Chapter 71 – For a Fistful of Yen

"Ah, Ishimaru. Good, good…" Kyouichi's boss – Matsuda, greeted him reservedly, holding a pair of rakes in his hand. "Where's Asakura?"

"How should I know? I'm not his parent." Kyouichi shrugged and looked around. Indeed, every farmhand already seemed to be busy with their tasks, but Soudai was nowhere to be seen.

"Today I've got a job for you that requires two strong lads and I can't spare anyone to assist you right now." the landowner elaborated without keeping eye contact with Kyouichi.

"Does that mean I can go home then?" the outsider jokingly asked, even though he knew the ranch owner had little sense of humor.

"Not so fast, Ishimaru. Here…" he handed him one of the worn wooden rakes. "Busy yourself while you wait for Asakura by raking the fallen leaves around the stables. If your friend still won't show himself by the time you're done, you'll get to clean the stables as well."

"Great. My favorite job." Kyouichi flashed the fakest forced smile he could muster and internally cursed Soudai's tardiness. He reluctantly took the rake and slowly walked towards the stables.

"Hey, Ishimaru, Take both of them. You'll give one to Asakura when he arrives. I don't have all day to stand here and wait for him."

Kyouichi spun on his heel and with that same false smile he took the second gardening tool with his free hand.

It rained heavily that afternoon and the ground around the barn and the stables was drenched and muddy. It reminded Kyouichi of a motocross track.

"Stupid Soudai is taking his sweet time again…" he grumbled under his breath as he began his menial, but at least physically undemanding task. He felt betrayed, although he could somewhat sympathize with Soudai's reluctance to show up for work in this dreary weather. Kyouichi didn't hurry. He worked as slowly and leisurely as he could. As he already learned the hard way, the reward for a job well done on this farm meant more work, not more money.

Fortunately, the work seemed to have a soothing effect for the young outsider. As he progressed, he felt less angry and more relaxed. Before he knew it, he was already half-done with his task.

"Kyou!" a familiar voice echoed from behind him. Kyouichi glanced over his shoulder to see a winded Soudai trotting towards him. "Sorry, bro. Meant to come sooner, but the Ryuuken made us all clean our quarters and wouldn't take no for an answer…"

"The price of living in their barracks." Kyouichi nodded understandingly. By now he had already forgiven his friend even before his apology. He pointed at the second rake, idly leaning against the stable's wall. "Here… It's been eagerly awaiting you."

"How romantic. I'll be right with you, I'm just gonna go report to the bossman real quick."

"You do that. He said he had some special task for us today. I wonder what…"

"I'll ask him. See you in a minute." Soudai turned and ran off towards the homestead.

And so Kyouichi waited. He had done his part of the leaf raking and wasn't planning on making Soudai's part any easier by continuing. He instead started to doodle around in the wet soil with the tooth of his rake.

Minutes have passed and Soudai still wasn't returning.

"What's taking him so long?" Kyouichi sighed as he finished up his latest work of art in the dirt – a sign that read: "Yuuka-chan" surrounded by a heart shape.

"Hey, Ishimaru~! Everything alright?" the rancher's boisterous voice startled the outsider from his daydream. He was walking towards the stables with Soudai in tow.

"Y-yes, boss!" Kyouichi blurted out as he frantically began to remove any incriminating evidence of his idle doodling. "I've uhhh… I've already raked all the leaves in front of the stables. I've left the other half for Asakura."

"No, forget the leaves. I have something more important for the two of you, now that you're both here."

"What is it, boss?" Soudai perked up.

"I need to run a delivery today…" he said as he sized up both of the young men in front of him. "To Kourindou and to the Misty Lake fishing colony."

"And back?" Soudai tentatively asked.

"Yes, of course I want you to come back. I've already loaded the cart and prepared the delivery manifest. Time is of the essence, lads! It's already fall, so the sun sets early. Go to the stables and take one of my horses to help you pull the cart."

"Sir?" Kyouichi tilted his head in a questioning expression. It wasn't common for the rancher to lend his horses to farmhands for delivery runs.

"You heard me right. The roads are going to be a hell to cross for a loaded cart in this lovely weather. If the cart gets stuck in the mud, the two of you will have no chance freeing it with your strength alone. You'll need a drag horse. And a shovel."

"Oh, great…" Kyouichi could already imagine how hard and annoying this journey would be, and by the looks of it, Soudai didn't seem any more thrilled than he was.

"I know it's not very appealing to trudge through the dirt, but I really need this delivery to be made today." the farmer looked at the outsiders pleadingly.

Kyouichi was about to object, when the rancher added: "I'll pay double."

Both young men exchanged their surprised looks before Soudai hurriedly declared: "We'll do it!"

The prospect of being richly rewarded was too enticing to decline for the older of the two, but Kyouichi viewed the rancher's offer with a healthy dose of suspicion.

"Why us, though? If it's that important, why did you wait for us instead of asking one of your other farmhands to do the run?"

"Because you've already done some runs for me and I know I can trust you." Matsuda gave a rather dodgy response.

"Kyou, shut up!" Soudai hushed his friend, as he didn't want their boss to give the job and the associated bonus to someone else. "If I said we'll do it, then we'll do it! That upcoming field trip has already cost us an arm and a leg. This is a perfect chance to compensate for that… Or would you rather be shoveling horse shit all day? Your call, man…"

With a shrug and sigh of resignation, Ishimaru Kyouichi conceded. "Point taken."

"Follow me, lads. We'll pick the best steed for the job." the rancher beckoned them as he unlatched the stable doors.

As they entered the wooden structure, a characteristic smell of horses and their excrements welcomed them. Both young outsiders were already well accustomed to it, but it was always pungent in the first couple of minutes before their nostrils accepted it as normal.

The farmer led them along the center of the stables with a simplistic layout - one wide corridor along the middle and about two dozen horse stalls on each side. The rancher kept looking left and right as he walked, trying to find the best horse for the job. However, as it was just after noon, most of the horses were already being put to work out in the fields. Only a few animals still occupied their stalls.

"No, this one's not good… This one's too old…This one isn't tame enough…" he mumbled to himself as he dismissed each of the remaining horses he passed by.

"How about this one?" Kyouichi asked, looking at the very last stall with a sturdy chain and padlock securing its door. Through the barred window he could see the brown and white head of a horse, which the landowner seemed to completely ignore. Both outsiders have already spent their fair share of time on this ranch and inside this particular stable, but neither of them has ever seen this particular horse being used for work.

"Daimyo? Not a chance." Matsuda growled back at Kyouichi's suggestion.

"Why not? He looks healthy and strong. And by the looks of it," Kyouichi stepped up to the animal's enclosure to get a better look, "it seems he's being pampered a bit too much."

Not only was this horse's stall a lot larger and cleaner than the rest, but it also had extra feeding trays and a wider selection of treats apart from the classic hay and oats.

"No way in hell am I gonna lend my most prized horse to a pair of greenhorn part-time farmhands!"

The slight anger in the farmer's voice only made the outsider more inquisitive. "Most prized horse? So is he a racehorse?"

"A racehorse? Ahahahaha!" the rancher burst out laughing, which was rare to see. "I suppose he can run pretty fast, but no. Daimyo is the only horse on this entire farm that knows the way to Eientei."

"Oooh…" both outsiders nodded understandingly.

"Not even the militia's horses are smart enough to navigate the bamboo forest without their rider's guidance. But Daimyo… he's one of a kind. A true prodigy." the rancher gently caressed the horse's head through the bars. "Until I can somehow manage to pass on this knowledge to another one of my horses, I'm not selling him. Not even to the elder himself."

"How did you even figure out that he knows the way to Eientei?" Soudai wondered.

"We don't have time for storytelling. You have a delivery to make, preferably before sundown and I need you to pick a horse that isn't Daimyo."

After some arguing, the outsiders picked a horse who Matsuda first dismissed as "too old" when they first passed by him and watched their boss strap the grandpa horse to the loaded supply cart outside the stable.

"Now, I don't care whether you'll stop at Kourindou first or at the fishing colony." Matsuda spoke as he was finishing the preparations, "just come back safe with the cart empty, the manifest signed and the horse… well… let's hope he lives long enough to survive the trip."

Soudai threw a shovel into the cart as well in case it would get stuck at any point on their journey, hoping they'd never have to use it.

The rancher wished them a safe trip and with one last exchange of glances, the two outsiders took their first steps on a delivery run that promised double pay, but also double the hassle.

"You sure this was the best idea?" Kyouichi asked Soudai just as they left the cattle farm and headed north.

Soudai shook his head at Kyouichi in disbelief. "I can't believe you would seriously pass up on a chance to score a double payday." Clearly, his opinion on this whole delivery differed from Kyouichi's like day and night.

"Have you already forgotten where we've been living for the past half a year? Or the reason why you ended up in Eientei?"

"Come on, Kyou. Why are you acting like this is your first delivery run? We know the way, we know it's safe and we know we'll be back before sundown."

"No, Soudai, we do not know that…" Kyouichi mumbled, but pressed on. They were nearing the edge of the Forest of Magic, where their first stop – Kourindou, was situated. As the old horse did all the work of pulling the cart, the outsiders' journey went a bit faster than usual. They reached Kourindou in just under 30 minutes after they left the ranch. It had even stopped raining.

"Hey, Morichika-san! We bring the goods you ordered from Matsuda Ranch." Soudai announced his arrival to the owner of the oddly-situated shop at the edge of the forest. Unsurprisingly, nobody opened the door for them. They had to knock on the door, but even then, they received no response.

"Did we catch him out of his shop?" Soudai wondered as he tried to peek inside through one of the windows.

Kyouichi just shrugged and tried opening the door. It was unlocked, so he let himself in.

"Oh… that didn't occur to me." Soudai snapped out of his daze and followed his friend inside.

Knowing that Rinnosuke was a bit of a recluse, who often spent his time inside his home/store restocking his shelves or reading odd books, it was to be expected that someone like him couldn't be bothered to answer the door to everyone who comes along and knocks on it. However, as the outsiders stepped inside, they didn't find the shopkeeper behind the counter.

"Rinnosuke-san, are you home?" Asakura called out into the seemingly empty room. "Because if you're not, you're pretty careless to leave your door open."

"Frankly, I was considering closing the shop earlier today…" a male voice came from behind one of the lines of shelves. Rinnosuke's head poked out to see who visited his shop. "Oh, you're my suppliers. I only sent my order to Matsuda-san this morning, so I assumed my delivery to be scheduled for tomorrow."

"Guess it's important enough for him to hassle us in this rainy day and pay us double for it." Soudai grinned and shrugged.

"You don't need to share that detail with the whole world, you know…" Kyouichi grumbled quietly and reached into his pocket and unfolded the shipping manifest for Rinnosuke to sign.

"Aw, what's the harm? Don't you trust Morichika-san?"

As Kyouichi was about to respond, Rinnosuke finished whatever task he was doing and walked up to the outsiders.

"Important? No… I just ordered the usual. Whatever Matsuda-san is paying you double for, I doubt it has anything to do with me. Now… let me get my umbrella and let's check the goods."

Both outsiders shared a wide-eye glace at those words. "The umbrella? Uh-oh."

"Not the 12-gauge one, I hope."

"It's not raining anymore, so no umbrella will be necessary." Kyouichi tactfully tried to dissuade the shopkeeper from accidentally bringing one of his "special" umbrellas and neglectfully discharging it. "Though I would recommend a good pair of boots."

"Alright then." Rinnosuke crouched under the counter and reemerged with a pair of worn galoshes. After hastily wrestling his feet into them, he followed Kyouichi and Soudai outside.

"You even have a horse this time, huh?" he gave the aged beast a once over before he began checking the contents of the cart.

"Ten bags of flour, one barrel of salted beef, two kettles of milk…"

As Rinnosuke unloaded all the goods that were meant for him, Soudai exchanged small talk with his friend.

"I wonder… If Rinnosuke's shipment wasn't of any special importance, then it's definitely something meant for the fishing colony that old Matsuda is willing to pay us double for."

"That, or it's just overdue and he didn't want to keep the fishermen waiting another day without supplies…" Kyouichi speculated.

"Whatever the case," Soudai smiled and rubbed his palms, "it'll be nice to actually have some spare pocket money on that field trip instead of just enough for the trip itself."

"Provided nothing goes wrong on our delivery run."

"Stop being so negative, Ishimaru. Look, even the clouds are breaking up. That means more daylight for us."

"You do realize that has no bearing on how long it takes for sun to set, right?"

"Maybe not, but who cares? We have a horse doing all the heavy lifting… uhh… heavy dragging for us."

"This horse looks old enough to have witnessed the creation of Gensokyo. Let's not push him too hard, lest he drops dead halfway to the lake."

As Kyouichi's skepticism clashed with Soudai's enthusiasm, Rinnosuke finished checking all the items. "Alright, everything seems to be in order. Let me just give you one autograph here…" he scribbled a signature on the manifest and handed it back to Kyouichi.

"Thanks again for the early delivery."

"We'll send your regards to Matsuda-san."Kyouichi nodded and folded the paper to fit into his raincoat's inner pocket. Now that the easier part of their delivery run was complete, Kyouichi was mentally preparing himself for the long walk ahead of him.

"So…" Rinnosuke spoke after a pause, "you'll be heading for the lake now?"

"That's the plan." Soudai confirmed. "And back in one piece as well... But the road to the lake is at least regularly patrolled by Ryuuken, so we'll be alright. We've done runs to the lake before, so you don't need to worry about us. I already have my colleague for that…" he made a head gesture towards Kyouichi, who let out an amused scoff.

"I see… Well then. Don't let me keep you. And have a safe journey." Rinnosuke waved at the lads who gently spurred their horse into motion.

Now the young duo of outsiders was headed for the crossroad in front of the Hakurei Shrine, where they'd take a short break before continuing further north-west, around the Forest of Magic and on towards Misty Lake.

"Ah, if only you were a Pegasus…" Kyouichi jokingly spoke to the calm old animal dragging the supply cart. "Then again, at your age it probably wouldn't matter even if you had wings…"

Even though the rain had stopped a while ago, the road they walked on was thoroughly soaked. Every now and then the young men watched as the horse struggled at some places with his burden, but fortunately freed himself every time without the help of the outsiders and their shovel. That was until they walked about a kilometer from Kourindou where the road sloped downwards before coasting upwards again, creating a sort of U-shaped trough. And in the middle of that trough, spanning at least ten meters across, lay a massive mud puddle, making the road to the shrine virtually impassable.

"And we're screwed…" Kyouichi flatly stated as he pulled on the horse's rein to halt him.

The road was lined by trees and bushes on both sides, dissolving any hopes of the outsiders to try and maneuver the cart around the bog.

"I just freakin' knew it!" Kyouichi angrily stomped his foot, which nearly ended up him getting trapped in the mud.

"And how does it feel to always be right, ?!" Soudai barked right back at him.

"It's not like me being optimistic would change anything about the situation."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? We turn around, head right back where we came from, tell the old man that the road is a swamp, return him the undelivered goods and call it a day."

"And lose our sweet bonus?! Hell, no!"

"If you really want to get mired in THAT," Kyouichi pointed at their insurmountable obstacle, "be my guest! Just don't expect me to rescue you."

"Fuck this…" Soudai cursed under his breath as he angrily stomped off to the side of the cart, grabbed the shovel and silently passed around Kyouichi towards the bog pit. His younger friend worriedly watched him, wondering what his intentions were. He had never seen Soudai fuming like this. When he reached the very edge of the mud pool, Soudai extended his arms as far as he could without falling face down into the mud and plunged the shovel into the pool as deeply as possible. By now Kyouichi figured that he was most likely trying to use the shovel as a measuring stick to determine the depth of the bog. When he saw that one half of the shovel was consumed by the mud, he knew that neither they, nor their cart was getting through today.

A few moments and cuss words later, Soudai resignedly pulled on the shovel's shaft to try and free it from the muddy prison, but the bog refused to give up its newly given gift so easily.

The more the young man struggled to pull it out, the more stuck the tool became. Soudai nearly slipped and fell, but he managed to keep his balance and with one last swear word he dragged his mud-caked boots back to the cart.

"I just lost the shovel…" he panted as he leaned against the side of the cart to take a breather.

"I can see that."

"We…" Soudai slowly straightened himself up still not quite having caught his breath, "we have to go back to the village and go to the lake from there…"

"And return on Christmas?!" Kyouichi immediately shot his suggestion down with a sarcastic question. The route that Soudai suggested would prolong this few-hour-long delivery run into a daylong hike just to get to the lake, not to mention an equally long return trip.

"That's our standard route anyway, so what's your problem?"

"Yes, Asakura, that is our standard route, but we've already wasted too much time. At this point we'll be lucky to make it to the lake before sundown."

"We will make it if we stop yammering and get a move on!"

"But not back, numbskull, NOT BACK! Or have you packed your sleeping bag with you? You know… to have a good night's rest in the fishing colony? Or maybe some good fisherman will be willing to share his bunk with you."

"The Ryuuken will escort us back to the village, so who cares if it gets dark?"

"I'd like to know which Ryuuken will be willing to escort anyone anywhere after dusk."

"Oh, would you just shut up, Ishimaru?!" Soudai yelled out and slammed his fist into the cart. "Stop being an uppity little bitch about everything and trust me for once!"

Kyouichi stared in stunned silence at his friend's outburst. He didn't wish for this confrontation to become physical, so he let Soudai speak.

"Look… We're still not that far from Kourindou. Let's turn around and head back."

"To that I have no objections."

"Then we'll go back past the farm and to the village, ditch this old nag and borrow a horse from the merchant caravan, then we'll…"

"And you're back to talking nonsense again…"

"Tell me, Ishimaru, do you honestly hate money that much? I'm trying my best to come up with a workaround for this shit puddle blocking our way, and all you're doing is shutting everything down. This defeatist attitude won't get you far in life."

Kyouichi didn't want to pour more fuel into this fire, but Soudai was seriously suggesting an unreasonable idea – to put it lightly – and Kyouichi wanted no part in it.

"You tell me something, Soudai… Is that few extra yen you'll get from this delivery really worth that much to you? Huh? Is it? Is it worth risking your health, or maybe even your life for?"

"You weren't listening to me at all, were you?" Soudai interjected, but Kyouichi didn't let himself be interrupted.

"If it is worth that much to you, I'll pay you the same amount right here, right now! You don't need to go anywhere." and to add weight to that statement, he reached inside his pocket, pulled out a wallet and started counting.

"I don't want your money, Ishimaru, I…"

"No, no… You're clearly willing to go to extreme lengths just to finish this delivery so you could collect your "sweet bonus". I'll gladly save you the trouble…" Kyouichi himself was not exactly drowning in wealth, but he still managed to scrounge up enough money to equate the amount promised by their boss upon successful completion of their delivery. He held the stack of bank notes theatrically in his fist and made repeated offertory gestures at Soudai, if only to stop him from carrying his foolish idea through.

"Here! Take it! It's yours… Come on! What are you waiting for?"

Soudai just stared dumbfounded. Unsure of how to respond. Kyouichi kept shoving his fistful of yen towards him, but Soudai didn't want to take his friend's money. In a last effort at forced generosity, Kyouichi literally threw the money at Soudai's chest, but the older outsider didn't move a muscle. The several thousand yen scattered and fell to the muddy ground. Both outsiders just stood silently staring at each other in a moment that seemed to last forever.

"Kyou… what are you doing?" Soudai finally broke the stare-down.

"…Saving you from your own stubbornness."

Soudai looked down at the scattered, muddy bank notes before returning his gaze to meet Kyouichi's. "I'd never take your money like that… I just wanted us both to make a little something extra."

"There are offers and there are offers, Soudai. Not all the juice is worth the squeeze."

"Yeah… I guess it's not."

"Let's go back to the farm."

Soudai took in a deep breath. The chilly air stung his windpipe as he held it in, but it helped him calm down and accept the situation for what it was. With a heavy sigh, he nodded.

"Pick your money up, I'd hate to make you lose it. I'll turn the horse around…"

"Ok."

And so, Kyouichi crouched down and began salvaging his cash. With a piece of cloth he gently wiped them up as best as he could and put them back inside his wallet. By the time he put the last scattered bank note into his wallet, Soudai had managed to steer the old horse successfully, so that it was now facing Kourindou.

"Hyah!" he gave the horse the vocal cue to move again. As the half-loaded cart squeaked and rattled on its slow way back to the farm, Soudai got the brilliant idea to hop on it. The goods that they unloaded at Kourindou had made just enough room for one person to sit on, and now Soudai was enjoying the ride without having to walk.

"Clever…" Kyouichi chuckled as he acknowledged that not all of Soudai's ideas were dumb.

Neither of the two uttered a single word all the way back to Kourindou. Soudai thought he was being irrational, even borderline greedy, and Kyouichi realized that perhaps he should have worded his concern differently, perhaps resolved the conflict a bit more tactfully…

The horse that dragged the cart might have been old, but he still had the strength and stamina to trudge through the muddy road just as he used to do in his earlier years.

Before long, Kourindou came into view. The outsiders were back so soon, that Rinnosuke hasn't even moved all the goods back into the shop.

"Back so soon?" he hollered at the returning young men as he lugged a heavy-looking sack towards his store.

"It's no good. The road's untraversable!" Soudai shouted back, explaining the situation.

"Ah, should have figured. It usually gets like that during rainy season." the half-youkai scowled in empathy. He felt partially guilty for not telling them sooner about the road's unreliability during rainy days.

"I presume you'll be going back to the farm now, right?"

"Yeah…" the older of the outsiders nodded as the horse and the cart drew ever closer to Kourindou. "Goddamn rain and goddamn mud… There's no way we'd get to the lake and back before sundown."

Soudai's reply made Kyouichi realize that he actually listened and took his words to heart.

"Whoa, boy!" Soudai halted the horse right in front of Kourindou's door. As Rinnosuke watched the duo of young outsiders, he took pity on them and proposed an offer.

"Tell you what – I'll make you both some nice hot tea and even let you pick an item of your own choosing with a price tag under the 300 yen mark free of charge."

"Sounds good to me." Kyouichi, who finally caught up with the horse-drawn cart showed a thumbs-up in approval.

"Thanks, Kourin. You're all-right…" Soudai also liked the idea of free tea and snacks, although the disappointment in his voice was obvious.

The shopkeepers smiled as he opened the door. "Just come on in. You deserve a little something for your efforts."

"At least someone appreciates a peasant's hard work." said Soudai as he hopped off the cart and followed Rinnosuke inside with Kyouichi in tow.

"Since you're not in a hurry anymore, hope you don't mind if I take the rest of the goods you delivered back inside first. I'm almost done… Of course, you could also lend me a hand if you want."

"Will we get to pick extra stuff if we help you?" Kyouichi haggled, but his question seemed to have gone unheard, as the sound of door slamming left the two outsiders alone in the shop.

"Do you wanna help him?" Soudai raised his brow at Kyouichi.

After a second of hesitation, the younger man shrugged. "Eh, why not? It's not like we have anything better to do…" He shook off his fatigue and pepped himself up for a few minutes of extra unpaid labor. "Besides, I'd rather help ol' Kourin out than do another stupid errand for Matsuda. At least his older brother is more sensible."

"Damn straight." Soudai agreed, feeling slight relief that his previous argument with Kyouichi didn't divide their opinions on this topic at least.

After a couple of minutes, Rinnosuke with the help of both outsiders brought all the goods into his small shop.

"Thanks, I appreciate the help. Let me brew you that tea I promised. In the meantime, feel free to pick some snack or whatever catches your eye."

"Sweet!" Soudai's mood improved in an instant, as he went straight into the grocery section of the shop.

Kyouichi took his time picking his free snack. As he was deciding between a candy bar and a bag of chips, Soudai exclaimed: "Man, this shop has just about everything!"

Wondering what it could be to garner such excitement from his friend, Kyouichi leaned over to peek around the edge of the shelf.

There stood Soudai, who despite being a fuming ball of anger and frustration just minutes ago, now grinned ear to ear as he grabbed something small from one of the shelves and rushed towards the counter.

Kyouichi tilted his head at him. "Cigarettes? Really?"

"Hey, save that judgmental stare for yourself. I haven't had a smoke since April. Need to relieve some of that stress…"

"I'm not judging you. I just didn't know you were a smoker."

"Ah, not many people buy those." said Rinnosuke, "Most of the customers who buy them are either outsiders or those who don't need to concern themselves with their health." the shopkeeper explained as he returned to the counter with a pair of steaming hot tea cups.

"I'll be taking one packet then."

"They're yours." Rinnosuke shrugged and put down both tea cups on the counter. "Now, I didn't put any sugar in yet, since I don't know how you guys like your tea."

"Well, not boiling hot is how I like my tea." Soudai paid little attention to the tea and proceeded to unwrap the plastic wrapper that the packet of cigarettes was encased in. "I'll just go have one outside, if you don't mind."

"I'd only mind if you wanted to have one anywhere BUT outside." the shop owner jokingly replied.

"Cheers, Kourin. I'll be back in a minute." Soudai lit his cigarette on one of the burning kerosene lamps in the shop and went straight out the door.

Kyouichi watched the door swing shut behind Soudai before the shopkeeper cleared his throat.

"So what freebie did you pick?"

The young outsider tentatively put a chocolate candy bar on the counter when his eyes fell on Rinnosuke's leather-bound ledger and he was instantly reminded of his last conversation with Akyuu.

"Wait a second…" Kyouichi paused.

"Something wrong?"

"You don't happen to sell notebooks like this one, perchance?"

"I do have a bunch of similar ones in stock, but those are 400 yen."

Without hesitation, Kyouichi took the candy bar and put it back in the shelf. "Then you can give me a discount. I'll pay you the remaining hundred. And throw in a pen as well while you're at it."

As Rinnosuke went to bring the requested items, Kyouichi put one and a half spoonful of sugar in his teacup and stirred it. As he stirred and sipped his tea, he noticed an oddly vacant space in his shop that used to display a particular item.

"Hey, Rinnosuke, what happened to that overpriced mountain bike you used to have here? Don't tell me you sold it."

"Ah, yes, about that..." the half-youkai threw a quick regretful glance at the place where the bike used to stand. "I sort of… wrecked it a bit."

"How?"

"On my way from Kazemura, shortly after you left. I tried riding it…" the hanyou left the sentence unfinished out of shame.

"Unbelievable… And it was such a nice bike too."

Rinnosuke wasn't in the mood to talk about his unsuccessful attempt to ride a bicycle and Kyouichi's words only seemed to have rubbed more proverbial salt into his wound.

"Here's the notebook and one pen."

"Neat."

Kyouichi paid the rest of the price for his items after Rinnosuke applied the 300 yen discount and was now quietly sipping his tea and wondering when Soudai would finish his cigarette.

Soudai having just received his fix of nicotine after a half-year pause could almost physically feel his stress drifting away as he just stood outside the shop, resting his back against its wall and taking in the serene scenery at the edge of the forest. He only had a few drags left on his cigarette when something broke that perfect tranquility.

The old horse started neighing, shaking his head and nervously digging its front hoof into the dirt.

"What's wrong, old buddy? You want to go home already? And we didn't even ask Matsuda what your name is…"

While Soudai paid attention to the restless animal, he failed to notice the approaching person. He grabbed the reins and attempted to calm the horse down by gentle patting and stroking his mane. The old beast stopped fidgeting after a while and just stared intensely ahead. Only now did Soudai notice the sound of approaching footsteps and turned around.

He saw a lone young woman with long wavy dark-brown hair, dressed in a purple and white dress and a matching white bonnet with a purple bow as she headed from the village.

"G-good afternoon!" Soudai stuttered out a greeting and waved at her.

She turned in response and gently nodded her head, but didn't say anything, nor stop walking. Instead of turning right towards Kourindou, she just headed straight into the forest. Soudai only caught a fleeting glance at her gentle, yet mysterious smile before she disappeared behind the trees.

It took Soudai a few seconds just to process what he saw.

"She… went to the forest…"

He didn't know why, but immense curiosity took him over as he saw that young lady casually stroll into the Forest of Magic. He jogged, cigarette still in his mouth, to the crossroad, which was only about 30 meters away from Kourindou. Upon reaching it and looking in the direction where the road entered the forest, he only saw the tail of the lady's white skirt vanishing behind the vegetation, as the road winded around a nearby hill. That's when Soudai realized something.

"Road… The Old Road…" the slack in his jaw made the unfinished cigarette slip out of his mouth and onto the cold damp ground. He stepped on the fallen cigarette to put it out and ran back to Kourindou.

"Is he planning to smoke the whole packet out there?" Kyouichi asked as he finished his tea. He slowly approached he shop's exit to check on his older friend when the said friend nearly smashed the door in his face.

"Holy shit, Soudai!" Kyouichi barely evaded the swinging door. "Be more careful, will y…"

"Kyou! The road! Forest… I saw a woman…" he blurted out as he was catching his breath and kept frantically pointing outside the shop.

"Whoa, calm down… What did you say?"

"I saw… some woman heading from the village and entering the forest."

"So?" Kyouichi didn't understand what about that got Soudai so freaked out.

"She took the Old Road! And that road leads north…"

Rinnosuke's expression became oddly tense as he heard those words, but he didn't say anything.

"I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking…" the younger outsider worriedly looked his friend in the face.

"That road goes all the way to the fishing colony." Soudai continued, deepening Kyouichi's worries that another really bad idea was about to be born.

"Soudai, you know we're not supposed to use that road. It's not safe. Not without an escort."

"But that lady went there by herself just a minute ago."

"That lady could have very well been a youkai for all we know."

"What did she look like?" Rinnosuke joined the conversation.

"Not like anyone I know… Young brunette… Her clothes didn't look Japanese, but here in Gensokyo, that's nothing noteworthy."

"Well, people from the village sometimes do go to the forest to pick mushrooms or gather firewood, but I doubt they'd go too far down the Old Road. You'd best steer clear of it too."

"Don't worry, Rinnosuke," Kyouichi looked reassuringly at the shopkeeper and then at his friend. "We're not planning on even setting foot on that road, right? Right…?"

Certainty drained from Kyouichi's voice when he saw his friend's expression. It was the same blank, yet determined stare that he had the moment before he tested the depth of the mud puddle with the shovel, or when Matsuda told them that he's doubling the pay for this run. Whenever Soudai had that expression on, Kyouichi knew that convincing him would be difficult.

"Look, I know Matsuda told us not to, I know YOU told us not to," he turned to Rinnnosuke, "but obviously people are using that road. It could take us all the way to the fishing colony. We could be back even faster than if we used the regular route."

"Provided it's not as muddy as the road we just took…"

"If it is, then so be it. We'll turn around, go back to the farm and you won't hear another beep from me. But if it isn't and we manage to catch up with that lady, we'll be a lot safer right? Gensokyo natives all have some magic abilities to fight off youkai…"

"I still don't know what makes you so sure she's not a youkai herself."

"Well… you have your paper charms you bought from Reimu, so…"

"You can't be serious!" Kyouichi laughed out loud. "You really think that these bleached-out paper strips will save our lives when a youkai decides to have us for dinner?"

"Then why did you buy them in the first place?"

Kyouichi himself questioned his belief in the amulets' effectiveness. He did see Reimu use them as a weapon against youkai, but what if they only worked because it was Reimu who used them?

As he thought about it, Soudai rambled on.

"Wasn't it your idea to run from Eientei? That in itself was pretty rash and dangerous, you know. But despite that I went with you!"

"Yeah, because you thought you'd be lobotomized."

"Plus, you have your magic detector thingy. If that woman I saw was a youkai, you'll be able to tell from a nice safe distance."

Kyouichi sighed in exasperation. "No, I won't. The detector only picks up magic. It can't tell a difference between a human or youkai. Plus, 50 meters is hardly a safe distance."

"I'll go scout ahead. I'll be back in 10 minutes at most." Soudai declared and turned around to head out. "If the road is clear, we'll take the cart and finish our delivery run."

"Soudai, wait!" Kyouichi tried to halt him, but Soudai didn't wait. He opened the door and marched out of the shop.

"Asakura!"

The older outsider ignored Kyouichi's calls and power-walked towards the crossroad.

"You're really pissing me off!"

Soudai replied with a dismissive wave of his hand without even turning and entered the forest via the so-called Old Road.

"Did he really go?" Rinnosuke peered over Kyouichi's shoulder. "You should stop him."

"As if I didn't try!"

"Well, besides yelling at him a couple of times, you really didn't." the shopkeeper responded bluntly.

"Screw him! If he has a death wish, I won't be stopping him. But I won't let him drag me to an early grave along with his stupid ass!"

"But…"

"I'm not going anywhere. If he's not back in ten minutes, I'm going to the farm and report him to the Ryuuken. Let them search for him."

"I thought you two were friends."

"Yeah, so did I. But after his antics today…. I'm done. He's a hazard to himself, and by extension, to me as well. All for a few extra yen…"

Rinnosuke patiently listened to Kyouichi venting his frustration on his friend. Then he retreated back to his shop.

"I've got a clock inside. I'll let you know when ten minutes pass."

The door swung shut and Kyouichi was left alone outside the shop with only the old horse to keep him company. And so he waited. He paced back and forth around the cart, anger still bubbling inside. He imagined various scenarios ranging from punching Soudai upon his return to quitting his part time job on the farm. He grumbled and waited and grumbled some more, but Soudai still wasn't coming back. He even pulled out his magic detector out of sheer boredom and watched as few glowing dots darted across the glass lens before disappearing at the edge. Fairies, most likely – thought the young outsider before sighing and pocketing the device. Even the old horse was starting to grow restless after watching the nervous human pacing around him. Kyouichi opened his newly-bought diary and penned his very first entry: Soudai is an idiot!

"This is the longest ten minutes in my life!" Kyouichi exclaimed as he was just about to hop on the cart and ride back to the farm, not even bothering to wait for Rinnosuke.

And that's when Kourindou's door opened again.

"Ishimaru-san, ten minutes have passed." the owner announced as he looked left and right, seeing only one of the outsiders. "He still hasn't returned, I see… Listen, we really should go and find him as quickly as possible."

"Feel free to do so. I'm heading back to the ranch." Kyouichi whipped the reins to spur the horse and the cart was set into motion. "Oh, and Rinnosuke?" he looked back over his shoulder.

"…"

"Give Soudai a big stinging slap for me when you find him!"

The half-youkai watched in disbelief at the young human who was just abandoning his comrade in a dangerous forest.

"Ishimaru-san!" Kyouichi could hear Rinnosuke calling him, but he ignored him and rode slowly towards the crossroad.

"Ishimaru-san!"

Gently pulling the left rein, Kyouichi steered the horse to the road leading back to the village. Rinnosuke's calls grew ever more distant. The young outsider stubbornly carried on, showing no care for either the half-youkai, or the human he used to once call a friend. It was a very strange feeling. An angry feeling. A scary feeling. An apathetic feeling. A regretful feeling. An uncomfortable feeling… An UNBEARABLE feeling!

"ISHIMARU!" another shout from behind, louder than any previous ones stirred the young outsider from his trance-like state. He could hear running footsteps drawing closer. Was Rinnosuke trying to stop him? He glanced over his shoulder to witness a familiar figure running from the forest.

"Hold your horses! Both literal and figurative!"

Kyouichi hesitated for a second, then pulled the cart over on the side of the road.

"You… You weren't planning on leaving, were you?" Soudai asked incredulously when he finally caught up with Kyouichi.

The younger outsider refused to even acknowledge him and just stared blankly forward.

"Yo, man, that was NOT cool! I jogged for at least two kilometers there and back just to scout the road and what do you do?! You go and leave me cold turkey?! What the hell's that about, huh?! Look at me, dammit!" Soudai angrily yanked his friend by the sleeve, to which he responded by bracing himself against the wall of the cart with one hand and raising his balled fist with violent intent.

"Are you going to hit me?" Soudai unflinchingly stared Kyouichi in the eyes, much like how they stared at each other on that impassable road to the shrine a couple of moments ago.

"Give me one good reason not to."

Somehow, instead of infuriating him, Soudai found odd comfort in Kyouichi's words. At least now he had his full attention. He smirked, causing his younger friend no small amount of confusion.

"Well… For starters, I bring good news. The Old Road is CLEAR!"

By now even Rinnosuke had reached the outsiders' position, hoping that he wouldn't have to step between them to prevent a fight.

"Now, now, gentlemen, this isn't the way to solve disputes."

Ignoring the half-youkai altogether, Kyouichi still held his clenched fist in striking position and glared at Soudai with his stony gaze.

"With all the trees as cover, the rain barely even soaked the soil." Asakura continued, "The cart will have no problem traversing the road…"

Taking one deep breath, Kyouichi finally lowered his right hand.

"Why…? Why are you so eager to risk your life? Do you owe someone money and they're extorting you?"

"Why? We've been risking our lives ever since we found ourselves in Gensokyo. How is this any different from any of the potentially dangerous solo trips you took in the past half year? When you went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion… Or when you headed out of Kazemura in search of that alchemist, all by your lonesome… You had no problem with that back then, why are you making such a big fuss out of this trip?"

All valid questions, which Kyouichi had no ammunition to counter. He could make excuses… That it was in the interest of potentially finding a way out of Gensokyo, or that he didn't force anyone to follow him on these risky journeys. Even that escape from Eientei was more or less driven by Kyouichi's own irrational fear of being interrogated by Eirin. When compared to a solo trek through the bamboo forest, the interrogation would seem like a much safer option. And yet, Kyouichi thought otherwise… He acted otherwise.

"No reply, huh?" Soudai spoke again. "I don't owe any Ryuuken or anyone else any money. I just want to get my job done and for both of us to be duly rewarded."

Kyouichi shifted on the cart, so that he was now once again facing the Forest of Magic. Undecided. Doubtful. Fearful.

"I think all those rumors surrounding the Old Road are nothing but stories to scare children from wandering into the forest. I've been down that road – all the way to a clearing with a house."

"What house?" Rinnosuke inquired.

"A pretty one." Soudai gave an unhelpful answer. "I don't know… it looked really new. Like it was built yesterday. White walls, blue tile roof and a small tower-like extension. It's probably where that strange lady I saw earlier lives, as I didn't see her on the road anymore. And I was jogging."

"That sounds like Alice's house." the owner of Kourindou deduced from Soudai's basic description. "It's been recently destroyed by fire and rebuilt… Impressive that you made it all the way there and back in such a short time. Back in the day when the Old Road was still frequented, I remember that walking to Alice's house took me at least 15 minutes or so. Then again, I didn't jog."

"Alice? The puppeteer? Hmm… I guess that's not where that lady lives then. Unless she's Alice's relative."

"Alice lives by herself, as far as I know."

"I wonder if she already returned home from Kazemura…" said Kyouichi as he gazed at the Old Road with trepidation. "Perhaps she could guide us through the forest if we ask her nicely."

"Ha! So you ARE considering taking that road!" Soudai pointed out with a smug grin.

"She showed no indication of returning home when I left the quarry village." Rinnosuke quickly burst Kyouichi's bubble before he had the chance to react to Soudai's comment. "It's highly likely she's still there."

"Well, Ishimaru, what do you say?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Something like: 'Let's go already!' or something."

It was obvious that unlike his younger friend, Soudai didn't fear the forest. He was confident in the safety of the Old Road, having scouted a portion of it. Kyouichi shifted his gaze to Rinnosuke, hoping this half-youkai - wise and experienced - a Gensokyo native, would dissuade them from venturing into the Forest of Magic and overrule Soudai's suggestion by two to one. A futile hope. The hanyou just shrugged as his eyes turned in the same direction as the Old Road began.

"Suit yourselves. I haven't taken that road in years, so I can't vouch for its current state, though if you do decide to take it, I would be more than eager to know if it's still traversable."

"How much would that information be worth to you?" Soudai channeled his inner salesman as he started negotiating.

"Hmm… I'd be willing to pay you… 20 000 if you manage to get all the way to the lake. If the road will be impassable and you'll have to turn around, I'll pay you 5000 yen."

Now the prospect of earning the full sum added to the payment promised by Matsuda, started to appeal even to Kyouichi. Although it didn't cloud his vision to the point where he could no longer see the possible risks such a trip could entail.

"Now we're talking!" Soudai already had his mind clearly made up. "Though how will you know if we've come all the way to the lake? What if we just hike for a few minutes, wait a while and then turn around to claim we've made it all the way to the lake?"

Rinnosuke, however, was not born yesterday and had a simple solution to prevent the outsiders from pulling a fast one on him.

"That's simple, Asakura-kun. If you return with a signed and stamped shipping manifest from the quartermaster of the fishing colony, I'll know you've made it all the way there. That and your empty cart will be sufficient proof for me."

"Please, Old Road, be in good shape." the older outsider clasped his hands as in a prayer.

"I hope I'm not gonna regret this…" Kyouichi muttered a payer of his own before he once again steered the old horse back towards the forest.

High atop the tallest mountain in Gensokyo, a shrine stands enveloped in clouds. Home to two goddesses and one fledgling goddess who served as the shrine maiden, the Moriya Shrine became unsettlingly quiet in the recent couple of days. As Sanae was off on her mission to keep Kazemura safe, alongside Reimu and the ragtag troupe of self-proclaimed archeologists consisting of youkai of every stripe, only Suwako and Kanako remained in their home, recuperating from the adverse effect of the unearthed ruins in that remote quarry village. The younger in appearance, but older in age, Suwako Moriya had just recovered enough strength to take a short walk around the lake near the shrine. Her worrying mind stuck on Kanako, who refused to leave her room since yesterday.

"What could have happened to her?" she thought as she kicked a small pebble into the lake. Kanako had never acted this way before and Suwako struggled to understand, or even imagine what could have possessed the sky goddess to shut herself in like that. This could not continue any longer. Unacceptable. Suwako finished her slow-paced lap around the lake and headed back to the shrine. Still very weak, but determined, the earth goddess puffed up her cheeks and marched towards the shrine.

"If she still hasn't come out by now, I'll kick the door down. I'll knock some sense into her if I have to!"

Her steps echoed loudly as she stomped on the wooden floor of the shrine towards the still-shut door of Kanako's room.

"Still in there?" she again tried knocking on the door to give Kanako one last chance to surrender and come out willingly. "Kanako, this isn't funny anymore~! If you don't come out on the count of three, I swear I'll break this door down! I'm not joking!"

Her threat was only met with silence and the faint howling of the wind outside.

"In that case, you leave me no other way…" as she took one more deep breath of self-encouragement, Suwako pointed her finger at the door and unleashed her divine wrath in the form of a single mighty danmaku projectile.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaah~!"

The door stood no chance, shattering into smithereens as charred splinters hit the opposite wall of Kanako's room.

"Now look what you made me do!" the angry childlike goddess exclaimed as she peered into the room. As the debris from the door fell to the ground and the dust and smoke cleared, Suwako widened her eyes in surprise.

"Kanako…?"

The room was empty. The goddess of rain and sky nowhere to be seen. Only one unmade futon lay stretched on the floor of an otherwise undisturbed room, which felt oddly cold compared to the rest of the shrine.

"Not even a note or a letter… What the…?" Suwako's eyes trailed towards the window, noticing it being slightly ajar – the most likely escape route of the missing deity.

"She actually ran away…" Suwako muttered in disbelief. She had no idea where or why she went, but the fact that Kanako left her alone in the shrine without a word hit her harder than she'd be willing to admit. Fear and anxiety coursed through her being, as she was left baffled, uncertain what to think… what action to take.

"I'm too weak to go anywhere. But… I have to let Sanae know."