuuken. Most of them are reasonable, but not from this guy… Everyone cursed the day when he was on cleanup duty, because we knew he was going to give us the dirtiest most degrading work possible. Lucky Midori… She found someone to take her in, because she couldn't stand it there. I think Nishio was one of the reasons she decided to stay with Tanisake-san."

They were standing no more than ten meters away from the gate when Osamu Nishio halted another person, this time asking the woman to empty all of her pockets for no stated reason.

"Charming fellow…" Kyouichi muttered an ironic remark under his nose. That's when his glance fell on the shoulder part of Osamu's uniform, which like all Ryuuken uniforms bore the ranking of the person wearing it.

"Why, he's just an ordinary grunt."

"Yeah, he has the lowest rank in the militia," Soudai nodded affirmatively, "but he carries himself like he owns the world."

"So he must be a fresh recruit… abusing his new superior position against ordinary citizens. Come to think of it, Gensokyo doesn't differ all that much from the outside world when it comes to the different kinds of people, does it?"

Soudai didn't answer. He just stood there with eyes focused on Osamu's face, his jaw moving slowly from one side to another, as if he was chewing something. But it was just a sign of him brainstorming.

"Tell you what, Kyou…" he spoke without blinking his eye or shifting his glance to his comrade.

"What?"

"Since today is such a special day… Why not commemorate it with some enjoyable scene?" his lips then bent into a devilish grin. "Like seeing Osamu-san go packing to the barracks and cleaning latrines for the rest of the day after I report his actions to someone more sensible and with real authority?"

"Are you serious?"

"Why not? We won't be in Gensokyo for long. Thirty days will pass by like a blink of an eye. When will I get another chance like this?"

Kyouichi didn't feel so positive about his idea, though. "I don't know about that, Soudai… I just don't want your prank to cause us trouble with the Ryuuken."

"Prank? I'll be doing this whole village a favor by reporting him. There should be no guards here today and even if there should, they shouldn't be pestering everyone about their business in or out of the village. Instead of keeping the order, this guy is overstepping his authority."

"Oh, come on, Soudai, just let it be. We can take the northern gate or the southern one." Kyouichi tried to talk his friend out of it, but he knew how stubborn Soudai could be when he took something into his head.

"No." he declared firmly. "You bought yourself half a ton of taiyaki; I'm going to report Nishio and watch him get reprimanded. Wait here, alright? I'll be back soon."

"Soudai? Soudai!" Kyouichi's calls deflected off Soudai's eardrums without notice. He was determined to go to the barracks and no words could stop him now.

"Not going to stop, are you? In that case… I better stay here and wait for what happens."

---

And so, Kyouichi waited. To hide from the intense sunlight, he casually walked up to the gate and leaned himself against the wall facing east. Of course, it didn't take long for the young Ryuuken to notice him and scold him.

"Hey, you! What are you doing there? Move along."

Apparently, leaning against the fortifications was against the law.

"Me? I'm just waiting here for someone." Kyouichi replied with an innocent tone and didn't move from the comfort of the shade.

"You can't stand here blocking the gate." Osamu warned him. "Move somewhere else."

Only now Kyouichi turned his head to face the cocky Ryuuken, and as he did so, he raised his eyebrow at his somewhat nonsensical request.

"I'm not blocking the gate or the road." he explained stoically. "This is a wall. The gate is where you're standing. I assure you my presence here won't delay the traffic."

"Don't you get smart with me, punk! Who do you think you are?! Let me see your identification."

Kyouichi made a snorting chuckle before he turned his face away from him and pretended that the two of them never struck up a conversation.

This vexed the inexperienced guard to such levels, that to prove his authority, he drew his blade. "Is something wrong with your ears? I asked you to show me your ID!"

Seeing the guy's short temper in combination with the sharp blade glittering in the sun, Kyouichi started to actually care about his word choice and behavior. He stepped away from the wall, as he was asked and showed the inquisitive Ryuuken his identification card.

"Ishimaru? Ah… an outsider, huh? Haven't seen you in the barracks… You must be one of those who's been taken in by some family."

"Yes, sir. I'm not from Gensokyo, so I'm not really familiar with all the laws of this village."

"Unfamiliarity with the law does not exonerate those who break it." Osamu growled as he tossed Kyouichi's ID card back at its owner like he was tossing a bone to a dog.

"Excuse me, sir, but I heard that the Ryuuken would permit free passage in and out of the village to anyone during the harvest feast."

"We don't publicize every change in our internal regulations. Just be glad I'm letting you go without a fine." Osamu sheathed the sword, turned on his heel and marched back towards the gate like a soldier on a parade.

---

Kyouichi decided to wait for Soudai in front of Kirisame-ya, which was basically just a few meters away from where he was previously standing. But the outsider in question was taking his time to show up. Out of boredom, Kyouichi watched Osamu doing his "work" at the gate and disapprovingly shook his head every time the fresh Ryuuken stopped someone. The constantly perpetuating scene was gradually starting to tire even the patient-minded outsider until Osamu Nishio halted someone who Kyouichi recognized…

"Halt! If you want to enter the village, you need to present proper identification."

"Identification?" a tall lady with shoulder-long green hair, wearing tartan red dress and carrying a parasol blinked her puzzled ruby eyes at him. "I'm afraid I don't have any."

"No identification means you're either an unregistered outsider or a youkai. According to the new regulations, only spirited away humans are permitted to enter the village without identification if they seek shelter. As for youkai, they need to first fill in a registration form, and once the office approves of their request, they receive their identification documents and permission to enter Human Village."

Ignoring the guard's words, the lady waved her hand at someone familiar who she noticed standing and waiting on the other side of the gate.

"Hey, lady, are you listening to me?" Osamu raised his voice at her.

Only now, Kyouichi dared to approach the gate and the irritable guard who manned it, probably in conflict with the Ryuuken internal regulations that he sung so much about.

Yuuka Kazami, the youkai who frequently visited Human Village during spring and summer, sported a bemused look on her face as the young militiaman explained the details of the new regulations, many of which reeked of suspiciousness and absurdity even to someone as unfamiliar with human ways of life as her. As the Ryuuken kept flapping his gums and trying to look important, Yuuka tilted her head to the side and stated the obvious with her typical smile that only her delicate lips could shape: "You must be new here."

The young guard's confident look just suffered a direct blow from her spot on remark, so he had to straighten up and raise his voice by another couple of decibels to prove his competence. "You dare question my authority? What does the fact that I'm a fresh reinforcement to the village's militia force change about the regulations that everyone must adhere to?"

Yuuka widened her smile from amusement. "I'm asking simply because even before these… laughable walls were built, I've been able to pass in and out of the village without any complications from your older colleagues. They just greeted me, bowed and let me through with no questions asked."

"W-well… Rules are rules. My colleagues might not take their work seriously, but I do!"

As if Osamu's confidence wasn't undermined enough, Kyouichi nonchalantly approached him from behind, chewing on his second piece of taiyaki, and with a teasing tone he asked: "Problem, officer?"

"Huh? It's you again?! You already showed me your card, so don't bother me and just pass through. I'm busy now…"

"Actually, that's not why I'm here. Just wanted to say hello to someone… Good afternoon, Yuuka-san~." he properly greeted her, now that he was within earshot.

"Good afternoon~." Yuuka reciprocated the greeting.

"You know each other?" Osamu looked surprised by that fact.

"Why, yes." Kyouichi confirmed. "Yuuka-san is telling the truth. She visits the village almost regularly. I bet her first destination is the florist's."

"Indeed." she nodded in acknowledgement. "And usually the only destination."

"That doesn't interest me at all. Unless she gets permission and identification documents from the village council, she cannot pass through the gates. Period."

"How is she supposed to get the permission from the council if she cannot enter the village?" Kyouichi questioned the logic of the regulations this inexperienced Ryuuken just explained. And before Osamu could answer, he pointed out another fact that undermined the very existence of village's fortifications. "And besides… Don't most youkai and outside visitors simply fly over the walls anyway? How do you Ryuuken keep an overview about them?"

"That doesn't need to concern you, Ishimaru-san. As I said: she can fill in the registration form, which I can provide her with even now, hand it over to me and wait until her request gets accepted or denied. Without official acceptance, I'm not going to let this youkai through, even if she is a close friend with the village elder himself. If she wants to get some flowers, why doesn't she go pluck some on the nearby meadows?"

Completely ignoring Osamu's monologue, Kyouichi took out a fresh snack out of his paper bag and offered it to Yuuka: "Taiyaki?"

"No, thank you." she politely refused.

With a shrug, Kyouichi put it back in the bag at about the same time as Osamu finished his speech, the point of which completely eluded both the outsider and Yuuka.

"I hate to break it up to you, Nishio-san," Kyouichi pointed his finger over the Ryuuken's shoulder, "but while you're conversing with us, people are passing through the gate behind your back without your consent…"

The guard turned around and found out that Kyouichi wasn't just making fun of him. People were passing through the gates towards the farms in smaller groups. "Oh, damn it, you're right! Hey, you! Hold it right there!"

The moment Osamu turned his back on them; the young outsider took it as his best opportunity. Without thinking, he took Yuuka by the hand and mimicked a signal for her to follow him quickly and quietly. "Come on, Yuuka-san, now's the right chance!" he whispered to her as he tried to suppress his urge to chuckle at how they just managed to fool the annoying young Ryuuken.

She was a little surprised at first, but she was quickly able to understand the intention behind Kyouichi's sudden action. She tightened her own grip on his hand, using just the right amount of strength so as to not inflict pain or unintentional injury. As a youkai, her strength was very dangerous, but as someone who was manipulating with fragile, vulnerable flowers on daily basis, Yuuka was also very gentle when she wanted to be. Once they were both inside the village, Kyouichi finally relived his urge to laugh, which partially rubbed off to Yuuka, as she also giggled from amusement.

They didn't get to enjoy this moment for long, though. The short-tempered Ryuuken gate guard decided to give chase after he noticed that Yuuka trespassed into the village while Kyouichi distracted his attention.

"I'm not going to warn you again!" he bellowed almost manically, his sword drawn and slightly trembling from how tightly he held its hilt. "Either you get out of this village right now, or I'll be coerced to use force!"

"Oh come on!" Kyouichi tried to reason with him, but he already figured that Soudai's introduction of Osamu Nishio was in no way an exaggeration. The outsider's thought at the moment when Osamu was pointing the tip of his sword at both the trespasser and her accomplice, was what exactly was taking Soudai so long to bring in some higher-ranked Ryuuken to end this charade.

Only Yuuka looked absolutely unfazed by the sight of Osamu's weapon, with her beaming smile spreading widely across her face. One could even assume she was having fun.

"Ooh, this is starting to look interesting."

"Umm… Nishio-san… I'd really not recommend you disrespectful or violent behavior towards Kazami-san." Kyouichi attempted to prevent the impending fight.

"I don't know where you know my name from, but you should know that assisting a trespass is a crime! You have ten seconds to comply! Out of the village! NOW!" Osamu assumed a fighting stance after giving his last warning.

"It's true I haven't had a danmaku battle in a long while, but I'm not that desperate to dive into every duel that's going to end up so one-sidedly. Where are your reinforcements, human?"

"Is it really necessary, Yuuka-san?" Kyouichi still hoped to find a peaceful way out of the situation, even when the chances were slimmer than Reimu's waist.

"Sometimes it is. Especially when dealing with humans. No offense." Yuuka briefly stole a glance at him as she replied.

With a sigh of resignation, Kyouichi nodded. "At least try not to hurt him too much. Even if he's an idiot…"

"Reinforcements?" the Ryuuken laughed heartily. "I think you're underestimating the training of the Ryuuken militia. Not to mention our weapons, which are specially blessed to exterminate youkai."

"So you're challenging me by yourself? I should at least give you the advantage of first hit." she casually rested the tip of her parasol against the ground and closed her eyes, allowing her challenger to take the first attack. "Your best slash, please." she asked him so politely, which took the green Ryuuken by surprise. Bragging about Ryuuken training and armament was one thing, but when it actually came to demonstrating his combat prowess, Osamu Nishio has failed disappointingly. Kyouichi wasn't sure if this was his first actual battle against a youkai, but Osamu sure looked amusingly desperate. Yuuka's overabundant confidence was stealing the Ryuuken's courage to actually try and attack her, even if she bluntly asked him to.

After a while has passed with nothing happening, the flower youkai grew bored and opened her eyes to see what was taking Osamu so long to strike at her. "What's the matter? Do you need help or something?"

"Silence! Or I'll, I'll…"

"Run home to mommy?" Yuuka was obviously enjoying every second of the young guard's nervousness.

"You'll regret trespassing into the village on my watch!" Osamu finally decided to push his luck… down a deep chasm. He swung his blessed sword with all his might at the youkai.

Kyouichi who watched the scene along with a few curious villagers expected Yuuka to block the attack or evade it, but she didn't even move a muscle. The blade of the guard's katana has landed on her shoulder as he tried to bring her down by a downward diagonal slash.

Kyouichi opened his mouth in shock and awe as Osamu nearly lost the grip on his weapon from the recoil when the blade hit Yuuka between her neck and her shoulder. It was like he tried to cut down a tree or rather a stone pillar. Only a small tear on Yuuka's clothing indicated that the weapon actually hit her.

Without even the slightest change in her smiling expression, she just stood there, as if she was enjoying the warm summer breeze. She rolled her eyes to casually observe the damage to her dress, before shifting her gaze back at the one causing it.

"Was that the best you can pull off?"

If the Human Village held a contest for the most flabbergasted facial expression, Kyouichi would still have strong competition in Osamu at this moment. It was as if he just realized what he has done and that he wasn't very successful in his "youkai extermination" attempt.

"Maybe you hit me with the blunt side of the sword." Yuuka elegantly teased the greenhorn man of the law. It was obvious that Osamu didn't confuse the blunt side with the edge when attacking, but now, even he himself had doubts about it.

"Who knows if you wouldn't make a better farmer instead of a Ryuuken? Or at least a half-decent fertilizer…"

Those words seemed to have inspired Osamu to retry his attempts. "Begone, youkai!" he shouted out in a delusion that it would make his sword arm swing harder. He performed a combination of cuts, swings and finished them with a thrust aimed right at Yuuka's heart. Again, the alluring youkai lady just stood there motionlessly, even as the sharp edge of the sword repeatedly tore at her from all angles, with all the force the young man could lend it with his muscles. All he managed to "exterminate", however, were another few patches of Yuuka's clothing. Her inhuman body that got slightly unveiled after the second assault showed no marks of injury. As Yuuka widened her smile, it became clear to him that nothing good awaited him in the following seconds.

"Wh-what are you?! W-why is the blessed sword not working?!" he accusingly stared at his weapon, which was supposed to be super-effective against youkai.

"Have you ever heard of Spell Cards~?" Yuuka resumed her verbal teasing. "Because when you challenged me, I expected to see some new danmaku patterns, but you're obviously still too inexperienced to use them~."

"HYAAAAAARGH!" with one last desperate battle cry, Osamu thrust the sword at her, but this time Yuuka actually moved. She grabbed the blade with her bare hand and slowly pulled the sword towards herself.

"But if you can't use Spell Cards, you can't fully blame your weapon. You should first practice against equally strong opponents, like fairies, before challenging a full-fledged youkai." she spoke to him with her ever-calm voice.

Afraid of what might come next, the Ryuuken tried to yank the sword out of Yuuka's grip, but the green-haired lady held it so tightly that an oni would have a problem pulling it, let alone a human. She drew the sword closer to her by yet another couple of centimeters and with her second hand she grabbed the panicking guard by his sword-wielding fist.

"W-what are you doing?! Let me go!"

"If you want to exterminate a youkai without Spell Cards, you're going to have to apply a bit more strength to your attacks." she spoke as she drove the tip of Osamu's blade to her own throat. The point of the sword was already touching her neck, but Yuuka didn't stop her arm and pulled the sword even closer. And just as one would expect the sword to pierce her throat, it began to bend instead. With her gargantuan strength and her adamantine body, one could see how the blade of Osamu's weapon was being deformed into quite an avant-garde shape. Yuuka kept pressing the blade against her throat until she held the hilt just a couple of centimeters from her neck. By now, the blessed katana turned into an indefinable lump of crooked metal. Yuuka finally released it along with Osamu's hand, whose owner was so shaken that he couldn't maintain a firm grip of it. With a clucking sound, the scrapped sword fell on the ground.

"And now," the youkai lady calmly picked up her parasol from the ground, "it's my turn to hit back~ ."

At those words, Osamu lost his last remaining bits of courage. "L-leave me alone, you… monster!" he took to his heels while screaming in panic. Those villagers who didn't witness his confrontation with the youkai of flowers were confusedly turning their heads after him as he ran past them crying like there was a fire or something.

Kyouichi stepped over to where the Ryuuken was standing and picked up what once used to be a sword. "Hey~! Nishio-san! You forgot your… corkscrew!"

"I guess that concludes the "duel"." Yuuka frowned disappointedly.

"Are you alright, Yuuka-san?" Kyouichi asked her, even when the youkai still appeared to be in perfect condition. "Didn't that sword hurt you at all?"

"It stung a little, since it was blessed, but the quality of the sword was rather… questionable."

"Well I don't know…" the ever-curious Kyouichi wanted to check the quality himself. He carefully grabbed the side of the blade and tried to bend it at least by the slightest bit, but of course, he couldn't bend it no matter how hard he tried. "Unnnf… damn it…"

In spite of what Yuuka said about the sword's quality, it was made of solid steel and could not be bent by human hands.

"Umm… what do you eat for breakfast, Yuuka-san?" he wanted to know the secret behind her amazing strength. It was more or less a joke question, so he didn't really expect her to answer it. But when Yuuka just stood there silently for about a minute without moving or saying anything, Kyouichi became both curious and concerned.

Has she really told him the truth? Has the sword really left her unaffected? The flower youkai still sported a smile as she had her face turned at the sky with her eyes closed, as if she was relaxing or meditating. No better way to find out then to ask her directly.

"Excuse me, but… What are you doing, Yuuka-san?"

Her reply left the outsider even more confused then he was before asking her: "Having lunch~ ."

"Excuse me?" he thought he heard her wrong. "What do you mean?"

After another couple of seconds, Yuuka opened her red eyes and spread the parasol over her head again. "Mmm…" she let out a moan of delight. "Refreshing…"

Only then Kyouichi figured out what she meant. "Ah~! I see… Solar powered, huh?"

"I love sunny days like this, but windy, cloudy and rainy days are also necessary." she spoke with nonchalance, as if nothing happened.

"Do you also eat some normal food? Just asking, since the other day you bought all that flower patterned kitchen ware…"

"Oh, I do eat meals too~ ."

"In that case…" Kyouichi hesitated for a while, considering whether he should speak his mind or not, but upon realizing how little time he had left in Gensokyo, he assumed that he couldn't lose anything by asking.

"Yes~?"

"W-what would you say if…" again, the words got stuck in his throat and he subconsciously began scratching his wrist from nervousness.

"Come on, Ishimaru! You can do it. All you have to do is say it loud and clear…" a voice spoke to him inside his mind.

"But I swore to myself that I would not get romantically involved with anyone in Gensokyo!" the voice of reason argued. "It's only going to complicate things…"

"Who says you need to get into a relationship?" the voice of temptation countered. "You'll just have a good time and go home without regrets. The worst that can happen now is that she'll reject you. Just go ahead and say it already!"

And so he said it: "What would you say if I invited you to some food… or just tea if you're not hungry?"

"Oh my… Was I just asked out on a date?" Yuuka was genuinely surprised and yet, her smile looked a bit mocking at the same time. "By a human, no less…"

"I knew it was a dumb idea." Kyouichi thought to himself, but it was too late to unsay what's already been said.

"It's a pity that my dress got ruined, but in this regard, it's partially my fault as well. I wouldn't want to be seen with these clothes in any establishment. I'll have to go home and get changed."

"Wait… was she seriously considering it?" the outsider asked in his mind.

"Oh, I have an idea, Yuuka-san." he said suddenly. "You could have Minako-san take a look at your dress and borrow some other outfit while she gets it mended."

"Minako-san?"

"Yes, she and her husband took me in when I first came to the village. Minako-san has a clothes shop nearby. Let's pay her a visit."

"Saitou?" Yuuka asked about Minako's family name, which, to Kyouichi's surprise, was a correct guess.

"Why, yes. Minako Saitou. I guess you already know about her shop then."

"I don't know the Human Village too well except this street and the market square, but I've been to Saitou-san's shop a few times."

"Well then, let's go see her. Maybe I'll convince her to give you a discount. Besides, we should probably not be here in case any Ryuuken reinforcements will come looking for you."

"Why not?" Yuuka offered him a puzzled look. "Let them come. Every one of them, if they dare. Just like the first time… I don't wish to antagonize the place I go buying and sometimes selling flowers to, but if I'm not given a choice, then I must teach the rude humans some manners."

"I kind of understand now why the Ryuuken allow you to pass freely into the village without asking questions. Well, with the exception of some… individuals."

Kyouichi let go of the destroyed sword once he gave up on bending its blade by at least a little bit. "I'll just leave this here in case Nishio would come looking for it." he explained, even though he couldn't imagine anyone using the mutilated weapon as anything more than a paper weight.

And so, the two of them left the street and headed towards the center of the village. The crowd of curious onlookers who saw the whole situation at the western gate slowly began to disperse. It appeared as though none of them wished to find themselves in Yuuka's way, even by accident. Kyouichi was starting to awaken to the notion that Yuuka was a highly respected and perhaps even a feared youkai in the village. The rumors that circulated about her certainly weren't completely baseless. But as it already turned out, not everyone in the village was familiar with these rumors.

---

"And so we're here." said Kyouichi when he and Yuuka stopped in front of Minako Saitou's shop. "After you, Yuuka-sama." he made a hand gesture towards the doorway as he held the door open for her.

The flower youkai smirked. "What's with the sudden change of honorific?"

Kyouichi didn't even realize he addressed her that way until she asked. "Uh… I don't know… The sort of the impression you give away, Yuuka-sama. To me you seem like a... a noble lady, who lives in a big mansion and has many servants and…"

Yuuka covered her mouth as she giggled. "You know… I used to live in a mansion before. And I also have a servant. But not here in Gensokyo."

"Really? You mean in Mugenkan?"

"Yes. I left that place about ten summers ago, but I still occasionally return there out of nostalgia or when the winter is too cold and long.

"So that's how it is, huh? You really are a noble lady."

"I don't really insist on being addressed as such, but if you wish, I'm not going to stop you."

"And to think I once believed you to be a lesser youkai…" Kyouichi murmured to himself. But Yuuka's hearing was as sharp as expected from a youkai.

"Lesser youkai?" she tilted her head to the side. "Excuse me, but who did you hear that from?"

"Ehehe… I… uhh… forgot." he lied for the sake of protecting the safety of the florist who didn't know much about Yuuka and judged her based on his personal impressions. "Anyway, let's step inside already."

Before stepping inside, Kyouichi instinctively reached inside his pocket for his gift from Kirisame-san to check on something. Its whole lens flashed in dazzling bright light, just like the last time when Yuuka accompanied him and Soudai to Kourindou.

"There's no mistake about it now." he whispered to himself. Yuuka Kazami was the reason why it flashed so intensely. She harbored enormous magic potential.

They entered a shop full of clothes of all shapes, sizes and colors. From simple rags to expensive kimonos for special occasions. Like with most things in Gensokyo, even the shop's inventory wasn't exclusively in oriental style. Many foreign-looking dresses were on display and affordable for reasonable prices. Minako-san was skillful and versatile in her craft. Right now, however, she only devoted her time to selling her products.

"Hello, Minako-san." Kyouichi greeted the familiar woman.

"Oooh, Kyouichi-kun. That's rare… What brings you here? Did something happen, or have you perhaps grown tired of your old kimono?"

"Actually, yes, something DID happen, but the customer is not me…" he stepped aside, allowing Minako to see Yuuka standing behind him, casually browsing through the selection of clothes.

"Kazami-san? Welcome again to my shop~!" she heartily greeted the youkai.

Despite the fact that Yuuka never used to stay in human company for extended periods of time, she never seemed to lack tact and polite manners.

"Greetings."

Her aura of nobility, however, suffered from the fact that her clothing was riddled with numerous tears and cuts, which didn't take long for Minako to notice.

"Oh my… Looks like your dress could use some serious needlework~." she stated with an amused tone. "A danmaku battle?"

"Something like that." replied Yuuka.

"Alright, let me see if I can still save your attire. But first, let's pick something that you can change into while I mend your dress. I think I should have a few identical skirts and vests in stock that you could buy or borrow, or if you want to try out something new, you can pick from whatever you see on display~."

"It's hard to choose from so many…" Yuuka undecidedly shifted her glance from left to right.

"I know that feeling exactly~!" Minako seconded with a compassionate tone. "Like when I want to buy myself a pair of new shoes…"

"Should I pick a kimono for a change? Or maybe something different?" thought Yuuka aloud.

"Then how about trying this new maid uniform~?" Minako suggested excitedly.

Kyouichi wasn't even sure if she meant it seriously or just as a joke.

"Why, yes It's one of my recent models." the tailor declared proudly. "See those little frills on the hem? Isn't it cure~?"

Yuuka wasn't sure what to say to Minako's suggestion. "Maid uniform…"

"Care to try it on? It just might be your size."

The flower-loving youkai stole a glance at Kyouichi to get a hint of what he thought about the idea, only to see him grinning widely with his eyes closed, rapidly repeating the word "yes" in whisper.

"On second thought, I think I'll just borrow the identical dress to my usual one."

"You don't like it? And how about a shrine maiden outfit? It's not too dissimilar from what you always wear."

Shifting her eyes to Kyouichi again, whose reaction hasn't changed, Yuuka decided to stick to the classic look.

"The same as always, please."

"Suit yourself, Kazami-san~." Minako chimed as she disappeared behind the shelves, returning after a moment with a folded red plaid skirt and vest and simple white shirt. "You probably don't need me to guide you to the changing cabins, do you?"

"I can find the way myself." Yuuka replied as she took the clothes and walked away to the changing cabin.

While Yuuka was changing, Minako stepped over to Kyouichi and spoke to him with a hushed voice: "My, my… Kyouichi-kun, how did you get acquainted with Kazami-san?"

"I don't know… I just saw her visit the flower shop often when I was working for Shimizu-san. One day I greeted her, we exchanged a few words and… that's about it. From then on we met a few times and chatted a bit… I was a bit surprised myself that you know her, Minako-san."

"Well, as you can see, she's also one of my customers."

"Yeah… Why do you ask me about her anyway?"

Minako smiled almost mischievously. "Oh, it's nothing... It's not like I'm here to judge you for who you choose to like. I just… wanted to give you a little, but important advice."

"An advice? What sort of advice?"

"Well… I know you're a good person at heart, so I probably don't need to tell you this at all, but… Please treat Kazami-san with respect and chivalry at all times. Her mental image of humans was never too great, but her personality is like a mirror. If she's treated nicely, so she treats others nicely in return. But if she gets offended somehow…" Minako left the question unfinished, allowing Kyouichi to use his imagination.

"I think I was just a witness to that a while ago. Don't worry, Minako-san. I never intended to mistreat or insult her. I couldn't forgive myself if I did."

"I see… I didn't need to tell you after all. I just wanted to be sure, Kyouichi-kun. I would really be sad if something… bad happened to you. Especially if I could do something to prevent it."

"I understand. Thank you, Minako-san." he bowed to his caretaker in respect.

After a couple of minutes, Yuuka stepped out of the cabin with a new dress, faithful to her old one in about every aspect. Kyouichi was a little disappointed that he didn't get to see the beautiful youkai wearing something different, but somehow, he thought that this dress really suited her well.

"I'm counting on you." said Yuuka to Minako as she handed over her damaged dress to her.

"I will do my best~. That will be 4000 yen for borrowing. Come back in a week. I should have it mended by then."

"Four thousand…" Yuuka muttered as she opened her wallet. "Wasn't borrowing always for three thousand in your shop?"

The owner of the shop giggled in response. "That was two years ago, Kazami-san. The prices went slightly up since then and so has my rent for this store. I have to make a living out of something too, you know.

"It can't be helped, can it?" Yuuka paid the price with a slight hint of reluctance. She pitied every yen that could be spent on buying flowers instead. "It's better than walking around naked."

"Well, the weather is nice and warm, but yes, it would be rather indecent to take a stroll in the village with no clothes." Minako's giggling echoed inside the shop. "See you next time, and enjoy the harvest feast~!"

"Speaking of which..." Kyouichi spoke up, "Shouldn't your shop be closed on a festive day like this?"

"I'm working until 6 p. m. today. The feast begins in the evening as well, anyway, so it's not like I'm going to miss anything. Our whole family will be there. You're invited too, of course, unless you already had other plans…" she gave him a suggestive wink.

Kyouichi rolled his eyes sideways to Yuuka. "Would you like to come to the harvest feast?"

"I don't like crowds very much."

"Oh… What a pity." the outsider frowned.

"But I'm willing to accept your earlier offer~." she added and brightened up a little.

"My earlier offer?" Kyouichi just experienced a momentary short-time memory failure.

"Have you already forgotten what you asked me before we went to this shop?"

Only now he recalled and correctly identified what she was referring to. "Oh, that! Wait… Are you serious?"

Her reply was unexpectedly cold: "No, I was just joking."

Kyouichi was struck dumbfounded, unable to spit out a single word. Yuuka, on the other hand, sported a look of amusement on her face.

"Hmhmhm~. Your face looks endearingly amusing when you're confused… I just wanted to tease you a bit."

"Wh-wha..? Really? So does that mean…?"

"Like I said: I accept."

An invisible rock fell down from Kyouichi's heart as he exhaled with relief and joy. "Thank you."

He walked up to the door and bowed to Minako one last time before leaving her shop together with Yuuka.

---

"Well, so much for getting a discount." the youkai humorously commented the situation when she closed the shop's door behind her.

"You said it yourself that getting your clothes ripped up was partially your own fault."

"True. I should probably try to protect myself a bit more next time. Even if it's just for the sake of my outfit. I just wanted to put on a little show, that's all."

"You certainly left Nishio-san impressed. I don't think he'll ever forget about this day."

"You reap what you sow. He only got a little dose of fear. Hopefully he'll learn something from the experience. But enough about rookie militia guards. Have you already decided where shall we go now?"

"Hmm…" Kyouichi ran through his mental list of known establishments in the Human Village and tried to pick the most suitable one.

"So you said you don't like crowded places. Then I guess I can cross out Uzume…"

"Oh, look there's one establishment right here~." Yuuka pointed at the building bordering the marketplace and the so called Western Street, where she and Kyouichi came from.

"The Drunken Oni?" he raised his eyebrow at the tavern which he was already familiar with. "Thanks, but I already had enough of Ryuuken for today. That place is their favorite hangout."

"I didn't know that."

"You really don't know this village despite visiting it so often and for so long?"

"Why should I know it well? I only go here for shopping and stay only as long as I need."

"Hmm… point taken." The human shrugged and resumed his brainstorming for a fitting establishment to visit. "Oh, I might have an idea. Let's go to White Sakura. It's a teahouse that has this really nice and calming atmosphere and nicely decorated interior too."

"A teahouse sounds fine~." Yuuka agreed with him. "Well, then… lead the way."

"It's right this way, Yuuka-san." he picked up his feet and guided his inhuman companion towards the southern part of the market square. Yuuka followed his steps as he entered a narrow street leading past the walled compound – the headquarters of the Ryuuken militia, until they both stopped at a small house that didn't attract much attention if it hadn't been for its sign board hanging above the door.

Kyouichi opened the door and let himself inside. "Well, here we are. It's just my second time visiting this place." He found himself in the entrance corridor of the teahouse decorated by numerous bonsai.

---

"Welcome to White Sakura, mister." a young waitress welcomed him almost as soon as he stepped in. "Table for one?"

"For two, actually." he corrected the waitress and found it a little weird that she hasn't noticed two people entering the teahouse. Well, one human and one youkai… He looked back over his shoulder to check if Yuuka actually followed him in.

"Hey, Yuuka-san. Come in, come in; don't be shy."

The youkai lady was just admiring one of the bonsai trees that lined the wall shelves on both sides of the corridor. For a moment, it looked like she forgot the reason for coming here in the first place.

"Oh…" she snapped out of her trance-like state and stepped up next to Kyouichi.

As soon as the waitress witnessed her, her behavior changed in almost parallel fashion to that of Kyouichi's former employer, Daisuke Shimizu, whenever Yuuka showed up in the bookstore.

"W-welcome t-to White S-sakura, madam… Um… ehh… P-please let me show you the way to our best tea salon."

Kyouichi raised his eyebrow in slight bewilderment. "Excuse me, but I don't think I can afford such luxury."

"N-no, please, don't worry abut it. Just follow me." she insisted with her voice trembling from nervousness. She led the human/youkai couple towards the back of the establishment and with a key that she pulled out of her pocket, she unlocked the door to a beautiful tea salon for wealthier clients.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Here's our menu. If you'll need anything, please just ring the bell on the table." She seemed to calm down a bit, but her forced smile and sweat droplets on her forehead told a different story.

"Well, if they insist, I won't complain." Kyouichi seated himself at the table and Yuuka took the opposite side.

"It's pretty." she commented the decoration and furnishing of the salon.

"You should have come here in spring then. They even had the floor sprinkled with real white cherry petals."

"Really?"

"Yes, but apparently they already cleaned them up since my last visit."

"Interesting…" Yuuka picked up the menu from the table and glanced through the various sorts of tea. "Now, which tea should I pick?"

---

And while Kyouichi and Yuuka were solving their tea choice dilemma, Asakura Soudai finally arrived at the western gate with a respected Ryuuken major by his side.

"Wait… where did he go?" Soudai turned his head to all directions, but couldn't see anyone even remotely similar to Osamu. "I swear he was standing right here and halting people."

"Are you sure it was initiate Nishio?" the major asked him as he cast a suspicious glance at the outsider.

"I wouldn't lie to you about it, sir. And where's Ishimaru…? My friend was supposed to be waiting here for me. Although I admit, I took longer than I thought I would…"

"Perhaps they both went to the farms already." the Ryuuken speculated, but then a sparkle of something on the ground near the gate caught his attention. "And what's this?"

He walked closer to the unknown object that reflected sunlight, leaned over it and observed it with puzzlement.

"It looks like it has a hilt of a sword, but…" Soudai also couldn't make heads or tails of it.

The Ryuuken major picked it up. "By the gods, you're right… It IS a sword hilt… of a sword issued to Ryuuken. So, Nishio WAS here after all. But the blade is bent like it was a wet noodle… Just what the hell happened here?"

And while the Ryuuken was scratching his head over the mystery of the super-deformed katana, Soudai exhaled with relief that at least there was some evidence that backed up his story. A false accusation could cost him dearly. Still, he was a little troubled by his friend's absence and his gut feeling told him that his and Osamu's disappearance might be somehow linked together.

"Alright, Asakura-san… I'll go look for Nishio and have some words with him when I find him."

"Then I should probably go searching for my pal too."

Having little to no leads, Soudai thought that Kyouichi simply lost his patience for waiting and headed off to the farmlands to join everyone in the preliminary stage of the harvest feast. And that's where he went…

---

"Mmm… this is some really well-made sencha." Kyouichi praised the quality of the tea that the waitress just served to him and Yuuka a moment ago.

"The bitterness is just as strong as it should be."

Since the two of them had problems with deciding what to pick, the waitress suggested one of their best blends of green tea. What surprised Kyouichi the most, though, was that she even brought a large wooden platter loaded with beautifully arranged and delicious-looking sushi.

"But we didn't order any…"

"A courtesy of the White Sakura manager." she said as she brought it to the tea salon. "Please enjoy!"

As the waitress left them in privacy, Kyouichi looked Yuuka in the eyes and asked: "Are you sure this is your first time visiting this place?"

"Why would you think otherwise?" she asked and took another sip.

He gestured at the sushi platter as a response. "This isn't how they normally treat guests. I got nothing for free the first time I've been here. In fact, I was under the impression that all they served here was tea. So it has to be something else… I think it's because they know you and respect you. Unlike some individuals…"

"But I've never met these people." she reasoned.

"You never needed to. It's simply enough that they know about you."

"Well, that's very nice of them~." She flashed a beautiful smile and picked up the chopsticks.

"Almost makes you wonder: What's the catch? Right?"

Yuuka took the privilege to taste her first roll of sushi, which she apparently enjoyed.

"For a long, long time I never much understood humans. And I never tried to. Before I moved to Gensokyo, I only viewed people as a nuisance and cheap target practice. Later, they became just pests who distracted my peaceful flower viewings. Then I met Yukari Yakumo. And I could not understand her… Her fondness of humans. What she saw in them? I could never comprehend. Back in Mugenkan, meeting people was not that uncommon. Those who dreamt could sometimes wander to my home. There wasn't much for me to do, so I got bored easily. Talking, playing games, having tea, or beating someone to death from which they woke up… It didn't matter to me as long as I could have my fun. But I think I must have gradually changed a bit since those times. Even in Mugenkan, I learned that there were some people who were so nice that I didn't have the heart to tease them. My human friends were very few, but I treasured them. I agreed that they could visit me every time in their sleep. But those were no real encounters. Time went on and the short-lived humans who I liked died of natural causes. Those who came afterwards… I could never grow attached to. I wanted to experience the real world beyond that which I was born into. And here I found my greatest passion."

"Flowers?"

"Indeed. I was disappointed by the humans I first met in this world. Not only how they treated me, but the way they treated everything around them. I chose the life of seclusion, trying to avoid human contact as much as possible. My only real friends who could understand me were flowers."

"So the change in your thinking happened after you met Yukari?"

"She's a part of the reason. We met each other by chance. Both of us were youkai in a world where humans have spread across nearly every inch of Japan. To survive in this world, we needed to keep our presence in the human minds known somehow and the best way for that was to instill fear. But when I met her… I began to see her as a rival entering my turf, trying to spread fear among the humans who were MY prey."

"So you fought."

Yuuka chuckled lightly. "And how… There were no Spell Card Rules like there are now. One danmaku shot could blast through a house, kill an undefined number of people and still keep going strong. Magic and attacks were not made to look beautiful, but to be effective. Yukari and I fought many times. None of us could kill each other, though. Or perhaps, none of us really wanted to. Our fights caused a lot of damage to the land, which I regretted in retrospect. Back then I could not even manipulate plants so I couldn't bring the dead fields and forests back to life. I didn't want to go on fighting senselessly, when it was obvious that Yukari was a completely different league from anyone I fought before. So instead of fighting, we took a more civilized approach to our exchange of opinions. It wasn't immediate, but… after a few years, we no longer saw each other as rivals. I learned a lot from our conversations. She hadn't yet told me about her idea to seal Gensokyo by that time, but from her demeanor, I could deduce that her view of life, of humans, gods and of youkai differed from mine in many ways. Out of spite, I refused to consider anything she told me seriously, but… I kept thinking a lot."

"Wait a minute, Yuuka-san… I was just wondering if you also fought in the first Genso-Lunar war."

"She was trying to convince me to join her, yes. But you know what I told her?"

Kyouichi shrugged. "No idea."

"Why would I go to explore another new world when I barely got to exploring this one? That's what I asked her. Oddly, she never forced anyone to join her invading army to the Moon. If one said "no", she just left them alone and asked someone else. And so I stayed here. Only when she returned from her little war campaign, she finally told me what she planned to do with this piece of land from the very beginning."

"Let me guess. You probably didn't agree with being sealed here."

"Naturally, I was against it. Why would she do something like that? Why should we, the youkai live like exiles? Why was Yukari so eagerly helping the humans to seal our home from the rest of the world? Why siding with humans in the first place?"

"You had another fight?"

"Not this time." The youkai shook her head. "For I could see in short time afterwards… She wasn't siding with anyone; she was siding with all the parties. Youkai, humans, gods, she told me that even the Lunarians themselves should somehow benefit from the aftermath of the failed invasion, even though I don't see how…"

"What happened after Gensokyo became sealed?" wondered the young human.

"I started to become more open-minded. Little by little. Step by step. Petal by petal…" Yuuka couldn't help inserting a flower-related metaphor, "Of course, I still enjoyed the company of flowers over the company of anyone else, but at least I occasionally took a walk to the village every now and then."

"Come to think of it, I never asked where you live now."

"It's better if you don't know then." she gave a cryptic reply with an equally cryptic smirk.

"I imagine it must be a dangerous trip there." Kyouichi guessed wildly.

"It's no place for humans, suffice to say."

"Alright, I won't pry. So you said you started visiting the village. How did the people react to that?"

She hummed thoughtfully. "How to put it...? They weren't quite ready for it."

"Could you elaborate a little?"

"After I crushed every solider they sent to exterminate me, the common villagers weren't in the mood for a conversation or doing business."

"You massacred the Ryuuken?"

Yuuka chuckled at the question. "There were Spell Card Rules already in effect by that time. But a massacre it was. People believed I was ruthless and that I enjoyed their suffering, but they were completely missing the point. I couldn't care less about most of the humans. As if I'd enjoy fighting such weak opponents. They simply didn't give me a choice. The were-hakutaku tried to drive me away too, but she was easy too. After that, no Ryuuken ever had any objections to my occasional presence in the village. But the rest of the humans were still somehow… afraid maybe. Funny… after all those centuries of living off people's fear, I never really quite understood that emotion myself."

"You don't know what fear is?"

"Can you tell me?" she smiled sheepishly. "I'm a little at a loss."

Kyouichi scratched his chin as his mind pondered the question of what fear is and how to explain it to someone who has little to no clue.

"Well… how should I say it in an understandable way? For example: you love flowers, right?"

"Of course I do~. But what do flowers have to do with fear?"

"Surely you must have a garden at home, right?" he asked another question.

"Naturally."

"But what if something bad was going to happen to it? Like some natural disaster? Pest infestation, wildfire, hail storm or something like that…"

Yuuka furrowed her eyebrows as she heard that. Apparently, imagining it was not pleasant for her. "It would make me both sad and angry." she tried to give an honest reply.

"And understandably, you don't want to be sad or angry."

"I don't, but sometimes, I can't avoid it. Life brings such instances to anyone sooner or later."

"That's true. But that feeling that you have… The unwillingness to be sad, angry or in any way upset, while knowing that sometimes you won't escape from those emotions… is a form of fear."

"Oh… I think I'm beginning to understand it a little. I thought I was never afraid in my life, but… I guess worrying IS a form of fear too."

"There's nothing wrong with fear, Yuuka-san. It can help us humans be more careful and creative. Many of mankind's inventions were more or less born out of necessity… the fear of something, be it disease, bad weather, wild animals, wars and so on. Fear can sometimes save lives, but like fire, when it gets out of control, it can consume a man. Even drive people insane. But a healthy dose of fear is what helps us stay alive in this world. But we digressed from your story, haven't we?"

"Yes, a little… I already said the humans from this village were avoiding me as much as possible afterwards. I thought that it had to be because everyone could tell even from afar that I was a youkai. So I cut my hair shorter in order to look a little less youkai-like."

"Really? You had long hair, Yuuka-san?"

"Yes~. Falling all the way down to my waist." She gestured the approximate original length of her hair with her hands.

Kyouichi spent a moment in silent daydream as he tried to imagine a long-haired Yuuka. "It must have been a pretty sight. But I think your current hairstyle suits you perfectly."

"It's also easier to wash and dry~. And combing takes me less time too."

"And…? Did cutting your hair do the trick?"

"Not as quickly as I thought. It took a few years and dozens of visits before people stopped hiding from me. But they became accustomed eventually. As long as nobody wanted to exterminate me, I had no reason to fight. And as long as the people could understand that, they had no reason to be afraid. I don't think I'll ever share the same fondness for humans as Yukari, but at least she taught me that they're not so bad. There still are a few nice ones in the world…" she smiled as she lifted her gaze from the sushi platter to look Kyouichi in the eyes.

Kyouichi could feel his blood pressure slightly rising. "Hehe… Then you haven't looked hard enough. There are many nice people in the world. Much nicer than I perceive myself to be. Even here in Gensokyo. You'd know if you talked to them more."

"You're telling me to be more open?"

"Well, the choice is yours to make, of course, but if you want people to understand you better, you should make some effort to understanding humans too. You are a nice person, so I'm sure you'll find many friends even among the human population of Gensokyo."

"Thank you." she thanked him suddenly.

"What for?"

"For being nice. For increasing the number of my human friends by one. And for your invitation to this place."

"You know, if there's one thing I don't regret about being spirited away to this place, it would be meeting you. It's me who's happy that I've met you. It's me who should be thankful. I can't stay here, so I ask one thing of you… For your own good, Yuuka-san, please don't give up on people. You'll have no problems making as many friends as you want. Even if you'll surely meet some unpleasant types, know that there are just as many people who would never betray your trust. Try talking to them. Idle mundane talk, just like we had so often."

"I can try, but I'm not going to promise any miracles." her reply was strikingly similar to Kyouichi's when he was asked a favor by someone. "I'm a youkai after all. It is in my nature to be different from humans. As it is in human nature to fear youkai and fight against them. But who knows? Maybe you are right."

"Don't tell me you don't get along with any human in Gensokyo except me, because I won't believe you." Kyouichi let out a slightly forced chuckle.

"Hmmm." the flower youkai dove deeply into her thoughts. "Maybe there are a few." she finally acknowledged it.

"See? All you had to do was think for a moment. Haven't you ever been to Hakurei Shrine for instance?"

"Of course I have~." her tone suddenly perked up a little. "The cherry blossoms are so lovely there in spring…" she cast a daydreamy gaze into the ceiling before snapping back to reality.

"What about Reimu-san?"

"She doesn't bloom as lovely as those cherry trees." Yuuka showed a bit of her humorous side.

"Sometimes we watch the cherry blossoms together, but most of the time she's just like: "What are you doing here?" whenever I stop by. It makes me want to tease her with my presence even more~ ."

"So do you get along or not?" Kyouichi blinked quizzically.

"Yes and no. Kind of like me and Yukari long ago. Reimu says I shouldn't come to her shrine, because I scare potential visitors away. But I come anyway. She doesn't like it, but she never resorts to challenge me. Instead, she makes tea. It's a bit hard trying to convince someone to leave by serving them tea, don't you think?"

"Well, unless the tea is poisoned, it's a little hard to get the point across."

"And people have tried that one too many times in the past. I might even say I developed a decent resistance to that. Reimu's tea is not bad, but not as refined as the one they serve here."

"Have you two battled before?"

"A couple of times. I don't care about winning or losing in danmaku battles. It's just an innocent game. Reimu seems to think differently. Both of us have scored victories and suffered defeats against each other. Life in Gensokyo is much more entertaining than in Mugenkan. Even the flowers here are more interesting." again, she concluded the topic with a remark about flowers.

"You said earlier that you have flower viewings throughout the whole year, didn't you?"

"That's right. I am known around Gensokyo as the Flower Master of the Four Seasons. And every season yields different flowers. That ephemeral beauty that repeats itself in cycles… That's what I live for~ . I never get tired of watching seasons change. The spring of pink-colored sakura, the summer of yellow sunflowers, the autumn of blazing colors of the drying leaves and the winter of pure whiteness, when most flowers rest and await their awakening. There is beauty in every season."

"I like all four seasons too, but I don't wish to experience them all in Gensokyo. However, I at least want to make some nice memories of this place. Today is probably our last chance to enjoy it to the fullest, so… I'm looking forward to the harvest feast."

"Are you going to get dressed in a cute yukata too~?" she directed yet another teasing question at Kyouichi.

"Ha! If that would convince you to go there as well, I might as well do that."

"Oh, really?" Yuuka batted her eyelids as her lips shaped an amused smile.

"No, probably not." Kyouichi repaid her the teasing from earlier. "Even if it was just for fun, I'd probably get drunk at some point and then wake up in the morning to the sounds of clicking camera shutter and "Ayayaya~!"."

"Ufufufu…" the flower youkai giggled at the mental image of passed out Kyouichi in a yukata being photographed by the crow tengu. "At least you'd gain some popularity. Although I personally don't read newspapers."

"I already had some of that, thank you." the human lowered his head from embarrassment. "And being photographed in a yukata would not have as much impact as that first time…"

"That first time~?" Yuuka curiously tilted her head.

Kyouichi straightened up again and chuckled. "I'm glad that you don't read Bunbunmaru, Yuuka-san."

The two of them spent at least another hour in the tea salon even after they finished their tea and sushi. Just talking about everyday life was enjoyable enough for both of them to prolong their stay in White Sakura. Just as their knowledge about each other gradually deepened as their conversation progressed, so did Kyouichi become gradually more aware that he developed a strong liking to the youkai of seasonal flowers. Likewise, Yuuka was reliving a nostalgic memory of the time when those few humans that she could call her friends were still among the living. For someone who was usually not interested in ordinary humans, Yuuka not only enjoyed Kyouichi's company, but she also realized how talkative she could be when she had a good listener. She never really said it aloud, but on the inside a little bit of regret settled at the bottom of her heart. After so many years when she finally made another rare human friend, she knew that the said human would not stay here for long. Perhaps that was a part of the reason why she grew to like him in the first place. Just like the seasonal flowers that bloom for but a fleeting moment before withering and scattering, so was Kyouichi's time in Gensokyo running short.

---

"That was an enjoyable time, Kyouichi." she said as they walked out of the teahouse. The sun was slowly, but certainly nearing the western horizon. "But all things must come to an end."

"Same here, Yuuka-san… In the end, there is but one thing that I regret about meeting you."

"And that would be?"

"The fact that I have to say farewell so soon. Either way, I won't forget about you."

"I won't forget about your gift either." she showed her smile one more time.

"You mean those hibiscus seeds I found in Kourindou? Wasn't that what Yukari smuggled in for you?"

"Perhaps, but it was you who bought them to me. I'll extend my thanks to Yukari as well, when she deigns to come back. But it would be a bit impolite of me to receive a gift and not give anything in return. Something that wouldn't wither away as soon as a flower in a vase…"

"Then I have an idea." Kyouichi pulled out a memo pad from his pocket and handed it over to Yuuka. "My friend and I have started a habit of collecting autographs from various people we've met in Gensokyo. If you're ok with it, I'd really love to have your autograph."

"That's a really modest request, but if that's what you wish," she borrowed Kyouichi's pen and scribbled an elegant signature on the front page of his memo pad, "then so be it."

"Thank you, Yuuka-san."

"Live a good life, Ishimaru Kyouichi… Goodbye."

After that, Yuuka turned her back on him and directed her steps back to where she came from.

"You too…" the outsider muttered as he watched her slowly disappearing into the crowd.