Chapter 67 – Even Little Progress Counts
"There you are!" Soudai waved at Kyouichi, who just showed up in the schoolyard, a popular hangout spot of the Human Village youth. "Took your sweet time." he added while flashing a teasing, sly grin. Among the unfamiliar faces of young Human Village natives, Kyouichi recognized Daniel and Midori, but only because they called out to him, adding a few teasing lines of their own.
"How did the date go?" Dan asked without reservation.
"Probably better than expected, since he's still in one piece." Midori muttered in a tone that didn't sound very amused.
The young villagers who were being taught how to play baseball by Dan and Soudai immediately focused their glances on Kyouichi, uttering words of amazement, amusement, approval, disapproval, jealousy and contempt. Kyouichi knew that the news was going to spread fast, and in all honesty, he couldn't care less. His wide, content smile said it all.
"Just look at him." Soudai shook his head as he tried to mimic Kyouichi's current expression. "Grinning ear-to-ear, like he just discovered the meaning of life."
"Oh, I had a wonderful time, thanks for asking." Kyouichi replied to Dan's question. "I really need to thank you, Soudai, for convincing me to stay with her. Though I wonder why you insisted on it. You never really felt comfortable in her presence, and now, you suddenly approve of us meeting each other…"
When Midori heard that, she shifted her gaze from the bespectacled, long-haired Kyouichi to Soudai. "Wait a minute. So that was your idea?"
"Now don't look at me like at some criminal. I just gave my pal a little... push, that's all. He's been dealing with a lot of trouble lately and he needed some sort of distraction. True, I find Yuuka-san a bit… scary, but she's been friendly enough to us so far. I could tell after a few meetings that Kyouichi was head over heels for her."
"I was not." Kyouichi instantly denied Soudai's version of the story.
"Oh, come on. Who are you kidding?"
Midori was the only outsider of the group who didn't look amused. "I don't think that was the best idea."
Soudai raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh? What's wrong? Are you turning green with jealousy, Midori?" He chuckled and shot a quick glance at Kyouichi. "Heh… See what I did there? Midori… green…" he chuckled at his own silly pun.
"I'm serious." Midori raised her voice. "What if something bad happened? Everyone says she's a dangerous youkai."
"Really?" Soudai gave her a disbelieving glance. "And isn't it perhaps because you have a crush on Ishimaru yourself?"
"I'm only naturally worried about a friend's well-being." the girl justified her concern.
"He's alive and well, so why do you think it was a bad idea?"
"Because…" she started a retort, but something kept her from finishing, which only fueled Soudai's suspicion.
"Yes? We're listening… Because…?"
"Because I don't want him to end up like those people who left our club to pursue a romantic relationship with someone from Gensokyo."
Kyouichi understood where she was coming from, and that this could indeed pose a problem, undermining his resolve to return to the outside world, but before he could say anything, Soudai came to his defense.
"So what if he decides to stay? If he thinks that he'll be happier here and decides to settle down, who are we to tell him otherwise?"
"I know that we can't." Midori slowly lowered her head, as if nodding. "And that's exactly what I'm worried about. If our club president decides to stay, what'll happen then? The morale of our club is already pretty poor, to put it lightly. If Kyouichi abandons our cause, he might very well take the rest of the club down along with him."
"If that happens," Kyouichi finally interjected to state his opinion, "then you have my permission and blessing to take over the role of the club's president, Midori."
It warmed her heart, even if it was a bittersweet statement. She smiled meekly. "Yeah… provided I'll have any more fight left in me to continue."
"What are you talking about?" the club president blinked quizzically. "You're one of the most inspiring and determined people I've met."
"I have my resolve only because you haven't given up yet…"
"Funny. I could say the same thing to you."
"Hey, I'd still want to return, even if both of you left the club." Soudai reassured them. "Unless I'd manage to get myself a cute girlfriend like Kaguya… or maybe Kogasa…"
His honest interruption managed to derail the conversation completely off its course.
"What's with all the human males from the outside world only wanting youkai girlfriends?" Midori tossed in some food for thought.
"Hey, Kaguya's not a youkai." Soudai immediately corrected her. "She's a Moon princess."
"Still not a human…"
"Well, to answer your question, I guess it's due to the desire to try something new and unknown. True, that very same "new and unknown" can end up eating you by the end of the day, but if I could choose between an ordinary and a supernatural girlfriend, I'd pick the latter. Or the prettier…"
The topic has certainly digressed, as was often the case in their conversations. Kyouichi took it upon himself to return it back to its tracks. "Don't worry, Midori. I'm not about to tender my resignation yet."
"So what about Yuuka-san?"
"What about her?"
"You're not in love with her, are you?"
"And what if I am?" he replied with a question.
"Then if you're planning to return home, you're only going to end up heartbroken. Or you'll break her heart and she'll kill you."
Kyouichi repeated his "Don't worry." once more. "Both me and Yuuka-san understand the situation. We don't mind our eventual parting. And we don't mind our mutual meetings either."
"You're saying that now, but will you still be acting so cool when our time to leave Gensokyo finally comes? Partings hurt, you know. The feelings can overwhelm you."
"I've been there, Midori. I know… I'm not a fortune-teller. I can't predict whether I'll still be singing the same tune when our time to go comes… if it comes. But in spite of what Soudai here thinks and might have told you, I'm not in love with Yuuka-san. Not yet, at least…"
Even as he was making that claim with a straight face and serious tone, Kyouichi couldn't avoid that creeping feeling of guilt that he got every time he told a lie. He wondered himself, whether it was really the truth, or merely an attempt of self-suggestion.
"Did you two plan another meeting?" Midori asked to check the validity of Kyouichi's claims.
"We don't have a set date or time. All she said is that she might stop by for a visit sometimes. Maybe we won't see each other again… Who knows?"
"But she does plan on seeing you again."
Kyouichi responded only by a silent shrug. By now he wasn't even sure what point Midori was trying to make.
"Don't shrug it off! Even if you say you don't love her yet, every meeting you two will have dramatically increases the chance of that happening. I might as well say that it's only a matter of time. And when that happens, saying goodbye is going to be painful. For both of you…"
"Midori, please…" Soudai needed to point out a flaw in Midori's logic. "Number of meetings doesn't increase the chances of falling in love. Ishimaru and I have been meeting you on almost daily basis, and neither of us is dating you."
"We're meeting each other as friends, classmates and clubmates. That's different from meeting someone privately."
"Look, Midori." Kyouichi tried to reassure her and close the topic, "I've been through breakups and rejections before. I know they hurt, but everyone experiences them at some point. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? And as for Yuuka-san; she's lived for centuries and has seen a lot of people come and go. Even those few she cared for. She must be so used to it by now, that worrying about hurting her feelings is like worrying about a rock starving to death."
"Well, I for one think it's a mistake to assume that youkai have no feelings. She wouldn't be planning to visit you again otherwise. Unless she had some more basic, darker motive in mind…"
"I never said that she or other youkai have no feelings. Just that she is used to partings. And if she was the man-eating sort, she already had more than enough opportunities to eat me. Without any witnesses."
"Plus," Soudai complemented his friend's defense, "If you're worried about Ishimaru not falling in love, it's probably a bit too late, I'm afraid."
"Oh, shut up, Asakura. I already told you that I'm not in love. True, I won't deny that I like her a lot, but love? I don't know…"
"You shut up. You were just trying to justify your willingness to undergo a painful parting for the sake of meeting Yuuka-san again. I'm on your side. You're in love, idiot, you just fail to realize and admit it."
"Enough on this subject for today." Kyouichi desperately tried to end the conversation.
"No way. We'll keep pestering you about it for weeks. Or for as long as we'll be staying here."
"Yeah, like about your little Reimu Hakurei cosplay… Midori couldn't help bringing it up again.
"That joke's become old months ago. No need to rub in in my face again." Even though it was just Kyouichi's wishful thought that the mentioned event was merely a joke, the fact that it was too old couldn't be denied. "Anyway, what do you plan to do this evening? Are you all done playing baseball?"
"It's already too dark to play, but we had some fun. Not as much as you, though…"
"We were planning to get some tea… or something else to drink."
"I vote for the "something else" option." Kyouichi said while raising his hand.
"Something with a little more kick, eh? Yeah, I second that option as well. But where to go?"
"Uzume?" Midori suggested with a shrug, but Soudai quickly burst her bubble.
"On a Saturday evening? You might have better luck finding Eientei without a guide than a vacant table at Uzume right now. That place is packed!"
"Then the Drunken Oni." she suggested the second most well-known establishment.
"Heh! You've got guts, Midori! If you want to end up in a tavern brawl, be my guest."
"I've been there once." Kyouichi recalled, "It's not that bad."
"Maybe it isn't, but I hear that every Ryuuken who's not on a duty goes there. And brawls do happen."
"You're making it sound like all the Ryuuken are drunkards and ruffians in their spare time."
"Just saying what I've heard during my 6-month stay in their barracks. Even if the stories may be exaggerated, Midori might have a problem with so many Ryuuken per square meter."
"As long as I don't have to live and sleep in their filthy barracks and listen to their perverted crap every day, I don't care. I'll just have a few drinks with you guys. If any of those pigs tries to harass me, you will protect me."
As Midori finished that sentence, both Soudai and Kyouichi burst into a laughing fit that lasted almost half a minute.
"Did I say something funny?" Midori couldn't understand their reaction. She had to wait until her two male friends were able to speak coherently again.
"And that is how a good percentage of all tavern brawls starts!" Soudai still chuckled as he patted Midori's shoulder. "There's usually some woman to blame."
"I just want to have some drinks." the short-haired girl repeated. "I won't do anything to provoke a fight."
"You don't have to. Just being in the wrong company is enough. Also, I had a different problem in mind that you could have with the authorities…"
"Such as…?"
"Isn't Iwakami-san still underage?" Daniel hit the nail on the head with his question.
"She is." Soudai gave an affirming nod. "She shouldn't even as much as have a whiff of alcohol for at least another 4 years."
"My parents aren't around to tell me what to do anyway…" Midori pouted.
"Maybe so, but the barkeep at the Oni won't serve you a drop, if he knows what's good for his business. I imagine the same should apply to any other tavern."
"Then you guys do the ordering and I'll pay you at the table." she proposed a simple alternative.
"Underage honor students shouldn't be getting themselves inebriated." Soudai's tone and grin oozed with sarcasm.
"I was drinking during the summer festival and you didn't seem to mind."
"Yes, you were… As well as during the more recent harvest feast. Do I need to remind you how you ended up?"
"S-shut up!" Midori's cheeks blushed as she turned her face away from Daniel, the only person of the group who didn't yet know about her drunken antics from the aforementioned event.
"You got shitfaced during the summer festival too. And being 10 years older didn't help you much!" the flustered teen dug up some dirt on Soudai in return.
"Um… what happened during the summer festival and the harvest feast?" the fair-haired outsider blinked at the other three confusedly.
"Let's just say they both owe one a certain Moon rabbit…" Kyouichi played it safe by giving him a truthful, albeit cryptic answer.
In the end, they decided to try their luck at the Drunken Oni. The tavern had numerous patrons, but a few tables were completely unoccupied, so the outsiders didn't take long to decide where they want to be seated.
The boys ordered the drinks, not forgetting about their underage female friend who waited for them at the table. Everything went along smoothly. Neither the barkeep, nor any of the patrons batted an eye. Midori praised her friends' kind gesture.
The group discussed various interesting events of the recent days, and Kyouichi was glad that they gave his meetings with Yuuka a rest.
After a few more rounds, their tongues loosened up more. Their conversation became more honest and their voices louder. Midori grabbed another shot and downed it in one go. Then without a warning, she pointed at Kyouichi and said: "Hey, don't think that your lovey-dovey affair with the flower youkai is the most interesting thing that happened today!"
She almost looked like she was making a bet. Kyouichi had to lean back in his chair to avoid having his glasses stained by her index finger. Ishimaru himself had quite a few shots already circulating in his system, so he looked doubly confused when Midori nearly poked his eye out. And of course, Soudai would use his momentary silence to slip in one of his "clever" remarks.
"I'm pretty sure Kyou would disagree with that, but he's just courteously silent." he chuckled, "Though now you really piqued my interest."
And he certainly wasn't the only one. Kyouichi and Daniel both had their eyes fixed on her.
"Yeah, what interesting happened, Midori?"
Content that she had everyone's full, undivided attention, the young girl smiled smugly, crossed her arms, and leaned against her chair's backrest.
"Well," she paused, her smile instantly changing into a deadpan serious face, "as you know, I've been doing a big cleanup at Tanisake-san's house today."
"Oh, my… this is gonna be good." Soudai already had a feeling that whatever Midori had to share, it would be at least entertaining, if nothing else. "What did you find? A skeleton in his closet? His secret porn mag stash?"
"No. A photo."
"What? A photo?" Asakura sounded almost disappointed. "That's it? After all that buildup?"
Midori silenced him with just one cold stare. "Yes, a photo in a frame. The kind that you can either hang on a wall or stand on a table."
"Yeah, so?"
"But I didn't find that photo stand on a table, nor on a wall. It was in one of his drawers. Ever since I moved into his house, and insisted on helping him with chores, he almost stubbornly protested. Especially when I wanted to clean his bedroom."
"But he wasn't home this time…" Kyouichi complemented the information, since the old man paid him a visit this afternoon.
"Indeed…" Midori widened her impish grin.
"So what was in the photo?" Soudai was dying to know.
"It was an old black and white photo of two people - a man and a woman standing next to each other in front of a house. The man is most certainly Tanisake-san, some 30 years younger, and the house looks like the one he lives in now…"
"And the woman?" Soudai quirked his eyebrow, watching as Midori shrugged in response.
"No idea. I've never seen her or anyone resembling her in the village, but it doesn't take a detective to deduce from her standing next to Tanisake-san, that she is… or was his wife. Or a close relative."
The whole table went quiet as everyone present was taking their time to process the surprising information.
"Naota had a wife?" Kyouichi scratched his head. While it was true that the old man never used to talk much about his personal life, and whatever information he was willing to share was usually limited to his craft, Kyouichi didn't have him figured for a family type. Still, as much unlikely as the notion of a married Naota seemed to Kyouichi, it certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.
Then, as if merely waiting for the best moment, Midori threw in the punchline.
"There was a barely-legible date on the back side of the photo. May 12th 1974." That information made Kyouichi open his eyes wide. As if all the alcohol suddenly drained away from his body, his mind was already playing back the conversation he had with the old carpenter.
"You know… before I went for a walk with Yuuka-san…" he started tentatively. "Naota paid me a visit, helped me build a makeshift shower."
"And?"
"Well, I nonchalantly asked him when he started to walk down the path of sake… To my surprise, he gave me a precise date… Damn… what was it?" By now he had already forgotten the day and month, but at least he still could recall the year. "Sorry, only remember the year he said… 1976. He never really said why, though, and I didn't feel like prying."
"So about two years after the date on the photo." Midori summed up after doing the simple math. "I wonder what happened…"
Like probably everyone at the table, she could already guess, but she was afraid to say it out loud.
"Add Naota's relentless hatred towards all youkai to the equation, and you may begin to imagine what made him the way he is now…"
"Well, shit…" Soudai didn't have any witty remark up his sleeve this time. Even he knew when making a joke was simply inappropriate. "A-are you gonna ask him about that photo, Midori?"
"Are you crazy? He'd go ballistic if he found out that I've been snooping around his drawers!"
"I doubt that. Naota is grumpy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly." Or at least that's what Kyouichi believed to be true about the retired craftsman. Midori, however, just stubbornly shook her head.
"I still wouldn't bring it up to him, if only not to peel his old wound open again."
"I might ask Saitou-san about it…" Kyouichi thought aloud, "And if he won't tell me, then Akyuu will surely know…"
"Whatever. Just promise me that you won't rat me out to Tanisake-san if you meet him again. If you do bring it up, then you didn't hear it from me, understand?"
Kyouichi let out a weak snort. "Even if I keep my word, I'm sure even he can put two and two together, leaving him only one person to suspect."
Midori sulked in her chair, seeking shelter for her guilty conscience at the bottom of her sake cup. "I'm beginning to regret sharing this secret with you, guys…"
"I won't tell on you, Midori. Don't worry." Kyouichi reassured her, but that had little effect on her mood.
"Well, I guess it's time we changed the subject to something more cheerful." Soudai suggested, copying Midori's move and taking a sip from his cup. "Alright, Casanova, tell me again how exactly did your date with Yuuka go, with all the juicy details. And please exaggerate."
The sip of sake Kyouichi just took almost ended up being sprayed all over Soudai's face.
"You just don't know when to stop, do you?"
"Of course I know! After you tell me everything, hahaha~!"
"Midori, tell him something."
It appeared that the silly antics of her friends managed to return a faint indication of a smile back to her lips. As she didn't want to spend the rest of the evening brooding, she decided to join Soudai in teasing the club president.
"Hey, I'm just curious… This Yuuka… is she pretty?"
"What? Are you questioning my taste?" Even Kyouichi stopped taking everything seriously and just played along.
"But I've never seen her."
"Let me put it this way," Soudai spoke to Midori, "Even if her presence unsettles me slightly, I can understand why Ishimaru is attracted to her."
And while the four young outsiders were having a good evening in the tavern, the girls in Kazemura were working hard, each in her own way, to get the spirit incident resolved with as little delay as possible. Marisa was reading through the tomes that Patchouli left in the tent, Reimu was cutting paper streamers to replace the old ones on her gohei wand, Sakuya and Koakuma were preparing meals for everyone at the portable stove, Aya was out interviewing, Suika managed buy some much-desired sweets from a travelling merchant from the Human Village, and Remilia, who returned from her mansion earlier than expected, appeared as though as she wasn't doing anything at all. However, she was actually studying fate strings of everything and everyone in sight, trying to make heads or tails of what situation they could lead to. The mysterious and reclusive alchemist Xeng-Yao was mixing something on his portable minilab. Patchouli was still down in the temple's crypt, but even without her, the tent was busier than ever.
The number of its occupants has fluctuated over the past several weeks quite a bit. Yesterday, it was the youngest member, Hieda no Akyuu who left Kazemura on a rather unexpected note after her father asked to return to Human Village, as the Suzunaan book renter was ready to print out and publish the latest iteration of her chronicle. Today, however, the archeological expedition team got two new "members": a resourceful mouse youkai and a mischievous and cunning nue trickster. While Reimu believed they were nothing but trouble, the other girls figured their abilities may yet prove very useful, especially since they worked in defiance to the anti-magic field.
"Seriously? That's the reason we're going to let these troublemaking freeloaders take up the already cramped space of this tent and give them free food?" Reimu shook her head in disapproval, but then shrugged and pretended not to care. "Whatever… At least when they're under my watch, they won't attempt to do anything foolish… Right?" she threw an intimidating gaze at the two youkai in question.
"Hey, we share the same goal, remember? We are all attempting the same foolish thing." Nue reminded her of the true state of affairs. "All of us would like to open that portal."
"That's not what bothers me. It's what you want to do afterwards. You still think I'm going to let you cross the border to the outside world?"
"Just for your information, I used to do that all the time. I know how to cross the boundary… All the places where it's the weakest. All the seasons when it's possible and when it isn't… This incident changed that, though. The barrier is virtually airtight now. I don't know what caused it, but nobody and nothing can get across from either side. And this has to happen at a time when I really, really need to cross it…"
"Oho?" Marisa put down the book she was reading, "You can travel across the boundary? That's interesting."
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But now, it's impenetrable. At least by all the means known to me."
"Hmm… I think I recall Yukari saying that the barrier wasn't meant to be completely impassible." Reimu admitted. "I forgot why, though."
"Well, duh." shrugged the witch. "The youkai have to get their food from somewhere. Now that the barrier's been hermetically sealed, they can't hunt for fresh humans anymore."
"At least one positive side-effect to this incident..." said the shrine maiden.
It was easy to wave her hand and see the situation from only one point of view, but Marisa believed the opposite to be true.
"Let's see: the starved out human-eating youkai will become desperate and start slaughtering people from the village, and once they've run out of even those, they'll eventually fade away due to absence of human fear and belief in their existence. In other words: bye-bye, Gensokyo. Yeah, that's very positive." she couldn't help but to coat the last sentence with a sarcastic tone.
Even Reimu had to acknowledge that the current state of the Great Boundary wasn't desirable, but rather than saying "You're right, Marisa." the black-haired maiden stayed quiet, resuming her work.
Even the young vampire couldn't stay focused on the fate strings when that topic had been brought up. She giggled as she turned to Reimu. "That's not good, indeed… I would very much hate to be forced to eat you, Reimu."
"You don't even eat humans anyway, just suck their blood." Marisa readily killed her joke.
Remilia was about to say something when Patchouli's sudden entrance took all the words out of her mouth.
"Good evening."
"Patchy~!" the librarian's bat-winged friend perked up with excitement. "Good evening."
Marisa, on the other hand, didn't waste any time on formalities, and got straight down to business: "Oh, hey, did ya translate the text on the arch?"
The short purple-haired girl nodded. "The gist of it, yes. Though I'm not sure it's very helpful."
"We'll be the judges of that. Just tell us what the sign says." Reimu was also visibly tense with anticipation, and couldn't wait to hear the result of Patchouli's translation.
Patchouli opened her notebook where she had written down the translated text, cleared her throat and quoted: "When the Great Council of Atlas, Eumelus, Ampheres, Evaemon, Mneseus, Autochthon, Elasippus, Mestor, Azaes and Diaprepes assembles, I shall open."
A brief silence settled inside the tent. "C-could you repeat that again?" Marisa smiled sheepishly.
"It speaks of the ten members of the Atlantean Great Council, obviously." Patchouli stated matter-of-factly, while shutting her notebook. "As for whether the "I" pronoun connotes the portal itself or the god Poseidon, whom this temple is dedicated to, is still up for debate."
"O-kay?" Marisa didn't feel any wiser even after Patchouli's explanation.
"I told you I wasn't sure if it's very helpful. We still have no idea where the portal leads. Just a vague clue on how to open it."
"Ancients and their riddles... I hope that it'll be enough if we just slide a mirror into that frame tomorrow."
Not just Marisa, but everyone hoped for the simpler solution to the problem. Right now, however, all they could do was wait for the following day.
"Is the dinner ready yet?" Patchouli sat down next to Remilia, looking really tired. Not that anyone could blame her.
"Almost~!" Koakuma waved back at her as she and Sakuya were adding the last few finishing touches to the stew they were cooking.
Shortly after Patchouli's return, the tengu journalist showed herself as well, sharing all the trivial gossip she had heard during her interviews.
"…and then she said that Lord Tenma himself will personally arrive to witness the opening of the portal and…" she stopped her chatter mid-sentence as her nose picked up a pleasant scent. "Mmm… That smells nice. Can I have some?"
"Better eat while you can, for all the youkai in Gensokyo are going to starve soon." Remilia jestingly brought up the topic of the Great Boundary.
"Hm? Did I miss something?"
"Yes, a few important things you might be interested to hear."
Aya let out a giggle. "As if there were such things that I wouldn't be interested to hear."
"You know how the Great Boundary became unexpectedly strong lately."
"Yes, it wouldn't even let Reimu take the stranded outsiders back to their world." the crow tengu nodded.
"Well, this human here," the vampire gestured at Marisa, "believes that it will result in famine, which will eventually bring about the end of Gensokyo."
"Really? Well, there are still plenty of outsiders running around Gensokyo to choose from. Not that this problem concerns me. I prefer non-human dishes myself."
"Well, that's that," Remilia shrugged, moving on to summarize the next thing Aya missed. "In other news, Patchy translated the text on the portal arch."
This bit of information apparently sparked much bigger interest of the tengu journalist. So much so, that she let Nue and Nazrin in front of herself, as the girls were lined up to be served the freshly made stew.
"Really now? Congratulations, Patchouli-san!"
"Please…" Patchouli just humbly lowered her gaze and held out an open palm. "There is no point in praising me just yet."
While Patchouli tried to maintain an aura of modesty, Remilia quickly turned her reaction against her. "Truly, all that translation managed to achieve was our further bedazzlement, hinting at the possibility that opening the portal might be more tricky than, as our simple-minded human friend put it: 'just slide a mirror into that frame'. But it's not your fault that the translation didn't do squat to help us, Patchy. Maybe next time your work will actually amount to something worthy of praising."
With a feeling of utter defeat, the tired youkai magician plopped down backwards onto her futon. "Mukyuu…"
The evening gradually progressed into night, and the night, in turn, gave way to the morning of the new day. The outsiders had one more day to relax, but that certainly couldn't be said about the Hakurei Shrine maiden. She got up earlier than everyone else in the tent. The thoughts racing through her head and her heart beating with impatience didn't bring her much restful sleep last night. She already missed the comfort of her shrine. Another reason for her to get this incident resolved as soon as possible. She knew that her abilities alone weren't going to suffice this time, and that she needed to wait, but she still couldn't bring herself to lie down again on her bedroll.
"Marisa's dad better show up with that new mirror today." she thought to herself as she stretched her stiffened limbs. Not wanting to wake anyone up, she silently moved to the portable stove, which was kept lit even during the night to keep the tent warm, and proceeded to prepare some tea.
"Mmmhm… Reimu…" Marisa stirred in her futon as she was turning over to her side. "The hell are you doing up so early?"
"Just making some tea." the miko's hushed voice replied. "Go back to sleep."
"Tsch… easier said than done after you woke me up." the witch wiped her sleepy eyes and sat up. "And just when I was having this nice dream with Patchouli…"
Just as she muttered that, muffled coughing sounds started coming out of the futon next to hers. Apparently Reimu and Marisa weren't the only ones awake.
"Oh, she's up too?"
The coughing quickly subsided, but Marisa doubted its timing was a mere coincidence. And as a mischievous grin settled on her lips, she proceeded to tease her fellow magician some more.
"You wanna know what that dream was about, Patchy? Well, let me tell you… We were alone in your library, just you and I. And you were only dressed in your underwear and a see-through nightgown, tied to a chair with a ribbon and…"
"Nobody's curious to hear about your sick dreams, Marisa." Patchouli stopped feigning sleep as she turned her frowning face at the witch.
"Yes, do go on…" Reimilia's sudden reaction took everyone by surprise.
Patchouli opened her mouth with the expression that Julius Caesar must have had in the moment of his assassination.
"You too, Remilia?"
The vampire, obviously misinterpreting the question just shrugged and said: "What? You girls were noisy and woke me up as well…"
The final punchline came when Sakuya began apologizing. "Ah, I'm sorry, my lady, it seems that I had forgotten to take your sleeping earplugs with me."
Basically everyone in the tent was now wide-awake, so Reimu could stop worrying about not making too much noise. She added more water to the tea kettle, to prepare the tea for everyone, not just herself.
"So, can anyone tell me why we all woke up when it's still dark outside?" In spite of being an early-riser herself, Aya Shameimaru found the situation a little strange.
"It's Reimu's fault." Marisa's oversimplified rationalization only helped to perplex Aya even more.
"I see…"
"I told you, Reimu, we could all go back to our futons and sleep for at least another 4 hours, because there's no way my dad will arrive to Kazemura that early." said the blonde magician.
"I couldn't sleep, okay? I'm already fed up with sleeping in this tent. I swear, if I won't get this incident resolved by the end of this day, I'm going back to my shrine."
Reimu's complaint made her friend giggle. "And I thought Remilia was the spoiled one…"
"By the way…" Aya interrupted them, as she noticed something that nobody else did. "Where did that alchemist go? And why is the bag with the shattered mirror gone?"
Only then Xeng-Yao's absence hit everyone. "That… is a good question." Marisa scratched her head.
The youkai alchemist must have disappeared in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.
"Come to think of it, I didn't even see him going to sleep in the first place." Sakuya recollected yesterday's night.
Suddenly, a faint sound of nearing footsteps could be heard from outside the tent. Aya's pointy ears perked up as she listened. "Someone's coming this way."
"Probably just a tengu patrol." Marisa shrugged and took another sip of tea. But when the footsteps stopped just outside their tent, even the phlegmatic witch turned her gaze towards the tent's entrance.
The tarp covering the entrance suddenly moved aside and a person entered.
"Oh… Good morning." a familiar male voice accompanied the entering silhouette.
"Speak of the devil…" Remilia scoffed at the alchemist's unexpected appearance.
"Xeng-san?" Patchouli quizzically tilted her head. "Where have you been?"
The snake youkai stepped into the dim light of lanterns, holding some large flat object covered in cloth under his arm.
"Oh, rented a room at the Hearth. Been up the whole night putting thisss together." He gently patted the object that he brought.
"Wait, is that…?" Marisa didn't even finish the question, as Xeng-Yao theatrically removed the cloth to reveal a shining round mirror plate. Its bright gleam dazzled the witch in more ways than one.
"The mirror! You fixed it! How did you…?"
Obviously, Xeng-Yao was prepared for that question, as in his left hand he already playfully swung a small bottle back and forth, filled with some liquid that looked a lot like mercury. "Even you can fixsss your mirrorsss with thisss wonderful subssstance. I call it… ssssmart sssilver. Only 4000 yen per bottle, if you're interes…"
"We can use it to open the portal!" Not paying any attention to the youkai's attempt to advertise his product, Marisa sprung up and snatched the mirror from his hands, much like a magpie would snatch a shiny object.
"Thanks, Xeng-san! Come on, Reimu! Let's solve this incident. What are you waiting for?"
Now it was the alchemist who stood there in a daze for a moment before sulking. "Nobody wantsss to buy my potionsss…"
Although Reimu was impressed by the work Xeng did on the broken mirror, she paid him just as little attention as Marisa did. She just rolled her eyes at her fair-haired friend. "What am I waiting for? Gee, I don't know… maybe for the sun to rise?"
Marisa blinked at her with a blank expression on her face. "L-like I said; why the hell did you wake us up so early, damn it?!"
"I didn't wake you up. You woke up yourself. I just wanted some tea."
Reimu's words just slipped like a breeze past Marisa's ears, who was now pointing her accusing index finger at Xeng-Yao. "And you… Why didn't you say a word about being able to fix that mirror? Now my dad will drag his ass to Kazemura for nothing!"
"Um… well… If you want, I can break it again."
"NO! Please, don't…" Marisa tightly hugged the mirror and turned her back to the youkai in a protective pose. "My dad told me that using just any mirror might not yield any result, anyway… We still may need his expertise after all."
"He said WHAT?!" Reimu barked out the question at Marisa.
"Well, yeah… You know… It can fit the frame, but it might not have the right properties to do its trick."
"That better be a joke."
"We'll just have to wait and see."